Private J. Clay March Company A "Rock City Guards" Transferred to Engineers 1863 TN DIV SCV

Captain James Park Hanner Company D "Williamson Grays" Resigned December 1861 TN DIV SCV

Private Joseph McBride Halfacre Company B "Rock City Guards" Transferred to Signal Corps 1863, killed November 1864 WCHF	Private George E. Wharton Company B "Rock City Guards" Killed at Perryville Military Annals of Tennessee
Private Robert Cheatham Company C "Rock City Guards" Surrendered 1865 TSLA	Private Henry L. C. Ramage Company C "Rock City Guards" Killed at Chickamauga Military Annals of Tennessee
Private Joseph Campbell Company C "Rock City Guards" Killed at Chickamauga Military Annals of Tennessee	Private Henry Howe Cook Company D "Williamson Grays" Discharged 1861, later became one of the "Immortal 600" TSLA
Private John M. Thompson (Later 1st Corporal) Company D "Williamson Grays" Mortally Wounded at Perryville WCHF	Private William H. Hardison Company H "Maury Grays" Discharged February 1862 TSLA
Private A.O.P. Nicholson (Right) and Unidentified Friend Company H "Maury Grays" Nicholson was discharged December 1861 TN DIV SCV	Corporal William A. Graham and Joseph Bynum Company H "Maury Grays" Graham is only known NCO photographed with chevrons Graham was killed by a sharpshooter in July 1864 Bynum was killed in West Virginia 1861 From "Company Aytch"
Privates in Company H "Maury Grays"   James was later Killed at Kennesaw Mountain Edmon and Alexander surrendered in 1865 TN DIV SCV

Private George S. Nichols Company D "Williamson Grays" Picture taken at Chattanooga, TN in October 1862 Joined Cavalry in 1864 TSLA

Private James Neely Company D "Williamson Grays" Picture taken at Staunton, VA in January 1862 Leg amputated at Perryville TN DIV SCV

Other incidents would help rid the regiment of uniformity.  At Shelbyville in June 27, 1863, 4th Corporal William M. Pollard of Company D remembers:

"Co. D remained at the depot to load trains, until the enemy began firing on our picket in the edge of town.  We were then ordered to leave.  The boys then at once began to break open boxes stored in the depot, and loaded themselves with clothing, and abundance of good things, that had been sent to various ones from their homes."

By 1863 it would be safe to say the regiment no longer matched. 

1864 Uniform

Below is a picture of Sam Watkins, writer of Company Aytch.  There is some debate of when this photograph was taken.  It is definitely not an early war photograph of since the uniform does not match any other picture of an early 1st Tennessee Soldier.  In his memoirs Chaplin Charles Quintard mentions buying cloth for the 1st Tennessee to make uniforms, but he does not state what type of clothing he made with the fabric.  It could be possible that Sam's jacket is a Quintard jacket.  It could also be a uniform the Maury Grays wore before they were issued their Camp Cheatham uniforms. It may even be a post war photograph.  

The other photograph is of Marcus Toney and some other soldiers upon their release from Elmira Prison in 1865 (Toney is in the center with the light colored jacket).  This photograph is often mistaken for early war volunteers but if you look closely at the photograph you can see their clothing is mismatched and has been worn out from service. Toney says in his book:

"..were at the depot when an enterprising photographer set up his camera and said, 'Boys, you should take a picture to take home show the folks what you looked like the day you got out of prison.  I will only charge you a quarter.'  I told him to fire way.  I was the only one of the 28 that had a quarter, so I took the center of the group.  I was clad in a light hat and linen duster."

Toney had transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia in 1864 so his clothing was mostly picked up when he went east or whatever he could scrounge while in prison.

Private Samuel R. Watkins Company H "Maury Grays" Captured 1865 From Company Aytch

Private Marcus Toney (Center) wearing the light duster Company B " Rock City Guards" Joined Army of Northern Virginia 1864 captured at Spotsylvania TSLA and Privations of a Private

By the end of 1863 most of the cities and towns the 1st Tennessee called home were under Federal control.  There is a quote from a soldier in the 14th Michigan, that once was in garrison around Franklin, TN, stating that he had run into a company of Confederates at Kennesaw Mountain who hailed from Franklin and told him they had not received a letter from home in over a year.  The 14th Michigan did not attack the 1st Tennessee, but it shows the soldiers of the 1st Tennessee probably had not heard from their loved ones either.  In 1864 Sam Watkins states that Joe Johnston issued new uniforms to every soldier he could.  Whether or not most of the men wore the new uniforms is another story.  By 1864 the Confederates in the West had become so independent in their manner of dress and its very likely uniformity never did entirely come back to the regiment.  On July 5,1863, Private William M. Moss of Company D was captured with another unnamed companion.  He later described his clothing the day he was captured:

"I had on a pair of cotton pants, an old shirt, a pair of old shoes, no socks, and an old coon skin cap with a tail behind.  The other fellow was dressed about like me.  The Federals had all gathered around, and were looking at us like a show."

I would not say this was normal for the regiment (especially the coon skin cap).  The cotton pants and no jacket was perhaps due to the Georgia summer heat.  This clothing would have been cooler then wearing wool.

Most likely a jean wool Columbus or Atlanta Depot jacket would have been the most common jacket for the regiment at the time.  From October 1 to December 5, 1864, the Quartermaster issued the following items to the 1st/27th Tennessee:

The regiment was issued 118 Jackets, 195 pairs of pants, 162 pairs of shoes.  The 1st/27th Tennessee combined following the Atlanta campaign and into the Tennessee campaign numbered at most 200 men.  This would mean that almost the entire regiment received a new pair of pants and shoes before the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.  Half of them would have received a new jacket before the battle too.  Even late in the war the 1st Tennessee would have made a presentable appearance.

Equipment

The photograph of Thompson and Cook (above) are the only two where the soldier's belt can be seen.  In Thompson's photograph, the belt has 'U' shaped roller buckle.  Cook seems to have on a thicker belt but the buckle is not visible.  Private March, pictured above, has a regular black leather belt with a rectangular brass belt buckle.  All three belts appear a little different so the regiment may have had a variety of belts and buckles.  Both Thompson and Cook are equipped with a knife as well.  As Marcus Toney of Company B said in his quote (above) most of the regiment was carrying knives.  It would appear the regiment wore knapsacks  throughout the war.  Sam Watkins of Company H at various times in his book mentions himself or someone else in his company carrying or having a knapsack and the requisition records below by Company D seem to back it up.

Lieutenant John L. House took over for Company D as soon as they left Camp Cheatham because Captain Hanner fell ill.  Hanner would never return to the company.  He resigned in December 1861 and House was promoted to Captain.  Immediately following his promotion his war record contains several Quartermaster Special Requests for the beginning winter of 1862:

Date	Qty.	Station	Item
January 31, 1862	9	Romney, VA	Shoes
(Clothing)	4		Pants
	3		Overcoats
	2		Shirts
	13		Drawers
February 14, 1862	9	Winchester, VA	Tents
(Equipment)	2		Wall Tents
	6		Haversacks
	5		Camp Kettles
(Clothing)	11		Shirts
March 18, 1862	20	Chattanooga, TN	Shoes
(Clothing)	4		Pairs of Drawers
	2		Pants
March 20, 1862	6	Chattanooga, TN	Cartridge Boxes
(Equipment)	6		Waist Belts
	6		Cap Boxes
	6		Bayonet Scabbards
March 22, 1862	14	Chattanooga, TN	Pants
(Clothing)	1		Shoes
March 28, 1862	8	Chattanooga, TN	Wall Tent
(Equipment)	2		Shelter? Halves
April 17, 1862	1	Corinth, MS	Pants
(Clothing)	25		Shoes

On Captain Oscar F. Atkeison's war record is included several orders for items made during the summer of 1862 after he took over the company after House's promotion to Major:

Date	Qty.	Station	Item
May 11, 1862	1	Tupelo, MS	Jacket
(Clothing)	1		Pair of Shoes
	10		Shirts
	2		Pairs of Socks
(Equipment)	16		Knapsacks
	2		Haversacks
	8		Camp Kettles
	11		Canteens
	11		Tin Cups
July 7, 1862	5	Jackson, MS	Shoes
	12		Pairs of Drawers
August 29, 1862	35	Kentucky	Shoes
	7		Pairs of Drawers
	6		Shirts
September 6, 1862	1	Kentucky	Officer's Sword
September 25, 1862	16	Kentucky	Pairs of Socks
	6		Pairs of Shoes
	2		Pants
	1		Coat
	1		Plain Hat
	1		Shirt

 

Total For 1862

Item	Quantity
Pairs of Shoes	102
Socks	18
Pairs of Drawers	36
Pants	23
Overcoats	3
Jackets/Coats	2
Hats	1
Shirts	30
Wall Tents	10
Tents	9
Shelter Halves	2
Cartridge Box	6
Waist Belt	6
Cap Box	6
Bayonet Scabbard	6
Haversack	8
Canteens	11
Knapsacks	16
Officer's Sword	1
Camp Kettles	13

 

This illustrates how easy it became for the regiment's gear to become inconsistent.  In the course of one year they drew clothing and equipment from four different states.  Most of the items ordered are only basic clothing necessities.  In other words they are ordering things like socks and shoes but not very much in the way of jackets or pants. This would suggest that the regiment could still had access to clothing items from home for this part of the war. 

 

 

Officers

Colonel Hume R. Feilds Surrendered 1865 Courtesy of Ronnie Townes	Lieutenant Colonel John Patterson Killed at Perryville
Captain John F. Wheless Company C "Rock City Guards"  Resigned March 1864 TN DIV SCV	Lieutenant Carey Allen Harris Company D "Williamson Grays"  Resigned in 1862 WCHF

Officers during the civil war were required to supply their own uniforms which accounts for the variety of uniforms you see above.  Both Patterson and Harris have light colored piping around their collar.  Patterson has a star on top of his kepi as well as gold braid.  Patterson's sword looks to be of a Masonic design.  Harris has on what appears to be a dark gray uniform.  His kepi has a blue or black band running around the bottom.  Both Harris and Feild have on pants with a very nice crease.  Wheless wears a black civilian overcoat in his photograph, suggesting it was taken in the winter of 1861/62. 

 

Band

Musician June Tucker on left side and unidentified soldier Deserted December 1864 Courtesy of Ronnie Townes

While it is hard to say, it appears their uniforms are possibly blue.  The  amount of hat brass is extremely noticeable as well.  Both soldiers are wearing boots and the finger strap is visible on the tops of the boots that assist in pulling the boot on your foot .  Both were original members of Company H "Maury Grays."  June Tucker was a bugler for the regiment and is mentioned in Company Aytch on page 10. 

 

Weaponry

On a report by the State of Tennessee in July 1861, it is listed that Colonel George Maney had 944 men with rifle muskets.  This report does not go into any further detail on what model the rifle muskets are.  In the picture of Corporal John Thompson of Company D, he is holding a model 1841 Mississippi Rifle.  There is no sure way to tell if this is his actual rifle or a photographer's prop, but it is probable it belongs to him.

 

Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle

In the book "Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee" by Larry J. Daniel, he quotes a Sergeant in the 1st Tennessee as stating on March 29, 1862, "We have drew the finest arms in the Confederate States, they were made last year, they are Enfields."  Unfortunately, the source of this quote has not been verified, but we do know that the regiment was issued Enfields, probably around this time, and carried them for most of the war.  Sam Watkins of Company H states at Rocky Face Ridge, "Our Enfields crack, keen and sharp; and ha ha ha, look yonder!  The Yankees are running away." 

Model 1853 Enfield Rifle

Some officers in the regiment carried rapid-fire rifles with them.   George Nichols recalls Lieutenant Loving Woldridge of Company D carrying his own rifle at the Battle of Chickamauga:

"At Chickamauga I tried to get him to get behind a tree, but he told me there were too many behind trees now doing no good.  He had a Colt  rifle that shot six times, he emptied his rifle and killed five Yankees, he had no more cartridges, and threw his rifle down and got him a minnie musket.  I picked up his rifle and carried it off the battle field and gave it to him." 

Model 1855 Colt Repeating Rifle

Lieutenant Woldridge probably had an 1855 Colt Repeating Rifle.  Most of these rifles were five shot rifles that were .56 caliber.  There were some produced that were .36 or .44 versions that did have six round cylinders.  This rifle would have available to the south before the war and was a common firearm during the conflict on both sides.  Therefore, ammunition for the rifle would have been available to him.  We have two sources stating Colonel Feild carried a repeating rifle of some kind.  Sam Watkins states in  his original version of "Company Aytch" that in Virginia in 1861 he spotted 25-30 Federals approaching his position.  It had been raining and his rifle misfired due to the powder being wet.  The Federals tried to return fire but their powder was wet also.  That was when Sam said, "Captain Feild [later Colonel] came running up with his seven-shooting rifle."  In his revised edition, he changed "seven-shooting rifle" to "repeating needle gun."  Which leads us to believe someone corrected him on the number of rounds the rifle could fire.  A needle gun is a rifle that fires metallic cartridges using a firing pin or needle.  A second source comes from the Nashville Patriot Newspaper on September 7, 1861 referring to the same incident that Sam Watkins describes:

"A detachment of the 1st Regiment went out yesterday under Maj. Looney.  They found a party of the enemy and Capt. Feild with his Colt's rifle enjoyed the luxury of bringing down three of the scoundrels." 

The newspaper quotes a letter from the 1st Tennessee Regiment dated August 30, 1861.  It is hard to say which source is correct.  The Colt would seem more probable due to the fact of the availability of the weapon and ammunition.  The point of Sam Watkin's story seems to be that Feild's rifle fired because it was a weapon that had metallic cartridges or some sort of design where the powder was not likely to get wet.  The powder in a Colt Repeating Rifle is more likely to get wet then a muzzle-loading rifle would be.  The only repeating rifle that fired seven times during war and used metallic cartridges was the 1860 Spencer Rifle.  Ammunition would have been extremely hard to find for Feild considering that all of it was made in the North.  It is possible Feild had a source for ammunition in the South somewhere.  Regrettably, there is not enough information to point out specifically what rifle he carried. 

There were at least a few 1861 Model Springfields present in the ranks of the 1st Tennessee.  As seen in this story related by a soldier who only acknowledges himself as "Private Rock City Guards" in the Nashville newspaper in 1884.  He writes about his conversion rifle during his memoirs of the Battle of Graysville (Cat's Creek), GA:

"The writer in trying to stop a bullet, found that he could not succeed. The position was exposed - no particle of shelter, a plain, open field, with the enemy under cover of the woods. In the meantime, the order was given to fall back into the woods behind. This was done in reasonably good order. The moon, which had now risen, displayed the glistening bayonets of a still unbroken front. Every wagon was for the present in safety, and the only capture the enemy had made from us was the gun of the writer, and those of several others who had been wounded or killed. Ah, my old gun! I well knew where I got it. It was on another moonlight night, of the 20th of September, 1863, the second day's battle of Chickamauga. It lay inside the Federal works, near their extreme left. It was bright, and perfectly new from the factory. "Bridesburg" was stamped on the lock-plate. It was like a foreign country to me, but I knew it was a suburb of Philadelphia. Though twenty years younger than I now am, I was still too old a soldier to give up a trusted friend, without knowing more of the merits of my new one. So I strung both muskets over my shoulder, and, at the first opportunity, in the firelight of the night, proceeded to examine my new friend. The lock was perfect - bright as a new-coined silver dollar. I drew the rammer, and running it down the barrel, found that it stopped within a foot of the muzzle. I got a ball-screw and drew out ball after ball, with great labor, and found that its previous owner, doubtless a gallant Federal soldier, had simply been snapping caps at us. The job was hopeless. I gave it up, and taking off the barrel of my old musket, made at Springfield, Massachusetts, soon had as fine a weapon as any Confederate possessed. The parts were interchangeable - our arms were rifle muskets. Just as its brightness attracted me then - it now formed (November 26th), 1863, the last object of my solicitude - I "own a kindly debt of old remembrance" for it. Some Federal, perhaps more worthy, may have the same feeling for parts of the same gun. A kind of love for your engine grows with its use.

A good workman comes to like - shall I say love - the machine which seems to share his labor.  It is thus I feel toward the "Bridesburg" musket. I was not a loser, but simply the gainer by its two months use. Long before this I had another gun, which I recollect with a feeling of grim satisfaction. While useful in sending bullets at the battle of Murfreesboro, it did me the service to stop one. The ball passed between the two lower bands, taking off half the stock between them, springing the rammer as it passed between it and the barrel. At many a regimental and brigade inspection, I "fessed out," as the West Point boys say, on that gun. "What's the matter with that gun, sir," would say the inspector. "Shot in battle, sir," would be the answer, and it saved me, for many months, a deal of rubbing and scrubbing. Oledowski, or whatever his name was, the Prussian Inspector of Hardee's corps, passed that gun a dozen times. It was still a serviceable weapon, but Captain Kelly, of the Rock City Guards, just before the battle of Chickamauga, got tired of my usual excuse, and a summary order was issued to turn it over to the quartermaster and get a good one. The privates were at times on a par with their officers, in shrewd devices to escape duty, and their humor at times smacked of Irish flavor. Thus said an inspector to J.W. Branch, or the same company who kept a clean gun, but which needed oiling, "Why do you not grease that gun?" "I can't afford it, sir, I can't grease my throat." Under the highest system of tariff taxation, grease in the Confederacy would have been admitted free. I have endeavored in the foregoing to depict the experiences of a private soldier, in connection with the operations of his regiment and brigade, in A notable battle. I am well aware that from the ranks, the field of observation is extremely limited. It extends only to the front and a few companies or regiments, to the right or left. Generally he finds enough to do in front. "

Model 1862 Bridesburg Springfield Rifle

At the Carnton Museum in Franklin is the five-shot Navy Colt revolver belonging to Sergeant James R. Hughes of Company D (See picture).  Several companies of the regiment were given pistols during their time at Camp Cheatham, most of which were thrown to the side of the road during the march over Warm Springs Mountain, VA.  Also, Marcus Toney mentions in his book that most of the regiment was carrying pistols and revolvers at the beginning of the war.  Many were thrown away during their first hard march over Warm Springs Mountain in Virginia.  It is very likely that many of them still held onto their pistols and some were carried throughout the war.

From these facts we can gain the following:  1) The regimental majority carried Enfield muskets, but there was a sprinkling of rapid-fire and other rifle models amongst the ranks.  2) Officers carrying rifles was fairly common.

Written by Mike Hoover

 

Written Credits

"The Confederate Army 1861-65: Tennessee & North Carolina" by Ron Field

"Memorial to Loving Woldridge" by George S. Nichols (Company D)

"Memoirs of William M. Pollard" by William Pollard (Company D)

"The Memoir and Civil War Diary of Charles Todd Quintard" by Charles Todd Quintard and Sam Davis Elliott (Chaplin of the Regiment)

"Privations of a Private" by Marcus B. Toney (Company B)

"Company Aytch" by Samuel R. Watkins (Company H)

War Records:

Lt. Colonel John L. House (Company D)

Captain Oscar F. Atkeison (Company D)

Picture Credits

Captain James P. Hanner-Tennessee Heroes Gallery

Private J. Clay March-Tennessee Heroes Gallery

Private Joseph M. Halfacre-Courtesy of Rick Warwick, Heritage Foundation

Private George E. Wharton-Military Annals of Tennessee

Private Henry L. C. Ramage-Military Annals of Tennessee

Private Robert Cheatham-Confederate Veteran Magazine

Private Joseph Campbell-Military Annals of Tennessee

Private Henry Howe Cook-Courtesy of Rick Warwick, Heritage Foundation

Private-Courtesy of Rick Warwick, Heritage Foundation

Private William H. Hardison-Tennessee State Library and Archives

Brandon Brothers- Company E's Webpage

Private Nicholson-Company E's Webpage

Corporal William A. Graham and Joseph Bynum-Company Aytch (Revised and Extended Addition)

Private George S. Nichols-Tennessee State Library and Archives

Private James Neely-Tennessee Heroes Gallery

Private June Tucker-David Fraley Carter House

Lt. Colonel Patterson-Company E's webpage

Lt. Harris-Ronnie Townes

Colonel Feild-Ronnie Townes

Captain Wheless-David Fraley Carter House

---

Company D Documents

Home