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Amick's Rangers
Tyree Old Stone House |
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SEWELL MOUNTAIN DISTRICT - Cliff Top
Frances Tyree, was born in the "Long Ordinary" in Lewisburg in 1806 and the elder of the two Tyree pupils at the Academy. He was well known to a great number of people; Jackson, Clay, and Webster visited the "Old Stone House." He was as captain of Sewell Police District, was arrested by the yankees, and was a Major on Gen. Echol's staff. His son Samuel organized a Ranger Company in 1863. His wife Margaret was a sister to Col. Wm. Tyree's first wife. Maggie was a lady, kind toward the needy, she also exhibited a forethought and a wit and shrewdness rarely found. |
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During the war she remained at home, trying to protect her property from the pillage of the armies of both sides. One who knew her well says "her acts of bravery and self-command, if given to history, would compare favorably with the sorest trials of our mothers in the earlier days of American history." Said another, J. Alleine Brown of the 22nd..... |
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"At the foot of Little Sewell on the west, pioneer Frank Tyree and his wife and children lived, influential Presbyterians, and were noted among the mountain dwellers. Mrs. Tyree was a remarkable woman-fearless as any stalwart of either company and decidedly defiant. It was said that she stood in her chicken house with an axe in her hand and defended it from the marauding attempts of the Federal soldiers. It was commonly known among the Dixie boys that in the darkness of night she managed to reach General Lee, riding miles alone through the mountains, and had given the Confederates valuable information. |
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Some months subsequent to this, hearing the cannoning at Fayetteville Court House and having no other team available, she yoked a cow and a bull, trained to work, and drove them to the scene of the battle. On the way her team was attacked by a furious animal from another pasture. The intrepid woman, undaunted, met the situation by unhitching the same lordly kind of bovine from her vehicle. In the scrap that followed between the two colliding animals, Mrs. Tyree's was the champion and put to flight the opposing brute. After the incident was over and proceeding on her way, she notified some of her passers as follows. "If a body's got a bull that's troublesome, just turn him loose and we'll soon settle his fighting disposition."
Another incident of interest in this woman's experience was her first meeting with General Wise. She noticed particularly his boasting manner and words as he declared he "did not intend to call a halt until he put his foot in the Ohio River." On his return as he was retreating and evacuating the Kanawha Valley, she met him with the exclamation. "Well, General. I think you must have gotten your foot in it." This remarkable woman was by no means coarse or uncultured, but a good old Presbyterian matron whose family was known far and wide, and whose Presbyterianism was of the true Calvinistic school." |
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"We pursued the yankees as far as Mr. Tyree's, some eight miles. Mrs. Tyree is
quite a favorite with our army. Though both her sons are volunteers, and her
husband one of our most reliable scouts, she positively refused to flee from
her home on the approach of the enemy. She penned her chickens, hogs, and
cattle under her own eye, and armed with nothing but her gun and a
brave spirit, she was determined to stand her ground and protect herself and
property. When the enemy approached, they pitched into her chicken coop and
garden and she pitched into them. With a pitchfork she ran them out of her
house, and returning to the other side of her house, she found several
Hessian yankees cutting her cabbage and bearing them off. Snatching up her gun and
leveling it at them, they dropped their plunder and retreated in more than
double quick time. The circumstances not only occasioned great diversion
among the army, but her heroic conduct satisfied them that she could only be
robbed by being killed, and they never after troubled anything she had. Mrs. Tyree is a fine lady, of good character, and extraordinary
will and nerve. She keeps one of the best hotels in western Virginia, and it
is a favorite resort of all travelers."
Mrs Margaret McClung Tyree died in 1879.
Quote is attributed to "an unknown Confederate writer" in "The Civil War in Fayette County, West Virginia"
authored by Tim McKinney.....
We are indebted
to C. Myron Amick, who currently lives about a mile down the road from the
Old Stone House, for furnishing this great family story!
Robert F. Tyree" |
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CAMP AT MEADOW BLUFF.
(August 13, 1861)
General FLOYD:
I have reasons to apprehend an attack from the Federal troops to-morrow - probably to-night. They are probably Tyler's force, from Summersville, who have come into this road by the Sunday road (33 miles from here), re-enforced by a detachment direct from Gauley Bridge. Their number is estimated at 3,000. It is now known that there has been a current of Federal troops passing down the Gauley, which confirms the statement.
Mr. Tyree, just taken prisoner by the enemy, has continued to send the news to my scouts, in the neighborhood of his father's. I can stop them with 1,000 men and two pieces of cannon. Please urge on re-enforcements. Send this to General Wise, and ask him also to send all the aid he can spare.
Your obedient servant,
J. LUCIUS DAVIS,
Colonel First Regiment Wise's Legion.
P. S. - If the report is modified as to numbers, & c., I will inform you. |
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Tyree Con't |
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| Family & Places |
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Ravens Eye |
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Edited: Tyree Civil War |
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Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier |
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