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Duncan Lamont Clinch
Duncan Lamont Clinch (April 6, 1787 – December 4, 1849[1] was an American army officer and slave-plantation owner who served as a commander during the War of 1812, and First and Second Seminole Wars. In 1816, he led an attack on Negro Fort, the first battle of the Seminole Wars. Clinch later served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia. Early lifeClinch was born at "Ard-Lamont", a plantation in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on April 6, 1787. He was the son of Joseph John Clinch, Jr. (1754–1795), an American Revolution veteran of both the Continental Army and the North Carolina Militia (Edgecombe County Regiment) who attained the rank of colonel. Joseph Clinch also served in political office, including justice of the peace and member of the North Carolina House of Commons.[2] Duncan Clinch was educated in the local schools and by private tutors. In the summer of 1808, he joined the United States Army as a first lieutenant. His first assignment was as a regimental paymaster for the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment in New Orleans.[3] Military careerClinch was initially assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to captain in 1810, lieutenant colonel in 1813, colonel in 1819, and brigadier general in 1829. He served primarily on frontier posts in what were then the southwestern United States. In 1816, he commanded forces in southern Georgia, and was ordered by General Andrew Jackson to attack Seminole positions at Negro Fort, an abandoned British post along the Apalachicola River which had become a safe haven for escaped slaves. He was ordered to recover runaway slaves in hiding at the fort. Supported by gunboats, Clinch's attack on the outpost caused a major incident when an explosion, resulting from naval artillery hitting the fort's powder magazine, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Seminoles and slaves, contributing to the beginning of the First Seminole War. Second Seminole WarIn the summer and fall of 1835, General Clinch, who was in charge of removing the Seminole from Florida, became increasingly convinced that removal would require a large and active military force. A soldier who carried mail between Fort Brooke and Fort King was killed and mutilated by Seminoles and Charley Amathla, a Seminole leader who was in favor of emigration and who had sold his property in preparation for removal, was killed by Osceola. In response, Clinch ordered Major Francis L. Dade to leave Key West and bring his company of men to Fort Brooke.[4] Clinch saw service during the Second Seminole War including the Battle of the Withlacoochee before resigning from the Army in 1836.
– Steward John Bemrose Second Seminole War 1865. He lived on a plantation near St. Mary's, Georgia. In an 1844 special election he was elected to Congress as a Whig, filling the vacancy caused by the death of John Millen. He served in the 28th Congress, February 15, 1844 to March 3, 1845, and did not run for reelection to a full term in 1844. Clinch died in Macon, Georgia on December 4, 1849, after a long struggle with erysipelas.[1] He was buried at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. HonorsClinch County, Georgia was named for Clinch.[5] In the Civil War, the 5th Georgia Volunteer Infantry's first company was also named after him, as the regiment originated from Clinch County.[6] Fort Clinch (and Fort Clinch State Park) on Amelia Island, Florida is named for Clinch. The Fort is at 2601 Atlantic Avenue, Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034. There was another Fort Clinch further south, this one in present-day Frostproof, Florida.[7] FamilyDuncan Lamont Clinch married three times, first to Eliza Bayard McIntosh,[8] then to Elizabeth Houstoun,[8] and finally to Sophia Hume Clinch,[9] to whom he was married at the time of his death.[10] His son, Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch Jr., commanded the 4th Georgia Cavalry CSA during the American Civil War. This unit fought at the Battle of Olustee in Florida, and also in the Atlanta campaign later in 1864. He was also the father-in-law of Robert Anderson (Civil War), commander of Fort Sumter. His own father-in-law, the father of his first wife Eliza Bayard McIntosh, was John Houston McIntosh, who led the Patriot Group in a failed uprising against the Spanish in the Patriot War in Florida.[11] Another son, Captain Nicholas Bayard Clinch (1832–1888), was commander of "Clinch's Light Battery", or as "Clinch's Artillery Company", a division of older brother Duncan's 4th Georgia Volunteer Cavalry CSA and an inventor.[12][13] Archival materialIn the Library of Florida History, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, there is a collection of General Duncan Lamont Clinch Family Papers, some of which have been digitized. It consists of correspondence of and newspaper clippings related to General Clinch.[14] Notes
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