- Duncan Lamont Clinch
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Duncan Lamont Clinch (April 6, 1787 – October 28, 1849) was an American army officer and served as a commander during the First and Second Seminole Wars. He also served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia.
Born in North Carolina, Clinch was a career soldier serving primarily on frontier posts when the First Seminole War broke out in 1816. While commanding forces in southern Georgia, Colonel Clinch was ordered by General Andrew Jackson to attack Seminole positions at Negro Fort, an abandoned British fort along the Apalachicola River which had become a safe haven for escaped slaves, and recover runaway slaves in hiding at the fort.
Supported by gunboats, Clinch's attack on the outpost caused a major incident when an explosion, resulting from naval artillery hitting the fort's powder magazine, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Seminoles and slaves, contributing to the beginning of the First Seminole War. Clinch would also see service during the Second Seminole War serving with Major Francis L. Dade before his death in 1849 in Macon, Georgia.
Contents
Honors
Clinch County, Georgia was named for Clinch.
Fort Clinch (and Fort Clinch State Park) on Amelia Island, Florida is named after General Duncan Lamont Clinch. The Fort is at 2601 Atlantic Avenue, Fernandina Beach, Florida 32034.
Family
His son, Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch Jr., commanded the 4th Georgia Cavalry CSA during the American Civil War. This unit fought at the Battle of Olustee in Florida, and also in the Atlanta campaign later in 1864. He was also the father-in-law of Robert Anderson (Civil War), commander of Fort Sumter.
See also
References
- Keenan, Jerry. Encyclopedia of American Indian Wars, ABC-CLIO, Inc.: California, 1997.
- William J. Northen, Men of Mark in Georgia, A. B. Caldwell, 1912, pp. 313–314.
- Duncan Lamont Clinch at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Further reading
- Covington, James W. The Seminoles of Florida, Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993.
Categories:- 1787 births
- 1849 deaths
- United States Army officers
- People of the Seminole Wars
- Clinch County, Georgia
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Georgia (U.S. state) Whigs
- United States Army personnel stubs
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