1. William Trousdale was an American soldier and politician.
23 Facts About William Trousdale
1. 2.
William Trousdale served as the 13th governor of Tennessee from 1849 to 1851, and was United States Minister to Brazil from 1853 to 1857.
3.
William Trousdale's father was of Scots-Irish descent, and had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
4.
Captain James William Trousdale was given a land grant as payment for services in the Revolution, and used this grant to acquire several hundred acres in Sumner County, Tennessee.
5.
William Trousdale attended public schools and studied under a tutor, the Reverend Gideon Blackburn.
6.
When this company was called into service during the Creek War the following year, William Trousdale was elected Lieutenant.
7.
William Trousdale saw action at the Battle of Tallushatchee and the Battle of Talladega before returning home.
8.
At the Battle of Pensacola in November 1814, William Trousdale took part in a charge that captured several cannons on the first day of fighting.
9.
William Trousdale volunteered to be among the first wave of soldiers to assault Fort San Miguel, but the fort surrendered before the assault took place.
10.
William Trousdale fought in the decisive Battle of New Orleans on January 8,1815.
11.
William Trousdale was admitted to the bar in 1820, and commenced practice in Sumner County.
12.
William Trousdale ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1827 and 1829, and served on Gallatin's Board of Aldermen from 1831 to 1835.
13.
William Trousdale was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1835, and served until the following year.
14.
At the outbreak of the Second Seminole War in 1836, William Trousdale formed his own company, and was elected colonel of the Second Regiment, First Brigade.
15.
William Trousdale's regiment took part in several skirmishes, and helped defeat Seminole forces at the Battle of Wahoo Swamp in November 1836.
16.
William Trousdale ran again in 1839 and 1845, but being a Democrat in a primarily Whig district, he was never successful.
17.
William Trousdale campaigned for the unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate, Martin Van Buren, in 1840.
18.
In 1853, William Trousdale was appointed "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" to Brazil by President Franklin Pierce.
19.
William Trousdale arrived in Rio de Janeiro in July 1853, and served until 1857.
20.
William Trousdale spent much of his term advocating the opening of the Amazon River to international commerce.
21.
William Trousdale was consistently stricken with rheumatism, creating physical difficulties that prevented him from taking part in public life, as well as from serving in the Civil War in the 1860s.
22.
William Trousdale nevertheless supported the Confederacy, and refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States, even when Union soldiers occupied his home.
23.
William Trousdale died on March 27,1872, and is interred at Gallatin City Cemetery in Gallatin, Tennessee.