Francis Kinloch Huger (September 17, 1773 – February 14, 1855), a trained physician and artillery officer, was a scion of the Huger family of South Carolina. A member of the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

and

South Carolina Senate The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at the sa ...

, he is best known for his leadership of a failed November 1794 attempt to rescue

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

from captivity during the wars surrounding the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

Early life

Huger was born in Charleston on September 17, 1773. He was the son of Mary Esther (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Kinloch) Huger (1752–1822) and Benjamin Huger (1746-1779), who entertained the Marquis de Lafayette on the French officer's arrival in North America. Then a small boy, Francis became an intense admirer of Lafayette and followed his career closely as the statesman rose to lead his country during the early years of the French Revolution. Hard times came for Lafayette, though, and as a refugee from his native land he was taken prisoner by the empire of Austria.

Career

Meanwhile Francis Huger was studying medicine in Vienna. Learning that Lafayette was a prisoner of war at the fortress of Olmutz near

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), young Huger determined to rescue the international leader in 1794. Together with

Eric Bollman Justus Erich Bollmann or Eric Bollman (1769, Hoya, Germany9 December 1821, Jamaica) was a German physician. He was involved in a failed attempt to rescue the Marquis de Lafayette from detention in Olmütz. In the United States, he was involved in ...

a private plot, involving letters written in

invisible ink Invisible ink, also known as security ink or sympathetic ink, is a substance used for writing, which is invisible either on application or soon thereafter, and can later be made visible by some means, such as heat or ultraviolet light. Invisible ...

, was hatched to liberate Lafayette. The caper was implemented on November 4, 1794. Although Lafayette was briefly liberated, he was disoriented and recaptured several days later by his enemies. The attempt failed and Huger was himself taken prisoner and joined his would-be prize in Olmutz. After eight months of solitary confinement as a security threat to Austria, Huger was paroled on condition that he return to the United States. Back in South Carolina, the physician studied artillery engineering. He was commissioned as a colonel of artillery during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. Col. Huger was briefly reunited with Lafayette in 1825 when the now-aged French statesman paid an extensive visit to the United States.

Personal life

Col. Huger married Harriet Lucas Pinckney Huger (1783–1824), the daughter of South Carolina Gov.

Thomas Pinckney Thomas Pinckney (October 23, 1750November 2, 1828) was an early American statesman, diplomat, and soldier in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, achieving the rank of major general. He served as Governor of South Carolina an ...

. Together, the couple were the parents of five children, including: * Elizabeth Pinckney Huger (1804–1882) * Benjamin Huger (1805-1877), the Confederate general. * Francis Huger (1811–1849) * Thomas Pinckney Huger (1816–1875) * Cleland Kinloch Huger (1818–1892). Huger died in Charleston on February 14, 1855.

Legacy

An 1825 ivory miniature of Francis Kinloch Huger, by Charles Fraser, is part of the American collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. A selection of Dr. Huger's papers, including letters from Lafayette after the failed caper of 1794, survives in the custody of the

South Carolina Historical Society The South Carolina Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1855 to preserve South Carolina's rich historical legacy. The SCHS is the state's oldest and largest private repository of books, letters, journals, maps, dr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huger, Francis Kinloch 1773 births 1855 deaths Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina state senators