Richard Gentry (August 25, 1788 – December 25, 1837) was an American politician, slave owner, and soldier from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Gentry was killed in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

at the

Battle of Lake Okeechobee The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Seminole Wars. It was fought between 1,000 U.S. Army troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, ...

during the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

. The Missouri county of

Gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

is named for him. He was the first mayor and founder of

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

Early life

Richard Gentry was born August 25, 1788, in Madison County, Kentucky (then part of Virginia) to parents Richard and Jane (Harris) Gentry, who were both of English descent. His father was a veteran of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

who served in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, and he had fought at the

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

. His father was also " wealthy in lands and slaves" and owned a plantation in Kentucky. Young Richard grew up a child of the frontier, skilled in hunting and tracking, skills that would well serve him later in his military career. At age 19, Richard Gentry was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 19th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia and quickly promoted to Captain three years later in 1811. On February 13, 1810, Gentry married Ann Hawkins, also of Madison County. They would eventually have many children.''The Gentry Family in America: 1676 to 1909'' by Richard Gentry. New York.Grafton Press.Copyright, 1909.

War, new frontier, and politics

Gentry served under General (and future U.S. president)

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

in the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

region during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. At the

Battle of the Thames The Battle of the Thames , also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813, ...

, Gentry and his soldiers charged through the British line and attacked the enemy from the rear, resulting in their surrender. In 1816, Gentry left Kentucky with his family and several slaves to move to the new Missouri Territory, first settling in St. Louis County for a brief time before moving on upriver to the area around Franklin. Gentry was part of a wave of Southern settlers who migrated to Missouri with their slaves and formed the region of Little Dixie. In 1820, Gentry was one of the founders of Smithton, the village that would become

, and built the first home there for his family. Gentry defeated William Jewell to be elected Columbia's first Mayor. Gentry owned a farm near Columbia where his slaves would work. In 1820, Richard Gentry shot and killed Henry Carroll over a land dispute in

Howard County, Missouri Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri, with its southern border formed by the Missouri River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,151. Its county seat is Fayette, Missouri, Fayette. Settled o ...

. Gentry claimed that he had killed Carroll in a pistol duel, while his detractors claimed that he had murdered Carroll in an unprovoked attack. Gentry hired his personal friend Thomas Hart Benton, the future Senator of Missouri, to be his defense lawyer. Gentry was later acquitted of the murder in 1821. Richard Gentry was commissioned as a Colonel in the new Missouri Militia in 1822, and four years later, in 1826, elected to a term in the Missouri Senate. President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

appointed Gentry as Postmaster for Columbia, Missouri, in 1830, a post he held until his death. In 1832, during the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

, Gentry was commissioned as a Major General of the Missouri Militia and sent with a large force of troops to the northern border of Missouri to prevent a threatened raid by Chief Black Hawk's warriors. During this brief war, James S. Rollins served as an aide-de-camp to General Gentry.

Final battle and death

President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

asked Missouri for volunteers in 1837 to help fight against the

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

tribe in

who were resisting Indian Removal. Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton agreed to send a regiment of the Missouri Militia to Florida, and he boasted that the Missourians would turn the tide of the war because of their experience on the western frontier. Richard Gentry was chosen to lead the Missouri Militia against the Seminoles, and he was given another commission as Colonel. Gentry used his own money to pay for the equipment of his troops. The women of Columbia stitched a large unit flag for Gentry's troops, which had symbols of the Stars and Stripes and patriotic slogans on it. On October 15, 1837, shortly before Richard Gentry left Columbia, he talked to his family physician and friend Dr. William Duncan who made a fateful prediction: "I fear this is our last meeting Richard. You are a brave man, but there is an element of rashness in you. If you are ever in battle you will lead the charge and be killed." Richard Gentry and the Missouri Militia assembled at

Jefferson Barracks The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...

, where Senator Thomas Hart Benton gave them a speech before sending them off. They then boarded onto steamboats and shipped down the Mississippi River until they reached

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The Missourians then embarked to Florida and landed at

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, where Gentry and his men were put under the command of U.S. Army officer (and future president)

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

. Gentry and his troops were led by Zachary Taylor on a long march into

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

to search for Seminoles. During the march south, Gentry and the Missourians were put in the advanced guard of Taylor's army to clear a path through the wilderness. On December 25, 1837, they located and attacked a large gathering of Seminoles led by Chief Abiaka on the northern shore of Lake Okeechobee, which began the

. Richard Gentry and the Missouri Militia were the first U.S. troops sent into battle, as Zachary Taylor ordered them to charge directly at the Seminole position. While leading his men, Gentry was shot in the stomach by the Seminole Indians, which made him collapse, and he died of his wounds shortly after the battle.The loss of Gentry caused the Missouri Militia troops to panic and made them ineffective for the rest of the battle. Battle of Lake Okeechobee

Weeks later, in January 1838, the news arrived from Florida that General Gentry had been killed by the Seminole Indians at

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

on Christmas Day, 1837. In 1839, Gentry's body was brought back to Missouri and reburied in

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a fo ...

near

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

.''The Gentry Family in America: 1676 to 1909''by Richard Gentry. New York. Grafton Press. Copyright, 1909. One of Richard Gentry's sons, Nicholas Hawkins Gentry, would fight for the Confederacy in the American Civil War and die at the

Battle of Wilson's Creek The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was the first major battle of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. It was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri. In August, Confe ...

. Another of Richard Gentry's sons named Thomas Benton Gentry would marry Mary Eliza Todd, a cousin of

Mary Todd Lincoln Mary Ann Todd Lincoln (Birth name, née Todd; December 13, 1818July 16, 1882) was First Lady of the United States from 1861 until the assassination of her husband, President Abraham Lincoln, in 1865. Mary Todd was born into a large and wealthy ...

. Richard Gentry's grandson North Todd Gentry would go on to be

Missouri Attorney General The Office of the Missouri Attorney General was created in 1806 when Missouri was part of the Louisiana Territory. Missouri's first Constitution in 1820 provided for an appointed attorney general, but since the 1865 Constitution, the Attorney Ge ...

Early life

War, new frontier, and politics

Final battle and death

See also

References

Further reading