General Randall Lee Gibson & Daniel H. Willis, Jr. (From Randall "Randy" Lee Willis files www.randywillis.org) Contact: randy@randywillis.org General Randall Lee Gibson b. 10 SEPT 1832 d. 15 DEC 1892 He was born in Versailles, Kentucky to Tobias and Louisiana (Hart) Gibson. His father was a prominent sugar planter in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Young Gibson graduated first in the class of 1853 from Yale College, studied law at the University of Louisiana in 1855, and traveled Europe before becoming a planter in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana in 1858. He had three sons by his marriage to Mary Montgomery on January 25, 1868. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Gibson, a Democrat, became aide-de-camp to Governor Thomas O. Moore of Louisiana. In August 1861 he became colonel of the 13th Louisiana Regiment and soon became known for his discipline. He performed well while commanding a Louisiana brigade at the battle of Shiloh, and he distinguished himself at Perryville in 1862. In 1863, Gibson also participated in the Tennessee battles of Murfreesboro and Missionary Ridge and commanded a brigade at Chickamauga. On January 11, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier general. He subsequently fought with distinction in the Atlanta and Nashville campaigns of 1864. In the spring of 1865, he held the Spanish Fort at Mobile. He surrendered and was later paroled in May 1865 along with my great-grandfather Daniel H. Willis, Jr. After the war, Gibson returned to planting and practiced law in New Orleans. He was elected (but not seated) as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1872; he was reelected and seated two years later and served continuously until 1882. From 1883 to 1892, he served in the U.S. Senate. In 1886, my great-grandfather Daniel H. Willis, Jr. named his youngest son Randall Lee Willis after his former commander in the Civil War, General Randall Lee Gibson. I was named after my grandfather Randall Lee Willis. Gibson was an agent for Paul Tulane in founding Tulane University, of which Gibson was the first president of the board in 1885. He died December 15, 1892, on a vacation in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Yale in the Civil War; Fortier, A History of Louisiana, I. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy, Walkelyn. My great-grandfather Daniel H. Willis, Jr. enlisted, September 29, 1861, at Camp Moore, La. in the Confederate Army. Pvt. 5th. Co. Battn. Washington Arty. La. (order of Gen. Gober, Gen. Adams) Retd. to (March 16, 1864, order of Maj. Gen. Breckenridge) Capt. Raxdale's Co. E, 16th. La. Regiment, Gibson's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. Willis was promoted to 2nd Sergt. (order of Col. Lindsay) March 5, 1865. He was a prisoner of war along with Gibson. Both were paroled at Meridian, Mississippi on May 14, 1865. Andrew B. Booth, "Records of Louisiana Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands," (New Orleans, La. 1920) Vol. I: 1115. Current, ed., "Encyclopedia of the Confederacy" (also see "Army of Tennessee Louisiana Division The Association and Tumulus" by Jerry Johnson Wier, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1999). Also see "LOUISIANA HISTORY," the journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 28, pp. 245-262 and vol. 36, pp. 389-411. The following excerpts from Daniel H. Willis, Jr.'s obituary in the "Alexandria Town Talk," 23 June 1900 describe Willis' dedication: "He participated in all the hard battles of that army and for bravery, soldierly bearing, discipline and devotion to duty, he was unexcelled in his entire Brigade. He was made Orderly Sergeant of his Company at an early period of the war. It has always been said by his surviving comrades that when any particularly dangerous service was required, such as scouting parties to ascertain the position and movements of the enemy, he was always selected for the place, and never hesitated to go, let the danger be what it may. He was for a long time connected with the famous Washington Artillery, and at the battle of Chicamauga so many horses of the battery to which he was attached were killed that they had to pull the guns off the field by hand to keep them from falling in the hands of the enemy. He was paroled at Meridian, Miss., in May, 1865, and brought home with him a copy of General Gibson's farewell address to his soldiers and of him it can be truly said that through the remaining years of his life he followed the advice then given by his beloved commander. His love for the Southern cause, and for the men who wore the gray, was not dimmed by years, but he lived and died firmly convinced of the justice of the cause for which the South poured out so much of her best blood and treasure...Before death he expressed a wish that he might see his children who were at home, especially Randall L., his baby boy, whom he had named in honor of his beloved Brigadier General, Randall Lee Gibson. He also requested that his Confederate badge be pinned on his breast and buried with him."