Lipscomb: Thomas Easton Lipscomb

Thomas is just a little guy here, only 5 years old. What convinced me this was my guy (and thus his parents) is that he is listed here as Eastin, and in the same family in 1860 as Thos. (Thomas). I've never found another Thomas Easton, however there is another T.E. Lipscomb living in Maury County. I'm sure this is not that T.E., however.

Something to note... this is 1850, and Crockett County hasn't been formed yet. I need to check into the possibility they are living in the part of Gibson County that later becomes Crockett County.

1850 United States Federal Census about Eastin Lipscomb
Name: Eastin Lipscomb
Age: 5
Birth Year: abt 1845
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1850: District 2, Gibson, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Family Number: 221

Household Members:

Name Age
Henry Lipscomb 30
Serena Lipscomb 30
Mary Lipscomb 7
Eastin Lipscomb 5
Robert Lipscomb 2
William Lipscomb 0

TE is living with his family, still in Gibson Co. It looks like possibly in Milan. I need to check the districts with the old Gibson maps. It's listed that 3 of Henry's children are attending school. It doesn't say which 3 however. Henry's property is only listed as worth 60 dollars, so it's most likely Thomas and his family live in a fairly poor living.

1860 United States Federal Census about Thos Sepcomb
Name: Thos Sepcomb
[Thos Lipscomb]
Age in 1860: 14
Birth Year: abt 1846
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1860: District 13, Gibson, Tennessee
Gender: Male
Post Office: Milan

Household Members:

Name Age
Henry C Sepcomb 40
Sarina Sepcomb 40
Mary Sepcomb 16
Thos Sepcomb 14
Robert Sepcomb 10
William P Sepcomb 8
Benjamin Sepcomb 6

Thomas has been busy in the last 10 years!! He has grown up, fought in the Civil War, gotten sick, had a surgery, gotten married, had a couple kids, and is living in Decatur County, TN. I need to contact someone in Decatur county and see if we can find any land records, etc for Thomas. Also do some research on Decatur county, since I've done none there yet.

Notice it says the value of his Real Estate is 280, and personal is 150.

Name: Thomas E Lipamb
[Thomas E Lipscomb]
Age in 1870: 26
Birth Year: abt 1844
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1870: District 8, Decatur, Tennessee
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Braidies Landing
Value of Real Estate: 280
Value of Personal Estate: 150

Household Members:

Name Age
Thomas E Lipamb 26
Martha Lipamb 23
Mary A Lipamb 3
Firclia F Lipamb 1

Thomas and Martha have moved to Crockett Co TN. Their oldest 2 children are listed as attending school at the time, able to read, but not write. THeir youngest 3 cannot read or write, nor are they attending school.

1880 United States Federal Census about T. E. Lipscomb
Name: T. E. Lipscomb
Age: 34
Birth Year: abt 1846
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1880: Friendship, Crockett, Tennessee
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: M. J. Lipscomb
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Occupation: Farmer

Household Members:

Name Age
T. E. Lipscomb 34
M. J. Lipscomb 31
M. A. Lipscomb 13
F. F. Lipscomb 11
G. R. Lipscomb 7
A. C. Lipscomb 6
M. A> Lipscomb 3

Thomas and Martha are still in Crockett Co, but now in a different district. They own their home, a farm, with a mortgage on it. They family can all read and write.

1900 United States Federal Census about Thomas E Lipscomb
Name: Thomas E Lipscomb
[Thomas E Linscomb]
Age: 54
Birth Date: Sep 1845
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1900: Civil District 7, Crockett, Tennessee
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Martha Lipscomb
Marriage Year: 1865
Years Married: 35
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina
Occupation: Farmer
Read: Yes
Write: Yes
Speak English: Yes
Owned his house, mortgaged, it was a farm, nad the farm schedule was 84

Household Members:

Name Age
Thomas E Lipscomb 54
Martha Lipscomb 52
Mary Ann Lipscomb 32
Verna Lipscomb 14
Lelia Stewart 8
Disia Stewart 6

Sometime between 1901 and 1909 Thomas and his family move to Steele (Cooter), Missouri.

I believe it to be closer to 1901. Louvenia marries Jess Warren in 1902... he was from Steele, MO.

Thomas's pension papers say he only lived in in MO 2 years, and that he moved back to TN in 1911. Which would have him moving to Steele in 1909. I believe the may have fudged the truth a bit, because he didn't want to be denied pension for living out of TN too long.

But as of right now... I don't know for sure. This is all supposition.

Name: Thomas E Lipscomb
Age in 1910: 65
Birth Year: 1845
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1910: Cooter, Pemiscot, Missouri
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Father-in-law
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

Household Members:

Name Age
James M Balentine 45
Mary Balentine 43
Herbie Balentine 21
Delsie Stewart 16
Clevie Stewart 7
Thomas E Lipscomb 65

How long have you been an actual resident of the State of Tennessee?
Answer: All my life except about 2 years in Missouri-returned from Missouri about March, 1911

1920 United States Federal Census about T E Lipscomb
Name: T E Lipscomb
Age: 74
Birth Year: abt 1846
[abt 1896]
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1920: Civil District 3, Crockett, Tennessee
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Hans Lipscomb
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: North Carolina
Home owned: Own
Able to Read: Yes

Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:

Name Age
T E Lipscomb 74
Hans Lipscomb 46

Gen. –B. Tn-Cheatam’s Division; Chalmer’s Brigade; 52nd Tenn. Regiment; Company K, under command of Col. B. J. Lea, of Brownsville, Tenn

On January 24, 1862, Major General Leonidas Polk ordered Lea's 52nd and Browder's 51st from Henderson Station to Danville, as soon as they are armed." Colonel Lea, in his sketch in Lindsley's Annals says "The regiment was on the way to Fort Henry when the fort fell. They were then ordered to Columbus, Kentucky, but on account of sickness in the regiment, and inclement weather, they were ordered to return to their camp at Henderson. The regiment suffered greatly from measles."

On February 26, Colonel Lea, at Henderson Station, reported the 52nd with 760 men, 260 sick, no arms except 100 double barrelled shotguns. On March 5, General Bragg ordered Lea's and Browder's Regiments, at Henderson Station, to report to General Ruggles at Corinth, forthwith. On March 9th, Brigadier General L. Pope Walker's Brigade, of Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles' Division, was reported as composed of the 5th Alabama, 38th, 51st, and 52nd Tennessee Infantry Regiments, plus Gage's Alabama Battery. On April 3, General A. S. Johnston ordered: "Bragg will detach 51st and 52nd Tennessee, Blount's Alabama, and Desha's Arkansas Battalion from his corps to form garrison for post and depot at Corinth."

At Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, the 52nd was engaged as a part of Brigadier General Jamees R. Chalmers' Brigade of Brigadier General J. M. Withers' Division. General Chalmers, in his report of the engagement, said "The 52nd broke and fled in most shameful confusion. After repeated efforts to rally it, this regiment was ordered out of the lines, where it remained during the balance of the engagement, with the exception of two companies, Captains J. A. Russell, and A. N. Wilson, who, with their commands, fought gallantly in the ranks of the 5th Mississippi Regiment." "Went into battle with about 400 of the 52nd, 300 of whom were not engaged." In this engagement, Chalmers' Brigade consisted of the 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th Mississippi, 52nd Tennessee Infantry Regiments, and Gage's Battery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American Civil War battle that saw the defeat of a Confederate counter attack after the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson to forces commanded by U.S. Grant. The two key forts, on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, had been the centre of the Confederate defensive line in Tennessee. Their lose had forced the Confederate commander, A.S. Johnston, to pull back to Corinth, Mississippi. There, with the help of General Beauregard, he was able to pull together an army 42,000 strong.

This army was still massively outnumbered. Grant’s superior, General Halleck, had 75,000 men at his disposal, and decided to concentrate them on the Tennessee River, ready to attack Corinth. U.S. Grant, with 40,000 men, was send up-river with 40,000 men. This army camped at Pittsburg Landing, twenty miles north-east of Corinth, and settled down to wait for General Buell’s 35,000 men.

After his victory at Fort Donelson, Grant was now too complacent. None of the Union commanders expected a Confederate attack on their army, and so the camp was left unfortified. The junction of the armies was not rushed. When the battle began, one of Grant’s own divisions was still five miles to the north, while Buell’s nearest troops were nine miles away.

At Corinth, General Beauregard had persuaded Johnston to launch just such a counter attack. His plan required the Confederate army to march the twenty miles from Corinth to Pittsburg Landing on 3 April, ready to attack Grant on 4 April, before there was any chance of his being reinforced. Instead, the Confederate army reached the vicinity of Pittsburg Landing late on 5 April. Now Beauregard got cold feet, convinced that there was now no chance of launching a surprise attack, but Johnston was now determined to attack.

On 6 April Johnston committed his entire army as quickly as possible (a rare feat during the civil war), hitting two inexperience Union divisions that happened to be camped a little further west than the rest of the army. Unfortunately for Johnston, one of those divisions was commanded by William Tecumseh Sherman, who made his reputation at Shiloh. Even so, the surprise was near-total.

While Sherman and his men were fighting, Grant was rushing up-river towards the sound of the guns. By the time he arrived, at 9.00 am, the fighting was already the fiercest yet seen in the war. Between then Grant and Sherman were able to hold off everything that Johnston and Beauregard could throw at them, although they were slowly pushed back towards the river.

Shiloh presents yet another of the Confederacy’s ‘if only’ moment. While attempting to encourage one of his units to charge, Johnston was shot through the leg. He refused to stop for treatment, until eventually almost falling off his horse as he died of blood loss. Johnston was considered to have been the best soldier of his generation (although had yet to prove it), and his lose is often blamed for the defeat at Shiloh. In reality, the Confederate army was almost exhausted by this point, while the Union army had a strong line to fall back on, as well as tens of thousands of reinforcements who started to arrive as evening fell.

Having been on the defensive on 6 April, Grant went on to the offensive on 7 April. The battered Confederates managed to hold on for a couple of hours of fighting that matched that of the previous day, but eventually Union numbers and freshness won out. Beauregard was forced from the field, and began a dispirited march back to the Confederate base at Corinth.

The true nature of Grant’s victory at Shiloh took some time to sink in. After the first day, the Confederates were already claiming a victory, and it was the first day’s fighting that most influenced early opinion in the North as well. When the scale of Grant’s victory eventually sank in, his reputation rose to unprecedented levels.

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (18 July 2006), Battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, 6-7 April 1862 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_shiloh.html

He becomes sick and ends up having a surgery at LaGrange TN. Never recovers enough to re-enter duty before the war ends.