As civil war approached, the men of the county began forming home guards in all 10 districts of the county. Several of the men in the county served in the 16th Tennessee Infantry Regiment and in the 4th Tennessee Calvary. At least 81 of the men died in the service of the Confederacy. There were also a few who served in the Union Army.
Guerrilla bands were active in the area and were pursued by the Union troops as reported by a Pvt. Allison in the letters to his mother. “Capt. Kramer left for the purpose of surprising and killing or capturing the guerrilla Carter and his band numbering between two and three hundred men. Their headquarters are at Spencer which is the home of Carter”.
Other war time activity included mining salt-peter for gun powder at Bone Cave and Cane Creek Cave. The occupation of Spencer by union troops and the passing through and camp of Gen. Bragg’s troops on their way to Kentucky.
REGIMENTS
- 1st Cavalry, Co H
- 16th Infantry Regiment, Co. I, CSA
- 16th Memorial Monument
- 22nd Infantry (Murray’s) Co. E
- 25th TN Inf Regt
- 35th Infantry Regiment, CSA
Campaigns and Battles of the Sixteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers, in the War Between the States, with incidental Sketches of The Part Preformed by Other Tennessee Troops in the Same War. 1861-1865. Thomas Anthony Head. Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1885. — [He is the son of Anthony Head and Frances/Fanny Payne. He was born 1838 and died 1921. Burial site unknow at this time. There is a picture of him in the book. Thanks to Mamie <mamie [at] sigecom [dot] net>] No link to the book, but check your local library. If it is not available in your library ask about an Inter-Library Loan. It is not in the Spencer Library at this time. It is in the Magness Memorial Library in McMinnville, Warren Co., TN.
OTHER RESOURCES