Campaigns · Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Richmond (KY), Stone's River, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Price's Missouri Raid
HistoryCentral · Primary Source & History GENERAL EVANDER McNAIR, CSA VITAL STATISTICS BORN: 1820 in Richmond City, VA. DIED: 1902 in Hattiesburg, MS. CAMPAIGNS: Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Richmond (KY), Stone's River, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Price's Missouri Raid. HIGHEST RANK ACHIEVED: Brigadier General BIOGRAPHY Evander McNair was born on April 15, 1820, in Richmond County, North Carolina. He and his family moved to Mississippi when McNair was a child.
As an adult, he became a businessman, but took time off to fight in the Mexican War, serving under Jefferson Davis. After the Mexican War, he moved Washington, Arkansas, where he lived until 1861. When Arkansas seceded, he joined the Confederate forces. His first battle was at Wilson's Creek in August of 1861. In March of 1862, at Pea Ridge, he took command, thereafter holding brigade command. He was promoted to brigadier general as of November 4, 1862, because of his performance at Richmond on September.
McNair took part in the fighting at Stone's River, and went to the Western theater from the operations to relieve Vicksburg to the Battle of Chickamauga. Although he was severely wounded at Chickamauga, his troops were bale to capture two Union batteries, and become known among Confederates as the "Star Brigade of Chickamauga." When McNair recovered, he was permanently transferred to the Trans-Mississippi, where he participated in Maj.
Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Raid of 1864. After the end of the Civil War, he went into business, working first in New Orleans, then in Mississippi. McNair died in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on November 13, 1902.