James Chesnut Junior

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General Chesnut

James Chesnut junior (born January 18, 1815 in Camden , Kershaw County , South Carolina , † February 1, 1885 ibid) was a lawyer, politician of the Northern and Southern states, signatory of the Confederate States Constitution and brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War .

Life

Chesnut graduated from the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University , in 1837 , was admitted to the Bar that same year and practiced as a lawyer in Camden. At the same time he was active in politics and owned a plantation on which he himself employed slaves. From 1842 to 1854 he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and then a member of the State Senate until 1858 . In 1858, Chesnut was elected to the US Senate as the Democratic representative for the late Josiah J. Evans and remained in office until 1860.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Chesnut joined the Confederate Army and served as Colonel under General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard in the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12 and 13, 1861 and in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21 of the same year. After "Bull Run," he served on the staff of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and was shortly thereafter named head of the South Carolina state militia. Chesnut held this post until the fall of 1862, when he was recalled to Davis' staff in Richmond , Virginia . At the same time he was from 1861 to 1862 representative for South Carolina in the Provisional Confederate Congress. In April 1864 he was promoted to brigadier general and was given command of a reserve brigade with which he carried out missions in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida .

After the war, Chesnut returned to Camden, continued his legal practice, returned to politics, and took an active part in the rebuilding of South Carolina.

Chesnut was married to Mary Chesnut , who after her death became known for her detailed diaries of life during the Civil War. The marriage remained childless.

Chesnut died in 1885 on his plantation near Camden.

See also

literature

  • David J. Eicher: The Civil War in Books: An Analytical Bibliography , University of Illinois, 1997, ISBN 0-252-02273-4 .
  • Richard N. Current: Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (1993) (4 vol.) ( ISBN 0132759918 )
  • John H. Eicher & David J. Eicher: Civil War High Commands , Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3 .
  • Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders , Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Chesnut, James Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Confederate General in the American Civil War and politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1815
PLACE OF BIRTH near Camden , South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1885
Place of death near Camden , South Carolina