| Bayard Clarke | |
| Office: | Member of the House of Representatives from New York's 9th District |
| Term Start: | March 4, 1855 |
| Term End: | March 3, 1857 |
| Predecessor: | Jared V. Peck |
| Successor: | John B. Haskin |
| Birth Date: | 17 March 1815 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, New York |
| Death Place: | Schroon Lake, New York |
| Spouse: | Alletta Remsen Lawrence |
| Occupation: | lawyer |
| Alma Mater: | Geneva College |
| Allegiance: |  United States |
| Branch: | |
| Serviceyears: | 1841–1843 1861 |
| Rank: | Second lieutenant (US Army) Colonel (Union Army) |
| Battles: | Seminole Wars American Civil War |
Bayard Clarke (March 17, 1815 – June 20, 1884) was a United States representative from New York.
Born in New York City on March 17, 1815,[1] [2] Clarke was a member of one of the city's oldest and most prominent families.[3] He graduated from Geneva College in 1835, studied law, and was admitted to the bar.[4]
From 1836 to 1840 he was attaché to Lewis Cass, United States Minister to France.[5] While in France he was a student in the Royal Cavalry School.[6]
Upon returning to the United States, Clarke joined the United States Army, receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in the 8th Infantry in March, 1841. He transferred to the 2nd Dragoons in September, 1841. During his service Clarke took part in the Seminole Wars in Florida.[7] [8]
Clarke resigned from the army in December, 1843 and practiced law in New York City and Westchester County.[9] Also in December, 1843 he married Alletta Remsen Lawrence, a member of another prominent New York family.[10]
He was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for election in 1852 to the Thirty-third Congress.[11] In 1854 he was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress, holding office from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857.[12] He declined renomination as a Republican in 1856 and resumed practicing law.[13]
At the start of the American Civil War, Clarke went to Washington, D.C. to offer his services. He was commissioned as a colonel, and was an organizer of the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment (Lincoln Cavalry), which was commanded by Carl Schurz, Clarke, and then Andrew T. McReynolds.[14] [15] [16]
In mid-1861 there were news accounts indicating that Clarke would be commissioned a brigadier general and assigned to command a school for cavalry in Westchester County. This plan does not seem to have been carried out, since there are no further references to Clarke's promotion or the operation of a cavalry school in Westchester County.[17] [18] [19] [20] [21]
In retirement Clarke lived in England for several years.[22] He later resided in Florida during the winter and an island on Schroon Lake, New York during the summer.[23] He died on June 20, 1884, at his summer home, Isola Bella, in Schroon Lake.[24] [25] He was interred in a vault at First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Newtown, New York.[26]
His name sometimes appears as "Clark" in contemporary news accounts and other records.[27] [28] [29] [30]