Battle of Okolona, Mississippi

Battle of Okolona, Mississippi Page5

(9-2012) Enlarge Captain J.E. Turner Gravesite and Memorial - Prairie Mount Cemetery. Confederate Captain J.E. Turner died at the Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia May of 1864. He was brought to Prairie Mount and laid to rest

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(9-2012) Enlarge Littleberry Gilliam was killed in Chickasaw County in October of 1864. Littleberry was the founder of Prairie Mount and was also a former State Senator (1843) as well as the largest landowner in the county by the time the War started. Federal deserters, or 'bummers' beat and tortured Littleberry to get to his gold which was hidden. Littleberry escaped his captors and hid under the floor boards of his barn. The bummers caught up with him, and set fire to the barn thus burning Littleberry alive

(9-2012) Enlarge Last view of Prairie Mount Cemetery which contains the graves of it's citizens

(9-2012) Enlarge General area of the burial site of two Union Soldiers along Pontotoc Road. These soldiers most likely fell on the route from Okolona

(9-2012) Enlarge The graves of 11 unknown Union Soldiers. One of these unknowns may be that of Sergeant Alexander Brandon of the 4th Tennessee Cavalry. His comrades relayed to his family that during the retreat he had been mounted on a mule. The mule bolted and drew near to his Confederate pursuers and Brandon was shot and killed. Some of his personal items were returned to his family. Upon looking in vain, his family never did recover his body. You can see the current paved Pontotoc Road (Route 41) in the background behind the trees and a portion of the original wartime Pontotoc Trace is directly behind the foreground of this scene in the woods. It is possible, but very difficult to follow this original portion of the Pontotoc Trace for about a mile to Ivy's Hill

(9-2012) Enlarge Ivy's Hill. The Gilbert Ivy Log House site also known as Ivy's Farm. The log house was at the summit of the hill and the dirt road is the remains of the old wartime Pontotoc Trace. More fighting took place here and 2 1/2 miles up the trace at Rutledge place. Records show that Union dead were buried near here and also another large grave near Rutledge place