John C. Vaughn

John C. Vaughn
Artist Don Troiani’s 2013 painting of John C. Vaughn titled “General of the Confederacy”
Born	February 24, 1824 Monroe County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	September 10, 1875 (1875-09-11) (aged 51)
Cause of death	meningitis
Resting place	Greenwood, Georgia, U.S.
Education	Bolivar Academy

John C. Vaughn (February 24, 1824 – September 10, 1875) was a Confederate cavalry officer from East Tennessee. He served in the Mexican-American War, prospected in the California Gold Rush, and participated in American Civil War battles including First Manassas, Vicksburg, Piedmont, and Saltville.

John Crawford Vaughn was born in 1824 on a farm in Monroe County, Tennessee. He probably explored the hills and valleys of East Tennessee on horseback as a youth. From 1830 through 1841 he attended Bolivar Academy in Madisonville, Tennessee.

At 23 in 1847, Vaughn volunteered to fight in the Mexican-American War. He was elected captain and marched to Mexico City, but his regiment saw no military action. He left the military in July, 1848.

In 1850, Vaughn and seventeen other Monroe County men set out for California gold. No fortunes were found, and John was back in Tennessee by 1852. He built a hotel in the new railroad town of Sweetwater. In 1856 he was elected sheriff of Monroe County.

During the American Civil War, Vaughn raised Tennessee's first Confederate regiment and was with Jefferson Davis in the final days of the war. His family was imprisoned by Union forces, and it was several years after the Civil War before he could safely return to Tennessee. Yet, he eventually was elected to the general assembly of his native Tennessee (1871–1873).

Even before Tennessee had seceded, in early 1861 Vaughn recruited two units from Monroe County to support the southern cause. The recruits formed the 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment on May 29, and Vaughn was elected colonel. On June 18, Vaughn's men won a skirmish at New Creek near Maryland/West Virginia. On July 21, Vaughn's regiment traveled by train from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas Junction. The regiment participated in breaking the Union right at the First Battle of Bull Run.

Vaughn's troops moved back to East Tennessee in 1862 and fought against Union factions in Scott County. In May, Vaughn's regiment patrolled the gaps in the northern Cumberland Mountains, winning battles in Tazewell in August and helping to regain control of Cumberland Gap. In September, Vaughn was promoted to brigadier general. In December, General Vaughn's east Tennesseans traveled by train to Jackson, Mississippi.