Gideon Johnson Pillow
Confederate States Army general (1806-1878) · United States · On the map · Lawyers · Died at 72
Gideon Johnson Pillow Jr. was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, having previously served as a general of United States Volunteers during the Mexican-American War. Before his military career, Pillow practiced law and was active in Democratic Party politics.
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He was a floor leader in support of the nomination of fellow Tennessean James K. Polk at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. In 1847, Pillow was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers to serve in the Mexican-American War, where he was wounded at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec and later promoted to major general, even when his superiors were unimpressed with his lack of military knowledge and his tendency to modify battle plans to the detriment of operations. However, controversy arose when, in a series of letters, Pillow tried to take what was perceived by some as undue credit for American victories at the expense of his commander, Major General Winfield Scott. Pillow was court-martialed for insubordination, but with President Polk's assistance, the court-martial was reduced to a court of inquiry, which in 1848 exonerated Pillow.
