Gen. R. C. Gatlin
SOURCE: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889
Contributed by Michael Brown
18 Oct 1998
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SEBASTIAN CO
page 1319
Gen. R. C. Gatlin was born in Lenoir County, N. C., on the 18th of January,
1809. He is the son of John Gatlin and his wife, Susan, the daughter of
Richard Caswell, the first governor of the State of North Carolina. He entered
the military academy at West Point as a cadet July 1, 1828, and graduated July
1, 1832, when he was appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the Seventh
Infantry, then stationed at Fort Gibson. He joined the regiment in December,
1832, and served with it on the southwestern frontier until February 7, 1839,
when he accompanied it to Florida, arriving at Tampa Bay in March. He had been
promoted to be second lieutenant in 1834, first lieutenant in 1836, and was
appointed adjutant of the Seventh Infantry in December, 1838. He served in
Florida until the close of the Seminole War in 1842. In 1845 he accompanied the
regiment to Corpus Christi, where it became part of the Army of Observation
under Gen. Taylor. In September, 1845, he was promoted to be captain. He
served in [p.1319] Fort Brown during its bombardment by the Mexican troops,
from the 3d to the 9th of May, and was engaged at the battle of Monterey, in
which he was wounded, and for gallant and good conduct he was breveted a major
in the United States Army. In consequence of his wounds he was sent home to
recruit his health. In January, 1848, he joined his company in the City of
Mexico. After the close of the Mexican War he served with his company at
Jefferson Barracks; also in Florida, and again on the southwestern frontier,
commanding Fort Smith from 1851 to 1857; then in Utah and New Mexico, when he
commanded Fort Craig. He was promoted to be major of the Fifth Infantry in
February, 1861, and resigned his commission in the United States army May 20,
1861, after which he went to North Carolina, and was appointed a brigadier-
general of North Carolina troops, and assigned command of the coast defenses
of Wilmington. He exercised the command until the 31st of August, 1861, when
the North Carolina troops were transferred to the Confederate service, when he
was appointed a brigadier-general, P. A. C. S., and assigned to the command of
the Department of North Carolina. He was relieved from the command on account
of ill health in March, 1862, and resigned September 6. In 1863 he was
appointed adjutant-general of North Carolina, which office he held to the
close of the war in 1865. He then came to Arkansas, and settled on the farm
opposite Van Buren in January, 1866, where he remained until 1880, when he
moved to Fort Smith, where he still lives. On the 20th of January, 1857, he
married Mary A. Gibson, daughter of R. S. and Sarah P. Gibson, of Sebastian
County, Ark. They have two children living, Susan Caswell and Mary Knox
Gatlin.