Confederate Camp Trousdale, Tennessee

I'm still doing research on the 3rd Tennessee Infantry.

Because of the sickness plaguing Camp Cheatham near Springfiele, Tennessee, the 3rd was transferred to Camp Trousdale east of Nashville in Portland, Sumner County. The camp was in operation from June 2nd to November when it was abandoned due to Union victories in middle Tennessee. It was three miles south of the intersection of Highway 109 and US-31 West.

It was previously a station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and close to Nashville offering a good site for the training of raw recruits. During its operation, it was also used as a staging area for Confederate operations along the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

Like Camp Cheatham, disease was a common problem. The 3rd Tennessee moved here to get away from disease July 16, 1861.

Later, a military hispotal was constructed at the fort.

Tennessee units that trained here: 7th, 11th, 18th, 20th, 24th, 32nd, 41st and 44th Infantry and the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Battalions.

Sickness wracked both Union and Confederate camps during the war, primarily since this was the first time most men had been far from home and they came into contact with diseases for which they had no built-up immunity.

The 3rd Tennessee. --Old B-Runner

3rd Tennessee Deaths at Camp Douglas in Chicago

Conditions experienced at Chicago's Camp Douglas were horrible to say the least. During the seven months of incarceration there in 1862, seventeen died.

1. John M. Bass-- March 11
2. Blooming Birdwell-- Sept. 27
3. D. B. Boswell-- March 7
4. M.P. Branch
5. William P. Burton-- May 1
6. A.E. Cardwell-- Sept. 4
7. John W. Childers
8. Yancey Meredith Griggs-- March 26
9. Richard F. Harwell-- May 13
10. Hiram Helmick-- March 27
11. C.E. Hubble March 16
12. T.C. Hubble (perhaps these two were brothers or related?)
13. E.J. Pateet-- June
14. Levi W. Ross Be
15. J.D. Rutledge-- April 16
16. W.A. Scott-- June
17. James M. Waldrop-- March 26

In addition, William D. Suttle died at the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina in 1865.

Things weren't all that great at Camp Cheatham either. In June 1861, eight died while there. And, it was a Confederate camp.

The Story of a Regiment. --Old B-Runner

Confederate Camp Cheatham

I'd never heard of this camp before, but had driven through Springfield, Tennessee, on US-41 on my way to visit my nephew and his family in White House.

The site was located at 4452 Carter Road and it was a Confederate induction camp erected in April 1861. Named in honor of Confederate General Benjamin F. Cheatham and wasn't even used for a year as it was abandoned after the fall of Fort Donelson in February 1862.

Federal troops later dismantled it and used it to build their own garrison in Springfield. The camp was six miles outside of the city.

Waymarking.com had a post on it,saying that Camp Cheatham was located at the junction of Main Street and US-41 in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. Cheatham was the first camp commander. Units that trained there were the 3rd Tennessee, 11th Tennessee, 42nd Tennessee, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry which was organized elsewhere.

I also saw that there might have been another Camp Cheatham elsewhere as the 1st Tennessee trained at one in Adams, Tennessee Robertson County).

On July 31, 1861, the 3rd Tennessee was at Camp Cheatham with 885 men present armed with percussion muskets. It was also reported that the unit was suffering from much sickness, especially measles. Several deaths were recorded there.

The 3rd later moved to Camp Trousdale where it was accepted into Confederate service.

I'll Have to Check the Place Out the Next Time I'm There. --Old B-R'er

Soldiering During the War

The last several blog entries on the 3rd Tennessee gave several insights on being a soldier during the war.

Imagine soldiers today electing their officers?

Regiments generally had around a 1000 men with ten companies of 100 men each. Companies were commanded by a captain. Regiments were commanded by a colonel.

However, regiments and companies were generally not at full strength due to sickness and death. As the war continued, regimental strengths dropped accordingly.

In some cases, new recruits were used to fill the ranks, but often regiments were folded or consolidated with other regiments.

If you were captured, you might get lucky and get paroled at which time you returned to your side, but legally could not soldier again until you were exchanged. Things got rough on Confederate prisons in the last year of the war when the Union stopped exchanging prisoners, one reason Southern prisons gained such a bad reputation.

Off to be a Soldier. --Old B-Runner

3rd Tennessee Infantry-- Part 3

At the reorganization, Calvin Henry Walker was elected colonel. Company H, formerly Co. G, was commanded by Captain D.G. Alexander and had one J.B. McCanless as 1st lieutenant, evidently when he went from the enlisted to officer ranks. With recruits, the company stood at 101 rank and file.

The regiment was involved in the Vicksburg campaign, but was not in the city when it surrendered. After the fall of Atlanta, the regiment went with General Hood on his tennessee campaign, arriving too late, fortunately, for the disasterous Battle of Franklin.

They later were detached to Gen. Forrest's command at Murfreesboro and were not at the Battle of Nashville. Rear guard duty was their lot in the retreat to Alabama.

According to a December 21, 1864, report the 3rd and 18th Tennessee were consolidated with a total of 17 men present.

This remnant went with what was left of the Army of the Tennessee to North Carolina where they were again merged into the 4th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry on April 9, 1865 and they surrendered with General Johnston on April 26th. McCanless and the others were paroled iat Greensboro, NC on May 1, 1865.

The Decline and Fall of the Confederacy. --Old B-Runner

3rd Tennessee Infantry-- Part 2

Camp Cheatham was located near Springfield, Tennessee.

On February 8, 1862, the regiment, numbering 750 men, was at Fort Donelson, Tennessee and was captured with 13 killed and 56 wounded.

The officers were sent to Fort Warren, Massachusetts, and Camp Chase in Ohio. NCOs and enlisted were booked for a steamboat trip to Camp Douglas in Chicago, including Jerome McCanless and the rooster Jake.

This would mean he was not an officer when captured at Fort Donelson.

A few of the 3rd escaped the confines, but the rest suffered through a Chicago winter with insufficient food and clothing. At least twelve died at the camp while others died on the northward journey.

They were paroled September 23, 1862.

Sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi, they were no longer prisoners, but couldn't rejoin the Confederate Army until they were exchanged, which happened November 10th.

They reorganized in Jackson, Mississippi with 607 present.

Colonel John C. Brown, their former commander, was now a brigadier general and called away to Bragg's Army at Chattanooga.

Parole Me. Exchange Me. --Old B-R'er

3rd Tennessee Infantry-- Part 1

Last week, I wrote about the rooster, Jake Donelson, who accompanied his company in this regiment and was captured at Fort Donelson, spent 7 months at Camp Douglas in Chicago as a "prisoner" before being "exchanged" and living out his days in Tennessee before dying in 1864 when he was given military honors.

I did some more research on this regiment, especially since at least some of its men were sent to Camp Douglas, the name of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp I belong to. From 3rd Tennessee RootsWeb.com.

At least a dozen members died during their incarceration at this prison camp.

They were organized under a sugar maple tree at Lynnville Station in Giles County, Tennessee.

Company H was commanded by Captain George W. Jones from Culleoka in Maury County. John Calvin Brown of Pulaski was elected colonel of the regiment.

They received their training at Camp Cheatham near Springfield, Tennessee.

More to Come. --Old B-R'er