Civil War
Although he was a Southern Democrat, Marks was an opponent of secession. In early 1861, he ran as the pro-Union candidate for his district's representative to the state's proposed convention on secession, and canvassed with his opponent, future governor Peter Turney. When war broke out, Marks nevertheless joined the Confederate Army. He was elected captain of Company E, 17th Tennessee Infantry, which was initially under the command of Felix K. Zollicoffer, and saw action at the battles of Camp Wildcat (October 1861) and Mill Springs (January 1862) in Kentucky. After Zollicoffer's death in the latter engagement, the 17th was reassigned to General Bushrod Johnson's forces. In May 1862, Marks was promoted to major.
During a reorganization of Confederate forces in June 1862, Marks was promoted to colonel, and placed in command of the 17th. His regiment was assigned to General Simon B. Buckner's division, which launched an invasion of Kentucky in the Fall of 1862. Marks's regiment fought at the Battle of Munfordville, where was he chosen by Buckner to accept the formal surrender of Union forces. Following this invasion, the 17th was assigned to General Patrick Cleburne's division, with which it fought at the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862. As Marks's regiment charged a Union battery during this engagement, his right leg was shattered by canister shot, and was subsequently amputated below the knee.
Marks spent most of the remainder of the war convalescing in Winchester and at a hospital in LaGrange, Georgia, though he later joined General Nathan B. Forrest's staff as a judge advocate. After the war, he practiced law with Colyar in Winchester until 1866, when Colyar moved to Nashville. He then formed a firm with partners James Fitzpatrick and T.D. Gregory.
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