Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.

Meriwether Lewis Clark Sr. (January 10, 1809 – October 28, 1881) was an architect, civil engineer, politician, and a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He first served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater as the initial commander of the Ninth Division of the Missouri State Guard and later commanded a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee during the Siege of Petersburg and Richmond.

Clark was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Missouri and corps of discovery expedition leader, William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame. He was named after his father's friend and associate, Meriwether Lewis. In 1826, he accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated 23rd of 42 cadets in the Class of 1830. He was brevetted as a second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry and assigned to Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. He served as an officer and mapmaker in the Black Hawk War before resigning from the army in 1833.

While on assignment in Louisville, Kentucky, Clark met and courted Abigail Prather Churchill, of the prominent Churchill family. They married in January 1834 and raised seven children before her death in 1852. Their son Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. would become a prominent member of Louisville society, promoting horseracing and building, with help from his Churchill relations, the famous racetrack Churchill Downs.

...
Wikipedia