Alexander C. Jones facts for kids
Alexander Caldwell Jones was an American businessman and a soldier during the American Civil War. He was born in 1830 near Moundsville, West Virginia, which was then part of Virginia.
Early Life and Military Start
Alexander Caldwell Jones went to the Virginia Military Institute and finished his studies in 1850. After that, he studied law. He then moved to Minnesota. In 1858, he became a high-ranking military official for the state, serving for two years.
When his home state decided to leave the United States in 1861, he went back to Virginia. He joined the 44th Virginia Infantry as a soldier. On May 1, 1862, he became a lieutenant-colonel. He was hurt during the Battle of Gaines' Mill.
After the Battle
After getting better from his injuries, Jones left the army on June 16, 1863. He asked to be moved to a different military area called the Trans-Mississippi Department. There, he worked for General Magruder. Later, he was put in charge of a group of soldiers from Texas.
On March 16, 1865, General Kirby Smith suggested that Jones be promoted to brigadier-general. We don't know for sure if this promotion officially happened. However, when Jones was released from military service on July 24, 1865, he was called a "brigadier-general." He also received a special pardon from the President on August 15, 1865. This pardon described him as a "rebel brigadier general."
Life After the War
After the war, Jones went to Mexico. He worked for Emperor Maximilian until the emperor's rule ended. Then, Jones returned to West Virginia. He lived in Wheeling with his wife Ella Clemens' family.
He became the editor of a newspaper called the National Intelligencer. However, the newspaper stopped publishing in 1869.
In 1880, he was chosen to be a U.S. Consul in Nagasaki, Japan. A consul is a government official who helps citizens and promotes trade in a foreign country. In 1886, he was moved to the China embassy in Chungking. He died there on January 13, 1898.
Images for kids
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Presidential pardons for ex-Confederates from Virginia and West Virginia, published in the Wilmington (N.C.) Daily Dispatch, Jan. 10, 1867
