James Seddon

James Andrew Seddon (1815-1880) is best remembered to history for having served as Secretary of War of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.

James Seddon was born in Falmouth, Virginia, on 13th July, 1815. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1835 he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Richmond.

A member of the Democratic Party, Seddon was elected to Congress and served for two spells (4th March, 1845 - 3rd March, 1847 and 4th March, 1849 to 3rd March, 1851).

Seddon was a member of the peace convention held in Washington in 1861 that attempted to devise a means of preventing the American Civil War. Seddon also attended the Provisional Confederate Congress in 1861. President Jefferson Davis appointed Seddon as his Secretary of War in November, 1862 and held the position until January, 1865.

When the Union Army arrived in Andersonville in May, 1865, photographs of the prisoners were taken and the following month they appeared in Harper's Weekly. The photographs caused considerable anger and calls were made for the people responsible to be punished for these crimes. It was eventually decided to charge Seddon, General Robert Lee, and several other Confederate generals and politicians with "conspiring to injure the health and destroy the lives of United States soldiers held as prisoners by the Confederate States". In August, 1865, President Andrew Johnson ordered that the charges against Seddon and the Confederate generals and politicians should be dropped.

James Seddon died in Goochland County, on 19th August, 1880.

James Seddon in The Guns of the South
James Seddon was the Secretary of War of the Confederate States.

In 1864, Seddon joined Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee at a meeting where Seddon and Davis debriefed Lee on the usefulness of the new AK-47. Seddon, who arrived at the meeting late due to unreliable rail service, was delighted to learn that the AK-47s were giving the Confederates the advantage in the war of attrition which the Second American Revolution was becoming. He also indicated grave concern over Patrick Cleburne's as-yet secret proposal to liberate and arm male Negro slaves. Finally, he was perplexed when Lee explained the mysteries surrounding the origins of the new weapon. He had never heard of the People's Republic of China, of Yugoslavia, nor of the SSSR.

In 1866, Lee brought to Seddon his concerns over troubling correspondence he had received from America Will Break concerning his much-guessed at political intentions in the future. Seddon attempted to inquire into Lee's political plans himself, but got no information.

A short while later, Seddon forwareded to Lee a note he had intercepted from Nathan Bedford Forrest indicating that Forrest, with encouragement from the Rivington Men, was prepared to run against Lee in the upcoming election.

After Lee won election to the Presidency, Seddon did not stay on as head of the War Department. He stepped aside when Lee filled the position with Jefferson Davis.

((The Guns of the South}}