Brig General John C. Vaughn (CSA)

Birth: Feb. 24, 1824 Death: Sep. 10, 1875

Civil War Confederate Brigadier General. At the start of the Civil War, he was offered positions in the Confederate Government but chose to be elected Colonel of the 3rd Tennessee Regiment. At New Creek bridge and the Battle of Manassas, his regiment captured Union artillery, the first taken by the Confederates in the field. In September 1862, he was commissioned Brigadier General in command of a brigade of mounted men to operate in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. In 1863, he fought at Vicksburg and engaged in the Battle of Piedmont in 1864. When General Lee surrendered, General Vaughn was one of the five brigade commanders who took part in the last council of war held by President Davis. After the war, he returned to Tennessee, was elected to the State Senate and later became a planter in Georgia. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Crawford Vaughn seems to have been just about everywhere during the war, although his military record was not that impressive. This mainly seems to be because he did not have as many resources to work with as the Union did.

Vaughn raised the 3rd Tennessee Infantry in Eastern Tennessee at the outbreak of the war. He led the regiment successfully in a small action at Little Creek, in what would be West Virginia. Then his men were part of the force that arrived from the Valley and helped turn the tide at First Manassas.

His regiment would return to East Tennessee and win a battle near Cumberland Gap that earned Vaughn a promotion to brigadier general. After that he commanded a brigade of East Tennessee troops: the 60th, 61st and 62nd Tennessee.

This force was routed at Big Black River Bridge in the Vicksburg Campaign, with the 60th and 61st surrendering. After the siege Vaughn was sent back to East Tennessee and commanded forces that tried to deal with the local Union guerrillas.

Then he suffered through the loss at Piedmont. While he received much blame at the time, the Confederates were outgunned and outmanned and Vaughn does not deserve much blame for what transpired.

After a poor performance cooperating with D.H. Hill at Lynchburg, Vaughn turned in a solid effort in Early’s invasion of Maryland.

After that campaign he was sent back to East Tennessee and suffered his worst loss at Morristown on Oct. 28, 1864. There his lack of military training showed as he left a superior position, one that protected his flanks, for one that allowed the Union enough space to use their superior numbers to attack those flanks.

Vaughn lost four cannon, 85 dead and 225 captured from his force of roughly 2,000. No mention is made of how many wounded he had, but it must have been at least a 100. The Union lost eight killed and 18 wounded.

Vaughn performed better when he was leading smaller-scale guerilla style operations in East Tennessee, mostly with cavalry. He earned a reputation as a brutal guerrilla fighter as his men gave no quarter when dealing with bushwhackers, though this was partly because they received no quarter either.

At the end of the war Vaughn served for a few weeks as part of Jefferson Davis’ party traveling towards Texas. Vaughn is connected to some of the myths of the lost Confederate gold because of this, but no one will ever know the truth of that story.

One part of Vaughn’s story that is unique. He was the only general on either side whose family was captured and imprisoned. In July 1864, they were arrested and sent to Jeffersonville, Ind. The Vaughn women were released sometime in September, but Vaughn’s father was kept in prison until the war was over.

Vaughn was neither a great general nor a really horrible general. He did a terrible job at Morristown and his defeats at Big Black River Bridge and Piedmont were more the result of his commanders’ actions than anything he did.

When he commanded small forces in small battles he was quite often successful. He did his best work in East Tennessee and has largely been lost to history.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Vaughn

John C. Vaughn (Feb. 24, 1824 - Sep. 10, 1875) was a Confederate cavalry officer from East Tennessee. He served in the Mexican-American War, prospected in the California Gold Rush, and participated in American Civil War battles including First Manassas, Vicksburg, Piedmont, and Saltville.

Vaughn raised Tennessee's first Confederate regiment and was with Jefferson Davis in the final days of the Civil War. His family was imprisoned by Union forces, and it was several years after the Civil War before he could safely return to Tennessee. Yet, he eventually was elected to the general assembly of his native Tennessee (1871–1873).

Early life and military career

John Crawford Vaughn was born in 1824 on a farm in Monroe County, Tennessee. He probably explored the hills and valleys of East Tennessee on horseback as a youth. From 1830 through 1841 he attended Bolivar Academy in Madisonville. He married in the 1840s, and at 23 in 1847 he volunteered to fight in the Mexican-American War. He was elected captain and marched to Mexico City, but his regiment saw no military action. He left the military in July, 1848.

In 1850, Vaughn and seventeen other Monroe County men set out for California gold. No fortunes were found, and John was back in Tennessee by 1852. He built a hotel in the new railroad town of Sweetwater. In 1856 he was elected sheriff of Monroe County.

Civil War

1861

Even before Tennessee had seceded, in early 1861 Vaughn recruited two units from Monroe County to support the southern cause. The recruits formed the 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment on May 29, and Vaughn was elected colonel. On June 18, Vaughn's men won a skirmish at New Creek near Maryland/West Virginia. On July 21, Vaughn's regiment traveled by train from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas Junction. The regiment participated in breaking the Union right at the First Battle of Bull Run.

1862

Colonel Vaughn's troops moved back to East Tennessee in 1862 and fought against Union factions in Scott County. In May, Vaughn's regiment patrolled the gaps in the northern Cumberland Mountains, winning battles in Tazewell in August and helping to regain control of Cumberland Gap. In September, Vaughn was promoted to brigadier general. In December, General Vaughn's east Tennesseans traveled by train to Jackson, Mississippi.

1863

Vaughn's brigade held heights north of Vicksburg for the first four months of 1863. On May 17, Grant's forces sliced through the Confederate line at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge forcing the surrender of two of Vaughn's regiments. The Confederates retreated into Vicksburg where they eventually surrendered on July 4. Vaughn was paroled and in October began reassembling his troops. He won a skirmish against Union troops in Philadelphia, TN, and also combated marauders in his Monroe County. Working with Longstreet to try and take Knoxville in December, Vaughn was forced to retreat to upper East Tennessee. In late December, Vaughn was authorized to mount his brigade.

1864

In the summer of 1864, Vaughn's cavalry moved to the Shenandoah Valley. On June 5, the Union routed the Confederates at the Battle of Piedmont. The Confederates under Grumble Jones were poorly deployed, and some of Vaughn's cavalry failed to engage. Gordon argues that Vaughn was with his dismounted troops on the Confederate left and not responsible for the inactive units. In September, Vaughn returned to east Tennessee winning an October skirmish near Bull's Gap, but was routed at the Battle of Morristown.

1865

In April 1865, Vaughn and his troops were near Christanburg, Virginia, moving towards North Carolina after news of Lee's surrender. On April 19, Vaughn joined the Jefferson Davis escort in Charlotte. On May 10, Vaughn surrendered.

Later years

Indicted for treason in Tennessee, in October, 1865, Vaughn moved his family to Thomas County in southern Georgia. By 1870, Vaughn had returned to Sweetwater, Tennessee and was elected to the state general assembly (1871–1873). In 1874, he pleaded guilty to using bogus identities to defraud the widow's pension and was fined $1000.

In 1874, Vaughn returned to southern Georgia. On September 10, 1875 at the age of 51, he died of meningitis and was buried with military honors at Greenwood, Georgia.