Colton Greene
| Colton Greene | |
|---|---|
Colton Greene
|
|
| Born |
July 7, 1833 South Carolina |
| Died | September 23, 1900 (aged 67) Memphis, Tennessee |
| Place of burial | Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis |
| Allegiance |
 Confederate States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1861–65 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier General
|
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Colton Greene (July 7, 1833 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman and soldier. He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, mostly leading cavalry units. After the war he pursued several successful civic projects and public functions in Tennessee.
Colton Greene (real name possibly George Colton Greene) was born July 7, 1833 in SC, according to his postwar application for a passport. Little is known of his parents or education, and he reportedly never married nor would discuss his past with anyone. One story, current in Memphis at the time, has it that he killed a man in South Carolina, and then came west. By 1857 he was living in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was involved in politics with the state's Democratic Party. Greene was a wealthy and successful wholesale grocer in St. Louis by 1860. Also that year Greene became a partner in the St. Louis firm of Hoyt & Co.
Choosing to follow the Confederate cause, Greene was active in the pro-secession movement in the border state of Missouri just before the American Civil War began. He was assigned as an aide-de-camp to Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson in 1861, and helped him to coordinate the activities of the secessionists.
Greene was appointed a captain in the Missouri State Guard in 1861, and was sent by Jackson along with Capt. Basil W. Duke to Montgomery, Alabama, (then capital of the Confederacy) to ask the recently elected Confederate President Jefferson Davis for artillery. It was hoped these guns could be used to attack the Federal arsenal in St. Louis, however the captains arrived with their artillery too late to help in the effort, and the cannon were captured by Union troops. Despite this setback, Greene soon afterwards aided Gov. Jackson to drill recruits that had gathered in Jefferson City, as well as missions that summer into Arkansas and to Richmond, Virginia, to seek support for invading and reclaiming Missouri, now increasingly under Union control.
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