William Preston III (October 16, 1816 – September 21, 1887) was an American lawyer, politician, and ambassador. He also was a brigadier general in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

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 ...

Biography

Preston, the grandson of Col. William Preston—the namesake of Prestonville, Kentucky—was born 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 ...

Francis Preston Francis Preston (August 2, 1765 – May 26, 1835) was an American lawyer and politician from Abingdon, Virginia. He was the son of Col. William Preston of Virginia, served in both houses of the state legislature, and represented Virginia in th ...

was his uncle. His sister Henrietta married Albert S. Johnston in 1829. He pursued preparatory studies and graduated from St. Joseph's College in Kentucky. He attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1835 and graduated from the law department of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1838. After graduation from Harvard, Preston was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Louisville in 1839. He served as lieutenant colonel of the 4th Kentucky Volunteers 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, ...

from 1847 to 1848. After the war, he was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1849 and a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

in 1850. Subsequently, he served in the

State senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

1851–1853. He was elected as a Whig to the

Thirty-second Congress The 32nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Humphrey Marshall and reelected to the Thirty-third Congress and served from December 6, 1852, to March 3, 1855. He stood again for another term in 1854 but was unsuccessful. President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

appointed Preston as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain in 1858. He resigned as ambassador in 1861 at the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Although his home state of Kentucky did not

secede Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a 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 is the c ...

from the Union, Preston would serve the South. In November 1861, the provisional government for Kentucky appointed he, Henry C. Burnett and William E. Simms as commissioners to treat with the Confederates States government for the admission of Kentucky into the Confederacy.The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, 1880-1901), Series 1, v. 1, pp. 743-47. Shortly thereafter, Preston was made a colonel and became volunteer aide-de-camp to his brother-in-law,

Albert Sidney Johnston General officer, General Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was an American military officer who served as a general officer in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States ...

, who then had his Army of Central Kentucky quartered at

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. Preston subsequently attained the rank of brigadier general in 1862. He was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Confederacy to Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico in 1864. After the war, he again served as a member of the Kentucky State House of Representatives in 1868 and 1869. William Preston died in Louisville and was interred in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

References

* Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands.'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Sifakis, Stewart. ''Who Was Who in the Civil War.'' New York: Facts On File, 1988. . * Warner, Ezra J. ''Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. .
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

Guide to Wickliffe-Preston family papers, 1770–1887
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, William Military personnel from Louisville, Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Ambassadors of the United States to Spain Confederate States of America diplomats 19th-century American diplomats Yale University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Confederate States Army brigadier generals People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky 1816 births 1887 deaths American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Members of the Aztec Club of 1847 Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Preston family (Virginia) 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly

Biography

See also

References

External links