Fighting Bushwhackers
The Civil War in Taylorsville
In 1861, Mountain City had a different name Taylorsville but this place had been the seat of Johnson County since 1836. Like other mountain areas, Johnson County strongly supported the Union. Late in 1862, Confederate authorities sent officers to Taylorsville to force all white men "between the ages of 18 and 40 years subject to conscription" to join the army, with mixed results. Confederate supporters were constantly under threat. As late as October 1864, a group of Taylorsville secessionists asked Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge for support. "Our county is now infested with some four or five bands of robbers and bushwhackers, who are obstructing the public road, robbing Southern men, and killing them, and further, threatening to drive us all from the county." The requested help never came. Instead, the Union army arrived. By April 1865, within days of Gen. Robert E. Lee's surrender in Virginia, Federal authorities posted the "First U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 420 men, and the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, 544 men" at Taylorsville. The sight of that many African American soldiers must have jarred the white residents of a county
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The most prominent Civil War leader associated with Johnson County and Taylorsville is Union Lt. Col. R.R. Butler, who organized and commanded the 13th Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry and served as a U.S. congressman after the war. His mammoth Italianate-style house, completed about 1871, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The most famous post-war incident associated with Taylorsville is the capture of Thomas C. Dula in 1866. Dula, who served in the 42nd North Carolina Infantry, was charged with murdering Laura Foster. To escape arrest he made his way to Johnson County. A posse captured Dula in Taylorsville and took him back to North Carolina for trial. He was executed in 1868. His story was later immortalized in the folk song "Tom Dooley."
Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Law Enforcement • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1865.
Location. 36° 28.546′ N, 81° 48.369′ W. Marker is in Mountain City, Tennessee, in Johnson County. Marker is on Court Street north of West Main Street, on the left when traveling north.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Honor Roll (within shouting distance of this marker); First Baptist Church Bicentennial Celebration (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Clarence "Tom" Ashley (approx. 0.2 miles away); Roderick Random Butler (approx. 0.2 miles away); Maymead Stock Farm (approx. 3½ miles away); Laurel Bloomery (approx. 6.8 miles away); Backbone Rock (approx. 8.2 miles away); The Trading Ground (approx. 9½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mountain City.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. The Legend of Tom Dooley
Also see . . .
1. War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Civil War. One battalion First U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 420 men, and the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, 544 men, under command of Major Gray, First U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery, moved to Taylorsville, Tenn. Major Gray encamped the battalion of his regiment and two companies of the Fourth Tennessee Infantry at the cross-roads two miles southeast of the town. At Taylorsville advantage was taken of the court-house and other buildings for defensive
2. The Legend of Tom Dooley. Tom Dula was blamed for the murder. Dula fled, heading for Tennessee. Bob Grayson headed a posse to hunt down Tom Dula, and the posse dragged the fugitive back to Wilkes County (NC). On May 1, 1868, Tom Dula was executed for the murder of Laura Foster. It's this version of the tale, a complicated story story that ends in the death of an innocent man, that became immortalized in a folk song that circulated in North Carolina for nearly 100 years before it was made nationally famous by the Kingston Trio in 1958. (Submitted on May 31, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 31, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 31, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 368 times since then and 110 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 31, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
