Floyd, John Buchanan
(June 1, 1806–August 26, 1863)
Confederate General
FLOYD, JOHNBUCHANAN
F
loyd was a ranking Confederate leader
with enviable political connections, yet
he was utterly devoid of military talent.
His indecision and flight from Fort Donelson
was a disgrace that cost the Confederacy
dearly—and occasioned his removal from
high command.
John Buchanan Floyd was born in Smith-
field, Montgomery County, Virginia, on June 1,
- He attended South Carolina College,
graduated in 1829, and commenced a career
in planting and law. In time he parleyed his
skills into a viable political career, and in 1848
he gained election as governor of Virginia.
Once in office, Floyd became a proponent of
states’ rights and a vocal defender of slavery,
although he never fully embraced the seces-
sionist movement. He was nonetheless an art-
ful politician. In 1856, newly elected President
James Buchanan sought a Virginian to round
out his cabinet, so he appointed Floyd secre-
tary of war. Floyd, lacking the barest scintilla
of military experience, proved unsuccessful
in office, and his tenure became mired in
charges of corruption and favoritism. These
accusations arose out of his mishandling of
Indian trust funds and channeling the profits
into the hands of friends and relatives. Floyd
also stirred up controversy in 1860 when he
appointed Col. Joseph E. Johnston—his
brother-in-law—as quartermaster general of
the army, over the heads of more experienced
officers like Robert E. Leeand Albert Sidney
Johnston.
By 1860, the rising tide of secessionist ac-
tivity began casting Floyd’s actions in a trea-
sonable light. At that time he authorized the
transfer of 125,000 small arms into Southern
arsenals, a move viewed suspiciously by
many Northerners. Many politicians then
charged Floyd with granting secessionist
states immediate access to government
weapons, but Floyd countered that he was
simply making room for new stocks of rifled
weapons expected soon. A congressional
committee investigated this matter closely in
February 1861 and cleared Floyd of any mis-
behavior. But two months earlier, Floyd had
quit his post over the military state of affairs
at Charleston, South Carolina. There a small
Northern garrison under Maj. Robert Ander-
son surreptitiously transferred his garrison
from Fort Moultrie, on land, to Fort Sumter in
Charleston Harbor. Floyd denounced the
transfer as provocative and demanded that
Anderson resume his former post. When Pres-
ident Buchanan refused to order Anderson to
do so, Floyd resigned on December 29, 1860.
The following May he joined the Confederacy
with the rank of brigadier general.
In August 1861, Floyd took charge of the
Army of the Kanawha in western Virginia. In
this capacity he commanded about 3,500
men and was charged with protecting the
lower Virginia Allegheny front from Union
incursions. To that end he fought a number
of minor skirmishes at Cross Lanes and
Carnifex Ferry without decision. But despite
Floyd’s political background and his demon-
strated lack of skill in handling troops, he be-
came part of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston’s
forces in Kentucky that fall. This was a most
important assignment, for Johnston had
been tasked with protecting the Confederate
heartland from a major Union invasion.
Floyd, meanwhile, was entrusted with a
force of 16,000 men who garrisoned Forts
Henry and Donelson at the Tennessee and
Cumberland Rivers. His arrival coincided
with a major Union offensive conducted by
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Adm. Andrew Hull
Foote. On February 6, 1862, Union forces
scored a major victory by capturing Fort
Henry through gunboats alone, while Grant
marched rapidly overland to capture Fort
Donelson.