Hertford-Lenoir County NcArchives Biographies.....Caswell, William Richard 1809 - 1862 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Martha M. Marble http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00022.html#0005285 March 12, 2014, 2:56 pm Source: Metro Pulse Author: Metro Pulse William Richard Caswell (1809-1862) William Richard Caswell, great grandson of the first American governor of North Carolina, was the son of Richard W. Caswell and Sarah (Lytle) Caswell of Murfreesboro. After attending Nashville University, he removed to East Tennessee and married Elizabeth Carter Gillespie, desdendant of a prominent family. He served in the Tennessee Militia during the 1830s and later in the Mexican War. A lawyer by profession, he was active in the judicial and political life of Knox County. Here, also, he was a large land and slave holder and an early advocate of the Confederacy. Before Tennessee seceded from the Union, Governor Harris appointed Caswell one of the few Brigadier Generals in the Provisional Army of Tennessee, which by October 29, 1861 became a part of the Confederate Armed Forces. "The Caswell Artillery" became a part of Capt. Hugh L. W. McClung's Tennessee Light Artillery Company, mustered into Confededrate service at Knoxville on November 29, 1861. In August, 1862, General Caswell was murdered about a half-mile from his home in East Knox County. Blame was placed on a runaway slave. Additional Comments: Source: Malinda Taylor, Elder Law of East Tennessee Metro Pulse, 9 Sep 1999 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/hertford/bios/caswell34nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ncfiles/ File size: 1.9 Kb