Early Life
Gideon Johnson Pillow was born in Williamson County, Tennessee on June 10, 1806. He was the second son and second of seven children born to Gideon Pillow, Sr., and Anne Payne. His grandfather fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and was present at the British surrender at Yorktown. His father campaigned against American Indians in Tennessee, and he also served with American forces during the War of 1812.
Lawyer
Young Pillow attended local academies before graduating from Nashville University in October 1827. He then studied law and joined the Tennessee bar in 1829. The next year he began practicing law in Columbia, Tennessee, where he became a close friend of future United States President James K. Polk. Besides practicing law, Pillow became a successful and prominent planter during the 1830s. By the 1840s, he owned plantations and numerous slaves in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Marriage
On March 24, 1831, Pillow married Mary E. Martin of Maury County, Tennessee. The couple remained married for 38 years. Their marriage produced seven children.
Tennessee Democrat
In 1833, Tennessee Governor William Carroll appointed Pillow as adjutant general of the state militia, with the rank of brigadier-general. During that period, he also became active in politics as a Jacksonian Democrat. At the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Pillow supported his friend Polk as the party’s presidential candidate. Polk subsequently won the November presidential election. When the Mexican-American War erupted President Polk rewarded Pillow for his support with a commission as a brigadier general of volunteers on July 13, 1846.
Mexican-American War
During the Mexican-American War, Pillow first served under General Zachary Taylor near the border between the United States and Mexico. He served under General Winfield Scott at the Siege of Veracruz in March 1847. Pillow was wounded in the right arm at the Battle of Cerro Gordo (April 18, 1847). Officials promoted him to major general of volunteers on April 30, 1847. Pillow continued to serve under Scott throughout the drive to Mexico City, and he received a wound to his left leg at the Battle of Chapultepec (September 12–13, 1847).
Court-martial
Prior to receiving his second wound, Pillow authored a letter published in the New Orleans Delta on September 10, 1847, under the pseudonym “Leonidas.” The letter unjustifiably credited Pillow, instead of Scott, for the American victories at the Battle of Contreras (August 19–20, 1847) and the Battle of Churubusco (August 20, 1847). Many viewed the letter as an attempt by Polk’s supporters to curb Scott’s growing political prestige at home. When Scott learned of Pillow’s intrigue, he ordered his subordinate arrested and held for court-martial. At the subsequent trial, held in Washington under the watchful eye of the president, the judges exonerated Pillow after Major Archibald W. Burns claimed authorship of the letter at Pillow’s behest.
After the Mexican-American War, Pillow returned to Tennessee where he concentrated on his agricultural endeavors. He also remained active in Democratic politics, receiving some support for nomination to the office of Vice-President of the United States in 1852 and in 1856.
Civil War
Confederate Officer
When the Union began to dissolve following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States in November 1860, Pillow sided with the South even though he opposed secession. On May 9, 1861, Tennessee Governor Isham Harris appointed Pillow as the senior major general in command of the Tennessee Militia. After Tennessee left the Union (June 8, 1861), Pillow received a commission in the Confederate Army as a brigadier general, effective July 9, 1861.
On November 7, 1861, Pillow led a successful counterattack against Union forces under the command of Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant that had captured Camp Johnston near Belmont, Missouri. Pillow’s soldiers forced Grant’s command to retreat across the Mississippi River to Kentucky.
Fort Donelson
A few months later, Pillow exposed his shortcomings as a commander at the Battle of Fort Donelson (February 12–16, 1862). On February 6, 1862, Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry in Tennessee, near the Kentucky border. Grant then marched his army of approximately 25,000 soldiers toward Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. After traveling the twelve-mile span between the two forts, Grant positioned his troops in a semi-circle around the western side of Fort Donelson.
On the morning of February 15, Pillow led a Confederate force out of the fort, hoping to open an escape route for the besieged garrison. The Rebels drove Grant’s right flank back but the federal line did not break. By early afternoon, reinforcements from the Union center arrived and stabilized the situation. Although a breakout from the fort was still possible, Pillow ordered his men back to their trenches to re-supply. Taking advantage of the delay, Grant ordered a counterattack, forcing the Confederates back into the fort. By nightfall, the Bluecoats had reclaimed nearly all the ground they lost in the morning.
During the night, the Confederate commanders determined that their situation was hopeless. Fearing harsh reprisals for political acts committed while he served as United States Secretary of War before the war, the fort’s commander Brigadier General John B. Floyd fled during the night to evade capture, turning command over to Pillow. Not wishing to be held responsible for surrendering the fort and its garrison, Pillow also abandoned his post and escaped under cover of darkness, leaving the ignominious task to Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner. Pillow would forever suffer the dishonor of abandoning his post and his men at Fort Donelson.
Much later in life, Grant later stated in his memoirs:
I had known General Pillow in Mexico, and judged that with any force, no matter how small, I could march up to within gunshot of any intrenchments he was given to hold. I said this to the officers of my staff at the time. I knew that Floyd was in command, but he was no soldier, and I judged that he would yield to Pillow’s pretensions.
Grant also recalled that when Buckner told him that Pillow expressed his concern that his capture would be disastrous for the Confederacy, Grant replied that, “if I had got him, I’d let him go again. He will do us more good commanding you fellows.”
Battle of Stones River
On April 16, 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis suspended Pillow from command for “grave errors in judgement in the military operations which resulted in the surrender of the army” at Fort Donelson. By the end of 1862, Pillow had secured another position commanding a brigade in the division of Major General John C. Breckinridge during the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862–January 2, 1863). Some accounts report that Pillow acquitted himself adequately during this conflict. Others suggest that his performance was again sub-par. Still, others accused him of cowardice during the battle — an accusation that remains unsubstantiated. After Stones River, in January 1863, Confederate officials assigned Pillow to recruiting duties as chief of the newly created Bureau of Volunteers and Conscripts, headquartered in Middle Tennessee.
Atlanta Campaign
In 1863, Pillow commanded a cavalry brigade ordered to harass the supply lines of Major General William T. Sherman in northern Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign. At roughly 3 a.m., on June 24, 1864, his 1,600 troopers sprung a surprise attack on 450 Federal soldiers occupying the town of LaFayette, Georgia. The startled Federals barricaded themselves in the town courthouse, jail, and hotel until reinforcements arrived at approximately 9 a.m., driving Pillow and his men away. The Battle of LaFayette cost Pillow nearly 25 men and accomplished nothing. Brigadier General Daniel W. Adams replaced Pillow as commander of the brigade the next month.
Capture and Parole
As the war ground toward concluded, federal troops captured Pillow on April 20, 1865, at Union Springs, Alabama. Union officials paroled him in May and President Andrew Johnson pardoned him on August 28, 1865.
Post-war Life
Following the Civil War, Pillow returned to Tennessee, deeply in debt. After a failed attempt to revitalize his ruined estates, Pillow partnered with former Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris in 1868 to establish a law practice in Memphis, Tennessee.
Re-marriage
After the death of his wife in 1869, Pillow married Mary Eliza Dickson Trigg, who was forty years his junior, in 1874. His second marriage produced three children who survived to adulthood.
Death
One year following the birth of his last child, Pillow died a relatively poor man on the Mound Plantation, in Phillips County, Arkansas, on October 8, 1878, at the age of seventy-two. Pillow is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.