Part of the preserved battlefield at Parker’s Crossroads
A Civil War battle took place right where Interstate 40 goes through the community of Parker’s Crossroads. It was a short cavalry and artillery battle between Union troops under Colonel Cyrus Dunham and Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Although the engagement didn’t last long, there were an estimated 700 casualties.
Thanks to community activists, large parts of the battlefield have been preserved in recent years, and there is a visitors center as well. Check it out, and find out the circumstances under which Forrest, with his men surrounded, ordered his men to “Charge’em both ways!”
Click here to be taken to the official website of the Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield Association.
Barry (standing) with Gov. Frank Clement
PHOTO: TN State Library and Archives
Henderson County also used to be the home of William L. Barry. Mr. Barry served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1955 through 1967, and as the House Speaker during his last four years there.
About a year before his death, Mr. Barry sat down and did a long interview with Tennessee History for Kids in which he talked about what it was like to stand in front of the Tennessee General Assembly a half century ago.
Mr. Barry about a year before his death
Mr. Barry knew quite a bit about Henderson County history, and told us about Miles Darden, who lived here for most of his life and died in 1857. Miles was world famous, not for something he did but for what he was. He was a giant – at least seven feet six inches tall and, at the time of his death, weighed more than a thousand pounds (according to the cotton scales on which he was weighed).
According to the book Every Day in Tennessee History by James Jones, “a typical Miles Darden breakfast consisted of a dozen eggs, two quarts of coffee, a gallon of water, and 30 buttered biscuits.”
Miles started as a farmer, and later ran a tavern and inn.
Here’s a photo of the Henderson County Courthouse.
