You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February, 2008.
“The first thing in the morning is drill, then drill, then drill again. Then drill, drill, a little more drill. Then drill, and lastly drill. Between drills, we drill and sometimes stop to eat a little and have roll call.”
- A Northern soldier
Cited in Soldiers Blue and Gray, Robertson: p. 48.
News about the capture of Nashville in the NY Times.
[Mercury, March 9, 1864]
Jacksonville, Fla., Feb.25, 1864
Messrs. Editors: I am pained to inform you that Corporal James H. Gooding was killed in battle on the 20th inst. at Olustee Station. He was one of the Color Corporals and was with the colors at the time. So great was the rout of our troops that we left nearly all our dead and wounded on the field. The fight lasted four hours. We were badly beaten that night, and the next day we kept falling back, until we reached Jacksonville. The fifty-fourth did honor to themselves and our city. All concede that no regiment fought like it.
James H. Buchanan, of New Befford, was killed; and Sergeant Wharton A. Williams, also of our city, was wounded in the hand. Many others of Co. C were wounded; but none of them from our city.
The regiment is pleased to learn that the bill to pay them $13 per month passed.
The total loss of the regiment, I am unable to give you at this time. All we want now is more troops; with them we would go forward again and drive the rebels from the State.
Your friend/James W. Grace/Captain Fifty-Fourth Regiment
*********************************************
Corporal James Gooding was not killed at Olustee, but only wounded in the thigh. However, he was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville. It was there, on July 19, 1864, that he died.
Corporal James Henry Gooding, 54th Massachussetts, was a soldier-reporter who reported events to the citizens of New Bedford, MA.
John Ransom’s Andersonville Diary/Life Inside the Civil War’s Most Infamous Prison,
by John Ransom
Andersonville: The Last Depot (Civil War America), by William Marvel
Web sites:
February 25, 1864
“If the cotton states wish to form an independent nation, they have a clear moral right to do so.”
- Horace Greeley, editorial, February 23, 1861, The New York Tribune
Five days earlier, Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederate States of America.
The Surrender of Nashville - An important rumor . . .
Interesting article about how some blacks from Green River country (Kentucky) took advantage of fleeing back home after Rebel troops impressed them to help with Donelson.
“DEATH CLAIMS A GOOD WOMAN”
February 22, 2008, Marks the 103rd Anniversary of Carrie McGavock’s Death
Franklin, TN … February 22nd, 2008 marks the 103rd anniversary of Carrie McGavock’s death. Known best for her “unwavering loyalty to the Confederate cause, both in war and in peace,” and also for her caring heart and devotion to the Presbyterian Church, Carrie’s death was a loss for her county and her country.
The funeral was held February 23, 1905 at Historic Carnton Plantation. She passed away without suffering with family surrounding her. She was 76. Many family members and friends gathered to honor the woman who during the bloody Battle of Franklin had her home converted to a Confederate field hospital.
The battle which left thousands of soldiers wounded, dead, and missing changed this Carrie to an advocate for the dead. She inspired the movement of roughly 1,500 buried bodies to the private cemetery on her property. Today, it is the largest privately owned Confederate cemetery in the nation.
McGavock kept a small journal containing the names of those buried at Carnton. It has served as a research tool for those looking for fallen soldiers for generations. Still today, visitors come to the cemetery to visit the grave of fallen relatives from long ago generations.
“Carrie McGavock was an ordinary woman thrown into extraordinary times, one who stepped up to the plate with extraordinary valor. She is the centerpiece of Robert Hicks’ international bestseller, Widow of the South,” said Angela Calhoun, executive director of Carnton Plantation.
Calhoun said Carnton will hold no special ceremonies or services on the anniversary of her death though the mirrors in the “Best Parlor” will be draped with black fabric to signify the loss of her life.
“We do expect increased visitors that day, however. Williamson County residents and visitors from across the nation will likely come here to honor the memory of this brave woman, the mistress of a home and the chief operating officer of the hospital it became,” Calhoun said.
Historic Carnton Plantation is a private, non-profit historic site located in Franklin, Tennessee. Today the site consists of 48 of the original 1,400 acres and includes the restored antebellum home, a recreated one-acre 1847 garden, slave quarters, smokehouse, springhouse, and the adjacent Confederate and family cemetery.
We invite the public to come and honor Carrie McGavock on the anniversary of her death.
For More Information contact: Joanna Stephens (Joanna@carnton.org) or Eric Jacobson (Eric@carnton.org) or (615) 794.0903
******************************************************
Source: Official Carnton Plantation news release
Contrary to popular Northern belief, the average Southerner was not fighting for slavery. Owning slaves, and profiting from their labor, were attributes only of the upper classes who constituted a very small percentage of the South’s population. Most Confederate soldiers were farmers or laborers who took musket in hand to defend their homeland.”
James I. Robertson, Jr. Soldiers in Blue and Gray: p. 9.
[The following text is courtesy of Friends of the Hunley]
February 17th is a red-letter day for Friends of the Hunley. Exactly 144 years ago today, maritime history changed forever.
Eight men boarded an experimental vessel and accomplished something the world had never seen: the Hunley became the first combat submarine to sink an enemy ship — a feat that would not be repeated until World War I, a half a century later.
The submarine’s historic achievement may not have been possible without the determination and faith of Lt. George Dixon, a young charismatic officer who had a vision for the Hunley. During earlier trial runs, the Hunley had fatally sunk twice, and the Confederate government took it out of commission, concluding the experiment was more dangerous to them than to the enemy.
Dixon refused to give up. He believed the submarine could be an effective weapon and convinced the Confederate command to give the Hunley another chance, with him at the helm. Then, on February 17th, 1864, Dixon and his volunteer crew navigated the Hunley onto the pages of world history. On this special day, we offer an exclusive member update, with photographs of one of the Hunley project’s most recently conserved artifacts. The silver suspender clasp (pictured on the right before and after preservation) was found with Dixon’s remains. Scientists discovered the clasp — like Dixon’s life-saving gold coin — was engraved with his initials: G. E. D.
Thanks to you, the Hunley’s amazing story of courage, innovation and technological achievement is being preserved and will be told for generations to come. On this important anniversary, we want to thank you once again for joining us on this historic journey.
Sincerely,
|
According to the Adjutant General’s Regimental history report of the 48th Illinois involvement at Ft. Donelson:
“February 15, was in position by the side of the Eleventh and Twentieth. The rattle of musketry, on the right, was incessant, and gradually approached the left, where the Forty-eighth was stationed, on the brow of the hill, and it was soon fiercely engaged. The enemy were twice repulsed from the front of the Forty-eighth, but they finally succeeded in turning the right of our line, and the Regiment was compelled to retire and form a new line, where the enemy was again repulsed, and he retired within the works. The Regiment lost, this day, forty killed and wounded. Among the killed was the gallant, daring and courteous Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Smith.”
Fort Donelson
Dover Tennessee
February 27, 1862
[From an Illinois Union soldier in the Wallace 3rd Brigade],
Editors note: this Union soldier was probably a member of the 20th or 48th Illinois Infantry.
On the 8th, inst we received the news of the surrender of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, and also received orders to move from (Cape Girardeau?) immediately.
Accordingly we embarked on the Steamer Gladiator at 4 o’clock pm of the 8th, and were soon on our way down the Mississippi arriving at Cairo [ILL] at 2am of the 9th when we took the Cario up to Paducah, Ky where we arrived at 10am and stopped for one hour. Here we found but few soldiers, the rest having gone to Fort Henry, Tenn.
We took the Tennessee River and arrived at Fort Henry at 10pm and disembarked at 9am on the 10th. I took a stroll around the late Rebel fort which was one of the strongest and best armed forts I have seen during the campaign, but it’s occupants could not stand the shot and shell that were thrown with such effect from our gunboats.
They must have lost many more than were reported to have been, for we found some twenty bodies that had been thrown into the water inside of the fort and covered up with sand bags. They had some twenty guns well mounted and plenty of ammunition. One of their guns was a 128 pound Dahlgren, and one a 32 pound rifled cannon the latter of which was burst during the action.
At 4pm of the 11th we started out with two days rations for Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River a distance of 15 miles. After going 4 miles we encamped for the night and at daylight we started again in the direction of the enemy arriving within 2 1/2 miles of the fort, we were drawn up in line of battle when we heard firing in the advance which proved to be skrimmishing between the advance guard and the pickets of the enemy the latter were soon drove in with a total of five killed and several wounded.
We came in sight of their camp outside of the fort at sundown and cast a few shells among them which drove them in confusion into the trenches. We soon surrounded their works at a distance of 1/2 mile and lay on our arms to await the approach of daylight to commence the attack.
At an early hour our guns opened up on the enemy and we were occasionally answered by a shell from their batteries. Our force was some 40,000 thousand strong and hourly increasing.
At eleven am (the 13th) Col. Oglesby [8th Illinois] with his Brigade [1st] was ordered to take a redoubt and batteries which were supposed to be vacated by the enemy but he refused to do so, and Col. [William R.] Morrison [3rd brigade, led the 17th and 49th Illinois at Donelson] with the 2nd Brigade (ours) was assigned the task.
Editors note: The 2nd brigade was led by W.H.L. Wallace (also Colonel of the 11th ILL). Comprised of the following regiments: 11th, 20th, 45th, 48th Illinois Infantries. Battery B & D artillery, and 4th Illinois Cavalry.
We moved forward through the woods to within 100 yards of the works when we received a murderous crossfire of Artillery & musketing and the engagement had commenced. We again moved foward and held our position until ordered three times to fall back, which we did with reluctance after Col. Morrison was carried wounded from the field.
The enemy was within their works, with their front so effectually blockaded that it was impossible for us to approach them in line or we would have taken the redout at the point of the bayonet. But Gen. Grant seeing our situation ordered us to fall back which we did in good order.
The loss of our Regt. in this charge was 15 killed and 80 wounded, & in our Co. 4 killed and 15 wounded, several of whom were mortally. We brought off our dead and wounded many of whom were found within 50 yards of the enemy, but the dead of other companies were left on the field.
*******************************************
Note: In Feb 1862, Grant ordered 30,000 men including Col Oglesby who led the 8th Ill and five other regiments, on to take Fort Donelson. The Federals quickly drove back the Rebel pickets, but the Rebs were now entrenched behind breastworks and ditches. The 8th with its sister regiments with artillery support attacked the redoubts, but were bloodied and repulsed. That night it snowed and the men were without cover and suffered terribly in the weather. But, by Feb 15th the fort was surrounded and it was only a matter of time for the Rebs.
********************************************
Casualties at Donelson:
11th Illinois - Fort Donelson; February 12th, 13th and 14th, occupied in investing that place; 15th, heavily engaged with the enemy about five hours, losing 329 killed, wounded and missing, out of about 500 engaged, of whom 72 were killed and 182 wounded.
20th Illinois, at Donelson in mid February had 19 killed and 4 wounded (at least according to CWD).
45th Illinois, at Fort Donelson it was sent to the relief of the 49th Ill. infantry, which was engaged close up to the enemy’s works and received its “baptism of fire.” The regiment bore its full share of the three days, fight at Donelson, though its loss was small, only 2 killed and 26 wounded.
48th Illinois, At Fort Donelson, in connection with the 17th and 49th Ill., it charged the enemy’s works, but was repulsed with a severe loss, and was under fire during the following day, losing a few men wounded. During the third and last day of the battle it was fiercely engaged and lost 40 in killed and wounded.
According to the Adjutant General’s Regimental history report of the 48th involvement at Donelson:
“February 15, was in position by the side of the Eleventh and Twentieth. The rattle of musketry, on the right, was incessant, and gradually approached the left, where the Forty-eighth was stationed, on the brow of the hill, and it was soon fiercely engaged. The enemy were twice repulsed from the front of the Forty-eighth, but they finally succeeded in turning the right of our line, and the Regiment was compelled to retire and form a new line, where the enemy was again repulsed, and he retired within the works. The Regiment lost, this day, forty killed and wounded. Among the killed was the gallant, daring and courteous Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Smith.”
Here is a small surgeon’s kit that belonged to and was used by John H. Lyon’s, a surgeon with the 6th Texas Infantry (CS). There were at least seven surgeons that served with the 6th Texas.
The 6th Texas fought, among other places, at Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, and the Battles of Franklin and Nashville.
At Chickamauga, the 6th TX fought with the 10th and 15th TX Infantries. “Our whole loss was 20 killed, 95 wounded, and 28 missing.”
The following men were wounded at Franklin (11/30/64) and may have been tended to by Lyon’s:
- J.F. McGilton, severely wounded in right leg, amputated
- Steven E. Rice, was captured five times during the war; was a Captain
- John Stevenson, severe wound in right elbow
In July 1863, the 6th Texas was assigned to Major General Pat Cleburne’s Division of the Army of Tennessee, Granbury’s Brigade.
Here are some pictures of the kit. It is part of the Kraig McNutt Civil War Collection.
I’m almost finished reading Wiley Sword’s new book - Courage Under Fire: Profiles in Bravery from the Battlefields of the Civil War. I have really enjoyed it. He focuses on the subject of courage (or lack thereof) during the Civil War on the part of the common soldier, and even some officers and Generals. He equally gives treatment to northern and southern stories. His personal collection of Civil War letters is the main resource he draws from for many of the letters he profiles, which only makes me salivate, wishing I owned a tenth of the quality of letters he does.
For those interested in or from the middle Tennessee area (i.e., Nashville, Franklin, Spring Hill, etc.,) one will find many examples from this book to read about.
The CWG gives this a hearty 4.5 stars (out of five) for Courage Under Fire.
From the book description:
Through diaries and letter written on the battlefield, in camps, and on the deathbeds of soldiers from north and south, Wiley Sword, writes about more than the Civil War. He writes of the complex working of a soldier’s mind coming to grips with life and death in a time when his country was at war with itself. On Aug. 3, 1864, Illinois Lieutenant Frank Curtiss was ordered by his commander to take the 127th Illinois Infantry into a charge of the fortified Rebel lines. He knew certain death was in store for him and his men. He also knew little tactical superiority would be gained for lives lost and refused to do it. Confederate Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne, one of the South’s greatest military tacticians, left diaries showing he was striving to refine his methods to save lives while winning battles. And then there is the Rhode Island Regiment’s Major Sullivan Ballou who, in 1861 on the eve of the battle of Bull Run who wrote of courage and dedication to his cause. Wiley Sword constructs a picture of the military mind that still resonates in today’s wars.
The south had 480,000 men and the north had 861,000 fighting men in early 1864.*
By early 1864 the southern-rebel war machine was grinding to a slow drip in terms of availability of eligible fighting men. Thus, the losses of the Army of Tennessee during the summer of 1864 and then Hood’s Tennessee campaign (fall/winter 1864) were irrecoverable and irreplaceable to Jefferson Davis and the Confederate States.
*Source: Thomas L. Livermore, Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America (1900); repr., Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1957), 45, 47, 48.
The following letter was auctioned on eBay (Feb 2007). As listed, the seller did not know the identity of the soldier writing. I figured out it was Lewis W. Campbell of the 11th Maine Infantry. His identity was verified by comparing names of people mentioned in the letter with records on Civil War Data.
Campbell was 21 years old when he enlisted 8/11/62 as a private. His residence was listed as Machias, Maine. He mustered out 2/2/66. His record indicates he was sick and in a hospital in Yorktown, VA, sometime in 1862. He was wounded 8/16/64 in Deep Bottom Run, VA. Campbell was promoted to sergeant in 1863, which was his rank at the time of this letter (2/10/64). On 4/17/65 he was promoted to 2nd Lt. and transferred from Company B to Company A.
In February 1864, Campbell’s regiment (the 11th ME) was part of The Department of the South, Northern District (Corps), Morris Island Division, 1st Brigade.
In the letter he mentions his regiment has only had two men killed since engaging at Fort Morris. Indeed, my research shows they were Horace F. Albee from East Machias, Maine; and Bradley L. Kimball from Hermon, Maine. Albee was a member of Company C., and was killed 12/8/63. Kimball was a member of Company E.
In the letter he mentions Captain Baldwin & Capt Mudgett. Baldwin is Charles Pierce Baldwin of New Sharon, ME; who was 26 years old when he enlisted on 9/8/62 as Captain. Baldwin went on to become a Briagdier-General and a Lt. Col. His brother was Brigadier-General William H. Baldwin of the 83rd Ohio. Baldwin’s picture is right.
Captain Madgett is most certainly Captain Albert G. Mudgett who was 34 years old when he enlisted as a Captain from Newburg, ME., in 1861.
Campbell refers to the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Infantry. The 3rd was part of the 3rd Battallion assigned to Morris Island from January to April 1864.
He mentions G. Strahan who “commanded the fort” [Fort Strong]. This is Charles G. Strahan who was from Providence, R.I., when he enlisted in August 1861 as a 2nd Lt. On November 15, 1863 he took command of the 3rd R.I. Heavy Artillery. He was made Captain 10/2/61.
The Official Records details the following of the 3rd R.I. Heavy Infantry and the engagement at Charleston the Winter of 1863/1864:
During the winter of 1863-4 a large part of the Regiment remained on Morris Island and was almost constantly, day and night, under fire.
SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HARBOR.-After the reduction of Sumter in October, 1863, even until the surrender of Charleston in February, 1865, several companies remained on Morris Island and manned the guns in Wagner, Chatfield, Gregg and the smaller batteries, which were equipped with 300, 200, 100 and 30 pounder Parrots and mortars, and were almost incessantly under fire in artillery contests with the forts in the harbor, Moultrie, Beauregard, Johnson and others, as also in shelling the city, firing sometimes 10,000 shot and shell a month. Men were lost, at times, almost daily. Even a synopsis of the varied and important services performed here by the Regiment, for a year and a half, would render this brief account of the history of the Regiment too extended. Such services require a separate book. During the spring and summer of 1864, the companies on Morris Island were E, F, H, I and DIP, under Lieut.-Col. Ames. Companies D, G, E and L were at Fort Pulaski, under Major Bailey. Battery A was in Florida and C in Virginia, and Co. B at Hilton Head, the headquarters of Col. Brayton, who was Chief of Artillery on the staff of Gen.Gillmore.
Source: Official Records
PAGE 320-65 S. C., FLA., AND ON THE GA. COAST. [CHAP. LIII.
[Series I. Vol. 35. Part I, Reports and Correspondence. Serial No. 65.]
Campbell also mentions Lt. L. Newcomb. This is Lemuel E. Newcomb who was 25 years old, hailing from East Machias, Maine, when he enlisted as a Sergeant into Company C, in early November 1861. Newcomb would later rise to Captain, and was wounded at Petersburg.
Cambell also mentions some men of the 11th Maine are relieving the 9th Maine as of February 1864. It appears that the 9th Maine had been at Morris Island since the previous July. Of the 9th Maine, the Union Army, Volume I, says the following about the 9th’s related activity to Charleston during this timeframe:
on June 24th went to St. Helena island as part of a force under Gen. Strong for the assault on Morris island, S. C. July 4 it went to Folly island, and on the 10th landed on Morris island, where it carried the enemy’s rifle pits in front of their works. The regiment formed a part of the assaulting forces in the attacks on Fort Wagner, July 11 and 18, and Sept. 6. Its casualties in the several assaults were over 300 men in killed, wounded and missing. The 9th continued at Black and Morris islands, S. C., until April 18, 1864.
Cambell also mentions a Major Wood. I have not been able to positively identify him in the Civil War Data records yet. My best estimate at this time is that he is referring to Charles I. Wood but that is uncertain.
Campbell refers to H. C. Adams who is identified as Henry C. Adams of Cherryfield, Maine, at the time of enlistment in 1861. Adams was a 1st Lt. in January 1864.
F. Mason (of Company B) is mentioned by Campbell. This is Fred T. Mason of Waterville, Maine. Mason was a 2nd Lt., at the time Campbell was writing.
Edward Smith of the 9th Maine is mentioned. It is uncertain who this is in the CWD database. It may be Edward M. Smith from Machias, Maine.
*******************************************************
Enlarge to 800 pixels wide
*********************************************************
Fort Strong
Morris Island
S.C.
Feb 10 1864
It has been a long time since I wrote you, for I have been so busy the most of the time that I have hardly had the time to devote to my own folks. That I wanted, for I want to write Mother as often as twice a week for I know that she worries more about me than there is any need of but I suppose that is natural. But this morning as I have a few hours that I can stop in my tent I shall try to give you some account of the 17th. Perhaps it will be interesting to you to know how the boys from down east are getting along.
We have moved quite a number of times since I joined the regiment. 13 different times I believe. So you see that we are used to moving. We left (somewhere), FLA the fifth day of Oct 1863. I landed here the 8th. The bombardment commenced the 26th of Oct & has been going on most all of the time since. Although for the last 2 or 3 weeks we have not fired a great deal.
Our Reg- has been very lucky since we came here for we have only had two men killed & 12 or 13 more wounded & have lost 7 or 8 by death. Our Reg- has numbered more for duty since we came here than for some time before. I think that it is very healthy here. But fear that it will not be this summer, for this island is something of a graveyard. After every rain storm we have a …. part out burying the bodys that wash out of the sand & in one place where we commence to dig a well we dug out a man’s boot with his foot in it.
You will see by the date of my letter that I am at Fort Strong [Formerly Fort Wagner] Companies of our Regiment came here the 23rd as Garrison … B. Captain Baldwin & Capt Madgett. There is also one co. of the 3rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery here in the fort. Of course you have had a better description of the place than I can give you. I therefore shall only say that it is the strongest & best earth work I have ever seen & everything looks neat and clean. Capt. (?) …G. Strahan of the 3rd command the Fort. He is a fine officer & is liked very much by his men. Capt. Baldwin is second in command. Leut L. Newcomb of … is attached to our Co-. * Companies of our Reg- leave the island today to relieve the 9th Maine on Black Island, while they go home on furlough. I believe that nearly all of the 9th are veterans. About 125 of our Reg- have reenlisted & I suppose will soon be furlough home. They will not let our company reenlist but if they had the chance I think every man would have done so.
Well 1/2 our time has expired & if they do by us as they promised to we shall get out next November. For that was the inducement held out that if we went into an old Regiment we should not have so long to serve. If you know how that is I wish you would inform us. We were paid off yesterday by Major Wood for the months of Nov & Dec 1863 & $20 of my wages are allotted to H.C. Adams. I wish you would tell him that I would like to know wether he has ever gotten any money from me or not. I have never heard wether my money that I allotted goes or not- Col. (?) is still in command of the first brigade & F. Mason of our company is on his staff. Leut H.C. Adams is acting Regimental (?) Master.
By the way our Reg- has got some recruits … I believe & from that number we got one in our co. they have been here about a week. I hear this morning that… a number of our recruits have the measles & one in the hospital.
Well something about our duty in the Fort. We have no night duty at all except when we are fighting. We do the guard duty during the day & are relieved at night by the picketts. Drill 2 hours a day on Artillery. Something quite new to me but I like it much. Garrison inspection twice a week & yesterday as we were paraded for inspection a shell burst over the fort & the pieces came in amongst us but fortunately no one was hurt. & but a few moments after it struck before the boys had in there arms. That’s the first one that has been thrown in to the Fort for sometime. It came from Fort Moultrie {Reb}. We have a fine view of the City of Charleston and hear there fire bells ringing most all of the time for our folks keep throwing a few shots at them & set some of their buildings on fire. By the aid of a good glass we can tell the time of day there from their clock.
Fort Sumter is 2600 yards from here & it looks ragged enough. We knocked the flag staff down a few days ago & I see now they have put up another with a new flag on it. Well it won’t stand long when we get to firing at it.
As it is nearly Drill time I must close hoping soon to hear from you. Give my respects to all ….. Capt Longfellow Co Adams … and tell me who is the next President. The soldiers all say Uncle Abe is the man. I believe that Edward Smith is in the 9th with me but I have not seen him yet. I have seen James Hathaway several times since he came out.
Major General Gillmore was here a few days ago & Admiral Dahlgren was here the 8th. They are both fine looking men.
Yours truly
Your obedient Servant
L[ewis] W Campbell
Serg … ….
Morris Island
Written on the front page of the letter sideways is this last note:
What are the prospects before us? Is the war soon to be closed up or will it live many years longer. I would like to have your opinion on the subject. I suppose before this reaches you, that you will George W Schopper of Jonesboro at home on a furlough from our company.
LW Campbell
Source: eBay auction item (February 2007)
The wagon trains were devoted entirely to the transportation of ammunition and commissary and quartermaster’s stores, which had not been issued. Rations which had become company property, and the baggage of the men, when they had any, was carried by the men themselves. If, as was sometimes the case, three days rations were issued at one time and the troops ordered to cook them and be prepared to march, they did cook them, and eat them if possible, so as to avoid the labor of carrying them. It was not such an undertaking either, to eat three days rations in one, as frequently none had been issued for more than a day, and when issued were cut down one half.
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. II. Richmond, Virginia, September, 1876. No. 3.
Detailed Minutiae Of Soldier Life In The Army Of Northern Virginia.
Harper’s Weekly, February 6, 1864, The Wagon Train
1850 - Largest plantations (by slaves) in Beaufort region.
1. Henry Middleton (d. 1846) had 686 slaves working on a rice plantation in Beaufort-Prince William, but he was ranked 7th overall in SC in 1850.
2. Joseph Blake (d. 1865) had 610 slaves on a rice plantation in Beaufort-Prince William, ranking number eight in all of SC for 1850.
3. Nathaniel Heyward (d. 1851) had 286 slaves on a rice plantation; Beaufort-Prince William. He ranked number one for total slaves in SC for 1850 too.
The Top Ten cash crops in 1850 in South Carolina were:
1. Rice (seven of top ten)
2. Cotton (two)
3. Sugar (1)
Middleton Place, July 2006.
1860 - Largest plantations (by slaves) in Beaufort region.
1. Joseph Blake (d 1865) had two plantations; one in Prince William and one in St. Peter; He had 545 rice slaves in the former and 74 in the later. He was the the largest in South Carolina overall.
2. John I. Middleton (heir to Henry’s estate; d. 1877) had two plantations by then too. He had 520 rice slaves in Prince-William. He was the 2nd largest planter in South Carolina overall.
3. William H. Heyward (d. 1889, was heir to his father Nathaniel) had 386 rice slaves in Prince William; and another 136 in St. Peter. He was the 4th largest planter in all of South Carolina.
Source: Masters of the Big House, Kauffman.
“When rations got short and were getting shorter, it became necessary to dismiss the darkey servants. Some, however, became company servants, instead of private institutions, and held out faithfully to the end, cooking the rations away in the rear, and at the risk of life carrying them to the line of battle to be devoured with voracity by their “young mahsters.”
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. II. Richmond, Virginia, September, 1876. No. 3.
Detailed Minutiae Of Soldier Life In The Army Of Northern Virginia.
Jackson sat for the portrait below in 1855 while he was a teacher at the Virginia Military Institute, living in Lexington, Virginia.
Let us consider the effect of camp life upon a pure and noble boy; and to make the picture complete, let us go to his home and witness the parting.
The boy is clothed as a soldier. His pockets and his haversack are stored with little conveniences made by the loving hands of mother, sister and sweetheart, and the sad yet proud hour has arrived. Sisters, smiling through their tears, filled with commingled pride and sorrow, kiss and embrace their great hero.
The mother, with calm heroism suppressing her tender maternal grief, impresses upon his lips a fervent, never to be forgotten kiss, presses him to her heart, and resigns him to God, his country and his honor.
The father, last to part, presses his hand, gazes with ineffable love into his bright eyes, and fearing to trust his feelings for a more lengthy farewell, says, ‘Good bye, my boy; God bless you, be a man’ Let those scoff who will; but let them know that such a parting is itself a new and wonderful power, a soul enlarging, purifying and elevating power, worth the danger, toil and suffering of the soldier. The sister’s tears, the father’s words, the mother’s kiss, planted in the memory of that boy will surely bring forth fruit beautiful as a mother’s love.
As he journeys to the camp, how dear do all at home become ! Oh ! what holy tears he sheds! His heart, how tender! Then, as he nears the line, and sees for the first time the realities of war, the passing sick and weary, and the wounded and bloody dead, his soldier spirit is born; he smiles, his chest expands, his eyes brighten, his heart swells with pride; he hurries on, and soon stands in the magic circle around the glowing fire, the admired and loved pet of a dozen true hearts. Is he happy? Aye!
Never before has he felt such glorious, swelling, panting joy. He’s a soldier now! He is put on guard. No longer the object of care and solicitude, he stands in the solitude of the night, himself a guardian of those who sleep.
Courage is his now. He feels he is trusted as a man, and is ready at once nobly to perish in the defence of his comrades.
He marches. Dare he murmur or complain? No; the eyes of all are upon him, and endurance grows silently, till pain and weariness are familiar, and cheerfully borne.
At home he would be pitied and petted; but now he must endure, or have the contempt of the strong spirits around him.
He is hungry. So are others; and he must not only bear the privation, but he must divide his pitiful meal when he gets it with his comrades; and so generosity strikes down selfishness. In a thousand ways he is tried, and that by sharp critics. His smallest faults are necessarily apparent, for, in the varying conditions of the soldier, every quality is put to the test. If he shows the least cowardice he is undone. His courage must never fail. He must be manly and independent, or he will be told he’s a baby, ridiculed, teased and despised. When war assumes her serious dress, he sees the helplessness of women and children, he hears their piteous appeals, and chivalry burns him till he does his utmost of sacrifice and effort to protect and comfort and cheer them.
It is a mistake to suppose that the older men in the army encouraged vulgarity and obscenity in the young recruit; for even those who themselves indulged in these would frown on the first show of them in a boy, and without hesitation put him down mercilessly. No parent could watch a boy as closely as his messmates did and could, because they saw him at all hours of the day and night, dependent on himself alone: and were merciless critics, who demanded more of their protoge than they were willing to submit to themselves.
The young soldier’s piety had to perish ignominiously, or else assume a boldness and strength which nothing else could so se well impart as the temptations, sneers and dangers of the army. Religion had to be bold, practical and courageous, or die.
In the army the young man learned to value men for what they were, and not on account of education, wealth or station and so his attachments when formed were sincere and durable, and he learned what constitutes a man, and a desirable and reliable friend. The stern demands upon the boy, and the unrelenting criticisms of the mess, soon bring to mind the gentle forbearance, and kind remonstrance, and loving counsels of parents and homefolks, and while he thinks, he weeps, and loves, and reverences, and yearns after the things against which he once strove and under which he chafed and complained.
Home, father, mother, sister — oh! how dear. Himself how contemptible! ever to have felt cold and indifferent to such love. Then, how vividly he recalls the warm pressure of his mother’s lips on the forehead of her boy. How he loves his mother! See him as he fills his pipe from the silk embroidered bag. There is his name embroidered carefully, beautifully by his sisters hand. Does he forget her? Does he not now love her more sincerely and truly and tenderly than ever? Could he love her quite as much had he never parted, never longed to see her and could not; never been uncertain if she was safe, never felt she might be homeless, helpless, insulted, a refugee from home? Can he ever now look on a little girl and not treat her kindly, gently and lovingly — remembering his sister? A boy having ordinary natural goodness, and the home supports described, and the constant watching of men, ready to criticise, could but improve. The least exhibition of selfishness, cowardice, vulgarity, dishonesty, or meanness of any kind, brought down the dislike of every man upon him, and persistence in any one disreputable practice, or habitual laziness and worthlessness, resulted in complete ostracism loneliness and misery; while on the other hand he might, by good behavior and genuine generosity and courage, secure unbounded love and sincere respect from all. Visits home, after prolonged absence and danger, open to the young soldier new treasures — new, because, though possessed always, never before felt and realized.
The affection once seen only in every day attention, as he reaches home, breaks out in unrestrained vehemence. The warm embrace of the hitherto dignified father, the ecstatic pleasure beaming in the mother’s eye, the proud welcome of the sister, and the wild enthusiasm even of the old black mammy, crowd on him the knowledge of their love and make him braver, and stronger, and nobler. He’s a hero from that hour! Death for these how easy!! The dangers of the battle field, and the demands upon his energy, strength and courage, not only strengthen, but almost create new faculties of mind and heart. The death, sudden and terrible, of those dear to him, and the imperative necessity of standing to his duty while the wounded cry and groan, and while his heart yearns after them to help them, and the terrible thirst, and hunger, and heat, and weariness — all these teach a boy self denial, attachment to duty, and the value of peace and safety; and instead of hardening him, as some suppose they do, make him to pity and love even the enemy of his country who bleeds and dies for his country.
The acquirement of subordination certainly is a useful one, and that the soldier perforce has. And that not in an abject, cringing way, but as realizing the necessity of it, and seeing the result of it in the good order and consequent effectiveness and success of the army as a whole, but more particularly of his own company and detachment.
And if the soldier rises to office, the responsibility of command, attention to detail and minutiae, the critical eyes of his subordinates, and the demands of his superiors, all withdraw him from the enticements of vice, and mould him into a solid, substantial character, both capable and willing to meet and overcome difficulties.
The effect of outdoor life on the physical constitution is undoubtedly good, and as the physical improves, the mental is improved; and as the mind is enlightened, the spirit is enabled to grasp the purifying truths of the gospel, and thus the whole man is benefited.
Who can calculate the benefit derived from the contemplation of the beautiful in nature, as the soldier sees? Mountains and valleys, dreary wastes and verdant fields, rivers, sequestered homes, stirred by the sounds of war; quiet, sleepy villages, as they lay in the morning light, doomed to the flames at evening: this enlarges the mind, and stores it with a panorama whose pictures he may pass before his mental vision with quiet pleasure year after year for a lifetime.
War is horrible, but still it is in a sense a privilege to have lived in time of war. The emotions are never so stirred as then. Imagination takes her highest flights, poetry blazes, song stirs the soul, and every noble attribute is brought into full play.
It does seem that the production of one Lee and one Jackson is worth much blood and treasure, and the building of a noble character all the toil and sacrifice of war. The camp fires of the Army of Northern Virginia were not places of revelry and debauchery. They often exhibited gentle scenes of love and humanity, and the purest sentiments and gentlest feelings of man were there admired and loved, while vice and debauch, in any, from highest to lowest, were condemned and punished more severely than they are among those who stay at home and shirk the dangers and toils of the soldier’s life. Indeed, the demoralizing effects of the late war were far more visible ‘at home’ among the skulks, and bombproofs, and suddenly diseased, than in the army.
And the demoralized men of today are not those who served in the army.
The defaulters, the renegades, the bummers and cheats, are the boys who enjoyed fat places and salaries and easy comfort while the solid, respected and reliable men of the community are those who did their duty as soldiers, and having learned to suffer in war have preferred to labor and suffer and earn rather than steal in peace.
And, strange to say, it is not those who suffered most and lost most, who fought and bled — who saw friend after friend fall, who wept the dead and buried their hopes — it is not these who now are bitter and dissatisfied, and quarrelsome and fretful, and growling and complaining — no, they are the peaceful, submissive, law abiding and order loving of the country, ready to join hands with all good men in every good work, and prove themselves as brave and good in peace as they were stubborn and unconquerable in war.
Many a weak, puny boy was returned to his parents a robust, healthy, manly man. Many a timid, helpless boy went home a brave, independent man. Many a wild, reckless boy, went home sobered, serious and trustworthy, and many whose career at home was wicked and blasphemous, went home changed in heart, with principles fixed, to comfort and sustain the old ages of those who gave them to their country, expecting not to receive them again. Men learned that life was passable and enjoyable without a roof or even a tent, to shelter from the storm — that cheerfulness was compatible with cold and hunger, and that a man without money, food or shelter, need not feel utterly hopeless, but might, by employing his wits, find something to eat where he never found it before; and feel that, like a terrapin, he might make himself at home wherever he might be. Men did actually become as independent of the imaginary ‘necessities’ as the very wild beasts. And can a man learn all this and not know better than another how to economize what he has and how to appreciate the numberless superfluities of life? Is he not made, by the knowledge he has of how little he really needs, more independent and less liable to dishonest exertions to procure a competency?
If there were any true men in the South, any brave, any noble, they were in the army. If there are good and true men in the South now, they would go into the army for similar cause. And to prove that the army demoralized, you must prove that the men who came out of it are the worst in the country today. Who will try it?
Strange as it may seem, religion flourished in the army. So great was the work of the chaplains, that whole volumes have been written to describe the religious history of the four years of war. Officers who were ungodly men found themselves restrained alike by the grandeur of the piety of the great chiefs and the earnestness of the humble privates around them.
Thousands embraced the Gospel, and died triumphing over death! Instead of the degradation so dreaded, was the strange ennobling and purifying which made men despise all the things for which they ordinarily strive, and glory in the sternest hardships, the most bitter self denials and cruel suffering and death. Love for home, kindred and friends intensified, was denied the gratification of its yearnings, and made the motive for more complete surrender to the stern demands of duty. Discipline, the cold master of our enemies, never caught up with the gallant devotion of our Christian soldiers, and the science of war quailed before the majesty of an army singing hymns.
Hypocrisy went home to dwell with the able bodied skulkers, being too closely watched in the army and too thoroughly known to thrive. And so the camp fire often lighted the pages of the best Book, while the soldier read the orders of the Captain of his salvation.
And often did the songs of Zion ring loud and clear on the cold night air, while the muskets rattled and the guns boomed in the distance, each intensifying the significance of the other, testing the sincerity of the Christian while trying the courage of the soldier.
Stripped of all sensual allurements, and offering only self denial, patience and endurance, the Gospel took hold of the deepest and purest motives of the soldiers, won them thoroughly, and made the army as famous for its forbearance, temperance, respect for women and children, sobriety, honesty and morality, as it was for endurance and invincible courage.
Never was there an army where feeble old age received such sympathy, consideration and protection; and women, deprived of their natural protectors, fled from the advancing hosts of the enemy and found safe retreat and chivalrous protection and shelter in the lines of the Army of Northern Virginia; while children played in the camps, delighted to nestle in the arms of the roughly clad but tender hearted soldiers. Such was the behavior of the troops on the campaign in Pennsylvania, that the citizens of Gettysburg have in my presence expressed wonder and surprise at their perfect immunity from insult, violence, or even intrusion when their city was occupied by and in complete possession of the Boys in Gray.
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. I. Richmond, Virginia., February, 1876. No. 2
Camp Fires Of The Boys In Gray.
*************************
To read first-hand accounts of what life was like for the Civil War soldier read:
The Soldier’s Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War by Robert Bonner.
The Thomas Jonathan Jackson house in Lexington, VA, is the only home Thomas ever bought. He lived there with his wife Mary Anna Morrison. In 1858 Jackson hosted worship services for blacks (free and slaves) in this house.
“In Jackson’s mind, slaves were children of God placed in subordinate situations for reasons only the Creator could explain. Helping them was a missionary effort for Jackson. Their souls had to be saved. Although Jackson could not alter the social status of slaves, he could and did display Christian decency to those whose lot it was to be in bondage.”
- James I. Robertson, Stonewall Jackson, 1997: 169.
The courage and devotion of the men rose equal to every hardship and privation, and the very intensity of their sufferings became a source of merriment. Instead of growling and deserting, they laughed at their own bare feet, ragged clothes and pinched faces, and weak, hungry, cold, wet, worried with vermin and itch, dirty, with no hope of reward or rest, but each fighting on his own personal account, needing not the voice of any to urge them on, marched cheerfully to meet the well fed and warmly clad hosts of the enemy.
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. II. Richmond, Virginia, September, 1876. No. 3.
Detailed Minutiae Of Soldier Life In The Army Of Northern Virginia.
The Scribe was a wonderful fellow and very useful. He could write a two hours pass, sign the captain’s name better than the captain himself, and endorse it ‘respectfully forwarded approved,’ sign the colonel’s name after ‘respectfully forwarded approved’ and then on up to the commanding officer. And do it so well! Nobody wanted anything better. The boys had a great veneration for the scribe, and used him constantly.
Southern Historical Society Papers.
Vol. I. Richmond, Virginia., February, 1876. No. 2
Camp Fires Of The Boys In Gray.
Franklin, Tenn.,
Feb. 1, 1863.
Detachment of 3d Division, 3d Army Corps.
The advance of this detachment, two companies of the 1st East Tenn. cavalry under Lieut.-Col. J. P. Brownlow, reached Franklin at 9 p. m., and Brownlow learned that the Confederates had gone in the direction of Harpeth Shoals.
One man of his command was killed by the rear-guard of the enemy.
Source: The Union Army, Vol. 5, p.439
