On this day in Alabama history: Josiah Gorgas suffered a stroke

Published On: 02.23.18 |

By: 9316

On this day in Alabama history: Josiah Gorgas suffered a stroke

Feb 23 feature

Josiah Gorgas (1818-1883) served in the military, was appointed the chief of ordnance for the Confederacy, was headmaster at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, and was elected president of the University of Alabama. His son, William Crawford Gorgas, was a noted physician and his wife, Amelia Gayle Gorgas, held several positions at the University of Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)

February 23, 1879

Confederate Brig. Gen. Josiah Gorgas, the father of William Crawford Gorgas, suffered a stroke, from which he never fully recovered. One of the few northern-born Confederate generals, Gorgas graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the U.S. Ordnance Corps. He married Amelia Gayle, the daughter of former Alabama Gov. John Gayle, while stationed at Mount Vernon Arsenal north of Mobile and in 1861 became the chief of the Confederate Bureau of Ordnance. In his position, he successfully built an armaments industry capable of providing the army with munitions, despite an inferior rail system and blockaded ports. Gorgas later served as the president of the University of Alabama.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Josiah Gorgas joined the Confederate Army in 1861 as a major in an artillery unit and was quickly promoted to ordnance chief. He was responsible for creating a remarkable system of industries and factories to arm the Confederacy. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)

Brig. Gen. Josiah Gorgas, Confederate States of America. (Smithsonian, Library of Congress, Wikipedia)

Amelia Gayle Gorgas (1826-1913) served as postmistress, librarian, and hospital patron at the University of Alabama over the course of 25 years. She was the daughter of Congressman John Gayle, married to famed military man and educator Josiah Gorgas, and the mother of public health physician William C. Gorgas. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)

William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920) was a physician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. He fought yellow fever in Panama, contributing to the building of the Panama Canal, was elected president of the American Medical Association, and served as U.S. Army surgeon general. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the University of Alabama W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.