St . John Richardson Liddell St . John Richardson Liddell ( September 6 , 1815 – February 14 , 1870 ) was a prominent Louisiana planter who served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He was an outspoken proponent of Southern emancipation of slaves . Liddell was murdered by a former Confederate Officer near his home in 1870 . Early life and career . Liddell was born to a wealthy plantation family near Woodville , Mississippi . He was a schoolmate of future Confederate President Jefferson Davis , whom he would interact with several times during the early years of the Civil War on behalf of fellow general Albert Sidney Johnston . He attended the United States Military Academy from 1834 to 1835 , but resigned prior to graduating . Liddell then moved to Catahoula Parish and established his own prosperous plantation , " Llanada , " near Harrisonburg , Louisiana . His famous feud with Charles Jones , which eventually led to his death , began in the 1850s . Civil War . Western Theater : 1861 – 63 . With the outbreak of the Civil War and Louisiana ' s secession , Liddell enlisted in the Confederate army and received a commission . He initially served as a staff officer to his close friend William J . Hardee and Albert Sidney Johnston during the early part of the conflict . He then commanded the famous Arkansas Brigade in Patrick Cleburne ' s division of the Army of Tennessee from 1862 – 63 , including the battles of Perryville and Murfreesboro . Liddell commanded a division at Chickamauga in 1863 , but repeatedly refused promotion to Major General in order to secure an assignment closer to his plantation , which was in jeopardy from Jayhawkers . Liddell was approached by General Braxton Bragg , a West Point classmate , to become his Chief - of - Staff and replace General W . W . Mackall , but Liddell refused . Although he was publicly critical of Bragg , Liddell seemed to enjoy his favor , which may have earned him the enmity of several of the officers in the Army of Tennessee . He remained very close with his classmate Hardee . Despite his personal clashes with fellow officers , Liddell had provided invaluable service to the Army of Tennessee . His brigade was pivotal at Perryville and Stones ' River ( where his sixteen - year - old son Willie Liddell was mortally wounded ) , and suffered the highest percentage of casualties at Chickamauga . Trans - Mississippi Theater : 1863 – 65 . General Bragg refused to spare Liddell , but when Bragg was relieved by Jefferson Davis after the Chattanooga disaster , Liddell appealed personally to the President for a transfer and command of District of Northeastern Louisiana , which he received and held during the Red River Campaign in 1864 . He was later assigned to overall command of the infantry at Mobile , Alabama until to its surrender in 1865 . During the last campaign , Liddell and Union Maj . Gen . E . R . S . Canby engaged in the Battle of Fort Blakely , one of the last engagements of the war , where he was captured . Canby would later prove influential in Liddell ' s life by securing amnesty for him from the Federal Government . During his Trans - Mississippi service , Liddell found himself in conflict with his immediate superior , Richard Taylor , the brother - in - law of President Davis , and regretted leaving the Army of Tennessee . In contrast to many modern historians , Liddell lays the blame for the Confederate failure to recapture the Mississippi or unite some 60 , 000 troops of their far Western Commands under Generals Magruder , Taylor , and Price with the Army of Tennessee on Taylor himself , rather than Edmund Kirby Smith . Unknown to Liddell , by late 1864 Generals Bragg , Hardee , and E . K . Smith made several petitions for Liddell ' s promotion to positions including James Mouton ' s Texas Division , and Hardee ' s Chief of Staff , but these were not acted on before the war drew to a close . Liddell on slavery . Liddell held a reputation for being outspoken , and was well connected . In December 1864 , he wrote a letter to Edward Sparrow , a Confederate Senator from Louisiana and chairman of the military Committee , expressing his conviction that the war was going against the Confederacy . He expressed the need for full emancipation of the slaves in order to secure foreign assistance . Although he admitted it may have been too late to act , he felt that emancipation may have also been a solution to the South ' s growing manpower crisis . Senator Sparrow showed the letter to General Robert E . Lee , who agreed with Liddell on all points , stating that " he could make soldiers out of any human being that had arms and legs " . Postbellum career . In 1866 , Liddell wrote his memoirs , in which he was highly critical of the Confederate leadership and his fellow officers , including Davis and Bragg . The memoirs themselves are actually a collection of several separate manuscripts , letters , and battlefield records , which he was unable to combine before he was murdered . In them , his criticisms arise mainly from the failure of Bragg ' s subordinates , including Cleburne , Bishop Polk , John C . Breckenridge , Simon Bolivar Buckner , Joseph Wheeler , D . H . Hill , and James Longstreet , to support Bragg , which in the end leaves Liddell as one of the few writers of the period who was generous to Bragg . His writing reveals his minority opinion of praise for officers like General John Floyd and Gideon Pillow , whom nearly all modern historians consider inept . He expresses disgust for Judah P . Benjamin , whom most historians consider one of the most able Confederate Cabinet officials . He mentions at several times the growing sense of futility he and other officers felt in the unlucky Army of Tennessee . It was plainly clear to them after the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson that their cause was doomed unless they could concentrate their forces and wage an offensive campaign , however political intrigue always seemed to squander any gains made by the Army . Liddell comes off as a fair , impartial officer , even proposing that had the south recruited Generals like George H . Thomas , whom he considered the best Union Commander , things may have turned out differently . A gentleman and one of the few selfless officers of the period , Liddell refused promotion , and endeavored to help any officer he was assigned to , regardless of whether they were liked or not . He was opinionated and outspoken , yet his opinion was valued , and he held the ear of the echelons of Confederate command , including Davis , A . S . Johnston , Bragg , and Hardee . Perhaps his military education , but lack of formal military background , led to this unique quality . He spent his vast personal fortune on equipping his own brigade , even though it was from a different state . The brigade itself was the only unit in the Army of Tennessee never to court - martial an enlisted soldier , and was known as the hardest - fighting and best - drilled brigade in the Army of the Tennessee . Liddell was murdered in 1870 by Col . Charles Jones , the culmination of a twenty - year real estate dispute that had seen Jones and his band of thugs murder several friends and family members of Liddell . He was buried on his sprawling plantation in Louisiana . The St . John Richardson Liddell Chapter # 271 of the Military Order of the Stars & Bars in Bay Minette , Alabama , was named for the former general .