Goodspeed History of Tennessee, Haywood County, p. 823-825
Many of the early settlers of Haywood County, among whom we may mention Col. Richard Nixon, Maj. Farrington, Jonathan T. Jacocks, John Sangster, Nelson Hargrove and Silas M. Morton, were survivors of the war of 1812. The county was not represented in the war with Mexico by any organized body of troops, but a number of her citizens joined the company that was organized at Jackson, and served with it in that war.
The only survivors of the Mexican war, now living in the county, are Capt. Robt. S. Russell and Jackson Gholson. At the approach of the late civil war, a strong Union sentiment was found to exist in Haywood County, and at the election, held early in 1861 upon the question of holding a State convention, those opposed to secession, had a majority of about 700 votes. At the election held later in the year upon the question of ” separation, ” or “no separation” (the war being then in progress, and the Southern sentiment being enforced by armies), the vote was almost a unit in favor of ” separation.”
The first military meeting held in the county was in the office of Lea & Livingston, in Brownsville, about April 20, 1861, by the leading sympathizers of the Southern cause. Here their convictions crystalized into action, and a call for a public meeting at the court house a day or two later, was made. The people assembled in obedience to the call, and were addressed by Capt. B. W. Haywood and others, and the organization of the Hay wood Rangers began at once, and was completed with the following officers: Robert W, Haywood, captain; L. H. Johnson. first lieutenant; W. L. Duckworth, second lieutenant; Henry J. Livingston, third lieutenant; Joseph H. Morton. orderly sergeant, and nearly 100 privates and non-commissioned officers. This company was mustered into the State service at Jackson, May 23, 1861, and assigned to its position as Company D, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry. After serving twelve months, the time for which the company was mustered, it was reorganized, in May, 1862, at Trenton, Tenn., and mustered into the Confederate service for”during the war.” At the reorganization the officers were elected as follows: L. W. Taliaferro, captain; Henry J. Livingston, first lieutenant; J. H. Reads second lieutenant; T. J. Mann, third lieutenant; Jonathan Eader, orderly sergeant. T he company served under Gen. Forrest in all of his campaigns and battles, from the time he took command of the cavalry troops of northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and Western Tennessee, until the close of the war, and surrendered to the United States force at Gainesville, Ala., May 11, 1865, having only about thirty-five men then surviving.
The Haywood Rifles was organized at Brownsville in the spring of 1801, with the following officers: Robert S. Russell, captain; Robert S. Thomas, first lieutenant; V. B. Sevier, second lieutenant; J. M. Johnson, third lieutenant; Jeremiah Farrell, orderly sergeant. The company consisted of 100 men, including the officers, and was mustered into the State service at Jackson in May, 1861, and assigned to its position as Company B, Ninth Tennessee Infantry. Twelve recruits were afterward added to it. It was reorganized at Corinth, Miss., in May, 1862, when Capt. Russell was commissioned major of cavalry, to organize mounted soldiers. James Hubbard was then elected captain vice Russell, promoted. Other changes also took place in the rank of the subordinate officers.
The Dancyville Grays was organized in the spring of 1861, at Danville, with the following officers: Henry Douglas, captain; Robert Pewett, first lieutenant, William Scott,second lieutenant; W. B. Tripp (?),third lieutenant. The company contained about sixty-five men, and was mustered into the State service at Jackson, in May, 1861, and assigned its position as Company A, Ninth Tennessee Infantry. Capt. Douglas was elected colonel of the regiment at its organization, and Lieut. William Scott was then elected captain vice Douglas, promoted, and L. A. Thomas was elected second lieutenant vice Scott, promoted. Capt. Scott resigned soon thereafter, and G. W. Parrott was elected captain to fill the vacancy. The latter resigned and was succeeded by Capt. W. W. Wilkerson. Lieut. L. A. Thomas resigned in the fall of 1862, and returned to Haywood County, where he raised a company of sixty-two men, with whom he joined the Fourteenth Tennessee Cavalry, in Gen. Forrest’s command. He became captain of this company, and in 1863 was promoted to the office of major of his regiment, and served under Gen. Forrest to the close of the war, and surrendered at Gainesville, Ala.
Company L, Ninth Tennessee Infantry, was organized at Dancyville in March, 1862, with the following officers: W. J. Lyle, captain; G. R. Pewett, first lieutenant, T. P. Ragland, second lieutenant; B. P. Phillips, third lieutenant. It contained about sixty-five men, and was mustered into the service at Corinth, Miss. Capt. Lyle resigned in August, 1862, after which his company was consolidated with Capt. H. C. Irby’s company of the same regiment. The Haywood Rifles, Dancyville Grays, and Capt. Lyle’s company, served under Gen. Cheatham during the whole war. The principal battles in which they were engaged, and in all of which they lost heavily, were Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, those of the Atlanta campaign, Franklin and Nashville. Capt. Lyle’s company, however, was not in the battle of Shiloh.
Company M, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, was organized in the spring of 1862, by Dr. J. G. Haywood. Its officers were as follows: J. G. Haywood, captain; J. M. Shaw, first lieutenant; B. F. Davis, second lieutenant; William Mourir (?), third lieutenant; James Livingston, orderly sergeant. The company consisted of eighty men, enlisted in this and Lauderdale Counties. Capt. Haywood resigned in September, 1862, and Lieut. Davis then became captain, and Lieut. Mourir became first lieutenant, and James Livingston second lieutenant. This company was detached from its regiment for escort service under Gen. Lovell. After the battle of Corinth it became the escort of Gen. Pemberton, and served as such during the siege of Vicksburg. Company L, Seventh Tennessee Cavalry, was organized in the spring of 1862, at Brownsville, with the following officers: James A. Taylor, captain; Alexander Duckworth, first lieutenant; Charles S. Taliaferro, second lieutenant; Frank Pugh, third lieutenant, and Robert D. Grove, orderly sergeant. It contained 72 men, and was afterward increased to 100. This company entered the service at Fort Pillow, and served under Gen. William R. Jackson, subsequently under Gen. J. R. Chalmers, and finally under Gen. Forrest. Capt. Taylor resigned in the fall of 1862, and Lieut. Duckworth then became commander of the company, and was commissioned as captain thereof in 1863. The other lieutenants were then advanced in order of rank, and William Witherspoon became third lieutenant.
The Haywood Blues was organized at Brownsville in the spring of 1861, with the following officers: G. C. Porter, captain; S. B. Humphreys, first lieutenant; — Henderson, second lieutenant, and J. A. Wilder, third lieutenant. The company contained about 100 men, and was mustered into the State service at Jackson in May, 1861, and assigned its position as Company A, Sixth Tennessee lnfantry. It was reorganized at Corinth, Miss., in May, 1862, and mustered in to the Confederate service for “during the war.” At the reorganization Lieut. J. A. Wilder was elected captain of the company. It was engaged in the great battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, the Atlanta campaign, Franklin and Nashville, and surrendered to the United States forces in North Carolina. All of the foregoing companies served in the Confederate Armies.
In 1868 Capt. J. L. Poston and Lieut. C. B. Revelle raised a company of about sixty men, in Haywood County, for the Federal Army. Lieut. Revelle and the greater portion of the company were killed at Fort Pillow. Capt. Poston and the few survivors were captured and carried to Andersonville prison, from which he afterward made his escape. Haywood County sent a large number of her citizens to the army, and a great percentage of the number never returned. Her loss, however, in the way of property was perhaps as light as that of any other county in the State.