Henry Clay Warmoth (May 9, 1842 – September 30, 1931) was an American attorney and veteran Civil War officer in the Union Army who was elected governor and state representative of Louisiana. A Republican, he was 26 years old when elected as
23rd Governor of Louisiana, one of the youngest governors elected in United States history. He served during the early
Reconstruction Era, from 1868 to 1872.
Facing strong criticism from some Republican leaders for weakening civil rights legislation and for endorsing a Democratic/
Fusionist ticket in the 1872 election, Warmoth ended his term under state legislature's
impeachment proceedings and was suspended from office. Lieutenant Governor
P.B.S. Pinchback assumed office during Warmoth's absence, becoming the first African-American governor in the history of the United States. The legislature dropped the impeachment charges against Warmoth after his term of office ended.
Warmoth was the first elected Reconstruction Governor of Louisiana. He stayed in the state and was elected in 1876 as a Louisiana State Representative, serving one term from 1876 to 1878. He also managed his
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
plantation. The Reconstruction Era ended in 1877 as president
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
and the federal government withdrew its troops from the state.
In 1888, Warmoth challenged former governor
Francis T. Nicholls in a gubernatorial contest and narrowly lost to the Democrat; the election was noted for widespread voter fraud as Democrats suppressed black Republicans voting. In 1890, Warmoth was appointed as US Collector of Customs in New Orleans and served for several years.
Early life
Henry Clay Warmoth was born in 1842, in
McLeansboro, Illinois
McLeansboro () is a city in Hamilton County, Illinois, Hamilton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,675 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The estimated population as of 2018 was 2,773. It is the county seat of Hamilto ...
, to parents of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
descent, the eldest child of Isaac Sanders & Eleanor (Lane) Warmoth, and named for statesman
Henry Clay. He studied in the public school system of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
. He studied law, and was admitted to the
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
bar in 1860. He established his legal career in that state, being appointed as the
district attorney of the Eighteenth Judicial District.
Civil War
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 ...
, Warmoth served as
lieutenant colonel of the
32nd Missouri Volunteer Infantry. He was at the capture of
Arkansas Post and was wounded in the
Battle of Vicksburg
The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mis ...
. He was
dishonorably discharged
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...
for alleged exaggerations of Union losses. After his personal appeal to the Commander-in-Chief, President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
reinstated Warmoth's military status.
After reinstatement, Warmoth was reunited with his regiment. He commanded at the
Battle of Lookout Mountain
The Battle of Lookout Mountain also known as the Battle Above The Clouds was fought November 24, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker assaulted Lookout Mountain, Chattan ...
near
Chattanooga, took part in Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and reinforced
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Nathaniel Banks
Nathaniel Prentice (or Prentiss) Banks (January 30, 1816 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician from Massachusetts and a Union Army, Union general during the American Civil War, Civil War. A millworker by background, Banks was promine ...
at the Red Cedar retreat. He was later commissioned as judge of the
Department of the Gulf
The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.
History United States Army (Civil War)
Creation
The department was co ...
Provost Court.
In early 1865, Warmoth resigned from the military to resume a legal practice.
Political career
Warmoth went to New Orleans, which was still occupied by
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
troops. He specialized in the kind of
law practice
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...
for which his military experience had qualified him: cotton claims and courts-martial decisions. At the same time, he became an active Republican, gaining support among
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
.
In November 1865, Warmoth ran for territorial delegate as a Republican in an unauthorized election, in which
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
Louisianians cast over 19,000 votes, nearly as many as were won among whites by the victorious Democratic candidate for governor. Louisiana restricted the suffrage to
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
males, so the
blacks
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...
' votes were not counted. Republicans hoped to show that full suffrage could result in competitive elections. By electing a territorial delegate, they were making the statement that no
legal state of Louisiana existed while it was occupied by the Union Army, and
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
should remand it to the status of a territory. Congress did not do so.
Because of continuing violence in the South, especially the
Memphis Riots of 1866
The Memphis massacre of 1866 was a series of violent events that occurred from May 1 to 3, 1866 in Memphis, Tennessee. The racial violence was ignited by political and social racism following the American Civil War, in the early stages of Reco ...
and the
New Orleans Massacre of 1866, Congress passed the
Reconstruction Act
The Reconstruction Acts, or the Military Reconstruction Acts, (March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 428-430, c.153; March 23, 1867, 15 Stat. 2-5, c.6; July 19, 1867, 15 Stat. 14-16, c.30; and March 11, 1868, 15 Stat. 41, c.25) were four statutes passed duri ...
to create five military districts to oversee changes in the former Confederate states. It also passed the
Fourteenth Amendment to extend full citizenship to
freedmen
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
. Louisiana and Texas were put under the
Fifth Military District
The Fifth Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South from 1867 to 1870. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconst ...
, and the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
was assigned to oversee the process by which a new constitutional convention could be called, with delegates to be voted for by both blacks and whites alike.
When the convention had finished its work, a ratification election was called and the
Republican Party chose a state ticket. Warmoth was selected as the nominee for governor over Major
Francis E. Dumas. He faced a Democrat and
Louisiana Supreme Court Justice
James G. Taliaferro
James Govan Taliaferro (September 28, 1798 – October 13, 1876) was a lawyer, newspaper publisher, and judge in Louisiana. In 1860 he owned 27 slaves and a plantation valued at $87,000. As the secession movement grew he remained a staunch Unioni ...
, a planter and wartime Unionist backed by the True Radical faction, which was composed mostly of black Republicans. Taliaferro found some support from
Democrats.
Governor
Warmoth carried the state by some 26,000 votes, and the Reconstruction constitution was ratified. Warmoth was sworn into office on July 13, 1868. Elected at 26, he was one of the youngest governors in United States history. (
Stevens T. Mason, the first governor of Michigan, was the youngest state governor, elected at 24.)
Elected with Warmoth was
Oscar Dunn as
lieutenant governor, an African-American leader in the
Prince Hall Freemasons. He had a wide network in New Orleans, where he was a painting contractor. When Dunn died suddenly in office in 1871, he was succeeded by
P.B.S. Pinchback, a
person of color who was President of the
State Senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
.
Turbulence and some violence marred the April 1868 election. The rise of the
Ku Klux Klan over the summer worsened the disorder. By fall, night-riding, murder, and intimidation were common. The number of Republicans killed for political reasons may have approached 800. Large riots in outlying parishes and Democratic white
paramilitary forces in New Orleans kept thousands of blacks from voting in the fall
1868 presidential election. As a result, Democratic candidate for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential elec ...
carried Louisiana, although his Republican opponent
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...
carried the country.
Because of the reported fraud and coercion, Warmoth created a State Returning Board, to certify future elections. All election returns were reported to the State Returning Board for validity and approval. At the same time, the governor augmented the military forces at his command: a 5000-man state
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
and a Metropolitan Police force, with authority over the greater New Orleans area where the state government was then based.
Warmoth also sought to broaden the Republican Party to include a larger share of the propertied white class. He supported government aid for
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
construction and
levee repair, called for and got a constitutional amendment limiting the state's ability to go into debt, and vetoed
pork barrel bills. At his recommendation, the voters removed the provisions in the Reconstruction constitution that had temporarily disenfranchised a portion of the former Confederates. Warmoth appointed some former Confederates to office, notably General
James Longstreet. When he had a choice, Warmoth chose white applicants over black ones.
Warmoth's 1868 inaugural address expressed his support for the recently passed Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, pledging "equality before the law and the enjoyment of every political right of all the citizens of the state, regardless of race, color, or previous condition." He argued for the amendments to be supported by legislation that had popular as well as legislative support:
only when this grand distinctive feature of the new constitution shall be stamped on every act of legislation, and when such legislation shall find approval and support in that general public sentiment which gives to law its vitality, will our State fairly enter upon that career of greatness and prosperity which the almighty designed for her.
Warmoth signed a weak bill to integrate access to public facilities, but he vetoed a more extensive one that would penalize owners of public places and vehicles who failed to provide equal service to blacks and whites.
Historian
Francis Byers Harris thought his veto of the public accommodations bill was crucial in eroding his political base. Harris wrote in 1947, "Negroes had their hearts set on this law, and Warmoth sowed a seed of distrust which grew into enmity for the man they had helped elect."
In consequence, Republicans developed severe internal conflicts. A division arose between the Warmoth-Pinchback faction, supported by many
Creoles of color
The Creoles of color are a historic ethnic group of Creole people that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana (especially in the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida i.e. Pensacola, Flor ...
who had been
free before the war, and what was called the
Custom House faction, led by
Stephen B. Packard, a US Marshal, and James F. Casey, Collector of the Port of New Orleans and brother-in-law to President Grant. Although Warmoth had helped
William Pitt Kellogg
William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as a United States Senator from 1868 to 1872 and from 1877 to 1883 and as the Governor of Louisiana from 1873 to 1877 du ...
gain legislative election as a US Senator, he became allied with Packard, as did
Oscar Dunn, lieutenant governor and African-American leader of many Republican
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
clubs in New Orleans.
By 1871, every local
convention turned into a fracas. The Custom House wing of the Republican Party took control of the state convention, enforced by state militia. Warmoth's supporters had to assemble in a convention of their own. That winter, the governor seized control of the statehouse from his opponents by using the state militia forces outfitted with bayonets for protection. Warmoth's leadership was strained.
[Justin A. Nystrom , ''New Orleans after the Civil War: Race, Politics, and a New Birth of Freedom''](_blank)
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, pp. 103-104
Believing that President Grant supported his enemies, Warmoth joined the
Liberal Republican Party that was seeking a reform candidate for president. When it endorsed
Horace Greeley and the Democrats adopted Greeley as their presidential candidate, the governor carried his influence to Greeley's side. In state politics, that meant endorsing the
Fusionist-Democratic ticket of
John McEnery
John McEnery (1 November 1943 – 12 April 2019) was an English actor and writer.
Born in Birmingham, he trained (1962–1964) at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, playing, among others, Mosca in Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' and Gaveston ...
in the 1872 gubernatorial election. Such a step alienated Warmoth from any black Republican support that he still had, including that of Pinchback. None of them trusted Democrats to protect equal rights, whatever the politicians professed. Fraud and violence accompanied the election, and its results were contested.
Both McEnery and
William Pitt Kellogg
William Pitt Kellogg (December 8, 1830 – August 10, 1918) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as a United States Senator from 1868 to 1872 and from 1877 to 1883 and as the Governor of Louisiana from 1873 to 1877 du ...
, the official Republican candidate, declared victory and held inaugurations. The Warmoth-appointed Returning Board declared McEnery as victor. Republicans established a separate Returning Board, which certified Kellogg.
Ultimately, Grant supported Kellogg's Republican candidacy. The Republican-controlled legislature filed
impeachment charges against Warmoth for his actions during the 1872 election. Only 35 days before the end of his term, he was suspended from office, as called for by Louisiana law for impeached officials, pending the outcome of a state senate trial. Pinchback was sworn in as the
first governor of African descent in the United States. With the end of Warmoth's term soon reached, Warmoth was allowed to leave office and no
impeachment trial
An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...
was held.
After Reconstruction
![Henry Clay Warmoth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Henry_Clay_Warmoth.jpg)
In 1877, at age 35, Warmoth married heiress Sally Durand of
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Plaquemines Parish
Plaquemines Parish (; French: ''Paroisse de Plaquemine'', Louisiana French: ''Paroisse des Plaquemines'', es, Parroquia de Caquis) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 23,515 at the 2020 census, the parish ...]
. Warmoth had bought the sugar cane plantation in 1873. Warmoth helped establish a sugar refinery and get a railroad constructed along the west bank of the Mississippi, which contributed to the development of the area.
["Henry Clay Warmoth", ''Louisiana Biographical Dictionary''](_blank)
ed. Jan Onofrio, North American Book Dist LLC, 1999, p. 294
He represented the Sugar Planters Association in seeking a tariff against foreign competition, which they gained from Congress.
Louisiana planters could not compete against outside sugar. In 1884, Warmoth traveled to France and Germany to study their sugar industries, and he developed an experimental station at his plantation afterward.
Unable to compete with foreign sugar, Warmoth sold his plantation and moved with his wife and family to New Orleans.
![H C Warmoth family Magnolia Plantation 1880s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/H_C_Warmoth_family_Magnolia_Plantation_1880s.jpg)
In 1888, Warmoth ran for and narrowly lost a race for Governor to
Francis T. Nicholls, a Democrat and former governor, in an election accompanied by extensive voter fraud.
[Nystrom (2010), ''New Orleans after the Civil War'', p. 308] In 1890, Warmoth was appointed US Collector of Customs in New Orleans by President
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...
. In turn he used his patronage appointments to select many men from among the Afro-Creole community, who had supported him politically.
During his service, Warmoth lived in the St. Charles Hotel.
In 1889, the white Democrat-dominated legislature passed a constitutional amendment incorporating a "
grandfather clause
A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
", which effectively
disenfranchised
Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
most blacks in the state. Not being able to vote also excluded them from juries and local office. The Democrats essentially maintained this exclusion until after passage by Congress of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, which authorized the federal government to oversee and enforce the constitutional right of all citizens to vote.
Warmoth published his memoir, ''War, Politics and Reconstruction'', in 1930. It is well regarded and considered a classic of the genre.
Warmoth died in New Orleans in 1931, at 89.
In popular culture
A New Orleans service industry writer and ''Quarter Rat'' columnist took the name "Henry Warmoth" as a pseudonym.
''Quarter Rat'', Issue 5
References
Bibliography
*Binning, F. Wayne, "Carpetbaggers' Triumph: The Louisiana State Elections of 1868," ''Louisiana History'' 14 (Winter 1973): 21-39
*Current, Richard Nelson, ''Those Terrible Carpetbaggers'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988)
*Tunnell, Ted, ''Crucible of Reconstruction:War, Radicalism and Race in Louisiana, 1862-1877'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984.
External links
Henry Clay Warmoth, ''War, Politics and Reconstruction: Stormy Days in Louisiana''
Introduction by John C. Rodrigue, Univ of South Carolina Press, 1930/2006, googlebooks
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC-Chapel Hill.
"Henry Clay Warmoth"
KnowLa - Encyclopedia of Louisiana
Cemetery Memorial
Louisiana Cemeteries
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, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warmoth, Henry C.
1842 births
1931 deaths
American Episcopalians
American people of Dutch descent
Republican Party governors of Louisiana
Impeached state and territorial governors of the United States
People from McLeansboro, Illinois
Politicians from New Orleans