The Spartans never had any official connection with either the Confederate Army or the state of Tennessee. Nevertheless, at least one Union Army officer obviously took them quite seriously.

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After Confederate General John Bell Hood led the Army of Tennessee to disaster at the Battle of Nashville in December 1864, Union troops gained uncontested control of Rhea County for the remainder of the war. Among the units active in the region was the 6th Tennessee Mounted Infantry (Federal). Formed in Chattanooga in October 1864 to serve one year, the 6th Mounted Infantry was a ragtag regiment composed of a few genuine Tennessee Unionists combined with an unsavory assortment of Confederate draft dodgers and deserters. Its primary purpose was to combat the small band of Confederate irregulars who still roamed the Cumberland Mountains of east Tennessee and north Georgia. In the spring of 1865, Captain John P. Walker of Company B decided that the Rhea County Girls’ Company was just such an organization.

Walker, a 38-year-old Rhea County farmer, was a typical Tennessee Unionist. Even though he owned real estate worth an impressive $1,000, Walker was “land poor.” In fact, the 1860 census listed his personal estate at a mere $180–scarcely more than the value of a top-quality horse. Dodging the Confederate conscript officers until the Union forces gained the upper hand, Walker hastened to join the Union victors and share in the spoils. He quickly acquired a reputation for harshness toward Southern sympathizers, using his authority to pay them back for such indignities as he felt he had suffered.

Walker certainly justified his reputation when he returned to Rhea County, for one of his first acts was to order the mass arrest of the girls’ company. As far as Walker was concerned, it was high time to teach the rebellious Southern ladies a lesson. Somehow he persuaded his commander, Lt. Col. George A. Gowin of Hamilton County, to go along with his plan.

On April 5, 1865, while Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was making the final desperate march that would end at Appomattox, Walker sent out his men to round up the Rhea County Spartans. As a native of Rhea County, Walker knew not only who the troublesome ladies were but also where to find them. First Lieutenant William B. Gothard accordingly proceeded to the area south of Washington, where the Spartans’ officers lived.

Armed with a list of names, Gothard was ordered to arrest the women and report with them by noon the next day at the two-story house of William P. Thomison, a discharged Confederate soldier and the father of “Lieutenant” Rhoda Thomison. Other men from Walker’s company marched to apprehend the disloyal women in the countryside around Smith’s Cross Roads (now the town of Dayton) and Dunwoody’s Mill. A few of the Spartans managed to elude their pursuers, but some 16 of the young women were arrested at gunpoint and brought before Walker.

When they learned that they were to be sent to Chattanooga, the prisoners became understandably apprehensive. Mary McDonald penned a hasty note to the 6th Tennessee’s commander. She urged that Gothard, rather than Walker, be the one to accompany them. “Doubtless the girls would prefer him,” she said. “We all know him.” Gowin refused to agree, however, writing that Walker, “a married man, will go with your company.” Interestingly, the 6th Tennessee seems to have been alone in viewing the Spartans as a real military unit. It was an honor the unfortunate ladies could have done without.

Gothard and his mounted men did escort seven of the female Rebels five miles from the Thomison house to Smith’s Cross Roads, where Walker’s home was located. The Union horse soldiers rode, while the women tramped along as best they could. At Smith’s Cross Roads, the footsore Spartans were joined by six more of their number. All 13 then began the long march to the Tennessee River and Bell’s Landing. It was dark and rainy, and the women frequently stumbled through unseen puddles. Just before they arrived at the landing, the final group of three prisoners joined them. The crestfallen Confederates were made to wait on the flooded riverbank, the clammy mud oozing into their shoes and adding to their discomfort. Finally, their transportation arrived–a crude little steamboat called USS Chattanooga. Their ordeal, however, was far from over.

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