“Bravery, Tenacity, and Deeds of Noble Daring”: The 13th United States Colored Troops in the Battle of Nashville

By Andrew McMahan

The Civil War brought about several drastic changes to the United States. Among these was the entry of tens of thousands of African Americans into the armed services, an act most Americans viewed as a right reserved for white citizens. Initially, the Union did not recruit black soldiers. However, enslaved people in the South closely followed the movements of U.S. troops, escaping and running to the safety of the Union lines whenever possible. Army officers hired many of these refugees as laborers and cooks. Despite the many thousands of African Americans eager to enlist, the Union armed forces were not permitted to employ black troops until Abraham Lincoln issued the final version of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. In response to an influx of new recruits, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton established the Bureau of Colored Troops (BCT) in May 1863 in order to centralize enlistment of African American soldiers. Although regiments formed under the BCT were comprised of black troops, the Union Army placed only white officers in command. Unlike other volunteer regiments, these did not incorporate the name of the states in which they were formed. Instead, they were designated United States Colored Troops (USCT), showing they were under federal rather than state authority.

This engraving shows African American recruits boarding a troop train bound for Murfreesboro, TN. Print and Broadside Collection, Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA).

The Union Army raised several USCT regiments in Tennessee. Organization of the 13th USCT began in Murfreesboro in July 1863. The brave men that made up this regiment were primarily laborers from Clarksville, Gallatin, Murfreesboro, and other areas in Middle Tennessee. These men were shortly sent to Nashville and formed the core of the 13th USCT. Colonel John A. Hottenstein was the regiment’s commanding officer.

Union officers regularly assigned USCT units to construction, garrison, and guard duties in order to free up white regiments for combat operations. Some white officers believed that African American troops were unfit for combat and would run when given the chance. As a result, the 13th USCT was primarily assigned to building and guarding the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad. By October 19, 1863, the regiment was positioned some thirty miles west of Nashville, guarding the Nashville & Northwestern. Evidently, the regiment was not fully organized by this time. Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Trauernicht stated he did not have enough men to provide laborers and guards for the railroad. Furthermore, he claimed their limited numbers prevented them from drilling and improving discipline because all of the men were busy as either laborers or guards. Trauernicht expressed concern for his men and stated that in the event of capture he was unsure whether Confederate forces would recognize the troops as soldiers of the United States or hang them as spies. He claimed all of these problems would be solved by having a full complement of men.

Union forces completed construction work on a portion of the Nashville & Northwestern in May 1864, and the regiment continued guarding the railroad until November 30. Elements of the regiment did conduct limited military operations during this time. For instance, in late August 1864, G Company, under the command of Captain Andrew Jacobs, set out on a scouting mission west of the Tennessee River. They marched 40 miles to Huntingdon, enduring summer heat and fatigue. On August 30, they came under sudden attack by a group of Confederate guerillas commanded by an individual Captain Jacobs identified as “Petty John.” The soldiers of G Company maintained their discipline and put up a determined fight, losing one man killed and a sergeant severely wounded. “Petty John” was wounded but escaped capture.

As of November 1864, the 13th had not participated in any major actions, aside from isolated skirmishes. Due to the unfounded opinions regarding African American troops in combat, the 13th USCT spent months on guard duty on the Nashville & Northwestern. However, Confederate General John Bell Hood’s campaign to retake Nashville in late 1864 changed this. In response to the Army of Tennessee’s advance, the companies of the 13th USCT assembled in Waverly on November 30 and departed for Nashville the next day. The regiment arrived in the city on the evening of December 7. Between December 7th and 13th, the men constructed rifle pits and other fortifications in anticipation of the Army of Tennessee’s assault on the city.

On December 11, Colonel Hottenstein and two hundred men scouted ahead of the Union positions in order to determine if the Army of Tennessee was to their front. The colonel and his troops applied pressure to the rebel pickets, driving them back to their main line. Finding that the Confederates had indeed arrived in force, the 13th withdrew to the Union positions. On December 13 the entirety of the 2nd Colored Brigade, commended by Colonel Charles R. Thompson, conducted a reconnaissance east of the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. The 13th regiment deployed as skirmishers, with the 12th and 100th in reserve. Once again, the 13th encountered the Confederate pickets and pushed them back toward their main line. The brigade faced substantial resistance on the property owned by a Mr. Rains. They remained there under heavy fire for some time, withdrawing just before dark. The 13th USCT lost one man killed and four wounded.

Evidently, the threat of Hood’s large Confederate force poised to attack Nashville prompted Union commanders to reconsider their stance on the combat capability of African American troops. On December 15, the 13th USCT along with the rest of the 2nd Colored Brigade were ordered to move into position for an assault on the Confederate line between the railroad and Nolensville Pike. The brigade quickly took the rebel earthworks directly ahead. However, the Confederates had expected them to attack this fortification and positioned their artillery in order to fire upon the USCT brigade once it captured the earthworks. Although the artillery fire was heavy, the earthworks provided sufficient shelter for the men of the 13th and other USCT regiments. They maintained this position for the remainder of the day, keeping up a steady exchange of fire with enemy skirmishers. The 20th Indiana Battery arrived to provide artillery support for the USCT men, and forced the Confederates to pull their cannons back.

On the morning of the 16th, the brigade commander sent skirmishers forward and discovered that the Confederates had abandoned their rifle pits and withdrawn to a new line. Colonel Thompson received orders to take his 2nd Colored Brigade and connect with General Thomas J. Wood’s 4th Corps. The 13th USCT, along with the 12th and 100th USCT, arrived at the intended position without taking any losses, though Confederate artillery on Overton’s Hill (also known as Peach Orchard Hill) did fire at the regiments. Upon arrival, General Wood informed Thompson that he was about to attack the enemy positions on Overton’s Hill, and requested that the three USCT regiments support his left flank. Overton’s Hill was heavily defended by Confederate infantry and artillery, making it a difficult position to take.

Overton's Hill can be seen in the bottom right corner of the map. TSLA Map Collection, Map 104.

At 3:00 pm, the Union troops of the 4th Corps and 2nd Colored Brigade began their daring attack. Thompson deployed his brigade in two lines, placing the 100th and 12th USCT in front and the 13th in support. The 12th encountered a dense thicket which slowed their advance, and the 100th came upon several fallen trees that broke up their formation. During this advance, the Union troops faced punishing fire from the Confederate soldiers on the hill. The 12th and the left portion of the 100th passed to the left of the Confederate fortifications, unable to face the line as the rebels had constructed it at a sharp angle. As a result, these two regiments suffered fire from both the side and the rear. Unable to turn the formation and face the enemy head-on, Thompson ordered the 12th to move off and take shelter behind another small hill in order to regroup and reform. Meanwhile, the rest of the 100th USCT continued advancing with the 4th Corps, but they were repulsed by the Confederates.

The 13th USCT pushed past the first line of the 2nd Brigade, weathering the withering fire laid down by the Confederates. Colonel Hottenstein remarked that he felt seeing the first line of Union troops lying down and taking cover from the rebel fire would negatively affect the courage of his relatively raw regiment. Although many of his men had been involved in skirmishes, the 13th USCT had yet to participate in such a deadly fight. However, the men of the 13th bravely pressed on. The regiment relentlessly advanced up the hill, despite taking heavy casualties, and actually stormed the Confederate earthworks. Unfortunately, the white Union troops to their right had already fallen back by this point. With no support, the 13th USCT had no choice but to pull back to their previous position. Although they did not take the hill, the Confederates were forced to withdraw after their line was breached elsewhere. Unable to take the city, the Army of Tennessee retreated from Nashville.

The attack on Overton’s Hill cost the 13th USCT dearly. The regiment went into battle that morning with 556 men and 20 officers. During the attack, they lost 4 officers and 55 enlisted men killed, and 4 officers and 165 enlisted men wounded. In total, the regiment lost 8 officers and 220 men during the 30 minute fight. Although the troops of the 13th USCT did not take the hill, they performed heroically and won the admiration of their superior officers and fellow soldiers. Colonel Hottenstein said of his men, “. . . after a protracted struggle they had to fall back, not for the want of courage or discipline, but because it was impossible to drive the enemy from his works by a direct assault.” He also commended the officers and enlisted men for their bravery, and specifically mentioned Sergeants James Wilson and Charles Rankin, who “. . . both displayed the greatest gallantry possible in carrying the colors, and sealed their devotion to them with their lives.” In engagements such as the Battle of Nashville, the regiments of the USCT proved themselves to their white counterparts and disproved the negative assumptions about the abilities of black soldiers. Many of these men escaped from bondage and enlisted, often without having ever handled a weapon, in order to end the practice of slavery once and for all in the United States. These soldiers may have been born into slavery, but they fought, and in many cases died, as free men.

Colonel Thompson recalled in his report, “These troops were here for the first time under such a fire as veterans dread, and yet, side by side with the veterans of Stone’s [sic] River, Missionary Ridge, and Atlanta, they assaulted probably the strongest works on the entire line, and, though not successful, they vied with the old warriors in bravery, tenacity, and deeds of noble daring.”

Sergeant Charles Rankin Service Record, Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the U. S. Colored Troops, MF 1742, Roll 104, TSLA.

Sergeant James Wilson Service Record, Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the U. S. Colored Troops, MF 1742, Roll 108, TSLA.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol. 45.

Luke, Bob and John David Smith. Soldiering for Freedom: How the Union Army Recruited, Trained, and Deployed the U.S. Colored Troops. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2014.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Library and Archives Hosts Free Workshop on Civil War Research

The Civil War has touched the life of almost every U.S. citizen but connecting families with complete records can present challenges. On Saturday, May 4, the Tennessee State Library and Archives will host a free workshop entitled, “Cross Connections to the Civil War.”

Presenter J. Mark Lowe will demonstrate how to search and use the wide variety of records available through the Tennessee State Library and Archives – including records from the Grand Army of the Republic, United Confederate Veterans, United States Colored Troops, Confederate and Union Army pensions, Southern Claims Commission, court martials, newspaper accounts, unit histories, letters to governors and presidents, diaries and more. Participants can expect to leave with knowledge and tools to draw a more complete picture of their Civil War ancestor and family history.

J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA, is a certified genealogist who has been researching family history for more than 50 years. Lowe is a renowned author and lecturer specializing in original records and manuscripts throughout the South. He grew up in Tennessee but has extensive family roots in Kentucky. He has traveled both states and enjoys sharing his love of genealogy and the joy of research with others.

Lowe has served as president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is past president of the Friends of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. His expertise has been featured on several genealogical television series including African American Lives 2 (PBS), Who Do You Think You Are? (TLC) and Follow Your Past (Travel).

The workshop will be held from 9:30 a.m to 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, May 4, in the Library and Archives auditorium. The Library and Archives is located at 403 Seventh Ave. N., directly west of the Tennessee State Capitol in downtown Nashville. Free parking is available around the Library and Archives building.

Although the workshop is free and open to the public, registration is required due to limited seating. To make a reservation, visit https://crossconnections.eventbrite.com.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Veteran's Day spotlight: May Winston Caldwell and the Battle of Nashville

By Megan Spainhour

November 11th is marked on our calendars as a special day to take time to remember and commemorate those who have sacrificed so much for our country. Whether remembered as Armistice Day, Veterans Day or Remembrance Day, the day has a common ground around the world to honor, memorialize, and celebrate military veterans in their heroic and valiant efforts.

This Veteran’s Day, we shine a spotlight on a scrapbook in our collections at the State Library and Archives; the scrapbook of May Winston Caldwell. May Winston Caldwell, born in 1855 in Nashville, was a prominent leader, homemaker, writer and highly active in the historical societies in the area. She was married to businessman James E. Caldwell. When she wasn’t busy maintaining her home “Longview” in South Nashville or caring for her ten children, she served as president of the Ladies Battlefield Association. It was this association, led by the passion and spirit of May Caldwell, that a monument was erected in Nashville to honor those Tennesseans who fought in the Battle of Nashville on December 18, 1864.

Map showing the site of the Battle of Nashville, fought December 15-16, 1864.

The monument was crafted by well-known sculptor Giuseppe Moretti. It was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1927, and was meant to symbolize peace. The original site of the monument was located near Franklin Road and Thompson Lane in Nashville. However, after a tornado damaged the statue in 1974, it was restored, relocated and rededicated in 1999 at its present day location of Granny White Pike and Battlefield Drive. The original dedication in 1927 drew large crowds and prominent citizens, including Tennessee Governor Henry Horton, Col. Luke Lea, several veterans, and even an invitation to the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge.

Sculptor Giuseppe Moretti at a marble quarry in Italy, he is standing next to a large chunk of marble presumably used in the monument.

On the base of the monument is inscribed “The Spirit of Youth holds in check the contending forces that struggled here in the first battle of Nashville, Dec. 16. 1864, Sealing forever the bond of union by the blood of our heroic dead of the World War, 1917-1918. A Monument like this, standing on such memories, having no reference to utilities, becomes a Sentiment. A Poet. A Prophet. An Orator to every passerby.”

Postcard photograph of Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti and wife Dorthea in front of their home, addressed to Mr and Mrs Caldwell. The photograph is signed "Merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year from Mr and Mrs G Moretti, 1933."

The base of the Battle of Nashville monument. Represented in the horses is the division of the north and the south, brought together by the spirit of youth.

May Winston Caldwell addressing the gathering at the dedication of the Battle of Nashville Monument, Nov 11, 1927.

Poem titled 'Taps' by Poet Laureate and former State Librarian and Archivist John Trotwood Moore, spoken at the dedication of the Battle of Nashville monument to the tune of ‘Taps.’

Battle of Nashville Monument at its original location on Franklin Road.

Battle of Nashville Monument seen on the side of Franklin Road, its original location before it was damaged by a tornado.

To learn more about this monument and the Battle of Nashville, visit the Tennessee Library and Archives and page through the May Winston Caldwell Scrapbook. The catalog entry for this item is found HERE.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

From A to IZZARD: Civil War Era Colloquialisms

Are you as sprightly as a cricket?

Was your ancestor a butternut? Blue tail fly? Sesesh?

Phrases or words unique to local or regional language are called colloquialisms. Also known as slang or vernacular speech, phrases like ax to grind, dead as a doornail, madder than an old wet hen, and just fell off the turnip truck are examples of older colloquialisms and jargon still in widespread use.

Many colorful ones can be traced back to documents found at the State Library and Archives from the Civil War era.

We've included a few examples below, which haven't been edited for spelling, punctuation or grammar. So, skedaddle on and enjoy these Civil War period colloquialisms.

A to izzard. Completely; thoroughly

“I was always a straight out Union man from A to izzard.” From the deposition of Wyatt Jeans in a court case styled Henry Wagoner v. Hannah Woolsey, admr. of Gilbert Woolsey (1869), Greene County. Hannah was suing a former Confederate soldier for her husband’s death at Andersonville Prison. (Tennessee State Supreme Court Records)

Collection of D-guard Bowie knives, circa 1860s, Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee Collection.

Arkansas toothpick. A heavy dagger, similar to Bowie knife, used by both sides in the Civil War. Again from a court case: Alexander Winder “unlawfully did carry under his clothes, or concealed about his person a certain large and dangerous Knife commonly called an Arkansas toothpick…" From State v. Alexander Winder (1867), Monroe County. (Tennessee State Supreme Court Records)

Blue devil; blue tail fly; blue belly, etc. In Confederate jargon, blue was derogatory as it was the color of Union uniforms.

Consider this citation from the Nannie E. Haskins Diary from July 14, 1864: “Guerrillas are all over the country, there are a thousand between Louisville & Henderson firing into boats and getting horses from the Southern army. The Journal [newspaper] has been rather gloomy for several days, old Prentice has the blue devils.” “Old Prentice” was Brig. Gen. Luther Prentice Bradley, a brigade commander in the Army of the Cumberland.

Or this one, from the same diary, from March 2, 1863:“…I am rattling on too fast if our men get to Fort D. probably they will not come here, Oh but if they do what a pleasure it will be to have the ‘bonnie greys’ to look at instead of the ‘Blue tail flys’ I am perfectly disgusted with the color blue, I never want to see any thing blue again.”

This entry from the Lucy Virginia French War Journal from July 17, 1862 notes: “His information was that a victory [1st Battle of Murfreesboro] had been gained sure enough‒that a company of men had just gone on to town with Gen. Crittenden & his staff as prisoners‒that more were coming‒etc. And in a short time 13 wagons filled with the blue bellies, (as the boys call them.) came along. Squads were coming in all night with horses, prisoners etc.”

Bushwhackers. Bands of Union or Rebel partisans who raided towns and roamed the countryside plundering homes and businesses. Most were ruffians, murderers, thieves, and deserters. Usually they were locals, giving them the advantage of knowing the terrain.

“Guerrillas destroying a Railroad-Train near Nashville” in Annals of the Army of the Cumberland by John Fitch, 1863, Library Collection.

From the Lucy Virginia French War Journal, dated July 26, 1863: “Scenes enacted here [Grundy County] beggar description. Early in the morning the sack of the place began. But a few of the ‘bushwhackers’ were in‒the mountain people came in crowds and with vehickles of all sorts and carried off everything they could from both hotel and cottages…. They were emptying Mr. Cockrill’s house as we went to the schoolhouse, and two rough fellows were in our room playing the melodeon…. the scenes we witnessed are indescribable. Gaunt, ill-looking men and slatternly, rough barefooted women stalking and racing to and fro, eager as famished wolves for prey, hauling out furniture—tearing up matting and carpets….”

Butternut. Common slang for a Confederate soldier. The homemade dye used to color cloth when imported gray fabric became scarce. The dye was made from the husks, leaves, bark, branches and/or roots of butternut and walnut trees.

“They (the Yanks) came in once and sent one of their men on a head dressed as a butter nut of course he was thought to be one of our men…. That was the last we heard of the butter nut except that he proved to be a deserter from the Southern Army and a Yankee spy.” (Again from Nannie E. Haskins Diary, dated February 16, 1863)

Common as pigs tracks. Trashy; lowbrow; not unique

Commenting on Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois, Lucy Virginia French wrote, “I may add that Mollie in one of her letters said that Ella Chew’s father had once resided in Springfield [Illinois] and knew the Lincolns—Ella said they were ‘as common as pig-tracks and as poor as Job’s turkey.’” (Lucy Virginia French War Journal, 7 October 1862)

Contraband. Runaway slaves who fled to Union lines. Typically, contraband camps were hastily constructed communities located near Union forces. Many of the ex-slaves joined the United States Colored Troops (USCT) or labored for the Union war effort. Often they were paid wages and given the opportunity to attend school.

“Impressing the Contrabands at Church in Nashville” in Annals of the Army of the Cumberland by John Fitch, 1863, Library Collection.

“There is a contraband camp [near McMinnville?] where she says poor wretches literally freeze to death by dozens during this severe weather—they have no clothes scarcely—bedding, shelter, and food the same, while their friends the Yankees curse and abuse them for everything low and vile and no account.” (Lucy Virginia French War Journal, 24 January 1865)

Durance vile. In jail; incarcerated

Interned at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, Capt. Charles E. Kennon signed a fellow officer’s autograph book, “Your friend in ‘durance vile,’ Captured near Franklin, Tenn., Dec. 17, 1864.” (A. S. Kierolf autograph book)

“Plan of the Military Prison Situated on the South side of Johnsons Island” in Scraps from the Prison Table, at Camp Chase and Johnson’s Island by Joseph Barbière, 1868, Library Collection.

Dutch/Dutchman. A German-American soldier; Hessian

While imprisoned at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, Capt. G. W. Youngblood of Memphis signed a fellow officer’s autograph book, “Grabbed near Port Hudson, La., March 16, 1863, by a Dutchman with the ‘sweet German accent.’” (A. S. Kierolf autograph book)

Jayhawkers. Bands of thieving, sometimes murderous, pro-Union guerillas. Term originated in “Bleeding Kansas” but was still in use during the Civil War.

“[The rebels] came dashing in on their old poor horses, dirty clothed and all sorts of armes, they had no band at all not even a bugle, or a flag, to tell show to whom they belonged but their old dirty ‘grey’__ but ‘fight was in um’, and they ‘tuck’ the the ‘Feds’ with all their blue broad cloth and brass buttons. They stied with us until the 7the [sic] of September they left and the Jay hawkers came from Fort Donelson on a thieving expedition….” (Nannie E. Haskins Diary, 16 February 1863)

Lincolnite. In Confederate-speak, any derisive compound word formed from the U.S. President’s name. A person with Union sympathies

“We are now in Yankee Land--as Grandma Lyon mentioned today. Why dear she said, I havent shaken hands with you since we all got into Lincolndom!” (Lucy Virginia French War Journal, 2 March 1862)

Mary Minerva Rutlege wrote: “The Lincolnites have been doing some mischief over on Clinch the night that I came up they set fire to John Lacheys barn and burned up some fine horses and about three thousand dollars worth of other things….” (Mary Minerva Rutledge to Dear Sister, 9 October 1862. Rutledge Family Papers)

Look like boiled cracklings. Worn; weary; exhausted

A letter from Amanda C. Lillard to Newton J. Lillard from May 23, 1861 stated: “I was over at Decatur yesterday found all the people well as common. But very loansum. The girls looks like boiled cracklings…. Poor girls what boys there are left here the girls are quareling which will have them for their beau.” (Lillard Family Papers.)

Making a belly bounce. To do harm [to another person]

“Adam Wagner said let him come [at me], I’ll make his old belly bounce.” read a line from the deposition of Hannah Woolsey, daughter of Gilbert Woolsey, in which she describes Confederate outlaws coming to kill her father on first sight. The family was suing the wartime ruffians for Gilbert Woolsey’s death at Andersonville Prison. (Henry Wagoner v. Hannah Woolsey, admr. of Gilbert Woolsey (1869), Greene County. Tennessee State Supreme Court Records)

Northern Bastille. A Union prisoner of war camp

“….to day just one year ago this terrible disaster [fall of Fort Donelson] took place; and my dear brother was among the number, who was to be sent and incarcerated in a Northern bastile‒where he languished and‒died.” (Nannie E. Haskins diary, 16 February 1863)

Robertson County. Robertson County, Tennessee, distillers produced some of the most popular whiskeys in the world during the 19th century.

From the Union prison at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Nathaniel Cheairs of Bedford County wrote, “….tell your Ma to save me a little of my Robertson County—as I expect to be very dry.” (N. F. Cheairs to Beloved Daughter, 25 May 1862. Figuers Family Papers)

Secesh/Sesesh. A Rebel; secessionist

“The Secesh women were frantic with joy when Kirby Smith’s army arrived [in Lexington]—they even went to the absurd length of hugging and kissing the horses of the soldiers. This is what abolitionists think very strange, as the horses had riders upon them.” (Lucy Virginia French War Journal, 19 October 1862.)

Seeing the Elephant. To experience combat.

Excerpt from General Order No. 11 from Confederate General James Longstreet, issued by Assistant Adjutant General William Small, directing the men to maintain their fortitude while enduring reduced rations and other hardships of the field, Bean Station, Tennessee, 16 December 1863, Lillard Family Papers.

Writing amid thousands of soldiers, one Union soldier described marching from Corinth "expecting every moment to see the Elephant." (E. R. Porter to Father, 10 May 1862. Looking Back: Tennessee in the Civil War)

Letter from E. R. Porter to his father, Corinth, Mississippi, 10 May 1862, Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee Collection.

Six Months Men. Near war’s end President Lincoln issued a call for additional troops. One incentive was the opportunity to enlist for six months, hence the nickname.

Skedaddle. To hurry along or leave with haste; scurry; run

‘The “Grand Skedaddle” Of The Inhabitants From Charleston, S. C., When Threatened By An Attack From The Federal Troops,’ undated, Manuscripts Oversize Collection.

“We retreated from Greenville on a run to Bull’s Gap which we commenced fortifying our position as impregnable. Before the Telegraph had given publicity to the news our impregnable position was evacuated and we are ‘Skedaddling’ for Cumberland Gap.” (From a Union soldier’s letter captured by Gen. James Longstreet’s men. 16 December 1863. Lillard Family Papers)

Sprightly [or merry] as a cricket. Lively, energetic

From the Betty Family Papers: “Josephine & children quite well. The latter growing fast and are as wild & sprightly as crickets.” (James F. Neill to Mrs. W. F. Betty, August 18, 1864.)

To learn more, we encourage you to visit the following links on our website...

• Tennessee Supreme Court Records: http://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/tennessee-supreme-court-cases

• Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee: http://sos.tn.gov/tsla/looking-back-civil-war-tennessee

• Women in the Civil War TeVA Collection (Nannie Haskins Diary, Rachel Carter Craighead Memoir, and Lucy Virginia French Journal): http://share.tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/CWwomen/index.htm

• Civilian Life in the Civil War TeVA Collection (Mary Minerva Rutledge Correspondence): http://cdm15138.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15138coll1

• Civil War Military Records TeVA Collection (General Order No. 11): http://cdm15138.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15138coll9/id/178/rec/4

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Amputees in the Civil War: Book Details the War's Gruesome Aftermath

The Civil War wreaked havoc across the North and the South. Families were torn apart, fortunes were lost, national morale was at an all-time low - and even seemingly minor gunshot wounds could have devastating consequences. Often, surgeons had to amputate relatively intact limbs because the patients were at risk for infection from the shrapnel and unsterilized conditions.

A page from The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-65) depicting "Amputations at the Ankle Joint." Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives' holdings include Empty Sleeves: Amputation in the Civil War South, a book by Brian Craig Miller that details how both individuals and the unstable state governments in the Confederacy handled amputations during and after the Civil War. With so many amputations near the beginning of the war, surgeons were sometimes referred to as “butchers.” By the end of the war, regulations and surgical practices had improved, which considerably lowered the number of amputations performed. Nonetheless, thousands of men and their families were left with losses that impacted their finances and their emotional states.

View of the front and side of Crutchfield House, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This building served as a post headquarters and hospital during the Civil War. Library Photograph Collection.

Empty Sleeves is just one of several resources held at the Tennessee State Library and Archives that cover medical practices during the Civil War. Other sources include:

• Tennessee Confederate Physicians : An Introduction. This online index provides information about six different sources from which we have found evidence of Tennessee physicians who participated in the support of the Confederacy.

• Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (published in six parts) U.S. Surgeon General, (Washington: Govt. Printing Office 1870-1888.) Index published 1992. Case studies written by military surgeons detailing treatment of wounds and sickness. The majority are for Union soldiers, with a fair complement of Confederates. The three-volume index is a recent publication and can be searched by soldier's name or unit.

• Samuel Hollingsworth Stout Papers, 1819-1963. Stout served as the Director of Hospitals for the Army of Tennessee, CSA from 1863 to 1865. The correspondence and documents within this manuscript collection reveal hospital administration techniques and military field conditions of the Confederacy in the western theater of the Civil War. There are many other manuscript collections which describe medical conditions in the Civil War just waiting to be discovered at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

To learn more, we invite you to explore these titles and other collections held in our collection. The State Library and Archives is open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. CT.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

"Oll and Toad" - A Civil War Love Story

A newly digitized collection of Civil War love letters is now available online through the Tennessee State Library and Archives' Tennessee Virtual Archive website.

The Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King Papers document the intimate correspondence of two Sullivan County youths prior to and during the Civil War. About 150 letters are included in the collection as well as political essays, college compositions, and original poetry. Olivia King Inman and Judge Dennis Hisey Inman of Morristown donated these family treasures to the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The collection can be viewed online at: http://tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/KingPapersCollection/index.htm.

Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King Digital Collection website
Tennessee State Library and Archives
http://tn.gov/tsla/TeVAsites/KingPapersCollection/index.htm

"I want to thank Olivia King Inman and Judge Dennis Hisey Inman for their generous donation of their family papers," Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. "These papers will provide researchers with an interesting glimpse at life before, during and after the Civil War. These papers contain a great deal of information about what everyday life was like for soldiers and civilians during a traumatic period in our country's history."

The collection is extraordinary in its content and breadth. It offers valuable social, political, and domestic context for researchers interested in period courtship practices, college experiences, Civil War camp life, and family dynamics. The letters between Oliver King and Katherine Rutledge are peppered with humor, playfulness, gossip, political commentaries, and advice.

Both were well-educated, he at Tusculum College in Greenville and she at the Masonic Female Institute in Blountville. Both enjoyed active social lives, which are richly documented in their letters. Researchers examining antebellum curricula will find the collection particularly useful.

Embossed greeting card displaying a gold-leafed ship’s anchor,
lace and an image of an open book, with red text reading,
"Affections Offering."

King lovingly called Rutledge 'Toad,' and she addressed him as 'Oll.' Most of the letters were written between 1861 and 1863 while King was serving in the Confederate army. King and Rutledge were Southern sympathizers in East Tennessee, a region that was overwhelmingly Unionist in sentiment. (Sullivan County was one of the few exceptions.) King enlisted in the 19th Tennessee Infantry two days before Tennessee voted to secede in June 1861. The correspondence between the couple tapers off in 1863 after King was severely wounded at the Battle of Piedmont in Virginia. For weeks, the chances of his recovery looked gloomy.

Letter from Oliver Caswell King to Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King, May 10, 1858.
Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King Papers, 1856-1893
Tennessee State Library and Archives

King and Rutledge eventually married. The papers in the online collection include Katherine King’s Confederate widow’s pension application found in the massive number of state pension board records on file at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. The application contains approximately 25 letters supporting her claim.

Oliver King died in 1893, then Katherine King died in 1925.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State. 

Fire on the Water: The Burning of the Sultana

“About 50 more dead bodies have been recovered from the wreck of the Sultana.” -- The Nashville Daily Union, May 10, 1865

On April 27th, 1865, the worst maritime disaster in American history took place: the burning of the Sultana on the Mississippi River just outside Memphis. Edward Dudley vividly described the gruesome scene in this April 1865 diary entry:

"The Steamer Sultaner [sic] exploded just above the city on the 27ins. Thare [sic] was 22 hundred passengers aboard mostly paroled federal soldiers, 14 hundred lives lost the boat caught on fire and floated just passed the city and sunk. The stream was gorged with dead bodies."

Built in Cincinnati and first launched on January 3, 1863, the Sultana was a coal-burning steamer with a side-wheel. The Sultana was said to be ultramodern and boasted the most up-to-date safety equipment for its day. During its short lifespan, it often made trips on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and New Orleans, frequently carrying military personnel.

Last & Only Known Extant Photograph of the Sultana & Doomed Passengers. Helena, Arkansas, April 26, 1865. Library of Congress photograph featured on the Tennessee State Library and Archives' "Disasters in Tennessee" online exhibit.

On April 15, 1865, as news quickly spread about President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the Sultana left Cairo, Illinois. According to Nathan Wintringer, the Sultana’s chief engineer, “as all the wire communications with the south were cut off at that time, the Sultana carried the news of his assassination and death to all points and military posts on the Mississippi river as far as New Orleans.”

On April 21, 1865, the Sultana left New Orleans headed back toward Cairo. Sometime before the ship’s routine stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Wintringer discovered a leak in one of the boilers. After docking at Vicksburg, Captain J. Cass Mason ordered mechanics to place a metal patch over the affected area so they could quickly be on their way. Wintringer had the following to say about that supposition:

"Now it was claimed by some at the time that this boiler was not properly repaired, and that was the cause of the explosion. In a short time those boilers were recovered and the one that had been repaired at Vicksburg was found in good condition, whole and intact, and that it was one of the other three that caused the explosion. Now what did cause this explosion? The explosion of the “Walker R. Carter” and “Missouri,” in rapid succession, I think fully answers that question. It was the manner of construction of those boilers. After these three fatal explosions they were taken out of all steamers using them and replaced with the old style of boiler." -- Chester D. Berry’s Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors, 1892

Rev. Chester D. Berry was a Sultana survivor who later published a collection of survivor accounts. Berry recalled that the Sultana arrived in Vicksburg with about 200 total passengers and crew on board. He further described the load that the Sultana took on in Vicksburg:

"She remained here little more than one day; among other things repairing one of her boilers, at the same time receiving on board 1,965 federal soldiers and 35 officers just released from the rebel prisons at Cahaba, Ala., Macon and Andersonville, Ga., and belonging to the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Besides these there were two companies of infantry under arms, making a grand total of 2,300 souls on board, besides a number of mules and horses, and over one hundred hogsheads of sugar, the latter being in the hold of the boat and serving as ballast." -- Chester D. Berry’s Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors, 1892

While the soldiers had to endure crowded conditions, they were jubilant in the knowledge that the conflict was finished and they were homeward bound. Many survivors recollected that there was great joy - including singing and dancing on board as well as much talk about seeing their homes and loved ones again. Otto Bardon, Company H, 102nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, USA, recalled “We were put on the steamer, Sultana, - About 2,400 men were on their way to ‘God’s country,’ as we called the North, and we all felt happy to know that we were on our way home and that the war was over (hallelujah, Amen).”

On April 26, 1865, the Sultana docked in Memphis about 6:30 p.m. After off-loading the barrels of sugar and making more repairs to the boiler, the Sultana headed to a coal yard on the west bank of the river in Arkansas. At about 1 a.m. on April 27, the Sultana proceeded out from Memphis and on toward Cairo. About seven miles north of Memphis, the boilers suddenly burst. In a historical sketch by J. H. Curtis for a 1920 article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the noise of the explosion was similarly compared to the “noise of a hundred earthquakes, starting with one great explosion which rolled and echoed and re-echoed about the woodlands of Arkansas and Tennessee for several minutes.” Capt. J. Walter Elliott, Company F, 44th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, commented on the scene:

"I have seen death’s carnival in the yellow-fever and the cholera-stricken city, on the ensanguined field, in hospital and prison, and on the rail; I have, with wife and children clinging in terror to my knees, wrestled with the midnight cyclone; but the most horrible of all were the sights and sounds of that hour. The prayers, shrieks and groans of strong men and helpless women and children are still ringing in my ears, and the remembrance makes me shudder. The sight of 2,000 ghostly, pallid faces upturned in the chilling waters of the Mississippi, as I looked down on them from the boat, is a picture that haunts me in my dreams." -- Chester D. Berry’s Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors, 1892

The resulting loss of life was great. Though the official number of deaths (as recorded by the Customs Department at Memphis) is 1,547, the exact death toll remains unknown. Most estimates fall in the 1,500 to 2,200 range with the average consensus among historians being between 1,700 and 1,800.

As some continued to search for bodies, others undertook the sad duty of notifying loved ones. Pvt. Solomon Bogart, Company F, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry, USA, wrote a letter to his sister, Martha, to inform her that his brother-in-law (Martha’s husband), Henry Marshall Misemer, and two of their brothers, Levi and Harrison Bogart, were killed. On the outside of the letter Bogart writes “lost, lost, all is lost.” He begins the letter by scrawling “horrid Disaster” at the top of the page. Bogart conveys that he is well except for a bruise on his hip which he sustained during the explosion. He also details looking in every hospital all over town for their lost family members. Bogart concludes “they are all lost and their Remains to day lays in the bed of the Mississippi River horrid thought.”

Bogart and his family members all belonged to the regiment that seemed to be the hardest hit by the tragedy, the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry out of East Tennessee. In the days that followed the catastrophe, the 3rd Tennessee were quick to honor their fallen comrades by releasing a memorial resolution on May 15, 1865. The resolution was published in Brownlow’s Knoxville Whig, and Rebel Ventilator on May 31, 1865. The 3rd Tennessee also erected a monument in Knoxville’s Mount Olive Baptist Church Burial Ground. The monument was dedicated at their reunion on July 4, 1916.

Photograph of the dedication of the USS Sultana monument in Knoxville’s Mount Olive Baptist Church burial ground at the 3rd U. S. Cavalry reunion, July 4, 1916, Looking Back at the Civil War in Tennessee Collection.

Photograph of Sultana Survivors Association members from the 3rd U. S. Tennessee Cavalry, Knoxville (Tenn.), circa 1900, Looking Back at the Civil War in Tennessee Collection.

Those lost on the Sultana continue to be remembered. In May of 1989, a monument to Sultana victims was placed in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. Perhaps the best summation for the remembrance of the Sultana disaster is in the words of one of its survivors, Cpl. P. S. Atchley, Company K, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry, USA:

"We were highly elated with the thoughts of going home and seeing loved ones, when suddenly, as we were a few miles above Memphis, Tenn., one of her boilers exploded and hundreds of souls were ushered into eternity. My experience on that terrible morning no pen can write nor tongue can tell. I was thrown into the surging waves of that mighty river, into the jaws of death, and life depended on one grand effort, expert swimming, which I did successfully, and after swimming six or seven miles, according to statements given by citizens living on the banks of the river, landed on the Arkansas shore without any assistance whatever. There I found a confederate soldier who came to my relief, and took me to a house near by, and gave me something to eat, and I felt something like myself again, thanks to the Great Ruler of the Universe. The said confederate soldier worked hard to save the lives of the drowning men, and brought to shore in his little dugout about fifteen of them…I will close by wishing God to bless every survivor." -- Chester D. Berry’s Loss of the Sultana and Reminiscences of Survivors, 1892

For additional information on the Sultana tragedy, please visit TSLA’s online exhibit, “Disasters in Tennessee.” http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/disasters/sultana.htm

Monument to Sultana victims placed at Elmwood Cemetery in May 1989, Memphis (Tenn.), August 18, 2011, Photograph by William M. Thomas, Exhibits Committee Photograph Collection.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

Free Presentation to Highlight Love and War in the 1860s

Theirs was a love story without the scandal and treachery found in the novel, "Gone With the Wind." However, a collection of love letters between East Tennesseans Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rutledge King does provide valuable real-life insights into social and military history during the Civil War.

On May 6, the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) is hosting a free public presentation about that collection, which was donated to TSLA last year by siblings and King descendants Olivia King Inman and Judge Dennis H. Inman. The collection of letters chronicles the romance between Oliver King and Katherine Rutledge, which led to their marriage.

Letter from Oliver Caswell King to Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King, May 10, 1858.
Oliver Caswell King and Katherine Rebecca Rutledge King Papers, 1856-1893
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Because East Tennessee was a stronghold of Union support, the couple's pro-Confederacy views were somewhat unusual for people living in that region.

Oliver King, a student at Tusculum College, initially supported the Union cause, but later switched allegiances and enlisted in the Confederate Army. Catherine Rutledge, a student at the Masonic Female Institute in Blountville, was a staunch Confederate supporter who wrote to her beloved that "if my sweet heart hadn't to have went [to war] I don't believe I would claim him any longer."

After aligning himself with the Confederate cause in 1861, Oliver King wrote that "we'll just have to fight it out if it takes us a whole generation." He was gravely injured in a battle in Virginia in 1864 and taken as a prisoner of war.

The collection documents the couple's life during and after the war.

The May 6 presentation will be led by Susan Gordon, an archivist at TSLA, and Jess Holler, a graduate student at Western Kentucky University. The hourlong event will begin at noon that day in TSLA's auditorium.

TSLA's building is located at 403 Seventh Avenue North, directly west of the State Capitol building in downtown Nashville. A limited amount of free parking is available around the TSLA building.

TSLA will soon make the collection available online.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

Letters to Santa...

Did you ever wonder if Santa was able to deliver presents during the Civil War or what children asked him to bring them in the 1800s? Well, wonder no more. Let items from the Tennessee State Library and Archives answer your St. Nicholas questions.

In her diary entry of December 28, 1862, Lucy Virginia Smith French wrote:

"We had to be “Santa Claus” ourselves this season, for cakes, apples, a little candy, & some picture books were all that could be procured for the children. We had to tell them Santa Claus couldn’t get thro’ the pickets, - Jessie wanted to know why “the old fellow couldn’t go to his Quartermaster & get him a pass?” They seemed to enjoy their Christmas quite as well as usual however, notwithstanding that Santa Claus was blackheaded."

Lithograph portrait of Lucy Virginia French from Women of the South Distinguished in Literature (1865) by Mary Forrest. She appears to be seated, looking directly ahead while wearing a dress. The printed letters, G. R. Hall, (presumably the engraver), rim the bottom of the portrait, while the name L. Virginia French is written beneath the portrait. According to the preface, the portraits in the volume were made expressly for the book and "with one exception, from life."
Library Collection, TSLA

Lucy Virginia French (1825-1881) was born in Accomack County, Va. In 1848, she and her sister moved to Memphis, where they became teachers. While living in Memphis, she began writing for the Louisville Journal under the pen name "L'Inconnue," and in 1852 became the editor of the Southern Ladies Book. In 1853, she married Col. John Hopkins French and relocated to McMinnville, Tenn., where they had 3 children, 1 boy and 2 girls. She kept detailed diaries during the Civil War, including this diary entry from December 28, 1862...

Lucy Virginia French diary entry, December 28, 1862.
Lucy Virginia French Diaries, TSLA

In another example from our collection, the Boyd Family Papers, 1838-1947, contain letters from Franklin Boyd and Amie “Dovie” (Boyd) Nicholson. Both letters are dated Dec. 22, 1896, and are on J. F. Boyd stationery. The letters were written from Shelbyville, Tennessee.

In Franklin Boyd’s letter, he asks for a long list of items, including a horse, roman candles, and firecrackers. He also asks Santa not to forget his sister. Dovie asks for multiple things as well, including a doll trunk and a set of wooden dishes. She signs her letter, “your little friend Dovie Boyd.”

Dovie Boyd's letter to Santa, Dec. 22, 1896.
Boyd Family Papers, 1838-1947, TSLA

We hope you receive all you have asked for from Santa Claus this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

"Christmas Gifts" sheet music cover from the Kenneth Rose Music Collection, TSLA

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

The Battle of Nashville: 150 Years Ago Today

Beginning on this day 150 years ago, the Confederate army launched a desperate assault on federal forces in Nashville as part of Confederate General John Bell Hood's attempt to threaten Union-held territory and lure General William T. Sherman away from Georgia. Despite the Confederate bloodletting at Franklin on November 30 of that year, the Confederates pursued their federal counterparts toward Nashville. Arriving on the south side of Nashville around December 2, 1864, the Confederates entrenched in an unlikely effort to besiege the strongly-fortified city. The thin Confederate lines stretched from the Cumberland River on the west to another bend of the river on the east. With perhaps 20,000 effective troops, the Confederates lacked sufficient manpower to complete the encirclement.

Major General George H. Thomas commanded Union forces during the Battle of Nashville.
Tennessee Historical Society Picture Collection

Inside the city, Major General George H. Thomas enjoyed the advantage of strong fortifications and earthworks which had been built in anticipation of a potential Confederate attack. With concentrations of African American refugees in the city available for military labor, and as many as 18,000 civilians employed by the army, Nashville was one of the strongest fortified cities on the continent. Thomas’s army, with a three-to-one advantage in numbers over Hood’s army, was primed for a major victory.

View of south Nashville from the campus of the University of Nashville. Fort Negley can be seen in the distance. Nashville had been occupied by the Union since 1862.
TSLA Photograph Collection

President Lincoln and General Grant pushed the cautious Thomas to destroy Hood’s army as quickly as possible. Thomas, however, refused to move until everything was in order and delayed further when a major ice storm hit the area on December 12. While the Confederates sat in frozen trenches with little or no food, few overcoats, and suffering low morale after the fiasco at Franklin, Thomas’s men prepared for the attack.

Written “in the field near Nashville” December 5, 1864, this receipt of medicines and hospital stores was issued to Senior Surgeon Robert W. Mitchell, Vaughan’s Brigade, CSA, 10 days before the Battle of Nashville. It includes alcohol, morphine, surgeon’s needles and silk, opium, and a large amount of whiskey.
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee

Finally on December 15, the weather broke and the federal advance began. Thomas sent his cavalry out Charlotte Pike in an effort to envelop the Confederate left flank. On the Confederate right, federal infantry, including a brigade of United States Colored Troops seeing combat for the first time, advanced to hold the Confederates in place. By the evening of the 15th, the Confederates had been forced to give up their positions and had fallen back to a shorter defensive line from Peach Orchard Hill on the far right, to Shy’s Hill on the left. There they sat, awaiting the next day’s attack.

This two sided hand-drawn map of Nashville, probably drawn for Army of Tennessee commanders by a Confederate spy, includes many features of wartime Nashville. Signed by “J.C.,” it shows “64-pounder” gun emplacements on the Cumberland River, the Brennan Foundry, and the stockade and fortifications around the State Capitol. The reverse side shows sentry houses and firfle pits on St. Cloud, Cathy’s, and Overton’s Hills, and military “graveyards” to the east.
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee

The federal plan of attack for December 16 was much the same as the day before—hold the Confederate right in place with a diversionary attack while also pressuring the center and flanking on the left, using cavalry. Confederates entrenched on Peach Orchard Hill inflicted heavy losses on the advancing United States Colored Troops, but the Confederates atop Shy’s Hill crumbled under the weight of attacks from three sides. The collapse of the Confederate left flank put the rest of Hood’s army in flight. It was only the brave rearguard actions by some Confederate units that prevented the complete destruction of the Army of Tennessee.

Pre-Civil War cased tintype of Col. William Shy, 20th Tennessee Infantry, CSA. Shy was killed at the Battle of Nashville on December 16, 1864, defending a hilltop position that now bears his name.
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee

The Battle of Nashville was the most complete federal victory of the Civil War and ended any Confederate threat to the state. Amazingly, those Confederate soldiers who remained with the defeated Army of Tennessee would fight again before the war finally ended in May 1865.

Dr. William H. Givens, an assistant surgeon attached to the 1st Division, detached from the 14th Army Corps, USA, wrote this letter to his wife on December 18, 1864 from the Rains House in Nashville. “We have suffered severely in the loss of men, but have gained one of the greatest victories of the war. We have captured large quantities of guns, small arms ammunition and prisoners . . . The fighting was quite severe all around here, and just in sight of here dozens of dead men have lain in the rain . . . nearly every one had been stripped of some article of clothing, all of them of their boots and shoes, most of them pants and many of coats, hats and all.”
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee

TSLA’s current exhibit “1864: War Rages in Tennessee” features the Battle of Nashville and will be up in our Memorial Hall through the end of the year.

Many of the images come from Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee: http://www.tn.gov/tsla/cwtn/index.htm.

The Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) has several other Civil War collections: http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/.

Other Civil War Resources at TSLA: http://www.tn.gov/tsla/resources/index.htm#civilwar.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.

New TSLA Exhibit Explores the Civil War in Tennessee in 1864

1864 would prove to be the decisive year of the American Civil War. Despite Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga the previous year, Northern citizens were growing war-weary. The mounting lists of dead and wounded made many wonder if the South should finally be allowed its independence.

Geographically situated between the Midwestern states and the Deep South, Tennessee was to be the major battleground in the Western Theater. The Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers, combined with numerous rail lines which crossed the state, made Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville of strategic importance to both Union and Confederate forces.

Brothers Cpl. Jesse Mercer Pirkle and 1st Sgt. Elijah Jefferson Pirkle served in Co. G, 3rd Tenn. Cav., USA. They walked from Cleveland, Tennessee to Nashville to muster in the Federal army. In September 1864, Elijah was shot near Florence, Alabama and spent the rest of the war in the hospital. Jesse was captured at Sulphur Trestle, Alabama, imprisoned at Andersonville, and survived the war.
Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee, Tennessee State Library and Archives

A new exhibit, with 16 panels full of images and information on this fascinating period in our history, opened last Monday at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. It explores the role Tennessee played as a transportation and supply hub, the experiences and contributions of African-Americans, and key battles at Johnsonville, Memphis, Fort Pillow, Spring Hill, Columbia, Franklin and Nashville.

The exhibit also highlights historical records that are valuable genealogy resources such as army muster rolls, Civil War Service records, the Southern Claims Commission Records, Colored Pension Applications, the Union Provost Marshal Records, cemetery records and TSLA's manuscript collections.

Louis Napoleon Nelson, the last black Confederate veteran in Lauderdale County, is pictured in uniform with two other members of the United Confederate Veterans. According to his Colored Man's Application for Pension, Nelson served in Company M, 7th Tennessee Cavalry. He accompanied his master, Colonel E.R. Oldham, as a cook and acted as a regimental servant. Slaves in Confederate service were not allowed to bear arms, and most were body servants and cooks. The Tennessee legislature passed an act on April 9, 1921, providing pensions of $10 per month for "those colored men who served as servants and cooks in the Confederate Army in the War Between the States." This act did not provide benefits for their widows. On Nelson's pension application, Oldham swore "the applicant's habits are good and free of dishonor."
Record Group 3, Board of Pension Examiners Records, and Looking Back at Tennessee Collection, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Visitors to the Tennessee State Library and Archives are invited to come explore the role Tennessee played in the Civil War in 1864. The exhibit will remain open until mid-December.

The State Library and Archives is located at 403 Seventh Avenue North, just west of the State Capitol building in downtown Nashville. The exhibit, free and open to all visitors, is located in the building's lobby directly behind the main entrance.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with the exception of state holidays. Parking is available in front, behind and beside the building.

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.