James Ronald Chalmers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi | |
| In office March 4, 1877 – April 29, 1882 | |
| Preceded by | John R. Lynch |
| Succeeded by | John R. Lynch |
| Constituency | 6th district |
| In office June 25, 1884 – March 3, 1885 | |
| Preceded by | Van H. Manning |
| Succeeded by | James B. Morgan |
| Constituency | 2nd district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1831-01-11)January 11, 1831 Halifax County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | April 9, 1898(1898-04-09) (aged 67) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Resting place | Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. 35°07′24″N90°01′49″W / 35.12333°N 90.03028°W /35.12333; -90.03028 |
| Political party | Democratic Independent Democratic (1882) Free Silver Republican (1896) |
| Relations | Joseph Williams Chalmers (father) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America |
| Branch |  Confederate States Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1865 |
| Rank |  Brigadier-General |
| Commands | 9th Mississippi Infantry Chalmers' Cavalry Division |
| Battles | |
James Ronald Chalmers (January 11, 1831 – April 9, 1898) was an American politician and seniorofficer of theConfederate States Army who commandedinfantry andcavalry in theWestern Theater of theAmerican Civil War.
After the war, Chalmers served as a state senator in Mississippi andUnited States Congressman for several terms from the state's 6th congressional district, beginning in 1876. He was re-elected in 1880 but the election was contested by his Republican African-American opponent,John R. Lynch. Congress awarded the seat to Lynch because of marked election fraud by the Democrats.[1] In 1882 Chalmers ran as an Independent Democrat on a fusionist ticket, with support by Republicans andGreenbackers. He contested the victory of the regular Democrat, and Congress finally awarded the seat to Chalmers, seating him in 1884. He left politics after losing election in the fall of 1884.
James Ronald Chalmers was born inHalifax County, Virginia, January 11, 1831. His father wasJoseph Chalmers, who, having moved toMississippi with his family when James was a boy, settled inHolly Springs in 1839. He was first appointed by the governor to fill a term, then elected by the state legislature asU. S. Senator. He was prepared forSouth Carolina College atColumbia, where he was graduated in 1851.
Chalmers returned to Holly Springs to read law with an established firm, and was admitted to thebar in 1853. After a few years of practice, Chalmers was elected asdistrict attorney in 1858. In 1861 he was elected as a delegate to theconvention which passed theordinance of secession. Like his father an ardentStates' rightsDemocrat, he voted in favor ofsecession.[2]
Chalmers entered the Confederate States Army as a captain and was soon promoted to Colonel of the9th Mississippi Infantry in 1861. For a while he commanded atPensacola, Florida. On February 13, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier-general, and on April 6 was assigned to the command of Second Brigade,Withers'Division,Army of the Mississippi. He and his command did splendid fighting in theBattle of Shiloh. WhenBragg was conducting operations in north Mississippi he sent Chalmers with a force ofcavalry to make afeint uponRienzi, Mississippi in order to cover the movement of a body ofinfantry toRipley, Mississippi. In executing this order he encounteredSheridan, July 1, and a stubborn engagement took place. It lasted from about half-past eight in the morning till late in the afternoon. Chalmers, ascertaining that Sheridan had been reinforced by infantry andartillery, retired.[3]
When Bragg advanced intoKentucky in the summer of 1862 Chalmers' command was a part of his force, performing its duties with courage and zeal. In theBattle of Murfreesboro he and his men again rendered brilliant service. In April, 1863, at the request ofJohn C. Pemberton, he was transferred to the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana and placed in command of the Fifth Military District. The district consisted of the top two tiers of counties in Mississippi. In 1864 he was assigned to the command of cavalry brigades of Jeffrey Forrest and McCulloch, forming the first division ofForrest's Cavalry Corps. This cavalry division was subsequently enlarged by the addition ofRucker's Brigade.[3]
Chalmers bore a conspicuous part in theBattle of Fort Pillow and in all the campaigns ofForrest in north Mississippi, west Tennessee and Kentucky. He also led forces inHood's Tennessee Campaign. On February 18, 1865, Chalmers was put in command of all the Mississippi cavalry in the Confederate service in Mississippi and west Tennessee.[3]
In the waning days of the Reconstruction era, Chalmers was elected to theState Senate in 1875 and 1876. Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives in 1875 on the national level, for the first time since the Civil War. The campaign seasons in Mississippi were accompanied by increasing violence. Chapters ofRed Shirts, aparamilitary group working for the Democratic Party that sought to disrupt and suppress Republican voting, helped Democrats win seats in Mississippi and the Carolinas.[4]
In 1876 Chalmers was elected as Representative fromMississippi's 6th congressional district to theCongress of the United States, serving in theForty-fifth andForty-sixth Congresses, from March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881.[5] His Republican opponentJohn R. Lynch contested the victory, as he was previously strongly elected from this black-majority district. With Congress dominated by Democrats, the Election Committee refused to hear the case.[6]
Chalmers won re-election and received the certificate of election to theForty-seventh Congress in 1880, serving from March 4, 1881 – April 29, 1882. That time his seat was successfully contested by Republican candidate Lynch.
When his case came before the Committee on Elections on April 27, 1882, Lynch argued that in five counties, more than 5,000 of his votes had been counted for Chalmers. He further asserted that several thousand Republican ballots had been thrown out after a secret hearing because of technicalities such as a clerical failure to send a list of names with the returns and the presence of unusual marks on the ballots. Lynch's strongest arguments were based on Chalmers's remarks that Lynch's votes had been thrown out and that he (Chalmers) was "in favor of using every means short of violence to preserve [for] intelligent white people of Mississippi supreme control of political affairs." The committee ruled in Lynch's favor, and on April 29, 1882, the House voted 125 to 83 to seat him; 62 Members abstained.[6]
Lynch served the remainder of the term.
In the fall of 1882, Chalmers ran as an Independent Democrat as part of a fusion ticket supported by Republicans and theGreenback Party, to theForty-eighth Congress. DemocratVan H. Manning claimed victory, and Chalmers contested the legality of the election. Chalmers finally was verified by Congress as the winner and allowed to take his seat on June 25, 1884.[5] He was unsuccessful in running for re-election in 1884.[5][7]
Chalmers wrote to Republican PresidentChester A. Arthur in December 1882 about how to defeat the regular Democrats in Mississippi. Independents like him sometimes affiliated with Greenbackers, other men who had left the regular party, and even Republicans in a fusionist ticket. In this period, SenatorWilliam Mahone of Virginia had gathered various factions into what was called theReadjuster Party, which was prominent in Virginia politics. Chalmers proposed the same for Mississippi. Neither he nor Mahone were successful in breaking up Mississippi Democrats or the Solid South.[8]
After failing to win election in 1884, Chalmers left politics, returning to full-timepractice of law. He moved his practice toMemphis, Tennessee, where he died in April 1898.[5][9]
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| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's 6th congressional district 1877–1882 | Succeeded by John R. Lynch |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's 2nd congressional district 1884–1885 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
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