CLEBURNE, PATRICKRONAYNE
Cleburne, Patrick Ronayne
(March 16, 1828–November 30, 1864)
Confederate General
“F
ighting Pat” Cleburne, the Irish-
born druggist-turned-soldier, was
popularly known as the “Stonewall
of the West.” Adored by men and officers
alike, he seemed destined for high Confeder-
ate command—until he suggested using
African Americans as soldiers. This remark
halted his advancement, yet Cleburne
nonetheless served as the highest-ranking for-
eign-born officer in the South.
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was born in
County Cork, Ireland, on March 16, 1828, the
son of a respected Protestant druggist. Cle-
burne tried following into his father’s profes-
sion by pursuing pharmacology at the Univer-
sity of Dublin, but he failed his entrance
exams. Ashamed by this lapse, he joined the
British army in 1846 by enlisting in the 49th
Regiment of Foot, the famous Green Tigers
from the War of 1812. Cleburne served three
years as a private, but he grew tired of per-
forming constabulary work in Ireland and pur-
chased his release in 1849. He migrated with
his family to the United States the following
year and briefly worked as a clerk at a drug-
store in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1850, he was of-
fered a similar post in Helena, Arkansas,
where he settled. His outward, Hibernian dis-
position won him many friends, and in 1855 he
became a naturalized citizen. Having also
studied law, Cleburne opened a successful
legal practice in 1855 and prospered. By 1860,
the storm clouds of Southern secession were
gathering, and he helped organize a militia
company, the Yell Rifles. He was promptly
elected captain, and when it joined nine other
companies to form the First Arkansas Infantry
Regiment, Cleburne gained appointment as
colonel on May 14, 1861. Within weeks the reg-
iment was amalgamated into a larger force
commanded by Gen. William J. Hardee, a long-
term professional soldier, and the two men be-
came fast friends. In many respects, Hardee’s
subsequent success as a Confederate leader
became closely tied to Cleburne’s.
By the fall of 1862, Cleburne accompanied
Hardee’s command to Bowling Green, Ken-
tucky, where they fell under the jurisdiction of
Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston. There Cleburne
took command of a brigade within Hardee’s
division with the rank of brigadier. Subsequent
Union maneuvers forced the Confederates to
fall back on Corinth, Mississippi, until the Bat-
tle of Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862). This was the
first large encounter of the war, and Cleburne
singularly distinguished himself by driving
Union forces out of their camp right up to the
Tennessee River. The following day a counter-
attack by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant forced the
Confederates from the field. But the gallant
rear-guard action by Cleburne’s brigade—re-
duced by losses to only 800 effectives—pre-
vented the withdrawal from becoming a rout.
His total casualties were 1,013 out of 2,700
men present, but Cleburne’s fine performance
and coolness under fire garnered him a pro-
motion to major general in November 1862.
This act made him the highest-ranking soldier
of foreign birth in Confederate service.
Shortly after, Cleburne joined the newly
formed Army of Tennessee under Gen. Brax-
ton Bragg, then marched north for an inva-
sion of Kentucky. In this capacity he com-
manded a division fighting under Gen.
Edmund Kirby-Smith at the Battle of Rich-
mond (August 30, 1862). The Confederates
were victorious, but Cleburne was seriously
wounded in the jaw. Fortunately, he rejoined
the army in time for the severe engagement at
Perryville on October 8, 1862, where he broke
the enemy line and was twice more wounded.
Two months later Cleburne again distin-
guished himself in the bloody Battle of
Murfreesboro (December 31, 1862–January 3,