Browne, William Montague

Life Span
to
    Full name
    William Montague Browne
    Place of Birth
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Origins
    Free State
    Family
    D. Geoffrey Browne, MP (father)
    Education
    Other
    Other Education
    Rugby School, Trinity College (Dublin)
    Occupation
    Politician
    Military
    Attorney or Judge
    Educator
    Journalist
    Political Parties
    Democratic
    Government
    Buchanan Administration (1857-61)
    Confederate government (1861-65)
    Military
    Confederate Army
    Foreign military

    William Montague Browne (Who's Who)

    Reference
    BROWNE, William Montague (1823-1883) In the waning days of the Confederacy, William M. Browne suffered the humiliation of having his appointment as a brigadier general rejected by a 18 to 2 vote in the Senate due to the animosity against Jefferson Davis, with whom he was so closely associated. The Dublin native had served in the Crimean War with the English army before settling in Washington where he was an editor with two political journals. Going over the Confederacy, he obtained a staff position with the Confederate president and his assignments included: colonel, Calvary (1861); and brigadier general, CSA (November 11, 1864). His request for field serviced turned down, he served most of the war in Richmond. When Robert M.T. Hunter left the post of secretary of state on February 17, 1862, Browne was appointed ad interim. This lasted until Judah P. Benjamin took over the portfolio on March 18, 1862. Browne then resumed his duties in the War Department’s section dealing with organization until the fall of 1864. He was dispatched to Georgia to directly observe and report to Davis on Sherman’s advance to the coast. At one point he commanded a brigade of local troops. Continuing in his reporting role during the Carolinas Campaign, he was included in Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender. In the meantime he had been appointed and then rejected as a general officer. After the war he was a planter and educator.
    Stewart Sifakis, “Browne, William Montague,” Who was Who in the Civil War (New York: Facts on File, 1988), 81.
    How to Cite This Page: "Browne, William Montague," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/5234.