Richard Keith Call: Southern Unionist

Unusual for a southerner in his time (1792-1862), Richard Call was committed to the American Union. Born in Virginia, he spent his life in Florida. In business he was a lawyer and land dealer, in public he was a politician and soldier. He twice reached the rank of governor of Florida and as a soldier the rank of brigadier general of militia. He played an important but controversial role as leader of the militia in General Clinch’s battle with the Seminoles at the Withlacoochee River. With the Seminole Wars over and the Civil War begun, Call, who had grown more unyielding in his views through the years, would give up neither slavery nor the Union. He died unhappy, estranged from his neighbors, and rejected by the government.