Dobbs County, NC - William Richard Caswell

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                  WILLIAM RICHARD CASWELL

William Richard Caswell was a Major General for the Confederacy in 
Tennessee. He was the great grandson of Gov. Richard Caswell.  William 
Richard Caswell (b. 22 Oct 1809 d. Aug 1862) was the son of Richard 
William Caswell and Sarah Lytle. Richard William was the only son of 
General William Caswell and Gathra McIlwean. General William Caswell 
(b. 24 Sept 1754, d. Jan 1785) was the only surviving child of Gov. 
Richard Caswell's first marriage to Mary McIlwean.

William Richard Caswell attended Nashville University. He held the rank 
of Captain in the Mexican War. A lawyer by profession, he was appointed 
attorney general for the 12th Judicial Court of Tennessee in 1843 and 
attorney general for the 12th Solicitorial Court in 1849. Each 
appointment was for six years.

He was one of the early advocates of the Confederacy in Tennessee and 
was appointed a Brigadier General by Gov. Isham G. Harris, commanding 
Tennessee troops until they were turned over to the Confederate 
government. On 17 Nov. 1847 he was commissioned as Major General of the 
1st Division of the Tennessee Militia. Major General William Richard 
Caswell was murdered in August 1862, being found about a half mile from 
his home with his throat cut. Newspaper clippings indicate that the 
murderer was not known at the time and that blame was placed on a 
runaway slave and a group of unidentified men who supposedly ambushed 
him. He was 52 years old when he was killed.

At the time of his death, The Knoxville Register contained comments 
about General Caswell:

"One of the most universally esteemed and respected of our citizens. 
Perhaps no man who occupied as prominent a position as a public man 
ever enjoyed more personal popularity. Affable in his demeanor to 
everyone, kind and generous and upright, and just in all his 
transactions, it is remarkable that he should have an enemy so 
desperate a character as his slayer must have been".

The photograph and information was kindly sent me by Mae Hooten.

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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
Clair Hadley - donandclair@verizon.net
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