John C . Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge ( January 16 , 1821 – May 17 , 1875 ) was a lawyer and politician from the U . S . state of Kentucky . He represented the state in both houses of Congress and in 1857 , became the 14th and youngest - ever Vice President of the United States ( 1857 – 1861 ) . Serving in the U . S . Senate at the outbreak of the Civil War , he was expelled after joining the Confederate Army . He was appointed Confederate Secretary of War late in the war . A member of the Breckinridge family , he was the grandson of U . S . Attorney General John Breckinridge , son of Kentucky Secretary of State Cabell Breckinridge , and father of Arkansas Congressman Clifton R . Breckinridge . After non - combat service in the Mexican – American War , Breckinridge was elected as a Democrat to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1849 where he took a states ' rights position against legal interference with slavery . Elected to the U . S . House of Representatives in 1851 . he allied with Stephen A . Douglas in support of the Kansas – Nebraska Act . After reapportionment in 1854 made his re - election unlikely , he declined to run for another term . He was nominated for vice - president at the 1856 Democratic National Convention to balance a ticket headed by Pennsylvanian James Buchanan . The Democrats won the election , but Breckinridge had little influence with Buchanan and , as presiding officer of the Senate , could not express his opinions in that body ' s debates . In 1859 , he was elected to succeed U . S . Senator John J . Crittenden at the end of Crittenden ' s term in 1861 . After Southern Democrats walked out of the 1860 Democratic National Convention , the party ' s northern and southern factions held rival conventions in Baltimore , Maryland that nominated Stephen Douglas and Breckinridge , respectively , for president . Breckinridge carried most of the southern states but no northern states and lost the election . Taking his seat in the Senate , he urged compromise to preserve the Union although seven states had already seceded . Unionists took control of the state legislature when Kentucky ' s neutrality was breached , but Breckinridge fled behind Confederate battle lines where he was commissioned a brigadier general ; he was then expelled from the Senate . After the April 1862 Battle of Shiloh , he was promoted to major general , and in October he was assigned to the command of Braxton Bragg . After Bragg charged that Breckinridge ' s drunkenness had contributed to Confederate defeats at Stone River and Missionary Ridge , he was transferred to the Trans - Allegheny Department , where he won his most significant victory at the Battle of New Market . After participating in Jubal Early ' s 1864 campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley , he was charged with defending Confederate supplies in Tennessee and Virginia . In February 1865 , Confederate President Jefferson Davis appointed him Secretary of War . Concluding that the war was hopeless , he urged Davis to arrange a national surrender . After the fall of the Confederate capital at Richmond , he ensured the preservation of Confederate military and governmental records . He then fled to Cuba , Great Britain , and finally , to Canada . In exile , he toured Europe from August 1866 to June 1868 . When President Andrew Johnson extended amnesty to all former Confederates in late 1868 , he returned to Kentucky , but resisted all encouragement to resume his political career . Issues from war injuries sapped his health , and after two operations , he died on May 17 , 1875 . Early life . John C . Breckinridge was born at Thorn Hill , his family ' s estate near Lexington , Kentucky , on January 16 , 1821 . The fourth of six children born to Joseph " Cabell " and Mary Clay ( Smith ) Breckinridge , he was their only son . His mother was the daughter of Samuel Stanhope Smith , who founded Hampden – Sydney College in 1775 , and granddaughter of John Witherspoon , a signer of the Declaration of Independence . Having previously served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives , his father had been appointed Kentucky ' s Secretary of State just prior to his son ' s birth . In February , the family moved with Governor John Adair to the Governor ' s Mansion in Frankfort , Kentucky . In August 1823 , an illness referred to as " the prevailing fever " struck Frankfort , and Cabell Breckinridge took his children to stay with his mother in Lexington . On his return , both he and his wife fell ill ; he died , but she survived . His assets were not enough to pay his debts , and his wife joined the children in Lexington , supported by her mother - in - law . While in Lexington , Breckinridge attended Pisgah Academy in Woodford County . His grandmother also taught him the political philosophies of her late husband , John Breckinridge , who served in the U . S . Senate and as Attorney General under President Thomas Jefferson . As a state legislator , Breckinridge had introduced the Kentucky Resolutions , which stressed states ' rights and endorsed the doctrine of nullification . After an argument between Breckinridge ' s mother and grandmother in 1832 , he , his mother , and his sister Laetitia moved to Danville , Kentucky , to live with his sister , Frances and her husband , who was president of Centre College . Breckinridge ' s uncle , William Breckinridge , was also on the faculty there , prompting him to enroll in November 1834 . Among his schoolmates were Beriah Magoffin , William Birney , Theodore O ' Hara , Thomas L . Crittenden , and Jeremiah T . Boyle . After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in September 1838 , he spent the winter of 1838 – 1839 as a " resident graduate " at the College of New Jersey ( now Princeton University ) . Returning to Kentucky in mid - 1839 , he read law with Judge William Owsley . In November 1840 , he enrolled in the second year of the law course at Transylvania University in Lexington , where his instructors included two members of the Kentucky Court of Appeals – George Robertson and Thomas A . Marshall . On February 25 , 1841 , he received a Bachelor of Laws degree and was licensed to practice the next day . Early legal career . Breckinridge remained in Lexington while deciding where to begin practice , borrowing law books from the library of John J . Crittenden , Thomas Crittenden ' s father . Deciding that Lexington was overcrowded with lawyers , he moved to Frankfort , but was unable to find an office . After being spurned by a love interest , he and former classmate Thomas W . Bullock resolved to relocate to Iowa Territory in October 1841 . Journeying westward , they considered settling on land Breckinridge had inherited in Jacksonville , Illinois , but they found the bar stocked with able men like Stephen A . Douglas and Abraham Lincoln . The continued on to Burlington , Iowa , and by the winter of 1842 – 1843 , Breckinridge reported to family members that his firm handled more cases than almost any other in Burlington . Influenced by Bullock and the citizens of Iowa , he identified with the Democratic Party , and by February 1843 , he had been named to the Democratic committee of Des Moines County . Most of the Kentucky Breckinridges were Whigs , and when he learned of his nephew ' s party affiliation , William Breckinridge declared , " I felt as I would have done if I had heard that my daughter had been dishonored . " Breckinridge visited Kentucky in May 1843 . His efforts to mediate between his mother and the Breckinridges extended his visit and after he contracted influenza , he decided to remain for the summer rather than returning to Iowa ' s colder climate . While at home , he met Bullock ' s cousin , Mary Cyrene Burch , and by September , they were engaged . In October , Breckinridge went to Iowa to close out his business , then returned to Kentucky and formed a law partnership with Samuel Bullock , Thomas ' s cousin . He married on December 12 , 1843 , and settled in Georgetown , Kentucky . The couple had six children – Joseph Cabell ( b . 1844 ) , Clifton Rodes ( b . 1846 ; later a Congressman from Arkansas ) , Frances ( b . 1848 ) , John Milton ( b . 1849 ) , John Witherspoon ( b . 1850 ) , and Mary Desha ( b . 1854 ) . Gaining confidence in his ability as a lawyer , Breckinridge moved his family back to Lexington in 1845 and formed a partnership with future U . S . Senator James B . Beck . Mexican – American War . A supporter of the Mexican – American War , Breckinridge sought appointment to the staff of William O . Butler , but Butler could only offer him an unpaid aide positionand advised him to decline it . In July 1847 , he delivered an address at mass military funeral in Frankfort to honor Kentuckians killed in the Battle of Buena Vista , during which Henry Clay , whose son was among the dead , wept . The oration inspired Theodore O ' Hara to write " The Bivouac of the Dead " . Breckinridge again applied for a military commission after William Owsley , then governor of Kentucky , called for two additional regiments on August 31 , 1847 . Owsley ' s advisors encouraged the Whig governor to commission at least one Democrat ; John J . Crittenden supported Breckinridge ' s application . On September 6 , 1847 , he appointed Manlius V . Thomson as colonel , Thomas Crittenden as lieutenant colonel , and Breckinridge as major of the Third Kentucky Regiment . The regiment left Kentucky on November 1 and reached Vera Cruz by November 21 . After several men became ill at Vera Cruz , the regiment hurried to Mexico City . Reports indicate that Breckinridge walked all but two days of the journey , allowing weary soldiers to use his horse . When the Third Kentucky reached Mexico City on December 18 , the fighting almost over ; they participated in no military action and remained in the city as an army of occupation until May 30 , 1848 . In Mexico City , Breckinridge joined the Aztec Club , a group of officers who had participated in the war . In demand more for his legal expertise than his military training , he was named as assistant counsel for Gideon Johnson Pillow during a court of inquiry initiated against him by Winfield Scott . Seeking to derail Scott ' s presidential ambitions , Pillow and his supporters composed and published letters that lauded Pillow , not Scott , for the American victories at Contreras and Curubusco . To hide his involvement , Pillow convinced a subordinate to take credit for the letter he wrote . Breckinridge biographer William C . Davis writes , that it was " most unlikely " that Breckinridge knew the details of Pillow ' s intrigue . His role in the proceedings was limited to questioning a few witnesses ; records show that Pillow represented himself during the court ' s proceedings . Returning to Louisville on July 16 , 1848 , the Third Kentucky mustered out on July 21 . During their time in Mexico , over 100 members of the 1 , 000 - man regiment had died of illness . Breckinridge ' s nominal military service proved an asset to his political prospects in Kentucky . Political career . Breckinridge campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee James K . Polk during the 1844 campaign . He decided against running for county clerk of Scott County after his law partner complained that he spent too much time in politics . Some local Democrats encouraged him to run seek the Eighth District ' s congressional seat in 1845 , but he declined , supporting instead Alexander Keith Marshall , the party ' s unsuccessful nominee . As a private citizen , he opposed the Wilmot Proviso that would have banned slavery in the territory acquired in the war with Mexico . In the 1848 presidential election , he backed the Democratic ticket of Lewis Cass and William Butler . Kentucky House of Representatives . In August 1849 , Kentuckians elected delegates to a state in addition to representatives and senators . Breckinridge ' s abolitionist uncles , William and Robert , joined with Cassius Marcellus Clay to nominate slates of like - minded candidates for the constitutional convention and the legislature . In response , a bipartisan group of pro - slavery citizens organized its own slate of candidates , including Breckinridge for one of Fayette County ' s two seats in the House of Representatives . Breckinridge , who by this time owned five slaves , had publicly declared his opposition to " impairing in any form " the legal protection of slavery . Despite his endorsement of slavery protections , he was a member of the Freemasons and the First Presbyterian Church in Lexington , both of which officially opposed slavery . He had also previously represented free blacks in court , expressed support for voluntary emancipation , and supported the Kentucky Colonization Society , which was dedicated to the relocation of free blacks to Liberia . Breckinridge received 1 , 481 votes in the election , over 400 more than his nearest competitor , marking the first time that Fayette County had elected a Democrat to the state House of Representatives . Between the election and the legislative session , Breckinridge formed a new law partnership with Owsley ' s former Secretary of State . George B . Kinkead ; his previous partner died in a cholera epidemic earlier in the year . He also co - founded the " Kentucky Statesman " , a semi - weekly Democratic newspaper , and visited his cousin , Mary Todd , where he met her husband , Abraham Lincoln , for the first time ; despite their political differences , they became friends . When the House convened , Breckinridge received a plurality of votes for Speaker , but fell at least eight votes short of a majority on each of the first three ballots . Unable to break the deadlock , he withdrew from the race , and the position went to Whig Thomas Reilly . Breckinridge biographer Frank H . Heck wrote that Breckinridge was the leader of the House Democratic caucus during the session , but most of the measures considered were " local or personal . . . and in any case , petty " . Breckinridge was assigned to the House ' s standing committees on Federal Relations and the Judiciary . He supported bills allocating funding for internal improvements , a traditionally Whig stance . As Congress debated Henry Clay ' s proposed Compromise of 1850 , the four Whigs on the Committee on Federal Relations drew up resolutions urging the Kentucky congressional delegation to support the compromise as a " fair , equitable , and just basis " for settlement of the slavery issue in the newly acquired U . S . territories . Breckinridge felt that the resolution was too vague and authored a minority report that explicitly denied federal authority to interfere with slavery in states and territories . Both sets of resolutions , and a set adopted by the Senate , were all laid on the table . Three days before the end of the session , Breckinridge took a leave of absence to care for his son , John Milton , who had become ill ; he died on March 18 , 1850 . Keeping a busy schedule to cope with his grief , he urged adoption of the proposed constitution at a series of meetings around the state . His only concern with the document was its lack of an amendment process . The constitution was overwhelmingly ratified in May . Democrats wanted to nominate him for re - election , but he declined , citing problems " of a private and imperative character " . Davis wrote " his problem – besides continuing sadness over his son ' s death – was money . " U . S . Representative . First term ( 1851 – 1853 ) . Breckinridge was a delegate to the January 8 , 1851 , state Democratic convention which nominated Lazarus W . Powell for governor . A week later , he announced that he would seek election to Congress from Kentucky ' s Eighth District . Nicknamed the " Ashland district " because it contained Ashland , the estate of Whig Party founder Henry Clay , and much of the area Clay once represented , the district was a Whig stronghold . In the previous congressional election , Democrats had not even nominated a candidate in the district . Breckinridge ' s opponent , Leslie Combs , was a former state legislator whose popularity was bolstered by his association with Clay and his participation in the War of 1812 ; he was expected to win the election easily . In April , the candidates held a debate in Frankfort , and in May , they jointly canvassed the district , making daily speeches . Breckinridge reiterated his strict constructionist view of the U . S . Constitution and denounced the protective tariffs advocated by the Whigs , stating that " free thought needs free trade " . His strong voice and charismatic personality contrasted with the campaign style of the much older Combs . On election day , he carried only three of the district ' s seven counties , but accumulated a two - to - one victory margin in Owen County , winning the county by 677 votes and the election by 537 . Democrats carried five of Kentucky ' s ten congressional districts , and Powell was elected as the first Democratic governor since 1832 . Supporters promoted Breckinridge for Speaker of the House , but he refused to allow his own nomination and voted with the majority elect fellow Kentuckian Linn Boyd . Despite this , the two were factional enemies , and Boyd assigned Breckinridge to the lightly regarded Committee on Foreign Affairs . Breckinridge ' s first speech , and several subsequent ones , were made to defend William Butler , again a presidential aspirant in 1852 , from charges leveled by proponents of the Young America movement that he was too old and had not made his stance on slavery clear . The attacks came from the pages of George Nicholas Sanders ' s " Democratic Review " , and on the House floor from Florida ' s Edward Carrington Cabell , fellow Kentuckian Humphrey Marshall , Illinois ' William A . Richardson , and California ' s Edward C . Marshall , who was Breckinridge ' s cousin , nearly all of whom supported Stephen Douglas for the nomination . Their attacks , however , ultimately hurt Douglas ' s chances for the nomination and Breckinridge ' s defense of Butler enhanced his own reputation . After this controversy , he was more active in the chamber ' s debates but introduced few significant pieces of legislation . He defended the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 against attacks by Ohio Representative Joshua Giddings and opposed Andrew Johnson ' s proposed Homestead Act out of concern that it would create more territories that excluded slavery . Despite his campaign rhetoric that federal funds should only be used for internal improvements " of a national character " , he sought to increase Kentucky ' s federal allocation for construction and maintenance of rivers and harbors , and supported bills that benefited his district ' s hemp farmers . Returning home from the legislative session , Breckinridge made daily visits with Henry Clay , who lay dying in Lexington , and was chosen to deliver his eulogy in Congress when the next session commenced . The eulogy enhanced his popularity and solidified his position as Clay ' s political " heir apparent " . He also campaigned for the election of Democrat Franklin Pierce as president . Although Pierce lost Kentucky by 3 , 200 votes , Breckinridge wielded more influence with him than he had with outgoing Whig President Millard Fillmore . A week after his inauguration , Pierce offered Breckinridge an appointment as governor of Washington Territory . He had initially sought the appointment , securing letters of recommendation from Powell and Butler , but by the time it was offered , he had decided to stay in Kentucky and seek re - election to the House . Second term ( 1853 – 1855 ) . Whigs , seeking to recapture Breckinridge ' s seat , nominated Attorney General James Harlan , but some Whig factions opposed him , and he withdrew in March . Robert P . Letcher , a former congressman and governor who had won 14 elections in Kentucky without a loss , was the party ' s second choice . Both candidates campaigned vigorously throughout the Eighth District , making multiple speeches a day between May and August . Letcher was an experienced campaigner , but his popular , anecdote - filled oratory , was unpolished , and he was prone to outbursts of anger when frustrated . By contrast , Breckinridge delivered calm , well - reasoned speeches . Cassius Clay , a political enemy of Letcher ' s for years , endorsed Breckinridge , despite their differences on slavery . Citing this endorsement and the abolitionism of Breckinridge ' s uncles , Letcher tried to paint Breckinridge as an enemy of slavery . Breckinridge pointed to his consistent support for slavery and claimed Letcher was actually hostile to the interests of slaveholders . Although the district had gone for Whig candidate Winfield Scott by over 600 votes in the previous year ' s presidential election , Breckinridge defeated Letcher by 526 votes . Once again , he received a large margin in Owen County , which reported 123 more votes than eligible voters living in the county . Grateful for the support of the reliably Democratic county , he gave his son John Witherspoon Breckinridge the nickname " Owen " . Of the 234 members of the House , Breckinridge was among the 80 that were returned to their seats for the Thirty - third Congress . Due to his increased seniority , he was assigned to the more prestigious Ways and Means Committee , but he was not given a committee chairmanship as many had expected . Although he supported Pierce ' s pro - slavery agenda on the principle of states ' rights and believed that secession was legal , he opposed secession as a remedy to the country ' s immediate problems . This , coupled with his earlier support of manumission and African colonization , balanced his support for slavery ; most still considered him a moderate legislator . An ally of Illinois ' Stephen A . Douglas , Breckinridge supported the doctrine of popular sovereignty as expressed in Douglas ' s Kansas – Nebraska Act . He believed passage of the act would remove the issue of slavery from national politics – although it ultimately had the opposite effect – and acted as liaison between Douglas and Pierce to secure its passage . During its debate on the House floor , New York ' s Francis B . Cutting , incensed by a statement that Breckinridge made , demanded that he explain or retract it . Breckinridge interpreted Cutting ' s demand as a challenge to duel . Under " code duello " , the individual being challenged retained the right to name the weapons used and the distance between the combatants ; Breckinridge chose rifles at 60 paces . He also specified that the duel should be held at Silver Spring , Maryland , the home of his friend Francis Preston Blair . Cutting , who had not intended his initial remark as a challenge , believed that Breckinridge ' s naming of terms constituted a challenge ; he chose to used pistols at a distance of 10 paces . While the two men attempted to clarify who had issued the challenge and who reserved the right to choose the terms , mutual friends resolved the issue , preventing the duel . The recently adopted Kentucky Constitution prevented anyone who participated in a duel from holding elected office , and the peaceful resolution of the issue may have saved Breckinridge ' s political career . Retirement from the House . In February 1854 , the Whig majority in the Kentucky General Assembly passed – over Powell ' s veto – a reapportionment bill that redrew Breckinridge ' s district , removing Owen County and replacing it with Harrison and Nicholas counties . This , combined with the rise of the Know Nothing Party in Kentucky , left Breckinridge with little hope of re - election , and he decided to retire from the House at the expiration of his term . Following the December 1854 resignation of Pierre Soulé , the U . S . Minister to Spain who failed to negotiate a U . S . annexation of Cuba , Pierce nominated Breckinridge to the position . Although the Senate confirmed the nomination , Breckinridge declined it on February 8 , 1855 , telling Pierce only that his decision was " of a private and domestic nature " . Desiring to care for his sick wife and rebuild his personal wealth , Breckinridge returned to his law practice in Lexington . In addition to his legal practice , he engaged in land speculation in Minnesota and Wisconsin territories . When territorial governor Willis A . Gorman thwarted an attempt by Breckinridge ' s fellow investors to secure approval of a railroad connecting Dubuque , Iowa , with their investments near Superior , Wisconsin , the petitioned Pierce to remove Gorman and appoint Breckinridge in his place . In 1855 , Pierce authorized two successive investigations of Gorman , but failed uncover any misdemeanors that would justify his removal . During his time away from politics , he also promoted the advancement of horse racing in his native state and was chosen president of the Kentucky Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses . U . S . Vice - President . As a delegate to the 1856 Democratic National Convention in Cincinnati , Ohio , Breckinridge supported Pierce ' s re - nomination for president . When Pierce ' s hopes of securing the nomination faltered , Breckinridge threw his support to his friend , Stephen Douglas . Even with support from erstwhile Pierce backers , Douglas was also unable to garner a majority of the delegates ' votes , and he withdrew , leaving James Buchanan as the Democratic nominee . William Alexander Richardson , a Kentucky - born Congressman from Illinois , then suggested that nominating Breckinridge for vice - president would balance Buchanan ' s ticket and placate disgruntled supporters of Douglas . A delegate from Louisiana placed his name before the convention , and although Breckinridge desired the nomination , he declined , citing his deference to fellow Kentuckian Linn Boyd , who was supported by the Kentucky delegation . Ten men received votes on the first vice - presidential ballot . Mississippi ' s John A . Quitman had the most support with 59 votes . Eight state delegations – with a total of 55 votes – voted for Breckinridge in spite of his refusal of the nomination , making him the second - highest vote getter . Kentucky cast its 12 votes for Boyd , bringing his third - place total to 33 votes . Seeing Breckinridge ' s strength on the first ballot , large numbers of delegates voted for him on the second ballot , and those who did not soon saw that his nomination was inevitable and changed their votes to make it unanimous . Unlike many vice - presidential nominees of his time , Breckinridge actively campaigned for his and Buchanan ' s election . During the first ten days of September 1856 , he spoke in Hamilton and Cincinnati in Ohio ; Lafayette and Indianapolis in Indiana ; Kalamazoo , Michigan ; Covington , Kentucky ; and Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . His speeches stressed the idea that Republicans were fanatically devoted to emancipation , and their election would prompt the dissolution of the Union . Breckinridge ' s presence on the ticket helped the Democrats carry his home state of Kentucky – which the party had not won since 1828 – by 6 , 000 votes . Buchanan and Breckinridge received 174 electoral votes to 114 for Republicans John C . Frémont and William L . Dayton and 8 for Know Nothing candidates Millard Fillmore and Andrew Jackson Donelson . Thirty - six years old at the time of his inauguration on March 4 , 1857 , Breckinridge was the youngest in U . S . history , exceeding the minimum age required under the Constitution by only a year . Buchanan resented the fact that Breckinridge had supported both Pierce and Douglas before endorsing his nomination . Relations between the two were further strained when , upon asking for a private interview with Buchanan , Breckinridge was told to come to the White House and ask for Harriet Lane , who acted as the mansion ' s host for the unmarried president . Feeling slighted by the response , Breckinridge refused to carry out these instructions ; later , three of Buchanan ' s intimates informed Breckinridge that requesting to speak to Miss Lane was actually a secret instruction to White House staff to usher the requestor into a private audience with the president . They also conveyed Buchanan ' s apologies for the misunderstanding . Buchanan rarely consulted Breckinridge when making patronage appointments , and meetings between the two were infrequent . Differences over the legitimacy of admitting Kansas as a state under the Lecompton Constitution further alienated Buchanan and Douglas . When Breckinridge joined Buchanan in endorsing the Lecompton Constitution , the friendship between Breckinridge and Douglas was breached as well . This disagreement ended plans for Breckinridge , Douglas , and Minnesota ' s Henry Mower Rice to build a series of three elaborate , conjoined row house s in which to live during their time in Washington , D . C . After Breckinridge found alternate lodging in Washington , he sold a slave woman and her young infant which , according to Klotter , probably ended his days as a slaveholder . When Breckinridge did not travel to Illinois to campaign for Douglas ' s re - election to the Senate and gave him only a lukewarm endorsement , relations between them worsened . Functioning as the Senate ' s presiding officer , Breckinridge ' s participation in the chamber ' s debates was also restricted . On January 4 , 1859 , he was asked to deliver the final address in the Old Senate Chamber ; in the speech , he expressed his desire that the solons find a solution that would preserve the Union . He opposed the idea that the federal government could coerce action by a state , but maintained that secession , while legal , was not the solution to the country ' s problems . Although Crittenden ' s Senate term did not expire until 1861 , the Kentucky General Assembly met to choose his successor in 1859 . Until just days before the election , the contest was expected to be between Breckinridge and Boyd , who had been elected lieutenant governor in August ; Boyd ' s worsening health , however , prompted his withdrawal on November 28 , 1859 . On December 12 , the Assembly chose Breckinridge over Joshua Fry Bell , the defeated candidate in the August gubernatorial election , by a vote of 81 – 53 . In his acceptance speech , Breckinridge endorsed the Supreme Court ' s decision in " Dred Scott v . Sandford " – which upheld the legality of slavery – and insisted that cautioned that John Brown ' s raid on Harpers Ferry was evidence of Republicans ' insistence on either negro equality or violence . Resistance in some form , he predicted , would eventually be necessary . Presidential campaign of 1860 . Early in 1859 , South Carolina ' s James Henry Hammond reported to a friend that Breckinridge was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination , but as late as January 1860 , Breckinridge told family members that he had no desire for the nomination . A " New York Times " editorial noted that while Buchanan was falling " in prestige and political consequence , the star of the Vice President rises higher above the clouds . " Douglas , considered the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination , was convinced that Breckinridge would be a candidate ; this , combined with Buchanan ' s reluctant support of Breckinridge and Breckinridge ' s public support for a federal slave code deepened the rift between the two . Among Breckinridge ' s supporters at the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston , South Carolina , were former Kentucky Governor Lazarus Powell , former Kentucky Congressmen William Preston ( a distant relative ) and James Brown Clay ( son of Henry Clay ) , and James B . Beck . Breckinridge did not attend the convention , but instructed his supporters not to nominate him as long as James Guthrie remained a candidate . Accordingly , when a delegate from Arkansas nominated Breckinridge for president on the thirty - sixth ballot , Beck asked that it be withdrawn , and the request was honored . Over the course of 57 ballots , Douglas maintained a wide plurality , but failed to gain a majority ; Guthrie consistently ran second . Unable to nominate a candidate , delegates voted to reconvene in Baltimore , Maryland on June 18 , 1860 . Pro - Southern delegates , who had walked out of the Charleston convention in protest of its failure to adopt a federal slave code plank in its platform , did not participate in the Baltimore convention . The delegates from Alabama and Louisiana – both of which had walked out at Charleston – had been replaced with Douglas supporters from those states , leading to the nomination of Douglas and Herschel Vespasian Johnson for president and vice - president , respectively . The protesting delegates convened five days later in Baltimore . On the first ballot , Breckinridge received 81 votes , with 24 going to New York ' s Daniel S . Dickinson . Dickinson supporters gradually changed their support to Breckinridge in order to make his nomination unanimous , and Oregon ' s Joseph Lane was chosen by acclamation as his running mate . Despite concerns about the breakup of the party , Breckinridge accepted the nomination . In August , Mississippi ' s Jefferson Davis attempted to broker a compromise under which Douglas , Breckinridge , and Tennessee ' s John Bell , the nominee of the Constitutional Union Party , would all withdraw in favor of a compromise candidate . Both Breckinridge and Bell readily agreed to the plan , but Douglas was opposed to compromising with the " Bolters " , and his supporters retained an intense dislike for Breckinridge that made them adverse to Davis ' s proposal . Opponents knew Breckinridge believed in the right of secession and accused him of favoring the breakup of the Union ; he denied this during a speech in Frankfort : " I am an American citizen , a Kentuckian who never did an act nor cherished a thought that was not full of devotion to the Constitution and the Union . " While he had little to no support in the northern states , most , if not all , of the southern states were expected to go for Breckinridge . This would give him only 120 of 303 electoral votes , but to gain support from any northern states , he had to minimize his connections with the southern states and risked losing their support to Bell . Some Breckinridge supporters believed his best hope was for the election to be thrown to the House of Representatives ; if he could add the support of some Douglas or Bell states to the thirteen believed to support him , he could best Lincoln , who was believed to carry the support of fifteen states . To Davis ' s wife , Varina , Breckinridge wrote , " I trust I have the courage to lead a forlorn hope . " In the four - way contest , Breckinridge came in third in the popular vote , with 18 . 1 % , but second in the Electoral College . The final electoral vote was 180 for Lincoln , 72 for Breckinridge , 59 for Bell , and 12 for Douglas . Although Breckinridge won the states of the Deep South , his support in those states came mostly from rural areas with low slave populations ; the urban areas with higher slave populations generally went for Bell or Douglas . Breckinridge also carried the border states of Maryland and Delaware . Historian James Klotter points out in light of these results that , while Douglas maintained that there was " not a disunionist in America who is not a Breckinridge man " , it is more likely that party loyalty and economic status played a more prominent role in Breckinridge ' s support than did issues of slavery and secession . He lost to Douglas in Missouri and Bell in Virginia and Tennessee . Bell also captured Breckinridge ' s home state , Kentucky . Lincoln swept most of the northern states , although New Jersey split its electoral votes , giving four to Lincoln and three to Douglas . As the candidate of the Buchanan faction , outpolled Douglas in Pennsylvania and received support comparable to Douglas in Connecticut . It was Breckinridge ' s duty as vice - president to announce Lincoln as the winner of the electoral college vote on February 13 , 1861 . On February 24 , Breckinridge visited Lincoln at Willard ' s Hotel in Washington , D . C . , and frequently thereafter , he visited his cousin , now the First Lady , at the White House . In the lame duck session following the election , Congress adopted a resolution authored by Lazarus Powell , now in the Senate , calling for a committee of thirteen " to consider that portion of the President ' s message relating to the disturbances of the country " . Frank Heck wrote that Breckinridge appointed " an able committee , representing every major faction " . He endorsed Crittenden ' s proposed compromise and used his influence as the Senate ' s presiding officer in an unsuccessful attempt to get it approved by either the committee or the Senate . Ultimately , the committee reported that they were unable to agree on a recommendation . On March 4 , 1861 , the last day of the session , Breckinridge swore in Hannibal Hamlin as his successor as vice - president . Hamlin , in turn , swore in the newly elected senators , including Breckinridge . U . S . Senator . Seven states had already seceded when Breckinridge took his seat as a senator , leaving him almost alone in his defense of slavery . Seeking to find a compromise that would reunite the states under constitutional principles , he urged Lincoln to withdraw federal forces from the Confederate states in order to avert war . The congressional session ended March 28 , and in an April 2 address to the Kentucky General Assembly , he continued to advocate peaceful reconciliation of the states and proposed a conference of border states to seek a solution . On April 12 , Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter , ending plans for the conference . He recommended that Governor Beriah Magoffin call a sovereignty convention to determine whether Kentucky would side with the Union or the Confederacy . On May 10 , he was chosen by the legislature as one of six delegates to a conference to decide the state ' s next action . The states ' rights delegates were Breckinridge , Magoffin , and Richard Hawes ; the Unionist delegates were Crittenden , Archibald Dixon , and S . S . Nicholas . Unable to agree on substantial issues , the delegates recommended that Kentucky adopt a neutral stance in the Civil War and arm itself to prevent invasion by either federal or Confederate forces . Breckinridge did not support this recommendation , but he agreed to abide by it once it was approved by the legislature . In special elections in June , pro - Union candidates captured 9 of 10 seats in Kentucky ' s House delegation . Returning to the Senate for a special session in July , he was regarded as a traitor by most of his fellow legislators because of his Confederate sympathies . He condemned as unconstitutional Lincoln ' s enlistment and arming of men for a war Congress had not officially declared , his expending funds for the war that had not been allocated by Congress , and his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus . He was the only senator to vote against a resolution authorizing Lincoln to use " the entire resources of the government " for the war . Asked what he would do if he were president , he replied , " I would prefer to see these States all reunited upon true constitutional principles to any other object that could be offered me in life . . . But I infinitely prefer to see a peaceful separation of these States than to see endless , aimless , devastating war , at the end of which I see the grave of public liberty and of personal freedom . " On August 1 , he declared that , if Kentucky sided with the federal government against the Confederacy , " she will be represented by some other man on the floor of this Senate . " Kentucky ' s neutrality was breached by both federal and Confederate forces in early September 1861 . Soon after , Unionists in the state arrested former governor Charles S . Morehead for his suspected Confederate sympathies and shut down the " Louisville Courier " because of its pro - Confederate editorials . Word reached Breckinridge that Union General Thomas E . Bramlette intended to arrest him next . To avoid detainment , on September 19 , 1861 , Lexington . Joined in Prestonsburg by Confederate sympathizers George W . Johnson , George Baird Hodge , William Preston , and William E . Simms , he continued to Abingdon , Virginia , and from there by rail to Confederate - held Bowling Green , Kentucky . The state legislature immediately requested his resignation . In an open letter to his constituents dated October 8 , 1861 , Breckinridge maintained that the Union no longer existed and that Kentucky should be free to choose her own course ; he defended his sympathy to the Southern cause and denounced the Unionist state legislature , declaring , " I exchange with proud satisfaction a term of six years in the Senate of the United States for the musket of a soldier . " He was indicted for treason in U . S . federal district court in Frankfort on November 6 , 1861 , having officially enlisted in the Confederate States Army days earlier . On December 2 , 1861 , he was declared a traitor by the United States Senate . A resolution stating " Whereas John C . Breckinridge , a member of this body from the State of Kentucky , has joined the enemies of his country , and is now in arms against the government he had sworn to support : Therefore - - Resolved , That said John C . Breckinridge , the traitor , be , and he hereby is , expelled from the Senate , " was adopted by a vote of 36 – 0 on December 4 . Ten Southern Senators had been expelled earlier the same year . Civil War . On the recommendation of Simon B . Buckner , Breckinridge was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on November 2 , 1861 . On November 16 , he was given command of the 1st Kentucky Brigade . Nicknamed the Orphan Brigade because its men felt orphaned by Kentucky ' s Unionist state government , the brigade was in Buckner ' s 2nd Division under the command of Albert Sidney Johnston . For several weeks , he trained his troops in the city , and he also participated in the organization of a provisional Confederate government for the state . Although not sanctioned by the legislature in Frankfort , its existence prompted the Confederacy to admit Kentucky on December 10 , 1861 . Service in the Western Theater . Johnston ' s forces were forced to withdraw from Bowling Green in February 1862 . During the retreat , Breckinridge was put in charge of Johnston ' s Reserve Corps . Johnston decided to attack Ulysses S . Grant ' s forces at Shiloh , Tennessee on April 6 , 1862 . Breckinridge ' s reserves soon joined the fight as Johnston tried to force Grant ' s troops into the river . Despite Johnston being killed in the fighting , the Confederates made steady progress against Grant ' s troops until P . G . T . Beauregard – who assumed command after Johnston ' s death – ordered his generals to break off the fighting at about 6 o ' clock in the afternoon . The next day , the Union forces regrouped and repelled the Confederates . Of the 7 , 000 troops under Breckinridge ' s command at the battle , 386 were killed and 1 , 628 were wounded , Breckinridge among them . Breckinridge ' s performance earned him a promotion to major general on April 14 , 1862 . After his promotion , he joined Earl Van Dorn near Vicksburg , Mississippi . The Confederate forces awaited a Union attack throughout most of July . Finally , Van Dorn ordered Breckinridge to attempt to recapture Baton Rouge , Louisiana , from federal forces . Despite having his forces reduced to around 3 , 000 by illness and desertions , on August 5 , he attacked the city , capturing several Union prisoners , destroying their supplies , and driving them from the city . The ironclad " Arkansas " was supposed to support Breckinridge ' s attack , but it was immobilized by a mechanical failure and its crew sank it to prevent its capture . Without naval support , the Confederates were unable to hold the city . Later that month , Breckinridge served as an independent commander in the lower Mississippi Valley , securing Confederate control of the area by taking Port Hudson , which helped halt the federal advance down the Mississippi River . Meanwhile , Braxton Bragg was preparing an invasion of Kentucky , and Breckinridge was ordered to join him . Confederate leaders believed that Breckinridge ' s presence in the state could spur enlistments . Van Dorn was reluctant to lose command of Breckinridge and his men , and by the time he relented on October 15 , Bragg was already retreating from the state . He and his division of 7 , 000 men met Bragg at Murfreesboro , Tennessee . With Kentucky solidly under Union control , Breckinridge ' s wife and children moved south and followed his troops as closely as was safely possible . Bragg resented Breckinridge ' s close ties to Confederate commanders , particularly Joseph E . Johnston , Wade Hampton , John B . Floyd , and William Preston , all of whom were related to Breckinridge . Further , he thought Breckinridge ' s late arrival for the Kentucky campaign had contributed to the lack of Confederate volunteers he found in the state . In December , Bragg ordered the execution of Kentucky Corporal Asa Lewis after a court martial had convicted him of desertion . Lewis ' s enlistment had expired , but he continued to serve with the 6th Kentucky Infantry until his impoverished wife and children begged him to return home . Although Lewis claimed he was returning to the army at the time of his arrest , Bragg was insistent on reducing desertions by making him an example . After witnessing the execution , Breckinridge reportedly became nauseated and fell forward on his horse , requiring assistance from members of his staff . He protested Bragg ' s " military murder " and was barely able to prevent open mutiny by his Kentucky soldiers against him . Relations between Breckinridge and Bragg continued to deteriorate ; Breckinridge ' s opinion that Bragg was incompetent was shared by many other Confederate officers . At Murfreesboro , Breckinridge ' s 2nd Division was assigned to William J . Hardee ' s corps and stationed on the east side of the Stones River . When William Rosecrans attacked on December 31 , 1862 , beginning the Battle of Stones River , Bragg ' s main force initially repelled the attack . Bragg ordered Breckinridge to reinforce him on the west side of the river , but John Pegram erroneously reported that a large Union force was advancing along the east bank , and Breckinridge was slow to comply with Bragg ' s order . When he finally crossed the river , his attacks were ineffective , and Bragg ordered him back across the river . By January 2 , Union forces had taken a ridge that ran along the river ; against Breckinridge ' s advice , Bragg ordered the 2nd Division to launch a near - suicidal attack on the federal position . Prior to the attack , Breckinridge wrote to Preston , " if [ the attack ] should result in disaster and I be among the killed , I want you to justice to my memory and tell the people that I believed this attack to be very unwise and tried to prevent it . " Breckinridge ' s men initially broke the Union line and forced them across the river . Artillery on the opposite side of the river then opened fire on Breckinridge ' s men , and reinforcements for the fleeing Union troops arrived . In just over an hour , nearly one - third of Breckinridge ' s troops were killed . One anecdote holds that , as he rode among the survivors , he cried out repeatedly , " My poor Orphans ! My poor Orphans , " bringing recognition to the Orphan Brigade . Bragg ' s official report criticized the conduct of Breckinridge ' s division and assigned to Breckinridge most of the blame for the Confederate defeat . Breckinridge asserted to his superiors that Bragg ' s report " fails . . . to do justice to the behavior of my Division " ; he requested a court of inquiry , but the request was denied . Several Kentuckians under Breckinridge ' s command , who already blamed Bragg for the failed invasion of their native state , encouraged him to resign his commission and challenge Bragg to a duel . In May 1863 , Breckinridge was reassigned to Joseph E . Johnston , participating in the Battle of Jackson in an attempt to break the Siege of Vicksburg . Vicksburg fell to Grant ' s forces on July 4 , and Breckinridge was returned to Bragg ' s command on August 28 , 1863 . After seeing no action on the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga ( September 19 , 1863 ) , he led a division of D . H . Hill ' s corps in an attack on the Union forces the next morning . They succeeded in breaking the Union line but were not able to destroy the main army . Of Breckinridge ' s 3 , 769 men , 166 were killed in the battle ; 909 were wounded and 165 were missing . In late November , Breckinridge commanded one of Bragg ' s two corps in the unsuccessful defense of Chattanooga . Bragg ordered a significant number of Breckinridge ' s men to reinforce Hardee ' s corps , leaving him with insufficient forces to repel the combined attack of Joseph Hooker and George Henry Thomas on Missionary Ridge . His son , Cabell , was captured in the battle . In his official report , Bragg charged Breckinridge with drunkenness at both battles and ( retroactively ) at Stones River . Historian Lowell H . Harrison noted that , while Breckinridge frequently drank whiskey , he was well known for being able to consume large amounts without getting drunk . Before submitting his own resignation , Bragg removed Breckinridge from command . Service in the Eastern Theater . On December 15 , 1862 , Breckinridge took leave in Richmond . Premature rumors of his death prompted the " New York Times " to print a quite vituperative obituary arguing that Kentucky ' s decision to stay in the Union denied Breckinridge the notion of states ' rights to justify his siding with the Confederacy . Confederate leaders were skeptical of Bragg ' s claims against Breckinridge , and in February 1864 , Confederate President Jefferson Davis assigned him to the Eastern Theater and put him in charge of the Trans - Allegheny Department ( later known as the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia ) . On May 5 , Robert E . Lee ordered Breckinridge to take command of a reconnaissance mission to scout the federal forces under Franz Sigel near Winchester , Virginia . With a force of about 4 , 800 men , including 261 cadets from the Virginia Military Institute , he defeated Sigel ' s 6 , 300 men at the Battle of New Market . The victory was considered one of his best performances as a general . Shortly thereafter , he reinforced Lee ' s Army of Northern Virginia and played an important role in halting Grant ' s advance at the Battle of Cold Harbor . During the battle , his troops repulsed a powerful Union attack . Breckinridge was wounded when a cannonball struck his horse and he was pinned underneath . He was still unable to walk or ride when Lee ordered him to take command of the survivors of the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Piedmont . Traveling by rail to Rockfish Gap on June 10 , he marched his forces into the city of Lynchburg , Virginia . He was joined there by Lt . Gen . Jubal Early , who arrived just in time to save the Confederate forces from an assault by Union forces under David Hunter . After Early and Breckinridge ( who was now able to ride a horse ) chased Hunter more than sixty miles away from the city , Lee ordered them to clear the Union forces from the Shenandoah Valley , then cross into Maryland and probed the defenses of Washington , D . C . Union forces ' only serious attempt to turn back the expedition was the Battle of Monocacy , but the Confederates prevailed and continued toward Washington . After the Battle of Fort Stevens , Early decided to withdraw rather than assault the well - fortified federal capital . Since Lincoln was watching the fight from the ramparts of Fort Stevens , this was only time in American history when two former opponents in a presidential election faced one another across battle lines . Early and Breckinridge were able to hold the Shenandoah Valley through July and August , but on September 19 , 1864 , Philip Sheridan forced their retreat at the Third Battle of Winchester . Responding to General John Brown Gordon ' s admonition to be careful in the fight , Breckinridge responded , " Well , general , there is little left for me if our cause is to fail . " After the death of John Hunt Morgan , Breckinridge again took command of the Department of East Tennessee and West Virginia . He reorganized the department , which was in great disarray . At the October 2 , 1864 , First Battle of Saltville , he was also able to protect critical Confederate salt works from forces under Stephen G . Burbridge , despite a lack of resources . The next morning , he discovered that soldiers under his command had killed about 100 wounded black Union soldiers of the 5th United States Colored Cavalry . Hearing the gunfire , he rushed to stop the massacre . He attempted to have the commander responsible , Felix Huston Robertson , arrested and put on trial , but was unable to achieve this before the Confederacy disintegrated . In mid - November , Breckinridge led a raid into northeastern Tennessee , driving Alvan Cullem Gillem ' s forces back to Knoxville . In December , he faced a two - pronged attack from George Stoneman at the Battle of Marion in Virginia . Badly outnumbered by either flank , Breckinridge resisted Stoneman ' s forces until he ran low on ammunition . Stoneman ' s forces were able to damage Confederate salt works , lead mines , and railroads in the area , as well as destroying supply depots at Bristol and Abingdon . Finally restocked with ammunition after three days , Breckinridge was able to drive Stoneman – whose men were now short of ammunition themselves – out of the area . Confederate Secretary of War . James A . Seddon resigned as the Confederate Secretary of War on January 19 , 1865 , and Davis appointed Breckinridge to the vacant position – partially to quiet growing opposition to his administration – on February 6 . Initially opposed by several members of the Confederate Congress because he had waited to join the Confederacy , he eventually gained their support by administrating his office more efficiently than his predecessors . With their support , he was able to expand the post ' s influence to include making officer assignments and promotion recommendations and advising field generals regarding strategy . His first act as secretary was to promote Robert E . Lee to general - in - chief of all Confederate forces . After Lee reported a critical shortage of food , clothing , and supplies among his troops , Breckinridge recommended the removal of Lucius B . Northrop , the Confederate commissary general . Northrop ' s successor , Isaac M . St . John , improved the flow of supplies to troops in the field . By late February , Breckinridge concluded that the Confederate cause was hopeless . Delegating the day - to - day operations of his office to his assistant , John Archibald Campbell , he began laying the groundwork for surrender . Davis desired to continue the fight , but Breckinridge urged , " This has been a magnificent epic . In God ' s name let it not terminate in farce . " On April 2 , Lee sent a telegram to Breckinridge informing him that he would have to withdraw from his position that night , and that this would necessitate the evacuation of Richmond . Ordering Campbell to organize the flight of the Confederate cabinet to Danville , Virginia , Breckinridge remained in the city to oversee the destruction of facilities and supplies to prevent their use by the invading federal forces . In the process , he ensured that the Confederate archives , both government and military , were captured intact by the Union forces . By so doing , he ensured that a full account of the Confederate war effort would be preserved for history . Upon his exit from the city , he ordered that the bridges over the James River be burned . His son Clifton , then serving in the Confederate Navy at Richmond , resigned his post and joined his father as he moved southward to meet Davis . After overseeing the transfer of Richmond , Breckinridge joined Robert E . Lee ' s forces at Farmville , Virginia , on the night of April 5 and remained there until April 7 . He continued on to Danville , arriving on April 11 to discover that Lee had surrendered on April 9 and the Confederate cabinet had already fled to Greensboro , North Carolina . Arriving in Greensboro on April 13 , he advised the cabinet that the remaining Confederate armies should be surrendered ; only Davis and Secretary of State Judah P . Benjamin disagreed . At Bennett Place , he assisted Joseph E . Johnston in his surrender negotiations with William T . Sherman . Sherman later praised Breckinridge ' s negotiating skills , and the surrender terms agreed to were later criticized by Sherman ' s colleagues as too generous . At Abbeville , South Carolina , Breckinridge and Basil W . Duke finally convinced Davis that further prosecution of the war was hopeless . Breckinridge was put in charge of the $ 150 , 000 in gold specie remaining in the Confederate treasury ; traveling southward by rail toward Washington , Georgia , a group of soldiers in his military escort – unpaid for months – threatened to divide the gold among themselves before it could be captured by federal troops . Breckinridge convinced them to abandon their scheme after paying them their wages from the treasury , but some of them refused to escort Breckinridge and the bullion any further . Breckinridge ' s party arrived in Washington on May 4 and , after paying out several requisitions from the treasury , deposited the rest in banks there . He also composed a letter to his remaining deputies in which he disbanded the War Department . Escape and exile . On May 5 , Breckinridge discharged most of the men escorting him , retaining only a small contingent of Kentuckians under the command of his cousin , William Campbell Preston Breckinridge . Feeling honor bound to protect Davis , he attempted to create a diversion that would allow him to escape . The next day , his party encountered a large federal force ; while his cousin negotiated with the force ' s commander , Breckinridge and a small detachment escaped . Riding southward across Georgia , he reached Milltown ( now Lakeland ) by May 11 and remained there for a few days . Learning of Davis ' s capture , which left him as the highest - ranking former Confederate official still at large , he left Milltown with only a military aide , a personal servant , and his son Cabell . On May 15 , 1865 , in Madison , Florida , he was joined by fellow fugitive John Taylor Wood . Breckinridge and Wood decided to flee to The Bahamas , but because Cabell was allergic to mosquito bites , Breckinridge told him to surrender to the nearest federal officer . At Gainesville , Florida , the group found Confederate Colonel J . J . Dickison , who gave them a lifeboat he had taken from a captured federal gunboat . Traveling down the St . Johns River , they reached Fort Butler on May 29 . From there , they had to transport the boat over land to the Indian River . They reached the river by May 31 , but as they followed its course southward , they had to drag the boat across the river ' s mudflat s and sandbars . Transferring the boat to the Atlantic Ocean near Jupiter Inlet , they continued along the Florida coast and landed near present - day Palm Beach on June 4 . Strong winds prevented them from navigating the small craft out to sea , so they continued southward down the coast . On June 5 , the party was spotted by a federal steamer , but convinced the crew they were hunters scavenging the coast . Two days later , they encountered a larger boat with a mast and rigging ; chasing it down , they disarmed the occupants and hi - jacked the craft . As compensation , they gave their old boat and twenty dollars in gold to the owners of the larger craft , as well as returning some of their weapons after the exchange was complete . With this more seaworthy craft , they decided to flee to Cuba . Departing from Fort Dallas , they survived an encounter with pirates , two significant storms , and a dangerous lack of provisions before arriving at Cardevas on June 11 , 1865 . A Kentuckian then living in the city recognized Breckinridge , introduced him to the locals , and served as his interpreter . The refugees were given food and stayed the night in a local hotel . The next morning , they traveled by rail to Havana , where Breckinridge was offered a house . He declined the offer , choosing to travel with Charles J . Helm , a fellow Kentuckian who had been operating as a Confederate agent in the Caribbean , to Great Britain . Arriving in Britain in late July , he consulted with former Confederate agents there and arranged communication with his wife , then in Canada . Re - crossing the Atlantic , he was reunited with his wife and all of his children except Clifton in Toronto on September 13 , 1865 . After spending the winter in Toronto , the family moved to Niagara in May . In August , doctors advised Breckinridge ' s wife that the climate of France might benefit her ailing health . Cabell Breckinridge returned to the U . S . to engage in business ventures with his brother Clifton , and Mary , just 12 years old , was sent to live with relatives in New York . The remainder of the family journeyed to Europe , where the children attended school in Paris , Versailles , and Vevey , Switzerland . From mid - 1866 to early 1868 , Breckinridge toured Europe – including visits to Germany , Austria , Turkey , Greece , Syria , Egypt , and the Holy Land ; because of her poor health , his wife remained in France until February 1868 , when she joined him in Naples , Italy . During their tour of Italy , Breckinridge met with Pope Pius IX in Rome , and also visited Pompeii . Desiring to return to the U . S . but still fearing capture , Breckinridge moved his family back to Niagara in June 1868 . Within sight of the U . S . border , he steadfastly refused to seek a pardon , although 70 members of the Kentucky General Assembly had requested one on his behalf from President Andrew Johnson on February 10 , 1866 . On January 8 , 1868 , the Louisville City Council instructed the state ' s congressional delegation to seek assurance that Breckinridge would not be prosecuted on his return . James Beck , Breckinridge ' s old law partner , was then in Congress and wrote to him on December 11 , 1868 , that it appeared likely that Johnson would issue a general pardon for all former Confederates ; he advised Breckinridge to return to the U . S . prior to the pardon being issued because he feared it might only apply to those in the country . Return to the U . S . , death , and legacy . Johnson proclaimed amnesty for all former Confederates on December 25 , 1868 . Still in Canada , Breckinridge lingered for a few weeks to receive assurance that it still applied to him even though he had not been in the U . S . when it was issued . Departing Canada on on February 10 , he made several stops to visit family and friends along the route to Lexington , where he arrived on March 9 . Although he resided in Kentucky for the rest of his life , he never bought a home there after the war , living first in hotels and then renting a home on West Second Street . Many insurance companies in the south asked Breckinridge to join them in various capacities . In August 1868 , he became manager of the Kentucky branch of Virginia ' s Piedmont Life Insurance Company ( which soon became the Piedmont and Arlington Insurance Company ) . Washington College ( now Washington and Lee University ) offered him a professorship , but he declined . He resumed his law practice , taking as a partner Robert A . Thornton , a 27 - year - old former Confederate soldier . He served as general counsel for the proposed Cincinnati Southern Railway , which would connect Cincinnati to Chattanooga via Lexington . Officials in Louisville tried to block the move , which would break the near - monopoly that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad had on southern trade . On January 25 , 1870 , he presented his case to the House and Senate railroad committees , and although they rejected it at that time , they approved it two years later . Construction began in 1873 . Breckinridge ' s other railroad ventures were less successful . During his lifetime , he was unable to secure the construction of railroads to his real estate investments in and around Superior , Wisconsin . As president of the newly formed Elizabethtown , Lexington , and Big Sandy Railroad company , he secured financial backing from Collis Potter Huntington for a railroad connecting Elizabethtown and Lexington to the Big Sandy River as part of a route linking those cities with the Atlantic Ocean . When Huntington invested in June 1871 , he became president of the company , and Breckinridge became vice - president . A line from Lexington to Mount Sterling was all that could be completed before the Panic of 1873 dried up the needed investment capital . The proposed line was finally completed in 1881 . Breckinridge refused all requests – including one made by President Ulysses S . Grant – to return to politics , insisting , " I no more feel the political excitements that marked the scenes of my former years than if I were an extinct volcano . " Harrison notes that , under the terms of section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment , a two - thirds vote in each house of Congress would have been needed to allow him to hold office because he sided with the Confederacy . He never expressed interest in seeking such approval . Speaking as a private citizen in March 1870 , he publicly denounced the actions of the Ku Klux Klan . In 1872 , he supported passage of a state statute legalizing black testimony against whites in court . By 1873 , Breckinridge began to experience health problems which he referred to as " pleuro - pneumonia " . Repeated surgeries and visits to the New York coast and the Virginia mountains did not improve his condition . In May 1875 , he consulted surgeons Lewis Sayre and Samuel D . Gross , who concluded that his ill health was caused by cirrhosis brought on by injuries to his liver suffered during the war . Of more immediate concern , they opined , was the fluid that filled two - thirds of one of his lungs . On May 11 , Sayre attempted to create an artificial opening through which the fluid could drain ; although he had to stop before completing the operation , some of the fluid was drained , bringing some measure of relief . Assisted by Beck and Frank K . Hunt , he completed his will . Sayre further alleviated Breckinridge ' s pain via another surgery on the morning of May 17 , but by the afternoon , his condition rapidly worsened , and he died at approximately 5 : 45 p . m . Basil Duke led the funeral procession to Lexington Cemetery where Breckinridge ' s body was buried . Despite differences in spelling , the towns of Breckenridge , Colorado ; Breckenridge , Minnesota ; Breckenridge , Missouri ; and Breckenridge , Texas , were named in Breckinridge ' s honor . The Colorado town deliberately changed the spelling of its name when its namesake joined the Confederacy . Fort Breckinridge , Arizona Territory , ( 1860 to 1865 ) located at the confluence of the Aravaipa Creek and the San Pedro River was named in honor of the Vice President , though the name was changed after the Civil War to Camp Grant , Arizona . A memorial to Breckinridge was placed on the Fayette County Courthouse lawn ( now known as Cheapside Park ) in Lexington in 1887 . In 2009 , the monument was relocated closer to Main Street as part of a reworking of Cheapside Park .