Milledge Luke Bonham
Encyclopedia
Milledge Luke Bonham was an American
politician
and Congressman who served as the 70th Governor of South Carolina
from 1862 until 1864. He was a Confederate
General during the American Civil War
.
), South Carolina
, the son of Virginia native Capt. James Bonham and Sophie Smith Bonham, the niece of Capt. James Butler, who was the head of an illustrious South Carolina family. Milledge was a 1st cousin once removed to Andrew Pickens Butler. He attended private schools in the Edgefield District
and at Abbeville
. He graduated with honors from South Carolina College
at Columbia
in 1834. He served as Major (United States)
and adjutant general
of the South Carolina Brigade in the Seminole War in Florida
in 1836. That same year, his older brother James Butler Bonham
perished at the Battle of the Alamo
.
Bonham studied law and was admitted to the bar, in 1837, and commenced practice in Edgefield. During the Mexican-American War, he was lieutenant colonel
and colonel
of the Twelfth Regiment, United States Infantry. After he returned home, Bonham was the major general
of the South Carolina Militia. Entering politics, he served in the state house of representatives from 1840–1843. He married Ann Patience Griffin on November 13, 1845. Bonham was solicitor
of the southern circuit of South Carolina from 1848–1857. He was elected as a Democrat
to the Thirty-fifth United States Congress (succeeding his cousin, Preston Smith Brooks
) and the Thirty-sixth United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1857, until his retirement on December 21, 1860.
that had seceded
from the Union
appointed special commissioners to travel to those other slaveholding
Southern states that had yet to seceded. Bonham served as the Commissioner from South Carolina to the Mississippi Secession Convention, trying to persuade their politicians to vote to join in seceding from the Union.
Bonham was appointed major general and commander of the Army of South Carolina by Gov. Francis W. Pickens
in February 1861. He was appointed brigadier general
in the Confederate Army on April 19, 1861, and commanded the First Brigade of the Confederate "Army of the Potomac"
under P.G.T. Beauregard. He fought in the First Battle of Manassas, commanding his brigade as well as two artillery
batteries and six companies of cavalry
in the defense of Mitchell's Ford on Bull Run
.
He resigned his commission January 27, 1862, to enter the Confederate Congress. On December 17, 1862, the South Carolina General Assembly elected Bonham as governor by secret ballot. He served until December 1864. During his term, the General Assembly enacted a prohibition
against distilling in 1863 and also that year, it demanded that more land be used to grow food instead of cotton to increase the supply of food in the state. Bonham rejoined the Confederate Army as brigadier general of cavalry
in February 1865, and was actively engaged in recruiting when the war ended.
, from 1865-1878. Returning to politics, Bonham was again a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1865–1866 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868. He was a member of the South Carolina taxpayers’ convention in 1871 and 1874. Retiring from public service, he resumed the practice of law in Edgefield and engaged in planting. He was appointed state railroad commissioner in 1878 and served until his death at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and Congressman who served as the 70th Governor of South Carolina
Governor of South Carolina
The Governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the State of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the Governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The Governor is the ex officio...
from 1862 until 1864. He was a Confederate
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...
.
Early life and career
Milledge L. Bonham was born near Redbank (now SaludaSaluda, South Carolina
Saluda is a town in Saluda County, South Carolina, along the Little Saluda River. The population was 3,066 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saluda County.Saluda is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
), South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, the son of Virginia native Capt. James Bonham and Sophie Smith Bonham, the niece of Capt. James Butler, who was the head of an illustrious South Carolina family. Milledge was a 1st cousin once removed to Andrew Pickens Butler. He attended private schools in the Edgefield District
Edgefield, South Carolina
Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,449 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.-Geography:...
and at Abbeville
Abbeville, South Carolina
For other communities of the same name, see Abbeville .Abbeville is a city in Abbeville County, South Carolina, United States, 86 miles west of Columbia. Its population was 5,237 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Abbeville County...
. He graduated with honors from South Carolina College
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
at Columbia
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
in 1834. He served as Major (United States)
Major (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...
and adjutant general
Adjutant general
An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...
of the South Carolina Brigade in the Seminole War in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in 1836. That same year, his older brother James Butler Bonham
James Bonham
James Butler Bonham was a 19th-century American soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution...
perished at the Battle of the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
.
Bonham studied law and was admitted to the bar, in 1837, and commenced practice in Edgefield. During the Mexican-American War, he was lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
and colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
of the Twelfth Regiment, United States Infantry. After he returned home, Bonham was the major general
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...
of the South Carolina Militia. Entering politics, he served in the state house of representatives from 1840–1843. He married Ann Patience Griffin on November 13, 1845. Bonham was solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
of the southern circuit of South Carolina from 1848–1857. He was elected as a Democrat
Democratic 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...
to the Thirty-fifth United States Congress (succeeding his cousin, Preston Smith 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'...
) and the Thirty-sixth United States Congress, and served from March 4, 1857, until his retirement on December 21, 1860.
Civil War
In early 1861, the Southern statesSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
that had seceded
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
appointed special commissioners to travel to those other slaveholding
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
Southern states that had yet to seceded. Bonham served as the Commissioner from South Carolina to the Mississippi Secession Convention, trying to persuade their politicians to vote to join in seceding from the Union.
Bonham was appointed major general and commander of the Army of South Carolina by Gov. Francis W. Pickens
Francis Wilkinson Pickens
Francis Wilkinson Pickens was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Governor of South Carolina when the state seceded from the United States during the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
in February 1861. He was appointed brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in the Confederate Army on April 19, 1861, and commanded the First Brigade of the Confederate "Army of the Potomac"
Army of the Potomac (Confederate)
The Confederate Army of the Potomac, whose name was short-lived, was the command under Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in the early days of the American Civil War. Its only major combat action was the First Battle of Bull Run. Afterwards, the Army of the Shenandoah was merged into the Army of the...
under P.G.T. Beauregard. He fought in the First Battle of Manassas, commanding his brigade as well as two artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
batteries and six companies of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
in the defense of Mitchell's Ford on Bull Run
Bull Run (Occoquan River)
Bull Run is a free-flowing tributary stream of the Potomac River that originates from a spring in the Bull Run Mountains in Loudoun County, Virginia, and flows south to the Occoquan River...
.
He resigned his commission January 27, 1862, to enter the Confederate Congress. On December 17, 1862, the South Carolina General Assembly elected Bonham as governor by secret ballot. He served until December 1864. During his term, the General Assembly enacted a prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
against distilling in 1863 and also that year, it demanded that more land be used to grow food instead of cotton to increase the supply of food in the state. Bonham rejoined the Confederate Army as brigadier general of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
in February 1865, and was actively engaged in recruiting when the war ended.
Dates of Rank
- Major General (South Carolina Militia), February 10, 1861
- Brigadier General, April 23, 1861
- Brigadier General, February 20, 1865
Postbellum activities
Bonham owned an insurance business in Edgefield and in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, from 1865-1878. Returning to politics, Bonham was again a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1865–1866 and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868. He was a member of the South Carolina taxpayers’ convention in 1871 and 1874. Retiring from public service, he resumed the practice of law in Edgefield and engaged in planting. He was appointed state railroad commissioner in 1878 and served until his death at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,444 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....
. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals