I recently visited Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Virginia, where, on April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885).
Fresh in my mind during the visit was an old article that Judge Roland Reid of Brownsville, Tennessee, had shared on Facebook several weeks earlier. Robert Thomas Chambers (1843-1921) wrote the article March 6, 1917. Decades later, Reid’s grandmother, Jo Stella Williamson Reid (1896-1993), submitted a clipping of it to the “Brownsville States-Graphic.”
Judge Reid’s grandmother was an aunt of my paternal grandfather, Jesse Lloyd “Bo” Williams (1910-2008). You can read more about Aunt Jo and the Williamson family here.
“Knights of the Forked Deer” Photo credit: Roland Reid
Chambers’ account offers a glimpse into a pivotal moment in the lives of young men from Madison and Haywood counties. In September 1861, they gathered with relatives, friends and sweethearts at Providence Methodist Church in Madison County for a farewell meal before leaving to serve in Company F of the 31st Tennessee Infantry. The regiment was initially commanded by Col. Alsey High Bradford (1822-1906),³ son of Hiram Brandford, Hiram Bradford (1797-1862), one of Haywood County’s early business leaders.
Many of those young men never returned home. Judge Reid and I share several Haywood County ancestors mentioned in the article,
Although soldiers’ names in the article are interesting, the most compelling part of Chambers’ article is the way he pulled back the curtain on one particular moment. He preserved not merely a roster but also the gathering at the church, the farewell meal, the crowded trip to the railroad station and the grief of families watching their sons, brothers and sweethearts leave for war.
Here is a transcription of that article:
Knights of the Forked Deer
March 6, 1917
List of Officers and Members of Stafford’s Military Company Organized at Providence Church, Madison County, Tennessee.
This company was organized on the 19th day of September, 1861. The following named were elected as officers of the Company: Capt. F. E. P. Stafford; 1st Lieut. Dr. A. C. Shaw; 2nd Lieut. Jno. C. Wilson; 3rd Lieut. J. T. Jacocks; 1st Sergt. D. S. Chandler; 2nd Sergt. Joe Chambers; 3rd Sergt. J. C. Paisley; 4th Sergt. R. T. Chambers; 5th Sergt. A. W. Yarnell; 1st Corp. E. B. Freeman; 2nd Corp. F. S. Crutchfield; 3rd Corp. B. F. Drake; 4th Corp. F. Sims.
Privates—J. Anderson, E. Anderson, A. Anderson, I. Arwine, J. H. Baker, J. H. Bell, M. C. Bennett, Wm Bennett, Ben Bissall, J. W. Blackwell, [unclear] Britton, J. S. Brandon, J. H. Branden, A. Brown, Geo. Chalk, Tom Chalk, Aaron Chalk, F. Chambers, R. C. Cowan, R. E. Crutchfield, W. O. Crutchfield, J. T. Curlin, H. Clay, B. W. Dougan, J. O. Duckworth, Jeff Ferguson, W. D. Fletcher, Wm Fortson, W. T. Fortson, T. H. Fortson, Jas Fitzhugh, Wm Garrett, Robt Griggs, W. T. Herbert, W. F. Harris, Jack Humbell, J. W. Ivy, D. H. Jones, Geo. Jones, Wm Moore, W. T. Moore, E. B. McNairn, — McNairn, Wm Newsom, J. J. Overton, W. K. Overton, C. H. Overton, Geo. M. Rowland, Wm Rosser, J. J. Rooks, Jim Ricks, W. J. Shaw, T. A. Shaw, Fletcher Stanley, Wes Stanley, W. A. Stanley, J. A. Stanfield, T. H. Stanfield, Wm Strain, Jno Sullivan, J. B. Tassell, Dr. R. S. Tidwell, R. N. Williams, R. D. Williamson, Rad Wilson, Wm Winford, L. D. Whitaker, J. T. Weatherly, J. H. Yarnell, D. F. Yaney, O. A. Yaney and W. T. Rooks.
After the organization of the company, a bounteous dinner was served for everybody and it seemed like everybody was there; a very large crowd. In the afternoon we went to Jones Station, a very large crowd accompanying us.
Soon the parting hour arrived and it was indeed a sad time—leaving fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, but perhaps the saddest partings were those of sweethearts. We went to Trenton that night and next day, September 20th, we were sworn into the Confederate service, where we continued for three and one half years. Many of the dear boys were left slain on the different battlefields, many died of disease and others maimed for life.
Much could be told of the experience of this company of Madison and Haywood county boys, but unless it should be called for will probably never be told. —R. T. Chambers
Much could be told of the experience of this company of Madison and Haywood county boys, but unless it should be called for will probably never be told. Suffice to say that at the surrender of Gen. Johnston’s army at Greensboro, N.C., April 26, 1865, only the following named members of the company were present, viz: R. D. Williamson, B. W. Dougan, W. J. Shaw, J. C. Paisley, W. D. Fletcher, R. E. Crutchfield, J. J. Rooks, J. B. Tassell, Joe Chambers, R. T. Chambers. Of this number, as far as I know, this writer is the only survivor.
I have given, probably, an imperfect roll of the company, but it is nearly correct. I have given from memory as I have no list with me.
Fifty-five years is quite a long time to remember 85 names and I hope to be pardoned if I have failed to give the name of any member of the old “Knights of Forked Deer.”
R. T. Chambers
Dyer, Tenn., March 6, 1917.
Chambers actually combined two related events in his recollection. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891) agreed to surrender the armies under his command to Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman (1820-1891) on April 26, 1865, at the farm of James and Nancy Bennitt near Durham, North Carolina. The surviving members of the 31st Tennessee Infantry, who had by then been placed into one regiment, were paroled at Greensboro on May 1.
Chambers also listed everyone he could remember who had participated in the formation of Company F. I immediately recognized several names from my own genealogy research.
The 31st Tennessee Infantry
The 31st Tennessee Infantry was formally organized Oct. 12, 1861, at Camp Trenton in Gibson County. Company F consisted primarily of men from Madison County and was commanded at different times by Fountain Eliot Pitts Stafford (1834-1864) and Jonathan Thomas Jacocks (1835-1879).
The regiment moved from Trenton to Camp Price and then to Columbus, Kentucky. It subsequently served at New Madrid, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and Corinth before moving through Mississippi to Chattanooga. It joined Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s (1817-1876) invasion of Kentucky and fought at the Battle of Perryville on Oct. 8, 1862.
The 31st and 33rd Tennessee infantry regiments frequently operated together as a field organization beginning in 1862. During the Confederate Army’s final reorganization April 9, 1865, the 21 surviving members of the 31st became Company G of the 3rd Consolidated Tennessee Infantry.
By the spring of 1865, the surviving soldiers had endured more than three years of combat, disease, hunger, physical exhaustion and the deaths of their comrades.
They soon learned that Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9. President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre five days later, on April 14, and died the following morning.
A few of the photos of unidentified Confederate soldiers in the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs archived by the Library of Congress; Photo credit: Library of Congress
On April 26, Johnston and Sherman signed the final military surrender terms at the Bennitt farm. Johnston’s surrender involved nearly 90,000 Confederate troops and was the largest troop surrender of the Civil War. It was not, however, the war’s final major surrender. Other Confederate commands surrendered during the following weeks.
Only a handful of the Madison and Haywood County men whom Chambers remembered remained with their unit at the end. It has been conservitively estimated that the Civil War ultimately claimed an estimated 750,000 American lives, including soldiers from both sides and civilians. That was approximately 2% of the nation’s population.
Bob and Callie Williamson
Several of the names Chambers listed as survivors connect directly or indirectly to my family tree. Robert Deward “Bob” Williamson (1839-1903), one of the sons of my third great-grandparents Beverly Williamson and Eleanor Harriett Dougan Williamson (1818-1860), was among the Company F soldiers still present at the war’s end. According to a family story recorded by Martha Jones in “A Journey Into Yesteryears,” the war began before Bob could marry his sweetheart, Caledonia “Callie” Stanfield Williamson (1844-1892). Bob and his close friend, William J. “Billy” Shaw, were together in 1861 when the train pulled away from Jones Station and carried the men toward Trenton.
Jones wrote that the two friends fought alongside one another until Bob was severely wounded and fell near Shaw. Believing he was dying, Bob gave Shaw a ring he had been carrying and asked him to deliver it to Callie if Shaw survived the war. Bob recovered, however, and returned to Madison County. When Shaw finally arrived home, he discovered that his friend was alive and had married Callie.⁷
Bob and Callie married Nov. 19, 1865, and had seven children. Bob later operated a general store and served as postmaster in the Providence community. He and Callie are buried in Providence Methodist Church Cemetery.
Other family connections
Pvt. B. W. Dougan was likely Benjamin W. Dougan (1836-1900), a nephew of my third great-grandparents, Beverly and Eleanor Dougan Williamson. I can trace this Dougan family to Pennsylvania during the Colonial period and will share more about that another time.
J. J. Overton, W. K. Overton and C. H. Overton may have belonged to the extended family of Eva Iris Overton Williams (1896-1970), my grandfather’s stepmother. Their absence from Chambers’ list of men present at the end does not necessarily mean they were killed. They could have died, been wounded, become ill, been captured, transferred or otherwise separated from the command.
J. T. Jacocks is Jonathan Thomas Jacocks (1835-1879) who was born July 26, 1835, and was the youngest son of Jonathan Thomas Jacocks (1799-1863) and Margaret Stevenson Clayton Jacocks. He was therefore the younger brother of John Hill Jacocks (1831-1902). In John Hill Jacocks’ 1891 letter I wrote about, he specifically recalled that his “youngest brother Jonathan” survived the war and died Jan. 15, 1879.
Joe and Francis Chambers
[Photo caption]
Second and third from left, Josias “Joe” Chambers and Sarah Joyner Chambers.
Josias “Joe” Chambers (1837-1907), another soldier present near the war’s end, returned to Madison County and married Sarah Joyner Chambers. She was a sister of Mary Elizabeth Joyner Williamson (1862-1898), my second-great-grandmother. Joe’s twin brother, Francis Chambers (1837-1862), was killed at the Battle of Perryville on Oct. 8, 1862. The 31st Tennessee Infantry suffered approximately 100 casualties in that battle. One can only imagine the loss of his twin brother while he survived must have remained with Joe throughout his life.
The shared headstone of twins Josias and Francis Chambers at Providence Methodist Church Cemetery; Photo credit: Cameron Nabors
Today, the two brothers are side by side again, memorialized on a shared headstone in Providence Methodist Church Cemetery.
Robert Thomas Chambers
Robert Thomas Chambers and his third wife, Mary Ella Warmath (1868-1952); Photo credit: G. Reynolds
Robert Thomas Chambers, who preserved this story, was born Oct. 5, 1843, in Madison County. He was 17 years old when Company F entered Confederate service in September 1861.
After the war, Chambers returned to West Tennessee. Family records indicate that he married three times, fathered 15 children, farmed in Gibson County and served as mayor of Dyer. Chambers died May 16, 1921, and was buried in Bobbitt Cemetery in Dyer.
His decision to record his memories 55 years after leaving Providence Church preserved far more than a list of names. He captured a series of painful farewells between friends and loved ones and a group of young men, most of whom would never return home.
For more of my genealogy research, visit rscottwilliams.info.
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