Samuel Gibbs French

Samuel Gibbs French (November 22, 1818 – April 20, 1910) was an American military officer from New Jersey. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1843, served as a captain in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War, and was wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista. In 1856, he resigned his commission to manage a plantation in Mississippi he obtained through marriage.

At the start of the American Civil War, he sided with the Confederacy, was commissioned lieutenant colonel, promoted to brigadier general and major general. He served in the Eastern Theater and commanded the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. He was transferred to the Western Theater and commanded a division in the Army of Tennessee during the attempt to relieve the Siege of Vicksburg, the Atlanta campaign and the Franklin-Nashville campaign. Over the course of his military career, he served in thirty-five engagements.

In 1901, he published his autobiography Two Wars: an Autobiography of Gen. Samuel G. French, An Officer in the Armies of the United States and the Confederate States, A Graduate from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point 1843.