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{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox military person
|name=George T. Ward
|name=George T. Ward
|birth_date= {{birth date|1810|1|8}}
|birth_date= {{birth date|1810|1|8}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1862|5|5|1821|1|8}}
|death_date= {{death date and age|1862|5|5|1810|1|8}}
|birth_place=[[Fayette County, Kentucky]], United States
|birth_place=[[Fayette County, Kentucky]], United States
|death_place=[[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
|death_place=[[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
Line 10: Line 12:
|caption=George T. Ward
|caption=George T. Ward
|nickname=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|Confederate States of America|1861}}
|allegiance= Confederate States of America
|branch={{army|CSA}}
|branch=[[Confederate Army]]
|serviceyears=1861 - 1862 (CSA)
|serviceyears=1861–1862 (CSA)
|rank= [[File:Confederate States of America Colonel.png|35px]] [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
|rank= [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]]
|commands={{flagdeco|Florida|1861}} [[2nd Florida Infantry]]
|commands=[[2nd Florida Infantry]]
|unit=
|unit=
|battles=[[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Yorktown Siege]]<br/>[[American Civil War]]
|battles=[[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Yorktown Siege]]<br />[[American Civil War]]
|awards=
|awards=
|laterwork=<br/>Plantation owner<br/>Delegate: [[Florida Territorial Council]]<br/>1852 Candidate [[Governor of Florida]]
|laterwork=<br />Plantation owner<br />Delegate: [[Florida Territorial Council]]<br />1852 Candidate [[Governor of Florida]]
}}
}}
'''George Taliaferro Ward''' (1810 &ndash; May 5, 1862) was a cotton [[Plantations in the American South|plantation owner]] and politician from [[Leon County, Florida]]. He served in the [[Confederate Army]] as a [[colonel]] during the [[American Civil War]].
'''George Taliaferro Ward''' (1810 – May 5, 1862) was a major cotton [[Plantations in the American South|planter]] and politician from [[Leon County, Florida]]. He served in the [[Confederate Army]] as a [[colonel]] during the [[American Civil War]], dying near [[Williamsburg, Virginia]].


==Early life and marriage==
==Personal==
Ward was born in [[Fayette County, Kentucky]], and moved to [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]], [[Florida Territory]], in 1825 where he became the Registrar of the territorial Land Office, succeeding [[Samuel R. Overton]].
Ward was born in [[Fayette County, Kentucky]], and moved with his family to [[Tallahassee, Florida|Tallahassee]], [[Florida Territory]], in 1825.


In 1844 Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires, of the wealthy cotton-producing Chaires family of eastern Leon County. The couple had at least three daughters, Georgiana, Anna, and Mattie, as well as sons. Mrs. Ward would inherit other properties that were later incorporated into Southwood.
He was appointed as Registrar of the territorial Land Office, succeeding [[Samuel R. Overton]]. In 1844 Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires, of the wealthy Chaires planter family of eastern Leon County, who had a large cotton plantation. The couple had at least three daughters, Georgiana, Anna, and Mattie, as well as sons. Mrs. Ward inherited properties that were later incorporated into their plantation known as Southwood. She died in 1859, at the age of 33.


==Career==
George Ward owned [[Waverly Plantation (Leon County, Florida)|Waverly Plantation]], [[Southwood Plantation]], and [[Clifford Place Plantation]]. Combined, he held 160 [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] and produced 7500 bushels of [[Maize|corn]] and 500 bales of [[cotton]].
A major planter in central Florida, George Ward owned [[Waverly Plantation (Leon County, Florida)|Waverly]], his wife's Southwood, and [[Clifford Place Plantation|Clifford Place]] plantations. Combined, he held 160 [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] and produced annually 7500 bushels of [[Maize|corn]] and 500 bales of [[cotton]].


Planters were known for conducting duels to carry out challenges of honor, and tensions rose in the years before the American Civil War. Ward, a Democrat, and [[Augustus Alston]], a Whig, conducted a duel just north of [[Tallahassee]]. The duel allegedly stemmed from an event during the [[Second Seminole War]]. During that conflict, Alston was Colonel of a militia unit called the Leon Volunteers.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=Master's |last=Hovatter |first=Ryan P. |date=2021 |title=The Florida Volunteers: Territorial Militia in the Opening of the Second Seminole War |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/AD1157347.pdf |publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College}}</ref> On January 31, 1836, Lieutenant William Ward, brother of George T. Ward and one of the regimental drillmasters, presented Alston with a petition created by soldiers in his unit. The petition drew attention to the fact that their six-month enlistment period was up and that the troops wished to return home. Alston, after looking at the petition, told his second-in-command William C. Parish to "shoot the damned dog." Parish obeyed the order and drew his pistol and shot William Ward on the spot.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seawright |first1=John |title=The Sorrows of the Alstons |journal=Flagpole |date=November 6, 1996 |page=7 |url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn94029049/1996-11-06/ed-1/seq-7/ |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref>
===Duel===
⚫
A duel took place between George Ward and Augustus Alston just north of [[Tallahassee]]. [[Prince Achille Murat]] was Ward's second and Dr. Randolph of Tallahassee was the attending physician. Mr. Alston hit George Ward first, breaking his leg. Ward fell to the ground as Alston walked toward him, still shooting. One shot broke George Ward's arm. When Alston got directly over Ward, he had no shots left while Ward still had one. Alston evidently then folded his arms and declared, "I believe he will kill me after all." Ward fired his last shot and missed.


⚫
[[Prince Achille Murat]] was Ward's second, and Dr. Randolph of Tallahassee was the attending physician. Alston hit Ward first, breaking his leg with one shot and an arm with another. When Alston got directly over Ward, he had no shots left while Ward still had one. Alston was said to fold his arms and declare, "I believe he will kill me after all." Ward fired his last shot and missed.
⚫
Ward demanded more guns and insisted that Murat prop him up so that the contest might continue, but he fainted before his instructions could be carried out. It was later agreed to continue the duel, but before Ward recovered sufficiently to fight, Alston was killed in another duel.<ref>[http://www.fsu.edu/~speccoll/ward/wardcoll.htm George T. Ward Secession Broadside, Special Collection, Robert Manning Strozier Library, Florida State University]</ref><ref>[http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/197 Baptist, Edward E., Creating an Old South, University of North Carolina Press, 2002]</ref>

⚫
Ward demanded more guns to continue the contest, but fainted before his instructions could be carried out. The two men later agreed to continue the duel, but before Ward recovered sufficiently to fight, Alston was killed in a duel with Florida Militia Brigadier General [[Leigh Read]].<ref>[http://www.fsu.edu/~speccoll/ward/wardcoll.htm "George T. Ward Secession Broadside," Special Collection, Robert Manning Strozier Library, Florida State University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719213341/http://www.fsu.edu/~speccoll/ward/wardcoll.htm |date=2008-07-19 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/197 |title=Baptist, Edward E., ''Creating an Old South'', University of North Carolina Press, 2002 |access-date=2009-04-23 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190415/http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/197 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==Political==
==Political==
In 1838 and 1839, Ward served on the [[Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida|Florida Territorial Council]]. He attended the [[Florida Constitutional Convention of 1838]], in [[Port St. Joe, Florida]].
In 1838 and 1839, Ward served on the [[Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida|Florida Territorial Council]]. At the age of 18, he attended the [[Florida Constitutional Convention of 1838]], in [[Port St. Joe, Florida]].


In 1845 he voted in the first Florida election, after Florida had become a [[U.S. state|state]]. In 1852 Ward ran for [[Governor of Florida]] on the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] ticket, losing to [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[William D. Moseley]].
In 1845 Ward voted in the first Florida election after it was admitted as a [[U.S. state|state]]. In 1852 Ward ran for [[Governor of Florida]] on the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] ticket, losing to [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] [[James E. Broome]].


On February 4, 1861, George Ward was seated in the [[Montgomery Convention]] on [[secession]]. Ward, along with [[Abraham K. Allison]], led a faction of the convention who wished to delay secession to see if Georgia and Alabama would secede first. If they did not, then the state should wait for Florida voters to decide on the ordinance of secession. Ward presented a number of ordinances in attempt to delay secession but all of them were defeated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reiger |first1=John |title=Secession of Florida from the Union - A Minority Decision? |journal=Florida Historical Quarterly |date=1967 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=365–366 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol46/iss4/7/ |jstor=30147281 }}</ref> Though Ward did eventually sign Florida's [[Ordinance of Secession]], he was reluctant to do so, stating "When I die, I want it inscribed upon my tombstone that I was the last man to give up the ship."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Waters |first1=Zack C. |title=A small but spartan band : the Florida brigade in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia |date=2013 |location=Tuscaloosa |isbn=9780817357740 |page=9}}</ref>
⚫
On February 4, 1861, George Ward was seated in the [[Montgomery Convention]] on [[secession]]. In April 1861 he ran for and was elected to the [[Confederate Provisional Congress]]. Later that year he was elected [[colonel]] in the [[2nd Florida Infantry]].

⚫
In April 1861 he ran for and was elected to the [[Confederate Provisional Congress]]. Later that year he was elected [[colonel]] in the [[2nd Florida Infantry]].


==Civil War==
==Civil War==
In 1862 Ward's [[2nd Florida Infantry]] was sent to [[Virginia]] to serve, where Colonel Ward participated at the [[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Yorktown siege]], but he lost his life to a gunshot wound at the [[Battle of Williamsburg]]. In 1862 the Ward family was presented the Confederate battleflag.<ref>[http://www.floridamemory.com/FloridaHighlights/battleflag/ Florida Memory Project: Florida Highlights]</ref>
In 1862 Ward's 2nd Florida Infantry was sent to [[Virginia]] to serve, where Colonel Ward participated at the [[Battle of Yorktown (1862)|Yorktown siege]]. He died on May 5, 1862, after being shot at the [[Battle of Williamsburg]]. According to a witness, Ward was struck once in the chest and once in the head. Ward's remains were left when the 2nd Florida retreated but several volunteers returned to retrieve the body under enemy fire.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williamson |first1=Edward C. |title=Francis P. Fleming in the War for Southern Independence: Soldiering with the 2nd Florida Regiment |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=July 1949 |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=39 |url=https://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A22337 |access-date=9 November 2023}}</ref>

A month after Ward's death, the Ward family was presented with a Confederate battle flag that the Second Florida had carried into battle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presentation of Confederate Battleflag to Family of Colonel George T. Ward, 1862 |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/336064 |website=www.floridamemory.com |publisher=State Library and Archives of Florida. |access-date=28 July 2023}}</ref>


==Legacy and honors==
[[San Marcos de Apalache]] located at [[St. Marks, Florida|St. Marks]], [[Wakulla County, Florida]], was renamed Fort Ward to honor George T. Ward.<ref>[http://pone.com/ts/rw001.htm John Shepard Haven]</ref>
*[[San Marcos de Apalache]] located at [[St. Marks, Florida|St. Marks]], [[Wakulla County, Florida]], was renamed Fort Ward to honor him.<ref>[http://pone.com/ts/rw001.htm John Shepard Haven]</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{S-start}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
{{s-ppo}}
| NAME = Ward, George Taliaferro
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Brown (Florida politician)|Thomas Brown]]}}
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
{{s-ttl|title=[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Florida|Governor of Florida]]|years=1852}}
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American politician
{{s-aft|after=None}}
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 8, 1810
{{S-end}}
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Fayette County, Kentucky]], United States

| DATE OF DEATH = May 5, 1862
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, George Taliaferro}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, George Taliaferro}}
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1810 births]]
[[Category:1862 deaths]]
[[Category:1862 deaths]]
[[Category:Florida Whigs]]
[[Category:Florida Whigs]]
[[Category:Duellists]]
[[Category:American duellists]]
[[Category:American cotton plantation owners]]
[[Category:19th-century American planters]]
[[Category:People of Florida in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People of Florida in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Florida]]
[[Category:Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Florida]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army officers]]
[[Category:Confederate States Army officers]]
[[Category:Confederate States military personnel killed in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Confederate States of America military personnel killed in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:People from Leon County, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Leon County, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Fayette County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People from Fayette County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Members of the Florida Territorial Legislature]]
[[Category:Members of the Florida Territorial Legislature]]
[[Category:Politicians killed in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:19th-century Florida politicians]]

Latest revision as of 20:11, 24 November 2024

George T. Ward
George T. Ward
Born(1810-01-08)January 8, 1810
Fayette County, Kentucky, United States
DiedMay 5, 1862(1862-05-05) (aged 52)
Williamsburg, Virginia
AllegianceConfederate States of America
Service / branchConfederate Army
Years of service1861–1862 (CSA)
RankColonel
Commands2nd Florida Infantry
Battles / warsYorktown Siege
American Civil War
Other work
Plantation owner
Delegate: Florida Territorial Council
1852 Candidate Governor of Florida

George Taliaferro Ward (1810 – May 5, 1862) was a major cotton planter and politician from Leon County, Florida. He served in the Confederate Army as a colonel during the American Civil War, dying near Williamsburg, Virginia.

Early life and marriage

[edit]

Ward was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, and moved with his family to Tallahassee, Florida Territory, in 1825.

He was appointed as Registrar of the territorial Land Office, succeeding Samuel R. Overton. In 1844 Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires, of the wealthy Chaires planter family of eastern Leon County, who had a large cotton plantation. The couple had at least three daughters, Georgiana, Anna, and Mattie, as well as sons. Mrs. Ward inherited properties that were later incorporated into their plantation known as Southwood. She died in 1859, at the age of 33.

Career

[edit]

A major planter in central Florida, George Ward owned Waverly, his wife's Southwood, and Clifford Place plantations. Combined, he held 160 slaves and produced annually 7500 bushels of corn and 500 bales of cotton.

Planters were known for conducting duels to carry out challenges of honor, and tensions rose in the years before the American Civil War. Ward, a Democrat, and Augustus Alston, a Whig, conducted a duel just north of Tallahassee. The duel allegedly stemmed from an event during the Second Seminole War. During that conflict, Alston was Colonel of a militia unit called the Leon Volunteers.[1] On January 31, 1836, Lieutenant William Ward, brother of George T. Ward and one of the regimental drillmasters, presented Alston with a petition created by soldiers in his unit. The petition drew attention to the fact that their six-month enlistment period was up and that the troops wished to return home. Alston, after looking at the petition, told his second-in-command William C. Parish to "shoot the damned dog." Parish obeyed the order and drew his pistol and shot William Ward on the spot.[2]

Prince Achille Murat was Ward's second, and Dr. Randolph of Tallahassee was the attending physician. Alston hit Ward first, breaking his leg with one shot and an arm with another. When Alston got directly over Ward, he had no shots left while Ward still had one. Alston was said to fold his arms and declare, "I believe he will kill me after all." Ward fired his last shot and missed.

Ward demanded more guns to continue the contest, but fainted before his instructions could be carried out. The two men later agreed to continue the duel, but before Ward recovered sufficiently to fight, Alston was killed in a duel with Florida Militia Brigadier General Leigh Read.[3][4]

Political

[edit]

In 1838 and 1839, Ward served on the Florida Territorial Council. At the age of 18, he attended the Florida Constitutional Convention of 1838, in Port St. Joe, Florida.

In 1845 Ward voted in the first Florida election after it was admitted as a state. In 1852 Ward ran for Governor of Florida on the Whig ticket, losing to Democrat James E. Broome.

On February 4, 1861, George Ward was seated in the Montgomery Convention on secession. Ward, along with Abraham K. Allison, led a faction of the convention who wished to delay secession to see if Georgia and Alabama would secede first. If they did not, then the state should wait for Florida voters to decide on the ordinance of secession. Ward presented a number of ordinances in attempt to delay secession but all of them were defeated.[5] Though Ward did eventually sign Florida's Ordinance of Secession, he was reluctant to do so, stating "When I die, I want it inscribed upon my tombstone that I was the last man to give up the ship."[6]

In April 1861 he ran for and was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress. Later that year he was elected colonel in the 2nd Florida Infantry.

Civil War

[edit]

In 1862 Ward's 2nd Florida Infantry was sent to Virginia to serve, where Colonel Ward participated at the Yorktown siege. He died on May 5, 1862, after being shot at the Battle of Williamsburg. According to a witness, Ward was struck once in the chest and once in the head. Ward's remains were left when the 2nd Florida retreated but several volunteers returned to retrieve the body under enemy fire.[7]

A month after Ward's death, the Ward family was presented with a Confederate battle flag that the Second Florida had carried into battle.[8]

Legacy and honors

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Hovatter, Ryan P. (2021). The Florida Volunteers: Territorial Militia in the Opening of the Second Seminole War (PDF) (Master's thesis). U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
  2. ^ Seawright, John (November 6, 1996). "The Sorrows of the Alstons". Flagpole: 7. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  3. ^ "George T. Ward Secession Broadside," Special Collection, Robert Manning Strozier Library, Florida State University Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Baptist, Edward E., Creating an Old South, University of North Carolina Press, 2002". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  5. ^ Reiger, John (1967). "Secession of Florida from the Union - A Minority Decision?". Florida Historical Quarterly. 46 (4): 365–366. JSTOR 30147281.
  6. ^ Waters, Zack C. (2013). A small but spartan band : the Florida brigade in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Tuscaloosa. p. 9. ISBN 9780817357740.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ Williamson, Edward C. (July 1949). "Francis P. Fleming in the War for Southern Independence: Soldiering with the 2nd Florida Regiment". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 28 (1): 39. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Presentation of Confederate Battleflag to Family of Colonel George T. Ward, 1862". www.floridamemory.com. State Library and Archives of Florida. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  9. ^ John Shepard Haven
Party political offices
Preceded by Whig nominee for Governor of Florida
1852 		Succeeded by
None
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