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 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
90
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
in 1864, after he had participated in the great conflict at Chickamauga, and the signal engagement and victory at New Hope Church, in the Georgia campaign. This last con- flict was the most desperately contested one during the war. Stewart's Division of 2900 men repulsed and drove from the field Hooker's entire corps of 11,000 men, who vainly endeav- ored to penetrate Johnston's line of march and cut the Con- federates in two. The artillery did the most effective work on that occasion. It remained right in the ranks with the infantry and did havoc at close fire for two hours, giving confidence and encouragement to the boys on all sides. Gen- eral Sherman, in his " Memoirs of the War," says the Fede- ral soldiers called the fight at New Hope Church by the euphonious name of " Hell's Hole." Verily, it was well named. Major Eldridge's loss there was sixty-five men and sixty-five horses killed and wounded, and not a charge of ammunition was left in the boxes. Major Eldridge distin- guished himself on many occasions. After the war he prac- ticed law in Memphis, and now makes his home in Missis- sippi. He became a member of the Confederate Historical Association October 14, 1890.
ELLIOTT, GEORGE B., private Company G, Twelfth Kentucky Infantry, entered service May 16, 1861, and retired May 16, 1865. Proposed by W. J. Pollard and elected a member of this Association March 20, 1870.
ELLIOTT, C. S., private Company A., Fourth Tennessee, enlisted April, 1861; was wounded at Shiloh and at New Hope Church and was discharged in June. 1862, for disabil- ity, caused by the wound ; was reinstated in Ballentine's Reg- iment September, 1862 ; was totally disabled by the wound at New Hope Church for the rest of the war; reported daily at hospital ; paroled June 6, 1865. Admitted to the Confederate Historical Association May 4, 1895.
ELLIS, W. W., Sergeant Company C, Thirteenth Tennes- see Infantry ; enlisted December, 1861 ; wounded at Mur- freesboro and Atlanta ; paroled April 13, 1865, at Augusta, Ga. Admitted to Confederate Historical Association March 10, 1896.
91
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
ENGLISH, RICHARD T., joined the Confederate Relief and Historical Association July 1, 1869, and died in this city October 13, 1871. He was a man of noble impulses and uni- ·versally popular in all circles. He resided in this city for six years previous to his death, and it may be safely asserted that he had more genuine friends than most newspaper work- ers among all of the list, being liked not only by his personal intimates, but also by those who served opposition journals. Captain English was a native of Chester county, Pa .; born July 4, 1832 : attended college in Wisconsin and removed to Natchez, Miss., with his father and family in 1852. He was there engaged in civil engineering until the war began. In April, 1861, he was third lieutenant of the Quitman Artillery, and three months later was unanimously chosen its captain. Served a year at Mobile and Pensacola under General Bragg, then raised a battery of light artillery at Natchez, Miss. At Port Hudson Captain English was appointed provost mar- shal, but he operated his battery in all of the engagements about that place until he was captured in 1863, when he was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio. Before his capture he had been promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy of artillery and was on his way to serve under Kirby Smith when taken prisoner. One of his daring exploits was to place his battery on the bluffs at Ellis Cliffs, some twenty miles below Natchez, to fire on passing war ships compelled to move close along shore, owing to the nature of the river channel. On one occasion he used a Maynard rifle while in ambush half way down the side of the cliff to fire upon an officer occupying the quarter deck of a big ship, supposing it to be Commodore Farragut, as he wore a red sash of command at the time. The officer was hit and fell from the chair upon which he was seated. A broadside from the ship sent cannon shot and shell into the bluff at the feet of Captain English, which seemingly raised the side of the cliff as if a mine had been sprung. When Captain English died his funeral was attended by the Masonic brotherhood, of which he was a worthy member. Few can count upon as many and as lasting friendships as Captain English. His sense of honor was the highest. He was incap-
92
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
able of selfishness, and in his intercourse with all, his manners were most genial, prompted by a heart filled to overflowing with the milk of human kindness.
ERSKINE, DR. JOHN H., was Chief Surgeon of the Army of Tennessee on the staff' of General Joseph E. Johnston at the surrender in North Carolina and was one of the original charter members of this Association. In the great epidemic of 1878 he fell a martyr to a high sense of duty that others might live. A more extended sketch will be found in the second part of this book.
ERMAN, L. W., entered the Confederate service at New Orleans April 6, 1861, and was commissioned first lieutenant of First Louisiana Infantry and detailed on recruiting service. At the expiration of his commission he joined the Twenty- eighth Mississippi Regiment at Jackson, Miss.
ESTES, L. H., was a private in Company A, Sixth Battal- ion of Tennessee Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He is now serving his second term as Judge of the First Circuit Court of Shelby County, having been re-elected at the last August election. Became a member of this Asso- ciation in 1885.
FARABEE, BENJ. F., First Sergeant Company HI, Thir- teenth Tennessee Regiment; enlisted June 4, 1861; was in the battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Marietta, Atlanta, and in all the Georgia campaign; also in the battles of Franklin and Nashville; was wounded at Nashville and also slightly at Franklin ; captured December 16, 1864, and released June 22, 1865. Admitted to the Confederate Historical Associa- tion October 8, 1895.
FARRER, CHAS. SMITH, enlisted in 1861 as a private in the Ninth Tennessee Infantry; served under Generals Bragg, Hood, Johnston and Patton Anderson ; was at Pensa- cola and Cumberland Gap ; was wounded in battles of Cum- berland Gap, Perryville and Chickamauga; was captured at Perryville and exchanged at Vicksburg.
93
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
FARRIS, O. B., was Captain of Company K, Second Ten- nessee Regiment, Bell's Brigade, Forrest's Cavalry, and served until the end of the war as such. Paroled in May, 1865.
FARROW, G. F., born in 1842, in Marshall county, Miss .; removed to Tennessee when 11 years old; enlisted at Ger- mantown April 20, 1861. in Company C, Thirteenth Tennes- see Regiment; was in the battle of Belmont, and soon after was transferred to McDonald's Battalion, Forrest's old regi- ment; was in all the important fights in which that regiment took part ; was captured at Britton's Lane, Tenn., and ex- changed ten days later; remained in the command to the end and was surrendered and paroled at Gainesville, Ala., in May, 1865. Has since lived near Memphis ; joined the Con- federate Historical Association June 13, 1894. His brother, John P. Farrow, in the same company, was killed at Belmont at the first volley, and is believed by General Vaughan and others to have been the first man killed in battle in the West. The death of this brave young soldier, belonging as he did to a prominent old family, created a great sensation at the time, and his remains were brought home and buried with all pos- sible military and civic honors in an old church-yard a few miles south of the city.
FAZZI, J., private Company C, Forrest's old regiment, and served in all its changes; was wounded at Shiloh in the side and also at Holly Springs in the leg ; was all through the war and paroled May 11, 1865.
FENTRESS, FRANCIS, Sergeant Company E, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry ; enlisted in May, 1861 ; was first in Nee- ly's Cavalry, afterward merged into W. H. Jackson's regi- ment, afterward commanded by Colonel W. F. Taylor as the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry ; served until the close of the war in Company E; paroled May, 1865. Became a prominent member of the bar at Bolivar and removed to Memphis a few years ago and joined the Confederate Historical Association.
FINLAY, LUKE W., was born near Brandon, Rankin county, Miss., October 8, 1831. His father, Hon. Jas. Finlay, was of Scotch parentage and a native of Baden county, N. C .;
-
94
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
a citizen of Rankin from 1829 until his death in 1860; a farmer by occupation ; for six successive terms was Judge of the Probate Court of that county. His mother, Cady Lewis, was a native of South Carolina, whose ancestors served in the Revolutionary war with General Francis Marion. Three sons survive, all lawyers-Hon. Oscar E. Finlay, the county judge of Young county, Texas ; Hon. George P. Finlay, often of the Legislature of Texas, city attorney of Galveston and now surveyor of the port in that city, and Colonel Luke W. Finlay. He was graduated at Yale in 1856; had charge of Academy at Brandon a year ; settled in Memphis August 1, 1857 ; Jan- uary 1, 1860, he entered upon the practice of law ; appeared in Supreme Court, April term, 1861; April 19, 1861, he en- listed as First Lieutenant of Company A, Fourth Tennessee Infantry ; was wounded at Shiloh ; on reorganization was elected major ; was in the battle of Perryville October 8, 1862, where he was wounded the second time. He was engaged in continuous service in the movement of the Army of Tennes- see to Camp Diek Robinson; thence back into Tennessee by way of Cumberland Gap, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Bridge- port up to Tullahoma, and thence to Murfreesboro. At Mur- freesboro he was the occasion of a singular and thrilling inci- dent. In the furious onset of General Patton Anderson's Brigade they for a moment faltered as they drove the Fed- eral lines back, and upon being reformed Colonel Bright Morgan asked him how he could get the Twenty-ninth Mis- sissippi to the front. Major Finlay at once spoke to Colonel Bratton, commanding the Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regi- ment, requesting him to let Colonel Morgan pass with his regiment and cheer him as the colors touched each other. Colonel Bratton immediately removed a file of men next to his colors so the Twenty-ninth could pass. As the latter advanced, so the two color bearers stood together, Colonel Bratton. amidst the roar of battle, shouted, " Three cheers for the Twenty-ninth Mississippi !" and amidst the storm of cheers that regiment passed on to its place in front. He rejoined his command, after a short absence on detached ser- vice, the second day of the battle of Chickamauga, and was
95
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
continuously with it and in charge of the Fourth Regiment at Missionary Ridge, where during the engagement he con- manded the Fourth and Fifth Tennessee Regiments, who were stationed in rifle pits near the left of the line, and con- tinued the engagement until he was ordered by his superior to move to the top of the ridge. This engagement was char- acterized by a withholding of fire until the Federal lines approached within easy range of the rifles. At this moment the command was given, "Ready, aim, fire!" After the advancing Federals, by the steady fire of the Fourth and Fifth, were driven back and the ensigns moved to their left in order to rally them, Major Finlay gave the command, "Right oblique, fire !" At the word the rifles were obedient to the command and the rallying ensigns again fell back. Ile was with his regiment on Chickamauga's banks, at Chic- amauga station, as it passed the camp fires of the Federal bivouac at dusk ; crossed the Chickamauga at Ringold Gap with Strahl's Brigade, supporting Cleburne there. His ser- vice continued at Dalton, Mill Creek Gap, Snake Gap, Resaca, Adairsville and New Hope Church in the successive engage- ments along the line of battle.
On May 27th, while holding an advanced position with the Fourth Tennessee, he was severly wounded in the head. This disabled him until the latter part of November, 1864, when he rejoined the Fourth on the night of the battle at Franklin. He had charge of his regiment at Nashville and on the retreat until it crossed the river. With the army he went to North Carolina and participated in the battle of Bentonville, where Joe Johnston held at bay the army of Sherman, and at Greensboro was paroled with his command.
For the past two decades he has been continuous in the practice of his profession, participating in politics only as a private citizen, never failing to exercise the right of the ballot and always striving for what he believed to be the best inter- ests of the public. In 1894 his son Percy, whom he had given a complete education at Yale and a course in the Yale Law School, entered upon the practice with his father.
He has always been a Democrat in politics, a churchman
96
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
in religion, being a member of the Episcopal Church, and a practitioner at law in all the courts of his State. Became a member of this Association many years ago.
FISHER, J. B., private in Hickerson's Arkansas Regi- ment, Trans-Mississippi Department ; enlisted July, 1863, and served until the close of the war; was wounded at Helena, Ark .; was on sick leave of absence at the time of the surren- der and a few days before; therefore was never paroled. Admitted to Confederate Historical Association May 4, 1895.
FISHER, JOHN H., private in the Bluff City Grays, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee ; enlisted April 26, 1861.
. FLANNAGAN, P., was born in Strokestown, County Ros- common, Ireland, in 1828 ; came over to the States in 1850, reaching Memphis in 1852. He enlisted April 15, 1861, in Company E, Captain Casper W. Hunt's Company; went to Nashville and joined Bate's Regiment in May, 1861. This regiment went to Virginia and about the 12th of that month was mustered into the Confederate States service at Lynch- burg. The regiment moved on to Richmond ; thence to Fred- ericksburg and Brooks' Station and participated actively in the capture of Federal mail packets ; was first under fire at Acquia Creek Jane 1, 1861. (See Lindsley's Annals, p. 132.) Was stationed at Evansport on the Potomac ; ordered to the front, and although under fire and on a forced march was a day too late for the battle of Manassas. After that returned to Evansport and resumed the erection of defenses, and with other forces constituting a corps of observation facing the commands of Generals Sickles and Hooker ; remained there until January, 1862. The regiment re-enlisted for the war and was furloughed for sixty days ; met at Huntsville, Ala .; reformed there, went to Corinth, was assigned to Cleburne's Brigade and was in the battle of Shiloh, where the regiment lost in killed. and wounded 225 men. Colonel Bate was severely wounded, and was promoted to brigadier-general before he was able to return to the field.
The regiment was in the Kentucky campaign under E. Kirby Smith, and in the bloody battle of Richmond private
97
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Pat Flannagan lost his arm, and was taken prisoner. He was paroled and sent to Jackson, Miss., rejoined his com- mand when able and was with the Second Tennessee Regi- ment at the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, not carrying a gun, it is true, but rendering such service as he could, especially for the wounded. He was in winter quarters at Dalton, and with his regiment in the campaign at Atlanta. He never was in a hospital except when abso- lutely necessary, preferring to be with the boys at the front and in the ditches even after he lost his arm. His arm, how- ever, whilst shattered at Richmond, Ky., was not amputated until January 4, 1863, at Mobile, Ala. He was paroled at Meridian, Miss., May 3, 1865 ; returned to Memphis and has been here ever since and has never married. He became a member of this Association in 1891. For some years he has been connected with a small business in one corner of the courthouse, and is a general favorite with all the officials and all who have business there. For a year he drew a pension from the State, but as it was discovered that he was not a pauper his name was stricken from the list of beneficiaries. He is a cheerful, jolly character and fine specimen of the sur- viving volunteer Confederates who fought for the love of the South.
FONTAINE, OGDEN, born and reared in Louisville, Ky. Being in New Orleans when the war broke out, joined Dreux New Orleans Cadets ; went with that command to Pensacola, Fla .; with the command was ordered to the peninsula of Vir- ginia; was in all the fighting along Warrick Run, when Magruder stood off Mcclellan's big army with a little thin line of 5000 men.
Dreux Battalion was then mustered out under the twelve months' enlistment law ; then joined John H. Morgan's Ken- tucky Cavalry, then rendezvouing at Knoxville, Tenn .; was in all of Morgan's raids and marches, including the Ohio raid. Was captured in the Ohio raid at Buffington Island. Ohio, succeding in escaping at Cincinnati. Rejoined what was left of Morgan's command and was with it under Forrest at the battle of Chickamauga; was severely wounded at the battle 7
98
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
of Cynthiana, Kentucky ; again at Augusta, Ky., and again at Rhea Town, Tenn.
On Morgan's escape from Tennessee was ordered by Gen- eral Morgan to report to him, to stay with him on his per- sonal staff, to be commissioned as a captain and given a com- pany on his prospective raid into Kentucky, he (General Morgan) expecting to recruit largely on that raid. General Morgan was killed a few weeks afterward. Was sent by Generals Breckinridge and Duke into Kentucky in the spring of 1863, aiding the straggling Confederates to rejoin their commands in Virginia. Surrendered to General John M. Palmer, with eight men, in Louisville, Ky., in April, 1865, after Lee's and Johnston's surrender of their armies. Joined this Association September 9, 1869.
FORREST, W. M., enlisted June, 1861, when quite a youth in White's Mounted Rifles ; served on the staff of his illustri- ous father, General N. B. Forrest, as first lieutenant and aide-de-camp all through the war and was wounded in the battles at Fort Donelson, Harrisburg and Spring Hill, Tenn. Paroled May, 1865. After the war married and settled in Memphis and became a successful railroad contractor. Is a quiet business man and strongly resembles his father. Ad- mitted to this Association October 9, 1894.
FRAYSER, ROBERT DUDLEY, was born in Memphis June 4, 1840, being the oldest child of Dr. John R. and Mrs. Pauline Frayser; attended city schools and in 1858 was sent to the Kentucky Military Institute, where he remained three years and was graduated as valedictorian of his class June 4, 1861. Meantime during vacations he had read law under Judge Thomas B. Monroe and received the degree of Bache- lor of Laws. Although of slight physique, weighing only from 109 to 120 pounds at his best, and always apparently delicate, he had great powers of application, was very ambi- tious and resolute, and accomplished a great deal in his life.
As soon as out of college he cast his lot with the Sonth. Went to Knoxville with Colonel (afterward General) Wmn. II. Carroll, joined Company F, Thirty-seventh Tennessee,
99
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
drilled the regiment, and in August, 1861, he was appointed adjutant by Colonel Carroll. He was with the regiment on duty when it came to Germantown, near Memphis ; then went back to Chattanooga and Knoxville and marched across the mountains to Mill Springs, Ky., in time to cross the Cum- berland river and participate in the closing scenes of the disaster to Confederate arms at Fishing Creek, made notable by the death of General Zollicoffer.
At the reorganization of the regiment, when it had become a part of Marmaduke's Brigade, at Corinth, Miss., after the battle of Shiloh, Adjutant Frayser was elected lieutenant- colonel and held this rank until the end of the war. He was sick and unable to go with Bragg's army into Kentucky, but was in the battle of Murfreesboro December 31, 1862, where he was shot from his horse early in the action. But he recov- ered in a few months.
At the consolidation of the Fifteenth and Thirty-seventh Tennessee Regiments, near Wartrace, Middle Tennessee, in the summer of 1863, he was retained as lieutenant-colonel and was with it with but few absences until the surrender at Greensboro, N. C. He was in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge and in the campaign from Dalton to At- lanta, and particularly distinguished himself as officer of the day in command of a heavy picket line from Bate's Brigade ; engaged all of one day in front of Kenesaw Mountain at a point known then as Bald Hill or Bald Knob. He was under fire almost every day, and in command of his regiment from there to Atlanta, where he was wounded on the 22d of July, 1864. He was rescued by the infirmary corps and sent to the hospital at Griffin, Ga. In a few weeks he resumed com- mand of his regiment and was with it nearly all the time until the end in North Carolina. Toward the close he was in command of Bate's old brigade, known as Tyler's or Tom Benton Smith's, a mere skelton brigade. He endured intense hardships and sufferings with an inspired sort of faith and patience. Although a strict disciplinarian, he was just and considerate ; was very grave and thoughtful, and enjoyed the respect and good will of his men. There were jealousies
100
SKETCHES OF SOLDIERS
after the consolidation of those two regiments which gave him much trouble, but his conduct at Bald Knob, in the pres- ence of both armies, closed the mouths of his enemies.
Colonel Frayser returned home and became a member of the law firm of Morgan, Jarnagin & Frayser. He married Miss Mary F. Lane, of an old and prominent family. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow ; was once Grand Master I. O. O. F. of the State, and joined this Association July 15, 1869; was a very active member. He became interested in the street railway business, made money very rapidly and branched out into various enterprises, and at one time was part owner of the Public Ledger, and was president of the Memphis City Bank. He was considered quite wealthy, but financial re- verses overtook him about 1890-91, and he was a heavy loser. Overwork broke him down, and he died October 25, 1893, but left his wife and three children, a son and two daughters, in easy circumstances. His funeral was conducted by the Odd Fellows and attended by many of the best people of the city.
FRAZER, J. W., Brigadier- General, was in service in Washington Territory in the old army as captain ; resigned, went to Montgomery, Ala., and offered his services to the young Confederacy in March, 1861; was put in recruiting service at once ; that spring was appointed Lieutenant-Col- onel of the Eighth Alabama Infantry and served in Virginia ; raised the Twenty-eighth Alabama Regiment and elected its colonel; was appointed brigadier-general June, 1863, and sent to the command of Cumberland Gap with 1700 raw troops. In August the Gap was invested by General De- Courcey on the Kentucky side, which was followed by skir- mishing until General Burnside, in September, with 23,000 veterans, crossed the Gap fifteen miles below, and having occupied Knoxville returned to the Gap. There were no troops or assistance in East Tennessee, and no adequate force short of Richmond, and these could not be spared. After two days, in which demands for surrender were made and shelling kept up, General Frazer called a council of his field officers, which decided that there was no other alternative. and the post was surrendered to General Burnside in person.
101
CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
(See War Records and Jefferson Davis' " Rise and Fall of the Confederacy.") From that time to the close General Frazer was in prison, and was finally paroled from Fort Warren in July, 1865. He is now living at Clifton Springs, N. Y.
FRAZER, C. W., Major and Assistant Adjutant-General ; was educated at the University of Mississippi ; enlisted May, 1861, at Memphis ; was Captain of Company I, Twenty-first Tennessee Regiment in 1861, Captain of Company B, Fifth Confederate Infantry, in 1862-63, and served on the staff of General J. W. Frazer as Acting Adjutant - General. The Twenty-first and Second Tennessee Regiments were consoli- dated after the battle of Shiloh, forming the famous fighting Fifth Confederate Regiment, for the war, in Cleburne's Di- vision. Major Frazer was slightly wounded at the battles of Belmont and Murfreesboro ; was captured, confined at John- son's Island, and finally paroled there on the 11th day of June, 1865. He returned to Memphis, resumed the practice of law, attained the foremost rank at the bar, and is still in the practice. He became President of the Confederate His- torical Association of Memphis in 1884, and has continuously served as such up to the present time, December, 1896, with great zeal and efficiency.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.