Francis Kinloch Huger

Colonel Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger (September 17, 1773 – February 14, 1855), a trained physician and artillery officer, was a scion of the Huger family of South Carolina. A member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and South Carolina Senate, he is best known for his leadership of a failed November 1794 attempt to rescue Lafayette from captivity during the wars surrounding the French Revolution.

Francis Kinloch Huger
Dr. Huger by Charles Fraser, 1825
Born(1773-09-17)September 17, 1773
Charleston, South Carolina, US
DiedFebruary 14, 1855(1855-02-14) (aged 81)
Charleston, South Carolina, US
OccupationPhysician, politician, soldier
Spouse(s)Harriet Pinckney
Children5, including Benjamin
Parent(s)Benjamin Huger
Mary Esther Kinloch Huger

Early life

Huger was born in Charleston on September 17, 1773. He was the son of Mary Esther (née Kinloch) Huger (1752–1822) and Benjamin Huger (1746-1779), entertained the Marquis de Lafayette on the French officer's arrival in North America. Then a small boy, Francis became an intense admirer of Lafayette and followed his career closely as the statesman rose to lead his country during the early years of the French Revolution. Hard times came for Lafayette, though, and as a refugee from his native land he was taken prisoner by the empire of Austria.[1]

Career

Meanwhile Francis Huger was studying medicine in Vienna. Learning that Lafayette was a prisoner of war at the fortress of Olmutz near Olomouc in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), young Huger determined to rescue the international leader in 1794. A private plot, involving letters written in invisible ink, was hatched to liberate Lafayette.[2] The caper was implemented on November 4, 1794. Although Lafayette was briefly liberated, he was disoriented and recaptured several days later by his enemies. The attempt failed and Huger was himself taken prisoner and joined his would-be prize in Olmutz. After eight months of solitary confinement as a security threat to Austria, Huger was paroled on condition that he return to the United States.[1] Back in South Carolina, the physician studied artillery engineering. He was commissioned as a colonel of artillery during the War of 1812.

Col. Huger was briefly reunited with Lafayette in 1825 when the now-aged French statesman paid an extensive visit to the United States.[1][3]

Personal life

Col. Huger married Harriet Lucas Pinckney Huger (1783–1824), the daughter of South Carolina Gov. Thomas Pinckney. Together, the couple were the parents of five children, including:[4]

Huger died in Charleston on February 14, 1855.

Legacy

An 1825 ivory miniature of Francis Kinloch Huger, by Charles Fraser, is part of the American collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[9]

A selection of Dr. Huger's papers, including letters from Lafayette after the failed caper of 1794, survives in the custody of the South Carolina Historical Society.[10]

References
  1. "The Strange, True Story of Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger and the Marquis de Lafayette". Low Country Walking Tours. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  2. Holland, Rupert Sargent (1918). Lafayette, We Come!: The Story of how a Young Frenchman Fought for Liberty in America and how America Now Fights for Liberty in France. J.W. Jacobs & Company. p. 239. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  3. Smith, Alice R. Huger; Smith, D.E. Huger (2007). The Dwelling Houses of Charleston. Charleston: The History Press. p. 42. ISBN 9781596292611.
  4. Prioleau, Horry Frost; Manigault, Edward Lining (2010). Register of Carolina Huguenots, Vol. 3, Marion - Villepontoux. p. 1294. ISBN 9780557242689. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  5. LeClercq, Anne Sinkler Whaley (2006). An Antebellum Plantation Household: Including the South Carolina Low Country Receipts and Remedies of Emily Wharton Sinkler. University of South Carolina Press. p. 17. ISBN 9781570036347. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  6. Rhoades, Jeffrey L. (1985). Scapegoat general: the story of Major General Benjamin Huger, C.S.A. Archon Books. ISBN 9780208020697. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. Bailey, N. Louise; Morgan, Mary L.; Taylor, Carolyn R. (1986). Biographical directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776-1985. University of South Carolina Press. p. 773. ISBN 9780872494800. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  8. Bellows, Barbara L. (2018). Two Charlestonians at War: The Civil War Odysseys of a Lowcountry Aristocrat and a Black Abolitionist. LSU Press. p. 412. ISBN 9780807169117. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. "The Collection Online: Dr. Francis Kinloch Huger". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
  10. "Francis Kinloch Huger correspondence, 1795-1820". Worldcat.org. Retrieved 2014-12-19.
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