Gen. Mansfield Lovell, CSA
A Confederate general who retired in New York City.
Mansfield Lovell was a West Point educated engineer whose career as a Confederate general was tarnished by losing the port city of New Orleans to Admiral David Farragut.
Mansfield Lovell was born in the District of Columbia, on October 20, 1822. He was the son of Dr. Joseph Lovell, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, and his wife Margaret Mansfield Lovell. Their home was located on Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, directly facing the White House. Mansfield's grandfather was James S. Lovell, a prominent Boston patriot and signer of the Articles of Confederation during the American Revolution.
Lovell graduated from West Point in 1842, where Robert E. Lee was commandant. Mansfield and his wife Emily Plimpton Lovell were married in 1849. They had three children: Joseph, Mamie, and Kiddie. Later, he was commissioned in the US artillery. He obtained the rank of brevet captain during the Mexican War. Lovell fought with his regiment at Monterrey, Veracruz, Chapultepec and Mexico City. He resigned from the U.S. Army in 1854.
After the Mexican War, Lovell worked for Cooper and Hewitt's Iron Works in Trenton, New Jersey. Later, he worked for the New York City street commission as a superintendent and commissioner. Lovell trained the Old Guard in operation of the guns at Ft. Hamilton in Brooklyn. Lovell resigned in September of 1861 to become an officer in the Confederate army.
Lovell reported to Virginia and was appointed at the rank of Major General. On October 7, 1861, he took command of the defenses of New Orleans and helped create the Confederate River Defense Fleet. Having bragged about New Orleans' defenses, he unwittingly provided the information the Union needed to drive the Confederacy out of New Orleans. Admiral David Farragut's navy quickly took control of the Southern port city.
Lovell was then assigned to the command of an infantry division at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi. Lovell commanded the I Corps, then skillfully directed the rear guard in the Confederate retreat. Fairing better at the engagement of Coffeeville, he was relieved of command for having lost New Orleans. Lovell requested a court of inquiry, which met in April of 1863. Although the Confederate court found him innocent of the charges of incompetence, he was not given any assignments for the rest of the Civil War.
Post-war times found Mansfield Lovell operating a rice plantation near Savannah, Georgia. Following the failure of this venture, he returned to New York City, where he worked as a civil engineer and resided in the Saratoga Flats in Manhattan. Lovell died in New York, on June 1, 1884. He is buried in Section 76, Fern Plot, Lot Middle 7811 at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.
Source: The New York Times.June 2, 1884.
