Dickson-Montgomery-Humphreys County TN Archives Biographies.....McCauley, William Hudson 1837 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com October 30, 2005, 4:30 am Author: Will T. Hale CAPT. WILLIAM HUDSON McCAULEY. No state of the Confederacy supported the Southern cause with braver soldiery than did Tennessee and in the following lines is delineated briefly the career of one of her gallant and loyal sons, whose services both as a soldier and later as a business man have been of that order that places him among the representative men of Tennessee. His business career is a demonstration of what pluck and industry can accomplish where there is ability and a good stock of determination. Capt. William Hudson McCauley was born in Montgomery county, Tennessee, October 13, 1837, a son of William and Minerva (Doughten) McCauley. The father was born in Mississippi in 1806; the mother was born in Tennessee in 1813, a daughter of Charles Doughten, who also was a native of Tennessee and was a planter. From this it will be noted that by maternal descent Captain McCauley comes from one of Tennessee's oldest families, one established here even prior to the state's admission to the Union. Eight children came to these parents and of this family Captain McCauley was fourth in birth and is one of three yet surviving, the other two being John C. McCauley, of Humphreys county, and Katie, the wife of J. M. Talley, of Dickson, Tennessee. William McCauley, the father, was left an orphan at an early age and was bound out to one John McCauley, with whom he came to Tennessee. For a time his home was in Montgomery county, but later he removed to Dickson county, where he followed farming until his death in 1852. He was a son of William McCauley, a soldier of the War of 1812, who was born in North Carolina and later became a prominent planter in Mississippi. The latter was killed after his return home from the war. Capt. McCauley grew up in Dickson county and attended the rural schools of his vicinity. In 1857 and 1858 he taught school, but subsequently became the proprietor of a country store at Horse Branch, where he followed the mercantile business until the opening of the Civil war. At the beginning of that struggle he enlisted in a company made up in Dickson county under Capt. Will Green and which became Company C of the Eleventh Tennessee Infantry. Young McCauley entered the service as fourth sergeant and at the end of the first year was made first lieutenant, being subsequently promoted to the office of captain, which rank he held until the close of the war. One of the first encounters in which he participated was that at Rockcastle Hills, Kentucky, in October, 1861, where he fought under Gen. Felix K. Zollicofer. At the battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862, he was wounded, captured and then taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, as a prisoner. On his exchange he returned to his regiment at Shelbyville, Tennessee, in May, 1863, and participated in the battle of Shebyville and in all of those of the Army of Tennessee up to and including the battle of Jonesboro. During this campaign Capt. McCauley was wounded five times in as many battles, first at Cumberland Gap, then at Murfreesboro, third at New Hope church, the next at Lovejoy Station, and the last time at Jonesboro. He surrendered with General Johnston's army at Hillsboro, North Carolina, June 24, 1864. Though the Southern army, as General Grant said, "fought so bravely, so gallantly and so long," material privations and sufferings had fallen heavily on it during the latter part of the war, and these Captain McCauley suffered, with his other brave comrades. On his return to his home in Tennessee at the close of the war, Capt. McCauley wore a shirt he had made from a meal sack. After securing suitable clothes he sought employment and soon became a clerk for Hughes & Wickham at Clarksville, where he worked nine months. From there he went to Peacher's Mills, Montgomery county, where he engaged as a bookkeeper for Peter Peacher, the proprietor of a store and of the woolen and flouring mills at that place. Mr. Peacher died in 1872 and at that time Captain McCauley purchased a half interest in the dry goods store and also took up the management of both of the mills. After two years Mrs. Peacher formed a partnership with Captain McCauley and W. W. Peacher, leasing them the woolen mill for five years. Later Captain McCauley sold these interests to G. W. McCauley and then bought a farm in Big Bottom, on the Tennessee river in Humphreys county. After five years he disposed of this property also and since then has made his home with his sister, Mrs. J. M. Talley, of Dickson, Tennessee. He has been quite successful in his business operations and has climbed upward financially solely by his own efforts, exhibiting in his business career the same qualities of persistence and intrepid endeavor that characterized him as a soldier. He became a blue lodge member of the Masonic order in 1868, a member of the chapter in 1869, and in 1874 became a Knight Templar in Commandery No. 8 at Clarksville. He is a member of the Church of Christ, and the days of 1861-65 are commemorated as a member of Ford's Bivouac at Clarksville. Additional Comments: From: A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities by Will T. Hale Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/dickson/bios/mccauley278nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/tnfiles/ File size: 5.8 Kb