George Tucker Stainback

George Tucker Stainback (April 4, 1829 in Brunswick County, Virginia – June 28, 1902 at Dyersburg, Tennessee) was an American classicist and Presbyterian minister; he served as a chaplain in the Confederate Army, and in 1877 presided over the funeral of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Early life and education Stainback was the son of George W. and Lucretia T. (née Eppes) Stainback who had married in 1818 and moved to Limestone County, Alabama, and then, in 1835, to Memphis, Tennessee. Stainback attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford, earning his A.B. (1854) and A.M (1856), D.D. (1855) degrees. In 1855-6 he was assistant professor of Latin and Greek.

Ministry During the American Civil War Stainback served as a chaplain in the Confederate army. Stainback later visited Forrest as he lay dying, and presided over Forrest's funeral services in 1877. During the general's eulogy, Stainback declared: "Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest, though dead, yet speaketh. His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever."

Personal life Stainback married Clara B. Grady on October 19, 1854. Following Grady's death on December 5, 1864, he wedded Mary Gibson of Columbus, Mississippi, on January 4, 1871. He had seven children.

Stainback died in 1902 in Dyersberg, Tennessee, and was buried in Columbus, Mississippi.