“They Made Me a Rebel”, Where East Tennesseans True Confederates? ~The Forgotten Cavalryman of East Tennessee~ ~On February 20, 1863, Neals 16th Tennessee Battalion was reported in Brigadier General John Pegrams Brigade, along with 1st Georgia, 1st Louisiana, 1st Tennessee (Carters), 2nd Tennessee (Ashbys) Cavalry Regiments. As part of this brigade, the 16th Battalion, except for two companies stationed at Clinton, went with General Pegram on his raid into Kentucky the latter part of March into the territory around Danville, Somerset and Stanford. On April 25, it was reported in Morrisons Brigade, at Albany, Kentucky, consisting of the 1st Georgia, 1st Tennessee, 2nd Tennessee, 12th and 16th Battalions and Huwalds Battery. The 12th and 16th Battalions served in the same brigade from this time until the end of the war, first in Ruckers Legion, which was formed about the first of June, and later in Brigadier General John C. Vaughns Brigade. As a component of Ruckers Legion it would be elements of Colonel John R. Neals 16th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion who, in hand to hand combat, faced the hatchets and repeating rifles of “Wilders Lightning Brigade” at Leets Tan Yard, September 12th. 1863...... ~Colonel John Randolph Neal was born in Anderson County, Tennessee, Nov. 26, 1836. In early boyhood Col. Neals family moved from Anderson County to a farm near Athens, Tennessee. He received his education in the public schools and graduated at Hiwassee College, the class orator. He graduated from Emory and Henry College in Virginia, 1858, with the honors of his class, receiving the Robinson prize for oratory. On his return home he entered the law office of Cooke and Vandyke, in Athens, and began the study of law. As war loomed he taught school at Post Oak Springs in Roane County. ~At the beginning of the War between the States he enlisted as a private and began the recruiting of a company. Directly after the beginning of the war he was married to Mary E. C. Brown. ~Neal was elected captain of his company and at the organization of the 16th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion he was elected its lieutenant colonel serving under or along side famed Confederate cavalry commanders such as Pegram, Rucker, and Vaughn, and Early. He successfully lead his men on cavalry raids into Kentucky, through the Chattanooga Campaign and the Valley Campaign in Virginia. A short time before the surrender he was summoned to Richmond and made a member of the Court of Claims of the Confederacy. ~After the war he taught school, principal of the Rittenhouse Academy and of the Rhea Springs School, practiced law in Rhea and the adjoining counties, served in the State Legislature, and was Speaker of the Senate under the Marks administration. Elected to Congress in 1884, he served two terms and died from effects of disease, contracted during the war, at his home in Rhea Springs, in 1889. ~The sons of Colonel Neal would become famous Tennesseans in their own right. A son, Dr. John R. Neal Jr. was a University of Tennessee graduate an American attorney, law professor, politician, and activist, best known for his role as chief defense counsel during the 1925 Scopes Trial, and as an advocate for the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1920s and 1930s. He also taught law at the University of Denver , the University of Tennessee, and served in the Tennessee state legislature. He was a candidate for governor or senator numerous times between 1912 and 1954. Known as The Great Objector for his uncompromising support of progressive causes, Neal was among the U.T. faculty members fired in 1923 by the schools administration in a controversy that became known as the Slaughter of the Ph.Ds. He campaigned for civil liberties, public control of waterways, workers rights, and defended striking workers pro bono on several occasions. ~Son, George F. Neal attended the University of Tennessee before his appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated Jan. 20, 1901. In the course of his career he would attain the rank of rear admiral in the U. S. Navy and serve as aide to the Secretary of the Navy in 1927. Among his numerous personal decorations was the “Companion of the Distinguished Service Order of Great Britain”, presented by King George V for the sinking of a German submarine during World War I. “Not bad for some ole East Tennessee boys...”
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 22:32:34 +0000