William Steele ( general ) William Steele ( May 1 , 1819 – January 12 , 1885 ) was a career United States Army officer who served with distinction during the Mexican – American War . He later served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War . Early life and career . Steele was born in Albany , New York , in the spring of 1823 ; his mother was from Florida and his father originally from New England . He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1836 , graduating four years later standing 31st out of 42 cadets . He was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the 2nd U . S . Dragoons on July 1 , 1840 . Steele served at the Cavalry School for Practice at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania in 1840 and 1841 , during which he was promoted to second lieutenant on February 2 , 1841 . He participated during the Seminole Wars in Florida in 1841 and 1842 , engaged there in two skirmishes . Steele and the 2nd Dragoons were on frontier duty at Fort Jesup in Louisiana from 1842 to 1844 , and then in garrison at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri in 1844 and 1845 . The 2nd Dragoons were part of the Military Occupation of Texas in 1845 and 1846 , just prior to the start of the Mexican – American War . Steele fought at the Battle of Palo Alto on May 8 , 1846 , after which he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the 2d Dragoons on May 9 . He then saw action at the Battle of Monterrey that September , the Siege of Vera Cruz in March 1847 , and the Battle of Cerro Gordo in April . Steele then fought in the Battle of Contreras and the Battle of Churubusco on August 20 , and the Battle of Molino del Rey that September . Steele was appointed to the rank of brevet captain for his performance at Contreras and Churubusco as of August 20 , 1847 . After the war with Mexico ended , Steele was the acting asst . adjutant general of the cavalry brigade in 1847 and 1848 . He was also the adjutant of the 2d Dragoons from December 20 , 1847 , to April 10 , 1849 , during which the 2nd was in garrison duty at East Pascagoula , Mississippi in 1848 . Steele then served on recruiting service in 1848 and 1849 , and on frontier duty with the 2nd at several locations in Texas . Included in these assignments were being stationed at Fredericksburg in 1849 and 1850 , at Fort Martin Scott , in Austin in 1850 , and at Fort Lincoln in 1850 and 1851 . Steele and the 2nd Dragoons returned to Fort Martin Scott and later back at Fort Lincoln in 1851 , and Steele served as Quartermaster in Austin in 1851 and 1852 , during which he was promoted to captain as of November 10 , 1851 . Due to his multiple postings in Texas , he married a woman from there in 1850 . Steele and the 2nd Dragoons were stationed at Fort Conrad in the New Mexico Territory from 1852 to 1853 , and was on scouting duty in 1853 , during which Steele was engaged against Apache in a skirmish near Fort Conrad on July 28 , 1853 . He then served at Fort Craig in the New Mexico Territory in 1854 and at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas from 1854 to 1855 . Steele participated in the expedition against the Sioux in 1855 , during which he fought near Blue Water on September 3 , 1855 . He returned to Fort Leavenworth in 1855 and 1856 , and then was at Fort Randall in the Dakota Territory from 1856 to 1857 . Another stint at Fort Leavenworth followed in 1857 and 1858 , and then in garrison at St . Louis , Missouri , in 1858 . Steele was on sick leave from 1858 to 1859 , and on frontier duty at Fort Kearny in the Nebraska Territory from 1859 into 1860 . Steele was part of the expedition against the Kiowa and Comanche in 1860 , then stationed once at Fort Scott in Kansas from 1860 to early 1861 . Civil War service . On May 30 , 1861 , Steele resigned his U . S . Army commission and moved to Texas . Choosing to follow the Confederate cause and his adopted home state , he entered the Confederate States Army as a colonel in the 7th Texas Cavalry on October 29 . His first assignment was heading the Confederate forces in Mesilla during the New Mexico Campaign . Steele was promoted to brigadier general on September 12 , 1862 , and then the following year was sent to the Western Theater . He commanded the Confederate District of the Indian Territory in Lt . Gen . Edmund Kirby Smith ' s Department of the Trans - Mississippi from January 8 to December 11 , 1863 . Steele commanded the Department ' s Eastern Subdistrict of the District of Texas , New Mexico , & Arizona beginning on March 18 , 1864 . He participated in the Red River Campaign that spring , and was praised for his performance in the Battle of Pleasant Hill on April 9 . He then briefly led a division of cavalry until May 26 , 1865 , the day Gen . Smith surrendered the department . Steele was paroled on August 4 from San Antonio , Texas . Postbellum . After the war , Steele returned to Texas and became a Commission merchant of cotton from 1866 to 1873 . He moved to Austin in 1873 and was then Adjutant - General of the State of Texas until his death in early 1885 . He died in San Antonio , Texas , at the age of 65 , and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin .