Louis Douglas Watkins was born 29 November 1833 in Tallahassee, Florida, His parents, it is believed were from Georgia. He was taken to Washington, D.C. while very young. By 1860 he was working in the Post Office Department in Washington. He was first married to Emily H. ____ who was a native of New Jersey. Young Louis had been in a D.C. militia company prior to the war but upon finding out about their secessionist tendancies, he resigned. Three days after the firing on Fort Sumter Louis joined Company A, 3rd Battalion of D.C. Militia, a Unionist organization.
The following month he received a commission as a first lieutenant in Company D, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, subsequently designated the 5th U.S. Cavalry. In June of 1862 while in command of his company, Lt. Watkins was severely wounded and trampled in a cavalry charge at Gaines's Mill in the Peninsular Campaign. Upon recovering from his wounds, Louis was promoted to captain and sent west to Kentucky to be Chief of Cavalry, Army of Kentucky. In December he accompanied the forces under Gen. Samuel P. Carter in the East Tennessee raid. Captain Watkins received great praise from his commander. In February of 1863 Captain Watkins was promoted to colonel and given command of the 6th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry in place of Col. Dennis J. Halisy who had been killed previous December.
Col. Watkins and his command was subsequently sent to Nashville and then on to Franklin, Tennessee where he once again served with distinction. He was cited for bravery in actions at Brentwood, Tennessee against Gen. Forrest, at Carter's Creek where he surprised and routed part of Van Dorn's Texas Legion and on the 4th of July, 1863 for his attacks on the rear guard of Bragg's army retreating into Chattanooga.
In June of 1863 Col. Watkins captured two Confederate spies at Franklin, Tennessee. They passed themselves off as two officers from the Adjutant General's office in Washington. After leaving the post, Watkins became suspicious of them and went out with his aide and apprehended them. Subsequent investigation revealed that the leader was Col. William Orton Williams, CSA. He had been an aide to Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott at the beginning of the war before declaring for the Confederacy. Williams and his assistant, who was his cousin Daniel Peter were tried by drumhead courtmartial and hanged. Col Williams was a cousin of Gen. Robert E. Lee's wife and had courted their daughter at one time.
During the battle of Chickamauga, Col. Watkins, at the head of a brigade of cavalry, had the duty to escort a wagon train of invalid soldiers and supplies to Crawfish Springs. His scouts reported that the springs were in the hands of the enemy. Watkins immediately turned his command toward the Chattanooga/LaFayette Road. The march was extremely slow due to the wagons. Upon reaching the road, his command was attacked by a superior force of Confederate cavalry. The brigade made a fighting retreat towards Cooper's Gap. One regiment would stand and fight allowing the rest to fall back, they in turn would retreat into the new line. The battles started at Lookout Church and went on into the gap. Many men were lost and killed in this independent action.
During the Atlanta campaign, Col. Watkins and a detchment of his brigade was ordered to occupy LaFayette, Georgia in order to rid the country of John Gatewood and his guerrillas. While occupying the courthouse and other public buildings, on 24th of June, 1864 Col. Watkins' command was attacked by a full brigade of Confederate cavalry under Gen. Gideon Pillow. The federals barricaded the courthouse and jail and other buildings and held off the enemy until help came and the enemy dispersed. Col. Watkins was brevetted brigadier general dating to this action.
On the 4th of August, Brig. Gen. Watkins married for a second time to Mary Rousseau, daughter of Major General Lovell H. Rousseau. In December of 1864 Gen. Watkins was placed in administrative command at Louisville, Kentucky.
At war's end Gen. Watkins was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 20th U.S. Infantry (regular army) with New Orleans as his headquarters. On the 29th of March, 1868 Lt. Col. Watkins was stricken with apoplexy and died. He was given a state funeral with his remains placed in a burial vault in the city. The following year Gen. Rousseau died at New Orleans after contracting an illness in Alaska while serving as representative of Secretary of State Seward in negotiating the purchase of that land. The bodies of Gen. Rousseau and Lt. Col. Watkins were brought to Louisville for burial where Mary Rousseau Watkins died on 8 July 1869. The bodies of the three were then taken to Arlington Cemetery where they are all buried together under one stone just a few yards from the front door of Arlington House.
Col. Watkins had three children, Lovell Rousseau Watkins who born 28 June 1865 and died in 1882 while serving in the Army; Eva W. Watkins born 18 Sep 1866 and Louis Douglas Watkins, 15 June 1868 and d. 4 March 1869 at New Orleans.
This Biography of Colonel Louis Douglas Watkins was researched and written by Steven L. Wright.
Steven is researching to write a history of the 6th Kentucky Cavalry (Union) in the Civil War. If you have any information to contribute, Steven would be pleased to hear from you.
