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VITAL STATISTICS
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BORN: 1814 in Philadelphia, PA.
DIED: 1881 in Penllyn, PA.
CAMPAIGNS: Vicksburg Siege.
HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Lieutenant General
(Resigned and later accepted appointment as colonel of artillery )
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BIOGRAPHY
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| John Clifford Pemberton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 10, 1814. He attended West Point, where he made friendships with mostly Southern cadets and showed his deep feelings for the South and the states rights philosophy. Graduating in 1837, he served in the cavalry and took part in the Mexican War, for which service he was brevetted twice. In 1848, he married Martha Thompson of Norfolk, Virginia, reinforcing his ties to the South. In April of 1861, Pemberton resigned from the US Army and joined the Confederacy, while two of his brothers stayed in the Union army. Appointed brigadier general by Confederate President Jefferson Davis on June 17, 1861, he was placed in command of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Promoted to major general in January of 1862, then to lieutenant general on October 10, 1862, he was given command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. Pemberton received conflicting orders Confederate President Davis and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston regarding Vicksburg, and finally had to surrender the position on July 4, 1863 to the Union. There were not assignments available commensurate with Pemberton's rank, so he resigned as lieutenant general and was appointed a colonel of artillery, fighting well until the end of the war. Although he was a skilled administrator, he was less than inspiring as an officer. After the end of the Civil War, he lived on a farm near Warrenton, Virginia, but eventually returned to his native state of Pennsylvania. Pemberton died on July 13, 1881, in a village called Penllyn, in Pennsylvania. |
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