February
1
1807
- William Bowen Campbell, who
served from 1851 to 1853 as the
sixteenth governor of Tennessee,
was born near Hendersonville,
Sumner County. The third native
Tennessean and the last Whig to
hold the office of governor, he
was also state attorney in 1829;
a member of the legislature in
1835, a position he resigned to
fight as a captain in the
Seminole War; a member of
Congress from 1837 to 1843; a
colonel in the First Tennessee
Regiment in the Mexican War; and
a circuit court judge. The
regiment that Campbell lead in
the Mexican War was called the
"Bloody First." He is
best remembered for the order he
gave to his soldiers at the
storming of Monterrey; instead of
"Charge," Campbell
shouted, "Follow me
boys." The phrase was
popularized as the Whig campaign
slogan in the 1851 race for
governor. A Union loyalist in the
Civil War, Campbell was appointed
by United States President
Abraham Lincoln as brigadier
general of Volunteers on June 30,
1862, a position from which he
resigned on January 26, 1863, due
to poor health. When Tennessee
was readmitted to the Union,
Campbell was elected as a
Unionist to the 39th Congress and
served from July 24, 1866 to
March 3, 1867. He died August 19,
1867.
February 2
1990
- President George Bush, speaking
at the University of Tennessee,
remarked, "Our goal--To
place Americans on Mars and to do
it within the working lifetimes
of scientists and engineers who
will be recruited for the effort
today. And just as Jefferson sent
Lewis and Clark to open the
continent, our commitment to the
Moon/Mars initiative will open
the Universe. It is the
opportunity of a lifetime and
offers a lifetime of
opportunity."
  February
3
1863
- In the early afternoon Rebels
under Confederate Major General
Joseph Wheeler, attacked Fort
Donelson, an 800-man garrison at
Dover, Stewart County, Tennessee,
under the command of Union
Colonel A.C. Harding. The
determined Confederate attack was
repelled by the well-entrenched
soldiers in blue. At dusk, with
both sides low on ammunition, the
Rebels retired, realizing the
Union troops were too dug in to
allow capture, leaving the enemy
in control of Middle Tennessee.
The Battle of Dover resulted in
796 total casualties, 126 for the
United States and 670 for the
Confederacy.
 February
4
1810
- The Cumberland Presbyterian
Church was founded in Dickson
County, Tennessee, in response to
the growing need for religious
faith on the frontier and as a
dissent from the severe doctrine
of double predestination held by
the Presbyterian Church at that
time. The denomination is now
headquartered in Memphis.
1949 - Actor Michael
Beck (Tucker) was born in
Memphis. Beck has a number of
movie credits, including the TV
movies "Holocaust" in
1978 and "Mayflower: The
Pilgrims Adventure" with
Anthony Hopkins in 1979. On the
big screen he appeared in the
1978 film "The
Warriors" and in 1980 as
Sonny Malone opposite Olivia
Newton-John in
"Xanadu." Beck has also
narrated five John Grisham novels
on audiotape for Bantam /
Doubleday Audio Publishing,
"A Time to Kill"
(1992), "The Chamber"
(1994), "The Rainmaker"
(1995), "The Runaway
Jury" (1996), and "The
Partner" (1997).
1989
- "The Worlds Greatest
Mandolin Player" Kenneth
"Jethro" Burns, half of
the country music comedy team
"Homer & Jethro,"
died of cancer. Burns, whose
career as a musician spanned a
half century, was born in rural
north Georgia on March 10, 1920.
He moved with his family to
Knoxville when he was three years
old. His 39-year collaboration
with Henry Haynes aka
"Homer" produced 35
albums, a Grammy Award, frequent
appearances on national radio and
TV shows, and a series of
commericials for Kelloggs Corn
Flakes. "Jethro" was
also a regular on the Hee Haw
television show and on live radio
productions of Prairie Home
Companion.
February 5
1947
- Auto racer Darrell Waltrip was
born in Owensboro, Kentucky. A
long-time resident of Franklin,
Tennessee, Waltrip was the NASCAR
Winston Cup Champion in 1981,
1982, and 1985. Waltrip retired
from his 28-year racing career at
the end of the 2000 NASCAR
season.
February 6
1862
- Union ironclad gunboats on the
Tennessee River opened fire on
Fort Henry as U.S. forces under
the command of Brigadier General
Ulysses S. Grant marched overland
to surround the fort. The fierce
bombardment in the battle that
spread through parts of Stewart
and Henry Counties in Tennessee
and Calloway County, Kentucky,
lasted over an hour with the
ironclads suffering heavy blows.
But the fort could not withstand
the assault, so before Union
ground troops could arrive, over
2,500 Rebels made their way out
and headed for Fort Donelson, the
next objective for Grant, a dozen
miles away on the Cumberland.
Confederate Brigadier General
Lloyd Tilghman and fewer than a
hundred of his men were left to
surrender the fort leaving the
Tennessee River, a major
transportation route, open to
gunboats and supply shipments. In
this engagement 119 men died, 40
Union soldiers and 79 Rebels.
February 7
FEBRUARY
in Cherokee is "Gaga lu nee'
which means "bony or hungry
month.
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