John Clifford Pemberton

John Clifford Pemberton 1814-81, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Philadelphia. He served in the Seminole and Mexican wars and at various frontier posts. He resigned from the U.S. army in Apr., 1861, and in June became a Confederate brigadier general. Pemberton was made a lieutenant general in Oct., 1862, and was assigned to command the region about Vicksburg. However, he was defeated by Ulysses S. Grant in the Vicksburg campaign and surrendered on July 4, 1863. After his exchange he resigned his lieutenant generalcy (May, 1864) and served as a colonel of ordnance for the rest of the war.

Pemberton, John Clifford (1814–81) Confederate army officer, born in Philadelphia. In the early years of his military career, he participated in the second Seminole War (1835–42) and in the Mexican War (1846–48). When the Civil War broke out, he was promoted quickly up the ranks of the Confederate army, despite considerable personal unpopularity, stemming partly from his Northern roots. Pemberton, placed in charge of defending Mississippi and East Louisiana, was bested by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the drive through the South that culminated at Vicksburg (1863). The defeat cemented his unpopularity.