This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: grampawarren Surnames: LEWIS THOMPSON Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.alabama.counties.coosa/4122/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My paternal grandmother's paternal grandmother was Loveday (Lovey) McCloud LEWIS, b. 1855 in Coosa Co. to Abel LEWIS and Elizabeth THOMPSON. My grandmother used to tell me stories that Lovey told her. Grandma had an encyclopedic memory for names, dates, places and incidents. Unfortunately, nobody recorded those stories while she was alive, and I have spent huge amounts of time and money trying to place those I remember in their context. One of the most compelling stories was of a time during the Civil War, when soldiers came through the Lewis plantation. Abel had died the previous year and all eligible men were away fighting the war, so the farm was left in the care of Elizabeth and the slaves. The men slaughtered every living farm animal they could find, and raided the smokehouse. They proceeded to strip the fields bare of food crops and burned what was left, before continuing their march. Elizabeth and her people were left hungry and destitute. A young slave boy had managed to hide an old milk cow, which he led to the main house when it was safe. The slaves were gathered around Elizabeth when one woman spoke up. "Ma'am, what we gonna do now? The soldiers done left us with nothin' to eat, and no crops to harvest." Elizabeth pointed to the milk cow and said, "We have the cow, so the children will have milk. As for the rest of us, we will follow that cow. We will watch what she eats, and what she eats, we shall eat." Thus, through grit and determination they managed to survive. I recently was able to determine who the troops were who conducted the raid. The Lewis family were enumerated in the Hatchet Creek district of the 1860 AL Federal Census. There is a map showing that Union troops under Maj. General Lovell Rouseau moved through Coosa County in mid-July of 1864. Their route crossed Hatchet Creek, and they almost had to be the troops mentioned by Lovey, as I have found no other references to movements through the area. General Rouseau's forces were cavalry troops, supported by a light artillery unit. Their aim was to disrupt the railroad line used to send supplies to Atlanta, GA. I offer this story and history to the list because it reinforces the fact that we deal with history which affected living, breathing human beings in the most basic ways. Finally placing the story in its proper context was a source of real joy to me and a validation of the work I've done. Thanks... Dale Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.