Confederate
Officer Mosby Monroe Parson received his commission to Brigadier General
November 5th 1862.
Mosby Monroe
Parson was born May 21st 1822 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the
oldest child of Gustavus Adolphus and Patience Monroe (Bishop) Parson. His family moved to Cooper County, Missouri
when he was thirteen, finally settling in Jefferson City, Missouri. He worked in his father’s brickyard, to pay
tuition at St Charles College. Parson
read for the law with Judge James W Morrow and passed the bar, becoming a
lawyer in 1846. When the Mexican
American War started he served with the rank of Captain with the Cole County
Dragoons and was cited for gallantry at the Battle of Sacramento. He returned to Missouri after the war and
served as the United States District Attorney for western Missouri as well as
in the Missouri State Legislature.
When the
Civil War started Parson took an appointment to lead the Sixth Division of the
Missouri State Guard. He led his men in
the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. After this
action, Parson went to Richmond, Virginia to try to get an appointment in the
Confederate Army. He received a
commission on November 5th 1862 to Brigadier General, and one month
latter was leading men at the Battle of Prairie Grove. He would see action at Helena, Arkansas, and
in putting down Union Major General Nathaniel Bank’s Red River Campaign, the
Battle of Pleasant Hill, and the Battle of Jenkins’ Ferry among others. He finished the war in the Trans Mississippi
Department under Confederate General Kirby Smith, as the commander of the
District of Arkansas.
After the
Civil War was over Parson didn’t return to Missouri, but went to Mexico, planning
to join up with Confederate General Joseph O Shelby. While in Mexico, he along with former
Confederate Congressman Aaron H Conrow and Parson’s brother-in-law Confederate
Captain Austin M Standish were taken captive by Mexican Juaristas cavalry, and
executed on August 15th 1865 near Chino, Mexico. Their bodies were thrown into the San Juan
River. There is a marker for Parson in
the Maplewood Cemetery in Charlottesville, Virginia.
No comments:
Post a Comment