Albert T. Morgan

Albert Talmon Morgan (June 9, 1842 – April 15, 1922) was an American farmer and politician. During the Civil War he served as a Union Army officer in the famed Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. A Republican, he was elected to office in Mississippi during Reconstruction and was a delegate to the convention which produced Mississippi's new constitution after the American Civil War. He was forced to flee the state in 1875 due to White terrorism against Reconstruction. He wrote a memoir of his life in the Reconstruction-era South, called Yazoo: On the Picket Line of Freedom in the South.

Albert Morgan was born in Theresa, Jefferson County, New York, in 1842. As a child, he moved with his parents to a farm near Fox Lake, Wisconsin, where he was educated and raised. He had been set to attend Oberlin College in Ohio, but at the outbreak of the American Civil War, he abandoned his college plans to volunteer in the Union Army.

Morgan enlisted as a private with Company A of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and went with them to the front in Washington, D.C. The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry was organized with the 6th Wisconsin, 7th Wisconsin, and 19th Indiana regiments into a brigade which soon became famous as the Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac.

The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry saw intense fighting through the first two years of the war and suffered heavy casualties. Morgan was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Gainesville, but was subsequently paroled. He was wounded again at the Battle of Gettysburg. He was promoted to corporal, sergeant, and first sergeant in the company, and re-enlisted as a veteran after his term expired in January 1864. He finally receiving a commission as 2nd lieutenant in March 1864. By June 1864, however, the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry had been so badly decimated by the war, that it could no longer be sustained as a regiment and was instead reconstituted as an independent battalion of two companies. Morgan was designated 1st lieutenant in the independent battalion.

The independent battalion was assigned to provost duty for the division, but participated in further fighting at the Siege of Petersburg. Morgan was wounded again at the Battle of Globe Tavern, but again returned to duty. He was promoted to captain of Company B of the independent battalion in September. The two companies of the independent battalion were absorbed into the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in November 1864, Morgan's company became Company H of the 6th Wisconsin Infantry.

After the Union took possession of Petersburg and Richmond, the Iron Brigade was instrumental in the Appomattox campaign, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the capture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis. They participated in the Grand Review of the Armies in May 1865, before mustering out of service in July.

After mustering out of the Union Army, Morgan moved to Mississippi with his brother, Charles, in November 1865. They rented a large farm, but ran into problems with the landlord, resulting in months of legal disputes.

Morgan was an avid Republican and became active in Reconstruction politics. He started a Republican newspaper in Yazoo County, and established the first Republican Party organization in the county. In 1868 and 1869, he helped organize, and was then a delegate to the convention to draft a new constitution for Mississippi.