Biography of General Gilbert Moxley Sorrel

A late addition to the Third Corps as a brigade level commander, Moxley Sorrel earned his promotion serving as a trusted aide to First Corps General James Longstreet.

Sorrel was born on February 23, 1838 in Savannah, Georgia. At the outbreak of the War, he was serving as a clerk in the banking department of the Central Railroad of Georgia. Sorrel witnessed the reduction of Fort Sumter in Charleston, then took part in the capture of Fort Pulaski.

Sorrel then went to Richmond "determined to get into the fight." He attached himself to the staff of General James Longstreet as a captain and volunteer aide de camp. Sorrel was present in this capacity at the battle of First Manassas. From this point until Longstreet's wounding in the Wilderness, Sorrel was a valued member of the staff of Longstreet.

By the time of the Wilderness, Sorrel had progressed through all the ranks to lieutenant colonel and was the chief of staff for the First Corps.Sorrel won his promotion at the Wilderness. Longstreet detailed him to lead the troops which rolled up the left of the Union Second Corps under General Hancock. It was not until October 27, however, that Sorrel actually was promoted to general. He was given command of a brigade of Georgians in Mahone's division. Sorrel had been apprehensive about accepting a command with A.P. Hill because of his role in the Hill - Longstreet feud, feeling Hill had been "menacing" towards him. Hill, actually, had asked for Sorrel for command of the brigade and went out of his way to make Sorrel feel welcome.

The charmed life Sorrel had led through most of the Civil War ended with his brigade command.

Although wounded and disabled by an exploding shell in the shoulder at Sharpsburg, and then again in a similar way at Gettysburg, Sorrel missed only two weeks with the former wound and no time with the latter. At Petersburg, however, he was bruised in January and knocked off his horse by a bullet that struck him near the hip. Sorrel's luck ran out at Hatcher's Run on Feb. 7, 1865 when a bullet passed through his right lung, smashing ribs. He survived this severe wound and was actually returning to the front when his wound broke down in the mountains near Lynchburg in April. His condition because of the wound prevented him from returning home on horseback, so he instead went by sea.

After the War, Sorrel was a merchant in Savannah. He died near Roanoke, Virginia on August 10, 1901. He was buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah. Sorrel wrote the excellent "Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer."

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This officer was a member of Wright's Brigade in Anderson's / Mahone's Division.

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This page is an officer biography that is part of a large index of officers who served in the Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. This officer index is contained on a website devoted to Confederate General A.P. Hill titled And Then A.P. Hill Came Up. The site is copyright 1997 - 2007 by Jennifer Goellnitz. Email Jenny at jgoellnitz [@] gmail.com.