James Holt Clanton

Background

James was born on January 8, 1827, in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. He was the son of Nathaniel Holt and Mary Clayton Clanton. The family removed to Alabama in 1835.

Education

Clanton attended the county schools of Macon County and the University of Georgia, leaving school to fight in the Mexican War. He later studied law under Judge Robert Chilton in Alabama.

Career

James Holt Clanton was admitted to the Alabama bar.

A Democrat, he represented Montgomery County in the Alabama legislature in 1855. He joined the Confederate Army immediately after the war began and was sent to Florida as aide-de-camp to General Braxton Bragg.

Clanton fought in the battle of Shiloh and also participated in the battles of Booneville and Farmington, Mississippi, in May 1862. While on the staff of General Leonidas Polk during 1863, he harassed the Union Army in Alabama. He was promoted to brigadier general on November 16, 1863.

He served in the Atlanta campaign. On March 25, 1865, he was seriously wounded and captured at Bluffton Spring, Florida. Clanton was paroled in Mobile in May 1865.

After the war, Clanton resumed his Alabama law practice and became a leader in the Democratic party. He was the state’s attorney during the late 1860s. An ex-Union officer shot Clanton to death in Knoxville, Tennessee, on September 26, 1871.

Achievements

• James Holt Clanton was known for opening the battle of Shiloh, was present at Farmington and Booneville, and after raising three more regiments, was promoted brigadier general to rank from November 16, 1863. During the balance of the war, he participated in the Atlanta campaign. He was also active in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana.

Politics

Clanton opposed secession and was a John Bell elector in 1860.

Connections

Clanton had two sons and a daughter by his marriage to Parthenia Abercrombie.

Father:

Nathaniel Holt Clanton

1802-1856

Mother:

Mary Ann Clayton Clanton

1810-1842

Brother:

Albert Berry Clanton

1829-1910

Brother:

Turner Clanton

1838-1887

Sister:

Cornelia Virginia Clanton

1839-1845

Brother:

William Henry Clanton

1845-1893

Sister:

Horace Elmore Clanton

1848-1876

Sister:

Sarah Elizabeth Clanton Brumby

1851-1899

Wife:

Parthenia Abercrombie Clanton

colleague:

Braxton Bragg

References

• Civil War High Commands
  2002
• Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders
  2006
• General Officers of the Confederate Army
  2019