Battle of Nashville & Beyond

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Sugar Creek

The Battle of Sugar Creek | Hood’s Retreat

440 Appleton Road, Five Points, TN 38457

 

 In The Lion’s Mouth – by Derek Smith

“What followed over the next twelve days would be one of the most spellbinding and tragic episodes in American military history, as hunters and hunted left bloody footprints on the bayonet-sharp ice for more than 100 miles. Grizzled Confederates who survived claimed, it was worse than the patriots’ sufferings at Valley Forge. One general wrote ‘that it was a most painful march, characterized by more suffering than had ever before, been my misfortune to witness.’ ”

Sugar Creek was the last battle* of the Confederate Army of Tennessee – in Tennessee. It was fought on the Giles and Lawrence county line, near the Tennessee, Alabama border in late 1864. For ten bitter December days, and over one hundred miles, Lt. General Forrest defended Hood’s vanquished army, in a sequence of valiant rear-guard delaying actions, following the crushing rout at Nashville. From Brentwood, to Sugar Creek, Tennessee, these final desperate maneuvers, enabled the war-weary Confederates to break out, over the Tennessee River into Alabama. But the game would soon be up. The South would capitulate a few months later, ending the long bloody war between the States.

*the Battle of Bentonville, NC was the last battle of the Army of Tennessee before the Army was surrendered by Gen. Joseph is E. Johnston at Bennett Place near Durham Station, North Carolina.

Recommended Reading:

“Just before 8 A.M. on a cold winter morning, U.S. Gen. James H. Wilson’s cavalry corps advanced slowly through a thick fog. Forrest had stationed two brigades under Gen. Edward C. Walthall about 200 yards south of the creek’s main ford behind rock-and-log breastworks”… read more

The core battlefield of this last stand, is about 3 miles northwest of the Highway 11 bridge crossing at Sugar Creek. The battlefield is on private property, but can be viewed from several street views. The closest public perspective is on Puncheon Branch Road. PLEASE RESPECT PRIVATE PROPERTY HERE. This is not a public park.

This virtual tour is the final leg of that 100 mile battle. Tour points include the following historical Civil War sites in southern Giles & Lawrence County, Tennessee:

  • Appleton, TN at The Big Red Store
  • The Lower Ford
  • The Upper (Peach) Ford
  • Puncheon Branch Road
  • Sugar Creek Road
  • Dobbin’s Cemetery
  • Cemetery at Anthony Hill
  • Lytle-Noblit House

The Lytle-Noblit House

Dismantled in 2017

“Thomas H. Noblit (1812-1899), who served the community as justice of the peace, doctor, merchant, and farmer, built this log dogtrot farmhouse in the 1840s. The Civil War battle at Sugar Creek occurred nearby in December 1864. In the 1890s, his son-in-law, William Franklin “Will” Lytle (1858-1942), renovated the house in the Queen Anne style. Will’s daughter, Mary Will Lytle (1897-1990), was among Tennessee’s first women dentists.”

NOTE: The historical marker for this site disappeared around 2014, as well as the Sugar Creek marker a few miles away.

Take a 360 degree virtual tour of the battlefield land below:

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Battle Map Courtesy of Bob Boyd

The Big Red Store

440 Appleton Road, Five Points, TN 38457

The Big Red Store in Appleton, Tennessee is said to be the largest historic rural General Store in the country. It host’s several events during the year, including one on the 4th of July, and the anniversary of the Battle of Sugar Creek, each December 26th.

The event center is open by appointment only, and on special occasions. Contact Linda Boyd for details at (931) 556-2023. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated to help with restoration and upkeep of the building.

More battle sites on Hood’s Retreat

Chronology of General Hood’s Champaign

Reports from the Military Official Record

#sugarcreek

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Cavalry Tour

Civil War Cavalry Virtual Tours: 

09 MAR 17

Cavalry operations in the western theater of the United States Civil War.cavalry

Some tours have expanded links to the battlefields*

* Brices Crossroads – Forrest vs Sturgis

* Davis Bridge – Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn vs Maj. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord

Johnsonville Battlefield and Tennessee River Naval Battle – November 4–5, 1864. Forrest’s Cavalry raid on the U.S. Navy and the Army supply base at Johnsonville, Tennessee:

  • West Bank of the Tennessee River at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park
  • Upper Redoubt
  • Tennessee River Front

Clifton, Tennessee – Forrest Cavalry crossing of the Tennessee River – Dec. 15, 1862 – Jan. 3, 1863

* Parkers Crossroads – Forrest’s Cavalry Raid into West Tennessee – December 31, 1862 

* Kelley’s Point – Cumberland River Nashville Naval Battle Dec. 2-15, 1864

  • Look for the icons that open to display the historical signage.
  • The lower left corner of the display has a full screen option hot spot.

* Hood’s Retreat – Battle of Nashville Rear Guard

* John Hunt Morgan Raid’s – Munfordville and Tebb’s Bend

 

Note: get the full screen mode by clicking the icon in the lower left of the video frame. A zoom option is available also for reading the historical signage. Some markers are embedded in the floating icons.

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Recommended Reading:

#virtualtour #civilwar #johnsonville #nbforrest #cavalry

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Brice’s Crossroads

Sturgis vs. Forrest at Brice’s Crossroads 

June 10, 1864 | North Mississippi

The Confederate success at Brice’s Crossroads (also known as the Battle of Tishomingo Creek and the Battle of Guntown) was a significant victory for Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, outnumbered over 2 : 1 (4,800 infantry and 3,300 cavalry to Forrest 3,500 cavalry). Forrest captured more than 1,600 prisoners of war, 18 artillery pieces, and wagons loaded with supplies. Once the defeated General Sturgis reached Memphis, he asked to be relieved of command. It was a brilliant victory, including a rare artillery charge, but the battles strategic effect on the war proved to be insignificant. …read more

Take a 3D like virtual tour of the Brice’s Crossroads National Battlefield. The V/T consists of 8 separate locations around the core battlefield.

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Map

Wikipedia

The battlefield and visitor center are just off the Natchez Trace Parkway at the Baldwyn Exit near mile-marker 280.

Vistor Center: 607 Grisham St, Baldwyn, MS 38824

Battlefield: 260 Bethany Rd, Guntown, MS 38849

Suggested Reading:

 

 

 

 

 

 

#bricescrossroads #virtualtour

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Parkers Crossroads

Parkers Crossroads Virtual Tour 

 

Updated: 17MAR17

parkers-mapUpdated with winter perspectives of the battlefield, this panoramic 3D like, augmented reality, virtual tour takes you through seventeen 360º perspectives of Parkers Crossroads, Tennessee. This civil war park has a great walking trails, with dozens of interpretive signs of the battle between Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest and Col. Cyrus Dunham December 31st, 1862. The park lies north and south of interstate 40, and has two satellite sites, north and south of those parks.

Be sure and watch the interpretive movie at the visitor center and gift shop: 20945 Hwy. 22 North, Parkers Crossroads, TN 38388

Special thanks to Tennessee State Representative Steve McDaniels for saving this historic battlefield.

Note: get the full screen experience by clicking the icon in the lower left of the video frame.  A zoom option is available also for reading the historical signage. Some markers are embedded in the floating icons.

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More tours

Wikipedia

North Park: 21778 TN-22 Parkers Crossroads, TN 38388

Vistor Center: 20945 Hwy. 22 North, Parkers Crossroads, TN 38388

Recommended Reading:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#parkerscrossroads #nathanbedfordforrest

Bob Henderson

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Conscription

1861 Draft in Tennessee?

 

This is from the diary of my GGG Uncle Lt. David Phillips, 7th Infantry Tennessee, CSA: 

December 13th, 1861 – in camp 2 -3 miles south of Staunton, Virginia

“December 13th. Day fine. Archie and I had a regular old corn shucking scuffle. It was ‘give and take’ for some time; finally Archie was routed, having got a sore knee and a bruised hand. During the contest we rendered tent ‘hors du combat’ by knocking it down. Captain Bostic got back from home at night; boys glad to see him. He brought a great many letters for the regiment. None for me. Through some that he brought I learned with regret that Tommy, Levi, and Luster had been drafted. Bad news from, all quarters about home*.”

Luster Henderson is also my GGG Uncle through marriage in latter generations. He was the oldest son of Preston Henderson of Henderson’s Crossroads (now Norene, Tennessee). Born in 1826, he was 35 years old in 1861.

This is bad news to David: “with regret that Tommy, Levi, and Luster had been drafted”. Was he regretting that the Confederacy has drafted his friend in Wilson County, that had ridden with him all the way to Nashville to send him off to fight with General Hatton in Virginia? Was Tennessee’s governor Isham Harris calling for them?  Or was President Lincoln’s call for 2 Regiments of Tennessee volunteers, more than just a request? 

Luster (Lus) Henderson and his two brothers, Jeremiah and John,  joined the Confederate Army. John Bond enlisted in Huntsville, Alabama December 9, 1961. Lus and John with Forrests 3rd Cavalry Company D. Jeremiah Tucker (Tuck) with the 9th Battalion TN. They would fight in the Battle of Shiloh the following spring.

“On August 8, 1861, the Confederacy called for 400,000 volunteers to serve for one or three years. In April 1862,[12] the Confederacy passed the first conscription law in U.S. history, the Conscription Act,[13] which made all able bodied white men between the ages of 18 and 35 liable for a three-year term of service in the PACS. It also extended the terms of enlistment for all one-year soldiers to three years. Men employed in certain occupations considered to be most valuable for the home front (such as railroad and river workers, civil officials, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers) were exempt from the draft.[14] The act was amended twice in 1862. On September 27, the maximum age of conscription was extended to 45.[15] On October 11, the Confederate Congress passed the so-called “Twenty Negro Law“,[16] which exempted anyone who owned 20 or more slaves, a move that caused deep resentment among conscripts who did not own slaves.” – Wikipedia

Lus Henderson 1826-1905

 

*‘The Phillips Family History’ by Harry Phillips • Published by The Lebanon Democrat 1935

#conscription #thedraft