On top is Lt. Enoch Henderson Williams and on bottom is Joseph Green English Williams, both of Company C, 40th Mississippi Infantry. (Photo's courtesy of Danny Jones.)
One of the saddest stories of the Civil War happened at the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee. Two brothers fought in the same company in the 40th Mississippi Infantry. Enoch Williams was born in 1806 in Georgia. He died one year before the war began. At some point he moved his family to Atalla County, Mississippi. Nothing is known about his wife except her name was Nancy. He had five children, four boys and a girl (some sources state that he actually had six boys and a girl). His oldest son William Williams died two years before the war began at the age of 26.
Enoch's second son was named Enoch Henderson Williams. He enlisted in Company E, 18th Mississippi Infantry when the war began. Just after the Battle of Shiloh, Enoch transferred to Company C, 40th Mississippi Infantry where he was commissioned a lieutenant. Enoch's brother Joseph Green English Williams also enlisted in Company E, 18th Mississippi Infantry. It was noted that as the two brothers were growing up, they were inseparable. They both attended Mississippi College together and it quickly became obvious that the younger brother Joseph was the better student. It made sense that they would both join the Confederate Army together. Joseph transferred to the 40th Mississippi with Enoch and was also commissioned a lieutenant.
Private Columbus Marion Williams (Photo courtesy of Danny Jones)
Another brother Columbus Marion Williams joined Company E, 18th Mississippi Infantry and records show that he got sick, was sent home where he died. Family sources say he was severely wounded at Gettysburg and was captured. When he was exchanged he was sent home to Mississippi to recuperate. According to the family, he died of gangrene in the still unhealed wound in 1870 at the age of 25.
The source that claims there were six brothers says five of them died in the war and only Columbus survived. The names of these brothers or where they possibly served and died are not known if they even existed.
The story becomes much more melancholy. At the Battle of Franklin, Enoch and Joseph were still lieutenants in the 40th Mississippi Infantry in Winfield Featherston's Brigade. They went into the assault on the right flank of the Confederate Army having to fight their way past an Osage abatis. At some point in the fight, Enoch was shot in the stomach and Joseph was severely wounded in the arm. They were found the next morning, both had deceased, both holding the other brother's wound attempting to staunch the flow of blood. Each had tried to save his brother's life over his own.
They were probably buried together, the Confederate dead were placed in the ditch outside the earthworks. Later, Carrie McGavock of the Carnton Plantation had these men exhumed and placed in the Confederate Cemetery behind her house. Enoch was recognized (probably by something written in his pocket), however Joseph was not. Enoch rests in the Mississippi Section of the Confederate Cemetery in grave number 3. Joseph rests in an unmarked grave either in the Mississippi Section or the Unknown Section of the Cemetery. We can only hope they are buried near each other. Enoch was 27 and Joseph was 24.
The only information I could find about the one surviving sibling was Nannie Elizabeth Williams married a man named Johnson. I couldn't find any information on whether they ever had any children. Nannie died in 1911 at the age of 62. She rests today in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee. The story becomes even sadder when you realize that the only chance for the family line to continue was through Columbus. He married Francis "Fannie" Elizabeth Sallis. They had two children, one child which was born dead in 1868 and a daughter born in 1869 named Elma Marion Williams. Unfortunately, she died at the age of three. Fannie lived until 1926. All four rest today in Sallis Cemetery, Sallis, Mississippi.
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