Quitman, Mississippi 4.94

Quitman is a city in Clarke County, Mississippi, United States, along the Chickasawhay River. The population was 2,323 at the 2010 census. Quitman is the county seat of Clarke County.HistoryQuitman was established in 1839. During the Civil War, a hospital built with funds raised in Galveston and Houston, among other places, was built there for the care of Confederate soldiers from Texas. Originally staffed by Dr. Louis Bryan with supplies purchased in Mexico, he was joined, and later supplanted, by Dr. Enos Bonney, a surgeon from Enterprise, Mississippi. Though it cared for troops from any state, he hospital was colloquially known as "The Texas Hospital." Wounded soldiers from the battles of Corinth, Iuka, Jackson, and more local engagements, as well as those suffering from wartime diseases, were treated at the hospital. A cemetery was established adjacent to the hospital for those who succumbed to disease or wounds.During General Sherman's Meridian Campaign, Brigadier General Walter Q. Gresham, Commander of the Third Brigade, Fourth Division, 17th Army Corps, was detached and sent to Quitman to destroy bridges crossing the Chickasawhay river and as through Alligator Swamp, as well as any other infrastructure that could be of any use to the Confederacy. The force arrived at Quitman and proceeded to burn the town jail, courthouse, various stores, the railroad depot, and the Methodist Church, which was being used as a hospital. Troops then burned down the entire Texas Hospital complex, which included two main buildings as well as twelve to fifteen barracks. The hospital was never rebuilt.GeographyQuitman is located near the center of Clarke County at . U.S. Route 45, a four-lane divided highway, bypasses the city to the east and leads north to Meridian and south to Waynesboro. Mississippi Highway 18 passes through the center of the city, departing south from the town but then turning northwest to Pachuta and Interstate 59, and leading east to the Alabama border. Mississippi Highway 145 represents the old alignment of US 45 and intersects Highway 18 in the center of town.