1861
18, A British war correspondent's experiences at Forts Randolph and Pillow [see also August 2, 1861 A British war correspondent's observations of Confederate River defenses at Memphis and Fort Wright at Randolph below]
On looking out of my cabin window this morning I found the steamer fast along-side a small wharf, above which rose, to the height of 150 feet, at an angle of forty-five degrees, the rugged bluff already mentioned. The wharf was covered with commissariat stores and ammunition. Three heavy guns, which some men were endeavoring to sling to rude bullock-carts, in a matter defiant of all the laws of gravitation, seemed likely to go slap into the water at every movement; but of the many great strapping fellows who were lounging about, not one gave a hand to the working party. A dusty track wound up the hill to the brow, and there disappeared; and at the height of fifty feet or so above the level of the river two earthworks had been rudely erected in an ineffective position. The volunteers who were lounging about the edge of the stream were dressed in different ways, and had no uniform.
Already the heat of the sun compelled me to seek the shade; and a number of the soldiers, laboring under the same infatuation as that which induces little boys to disport themselves in the Tames at Waterloo Bridge, under the notion that they are washing themselves, were swimming about in a backwater of the great river, regardless of cat-fish, mud, and fever.
General Pillow proceeded on shore after breakfast, and we mounted the coarse cart-horse chargers which were in waiting at the jetty to receive us. It is…worthehile to transcribe….a description of the works….a more extraordinary maze could not be conceived, even in the dreams of a sick engineer – a number of mad beavers might possibly construct such dams. They were so ingeniously made as to prevent the troops engaged in their defence from resisting the enemy's attacks, or getting away from them when the assailants had got inside – most difficult and troublesome to defend, and still more difficult for the defenders to leave, the latter perhaps being their chief merit.
The General ordered some practice to be made with round shot down the river. An old forty-two pound carronade was loaded with some difficulty, and pointed at a tree about 1700 yards – which I was told, however, was not less than 2500 yards – distant. The General and his staff took their posts on the parapet to leeward, and I ventured to say, "I think General, the smoke will prevent your seeing the shot." To which the General replied, "No, sir," in a tone which indicated, "I beg you to understand I have been wounded in Mexico, and know all about this kind of thing." "Fire!" The string was pulled, and out of the touch-hole popped a piece of metal with a little chirrup. "Darn these friction tubes! I prefer the linstock and match," quoth one of the staff, soto voce, "but General Pillow will have use friction tubes made at Memphis, that arr'n't [sic] worth a cuss." Tube No. 2, however, did explode, but where the ball went no one could say, as the smoke drifted right into our eyes.
The General then moved to the other side of the gun, which was fired a third time, the shot falling short in good line, but without any ricochet. Gun No. 3 was next fired. Off went the ball down the river, but off went the gun, too, and with a frantic leap it jumped, carriage and all, clean off the platform. Nor was it at all wonderful, for the poor old-fashioned chamber carronade had been loaded with a charge and a solid shot heavy enough to make it burst with indignation. Most of us felt relieved when the firing was over, and, for my own part, I would much rather have been close to the target than to the battery.
Slowly winding for some distance up the steep road in a blazing sun, we proceeded through the tents which are scattered in small groups, for health's sake, fifteen and twenty together, on the wooded plateau above the river. The tents are of the small ridge-pole pattern, six men to each, many of whom, from their exposure to the sun, whilst working in these trenches, and from the badness of the water, had already been laid up with illness. As a proof of General Pillow's energy, it is only fair to say he is construction, on the very summit of the plateau, large cisterns, which will be filled with water from the river by steam power.
The volunteers were mostly engaged at drill in distinct companies, but by order of the General some 700 or 800 of them were formed into line for inspection. Many of these men were in their shirt sleeves, and the awkwardness with which the handled their arms showed that, however good they might be as shots, they were bad hands at manual platoon exercise; but such great strapping fellow, that, as I walked down the ranks there were few whose shoulders were not above the level of my head, excepting here and there a weedy old man or a growing lad. They were armed with old pattern percussion muskets, not two clad alike, many very badly shot, few with knapsacks, but all provided with a tine water-flask and a blanket. These men have been only five weeks enrolled and were called out by the State of Tennessee, in anticipation of the vote of secession.
I could get no exact details as to the supply of food, but from the Quartermaster-General I heard that each man had from ¾ lb. to 1¼ lb. of meat, and a sufficiency of bread, sugar, coffee, and rice daily; however, these military Olivers "asked for more." Neither whiskey nor tobacco was served out to them, which to such heavy consumers of both, must prove one source of dissatisfaction. The officers were plain, formerly planters, merchants, lawyers, and the like – energetic, determined men, but utterly ignorant of the most rudimentary parts of military science. It is this want of knowledge on the part of the officer which renders it so difficult to arrive at a tolerable condition of discipline among volunteers, as the privates are quite well aware they know as much of soldiering as the great majority of their officers.
Having gone down the lines of these motley companies, the General addressed them in a harangue in which he expatiated on their patriotism, on their courage, and the atrocity of the enemy, in an odd farrago of military and political subjects. But the only matter which appeared to interest them much was the announcement that they would be released from work in another day or so, and that negroes [sic] would be went to perform all that was required. This announcement was received with the words, "Bully for us!" and "That's good." And when General Pillow wound up a florid peroration by assuring them, "When the hour of danger comes I will be with you," the effect was by no means equal to his expectations. The men did not seem to care much whether General Pillow was with them or not at that eventful moment; and, indeed, all dusty as we was in his plain clothes he did not look very imposing, or give one an idea that he would contribute much to the means of resistance. However, one of the officers called out, "Boys, three cheers for General Pillow."
What they may do in the North I know not, but certainly the Southern soldiers cannot cheer, and what passes muster for that jubilant sound is a shrill ringing scream with a touch of the Indian war-whoop in it. As these cries ended, a stentorian voice shouted out, "Who cares for General Pillow?" No one answered whence I inferred the General would not be very popular until the niggers [sic] were actually at work in the trenches.
We returned to the steamer, headed up stream, and proceeded towards for more than an hour, to another landing, protected by a battery, where we disembarked, the General being received by a guard dressed in uniform, who turned out with some appearance of soldierly smartness. On my remarking the difference to the General, he told me the corps encamped at this point was composed of gentleman planter, and farmers. They had all clad themselves, and consisted of some of the best families in the State of Tennessee.
As we walked down the gangway to the shore [and Fort Pillow], the band on the upper deck struck up, out of compliment to the English element in the party, the unaccustomed strains of "God save the Queen!" and I am not quite sure that the loyalty which induced me to stand in the sun, with uncovered head, till the musicians were good enough to desist, was appreciated. Certainly a gentleman, who asked me why I did so, looked very incredulous, and said "That he could understand it if had been in a church; but that he would broil his skull in the sun, not if General Washington was standing just before him." The General gave orders to exercise the battery at this point, and a working party was told off to firing drill. 'Twas fully six minutes between the giving of orders and the first gun being ready.
On the word "fire" being given, the gunner pulled the lanyard, but the tube did not explode; a second tube was inserted, but a strong jerk pulled it out without exploding; a third time one of the General's fuses was applied, which gave way to the pull, and was broken in two; a fourth time was more successful – the gun exploded, and the shot fell short and under the mark – in fact, nothing could be worse than the artillery practice which I saw here, and a fleet of vessels coming down the river might, in the present state of the garrisons, escape unhurt.
There are no disparts[1], tangents, or elevating screws to the gun, which are laid by eye and wooden chocks. I could see no shells in the battery, but was told there were some in the magazine.
Altogether, though Randolph's Point and Fort Pillow afford strong positions, in the present state of the service, and equipments of guns and works, gunboats could run past them without serious loss, and, as the river fall, the fire of the batteries will be even less effective.
On returning to the boats the band struck up "The Marseillaise" and "Dixie's Land." There are two explanations for the word Dixie – one is that is the general term for the Slave State [sic], which are, of course, south of the Mason and Dixon's line; another, that a planter named Dixie, died long ago, to the intense grief of his animated property. Whether they were ill-treated after he did, and thus had reason to regret his loss, or that they had merely a longing in the abstract after Heaven, no fact known to me can determine; but certain it is that they long much after Dixie, in the land to which his spirit was supposed by them to have departed, and console themselves in their sorrow by clamorous wishes to follow their master….The song is the work of the negro melodists of New York.
In the afternoon we returned to Memphis. Here I was obliged to cut short my Southern tour….
* * * *
The saloon in which I was sitting afforded abundant evidence of the vigor with which the South are entering upon the contest. Men of every variety and condition of life had taken up arms against the cursed Yankee and the Black Republican – there was not a man there who would not have given his life for the rare pleasure of striking Mr. Lincoln head off his shoulders, and yet to a cold European the scene was almost ludicrous.
Along the covered deck lay tall Tennesseans, asleep, whose plumed felt hats were generally the only indications of their martial calling, for few indeed had any other signs of uniform, except the rare volunteers, who wore stripes of red and yellow cloth on their trousers, or leaden buttons, and discolored worsted braid and facings on their jackets. The afterpart of the saloon deck was appropriated to General Pillow, his staff, and officers. The approach to it was guarded by a sentry, a tall, good-looking young fellow in a gray flannel shirt, gray trousers, fastened with a belt and a brass buckle, inscribed U. S., which came from some plundered Federal arsenal, and a black wide-awake hat,[2] decorated with a green plume. His Enfield rifle lay beside him on the deck, and, with great interest expressed on his face, he leant [sic] forward in his rocking-chair to watch the varying features of a party squatted on the floor, who were employed in the national game called "Euchre."[3] As he raised his eyes to examine the condition of the cigar he was smoking, he caught sight of me, and by the simple expedient of holding his leg across my chest, and calling out, "Hallo! Where are you going to?" brought me to a standstill – whilst his captain who was one of the happy euchreists [sic], exclaimed, "Now, Sam, you let nobody go in there."
I was obliged to explain who I was, whereupon the sentry started to his feet, and said, "Oh! indeed, you are Russell that's been in that war with the Rooshians. Well, I'm very much pleased to know you. I shall be off sentry in a few minutes; I'll just ask you to tell me something about that fighting." He held out his hand, and shook mine warmly as he spoke. There was not the smallest intention to offence in his manner; but, sitting down again, he nodded to the captain, and said, "It's all right; it's Pillow's friend – that's Russell of the London 'Times.'" The game of euchre continued - and indeed it had been perhaps all night – for my last recollection on looking out of my cabin was of a number of people playing cards on the floor and on the tables all down the saloon, and of shouts of "Eu-kerr!" "Ten dollars, you don't" "I'll lay twenty on this!" and so on and with breakfast the sport seemed to be fully revived.
There would have been much more animation in the game, no doubt, had the bar on board the Ingomar been opened; but the intelligent gentleman who presided inside had been restricted by General Pillow in his avocations; and when numerous thirst souls from the camps came on board, with dry tongues and husky voices, and asked for "mint-juleps," "brandy smashes," or "whiskey cocktails," he seemed to take a saturnine pleasure by saying, "The General won't allow no spirit on board, but I can give you a nice drink of Pillow's own iced Mississippi water," an announcement which generally caused infinite disgust and some unhandsome wishes respecting the General's future happiness.
By and by, a number of sick men were brought down on litters, and placed here and there along the deck. As there was a considerable misunderstanding between the civilian and military doctors, it appeared to be understood that the best way of arranging it was not to attend the [sic] at all, and unfortunate men suffering from fever and dysentery were left to roll and groan, and lie on their stretchers, without a soul to help them. I had a medicine chest on board, and I ventured to use the lessons of my experience in such matters, administered my quinine, James's Powder, calomel, and opium, secundum meam aratem, [sic], and nothing could be more grateful than the poor fellow where for the smallest mark of attention. "Strange, remember, if I die," gasped one great fellow, "That I am Robert Tallon, of Tishimingo county, and that I died for States' rights. See, now, they put that in the papers, won't you" Robert Tallon died for States' rights," and so he turned around on his blanket.
Presently the General came on board, and the Ingomar proceeded on her way back to Memphis. General Clarke, to whom I mentioned the great neglect from which the soldier were suffering, told me he was afraid the men had no medical attendance in camp. All the doctors, in fact, wanted to fight, and as they were educated men, and generally connected with respectable families, or had political influence in the State, they aspired to be colonels at the very least, and to wield the sword instead of the scalpel.
Next to the medical department, the commissariat and transport were most deficient; but by constant courts-martial, stoppages of pay, and severe sentences, he hoped these evils would be eventually somewhat mitigated. As one who had received a regular military education, General Clarke was probably shocked by volunteer irregularities; and in such matters as guard-mounting, reliefs, patrols, and picket duties, he declared they were enough to break one's heart; but I was astonished to hear from him that the Germans were by far the worst of the five thousand troops under his command, of whom they formed more than a fifth.
Whilst we were conversation the captain of the steamer invited us to come up into his cabin on the upper deck; and as railway conductors, steamboat captains, bar-keepers, hotel clerks, and telegraph officers are among the natural aristocracy of the land, we could not disobey the invitation, which led to the consumption of some of the captain's private stores, and many ward professions of political faith.
The captain told me it was rough work aboard sometimes, with "sports" and chaps of that kind; but "God bless you!" said he, "the river is not what it used to be a few years ago when we'd have three or four difficulties of an afternoon, and maybe now and then a regular free fight all up and down the decks, that would last a couple of hours, so that when we came to a town we would have to send for all the doctors twenty miles around, and maybe some of them would die in spite of that. It was the rowdies used to get these fights up; but we've put them pretty well down. The citizens have hunted them out, and they's gone away west." "Well, then, captain, one's life was not very safe on board sometimes." "Safe! Lord bless you!" said the captain' "if you did not meddle, just as safe as you are now, if the boiler don't collapse. You must, in course, know how to handle your wins [sic] and be pretty spry in taking you own part." "Ho, you Bill!" to his colored servant, "open that clothes-press." "Now, here," he continued, "is how I travel; so that I am always easy in my mind in case of trouble on board." Putting his hand under the pillow of the bed close beside him, he pulled out a formidable looking double-barrelled [sic] pistol at half-cock, with the caps upon it. "That's as purty [sic] a pistol as derringer ever made. I've got the brace of them – here's the other." And with that he whipped out pistol No. 2, in an equal state of forwardness, from a little shelf over his bed; and then going over to the clothes-press, he said, "Here's a real old Kentuck [sic], one of the old sort, as light on the trigger as gossamer and sure as deeth [sic]. Why, law bless me, a child would cut a turkey's head off with it at a hundred yards." This was a huge lump of iron, about five feet long, with a small hole bored down the centre, fitted with a coarse German-fashioned stock. "But," continued he, "this is my main dependence; here is a regular beauty, a first-rate, with ball or buckshot, or whatever you like – made in London. I gave two hundred dollars for it; and it is so short and handy, and straight shooting, I'd just as soon part with my life as to let it go to anybody;" and, with a glow of pride in his face, the captain handed round again a very short double-barrelled [sic] gun, of some eleven or twelve bore, with back-action locks, and an audacious "Joseph Manton, London," stamped on the plate. The manner of the man was perfectly simple and bona fide; very much as if Inspector Podger were revealing to a simpleton the mode by which the London police managed refractory characters in the station house.
* * * *
On our return to the hotel I dined with the General and his staff at the public table, where there was a large assemblage of military men, Southern ladies, their families, and contractors. This latter race has risen up as if by magic, to meet the wants of the new Confederacy; and it is significant to measure the amount of the dependence on Northern manufactures by the advertisements in the Southern journals, indicating the creation of new branches of workmanship, mechanical science, and manufacturing skill.
Hitherto they have been dependent on the North for the very necessaries of their industrial life. These States were so intent on gathering in money for their produce, expending it luxuriously, and paying it out for Northern labor, that they found themselves suddenly in the condition of a child brought up by hand, whose nurse and mother have left it on the steps to the poor-house. But they have certainly essayed to remedy the evil and are endeavoring to make steam-engines, gunpowder, lamps, clothes, booths railway carriages, steel springs, glass, and all the smaller articles for which even Southern households find a necessity.
The peculiar character of this contest develops itself in a manner almost incomprehensible to a stranger who has been accustomed to regard the United States as a nation. Here is General Pillow, for example, in the State of Tennessee, commanding the forces of the State, which, in effect, belongs to the Southern Confederacy; but he tells me that he cannot venture to move across a certain geographical line, dividing Tennessee from Kentucky, because the State of Kentucky, in the exercise of its sovereign powers and rights, which the Southern States are bound specially to respect, in virtue of their championship of States' rights, has, like the United Kingdom…declared it will be neutral in the struggle; and Beriah Magoffin, Governor of the aforesaid State, has warned off Federal and Confederate troops from his territory.
General Pillow is particularly indignant with the cowardice of the well-known Secessionists of Kentucky; but I think he is rather more annoyed by the accumulation of Federal troops at Cairo [Illinois], and their recent expedition to Columbus on the Kentucky shore, a little below them, where they seized a Confederate flag.
Russell, My Diary.
18, On social life at the Confederate camp of instructrion at Union City
Letter from Union City.
Union City, Tenn., June 13, 1861.
Editors Appeal: I again write to you in order to keep you posted, as near as I can, on our movements, etc….We are having quite a gay time of it here. We are visited every day by the ladies of the neighborhood, and also by the ladies from Jackson, Tenn., some sixty miles distant, and those from Columbus and Hickman, Ky., some ten miles distant, and I reckon some of them are as pretty and interesting as the world affords….There is one thing I will tell you that is something entirely new to the whole world. The Mississippians gave a large party in their camps on day before yesterday. They had some three or four hundred ladies in attendance, from twenty-five to thirty miles distant….
Very truly yours, etc.,
H.
Memphis Daily Appeal, June 18, 1861.
18, Increased donations for the Southern Mothers' hospital in Memphis requested
"Southern Mothers."—The sudden influx of business upon the society, thirty soldiers having arrived at the mothers' rooms yesterday, renders it necessary that the managers should be able to command an increase of means for the purpose. Every member is requested to contribute an additional sum, to carry out the objects of the society; and if there are any members whose admittance fee is unpaid, they are earnestly requested to pay it in to the managers, or to the visiting committee, at the rooms. The thanks of the society are warmly tendered to Mr. Flaherty for the donation of a coffin, and for his services in the burial of the soldier interred on Sunday, as also to the directory of Elmwood cemetery for the timely donation of a lot for the purposes of burial.
Mrs. Mary E. Pope, Secretary.
Memphis Daily Appeal, June 18, 1861.
1862
18, Skirmish at Wilson's Gap [see June 15, 1862, Action at Big Creek Gap above]
18, Occupation of Cumberland Gap by Union forces
Excerpt from the Report of Brigadier General George W. Morgan relative to the Federal occupation of Cumberland Gap
* * * *
Well, the Gap is ours, and without the loss of a single life. I have since carefully examined the works, and I believe that the place could have been taken in a ten days' struggle from the front, but to have done so I should have left the bones of two-thirds of my gallant comrades to bleach upon the mountain-side, and, after all, this fastness, all stained with heroic blood, would only have been what it now is, a fortress of the Union, from whose highest peak floats the Stars and Stripes. The result secured by strategy is less brilliant than a victory obtained amid the storm and hurricane of battle, but humanity has gained all that glory has lost, and I am satisfied.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 10, pt. p. 61.
Excerpt from the Report of John F. De Courcy, Col., Cmdg. Twenty-sixth Brigade relative to the occupation of Cumberland Gap, June 18, 1862
* * * *
On the 18th instant I resumed the march, the force under my command being increased by 50 cavalry, Foster's battery of eight 10 pounder rifled guns, the siege battery of two 30-pounders, and two 20-pounders, rifled. The enemy being supposed to have taken up a strong position at Thomas' farm, and my orders being to attack him before Gen. Carter, who was marching on a parallel but longer line than the one I was operating on, could debouch, I moved with the amount of celerity which I deemed would enable me to attain the object in view. I reached the point indicated, but found the enemy had retreated early in the morning. After reposing the troops I moved on slowly, to enable the cavalry advance guard to examine the woods, which were constantly presenting themselves on my flanks, and from under whose cover I had been informed I might at any moment except an attack from the enemy posted in ambush. Finally, after a march of nearly 20 miles, I reached Cumberland Gap, which I found the enemy had evacuated during the previous night, its rear guard having left only three hours before the arrival of my advance guard. Before sunset the flags of the Twenty-sixth Brigade flaunted over the far-famed fortifications, and Foster's battery, firing a salute of thirty-four guns, told in loud tones to the persecuted people of East Tennessee that they were free, for once more the Stars and Stripes were near to protect and encourage them in their loyalty. Thus, by this able and daring strategic move, the chain of victory is now without solution of continuity on the Kentucky line from Columbus to Louisa.
In concluding this report it becomes my most pleasing duty to request you to mention to the general commanding that the many difficulties and fatigues of this march were met, endured, and overcome by the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates under my command with a cheerful spirit and an energy of action which speaks well for their patriotism and soldierlike qualities.
The officers of my personal staff displayed great activity, perseverance, and intelligence in seeing my orders carried out, and it is a matter of satisfaction to me to find this opportunity of making prominent mention of Lieut. Cushman Cunningham, Sixteenth Regt. [sic] Ohio Volunteers, acting assistant adjutant-general; Lieut. George W. Stein, Sixteenth Regt. [sic] Ohio Volunteers, acting aide-de-camp; Lieut. Joseph D. Stubbs, Forty-second Regt. [sic] Ohio Volunteers, acting brigade quartermaster, to whose untiring activity in bringing up subsistence, notwithstanding all difficulties, I feel I owe much of the power which enabled the Twenty-sixth Brigade to keep ahead of the division without at any moment causing hindrance to the brigades in rear. Lieut. Stubbs appears to acquire additional strength with every increase of his labors and additional courage to overcome difficulties as they accumulate before him.
The duties of the cavalry advance guard were well performed, under the direction of Capt. Roper, of Col. Munday's regiment. Capt. Roper possesses in an eminent degree the qualities which from a good light cavalry officer.
Col. Daniel W. Lindsey, Twenty-second Regt. [sic] Kentucky Volunteers; Col. Lionel A. Sheldon, Forty-second Regt. [sic] Ohio Volunteers; and Lieut. Col. George W. Bailey, Sixteenth Regt. [sic] Ohio Volunteers, were at all times full of zeal and ever ready to execute any of my orders. I must regret that the sudden evacuation of the Gap should have deprived these officers of an opportunity which would ever have redounded to their honor.
* * * *
John F. De Courcy, Col., Cmdg. Twenty-sixth Brigade.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 10, pt. pp. 72-74.
Telegram from the Secretary of War.
WASHINGTON, June 22, 1862.
Brigadier-General MORGAN:
This Department has been highly gratified with your successful occupation of Cumberland Gap, and commends the gallant conduct and labors of your officers and troops, to whom you will express the thanks of the President and this Department. Cumberland Gap is regarded as a strategic point of great importance, which, unless you have orders from your commanding officer, this Department will consider you well employed in holding and strengthening that position so that the enemy can by no chance recover his position. I have been striving ever since receiving the intelligence of your success to aid and send you a skillful officer of the Engineer Department to place and construct the necessary works. That has delayed my communication to you. The great demand in this quarter has absorbed the whole engineer force, but tomorrow I hope to send you an officer highly recommended by General Totten for his professional skill. It is out of the power of this Department to supply you at present with any cavalry for offensive operations, and as your force for some time can be advantageously employed defensively in its present position, I trust you will not need it.
With thanks for your diligence and activity, I remain, yours, truly,
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 16, pt. I, p. 1008.
CUMBERLAND GAP, June 18, 1862.
E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War, and Maj.-Gen. BUELL:
At 1 o'clock this morning my command took up the line of march from our masked position in front of Rogers' Gap to attack Gen.'s Stevenson and Barton at this place, but the enemy commenced retreat on yesterday afternoon and his rear guard left only four hours before our arrival.
I will take possession of Cumberland Gap to-day*. The enemy's forces outnumbered mine by one regiment of infantry, two of cavalry, four light pieces of cannon. Had I two regiments of cavalry I would cut up his rear guard, but I am powerless for pursuit after the march just made.
After two weeks of maneuvering we have taken the American Gibraltar without the loss of a single man. To do it I had to abandon the base of my supplies and depend upon foraging upon the enemy.
In no country and in no age were greater obstacles overcome by an army marching with cannon. We brought with us two 30 and two 20 pounder siege guns, which were drawn up over the precipitous sides of Pine and Cumberland Mountains by the aid of block and tackle and drag-ropes, 200 men being employed upon a single piece.
We had several trifling skirmishes, in all of which the enemy sustained loss and we not one. I fact the passage of Rogers' Gap and Big Creek Gap with cannon demoralized the enemy and gave a bloodless victory.
Pardon me for speaking of the heroic bearing and fortitude of the Seventh Division. A nobler band never marched beneath a conquering flag. I am especially indebted to Brig.-Gen.'s Spears, Carter, and Col. De Courcy, brigade commanders, and Capt. J. T. Foster, chief of artillery. I respectfully recommend that Col. John De Courcy be made brigadier-general. He is an accomplished officer and is every inch a soldier.
High praise is also due to Capt. Charles O. Line, assistant adjutant general; Capt. S. S. Lyon, topographical engineer; Maj.-Garber, assistant quartermaster; Capt. G. M. Adams, commissary of subsistence; Lieut. E. D. Saunders, C. S. Medary, and Robert Montgomery, aides de-camp.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 16, pt. II, pp. 38.
18, Skirmish near Rankin's Ferry
No circumstantial reports filed.
HUNTSVILLE, June 18, 1862.
Gen. BUELL:
* * * *
The enemy managed this morning to overpower a small picket sent out by Col. Sill and posted near Rankin's Ferry 2 are captured, 1 killed. I fear they will learn our numbers and may now give us trouble.
There are small bands of cavalry hovering around us almost everywhere, and we have no cavalry to destroy them.
* * * *
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 16, pt. II, p. 37.
18, Army of the Tennessee's policy toward slaves announced in LaGrange
ORDERS, No. 43. HDQRS. FIFTH DIV., ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, LaGrange, Tenn., June 18, 1862.
The commanding general must call attention to the duties of officers and men toward the slaves. The well-settled policy of the whole army now is to have nothing to do with the negro. [sic] "Exclude them from camp" is Gen. Halleck's reiterated order. We cannot have our trains encumbered by them, nor can we afford to feed them, and it is deceiving the poor fellow to allow him to start and have him forcibly driven away afterward. For these and many good reasons the general now especially directs the colonels of regiments, captains of companies, and regimental quartermasters to give their personal attention to this matter, to remove all such now in camp, and to prevent any more from following our camp or columns of march.
The laws of Congress command that we do not surrender back to the master a fugitive slave. That is not a soldier's business nor is it his business to smuggle him away. Let the master and slave look to the civil authorities and not to us. Also the laws of war make the property of the enemy liable to confiscation if used for warlike purposes, such as horses and wagons hauling stores, slaves making forts, &c. In such cases the commanding officer would rightfully appropriate his labor through the quartermaster and let the title to freedom be tried as soon as a proper civil tribunal can be reached.
If wagon-masters or teamsters carry away in their wagons runaway negroes [sic] it is made the duty first of the regimental quartermaster, next of the brigade quartermaster, and last of any commissioned officer, who will cause them to be summarily turned out and the facts reported to headquarters, that the actual offender may be punished by fine and imprisonment as he deserves.
By order of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 17, pt. II, pp. 15-16.
18, Major-General W. T. Sherman forbids depredations committed by Federal army while foraging
ORDERS, No. 44. HDQRS. FIFTH DIVISION, ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, LaGrange, Tenn., June 18, 1862.
Too much looseness exists on the subject of foraging. The articles of war make it almost a capital offense for an officer or soldier to pillage, which means taking private property for his own use. It makes no difference if that property be of friend or enemy. Pillaging demoralizes the soldier, allows him to straggle from his ranks and neglect his duty, which in many cases heretofore have proved fatal to whole armies. The general can communicate to any officer the history of many such cases.
When an army moves in an enemy's country it is entitled to draw from that country within limits certain articles of forage and provisions, but as it is a delicate right it must be exercised by as few as possible. Brigade quartermasters needing forage will apply to their commanders for suitable escorts to the wagon train, and will accompany it themselves, and will use possible forbearance, explaining to the party the necessity, and giving a receipt for quantity and price with a promise to pay at the pleasure of the United States on proof of loyalty at the time; certificate not transferable. In meritorious cases the division quartermaster may pay cash. All forage and provisions thus taken must be taken up on the usual property returns, giving the date and name of the party, that the transaction may be traced in the future settlement of accounts. The regimental quartermaster of the cavalry and the acting quartermaster of batteries of artillery may give receipts and instruct the parties to carry them to the division quartermaster, who will give the formal account. No other persons than those above specified can lawfully take or appropriate private property, except contraband of war, arms, ammunition, &c., which it is the duty of the provost-marshal to collect and deliver to the ordnance officer.
By command of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman:
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 17, pt. II, p. 16.
18, Report on conversation between Military Governor Andrew Johnson and pro-secession ministers in Nashville[4]
Gov. Johnson Well, gentlemen, what is your desire
Rev. [Edmund W.] Sehon [Methodist] -- I speak but for myself Governor; I do not know what the other gentlemen wish. My request is that I may have a few days to consider the subject of signing the paper. I wish to gather my family together and talk over the subject.
Gov. Johnson--How long a time will your require?
Rev. Mr. Sehon--My wife is at some distance, and my family having recently labored under a severe domestic affliction, I would, if you have no objection...have fourteen days allowed me for the purpose of gathering my family together.
Rev. Mr. [Reuben] Ford [Baptist]--That is not to be understood to be the request of all of us.
Rev. Mr. Sehon--Oh, no, Governor. We have been conversing on the subject, and I did not know but that it would be desirable to have a mutual consultation before we again met.
Rev. Mr. [Robert B.C.] Howell [Baptist]--I did not so understand the brother.
Rev. Mr.[John T.] Kendrick [Presbyterian]--Nor I. We can come as well singly as together.
Rev. Mr. [William D.F.] Saurie [Methodist]--I did not so understand the proposition.
Rev. Mr. Sehon--It was bare suggestion, and the object might have been misapprehended by the brethren.
Gov Johnson--It seems to me that there should be but little hesitation among your, gentlemen, about this matter. All that is required of you is to sign the oath of allegiance. If you are loyal citizens you can have no reason to refuse to do so. If you are disloyal, and working to obstruct the operations of the government, it is my duty, as the representative of that government, to see that you are placed in a position so that the least possible harm can result from your proceedings. You certainly cannot reasonably refuse to renew your allegiance to the government that is now protecting you and your families and property.
Rev. Mr. Elliott--As a non-combatant, Governor, I considered that under the stipulations of the surrender of this city I should be no further annoyed. As a non-combatant, I do not know that I have committed an act, since the federals occupied the city, that would require time[for me] to take the oath required.
Gov. Johnson--I believe, Mr. Elliott, you have two brothers in Ohio.
Mr.[Collin D.] Elliott [Protestant educator]--Yes, Governor, I have two noble brother there. I have seen them on occasional visits for thirty-four years. They have been good friends to me. They did not agree with me in the course I pursued in regard to secession. But I have lived in Tennessee so many years that I have considered the State my home, and am willing to follow her fortunes. Tennessee is a good State.
Gov. Johnson--I know Tennessee is a good State; and I believe the best way to improve her fortunes is to remove those from her borders who prove disloyal and traitors to her interest, as they are traitors to the government that has fostered and protected them. I think, Mr. Elliott, a visit to your brothers in Ohio will prove of service to you.
Rev. Mr. Elliott--I do not know whenever I have been proven disloyal. I am no politician, and never attended by one political meeting, and never but once perpetrated a political joke.
Gov. Johnson--Perhaps not, sir. But your inflammatory remarks and conversation, and by your disloyal behavior in weaning the your under your charge from their allegiance to the government established by their fathers, you have won a name that will never be placed on the roll of patriots. A visit to the North, I repeat, may be of benefit to you.
(Sensation)
Rev. Mr. Hendrick--(after reading oath)--I would like a few days' time before I sign this paper, Governor.
Gov. Johnson--How long do you require:
Rev. Mr. Kendrick--Just as you please, Governor. One, two or three days, or a week.
Gov. Johnson--A week from today?
Rev. Mr. Hendrick--Yes, Governor, say a week
Papers of Andrew Johnson, Vol. 5., pp. 487-489.
18, "Words cannot express my wretchedness." The psychological impact of the war upon Mrs. Sarah Estes
My heart was almost broken today. Words cannot express my wretchedness. Oh! Will we be crushed and starved out by such a mean race as the Yankees? The thought is like tearing my heart out, to seem my husband ruined and suffer so much after struggling so hard, and all our poor soldiers suffering for nothing, worse than nothing. All the precious blood shed for naught. Merciful Father is this our wretched fate? It seems more than I can bear.
Estes Diary, June 18, 1862.
18 "Most of the prisoners taken Sunday are paroled & have come back & are here now eating us out of house & home." Surgeon William M. Eames' letter to his wife in Ohio
Union Coll. Hospital
July 18, 1862
Dear Wife,
We are still under the Confed. flag tho we enjoy life pretty well[.] No soldiers here of any kind tho. We have had both kinds today. 200 of the 4th Ky Cav. (Federal) [sic] were in the public square a while & a few scattering rebels. We have our hnds full to take care of the sick & wounded & feel the loss of the Daily Papers & letters from home very [sic] much. It makes us all quite blue. I trust there will be a change for the better soon. Most of the prisoners taken Sunday are paroled & have come back & are here now eating us out of house & home. [sic] They go to Nashville tomorrow & this letter & the one I wrote nearly a week ago will go up. Rob has not been paroled on account of our firing out of the Hospital as they say. We certainly did not fire out of the Hospital, but the rebels did fire into it – to their everlasting disgrace. I send you Rob this note he wrote from McMinnville. He seemed to be in good spirits – they boys said - & didnt [sic] seem to care much where he went. Hope he will be well & return soon. Have no doubt that he will. Have had one amputation & shall have another soon. Have some 75 wounds to treat every day, & some of then very [sic] bad. None have died yet – Bill Willan, the nurse of War 1 the one who stuttered) is dead. His brother is but just alive tho, I hope he will get better. The rebels led my horse out yesterday and were going to make him off but Dr. French, explained matters to them & they left them. I have another boil coming.
My face is not quite yellow, tho, I keep around & feel better every day. Havnt [sic] smoked for a week. Would give a dollar for a letter from home & more than that to get one there this moment. I know you must feel a great deal of anxiety about me tho, I have been well enough all the time. We may get a mail thro, by Sat, tho they have carried off our P.M. Write as often as usual & I shall get them allright. Love to all
Yours truly
Wm. M. Eames
William Mark Eames Papers
18, Murder of a slave in Smyrna envions
Brutal Outrage.
We are informed that on yesterday a squad of rebel cavalry visited the premises of a gentleman living near Smyrna, in Rutherford county, and requested him to burn his cotton. The gentleman very properly refused to comply with the modest request, whereupon he was informed that if he did not comply they would kill two of his negro fellows who happened to be standing by. He again refused to obey, when they fired, killing one of the negroes and mortally wounding the other.
In a short time after the committal of this most fiendish act, the up train from Nashville arrived, and its guard put in pursuit and captured four or five of the murderous scoundrels, who, we are informed, are in jail at Murfreesboro'.—Shelbyville News.
Nashville Daily Union, June 19, 1862.
18, Cumberland Gap falls to Federal forces
CUMBERLAND GAP, June 18, 1862.
E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War, and Maj.-Gen. BUELL:
At 1 o'clock this morning my command took up the line of march from our masked position in front of Rogers' Gap to attack Gen.'s Stevenson and Barton at this place, but the enemy commenced retreat on yesterday afternoon and his rear guard left only four hours before our arrival.
I will take possession of Cumberland Gap to-day*. The enemy's forces outnumbered mine by one regiment of infantry, two of cavalry, four light pieces of cannon. Had I two regiments of cavalry I would cut up his rear guard, but I am powerless for pursuit after the march just made.
After two weeks of maneuvering we have taken the American Gibraltar without the loss of a single man. To do it I had to abandon the base of my supplies and depend upon foraging upon the enemy.
In no country and in no age were greater obstacles overcome by an army marching with cannon. We brought with us two 30 and two 20 pounder siege guns, which were drawn up over the precipitous sides of Pine and Cumberland Mountains by the aid of block and tackle and drag-ropes, 200 men being employed upon a single piece.
We had several trifling skirmishes, in all of which the enemy sustained loss and we not one. I fact the passage of Rogers' Gap and Big Creek Gap with cannon demoralized the enemy and gave a bloodless victory.
Pardon me for speaking of the heroic bearing and fortitude of the Seventh Division. A nobler band never marched beneath a conquering flag. I am especially indebted to Brig.-Gen.'s Spears, Carter, and Col. De Courcy, brigade commanders, and Capt. J. T. Foster, chief of artillery. I respectfully recommend that Col. John De Courcy be made brigadier-general. He is an accomplished officer and is every inch a soldier.
High praise is also due to Capt. Charles O. Line, assistant adjutant general; Capt. S. S. Lyon, topographical engineer; Maj.-Garber, assistant quartermaster; Capt. G. M. Adams, commissary of subsistence; Lieut. E. D. Saunders, C. S. Medary, and Robert Montgomery, aides de-camp.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 16, pt. II, pp. 38.
18, "…they gulp it down without the slightest hesitation." Report on Affairs in Memphis One Week After Occupation by Federal Forces
AFFAIRS AT MEMPHIS.-We take the following extracts from a letter to the Cincinnati Gazette under date of Memphis, June 12th:
The amount of the great Southern staple burned in this city is much less than has generally bee supposed. I learn from official sources that the exact amount is 1491/2 bales. On the books of the Merchant's Exchange, under date of May 9, I find the following record:
"Amount of cotton deposited at Fort Pickering for destruction, as ascertained by actual count, 1,259 bales."
This was fired on the night of the 26th of May, and on the 5th inst., the day before the battle of Memphis, 205 bales, all that remained in the city, were burned on the bluff between Washington and Poplar streets. Where the blackened remain still lie.
These 1491/2 bales of course do not include what has been destroyed in Shelby county. The amount consumed by fire on Plantations within a few miles of the city has probably been much greater. Marauding bands of cavalry have been riding about this and the adjoining counties for some time past, applying the torch to every bale they could discover, and I am reliably informed that they were still at work as late as day yesterday, within a few miles of the city.
An officer of the Mobile and Ohio railroad retuned from Granada, Miss., yesterday, whither he went to look after the rolling stock of his road. He reports that village overflowing with refugees from Memphis and other points and say that such suffering prevails. Boarding is worth from four to five dollars per day, and the ability of hotel keepers is not nearly equal to the demand made upon them.
~ ~ ~
Eight engines and fifteen or twenty cars were removed to the Mobile and Ohio road, and my informant thinks this line can be again placed in order from this city to Humboldt in a few days. Their principal want is rolling stock to render the road as efficient as ever.
Last evening as one of the masters of the [U. S. S.] Carondolet-whose name I forbear to mention-called at a house of ill fame on Main street-a place where no man wearing the uniform an officer in the service of the United States should be found, if at all-and while engaged in conversation with one of the nymphs who inhabit that temple, was approached by a malignant cripple names Forrist, [sic] brother of the notorious Colonel Forrist [sic], of a band of marauders of Tennessee cavalry, who drew a pistol, and remarking, "there is just this difference between you and me" shot the officer of the Carondolet in the breast, inflicting a dangerous wound. The Assassin, who was soon after arrested by the United State authorities, was only prevented from firing at the disabled officer a second time by a companion, who threatened to shoot him if he did desist. The parities were entire strangers to each other, and a word had been exchanged between them. Is is hoped an example will be made of this ruffian that will teach this community a lesson not easily to be forgotten.
Provost Marshal Gould's office, the building formerly occupied by the Planters' Band of Tennessee, is besieged from morning till night by person anxious to procure passes to go North. So great is the rush that a strong guard has been detailed to reserve order in the vicinity.
For the benefit of those desirous of changing their residence the Provost Marshal has prepared the following stringent oath of allegiance, which it is unnecessary to say all are required to take before obtaining passes:
["] I solemnly swear, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States, and support and sustain the Constitution and laws thereof: that I will maintain the National sovereignty, the paramount to that of all State, county, or Confederate powers: that I will discourage, discountenance, and forever oppose secession, rebellion, or disintegration of the Federal Union; that I disclaim and denounce all faith and fellowship with the so-call Confederate State and Confederate armies, and pledge my honor, my property and my life, to the sacred performances of this my solemn oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States of America.["]
This oath some of the rebels consider a "little too tight," but the majority of them who apply for passes find their wants so pressing, or their desires to escape so strong, they gulp it down without the slightest hesitation.
Colonel Markland, the Army Postoffice Agent, reached the city yesterday [11th], and will proceed to open the Postoffice immediately. The Memphians will be furnished with a tri-weekly mail from the North until the repairs on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad are completed, when they will have daily communication with civilization.
The agent of that enterprising institution, the Adams Express Company, also reached the city yesterday, and proceeded to open an office on Front Row. Who ever knew this Company to be behind the times.
In my last I stated that three gunboats had left for below. At the time of writing these boats were ready to leave, but from some inexplicable cause their departure was delayed, and they are still, in company with the rest of the flotilla, lying off the city. A reconnoissance, if not something more, will probably be made today to tomorrow.
It is understood that ten regiments of troops are now en route to this city. They are expected this morning [12th].
Louisville Daily Journal, June 18, 1862. [5]
18, "They planted a cannon before the door, and quartered three hundred men at and around the house." Federal depredations in Macon county environs
~~~~
The following letter, which we copy from the Atlanta Confederacy, describes the outrageous career of the Lincoln invaders of Tennessee, and gives us ground to hope that the people of that region are becoming thoroughly united and aroused to a sense of their danger. Against such merciless, unprincipled marauders and plunderers, the people should arise en masse, nor cease to fight them with all their power until they have either annihilated them or driven from their soil:
In the Mountains near Nickajack
Macon county, June 18
The Yankees have routed me from home, stealing my provisions, clothing, &c., and taking four horses and one negro (the rest faithful) I have been compelled to put my family in a place of security and provide for their welfare, as I am ordered by the Secretary of War to report at once to Gen. Beauregard. The Yankees have been travelling back and forth from Stevenson [AL] towards Chattanooga in large force, in an apparently undecided manner, robbing and destroying as they go. It is reported they are crossing at Alley's Ferry, which, however, is doubtful – Our forces are ready for their advent, come where they will.
The Yankees robbed of us nearly everything they could take – crockery, knives and forks, silver cups, all the tin and stove fixtures, ornaments, watch, and may highly prized articles – heirlooms from our revered parents. My gun (I saved my Minie musket,) my clothing, all our towels, some bed clothing, ear-rings belonging to a servant, and a pair of pants belonging to a negro man, which they put on the spot. They planted a cannon before the door, and quartered three hundred men at and around the house. – They have taken horses &c., from Union men also, putting their horses in wheat fields, and stealing and killing cattle, &c. They took many prominent citizens prisoners, dragging them about with them for several days and released some on parole, to appear at Huntsville on the 4th of July – taking others to Columbia, Tenn., to try as "rebels and traitors." They were to do their best to ruin and produce as much mischief as possible. They seem to have full license from their officers, and the officers say they must take provisions to sustain them, as transportation is too high and difficult.
Union sentiments are fast disappearing before a stern desire for revenge. When our men get into their country, as we believe the will, vengeance will be taken. We have lost all our brotherly love and christian charity, and desire to be avenged on the scoundrels and their nation. Our troops here desire to come in contact with them, and nothing but superior officers detain them here.
Daily Morning News (Savannah, GA), June 24, 1862.[6]
18-19, Memphis government seeks delay in the suppression of Confederate money
Affairs in Memphis.
Memphis, June 18.- The Board of Aldermen have adopted a resolution asking Colonel Slack to postpone the suppression of Confederate scrip for sixty days. Colonel Slack has not yet a decision, but it is understood that there is little prospect of a favorable response.
The Avalanche says Beauregard's army is in excellent order as regards health, morals and equipments, and that all reports of disorganization are false.
[SECOND DISPATCH.]
In Col. Slack's reply to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, regarding the currency question issued to-day, he says those who have been the most active in getting up this Rebellion are the very individuals whose pockets are loaded with Confederate notes, and if sixty days time should be given them, it would only be giving that much time for those are responsible for its issue to get rid of it without loss, and the worthless trash will be found in the hands of the unsophisticated and credulous.
Besides, should these notes be permitted to be used as a circulation medium where the flag of the United States floats, as far as such permission could give character to such treasonable currency it would do so, and the very basis of the Rebellion be made respected by contract with the Government it seeks to destroy the market would become glutted with merchandize, which can only be sold now for Tennessee money, rather than do which the owners are disposed the ship their goods back.
The greater part of the stores are still closed, and the stores are still closed, and the Secession owners of m any of them refuse to rent them to Abolitionists at any price.
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 1862.
ca. June 18 ca. June 18- ca. August 27, Federal presence at Battle Creek: swimming and fortifications; the "Belle of Battle Creek;" combat prior to the skirmish at Fort McCook on Battle Creek, August 27, 1862
Soon after the arrival of General Buell….Colonel Sill was near the mouth of Battle Creek, not far from Jasper, Tenn.
General McCook's troops were ordered to that point and soon quite an army was congregated there and we were temporarily placed in his command. It was not long, however, until Colonel Sill, having been promoted to a brigadier generalship, was transferred to another command and Colonel Len A. Harris, 2d O. V. I., took charge of the old ninth brigade.
The road leading to our camps from Jasper ran along the bank Battle Creek, a small sluggish stream which flowed at the foot of the mountains until it emerged into a cove and emptied into the Tennessee. This road had to be picketed and our regiment was thrown out on it a mile or more from the general camp and went into regular quarters, where we established quite a trade with citizens in blackberries, roasting ears, etc. We had numerous false alarms and I have a painful recollection of a lively game of poker being broken up one morning about 2 a. m. by information from head quarters that the enemy was advancing on us and we were ordered to fall back immediately on the main force. In the hurry and confusion which followed a pocketbook which had frequently been called upon in the progress of the game, but still containing some forty dollars, which was being held as a reserve, was lost. The alarm proved false, but a through search of the camp on the next morning failed to recover the missing property, in all probability it having fallen into the hands of the citizens who were busily searching the camp almost as soon as we had left it. After that we remained with the man force and enjoyed ourselves as best we might in the hot summer weather which was then upon us. It was not too hot though for a proper observance of the 4th of July and a full supply of patriotism in bottles and kegs being received about that time by the sutler of the 24th Illinois and through the kind hospitality of the gallant Colonel Mihalotzy, who afterward fell at Buzzard Roost, the privilege of sharing it being extended to a favored few, the forenoon of that day was most patriotically celebrated. As to the afternoon my recollection is not so distinct.
But it was not all play there and the troops were kept busily at work in building a fort, which was afterward to prove of doubtful benefit. It was built on the side of the mountain, not far from the Tennessee river and name for our commander "Fort McCook."
About that time a force of the enemy established a camp on the south bank of the river, but by mutual understanding there were no hostilities, and the men of both sides mingled in the most friendly manner. They bathed on the opposite sides of the river at the same hours and frequently some daring spirit would swim across and enjoy the society of his enemies for a short time and was always allowed to return without injury or opposition. But this friendly spirit was not always to continue-mischief was brewing and, although we of the rank and file were kept in ignorance, there was no mistaking that important movements were in progress. One command after another was ordered away until the old brigade was all that was left of the large force which had been congregated there. Soon the greater part of that was taken and the only Union troops on the ground were Colonels Harris with his staff, a small detachment of the 4th Ohio cavalry and the 33d regiment O. V. I.
Our friends on the opposite side of the river were no longer to be seen in force and the swimming frolics were entirely broken up. We remained there for a week or more foraging on the country and having, as we thought, quite a picnic. To be sure there was not quite enough of the lady [sic] element to make it a very enjoyable one, yet we were not entirely unprovided for in that line, for the daughter of a family living almost in the camp soon became a great favorite and her society was quite a solace for the lonely soldier boys.
A true type of the native Tennesseean [sic], her blond locks and strawberry complexion added to the grace in which she handled a snuff stick, would have attracted attention anywhere, but in a community like ours in which there were no rivals and where her charms alone held sway, it was little wonder that she was the "Belle of Battle Creek," and that every soldier from the stern commander to the most bashful private, was her devoted admirer. So long as the main army was there her lot, in a feminine point of view, was a most enviable one, for all sought to gain favor in her eyes and the strongest coffee, sweetest roasting ears and choices bits of bacon were always at her command. But the old experience of "I never loved a tree nor [sic] flower" was soon to be hers and as her lovers were marched off by platoons, companies and regiments, she must have felt miserable indeed and the snapping of heart strings was no doubt terrible.
But she adapted herself to circnstances [sic]. When the number of her lovers was reduced to four or five hundred she smiled on them just as pleasantly as when they were that many thousands. Her ideas of rank could not have been very distinct for the company cook and company commander were alike favored and the captain, with his glittering shoulder straps, as he proudly marched at the head of his company, was no more to her than the corporal, with his modest chevrons, who brought up the rear.
Love and war are closely allied. We were having lots of one but very little of the other, and soon there was to be an evening [sic] up. It so happened that our foraging party one day ran across a few rebel cavalrymen on our side of the river, who soon make known that their intentions were not as friendly as in the swimming days, and a brisk skirmish was the result, during which the enemy returned to their own territory with the loss of one man. The mere fact of their being on the north side of the river showed that they were growing bolder and more confident and arrangements were quickly made for our protection in case of attack. The regiment was sent out in companies to picket the various roads and fords, while the regimental field and staff, with "A" company remained in the camp immediately without the fort. Although a night attack was expected it passed without incident and we slept undisturbed except by the voices of the sentinels as they announced the hour and proclaimed that "All's well." At early dawn the various pickets were visited, who reported all quiet on their front with the exception of the one at the ford of Battle Creek, where Captain (now Judge) Minshal was in command. Movements of the enemy had been heard in his front during the night and it was thought that an attack if made at all, would commence at that point. The morning, which was bright and hot, passed without incident, until about the noon hour, when while seated in the open air at my mess chest, eating dinner, I chanced to look across the river and saw some persons pulling the bushes aside and peering through them. The cook's attention was drawn to it, but we decided it was of no special moment and went on with the meal. Had we known then what we knew afterward, that we had been left there as a corps of observation, while the entire army was being withdrawn from that section of the country, we might have been a little more uneasy. Such was really the case and we were the only Union troops on the south side of the Cumberland mountains, while on the other side everything was in confusion and doubt as to where General Bragg was to make his first appearance. But of all this we were ignorant and in the calm mood in which one usually feels after a hearty dinner, I sauntered slowly to the headquarters tent in which the colonel and chaplain said busily engaged in writing. But this serenity was short lived, for before I reached there b-a-n-g [sic] went a gun and w-h-i-z-z came a shell.
Waddle, Three Years, pp. 20-23.[7]
Confederate view of the battle at Battle Creek; a letter to editor of the Macon, Georgia, Telegraph,
from the Jackson Artillery camp at Battle Creek, Tenn.
From Tennessee.
Editor Telegraph: Dear Sir – Having a few leisure moments, the first in many days, I cannot refrain from giving you an account of the part this company has taken in the recent fight at Battle Creek and Stevenson. On the morning of the 27th August, while in camp at Nickajack Cave, we received orders to proceed without delay to Alley's Ferry, situated immediately opposite Battle Creek, a distance of six miles from our camp. In a few moments we got ready and commenced our march, arriving there at 10 o'clock .After betting our guns inn position, Lieut. Holtzelaw opened upon the fortifications of the enemy with a 24-pounder rifle gun. This was a signal for us to open our smaller guns, under command of Lieutenants Massenburg and Greer, which I assure your they did with a vim.
The firing continued through the day and night until 12 o'clock, when the enemy, finding that they could hold out no longer, made a "strategic move" by "changing their base" or in other words, "skedaddled." Lieut. Messenburg early next morning found a skiff and endeavored to cross the river, but when about two thirds across his boat sunk, having him to swing to the opposite shore, which he did amidst the cheering of our boys; on reaching terra firma, he at once took possession of the Federal camp. He deserves great credit for his coolness and self-possession. He was almost immediately joined by Lieut. Holtzelaw, who swam to the opposite shore. The latter has been highly complimented by the General in command for the management of his twenty four pound gun. Lieut. Greer did immense damage to the enemy, and handled his section with great skill. His position was a good one, and he made every shot tell. Have you, Mr. Editor, ever seen a camp after its being evacuated? If not, I hardly think I can describe one. I have never witnessed such utter confusion, which proved, however, beneficial to our men, for in a few hours they were all strutting about in Yankee clothing, knapsacks, &c., &c.
The captured property amounts to at least twenty-five thousand dollars. Their loss is reported to be four killed and seven wounded, and, strange to say, no casualties on our side.
On the morning of the 211st we again received orders to push to Stevenson [AL] fifteen miles from Battle Creek….
~~~~
Daily Morning News, (Savannah, GA), September 8, 1862.[8]
S. B. MAXEY, Brig. Gen., CSA, report of fighting at Battle Creek
~~~~
Early in the morning I ordered Capt. P. H. Rice, commanding Company A, [J. R.] Howard's battalion Georgia and Alabama cavalry, to ford the Tennessee River about 2½ miles below Bridgeport, and cautiously approach that place and attack the enemy. Capt. Rice found, however, that the enemy had precipitately evacuated the night before. This being communicated to me, I ordered the Thirty-second Alabama Regt. of Infantry, Col. [A.] McKinstry, which was concealed on the bank of the river, to cross. Capt. Rice was in the mean time ordered to throw his cavalry well out on the Battle Creek and Stevenson roads. Scarcely had the Thirty-second crossed when the cavalry reported enemy's infantry and cavalry approaching in force, the truth of which was made apparent from the clouds of dust in the rads. I immediately ordered the Thirty-second to be formed in line of battle near the crest of the hill in the town, and in a few moments the enemy's cavalry (Fourth Ohio and one other, name not known) dashed up in full speed, and were permitted to come within less than 50 yards of the infantry before a gun was fired, when a galling fire was poured into them and they retreated in great confusion. In a short time clouds of dust warned me of the enemy's approach on our left, and to meet it I had the front of the left wing changed forward in time to receive another dash of cavalry, which was again thrown in confusion by another volley more effective than the first, and he again retreated but reformed, and by the dust I soon saw he was approaching the center. A company of the Thirty-second Alabama, armed with the Enfield rifle, commanded by Lieut. [A.] Sellers, was placed in the center in ambush, and as the enemy came up the hill in very close range this company arose and delivered its deadly fire simultaneously with the wings (separated for cover), and this time they broke and fled in perfect confusion. While this portion of the fight was going on my batteries, consisting of Capt. [S. L.] Freeman's {Tennessee] and Capt. [G. A.] Dure's [Georgia] artillery and one 24-pounder rifle gun, opened out (by previous agreement on the enemy's works at the mounth of Battle Creek, about 5 miles distant up the river, and continued incessantly during the entire day.) The heavy columns of dust bearing toward Stevenson from the enemy's camps around there showed a general commotion. At night I ordered the battery commanders to keep the fire up, believing the enemy, if properly managed, would evacuate before day.
At about 2 o'clock in the morning the work was abandoned in great confusion, the enemy burning most of his commissary stores, but leaving in our possession some $30,000 worth of valuable property, embracing some commissary stores, ordnance stores, quartermaster's stores, clothing, all his tents, 32 horses and 4 mules, a few wagons and ambulances, and some few medicines, and a splendid case of surgical instruments, besides some sutler's stores, a number of officers' trunks, many of the post commander's papers, and some very valuable maps.
~~~~
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. B. MAXEY, Brig. Gen., Cmdg.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 16,, pt. I, pp., 889-890.
1863
18, Major-General S. B. Buckner's Report on Confederate troops and defenses from Clinton to Cumberland Gap
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE, Knoxville, June 18, 1863.
Gen. S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector Gen., Richmond, Va.:
GEN.: I returned yesterday from an inspection of the troops of the department and of the Mountain Gap, from Clinton to Cumberland Gap. The troops I inspected were in a bad condition, with the exception of Gracie's brigade at Cumberland Gap. The defenses of the gaps are very imperfect; scarcely any work has been bestowed on them during the past twelve months. I set the troops at work to strengthen the defenses at Cumberland Gap at once. In connection with the chief engineer and my chief of staff, I have devised a system of small, strong defenses at the gaps, which will be commenced at once if the enemy's movements justify it, and which, when completed, will enable a small force to check for a considerable time a very large one. With the present resources at my control, it is very difficult to prevent a surprise of some of the more important gaps.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. B. BUCKNER, Maj.-Gen., Cmdg.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 878.
18, Heavy skirmishing at Big Creek Gap [see June 18, 1863, "Occupation of Wartburg by Federal forces," below]
18, Occupation of Wartburg by Federal forces
No circumstantial reports filed.
KNOXVILLE, [TENN.] June 18, 1863.
Maj. Gen. SAMUEL JONES,
Dublin, Va.:
The difficulty about Preston's command is that they are mostly cavalry. I have ordered one of his infantry regiments to re-enforce Cumberland Gap. The rest of his command I leave to cover Abingdon and Saltville. The enemy have retired from Big Creek Gap after heavy skirmishing, but now occupy Wartburg, threatening Kingston. The proportions of his movement are not yet developed. Pegram is beyond Wartburg. I think I will need your regiment for a few days. I will return it on your demand, whenever you require it, whatever the circumstances. It can re-enforce me in less time than Preston can.
S. B. BUCKNER, Maj.-Gen.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 23, pt. II, p. 880.
18, Report on travel on the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad between Wartrace, Shelbyville and Chattanooga one week prior to the initiation of the Tullahoma Campaign
Huntsville, June 18.
Railroad travel between Shelbyville and Wartrace is quite an annoying curiosity. The distance eight miles, and railroad time taken to travel it, an hour and a half and two hours. A friend wishing to go south at the same time with ourselves, left Shelbyville on horseback, twenty minutes after the train had left, and made the best time to Wartrace, where the southern connection is made. The rails are so worn, and the bed of the road is in such bad condition, that it is not considered proper to run the cars faster than five miles an hour! As the locomotive approaches within a mile of the Shelbyville depot, a down grade is encountered, the locomotive disconnects itself from the cars, trusting their advance to the declivity of the grade, and runs ahead to the engine house, where it is switched off the main track in time to let the cars following pass on to the depot….
From Wartrace south the Nashville and Chattanooga run is in fine order, a reserve car is kept for ladies, water is regularly supplied and the Conductors are courteous and attentive. Messrs. Cole and Whaling, who expend their energy in the management of the roads, deserve credit for their efforts. From Wartrace to Stevenson one fortification after another is passed in rapid succession. The fine works, forts and abatis, and especially Fort Rains, at Tullahoma, are objects of intense interest. Every bridge and trestle along the route is well guarded night and day, and a small fort and stockades are to be observed at every bridge of any importance. The latter were introduced and built by the Yankees in large numbers and still remain to mark the presence of the defeated invaders. They are formed of heavy oak posts placed upright from the ground, extending fifteen feet high, with musket loops pierced through about breast high, for the purpose of firing through. On the outside a trench is dug and the earth thrown at the base of the stockade. These are, indeed, most formidable defenses for a small force, and it were as well for the cavalry to dash against the mountain side as charge one of these stockades. But they afford no resistance to artillery, are only intended to shelter guarding forces from surprises of cavalry and bushwhacking attacks. At Estelle Springs [sic] a large fort, erected by Yankee hands, still remains, and strong Confederate works lend an interest to the point. The houses which once adorned the place were laid in ruins by the vandal torch, and the brick chimneys still standing, and the walls of what was once an extensive mill or factory, only remain attesting to the former village. The next object of interest is the famous tunnel cut through the mountain. It forms an arch half a mile long, through which the train passes, enveloped in utter darkness for the few minutes of its passage. It presents an excellent opportunity for a lover to kiss his sweet heart without being seen. A very strange incident occurred in its dark confines a short time since, which will scarcely bear publication. Two seats in the car facing each other were occupied respectively by an Irish lady returning from a visit to a relative in the army, and opposite to her a young man of twenty, with neatly curled moustache and head ornamented by long luxuriant tresses, with a mild and refined expression of features. As the cars approached the tunnel, one of the railroad hands told the guard he was going to have some fun, and to be on the alert when the tunnel was reached. As soon as darkness covered every object in the cars, this coarse fellow entered and took improper familiarities with the Irish lady, who imagining that it was the person opposite, seized the poor fellow by the hair, which was removed in handsful [sic], scratched his face, and screamed energetically for assistance. When the cars emerged to the open air, the real scoundrel had disappeared, and the innocent young gentleman of mild appearance disclosed to view, a very sorry physiognomy from the effects of the outraged Celt whose fingers still clung to his raven locks. An outraged community was "on the rampage," as Joe hath it in Great Expectations, and the poor devil was placed under guard and sent back to the army to await his trial. After having been subjected to this worse than martyrdom, the unfortunate youth was sent on his way rejoicing, but determined probably in all futurity to avoid railroad tunnels.
Large numbers of ladies continue to travel to and from the army, and at the present time I doubt not that a larger number are in its vicinity visiting relatives than ever before. It is a source of extreme disgust to persons of good taste to observe the public use of snuff in "dipping." At last art has been called into requisition to provide ornamental "sticks," upon which the delicious substance is dipped and rubbed against the gums, for the gratification of the lady like dippers, with this handle in their mouths. The ornamentation of the stick usually consists of a curl at the end, like the narrative of a young porker, and various figures cut on the body of it. I saw these sticking out of the mouths of many ladies on the cars, at first producing the impression that they were smoking. O tempora! O mores!
The train leaving Shelbyville at 6 a. m. reaches Chattanooga in twelve hours, and makes connection at Stevenson with the Memphis and Charleston road, which carries passengers to Huntsville, reaching that point at 6 p. m. This road is now in operation to Tuscumbia, a large bridge over the Tennessee having been rebuilt by the government. The Central Southern Railroad has been put in operation by the government, from Decatur to Pulaski, and will soon be completed to Columbia. Through its aid large supplies are brought from the interior of Middle Tennessee, Maury and other rich counties.
N.
Savannah [Georgia] Republican, June 25, 1863.[9]
18, "…an odious distinction between classes of the human family has at last been partially removed." One Tennessee Confederate soldier's reaction to the termination of the substitute system
No More Substitutes.
A correspondent in Shelbyville, writing under date of the 27th ult., has the following. According to his showing the substitute business [sic] is at an end. This is a reformation long needed; and now, if the Government will conscript the speculators and extortioners, and place them in front, as the Yankees did the "American citizens of African decent" at Port Hudson, soldiers' families can live, and the country will be better off for the change:
["]Yesterday evening, at dress parade, an order was read from the Secretary of War, directing that no more substitutes will be received into the army, only by the consent of the Generals commanding the various departments. I must confess that I never in all my life witnessed such beaming faces when the order was announced. Approbation of the order was general, and I have yet to find the first man in our brigade who disapproves of it.
["]Those that know nothing of the practical workings of the substitute system can form no conception of the magnitude of the evils resulting to the army by its operations. – Thanks to powers that be, the terrible incubus that has depressed the hearts of our brave soldiers has at length been removed, and the soldier at his country's call, who left his penniless wife and children to the cold charities of the world, or to eke out an existence the best way they could – he who has endured privations, sufferings, hunger, thirst, physical and mental agony, for his country's good and welfare – will be rejoiced to know that that which was an odious distinction between classes of the human family has at last been partially removed.
Fayetteville Observer, June 18, 1863.
18, Advertisement for a Slave Auction in Lincoln County
EIGHT LIKELY SLAVES FOR SALE! [sic]
Pursuant to a decree of the County Court of Lincoln county, Tennessee, pronounced at its June term, 1863, in the case of Pleasant Halbert, Admr, and others – Bill of sale of Slaves – I will on Saturday, the 1st day of August next [sic][10] sell to the highest bidder, in the town of Fayetteville, Lincoln county, Tennessee, the following SLAVES, viz: Amanda, aged about 35 years; Martha, about 6 years; and Gordy, about one year, (these will be sold in one lot,) Ann, about 19 years; Tom, about 16 years; Andrew, about 14 years; Josephine, about 10 years; Nancy, about 8 years. The above slaves will be sold on a credit of twelve months, except the sum of 5 per cent on the amount of sale, which will be required in cash. Notes with two or more approved securities will be required of the purchaser, and a lien retained upon said Slaves until the purchase money is paid.
DANIEL J. WHITTINGTON
Clerk and Special Commissioner
Fayetteville Observer, June 18, 1863.
18, Report on Confederate military activities in East Tennessee
Murfreesboro, June 18.-
~~~
In East Tennessee Buckner has a large force and is rapidly organizing for offensive operations. The exempted me, who have been burning saltpetre and nitre in East Tennessee, have been armed by Buckner to Guard the rear and aid in gathering the immense crop of wheat.
The Union men who planted wheat largely in the hope of General Burnside reaping it, have turned their stock into the fields to destroy the wheat now reopening, in despair of the Union troops reaching their district to avail themselves of the crops.
Gen. Gracie's brigade of North Carolina troops occupy Cumberland Gap.
Buckner has issued an order threatening deserters. He says that all officers absent without leave will on the 20th of this month be conscripted, and forced to serve in the ranks.
~~~
Colonel Bradford, commanding the post at Knoxville, advertises in the register for the apprehension of Captain J. T. Matthews, of the United States army, escaped from the Knoxville jail on the 30th of May, where he had been confined on the charge of bridge burning.
~~~
Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19, 1863.
1864
18, Skirmish with guerrillas north side of Cumberland River near Rough and Ready Furnace
HDQRS. U. S. FORCES, Fort Donelson, Tenn., May 19, 1864.
Capt. B. H. POLK, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Nashville, Tenn.:
I learned yesterday of a party of guerrillas in camp on the north side of the Cumberland, near Rough and Ready Furnace, commanded by one Hines. I sent forty men after them, but finding they outnumbered us, having over 100 men, did not attack them. Killed 1 of their pickets and returned. I will send out more force to-morrow.
E. C. BROTT, Col. Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Cmdg. Post.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 39, pt. II, p. 40.
18, Punishment for illegal sale of passes and exemptions from service with the Memphis Enrolled Militia
General Orders No. 16
District of Memphis
Memphis, Tenn., May 19, 1864
The following order from District Headquarters is published for the benefit of the militia organization in the District of Memphis and all whom it may concern:
Headquarters District of Memphis
Memphis, Tenn., May 18, 1864
Special Orders No. 100
* * * *
II. The charges and specifications against J. C. Cohen, Captain and Assistant Adjutant General, on the staff of Col. John MacDonald, commanding 1st Brigade E.M., in the District of Memphis, and the testimony taken in the case has been submitted to the General Commanding District of Memphis.
Charge first-larceny
Charge second-Obtaining money under false pretenses
The testimony does not sustain either of these charges, but does convince the mind of the General Commanding that Capt. Cohen collected with one John Hallum for sale of papers to divers persons, exempting them from the Militia duty for thirty days. These papers were not forged. Capt. Cohen being authorized to issue passes, nor does the offense come under the charge of "obtaining money under false pretenses," the purchaser of the passes being equally guilty with the seller. It was offering a bribe to one party and accepting it by another.
It is therefore ordered that the said J. C. Cohen be reduced to the ranks and prevented from holding any office in the Enrolled Militia of Memphis for one year.
This order will be read on Dress Parade of each Regiment of the Enrolled Militia of Memphis. Col. John D. McDonald Commanding 1st Brigade Enrolled Militia of Memphis, is charged with the execution of this order.
By order of Brig. Gen. B. F. Buckland
* * * *
By order of Col. John McDonald
* * * *
Memphis Bulletin, May 20, 1864.
18, The Knoxville Whig's Position on Emancipation
EAST TENNESSEE.
Emancipation-the People All Right.
The Knoxville Whig of the 18th ult., edited by a Southerner and a slaveholder,[11] contains some highly interesting and encouraging information in regard to the progress of Emancipation sentiment in East Tennessee. The loyal portion of our State is for destroying slavery, while the rebel portion of it is for holding on to the negro. The Whig says:
Several persons, subscribers of ours in years gone by, have said they would like to take our paper, but decline on the ground that we are foe emancipating the negroes. They correctly represent us, and if they wish to read a paper whose editor is determined to hold on to the negro, in preference to the Union, they had better look elsewhere for a newspapers, ad have a little to do with us and ours as possible. No man can or shall misunderstand our position, who can read our large type, and understand plain English language. This infernal war was brought about by the unprincipled Disunions of the South, on account of the nigger, and there will never be any peace in the country while the cause of the rebellion, which is slavery, exists.
~ ~ ~
Those who think the real people and the patriotic masses of East Tennessee can be deluded into the work of organizing a third party, or a conservative party of copperheads, to enable a few interested men to hold on to their negroes, mistake the signs of the times altogether, and the material out of which our people are made. The mad-dog cry of abolition and nigger got them into one war, and has overwhelmed them with their present difficulties. They will not likely go into a second rebellion to fight for the slaves of a few aristocrats, when they have none themselves, and really don't want any.
~ ~ ~
We receive a great many letters from men in different counties of East Tennessee, whose good sense, respectable positions, and general knowledge of men and things we can underwrite for. That these gentlemen reflect the sentiments of their neighbors we have no doubt. One of them, writing from Mossy Creek, in Jefferson county, concludes his letter thus:
"Nearly all of the Union men in this county are with you on the negro question. We believe there can be no permanent peace worth having, until this disturbing element is finally disposed of, and no true Union man will hesitate for a moment what course to pursue, when the question comes up of a government of law and order without negroes, or one of corruption and tyranny with negroes, such as Jeff. Davis is trying to get up, is made the issue."
A gentleman of fine sense, and a slaveholder, writes after this fashion from McMinn county:
"Since the late Knoxville Convention, the copperhead element of this county, whose leaders are in Athens, have been busy on the streets, talking and electioneering with the country people as they come in, shaping their course for the building up of a sort of third party, to act with the rebels in holding on to the nigger. They are mistaken in the Union voters of this county. Let candidates come out of the Convention or Legislature, as they will do, and make the issue of emancipation, and the people of this county will put an end to the nigger question. We are sick of it, and have had enough of it to put the matter to rest."
From Blount [county], a gentleman writes for our paper, including the money, and adds:
"P. S. For the first time you and I are together. Though a Democrat, I have been a slaveholder on a small scale, but always a Union man. I am now with you for the Union, and for getting rid of the cause of all our troubles, the everlasting nigger. There are a few of our former Whigs and Democratic leaders, in this county, who cling to the negro, and talk out against the Lincoln Government, but the genuine people are for Lincoln, they are for Johnson, and are for Brownlow land Maynard.
The Whig also has the following:
Losing Our Negroes.-We feel l no sort of sympathy for a rebel who loses his negroes, his other property, or even his life, provided he was concerned in bringing on this rebellion. And our border States Union men, who lose their negroes, are not so much to pity, as is generally supposed. In March and May, and July, 1862, President Lincoln made earnest and successive appeals to the Border Sates to accept compensated emancipation, which simply meant the giving of them al fair consideration for their negroes in dollars and cents. Our Union friend and the rebel sympathizers alike decline the proposition, although every man of sense then saw that the time was rapidly approaching when the border States would have to surrender the Union or their slaves.
The time has come when the government feels itself called upon to lay its strong hand upon the Negro, and to appropriate him. As the others declined to take pay, they must now go for nothing.
"As the Southern leaders brought on the war because of slavery, it will be a just retribution to destroy the institution, and with it the leaders of the wicked work. Therefore we say, down with the institution, and down with its rebels worshipers."
So goes glorious East Tennessee. The fanatics of Middle Tennessee had better take the warning in time. Slavery shall be destroyed in Tennessee, and free labor established, if the cost the life and property of every rebel in the State.
The Liberator (Boston, MA) June 19, 1864. [12]
ral persons, subscribers of ours in years gone by, have said they would like to take our paper, but decline on the ground that we are foe emancipating the negroes. They correctly represent us, and if they wish to read a paper whose editor is determined to hol
18, Skirmish with guerrillas north side of Cumberland River near Rough and Ready Furnace
HDQRS. U. S. FORCES, Fort Donelson, Tenn., May 19, 1864.
Capt. B. H. POLK, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Nashville, Tenn.:
I learned yesterday of a party of guerrillas in camp on the north side of the Cumberland, near Rough and Ready Furnace, commanded by one Hines. I sent forty men after them, but finding they outnumbered us, having over 100 men, did not attack them. Killed 1 of their pickets and returned. I will send out more force to-morrow.
E. C. BROTT, Col. Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Cmdg. Post.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 39, pt. II, p. 40.
18, Punishment for illegal sale of passes and exemptions from service with the Memphis Enrolled Militia
General Orders No. 16
District of Memphis
Memphis, Tenn., May 19, 1864
The following order from District Headquarters is published for the benefit of the militia organization in the District of Memphis and all whom it may concern:
Headquarters District of Memphis
Memphis, Tenn., May 18, 1864
Special Orders No. 100
* * * *
II. The charges and specifications against J. C. Cohen, Captain and Assistant Adjutant General, on the staff of Col. John MacDonald, commanding 1st Brigade E.M., in the District of Memphis, and the testimony taken in the case has been submitted to the General Commanding District of Memphis.
Charge first-larceny
Charge second-Obtaining money under false pretenses
The testimony does not sustain either of these charges, but does convince the mind of the General Commanding that Capt. Cohen collected with one John Hallum for sale of papers to divers persons, exempting them from the Militia duty for thirty days. These papers were not forged. Capt. Cohen being authorized to issue passes, nor does the offense come under the charge of "obtaining money under false pretenses," the purchaser of the passes being equally guilty with the seller. It was offering a bribe to one party and accepting it by another.
It is therefore ordered that the said J. C. Cohen be reduced to the ranks and prevented from holding any office in the Enrolled Militia of Memphis for one year.
This order will be read on Dress Parade of each Regiment of the Enrolled Militia of Memphis. Col. John D. McDonald Commanding 1st Brigade Enrolled Militia of Memphis, is charged with the execution of this order.
By order of Brig. Gen. B. F. Buckland
* * * *
By order of Col. John McDonald
* * * *
Memphis Bulletin, May 20, 1864.
18, The Knoxville Whig's Position on Emancipation
EAST TENNESSEE.
Emancipation-the People All Right.
The Knoxville Whig of the 18th ult., edited by a Southerner and a slaveholder,[13] contains some highly interesting and encouraging information in regard to the progress of Emancipation sentiment in East Tennessee. The loyal portion of our
1865
18, The last substantive entry in Captain Tyler's journal
Sunday 18th Cloudy-Health good-rained about 10 or 11 oclk [sic]. [sic] Health good [sic] [.] My old wounds as for several days passed are hurting me a great deal-I went to Class meeting at Mt. Zion had company home with me[.]
Arthur Tyler Fielder Diaries.
[1] A piece of metal placed on the muzzle, or near the trunnions, on the top of a piece of ordnance, to make the line of sight parallel to the axis of the bore.
[2] "Wide-Awake" clubs evolved through the 1850s in the North as Republican Party clubs. The clubs had their own paraphernalia including capes and hats. It is ironic that a secessionist would wear a hat with this designation.
[3] A card game often said to be the precursor to bridge.
[4] By June 28 Howell, Sehon, Ford, Sawrie and Samuel D. Baldwin [Methodist educator] were sent to the Acting Provost Marshal McClain and confined in the penitentiary until sent North. This story appears also in the Nashville Union, July 5, 1862.
[5] As cited in PQCW.
[6] GALEGROUP - GALEGROUP - TSLA 19TH CN
[7] Angus L. Waddle, Three Years with the Armies of the Ohio and the Cumberland, (Chillicotehe, Ohio: Scioto Gazette Book and Job office, 1889). [Hereinafter cited as Waddle, Three Years.]
[8] GALEGROUP - TSLA 19TH CN
[9] As cited in: http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts.
[10] It is not known if the Tullahoma Campaign interfered with the sale of these slaves.
[11] In this the Liberator was mistaken. Parson Brownlow was not a slave owner.
[12] TSL&A, 19th CN
[13] In this the Liberator was mistaken. Parson Brownlow was not a slave owner.
James B. Jones, Jr.
Public Historian
Tennessee Historical Commission
2941 Lebanon Road
Nashville, TN 37214
(615)-770-1090
(615)-532-1549 FAX
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