OBION COUNTY TN - MILITARY - The Immortal Thirteen ********************************************************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Jane N. Powell ********************************************************************************************************** Immortal Thirteen In February 1865, the "Immortal Thirteen" walked from Troy to North Carolina to rejoin their command. They had just been furloughed the previous month as part of Cheatham's Division when Hood's army arrived in Corinth Mississippi. Dr. Brice, Captain Head and Ed Walton did not stay with the other ten. On a rainy night in Georgia when they sought shelter at a house, they were told someone had smallpox. Dr. Brice identified himself and offered to treat the patient in exchange for a night out of the rain. This took the homeowner aback and he invited the cold and wet trio in and admitted that no one was sick in the house. NINE (9) from the Obion Avalanche were identified as part of the thirteen by Rebel C. Forrester. Pat Priest Hacker identified the 11th as John Montgomery Bell. Can anyone supply the names of the other two? John Montgomery Bell* (bio below) Dr. Walter Brice William M Cunningham Captain Head Robt. Joyner T. J. Latimer M. E. Prather Frank B. Taylor Ed. D. Walton D. W. "Dave" Wicker Col. John A. Gardner, Weakley Co * (bio below) ===================================================================== John Montgomery Bell John Montgomery Bell was a Presbyterian of Scotch-Irish ancestry and a man of great stature and courage. He was a grandson of Major William Bell and Margaret Montgomery of Montgomery County, Tennessee. John M. Bell (and his brother Hugh Bell) served as a Confederate soldier in Company H (The Obion Avalanche) 9th Tennessee Infantry & Co.E, 1st Consolidated Tennessee Infantry. from 1861-1865. He was severely wounded in the leg at Chickamauga, Ga. shot through the hand and wounded in the head. He was one of the "Immortal Thirteen," and drew a Confederate pension. John M. and Sarah Wallace Bell Married in 1866 in Union City, Tennessee. He is buried in Woodland Heights Cem., Clay County, Rector, AR Glory and Tears - Obion County Tennessee 1860-1870 by Rebel C. Forrester. John Montgomery Bell, a cousin of Lieutenant Daniel Bell {killed at Perryville,Ky} and a grandson of Major. William Bell, served in the Obion Avalanche until Johnston's surrender. He was very severely wounded in the leg at the Battle of Chickamauga. This wound rendered him lame for life. Not withstanding this, he rejoined his company when the wound healed and served until the end of the war. He moved to Rector, Arkansas many years ago, where he died in 1921. The last time I saw him was at the reunion in Memphis many years ago. He was still lame and had to walk with the assistance of a stick. Glory and Tears - Obion County Tennessee 1860-1870 by Rebel C. Forrester George W. Carmack, John Bell and Fount Holloway were paroled in January, 1863 {after their capture at Perryville, Ky.} They were landed near Vicksburg, Mississippi from which they were forwarded to Chattanooga. They were absolutely destitute in the shape of clothing. They had no change from August 1862. until January 1863, except when they took off their old shirts to wash them in cold water. They were literally crawling with what are now called "cooties," little animals which were called by another name at that time. On the arrival at Chattanooga - being on parole - they were detailed as brakemen on the N.C. & St. L. Railway, where they remained until April 1863, when they left and rejoined their command at Shelbyville, Tennessee. Served under Col. Henry L. Douglas, Col. Charles S. Hurt, Lt. Col. John W. Buford, Capt. J. W. McDonald, Captain H. W. Head. Higher Unit Assignments: Stephen's Brigade, 1st Geographical Division, Department #2 {Sept-Oct 1861. Stephens Brigade, 1st Geographical Division, Dept. #2 Oct 1861-1862. Stephen's Brigade, 1st Grand Division, Army of the Mississippi, Dept. #2 [March 1862}. Stephen's Brigade, Clark's Division, 1st Grand Division, Army of the Mississippi, Dept. #2 {March 1862} Stephen's Maney's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Mississippi, Dept. #2 {March-July 1862}. Maney's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, Army of the Mississippi, Department #2 {July-August 1862}. Maney's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, Right Wing, Army of the Mississippi, Dept. #2 {August- November 1862}. Maney's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Tennessee, {November 1862-63}, Polk's Corps. Maney's Brigade, Walker's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Tennessee {November 1863- February 1864}. Maney's-Carter's Brigade, Cheatham's-Brown's Division, 1st Corps, Army of Tennessee {February 1864-1865} Evidence of Physician for Pension: State of Arkansas: County of Clay. A wound in the back of the head and right hip, also bullet wound in right hand. Principally to wound in hip causing a kind of Rheumatism. Totally incapacitated for manual labor ========================================================================== Col. John A. GARDNER, attorney at law, was born in Robertson County, Tenn., in 1809, and is one of two surviving members of a family of nine children born to the marriage of John Gardner and Patience Whitehead, which occurred about 1796. Both were of English descent and natives of Virginia, and left the Old Dominion for Tennessee immediately after their marriage, being among the pioneer settlers of Middle Tennessee. The father died in, 1845 and the mother in 1846. Our subject was reared and educated in Robertson County, and resided with his parents until seventeen years of age. In 1826 he came to Weakley County, and the following year went to Paris, Henry Co., Tenn., and established a weekly paper, The West Tennessean, editing it for one year. He then sold out and returned to Dresden and entered upon the study of law, his preceptor being Hon. William Fitzgerald. In 1829 he was admitted to practice law before the courts of Tennessee, and immediately opened a law office in Dresden. He soon won the confidence and esteem of the people and after a brief period became one of the leading lawyers of the Weakley County bar, and has practiced law for fifty years. In 1838 he edited the Jacksonian in Dresden for a few months. In 1841 he was elected to the State Senate and served six years. He delivered a speech of seven hours length before the State Senate, on the manner of electing United States senators, and was called one of the "Immortal Thirteen." In 1847 he was a candidate for Congress on the Democratic ticket, his competitor being William H. Haskell. He was defeated, however, as the Whig majority was 2,400 against him, which he reduced 1,400. In 1848 he was elector for Gen Cass, and in 1870 was a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1878-79 he was a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. In 1828 he married Maria Terrell, daughter of Jephtha Terrell. Mrs. Gardner was a native of North Carolina, and is the mother of four children: Algernon C., Ada B. (wife of Hon. W. P. Caldwell, ex-member of Congress), Laura (wife of James Gardner) and Lou M. (wife of M. Z. Hankins). Mrs. Gardner died in November, 1848, and in 1850 Mr. Gardner married Agnes H. Cowardin, of Nashville. She was born in 1830 and is the mother of five children: Almus H., Ernest M., Percy W., Fannie G. and Josie Lee. Mr. Gardner resided on his 510-acre farm during the war, having purchased the same in 1840. He at one time owned 7,100 acres of land. Since 1865 he has resided at Gardner Station. In 1852 he organized the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad Company, and served as its president four years. The road passed through his farm and Gardner Station was named in his honor. Col. Gardner is one of the old settlers that yet remain. He has spent an active and useful life and has been a leader among men. He is a shrewd business man of superior social qualities, and very conscientious in the discharge of his duties. He is a Mason, and his wife is a member of the Episcopal Church.