Monthly Archive

I picked up this handy resource at the Carnton gift shop recently.

It records the name and places of final restings of all Williamson County, TN, Confederate soldiers.

I found at least two more soldiers who died at Franklin and are buried at McGavock I previously did not have a picture of. Hurray!

They are:

• Sgt. Thomas Lindsey Murrell, 6th TN Infantry; TN sec 52, plot #7
• Pvt. William A. Thomas, 31st TN Infantry; TN sect 66, plot #219

Murrell, 6th TN

Thomas, 31st TN

A surgeon in the 124th Indiana, William King’s Civil War service was at its most intense during the Atlanta Campaign, when his regiment was almost continuously engaged.

July 25, 1864:

“We are laying in front of Atlanta throwing shells into the city occasionally and expecting to attack it. We crossed the Chattahoochie River on the 8th of the month and have after the Rebs ever since. Our Regiment are now in fortifications immediately in front and in sight of the town. We are continually exchanging artillery shots and skirmishing, although neither party are loosing many men for several days… I was in our breastworks day before yesterday on Co. I of our Regiment when one of the boys was shot by a sharp shooter through the breast and killed immediately. I was standing near enough to touch him when he was killed…”

Letter from William H. Lunn of the 50th New York Engineers, Company E, composed shortly before the disastrous Battle of the Crater.

Camp near Petersburgh Va / July 21st 1864

letter reads in part:

Dear Sister Huldah

I do most hartily wish I could be at home with you to help pass some of your lonesome moments away. you must keep up good courage. things looks encouraging at the present.

Our Company are buisey evry day. we are expecting some big fighting here before many days. They are about readey now to open the seage of Petersburgh They are agoing to blow up one of the Johnies forts We have got a tunnel dug under it now and the powder is being put in to blow it up I think the Johnies will think there is agoing to be a small earth quake in thear parts.

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The explosion did take place on the 30th.

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William H. Lunn mustered into the 50th New York on 4 January 1864 and mustered out on 13 June 1865 at Fort Barry, Virginia. During his service, the regiment saw action at Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, North Ana, Cold Harbor, Jerusalem Plank Road and Hatcher’s Run.

Source: Nate Sanders auction

The Battle of Second Manassas (Bull Run II) was a hard fought battle and Confederate victory. Jackson knew whom to give credit to for that victory. His doctor, Hunter McQuire, told him that the day had been won due to hard fighting; to which Jackson replied:

“No sir, we have won this day by the blessing of Almighty God.”
- Jackson to his doctor Hunter McQuire on July 19, 1861

Corporal James Henry Gooding, 54th Massachussetts, was a soldier-reporter who reported events to the citizens of New Bedford, MA.

“Daily we hear the muffled drum, accompanied by the shrill, shrieking tones of the fife, which tells us that the ‘fell destroyer, Death,’ is near.”
CWT, Vol. XLII No5 Dec 2003

These are musicians Gooding would have heard playing the drum and fife.

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More about Corporal Gooding

James Henry Gooding was a Seaman from New Bedford, MA., before the war and was 26 years old when he enlisted on 2/14/63 as a Sergeant. On 3/30/1863 he was mustered into “C” Co. MA 54th Infantry.

He was wounded at Olustree and captured in 1864, died at Andersonville Prison on 7/19/64.

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[Written in the upper right hand corner is "These are the ones"]

Fredrick City Maryland

July 8th 1863

Lydia

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Albinus R. Fell enlisted on 9 December 1861 as a private in the OVC. He was promoted to Corporal in 1862 and then Quartermaster Sergeant in 1863. Known by several self-ascribed names, he primarily signed his letters “Bill” or “William”, although he did, for some unknown reason, occasionally sign off as “Oscar”, “Paul Clifford”, “Sixteenstring Jack”, “Orpheius Kin” or various other obscure names. He does state in one of his letters “…my name I will not write that for various reasons…”, so perhaps it was to purposely conceal his identity. His wife Diana - whom he also referred to as Lydia - had a bit of trouble in her later years claiming his pension due to the discrepancies regarding his name ! A General Affidavit was submitted on Diana’s behalf attesting to the fact that Fell served in the Ohio 6th, that he was the only “Fell” in the company, and while in the service “…Albinus Fell always went by the name of Bill Fell…”. His discharge took place on 12 December 1864 in Petersburgh, VA.

Born in 1840 in Mercer County, PA., Fell - according to his letters - seemed to have had a very difficult time growing up, and in one instance referred to abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. His bitterness regarding his family of origin is palpable and made for a brave, fierce soldier. Fell and Diana married on 14 December 1861 in Trumbull County, Ohio and following his service, went on to have 3 children - Clara, John and Jessie. Fell was employed as a retail druggist and merchant.

eBay auction item - February 2008 - Item #250214306536

The 8th Arkansas fought for Govan’s Brigade, Cleburne’’s Division at Franklin.  Four known-dead are buried at McGavock Cemetery. The Captain of the 8th Arkansas, Samuel L. McAllester was captured at Franklin. The colors of the 8th, below, were presented to the 8th by the women of Jacksonport, Arkansas in the summer of 1862.

There is a golden embroidered inscription in the center of the flag that reads, “March on! March on! All hearts are resolved on victory or death!”

The boys of the 8th Arkansas marched this flag into the Federal line just west of the Cotton Gin as they took fire from the 104th Ohio and the 6th Ohio Battery.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of The Confederacy (p. 25

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.

The 8th Arkansas fought for Govan’s Brigade, Cleburne’’s Division at Franklin.  Four known-dead are buried at McGavock Cemetery. The Captain of the 8th Arkansas, Samuel L. McAllester was captured at Franklin. The colors of the 8th, below, were presented to the 8th by the women of Jacksonport, Arkansas in the summer of 1862.

There is a golden embroidered inscription in the center of the flag that reads, “March on! March on! All hearts are resolved on victory or death!”

The boys of the 8th Arkansas marched this flag into the Federal line just west of the Cotton Gin as they took fire from the 104th Ohio and the 6th Ohio Battery.

Picture credit: Arms and Equipment of The Confederacy (p. 25

Military records show that seven young men with the last name Fincher served with the 43rd GA, all in Company I.

Eyewitness to the Civil War (p. 91)  shows the picture below and the caption reads Fincher brothers.

Some of these Fincher boys made it o Franklin and survived the battle, we’re just not sure if these pictured were ones or not.

We’ve added this picture to show an example of the Georgia 43rd uniforms they wore.

It was Carrie Winder McGavock, wife of John, who spearheaded the Good Samaritan operation of mercy that last evening of November 1864. She personally supervised the logistics of the effort and sacrificed much food, clothing and supplies to care for the wounded and dying. When she arose to make breakfast in the morning witnesses say her dress was soaked at the bottom with bloodstains. At least 150 Confederate soldiers died the first night at Carnton.

The smell of blood, wounds, infection and death was horrible. The visual scenes must have been indescribable as well. Carries two surviving children, Hattie (age nine) and Winder (age seven) served as medical aides throughout the evening as well.

Source: excerpted from the Wikipedia article (authored by Tellinghistory, the owner of this blog site)

The 14th MS fought with Adams’s Brigade, Loring’s Division. The 14th faced heavy casualties near the Cotton Gin. As the 14th MS assaulted the Union line at the Gin, the colors displayed a picture of Lady Liberty holding a picture of Jefferson Davis.

The 14th also fought with: 6th, 15th, 20th, 23dand 43d Mississippi regiments. Many boys from the 14th MS are buried at McGavock. One wonder show many young men and boys saw this flag emblem in the final moments of their lives as the died on the Franklin battlefield.

There are at least ten young men from the 14th MS buried at McGavock Cemetery.

There’s a fascinating story behind this particular emblem/patch see below. Color Bearer Andrew S. Payne of the 14th Mississippi cut this emblem away from the rest of the flag when the 14th surrendered at Ft. Donelson and sewed the patch into the interior lining of his coat to keep it from falling into Federal hands. When Payne and his fellow comrades were paroled in October 1862 he returned the shield to his regiment.

Picture credit: An Illustrated History of the Civil War, (p. 136).

A People at War: Civilians and Soldiers in America’s Civil War
Scott Reynolds Nelson and Carol Sheriff
Oxford University Press, 2007

Publisher’s description:
Claiming more than 600,000 lives, the American Civil War had a devastating impact on countless numbers of common soldiers and civilians, even as it brought freedom to millions. This book shows how average Americans coped with despair as well as hope during this vast upheaval.

A People at War brings to life the full humanity of the war’s participants, from women behind their plows to their husbands in army camps; from refugees from slavery to their former masters; from Mayflower descendants to freshly recruited Irish sailors. We discover how people confronted their own feelings about the war itself, and how they coped with emotional challenges (uncertainty, exhaustion, fear, guilt, betrayal, grief) as well as physical ones (displacement, poverty, illness, disfigurement). The book explores the violence beyond the battlefield, illuminating the sharp-edged conflicts of neighbor against neighbor, whether in guerilla warfare or urban riots. The authors travel as far west as China and as far east as Europe, taking us inside soldiers’ tents, prisoner-of-war camps, plantations, tenements, churches, Indian reservations, and even the cargo holds of ships. They stress the war years, but also cast an eye at the tumultuous decades that preceded and followed the battlefield confrontations.

An engrossing account of ordinary people caught up in life-shattering circumstances, A People at War captures how the Civil War rocked the lives of rich and poor, black and white, parents and children–and how all these Americans pushed generals and presidents to make the conflict a people’s war.

Table of Contents
Introduction: A People at War
FROM COMPROMISE TO CHAOS: 1854-1861
1. The Road to Bleeding Kansas
2. From Wigwam to War
THE CHANGING FACES OF WAR: 1861-1863
3. Friends and Foes: Early Recruits and Freedom’s Cause, 1861-1862
4. Union Occupation and Guerilla Warfare
5. Facing Death
POLITICAL, MILITARY, AND DILPOMATIC REMEDIES: 1862-1865
6. Two Governments Go to War: Southern Democracy and Northern Republicanism
7. Redefining the Rules of War: The Lieber Code
8. Diplomacy in the Shadows: Cannons, Sailors, and Spies
THE WAR HITS HOME: 1861-1865
9. We Need Men: Union Struggles over Manpower and Emancipation
10. The Male World of the Camp: Domesticity and Discipline
11. “Cair, Anxiety, & Tryals”: Life in the Wartime Union
12. War’s Miseries: The Confederate Home Front
REBUILDING THE NATION: 1865-1877
13. A Region Reconstructed and Unreconstructed: The Postwar South
14. A Nation Stitched Together: Westward Expansion and the Peace Treaty of 1877
Acknowledgements
Political Chronology
Military Chronology
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index

The Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864) brought a huge problem to the little town of Franklin, TN, with its population in 1860 of just over 900 residents. Almost 2,500 soldiers, North and South, were lying dead on the fields of farmers like Fountain Branch Carter and James McNutt. When the Franklin residents awoke on the morning of December 1st, the sleepy Southern town’s first concern was what to do with the nearly 1,750 Confederate boys who were killed.

Source: excerpted from the Wikipedia article (authored by Tellinghistory, the owner of this blog site)

Mathew Brady photograph, Antietam Confederate dead laid out in rows before burial. The dead at Franklin probably looked very similar to this picture.

Letter from an unidentified Union soldier, datelined

Camp on the NWRR
Tenn. Jan. 13th, 1864

Excerpt:

“Mother, I am far away. For the last two years I have been trying to make up my mind what it is my duty to follow for a means of subsistence. if a man came here on earth to live, die and pass away without leaving some example behind that would be salutary, to come far below the requirements of the great Giver of all things. This in my mind, you must know that I am searching for something for my mind to work upon that would be congenial with my nature. There are many professions that lead to the improvement of our race, and thus to the evangelization of the earth which seems after all the only true and lasting blessing that man can enjoy. But I think he that works only in the future has not the whole of the will of the Creator in his mind, not to say that those that follow the teachings of the scriptures alone are not doing their duty. I know full well that you have hoped in my early childhood that I might be one of ‘the speaking disciples of God, and for a loving mother’s desire, it would please me much to follow that course. However, that is not my calling.”

Your affec. Son

Source: Nate Sanders, July 2007

Letter from an unidentified Union soldier of the 9th Indiana Infantry, Company K.

Undated letter reads in part

“I received orders early in the morning to cook three days rations and prepare for marching. There is considerable sickness in the army here. But no more or hardly as much as would naturally be expected. I am sitting under a little bower that McNeal, Himman and I have fixed up for our special comfort and can see the burying ground that is used by several Regiments, and I can see the boys now digging two graves, and I guess there average one burial a day. It is a solemn right to witness, a burial in the army. The burying ground is only a few rods from our camp and we can see or hear every one. The first that we hear is slow and plaintive tones of the martial bands then the slow and measured tread of a long line of soldiers and next we can see them winding their way through the woods. (it is all woody here) bearing the brave and honored child of Liberty and lover of his Country to his endless home, with the good Old Flag wrapped about him and then after he is laid to rest, the prayer has been made, the guard fired their farewell shot, we return to our duties and leave him with the honored dead.”

The 9th Indiana Infantry was engaged at Camp Alleghany, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone’s River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Franklin and Nashville.

Source: Nate Sanders, July 2007

Letter from Henry Lachman to his brother Eli Lachman of the 179th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company A.

Fagleysville
Aug 10th 1862

Excerpt

“Dear Brother

We often thought perhaps dear Eli is taken prisoner, perhaps died, or killed by the rebels, but God has kept you safe all the time, and do you thank him for all his kindness to you, for life preserved, for mercies given. In your letter you had about your travel, I am glad you have landed safe every time, you also had in you letter about battles and retreats therof I am very glad that even at the hardest retreat you have had a narrow escape and I hope that God will always be with you, that when ever on the battlefield, you may again return safe and I hope we see each other again in this wourld and if not I earnestly beseech the Lord that we may all meet you in heaven. If I had time I would write a long letter to you but I have not time I must therefore say write son.

Good bye dear Brother

From your beloeved Brother Henry J. Lachman.”

The 179th Pennsylvania Infantry was a nine-month regiment that served mostly to protect resources in its native state, most notably a stint guarding prisoners captured during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Eli Lachman mustered into service on 4 November 1862 and mustered out on 27 July 1863 at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Source: Nate Sanders, July 2007

letter from an unidentified Union soldier.

New Haven, Connecticut,
15 May 1864

Excerpt

“I have just come from Church and I thought I would pen you a line. I am well and enjoying good health. The Chapple (sic) is decorated in style here. Their are 20 flags, one on the pulpit and 6 on each side of the Building and the rest are scattered around, it looks very nice. I dont think much of the Preacher. He is a real Yank so are most of the People here. Well I shall impress you how I come here. I come with a lot of sick and wounded soldiers.

I consider I am very lucky Boy to get the position I have seen the Elephant as often I wished and I want to keep clear of Him now until my time is out - Grant is the man.”

Source: Nate Sanders, July 2007

William Savage (to his parents in Greenwich, CT)
10th CT Infantry

21-23 January, 1863
Excerpt:

“This is a lovely evening, the moon is nearly full and shines brightly. I do not think I ever saw the moon as bright as it is down here. We did have a communion service last Sabbath afternoon. I came forward and made public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ and received of the Sacrement with us. One man who had never before spoken in meeting, by the grace of God he was going to live differently and requested the prayers of Gods people that he might be enabled to live as he ought.”

The next evening there was a prayer meeting in St. Augustine, too. Savage went on picket and after returning the next morning, “washed and dressed and went down to Church.”

Savage had served on picket during the overnight, and was very tired. “We had the Rev. Mr. Taylor to preach for us,” he wrote. “He is the president of the Christian Commission for this department. I felt so miserably tired and sleepy that I could not give much attention.”

Source: Nate Sanders, July 2007

8th New York Heavy Artillery soldier, stationed at

Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md

12 April 1863, letter reads in part:

“Our Chaplain, De La Matyr is liked down here. If any one says to you that he ain’t much at Baltimore you just tell them for me that it is false, yes I know there are those in this regiment who do not like him, but they are composed of men who do not like any minister. I have not much patience to talk with those who stay at home, aloof from all dangers and trials incident to a soldier’s life, and criticize the actions of those who have left home and friends to serve their country. I received a letter to day from my brother, his regiment is in Va on picket duty. They have had several skirmishes with the Rebs. I heard one man killed one badly wounded. We still remain in this fort, or 8 companies of no. Co. C. We have gone to Fort McHenry two miles from here.”

Occupied by Union forces, Federal Hill contained tunnels created during a 19th century mining operation that some contend were used by Union troops to store beer and ammunition.

John Neil Mcleod
Chaplain of the 84th New York Infantry

Camp Paulding, Baltimore
9 July 1863,

Excerpt

“The mustering officer of the N.S. came here today to muster the men in, the process was solemn. First they took their names and ages, then the whole mass were ordered to take off their hats, hold up their right hands, and take the oath to bear true allegiance to the U.S. etc. The mustering officer was Capt. William Sterling, (Son of Henry Sterling of Philadelphia). He looks very well and is greatly altered for the better. Old Peter stood muster and is now a U.S. soldier. A high private of the 84th. If I detested all forms of Toryism before I detest them more now. It is easy to stay at home and grumble in a corner. But not so easy to suffer wounds, privation and death to serve a great country and cause.  Yesterday 250 of the Regt. were sent to escort 900 rebel prisoners. Alexander had command and it was a very arduous service. They were marched to Fort McHenry, and came near getting up mob in the rebellious streets of Baltimore. Ladies came out in crowds to sympathize with them, and threw all marks of indignity to the Union troops. It was night before they returned to camp.”

Source: Nate Sanders auction, July 2007

Charles S. Ramsay of the 44th Ohio Infantry Band

In part………

Camp Piatt Nov 3rd, 1861

letter reads in part:

“How I should like to be at home with you today and attend church. I have attended the meetings in camp but I do not like our chaplain. He cannot preach. There are nine of us sitting in this tent some reading others writing. some signing, others talking.”

The 44th Ohio Infantry served primarily in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Charles S. Ramsay mustered into service on 8 October 1861 and mustered out on 8 October 1862 at Covington, Kentucky.

Letter from KIA Sergeant Clifford Woods of the 62nd New York Infantry, Company E, or Anderson Zouaves

Harpers Ferry Va

Jan 23rd, 1864

A few months before Woods was killed in action at the Wilderness. 

Since I wrote the enemy have moved down in front of us some eleven thousand strong and are composed of Cavalry and mounted Infantry with some Artillery. Our Artillery was playing upon them (to use a military phrase) all day yesterday. We have been having some very cold weather here…still I never enjoyed better health in my life. I feel very grateful to you and Uncle for your kindness in offering to give me the charge of the farm this coming Summer and yet I hardly know how to answer you for I do want to study as much as I can after my term of service expires which will be on the 30th of June However, I can study through the winter and should be very much pleased to do the best I can for you on the farm until that time. Aunt Melissa, this is the holy Sabbath and how I wish I were with you away from these scenes of profanity, vulgarity, and bloodshed. ‘Our Heavenly Father give me grace and strength to resist temptations and do my whole duty in a right manner is my daily prayer‘ but oh, it is hard to do this and resist evils.

Late in 1863, the 62nd New York Infantry fought in the Mine Run campaign before heading into winter quarters. During Woods’ three years’ service, the regiment also engaged at Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, the Seven Days Battles and Gettysburg. Woods mustered into service on 3 July 1861. He was killed at the Wilderness on 6 May 1864.

Source: eBay, June 2007

Soldier’s identity:

Residence was not listed; 18 years old.

Enlisted on 5/1/1861 at New York City, NY as a Private.

On 7/3/1861 he mustered into “C” Co. NY 62nd Infantry
He was Killed on 5/6/1864 at Wilderness, VA

Promotions:
* Corpl 12/1/1861
* Sergt 1/8/1864

Intra Regimental Company Transfers:
* 8/15/1861 from company C to company E (Estimated Day)

New York

Aug 27th, 1862

Excerpted

Mr. Varker thinks that there will no drafting done but his thoughts about it did not keep me from coming. It was because it looked too much like a coward and rather than to be called a coward, I would remain even if there was danger of being drafted. It is but for nine months at any rate it is no weak cause, no disgraceful one. I am willing to give myself to my Country, that Country for which my fathers bled and if necessary let my blood be shed. It is for no disgraceful cause but it would be an honorable death to die.

There seems to be but a short distance to the Christian between the battlefield and heaven. Why then should we so dread to go? But it is a solemn subject. It is a serious matter. Many are gone unprepared and many must fall the same. Let us weigh the matter well and be not hasty. I will not lengthen on this subject. I am willing to go, willing to remain and risk the draft but if my parents are opposed I will not go and if it is their wish I will return home. If you wish me to come and if you want anything from the City, some of you had better come and I will return with you.

from William Augustus

Listed on eBay July 2007

In Camp Near Farmout Virginia

Nov 29^th 1862

114^th P.V. Zouaves de Afrique Corps H. Capt. Robinson

Dear Wife and Children (excerpt]
We are laying opposite to Frederick’s for the present waiting to shell and then storm the city at any moment, but as near as we can understand there has binn (been) an armistice (signaled?) for 30 days to see what action will be taken upon in (Congress?), then there will be peace made or there will be bloody work there after we pray to God it may be peace. May God cast His blessing upon you and the children forever. Write as soon as this comes to and remain your well wishing husband and father .

Harvey Marshall

When Quarles’ Brigade reached the Federal line on November 30th, it would not break. Many of the Confederates fell back and as they did several regiments lost their colors. Capt. George V. Kelley captured the colors of the 1st Alabama during the action. The Confederates would lose at least 20 colors at Franklin at the hands of the 23 Corps.

Section 72 Alabama has six identified 1st AL soldiers buried here (plots #61-64, 66 and 73). Section 73 Alabama has seven identified buried (plots #81-88).
There are also 1st AL soldiers buried in Sections 75, 76. In total, there are 19 known 1st AL soldiers buried at McGavock. No doubt some of these men lost their lives as the colors were captured by the 104th Ohio and Captain Kelley.

Picture credit: Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War, McCaslin, 2007: p. 241.

Resources on the 1st Alabama

• McMorries, Edward Young. History of the First Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. (Montgomery : Brown Printing Co., 1904 [reprinted, Freeport, NY : Books for Libraries Press, 1970])
• Partin, Robert. “Report of a Corporal of the Alabama First Infantry on Talk and Fighting Along Mississippi, 1862-63,” in Alabama Historical Quarterly, XX, no. 4 (Winter, 1958), 583-594
• “The pioneer banner : a Confederate camp newspaper,” in Alabama Historical Quarterly, XXIII, no. 3-4 (Fall-Winter, 1961), 211-219 [includes Co. "A" muster roll]
• Rogers, William Warren, “The Escape of Melvin Thornton from Camp Butler, Illinois,” in Alabama Historical Quarterly, XXIII, no. 3-4 (Fall-Winter, 1961), 220-230
• Rumph, Catherine Elizabeth (Hixon), “Reminiscence of Perote in Bullock,” in Alabama Historical Quarterly, XX, no. 3 (Fall, 1959), 479-522 [includes, "The History of the Perote Gurds Flag," pp. 504-508]
• Rumph, Langdon Leslie, “Letters of a teenage Confederate,” in Florida Historical Quarterly Review, XXXVIII (April 1960), 339-346
• Smith, Daniel P. Company K, First Alabama Regiment, or, three years in the Confederate service (Philadelphia : Burke & McFetridge, 1885 [reprinted, Gaithersburg, MD : Butternut Press, 1984; contains regimental muster roll])
• Thornton, Harry Innes, “Recollection of the war by a Confederate officer from California,” in Southern California Quarterly, XLV (Sept 1963), 195-218
• Thornton, Melvin, “The Escape of Melvin Thornton from Camp Butler, Illinois” in Alabama Historical Quarterly, XXIII, no. 3-4 (Fall-Winter, 1961), 220-230

Manuscript Resources

• Dent, Stouten Hubert [1st Lt., Co. "B"]. Papers, in Auburn University, Archives and Special Collections Dept., RG 86
• Parker, John M. [Co. "G"] Civil War Letters, 1861-1862 in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA, Accession #13240
• Partin, Robert. Papers [includes collected research materials], in Auburn University, Archives and Special Collections Dept., RG 448

The sun goes down early in late November in Williamson County, Tennessee. The Battle of Franklin (Nov 30, 1864) was fought mostly from 4:00 to 9:00 pm. It was a beautiful Indian Summer day - around 50 degrees that day - but the sun started setting around 4:30 in the late afternoon. By 5:30 it was dark.

The most intense fighting on the Union line and breastworks would have taken place in the evening, from 6 til 9pm. There was close hand-to-hand fighting at Franklin, especially around the Fountain Branch Carter home and his cotton gin. One can only imagine the incredible scene of desperate carnage that could be seen only as musket fire flared, temporarily giving a brief flash of fire.

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated has a picture of night fighting during a “night attack on the Federal forces under Major Bowen, Occupying Salem, Mo., by the Confederate forces under Colonel Freeman, December 11th, 1861.”

What this Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War
By Chandra Manning
Knopf, 2007

Publishers description:

A vivid, unprecedented account of why Union and Confederate soldiers identified slavery as the root of the war, how the conflict changed troops’ ideas about slavery, and what those changing ideas meant for the war and the nation.

Using soldiers’ letters, diaries, and regimental newspapers, Chandra Manning allows us to accompany soldiers—black and white, northern and southern—into camps and hospitals and on marches and battlefields to better understand their thoughts about what they were doing and why. Manning’s work reveals that Union soldiers, though evincing little sympathy for abolitionism before the war, were calling for emancipation by the second half of 1861, ahead of civilians, political leaders, and officers, and a full year before the Emancipation Proclamation. She recognizes Confederate soldiers’ primary focus on their own families, and explores how their beliefs about abolition—that it would endanger their loved ones, erase the privileges of white manhood, and destroy the very fabric of southern society—motivated even non-slaveholding Confederates to fight and compelled them to persevere through military catastrophes like Gettysburg and Atlanta, long after they grew to despise the Confederate government and disdain the southern citizenry. She makes clear that while white Union troops viewed preservation of the Union as essential to the legacy of the Revolution, over the course of the war many also came to think that in order to gain God’s favor, they and other white northerners must confront the racial prejudices that made them complicit in the sin of slavery. We see how the eventual consideration of the enlistment of black soldiers by the Confederacy eliminated any reason for many Confederate soldiers to fight; how, by 1865, black Union soldiers believed the forward racial strides made during the war would continue; and how white Union troops’ commitment to racial change, fluctuating with the progress of the war, created undreamt-of potential for change but failed to fulfill it.

About the Author

Chandra Manning, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, received an M.Phil from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and took her Ph.D. at Harvard in 2002. She has lectured in history at Harvard and taught at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Currently, she is assistant professor of history at Georgetown University and lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband and son. This is her first book.

Letter from First Lieutenant Silas Hart of the 40th Ohio Infantry, Company B.Vinings Station Ga.
July 7 1864

Hart writes of Company B’s participation in the Atlanta Campaign:

We have been having very hard times since you left and have lost a great many in sick wounded prisoners and killed. Co. B has got to be a very small Co. We have lost fourteen in killed wounded and prisoners. I suppose you have heard all who were taken prisoner and it is use less for me to name them. on the night of June 29th Converse was in command of the picket in front our regt and was killed, there is thirty two present in Co. B now. I think in about two months more we will be on our road home. We are now lying in the bank of the Chattahoochie River and the rebels shooting at us like they did at Mockasin Point. I am in hopes that there will not be any more of us hurt as we get stationed to the rear.

***************************

Silas Hart mustered into Company B on 17 September 1861 and mustered out as a First Lieutenant on 7 October 1864 at Atlanta, Georgia. The 40th Ohio was engaged at Middle Creek, Franklin, Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain.

Source: Nate Sanders online auction

George W. Williams was born in 1840 at [Leonard] Williams’ Ferry, Nacogdoches County, The Republic of Texas.

George W. Williams enlisted as a Private in the Waco Guards, Waco, Texas, on 01 October 1861. The Waco Guards and eight other companies were recruited by John Gregg to form the 7th Texas Infantry. The 7th Texas Infantry was mustered into Confederate service on 02 October 1861 in Marshall, Texas, and almost immediately removed to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The Waco Guards were assigned as Company A of the 7th Texas Infantry Regiment on 10 November 1861 at Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

George W. Williams served more than 36 months in the 7th Texas Infantry Regiment; 10 November 1861 to 30 November 1864. He was killed in action at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on 30 Nov 1864.

George W. Williams was listed as:

• age 21 when the Waco Guards was assigned as Company A of the 7th Texas Infantry
• captured at the Battle of Ft. Donelson, Tennessee, 16 Feb 1862
• imprisoned at Camp Douglas [Chicago], Illinois, circa Feb - Sept 1862
• exchanged at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 16 September 1862
• missing on 12 May 63 in Raymond, Mississippi; apparently returned to the company shortly after
• killed in action at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, 30 Nov 1864.

George W. Williams is buried in Grave 31, Section 3, McGavock Confederate Cemetery on Carnton Plantation, Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee.

While he was in service, the 7th Texas Infantry regiment participated in the following battles which had a direct impact on the course of the war and / or a decisive influence on a campaign

• Fort Donelson, Tennessee, 12 - 16 February 1862
• Raymond, Mississippi, 12 May 1863
• Jackson, Mississippi, 14 May 1863
• Chickamauga, Georgia, 19 - 20 September 1863
• Missionary Ridge [Tunnell Hill], Tennessee, 25 November 1863
  part of Battle of Chattanooga, Tennessee, 23 - 25 Nov 1863
• Ringgold Gap [Taylor's Ridge], Georgia, 27 November 1863
• Gilgal Church, Georgia, 15 June 1864
  part of Battle of Marietta, Georgia, 09 June - 03 July 1864
• Atlanta, Georgia, 21- 22 July 1864
• Jonesboro, Georgia, 31 August - 1 September 1864
• Spring Hill, Tennessee, 29 November 1864
• Franklin, Tennessee, 30 November 1864 [KIA]

Source: posting on a web site by a relative of Williams

He is buried in South Carolina section #86, plot #50 at McGavock Confederate Cemetery.

“Arthur Manigault’s Brigade endured a night of horrors. Barely after reaching the front line the unit met a ravine too deep to cross and it was forced to move around to the right. After the men swung back to the left and were finally ordered forward again, word came that Gen. Manigault had fallen dangerously wounded. Command of the Brigade fell upon Col. Newton N. Davis of the 24th Alabama, but soon he was wounded. Col. Thomas Thomas P. Shaw of the 19th Carolina was the next to be shot down. The troops, almost leaderless and stumbling around in the dark, were under fire from front and flank. “
[For Cause and For Country, Jacobson: p. 404]

Hattie was just nine years old as she flagged her mother, Carrie, the evening of November 30, 1864, as Carrie - the Good Samaritan of Franklin - tended the wounded and dying Confederate soldiers at Carnton. Carrie’s story is now immortalized in the blockbuster-selling novel by Robert Hicks, The Widow of the South.

Hattie is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery.  She married George Cowan in 1884 when she was 29.

Author and historian Eric A. Jacobson (For Cause and Country) recently made this comment:

The attack by Edward Johnson’s Division is often overlooked or forgotten, or mentioned almost as a footnote, in studies of Franklin. Sadly through the years even the division’s formation as it attacked had been mangled. By studying what information is available (unfortunately Johnson nor any of his brigade or regimental commanders ever filed reports) the proper formation of Johnson’s Division is now known with near certainty. Like Brown’s Division, Johnson’s Division had four brigades and moved forward with a two brigade front and two in reserve. On the right front was Zachariah Deas; on the left was Jacob Sharp. In reserve was William Brantley on the left; Arthur Maniagult on the right.

As the division advanced Brantley was moved to the left front, giving Johnson a three brigade front. A similar effort was made to move Manigault to the left front, but everything fell apart before that happened. As a result Brantley was horribly exposed on his left flank (it was effectively up in the air) and his men suffered grievous casualties. His brigade alone absorbed forty percent of the division’s total casualties.

Manigault’s Brigade suffered the fewest casualties in the division, but may have had the most difficult time maneuvering. Manigault’s men were being shifted under fire and well placed bullets took out the brigade’s three ranking commanders. In the darkness and confusion, and with the rest of the division being pounded, there was little Manigault’s men could so.

Interesting to note that Henry Clayton, whose division was formed up and ready to attack following Johnson, but was subsequently ordered not to, said “night mercifully interposed to save us from the terrible scourge which our brave companions had suffered.”

The McGavock Confederate Cemetery: A Revised and Updated Compilation
Eric A. Jacobson, 2007

Book description:

A book detailing the complex story of the McGavock Confederate Cemetery is long overdue. The manner in which the cemetery was organized and maintained by private means has a much broader scope than ever before realized. The facts presented are remarkable, allowing the reader to witness firsthand how the cemetery became such an integral part of Civil War history. Life is breathed into the shadows of the cemetery’s past. Additionally, the names of the Confederate soldiers buried there are known to only a very few and this book allows the reader to learn just who those men were. Never before has such an accurate compilation been published. Historians and genealogists will find this book a much-needed addition to Civil War literature. Modern-day descendants of those buried in the cemetery will find the book invaluable. Essential to anyone studying the Battle of Franklin.

Author’s web site

William Martin fought for the 65th Georgia Infantry, Company G, in the Gist Brigade. Martin is buried in the Georgia Section #80 at McGavock Confederate Cemetery, plot #53.

Writing about the 65th Georgia at Franklin, Jacobson says:

“Captain William G. Foster of the 65th Georgia managed to get his regiment’s flag on top of the enemy’s works, but the staff was shot in two and the banner fell to the earth.. Foster determinedly picked it up and battled on. A participant said it was the most desperate fighting imaginable… Lt. Col. Isaac Sherwood of the 11th Ohio faced the storm and remembered vividly how the line to his left was broken and the troops there were forced back in confusion [For Cause and For Country; p. 332].

Some Confederates managed to survive the bloodbath at Franklin being captured.  The two soldiers on the left prisoners of war casualties at Franklin.

L/R are Charles H. Bailey (49th TN), Edmond R. Read (49th TN), and Charles D. Shanklin (23rd TN, did not fight at Franklin).

The 49th TN had 129 effective fighting men at Franklin. 20 were killed, 36 wounded and 36 were missing (either killed or captured).  At least eight identified 49th boys rest in McGavock.  The 49th TN was part of Quarles’ Brigade.

Picture credit: Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Tennessee in the Civil War, McCaslin, 2007: p. 242.

New York

Aug 27th, 1862

Excerpted

Mr. Varker thinks that there will no drafting done but his thoughts about it did not keep me from coming. It was because it looked too much like a coward and rather than to be called a coward, I would remain even if there was danger of being drafted. It is but for nine months at any rate it is no weak cause, no disgraceful one. I am willing to give myself to my Country, that Country for which my fathers bled and if necessary let my blood be shed. It is for no disgraceful cause but it would be an honorable death to die.

There seems to be but a short distance to the Christian between the battlefield and heaven. Why then should we so dread to go? But it is a solemn subject. It is a serious matter. Many are gone unprepared and many must fall the same. Let us weigh the matter well and be not hasty. I will not lengthen on this subject. I am willing to go, willing to remain and risk the draft but if my parents are opposed I will not go and if it is their wish I will return home. If you wish me to come and if you want anything from the City, some of you had better come and I will return with you.

from William Augustus

I was looking for a marker in McGavock Cemetery this morning when a family came up to me to ask a question.

This was their first time at McGavock. They proudly introduced me to grand-dad, “who was 90 years old today,” Dad, Mom, and their teenage grandson who is planning on becoming a history teacher.

The mother was directly descended from Abraham Lincoln they proudly explained to me.

But what was most interesting was seeing three generations standing before me. What a treasure it must have been for that young teenage boy to walk through McGavock for the very first time with his grandfather, who was born in 1917!! Thousands of Civil War veterans were still alive when his grandfather was a teenager.

Think about that. This old man, who looked like he was in his 70s, is a living connection between Civil War veterans and a generation of young people who will probably be alive to witness the 200th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War in 2061.

If you know someone alive that is eighty years or older how about talking to them about sitting on grandpa’s lap as a young boy or girl. There’s a good chance” grandpa fought in the Civil War.”

I recently engaged a man in conversation probably in his 50s while he was visiting the McGavock Confederate Cemetery. He was by himself and told me he was from Chicago.

He was balding on top and seemed a bit perturbed.

I discovered this was his first time in Williamson County and at McGavock. Then he blurted out, “Stupid war!”

“All these boys died for nothing.”

I wanted to engage him in a discussion further but I could tell he was not in a great mood.

How sad though.

The American Civil War was not a stupid war. To generally ascribe the reason men and boys fought - on both sides - as stupid is just plain . . . well, stupid!

Try telling that to the almost 1,500 Confederate soldiers buried in McGavock Cemetery that they fought in vain. That their sacrifice didn’t matter? It mattered to William Stone of the 19th South Carolina, and William Martin of the 65th Georgia.

On the contrary. The men who fought and died during the Civil War (1861-1865) fought for many reasons; everything from States’ rights to abolish slavery, and everything in between. To simply dismiss the Civil War as “stupid” minimizes the sacrifice and honor the boys fought for on either side - Confederate or Union.

“In the latter part of June 1863, this company (Co.I) attacked about two hundred of the enemy on Col. John Overton’s farm, killed two, captured twenty whites and about one hundred wagons and teams. On the same night of the same day, at Franklin, a detachment of the company, under Capt. Perkins, captured a picket post, including the captain commanding, a Sergeant and a Corporal.”

“In trying to get South with a number of the wagons and prisoners which had been taken in the vicinity of Nashville and Franklin, the company was overtaken about the 1st of July at Pulaski, and was forced to abandon the prisoners and wagons, losing seven men captured. It was with difficulty that the company reached the south side of the Tennessee River, being so hard pressed by the enemy.”

Perkins above is Thomas F. Perkins, Jr., member of Company I, 11th TN Cavalry. He was from Williamson County, TN.
Williamson County Historical Society Journal, #28 (1997)pp. 86. The text was written by J.B. Lindsey in Military Annals of Tennessee: Confederate.
[Company I, 11th TN Cavalry)

Image credit: The Williamson County Historical Society.

Williamson County Historical Society Journal, #28 (1997)pp. 86. The text was written by J.B. Lindsey in Military Annals of Tennessee: Confederate.

In “July, 1862, armed with eleven shot-guns and about as many pistols all told, this company [Company I, 11th TN Cavalry), under command of Capt. Perkins [Thomas F. Perkins Jr.,] at Brentwood attacked a company of Federal cavalry of eighty men-guarding a foraging-train of thirty wagons, loaded with corn and meat taken from the citizens of that neighborhood - killed eight of the enemy (Federals), captured the Captain (Garret) and seventeen of his men. In this action Lieut. Kirby and three of Perkins’s company were wounded. Perkins’ company burned the wagons and carried off about one-hundred and fifty mules. A few days later afterward [7/17??] Perkins’s company, on the Charlotte pike near Nashville, surrounded and captured a Federal picket post, killing two of the Federals and capturing seven. A.M. Davidson, the pilot, was mortally wounded.”

Image credit: The Williamson County Historical Society.

Mark Twain once said something to this effect, “It ain’t that we know so much. It’s that we know so much that isn’t true.” Case in point . . .

I was sitting inside the Carnton giftshop talking to author and historian Eric A. Jacobson today (6/30/07). We were “talking shop” about the Confederate dead buried in the McGavock Cemetery.

In walked a woman who proceeded to buy her ticket to tour the Carnton home. She overheard our conversation and then remarked to the effect that, “It’s a shame all those boys were buried in mass graves.” Her point was no one knew who the real names of the boys are in the cemetery because she knew for a fact - she read it in a book and on the Internet - that all the soldiers were buried in mass graves.

“Not here!” replied Eric in a kind but firm resolve, trying to penetrate through the dark cloud of ignorance permeating her grey matter. “They weren’t here at Franklin,” referring to the nearly 800 identified young men and boys buried in the McGavock Confederate Cemetery just a 100 yards away from the Carnton gift shop.

The funny thing is that she was insistent and was totally unaware that she was lecturing all of us, including most notably, Eric Jacobson (right), who recently wrote the definitive book on the McGavock Cemetery. It was evem more comical in that Eric’s book - The McGavock Confederate Cemetery (2007) - was prominently displayed right in front of this woman. All she had to do was open up the book and read the names for herself.

Ignorance is not only bliss, it’s also fodder for a blog post.

It was all for a humorous exchange.

Did Eric tell her who he was? No.

But I did ask her what book she got it out of. “Oh”, she said, “that book!” Pointing to a copy of Robert Hicks’ Widow of the South on the table.

Nuff said.

Picture source: Eric spoke at the 2007 Franklin’s Charge at the Cool Springs Marriott.