Mansfield Lovell was born in the District of Columbia, on October 20, 1822. He graduated from West Point in 1842, and was commisioned in the US artillery. He was wounded and brevetted in the Mexican War, then resigned from the army in 1854. He worked in business in New York City, worked on the city street commission, and resigned in September of 1861 to become an officer in the Confederate army. Appointed major general on October 7, 1861, he took command of the defenses of New Orleans and helped create the Confederate River Defense Fleet. He was known for enjoying alcohol and the pleasures of hotel life. Having bragged about New Orleans' defenses, he unwittingly provided the information the Union needed to drive the Confederacy out of New Orleans. Lovell was then assigned to the command of an infantry division at the Battle of Corinth, which he led poorly. Fairing better at the engagement of Coffeeville, he was relieved of command for having lost New Orleans. Lovell requested a court of inquiry, which met in April of 1863. Although the Confederate court found his innocent of the charges of incompetence, he was not given any assignments for the rest of the Civil War. After the war, he returned to New York City, where he worked as a civil engineer. Lovell died in New York, on June 1, 1884.