Williams, Andrew Jackson, 1846-1925
Dates
- Existence: 1846 - 1925
Biography
Andrew Jackson Williams was the son of John Williams (1808-1860) and his wife Nancy Harbison (1812-1889). Born two miles north of Benton, Tennessee, on July 29, 1846, he lived on a farm in Polk County until the winter of 1863-64. After joining a company of Confederate soldiers of the 62nd Tennessee Infantry who had been paroled after the surrender of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863), he participated in "scouts and raids" against Federal troops before the company separated and most of the soldiers left Tennessee. On his return from a brief trip to Georgia, he was twice captured before escaping and returning to Georgia. On April 1, 1864 at Tunnel Hill, Georgia, Williams enlisted in company A of the 2nd Tennessee Cavalry, CSA.
Beginning in May 1864, Williams participated in several battles as Federal forces advanced from the Chattanooga area toward Atlanta (Resaca, New Hope Church, Cassville, etc.). The day after a fight at Newman, Georgia (apparently late July 1864), he was sent to a hospital at Newman and then transferred to the 2nd Georgia Hospital at Augusta. After about two months confinement he was assigned police duty at Macon, Georgia. In Alabama when Sherman began his advance toward Savannah, his unit marched back into Georgia to intercept Federal forces at Griffin (probably November 1864). Fighting nearly every day on the way to Savannah, he remained in sight of Savannah until after Christmas.
Leaving Savannah behind, the Confederates crossed South Carolina and fought Union troops near Fayetteville and at Averasborough and Bentonville, North Carolina (March 1865). After the surrender of the Confederate forces commanded by Joseph E. Johnston (April 26, 1865), Williams was paroled at Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 3, 1865; and he returned to his home in Polk County, Tennessee that same month.
After the Civil War, Williams continued farming but also served as clerk of the Polk County Court and clerk and master of the chancery court. Andrew Jackson Williams died at his farm on August 24, 1925, and his widow Sarah C. (Rymer) Williams died in Benton, Tennessee in 1929.
