Civil+War


 * The Battle of Collierville: General Sherman at the depot!**

The Memphis and Charleston Railroad arrived in Collierville in 1852 bringing the potential for growth and prosperity to the delighted citizens of the Town. Yet, only a decade after its arrival, the Civil War would begin, and the railroad would be the cause of Collierville's destruction. The Memphis and Charleston Railroad line was extremely important during the War. It was the only direct railroad between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean. This made it very valuable to the Confederacy and a significant target for the Union. After the Union victories at Shiloh and Nashville in 1862, the mid-south region was occupied by Federal soldiers until the end of the war. Union troops were stationed in each town along the railroad to protect the line from Confederate guerillas. Germantown, Collierville, LaFayette (now Rossville), Moscow, La Grange, Grand Junction, and Corinth were occupied by Union forces due to their location along the railroad. In June of 1863, Brigadier General Richard J. Oglesby ordered extra troops to protect the Railroad’s bridges and trestles. Oglesby’s command led to the construction of a fort in Collierville.

The exact location of the fort is unknown, though it is thought it was built at what is now the south end of Main Street. The fort was surrounded by woods, with the town to the north, and railroad tracks to the south. The depot sat about 200 feet to the west. The 66th Indiana Regiment were stationed at the fort. The soldier's camp occupied nearly 15 acres of land and was enclosed by a 7-8 foot embankment. It was further protected by a ditch surrounding the entire fort. It was near the fort and depot that the Battle of Collierville took place in an attempt by the Confederacy to regain control of their railroad

**Battle of Collierville**
Preparation for the Battle of Collierville began on October 10,1863 when an order was sent to cut the telegraph wires and destroy the railroad tracks so that communication among the Union troops would be impossible. Confederate Majors Michell and Couzens fulfilled the order to the east of Collierville, but Major Burrows and Lieutenant Colonel Marshall were not able to complete the assignment to the west. This oversight would have a major effect on the outcome of the battle.

On the morning of Sunday, October 11, around 4:00 a.m., General James R. Chalmers ordered Lieutenant Colonel W.L. Duckworth, commander of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, and Colonel R.V. Richardson, commander of the 12th Tennessee Cavalry, to move toward Collierville from the Holly Springs area. Colonel Duckworth was in command of Captain John T. Lawler (7th Tennessee Cavalry) and Lieutenant-Colonel Robert McCullough (2nd Missouri Cavalry). The 2nd Missouri and 7th Tennessee traveled toward Collierville by Sycamore Road. It was planned that the 2nd Missouri would attack from the northwest of the fort while the 7th Tennessee would attack from the southwest. Colonel Richardson and his men, the Colonels John McGuirk (3rd Mississippi State Cavalry), H.B. Hovis (1st Mississippi Partisans) James Neely (13th Tennessee Cavalry), James Green (12 Tennessee Cavalry), William Inge (12th Mississippi Battalion), and Frances Stewart (15th Tennessee Cavalry) traveled toward Collierville from Byhalia. The plan was for the 3rd Mississippi and 1st Mississippi Partisans to travel to the east of Collierville and attack the 7th Illinois Cavalry camped to the north of town, and then attack the fort from the rear, while the 12th, 13th, and 15th Cavalries traveled to the west of Collierville to attack the fort. The 12th Mississippi would fight with both Reneau and Buckner’s Batteries from the south. The battle was planned around fifteen miles south of Collierville using a topographical map. Around 9:00 a.m. Duckworth and his men reached Collierville and were stationed by the railroad. Around 10:00 a.m. they were signaled by a bugle call and charged toward the fort. Also around 9:00 a.m. Richardson and his men surprised the Federal pickets, or guards, stationed one mile east of Collierville. The leading officer was killed and all but two of the pickets were captured. Because the two pickets had escaped, Richardson felt it was urgent to reach Collierville before they reported the attack. The 13th Tennessee traveled ahead using Mount Pleasant Road. They believed this would place them to the west of the Town, however, the troop came out to the east of Collierville. The Town did not lay as far to the east as they had believed. This mistake placed the Soldiers directly in the line of battle already started by the 2nd Missouri and 7th Tennessee. Yet, the battle seemed to be going in the Southern favor. After nearly two hours of fighting, General Chalmers felt the battle was going well enough to ask for a surrender. Captain Goodman, an Assistant Adjutant-General to Chalmers, was sent to the Union troops with a flag of truce.

Yet, while Chalmers was preparing for the surrender, a train arrived that changed the course of the battle. The 13th U.S. Regulars and Union General William Tecumseh Sherman was by chance aboard the train, though this was unknown to General Chalmers. The train originally passed the depot and likely would have continued its journey to Corinth, Mississippi, yet Sherman was informed that a battle was in progress. Sherman sent two men, the Colonels Anthony and Dayton to meet Captain Goodman. He instructed Anthony and Dayton to "keep [Goodman] in conversation as long as possible" so that he may have time to prepare for the battle. Sherman had few men and no artillery and wanted to keep this a secret from the enemy. Sherman ordered the train to back up to the depot. He then ordered a wire to be sent to Memphis and Germantown for Union reinforcements to come immediately (had the the wires been cut to the west of Collierville, this message could not have been sent, making it unlikely that reinforcments would have arrived). Captain Goodman was sent back to the Confederate lines without a surrender and the battle was again resumed, this time with the Union train as an added target. Sherman's soldiers set fire to all the houses near the battle so that the Southern troops would be unable to hide.

The train was finally captured by the 7th Tennessee, and was set on fire using the Union's good uniforms for kindling. Yet, the train burned very slowly enabling the Northern soldiers to regain control. In an account given by Albert Henry Dashiell Perkins, a soldier of the the 7th Tennessee, he and his fellows troops boarded the train and "proceeded to make [them]selves at home." Perkins and his comrades especially enjoyed the food on the train before coming to the car housing the enemies horses. Perkins mounted the first horse that he came to and rode away just before the fire reached the train car. Among the horses that Perkins and his fellow soldiers captured was Sherman’s favorite horse, Dolly.

Around 3:00 in the afternoon, Corse's Division, the Union reinforcements, arrived from Memphis. General Chalmers realized that the attack planned on the rear of the fort was not going to happen. The 3rd Mississippi had succeeded in attacking the camp and wagons of the 7th Illinois but were not able to proceed further. With the addition of Corse's Division and the lack of a rear attack, Chalmers decided the battle could not be won by his troops. After nearly five hours of fighting, Chalmers ordered his men to retreat back to Mississippi.

**The Unknown Soldiers**
During the Union occupation of Collierville, the Northern troops set up a hospital for their wounded men in a home located on North Rowlett Street near Center Street. The dead soldiers were buried behind the hospital, many of them anonymously. Records indicate that there were approximately 100 graves at the hospital. The graves remained until the early 1900's, when many of the bodies were exhumed and reinterred at the Mississippi Valley National Cemetery (now Memphis National Cemetery). Elizabeth Parr tells in //The History of Collierville// about two unknown soldiers who were moved to the National Cemetery. The bodies were not exhumed until 1905. The soldiers only identification was a button bearing the letters "MD" for the state of Maryland.

**The Battle on November 3, 1863**
Besides the Battle of Collierville, the Town was the home of several other skirmishes. Another major battle occurred on November 3, 1863, less than a month after the battle involving Sherman. Again, the railroad was the target of the action.

Less than a day after the Battle of Collierville, Sherman continued his trip by railroad to Corinth, Mississippi. General Chalmers received orders to "harass" the Union troops and destroy the railroad behind Sherman. On November 2nd, scouts reported to Chalmers that only one regiment, the 7th Illinois Cavalry, was defending the fort at Collierville. According to the scouts, all other regiments had been relocated. Upon hearing this news, Chalmers decided to attack Collierville and claim the railroad again. On the morning of November 3rd, Chalmers approached Collierville with Colonel W.F. Slemons (2nd Arkansas Cavalry) and Lieutenant-Colonel Robert McCullough (2nd Missouri Cavalry). Yet, Colonel Hatch, the commanding officer of the fort, had been warned of Chalmers approach. He ordered his troops to strengthen the pickets and stockades, while he traveled from Germantown with the 6th Illinois and 1st and 2nd Iowa Cavalries for reinforcement. Chalmers and his men arrived at the fort as planned, but discovered upon the first fire, that the fort was much better protected than he had anticipated. Chalmers called for a retreat and once again ordered his men back to Mississippi.

**Famous Generals in Collierville**
General William Techumseh Sherman was not the only famous general to visit Collierville during the Civil War. Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest also traveled through the Town. In his memoirs General Grant records a visit with Collierville citizen, Josiah DeLoach. On June 23rd 1862, General Grant was traveling through Collierville to Memphis. Around noon, Grant saw “a very comfortable-looking gentleman” seated on the front porch of a home located in what is now the Baptist Hospital area. Grant asked the gentleman for a glass of water, and was invited to come in. "De Loche," as Grant spells the name, was “very congenial and communicate" (sic) and a Union sympathizer. While Grant was visiting with DeLoach, a neighbor named Dr. Smith also came to visit. However, Smith was faithful to the Confederacy and “backed off the porch as if something had hit him" after being introduced to Grant. Shortly after Smith's visit Mrs. DeLoach invited Grant to stay for dinner, yet Mr. DeLoach did not seem to want Grant to stay. General Grant declined the invitation and mounted his horse to leave. Nearly two miles past the DeLoach home, Grant found his men resting in the shade and joined them for several hours before continuing to Memphis. Several days after this event, DeLoach visited Grant to apologize for his seemingly abrupt manners. He explained that he was aware that Confederate Colonel William Jackson of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry was in the area and feared that Dr. Smith would inform him of Grant’s whereabouts. For this reason DeLoach did not press Grant to accept his wife's dinner invitation.

Grant later learned that Jackson did learn of his location and had tried to pursue him. Colonel Jackson had heard that Grant was at the DeLoach home, and quickly headed that direction with his men. After stopping at a junction in the road to inquire about Grant, he learned that the Northern General had passed through just 45 minutes before. Jackson did not feel he could catch up with Grant and ended his pursuit. Yet, if Jackson would have continued he would have found Grant resting with his men not even a mile away. Grant was told of this event by one of Jackson’s escaped prisoners who learned of it from soldiers.

In December 1863, General Forrest and several thousand troops marched from Jackson Tennessee to La Fayette, now Rossville. Forrest and his men then turned to the west and traveled toward Collierville. As they marched, the troops would occasionally halt and drive the enemy soldiers from their positions. Forrest and his men finally stopped to rest in the woods about one mile from Collierville. Though the Northern soldiers at Collierville were greatly shaken by Forrest's appearance, the General and his troops left and marched south toward Mississippi. It seemed as if Forrest had put on the show just to annoy the Union troops. Several years after the war had ended it was reported that while his men were resting, Forrest paid a visit to his friend and Collierville resident, Captain Harrison Irby. Forrest told Irby that the troops were planning to capture the fort at Collierville, but the plans had to be cancelled when General Chalmers and his men were unable to arrive due to uncrossable streams.

**Wigfall Grays**
The Wigfall Grays were the proud unit of men from Collierville who served their country during the Civil War. Collierville’s patriotism was called to action on April 15, 1861 when a Texas senator named Louis Wigfall gave such a moving speech to the town that the men immediately formed a unit of volunteers. Senator Wigfall left Washington, D.C. upon President Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops to fight in war. Wigfall rode the Memphis-Charleston Railroad toward his home in Texas. He stopped in each town along the route to rally the citizens, imploring them to protect their homes and fight for the Southern cause. Local lore holds that Senator Wigfall made a speech in Collierville. The residents were motivated by his eloquence. At a time when the population of Collierville was only 500, 80 men, between the ages of 18-35, volunteered for service. They named the unit the Wigfall Grays after their inspiration and the color of the Confederate uniforms.

The Grays drilled on the lawn of The Methodist Church, located at the corner of State Line Road (Poplar Avenue) and Main Street, while the ladies of Collierville sewed uniforms inside. On May 11, 1861 the Grays received orders to report to Germantown by May 15. Realizing that the uniforms would not be completed in time, the ladies made the decision to sew on Sunday to finish the uniforms in time. During this time period it was considered sinful to do any type of work on Sundays. Such a scandalous decision is a testimony to the determination of the ladies and to the importance they felt the work held.

The Grays were sworn into the Tennessee Army on May 15, 1861 and into Confederate service the following August 17th. They were in Company C of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry Regiment. The Grays fought in many major battles of the War including Shiloh, Chickamauga, Jonesboro, Missionary Ridge. In 1864 the Fourth fought from Chattanooga to Atlanta to delay the Union forces so that better defense could be built for Atlanta. Despite the losses they experienced in these battles, the Grays reenlisted on April 25, 1862 for two more years.

The Grays earned a reputation for being an excellent unit of soldiers. Merrit Brown of the Grays received the Medal of Honor after the battle at Murfreesboro. The Fourth was also the first unit to reenlist with no time limit. This action inspired many others to do so. When General Hood ordered a retreat from Tennessee into North Carolina, he asked that the best troops be loaned to General Forrest and the 4th, including the Grays, were identified as the best. This would be the last action for the Grays. By this time there were only 20 of the original men left. Company C had a total of 111 recruits over the course of the war. 16 were killed in the battle. 17 died of wounds, 16 were discharged for wounds or illness, 15 were missing, 12 had been transferred to other units, and 5 joined Union forces after capture rather than go to prison. Only 34 soldiers were left on the roll at the end of the war.

The Grays returned home to a very different Collierville then the one they had left. Nearly all the buildings had been demolished. They were distressed to hear of the military actions in Collierville but were unaware of the extent of the damages because they were fighting in another theater of the war. Yet the men of the community worked together to rebuild their Town and were influential in creating the place that Collierville has become today.


 * The Women of Collierville**

Women were extremely important to the war effort at home. Besides diligently sewing uniforms for the Wigfall Gray’s, the ladies also served as nurses to the wounded soldiers. In her book, //The History of Collierville//, Elizabeth Parr relates the account given by Mrs. J.K. Waddy of the ladies nursing soldiers after the Battle of Shiloh. The soldiers were brought to Collierville by train and left at the Waddy home and the Methodist church. Mrs. Waddy stated that:

“We ladies’ went right to work to care for them. When the train arrived, some were lying on flat cars…The ladies came with blankets and sheets and materials for bandages, some even bought their table linens to make into bandages. Many wounded lay on pallets…we ladies’ did the caring for a more severely wounded soldier sometimes” (Parr 11).

Ms. Parr continues to state that she does not recall Mrs. Waddy ever mentioning a doctor when telling stories about nursing wounded soldiers. It is likely that no doctor was present and the ladies were caring for the men alone. Collierville can also claim a spy among its ranks of notable female citizens. Susan Biggs was a resident who served the Confederacy as a spy. Biggs frequently traveled to Mississippi through the Union lines. She would wear several petticoats to conceal the supplies and medicine she carried to the Southern troops. At one time Susan was nearly arrested. A citizen warned her that a Union soldier had been inquiring about where Susan lived. She escaped by hiding under blankets in the bottom of her family’s buggy. She was then safely taken to relatives in Mississippi. When the Northern officers arrived at her home they were told she was visiting relatives and it was unknown when she would be returning. Susan also kindly nursed a Confederate soldier wounded at the Battle of Collierville. The soldier is buried in Magnolia Cemetery.

In the book //Collierville Tennessee Her People and Neighbors//, Mrs. Clarene Russell tells of two women from Collierville that were reportedly taken prisoner by the Union. A women with the last name of Strickland was imprisoned for refusing to tell northern scouts information on the movements of the Confederate soldiers in the area. She was released after several weeks. The second account tells of a young lady with the surname of Talley, who was imprisoned at Irving Block, on the corner of Second and Court Street in Memphis. Miss Talley was caught by Northern soldiers after purchasing material to make a uniform for her fiancé. She was imprisoned for not disclosing the name of the merchant who sold her the material. Miss Talley was eventually transferred to the Alton, Illinois Prison where she died, never revealing the merchant’s name.


 * Reconstruction**

Collierville was fortunate to have a fruitful reconstruction period after the war’s end. The Town, and much of the state of Tennessee, was spared many of the hardships the other southern states faced due to Tennessee’s hesitancy to leave the Union. Tennessee was the second to last state to join the Confederacy on May 7, 1861. The state also quickly rejoined the Union when the war was over, reentering on July 24, 1866. Because of their cautious departure and swift reentrance, Tennessee (and thus Collierville) was able to avoid much of the degradation suffered by many other Confederate states. At the war’s end, few buildings were left standing in Collierville. Collierville’s citizens were anxious to resettle after the war. The residents quickly set about reorganizing local businesses, schools and churches. On February 17, 1870, Collierville was reincorporated with James Abington as mayor. Interestingly, Collierville holds the longest incorporation in Shelby County. Though an older city, Memphis lost their charter in 1878 following the Yellow Fever epidemic. By 1872, less than a decade after the war demolished the small town, the //Memphis business Directory of Memphis, Tennessee, and Other towns// described Collierville as:

“A flourishing little town, pleasantly situated on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad in the eastern part of Shelby County. During the late war the town was entirely destroyed… but has risen from her ashes to become a progressive community. There are two colleges and two churches one Methodist and one Christian. It has a neat public square, upon which no expense has been spared to enhance its beauty. The shipment of cotton averages from eight to twelve thousand bales yearly. The population for the town is about 700” (Russell 115).

It is an amazing credit to the early residents of Collierville that so much could be accomplished in such a short time frame. Perhaps the most influential land purchase of this period occurred in 1866 when Harrison Irby and Virginius Leake expressed interest in land on the south side of the current Mulberry street. This land was farther west then the pre-war settlement of Collierville that had been located in the Poplar and Mount Pleasant area. Yet, Irby’s lot quickly became a popular location with neighboring lots being frequently purchased. As fate would have it, land was bought on the southeast and southwest sides of the Irby claim, eventually forming a square with the depot and railroad tracks on the south. By 1868 many deeds of sale in the area were specifying the lot in between the Irby claim and the depot, located on today’s Center Street, as “a parcel of land given as a public square.” As a result of Irby’s purchase the heart of Collierville was relocated, and the charming Town Square Park was born!

Collierville’s square has many unique features. Having railroad tracks complete the south side of the square, rather than businesses, is an unusual trait in town squares of the time period. Also unique to the square is its development around a park, rather than an official building such as the county courthouse. During a personal interview with Mr. Jack Werne, author of the //Wigfall Grays//, Werne theorized that the fort was located at the site of Town Square Park, and the town was rebuilt at this location to erase the terrible memories of the battle and Union occupation. The creative founding fathers of Collierville turned it into a park to be enjoyed for the generations to come.

Indeed, Town Square Park is very special to Collierville residents. Over the years the park has been the home of events such as the Cheese Carnival, Fair on the Square, the Watermelon Festival, the farmer’s market, and religious revivals. In 1872, the park became home to a deer and several peacocks. A bandstand was built in 1876, and many concerts were held there, including a performance by W.C. Handy, the infamous blues musician. Sadly, the bandstand was destroyed by a tornado in 1955. However, in 1967, a charming gazebo was built to replace the bandstand. The gazebo remains in the park today.


 * The Civil War Preservation in Collierville Today**

The Town of Collierville has a rich heritage, of which its citizens are extremely proud. Many efforts are currently being made to preserve the Town history, especially the Civil War. Collierville is a participant in the Civil War Trails national program that promotes tourism in areas rich with Civil War history. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group for men who are descendants of Confederate Veterans, have named the local camp The Wigfall Grays in honor of Collierville's unit of soldiers. The Wigfall Grays are responsible for placing the historical placards on the square. Collierville also holds semi-annual battle reneactments and living history tours, in which the public may tour a soldier camp or hear the battle retold by the Town's citizens. Collierville has several extension plans for future preservation. Collierville received a grant to fund further research to discover the location of the fort and depot.

After the Grays returned to Collierville from the war, the citizens worked together to rebuild Collierville into a thriving community. Yet Collierville would face another devastating challenge in the summer of 1878 when stricken with the Yellow Fever epidemic.

Next Chapter: Yellow Fever Strikes Collierville

**A special thank you to Mrs. Clarene Russell and Ms. Elizabeth Parr for their assistance in this project, and the wealth of research and knowledge they have shared.**
Compiled by Kimberly Liles Ison


 * Figure Sources:**
 * 1** "General James R. Chalmers." //Chalmers-Miscellaneous//. [|http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chalmers/Misc/index.html]February 14, 2010
 * 2** "General William Tecumseh Sherman." //Photograph of General Sherman.//  February 14, 2010
 * 3** "Albert Dashiel Perkins." "Carrying the Rebel Colors Into the Thick of Battle," //The Commercial Appeal//, July 25, 1976, p. G7
 * 4** "Colonel Edward Hatch" //Edward Hatch//  March 24, 2010.
 * 5**"General Ulysses Simpson Grant." //From This Day In History.// 
 * 6**"The home of Josiah Deloach." Clarene Russell Personal Collection. //Collierville: A Place Called Home//, The Contemporary Club, Collierville, Tennessee, 1999, p. 38
 * 7**"Colonel William Hicks Jackson." //William Hicks Jackson.//  April 6, 2010.
 * 8**"General Nathan Bedford Forrest." //Nathan Bedford Forrest//  March 24, 2010.
 * 9** "Wigfall Grays timeline." Kimberly Liles Ison. January 24, 2010.
 * 10** "The grave of the Unknown Soldier in Magnolia Cemetery." Kimberly Liles Ison. March 8, 2010.
 * 11** "Irving Block prison." //Nathan Bedford Forrest Tennessee Raid.//  December 13, 2010.
 * 12** "James Abington: Collierville's first mayor." //Collierville, Tennessee Her People and Neighbors//. The Collierville Cahmber of commerce. Collierville, Tennessee, 1995 p. 284.
 * 13** "The bandstand once located in Confederate Park," //Collierville: A Place Called Home//, The Contemporary Club, Collierville, Tennessee, 1999, p. 10.
 * 14** "The gazebo located in Confederate Park today." //Collierville: A Place Called Home//, The Contemporary Club, Collierville, Tennessee, 1999, p. 11.
 * 15** "Yellow Fever." //Yellow Fever Epidemics//.  April 6, 2010.