John Gordon Coltart | |
|---|---|
 A wartime carte-de-visite of Coltart | |
| Born | January 27, 1826 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | April 16, 1868 (aged 42) Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service | Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands |
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| Battles / wars | |
| Other work | Businessman, county sheriff |
John Gordon Coltart (January 27, 1826 – April 16, 1868) was a Confederate States Army officer who held regiment, brigade and division command during the American Civil War.
During the antebellum period, Coltart became a businessman in Huntsville. He captained the local volunteer militia company and at the beginning of the war rose to battalion command at Pensacola. Coltart served as lieutenant colonel and colonel of the 7th Alabama Infantry Regiment, expanded from his battalion, during 1861 and early 1862. However, his troops refused to enlist under him due to his reputation for strict discipline and instead Coltart was placed in command of the new 26th Alabama Infantry Regiment just before the Battle of Shiloh.
Wounded leading the regiment at Shiloh, Coltart held temporary brigade command at Stones River. He was detached for conscription duty due to the consolidation of the regiment in early 1863. Returning to command of the regiment, redesignated as the 50th Alabama, Coltart led it at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and in the Atlanta Campaign. Again in command of Zachariah C. Deas' brigade at the Battle of Atlanta, Coltart was wounded at the Battle of Ezra Church, knocking him out of action for the rest of the campaign. Coltart led the 50th Alabama again during the Franklin–Nashville campaign. In the final weeks of the war, he commanded Daniel Harvey Hill's much-reduced division at Wyse Fork and Bentonville. Briefly serving as a country sheriff, Coltart died in an insane asylum three years after the end of the war.