Leakesville, MS news and local guide

Late in the Civil War, Union Brigadier General John Davidson led an expedition from Baton Rouge toward the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. On December 10, 1864, part of his force crossed the Chickasawhay and met two Confederate cavalry regiments at McLeod's Mill near Leakesville. After some early success the Federals were driven back. Both sides suffered losses, among them Lieutenant Albert Westinghouse of the 2nd New York Cavalry, brother of the inventor George Westinghouse. After the fight Davidson abandoned his raid and turned south. Around 1900 a young Byron Patton "Pat" Harrison taught at the local high school, and in 1902 he opened his first law practice here and became the town's first marshal. He went on to serve in the state House and, from 1919 to 1941, in the U.S. Senate, where he was president pro tempore. In 1927 Bernice Raspberry, a 23-year-old Black man accused of improper conduct with a white woman, was taken from the jail and lynched. Sources The Historical Marker Database: Battle of McLeod's Mill; Byron Patton "Pat" Harrison (Mississippi Department of Archives and History) Wikipedia: Leakesville, Mississippi