William Preston
Confederate States Senator fromVirginia
In office February 18, 1862 – November 16, 1862
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Allen T. Caperton
19thUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 8, 1849 – July 22, 1850
President	Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore
Preceded by	John Y. Mason
Succeeded by	William A. Graham
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's12th district
In office March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	Augustus A. Chapman
Succeeded by	Henry A. Edmundson
Personal details
Born	William Ballard Preston (1805-11-25)November 25, 1805 Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	November 16, 1862(1862-11-16) (aged 56) Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Lucy Redd
Education	Hampden-Sydney College University of Virginia, Charlottesville(LLB)

William Ballard Preston (November 25, 1805 – November 16, 1862) was an American politician who served as aConfederate States Senator fromVirginia from February 18, 1862, until his death in November. He previously served as the 19thUnited States Secretary of the Navy from 1849 to 1850. He is also the cousin ofWilliam Campbell Preston andWilliam Preston.

Born in 1805 atSmithfield Plantation inBlacksburg, Virginia, William Ballard Preston enteredHampden–Sydney College in 1821, where he was active in literary andforensic activities. Graduating in 1824, Preston studied law at theUniversity of Virginia and was admitted to the bar in 1826. In 1831 he became the Commonwealth's Attorney for Floyd County, Virginia. He married Lucinda Redd ofHenry County, Virginia.^[1]

The young attorney soon entered politics as aWhig and was elected to theVirginia House of Delegates in 1830. During the 1831–1832 session, he took an active part in the campaign toabolishslavery. Then there followed an eight-year hiatus in his political activities during which he returned to the practice of law. In 1840, he was elected to the State Senate, where he served from 1840 to 1844, before returning to the House of Delegates. In 1846, he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives.

In March 1849, PresidentZachary Taylor appointed the Preston Secretary of the Navy. During Preston's tenure in that office, theUnited States Navy acquired new duties in the course of America's westward expansion and acquisition of California. Trade and commerce in the Pacific Ocean beckoned, and theStars and Stripes flew from the masts of Navy ships in Chinese waters, while the shores of Japan, then unopened to the west, presented a tantalizing possibility for commercial intercourse. The Navy also was progressing through a technological transition, especially in the area of moving from sails to steam propulsion, and with the improvements in gunnery and naval ordnance. Upon the death of President Taylor, new PresidentMillard Fillmore reorganized theCabinet and appointedWilliam Alexander Graham Secretary of the Navy. Preston retired from office and withdrew from politics and public life.

Resuming his private law practice, Preston acquired a reputation for being a fine defense lawyer before being sent to France in 1858 to negotiate for the establishment of a line of commercial steamers to operate betweenLe Havre andNorfolk. The mission to France progressed well, and the project appeared promising until it was brought to naught by theAmerican Civil War.

As states in the lower South seceded from the Union, the pressure mounted upon Virginia to do likewise. Moderate sentiment still held sway through 1860; but, early in 1861, increasing tensions forced Virginians to consider secession. On February 13, 1861, thesecession convention met inRichmond and numbered William B. Preston amongst the delegates. As theConfederacy was established and the United States divided into two hostile camps, both sides moved steadily toward open conflict. A special delegation, composed of William B. Preston,Alexander H.H. Stuart, andGeorge W. Randolph, traveled to Washington, D.C. where they met PresidentAbraham Lincoln on April 12. Finding the President firm in his resolve to hold the Federal forts in the South, the three men returned to Richmond on April 15. With the news of the firing onFort Sumter inSouth Carolina on April 12, 1861, conservative and moderate strength in the secessionist convention melted away. On April 16, convinced that secession was inevitable, William B. Preston submitted, in secret session, an ordinance of secession. Supported 88 to 55, the Preston Resolution passed, and Virginia left the Union.

Elected C.S. Senator from Virginia in theConfederate States Congress, he served in that legislative body until his death at Smithfield Plantation in 1862. He is interred at the Preston Cemetery in Blacksburg, Virginia, near Smithfield Plantation.

USSWilliam B. Preston (DD-344) was named after him.

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.

• United States Congress."William B. Preston (id: P000518)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• William B. Preston atFind a Grave
• William Ballard Preston at theNaval Historical Center
• William Ballard Preston atThe Political Graveyard

• 1805 births
• 1862 deaths
• Confederate States of America senators
• Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States
• Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
• People from Blacksburg, Virginia
• People of Virginia in the American Civil War
• Taylor administration cabinet members
• United States secretaries of the navy
• University of Virginia School of Law alumni
• Virginia lawyers
• Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861
• Virginia state senators
• Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
• Preston family (Virginia)
• 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from February 2012
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Naval History & Heritage Command