Reluctant Rebs & "Homegrown Yanks": East Tennesseans in the Civil War

Some of the more mountainous counties/areas of East Tennessee were pretty Unionist but others near any rivers such as Knoxville (the largest city) were Confederate so even in rather pro-Union places there were some notable Confederates as this book details.

Lot's of east Tennessee farmers in the valleys along the railroads and rivers had economic ties to the lower south. They believed joining the Confederacy would provide greater economic benefits.
 
"The Old Red Fox" and the killing of the Nave brothers in Sullivan County

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By April, 1865, a number of Confederates remaining in upper east Tennessee had taken up residence in predominantly Confederate Sullivan County. Many of these were rebels that had made life miserable for Unionists in Carter and Johnson Counties. On April 18, 1865, Ellis led his Company A of the 13th TN Cavalry toward Sullivan. One of those men was Henry Nave. Ellis and Nave were both members and Lay leaders in the same Baptist Church. Henry was also a school commissioner in the 9th District of Carter County, and in 1838, contributed to a school built in the Watauga Valley, the Nave School, later to be renamed Davis School. He also was a magistrate, and a prosperous farmer, and served as Justice of the Peace in Carter County for several years. On pages 397-398 of his book, Ellis describes the following :

"After passing our journey a little farther, we saw two men run out of a violent old rebel's house. Some of the men commenced shooting and calling on the men to halt, but the more we called on them to halt, the faster they ran. When I got up closer I heard one of my men say, "That is Henry Nave". I instantly turned my horse and rode off in a different direction, for I did not wish to see him killed, and I knew it would be perfect folly to endeavor to prevent the men from killing a man who had been such a desperate enemy to them and their families. As I rode up to the other man some of my men were pursuing, I heard the gunfire that killed him. When I got close to the other man, to my very great surprise, I found it was Isaac L. Nave. He would not surrender, and, being well armed, he continued to shoot as long as he could, but he was soon killed".

Nave family history says, "Henry and his brother, Isaac Lincoln Nave were badly outnumbered and pleaded surrender but were refused. They fought and died. An inscription on his tombstone reads: MURDERED BY SO-CALLED UNION SOLDIERS. He is buried beside his brother, who died two days after Henry from the wounds he received".

So went the "late unpleasantness" in upper east Tennessee.

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Henry joined the Confederate Home Guard Company of Captain John McLin .

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Isaac's first military service was during the Cherokee War (Removal). He joined the Confederate Army as a private in Co. K, 61st Tenn Inf. He later served in the "Home Guard", and was mortally wounded in a shootout with Capt. Dan Ellis and his Union company. Isaac died of wounds two days later.






 
Keep them hoggies rollin rawhide.
Reminds me of the joke about the travelling salesman who got lost and asked an East Tennessee farmer for directions to the main road, then noticed he had a peculiar breed of hogs with long hind legs, short front legs, and large holes in their ears. So of course he just had to ask the farmer about them out of curiosity. But then if I told the rest of it, I'd be taking this thread off topic!:wink:
 
Confederate Captain David Neff of the Thomas Legion and (Carter's) 1st Tennessee Cavalry. His son James Knox Polk Neff stands to his left.

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At Dandridge in Jefferson County, East Tennessee, on September 24, 1862, Captain James W. Terrell of 2nd Company A (Indian Company), Thomas Legion, mustered into Confederate Service, the company of East Tennessee volunteers raised by David Neff who became their Captain. They were designated Company G Walker's Battalion of the Legion. In November 1862, they were transferred to (Carter's) 1st Tennessee Cavalry, where they became Company H of that regiment.

Captain Neff was 54 years old when he was captured at Somerset, Ky 30th March 1863. He amazingly survived prison life at Fort Delaware through the remainder of the war. He was from Shenandoah County, Virginia and had moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee in 1836. He was a blacksmith with a large family to support. Two of his sons, James (pictured with his father) and John served under him in Company H. Samuel Henry Neff is shown in the 2nd and 29th Tennessee Infantry. His daughter, Catherine reportedly married Union second Lieutenant William H. Crawford, Company H 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. Crawford was also a P.O.W. but escaped from the Rebels, May 15, 1864. While the menfolk were off fighting the Neff Home was shelled and also used as a Union Hospital. David's son, James was bushwhacked and killed by four Union soldiers (possibly deserters), on April 21, 1865. One man, John Bartley from the 2nd NC Mounted Infantry, another, John Biddle, served in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry. After the war, David moved his family (wife and unmarried children) back to Shenandoah County, Virginia where he died in 1887.

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East Tennesseans For The Union :

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-6#post-1756504

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1581008

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1580915

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1580914

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-4#post-1580907

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-4#post-1570516







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On the left, Captain David Fry, Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry. On the right, 3 Blacksmiths and a Saddler of Company I, 8th Tennessee Cavalry.


Living in Greene County, East Tennessee during the secession crisis and outbreak of hostilities, David Fry fled Tennessee for Kentucky where the Mexican War veteran enlisted in the Union Army. On October 1, 1861, he was commissioned, Captain of Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry Volunteers.

While training in Kentucky, he was approached (probably) by his Colonel, James P. T. Carter about a plan, approved by Abraham Lincoln, to burn as many railroad bridges in upper East Tennessee as possible between Bristol and Chattanooga in November 1861. After agreeing to assist in the dangerous undertaking, he secretly returned to Greene County and began recruiting men to carry out the mission. Fry's meeting with his comrades was immortalized on the cover of the popular Harper's Weekly Magazine in March 1862. An artist's conception of the meeting in Jacob Harmon's home as Fry and his followers swear with upraised hands to carry out their life-threating mission graced the issue and brought much-needed attention in the North to the plight of East Tennessee Unionists.

It was Fry's understanding that the Union Army would invade East Tennessee within days of the burning of the railroad bridges, and the conspirators acted under that impression. Unknown to him and the Greene Countians, however, higher ranking Union officers (George McClellan and W.T. Sherman), had reneged on the invasion plans. It would be another two years before the Union Army actually invaded East Tennessee, which continued in the meantime to be occupied by the Confederate Army.

Five of the Bridge-Burners were soon identified by the Rebels. Jacob Harmon and his son Henry, Christopher A. Haun, Henry Fry, and Jacob M. Hinshaw. All within a few weeks were convicted of treason and hanged.

Fry was wounded March 22, 1862, by Confederate "Home Guard" as he attempted to rejoin the 2nd Tennessee in Kentucky. Having recovered from his wound, he was transported to Atlanta, Georgia where he was scheduled to be executed on Oct 15, 1862. On Oct 14th he and other Union prisoners escaped. It took him until February 1863 to rejoin his unit in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fry subsequently was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of scouts, and he set about, like his contemporary, Daniel Ellis, guiding to Kentucky men from East Tennessee who wished to join the Union Army. In this capacity, he was shot and captured a second time. Fry was taken to Abingdon, Virginia, held nine months in chains, and shot a third time attempting to escape. Finally paroled by the Confederates on March 12, 1865, Fry was subsequently honorably discharged by the Union Army. After the Civil War, Fry returned home and assumed a job as a state revenue collector.

After enduring the Civil War, at age 46, he was hit by a train in Greeneville, Tennessee, and died from the injuries in 1872.

Captain Fry, almost up until his death, kept writing letters to U.S. Government officials trying to arrange pensions for the widows and orphaned children of the men hanged for carrying out the burning of the Lick Creek railroad bridge in Greene County, upper East Tennessee. Fry had enlisted them all into Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry on Oct.1, 1861. Even though the men did not have uniforms and continued to farm and in some cases work as potters, Fry had sworn them into the United States Army, and he probably felt somewhat responsible for the men's survivors.

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...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Photo on the right, reading left to right.

Thomas H. McLaine: Enlisted at age 30, on 9/25/1863 as a Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. He died of disease on 12/5/1864 at Knoxville, TN. Buried: Knoxville National Cemetery, Knoxville, TN.

Michael H. Martin: Enlisted on 9/20/1863 as a 21-year-old Private. On 12/30/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. POW 11/10/1864 Bull's Gap, TN. Returned 2/21/1865. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN.

Elihu E. Ferguson: Enlisted on 9/25/1863 as a 28-year-old Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN.

Andrew J. Shupe: 25 years old, enlisted on 9/21/1863 as a Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Saddler. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN. Probably saw previous service in the 10th TN Cavalry.

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East Tennesseans For The Union :

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-6#post-1756504

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1581008

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1580915

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-5#post-1580914

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-4#post-1580907

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/re...s-in-the-civil-war.129343/page-4#post-1570516







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On the left, Captain David Fry, Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry. On the right, 3 Blacksmiths and a Saddler of Company I, 8th Tennessee Cavalry.


Living in Greene County, East Tennessee during the secession crisis and outbreak of hostilities, David Fry fled Tennessee for Kentucky where the Mexican War veteran enlisted in the Union Army. On October 1, 1861, he was commissioned, Captain of Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry Volunteers.

While training in Kentucky, he was approached (probably) by his Colonel, James P. T. Carter about a plan, approved by Abraham Lincoln, to burn as many railroad bridges in upper East Tennessee as possible between Bristol and Chattanooga in November 1861. After agreeing to assist in the dangerous undertaking, he secretly returned to Greene County and began recruiting men to carry out the mission. Fry's meeting with his comrades was immortalized on the cover of the popular Harper's Weekly Magazine in March 1862. An artist's conception of the meeting in Jacob Harmon's home as Fry and his followers swear with upraised hands to carry out their life-threating mission graced the issue and brought much-needed attention in the North to the plight of East Tennessee Unionists.

It was Fry's understanding that the Union Army would invade East Tennessee within days of the burning of the railroad bridges, and the conspirators acted under that impression. Unknown to him and the Greene Countians, however, higher ranking Union officers (George McClellan and W.T. Sherman), had reneged on the invasion plans. It would be another two years before the Union Army actually invaded East Tennessee, which continued in the meantime to be occupied by the Confederate Army.

Five of the Bridge-Burners were soon identified by the Rebels. Jacob Harmon and his son Henry, Christopher A. Haun, Henry Fry, and Jacob M. Hinshaw. All within a few weeks were convicted of treason and hanged.

Fry was wounded March 22, 1862, by Confederate "Home Guard" as he attempted to rejoin the 2nd Tennessee in Kentucky. Having recovered from his wound, he was transported to Atlanta, Georgia where he was scheduled to be executed on Oct 15, 1862. On Oct 14th he and other Union prisoners escaped. It took him until February 1863 to rejoin his unit in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fry subsequently was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of scouts, and he set about, like his contemporary, Daniel Ellis, guiding to Kentucky men from East Tennessee who wished to join the Union Army. In this capacity, he was shot and captured a second time. Fry was taken to Abingdon, Virginia, held nine months in chains, and shot a third time attempting to escape. Finally paroled by the Confederates on March 12, 1865, Fry was subsequently honorably discharged by the Union Army. After the Civil War, Fry returned home and assumed a job as a state revenue collector.

After enduring the Civil War, at age 46, he was hit by a train in Greeneville, Tennessee, and died from the injuries in 1872.

Captain Fry, almost up until his death, kept writing letters to U.S. Government officials trying to arrange pensions for the widows and orphaned children of the men hanged for carrying out the burning of the Lick Creek railroad bridge in Greene County, upper East Tennessee. Fry had enlisted them all into Company F 2nd Tennessee Infantry on Oct.1, 1861. Even though the men did not have uniforms and continued to farm and in some cases work as potters, Fry had sworn them into the United States Army, and he probably felt somewhat responsible for the men's survivors.

View attachment 207741


...................................................................................................................................................................................................
Photo on the right, reading left to right.

Thomas H. McLaine: Enlisted at age 30, on 9/25/1863 as a Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. He died of disease on 12/5/1864 at Knoxville, TN. Buried: Knoxville National Cemetery, Knoxville, TN.

Michael H. Martin: Enlisted on 9/20/1863 as a 21-year-old Private. On 12/30/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. POW 11/10/1864 Bull's Gap, TN. Returned 2/21/1865. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN.

Elihu E. Ferguson: Enlisted on 9/25/1863 as a 28-year-old Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Blacksmith. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN.

Andrew J. Shupe: 25 years old, enlisted on 9/21/1863 as a Private. On 11/14/1863 he mustered into "I" Co. TN 8th Cavalry as a Saddler. He was Mustered Out on 9/11/1865 at Knoxville, TN. Probably saw previous service in the 10th TN Cavalry.

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I see where Fry tried to get pensions for widows of the men he swore in. That could be a tricky business . While there was pension fraud going on amongst some of the residents of East TN. The Federal Government could also be real picky about that. No matter how bravely a man may have fought if the investigating officer came up with something like the widow being accused of "loose morals" It could be, pension be gone.
 
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Brigadier-General Alfred E. Jackson, in 1861, was
quartermaster of Zollicoffer's brigade, and very active in
collecting supplies for the soldiers and whatever things
needed for their full equipment, in which duty he was very
efficient. During 1862 he served in the department of East
Tennessee under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, and proved himself so
capable that he was commissioned brigadier-general, and on
February 9, 1863, was assigned to the military department of
East Tennessee, then commanded by General Donelson.

In this region he had command of a brigade under Donelson and
Maury, and was kept on the alert against raiding parties of
the enemy. In September, 1863, when most of the Confederate
troops had been ordered to Bragg at Chattanooga, and Burnside
with a Federal army corps had occupied Knoxville, Jackson,
with his own small command and that of Colonel Giltner,
advanced to Telford's depot, and there defeated a Federal
advance force, capturing 350 prisoners.

On the theater of Jackson's operations there was a good deal
of this sort of detachment work in which there was plenty of
marching and fighting, but very little chance for renown,
because the great battles so obscured the small affairs that
in many parts of the country they were never even heard of.

In October, under Gen. John S. Williams, he took a gallant
part in the victory at Greeneville, east Tennessee. His
command was included in Ransom's division during Longstreet's
operations in east Tennessee. On November 23, 1864, being
unfit for active service in the field, he was ordered to
report temporarily to General Breckinridge.

After the war had ended, General Jackson, like the thousands
of other citizen-soldiers, returned quietly to the pursuits of
peace. On October 30, 1889, he died at Jonesboro, Tenn.

Source: Confederate Military History, vol. X, p. 315

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Company D Union 2nd Tennessee Cavalry drilling (supposedly near Gatlinburg, Tenn)

Second Cavalry
TENNESSEE
(3-YEARS)
Second Cavalry. -- Col., Daniel M. Ray, Lieut.-Col., William
R. Cook Majs., George W. Hutsell, Charles Inman, William R.
Macbeth, William F. Prosser.

This regiment was organized at Cumberland Gap in the months of
Aug. and Sept., 1862, and was composed of loyal citizens of
Knox, Blount, Sevier and surrounding counties, numbering in
the aggregate about 1,175 men.

Shortly after the organization of the regiment, Gen. Morgan
began his retreat to the Ohio River and the 2nd cavalry,
although dismounted, rendered efficient service in protecting
the flank and rear of the retreating column. Not long after
its arrival at Gallipolis, Ohio, it was ordered to Louisville,
where it was mounted and armed, and pushed on to join
Rosecrans at Nashville.

It arrived in time to participate in the battle of Stone's
River, where it lost several officers and men. From that time
until June 23, 1863, with the remainder of the Federal cavalry
under Gen. Stanley, it was employed on the front and flanks of
Rosecrans' army, doing severe duty. At the latter date it
moved with the army from Murfreesboro to Tullahoma and pursued
Bragg across the Cumberland Mountains.

About July 10 it was ordered to report to Gen. Sheridan for
special duty, and was employed in the vicinity of Bridgeport,
Ala., and Chattanooga until the early part of September when
it rejoined the cavalry under Gen. Stanley and participated in
the battle of Chickamauga. After doing some escort duty it
was ordered to Washington and Kingston and assisted in the
defense of the latter place against Gen. Wheeler.

It was then ordered to Nashville, hastily refitted and
forwarded to Gen. William S. Smith at Memphis for an
expedition into Mississippi, in the course of which it
participated with credit in engagements at Okolona, West
Point, the Tallahatchie River and elsewhere.

In June, 1864, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th regiments of Tennessee
cavalry, with Battery A of the 1st Tenn. light artillery, were
ordered to northern Alabama and remained on duty in that
district until the end of the year.

In the numerous engagements with the Confederate cavalry
during that time the 2nd cavalry displayed great gallantry and
received the commendation of all the general officers under
whom it served. In the pursuit of Hood's retreating army from
Nashville the command to which it was attached marched 280
miles in 7 days and nights of unusually severe weather, and
during that time were engaged in six different actions,
capturing a large number of prisoners and material of every
description.

From Jan. to July 1865, the regiment was on duty at Vicksburg
and New Orleans, and was then mustered out.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4, p. 382

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Colonel Daniel M. Ray

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Union Army's Joseph C. Gray
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant Company: F 2nd Tennessee Cav. Resigned May 8 64 to accept the rank of Captain in the newly formed Union 3rd TN. Mtd. Infantry Co.H. Son of John Gray Jr. and Susannah Land of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Enlisted 1 Aug 1862 at Maryville, Blount CO, TN into CO F, 2nd TN Volunteer CAV. He was appointed 2nd LT, but on 8 May, 1864 he resigned. He later enlisted into the 3rd TN MTD INF REGT, Union Army and was commissioned a Captain. He served as a recruiter and Captain of CO H. He was killed by Kirkland bushwhackers on 15 Jan 1865 while home on leave.

Many years after the war, Capt Gray's widow, Rachel McCall Gray, was summoned to the
deathbed of the bushwhacker who actually killed her husband. Rachel was asked to come
to the home of the man who killed her husband in 1865, because he was then dying. As a
last request, he wanted Rachel to visit in order to tell her he was sorry for killing
her husband. Indeed, Rachel decided to go see him. When she arrived at his home and went
to his bedside, the man said he was very sorry for killing her husband during the war and
asked her to forgive him before he died. Rachel bent over him, looked right in his face,
and "****ed his soul to hell." Then, she raised up, and saying nothing more, she left his
house and went home. She died years later, without ever forgiving him.

Captain Gray is my 2nd cousin, 4 x removed.
Glenn while I knew quite a bit about Joseph Gray, I never noticed that his mother was a Land.
 

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