My ancestor, William Ross Whitesides, my great-great grandfather, was born February 9, 1844 in York County, South Carolina, died on May 31, 1924, and is buried in the Indian Creek Cemetery in Tipton County, Tennessee along with four generations of Whitesides and Mills.

William enlisted in 1861 at age 17 in the Captain Blackburn Wilson’s Company of the 17th Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, CSA. The unit later became Company F, 17th South Carolina Infantry Regiment. Company F was known as the “Carolina Rifles”. He was wounded at the Battle of Manassas, Virginia in August 29-30,1862 and at the Battle of Boonsboro, Maryland on September 17, 1862. He also participated in the Battles of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Siege of Petersburg, Virginia, and various battles around Richmond.

He was wounded and captured at Petersburg, Virginia on March 10, 1865 and was imprisoned at Point Lookout, Maryland until May 16, 1865 when he took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America.

In the early 1870s, William and family moved west, first to Mississippi, then to the rural Holly Grove Community of Tipton County in West Tennessee about 50 miles North of Memphis. (His family appears in the 1870 Federal Census in York County, SC and in the 1880 Census in Tipton County, TN.) He had married Sarah Elizabeth Wright in 1868 in York County, South Carolina. William and Sarah raised two sons and four daughters on their farm. One daughter, Mary Agnes Whitesides, married my great grandfather, John Manuel Mills also of Holly Grove. For the rest of his life, William was a farmer and for 45 years he was a faithful member of the Holly Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He became member #35 of the Joe Brown Bivouac, United Confederate Veterans on August 6, 1898 and he received a Tennessee Confederate Soldier’s Pension #12637. William died of “dropsy” now known as congestive heart failure.

I was raised in Tipton County, Tennessee until age 12 when my father was assigned to The Pentagon in Virginia following the Korean War. So, I was associated with the Whitesides and other relatives at an early age without being aware of the genealogy until the last few years when I undertook extensive family research. This research has led me to appreciate my ancestors, to honor their contributions, and led me to apply for membership in the Lt Gen Wade Hampton Camp #273, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Today if you drive up Highway 51 from Memphis toward *Covington, Tennessee, the county seat of Tipton County, just before entering the city limits, you turn left onto Holly Grove Road and proceed about 10 miles. Just before the intersection of Holly Grove Road and McWilliams Road, the property on the right is traditional Mills land currently owned by my brother, Rix Marion Mills, a member of the Simonton-Wilcox Camp # 257, SCV. Proceeding about another mile on the right is the Holly Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the intersection of Holly Grove Road and Indian Creek Road. About 1/2 mile up Indian Creek Road on the right is the Indian Creek Cemetery where William and Sarah are buried just before the home of their daughter, Mary Agnes. Proceeding west from the church on Holly Grove Road about a mile and a half, if you turn right on Baskin Road (the second road from the church) it will lead you to the Whitesides farm.

  

My great great-grandfather, Corporal William Ross Whitesides, like so many other patriots, answered the call to arms. After the war, having survived battle wounds and nearly four years of combat service, he served his community and led an exemplary, productive Christian life.

In front of the Tipton County Museum, Veterans Memorial & Nature Center is a large granite marker inscribed with the speech of Lt Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest on September 22, 1876 at his last reunion of the soldiers of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, CSA.

HISTORICAL NOTES:

The 17th Infantry Regiment began forming as early as November 1861 and was mustered into State service on December 18, 1861. The regiment was fully organized and mustered into Confederate service on May 1, 1862 at John's Island, with men from Barnwell, York, Chester, Lancaster, and Fairfield counties. It served on the coast of South Carolina, then moved to Virginia. During the war it was brigaded under Generals Evans, Elliott, and Wallace. The regiment saw action at Second Manassas, South Mountain, and Sharpsburg, and later fought at Kinston, North Carolina, and Jackson, Mississippi. Returning to South Carolina, the 17th became part of the garrison at Fort Sumter and during the spring of 1864 rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia. It continued the fight in the Petersburg trenches north and south of the James River and in various conflicts around Appomattox. This unit lost sixty-two percent of the 304 at Second Manassas, forty-three percent of the 141 at South Mountain, and thirty-two percent of the 59 at Sharpsburg. In September, 1863, it contained 324 effectives, and there were 135 casualties at the Petersburg mine explosion. Many were disabled at Sayler's Creek and 9 officers and 110 men surrendered in April, 1865.

OFFICERS:

Colonels Fitz William McMaster and John H. Means, Lieutenant Colonels John R. Culp and R.S. Means, and Majors John W. Avery and Julius Mills.

Company F - (the color company), was made up of many men from York District (County)

ENGAGEMENTS:
John's Island SC ..(7 - 9 JUN 1862)
Malvern Hill ..(6 AUG 1862)
Rappahannock Station VA ..(23 AUG 1862)
2nd Bull Run VA ..(28 - 30 AUG 1862)
South Mountain VA ..(14 SEP 1862)
Antietam VA ..(17 SEP 1862)
Jackson Siege MS ..(JUL 1863)
Charleston Harbor ..(AUG - SEP 1863)
Bermuda Hundred ..(17 MAY - 16 JUN 1864)
Petersburg Siege VA ..(JUN 1864 - APR 1865)
Ft. Stedman ..(25 MAR 1865)
Five Forks VA ..(1 APR 1865)
Appomattox Court House VA ..(9 APR 1865)