Solon Borland Solon Borland ( September 21 , 1808 – January 1 , 1864 ) was a newspaperman , soldier , diplomat , Democratic United States Senator from the State of Arkansas and a Confederate officer during the American Civil War . Early life . Borland was born in Suffolk , Virginia . When he was a youth , his family moved to North Carolina , where he attended preparatory schools . He later studied medicine and opened a practice . He married three times , first in 1831 to Hildah Wright of Virginia , who died in 1837 , and with whom he had two sons . He then married Eliza Buck Hart of Memphis , Tennessee in 1839 , but she died in 1842 , with no offspring . In 1843 following his second wife ' s death , he moved to Little Rock , Arkansas , where he founded the " Arkansas Banner " , which became an influential newspaper in state - wide Democratic politics . Three years later , he challenged the editor of the rival " Arkansas Gazette " , a Whig paper , to a duel due to a slander published against Doctor Borland . In 1845 he had met Mary Isabel Melbourne , of Little Rock , with whom he would marry that same year and later have three children . Mexican - American War . During the Mexican - American War , Borland was commissioned as a major in the Arkansas Volunteer Cavalry , serving under Archibald Yell . He served throughout the war , having turned over his newspaper to associates . Borland was taken as a prisoner of war by the Mexican army on January 23 , 1847 , just south of Saltillo , Coahuila . He escaped , and was discharged when his regiment was disbanded and mustered out in June , but continued in the army as volunteer aide - de - camp to General William J . Worth during the remainder of the campaign , from the Battle of Molino del Rey to the capture of Mexico City on September 14 , 1847 . Controversial politics . After the war , he was elected as a United States Senator to fill the unexpired term of Ambrose Hundley Sevier . His views were generally of a disunionist version , and he was not popular with many Senate members . During an 1850 debate over Southern rights , he physically attacked Mississippi Senator Henry Foote . He discovered soon after his return to Little Rock that his views were not popular at home , either . Borland resigned from the Senate in 1853 and served as United States Minister to Nicaragua through 1854 . However , this duty did not run smoothly for him either . Immediately after his arrival in Managua , he called for the US Government to repudiate the Clayton - Bulwer Treaty , and for the American military to support Honduras in its confrontation with Great Britain . In a public address in Nicaragua , he stated that it was his greatest ambition to see Nicaragua " forming a bright star in the flag of the United States " . He was reprimanded for this by US Secretary of State William Marcy . While leaving San Juan del Norte in May , 1854 , Borland interfered with the local arrest of an American citizen . He was threatened with arrest , but due to his diplomatic immunity , no arrest was made . However , a crowd had gathered , and a bottle was thrown which hit Borland in the face . Enraged , he reported the incident to the United States , who promptly dispatched a gunboat , and demanded an apology . When none was given , the town was bombarded and burned . Borland returned to Little Rock in October 1854 , and resumed his medical practice and operation of his pharmacy . Borland declined a nomination from President Pierce as Governor of the New Mexico Territory . However he remained active in local politics , and very vocal as to his views on states rights and secession . Civil War service , death . At the start of the Civil War , Borland was appointed as a commander of the state militia by Arkansas Governor Henry Massie Rector , and ordered to lead the expedition that seized Fort Smith , Arkansas , in the first days of the war , despite the fact that Arkansas had not yet seceded . By the time Borland and his forces arrived in Fort Smith , the Federal troops had already departed , and there were no shots fired . He was replaced as commander at the Arkansas Secession convention less than a month later , but he was able to obtain a position as a commander for Northeast Arkansas . For a time in 1861 he commanded the depot at Pitman ' s Ferry , near Pocahontas , Arkansas , responsible for troop deployments and supplies . His only son with his third wife , George Godwin Borland , had joined the Confederate Army despite being only 16 years of age , and would later be killed in action . Borland helped recruit troops for the Confederate States Army during this period , and helped raise the " 3rd Arkansas Cavalry " on June 10 , 1861 , and became its first colonel . The regiment was sent to Corinth , Mississippi , but without Borland . The regiment would eventually serve under Major General Joseph Wheeler , seeing action in the Second Battle of Corinth and the Battle of Hatchie ' s Bridge , along with other battles as a part of the Army of Mississippi . However , Borland never left Arkansas . While in his command position for the Northern Arkansas Militia , he ordered an embargo of goods to end price speculation , which was rescinded by Governor Rector . Borland protested that a governor could not countermand an order from a Confederate official , but in January 1862 his order was countermanded by the Confederate States Secretary of War at the time , Judah P . Benjamin . In declining health and resenting that embarrassment , Borland resigned from further service to the Confederacy in June , 1862 , moving to Dallas County , Arkansas . Borland died before the war ' s end , in Harris County , Texas . His burial place is in Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock , Arkansas . In 1962 , the town of Frenchport , Arkansas , began hosting " Solon Borland Daze , " a community festival dedicated to recalling the life and achievements of the U . S . senator and his French - Creole mistress , after whom the town is named .