The cottage, built in 1923 to house the school principal, is a block away from the town’s little Civil War Village, a collection of antique shops and restaurants, and a half-mile from the old prison. Ms. Sheppard personally delivers breakfast.
Address: 111 Oglethorpe St. (PO Box 26), Andersonville, GA 31711; tel: 912-924-1044 or 912-924-2558.
Accommodations: Two double rooms with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, fireplaces, ceiling fans and TV in each room. Refrigerator and coffee-maker.
Rates: $, including continental breakfast. No credit cards but personal checks accepted.
Restrictions: No pets.
ALABAMA
First White House of the Confederacy
Montgomery, Alabama
This 1835 simple two-story white frame house was the residence of provisional president Jefferson Davis and his family during the three months that Montgomery was the capital of the Confederacy. In 1921 the house was moved from its original location at Bibb and Lee Streets to a site across from the state capitol. Now a Confederate museum, it contains period furnishings, Confederate mementos, and many personal belongings and paintings of the Davis family.
From I-85 take the Union St. exit, go four blocks to Washington St., and turn left. It is the first house on the left. The house, 644 Washington Ave., is open Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:30. Admission is free. For information phone 334-242-1861.
A bronze star between the columns of the State Capitol, 468 S. Perry St., marks the spot where Davis was inaugurated president of the Confederacy on February 18, 1861.
Plantation House Inn
Prattville, Alabama
Ten miles from the old Confederate capital of Montgomery is Prattville and the Plantation House Inn. It is an 1832 clapboard Greek revival house, tucked away among 150-year-old trees on land that was originally part of a grant from Andrew Jackson.
Some of Sherman’s troops were active in this area but probably rode right by without seeing the house. Be careful or you’ll do the same, and it would be a shame if you did. The house is old-timey, with huge bedrooms, nine fireplaces, and mahogany doors and moldings.
In 1989 the structure survived a devastating fire and was restored and updated by innkeepers John and Bernice Hughes, with a new kitchen and breakfast area.
Address: 752 Loder St., Prattville, AL 36067; tel: 295-361-0442.
Accommodations: Three rooms, one with private bath.
Amenities: Central air-conditioning, off-street parking, phones and cable TV in rooms, swimming pool.
Rates: $$, including full breakfast. No credit cards, but personal checks accepted.
Restrictions: Special arrangements for children under twelve necessary, no pets, no smoking.
Red Bluff Cottage
Montgomery, Alabama
Moving the Confederate capital to Richmond did not spare Montgomery from the ravages of war. Wilson’s raiders entered the city on April 12, 1865, and retreating rebels burned the city’s cotton stores. The raiders then demolished whatever industrial facilities might have served the South, leaving the city in shambles.
Some of the ancestors of the innkeepers, Mark and Anne Waldo, fought in the war, and some of their belongings may be seen in the inn today. The inn is a re-creation of a traditional Low Country Raised Cottage, furnished with antiques and period reproductions.
Local attractions, which the Waldos will direct you to, include St. John’s Episcopal Church, where you will see the pew used by the Jefferson Davises; the Teague House, a mansion used as the headquarters for Union general James H. Wilson after his raiders occupied the city; and Old Alabama Town, a collection of historic structures, many of them dating from before the war.
Address: PO Box 1026, 551 Clay St., Montgomery, AL 36101; tel: 334-264-0056; fax: 334-263-3054; E-mail: [email protected].
Accommodations: Four double rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking.
Rates: $$. All major credit cards and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, no smoking.
Malaga Inn
Mobile, Alabama
The Confederacy seemed to be winning the war in 1862 when two merchants, who were brothers-in-law, built matching town houses next door to one another on a tree-lined street near Mobile Bay. Their fortunes took a turn for the worse when Admiral David Farragut steamed his fleet into the bay on August 5, 1864, shouting, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
A century or so later, the houses were acquired by Mayme Sinclair, a local realtor, who joined the houses by adding a central entrance, patio, and garden to create the Malaga Inn, which she named for Mobile’s sister city in Spain. The inn is now operated by Julie Beem. The rooms are furnished in period antiques; the restaurant, Mayme’s, serves up delicious regional specialties; and the surrounding historical district invites strolling.
Address: 359 Church St., Mobile, AL 36602; tel: 334-438-4701 and 800-235-1586.
Accommodations: Thirty-eight double rooms and three suites.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, phones and TV in rooms, restaurant on premises, swimming pool.
Rates: $$. All major credit cards except Diners Club and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, restricted smoking.
Grace Hall
Selma, Alabama
Before the war Selma had a plantation aristocracy second to none. Planters vied to see who could build the grandest mansion and breed the fastest thoroughbreds. During the war it became a major Confederate munitions and manufacturing center, and the Union army wanted to put it out of business.
On April 2, 1865, General James H. Wilson’s raiders captured the city, and looted and burned it. The naval foundry, rolling mill, powder works, and arsenal were destroyed.
Some antebellum mansions survived, however, including Grace Hall, known locally as the 1857 Ware-Baker-Jones House for the three families who lived here for more than 110 years. Owners Coy and Joey Dillon restored the house and wandered into the hospitality business when the mayor asked them to put up a visiting dignitary.
The house has double parlors, a library with a pressed-tin ceiling, heart-of-pine floors, ten-foot-tall windows, and brass chandeliers. The bedrooms have marble fireplaces, carved step-up rosewood beds, and enameled clocks.
Address: 506 Lauderdale St., Selma, AL 36701; tel: 334-875-5744; fax: 334-875-9967; E-mail: coyethelink.com.
Accommodations: Six double rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, phones and cable TV in rooms, house tour.
Rates: $$. All credit cards and personal checks.
Restrictions: Pets by prior approval, restricted smoking.
MISSISSIPPI
Beauvoir
Biloxi, Mississippi
Jefferson Davis and his family spent the last ten years of his life at this estate on the Gulf of Mexico. After his release from imprisonment at Fort Monroe, Virginia, he accepted the offer of Mrs. Sarah Dorsey, a family friend, to stay at Beauvoir, so named for its beautiful view of the Gulf.
At first Davis stayed in a cottage on the grounds, then two years later he purchased the property and was joined by his wife, Varina, and daughter Winnie. It was here that he wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.
After Davis’s death, Beauvoir was used as a rest home for Confederate veterans, many of whom are buried in a cemetery on the grounds. Also in the cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier.
Beauvoir, 2244 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, MS 39531, is open September through March, daily, 9:00-4:00; April through August, daily, 9:00-5:00. A museum contains mementos of Davis’s public life and Confederate artifacts. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $6.75 for seniors, active military personnel, and AAA members, and $4.50 for students six to sixteen, free for children under six. For information phone 601-388-1313.
Brice’s Cross Roads and Tupelo Battlefields
Baldwyn and Tu
pelo, Mississippi
They were minor battles, skirmishes really, remembered chiefly because they demonstrated the military genius of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the most feared of all Confederate cavalry leaders.
Forrest was born in poverty, educated himself, became a successful slave trader and plantation owner, joined the army as a private, rose to the rank of lieutenant general, and is best remembered for his philosophy of warfare: “War means fightin’ and fightin’ means killin’.” He applied this belief with imagination and ferocity.
He became famous early in the war. He led his regiment through Grant’s lines to escape from Fort Donelson. Time after time, he led successful raids behind enemy lines. But he was far more than a raider, which he clearly demonstrated at Brice’s Cross Roads. There, in a head-on engagement, he inflicted one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of the U.S. Army.
In the spring of 1864, as General William T. Sherman drove his army south toward Atlanta, Forrest repeatedly struck at his supply line. Sherman sent General Samuel Sturgis with eight thousand troops into Mississippi to stop Forrest. Learning of this, Forrest concentrated his 3,500 troopers along the railroad near Brice’s Cross Roads.
On the morning of June 10, 1864, Forrest surprised Sturgis, sending the Union force into a chaotic retreat toward Memphis. Forrest doggedly pursued the Union force for twenty-two miles. Sturgis lost 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 623 captured. Forrest captured sixteen of his eighteen guns, and the entire train of 250 vehicles, complete with 184 horses, rations, and ammunition.
The next month, Sherman gave orders “to make up a force and go out to follow Forrest to the death, if it costs $10,000 and breaks the Treasury.” With fourteen thousand men, General A. J. Smith marched to Tupelo and built strong defensive works.
Forrest attacked Smith’s position on July 14 but took heavy losses, and suffered a painful wound in the foot. Although holding the advantage, Smith, fearful that he was running out of supplies, lost his nerve and ordered a retreat.
After the war, Sherman summed up the accomplishments of the brilliant field commander: “I think Forrest was the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side.”
Brice’s Cross Roads Battlefield is six miles west of Baldwyn on MS 340, and twenty-five miles southwest of Tupelo. The park is small, but affords a view of much of the scene of action. There are no facilities at the park.
Tupelo National Battlefield has not been preserved but the engagement is commemorated at the one-acre park. Here the Confederates formed to attack the Union position. It is on Rte. 6, about a mile west of the intersection with U.S. 45. The park is unmanned, but at the Tupelo Visitor Center, a mile west of the battlefield, interpreters answer questions about the battle. (A more popular historic site in Tupelo is the house where Elvis Presley was born.) For information phone 601-680-4025 or 800-305-7417.
South of Tupelo, between West Point and Columbus on Hwy 50, is the Waverley Plantation Mansion, a National Historic Landmark Greek revival home. General Nathan Bedford Forrest was a friend and frequent visitor of the owner, Colonel George Hampton Young. During the war, Forrest spent three weeks recuperating here, living in the Egyptian Room and using it as his headquarters. Waverley has twenty acres of landscaped gardens with peacocks and black swans. Open daily; hours are seasonal. Admission is $7.50 for adults, children under six free. For information phone 601-494-1399.
The Mockingbird Inn
Tupelo, Mississippi
The Mockingbird Inn is a good place to make your headquarters in this interesting area. Innkeepers Jim and Sandy Gilmer named the inn after the state bird and decorated their guest rooms to suggest their favorite places—Mackinac Island, Paris, Athens, Venice, Africa, Florida, and Bavaria. The big house is comfortable and conveniently located, and breakfast is a joy.
The Tupelo battlefield is not preserved, but the one-acre Tupelo National Battlefield commemorates the engagement. (Rte. 6; 601-842-1572.) Also of interest is the Tupelo Museum (Rte. 6, 601-841-6438), which exhibits Civil War weapons and relics, archaeological finds, Indian artifacts, a log cabin, and other examples of indigenous architecture, including a one-room schoolhouse and a country store.
Address: 305 N. Gloster St., Tupelo, MS 38801; tel: 601-841-0286; fax: 601-840-4158.
Accommodations: Seven double rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, phones and cable TV in rooms.
Rates: $$. Visa, MasterCard, and personal checks.
Restrictions: No children under ten, no smoking.
Curlee House
Corinth, Mississippi
Generals favored this handsome 1857 Victorian house. At various times, Braxton Bragg, John Bell Hood, and Henry Halleck used it as their headquarters. Now restored, the house is a museum containing antebellum furniture, decorative objects, and Civil War memorabilia. The Corinth Civil War Visitor Center is located at the rear of the house.
Before the occupation of Corinth, General P. G. T. Beauregard stayed at the 1856 Fish Pond House, 708 Kilpatrick St., which now is a private home. General Albert S. Johnston, who was mortally wounded at Shiloh, made his headquarters at Rose Cottage, U.S. 45 at Fillmore St., and his body was brought here to lie in state after the battle. Rose Cottage also is a private home.
In the Battle of Corinth, General Beauregard, realizing how badly his Confederates were outnumbered, ordered a nighttime evacuation by railroad south toward Tupelo. To fool the Federals, when the empty trains rolled into town for the evacuation, the rebels cheered and bugles sounded as if reinforcements had arrived. The next morning the Federals found an empty town.
The Confederates attempted to recapture Corinth the following October, but were repulsed, with heavy casualties. Battery Robinette, on W. Linden St., was the site of the heaviest fighting.
The Curlee House, 705 Jackson St., is open daily; hours are seasonal. Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for children. For information phone 601-287-9501.
The General’s Quarters
Corinth, Mississippi
The junction of two major railroads made this northeastern Mississippi town an important transit point for Confederate troops and supplies. In May 1862, more than 128,000 Federal troops surrounded the town, and the badly outnumbered Confederates left by train for Tupelo. That fall a Confederate attempt to retake the town was thrown back with heavy casualties.
This comfortable Victorian house wasn’t built until 1870, but it is in the heart of the town’s historic district, and Shiloh is just twenty-two miles to the north. Luke and Charlotte Doehner have decorated their inn tastefully with period antiques, and with advance notice will prepare dinner for guests. The self-guided Historic Corinth Walking Tour is a must. Pick up a map at the Visitors Center at the rear of the Curlee House, just down the street from the inn.
Address: 924 Fillmore St., Corinth, MS 38834; tel: 601-286-3325; fax: 601-287-8188.
Accommodations: Five double rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, on-premise parking, phones and TV in guest rooms, laundry service, in-room computer hookups, dinner and picnic lunches available (extra charge), lawn tennis and croquet, concierge services.
Rates: $$, including full breakfast. Visa, Mastercard, Discover.
Restrictions: No children under ten, no pets, no smoking.
Millsaps Buie House
Jackson, Mississippi
This Queen Anne-style mansion was the home of Reuben Webster Millsaps, a twice-wounded Confederate major, banker, financier, and founder of Millsaps College. It was designed by William Nichols, the architect of the Governor’s Mansion. It comes as a surprise to learn that when the house was built in 1888, Jackson had a population of only 5,000, not its current 400,000.
The house is furnished beautifully. In the parlor is a French “courting bench” and pier mirrors capture images of the grand piano. Guest rooms have period antiques, including canopy beds, rosewood chairs, and marble-top tables. TVs are concealed in ol
d armoires. Business travelers often stop here, and the phones in the rooms have computer dataports.
There’s a lot of history nearby. Trenches and cannon may be seen in Battlefield Park, at Langley St. and Terry Rd. In 1863, after Sherman finished with Jackson, it was known as Chimneyville. City Hall, on S. President St., a field hospital during the battle, was one of the few buildings to escape destruction in 1863.
Address: 628 N. State St., Jackson, MS 39202; tel. and fax: 601-352-0221 and 800-784-0221.
Accommodations: Eleven double rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, TV and radios.
Rates: Single, $$$. All major credit cards and personal checks.
Restrictions: No children under twelve, no pets, no smoking.
Natchez
Mississippi
Sxsteamboats carrying cotton to market in New Orleans made Natchez rich, and planters from nearby plantations competed to see who could build the most opulent mansion.
Natchez, like New Orleans, was occupied early in the war and suffered little damage, and today the beauty and enchantment of the Old South has been preserved. This town of twenty thousand people has more outstanding examples of opulent Victorian architecture than any other place its size in the country.
Today Natchez seems beautiful and romantic—Greek revival mansions, manicured gardens and lawns, tree-shaded streets, and, of course, Southern hospitality. One of the oldest towns in the Mississippi Valley, Natchez has seen a lot of history. French, Spanish, English, Confederate, and U.S. flags have flown over Natchez, and each culture has left its imprint.
People come from all over the world for the Natchez Pilgrimages, one in late March and early April, and another in mid-October. They feature house tours and the Confederate Pageant. For details phone 800-647-6742. If your inn doesn’t have a walking-tour map and the list of the antebellum houses that may be visited, pick them up at the Natchez Visitors Bureau at 422 Main St., or phone 800-647-6724 and they will be mailed to you.
Chuck Lawliss Page 12
