Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Cherry Mansion was built on a bluff overlooking the Tennessee River in Savannah, Tennessee.  During the Battle of Shiloh, it served as Union Headquarters for General Grant and his staff. General Grant and his staff stayed at Cherry Mansion before and after the Battle of Shiloh.  The story goes that they were eating breakfast on the morning of April 6, 1862, when they heard cannons from Shiloh, seven miles up the river. They boarded a steamboat and traveled to the battle site that would become known as one of the bloodiest battles in American history.  Cherry Mansion is privately owned at this time.

Charleston was settled in 1663.  During Colonial times and before the Civil War, it was a major port and grew wealthy exporting cotton and other goods. Over three hundred and fifty years later, one can still see the wealth in buildings in historic downtown Charleston.   The builders showed off their wealth and cultural background by erecting buildings that have endured earthquakes, hurricanes, and war just outside their front doors. Oh, if these old walls could speak. . . . 

Gravelly Springs is a quiet community now.  They say that during that cold winter of 1865, all the trees were cut and buildings, tents, and stables went on as far as the eye could see.  Here, young U.S. Army Major General Wilson trained 22,000 cavalrymen for the planned spring invasion of Alabama and Georgia.  You can find additional information about this camp in Civil War Tales of the Tennessee Valley by William Lindsey McDonald, in addition to other Civil War history books. I wonder if the troops had time or inclination to see the beauty of these limestone cliffs and water flowing in natural springs, or if they were concentrating on staying warm and finding enough to eat. One hundred and fifty years later, the land has recovered, and there are no visible scars of that terrible time. Gravelly Springs is located on Highway 14 (Waterloo Road) about 16 miles Northwest of Florence, just past the Natchez Trace Parkway intersection.

The Joseph Wheeler home, named Pond Spring, is a historic site in Lawrence County owned by the Alabama Historical Commission.  At one time, the town nearby was called Wheeler and had a post office, but it no longer exists. Joseph Wheeler was born in Georgia, graduated from West Point, and was serving with the United States Dragoons in the New Mexico territory (this is where he got the nickname "Fighting Joe") when the Civil War started.  He resigned from the US army, and joined the Confederacy.  While leading his troops across North Alabama, he met his future wife, Daniella.   After the war, he returned to North Alabama and married Daniella, who happened to own the plantation where they lived and raised their family.   At one time, the plantation included 17,000 acres. He became a planter and lawyer, and served in the US House of Representatives for twenty years.  He later served in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-Amer...

The first time I heard of Corinth (we called it Car-wrinth), it was in connection with an elopement.  It seems Mississippi had marriage laws that didn't require a waiting period, unlike the ones in Tennessee and Alabama.  So if you were drunk, with child, underage,  just plain ignorant, or in a hurry for some other reason, you could go to Corinth, get married, and be home in time to feed the cows and chickens. Corinth is about seventy miles from where we live, and we visit there occasionally.  It is a beautiful little city, with a functioning combination of the old and the new. When it was founded in 1853, the name of the town was Cross-City, because it was the junction for two railroads, the Mobile & Ohio and the Memphis & Charleston.  W. E. Gibson, editor of the town's early newspaper, suggested the name be changed to Corinth, after the Greek city that also served as a crossroads. Because of the railroads...