PVT FLETCHER H. CHEATHAM
CO. H, 6TH TENNESSEE CONFEDERATE
CAVALRY, CSA

Listed in the 1850 census from Culleoka, Maury County, Tennessee, Fletcher was the son of Thomas (b. 1809) and Martha Cheatham, the oldest of 9 children, who were originally from North Carolina. Siblings Mary, William, Judith, Nancy, Amanda, Sarah F., Martha H., & James B.

1870 U.S. census from Culleoka, Maury County, Tennessee, lists Fletcher as farmer, married to Martha Ann, children Leroy, Elnorah, Florence, Lindzy (Linsey), Anna Belle, & Helen Sallie.

Tennessee Library & Archives show Fletcher H. Cheatham to be Pvt., Co. H, 6th (Wheeler's) Tennessee Confederate Cavalry Regiment. On account of so many killed in action, this regiment was consolidated with the 1st Tennessee Confederate Cavalry Regiment (N.B. Forrest), and later consolidated with the 9th Tennessee Confederate Cavalry Regiment.

Taken prisoner, April 27, 1865, near Greensboro, North Carolina, when ordered to surrender. Parolled at Charlotte, North Carolina, May 3, 1865. Was never able to draw pension because his enlistment records were lost when consolidated in the field. Union prisoner of war records, however, show that one Fletcher H. Cheatham, Private, Company H, 9th Tennessee Confederate Cavalry Regiment, was paroled at Charlotte, North Carolina, 3 May 1865.

Veteran of the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Chattanooga, Perryville, Murphreesboro, Chicamauga, Missionary Ridge, Kennesaw, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy, Franklin, Nashville, Spring Hill, Elk River, & finally surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina. The latter battles after Atlanta were in an effort to stop Sherman's March To The Sea. Fletcher served under the commands of Generals Joseph Wheeler and Nathan B. Forrest, who served under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston.

At Shiloh, the regiment lost 260 men, killed wounded or missing; at Perryville, the regiment lost over 150 killed, wounded & missing; at Chicamauga, the regiment lost over 1/3 of its men; at Missionary Ridge, the regiment again suffered heavy casualties, and was one of the last of the Confederate units to leave the field of battle. The regiment was 'immortalized' at the Battle of Franklin, TN, on 30 November, 1864.

Cheatham, Fletcher H. Giles Co. Widow's Pension #W5804 filed for by Lou Z Cheatham.