Patrick M. Griffin from Nashville was only seventeen-years-old when he joined Rebel Sons of Erin and left for war. Of that day he recalled, “On that never-to-be-forgotten day when we marched down to the wharf and boarded the steamboat B. M. Runyon I would not have been willing to exchange places with Gen.[Robert E.] Lee.” […]
Ira Blanchard Sgt. Co. H, 20th Illinois Vol. Infantry Excerpts from I Marched With Sherman Published 1992 by J. D. Huff and Company, San Francisco, California Blanchard’s memoirs of the Union Army as they marched the Old Port Gibson Road toward Raymond, stopping at Hankinson’s Ferry, Rocky Springs, and Utica. The reminiscences of Ira Blanchard […]
Photography by Clione Rochat Confederate and Union lines during the Battle of Champion Hill. Confederate Army charges during the Battle of Raymond. Union Army lines up behind DeGolyerís Battery as they attack the Rebel line. Confederate officers lead troops into battle. Confederate Army prepares to attack during the Battle of Raymond. The soldier wearing the […]
The Women of Raymond by Rebecca Blackwell Drake (Hinds County Gazette, November 30, 2000) Sarah Dabney Eggleston, wife of Confederate Naval hero, John Randolph Eggleston, was one of the women of Raymond who worked for the cause of the Confederate soldiers. During the war years, she knitted a pair of socks a day for the […]
Windsor: Yankees Crash The Party by Rebecca B. Drake On February 17, 1890, the sky over the Mississippi River loomed heavy with smoke. People rushed to the source of the fire and found that it was Windsor, a four-story mansion near Bruinsburg Landing. The sight was tragic. The fire was blazing out of control and […]
The Raymond Fencibles by Rebecca Blackwell Drake Part I Thomas Gregory Dabney On January 9, 1861, following in the footsteps of South Carolina, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union. In the days and months to follow, the town of Raymond began to reorganize a militia, the Raymond Fencibles, formerly active […]
Civil War Reenactment: A Living History by Rebecca Blackwell Drake Reprinted from the Hinds County Gazette, May 21 and May 28, 1998 The Reenactment of the Battle of Raymond, the Battle of Jackson, and the battle of Champion Hill proved to be one of the most brilliant series of events ever held in the […]
The Ties That Bind: McGavock and Griffin By Rebecca Blackwell Drake The day of the Battle of Raymond found young teenager Patrick Griffin, 10th Tennessee Infantry, in an emotional quandary. His colonel and idol, Randal McGavock, had been shot through the breast and killed during the heat of battle. Not only was McGavock his colonel […]
The Exploits of Patrick Griffin: “Finding A Gold Mine” By Rebecca Blackwell Drake Patrick Griffin was a child soldier when he joined the Sons of Erin, Nashville, and left for war. During his first year as a Confederate solider he ended up in prison at Camp Douglas. The next year found him fighting on the […]
The Story of Champion Hill May 16, 1863 From the Diary “With Fire and Sword” by Major S. M. H. Byers 5th Iowa Infantry edited by Rebecca Blackwell Drake General Crocker of my State was now leading our division, and the magnificent General McPherson commanded the army corps. The night of May 15, the division […]
G. B McDonald 30th Illinois Infantry BATTLES OF RAYMOND and JACKSON A Complete History of the 30th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Regiment of Infantry Sparta News, 1916 BATTLE OF RAYMON[d] Granville. B. McDonald, Musician The rebs had selected this place to check our advance. The road run about east to west, and a small creek run […]
Edward Thomas Broughton Edward Thomas Broughton II was born in Monroe County, Alabama, on April 13, 1834. He was the son of Edward T. Broughton and Rachel Winborne Walker. E. T. Broughton was described as a man of fine appearance, nearly six-feet tall, erect and commanding. Broughton studied to become a lawyer and after passing […]
The Battle of Champion Hill by Rebecca Blackwell Drake Since Edwards was not incorporated as a town until 1871, it is difficult to trace any of its history prior to the Civil War. A short paragraph in the booklet, CHAMPION HILL!, by Herb Phillips, best describes Edwards prior to this time… “when the Vicksburg-Clinton Railroad […]
MARCH –. We have had a week of comparative quiet since my last entry. The enemy have ceased shelling, and it is believed that they have abandoned the idea of taking this place at present. We have now some hope of being sent to reinforce General J. E. Johnston, who is in command of the […]
