Born in Lexington, Kentucky on February 19, 1821, the energetic, spoiled and rebellious “Frank” Blair was expelled from both Yale and the University of North Carolina for misconduct. He became a student at Princeton, but during his graduation week participated in a barroom brawl. Although initially denied his diploma, the faculty relented, and he was allowed to graduate. In 1842 he moved to St. Louis, where he became a protégé of Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

From 1852 through 1856, Blair served in the Missouri legislature, vigorously opposing the extension of slavery. In 1856 he was elected to the U. S. Congress, where he urged the South to gradually abolish slavery, and argued that the North and South should cooperate in a program to colonize slaves in Central America. Elected to the 37th Congress in 1861, Blair worked with Captain Nathaniel Lyon to organize pro-Union forces to protect the St. Louis Arsenal.

Blair recruited seven Union regiments in Missouri during 1862, and was appointed a brigadier general and major general of volunteers. He won the respect of Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, and high praise for his effective leadership during the Vicksburg Campaign. He became an important corps commander during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign and the “March to the Sea.”

After the war, Blair returned to politics. In 1868 he was an unsuccessful candidate for vice president. A year later, Blair was elected to the Missouri legislature, and was chosen to fill an unexpired term in the U. S. Senate in 1870. He was defeated for reelection in 1872.

Blair was preparing for future political battles when he suffered a stroke; he never recovered and died on July 9, 1875.

Carte-de-Visite by C.D. Fredricks & Co., New York, N.Y.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 10990