Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/452

Rh. Like many other officers of Northern birth his residence as an army officer among the Southern people had caused him to become identified with the South in sentiment. He regarded Alabama as his State, and, upon her secession, determined to espouse her cause. Accordingly he resigned his commission as captain in the army of the United States and, accepting from his adopted State the commission of lieutenant-colonel, was placed in command of Fort Morgan. Later he was made a brigadier-general in the army of the Confederate States (February 27, 1862) and sent into east Tennessee. When the Union army was moving upon Chattanooga in 1862, General Leadbetter was engaged in quite a spirited affair at Bridgeport, in which, although the Confederates were worsted, considerable delay was caused to the movements of the enemy. His skill as an engineer caused him to be sent soon afterward to superintend the construction of the defenses of Mobile. In 1863 he was for a short time chief of the engineer department of the army of Tennessee, and he served in this capacity during the construction of the lines along Missionary Ridge, while the army of General Bragg was investing Chattanooga. A short while before the battle of Missionary Ridge General Leadbetter accompanied the brigades of Bushrod Johnson and Gracie on their march to reinforce Longstreet near Knoxville. They reached Longstreet on the 24th of November. As Leadbetter had once been stationed at Knoxville he was familiar with its fortifications, and for that reason had been sent to give General Longstreet such help as might be expected from an experienced engineer. After three days spent in reconnoitering the position of the enemy, an attack upon Fort Sanders was decided upon. The result, however, was disastrous to the Confederates. General Leadbetter continued to serve the Confederacy faithfully until the close of the war,