Recalling Memphis

18thVirginia

Major
Joined
Sep 8, 2012
1860s-earliestphoto.jpg

Main Street - 1860s

We've done threads on other communities that had a high profile during the Civil War, but somehow skipped over Memphis. In searching for something else, I came across lots of Memphis references and thought it was time to search out photos of that city. As I've stated, I really have to see the photos to bolster my understanding of what the period was like. So.......Memphis, where nearly 400,000 bales of cotton were being sold in a year.

beale-1860s.v2.jpg


Beale Street - 1860s
 
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Wounded soldiers were transported to Memphis on hospital ships, with over 5,000 treated in Memphis during the War.

overton-1910.jpg

The Overton Hotel

The Overton had not opened prior to the War and was used first as a Confederate, then a Union hospital. This is obviously a post Civil War photo.
 
Thanks for posting. I've seen some of those photos of the landing and bluffs but I don't think I've seen those actual photos of Beale Street and other streets.
 
Glad that you're enjoying them. I like to see where ordinary people lived, did business, held their trials, cared for the wounded, attended church, etc.

hospital-jefferson-commercial.jpg


Commercial Hospital, another of the Memphis Hospitals

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Webster Hospital had 500 beds
 
I've found this map at the LoC to be useful in locating Civil War sites. Although it's 1888, and there are many roads which are more recent than the war, it's still close enough to the 1860's that many locations are the same, such as the site of the skirmish at Morning Sun, and the farms of many people who lived near Memphis during the war. This map is pretty accurate and easy to overlay on a modern map with minimal distortion.

During the war, my Civil War ancestor William Harry Sawyer and his brother Wilson L Sawyer of the 1st TN Partisan Rangers, later the 12 TN Cavalry, lived with his folks at the property in district 9, marked WH Sawyer and to the West of Morning Sun. This property is now the northern part of the Countrywood suburb of Cordova, including most of the golf course. Harry Sawyer's bride to be, Nancy "Nannie" Woodson, lived with her widowed mother's relatives at the JW Crouch property in district 7, just to the north of Cheatham. This property is today next to Evangelical Christian School. Harry and Nancy were married on Christmas Day in 1864, apparently when Harry was on furlough from Forrest's forces. It's known that Forrest furloughed a large number of men over that period.

Nancy's father and grandfather, William and John Woodson, were deceased by the time of the war, but close relatives, the Hornes and Daltons, still lived at their old place in district 8, in Brunswick, where John Woodson, one of the first settlers in the area, had been the postmaster. The Brunswick post office is still at this location today.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3963s.la000879/
 
I'm guessing historical societies would love these threads! It must feel like living in a cloister, doing their work. Seeing someone pitch in with such detail, like a veritable advertisement would be Heaven!

I think this is where an eye witness wrote of- the Union officers walking through town to raise the flag. It was hugely tense. The witness said it was the bravest thing he ever saw.
 

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