True of False?

There are lots of half-truths, embellished stories, and downright lies associated with Fielding Hurst. This is my attempt to verify or dismiss some of the stories that have circulated in print and on the Internet.

Hurst burned the town of Purdy, Tennessee.

True, although it's not certain whether it was a few houses and/or buildings or literally the entire town. (Of course his own home went unscathed.)

Hurst murdered the Wharton gang, cut their heads off, and stuck them on the roadside mile posts.

True and false. True, he had Confederate Col. John Ambrose "Dock" Wharton and four of his men executed in July 1863. He believed they were guerrillas and not Confederate soldiers as Wharton claimed. But...

False, they were not decapitated and their heads were not stuck on mile posts. They were shot and left for dead along the road from Purdy to Pocahontas in McNairy County. 

Hurst extorted money from the people of Jackson, Tennessee before burning it down.

True. The Sixth Tennessee Cavalry was blamed for the vandalism of a millinery shop there owned by a Mrs. A.A. Newman, even though they claimed and tried to prove that soldiers from the Third Michigan Cavalry and the Second Iowa Cavalry were the real culprits. The military ruled that $5,139.25 would be deducted from their payroll as compensation.

Several months later, Hurst and his men returned to Jackson and demanded $5,139.25 from its citizens, threatening to burn down the town if they didn't get it. He got the money, they left after a few days, then returned and set fire to parts of the downtown area anyway. It was discovered that Hurst had deposited the ransom with a Memphis dry goods business with no intention of sharing it with his men.

Hurst and Nathan Bedford Forrest knew each other before the war and were friends.

Plausible, but doubtful. Hurst owned slaves and Forrest was a prominent slave trader in Memphis, so it's possible they could have done business together. It's been claimed they played poker, but there's no documented evidence to prove they even knew each other, much less were poker buddies.

Hurst died or was killed at his home in Purdy.

False. Hurst was forced to sell the house and property, reportedly to pay off debts when he was an Internal Revenue collector after the war and persons working under him were stealing money. He sold the home to G.D. McBee on September 9, 1876 and moved to his "country home" near the Mount Gilead community in northwest McNairy County. There he died on April 3, 1882 at about the age of 72 years old.

Legend has it that someone took a shot at Hurst as he fled upstairs and the bullet left a mark on the staircase. The mark can still be seen; the current owner of the Hurst home believes it to be from a .36 caliber pistol. But I've yet to find any documented evidence of such an incident.

Do you have any questions or stories you'd like to add?
Send them to: kevin@kevindmccann.com