Fighting for Tennessee

During the Civil War, Confederate Capt. John H. Earthman (a descendant of one of the earliest Whites Creek settlers) raised a company of soldiers. Accepted into service at Whites Creek on April 25, 1861, the company mustered in at Nashville on May 6 as Co. G, 2nd Tennessee Infantry. Under the command of Col. William B. Bate, the regiment fought in several battles in the Eastern Theater including the First Battle of Manassas on July 21-22, 1861. By February 1862, the unit had returned to Tennessee and was attached to Gen Leonidas Polk's command. After the Battles of Shiloh and Perryville, the regiment participated in the Battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Franklin and Nashville. It surrendered in North Carolina after the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865.
Union forces occupied Nashville, six miles south of here, on February, 1862. Churches were used as hospitals, as quarters for teamsters, and even as powder magazines. Only newspapers favorable to the North were allowed to publish. The Methodist Publishing House had its printing equipment confiscated to print Federal bulletins. Andrew Johnson, appointed Tennessee's Union governor ordered citizens to pledge allegiance to the United States against all enemies foreign or domestic. City officers, the school superintendent, members of the school board, all teachers, and most of the preachers refused to sign the oath. School-teaching was largely suspended, and the blockade of the city by river and railroad brought commerce to a standstill.

Insert top right ) A footstone in the Marshall graveyard a mile northeast commemorates Pvt. W. David Hunter, who served in Capt. Earthman's Co. g, 2nd Tennessee Infantry. Hunter was born on September 23, 1842, and died on December 3 1862. Courtesy Angela Williams

Insert middle right) The Earthman family built a log house called Blue Hills before 1800, then covered logs with clapboard. About 1849, William S. Whiteman bought the house. Two miles north of here, he built a brick, two-story, steam-powered paper mill, where he employed both white laborers and slaves. The war halted operations in 1852, and efforts to revive the mill afterward failed. The mill was later converted into a bard and still stands today. Courtesy Marsha Murphy

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Nashville, TN  |  Davidson County  |  37189  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

The James Gang
Griggs Hall
Heaton's Station
Theodore "Ted" Rhodes
Saint Cecilia Academy
The Temple Cemetery
Freeland's Station
Assumption Church / Cardinal Stritch
Adolphus Heiman
Germantown Historic District

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.