john buchanan floyd
secretary of war

biography
John B. Floyd, an American statesman born in Smithfield, Montgomery County on June 1, 1806, was the son of a Virginia governor. He graduated from Columbia College in South Carolina in 1829 and lived three years in Arkansas before returning to Virginia to practice law in Washington County.

He served in the state legislature from 1847 up until 1849 and as governor of Virginia from 1849 to 1852. His support of James Buchanan for the presidency was rewarded by his appointment as secretary of war. Floyd held this cabinet post from 1857 until December 29, 1860, when, being a secessionist, he resigned after Major Robert Anderson’s occupation of Fort Sumner.

Accused of having removed arms from Northern to Southern arsenals in preparation for war, and the implication in the abstraction of $870,000 in bonds from the Department of the Interior, Floyd stormed back to Washington D.C. to face his accusers and was exonerated by a Congressional Committee.

Appointed as a brigadier general by the Confederacy, he fought in the battle at Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861, and then was transferred to the west. He reached the battle at Fort Donelson after the battle had started. He transferred the command to General Simon Bucker when surrender was discussed and withdrew his own brigade. Censured by President Jefferson Davis, he was relieved of command.