Horace Randal

Who was Horace Randal?

Horace Randal was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War. Randal was mortally wounded while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas on April 30, 1864, dying two days later. Confederate President Jefferson Davis did not act upon a request made by General E. Kirby Smith on November 8, 1863 to promote Randal to brigadier general. After Randal's performance at the Battle of Mansfield, General Smith, as the Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, assigned Randal to duty as a brigadier general on April 13, 1864. Randal was not officially promoted. Jefferson Davis subsequently revoked Smith's appointment of Randal as a brigadier general.

Randal graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1854 and was serving as a Second Lieutenant and Brevet First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army when the Deep South States seceded from the Union. Randal resigned from the U.S. Army on February 27, 1861 and was promptly appointed colonel of the 28th Texas Cavalry Regiment.