Background
CHEATHAM, Benjamin Franklin was born on October 20, 1820 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, United States. Son of Leonard Pope and Elizabeth (Robertson) Cheatham.
farmer General government official military
CHEATHAM, Benjamin Franklin was born on October 20, 1820 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, United States. Son of Leonard Pope and Elizabeth (Robertson) Cheatham.
Private school.
Like his father before him, he was a farmer. In 1866, he married Anna Bell, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. Cheatham was a captain and later a colonel of Tennessee Volunteers during the Mexican War.
He participated in the California gold rush of 1849 but returned to Tennessee four years later. Before the war, he was a major general in the state militia, a Democrat, and a close friend of Tennessee Governor Isham Harris. In the early days of the Civil War, he volunteered for the army, and the governor made him a brigadier and later major general of the provisional army of Tennessee.
Named a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on July 9, 1861, he earned a reputation for brilliance in battle, and on March 10, 1862, he was promoted to major general during the battle of Shiloh, where he commanded the second division of the 1st Corps under General Leonidas Polk. He also saw major action at the battles of Perry ville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, and Atlanta. Always a controversial figure, Cheatham was accused by General John B. Hood (^.v.) of errors at Spring Hill, Tennessee, in the fall of 1864 which led to Confederate defeat at the battle of Franklin.
A military court cleared Cheatham of all charges. He joined Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina and surrendered there in April 1865. Upon obtaining parole, he returned to Tennessee to farm.
In 1872, Cheatham ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House. For four years he was superintendent of the state prison, and from 1885 until his death on September 4, 1886, he was postmaster at Nashville.
"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.
Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.
Served as captain Tenn Volunteers during Mexican War, 1847.
Married Anna Bell Robertson, 1866.