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Holly Springs, Ms. -- A Virtual Tour
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by: Alethea D. Sayers
Introduction: The Raid On Holly Springs
There is one unique event that is largely ignored by those
discussions of the greater events of the Civil War, perhaps because it
wasn't even a battle. And yet, on December 20, 1862, a relatively small
force of Southern cavalry troops irrevocably changed the course of the
war. Their unexpected raid on the Union Arsenal at Holly Springs, Mississippi,
caused General U. S. Grant to withdraw his entire army of 75,000 troops
from Mississippi.
At that time, in 1862, Holly Springs was one of the largest cities in
Mississippi, a beautiful and prosperous center of commerce and trade. In
large part Holly Springs was settled by Virginians who brought to the town
a distinctive style of elegant architecture that even today expresses their
world of civility and grace.
"Holly
Springs Raid" narrative continued here
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Montrose
Montrose, or the "Jack Johnson Place," was built by Alfred
Brooks as a wedding present to his daughter, Margaret, when she married
Robert McGowan. Brooks was one of the largest landowners and slaveholders
in the state. When the Civil War came, he was too old to be at the front
and subsequently moved to Texas. A Dr. Robert Peel moved into Montrose
in 1865, after finding his plantation burned by Union soldiers. When the
Civil War began, Dr. Peel joined the 19th regiment and went to work immediately,
operating on wounded Federal soldiers at the "Old Stone House" on the Manassas
Battlefield. He so won the hearts of these soldiers that they exclaimed,
"My God, why are we fighting such men?" |
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 The
Depot
Prior to the Civil War, the Holly Springs Depot was one
of the most commodious along the railroad route and a favorite gathering
place. When Van Dorn raided the town and destroyed the Federal supply train,
many of the railroad buildings were destroyed in the fires. The depot was
replaced in 1865, but on a much grander scale (as seen in the photo). It
contained twenty elegant suites in 1886, and a beautiful dining room with
a capacity of 125 persons. There were twenty-one employees in charge of
running the hotel. When the St. Louis-San Fransisco line erected its own
depot in 1926, it marked the end of this Depot on Van Dorn Avenue. On April
9, 1865, the news of Lee's surrender went out over the Mississippi wires
from the depot. The operator hastily sent his message; "Hell's to pay,
Lee's surrendered." |
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| The Walters Place was the house chosen by General Grant as being
very suitable for his wife, Julia and son, Jesse, during their stay in
Holly Springs. Though it was said the General didn't have much to say when
he was around, his wife was very socially inclined and would often visit
with the Southern women of the house. During the Civil War, the house was
occupied by Mrs. Mary Govan, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Eaton, Pugh Govan
and daughters, Betty and Mary. The Govans had moved into the home when
their own house was taken for a hospital. The Govan silver, however, presented
a problem.
The ladies found an appropriate place to hide the silver
by burying it beneath the front walk of the Walters Place. Little did they
know that the general of the Federal troops would choose the Walters house
for his family headquarters.
The ladies may have burned with wrath when the Yankee
cavalry violated their churches, when they invaded friends homes and plundered
the town, but it was some satisfaction to look out over the front walkway
to see the enemy sentry pacing over their precious silver.
It was said that the General's wife was fond of quoting
her negro servant, Julia. One day, Mrs. Govan ask , "Has she been with
you long, Mrs. Grant?" "Oh yes," she answered, "My father, Judge Frederick
Dent gave her to me when I was just a child." "I see," Mrs. Govan was said
to remark, as she glanced sagely at her daughters. They too, "saw." While
General Grant's army was freeing the slaves of the South, Mrs. Grant's
maid was still in bondage. |
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The General's Home was the home of Winfield
Scott Featherston and his wife, Elizabeth McEwen. In 1860, Featherston
was appointed a special commissioner to seek cooperation from other slaveholding
states. The state of Kentucky was assigned to Featherston, and though he
performed his delicate task well, Kentucky would not agree to secede.
When War broke out, he immediately left this house to
raise a volunteer company and became Colonel of the 17th Mississippi Regiment.
His bravery and skill in the battle of Leesburg (Va.) won him the promotion
to Brigadier-General. He was at Harper's Ferry and Fredericksburg but in
January 1863, he was transferred with his brigade to Vicksburg. Featherston
remained in the Western Theater of war to its end.
After the War, the General returned to Holly Springs to
practice law. He was called away to serve his state once more in 1867,
this time in the lower house of the Legislature.
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Hill Crest Cemetery,
also known as "The Little Arlington of the South"
Covering over twenty-five acres of rolling land, this
historic cemetery was dotted with marble headstones well before the Civil
War. Five-wrought-iron gates signify the entrances and drives.
Among the notables of the Civil War, lay the soldiers
of other wars as well, along with the above pictured "Confederate Memorial"
monument.
In this little Arlington all but two of the generals from
Holly Springs who marched away to war in 1861 lie buried:
Major-General Edward C. Walthall, Brigadier-General Winfield
S. Featherston, Brigadier-General Daniel C. Govan, Brigadier-General Christopher
H. Mott, Brigadier-General Absolom M. West, General Henry E. Williamson,
Adj-General Thomas A. Falconer, Adj-General Kinlock Falconer, Asst. Adj-General
Harvey W. Walter. |
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The Clapp-Fant House: "The House of Great
Men."
Originally, General Bradford first erected a frame dwelling
on this site after coming to Holly Springs in 1835. He was for many years
the Major-General of West Tennessee, and became known as "the hero of Withlacoochee"
in the Florida Indian Campaign. As Major of the First Mississippi Regiment,
he fought with brilliance at Buena Vista, Mexico. In December of 1861,
he became of a member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States
of America.
When the frame home burned in 1858, Judge Jeremiah W.
Clapp had the pictured house built around 1858. Judge Clapp was a delegate
to the Secession Convention of Mississippi in 1861 and was on the committe
to design a flag and coat-of-arms for the state. He served in the lower
house of the Confederate Congress from 1862-1864. Due to his activities,
Federal soldiers made many attempts to capture him but were unsuccessful
in their efforts. Being of small stature, the Judge usually hid in one
of the large front columns of the home.
In this house lived the only Mississippian ever to be
nominated for vice-president twice, Absolom M. West. The National Party
nominated him in 1880 and the Anti-Monopoly Party did likewise in 1884.
During the Civil War, General West had the unique distinction
of being appointed a quartermaster general, paymaster general and commissary
general, holding all three offices at the same time. Following the War,
General West was made president of the Mississippi Central Railroad. |
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| Cedarhurst was built in 1857, and was the home of Dr. Charles
Bonner during the Civil War. The daughter of Dr. Bonner, Sherwood became
a writer, her first story, "Laura Capello, A Leaf From a Traveller's Notebook,"
appeared in the Boston Ploughman in 1864. Other stories subsequently were
published in Harper's Magazine and the Youth's Companion. When Sherwood
Bonner traveled to Boston to further her career, she became the secretary
and protege of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She became famous for her stories
written in Southern dialect.
In August of 1878, Sherwood received word of the yellow
fever epidemic in Holly Springs, and against Longfellow's advice she rushed
home to find her father and brother stricken with the disease. Sherwood
nursed her father and brother until they both died on September 7. She
never returned to Boston to enjoy her fame but lived on in this house until
her own death in 1883. |
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| The Holly Springs Museum was originally a schoolhouse, which
was built around the turn of the century. It now houses three floors of
photographs and memorabilia, which tell the history of Holly Springs. On
the first floor is a room dedicated to the Civil War history, with an extensive
collection of artifacts, along with a room lined from ceiling to floor
with rare and out-of-print books. The second floor has a room which contains
the most elaborate and extensive clothing exhibit I have seen, with garments
dating from the Civil War up to the present. The items of clothing are
displayed on mannequins, most of them donated by the townspeople, and show
the exquisite detail of 19th century Victorian garments. Outside the museum,
very near the entrance, is a plaque which marks the starting point of General
Van Dorn's raid. |
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The Walthall Home
Edward C. Walthall was five years old when his parents
moved from Richmond to Holly Springs in 1836.
Walthall was a graduate of the famous "St. Thomas Hall"
and became a prominent attorney. Eventually, Walthall was recognized as
one of the brilliant U. S. Senators, with a long and distinguished record.
But nothing so well describes the man as his role in protecting the battered
Army of Tennessee in its retreat from Nashville to Mississippi.
 Walthall
rose from Lieutenant to Major-General during the Civil War, winning the
esteem of Joe Johnston and General Forrest, among others. And in late 1864,
when General Hood ask that he assist Forrest in saving the remnants of
the Army of Tennessee, sacrificing his command if necessary, Walthall answered;
" I have never ask a hard place for glory nor a soft place for comfort.
I take my chances as they come. Given me the order for the troops and I
will do my best."
Today, the former U.S. Senator, and Confederate general's
remains rest in Hill Crest Cemetery.
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The Crosby Place
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Church
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Wakefield
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The photographs of the homes in this virtual tour are
but a small sampling of the antebellum treasures Holly Springs has to offer.
The map given to visitors who are interested in touring the historic sites
of this charming Southern town features over 66 points of interest. Holly
Springs is located just twenty-three miles south of La Grange, Tennessee
and well worth the trip along your Civil War explorations. If you happen
to find yourself there at lunch time, there's an historic two-story store,
located across from the depot, which serves up some mouth-watering burgers.
Or, if you're not one to find such an idea repelling, take a picnic lunch
to a shady bench in the Hill Crest Cemetery and sit a spell among the monuments
to the heroes of the Civil War.
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MAGAZINE: A NATION DIVIDED:
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