Henry Clay Knobloch, also spelled Knoblock, (November 25, 1839 – May 19, 1903) was the 19th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1885 to 1889 serving under Governor

Samuel D. McEnery Samuel Douglas McEnery (May 28, 1837 – June 28, 1910) served as the List of Governors of Louisiana, 30th Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with service from 1881 until 1888. He was subsequently a United States Senate, U.S. senator f ...

Early life and Civil War

Knobloch was from Thibodaux, Louisiana and he served in 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 ...

as Sergeant of Company I of the 26th Louisiana Infantry in the

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Army. In 1867, Knobloch married Flavia Knight.

Political career

Knobloch was a supporter of the

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faction of the Louisiana

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. In 1884 Knobloch ran for and was elected Lieutenant Governor but he was defeated in the Democratic Primary when he ran for reelection in 1888. He lost to James Jeffries who was affiliated with the Nicholls faction of the party, even losing his own parish. He blamed his defeat in Lafourche Parish on State Senator E.A. O'Sullivan who represented the Parish in the legislature. In February 1889 they came to blows on the streets of Thibodaux and one week later Knobloch challenged O'Sullivan to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

. They met on the dueling grounds at the Oaks in New Orleans on March 1, 1889, with O'Sullivan choosing swords as the method for the duel. When the parties were assembled at the Oaks, it was determined that the ground was too wet with dew to allow sword fighting and after a brief parley, the dispute was resolved without violence.

Death

Knobloch was shot and killed on May 18, 1903, in downtown Thibodaux, Louisiana by barber James Cherault. Evidence from a preliminary hearing showed the men quarreled over a woman, and Cherault shot Knobloch in self-defense.

References

External links

* 1838 births 1903 deaths Lieutenant Governors of Louisiana Louisiana Democrats American duellists People from Thibodaux, Louisiana {{Louisiana-politician-stub