Solon Borland (September 21, 1808 – January 1, 1864) was an American physician who served as a
United States Senator
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 po ...
from
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
from 1848 to 1853. In later life, he served as an
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
of the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
who commanded a
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry in ...
regiment in the
Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.
Early life and career
Solon Borland was born on September 21, 1808, in
Nansemond County, Virginia
Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. Fro ...
to Dr. Thomas Borland, a native of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and Harriet Godwin Borland.
When he was a youth, his family moved to
Murfreesboro, North Carolina, where he attended Hertford Academy. Borland also studied medicine in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
and
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
. As a captain in 1831, he led a company of Virginia militia forces that were dispatched to
Southampton County
Southampton County is a county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. North Carolina is to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,996. Its county seat is Courtland.
History
In the early 17th centu ...
to fight
Nat Turner's slave rebellion
Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a rebellion of enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.Schwarz, Frederic D.1831 Nat Turner's Rebellion" ''American He ...
.
He owned slaves himself.
During the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
, Borland was commissioned
major
Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...
of the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment serving under
Archibald Yell. Borland served throughout the war, having turned over his newspaper business to associates. He was taken as a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of ...
by the Mexican army on January 23, 1847, just south of
Saltillo. He escaped,
and was discharged when his regiment was disbanded and mustered out in June, but continued in the army as volunteer
aide-de-camp to General
William J. Worth
William Jenkins Worth (March 1, 1794 – May 7, 1849) was an American officer during the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican–American War.
Early military career
Worth was commissioned as a first lieutenant in March 1813, s ...
during the remainder of the campaign, from the
Battle of Molino del Rey
The Battle of Molino del Rey (8 September 1847) was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Mexican–American War as part of the Battle for Mexico City. It was fought in September 1847 between Mexican forces under General Antonio León again ...
to the
capture of Mexico City on September 14, 1847.
After the war, Borland was elected as a
United States Senator
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 po ...
to fill the unexpired term of
Ambrose Hundley Sevier
Ambrose Hundley Sevier (November 4, 1801 – December 31, 1848) was an attorney, politician and planter from Arkansas. A member of the political Family that dominated the state and national delegations in the antebellum years, he was elect ...
. His views were generally of a disunionist version, and he was not popular with many Senate members. During an 1850 debate over Southern rights, he physically attacked
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 ...
Senator
Henry Foote. He discovered soon after his return to
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
, that his views were not popular at home, either. In 1852 he opposed the decision of sending
Commodore Perry to open
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
to international trade on grounds that the leaders of that country did not offend U.S. interests by refusing to open their country to international trade. Borland resigned from the United States Senate in 1853 and was appointed as
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (Nicaragua).
Immediately after his arrival in
Managua
)
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, motto =
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, Borland called for the U.S. Government to repudiate the
Clayton–Bulwer Treaty
The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty was a treaty signed in 1850 between the United States and the United Kingdom. The treaty was negotiated by John M. Clayton and Sir Henry Bulwer, amidst growing tensions between the two nations over Central America, a ...
, and for the American military to support
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
in the event of a possible war with Great Britain. In a public address in Nicaragua, he stated that it was his greatest ambition to see Nicaragua "forming a bright star in the flag of the United States". He was reprimanded for this by
Secretary of State William Marcy
William Learned Marcy (December 12, 1786July 4, 1857) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as U.S. Senator, Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of State. In the latter office, he negotiated the G ...
. While leaving
Greytown in May, 1854, Borland interfered with the local arrest of an American citizen. A crowd had gathered, and a bottle was thrown which hit Borland in the face. Enraged, he reported the incident to the
U.S. president, who promptly dispatched a
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
, and demanded an apology. When none was given, Greytown
was bombarded and destroyed.
Borland returned to Little Rock in October 1854, and resumed his medical practice and operation of his
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
. Borland declined a nomination from
President 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 ...
as
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the
New Mexico Territory. However he remained active in local politics, and very vocal as to his views on
state's rights and
secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
.
American Civil War
At the start of the American Civil War, Borland was appointed as a commander of Arkansas
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 ...
by Arkansas Governor
Henry M. Rector
Henry Massie Rector (May 1, 1816August 12, 1899) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the sixth governor of Arkansas from 1860 to 1862.
Early life and education
Henry Massie Rector was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of ...
, and ordered to lead the expedition that seized
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
, in the first days of the war, despite the fact that Arkansas had not yet seceded. By the time Borland and his forces arrived in Fort Smith, the Federal troops had already departed, and there were no shots fired. He was replaced as commander at the Arkansas Secession convention less than a month later, but he was able to obtain a position as a commander for Northeast Arkansas. For a time in 1861 he commanded the depot at Pitman's Ferry, near
Pocahontas, Arkansas
Pocahontas is a city in Randolph County, Arkansas, United States, along the Black River. According to the 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city was 6,608. The city is the county seat of Randolph County.
Pocahontas has a number of hist ...
, responsible for troop deployments and supplies. Borland's only son with his third wife, George Godwin Borland, had joined the Confederate States Army despite being only 16 years of age, and would later be
killed in action. Borland's first wife, Huldah G. Wright (1809–1837), bore him a son Harold who served in the Confederate States Army as a major, assigned to the Eastern Sub-district of Texas of the
Trans-Mississippi Department
The Trans-Mississippi Department was a geographical subdivision of the Confederate States Army comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indian Territory; i.e. all of the Confederacy west of the Mississi ...
.
[Special Orders #253/14, Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, Confederate States]
Borland helped recruit troops for the
Confederacy during this period, helping to raise the
3d Arkansas Cavalry Regiment on June 10, 1861, becoming its first colonel. The regiment was sent to
Corinth, Mississippi
Corinth is a city in and the county seat of Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,573 at the 2010 census. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835. It lies on the state line with Tennessee.
History
Corinth was founded i ...
, but without Borland. It would eventually serve under Major-General
Joseph Wheeler
Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was an American military commander and politician. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and then a general in ...
, seeing action in the
Second Battle of Corinth
The second Battle of Corinth (which, in the context of the American Civil War, is usually referred to as the Battle of Corinth, to differentiate it from the siege of Corinth earlier the same year) was fought October 3–4, 1862, in Corinth, ...
and the
Battle of Hatchie's Bridge, along with other battles as a part of the
Army of Mississippi
There were three formations known as the Army of Mississippi in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. This name is contrasted against Army of ''the'' Mississippi, which was a Union Army named for the Mississippi River, not ...
. However, Borland never left Arkansas.
While in command of northern Arkansas, he ordered an
embargo
Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...
of goods to end price
speculation, which was rescinded by Governor Rector. Borland protested that a governor could not countermand an order from a Confederate official, but in January 1862 his order was countermanded by the
Confederate States Secretary of War
The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of President Jefferson Davis's Cabinet during the American Civil War. The Secretary of War was head of the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confede ...
Judah P. Benjamin
Judah Philip Benjamin, QC (August 6, 1811 – May 6, 1884) was a United States senator from Louisiana, a Cabinet officer of the Confederate States and, after his escape to the United Kingdom at the end of the American Civil War, an English ba ...
. In declining health and resenting that embarrassment, Borland resigned from further service to the Confederacy in June, 1862, moving to
Dallas County, Arkansas
Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,116, making it the fourth-least populous county in Arkansas. The county seat is Fordyce. Dallas County is Arkansas's 49th county, for ...
. He died before the war's end, in
Harris County, Texas
Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas; as of the 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, ...
. His burial place is in the old City Cemetery,
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
Personal life
Borland married three times, first in 1831 to Huldah Wright, who died in 1837, and with whom he had two sons. He then married Eliza Buck Hart in 1839, but she died in 1842, with no offspring. In 1843 following his second wife's death, Borland moved to Little Rock, where he founded the ''Arkansas Banner'', which became an influential newspaper in statewide
Democratic politics. Three years later, Borland challenged the editor of the rival ''
Arkansas Gazette
The ''Arkansas Gazette'' was a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was published from 1819 to 1991. It was known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. It was located from 1908 until its closing at the now historic Gazette ...
'', a
Whig newspaper, to a
duel due to a
slander
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
published against him. In 1845 Borland met Mary Isabel Melbourne, with whom he would marry that same year and later have three children.
See also
*
List of Arkansas adjutants general
*
List of Freemasons
*
List of University of Louisville people
References
External links
Solon Borlandat ''
Encyclopedia of Arkansas
The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information abo ...
''
*
Solon Borlandat ''NCPedia'' (NCpedia.org)
at
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borland, Solon
1808 births
1864 deaths
People from Nansemond County, Virginia
American people of Scottish descent
Pierce administration personnel
Democratic Party United States senators from Arkansas
American Fire-Eaters
Adjutants General of Arkansas
Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua
Physicians from Virginia
American slave owners
American Freemasons
American male non-fiction writers
American political journalists
Editors of Arkansas newspapers
Editors of Tennessee newspapers
Writers from Arkansas
American duellists
19th-century American diplomats
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American newspaper editors
19th-century American non-fiction writers
19th-century American physicians
University of Louisville School of Medicine alumni
American militia officers
United States Army officers
American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War prisoners of war held by Mexico
Confederate States Army officers
Cavalry commanders
People of Arkansas in the American Civil War
Infectious disease deaths in Texas
Burials in Texas
United States senators who owned slaves