Dawson's Battalion Tennessee Partisan Rangers Flag

Gen. Braxton Bragg selected the right man when he authorized William Azariah Dawson to raise a partisan ranger battalion in 1862. A son of South Carolina who had moved to Tennessee, “Bill” Dawson was endorsed by a comrade: “As brave and true hearted a man as ever trod a Battle field. If men wish to be under a leader who will give them an opportunity to do service in the cause, who will bear his share of the hardships of the camp and march, and lead them fearlessly in battle—no better man can be found — We will dare to lead where any man will dare to follow.”

Dawson had a battle record to support the endorsement. As a captain in the 22nd Tennessee Infantry, he fought well at Belmont and Shiloh, where he suffered a wound and was discharged.

Dawson’s Tennessee Partisan Rangers Battalion took the field by early 1863. Bad luck befell Dawson when Union forces captured him in Dyer County in February 1863. He spent the next year as a prisoner of war. Exchanged, he returned to his battalion, which became part of the 15th Tennessee Cavalry.

On Nov. 24, 1864, Dawson met his death during a raid. The after-action report of Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers, who commanded the division in which the 15th belonged, stated that Dawson led a charge against the enemy outside Columbia, Tenn., and was shot as he attempted to wrest an enemy battle flag from its bearer, after discharging all the rounds in his revolver. According to his family, Dawson emptied two pistols and broke his saber in two before he lost his life. He was about 42.