David Bullock Harris

David Bullock Harris (September 28, 1814  – October 10, 1864) was a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (Civil War). Harris served as an engineer, mostly under the command of General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard. Harris planned and constructed the defenses of Centreville, Virginia, Fort Pillow, Island Number Ten, Vicksburg, Mississippi, Charleston, South Carolina, and Petersburg, Virginia, in the siege of that city's opening phase. He died of yellow fever at Summerville, South Carolina, on October 10, 1864.

David Bullock Harris
David Bullock Harris in 1863
Born(1814-09-08)September 8, 1814
Louisa County, Virginia
DiedOctober 10, 1864(1864-10-10) (aged 50)
Summerville, South Carolina
Buried
Richmond, Virginia
AllegianceUnited States of America
Confederate States of America
Service/branchUnited States Army
Confederate States Army
Years of service1833–1835 (USA)
1861–1864 (CSA)
Rank Second Lieutenant (USA)
Colonel (CSA)
Unit1st U.S. Artillery
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Early life

David Bullock Harris was born at Frederick's Hall (now spelled Fredericks Hall) in Louisa County, Virginia, on September 28, 1814, and grew up at Gardner's Crossroads (Gardners Crossroads) in Louisa County.[1][2] His parents were Frederick and Catherine Snelson (Smith) Harris.[1] Frederick Harris was a U.S. Army captain during the War of 1812 and later was president of the Louisa Railroad, which became the Virginia Central Railroad.[1]

David B. Harris graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1833.[1] He served for two years in the artillery branch of the U.S. Army and as an engineering instructor at the U.S. Military Academy.[1] He resigned from the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant in 1835.[1][2] For two years, he worked as an engineer for the James River and Kanawha Canal Company.[1] Thereafter, he did railroad survey work.[1] By 1845, he had acquired "Woodville", a Goochland County plantation, where he was a tobacco farmer and where he resided at the outbreak of the Civil War.[1]

Harris's wife was the former Louisa Knight.[3]

American Civil War

David Bullock Harris was appointed a captain of engineers in the Virginia militia on May 2, 1861.[2] By July, he was serving on the staff of Confederate Army Brigadier General Philip St. George Cocke.[1] He was engaged at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.[1] Thereafter, Harris was assigned to the staff of General P. G. T. Beauregard.[4]

Harris planned Confederate defenses of Centreville, Virginia; Fort Pillow; Island Number Ten; Vicksburg, Mississippi; and Charleston, South Carolina.[5] He was promoted to captain of Confederate engineers on February 15, 1862, to major on October 3, 1862, to lieutenant colonel on May 5, 1863, and to colonel on October 8, 1863.[5] After Beauregard took command at Charleston for the second time, Harris worked constantly to improve the fortifications, often visiting troops in exposed and dangerous positions to design improvements.[5] These defenses proved too formidable for besieging Union forces to overcome.[5] After traveling with Beauregard to Virginia, where he planned defenses at Petersburg in the summer of 1864, Harris returned to Charleston and the post of chief engineer of the Department of South Carolina.[5] He soon died of yellow fever though at Summerville, South Carolina, on October 10, 1864, having just turned 50.[5]

Aftermath

Harris had been recommended for promotion to brigadier general, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis verbally promised the promotion to him shortly before Harris died. The promotion had not gone through before Harris died, though some early lists of Confederate generals showed Harris as a brigadier.[5]

David Bullock Harris is buried in Hollywood Cemetery (Richmond, Virginia).[2][5]

See also

Notes
  1. Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-3148-2 (pbk.). Retrieved September 16, 2012. p. 118.
  2. Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 600.
  3. Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4. p. 183.
  4. Allardice, 1995, p. 119 says Harris was associated with Beauregard for the remainder of the war (until his death) but Noe, Kenneth W, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8131-2209-0, p. 67 identifies Bullock as General Braxton Bragg's chief engineer during his Kentucky Campaign leading to the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862. This is not necessarily inconsistent since Beauregard took an extended sick leave after the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, ended on May 30, 1862.
  5. Allardice, 1995, p. 119.

References
  • Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4.
  • Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-3148-2 (pbk.). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
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