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 attended 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 protege 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 of deportation and colonization of slaves to Central America. Elected to the 37th Congress in 1861, he worked with Captain Nathaniel Lyon to organize pro-Union forces in St. Louis to protect the Federal arsenal.
Blair recruited seven Union regiments in Missouri in 1862, and was appointed brigadier general. He won the respect of Generals U. S. Grant and William T. Sherman, and high praise for his effective leadership during the Vicksburg Campaign. He was promoted to major general and became an important 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.
He was preparing for future political battles when he suffered a stroke; he never recovered and died on July 9, 1875.
Image Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield WICR 31498
