University of Virginia Library

JOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD.

The worthy descent of the subject of the present sketch has been quite
fully presented in preceding biographies in this serial. John Buchanan
Floyd, the eldest son of Governor John and Lætitia (Preston) Floyd,
was born at Smithfield, Montgomery (now Pulaski) County, June 1,
1806. After a course of private tuition, he entered the College of South
Carolina, from which he was graduated in 1826. Having studied law,
he was admitted to the bar in 1828, and commenced practice in his
native county. In 1836 he removed to Helena, Arkansas, where he
continued to reside for three years in the successful practice of his
profession. In 1839 he returned to Virginia, settling in Washington
County. He had from the outset of his career taken a deep interest
in politics, and rendered efficient service to the party of which he was
an enthusiastic follower—the Democratic—as a public speaker. In
1847 he was returned by Washington County to the State House of
Delegates, and, whilst still a member of the Assembly, was elected by
it Governor of Virginia, succeeding Governor William Smith, January
1, 1849. It is of interest to note that the noble work of art, the Washington
Monument, which graces the public square at Richmond, was
authorized and commenced during the term of Governor Floyd. It
was erected in accordance with the act of Assembly passed February
22, 1849. A premium of $500, offered for the best design, was awarded
Thomas Crawford, of Rome, for the model submitted by him, and which
was selected. The ceremony of laying the corner-stone took place on
the 22d of February, 1850, in the presence of a large concourse of
people. Zachary Taylor, President of the United States, and many
prominent dignitaries were in attendance by the invitation of the General
Assembly. On the 27th of June articles of agreement were entered
into with Crawford, stipulating that the equestrian group (in
bronze) should be fifteen English feet from the upper surface of the
platform to the top of the chapeau, and that the surrounding six statues
should be ten feet in height. On the 10th of October, 1857, Crawford
died in London, after completing models of all the statuary, except
Lewis and Mason, and the "trophies." A contract was then made
with Randolph Rogers, of New York, for the completion of the work,
and the statues were cast at the Royal Foundry at Munich. The equestrian
statue arrived in Richmond in November, 1857, and was drawn
through the streets of the city, from the river landing to the square,
by the citizens themselves on the 24th of the month. It was erected
with the statues of Henry and Jefferson, and unveiled on the 22d of
February, 1858, with appropriate ceremonies, General Winfield Scott
and others of distinction being present. The statue of Mason was received
and erected early in 1860, and, the civil war coming on soon

after, the monument remained in statu quo until 1867, when the statues
of Marshall, Lewis, and Nelson were received. The allegorical figures
were all received in 1868, and with their erection the monument was
completed. The following indicates the disposition of the statuary and
the inscriptions on the shields of the allegorical figures:

                       

Finance, opposite Thomas Nelson, Jr.,	Yorktown,
	Saratoga.
Colonial Times, opposite Andrew Lewis,	Point Pleasant,
	Valley Forge.
Justice, opposite John Marshall,	Great Bridge,
	Stony Point.
Revolution, opposite Patrick Henry,	Eutaw Springs,
	Trenton.
Independence, opposite Thomas Jefferson,	King's Mountain,
	Princeton.
Bill of Rights, opposite George Mason,	Guilford C. H.,
	Bunker Hill.

The total cost of the monument was $259,913.26, of which, from donations
and the interest thereon, was realized $47,212.67. A faithful
representation of the monument and its interesting surroundings, from
a special photograph, is presented in this work.

Upon the expiration of the term of Governor Floyd he was succeeded,
January 1, 1853, by Governor Joseph Johnson. In 1855 Governor
Floyd was again returned to the House of Delegates by Washington
County. In 1856 he served as Presidential Elector, and voted for James
Buchanan, for whose nomination he had warmly exerted himself in the
Democratic National Convention, and in whose favor, during the Presidential
canvass, he had made many effective speeches in different parts
of the country. In March, 1857, Governor Floyd was appointed by
President Buchanan Secretary of War. His administration of the War
Department was energetic, and it is claimed by his friends that his
measures were actuated by a desire for its greater efficiency. The hostility
of the Indian tribes in the West requiring the presence of troops,
they were ordered thither by Governor Floyd. This measure and the
distribution of arms among the fortifications of the Southern ports, subjected
him to sectional animadversion when the great civil war was
unhappily inaugurated. When Major Robert Anderson moved his garrison
from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, December 20, 1860, and
President Buchanan refused to withdraw the United States troops from
Charleston harbor, Floyd resigned, and retired from Washington to
Virginia, and was an earnest advocate for secession by the Southern
States. He was appointed, May 23, 1861, a Brigadier-General in the
Confederate States Army, and commanded with Generals Henningsen
and Wise in Western Virginia. The operations of General Floyd for
a time were marked with considerable success, but on the 10th of September,
from an unfortunate want of concert between himself and General

Wise, the forces under their respective commands were divided by
the Gauley River, a deep and rapid stream. The force of General
Floyd lay near Carnifax Ferry. Here General Rosecrans, by a rapid
march of sixteen miles, threw a largely superior force upon Floyd, attacking
him vigorously. Night put an end to the struggle, when Floyd
withdrew in the darkness. The Federal loss was 225, whilst the casualty
of the Confederates was only twenty men wounded. New differences
developing themselves between Generals Wise and Floyd, disturbed their
unity of action and rendered their commands ineffective. Floyd lingered
for awhile in the mountains, had some desultory engagements with the
enemy, subsequently retired to Southwestern Virginia, and from there
was transferred by the Confederate Government to the department of
Tennessee and Kentucky. He was in chief command of Fort Donelson
when it was besieged by General Grant. The Confederate authorities
being dilatory in measures of sustenance recommended by General
Floyd, and further defence of the post being impossible, Generals Floyd
and Pillow, declining to surrender themselves as prisoners, turned the
command over to General Buckner, and with about 3,000 men of the
garrison retreated on the night of the 15th of February into Tennessee.
The fort was surrendered by General Buckner the next day, February
16, 1862. Its fall was a serious blow to the Confederacy, and the retreat
of General Floyd was severely criticised. He never again held
a command in the Southern army, but the Legislature of Virginia,
indignant at the treatment he had received, conferred on him the
commission of Major-General, and directed him to recruit and organize
a division of troops from among the classes not embraced in the
Conscription of the Southern Confederacy. These classes were so restricted
that the task was not easily performed. By the autumn of
1862, however, General Floyd had succeeded in raising a force of nearly
2000 men, with which he moved into the country embracing the headwaters
of the Big Sandy River, where he several times surprised the troops
of the enemy in that section, and captured and destroyed their depots
of supplies. The exposure to which he was subjected in this incessantly
active service seriously affected his health, and he was ultimately obliged
to return home, to be prostrated upon what was destined to be his deathbed.
His disease finally assumed the form of cancer, or, more definitely,
schirrhus of the stomach,—which, it will be recollected, caused the death
of Napoleon I. He died August 26, 1863, at Abingdon, Virginia.

General Floyd married in early life his cousin Sarah Buchanan,
daughter of General Francis Preston, but had no issue. He was of
commanding physique, and possessed oratorical powers of a high order.
There is an excellent portrait of Governor Floyd in the State Library
at Richmond.