Adelbert Ames
A Union war hero turned Reconstruction governor of Mississippi, whose forceful advocacy for Black rights made him a target and a symbol of a failed promise.
1835–1933 (age 98)·Union Army general and politician·Birthday: October 31
Biography
Adelbert Ames's life was a study in American conflict. A West Point graduate, he earned the Medal of Honor at the First Battle of Bull Run, fighting with a courage that marked his entire military career. After the Civil War, this Maine-born soldier was thrust into the heart of the nation's most vexing problem: Reconstruction. Appointed and later elected as a Radical Republican governor of Mississippi, he embarked on a mission to build a multiracial democracy, championing Black suffrage and education. His tenure was a constant, violent struggle against white supremacist paramilitaries like the White League. Ultimately, the political will of the North faded, and Ames, facing impeachment and the threat of more bloodshed, resigned in 1876. His departure marked the end of Republican rule in Mississippi for over a century, a stark symbol of Reconstruction's collapse.
#1 When Adelbert Was Born
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Adelbert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1835Born
1840Started school
1848Became a teenager
1851Could drive
1853Could vote
1856Turned 21
1865Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1875Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1885Turned 50
Karl Benz builds the first gasoline-powered automobile
President: Grover Cleveland
1895Turned 60
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1905Turned 70
Einstein publishes the theory of special relativity
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1915Turned 80
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1933Died at 98
FDR's New Deal launches; Prohibition ends
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stormy Weather" — Ethel WatersBest Picture: Cavalcade
Key Achievements
- Awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, where he continued to command his artillery battery despite being severely wounded.
- Served as the appointed and later elected Governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, from 1868 to 1870 and again from 1874 to 1876.
- Represented Mississippi as a United States Senator from 1870 to 1874.
- Served as a U.S. Army general in both the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War.
Did You Know?
He was the last Republican governor of Mississippi for 116 years, until Kirk Fordice was elected in 1991.
He married Blanche Butler, daughter of prominent Union general and politician Benjamin Butler.
He lived to be 97 years old, one of the last surviving Civil War generals, and witnessed both world wars.
His son, Butler Ames, became a U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts.
“I have done my duty, and I have done it well.”
