Alexander McClung | |
|---|---|
 McClung, before 1855 | |
| 2nd United States Ambassador to Bolivia | |
| In office 1849–1851 | |
| President | Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore |
| Preceded by | John Appleton |
| Succeeded by | Horace H. Miller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1811 Virginia |
| Died | March 23, 1855 (aged 43–44) Mississippi |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Relations | John Marshall (uncle) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1846–48 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant colonel |
| Battles/wars | Mexican-American War |
Alexander Keith McClung (14 June 1811 – 23 March 1855) was an attorney from Vicksburg, Mississippi, who briefly served as US chargé d'affaires to Bolivia in President Zachary Taylor's administration.[1] An "inveterate Southern duelist"[2] nicknamed "The Black Knight of the South", he killed as many as fourteen men in duels during his life.[3] He was also a poet. James H. Street used him as the model for the character Keith Alexander in his novel Tap Roots (1942).
McClung was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, and was the nephew of United States Chief Justice John Marshall. He served as lieutenant colonel of the 1st Mississippi Regiment during the Mexican–American War. He was widely despised for his ill manners, bad credit, gambling, and drunkenness. [4] He committed suicide in the Eagle Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi. McClung was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[5]
- ^ "Alexander Keith McClung (1812–1855)". U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- ^ Holland, Barbara (October 1997). "Bang! Bang! You're Dead". Smithsonian magazine. The Smithsonian. p. 4. Archived from the original on 18 December 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
Hair triggers fell into disrepute, but speed and accuracy continued to improve, particularly for shooting at greater distances. (In 1834 Alexander McClung, inveterate Southern duelist, set a new record by fatally shooting his man in the mouth with a percussion pistol at over a hundred feet.)
- ^ Roger Roots, When Lawyers Were Serial Killers: Nineteenth Century Visions of Good Moral Character, 22 N. ILL. U. L. REV. 19 (2001).
- ^ WILLIAM 0. STEVENS, PISTOLS AT TEN PACES: THE STORY OF THE CODE OF HONOR IN AMERICA 127 (1940). Among McClung's victims were seven members of one family.
- ^ Cedar Hill Cemetery tombstone database (McClung, Col. Alexander K.) Archived 11 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2015-08-21.