Alfred H. Colquitt
Alfred H. Colquitt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Georgia | |
| In office March 4, 1883 – March 26, 1894 | |
| Preceded by | Middleton P. Barrow |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Walsh |
| 49th Governor of Georgia | |
| In office January 12, 1877 – November 4, 1882 | |
| Preceded by | James M. Smith |
| Succeeded by | Alexander H. Stephens |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | James Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Martin J. Crawford |
| Member of the Georgia State Legislature | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alfred Holt Colquitt April 20, 1824 Monroe, Georgia |
| Died | March 26, 1894 (aged 69) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Georgia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America Confederate States of America |
| Branch/service | United States Army Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1846–1848 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Major (USA) Brigadier General (CSA) |
| Commands | 6th Georgia Infantry Regiment Colquitt's Brigade |
| Battles/wars | Mexican–American War American Civil War |
Alfred Holt Colquitt (April 20, 1824 – March 26, 1894) was an American lawyer, preacher, soldier, 49th Governor of Georgia (1877–1882) and two-term U.S. Senator from Georgia (1883–1894), dying in office. He also served as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of brigadier general.
Early life
Alfred Colquitt was born in Monroe, Georgia. His father, Walter T. Colquitt was a United States Representative and Senator from Georgia. The younger Colquitt graduated from Princeton College in 1844, studied law and passed his bar examination in 1846. He began practicing law in Monroe.
During the Mexican–American War, he served as a paymaster in the United States Army at the rank of major.[1] After the war, Colquitt was elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855. He next was elected to and served in the Georgia state legislature. Colquitt was a delegate to The Georgia Secession Convention of 1861—voting in favor of secession and signing Georgia's Ordinance of Secession on January 19, 1861.
Civil War
At the beginning of the civil war, Colquitt was appointed captain in the 6th Georgia Infantry. Eventually rising to colonel, he led his regiment in the Peninsula Campaign. At Seven Pines, he assumed brigade command after Brig. Gen Gabriel Rains was wounded, and led it through the Seven Days Battles.[2]He led his brigade under Stonewall Jackson in the Battle of South Mountain,[3] Battle of Antietam,[4] the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville. Colquitt survived Antietam unscathed despite almost every other officer in the brigade being killed or wounded, and after the battle was immediately promoted to brigadier general, to rank from September 1.[5] After Chancellorsville, some questions arose about Colquitt's performance during that battle,[6] so he was sent back to North Carolina in exchange for Brig. Gen Junius Daniel's brigade. His brigade was transferred again in the summer of 1863 to protect Charleston, South Carolina.[7] In February 1864, Colquitt marched his brigade south to help defend against the Union invasion of Florida, and was victorious in the Battle of Olustee.[8] After this battle, Colquitt's brigade rejoined Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Late in the war the brigade returned to defend North Carolina, where Colquitt surrendered in 1865.
Political life
After returning to political life, Colquitt defeated Republican candidate Jonathan Norcross for governor of Georgia in 1876, part of the regaining of power of white Democrats in the state. He was opposed to Reconstruction. Around that time, several thousand friends asked for about 30 open government jobs. Those who did not get one of the jobs tried to turn voters against Colquitt. There also were rumors that Colquitt had been involved in illegal dealings with the Northeastern Railroad. A legislative committee found the governor innocent.
He was reelected in 1880 to serve two years under the new state constitution, which reduced the term of governor.[9] Under his term, debt was reduced. In 1883, Colquitt was elected by the state legislature as a Democrat to the US Senate from Georgia. He was re-elected to a second term in 1888. In 1892, Colquitt suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed. He recovered enough to resume his duties as a Senator, but in March 1894, he suffered another stroke that left him mostly incapacitated. He died two weeks later[10]and was buried in Rose Hill cemetery in Macon.
See also
- List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession
- Confederate States of America, causes of secession, "Died of states' rights"
- List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)
References
- ^ Lewis, Felice Flanery (2010). Trailing Clouds of Glory : Zachary Taylor's Mexican War Campaign and His Emerging Civil War Leaders. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780817316785. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Burton, Brian K. (2001). Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0253222770. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ Hartwig, D. Scott (2012). To Antietam Creek : The Maryland Campaign Of September 1862. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 301. ISBN 9781421406312. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- ^ Toney, B. (1997). "Horrors of the Bloody Lane". America's Civil War. 10 (4). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Sears, Stephen W. (1996). Chancellorsville. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co. p. 240. ISBN 0395634172. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Phalen, Anne Howard (1991). "In Defense of My Great Grandfather". American Heritage. 42 (1). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Wise, Stephen (1994). Gate of Hell : Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780872499850. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Howland, Chris (2014). "Rebel rally in the Sunshine State". America's Civil War. 26 (6): 38. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Perman, Michael (1984). The Road to Redemption: Southern Politics, 1869-1879. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 207. ISBN 0807841412. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Welsh, Jack D. (2013). Medical Histories of Confederate Generals. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9781306303101. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- United States Congress. "Alfred H. Colquitt (id: C000647)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-13
- Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
External links
- General Alfred Colquitt at the Battle of Olustee
- Holt, Alfred H. "Letter to Wiley B. Burnett, Aug. 20, 1890". America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia. E. Merton Coulter manuscript collection II. MS 2345. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- "Alfred Holt Colquitt Residence". Atlanta History Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center. Digital Library of Georgia. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "International Cotton Exposition". Atlanta History Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center. Digital Library of Georgia. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - "Memorial addresses on the life and character of Alfred Holt Colquitt : Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, fifty-third congress, third session". Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- "Newspaper clipping about Alfred H. Colquitt published March 29, 1894". Calhoun-Gordon County Library Obituary File, Calhoun-Gordon County Library, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- Alfred Holt Colquitt historical marker
| Class 2 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
- 1824 births
- 1894 deaths
- 19th-century American politicians
- American slave owners
- American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
- Confederate States Army brigadier generals
- Democratic Party United States Senators
- Democratic Party state governors of the United States
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats
- Governors of Georgia (U.S. state)
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
- People from Monroe, Georgia
- People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War
- Signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession
- United States Army officers
- United States Senators from Georgia (U.S. state)