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John McClernand Biography

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McCLERNAND, John Alexander (1812-1900). An American soldier. He was born in Breckenridge Co., Ky., was brought up in southern Illinois, and in 1832 was admitted to the bar. In 1833, after having served as a private in the Black Hawk War, he resumed the practice of his profession and also engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1935 he became the editor and publisher of the Shawneetown (Ill.) Democrat. From 1836 until 1842 he represented his district in the State Legislature and from 1843 to 1851 he was a Democratic member of Congress from Illinois. In 1851 be removed from Shawneetown to Jacksonville and in 1859 became again a Representative in Congress. At the outbreak of the Civil War, having been appointed brigadier general on May 17, 1861, he raised, largely through his personal influence, the McClernand Brigade. In February, 1862, he gallantly led his command in the attack on Fort Donelson; was promoted in the following March to be a major general of volunteers; and commanded a division, April 6 and 7, at the battle of Shiloh (q.v.). On Jan. 4, 1863, he superseded Gen. W. T. Sherman in the command of the expedition against Vicksburg, but was soon afterward relieved by General Grant. His division having been combined with the naval forces under Admiral Porter (January 11), he commanded the expedition that finally carried by storm the garrison village of Arkansas Post. He also distinguished himself in the battles of Pori Gibson, Champion Hill, Big Black River, and Baker's Creek. In July, 1863, he was relieved of the command of the Thirteenth Army Corps, and on Nov. 30, 1864, he resigned from the service and retired to private life, resuming the practice of the law at Springfield, Ill. Consult Rhodes, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850, vols. iii, iv, v (New York, 1907).