How the Civil War was Fought in Cumberland County, Tennessee Renegades, Bushwhackers, and Guerillas ~Long before Cumberland County was established, the area known as Creston was a place on the map. It is said the first permanent settler there was James Cox who lived along Drowning Creek as early as 1827. Sometime between 1840-1845, Alexander Morrow migrated from Kentucky. He and his wife (Elizabeth Tabor Morrow) had several children and settled near Copeland Creek. There he established himself with a large tract of land and built a two story log house, which was noted as a fine home. Almost at once, he donated land for a cemetery to be established (now known as Creston Cemetery) where the oldest marker dates to 1846. Between this time and the Civil War, Creston must have been something of a place and in writings from the time it is described as a town near Crosstown (Crossville). There is no record of a school or Post Office until the turn of the 20th century but there was a Methodist meeting house established. It can also be noted that many of the early families settling in this section were of the Confederate persuasion at the outbreak of the Civil War. ~Alexander Morrow, along with sons Thomas and Isham would all enlist in the company being raised for Confederate service by Captain D. C. Crook in the nearby neighborhood of Claysville. All three mustered into Confederate service August 6th, 1861 with Co. A/28th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment, composed of Cumberland County men, mainly from the western portion of the county. Alexander was 3rd Corporal in the company and both his sons served as Privates. All three fought at the Battle of Shiloh. There, during the fight at the Peach Orchard, Thomas Morrow was killed on the field and his father was badly wounded. As a result Alexander was medically discharged April 15th, 1862. He was 57 years old. His surviving son, Isham, made the long trip home with his father and never returned to the army. Recovering, Alexander Morrow, resided on his farm at Creston the remaining years of the war. ~As the struggle progressed in deadly fashion, no person was safe from the lawless element that freely roamed the Cumberland Plateau. In early February, 1865, the war was rapidly coming to a close. On this particular winters day, Alexander Morrow, now aged 60 years, was abducted on the road near his home by local unionist bushwhackers and marched to the community cemetery he had established some 20 years prior. There, he was placed on a tree stump, and with a rope around his neck, shot dead because he had been a Confederate soldier. ~Alexander Morrow is buried in the Creston Cemetery where he was executed. Like many former Confederate families from the county, little trace of the Morrows exist in the area today. Isham Morrow was the only son to survive the war...... ~In 2009 the Crossville Chronicle published a story I wrote about this forgotten pioneer family of Cumberland County and their tragedy during the Civil War. The same year, a Confederate Cross of Honor was placed at Corporal Morrows grave by a local heritage organization. ~A few years earlier, I had been fortunate enough to interview a Morrow relative, who at the time was almost 100 years old and had personally known the surviving son, Isham. He related this story in great detail, even indicating the place where the tree stump was located on which Alexander Morrow was executed by the bushwhackers. He also showed me pictures of Alexanders captain, David Crockett Crook, and asked me to pass along the story of what he called, a fine old family, having no descendants of his own to share it with. Now you know the story of the Morrows of Cumberland County, Tennessee~ pass it along........
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 22:23:27 +0000
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