Samuel Bunch (December 4, 1786 – September 5, 1849) was an American politician who represented

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

's 2nd district in the

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 ...

from 1833 to 1837.

Life and career

Bunch was born in what is now

Grainger County, Tennessee Grainger County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,527. Its county seat is Rutledge. Grainger County is a part of both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and Morristown M ...

, the son of John and Mary (Asher) Bunch. He attended the public schools and engaged in

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

pursuits. He married Amanda Anderson, daughter of Joseph M. and Mary Cocke Anderson about 1806 in Granger County. Bunch was a slaveowner. Colonel Bunch originally commanded the 1st Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen of the Tennessee militia composed of three-month enlistees from October 1813 to January 1814. During his time of command, the unit was involved in numerous conflicts with the Creek Indians. At the Battle of Little Oakfuskie, Bunch and his men surrounded the Native American village at dawn and sprung an ambush that resulted in the killing of 60 Native Americans and the capture of over 200 more while taking no American casualties. On January 10, 1814, Bunch was granted command of the 2nd Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen and stayed in command until July 14, 1814. Reports have indicated that multiple companies within Bunch's Regiment were dispatched from

Fort Williams Fort Williams Park is a 90-acre park in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, encompassing numerous historical sites. Perhaps most famous for having Portland Head Light on its grounds, the park also encompasses the decommissioned and largely demolished Unite ...

to serve under General Andrew Jackson in the

Battle of Horseshoe Bend The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian a ...

. During this engagement, Bunch's men were positioned on the right flank of the advancing force. Due to being under the command of General Jackson, Bunch was known to have written the future President as a friend even after the war. He was

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Grainger County for several years. From 1819 to 1823, he represented

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

, Claiborne, and Grainger counties in the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

. In 1820, he voted against the bill establishing the Bank of Tennessee.Eric Russell Lacy, ''Vanquished Volunteers: East Tennessee Sectionalism from Statehood to Secession'' (East Tennessee State University Press, 1965), p. 67. Samuel Bunch was elected to Congress in 1833, defeating former 2nd district representative John Cocke, 4,319 votes to 1,815 (the incumbent, Thomas D. Arnold, moved to the 1st district). He was reelected by a similar margin in 1835.Candidate: Samuel Bunch
''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved: 25 February 2013. Bunch served as a Jacksonian in the

Twenty-third Congress The 23rd 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, 1833, ...

and as an

Anti-Jacksonian The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

in the

Twenty-fourth Congress The 24th 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, 1835, ...

, and subsequently joined the Whig Party. In 1837, he was defeated in his reelection effort by the Democratic candidate, Abraham McClellan, 3,228 votes to 2,741. His son, McDonough J. Bunch, was the principal clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives during 1845-46. He served as major of the 4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteers in the Mexican War. In May 1850, he led the skeleton Mississippi Regiment in the Narciso Lopez invasion of Cuba. Samuel Bunch resumed agricultural pursuits and died on his farm near

Rutledge, Tennessee Rutledge is a city in and the county seat of Grainger County, Tennessee. The city is part of both the Knoxville metropolitan area and the Morristown metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 1,321. History Ru ...

on September 5, 1849 (age 62 years, 275 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at a private cemetery on his farm.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunch, Samuel 1786 births 1849 deaths People from Grainger County, Tennessee Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Tennessee Whigs Tennessee state senators People from Rutledge, Tennessee American militia officers People of the Creek War Military personnel from Tennessee Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves