VETERANS OF THE original 63D TENNESSEE

At the 2005 Fort Dickerson event in Knoxville, I was approached by a kind gentleman, Mr. Malcolm Rogers, who bore an invaluable gift.  He presented me and the modern 63d Tennessee with a hard copy of an account from a veteran of the original 63d.  This account was published well after the war, but provides a great deal of insight on the history of the regiment and the experience of a common soldier.  I have since ran across a few other veteran histories which I will be adding to this page as I have transcribed them.  Enjoy!

Capt. J. E. Noland

Henry Mauk

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Page 3                Page 4		 Henry Mauk was a private in Company E out of Sullivan County.  Company E was previously Company K in the 3rd Tenn (Vaughn's) that fought at the first battle of the war at Manassas.  We have no information yet on when Pvt. Mauk was mustered in.  One of the members of the modern 63rd, Lester Crosswhite, has a copy of Pvt. Mauk's letter, written apparently in July of 1863 while the 63rd Tenn. was in Cumberland Gap (would depart that summer) and later fight at the Battle of Chickamauga.

 

Robert M. Rhea
Robert Rhea of Blountville, Tennessee, served in Company F of the 63d Tennessee.  He saw service to the very end and was the highest ranked soldier in the ranks the day of the surrender.  He published an account of his service later in his life.  Follow this link to read a transcription of his papers.

It is rumored that the University of Tennessee has an original copy of Robert's parole from the surrender at Appomattox.

Nathan Bachman
Nathan Bachman was 16 years old in March 1861 when he enlisted in a company of soldiers in Bristol, Tenn., which would later be mustered into the 3rd Tenn. (Vaughn's) which saw service at First Manassas.  Just over a year later, his company would be reassigned to the 63d Tennessee, designated Co. E.   He served as sergeant major and later as adjutant with the rank of 1st lieutenant.

1st. Lt. Nathan Bachman served from the beginning to the end of the war.  Follow this link to read his account.

Jesse Powell Cross

This was submitted by e-mail to me on Feb. 22 from Sharon Steel-Smith, descendant of Pvt. Jesse Powell Cross.  The submission and the information is greatly appreciated!  Capt. Noland

"...Thank you for your wonderful website on the 63rd Tennessee. It's been a while since I visited, and I noticed that it has been greatly updated, and that you have posted some photos of veterans. I hope you won't mind my adding my ancestor's photo to your list.

 I am attaching a photo of my 4x great-grandfather, Jesse Powell Cross of Sullivan County, Tennessee. He enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private on 14 May 1862 in the 63rd Tennessee Infantry, Company F. He was wounded May 16, 1864 during the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff in Virginia, where he received a gunshot wound to his right thigh which splintered his femur, and was granted a sixty-day furlough on 26 May 1864. According to family notes, he was with General Lee at the surrender at Appomattox. He is buried at the Blountville Cemetery in Blountville, Tennessee, alongside his wife, Ester Cagle Cross.

 His brother Sampson T. Cross also served in the 63rd, as did David Emmert, who was connected with the Cross family by marriage, and his four brothers: James, George, John, and Benjamin, who was in the 26th, but is listed with the 63rd. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of any of these veterans. We believe that the David Cross on the 63rd's roster was also a brother of Jesse and Sampson, since he enlisted the same day at the same location. Not that that's any solid proof, since he could have been a cousin, but by process of elimination on the census records, we're pretty sure they were all brothers.

 Last year I joined my local UDC Chapter under Jesse Powell Cross, and am awaiting confirmation of my supplemental applications under my other Confederate ancestors. I am also working with my chapter to place an Iron Cross on Jesse Powell's grave, which I hope to have in place sometime this spring.

 Thanks again for the wonderful website!

 Sharon Steele-Smith
Chairman, Music of the Confederacy, Georgia Division UDC

Alfred Holt Colquitt Chapter #2018, Atlanta"

Samuel Saffell

This likeness of Samuel Saffell was first found by me in the book Mountain Rebels by W. Todd Groce.

The caption under the photo reads:

"Samuel Saffell, c. 1862.   Commissioned as first lieutenant in the Sixty-third Tennessee Infantry in May 1862.  Saffell was typical of many East Tennesseans who waited until afer the Conscription Act to enlist in the Confederate army.  He was mortally wounded near Petersburg in June 1864.  Courtesy of Special Collections Department, University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville."

Robert Kurtz Staton/Staten
This excellent account of a veteran of the 63rd Tennessee was provided by James Howard Morelock of Savannah, GA.

Robert Kurtz Staton/Staten served in Company D of the 63rd Tennessee.  He joined the regiment before it was organized in May 1862.  Robert was in the battle of Chickamauga and made the advance against Snodgrass Hill.  During the movement against Knoxville, he accidentally wounded himself while on guard duty and was sent to a hospital in Loudon.  It was here, in December 1863, that he was captured.  He spent the rest of the war imprisoned in Louisville, Kentucky, and then later in Rock Island, Illinois.  He was exchanged in Richmond in March 1865, and sent home to Jonesborough, Tenn., and took the oath in April 1865.

Follow this link to a transcription of an email sent from Mr. Morelock to Captain Perry Hill of the modern 63rd.  Included is a quoted letter written from Robert to his wife after the regiment was moved from Cumberland Gap to Tullahoma, TN, leading up to the battle of Chickamauga.