Meriwether Lewis Clark (January 10, 1809 – October 28, 1881) was an architect,

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

and politician. He was also a military officer in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and 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 ...

. He was a son of famous explorer

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

Early life and career

Clark was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, the son of Missouri and

corps of discovery The Corps of Discovery was a specially established unit of the United States Army which formed the nucleus of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. The Corps was led jointly by Captain Meriwether Lewi ...

expedition leader,

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

fame. He was named after his father's friend and associate,

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

. In 1826, he was admitted to 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 ...

and graduated 23rd of 42 cadets in the Class of 1830. He was brevetted as a second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry and assigned to

Jefferson Barracks The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...

in St. Louis. He was an officer and mapmaker in the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

before resigning from the army in 1833.Eicher, pp. 231–32. While on assignment in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, Clark met and courted Abigail Prather Churchill (born 1817), of the prominent Churchill family (Her younger brother was Arkansas Governor Thomas James Churchill (1824–1905)). They married in January 1834 and raised seven children before her death in 1852. Their son Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. would become a prominent member of Louisville society, promoting horseracing and building, with help from his Churchill relations, the famous racetrack

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

. As a designer-architect, Clark contributed to the early architecture of St. Louis, including the design of St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church. In 1836, he was elected to the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bicameral General Assembly is composed of a 34-member Missouri Senate, Senate and a 163-member Missouri House of Represen ...

. Four years later, he was named as the city engineer of St. Louis and later was the recorder of the city court.Christensen, pp. 188–89. During the Mexican War in 1846, Clark resumed his military career as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Missouri volunteers, serving as the commander of an artillery battalion with 3 companies of light artillery. He participated in the Battle of the Sacramento River near

Chihuahua City The city of Chihuahua or Chihuahua City ( ; Lipan language, Lipan: ) is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a popu ...

under overall command of Colonel Alexander Doniphan on February 28, 1847. After the Mexican-American War, Clark returned to St. Louis and was the Federal surveyor-general for Missouri and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

until 1853.

Civil War service

In early 1861, Clark, strongly pro-

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

ist in his political views, was appointed by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Claiborne F. Jackson Claiborne Fox Jackson (April 4, 1806 – December 6, 1862) was an American politician of the Democratic Party in Missouri. He was elected as the 15th Governor of Missouri, serving from January 3, 1861, until July 31, 1861, when he was for ...

to organize recruits from the Ninth District of Missouri. He received an appointment as a Brigadier General of the Ninth Division of the

Missouri State Guard The Missouri State Guard (MSG) was a military force established by the Missouri General Assembly on May 11, 1861. While not a formation of the Confederate States Army, the Missouri State Guard fought alongside Confederate troops and, at variou ...

, but the unit was never formally organized during his tenure, partially because of the very strong pro-Union sentiment in St. Louis. Clark resigned from the Guard in November 1861 and was replaced by Daniel M. Frost. He then accepted a commission as a major of

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. He was promoted to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and assigned to various staff positions; including as Chief of Artillery of the

Army of Mississippi There were three formations known as the Army of Mississippi in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. This name is contrasted against Army of ''the'' Mississippi, which was a Union Army named for the Mississippi River, no ...

under General

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army Officer (armed forces), officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate General officers in the Confederate States Army, general in th ...

. Disagreement with the latter led to his dismissal from the position. He then served in the Ordnance Department in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, until November 1864 when he assumed command of a brigade of Virginia Reserve Forces in the

Army of Northern Virginia The Army of Northern Virginia was a field army of the Confederate States Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was also the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed agains ...

under

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. During the Appomattox Campaign, he was taken prisoner at the

Battle of Sayler's Creek A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

near

Amelia Courthouse, Virginia Amelia Court House (also known as Amelia Courthouse and Amelia) is the county seat of Amelia County, Virginia, Amelia County in the U.S. state of Virginia and a census-designated place (CDP). The population as of the United States Census, 2010, 20 ...

, on April 6, 1865.

Postbellum career

After the war, Clark moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and resumed his engineering career. He married Jula Davidson on December 30, 1865. He was the lead architect on the design and construction of several state buildings in Kentucky. He later was the commander of cadets at the

Kentucky Military Institute The Kentucky Military Institute (KMI) was a military University-preparatory school, preparatory school in Lyndon, Kentucky, and Venice, Florida, in operation from 1845 to 1971. Founding One of the oldest traditional military prep schools in th ...

. Clark died in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

, in 1881. He is buried in

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine has several architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the Louis Su ...

in St. Louis, Missouri.

Notes

References

* Christensen, Lawrence O., ''Dictionary of Missouri Biography'', University of Missouri Press, 1999, . * Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, . * U.S. War Department
''The War of the Rebellion''
''a Compilation of the

Official Records The ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion'', commonly known as the ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'' or Official Records (OR or ORs), is the most extensive collection of Americ ...

of the Union and Confederate Armies'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901. * Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1959, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Meriwether Lewis Sr. 1809 births 1881 deaths 19th-century American architects American civil engineers American military personnel of the Mexican–American War American people of Scottish descent American people of the Black Hawk War Architects from Louisville, Kentucky Architects from St. Louis Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery Confederate militia generals Confederate States Army officers Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Missouri State Guard People of Missouri in the American Civil War Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky United States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni American Civil War prisoners of war held by the United States 19th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly

Early life and career

Civil War service

Postbellum career

See also

Notes

References