Maj. Gen. John Calvin Brown

[jkBluesman]

Maj. Gen. John Calvin Brown (b. 1827, d. 1889). Without any military education, Brown quickly learned how to lead volunteers and proofed his bravery in battle, being wounded three times during the war. Born in Giles County, Tennessee he graduated from Jackson College in the Columbia of his home state in 1846. He was admitted to the bar two years later and pursued a successful career as lawyer while his brother Neil became governor of Tennessee (1847-1849) on the ticket of the Whig Party. John Calvin served as Bell-Everett elector in the 1860 presidential election and opposed secession when Abraham Lincoln was elected. However, when Tennessee joined the Confederacy he enlisted as a private in the newly formed army. In May 1861 he was commissioned colonel and given a brigade. He led it into Kentucky and was captured with his men at Fort Donelson. Exchanged in August 1862 he was made brigadier general and assigned to Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army. Wounded during the second invasion of Kentucky at Perryville, Brown returned to duty just before the Tullahoma Campaign of 1863. At Chickamauga he led a brigade in Gen. Alexander P. Stewart’s division and was again wounded. Back to service Brown was present during the Confederate defeat at Missionary Ridge. For his conduct during the Atlanta Campaign where he commanded a division several times, he was promoted to major general in August 1864. He led a division in Gen. Frank Cheatham’s corps when Gen. John B. Hood invaded Tennessee. At the battle of Franklin Brown was so severely wounded that he could not rejoin the army until April 1865 only days before it surrendered in North Carolina. After the war Brown returned to Tennessee and resumed the practise of law. The state constitutional convention of 1869 elected him its president and Brown successfully ran as governor the next year on the Democrat ticket. After being re-elected once he ran as candidate for the US Senate but was defeated by former Pres. Andrew Johnson. During the last years of his life, Brown was engaged in the railroad business. He died at Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee in 1889.

Ldr: 4
Tact: 3
Init: 3
Cmd: 4
Cav: 0

Teaches: Brave, Resilient

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Maj. Gen. John Calvin Brown (b. 1827, d. 1889). Without any military education, Brown quickly learned how to lead volunteers and proved his bravery in battle, being wounded three times during the Civil War. Born in Giles County, Tennessee, he graduated from Jackson College in nearby Columbia in 1846. He was admitted to the bar two years later and pursued a successful career as a lawyer, while his brother Neil became governor of Tennessee on the ticket of the Whig Party (1847-1849). Brown served as an elector for the Constitutional Union Party ticket of John Bell and Edward Everett in the 1860 presidential election and opposed Tennessee’s secession in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s election. However, when Tennessee joined the Confederacy he enlisted as a private in the newly formed army. In May 1861 he was commissioned as a colonel and given a brigade, which he first led into Kentucky and with which he was later captured at Fort Donelson the following February. Exchanged in August 1862, he was made brigadier general and assigned to Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. During the second invasion of Kentucky, Brown was wounded at Perryville on October 8, not returning to duty until just before the Tullahoma Campaign of June 1863. At Chickamauga, he led a brigade in Gen. Alexander P. Stewart’s division and was again wounded, returning in time for the Confederates’ defeat at Missionary Ridge two months later. For his conduct during the Atlanta Campaign that followed, during which he commanded a division several times, Brown was promoted to major general in August 1864. He again led a division in Gen. Frank Cheatham’s corps when Gen. John B. Hood, now in command of Bragg’s old army, invaded Tennessee that October as a way of thwarting Gen. William T. Sherman’s ability to advance deeper into Georgia but cutting his lines of communication and supply. At the Second Battle of Franklin on November 30, a calamitous defeat for the Confederacy that permanently crippled the Army of Tennessee after it suffered roughly 15% casualties, Brown was so severely wounded by a shell that he could not rejoin the army until April 1865, only days before it surrendered to Gen. William T. Sherman’s army in Durham Station, North Carolina. After the war, Brown returned to Tennessee and resumed his law practice, but soon followed in his brother’s footsteps and entered politics. In 1869, the state constitutional convention elected him its president, and the next year Brown successfully ran as governor on the Democrat ticket. After being re-elected once, he ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate but was defeated by former Pres. Andrew Johnson. During the final years of his life, Brown was engaged in the railroad business. He died at Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee in 1889. (Bio by Joern Kaesebier)

Ldr: 4
Tact: 3
Init: 3
Cmd: 4
Cav: 0

Teaches: Brave, Resilient

Start date: 38