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Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls,
the 29th and 32nd Governor of Louisiana, is honored in the Louisiana State
Capitol building with this statue. His left arm was lost in the
Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls
Governor
1877 - 1880
1888 - 1892
Francis Redding Tillou
Nicholls was born in
Donaldsonville, Louisiana, August 20, 1834.
As a child
he attended Jefferson Academy in New Orleans. He was
appointed to the United States Military Academy at West
Point in 1851.
He graduated from West Point in 1855.
Nicholls studied law at the University
of Louisiana
(Tulane) and began practicing law in 1858 in
Napoleonville, Louisiana.
At the onset of the United
States Civil War,
Nicholls eagerly joined the Confederate cause. He
was
assigned to the 8th regiment of Louisiana Volunteers. In
early 1863, he was appointed Colonel of the 15th
Louisiana regiment.
Soon after his appointment he was
recommisioned to Brigadier General
commanding the
2nd Louisiana Brigade.
Nicholls fought many battles in
the Civil War. He
lost his left arm in the Battle of Winchester in
May of
1862, and lost a foot in the Battle of Chancellorsville on
May 4,
1863. Though wounded, he played a major part in
the Confederate effort
to hold Lynchburg, Virginia.
Near the end of the Civil War,
Nicholls was known
for his courage and conviction, as a man who fought
for his beliefs. It was this status by which he was elected
governor in 1877.
One of Nicholls' most notable
accomplishments was his stand against the Louisiana
Lottery. He,
along with his ally, President Pro Tempore of
the Senate, Murphy J.
Foster, launched a tough campaign
to have the Louisiana lottery abolished
from the state.
During his second term, Governor Nicholls vetoed a bill
granting the Louisiana Lottery a new charter. His veto
was overruled by
the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the
charter was granted to the dismay of
both Nicholls and
Foster. Shortly after the charter was granted,
the U.S.
Congress passed a law prohibiting the purchase or
shipment of
lottery tickets through the mail. The
Louisiana Lottery relocated
to Honduras where it survived
a very short amount of time.
Nicholls' successor and long
time friend Governor
Murphy J. Foster, appointed him Chief Justice of
the
Louisiana Supreme Court. Nicholls held the post from
1892 to
1904 when he became an Associate Justice.
Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls
died in Thibodaux,
Louisiana on January 4, 1912.
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