George Caldwell (politician)

George Alfred Caldwell (October 18, 1814 – September 17, 1866) was a United States Representative from Kentucky. He was born in Columbia, Kentucky where he attended the common schools. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1837 and commenced practice in Adair County, Kentucky.

Caldwell was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1839 and 1840. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845). During his term, he served as chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Twenty-eighth Congress).

At the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, Caldwell was commissioned major and quartermaster of volunteers on June 26, 1846. He was promoted on several occasions including to Major of Infantry March 3, 1847, and Major of Voltigeurs April 9, 1847. He was made a brevetted lieutenant colonel September 13, 1847 for service in the Battle of Chapultepec, Mexico and honorably mustered out August 25, 1848.

Caldwell was elected to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851) where he again served the chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Thirty-first Congress). He was not a candidate for reelection to the Thirty-second Congress. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia in 1866. He died in Louisville, Kentucky in 1866 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

References

• George Caldwell at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Allen, William B. (1872). A History of Kentucky: Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits. Bradley & Gilbert. p. 281. Retrieved 2008-11-10.