MILLEDGE LUKE BONHAM - Original Member of the Aztec Club of 1847

	Original Members
	Index
	Main Menu

(12-25-1813 - 08-27-1890)

Born near Red Bank (now Saluda), South Carolina, Bonham attended private schools and graduated from South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) at Columbia, in 1834. He served as Major and Adjutant-General, South Carolina Brigade, in the Seminole War in Florida in 1836. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Edgefield in 1837 and embarked on a political career in 1840, in the State House of Representatives, 1840-1844.

During the Mexican War he was Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of the 12th Regiment, U., S. Infantry, part of General Franklin Pierce's Brigade. Winfield Scott Hancock served as his adjutant. He served as Military Governor of one of the Mexican provinces for a year prior to returning to South Carolina to practice law. A Major-General of the South Carolina Militia, Bonham served as solicitor of the Second Circuit of South Carolina, 1848-1857. He was elected as a States Rights Democrat to the 35th and 36th Congresses and served from March 4, 1857 until his retirement on December 21, 1860.

Milledge Luke Bonham

In February, 1861 he was appointed Major-General and Commander of the Army of South Carolina by Gov. F. W. Pickens and, on April 19, 1861, a Brigadier-General in the Confederate Army. He commanded in the center of General Beauregard's army in the first Battle of First Manassas, as well as battles at Fairfax, Centerville and Vienna. In July, 1861, when his brigade was disbanded, Bonham lost his commission. Davis re-appointed him in October but a dispute over the loss of his seniority embittered Bonham greatly.

He resigned his commission in January, 1862 to take a seat in the First Regular Confederate Congress, a post he resigned upon his election as Governor of South Carolina in January, 1863. He served until his term expired in December, 1864. Bonham was reappointed a Brigadier- General of Cavalry, on February 16, 1865, and was present during the closing weeks of General Joseph E. Johnston's campaign in the Carolinas.

Bonham was again elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, 1865-1867 and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1867 and 1876. He was a member of South Carolina's taxpayers' convention in 1871 and 1874, He resumed the practice of law in Edgefield, engaged in planting, and conducted an insurance business in Edgefield and Atlanta, 1865-1878. He was appointed a State Railroad Commissioner in 1878 and served until his death at White Sulphur Springs, N. C. He was interred at Elmwood Cemetery, Columbia, South Carolina.

Original Members | Index of Biographies | Return to Main Menu

Page Last Modified: 15 June 2006