Brigadier General Albert Pike
(Confederate commander of Texans and Cherokees)
One of the most enigmatic of all Civil War generals, this bear of a man (300 pounds or more) was born in Boston and educated at Harvard and Newburyport, making him a true, New England Yankee. Going west when he was 21, Pike joined hunters on their way down the Santa Fe Trail and wandered through the Southwest for nearly two years before settling at Little Rock, Arkansas in 1833. There he edited a newspaper, practiced law, accumulated a reputation as a poet, tried his hand as a planter arid took up the cause of the Masonic Lodge. His huge figure was difficult to miss, beneath a full beard and long, flowing curls, When the Mexican War erupted, Pike raised a company and fought, apparently, just for the adventure In 1849 he was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court
A Whig with anti-secession opinions. Pike nevertheless joined with Confederates when his adopted state left the Union. Because he had successfully represented Indians as their lawyer, Pike was made their commissioner and asked to recruit Indians fur the Confederate army. On August 15, 1861 Pike was appointed brigadier general.
About this time, Pike the poet wrote new and bellicose words for the song "Dixie" by Ohioan Dan Emmett.
Today Emmett's and Pike's verses are often mixed together. We still sing Emmett's words, " I wish I was in the land of cotton," but add Pike's "For Dixie's land we take our stand. and live or die for Dixie." Other little known verses by Pike are downright silly, such as. "Strong as lions, swift as eagles, back to their kennels hunt these beagles."
For reasons somewhat beyond his control, Pike's only significant battle in the Civil War was disastrous for his military career. He had never been completely trusted by other Confederates, and Pea Ridge finished him. One Confederate claimed Pike was "either insane or untrue to the South."
Northern newspapers were also after his scalp because, they claimed his "savages" had carved the forelocks from wounded Federals on the Pea Ridge battlefield. Almost immediately after the battle, Pike was embroiled in a bitter dispute with the new Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi District and was ordered to be arrested over alleged mishandling of funds. The court martial never materialized. Pike resigned his commission in November. I862 and kept out of sight for several years. Postwar he was indicted for treason by Federals, but nothing came of that either.
Living for a time in Memphis, then Washington (where he represented Stand Watie in a case before the Supreme Court--lost), Pike spent his later years as a Latin and French translator and devoted writer on Masonry. He died in a Scottish Rite Temple in 1891.
(Confederate commander of Texans and Cherokees)
One of the most enigmatic of all Civil War generals, this bear of a man (300 pounds or more) was born in Boston and educated at Harvard and Newburyport, making him a true, New England Yankee. Going west when he was 21, Pike joined hunters on their way down the Santa Fe Trail and wandered through the Southwest for nearly two years before settling at Little Rock, Arkansas in 1833. There he edited a newspaper, practiced law, accumulated a reputation as a poet, tried his hand as a planter arid took up the cause of the Masonic Lodge. His huge figure was difficult to miss, beneath a full beard and long, flowing curls, When the Mexican War erupted, Pike raised a company and fought, apparently, just for the adventure In 1849 he was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court
A Whig with anti-secession opinions. Pike nevertheless joined with Confederates when his adopted state left the Union. Because he had successfully represented Indians as their lawyer, Pike was made their commissioner and asked to recruit Indians fur the Confederate army. On August 15, 1861 Pike was appointed brigadier general.
About this time, Pike the poet wrote new and bellicose words for the song "Dixie" by Ohioan Dan Emmett.
Today Emmett's and Pike's verses are often mixed together. We still sing Emmett's words, " I wish I was in the land of cotton," but add Pike's "For Dixie's land we take our stand. and live or die for Dixie." Other little known verses by Pike are downright silly, such as. "Strong as lions, swift as eagles, back to their kennels hunt these beagles."
For reasons somewhat beyond his control, Pike's only significant battle in the Civil War was disastrous for his military career. He had never been completely trusted by other Confederates, and Pea Ridge finished him. One Confederate claimed Pike was "either insane or untrue to the South."
Northern newspapers were also after his scalp because, they claimed his "savages" had carved the forelocks from wounded Federals on the Pea Ridge battlefield. Almost immediately after the battle, Pike was embroiled in a bitter dispute with the new Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi District and was ordered to be arrested over alleged mishandling of funds. The court martial never materialized. Pike resigned his commission in November. I862 and kept out of sight for several years. Postwar he was indicted for treason by Federals, but nothing came of that either.
Living for a time in Memphis, then Washington (where he represented Stand Watie in a case before the Supreme Court--lost), Pike spent his later years as a Latin and French translator and devoted writer on Masonry. He died in a Scottish Rite Temple in 1891.
