James Morrison Hawes James Morrison Hawes ( January 7 , 1824 – November 22 , 1889 ) was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . Early life . James M . Hawes was born in Lexington , Kentucky , the son of Richard and Hettie Nicholas Hawes . The Hawes family was politically prominent . Hawes ' father Richard Hawes , uncle Albert Gallatin Hawes , great - uncle Aylett Hawes , and cousin Aylett Hawes Buckner all served in the United States House of Representatives . James Hawes did not follow the family tradition , however , and enrolled at the United States Military Academy on July 1 , 1841 . He graduated four years later with the rank of second lieutenant of dragoon s . U . S . military service . Upon graduation , Hawes was assigned to assist with the occupation of Texas . When war broke out with Mexico , Hawes participated in the Siege of Veracruz , and the battles of Contreras , Churubusco , and Molino del Rey . His outstanding service earned him a brevet to the rank of first lieutenant . Following his service in the U . S . - Mexican War , Hawes became an assistant instructor at the U . S . Military Academy . Among the subjects he taught were infantry tactics , cavalry tactics , and mathematics . In 1850 , he studied advanced tactics at the Cavalry School of Saumur , France . On his return to the United States in 1852 , Hawes was stationed on the Texas frontier , served in the Utah expedition in 1857 and 1858 , and helped put down disturbances in " Bleeding Kansas . " On February 3 , 1857 , Hawes married Maria Southgate at Christ Church in Cincinnati , Ohio . The couple had 10 children . Confederate military service . With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 , Hawes resigned his position in the U . S . army to accept a commission as a captain in the Second Kentucky Cavalry . On June 16 , 1861 , Hawes was promoted to the rank of major , and ten days later was promoted to colonel . He later resigned this position to be commissioned a major in the regular Confederate army . On March 5 , 1862 , Hawes was promoted to brigadier general at the request of Albert Sidney Johnston . He became the cavalry commander of the Confederate Western Department . Following the Battle of Shiloh , Hawes asked to be relieved of command and was assigned to a brigade under John C . Breckinridge . Kentucky ' s Confederate governor George W . Johnson was killed at the Battle of Shiloh , and the shadow government ' s legislative council chose Hawes ' father Richard to succeed Johnson . Records show that Hawes participated in a charge on Charleston , West Virginia , on July 4 , 1861 and helped defend a bridge on the Green River near Bowling Green on September 18 , 1861 . He was dispatched to Little Rock , Arkansas in October 1862 to serve as head of the cavalry brigade under Theophilus H . Holmes . Later , he participated in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads , served in engagement at Miliken ' s Bend , Louisiana and Mobile , Alabama , aided the defense of Vicksburg , Mississippi , and finished his Confederate military service in Galveston , Texas . Later life and death . Following the Civil War , Hawes and his wife returned to their destroyed home in Paris , Kentucky . They relocated to Covington , Kentucky in 1866 , where Hawes became a hardware merchant . He still resisted the family tradition of a political career , possibly because of improprieties committed by his brother , Smith Hawes , while he was city treasurer . Later in life , Hawes became known for decorating Confederate graves on Confederate Memorial Day . Hawes died at his home on November 22 , 1889 . His cause of death was listed as age and cerebritis . In January 1925 , the United Daughters of the Confederacy honored Hawes with a service cross medal , which his grandson accepted on his behalf .