Charles W. Adams (Confederate general)

Charles William Adams
Born(1817-08-16)August 16, 1817
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedSeptember 9, 1878(1878-09-09) (aged 61)
Memphis, Tennessee
Buried
AllegianceConfederate States of America
Service/branchConfederate States Army
Years of service1861–1865
RankColonel, CSA
Appointed to duty as:
Acting Brigadier General
Commands23rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment
Adams' Arkansas Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
* Battle of Prairie Grove
* Battle of Missionary Ridge
Other workLawyer

Charles William Adams (August 16, 1817 – September 9, 1878) was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War (Civil War). In 1864, he was commander of the Confederate Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, within the Union Army lines. He had the title, although not the formal rank, of "acting brigadier general." He was not officially appointed by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and confirmed by the Confederate States Senate to brigadier general grade, even though some sources identify him as a brigadier general.

Adams was a planter, lawyer and judge before the war and a lawyer after the war. As a delegate to the Arkansas secession convention, he was an ardent secessionist. He was a law partner of United States Senator William K. Sebastian before the war and of Confederate brigadier general and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite of Freemasons Southern Jurisdiction, Albert Pike, after the war. He was the maternal grandfather of Helen Keller.[1]

  1. ^ Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 587. Retrieved December 22, 2012.