Military Annals of Tennessee Part One The beginning to Chickamauga
		The following regimental history is from the two volume, Confederate Military Annals of Tennessee.  These books where compiled in 1886, by editor John Berrien Lindsley.  Basically what he had done was have a former member of each Confederate Tennessee Infantry Regiment write a brief history of their regiment.  He then gathered these together and edited the together in the two volumes set.   The following history of the 6th Tennessee Infantry Regiment was written by Robert Gates who  served as a private in Company H, until he was promoted.  A lot of what is written are his own stories and the recollections of fellow members of the 6th.   Because of the size of the history we had to break it into two parts.  Part one covers the regiment from its start to the battle of Chickamauga.  Part two covers the post Chickamauga period through to the end of the war.  Part two also includes a brief roster of the soldiers that were killed or died in each company.  The roster is not complete, as it is written from memories of the participants.
			SIXTH TENNESSEE INFANTRY By Robert Gates, Jackson, Tenn.
	The following sketch was written from somewhat meager and imperfect data. The author was compelled to generalize, for the most part, rather than group in detail; but the statements of facts, as far as they go, are believed to be reliable, and have been approved by well-known and prominent participants in the events described. The Sixth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers was composed of eight companies from Madison and one each from Fayette and Haywood counties. Subsequently, at Corinth, in the spring of 1862, another company from Madison county was added to the regiment, making a total of eleven companies, with nine from Madison county. Camp Beauregard was established in Jackson in May, 1861, and the companies comprising the Sixth Regiment were the first to occupy the camp. The regiment was organized in May by the election of Wm. H. Stephens, of Madison, Captain of Co. G, Colonel; T.P. Jones, Captain of Co. H, Lieutenant-colonel; and George C. Porter, of Haywood county, Captain of Co. B, Major. Dr. R.R. Dashiell, of Madison, was appointed Surgeon, and Dr. John S. Fenner, of Madison, Assistant Surgeon. Lieutenant A.N. Thomas, Co. A, of Fayette county, was appointed Adjutant; and Milton Brown, jr., of Madison, Sergeant-major. I will state here that the Somerville and Brownsville companies exchanged places in the regiment by mutual consent, the Somerville company becoming Co. A, and the Brownsville company, Co. D. Subsequently the Brownsville company exchanged places with Co. B. Co. A, Somerville Avengers, was officered as followed: W.M.R. Johns, Captain; J.W. Burton, First Lieutenant; R.C. Williamson, Second Lieutenant; A.N. Thomas, Third Lieutenant. Co. B, Haywood Blues: L.B. Humphries, Captain; J.A. Wilder, First Lieutenant; L.B. Hotchkiss, Second Lieutenant; Freeling Henderson, Third Lieutenant. Co. C, Madison Invincibles, color company: Dr. W.W. Freeling, Captain; G.L. Winchester, First Lieutenant; Thos. Locey, Second Lieutenant; R.A. Mays, Third Lieutenant. Co. D, Gotten Zouaves: John J. Brooks; Captain; Felix G. Gibbs; First Lieutenant; Robert Sharp; Second Lieutenant; Thomas Parham, Third Lieutenant. Co. E, McClanahan Guards: J.M. Woolard, Captain; J.J. Anderson, First Lieutenant; Jason Fussell, Second Lieutenant; H.H. Hill, Third Lieutenant. Co. F: John F. Newsom, Captain; James Boyd, First Lieutenant; Wm. Smith, Second Lieutenant; Ed. Mollison, Third Lieutenant. Co. G, Jackson Grays: J.B. Freeman, Captain; Ike Jackson, First Lieutenant; James Elrod, Second Lieutenant; B.F. Bond, Third Lieutenant. Co. H, Southern Guards: W.C. Penn, Captain; Alex J. Brown, First Lieutenant; John C. Greer, Second Lieutenant; John McDonald, Third Lieutenant. Co. I, Gadsden Spartans: J.B. Collingsworth, Captain; Dr. W.B. McKinney, First Lieutenant; John Mathews, Second Lieutenant; Ed. Smith, Third Lieutenant. Co. K. The Danes, John Ingram, Captain; Frank W. Campbell, First Lieutenant; Thomas H. Rice, Second Lieutenant; J.W. Walker, Third Lieutenant. Co. L, Ford's Battalion: Robert H. Ford, Captain; Goodloe Smith, First Lieutenant; John D. Bond, Second Lieutenant; C.C. Sharp, Third Lieutenant. The regiment was mustered into the State service on May 15, 1861, by Inspector-general Alex. W. Campbell, who had but a few days before been promoted to the position with the rank of Lieutenant-colonel, from the Lieutenancy of the "Southern Guards," Co. H, Sixth Regiment. Several companies of the regiment were well drilled, having been organized several months, notably the Somerville Avengers, the Southern Guards (Jackson), the Jackson Grays, and the Haywood Blues; and all the other companies were stimulated by them to extra exertions. The time in camp, previous to the organization of the regiment, was largely spent by the companies in diligent drilling. Squad and company drills were kept up after the regiment was organized, and from one to two regimental drills per day were added. In this way the Sixth Regiment was very early celebrated for its proficiency in drill and its fine military bearing. The personal of the regiment was very fine, the morale high. It was very largely composed of young men. There were very few men in the regiment over thirty-five years of age, and a large majority were under thirty. They were fresh from happy and prosperous homes, many had not finished their course at school or college, many had just graduated with credit, all were boys or young men in good standing, and not a few of high promise. None had known hardships, few had experienced sorrow. With the greatest number life was full of gladness, and hope mounted to heights on which the sun never sets - the heights around which, in never-ending succession since the morning of time, have clustered the bright dreams of youth. On Thursday, May 23d, the regiment was ordered to be ready to leave for the front. On Sunday, May 26th, 1861, it left Jackson over twelve hundred strong for Union City, where an army was being concentrated to meet a probable invasion of Kentucky. The commanding officers endeavored to keep the day and hour of departure from the public, but in vain. The time became known on Saturday, and before the setting of the sun that day had spread all over the country. Sunday, May 26th, 1861, dawned bright and beautiful upon a scene that no tongue or pen may describe, no genius breathe on immortal canvas. An entire people had assembled - tottering age and wondering infancy, stout-hearted fathers, tender, loving mothers, gentle wives, blushing maidens - to say farewell, and bid God-speed to the brave boys who were the first of all the county to rally around the Southern cross. Neither before nor since has Jackson looked on such a crowd as assembled to greet the Sixth Regiment on its departure for the seat of war. The line of march from the camp to the M. and O. depot, the distance of a mile and a half, was packed with people, the streets full, the houses covered, the very trees breaking with their human fruit. Now and then a cheer would break forth as the regiment with difficulty made its way through the throng; but sobs and sounds of weeping, women screaming and fainting with mingled excitement and grief, gave to that first march a wild and mournful character. At the depot a sea of humanity surged around the train upon which the regiment was embarking. There were acres of weeping woman, shouting men, frantic girls and boys. Many fainted, many men and women went mad for the time, and over the troubled waves now and then would sweep a wail of grief, startling and unnerving. The occasion, the mingled sentiment of heroic courage and of grief at parting, or patriotism and of painful doubts as to the results, of devotion to principle and homes, and of piercing fear that loved ones would return no more these - sentiments and emotions in so vast a crowd, acting and reacting upon each other, and the electricity that pervades a multitude deeply stirred, conspired to make the occasion remarkable and memorable. It was a sea voicing its hopes, wailing its fears. It was a multitude without a smile. The writer has often meditated on that scene. Was it prophetic of disaster? Did the mysterious misgivings that seemed on that day to trouble so many hearts - was the extraordinary demonstrations of mingled hope and fear, and the deep, wild grief of the parting - an augury of dark and bitter days? An effect may be traced along the lines of its many roots back to cause or causes; but the mysterious relations between emotions to-day and events to-morrow, between impressions of impending peril and disaster, between the feeling that throbs a warning in the midst of wild hopes and daring efforts, and the end - the success of failure - must remain a matter for metaphysical speculation, or mysteries of the land unknown. Across the twilight, the shadow-land that lies between event and premonition, there are no paths leading. There is presentiment, and then disaster; and between, darkness and nothing more. But with something of awe I look back through the darkness of the years of war, and seem to read in that wonderful demonstration of mingled hope and fear, patriotism and tears, a warning of the terrible days that came and left desolation in their track. The wail that went up on that memorable day, as the train freighted with so much of the hope and tenderness of a great county moved away - a wail so wild and full of tears methinks I hear it reverberating down the track of the years as I write - seems to have borrowed its strength of sorrow from the unknown graves, the ruined homes, the blighted hopes, the desolate hearts of the then not far off future. It is certain that no one who witnessed the scene, so poorly described, ever forgot it or ever will. On the brains of the soldiers and those whose hearts were stirred by love for friend, on kindred, or lover, the occasion was burn forever. Not all the bitterness and anguish, all the peril and ruin, all the perished hopes and sad bereavements, and the trying wrongs of the years immediately succeeding the war, has impaired the tender memory of that day that is gone. And of that twelve hundred or more who marched away to war on that memorable Sunday morning in May, 1861, much less than half ever returned when the war was over. That fact tells with tongues more eloquent than the world's Ciceros, and with words more enduring than brass or marble, the story of battles bravely fought, hardships heroically borne, of duty faithfully done in camp and field, and of ruined homes and desolate hearts. The regiment went into camp at Union City on the 26th of May, 1861. It has the honor of being one of the regiments that formed Gen. Cheatham's first brigade, and the further honor of having been throughout the war a part of Cheatham's famous and immortal division, a division that was in the place of honor and peril in every battle, that was in front on advance and in the rear-guard on retreat. The few months spent at Union City were devoted to diligent drilling, and the Sixth Regiment soon became the crack regiment of the camp. Col. William H. Stephens deserves great credit for the skill displayed in bringing the regiment to such a high degree of efficiency. He possessed the genius of command in an eminent degree, and succeeded in infusing his spirit of discipline and pride into the regiment. It is due to truth to say here that the brilliant subsequent career of this superb regiment was largely due to the energy, skill, and spirit of its first Colonel, who impressed upon it the habit of discipline, made it highly proficient in drill, and infused into it the spirit of generous emulation. The few months spent at Union City were months of preparations for the sterner duties of war. The boys lived high. Every week boxes came up from home by rail for each mess or soldier, filled with all the good things that love could devise. Nearly every mess in the regiment had a colored cook, and hence the boys did nothing but drill, read, talk, write letters, play games, and feast; seasoned by occasional flirtations with fair visitors from neighboring communities. The colored cooks were organized into a sort of club under "Col." Matt Dyer - a slave of Judge Milton Brown - who was cooking for the officers' mess of Company H. Col. Matt was in the war of 1812, with the famous Col. Dyer, and this fact made him an authority among the negroes and an interesting character with the soldiers. He was also a "boss" cook, and was unequaled in his day. Col. Matt was thoroughly loyal to the South, and remained so during the terrible years of reconstruction. He kept the colored cooks in order until the summer and fall of 1862, when hard marching and fighting and short rations drove all the luxury from the camps of the Confederacy, including the negro cooks. Col. Matt died some years after the war, full of years and honors. Peace to his ashes! Many anecdotes illustrative of the lights and shadows of camp-life might be related, but the space assigned for this sketch forbids such recital. Yet one incident we must relate, as it amusingly illustrates one of the exaggerations incident to the first year of the war. One Saturday the report cam that a Federal army was landing at Columbus, Ky., distant about twenty-six miles. At once orders were given to cook three days' rations and prepare to break camp in a few hours. Long trains of cars were hurried up from all points South in reach, to transport the troops. Every thing was bustle and preparation, and the light of battle blazed in every eye. The camp was full of people visiting their friends, and of course the visitors were sad, very many of them being mothers, wives, and sweethearts. There were many affecting parting scenes as the long-roll beat, the bugles called to arms, and the military bands discoursed "Dixie," "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and other popular airs. The Sixth Regiment, each soldier equipped with ratios, ammunition, and blanket, stood in line beside the train it was soon to take, that regiment having been selected to go first. The men were resting on their arms, the officers standing in little groups near the respective companies, and all were more or less silent and thoughtful, awaiting orders to board the train. At this juncture at a considerable distance an object was seen approaching through the camp. At first it was difficult to make it out, so curious it looked and so encumbered it seemed. However, it soon became apparent that a soldier was approaching, equipped for war; and it turned out to be Lieut. John McDonald, of Company H. He was a small man, but he carried a large and full haversack, a large knapsack with a double-barreled shotgun strapped across it, in his right-hand a Minie-rifle, belted around him a sword, a large knife (then common), two pistols, and a hatchet. He was a sight to behold, and, as he neared the regiment, was greeted with shouts of laughter. Lieut. McDonald was by no means abashed, and explained that he meant business. He said he had the rations to sustain his strength and the weapons to execute his will on the enemy. His idea was to use his Minie at long range, then his shotgun, then his pistols; then, as to hostile lines came closer, to throw his tomahawk, and then, with sword in one hand and the big knife in the other, to wade in and dispatch the ten traditional Yankees. Lieut. McDonald was a brave man, and although his idea is absurd enough at this distance, there were not a few who entertained the same notions in those early days of the war. That day when the troops were ready for battle, a majority in several regiments - officers and men - wore those big knives, short as bayonets and broad as the old Highland broadsword with which Lieut. McDonald expected to fight at close quarters. There were not a few in those days who looked with contempt on the bayonet, and fully expected to wade into the enemy with big knives after a few volleys with musketry; and no one acquainted with the spirit of those gallant men will doubt that they would have done it or tried it, had the thing been at all practicable, or if ordered to do it in a charge. From Union City the troops were marched over to Missouri, leaving on Aug. 1, 1861. An incident of this march will illustrate the mischief-loving spirit of the soldiers. It was very trying on a citizen to encounter a body of troops on the march. They would ply him with ridiculous questions, and make him the butt of rude humor and keen wit. On this occasion, near Tiptonville, a citizen, dressed in "store clothes" and wearing a "beaver," or silk hat, came riding down the road through the Sixth Regiment, which was then resting. He was an old man. The boys plied him with all manner of questions and addressed to him all sorts of absurd warnings and advice, but he rode on without turning his head to the right or left, or apparently paying the slightest attention to the rude jokes flung at him. Finally one of the boys stepped out into the road and said: "Mister, did you ever see a bald-headed woman?" The old fellow reined up his horse, took off his hat and scratched his head in meditation, and then, looking at the quizzical soldier with an earnest and curious expression, replied: "Well, stranger, I'll be ------ if I believe I ever did!" This "raised" the regiment, and the old man rode on amid shouts of laughter. He was evidently in earnest, as nothing said before has disturbed his equanimity. But that question seemed to strike and arouse him. By the way, who ever did see a bald-headed woman? The campaign in Missouri was only remarkable for "hard-tack" and hard drilling, enlivened by camp jokes and an occasional flood that inundated the camps and gave the boys experience in constructing ditches. The sound of hostile guns was first heard at Hickman, Ky. A Federal gunboat shelled the troops as they landed en route for Columbus. The incident only made the boys more eager to meet the enemy. At Columbus the regiment ranked high for discipline and skill, but did not participate in the battle of Belmont, although eager for the fray and at one time under orders to embark for the field of battle across the river. A false alarm during the occupation of Columbus demonstrated that the Sixth Regiment was thoroughly well in hand, it being one of the first, if not the first, to man the line of works. This alarm was caused by the unloading of lumber at midnight from cars about a mile beyond the lines. The sound was very much like that of fire-arms, and Lieut.-col. Jones, who had seen service in Mexico, rebuked some of the boys who doubted the character of the noise, exclaiming indignantly, "Haven't I heard musketry before?" After the evacuation of Columbus no halt of any length was made until Corinth, Miss., was reached. Several weeks, however, were consumed in the retreat, short halts being made at Union City and Humboldt. The train conveying the Sixth Regiment from Humboldt to Corinth made no halt at Jackson, and thus it was one of the first to go into camp at Corinth. An anecdote of this movement may prove amusing. In Company H there was a venerable man, Uncle Horace Bledsoe, who had served through the Mexican War, and was therefore an oracle on military matters among the younger men of the regiment. When the evacuation of Columbus occurred he was furloughed, and came direct home to Jackson. He was in that city during the days of suspense incident to the retrograde movement. The old citizens were in the habit of meeting at night in Dr. J.B. Malone's drug-store; to discuss the situation. The were dubbed by the soldiers "our home general,: and each one was given a certain rank, and were duly promoted from time to time by the boys as news of their wise plans and prognostications were reported in camp. This retrograde movement greatly puzzled these old gentlemen, and one night during its pendency Uncle Horace Bledsoe was invited to meet with them. He did so, and after the "home generals" had discussed the situation and suggested no end of wise hypotheses and wiser campaigns, Uncle Horace was called on, as a soldier experienced in war, to give his views - in other words, explain, if he could, what it all meant. Uncle Horace assumed the solemnity and wisdom that the occasion demanded, and, amid dead silence and profound attention, gravely said: "Gentlemen, it is my opinion that Beauregard intends to make a faint on Union City or Humboldt, I'll be ------ if he don't faint at Corinth!" Uncle Horace was wiser than he knew, for the army came very near "fainting at Corinth" a few months later, for a fact. Uncle Horace still lives, the brave soldier of two wars, a kind old man respected by his neighbors for integrity and honest industry. The following changes were made in company officers about this time, as far as I have been able to obtain the facts: Lieut. Burton. Co. A, resigned, Jas. Stanley elected; Lieut. Locey resigned, and H.N. Sherrill elected in Co. C; Capt. Brooks, Co. D, resigned, and George Parsons elected; Jas. Elrod, Second Lieut. Co. G, resigned; Alex. Brown, John C. Greer, and John McDonald, Lieuts. of Co. H. resigned, and Thos. Hardgrave, Geo. Taylor, and Joe Kendrick, elected instead; Adjt. Thomas resigned, and Thos. A. Henderson, of Co. H, appointed; J.B. Collingsworth, Co. I, died, and W.B. McKinney promoted to Captain, and W.C. Copeland elected Lieutenant. Subsequently to the above events Lieut. George Taylor, of Co. H, died, and Dr. Lafayette Jackson was elected Lieut.; John H. Howard was elected Third Lieut. in Co. H, vice Lieut. Jackson promoted. There were a number of promotions from the regiment during the first six or eight months of its service. Alex. W. Campbell, of Company H, was promoted to Lieut.-col. before leaving Jackson, and assigned to duty as Inspector-general of State troops. A few months later he was made Colonel of the Thirty-third Regiment, which he commanded in several engagements. He was subsequently captured, and on being exchanged was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-general, and assigned to duty under Gen. Forrest. Alexander J. Brown, First Lieutenant of Co. H, was promoted to be Colonel of the Fifty-fifth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers. He died in a few months, of consumption. He was an officer of promise. Robert B. Hurt, jr., of Co. H, was promoted to Adjutant of the Fifty-fifth Regiment. Joseph B. Caruthers, of Co. H, was made Captain of heavy artillery. John H. Howard, Lieutenant of Co. H, was promoted to Captain in the Fifty-fifth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers. Dr. L.F. Jackson, Lieutenant of Co. H, was promoted to be Assistant Surgeon of Confederate States Army. Thomas J. Caruthers, of Co. H, was made First Lieutenant of heavy artillery. Thomas Henderson, of Co. H, was appointed to be Adjutant of the regiment at Columbus. W.E. Butler, of Co. H, was promoted to be Second Lieutenant of light artillery. John W. Campbell, jr., of Co. H, was promoted to Gen. Cheatham's staff. Robert Gates, private in Co. H, was promoted to be Second Lieutenant in Confederate States Army, and assigned to duty with the light artillery. John G. Mann, of Co. G, was promoted to the staff of Gen. Cheatham, with the rank of Captain of Engineers, serving throughout the war. James Miller, of Co. G, was transferred to the Quartermaster's Department, with the rank of Captain. W.P. Miller, of Co. G, was placed on Gen. Cheatham's staff as private secretary, with the rank of Third Lieutenant. Hayes Simmons, of Co. G, was promoted to be Assistant Surgeon of an Alabama regiment. Robert Sterling, of Co. G, was promoted to be Captain of heavy artillery, and later to the rank of Lieutenant-colonel Confederate States Army. Lieut. Thomas Locey, of Co. C, was promoted to be Captain in the Thirty-third Regiment, James Givens, of Co. C, was promoted to be Commissary, with the rank of Captain. There were other promotions, but the writer has not been able to get all the facts on this point. The battle of Shiloh, fought on April 6 and 7, 1862, was the first engagement participated in by the Sixth Regiment. It was in Cheatham's division, Polk's corps, and moved to the battle-field from Bethel. Col. W.H. Stephens left a sick-bed to join the regiment, and commanded the brigade on the first day, though hardly able to remain in his saddle. The regiment was gallantly commanded by Lieut.-col. Jones. It was under a more or less heavy artillery fire for an hour before it was thrown into the battle, and lost several men. This was a very trying ordeal for troops never before under fire, but they bore themselves with firmness. J.M. Cartmell, of Co. H, was the first man wounded in the regiment. He was shot in the face by a piece of shell, destroying his left eye, from which he was a great sufferer for years, and still is at times. The regiment marched all the day previous to the battle and late into the night, and was in line of battle from daylight to 10 o'clock on the morning of the battle, and was moved from the center to the left wing and back several times during the morning, and was thoroughly blown when time came for action. The regiment was ordered to charge a battery on its right front about 11 o'clock A.M. To do this an open field, or an old orchard, had to be crossed. The regiment went at the work in gallant style, but when about one hundred yards from the battery a terrible fire was opened on it from an ambuscade of infantry that was concealed in the woods around the field in somewhat the shape of the letter V. The regiment charged into the very jaws of the V, and the men fell like grass before the sickle. The dead lay in line of battle, as if on dress-parade. Over two hundred and fifty men were placed hors de combat in less than as many seconds. The order to fall back was given, but misunderstood by many. The result was, some fell back to the woods and re-formed, while others laid down in the open field, exposed to the enemy and in peril from their own comrades; others dashed ahead, and were killed or captured. Over the heads of those lying down in the field the shot and shell of Smith's Confederate battery plowed the air, and into and over them the Federal battery and Federal infantry poured a terrific fire. Truly it may be said that in this desperate charge the immortal Sixth marched Into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell. Col. W.H. Stephens, who commanded the brigade, had his horse shot under him in this charge, and his son William, who was on his staff, was severely wounded. Lieut.-col. Jones was slightly wounded in the arm, and his horse shot. Gen. Cheatham was shot in the ear while leading the charge. The following company officers were wounded: Captains Newsom, Wollard, and Johns; Lieutenants Hargraves, Winchester, Kendrick, and Mathes. Officers killed: Captains Person and Freeman; Lieutenants Parish, Smith, and Jackson - all noble, brave, and true sons of chivalry. Color-bearer George Black was killed, and every member of the color-guard, twelve in number, were killed or wounded. The flag was shot to shreds, and the staff was struck twenty-six times. It fell to the ground six times, but each time was secured by a member of the guard, and again waved on high. When the last of the guard fell, the tattered banner, red with the blood of the brave guard that lay dead and dying around it, was seized by private Posey, of Co. A, and brought off in gallant style. Posey was promoted to be Color-bearer, with the rank of Lieutenant, for his bravery, and later in the war fell bearing it to the front in battle. Many of the flower of the regiment fell in this charge, privates and officers; and I regret that I cannot obtain all their names, and thus embalm names, as well as heroic deeds, in these pages devoted to the prowess of Tennesseans in war. The following anecdote is told by Dr. Frank B. Hamilton on himself: The Doctor was a private in Co. C. During the terrific artillery fire before the charge through the field and peach-orchard, the regiment was lying down, and hugging the ground very affectionately. A cannon-ball struck the ground between Dr. Hamilton and John Casey, throwing dirt over both. The Doctor, with much vigor, jerked himself away from where the ball struck, when John Casey exclaimed: "Frank, lie down right over the hole, do ye mind, for the ugly bastes niver strike twice in the same place!" The Doctor says he took John's advice then and afterward with good results. The regiment was relieved from its terrible environments by an advance on its right and left, which forced the Federals to fall back. Shortly after this, and not to far to the right. Prentiss's brigade of Federals surrendered; and but a few hundred yards to the right, a little later, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston was killed. During the remainder of the day (Sunday) the regiment was well handled by Maj. George C. Porter, and was in action very nearly all the evening, steadily advancing. Late in the evening, John W. Campbell, who had temporarily joined the regiment, was killed while gallantly advancing under the orders of Capt. John Ingram, who commanded a portion of the regiment that had become detached from the main body. On Monday, the 7th, the regiment was in line of battle by daylight, under Lieut.-col. Jones, but not seriously engaged until about 11 o'clock. At that hour it was prominent in repelling a heavy assault on the Confederate center, and lost a number of its best men. During the remainder of the day it was engaged more or less severely, at one time driving the enemy in its front a half mile. There was a pond in front of one of the positions held by the regiment through which it drove the enemy twice, and was in turn forced back. A number of the best men in the regiment fell in and near this fatal pond, whose waters were dyed with the blood of the brave. The regiment withdrew from the field late in the evening, and as if on parade. In perfect order it fell back to Corinth with the army, where it went into camp on Wednesday, April 9th. At Shiloh it lost in killed, wounded, and missing about five hundred men. At Corinth, May 15th, the year for which the regiment enlisted expired. With few exceptions the officers and men reenlisted, and the regiment reorganized. Col. Stephens, whose health continued very feeble, declined to stand for reelection, as did Lieut.-col. Jones also. Col. Jones, however, continued off and on with the army, and rendered very valuable and gallant service on several occasions, both in camp and field. The new organization was as follows: George C. Porter, Colonel; W.M.R. Johns, Lieutenant-colonel; J.L. Harris, Major. There were also a good many changes in the company organizations. Co. A: R.C. Williamson elected Captain; J.B. Stanley, Lieutenant. Co. B: J.B. Wilder, Captain; Shep. Hay, First Lieutenant; Newt. Curry, Second Lieutenant. Co. C: Tom Rains, Captain; R.A. Mays, First Lieutenant; Nathan Butler, Second Lieutenant; W.C. Marshall, Third Lieutenant. Co. D: R.M. Sharp, Captain. Co. E: Joe Brown, Captain; Wm. Watt, First Lieutenant; I.B. Day, Second Lieutenant; Tom Dudney, Third Lieutenant. Co. F: Wm. Bray, Captain; Ed. Mollison, First Lieutenant, Tom Shannon, Second Lieutenant. Co. G: E.B. McClanahan, Captain; W.A. Busby, First Lieutenant; W.G. Cole, Second Lieutenant. Co. H: A.B. Jones, Captain; T.M. Gates, First Lieutenant; James E. Hughes, Second Lieutenant; R.H. Fenner, Third Lieutenant. Co. I: James Lemmons, Second Lieutenant; W.E. Dungan, Third Lieutenant; soon thereafter W.C. Copeland became Captain by promotion. Co. K: E.C. Harbert, Captain; Johnston Penn, First Lieutenant; Wm. Ingram, Second Lieutenant; Robert Weatherly, Third Lieutenant. Co. L: M.D. Merriweather, Captain; L.B. Everman, First Lieutenant; S.L. Ganaway, Second Lieutenant; S.B. Person, Third Lieutenant. Nearly all the old officers not reelected joined other commands, and several of them became distinguished as officers in the cavalry service. Notably among this class was Capt. John F. Newsom, who, as Colonel of a cavalry regiment under Forrest, became distinguished for skill and daring; and Lieut. Tom Parham, who, as Major of cavalry, served with credit. There were a goodly number of others who became more or less distinguished in cavalry and artillery, and some in other infantry regiments, but the facts are not at my command. The regiment did frequent duty on the picket line around Corinth, and was in several hot skirmishes. In these small engagements it made a reputation for dash and steadiness, and for sustaining casualties, that clung to it throughout the war. In every skirmish it lost brave men, and in one in front of Corinth its loss was as severe as that of some regiments at Shiloh. This fatality in the matter losses was confirmed by a railroad accident between Mobile and Montgomery, while the army was being transferred from Tupelo to Chattanooga, which resulted in the regiment losing five or six men killed and twenty or thirty wounded. In the camp-life at Corinth, and subsequently at Tupelo, the regiment lost a number of men from sickness and discharges for ill health. Here for the first time the real hardships of war settled down upon the regiment, to be lifted but seldom from thence to the last sad day when hope departed, and memory with its stores of events in camp and field, its bitter hardships, its bloody graves, and its blighted homes, assumed dominion over the hearts of Southern soldiers. The regiment bore up splendidly in the march into Kentucky from Chattanooga, distinguishing itself in several skirmishes, and adding greatly to its fame at Perryville. At Harrodsburg John M. Withers was elected Third Lieutenant of Co. G. Very vivid recollections were preserved among the boys of the hospitality and good cheer of "old Kentucky home." The beautiful women met all along the way, and their kindly smiles, were also cherished memories. More than one brave fellow lost his heart - and sadder still, lost his life - before opportunity came to find it again. The sweet and touching romances that clustered like roses full of fragrance about this and other marches would make volumes. The battle of Perryville was fought on the 8th of October, 1862. The regiment was commanded by Col. Porter, the brigade by Gen. Maney, the division by Gen. Cheatham. The position of Cheatham's division in the line of battle was second in responsibility to that of no division in the army. Opposed to it was the flower of the Federal army, among which were three regiments and a battery of regulars. The Sixth Regiment, with others of its brigade, was under heavy fire for an hour before it was ordered forward. There is no ordeal so trying upon human courage as standing idle under heavy artillery fire. But the Sixth and its companion regiments stood firm as veterans on this occasion. Finally the battery or batteries in front were ordered taken. To reach them an open field or fields about a mile in extent had to be crossed under a well-directed and terrific fire from the battery and supporting infantry. The charge was superbly made by Maney's brigade, with the Sixth Regiment in the center. They moved forward as if on dress-parade, slowly at first, then double-quick, then with a rush and a yell. The battery was taken, many of the gunners being bayoneted at their guns. This splendid charge of Maney's brigade and Cheatham's division won the admiration of the foe; and an officer of the Federal army afterward described it as the most perfect line, and the steadiest, most brilliant charge he ever saw, concluding that the regiments making it must have been regulars, and the pick of the Confederate army. The loss of the regiment in this battle was about thirty killed, and about one hundred and fifty wounded and missing. It had not fully recovered from heavy loss at Shiloh and Corinth, and did not number at Perryville near so many men. In proportion to numbers engaged, however, the loss at Perryville was as heavy as at Shiloh. I should add that after taking the splendid battery mentioned - which was composed of nine rifle guns, and was turned over to Capt. Turner - the brigade swept on over two other lines of the enemy and captured another battery. Gen. Jackson, of the Federal army, was killed in this charge, and members of the Sixth Regiment saw him dead on the field. There was hardly in the war a more brilliant charge than this. One of the coolest things was done by Lieut. Everman, who commanded Co. L, Sixth Regiment. During the terrific artillery fire of the morning he deliberately took notes in a small book while fully exposed to the enemy's sharp-shooters, who scarred the ground around him with bullets. This was his invariable habit. During this battle the Sixth Regiment has several Color-bearers killed. At one time, when the battle was heaviest, the Color-bearer fell; there was a momentary hesitancy about snatching the flag from the dead soldier's hands, and for a moment it lay on the ground - but only for a moment, when Ed. Quinn, private in Co. H, threw down his gun and grasped the fallen banner, and running about fifteen paces in front waved it furiously, and shouted: "Come on, my brave patriots; follow your flag!" Inspired with renewed impulse by this gallant example, the line rushed forward with an impetus invincible, and drove the enemy in great confusion. But the brave Quinn only went a short distance before his work was done. He fell dead leading the regiment, and so firm was his grasp that it was with difficulty the flag-staff was wrenched from his nerveless hands. C.C. Wood, of Co. B, next seized the colors, and afterward bore them gallantly on several fields. The story is told on Lieut. W.C. Marshall, of Co. C, that he brought off from the field of Perryville blankets enough to keep the regiment warm during the winter. The retreat from Kentucky was full of hardships and peril. The route lay for the most part amid sterile mountains and a wild and hostile population. The little that the country afforded in the way of supplies was consumed by the troops in front. It was common for a regiment to be halted by a corn-field and from it draw their rations for a day. Parched corn became a staple article. The supply of water at times was meager, and thus the pangs of hunger were intensified by the more trying pangs of thirst. There was much suffering, and the Sixth Regiment bore its full share. Several men were lost during this retreat, and their fate remains a dark mystery to this day. It was almost certain death to straggle, or to leave the column for foraging. The mountains were alive with bush-whackers, and many a brave soldier who dropped out of the line from fatigue, or wandered off for food, or was left behind in some rude hut because of desperate wounds, was killed or murdered by these "home-guards" or outlaws. Many a quiet valley and singing stream amid the gloomy mountains of East Kentucky could tell stories of cruelty and crime as shocking as any which in earlier times gave to the State the sobriquet of the "dark and bloody ground." A very sad and shocking case comes to mind. Wiley Wood, of Co. G, Sixth Regiment, was wounded at Perryville, and during the retreat fell out of the wagon in which he was being conveyed, as it passed over a very rough piece of road, and broke his leg. He had to be left at the village of New London. As soon as the army passed the bush-whackers entered the town, and taking the desperately wounded man out hanged him to a tree until he was dead. They then filled his body with bullet-holes, and left it as food for birds of prey. Some brave, gentle woman, gave poor Wiley's remains decent sepulture; and his ashes, like many thousands of brave and noble Southerners, sleep far from home in quiet vales and beside still waters. His grave, like theirs, is now unknown; but nature keeps watch over them and sings her requiems above their dust, and the God of Moses and of the true and brave in all the ages knows where their ashes rest. The army, after a short halt at Knoxville, marched into Middle Tennessee, and concentrated at Murfreesboro. A few days before the battle of Murfreesboro the Sixth and Ninth regiments were consolidated. It was Greek joined to Greek, both regiments gaining by the association of splendid courage tried in the fire of battle and in the crucible of hardships, and proved pure gold. The officers took position according to rank and date of commissions. Col. Hurt, of the Ninth, became Colonel of the consolidated regiment; Lieut.-col. Buford, of the Ninth, Lieutenant-colonel; Maj. J.B. Wilder, of the Sixth, became Major; and Lieut. Thomas Henderson, of the Sixth, remained Adjutant. There were a number of changes in the company organizations, and several old officers were thrown out and ordered to report to Gen. Pillow, chief of the recruiting service. The Sixth and Ninth brought on the battle of Murfreesboro, fighting and falling back from La Vergne before the Federal army. In this perilous duty they were engaged a day and a half, under artillery or infantry fire constantly, and occasionally repulsing a charge of cavalry. On the morning of the battle, December 31st, the regiment was on the extreme left, and was early, but only slightly, engaged. Owing to its arduous duty in bringing on the battle, it was, with its brigade, held in reserve, and was thus moved from point to point during the engagement, and frequently, though briefly, engaged. It was here again subjected to the terrible ordeal of remaining comparatively inactive for hours, during which it was frequently under very heavy artillery fire; but it fully sustained its high character for steadiness, and its losses were by no means inconsiderable. In this battle the regiment was commanded by Col. Hurt and Lieut.-col. Buford. After this, however, Col. Hurt was forced by ill health to retire, and Col. Porter resumed command of the regiment. With a single exception - Franklin - Col. Porter or Lieut.-col. Buford commanded the regiment in all other battles to the close of the war. Among the gallant officers killed at Murfreesboro was Capt. Robert Sharper. From Murfreesboro the army fell back to Tullahoma and Shelbyville. The Sixth and Ninth were at Shelbyville, where the boys had a good time, but got a touch of scurvy from too much salt meat and Lincoln county whisky. I do not mean to insinuate that Lincoln county whisky is likely to produce scurvy, but simply that salt meat and Lincoln county whisky are a little objectionable as a steady diet. But the boys were relieved of the threatened malady in a rather novel way. In the early spring, under the orders of Surgeon John S. Fenner, the boys were marched out into the budding woods and the fragrant fields every day for weeks, and ordered to chew certain green things and grass. This was kept up until the commissariat could furnish a change of diet in the shape of eatable beef and occasional vegetables. The boys recovered, and spent the remainder of the time at Shelbyville betwixt skirmishes and love-making, drilling and joking. Here it should be said of Surgeon Dr. John S. Fenner that he was not only efficient professionally, but that he was heroic in the discharge of his duty on every field. He served from the first to the last, and no peril or exposure ever for a moment deterred him from the discharge of duty. The retreat from Middle Tennessee to Chattanooga and Dalton was not memorable for any thing except good order and much grumbling - a paradox not infrequent in the army while commanded by Gen. Bragg, and later when under Gen. Hood. Patriotism and discipline insured orderly retreats, but did not suppress criticism and complaints more or less loud at failures to improve splendid victories or to use inviting opportunities. There were many, however, who held firm faith in Gen. Bragg's genius, and attributed his failure to improve victories to the sloth or incompetency of subordinates. One thing is certain, no General in the West fought battles more brilliantly than Gen. Braxton Bragg. The battle of Chickamauga was the next engagement of any note in which the Sixth and Ninth took part. Col. Porter, Lieut.-col. Buford, Maj. Wilder were in command. Maney's brigade, or rather Cheatham's division, of which the Sixth and Ninth were a part, were the first infantry troops seriously engaged in this battle. The battle was fought September 19th and 20th, 1863. The regiment was hotly engaged most of the first day, and its losses were very heavy. At one time the division moved on the enemy (who were massed in the thick woods behind an open field) through a skirt of timber, much of which had been cut down and was lying in tangled masses on the ground. The enemy's artillery played with effect upon the disordered line of advance, and the moment the field was gained, and while yet the line was in confusion, Thomas's entire corps, with several batteries, opened on Cheatham's devoted division. The Sixth and Ninth were in the very hottest of the fray. To advance was madness, to stand was nearly as bad; but this grand division did stand, and, with a gallantry never surpassed, held the enemy at bay for an hour. Finally Thomas's whole corps charged the thin line of Confederates, and forced them back. But before they gave way the enemy had lapped around both flanks of the division, and were pouring a deadly enfilading fire down the line. The division fell back a half mile and re-formed, being joined by Cleburne's division, which relieved Cheatham's flank. The two divisions then drove Thomas's corps steadily and gallantly until night closed the scene. The Sixth and Ninth were in the most trying position during this engagement, and lost heavier than any regiment in the division in proportion to numbers. And it is claimed by many of the regiment that it was the last in the line yield, and that the enemy was right in among them before they gave way. This incident will illustrate the closeness of the engagement. Drew Brock, of Company L, was captured. Among his captors was an officer who took him in special charge. With this officer Brock drifted off some hundred yards from the main line. The officer was very thirsty, and Brock showed him a spring. The poor fellow knelt down to drink a cooling draught, and as he did so Brock seized a rock and struck him in the back of the head, killing him, and then escaped by hiding in the bush hard by. The Confederates advancing soon after found Brock and the dead officer. It is claimed by the best soldiers of Cheatham's division that this was the first and last time the enemy ever saw the back of Cheatham's Tennesseans in an engagement. The division was so severely cut up in the first day's battle that it was held in reserve on the second. It was under artillery fire frequently, and occasionally drove back an assault or strengthened a weak point, but it was not seriously engaged until late in the afternoon, when the Sixth and Ninth and the First regiments charged a line of low log breastworks held by the Eighteenth Regulars, the Tenth Wisconsin, and another regiment, carrying the position with a storm, and driving the enemy in confusion before them. Lieut.-col. Ely, of the Tenth Wisconsin, was here mortally wounded and captured, but during his last hours he was tenderly nursed by members of the First Tennessee, to whom he had been kind when they were wounded and captured at Perryville. This touching incident and many like it occurring throughout the civil struggle were silver linings in the cloud of war, and served to show that in the fiercest and most dreadful hours human sympathy and brotherhood were not dead, and that the noblest instincts were as living fountains in the hearts of the combatants, that might be touched and made to bless, despite strife and blood.
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