Gilliams in the Civil War

When he was interviewed in the 1990 documentary The Civil War, historian Shelby Foote said this about the war:

Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. I believe that firmly. It defined us. The Revolution did what it did. Our involvement in European wars, beginning with the First World War, did what it did. But the Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad things. And it is very necessary, if you are going to understand the American character in the twentieth century, to learn about this enormous catastrophe of the mid-nineteenth century. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.

The war was also “a hell of a crossroads” for the descendants of Hinchea Gilliam (1775-1858) and provides some insight into our ancestors' character. (Hinchea died before the War's start in 1861, but as the first common ancestor of the soldiers who fought in the war, he provides a convenient bookmark to catalog all the participants.)

Hinchea's son Joseph would die as a result of the war. Another son, Lemuel, was in uniform at age 50. No less than fourteen of Hinchea's grandsons would fight in the war, some Union, most Confederate, and two would die in action. An additional eight husbands of his grand-daughters fought in the war. After the war, it must have been a vibrant topic for discussions at family reunions, or perhaps prevented the reunions from occurring at all.

At the end of this post is a roster of Hinchea Gilliam’s sons, grand-sons and husbands of grand-daughters who wore a Civil War uniform. Each merits his own story, but a few require specific mention here:

CIVIL WAR RECORD OF THOMAS JEFFERSON GILLIAM

Hinchea's grandson (and son of Hardy Gilliam), Thomas Jefferson Gilliam, left Arkansas and traveled to Columbia, Tennessee (located in Maury County, just south of Nashville) where he enlisted as a Private in Company K, 48th Regiment (Voorhies') Tennessee Infantry, CSA on October 12, 1861. This was just three days after his 16th birthday, and only a few months after Arkansas had seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861. We don’t know if he joined with the blessings of his parents or whether he ran away to join the war (his older brother, John Tillman Gilliam, enlisted two months later in December, 1861 at age 20 in an Arkansas unit). Either way, it must have been quite the adventure for a 16-year-old.

A complete history of his unit and can be found in the book The Confederate Army, A Regiment: An Analysis of The Forty-Eighth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment, 1861-1865, by Major Gerald Kincaid. This map from that book may assist in following the unit's wartime travels:

The 48th Tennessee Infantry was organized in October and November 1861 from Tennessee’s secessionist middle counties: Hickman, Lewis, Maury, and Lawrence. In keeping with the citizenry of the “Volunteer State”, the 48^th was comprised of all volunteers and not prompted by draft-avoidance (Tennessee did not start its draft until April 1862). Thomas’ unit of the 48^th, Company K, obtained its soldiers from Maury County, Tennessee. The 48^th elected W. M. Voorhies as its commander.

After it was organized, Voorhies’ 48^th participated in the Confederate invasion of Kentucky, in an attempt to get Kentucky to secede. The first assignment of Company K was south of Bowling Green, Kentucky, where it was guarding Whippoorwill Bridge. The first engagement of the larger 48^th was on 5 February 1862 at Forts Henry and Donelson. Company K had been left behind, still guarding bridges, but joined the larger unit on 15 Feb 1862, at the battle site at Fort Donelson, Kentucky. The unit fought well on the 15^th, but was routed the next day when Union forces led by US Grant captured 55 percent of the unit, including its commander, Colonel Voorhies. The battle is considered to be a turning point in the war, as it prevented Kentucky from leaving the Union and began Grant’s ascension to the top ranks of the Union Army. More about the battle can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Donelson

The Confederates captured in that battle were sent to St. Louis and then Camp Douglas in Chicago. Camp Douglas was the Union’s most notorious POW camp, often referred to as “the North’s Andersonville.”

Thomas and the other soldiers of the 48^th that avoided capture joined Johnston’s army at Corinth, Mississippi and were formed into a temporary organization referred to as Sowell’s Detachment.  The detachment was not healthy enough to march when Johnston fought at Shiloh on April 6 and 7, 1862.  Thereafter, the remnants of the 48^th returned to Corinth. Conditions in the camp were miserable -- measles, typhoid, and dysentery were killing one soldier a day. 

The 48^th reorganized at Corinth, Mississippi in April, 1862 under Col. George M. Nixon with new equipment and drilling. Thomas was assigned to Company C of Nixon’s 48^th. The unit had a skirmish at Corinth in May, 1862, but abandoned Corinth to Union forces on 30 May. The 48th marched to Baldwin, Mississippi, then Tupelo. On July 26, 1862, the unit was transported by rail to Mobile, then to Montgomery, then to West Point, Georgia, then to Atlanta and then Chattanooga, all in six days.

By August 6, 1862, the 48^th was in Knoxville, and then to Barboursville, Kentucky by August 12 by land march. The unit departed Barboursville August 21, and arrived at Richmond, Kentucky on the 29^th. The Battle of Richmond began that day, which proved to be a Confederate victory. More detail can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Richmond

After Richmond, the unit proceeded north through Lexington, Paris, and on to Cynthiana, Kentucky. By, October 3, the unit was in Frankfort, then to Harrodsburg and on to Perryville by October 7, 1862. The 48^th participated in Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862. It was another costly Confederate defeat and proved to be the decisive battle of the Kentucky campaign. More can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Perryville

After the defeat in Kentucky, the unit retreated to Tennessee; first to Camp Dick Robinson, then to Barboursville on October 18, and Knoxville by October 22, 1862. From November 1862 to June 1863, the 48^th remained in the vicinity of Estell Springs, Tullahoma, Allisonia, Wartrace, and Shelbyville, Tennessee. On June 30, 1863, the unit retreated further to Chattanooga, arriving on July 6.

The 48^th moved back and forth across the Tennessee-Georgia line several times over the next two months, skirmishing with Union troops and guarding stretches of the Tennessee River. In early September, the 48^th was ordered from the river and marched close to LaFayette, Georgia. The 48th engaged Union troops in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863, attacking at 4 pm that afternoon. The Confederates inflicted heavy casualties, driving Union troops back a mile and a half and capturing one of their cannons. The Confederates planned to resume their attack early the next morning, but the orders came late, permitting the Union to fortify its defenses. The late charge was met with withering Union fire and the Confederates were forced to withdraw.

The Confederates attacked again at 5 pm on September 20. This charge lasted nearly two hours and the Confederates were finally able to get the upper hand, breaching the Union defenses, and capturing Union men and equipment.  Unfortunately, the victory at Chickamauga cost the 48^th over 50 percent dead and wounded. More about Chickamauga can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chickamauga

After Chickamauga, Nixon’s 48^th never recovered. Its remaining troops formed a sharpshooter battalion and joined Polk’s brigade during the Atlanta campaign. They engaged at Resaca on May 16, 1864 and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27. The brigade disbanded on July 15, 1864 and the remaining men in Nixon’s 48^th were transferred to Voorhies’ 48^th. The 48th finally surrendered in the spring of 1865 in North Carolina.

The day-to-day unit rolls are not online, so we don’t know if Thomas fought with the 48^th in all the battles the unit participated in during the war. Throughout the war, the 48^th suffered a high desertion rate every time it pulled up stakes and moved out of Tennessee. Apparently, many of its men believed they were fighting to defend their home state and simply went home when the unit retreated or otherwise maneuvered out of Tennessee. When the 48^th would return to the state, some of the deserters would rejoin the unit. If Thomas indeed remained with 48^th and did not go absent without leave, he would have been only one of the 60 men who lasted in the unit throughout war. Nearly 2,850 men served in the 48th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, CSA, from its inception until its surrender.

On April 24, 1865, Thomas signed his Oath of Allegiance to the US in Chattanooga, Tennessee, fifteen days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. After the war, he returned to Arkansas and married Martha Fallen. 

We have the following “official” record of his service:

DEATHS IN CAPTIVITY

At age 55, Hinchea’s son Joseph Gilliam (1805-1862) would have been too old at the outbreak of the war to fight. But according to Goodspeed’s Compendium of Biography, Joseph was arrested by Union officers due to his sympathy for the "Southern cause." He was taken to Chattanooga and was in the process of being transferred to Shelbyville when he died enroute in June, 1862. We do not know whether his death was caused by accident, sickness, or foul play. 

Isham H. Gilliam, was the son of Hinchea's son William and fought in the Missouri 16th Infantry Regiment, CSA. He was captured and died of an infection while a prisoner of war. He is buried in the Jefferson Barracks Veteran's Cemetery in St. Louis

KILLED IN ACTION

Brothers James Matthew Gilliam and John H. Gilliam were the sons of Hinchea's son Thomas. Both were Privates in Co. F, 5^th Tennessee Cavalry, a unit in the Union Army. In July, 1864, their unit was holding ground in Tracy City, Tennessee. The unit's mission was to protect local bridges from being burned by marauding bands of Confederates. They were only a short horseback ride from the family home on Battle Creek in Marion County, and the brothers obtained leave to make a short family visit. At the conclusion of their leave, they were headed back to their unit on their family horses. They had a traveling companion whose role was to return the horses after the brothers reunited with their unit. According to The Story of Marion County Its People and Places, James and John were “killed by Confederate bushwhackers near Tracy City on 2 August 1864.” According to family history, the companion was blinded by the ambush and left for dead. After the Confederates left the area, he made his way down the mountain and summoned assistance. One of the brothers was engaged to be married to Comfort Tate and she helped organize a recovery party to retrieve the bodies. The brothers are buried in the Tate Cemetery near Martin Springs, in Marion County.

THE GILLIAM CIVIL WAR ROSTER

Sons of Hinchea Gilliam

Lemuel Gilliam, 60th Regt., Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Crawford's) 79th Infantry, CSA

Sons/Sons-in-law of John A. Gilliam

James M. Johnson (husband of daughter Sarah), 38th Regt., Tennessee Infantry (Looney's), 8th Infantry, CSA

Elijah A. Fletcher (husband of daughter Nancy), 11th State Militia, Union Army

Sons/Sons-in-law of William A. Gilliam

Isham H. Gilliam, Missouri 16th Infantry Regt., CSA. He was captured and died of an infection while a POW. Buried in the Veteran's Cemetery in St. Louis.

Henry Gilliam, 17th Regt., Tennessee Infantry, CSA

Joseph S. H. Gilliam, Brevet 2nd Lieutenant, Co. A, Tennessee 32nd Infantry Regt., CSA.

Henry J. Barnes (husband of daughter Nancy Sarah), 44th Cons. Regt., Tennessee Infantry, CSA

Charles Ross (husband of daughter Mary Ann) CSA 

Sons of Isham Gilliam

No record of Civil War involvement

Sons of Joseph Gilliam

Samuel Newton Gilliam, Tennessee 34th Regt., 4th Infantry, CSA

Thomas Wesley Clepper (husband of daughter Mary Jane), Tennessee 34th Regt., 4th Infantry, CSA

Sons of Thomas Gilliam

James Matthew Gilliam, Co. F, 5th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army

John H. Gilliam,  Co. F, 5th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army

William Francis Gilliam,  Co. F, 5th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army. Taken prisoner on 2 Dec 1864 in Hillsboro, Tennessee.

Spencer Wiley Gilliam, Co. C, 6th Tennessee Mounted Infantry, Union Army

Henry Lafayette Bible (husband of daughter Alzina),  Co. F, 5th Tennessee Cavalry, Union Army

Sons of Lemuel Gilliam

J. Wiley Gilliam, 20th Infantry Regt. (Elmore's), CSA

Sons of Frances Gilliam Tyra

Elisha H. Tyra, 32nd Regt., Mississippi Infantry, CSA

Jesse V. Tyra, Co. G, Alabama 8th Cavalry Regt., CSA. According to family lore, he was a Union sympathizer and deserted at his first opportunity. He moved his family to Illinois for the duration of the war.

William M. Frederick (husband of daughter Ermand Adaline), 3rd Ohio, Union Army

Sons/Sons-in-law of Mary Gilliam Melton

T.C. Jenkins, (husband of daughter Martha) Co. H, 55th Alabama, CSA 

Sons of Wiley Blount Gilliam

No record of Civil War involvement.

Sons of Hardy Gilliam

John Tillman Gilliam. Enlisted in December 1861 at age 20, captured at siege of Vicksburg, later exchanged and returned to service, served until war's end. Co. C, 1st Arkansas Cavalry (Stirman's), CSA

Thomas Jefferson Gilliam, enlisted October, 1861 at age 16. Co. C, 48th Regt. (Nixon's) Tennessee Infantry, CSA

Sons of Elizabeth Jane Gilliam Ferguson

William Webb Ferguson, 14th Regt., Arkansas Infantry, CSA

Extended In-Laws

Rees Hildreth (father of Maggie Hildreth Gilliam and Annie Hildreth Gilliam), enlisted 1864 at age 18, Co. C, 27th Regt., Missouri Infantry, Union Army