The Democrats of the Sixth Illinois Congressional District held their convention and nominated John Alexander McClernand as their candidate. The gathering also endorsed the views of Senator Douglas on popular sovereignty. Hostile to abolitionists and a veteran of previous Congresses, McClernand was elected. When the Civil War broke out, he was a staunch Unionist and served in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of Major General and commanding the Army of the Mississippi. (By John Osborne)