Robert G. Shaver

Robert Glenn Shaver (April 18, 1831 – January 13, 1915) was an American lawyer, militia leader, and colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, serving in several key battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. After the war, he was supreme commander of the Arkansas division of the Ku Klux Klan. Following charges of murder and treason in 1868, he fled to the British Honduras. After four years, he returned to Arkansas and served as the sheriff of the newly created Howard County. After a single term as sheriff, he continued to work as a lawyer and was appointed as major general and commander of the Arkansas State Guard.

Early life Robert Glenn Shaver was born on April 18, 1831, at Arcadia Post Office of Arcadia in Sullivan County, Tennessee, as the third of four children to Martha (née May) and David Shaver. He was named after Presbyterian minister Robert Glenn. He was raised on a farm near the Tennessee and Virginia line. He was educated at Emory & Henry University from 1846 to 1850.

Career Civil War Shaver practiced law until the outbreak of the Civil War. The regiment then established camp near Pocahontas, Arkansas. The regiment, then a part of the state troops, was transferred to the Confederate Army on July 23, 1861, and he was given command of the third brigade of Dardee's division. They then went to Pillman's Ferry (or Putman's Ferry) and Point Pleasant. According to Virgil Young Cook, he had three horses shot from under him at Shiloh and six horses in total throughout the war. The regiment was involved in the Red River campaign and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. Federal authorities pursued him due to his Ku Klux Klan activities. In 1868, he fled to New Orleans and boarded the British ship Mexico and sailed to British Honduras. After one term as sheriff, he retired and began practicing law. In 1912, the sword he lost at the Battle of Shiloh was returned to him.

Personal life Shaver married Adelaide Louise Ringgold, daughter of John Ringgold, of Batesville on June 10, 1856. His son James was a member of the Arkansas legislature. His great-grandson was poet John Berryman.

Shaver died on January 13, 1915, at the home of his daughter in Foreman. He was buried in Center Point.

Legacy A poem on the Arkansas Confederate soldier references Shaver in the following stance: "We fought with Lee at Gettysburg, with Cleburne always our saver. With Brag at Chickamauga Creek, at Shiloh with Bob Shaver". Camp Shaver, a veterans' camp, in Little Rock was named after him.