Breckinridge, John C. (John Cabell), 1821-1875

<p>John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and served in the U.S. Senate during the outbreak of the American Civil War, but was expelled after joining the Confederate Army. He was appointed Confederate secretary of war in 1865.</p>

<p>Breckinridge was born near Lexington, Kentucky to a prominent local family. After serving as a non-combatant during the Mexican–American War, he was elected as a Democrat to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1849, where he took a states' rights position against interference with slavery. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1851, he allied with Stephen A. Douglas in support of the Kansas–Nebraska Act. After reapportionment in 1854 made his re-election unlikely, he declined to run for another term. He was nominated for vice president at the 1856 Democratic National Convention to balance a ticket headed by James Buchanan. The Democrats won the election, but Breckinridge had little influence with Buchanan and, as presiding officer of the Senate, could not express his opinions in debates. He joined Buchanan in supporting the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution for Kansas, which led to a split in the Democratic Party. In 1859, he was elected to succeed Senator John J. Crittenden at the end of Crittenden's term in 1861.</p>

<p>After Southern Democrats walked out of the 1860 Democratic National Convention, the party's northern and southern factions held rival conventions in Baltimore that nominated Douglas and Breckinridge, respectively, for president. A third party, the Constitutional Union Party, nominated John Bell. These three men split the Southern vote, while more anti-slavery Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won all but three electoral votes in the North, allowing him to win the election. Breckinridge carried most of the Southern states. Taking his seat in the Senate, Breckinridge urged compromise to preserve the Union. Unionists were in control of the state legislature, and gained more support when Confederate forces moved into Kentucky.</p>

<p>Breckinridge fled behind Confederate lines. He was commissioned a brigadier general and then expelled from the Senate. Following the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, he was promoted to major general, and in October he was assigned to the Army of Mississippi under Braxton Bragg. After Bragg charged that Breckinridge's drunkenness had contributed to defeats at Stone River and Missionary Ridge, and after Breckinridge joined many other high-ranking officers in criticizing Bragg, he was transferred to the Trans-Allegheny Department, where he won his most significant victory in the 1864 Battle of New Market. After participating in Jubal Early's campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley, Breckinridge was charged with defending supplies in Tennessee and Virginia. In February 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed him Secretary of War. Concluding that the war was hopeless, he urged Davis to arrange a national surrender. After the fall of Richmond, Breckinridge ensured the preservation of Confederate records. He then escaped the country and lived abroad for more than three years. When President Andrew Johnson extended amnesty to all former Confederates in 1868, Breckinridge returned to Kentucky, but resisted all encouragement to resume his political career. War injuries sapped his health, and he died in 1875. Breckinridge is regarded as an effective military commander. Though well-liked in Kentucky, he was reviled by many in the North as a traitor. </p>

BRECKINRIDGE, JOHN CABELL, (grandson of John Breckinridge, father of Clifton Rodes Breckinridge, and cousin of Henry Donnel Foster), a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky and a Vice President of the United States; born at 'Cabell's Dale,' near Lexington, Ky., January 16, 1821; attended Pisgah Academy, Woodford County, Ky.; graduated from Centre College, Danville, Ky., in 1838; later attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University); studied law in the Transylvania Institute, Lexington, Ky.; admitted to the bar in 1840; moved to Burlington, Iowa, but soon returned and began practice in Lexington, Ky.; major of the Third Kentucky Volunteers during the Mexican War in 1847 and 1848; member, State house of representatives 1849; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1855); was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; was tendered the mission to Spain by President Franklin Pierce, but declined; elected Vice President of the United States in 1856 on the Democratic ticket with James Buchanan as President; unsuccessful candidate for President in 1860; elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1861, to December 4, 1861, when he was expelled for support of the rebellion; entered the Confederate Army during the Civil War as brigadier general and soon became a major general; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of the Confederate States from January until April 1865; resided in Europe until 1868; returned to Lexington, Ky., and resumed the practice of law; vice president of the Elizabethtown, Lexington Big Sandy Railroad Co.; died in Lexington, Ky., May 17, 1875; interment in Lexington Cemetery.

<p>John Cabell Breckinridge became the youngest vice president in United States history when he was elected with President James Buchanan in the 1856 election. Yet, the turbulence of the times and the American Civil War led him to become the second vice president (after Aaron Burr) to be accused of treason when he joined the Confederate Army and took up arms against the Union.</p>

<p>Breckinridge was born January 16, 1821, in Lexington, Kentucky. His family had long been involved in politics. His grandfather was a U.S. senator and served as attorney general for President Thomas Jefferson, and his father was active in Kentucky state politics. However, both men died young, and John and his sisters were raised by their mother and grandmother. He attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and then studied law for a time at Princeton University in New Jersey. He returned to Kentucky to continue his law studies at Transylvania University and under Judge William Owsley in Lexington. Breckinridge was admitted to the bar in 1841.</p>

<p>Along with a cousin, Breckinridge moved out to the Iowa Territory to establish a law practice but soon returned to Kentucky. He practiced law in Georgetown and Lexington. In 1843, he married Mary Cyrene Burch, and they eventually had five children. Breckinridge was known for his striking good looks, commanding personality, and oratory skills. He first gained statewide attention when he gave an address at a funeral service honoring Kentucky soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican War. Shortly afterwards, he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. As a major, he served in Mexico for less than a year before returning home. After the war, Breckinridge became active in politics. He served in the Kentucky state legislature and then in the U.S. House of Representatives for two terms from 1851 to 1855. He was a member of the Democratic Party and a strong believer in states’ rights although he opposed slavery and supported the colonization movement, which advocated freeing slaves and resettling them in Africa. As a representative, he was actively involved in helping fellow Democrat Stephen Douglas of Illinois push the Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress. The act repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and allowed territories to choose whether to allow slavery. Many congressmen hoped that the Kansas-Nebraska Act would remove slavery as an issue in national politics but it had the opposite effect and made slavery even more divisive. Breckinridge did not run for reelected after his second term in the House but returned to Kentucky to resume his law practice.</p>

<p>In the 1856 presidential election, the Democratic Party chose Breckinridge as the vice presidential candidate to run with James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. The two easily won the election. However, Breckinridge played little role as vice president. Although vice presidents generally had little influence in this period of history, Breckinridge had almost no role because Buchanan excluded him from his administration and they rarely had any interaction at all. However, Vice President Breckinridge was respected for presiding over the U.S. Senate with fairness during a contentious time in American history. As the presidential election of 1860 approached, the country was increasingly divided over the issue of slavery. The Democratic Party split when the Southern states walked out of the convention. The Northern Democrats nominated Stephen Douglas while the Southern Democrats nominated Breckinridge. With the Democratic vote split, the Republican Party candidate, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, won the election. Prior to stepping down as vice president, Breckinridge had been appointed to the U.S. Senate by the Kentucky legislature. When he assumed his Senate seat, he hoped that as a Southern senator, he might be able to help the nation avoid war. He did not support secession but had little chance of influencing Southern states that had already started seceding from the Union. Breckinridge also tried to use his influence to convince Kentucky to remain neutral in the upcoming conflict but pro-Union forces dominated the state legislature and chose to align the state with the United States. After Kentucky chose to stay in the Union, Breckinridge fled to Virginia to avoid arrest and he volunteered to serve in the Confederate Army, first as a brigadier general and then as a major general. He led troops in battles such as Shiloh, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and Cold Harbor. Along with Jubal Early, he led a daring Confederate raid on Washington, D.C. in 1864, making it as far as Maryland, insight of the U.S. Capitol. In February 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Breckinridge secretary of war. By that time, however, the South had little chance of turning the tide of the war, and it surrendered in April. Breckinridge then fled abroad, traveling first to Cuba, then England, Europe, and Canada. He did not return to the United States until after President Andrew Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation for Confederates on Christmas Day 1868. Arriving in Lexington, Kentucky, he was greeted by a warm welcome. He did not reenter politics but resumed his law practice and became involved in the railroad industry. Breckinridge died on May 17, 1875.</p>