16, Call for a Convention of Planters
The Planters' Convention.
Lamar, Miss., November 16, 1861.
Gov. F. W. Pickens-Dear Sir: The third annual session of the "Planters Convention of the South" will be held in the city of Memphis, Ten., on the 16th of December. You have probably noticed the plan of organization, as it appeared in most of the papers of the South.
The Executive of the Southern States will appoint a number of the most intelligent and practical planters to represent their States in this convention, and urge the importance of their attendance.
Respectfully,
Thos. J. Hudson, President Planters Convention
As the Hon. T. J. Hudson, President of the Convention at Nashville, has requested the Governor appoint delegates to the meeting of this Convention, to be held at Memphis, Tenn., on the 16th of December next, the Governor therefore appoints the following gentlemen to represent this State, viz.
Gen. J. H. Hammond, Dr. Thos. Smith,
Col. Jno. D. Williams, Col. A. P. Calhoun,
Ex. Gov. R. R. W. Alston, Dr. M. A. Moore
Wm. L. Lawton, Col. I. D. Wilson,
Hon. J. Izard Middleton, J. W. Adams
Jno. A. Calhoun, Hon Th. E. Powe
Charleston Mercury, November 27, 1861. [1]
16, Twelfth Illinois Regiment assessed for damage to civilian property at Jackson on November 7, 1862
Excerpt from SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 6. HDQRS. THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS, DEPT. OF THE TENNESSEE, LaGrange, Tenn., November 16, 1862.
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II. The facts having been officially reported to the major-general commanding that a portion of the Twentieth Regt. [sic] Illinois Infantry Volunteers did on the night of the 7th of November instant, at Jackson, Tenn., break into the store of G. W. Graham & Co. and take therefrom goods to the amount of $41.10, the property of said Graham & Co., and did cut the tent of R. B. Kent and N. A. Bass and take therefrom goods to the value of $345, the property of said Kent and Bass, and burn and destroy the tent and poles, also the property of said Kent and Bass of the value of $56.25, all of which damages amount to the sum of $1,242.66; and it further appearing from said report that Capt. C. L. Paige, Company D; Capt. J. M. North, Company E; Capt. G. W. Kennard, Company I; Lieut.s. Henry King, Company B; William S. Sears, Company C; John A. Edmiston, Company E; David D. Wadsworth, Company I; J. B. Bailey, Company F; Victor H. Stevens, Company H; R. N. Evans, Company I; Charles Taylor, Company I, of said regiment, were absent from their commands at the time of the perpetration of these outrages, in violation of orders and without proper cause, when they should have been present; and also that Capt. Orton Frisbie, of Company H, acting in capacity of major, and Capt. John Tunison, of Company G, the senior captain, immediately after the commission of these depredations did not exercise their authority to ferret out the men guilty of the offenses, but that on the contrary Capt. Tunison interposed to prevent search and discovery of the parties really guilty, and that Capt. Frisbie, after the commission of the said depredations, being in command of the regiment, remained behind twenty-four hours after the regiment marched; and the names of the individual parties guilty not having been disclosed, it is therefore ordered:
1st. That the said sum of $1,242.66 be assessed against said regiment and the officers hereinbefore named, excepting such enlisted men as were at the time sick in hospital or absent with proper authority; that the same be charged against them on the proper muster and pay rolls, and the amount each is to pay notes opposite his name thereon, the officers to be assessed pro rate with the men on the amount of their pay proper, and that the same so collected will be paid by the commanding officer of the regiment to the parties entitled to the same.
2d. That Capt. Orton Frisbie and Capt. John Tunison, of the Twentieth Regt. [sic] Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for willful neglect of duty and violation of orders, are hereby mustered out of the service of the United States, to take effect this day.
By order of Brig. Gen. U. S. Grant:
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 17, pt. II, pp. 439-350.
16, Special Orders No. 21, Army of Tennessee, prohibiting depredations
SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 21. HDQRS. ARMY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE,
Murfreesborough, November 16, 1862.
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X. Information having received these headquarters that bands of partisan rangers, claiming authority from the War Department, are impressing horses and committing depredations throughout the country, the attention of all cavalry organization is called to the following special order from Hdqrs. Department No. 2:
I. All organizations and bodies of troops in Middle Tennessee are hereby placed under the command of Maj.-Gen. Breckinridge, to whom they will immediately report for orders. Parties acting without this authority will be at once arrested, and the full punishment provided by law awarded to them.
By command of Maj.-Gen. Breckinridge
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 20, pt, II, p. 405.
16, Engagement at Campbell's Station
Excerpt from the Report of Capt. Jacob Roemer, Battery L, Second New York Light Artillery, relative to the Engagement at Campbell's Station, November 16, 1863.
HDQRS. BATTERY L, SECOND NEW YORK ARTILLERY, East Tennessee, College, Knoxville, Tenn., December 5, 1863.
SIR: The battery left Lenoir's Station November 14, at 11 a. m., marched to opposite Loudon; bivouacked the night under heavy rain and storm in the woods.
The 15th, at 4 a. m., marched back to near Lenoir's Station and took position on the left of the road at 11 a. m. At 9 p. m. a charge was made on the battery, but repulsed; fired 5 rounds.
The 16th, fell back to Campbell's Station; received a detail of 13 men from the Twentieth Michigan Volunteers to assist the left section, which was ordered to cover the retreat; lost 1 horse killed, 1 wounded; fired 12 rounds. The other section took position at Campbell's Station, where the left section soon joined and a general engagement ensued. The battery was under fire from 11 a. m. till 4.30 p. m.; fired 429 rounds.
The road from Lenoir's Station to Campbell's Station was very muddy and interrupted with deep holes, and we had to hitch on sufficient mule teams to bring the pieces and caissons along. One baggage wagon, disabled on the road, was burned by order of Gen. Burnside, with all its contents and 21 Enfield rifles.
One man, Private William Markland, was slightly wounded, bruised in the back a piece of a shell. One teamster of the Twenty-third Army Corps (name not known), detailed to the battery with a pair of mules, was severely wounded in the back by a piece of a shell. One horse killed, 2 wounded.
During the night marched to Knoxville, distant 15 miles....
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OR, Ser. I, Vol. 31, pt. I, p. 345.
HDQRS., Kingston, November 19, 1863.
(Received 10.20 a. m., 20th.) Maj.-Gen. GRANT:
GEN.: Two reliable gentlemen have just arrived from Knoxville and inform me that Gen. Burnside has fallen back to Knoxville, and that Longstreet's forces have him almost surrounded. I think it would be well for him to have assistance, if possible. Of course you know his situation better than [I] do, unless communication is cut between you and him, [which] I think very likely, as they have near 10,000 cavalry, besides about 20,000 infantry. A courier of mine corroborates the statement made above. I sent him to Knoxville day before yesterday morning, and he tried to get into Knoxville yesterday morning and he could not succeed for the rebel cavalry. He states that they were all around Knoxville, and he returned. Gen. Burnside fought Longstreet at Campbell's Station on last Monday, and it is said he had the best of the fight. On the same night he fell back to Knoxville, where he was yesterday morning. My courier states that they were skirmishing all around Knoxville. I fear the general will be starved out, as all the supplies will be cut off from him.
Wheeler's, Dibrell's, and Biffle's commands went up across Little Tennessee River through Blount County. Two officers of Wolfrod's cavalry, who were taken prisoners in Blount County on last Saturday morning, state that they had then in Blount County about from 12,000 to 15,000 mounted men and nine pieces of artillery, and about 20,000 infantry on the north side of Tennessee, under Longstreet. I thought it was my duty to communicate to you, general, as we are now cut off from Gen. Burnside. The last order he gave me was to hold this point if I could. He said in five days he thought all would be well. The time will be out to-morrow at 10 o'clock. We are guarding the river for 25 miles, and a pontoon bridge and steamboat hull, &c.
Yours, with much respect
R. K. BYRD, Col., Cmdg. Post.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 31, pt. III, pp. 194-195.
FIGHT AT CAMPBELL'S STATION. "Quick as lightning our guns now belched forth from the summits of the hills above."
Knoxville, Tenn., November 17, 1863
The first engagement of any consequence between our forces and those of Longstreet, in the retreat to Knoxville, took place yesterday [16th], at Campbell's Station – a little collection of houses on the Kingston road, where it forms a junction with the road to Loudon.
During the night of Sunday, the rebels made three different charges on our position at Lenoir, with the intention of capturing the batteries on the right of our position' but every onset was met and repulsed. In the morning, our troops again took up the march in retreat, and the rebels pushed our rear-guard with so much energy that we were compelled to turn a train of wagons, to obtain the mules to aid in getting away the artillery. Its destruction was necessary, as otherwise we would have been compelled to abandon it to the enemy. One piece of artillery, which had become mired and could not be hauled out by the horses, fell into their hands.
The rear was brought up by General Ferrero's division of the Ninth corps, and as the progress of the wagon-trains in the advance was necessarily slow, but easy duty devolved upon that portion of our column. To check the impetuous pursuit of the rebels was indispensable to the safety of our main body, as well as the wagons, which, in addition to the baggage, carried the subsistence for the march. The result was, that a series of heavy skirmished ensued along the whole line of the retreat. As we approached Campbell's Station, where it was feared the enemy would endeavor to throw a force upon our flank, from the direction of Kingston, the division of Colonel Hartrauft was marched through the timber until it came upon the road leading from that point. In a short space of time, the wisdom of the precaution manifested itself; for the rebels soon made their appearance, but too late to execute their object. Colonel Hartauft skirmished with them, and fell back slowly, fighting as he came. The rebels, at one time, made an effort to flank him, but failed. In this endeavor, they approached so close as to fire a volley directly at him and staff. A brigade of cavalry, under Colonel Biddle, gave material assistance in checking the enemy.
General Burnside, finding that the enemy were pressing him so closely as to endanger the trains and extra artillery, which, at the head of the column, still "dragged their slow length along," determined to come into position, to give them battle, and, pending it, to enable the wagons to get well in advance. Accordingly he selected positions for the artillery on commanding eminences to the right and left of the road, which at this point runs through a valley whose slopes are under cultivation, and consequently cleared of timber. The ground chosen was, in fact, a succession of farms, commencing at Campbell's Station, and flanking either side of the road for a distance of two miles.
Our guns were in position some time before noon, but it was near that hour when the fight became warm. General Ferrero, in falling back on the Loudon road, came in advance of Colonel Hartrauft, and defiling to the right, (it would be to the left as he marched, but facing the enemy, it was the right,) took up his position in line of battle. Colonel Hartrauft, whose flank was now reenforced by a detachment of General White's command, under Colonel Chapin, came in [the] rear of General Ferrero as he passed the fork of the road, and, marching to the left, came into position on the southern slope of the valley, Colonel Chapin still holding his position on the flank. A consideration of the whole movement will show with what admirable position each regiment and brigade came into line of battle. Indeed, the evolutions on the field at Campbell's Station have seldom been excelled in beauty and skill in coming into position, as well as in the succeeding manoeuvres, the commands on both sides, Union as well as rebel, exhibited a degree of discipline which at once betrayed the veterans of many a battle-field. Our troops here found an enemy not unworthy of their steel, in the hands of Longstreet. Insignificant as the present fight may appear in comparison with others of this war, it certainly will rank among those in which real generalship was displayed. Every motion, every evolution, was made with the precision and regularity of the pieces on a chess-board.
The rebels, finding the disposition of our troops to be one, which offered battle, readily accepted the gage thrown down to them, and it was not long before their main body was seen advancing from the timber at the end of the clearing in two formidable lines. On they came, alternately surmounting the crests of the little knolls in beautiful undulating lines, and disappearing again into the hollows beneath. Our forces opened at long-range; but still they pressed on, heedless of the shower of bullets which whistled all around them, until they reached a position apparently suitable to them, when they began to return the fire. The rattle of musketry soon became quite lively, and continued for upward of an hour, when it was discovered that, while they had thus engaged us in front, a heavy force was menacing us on both flanks. The steady music of the volley-firing was not mingled with the intermittent shots of the skirmishers, who pushed out upon us from the woods on either side. Our troops fell back and the rebel lines closed in a semi-circle. Still advancing, still pouring in their volleys with the utmost deliberation, the enemy came on, and at length apportion of their column quickened into a charge. Our troops gave way, not in confusion, but in steady line, delivering their fire as they fell back, step by step, to the shelter of the batteries.
Quick as lightning our guns now belched forth from the summits of the hills above. Shell and shrapnel, canister and case, whichever came readiest to hand in the ammunition-chests, were hurled at the serried ranks of the rebels. Our gunners could distinctly see the swathes which their missiles cut in those regiments advancing in solid mass. Benjamin, Roemer, Buckley, Gettings, Henshaw, all had full pay upon the foe with their pet guns.
As might be expected, the rebels gave way under this severe fire, but in admirable order, and, falling back again to the cover of the timber, which, in addition, was beyond ordinary range, made their disposition for the renewal of the attack. Heretofore they had fought without artillery. They now bought three batteries into position, and opened from the troops of the knolls, while the infantry deployed upon our flanks once more.
It was now late in the afternoon, the trains had obtained a good start on the road, and so far, General Burnside had obtained his object. It was unnecessary, therefore, to hazard, in his present position, the result of the attack to which the rebels were returning with renewed vigor, while a better position was afforded in his rear. He accordingly fell back about half a mile, to another series of commanding hills, where our batteries against came into position, and the fight was renewed. The second engagement, like the first, was marked by the same stubborn fighting on either side.
Our forces contested the ground successfully until night terminated the battle, and left them in their chosen position. As the end for which General Burnside had given battle was attained, namely, the checking of the enemy's progress, until our trains were out of danger, and as he was not desirous of risking another engagement until he reached the fortifications at Knoxville, the retreat bean once more, and it is reasonable to suppose, as the enemy gave no pursuit until the morning, that they were unaware of the movement, and expected a renewal of the fight on the ground of yesterday.
Despite the briskness and energy with which the fight was carried on, our loss is very small. It will not exceed three hundred, and General Burnside estimated it as low as two hundred [sic].
The enemy have lost far more in comparison – the result of the severe artillery fire to which they were exposed; and one thousand is not far from their number [sic].
I cannot finish my account without alluding to Colonel Chapin's brigade, the Twentieth –third corps, which fought with distinguished valor, and which, though not so long in the service as many of the veteran confreres [sic] has well earned a place by their side.
Rebellion Record, Vol. 8, pp. 189-190.
16, Scout, New Market to Columbia Gap
HDQRS. VAUGHN'S CAVALRY, New Market, November 16, 1864--6 a. m.
CAPT.: We drove the enemy's pickets in last night only three-quarters of a mile out from the railroad bridge. Considerable commotion in their camp, like they were preparing to leave or fight; fight, I think, because the train ran so often yesterday. I have sent the scout toward Cumberland Gap, as directed, and have a few men gone to the rear to gather information. No chance to cut the road in their rear only by a large force, as they have every point guarded. There are only two bridges, one within three and the other four miles from the Plains. Some negro troops were seen near the Plains yesterday--only three. Do you desire me to move down this morning to the Plains?
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. C. VAUGHN, Brig.-Gen.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 45, pt. I, p. 896.
16, Official Federal foraging policy in Middle Tennessee
SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, No. 155. HDQRS. ARMY OF THE OHIO, Pulaski, Tenn., November 16, 1864.
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VI. In collecting forage from the country in this vicinity citizens must not be deprived of the necessary forage for their animals and food for their families. Foraging parties will take only the surplus over that required by the citizens for private use. Foraging parties must invariably be in charge of commissioned officers, who will be held responsible that no unauthorized acts are committed by the men under their charge. Receipts will in all cases be given for the forage for animals, will be taken for the use of the troops, unless, in special cases of necessity, it be ordered by the highest commander present. Irregular foraging and marauding are strictly prohibited and will be severely punished.
By command of Maj.-Gen. Schofield
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 45, pt. I, P. 907.
James B. Jones, Jr.
Public Historian
Tennessee Historical Commission
2941 Lebanon Road
Nashville, TN 37214
(615)-532-1550 x115
(615)-532-1549 FAX
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