Christopher Alexander "Alex" Haun (September 14, 1821 – December 11, 1861) was a potter from Greene County, Tennessee, regarded as one of the most notable and skilled of the antebellum period. [1] [2] [3] [4] During the American Civil War, he was executed by the Confederate States of America for participation in the East Tennessee bridge-burning conspiracy.
Haun was one of many examples in 19th century Tennessee of what were later referred to as family potters, rural potters who ran businesses, often part-time as a supplement to farming and with the aid of their families, supplying practical vessels for local use. [5] Stephen T. Rogers of the Tennessee Historical Commission writes that Haun "produced some of the most beautiful and finely crafted lead-glazed earthenware in Tennessee". [2] Haun and a number of potters lived in a part of Greene County referred to as Pottertown, using local clay found near Lick Creek. Pottertown was a staunchly Unionist enclave in a Confederate State. [1] [3]
Union supporter Reverend William Blount Carter launched a plan, with the approval of President Abraham Lincoln, to destroy Tennessee bridges in order to disrupt the Confederate railroad system. Haun and other local potters were recruited to destroy the bridge over Lick Creek. On November 8, 1861, after being sworn into Company F of the 2nd Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, they proceeded to the bridge and destroyed it. There they captured Confederate sentries and released them after they swore an oath to the union. The Confederate soldiers, however, informed the authorities and Haun and four others were captured. Haun and three of the others were hanged for treason at the Knoxville, Tennessee jail on December 11. [1] [3] [6]
Before he died, he wrote to his wife regarding the disposition of his pottery business and concluded:
The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States, the Confederacy, or the South, was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confederacy comprised eleven U.S. states that declared secession and warred against the United States during the American Civil War. The states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Greene County is a county located on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 70,152. Its county seat is Greeneville. Greene County comprises the Greeneville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Decatur County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,435. Its county seat is Decaturville.
Greeneville is a town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, and it is the second oldest town in Tennessee. It is the only town with this spelling in the United States, although there are numerous U.S. towns named Greenville. The town was the capital of the short-lived State of Franklin in the 18th-century history of East Tennessee.
The Battle of Fort Henry was fought on February 6, 1862, in Stewart County, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. It was the first important victory for the Union and Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater.
The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, was a unicameral congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which became the governing body of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States from February 4, 1861, to February 17, 1862. It sat in Montgomery, Alabama, until May 21, 1861, when it adjourned to meet in Richmond, Virginia, on July 20, 1861. In both cities, it met in the existing state capitols which it shared with the respective secessionist state legislatures. It added new members as other states seceded from the Union and directed the election on November 6, 1861, at which a permanent government was elected.
The Battle of Barbourville was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It took place on September 19, 1861, in Knox County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive. The battle is considered the first Confederate victory in the commonwealth, and threw a scare into Federal commanders, who rushed troops to central Kentucky to try to repel the invasion, which was finally stopped at the Battle of Camp Wildcat in October.
The American Civil War significantly affected Tennessee, with every county witnessing combat. It was a divided state, with the Eastern counties harboring pro-Union sentiment throughout the conflict, and it was the last state to officially secede from the Union, in protest of President Lincoln's April 15 Proclamation calling forth 75,000 members of state militias to suppress the rebellion. Although Tennessee provided a large number of troops for the Confederacy, it would also provide more soldiers for the Union Army than any other state within the Confederacy.
The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee state government on the eve of the war unconstitutional, and requested that East Tennessee, where Union support remained strong, be allowed to form a separate state that would remain part of the United States split from the rest of Confederate Tennessee. The state legislature denied this request, and the Confederate Army occupied the region in late 1861.
Fort Wright was constructed in 1861 and located on the second Chickasaw Bluff at Randolph, Tipton County, Tennessee. Fort Wright was a Civil War fortification and the first military training facility of the Confederate Army in Tennessee.
The East Tennessee bridge burnings were a series of guerrilla operations carried out during the American Civil War by Union sympathizers in Confederate-held East Tennessee in 1861. The operations, planned by Carter County minister William B. Carter (1820–1902) and authorized by President Abraham Lincoln, called for the destruction of nine strategic railroad bridges, followed by an invasion of the area by Union Army forces then in southeastern Kentucky. The conspirators managed to destroy five of the nine targeted bridges, but the Union Army failed to move, and would not invade East Tennessee until 1863, nearly two years after the incident.
The 1861 Confederate States presidential election of November 6, 1861, was the first and only presidential election held under the Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis, who had been elected president and Alexander H. Stephens, who had been elected vice president, under the Provisional Constitution, were elected to six-year terms that would have lasted from February 22, 1862 until February 22, 1868. But, both Davis and Stephens' offices were abolished on May 5, 1865 when the Confederate government dissolved, and so were unable to finish their terms.
Middle Fork, alternately known as Middlefork, is an unincorporated community located in the southwestern portion of Henderson County, Tennessee, United States and was settled prior to the formation of the county in 1821. The first organized church in Henderson County was Middle Fork Primitive Baptist Church which was chartered in 1823.
The Battle of Camp Wildcat was one of the early engagements of the American Civil War. It occurred October 21, 1861, in northern Laurel County, Kentucky during the campaign known as the Kentucky Confederate Offensive or Operations in Eastern Kentucky (1861). The battle is considered one of the first Union victories of the Civil War, and marked the second engagement of troops in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The 199th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, alternately known as the Commercial Regiment, was an infantry regiment of the Union Army in the American Civil War. Raised in Philadelphia in late 1864, the regiment enlisted for one year and was sent to the Army of the James during the Siege of Petersburg. During the Third Battle of Petersburg it assaulted Forts Gregg and Alexander, then pursued the retreating Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, fighting at Rice's Station and Appomattox Court House. Following the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, the regiment moved to Richmond, where it mustered out in late June 1865.
Danielle McDaniel is an American visual arts educator, ceramic artist, sculptor, author, and entrepreneur who specializes in teaching pottery techniques and workshops. Known as The Clay Lady since 1982, McDaniel developed The Clay Lady Way teaching method for art educators. The effective process streamlines clay firing into one step instead of two, which helps educators cut costs and time when creating pottery. The Clay Lady Way is further explained in McDaniel's manual for teachers, How to Teach Clay The Clay Lady Way, self-published in 1996. The manual offers instructions and suggestions for applying a series of pottery lessons appropriate for a variety of educational settings while working on a budget.
Sanders' Knoxville Raid saw 1,500 Union cavalry and mounted infantry led by Colonel William P. Sanders raid East Tennessee before the Knoxville campaign during the American Civil War. The successful raid began at Mount Vernon, Kentucky and moved south, passing near Kingston, Tennessee. Moving east from the Kingston area, the raiders struck the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad at Lenoir Station. The Union horsemen rode northeast along the railroad, destroying track, bridges, and property useful to the Confederate States of America. Blocked from seizing Knoxville by its 1,000 Confederate defenders, Sanders' horsemen destroyed a major bridge across the Holston River at Strawberry Plains on the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. After wrecking a smaller bridge at Mossy Creek, the raiders turned northwest, evading pursuers by slipping through an obscure gap in the Cumberland Plateau. Sanders' men reached Boston, Kentucky on June 24, having captured and paroled over 400 Confederate soldiers while sustaining minimal losses in men but considerable losses in horses.
The 7th Alabama Infantry Regiment was a Confederate volunteer infantry regiment from Alabama during the American Civil War.
The Madison Louisiana Light Artillery was a Louisiana artillery unit that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Formed as an infantry company, it arrived in the Eastern Theater in May 1861 and was converted to an artillery battery in August. The unit was armed with six guns in 1861, but by September 1862, it had only four guns. It served at Garnett's and Golding's Farm, Savage's Station, Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862. The battery fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg and in the Knoxville campaign in 1863. The Madison Light Artillery served in the Overland campaign and at the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. The unit surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.
Lick Creek is a stream in Greene County, Tennessee. It is the largest creek in the county. Beginning north of Greeneville, the creek runs through the northern and western sections of the county before spilling into the Nolichucky River near the Hamblen County line. The creek is often a source of flooding, and usually rises after rounds of heavy rain. The creek is also the site of Civil War-related history. During the East Tennessee bridge burnings, a series of guerrilla operations carried out during the war by Union sympathizers, a bridge over Lick Creek was burned.