Everything about Francis P Blair Jr totally explained
Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (
February 19,
1821 –
July 9,
1875) was an
American politician and
Union Army general during the
American Civil War.
Early life and career
Blair was born in
Lexington, Kentucky. He was the son of
Francis Preston Blair and the brother of
Montgomery Blair. He was also the cousin of
B. Gratz Brown. He attended schools in
Washington, D.C., graduated from
Princeton University in 1841, and studied law at
Transylvania University. After his admission to the bar in Lexington, he went on to practice in
St. Louis in 1842.
Blair participated in the
Mexican-American War and was appointed
attorney general for the
New Mexico Territory after it was secured by General
Stephen W. Kearny. A personal and political friend of
Thomas Hart Benton, he became known for his views opposing
slavery. He also was an outspoken
Free-Soiler and was elected to the
United States House of Representatives in 1852. He was defeated in 1858 but reelected in 1860. In Congress, he served as chairman of the important Military Affairs Committee.
Civil War
Immediately after
South Carolina's secession in December 1860, Blair, believing that the southern leaders were planning to carry neutral Missouri into the movement, began active efforts to prevent it and personally organized and equipped a secret body of 1000 men formed out of the
paramilitary Wide Awakes organization to be ready for the emergency. When hostilities became inevitable, acting in conjunction with Captain (later General)
Nathaniel Lyon, he suddenly transferred the arms in the
Federal arsenal at St Louis to
Alton, Illinois. A few days later (May 10, 1861), Federal troops surrounded and captured a force of state guards which had been stationed at Camp Jackson in the suburbs of St Louis with the intention of seizing the arsenal. This action gave the Federal cause a decisive initial advantage in Missouri but also inflamed secessionist sentiments in the state due to the subsequent
St. Louis Massacre.
Blair was promoted
brigadier general of volunteers in August 1862 and then to
major general in November. He commanded the 1st Brigade, which consisted of the 13th Illinois Infantry, the 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd Missouri Infantries, the 58th Ohio Infantry, 4th Company, Ohio Light Artillery, and Company C, 10th Missouri Cavalry.
In the
US Army, he commanded a division in the
Vicksburg campaign and in the fighting about
Chattanooga, and was one of
William T. Sherman's corps commanders in the final campaigns in
Georgia and
the Carolinas.
Postbellum activities
At the close of the war, Blair, having spent much of his private fortune in support of the Union, was financially ruined. In 1866 like his father and brother he opposed the Congressional
Reconstruction policy, and on that issue left the
Republican Party. He was the unsuccessful
Democratic candidate for vice president in 1868, running with
Horatio Seymour. In 1871 Blair was chosen by the
Missouri Legislature as a
United States Senator, but he was defeated for reelection in 1873. During the same year he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered. Blair died from a fall on July 9, 1875.
In 1899, the state of
Missouri donated a marble statue of Blair to the
U.S. Capitol's
National Statuary Hall Collection.
Further Information
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