That's great poetry, Linda Lee. Robert E. Lee was saddened by how poor and uneducated were some of the Confederate soldiers in his army. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he took the Presidency of Washington and Lee University, to provide an education for the young men of the South. Many Southerners sent their children to the University because of the reputation of Robert E. Lee.

 

Rob

"Many Southerners sent their children to the University because of the reputation of Robert E. Lee."

 

........my Father In Law for one. Jreb

That's great, Jreb. What did your father in law study?

 

Rob

......Engineering and Mathematics. He was an old school Southern Gentleman and one Hell of a nice guy. He was the Grandson of a Confederate Soldier, his Uncle was Governor of Tennessee and his Grandfather on his father side was Mayor of Nashville. His Grandfather's plantation was in Marshall County Tennessee on the Duck River near Chapel Hill. Its now Henry Horton State Park. Jreb

That's quite a resume your father in law has got. He's a grandson of a Confederate soldier? What regiment was he in and what campaigns did he serve in?

 

I'm reading about Fremantle's diary at the moment. He was a British visitor and was at Gettysburg. He talked about the famed rebel yell.

 

He said if there was an explosion among the Federals, a Confederate yell would immediately follow. The Southern troops, when charging or to express their delight, always yell in a manner peculiar to themslves. The Confederate officers that the rebel yell has a particular merit, and always produces a salutary and useful effect on their adversaries. A corps is often spoken of as a "good yelling regiment."  

 

Rob 

......his Grandfather John B Wilhoite was in the 11th Tennessee Cavalry Co C. under Gen Forrest and Wheeler. The 11th began under Gen Forrest, then after Chattanooga under Wheeler during the East Tennessee campaign, then back under Gen Forrest for the remainder of the war. John's brother Jacob died during the Chattanooga campaign and was the first to be buried in the family cemetery at Chapel Hill. Where ever the Army of Tennesse was is pretty well where he was. Jreb

JOHN B. WILHOITE, farmer and stock dealer, is a son of William and Anna A. (Warner) Wilhoite, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The father was a miller, running successfully an old-style mill during his life.  He was a democrat, an attendant and his wife a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.  He died at the age of thirty.  In 1835 the mother came to this county, and soon afterward married James Robinson, of of Capt. Robinson.  Her second husband died three years later.  She died in 1876.  Our subject was born December 23, 1830, in Bedford County, and did not have the best advantages for an education, but made the most of what he did have.  After leaving the common schools he completed his education in Chapel Hill Academy.  At the age of fifteen he took charge of the home farm, and a year later planned and superintended the construction of the grist and saw-mill at Fishing Ford, which he has run ever since.  He is also the constructor of the dam furnishing water to the mills.  In 1862 he volunteered in the Confederate Army in Capt. Miller's company of Eleventh Tennessee Cavalry, and after three years of faithful service returned home.  In 1869 he wedded Lizzie T. Bullock, of Williamson County, born in 1846; the fruits of this union were three children, all living-Jacob, Mary and
Addie.  Mr. Wilhoite is a Democrat, a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.  Mrs. Wilhoite is a member of the Methodist Church.  Our subject has considerable of this world's goods, and has lived in Marshall County for forty-six years.

 

........pictures of the old Wilhoite Mill. Jreb

11th (HOLMAN'S) TENNESSEE
CAVALRY REGIMENT

Organized February 25, 1863 by consolidation of Holman's Battalion, part of Douglass's Battalion, plus other companies; consolidated with 10th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, February, 1865; paroled as 10th/11th Consolidated at Gainesville, Alabama, May, 1865.

    This regiment was formed by order of Brigadier General N. B. Forrest over the bitter protests of the company officers of both Holman's and Douglass's Battalions because they were not allowed to elect their own field officers. General Forrest appointed James H. Edmondson as colonel and Daniel W. Holman as lieutenant colonel; so far as is known there never was a major, although Captain Jacob T. Martin was reported to be acting major in 1864. At the time the regiment was formed Major Douglass, of Douglass's Battalion was a prisoner of war, and Major Holman, of Holman's Battalion, had been seriously wounded at Dover, Tennessee on February 3, 1863. Colonel Edmondson had previously been a Captain of the 154th Senior Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and resigned in July, 1863. By that time Lieutenant Colonel Holman had recovered from his wounds, and assumed command and later became colonel of the regiment.

CAPTAINS-Charles McDonald, Co. "A". Originally Co. "K", 3rd, Forrest's Old Regiment. (q.v)

M. M. Swaim, Co. "B". Originally Co. "A", Holman's Battalion (q.v )

T. C. H. Miller, Co. "C". An independent company which served for a time with Douglass's Battalion, but was not a member of that organization. Organized October, 1862 at Chapel Hill, Marshall County.

John Lytle, Co. "D". Formerly in Douglass's Battalion (q.v.).

Andrew R. Gordon, Co. "E". Originally Co. "C", Holman's Battalion (q.v.).

Phil T. Allin, Co. "F". A consolidation of Captain W. H. Forrest's Company which was organized at Memphis September 1, 1861 and Captain James H. Edmondson's Company "B", 154th Senior Tennessee Infantry Regiment.

Jacob T. Martin, Co. "G". Originally Co. "B", Holman's Battalion (q.v.).

Chatham Coffee, Co. "H". Formerly in Douglass' Battalion (q.v.).

Thomas F. Perkins, Co. "I" (also called "D"). Formerly in Douglass's Battalion.

James W. Rivers, Co. "K". Originally Co. "D", Holman's Battalion (q.v)

O. F. Bruster, Z Bramblett, Co. "L". Originally in Douglass's Battalion (q.v.).

    About May 1, 1863 Co. "A" was returned to Balch's (later McDonald's) Battalion of Forrest's Old Regiment as Co. "D". On July 1, 1863 Co. "F" was divided again, and assigned to McDonald's Battalion of Forrest's Old Regiment as Captain P. T. Allin's 2nd Co. "A", and Captain W. H. Forrest's 3rd Co.

    Captain Miller, of Co. "C", stated his company was raised in October, 1862 as part of a battalion which Major Alex Wynne had been authorized to organize; it reported to General Forrest at Murfreesboro, but was not attached to any command. After it became apparent that Wynne was not going to get his battalion it served temporarily with Douglass's Battalion. When Forrest made his raid into West Tennessee in December, 1862, he left the company with General Joseph Wheeler, and it remained under his command until February 1863, when it was ordered to report to Forrest at Columbia, where this regiment was organized. His report was dated near Atlanta, June 30, 1864 and concluded with these remarks: "This company has had no rest, but has been constantly on the front in Middle Tennessee, around Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, in East Tennessee, and in front of General Johnston's army at Dalton, and since they left there." The last company report found was from Co. "E" which on September 18, 1864 was stationed near Lovejoy Station, Georgia.

    Immediately after organization the regiment was with General Forrest in the capture of Thompson's Station, March 5, and of Brent-wood, March 25. On April 19, it was ordered to Florence, Alabama, and reported to Colonel Roddey, near Leighton, Alabama, and on April 29 moved to intercept Colonel Streight's advance to Rome, Georgia, and was engaged April 30, at Day's Gap.

    It then returned to Middle Tennessee, was with Forrest in the retreat of General Bragg's Army to Chattanooga in July, and then moved to Post Oak Springs, near Kingston, on August 27, 1863. During this time it was in a brigade composed of Starnes', Holman's, Cox's, Dibrell's and Biffle's Regiments, commanded at various times by Starnes, Cox, and Dibrell.

    At the Battle of Chickamauga, these same regiments, plus Shaw's Battalion, Allison's Squadron, and Huggins' Battery were in Dibrell's Brigade. Following this battle, the regiment was placed in Major General Joseph Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Brigadier General John A. Wharton's Division, Brigadier General H. B. Davidson's Brigade, composed of Carter's, Ashby's, McLemore's, Wheeler's, and Holman's Regiments, and moved into East Tennessee as part of the command of Lieutenant General James Longstreet, where it remained until April 1864, when it rejoined the Army of Tennessee near Dalton, Georgia. During this time, on December 31, 1863 the brigade was reported as Biffle's Brigade, in Brigadier General F. C. Armstrong's Division, of Major General W. T. Martin's Cavalry Corps.

    On April 30, 1864, Colonel George G. Dibrell was in command of the brigade and the brigade was placed in Brigadier General John H. Kelly's Division of Wheeler's Corps. As part of this Division the regiment participated in the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, and was still reported in the same brigade and division on September 20, 1864, at Lovejoy Station, Georgia. However, Colonel Holman, in Lindsley's Annals, stated that the regiment was detached from the brigade for special service in Atlanta, on June 13, and did not serve with the brigade again.

    On July 11, 1864, General Joseph E. Johnston sent Captain Coffee with a part of his company to Middle Tennessee on a scout. He was cut off from rejoining the regiment in Georgia, and withdrew through East Tennessee by way of Saltville, Virginia, where he took part in the fight at that place on October 2, 1864. By the time he got back to Georgia, the rest of the regiment had moved into Tennessee with General Hood's Army, and Coffee and his men joined Dibrell's Brigade for the campaign through the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, and were then assigned as part of President Jefferson Davis's Escort, and surrendered at Washington, Georgia, May 11, 1865.

    The rest of the regiment joined General Forrest's forces as he moved into Tennessee about the middle of November to support General Hood's invasion and served in Brigadier General J. R. Chalmers' Division. Federal reports during this period refer to Colonel Miller's 11th Tennessee Cavalry, but there is nothing to show that Miller was ever commissioned as a colonel.

    Following the Battles of Franklin and Nashville, and the retreat from Tennessee, Forrest's forces returned to Mississippi, and the 11th Regiment remained in his command until the end of the war. On February 13, 1865, Forrest ordered the consolidation of all the Tennessee troops into six regiments, under Brigadier General W. H. Jackson as division commander. As a result of the order, the 10th (DeMoss's) and 11th (Holman's) regiments were consolidated and placed in Brigadier General Tyree H. Bell's Brigade. On May 3, 1865, just prior to the surrender at Gainesville, Alabama, Bell's Brigade was composed of the l0th/11th Consolidated, Newman's and Russell's Consolidated, Barteau's and Wilson's Consolidated, and Biffle's Regiments.

 

That's a fascinating history of John Wilhiote, Jreb. I note he served under the celebrated General Nathan Forrest. There would have been plenty of action under Forrest. I enjoy reading about soldiers and then seeing how they relate to the battles in the Civil war campaigns.

 

Rob  

.......if you like to read first hand accounts from Soldiers who were in the thick of things, I'd like to recommend, " They Rode With Forrest And Wheeler", by John E Fisher. It deals with five brothers, who were all in the Confederate Cavalry, the 11th Tenn and the 4th Tenn. Never read a book quiet like it!!! When you read it, you can almost smell the smoke. I like Gen Forrest, but don't have much use for Wheeler. Gen Forrest took care of his men and they respected him and it goes with out saying, they were willing to die for him and the cause. Not true in the case of Wheeler, he had a lot of empty saddles for no good reason and the Troopers knew it. Jreb

I will check out that book about Forrest and Wheeler's men, Jreb. The generals had to earn the respect of their soldiers. Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart were admired by their men because often led the charge at the front lines and they died there too.A few victories helped as well. Forrest was in that mould too.Maybe Wheeler was  a general who felt the cause was more important than the individual, similar to Grant.

 

Rob

.......Gen Wheeler was a by the book type of general. Much to the Yankee's horror, Gen Forrest never read the "book". If you want to take a look at "They Rode With Forrest and Wheeler"before you order it, its on Google Print. Just type in the name and it should pull it up. Jreb

 

 

......here it is.

Thanks Jreb, I've had a brief look at Fisher's book. It appears quite a fascinating read.Probably someone else who never read by the book was Stonewall Jackson.He was an early riser, if he didn't get up earlier. His rivals complained about his attacks at unreasonable hours. For Jackson, if the opportunity was there, he would march all night to get the advantage.

 

Rob