Randall L. Gibson

Randall L. Gibson

Randall Lee Gibson (born September 10, 1832 in Versailles , Kentucky , †  December 15, 1892 in Hot Springs , Arkansas ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Louisiana in both chambers of the US Congress . During the Civil War he served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army .

Early years and military career

Randall Gibson was born on Spring Hill, his father's plantation in Woodford County . After the family moved to Louisiana, he received his schooling from private tutors at the Live Oak plantation in Terrebonne Parish . In 1853 he graduated from Yale , where he was a member of the Scroll and Key fraternity. Two years later, she took her law exam at the University of Louisiana . As a result, he traveled through Europe for several years and after his return worked as a planter .

After Louisiana split from the Union at the beginning of 1861, Gibson was initially on the staff of Governor Thomas Overton Moore . In March 1861 he left the capital Baton Rouge and joined the 1st Artillery Regiment from Louisiana. He was appointed Colonel of the 13th Infantry Regiment that same year and later fought in the Battle of Shiloh . With the Army of Tennessee he took part in the Kentucky campaign and the Battle of Chickamauga in 1862 . On January 11, 1864, Gibson was promoted to brigadier general. He was then involved in the Atlanta campaign and the Franklin-Nashville campaign before he was assigned the defense of the port city of Mobile in Alabama . He and his troops managed to hold out for a long time at the battle of Spanish Fort and finally to escape.

After the civil war

After the war, Gibson worked as a lawyer in New Orleans and also resumed his agricultural activities. He became a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and President of the Board of Administrators at the University of Louisiana, in whose transition from a public institute to today's private Tulane University he was instrumental. The Gibson Hall on the campus of the University bears his name.

Finally, Randall Gibson began a political career. In 1872 he was unsuccessful in the election to the United States House of Representatives , but two years later he succeeded in entering parliament for the 1st  congressional electoral district of Louisiana. After three confirmations, he moved on March 4, 1883 within Congress to the Senate , where he replaced the no longer running Republican William P. Kellogg . He was re-elected in 1889, but died in Arkansas in December 1892 during his second term as senator.

Web links

• Randall L. Gibson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Randall L. Gibson in the database of Find a Grave (English)