1864
14, Skirmish at Dandridge
No circumstantial reports filed.
14, Skirmish at Middleton
No circumstantial reports filed.
14, Scout from Collierville
JANUARY 14, 1864.-Scout from Collierville, Tenn.
Report of Col. Albert G. Brackett, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, commanding brigade.
COLLIERVILLE, TENN., January 14, 1864.
Dispatch received. I sent out a scout to-day under Maj. Bishop. He has returned. Went as far as Dudy's Mill on the Coldwater. On his return went within 2 miles of Quinn's Mill. No enemy there since the 50 or 60 were in this section yesterday. They returned south of the Coldwater last evening. No indication of an enemy. Maj. Gifford killed 1 and wounded 7 of those [who] fired upon the train yesterday.
A. G. BRACKETT, Col., Cmdg. Brigade.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. I, p. 77.
14, Skirmish at Schultz's Mill on Cosby Creek[1]
Report of Col. John B. Palmer, Fifth-eighth North Carolina Infantry [CS], commanding Western District of North Carolina.
HDQRS. WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA, Asheville, January 19, 1864.
COL.: I regret to state that positive information has just been received that Brig. Gen. R. B. Vance, lately commanding this district, is a prisoner in the hands of the enemy. He was captured at Schultz' Mill, on Cosby Creek, in Cocke County, Tenn., on Thursday afternoon last.
Gen. Vance crossed Smoky Mountain from Jackson County, in this state, to East Tennessee on Tuesday, the 12th instant, with one section of artillery, 375 cavalry, and 100 infantry. Leaving Col. W. H. Thomas and Lieut. Col. J. L. Henry with the balance of the force at Gatlinburg, 4 miles below the Smoky Mountain, Gen. Vance proceeded with 180 cavalry to Sevierville, where he, on Wednesday at 3 p. m., captured a train of seventeen wagons, with which he started for Newport, Tenn., via Schultz' Mill.
At this latter place he, on Thursday, about 2 p. m., stopped and remained about one and a half hours. Here he was surprised by a force of the enemy's cavalry, estimated at about 400, coming from their camp 6 miles below Sevierville, and himself, 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, and 37 privates, together with about 100 horses, 1 ambulance, &c., captured. The captured wagons and teams were also retaken by the enemy. There being no rear guard or pickets out, the enemy were enabled to approach within 100 yards before they were discovered. The surprise was complete.
Col. W. H. Thomas, commanding the party left at Gatlinburg, had been ordered to fall back with his infantry and to send Lieut.-Col. Henry with his cavalry and artillery to Schultz' Mill, where they were directed to take up a position and await the arrival of Gen. Vance. Lieut.-Col. Henry, commanding the cavalry and artillery, replied that he thought it best to fall back with Col. Thomas, and failed to move as directed. (See statement marked B, by Lieut. Davidson, Gen. Vance's acting assistant adjutant-general.) Lieut.-Col. Henry, however, proceeded to Schultz' Mill on Friday, and the enemy having retired passed safely on to Newport, and is now on his way up French Broad.
It is believed that if Lieut.-Col. Henry had obeyed the order sent him or even without his force if precautions had been taken to prevent surprise, this calamity could have been avoided and the train saved, as the country immediately above Schultz' Mill is admirably adapted to defense.
I shall feel it incumbent upon me to place Lieut.-Col. Henry under arrest for disobedience of orders, to await the decision of the general commanding as to whether he shall be tried by the general court-martial now in session at this place.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. B. PALMER, Col., Cmdg. District.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. I, p. 76.
14, Marriage on the Border Line
From the Memphis Bulletin, Marrying Under Difficulties.
Not long since a Confederate soldier returned from the war to his home near the State line dividing Kentucky and Tennessee. The first business he attended to was that of marrying the girl he had left behind when he first started out to seek the bubble reputation at the cannon's mouth. A large party were gotten up by the bride's family, and a man who was conceded to be a justice of the peace, because he had held the office for twenty years before the cruel war had commenced, performed the ceremony that united two loving hearts that had but a single thought. After these rites had been observed, there was a feast of hog and hominy, roast turkey, pumpkin pies, &c., and several gallons of forty rod whiskey to be dispensed. In the course of human events the newly wedded pair were put to bed, according to the custom still in vogue among the rural population.
They had scarcely began to realize the "situation" before there was a great rattling at their chamber door, and an imperative demand for them to arise. Some prying people had just discovered that the magistrate was not a regularly elected officer, and was not a justice at all. Alarm took them all, and another justice was sent for who lived some miles distant. Before midnight the knot was tied again, and the anxious couple were suffered to retire for the second time.
The first contretemps was discussed freely by those who had not gone home, and the various contingencies of the matter investigated thoroughly. All at once it was found out that the last justice lived in Kaintuck, while the ceremony had been performed just over the line in Tennessee. There was a hurried rush up stairs, and another arousing of the bride and groom. They came down stairs somewhat dissatisfied with the turn matters had taken, and then the whole party went down the road three-quarters of a mile till they got into the State where the squire lived, and there the wedding rites were performed for the third time. The bride's mother, not satisfied with all this comedy of errors, had, some time before, despatched a swift messenger for a stated preacher, and when they got back to the paternal mansion, to make all things safe, the knot was tied for the fourth time by a man of God. By this time the first glimpse of daylight was streaking the eastern sky.
Wearied out by the experiences and anxieties of the night, they were at last suffered to retire in peace.—Half an hour had not elapsed before there was another confusion in the House. A thundering knock at the chamber door of the young couple made the groom thoroughly mad. He told whoever it was that it was "too late," and swore he would not get up again for all the mistakes in the world. He would whip the first man that disturbed him again, he didn't care who it was. A gruff demand to open the door if he did not wish to have it beaten down, and the rattle of a musket, decided him once more to submit to the imposition.
On opening the portal, he was confronted by a Federal soldier, and the words, "you are my prisoner, come along with me."
Vainly did he plead to have the privilege of giving bail for his appearance, and all his offers of bribes were as useless as the idle wind. The officer charged with his arrest was inexorable, and now the chap is spending his share of the honeymoon at Columbia, in the guardhouse, while the disconsolate maid, his bride, weeps for him at home.
Richmond [VA] Whig, January 14, 1864. [2]
[1] The OR lists these events this way: "13-14, Affair at Sevierville (13th) and skirmish at Shultz's Mill, Cosby Creek, Tenn. (14th.)" See: OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. I, p. 1.
[2] As cited in: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts
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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