Cobb’s Battery
By Glenn Martin
[Picture: “The Cobb’s Battery Monument”]
Cobb’s Battery was organized at Kuttawa Springs in the spring of 1861.
Hylan B. Lyon, an officer in the U.S. Army, had resigned his commission and returned to Lyon County. Here he was the most prominent one in the organization of Cobb’s Battery and was its first Commander. The unit went to Camp Boone for its training. They were furnished with field pieces by the Confederate government.
The men of Cobb’s Battery got their first major engagement at the battle of Shiloh, which took place April 6 and 7, 1862. Here they were hit very hard. They lost all of their horses and had 37 men wounded.
Hylan B. Lyon had been transferred to a higher position in the Kentucky Brigade, so Robert Cobb was in command of the battery until later he also was transferred up in the brigade.
The next major engagement for Cobb’s Battery was at Baton Rouge, La. In August of 1862. Here the battery was hit very hard with damage to their field pieces and some loss of men. After this, the Brigade went on a long trip, overland march to Mobile, then by riverboat to Montgomery and onto trains that took them on north to help, they thought, General Braxton Bragg in Kentucky. But the situation changed before they got to Kentucky, and they never got there. Their next engagement was at Hartsville. This engagement was not a big affair, but Cobb’s Battery was a vital part thereof. This Hartsville engagement took place Dec 9, 1862.
Their next major engagement was at Stone River in Middle Tennessee. This battle took place the last two days of December, 1862. This battle took its toll not only from the action of battle, but from extreme cold weather. Cobb’s Battery, along with other units of the Kentucky Brigade, were put in a very bad position and took a very hard hit from the enemy.
Next big engagement was at Chickouga for Cobb’s Battery. This took place Sept 19 and 20, 1863. Here Cobb’s Battery also took a real beating.
The spring of 1864 saw the beginnings of Sherman’s push toward Atlanta and the sea. Cobb’s Battery, now under the command of Lieutenant Frank Gracey was involved in the defense and overall was hard hit. By the time the fighting had reached Atlanta, Cobb’s Battery was so depleted that there is very little mention of it in reports – so ended this saga with many of the beginning characters buried in several places scattered across the south.
In 1933, the Stone-Gracey Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the monument at the Kuttawa Springs honoring Cobb’s Battery. The unit was made up primarily of local men.
Dewey One Room School
By Odell Walker
[Picture: “Dewey One Room School in the southern end of the county.”]
Dewey one-room school house stands as a silent reminder that in a bygone day, forty such school houses dotted Lyon County from one side of the county to the other.
Before the development of the automobile, the only means of travel in rural Lyon County was to walk, ride a horse, or go in a buggy or wagon. The dirt roads consisted of mud during the winter and dust during the summer.
Under those conditions, it was impossible to have large consolidated schools as they exist today. To make education available, it was necessary to take education to where the children were; thus, the local one room school era came into existence and served the county well for a hundred years or longer.
The state had a goal to place a school within one mile walking distance of every student in the state. This goal was never achieved, but they came very close.
The one room school was more than a center for education. It was a community center that served the educational, social, cultural, religious and political needs of the area. Fund raising events, such as pie suppers and box suppers were often held at the school house. Plays, fiddling contests and other kinds of entertainment were held at the local schools. Those candidates running for political office, especially those on the local level, sometimes published a schedule in the local paper announcing the date and time that they would be at local schools.
The advent of the automobile and school bus, plus improved roads, has transformed education in Lyon County from many one-room schools into one central location.
The picture of Dewey one-room school house appears to have a forlorn and sad look because there are no children running, hopping, skipping, talking and laughing around the building.
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