John A. Quitman

John Quitman
Photograph by Mathew Brady
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 5th district
In office March 4, 1855 – July 17, 1858
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	John McRae
10th and 16th Governor of Mississippi
In office January 10, 1850 – February 3, 1851
Preceded by	Joseph W. Matthews
Succeeded by	John Guion
In office December 3, 1835 – January 7, 1836 Acting
Preceded by	Hiram Runnels
Succeeded by	Charles Lynch
Personal details
Born	(1798-09-01)September 1, 1798 Rhinebeck, New York, U.S.
Died	July 17, 1858(1858-07-17) (aged 59) Natchez, Mississippi, U.S.
Resting place	Natchez City Cemetery
Party	Whig (before 1848) Democratic (1848–1858)
Spouse	Eliza Turner
Education	Hartwick College (BA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1846–1848
Rank	Major General
Unit	United States Volunteers
Commands	2nd Brigade, 1st Volunteer Division 4th Volunteer Division Military Governor of Mexico City
Battles/wars	Texas Revolution Mexican–American War Battle of Monterrey Siege of Veracruz Battle of Contreras Battle of Churubusco Battle of Chapultepec Battle for Mexico City

John Anthony Quitman (September 1, 1798 – July 17, 1858) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. As president of the Mississippi Senate, he was the acting governor of Mississippi for one month (from December 3, 1835 to January 7, 1836) as a Whig. He was elected governor in 1849 as a Democrat, and served from January 10, 1850, until his resignation on February 3, 1851, shortly after his arrest for violating U.S. neutrality laws. He was strongly pro-slavery and a leading Fire-Eater.

According to Quitman's first biographer, John F. H. Claiborne, writing in 1860, "A more ambitious man never lived. ...He was greedy for military fame." "For Quitman, military glory and political ambition had priority over management of his three plantations and numerous slaves."

Early life

Born at Rhinebeck, New York, in 1798, Quitman studied classics at Hartwick Seminary, graduating in 1816. He was an instructor at Mount Airy College, Pennsylvania, but decided to study law. Quitman's family was of Dutch descent.

He was admitted to the bar in 1820 and moved to Chillicothe, Ohio. He moved south to Natchez, Mississippi, the following year. He purchased Monmouth in 1826, and it would remain in his family for the next 100 years. It was an archaeological dig site investigated by Dr. Montroville Dickeson during his 10-year study of the Natchez Indians of the Mississippi River Valley.

Plantation and enslaver

One of Quitman's plantation is pictured on this 1863 map of the Vicksburg area

Quitman owned four plantations: Springfield, which he purchased in 1834, on the Mississippi River near Natchez, a cotton plantation and dairy farm; Palmyra (Warren County, Mississippi), which he acquired through marriage (cotton); Live Oaks (Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, sugar and molasses); and Belen (Holmes County, Mississippi, cotton).

He did not personally manage the plantations, a task entrusted to (white) overseers. Not counting house servants, at Palmyra, he enslaved 311 people under sixty years of age in 1848; at Live Oaks, 85 in 1850; at Springfield, 39 in 1842; and at Belen, 32 in 1858.

One favored enslaved person accompanied him on his expedition to Mexico. Being frequently absent, Quitman was unaware of slave resistance and did not plan for slave revolts. "Neither he nor his family entertained second thoughts about the propriety or morality of their holding blacks in bondage." He "genuinely believed that owner-slave relations were harmonious. ...The Quitmans lived to the very eve of the Civil War virtually oblivious of the dangers of slave rebellion and believing, as Quitman put it, that Southern society was 'based upon a more solid foundation' than Northern society."

Politics

In 1823 Quitman was the brigade inspector for the local militia and in the next year organized a volunteer militia company called the Natchez Fencibles. Quitman practiced law in Natchez until 1826 when he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He became Chancellor of the state in 1828 and served on the state's Constitutional Convention in 1832. He was the protégé of John C. Calhoun during the Nullification Crisis.

In 1835, he was elected to the Mississippi Senate, then elected president of the Mississippi State Senate. He was an acting governor of Mississippi. In 1838, he became a judge on the High Court of Errors and Appeal. Quitman was the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi from 1826 to 1838, in 1840, and 1845 to 1846. A masonic lodge and council were named after Quitman.

He was initiated to the Scottish Rite Masonry till his elevation to the 33rd and highest degree.

Mexican–American War

Quitman circa 1846.

The Natchez Fencibles were not selected to fight in the Mexican War due to a handful of men who failed to muster at Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the proper time. However on July 1, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, Quitman was made a Brigadier General of Volunteers. He commanded a brigade under Zachary Taylor in northern Mexico.

After the Battle of Monterrey, he was sent to join Winfield Scott's expedition. He led the 2nd Brigade in the Volunteer Division during the Siege of Veracruz, and on April 14, 1847, he was promoted to major general in the Regular Army.

Following the Battle of Cerro Gordo, General Robert Patterson returned to the United States with other Volunteer soldiers whose enlistments had expired. Reinforcements from Veracruz, including about 300 U. S. Marines, were organized into a new brigade under Samuel E. Watson. Watson's and James Shields' brigades were designated the 4th Division, with Quitman in overall command.

By this point, Quitman had gained a reputation as a competent military commander and enjoyed affectionate respect from volunteer and professional soldiers alike.

Quitman led his division to the Valley of Mexico, where he was posted to guard the supply depot, hospital, and horse teams. Frustrated at his supporting role, Quitman was nevertheless ordered to send reinforcements to the front. At the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, Shields' brigade was actively engaged, though Quitman was not personally involved.

He commanded the southern assault during the battle of Chapultepec. U.S. Marines of Quitman's division spearheaded the attack, and their involvement in this battle is remembered in the opening line of the Marines' Hymn. Quitman received the surrender of the citadel in Mexico City.

After the fall of Mexico City, General Scott named Quitman as the military governor of Mexico City for the remainder of the occupation. He was the only American to rule from within the National Palace of Mexico. Quitman was a founding member of the Aztec Club of 1847. He was discharged on July 20, 1848, and served as governor of Mississippi in 1850 and 1851.

Filibustering

Further information: Lopez Expedition

It was in his capacity as governor of Mississippi that Quitman was approached by Narciso López, the Venezuelan-born filibuster, to lead his expedition of 1850 to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule. He turned down the offer because of his desire to complete his term as governor but did provide assistance to López in the form of supplies of M1841 Mississippi rifles for the expedition. López departed for Cuba and captured Cárdenas, but a Spanish counterattack caused López to leave for Key West. The repercussion of the expedition led to Quitman being indicted by a federal grand jury in New Orleans for violations of the Neutrality Act of 1818. Quitman resigned as governor so that he could defend himself. The charges were dropped after three hung juries allowed him to avoid conviction.

With the encouragement of President Franklin Pierce, Quitman, with assistance from later Confederate General Mansfield Lovell, began preparations in July 1853 for a filibuster expedition of his own. The preparations to invade Cuba were nearly complete, with several thousand men prepared to go, when in May 1854, the administration reversed course and undertook steps to stop what it had almost put into motion, presumably because it felt that in the wake of the furor over the passage of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, the action to add slave territory such as Cuba would cause irreparable damage to the Democratic Party in the North.

Return to politics

On March 4, 1855, Quitman was elected to the 34th United States Congress as a representative from Mississippi's 5th congressional district and served until his death during the 35th Congress. On April 29, 1856, Quitman gave a speech mentioning a bill he introduced to repeal the first through the eleventh section of the Neutrality Act of 1818, and his desire for the United States to take possession of Cuba. In Congress, he was Chairman of the United States House Committee on Military Affairs.

Death

John A. Quitman died at his home, "Monmouth," near Natchez, Mississippi, on July 17, 1858, aged 59, apparently from the effects of National Hotel disease, which he contracted during the inauguration of President James Buchanan. He was buried in the Natchez City Cemetery in Natchez, Mississippi.

Legacy

Towns

• Quitman, Texas
• Quitman, Mississippi
• Quitman, Georgia
• Quitman, Missouri
• Quitman, Arkansas

Counties

• Quitman County, Georgia
• Quitman County, Mississippi

Other

The United States Army military installation Fort Quitman in Texas was named in his honor.

A Confederate steamboat which was provided by the State of Louisiana for the defense of New Orleans and armed with two rifled 32 pounders was named in his honor.

See also

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)
• List of members of the United States Congress killed or wounded in office
• William B. Griffith, law partner
• John T. McMurran, law partner

References

• United States Congress. "John A. Quitman (id: Q000022)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Further reading

• A Brief sketch of the life, civil and military, of John A. Quitman, Major General in the Army of the U.S. Washington, D.C. 1848.
• Obituary addresses on the announcement of the death of Hon. John A. Quitman, of Mississippi : in the House of Representatives, January 5, 1859. No publisher identified. 1859.
• Obituary addresses on the occasions of the death of the Hon. John A. Quitman of Mississippi and of the Hon. Thomas L. Harris of Illinois. Baltimore, Maryland. 1859.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Claiborne, J. F. H. (1860). Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman. New York: Harper and Brothers.
• "Biography of a Secessionist. How the Secession Plot Was Hatched (review of J. F. H. Claiborne, Life and Correspondence of John A. Quitman)". National Republican. April 16, 1861. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
• Hodgson, Joseph (1876). The cradle of the Confederacy; or, The times of Troup, Quitman, and Yancey. A sketch of southwestern political history from the formation of the Federal Government to A.D. 1861. Mobile, Alabama.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• McLendon, James Hays (1949). John A. Quitman. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas. OCLC 18235073.
• Johannsen, Robert W. (September 1986). "Review: The Mind of a Secessionist: Social Conservatism or Romantic Adventure? (review of Robert E. May, John A. Quitman, Old South Crusader)". Reviews in American History. 14: 354–360. doi:10.2307/2702608. JSTOR 2702608.