One Lawrence County war hero started his military career by throwing an embarrassing public tantrum. But when the smoke finally cleared at war’s end, he had proved himself to be one of the bravest men in the county.

On July 9, 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, a group of young men assembled on the Public Square in Lawrenceburg to volunteer for service in the Confederate army. The first group of volunteers from Lawrence County had left for training in May, but many young men were still eagerly flocking to the colors of the fledgling Confederacy.

Among the men who showed up to volunteer on that hot July day was William A. Pierce. Like the others, the 18-year-old Pierce was eager to serve. But at 5’1″ tall, he immediately stood out from the other young men. Payton Sowell, who reminisced about the incident in the Lawrence ‘Democrat’ many years later, recalled that Pierce’s head scarcely reached the shoulders of the other men who volunteered that day.

When George H. Nixon, the officer in charge, called Pierce’s name on the roll, he took note of his small stature and said, “Billy Pierce, you are too small. You cannot go.”

After this harsh denial, Pierce walked to the sidewalk in front of what is today Bills Bluegrass (Weather’s Brothers Music) and cried like a baby as the shocked townspeople watched. Between sobs, Pierce begged the officers to allow him to go. Apparently it was a scene as extraordinary as it was embarrassing, because several of those present remembered it well into their twilight years.

When it became clear that Pierce would not stop crying until he was allowed to enlist, Captain W.B.J. Moore approached him and said that he would allow him to go with them to camp. When they arrived at Camp Trousdale for training, Pierce answered the roll as though nothing had happened, and no one raised any objections to his presence.

Over the course of the Civil War, Pierce more than proved his worth as a soldier. Because Moore had personally ensured his place in the army, a friendship developed between the two. At the Battle of Shiloh, Pierce’s arm was shattered in combat. As Pierce lay on the battlefield, seriously wounded, Captain Moore was cut down by enemy fire, and he fell to the ground across Pierce’s legs, where he died.

Pierce survived the battle, and was taken to Louisiana by Captain Moore’s brother to recover from his wounds. When he had recovered, he reenlisted in the Confederate army, this time in Nixon’s Cavalry.

Like Moore, Nixon grew to greatly respect Pierce, and he often entrusted him with very important and dangerous missions; he once ordered Pierce to spy out the location of a group of Federal soldiers. In obedience to the order, Pierce crawled on his hands and knees through half a mile of tall weeds to discover the enemy’s position. When he found them, he opened fire on them before retreating back to Nixon’s headquarters to report on their activities.

Pierce was captured near Florence, Alabama in the summer of 1864, and spent most of the rest of the war in Rock Island Prison in Illinois. No doubt when he returned, the townspeople had great respect for the blood he had shed for his country, but few of them would ever forget the many tears he had first shed in order to serve.