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Christopher Columbus London (b. January 09, 1845, d. Aft. 1922)

Christopher Columbus London (son of Levi London and Lydia Looney) was born January 09, 1845 in Lewisburg Tn Maury Co., and died Aft. 1922 in Maury Co.. He married Martha Jane Tennessee Bray on September 09, 1873 in Giles County, Tn, daughter of William Butler Bray and Mary Minerva "Polly" Winn.

Notes for Christopher Columbus London:
When Columbus London (Lum) war born, his family lived in a log house with three rooms. He was the 5th child of the family of 5 boys and 3 girls. When he was 8 years old his oldest brother John C. London died. He attended the nearest school, over a mile from his home, about 4 months out of the year, for about 10 years. His teacher was a man. The school was a regular day school, which was paid for in part by the county and part by subscription of the patrons. As was the custom of those days, he worked on the family farm, with his father and siblings, plowing, hoeing, and working at all other manual labor necessary to farming. His mother did her cooking, spinning, weaving and laundry work. His mother Lydia died November 23, 1860 when he was only 15 years old. Seven months later in May of 1861 Columbus, at the age of 16, joined the Confederate Army. He was sent to Camp Cheatham in Robertson Co. Tn. for training. His first battle at the age of 17 was the battle of Fort Donelson, Tn. Source: C. C. London Civil War questionnaire of 1922

3rd Tennessee Infantry
The 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment was organized under a sugar maple tree at Lynnville Station in Giles County, Tennessee, on May 16, 1861

Captain John Calvin Brown of Pulaski was elected Colonel of the regiment and was replaced by Calvin J. Clack as Captain of Company A. Captain Thomas M. Gordon was elected Lieutenant Colonel and replaced by his brother Ephraim H. F. Gordon as Captain of Company G. Captain Nathaniel F. Cheairs was elected Major and replaced by H. P. Pointer as Captain of Company F. The regiment was immediately accepted into the service of the State of Tennessee, as Tennessee had not yet seceded from the Union.
The 3rd Tennessee Infantry went by rail to Nashville on May 16 and camped for the night at the fairgrounds. The next day they went to the State Capitol and drew their weapons, percussion muskets. They moved by rail that day to Camp Cheatham, near Springfield, Tennessee. They remained at Camp Cheatham for several weeks, receiving instruction in military tactics, drilling and marksmanship, all under the leadership of Colonel John C. Brown. While at Camp Cheatham, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry suffered much sickness, especially measles. On July 28, 1861, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry moved to Camp Trousdale in Robertson County, Tennessee, on the L&N Railroad near the Kentucky line. A report dated July 31, 1861, indicated 885 men present. While undergoing further military instruction, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry suffered much illness, particularly diarrhea and measles. Tennessee seceded from the Union on June 8, 1861, and the 3rd Tennessee Infantry was accepted into the service of the Confederate States of America on August 7, 1861. The 3rd Tennessee Infantry was reorganized:
From Camp Trousdale, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where they reported to General Simon B. Buckner on September 19, 1861. Colonel John C. Brown was senior Colonel and was given command of a brigade composed of the 3rd, 18th, 23rd and 24th Regiments of Tennessee Infantry, Jones' Battalion of Tennessee Cavalry, and Porter's Tennessee Battery. Here they suffered much sickness and endured hard drill under the direction of Colonel Brown. "The drill was very exacting and fatiguing, and in the process of hardening for service the numbers were reduced by sickness, permanent disability, and death."
"Colonel John C. Brown was a strict disciplinarian, full of the magnitude of the work ahead, and determined that his regiment, composed of picked material, should not be excelled. "Brown's Brigade remained in and around Bowling Green until the following February.
On February 8, 1862, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry reached Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River, with 750 men present. The 32nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment, which included four companies from Giles County, replaced the 23rd Tennessee Infantry as a part of Brown's Brigade. As Colonel Brown was in command of the brigade, Lt. Colonel Thomas M. Gordon commanded the 3rd Tennessee Infantry. Brown's Brigade was in the worst of the fighting of the Battle of Fort Donelson. The 3rd Tennessee Infantry lost 13 men killed and 56 wounded. Practically all of the rest of the regiment was surrendered on February 16, 1862. The officers were taken to Fort Warren, Massachusetts and Camp Chase, Ohio. The non-commissioned officers and privates were taken by steamboat to Camp Douglas, Illinois. Colonel John C. Brown was offered his freedom, but chose to suffer the same fate as his men, who spent the next seven months as prisoners of war in northern prisons.
The intense cold of Camp Douglas, Illinois, located on Lake Michigan near Chicago, took a heavy toll on the men of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry. A few managed to escape, but most suffered through the winter with insufficient clothing and food. At least a dozen men of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry died within the confines of Camp Douglas. Others of the regiment had died on the trip northward and officers suffered and died in other prison camps. Finally, after seven long months, the men and officers of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry were loaded on boats and taken down the Mississippi River to be paroled and exchanged.
After all the bad experiences described above C. C. London and the other prisoners, upon reaching Vicksburg Mississippi joined back up with their company, below are some of the battles he fought before being captured for a second time.
The 3rd Tennessee Infantry was paroled at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on September 23, 1862. At this point they were no longer prisoners, but could not rejoin the Confederate Army until they were formally exchanged on November, 10, 1862. The 3rd Tennessee Infantry was reorganized for the third and final time at Jackson, Mississippi, on September 26, 1862, with 607 men present. Colonel John C. Brown had been promoted to Brigadier General and had been called to Chattanooga to join General Bragg's army. Calvin Harvey Walker was elected Colonel. Calvin J. Clack was elected Lieutenant Colonel Thomas M. Tucker and Flavel C. Barber were elected Majors.
The 3rd Tennessee Infantry was placed in Brigadier General John Gregg's Brigade and was involved in a sharp skirmish at Springdale, Mississippi, and took part in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou on December 27-29, 1862. The brigade then moved to Port Hudson, Louisiana, and endured the Federal bombardment of Port Hudson.
On May 11, 1863, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry arrived at Jackson, Mississippi, and the following day moved to Raymond, Mississippi, and met the advance of Union General U. S. Grant's army in one of the fiercest and bloodiest engagements of the war. 548 men of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry fought at Raymond, suffering casualties of 32 killed, 76 wounded and 68 captured. Before the battle, Colonel Walker had stepped out in front of the regiment and said, "We will soon be engaged in a battle and before we begin I wish to say that I do not command you to go, but to follow this old bald head of mine..."
**C. C. London was captured in this battle described above and sent to Ft. Deleware and then to Point Look Out**
Columbus had been wounded severely in the battle near Raymond Miss. He appears on a list of casualties May 12, 1863. He was hit in the left arm, the ball hit the bone, and was almost a year recovering. This was during the time he was in the prisons, described below
In April 1864 Columbus was paroled (by taking oath) He left prison and walked most of the way to Columbia Tennessee, on the way was stopped by Union forces and made to take oath (saying he would not fight in the war again) three times
Upon arrival in Columbia C. C. London then joined Wheelers Corps for the duration of the war. Some Battles are described below.

The regiment moved to McMinnville, Murfreesboro, and Wartrace, then crossed the Duck River and, under the command of Major General Joe Wheeler, participated in the Battle of Farmington in October. They retreated southward and crossed the Tennessee River near the mouth of the Elk River, at Muscle Shoals, having passed through Giles County. The regiment then moved eastward, across northern Alabama, back to the vicinity of Chattanooga and retreated with the Army of Tennessee to winter headquarters at Dalton, Georgia.
In the early summer of 1864, Wheeler's 6th Tennessee Cavalry participated in Confederate General Joe Johnston's retreat to Atlanta, fighting at Resaca, New Hope Church, Pine Mountain, Kennesaw Mountain, and at Atlanta. During this struggle the regiment was again and again dismounted and took the place of infantry in the trenches.
General Wheeler then marched to Covington, Georgia, 40 miles south of Atlanta. From this place, on the 10th of August, the regiment moved with General Wheeler's command to the rear of Sherman's army to Dalton, Georgia, Cleveland, Athens, and around Knoxville, then crossed the mountains to Sparta, in Middle Tennessee.
At one point the regiment was more than two hundred miles behind enemy lines. They moved on to Franklin, tearing up the track of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad, destroying trestles and bridges; also the Nashville and Decatur railroad, cutting Sherman's and Thomas' lines of communication. They passed west of Columbia by way of Lynnville and Lawrenceburg, fording the Tennessee River at Colbert Shoals, below Florence, Alabama.
Colonel James Wheeler asked General Joe Wheeler for permission to join General Forrest on his raid into Middle Tennessee in September, 1864. General Wheeler at first declined the request, but later allowed Wheeler's 6th Tennessee Cavalry to join Forrest's command.
The Giles County boys, (C.C. London was a Giles Co. boy) at least what remained of them, were returning home. At Athens, Alabama, Colonel Wheeler played a significant part in Forrest's deception that led to the surrender of the Federal garrison. As part of his bluff, General Forrest addressed Colonel Wheeler as General Wheeler and together they convinced the Union commander that their command was much larger than it actually was.
The command moved with Forrest, aided in capturing a force of 400 men guarding the bridge at Elk River, on the Nashville and Decatur road, and all the stockades on the road as far as Pulaski, where the Federals had collected several thousand men to oppose Forrest; thence to the neighborhood of Shelbyville and Wartrace. The command crossed the Tennessee River near Florence, Alabama.
The regiment went with Forrest to Corinth, Mississippi, then parted from Forrest with reluctance and moved to LaGrange, Georgia, where they rejoined Wheeler's command about the 25th of November, 1864. The command moved with General Wheeler to Griffin, Georgia, where it first encountered General Sherman on his "march to the sea. "They followed Sherman, making frequent attacks on his massive army, but to no avail.
They crossed into South Carolina, then moved into North Carolina, where they participated in the battles at Averysboro and Bentonville. The Battle of Bentonville was the last of the war in which the Army of Tennessee was engaged. It was fought on the 19th and 20th of March, 1865. On the 26th of April, 1865, the battle-flag of the Confederacy was furled, as far as the Army of Tennessee was concerned. Wheeler's 6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment was paroled at Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 3, 1865.
Christopher Columbus London was paroled at Charlotte North Carolina on May 6, 1865. He got home by riding a horse from Charlotte NC to Greenville, Tn., where Union Soldiers took his horse. He was put on a train that carried him to Beltbuckle Tn. and walked home to Columbia Tn. from there.

Martha Jane Tennessee Bray

More About Christopher Columbus London and Martha Jane Tennessee Bray:
Unknown-Begin: September 09, 1873, Giles County, Tn.

Children of Christopher Columbus London and Martha Jane Tennessee Bray are:

+Elvin Young London, b. January 11, 1880, Maury Co., Tn, d. February 01, 1940, Gibson Co., Tn..
Tennie London, b. 1882.
Bertha London, b. 1884.
Walter C London, b. April 1886, d. Aft. 1910, Tatemville, Obion Co, Tn..
AA London, b. 1878.