Thomas L. Clingman

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Thomas Lanier Clingman (July 27, 1812Template:Spaced ndashNovember 3, 1897), known as the "Prince of Politicians," was an American politician who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 and from 1847 to 1858, and U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1858 and 1861. During the Civil War, he refused to resign his Senate seat and was one of the many southern senators subsequently expelled from the Senate in absentia. He then served as a general in the Confederate States Army.

Early life

Clingman, was born in Huntsville, a small community in present-day Yadkin County, North Carolina. His parents were Jacob and Jane Poindexter Clingman and he was named for Dr. Thomas Lanier, his half uncle.[1] He was educated by private tutors and in the public schools in Iredell County, NC. Clingman graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1832, where he was a member of the Dialectic Senate of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1834 and began practice in Huntsville.

Political career

File:Thomas Lanier Clingman in uniform.jpg
Clingman in uniform.

Clingman was elected to the North Carolina State House of Commons in 1835. In 1836 he moved to Asheville, North Carolina. He was a member of the North Carolina State Senate in 1840. In 1843 Clingman ran as a Whig and was elected to the 28th United States Congress, however he was defeated in his reelection bid in 1845.[2] In 1845 he fought a duel with a fellow congressman William Lowndes Yancey of Alabama. In Yancey's maiden speech on the House floor, he had impugned his opponent's integrity. Both duelists had missed. In 1847 he regained the seat and won reelection in 1849, 1851, 1853, 1855 and 1857. On May 7, 1858, he resigned after becoming a United States senator as a Democrat the previous day,[2] replacing the resigning Asa Biggs. He was reelected but was expelled from the Senate for support of the Confederacy.

Civil War

When he first entered the War, Clingman was the commander of the 25th North Carolina Infantry and took part in the Peninsula Campaign. He later commanded a brigade of infantry. Clingman's Brigade consisted of the 8th, 31st, 51st and 61st North Carolina Infantry. Clingman's Brigade fought at Goldsborough, Battery Wagner, Drewry's Bluff, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Globe Tavern, Fort Fisher, and Bentonville.

File:Thomas Lanier Clingman - Brady-Handy.jpg
Clingman in his later years

Post-war career

After the Civil War, Clingman explored and measured mountains in western North Carolina and Tennessee. Kuwohi, Tennessee's highest mountain, shared with North Carolina, was renamed Clingman's Dome in his honor in 1859 as Kuwohi was one of the mountains he had accurately measured, being said to be the first person to do so.[3] The mountain's name was changed back to Kuwohi in 2024.[4] He died in Morganton, North Carolina, and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Wheeler, John H.. Reminiscences and memoirs of North Carolina and eminent North Carolinians. Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Print. Works, 1884
  2. ↑ a b Inscoe, John C. and Gordon B. McKinney. The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Template:ISBN. p. 32.
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Further reading

  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. Template:ISBN.
  • Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. Template:ISBN.
  • Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. Template:ISBN.
  • Jeffrey, Thomas E., “Thomas Lanier Clingman: Fire Eater from the Carolina Mountains” Template:ISBN

External links

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Template:Error
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 1st congressional district
1843–1845 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 9th congressional district
1847–1853 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 8th congressional district
1853–1858 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
1857–1858 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Template:Error
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check U.S. Senator (Class 3) from North Carolina
1858–1861
Served alongside: David Reid, Thomas BraggTemplate:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
John Pool
1868

Template:USSenNC Template:US House Foreign Affairs chairs Template:Authority control

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