1st Lt, Polk's Battery, Tennessee Light Artillery CSA
Lt. Marsh was 25 years old when killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. He was serving on the Staff of Gen. O. F. Strahl when he was shot from his horse.
~
LT. JOHN HENRY MARSH, AGE 25, STAFF OFFICER
John was born in Chatham, North Carolina, but moved with his family to Hardeman County, Tennessee near Bolivar at a young age. He was a 22 year old cadet at West Point when Tennessee seceded, and he resigned and came home to enlist on May 21, 1861 in Captain Marsh T. Polk's Tennessee Artillery Battery as a 2nd Lieutenant. John Henry Marsh did not have to die at Franklin. His service to the Con¬federacy should have ended In 1863, but he refused to submit. This tenacity was a virtue, but he paid the ultimate price for patriotism on November 30, 1864. Marsh, the son of Daniel Hackney Marsh and Mary C. Smith Marsh, was born in North Carolina, but the family moved to Hardeman county, Tennessee, near Bolivar. He attend¬ed New Castle school under the tutelage of Otho French Strahl, the future Confederate General on whose staff Marsh would serve in 1864. In 1861 Marsh entered West Point, but returned home when Tennessee seceded.Marsh enlisted in the Confederate army on May 21, 1861, at Bolivar as a Second lieutenant in Marshall T. Polk's battery. The battery was engaged at the Battle of Shiloh ln April 1862 where Captain Polk lost a leg¬. By the time the Army of Tennessee moved northward for the 1862 Kentucky campaign, Marsh was in command of Phillips' Battery. Later the same year, the battery was con¬solidated with Scott's Battery and Marsh commanded the newly formed organization at the Battle of Murfreesboro.In the fall of 1863 the Confederate army engaged the Federal forces on the banks of the Chickamauga Creek. Marsh was wound¬ed during the battle by a Minnie ball which passed through his left arm. The official report of the battle stated that the wound was sustained while Marsh was "gallantly cheering¬ on his men and inspiring them by his own distinguished coolness and heroism. The wound was so severe that he could not be removed from the field. Chaplain Charles T. Quintard, later Episcopal Bishop of Ten¬nessee, erected a tent over Marsh and nursed him until he could be moved to a hospital at Marietta, Georgia. Marsh's wound paralyzed his left arm and he suffered greatly during the following months. During the recuperation period, he became deeply concerned with religious mat¬ters. Quintard ministered to the wounded soldier's spiritual needs and presided over his baptism on February 22, 1864. Knowing that it would be painful for him to kneel while be¬ing baptized, Quintard instructed Marsh to remain seated in his chair. "No," he said. "Let me kneel; let me kneel."Marsh's wounds rendered him unfit for field duty and he was granted an honorable discharge. However, upon recommendation of six General officers, he was appointed as a First Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States and assigned to the staff of his boyhood mentor, General O.F. Strahl. Prior to assuming his new command, Marsh returned to west Tennessee to visit his widowed Mother. His family and friends were shocked by his shrunken and useless left arm, but more alarmed when Marsh refused their pleas not to return to active service. "My country needs me now more than ever and I must go." Marsh arrived in Atlanta a few days before the fall of the city and became an active participant in Hood's Tennessee campaign.As Strahl's brigade deployed to the left of Columbia Pike at Franklin in the late after¬noon of November 30, many Confederate soldiers knew they would not see the next day.. General Strahl apparently was one of these men. He gave his horse, Lady Polk, to Chaplain Quintard and withdrew a short distance from the men apparently in deep thought. One soldier observed that the General " ... was quiet and there was an ex¬pression of sadness upon his face."Marsh rode forward on a white horse with the brigade. He wore an old red-trimmed artillery jacket as a badge of honor and as a reminder of brighter days in the army. He rode to within three hundred yards of the Federal breastworks. A sergeant in Strahl"s brigade wrote that as Marsh moved forward "[t]here was in his face an indescribable expression-while animated and rather play¬ful, there was mingled in its heroic action evidence that he was on the brink of eter¬nity." He was still proudly wearing his old artillery jacket with the bright red trim when killed. He was last seen to have looked back with an expression of "anxiety and appointment" on his face. His white horse was shot from under him and both horse and rider were terrible mangled by bullets. His body was found shortly after the battle about 300 yards from the breastworks. He was laid next to Generals Strahl, Cleburne, Adams, and Granbury on the veranda of the "Carnton" Mansion, a battle flag covering his remains. He and the Generals were taken by Reverend Quintard to Ashwood Church Cemetery near Columbia, Tennessee and he was laid to rest next to his lifelong friend, Gen. Strahl.After the war, Quintard sold the horse given to him by General Strahl prior to the Battle of Franklin and commissioned a stain¬ed glass window for St. James Church at Bolivar in honor of General Strahl and Lieute¬nant Marsh as an eternal remembrance.Research by Tim BurgessHendersonville, Tennessee
Lt. Marsh was 25 years old when killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. He was serving on the Staff of Gen. O. F. Strahl when he was shot from his horse.
~
LT. JOHN HENRY MARSH, AGE 25, STAFF OFFICER
John was born in Chatham, North Carolina, but moved with his family to Hardeman County, Tennessee near Bolivar at a young age. He was a 22 year old cadet at West Point when Tennessee seceded, and he resigned and came home to enlist on May 21, 1861 in Captain Marsh T. Polk's Tennessee Artillery Battery as a 2nd Lieutenant. John Henry Marsh did not have to die at Franklin. His service to the Con¬federacy should have ended In 1863, but he refused to submit. This tenacity was a virtue, but he paid the ultimate price for patriotism on November 30, 1864. Marsh, the son of Daniel Hackney Marsh and Mary C. Smith Marsh, was born in North Carolina, but the family moved to Hardeman county, Tennessee, near Bolivar. He attend¬ed New Castle school under the tutelage of Otho French Strahl, the future Confederate General on whose staff Marsh would serve in 1864. In 1861 Marsh entered West Point, but returned home when Tennessee seceded.Marsh enlisted in the Confederate army on May 21, 1861, at Bolivar as a Second lieutenant in Marshall T. Polk's battery. The battery was engaged at the Battle of Shiloh ln April 1862 where Captain Polk lost a leg¬. By the time the Army of Tennessee moved northward for the 1862 Kentucky campaign, Marsh was in command of Phillips' Battery. Later the same year, the battery was con¬solidated with Scott's Battery and Marsh commanded the newly formed organization at the Battle of Murfreesboro.In the fall of 1863 the Confederate army engaged the Federal forces on the banks of the Chickamauga Creek. Marsh was wound¬ed during the battle by a Minnie ball which passed through his left arm. The official report of the battle stated that the wound was sustained while Marsh was "gallantly cheering¬ on his men and inspiring them by his own distinguished coolness and heroism. The wound was so severe that he could not be removed from the field. Chaplain Charles T. Quintard, later Episcopal Bishop of Ten¬nessee, erected a tent over Marsh and nursed him until he could be moved to a hospital at Marietta, Georgia. Marsh's wound paralyzed his left arm and he suffered greatly during the following months. During the recuperation period, he became deeply concerned with religious mat¬ters. Quintard ministered to the wounded soldier's spiritual needs and presided over his baptism on February 22, 1864. Knowing that it would be painful for him to kneel while be¬ing baptized, Quintard instructed Marsh to remain seated in his chair. "No," he said. "Let me kneel; let me kneel."Marsh's wounds rendered him unfit for field duty and he was granted an honorable discharge. However, upon recommendation of six General officers, he was appointed as a First Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States and assigned to the staff of his boyhood mentor, General O.F. Strahl. Prior to assuming his new command, Marsh returned to west Tennessee to visit his widowed Mother. His family and friends were shocked by his shrunken and useless left arm, but more alarmed when Marsh refused their pleas not to return to active service. "My country needs me now more than ever and I must go." Marsh arrived in Atlanta a few days before the fall of the city and became an active participant in Hood's Tennessee campaign.As Strahl's brigade deployed to the left of Columbia Pike at Franklin in the late after¬noon of November 30, many Confederate soldiers knew they would not see the next day.. General Strahl apparently was one of these men. He gave his horse, Lady Polk, to Chaplain Quintard and withdrew a short distance from the men apparently in deep thought. One soldier observed that the General " ... was quiet and there was an ex¬pression of sadness upon his face."Marsh rode forward on a white horse with the brigade. He wore an old red-trimmed artillery jacket as a badge of honor and as a reminder of brighter days in the army. He rode to within three hundred yards of the Federal breastworks. A sergeant in Strahl"s brigade wrote that as Marsh moved forward "[t]here was in his face an indescribable expression-while animated and rather play¬ful, there was mingled in its heroic action evidence that he was on the brink of eter¬nity." He was still proudly wearing his old artillery jacket with the bright red trim when killed. He was last seen to have looked back with an expression of "anxiety and appointment" on his face. His white horse was shot from under him and both horse and rider were terrible mangled by bullets. His body was found shortly after the battle about 300 yards from the breastworks. He was laid next to Generals Strahl, Cleburne, Adams, and Granbury on the veranda of the "Carnton" Mansion, a battle flag covering his remains. He and the Generals were taken by Reverend Quintard to Ashwood Church Cemetery near Columbia, Tennessee and he was laid to rest next to his lifelong friend, Gen. Strahl.After the war, Quintard sold the horse given to him by General Strahl prior to the Battle of Franklin and commissioned a stain¬ed glass window for St. James Church at Bolivar in honor of General Strahl and Lieute¬nant Marsh as an eternal remembrance.Research by Tim BurgessHendersonville, Tennessee
1st Lt, Polk's Battery, Tennessee Light Artillery CSA
Lt. Marsh was 25 years old when killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. He was serving on the Staff of Gen. O. F. Strahl when he was shot from his horse.
~
LT. JOHN HENRY MARSH, AGE 25, STAFF OFFICER
John was born in Chatham, North Carolina, but moved with his family to Hardeman County, Tennessee near Bolivar at a young age. He was a 22 year old cadet at West Point when Tennessee seceded, and he resigned and came home to enlist on May 21, 1861 in Captain Marsh T. Polk's Tennessee Artillery Battery as a 2nd Lieutenant. John Henry Marsh did not have to die at Franklin. His service to the Con¬federacy should have ended In 1863, but he refused to submit. This tenacity was a virtue, but he paid the ultimate price for patriotism on November 30, 1864. Marsh, the son of Daniel Hackney Marsh and Mary C. Smith Marsh, was born in North Carolina, but the family moved to Hardeman county, Tennessee, near Bolivar. He attend¬ed New Castle school under the tutelage of Otho French Strahl, the future Confederate General on whose staff Marsh would serve in 1864. In 1861 Marsh entered West Point, but returned home when Tennessee seceded.Marsh enlisted in the Confederate army on May 21, 1861, at Bolivar as a Second lieutenant in Marshall T. Polk's battery. The battery was engaged at the Battle of Shiloh ln April 1862 where Captain Polk lost a leg¬. By the time the Army of Tennessee moved northward for the 1862 Kentucky campaign, Marsh was in command of Phillips' Battery. Later the same year, the battery was con¬solidated with Scott's Battery and Marsh commanded the newly formed organization at the Battle of Murfreesboro.In the fall of 1863 the Confederate army engaged the Federal forces on the banks of the Chickamauga Creek. Marsh was wound¬ed during the battle by a Minnie ball which passed through his left arm. The official report of the battle stated that the wound was sustained while Marsh was "gallantly cheering¬ on his men and inspiring them by his own distinguished coolness and heroism. The wound was so severe that he could not be removed from the field. Chaplain Charles T. Quintard, later Episcopal Bishop of Ten¬nessee, erected a tent over Marsh and nursed him until he could be moved to a hospital at Marietta, Georgia. Marsh's wound paralyzed his left arm and he suffered greatly during the following months. During the recuperation period, he became deeply concerned with religious mat¬ters. Quintard ministered to the wounded soldier's spiritual needs and presided over his baptism on February 22, 1864. Knowing that it would be painful for him to kneel while be¬ing baptized, Quintard instructed Marsh to remain seated in his chair. "No," he said. "Let me kneel; let me kneel."Marsh's wounds rendered him unfit for field duty and he was granted an honorable discharge. However, upon recommendation of six General officers, he was appointed as a First Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States and assigned to the staff of his boyhood mentor, General O.F. Strahl. Prior to assuming his new command, Marsh returned to west Tennessee to visit his widowed Mother. His family and friends were shocked by his shrunken and useless left arm, but more alarmed when Marsh refused their pleas not to return to active service. "My country needs me now more than ever and I must go." Marsh arrived in Atlanta a few days before the fall of the city and became an active participant in Hood's Tennessee campaign.As Strahl's brigade deployed to the left of Columbia Pike at Franklin in the late after¬noon of November 30, many Confederate soldiers knew they would not see the next day.. General Strahl apparently was one of these men. He gave his horse, Lady Polk, to Chaplain Quintard and withdrew a short distance from the men apparently in deep thought. One soldier observed that the General " ... was quiet and there was an ex¬pression of sadness upon his face."Marsh rode forward on a white horse with the brigade. He wore an old red-trimmed artillery jacket as a badge of honor and as a reminder of brighter days in the army. He rode to within three hundred yards of the Federal breastworks. A sergeant in Strahl"s brigade wrote that as Marsh moved forward "[t]here was in his face an indescribable expression-while animated and rather play¬ful, there was mingled in its heroic action evidence that he was on the brink of eter¬nity." He was still proudly wearing his old artillery jacket with the bright red trim when killed. He was last seen to have looked back with an expression of "anxiety and appointment" on his face. His white horse was shot from under him and both horse and rider were terrible mangled by bullets. His body was found shortly after the battle about 300 yards from the breastworks. He was laid next to Generals Strahl, Cleburne, Adams, and Granbury on the veranda of the "Carnton" Mansion, a battle flag covering his remains. He and the Generals were taken by Reverend Quintard to Ashwood Church Cemetery near Columbia, Tennessee and he was laid to rest next to his lifelong friend, Gen. Strahl.After the war, Quintard sold the horse given to him by General Strahl prior to the Battle of Franklin and commissioned a stain¬ed glass window for St. James Church at Bolivar in honor of General Strahl and Lieute¬nant Marsh as an eternal remembrance.Research by Tim BurgessHendersonville, Tennessee
Lt. Marsh was 25 years old when killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864. He was serving on the Staff of Gen. O. F. Strahl when he was shot from his horse.
~
LT. JOHN HENRY MARSH, AGE 25, STAFF OFFICER
John was born in Chatham, North Carolina, but moved with his family to Hardeman County, Tennessee near Bolivar at a young age. He was a 22 year old cadet at West Point when Tennessee seceded, and he resigned and came home to enlist on May 21, 1861 in Captain Marsh T. Polk's Tennessee Artillery Battery as a 2nd Lieutenant. John Henry Marsh did not have to die at Franklin. His service to the Con¬federacy should have ended In 1863, but he refused to submit. This tenacity was a virtue, but he paid the ultimate price for patriotism on November 30, 1864. Marsh, the son of Daniel Hackney Marsh and Mary C. Smith Marsh, was born in North Carolina, but the family moved to Hardeman county, Tennessee, near Bolivar. He attend¬ed New Castle school under the tutelage of Otho French Strahl, the future Confederate General on whose staff Marsh would serve in 1864. In 1861 Marsh entered West Point, but returned home when Tennessee seceded.Marsh enlisted in the Confederate army on May 21, 1861, at Bolivar as a Second lieutenant in Marshall T. Polk's battery. The battery was engaged at the Battle of Shiloh ln April 1862 where Captain Polk lost a leg¬. By the time the Army of Tennessee moved northward for the 1862 Kentucky campaign, Marsh was in command of Phillips' Battery. Later the same year, the battery was con¬solidated with Scott's Battery and Marsh commanded the newly formed organization at the Battle of Murfreesboro.In the fall of 1863 the Confederate army engaged the Federal forces on the banks of the Chickamauga Creek. Marsh was wound¬ed during the battle by a Minnie ball which passed through his left arm. The official report of the battle stated that the wound was sustained while Marsh was "gallantly cheering¬ on his men and inspiring them by his own distinguished coolness and heroism. The wound was so severe that he could not be removed from the field. Chaplain Charles T. Quintard, later Episcopal Bishop of Ten¬nessee, erected a tent over Marsh and nursed him until he could be moved to a hospital at Marietta, Georgia. Marsh's wound paralyzed his left arm and he suffered greatly during the following months. During the recuperation period, he became deeply concerned with religious mat¬ters. Quintard ministered to the wounded soldier's spiritual needs and presided over his baptism on February 22, 1864. Knowing that it would be painful for him to kneel while be¬ing baptized, Quintard instructed Marsh to remain seated in his chair. "No," he said. "Let me kneel; let me kneel."Marsh's wounds rendered him unfit for field duty and he was granted an honorable discharge. However, upon recommendation of six General officers, he was appointed as a First Lieutenant in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States and assigned to the staff of his boyhood mentor, General O.F. Strahl. Prior to assuming his new command, Marsh returned to west Tennessee to visit his widowed Mother. His family and friends were shocked by his shrunken and useless left arm, but more alarmed when Marsh refused their pleas not to return to active service. "My country needs me now more than ever and I must go." Marsh arrived in Atlanta a few days before the fall of the city and became an active participant in Hood's Tennessee campaign.As Strahl's brigade deployed to the left of Columbia Pike at Franklin in the late after¬noon of November 30, many Confederate soldiers knew they would not see the next day.. General Strahl apparently was one of these men. He gave his horse, Lady Polk, to Chaplain Quintard and withdrew a short distance from the men apparently in deep thought. One soldier observed that the General " ... was quiet and there was an ex¬pression of sadness upon his face."Marsh rode forward on a white horse with the brigade. He wore an old red-trimmed artillery jacket as a badge of honor and as a reminder of brighter days in the army. He rode to within three hundred yards of the Federal breastworks. A sergeant in Strahl"s brigade wrote that as Marsh moved forward "[t]here was in his face an indescribable expression-while animated and rather play¬ful, there was mingled in its heroic action evidence that he was on the brink of eter¬nity." He was still proudly wearing his old artillery jacket with the bright red trim when killed. He was last seen to have looked back with an expression of "anxiety and appointment" on his face. His white horse was shot from under him and both horse and rider were terrible mangled by bullets. His body was found shortly after the battle about 300 yards from the breastworks. He was laid next to Generals Strahl, Cleburne, Adams, and Granbury on the veranda of the "Carnton" Mansion, a battle flag covering his remains. He and the Generals were taken by Reverend Quintard to Ashwood Church Cemetery near Columbia, Tennessee and he was laid to rest next to his lifelong friend, Gen. Strahl.After the war, Quintard sold the horse given to him by General Strahl prior to the Battle of Franklin and commissioned a stain¬ed glass window for St. James Church at Bolivar in honor of General Strahl and Lieute¬nant Marsh as an eternal remembrance.Research by Tim BurgessHendersonville, Tennessee
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
