Tupelo in Lee County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
Tupelo Baptist Church ⎯⎯⎯ Kind Treatment for the Wounded
Heritage Trails Enrichment Program
Photographed by Mark Hilton, April 7, 2017
1. Tupelo Baptist Church Marker
Inscription.
Tupelo Baptist Church, also, Kind Treatment for the Wounded. .
Tupelo Baptist Church. As often happened in the middle of Civil War conflict, partisan lines became blurred when the care of wounded soldiers was necessary. A field hospital created by Union troops to treat their soldiers wounded in the engagements along Pontotoc Road was perilously close to the Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg which broke out in the early morning hours of July 14, 1864. The conflict came so close to the field hospital that there was fear that the patients were in danger of being hit by artillery and small arms fire. The patients were moved to the Tupelo Baptist Church about two miles away from the battle. Across the field of battle another field hospital had been established by the Confederacy on the battleground and at Calhoun Mansion. As the battle came to an end, wounded soldiers from the east side of the battlefield - Confederate and Union troops alike - were taken to Tupelo Baptist Church for care by the Union surgeons who performed amputations and life-saving operations.,
Kind Treatment for the Wounded. In the early hours of July 15, General A.J. Smith made the decision to turn his army north and return to Tennessee. Most of the 505 wounded Union soldiers were loaded into wagons and ambulances for the journey. The surgeons determined 40 of the men were too gravely injured to survive the trip. The 40, along with hundreds of Confederate wounded, were made as comfortable as possible in the church as the army marched away. Two surgeons and a number of soldier/nurses were left behind to continue the aid until the Confederate army arrived. Major Thomas Tate of the 12th Kentucky Cavalry entered the hospital and observed his wounded had been "kindly treated by the enemy." Despite their best efforts, the extreme heat and scarcity of water resulted in abysmal conditions; freshly bandaged wounds were soon covered with flies and vermin. Conditions improved quickly with the arrival of the Confederate army and the transfer of many of the wounded to other sites. The Union surgeons and nurses kept separate from the other prisoners, were treated with kindness. When their duties were completed they were given safe passage to Vicksburg and passed through to Union lines.
Tupelo Baptist Church
As often happened in the middle of Civil War conflict, partisan lines became blurred when the care of wounded soldiers was necessary. A field hospital created by Union troops to treat their soldiers wounded in the engagements along Pontotoc Road was perilously close to the Battle of Tupelo/Harrisburg which broke out in the early morning hours of July 14, 1864. The conflict came so close to the field hospital that there was fear that the patients were in danger of being
hit by artillery and small arms fire. The patients were moved to the Tupelo Baptist Church about two miles away from the battle. Across the field of battle another field hospital had been established by the Confederacy on the battleground and at Calhoun Mansion. As the battle came to an end, wounded soldiers from the east side of the battlefield - Confederate and Union troops alike - were taken to Tupelo Baptist Church for care by the Union surgeons who performed amputations and life-saving operations.
Kind Treatment for the Wounded
In the early hours of July 15, General A.J. Smith made the decision to turn his army north
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and return to Tennessee. Most of the 505 wounded Union soldiers were loaded into wagons and ambulances for the journey. The surgeons determined 40 of the men were too gravely injured to survive the trip. The 40, along with hundreds of Confederate wounded, were made as comfortable as possible in the church as the army marched away. Two surgeons and a number of soldier/nurses were left behind to continue the aid until the Confederate army arrived. Major Thomas Tate of the 12th Kentucky Cavalry entered the hospital and observed his wounded had been "kindly treated by the enemy." Despite their best efforts, the extreme heat and scarcity of water resulted in abysmal conditions; freshly bandaged wounds were soon covered with flies and vermin. Conditions improved quickly with the arrival of the Confederate army and the transfer of many of the wounded to other sites. The Union surgeons and nurses kept separate from the other prisoners, were treated with kindness. When their duties were completed they were given safe passage to Vicksburg and passed through to Union lines.
Erected 2015 by the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Location. 34° 15.558′ N, 88° 42.528′ W. Marker is in Tupelo, Mississippi, in Lee County. It is at the intersection of North Church Street and West Jefferson Street, on the left when traveling north on North Church Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 300 North Church Street, Tupelo MS 38804, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically ast Mississippi in the North Mississippi Hills. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: First Presbyterian Church (USA) (about 400 feet away,
More about this marker. Part of the Tupelo Civil War Trail and the 11th overall marker in the Heritage Trails Enrichment Program.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 31, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 16, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 715 times since then and 37 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 16, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
