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 17
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WHITE, R. T., private in Company E, Seventh Tennessee ; enlisted in May, 1861; after consolidation was known as the Fifth Confederate Regiment; was in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro and the various battles to Kennesaw mountain; paroled in May, 1865. Admitted to C. H. A. November 4, 1895.
WHITE, J. H., enlisted in Company A, Thirty-second Mis- sissippi, in March, 1862; served in Lowry's Brigade, and was paroled at Corinth, Miss., at the end of the war.
WHITMORE, E., was born September 25, 1833, in Fayette county, Tenn., and was in railroad service before the war as conductor ; enlisted in Company A, Foute's Battalion of In- fantry, early in 1861, and served about one year ; was sworn into Company L, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, in August, '62; served in the brigades of Generals Villepigue, W. H. Jackson, Chalmers, Rucker and Alexander Campbell, and was in raids under Van Dorn and Armstrong; was slightly wounded in the fight at Medon, and the next day his horse was shot three times under him, but was not killed; was with his regiment directly under Forrest from November, 1863, until the end of the war, and was in all of its campaigns, except two months early in 1864, when he had pneumonia. The Seventh Ten- nessee was a great favorite with General Forrest, and there- fore saw a great deal of hard and perilous service. Comrade
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Whitmore was paroled at Gainesville, Ala .; from there he rode to Brownsville, where he had married early in the war. Afterward he founded the Memphis Public Ledger, and was its proprietor for many years. He joined this Association in 1895 ; became a member of Company A. and attended the late reunion at Richmond.
WIGGS. W. B., Captain and Chief of Artillery ou Gen- eral M. J. Wright's staff; entered service May 15, 1861 ; cap- tured at Jackson. Miss .; paroled May 12. 1865. Elected a member of this Association upon his own statement and ap- plication July 1. 1869.
WILLIAMS. L. G., was born September 1. 1844. in De- soto county, near Hernando, Miss .; was mustered into the Confederate service at Jackson, Miss. (his home then). No- vember 4. 1861. as Second Sergeant Company A. Third Mis- sissippi Battalion, and surrendered at Greensboro. N. C .. May 1. 1865, as Captain of Company F, Eighth Battalion. Missis- sippi Infantry. After the battle of Shiloh the battalion be- came the Thirty-third Mississippi, then called Hardcastle's Mississippi Regiment for a short time. then properly num- bered the Forty-fifth, and was so known until the War De- partment ordered it to resume its old and first name. the Third Mississippi Battalion Infantry. Captain Williams was in the battles of Shiloh. Perryville. Chickamauga. Missionary Ridge. and Ringgold Gap; also Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville. besides a number of skirmishes almost equivalent to battles. He was wounded at Ringgold Gap in the head. at Golgotha and elsewhere. At the surrender the regiment was known as the Eighth Mississippi, having reorganized at Smithfield. N. C., where all that was left of the Third Battalion. the Thirty-second Mississippi. Fifth Mississippi and the Eighth Mississippi, were consolidated into one battalion and named. in honor of the Eighth Mississippi Regiment, the Eighth Mis- sissippi Battalion. Captain Williams had the skeletons of the Third Battalion and Thirty-second Mississippi in his com- pany (F), about 34 men, hardly a modern drill team. He joined the C. H. A. June 13. 1894. and became a member of Company A, Confederate Veterans.
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WILLIAMS, CLAUDE, private Company E. First Ten- nessee Infantry ; enlisted April, 1861 ; was captured five times and escaped the last time from Camp Morton, Ind .; was transferred to Henley's Alabama Legion in January, 1864; when he escaped the last time he got as far south as Ken- tucky. In Louisville heard of Sam Quantrell near Crab Or- chard Springs ; joined his command and was with it until the end of the war ; could never get out of Kentucky after the escape from Camp Morton.
WILLIAMSON, R. C., born November 4, 1836, at Coving- ton. Tenn., and grew up in Tipton county; received a liberal education, and lived at Somerville; enlisted in Company D, Sixth Tennessee Regiment, and was elected second lieutenant, with W. M. R. Johns as captain ; mustered into the service of Tennessee at Jackson, May 15, 1861. The regiment was mustered into Confederate service at Union City and placed under General Cheatham, in his first brigade. The command moved into Missouri ; thence to Columbus, Ky., and spent the winter of 1862 there. The company went into the battle of Shiloh eighty men strong; lost eight killed and eighteen wounded. Among the wounded was Captain Johns. Lieu- tenant Williamson took command of the company. May 15 the company was reorganized and mustered into the service for the war. R. C. Williamson was elected captain, and his company and regiment participated in all or nearly all the great battles and skirmishing under Generals Bragg, John- ston and Hood, and finally surrendered with General John- ston at Bentonville, N. C. Dr. Watkins mentions in his un- published diary that one day shortly before the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge, when the regiment was on Lookout Mountain, Captain Williamson, seeing some foragers down in the valley, took five men off duty, made a sudden attack upon a heavy detachment of infantry, drove them off and captured their wagons. The command spent the winter of 1863-64 at Dal- ton, and was in all the fighting from there to Atlanta and Jonesboro and lost many men. Captain Williamson was wounded at the latter place and was detailed to go into West Tennessee. He rejoined the command after Hood came out
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of Tennessee and in the last days of the Confederacy was promoted (see Lindsley's Annals) to the rank of major and was in command of a consolidated regiment, a mere skeleton of less than one hundred men, at the surrender at Greensboro, N. C. After incredible hardships he and seven other men of the old company reached Memphis via East Tennessee, Nashville and the river. They rented one big room in the old Worsham House and remained until they could see friends, secure a little money and change their old gray suits for citi- zens' clothes. Then they returned to Somerville-8 men- all that was left of the original 104 of Company D. Major Williamson engaged in the practice of law, removed to Mem- phis, married Miss Delia Talbot, of a prominent old family, soon after the war, and was prominent in Masonry and many affairs. He was a chivalric, high-toned man, devoted to fam- ily, friends and duty. He died January 23, 1886, leaving a wife, two sons and two daughters. Became a member of this Association July 15, 1869.
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WILLINS, JOHN T., born in Brooklyn, New York, July 5, 1841 ; came to Memphis in February, 1858, and entered the house of Orgill Bros. & Co .; enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment April, 1861 ; served with the Army of Tennessee about two years, then transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department and served as chief clerk with Major John N. Norris, chief quartermaster under Maior Gen- eral S. B. Maxey, commanding the district of the Indian Ter- ritory, with headquarters at Fort Towson, Cherokee Nation. Under an order issued by General E. Kirby Smith at Shreve- port, La., August 9, 1864, "Captain John T. Willins, A. Q. M. agent," was subsequently assigned to duty with Major Norris at Doaksville, Cherokee Nation, where he served until after the surrender; was paroled at Shreveport August 1, 1865, by Brigadier General George L. Andrews, U. S. A. : returned to Memphis and resumed business the same month, and for more than twenty years was a managing partner. In 1868 he married Miss Lizzie O. Nelson, daughter of Col- onel Thomas A. Nelson. They had seven children, two of them daughters, and all survived him. He was one of the early members of the Confederate R. and H. A., a member and officer of Calvary Episcopal Church. a devoted husband and father, a good neighbor and citizen, and in every sense a true man. He died on January 28, 1892, aged fifty years and six months.
WILSON, T. E., born at Fort Smith, Ark., January 1, 1850; was a private in McCulloch's Brigade, Trans-Missis- sippi Department ; went in the service at the age of 11 years and was with Ben McCulloch when he was killed at Pea Ridge ; afterward went to General Henry E. McCulloch and remained with him as a courier until the end of the war ; was never regularly enlisted on account of extreme youth, but served throughout the war. Admitted to this Association August 14, 1894. The following is a copy of an original letter he has in his possession :
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS, Jan. 14, 1891. Mr. Thos. E. Wilson, es- Confederate Courier :
DEAR SIR-After your reference to your father's services with my chief quartermaster, Major W. G. King, I readily
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T. E. WILSON.
call you to mind as the active courier and messenger boy sol- dier who served at my headquarters as such while I was in command at Bonham. Texas, during the latter portion of the Confederate war, and that although only a boy, I could and did always rely implicitly upon you in carrying out written orders promptly or delivering verbal messages intelligently and faithfully : and thus remembering, I congratulate you on living to become a man of family, and ask God's blessings upon you and every member thereof.
Your friend, HENRY E. MCCULLOCH, Ex-Brigadier-General C. S. A.
Mr. Wilson came to Memphis in 1873 and has been in bus- iness here since ; he was married to Miss Mollie Murray in Memphis in 1879, and they have a son and daughter.
WILROY, C. W., enlisted June, 1861, as a private in Com- pany D, Blythe's Mississippi Battalion ; was transferred to the Forty-fourth Mississippi and to Henderson's Scouts ; paroled May 10, 1865. Joined C. II. A. June 13, 1894. 15
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WILKERSON, W. D., enlisted May 28, 1861, as a private in Company A, Thirteenth Tennessee Infantry, and trans- ferred to Company D, Sixth Tennessee, that summer; fought through the war and was paroled at Greensboro, N. C., April 28, 1865. Joined the C. II. A. June 13, 1894.
WINCHESTER. GEO. W., son of Major-General James Winchester of the old regular army, and prominently identi- fied with the early history of Memphis ; served on the staff of General W. B. Bate during the war; practiced law after- ward here, and died several years ago. He became a mem- ber of this Association July 15, 1869.
WINFREE, SAMUEL, enlisted April 4, 1861, as a private in the Fourth Tennessee Infantry ; served in Cheatham's Division; when the war ended was sergeant of engineers ; surrendered with the army of General Jos. E. Johnston at Charlotte, N. C., in April, 1865. Joined this Association June 13, 1894.
WINSTON, W. B., First Lieutenant Company C, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry ; enlisted August 9, 1861, in Logwood's Battalion. In 1863 and part of '64 commanded General Chal- mers' escort, for which purpose Company C was detached ; was wounded twice-at Harrisburg, Miss., July 14, 1864, and in front of Columbia, Tenn., November 25, 1864; was cap- tured at Lamar, Miss., in November, 1862, and released the following month. After the wound at Columbia, was dis- abled completely, the shot being through the head, and was not recovered from until six months after the war; paroled in May, 1865; has been for many years a leading physician of the city. Admitted to the C. HI. A. April 9, 1895.
WITHERS, R. Q., born in Marshall county, Miss., Novem- ber 7, 1845; enlisted for twelve months in the Seventeenth Regiment. Mississippi Volunteers, in May, 1861, and in the Army of Northern Virginia until September, 1862; was dis- charged as under age ; enlisted again in the Third Mississippi Cavalry in February, 1863; promoted to second lieutenant in October or November, same year. This command was with Chalmers' Division of Cavalry much of the time; was
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on detached service at the end; paroled at Grenada, Miss., in April or May, 1865. Joined the C. H. A. June 13, 1894.
WOLF, FRED., born in Dieburg, Hesse Darmstadt, Ger- many, in 1835; came to New York city in 1851, and to Mem- phis in 1859; joined the Washington Rifles and was made second sergeant of the company, which became a part of the Fifteenth Tennessee; participated in the battle of Shiloh ; after that was made quartermaster-sergeant; went through the campaign into Kentucky and back to Middle Tennessee. In the summer of 1863 the Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh Tennessee Regiments were consolidated near Hoover's Gap, and he went back to his company. Colonel R. C. Tyler had him appointed by the Secretary of War as A. Q. M., with the rank of captain, and he still has that commission (1896). He was at the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; was in winter quarters at Dalton, and on the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, having charge of all the ambulances of Bate's Division, acquitting himself with the highest credit under perilous and trying circumstances. At Tuscumbia, Ala., he was ordered to report to General Lawton in Rich- mond, who assigned him to General McCausland's Brigade, with which he served until the end. Captain Wolf was sur- rendered and paroled at Lynchburg, Va., one day after Gen- eral Lee's surrender at Appomattox. He rode to Bristol, East Tennessee, sold his horse and fine saddle for $50, and worked his way slowly through to Memphis. He became an active member of the old Confederate Relief and Historical Association at an early day, and has been a member of Com- pany A, Confederate Veterans, from its organization, and was with the company on its trips to Chattanooga, Richmond and elsewhere.
WOOD, JOHN W., enlisted March 1, 1861, in Company F, Twelfth Mississippi Regiment, Harris' Brigade; was com- missioned as captain March 4, 1861, and served in the Army of Northern Virginia until the close of the war.
WOODSON. H. M., enlisted March 10. 1862, at the age of 17 years, while attending school in Mississippi, and was transferred to Company II. Thirteenth Tennessee Regiment,
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Vaughan's Brigade, about February or March, 1864; was in about twenty-seven battles, not to speak of the almost daily fighting from Dalton to Atlanta; after that was assigned to lighter duty on account of his health. The only furlough he ever had was issued for sixty days by a surgeon at Columbus, Ga., on the 13th of April, 1865, four days after Lee's sur- render; was paroled at Montgomery, Ala., May 10, 1865, and still has his parole. some railroad transportation and other cherished relics of that period. Returned to Germantown, married there, but has lived in Memphis many years. Became a member of this Association about the year 1891.
WOOLDRIDGE, OSCAR, enlisted in the Memphis Light Dragoons, Company A, Seventh Tennessee, September 25, 1862, just in time to take part in the furious attack at Davis' Bridge, Miss. He was in the battles of Corinth, October 4 and 5, 1862, Ripley, Old Lamar, Oxford and Coffeeville, and took part in the capture of Holly Springs, December 20, 1862, and was in the engagements at Davis' Mills and Bolivar December 21 and 24, 1862. In the spring of 1863 the com- pany was engaged in the Vicksburg campaign ; from thence it went to Georgia and was actively engaged in front of Sher- man in the Atlanta campaign ; from Georgia it went to Mid- dle Tennessee with Hood, and the young soldier saw further severe fighting at Lawrenceburg, Campbellville, Rally Hill, Hurt's X Roads, Mount Carmel, Spring Hill, Franklin, Mur- freesboro, Lynnville, Richland Creek, Anthony's Hill and Sugar creek, and in the engagements during the Wilson raid ; he surrendered with his company at Gainesville, Ala., May 11, 1865. In all these trying days the young trooper bore himself as a hero. Cool, brave and determined, he was a very type of the Confederate veteran of that day; clean of life, proud, generous to a fault. he was an ideal messmate. and as a soldier worthy the race from which he sprang. He quitted the camp without an enemy. and though long since gone to a better home, his memory lingers green in the hearts of those who knew and loved him best in time of war. He joined the Confederate R. and II. A. September 1, 1870, and died several years afterward.
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WOOLDRIDGE. EGBERT, enlisted March, 1862, in Com- pany L, Maynard Rifles, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Ten- nessee Regiment, for twelve months ; was very young, a mere lad, and was under conseriptive age at the expiration of the time for which he was mustered into the service ; he was then entitled to and received an honorable discharge and enlisted in the cavalry, joining the Bluff City Grays, Captain James Edmondson. His first captain, E. A. Cole, says of him : " If such a thing be possible, he was brave to a fault, always ready to meet the enemy and went into battle cheer- fully and with alacrity ; in other words, he was a good soldier and never shirked his duty ; he was very companionable, with unexceptionable habits and noted for his extreme modesty. With credit and honor to himself he participated while in my command in the battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Ky., Per- ryville and Murfreesboro." After the surrender returned to Memphis, engaged in business and joined the C. R. and H. A. September 1, 1870 ; died several years ago.
In this connection it may be added that Oscar and Egbert Wooldridge had a brother, Charles A. Wooldridge, who be- longed to the Hickory Rifles, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee, a gallant soldier, who was killed, and fell into the arms of Captain Wynne Cannon at Peachtree creek, in front of Atlanta, July 20, 1864.
Another brother, W. HI. Wooldridge, still living and an active business man, was too young to go into the army, but not too young to render valuable services in supplying his brothers with horses and clothing for several years, and in supplying other soldiers with medicines, clothing, etc. Being a mere boy he could run through the picket lines successfully and was really more useful than many who were at the front. C. P. Wooldridge, a cousin, belonged to the Hickory Rifles, and Alex. Wooldridge, another cousin, was a member of the Maynard Rifles, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee, making in all six young Wooldridges in the Confederate service.
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WRIGHT, JESSE C., Captain Company HI, Seventeenth Mississippi Regiment, Army of North Virginia, enlisted May
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27, 1861; started out as corporal of Company H; was cap- tured at Farmville, Va., April 6, 1865 ; released at the end of the war. Joined the C. HI. A. October, 1894.
WRIGHT, J. R., born in Norfolk, Va., December 25, 1841 ; enlisted April 18, 1861, in Grandy's Battery, Norfolk Blues. as a private ; was made a sergeant soon after (his only pro- motion) ; was stationed at Sewell's Point, Va., and took part in the famous fight in Hampton Roads between the Merrimac and Monitor; at the evacuation of Norfolk joined the Army of North Virginia and followed Lee in all his campaigns; was at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsville, Gettys- burg, and from the Wilderness to Petersburg, where he was captured April 2, 1865 ; sent to Point Lookout, Md .; released June 23, 1865, and returned to Norfolk ; came to Memphis in 1868, where he still resides ; joined the C. H. A. June 13, 1894, and became a member of Company A, Confederate Veterans; attended with it the reunion at Richmond, Va., where he met many old comrades and friends after long years of separation.
WRIGHT, LUKE E., enlisted June 4, 1861, in Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Senior Regi- ment ; became second lieutenant of artillery attached to the division commanded by Generals Breckinridge and Bate; was in the principal engagements of the West under Bragg, Johnston and Hood ; was wounded at the battle of Jonesboro, Ga .; after the war was admitted to the bar ; married a daugh- ter of Admiral Semmes, who was an early president of the Ladies' Confederate Memorial Association ; was elected Attor- ney-General of the Criminal Court of Shelby county and served eight years. Is recognized as one of the leading lawyers of Memphis and of the State.
WRIGHT, MARCUS J., born in MeNairy county, Tenn. ; practiced law in Memphis ; was elected lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Regi- ment April 4, 1861 ; commanded his regiment in the battles of Belmont and Shiloh, and served with the rank of lieuten- ant-colonel: on the staff of Major-General B. F. Cheatham
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the battle of Perryville ; commissioned brigadier-general cember 13, 1862; assigned to the command of Hanson's entucky Brigade January 10, 1853, and relinquished this to take command of Donelson's splendid brigade, which he led in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge; was twice wounded ; afterward commanded the district and post t Atlanta and post at Macon, Ga. He was assigned to the command of the district of North Mississippi and West Ten- uessee, with headquarters at Grenada, Miss., February 3, 1865, and remained there until the surrender. After that he was onnected with the press of Memphis and St. Louis. On the 1st of July, 1878, he was appointed by the Secretary of War to collect and prepare for publication by the government such records of the South relating to the war as might be avail- able, and his services have been continued ever since. He has contributed much to secure a fair and impartial history of the civil war. General Wright comes of the best pioneer and Revolutionary ancestors and exhibits their sterling quali- ties and brilliant gifts. He has been married twice and has a happy family and home in Washington, and still claims his citizenship in Memphis. Joined the C. R. & H. A. July 15, 1869.
WYNNE, J. W., enlisted in Company B, Third Texas avalry, May, 1861 ; was commissioned as captain in May, 362; served in General Ross' command; discharged May, 65. Joined the C. H. A. in March, 1891.
YOUNG, A. A., born Jannary 5, 1847, in Shell. county, con. ; enlisted October 1, 1863, in Company G, Third W's- issippi Cavalry ; served in Forrest's command and was parored May 18, 1865, at Gainesville, Ala. Admitted to the C. H. A. December 11, 1894.
YOUNG, J. P., enlisted in Company A, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, November 10, 1864, at Florence, Ala .; served in Rucker's and Chalmers Brigades ; was first for several months at Hardee's and Cheatham's headquarters and then with Com-
ny A, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, Strahl's Brigade, but ng under age was never sworn into the infantry and was List regularly enlisted with the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry,
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and was with Forrest's command during the march into and in covering the retreat of Hood's army out of Tennessee, and surrendered with it at Gainesville, Ala., May 11, 1865 ; at the beginning of the war was an invalid ; as soon as able was engaged for a year or more in supplying the boys in camp with horses, equipments, clothing, etc., cutting telegraph wires, and such general Confederate deviltry as a boy could do. After the war he read law and was admitted to the bar; was connected with the Memphis Aralanche as city editor at one time ; wrote and published a valuable book, " The History of the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry"; admitted to this Associa- tion in 1884 and elected secretary in 1894, and has since served as such; was elected a justice of the peace in 1888 and has since been a prominent member of the County Court of Shelby.
NAMES WITHOUT SKETCHES.
The following are names of members appearing upon the books of the Association, mostly in early times, without rec- ord as to services. Some of them have died, others moved away, and still others are here yet, but were not reached by the writer and compiler of this book. Being on t! : rolls at all, is prima-facie evidence that they were all good soldiers and regularly admitted :
Adams, T. P. Callahan. Daniel Charles, Jas. L.
Dickenson, B. F. Duncan, R. P.
Auman, W. C.
Chisman, John R.
Edmondson, J. H.
Estes, Thos. H.
Bateman, Dr. R. P. Collier, W. A.
Ewell, Gen. R. T.
Farris, James B.
Bate, James H. Bell, D. Beatty, II. K.
Cook. John C. Colby, E. E. Conner, James
Farrow, Chas. S.
Belcher, E. L. dead Cox, James O.
Bridges, J. C.
Galloway, T. S.
Gibson, John R.
Greene,Gen.Colton
Bulkley, Maj. dead Davidson, Thos.
Hamblett. J. G.
Hampton, S. W.
Burnell, H. D. Cannon, W. G.
Davis, Com. I. N. Dailey, E. II.
Gammon, S. R. Garvey, Thos.
Cressman, W. Brown, Gen. W. M. Curtis, H. R. Brown, E. H.
Darden, Thos.
Harper, W. F.
Baker, P. J.
Barth, Wm. G. Collier, R. A.
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