7, The prayer of a Southern Mother
To Southern Mothers.
Unite with me at the hour of sunset in humble prayer and supplication to the "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," praying that he may pour out his Holy Spirit on our sons to enable them to put on the whole panoply of God, and as soldiers of the cross to resist their enemies and His, so that if they live, they will live unto God, and if they die, they may fall asleep in Jesus, and awake in the presence of the captain of our salvation, to be forever with Him in glory.
If God's banner of love waive [sic] over our sons, they must come off more than conquerors in this earthly warfare, and if they fail in the strife, through their limbs be stiffened in death—and now their blood stained, dusty armor laid aside—angels will waft their spirits to their God to join His army in heaven, where, robed in Christ's spotless righteousness, they too will cast their palms of victory before Jehovah's throne, and sing the song of the redeemed, while, blessed with the like faith, we southern mothers shall echo back salvation's joyful sound, and give the honor and glory to Him who hath redeemed them with his precious blood.
A Southern Mother.
Memphis Daily Appeal, May 7, 1861.
7, Civil Disturbance in Knoxville
Bloody Fight in Tennessee!-Knoxville, May 7.- A serious shooting affray occurred here this afternoon, caused by the raising of a Union flag. Some twenty shots were fired. Douglas, one of the Union leaders, was slightly wounded in the fight, and a man named Ball, an outsider, was mortally wounded. Morgan, secessionist, who shot Douglas, brought his company to the city, but was persuaded to return to the camp. The excitement is intense.
Fayetteville (NC) Observer, May 9, 1861. [1]
~ ~ ~
The following extract from a letter to a gentleman in Connecticut, from his friend in Knoxville, Tennessee, illustrates the influences at work to drive that State into rebellion:
Knoxville, May 9, 1861
Dear -----: I am writing at the office, but in what country it is the Lord only knows. Be that as it may, the Devil's thousand years are up, and he is let loose among us. I cannot begin to tell you of the actual condition of things. Union men are threatened with death in almost every shape if they persist in making public speeches….There are about 800 soldiers here now, most of them from Monroe and Meigs County, of the most worthless, desperate class of men, and frenzied by liquor. Among them is one Wash Morgan, who is part Indian, and is captain of accompany of spirits of the same class, but if possible more wicked than himself.
Day before yesterday [7th] the Stars and Stripes were floating from the Union pole, and ____was making a few remarks to a crowd of Union men. Among them was Charles Douglass, who is a strong Union man and is not remarkably prudent about denouncing Secessionists. It so happened that, on this occasion, Morgan and two of his men were near him, and taking offence at what he said, fired their pistols at him. As Douglass was unarmed, he started for his house, the others following and firing. Nine shots were fired I all, but Douglass escaped with slight flesh wounds. He was near his store at the time, and as soon as he could get his gun they were off like "quarter horses." Morgan ran to Sackey's stable, jumped on a horse, and ran him to the Fair Grounds, where his men were quartered. As soon as possible back the cowardly rascal came, with 400 men to kill one man. The citizens commenced arriving, determined to defend him, but ____and____succeeded in stopping Morgan and his men in East Knoxville, and turned them back to camp, thereby preventing a general fight.
When Morgan was shooting at Douglass, one of his balls struck an old man from the country who was in town on business, causing his death in a few hours. Yesterday Morgan got a hack and came round by the back way to the Lamar House, and, in at the "Ladies' Entrance," accompanied by several of his gang, went into one of the chambers and shot Douglas, who was standing by his wife in his own house, with his window closed, the ball passing through his breast. He is still alive, but thought to be mortally wounded.
No arrests have been made (which shows the power of the civil authority), and Morgan is to-day in high favor with the Secessionists.
~ ~ ~
Milwaukee Morning Sentinel, May 21, 1861. [2]
7, Knights of the Golden Circle[3]
Let the rebels of Nashville who are receiving midnight couriers from rebel leaders over the South, and holding secret meetings of the Knights of the Golden Circle, beware in time. The loyal men and armies are not to be trifled with much longer. An old hymn says:
"Mercy knows her appointed bounds,
And turns to judgment then!"
A storm of loyal and patriotic indignation is gathering in the sky, and its red lightnings sleep uneasily in the cloud.
"And that two-banded engine at the door. Stands ready to smite one and smite no more."
Nashville Daily Union, May 7, 1862.
7, "We have a nice dry camping ground convenient to wood and excellent water." James I. Hall's letter from Humboldt to his parents in Covington
Humboldt, May 7, [18]63
Dear Parents,
Mr Calhouns boy will take this to you. I found our Reg't (Ninth Tennessee Infantry). The baggage had been brought back from Jackson. We have a nice dry camping ground convenient to wood and excellent water. The boys are generally well. Ed Elam & Mr Price are sick not seriously. When I got to the Depot this morning Mr Claiborne advised me not to bring up the box as everything was in confusion here & I did not then expect to stay here I have written to him to send them up tomorrow. Mr Sherrill will go on to Henderson Station tonight I found Johns trunk at the depot and sent it out by John. Mr Sherril will inquire after the bed clothing.
I gave the keys of the trunk to John I also gave him my thin boots to take home. Ask Martin to oil them well & have them laid away. My new boots are just such a pair as I have been wanting for a while.
Give my love to the children and the family.
Jour afft son
Jas I Hall
Ninth Tennessee, p. 142
7, On Nathan Bedford Forrest's Family, Brothers and pre-war Business in Memphis
Antecedents of the Rebel General Forrest and his Family.
A Knoxville correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune writes:
The news of the capture of Fort Pillow by Forrest, and the cowardly butchery which followed of blacks and whites alike, has produced a profound sensation here. The universal sentiment is-"let no quarter be shown to those dastardly butchers of Forrest's command while the war lasts."
These Forrests, the eldest of whom, Gen. Bedford Forrest, has by this and other atrocities obtained such a record of infamy, were all negro traders. There were four brothers-Bedford, who kept a negro pen for five years before the war on Adams street, in rear of the Episcopal Church, Memphis; John, a cripple and a gambler, who was jailor and clerk for Bedford; Bill Forrest, an extensive negro trader at Vicksburg; and Aaron Forrest, general agent to scout the country for his other brothers. They accumulated large sums of money in their nefarious trade, and Bedford won by that and other influences a natural promotion to a Brigadier. He is about 50 years of age, tall, gaunt, and sallow visaged, with along nose, deep set black, snaky eyes, [illegible] and hair wore long. He usually wore, while in the "nigger" trade in Memphis, a stove pipe hat set on the back of his head at an angle of forty-five degrees. He was accounted mean, vindictive, cruel and unscrupulous. He had two wives-one white, the other colored (Catharine), by each of which he two children. His "patriarchal" wife, Catharine, and his white wife, had frequent quarrels or domestic jars.
The slave pen of old Bedford Forrest, on Adams street, was a perfect horror to all negroes far and near. His mode of punishing refractory slaves was to compel four of his fellow slaves to stand and hold the victim stretched out in the air, and then Bedford and his brother John would stand, one on each side, with long, heavy whips, and cut up their victims until the blood trickled to the ground. Women were often stripped naked, and with a bucket of salt water stand by, in which to did the instruments of torture, a heavy leather thong, their backs were cut up, until the blisters covered the whole surface, the blood of their wounds mingling with the briny mixture to add torment to the infliction. One slave man was whipped to death by Bedford, who used a trace-chain doubled for the purpose of punishment. The slave was secretly buried, and the circumstance was only known to the slaves of the prison, who only dared to refer to the circumstance in whispers.
Such are the appropriate antecedents in the character of the monster who murdered in cold blood the gallant defenders of Fort Pillow.
Boston Herald, May 7, 1864. [4]
[1] TSL&A, 19th CN.
[2] TSL&A, 19th CN.
[3] Reputed to be a secret society working to assist the Confederacy.
[4] As cited in PQCW.
James B. Jones, Jr.
Public Historian
Tennessee Historical Commission
2941 Lebanon Road
Nashville, TN 37214
(615)-532-1550 x115
(615)-532-1549 FAX
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