Charles Clark
24th Governor of Mississippi
In office November 16, 1863 – May 22, 1865
Preceded by	John Pettus
Succeeded by	William Sharkey
Member of theMississippi House of Representatives
In office 1838–1844
In office 1856–1861
Personal details
Born	(1811-05-24)May 24, 1811 Cincinnati,Ohio
Died	December 18, 1877(1877-12-18) (aged 66) Bolivar County,Mississippi
Resting place	Bolivar County, Mississippi
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Ann Darden
Alma mater	Augusta College
Profession	Teacher, lawyer
Signature
Military service
Branch	United States Army Confederate States Army
Years of service	1847–1848 (U.S.) 1861–1863 (C.S.)
Rank	Colonel (U.S.) Brigadier-General (C.S.)
Commands	First Division, First Corps, Army of Mississippi
Battles	Mexican–American War American Civil War Battle of Shiloh (WIA) Battle of Baton Rouge (WIA) (POW)

Charles Clark (May 24, 1811 – December 18, 1877) was the 24thgovernor of Mississippi from 1863 to 1865. A wealthy planter and lawyer, Clark served as a soldier in theMexican-American War and joined the Confederate army as a general during theAmerican Civil War. Severely wounded in battle, he ran for governor of Mississippi in 1863, serving in office until the final Confederate defeat in the spring of 1865.

Clark was born inCincinnati,Ohio, on May 24, 1811, and subsequently moved to Mississippi. He is the great-grandfather of Judge Charles Clark, who served on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1969 to 1992 and was the chair of the United States Judicial Conference.

In the late 1830s and early 1840s, Clark, a lawyer, represented a settler in a dispute with someChoctaw Native Americans over land in theMississippi Delta. The dispute led to a series of lawsuits before theMississippi Supreme Court. The settler ultimately prevailed and gave Clark a large tract of land betweenBeulah, Mississippi and theMississippi River as his legal fee. In the late 1840s, Clark formed aplantation on the land, naming it Doe-Roe, pseudonyms commonly used in the legal profession to represent unnamed or unknown litigants (e.g.,John Doe,Roe v. Wade). However, because of poor local literacy, the plantation became known by itsphonic representation,Doro. According to archives atDelta State University, "The plantation grew to over 5,000 acres (20 km²) and became the most prosperous in the region, operating until 1913. It was prominent in the social, political and economic affairs of Bolivar County."^[1] He was also active in state politics, being elected as a member of theMississippi House of Representatives several times.

During theMexican–American War, he served as a colonel of the 2nd Mississippi Regiment of Volunteers.^[2] Following thesecession of Mississippi in early 1861, Clark was appointed as abrigadier general in the First Division, First Corps, a Mississippi Militia unit that later entered theConfederate States Army. He commanded the brigade at engagements inKentucky and then adivision underLeonidas Polk at theBattle of Shiloh, where he was slightly wounded. Clark led a division at theBattle of Baton Rouge, where he was severely wounded and captured. He spent time as aprisoner of war before being released, but was permanently disabled.

John J. Pettus, the governor who led Mississippi to secede in 1861 was term-limited and could not run for reelection. Clark ran for governor in theOctober 1863 election on a conservative platform focused on caring for wounded soldiers and their families, as opposed to the "fire-eater" rhetoric that had led to secession after Pettus's election.^[3] Clark was elected as governor with 70% of the vote and inaugurated atColumbus on November 16. The state capital ofJackson had been captured and burned by Union forces earlier that year, and most of the other strategic points in Mississippi were already overrun by US troops by the time Clark took office.

Clark's administration focused on aiding the destitute civilian population of Mississippi, officially sanctioning contraband trade with US forces in exchange for essential goods and medicine.^[4] With the collapse of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865, Clark was forcibly removed from office by theUnited States Army on May 22 and briefly imprisoned atFort Pulaski nearSavannah, Georgia.^[5] Clark was replaced as governor byWilliam L. Sharkey, a respected judge and staunch Unionist, who had been in total opposition tosecession.

Clarke was ex officio President of the University of Mississippi Board of Trustees during his tenure as Governor of Mississippi. Despite losing the governorship, he remained on the Board for almost ten years after his term ended. In 1871, he purchasedRouthland, an Antebellum mansion inNatchez, Mississippi.^[6]

Clark died inBolivar County, Mississippi, on December 18, 1877, and was buried at the family graveyard in that county.

• List of Confederate generals
• List of governors of Mississippi
• List of heads of government who were later imprisoned

• Eicher, John H., andDavid J. Eicher,Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
• Sifakis, Stewart.Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988.ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
• Warner, Ezra J.Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCharles Clark (governor).

• Charles Clark atFind a Grave
• Charles Clark atThe Political Graveyard

• 1811 births
• 1877 deaths
• 19th-century American lawyers
• Methodists from Mississippi
• American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
• American politicians with disabilities
• Confederate States Army brigadier generals
• Confederate States of America state governors
• Confederate militia generals
• Democratic Party governors of Mississippi
• Heads of state and government who were later imprisoned
• Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives
• Military personnel from Mississippi
• Mississippi lawyers
• People from Bolivar County, Mississippi
• People from Cincinnati
• People of Mississippi in the American Civil War
• Politicians from Natchez, Mississippi
• Prisoners of war held by the United States
• People pardoned by Andrew Johnson
• Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni
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• 19th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature

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