USA > Tennessee > Fentress County > History of Fentress County, Tennessee > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
"Now, all that's necessary to hold all this land and keep it in the family is to pay the trifling taxes on it yearly-five or ten dollars. The whole tract would not sell for even over a third of a cent an acre now, but some day people will be glad to get it for twenty dollars, fifty dollars, a hundred dollars an acre. (Here he dropped his voice to a whisper and looked anxiously around to see that there were no eavesdroppers-a thousand dollars an acre !)
"Well, you may open your eyes and stare, but it's so. You and I may not see the day, but they'll see it. Nancy, you have heard of steamboats, and maybe you believed in them-of course you did. You have heard these cattle here scoff at them and call them lies and humbugs; they are a reality, and they're going to be a more wonderful thing some day than they are now. They are going to make a revolution in this world's af- fairs that will make a man dizzy to contemplate. I've been watching-I've been watching while some people slept and I
16
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
know what's coming. Even you and I will see the day that steamboats will come up that little Turkey River to within twenty miles of this land of ours, and in high water they will come right to it! And this is not all, Nancy ; it isn't even half ! There's a bigger wonder-the railroad? These worms here have never even heard of it-and when they do they'll not be- lieve in it. But it's another fact. Coaches that fly over the ground twenty miles an hour. It makes a man's brain whirl. Some day, when we are in our graves, there will be a railroad stretching hundreds of miles all the way down from the cities of the northern states to New Orleans-and it's got to run within thirty miles of this land-maybe even through a corner of it. Well, do you know they've quit burning wood in some of the eastern states, and what do you suppose they burn? Coal! (He bent over and whispered again.) There's whole worlds of it on this land. You know that black stuff that crops out on the bank of the branch? Well, that's it. You have
taken it for rocks. So has everybody here .* * One man was going to build a chimney out of it, Nancy. I expect I turned as white as a sheet. Why it might have caught fire and told everything. I showed him it was too crumbly. Then he was going to build it of copper ore-splendid yellow forty per cent ore. There's fortunes upon fortunes upon our land. It scared me to death. The idea of this fool starting a smelt- ing furnace in his house without knowing it and getting dull eyes opened. And then he was going to build it of iron ore! There's mountains of iron here, Nancy, whole mountains of it. I wouldn't take any chance, I just stuck by him-I haunted him -I never let him alone until he built it of mud and sticks, like all the rest of the chimneys in this dismal country.
"Pine forests, wheat land, corn land, iron, copper, coal- wait till the railroads come, and the steamboats!
"We'll never see the day, Nancy, never in the world-never, never, never, child. We's got to drag along, drag along and eat crusts in toil and poverty, all hopeless and forlorn, but they'll ride in coaches, Nancy; they'll live the princes of the earth; they'll be courted and worshipped; their names will be known from ocean to ocean.
BLEDSOE HOUSE, JAMESTOWN
YELLOW CREEK FALLS
17
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
"Ah! well-a-day, will they ever come back here on the steam- boat and say: 'This, our little spot, shall not be touched, this hovel shall be saved, for here our father and our mother suf- fered for us, thought for us, laid the foundation of our future as solid as the hills.' *
"I have a letter from Beriah Sellers-just came this day- I'll read you a line from it. *
" 'Come right along to Missouri. Don't wait and worry about a good price, but sell out for whatever you can get, and come along or you might be too late. Throw away your traps if necessary and come empty handed. You'll never regret it. It's the grandest country-the loveliest land-the purest at- mosphere -- I can't describe it; no pen can do it justice, and its filling up every day-people coming from everywhere. I've got the biggest scheme on earth, and I'll take you in, and I'll take in every friend I've got that's ever stood by me, for there's enough for all, and to spare. Mum's the word-don't whisper -keep yourself to yourself! You'll see. Come, rush-hurry -don't wait for anything.'" *
And with an activity and a suddenness that bewildered Obedstown, and almost took away its breath, the Hawkins' hurried through with their arrangements in four short months and flitted out into the great mysterious blank that lay beyond the knobs of Tennessee.
(The above chapter is copied from the "Gilded Age", by permission of Harper Bros. & Co., New York City, the pub- lishers of the complete work of Mark Twain in twenty-five volumes.
The Si Hawkins referred to in this chapter is said to have been John M. Clemons, the father of Mark Twain. Clemons entered and obtained grants for nearly all the lands in Fen- tress County in the 30's. He was the first Circuit Court Clerk in Fentress County. Also a practicing attorney at Jamestown. The Turkey River was Obeds River, and Obedstown, James- town.
2
18
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER VI
FENTRESS COUNTY IN WAR. FOURTH TENNESSEE CAVALRY.
T HE history which follows is intended to give the impor- tant movements in the Civil War in which Bledsoe's Company participated. Much of the time they fought under General Joe Wheeler, and a history of Wheeler's raids is also a history of the part Fentress County played in the Con- federate service. It also necessarily shows the battles in which the regiment composed of soldiers from Fentress, Marshall, Sullivan, Smith, Wilson, DeKalb, Cannon, Rutherford, Ham- ilton, Sumner, Davidson and Knox counties were engaged.
Much of the information was gathered from Maj. George B. Guild's history of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. Some has been picked up from old citizens and soldiers in Fentress and adjoining counties, and from records in the State Capitol.
Commissioned Officers Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, 1862- Colonel, Baxter Smith; Lieut. Colonel, Paul F. Anderson ; Major, W. Scott Bledsoe; Adjutant, J. A. Minnis; Sergeant Major, W. A. Rushing; Quartermaster, Marcellus Grissim, with assistants R. O. McLean, Bob Corder and John Price; Captain Bone Commissary, with Lieut. J. A. Arnold and Cap- tain McLean, assistants ; Surgeon, Dr. W. T. Delaney; Assist- ant Surgeon, Dr. Tom Allen; Chaplain, Rev. W. W. Hendricks ; Ord. Officer, Finney; Buglers, J. A. Stewart, James B. Nance; Wagon Masters, Bob Gann, Bennett Chapman.
After the battle of Fayetteville, N. C., 1864, Major Scott Bledsoe, of Jamestown, Fentress County, was placed in com- mand of the regiment and Eb Crozier became adjutant of the regiment.
Officers Company "I", Nolensville, Tenn., 1862 - Captain, Bob Bledsoe; Lieutenants, William Hildreth, John W. Story, Foster Bowman and Elliott.
19
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
Recruited at Jamestown, in Fentress County, in 1861.
This company became Company "I" of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry at Nolensville, Tenn., October, 1862. Was, after this time, under Joe Wheeler. Up to this time the Bledsoe Com- pany was with General Bragg in his Kentucky campaigns. Scott Bledsoe, during this campaign, was captain of the com- pany. Col. Baxter Smith commanded the regiment to which they belonged.
Company "I" killed in battle-Fentress Atkins, at McMinn- ville, Tenn., 1862; Cullom Jewett, at McMinnville, 1862; Jas. Padgett, Fort Donaldson, 1863; Elias Owens, New Hope Church, Ga., 1864; Capt. Robert Bledsoe, Sparta, Tenn .- Wheeler's raid-1863; A. Bledsoe, Sparta, Tenn .- Wheeler's raid-1863; Lieut. Foster Bowman, Sparta, Tenn .- Wheeler's raid -1863; Acting Adjutant Eb Crozier, killed on return home in 1865 in East Tennessee; William Beason, Pleasant Poor, John Smith, Mike Hill, Lafayette Hill, Robert Brown, were killed during Wheeler's raid in 1863. Steve Richardson was killed while on a visit home in early part of the war. Fay- ette Allen was killed at the Dr. Hale place on Wolf River in 1862. W. Allen, W. F. Cummings, J. J. Linder and John Poor are reported as killed in action, on Confederate records in the office of State Pension Board.
Wounded in Company "I" (partial list) -Lieut. J. W. Story, at McMinnville and at New Hope Church, Ga .; B. Porter Har- rison, at Fayetteville, N. C., 1865; James Singleton, at New Hope Church, Ga., 1864, had arm amputated; William Beason, wounded in hand and side during a visit home in Pickett County.
Survivors of Company "I", 1912-Lieut. John W. Story, Forest City, Ark .; B. P. Harrison, Jamestown, Tenn .; Joel Brown, Glasgow, Ky .; Zack T. Crouch, Bellbuckle, Tenn .; Dr. Henry Signet, Oliver Springs, Tenn .; John Hall, Tennessee; Isaac Ford, Rome, Tenn .; Judge Orville I. Moate, Washington, D. C .; Lieut. W. H. Hildreth, Alvarado, Texas; John N. Simp-
20
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
son, Dallas, Texas; Wm. Wallace, -, Texas; Jeff Boles, Phoenix, Ariz .; Henry Gatewood, Ennis, Texas.
(This list is taken from Guild's history. It is reported that Wm. H. Hildreth has since died.)
Commissioned officers of companies in Fourth Tenn. Cavalry:
Company A-Captain, D. W. Alexander; First Lieut., Rice McLean; Second Lieut., J. N. Orr; Third Lieut., Chas. Beard. Recruited in Marshall County.
Company B-Captain, C. H. Ingles ; First Lieut., Joe Mas- sengale; Second Lieut., Joe Massengale; Third Lieut, G. W. Carmack. Recruited in Sullivan County.
Company C-Captains, Frank Cunningham, George C. Moore; First Lieut., James Hogan; Second Lieut., R. S. Scruggs; Third Lieut., Sam Scoggins. Recruited in Smith County, Tenn.
Company D-Captain, J. M. Phillips; First Lieut., Bob Bone; Second Lieut., J. T. Barbee; Third Lieut., J. A. Ar- nold. Recruited in DeKalb and Wilson counties.
Company E-Captain, H. A. Wyly; First Lieut., H. L. Preston; Second Lieut., W. S. Sullivan; Third Lieut., John Fathera. Recruited in Cannon County.
Company F-Capt. J. R. Lester; First Lieut., C. S. Bur- gess; Second Lieut., W. H. Phillips; Third Lieut., James Williamson. Recruited in Wilson County.
Company G-Captain, J. W. Nichol; First Lieut., Dave Youree; Second Lieut., McKnight; Third Lieut., J. A. Sagely. Recruited in Cannon and Rutherford counties.
Company H-Captain, Sam Glover; Lieuts., Green Light, William Gaut and William Fields. Recruited in Hamilton County and Bridgeport, Ala.
Company I-Fentress County ; given elsewhere.
Company K-Captain, James Britton; Lieuts., W. Cor- bett and Dewitt Anderson. Recruited in Wilson, Sumner and Davidson counties.
Company L-Captain, J. J. Parton; Lieuts., Henry, Rus- sell and Tillery. Recruited in Knox County.
21
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
CHAPTER VII
BLEDSOE'S COMPANY FROM 1861 to OCT., 1862.
T HIS company of Confederate cavalry was made up in Fentress County at the beginning of the war. In Au- gust, 1861, the Twenty-eighth Tennessee Confederate Regiment was formed at Camp Zollicoffer, in Overton County. This regiment was at first commanded by Col. John P. Murray, who was soon afterward elected to the Confederate Congress, and S. S. Stanton succeeded him as commander of the regi- ment. Other officers of the regiment were Lieut. Col. John Eatherly, Major James H. Talburt, Dr. Clay, Surgeon; Dr. Eli Hawthorne, Assistant Surgeon; Joshua Hale, Asst. Q. M. and J. B. Anderson, Asst. Com.
The regiment was made up of companies from White, Wil- son, Putnam, Jackson and Smith. This regiment, with the Twenty-fifth Tennessee, Capt. Nat Sanders' company of cav- alry, and Capt. W. Scott Bledsoe's cavalry, was ordered to report to Albert Sidney Johnson, at Bowling Green, Ky. In obedience to this order they marched from Camp Zollicoffer to Bowling Green. Finally they were attached to General Bragg's army and served under him in his Kentucky campaign, Col. Baxter Smith commanding the regiment to which they belonged. They took part in the battle of Munfordville, Ky., Murfreesboro, Tenn. (June, 1862), and at Mill Springs, Ky., Bardstown, and at Perryville, October 8, 1862.
22
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER VIII
TN October, 1862, Bledsoe's company became a part of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, under Col. Baxter Smith, and was called Company "I", being reorganized at Nolensville, Tenn. This regiment was made up at first of ten companies, designated as companies A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and K. These were all recruited in Middle Tennessee, except Company B, which was recruited in Sullivan County, and Com- pany H, recruited in Hamilton County and northern Alabama, at Bridgeport. Company L, from Knox County, was attached to the regiment just before the battle of Chickamauga. This regiment, with the Eighth Texas, Eleventh Texas, First Ken- tucky and Malone's Battalion (Alabama), formed a brigade. Col. Tom Harrison, as Senior Colonel, commanded the brigade, Maj. Gen. John A. Wharton commanding the division. (Gen. Joe Wheeler's Corps, Army of Tennessee.)
Their first service under this organization was at Franklin, Tenn., on outpost duty, Gen. Rosecrans at that time holding Nashville for the Union.
From October, 1862, to January, 1863, this company, with the regiment, remained a few miles from Nashville, watching Rosecrans and preventing, as much as possible, Rosecrans' army from leaving Nashville and from foraging upon the country.
Several engagements were had with portions of Rosecrans' command. Men were constantly being lost upon each side.
Finally, Rosecrans attacked the Confederate forces at Mur- freesboro. Several thousand were lost to each side in this bat- tle in killed, wounded and captured, but it is generally con- ceded that the Confederates had the victory won if Bragg had kept up the fight, but a few days of inactivity on his part gave the Union army a chance to collect their forces and fortify themselves on a knoll on Stones River. Here the Confederates attacked and were repulsed and Bragg retreated to Shelby- ville. According to the records I have before me Fentress Ad-
23
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
kins and Cullom Jewett were the only soldiers in Company "I" to be killed in 1862. They are both reported to have been killed at McMinnville, Tenn.
J. F., or Fentress, Adkins had served as a soldier in the Mex- ican War and was a brave soldier, as his comrades knew him. His widow, Nancy (Choate) Adkins, died a few years ago. His son, Dud Adkins, who has served as constable and as Justice of the Peace of his district, lives near Glenobey, in Fentress County, Tenn. Two other sons, Thomas and Francis Adkins, are still living, Francis in the west and Thomas in Cumber- land County, Tenn.
After Bragg retreated to Shelbyville the Fourth Tennessee, under Wheeler, was sent to Ft. Donelson to try to retake it. Wheeler made an unsuccessful attempt to do so and lost a num- ber of men. Among them was James Padgett, of Bledsoe's company. This was in January, 1863.
The Fourth Tennessee then returned to Shelbyville. The regiment was then detached and sent to Woodbury to relieve a portion of General Morgan's command under Captain Hutch- inson, who was killed here. (One Capt. Hutchinson was killed in a skirmish with Tinker Beaty's company, near the Katy Boles place in what is now Pickett County, or at least it is so understood by everybody in this section. Guild's history gives it as stated above.)
The Federals at this time camped at Murfreesboro, and the Fourth Tennessee had several engagements with parts of that command. After some weeks they were sent to Trousdale's Ferry on Caney Fork, and from there to Edgefield Junction, where a train load of horses was captured and the train de- stroyed.
Some Federal officers and men were captured by them at Smyrna and paroled. Soon afterward the regiment returned to Tullahoma. They then crossed the Cumberland Mountains to near Chattanooga, and on to Rome, Ga., where they remained for about two months, feeding and resting their horses as well as themselves. After doing duty for a short time in and around Chattanooga, they participated in the battle of Chick-
-
24
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
amauga, September 19 and 20, 1863. Rosecrans commanded the Federal army and Bragg the Confederates. The Fourth Tennessee took a prominent part in this battle, losing about forty men in the engagement.
25
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
CHAPTER IX
WHEELER'S RAID, 1863.
I MMEDIATELY after the battle of Chickamauga, Bragg or- dered Wheeler into Tennessee to cut off all supplies from Rosecrans, who was then in possession of Chattanooga. They forded the Tennessee River at Cottonport, about thirty miles above Chattanooga, the Fourth Tennessee leading the way. This regiment was fired upon just as they reached the north bank of the river by a small body of men. The fire was returned and the attacking party disappeared. The command continued on to the Sequatchie Valley. Here they found seven hundred and fifty wagons loaded with supplies for Rosecrans. These were guarded by about twelve hundred men, who were captured after a short resistance. They also captured about twenty-six hundred mules. The wagons were loaded princi- pally with provision which had loaded at McMinnville, then in charge of the Federal army. Rosecrans fearing to try to bring them further on the train had his supplies unloaded there and sent through by heavily guarded wagons. Every- thing was destroyed that could not be taken along by a cavalry force. The wreckage included wagons, mules, harness and provisions, and it is said covered acres of ground.
They went from here with their prisoners to McMinnville, which Dibrell had already retaken, capturing 400 Federals. Dibrell had also captured an immense amount of clothing and stores intended for shipment to Rosecrans at Chattanooga.
The sixteen hundred soldiers captured by Wheeler and Dih- rell were paroled and started toward Kentucky. Wheeler's mission to cut off supplies from Rosecrans did not afford an opportunity to hold prisoners, so the best he could do was to parole them and let them go.
From McMinnville they went to Murfreesboro, tearing up several miles of railroad. One hundred Federals were cap- tured and paroled at Christiana. They then went to Pulaski by way of Shelbyville. On their way they encountered a Fed-
26
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
eral force at Farmington. Here the Fourth Tennessee, under Maj. Paul Anderson, and the First Kentucky, under Col. Cheneyworth, were cut off from the regular command. They forced their way through with the loss of only a few men. John P. Hickman, Secretary of the present State Pension Board, was captured here and held a prisoner till the close of the war.
At Richland Creek, near Pulaski, the Fourth Tennessee was detailed to hold the bridge across that creek until sundown, so as to prevent the Federals from pursuing. Here they watched and waited for sundown, expecting to be fired upon every min- ute. However, the Federals did not pursue them. Shortly after the sun disappeared for the day they followed their com- mand, overtaking them the next day. They crossed the Ten- nessee near Bainbridge, Alabama. Only about four weeks be- fore they had crossed the river at Cottonport and started on this celebrated raid. During this raid Wheeler killed, wounded and captured three thousand men, burned and brought out one thousand wagons, captured thirty-five hundred horses and mules, half of which they lost in the fight at Farmington. They also destroyed many miles of railroad then in possession of the Federals and much clothing and provisions that would have reached Rosecrans.
This raid began about the last of September and ended in October, 1863. From the information gathered it appears that nine of Bledsoe's company lost their lives during the raid. Captain R. H. Bledsoe, Lieut. Foster Bowman and A. Bledsoe were killed at Sparta; Pleasant Poor on Mill Creek in Overton County ; William Beason, John Smith, Mike Hill, Fayette Hill, Robert Brown, W. Allen, J. J. Linder, John Poor and W. F. Cummings are reported on Confederate records and from other sources as having been killed in action, but the author has not been able to locate where each was killed.
27
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
CHAPTER X
FOURTH TENNESSEE IN GEORGIA.
W HEN Sherman began his march from Chattanooga to Atlanta he met his first resistance from the Fourth Tennessee, who were holding a position at Tunnel Hill, Ga., a short distance below Chattanooga. From here to Atlanta fighting continued more or less every day, in all of which this regiment took part. George B. Guild, in his history, says : "The distance from Dalton to Atlanta is about seventy- five miles. The contending armies were seventy-five days in covering the distance-a little over a mile a day. It was a great battle scene from its beginning to its close. At night the camp fires of the two armies were visible one from the other. A number of large battles were fought, and many were killed and wounded on both sides. The daytime was an inces- sant crash of musketry from the skirmishers and heavy can- nonading from batteries. In fact from the number killed and wounded in many of these skirmishes they would be called bat- tles at the present time." * * *
After the fall of Atlanta, July 27, 1864, Wheeler, with the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry as part of his corps, was ordered by Hood to go below Atlanta to intercept the commands of Mc- Cook and Stoneman respectively, who had been sent by Sher- man to release the Federal prisoners at Andersonville, Ga., and to capture stores, etc., on their way. Wheeler sent Gen. Dibrell after Stoneman, and with his own command he fol- lowed McCook, overtaking him at Jonesboro. After some fight- ing he retreated to Newnan, followed by Wheeler. After a battle lasting about two hours McCook, with fifteen hundred soldiers, surrendered.
Gen. Dibrell was also successful in capturing Stoneman.
Soon after these successes, Wheeler's corps rendezvoused at Covington, Ga., for a few days, and was then ordered back to Tennessee. He came by way of Dalton to Strawberry Plains, near Knoxville, where they met and defeated a Federal cav-
28
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
alry force, driving them back into Knoxville with the loss of a few men.
From Knoxville they again went into the Sequatchie valley, where the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry was detached and sent to Tracy City for the purpose of capturing a force at that place, who were said to be occupying an unfinished fort. An unsuccessful attempt was made to take the place, but it proved too strong for the attacking force. Lieut. W. H. Phillips was severely wounded. Several other Confederates were also wounded.
From Tracy City the Fourth went to Lebanon to again join Wheeler. As most of this regiment necessarily passed near their homes, "many of them were allowed to visit their homes to remount themselves, pick up absentees and obtain recruits if possible." Several of Bledsoe's company were killed while on visits home. Among them were Pleasant and John Poor, Fayette Allen and Steve Richardson. Pleasant Poor was killed on Mill Creek in Overton County, Fayette Allen was killed at the Dr. Hale place on Wolf River, Steve Richardson was killed near Chanute.
29
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
CHAPTER XI
SALTVILLE, VIRGINIA.
T HE next engagement in which the Fourth Tennessee par- ticipated was probably Woodbury, where some of them were killed, some wounded and a few taken prisoners. Next they went to Sparta, and from there, by way of Cross- ville, to Saltville, Virginia. Here they encountered some negro Federal soldiers, the first they had met. About six hundred men are said to have been killed on each side. Breckenridge was the Confederate and Burbridge the Federal commander. Each side had about three thousand men. Burbridge made an unsuccessful attempt to take possession of the salt works at this place. Much of East Tennessee and eastern Kentucky de- pended upon this place for salt supply.
General Guild says of this battle: "That night we pursued the enemy, passing over the mountains to a gap with the view of cutting them off. They had to travel over a distance of forty miles on a well built macadamized road. The mountain path to the gap was only twelve miles in length, and the men had to dismount and lead their horses.
"The night was very dark and it was hard to discern the path. Occasionally a horse would make a misstep and tumble down the steep mountain side. You could hear the noise of falling stones for minutes afterwards as they rolled down and down the precipitous mountain side. We were told afterwards by some of these soldiers, that they found their horses miles below where they fell. I have occasionally met an old soldier who was at Saltville, and about the first thing he would say would be: 'Did you ever experience anything like that dark night ride at Saltville, Virginia?' And the wonder is that a number of men were not dashed to pieces down the steep slope below. We reached the gap at daylight. Burbridge's rear guard was passing through and we killed and wounded a few of them.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.