Hardee, William J

Hardee, William J(oseph)

(born Oct. 12, 1815, near Savannah, Ga., U.S.—died Nov. 6, 1873, Whytheville, Va.) U.S. military leader. A graduate of West Point (1838), he wrote Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics (1855), a popular manual that was later used by both sides in the American Civil War. When Georgia seceded in 1861, Hardee resigned his commission and assumed command of Confederate forces in northeastern Arkansas, later demonstrating his military skills at the Battles of Shiloh and Chattanooga. As commander of the military department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, he attempted to halt the march of William T. Sherman across Georgia. After the war he retired to his plantation.