William B . Campbell William Bowen Campbell ( February 1 , 1807 – August 19 , 1867 ) was an American politician and soldier . He served as Governor of Tennessee from 1851 to 1853 , and was the state ' s last Whig governor . He also served four terms in the United States House of Representatives , from 1837 to 1843 , and from 1866 to 1867 . During the Mexican - American War , Campbell commanded the First Regiment Tennessee Volunteers , known as the " Bloody First " for its high casualty rate . At the outbreak of the American Civil War , Campbell opposed secession , and briefly served as a general in the Union Army . Early life . Campbell was born on Mansker ' s Creek in Sumner County , Tennessee , to David and Catherine Bowen Campbell . He studied law at Abingdon , Virginia , with his father ' s cousin , Virginia Governor David Campbell , and attended lectures at Winchester Law School . He returned to Tennessee in 1829 in order to establish a law practice at Carthage , in Smith County . He was admitted to the bar in 1830 . In 1831 , he was appointed attorney general for a state circuit , and moved to Sparta , Tennessee . Military and political career . In 1835 , Campbell moved back to Carthage , and was elected to Smith County ' s seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives . He resigned his seat in 1836 , however , in order to fight in the Second Seminole War . He served as a captain under Colonel William Trousdale . In 1837 , Campbell successfully ran against Trousdale for the state ' s 6th District seat in the United States House of Representatives . The campaign was " spirited , " though there was no bitterness between the two candidates . In 1839 , Campbell ran for reelection , again defeating Trousdale . He ran unopposed in 1841 . Near the end of his third term in 1843 he resigned and returned to his law practice in Carthage . That same year , he was appointed major - general of the Tennessee militia . Upon the outbreak of the Mexican - American War in 1846 , Campbell answered Tennessee Governor Aaron V . Brown ' s call for volunteers . He was elected colonel of the First Regiment Tennessee Volunteers on June 3 , 1846 , and arrived with his regiment in Texas the following month . At the Battle of Monterrey later that year , this company lost one - third of its men in an assault on the town ' s citadel , earning the nickname , the " Bloody First . " Campbell ' s company also saw action at the Siege of Veracruz and the Battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847 . After the war , Campbell was appointed by the legislature to a state circuit court judgeship . In 1851 , he received the Whig nomination for governor . His opponent was William Trousdale , his old Seminole War superior , who had been elected in a close election in 1849 . Trousdale had endorsed the Nashville Convention of 1850 , in which southern states threatened to secede if the federal government attempted to ban slavery in newly acquired territories , and blasted the Compromise of 1850 , which admitted California as a free state . He accused Campbell of being " too favorable to northern views . " Campbell on the other hand called the Compromise a " work of wisdom , " and derided the Nashville Convention as treasonous . Running with the campaign slogan , " Boys , follow me ! " which he had yelled at the Battle of Monterrey , Campbell edged Trousdale by a vote of 63 , 333 to 61 , 673 . As governor , Campbell called for a more rational approach to resolving sectional strife , and demanded an end to the " insane " talk of secession . After his initial term in 1853 , he did not run for reelection , instead choosing to accept a position as President of the Bank of Middle Tennessee in Lebanon , Tennessee . The Whigs nominated Gustavus A . Henry , who was defeated by the Democratic candidate Andrew Johnson in the general election . Secession and the Civil War . Following the collapse of the Whig Party in the mid - 1850s , Campbell threw his support behind the American Party ( " Know Nothings " ) , which many Tennessee Whigs had joined . He was again appointed to a circuit court judgeship in 1859 , and continued campaigning against secession . In 1860 , he supported Constitutional Union Party candidate and fellow Tennessee Whig John Bell for president . In May 1861 , as a wave of pro - secession sentiment swept through Middle Tennessee in the wake of the attack on Fort Sumter , Tennessee ' s ex - Whigs and others opposed to secession convened in Nashville , and nominated Campbell to oppose Isham Harris in the gubernatorial election later that year . Campbell declined this offer , however . Governor Harris offered him a command in the Confederate Army , but he declined this , as well . In early 1862 , after the Union Army occupied Middle Tennessee , Assistant Secretary of War Thomas A . Scott recommended Campbell for military governor , but the appointment went to Andrew Johnson . On May 12 , 1862 , Campbell chaired a convention of Tennessee Unionists that mapped out a plan to bring the state back into the Union . Shortly afterward , President Abraham Lincoln appointed him brigadier general in the Union Army . He accepted this commission , but resigned within a few weeks , in part for health issues , and in part because he did not want to fight against his friends and neighbors . In 1864 , Campbell aligned himself with the Democratic Party , and supported George B . McClellan for the presidency . Though he disagreed with Johnson over several issues , namely election regulations Johnson had installed as military governor , he generally supported the Johnson presidency ' s Reconstruction policies . After the war , Campbell was elected to the state ' s 5th District seat in the House of Representatives , but was prevented by Radical Republicans from taking his seat for several months . Campbell defended Johnson during his impeachment hearings in the House in 1867 , and served as an advisor during his trial in the Senate . Death . Campbell died on August 19 , 1867 . He is interred at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon , Tennessee . Family . William Bowen Campbell was a great - grandson of two early Scots - Irish Virginia pioneers , " Black " David Campbell ( b . 1710 ) and " White " David Campbell ( b . 1706 ) . His paternal grandfather , a son of " Black David " known as Captain David Campbell ( 1753 – 1832 ) , was an early Knox County pioneer who built Campbell ' s Station , which has evolved into modern Farragut , Tennessee . Captain David Campbell was married to Margaret Campbell , a daughter of " White David . " Her brothers ( i . e . , William B . Campbell ' s great - uncles ) included Colonel Arthur Campbell ( 1743 – 1811 ) and Judge David Campbell ( 1750 – 1812 ) , and her nephews included Governor David Campbell ( 1779 – 1859 ) and Colonel John B . Campbell ( 1777 – 1814 ) . She was a cousin of General William Campbell of Kings Mountain fame . Campbell ' s mother , Catherine Bowen , was a granddaughter of General William Russell ( 1735 – 1793 ) , who had helped draft the Declaration of Independence . The house built in 1787 by Campbell ' s maternal grandfather , Captain William Bowen ( 1742 – 1804 ) , still stands in modern Goodlettsville , and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Bowen - Campbell House . A house built by Campbell ' s uncle , John Henry Bowen ( 1770 – 1822 ) , still stands in Gallatin , and is listed on the National Register as the Trousdale Place . After his uncle ' s death , the house was , ironically , purchased by William Trousdale , Campbell ' s future gubernatorial opponent . Campbell married Frances Owen in 1835 . They had seven children : Mary , Margaret , Fanny , William , Joseph , John Owen , and Lemuel . Honors and awards . Fort Campbell , Kentucky is named in his honor .