Francis Marion Spry
Information submitted by:
Glenda McWhirter Todd
"On February 18, 1863, Francis Marion Spry,
Jr. and his two brothers, and George William & Allen volunteered in the U.S.
Union Forces in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They enlisted in the First Tennessee
Independent Vidette Calvary Unit. On the last day of 1862 and the first two
days of 1863, a desperate and bloody battle took place in the Battle of
Murfreesboro. Union General William S. Rosecrans who had succeeded General Don
Carlos Buell after the Battle of Perryville fought and won the Battle of
Murfreesboro by defeating the Confederate General Braxton Bragg. It was at this
point in the Civil War that the Union Forces in Tennessee held the strategy to
move from Nashville to cut off the vital and hopefully last link in the railroad
system that connected Tennessee with the rail supply system of Georgia, which
would give General William T. Sherman his advancing route into Georgia
through Atlanta and finally into Savannah.
After the Battle of Murfreesboro, the Tennessee Loyalists of the Union
apparently enlisted to assist, what they considered the appropriate cause of the
war. Many North Alabama and Tennessee citizens of this time were Union
sympathizers because of Northern relatives and more importantly because
many "small farmers" in the south did not have the same economic and other
incentives and objectives as the "largers land owners" of the south in opposing
the Union. Perhaps for these reasons, and/or maybe others, Francis, Jr. and his
brothers enlisted in the First Independent Vidette Cavalry Unit.
These Vidette ("To Watch Through The Night") units were usually small mounted
"scout" sentinels utilized to assist the union forces in intelligence activities
and to assist the Union forces after they had entered and captured southern
territories. Very little has been recorded concerning the First Alabama and
Tennessee Vidette Units, other than they were organized and mustered out between
1863-1864. Francis, Jr. and his brothers (all privates) were members of
Captain Phillip's Company F, First Regiment which were first organized and
mustered at Murfreesboro and Shelbyville,
Tennessee.
In the Roll Call of December 1863, Francis, Jr. was recorded as AWOL but was
later reported as being absent - due to illness in the report of March 1864. He
was at this time listed as a patient in the Union Hospital Number 8 in
Nashville. Official Army records states that Francis Marion Spry, Jr. died in
the U.S. Army Hospital # 8 in Nashville, due to measels followed by
pneumonia. Francis, Jr. is listed on "The Roll of Honor" (Number XXII), who
died in the defense of the
American Union (1869) and is buried in the National Cemetery at Nashville,
Tennessee.
George William Spry and Allen Spry both survived the war, and George William
lived until July 1906 and is buried in Gilly Hill Cemetery in Cannon County,
Tennessee. Allen Spry died on Dec. 29, 1865, due to lung disease contracted
during the war and is also buried in
Gilly Hill Cemetery. Again, in order to put the proper generation perspective,
Francis Marion Spry, Jr. who died during the Civil War is Samuel Lowe Spry's
grandfather.
At the time of Francis' death in 1864, he left his wife, Mary Elizabeth, and
their three small children, Rebecca, Alexander and Nancy. On May 23, 1869, Mary
Elizabeth remarried
William Rushing and moved to Rutherford County, Tennessee (1870 Census). At the
age of 26,
Alexander married Betty Ward (Little Mammie) on August 2, 1886. Alexander and
Betty continued to live in Rutherford County for the next 17 years. Beginning
in 1886, Alexander and Betty had the first of their nine children, of which six
were born in Tennessee and the last three children born in Alabama. First
of the nine children was Willie (1886), followed by Mattie (1887), Samuel Lowe
(1890), Bessie (1892), Nellie (1896) and Luther (1899).
A family friend and neighbor of Alexander and Betty in Rutherford
County, John Kendell, had previously visited Limestone County, Alabama, and had
eventually moved there in the late 1890's. It was from Tennessee to Limestone
County, Alabama most likely for the same reason
as in the past, better and more farming opportunities.
As the story has been conveyed to me by Gilbert Ball, son of Mattie Spry
Ball, Alexander, Betty and their six children traveled from Rutherford County,
Tennessee to Limestone County, Alabama to the community of Karo in 1901 in
a covered wagon which took approximately three weeks."
Source: Spry Family Heritage - Francis Marion Spry, Sr. - Samuel Lowe
Spry - 1793 - 1981 pages 24 - 27, by Allen Spry
Submitted by: Glenda McWhirter Todd
Spry, Francis Marion
- Francis Marion Spry enlisted in the 1st TN & AL Independent Vidette Cavalry,
US on May 13, 1863, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee and was mustered in the same day
in Cripple Creek, Tennessee. He was listed as 22 years of age, 5'-6" tall,
having a dark complexion, blue eyes, brown hair and a farmer by occupation. He
enlisted for a term of one year, however, he died in hospital #2178 in
Nashville, Tennessee on April 25, 1864, of measles and pneumonia. He was first
shown as being absent and sick in the hospital in Nashville on April 4, 1864.
The Inventory of his Effects showed him to have 1 hat, 1 great coat, 1 blouse, 2
pairs of trousers (spelled trowsers), 1 pair of drawers, and two pairs of boots.
They were given to his brother, George W. Spry, who was also in this regiment.
There is an Allen Spry who served in the same company as F.M. and G.W. and they
are probably all three brothers.
Francis Marion Spry is buried in the Nashville National Cemetery.
Frances M. Spry was born in 1939 in Cannon
County, Tennessee to Frank Spry and Sarah Jones Spry. Francis married Mary E.
McCullough on January 12, 1857, in Coffee County, Tennessee. She was the
daughter of Alexander J. McCullough and Rebecca Spry.
