The General Who Died Near My House: William Wirt Allen

Major General William W. Allen

       Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the great grandson of Confederate Major General William Wirt Allen. Sheffield City Historian Richard Sheridan sent me an email inviting me to meet him at the Sheffield City Library to meet a Confederate general's grandson Bill Allen. I arrived to find a distinguished gentleman with an old southern accent. My accent is unfortunately North Alabama Redneck. 

       I asked Bill if he knew where the General had died and he said he knew the exact location. I was surprised because I had no idea. It turns out that General Allen was living in a home that overlooked the Tennessee River beside where the present day Sheffield Water Tower is located. General Allen was walking across his bedroom on the second floor and dropped dead of a heart attack. He'd been suffering from heart trouble for some time. He was relatively young at the time at the age of 59 or what I consider young as I approach my 44th birthday. The most amazing thing to me was how close this was to my house. It is exactly two short blocks away, not over 200 yards. Unfortunately, the home was torn down sometime after the turn of the century. There is nothing there today that would make someone think a house had ever stood on the spot. 

Me with Bill Allen in the Sheffield City Library

       I know I appear very short in the picture next to Mr. Allen, but I'm actually five foot eight inches. I was surprised to find the general's grandson at six feet four or more. Mr. Richard explained to Bill that I write Civil War books and I approached him with the idea of me writing a book on his grandfather. I don't know of any book that's ever been written on him. Mr. Allen said he would talk to his son and get back with me. He said his son actually knows more of General Allen's personal stories than he does. I hope he or his son gives me a call someday. 

General Allen's house stood to the right of the water tower

       I told Bill that I had visited the grave of General Allen and had my photograph taken there. Bill was surprised because he said he had attempted to locate the cemetery where he was originally buried and couldn't find it. I said, "I thought he rests in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama. Bill said, "He is, but I thought you were talking about the cemetery where he was originally buried in Florence, Alabama." I was surprised because I thought General Allen was originally buried in Sheffield's Oakwood Cemetery. Bill said that was an error and he wasn't sure why they carried him to Florence. He said they buried him in a small family cemetery there that he has yet to locate. 

       Bill said the general was really just coming into his own when the war ended. He missed almost two years of the war because of wounds and disease. General Allen had suffered from dysentery during the early months of the war and was slightly wounded at Perryville. At the Battle of Murfreesboro he was shot in the right hand and following surgery he only retained the use of his thumb, ring finger and little finger. The result of this wound was his being out of action for over a year. He was slightly wounded again at Waynesboro, Georgia. 

Me at the grave of General William W. Allen

The Mysterious James Deshler Photograph

Brigadier General James Deshler

       Above is a photograph of Brigadier General James Deshler that appears in all Civil War books that furnish a picture of the man. It shows heavy signs of being retouched, which means an artist took the photograph and painted over the picture covering up any blemishes and most likely painting on the officer's coat. Ironically, he wears the coat of a Confederate brigadier general which is exactly what his rank was at the time of his death. He was only a brigadier for a couple of months before being killed at the Battle of Chickamauga and probably never had his image taken in that particular uniform. This is actually a quite common occurrence for the time. 

Two photos of Brigadier General John Adams

       In the photo of General John Adams above on the left is an original photo of the man without retouching. The photograph on the right is the same man but the picture has been heavily retouched by an artist. The artist did an excellent job of making Adams eyes clearer, skin extremely smooth and his mustache is about five times as thick. The coat he has painted on the man is obviously not a coat at all. Notice how perfect the collar is, how smooth the coat lies across his chest and shoulders. 

James Deshler Mystery Photo

       A few months ago, a friend of mine, Historian Richard Sheridan provided me with a copy of the above photograph that he obtained from some of Deshler's living relatives. This picture has given me a headache attempting to figure out what it is. In the original, the coat looks real, it doesn't appear to be retouched. The above photo doesn't do the original much justice. The next problem is the fact that he is wearing a coat that would be worn by a major general or above because the buttons are grouped in three's. If you notice his face shows heavy signs of being retouched and most troubling of all, his head seems a little off centered with his neck. The mystery remains about the history of this photograph. Did he borrow a senior officers coat to have his photograph taken? Did an artist paint Deshler's face over another general officers so the family would have a uniformed picture of their lost loved one? There's a very good possibility that we will never know.

Identifying the mysterious "Prof"

Typical brass band member during the Civil War

       I've recently been working hard writing a script for a Civil War documentary for the Colbert County Tourism Association. I've borrowed notes from several local historians to assist me in my work. Although I'm a Civil War historian, I've never really focused on the small local skirmishes, etc. On prowling through Lanny Perry's notes I found an email exchange between he and Sheffield City Historian Richard Sheridan. They are discussing a man killed in Tuscumbia in the fall of 1864. The man was a band leader for Cantey's brigade. He was a member of Hood's army preparing for the fateful invasion of Tennessee. The only thing known about the man was his nickname "Prof." He was killed by a falling tree on 11 November 1864 and his funeral was so large it was led by two brass bands. 

       My wife says when I want to learn something I'm like a bulldog. That is exactly what happened when I found this email. The downfall of being this way is I'm often on a wild goose chase when I could be better using my time writing. I've written blogs before about finding something long forgotten, but for every one I've solved there are probably ten more I couldn't. I set off on this goose chase that night and surprisingly, without too much frustration (I did get a bit aggravated a couple of times) I found the mysterious "Prof." 

       Prof was Asa Ross of Butler County, Alabama. He enlisted in Mobile, Alabama on 9 March 1863 as the band leader of the 17th Alabama Infantry. He was born in North Carolina, but had moved to Butler Springs, Butler County, Alabama. When the war began, Asa was 34 years old with a 24 year old wife, a two year old daughter and a ten month old daughter. A school teacher by trade, he was nicknamed "Prof" (short for Professor) when he joined the army. He had to have been a well liked man to have been mentioned having such a large funeral. 

Could "Prof" be buried in one of these graves today

       My publisher Angela Broyles loved this story so much, she insisted I write a blog about the mysterious "Prof." I sent the information to Lanny and Richard Sheridan and Richard now wants me to attempt to find if Asa is still buried here or possibly removed to Butler County following the war. I'm not sure I will ever be able to answer that question, but I intend to attempt it. He may still be buried in an unknown grave in Tuscumbia's Oakwood Cemetery.