Charleston and Bradley County played an important role in the history of the Civil War, just as many other cities and counties in the South and North.
At noon Monday, the official Bradley County kickoff of the Civil War Sesquicentennial will begin with a commemorate raising of a liberty pole and an American flag bearing 33 stars in the Courthouse Plaza.
“This will be the start of a terrific slate of events for our community,” said Melissa Woody, vice president of the Bradley-Cleveland Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
The multi-state remembrance has been noticed and Bradley County is one of the first communities to be recognized in media reports.
“We also were included in a USA Today article with a link to an event listing. It listed the November bridge burning in Charleston and the November lantern tour of Fort Hill as the ONLY Tennessee events,” Woody reported recently.
On April 25, 1861, Union supporters in Cleveland raised the flag on a 90-foot hickory pole. This will be recreated Monday.
The flag was a handmade 33-star flag presented by Sally Shields. It was raised after the fall of Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861.
“Help us to kick-off Bradley County’s Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War — the most pivotal and studied time in our nation’s history. Bradley County, Cleveland and Charleston, was a strategic location for troop movements because of the positioning of the railroad and the Hiwassee River,” Woody explained.
In the summer of 1861, when Confederate soldiers moved through the area toward Virginia on the train, soldiers shot at the flag from the tracks.
A Louisiana (or Mississippi) regiment passing through Cleveland demanded the flag come down. After negotiations between Unionists and Confederate authorities, the pole was taken down in July 1861. However, the same flag was raised again over the city on Feb. 10, 1864, after Union troops occupied Cleveland, according to Woody.
Local historians have identified 14 opportunities over the next four years to remember occurrences during the Civil War, Woody said.
Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis, Charleston Mayor Walter Goode and Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland will be welcoming the crowd Monday at the Bradley County Courthouse.
Bryan Reed, president of the Bradley County Historical Genealogy Society, will set the scene of that day in 1861 and a brief re-enactment will take place.
“This is a state initiative,” Woody said.
The initiative, a part of the Civil Wars Trails program, is also a multi-state project and trails are marked. Two Civil War markers are in Bradley County. One is located at the Museum Center at Five Points and the other in Charleston Park, on the grounds where Civil War encampments were located.
Woody said the Civil War was played out in everybody’s yard.
“Tennessee’s Civil War history is rich and complex, with the staggering effects of total war felt in every part of the state,” according to the tncivilwar.com site.
Events have already begun to unfold regarding how the war “evolved throughout the state and changed life for everyone.”
The flag pole raising is one of many events to come and be re-created in Bradley County.
The nation divided and the state of Tennessee did as well.
Union sentiment as well as a strong Confederate presence in the South also divided Bradley County somewhat, but the county as well as most Eastern Tennessee remained loyal to the Union.
The 150th Civil War initiative will include a number of re-enactments and other historical occurrences in history during the next five years.
Tennessee developed a website with history as well as some of the planned events which will cover the period. Other key dates to remember during the next five years of Civil War remembrance are:
n Saturday, June 11, 2011.
Rededication of the United Daughters of the Confederacy Monument on its 100th Anniversary.
n Sunday, July 24, 2011, 7 p.m., Courthouse Plaza.
On July 24, 1861 – Confederate supporters illuminate the town.
To celebrate a Confederate victory at Bull Run (July 21, 1861), Confederate supporters lit their businesses and homes with lanterns the night of Wednesday, July 24, 1861. A list of the properties that participated is found in Hurlbert’s “History of the Rebellion in Bradley County” and a map in Murray’s “Bradley Divided” shows each location. A few Confederate supporters spoke at the courthouse that evening, where a bonfire was set. The flag on the liberty pole came down around this time.
n Friday, Nov. 4, 2011 — Living history in Charleston
Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011 — Bridge burning in Charleston
Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011 — Lantern Cemetery Tour at Fort Hill
n November-December 1861 — Terror strikes Bradley County.
Union supporters were slated to burn the bridge over the Hiwassee at Charleston as part of a Union army invasion of East Tennessee. Plans were changed and troops were rerouted to Kentucky. Word of the change did not make it to Bradley County and the destruction of the bridge took place as planned.
Alfred M. Cate, son of William Cate, set the fire on Nov. 8, 1861, and escaped to Kentucky. Others suspected of knowledge and/or involvement were arrested and sent to Knoxville and later imprisoned in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
A petition was drafted by Union men and secreted to leading Confederates who were sympathetic to their release. Thomas Callaway posted $2,500 bail and negotiated the release of the entire group.
The group included Thomas L. Cate, Maj. James Bradford, Levi Trewhitt, Esq., Capt. C.D. Champion, Col. Stephen Beard, Samuel Richmond, Dr. John G. Brown, Dr. William Hunt, John T Kincheloe, S.B. Wise, John Boon, Jesse Taylor, Jackson Spurgeon, John Beene, Esq., George Marler and Allen Marler.
Others arrested, but not included in Hurlbert’s book included William Low, “Confederate Control of Cleveland/Bradley County — 1862-1863.”
n Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012.
Fort Hill Cemetery tour to focus on Confederates only.
Bradley County Historical Society Annual Fort Hill Cemetery Tour will focus only those associated with the Confederacy since Bradley County in 1862 was dominated by Confederates.
n April – May 2013 (TBA).
Exhibit at Museum Center at Five Points
The Museum will host a special exhibit featuring artifacts, stories and memorabilia of the Civil War in Bradley County-Cleveland and Charleston. Lectures and special programs and activities will be scheduled throughout the exhibit.
n Friday/Saturday/Sunday, Sept. 27-29, 2013.
a) Sept. 25-26, 1863 — Union army first arrival in Bradley County and skirmishes in Cleveland/Charleston (attack by Nathan Bedford Forrest) reported.
Confederates attacked Union army for first time in Bradley County/Cleveland Sept. 18. Union Army retreated across the Hiwassee to Riceville. Forrest reached Cleveland on Sept. 25 and advanced to Charleston on morning of 26. Confederates in Charleston (8,000-15,000 men) attacked Union army in Calhoun on Sept. 26 and Union army pursued to Philadelphia, Tenn.
b) Nov. 26-27, 1863 — Union Raid on Cleveland (Ohio Brigade of Col. Eli Long)
This raid happened after the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Soldiers encamped around the Masonic Female Institute. Army was attacked and forced to retreat toward Chattanooga via Harrison. Although Union army routed, the raid was viewed as a success (destruction of railroad lines, copper mill). After Missionary Ridge, the Union army returned and secured occupation of Cleveland and the county.
n Battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 19-20 — Thursday and Friday, Sept. 19-20, 2013.
Battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge — Nov. 24 and 25 – event Thanksgiving-November 28, 2013.
n Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013.
Annual Fort Hill Cemetery Tour planned.
Organized by Bradley County Historical Society, this tour will again focus on personalities associated with the Civil War.
n Friday/Saturday/Sunday, Dec. 13-15, 2013.
a) 29 Nov. 1863 and 14 Dec. 1863 – Gen. William T. Sherman visits.
Sherman in his march to aid Gen. Burnside in Longstreet’s siege of Knoxville, stopped to camp his troops in and around Charleston. Sherman stayed at the Henegar House while his troops camped in Walker Valley at the present-day Irwin home.
b) 28 Dec. 1863 – Gen. Joseph Wheeler’s Attack on Charleston (The Battle of Charleston)
n Monday, Feb. 10, 2014.
10 Feb. 1864 – Liberty Pole Raised Again.
The handmade flag with the 90- foot pole was raised again over the city after Union troops occupied Cleveland. Ceremony held with Union officers Col. William Grose (36th Indiana) and Col. Louis H. Waters (84th Illinois) gave speeches.
n Friday/Saturday/Sunday, May 2-4, 2014.
Winter encampment December-May 1864 and Advance May 2, 1864.
An entire Army -— tens of thousands of troops — encamped for the winter in southern Bradley County communities. Scouts or other groups set up community encampments in south Bradley County for a weekend picked out of the time the army was there.
The Bradley County Historical Society Tour of Homes is in April and could branch to the south to include properties such as the Blackburn Farm, Flint Springs and Blue Springs.
n Saturday/Sunday, Aug. 16 -17, 2014.
17 and 19 August 1864 – Confederates raid Cleveland and Charleston. Confederate troops commanded by Joseph Wheeler attacked Cleveland and the town was ordered by Col. Horatio Gibson (Second Ohio Heavy Artillery) to evacuate. They fled from the city center to outlying farm homes such as the Keith Hines home (Johnson House) and the Jackson home (Reeder House) at Harrison Pike and Blythewood. (Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014)
n Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014
Annual Fort Hill Cemetery Tour — Organized by Bradley County Historical Society, this tour will again focus on personalities associated with the Civil War.
n Saturday in Oct. 2015 (TBA)
n October 1865 – Barbecue picnic celebrating the Union.
Union supporters held a town barbecue to celebrate the return of Union soldiers in the Civil War and survival of United States of America. The event was held at Col. Stephen Beard’s farm, a Union commander. The barbecue cost $77.
Woody said there could be additions to the list of events as planning continues.
“Bryan Reed has worked hard gathering information about the Civil War in Bradley County. He has discovered interesting stories and personalities as well as significant military action in our communities,” said Woody.
“This ambitious slate of events is a community effort. Many volunteers from Cleveland and Charleston are working on the details of these events to make them happen. This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize our county’s role in this most studied era of American History.”
Reed is president of the Bradley County Historical Genealogical Society and History Department chairman at Cleveland State Community College.
To learn more, visit www.civilwar150.org or www.civilwartrails.org.