Christopher Columbus Danley (1818 – October 3, 1865) was an American soldier, journalist and politician from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Early life and military career

Born 1818, Danley came from a Missouri family, and received little education. As a child, he worked as a mail carrier between

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

and Van Buren, and as a bartender for the Anthony House. Danley was accepted into the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, but chose not to attend. He enlisted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in June 1846, and served under

Archibald Yell Archibald Yell (August 9, 1797 – February 23, 1847) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative from Arkansas from 1836 to 1839, and 1845 to 1846. He was the second governor of Arkansas, serving from 1840 to 184 ...

and

Albert Pike Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general who served as an List of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court, associate justice of the Arkansas Supr ...

, being ranked

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He was captured by the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army () is the combined Army, land and Air Force, air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National Defense o ...

, but he escaped. He also served in the

Army of the Republic of Texas The Texas Army, officially the Army of the Republic of Texas, was the land force branch of the Texas Military Forces during the Republic of Texas. It descended from the Texian Army, which was established in October 1835 to fight for independence ...

during the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

, and fought in the Mier expedition. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Danley was a member of the Arkansas Military Board, alongside

Henry Rector Henry Massie Rector (May 1, 1816August 12, 1899) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the sixth governor of Arkansas from 1860 to 1862. Early life and education Henry Massie Rector was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of ...

. In 1861, he and

Thomas James Churchill Thomas James Churchill (March 10, 1824 – May 14, 1905) was an American soldier and politician who served as the List of Governors of Arkansas, 13th governor of Arkansas from 1881 to 1883. Before that, he was a senior Officer (armed force ...

were sent north to purchase munitions.

Journalism and politics

He was an editor of the ''

Arkansas Gazette The ''Arkansas Gazette'' was a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was published from 1819 to 1991. It was known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. It was located from 1908 until its closing at the now historic Gazette ...

'', having bought the newspaper from William E. Woodruff in March 1853, and member of the Democratic Party, which was pro-slavery. He later abandoned the party along with fellow former Confederate officers Albert Pike and

Solon Borland Solon Borland (September 21, 1808 – January 1, 1864) was an American politician, journalist, physician and military officer. He served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1848 to 1853. Later in life, he served as an officer of the Co ...

, claiming the party had become

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

. They joined the

Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...

party in October 1855. He used his newspaper to promote the party. In 1849, he defeated

Elias Nelson Conway Elias Nelson Conway (May 17, 1812 – February 28, 1892) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fifth governor of Arkansas from 1852 to 1860. Early life Conway was born in Greeneville, Tennessee. Born into a political family, ...

in the election for Arkansas State Auditor, serving until resigning in 1855. In 1858, he was elected to the

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

, serving until his

death in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The deat ...

on October 3, 1865, in the Gazette Building in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danley, Christopher C. United States Army personnel of the Mexican–American War Editors of Arkansas newspapers Arkansas Know Nothings People from the Confederate States of America 19th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly 1818 births 1865 deaths