Edward Higgins

Edward Higgins (c. 1821 – January 31, 1875) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War. Before the war, he spent almost 20 years in the United States Navy and 7 years as a merchant steamship agent. After the war, he was an insurance and import sales agent at Norfolk, Virginia and from 1872 to 1875 was an agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

Early life Col. Edward Higgins, bronze relief portrait by T. A. R. Kitson at Vicksburg National Military Park, erected in 1915 Edward Higgins was born in 1821 in Norfolk, Virginia. At a young age, he moved to Louisiana and lived with an uncle. On October 29, 1861, he was appointed captain in the CSA 1st Artillery Regiment. Higgins was captured on April 28, 1862, while defending Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip during the Union Army's attack on and occupation of the lower Mississippi River and New Orleans, Louisiana. Upon the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, Higgins was captured again. He was exchanged on October 13, 1863, and promoted to brigadier general on October 29, 1863.

At the request of Major General Dabney Herndon Maury, who was in charge of the defenses of Mobile, Alabama, Higgins was assigned to command the bay and harbor defenses at Mobile. He commanded a brigade at Mobile for most of the rest of the war. For reasons not clear in the historical record, Higgins was relieved of his duties on February 18, 1865. At the end of the war, he was in Macon, Georgia, awaiting orders. No record of his final capture or parole has been found.

Aftermath

Higgins returned to Norfolk, Virginia, after the end of the war. He was in the insurance and import businesses in Norfolk. After a severe flood in 1872, Higgins moved to California, where he became an agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

Edward Higgins died January 31, 1875, at San Francisco California. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, California.