He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, prominent in campaigns and battles in the Western Theater.

[1] His father was U.S. Representative Andrew R. Govan from South Carolina, who in 1832 relocated the family to Marshall County, Mississippi, where he was raised.

[3] In 1850 Govan was elected deputy sheriff of Sacramento, and two years later he returned to Mississippi and took up work as a planter.

[4] At the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, Govan chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause.

Following Shiloh, Govan took part in Edmund Kirby Smith's Kentucky Campaign and fought at the Battle of Perryville in October.

Govan's brigade participated in the Atlanta Campaign, and he received particular mention for his conduct at the Battle of Pickett's Mill in May 1864.