“C” is for Chesnut, James, Jr. (1815-1885)

“C” is for Chesnut, James, Jr. (1815-1885). U.S. Senator, soldier. Born in Camden, Chesnut was valedictorian of his graduating class at Princeton. Returning home, he read for the law and established a practice in Camden. He represented Kershaw District in the South Carolina House of Representatives and the South Carolina Senate. In 1858 Chesnut, considered a moderate in state politics, was elected to the U.S. Senate. Upon Lincoln’s election he resigned his seat. In January 1862 he was elected to the state’s Executive Council and became chief of the Military Department, effectively supplanting the governor as the state’s commander in chief. Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed Chesnut as an aide-de-camp with the rank of colonel. In 1864 James Chesnut, Jr., was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to command reserve troops in South Carolina.