Art Wills' 2nd Cousin, 4 generations removed

 

                                                                                                                  Colonel James Howard Edmondson               

 

               Before the War Between the States, James Howard Edmondson (1831-1885) was a well-known businessman in Memphis, Tennessee.  When the War broke out, he established and equipped the Bluff City Grays (of Memphis) to fight for the Confederacy. The company became Company B of the 154^th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, with Captain James Howard Edmondson as its commander.  The brave soldiers of the 154^th participated in all campaigns and battles of the Army of Tennessee with credit to themselves and honor to their State. It was in the campaigns of Southeast Missouri. It was at Belmont; at Shiloh; in the siege of Corinth; at Richmond, Kentucky; Perryville, Kentucky and Murfreesboro, Tennessee by January 1863.  After the battle of Murfreesboro, the Bluff City Grays were detached, converted into a cavalry company, and placed under the command of Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest¹.

                In a letter dated February 20^th, 1863, James Howard Edmondson’s brother, Eddie, wrote to their sister, Belle (Confederate Spy) that “Jimmie  [James Howard Edmondson] has succeeded in getting the ‘Bluffs’ [Bluff City Grays] transferred to Forrest’s Cavalry, and they are now in his regiment.  He called them his children and was very much pleased when the order was issued… Jimmie was in the Donelson fight [not the 1862 fight at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, but the unsuccessful attack on February 3^rd, 1863] and he says that Forrest goes in some mighty dangerous places, for a General to go, but we all know that.”

                  Pursuant to orders issued by General Forrest, at Columbia, Tennessee on February 20th, 1863, the Eleventh Tennessee Cavalry was formed by the consolidation of Douglass's and Holman's battalions of ‘partisan rangers’², and the addition of Captain James Howard Edmondson’s company,  previously  Co. B of the 154^th  Tennessee Infantry, and one other company--in all eleven companies. Both battalions were earnestly opposed to the consolidation. Having enlisted as partisan rangers by authority of the War Department, they desired to remain such.  At the same time, General Forrest appointed his friend³, Captain James H. Edmondson, who had been Captain of Company B of the 154^th Tennessee Infantry, to command the regiment. The entire field and staff officers were the appointment of General Forrest. Much dissatisfaction arose among both the officers and men. They believed they ought to be                                                                                                                           

allowed a voice in the selection of their field officers.⁴ Many regarded the arbitrary disposition made of them as a flagrant violation of their rights. They protested, believing that an investigation by higher military authorities would vindicate their course. This action was regarded by General Forrest as mutinous and he placed a number of officers under arrest, ordering them into close confinement at Columbia, TN.  There they remained for several weeks until Lt. Colonel Holman procured their release through an order from General Earl Van Dorn, then in command at Spring Hill, TN.  Major D. C. Douglass, who had been captured at Middleton, TN on January 31^st, 1863, was a prisoner of war.  Major D. W. Holman had been seriously wounded on February 3^rd, 1863 in the fight at Dover, TN, and was reported by army surgeons as perhaps mortally wounded. General Forrest no doubt intended by his course to give the regiment an immediate efficiency, not expecting that there would arise fierce and determined opposition to his orders. No charges were ever preferred against the arrested officers, and they were released from arrest. As soon as Lt. Colonel Holman was able to ride, though still quite lame, he returned to the regiment, which was encamped near Spring Hill. Colonel Edmondson at once procured a leave of absence, and shortly afterwards resigned.⁵  Lieutenant Colonel Holman immediately assumed command, was afterward promoted to the Colonelcy, and remained commander until its surrender at Gainesville, Alabama on May 11th, 1865.

               James Edmondson, now no longer in the Confederate Army, went into the blockade running business to procure goods from England for the War effort.  He organized the ‘Selma Naval Company’ to outfit and sail the blockade runner Charlotte Clark.  He made it through the Federal blockade outgoing at least one time. In a letter dated April 5^th, 1864 to his sister, Belle, one of her military friends wrote, “I heard Major Hunt say a day or two ago that your brother Jimmie had sailed safely from Wilmington [North Carolina] and was by this time in Europe.”

                   After the surrender of the Confederate forces, James went to Nassau, where he remained a year.⁶ In 1869, Jefferson Davis moved to Memphis to become president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company.  James Howard Edmondson was his general agent, and through his efforts a large business was built up.  He was afterward a member of the firm Titus, Edmondson and Company, cotton factors⁷.

 

                           James’ father, Andrew Jackson Edmondson (1793-1872) was named after Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans & the future President of the United States, who was a neighbor in Nashville, TN before                                                                                                                      

the future President became famous.  Andrew Jackson Edmondson accompanied General Jackson during the War of 1812 and kept a diary of his activities.  James’ son, Frazor Titus Edmondson (1855-1910) was later elected attorney general of the State of Tennessee.    

                                                                                                                                               

               

1         In 1866, while president of Washington College, Robert E. Lee told a British officer that Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate cavalry general from Tennessee, was the greatest genius to have emerged from the War.  “He accomplished more with fewer troops than any other officer on either side.”

2         Partisan Ranger- a member of a body of detached light troops making forays and harassing an enemy, the most famous being John Mosby’s partisan rangers in northern Virginia.  Partisan ranger was a coveted position, since partisans were allowed to keep whatever loot they could take away from the enemy.  Most partisan groups were disbanded because they were too difficult to control.

3         James Howard Edmondson and Nathan Bedford Forrest were both businessmen in Memphis, Tennessee before the War.  James Edmondson was a member of the firm ‘Edmondson and Armstrong’, dealers in harness and saddlery. Bedford Forrest was a slave trader and a member of the Memphis City Council. After the War, it was James’ father-in-law, Frazor Titus who was one of the people that made bond for Nathan Bedford Forrest after his indictment for treason.

4         At this time in the Confederate Army, it was the custom for the enlisted men to elect                                                                                                        their company grade officers.  The company officers then elected the field grade officers.

 

 5   Officers were allowed to resign from the Army but enlisted men were not.

 

6     This paragraph is from “Tennessee the Volunteer State 1769-1923: Volume 3, p 385.

 

7    One who acts or transmits business for another: as a Commission Merchant   b  one  who lends money to producers and dealers (  as on the security of accounts receivable).