No. 18 Four Brothers in the Civil War: Martin Coile - Union Soldier

Martin Harrison Coile was a brother to my great-great grandfather Lafayette Coile. Along with Lafayette, Martin and David Coile also served in the Union Army during the Civil War. We will highlight their military career as outlined by the Government Service Administration and based on the history of their respective military units. We will started with Martin Coile:

According to the 1850 Jefferson County Census Martin was 19 years old at the time. Accordingly he would have been born in 1831. He married in 1854 to Peggy (last name unknown). The muster roll shows that he was present with Battery E, 1st Tennessee Light Artillery as of March 1864. He would have been an old man of 33 years of age if he enlisted in 1864. We don't know whether he joined the service prior to this or not. His younger brother, David N. Coile, had enlisted in the same unit in November of 1863 when the battery formed. Based on our records, we can follow his involvement in the army after E Battery completed its assignment to North Central Kentucky (March-April 1864) and moved south to the Nashville and Bull Gap area. In August the unit composed part of a larger Union force sent forth by wartime Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson to put an end to Confederate raids into East Tennessee. This Union force pursued Confederate raiders, moving through Strawberry Plains to Greenville, to Moshiem (Blue Springs), Park's Gap and back to Greenville. At Greenville E Battery performed well. General Alvan Gillem commended the commander of E Battery for his gallantry. It was at this battle that the famous Confederate General John Hunt Morgan was surrounded and killed. In these skirmishes and battles Martin Coile traveled back and forth through his own county on at least two or three occasions. This Union force continued to pursue the Confederate raiders throughout the region through March 1865. According to the 1st Battalion Order No. 5, Corporal Martin Coile was reduced in rank to Private on 1 February 1865. The records do not tell us why. In March 1865 they became a part of Stoneman's Expedition from East Tennessee into southwest Virginia and western North Carolina. During that expedition they moved through Wytheville and east to Martinsville, Va., then south to Mocksville, Salisbury, Morganton, Hendersonville, NC and into East Tennessee again. In June the Expedition was ordered to Nashville where E Battery, along with many others, were mustered out of service in July.

Martin would have returned to Jefferson County and to his work as a farmer. His military pension reveals that he had seven children, three born before he enlisted in the Union Army. His wife died 8 May 1896. His military pension indicates his date of death as 2 February 1903. I know nothing more about the life of Martin Harrison Coile. If one of his descendants reads this I would love to hear more.

No. 17 Four Brothers in the Civil War: David Coile - Union Soldier

David Coile was a brother to Lafayette and Martin Coile. David was the third of the four brothers who fought in the Civil War. He was also a Union soldier from East Tennessee. We have very little information about David. Everything comes from the military records and widow's pension provided by the Government Services Administration. Some records indicate that his middle initial was "N", others indicate "M". I believe that his middle name was Nelson.

According to the census records David was born about 1842. He was married to Mary A. Lyle on 19 November 1861 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. According to her widow's pension declaration she was born about 1844.

He enlisted in Battery E, 1st Battalion, Tennessee Light Artillery, Tennessee Volunteers in the Union Army. According to muster roles and his widow's pension declaration he enlisted 23 November 1863 and held the rank of Private. November was the month the unit formed so David served in the unit from its beginning to the date it disbanded after the war ended. This puts him at about 21 years of age when he enlisted. The unit saw its first mission in the District of North Central Kentucky. On the last day of 1863 the battery is reported at Camp Nelson, Kentucky. The next day they marched as a larger force towards Knoxville. They were assigned to Nashville from April to August 1864. Governor Andrew Johnson ordered a larger Union force, including this regiment, to pursue Confederate raiders who were harrassing East Tennessee. This resulted in the regiment participating in fights with Confederate General John Morgan at Greenville, Tennessee and eventually in their participation in Stonemen's raid into North Carolina. Muster roll records indicate that David was hospitalized on 12 August 1864 in Kingston, Tennessee. We do not know for how long. The 1st Battalion of Tennessee Light Artillery participated in the battle to take Salisbury, NC. Read next weeks blog entry to learn more about this unit as we tell the story of David's younger brother, Martin Coile. He was also part of the same unit. Little more is known about David Coile, He was honorably discharged 1 August 1865. I suspect that David returned to Jefferson County and his family and farm work. David died 30 August 1895.

No. 16 James Coile of Jefferson County, TN

James Coile was my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side. He was born in 1801 in Tennessee according to the 1850 Jefferson County Census. We do not know who his parents are. He is married to Elizabeth Sally Leonard. She is listed as being about three years older than James. James is listed in that census as a laborer. This may mean that he is not the owner of the land where he lives and works. He may have been sharecropping. The 1863 Jefferson County tax records for the 1st Civil District indicate that James had few taxable possessions. His total tax for that year was $1.25. This meant that he owned no land or slaves and very little property. The children listed in this census record are:

• Sarah
• Edy
• William
• Martin
• Archibald
• Jane
• Lafayette
• David

One other genealogical researcher has indicated that there were three additional older children who had left the home by the time of the 1850 Census. At this point I've not found proof that the following three are their children:

• James C. Coile
• Catherine Coile
• John Leonard Coile

While I would like to agree that these three are children of our John Coile, the ages of these children, supposedly being born prior to Sarah, would force James and Elizabeth to have started their family too early.

No. 15 Malinda McKnight

Malinda McKnight was my great-great grandmother. She was born on 15 April 1836 in Rock Valley Community, Jefferson County, Tennessee. We know very little about her. She married Lafayette Coile, a neighbor boy, in 1855. By our standards they were both kids still. Lafayette was 16 years old and Malinda was 18 years old. The Coiles and the McKnights were neighbors, living just down the road from one another. Malinda was the eleventh and last child of Thomas and Abigail Frazier McKnight. As the wife of a gristmiller she may have helped in the mill extensively. We know that her first child, my great grandmother Matilda Elizabeth Coile, was born before the Civil War began.

Matilda Elizabeth Coile was born about 1859 in Jefferson Co., TN

James Thomas Alexander Coile was born 8 September 1860 in Jefferson Co., TN

Robert Hudsell Coile was born about 1874 in Jefferson Co., TN

Both Malinda and Lafayette died young. Records indicate that he was still alive in 1880. In August 1889 the family executed a will distributing the inheritance between the children. We don't know which of the two died first. If Malinda survived Lafayette she wouldn't have been more than 53 years old at the time of her death. She, along with her husband are buried in the Vance Cemetery. Their nephew Wesley, son of William Shannon Coile, had married a Vance.