John Cabell BRECKINRIDGE

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  General Notes:

* Taken from the Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century. Published by J. M. Armstrong & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio 1878.

Gen. John Cabell Breckinridge (January 1821 - May 1875)
Gen. John Cabell Breckinridge* lawyer, soldier, and statesman, was born January 21, 1821, near Lexington, Kentucky, and was the only son of Hon. Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, and grandson of Hon. John Breckinridge. He was liberally educated, graduating at Centre College, Danville, in the fall of 1839; studied law at Transylvania University; practiced for a short time at Burlington, Iowa; returned to Lexington, Kentucky, where he continued his profession with success until the breaking out of the Mexican war, when he entered the volunteer service as major of the Third Kentucky Regiment; and although mustered in too late to give him much opportunity for military service, he succeeded in winning distinction for his ability as an advocate for General Pillow, in the controversies between that officer and Generals Scott and Shields; was elected to the Kentucky Legislature in Fayette County in 1840, and from that time he rose rapidly into public distinction; in 1851 he was elected to Congress from the "Ashland" (Henry Clay's) district, by the untiring energy of his canavass, his acknowledged ability, and his extraordinary personal attractions, defeating Leslie Combs, who, although then venerable outlived his brilliant competitor; was re-elected in 1853; after a still more violent contest with Governor Letcher; was barely thirty years of age when he took his seat in the House of Representatives; was tendered the mission to Spain by President Pierce, but declined; in 1856, he was nominated for the Vice Presidency by the Democratic National Convention, at Cincinnati, and was elected with Br. Buchanan, being the youngest man who ever filled that position; for the next four years presided over the Senate of the United States with great dignity and ability and, in 1860, was nominated by one wing of the democratic party as their candidate for President. The great historic events of that time are a part of the common history of the country. After his inevitable defeat for the Presidency, he was elected to the United States Senate and took his seat March 4, 1861, in the midst of the great preparations for civil war. He made a brilliant but hopeless struggle for the compromise proposed by his predecessor, John J. Crittendon, but, in the fall of 1861, resigned from the Senate and threw himself on the side of the South. He was appointed brigadier-general and placed in command of a brigade at Bowling Green, under Albert Sidney Johnson, and, at the battle of Shiloh was conspicuous for his gallantry and for the valor he infused into his Kentucky brigade; he was soon after promoted to major-general, and placed in command of a division; in June, 1862, successfully resisted with his command the famous bombardment of Vicksburg; commander in chief at the storming of Baton Rouge. At Stone River his division of Kentuckians was put in the front of the battle and in a desperate charge, lost nearly one-third of its number; soon after joined Gen. Joseph Johnston, in Mississippi, and was engaged in the battle at Jackson; afterwards participated, under Bragg, in the battle of Chickamauga, and commanded a corps at Missionary Ridge; in the spring of 1864, took command of the Department of Western Virginia, where he made a brilliant and successful campaign; his troops were afterward incorporated with General Early's and he was placed in command of a corps; after the battle of Winchester he returned to Southwestern Virginia, continuing in command of that department until January 4, 1865, when he was appointed secretary of war, continuing in that position until the final surrender of General Lee. He joined the cabinet of Mr. Davis at Danville; assisted in negotiating the treaty of peace with General Sherman which President Johnson refused to ratify and, after the final collapse of the Confederate cause, escaped from Florida to Cuba and from thence went to England and Canada. After returning to his home at Lexington, he lived in perfect quiet, so far as the political events of the day were concerned, even declining to express an opinion and gave his attention to the interests of the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad, of which he was vice president. Very little of General Breckinridge's life could have been given to the practice of law, so much of it being occupied in the various positions to which he was incessantly called. Yet he was concerned in several important cases, in which he displayed great ability. He was, physically, a noble specimen of manhood; his features were classical, his head intellectual, and his figure at once elegant and commanding. He died at his home in Lexington, May 17, 1875.