Book Description

Excerpt from The First Tennessee Regiment, United States Volunteers Crittenden and the slaughter of the crew of the ill-fated Virginius, and to put an end to the starving of noncombating Cuban women and children: but over and above all surged the resolution to punish Spain for the insult offered to the stars and stripes on February 15, 1898. Then there was obliterated the imaginary line between North and South: sons of the Lost Cause and of the Union were actuated by the same high patriotism, and it could then be truthfully sung: "There is a cry that rises and swells on every breeze - No laggards on the shore and no laggards on the seas; From homes of Lee and Lincoln the patriot souls are seen - Thank God! the land's united, the old flag waves serene" And Tennessee? As had been her course since her admission into the Union in 1796, she showed by her enthusiasm her indorsement of the sentiment - "Our country, may she aways be right: but - our country, right or wrong!' All the States promised their quota of troops, but even as early as April 20, this telegram was sent to the papers from Washington, proving once more Tennessee's right to be called the Volunteer State: Washington, April 20. - All day to-day letters and telegrams have been pouring in upon Secretary of War Alger from prominent citizens of Tennessee, offering their services in the event of war. Similar telegrams have been received by the Tennessee delegation, which were duly forwarded to the war department. So far more offers have been received from Tennessee than from any other State in the Union. Under the first call for volunteers Tennessee's quota was to be three regiments of infantry. The officers of the First were: Colonel - Wm. Crawford Smith. Lieutenant Colonel - Gracey Childers. Majors - Albert B. Bayless, B. Frank Cheatham, and John G. Maguire. Major and Surgeon - Richard A. Barr. Captain and Assistant Surgeon - R. M. Kirby-Smith and Percy Jones First Lieutenant and Adjutant - James K. Polk. First Lieutenant and Quartermaster - Andrew J. Duncan. Captain and Chaplain - Lewis J. Leland. The field officers of the Second were: Colonel - Kellar Anderson. Lieutenant Colonel - Thomas E. Patterson. Majors - Frank H. Deffrey, Mark A. Walker, and George W. Seay. Those of the Third were: Colonel - James P. Fyffe. Lieutenant Colonel - Daniel M. Coffman. Majors - William Brown, James W. Meeks, and Edwin C. Ramage. Under the second call a fourth regiment was organized, with the following field officers: Colonel - George LeRoy Brown. Lieutenant Colonel - Harvey H. Hannah. Majors - William C. Tatom, William O. Vertrees, and J. Crum Epier. Two of the regiments - the Second and Third - were discharged before they saw active service in the field, and the Fourth was quartered awhile in Cuba, then discharged. While they were not permitted to take part in any of the battles between this country and Spain, or between our forces and the Filipinos, the soldiers were ready to fight like Tennesseans, and would have reflected glory on American arms. The First Tennessee Regiment was the earliest organized, the companies constituting it being Company A, Nashville: Company B, Columbia; Company C, Nashville: Company D, Lawrenceburg: Company E, Nashville: Company F, Nashville: Company G, Waverly: Company H, Clarksville: Company I, Big Sandy: Company K, Springfield: and Companies L and M to be recruited from Nashville. On April 23 the National State Guard was ordered out, the order from Adjutant Charles Sykes being addressed to the various commanders throughout the State, and to those of the First Regiment. It was made in anticipation of the President's call. The troops were to rendezvous at Nashville preparatory to being mustered into the service by Lieut. Samuel Seay, of the Fourteenth United .