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Adjutant Robert B. Hurt, Jr., 55th TN is buried in Tennessee Section 51, plot #2.
According to military records, Hurt enlisted when he was eighteen years old, as a private in the 6th TN Infantry, Company H (Southern Guards), in Jackson, TN, in May 1861.
In October 1863 Hurt became an adjutant for the 46th/55th TN Infantry at Mobile, Alabama. His regiment joined Quarles Brigade in the defense of Atlanta. He somehow managed to escape the disaster at Ezra hurch his regiment saw, however, he would not be so lucky at Franklin (30 November 1864).
The commanding officer of the 55th TN – Maj. Joseph E. McDonald – also went down with Hurt.
Source for picture: Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War, McCaslin, 2007: p. 240.
The 15th Mississippi was part of Gen Adams’ Brigade. This map shows the advance of Adams’ men on November 30, 1864 against the far left flank of the Union men defended by Casement and Stiles’ Brigades.
The assault of the Confederate men under Gen. Loring (Scott, Featherston and Adams) was extremely brutal and punishing for the Confederates. Besides the strategic positions maintained by Casement and Stiles against the railroad track, the 1st & 6th Ohio Battery guns were placed on a small hill behind Reilly’s Brigades and had a field-day pummeling the Loring men with grape and cannister. Many boys from Mississippi and Alabama lost their lives that evening and are now buried at McGavock Cemetery.
The following boys from the 15th Mississippi (Adams’ Brigade) are identified as buried in McGavock Confederate Cemetery according to Jacobson.
Section 22
#1 Col. Michael Farrell
The final man bearing the flag of the 15th Mississippi was shot as he reached the top of the Yankee parapet and then pulled inside. Both he and the flag were captured. Lt. Thaddeus O. Donoghue of the 14th Mississippi was killed near the guns of the 6th Ohio Battery. Col. Michael Farrell of the 15th Mississippi was horribly wounded in both legs and lost his left to amputation. Farrell, a popular officer, did not have a single living relative nor did he have any money or own any property before enlisting. Those who knew him admired him and said he fought for ‘principle and constitutional liberty.’ Col. Farrell’s injuries eventually led to his death on Christmas Day.
For Cause and for Country, Jacobson, p. 362.
Section 28
#105 Charles R. Hemphill Company I | View marker
#107 Sgt. Elias P. Keeton Company K | View marker
#108 Elisha N. McGuire Company K | View marker
#109 Edward K. Harper Company G | View marker
#111 Lt. John L. Greenhaw Company G | View marker
#112 Lt. Thomas W. Allen Company E | View marker
#113 Captain James T. Smith Company E | View marker
Section 39
#270 Theodore A. Shillinger Company F | View marker
Section 41
#291 Cpl. Joseph H. Reese Company F | View marker
#300 William M. Lott Company E | View marker
(see Jacobson, For Cause and Country, p. 361)
Section 46
#370 Sgt. James P. Campbell Company H | View marker
Section 47
#377 John C. Williams Company C | View marker
#378 Benjamin C. Gregory Company I | View marker
The Mississippi section at McGavock Confederate Cemetery
Miscellaneous info on the 15th Mississippi
“Crossing the river November 20, they marched with Stewart’s Corps to Columbia and on November 29, joined in the flank movement to Spring Hill. Following closely upon the Federal retreat from Columbia to Spring Hill, they were heroic participants in the bloody assault of the evening of November 30. general Adams was killed while leading his men against the second line of works, his horse falling across the parapet. Col. Robert Lowry, who succeeded to brigade command, reported that the flag of the fifteenth regiment was lost, four men having been shot down in bearing it forward to the works. Colonel Farrell, a brilliant officer, was mortally wounded, and Lieut.-Col. Binford took command of the regiment. Lieutenants Young and Allen were killed; Lieuts. Shuler, Irish, Campell, Hale, Tribble, wounded. The casualties of the brigade were 44 killed, 271 wounded, 23 missing. The effective strength of the brigade after the advance to Nashville was a little over 1,000, including six regiments. The position of Stewart’s Corps in front of Nashville was distinguished for steadiness in forming a new line to check the enemy and on the next day they repelled all assaults until the line broke over their left. In the last days of December they recrossed the Tennessee River and early in January the corps went into camp near Tupelo.”
http://www.choctawgrays.com/links.html
Recommended Read
Ben Wynne (Ph.D., 2000)
A Hard Trip: A History of the 15th Mississippi Infantry, CSA
(Mercer University Press, 2002)
The history of the 15th Mississippi Infantry in the social context of the western theater of the Civil War. Not strictly a military history, Ben Wynne examines in this book the social components of Confederate service in the context of the experiences of a single regiment. Wynne begins with a general overview of the political climate of the 1850s, localized to the region that produced the 15th Mississippi, then covers the regiment’s movements through the western theater, and ends with a localized treatment of the post-war social climate and the rise of Lost Cause mythology. The emphasis in this insightful and new approach to the Civil War focuses on the experiences of the men who served in the regiment, including their intrinsic connection to their communities, reasons that they enlisted, reactions to their first combat, views on conscription, accounts of major battles in the western theater, the ebb and flow of morale, desertion, and the post-war status of the men as heroes in a culture struggling to rationalize defeat.
Using first person accounts from letters, diaries, memoirs, and other primary materials, the book sets the 15th Mississippi in a personal context. The narrative is chronologically arranged by the events of the western theater of the Civil War. Emphasizing the real war and not a romanticized version, the story of this unique regiment follows a group of men who entered the war with visions of glory and honor but within one year came to recognize the true nature of the conflict.
Ben Wynne is an Assistant Professor of History at Gainesville State College.
Web links
Company A – Long Creek Rifles – site
Company K – Choctaw Grays – site
The Confederate Army of Tennessee marched across over open ground for over a mile before they finally reached the Federal line near downtown Franklin. A soldier in the 104th Ohio wrote about that scene. Hess writes about this kind of troop assault movement then quotes the Ohio soldier:
When the terrain and vegetation allowed the troops to fire at longer ranges, they could maximize the damage done to attacking forces. At the battle of Franklin, Confederate division advanced over open, rolling ground for a mile before they attacked heavy fortifications. The Federals were ready for them and opened fire as soon as they could. Andrew Moon of the 104th Ohio scampered over the battlefield that night before his regiment pulled out of the works.
“Well, for 400 yards in front, I could hardly step without stepping on dead and wounded men. The ground was in a perfect slop and mud with blood and, oh, such cries that would come up from the wounded was awful.”
The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Earl J. Hess, p. 156
Massed troop formation in the re-enactment of the Battle of Franklin.
About 4pm on November 30, 1864, C.S.A. General John Bell Hood launched a frontal attack against the Federal troops of the 23rd and 4th Corps of General John M. Schofield. The Confederate Army of Tennessee marched in mass formation across open ground, mostly flat, for nearly two miles before clashing with the Federal line.
On a few battlefields, massed enemy formations could be seen at a considerable distance, at least before the firing began in earnest. Robert G. Carter of the 22nd Massachusetts wrote of the sight of oncoming Confederates on the second day of Gettysburg: “The indistinct form of masses of men, presenting the usual, dirty, greyish, irregular line, were dimly visible and moving up with defiant yells, while here and there the cross-barred Confederate battle flags were plainly to be seen.” Rebel lines also were fully visible at Antietam, Franklin, Bentonville, and a number of other engagements.
The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal of Combat. Earl J. Hess, p. 12
View of terrain, looking south, Confederate Army of Tennessee marched across for over one mile at Battle of Franklin
Confederate General John Bell Hood had this basic view of the (then) open ground between Winstead Hill and the entrenched Federal line near Fountain Branch Carter’s property in November 1864. The entire Confederate Army of Tennessee (about 20,000) was positioned here, facing north as in the picture, before they started the quick-step march toward the Federal army (about 22,000).
Original view
Picture credit: Historical Markers of Williamson County, Rick Warwick, p. 174
Contemporary view
Picture credit: author of blog
The 24th South Carolina served with Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division at Franklin. 1st Lt. James A Tillman served as an officer for the 24th South Carolina.
The 24th also fought at Franklin with the 46th and 65th Georgia; the 2nd Georgia Sharpshooters Battalion, and the 16th South Carolina.
The 24th was part of the regiments who clashed with the Union Brigades of Opdycke and Strickland near the Carter House, on the west side of the Columbia Pike.
Fifteen of Tillman’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery.
Picture credit: The Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 169)
Thomas Lindsay Murrell fought for the 6th TN and was killed at Franklin (Nov 30, 1864). He is buried in the TN section #52, plot #7 at McGavock Confederate Cemetery.
The 29th AL faced the Union left flank of Casement’s Brigade on the Federal line at Franklin. The 29th was part of Cantley’s Brigade, Walthall’s Division, on the eastern Union flank.
Here is Crew’s kepi he wore in the war, including at Franklin.
Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 163)
At least six of Crew’s comrades are known to be buried at McGavock Cemetery. One can only wonder how may young men from Alabama were buried after the Battle of Franklin with kepis on their head just like this one.
This is the overcoat worn by Col. Ellison Capers, of the 24th South Carolina, Gist’s Brigade, Brown’s Division. Fifteen (15) 24th SC boys are buried at McGavock Cemetery.
Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 150).
Regarding action Capers and the 24th saw at Franklin, Jacobson writes:
From the west side of the Columbia Turnpike, the sights of the artillery fire smashing into A.P. Stewart’s men was unforgettable. Everywhere the sights were incredible, almost breathtaking. Col. Ellison Capers was in the 24th South Carolina west of the pike and his regiment, part of States Rights Gist’s Brigade, was on John Brown’s left flank. Some distance in advance and to the left of the South Carolinians stood magnificent Everbright mansion, home to the widowed Rebecca Bostick. But it was what Col. Capers saw to his right that he never forgot. At Capers and his fellow Palmetto Staters began to crest the rising terrain around Privet Knob, the ground stretching from the Columbia Pike to the Lewisburg Pike opened up into view. Capers wrote that ‘we beheld the magnificent spectacle the battle-field presented – bands were playing, general and staff officers and gallant couriers were riding in front of and between the lines, 100 battle-flags were waving in the smoke of battle, and bursting shells were wreathing the air with great circles of smoke, while 20,000 brave men were marching in perfect order against the foe.’”
Jacobson, For Cause and For Country: p. 278-279.
South Carolina head marker at McGavock.
The 4th Missouri carried this flag which was presented to them in April of 1862 in Springfield, Missouri. The 4th fought for Cockrell’s Brigade, French’s Division alongside the: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th Missouri Infantry, and the 1st Missouri Cavalry (dismounted) and 3rd Missouri Cavalry Battalion (dismounted).
Cockrell’s Brigade fought to the immediate Confederate right of Cleburne’s Division, assaulting the Federal line at Franklin where the Union Brigades of Reilly and Casement came together.
Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 260).
There are five known-identified 4th MO soldiers buried at McGavock, a light number compared to the other infantries it fought with. It is likely that there are several 4th MO boys buried as ‘unknowns’ at McGavock.
John L. Russell fought with the 6th Arkansas Company C., at Franklin. He was part of Cleburne’s Division, Govan’s Brigade. Company C was known as the Dallas Rifles.
The 6th Arkansas also fought with the 2nd-15th, 5th-13th, 7th, 8th, and 19th-24th Arkansas regiments. This regiment saw heavy action around the Cotton Gin at Franklin.
The 6th Arkansas regimental flag looked like this is in the Autumn of 1862.
Picture Credit: Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy (p. 259).
Forty-three of Govan’s Brigade are buried at McGavock, fifteen of those are from the 6th Arkansas; the most of all the Arkansas regiments.
Speaking of the action the Arkansas regiments saw at Franklin, including Russell’s 6th, Jacobson writes:
“Rebel troops, likely from Cleburne’s Division, pounced on the battery’s four guns [i.e., the guns of the 1st Battery, Kentucky Light Artillery] and hurriedly began turning them around to fire on the Federals. But the Confederates had a serious problem on their hands. When the Yankee artillerists had bounded away, they took with them the friction primers needed to fire the rifled guns. The crafty Southern infantrymen looked to improvise. A Federal officer nearby saw them pouring gunpowder ‘from their musket cartridges’ into the vent holes.”
A friction primer (above) was a small brass tube filled with powder, inserted in the vent and used to ignite the main charge.
Frank Gray and John Russell of Co. C. 6th Arkansas Infantry. Twenty Nine year old John Russell was the Uncle of 21 year old Frank Gray. They are buried side by side in the Arkansas Section, Grave 12 & 11 respectfully. Source attribute for this info: T. Burgess.
Extra notes:
According to this web site: John L. Russell was a private when he enlisted on 3 June 1861 at Little Rock, Arkansas; in the Dallas Rifles. He was transferred from Co I, 30 June 1862. Russell was captured 10 October 1862 at Harrodsburg, KY. Then sent to Vicksburg, MS for exchange 5 Dec 1862. He was 26 years old when he was exchanged 22 Dec 1862.
Additional reading:
Calvin L. Collier, First In – Last Out: The Capitol Guards, Arkansas Brigade (Unit history and muster rolls for Company A.)
