Controversial Civil War Commanders: Gideon Pillow

Had Tennessee-born General Gideon Pillow fought as hard against the enemy as he did his own comrades, he might have become a military legend.

by Roy Morris Jr. Few Mexican War generals fought more battles than Tennessee-born Gideon Pillow—the problem was that many of those battles were with his own superiors. That they were fought with pen and ink rather than pistol and sword made them no less desperate in their undertaking. A patron and early sponsor of fellow Tennessean James K. Polk, Pillow helped Polk win the presidency in 1844 as a decided Democratic dark horse. With Polk’s victory over Whig candidate Henry Clay, Pillow rode