Preston Pond Jr. (September 9, 1823 – June 15, 1864) was a lawyer and politician from Louisiana, who served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Early life and family
Preston Pond was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, on September 9, 1823. His parents were Dr. Preston Pond Sr., M.D. and Adeline Stebbins Wright. When he was a child his family moved to Jackson, Louisiana, where his father continued his medical profession. He grew up in a household with his parents, his four siblings and one slave. His three brothers ultimately all served in the Confederate States Army; Henry L. as 1st lieutenant in the 16th Louisiana Infantry and Charles L. as corporal in the 1st Louisiana Cavalry (later joined the 16th Louisiana Infantry and 10th Arkansas Infantry). The youngest, Dana B. Pond, served as private in the 27th Louisiana Infantry till he was captured and paroled at Vicksburg and joined the Ogden Cavalry Battalion.
Pond married Emelie Cooper (b. 1829) in 1846. In 1852 he married again, this time Adelaide Alice Woodward (1835 – December 12, 1878). With Adelaide he had a single child, daughter Adelaide Jane Pond, born on October 22, 1856. Their household was completed by a young Irish immigrant girl, C. O'Shaughnessy.
Leaning to a legal profession by 1850, Pond was admitted to the East Feliciana bar and practiced law in Jackson. By 1860 he had moved to Clinton, Louisiana, and in addition to his practice he took up farming. Entering politics as a Know Nothing he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives for East Feliciana in 1851. In 1855 he ran for the U.S. Congress as candidate for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, but he was defeated by Thomas G. Davidson.
Pond also served in the Louisiana Militia as an officer in the 21st or "Parish East Feliciana" Regiment. By 1849 he attained the rank of major, by 1860 he was the regiment's colonel.
Early Civil War
When the American Civil War erupted and Louisiana seceded, the Militia was organized into five divisions. Pond's 21st Regiment was part of the 3rd Division, and the colonel was, in addition to his regimental duties, named divisional inspector general on April 3, 1861. He traveled with his men to Camp Moore for training and reorganisation. On September 26, 1861, the 16th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was organized and mustered into Confederate service with a strength of 851 officers and men. When the regiment selected its own officers the men elected Pond to become their colonel. He spent the next months training his men, drilled them 5 hours a day and gained a high reputation for his regiment. In November 1861 the 16th Infantry was ordered by General Mansfield Lovell to relocate to Camp Chalmette at Chalmette, Louisiana, to be in proximity to New Orleans. Bad housing, inadequate supply, diseases and rigid camp discipline constantly thinned the ranks.
When Confederate President Jefferson Davis asked Louisiana to provide additional forces for service in Tennessee in February 1862 the 16th Infantry was brigaded with the 17th, 18th and 19th Regiments; under the overall command of Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles. Sent to Corinth, Mississippi, the brigade had to bear equally bad camp conditions as before. When Ruggles was elevated to division command in the Army of Mississippi the brigade was broken up and a new brigade formed as part of Ruggles' division in March. By virtue of seniority Pond now commanded a brigade composed of the 16th (under Maj. Daniel C. Gober), 18th and Crescent Louisiana Regiments as well as the Orleans Guard Battalion, the 38th Tennessee Infantry and an Alabamian artillery battery under Captain William H. Ketchum. By March 6, 1862, the regiment had an effective strength of 330 men.