Brig. General Samuel J. Gholson (CSA)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10873/samuel-jameson-gholson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_J._Gholson

Samuel Jameson Gholson (May 19, 1808 – October 16, 1883) was a United States Representative from Mississippi, a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and a General in the Confederate States Army.

Education and career

Born on May 19, 1808, near Richmond in Madison County, Kentucky, Gholson moved with his father to Franklin County, Alabama and attended the common schools. He read law and was admitted to the bar at Russellville, Alabama in 1829. He entered private practice in Athens, Monroe County, Mississippi from 1830 to 1839. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1835 to 1836, and in 1839.

Congressional service

Gholson was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat (now Democrat) from Mississippi's at-large congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 24th United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative David Dickson and served from December 1, 1836, to March 3, 1837. He presented credentials as a Democratic member-elect to the 25th United States Congress and served from July 18, 1837, until February 5, 1838, when the seat was declared vacant.

Federal judicial service

Gholson was nominated by President Martin Van Buren on February 9, 1839, to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi vacated by Judge George Adams. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 13, 1839, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on January 10, 1861, due to his resignation upon the secession of Mississippi from the Union. Gholson was a member of the Mississippi secession convention in 1861.

Other service

Concurrent with his federal judicial service, Gholson served in the Mississippi State Militia as a lieutenant in 1846.

Later career and death

During the American Civil War, Gholson served in the Confederate States Army as a private, captain, colonel, brigadier general, and major general of state troops. He became brigadier general of the Confederate States Army in June 1863, and was placed in command of a brigade of cavalry. He was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1865 to 1866, and in 1878. He resumed private practice in Aberdeen, Mississippi from 1866 to 1878, and from 1878 to 1883. He died on October 16, 1883, in Aberdeen. He was interred in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Aberdeen.

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A politician and Confederate general, Samuel Jameson Gholson was born on 19 May 1808 in Madison County, Kentucky. He relocated as a youth to Alabama, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1829. The next year he moved to Monroe County, Mississippi, and practiced law in Athens. Gholson served several terms in the state legislature during the 1830s before becoming a member of the US House of Representatives from 1836 to 1838. His congressional service was enlivened by a quarrel with Henry A. Wise of Virginia that would have resulted in a duel between the two men if not for the intervention of John C. Calhoun and other friends. In 1839 Pres. Martin Van Buren appointed Gholson to serve as a federal district judge for Mississippi, a post he held until 1861, when he resigned as a consequence of his support for secession. An ardent Democrat, he served as a member of the state secession convention.

Although he had been a major general in the state militia, Gholson enlisted as a private in the 14th Mississippi Infantry. After being mustered into state service in Aberdeen in April 1861, he was elected captain of a company; he subsequently received promotions to major and colonel. Gholson first saw action at Fort Donelson, where he was wounded on 13 February 1862. Taken prisoner when the garrison surrendered, Gholson was exchanged seven months later. He fought at both Iuka and Corinth, suffering a wound in the left thigh at Corinth that resulted in a long, painful recovery. Gov. John J. Pettus appointed Gholson a major general in the Mississippi state militia in April 1863 and sent him to Northeast Mississippi to organize state troops. Gholson faced criticism from other Confederate officers who resented what they perceived as his interference with their recruitment and supply efforts, but both Nathan Bedford Forrest and Gov. Charles Clark recommended Gholson for a cavalry brigade command in the Confederate Army. In contrast to Forrest’s and Clark’s enthusiasm, Gen. Wirt Adams regarded the command as unreliable and suggested, to no avail, that the troops be dismounted and dispersed among other commands.

Gholson’s brigade fought in central Mississippi, where Gholson was wounded at Jackson on 7 July 1863. When his brigade was transferred to Georgia to reinforce the Army of Tennessee, Gholson remained behind because his health prevented him from returning to field duty. He resumed activity in the fall of 1864 and suffered a wound on 28 December at Egypt that necessitated the amputation of his left arm. He was captured and saw no further field service. He was paroled at Meridian in May 1865.

Gholson was again elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1865 but was removed from office after passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867. He returned to his law practice in Aberdeen, sought to overthrow the Republican government, and won election to the state legislature in 1878. He died on 16 October 1883 in Aberdeen.