Brigadier General John C. Vaughn, P.A.C.S.
Brigadier General John C. Vaughn was born in Grayson County, Va.,
February 24, 1824. His family soon after moved to Tennessee and settled
in Monroe County, where his youth and early manhood were passed. As
soon as he was old enough to be elected to an office, he was chosen to a
position of importance in his county. Although that section of the State has
been noted for heated political strife, the people of Monroe county always
stood by him. When the United States became involved in the war with
Mexico, young Vaughn entered the Fifth Tennessee volunteers as a captain
and served throughout the war. At its close he returned to his home in east
Tennessee and became a merchant in the little village of Sweetwater. He
was frequently placed in responsible positions by his fellow citizens. He
was in Charleston, S.C., at the commencement of the Confederate war, and
participated in the opening of the bloodiest drama of modern times.
Returning to east Tennessee, after the capture of Fort Sumter, he raised a
company in Monroe County and aided in the organization of a regiment in
Knoxville, of which he was elected colonel. It is said that this was really
the first Tennessee regiment raised, but that the colonels of two other
regiments reached Richmond first and offered their commands to the
Confederate government. Thus Colonel Vaughn's regiment was numbered
the Third Tennessee. The State of Tennessee having not yet seceded,
Colonel Vaughn took his men to Lynchburg, Va., where they were mustered
into the Confederate service on the 6th of June, and ordered to report to
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, then at Harper's Ferry. His command was
stationed for a time at Romney [West Virginia]. With a detachment of his
own regiment and two companies of the Thirteenth Virginia, Colonel
Vaughn dispersed a body of the enemy at New Creek bridge [West Virginia],
on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and captured two pieces of artillery, the
first taken by the Confederates in the field. The regiment was subsequently
attached to Kirby Smith's brigade and participated in the first battle of
Manassas, [Virginia]. In the spring of 1862 Colonel Vaughn was ordered to
east Tennessee. On September 20, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-
general, and in the winter following was sent with his brigade of East
Tennesseans to Vicksburg, [Mississippi] where he assisted in repelling
Sherman's attack in December. During the long and tedious siege of that
important post in 1863, Vaughn was in command of the upper defenses of
the city. At last, worn out and decimated, his brigade was surrendered with
the rest of Pemberton's army, July 4, 1863. General Vaughn was soon
exchanged, and sent with a brigade of mounted men to operate in east
Tennessee and southwest Virginia. When General Hunter began his march
against Lee's communications in 1864, Vaughn assisted in repelling his
advance. In the performance of this duty he was engaged in the battle of
Piedmont, and after the death of General [William E. "Grumble"] Jones
assumed command and brought off the shattered forces successfully. He
was with Early in his successful campaign against Hunter, and in the last
advance in Maryland and the valley of Virginia. Being wounded near
Martinsburg, [West Virginia] he was furloughed and returned to Bristol,
Tenn. After the death of John H. Morgan, he took command of the forces
in east Tennessee. When Lee surrendered, Vaughn's command was at
Christiansburg [Virginia] confronting Stoneman. On hearing the news he
formed his war-worn Confederates in line and told them that the army of
Northern Virginia had surrendered, but that if they would follow him, he
would join Joe Johnston in North Carolina. The men who had followed their
leader through four weary years, once more turned their backs upon their
homes, cut down their artillery, destroyed their baggage wagons and
marched into North Carolina. After the surrendered of Joe Johnston,
General Vaughn's troops formed part of the escort of President Davis in his
attempt to make his way to the Trans-Mississippi department, and at
Abbeville, S.C., Vaughn was one of the five brigade commanders who took
part in the last council of war held by President Davis. At the close of the
war General Vaughn went to south Georgia. He afterward returned to
Tennessee and was elected to the state Senate, of which he was made
presiding officer. At the close of his term he returned to south Georgia,
where he remained until his death, being engaged either as a merchant at
Thomasville [Georgia] or in planting. He died at his residence in Brooks
County, Ga., August 10, 1875.
Source: Evans, Clement, ed. Confederate Military History, Vol.
VIII, Confederate Publishing Company, Atlanta, GA, 1899
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