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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 09:02 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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Does anyone have info or references to a skirmish in Golddust, TN?

Golddust is a few miles north of Ft. Pillow. My Dad grew up in that area, and remembers my Grandfather telling him of a "battle" there. He definately didn't confuse it with Ft. Pillow. This is substantiated by him remembering that his class-mates would bring bullets, both minie ball and round shot (probably pistol balls) to school saying they were found in Golddust.

Thanks!

Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 09:37 pm

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Texas Defender
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Albert-

I have to guess that the affair at Golddust was associated with the Battle of Ft. Pillow after all.

Here is a listing on the place that talks about Ft. Pillow and fortifications at Golddust, but makes no mention of a separate engagement.

Golddust, Tennessee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is an excellent site on Civil War battles and I find no separate listing for Golddust, TN.

G Battles

I would think that if something distinct from Ft. Pillow happened there, then it would be mentioned on the above sites. Its not absolute proof, but....

Last edited on Wed Dec 19th, 2007 01:40 am by Texas Defender

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 01:31 am

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ole
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That's three posts I've lost this week! #%$#

I'll go with TD in that Golddust was likely associated with Fort Pillow. We just can't know how closely -- whether it was a prelude to that battle, or something else.

The Tennessee Tories in the fort were a lawless bunch. Before joining the garrison (or hiding behind its walls) they terrorized the countryside, making little distinction between the secesh and loyalists. The bullets found on the Golddust "battlefield" may have been from a dustup between them and some outraged citizens, or with some of Forrest's boys assigned to put them down.

A lot depends on how many bullets were found. Were there any breastworks there?

ole

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 12:42 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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An excellent book on Ft Pillow is "River Run Red". It discusses some skirmishing with troops prior to the battle (days, weeks, and months prior) with various scouting parties. My guess, at this point, is Golddust was one of these skirmishes.

In checking the index of that book, I find no mention of Golddust, nor have I ever come across any references to it when studying the battle of Ft. Pillow.

All of Forrests troops, at the battle of Ft Pillow, came up from the south (Jackson, Bolivar) rather than the direction of Golddust (too far to the north, with Cold Creek in between Golddust and the fort.

If anyone has the OR's on disc, perhaps a "search" would yield infor.

Thanks!

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 12:43 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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Ole,

I've not heard breastworks mentioned there....

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 07:33 pm

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Dixie Girl
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use google, yahoo, dog pile, or any other search engine you can think of. Golddust , Tennessee is bound to show up somewhere.

____________________
War Means Fighting And Fighting Means Killing - N. B. Forrest

When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Stonewall Jackson

Sic Semper Tyrannis - John Wilkes Booth

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 07:41 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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I've tried Google, etc.....I don't get any info regarding action there.

My thought it is, is it was just a skirmish of so little consequence as to not warrant mention. I wish I had the OR's to check....Maybe there is some mention there....

I've heard somewhere, and I can't quote the source but it sounds plausible to me, that there were 10,000 "actions" during the Civil War. Perhaps my little skirmish at Golddust was one of those.....

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 07:59 pm

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Dixie Girl
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I'm sorry I can't help any. Maybe it was just to small to bother with

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 08:12 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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Thanks!

That's my theory: it was just a skirmish.....one of many....

Perhaps, someone mentioned it in a diary, or a report which is so far buried that I can't find it!!

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 09:23 pm

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ole
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Maybe we could get Miss Susan interested. She can find anything.

ole

Posted: Wed Dec 19th, 2007 09:25 pm

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Texas Defender
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Albert-

I've seen the number of Civil War engagements given as 10, 455. The same source gave the number of casualties at Gettysburg as 51,112. Such precision could not be achieved now, let alone in that day and age. They might as well have tried counting the number of ants in a fireant nest.

Posted: Thu Dec 20th, 2007 01:52 pm

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David White
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Ah, but Albert you do have the OR to search, go here:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/

Not only will it search the army and navy OR but many old periodicals as well.

Posted: Thu Dec 20th, 2007 03:29 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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David,

WOW!!

Thanks for the info! I have saved it on my computer, and I'm sure I'll refer to it a thousand times!

When I lived in TN several years ago, I used to go to the library in Bolivar, TN. They had the hard bound editions of the OR's.....Man, that was tough trying to look things up that way! I much prefer the "search" feature on the website you gave!

By the way, I didn't find Golddust in the OR's that you sent.....Must be like Texas Defender says, trying to count ants....probably too miniscule a skirmish to mention....

Texas Defender,

Well said regarding the ant-hill!!

Posted: Thu Jan 3rd, 2008 06:23 pm

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Dixie Girl
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Go to Ask.com they can find anything

Posted: Fri Jan 11th, 2008 12:11 am

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CleburneFan
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I found Golddust, TN at Wikipedia under its own article. It is said to be three miles north of the location of the Battle of Fort Pillow. Because it was so close, it is very possible there was a skirmish before, after (or both) the actual hostilities at Fort Pillow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golddust%2C_Tennessee

Posted: Fri Jan 11th, 2008 12:28 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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Thanks Dixie Girl and Cleburne Fan!

I've checked the OR's, "Googled" it, etc.....I even contacted the Park Ranger at Ft. Pillow, tried to find anything in "Battles and Leaders" series, looked it up in the book "River Run Red" (an excellent book about Ft. Pillow) and can't find anything.

My conclusions are:

A) It was a minor skirmish, not worthy of mention in any of my sources

Or

B) Due to the passage of time (over 50 years) my Dad's memory is mistaken (he is even starting to question it himself, in regards to where the bullets came from), and those bullets were found at the Ft. Pillow battle sight.

I appreciate everyone's help!

Posted: Sat Jan 12th, 2008 01:41 am

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CleburneFan
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Albert, I dug into my book piles and dug out That Devil Forrest: Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest" by John Allen Wyeth. It goes into great detail about the battle of Fort Pillow. I was hoping against hope that a book with such great detail would help you out in your search for skirmishes at Golddust. TN.

Unfortunately, in spite of all the detail Golddust has nary a mention. In fact, a map of the surrounding area doesn't even show Golddust even though it was only three miles to the north. I take it to mean that the town was very small. That doesn't mean that there was never a shootout there. I wish I could have been of more help.

Posted: Mon Jan 14th, 2008 12:33 pm

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Albert Sailhorst
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Cleburne

I greatly appreciate the time you took to look up that info for me!

Posted: Sun Feb 21st, 2010 10:52 pm

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twoguns
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Last edited on Tue Feb 23rd, 2010 08:10 am by twoguns

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