Saturday, July 12, 2014

7.12.14 Tennessee Civil War Notes

        12, Edward Bradford, from Davidson County, writes to his mother from Camp Trousdale (camp of instruction), concerning camp life and treatment of deserters
We have the best drilled company in Camp Trousdale, do more work and have less sickness than any company in our Regiment. We have had two or three deaths here in the last few [days] but only one in our regiment. There was a man [who] died in the Perrie Guard last night. There has been two run away, but they caught one of them and drummed him out of the camp. They had one side of his head shaved and a pair of horns on him, his breeches rolled up to his knees, barefooted with his shoes in his hand, his budget on his back and a board across his back on which was marked ["]Deserter.["] He made tracks for Kentucky as soon as he was turned loose. It is rumored that about two regiments will be ordered from here to Cumberland Gap in a few days, but I don't think it will be ours as some of the companies have not drawn their arms yet. We have a great many ladies to visit us, but I think this is the last place in the world for ladies and I would advice all of connection of that sex to stay at home....
P.S. I send you in this five dollars. I want you to get me two Dark Calico Shirts with it and send them up by the first one that comes. The balance can do as your please with if there is any left.
Frederick Bradford Papers, TSL&A.
        12, Sickness among Confederate troops in Jackson environs
A Mississippi regiment was marched down from Union City today and are camped near Jackson. They are suffering with typhoid. There has been a good many cases of measeles [sic], dysentry [sic], and typhoid among the volunteers at Union City….
Robert H. Cartmell Diary.


12, Expulsion order in Memphis
Memphis, July 12.- General Grant has issued an order requiring the families of all persons connected with the Confederate army, or Rebel Government, to leave the city in five days, or take an oath that they have not and will not furnish information to the enemy. This sweeping order has been made in consequence of the constant communication between persons and the Rebel army and their friend here. The order has caused considerable excitement..
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 12, 1862.


        12, Political position announcement by John H. Savage, former Colonel of the 16th Tennessee Infantry and candidate for the Confederate House of Representatives for the Fifth Tennessee District (Smith, Macon, Wilson and DeKalb counties)[1]:
No caucus has been held in the Confederate States until the meeting at Winchester, which nominated my competitor Gov. Foote. This system [enables these men] to appoint your rulers. Under the pretense of union, harmony or party necessity, you have often been forced to vote contrary to your better judgment. It is for you to say whether your votes are to be thus controlled. In any event, important legislation will be demanded of the next Congress. If the war continues a reorganization of the army will be necessary.
The Regulations and Article of War are of but little protection to subalterns and privates against the grossest wrongs committed by superiors, and need amendment to maintain discipline and the spirit of the soldier. General officers should be held responsible for injuries to citizens resulting from their negligence, and want of discipline. Enough has occurred to injure our cause, and cast a shadow on the glory of our arms. In some sections, the people have been robbed of their property with impunity, which could have been prevented by commanders.
Your Governor [Isham G. Harris] is sworn to execute your laws -- yet no efforts have been made to enforce them and thus good [people] have been left without any protection. The seizure of the arms of loyal citizens, was in violation of the Constitution, and an insult to freemen; they ought to be returned, and the right of the citizen to keep them secured. It were [sic] better if every citizen owned a gun.
When peace shall be made, the army should be reduced at the earliest moment practicable. A military government or large standing army is not necessary. A people may be so educated and armed as to repel invasion or defend their rights against usurpation. My views upon the subject are published in my report upon the "Old Soldiers Bill" which passed the U. S. House of Representatives.
To assist the voter in judging whether Gov. Foote or myself is the better friend of the soldier and the country, it is hoped that a few facts maybe stated without subjecting me to the charge of vanity. I have been elected four times to represent my birth-place in the Congress of the United States, and claim to have been at all times a consistent friend of the South....
My competitor has served in both Congresses and has tried his skill upon the army, conscription, taxation, impressment and other subjects.
I have been twice discharged as a private soldier from the armies of the United States in 1836-7, and served as an officer under Gen. Scott in the battles at the city of Mexico. At the beginning of this war I considered it a duty to take charge of the sons of my friends and constituents, and teach them to be soldiers. My regiment (16th Tennessee) met the enemy in Virginia, South Carolina, Perryville and Murfreesboro -- maintaining the honor of your arms by toilsome marches, and the loss of many brave men. It is not my fault that I am not now in the service. It was my wish to remain, if it could have been done without a violation of those customs that have governed modern armies. My resignation was forwarded because a gentleman in all respects my junior, and not in the line of the army, was promoted and placed in command over me. The army and my conscience approve my course. If not worthy of promotion I was unfit to command a regiment. If wronged, it would have been unjust to the living and the dead to submit to a system of favoritism, which has done more, to create dissatisfaction and destroy the spirit of the soldier than any other cause. The friend of the laws, equality and order-the enemy of combinations, partiality and artifice, I shall contend whatever be the result of this election.
Chattanooga Daily Rebel, July 12, 1863.
        12, Federal depredations following the Tullahoma Campaign, the observations of Brigadier-General John Beatty
Our soldiers, I am told, have been entering the houses of private citizens, taking whatever they saw fit, and committing many outrages. I trust, however, they have not been doing so badly as the people would have us believe. The latter are all disposed to grumble; and if a hungry soldier squints wistfully at a chicken, some one is ready to complain that the fowls are in danger, and that they are the property of a lone woman, a widow, with nothing under the sun to eat but chickens. In nine cases out of ten the husbands of these lone women are in the Confederate army; but still they are women, and should be treated well.
Beatty, Citizen Soldier, p. 296.


        12-18, Scout from Kingston to England Cove
JULY 7-18, 1864.-Scouts (7th-9th and 12th-18th) from Kingston to England Cove, Tenn.
Reports of Maj. Thomas H. Reeves, Fourth Tennessee (Union) Infantry.
HDQRS. U. S. FORCES, Kingston, Tenn., July 9, 1864.
LIEUT.: I have the honor to report to you that on the 7th instant, about 7 a. m., I was informed that there were some guerrillas about Post Oak, seven miles from this place. I immediately went out in person with ten mounted scouts to ascertain the facts. I went out five miles when, I learned correctly that there were about twenty-rebels, under the command of Champ Ferguson, at or near that place pressing horses; so I knew my scout was too weak and returned to camp and pressed all the horses I could and mounted fifty more men and went in pursuit of them. I arrived at Post Oak at 1 p. m., and found that the rebels had taken 113 U. S. horses, which were in pasture there, and went toward Cumberland Mountains. They were then eight hours ahead of me. I pressed on as fast as possible all that day and until 8 p. m., when I was compelled to stop to graze my stock, as I had no feed with me. During the night I learned that there were about 400 more U. S. horses on the mountains at one Mr. Meade's, sent there by T. W. Fry, Jr., assistant quartermaster at this place--this was the first I knew of them being there; so, after grazing and resting my stock, I started out for Crossville, about 4 a. m. July 8, at which place I expected to find them, but there I learned that they (the rebels) had got the U. S. horses on the mountain, and has passed that they having then about 500 U. S. horses and mules. So I resolved to follow them again, thinking I might catch them. A portion of my stock was about giving out, so I ordered out thirty of the best horses to follow rapidly and the others to come on slowly, and again commenced the pursuit, which was continued until 12 m. July 8, without overtaking them, though we were close upon them. They left the road, took into the mountains, and as my stock was very tired I thought it best not to pursue farther. We captured 1 prisoner, retook 2, and several horses, 1 gun, &c., and returned as fast as we could to do our stock justice. Much credit is due the whole command for their untiring energy. Lieut. Patterson, One hundred and eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, post acting commissary of subsistence, was with me, and his services much appreciated. Lieut. Piper, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, with his men, did good service. We returned to Kingston, July 9, 5 p. m., without any loss in men or stock.
The leaders of the rebel band were Ferguson, Hughes, Clark, and Carter, all present in person. I lost no in time in trying to capture them and recover the stock, but as they were so much ahead of me and my stock fatigued I could not possibly accomplish the desired end. The information received concerning their plans, &c., will fully compensate me for the trip. I have the honor, most respectfully, to request permission to mount 100 men and prepare myself with rations, forage, &c., to make one other attempt to recover the stock, as I know that I can do it successfully, besides taking a good deal more property, which they now have concealed in England Cove. This, I am sure, could be done without much, if any, loss. I went within thirteen miles of Sparta, at which place they left the road, and I followed them ten miles farther through the mountains. We are all very much fatigued and worn out. There is a mystery somewhere about them getting the stock, as the man who had it in charge was notified the night before that they were coming, and did not let me know it. I now have him in jail and will investigate the matter.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. H. REEVES, Maj., Cmdg. Forces.
HDQRS. FOURTH DIVISION, TWENTY-THIRD ARMY CORPS, Knoxville, Tenn., July 11, 1864.
Lieut. Col. G. M. BASCOM, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Department of the Ohio:
COL.: I have the honor to forward the report of Maj. Reeves, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, commanding at Kingston. It was forwarded to me from Loudon by Lieut.-Col. Patterson, and was received this morning. Orders have been given and an effort will be made to recover the stock and punish the raiders.
Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,
J. AMMEN, Brig.-Gen. of Volunteers.
HDQRS. U. S. FORCES, Kingston, July 20, 1864.
LIEUT.: The expedition ordered out to recapture, if possible, the Government stock stolen by guerrillas left this place July 12, 1864, with eighty infantry and twenty mounted men. They traveled in the direction of Sparta, Tenn., fifty-two miles, where they took to the right, so as to get into the head of England cove, at which place the stock were reported to be. Just one mile this side of where they turned to the right, the advance guard was fired upon by one rebel, who made his appearance in the road before them. The guard returned the fire and the rebel fled into the woods. The command moved on till 10 p. m., and halted for the night upon the top of the mountain. At daylight next morning [July 13] they descended the mountain and reached the head of the cove, through which the Calfkiller River runs. On reaching that spot they again came upon the bushwhackers and fired some fifty rounds at them, which created quite an excitement in the valley, and all the men fled to the mountains. It was ascertained then that the stock had been divided among the captors and had been driven into different parts of the mountains and counties. However, some few of the stock were found in out-of-the-day places. The citizens would not give any information about the stock nor against the guerrillas, and denied of knowing that any had been brought into that valley. The major commanding found that the citizens were all aiders and abettors to the thieving band. So he commenced to show them the rewards given to such people, and had their stock (private) and everything that his command could consume seized, and plundered every house from there to Sparta, finding in all thirty-three guns, some ammunition, and many articles which could not be brought away. For a distance of fifteen miles down the valley every house where good stock, arms, or goods of a contraband nature could be found, the most unparalleled plunder was committed.
The command charged into Sparta at 4 p. m. July 15, but found no armed rebels. Martial law was at once proclaimed, and every man in town was arrested; then for two hours the cries of women and children were intense, for they all expected the town to be burnt up and all the citizens killed. After plundering the town and examining the citizens they were released, with a few exceptions. The command left that place July 16, 9 a. m., for Kingston with 9 prisoners for various charges and some 25 recaptured Government stock and about the same amount of stock which had been pressed from citizens who were out guerrilla-ing. [sic]
The progress was uninterrupted from there back. Champ Ferguson has about twenty men, and commands them in person. His range is generally in the cove. Capt. Clark has fourteen men, and his range is above Spencer, a small town twelve miles south of Sparta. Camp Kearsy has about thirty men, and ranges near Smithville; while one Dunbar, up in Overton County, has about seventy-five, mostly of Morgan's disbanded crew from Kentucky. These are all the organized bodies now in those mountain ranges, and they are all regular desperadoes, taking no prisoners at all. The command exchanged some few shots with them, as they went down the valley, but no one was hurt. There is a small force of Federal soldiers at McMinnville, numbering about 200 men. They belong to the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, and owing to the small garrison, are afraid to scout out at any distance. It is thought preparations are being made by the guerrillas to concentrate and make a raid upon some point, though they are so sly that nothing reliable could be obtained. The major-commanding expedition expected to find the guerrillas as he returned at Crossville trying to cut him off, but as he made a big impression about the number of men he had, they were afraid to try it. For the good of the service, there should be at least 100 well-mounted men sent into that cove to stay about one month. They can subsist off the country, as the corps are very good.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. H. REEVES, Maj., Cmdg. Forces.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 39, pt. I, pp. 351-354.






[1]John Houston Savage, (1815-1904) Democrat, Born at McMinnville, October 9, 1815 attended common schools, admitted to the bar in 1839, practiced law at Smithville, later moved to McMinnville after Civil War to continue practice. Was attorney-general with the 4th Judicial circuit, 1841-47, presidential elector, 1844 on ticket of J.K. Polk. Elected United States House of Rep., 31-32, 34-35 Congresses, March 4, 1849-March 3, 1853, March 4 1853-March 3, 1859. Unsuccessful candidate for reelection 1859, unsuccessful candidate for Confederate Congress 1863. In Seminole War of 1836, enlisted June 14, 1836, as private in Capt. Wm. Lauderdale's Company, 2d Mounted Volunteers, commanded by Col. William Trousdale. In Mexican War, rank of Major, later 1st Col. Of 14th United States Infantry. In the Confederate army, 16th Confederate States Infantry, June 10, 1861. Wounded at Perryville, KY, October 8, 1862; wounded again Battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863. Resigned commission, February 20, 1863. Savage was not elected to the Confederate Congress. Author of Life of John H. Savage, (Nashville, 1903), died at McMinnville April 6, 1903, buried in Riverside Cemetery. See Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly, Vol. II, 1861-1901 (Nashville: Tennessee State Library and Archives and Tennessee Historical Commission, 1979), pp. 797-799.

James B. Jones, Jr.
Public Historian
Tennessee Historical Commission
2941 Lebanon Road
Nashville, TN  37214
(615)-770-1090 ext. 123456
(615)-532-1549  FAX

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