Fielding Hurst

Borderruffian

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Location
Marshfield Missouri
Five companies of the 6th Tennessee Union Cavalry were formed out of the "Nation," and Fielding Hurst, accompanied by his two negro servants, Lloyd and Sam, assumed command on August 14, 1862.
The progression from training to scouting to terrorism was swift, and only local legend preserves the names of the smallest hamlets torched during his forays. Eventually, he set out for Purdy, seat of McNairy County, and thoroughly Southern in sympathy. While the men paid the price of their convictions on the field, the women and children of Purdy paid their price in the scorching flame of their homes and places of worship. "It was Hurst who played the role of Nero in Purdy, even singing songs and praying while the churches were burning." On April 16, 1863, Col. E.W. Rice (US) wrote to his commander Maj. Gen. Oglisly: "Colonel Hurst's 1st W. Tenn Cavalry (6th Tn US) from Bolivar is at Purdy for the purpose of destroying property - has ordered the furniture removed from some of the houses and threatens to burn them. The colonel passed through line this morning but did not report to my headquarters, and I do not know by what authority he destroys the property."
Numerous early reports from Union command continually ask "Where is Hurst?" The same question was beginning to form on the silent lips of young mothers whose defenders marched with the Army of Tennessee (CS). The summer of 1863 found Hurst in Jackson, Tennessee There he ravaged and robbed the personal property of a Mrs. Newman, who filed a complaint with Federal authorities. After an intense investigation, Col. Hurst was found guilty of theft and charged $5,139.25 as recompense to Mrs. Newman. With things hot in Jackson, Hurst struck back out into rural West Tennessee. In August, Hurst surrounded and captured Captain Wharton and a portion of his men on the road from Purdy to Pocohontas. They were murdered. Ms. Emma Inman Williams writes in Historic Madison that they were buried as mile markers along that road. Mr. G. Tiliman Stewart, Henderson County historian until his death in 1986, remarked in 1977 that only the bodies were buried . . . the heads were placed on mile markers already existing on the road from Purdy to Lexington. In any event, the murders must have been horrible as various civilians wrote Confederate authorities about the matter. That of Mr. D. M. Wisdom reached Jefferson Davis himself.


http://www.tnyesterday.com/yesterday_henderson/hurst/hurst.html

http://hurstnation.com/

http://www.fieldinghurst.com/

http://reunionoverton.org/Fielding_Hurst.html

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=34089

Expired Image Removed

Expired Image Removed
 
Fielding Hurst and Nathan Bedford Forrest were mortal enemies, and with good reason. As noted in your post, Hurst's men had tortured and murdered several of Forrest's troopers. It was with great satisfaction that Col James J Neely's brigade encountered the Sixth Tennessee near Bolivar and routed them. The Sixth did not stop running until they reached Memphis. Neely lost 35 men but captured Hurst's entire wagon train, regimental records, 50,000 rounds of ammunition - or, as BG Chalmers reported, "Colonel Neely, of the Thirteenth Tennessee, met the traitor Hurst at Bolivar, and after a short conflict...drove Hurst hatless into Memphis, leaving in our hands all his wagons, ambulances, papers, and his mistresses both black and white."

The War of the Rebellion, US War Dept, page 623.

Grierson had warned Hurst not to engage Confederate forces but Hurst ignored this warning and got his hind-end handed to him!

When Forrest's complaints about Hurst's terrorism were ignored he demanded the Union commander be handed over to Confederate authorities - that didn't happen, of course, as the Confederacy wasn't recognized. But Grant did order at least one formal court-martial against Hurst. It wasn't held as other events intervened. Forrest, however, declared Hurst an outlaw to be shot on sight by his troopers. One of the many reasons he ended up at the infamous Ft Pillow was Hurst was operating some of his raids from there - Forrest had a good chance to get him. In fact, he mentioned obtaining horses and ammunition from Hurst's troops as a reason for attacking Ft Pillow. He sometimes referred to the Sixth Tennessee as 'renegade Tennesseans' and he wasn't too wrong. But, on the other hand, Hurst's renegades were doing their job, which was to 'grub up' west Tennessee. Even Sherman supported the tactics - at least to a point. Hurst was also sometimes connected with Parson Brownlow's son, who commanded a similar partisan outfit with similar reputation.

Later, after the war, Hurst became a US judge and it was not a happy time for former Confederates who ended up in his court! However, one of the best modern biographies of Forrest was written by Jack Hurst, a direct descendant of Fielding Hurst.
 
I don't know if Hurst was born hating the secesh, but he maybe had good reason. (Much like their hating Tennessee Tories at Ft. Pillow.)

The backstory has it that Hurst voted wrong at the secession convention. He was jailed for a time and most likely abused. When he was finally released, he raised similarly minded Unionists and went on revenge binge.
 
Both Hurst and Brownlow had a lot of personal reasons to hate the rebels! (In fact, the reason Forrest's lieutenant was tortured to death was because a short time earlier Hurst's 18-year-old nephew went the same way - it wasn't Forrest's men but Hurst didn't care which rebs paid!) They neither one minded a bit taking it out on them whenever they could, and after the war a lot of trouble could have been avoided if these two (and guys like them) had not been in positions of power to pick on their late enemies. A little R E Lee would have gone a long way here but these men probably wouldn't have listened anyway. They were both vengeful and Hurst in particular was thought to be a bit 'tetched'. Maybe!
 
Both Hurst and Brownlow had a lot of personal reasons to hate the rebels! (In fact, the reason Forrest's lieutenant was tortured to death was because a short time earlier Hurst's 18-year-old nephew went the same way - it wasn't Forrest's men but Hurst didn't care which rebs paid!) They neither one minded a bit taking it out on them whenever they could, and after the war a lot of trouble could have been avoided if these two (and guys like them) had not been in positions of power to pick on their late enemies. A little R E Lee would have gone a long way here but these men probably wouldn't have listened anyway. They were both vengeful and Hurst in particular was thought to be a bit 'tetched'. Maybe!
From what I have gathered, people in Tennessee and Kentucky were far less judicious than those in Virginia; i.e., not the same kind of gentlemen. "Well, he needed killing."

The law was more often who could shoot first and straighter rather than the judge who ruled by the book. (Or close to it.)

But it was what it was. We might hope we've learned a thing or three, but this sort of thing still goes on. And it is not limited to Tennessee and Kentucky.
 
Indeed so. Champ Ferguson was a great one for preemptive strikes - he would kill somebody because he thought they might be thinking of killing him! (And he was surprised the law didn't consider that a valid defense...)

As I mentioned on another thread, that was one reason Bradford didn't quite make it to Duckworth's. His outfit was similar to Hurst's and he had an even worse reputation among the civilians. In Tennessee it was very much if the left one didn't get you the right one would! Forrest did not like to deal with partisans or quasi-military units but when the manpower got scarce toward the end, he had to take men he would not have looked at twice earlier. The Hayes Brothers were an example - Burt Hayes was a planter's son who raised a company of over 100 men and Forrest sometimes had them on his rolls and sometimes didn't. Presently Hurst's men did dirt to the Hayes family and the brothers left to 'right' the wrong, taking the whole company with them. According to their family legends, Forrest allowed Hayes to take his boys out to settle the family 'outrage' to an aunt, but that doesn't square with Forrest's orders for them to return or be considered outlaws. They did not return and he was gunning for them same as Hurst. (They made Hurst look good, too.) After the war, Tennessee marshals cornered them behind a barn and shot them full of holes like the Swiss cheese - everybody was relieved. These 'renegade' Unionists pretty much became the law after the war, so I kind of cut Forrest some slack for his post-war activities that weren't so nice. There was a solid push there, for sure.
 
Being that all of this happened no more than an hour east of here he's not well liked around these parts by anyone that knows the stories.
 
Thanks! Speaking for myself, I'm easily confused! :D It was a hard time around those parts then. Whether you were Confederate or Union, black or white, it seemed somebody was bound to give you a hard time! (Hurst was one of the main reasons Forrest's mom and his half-siblings moved to Texas - although a couple of the Luxton boys did serve for the Confederacy. Kind of weird to think 44-year-old Forrest had a 12-year-old sister - the only sister of his to survive her childhood.)
 
I'm sorry, I thought it was obvious since the post was about Fielding Hurst that I would be talking about Fielding Hurst, my humblest apologies.....

Thanks Mike. Unfortunately, nothing is certain in life--especially around here. But I will add a few boo's and hisses to yours. :smile:
 
Five companies of the 6th Tennessee Union Cavalry were formed out of the "Nation," and Fielding Hurst, accompanied by his two negro servants, Lloyd and Sam, assumed command on August 14, 1862.
The progression from training to scouting to terrorism was swift, and only local legend preserves the names of the smallest hamlets torched during his forays. Eventually, he set out for Purdy, seat of McNairy County, and thoroughly Southern in sympathy. While the men paid the price of their convictions on the field, the women and children of Purdy paid their price in the scorching flame of their homes and places of worship. "It was Hurst who played the role of Nero in Purdy, even singing songs and praying while the churches were burning." On April 16, 1863, Col. E.W. Rice (US) wrote to his commander Maj. Gen. Oglisly: "Colonel Hurst's 1st W. Tenn Cavalry (6th Tn US) from Bolivar is at Purdy for the purpose of destroying property - has ordered the furniture removed from some of the houses and threatens to burn them. The colonel passed through line this morning but did not report to my headquarters, and I do not know by what authority he destroys the property."
Numerous early reports from Union command continually ask "Where is Hurst?" The same question was beginning to form on the silent lips of young mothers whose defenders marched with the Army of Tennessee (CS). The summer of 1863 found Hurst in Jackson, Tennessee There he ravaged and robbed the personal property of a Mrs. Newman, who filed a complaint with Federal authorities. After an intense investigation, Col. Hurst was found guilty of theft and charged $5,139.25 as recompense to Mrs. Newman. With things hot in Jackson, Hurst struck back out into rural West Tennessee. In August, Hurst surrounded and captured Captain Wharton and a portion of his men on the road from Purdy to Pocohontas. They were murdered. Ms. Emma Inman Williams writes in Historic Madison that they were buried as mile markers along that road. Mr. G. Tiliman Stewart, Henderson County historian until his death in 1986, remarked in 1977 that only the bodies were buried . . . the heads were placed on mile markers already existing on the road from Purdy to Lexington. In any event, the murders must have been horrible as various civilians wrote Confederate authorities about the matter. That of Mr. D. M. Wisdom reached Jefferson Davis himself.


http://www.tnyesterday.com/yesterday_henderson/hurst/hurst.html

http://hurstnation.com/

http://www.fieldinghurst.com/

http://reunionoverton.org/Fielding_Hurst.html

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=34089

Expired Image Removed

Expired Image Removed
This source gives a somewhat more sympathetic view of Hurst.
tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1616
@roberts you might enjoy the above thread
Leftyhunter
 
Last edited:
This source gives a somewhat more sympathetic view of Hurst.
tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1616
@roberts you might enjoy the above thread
Leftyhunter

There is actually a very sympathetic bio of Fielding Hurst written by Kevin McCann titled Hurst's Wurst: Colonel Fielding Hurst and the Sixth Tennessee Cavalry USA.

Hurst was a stubborn Unionist and had a hard time of it early in the war but he didn't have a lot of success in the cavalry...not that I would expect him to given his age and lack of military experience. He's controversial but worth a look.

BTW I don't have anything against Tennessee tories since I have so many on my family tree.
 
Back
Top