Almost every American community in existence at the time of the Civil War has a story to tell, Dr. Jamie Brandon told people assembled for the dedication of an historical marker on Saturday.

Brandon, who is based at Southern Arkansas University with the Arkansas Archeological Survey, spoke in Magnolia Cemetery at the formal unveiling of a marker detailing the life of Confederate Maj. Gen. John Porter McCown. Brandon is also the vice chairman of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The commission is working with local communities to commemorate Arkansas’ connection with the war fought between 1861 and 1865.

McCown was the highest-ranking Confederate soldier buried in Arkansas. He rests alongside his brother, George, who was also a Confederate officer.

Brandon called the marker a good example of the commission’s goal to educate Arkansans about the war.

“It proves that you do not have to have a military action or military movements in your area in order to have an important story to tell about the Civil War. The Civil War touched the lives of every community in Arkansas and throughout the nation. It tells the story of what happened to folks after the war, and how geography changed and how migration changed,” Brandon said.

A special speaker at the marker dedication was Earl McCown of Cleveland, Mississippi, the general’s great-grandson. He provided more insight into the general’s life.

The brothers were raised in Sevierville, Tennessee, on land located across a highway from the current location of the Dollywood amusement park. Another marker near the site notes the general’s accomplishments, starting with the fact that McCown was the first man from the local area to graduate from West Point, where William T. Sherman was one of his classmates.

“John knew what he wanted to do all along. John was very studious. There was no foolishness about him. I have letters from the people who recommended him to the academy. John knew where he wanted to go to begin with,” McCown said.

The future general failed his first year at West Point because he could not learn how to speak French. “He spent five years at West Point rather than the usual four,” McCown said. The general was commissioned as a lieutenant of artillery. He was in battles against Seminole Indians in Florida, and the Sioux and Apache Indians in the west. He also fought against Mexico.

The general’s brother George was appointed a captain of a company of Tennessee volunteers at the age of 19. “At the age of 19, both George and John were in Mexico. John had just been promoted to brevet captain. So we have both brothers serving as captains at the time,” McCown said.

The brothers were not above a little sibling rivalry. George McCown wrote in a letter to his sister, saying, “It took John all these years and five years’ education (to become a captain.) All I had to do was raise my hand and be sworn in.”

After the Civil War, John Porter McCown worked as a teacher and civil engineer in Tennessee. He moved to Magnolia to join his brother George, and bought a small farm on Calhoun Road.

“John didn’t marry. According to his memoires, he was too set on John to share himself with anybody else,” McCown said.

“He loved poetry, he loved flowers and gardening, and he loved his country,” McCown said.

Gen. McCown died in 1879. His brother died the following year.

Also during the ceremony, Seth Cook of Magnolia received an award from Jerry Lawrence, commander of the Arkansas Society of the Military Order of Stars and Bars. The Joseph Evan Davis Award honored Cook for his promotion of the Children of the Confederacy.

Betty Faye Lewis presided at the event. The marker was unveiled by Lewis; Dorothy Johnson, chaplain of the Arkansas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; and Mary Jackson, president of the Arkansas Division of the UDC.

Among the guests was Johnson’s 15th Arkansas Color Guard, South Arkansas Brigade. The unit fired rifle and cannon salutes at the conclusion of the ceremony.

John P McCown