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| East Tennessee | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18th, 2008 11:11 am |
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1st Post |
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izzy Member
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I have become interested in East TN. I have The Adventures of Daniel Ellis and Captain Sam Massey, Union Scout. Does anyone know of other accounts of Union scouts from the Eastern TN or Western NC area? izzy
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18th, 2008 09:23 pm |
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2nd Post |
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Scout Member
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I went to the University of Tennessee and took a course which covered some aspects of the guerilla war which was taking place in that part of the state. I'll be going back to my parents house this weekend so i can check my syllabus and see if anything on it would interest you.
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| Posted: Wed Jun 18th, 2008 10:10 pm |
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3rd Post |
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izzy Member
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Scout - I appreciate your looking in your course records. A couple of years ago someone told me that "nothing ever happened there", meaning Eastern TN. I now know when someone says 'nothing ever happened there' to do my own research. I usually find that 'a whole lot of something' probably happened. I have driven around ETN a few of times, particularly the northern counties. If time permits I take the opportunity to stop in a few towns I drive through to ask if a local town history has been written. I have been lucky enough to find a few. I now have about 20 books in my collection on the subject of ETN history. I had the opportunity to talk to Arnold Schofield at the CWPT conference in MO this spring. He is of the opinion that the worst area for guerilla warfare was the Indian Territory (OK), then next worst, the border war along the KS and MO border (the Bleeding KS area). After attending the tours and lectures of the CWPT conference on those particular subjects, I am inclined to agree with Schofield. I would love to get into the East TN Historical Society magazine archives but it is just too far a drive to Knoxville with gas prices this high. However there is still a lot of online reading available that I need to get done. So much to do, so little time! I also know that the Knoxville CWRT would be a great resource, particularly Dorothy Kelly. I don't want to bother her just yet. I need to get more basic reading done so that she does not have to deal with a complete newby. Anyway ETN has turned into a much larger subject area than I ever anticipated, considering "nothing ever happened there." izzy
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| Posted: Fri Jun 20th, 2008 11:13 pm |
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4th Post |
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Scout Member
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it sounds like after 20 books you've crossed the 'basic' threshold. I did have a chance to check out the museum and the archives (post-renovation) this past spring and if you can make it down, there were dozens of books related to this study ( i was looking for something else at the time so am unable to recall specifics) as well as many regimental histories. Also contains, a very large genealogical section related to East Tennessee families. I spent several hours there and merely scratched the surface. The E TN story is one that is very different to what took place in middle TN particularly in those northern counties. I should have some detailed info to give you sometime tomorrow. If/when you do get to Knoxville the Bleak House is a wonderful site with some great guides just a couple miles west of downtown. Tom
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| Posted: Sat Jun 21st, 2008 12:08 am |
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5th Post |
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izzy Member
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Scout- Thanks for getting back to me. Just because I have 20 books on ETN does not mean that I have read them all. I have gotten about a half dozen read so far. I started collecting those books last fall when I was running around that area. I already had a series of CW trips planned for this last spring (Mobile Bay area, Trans Mississippi, NC coastal defenses) that I had to read up on, so ETN had to get set aside until now. I'm still interested in hearing of any books on ETN that you recommend. I may or may not have them on my bookshelf. I also have found that the reading material on the guerilla war in that area is unrelentingly grim. It is sobering to see how fast murderers came to the fore. I can read only so much of it then I need to break away and delve into another topic for a while. The museum collection sounds like a must see. A few years ago our CWRT took a tour of Civil War Knoxville with Dot Kelly. It was an excellent tour. I recommend it highly. izzy
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 06:05 pm |
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6th Post |
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Scout Member
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i was unable to recover the syllabus that had "additional reading" on it. however, i did find some things in notes and still have a couple of the books we used in the class. one book you may already have is Victims by P.S. Paludan. it covers the community of Shelton Laurel, Madison Co, NC(just across the border from Greeneville). it deals specifically with the execution of 13 deemed guerillas. also including the escalation of hostilities once the confederate govt sent Gen. Heth to crack down on w NC insurrections. it is from my recollection very thorough and i believe contains elements of what you're pursuing and at vy least could point you towards some primary sources. another was A Year in the South by S.V. Ash. It covers the trials 4 southerners endured in their own hand (with artistic additions) in the final year of the war. One of the four was John Robertson who was a southern sympathizer from Greene Co. TN and who during the course of the war fled from two or three difft homes eventually settling in Roane Co. (south of Knoxville) the other three are from difft parts AL MS and VA but journals are very detailed and it was a very interesting read. *a couple leads in the bibliography Noel C. Fisher, War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and Guerilla Violence in East Tennessee. Digby Gordon Seymour, Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee. i also think the "Tennessee Historical Quarterly" and "Journal of East Tennessee History" would be good sources to search through. sorry i couldn't be of more help but i'll keep my eye open. good luck!
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22nd, 2008 07:18 pm |
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7th Post |
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izzy Member
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Scout- You are a treasure trove of information! I do not have 'Victims' by Paludan. I live about a half hour from the Shelton Massacre site but was unaware a book had been written about it. You can bet I will track down a copy. I do not have 'A Year in the South' by Ash, either. Robertson is an old clan name in northern ETN. The Robertson's were some of the first settlers into that area. In fact the Robertson's were part of the original legislative body of the Watauga Association. As soon as I read the name in your description, it jumped right off the page at me. I also do not have 'Divided Loyalties' by Seymour. I do have 'Lincolnites and Rebels' by McKenzie. I have not read it yet but from the descriptions on the dust cover the book only covers Knoxville and not the surrounding counties. It sounds like 'Divided Loyalties' probably covers more territory. I do have Fisher's, 'War at Every Door': one of those essential but relentlessly grim books that are unpleasant to read. I agree the TN Historical Quarterly and the Journal of ETN History would be goldmines. These were the periodicals that I was referring to earlier about wanting to get into the archives and investigate. I just couldn't remember their specific names at the time. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your taking the time to dig out this information. I know what a pain in the neck it can be, especially when it turns out that it isn't where you thought it would be. That, at least, is usually the case with me. I knew as soon as you said you had taken a college course on this topic that some good leads were possible. Professors usually pull together good representative material of their subject. I extend many many thanks for your efforts. izzy
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| Posted: Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 12:40 pm |
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8th Post |
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Scout Member
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very welcome. glad to be of service. luckily the things were just where i'd thought they'd be...except for the ones i couldn't find. looking forward to some observations.
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27th, 2008 07:33 am |
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9th Post |
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cklarson Member
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Dear Scout, In doing women's history, I also developed an interest in ETN. Often the women were left to fend off whomever tramped to their doorways. In one case a woman's son had been "lying out" for 2 years, living in the woods to evade the Confed. draft. It was a toxic mix: US and Confed. regulars, Confed. militia, guerrillas, draft dodgers, bushwhackers (male and female), and escaping POWs. Complementary to Dan Ellis's memoir is that of Albert D. Richardson, _Secret Service, the Field, the Dungeon, and the Escape_ (1866). He and fellow NY Herald Tribune reporter, Junius Browne, escaped from Camp Sorghum prison in SC through the mountains, escorted by Ellis and a teenage guide, Melvina Stevens, who Ellis also features. Since he's a writer by profession, it's a good read. Also see the recent _Lincolnites and Rebels_ on Knoxville in the CW, which fortunately dispels myths about the city, but unfortunately never explains why the outlying rural counties were very pro-Union, unlike the city which was a mixed bag. ETN was also the only area, to my knowledge, for which a "famine relief" program was begun by the Sanitary Commission. I also highly recommend just reading through the correspondence section of the Official Records of the Union and Confed. Armies (online via Cornell Univ.) All the officers were so articulate that it's fabulous, riveting reading--did a lot on MO. CKL
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27th, 2008 01:15 pm |
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10th Post |
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izzy Member
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I am currently reading a book by Oliver P. Temple titled, East Tennessee and the Civil War, (copyright 1899; Reprinted 1995 by The Overmountain Press, Johnson City, TN). Oliver Temple was from Knoxville, and was smack in the middle of the political fight to keep ETN in the Union. He writes about the early history of the area, the growth of slavery in the state, the political arguments of the time for Union or Secession, and the political campaigns and the voting results in ETN. He writes in the entertaining flowery rhetoric of the time, and takes a rod to anyone, north, south, east, or west, that he thinks needs to be called upon the carpet to answer for their actions. This book provides insight as to how and why ETN retained its Unionist sentiment. I am only half way through it, but in MHO, this text is turning out to be a basic must read for anyone interested in in that area. izzy
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28th, 2008 06:08 am |
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11th Post |
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cklarson Member
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Dear Izzy et al., RE: Oliver Temple book. You should look at Lincolnites and Rebels, as the author discusses the historiography of ETN, including the myths that Knoxville was so Unionist, which it wasn't. Even Parson Brownlow waffled on issues. The socio-economic demgraphics are very well covered with some surprising results. After the war, the community reunited on the basis of white supremacy (the "upper tendons" in Knoxville were slave holders). But the book, also makes crystal clear that the defiining secession decision was over "coercion" following Lincoln's call for 75k troops after the firing on Sumter. Southerners were united on the issue that the North could not "coerce" a Southern State to stay in the Union (see my secession chapter in my book Great Necessities). So Lincoln's call for troops to "hold" federal properties, ignited the "coercion" issue, including in very split TN, which actually declared "independence". Then many Knoxvilleans resented Confeerate occupation of their area (as TN had not joined) and some saw Confederate tyranny as bad as US tryanny. So the situation in Knoxville was extremely politically complicated. It sounds like Temple had some CW axes to grind. CKL
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28th, 2008 12:40 pm |
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12th Post |
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izzy Member
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Hi cklarson! Temple's book covers far more time and territory than Knoxville. He traces the history of the arguments back decades before the Secession crisis came to a head. According to him the coercion argument is a late comer to the party. I'm looking forward to reading Lincolnites and Rebels and comparing it with Temple's observations. It sounds like these two books may be complementary, viewing ETN from different angles. ETN is quite a subject to get into. It was not monolithic in its stance and was a "toxic mix", as you so aptly observed, brewing from the start. I have just ordered Richardson's, Secret Service, etc., and Victims by Paludan. A Year in the South by Ash has just arrived on my doorstep. izzy
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29th, 2008 05:43 am |
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13th Post |
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cklarson Member
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Dear Izzy, Glad I helped a little with Richardson. The Lincolnite author whose name now escapes me, goes into detail trying to figure out what the defining difference between Unionists and Confederates in K'ville was, as many shared simliar class and economic backgrounds. As with other works I've read the bottom line seemed to have been, as you suggest, what your past political party affiliation was: Whig or Democrat, the Whigs being more Unionist. So it could fall back on a religious/cultural difference as Whigs normally came from puritan backgrounds (Congregational or Presbyterian--read: ministers were university educated), were more probusiness, and had a streak of puritan moralizing. There is also the split that Whigs were the members of the aspiring, educated middle classes; while the Dems were the poorer farmers, workers, immigrants, that is, the Whigs were the classic "insiders" while the Dems were the "outsiders." Also the Whigs would have been schooled in the Henry Clay "Union Forever" tradition as was Lincoln. But within that context, old political grudges might have never healed. RE: coercion. As I write in my Anna Ella Carroll bio Great Necessities, although over the years, many had viewed the North/South and slavery split in many different ways, with different degrees of intensity, when push came to shove and it came time to make a decision to secede in the remaining 4 Border states: AR, VA, TN and NC, after Sumter, the decision was largely made on the basis of "coercion", which shows how a single event can drive larger ones. And it's somewhat amusing to think that since the Federal govt. had such a small presence in the nation and the South as a whole, secession hinged on collecting customs and the mail and holding a fort. Kay
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29th, 2008 04:42 pm |
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14th Post |
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izzy Member
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cklarson: Robert Tracy McKenzie wrote Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War; Oxford University Press, NY; copyright 2006. I just took a quick peek in the notes section in the back of McKenzie's book. Oliver Temple is cited there several times. I dipped into a few of the paragraphs in the text wherein the Temple citations were located. It does look like these two books are complementary. I'm going to try to finish Temple's book before the 4th of July holiday. I may or may not be able to get that done. Too much competition with local activities. Have a happy 4th celebration! izzy
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| Posted: Tue Aug 4th, 2009 05:03 am |
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15th Post |
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Roy Member 
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If you get the chance, you may wish to read "Kirk's Raiders A Notorious Band of Scoundrels and Thieves" by Matthew Bumgarner. It is about George Washington Kirk, and his Federal 3rd NC Mounted Infantry Regiment, and another good read would be "The Last Confederate General John C. Vaughn and His East Tennessee Cavalry" by Larry Gordon. I live in the lower East Tennessee area, and can relate two war time incidents that occured in the Polk County, TN area. For example, along the Occoee River on the Old Copper Road, the notorious guerilla leader John Gatewood murdered some men who were on their way to enlist in the Union army. This was known as the Madden Branch Massacre. After this incident, Gatewood's band made it to the Ducktown area, and captured Captain Clayton Fain, a Georgia Unionist who was a Union officer. Fain was murdered by Gatewood or his men. Attached is a photo of Captain Fain's grave. Attachment: fain2.jpg (Downloaded 33 times)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 5th, 2009 09:53 pm |
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16th Post |
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cklarson Member
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Dear Roy, Many thanks for this. Sounds like there might be a lot of ghosts running around the backwoods of TN given the "massacres." You might want to post this to: 1) general CW talk, as it might get buried, given that the original thread is old; and 2) http://www.findagrave.com, which is a great resource if you don't know about it. You might also be interested in my work of fiction: South Under a Prairie Sky: The Journal of Nell Churchill, US Army Nurse & Scout, a very fact-based work set mostly in my aunt's hometown of Monmouth, IL on the homefront and TN on the warfront. I've gotten some nice compllments from friends. The scout accounts are based on Union scout Pauline Cushman, Pinkerton Det. Hattie Lawton, and female scout records in the ORA (see underbook with sources). It's on amazon.com or order from Xlibris (http://www.xlibris.com/1-888-795-4274). Best, CKL
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