Crescent Bend: “Ground Zero” for Civil War here

Crescent Bend, also known as the Armstrong-Lockett House, is at 2728 Kingston Pike. (This pretty photo is from the website of Gables & Gates Realtors.)

As you no doubt have noticed, we are in the midst of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Through 2015, the bloodiest war in U.S. history will be commemorated in various ways by numerous civic organizations. I am learning a lot about the war and its effect on Knoxville, which was occupied by both sides at various points during the war. It was not a pleasant place to be.

Last week, the Knoxville Symphony League staged one of its “Elegant Dining” events at historic Crescent Bend, also known as the Armstrong-Lockett House, on Kingston Pike. The dinner was a sell-out. And a surprisingly enlightening and pleasant evening.

Dr. Joan Markel

After a tour of Crescent Bend, the first home built on Kingston Pike, we had a charming dinner prepared by members of the Symphony League, and an enchanting concert of Civil War-related tunes by a dulcimer band. Then Dr. Joan Markel, Civil War curator of the McClung Museum, shared a few sobering facts with us:

• More Civil War battles were fought in Tennessee than in any other state except Virginia. Knoxville always was under siege.
• Knoxville was a town of 4,000 people, about equally divided between being loyal to the Union and the Confederacy.
• During the war, between 8,000 and 10,000 troops entered Knoxville — and they took a huge toll on Knoxville’s infrastructure. “These troops needed food and places to stay,” Markel noted. They began wholesale cutting of trees and taking of horses, mules, crops and livestock. They basically trampled the town with little regard for the residents or the residents’ property.
• Crescent Bend, she said, was “ground zero.” “You could look out the front door and see the progress of the war,” she said. The home, built in 1834 and located on 600 acres on the north side of the Tennessee River, was occupied at first by the Union Army who used it as a command center and hospital. On Nov. 18, 1863, Union Brigadier General William P. Sanders was mortally wounded on Crescent Bend farmland and died the next day at Lamar House hotel in downtown Knoxville, the current location of the Bijou Theatre. In the days following Sanders’ death, the Confederate Army took control of Crescent Bend and it became a Confederate command center.
• 

  This Rococo style Philadelphia clock at Crescent Bend dates to 1750. It is said to keep accurate time today, although, to tell the truth, the time it showed was wrong when we visited.

  Many of the troops who poured into Knoxville were country boys who had not been exposed to certain diseases that are more common in urban environments. They encountered food shortages and diseases in the unsanitary and crowded conditions in war-ravaged Knoxville. Of the 1,600 Confederate soldiers buried in East Knoxville’s Bethel Cemetery, Markel said, “far more died from disease than from war.”

• The war was being fought for causes that were not particularly dear to the hearts of most Knoxvillians, Markel said. Even many of the Union supporters here also were supporters of slavery. They thought it was protected by the Constitution. Because Knoxvillians were not passionate about the issues of the war, a lot of them changed sides during the struggle. They were opportunists — or perhaps just wanted to survive. Joseph Mabry, owner of the historic Mabry-Hazen House in East Knoxville, for example, sold provisions to the Confederate Army. Until the Union Army took control. Then he sold to them!
• Crescent Bend also is thought to have been a stop in the Underground Railroad. A secret compartment under the main staircase is said to have hidden runaway slaves on their way north to freedom. According to those at Crescent Bend, the  household itself was divided during the war, with one son being a slave broker and the other being against slavery and participating in the Underground Railroad.

Markel, who has lived in Knoxville since 1990, is an expert on the Civil War in East Tennessee and she has some interesting theories on how Knoxvillians have come to view the Civil War over the decades. “Knoxville was at war for four years and there was no home front: you had to pick sides,” she said. “So, it was legal to kill each other for four years and then it’s over. There was no grief counseling or anything like that. You were just expected to go back to what you were doing. The way East Tennesseans chose to deal with it was by not speaking of it.”

Markel said it is difficult and confusing to try to untangle the history of the Civil War in Knoxville partly because of the local habit of naming children after relatives like uncles and brothers. So the same family names pop up over and over in various combinations: Mabry, McClung, Armstrong, White, Lawson, McGhee and others. “In Knoxville, genealogy is not so much about the family tree as the family kudzu,” she quipped.

The scholar wrapped up with an observation on historic Old Gray Cemetery where many Civil War soldiers are buried. “For four years, they were at war. And now they are side by side for eternity.”

It was a fascinating Wednesday night.

From left are Harriet and Fred Hodge, Dr. Joan Markel and Patricia Jobe.

Don Williams, Jeff Fletcher, center, and Sherri Lee during the social hour.

Angela and Jim Pugh

The so-called "blue bedroom" was the master bedroom and is located on the first floor of Crescent Bend, which was unusual in those days. It was necessary, though, because Mrs. Armstrong was ill and couldn't manage the stairs.

This is the drawing room.

This rare black lacquer bookcase in the drawing room dates to 1710.

A 1770 piano. It was very rare to have a piano in this country at that time. In 1834, it was valued at $150. The chair is very famous, listed as one of the best 100 documented pieces of American furniture.

A guest room upstairs

And then it was time for dinner. The place settings were simple and Spring-like.

It was a full house.

We all loved the salad: arugula with edamame, cranberries and feta served with a lemon vinaigrette.

Two of our tablemates, Debbie and Ralph Henn, moved here from Baton Rouge three years ago. They love Knoxville.

Cynthia and Pete Sowa, also seated at our table, moved here from California two years ago.

Another couple at our table, Kathy and Doug Alexander, moved here from Atlanta three years ago. They were looking for somewhere with good medical facilities, water and SEC football. Knoxville fit the bill!

Here's the entree prepared by Symphony League members: Chicken Marseilles, wild rice with asparagus and almonds, and marinated carrots. Dessert was old fashioned apple pie.

The Sweet Sounds. Charlotte Davis on autoharp, Pat Payne and Susie Wadell on Appalachian dulcimer, and Dottie Sampsel on hammered dulcimer.

We learned a few tidbits about some of the selections.

• “Home Sweet Home” was written in 1823 and was a favorite of both Union and Confederate armies. It was played by the brass bands and sung by the troops.
• “Dixie” was the most popular Confederate song. It was written by Daniel Emmett and was dearly loved by Abraham Lincoln.
• “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was based on a tune sung at Methodist revivals. It was the most popular Union song and continued to be sung during the World Wars.
• “Aura Lee” was a war ballad by W.W. Fosdick and George R. Poulton. It was later sung by Elvis Presley with new words, “Love Me Tender.”

Dottie Sampsel on hammered dulcimer