Gideon Johnson Pillow

Pillow was born on June 8, 1806, in Williamson County, Tennessee, to Gideon Pillow and Ann Payne Pillow. He came from a well connected, property owning family with a reputation for Indian fighting and loyalty to Andrew Jackson. He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1827 and practiced law in Columbia, Tennessee, where he became friends with future President James K. Polk. Pillow married Mary Elizabeth Martin, March 24, 1831. Pillow served as a brigadier general in the Tennessee Militia from 1833 to 1836. Pillow played "an important role" in the 1844 Democratic Party convention which nominated Polk for president, although Pillow exaggerated his contribution to the exclusion of other prominent Polk supporters. ==Early military career==

Carroll appointed Pillow Tennessee's adjutant general in 1833, commissioning him a brigadier general. Pillow treated the position as largely ceremonial, the first in a path to higher office he hoped to attain. He stepped down after three years to return to practicing law. He bought the Clifton Place plantation near Columbia, which he eventually developed into one of the largest estates in the state, increasing his political influence. In 1844, he helped James K. Polk secure the Democratic nomination for president, which Polk won. ==Mexican War==

When the Mexican–American War began shortly afterwards, Polk appointed Pillow brigadier general in the United States Volunteers, largely to keep an eye on Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, both political rivals of Polk's. In Mexico, Pillow's superiors, many of them West Point graduates trained as career soldiers, were unimpressed by the minimal training and experience he had despite his high rank, as a citizen soldier. Assigned to Robert Patterson's encampment in Lomita, where he commanded the Second Brigade of the Second Division of Tennessee volunteers, one of his first orders canceled daytime guard duty, a popular move with the troops but a potential major security lapse. He also proposed a reorganization of the troops so divisive that Taylor had to personally resolve tensions. In another move that was associated with him for years afterwards, after ordering his troops to dig a ditch around their encampment, had them put the earth on the wrong side of the ditch, making it useless for defensive purposes. William B. Campbell, a colonel in the First Tennessee and later governor of Tennessee, said Pillow's was "one of the smallest capacity elevated to so high a command." Taylor, who described Pillow as having "much to learn" about military matters, left him and his troops behind when he later marched on Monterrey early in 1847. They saw some minor skirmishes during the Siege of Veracruz. Pillow made another widely noted misstep one night early in the battle when he ordered half of a company of Pennsylvania volunteers to stand guard on one side of a road while the others slept across from them, a formation that would likely have resulted in heavy casualties had the unit been attacked, leading even privates to hold his generalship in low esteem. At the Battle of Cerro Gordo, Pillow disregarded orders and chose a more direct route up one of the ridges where the Mexicans under Antonio López de Santa Anna were positioned. His troops had less cover and had to ascend in single file. The Mexicans opened fire upon seeing them, forcing Pillow to attack the wrong position and ruining Scott's plan to have Pillow's troops serve as a diversionary force for the main U.S. attack. Attempting to get some clarification on how to regroup during the ensuing chaotic retreat, George McClellan found Pillow, his commander, hiding behind a bush in the rear when an errant canister wounded Pillow's arm, forcing him to retreat even further for medical attention, where he berated his subordinates for their failure to properly support him. Pillow sent McClellan to ask Scott for reinforcements, which were unavailable. When he returned, the Mexicans on the ridges had surrendered as Santa Anna had abandoned them in his retreat. When Pillow returned to Tennessee to heal his arm afterwards, he was harshly criticized by others who had fought under him at Cerro Gordo. He published his own account of the battle, reflecting favorably on him. Pillow was promoted to major general shortly afterwards, Pillow refused Scott's request that Pillow revise his exaggerated battle reports in which he took credit for the American victories at Contreras and Churubusco. Then, a letter written by Pillow under the pseudonym "Leonidas", published in the New Orleans Delta in September 1847, wrongfully credited Pillow with the victories at Contreras, including the plan of battle and command of all the forces engaged, and Churubusco. When Pillow's intrigue was exposed, he was arrested by Scott and held for court-martial for insubordination and violating regulations, along with Colonel James Duncan and Brigadier General William J. Worth. Pillow wrote to President Polk about Scott's involvement in a bribery scheme proposed by Mexican leader Santa Anna for his help in ending the war without further bloodshed. Polk relieved Scott of command by a letter of February 18, 1848. Polk reduced the proceedings against Pillow, Duncan and Worth from a court martial to a court of inquiry which had no criminal implications and added that Pillow could question Scott about the bribery scheme. Polk and Secretary of War William L. Marcy chose the three members of the court for their hostility to Scott. of Pillow's name Proceedings began in March 1848 in Mexico City. Major Archibald W. Burns, a paymaster and Pillow protege, claimed authorship of the "Leonidas" letter, at Pillow's behest. When the court of inquiry took as much testimony as they could in Mexico City it reconvened in Frederick, Maryland. Scott left Mexico City the next day. Scott dropped the charges against Worth and Duncan and Pillow was exonerated when the court announced their findings on July 1, 1848. Scott resumed his duties as general-in-chief of the army early that month. While the affair had cost Pillow politically, it benefited Polk by ending Scott's presidential aspirations. Pillow was discharged from the United States Volunteers in July. Pillow assisted Roswell S. Ripley in writing The war with Mexico. On the other hand, Pillow's friend and patron, President Polk, stated after the court of inquiry was closed: "General Pillow is a gallant and highly meritorious officer, and has been greatly persecuted by General Scott, for no other reason than that he is a Democrat in his politics and was supposed to be my personal and political friend." Pillow attempted to win the vice presidential nomination, but was not taken seriously, and it went to William R. King. He intended to be a candidate for vice president in 1856. Instead, he supported his brother-in-law Aaron V. Brown, who lost that nomination to John C. Breckinridge. With sentiment in the South increasingly in favor of secession, Pillow was one of the region's few supporters of James Buchanan in 1856. However, Buchanan did not see fit to reward Pillow with a position in his administration following his victory. The following year, Pillow tried unsuccessfully to secure the Democratic nomination for a seat in the United States Senate from Tennessee. Pillow supported the candidacy of Stephen A. Douglas in the presidential election of 1860, despite being publicly critical of the Democratic nominee. With the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, Pillow ultimately came to support secession as the will of the majority in Tennessee, although he remained personally opposed. Pillow's political failures were in contrast to his continuing business success. In addition to his law practice and management of the family farm, Pillow engaged in highly profitable land speculation. By 1860, he was one of the largest landholders in the South and possibly the wealthiest man in Tennessee. ==American Civil War==

Pillow joined the Confederacy just after the start of the American Civil War. Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris appointed Pillow as the senior major general in the Tennessee Militia and commander of the Provisional Army of Tennessee as of May 9, 1861. In July 1861, he was appointed brigadier general in the Confederate States Army Belmont Pillow's first combat of the war was against Union Army Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, also in his first battle, at Belmont, Missouri, in November. Grant decided to attack the small Confederate Camp Johnston at Belmont, Missouri across the river from the Confederate fort at Columbus, Kentucky. Failing to take full advantage of a superior position, Pillow ordered an assault on the Union force through the woods, giving the Union troops cover from which to push back the Confederates. Pillow, assisted by Brigadier General Benjamin F. Cheatham, reorganized the Confederates and counterattacked. Nevertheless, Pillow and his command were voted the Thanks of the Confederate Congress on December 6, 1861: Fort Donelson Pillow resigned from the Army on December 28, 1861, in a dispute with Major General Leonidas Polk, but he soon realized that this was a rash decision and was able to cancel his resignation by obtaining an order from Confederate President Jefferson Davis on February 2, 1862. Without permission, Pillow began to forward men and supplies to Fort Donelson, a crucial installation protecting the Cumberland River. Three additional brigadier generals were assigned to the fort soon thereafter. One, John B. Floyd, former governor of Virginia and Secretary of War under James Buchanan, outranked Pillow, who found himself displaced as commander and put in the unofficial position of second-in-command. On the night of February 14, Floyd and his subordinate commanders decided to try to break out of the fort and escape a likely Union siege before the full Union force could arrive. Pillow set forth a plan to surprise the Union force which was accepted. Floyd gave no orders concerning the details of the operations, including the evacuation and order of march, in order to exploit any breakthrough. As the Battle of Fort Donelson continued into February 15, 1862, under Floyd's order, Pillow took control from the general who was in formal command of the left wing of the army, Brigadier General Bushrod Johnson, who continued to ably assist Pillow. Floyd then panicked and ordered all troops back to their trenches. Floyd, who feared prosecution for treason if he should be captured, turned command of the army over to Pillow, who had similar concerns and immediately passed command to Simon Bolivar Buckner, who had argued that the Confederate position was untenable. He finally agreed with the other generals to surrender the fort and garrison, but not himself personally. Pillow escaped in the night in a small boat across the Cumberland River; Floyd likewise escaped, taking two regiments of his Virginia command with him before Buckner could surrender to Grant. Some historians have judged Ulysses S. Grant as being too rash in his haste to assault Fort Donelson without possessing overwhelming superiority. However, his acquaintance with Gideon Pillow played a key factor in his confidence. As he wrote in his memoirs, Grant also recalled that, following the surrender of Fort Donelson, he met with his old friend Buckner, who told him of Pillow's escape. At the Confederate council of war the night before, the vain Pillow had expressed concern that his capture would be a disaster for the Southern cause. "He thought you'd rather get hold of him than any other man in the Southern Confederacy," Buckner told Grant. "Oh," replied Grant, "if I had got him, I'd let him go again. He will do us more good commanding you fellows." Reassignment Pillow assumed command of the 3rd Division of the Army of Central Kentucky, but was suspended from command by order of Jefferson Davis on April 16 for "grave errors in judgement in the military operations which resulted in the surrender of the army" (at Fort Donelson). After the battle, Pillow was one of the few Confederate officers to speak in favor of General Bragg's battlefield decisions, denigrating Breckinridge's execution of the ill-fated assault. Pillow commanded the Volunteer and Conscription Bureau of the Army of Tennessee and related recruiting assignments starting January 16, 1863. he resumed recruiting assignments, where he served out the remainder of the war. He was the Commissary General of Prisoners for the Confederacy starting in February after the death of Brigadier General John H. Winder. He was captured by Union forces at Union Springs, Alabama, in April, and was paroled in Montgomery the next month. President Andrew Johnson pardoned him in August. ==Later life==

After the American Civil War, Pillow was forced into bankruptcy, but embarked on a successful law practice in Memphis, Tennessee, as partner with former Governor Isham G. Harris. He died October 8, 1878, at age 72 near Helena, Arkansas, in Phillips County, during that year's yellow fever epidemic. Initially buried at Helena, Pillow was reinterred in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis. ==Honors==

Fort Pillow, site of the controversial 1864 battle of Fort Pillow, was named for him. ==See also==