(ca. 1844 – April 18, 1909)
from The Greenwood Project
A persistent motif of the “Lost Cause” depicts Negro combatants fighting alongside white Southern troops. In fact, the Confederacy did not approve recruitment of black soldiers until March 13, 1865, too late to train them for combat. White soldiers did, however, sometimes bring trusted slaves along to serve as personal attendants. Rutherford County slave Monroe Gooch accompanied Dr. Nat Gooch to war as his servant and soon became a cook with the 45th Tennessee Infantry. Although home on leave at the time of Hood’s raid into Tennessee, he loyally returned to the company, remaining until the surrender. After the war, Gooch faithfully attended every Confederate reunion until his health failed. His final request was for a military burial. Every Nashville newspaper carried the story of his funeral, attended by members of Company B, UCV, in full uniform. A large crowd attended the ceremony, which was highlighted by the playing of “Taps” and a parting rifle salute fired over his grave.
Photograph of Monroe Gooch appears at https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaDivisionUDC/photos/a.1658161367567634/2207735422610223/?type=3
Photo of Dr. Nat Gooch from the Find a Grave website: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94856339/nathaniel-gooch
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The Greenwood Project is a series of 160-word biographies of individuals who lie at rest in Mt. Ararat and Greenwood cemeteries, two historic African American burial grounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The project, which began in September 2014 (and is still available on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064806156276), shares the stories of more than 300 consequential individuals, primarily African American, who changed the course of city, state,
and national history through their words and deeds. (All biographies were written by Kathy Lauder unless otherwise noted.)
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