USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 10
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The President of the Convention, Hon. T. A. R. Nelson, had early in its deliberations, submitted a very able paper, entitled a "Declaration of Grievances," accompanied by some defiant resolutions. These resolutions virtually declared the independ- ence of East Tennessee. These papers, along with a multi- tude of others, were referred without debate to the Business Committee. On the afternoon of the third day that Committee unanimously reported to the Convention the resolutions of Mr. Nelson, with the recommendation that they be adopted. I imme- diately offered a substitute, which declared our right "to deter- mine our own destiny" in the then pending conflict, that the action of the Legislature in passing an ordinance of seces- sion was unconstitutional and illegal, and therefore not binding upon the people of East Tennessee, and that a memorial be sent to the Legislature asking its consent that East Tennessee be permitted to form and erect itself into a State. After a spirited dabate, lasting all the afternoon, in which a number of the
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leading members of the Convention participated, and an earnest effort to defeat the substitute, the original resolutions of Mr. Nelson and the substitute, on motion of Mr. Cooper, were referred back to the Committee for reconsideration .* The next morning the Committee, reversing its action of the day before, unanimously reported in favor of the adoption of the substi- tute. This report was finally adopted by the Convention, in the language of the Secretary seriatem et una voce but not with- out an effort on the part of Nelson and Robert Johnson (son of Andrew Johnson) to renew the fight, in favor of the ultra and extreme measures at first recommended by the Committee.
The antagonistic views of the members of this celebrated convention were reconciled and made harmonious by this meas- ure of peace. The members at last came to a solemn realiza- tion of the fact that the two opposing measures presented for consideration represented the issues of peace or civil war for East Tennessee. As Mr. Cooper expressed the situation to me, although in the opening of the convention, he, like nine- tenths of the members, was in favor of fighting on our own soil rather than yield to the Southern Confederacy, he at last saw that such a course would "make East Tennessee a hell."*
In the debate which followed, when I offered my substitute, the persons taking part in the discussion in favor of its adop- tion were John Baxter, Montgomery Thornburgh, Horace Maynard, A. J. Brown, and myself ; those favoring the original resolutions of Nelson, were Thomas D. Arnold, W. B. Carter, William Clift, James P. Swann, V. Myers, and J. T. Davis. When the substitute was presented it was by no means certain in my mind that it would receive a second, so strong was the feeling in favor of violent measures. During the discussion the great majority of the Convention began for the first time to realize that they were madly rushing to their own ruin, if they persisted in the course recommended by the Committee.
The positive character of Joseph A. Cooper was exemplified by a little incident which took place just before the adjourn- ment of the Convention. W. C. Kyle and John Blevins pre-
*Mr. Cooper informed me a few days ago (November, 1901) that he made the motion to recommit, a fact which I had forgotten and which does not appear in the published account of the proceedings.
*For a full account of this Convention the reader is referred to "East Tennessee and the Civil War," by the author.
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sented a paper protesting "against the action of the Conven- tion," but in what respect they did not say. A motion was made to lay the protest on the table. "Yes," said Cooper, "lay it under the table forever."
Notwithstanding Cooper, for the sake of peace and the safety of the people of East Tennessee, voted for the milder resolutions, his mind seems to have been intent only on war. In the commit- tee room he entered into a secret agreement with Robert K. Byrd of Roane County, R. M. Edwards of Bradley, and S. C. Honey- cutt and E. Langley of Morgan, that they would go home to their respective counties and commence secretly raising and drilling soldiers. Cooper returned to Campbell County, and by the 1st of August had organized and drilled more than five hundred men, most of whom afterward joined the Union army in Kentucky. He worked on his farm during the day, and at night traveled from house to house stirring up the Union people, returning the next day to his plow. On Saturdays he met these people for muster in the old fields, in out-of-the-way places, and gave them such instruction in military tactics as he had gained in the Mexican War.
Here was a real leader. Without the gift of oratory, with- out wealth or the prestige of distinction, or a great name, by the mere force of a superior will, by determination, and by the fire and ardor of burning patriotism, he inspired and led men. Few could have done this.
When the first Confederate troops under Captain Rowan reached Big Creek Gap, Campbell County, Cooper immediately made arrangements to meet and attack them with his mountain men, but by the advice of cooler headed friends decided not to do so. He was not content, however, with his position. He wished to have a hand in the war. If he could not fight the enemies of the government at home, he would go where he could. Accordingly on the 1st of August, in the afternoon, he bade his family good-by, saying: "I am going to the war; I may be gone a year, perhaps three years, or I may never return." That night he began his travel through the mountains, arriving on the borders of Kentucky the next morning. On the day follow- ing, hundreds of the men whom he had drilled followed and joined him at Williamsburg.
Joseph A. Cooper, so far as is known to me, was the second East Tennessee refugee who left home with a fixed purpose of
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entering the Union army. Fred Heiskell, of Knox County, was unquestionably the first. On the 16th day of April he left home, on the 18th he was in Louisville, and on the 20th or 21st, he en- listed in Captain W. W. Woodruff's 1st Kentucky Regiment, serving as a brave soldier to the close of the war.
Cooper enlisted at Williamsburg, Ky., on the 4th of August, and on the same day he organized a company of the 1st Tennessee Infantry, and on the 8th was mustered into service as Captain by Lieutenant Samuel P. Carter, afterward a Major General of Volunteers. The 185 Tennesseeans, besides forming Co. A, were distributed among companies B, C, and H, of the 1st Regi- ment, and Co. C, of the 2d. Thus Cooper led the way through the mountains as a refugee, was the second volunteer of the State, and organized the first company and was its Captain in the 1st Regiment of Tennessee troops in the Union Army-a record of which his children may justly feel proud. Of the 35,000 Tennessee troops in the Union Army he was the second to enlist, and was Captain of the first company.
Robert K. Byrd was made the Colonel of the 1st Regiment, and commanded it with honor to himself and to the State till near the close of the war. On the 22d of March, 1862, Captain Cooper was made Colonel of the 6th Tennessee Regi- ment of Infantry, which he had partly raised, and which he commanded with distinction until July 30th, 1864. He was then made a Brigadier General, for distinguished bravery in the terrible battles in Georgia, on the recommendation of Gen- erals Sherman and Schofield.
It would be beyond the scope of these sketches to give in detail the history of the many battles and skirmishes in which Cooper was engaged. I give only a brief outline of them. He was with General George H. Thomas in the decisive battle and victory at Fishing Creek, Kentucky, January 18th, 1862, where the Commander of the Confederate forces, General Felix K. Zollicoffer was killed. Starting from Cumberland Gap in September with 400 men, after a long march of two days, on the north side of the mountain, he encountered the enemy at Big Creek Gap, Tenn., and after a sharp engagement routed them, capturing an entire company of cavalry. The enemy's loss was ten men killed, eight wounded, and ninety-five taken as prisoners, and eighty-seven horses captured. Among the killed were two Captains and an aide of General Smith. Colonel
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Cooper received in a general order the special thanks of Gen- eral Morgan.
In September Cumberland Gap was vacated by General George W. Morgan, who commenced his noted retreat through the mountains of Northeastern Kentucky to the Ohio River. Cooper with his regiment accompanied him, sharing in all the dangers and hardships of the long march. His command was afterward sent to Nashville, and on the 31st day of December, 1862, he was ordered to guard an ammunition train to Stone River, the great battle of that name having opened on the 31st. On the march he was attacked by General Wheeler's Cavalry, which he repulsed, saving the train.
In September, 1863, he arrived in Chattanooga in time for the battle of Chickamauga, and participated in its closing scenes, skirmishing two days with the enemy on Lookout Mountain. He was absent on duty, guarding several points on the Ten- nessee River above Chattanooga, at the time of the famous battle under the command of Grant. After the battle of Chattanooga he marched to Knoxville, and remained in East Tennessee during the winter of 1863-64, participating in the many skirmishes and engagements with Longstreet's army.
In April he marched to Dalton, Ga., for the purpose of taking part in the memorable Georgia Campaign then just opening, and was assigned to the command of a brigade. Colonel Cooper's brigade was in the battle of Resaca, Ga., losing more than one-third of the effective men of the brigade, either killed or wounded. For more than two months his command was daily actively engaged in one of the most brilliant cam- paigns on record. It was his gallantry and skill displayed throughout this campaign that induced Generals Sherman and Schofield to recommend Cooper for a Brigadier General.
When General Hood started in the direction of Nashville, and General Thomas' army was detached to follow him, General Cooper, of course, went with it. Arriving with his command near Nashville, he found that Hood's forces had surrounded that city, and that his brigade was cut off. His command could be saved from capture only by a long forced march. He had been on such a march for twelve hours previously, yet his decision was instantly made. Without consulting anyone, he ordered his artillery and command to face about, and at once commenced a march which lasted without rest, all night and
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part of the next day. He forced a countryman who knew all the roads to guide him under the penalty of death in case of betrayal. Turning southwardly and westwardly he made his way by a circuitous route to Clarksville, distant from Nashville about sixty miles ; then crossed the Cumberland River and got on the north side of it. By this winding march he traveled nearly one hundred miles in the retreat. From Clarks- ville he marched to Nashville, arriving there on the 8th of December, having accomplished this long march in six days, or, excluding the day he rested in Clarksville, in five days, a distance of one hundred and fifty or sixty miles. The report had been published that he and his command had been cap- tured. He was therefore enthusiastically received by the Army in Nashville. This march, in the estimation of military men, was conducted with rare skill, evincing high military ability.
In the battles around Nashville of the 15th and 16th of December, 1864, the troops under the command of General Cooper had a brilliant share. The trophies won by his force were an entire brigade of Confederate troops and two pieces of artillery, after a dashing charge in an open field. "For gal- lant and meritorious services at Nashville" he was afterward appointed a Major General by brevet.
On the 15th of January, 1865, General Cooper was assigned to the command of the Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, and two days later he, with his division, started in a fleet of boats down the Tennessee and up the Ohio, with the view of transportation to the field of active operations in North Carolina, where he arrived on the 23d of February. On the 27th of the same month, by virtue of an order from General Schofield, he was granted a leave of absence, and immediately left for home, from which he had been continuously absent since August 1, 1861. In April he returned to his command, then operating near Goldsboro. After the close of active operations, he was ordered to report for duty at Nashville to General Thomas, commanding the Department of the Cumberland. On the 28th of December, 1865, he was "honorably mustered out of the service of the United States, to date from January 15, 1866."
Thus retired from the Volunteer army one of the bravest and most faithful of the many officers who had conducted to a suc- cessful conclusion the greatest war known in history. Return-
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ing to his old home, General Cooper settled near Knoxville, on a farm, among his late companions in arms, and among the loyal people who were proud of the glory he had won in the war. Everywhere he was hailed as a modest soldier and hero who had done his duty faithfully. He was regarded as by far the greatest soldier in the Union army which Tennessee produced during the Civil War. Modesty and simplicity of manner added to his merit. There was never any boasting of deeds, nor the least show of vainglory.
During eight years of Grant's administration and a part of Hayes', General Cooper was Internal Revenue Collector for the Knoxville District. In 1880 he moved to Kansas, hoping to better his fortune, for he was always a poor man. He is there engaged in farming at this time (1901), and I am glad to know that he is surrounded in his old age at least with the com- forts of life. Recently he visited his old home in Tennessee; he came back to see once more his old companions and to bid them a last adieu. While he was in Knoxville there was a reunion of the survivors of the 3d Tennessee, and of the 6th, which he raised and so long commanded. It was a sad spectacle to see the tears streaming down the furrowed cheeks of those gray-haired veterans, bent with age, as they grasped for the last time the hand of their idolized commander.
General Cooper was positive and outspoken, but within there beat a kind and honest heart. He was true and sincere in all things, and had no patience with pretenses, simulation, or false- hoods in any form. Brave he was as the bravest. Faithful to duty in its minutest details, he always had the entire confidence of his superiors. During a long life he performed every trust committed to him, either as a citizen or a soldier, with the strictest fidelity. Blessed with a clear intellect, he was always able to see the right and to follow it with unfaltering persistence. As a soldier he believed he was in the army to fight, and there- fore he was always ready to fight. When a battle was on, he went where danger and duty called. His soldiers caught the spirit of their leader. So well were they trained, and so com- pletely had they caught his mind and spirit that in the battle of Nashville, at the proper moment, without the word of command, they sprang forward, with a common impulse along the whole line, in a charge, sweeping over an open field with resistless might, driving everything before them, and capturing a brigade of the enemy and two pieces of artillery.
WILLIAM CRUTCHFIELD.
Early Settler of Chattanooga-Replied to Jefferson Davis-Sought Safety in Union Army.
ONE of the strikingly unique Union leaders of East Tennessee was William Crutchfield of Chattanooga. His father, Thomas Crutchfield, was a large brick contractor, and resided at one time in Greeneville, Tenn., where William was born. He moved to Chattanooga early in its history, perhaps while that place was still called Ross' Landing, and while William was a mere boy. The father prospered in his new home, becoming the owner of valuable property in the young city and in the country, which ultimately made his children independent. He was a man of shrewdness and much forethought. He built the hotel known for many years as the Crutchfield House, right in the heart of the city, now known as the Read House, but greatly enlarged and improved. It was then the leading hotel of Chattanooga. On the death of the father it was kept by his two sons, Thomas and William.
William Crutchfield was eccentric and peculiar beyond de- scription. He was vehement in manner and impetuous in action. Yet, with all his violence of manner, his heart was as kind and as true as ever beat in the human breast. And he was brave, too, to the verge of desperation.
When the question of secession was presented to the people of Tennessee in the winter of 1861, Crutchfield was fearless and outspoken in his opposition to it, and used all his influence to defeat its accomplishment. He was an ardent Whig, and there- fore was most naturally opposed to that mad and unwise measure. His opposition to it gave rise to a dramatic incident, widely talked of at that time, and still remembered by old citi- zens.
Jefferson Davis, having resigned his seat in the Senate of the United States after the secession of Mississippi, which State he represented, was on his way home and stopped at the Crutchfield House in Chattanooga. That hotel was then owned by the Crutchfield heirs, and was run by Thomas Crutch-
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field. The facts before me do not make it clear whether or not William was one of the proprietors. The presence of so distinguished a person as Mr. Davis naturally created a desire among his friends, and perhaps others, also, to hear him speak on the great questions then convulsing the country. Accord- ingly he was waited upon by some of the leading citizens and re- quested to make a speech. He at first declined, but being urged further, consented to do so. He spoke from a chair in the office or lobby of the hotel. His address was short-probably not exceeding twenty or twenty-five minutes-and dignified, as all his speeches were, and with nothing personally offensive in it. He avowed himself a secessionist, and contended that the States had the constitutional right to secede from the Union at their sovereign will. Judge D. M. Key, afterward Postmaster Gen- eral under President Hayes, who was a secessionist, and was present, says in a letter to me, that Mr. Davis "made a short talk, very moderate in its character; it had nothing in it per- sonal or offensive in expression or manner."
When Mr. Davis concluded, he, with Judge Key and S. R. McCamy, retired to "a saloon" in an adjoining room, or up- stairs, according to another account. William Crutchfield, who had been listening with restless interest while he was speaking, then jumped upon the clerk's counter, and in an excited manner commenced replying. He arraigned Mr. Davis and his asso- ciates for deserting their seats in Congress when they were in the majority, and might have prevented any hostile legis- lation to the institutions of the South. He rebuked him for interfering in the election then pending in Tennessee, by advis- ing the people to vote for a Convention, which was virtually for secession. He said that Mr. Davis, instead of advising Tennesseeans to break up the Union, could better employ his time by advising the people of his own State to pay their honest debts, which they had repudiated. He denounced Mr. Davis in broad terms as a traitor to his country. Judge Key says, on this point: "Mr. Crutchfield did nothing so far as I can remember in inducing Mr. Davis to speak, but he was an ardent Unionist of irascible temperament, who did not mince language when he was aroused. Thoroughly honest and bold in the expression of his opinions, he used vigorous and bitter terms."
Mr. Davis was informed of what was going on while Crutch- field was speaking, and came back to the lobby. About that
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time, the excitement becoming very great, Thomas Crutchfield, a brother and proprietor of the House, pulled William off the counter, and he and other friends hurried him out of the room. Mr. Davis, again mounting a chair, said that "he understood that a person present had, when his back was turned, aspersed his motives and conduct. That person was no gentleman, and he could afford to have no controversy with him, but if he had a friend who was a gentleman he would settle the matter with him."
According to the account of the affair given by Mr. Crutch- field himself, hereafter referred to, he responded to Mr. Davis by saying: "I am ready to meet you now or any time hereafter." About this time the click of pistols could be heard in the crowd.
Another and somewhat different account of Mr. Davis' re- appearance, given by Mr. Crutchfield, but not written by him, was published in the Canteen, a paper published in Washington, D. C., in 1891. In reply to the question of Mr. Davis, demand- ing to know whether the gentlemen present would endorse the speaker as a responsible and reputable man, adding that if they would do so, he (Davis) would hold him responsible per- sonally. Voices in the crowd responded that Mr. Crutchfield was in every way a gentleman. The other witnesses, from whose testimony I have been quoting, say nothing about this response of the crowd. The witnesses differ as to many im- material points, as it is most natural they should do after the lapse of so many years, but there is a substantial concurrence as to the main facts.
Mr. Crutchfield, according to most of the witnesses, made no reply to Mr. Davis' denunciation and implied challenge. Major Tankersley, a warm friend of Mr. Davis, says he does not think Mr. Crutchfield made any reply to Mr. Davis; if he did, he did not hear him. Judge Lewis Shepherd, who was present, says: "The crowd assembled at the Crutchfield House were mostly admirers of Mr. Davis,-they were hot-headed se- cessionists,-and when Mr. Crutchfield mounted the counter there were at least fifty pistols drawn and cocked for immediate use. The clicking of these pistols must have been heard by Crutchfield, and he understood that most of them would be used, if trouble ensued, to repel the supposed insult to Mr. Davis. When the latter used the epithet I have quoted he was powerless
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to resist it, if he had tried. The fury of the men forced him to quit speaking, and forced him off the counter he had mounted."
When Mr. Davis began speaking, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Thomas Crutchfield, and perhaps other ladies, came down- stairs and stood in the doorway to hear him. When Mr. Crutchfield commenced his reply, and the pistols began their ominous clicking, these ladies, says Judge Shepherd, manifested their fright by screaming.
It is stated by one person that "when the excitement was at its height, the lights were blown out, and several pistols fired, though fortunately no one was hurt."
I have thus given the main facts of this affair, as they can be gathered from the statements of the various witnesses who were living at the time they occurred. This scene created quite a sensation at the time it took place, not only in Tennessee, but throughout the South. Mr. Crutchfield in consequence of this difficulty became an object of bitter animosity on the part of the secessionists. A little later on, when they became dominant, and Confederate soldiers were stationed in Chattanooga, or were passing through it, his life was in constant danger, and he had to keep in close concealment. At last he was forced secretly to leave his home at night, and seek safety under the protecting care of the Union army. When that army entered Chatta- nooga, he returned to his home with it. In the battle of Look- out Mountain he acted as a volunteer aid on the staff of Gen- eral Grant, and by reason of his knowledge of the topography of the surrounding country he was enabled to render valuable assistance. General Grant always appreciated his services and his singular bravery and devotion to the Union cause, and when he became President he was always ready to show Mr. Crutch- field, or his constituents, any favor in his power.
In 1872 Mr. Crutchfield, though not a politician, was put forward by the Republican party as a candidate for Con- gress, and was elected by about 1200 majority, in a district usually electing a Democratic representative. His opponent was Judge D. M. Key, afterward successively United States Senator, Postmaster General, and United States District Judge, and, in the language of Judge Shepherd, "one of the purest, best, and ablest men in the country." Mr. Crutchfield served his constituents faithfully and honestly for one term of Con- gress. Some few years afterward he died on his farm not
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