Mitchell Caldwell

- 1865

• Name	Mitchell Caldwell
  Gender	Male
  Died	10 Apr 1865
  Buried	Mount Sterling Cemetery, Haywood County, North Carolina   [1]
  Person ID	I370968	Smoky Mountain Ancestral Quest
  Last Modified	12 Feb 2014

  
  

  Father	Caldwell
  Family ID	F146164	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Buried - - Mount Sterling Cemetery, Haywood County, North Carolina  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 59391825). Tradition has it that George Grooms Jr. and his brother Henry Grooms were working in their field in Cataloochee on April 10, 1865. A group of raiders from Teague's Company came into the field and captured George and Henry. They marched them to the Tennesse Line, nearly 8 miles away where they met up with other raiders who had captured Henry's brother in law, Mitchell Caldwell. The raiders decided to shoot the three. The story continues that George cursed the raiders as they shot him tied to a tree. Mitchell Caldwell was said to have been a kind and simple minded individual and the raiders made him pull his hat down over his face. They did not want to kill a man that was smiling at them. Henry who was a fiddle player asked to pray before he was shot. The raiders agreed that they would let him pray but he would have to play them a tune on his fiddle. Henry played them Bonapart's Retreat, said to be his favorite tune. Afterwards, he also was shot. All three were left in the road beside the bullet scarred tree where they were tied and shot. Henry's wife Elizabeth Caldwell Grooms (sister to Mitchell) and a Sutton boy, probably a relative went to the site later and took the three bodies back on an sled pulled by an ox. All three were said to have been buried in a common grave in this cemetery and all three in one large pine box, (coffin). The story continues that the actual fiddle belonging to Henry Grooms is on display at Dollywood Theme Park in Tennessee. The song Bonapart's Revenge is known locally as the Grooms Tune. This information gathered from several sources including information on display at the Theme Park. Accuracy and truth of this account is unkonwn by the writer of this bio. Note the attached photo of the grave stone is enscripted Mitchell Caldwell but by tradition is the burial place of Henry, George and Mitchell.