By Dale Welch
Alvan Cullom Gillem, named for an Overton County judge, slave owner and U.S. Congressman Alvin Cullom, was a Union general who hailed from Putnam County. In his short 45 years, he was a fierce fighter of Confederates all over the south to Native Americans from Florida to California.
Gillem was born on July 2, 1830, in Gainesboro, TN. His father was a hatter in town. After Gillem’s mother died, his father remarried and moved to a farm in what is now Putnam County.
Graduating 11th in his class at West Point, in 1851, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and sent to fight in an artillery battery, fighting Seminole Indians, in Florida and afterward, he was sent to Texas.
He spent most of the rest of his short life in a war somewhere.
When the Civil War began, Gillem remained loyal to the Union. He served in Gen George Thomas’ Army of the Ohio as a captain and as chief quartermaster. During the Battle of Mill Springs, KY, he was brevetted as a major for gallantry in the battle. This wouldn’t be the last time he would display his bravery.
Gillem was soon appointed as colonel of the 10th Tennessee Infantry, as the Union Army occupied Nashville. He also became the provost marshal. By mid-1863, Gillem was a brigadier and adjutant general, while in charge of guarding the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad.
In a campaign into East Tennessee, Gillem’s troops surprised and allegedly killed Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, in Greenville, TN, the hometown of Military Governor Andrew Johnson. A month later, Gen. Gillem’s troops routed Confederate Gen. John C. Vaughn’s troops, in the Battle of Morristown, TN. The incident was called “Vaughn’s Stampede.”
A couple of weeks later, Gen. Gillem found out that he couldn’t win them all. Gen. Vaughn, under Gen. John C. Breckinridge, routed Gen Gillem’s troops at the Battle of Bull’s Gap, TN. Gen. Gillem retreated to Strawberry Plains, TN, in what was called “Gillem’s Stampede.”
In action around Marion, VA, Gen. Gilllem was once again noted for his bravery and brevetted as a colonel in the regular Federal Army.
Just prior to the end of the war, Gillem served as the vice-president of a convention to revise the Tennessee State Constitution. Over 500 Unionists met in Nashville. The group was hopeful of returning the state into the Union. Gillem was elected to the legislature that ratified the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery.
As the war concluded, Gillem commanded a U.S. Cavalry unit, in East Tennessee They participated in an expedition into North Carolina where they destroyed a Confederate prison and other fortifications in Salisbury, NC. Once again, for his bravery, he was brevetted as a major general.
During Reconstruction, Gilllem was assigned as commander of the Fourth Military District as a part of the Federal occupation. Headquartered in Vicksburg, MS, it covered Mississippi and Arkansas. He was often at odds with the Radical Republicans in Congress for being too soft on ex-Confederates. When Ulysses S. Grant was elected as president, Gillem was reassigned to Texas and California.
In California by 1873, Gillem and his troops were battling the Modoc Indians. Gillem sent a scouting party out ahead to look for the Indians, but while the party had stopped to eat, the Modoc found them first and soundly defeated them. Gillem was removed from command and Gen. Jefferson C. Davis was placed in charge.
Gillem’s health was failing him by 1875. He decided to head back to Tennessee. At the young age of 45, he died on Dec. 2, 1875 at the Soldiers Rest Home, in Nashville. He is buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery, in Nashville.
Gen. Alvan Cullom Gillem’s legacy lived on for generations. In 1855, he married Martha Jones, of Virginia. The couple had two children. His son, Alvan Cullom Gillem was commissioned as a captain and retired as s colonel. His grandson, also named Alvan Cullom Gillem started as a private. fighting through World War I and World War II and retired as a lieutenant general leading the Third Army.
Who knows what can become of a hatter’s son?
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