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 9
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Owing to a disagreement with a superior officer, Captain Greer requested General Forrest to detach him from the reg- iment, which he did late in the fall of 1864, and ordered him into West Tennessee on recruiting service. During the win- ter and early spring he gathered up some men and skirmished against Hawkins' and Hurst's regiments, who were raiding and depredating upon the citizens in West Tennessee. Upon learning of the surrender of the Southern army, he rode into Memphis and was paroled on the 17th of May, 1865. Was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee in the fall of 1874, and served one term : since, has remained quietly on his farm in Shelby county. He became a member of the Confederate Historical Association over twenty years ago.
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GRIFFIN, JOHN C., enlisted as private in Company A. Twenty-ninth Georgia, in October, 1862; again enlisted Sep- tember, 1863, in Company I, Sixty-sixth Georgia, and after- ward served in the Thirteenth Mississippi in 1864. He was wounded in the battles of the Wilderness and of Cedar Creek ; paroled May, 1865.
GWYNNE, A. D., was born January 18, 1839, County Londonderry, Ireland. Came to Memphis, Tenn., with his parents December, 1849 ; advantages of schooling limited. At the age of fourteen was put to work in the hardware house of Holyoke, Lowndes & Co., now Orgill Bros. & Co. Married September, 1859, to Eliza A. Henderson, daughter of the late Andrew and Susan Henderson. When the South seceded he was clerking for the hardware firm of McCombs & Co.
Enlisted for the war in the Sumpter Grays early in the summer of 1861. This company was enrolled in the Thirty- eighth Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Colonel R. F. Looney, and formed part of Wright's Brigade, Cheatham's Division. He was elected second lieutenant and soon there- after was appointed adjutant of a Tennessee battalion. April 3, 1862, was promoted to major and assigned to duty with the Twenty-sixth Alabama Infantry ; served with that com- mand in the battle of Shiloh and was wounded by a fragment of shell fired from one of the gunboats. The shell exploded overhead ; one piece cut away the point of his cap, striking the button on his breast, glanced and shattered the bone of his right arm, and another piece struck his horse just back of the saddle. After the battle, and at the age of 23. he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and on June 28, 1862. was assigned to duty with the Thirty-eighth Tennessee Infantry.
The magnificent record this regiment made under the gal- lant Looney at Shiloh was repeated at Perryville. Murfrees- boro, Chickamauga, Mill Creek Gap, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Franklin, as well as in the daily skirmishes in which it took part, and in all of which it contributed its full share in making the imperishable war record of Cheatham's
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COL. A. D. GWYNNE.
Division ; in all save Jonesboro and Franklin he participated. On May 7, 1864, his regiment was ordered to hold Mill Creek Gap against a strong attack of the enemy ; obeyed orders and Colonel Gwynne came out of the fight with a severe scalp wound.
February, 1864, Jno. C. Carter, Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Tennessee, was promoted on the field at Resaca to brigadier- general. IIe had been in command of the brigade for a long period prior to his promotion, and Colonel Gwynne was, therefore, at the time in command of the regiment and con- tinued with it until wounded on the breastworks of the enemy at the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, a minie ball striking his left arm, shattering the wrist joint and fracturing eight inches of the bone. He was taken prisoner and remained on the field ten days, and was afterward sent to the Federal hospital at Marietta, Ga. In speaking of this episode to the
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writer, he said : " I have no words at my command to give expression of my admiration of the ability and skill of the Federal surgeons who attended me when taken from the field. I was placed side by side with their own wounded, and when my turn came I was placed on the table and received the same care and successful attention as those who wore the blue."
When wounded he weighed 165 pounds ; three months after, when again able to stand on his feet, he weighed 96 pounds. He was a prisoner on Johnson's Island for nearly three months. February, 1865, was exchanged and sent to Richmond, Va., arriving in that city late in the afternoon. and engaged supper, lodging and breakfast, for which he paid fifty dollars. Next morning started on foot to join the army in North Carolina.
When the war ended Colonel Gwynne had one Mexican quarter, given him by a brother Confederate, and it was every cent of value he possessed on earth. IIe borrowed money to bring his wife and child from Jackson, Miss., to Memphis. Landing in Memphis with his left arm totally disabled and bandaged to his side, he felt in poor plight to start afresh the battle of life. His first employment was on a Yazoo steam- boat as second clerk. Early in 1866 returned to Memphis and found a situation with Galbreath, Stewart & Co. August. 1866, he moved to DesAre, Ark., and was admitted into a firm which opened business in Memphis in 1871 and had a New Orleans branch. as originally organized in 1866. He is connected with many Memphis enterprises. Has been with the State National Bank since 1873, as director, vice-president, and for the past five years president. Is a director in the State Savings Bank, Factors Fire Insurance Company and the Memphis Cotton Compress and Storage Company, etc.
As relics of army life he has the Mexican quarter already mentioned, the button he wore at the battle of Shiloh, the bullet that struck him at Atlanta, and a furlough (the only one) he received during the war; it is of date June 2, 1863, and for eight days leave of absence. He values it very highly for the indorsement it carries from Brigadier-General Marcus
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J. Wright, who commanded the brigade at the time the fur- lough was granted. It reads as follows :
HEADQUARTERS THIRTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT TENN. VOLS. In Camp near Shelbyville, June 2, 1863.
COLONEL-I have the honor to ask for a leave of absence for eight (8) days. In making this application I beg leave to state that I am desirous of visiting LaGrange, Ga., for the purpose of procuring a place for my family, who have been compelled to leave their home in West Tennessee, and more recently in North Mississippi, on account of the advance of the enemy. Hoping that compliance with the above request will not be detrimental to the good of the service,
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. D. GWYNNE, Lieutenant-Colonel Thirty-Eighth Regiment Tenn. Vols. To Colonel Kinloch Falconer, A. A. G.
INDORSEMENTS.
In forwarding the application I desire to say that Colonel Gwynne is one of the best qualified, most attentive and indus- trions officers I have ever met in the army. He has done more important special duty in my brigade than any officer in it; is never absent from his post of duty, and makes this application only under the circumstances mentioned, which I regard as an extreme case.
Approved and respectfully forwarded : MARCUS J. WRIGHT, Brigadier-General.
Approved : B. F. CHEATHAM,
Approved : LEONIDAS POLK,
Major-General Commanding. Lieutenant-General.
Approved, by command of General Bragg : H. J. THORNTON, Adjutant.
To commence from June 9.
B. F. CHEATHAM, Major-General Commanding.
Colonel Gwynne bears the marks of wounds received in battle, and will as long as he lives. He is a busy, quiet man, and notwithstanding his record, as briefly outlined above, he seldom talks of his war experiences unless some old soldier introduces the subject. He has but recently applied for mem- bership in the C. II. A.
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HANCOCK, J. B., First Lieutenant and Adjutant Fortieth North Carolina Infantry, enlisted in Company C March 29. 1861; left for the coast May 20, 1861 ; company captured at Hatteras August, 1861; after that he was detailed as drill- master for recruits at Washington, N. C .; was wounded at Newbern, N. C., March 16, 1862; at Henderson February 17, 18 and 19, 1865 ; Neal Fork, near Kingston, N. C., March 7, 1865, and at Bentonville March 16, 1865; paroled May 1, 1865, at Bush Mill, near Greensboro, N. C.
HARRINGTON, JNO. N., private Company H, Crockett Guards, First Arkansas, enlisted June 2, 1861 ; was wounded three times-at Corinth, Chickamauga and Franklin. He captured the flag of the Sixteenth Iowa Regiment on the right of Atlanta in the battle of July 22, 1864; paroled June 4, 1865. Admitted to the C. H. A. February 12, 1895.
HARRIS, J. S., private Company F, Seventeenth Missis- sippi, enlisted April 19, 1861; was discharged from service July, 1863, on account of physical disability. Admitted to C. H. A. February 12, 1895.
HARTMUS, T. H., enlisted early in 1861 ; served on Gen- eral W. B. Bate's staff' with the rank of Major ; was paroled at Augusta, Ga., August, 1865. Became a member of this Association at an early day.
HART, B. NEWTON, Captain Company B, Eighth Mis- souri Infantry, entered service May 6, 1861; was paroled at Meridian, Miss., May 10, 1865. Practiced law in Memphis with his father for a few years and returned to Missouri. Elected a member of this Association July, 1869.
HAYS, JOIIN B., private in Company E, Ninth Tennessee Infantry, Maney's Brigade, enlisted May 26, 1861 ; wounded and captured at Shiloh ; released December 6, 1862 ; discharged April 12, 1863. Admitted to C. H. A. March 13, 1894.
HERBERT, B. F., private in Anderson's Scouts and served throughout the war. Proposed for membership in this Asso- ciation by Major W. A. Goodman and elected April 28, 1870.
HON. ISHAM G. HARRIS, OF TENNESSEE.
he six 1 from House. esident also a party. Messrs. B. H. y Ten- 1, and taining : Sena- Frank .derson
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burden is taken off commerce we hope to attract the right people to our lands and its boundless wealth and send the products of our country into every clime. I am for a tariff for revenue only, and when the peo- ple spoke last November they meant it. The sooner then the wishes of the people are enacted the better it will be for our country and our State."
Representative Thomas J. Bonner said: "I have always been in favor of a tariff sufficient to run the Government econom- ically administered, and am thoroughly opposed to the fallacious idea of protection which never did, and never will, protect. I am glad to know the majority of the peo- ple of my State hold the same opinions, for they recognize the value of commercial freedom towards opening up the vast nat- ural resources the State possesses. The only fault with many of our people is that after the evil experience of high protection, they are running in the opposite direction and expressing themselves in favor of free trade.
This is the result of extremes in any sys- tem, for the reaction generally carries them as far in the other direction. It is gratifying to know, however, that the Democratic majority recognizes the benefits to be derived from the middle course, and only raise the revenue for the carrying on of the Govern- ment from a tariff, the difference in the cost of labor forming the basis of its com- putation. We have had considerable trou- ble with the convict-lease system, and it has agitated our people so much that their minds have been distracted from many of the economic questions of the day, but we have changed all that, for at the session of our Legislature which has just adjourned, we provided for the erection of prisons and stockades, and the convicts will be put to work to mine the coal for the institutions of the State-for which $100,000 a year for coal is used-and when the present leases with the corporations expire on January 1, 1896, they will not be renewed, and the State will attend to its own convicts. Now, this vexed question is settled to the satisfaction of all, our peo- ple will turn their attention to the develop- ment of the State, and they look forward to the assistance tariff reform will give them."
. "The platform of the Democratic party on tariff reform," said Representative Finger- ald, "was indorsed by the people of our State last November, for they believe that is the only policy for the salvation of the South. The principles of President Cleveland are our principles, and if there should be any disagreement it will be that he does for enonch for us. We have
renioved, we believe new fields for industry will be opened, and that Tennes Will offer opportunities that investors will NOT allow to slip by."
"We are all solid for tariff reform in my district," said Senator Dibrell. "In theT they appear to be so unanimous in it- tavo that at my last election it was not made the issue. Although a Democrat, I ... . member of the Farmers' Alliance, and we are pretty well posted on the evil effect of protectionisin.
"If there is any body of men capable of judging of the evil effects of a restri ted commerce, it is the farmers, for they are among the first sufferers, and to a mad they denounce it. As far as they are col- cerned, the revision cannot come auy Te soon, nor be too far reaching, for at prevent it stands as a barrier to their prosperity. and consequently reacts on the whole country."
SHODDY WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTH. ING.
It is quite certain that free wool and low duties on woolens would seriously injure if it would not be the death of the shoddy industry in this country. This fact is being made clearer every day.
Mr. F. Muhlhauser, of Cleveland. () .. the proprietor of the largest shoddy mill in the world, rephes in the Wool Reporter of April 6, to a letter in a previous number from a "certain Mr. Osborne, of Wyoming," who claims that "protection made woo! cheaper."
Mr. Muhlhauser not only gives the "cer- tain Mr. Osburne" a fearful drubbing, but laughis at the Reform Club and the 111em- bers of Congress who are attempting to revise the tariff downwards.
He says, "this whole question will turn out the greatest farce of the nineteenth century."
Now it so happens that the "certain Mr. Osborne" is not only the Governor of Wyoming, but is a large wool grower whe favors free wool, to provide better markets for American wools. It is presumed tha Mr Osborne understands his business : Mr. Muhilhauser understands the shod business. There is a confliction of interes Mr. Muhlhauser wants the importation foreign wools prevented so that our 111 facturers will be compelled, in order to : their cloths a soft finish, to mix shoddy instead of foreign wools, with our ow. wools. Mr. Muhlhauser does not dare to give his exact reasons for favoring hig! duties on wools; he knows it would injure his cause, just as the circular letter of the Shoddy and rag men in ISSS, declaring for
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CONFEDERATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
U. S. SENATOR ISHAM G. HARRIS.
HARRIS, ISHAM G., Governor, and as such commander of all State troops until transferred to the Confederate service, entered the service April 1, 1861. After the transfer he con- tinued with the Army of Tennessee to the end of the war, . as a civil officer and without command. Was with General " Albert Sidney Johnston at the battle of Shiloh and held the general in his arms when he bled to death from a wound. After the surrender he went to Mexico on horseback, accom-
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panied by a faithful colored servant. Governor Brownlo had offered a reward of $5000 for his head, and this stood until after Governor Harris went to England and returned to this country.
Governor Harris and General Pillow entered upon the prac- cice of law in Memphis about the year 1868. He is now serving his fourth term in the United States Senate,. and seems endowed with all the energies and powers of endurance of a man of half his age, and is recognized all the country over as a leader in the Democratic party. He is the last of the war governors living, North or South. He became a mem- ber of this Association July 1, 1869; was elected President and served as such for two years, attending meetings regularly and presiding with as much formality and decision of manner and regard for parliamentary propriety as if he had been in the United States Senate.
HENDERSON, BENJ. R., enlisted as a private in Com- pany H, Fourth Tennessee Regiment, on May 16, 1861, and served in Strahl's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, until he was discharged in 1863 for ill health and disability. Became a member of this Association at an early day.
HENKEL, CHRISTOPHER, Corporal Company A, Tenth Mississippi, enlisted March 26, 1861. The regiment left Jack- son, Miss., for Pensacola, Fla., and after reorganization Com- pany A became Company D, same regiment. Served in the army of Tennessee until the surrender; paroled April 26, 1865, at Greensboro, N. C. Admitted to the Confederate His- torical Association January 14, 1896.
HENNING, S. L., enlisted January 4, 1861, in Company H, Thirteenth Tennessee, Vaughan's Brigade; was commis- sioned lieutenant November, 1863, and paroled at Greens- boro, N. C., May, 1865.
HILL, J. L., private Company D, Fifteenth Arkansas In- fantry; entered the service May, 1861; paroled May, 1865. Proposed by T. P. Adams, and elected to membership in this Association April 28, 1870.
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COL. C. W. HEBKELL.
HEISKELL, CARRICK W., was born at Fruit Hill, Knox county, Tenn., July 25, 1836, of an old and prominent family; his grandfather on his mother's side, Joseph Brown, was a soldier in. the. Revolutionary war; a brother of his father's - mother was a colonel in the Continental line; his father, Frederick S. Heiskell, was for many years before and up to the year 1836, with Hugh Brown, his brother-in-law, editor and owner of the Knoxville Register, a newspaper of great influence in its day, published at Knoxville, Tenn. C. W. Heiskell was edreated at the University of East Tennessee and Maryville College; read law while teaching school at Rogersville, Hawkins county, Tenn .; obtained his license to- practice law from Judges Lucky and Patterson in 1857, and was engaged in practice when the war broke out. He was the first man in Hawkins county to enlist in the Confederate service, and aided in raising the first company raised in that
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county ; this was Company K, Nineteenth Tennessee Intan- try. He was elected first lieutenant of this company. and on the election of its captain, A. Fulkerson, to the majority of the regiment, was elected captain of the company. This posi- tion he held until after the battle of Murfreesboro, where the major of the regiment, the gallant R. A. Jarnagin, was killed, when Captain Heiskell was promoted to the majority of the regiment over the senior captain. He was major of the regi- ment until after the battle of Missionary Ridge, where the lieutenant-colonel, Beriah F. Moore, the bravest of the brave, was killed, and Major Heiskell was made lieutenant-colonel. At the battle of Chickamauga he received a very troublesome wound in the foot, which disabled him for twelve months. No memorial of that conflict is he prouder of than this : " Most of the field officers on my right were dismounted by having their horses shot under them, and Major Heiskell of the Nineteenth Tennessee Regiment, a gallant officer, was severely wounded in the foot " (extract from General Strahl's report, U. S. War Records, series 1, volume 30, page 131). When he rejoined the army, after twelve months on crutches, Hood was retreat- ing from Nashville. He witnessed what came very near be- ing a bloody conflict between Forrest and Cheatham, when they quarreled over which of them should cross the river at Columbia first, each contending that he had precedeuce ; guns were cocked all along the line of infantry, but Forrest at length gave Cheatham the right of way, and the ineident closed. While Major Heiskell was wounded, both the lieu- tenant-colonel (Moore) and the colonel of the regiment (F. M. Walker, afterward promoted to brigadier-general, and than whom no truer man or better soldier ever drew a sword) were killed, and Major Heiskell received his commission as colonel of the regiment. He commanded Strahl's Brigade, and was with Forrest, covering the retreat of Hood's battered and tat- tered legions from the fatal Tennessee campaign. In the fight at Anthony Hill, near Pulaski, and at Sugar Creek, were wit- nessed the most gallant feats of the war, at least, the most striking evidences of the matchless courage and endurance of Confederate soldiers; hatless, barefooted and hungry, through sleet and snow, they marched, and when a fight came they
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fought with matchless pluck; even those too feeble to carry a gun stayed in the fighting contingent, as one of them ex- pressed it to Colonel Heiskell, " to see what was going on." He, with his regiment, followed the fortunes of the Confed- eracy through all its dark vicissitudes from Nashville to High Point, N. C., where they surrendered with that great captain, Joseph E. Johnston. In the battle of Bentonville, when the Federals attempted to cut off the only avenue of retreat from "Old Joe," Colonel Heiskell's (Strahl's) Brigade followed Gen- eral Hardee, who with a Texas brigade of cavalry charged the foe ; the infantry captured a whole line of picks and spades, and at once went to fortifying ; at 11 o'clock that night they were ordered to cease work, and in a few days the surrender came. The writer must pause to say that no man in the Con- federate army was more beloved, no commander of greater capacity on the field, and of more modest and deserving worth, than Lieutenant - General William J. Hardee. His memory is sacred to every Confederate soldier of Johnston's army.
After the surrender in 1865, Colonel Heiskell settled in Memphis, Tenn., where he has resided ever since. He was elected Circuit Judge in May, 1870; this position he held until 1878, when he was appointed city attorney. which position he held until 1882; since then he has been engaged in the prac- tice of law. He was married about the beginning of the war to a daughter of Hon. John Netherland of Rogersville, an eminent lawyer and old-line Whig leader, and they have a family of grown children.
HILL, A. B., was born December 12, 1837, in Tipton county, Tenn. ; enlisted as a musician in Company C, Ninth Tennessee Regiment, on the 6th of May, 1861; afterward served in the Fifty-first Tennessee Regiment, and was dis- charged in May. 1862; re-enlisted in the Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry and transferred back to the Fifty-first Tennessee, and at the close of the war was Captain of Company G of that regiment ; never was captured or wounded ; was paroled May, 1865. Afterward came from Tipton county to Mem- phis, and has been for many years Secretary of the Memphis City School Board.
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HOLLOWAY, J. L .. Sergeant-Major Twentieth Missis- sippi Regiment and belonged to Company B; afterward he served in Tighlman's Brigade, Adams' and Loring's Divisions, Army of Tennessee. General Tighilman was killed at Baker's Creek and General Adams at Franklin, Tenn. The regiment was in Loring's Division during the war.
HOLT, G. A. C., the subject of this paragraph, recently located here, is from Kentucky. The health of his wife, Mrs. Ina L. Holt (nee Berry), a relative of the late Dr. F. L. Sim, caused him to select Memphis as a residence. He was born in Salem, Livingston county, March 2, 1840; graduated from the Louisville Law School in 1859; entered the Confederate army in April or May, 1361; was elected Captain of Com- pany H, Third Kentucky Regiment of Infantry, under the then Colonel Lloyd Tighlman, afterward Brigadier-General. Colonel Holt was in the battle of Shiloh, and was brevetted by General Beauregard for courage and gallantry. A para- graph from a prominent Kentucky newspaper gives a synop- sis of his public life. The Danville Advocate of 1886 says :
" When the toesin of the late civil war was sounded in 1861, young Holt was among the first of the young men of Kentucky to volunteer in defense of the Southern Confed- eracy ; was soon elected captain of his company, and before he was 22 years old was promoted to the colonelcy of the Third Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. C. S. A. He served with conspicuous gallantry on many bloody fields of battle, and returned to his home in 1865 with a parole in his pocket, resuming the study and practice of law. He served his State as Senator two terms. was elected Speaker of the Senate. and became Lieutenant-Governor, succeeding Governor Leslie."
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