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Lafayette in Macon County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
 

A Family Tragedy

The Execution of Pvt. Elvis B. Parker

 
 
A Family Tragedy Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 23, 2013
1. A Family Tragedy Marker
Inscription. Thousands of Tennessee families were caught in the crossfire of the Civil War. Dempsey Parker’s family, which lived in the Hillsdale community here in Macon County, is one of many examples of a family sharply divided between North and South.

Parker, a respected elder, had served his country in the War of 1812 and was an ardent Unionist. His son Isaac Newton Parker, however, served in Confederate Lt. Col. James D. Bennett’s 7th Tennessee Cavalry. Son Daniel Webster Parker joined Co. H, 5th Kentucky Cavalry (US). Another son, Alfred B. Parker, who did not enlist, was killed in March 1863 by unknown guerrillas.

Dempsey Parker's fourth son, Elvis Brooks Parker, enlisted in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry in October 1861. He went home after 90 days, believing his enlistment had expired, and then joined the Federal 5th Kentucky Cavalry. In August 1862, Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan's troops captured Elvis Parker near Gallatin, and a subsequent court martial found him guilty of desertion and of "fighting in the Federal ranks against his own countrymen." Dempsey Parker proclaimed that he would not denounce his devotion to the Union, even if that pledge cost his son his life, and he challenged Morgan to shoot him if the general did not like those sentiments. On August 23, a firing squad executed Elvis Brooks Parker at Morgan's
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camp at Mills Woods near Hartsville. Elvis Parker's brother Daniel Webster Parker continued to serve in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry (US) for the rest of the war. He died in Trousdale Co. in 1909.

"The whole command will appear on Dress parade in camp at 4:00 p.m. 2d. The prisoner Elvis B. Parker, private I the 5th Ky Reg't, U.S.A and a deserter from Capt. Bennett's Battalion of Cavalry, having been tired by a Court-Martial, and FOUND GUILTY of desertion, and, has been condemned to death, and sentenced to be executed at 4 o'clock this day within our camp." The (Hartsville) Vidette, Aug. 23, 1862

(captions)
Firing squad about to execute a soldier for desertion, with units assembled to witness the event, Harper's Weekly, Dec. 28, 1861
Gen. John Hunt Morgan Courtesy of Library of Congress
 
Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1863.
 
Location. 36° 30.917′ N, 86° 4.183′ W. Marker is in Lafayette, Tennessee, in Macon County. Marker is on Old Highway 52 north of Russell Drive, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lafayette TN 37083, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers.
A Family Tragedy Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 23, 2013
2. A Family Tragedy Marker
At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Home of William Dunn (within shouting distance of this marker); World War II Maneuvers (approx. 1.2 miles away); Key Park (approx. 2.3 miles away); Macon County in the Civil War (approx. 2.4 miles away); Macon County (approx. 2.4 miles away); Macon County War Memorial (approx. 2˝ miles away); Russell Smith (approx. 2˝ miles away); Macon County Confederate Soldiers Monument (approx. 2˝ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lafayette.
 
A Family Tragedy Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Don Morfe, July 23, 2013
3. A Family Tragedy Marker
The stone marker is The Home of William Dunn and in the background is the A Family Tragedy Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 8, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,090 times since then and 41 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on September 8, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024