Simon B. Buckner (Sr.), was born at Glen Lily, his family's estate near Munfordville, Kentucky. He was the third child and second son of Aylett Hartswell and Elizabeth Ann (Morehead) Buckner. Named after the

In May 1846, Buckner resigned his teaching position to fight in the Mexican–American War, enlisting with the 6th U.S. Infantry Regiment.

In 1861 Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin appointed Buckner adjutant general, promoted him to major general, and charged him with revising the state's militia laws. The state was torn between Union and Confederacy, with the legislature supporting the former and

• List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

After the war, Buckner accepted an invitation to return to West Point to teach infantry tactics. Just over a year later, he resigned the post in protest over the academy's compulsory

The terms of Buckner's parole in Shreveport, Louisiana, on June 9, 1865, prevented his return to Kentucky for three years. He remained in

Buckner had a keen interest in politics and friends had been urging him to run for governor since 1867, even while terms of his surrender confined him to Louisiana. Unwilling to violate these terms, he instructed a friend to withdraw his name from consideration if it