Richard Hawes
| Richard Hawes | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 2nd Confederate Governor of Kentucky | |
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In office May 31, 1862 – April 9, 1865 |
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| Preceded by | George W. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Abolished (end of Civil War) |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 10th district |
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In office March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841 |
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| Preceded by | Chilton Allan |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Francis Marshall |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 6, 1797 Caroline County, Virginia |
| Died | May 25, 1877 (aged 80) Paris, Kentucky |
| Political party | Whig, Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Hetty Morrison Nicholas |
| Relations | Brother of Albert Gallatin Hawes Nephew of Aylett Hawes Cousin of Aylett Hawes Buckner |
| Alma mater | Transylvania University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Richard Hawes (February 6, 1797 – May 25, 1877) was a United States Representative from Kentucky and the second Confederate Governor of Kentucky. He was part of the politically influential Hawes family. His brother, uncle, and cousin also served as U.S. Representatives, and his grandson Harry B. Hawes was a member of the United States Senate.
Hawes began his political career as an ardent Whig and was a close friend of the party's founder, Henry Clay. When the party declined and dissolved in the 1850s, Hawes became a Democrat, and his relationship with Clay cooled.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hawes was a supporter of Kentucky's doctrine of armed neutrality. When the Commonwealth's neutrality was breached in September 1861, Hawes fled to Virginia and enlisted as a brigade commissary under Confederate general Humphrey Marshall. When Kentucky's Confederate government was formed in Russellville, Hawes was offered the position of state auditor, but declined. Months later, he was selected to be Confederate governor of the Commonwealth following George W. Johnson's death at the Battle of Shiloh.
Hawes and the Confederate government traveled with Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee, and when Bragg invaded Kentucky in October 1862, he captured Frankfort and held an inauguration ceremony for Hawes. The ceremony was interrupted, however, by forces under Union general Don Carlos Buell, and the Confederates were driven from the Commonwealth following the Battle of Perryville. Hawes relocated to Virginia, where he continued to lobby President Jefferson Davis to attempt another invasion of Kentucky.
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