Henry Gray | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1816-01-19)January 19, 1816 |
| Died | December 16, 1892(1892-12-16) (aged 76) |
| Place of burial | Springville Cemetery, Coushatta, Louisiana |
| Allegiance |  United States of America Confederate States of America |
| Branch |  Confederate States Army |
| Service years | 1861–65 |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Unit | Army of Western Louisiana |
| Commands | 28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment Gray's Brigade |
| Conflicts | American Civil War |
| Other work | Confederate Congressman, state legislator, attorney, plantation owner |
Henry Gray, Jr. (January 19, 1816 – December 11, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the state legislatures ofMississippi and thenLouisiana. During theAmerican Civil War, he was ageneral in theConfederate Army and subsequently served in theConfederate States Congress.
Gray was born to a military family in theLaurens District ofSouth Carolina. He was a son of Henry Gray (acaptain in theUnited States Army during theWar of 1812) and Elvira Flanagan Gray. His grandfather Fredrick Gray had been a captain in theAmerican Revolutionary War.[1]
He graduated fromSouth Carolina College in 1834, and was admitted to the bar in 1838. He then settled inWinston County, Mississippi, where he married Eleanora Ann Howard in 1841, and was the localdistrict attorney from 1839 until 1845. In 1846 Gray was elected to theMississippi Legislature and served one term. In 1850 he ran unsuccessfully for theU.S. Congress as aWhig.
In December 1850, he bought 332 acres (1.34 km2) of land inBienville Parish, Louisiana, in the community of Brushy Valley. In the campaign of 1856 he was an elector for theDemocratic ticket and canvassed the state with his friendJudah P. Benjamin. He was elected to theState Legislature in 1860 and later that year lost a close race for senator to Benjamin.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Gray enlisted as aprivate in a Mississippiinfantryregiment in January 1861,[2] until his friendJefferson Davis called him to go back to Louisiana to raise a regiment. In April and early May 1862, Gray organized the28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment at Camp Taylor and was elected as itscolonel. He and his men were mustered into the Confederate Army on May 2.
On April 14, 1863, Gray was wounded in the fighting nearBayou Teche, Louisiana. Department commanderEdmund Kirby Smith ordered his promotion tobrigadier general on April 8, however the Confederate Congress disallowed it. Gray was givenbrigade command inPolignac'sDivision in April.[2]
Gray saw action aroundVicksburg and in various battles within Louisiana while leading his brigade. He assumed the command of adivision during theBattle of Mansfield on April 8, 1864, following the mortal wounding ofAlfred Mouton.[3]
Gray was elected to represent his northwestern Louisiana congressional district to the Second Confederate Congress, a position he had not sought nor had any knowledge of until notified of his election. He subsequently left the army in camp atCamden, Arkansas, and traveled toRichmond, Virginia. He was promoted to brigadier general on March 17, 1865, backdated to the Mansfield fight, and Gray rejoined his brigade in Polignac's Division until the end of the war. There is no record of his being paroled from the U.S. Government.[2]
After the war he was a member ofLouisiana State Senate. He spent most of the rest of his life trying to re-establish his finances. His only son had died in 1864, and his wife died a few years later. At the age of 76, Gray died at his daughter's house nearCoushatta, Louisiana, and was buried nearby in Springville Cemetery.[4]
The Brig. Gen. Henry Gray Chapter #218 of theMilitary Order of the Stars and Bars inShreveport, Louisiana, is named in his honor.[5]
