Samuel Bunch

Samuel Bunch (December 4, 1786 – September 5, 1849) was an American politician who represented Tennessee's 2nd district in the United States House of Representatives from 1833 to 1837.

Samuel Bunch
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837
Preceded byThomas D. Arnold
Succeeded byAbraham McClellan
Personal details
BornDecember 4, 1786
Grainger County, Tennessee
DiedSeptember 5, 1849 (aged 63)
Rutledge, Tennessee
Resting placeBunch Family Farm
Rutledge, Tennessee[1]
Political partyWhig
Spouse(s)Amanda Anderson Bunch
Professionfarmer, soldier
Military service
Branch/serviceTennessee militia
Years of service1813–1814
RankCaptain
Battles/warsCreek War

Life and career

Bunch was born in what is now Grainger County, Tennessee, the son of John and Mary (Asher) Bunch. He attended the public schools and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He married Amanda Anderson, daughter of Joseph M. and Mary Cocke Anderson about 1806 in Granger County.[2]

Colonel Bunch originally commanded the 1st Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen of the Tennessee militia composed of three-month enlistees from October 1813 to January 1814.[3] During his time of command, the unit was involved in numerous conflicts with the Creek Indians. At the Battle of Little Oakfuskie, Bunch and his men surrounded the Native American village at dawn and sprung an ambush that resulted in the killing of 60 Native Americans and the capture of over 200 more while taking no American casualties.[4] On January 10, 1814, Bunch was granted command of the 2nd Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Riflemen and stayed in command until July 14, 1814.[5] Reports have indicated that multiple companies within Bunch's Regiment were dispatched from Fort Williams to serve under General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. During this engagement, Bunch's men were positioned on the right flank of the advancing force. Due to being under the command of General Jackson, Bunch was known to have written the future President as a friend even after the war.[6] He was sheriff of Grainger County for several years.[7] From 1819 to 1823, he represented Campbell, Claiborne, and Grainger counties in the Tennessee Senate.[8] In 1820, he voted against the bill establishing the Bank of Tennessee.[9]

Elected was elected to Congress in 1833, defeating former 2nd district representative John Cocke, 4,319 votes to 1,815 (the incumbent, Thomas D. Arnold, moved to the 1st district). He was reelected by a similar margin in 1835.[10] Bunch served as a Jacksonian in the Twenty-third Congress and as an Anti-Jacksonian in the Twenty-fourth Congress, and subsequently joined the Whig Party.[11] In 1837, he was defeated in his reelection effort by the Democratic candidate, Abraham McClellan, 3,228 votes to 2,741.[10]

His son, McDonough J. Bunch, was the principal clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives during 1845-46. He served as major of the 4th Regiment Tennessee Volunteers in the Mexican War. In May 1850, he led the skeleton Mississippi Regiment in the Narciso Lopez invasion of Cuba.

Samuel Bunch resumed agricultural pursuits and died on his farm near Rutledge, Tennessee on September 5, 1849 (age 62 years, 275 days). He is interred at a private cemetery on his farm.[11]

References
  1. Samuel Bunch at Find a Grave
  2. S. Kimminau. "Richardson and Kimminau Family History and Ancestry". 2001-2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  3. "Regimental Histories of Tennessee Units During the War of 1812 | Tennessee Secretary of State". sos.tn.gov. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  4. Kanon, Tom (2014-06-14). Tennesseans at War, 1812–1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and the Battle of New Orleans. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817318291.
  5. Pratt, Suzanne M. "War of 1812 Bunch & English Muster Roll". www.tngenweb.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  6. "Image 1 of Samuel Bunch to Andrew Jackson, September 23, 1819". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  7. "Samuel Bunch". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  8. Tennessee Senators Archived 2014-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, Tennessee State Library and Archives, 2010. Retrieved: 25 February 2013.
  9. Eric Russell Lacy, Vanquished Volunteers: East Tennessee Sectionalism from Statehood to Secession (East Tennessee State University Press, 1965), p. 67.
  10. Candidate: Samuel Bunch, Our Campaigns. Retrieved: 25 February 2013.
  11. "Samuel Bunch". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 24 February 2013.


U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Thomas D. Arnold		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 2nd congressional district
1833-1837		 Succeeded by
Abraham McClellan
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