HINDMAN, THOMASCARMICHAEL
Hindman, Thomas Carmichael
(January 28, 1828–September 27, 1868)
Confederate General
T
he fiery, diminutive
Hindman was an
effective Confeder-
ate leader of the Trans-
Mississippi West. Strut-
ting and dictatorial by
nature, he made scores of
political enemies and was
ultimately cut down by
an assassin’s bullet.
Thomas Carmichael
Hindman was born in
Nashville, Tennessee, on
January 28, 1828. His fa-
ther, a federal Indian
agent, subsequently relo-
cated to Ripley, Missis-
sippi, where he operated
a large plantation. Hind-
man was educated at pri-
vate schools near Prince-
ton, New Jersey, and he
returned home just as the
war with Mexico erupted
in 1846. Although only 18
years old, he was attracted to military service
and helped raise an infantry company as part
of the Second Mississippi Regiment. Hindman
served as a captain for several months without
seeing combat and returned home in 1848 to
study law. He gained admission to the bar in
1851 and shortly after developed an appetite
for politics. Hindman campaigned vigorously
on behalf of Jefferson Davis’s gubernatorial
candidacy, displaying genuine talent as a rab-
ble-rousing orator. Two years later he parleyed
this ability into politics, gaining election to the
Mississippi state legislature.
In 1856, Hindman moved to Helena,
Arkansas, to practice law. A newcomer in the
political arena, his ambitions were blocked by
the old political establishment, which re-
sented this upstart outsider. The fact that
Hindman, barely five feet
tall, overcompensated for
his shortness with an ag-
gressive, overbearing de-
meanor won him few
friends. However, he was
a first-class orator and
unafraid of political rows,
and in 1858 Hindman was
elected to the U.S. House
of Representatives as a
Democrat. He thus be-
came identified with the
radical secessionist fac-
tion of the party, which
demanded Southern rights
and the expansion of
slavery. Throughout the
pivotal presidential elec-
tion of 1860, he also
championed the cause of
John Cabell Breckin-
ridge, who carried the
state but lost the election.
Following the secession
of South Carolina from the Union in Decem-
ber 1860, Hindman strongly agitated for
Arkansas to do likewise. The final break tran-
spired following the Confederate attack upon
Fort Sumter in April 1861, and Hindman set
about raising the Second Arkansas Infantry at
his own expense with himself as colonel. His
subsequent rise up the Confederate command
hierarchy was surprisingly rapid.
Hindman’s energy, previous military expe-
rience, and forceful personality culminated in
his promotion to brigadier general on Septem-
ber 28, 1861. He was serving under Gen. Al-
bert Sidney Johnston in Mississippi when the
rank of major general was conferred on him
in April 1862. Soon after, Hindman fought well
in the bloody Battle of Shiloh under Gen.
William J. Hardee and was wounded in fight-Thomas Carmichael Hindman
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