Born the seventh child of a Kentucky judge and legislator, and the "most brilliant" daughter of the Marshall political family, McClung moved to Mississippi in 1832, where he built a lonely, storied, troubled life; he considered himself "Death's Ramrod."

He died by self-inflicted gunshot in a Mississippi boarding house in 1855, leaving a Romantic poem as a suicide note.

McClung was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, and was the nephew of United States Chief Justice John Marshall.

That memorable year witnessed the birth of a son, Alexander Keith, on June 14th in the Old Dominion, and the death of her husband on their Kentucky estate that same summer.

[7][2] He set sail on the USS Vandalia (1828) on October 15, 1828,[5] and promptly showed further evidence of behavioral issues, getting into a fight with fellow midshipman J. T.

[2] His second duel was in Frankfort, Kentucky, opposite his cousin James W. Marshall; he fired into the air, concluding the matter of honor.

[12] McClung's shot amputated Allen's tongue and smashed "several teeth...leaving a horrific wound from which he died in great agony.

[14] The following year, he "stumped Lowndes County" for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives and lost the election but "established his reputation as a skilled, dramatic orator.

[31] Both Jefferson Davis and McClung ran for office late year, based on their records in the war, and squabbled in print over who took what actions in combat.

[16] McClung, a Whig, failed to win to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives,[16] his successful opponent being Winfield Scott Featherston, a Democrat and fellow veteran of the Mexican-American War.

[8] McClung supported Zachary Taylor for president in 1848 and as a reward was granted the "scantest crumbs of political patronage—the post of charges d'affaires to Bolivia.

"[11] Back in Mississippi, he was a vigorous campaigner for pro-Union candidates and against the possibility of secession from the United States over the issue of slavery, supporting his old ally Foote in an election against Jefferson Davis.

[41] He was, however, notorious by this time for his bad credit, gambling, and drunkenness, had no remaining legal career to speak of, and had accumulated significant debts.

[36] He delivered a eulogy for Henry Clay on October 11, 1852 that was described as one of the greatest speeches ever made in Mississippi despite him having been in what was called a "beastly state of intoxication" the night before.

[42] He became a hopeless alcoholic and would fall asleep on emptied shipping crates stacked behind shops in the Mississippi state capital of Jackson, unconscious but clutching a Bowie knife in his hand.

"[39] Reuben Davis recalled in his memoirs the terror of entering a restaurant with two friends and coming across McClung drinking alone but for the company of two guns and a knife laid out in front of him on the bar; Davis described McClung as "insane" by that time, prone to an alcohol-fueled psychosis and erratic, frightening words and actions.

[36] Davis and companions finished their white wine and oysters as quickly as possible and departed post haste, leaving the equally terrified (enslaved) waiter alone with McClung.

[36] In 1855, McClung sought a new military officer's commission but, with his reputation in tatters, and his old rival Jefferson Davis running the U.S. Department of War under Franklin Pierce, none was forthcoming.

[36] McClung used "a tiny, silver-mounted derringer" to commit suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in the Eagle Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi.

[1] According to Kentucky archivist and historian James M. Prichard, his planning for this event was elaborate: "He had previously asked a local carpenter to design a wooden plank with a deep notch in one end.

[45][1] McClung's remarkable, troubled life and ultimate death by his own hand may have stemmed in part from a family history of untreated mood disorders and substance abuse.

When, in 1831 and 1832, I lived at the old haunted Orr mansion, perched on the Ohio bluff, with its solitary halls, lofty ceilings, and spacious corridors, she kindly took me to her room of nights, to allay my boyish fears of ghosts.

'"[28] The nickname Black Knight of the South seems to have been developed posthumously, possibly from the title of a 1936 article by Craddock Goins in Esquire magazine.

"[4] Regarding the longevity and persistence of McClung's legend, one Mississippi narrative about his life and death seemed to him imbue him with all of the original sins of the antebellum Southern white man: "Highly bred like the thoroughbred horses of his boyhood home, sensitive, intelligent, quick-tempered, ambitious, combatative and frustrated, Keith McClung grew up to acquire most of the virtues and nearly all the vices of the traditional Southern gentleman of his day.

"[4] His well-known rivalry with Confederate President Jefferson Davis may have also contributed to the construction of his reputation in the Lost Cause-venerating post-war white South.