James Chesnut, Jr.
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The Honorable James Chesnut, Jr. |
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| Member of the C.S. Congress from South Carolina |
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In office February 8, 1861 – February 17, 1862 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
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United States Senator from South Carolina |
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In office December 3, 1858 – November 10, 1860 |
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| Preceded by | Arthur P. Hayne |
| Succeeded by | Thomas J. Robertson (1868) |
| President of the South Carolina Senate | |
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In office December 10, 1856 – December 3, 1858 |
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| Governor | Robert F.W. Allston |
| Preceded by | Robert F.W. Allston |
| Succeeded by | William Dennison Porter |
| Member of the South Carolina Senate from Kershaw District | |
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In office November 22, 1852 – December 3, 1858 |
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| Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Kershaw District | |
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In office November 23, 1840 – December 15, 1845 |
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In office November 25, 1850 – December 16, 1851 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 18, 1815 Camden, South Carolina |
| Died | February 1, 1885 (aged 70) Camden, South Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Conservative Party of South Carolina |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
| Service/branch | Provisional Army of the Confederate States |
| Years of service | 1861-1865 |
| Rank |
 Brigadier-General
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| Battles/wars | |
James Chesnut, Jr. (January 18, 1815 – February 1, 1885) was a signatory of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, and a Confederate States Army general.
Chesnut, a lawyer prominent in South Carolina state politics, served as a Democratic senator in 1858-60, where he proved moderate on the slavery question. But on Lincoln’s election in 1860, Chesnut resigned from the U.S. Senate and took part in the South Carolina secession convention, later helping to draft the Confederate Constitution. As aide to General P.G.T. Beauregard, he ordered the firing on Fort Sumter and served at First Manassas. Later he was aide to Jefferson Davis and promoted to Brigadier-General. Chesnut returned to law practice after the war.
His wife was Mary Boykin Chesnut, whose published diaries reflect the Chesnuts' busy social life and prominent friends such as John Bell Hood, Louis T. Wigfall, Wade Hampton III, and Jefferson Davis.
Chesnut was born the youngest of fourteen children and the only (surviving) son of James Chesnut, Sr. (1775–1866) and his wife, Mary Cox (1777–1864) on Mulberry Plantation near Camden, South Carolina. Chesnut, Sr. was one of the wealthiest planters in the South, who owned 448 slaves and many large plantations totaling nearly five square miles before the outbreak of the Civil War. Chesnut Jr. graduated from the law department of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1835, and initially rose to prominence in South Carolina state politics.
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