Felix K. Zollicoffer
| Felix Kirk Zollicoffer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 19, 1812 Maury County, Tennessee |
| Died | January 19, 1862 (aged 49) Near present-day Nancy, Kentucky |
| Place of burial | Old City Cemetery Nashville, Tennessee |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America Confederate States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army Confederate States Army
|
| Years of service | 1836–37 (USA) 1861–62 (CSA) |
| Rank |
 First Lieutenant (USA) Brigadier General (CSA) |
| Battles/wars | |
| Other work | U.S. Congressman |
| Signature |  |
Felix Kirk Zollicoffer (May 19, 1812 – January 19, 1862) was a newspaperman, three-term United States Congressman from Tennessee, officer in the United States Army, and a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War. He led the first Confederate invasion of eastern Kentucky and was killed in action at the Battle of Mill Springs. Zollicoffer was the first Confederate general to die in the Western Theater.
Felix Zollicoffer was born on a plantation in Bigbyville in Maury County, Tennessee, a son of John Jacob and Martha (Kirk) Zollicoffer. He was descended from emigrants from Switzerland who had settled in North Carolina in 1710. His grandfather, George Zollicoffer, had served as a captain in the Revolutionary War, and had been granted a tract of land in Tennessee as payment for his military service.
Zollicoffer attended the local schools and studied for a year at Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee. He left at the age of sixteen, became an apprentice printer, and was engaged in newspaper work in Paris, Tennessee, from 1828 to 1830. When the newspaper closed, he moved to Knoxville in 1831 and worked for two years as a journeyman printer at the Knoxville Register. Three years later, he became editor and part owner of the Columbia Observer. Zollicoffer was elected State Printer of Tennessee in 1835.
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