USA > Tennessee > Shelby County > Memphis > The Old Guard in Gray. Researches in the Annals of the Confederate Historical Association. Sketches of Memphis veterans who upheld her standards in the war, and of other Confederate worthies.. > Part 15
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CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
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COL. R. B. SNOWDEN.
as General Grant said, to effectually bottle up General Butler, who was trying to take Petersburg with 30,000 men. The command remained in the Virginia army, and took part in the fights around Petersburg and Richmond until Richmond fell, and it finally surrendered at Appomattox, along with the rem- nant of Archer's old brigade, with which it had been consol- idated Colonel Snowden commanded the Twenty-fifth and Forty-fourth Tennessee in numerous engagements, including the battle of Fort Harrison.
He was at Appomattox when General Lee surrendered, and made his escape with Captain W. T. Blakemore; went to Danville, Va., thence in the car with President Davis to Greensboro, N. C., where Johnston's army surrendered ; then to Augusta, Ga., where he surrendered to and was paroled by, General Wilson, who gave him transportation to Nashville ; then he went to New York and engaged in mercantile life 13
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for a time. In 1868 he married Miss Anna Brinkley, a young lady of wealth, and of an old and noted pioneer family of Ten- nessee ; they have reared a lovely family, and entered largely into the social and business life of Memphis. Colonel Snowden is in the prime of life and looks after large affairs, but his cheery nature is unchanged by prosperity, and he loves to relate in his easy, charming manner, many stirring reminis- cences of the war, especially when in a group of the old boys who wore the gray. He became a member of this Association May 12, 1870, and was commander-in-chief at the inter-State drill held in Memphis in 1895, with the rank of major-general.
SPICER, JNO. E., private in Forrest's old regiment ; en- tered the service May 4, 1861 ; retired at the surrender in May, 1865. Proposed for membership in this Association by J. A. Loudon, and elected January 20, 1870.
SPILLMAN, R. B., a native of Virginia, but lived in Mem- phis at, the breaking out of the war; enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment; was in the battle of Shiloh ; made the Kentucky campaign with General Kirby Smith, and was in the battle of Murfreesboro; was terri- bly wounded in the head by a shell when supporting a battery, and was taken prisoner and placed in a small room in the Female College in Murfreesboro with eleven other prisoners badly wounded, all of whom died in his presence, he being the only one in the room that survived; when well enough to move was taken to Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Ind., where he remained until exchanged at City Point, Va. He returned - to his regiment, then at Shelbyville, Tenn., but being unfit for active service reported to General Joseph E. Johnston, who assigned him to post duty at Marietta, Ga., and afterward at Thomaston, and then at Americus, Ga., where he was when the war closed. He returned to Memphis and was paroled by Captain Kyle of the Federal army, who was on duty here at the time. He was one of the early members of this Asso- ciation, and at all times has been active and useful, and has been especially efficient upon annual memorial occasions when the graves of Confederates were strewn with flowers at Elm- wood. Has been vice-president since 1885.
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SPOTSWOOD, EDWIN A., was born September 12, 1836, in Orange Grove, Orange county, Va .; came to Memphis in August, 1860, and engaged in business. In the spring of 1861 he was elected major of a regiment of State troops and com- missioned. In January, 1862, became a member of MeDon- ald's Battalion, and joined Forrest at Hopkinsville, Ky .; went with the command to Fort Donelson, and was one of the few who swam the back water and escaped ; was furloughed with the regiment at Huntsville, Ala., and came home ; was detained by sickness, and upon recovery was married May 22, 1862, to Miss Jeannette Armour. June Ist reported to General For- rest at Tupelo, Miss .; detailed to act as sergeant-major, and was soon promoted to the position of adjutant, with the rank of first lieutenant ; was with General Forrest in covering the retreat of Bragg's army to Chattanooga ; came with Forrest's command to Department of Mississippi and West Tennessee. In January, 1864, was promoted by General Forrest from adjutant to major of the regiment for gallantry on the field ; was detailed with others to enter the lines, look up recruits and obtain information. Returned with General Forrest to North Mississippi after the battle of Fort Pillow, in which he participated ; was in the battle of Harrisburg and various other engagements; was wounded in the thigh at Athens, Ala., September 22, 1864; joined his wife at Macon, Ga., and remained until January, 1865; rejoined Forrest at Tupelo, and was in the various moves and engagements on down to Selma. After that fell back to Gainesville, where the sur- render took place, and he was paroled on the 11th of May, 1865. Except when sick or disabled by his wound, he took part in every fight in which his regiment was engaged from Fort Donelson to Selma. He was one of the early members of the old Relief and Historical Association, and has lived in Memphis ever since the war.
STARKE, E. T., Captain Company B, Sixth Missouri In- fantry ; enlisted in August, 1861 ; went to Pensacola in July, 1861. with Colonel Lomax, Alabama Volunteers ; remained there until March. when relieved. The regimeut enlisted for, the war as the Third Alabama ; went to Missouri and joined
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General Price; served with him until the fall of Vicksburg. and then went with General Pillow until the surrender, May 29, 1865, date of parole. Joined the C. H. A. August 14, 1894. Dead.
STEINKUHL, CHRIS. D., became a member of the old Confederate Relief and Historical Association August 13, 1869; enlisted in Company B, commanded by Captain James G. Barbour, Forrest's old regiment, and at the reorganization of the regiment Mr. Steinkuhl was elected first lieutenant. He served throughout the war; was often in command of his company, and he was noted for his daring, his ever-present good humor and self-control. He was in some hand to hand sabre conflicts, had horses shot under him and was wounded more than once. He was surrendered and paroled at the end of the war. His wife is the daughter of W. C. and Rose P. Thompson, so long identified with the New Memphis Theater. After Mr. Thompson's death Captain Steinkuhl was for a time manager of the theater. He died of yellow fever in 1878, after many refugees had returned, and is yet remem- bered with affection by his old comrades and all who knew him.
STEWART, C. M., Captain Company E, Twelfth Tennes- see ; enlisted May 1, 1862; paroled May 11, 1865.
STILES, M., enlisted as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Fifth-fourth Senior Tennessee Regiment, April 26, 1861, and served throughout the war. Joined the C. H. A. February 9, 1886. Dead.
STRANGE, J. P., was Assistant Adjutant General on Gen- eral Forrest's staff, with rank of Major; appointed July 21, 1862, and remained as such through all of the General's pro- motions ; he was wounded at Fort Donelson in February, 1862; near Nashville December 2, 1862, and at Bolivar. Tenn., May 2, 1864; was with General Forrest at the surrender at Gainesville, Ala .; resumed business in Memphis after the war. Joined the C. H. A. March 3, 1870, and died a year or two later sincerely respected and mourned by all who knew him.
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STRATTON, W. D., was born in Smith county, Tenn., on January 12, 1836; his parents were Virginians, and in 1852 moved to Shelby county and settled near the Mississippi State line. He entered the service as Lieutenant of the Memphis Rangers, Ninth Tennessee Regiment, HIal Rogers captain, and commanded the first detail to work on the fortifications of Columbus, Ky .; was promoted to the rank of captain on the battlefield of Shiloh, and at his request commissioned in the cavalry, which he received at Tupelo, Miss .; with his brother, T. T. Stratton, crossed the Mississippi river with a train of ordnance for General Hindman at Little Rock, which con- sisted of one hundred and six wagonloads, and was the first and only successful expedition that ever reached that depart- ment ; returning he joined General R. V. Richardson in organ- izing a brigade of cavalry inside the enemy's lines, and served on his staff until General Forrest took charge in Mississippi and West Tennessee, when he was put in command of the provost guard in January, 1864, and served in this capacity until a few weeks before the battle of Harrisburg, Miss., when he was transferred to the Nineteenth Tennessee, Colonel New- som commanding, and was acting major of this regiment when he lost his leg, leading it in a charge on a battery at the battle of Harrisburg. After the war he returned to Memphis, his old home, and was one of the active members of the C. R. and H. Association ; was a member of the first committee on entertainment, together with Dr. Robert Mitchell, Captain Tom Johnson, Captain Steinkuhl and Colonel Dawson. He had six brothers in the service - one was killed at the battle of Atlanta, two were maimed for life, and three came out unscathed. He now lives in Atlanta, Ga.
SYKES, JOSEPH P., born September 2, 1844, in Maury county, Teun .; entered the Confederate States Army as a cadet and served at Nashville; transferred to Pensacola and assigned to the Tenth Mississippi Regiment, then to Lums- deu's Alabama Light Artillery ; was in the battles of Perry- ville, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, and in all the battles from Dalton to Atlanta ; was transferred to L. S. Ross' Brig- ade of Texas Cavalry, and became inspector of same; was
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with Hood's army in Tennessee, and in the engagement on the retreat at Anthony's Hill, near Pulaski; paroled at Jack- son, Miss., May 13, 1865. Joined the C. H. A. August 8, 1893; married a daughter of General Preston Smith, and has practiced law in Memphis for many years.
TALLEY, RICHARD H., at the age of 16 years left his widowed mother and enlisted in the Thirty-eighth Tennes- see ; served throughout the war, and was paroled May 1, 1865, at Macon, Ga. He then took service with the M. & C. R. R. at Collierville, having his office and station in a box- car. A few years after he was transferred to Memphis, where he was employed in the treasurer's office. After fourteen years' service he became ticket agent of the C. O. & S. W. R. R. Co., and afterward represented other railroads. IIe was secretary of the Memphis Passenger Association when he died in 1895. Joined the C. H. A. March 10, 1885. He was. the youngest of four sons of Mrs. Emily B. Talley, all of whom went into the Confederate army, as well as two sons- in-law of this noble Southern mother. The other brothers were Foster D., Fletcher H. and Wm. F. Talley.
TATUM, HENRY A., private in Company I, First Con- federate Regiment ; was born on the 8th of September, 1837, in Guilford county, N. C .; enlisted early in the war, but does not remember the day ; he left Memphis with Captain M. J. Wicks' Mounted Rifles; was captured at Murfreesboro, but held only twenty minutes; was paroled at Gainesville, Ala., May 14, 1865.
TAYLOR, THOS. J., private in Company F, Twelfth Ten- nessee Cavalry ; enlisted January 16, 1863; born 20th of May, 1847, in Haywood county, Tenn. ; was wounded slightly at the battle of Pulaski; captured at Athens, Ala., and paroled May 14, 1865, at Gainesville, Ala.
TAYLOR, W. F., enlisted early, and the services of his company were tendered to the Secretary of War before the firing on Fort Sumpter. He became lieutenant - colonel and colonel of the famous Seventh Tennessee Cavalry and served
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with distinction throughout the war; was twice wounded, though not seriously ; was in many engagements, and was a dashing, fearless leader, enjoying the full confidence of his men ; was paroled in May, 1865, and has since been and is now (1896) a leading merchant of Memphis. Elected a mem- ber of this Association in 1869 or '70.
TAYLOR, THOS. C., was born in Clinton, East Feliciana parish, La., October 10, 1845; enlisted April, 1861, in Com- pany B, Hunter Rifles, which went to New Orleans and was made a part of the Fourth Louisiana; the regiment was sent to Vicksburg, Miss .. and built the first fortifications of that stronghold. The Fourth Louisiana, under that gallant colo- nel, H. W. Allen, went to Jackson, Tenn., and thence to Shi- loh; it was in all the campaigns in the West and at Baton Rouge under Breckinridge, and at the first siege of Port Hud- son, La .; on leaving Port Hudson the regiment rejoined the Western army at Dalton, Ga., and was in the battles of At- lanta, Peachtree creek and Jonesboro, Ga .; at the latter place Comrade Taylor was wounded, and has carried the bullet from August 31, 1864, to this day ; rejoined his company and regi- ment in time for the battle of Franklin, and was captured on General Hood's retreat from Nashville on December 19, 1864, and sent to Camp Douglas at Chicago, Ill., where he remained until June 20, 1864, having belonged through the entire war to the same company and regiment. He returned to his home in Louisiana after being discharged from prison, and in Octo- ber, 1865, went to Texas, where he was married in October, 1866, to Miss Fannie Vickers of Waco. He has been a resi- dent of Memphis since 1871, and is a member of the Con- federate Historical Association.
TAYLOR, J. R. ("Tobe"), went out early in 1861 as cap- tain of a company in Miller's Battalion, afterward Pinson's First Mississippi Cavalry; was slightly wounded at Shiloh, and was with Armstrong and Jackson on the raid into Ten- nessee ; was wounded at Denmark and left in the hands of the enemy, but nursed by Memphis ladies, and escaped; was with Van Dorn on his Tennessee campaign, and with Gen-
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eral Joseph E. Johnston at Jackson, Miss., and in numerous fights; was with Forrest, and wounded on the bridge at Mos- cow ; served with Armstrong's Brigade, Jackson's Division. through the Georgia campaign ; was under Hood in Tennes- see, and in the battles of Franklin, Nashville, Murfreesboro and Anthony's Hill; was wounded and had a horse killed under him while on outpost duty, and was one of the last to get over the river ; was in other engagements, and last of all at Selma, where he was captured; was taken to Macon and paroled. He was never sick and never missed a fight except on account of wounds. He says now that he fared just as his men did; is proud of his record, and hands it down to his children and grandchildren as that of a plain soldier fighting for what he knew to be right. He was married to Miss El- genia Morgan in 1857, both of them being of fine Revolu- tionary stock ; they have four sons and two daughters. Cap- tain Taylor joined the C. H. A. on May 12, 1885.
THOMPSON, J. H., Corporal Company E, Twenty-ninth Mississippi Regiment ; enlisted in March, 1862; was captured at Lookout mountain November 24, 1863; released from Rock Island prison by parole for thirty days March 29, 1865, and the war closed before the parole expired. Admitted to the C. H. A. December 10, 1895, and became a member of Company A, Confederate Veterans.
THOMPSON, JACOB, was born in Caswell county, N. C., in 1810, and died in Memphis, March 24, 1885. His life is thus epitomized on a tablet dedicated to him in Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill University of North Carolina : "Class of 1831; Member of Faculty, 1831; Representative in Congress, 1839-1853; Secretary of the Interior, 1857-1861 ; Lieutenant- Colonel and Inspector-General C. S. A., 1862-1863 ; Confiden- tial Agent of Confederate States to the Dominion of Canada, 1864-1865." Mr. Thompson became a lawyer, and located at Pontotoc, Miss .; went to Congress, and was a distinguished figure there for many years; after that was Secretary of the Interior under James Buchanan, and served with marked effi- ciency and distinction ; when Mississippi seceded he resigned
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HON. JACOB THOMPSON.
and returned to his home. He was at the battle of Shiloh ; became Lieutenant-Colonel of Ballentine's Regiment of Cav- alry, and later on had a horse shot under him; subsequently he was sent on a mission to Canada, with a view of aiding in the escape of Confederate prisoners. After the war closed, a reward being offered for his head, he sailed for Europe with his family, and remained away for some years. He returned to Oxford, Miss., came to Memphis, built an elegant home, and passed the rest of his life in a manner becoming a retired statesman, soldier and true christian gentleman. Colonel Thompson was loved and respected by all who knew him, and especially by the members of the Confederate Historical Association, of which he was an honored member. His name was proposed for membership by Jefferson Davis, late Presi- dent of the Confederacy, and by Rev. J. Carmichael, and he was elected April 28, 1870.
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THOMPSON, J. N., born September 22, 1841, in Yalla- busha county, Miss .; enlisted April 27, 1861, as a private in Company E, Blythe's Forty-fourth Mississippi Regiment: was wounded twice in the battle of New Hope Church, Ga., on the 27th of May, 1864; served to the end of the war, Joined the C. H. A. September 13, 1893, and is a member of Com- pany A, Confederate Veterans.
THORNTON, GUSTAVUS BROWN, born February 22, 1835. at Bowling Green, Caroline county, Va., and came to Memphis with his father's family in 1847. His collegiate course was taken in Richmond, Va. ; graduated at the Mem- phis Medical College in 1858. and at the University of New York Medical Department in 1860; practiced medicine in Memphis one year ; spring of 1861 joined the Southern Guards under Captain James Hamilton, One Hudnred and Fifty- fourth Tennessee Regiment, and served as a private three or four months; was then commissioned as Assistant Surgeon of State troops; when transferred to the Confederate States Army retained the same rank.' While assistant surgeon he served at Belmont, New Madrid, Island No. 10 and at other points, and acted as brigade surgeon with Brigadier-General John P. McCown. After the battle of Shiloh was appointed surgeon by the Richmond authorities and became chief sur- geon of Mccown's Division when MeCown was made Major- General, and was at the battles of Richmond and Perryville, though not immediately present at the former. He was with the same division at Murfreesboro. General MeCown in his official report said : "Division Surgeon G. B. Thornton was untiring in his labors with the wounded. He is entitled to the thanks of the command." See Series 1, vol. xxi, page 915, Official Records Union and Confederate Armies.
In the summer of 1863 he became chief surgeon of Gen- eral A. P. Stewart's Division, and was with this division at the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; was in winter quarters at Dalton, and on the Georgia campaign. After the death of General Polk, General Stewart was pro- moted to command his corps, and Surgeon Thornton remained with the old division, placed in command of General H. D.
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DR. G. B. THORNTON.
Clayton of Alabama. He was at the battle of Franklin, but his division did not participate; was in service around Nash- ville. At the reorganization of the army in North Carolina in the spring of 1865, Dr. Thornton was assigned to Wal- thall's Division, with which he remained until the capitula- tion, which soon followed.
Returning to Memphis in the summer of 1865, Dr. Thorn- ton resumed the practice of medicine. In 1866, when cholera prevailed, he was appointed assistant physician at the Mem- phis Hospital with Dr. J. M. Keller, and saw much service. In 1868 he became hospital physician, and held the position for eleven years. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1867 Dr. Thornton again saw hard service, and in '73 he was entrusted with great responsibilities and inaugurated some important reforms, one of which resulted in the separation of the small- pox hospital from the city hospital. The Doctor was also
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mainly instrumental in securing, through Hon. Casey Young and Senator Harris, the passage of the bill under which the Marine Hospital was located in Memphis. In the great yel- low fever epidemic of 1878, while yet in charge of the City Hospital, Dr. Thornton was prostrated with the disease and narrowly escaped with his life. In 1879 he voluntarily re- signed, and was appointed by Dr. D. T. Porter, President of the Taxing District (city of Memphis), President of the Mem- phis Board of Health ; served ten years and then resigned. His services, papers and arduous labors were recognized by sanitarians and the profession at large throughout the coun- try, as well as by the public and local government. Realiz- ing the necessity of a new hospital for Memphis as no other man perhaps did, he was largely instrumental in securing the levy of a special tax of 9 cents on the $100 for three years ($80,000) for a new hospital, which is now assured.
After the installation of Mayor Clapp, Dr. Thornton was again called into service as President of the Board of Health, and at this writing (December, 1896) holds the position. He was a member of the State Board of Health several years. and belongs to several medical societies. He was ever a strong advocate of national, maritime and inter-State quarantine as a protection against yellow fever, and used his influence to secure the passage of the existing national, maritime and inter-State quarantine law, passed by the Fifty-second Con- gress January 13, 1863. It is no flattery to say that he is uni- versally esteemed as a leader in his profession and as a most courteous and genial christian gentleman.
Dr. Thornton has been twice married-first to Miss Martha Louisa Hullum, December 1, 1869, who died June 27, 1875, leaving two children. Anna Mary and G. B. Thornton, Jr .; second, to Mrs. Ella Walker (Winston), widow of the late Colonel Gustavus A. Henry of Alabama. He became a mem- ber of the C. H. A. September 9, 1869.
TUCKER, W. W., captain of a company in the Fifth Mis- sissippi Cavalry; entered the service March, 1861; paroled in May, 1865. Proposed for membership in the C. II. A. by General Patton Anderson and elected May 12, 1870.
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THOS. F. TOBIN. January, 1861.
TOBIN, THOMAS FRANCIS, born in County Tipperary, Ireland, January 1, 1840; came to this country with his family when 11 years old; was educated at St. Joseph's Col- lege, Perry county, Ohio ; came to Memphis in 1859, and was given a position in the postoffice under General Wm. H. Car roll. At the outbreak of the war was elected captain of a company of infantry in June, 1861, and transferred to artil- lery, with the understanding that a West Pointer was to be captain. Captain W. Orton Williams, inspector on General Polk's staff, was given this place, and T. F. Tobin became first lieutenant. The seventy-six men were mustered into Confederate service for three years or the war July 4, 1861. The company went into camp four miles north of Mem- phis ; ordered to Columbus, Ky., about the last of July, and placed under command of General Cheatham; took small part at Belmont; fired across the river in support of Tap-
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pan's regiment ; wintered at Feliciana, Ky., and was in numer- ous artillery dueis near Paducah ; ordered to Corinth, and held as reserve at Shiloh ; was in the battle of Farmington, and after that had a series of artillery duels on General Van Dorn's line with one of General Pope's batteries. In one of these Lieutenant Tobin was wounded, and had a horse shot under him. General Van Doro was ever after his warm friend. In June of that year Lientenant Tobin was promoted to captain, and he was slightly wounded at the battle of Iuka. He was in the thick of the attack on Corinth, and on the second day's fight, while trying to save a disabled gun, he was wounded and captured, but exchanged through the courtesy of General Rosecrans. In December, 1862, he was transferred with his battery to Vicksburg, and was actively engaged in and about this place until its fall, participating in fourteen engagements before the siege began. During the siege proper, which began early in May, 1863. Captain Tobin was chief of artillery of Gen. Forney's division on the Baldwin Ferry road, which was the center of the Confederate lines. He commanded nine redoubts and seven batteries with twenty-eight guns, and was wounded May 28, but returned to duty in two weeks. He went there with one hundred and five men, and at the end of the siege had only thirty-one fit for duty. On July 10 they were paroled and went to Selma, Ala. There Captain Tobin was prostrated with typhoid fever. He reorganized his battery at Enterprise, Miss., late in October. While at Vicksburg he had been com- missioned as full colonel, with orders to report to General Van Dorn as chief of his artillery, and at the same time had been commissioned as captain of the Fifth Regular Artillery, but General Van Dorn had in the meantime been killed, and the captain preferred to remain with his old company. He re- ported to Major-General Maury at Mobile, and recruited his . battery up to 200 men. Sections of his battery were sent to Florida and various points between Mobile and New Orleans, on detached service, and were in nine skirmishes with the Federals-at Pascagoula, Pensacola and other points. When the Confederates left Mobile Captain Tobin was ordered to report to Colonel Phil Spence, to assist in covering the retreat
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