Charles Magill Conrad (December 24, 1804 – February 11, 1878) was a

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

politician who served in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and

Confederate Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the Provisional government, provisional and permanent Legislature, legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned w ...

. He was

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

under President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

and, briefly,

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

, from 1850 until 1853. Conrad also briefly acted as the

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

following the tenure of

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...

Biography

Charles Magill Conrad was born in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

, in 1804, moved to

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

with his family as a boy, and later moved to Louisiana. He was educated under a Dr. Huld in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate in April 1842 to fill the unexpired term of

Alexandre Mouton Alexandre Mouton (November 19, 1804 – February 12, 1885) was a United States senator and the 11th Governor of Louisiana. Early life He was born in Attakapas district (now Lafayette Parish) into a wealthy plantation-owning Acadian fam ...

, serving to March 1843, and was defeated for reelection in his own right. He later served in the House of Representatives from 1849 to 1850, resigning to accept appointment as Secretary of War in Fillmore's cabinet. Conrad remained in charge of the War Department from August 15, 1850, to March 7, 1853. He was a leader of the secession movement in Louisiana in December 1860. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, under the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

, he served as a delegate to the

Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States The Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States, formally the Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America, was an agreement among all seven original states in the Confederate States of America that ser ...

as a member of the

Provisional Congress of the Confederate States The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a congress of Deputy (legislator), deputies and Delegate (American politics), delegates called together from th ...

, and as a representative from Louisiana to the Confederate Congress, 1862–1864. Following the war, he resumed the practice of law. He died in New Orleans in 1878.

References

External links

Charles Conrad biography
at the

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Charles Magill 1804 births 1878 deaths 19th-century American politicians Politicians from Winchester, Virginia Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Fillmore administration cabinet members Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Louisiana Signers of the Confederate States Constitution Signers of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States United States Secretaries of War United States senators from Louisiana Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana Whig Party United States senators Acting United States Secretaries of State Southern Historical Society

Biography

See also

References

External links