No. 19 Four Brothers in the Civil War: William Shannon Coile - Confederate Soldier

Three brothers, Lafayette, David and Martin Coile, were Union soldiers. There brother, Shannon, was a soldier in the Confederate Army. Here is his story pieced together from the census records, Government Service Administration records and records of his military unit.

William Shannon Coile was born 19 February 1828 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He married Mary Ann James. Shannon was the oldest of the four brothers who fought in the war. Jefferson County, TN tax records for 1862 show that he owned 160 acres of land worth $2500 and paid $15 in taxes. The war records show that he enlisted into Company B, 1st Regiment, Tennessee Provisional Infantry (also known as Turney's Infantry after its commander), Confederate Army on 25 February 1864 by a Major Johnson for the period of the war. This took place in Greenville, Tennessee. Military records show that Shannon testified that he had been taken from his home in East Tennessee and "forced into the Rebel Army." Apparently this happened during a time when Confederate raiders under General Morgan were raiding East Tennessee. It is interesting that two of Shannon's brothers were a part of Union force sent from Nashville into East Tennessee to pursue the same Rebel raiders that took him by force. Muster rolls show that Shannon was present at the Battle of the Wilderness in Central Virginia less than three months later and was able to cross over into the Union line. His infantry regiment was part of Archer's Brigade, Heth's Division and Ambrose P. Hill's Corp fighting under the commanding general, Robert E. Lee. A.P. Hill's Corps was on the Confederate right flank during the three-day battle. This placed them in front of Union general Hancock's Corps where much of the intense fighting took place. It began as Hill's Corps pushed along the plank road to the northeast, pushing the Union soldiers back towards Wilderness Tavern. They continued their push until Hancock's Corps was able to halt their advance. Both sides dug in and waited on reinforcements to come up and form opposing lines of battle. A. P. Hill's Corp was waiting on Longstreet's Corp to arrive but it was late. Around 4:15 p.m. the Union began and attack on the Confederate line. The Confederate line held and many Union soldiers died on the battlefield. Around 5:30 A.P. Hill attacked but only gained about 50 yards. As night fell the battle ended for 5 May 1864. Five Union divisions (38,000 men) had not been able to dislodge two Confederate divisions (14,000 men). Heth recommended that his men prepare a strong defensive position. Hill refused this plan as he expected Longstreet to arrive at any moment. Grant, commanding the Union army, ordered a general attack at dawn for 6 May 1864. During the night the Union lines were reinforced but the Confederate lines were still awaiting Longstreet and Anderson's troops to arrive. The fighting began at 5 a.m. Soon the Confederate right flank was being turned. Just in the nick of time Longstreet's first brigades began to arrive and reinforce A.P. Hill's line. Longstreet pressed a counter attack pushing the Union forces back to their line of departure. Later in the day he pushed further. Longstreet was wounded in the battle and gave command over to General Field. Longstreet had been wounded by friendly fire as some units advanced more rapidly than others in the Confederate assault. Soon afterwards General Lee arrived on the field and order that the advance be halted and the units to re-group and stabilize the lines. Late in the afternoon Lee ordered an assault but was unable to break through the Union line. During the intense fighting all along the front many brush fires broke out, hampering the ability of the soldiers to fire upon their enemy and halting some of the fighting. I speculate that when one of the Confederate assaults by Heth's division was pushed back, Shannon Coile was able to lay low and get captured as Union troops took back the ground he was on. In this way he became a prisoner of war. His testimony is that he had "always been a Union man and have four brothers in the Union Army." He indicated that he wished to take the oath of allegiance and return to East Tennessee. The only other brother on record is Archibald Coile and we don't know at this time whether he fought in the war or not. The Battle of the Wilderness continued another day with Grant disengaging and bounding around Lee's army towards Richmond. On 18 May 1864 Shannon was transported as a prisoner of war to Belle Plains, Virginia. From here he was transported to Point Lookout, Maryland. Muster roll records indicate that he arrived at Elmira Prison, New York 26 July 1864 and that he was "desirous of taking the Oath of allegiance to the United States" in August 1864. He was released on 16 August 1864 to return to his home. I have no further information on Shannon's life. I suppose that he returned to farming around New Market, Tennessee. Shannon died on 1 January 1900 and was buried at Lost Creek Cemetery in Jefferson County. Lost Creek was probably the cemetery associated with the Quaker church in New Market.

With this story we've gained an insight into the lives of four brothers, three Union and one forced to fight for the South. They all came home from the war and settle down again with their families in Jefferson County, Tennessee.