6th cavalry
The 6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
Garland R. Lively
26 July 2004
The
Regimental organization began at Bethel, McNairy County, in August, 1862.
Lieutenant
Colonel Fielding Jackson Hurst was placed in command of the
regiment. Fielding Jackson Hurst was born in 1818, the
son of Elijah Hurst,
and
moved to the McNairy County area in the 1830's. Before the War he made his
living
as a surveyor, farmer and slaveholder. He voted against secession, as
did
four of his brothers. The other sibling, David, went against the tide and
supported
the Southern Confederacy. Fielding
Hurst came from a region known
as
"The Hurst Nation"; a land
settled by members of the Hurst family and
their
related lines from Bethel Springs in McNairy County to Chickasaw State
Park in
Chester and Hardeman Counties. Fielding Jackson was the first cousin
of
William Squire Hurst who was married to Johanna Baker and appears to
have
been in Fielding Hurst's regiment which was originally known as the
1st
West Tennesse Cavalry Regiment.
Governor
Harris led Tennessee and her Provisional Army into the Confederacy,
Union
forces invaded Tennessee and pushed the Confederates steadily southward.
The
state Legislature was relocated Memphis. Andrew Johnson became military
governor
of the occupied state, and the Union loyalist rushed to form
regiments.
Five companies of the 6th Tennessee Union Cavalry were formed
out of
the "Hurst Nation," and Fielding Hurst, accompanied by his two negro
servants,
Lloyd and Sam, assumed command on 14 August 1862. Lieutenant
Colonels
of the regiment included, William K. M. Breckenridge, William J.
Smith,
and Orlando H. Shearer. The Majors of
the regiment were William J.
Smith,
Daniel D. Emerson, Stanford L. Warren, Eldridge S. Tidwell, Thomas H.
Boswell,
Robert M. Thompson, Orlando H. Shearer, and Mack J. Leaming.
The
various companies of the regiment were organized as follows:
·
Robert M. Thompson, Barney J. Riggs, Samuel Towls, Co. "A". Organized
at
Bethel,
McNairy County, August 11, 1862.
· Harry
Hodges, Elijah J. Hodges, Co. "B". Organized at Bethel, McNairy
County,
August
25, 1862.
·
Nathan M. D. Kemp, Co. "C". Organized at Bethel, McNairy County,
September
11,
1862.
· Levi
Hurst, James L. W. Boatman, Co. "D". Organized at Bethel, McNairy
County,
September 12, 1862.
·
Elijah Roberts, John L. Poston, Francis A. Smith, Co. "E". Organized
at
Bethel,
McNairy County, September 18, 1862.
· David
J. Dickerson, Co. "F". Organized at Bethel, MeNairy County, September
21,
1862.
These
six companies were mustered into U. S. service at Bolivar and Grand Junction,
Tennessee,
in November, 1862.
·
William Chandler, William C. Webb, Co. "G".
·
Joseph G. Berry, Risden D. DeFord, Co. "H".
These two
companies were mustered in at Bolivar, Tennessee, March 7, 1863,
with
men from Wayne, Hardin, Decatur, and Perry Counties.
·
Orlando H. Shearer, Stanford L. Warren. Co. "I". Organized at
Dresden,
Weakley
County, June 1862.
·
Thomas H. Boswell, Albert Cook, Co. "K". Organized at Dresden,
Weakley
County,
July 1862.
· John
H. Edwards, John W. Moore, Co. "L". Organized at Dresden, Weakley
County,
July 1862.
·
William Carroll Holt, Co. "M". Organized at North Gibson, Tennessee,
August
1862,
with men from Gibson and Weakley Counties.
These
last four companies were mustered in October, 1862, as the 1st West
Tennessee
Infantry and transferred to the 6th Tennessee Cavalry in July, 1863,
as per
order dated 10 June 1863.
William
Jasper Scroggins was living in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, with
his
extended family when the Civil War began.
Two of his bothers, Smith
and
Abner, enlisted in the Confederate Army but William favored the Union
cause. William returned to Bethel, McNairy County,
Tennessee and enlisted
in the
Federal Army. He enlisted in Company C, 1st West Tennessee Cavalry
Regiment.
This unit was later redesignated as Company C, 6th Tennessee
Cavalry
Regiment. Williiam served as a teamster and lost one of his arms
during the
War. He was mustered out of the Federal Army on July 26, 1865
in
Pulaski, Tennessee. Family tradition tells us that due to hard feelings
from
the Civil War and William Jasper's Service in the Yankee Army, the entire
Scroggins
clan would not associate or talk to William Jasper's family. His
brother
Smith Scroggins died as a result of wounds he received during the
war and
there was a lot of animosity against the Federal troops. Supposedly
around
the mid 1870's the family had a reunion on banks of the Mississippi
River
near Jacinto, Tishomingo County, Mississippi and the whole family
made up
and put away hard feelings.
On 10
September 1862, one company was reported, under Colonel Hurst, at the
post of
Jackson, Tennessee. On 3 October 1862,
two companies left Bethel
with
Lieutenant Colonel Michael M. Lawler, as part of a force sent to Corinth,
Mississippi,
when that place was under attack by General Earl Van Dorn.
The
expedition reached Corinth too late to take part in the battle, but
joined
in the pursuit of Van Dorn's forces as far as Ripley, Mississippi,
and
then returned to Corinth on October 12.
When
Brigadier General Mason Brayman took command of the post at Bolivar in
November,
1862, Hurst's 1st West Tennessee Cavalry had about 600 men who
were
most unarmed and poorly equipped. The
regiment had not yet been
mustered
into his command. By 31 December 1862,
Brayman reported that
the 1st
Battalion plus two companies had been mustered, and that at this
time
sufficient men were on hand to complete the 2nd Battalion, and half
of the
3rd. He stated that he had still not been able to secure arms and equipment
for but
a portion of these men.
The
regiment was at Bolivar during November and December, 1862. At the time
of
General Nathan B. Forrest's first raid into West Tennessee, 83 dismounted
men
from the regiment, under Major D. M. Edwards, were sent to Jackson on
December
18, at the time of Forrest's attack upon that place. Other
detachments
were engaged at Trenton and Humboldt, and on January 1, 1863,
with
Forrest as he recrossed the Tennessee River at Clifton.
The
engagement at Jackson occurred during Brigadier General Nathan Bedford
Forrest's
Expedition into West Tennessee, between 11 December 1862, and
1
January 1863. General Forrest intended
to interrupt the rail supply line
to
Major General Ulysses S. Grant's army, campaigning down the Mississippi
Central
Railroad. If he could destroy the Mobile & Ohio Railroad running
south
from Columbus, Kentucky, through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail
or halt
his operations. Forrest's 2,100 man cavalry brigade crossed the Tennessee
River
on December 15-17, heading west.
Major
General Grant ordered a troop concentration at Jackson under Brigadier
General
Jeremiah C. Sullivan and sent a cavalry force out under Colonel
Robert
G. Ingersoll, to confront Forrest. Forrest, however, smashed the
Union
cavalry at Lexington on 18 December 1862. As Forrest continued
his
advance the next day, Sullivan ordered Colonel Adolph Englemann to
take a
small force northeast of Jackson. At Old Salem Cemetery, acting
on the
defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate
mounted
attack and then withdrew a mile closer to town. To Forrest, the
fight
amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold
Jackson's
Union defenders in place while two mounted columns destroyed
railroad
track north and south of the town and returned. This accomplished,
Forrest
withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt. Thus,
although
the Federals had checked a demonstration by a portion of Forrest's
force,
a major accomplishment, other Confederates had fulfilled an element
of the
expedition's mission.
On
January 3, 1863, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, with nine officers and 168
men,
was reported at Bolivar; the rest of the regiment reported with
Brigadier
General Grenville M. Dodge, Commanding District of Corinth.
On
January 31, 1863, the regiment was reported in Colonel John K.
Mizner's
Cavalry Brigade, District of Jackson, and remained in this
brigade
until December 31, 1863. During this time, usually in small
detachments,
it was engaged in numerous skirmishes in West Tennessee.
On
January 26, one such detachment, under Major Emerson, on a scout from
Bolivar
to Ripley, Mississippi, captured Lieutenant Colonel F. M. Stewart,
and
Adjutant F. Stith, of the 22nd Tennessee Infantry CSA, who were on
detached
recruiting service. On May 12, Lieutenant Colonel Breckenridge,
at
Linden, Tennessee, captured Lieutenant Colonel Frierson and about
50
other officers and men from the 27th Tennessee Infantry, CSA. An
expedition
from Bolivar to the Hatchie River, in April, captured
Lieutenant
Colonel J. U. Green, Captain J. H. Hazelwood, and others
from
the 12th (Richardson's) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment C. S. A.
The
regiment was frequently broken down into small detachments which
served
as scouts and conducted small raids
throughout the region. The
regiment
had a notorious reputation and appears to have committed numerous
depredations
against the Confederates. It is
difficult to determine if
many of
these were committed by the regiment or were the result of small
detachments
who were out of control. It is
difficult to separate fact
from
legend, but it is clear that the regiment had a terrible reputation.
The
progression from training to scouting to terrorism was swift, and
only
local legend preserves the names of the smallest hamlets torched
during
Hurst's forays. Eventually, he set out for Purdy, seat of McNairy County,
and
thoroughly Southern in sympathy. While the men paid the price
of
their convictions on the field, the women and children of Purdy paid
their
price in the scorching flame of their homes and places of worship.
"It
was Hurst who played the role of Nero in Purdy, even singing songs
and
praying while the churches were burning."
On
April 16, 1863, Col. E.W. Rice (US) wrote to his commander Maj. Gen.
Oglisly:
"Colonel Hurst's 1st W. Tenn Cavalry (6th Tn US) from Bolivar is
at
Purdy for the purpose of destroying property - has ordered the
furniture
removed from some of the houses and threatens to burn them.
The
colonel passed through line this morning but did not report to my
headquarters,
and I do not know by what authority he destroys the
property."
On 8
June 1863, Colonel Mizner was assigned to the command of the 1st
Cavalry
Division, with Colonel Edward Hatch commanding the 2nd Brigade,
of
which the 6th Tennessee was a member. As part of this brigade, the
regiment
took part in the fighting around Forked Deer and Jackson,
Tennessee
on July 13, with Confederate forces under Biffle, J. A.
Forrest,
Cox and Newsom. As an aftermath to this affair, considerable
looting
took place in Jackson, especially the millinery shop of Mrs.
A. A.
Newman, which was afterwards the subject of acrimonious discussion
between
General Nathan Bedford. Forrest and Federal officials. The
reports
of Lieutenant Colonel W. K. M. Breckenridge, Lieutenant Samuel
Lewis,
and Lieutenant Edward L. Harden, of the 6th Tennessee, which
were
written in September and October, all place the responsibility
for
this on drunken soldiers from the 3rd Michigan Cavalry, and all
stated
they tried to stop the looting. After an intense investigation,
Colonel
Hurst was found guilty of theft and charged $5,139.25 as
recompense
to Mrs. Newman.
Following
the incident at Jackson, Hurst moved out into rural West Tennessee.
In
August, Hurst surrounded and captured Captain Wharton and a portion of
his Confederate
force on the road from Purdy to Pocohontas. All of the
Confederate
prisoners were murdered. Ms. Emma Inman Williams writes in
Historic
Madison that they were buried as mile markers along that road.
Mr. G.
Tiliman Stewart, Henderson County historian, remarked that only
the
bodies were buried. The heads were
placed on mile markers already
existing
on the road from Purdy to Lexington. In any event, the murders
must
have been horrible as various civilians wrote Confederate authorities
about
the matter. The letter of Mr. D. M. Wisdom reached Jefferson Davis
himself.
On 20
August 1863, in a reorganization of the Cavalry Corps, Colonel Hatch
was
given command of the division, and Colonel L. F. McCrillis of the 2nd
Brigade.
The 6th regiment was reported at Grand
Junction, Tennessee on
2
October 1863 with 600 men. Skirmishes were reported at Holly Springs,
Mississippi
on 7 September 1863; at Salem October 7; and on October 12,
the
brigade took part in an engagement with Confederate forces under
Brigadier
General J. R. Chalmers and Colonel R. V. Richardson at Byhalia
and
Wyatt, Mississippi. In this engagement, Captain Palmer, C. S. A. and
the
Reneau battery were captured.
On 26
October 1863, the regiment was ordered to move to Jackson, Tennessee,
and
occupy the country around Jackson and south of Trenton. The order
specified:
"No plundering or pillage by men or officers will be allowed."
On 31
October 1863, Brigadier General Benjamin H. Grierson relieved Hatch
as
commander of the division, with McCrillis still in command of the 2nd
Brigade
of which the 6th Tennessee was a member.
On 7
November 1863, Brigadier General John D. Stevenson, at Corinth,
advised
Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, Commanding the XVI Army Corps:
"Hurst,
it seems, abandoned his portion of the road against express orders
from
General Dodge. I cannot learn where his command is." Hurlbut replied:
"Try
and find out where Hurst is and get him under your command. Both the
6th and
7th Tennessee have behaved badly." On 8 November 1863, General
Stevenson
reported he had ordered Hurst's Regiment to Grand Junction,
with
four companies to occupy Saulsbury. "I have sent a special and
imperative
order to Hurst who is at Camden, near Purdy."
On 1
December 1863, one battalion of the regiment was reported at
Middleton;
on 29 December 1863, the regiment was at Pocahontas, marching
for
Saulsbury. It remained at Saulsbury until 17 January 1864, when it
was
ordered to report to the commanding officer at Memphis for duty. The
order
specified: "You will scour the country well on your route, and
reach
Memphis as soon as possible after February 1. You will gather all
serviceable
stock on your route, giving receipts payable by the Federal
Government
after the war, and subsist your command upon the country."
On the
same date, 17 January 1864, Brigadier General William Sooy Smith
wrote
General U. S. Grant: "We have given Colonel Hurst a roving commission
with
his regiment to 'grub up' West Tennessee. I think he will reduce
that district
to order."
During
Hurst's ride through west Tennessee his regiment was involved in
additional
atrocities. On 1 January 1864, a
deformed and helpless cripple
named
Ree Doroughty who was only 16 years old was arrested and brutally
murdered. Hurst captured several men of Wilson's 21st
and Newsome's 18th
Cavalries
(CS). On 5 February 1864 , Private. Martin of the 21st Cavalry
Regiment
was shot to death, and burial denied for four days. From there
the 6th
Tennessee returned to Jackson, Tennessee, arriving there on 7
February
1864.
In a
report dated 21 March 1864, Lieutenant Colonel W. M. Reed, C. S. A.
charged:
"About the 7th of February 1864, Colonel Hurst, with his command,
visited
Jackson, Tennessee, and announced publicly that in consequence
of the
assessment by the Federal authorities of Memphis, Tennessee,
against
himself and his command of damages to the amount of $5139.25 in
favor
of Mrs. Newman, he was here to demand this amount at once of the
citizens,
or on refusal or failure promptly to pay the said amount into
his
hands that he would burn the town. Upon application of some of the
citizens,
and the guaranty of 20 of them, five days were granted in
which
to raise the sum required, to be paid in greenbacks or Kentucky
funds.
On the 12th of February 1864, the entire amount, $5139.25, was
paid
into the hands of Colonel Fielding Hurst by the citizens of Jackson,
Tennessee."
The report continued with the charge that Hurst's command
had
been guilty of the murder of several Confederates who had been taken
prisoner,
and that Hurst and his men were not entitled to treatment as
prisoners
of war. General Nathan Bedford Forrest sent the report to the
Federal
authorities at Memphis, with a demand for the surrender of the
guilty
parties to the Confederate authorities, and along with it, a
further
notice, to be delivered if the demand for the surrender of
the
guilty parties was refused, stating: "I therefore declare the
aforesaid
Fielding Hurst and the officers and men of his command,
outlaws,
and not entitled to be treated as prisoners of war falling
into
the hands of the forces of the Confederate States."
After
departing Jackson, Hurst headed back towards the "Hurst Nation,"
While
enroute Hurst captured three men of Newsome's 18th Cavalry: Lt.
Joseph
Stewart, Pvt. John Wilson, and Pvt. Samuel Osborn. Three days
later
their bodies were found in Haywood County shot to death. The month
of
March repeated the same agenda of burning and murder. On March 8, Pvt.
Alex Vale
of Co. H., Newsome's 18th, was arrested and shot in Madison
County.
On 9 March 1864 Hurst captured and brutally murdered Lieutenant
Willis
Dodds. Dodds was an officer in Co. F.,
Newsome's 18th Cavalry,
and had
returned home on furlough. Most of the men in the 18th were
either
relatives or neighbors and young Willis Dodds was bright, brave
and a
favorite among the troops. A dispatch of Gen. Forrest reads "Pvt.
Silas
Hodges . . . states that he saw the body of Lt. Dodds very soon
after
his murder, and that it was horribly mutilated, the face having
been
skinned, the nose cut off, the under jaw disjointed, the privates
cut
off, and the body otherwise barbarously lacerated and most wantonly
injured,
and that his death was brought about by the most inhuman process
of
torture."
This
was at the time of General Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry raid, with
Brigadier
General Abraham Buford's Division, through West Tennessee to
Paducah,
Kentucky. On 10 March 1864, Forrest wrote to Col. T. M. Jack, Asst.
Adj. Gen.,
that "Hurst is still reported in West Tennessee, and a portion
of
Jackson and Brownsville have been burned by his men." The travesty
compounded
by Hurst, largely ignored by Federal Command as something
between
Southerners of divergent local politics, had now gained the
attention
of Bedford Forrest. When asked to report by command on the
conditions
in West Tennessee, Forrest replied "From Tupelo to Purdy,
the
country has been laid waste, and unless some effort is made by
the
Mobile & Ohio RR or the Government, the people are bound to
suffer
for food. They have been, by the enemy and roving bands of
tories,
stripped of everything."
General
Forrest also asked that higher command deliver his reports on
the atrocities
committed by Hurst to the newspapers . . . "such conduct
should
be made known to the world." Forrest also sent correspondence to
Gen.
Hurlbut and to Gen. Buckland on the conclusion of his investigation
of the
Hurst murders. He also requested that Hurst and the men responsible
for
these various crimes be turned over to Confederate authorities for
criminal
prosecution. Forrest had the following
dispatch delivered
throughout
the surrounding territory:
"Whereas
it has come to the knowledge of the Maj. Gen. commanding that
Col.
Fielding Hurst . . .has been guilty of wanton extortion upon the
citizens
of Jackson, Tennessee and other places guilty of depridation
upon
private property, guilty of house burnings, guilty of murders,
both of
citizens and soldiers of the Confederate States . . . I therefore
declare
. . . (them) outlaws, and not entitled to be treated as prisoners
of war
. . . ."
General
Forrest continued to pursue the renegade regiment but was never
able to
personally capture Hurst, although men of his command still skirmished
with
the 6th Tennessee. In connection with
this campaign, the 6th
Tennessee
was ordered to Estenaula, and was attacked and defeated on
29
March 1864, between Somerville and Bolivar by Confederate forces
under
Colonel J. J. Neely. As reported by Major P. Jones Yorke, of the
1st
Cavalry Brigade "He lost all his trains, Captain Moore killed, the
surgeon
captured, and a great many men killed, wounded and missing."
On 20
April 1864, Gen. James R. Chalmers wrote that Col Neely had ". . .
drove
Hurst hatless into Memphis, leaving in our hands all his wagons,
ambulances,
papers, and his mistresses, both black and white."
On
April 13, 1864, 200 men from the 6th Tennessee, with equipment, but
no horses,
were ordered to Helena, Arkansas, for temporary duty, with
orders
to report to Brigadier General N. B. Buford. On May 6, General
Buford
reported that four companies, 177 men, dismounted, under Lieutenant
Francis
Tucker, had arrived. He described them as "a raw, undisciplined,
detachment."
On June 12, 1864 they were ordered back to Memphis.
In May
1864, Hurst's men looted and burned Commerce, Mississippi. Again
Forrest
petitioned Federal Command for the surrender of Hurst, this time,
in June
to Maj. Gen. CC Washburn in Memphis, that Hurst ". . . deliberately
took
out and killed seven Confederate soldiers, one of whom they left to
die
after cutting off his tongue, punching out his eyes, splitting his
mouth
on each side to his ears and cutting off his privates."
The 6th
Regiment was apparently in Memphis when at 4:00 am on the morning
of
21August 1864, Major General. Nathan Bedford Forrest made a daring
raid on
Union held Memphis, Tennessee. Forrest
did not attempt to capture
the
city, occupied by 6,000 Federal troops. The raid had three objectives:
to
capture three Union generals posted there; to release Southern prisoners
from
Irving Block Prison; and to cause the recall of Union forces from
Northern
Mississippi. Striking northwestward for Memphis with 2,000
cavalry,
Forrest lost about a quarter of his strength because of
exhausted
horses. Surprise was essential. Taking advantage of a thick
dawn
fog and claiming to be a Union patrol returning with prisoners,
the
Confederates eliminated the sentries. Galloping through the streets
and
exchanging shots with other Union troops, the raiders split to pursue
separate
missions. One Union general was not at his quarters and another
escaped
to Fort Pickering dressed in his night-shirt. The attack on Irving
Block
Prison also failed when Union troops stalled the main body at the
State
Female College. After two hours, Forrest decided to withdraw,
cutting
telegraph wires, taking 500 prisoners and large quantities of
supplies,
including many horses. Although Forrest failed in Memphis,
his
raid influenced Union forces to return there, from northern Mississippi,
and
provide additional protection.
No
further reports were found on the regiment until August 31, 1864, when
the 6th
Tennessee Cavalry, dismounted, was reported as "unassigned," in
the
District of West Tennessee. On October 5, 1864, four companies of
the 6th
Tennessee reported to Brigadier General James D. Morgan, at Shoal
Creek,
Alabama. General Morgan had been sent up from the XIV Corps
in
Georgia at the time of Forrest's raid into Middle Tennessee, beginning
with
the capture of Athens, Alabama on September 24. No further mention
was
made of these companies, but presumably they returned to their regiment,
when
General Morgan returned to his corps.
The 6th
Regiment continued to be reported as dismounted and unassigned
until
24 November 1864, when it was ordered to Nashville, where it was
placed
in the 2nd Brigade of the newly organized 7th Cavalry Division.
The
Union reinforcements at Nashville were placed there to offset General
John
Bell Hood's Confederate forces who had invaded Tennessee. In a last
desperate
attempt to force Major. General William T. Sherman's army out of
Georgia,
Gen. John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee north toward
Nashville
in November 1864. Although he suffered terrible losses at
Franklin
on 30 November 1864, he continued toward Nashville.
By the
next day, the various elements of Major General George H. Thomas's
Union
army had reached Nashville. Hood reached the outskirts of Nashville
on 2
December 1864, occupied positions on a line of hills parallel to
those
of the Union and began erecting fieldworks. Union Army Engineer,
Brig. Gen.
James St. Clair Morton, had overseen the construction of
sophisticated
fortifications at Nashville in 1862-63, strengthened by
others,
which would soon see use.
From
the 1st through the 14th of November
1864, General Thomas made
preparations
for the Battle of Nashville during which he intended to
destroy
Hood's army. On the night of 14
December 1864, Thomas informed
Major
General Henry W. Halleck, acting as Major General Ulysses S. Grants
chief
of staff, that he would attack the next day. Thomas planned to strike
both of
Hood's flanks in simultaneous assaults.. Before daylight on the
15
December 1864, the first of the Union troops, led by Major. General
James
Steedman, set out to hit the Confederate right. The attack was made
and the
Union forces held down one Confederate corps there for the rest
of the
day. The attack on the Confederate left flank did not begin until
after
noon when a charge commenced on Montgomery Hill. With this classic
charge's
success, attacks on other parts of the Confederate left
commenced,
all eventually successful. By this time it was dark and
fighting
stopped for the day.
Although
battered and with a much smaller battle line, General Hood was
still
confident. He established a main line of resistance along the base
of a
ridge about two miles south of the former location, throwing up new
works
and fortifying Shy's and Overton's hills on their flanks. The Union
IV Army
Corps marched out to within 250 yards, in some places, of Hood's
new
line and began constructing fieldworks. During the rest of the
morning,
other Union troops moved out toward the new Confederate line
and
took up positions opposite it. The Union attack began against Hood's
strong
right flank on Overton's Hill. The same brigade that had taken
Montgomery
Hill the day before received the nod for the charge up Overton's Hill.
This
charge, although gallantly conducted, failed, but other troops
(Maj.
Gen. A.J. Smith's 'Israelites' ) successfully assaulted Shy's Hill
in
their fronts.
Seeing the
success along the line, other Union troops charged up Overton's
Hill
and took it. Hood's Confederate Army of Tennessee fled the area.
Thomas
had left one escape route open but the Union army set off in pursuit.
For ten
days, the pursuit continued until the beaten and battered Army of
Tennessee
recrossed the Tennessee River. Hood's army was stalled at Columbia,
beaten
at Franklin, and routed at Nashville. Hood retreated to Tupelo and
resigned
his command
On 13
December 1864 Brevet Major General Emory Upton was assigned to
the
command of the 4th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the
Mississippi,
and on December 14, the 6th Tennessee was listed as one of
the
regiments belonging to this division. General Upton was ordered to
proceed
to Louisville, St. Louis, and Memphis, for the purpose of
collecting
the men, horses and transportation of his division, and bringing
it to
Nashville, via Louisville. General Upton, at the time, was at Cairo,
Illinois.
On 22
December 1864, instructions were sent to him at Memphis: "Take with
you to
Louisville the 3rd and 4th Iowa, 10th and 12th Missouri, the 6th
Tennessee,
and the 19th Pennsylvania." This reference to the 6th Tennessee
must
have been meant to apply to some elements of the regiment left behind
at
Memphis when the regiment was ordered to Nashville in November.
At any
rate, on 6 January 1865, the 6th Tennessee was transferred from the
4th
Division to the 6th Division, with orders to report to Brigadier General
R. W.
Johnson, who placed it in the 1st Brigade of his division. The
regiment,
still dismounted, was reported at Edgefleld, Tennessee, through
March
1865, and in April, under Colonel William J. Smith, was doing garrison
duty at
Pulaski. On 21 May 1865, still at Pulaski, Captain Deford, 6th
Tennessee
Cavalry, was ordered to Shoal Creek, Alabama "for the purpose
of
hunting down numerous outlaws who infest that country."
The
regiment was mustered out of service at Pulaski Tennessee on 26 July 1865.
Meanwhile,
Federal commanders such as Col. Waring at White Station, were
worried
about unexplained ordnance accounts and Hurst's refusal to discuss
them.
Col. E. W. Rice (US) was still concerned about the money extorted in
Jackson,
Tennessee "which he (Hurst) has not turned over to the government,
but has
it deposited for his own private benefit." In August, one Federal
commander
wrote headquarters demanding that "if Hurst is under my command
that he
be arrested and confined."
With pressure
mounting from both Union and Confederate authorities, Hurst
submitted
his resignation "due to bad health" on 10 December 1864. No
action
was taken, although the resignation was received by higher command
on 8
January 1865.
In May
1865, Maj. Gen. Edward Hatch wrote to Headquarters, Fifth Cavalry
Div.
(US) "I learn a Mr. Chandler, calling himself a Captain, a
brother-in-law
of Fielding Hurst, is levying contributions upon the
citizens
of McNairy Co., Tennessee, amounting to $50,000. Hurst has
already
taken about $100,000 out of West Tennessee in blackmail when Col.
of the
6th Tennessee . . . ." With the War over, Gen. Rosecrans granted
Hurst a
discharge through Special Order #8 on July 26, 1865, effectively
backdated
to his resignation.
Hurst
never paid for his crimes during the War.
Afterwards, having sided
with
scalawags and carpetbaggers, Fielding was appointed Circuit Judge by
Governor
Brownlow over Purdy, Lexington and various other spots. Brownlow
found Hurst
the perfect purveyor of Reconstruction justice. His tenure as
12th
Circuit Judge would fill another saga of vindictiveness, leaving those
of
outside the "Hurst Nation" with bitter memories even in present
times.
Colonel
Hurst did not have a good reputation in the area of the south in
which
he served during the Civil War as a Union officer. In some communities,
he is
still disliked even today. It's been said that a marker was created
for
him, but has constantly been removed and thrown aside. The author of
the
following poem is unknown, but probably expresses the feelings people
had of
him at one time.
THAT
DEMON CALLED HURST
Despair
for the children
Who lie
now in bed
The
widow, the aged
The
soldier who bled.
For out
of the "Nation"
Comes a
sickness and curse
God
save us all
From
the demon called Hurst.
Like
vandals of old
Through
our land they did ride
With
Hunger and Death
Always
close by their side.
Came
Terror, his herald
But the
wailing come first.....
We know
he is coming,
That demon
called Hurst.
