Benjamin Franklin Cheatham

Benjamin Franklin Cheatham

Benjamin Franklin Cheatham was born at Nashville in 1820. At twenty-six years of age he entered the army for service in the Mexican War. As captain and colonel he won fame in this war and at its close was appointed major general of Tennessee volunteers. In 1849 he went with the great throng of fortune hunters to the gold fields of California, but soon returned to Tennessee. At the beginning of the Civil War he was made a brigadier general in the Confederate Army and served with distinguished honor throughout the war, rising to the rank of major general. He was a stern, hard fighter, but a kind man, much beloved by his soldiers, who affectionately called him "Old Frank." Of course they never used this title in speaking to their general, but around their camp fires they rarely gave him any other. It is a custom among soldiers to nickname the commanders they love.

After the Civil War General Cheatham returned to Nashville. When General Grant became President he offered General Cheatham an appointment in the civil service of the United States, but Cheatham did not accept it. The two men were warm personal friends, though they had taken opposite sides in the war. In 1872 General Cheatham, Andrew Johnson, and Horace Maynard were candidates for congressman at large. That is, Tennessee was entitled to one more representative in Congress than there were districts in the state, so one representative had to be elected by the votes of all the people of the state. Maynard was elected. In 1875 Cheatham was made Superintendent of State Prisons, and held the position for four years. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster at Nashville, but died in September, 1886.

SOURCE: Gentry Richard McGee, A History of Tennessee from 1663 to 1914, p. 211-2