DOB:  December 1, 1844 DOD:  October 22, 1898 Age at Enlistment: 16 Date of Enlistment:  May 9, 1861 Place of Enlistment:  Franklin, TN Rank at Enlistment:  Private Rank at Discharge:  2nd Sergeant Casualty:  He was wounded in the left leg at Perryville, KY on October 8, 1862 and captured the next day.  His leg was amputated. Comments:  Meredith was born and raised in Brentwood, TN at the family plantation of Pleasant View off of modern day Concord Road.  The house is still standing and part of the Governor’s Club.  His brothers Robert and Thomas also served in the Williamson Grays.  His older brother William served in the 55th Tennessee Infantry.  The 1860 Census shows Meredith was attending school.  It is uncertain which school he was attending.  He would be a prime candidate to be one of the Harpeth Academy boys even though Boiling Springs Academy would be closer to his house.  He enlisted at the company’s formation.  He shows as being sick in Bath Springs, VA on the roster dated September and October 1861, but is listed as present on every roster until he was wounded at Perryville.  At the Company’s reorganization on April 30, 1862, Meredith was elected 2nd Sergeant of the Company.  He was wounded by James Neely at Perryville and both men were laid in a fence corner and shared a blanket the night of the battle.  Both men had their legs amputated after they were captured by the Federals the next day.  Meredith received a parole on December 30, 1862 and returned to his family’s home in Williamson County. Meredith married Susie Henderson “after a long engagement that thoroughly tested the love of both” according to a family genealogy book, on October 18, 1888.  The couple had one daughter in 1889.  Meredith’s wife died unexpectedly two weeks after the birth of their daughter, sitting in her chair at home, from heart failure.  Meredith’s daughter was chosen as one of two girls to unveil the Confederate Monument on the Square at Franklin in 1898.  In 1895, he built a house at 227 4th Avenue South in Franklin, TN which is still standing.  The 1870 Census shows Meredith living in a hotel in Franklin and working as Deputy Chancery for Williamson County.  The 1880 Census shows him with the same career living with his brother William.  Meredith was a member of the John McEwen Bivouac of the United Confederate Veterans.  James Neely who was wounded beside Meredith died in 1898 and Meredith followed him into the grave just a few months later.  He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin.  In 2006, I ordered a VA Marker for his grave.

Left:  Portrait of Meredith P.G. Winstead Right:  His tombstone at Mount Hope Cemetery

Pleasant Hill Plantation, Meredith’s childhood home in Brentwood, TN

Pictures of M.P.G. Winstead’s house on 4th Avenue.

Meredith’s UCV Application is here.