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A 73-Year-Old Man vs Rebel Invaders: The Civil War Story Behind This Historical Marker

Credit Tim McCoy
Close-up of the historical marker located at 7723 Dalton Pike, S.E. in Cleveland.

Joseph Lusk II's story illustrates an aspect of local Civil War history that's sometimes forgotten: many people in East Tennessee supported the Union.

Tim McCoy is a great-great-great grandson of Lusk, and McCoy sponsored a new historical marker that tells exactly what happened in 1864 when 73-year-old Lusk fought back against rebel invaders.  The marker, located at 7723 Dalton Pike, S.E. in Cleveland, was dedicated on June 13th.  McCoy joins us to talk about the marker and about Bradley County history.

McCoy provided WUTC with several photographs from the dedication ceremony, and of his ancestor Joseph N.B. Lusk.  The photos are in the slideshow located above this post.

WEB EXTRA - Bradley County Historical Books

Want to know more about Cleveland/Bradley County history?  McCoy also told us about several books he used during his research process:

McCoyExtra.mp3

Here are the books and their publication years:

J.S. Hurlburt: "History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee". 1866.

Melba Lee Murray: "Bradley Divided: Bradley County, Tennessee During the Civil War". 1992.

Noel C. Fisher: "War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869". 2001

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