1861
24, Nashville Mayor R. B. Cheatham issues proclamation banning vigilantism
WHEREAS, it is understood that self-constituted Committees, or Individuals on their own responsibility, have notified one or more of our Northern-born Citizens to leave Nashville; and whereas it is the determination of the City Authorities to preserve and sustain the peace and quiet of the City: This is, therefore, to notify all Persons that any complaints or suspicions against Persons of Northern birth can be lodged with me for investigation, and that everything necessary will be done. And all Persons implicated can be assured that they will be protected from unfounded rumors and stories, until properly investigated by the proper Authorities.
AND all good Citizens are earnestly requested to endeavor to quiet the public mind in the present state of excitement, and to aid the Authorities in preserving the peace of the City.
Broadside Collection, TSL&A.[1]
24, Sewing and Rifle companies in Memphis
Notice to Military Companies!
The members of the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society will meet at the residence of the President, Mrs. D. Levy, Main street, for the purpose of making Uniforms, Tent Cloths, manufacturing lint, and any other requirements necessary. Any company whatever needing their services for the above purposes, will make their wants known at the store of Strauss, Lehman & Co.
202 Main street.
Tennessee Rifles.—The Tennessee Rifles will continue their drill at the hours before mentioned, commencing at 10 A.M., and 8 P.M., daily. the company is equipping and getting ready for immediate service, and is rapidly progressing; recruits are earnestly desired, as Maynard rifles have been obtained. Armory and drill room, Adams' block, on Second street, between Adams and Jefferson.
Military Sewing Society.—A few days since a call was made on the patriotic ladies of Memphis, through the columns of the leading journals of this city, to organize a society, the object of which was to make uniforms for the various companies enlisted as soldiers to protect the South. In accordance with the above call thirty-eight ladies met promptly in the basement of Wesley Charge, Second Methodist church, and organized themselves into a "Military Sewing Society," and they will give their services when wanted in making up uniforms.
Memphis Daily Appeal, April 24, 1861.
24, Secession flag presentation to the editors of the Memphis Daily Appeal
Banner Presentation to the Appeal.
On yesterday evening about five o'clock, a large crowd of ladies and gentlemen assembled in the counting room of the Appeal office, to witness the presentation of a beautiful flag of the Confederate States to the editors, at the hands of several ladies of the city.
Miss Florence Otey having been selected upon the part of its donors to present it, spoke as follows:
Editors of the Appeal: I would not willingly cloud the pleasures of such a day, by even a transient shade. I would not that a single care should flit across our brain, if considerations of the highest moment did not demand our thoughts, and give us counsel of our duties! Who, indeed, of us, can look around upon the attractions of this scene, upon the faces of the happy and free, the smiles of youthful beauty, the graces of matron virtue, the strong intellect of manhood, and the dignity of age here assembled and not hail this as a scene of no common interest.
We have here assembled to present to you, gentlemen, (editors of the Appeal) a Secession flag, and in behalf of these, my associates, I have to assure you, that it is demonstrative of our appreciation of the principles you advocate. Happy the one who, in the discharge of such duties, leads none into dangerous error—lulls none into careless or contemptuous negligence of right, not even sullies the whiteness of an innocent mind. Far happier, far nobler than kings can make them, who dedicate life and interest to instruct the masses. Nay, many such geniuses have fired from heaven's own light, continue to burn and spread, kindling congenial flames far and wide, until they lift up their broad, united blaze on high, enlightening, cheering and edifying our whole country.
Your paper has always been a welcome visitor to our firesides, its pages perused with pleasure by our fathers, our brothers, our friends and ourselves. We bid you God's speed, and hail you as champions of the cause of freedom. We are aware that you have had much to contend with, and for. Legion has been the name of the concomitant ills with which you have had to battle; but you have an all-powerful incentive in the protection of our liberties, and our country's honor.
The garden flowers, with naught but sunshine, would wither, sicken, gangrene and die; they must have alike the passing cloud, the gentle dew and the falling rain. By these, too, you have had your own flagging spirits revived, your prostrate energies renewed, and caused your almost blasted hopes to again bud and blossom.
Gentlemen—permit me to present this Secession flag for your acceptance; raise it to the loftiest hight [sic] where it can flutter to every passing breeze, and be gazed upon in the vermillion tint of aurora's dawn, the gray beams of the Orient's brow in the dazzling radience of the font of light, and the last lingering shadows of the departing day—where it may be seen from yon dark river, which rolls in such majesty, yon fringe of woods that marks the western horizon, and from the streets of our city, that it may call up every emotion of patriotism that is slumbering in the breasts of our young men, and be to their faithful spirits what the sunshine is to the flower—burning the fragrance from their bosoms—or as the hand of beauty to the silent lute, passing over the slumbering chords "till it doth discourse eloquent music."
After Miss Otey's remarks were finished, H. M. Somerville, Esq., of the Appeal, responded in behalf of the editors, as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen—Respected Miss: It is with no ordinary emotions of pleasure and of gratitude that I accept, in behalf of my editorial comrades, this most liberal manifestation of your esteem. We shall regard it not so much as an evidence of your generous appreciation of our labor for southern rights, as a tribute of your exalted patriotism to southern freedom. It is the beautiful emblem of a newborn independence—the glorious ensign of a virgin nationality—whose speaking symbols illustrate southern valor and add ardor to southern enthusiasm.
Allow me to say that the most happy incident of its presentation is found in the pleasing fact that it comes from the hand of woman—a circumstance which, though all other incentives to the maintenance of its honor should be paralized, would of itself nerve us on to deeds of danger and of daring, to preserve its folds unsullied from the dust of disgrace and defeat. Nor is it the voice of fulsome flattery that prompts me to proclaim this trivial truth, for to the honor of your sex, be it said, that history fails to record a single instance of woman's failure to respond to the call of her country in the dark hour that tried the souls of men. Patriotism has never made a draft upon her devotion, nor self-sacrifice upon her benevolence, that has been dishonored by protest. In the performance of her duty no reconciliation is too great, no concession too dear. In the dread hour of trial, nothing is impossible with her but to shrink from what honor, innocence, virtue and patriotism require. The voice of pleasure or of power may pass by unheeded by her, but the voice of her country never! Though timid as a frightened fawn, and fragile as a flower, and at times so delicate that the winds of heaven may not too roughly visit her, on occasions like the present, when the lightning defiantly plays on the war-cloud, and the red thunderbolts of civil conflict almost shock the valor and paralyze the energies of man, she stands, unawed by danger and undaunted by fear, and rising superior to herself, seems to gather preternatural courage from the very consternation of the sterner sex.
"Not she with trait'rous kiss her Savior stung;
Not she denied him with unholy tongue;
She, when Apostles shrank could dangers brave,--
Last at the cross and earliest at the grave."
We shall accept this beautiful banner with feelings of profoundest emotional gratitude; and inspired with that spirit of resistance to tyranny which animated our revolutionary feathers, we shall cheerfully continue to prosecute the humble labors of our vocation until the last minion of federal power shall be driven from the soil of the sunny South, or else where, amid death, devastation and defeat, the freedom of the southern press shall be crushed by the iron heel of northern despotism. Rendered doubly dear by being crowned with the eagles of victory that perched upon its standard in the first great battle fought for the achievement of southern independence, we shall fling its ample folds upon the air, and henceforth acknowledge allegiance only to that Government from the dome of whose capitol it proudly kisses the passing breeze. We rejoice in the belief that under its seven stars there lives not a southron, "to the manor born," who is so false to the instincts of his nature, or so recreant to his convictions of duty as not to be willing to rally to its defense, and if necessary, face the rude thunders of artillery, the fierce charge of cavalry, the onslaught of bristling bayonets or the death dealing messengers from the deep-mouthed cannon.
Cheered on by the smiles of your approbation, and nerved for the conflict by the consciousness of being RIGHT, we shall, in common with the valiant yeomanry of Tennessee, joyfully pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honors to vindicate its integrity when called into the field of battle, and in the performance of that duty to enter the contest with the full and fearless determination to "die all freemen rather than live all slaves!"
The flag presented is a large and beautiful one—made of the handsomest silk, and inscribed with the following phrase, in guilded [sic] letters:
"PRESENTED TO THE EDITORS OF THE APPEAL BY THE LADIES OF MEMPHIS."
So soon as the ceremony was concluded, it was thrown to the breeze from the upper story of the Appeal office, where it attracted the attentive gaze of an admiring public.
"Long may it wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
Memphis Daily Appeal, April 25, 1861
24, Secession meeting in Lagrange
Meeting at Lagrange.
We have received for publication the proceedings of a large and spirited public meeting held at Lagrange on Wednesday night last [24th], the substance of which can be as well stated in briefer space. Resolutions were adopted, recommending the withdrawal of Tennessee from the northern Union; and speeches suitable to the occasion were made by Gen. J. L. T. Sneed and Rev. J. N. Waddel. Thirty-nine ladies offered their services to make wearing apparel for the soldiers, two military companies organized, and five thousand dollars raised for purposes of defense. The utmost enthusiasm is represented as having prevailed throughout, and the people are apparently fully aroused to the importance of the issues which they are to meet.
Memphis Daily Appeal, April 28, 1861.
24, Excerpt from Gideon Pillow's confidential report to Confederate Secretary of War, L. P. Walker, relative war preparations in pre-secessionTennessee
NASHVILLE, April 24, 1861.
[CONFIDENTIAL.]
Hon. L. P. WALKER, Secretary of War, C. S. A.:
DEAR SIR
* * * *
By order of Governor Harris I proceed in the morning to Memphis and other points on the Mississippi to push up the work of constructing batteries; two, one at Randolph and the other five miles by land above Memphis, which, when completed and armed and manned, will effectually command that river and make it impossible for the forces of Lincoln to pass below that river and make it impossible for the forces of Lincoln to pass below that point-Randolph. I will also cut off the railroad communication from Columbus down into Tennessee, either by bringing south all the locomotives and rolling-stock of the company, or else by done before I leave that end of the State. Our people are rapidly organizing, and we will in a short time have an immense force in the field; but though Governor Harris has made extraordinary exertions, he is still unable to arm them. Our Legislature meets to-morrow, and I have myself drawn a bill (which we think can push right through) empowering the Governor to raise 50,000 volunteers and appropriating $5,000,000, and if necessary to call out the whole military force of the State, so that Tennessee will be seen to be in earnest. Your dispatch to Governor Harris asking for troops was submitted to me, and I did not hesitate to advise him to respond promptly to your call, which was done.
Bell, in a public speech, has at last come out fully for the South. He held back as long as public opinion would tolerate him. We are see will soon be so, or nearly so. Etheridge[2] attempted to make a speech at Paris yesterday, but was prevented by the people after a short conflict with pistols, in which four men were wounded and one killed. Johnson has at last returned to East Tennessee, and had his nose pulled on the way; was hissed and hooted at all along on his route. Knowing how well you and the President will enjoy these manifestations of popular favor to the Senator, I hope you will pardon me for troubling you with the narrative. His power is gone, and henceforth there will be nothing left but the stench of the traitor.
After what I have said above I need scarcely caution you against gets his household better regulated. He is surrounded by Black Republicans, and they know everything that passes on the wires to him. Beware, therefore! I condemn and utterly abhor his neutral policy, or rather his alliance with Lincoln; but yet I am satisfied that he will ultimately break the shackles with which he is now manacled. At present, however, we need not count upon his co-operation in anything.
Lincoln is concentrating a large force at Cairo, cutting off supplies and isolating Missouri. The force is armed with everything indicating a purpose to advance into the interior, and I think he intends advancing a column upon West Tennessee, to meet and arrest which I go there.
With great respect,
GID. J. PILLOW.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 52, pt. II, pp. 68-70.
24, Slave-Insurrection Paranoia, Free Negroes and the Committee of Safety in Memphis
The Danger of Insurrection.
The Memphis Avalanche perceives signs of trouble from the negroes in that city. Speaking especially of the free blacks, it says:-
We have been induced at different times to refer to this class of residents in our city. We have done so when there was not that necessity for it which now exists. No man apprehends any danger from his slaves on a cotton plantation, but the relations of master and slaver are very different in a city. Here we have household slaves, many of them mere hirelings. They are generally the most intelligent of the African race, and, as a matter of course, have just such ideas of the condition of things in this country as they catch from half comprehended conversations of the whites. City slaves have heard of the pending war between the North and South, and believe that it exits on their account. They have, as a matter of course, sought further information, and hence consulted the numerous free negroes who are to be found everywhere in Memphis. These are daily associates of the most degraded whites-they are consorted with only by those who adapt themselves to their whims, passions and prejudices, who hate the whites-who would inflame against them the hatred of the "freed man," till it was assimilated to that of the wretch who would make a free negro his equal.
The free negro is the natural and necessary conduit, conveying intelligence from the Abolitionist to the slaves. Through their agency all mischievous plots are arranged. Through their intelligence the slave becomes an assassin, and guilty of the bloodiest deed. The ignorant negro cannot forsee [sic] the evils which must befall him for his folly and crimes. The negro can only harm an individual or a family; the consequence is, that negroes are slaughtered like wild beasts. [emphasis added] To avoid such contingencies, it has occurred to us that the necessities of the public demand and removal of free negroes from this city. They can, in the midst of the impending struggle, do no conceivable good, [emphasis added] and accomplish nothing but harm. Many of our citizens have already suggested to us the fact that their slaves are under the malign influence of the free negroes. Insubordination is even now recognized, and house servants are constantly informing their mistresses of the saying of the "freed men." Under such circumstance we are glad to learn that Alderman Kirby has, as chairman of the vigilance committee, instituted the strictest surveillance over the colored gentry, and we would only suggest that we may soon find the proposed policy of an ex-alderman, which contemplated the removal of all free negroes from the city, a matter of absolute necessity-at least in times like these.
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 24, 1861.
24, A Religious and Humanitarian Justification for Slavery by an East Tennessee Southerner: An Extract from the Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain
~ ~ ~
O could our Christian friends [up] North come and live with us for a few months I do think it would greatly change their feelings toward us. Let a Northern woman come into one of our black peoples homes and see stretched on a bed of sickness one of our servants-man, woman or child and see us in tender solicitude bending over the sufferer doing all that we can to relieve their sufferings and then know the great anxiety we are often suffering in regard to their spiritual well being methinks you would turn from the spot and if this is slavery so let it continue unmolested by me until the great head of the church sees fit to change it if it is his will. Our happy land that which has been the song and pride of so many hearts will never, while we live, be looked on as it has been. The world will soon know we do not love one another. O how sad how sad.
Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain.[3]
1862
24, Skirmish at Lick Creek
No circumstantial reports filed.
24, Skirmish on the Shelbyville Road
No circumstantial reports filed.
24, Reconnaissance to Pea Ridge, Tennessee
No circumstantial reports filed.
24, Mrs. Horace Maynard seeks Confederate passports for slaves
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE, OFFICE PROVOST-MARSHAL,
April 24, 1862.
M. T. HAYNES, Esq.
SIR: Mrs. Maynard applies for passports for two servants understood to be slaves. I am directed to ask your decision as to whether they are her property or not.
Respectfully,
W. M. CHURCHWELL.
OR, Ser. II, Vol. I, p. 884.
24, Aftermath at Shiloh Battlefield
The Horrors of the Battle-field of Pittsburg.
* * * *
The most curious feature is a sort of neutral hospital just this side of their lines. In it are wounded from both parties, attended by the physicians of whichever side at the time has possession. To their comrades the rebels seem inhumanly inattentive. Not a day passes but numbers are brought in from the woods, some found close to their pickets. Half a dozen were carried by us this morning....They are generally dressed in homespun, or "butternut"--not showily, but comfortably....In company with Capt. Jewett Wilcox, of the Platte Valley, we yesterday passed again over the grounds. The terrible stench from its putrefying bodies is daily becoming more sickening, so shallow being the graves that poisonous gases escape easily from the mass of corruption and nestle down near the earth, seeming loath as those lately living to leave it. Mile after mile we met the same graveyard atmosphere, and occasionally a head peered from some rude mound, or a limb, rigid and slightly corrupted, was thrust into view. For ages to come, the battle-field of Pittsburg, or, as Beauregard aptly terms it, Shiloh, will be a scene of melancholy interest. Five thousand died there, and other thousands will go through life disfigured, or linger out an existence upon sick beds. Had any great success been gained, the price weighed against the effect might not seem dear, but as it is our army holds the same position it did three weeks ago, and has lost a tenth part of its number in killed, wounded, and missing....
--Cor. St. Louis Republican.
Chicago Times, April 24, 1862.[4]
24, Mrs. Werner's Participation in the battle of Shiloh
Heroic Women.
At the battle of Pittsburg Landing there was a woman who accompanied her husband, and after the battle began to rage on Sunday she was urged to leave the field. She refused to do so, and, instead, busied herself all day in carrying the wounded back to a place of safety as they fell around her. While she was thus engaged, another young woman, who had also accompanied her husband, was struck and instantly killed by a cannon ball, within a few feet of her. The brave woman was, as may be imagined, greatly fatigued, and even made ill by her exertions on the field. Her name is Mrs. Werner….Her husband fell on the battlefield, and she is entirely alone….More than this, while engaged in her humane work, she tore all her underclothing into strips to tie up the wounds of the fallen soldiers, and consequently she came here destitute of even the most indispensable articles of clothing.
Daily Missouri Republican, April 24, 1862.[5]
24, Satirical analysis on the Confederate primer
Rev. Dr. McFerrin's Confederate Primer.
Nothing is more worthy of being perpetuated than valuable contributions to literature. The literature of a nation is its crown of glory, whose reflected light shines far down the swift-rolling waves of Time, and gladdens the eyes of remote generations. This beautiful and (to our notion) finely expressed sentiment was suggested to our minds in turning over the pages of Reverend Dr. McFerrin's Confederate Primer, which we briefly noticed yesterday. We feel that we then passed too hastily over a work so grand in its conception, so benevolent in its purpose, and so brilliant in its execution, and we therefore recur to it again, and will now proceed to regale our readers with some of the choicest boquets [sic] culled from this greenest field among all the flowery pastures of Minerva. The Primer, after giving the alphabet in due form, offers some little rhymes for youngsters, which are perfect nosegays of sentiment, of which the following will serve as samples of Dr. McFerrin's poetical genius:
N.
At Nashville's fall
We sinned all.
T.
At Number Ten
We sinned again.
F.
Thy purse to mend
Old Floyd attend.
L.
Abe Lincolns bold
Our ports doth hold.
D.
Jeff Davis tells a lie,
And so must you and I.
I.
Isham doth mourn
His case forlorn.
P.
Brave Pillow's flight
Is out of sight.
B.
Buell doth play,
And after slay.
O.
Yon Oak will be the gallow's tree
Of Richmond's fallen majesty.
We are compelled to cut short Dr. McFerrin's poetry, which is exquisite, and pass over to his "Biographical Questions and Answers for little children."
Q.—Who was the first man?
A.—Gen. Pillow—because he was the first man to run off from Fort Donelson.
Q.—Who is the strongest man?
A.—Gen. Price—for you can smell him a mile.
Q.—Who is the wisest man?
A.—Gov. Wise; for he has that discretion which is "the better part of valor."
Q.—Who is the most patient man?
A.—Gustavus A. Henry; for he waited more than sixty years for an office, and at last was sent to Richmond.
Q.—Who are the most merciful men?
A.—The Nashville Vigilance Committee; for they saved their victims the suspense of a trial.
Q.—Who are the most liberal men?
A.—Those who subscribed to the fund for the relief of the families of rebel soldiers in Nashville.
But again we are admonished to desist from this seductive labor, and give some specimens of the Reverend Doctor's taste in getting up reading lessons:
Lesson First. The Smart Dix-ie Boy.
Once there was a lit-tle boy, on-ly four years old. His name was Dix-y. His fath-er's name was I-SHAM, and his moth-er's name was ALL-SHAM. Dixy was ver-y smart. He could drink whis-ky, fight chick-ens, play po-ker, and cuss his moth-er. When he was on-ly two years old, he could steal su-gar, hook pre-serves, drown kit-tens, and tell lies like a man. Dix-y died and went to the bad place. But the Dev-il would not let Dix-y stay there, for he said, "When you get big Dix-y, you would be head Dev-il your-self." All lit-tle rebels ought to be like Dix-y, and so they will if they will stud-y the Con-fed-er-ate Prim-er.
We have extracted enough from this excellent performance to show that it is one of the great productions of this country, and will certainly occupy at no remote period an enviable niche in the temple of literary fame.
Nashville Daily Union, April 24, 1862. [6]
24, Cotton speculation causes Sumner county textile manufacturing plants to shut down
A gentleman who resides in Sumner county informs us that the cotton manufacturing establishments in that county are unable to resume operations for the want of cotton. The proprietors of these establishments represent that speculators are buying up the cotton that is for sale and paying for it in southern funds, and then shipping it to the Northern and Eastern markets where they re-sell it at high figures and get paid in specie or United States Treasury notes, with which they buy up Southern funds at a discount of from thirty to forty per cent. This is a game that works both ways, and affords a wide margin for profits. It is thus that our own manufacturers are unable to compete with the speculators. They cannot, in the present condition of affairs, enter the market as competitors with men who do the double business of cotton factors and money-changers. If there was the usual amount of cotton on the market,--if the manufacturers of the East and of Europe were well stocked, this state of affairs would not exist. But the scarcity of cotton has sharpened the demand, and speculators are reaching out wherever a bale can be procured. This operates oppressively upon our manufacturers, and peculiarly so upon those who are dependent upon them for employment.
We presume what is true in regard to the manufactories in Sumner county, is equally true in regard to those in the other counties of Middle Tennessee. A large number of operatives, both male and female, will thus be thrown out of employment who could be earning a competency for the support of themselves and families….
Nashville Dispatch, April 24, 1862.
24, Nashville's Police Court
Police Court.
The Court yesterday morning presented a lively and gay appearance, the attraction being the arrest of several females for disorderly conduct.
The first case brought before his Honor the Recorder was a breach of the tippling act, in selling lager beer contrary to law. The defendant was fined.
The next was a case of drunkenness—a plain and easy one—producing $25 towards the city finances.
Ann Morgan, an interesting looking girl, was then called up, and accused of being drunk and disorderly. According to the evidence of Mr. Reddick, it appears that Ann went to the Theatre on Tuesday night, while in a state of blissful intoxication, and exhibited such jubilant and pugilistic spirits, that Mr. R. advised her to return home. She determined, however, to maintain her "rights," and insisted upon taking her seat in the circle set apart for the "frail ones," when Mr. R. told her she would get into trouble if she did not keep quiet. A few moments thereafter a "sensation" was visible and a "muss" inevitable. Ann was spoiling for a fight, and serious consequences might have been the result, had not Mr. Reddick taken a revolver from her, and placed her in custody of a guardian of the peace. Ann, like a sensible girl, acknowledged, or rather did not attempt to deny, the charge, and paid the penalty of her folly, to the amount of $28.50.
Miss Miller was next called, and was asked what she had to say as to being drunk and disorderly. She indignantly denied the drunk, but appeared to think she might have been a little disorderly. An examination of witnesses corroborated her assertion, the "drunk" was scratched and the disorderly paid for.
Ann Brown, a nervous looking, fidgety girl, was also accused of being disorderly, but an examination justified her in everything but using improper language on the public street. She was therefore called upon to pay expenses.
The court then adjourned until this morning at 9 o'clock.
Nashville Dispatch, April 24, 1862.
24, Guerrilla attack on steamboats on the Tennessee River
STEAMBOATS FIRED AT BY GUERRILLAS.
Cairo, April 25 [Friday].- The steamers Belle, of Memphis, and Choctaw, from Pittsburg Landing, which they left on Thursday morning [24th], arrived here last night. They were fire into, thirty-five miles below Pittsburg, by a band of guerrillas behind a dwelling on the left bank of the Tennessee river. The Choctaw received seven shots. Her mate was killed. The Belle, of Memphis, received twelve shots, wounding one negro boy on board.
~ ~ ~
Philadelphia Inquirer, April 26, 1862.
24, Federal Steamer Fired into on the Upper Cumberland
Attack upon a Federal Steamer.-We learn from the Nashville Dispatch that the steamer John A. Fisher, which arrived at Nashville on Thursday (24th) from the Upper Cumberland, was fired into and stopped at or near Turkey Island,[7] by an armed band, who represented themselves as Confederate, though the officers are fully impressed that they were a band of robbers, acting upon their own responsibly. They robbed the boat of a large amount of groceries and other valuables, which were parceled out among themselves. As the officers of the Fisher are rebels, and the Dispatch a rebel paper, we can easily account for the fact that they were "fully impressed" that the robbers were not "Confederate."
Louisville Daily Journal, April 26, 1862. [8]
24- May 30, Operations against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad
Report of Maj.-Gen. John A. McClernand, U. S. Army, commanding Reserve Corps, Army of the Tennessee, of operations from April 24 to May 30, 1862.
HDQRS. RESERVE CORPS, ARMY OF TENNESSEE, Camp Jackson, July 4, 1862.
GEN.: My report of the part taken by my command, consisting of the First Division of the Army of the Tennessee, in the battle of Shiloh, explains how the enemy was driven from my camp on the 7th, and forced with great loss to abandon the ground he had gained on the 6th of April. I will not dwell upon the incidents of that great event now. It would be supererogatory to do so. They have passed into glorious and imperishable history, and there let them rest.
Devoting my attention during the interval to measures necessary to repair the consequences of a protracted and sanguinary battle, and to restore the vigor and efficiency of my command, and having prepared the way by the construction of bridges, on the 24th, pursuant to order, I moved it to the front and extreme right of the first advance made after the battle. Halting on the east side of Owl Creek, and resting the right of the division on the bluffs overlooking the creek, we pitched our tents and remained here until the 30th, meantime guarding the passes of Owl Creek and making frequent cavalry reconnaissances westerly in the direction of Purdy and southerly on each side of the creek in the direction of Pea Ridge. Here, as a precaution against surprise, I threw up earthworks, consisting of lunettes and intrenchments, covering my camp. These were the first that had been thrown up south of the bluffs overlooking Pittsburg Landing.
The enemy, having taken refuge behind Lick Creek upon a lofty range called Pea Ridge, commanding the approaches across the valley of that stream, felt secure in making sudden and frequent descents upon our advance pickets. To arrest and punish these annoyances, on the 25th I ordered Col. M. K. Lawler (Eighteenth Illinois), with six regiments of infantry, three companies of cavalry, and a section of McAllister's battery, to reconnoiter in front and on the left of our position in the direction of Pea Ridge, to drive in the enemy's pickets and outposts, and avoiding an engagement with a superior force, ascertain, if practicable, his position, and then fall back upon our camp. Rapidly moving forward in execution of this order, he had approached within a short distance of the enemy's picket, when, in pursuance of instructions from Maj.-Gen. Grant, I ordered him to halt and return his column to camp. On the 29th, however, a general advance was made in the direction of Pea Ridge and Farmington. The First Division, being in advance, was halted about 4 miles from Monterey, in view of some of the enemy's tents on Pea Ridge. The enemy's pickets fled before our advance, leaving us in possession of the ground they had occupied.
Near and in the rear of this point, known as Mickey's White House, we took the position behind a branch of Lick Creek which had been assigned to us, and pitched our tents. While here I caused a new road for some 3 miles and several double-track bridges, in the direction of Pittsburg Landing, to be made, and repaired the road still beyond to that place. At the same time and place I received your order assigning me to the command of the Third Division of the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Maj.-Gen. L. Wallace, and the Fifth Division of the Army of the Ohio, command by Brig.-Gen. Crittenden, with the cavalry and artillery attached, including the siege trains, in addition to my own division--together constituting the Army Corps of the Reserve. I immediately assumed command of the corps, but before the Fifth Division had joined me, it, with one of the siege trains, was reassigned to Maj.-Gen. Buell.
On the 4th of May the reserves were moved forward by me, the Third Division from their position near the Pittsburg and Purdy Bridge across Owl Creek to Mickey's White House, and the First Division, under command of Brig.-Gen. Judah, to the vicinity of Monterey. Encountering a heavy rain-storm on the march the road became very bad, and Lick Creek so swollen as to be impassable without being rebridged [sic]. This I caused to be done, under the direction of Lieut. H. C. Freeman, engineer of the corps. Nor should I omit to state that during this march I received an order to send back a detachment of cavalry, under instructions, to proceed to the most convenient bridge across Owl Creek, and thence to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, at or near Bethel, for the purpose of destroying it. In conveying this order amid the storm and the press of troops and trains, Capt. Norton, my acting assistant adjutant-general, coming in contact with a miry, floundering horse, met with the misfortune of having one of his legs broken; pressing on, however, he delivered the order.
Lieut. Col. William McCullough, with the small available force at hand, consisting of only 250 Illinois mounted men, started about nightfall, and marching through rain and mire all night 17 miles came to the road, and dismounting his men under the enemy's fire, destroyed three bridges, a portion of the road track and of the telegraph wire, throwing the latter into Cypress Creek. Having accomplished this daring feat, he turned his small force against the enemy's cavalry, and boldly attacking them drove them back in confusion upon and through Purdy, killing a number of them and losing 1 man and several horses. This achievement prevented the enemy from turning our flank at Pea Ridge and while advancing upon Corinth. All credit is due to the officers and men accomplishing it.
Encamping the Third Division at Mickey's White House and the First Division south of Lick Creek and within a mile of Monterey, they remained here until the 11th. Meantime heavy rains had fallen, sweeping away the bridge upon the main road across Lick Creek and overflowing the banks of the stream. For the purpose of preserving and facilitating our communications with the base at Pittsburg Landing, I ordered a detail of 2,000 men, who, under the direction of Lieut. Freeman, of my staff, and Lieut. Tresilian, engineer of the First Division, renewed the old bridge, constructed a new one, corduroyed [sic] the valley of the stream, and repaired the road for the space of some 5 miles back. At this camp Col. M. K. Lawler, Eighteenth Illinois, who had been in command of the First Brigade during the illness of Brig. Gen. John A. Logan, was relieved by that officer. Brig. Gen. L. F. Ross was in command of the Second Brigade, and Col. J. E. Smith, Forty-fifth Illinois, in the absence of Col. Marsh, Twentieth Illinois, on sick leave, was in command of the Third Brigade. Col. Smith was here relieved of the command of the Third Brigade by Col. Lawler, his senior in rank. Being visited by His Excellency Richard Yates, Governor of the State of Illinois, at this place, the First Division was drawn out and passed in review before him, receiving the honor of his congratulations for their patriotic devotion, the luster they had shed upon Illinois, and their soldierly appearance and expertness. At this camp Gen. Logan resumed command of the First Brigade.
On the 11th the same division attack their tents and moved forward about two miles and a half in the direction of Corinth, to the crossing of the old State line with the Purdy and Farmington road, encamping here near Fielder's house. A reconnaissance in the direction of Corinth was immediately made by Companies C and D, Fourth Illinois Cavalry [and]...came in contact with the enemy's picket near Easel's house, on the Hack road, leading from Purdy to Corinth, and drove back their accumulating numbers some distance....To strengthen and secure so important a position rifle pits were dug and earthworks thrown up as a cover both for our infantry and artillery....
Hearing that the enemy were using the Mobile and Ohio Railroad as a means of so disposing his forces as to enable him to turn our right flank, attack us in the rear, and cut off our communication with the base at Pittsburg, I ordered Gen. Wallace to advance one of the brigades of his division to an intermediate point on the line between his camp and the cross-roads. Col. Woods (Seventy-sixth Ohio), commanding the Third Brigade of the Third Division, accordingly moved forward with his brigade, and took and strongly fortified a commanding position....Upon reaching the road he instantly encountered a detachment of the enemy's forces which had been placed there to guard it, and rapidly driving them back, tore up the road for some distance, spoiling the rails by placing them on ties and other timbers, which were fired, and thus destroyed....
On the 21st Gen. Logan's brigade, leaving the cross-roads, moved forward and took a fortified position within 3 miles of the enemy's defenses around Corinth, near Easel's house. At this date the two divisions comprising the reserves were disposed in different detachments from the point named on the extreme right of our general line of advance northward some 18 miles on the east of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Owl Creek quite [sic] to Pittsburg Landing. This disposition stamped them with the double character of an advance force and a reserve, and subjected them to reserve, unceasing, and most dangerous duty. It was expected of them to prevent the enemy from turning our right flank and interrupting our communications with the source of our supplies at Pittsburg Landing. This they did.
A farther advance upon Corinth having been determined upon on the 28th Gen. Logan's and Gen. Ross' brigades were moved to the front and right of our general line of advance, under command of Gen. Judah...they first directed their march to the Bowie Cut on the railroad. Finding the enemy's picket here, between whom and our own such an agreement existed, we notified them to retire, which...they did, yielding us possession of the ground they had occupied and the control of the road track within 2 miles of the enemy's defenses...
....Skirmishers were thrown out about 300 yards in front of the brigade and were met by skirmishers of the enemy. Sharp firing soon ensued, and another company from the Eighth Illinois, under command of Capt. Wilson, was thrown forward to support their comrades already engaged. A spirited combat ensued.....in which several of our men were wounded....Our farther advance being restrained, we were left in the dark as to the loss sustained by the enemy, which, however, is believed to have been considerable, Afterward and near night the enemy's skirmishers, being increased, retaliated by making an attack upon our skirmishers, confident of success by reason of the superiority of his numbers. To his disappointment, however...the Eighth Illinois, boldly advanced their companies, and after two rounds of musketry drove him back discomfited. In this second skirmish 1 of our men was wounded, 7 of the enemy killed, and still more wounded who were carried from the field. Night followed, during which the brigade laid upon its arms, in the face of the enemy, prepared to meet any emergency.
The conspicuous and pregnant fact that the enemy had allowed us to approach within artillery range of his defense at this point without offering any formidable resistance reasonably induced the belief that he had evacuated or was evacuating his camp at Corinth....
On the evening of the 29th...the enemy's guard renewed their attack upon his picket line....a very severe skirmish ensued....According to information subsequently obtained, the enemy lost 40 men killed and wounded in this combat, which the lateness of the evening and the nearness of his position to his works enabled him to carry off.
Having been relieved by other of Gen. Sherman's troops, which had come up, the brigade returned to their camp the same night. This was the last engagement which took place before the enemy evacuated Corinth and we occupied that place.
* * * *
On the 30th our forces entered the evacuated camp of the enemy at Corinth, thereby adding to the series of successes which have crowned the arms of the West.
Yours, respectfully,
JOHN A. McCLERNAND, Maj.-Gen., Cmdg.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 10, pt. I, pp. 753-758.
1863
24, Engagement at Green Bottom Bar, Tennessee River (U. S. N.)
Report of William Griswold, acting Master, commanding U. S. Gunboat Emma Duncan, on engagement at Green Bottom Bar, Tennessee River, April 24, 1863.
Fort Heiman, April 24, 1863
Sir: I have the honor to state that while on my way to report to Lieutenant-Commander LeRoy Fitch, senior officer, Tennessee River Squadron, I was attacked at a place called Green Bottom Bar, on the east bank of the river, early this morning (2 o'clock), by a strong party of guerrillas with four pieces of light artillery. This place is one of the worst in the river navigation, so the pilots describe it. I have given orders to my executive officer to go to general quarters for the purpose of exercise at 2 o'clock a. m., as the crew had never been drilled. Had not been at quarters more than five minutes when the enemy opened fire. One shot (shrapnel) came in forward through the iron sheathing, struck the reinforce [sic] band of No. 1, first division, and exploded, mangling the right arm of 2 men and left of another to such an extent that immediate amputation was decided upon by the surgeon, which was successfully performed. When close abreast the enemy, I ordered the pilot to stop the ship, as I wished to engage the broadside on, but he reported the channel too narrow to work the vessel in that position. I accordingly went ahead, using my broadside guns as long as they could be brought to bear. Having reached a good position, I brought my stern guns into action, and, I think, though it was very dark, with nothing but the flash of the guns to reveal their position, they did good service, as in a short time the enemy used but one gun and soon ceased firing entirely. My attention was then called to the fact that the enemy were making signals-burning a red and blue light-which were answered on the western bank in a bad place (the pilot said). I immediately ordered the pilot to go ahead under full steam and shelled the woods on both sides in those places that were suspicious, but elicited no response, though lights were seen moving about in one place a number of camp fires. On inspection, it was found that the enemy had hulled [sic] us seven times. One shell came in aft and burst over the heads of the second division, tearing away the hammock carline and the cabin floor, but did not injure materially a man; others came through the wheelhouse, causing but little damage, however. The cabin and wardroom suffered badly in their light work.
As the enemy could not be found, I proceeded up the river and, pursuant to order, reported to Lieutenant-Commander LeRoy Fitch, commanding gunboat Lexington. As he was coming down to this place, I was ordered to follow him. On passing Green Bottom Bar nothing was to be seen of the enemy.
My pilots say it was without doubt Forrest's light artillery. They are evidently well drilled and their sharpshooters skillful.
I also beg leave to state that the conduct of my officers and men was highly honorable....
I have the honor to remain, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
William Griswold, Acting Master, Commanding
Navy OR, Ser. I, Vol. 24, pp. 86-87.[9]
24, Federal foraging and reconnoitering expedition in College Hill, Bethesda, Spring Hill environs
HDQRS. THIRD DIVISION, FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS.
Triune, April 24, 1863.
Lieut. Col. GEORGE E. FLYNT, Chief of Staff, 14th Army Corps, Murfreesborough, Tenn.:
COL.: I have the honor to report, for the information of the major-general commanding, the results of a reconnoitering and foraging expedition, from which I returned this evening.
I went forward this morning with a brigade of infantry, one battery, and some cavalry as far as College Grove and thence with the main force westward and southeastward about 3 miles. A regiment of infantry was left at College Grove, and a force of cavalry sent down the pike as far as Jordan's from which place it drove the enemy's pickets and scouted the surrounding country, remaining in that vicinity until about 3 p. m. A small body of cavalry was also sent from the main force toward Bethesda. No enemy was met in this direction. About 500 rebel cavalry had passed through the day before, taking off all the horses, they could find. A Union man was found near Bethesda, who had just returned from Spring Hill. He stated that all the sick and convalescents had been sent from that place to the rear, and that Van Dorn and Wheeler were certainly preparing for some important move. It was reported in camp that they had been ordered to some place in Alabama, but it seemed to be believed by the soldiers and by my informer that they were about to advance. The soldiers were sure of a "big fight", very soon. In the afternoon I went as far down on the Chapel Hill pike as the position held by my cavalry, and returned to camp with the command at sunset this evening. We obtained 130 wagon-loads of good forage.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. M. SCHOFIELD, Brig.-Gen.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 272.
24, Change in decorations for valor in the Army of the Cumberland
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 90. HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE CUMBERLAND, Murfreesborough, Tenn., April 24, 1863
The general commanding, finding that the War Department objects to the organization of the light battalions from the rolls of honor, as contemplated by Paragraph II, General Orders, No. 19, current Series, from these headquarters, directs:
That those whose names appear on the rolls of honor remain on duty with their respective commands, and that they be distinguished, when on military duty, by wearing a red ribbon, tied in the button-hole or attached to the coat over the left breast.
The issue of first-class arms, provided for in General Orders, No. 19, will be made as soon as practicable.
By command of Maj.-Gen. Rosecrans:
C. GODDARD, Assistant Adjutant-Gen.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 272.
24, Provost Orders – No. 16
PROVOST MARSHAL'S OFFICE
NASHVILLE, TENN., April 24, 1863.
I. All citizens or unauthorized persons not commissioned or enlisted in the Army of the United States are prohibited from wearing the uniform, or any part thereof, of the Army. Any person violating this order will be summarily stripped of the same, and any repetition of the offence will subject the offender to arrest and punishment.
II. Officers and soldiers are prohibited from wearing badges of a rank or corps to which they do not belong. They must restrict themselves to the uniform and badges belonging to their rank or corps, under penalty of arrest.
JNO. A. MARTIN, Colonel and Provost Marshal
Nashville Daily Press, May 9, 1863.
1864
24, Scouts in Bull's Gap environs
No circumstantial reports filed.
BULL'S GAP, April 24, 1864.
Maj.-Gen. SCHOFIELD, Knoxville:
Manson got off promptly at daybreak this morning. The cavalry are ordered to make 30 miles a day, and the infantry 20. All have five days' rations and forage. The instructions for their guidance in different contingencies I made out fully as you directed. The news brought in by scouts makes me confident of success for the expedition, there being no rebel force sufficient to meet them this side of Holston.
J. D. COX, Brig.-Gen., Cmdg.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, p. 476.
24, Federal situation report relative to status of construction of block-house defenses on the N&CRR from Bell Buckle to Poor Man's Creek
HDQRS. SECOND Brig., FIRST DIV., 20TH ARMY CORPS, Tullahoma, Tenn., April 24, 1864.
Capt. S. E. PITTMAN, Asst. Adjt. Gen., First Div., Twentieth Army Corps:
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of condition of defenses on line of Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad from Bell Buckle bridge to Poor Man's Creek Bridge, inclusive, so far as any changes have been made since last report:
Bell Buckle bridge (1 mile south of Bell Buckle): One small redoubt completed and one block-house nearly completed. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Wartrace bridge (1 mile north of Wartrace): One small fort and one stockade completed and one block-house nearly completed. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Wartrace: No change since last report. Number of day's rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Garrison's Fork bridge (1 mile south of Wartrace): No change since last report. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Duck River bridge: No change since last report. Number of days' rations on hand, 10; number of days' wood and water, 10.
Normandy: Since last report the men at this post have been engaged in banking up and covering the block-house recently constructed by the Michigan Engineers. It will require about five days to complete it. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Tullahoma: No change since last report. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Poor Man's Creek bridge (1 mile south of Tullahoma): A block-house is being erected at this post. Number of days' rations on hand, 7; number of days' wood and water, 7.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
THOS. H. RUGER, Brig.-Gen., Cmdg.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. III, p. 471.
24,"… a terible [sic] day of excitement…." Belle Edmondson's observations at the plight of refugees banished beyond Federal lines
April, Sunday 24, 1864
This has been a terible [sic] day of excitement, two wagons from Memphis came out and camped in front of our gate all day, the Yanks did not bother them this morning only to take some Whiskey-two Confederate Soldiers were sitting in the Parlor all the time they were here, they did not see them coming in time to run, but fortunately they did not come in the Parlor. Mr. Falls and Miss McKinney, Sister of one of the Soldiers, came out to see them, the other Soldier was Mr. Hutchinson. I sent a package of Papers and letters to Mobile by Mr. McKinney, they had not more than rode out of sight when five Yanks came up all drunk, they robbed those people with the wagons of all their money, drank up all the whiskey and treated them shamefully, they had not been gone long before three Confederates, John & William Hildebrand and Ben Henderson came riding up, we told them about it, they rode off full speed, in a little while we heard firing, continued about five minutes, then all quiet. Father and Uncle Elam went down to Dave Hildebrand's after tea, our boys just left all right,-they met the Yanks returning, only four, and they frightened to death almost-no particulars. I am very much afraid, Laura, the Goslins, Tip and I all alone.
Diary of Belle Edmondson
1865
24, Newspaper story on the capture of guerrillas chief "club-foot Captain" Clinton Fort in Memphis
~ ~ ~
For several days past our city has contained several military celebrities, among these, though the most unpretending and unassuming, has been Capt. Clint Fort.….The Captain, though deformed and walking with difficulty-being better known by the sobriquet of the "club-foot Captain"- [emphasis added] has been an active participant in the war from its very incipiency. A native of Tennessee but a Texan by adoption…he quickly volunteered his services, was elected Lieutenant of a company, but the regulars surrendering again, the company was disbanded.
~ ~ ~
….After the battle of Shiloh he was captured by the enemy while upon a scout, carried up the Mississippi river, when watching his opportunity he jumped overboard at Cape Girardeau, swam near two miles, making his escape and walking all the way….
He soon went to scouring again with a squad of detailed men, and has been so engaged in the vicinity of Memphis for over two years, having within the last six months, raised a company of his own of some 40 composed of boys and men who had never been in the service. He has mounted and equiped his company, and even nearly subsisted them from captures made of the enemy, only crawling ammunition from our Government. During the last six months he has captured and delivered over, as prisoners, 90 Yankees, (cavalry) beside what he has killed and badly wounded in battle, secured their horses and equipments, and only lost two men himself during the whole time.
~ ~ ~
Captain Fort is emphatically the…greatest terror to the Yankees at Memphis who never come out to meet him but what they are worsted. [emphasis added]
His presence here is for the purpose of securing the release of twenty of his men who have been arrested because his company was an independent company. The captain claims that he has reported regularly to every [Confederate] General commanding his District, that he has been acting under orders all the time, and that he was on his way to report his company and have it attached to some regiment when his men were arrested.
~ ~ ~
Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph, March 24, 1865.
[1] See also: Frank Leslie's Illustrated News, "War News From the South," May 18, 1861, p. 6
[2] Emerson Etheridge, U. S. Congressman from West Tennessee and a Unionist.
[3] Sanctified Trial:The Diary of Eliza Rhea Anderson Fain, a Confederate Woman in East Tennessee, ed. John N. Fain, Voices of the Civil War, Peter S. Carmichael, Series Editor, (The University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville). Hereinafter cited as Fain Diary.
[4] As cited in: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts.
[5] As cited in: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts.
[6] As cited in: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts.
[7] Location unknown. Perhaps Tennessee, perhaps Kentucky. It may be that it was inundated by a Corps of Engineers' project. The Upper Cumberland region runs through Tennessee and Kentucky.
[8] As cited in PQCW.
[9] See also: Navy OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, p. 317.
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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