Campaigns · Vicksburg
HistoryCentral · Primary Source & History GENERAL HENRY EUSTACE McCULLOCH, CSA VITAL STATISTICS BORN: 1816 in Rutherford County, TN. DIED: 1895 in Rockport, TX. CAMPAIGNS: Vicksburg. HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Brigadier General BIOGRAPHY Henry Eustace McCulloch was born on December 6, 1816, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. In 1837, he settled in Guadalupe County, Texas, eventually serving as sheriff while working as a farmer.
In the Mexican War, he was a captain of a company of Texas Rangers. McCulloch was elected to the state legislature in 1853, the senate in 1855, and was appointed a US marshal in eastern Texas during James Buchanan's presidency. After attending the Texas secession convention in 1861, he joined the Confederate forces as a colonel of the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles in April. In the early months of the war, he worked to clear the state of Union troops, and placed Confederate garrisons along frontier on the eastern border of the Panhandle.
Promoted to brigadier general to rank from March 14, 1862, he refused a nomination for governor in 1863 in order to remain in the Confederate army. While most of McCulloch military career took place in Texas, he commanded a brigade during the campaign to relieve Vicksburg. Later leading an attack on Milliken's Bend, he won a victory, despite his hesitance in battle. McCulloch returned to Texas, and spent the rest of the war commanding districts and subdistricts there.
After the end of the Civil War, he retired to Guadalupe County and spent the rest of his life as a farmer. McCulloch died in Rockport, Texas, on March 12, 1895.