Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/770

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718
CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY.

Harris Flanagin, governor of Arkansas from 1862 until the downfall of Confederate authority in the State, was born at Roadstown, N. J., November 3, 1817. He moved west to Illinois, and thence removed to Arkansas in 1837, making his home in Clark county. Here engaging in the practice of law he soon attained prominence, and in 1842 was elected to the legislature. At the beginning of the war he entered the Confederate service as captain of Company E of the second regiment of Arkansas mounted rifles, and in a short time was promoted colonel of the regiment. In this capacity he was serving when elected governor of the State at the special election held November 15, 1862. During the remainder of the Confederate period, until the election of Isaac Murphy, 1864, he held the position of chief executive, and during the darkest days for the cause maintained himself with fortitude and ability. After the close of the war he resumed his residence at Arkadelphia, and again engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1874 he was a member of the constitutional convention of the State. His death occurred October 23, 1874.

John Milton, governor of Florida during the war, was born April 21, 1807, in Jefferson county, Ga. His father was Gen. Homer Virgil Milton, an officer in the regular army in 1812, and his grandfather was the John Milton for whom Georgia in the first presidential election cast her vote for President of the United States against George Washington. He was educated at the academy in Louisville, the county seat of Jefferson county, studied law under Roger L. Gamble, and beginning the practice of his profession in his native county, continued it at Columbus, Ga. As a resident of the latter town he engaged in politics and was defeated as a candidate for congress on the nullification issue. He subsequently was quite successful as a lawyer at Mobile and New Orleans. While a citizen of Mobile, as