Seddon, James Alexander

A Virginia aristocrat and fascinating conversationalist, Seddon was a man of dedication and will. He left his mark on southern history. Lee and Seddon were President Davis's most trusted military advisers, and the three men worked closely together. A former secretary of war during the administration of President Franklin Pierce, Davis controlled the southern armies and took a strong interest in the conduct of the War Department, scrutinizing Seddon's activities more than those of other cabinet officials. Seddon never publicly criticized this vigilance and always deferred to his superior. Still Seddon's influence with Davis was apparent. Seddon viewed the Civil War in large terms, emerging as a Confederate nationalist rather than as a proponent of narrow states' rights. Along with Judah P. Benjamin and Stephen R. Mallory, Seddon was one of the ablest men in Davis's cabinet.

SEDDON, James Alexander, a Representative from Virginia; born in Falmouth, Va., July 13, 1815; studied under private tutors and was graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1835; was admitted to the bar about 1838 and commenced practice in Richmond, Va.; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1847); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1846; elected to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1851); declined to be a candidate for renomination; member of the peace convention held in Washington, D.C., in 1861 in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war; delegate from Virginia to the Provisional Confederate Congress at Richmond, Va., in July 1861; appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of the Confederate States on November 20, 1862; retired in January 1865; died at “Sabot Hill,” Goochland County, Va., August 19, 1880; interment in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va.