Born in Tennessee, John Trousdale Coffee practiced law there as an adult. After his father and wife died, Coffee relocated in the fall of 1842 to Greene County, Missouri, and started a law practice in Springfield. Coffee raised a regiment of volunteers to fight in the Mexican American War, but the war ended before the regiment engaged in any battles. Coffee was elected to the Missouri State Senate but resigned to accept a commission as captain in the 1st US Cavalry in 1855. In 1858, Coffee was elected to the State House of Representatives and was elected Speaker for the 20th General Assembly. During the summer of 1862, Coffee was in Missouri recruiting men to serve in what became the 6th Missouri Cavalry (CSA). Coffee was appointed the regiment’s colonel but on October 22, 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas C. Hindman arrested Coffee for drunkenness and relieved him from command. Coffee was acquitted at his court-martial in the spring of 1863. Coffee was authorized to start recruiting for a new regiment but was never successful in finding enough recruits to complete a regiment. During Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri, Colonel Coffee was in command of a regiment of unarmed recruits in Tyler's Brigade.Following the retreat from the Battle of Westport, Coffee moved his family to Waco, Texas. At the end of the war, Coffee remained in Texas where he operated a goat ranch and resumed practicing law.
Hulston and Goodrich, “John Trousdale Coffee: Lawyer, Politician, Confederate.” Missouri Historical Review 77, no. 3 (April 1983): 272–95.
McGhee, Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861-1865, 93-97, 109-110.