Wilburn Hill King | |
|---|---|
 King as a member of the Texas Legislature circa 1880 | |
| Born | June 10, 1839 Culloden, Georgia |
| Died | December 12, 1910 (aged 71) Sulphur Springs, Texas |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America |
| Service |  Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Colonel, CSAAssigned to duty as: Brigadier General |
| Battles / wars | American Civil War |
Wilburn Hill King (June 10, 1839 – December 12, 1910) was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was assigned to duty as a brigadier general by General E. Kirby Smith but he was not officially appointed and confirmed to that grade.
King had been a lawyer and businessman in Warrensburg, Missouri at the outbreak of the Civil War. He promptly enlisted in the pro–Confederate Missouri State Guard. After being wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, he was discharged and returned to Texas. There he enlisted as a private in the 18th Texas Infantry Regiment. In October 1861, he served as major and quartermaster of the division of Texas regiments which was being formed at that time. On May 13, 1862, he was elected major of the regiment. He progressed to lieutenant colonel and colonel in 1863.
On April 8, 1864, King's regiment, as part of Major General John G. Walker's division, helped rout three Union Army divisions at the Battle of Mansfield, where he was severely wounded. On April 16, 1864, General E. Kirby Smith, as the Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, assigned King to duty as a brigadier general. The Confederate government took no action on the appointment and Confederate President Jefferson Davis did not officially appoint and nominate King to the rank of brigadier general. By the end of the war, King had acted as a general officer, leading brigades, and briefly Walker's division, for more than a year, but had not been legally promoted to a general officer's grade.[1][2][3]
After fleeing to Mexico at the end of the war, and then operating a sugar plantation in Central America, King returned to Texas where he practiced law, was the mayor of Sulphur Springs, Texas, was a state representative and was Adjutant General of Texas from 1881 to 1891. After he retired as adjutant general, he concentrated on the affairs of the Masonic Order.
- ^ Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4. p. 365.
- ^ Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1. pp. 602–603. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
- ^ Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 0-8071-0823-5. p. 351.