Henry Marchmore Shaw

Who was Henry Marchmore Shaw?

Henry Marchmore Shaw was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina, as well as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action, one of a handful of former U.S. Congressmen to perish during the conflict.

Shaw was born in Newport, Rhode Island, November 20, 1819. He completed preparatory studies and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1838. He began his medical practice in Indiantown, North Carolina.

He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third Congress. Shaw was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was elected to the Thirty-fifth Congress and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Thirty-sixth Congress.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Shaw enlisted in the Confederate army and was appointed as a colonel. He was in command of the Confederate forces at the Battle of Roanoke Island. He was killed near New Bern, North Carolina, February 1, 1864. His body was recovered and interred in the cemetery at Shawboro, North Carolina.