Crittenden, George Bibb
(March 20, 1812–November 27, 1880)
Confederate General
CRITTENDEN, GEORGEBIBB
C
rittenden was a potentially useful Con-
federate leader whose military career
was sidelined by heavy drinking. Con-
sequently, he lost his only Civil War engage-
ment and thereafter served as a volunteer
aide.
George Bibb Crittenden was born in Rus-
sellville, Kentucky, on March 20, 1812, the son
of a prominent politician. He was admitted to
West Point in 1827 and four years later gradu-
ated twenty-sixth out of a class of 45. Critten-
den served as an infantry lieutenant during
the war against Black Hawkin 1832 and sub-
sequently performed routine garrison duty
throughout Georgia and Alabama. Disen-
chanted with military life, he resigned his
commission in April 1833 to study law at
Transylvania University. Crittenden then
abandoned this pursuit in 1842 by volunteer-
ing for military service with the Republic of
Texas. That region had won its independence
from Mexico in 1836, but an ongoing border
war was still being waged. In December 1842,
Crittenden accompanied the expedition of
Col. William S. Fisher to the village of Ciudad
Meir. Unfortunately, he was captured along
with his whole company and taken to Mexico
City.
After several weeks on confinement in a
filthy prison, the desperate Texans staged a
failed escape attempt. Mexican authorities
forced the survivors to draw lots to deter-
mine that every tenth prisoner would be exe-
cuted. Crittenden drew a white bean, signify-
ing that he would live, and handed it to a
fellow Kentuckian who was married with
children. Luckily, he drew another white
bean on his second try and thus escaped the
firing squad. Crittenden spent nearly a year in
prison before being released through the in-
tercession his father, U.S. Senator John J.
Crittenden, and Daniel Webster, the U.S. sec-
retary of state.
Crittenden volunteered for military service
when war with Mexico erupted in 1846, and
he was commissioned as a captain in the U.S.
Mounted Rifle Regiment. In this capacity he
accompanied Gen. Winfield Scott on the over-
land drive against Mexico City, distinguishing
himself at the Battles of Contreras and Chu-
rubusco. As a brevet major, he was allegedly
one of the first American soldiers to enter
Mexico City following its surrender. In the
course of the war, Crittenden acquired the
reputation of a brave soldier, but one overly
fond of alcohol. In 1848, he was readmitted
into the U.S. Army as a major, then court-mar-
tialed and suspended due to excessive drink-
ing. Nonetheless, his influential father, then
serving as governor of Kentucky, intervened
and arranged for reinstatement. Crittenden
served for several more years at isolated
posts along the frontier, rising to lieutenant
colonel in 1856. He was a ranking officer in
the New Mexico Territory when the Civil War
erupted in April 1861.
Like many families from the border states,
the Crittendens faced a crisis within their
own household. Back in the senate, John J.
Crittenden sponsored last-minute compro-
mise legislation in Congress to avert the onset
of hostilities. His younger son, Thomas L.
Crittenden, joined the Union army and rose to
the rank of general. But George, despite en-
treaties from family members, reaffirmed his
reputation as a black sheep by siding with the
Confederacy. In June 1861, he was made a
brigadier general and placed in command of
rebel forces at Knoxville, Tennessee. The fol-
lowing November, Crittenden was elevated to
major general and ordered to supersede Gens.
Felix K. Zollicoffer and William H. Carroll as
head of Confederate forces in southeastern
Kentucky. As such, he commanded 4,000 sol-
diers entrenched at Beech Grove on the
northern bank of the Cumberland River. Ken-