By Andrew Brown
Chapter I
Even before the battle of Brice Cross Roads and Harrisburg were fought, the tide of battle had begun to recede from north Mississippi. In May 1864 Lieutenant General Polk took with him to
Georgia all of the 9,000 infantry in the state and Jackson's and Ferguson's brigades of cavalry, which totaled about 4,000 men. Only Forrest was left; and in September he too was called to the
rescue of Johnston, though too late to do any good. After Forrest's departure there were no sizeable Confederate units left in Mississippi, and such measure of protection as the state had was
given by the notoriously unreliable State troops.1
That the State was not completely overrun by Federal troops after the summer of 1864 is due to the fact that while the Confederates were almost frantically sending every man they could round up
to Joe Johnston's army, the Union commanders were being likewise called upon to strip their forces to strengthen Sherman around Atlanta and Thomas at Nashville, and the garrisons left in
Mississippi and at Memphis were not strong enough to exercise control far beyond their outposts. Accordingly the almost continuous raids through north Mississippi that had turned the year 1863
into a long nightmare for that region and which had slackened during Forrest's operations almost ceased after August 1864. Between that month and the end of the fighting in May 1865 only two
Federal raids
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Twilight and Darkness I
penetrated Tippah County. The first was one of Grierson's famous expeditions which left Memphis a few days before Christmas l864 with 3,500 cavalry in three brigades. Grierson marched through
Moscow, Lamar, and Salem to Ripley, which he reached on Christmas eve. The Yankees were from 6.30 AM to 1.00 PM passing through the town and went south on the Cotton Gin road toward Turtle.
They committed only the usual small-scale depredations, those recorded being the taking of 19 hams from W. R. Cole and the stripping of Orlando Davis' bed of blankets.2 From Ripley
150 men of the Second New Jersey were sent east with orders to cut the railroad and telegraph line at Rienzi and then to rejoin the main body at Tupelo. From that town Grierson moved to Verona,
Prairie, Winona, Grenada, Lexington, and on to Vicksburg. He swept the country over which he passed clean of supplies; for Grierson was as good a "bummer", though not so well publicized, as
Sherman. But the principal thing about the expedition was that it proved to both sides that there was no Confederate or State force in Mississippi that was capable of offering more than a token
resistance to movements of the enemy.3
A little more than two months after Grierson's raid Colonel J. P. C. Shanks of the Seventh Iowa, with about 3,000 cavalry, left Memphis on a scouting expedition and reached Salem on March 6,
1865. There he heard that a Colonel Crosland, commanding Kentucky troops on their way to join Forrest at West Point, had reached Ripley and might be waiting there for reinforcements. Upon
receipt of this news Shanks moved promptly and reached Ripley about 4 PM. of the same day. He captured several citizens who were attending
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Police Court at Spight's Hotel and took a number of horses. He also captured a few soldiers on Conscription duty but missed Crosland, who had gone south several days before. He camped southwest
of Ripley for three days on the land of Orlando Davis, guarding all houses but pillaging everything else. Davis lost 571 panels of his fence - the rail fences of the period made easily obtained
firewood - as well as all his hay and fodder, all of his twelve hogs, and his only remaining horse, He reported that the area around Ripley in every direction was similarly swept
clean.4
From Ripley Shanks sent the usual detachment to destroy the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, but this time its destination was Booneville rather than Rienei. The expedition returned without doing any
appreciable damage; its commander reported that the railroad was then being operated under a truce arrangement between Forrest and Thomas and was not being used to carry military supplies. Upon
the return of this unit the entire force, on March 9, returned to Memphis. Shanks reported that he used every endeavor to protect private property and issued strict orders against stealing - a
noble intent which, according to Davis at least, was not lived up to by the men. Shanks' report ends with these words: "I found the citizens generally depressed. The poor simply
asked for peace and seemed to comprehend that it was their more wealthy neighbors who caused the war . . . The wealthy are as usual stealthy and corrupt, but their only question was, "What is
the best the Government will do?"5
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The 1865 model friend of the poor failed to tell where, on the road from Memphis to Ripley through a region that had been systematically pillaged for two years or more, he found the "wealthy"
men that he castigated so severely. But be that as it may, his men were the last Union troops to invade Tippah County. After they returned to their base the county was free from Yankee
intruders, though from such sparse records are available it is clear that it was not entirely rid of the depredations of outlaw bands, often masquerading as soldiers of one side or the other,
until after peace had been made.
Notes on Chapter I
1. Lee, Stephen D., The War in Mississippi after the Fall of' Vicksburg, in Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Vol. IX, P. 55, 1906
2. Davis, 60
3. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XLV, pp. 843-845
4. Davis, 61
5. O. R.
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By Andrew Brown
Chapter II
Because of the removal of most of the Federal troops from its immediate vicinity Tippah County was in a position, after the middle of 1864, to take a breathing spell and make some small
beginnings on the long, hard task of rebuilding. While Forrest was keeping the Union leaders so busy with their futile attempts to "get his hair" that they had little time for anything else,
the county officials of Tippah were able to again meet regularly after more than a year of continuous hiding out, and to attend to the county business in something resembling a normal manner.
Much of their effort in those trying days was directed toward alleviating the sufferings of the "beneficiaries", as the families of the absent soldiers were called; indeed there is at the same
time much of the inspiring and of the pathetic in the manner in which the State Legislature, even while it was being driven from town to town, and the county officials who were in hiding more
often than not, attempted to take care of those whom the ravages of war had left without means of support. That they were in large measure unsuccessful was due not to lack of willingness nor of
effort, but to the scarcity of means.
The obtaining of money to operate the county was a serious problem; though no records bearing on that angle have been preserved, it is practically certain that after 1862 tax collections in
Tippah were meager indeed. A curious sidelight on conditions in north Mississippi before and during the war is pointed out by a local law passed by the Legislature in February, 1865 which
authorized the Board of Police of Tippah County to borrow money from the Treasurer of the School Fund.1 That the School Fund had a surplus
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is due to the fact that prior to 1870 Tippah County operated no schools of its own, but used the proceeds of the School Fund to pay the tuition of "beneficiaries" at private schools. As in the
caste system that was part and parcel of Southern society the status of "beneficiary" carried the implication of poverty, few took advantage of the law; usually the children of families unable
to pay tuition simply did not go to school. Therefore the School Fund was loaned at interest, and until the outbreak of the war the principle had increased each year.
Though there are no first-hand accounts of conditions in Tippah County in late 1864 and in 1865, there can be little doubt that the destitution that characterized 1863 and early 1864 continued.
This may be surmised from reports of conditions for the state as a whole, which were deteriorating rapidly. Perhaps as good a single account as any is contained in a letter from Secretary of
War Stanton to Lieutenant General Taylor shortly after Taylor took command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, an east Louisiana in September 1864. Seddon's letter, dated September 27,
devotes a good deal of space to the subject of trading with the enemy which the author, in the face of what would have been irrefutable evidence, seemed to think could be stopped; he could not,
or would not, realize that during the latter part of the war the inhabitants of Mississippi as a whole and of north Mississippi in particular, could hardly have survived without the necessities
that they obtained though the enemy's lines. After asking Taylor to do the impossible and stop the trade, Seddon continued:
". . . In the State of Mississippi officers of every grade and of every arm of the service are going through the State without special orders, without money, gathering up property wherever
they could find it, refusing payment, neglecting to ascertain or adjust the price, leaving insufficient evidence of their acts, and in most cases rendering to none of the departments of supply,
nor to the Department commanders, any account of their acts or authority for their acts.
"The most scandalous outrages have been practiced upon the citizens of that State by the lawlessness of subaltern officers. A special
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source of grievance is the formation of cavalry bands and the impressment of horses for that purpose . . .Reports exhibit as a source of disorder the existence of organized, undisciplined
bands, composed of men who are evading military service by their connection with these . . .
"There is nothing to interfere with the operation of the conscription law. It empowers you to reduce into order and organization the various detached companies that have been legally raised . .
. and such as not should be disbanded and those liable to conscription should be conscribed...
"The present condition of the service is such as to awaken the most serious concern. At a time when the wants of the country require every man to be at his post, a fatal laxity of discipline of
our armies has become manifest. The highest military crime, desertion, is committed with impunity. There does not appear on the part of the deserter any difficulty in obtaining shelter in any
section of the country, or even in a different portion of the Army from that in which he is serving . . . Reports to the Department show that deserters and absentees without leave from the Army
abound in that State . . .
"Circumstances of the history of the war in Mississippi furnish an explanation for the matter of these reports; but such a condition of disorganization and discouragement cannot long exist
without producing the most mischievous consequences . . Some of the abuses can be removed and some of the consequences repaired . . ."2
As a further indication of the disorganized conditions throughout Mississippi and especially in the northern portion of the State, it was reported reliably that in the winter of 1864-65 there
were not less than 1,000 deserters between the picket lines in the general Holly Springs area.3 On May 24, 1864, four months before Taylor took command of the department, Lieutenant
General Polk had referred that "northwest of the Tallahatchie a Capt. Eison of the Confederate service, having deserted his post and enticed away with him a portion of his command, has
established and inaugurated a
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system of private plunder, ostensibly against the common enemy but all too often without regard to the sentiments of the owners of the property . . . He is constantly sending messages to his
friends in the army, buying them by promises of brigandage and free quarters . . ." In the same report Polk estimated that there were 10,000 conscription evaders in the State, and told of a
raid by organized outlaws from Jones County on a Confederate supply depot at Paulding in Jasper County; an occurrence that is or particular interest for its bearing on the often repeated but
unverified reports that Jones County "seceded" from the State of Mississippi and the Confederacy.4
Almost from the day the act was passed Tippah County had suffered from the operation of the Impressment Law and even more from the actions of outlaws who used the law as an excuse for their
private banditry. As horses were especially sought after by Confederate impressment officers as well as by the Yankees and by outlaws, the activities of these groups left the citizens almost
without means of transportation. It is difficult to imagine, ninety years later, what the lack of a horse meant to a man living in a rural community in 1865. He could not go to church, store,
or mill unless he lived reasonably close by; he could not ride for a doctor in case of emergency; he had no means of escape in case of an enemy raid. In short, his entire existence was
circumscribed within the small area in which his own legs could carry him. And even if he were able to save his animal from the perils that beset him on every side, it was likely that forage
would be desperately short and there would be little for the horse to eat during the winter months, because the
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armies had stripped almost everything in the way of provisions from the country.
The shortage of food of all types is evidenced by an order of the Board of Police at its December 1865 meeting which allowed C. P. Miller $75.00 out of the Common County Fund for his services
in getting up corn for the destitute families of the county during the first part of 1865.5 At about the same time one John Killough was "detailed" by the Conscription Bureau "to
haul corn for destitute families".6
The shortage of food was aggravated by the almost total lack of salt, without which food, especially meat, could not be kept through the long warm periods. Unquestionably a considerable amount
of salt was brought into the county from Memphis but the supply was inadequate and the price high. During 1863 the State government made a contract with parties in Louisiana, to supply salt,
while at the same time the Confederate government was bringing the salt fields of southern Alabama into production. In September 1864 the Board of Police appointed an agent "to receive and
require of the general salt agent for the State the pro rata share of salt due this county for the relief and benefit of beneficiaries of the Military Relief Fund".7 What success the
agent had is not recorded.
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As the war dragged on, medicines became more and more difficult to obtain. An outstanding example of the scarcities was that of quinine. As much of Mississippi was infested with malaria for
which the "Peruvian bark" was the only known specific, the State attempted to assure a supply by making a barter arrangement under which the quinine, valued at $100.00 an ounce, was exchanged
for cotton valued at 50 cents a pound.8 The consummation of this trade depended, of course, on the quinine's getting through the blockade. Early in the war the State took over
the manufacture and distribution of alcohol within its borders, and it was only natural that in some areas the legal supply was supplemented through the operations of illicit stills. In view of
the rugged topography of parts of Tippah County, and the inability of the Confederates to exercise any control over the area throughout most of the war, it is a safe assumption that a good deal
of liquor was manufactured in the county between 1862 and 1865.9
One of the indirect consequences of the Impressment Act was a rudimentary attempt to control prices, brought about by the rulings of commissioners for each state whose duty it was to set the
prices to be paid for impressed supplies. Because of the inflation of Confederate currency the prices were almost invariably out of date by the time they were posted, and in addition the
Commissioners
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made an effort to set prices as low as practicable in order to save the Government money. As more and more goods were impressed, almost always at below-market prices, the already bitter feeling
of the people toward the Act increased. As an indication of what prices were during the latter part of the war, a list of some of those set at the April 1864 meeting of the Board of
Commissioners for Mississippi, is instructive:
Axes . . . . . .$7.00 ea. Bacon . . . . $1.25 - $1.75 lb.
Cattle . . . . . .50 lb, net Candles . . . $3.00 lb.
27" wool cloth. .8.00 yd. Coffee . . . .$5.00 lb.
Flour . . . . . 22.00-50.00 Horses . . . .$500 -$700 each
bbl (196#) Salt . . . . .bushel (50#)
potatoes . . . . 5.00 bushel 50.00
Sugar . . . . . 1.00-1.75 lb. Whiskey . . . $5.00 gallon10
At the same time the Board of Commissioners set the prices listed above, the Memphis papers carried the following prices in the "market" column:
Candles . . . . 0.23 lb Cotton . . . . 0.56 -0.67 lb
flour . . . . . 5.00-l0.00 Whiskey . . . .2.00 - 2.50 bbl
bbl. Potatoes . . . 3.50 bbl
Salt . . . . . . 6.00 bbl Sugar . . . . 0.10-0.20 lb
Coffee . . . . . 0.44¢ lb.11
Comparison of the two price lists shows conclusively that huge profits could be made by running the Memphis "blockade" into Confederate territory.
After giving Tippah and other counties north of the Tallahatchie a wide berth for more than two years, conscription officers reappeared in the region during the summer of 1864, as is evidenced
by a list of men "detailed" beginning in May of that year and continuing to the end of the war. In this list12 the
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first entry from Tippah County is dated September 15, the last April 3, 1865. Between these dates 23 men residing in the county were exempted from Military duty; of these six were exempted for
personal reasons, usually expressed as "indigent circumstances" or, more formally, "justice, equity, and humanity"; one, who has been mentioned previously, was "detailed" to haul corn for
indigent families; and 17 were deferred for occupational reasons, as follows:
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Boot and shoe makers 6
Tanners 5
Farmers and "agriculturalists" 3
Millers 2
Blacksmith 1
The large, numbers of boot and shoe makers and tanners possibly reflects the difficulty of obtaining shoes, even with the Memphis trade running more or less wide open.
In all probability attempts to enforce the Tax-in-kind law, which with the Conscription and Impressment acts completed the triad of detested legislation that did so much to undermine civilian
morale in the Confederacy, began about the time the Conscription officers reentered the county. The only reference to enforcement of the Tax-in-kind Law in local records is an indirect one made
at the February 1865 meeting of the Board of Police, when the Board ordered that persons owing tax-in-kind who had made distribution to "beneficiaries must furnish receipt for those
distributions, and "where they have taken money from beneficiaries they refund the same back".13 This entry shows that at least some of the tax had been collected prior to the date
of the order, and that the Board considered that there had been some skullduggery connected with the collection and distribution.
In summarizing the last year of the war, it may be said that compared to its experiences during the last half of 1862 and all of 1863, Tippah County found the period something of an anticlimax.
There was of course the unending, gnawing worry about loved ones in the armies in Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee,
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and Alabama; Mississippi herself had long since been stripped bare of defenders. There was still the "fog of war"; newspapers were few, letters arrived and were dispatched spasmodically as
there was no regular mail services and the general collapse of all forms of transportation made it impossible for the citizens to have more then a vague idea of what was happening only a few
miles away. Typical of that condition was the experience of Orlando Davis who, on the occasion of Sturgis' first chase after Forrest, had no idea that several thousand Union soldiers were
encamped only a few miles north of Ripley, but thought that the only Yankees nearby were two detachments of less than one hundred men each who happened to come into the town; and Davis was a
careful, accurate observer who had better means of obtaining information that most of his neighbors. For all the people, those in the towns and to an immeasurably greater extent those in the
country, life was lived from day to day, and there was never a moment that a man could feel that his home was safe from invasion by Confederates, Federals or, worst of all, outlaws. It was a
bitter, nerve-racking experience indeed.
In the spring of 1865 more news reached the county than had previously filtered through, but all to much of it was bad. In February of that year General Grant, who throughout 1864 had refused
to exchange prisoners because he realized that while he could replace his own looses, the Confederates could not, relented when it was apparent that the collapse of the Confederacy was only a
matter of time, and authorized the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners. There were a number of such men in the Second and other Mississippi regiments who returned to their homes in Tippah
County at this time. Many of them were in pitiable condition physically; they brought news of their comrades, all to many of whom had succumbed to the hardships of prison life and whose bodies
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lay in shallow graves at such faraway places as Point Lookout, Camp Douglas, or Johnson's Island and they found that the sufferings of their families had been, in some cases at least, as grim
as those of the soldiers and the prisoners of war. To these men who had suffered so much and who in their journeys from the north and east had seen enough to convince them that the days of the
Confederacy were numbered, there was nothing to do but await the end. When it came finally at Appomattox, at Durham, and at Selma, the news was received with bitterness perhaps, but at the name
time with profound relief.
Notes on Chapter II
1. L.M. Called Session, February-March 1865, Ch. XXXVII, pp. 37-38
2. O. R., Ser. IV, Vol. III, pp. 688-690
3. Tatum, p. 105
4. O. R., Ser. IV, Vol. III, pp. 445-446
5. Police Minutes, p. 363
6. C. M. R., Adj. ∓mp; Insp. Gen. Office, Ch. 1, vol. 252, Record of Details in Mississippi, 1864-1865, p.
7. Police Minutes, p. 325
8. O. R., Ser. IV, Vol. III, p. 790
9. Very few first-hand accounts of conditions in Tippah County during the last part of the war are available, though it is possible to surmise to some extent from accounts of other counties.
General Polk's reference to Marshall County has been mentioned above; and an excellent description of what went on in some central Mississippi Counties, written by a Circuit Court Judge who had
unusual opportunities to inform himself, is Selnor, Jas. W., Ed; The breakdown of Morale in Central Mississippi in 1864; Secters of Judge Robert S. Hudson; Journal of Miss. History, Vol.
XVI, no. 2, pp. 99-130 [note: handwriting is almost impossible to read. Some words may be incorrect]
10. O. R., Ser. IV, Vol. III, pp. 262-266
11. Memphis Daily Bulletin, April 7, 1864 (Vol. 9, No. 260)
12. C.M.R., Adj. ∓mp; Insp. Gen. Office, Ch. 1, vol. 252, previously cited
13. Police Records, p. 334
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By Andrew Brown
Chapter III
Although for two years Tippah County was the scene of almost constant raiding and small-scale military activity, no major battles were fought on its soil. The movements that involved the
largest number of men were the advance on Corinth in October 1863, which began at Ripley just as Rosecrans' pursuit of the defeated Confederates ended at that town; and the chase of Sturgis
from Brice Cross Roads, during which Forrest followed the Union army all the way across the county. Of lesser fights, there were fifteen that are ranked by most accounts as "skirmishes" or
"engagements". Ten of these were at Ripley, two at Ruckersville, two at Salem, and one at Molino. But formal lists of armed clashes tell only a fraction of the whole story. Because of the
fortunate preservation of the diary of Orlando Davis it is known that Federal troops invaded Ripley 61 times during the war, and that 14 of these raids proceeded south of the town toward New
Albany, Pontotoc, and other places. It is altogether likely that Salem, being closer to the Yankee base at Memphis than Ripley, and being also on several main roads, suffered as much or more
than Ripley; and it is a fact that the town was practically wiped off the face of the earth during four years of war and was never rebuilt. But as to the details we know but little;
unfortunately Salem had no such chronicler as Ripley had in Davis.
Though it is impossible to estimate even in the most general way the cost of the war in lives and property a few figures are instinctive. In 1860 Tippah County contained 22,550 people, of whom
16,206 were white and 6,344 colored. The colored inhabitants were not scattered over the county
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in anything resembling a uniform pattern; most were in Range 1 East (now Benton County) and in the vicinity of Ripley, and there were very few negroes in the hilly eastern part of the county.
The only town listed in the 1860 census was Ripley, which had 424 white and 269 colored residents, making a total of 693. The other incorporated towns, Orizaba and Salem, were not enumerated
separately, but it is reasonable to suppose on the basis of such figures from other years that are available that the population of Salem was about 400, that of Orizaba not more than 200.
Jonesboro and Molino were even smaller.
In 1866, under the provisions of a law passed by the Mississippi Legislature on December 4, 1865, a census of Tippah County was taken by Joseph C. Wilson, Tax Assessor. This count showed a
total population of 19,361, of whom 14,671 were white and 4,710 colored; the figures showed that since 1860 the county had lost 1,535 white and 1,621 colored citizens. The loss in white
population reflects the conditions prevailing in the county during the war and may be considered normal wastage under the circumstances; that of the negroes means simply that a great many of
the colored inhabitants migrated northward. In that connection, it may be well to bear in mind the often forgotten fact that there was a rather wide distinction made by both slaves and
slave-holders between the "house servants" and the "field hands". The former group were made up of the more intelligent negroes, received on the whole excellent treatment from their masters,
and in return were usually loyal to them though of course there were exceptions. On the contrary the field hands were of a much lower caste and were treated accordingly. When they had an
opportunity to leave they were more likely than not to take advantage of it, on the theory that they, unlike the house servants who were better off where they were than
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they could hope to be anywhere else, had nothing to lose except their chains if they left their masters and followed Mr. Lincoln's blue-clad saviors. And leave they did, in large numbers; many
of the military movements of the Unionists were hampered by the large numbers of "contrabands" who tagged along after the army confidently expecting to be freed and to be fed indefinitely. With
that peculiar obtuseness with which most Southerners approached the institution of slavery, the masters usually placed the blame on the Union soldiers (most of whom wanted no part of the
"contrabands" and made no secret of their dislike for them) for the absconding of slaves; even such an accurate recorder as Orlando Davis always says that the Yankees "took" So-and-So's Joe or
Such-and-such's Bill; he found it impossible to admit even to himself that Joe or Bill probably worried the soldiers to distraction, begging to be taken along.
The 1866 census is arranged alphabetically by names and is not broken down into geographic divisions or towns, though it is probable that such a breakdown could be made from the residences
given after each name. For that reason it is not possible to give populations for the towns in the county until further work is done on the census figures. But it is known that both Salem and
Orizaba were for all practical purposes destroyed during the war and were never rebuilt. The very site of Salem has been almost washed away by huge gullies, and not even a country road goes to
the place where once stood a thriving town. Orizaba, beautifully located on the Pontotoc Ridge, attempted a comeback after the war, but its rebuilding was ended by the routing of the railroad
through Blue Mountain in the 1880's.
The condition of Ripley, which lost during the fighting all of its public buildings except two churches and three taverns, is better known. The first
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official figures after the census of 1860 are those of the 1870 census, which show a total population of 422, including 264 whites and 158 negroes. This figure represents a loss of 39 percent
in ten years; but there can be no doubt that considerable rebuilding was done between 1865 and 1870, and that immediately after the cessation of hostilities the population was less than it was
in 1870. That this was the case is evidenced by two lists compiled in 1895 by Dr. E. M. Alexander, who lived a few miles north of the town1 during the war and later. He listed the
white families living in Ripley in 1861 as follows:
J. J. Ford, 2 sons in army, 1 died J. W. Thompson
Isaac Buchanan, 1 stepson in army J. W. Pendarois
Mrs. Prince, 2 sons in army, 1 killed Dr. W. M. Moody, in army
Wm. Pearson, 1 son in army J. W. Hovis, in army
L. J. Duncan, in army, killed W. C. Falkner, in army
R. J. Thurmond, (1) Jack
Wright
R. E. Dulaney, in army Dr. E. A. Cox, in army
William Cheek, in army Dr. J. Y. Murry, in army
A. Brown, nephew in army, died Mr. Bishop, in army
M. S. Phyfer, in army Wash Read, in army
Thomas Maddox, 1 son in army Daniel Hunt, 2 sons in army
A. C. Rucker, in army, 1 son in army Albert Richie, in army
T. J. Davidson, in army, died, Mrs. Dennis
1 son in
army M. S. Simmons
Mr.
Phillips Mrs.
Pate
O. R. Miller, died Dr. W. D.
Carter, in army
C. G. Haynes, in army J. A. Green, in army
J. E. Rogers, in army Burrell Gossett
L. Rogan, in army Mrs.
Edgerton
S. R. Spight, 2 sons in army Dr. T. W. Miller, in army, killed
Mr. Houston, 1 son in army Mrs. King, 1 son in army
W. P. Baldwin, in army L. B. Hovis, in army,
killed
L. S. Holcombe, 2 sons in army W. E. Rogers, Major in army
J. H. Buchanan, Major in army John Cheek, in army
B. F. Wotsham, in army C. P. Miller
Orlando
Davis Mr.
Moses, 1 son in army
A. J. Suggs, 1 son in army E. P. Jordan, 1 son in army, killed
W. T. Stricklin, in army Mrs. Thomasson, 1 son in army
W. R. Cole, 1 son in army Cyrus Davis, in army
Mrs. Stanford, 2 sons in army J. P. Dander
M. C.
Bell J.
N. Whitehead, in army
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L. C. Butler, in army D. A. Barnett, in
army
M. N. Montgomery, in army J. P. Peeler
Dr. B.
Jones Milton
Young
The list does not include R. J. Thurmond as being in the army, but as other records show that he was, the change is made here.
The 67 families listed above furnished 51 men to the army and of these 51 eight were killed or died of wounds. But that was not all; many families removed during the four years of fighting,
others moved in from the country or from outside, with the result that in 1865 only 22 of those who had lived in Ripley at the beginning of the war were still there. These were the families
of:
W. T. Stricklin Ben Moore J. H. Buchanan
Thomas Maddox Dr. J. Y. Murry Mrs. Isaac Buchanan
Mrs. Prince B. F. Worsham Jack Wrigh
Milton Young C. P. Miller Dr. W. D. Carter
S. R. Spight Mrs. L. B. Hovis W. E. Rogers
W. R. Cole A. Brown Wm.
Pearson
R. J. Thurmond Dr. E. A. Cox Orlando Davis
J. V. Shepherd (1)
(1) Not on 1861 list; he moved to town during the war.
Dr. Alexander's list omits the name of Colonel Falkner as being in Ripley in 1865, though he was certainly back in Tippah before the end of July of that year.2 It is possible that he
was living on a farm that he owned near town.
A subject that invites endless discussion, but one which can never be finally and definitely settled, is the number of men from Tippah County who served in the Confederate armies. For the state
as a whole, the estimate generally accepted is
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one compiled after the war by Colonel J. L. Power which computed that 78,000 out of a total white population of 353,901 according to the 1860 census, entered the army; of these 12,000 were
killed or died of wounds, 16,000 died of disease, and 11,000 deserted. Of the deserters, it is estimated that only about 10 percent went over to the enemy;3 and it can fairly be
stated that so far as Tippah County was concerned, in spite of the peculiar and trying conditions under which the lived, that figure is probably high. Accepting the Power figures - and they are
admittedly estimates, as complete records have never been available -about 22 percent of the State's white population joined the colors at one time or another, and of these one-third lost their
lives - a truly appalling figure, but one backed by rather solid evidence. As for Tippah County, approximately 30 companies of the Confederate armies were composed originally of Tippah County
men; these included one company of the 19th Mississippi, four of the Second, six of the 23rd, five of the 34th, one of the 32nd, nine of the First Partisan Rangers and at least six additional
units that can be identified as being composed predominantly of men from Tippah. On the usual assumption that each company contained 70 to 80 men, it is clear that from 2,200 to 2,500 men were
in these organizations at the time they were formed. Others joined later; far example, in the. spring of 1862 several members of the Second Mississippi were detached by Colonel Falkner for
recruiting duty in Mississippi, and some of them made very successful recruiting officers.4 There were also a number of
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State organizations, many of which never made out a muster roll but nevertheless did quite a bit of fighting; Sol Street's company was only one of those in this group. Because of the failure of
some organizations to keep records, and the loss of many of the records that were kept, it is impossible to give more than an educated guess as to the number of Tippah Countians who served in
the Confederate armies. It can only be said that the number was certainly as high as 2,500, and in all probability was less than 3,500. The latter figure would have been the county's
proportionate contribution, based on the number of white residents in the county and the state; but because of the disorganized conditions throughout the area and the inability of the
conscription officers to operate in the county until 1864, it is doubtful if the total reached that high.
The same uncertainty as to the number of enlistments applies to the number of casualties. It has been pointed out that approximately one-third of the State's soldiers were killed in battle,
died of wounds, or died of disease during the war; on that basis it would be logical to expect that Tippah's losses would he between 800 and 1,200. In actuality they probably came closer to the
higher figure than the smaller; for example, the deaths in the 23rd Mississippi alone, before September 1863, were more than 190, and the Second Mississippi and the First Partisan Rangers
suffered severe losses on more than one occasion. And it can never be forgotten that during the Civil War attrition from disease was unbelievably heavy by present-day standards. It would be
possible for a student who had sufficient time to do a thorough job to obtain a reasonably correct idea of both Tippah's enlistments and her losses by studying the muster rolls now preserved in
the Department of Archives and History at Jackson, and the National Archives in Washington, and it is to be hoped than such a study can be made.
Notes on Chapter III
1. Sentinel, May 2, 1895 2. Falkner loaned a considerable amount of money on trust deeds on land in July; see Deed Record Book V of the records of Tippah County, p. 288 and at intervals to p.
564.
3. Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi, p. 122
4. Vairin, A. L. P.; Diary, 1861-63, Dept. of Archives and History, Jackson
185
By Andrew Brown
Chapter IV
Tippah County was the home before the war of two general officers of the Confederate army, and while the fighting was in progress a third moved into the county and spent the remainder of his
life there.
The highest-ranking officer associated with the county was Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest who, underrated for years, is now recognized as one of the greatest cavalry leaders of all
time. The future general was seventeen years old when in 1831 his father William Forrest, a blacksmith by trade, moved from Tennessee to western Tippah (now Benton) County. In all probability
the Forrests lived on the plantation of Mrs. Forrest's brother, Orrin Beck, about three miles south of Salem and four miles southwest of the present town of Ashland.5 William Forrest
died in 1837, and after his death Bedford, as the oldest son, assisted his mother in rearing the rest of the family. In 1842 he moved to Hernando, where he embarked on his highly successful
business career. Forrest's name is so generally associated with Memphis that few people know that he grew to manhood, and shouldered his first heavy responsibilities, in Tippah County.
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The second Confederate general who lived in Tippah County before the war was Major General Thomas C. Hindman, who was thirteen years old when his father, T. C. Hindman, Sr., purchased a
plantation about a mile east of Ripley and moved there in 1841. The Hindman home, a typical two-story frame dewelling, stood on the site of the present home of J. A. Booker until Jan. 20,
1938, when it was destroyed by fire. Young Hindman graduated from the Lawrenceville, N. J. Classical Institute, studied law at Ripley, was admitted to the bar, and was elected to the
Mississippi House of Representatives in 1852. Always of a fiery temperament, he was often in trouble with the authorities, usually for fighting or for various forms of "gaming". In the course
of one of his fights he received a gunshot wound that later gave him a good deal of trouble; a letter written two years or more after he was shot said that the wound "Is still running and
might kill him yet".6 In 1854 he moved to Helena, Arkansas, where he practiced law. In 1858 he was elected to the 36th Congress, where he served until he resigned at the outbreak
of the war.
Hindman's military experience began during the Mexican War, when he was Second Lieutenant of Company E, Second Mississippi Infantry. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was instrumental in
organizing the Second Arkansas Regiment and was elected its Colonel. On September 18, 1861, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He fought at Shiloh, where he was injured by a fall from his
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horse, and was promoted to Major General on April 18, 1862. He then returned to the Trans-Mississippi Department, but after several disagreements with his fellow officers returned to the Army
of Tennessee on September 1, 1863. His part in the Chickamauga campaign left him vulnerable to attacks by Bragg, who was in desperate need of a scapegoat, and the situation was not helped any
when Hindman joined many of the better officers of the army in an unsuccessful effort to have Bragg removed from command. He then asked to be returned to the Trans-Mississippi Department, a
request which Jefferson Davis, apparently a personal friend, granted by the expedient of suggesting that Hindman go on sick leave, cross the river, and then ask to be returned to active duty.
This he did, but he took part in no more actual fighting. His military career was not on the whole a successful one, despite his obvious ability. He made a good beginning but never lived up
to his early premise.
After the surrender Hindman went to Mexico City, where he wrote a number of military treatises for the Emperor Maximilian. After the Emperor's execution he returned to Helena where, on the
night of September 27, 1868, he was shot and killed while sitting by a window in his home. The killer was never found.
The third general officer associated with Tippah County was Brigadier General Mark Perrin Lowrey. Born December 30, 1828, in McNairy County, Tenn., he moved at the age of 15 to Farmington, a
now extinct town four miles east of Corinth, Mississippi. He served briefly in the Mexican War, and upon his return in 1849 married Sarah Holmes. He was a bricklayer by trade, but in 1852
decided to enter the Baptist ministry and was ordained at Farmington
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in 1853. He devoted the next eight years to religious work and made a name for himself not only as a preacher but as a writer and editor. That he had become a man of wide influence in
Tishomingo County is evidenced by the fact that early in 1861 he organized a regiment of 60-day troops for the campaign in Kentucky and Tennessee; and after it was disbanded he organized,
largely from the same men, the 32nd Mississippi Infantry of which he was elected Colonel. His regiment was assigned to the Army of Tennessee and joined in the march into Kentucky which
culminated in the battle of Perryville in October 1862. In that encounter he was wounded in the arm and was later invalided home. Prior to the march to Kentucky he had moved from Farmington
to Kossuth, ten miles southwest of Corinth, hoping to be safe from Federal incursions; but after the occupation of Corinth that town was no longer safe, so he bought and moved his family to
the Brougher place six miles southwest of Ripley on the slope of a ridge known as Blue Mountain. The new home was off the main roads, and so far as is known the family were not disturbed
during the rest of the war.
First as Colonel and later as General, Lowrey was an excellent officer. His reports, which are models of clarity, show that he had a grasp of pertinent detail much like that of Forrest; and
references to him by his fellow officers of all ranks show that he enjoyed their confidence to a marked degree. At the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19 and 20 1863, he commanded a
brigade of Cleburne's division of D. H. Hill's Corps and was promoted to Brigadier General because of his part in the battle. In his report the combative, hypercritical Hill wrote: "Col. M.
P. Lowrey has been deservedly promoted, and a worthier object of advancement could not have been selected". Coming
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as it did from Hill, that one sentence is sufficient testimony to both Lowrey's skill and his courage.7
After his promotion to brigadier general Lowrey on occasion exercised division command, particularly during the disastrous Nashville campaign in late 1864. After the remnants of the Army of
Tennessee had retreated to Tupelo General Lowrey, on March 14, 1865, resigned his commission and returned to his home in Blue Mountain and his pastorates in Tippah and adjoining counties. His
war record, no less than his achievements in other fields, mark him as a most exceptional man. Yet it is a strange fact that although his name is revered among Southern Baptists as one of
their outstanding ministers, his true stature as a soldier, a preacher, and an administrator has never been fully recognized.
Tippah County supplied three Colonels to the Confederate service. The careers of two of these Colonel T. J. Davidson of the ill-starred 23rd Mississippi and Colonel William C. Falkner of the
Second Mississippi and later of the First Mississippi Partisan Rangers, have been discussed previously and nothing more about them need be said here. The third full Colonel from the county
was Daniel B. Wright of Salem, a prominent attorney who had been a member of the Federal Congress from 1853 to 1857 and who was one of the signers of the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession.
Although he was 49 years of age at the outbreak of the war, Wright enlisted in the 34th Mississippi and was elected Lieutenant Colonel. At the battle of Perryville he was badly wounded in the
right arm and was captured, but was exchanged on April 2, 1863 at City Point, Va. at which time he was described as being 5 feet 10 ½ inches in height, with gray eyes, gray hair, and
dark complexion. He returned to duty, but his wound did not heal properly and on June 24, while on sick leave at his Salem home,
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he resigned his commission. Later in the same year, after Forrest had moved into north Mississippi, Wright was recommended to him as a suitable person for Judge of Military Courts, and he was
appointed to that position with the rank of Colonel of Cavalry on April 14, 1864. He served until May 18, 1865, when he surrendered and was paroled at LaGrange, Tennessee. He continued to
live in Tippah (now Benton) County until his death on December 27, 1887. He is buried in the McDonald cemetery, near Ashland.8
Of the three Lieutenant Colonels from Tippah County, Lawson B. Hovis of the First Partisan Rangers has been discussed previously. The second officer of that rank was Moses McCarley,
originally captain of Co. G of the 23rd Mississippi. Sometime before the surrender at Fort Donelson McCarley had "gone to Charleston"9 apparently a hospital at the east
Tennessee town of that name. At any rate, there is no record of his being surrendered with the rest of the regiment at Fort Donelson. After the regiment was reorganized in September 1862
McCarley was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. The one fight in which he led the regiment was on December 5 were he won the praise of General Tilghman for his part in the victory. He was with
the regiment in central Mississippi until June 15, 1863, when he went home on sick leave and was captured on June 18 by Lieutenant Colonel Phillips of the 9th Illinois.10 He was
sent first to
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Corinth, then to Memphis, and finally to Johnsons Island. After 20 months of prison life he was exchanged at City Point on February 24, 1865 and was on leave at his home when the war ended.
After the war he served as sheriff of Tippah County.
The third Lieutenant Colonel from Tippah was Clifton Dancy, who was elected Second Lieutenant of Company H, 34th Mississippi at organization, and was promoted to First Lieutenant and, in March
1863, to Captain. In the fall of 1864 the 24th and 34th Mississippi regiments were combined, and the return for December 10 of that shows the combined organization commanded by Captain Dancy.
In April 1865 the remnants of the 27th Mississippi were added to the unit and Dancy, then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, was placed in command.11 Aside from these bare facts,
nothing is known of Dancy's Career.
Of the Majors from Tippah County, the career of Sol Street has been discussed. Records of the others are outlined below:
John H. Buchanan of Ripley was captain of Co. B, Second Mississippi; he had served in the Mexican War as a private. He went with the Second to Virginia and participated in the campaigns of the
Army of Northern Virginia until he was wounded on July 3 at Gettysburg and captured two days later at Greencastle, Pennsylvania. He was sent first to Harrisburg, then to a hospital at
Baltimore, and eventually to Johnson's Island which he reached September 29. On February 9, 1864 he was returned to Baltimore and on March 3 was exchanged. He was
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promoted Major almost as soon as he was exchanged, his rank to date from July 3, 1863. On August 16, when the regiment was inspected, the inspecting officer commended him, saying, "He has
displayed all the qualities that constitute the officer". Two days later, at the battle of Reams Station on the Weldon Railroad he was again wounded and on August 20 at Richmond the little
finger on his left hand was amputated. He was furloughed home and on October 3 was elected sheriff of Tippah County, resigning October 21 to accept that office.
William G. Pegram, First Lieutenant of Co. A of the 34th Mississippi, was promoted captain in May 1862 when the original captain, Dr. Jno. Y. Murry, was made Assistant Surgeon. On September 2
of the same year he was appointed Major, but was not confirmed until February 16, 1864 with rank to date from February 28, 1863. The long delay was due to circumstance that the Richmond War
Department insisted that Pegram was outranked by six captains and, as promotions at that period of the war were made strictly on seniority, it took almost a year and half to get the record
straight. In the meantime Pegram doubtless performed the duty of a major on his captain's pay.
At the battle of Chickamauga Pegram received a gunshot wound through the body that broke a rib and "materially injured some of the organs in the abdomen". He spent practically all his time in
various hospitals until February 25, 1865, when He resigned. The medical certificate stated that he "can neither walk nor ride without great pain and some danger", and that he suffered much
from sciatica. He remained at home, so far as is known, for the remainder of the war. In later years he entered politics and served in the legislature, where he was noted both for his tall,
spare physique and his sardonic humor.13
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George W. B. Garrett of Jonesboro was one of the youngest Majors in the Confederate service. He was 21 years old when he enlisted on August 24, 1861 and was elected Second Lieutenant of Company
C of the regiment that later became the 23rd Mississippi. On November 18 of the same year he was promoted to Captain and on February 16, 1862 was captured at Fort Donelson. He was imprisoned at
Camp Chase and Johnson's Island until his exchange at Vicksburg on September 1; the exchange papers describe him as being 5 feet 8 inches tall, with light hair, light complexion, and blue eyes.
At the reactivation of the 23rd on September 14 he was promoted to Major and after the summer of 1864 was in command of the regiment, Colonel Wells having resigned and Lieutenant Colonel
McCarley having been captured. On December 15, 1864, Garrett was again captured near Nashville and was kept at Johnson's Island until he was paroled on July 25, 1865. After the war he moved to
Corinth, where he engaged successfully in the lumber business and became one of Alcorn County's leading citizens.
The First Mississippi Partisan Rangers, later the Seventh Cavalry, had three Majors during its career. The first was William L. Davis, who succeeded W. C. Falkner as captain of Company F of the
Second Mississippi when Falkner was elected Colonel. He resigned because of ill health on November 28, 1861, and returned home. When Falkner organized the Partisan Rangers in August, 1862,
Davis was elected captain of Company A and on September 15 was promoted to Major. When the Conscription Bureau broke up the regiment in November of the same year he resigned his commission,
along with several of the other officers. On March 28, 1863, when the regiment was reorganized, Captain John Park of Company H was elected Major and served until May 14, 1864, when
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Lieutenant Colonel Hyams took "temporary" command of the regiment. Park had trouble keeping the Rangers in line after the wounding of Lieutenant Colonel Hovis and was not in the good graces of
General Chalmers; after Hymns took over he was apparently placed on detached service and his place in the organization taken by William Nelson Stansell, or Willis Stansell as he is referred to
in most reports. Stansell, born in the Abbeville District, South Carolina, was 28 years old and a printer by trade when he enlisted on April 12, 1861 in the First Mississippi Cavalry at
Prentiss, Bolivar County. After serving more than a year with that regiment and participating in the battles of Belmont and Shiloh he transferred to the Rangers on August 1, 1862, and was
elected Captain of Company G, "The Buncombe Fighting Cocks". At the reorganization in March 1863 he was made captain of Company E, comprising the original companies E and G. He was severely
wounded in a skirmish at Salem on October 8, 1863 and upon his return to duty, apparently in February 1864, commanded the regiment at intervals until Hyams took over, when he was appointed
Major. Like many promotions in 1864 and 1865, Stansell's never cleared the Richmond red tape and though he performed the duties of a Major he was never formally commissioned. When he
surrendered at Columbus on May 16, 1865, he was still officially a captain.
The list of captains who lived in Tippah County, or who commanded companies composed predominantly of Tippah residents, is a long one. That given below is taken from the best information
available at present14 but unquestionably
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is incomplete and contains some errors, some of which could be corrected through painstaking research, others of which at this late date can never be cleared up. The Tippah captains, excluding
those discussed under higher ranks, were:
W. D. Beck Co. D, Second Mississippi Infantry
C. C. Blount Co. A, 23rd Mississippi Infantry
Robert M. Brandon Co. D, Second Mississippi Infantry
H. T. Counseille Co. B, First Partisan Rangers
B. W. Dickson Co. C, First Partisan Rangers
Nathan L. Dozier Co. C, 23rd Mississippi Infantry
W. L. Duncan Co. F, First Partisan Rangers
Thos. Ford Co. A, First Partisan Rangers
John Garrett Co. G, First Partisan Rangers
W. M. Garrett Co. F, First Partisan Rangers
Andrew J. Gibson Co. A, 34th Mississippi Infantry
Forney Green Co. C, First Partisan Rangers
J. K. Guyton Co. E, First Partisan Rangers
J. G. Hamer Co. H, 19th Mississippi Infantry
Joshua L. Henson Co. L and Co. E, Second Mississippi Infantry
John J. Hicks Co. D, Second Mississippi Infantry
R. I. Hill Co. B, 23rd Mississippi Infantry
Philip Holcombe Co. C, 23rd Mississippi Infantry, and
Co. D,
First Partisan Rangers
T. S. Hubbard Co. G, 34th Mississippi Infantry
J. B. Huddleston Co. C, 34th Mississippi Infantry
R. R. Knight Co. K, 23rd Mississippi Infantry
Benjamin Lax Co. K, 34th Mississippi Infantry
W. W. McDowell Co. E, Ballentine's Cavalry Regiment
J. H. McKinza Co. H, 19th Mississippi Infantry
Larkin McKinza Co. I, First Partisan Rangers
P. M. Marmon Co. D, First Partisan Rangers
W. W. Mauldin Co. A, Second Mississippi Cavalry
Michael Mauney Co. D, First Partisan Rangers
Jno. Y. Murry Co. A, 34th Mississippi Infantry
J. E. Rogers Quartermaster First Partisan Rangers
John D. Rogers Co. E, First Partisan Rangers
A. C. Rucker Co. B, 34th Mississippi Infantry
J. N. Scally Co. E, 32nd Mississippi Infantry
Robert Storey Co. L, Second Mississippi Infantry
Thos. Spight Co. B, 34th Mississippi Infantry
R. J. Thurmond Co. A, Eleventh Mississippi Cavalry
J. B. Wall Co. H, 19th Mississippi Infantry
E. M. Wells Co. H, 23rd Mississippi Infantry
Charles N. Wheeler Co. H, First Partisan Rangers
Absalom White Co. D, First Partisan Rangers
Granville A. Woods Co. H, 34th Mississippi Infantry
William Young Co. I, First Partisan Rangers
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It is impossible to give even brief outlines of the service records of all of these captains. Comments on some, however, follow.
H. T. Counseille, Captain of Company B of the First Partisan Rangers, lived in Ripley after the war and was elected Sheriff. He died in 1881 after serving only part of his term.
Thos. Ford was in command of a detachment of the First Partisan Rangers, then designated the Seventh Mississippi Cavalry, when it surrendered at Mobile in May 1865.
Forney Green, captain of Company C of the First Partisan Rangers, was wounded in the fall of 1862 and died of wounds January 1, 1863. He was succeeded as captain by B. W. Dickson of Tishomingo
(now Alcorn) County.
Joshua L. Henson's distinction of commanding two companies at the same time springs from the fact that the Second Mississippi suffered extremely heavy losses at Gettysburg and companies E and
L, each being but a skeleton, were combined after the battle. They kept separate muster rolls for several months, however, and Henson signed as "commanding Cos. E and L".
Larkin McKinza of Company I, and John D. Rogers of Company E, were among the officers of the First Partisan Rangers who resigned when the regiment was broken up on November 1862.
The military career of Dr. Jno. Y. Murry was unusual. Before the war he had served as Sheriff of Tippah County, and had studied medicine under his "preceptor", Dr. Ellis, but had never attended
a formal medical college. When the Second Mississippi went to Virginia in May 1861 Dr. Murry, by arrangement with Colonel Falkner, went with the regiment as Surgeon. The Medical Department in
Virginia, however, refused to accept his qualifications and he returned to Ripley. Early in 1862 he was instrumental in organizing
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the "Tippah Rangers", later Company A of the 34th Mississippi, and was elected its captain. On May 15 he was made Assistant Surgeon of the 34th, and on May 31 was promoted to Acting Surgeon,
which position he held until August 21. Colonel Benton wrote later that he understood that the Medical Department had agreed to accept Dr. Murry as Surgeon, but they failed to do so because of
his lack of formal education, and he returned to Tippah County. Colonel Benton spoke very highly of both Dr. Murry's ability as a physician and his behavior in the face of the two rebuffs given
him by the medical bureaucracy.
A. C. Rucker, first captain of Company B, 34th Mississippi, was wounded at the battle of Perryville in the fall of 1862 and on April 24, 1863 resigned and returned to Ripley. He lived to be
more than 90 years old, and with his long white beard was long a familiar sight on the streets of Ripley.
Thomas Spight, who succeeded Captain Rucker, enlisted as a private on February 26, 1862 when he was 21 years of age. He was made Third Sergeant almost immediately and on August 28 was elected
Second Lieutenant. After Captain Rucker was disabled at Perryville Spight signed the muster rolls as commanding officer of the company and it appears from the records that he actually exercised
command from that time, though he was not promoted to Captain until August 27, 1863. The delay was due to the necessities of clear-up several knotty problems of seniority, which was the great
curse of the Confederate service throughout most of the war.
Captain Spight was wounded near Atlanta on August 19, 1864 and the records do not show that he was ever able to return to active service. After the war he served in the Mississippi legislature
from 1874 to 1880 and had a prominent
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part in the Democratic uprising in 1876 that culminated in the enforced resignation of' Governor Ames and the end of reconstruction in the State. He founded the Southern Sentinel in 1879, and
owned and edited it until 1884. He was elected to Congress in 1898, serving until 1911, and died at Ripley January 5, 1924.
Throughout Captain Spight's life he and his colored body-servant Tucker Spight, usually known simply as "Tuck", were inseparable. Many stories wore told by the captain of Tuck's prowess as a
cook and a forager during the days when food was scarce; but one relating to his contribution to miltary science could not be overlooked. During World War I when the subject of railroad guns
was being discussed in Captain Spight's hearing, some one made the remark that it was strange that no one had ever before thought of shooting heavy guns from railroad cars. The captain spoke
up, "Oh, Tuck thought of that back in 1863", and went on to explain that in the Chickamauga campaign some sorely needed artillery was rushed to the front on flat cars, which were unfortunately
stopped on an embankment in such a location that it was impossible to unload them. While the Confederate officers were attempting to figure out a way to get the little guns to the ground, Tuck
approached, touched his master's arm, and said, "Scuse me, Massa Tom, but why can't you shoot 'em off de tops of the kyars?" The suggestion was accepted, and Tucker Spight, body-servant to a
Confederate captain, may be credited with an innovation in the art of artillery warfare.
Charles N. Wheeler and Absalom White, captains of H and D of the First Partisan Rangers, were captured in the battle near Hernando on April 18, 1863, when their two companies were practically
annihilated.
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William Young, Captain of Company I of the First Partisan Rangers, enlisted on August 1, 1862 as a private. After the breakup and reorganization he re-enlisted at Pontotoc on March 17, 1863 and
was elected Captain of Company I. He was a Baptist preacher, having been ordained in the Newberry District of South Carolina on December 8, 1844. While his regiment was stationed near Hernando
his company was detached and ordered to "proceed at once to arrest and bring back all deserters and men absent without leave from this regiment wherever found". As far as the meager records
show, the company remained on detached service much of the time until November 8, 1864, when Captain Young resigned at Mobile. In recommending acceptance of the resignation Captain Stansell,
commanding the regiment, wrote, "The capt. is an old man and I would recommend this on account of old age". It is unfortunate that we do not know exactly how old Young was; but during this
period anyone over fifty was likely to be classed as venerable.
No list of officers below the rank of captain has been made, though one could be prepared from the same sources as those used in the roster of captains. It is to be hoped that in the near
future rosters of the men who served in the Confederate armies as nearly complete as can be prepared in view of the incomplete records, may be prepared and preserved.
Notes on Chapter IV
5. For sketches of Forrest's life in Mississippi, see Henry, R. S., First with the Most Forrest, and Lytle, A. J., Bedford Forrest and his Critter Company, pp. , Henry's work is
much the more reliable. The panther story, which Lytle relates dramatically and which Henry dismissed with a footnote, is a standard folklore item throughout north Mississippi and the odds
against its truth as applying to Forrest are very long.
The original property bought by Orrin Beck, and in all probability the "home place", was in Sec. 20, T. 3 S., R. 1 E.; Beck later bought much additional land in the vicinity (see Deed Record
Book B, p. 321). So far as the records show, William Forrest never owned land in Tippah County.
6. The sketch of Hindman's life in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 22, p. 130, is highly colored but contains much useful information. The writeup in Biog.
Dict., p. 1313, gives a concise summation of his career. The difficulties with the law in Tippah County are recorded in the Minutes and Final Record Books of the Circuit Court
of Tippah County, 1850-54. The reference to the gunshot wound is a letter from Miss Mary Miller to George H. Miller, Aug. 16, 1856, now in possession of Andrew Brown, Arlington, Va.
7. O.R. Ser. I, Vol. XXX, Pt. II, p. 147
8. A.G. 0., Service record of Daniel B. Wright; Biog. Dict., 2046
9. A.G. 0., service record of Moses McCarley.
10. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XVII, Pt. II, p. 505; Davis 35.
11. O. R., Ser. I, Vol. XLV, Pt. I, p. 644; this is the return referred to. The promotion to Lieutenant Colonel is not found in O.R., but is given in Rowland, p. 694.
12. A. G. O., Service record John H. Buchanan
13. A. G. O., Service record William G. Pegram
14. The basis of the list is Roland's Military History of Mississippi, referred to previously. Rowland's list contains a number of known errors which have been corrected, but doubtless
there are others that have not been discovered. A large percentage of the names have been checked against muster rolls and rosters, and service records of individuals, in the National Archives,
Washington.
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Genealogy and Civil War Links
