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an officer of tried courage and capacity, and had the promise of a glorious career in the great struggle into which he had entered with such generous enthusiasm.
Brigadier-General Milledge Luke Bonham was born near Red Bank,
Edgefield district, December 22, 1813, the son of
Capt. James Bonham, who came from
Virginia to
South Carolina about the close of the last century, and married Sophie, daughter of
Jacob Smith, niece of
Capt. James Butler, head of an illustrious
South Carolina family.
The grandfather of
General Bonham was
Maj. Absalom Bonham, a native of
Maryland and a soldier of the revolutionary war.
General Bonham, after graduation at the
South Carolina college, had his first military experience as a volunteer in the company of
Capt. James Jones, in the
Seminole war, and was promoted to brigade major, a position corresponding to adjutant-general of brigade.
Subsequently, while beginning his career as a lawyer and legislator, he continued his association with the militia and attained the rank of major-general.
When war began with
Mexico he went to the front as lieutenant-colonel of the Twelfth United States infantry, and served with distinction, earning promotion to colonel, and remained in
Mexico a year after the close of the war, as military governor of one of the provinces.
Then returning home he resumed the practice of law, was elected solicitor of the southern circuit, and in 1856, upon the death of
Preston S. Brooks, was chosen as the successor of that gentleman in Congress.
Upon the secession of the
State he promptly resigned and was appointed commander-in-chief of the
South Carolina army, with the rank of major-general.
In this capacity, and waiving all questions of rank and precedence, at the request of
Governor Pickens, he served upon the coast in hearty cooperation with
General Beauregard, sent there by the provisional government of the
Confederate States.
At a later date he was commissioned brigadier-general in the
