As we’ve been discussing in recent posts, the Confederacy was rapidly losing ground west of the Appalachian Mountains.  Union victories in Kentucky over the winter had broken the Confederate hold on the southern portion of that state, and now Tennessee was in the federals’ sights.  For the Confederate leaders whose commands had been beaten back by the Union repercussions were in the works.  George B. Crittenden, who had commanded at the defeat at Mill Springs, was having allegations leveled at him of drunkenness and neglect of duty.  He made an effort to continue his career despite the strong lobby against him, but 150 years ago as the weeks passed his stock fell lower and lower.

George Bibb Crittenden was born March 20, 1812 in Russellville, Kentucky.  His father was a prominent politician, whose influence got George an appointment to West Point where he graduated in 1832.  Crittenden was commissioned into the infantry but resigned less than a year later to pursue a civilian career.  He moved to Texas in the 1830’s and served for a time in the Army of the Texas Republic during the conflict with Mexico.  After Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845 the United States and Mexico were drawn into war, and Crittenden took the opportunity to rejoin the Army as an officer and went on to fight in the Regiment of Mounted Rifles.  He ended the war a brevet major, however he was briefly cashiered from the service for misconduct being reinstated in 1849.

Crittenden seems to have been a fairly competent officer, as even in the glacially slow promotion system which existed before the Civil War he reached the full rank lieutenant colonel.  When the Civil War broke out his native state of Kentucky was on the fence, but on June 10^th, 1861 Crittenden decided to give his allegiance to the Confederacy.  This put him at odds with his brother Thomas L. Crittenden and his cousin Thomas T. Crittenden who both went to fight for the Union.

In a previous post we discussed Crittenden’s misfortune at the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19^th, 1861.  His army’s poor performance there, along with accusations of drunkenness combined to hinder any upward motion in his stature.  This pressure shows up in his correspondence, like this letter written to his superior Albert Sydney Johnston 150 years ago today, the last paragraph of which is very telling:

Crittenden would only have about two more months in command when the above letter was written.  He was again accused of drunkenness and relieved of command, but was revived again only to resign.  Crittenden would serve in a few other posts without an official commission for the rest of the war but never was able to redeem himself.  Perhaps if he had a little more luck on the battlefield he would have been similar to another general with a known alcohol problem who was not too far away at this time, Ulysses Grant, and gone on to a more notable role during the war.

After the war Crittenden worked for the State of Kentucky until his death in 1880.  He is buried in Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.