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| Union guard at Strawberry Plains bridge. |
John Naramore, my great-great-grandfather, enlisted in the 43rd Alabama Infantry (CSA) in 1861 in Tuscaloosa. He was discharged in 1862 for disability (further details unknown?) but reenlisted in October 1863. (Luckily for him, he just missed the Battle of Chickamauga.) Several of his brothers, brothers-in-law, and other relatives and neighbors from the small community of Mud Creek were enlisted in the 43rd. The 43rd was involved in some battles over several important railway bridges in East Tennessee. One of these, the Strawberry Plains Bridge, over the Holston River, was where John was taken prisoner, on December 4, 1863.
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| Pier from old Strawberry Plains bridge, next to new bridge. |
He died of typhoid fever in the Knoxville military prison's hospital on Jan. 19, 1864, and was buried in an unmarked grave, with a card bearing his name, rank, and company, in the "city cemetery", which is believed to be the Old Gray Cemetery. The winter was particularly tough on the survivors, and Longstreet's campaign has been called the "Valley Forge of the Civil War".
This week, I visited Knoxville and was able to locate where the old bridge stood. There is a newer railroad bridge there, but two of the stone piers that supported the bridge are still standing. I also drove and walked around Old Gray Cemetery, but I was unable to find any sign of some unknown Confederate graves. Incidentally, Old Gray Cemetery was one of the first "garden cemeteries" in the US and was named for English poet Thomas Gray, who wrote
Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
The 43rd was involved in the siege of Petersburg and the Battle of the Crater there, and surrendered at Appamattox.
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| Old Gray Cemetery, Knoxville |
Further reading: http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/compoundobject/collection/voices/id/7159
This link relates the following anecdote. A Federal captain was released by General Gracie of the 43rd, with a note to General Sheridan, who he had known from West Point and from being stationed together in the west. "Dear Phil: I have got you, so come in." The reply was sent back, "Dear Archie: Oh no, you must come and get me first." [It is amusing that old friends could write such banter in the midst of such death and suffering, but it also makes the deaths that much more tragic.]
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| Holston River. |
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| New Strawberry Plains rail bridge, with pier from old bridge. |
