Charles W. Adams (Confederate general)

Charles W. Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 16, 1817.[2][3][4] His parents were Benjamin and Susannah (Goodhue) Adams.[2] Benjamin was related to President of the United States John Adams.[5]

In 1819, the Adams family moved to New Albany, Indiana, where Charles was a clerk in a mercantile house between 1830 and 1835.[2][5] Adams moved to Helena, Arkansas in 1835 and became a cashier in a mercantile house.[5] In 1837, he became cashier of the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas.[5] After studying law at night, he became a lawyer in 1839.[1][2][6] In the early 1840s, Adams entered into a law partnership with William K. Sebastian, who became a United States senator in 1848.[2][6] Adams was a judge from 1852 to 1854.[2][6] He also became a large cotton planter and slaveholder.[1][2]

Adams married Lucy Helen Everett.[4] Their daughter Catherine Everett Keller was the mother of Helen Keller.[7]

Adams was a presidential elector for John Bell in 1860.[1][2][8] He was elected to the Arkansas secession convention in 1861 and vigorously advocated for secession of that state from the union.[2][4][9]

In 1861, Charles W. Adams first served the Confederacy as a major and quartermaster of Arkansas state troops under Brigadier General Thomas Bradley, soon succeeded by Major General James Yell.[1][2][10] The Provisional Army of Arkansas was dissolved and incorporated into the Confederate States Army later in 1861.[2] Adams then raised an infantry regiment, the 23rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment from the Helena, Arkansas area.[2][10][11] Adams was elected colonel on April 25, 1862.[1][2][4] The regiment joined the Army of Tennessee after the Battle of Shiloh.[2]

After a few months, Adams returned to Arkansas to take charge of a new regiment.[2][4] Except for two companies of veterans, they were mainly unwilling conscripts.[2][4] The men were mustered into service on September 12, 1862.[2][4] The regiment became known as Adams' Arkansas Infantry Regiment.[12]

At the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas on December 7, 1862, Adams's regiment was ordered forward after the battle had started, to fill a gap in the Confederate line.[13] They headed directly for the sound of the firing, lost their way and ended up in a deep ravine from which they had to be extracted to take their place in the line.[13] Adams kept his men in place for a short time in order to steady them.[13] Soon, they unleashed a volley on the flank of an advancing Union regiment, the 26th Regiment Indiana Infantry, sending that regiment into retreat.[13] As the Confederates advanced in close ranks, the 37th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment made a stand in an orchard, from which they brought Adams's regiment under heavy fire.[14] Most of the men, except for some veterans of the Battle of Wilson's Creek in the two veteran companies, then fled the field.[2][14] Adams was nonetheless praised for his own leadership and performance.[2][15] Adams and his remaining men fell in with Colonel Emmett MacDonald's Brigade of Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke's Division.[14] The flight of most of the men of Adams's regiment had little effect on the outcome of the battle.[14] Adams's regiment was disbanded on December 16, 1862.[4]

Adams then served on the staff of fellow Arkansas citizen Major General Thomas C. Hindman, who commanded a division in the Army of Tennessee.[2][4][10] Adams served as acting assistant inspector general and chief of staff of the division.[2][4][16]

In his 1887 history of Arkansas, John Hallum says that Adams won a brigadier general commission for his gallantry on the field at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863.[10] Historian Bruce S. Allardice wrote in 1995 that "no record of Adams' promotion exists."[17] Adams returned to Arkansas in December 1863.[2]

In 1864, Adams served as commander of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, which was behind Union lines.[2][4] Some sources show his rank as "acting brigadier general."[1][4][17] Confederate cavalry Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby and his adjutant, Major John Newman Edwards each held a low opinion of Adams.[4][17] Edwards accused Adams of being more interested in cotton trading than in fighting.[4] When Shelby operated in this area of Arkansas, he relegated Adams to handling only civil matters.[17] Adams remained in command until at least December 27, 1864.[17] He likely formally remained on duty until the end of the war.[18]

Adams briefly returned to Helena, Arkansas after the war.[17] He attempted to practice law but the local federal military authorities would not permit him to do so because he refused to take the Ironclad oath.[10] Later in 1865, Adams moved to Memphis, Tennessee.[1][17] There he opened a law practice with former Confederate brigadier general and prominent Freemason, Albert Pike.[1][17][19][20]

Charles William Adams died on September 9, 1878, of yellow fever at Memphis, Tennessee.[4][17][21][22] He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, in Memphis.[1][4][17]

Charles W. Adams was the maternal grandfather of the author, political activist, disability advocate and lecturer Helen Adams Keller, who overcame deafblindness to achieve her many accomplishments.[1][7][17]

• Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4.
• Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-1967-9.
• Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 587. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
• Hallum, John. Biographical and pictorial history of Arkansas, Volume 1. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons, 1887. OCLC 4602324. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
• Hubbell, Jay B. The South in American Literature 1607-1900 Archived 2016-03-30 at the Wayback Machine. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1954. OCLC 190791
• Lash, Joseph P. Helen and Teacher: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy Archived 2018-10-18 at the Wayback Machine. New York: Delacorte Press, 1980. ISBN 978-0-440-03654-8. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
• Shea, William L. Fields of Blood: The Prairie Grove Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8078-3315-5.