Enlisting in December 1861, Isaac Newton Mason was a private in the 11th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion, 6th (1st) Tennessee Cavalry Regiment.

Lt. Col. William Wallace Gordon’s 11th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion was officially organized on Jan. 8, 1862, composed of six companies, including two from Giles County. At that time, there were no cavalry commands large enough to be accepted into service as a regiment. Giles Countians served in this battalion.

Company A was organized by Capt. James T. Wheeler on Dec. 9, 1861, with men from Giles County, including Pvt. Isaac Newton Mason, according to information provided on an application for the Southern Cross of Honor.

Another company of Giles County men, Company B, was organized by Capt. William Wallace Gordon on Dec. 10, 1861. Capt. Gordon was promoted to the command of the battalion and replaced by Capt. W.H. Abernathy. This battalion of cavalry was a short-lived organization, and very little is known about its activities. This battalion was attached to the brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. W.H. Carroll of Gen. Zollicoffer’s command, with whom it was regularly on duty and retired with Johnston’s army to Corinth, Miss. It participated in the Battle of Shiloh and was on outpost duty and scout services during all the arduous campaign from Shiloh to Corinth.

On April 28, 1862, the battalion, with 32 officers and 357 men present for duty, 408 present and 469 present and absent, was reported in Brig. Gen. William N.R. Beall’s Brigade in the Army of Mississippi at Corinth, Miss.

In May 1862, at Corinth, Miss., the 2nd (Biffle’s) and 11th (Gordon’s) Tennessee Cavalry Battalions were consolidated to form the 1st Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. However, there was already a 1st Tennessee Cavalry Regiment in the Confederate Army, and the official designation of this regiment was changed to the 6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment. It continued to be known as the 1st Tennessee Cavalry in the field throughout the war, causing much confusion in its records.

The 6th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment was first commanded by Col. Jacob Biffle. At the organization of the regiment, Lt. Col. William Wallace Gordon was assigned to duty as lieutenant colonel but declined the position and resigned his commission.

The two companies of men from Giles County were now designated:

Company H – formerly Co. B, 11th Bn., Capt. Robert N. Jones.

Company K – formerly Co. A, 11th Bn., Capt. William O. Bennett. This was Mason’s company, according to an article published in the Pulaski Citizen on Sept. 24, 1902. However, by order of the secretary of war, C.S.A., in July 1862, the regiment was reorganized, and Giles Countian James T. Wheeler was elected colonel. The regiment was known as Wheeler’s 1st Tennessee Cavalry Regiment throughout the remainder of the war.

However, by that time Mason was already dead.

The information on this page was compiled by the late Bob Wamble, a Giles County researcher, and used with his permission.