Peter Turney

He was a lawyer in Franklin County, Tennessee before the war and enrolled as Colonel of the First Tennessee Infantry on 27 April 1861.

He commanded Archer's Brigade on the march from Harpers Ferry on the morning of 17 September during General Archer''s absence, and returned to his Regiment as their attack began, late that afternoon, on the left-most flank of the Army of the Potomac.

At Sharpsburg 'Old Pete' Turney climbed the top rail of the board fence along the Harpers Ferry Road. Private Felix Motlow wondered how the old man escaped death as he perched himself in the open amidst a storm of lead. 'Hog drivers, advance!' the colonel whooped.

He was wounded at Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862 in the face and neck, and retired from service 26 May 1864 after a long absence.

He later served on the Tennessee Supreme Court for 22 years (1870-92), and was Governor of Tennessee (1893-97).

The Sharpsburg quote from John Michael Priest's Antietam: The Soldiers' Battle (1990). His service from Lindsley,1 who refers to the regiment as the First Confederate, and the index to his Compiled Service Records via the Historical Data Systems database. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

9/27/1827; Jasper, TN

10/28/1903; Winchester, TN; burial in Winchester Cemetery, Franklin County, TN