James Holt Clanton
Encyclopedia
James Holt Clanton was an American
soldier, lawyer, and legislator. He enlisted in the United States Army
for service during the Mexican–American War
, and later was a Confederate Army
general during the American Civil War
. Following the war he returned to practicing law and later was murdered in a private feud in Tennessee
.
, a son of Nathaniel Holt Clanton. In 1835 the family relocated to Macon County, Alabama
, where Clanton was raised and educated. Later he attended the University of Alabama
located in Tuscaloosa
, but he did not graduate. Clanton chose instead to join the U.S. Army and participate in the war with Mexico.
In 1846 Clanton first enlisted for six months as a private in the company of Capt. Rush Elmore, which belonged to Col. Bailie Peyton's regiment. When that term expired, Clanton joined the company of Capt. Preston Brooks
of the Palmetto Regiment. Clanton and his regiment reached Mexico City
following the September 1847 battle and after the occupation there had ended he returned home to Alabama.
After the war Clanton resumed studying law and in 1850 was admitted to Alabama's bar association
, settling in Montgomery
. Later Clanton served in the state's legislature
, and in 1860 he served as an elector on the U.S. Presidential ticket
of John Bell
and Edward Everett
.
, he chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause
in 1861. He first served along the Florida coast until the fall, when he was appointed a captain in the Alabama Cavalry
on November 12. Soon after Clanton was given command of the 1st Alabama Cavalry regiment and was promoted to the rank of colonel
on December 3.
Clanton's first major action was during the Battle of Shiloh
on April 6–7, 1862, in which he was part of the leading Confederate units on the battle's first day. Clanton next fought in the battle near Farmington
, Mississippi, on May 9, and then led a brigade during the Battle of Booneville
on July 1, where he "drove the enemy from the field." Sometime in 1862 Clanton resigned from the army, but was later reappointed a colonel in the Confederate service. His next assignment was as an aide-de-camp
to Alabama governor John G. Shorter
, and later in the same capacity to Gen. Braxton Bragg
. During the spring of 1863 Clanton raised three additional regiments of infantry. Beginning that September he was given command of the 2nd Brigade in the Confederate Gulf District, holding this post into early 1864.
Clanton was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on November 16, 1863. From February to June 1864 he served as aide-de-camp to Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk
, and then he led the cavalry brigade of the North District in the Confederate Department of Alabama and Eastern Mississippi, a unit often styled as "Clanton's Cavalry Brigade." Clanton fought during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign
, notably in the engagement on July 14 at the Ten Island Ford of the Coosa River
against Union
Maj. Gen.
Lovell H. Rousseau
. In this battle Clanton reportedly "lost his entire staff" and "His bravery made him well known by the generals of the Army of Tennessee
."
On September 23, 1864, Clanton's command was shifted to the District of Central Alabama in the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana until that November. In January 1865 Clanton was appointed to command the Cavalry Brigade of the District of the Gulf within the same department. On March 25 he was badly wounded in the fighting at Bluff Spring in Florida. Clanton was hit in his abdomen and his back, and was captured there by Union soldiers. Clanton was paroled from Mobile, Alabama
, on May 25 and allowed to go home to Alabama.
politics in his state.
, to represent the State of Alabama in a court case against the Chattanooga and Alabama Railroad
. Clanton, aware of the strong Union sentiment in East Tennessee during the Civil War, felt he was entering hostile territory, and became convinced that the railroad company was going to try and assassinate him. On the afternoon of September 27, after the court had adjourned, one of the railroad company's attorneys, Tomlinson Fort (a friend of Clanton), took Clanton on a tour of Knoxville.Thomas Alexander, Thomas A. R. Nelson of East Tennessee (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission, 1956), pp. 152-166.
As Clanton and Fort passed the Lamar House Hotel
on Gay Street
, they encountered attorney David Nelson (a son of prominent politician and judge T.A.R. Nelson
), who had been drinking nearby in the St. Nicholas saloon. Their meeting grew hostile as Clanton suspected Nelson was insulting him, and he challenged Nelson to a duel, which Nelson accepted. Clanton drew a pistol and ordered Fort to step off space for the duel (which Fort refused to do, pointing out that Nelson was intoxicated), while Nelson ran back into the saloon and obtained a double-barreled shotgun. When Nelson reemerged, he fired two shots, one of which mortally wounded Clanton. Clanton fired one shot, which missed.
Nelson was arrested and charged with murder. At his highly-publicized trial in April 1873, Nelson's defense team argued that Nelson had acted in self-defense, and portrayed Clanton as belligerent and prone to violent outbursts. The trial concluded on April 30, and the jury deliberated for just five minutes before voting to acquit Nelson. Newspapers across Alabama railed against the acquittal, calling the trial a farce.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldier, lawyer, and legislator. He enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
for service during the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
, and later was a Confederate Army
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
general during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Following the war he returned to practicing law and later was murdered in a private feud in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Early life and career
Clanton was born in 1827 in Columbia County, GeorgiaColumbia County, Georgia
Columbia County is a county located in the US state of Georgia along the Savannah River. As of 2010 the population was 124,054 a growth of 39% from the 2000 census figure of 89,288. The de jure county seat is Appling. Appling is an unincorporated area, making Columbia one of only three counties...
, a son of Nathaniel Holt Clanton. In 1835 the family relocated to Macon County, Alabama
Macon County, Alabama
Macon County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Nathaniel Macon, a member of the United States Senate from North Carolina. Developed for cotton plantation agriculture in the nineteenth century, it is one of the counties in Alabama within the Black Belt of the South.As...
, where Clanton was raised and educated. Later he attended the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
located in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
, but he did not graduate. Clanton chose instead to join the U.S. Army and participate in the war with Mexico.
In 1846 Clanton first enlisted for six months as a private in the company of Capt. Rush Elmore, which belonged to Col. Bailie Peyton's regiment. When that term expired, Clanton joined the company of Capt. Preston Brooks
Preston Brooks
Preston Smith Brooks was a Democratic Congressman from South Carolina. Brooks is primarily remembered for his severe beating of Senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the United States Senate with a gutta-percha cane, delivered in response to an anti-slavery speech in which Sumner compared Brooks'...
of the Palmetto Regiment. Clanton and his regiment reached Mexico City
Battle for Mexico City
The Battle for Mexico City refers to the series of engagements from September 8 to September 15, 1847, in the general vicinity of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War...
following the September 1847 battle and after the occupation there had ended he returned home to Alabama.
After the war Clanton resumed studying law and in 1850 was admitted to Alabama's bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
, settling in Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
. Later Clanton served in the state's legislature
Alabama Legislature
The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members...
, and in 1860 he served as an elector on the U.S. Presidential ticket
United States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
of John Bell
John Bell (Tennessee politician)
John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...
and Edward Everett
Edward Everett
Edward Everett was an American politician and educator from Massachusetts. Everett, a Whig, served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State...
.
American Civil War service
Although Clanton personally was opposed to secessionSecession in the United States
Secession in the United States can refer to secession of a state from the United States, secession of part of a state from that state to form a new state, or secession of an area from a city or county....
, he chose to follow his home state and the Confederate cause
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in 1861. He first served along the Florida coast until the fall, when he was appointed a captain in the Alabama Cavalry
Cavalry in the American Civil War
Cavalry in the American Civil War was a branch of army service in a process of transition. It suffered from emerging technology threats, difficult logistics, and sometimes misguided or inept commanders...
on November 12. Soon after Clanton was given command of the 1st Alabama Cavalry regiment and was promoted to the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
on December 3.
Clanton's first major action was during the Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
on April 6–7, 1862, in which he was part of the leading Confederate units on the battle's first day. Clanton next fought in the battle near Farmington
Farmington, Mississippi
Farmington is a town in Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,810 at the 2000 census. Its ZIP code is 38834.- History :Before 1850, Farmington was a prosperous village...
, Mississippi, on May 9, and then led a brigade during the Battle of Booneville
Battle of Booneville
The Battle of Booneville was fought on July 1, 1862, in Booneville, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. It occurred in the aftermath of the Union victory at the Battle of Shiloh and within the context of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's efforts to recapture the rail junction at Corinth,...
on July 1, where he "drove the enemy from the field." Sometime in 1862 Clanton resigned from the army, but was later reappointed a colonel in the Confederate service. His next assignment was as an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Alabama governor John G. Shorter
John Gill Shorter
John Gill Shorter was the 17th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1861 to 1863, during the Civil War.Shorter, an attorney, was born in 1818 in Monticello, Georgia and died in 1872 in Eufaula, Alabama.-References:...
, and later in the same capacity to Gen. Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...
. During the spring of 1863 Clanton raised three additional regiments of infantry. Beginning that September he was given command of the 2nd Brigade in the Confederate Gulf District, holding this post into early 1864.
Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk was a Confederate general in the American Civil War who was once a planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K. Polk...
, and then he led the cavalry brigade of the North District in the Confederate Department of Alabama and Eastern Mississippi, a unit often styled as "Clanton's Cavalry Brigade." Clanton fought during the 1864 Atlanta Campaign
Atlanta Campaign
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...
, notably in the engagement on July 14 at the Ten Island Ford of the Coosa River
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long altogether.The Coosa River is one of Alabama's most developed rivers...
against Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
Maj. Gen.
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Lovell H. Rousseau
Lovell Rousseau
Lovell Harrison Rousseau was a general in the United States and Union Armies during the American Civil War and a lawyer and politician in both Kentucky and Indiana.-Early life and career:...
. In this battle Clanton reportedly "lost his entire staff" and "His bravery made him well known by the generals of the Army of Tennessee
Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater...
."
On September 23, 1864, Clanton's command was shifted to the District of Central Alabama in the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and Eastern Louisiana until that November. In January 1865 Clanton was appointed to command the Cavalry Brigade of the District of the Gulf within the same department. On March 25 he was badly wounded in the fighting at Bluff Spring in Florida. Clanton was hit in his abdomen and his back, and was captured there by Union soldiers. Clanton was paroled from Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, on May 25 and allowed to go home to Alabama.
Postbellum career and murder
Following his release, Clanton applied for and was granted a pardon by the U.S. Government effective November 4, 1865. In 1866 he resumed his career as a lawyer, and also was very active in DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics in his state.
Nelson–Clanton shootout
In September 1872, Clanton travelled to Knoxville, TennesseeKnoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, to represent the State of Alabama in a court case against the Chattanooga and Alabama Railroad
Alabama Great Southern Railroad
The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It is an operating subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation , running southwest from Chattanooga to New Orleans through Birmingham and Meridian...
. Clanton, aware of the strong Union sentiment in East Tennessee during the Civil War, felt he was entering hostile territory, and became convinced that the railroad company was going to try and assassinate him. On the afternoon of September 27, after the court had adjourned, one of the railroad company's attorneys, Tomlinson Fort (a friend of Clanton), took Clanton on a tour of Knoxville.Thomas Alexander, Thomas A. R. Nelson of East Tennessee (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission, 1956), pp. 152-166.
As Clanton and Fort passed the Lamar House Hotel
Bijou Theatre (Knoxville)
The Bijou Theatre is a theater located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. Built in 1909 as an addition to the Lamar House Hotel, the theater has at various times served as performance venue of both traditional theatre and vaudeville, a second-run moviehouse, a commencement stage for the city's...
on Gay Street
Gay Street (Knoxville)
Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural...
, they encountered attorney David Nelson (a son of prominent politician and judge T.A.R. Nelson
Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson
Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson was an American attorney, politician, and judge, active primarily in East Tennessee during the mid-19th century. He represented Tennessee's 1st Congressional District in the 36th U.S. Congress , where he gained a reputation as a staunch pro-Union southerner...
), who had been drinking nearby in the St. Nicholas saloon. Their meeting grew hostile as Clanton suspected Nelson was insulting him, and he challenged Nelson to a duel, which Nelson accepted. Clanton drew a pistol and ordered Fort to step off space for the duel (which Fort refused to do, pointing out that Nelson was intoxicated), while Nelson ran back into the saloon and obtained a double-barreled shotgun. When Nelson reemerged, he fired two shots, one of which mortally wounded Clanton. Clanton fired one shot, which missed.
Nelson was arrested and charged with murder. At his highly-publicized trial in April 1873, Nelson's defense team argued that Nelson had acted in self-defense, and portrayed Clanton as belligerent and prone to violent outbursts. The trial concluded on April 30, and the jury deliberated for just five minutes before voting to acquit Nelson. Newspapers across Alabama railed against the acquittal, calling the trial a farce.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals