David E. Twiggs
Nickname	"Bengal Tiger"[1]
Born	February 14, 1790 (1790-02-14) Richmond County, Georgia, U.S.
Died	July 15, 1862(1862-07-15) (aged 72) Augusta, Georgia,C.S.
Place of burial	Twiggs Cemetery, Augusta, Georgia
Allegiance	United States of America Confederate States of America
Branch	United States Army  Confederate States Army
Service years	1812–1861 (USA) 1861 (CSA)
Rank	BrevetMajor General, USA Major General, CSA
Commands	Department of the West
Conflicts	War of 1812 Black Hawk War Second Seminole War Mexican–American War Battle of Palo Alto Battle of Resaca de la Palma Battle of Monterrey Siege of Veracruz Battle of Cerro Gordo Battle of Contreras Battle of Churubusco Battle of Chapultepec American Civil War
Relations	Levi Twiggs (brother) Abraham C. Myers (son-in-law) John Twiggs Myers (grandson) Sarah Lowe Twiggs (great-niece)

David Emanuel Twiggs (February 14, 1790 – July 15, 1862) was an American military officer who served during theWar of 1812, theBlack Hawk War, andMexican–American War.

As commander of the U.S. Army'sDepartment of Texas when theAmerican Civil War broke out, he surrendered his entire command to the Confederates, with facilities, armaments, and other supplies valued at $1.3 million. Dismissed from the U.S. Army as a traitor, he was commissioned as a general of theConfederate States Army in 1861. But, recognizing he was in poor health, he quickly resigned from his commission later that year. He was the oldest Confederate general to serve in the Civil War.

Twiggs was born in 1790 on the "Good Hope" plantation inRichmond County, Georgia, son ofJohn Twiggs and his wife, Ruth Emanuel.^[2] A general in the Georgia militia during the American Revolutionary War, the senior Twiggs was the namesake forTwiggs County, Georgia.^[3] He was the nephew, through his mother, ofDavid Emanuel, Governor of Georgia.^[4]

Twiggs volunteered for service as a captain during theWar of 1812 and made a career in the military.^[5]

In 1816, Twiggs was ordered by Major GeneralEdmund P. Gaines to set out fromFort Montgomery and establish a new fort on the border of theAlabama Territory andSpanish West Florida. This new fort was known asFort Crawford. After serving at Fort Crawford, Twiggs became commandant ofFort Scott.^[6]

In 1828, he was sent to Wisconsin to establish a fort at the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. With three companies of the First Infantry, his forces builtFort Winnebago around what has come to be known asFort Winnebago Surgeon's Quarters atPortage, Wisconsin.^[7] This was a base of operation during theBlack Hawk War.^{[citation needed]}

Twiggs was commissioned asColonel of the2nd U.S. Dragoons in 1836 and served in theSeminole Wars in Florida, where he earned the nickname "Bengal Tiger" for his fierce temper.^{[citation needed]} He also decided to act offensively against the Seminole rather than wait for them to strike first. Some of the Seminole moved deep into the Everglades, evading U.S. forces. They never surrendered, and the U.S. government finally gave up on hopes of removing them to Indian Territory.^{[citation needed]}

During theMexican–American War (1846–1848), Twiggs led a brigade in theArmy of Occupation at the battles ofPalo Alto andResaca de la Palma. He was promoted tobrigadier general in 1846 and commanded a division at theBattle of Monterrey.^[2] He joinedWinfield Scott's expedition, commanding its 2nd Division of Regulars. He led the division in all the battles fromVeracruz throughMexico City. He was wounded during the assault onChapultepec.^[2] After the fall ofMexico City, he was appointed military governor ofVeracruz. Brigadier General Twiggs was awarded a ceremonial sword by theCongress on March 2, 1849. He was an original member of theAztec Club of 1847, a military society of officers who had served in the Mexican War.^[8]

After theMexican–American War, Twiggs was appointedbrevetmajor general and commanded the U.S. Army'sDepartment of Texas. He was in this command when theAmerican Civil War broke out.^[2] He was one of five general officers in the U.S. Army in 1861, along withWinfield Scott,John Wool,Joseph E. Johnston, andWilliam Harney. As there was then no mandatory retirement, all but Johnston were over the age of 60, with three (Scott, Twiggs, and Wool) having served in theWar of 1812 half a century earlier.^[8]

Twiggs's command included about 20% of the U.S. Army guarding the Mexican border. As states began to declaresecession, on February 4, 1861, he met with a trio ofConfederate commissioners in San Antonio, includingPhilip N. Luckett andSamuel A. Maverick. Twiggs was loathe to fire on American citizens and had previously asked Washington for instructions, stating that in the absence of explicit orders would turn over the army property in his command to the state of Texas if secession occurred.^[2] Despite being relieved of command by an order received from the War Department on February 15, surrounded by Confederate forces, he surrendered his entire command — all the federal installations, property, and soldiers in Texas, on the following day. This included 20 military installations (including the U.S. Arsenal at the Alamo), 44 cannons, 400 pistols, 1,900 muskets, 500 wagons, and 950 horses, valued at $1.3 million.^[2] He insisted that all U.S. soldiers be allowed to retain personal arms, sidearms, flags and standards. The 160 U.S. soldiers in San Antonio and soldiers in other Texas garrisons were allowed to march from Texas by way of the coast.

Twiggs was dismissed from theU.S. Army on March 1, 1861, for "treachery to the flag of his country."^[9] He accepted a commission as amajor general from theConfederate States Army on May 22, 1861. He was assigned to command theConfederate Department of Louisiana (comprising that state along with the southern half of Mississippi and Alabama), but he was past the age of 70 and in poor health. He resigned from his commission before he could assume any active duty.Mansfield Lovell succeeded him in the command ofNew Orleans.^[10] Twiggs retired on October 11, 1861.

Twiggs died ofpneumonia inAugusta, Georgia, on July 15, 1862. He is buried in Twiggs Cemetery, also known as the Family Burying Ground, on Good Hope Plantation^[11] inRichmond County, Georgia.

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
• New York Times, March 4, 1861
• Silkenat, David.Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019.ISBN 978-1-4696-4972-6.
• Sifakis, Stewart.Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988.ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
• Winters, John D.The Civil War in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963.ISBN 978-0-8071-0834-5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDavid E. Twiggs.

• Reenactment of Twiggs's Surrender in San Antonio
• David Emanuel Twiggs inA Continent Divided: The U.S.-Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington

• 1790 births
• 1862 deaths
• People from Richmond County, Georgia
• United States Army generals
• United States Army personnel of the Mexican–American War
• Members of the Aztec Club of 1847
• United States Army personnel of the War of 1812
• Confederate States Army major generals
• People of Texas in the American Civil War
• People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
• Confederate Jews
• People of the Creek War
• Deaths from pneumonia in Georgia (U.S. state)

• CS1 maint: archived copy as title
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from February 2026
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from November 2013
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021
• Commons category link from Wikidata