William M. Gardner

William Montgomery Gardner (June 8, 1824 – June 16, 1901) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general, during the American Civil War. Before the Civil War, he served in the U.S. Army for 15 years. He was a veteran of the Mexican–American War.

Early life William Montgomery Gardner was born on June 8, 1824, at Augusta, Georgia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1846.

American Civil War After his resignation from the U.S. Army, Gardner was appointed as a major of infantry in the regular army of the Confederate States on March 16, 1861. because the colonel of the regiment, Francis S. Bartow, had been killed. Gardner's later wound also was taken to be fatal. Sifakis states there is nothing in the Official Records to indicate Gardner participated in the battle. In fact, recent histories of the Civil War in Florida show that Gardner had been on sick leave in February 1864 and that Beauregard ordered Gardner to take command of the Confederate force pursuing the Union force's retreat toward Jacksonville, Florida only after the battle, when he realized Gardner had returned to duty. Gardner in fact assumed command of the force in the field soon after the battle and had his troops begin to erect fortifications outside Jacksonville until Beauregard himself arrived to take charge of the Confederate force and direct completion of the construction of defenses in March 1864.

Between July 26, 1864, and March 3, 1865, Gardner was chief of prisons in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. No record of Gardner's parole has been found.

Aftermath After the Civil War, Gardner lived for a while in Georgia and then moved to Tennessee. William Montgomery Gardner died June 16, 1901, at a son's home in Memphis, Tennessee. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery at Memphis.