Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Churchill’s 1905 death marked him
as Richmond’s last surviving general

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 12th in a series about Kentucky officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

By PHILLIP SEYFRIT
Bugle Staff Writer

In 1905 at age 81, Thomas J. Churchill died as the last surviving general of the 1862 Battle of Richmond.

The Jefferson County native became a resident of Little Rock, Ark., in 1857 after making a name for himself as a first lieutenant with the Kentucky Rifles during the Mexican War.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Churchill recruited the First Arkansas Mounted Rifles and served with that regiment at Wilson’s Creek, Mo., in 1861. The next year, he was commissioned a brigadier general.

At the Battle of Richmond, Churchill headed a division made up primarily of Arkansas infantry and Texas dismounted cavalry units. A few of his Arkansas troops were one of the first examples of “sharpshooters” in the war’s Western Theatre. These specialists were stationed around the Kavanaugh Armstrong house (Pleasant View) at Richmond and figured prominently in picking off Union artillerymen.

But it was the flanking movement through a hidden ravine that earned the general his Richmond credibility. The attack from “Churchill’s Draw” won the day and the battle for the Confederacy on Aug. 30. Churchill’s division also was instrumental in driving Union troops past and through Duncannon Lane and the Richmond Cemetery and on toward the Kentucky River.

Serving under Gen. Kirby Smith for much of the Civil War, Churchill was active in the Red River, Texas, Campaign and at Jenkins Ferry, Ark. He was promoted to major general in 1865.

Churchill was educated at St. Mary’s College in Bardstown and at Transylvania University, where he studied law. He and his wife, Ann Sevier, had two sons and four daughters.

His first civil service post was as postmaster at Little Rock in 1857.  After the war, he was Arkansas state treasurer from 1874-80 and was elected state governor by a large margin. As governor, Churchill made great improvements in the state’s health care and created a normal school for Black students at Pine Bluff, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Churchill was buried in Little Rock’s Mount Holly Cemetery wearing his Confederate uniform. He died May 14, 1905.