Serving in the Maryland Line during the American Revolution, he soon moved West to claim new land given for his service in the Continental Army. General James Winchester, military commander, entrepreneur, pioneer, Indian fighter and later, founder of the city of Memphis.
Cragfont Mansion in Castalian Springs Tennessee, is the frontier home of General James Winchester, hero of the American Revolution and War of 1812.
When this house was built, General Winchester had already been a soldier for many years and he was actually known to be present with General George Washington at the Surrender of General Charles Cornwallis, and the British Army at Yorktown Virginia. Serving in in the 3rd Maryland Regiment of the Continental Army, he was present at the battle of Staten Island while covering for General Washington's retreat from New York. During that battle, he was wounded, captured, kept on a British prison ship in New York harbor for a year. Later after a prisoner exchange, he joined General Nathanial Greene's army in South Carolina where he fought at the Battle of Charles Town.
While serving during the Revolution, George and and his brother James Winchester heard of the beauty and fertility of the Cumberland Country, now known as Middle Tennessee and they determined to join fellow soldiers and others who had recently founded settlements having Nashville as their center.
They named it Cragfont. It was situated within one mile of the Bledsoe Station that had been founded by Colonels Anthony and Issac Bledsoe about the same time.
The Winchesters were sons of aristocratic families back in the old colony of Maryland. They had the courage and strength to move west as pioneers to help establish the future United States west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Many left their eastern seaboard estates for the rich, fertile soil of Middle Tennessee, where frontier life promised to be difficult and had harsh conditions under which to live. Looking at the house today, it’s hard to imagine that this homestead started as a frontier fort called Fort Tuckahoe. The Winchesters lived there with a few other families for protection against raids by the local Indians. It was there that they built a sawmill, distillery and their first cabin.
In 1792, General James Winchester married a local pioneer woman named Susan Black and they raised a family twelve children over the years. Once the Indian raids ended at about the year 1800, General Winchester hired carpenters and stone masons from Maryland to draw a design and along with enslaved workers they began construction on his home.
It was located on the old Holston Road which in those days was the main route from Nashville, across the Cumberland Plateau and through to Knoxville. As you would expect, it was landmark for many travelers who would stop by to spend the night. The house was ever expanding, it even included a ballroom that was used to entertain many of the guests that visited.
Later in life James Winchesters military service resumed as he was called into the United States Army as a Brigadier General to serve in the War of 1812. During that time, he fought the British, Canadians, and their Indian allies at Fort Wayne, and commanded at the Battle of River Raisin. After a crushing defeat at River Raisin, he was held prisoner by the British Army in Quebec for a year, then later returned in a prisoner exchange. He then joined General Andrew Jackson in New Orleans.
After the war, James Winchester returned to Cragfont to join his wife and family. The Winchesters operated a small farm store, mill and post office on their property.
James also had many other business interests in the new and growing Sumner County, Tennessee. In addition to his mill operation at Cragfont, he formed a mercantile partnership with William Cage, another Sumner County entrepreneur, and the two did a lot of business while establishing the river port of Cairo, on the north bank of the Cumberland River, adjacent to the mouth of Bledsoe Creek. Winchester also invested in a cotton factory that was in operation from 1812-1819.
He died in 1826, and his wife Susan spent the next few years raising her twelve children alone at Cragfont. Susan died in 1865 but in her old age, in 1840, their youngest son George Washington Winchester returned to the estate with his wife Malvina Gaines-Winchester, where they made their home and continued to raise nine children of their own on the estate.
Here ends the story of James and Susan Winchester. Soldier, pioneer, entrepreneur, and statesman. A true American hero who helped establish new American frontier. They along with members of their family are buried on the estate, close by the house and garden.
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