By early 1861, with the beginnings of what would be later be called the American Civil War erupting around them, the entire family threw their lot in with the Confederacy and would do basically anything to further this cause. It is known that at least five of the elder sons of James and Eza were enlisted, most being based in Alabama units, but at least one of them in a Texas unit.
Their eldest son, Hiram, was assigned to the 25th Battalion Co. F of Mead's Conf. Cavelry. It is thought that Isaac N. (Pete) and Demon (Dee) were also involved with this unit but I have yet to prove this.
The unit was part of what is known as the Partisan Ranger Units and their assignment during the war was to annoy and harass the invading army, and basically work behind the lines to further the cause of the Confederacy.
This type of warfare suited the Whitecotton boys very well, as they were known to be rather rough men, especially when under the influence of alcohol. There are all sorts of stories passed down that they were involved in various robberies and murders during this period in time but none have been proven to be accurate enough to include here with the exception of the following.
This is an exert copied from a book written about the Kennemer Family. "Toward the close of the war, Pete Whitecotton, who lived near Woodville, Alabama, with a small squad of men from south of the Tennessee River, came into Kennamer Cove and collected up quite a lot of cattle, and was driving them out south of the Tennessee River to sell them. Just as they got near the top of Gunters Mountain, above Wright's Cove, he and his men were surprised and captured by the owners of the cattle, who had hastily gotten together and placed themselves behind rocks and trees. As Whitecotton and his men were driving the cattle near the top of the mountain, they were covered by the guns and surrendered. After he had plead for his life, and related how he and the Kennamers had been good friends and had hunted together before the war, he was released, and all were permitted to go on south across the Tennessee River. Pete Whitecotton was later killed on the south side of the Tennessee River as a bushwacker."
We do know that after the war, these men, like many others of that day, were reluctant to let the cause die. One source says that before he died, "Pete Whitecotton killed Mack Whitworth without just cause, and was a terror to the Union and also the Confederate families during the war."
How the war changed these men we will never know as we don't have reliable information on how they were before the war to compare with. We do, however, have accounts of events that they were involved with after the war. One such event took the lives of two of the sons and is told in detail below, courtesy of an article written during 1925 in a publication called "The Progressive Age"
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