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 8
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Major Frazer is the author of a strong war drama entitled "Johnson's Island." It is strictly historie, and realistic to a degree seldom produced on the stage, especially when the . chief actors are ex-Confederate soldiers and their friends. It was played to crowded houses in Memphis last season and to appreciative audiences in Richmond last summer by and under the auspices of Company A, Confederate Veterans of Memphis. He was married to Miss Letitia Austin of Missis- sippi February 15, 1862, and they have three children-Mrs. Virginia Frazer Boyle, the well known Southern poetess, C. W. Frazer, Jr., and Miss Phoebe Frazer.
FREDERICK, E., private Company G, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee; entered service April 23, 1861, and remained to the end. Admitted to the Confederate Histor- ical Association July, 1869.
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FRENCH, J. C., enlisted as a private May, 1861, in the Richmond Howitzers ; was in the Army of North Virginia two years ; was elected lieutenant, and served as aide-de-camp on the staff of General E. Kirby Smith; was in the Trans- Mississippi Department, and paroled in May or June, 1865. Joined this Association June, 1895.
FUCHS, VICTOR D., was born in Alsace (then France) in 1837, and came to Memphis, with other members of his family, in 1856. The next year he became a member of the old Washington Rifles, a local company composed entirely of foreign-born citizens. An incident in its history. remembered yet by a few, was the part it took in the reception tendered Governor Harris in Memphis soon after his election in 1857. Mr. Fuchs belonged to this company four years, and it was a part of the old One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tenessee Reg- iment State troops or militia. The company did not go into the war with the One Hundred and Fifth-fourth Sr. Regi- ment, but did enlist in June, 1861, for twelve months in the Fifteenth Tennessee, Colonel Chas. Carroll's Regiment. Mr. Fuchs was elected Second Lieutenant of Company I, and Nick Frick was elected Captain. The regiment went to Col- umbus, Ky., where it afterward wintered; and Lieutenant Fuchs was with it in the battle of Belmont, Mo. In Febru- ary, 1862, the regiment was ordered to march to the relief of Fort Donelson, but the order was countermanded, and in the spring proceeded to Corinth and thence to the front, and was hotly engaged in the battle of Shiloh, having nearly 200 meu killed and wounded. Lieutenant Fuchs participated in this engagement, but was suffering from a chronic ailment which had troubled him for several years. He was shortly afterward permanently discharged and did not again enter the service. Had never really been fit for hard duty, and it is only within the last few years that he obtained entire relief. Is married, has children, and is a prosperous business man. He joined the Confederate Historical Association October, 1894, and has since been a useful and enthusiastic member of Company A, Confederate Veterans; attended the reunion at Richmond in June-July, '93; and has been on other trips with the company.
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JUDGE J. S. GALLOWAY.
GALLOWAY, J. S., was born at the then home of his father, the Rev. Samuel Galloway, Mendham, N. J., on Feb- ruary 14, 1836; spent his early life at the home of his grand- father, Dr. Jacob Seudder, at Princeton, N. J .; was graduated from Princeton University in June. 1858, taking the highest honors in metaphysics and philosophy ; removed to Georgia the same year. taught school unti! 1860, when he removed to Memphis, Tenn., where he continued teaching until April, 1861, when he enlisted in the Shelby Grays, Company A, Fourth Tennessee Regiment; was severely wounded at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862; was afterward assigned to light service in the enrolling department, with the rank of first lieutenant, and served as such till the end of the war, having surrendered at Macon, Ga., in May, 1865. Like most of the young men of that day, he returned to his home im- poverished in everything save youth and ambition. Two gen-
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erous uncles - Mr. Benjamin R. Scudder of New Jersey and Mr. Alex. M. Scudder of Georgia - had advanced him con- siderable money with which to pay his way through school and the university, a large part of which he still owed. To liquidate this obligation, and to obtain the means to acquire a legal education, he again taught school. By means of the generous patronage afforded him by the good people of Mem- phis, he was soon enabled to pay off this debt of honor and prepare himself for the practice of law. Was admitted to the bar in 1866, and, after the "lucubrationes viginti armorum," was elected probate judge in 1886, having previously served ten years as justice of the peace and one term in the State Senate. The magnificent system of Shelby county turnpikes exemplifies his usefulness as a lawmaker; looking to that work alone, he can safely say "exegi monumentum." In 1894 he was re-elected Judge of the Probate and Second Circuit Courts of Shelby county to serve another term of eight years. While leading a busy life, he has found ample time to indulge his natural fondness for politics, and has figured prominently in most of the political struggles that have occurred in county and State for the past twenty years, having been twice non- inated by his party for justice of the peace, twice for State Senator, and twice for Judge of the Probate and Second Cir- cuit Courts, practically without opposition. His greatest po- litical battle, on his own account, occurred in 1890, when he offered for Congress in the Tenth Congressional District. His opponent was the Hon. T. K. Riddick of Fayette county. The contest, under the two-thirds rule, lasted for thirty days; upon the five thousand and fiftieth ballot Judge Galloway, lacking thirteen and one - third votes of being nominated, withdrew from the contest ; whereupon Colonel Josiah Patterson was selected as a compromise candidate ; this was a memorable contest-a record breaker. Judge Galloway is proud of the Democracy that has so often honored him, loyal to the State of his adoption, attached to the friends who have so often served him, and only hopes that his efforts to forward the interests of Democracy, State and friends will repay their partiality and devotion. He became a member of the Con- federate Historieal Association many years ago.
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MICHAEL T. GARVIN.
GARVIN, MICHAEL T .. born September 16, 1840, in Cumberland, Md., of Irish parents, whose genial tempera- ments and sturdy traits of character have been inherited by the son. With his parents he moved to Memphis in 1845, then a town of about 3000 inhabitants, grew up here, and is now one of the best posted men in the city as to its growth and the biography of old-time citizens. When the war broke out he joined the Tennessee Guards as a private April 22, 1861, which organized as Company HI, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, at Germantown, Tenn., on May 15, 1861 ; was made lieutenant of Griswold's Battery in January, 1863, and con- solidated with Harris' Battery, Marmaduke's Brigade, in Sep- tember, 1863. Resigned in December, 1864, and joined Stew- art's Scouts ; was captured May 2, 1865, at Dickson, Ala., and paroled at Inka, Miss., on May 15, 1865, arriving in Memphis June 3. 1865. Was wounded October 8, 1862, at
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Perryville, Ky .; also at Village Creek July, 1863, and in a skirmish near Memphis in December, 1864. He was at Bel- mont and the bombardment of Island No. 10, at Shiloh, Mumfordsville, Perryville and the battle of Little Rock. Pine Bluff, Poison Springs, Saline River and Ditch Bayou, in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and in various smaller engage- ments. Is now an active member of Company A, United Confederate Veterans ; was a member of the drill team when Company A won the $1000 prize in the national military contest at Memphis, Tenn., in May, 1895, and has been with Company A on several trips, including the greatest of all to Richmond last June-July, 1896.
For quite a time he was Deputy County Court Clerk ; was Constable of the Fifth Civil District and Deputy Sheriff, and was in 1888 elected Magistrate, and is a leading member of the County Court, which position he has held ever since. In 1890 was made City Recorder and still holds that position. Being a man of sterling qualities and a strong judicial cast of mind, as well as being a quick, intuitive judge of human nature, he dispatches business with rapidity and fairness.
He was married on the 11th of January, 1872, to Miss Maggie Moloney, and this union has been blessed with ten fine children, six of whom are sons, constituting altogether as happy a family as ever gathered around hearthstone or center table. Esquire Garvin is yet a young-looking man, and to his friends seems still younger at heart.
GARRETT, J. H., Sergeant Company A, Seventh Ten- nessee ; enlisted May 6, 1862, and paroled at Marion, Ala., May 13, 1865. Admitted to C. H. A. February 11, 1896.
GIBSON, F. L., Lieutenant Company C, Second Kentucky Cavalry, Morgan's command; served throughout the entire war; was captured at Lebanon, Tenn., in the fall of 1861, but escaped. Paroled May 13, 1865.
GILLOOLEY, FRANK, Captain Company F, G. B. Pick- ett's Engineer Corps; enlisted in 1861; was wounded at Vicksburg. Shiloh and Tishomingo Creek ; captured at Vicks- burg July 4, 1863. Paroled at Gainesville, Ala., May, 1865. Admitted to C. HI. A. February 12, 1895.
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GEN. GEORGE W. GORDON.
GORDON, GEORGE W., was born in Giles county, Tenn., and reared in Mississippi and Texas. Received a collegiate education and was graduated at the Western Military Insti- tute, Nashville, Tenn., in the class of 1859; also receiving there about the same military education and training as were given at West Point. Practiced civil engineering, for which he had made special preparation at college, until the outbreak of the war. Entered the military service of the State of Tennessee, from the county of Humphreys, in June, 1861. in the capacity of drill-master for the Eleventh Tennessee In- fantry Regiment ; soon after transferred to the service of the Confederate States. Was successively a captain, lieutenant- colonel and colonel of this regiment, and in the summer of 1864 was made a brigadier-general and served with that rank till the close of the war. Though captured three times- once at Tazewell, East Tennessee, and again at the battles of
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Murfreesboro and Franklin, Tenn., he was in every battle fought by his commands except that at Bentonville, N. C., at which time he was a prisoner at Fort Warren, Mass., where he was retained till August, 1865, several months after the close of the war. Upon his release from prison he studied law and practiced that profession until 1883, when he was appointed one of the railroad commissioners of the State. In 1885 he received an appointment in the Interior Depart- ment of the Government and served four years in the Indian country. Then resumed the practice of law until 1892, when he was elected Superintendent of the Memphis City Schools, which position he still occupies.
GORDON, C. M., enlisted August 29, 1863 : was a private in the Eighteenth Mississippi Regiment, and belonged to Chalmers' escort ; was wounded at Johnsonville, Tenn., in November, 1864. Paroled at Gainesville, Ala., May 12, 1865, and joined this Association February 17, 1895.
GOLDBAUM, MORRIS, private Company A, Fourteenth Mississippi Regiment ; enlisted April, 1861 ; was captured at Fort Donelson and at Franklin ; was wounded at the battle of Franklin and the bullet was cut out May 10, 1893 ; was released from prison April, 1865. Admitted to this Associa- tion November 13, 1894.
GOODBAR, JAMES M., was born in Overton county, Tenn., and reared principally in White county. In the early part of 1862 he assisted in raising a company of cavalry in the counties of White and Van Buren. This company was commanded by Captain George W. Carter, of Sparta, Tenn. Mr. Goodbar was elected second lieutenant of said company. At a later period this company was assigned to duty in the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, commanded by Colonel John P. Murray, of Gainesboro, Tenn. Colonel Murray selected Lieu- tenant Goodbar for quartermaster of said regiment, with the rank of captain. He was in the battle of Perryville, Ky .. and many smaller engagements. This and other regiments were reorganized at Shelbyville, Tenn., about January, 1863, when Captain Goodbar was assigned to duty as purchasing
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agent in the commissary department, and served in this capac- ity the remainder of the war. Upon one occasion he was captured by the Yankee cavalry, but being mounted on a good horse he made a sudden dash and a race of two miles, interspersed with many shots, and made his escape. After the war was over he returned to Memphis and engaged in the wholesale shoe business, in which line he had been before the war. He is now at the head of the wholesale shoe firm of Goodbar & Co., perhaps the largest establishment in that line south of the Ohio river, and is largely engaged in man- ufacturing ; is a very active man and in the full prime of life.
GOODMAN, WALTER A., Major in the Seventeenth Mississippi ; served in the army of Northern Virginia, and was engaged in the first battle of Manassas. His commission was dated July 31, 1862. He served as Assistant Adjutant General of Chalmers' Brigade of Infantry until transferred to Chalmers' Division of Cavalry, and then served with the same rank until the end of the war. He was one of the early presidents of the old Cenfederate Relief and Historical Association ; succeeded General Jno. C. Fizer in 1872, and served for more than one term.
GOTTEN, NICHOLAS, private Company C, Forrest's old regiment; enlisted March 10, 1862; was wounded twice-at Bolivar, Tenn., and near Lafayette, Tenn. ; was captured and left for dead by the Federals in May, 1864; captured second time at Greenbottom, Tenn, and exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss. ; served under General Forrest until the surrender in May, 1865. Admitted to this Association October 9, 1894.
GRAY, J. E., private in Company D, Third Battalion, Lee's Brigade, Army North Virginia ; entered service April 20, 1861, and retired April 3, 1865. Recommended for men- bership by Isaac Rosser and elected in this Association Jan- uary 20, 1870.
GRAY, W. P., steward in General Dick Taylor's Depart- ment ; entered service August, 1861; paroled May 5, 1865. Elected a member of this Association, upon his own applica- tion, September 9, 1869.
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GREENWALD, LEE, private Company B; enlisted April 1, 1861 ; wounded at Franklin, Tenn .; was sent home sick from Chattanooga, as the army went east to North Carolina, and did not recover until after the close of the war; was not paroled. Recommended for membership by Ed. Whitmore and J. P. Young ; admitted to C. H. A. February 11, 1896.
GREER, JAMES M., was born in Holly Springs, Miss., and comes of Revolutionary stock. His great-great-grand- father of Bedford county, Va., was a lieutenant in the strug- gle for American independence, and others could be men- tioned in connection with the same cause. When the war broke out J. M. Greer was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and belonged to Company A in his battalion of cadets. This small but spirited corps was regularly enlisted in the Confederate service in 1864 and was called out just as the emergency dictated, and after a few weeks service returned to the barracks. The cadets were at the battle of New Mar- ket; assisted in repelling Hunter at Lynchburg ; fought also in some skirmishes around Lexington, and assisted in defend- ing Richmond against Sheridan's attack early in 1865. They had the spirit and fire of tried soldiers and fought with the coolness of veterans as often as permitted to take part in the war. After the surrender J. M. Greer returned home, read law, was admitted to the bar, came to Memphis, and has since been prominent in his profession, and is also quite well known for his literary acquirements outside of the law and for his oratorical abilities. He succeeded Judge Horrigan as Judge of the Criminal Court and served in 1883-84, and is now attorney for Shelby county. He was married to Miss Bettie Allen, daughter of Dr. Allen, in 1877, and they have three sons at the University of Tennessee.
GROVES, ROBERT DOUGLASS, was Orderly Sergeant of Company L, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, Rucker's Brig- ade; enlisted April 4, 1862; was wounded at Harrisburg, July 14, 1864; was at home on wounded furlough when the surrender took place. His colonel obtained a parole for him May 11, 1865, but never delivered it. He was reputed to be one of the most dashing soldiers in Forrest's command.
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COL. HUGH D. GREER.
GREER, HUGH DUNLAP, was born at Paris, Tennessee, February 4, 1836. Son of David Searcy Greer and Martha Jane Dunlap, representatives of two of the pioneer families of the State. His mother's father and mother, Hugh Dunlap and Susanna Gilliam, were married near Knoxville in 1794. His grandfather Greer settled in the State about 1811.
He graduated at the Mississippi University in 1856, and at the Lebanon Law School in 1858. He was married June 1, 1865, to Mary Ida Christian, daughter of Dr. James R. Christian, at Holly Springs, Miss. She died, without issue, June, 1867. He was married again in March, 1870, to Susan I. McLean, daughter of Colonel Charles D. MeLean, of Mem- phis, Tennessee, and editor of the first newspaper published west of the Tennessee river; and has by this marriage four living children-Charles D. M. Greer, a lawyer in Memphis ; David Searcy Greer, a farmer in Shelby county, and a pair
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of twin daughters, Susie and Ida, now at school. He enlisted in an infantry company organized by Robert F. Looney, at Memphis, about the middle of April, 1861, and was elected second lieutenant. Soon after, at the organization of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, R. F. Looney was elected colonel ; First Lieutenant John C. Carter was elected captain, and he first lieutenant, and served with that rank until April, 1862, when he was elected Lieutenant- Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Tennessee. He was shot down near the old church on the evening of the second day of the battle of Shiloh in what is known as the " Last charge at Shiloh," and was carried off the field. When the army reached the old church that evening on retreat, General Cheatham discovered that a large number of caissons, ammunition wagons and ambulances containing many of the wounded, had halted at a deep ravine, a hundred yards south of the church. that was spanned by a little rail or pole bridge that was difficult to cross. He ordered the Thirty-eighth Regiment to move back to the crest of the hill and hold the old church until the ambulances and wagons were safely over. The regiment was formed across a little grave yard about twenty or thirty steps north of the church and ordered to sit down, as the men only had one round of ammu- nition left, and it was determined to hold that charge for the supreme moment. The enemy, flushed with success, was moving down in magnificent style and his skirmishers were delivering a murderous fire. Generals Beauregard, Breckin- ridge, Cheatham and other prominent officers dismounted under the hill and walked up to the church and remained for a few minutes to encourage the men. All felt that the posi- tion was desperate, but not one man of those three or four hundred Tennesseeans faltered. They had been in the bloody fight for nearly thirty-six hours, without rest, without sleep, but when the order came for that last sacrifice each soldier sat quietly in line and looked at that magnificent Federal army- first the skirmishers. then the infantry, and in the rear of each brigade a battery of field pieces. The line extended to the right and to the left as far as the eye could reach through the open timber. General Cheatham, with his great big generous
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heart, could not leave without a parting word. He walked out to the front of the regiment and stepping up on a little new-made grave, said, " My brave boys, I've ordered you to halt here and hold this church until your wounded comrades and the wagons are safely over the ravine. All that I have to say to you is, when the shock comes remember that you are Tennesseeans." When the enemy had come to within about two hundred yards, Governor Isham G. Harris, acting aid- de-camp to General Beauregard, rose up and said : " Colonel Looney, the time has come; order your men to charge." The regiment rose up, fired its last round of ammunition and raised a yell, and with fixed bayonets drove back that part of the line in front for nearly a quarter of a mile, and then turned and marched back in good order under a fire from the rear and both flanks, and halted at the old position at the church long enough to see the last wagon cross the ravine. During the whole of that trying ordeal and desperate charge Colonel Robert F. Looney sat astride his old sorrel charger and encouraged the boys by his superb courage and gallantry. Soon afterward, when Colonel Greer was prisoner at General Sherman's headquarters, he was asked by the General why that regiment did not fire oftener than one round, and was told the regiment had no more ammunition. General Sher- man, in the presence of his adjutant, Major Hammond, grasped Colonel Greer's hand warmly and congratulated him upon being a member of so gallant a command. In the absence of Colonel John C. Carter, Colonel Greer commanded the regiment through the heavy skirmishing in front of Corinth and through the battle of Farmington, but was taken sick and asked for a furlough, but the surgeons of the brigade had taken umbrage at some order of General Bragg's, and all tendered their resignations. Bragg refused to accept, and they refused to perform any duties except waiting on the sick. No furloughs were granted except on surgeons' certificates, and surgeons refused to comply with any such order. Gen- eral Hindman suggested that if he would tender his resigna- tion he would hold it for thirty days and give him a pass to the rear, and before the time expired he could return and
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withdraw the paper and resume his position in the regiment ; but before the thirty days had expired he was captured in DeSoto county, Miss., by the Sixth flinois Cavalry, carried to Memphis and sent to Alton, Ill., and exchanged late in the fall at Vicksburg. He reported to General Pemberton, headquar- ters at Jackson, Miss., and upon a full statement of the facts, General Pemberton gave him a commission to go into West Tennessee behind the enemy's lines and organize a cavalry command, and he organized a magnificent company at Den- mark in Madison county, and joined the Fourteenth Tennes- see Cavalry regiment commanded by Colonel J. C. Neely, as Company C. That regiment became a part of the famous Forrest Cavalry of the latter part of the war. He took part in much of the hard riding and harder fighting through Mis- sissippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and was wounded again at Lafayette, Ga., in the summer of 1864.
Colonel Greer is one of the few officers now alive who were on the famous raid into the city of Memphis. The command moved in on the Hernando road, the Fourteenth Regiment in front, Company C in front of the regiment, and Captain Bill Forrest about fifty yards in front as advance guard. They broke into a gallop when they crossed Nonconnah creek, six miles ont from the city ; not a word was spoken above a whis- per. The signal to swing into line of battle was the firing of the enemy's pickets on the advance guard; the city and sub- urbs were enveloped in a dense fog ; it was impossible to dis- cern objects beyond a few feet away. The pickets were not far from the Female College. Company C went into Hernando street at the intersection of College avenue, turned up Her- nando, and charged a battery about where Looney's switch is now located ; moved down to Beale and up Beale to Main, crossed into MeCall street, and halted in the alley in the rear of the Gayoso Hotel, Captain Bill Forrest going to the front. It was hoped to capture General Washburn, supposed to be stopping at that hotel, but it was soon learned that his head- quarters were on Union street, at General Williams' house, A great number of subordinate officers were at the Gayoso, and they came down and chatted very pleasantly, and ac-
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knowledged that they were not expecting such a call. Two videttes, who were stationed at MeCall and Main and Gayoso and Main streets, galloped in and reported an infantry com- mand closing in from each end of Main street. Colonel Log- wood, with a part of his regiment, had moved up and halted on MeCall street, and Captain Greer, with part of the Twelfth, had halted on Gayoso street. Colonel Logwood, the ranking officer, commanded Captain Greer to take the advance and pilot the command out of the city. When Company C moved into Main street, the enemy opened fire from both ends of the street ; Company C wheeled to the right and charged the col- umn at the intersection of Beale street, driving them into a church that formerly stood on the northeast corner of Beale and Main ; moved down Beale to Hernando and out Hernando to near the old Poston residence, and found General Forrest with a part of his command fighting six or seven thousand of the enemy; then turned to the right, rode through the camp of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, halted, swapped a few horses, then passed out between the enemy's right flank and the river, moved up to the front, formed on the left of the command, skirmished for an hour or two, and moved back toward Her- nando in a walk; the Federals followed as far as Noncon- nah, but did not eross the creek. General Washburn came over under a flag of truce, receipted for and carried back with him six or seven hundred prisoners that had been captured.
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