Representative Daniel Newnan

Daniel Newnan (1780 – January 16, 1851) was an American politician and military commander whose career spanned service in Spanish Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia. Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1780, he came of age in the early national period of the United States. In 1796 and 1797 he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving the classical education typical of young men preparing for public life and military service at the time.

Newnan began his formal military career in the United States Army at the close of the eighteenth century. He was commissioned as an ensign and second lieutenant in the Fourth United States Infantry on March 3, 1799, during a period of heightened military preparedness following the quasi-war with France. He was promoted to first lieutenant in November of that same year, reflecting early recognition of his abilities. Newnan resigned his commission on January 1, 1801, as the Jefferson administration reduced the size of the standing army, and he soon shifted his focus to service in the militia and in the state of Georgia.

By 1806 Newnan had settled in Georgia and embarked on a long career in that state’s military establishment. He was appointed adjutant general of Georgia in 1806, a position he held until 1817, overseeing the organization and readiness of the state militia during a volatile period on the southern frontier. In June 1812, with the rank of colonel, he led two dragoons and 250 infantry of the Georgia militia to join the Patriot War in Spanish Florida. The Patriot Army, composed largely of American adventurers and militia from Georgia, sought to seize Spanish Florida and bring it under United States control. In September 1812 Newnan led an expedition into the interior of Florida to find and punish Seminole people who had attacked Americans in the region. His force numbered 117 men, only 78 of whom were from the Georgia militia, as many volunteers refused to extend their short-term enlistments. In the ensuing campaign his command unexpectedly encountered a band of Alachua Seminoles led by the chief King Payne. The battle that followed quickly became a stalemate, and Newnan’s force was pinned down for nine days before successfully withdrawing. During the Creek War, which overlapped with the War of 1812, Newnan commanded a group of Georgia Volunteers and also fought the British at the Battle of Fort Peter, further cementing his reputation as a frontier military leader.

After the conclusion of these conflicts, Newnan established himself as a planter and continued his association with the Georgia militia. He lived on a plantation near McDonough, Georgia, and in 1817 he was commissioned a major general over the Third Division of the Georgia Militia, reflecting his senior status within the state’s military hierarchy. His experience in both federal and state service made him a prominent figure in Georgia’s political and military affairs during the early nineteenth century.

Newnan also held important civil offices in Georgia before entering national politics. From 1823 to 1824 he served as superintendent of the Georgia State Penitentiary, overseeing the administration of the state’s principal correctional institution at a time when penal reform and state authority were evolving. From 1825 to 1827 he served as Secretary of State of Georgia, managing official records and state documents and participating in the broader governance of Georgia during a period of rapid growth and increasing tensions over Native American lands and states’ rights.

Building on his state-level prominence, Newnan was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Jacksonian Democrat representing Georgia. As a member of the Jackson Party, he was elected to the Twenty-second Congress and served one term from March 4, 1831, until March 3, 1833. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history marked by the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the rise of Jacksonian democracy, and intense debates over issues such as the national bank, tariffs, and federal authority. In this context, Newnan contributed to the legislative process and participated in the democratic governance of the nation while representing the interests of his Georgia constituents. He was not reelected at the conclusion of his term.

Following his single term in Congress, Newnan returned to Georgia and resumed his involvement in state military affairs. From 1837 to 1840 he again served as adjutant general of Georgia, returning to the post he had first held decades earlier. In this capacity he continued to oversee the organization and discipline of the state militia during a period that included ongoing conflicts and negotiations with Native American nations in the Southeast.

Daniel Newnan spent his later years in northwestern Georgia. He died near Rossville, Georgia, on January 16, 1851. He was buried at Newnan Springs Cemetery in Catoosa County, Georgia. His legacy is reflected in several place names: the city of Newnan, Georgia, was named in his honor in 1828, and Newnan’s Lake and the former town of Newnansville, both in Alachua County, Florida, also bear his name, commemorating his role in the military and political history of the region.