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September 3, 2007

Local chapter honors Confederate brothers

Misty Watson

After being held as a prisoner of war for a little more than a year, Seth Gregory was released.

But that happened to be the same day his older brother Stephen Gregory was captured.

The Gregory brothers were Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. They are now buried in Murray County cemeteries — Seth in the Harrison Chapel Cemetery on Hyden Tyler Road and Stephen in the Sumach Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Highway 225 North.

Members of the Lt. Col. William Luffman chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans held memorial ceremonies and placed Southern Crosses of Honor on their graves last week, said the chapter’s commander, Steve Hall.

“We strive to recognize not only all Confederate soldiers, but all soldiers buried in Murray County cemeteries,” Hall said. “We hope to also hold more memorial services as we properly mark these soldiers’ final resting places.”

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans are working to identify more veterans in the county.

The Southern Cross of Honor is used to designate Confederate soldiers. A Confederate flag was also placed on the soldiers’ graves.

The Gregory brothers were two of 14 children originally from Bradley County, Tenn. They were raised on a farm just a few miles north of the state line on present-day Highway 225, Hall said.

Stephen enlisted as a fourth sergeant in Co. C, 5th Tennessee Calvary, Hall said. Stephen helped guard bridges over the Tennessee River in the Knoxville area, he said.

Stephen later re-enlisted in the 63rd Regiment Tennessee Infantry Co. H. It was the same company Seth was in, Hall said.

“Seth was captured (by Union soldiers) on June 18, 1864, and released on July 5, 1864, when he signed an oath of allegiance to the United States,” Hall said. “He promptly returned to his unit and rejoined the fighting. Stephen was captured, ironically, on July 5, 1864.”

Stephen refused to take the oath of allegiance and stayed in a camp in Indiana until July 6, 1865, Hall said.

“He then walked all the way home,” Hall said.

During the war, the rest of the Gregory family — except for two other brothers who were also fighting — moved to Murray County where they stayed after the war, Hall said. Some of the family’s members are buried in a private cemetery on CCC Camp Road. Others spread out across the country, he said.

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