Lt. Col. Francis Marion Windes

of

4th Alabama "Roddey's" Cavalry

 

A son of Enoch Windes and Mary Ann Ryan was born 1 Jul 1839 in Apple Grove, Morgan County, Alabama. He married, Julia A. GRAHAM on 1 Apr 1866. "Graduated from college with the understanding that he was to assist in the education of the other children. He established a school at Apple Grove, but the war coming on, he enlisted in the confederate service; coming out of that wounded and broken in health he could not stand the confinement of the school room. " At the famous (June 9, 1864) battle of Tishomingo Creek (Brice's Crossroads), Lt. Col. Windes served as regimental commander while Col. Wm. A. Johnson commanded "Johnson's brigade" (4th Alabama Cavalry, Moreland's Alabama Cavalry, Williams' Cavalry, and Warren's Cavalry) which was included in Gen. Forrest's Cavalry Corps at this brilliant victory.

After Col. William A. Johnson was wounded (Sep 27 1864) during a raid on Pulaski, Tennessee, Windes became in full command of the regiment (4th Alabama "Roddey's" Cavalry) once again.  This was after a raid  Forrest had completed in Tennessee (one of which Roddey's Cavalry also participated) but was almost trapped north of the Tennessee River whose depths were swollen by recent rains. It was at Shoal Creek (7-8 Oct 1864), six miles east of Florence, that Lt. Col. Windes' command was ordered to hold off a superior Yankee force (J. D. Morgan's Infantry Division), so Gen . Bedford Forrest could ferry his troops across the Tennessee River. After being reinforced by the 2nd TN Cavalry, 16th TN Cavalry and part of the 7th TN Cavalry, Lt. Col. Windes made a bold and calculated counter-attack, by taking his regiment North, and hitting the rear of the Federal column that was along Lawrenceburg Rd.  General Thomas Jordan writes in his book, "The Campaigns of General Nathan Bedford Forrest and of Forrest Cavalry", that Lt. Windes' attack was "so effective that he checked and retarded the Federals from reaching Florence until late on the morning of the 8th." For over 24 hours, Col. Windes' regiment and those of the Tennessee Cavalry, held the enemy off until  most of the troops were across (the remaining 1000, plus the rear guard, were ordered "to mount and swim their horses across a slough about seventy yards wide to a large island" where they could be ferried off ).

Lillie Windes Hotchkin in "Recollections of the Windes Family" wrote: "My brother Frank traveled to New York City in answer to an advertisement of a doctor there who claimed he could cure consumption--which it was thought Frank was suffering from. He went to N. Y. but stayed only a short time and started back on the train where he was taken off at Lynchburg, Virginia, and died. He was buried in the Confederate Cemetery at Lynchburg.

"In 1929, Harry and I and Dora drove to this cemetery and saw a lovely shaft erected over his grave with  appropriate carvings, his name, rank in the Confederate Army (a Colonel) date of birth and date of death. Julia, his wife, was staying at our house when Frank died. I remember Julia got a [letter], the last he wrote, and read it to Mother. . . . We did [nothing] about his death due to the difficulty of travel, etc. In fact, what was to be done? . . . Frank, too, was a remarkable man and would doubtless had a distinguished career had he lived." Col. Windes' brother, Enoch Windes, Jr. (using pseudonym "Chone"), reported: "[As Francis Marion lay dying] his speech was so painful and difficult that the men could not be certain what his name was until he pointed them to his pocket from which they took some letters that fully revealed his name. When it was called out in the car a tall middle-aged man arose and came to the group that surrounded him. 'Is that Col. Windes of Ala.?' said he. 'Yes,' answered one of the group. . . . 'We were soldiers in the same company in the early part of the war in Virginia. A nobler man never lived.'" Francis Marion Windes died 16 Sep 1868 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
For more on the Windes genealogy, visit Greg Laughlin's Winde Family Website.
 
"The Virtual CSA Purple Heart Award"
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
Issued to: Lt. Col. Francis Marion Windes of the
4th Alabama "Roddey's" Cavalry , who was wounded in the service of the
Confederate States of America.
  (How To receive this award, Get your own medal, or Confederate POW medal
visit the "Virtual CSA Purple Heart Award" Website.)
 
 
 
 
Sources:

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