Charles E. Nash

Charles Edmund Nash
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 6th district
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877
Preceded by	District established
Succeeded by	Edward White Robertson
Personal details
Born	May 23, 1844 Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	June 21, 1913 (aged 69) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Military service
Allegiance	United States[1]
Branch/service	Union Army[1]
Years of service	1863–1865[1]
Rank	Sergeant major[1]
Unit	82nd Regiment, U.S. Volunteers[1]
Battles/wars	American Civil War[1] Battle of Fort Blakeley (WIA)[1]

Charles Edmund Nash (May 23, 1844 – June 21, 1913) was an American politician who served a single two-year term as Republican in the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana.

He was Louisiana's first African-American to serve as congressman; John Willis Menard was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1868 and P. B. S. Pinchback was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1872, but neither one served. Nash would remain the state's only black U.S. Representative for more than a century — until 1991, when William J. Jefferson's tenure in the 2nd Louisiana District began.^[2]

Nash was born in Opelousas (the seat of St. Landry Parish) in southern Louisiana. He attended the common schools and was a bricklayer by trade.

During the American Civil War, he enlisted in 1863 as a private in the Eighty-second Regiment, United States Volunteers, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant major. (This regiment is listed in the U.S. Colored Troops in the Mobile Campaign Union order of battle.) Nash was severely wounded near the end of the war, at the Battle of Fort Blakeley in Alabama, April 1865; he lost part of his leg.^[1]

After the war Nash was a businessman and was appointed night inspector of U.S. customs.

Nash was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877). He was unsuccessful as a candidate for reelection in 1876, as "Redeemer" Democrats regained control of Louisianan politics. He served briefly as postmaster at Washington in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, during the Chester A. Arthur administration, only from February 15 to May 1, 1882.^[1]

Nash died in New Orleans at the age of sixty-nine. He was interred there in Saint Louis Cemetery No. 3.

• List of African-American United States representatives

• United States Congress. "Charles E. Nash (id: N000008)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Quotations related to Charles E. Nash at Wikiquote
• Media related to Charles E. Nash at Wikimedia Commons