John Mathis McGinnis was born to John S. and Martha (Mathis) McGinnis in a little rural town named Clarksville in Montgomery county in North Central Tennessee just to the North and West of Nashville on 15 Nov 1838. John M. McGinnis was one of seven children. Sometime in the year 1838, the year John M. McGinnis was born, John S. McGinnis apparently took a trip of 130 miles west to a fairly new county in West Tennessee opened and designated in 1823 by the General Assembly of Tennessee as Dyer county. There, he bought some land near a place called Newbern,Tennessee.The land, consisting of 150 acres (later expanded to 330 acres), was bought from the McIlhalton Land Grant. Historically, the first settlers of this area are reported to have cleared forests and built homes there as early as 1839. At this time, taxes were levied at eight cents for each one hundred dollars worth of land, slaves, and town lots.
The McGinnis family moved to this area in 1841.John must have had sufficient financial support because on 1 January 1839 he bought a female slave age 30 years old named Chainey for $552.00. She was bought at a public auction right on the county court steps in Dyersburg, Tennessee. John bought another female slave named Clairessa, age 18 years old, on 30 December 1850 for $560.00. It was recorded that John also had a one year old slave in 1850. John bought at least three other slaves (one female named Julianne aged 18, and two males named Alexander that was 55 years old and Peter that was 16 years old). These were sizable investments for those times. In February, 1852, Martha’s father died and, as part of the estate, there was a farm near Clarksville, Tennessee, with 392 acres that sold for $1600.00. The sale money was divided between the heirs, of which Martha was one.
This must have surely been needed for the McGinnis farm. John S. McGinnis is mentioned in ledger entries as a regular customer of H.R.A. McCorkle’s dry goods store in Newbern, Tennessee as early as 1853. It is believed the farm prospered fairly well during the following years until John S. McGinnis was involved in a lawsuit in February 1853. There was a judgment rendered against John for the sum of $583.00, of which he appealed to the State Supreme Court for relief. John placed his entire farm up as security until the final judgment of the State Supreme Court could be rendered. He must have lost at the supreme court level, as he sold his farm of 330 acres and all assets (lock, stock, and barrel including the slaves) in Sept. of the same year for $10.00 an acre or for $3300.00 John S. McGinnis then moved his family into the town of Dyersburg. John S. McGinnis died in February of 1856 and John M. McGinnis was 18 years old at the time. Luckily, John had learned the family trade of carpentry (primarily cabinet making) from his father and using this trade helped support the family of six brothers and sisters and his mother.
Four years later, in November of 1860, John’s mother, Martha, would die. This placed tremendous pressure on John and his brothers and sisters to keep the family together. At age 22, this was an especially heavy responsibility for him. Five months later, on 13 April, 1861, an article appearing in the Memphis Daily Appeal indicated that on 12 April, 1861, in Charleston, South Carolina, Fort Sumpter was fired upon changing the South’s and John’s life forever. Many young men feared that if they didn’t join right away, the war would be over and they wouldn’t have had the chance to ‘whup’ up on them Yankees and I am quite sure John was in tune with the excitement of the times. There were numerous other reasons floating around at the time that I am sure also influenced his and his peer's strong feelings (i.e. everybody was doing it, patriotic feelings, influence from sweethearts and families, not wanting to seem a coward, and in many cases even a sense of honor was at stake). The answer to John’s excitement would come with another article in the Memphis Daily Appeal calling for the forming of a Tennessee State Militia Guard unit for the men from the West Tennessee counties of Hardemen, Obion, Dyer, Gibbon, Lauderdale, Tipton, and Shelby. While this action was primarily to allow the newly formed Confederate Government to know the amount of military forces available in West Tennessee, to John it must have been the solution to his search and driving thirst for excitement, that was not and had not been available for a long time. A Mr. Otho F. Strahl, a lawyer from Dyersburg and who would later became a Brigadier General in the civil war, gave John his chance.
In late April, he called for the formation of the ‘Dyer Guards’ State Militia to be formed from the volunteers of Dyer county to defend the great state of Tennessee. This was in answer to the call from the state to form the individual units from the counties mentioned above. John joined up. Once formed, the Dyer Guards elected Mr. Strahl as the Captain of this unit. On May 15th, the unit was to report to Germantown, TN located just outside and to the North of Memphis, TN where they would form up with units from the other counties to form an infantry regiment unit. There were ten guard militia units formed and their numbers totaled 963 men and they became the 4th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. John’s particular unit consisted of 104 volunteer's from Dyer County and was nicknamed Strahl’s infantry. They became Company K. Comment: Of the 104 volunteers that left Dyer county for Germantown, TN to form the Dyer Guards of the 4th Tennessee Infantry regiment, Company K, only seven (7) members of the original volunteers were left four years later at their surrender at Greensboro, NC in 1865. On Saturday, 18 May, the 4th Tennessee infantry regiment was officially ‘mustered’ into military service for the state of Tennessee while still in Germantown. John began drawing a whopping $12.00 a month.
Then, on 20 May, the 4th Tennessee infantry regiment was ordered to strike camp and head for the wharves in Memphis to embark on a steam boat to a military installation somewhere in western Tennessee on the Mississippi River. They must have presented a grand parade marching through the city streets of Memphis as they, each in their own rite, headed for their destinies. Once at the city’s wharf, they loaded onto the steamer Ingomer and headed for the newly developed military site called Fort Wright near Randolph, TN. It was 65 miles North of Memphis on the Mississippi River. It consisted of mostly embankments, trenches, and earth mounds made on a high bluff for the control of the Mississippi River’s steamboat traffic. When they arrived at Fort Wright, numerous other regiments from other counties from Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and etc. joined with the 4th Tennessee Infantry regiment. This group then became known as the ‘River Brigade.’ To John’s disappointment, they didn’t fight Yankees, but spent day after day digging more trenches, earth works and embankments. The monotony of digging was broken up only by the occasional requirement to drill as military units and then go back to digging. This must have been a real blow to John’s pride. He had joined to fight Yankees and had spent more time with a shovel in his hands than a rifle. This must have been a terrible rude awakening that joining up didn’t produce the desired results he had anticipated. John's thoughts must have paralleled the same thoughts as another solider named Louis Leon, Company C, First North Carolina Regiment (taken from his diary):
"The day after we got here our company was sent out with spades and shovels to make breastworks and to think of the indignity! We were expected to do the digging! Why, of course, I never thought that this was work for soldiers to do, but we had to do it. Gee! What hands I had after a few days' work. I know I never had a pick or a shovel in my hand to work with in my life."
The Yankees would have to wait a little longer to meet John. It must have swelled John’s strong feelings for the South when he heard that on 8 June 1861, Tennessee seceded from the Union to join the Confederate forces. Comment: Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union and join the Confederate states, but was the first state to rejoin the Union after the war. Of further interest is the fact that Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederacy than any of the other southern states except for Virginia. On the other hand, Tennessee also furnished more men to the Union than all the other southern states put together. On 18 July, Fort Wright was renamed Fort Pillow. On 16 August, his regiment was officially mustered into the service of the Confederate States, he was no longer in the Tennessee State Militia. On 17 August, General Polk (then Confederate Commander of the Northern Alabama, Mississippi, Northeast Arkansas, and western Tennessee area) ordered the brigade (of which the 4th Tennessee infantry was a part) to report toIsland No. 10 located in the Mississippi River between Missouri and Tennessee. They were suppose to help in the construction of the fortifications there, thus preventing the Yankees from using the Mississippi River, But, When they arrived at New Madrid by boat for this purpose, General Pillow (Commander of the Provisional Army of Tennessee) decided to use them for his own purposes despite General Polk's written orders to the contrary. General Pillow wanted to drive the Yankees from Missouri, enter Illinois, and then take Cairo on the return to Tennessee. So, General Pillow sent the brigade through Missouri toward Sikeston. Ultimately, they spent the next two weeks marching through Southeast Missouri. I bet John was quite happy that he wasn’t engaged in building more fortifications and it seemed they would actually get a chance to fight Yankees.
On 22 August, John probably saw his first real live Yankees. After a brief skirmish, Captain Neely’s Cavalry (assigned to the Brigade) brought in 19 prisoners captured from a Federal unit called old Abe’s Dutch Cavalry that was in the area. It is reported the prisoners were, " a dirty ragged set of fellows." John’s unit marched into New Madrid on 3 September and boarded a steamer named H. R. W. Hill and went up the river to Hickman, Kentucky, arriving after dark. There, they pitched their tents on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is here that John probably saw his first Yankee gunboat. One of Abraham’s gunboats came into sight, exchanged a few shots with the light artillery and then turned towards Cairo. Then, on 5 September, John’s unit was loaded onto railway cars and was sent to Columbus, KY. On 10 September, a report came that a Missouri Brigade was engaged with the Yankees about six miles above them. John’s regiment was immediately ordered to the scene, but arrived too late. The Yankees were gone. Expecting another advance from the enemy, they rested on their arms all that night on the battlefield. The next day, 11 September, John’s unit boarded the steamer Admiral and returned to Columbus. Also, on this date, John was discharged from the infantry due to a medical problem. As best can be determined, he suffered from acute rheumatism. John returned to his home in Dyersburg and again took up the trade of carpentry.
I cannot help but wonder what John must have thought when he heard news of his old unit engaged in a terrible battle not too far away, at the battlefield of Shiloh. It must have been quite saddening to sit at home safe and wonder what his friends and neighbors were going through. I am sure it wasn’t long before he heard how terrible it was from the returning wounded and dismembered comrades of Dyer counties 4th Tennessee Regiment, Company K. How bad he must have felt. Not much is found about John’s activities during the period after returning home to Dyersburg. One can only guess that there probably wasn’t much of a demand for neither carpenters nor money available while most of the men were away fighting the war. Also, the peer pressure from those families that lost loved ones and friends in battles or had someone away fighting, must have been hard to bear on a daily basis. Anyway, John was probably eager to join up again and about year later (August 1862) -- he would get his chance. I have listed below some of the reasons that I feel John may have been ready or ‘required’ to rejoin and why he was considering the cavalry:
1.) Both parents dead, farm was gone.
2.) Not much of a high demand for his talents as a carpenter, as money was very short.
3.) His older brother James was away fighting in the 2nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment.
4.) Jefferson Davis had created the draft (first time in American history) or conscription as it was called and it had been in effect since April 1862 to get the men capable of carrying weapons into the Confederate service and John would have been a good candidate.
5.) There was a saying circulating that you, "didn’t see cavalry dead on the battle field", meaning, not many cavalry were killed, especially compared to infantry mortality statistics.
6.) Also, it was not uncommon for men discharged early in the war to re-enlist, particularly in cavalry commands.
7.) The following areas had fallen to the Federals which meant they were 'very' near: Union City, TN captured 30 Mar 1862 Fort Pillow evacuated to the Federals by 6 June 1862 Memphis, TN had fallen to the Federals by 6 June 1862 Fighting actions near Dyersburg, TN at Wood Springs on 7 August 1862 Skirmishes and actions around Dyersburg, TN on 18 August 1862 Randolph, TN burned to ground , Fall 1862
8.) There was probably considerable social pressure, especially in this rural area, for someone his age (24 that month) to continue to do his part for the South’s war effort. 9
9.) Lastly, and probably pretty important to John, you didn’t hear about any cavalry soldiers having to dig any earth works.
Sometime in April 1862, Jackson's 7th Tennessee Calvary was created. It was created by the additions of other companies to the 6th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion. During the summer and early winter of 1862, some of Jackson’s 7th Tennessee Cavalry were in the West Tennessee area primarily to harass the Federals, enforce the conscript law, and pick up deserters. On August 8 1862, there was a skirmish at Wood Springs (near Dyersburg) involving Falkner’s Company of the 7th cavalry. They were routed by the Federals and Falkner‘s men were scattered. While the 7th cavalry was enforcing the conscript law in the Dyer county area, John was probably found to be of sufficient capability to fight. So, it appears as though he may have been conscripted. This conclusion may or may not be accurate. John could have just as easily volunteered to join Jackson’s Cavalry. In any event, he and others were either taken, directed, or requested to rendezvous at a spot 8 miles south of Ripley, Tennessee in Lauderdale County as part of Jackson’s 7th Tennessee Cavalry.
John was back in the war, but it would be short lived. There are communications dated 11 August, 1862 between General Grant and General Rosecrans indicating that Grant had heard there was a rendezvous of conscripts and guerrillas outside of Ripley and he wanted Rosecrans to " if possible to cut off and capture a large number of them." Rosencrans sent a cavalry unit to the area and caught 17 "conscripts" as the communiqué indicated. In the communication to General Grant informing him of their capture, Rosecrans stated he had captured the "guerrilla party" and was forwarding them to Grant with a " free pass to Alton." That's Alton prison in Alton, IL. John was one of the unlucky ones to have gotten a ' free pass to the Alton IL prison.' Now, Alton prison wasn't a nice place, but then most prisons are not especially back then. John was lucky in one respect, he didn't have to wait very long to be exchanged. In September 1862, John was placed on a steamer and sent to Vicksburg for the exchange. This was the site designated as the western area exchange center for this purpose. In another respect, he was lucky that he didn't have to stay there much longer. Less than a month later, on October 15, 1862, a private named Henry Farmer from Poindexter's Missouri Regiment was placed into Alton prison with smallpox. It is a matter of records that approximately six to ten Confederate soldiers died a day from this disease until there were over 1400 dead. This epidemic would last well into the spring of 1863.
The prisoners that were released from the military prison camps were usually exchanged, paroled, or were required to take and sign a parole oath indicating they would not bear arms nor give any aid to the military forces from which they were captured. This question of an allegiance oath, which was usually taken to keep from going to or staying in prison, was the custom to give the soldiers that chance and it was being observed by both sides until around December of 1862. One may ask, why would a released prisoner of war return to the ranks of his outfit after swearing to the type oath above? The answer (as best as I could ascertain) was, according to the rebel army, " since the released prisoners of the North didn’t honor their oath, why should they." The Federal Government, on the other hand, was inclined to refuse the validity of these paroles for released Union soldiers and, in the case of officers, would often order them to disregard the parole or else leave the army by resignation or dismissal. Of further interest is that, in most all cases of released Confederate soldiers, they would voluntarily return to their units. Whereas, in the case of the released Union soldiers, they (for a large part) did not want to return to neither their units nor the war. Of course, with the conscript act enforced by both sides especially towards the end of the war, most soldiers would have most likely had to return to the services of their countries anyway. This was probably more so for the Southern men since, by the end of 1864, the South was mandating that anyone big enough or able to carry a weapon would be conscripted into service. Many a young boy and old men were used to defend the South towards the end of the war.
Once released, John made his way back to his hometown of Dyersburg. Upon return, John appears to have joined Webb’s Calvary, a local unit of Lt. Col. Dawson’s area guerilla warfare soldiers that later became known as Dawson’s Battalion of Tennessee Partisan Rangers Lt. Col. Dawson and Webb were both from Dyer County, which must have influenced John’s decision to join. The Dawson’s Partisan Rangers were operating in the West Tennessee area. The Confederate government preferred these Rangers be armed and tendered for the war in the usual way. They wanted them to conform to the rules of war of "civilized nations." The officers must be commissioned by the Government and the companies paid for by the state. They were not to be outlaws and pirates. Some of the more notable Rangers were Bloody Bill Anderson, Quantrill, and John S. Mosby. The act was repealed in 1864 and the units were then inducted into regular military units. Some Ranger units did continue to operate until the end of the war. It is said that this partisan effort had stumbled on to one of the secrets of modern warfare through their intuition and vigorous support of a resistance movement within occupied territory. I was unable to obtain much information about the early days of the Dawson’s guerilla rangers.
Sometime in January of 1863, Webb’s Calvary of the Dawson’s Rangers from Dyer County were reorganized into the newly formed 15th Tennessee (Stewart‘s) Cavalry, into Company C under Captain John Webb. This Company became also known as Webb’s Calvary. John was now in the 15th Tennessee Calvary. This unit was formed at Dyersburg. It was organized behind Federal lines in West Tennessee and the nucleus of the regiment was Dawson’s Partisan Rangers. Lt. Col. Dawson became a field officer of this unit and they still operated primarily as they did while partisan Rangers. The primary objective of this company, as ordered by Colonel R. F. Looney (Commanding Partisan Rangers in West Tennessee), was to enforce the conscript law primarily in West Tennessee. By this time, most of the West Tennessee area was controlled by the Federals and as such, made moving around and enforcing the conscript law quite dangerous as an assignment. There was an incident reported called the "skirmish at Dyersburg" on Feb. 4, 1863 where Dawson’s guerrilla band was holding a bridge on the Forked Deer River very near Dyersburg. The Federals attacked them from both sides of the bridge and they quickly scattered. The Federals reported 2 killed, 4 wounded and after giving chase captured another 30 prisoners. Finally, on Feb. 9, the Federals captured Lt. Col. Dawson and many of his men. John was obviously with this group and managed to escape at that time. But six days later (Feb. 15) John was also captured (again). I suspect he was separated from the unit when they scattered and he managed to hide out until his capture. Anyway, it was another " free pass to Alton" for John.
On Apr. 1, 1863, John would be released from Alton prison through an exchange of prisoners with the Federals. Upon exchange and release at Vicksburg, John again made his way back to Dyer county. This was no easy task since the Federals were controlling most of this area by then. He went back into the 15th Tennessee Calvary unit under Col. Dawson. In a letter dated June 15, 1863 to Maj. General H. W. Halleck, it is reported that Dawson's units of the 15th Tennessee Cavalry, in the Western Tennessee area, were finally broke up by the Federals. Later, in November of 1864 Lt. Col Dawson would be killed. About this time, General Forrest arrived in Northern Mississippi with orders to reorganize the troops in the western area. One of his first steps to accomplish this was to break up or consolidate the numerous small cavalry commands serving there. It seems, the addition of some four new companies to the 15th (Stewarts) Tennessee Calvary was made in violation of War Department regulations. Accordingly, this unit was the one ordered broken up. So, on Jul. 18, 1863. John went into another Tennessee Cavalry unit under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. From this point on, John would get his fill of fighting Yankees. John wore at least two pistols as many Rebel troopers in those days gave up the saber in favor of carrying one or more pistols and usually carried a rifle rather than the shorter carbine that was available.
John was placed into the 9th (later 19th) Tennessee Cavalry, Regiment, Company K., as a 5th Sergeant under Captain R.M. Sharp. This was a pretty high rank for an enlisted man and he now drew $17.00 a month. The 9th Tennessee Cavalry regiment was placed under Colonel J.B. Biffle who was attached directly to General Forrest’s staff. How proud John must have been, he was riding for one of the most famous and respected Generals of the Confederate service. This unit was involved in a lot of action, although most were not as significant as the major battles that shaped the outcome of the Civil war. It is also interesting to note here that during the many battles/skirmishes John’s unit was involved in and around Franklin, Tennessee (in 1863 and 1864), that John’s future wife (Carrie Doughty) was born and being raised there in the Franklin, Tennessee area. She would have been about 14 or 15 years old at that time. It is highly likely that they may have met during this period.
COMMENT: They would wed six years later, after the war, in 1870.
In April 1865, after hearing of Lee's surrender, General Forrest told a friend, " that he had a tough time deciding if he should continue the fight in Mexico or give up." Later, when the Mississippi Governor, Charles Clark and Isham Harris (exiled Governor of Tennessee) approached him to discuss joining un-surrendered Confederates in Texas (West of the Mississippi River), Forrest interrupted, "Men you may all do as you damn please, but I'm a-going home...To make men fight under such circumstances would be nothing but murder. Any man who is in favor of a further prosecution of this war is a fit subject for a lunatic asylum." On May 4th 1865, while in camp at General Forrest’s headquarters at Citronelle, AL., the 9th Tennessee Cavalry regiment would surrender. A message sent from Major-General E.R.S. Canby to Major General C.C. Washburn confirmed the surrender. His was the last group of men to surrender East of the Mississippi River. General Forrest made a farewell speech that was quite memorable. On May 3, just prior to the surrender and parole, Biffle's Regiment reported 22 officers, 281 men present; 257 effectives; aggregate present and absent 508. John was still a 5th Sgt., but was now in Company G. The conditions for the surrender were based on the same conditions that were presented by General Grant and accepted by General Lee on April 9, 1865 at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia.
On May 10th, they would be escorted to Gainesville, AL where John would surrender and take the oath of allegiance and start his journey back home to Dyersburg, TN. One message (that was sent on May 10th, 1865) seemingly closed the war East of the Mississippi river :
The rest of John’s career is sketchy from this point on. On 22 December 1870, John would marry Miss Caroline E. "Carrie" Doughty in Nashville, Tennessee, she being 20 years old b. 12 Jan 1850, and he being 32 years old. The following are the nine children of John and Carrie with dates of birth and death as known:
1.) Mattie Bell McGinnis b. 4 Aug 1872 d. 10 Oct 1873
2.) Katherine McGinnis Leonard b. 29 Jul 1874 d. 15 Jul 1972
3.) Michael Augustus McGinnis b. 29 Jan 1877 d. 26 Oct 1917
4.) Willie Lee McGinnis b. 28 Jul 1878 d. 12 Jul 1886
5.) Ethel May McGinnis b. 23 Feb 1881 d. Feb 1967 (Spouse Unknown)
6.) Lucy Alice McGinnis b. 14 Aug 1884 d. 14 Feb 1964 (Spouse Unknown)
7.) Carrie Louise McGinnis b. 19 Nov 1886 d. 1980 (Spouse Unknown)
8.) John Mathis McGinnis Jr. b. 27 May 1889 d. 27 Mar 1967
9.) Walker Kirkham McGinnis b. 27 Oct 1892 d. 24 May 1949
John would begin a fairly successful career of carpentry. As there was massive amounts of war damage everywhere, his talents would be needed to help build his home and the area’s homes and business’. After about six years (1876), John expanded and added an undertaker’s business. Then, two years later, he added a blacksmith shop and began manufacturing wagons. John was a stouthearted Democrat. He joined the Mason’s (Masonic Fraternity, Hess Lodge No. 93) about the time he married his wife in 1870. He and his wife were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in Dyersburg where he taught Sunday school until his death. John was also a member of a post-civil war unit known as Dawson’s Bivouac. There are a few high points in his life that are known.
In April 1901, John went to the cemetery at Ashwood, Tennessee near Columbia, Tennessee to retrieve General Strahl’s body (as you may remember this was John’s commander when he enlisted in May 1861 as a Dyer Guard). General Strahl was killed in the battle of Franklin on 30 Nov 1864 and his body had been buried at Ashwood, Tennessee. John was there at that Battle. There was some discussion by the people of Columbia, Tennessee to move his body to the Confederate burial cemetery in Columbia. John and a comrade (Mr. David Shaw, also from Dyersburg) had gone to Ashwood to escort and take home General Strahl's body for reburial. When John returned the General’s body to Dyersburg, there was a surprisingly large attendance of veterans at the public service held in Dyersburg for this General. The General was and is currently buried in the same cemetery where John is buried.
In 1905, John (and I suspect his wife) visited the Franklin,Tennessee battlefield and removed some timber from the siding of an old Gin house where he had fought during the battle of Franklin. From this wood, he made some gavels (quantity unknown) and sent one to the Egbert F. Jones camp (#367, UCV, Huntsville, AL,) for their use. Other gravel locations are unknown. I am currently trying to get a picture of this gravel if it still exists. I am quite sure John and his wife visited her relatives while visiting the Franklin battlefield. Around the turn of the century, an abbreviated story of John's life was taken by the Dyer County Goodspeed Biographies and published in 1887 for future historical information. John’s Death: On 21 February 1907, John died in his hometown of Dyersburg and is buried in the old Dyersburg cemetery near the downtown area. As for his wife Carrie, when John died, she lost the business and at some time later moved to Memphis, Tennessee to be near some of her children. At that time, four girls and three boys were living. Two sons (John Jr. and Walker K. McGinnis) were working for the Illinois Central Railroad in Memphis, Tennessee, one son was unemployed, two daughters were nurses, and two were married. She applied for and received a Widows Indigent Pension as a Confederate soldier's widow from the state of Tennessee on 13 February 1914. This was a very difficult thing to apply for back in those days. I have been told that the actual pension was probably less than $20.00 a month, but that was a lot of money back then.
On 16 June 1927, Carrie McGinnis died in Memphis. She is buried in Dyersburg, next to John.
