Hilary Abner Herbert

Born in Laurens, South Carolina on March 12, 1834, Herbert moved to Alabama in 1846 with his parents. After attending the University of Alabama and University of Virginia, he studied law and became admitted to the Alabama bar. He was a practicing attorney in Greenville when War broke out.

Herbert entered service as captain of the Greenville Guards and rose through the ranks of the 8th Alabama, becoming colonel by 1864. Wounded in the Wilderness, he retired from service due to disability on November 2, 1864.

After the War, Herbert married. He served in the Congress as a Democrat for seven terms from 1877 to 1893. Notably, he was chairman for the Committee on Naval Affairs. From 1893 to 1897, Herbert served as Secretary of the Navy under President Grover Cleveland. After his term, he returned to the practice of law. Herbert died in Tampa, Florida on March 6, 1919. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.

Herbert is the author of The Abolition Crusade and its Consequences; Four Periods of American History, published in 1912.