# Alfred H. Colquitt

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American politician

Alfred H. Colquitt Colquitt in 1866 United States Senator from Georgia In office March 4, 1883 – March 26, 1894 Preceded by Middleton P. Barrow Succeeded by Patrick Walsh 49th Governor of Georgia In office January 12, 1877 – November 4, 1882 Preceded by James M. Smith Succeeded by Alexander H. Stephens Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 2nd district In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 Preceded by James Johnson Succeeded by Martin J. Crawford Member of the Georgia State Legislature Personal details Born Alfred Holt Colquitt (1824-04-20)April 20, 1824 Monroe, Georgia, U.S. Died March 26, 1894(1894-03-26) (aged 69) Washington, D.C., U.S. Resting place Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Georgia Party Democratic Signature Military service Allegiance United States of America Confederate States of America Branch/service United States Army Confederate States Army Years of service 1846–1848 1861–1865 Rank Major (USA) Brigadier General (CSA) Commands 6th Georgia Infantry Regiment Colquitt's Brigade Battles/wars Mexican–American War American Civil War

**Alfred Holt Colquitt** (April 20, 1824 – March 26, 1894) was an American lawyer, preacher, soldier, and politician. Elected as the [49th governor of Georgia](/source/List_of_governors_of_Georgia) (1877–1882), he was one of numerous Democrats elected to office as white conservatives took back power in the state at the end of the [Reconstruction era](/source/Reconstruction_era). He was elected by the Georgia state legislature to two terms as [U.S. Senator](/source/United_States_Senate), serving from 1883 to 1894 and dying in office. He had served as a United States officer in the [Mexican-American War](/source/Mexican-American_War) and in the [Confederate States Army](/source/Confederate_States_Army) during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War), reaching the rank of [major general](/source/Major_general_(United_States)).

## Early life

Colquitt as Confederate Brigadier General during the Civil War

Alfred Colquitt was born in [Monroe, Georgia](/source/Monroe%2C_Georgia). His father, [Walter T. Colquitt](/source/Walter_T._Colquitt), became a United States Representative and Senator from Georgia. The younger Colquitt graduated from [Princeton College](/source/Princeton_College) in 1844, studied law and passed his [bar examination](/source/Bar_examination) in 1846. He began practicing law in Monroe.

During the [Mexican–American War](/source/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War) (1848-1849), Colquitt served as a paymaster in the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army) at the rank of [major](/source/Major_(United_States)).[1] After the war, Colquitt was elected as a member of the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives), serving one term from 1853 to 1855. He next was elected to and served in the Georgia state legislature. Colquitt was a delegate to The Georgia Secession Convention of 1861: he voted in favor of secession and signed Georgia's [Ordinance of Secession](/source/Ordinance_of_Secession) on January 19, 1861.

Colquitt was a [presidential elector](/source/United_States_Electoral_College) in [1860](/source/1860_United_States_presidential_election_in_Georgia).[2]

## Civil War

Portrait of Colquitt from a Richmond newspaper in 1863

At the beginning of the civil war, Colquitt was appointed captain in the [6th Georgia Infantry](/source/6th_Georgia_Volunteer_Infantry). Eventually rising to colonel, he led his regiment in the Peninsula Campaign. At [Seven Pines](/source/Battle_of_Seven_Pines), he assumed brigade command after Brig. Gen [Gabriel Rains](/source/Gabriel_Rains) was wounded, and led it through the Seven Days Battles.[3] He led his brigade under [Stonewall Jackson](/source/Stonewall_Jackson) in the [Battle of South Mountain](/source/Battle_of_South_Mountain),[4] [Battle of Antietam](/source/Battle_of_Antietam),[5] the [Battle of Fredericksburg](/source/Battle_of_Fredericksburg), and the [Battle of Chancellorsville](/source/Battle_of_Chancellorsville). Colquitt survived Antietam unscathed although nearly every other officer in the brigade was killed or wounded. After the battle, he was immediately promoted to brigadier general, to rank from September 1.[6] By the end of the war, he had been promoted to major general.[7]

After Chancellorsville, some questions arose about Colquitt's performance during that battle,[8] and he was transferred to North Carolina in exchange for Brig. Gen [Junius Daniel](/source/Junius_Daniel)'s brigade. His brigade was transferred again in the summer of 1863 to protect [Charleston, South Carolina](/source/Charleston%2C_South_Carolina).[9] In February 1864, Colquitt marched his brigade south to help defend against the Union invasion of [Florida](/source/Florida), and was victorious in the [Battle of Olustee](/source/Battle_of_Olustee).[10] After this battle, Colquitt's brigade rejoined [Robert E. Lee](/source/Robert_E._Lee)'s [Army of Northern Virginia](/source/Army_of_Northern_Virginia). Late in the war the brigade returned to defend North Carolina, where Colquitt surrendered in 1865.

## Political life

After returning to political life and near the end of the Reconstruction era, Colquitt defeated Republican candidate [Jonathan Norcross](/source/Jonathan_Norcross) for governor of Georgia in [1876](/source/1876_Georgia_gubernatorial_election). He was one of a number of Democrats elected to office as white conservatives regained power in the state, in part by an overt effort by paramilitary insurgents to disrupt and suppress Republican voting, especially by [freedmen](/source/Freedmen). Around that time, several thousand "friends" asked for about 30 open government patronage jobs. Those who did not get one of the jobs tried to turn voters against Colquitt. There were rumors that Colquitt was involved in illegal dealings with the Northeastern Railroad. A legislative committee found the governor innocent. During this time he was a part of the [Bourbon Triumvirate](/source/Bourbon_Triumvirate).

Colquitt was reelected in [1880](/source/1880_Georgia_gubernatorial_election) to serve two years under the new [state constitution](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)_Constitution), which reduced the term of governor from four years to two.[11] Under his term, debt was reduced.

In [1883](/source/1882%E2%80%9383_United_States_Senate_elections), Colquitt was elected by the state legislature as a Democrat to the US Senate from Georgia (this was the practice before an amendment for popular election of senators was ratified in the 20th century). He was re-elected to a second term in [1888](/source/1888%E2%80%9389_United_States_Senate_elections).

In 1892, Colquitt suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed. He recovered enough to resume his duties as a senator, but in March 1894, he suffered another stroke that left him mostly incapacitated. He died two weeks later.[12] His body was returned to Georgia, where he was buried in [Rose Hill cemetery](/source/Rose_Hill_Cemetery_(Macon%2C_Georgia)) in Macon.

## Family life

Colquitt's brother, Col. [Peyton H. Colquitt](/source/Peyton_H._Colquitt), was killed at age 31 at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Colquitt was married twice: first to the former Dorothy Elizabeth Tarver (1829-1855), and after her death to her brother's widow, the former Sarah Bunn Tarver (1832-1898).[7] He was the father of three children with his first wife and seven children with his second wife.

## See also

- [State of Georgia portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:State_of_Georgia)
- [American Civil War portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:American_Civil_War)
- [Biography portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Biography)

- [List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession](/source/List_of_signers_of_the_Georgia_Ordinance_of_Secession)

- [Confederate States of America](/source/Confederate_States_of_America#Causes_of_secession), causes of secession, ["Died of states' rights"](/source/Confederate_States_of_America#"Died_of_states'_rights")

- [List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)](/source/List_of_American_Civil_War_generals_(Confederate))

- [List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)](/source/List_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress_who_died_in_office_(1790%E2%80%931899))

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Lewis, Felice Flanery (2010). *Trailing Clouds of Glory : Zachary Taylor's Mexican War Campaign and His Emerging Civil War Leaders*. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. p. 177. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780817316785](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780817316785).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [*The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography*](https://books.google.com/books?id=13JMAAAAYAAJ). Vol. I. New York, N.Y.: James T. White & Company. 1898. p. 291 – via [Google Books](/source/Google_Books).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Burton, Brian K. (2001). *Extraordinary Circumstances: The Seven Days Battles*. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 113. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0253222770](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0253222770).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Hartwig, D. Scott (2012). *To Antietam Creek : The Maryland Campaign Of September 1862*. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 301. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781421406312](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781421406312).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Toney, B. (1997). ["Horrors of the Bloody Lane"](http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=9709065398&site=eds-live&scope=site). *America's Civil War*. **10** (4). Retrieved June 3, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Sears, Stephen W. (1996). [*Chancellorsville*](https://archive.org/details/chancellorsville00sear/page/240). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co. p. [240](https://archive.org/details/chancellorsville00sear/page/240). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0395634172](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0395634172). Retrieved June 3, 2016.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NGA_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NGA_7-1) ["Alfred Holt Colquitt"](https://www.nga.org/governor/alfred-holt-colquitt/). *National Governors Association*. January 12, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Phalen, Anne Howard (1991). ["In Defense of My Great Grandfather"](http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=9810299&site=eds-live&scope=site). *American Heritage*. **42** (1). Retrieved June 3, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Wise, Stephen (1994). *Gate of Hell : Campaign for Charleston Harbor, 1863*. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. p. 87. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780872499850](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780872499850).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Howland, Chris (2014). ["Rebel rally in the Sunshine State"](http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fth&AN=91558935&site=eds-live&scope=site). *America's Civil War*. **26** (6): 38. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Perman, Michael (1984). [*The Road to Redemption: Southern Politics, 1869-1879*](https://archive.org/details/roadtoredemption0000perm/page/207). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. [207](https://archive.org/details/roadtoredemption0000perm/page/207). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0807841412](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0807841412). Retrieved June 3, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Welsh, Jack D. (2013). *Medical Histories of Confederate Generals*. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. p. 45. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781306303101](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781306303101).

- United States Congress. ["Alfred H. Colquitt (id: C000647)"](http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000647). *[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)*. Retrieved on 2008-02-13

- Eicher, John H., and [David J. Eicher](/source/David_J._Eicher), *Civil War High Commands.* Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8047-3641-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8047-3641-1).

- Sifakis, Stewart. *Who Was Who in the Civil War.* New York: Facts On File, 1988. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8160-1055-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8160-1055-4).

- [Warner, Ezra J.](/source/Ezra_J._Warner_(historian)) *Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.* Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8071-0823-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8071-0823-9).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Alfred Holt Colquitt](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Alfred_Holt_Colquitt).

- [General Alfred Colquitt at the Battle of Olustee](http://battleofolustee.org/colquitt.html)

- Holt, Alfred H. ["Letter to Wiley B. Burnett, Aug. 20, 1890"](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/harg/turningpoint/id:harg2345-010-091). *America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia. E. Merton Coulter manuscript collection II. MS 2345. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries*. Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

- ["Alfred Holt Colquitt Residence"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160617022830/http://collectionsdev.atlantahistorycenter.com:2011/cdm/ref/collection/athpc/id/686). *Atlanta History Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center*. Digital Library of Georgia. Archived from [the original](http://collectionsdev.atlantahistorycenter.com:2011/cdm/ref/collection/athpc/id/686) on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

- ["International Cotton Exposition"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160617033034/http://collectionsdev.atlantahistorycenter.com:2011/cdm/ref/collection/athpc/id/994). *Atlanta History Photograph Collection, Atlanta History Center*. Digital Library of Georgia. Archived from [the original](http://collectionsdev.atlantahistorycenter.com:2011/cdm/ref/collection/athpc/id/994) on June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

- ["Memorial addresses on the life and character of Alfred Holt Colquitt : Delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives, fifty-third congress, third session"](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/do-pdf:gb5016). Digital Library of Georgia. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

- ["Newspaper clipping about Alfred H. Colquitt published March 29, 1894"](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/gordonobits/do:gco-ac-00011603). *Calhoun-Gordon County Library Obituary File, Calhoun-Gordon County Library, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia*. Retrieved June 3, 2016.

- [Alfred Holt Colquitt](http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/bibb/alfred-holt-colquitt) historical marker

- [Alfred H. Colquitt, *New Georgia Encyclopedia*](https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/alfred-h-colquitt-1824-1894)

Party political offices Preceded by James Milton Smith Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia 1876, 1880 Succeeded by Alexander H. Stephens U.S. House of Representatives Preceded by James Johnson Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 Succeeded by Martin J. Crawford Political offices Preceded by James M. Smith Governor of Georgia 1877–1882 Succeeded by Alexander H. Stephens U.S. Senate Preceded by Middleton P. Barrow U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia 1883–1894 Served alongside: Joseph E. Brown, John B. Gordon Succeeded by Patrick Walsh

v t e Governors of Georgia 1777–present Bulloch Gwinnett Treutlen Houstoun Glascock Cuthbert Wereat Walton Howly George Wells Humphrey Wells Heard Davies Brownson Martin Hall Houstoun Elbert Telfair Mathews Handley Walton Telfair Mathews Irwin Jackson Emanuel Tattnall Milledge Irwin Mitchell Early Mitchell Rabun Talbot Clark Troup Forsyth Gilmer Lumpkin Schley Gilmer McDonald Crawford Towns Cobb H. Johnson J. E. Brown J. Johnson Jenkins Ruger Bullock Conley J. Smith Colquitt Stephens Boynton McDaniel Gordon Northen Atkinson Candler Terrell H. Smith J. M. Brown H. Smith Slaton J. M. Brown Slaton N. Harris Dorsey Hardwick Walker Hardman Russell E. Talmadge Rivers E. Talmadge Arnall Thompson H. Talmadge Griffin Vandiver Sanders Maddox Carter Busbee J. Harris Miller Barnes Perdue Deal Kemp Category

v t e United States senators from Georgia Class 2 Few Jackson Walton Tattnall Baldwin Jones Crawford Bulloch Bibb Troup Forsyth Walker Ware Cobb Prince Troup King Lumpkin Berrien Charlton Toombs H. Miller Norwood B. Hill Barrow A. Colquitt Walsh Bacon West Hardwick Harris Cohen Russell Gambrell Nunn Cleland Chambliss Perdue Ossoff Class 3 Gunn Jackson Milledge Tait Elliott Berrien Forsyth Cuthbert W. Colquitt Johnson Dawson Iverson J. Hill Gordon Brown Gordon Clay Terrell Smith Watson Felton George Talmadge Mattingly Fowler Coverdell Z. Miller Isakson Loeffler Warnock

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