Simon Bolivar Buckner

Simon Bolivar Buckner 1823-1914, Confederate general, b. Hart co., Ky., grad. West Point, 1844. In 1860, Buckner, a Louisville businessman, secured passage of a bill creating a large Kentucky militia and as inspector general trained it. Although he attempted to keep Kentucky neutral during the Civil War, when the legislature became strongly Unionist he took a commission as Confederate brigadier general (Sept., 1861). At Fort Donelson (Feb., 1862) he surrendered to Grant and was taken prisoner but was soon exchanged and promoted to major general. He fought in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky (Oct., 1862), Mobile (Dec., 1862-63), and Chattanooga (Sept., 1863), and commanded the Dept. of East Tennessee (May-Aug., 1863) and Louisiana from 1864 to the end of the war. Later he was editor of the Louisville Courier and governor of Kentucky (1887-91).

Bibliography: See biography by A. M. Stickles (1940).

moved to *precede* following entry for Buckner, Simon Bolivar, Jr. (son) - djb 2003-03-03Buckner, Simon Bolivar (1823–1914) Confederate general and governor of Kentucky (1887–91), born in Hart County, Kentucky. In the Mexican War (1846–48), Buckner was breveted captain for gallant and meritorious conduct. He was appointed Kentucky's inspector general of state militia in 1860. Brig. Gen. Buckner surrendered Fort Donelson (February 1862) on the famous “unconditional surrender” terms of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Released after five months' imprisonment, Buckner was promoted to major general and participated in numerous battles, most notably at Perryville (1862) and Chickamauga (1863). He was promoted to lieutenant general in the Trans-Mississippi Department under Gen. E. Kirby Smith (1864) and, after Appomattox, negotiated the surrender of troops late in 1865.

added Jr. to name to distinguish from preceding entry (father)--cf. ANB article 06-00072 - djb 2003-03-03Buckner, Simon Bolivar, Jr. (1886–1945) general, born in Munfordville, Kentucky, the son of Confederate general Simon Bolivar Buckner and the highest-ranking American general killed in World War II. In World War I, Buckner was a trainer of army units and a commandant of cadets at West Point (1933–36). He was promoted to brigadier general in 1940 and to lieutenant general in 1944. Troops under Buckner's command defeated a Japanese attempt to gain a strong foothold in the Aleutian Islands in 1942 and 1943. He was killed at the invasion of Okinawa (1945) and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his “outstanding leadership, tactical genius, and personal courage.”