Kentucky’s Civil War leaders . . .
Gen. Robertson popular with his troops
because of unusual concern for welfare

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 33rd in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Confederate Brig. Gen. Jerome B. Robertson, a Woodford County native, was a physician, Indian fighter and a Texas politician who was noted for his service in the famed Texas Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia.

When Robertson was only four years old, his father died leaving his mother almost penniless. Unable to properly support her family, she apprenticed young Robertson four years later to a hatter who moved with the boy in 1824 to St. Louis. After studying medicine at Transylvania College, Robertson graduated in 1835.

The Kentuckian was appointed brigadier general in the CSA in November 1862. He was in the Peninsula Campaign, serving with distinction during the Seven Days Battles and leading his regiment in a successful charge during the Battle of Gaines’ Mill that split the Union lines.

Robertson became popular with his soldiers due to his unusual concern for their welfare, giving rise to his nickname, “Aunt Polly.” He saw his first action as a brigade commander during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

In the summer of 1863, Robertson led his brigade into Pennsylvania during the Gettysburg Campaign and was involved in a series of hard-hitting, but ultimately unsuccessful attacks on Little Round Top. Those attacks culminated with the fight for Devil’s Den, during which his 1st, 4th and 5th Texas regiments, as well as his 3rd Arkansas Infantry, took heavy casualties that ultimately resulted in their taking their objective, despite being greatly outnumbered by Union forces. Robertson was wounded along with several of his officers during that action, which he later described as “one of the hottest contests I have ever witnessed.”

However, Robertson’s performance in the subsequent East Tennessee campaign invoked the wrath of both Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and division commander Micah Jenkins. Longstreet filed formal court-martial charges against Robertson, alleging delinquency of duty and accusing him of pessimistic remarks. Shortly before, Robertson had joined the other brigadiers in the division in support of Evander M. Law over Longstreet’s protégé Jenkins as division commander, which undoubtedly influenced Longstreet, who was in a bitter argument with Law. Robertson was reprimanded, replaced as commander of the Texas Brigade and transferred to Texas, where he commanded the state reserve forces until the end of the war.

Robertson was married to Kentuckian Mary Elizabeth Cummins and they had three children, one of whom died in infancy. A son, Felix Huston Robertson, also earned a commission as brigadier general in the Confederate army.

His wife died in 1868 and Robertson married a widow, Hattie Hendley Hook, in 1878 and located in Waco, Texas. He resumed his medical practice after the war and became involved with the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, promoting railroad construction in West Texas.

Robertson died in 1890 at age 74 and is buried in Waco.