USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 17
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An election was held October 28, 1871, on the construction of a free bridge across the Cumberland River, resulting in a vote in favor of the project of 469; against, 112. On November 6 a resolution was adopted by the Board, appointing Governor Neill S. Brown, Judge Joseph C. Guild, and Major John C. Thompson to wait upon the County Courts of Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, and Sumner Counties, and place be- fore them the benefits to be derived from a free bridge connecting Edge- field and Nashville, and to solicit subscriptions to aid in its construction. The results of this and other movements with reference to the construc- tion of bridges across the Cumberland River may be found in the chap- ter on "Transportation."
At the election held January 1, 1872, W. P. Marks was elected Mayor, and Aldermen as follows: First Ward, J. N. Brooks and A. J. Hughes; Second Ward, H. C. Thompson and W. H. Morrow; Third Ward, J. P. Barthell and W. C. Hudnall; Fourth Ward, G. W. Jenkins and W. M. Murray; Fifth Ward, James H. Hale and D. C. Coleman; Sixth Ward, William Wilson and John R. Lanier. James T. Bell was elected Re- corder; Alexander Joseph, Revenue Collector; J. H. Dodd, Treasurer; W. R. Demonbreun, Assessor; and John Loyd, Chief Marshal.
On January 15 the Mayor appointed Messrs. Thompson, Brooks, and Jenkins a committee on the free bridge, and the committee was author- ized to make the best possible arrangements for a survey of the bridge site. Plans and estimates were placed in the hands of the Board of Al- dermen for such a bridge, February 5, 1872, for which Major W. F. Foster received $100 from the Board. On the 19th of the month the Bridge Committee reported the following names of persons as members
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of a Board of Commissioners on the bridge: Thomas Chadwell, W. A. Glenn, John D. Brien, Dr. Ordway, W. B. A. Ramsey, Robert Stewart, George Searight, J. C. Warner, W. R. Demonbreun, A. E. Barr, W. L. Price, W. F. Cooper, Neill S. Brown, A. V. S. Lindsley, John C. Thompson, Jackson B. White, Joseph C. Guild, M. Vaughn, Baxter Smith, G. J. Stubblefield, William B. Bate, W. G. Brien, Henry Cooper, and John Frizzell. The Mayor and Aldermen were asked to join with these gentlemen in the formation of a Board of Trust to secure a charter, and to devise the best plan for obtaining subscriptions with which to build a bridge. On February 26, 1872, the Commissioners made a long report to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, in which they favored the donation by the town of Edgefield of $50,000 voted for the construction of the bridge, provided the County Court of Davidson County would immedi- ately inaugurate such measures as were necessary to the erection of the bridge free to all, at the site of the old Gallatin turnpike bridge. Neill S. Brown, G. J. Stubblefield, Michael Vaughn, and A. W. Johnson were appointed a committee to petition the County Court as above, and a com- mittee was appointed to present the matter to the Mayor and Aldermen of Nashville, in order to secure their co-operation, viz .: Hon. Joseph C. Guild, John C. Thompson, W. G. Brien, General William B. Bate, and W. B. A. Ramsey. There were also appointed as " Bridge Com- missioners of Edgefield " the following gentlemen: W. P. Marks, O. S. Lesseur, Hon. Henry Cooper, Thomas Chadwell, A. V. S. Linds- ley, Michael Vaughn, Neill S. Brown, Joseph C. Guild, Jackson B. White, John C. Thompson, John P. White, J. H. Hales, and J. George Harris. The following citizens of Nashville were also appointed to serve in connection with the above: Michael Burns, Thompson Anderson, B. H. Cooke, D. Weaver, and Archer Cheatham. A committee was also appointed to solicit subscriptions.
At the election held January 4, 1873, W. A. Glenn was elected Mayor, and Aldermen were elected as follows: First Ward, J. N. Brooks and B. F. Parker; Second Ward, W. H. Morrow and H. C. Thompson; Third Ward, J. P. Barthell and John A. Cooper; Fourth Ward, G. W. Jenkins and W. M. Murray; Fifth Ward, J. H. Hale and D. C. Cole- man; Sixth Ward, J. H. Hutchison and G. B. Horn. James T. Bell was elected Recorder; Alexander Joseph, Revenue Collector; Jesse Merritt, Treasurer; Benjamin Wallace, Assessor; W. A. Miller, Chief Marshal; and Samuel Green, Assistant Marshal.
In January, 1874, J. N. Brooks was elected Mayor, and the following gentlemen were elected Aldermen: First Ward, H. Campbell and W. A. Benson; Second Ward, W. L. McInturff and O. S. Lesseur; Third
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Ward, W. C. Hudnall and T. C. Crunk; Fourth Ward, J. B. Canfield and R. S. Miller; Fifth Ward, S. M. Wene and Samuel Langham; Sixth Ward, J. H. Hutchison and A. S. Williams. James T. Bell was chosen Recorder; Alexander Joseph, Revenue Collector; T. J. Merritt, Treas- urer; W. R. Demonbreun, Assessor; John W. Loyd, Marshal; and B. M. Price, Street Overseer.
In January, 1875, the following officers were elected: Mayor, J. N. Brooks. Aldermen: First Ward, W. A. Benson and Thomas Reese; Second Ward, W. L. McInturff and W. H. Morrow; Third Ward, W. S. Bransford and D. M. Brown; Fourth Ward, R. S. Miller and G. R. Williamson; Fifth Ward, S. M. Wene and J. H. Gary; Sixth Ward, J. H. Hutchison and A. S. Williams. Recorder, W. M. Brown, Jr .; Rev- enue Collector, Alexander Joseph; Assessor, A. T. Raymer; Treasurer, V. G. Weakley; Marshal, John W. Loyd; Street Overseer, B. M. Price.
On January 1, 1876, the following officers were elected: Mayor, A. S. Williams. Aldermen: First Ward, J. M. Barnes and Mark L. Brantley ; Second Ward, H. C. Thompson and W. L. McInturff; Third Ward, D. M. Brown and J. M. Thatcher; Fourth Ward, R. S. Miller and G. W. Jenkins; Fifth Ward, S. M. Wene and J. H. Gary; Sixth Ward, J. H. Hutchison and A. A. Grisham. The Board of Aldermen elected the fol- lowing officers: Recorder, W. M. Brown, Jr .; Treasurer, V. G. Weak- ley; Marshal, John W. Loyd; Street Overseer, T. S. Blair; Assessor, Alexander Joseph.
On January 6, 1877, the following officers were elected: Mayor, A. S. Williams. Aldermen: First Ward, F. P. McWhirter and Mark L. Brantley; Second Ward, H. C. Thompson and W. L. McInturff; Third Ward, Percy Kinnaird and George A. Smith; Fourth Ward, G. G. Benson and R. S. Miller; Fifth Ward, S. M. Wene and W. A. Knight; Sixth Ward, J. H. Hutchison and W. B. Waggoner. John L. Stubble- field was elected Recorder; V. G. Weakley, Treasurer; John W. Loyd, Marshal; and William Coen, Street Overseer.
On January 5, 1878, the following officers were elected: Mayor, S M. Wene. Aldermen: First Ward, M. T. Bryan and F. P. McWhirter ; Second Ward, J. W. Otley and W. A. Hartwell; Third Ward, Percy Kinnaird and G. A. Smith; Fourth Ward, J. B. Canfield and W. M. Vertrees; Fifth Ward, J. L. Milam and J. C. Stewart; Sixth Ward, G. B. Horn and J. H. Hutchison. The officers elected by the Board of Al- dermen were as follows: Recorder, John L. Stubblefield; Treasurer, V. G. Weakley; Marshal, John W. Loyd; Street Overseer, Morris Moran.
On January 4, 1879, the following officers were elected: Mayor, S.
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M. Wene. Aldermen: First Ward, W. C. Dibrell and H. W. Buttorff ; Second Ward, J. W. Otley and W. A. Hartwell; Third Ward, G. A. Smith and N. D. Malone; Fourth Ward, J. B. Canfield and G. G. Ben- son; Fifth Ward, T. R. Donohoe and W. L. Price. The officers elect- ed by the Board were as follows: Recorder, John L. Stubblefield ; Treasurer, Percy Kinnaird; Marshal, John W. Loyd; Street Overseer, N. B. Gregg. Some time afterward, in the same year, Percy Kinnaird was elected City Attorney, and W. E. Douglass was elected Treas- urer.
Toward the latter part of 1879 and the beginning of 1880 the question of a union of the two corporations of Edgefield and Nashville was under discussion, and as it was a settled matter that the two corporations would become one, there were elected in Edgefield no Mayor nor Aldermen for 1880, but the old Board held over for a short time until the union could be completed, which took place in February, 1880. In the meantime, how- ever, it was necessary to have officers to carry on the business of the corporation of Edgefield until the property should be turned over to the corporation of Nashville; and accordingly, on January 5, 1880, John L. Stubblefield was elected Recorder; J. W. Baker, City Attorney; W. E. Douglass, Treasurer; and William Graham, Street Overseer.
On February 16, a resolution was adopted that a committee of three be appointed to confer with the authorities of Nashville, and request them to settle with the late authorities of Edgefield; and a committee of three was also appointed to make an inventory of the property of Edgefield, to turn it over to the proper authorities of Nashville, and to make a state- ment of the liabilities of Edgefield, and also to settle with its Recorder.
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CHAPTER IX.
MILITARY HISTORY.
The War of 1812-14-The Indian Wars-The Mexican War-The Civil War of 1861-65- First Expression of Public Opinion on the War-Squatter Sovereignty Doctrine Fails to Protect Slavery in the Territories-Democratic State Convention of 1860 on this Question -The Signs of the Times-Action of the Charleston Convention-Governor Harris's First Action on the Question of Secession-Commissioners from Alabama and Mississippi -- Rais- ing of Troops for the War-Fall of Fort Donelson-Nashville Occupied by Union Troops -Forrest and Harris Attack Nashville-Battle of Nashville-Thanks and Present to Major- general Thomas-Fall of Richmond-Assassination of President Lincoln-List of Hospi- tals --- Quartermaster's Department-Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment-Proposed Confiscation of Property-The Carpet-bag Government.
B )RIEF reference is made in this work to the early wars in the Cum- berland country between the settlers and Indians, to the war with Great Britain in 1812-14, and to the Creek and Seminole wars, for the rea- son that all of these subjects have been so thoroughly treated by other writers that it would be extremely difficult to throw much new light upon them. It is well known that permission to declare war against Great Brit- ain was in reality extorted from President Madison, and the news that war had been declared reached Nashville in an incredibly short space of time. This declaration was made June 12, 1812, and on the 25th of that month General Jackson, then senior major-general of the State, made so in the manner related on page 99, made a tender to the United States Govern- ment, through Governor Willie Blount, of twenty-five hundred volunteers. The course of the British Government had aroused great indignation in Tennessee and Nashville, and they fully sustained General Jackson in this tender. The company raised by General James Robertson, named the " Invincible Grays," has been referred to on page 98. Notwithstand- ing the prompt tender of troops by General Jackson, the summer wore away without any thing of importance being done in Tennessee. The Government was very slow in calling for the soldiers whose services were at its command. But on October 21 Governor Willie Blount was request- ed to dispatch fifteen hundred men to the aid of General Wilkinson for the defense of New Orleans. On November I the Governor issued orders to General Jackson to prepare for the movement, and on November 14 General Jackson issued an order in accordance with that of the Governor to his division. The 10th of December was fixed as the time and Nash- ville the place of rendezvous. On the day appointed over two thousand volunteers presented themselves. Colonel John Coffee came with a regi-
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Migraved by T. Doney. N.Y.
Hermitage, April 15.1845, 1845
Andrew Jackson Au His Last Days.
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ment of cavalry six hundred and seventy strong, and Colonel William Hall and Thomas H. Benton together brought in fourteen hundred men. Major W. B. Lewis was Quartermaster; Captain William Carroll, Inspector ; and John Reid, Aid and Secretary to General Jackson. January 7, 1813, the infantry embarked, and Colonel Coffee set out overland for Natchez. Both detachments reached there February 15 and there awaited orders, which came March 4, discharging them from service. General Jackson refused to obey until provision was made for the pay and subsistence of his men during the return march; but he was finally compelled to provide means for these purposes on his own credit.
The massacre at Fort Mimms is still fresh in the minds of all intelli- gent, well-informed people in this State, as well as the causes that led thereto and the results. When the announcement was made in Nash- ville excitement was at its highest pitch. A meeting was held Sep- tember 18, 1813, which was addressed by Rev. T. B. Craighead in favor of marching at once to the protection of the border settlements and the women and children. The Legislature passed an act on the 25th upon the recommendation of the Governor, calling into the field thirty- five hundred volunteers, in addition to the fifteen hundred or two thou- sand already in service, and also voting $300,000 for their pay. The campaign that followed under the command of General Jackson was of intense interest and a great success. After the close of the Creek War the designs of the British were plainly developed by an attack on Fort Bowyer, at the entrance of Mobile Bay, September 10, by a fleet carry- ing ninety guns and a land force of Spaniards and Indians. Pensacola was taken possession of by General Jackson, who then hastened to Mo- bile, whence on the 22d of November he started for New Orleans, reach- ing there December 1, 1814. In the meantime twenty-five hundred Tennessee militia under Major-general William Carroll embarked at Nashville, November 19, and hastened down the Cumberland and Mis- sissippi Rivers to New Orleans.
General Jackson, the next day after his arrival at New Orleans, ex- amined the defenses down the river, and at once made vigorous prepara- tion for the reception of the enemy, who had not then appeared in sight. The people were very confident of their ability to repel and defeat any enemy that could be sent against them. The postmaster of New Or- leans, T. Johnson, wrote a letter presumably to the National Intelligen- cer, at Washington, under date of December 17, 1814, which was published in that paper January 10, 1815, in which he said the enemy's vessels had just appeared at Ship Island, sixty in number. They ap- proached the city of New Orleans by Lake Pontchartrain. The naval
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force at the command of General Jackson consisted of five gun-boats and one small schooner. A fight occurred between thirty-eight of the Brit- ish barges and this small fleet, resulting in the defeat of the latter, and giving the British the mastery of the lake, though at a loss of thirteen barges. General Jackson's forces then consisted of four thousand reg- ulars and General Coffee's two thousand militia. A force of Kentucky and Tennessee troops passed Baton Rouge December 17 and 18 on their way to re-enforce General Jackson.
On the 23d of December the British effected a landing with about six thousand men, eight miles below New Orleans, and a battle occurred. With reference to this landing an officer in General Jackson's army wrote to a friend in Nashville that it was greatly to the astonishment of all there, General Jackson being guarded at all points where danger was apprehended. Treason pointed the enemy to the only place which was not thus guarded; but even in this place, had the orders of the com- manding general been strictly obeyed, the enemy would not have been able to succeed. The next battle was the famous one of Sunday, Jan- uary 8, 1815, which was so disastrous to the British troops, their loss being no less than two thousand six hundred. The losses of General Jackson in the battles of December 23, January I, and January 8 were : Killed, fifty-five; wounded, one hundred and sixty-five; missing, ninety- three-a total of three hundred and thirty-three.
In the meantime a treaty of peace, known as the Treaty of Ghent, had been made between representatives of England and the United States, which was signed December 24, 1814, news of which reached the United States Government February 15, 1815, and which was ratified by the Senate February 18. This treaty was highly honorable to the negotia- tors and to the United States. For his services in this war the Con- gress of the United States thanked General Jackson and presented him with a gold medal. The Tennessee troops, upon their return to Nash- ville, were presented with a handsome flag by the ladies of Knoxville.
Then came the Seminole Wars, originating in the implacability of the Creek Indians, who remembered previous wars with the whites; and also in troubles between the Seminoles and the white settlers in Georgia, the Seminoles claiming that these white settlers were intruding on their lands. General Jackson was soon again in command, and had under him as a part of his forces two regiments from Tennessee, commanded by Colonels Dyer and Williamson respectively. A company of one hun- dred men was raised in Nashville, as a body-guard for the commanding general. The general left Nashville for his destination, four hundred and fifty miles distant, January 22, 1818. This first Seminole War came
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to an end at Suwanee in April, 1818. Soon afterward occurred the trial and execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, which caused a great sensa- tion for several years.
A treaty was made at Moultrie Creek, Fla., September 18, 1823, by which the Seminoles were placed on a reservation with definite bounda- ries. Difficulties between white settlers and the Seminoles were, how- ever, of frequent occurrence for the next six or seven years, and at length the question came up of removing these Indians to the Indian Territory, as the easiest and most equitable method of arriving at a per- manent settlement of the troubles. May 9, 1832, a treaty for their remov- al was concluded, but a portion of them under Osceola were much opposed to leaving the land of their birth. These latter Indians com- mitted numerous massacres of white people, and a seven years' war ensued. In this war Tennessee was represented by two regiments called the First and Second. A third regiment offered, being rejected because not need- ed. Of the Second Regiment there were three companies raised in Da- vidson County, either wholly or in part: the " Highlanders," commanded by Captain William Washington, afterward by Captain John J. Chandler ; the "State Guards," by Captain James Grundy, and afterward by Cap- tain Joseph Leake; and another company raised in part in Williamson County, commanded by Captain Joel A. Battle. These two regiments were formed into a brigade and placed in command of Brigadier-general Robert Armstrong, of Nashville. These troops reached Tallahassee, Fla., about the middle of September, and immediately left for Suwanee, where a number of them died of yellow fever. After honorable and ex- haustive services in the Indian country of Florida they left Tampa Bay, December 25, for New Orleans, where they were discharged. Among the members of the Second Regiment who afterward became distin- guished were: Neill S. Brown, William Trousdale, William B. Camp- bell, all of whom were Governors of Tennessee; General Robert Arm- strong, Felix K. Zollicoffer, Russell Houston, Terry H. Cahal, Nathaniel Baxter, J. B. Bradford, Oscar F. Bledsoe, Captain Frierson, Colonel Henry, Major Goff, John H. Savage, J. H. McMahon, Lee Read, and Jesse Finley.
The history of the war with Mexico has a peculiar interest to the peo- ple of Tennessee, and especially of Nashville, because of the part played by two of her distinguished sons in connection with that conflict and with the steps leading up thereto. It is therefore deemed appropriate to deal more fully with these antecedent events in this work than would be done in the local history of any other city in this country. While it is difficult to fix upon any particular event in history which is pre-eminently
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the starting-point in the movement leading to the annexation of Texas, yet it is probable that the failure to include Texas in the territory annexed to the United States under the treaty of 1819 was what first concentrated at- tention upon the question of the annexation of that State. It had been one of the ultimate objects of the Burr conspiracy, and Wilkinson, during his operations to defend New Orleans against Burr in 1806, agreed with the Spanish commander that the Sabine River should be the provisional boundary between Spanish and American Territory, and upon the sus- pension of the American claim to Texas as a part of Louisiana, the treaty of 1819 made this boundary permanent. The opposition to the "alienation" of territory to which the United States had a claim found expression, in part, in certain resolutions offered in Congress by Henry Clay, but the annexation of Florida allayed what dissatisfaction had been felt in the South, and when the Treaty of Cordova was signed, February 24, 1821, Texas and Coahuila became one of the States of the Mexican republic.
By this time it had become evident that immigration would not to any appreciable extent enter slave territory, but that the free territory of the North-west was rapidly filling up. A sectional race for the manufacture of new States and the control of the Senate of the United States became a necessity to the South, and one in which the boundary must be extend- ed beyond the Sabine, or else she was inevitably doomed to defeat. When, therefore, in 1821 a portion of the adventurous population of the South-west began to enter this territory it was at least approved by far- seeing politicians who favored the extension of slavery in this direction and for the purposes indicated above. American enterprise needed Texas for its development, and numerous individuals obtained from Mexico land grants which they filled with settlers. In 1827 Henry Clay, as Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams, offered Mexico $1,- 000,000 for Texas, and in 1828 Mr. Van Buren, as Secretary of State under President Jackson, made an offer of $5,000,000, both of which offers were rejected by Mexico. In 1833 Texas had become quite a populous State, and on the Ist of April of that year formed a State con- stitution of its own, by which it became an integral part of the Mexican republic. In 1835 the Mexican Congress abolished all State constitu- tions and created a dictator, and on the 2d of March Texas seceded from the Republic of Mexico, established an independent government, and war ensued. During this war occurred the massacres of Goliad and the Alamo. At San Jacinto General Sam Houston, formerly Governor of Tennessee, with seven hundred men, met and utterly defeated Santa Anna, the President of Mexico, with five thousand men. Santa Anna, while a
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prisoner, signed a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas, which the Mexican Government refused to ratify, and, in fact, Mexico never did acknowledge the independence of the State, although that in- dependence was recognized by England, France, and Belgium.
The Government of Texas had borrowed and expended money so lav- ishly that the finances of the State were in hopeless disorder. Under these circumstances annexation to the United States was as desirable to Texas as it was to the United States. In August, 1837, through her Min- ister at Washington, Texas made application for such annexation, and a proposition for admission was made in the United States Senate by Hon. William C. Preston, of South Carolina, which was tabled by a vote of twenty-four to fourteen. Nothing further was done in Congress for sev- eral years, but Texas proceeded to sell throughout the South and South- west immense numbers of land warrants, whose owners, of course, be- came advocates of annexation. On January 10, 1843, Hon. Mr. Gilmer, of Virginia, in a Baltimore newspaper, appealed to the people of the United States in favor of the annexation of Texas, in order to prevent an alleged design of Great Britain from doing so. His appeal was sec- onded by the Legislatures of several of the Southern States.
From this time forward the annexation of Texas was a settled purpose with the politicians who desired to thereby increase the number of slave States, and no less of those individuals who held Texas land scrip. The appeal of Mr. Gilmer was sent to Ex-president Jackson, in order to as- certain his views on the subject, and on February 12, 1843, he wrote a letter to A. V. Brown warmly advocating the policy of immediate annex- ation. This letter was drawn from the ex-president for an ulterior pur- pose, with which he was unacquainted at the time, that purpose being the defeat of Mr. Van Buren for the presidential nomination at the next Democratic Convention, which was postponed until 1844 for the same reason. The letter was not published until March 20, 1844, somewhat more than a year after it was written. At this time Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, paid a visit to General Jackson for the purpose of informing him of the nature of the trick played upon him, and also for the purpose of interesting him in the salvation of Mr. Van Buren. The ex-president thereupon wrote a second letter, in which, while he stood by his former letter with reference to the annexation of Texas, he yet spoke strong and kind words in favor of Van Buren. This attempt to save Mr. Van Buren from defeat was, as all the world knows, inef- fectual, for those politicians who were intent on securing that end ex- tracted from him an expression of his opinion as to annexation, which opinion, being adverse thereto, was sufficient to defeat him in the con-
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