Richard M. Edwards facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Richard M. Edwards
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| Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from Bradley County |
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| In office October 7, 1861 – February 1862 |
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| Preceded by | Richard R. Harris |
| Succeeded by | Jesse Gaut |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 31, 1822 Philadelphia, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1907 (aged 84) Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Resting place | Fort Hill Cemetery Cleveland, Tennessee |
| Political party | Democratic Greenback |
| Spouse | Mary Craigmiles (m. 1851) |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1862–1865 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Commands | 4th Reg. Tenn. Volunteer Cavalry (1862–1863) |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Richard Mitchell Edwards (born December 31, 1822 – died January 19, 1907) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He served one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1861 to 1862.
Edwards was a Southern Unionist. This means he lived in the Southern states but supported the United States during the American Civil War. He represented Bradley County at the East Tennessee Convention in 1861. During the war, he became a colonel in the 4th Tennessee Cavalry of the Union Army. After the war, he ran for governor of Tennessee twice, in 1878 and 1880, as a member of the Greenback Party. This party focused on economic issues, especially money and debt.
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Richard Edwards' Early Life and Education
Richard Edwards was born near Philadelphia, Tennessee. This area was then part of Roane County, but it is now in Loudon County. He might have lost his parents when he was young. His uncle, Dr. Pleasant James Riley Edwards, raised him.
In 1836, Richard moved with his uncle to Cleveland, Tennessee. His uncle became a well-known doctor and later the mayor of the town. Richard remembered spending his childhood "fishing, hunting and playing with the Indian boys of the Ocoee district." He also said that the departure of his Cherokee friends on the Trail of Tears was one of the "saddest" days of his life. In the early 1840s, Edwards attended Oak Grove Academy in Cleveland.
Edwards' Service in the Mexican-American War
In November 1847, during the Mexican–American War, Edwards joined the army. He became a corporal in Company I of the 5th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. He traveled by boat to New Orleans and then arrived in Veracruz, Mexico, in January 1848.
In February, he fought in small battles near Orizaba. He also helped escort General William G. Belknap from Veracruz. In April 1848, he became a hospital steward in Veracruz. He later wrote that he helped stop an outbreak of yellow fever using a water cure his uncle had taught him. He left the army in July 1848.
After the war, Edwards studied law with Samuel A. Smith. He became a lawyer. In 1851, he married Mary Lucinda Craigmiles. He started his law practice in Cleveland, focusing on legal help for soldiers. He was a Democrat. He supported Andrew Johnson for governor in 1853. After Johnson won, he appointed Edwards to the board of directors for the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad.
Richard Edwards During the Civil War
During the 1860 presidential election, Edwards supported Stephen Douglas. Douglas was the candidate for the Northern Democrats. Edwards was against John C. Breckinridge, the Southern Democratic candidate. As the country moved closer to war in 1861, Edwards stayed loyal to the Union. He supported the Unionist candidate, George W. Bridges, for Congress.
Edwards was a delegate at the pro-Union East Tennessee Convention in May and June 1861. These meetings were held in Knoxville and Greeneville. He represented Bradley County on the Convention's important business committee. While in Greeneville, Edwards and other delegates, like Joseph A. Cooper and Robert K. Byrd, agreed to go home and train soldiers for the Union army.
Edwards in the Tennessee Legislature
In August 1861, Edwards was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives for Bradley County. Tennessee had joined the Confederacy. So, Edwards and other Unionist lawmakers had to take an oath to the Confederacy to serve. He stayed in the legislature until February 1862. This was when the Union Army captured Nashville, forcing the state government to leave.
In March 1862, he joined the Union Army's First Tennessee Regiment. He worked in the commissary, which handles food and supplies. This regiment was led by General James G. Spears, another delegate from the East Tennessee Convention.
Leading a Cavalry Regiment
Tennessee's military governor, Andrew Johnson, asked Edwards to form a cavalry regiment. A cavalry regiment is a group of soldiers who fight on horseback. Edwards spent the spring of 1862 recruiting soldiers and getting horses and supplies. This group was first called the First East Tennessee Cavalry. By July, he had recruited over 400 men.
In September, Edwards and his growing regiment marched with General George W. Morgan to Greenup, Kentucky. This town is on the Ohio River. Later, Edwards and another leader, William C. Pickens, argued over who should command the regiment. Pickens and some recruits left to form their own group.
In November, the First East Tennessee regiment joined the Army of the Cumberland. They were sent to Louisville, Kentucky. Edwards continued to recruit men from East Tennessee Unionists who had fled to the area. In January 1863, Edwards and his regiment were ordered to Nashville. Here, they mostly practiced drills and went on scouting missions. To avoid confusion with another army group, the First East Tennessee was renamed the Fourth Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry.
On July 6, 1863, Edwards resigned from his command of the Fourth Tennessee. Several things led to his resignation. First, he had not taken the Union Army's oath of allegiance. This oath required officers to swear they had never served in the Confederate government. Edwards had taken the Confederate oath to be in the state legislature in 1861. Also, some Union Army commanders doubted Edwards. This was because he supported a speech that criticized President Abraham Lincoln's war policy. Finally, his ability to lead was questioned after an argument with a regimental doctor. After resigning, Edwards kept recruiting men. He hoped to lead the Fourth Tennessee again someday.
Richard Edwards' Life After the War
After the Civil War, Edwards supported President Andrew Johnson's allies. These people were called "Conservatives." They wanted to be more forgiving toward former Confederates. Edwards spoke out against the policies of Tennessee's governor, William G. Brownlow. Brownlow's laws stopped former Confederates from voting.
At a Conservative meeting in Athens, Tennessee, in March 1867, Edwards called for armed resistance against these laws. He was arrested for making "insurrectionary and treasonable speech." He was found guilty of using rebellious language. He was not allowed to hold public office for three years. However, this conviction was overturned in April 1868. After a new state constitution was created in 1870, Edwards ran for district attorney general. But he lost to A.J. Trewhitt.
Running for Governor
In 1878, Edwards ran for governor as a member of the Greenback Party. At this time, the biggest issue in Tennessee politics was how to handle the state's huge debt. Much of this debt came from building railroads. Edwards blamed the people who owned railroad bonds for the debt. He even said they were stealing from the state treasury. He called for the state to cancel the railroad bonds.
A reporter from the Knoxville Chronicle interviewed Edwards. The reporter noted that Edwards seemed very angry about the bondholders. In the election, Edwards came in third place. He received 15,155 votes. The winner, Albert S. Marks, got 89,958 votes. The Republican candidate, Eli Wight, got 42,284 votes.
Edwards ran for governor again in 1880, still with the Greenback Party. He was disappointed with how Marks had handled the debt. He accused Marks of letting the state's workers be "plundered by soulless corporations." However, he only won 3,459 votes. He was far behind the other candidates. Edwards decided not to run for governor a third time in 1882. Instead, he supported the Democratic candidate, William B. Bate.
Later Life and Legacy
In his later years, Edwards wrote stories and memories for newspapers and other publications. One of these was a series about his experiences in the Mexican-American War. This series appeared in the Knoxville Tribune in the mid-1890s. It has since been published as a book called Down the Tennessee: The Mexican War Reminiscences of an East Tennessee Volunteer. Edwards also wrote a chapter about Bradley County and Cleveland, Tennessee, for the 1893 book, East Tennessee: Historical and Biographical.
Richard Edwards died at the Soldiers' Home in Johnson City, Tennessee, on January 19, 1907. He was buried in Fort Hill Cemetery in Cleveland.
Images for kids
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Rank insignia for a Union Army Colonel
