Don Sides

Tennessee Reb Don Sides

Samuel Clay Mitchell, Company A, Third Tennessee Infantry, wrote a series of fascinating war narratives that were published in his hometown newspaper, the Pulaski Citizen, during 1887-1888. Organized under a sugar maple tree at Lynnville, Tennessee, in May of 1861, the Third Tennessee fought and surrendered at Fort Donelson, languished in Chicago's Camp Douglas prison, were paroled and released, re-joined the Confederate army in Vicksburg, and were sent to north Mississippi to fight their Fort Donelson captors again. From there, the action follows the Mississippi Central Railroad south again from Holly Springs, through Abbeville, Oxford, Springdale, Water Valley, Coffeeville, Grenada, Jackson, Chickasaw Bayou, Port Hudson, and Raymond, then through Alabama and to the Battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. "Tennessee Reb" is an illustrated first printing of this action and much more about Mitchell and the Third Regiment, including their biographies, Confederate reunions, a Memorial Roll honoring their fallen comrades, the regimental roster, and over 1,000 names for historians and genealogists. Mitchell made their purpose clear with his strong declaration, "I assert that the young men of the South did not join the army to perpetuate slavery. More especially was this the fact in Tennessee. We fought for HOME AND HOME RULE. Patriotism and honor were the ruling principles in the Confederate soldier's heart." This project was begun by Pulaski (Giles County), Tennessee historians Margaret Butler and Bob Wamble. Don Sides, of Mississippi, later added to this, then organized and edited the material, and published their collective research in January of 2020.