Macon County in the Civil War
Division and Conflict
During the Civil War, about 500 Macon County men served on each side. The Highland Rim ridge, as well as family loyalties, generally separated Confederates from Unionists.
Gibbs Crossroads, where Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg once had a headquarters, is among the county's war-related sites. Enlistment centers operated at the Epperson Springs Hotel and at the Webb Hotel in Red Boiling Springs, which was also the site of a hospital. The Federal provost marshal's office was located one block off the Lafayette square on Highway 10 South. Saltpeter, an essential component of gunpowder, was mined in caves in Oakdale and at the Saltpeter (Dancehall) Cave off Cave Hollow Road.
Three engagements took place in Macon County. On May 3, 1863, at Meadorville, four miles south of Lafayette on Highway 10, elements of two Federal units, the 11th Kentucky Infantry and 8th Kentucky Cavalry, fought Confederate guerrillas, killing two and capturing ten. At Gibbs Crossroads, on May 11, 100 men of the 14th Illinois Cavalry fought 125 of Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan's men. The Federals lost one officer and two privates wounded. Two Confederates were killed and several wounded. The next day, on the Akersville Road four miles east of Lafayette, Co. K, 5th Indiana Cavalry, encountered Confederate guerrillas and killed nine. Two Federals were wounded.
Macon County native Elvis Brooks Parker, who served in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry (US) was court-martialed for deserting a Confederate cavalry company under Gen. John Hunt Morgan. A firing squad executed Parker on August 23, 1862, at Morgan's camp at .... Woods near Hartsville.
Marker is on 201 County Courthouse.
Courtesy hmdb.org
