It doesn't pay to be a ladies man Traditional Cache
david.k.hochreiter: Cache washed away.
It doesn't pay to be a ladies man
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(regular)
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The Obion River played a crucial role in the Civil War and one officer's choice to not cross the river ended up costing him his life.
About 20 miles due north of Shade's Bridge is the Latham community. Near this community was Lockridge Mill located on the North Fork of the Obion River.
Several minor skirmishes between units of the Confederate and Union armies occurred in Weakley County. The battle of Lockridge's Mill was the most prominent skirmish of the Civil War in Weakley County.
One month after the battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862, there was a skirmish on May 6, 1862, at this mill between Union and Confederate troops. Col. Thomas Claiborne's Sixth Confederate Calvary attacked and destroyed three companies of the Fifth Iowa Calvary. The Fifth Iowa Calvary was under the command of Major Carl Schaffer de Boernstein. Major Bernstein was mortally wounded and died the next day. The 5th Iowa Calvary was originally known as the Curtis Horse and was organized near St. Louis on December 20, 1861.
On May 3, 1861, three companies were sent to patrol beyond Paris and the upper North Fork of the Obion River in order to intercept supplies of medicine that had been taken from Paducah for the use of the Rebel army. The weather was rainy and the road from Paris through Como to Dresden was made with great difficulty. on May 6th at 1 p.m. they took the Mayfield Road north arriving at Lockriidge Mill at 5 p.m.
According to the diary of Josiah Conzett, a member of the 5th Ohio Calvary, upon arriving at the river, Maj. Shaeffer ordered the companies to halt at the river before crossing the rickety cordway bridge to see to the horses and make coffee. By not crossing the bridge and destroying it turned out to be a costly mistake.
Maj. Schaeffer, it seems, was also quite a ladies' man and had spotted a fine house with some fine looking ladies on the porch and went off to the house. This imprudence and carelessness cost the Major his life when he refused to surrender when the Confederate troops arrived. The attack caught the Union troops by surprise, and they scattered with every man for himself. Some were killed and about one-eight of the Union troops were captured.
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