[Granville-Hough] 21 July 2009 - How the Yankees Got Lost in Merry Hell
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough at oakapple.net
Wed Nov 3 05:18:09 PDT 2010
How the Yankees Got Lost in Merry Hell!
Many years ago I got the references on Griersons Raid through
Mississippi (during the Siege of Vicksburg) and published one or more
articles in the Smith County Reformer. I do remember one of the stories
of one column of Yankee soldiers which took a road from Raleigh in a
southwest direction. It was to pass over Oakohay and Okatomy Creeks,
burn the bridges and move on through Simpson County and join the other
column at Pearl River, thence southward to Baton Rouge. The road, or
trail, they were following turned back east through Sullivans Hollow
and they wanted to go on west to Pearl River. They captured a local man,
not named, who said he would guide them to the nearest road in Simpson
county. They then followed a trail west into an area of fallen,
interlocked longleaf pine trees, with heavy underbrush. This was the
site of a terrible tornado which had passed through some years earlier,
creating a log jam with fallen trees. Briars and undergrowth has sprung
up to make it impassable, but it was a good place to hunt around as its
browsing opportunity attracted deer, and all other types of wildlife.
The place was called Merry Hell, and it was along McLauren Creek close
to the Smith-Simpson County line. Night was falling, and the guide lost
his way. He was terrorized by the Yankees to the point he was
incoherent. He was no help at all. The exhausted men fell asleep, but
took turns trying to probe their way among the logs and brush. Towards
morning someone got to the other side and at daylight they located the
path they had missed the night before. They turned to get their guide,
but he was long gone. They got their column through Merry Hell, and by
next evening had crossed Simpson County and Pearl River just as their
main column was ready to set fire to the Pearl River Bridge.
When I got the article published in the Smith County Reformer, I pointed
out that Griersons Raiders did not name the guide, but someone must
descend from him who had heard the story. I got no response. Either the
person did not feel safe to admit he was guiding the Yankees, or he
himself could have been so lost he never got home. Certainly he died
before anyone could document his version of the events.
Later, in my time, Merry Hell was a favored place for moonshiners to set
up operations. It seemed to me that they favored the Simpson County
side, between Merry Hell and Saratoga (Okatomy Creek), but I never had a
count. Maybe the Simpson County sheriffs just made more raids and gained
more publicity. One might also note that several Simpson County sheriffs
were Sullivan descendants who had grown up in or close to Merry Hell.
They never got lost there.
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