[The Reaper]

Further investigative research completed.

It would appear that in order to discuss this further with any hope of agreement, we are going to have to define the terms "lawyer" and "Confederate General".

The following is what I have found on each of the disputed eight:

Wade Hampton is a Confederate Major General who may have studied law, but was never recognized or practiced law:

"He graduated from South Carolina College in 1826 and studied law, but he did not practice."

"...graduated from the South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia in 1836; studied law but never practiced."

As you surmised, I would not call that being a lawyer. I have studied physics, but would not consider myself a physicist.

William Wirt Allen was another Confederate Major General who never practiced law before the war.

"General William Wirt Allen was born in New York City on September 11, 1835. He was raised in Montgomery, Alabama, and was graduated from Princeton in the class of 1854. Although he had read law, he took up the life of a planter and was thus engaged at the outbreak of the war."

I can find no reference of Confederate Major General James Patton Anderson studying or practicing law. He was, to all acounts I can find, a physician, a U.S. Marshal and a politician:

"James Patton Anderson Born in Franklin County, Tennessee, on February 16, 1822, Anderson grew up in Mississippi. Although he attended college briefly in southwest Pennsylvania, a family financial crisis forced him to withdraw before graduation. Called "Patton" by his associates, he began studying and practicing medicine. Later, he fought in the Mexican War, served in the Mississippi legislature, as a U.S. marshal for Washington Territory, and was elected to the U.S. Congress. After two years, he moved to Florida, set up a plantation near Monticello, and participated in the Florida state secession convention.

Confederate Major General William Brimage Bate was indeed a pre-war lawyer:

"BATE, William Brimage, a Senator from Tennessee; born near Castalian Springs, Sumner County, Tenn., October 7, 1826; completed an academic course of study; served as a private in Louisiana and Tennessee regiments throughout the Mexican War; member, State house of representatives 1849-1851; graduated from the law department of Lebanon University, Lebanon, Tenn., in 1852; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Gallatin, Tenn.; elected attorney general for the Nashville district in 1854; during the Civil War served in the Confederate army, attained the rank of major general, surrendered with the Army of the Tennessee in 1865; after the war returned to Tennessee and resumed the practice of law at Gallatin."

It would appear that Confederate Brigadier General William George Mackey Davis "read law" and "practiced law" before the War, in Tallahassee, Florida:

"William George Mackey Davis, a rather wealthy Leon County lawyer, “. . . widely known as a gentleman of great legal ability and high rank in his profession . ." took it upon himself to form a regiment of Cavalry in the summer of 1861."

Similarly, Confederate Brigadier General Marcus Joseph Wright practiced as a lawyer before the Civil War, (though I can find no record of formal schooling):

"Marcus Joseph Wright was born in Purdy, McNair county, Tenn., in 1831. He was the son of Capt. Benjamin Wright of the 39 Regular Infantry who served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, and grandson of Capt. John Wright of the Georgia Line, Continental Army. He practiced law and entered the Confederate Army in May, 1861, as lieutenant-colonel of the 154 Senior Regiment of Tennessee Infantry"

James Lusk Alcorn was another politician who may have practiced law without qualification, but was never recognized by the Confederacy as a General Officer.

"ALCORN, James Lusk, statesman, born near Golconda, Illinois, 4 November 1816. He early removed to Kentucky, and was educated at Cumberland College. For five years he was deputy sheriff of Livingston County, Kentucky, and in 1843 was elected to the legislature. In 1844 he removed to Mississippi and began the practice of law. From 1846 to 1865 he served in one branch or the other of the legislature. In 1852 he was chosen elector- at -large on the Scott ticket, and in 1857 was nominated as governor by the Whigs. This he declined, and was a candidate for congress in that year, but was defeated by L. Q. C. Lamar. He was the founder of the levee system in his state, and in 1858 he became president of the levee board of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta. In 1861 he was elected Brigadier-General by the state convention, of which he was a member, but Jefferson Davis refused his commission"

He served in command of a group of 60 day volunteers, I can find no indication that he ever saw action.

Arthur Pendleton Bagby is another politician cum lawyer who was never recognized as a Confederate General Officer outside of his command. He did see combat and all indications are that he served well and faithfully.

"Arthur Pendleton Bagby (1833-1921), lawyer, editor, and Confederate general, was born in Claiborne, Monroe County, Alabama, on May 17, 1833, the son of Arthur Pendleton Bagby. The elder Bagby served in the Alabama state Senate and House of Representatives, where he was the youngest member ever elected speaker. He was also twice elected governor of Alabama, served in the United States Senate, where he supported the annexation of Texas, and was appointed United States ambassador to Russia by President James K. Polk.

The younger Bagby attended school in Washington, D.C., and the United States Military Academy at West Point. At age nineteen he became the youngest graduate to be commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry. He was stationed at Fort Columbus, New York, in 1852-53 and saw frontier duty at Fort Chadbourne, Texas, in 1853 with the Eighth Infantry, Eighth Military Department. He resigned to study law, was admitted to the bar in Alabama in 1855, and practiced in Mobile until 1858, when he moved to Gonzales, Texas. There he married Frances Taylor in June 1860.

Upon the eruption of the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army and raised the first company of men from the Victoria area for the cause. He served as a major, Seventh Regiment of Texas Mounted Volunteers, in Gen. Henry H. Sibley's Army of New Mexico. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in April 1862 and later to colonel. On January 1, 1863, he led his regiment in the battle of Galveston, in which his "Horse Marines" assisted in the capture of the federal ship Harriet Lane. In this encounter Bagby won, according to Gen. John B. Magruder, "imperishable renown." Bagby later served under generals Richard Taylor and Thomas Green in western Louisiana, where he was wounded in fighting along Bayou Teche on April 13, 1863. For his service in Louisiana he was promoted for gallantry in action to brigadier general in early 1864 by E. Kirby Smith, although the rank was not approved in Richmond.

Following the surrenders of Lee and Johnston, Bagby was assigned to duty as major general on May 16, 1865, by E. Kirby Smith. He was placed in command of all cavalry forces in Louisiana and held that post until the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi Department. Bagby's latest promotion, however, was not approved in Richmond either. Thus Bagby was a general only as a result of a temporary appointment by Smith's headquarters."

Based on this, I would not call Wade Hampton, William Wirt Allen, James Patton Anderson, James Lusk Alcorn, or Arthur Pendleton Bagby, Confederate General Officers who were lawyers before the Civil War.

I would cede that William Brimage Bate and William George Mackey Davis were lawyers before the Civil War who became Confederate General Officers.

That would make the count 152, by my reckoning.

TR