Franklin Gardner Franklin Kitchell Gardner ( January 29 , 1823 – April 29 , 1873 ) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War , noted for his service at Port Hudson on the Mississippi . Gardner built extensive fortifications at this important garrison , 16 , 000 strong at its peak . But he was at the mercy of conflicting orders , and found himself besieged and greatly outnumbered . His achievement at holding out for 47 days before surrendering has been praised by military historians . Early life . Gardner was born in New York City to Lieutenant - Colonel Charles Kitchell Gardner ( 1787 - 1869 ) and Anne Eliza McLean Gardner ( 1801 - 1880 ) . Charles Kitchell Gardner was son of a Revolutionary War hero . His mother was from Louisiana , where she was a member of a wealthy plantation owning family . He attended the United States Military Academy graduating 17th in the Class of 1843 , where he distinguished himself as a respected engineer . Ulysses Simpson Grant graduated 21st in the same class . He married the daughter of Louisiana Governor Alexander Mouton shortly thereafter . His wife ' s brother , Alfred Mouton , also became a prominent Confederate general . Gardner ' s older sister became the second wife of his wife ' s father , cementing the ties between the two families . Early military career . Upon graduation from West Point , he was assigned as a Second Lieutenant in the 7th Infantry . Serving first in Pensacola , Florida , he served in the Mexican War , first under Zachary Taylor , then under Winfield Scott . At the Battle of Monterrey in September 1846 , he was brevetted to First Lieutenant for bravery . He later served at the siege of Vera Cruz , Churubusco , and Molino del Rey . For bravery in these latter battles he was brevetted once again to Captain . He received a full promotion to Captain in March 1855 , and briefly served in the Utah War . Following a two - year leave of absence , he was again stationed in Utah , but left for the south in 1861 , and was dropped from the Army rolls . Siding with his wife ' s family , he returned to their home in Louisiana , where he joined the Confederate States Army as a colonel . Civil War . Shiloh and Perryville . Gardner is thought to have served at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 , and later at the Battle of Perryville , Kentucky , possibly on the staff of Lt . Gen . Braxton Bragg . In December 1862 , he was assigned command of the fortifications at Port Hudson north of Baton Rouge , Louisiana , where he replaced General William N . R . Beall , who remained at Port Hudson under Gardner ' s command . Port Hudson . Port Hudson was strategically important , as it was situated at a bend in the Mississippi River , from which its guns could control passage north on the River . General Nathaniel P . Banks and his 30 , 000 - man Army of the Gulf was deployed in New Orleans and surrounding areas , and it was generally expected that he would at some time attempt to capture Port Hudson . At the time , the entire Mississippi River from Port Hudson north 200 miles ( as the river flowed ) to Vicksburg , Mississippi was controlled by the Confederacy . General John C . Pemberton , who commanded Confederate troops at Vicksburg , was Gardner ' s immediate superior , and General Joseph E . Johnston , headquartered in Jackson , Mississippi , was Pemberton ' s superior . Johnston did not control an army , however , and Gardner would soon be subjected to contradictory commands from Johnston and Pemberton . Gardner immediately undertook an improvement to the defenses of Port Hudson , replacing a partially constructed system of lunette s with a four mile long earthworks extending from the Mississippi River on the southwestern corner of the fort , to the easternmost portion of the knoll on which Port Hudson stood . Earthworks were not constructed completely around the northern side of the fortifications , as the steep embankments were considered sufficient defense . In addition to the earthworks , Gardner instructed his men to create a series of abatis defenses , consisting of cut timbers sharpened at the ends and pointed in the direction of attackers . Gardner ' s forces at Port Hudson grew in size to approximately 16 , 000 in March 1863 , when Admiral David Farragut succeeded in running two of his gunboats past Port Hudson . From this position , Farragut was able to disrupt supplies coming to Port Hudson from the Red River , whose mouth at the Mississippi lay between Port Hudson and Vicksburg . In May 1863 , Banks began operations to surround Port Hudson with forces coming both the south and the north . By this time , Gardners ' troop strength had been reduced to 7 , 000 , the majority of his forces having been ordered to Vicksburg , where Pemberton was under attack by Union forces under the command of Ulysses S . Grant . On May 22 , 1863 , Gardner received a command from Johnston , who was odds with Pemberton and Confederate President Jefferson Davis , to evacuate Port Hudson and proceed to Jackson , Mississippi . He was in the process of doing so when word came that 12 , 000 of Banks ' s troops had landed north of Port Hudson , while another 20 , 000 were approaching from the south . Gardner was surrounded , and an escape was impossible . Gardner hence settled in for a long siege . The first assault of the Siege of Port Hudson came on May 27 , 1863 . The siege lasted 47 days , and did not end until July 9 , 1863 , when Gardner was informed that Vicksburg had fallen on July 4 , 1863 . Gardner ' s command of Port Hudson is considered by many military historians as an example of an outstanding defense of a fortification besieged by a much larger army . Richard Taylor , who commanded the Confederacy ' s Western District of Louisiana during the Siege of Port Hudson , considered Gardner a victim of the faulty Confederate military policy of immobilizing a large fighting force within a stationary fortification . This was the same defensive policy followed by John C . Pemberton at Vicksburg , and it created the same unfortunate results for the Confederacy at Port Hudson as it did at Vicksburg . Confederate soldiers idolized Gardner , and newspapers called him a good fighter . However , he was criticized for the caretaking of his troops . Historian John D . Winters in " The Civil War in Louisiana " ( 1963 ) , described Gardner ' s surrender at Port Hudson , accordingly : " Gardner had defended Port Hudson to the utmost of his ability . After more than forty days of merciless pounding from the [ Union ] fleet and land batteries , his men were exhausted and dispirited . Improperly clothed , sheltered , and fed , they sickened , and there was no medicine for them . Hope that Johnston would send relief grew fainter as each day of the siege progressed . As Gardner ' s meager supply of ammunition was nearly exhausted , many of his guns were wrecked , and his food stock was dangerously low , the news of the surrender of Vicksburg decided the fate of Port Hudson [ too ] . " Subsequent career . Gardner was taken to a Union prison camp , and released in 1864 . He served under General Richard Taylor thereafter until 1865 at the end of the war . Death . After the war , he retired to his family farm in Vermilionville ( now known as Lafayette ) , Louisiana , where he died in 1873 at age fifty . His grave is Cemetery of Saint John ' s Catholic Cathedral in Lafayette , Lafayette Parish , Louisiana , USA .