2022 Fall Muster Side Trips Thread

[Kathy the history sleuth]

Mt. Zion and St. Johns

 

[Kathy the history sleuth]

Mt. Zion and St. Johns

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There is a photo of a cedar tree that are common in this area and a part of the story of Stones River. I also took a photo of the magnolia trees that we don't have in the north and are so lovely.

 

[Kathy the history sleuth]

Here is a photo of Elm Springs from the outside.

 

[Union_Buff]

Those are some fantastic photographs Kathy - thank you kindly for posting them ^_^

 

[Kathy the history sleuth]

Those are some fantastic photographs Kathy - thank you kindly for posting them ^_^

You are welcome!

 

[bdtex]

@Rick Featherston and I left his house at 6am on Wednesday 10/5. The intent was to leave early enough for a side trip to Parker's Crossroads on the way. He did a little online research beforehand and I had read the Blue & Gray Magazine issue on Parker's Crossroads. The maps were helpful. Other than what you can see from US40, which cuts right through the battlefield, I didn't know much about the park itself. My wife and I passed through there twice last year traveling to and from Franklin and it drove me crazy not being able to stop both times.

Rick and I went straight to the Visitor Center when we got there. There are tour maps there, a gift shop, restrooms and a pretty good little museum with a lot of artifacts dug locally and elsewhere. Gen. Featherston and I were ready to stretch our legs and relieve some of the pressure on our butts for an extended period when we got there. My pics show that it was 2:50pm when we got there.

 

[stu613]

Yep, I got to visit there and Brice's crossroads back in August. Found both very interesting.

 

[bdtex]

Rick and I had allotted an hour and a half for Parker's Crossroads and we needed every minute of that just to do the driving tour which is 7 Tour Stops, not including the Visitor Center. I think we just did a drive-by at a couple of the stops. We walked some at the rest of the stops but not as much as I wish we'd had time for. I think you need at least half a day to do Parker's Crossroads right. In my mind I already have a future 3 site visit planned for Tennessee and 1 of the sites is Parker's Crossroads.

This is at Tour Stop 2, Hicks Field, at the northwest corner of the battlefield where the battle started. If you can zoom on the Wayside Marker, the little "You Are Here" yellow circle is in the upper left. The Wayside Markers at Parker's Crossroads are very good. Gen. Featherston says "The Yankees are over there." Before this trip and studying for the visit to Parker's Crossroads, I didn't know that it occurred on the same day as the first day of the Battle of Murfreesboro. That's an important thing to know.

 

[bdtex]

Tour Stop 4 is Jones Cemetery. We did a little walking there. Most of the gravestones there face East/West. The Rev. John Parker, his wife and a few other Parker gravestones are easy to find because they are in the middle of the cemetery and face North/South. The FindAGrave memorial for Rev. Parker explains why. He died in 1864.

Rev John Parker (1784-1864) - Find a Grave...

Parkers Crossroads named after him.Dr. Parker had been a Unionist at the start of the Civil War, but, after Dunham's Union commander refusal to move a cannon that had been placed in his yard, Dr. Parker switched his allegiance to the Confederacy. His death-bed wish was to be buried with my feet...

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

Tour Stop 5 is a pretty neat stop. The Wayside Marker is very helpful. As I understand it, the terrain in front of us is much the same as it was wartime. It was obviously a little greener since Rick and I were there on October 5th and not December 31st. I bet that was a good place for relic hunters.

 

[bdtex]

There is a lot to see and again, good markers, at Tour Stop 6.

 

[Rusk County Avengers]

@Rick Featherston and I left his house at 6am on Wednesday 10/5. The intent was to leave early enough for a side trip to Parker's Crossroads on the way. He did a little online research beforehand and I had read the Blue & Gray Magazine issue on Parker's Crossroads. The maps were helpful. Other than what you can see from US40, which cuts right through the battlefield, I didn't know much about the park itself. My wife and I passed through there twice last year traveling to and from Franklin and it drove me crazy not being able to stop both times.

Rick and I went straight to the Visitor Center when we got there. There are tour maps there, a gift shop, restrooms and a pretty good little museum with a lot of artifacts dug locally and elsewhere. Gen. Featherston and I were ready to stretch our legs and relieve some of the pressure on our butts for an extended period when we got there. My pics show that it was 2:50pm when we got there.

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Yeah, Tom and I stopped in Parker's Crossroads on the way and just stayed the night next door to the Visitor's Center before jetting out the next morning. (Apparently that hotel sitting right on the battlefield has been one of his favorites for 20 years. )

We stopped back by on the return trip while y'all were all in Franklin and while I didn't get to see much of the battlefield, I did have a look around the Visitors Center and spent some money. Even got contact info so I could keep track if they'll have their 160th Anniversary reenactment or not in January, which I hope I can go to. Even if I have to wear blue, as I don't have a horse. But Tom did offer to arrange the use of a 10-pound Parrott which I'd happily drag up there if it gets me the privilege of a gray uniform for that shindig.

 

[bdtex]

There is REALLY a lot to see at Tour Stop 7 and below is just a small sample. On my next visit to Parker's Crossroads, I intend to spend a lot more time at Tour Stop 7 and at the high ground between Tour Stops 3 and 4 across the highway. The first picture below is looking north across US40. The high ground between Tour Stops 3 and 4 north of US40 is plainly visible passing through Parker's Crossroads on US40.

 

[bdtex]

Also at Tour Stop 7 is an old cabin. It wasn't there at the time of the battle. As the Wayside Marker says, it was a few miles from there and was moved there between 2006 - 2008 but cabins like it were known to be in Parker's Crossroads at the time of the battle. There are public restrooms at Tour Stop 7 too. Looking at the times on my pictures, Rick and I were at Parker's Crossroads a little over an hour and 15 minutes. Even though there was still a lot to see at Tour Stop 7, we decided to push on for the last run into Murfreesboro.

 

[bdtex]

There were 2 side-trip groups on Thursday 10/6. One group started the day at Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Columbia. It's the burial place of Sam Watkins and other Confederate veterans. We were shooting to be there about 8am but I think it was closer to 8:15am when we all arrived at the rally point. Some pictures were posted in realtime in the Live thread. Kathy the history sleuth has posted some in this thread. I want to add a little more to this thread about that site visit.

Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Zion, Tennessee - Find a Grave Cemetery

Directions: Go west out of Columbia on Highway 99 for 6 miles and turn south on Zion Road. Go one mile. The Church and Cemetery are on the right.

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

@Rick Featherston and I were on a group tour of Columbia/Spring Hill/Franklin/Nashville in June 2017. The Tour Master was Sam Hood. He enlisted member @EricAJacobson to be our guide the first day of the tour. Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery was not on our itinerary for the day but Sam and Eric added it to our early morning itinerary. I knew nothing about the Cemetery and our visit then was focused on Sam Watkins and it was a thrill for me.

 

[bdtex]

I knew a little more about Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery on this trip and I went in search of the gravesites of other Confederate veterans. We didn't have but about 45 minutes allotted for that visit so I had to work fast and be selective. This one was easy to spot.

Pvt. Francis L. Frierson, Co. B, 2nd Tennessee Infantry. 27 fold3 pages. He enrolled for duty in Maury County on May 1,1861 and Mustered-in at Lynchburg VA on May 17,1861 for 12 months. He was "Present" on Company Muster Rolls through February 1864. No doubt he saw a lot of action. The March - June 1864 CMR says "Deserted between Marietta and Atlanta July 5th,1864." He was taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas. He took the Oath of Allegiance and was discharged May 12,1865. I couldn't find a Headstone Application. There are 155 "Frierson"s buried there.

Francis Legarde Frierson (1834-1912) - Find a...

C.S.A. 2nd (Robison's) Tennessee Infantry, (Walker Legion), Co. B, Confederate side, rank in Pvt. rank out Pvt. (NARA)*

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

Pvt. Willis B. Embry, Co. G, 9th Tennessee Cavalry. 6 fold3 pages. A Company Muster Roll dated August 31,1863 say he enlisted on January January 29,1863. He was appointed Commissary Sgt. on September 1,1863. A Receipt Roll for the 2nd Quarter of 1864 says was a cook and made $20 a month. His FindAGrave memorial and gravestone says he died on August 11,1864 but there is nothing in his fold3 records about that. His FindAGrave memorial says he was in the 19th Tennessee Cavalry but his Muster Records say it was known in the field as the 9th Tennessee Cavalry.

PVT Willis B. Embry (1825-1864) - Find a Grave...

Suggested edit: Co. G. 19th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A. Contributor: Tim Burgess (47983260) • C.S.A. -------------- Was the first Husband of Emily Susan Frierson Embry Fulton Names changed from William to Willis per Donna McPherson http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46906329

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

William Barnes, CSA, and Thomas Barnes,CSA. That's all it says on their gravestones. Very common names and multiple entries for Tennessee soldiers under both names in fold3 and NPS. No help at all in their FindAGrave memorials. Thomas Barnes' FindAGrave memorial says his middle name was Warren and he died in 1910. The only Thomas W. Barnes I found among Tennessee soldiers in fold3 died in 1864.

William Barnes - Find a Grave Memorial

CSA

www.findagrave.com

Thomas Warren Barnes (1820-1910) - Find a Grave...

Thomas W. Barnes, City. Thomas W. Barnes, 90, died yesterday morning at 12:30 at his residence, 2810 Beach Avenue. For many years he was one of the most prominent merchants in this city, coming here from Maury County, his native home, immediately after the war, during which he served in the...

www.findagrave.com

 

[bdtex]

Turns out @ErnieMac , @Rick Featherston and myself rode together a lot over the course of the first 3 days of the Muster. I am glad I got a picture of the 3 of us at Sam Watkins' gravesite at Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery.