David E. Twiggs | |
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Nickname(s) | "Bengal Tiger"[1] |
Born | February 14, 1790 Richmond County, Georgia, U.S. |
Died | July 15, 1862 Augusta, Georgia, U.S. | (aged 72)
Place of burial | Twiggs Cemetery, Augusta, Georgia |
Allegiance | United States of America Confederate States of America |
Service | United States Army Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1812–1861 (USA) 1861 (CSA) |
Rank | Brevet Major General, USA Major General, CSA |
Commands | Department of the West |
Battles / wars | War of 1812 Black Hawk War Second Seminole War Mexican–American War
|
Relations | Levi Twiggs (brother) Abraham C. Myers (son-in-law) John Twiggs Myers (grandson) Sarah Lowe Twiggs (great-niece) |
David Emanuel Twiggs (February 14, 1790 – July 15, 1862) was an American career army officer, who served during the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and Mexican–American War.
As commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Texas when the American Civil War broke out, he surrendered his entire command to Confederate commissioners, with facilities, armaments, and other supplies valued at $1.6 million. Dismissed from the U.S. Army as a traitor, he was commissioned as a general of the Confederate States Army in 1861. But, recognizing he was in poor health, he quickly resigned from his commission that year. He was the oldest Confederate general to serve in the Civil War.