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  Hello... I have just started this page and will add much more shortly.

   For 30 years I have been gathering information about the 9th.Tennessee Cavalry Battalion and its soldiers and plan to write a true and factual unit history.

   In addition to having a personal interest in the unit, a GG Grandfather,John H.Gresham was the Battalion Chaplain,I plan also to correct certain historical inaccuracies noted by successive authors regarding the unit during it's four years of war.

   In particular, I will address what really happened at Forts Henry and Donelson on those cold miserable days in February,1862. As is often the case in military history, if a story is repeated frequently by a legion of writers, it often becomes accepted as fact by many readers. These stories acquire a life of their own and become part of the popular culture; their factual foundation is not longer questioned, much less critically evaluated. One such story in American military literature is the 9th Battalion Tennessee Cavalry's participation in the Henry/Donelson campaign.

Left to right....Mike Thompson  Bobby Lane and Beulah Mae Coker 1996

My Great Great Grandfather, Texas pioneer preacher, Methodist circuit rider and Tennessee Confederate Chaplain John Haran Gresham. Gone to be with his Heavenly Father at Merit,Hunt County,Texas. On his tombstone his children had inscribed," He Was Faithful To Every Duty."

9th Battalion, Tennessee Cavalry (Gantt's)

Overview:

9th Cavalry Battalion was organized and mustered into Confederate service at Camp Maury, near Nashville, Tennessee, in December, 1861. Its six companies were from Maury, Hickman, and Wayne counties. A seventh company, made up of transfers and men from Hickman County, was added in October, 1864. The unit was assigned to the Western Department, and all but Company C were captured in the fight at Fort Donelson. They were exchanged in September, 1862, remounted in January, 1863, and attached to W.Adams, H.B. Davidson's, Humes', and H.M. Ashby's Brigade. The battalion skirmished the Federals in Mississippi and Louisiana, was involved in the Atlanta Campaign and the defense of Savannah, then part served with Wheeler in Georgia and part in Tennessee. After various engagements in the Carolinas, it surrendered with the Army of Tennessee. The field officers were Lieutenant Colonel George Gantt, and Majors James H. Akin and B.W. Porter.

 Companies in this Regiment with the Counties of Origin

Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

• • Company A - Captain George Gatt (to lieutenant colonel), Joseph N. Walker, Frank Jay McLean - Men from Maury County.

  • Company B - Captain Bradshaw W. Porter (to major), John . Galloway, obert N. Moore - Men from Maury County.

  • Company C - Captain Vernon F. Bibb, eorge W. Mayberry - Men from Maury County and Hickman Counties.

  • Company D - Captain Robert N. Whitson, Jeremiah Green, Eli A. Hornbeak - Men from Hickman County.

  • Company E - Captain James H. Akin (to major), Adley B. Biffie - Men from Maury County.

  • Company F - Captain Thomas D. Whitehead, W.L. Bromley - Men from Wayne County.

  • Company G - Captain Archie A. Lipscomb - Men from Maury County and Hickman Counties