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MS Final Stands Visitor’s and Interpretive Center Bookstore and Gift Shop

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The bookstore/gift shop at Mississippi’s Last Stands Visitor’s and Interpretive Center offers a variety of American Civil War titles and souvenirs. The store is located inside the center and proceeds from sales help support the maintenance and interpretation of the battlefields.

Souvenirs from the 1860 era include jaw harps, bonnets, harmonicas, miniature canons and soliders, and much more. Biographies written by trusted historians include those of Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Joseph Johnson, Tyree Bell, Albert Sidney Johnson and U. S. Grant.Military histories of local battles are available from historians and some are written by men who served first hand in the conflicts.

Puzzles, cups, pencils, paper dolls, coloring books, confederate and union caps, bookmarks, magnets, key chains, hiking medallions, and lapel pins are also available.Books by the late Claude Gentry, local author, are available while supplies last.

Bethany Historic Cemetery and Confederate Mass Grave

As the original site of the Bethany Presbyterian Church, the Bethany Historic Cemetery predates the Civil War by about ten years. Adjacent to the Park Service monument site, the cemetery contains a mass grave in which about thirty Confederate soldiers are buried and upon which the markers for ninety-six of the Confederates known to have been killed at Brice’s Crossroads have been placed. Many of the area’s earliest settlers are also buried here. Union dead from the battle were buried in common graves on the battlefield, but later were reinterred in the National Cemeteries in Corinth and Memphis.

The following is an alphabetical list of soldiers who were killed or mortally wounded at Brice’s Crossroads near Baldwyn, Mississippi June 10, 1864.

A
Adams, William A.
Arant, Arron
Arnold, J. Robert
Arrandale, J.J.
Autrey, John

B
Barham, Isaiah
Bazzell, T.W.
Bean, R.L.
Bell, J.S.
Bishop, Joseph
Bettis, M.
Boaz, Daniel B.
Bost, George H.
Boucher, Thomas P.

C
Cage, William H.
Camp, R.A.
Carroll,G.S.
Casey, R.C.
Chambers, W.M.
Christian, George Cabell
Cock, Jubal C.
Cole, J.W.
Coleman, Carr
Coleman, Daniel J.
Cooper, William H.

D
Davis, John T.
Dean, John A.
Dodds, Zack E.
Duke, R.E.

E
Edgman, JohnL.
Edwards, Lewis W.
Edwards, S.B.
Edwards, William J.
Elcan, Thomas R.
Ellis, Coleman
Everette, James T.
Exrum, John

F
Freeman, G.J.

G
Galbraith, Peter W.
Garneer, Isaac H.
Garner, James O.
Gilbert, Harden
Gilbert, J.B.
Govan, W.W.
Green, Memucan H.

H
Hall, Columbus K.
Haley, H.C.
Hamilton, R.L.
Haney, W.J.
Hardy, William C.
Harper, Richard H.
Harper, Richard H.
Harris, Jessie L.
Harrison, J.T.
Haskins, J.E.
Hawkins, Samuel Davis
Hibbit, J.R.
Hogg, W.R.
Holmon, Sandy
Hoover, E.P.
Horne, Samuel

J
Jackson, W.E.
James, Robert W.
Jennings, Albert
Jones, G.P.
Jones, M.B.
Jones, R.H.
Jones, Robert W.
Jourdan, James C.

K
Kendrick, H.C.
King, J.H.
Kirksey, J.H.
Klapp, F.M.

L
Lawrence, John Quincey
Lee, George
Luther, C.H.

M
Mason, W. Nathaniel
Masters, John N.
McCorkle, H.C.
McCrosky, J.S.
McMillion, Alexander E.
McMorris, Michael
Meshew, Charles H.
Mosely, Frank M.
Murphrey, Solomon

N
Nailling, E.P.
Neely, Charles R.
Nichols, Aaron
Nolley, Samuel Y.
Norman, B.F.

O
Owens, Robert

P
Peck, Robert L.
Peele, J.A.
Pipkin, Isaac H. (Doc)
Poindexter, Lewis H.
Pope, William S.
Porter, William H.
Potts, A.L.
Powell, Thomas K.
Pryor, J.S.

Q
Quaarles, W.

R
Rayner, William S.
Rennick, A. Thomas
Revely, Joseph P.
Rice, Thomas S.
Robertson, William T.

S
Saunders, M.L.
Seay, Robert M.
Sewell, Allen K.
Shuffield, C.S.
Simmons, T.C.
Smith, A. J.
Smith J.W.
Sommerville, James R.
Spencer, John William
Stahl, M.L.
Stahl, W.
Stewart, William J.H.
Stovall, J.B.
Stover, J.D.
Stuart, Joseph
Swetto, J.M.

T
Tate, William J.
Taylor, James
Thorn, William T.
Trice, William S.
Turner, John
Tyson, P.G.

V
Veazey, Simeon

W
Wakeland, H. Frank
Walker, Benjamin L.
Walker, R.F.
Warden, James
Webster, Samuel
Welch, W.R.
White, R.B.
Whitworth, G.W.
Williams, George W.
Williamson, Joseph A.
Wilson, J.J.
Wyatt, W.S.

Log Cabin Knoll

The ridge that overlooks the Tishomingo Creek is the site where Confederate artillery, led by Captain John W. Morton, rained fire upon the U. S. troops as they retreated from the Crossroads. As one approaches the interpretive trail at the overlook, he can imagine the wooded area where the guns and caissons moved through the woods from the crossroads, along primitive, muddy roads. Land that was in use in the 1860’s was likely to be farmland, for the cultivation of crops such as cotton and corn, but much of the area remained wooded with dense underbrush. In 1864, reports say a log cabin sat on this site.

Tishoingo Creek Bridge

The end of the main part of the Battle at Brice’s Crossroads centered on a small bridge across Tishomingo Creek. A narrow structure soon became a bottleneck for General Sturgis expeditionary force as horses, wagons, cannon, and men attempted to cross the creek.

The rains of the previous several days had raised the water level of the creek, making it difficult to cross without using the bridge.
A replica of the Tishomingo Creek Bridge, which was located, in June, 1864, about 50 yards north of the present bridge on Highway 370, interprets the rout of the Union troops. Long before Americans fought at this site in a battle of North vs. South, this land was part of the Chickasaw Nation. Tishomingo, whose name derived from the Chickasaw title tishu minko meaning “speaker for the chief” or “assistant chief” in the Chickasaw language, lived near here and was a prominent leader of the Chickasaws in this district.

Tishomingo’s name is still attached to this creek, a town, and a Mississippi county which originally extended from the Tennessee River to with a few miles of here. The tribal capital in the west was also named for him and persists today as Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The tribal legislature also designated Tishomingo to be the warrior on the Chickasaws’ Great Seal.

Tishomingo died in present-day Arkansas about 1840 while assisting tribal members on the Trail of Tears. His grave is unknown, but a quote from an 1841 obituary read: “Although but little known beyond the limits of his nation, yet he was a man that had seen wars and fought battles-stood high among his own people as a brave and good man.”

Jourdan Grave Interpretive Site and Retreat Route

“. . .the site includes land associated both with the Union advance and flight. It is land intimately identified with Sturgis’ rout, underscoring why the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads is so significant.” ‘It also underscores General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s philosophy of war to get the ‘skeer’ on the enemy and keep them‘skeered.”

Ed Bearss, Historian Emeritus, National Park Service

This, the final resting place of Sergeant James C. Jourdan, lies northwest of the crossroads. Jourdan, a cavalryman in the 17th Alabama Battalion commanded by Major J.N. George, Colonel William A. Johnson’s Alabama Brigade, was killed during the pursuit of General Sturgis by Union forces and buried near the Phillips House on the old Ripley Road. Two cedar trees have always marked his grave.

The site, located on Union County Road 168 includes a pull off and is the trailhead for the 1/3 mile natural walking trail, which follows the original roadbed and retreat route and takes the visitor across Phillips branch and by the two graves of Smith and King and ends at the White House Ridge. The two Confederate privates, Henry King and A. J. Smith were mortally wounded at the site and buried where they fell. King was a cannoneer who died when his unit was attacking the Union stand on the White House Ridge. He died “with his rammer staff in hand.”

White House Ridge Interpretive Site

The trail ends at a pull off on the present Union CR 167, the site of the home of Enoch Agnew, a planter and retired physician, who moved from South Carolina with his family in 1852. It was here that the Union forces made their final stand on June 10, 1864. Also living here was his son, Rev. Samuel Andrew Agnew who was 30 in 1864. Rev. Agnew is widely known for his first- hand account of the June battle and its aftermath, and his diary, which he kept from the 1850’s till his death in 1902. Samuel Agnew continued to live at White House Ridge and was pastor of the Bethany A.R.Presbyterian Church located at the Crossroads from 1867 till his death.

U.S. Colored Troops Stand

African-American troops, many of them former slaves, made up the 55th and the 59th Colored Infantry Regiments. At the White House Ridge, they attempted to stop the Confederate pursuit or at least slow it down to give the other U. S. regiments time to get themselves and the wagon train to safety. They fought bravely and advanced to within “hand shaking distance” of the Confederate guns.

Ford-Agnew Group Use Area

Located on Highway 833 in the core area of the battlefield, the Ford-Agnew group use area, is a primitive campground and meeting site. Several acres of large trees provide shade and firewood is available along with access to water. It is available for both day and overnight use by Scout Troops and other organizations with permission from the Center Director. Reservation packets are available at the Mississippi Last Stands Interpretive Center at 607 Grisham Street, Baldwyn. A $25 user fee will be collected at the center upon arrival. The site is located on hallowed ground and all guests are expected to return the camping area to the condition in which it was found. No damage should be made to trees and all fire sites must be covered. Garbage should be removed when the site is vacated. The site is named for the family who settled this area in the 1850’s and whose descendants shared the ground with the Brice’s Crossroads National Battlefield Commission, the present owner.