Recalling Memphis

[18thVirginia]

General Sherman during his stay in Memphis, photographed by a Memphis photographer.

Sherman and his Officers, Memphis 1862

 

[18thVirginia]

Confederate Park now exists where thousands watched the Battle of Memphis.

 

[18thVirginia]

Elizabeth Avery Merriwether - refugee from Memphis

 

[18thVirginia]

Sherman's Lookout at Fort Pickering

 

[18thVirginia]

The Levee at Memphis, Tenn.--Hauling sugar and cotton from their hiding place for shipment North

Memphis continued to be a place where contraband sugar and cotton were smuggled out.

 

[18thVirginia]

Irving Block Prison.
These office buildings had been a Confederate Hospital, but the Union made it a prison for Confederates.

 

[18thVirginia]

Some antebellum houses in Memphis.

John Martin house, 1861

James Lee House, built by William Harsson as a 2 story farmhouse in 1848.

http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[18thVirginia]

Annesdale, built in 1850 by druggist Dr. Samuel Mansfield. was on the outskirts of Memphis. at the time.

Anderson-Coward house, built in 1840

http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[18thVirginia]

Clano Hall was originally a clapboard house, with brick added in 1925. It was used as a Union
headquarters in the Civil War.

Pillow-McIntyre House, 1852, was purchased by General Gideon Pillow after the Civil War.

http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[18thVirginia]

The Robertson-Topp House was built in 1841 by Robertson Topp, builder and owner of the Gayoso Hotel and builder of Beale Street.

http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[18thVirginia]

William Roland Harris Home, built in 1853 by Harris, a Tennessee Supreme Court Justice.
He was the brother of the governor and fled to Mexico after the war. He eventually returned
and became a U.S Senator. Nathan B. Forrest's men planned raids in Mississippi on the lawn

http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[18thVirginia]

Van Vleet Mansion, 1856

Laurel Hill, 1863

Hilderbrande House, 1850
http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html

 

[Tennessee_Mountainman]

Photos of Grant taken at Memphis:

 

[18thVirginia]

Thanks for sharing those, Tennessee Mountainman. Always love photos of people to go with the places they served.

 

[Patrick H]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread until today. Sometimes these threads are only visible for a day until someone else bumps them. If I miss that one day, I am out of luck. At least I saw it today. I am always amazed at the looks and the size of some of these cities and towns back during the day. Thank you for starting this thread.

 

[18thVirginia]

Thanks, Patrick. On looking at this thread, I realized that I got caught up in the photos of houses and sort of left off many of the photos and stories of Civil War women that I usually include in such a thread. Will go back and add some.

 

[18thVirginia]

Isabella Buchanan Edmondson was born in Mississippi in 1840. Her family's farm was located between the lines of the Confederate and Union armies south of Memphis. "Belle" Edmondson became a Confederate spy, passing through Union lines and smuggling medicines and information. By 1864, she had attracted the attention of Union military authorities and fled south into Mississippi, where she remained until the end of the war. She later returned to Memphis, where she died in 1873 at the age of 33.

Her diary can also be found online here, http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/edmondson/edmondson.html.

 

[18thVirginia]

Sallie Chapman Gordon Law was the president of the Southern Mother's Association, part of the Second Presbyterian Church in Memphis. The Southern Mother's started out sewing uniforms for soldiers in Tennessee in one another's homes. As more women joined the activity, they moved to the basement of the Second Presbyterian Church.

When the war began, they organized a hospital with 12 beds in Mrs. W. B. Greenlaw's home. They would move again to Court Square, where they had 300 sick soldiers with cases of measles. They would move to Court Square on Irving and eventually locate in the Overton Hospital.

The Overton Hotel/Hospital

 

[18thVirginia]

Some articles of clothing from the Civil War era in Tennessee. From the collection of the Tennessee State Museum http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/era_id/4/major_id/21/minor_id/63/a_id/199

Kid gloves

Plaid dress

Beaded Purse

Summer bonnet made of straw and silk