===== Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne =====

//Manuscript heading: Colonel F.L. Claiborne//

  * **Born:** ca 1773, VA
  * **Died:** 1815: [[natchez_ms|Natchez]], MS age 42
  * **Buried:** Trinity Cemetery,[[natchez_ms|Natchez]], MS


Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne, father of the author [[john_francis_hamtramuck_claiborne|J.F.H. Claiborne]] was born in Virginia in 1773. Colonel Claiborne was an influential leader in the Mississippi Territory.

In 1793 he served under [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Wayne|General "Mad" Anthony Wayne]] in the fighting to control the Old Northwest Territory, which later became the states in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes Region. He rose in rank after his performance at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fallen_Timbers|Battle of Falling Timbers]] which effectively ended the war.

Claiborne, settled in [[natchez_ms|Natchez]] where his brother [[william_charles_cole_claiborne|William Claiborne]] was territorial governor managing a plantation and operating a mercantile establishment. He married Magdalene Celeste Hutchins, the daughter of Colonel Anthony Hutchins a British officer who in 1771 obtained from the crown a large tract of land near Natchez. The couple had seven children. 

During the [[Creek War|Creek War]] (1813-1814), he commanded Fort Claiborne and contributed to the expansion of U.S. control in the Gulf South. Claiborne, achieved victory over the [[CreekTribe|Creek]] forces at [[Holy Grounds|Holy Grounds]] in what is now Alabama  Throughout this period, he financed supplies for his troops by mortgaging his [[natchez_ms|Natchez]] estate "Soldier’s Retreat." 

He was elected to the Mississippi Territorial Legislature, briefly served as speaker of the House, and retired in 1815 due to health complications from his military campaigns. He died on March 22, 1815.

//Source: Journey Through The Piney Woods, PDF pp. 19–20.//