CAPT. JOSEPH PHILIPS was born on 11 Nov 1838 in Davidson Co TN. He died on Mar 1920 in Davidson Co TN. He married ANNE COZART on 13 Jul 1864, daughter of William Mangum and Sarah Murray. She was born in Columbus, MS. She died in 1882.  They are both buried in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Nashville TN.

CAPTAIN JOSEPH PHILIPS. An able and much respected representa­tive of the agricultural and horticultural interests of Davidson county, Captain Joseph Philips is the owner of a good farm lying on Brick Church pike, not many miles from Nashville. He was born November 11, 1838, on this same farm, and here also occurred the birth of his father, William Duncan Philips, on June 10, 1804, thirteen years after the land had been secured from the Government by Joseph Philips, the Captain’s grandfather. He is of Welsh ancestry,, his paternal great-great-grandfather, Joseph Philips, having emigrated from Wales to this country in colonial days, settling in North Carolina, where he pur­chased a tract of land that had been granted by the Crown to Earl Grey, his name having been spelled “Phillips.”

Obtaining his elementary education in the rural schools, Joseph Philips completed his early studies at the University of Nashville.  At the breaking out of the war between the states he enlisted in the Tenth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, known as the “Irish Regiment,” and was commissioned lieutenant of his company.  At the end of four months he joined Bankhead ‘s First Battery as its lieutenant, and being assigned to the staff of General Leonidas Polk (picture at the right), was one of its lieutenants when the general met his death at Pine Mountain in North Georgia.  General Leonidas Polk is the brother of Rufus K. Polk who married Joseph Philips' sister Margaret.  Both were brothers of James Hilliard Polk who married Mary "Mollie" Demoville Harding, Joseph Philips' niece, the daughter of his sister Milbrey Catherine Philips.

General Leonidas Polk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 10, 1806. Leonidas Polk attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated in 1827. Soon after he dropped out of the Army and joined the Episcopal Church. He became Bishop of Louisiana in 1841. His friend from West Point, Jefferson Davis, convinced Polk to join the Confederate Army in 1861. Polk was commissioned a Major General and was put in charge of securing the Mississippi River. While in Kentucky he moved his command around as his enemies required, he even ferried across the river to help repel Grant's move on Belmont, Missouri. General Polk had to pull out of Missouri when the Federals took over Number 10 and New Madrid, he would then take command of a Corps under General Albert Sidney Johnston. He fought during the Battles of Shiloh and Corinth, he was then promoted to command of the Army of Mississippi. Polk would lead the Army of Mississippi at Perryville, then General Polk led a Corps in 1863 at the Battles of Murfreesboro, the Tullahoma Campaign, and Chickamauga. General Polk was transferred to the quiet portions of Mississippi in late 1863. When the Union began to pressure Mississippi, Polk's small force, of only one Corps, was called up. Polk and his forces were moved to Georgia to help protect Atlanta. On June 14, 1864, while in a conference with Generals Joe Johnston and William Hardee,  Polk was killed by a cannon ball.

Sub­sequently a member of the staff of General Stephen D. Lee (picture at right), Captain Philips was in active service in the C. S. army from the beginning until the close of the war, taking part in many battles of note, among which were the engagements at Perryville, Kentucky; at Shioh; in the battles with Sherman’s Army through North Georgia to Atlanta; and in the siege of that city. He was captured by General Wilson’s forces at Selma, Alabama, and while a prisoner-of-war was a guest at General Wilson’s headquarters. On May 15, 1865, Captain Philips was paroled at Columbus, Mississippi, and immediately returned home. He inher­ited, on the death of his parents, a part of the old homestead. In addi­tion to carrying on general farming, the Captain has made a specialty of horticulture.

Steven Dill Lee was a Civil War Confederate Lieutenant General, educator. He was born in Virginia and attended the Military Academy at West Point. He served on the frontier and in the Seminole War before resigning in February 1861 to join the Confederacy. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General and was sent to Vicksburg where he was captured. He was exchanged and promoted to Major General and placed in command of a cavalry division. Later promoted to Lieutenant General, he assumed command of Hood's Corp when Hood was placed in command of the Army of the Tennessee. After the war he served as the first president of Mississippi A&M College, now known as Mississippi State University, from 1879 to 1899. After he retired, he remained active in Veteran's Affairs until his death.

Nashville in the 1890s by Larry Feldhaus