General Franklin Kitchell Gardner Chest-up view of Gardner in Confederate uniform wearing a kepi. Back marked E. & H.T. Anthony, New York. Gardner was a Confederate major general noted for his service at the Siege of Port Hudson. Born in New York City, he graduated 17th in his 1843 West Point class, alongside Ulysses S. Grant. Gardner served in the Mexican-American War, earning brevets to captain for bravery at battles including Monterrey, Vera Cruz, and Churubusco. He served in frontier posts and the Utah War, becoming a captain in the 10th U.S. Infantry by 1855. In 1861, siding with his wife’s Louisiana family, he joined the Confederate Army as a lieutenant colonel without resigning from the U.S. Army. He led a cavalry brigade at Shiloh (1862), earning a promotion to brigadier general in April 1862, and served under Braxton Bragg at Perryville. Promoted to major general in December 1862, he took command of Port Hudson, fortifying it extensively. During the 47-day Siege of Port Hudson (May–July 1863), his 7,000 men held off 30,000 Union troops under Nathaniel Banks until Vicksburg’s fall prompted his surrender. Exchanged in 1864, he served under Richard Taylor in Mississippi. Gardner retired to a Louisiana plantation, dying in 1873.