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10. West Tennessee during 1863
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1. Long, Civil War Day by Day, 306–450; OR, ser. 2, 17(2):525. CHAPTER 10 West Tennessee during 1863 I n 1863 no battles worthy of the name happened in West Tennessee or northernmost Mississippi, but thirty-six skirmishes occurred in those sections. From the perspective of the Federals, these resulted from three objectives: protection of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad running almost between the two sections, suppression of Rebel recruiters, and pursuit of guerrillas. About a third of skirmishes related to guarding the Memphis & Charleston, which General Grant had ordered “[k]ept open as far as Corinth in spite of all opposition.” Another third took the fight to the enemy below that railroad into northern Mississippi. The remainder mostly concerned opposing guerrillas and recruiters east of Fort Pillow to Brownsville and in the Jackson area. Because the Confederates avoided the Federals, fewer than a third of the skirmishes related to the more than thirty Union expeditions and scouts. Three-fourths of marches departed from stations along the Memphis & Charleston, and the other fourth left from the Jackson area or from Fort Pillow and most likely involved some foraging. Almost half moved into Mississippi to discover any Rebels concentrating near West Tennessee.1 Hurst’s 6th Tennessee remained at Bolivar during January and February 1863 before being stationed at Jackson during March and April. From these posts along the Mississippi & Tennessee Central Railroad, the troopers scouted in small detachments, looking for enemy incursions, recruiters, and guerrillas . For the remainder of the year they guarded three posts on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad: LaGrange from May to August, Grand Junction during September and October, and Saulsbury through December. On occasion the 168 West Tennessee and Beyond 2. ORS, 65:527–30. 3. Storey, Loyalty and Loss, 97; 6th Tennessee, CSR. 4. TICW, 1:337–38. regiment divided into battalions, such as in November, when Companies C, E, and F remained at Grand Junction while A, B, D, and G stood guard at Middleburg (between Bolivar and Grand Junction) and I, K, L, and M were posted at Saulsbury.2 Wilson’s 7th Tennessee Infantry, which never raised more than its initial five companies, was posted in early 1863 at Crockett Station on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, then at Jackson, and finally at LaGrange, where in July it became Companies I, K, L, and M of Hurst’s 6th Tennessee. By then other individuals , including some from North Alabama and westernmost Kentucky, had joined the 6th Cavalry. Several enlisted from Limestone County, Alabama, while Alexander Perryman from Lauderdale County, Alabama, left home astride his horse with his father’s blessing and thirty dollars in his pocket to enlist in the regiment.3 The remnants of Hawkins’s 7th Tennessee, probably fewer than one hundred men, reported to Jackson in January 1863 under the command of Capt. James M. Martin of Company B. Some served as guides for an expedition out of Lexington to Clifton across the Tennessee River that on February 17 captured Col. John F. Newsom of Jackson and sixty-seven of his assorted command , largely engaged in recruiting. From April 29 to May 5, eighty members of the 7th rode on a scout with brigade commander Col. Edward Hatch, an Iowa lumberman. By then men from eight companies of the regiment had gathered at Jackson under the command of Capt. Asa N. Hays, former leader of the Brown Creekers. Two hundred troopers of the 7th collected by June at Grand Junction under Hawkins’s command. From July through October, the regiment served at Saulsbury and thereafter at Union City into 1864.4 During 1863 the Confederate cavalry of Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers occupied the south banks of the Tallahatchie River in northern Mississippi, guarding fords from New Albany down to Panola, a line running thirty to sixty miles from the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Chalmers’ command—altogether from two to three thousand men—included his own, Col. Robert McCulloch’s, and Col. Robert V. Richardson’s brigades; Richardson was often away recruiting behind enemy lines in West Tennessee. Chalmers occupied his time by repelling cavalry raids and preventing them, in the words of one Johnny Reb, [3.235.199.19] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 12:10 GMT) West Tennessee during 1863 169 5. Alderson, “Reminiscences of John Johnston,” THQ 14 (Sept. 1955): 145. 6. PAJ, 6:300n; OR, 33(2):65; Stewart Sifakis, Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Tennessee (New York, 1992), 61; TICW, 1:422, 423, 426, 435; Cimprich...