Adams was born to Irish immigrant parents in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 1, 1825; by some other sources he was born in Pulaski, Tennessee, on February 8, 1825.[1]
With the secession of Tennessee, Adams resigned his commission in the United States Army in early 1861 and joined the Confederate Army[1] not long afterward as a captain in the cavalry. He was commissioned a colonel in 1862, and a brigadier general[1] in December of that same year, replacing the late Lloyd Tilghman in charge of his brigade of infantry. Adams served entirely in the Western Theater and was commended in several official reports for his leadership. He was particularly conspicuous during the Atlanta Campaign, where he again displayed personal bravery as well as a talent for battlefield tactics. His brigade was selected to lead the advance of John Bell Hood's army into Tennessee.
Adams was killed at the Second Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, while attempting to capture the colors of the 65th Illinois.[1]He was one of six Confederate generals to perish in the defeat. An Indiana colonel who witnessed his death later wrote:
General Adams rode up to our works and, cheering his men, made an attempt to leap his horse over them. The horse fell upon the top of the embankment and the general was caught under him, pierced with [nine] bullets. As soon as the charge was repulsed, our men sprang over the works and lifted the horse, while others dragged the general from under him. He was perfectly conscious and knew his fate. He asked for water, as all dying men do in battle as the life-blood drips from the body. One of my men gave him a canteen of water, while another brought an armful of cotton from an old gin near by and made him a pillow. The general gallantly thanked them, and in answer to our expressions of sorrow at his sad fate, he said, 'It is the fate of a soldier to die for his country,' and expired. — Confederate Veteran, June 1897.
Adams left a widow with four sons and two daughters.
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