Alexander C. Jones

Alexander C. Jones
United States Consul to Chongqing
In office 1886–1898
United States Consul to Nagasaki
In office 1880–1886
Preceded by	Willie P. Mangum
Succeeded by	John Birch
1st Minnesota Adjutant General
In office May, 1858 – April 13, 1860
Appointed by	Henry Hastings Sibley
Preceded by	Isaac Van Etten
Succeeded by	William Henry Acker
Personal details
Born	Alexander Caldwell Jones 1830 (1830) Moundsville, Virginia U.S.
Died	January 13, 1898(1898-01-13) (aged 67–68) Chongqing, China
Occupation	Lawyer, diplomat, editor of the National Intelligencer
Military service
Allegiance	United States Confederate States Second Mexican Empire
Branch/service	United States Army  Confederate States Army
Rank	Brigadier General
Unit	44th Virginia Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	American Civil War Battle of Gaines' Mill (WIA)

Alexander Caldwell Jones (1830 – January 13, 1898) was an American lawyer, journalist, diplomat, and Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War. Jones served as the first Adjutant General of Minnesota.

Early life

He was born in 1830 near Moundsville, West Virginia, at that time a part of Virginia, to Garrison B. Jones and Martha Houston. He enrolled at Virginia Military Institute on July 28, 1846, and was graduated on July 4, 1850.

He then studied law and moved to Minnesota territory, where he became a district attorney and served as probate judge in St. Paul, Minnesota. From 1858 to 1860 he served as the Adjutant General of Minnesota.

Civil War

When his native state declared its secession from the United States in 1861 he returned to Virginia, where he joined the 44th Virginia Infantry. He was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel on May 1, 1862, and was wounded in the Battle of Gaines's Mill.

After convalescing from his injuries and serving in the Bureau of Conscription he resigned his commission on June 16, 1863, and requested a transfer to the Trans-Mississippi Dept. There he served on John Bankhead Magruder's staff and was then given the command of a Texas brigade of infantry. Gen. Kirby Smith recommended his promotion to brigadier-general on March 16, 1865, although there is no confirmation of his appointment. Jones was paroled in Brownsville, Texas on July 24, 1865, as a "brigadier-general". He was given a presidential pardon, dated August 15, 1865, sponsored by the Attorney General and the Hon. J. J. Jackson, which described him as a "rebel brigadier general".

Later life

Jones left for Mexico to serve under Emperor Maximilian until the fall of his regime. He then returned to West Virginia, and lived in Wheeling with his wife Ella Clemens' family. He became the editor of the National Intelligencer, but that newspaper failed in 1869.

In 1880 he was appointed U.S. Consul in Nagasaki and was transferred in 1886 to the China embassy in Chongqing, where he died on Jan. 13, 1898.

References