Why was John Breckenridge famous?

Answer 1

John C. Breckenridge (1821-1875) was the 17th Vice President of the US under James Buchanan, but served as a Confederate General in the Civil War. Late in the war, he briefly served as the Secretary of War for the Confederacy.

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Breckenridge was one of the only men to come out of the Buchanan administration with a good reputation. He was the Presidential Candidate of the pro-secession and hardcore pro-slavery Democratic party and in the 1860 election he won all of the Deep-South's vote. Despite his position as the candidate of the pro-secessionist movement, he was not pro-secession himself but was pro-slavery.

When Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential Election it was Breckenridge who announced him as the winner.

After failing to become President of the US, Breckenridge was elected to represent Kentucky in Congress. As Kentuckian Congressman he spoke out frequently against secession but also against war with the seceded states. He was viewed with suspicion both other Congressmen because he had been the candidate of the pro-secession party, and because he now opposed war with the seceded states.

A fellow Congressman, Edward D. Baker accused him of treason and attempting to sabotage the Union on August 1st 1861. Breckenridge returned to Kentucky following this, no longer welcome in Congress, and attempted to convince his fellow Kentuckians to remain neutral. He failed.

On October 8th Breckenridge was ordered by the Kentucky State Legislature to resign as the Kentuckian representative to Congress because of his opposition to Lincoln's administration and his assumed aiding of the Confederacy.

He did so but in doing so defended himself and his opposition to Lincoln's Administration, saying: "I would have blushed to meet you with the confession that I had purchased for you exemption from the perils of the Battlefield and the shame of waging war against your Southern brethren, by hiring others to do work you shrank from performing."

"I resign" he said in a letter published far and wide in the North, "because there is no place left where a Southern Senator may sit council with Senators of the North. In truth there is no longer a Senate of the United States within the meaning and spirit of the Constitution"

He was publicly declared a traitor on December 4th 1861 and officially expelled from the Senate. He was now a Confederate General.

As a Confederate General, John C. Breckenridge fought at Shiloh and earned the praise of General Beauregard who said of him "There is not a nobler soul. The Kentuckian displayed great aptitude and sagacity, and handled his brigade with skill and judgement." Soon Breckenridge was promoted to Major General and divisional command.

He fought bravely at Baton Rouge in a tactically inconclusive battle and occupied Port Hudson in its aftermath.

He joined Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee too late to take part in the Kentucky Campaign but in time to take part in the Battle of Murfreesboro/Stones River. At Murfresboro/Stones River an attack ordered by Bragg, which Breckenridge disapproved of but followed as he was ordered to, decimated Breckenridge's Division including his old Kentucky Brigade. As Breckenridge looked over the remnants of his old brigade he cried "My poor orphans! My poor orphans!"and from then on the Kentucky Brigade was known as the Orphan Brigade.

Bragg blamed Breckenridge for the destruction of that division while Breckenridge justifiably blamed Bragg. They were at odds with each other for the rest of the War.

He took part in the Battle of Chickamauga where he performed well and was promoted to command D.H. Hill's old Corps near Chattanooga. When the Confederates were routed at Missionary Ridge, Bragg once again blamed Breckenridge and accused him of being drunk.

On December 7th 1863 Breckenridge was surprised to hear of his own death as reported by the New York Times. The New York Times was far from respectful of his reported passing and claimed that "If it be true that a loyal bullet has sent this traitor to eternity, every loyal heart feels satisfaction and will not scruple to express it".

Breckenridge was reassigned to the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 and had to build up his command from nothing. He succeeded in this and fought the Battle of New Market in which Breckenridge's force along with Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute defeated a much larger Federal Army under Franz Sigel.

Soon Breckenridge had the respect and admiration of his troops and of Robert E. Lee. Breckenridge was brought to Cold Harbour where he helped check Grant's advance and rumors that he would soon get a Corps command in the Army of Northern Virginia circulated. But he was wounded before the battles end and sent to Richmond to recuperate.

While in Richmond he was ordered back to the Valley where he joined Jubal A. Early in his march towards Washington and his presence at the Battle of Monocacy made that battle unique as the only time two Presidential opponents faced each other across the battlefield (Abraham Lincoln came to the front to observe).

After the Battle of Winchester, where Breckenridge reported courted death, he was assigned to be the Confederate Secretary of War and proved to be the most effective of the lot but it was too little too late.

He joined in the surrender negotiations of Joseph E. Johnston's Army in North Carolina and soon after fled the country.

Many Northerners were calling for him to be tried for treason and executed but he escaped to England and then to Canada before he was allowed to return in peace to Kentucky by President Andrew Jackson in 1868.

Now in 1869 John C. Breckenridge was once again the most popular man in Kentucky and upon his death in 1875 the whole of Kentucky mourned him. A massive mile long procession followed him to his burial in Lexington.

He was only 54 when he died. Northern papers who had only ten year earlier called for he arrest and execution now grieved for him. "Our country mourns from St. Paul to New Orleans, and from New York to San Francisco. There is no North and there is no South" one paper said.