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Many of the resignations at this
time were caused by the belief that the
war was virtually ended, and another
reason was that many officers felt
uneasy about their people and affairs at
home and were anxious to return and look
after them.
We were in camp at Cantonement Springs
from January 3d, 1865, until March 10th,
1865. Our time was passed very
pleasantly and comfortably. Many of the
"boys," especially the younger ones of
the officers and men, had formed the
acquaintance of young ladies in the
city. This gave .them an opportunity to
attend balls, parties and places of
amusement and make pleasant evening
calls. A number of our officers and
others from the upper counties had
brought their families to Knoxville.
These often entertained members of our
Regiment whom they knew, and afforded
them pleasant places to visit and they
also visited us at Cantonement Springs.
Many old Carter and Johnson county
friends spent a good deal of time with
us in camp and we appreciated their
society and friendship.
Among these were Dr. Wm. C. Singletary,
who was born and raised in Elizabethton
but had moved to Arkansas. Although in a
strongly rebellious country, he was a
Union man. He was conscripted and taken
into the Confederate army but being a
physician he got into the medical
department. When he got an opportunity
he left the Confederate service. He had
many friends in the Regiment and spent
the time pleasantly while with us.
Col. Stacy got leave of absence to visit
his home at Ripley, 0., on account of
the serious illness of his sister. We
were sorry to learn upon his return that
she had died.
While at Knoxville many of our Regiment
were sick from exposure on the Virginia
raid, and there were many deaths. Most
of them sleep in the beautiful National
cemetery at Knoxville beneath the dear
old flag and under the watchful care of
the Government for which they gave up
their lives.
In March, 1865, Gen. Sherman had made
his "March to the Sea." General Grant
was pounding away at Lee's Army around
Petersburg and Richmond. The Confederate
soldiers disheartened and poorly clad
after four year's of heroic fighting and
endurance had lost heart and many of
them were leaving the field, believing
all was lost but honor, and that further
resistance was only "a useless effusion
of blood;" yet many clung to their
leaders, and the leaders stood by their
honored chief with a heroism nowhere
surpassed in all the annals of history.
But it was evident at this time that the
confederate Government must soon fall to
pieces and that the cause for which the
South had battled so heroically must
soon pass into history as the "Lost
Cause."
Whether President Davis would attempt to
hold as many soldiers in the service as
possible, and dividing into small bands
engage in a guerilla warfare, as had
been threatened by the Southern press,
or whether, when forced to leave
Richmond, Mr. Davis would attempt to
join the trans-Mississippi army under
Gen. Kirby Smith with such following as
he could get and continue the war
indefinitely there was a matter of
uncertainty. Whatever his purpose might
be it was the intention of our
Government to prevent the escape of Mr.
Davis from the east of the Mississippi
and to capture him with the Confederate
Archives and Treasury at the earliest
possible moment. For this purpose among
other dispositions of the army to
prevent the escape of President Davis
and to cut off the retreat of General
Lee's army southward, which was now
inevitable, Major-General Stoneman was
assigned to the Department of East
Tennessee to collect all the cavalry
force available, again destroy the East
Tennessee and Virginia railroad in
Southwest Virginia which had been
repaired, and thence to operate in
Virginia, North and South Carolina and
Georgia, or wherever the .exigencies of
affairs, which would be determined by
the movements of Gen. Lee and President
Davis, should determine. Gen. A. C.
Gillem was now made Division Commander
with orders to assemble his forces at
Mossy Creek on the 22d of March, 1865.
This Division was composed of Miller's,
Brown's and Palmer's Brigades.
On the 21st of March our Brigade broke
camps at Knoxville and moving east
passed through Strawberry Plains, joined
the Division at Mossy Creek on the 22d.
and on the 23d the command moved to
Morristown where five day's rations and
one day's forage was issued to the
command.
On the morning of the 24th Colonel
Miller, with his Brigade, moved in the
road toward Bristol with order; to take
the north or Snapp's Ferry road at
Bull's Gap and by a rapid march to Fall
Branch to get on the railroad between
Jonesboro and Carter Depot.
The Thirteenth was still under the
command of Lieut.-Col. Stacy. Leaving
Greeneville and Jonesboro to our left we
passed through Fall Branch and on to
Carter's Depot, reaching Elizabethton on
Sunday, the 26th of March. Here the boys
had the privilege of leaving their
companies and greeting their families
and friends with the understanding they
were to join the Regiment on the
following day. They scattered in every
direction, some going to Stony Creek,
Gap Creek, Taylor Town, Valley Forge and
the Doe River Cove, and to whatever
places in that vicinity their friends
lived.
John S. Hilton, of Company G, one of our
youngest and bravest soldiers, and son
of Thomas M. Hilton, of Elizabethton,
was left at home sick and died on April
to. 1865.
Our stay with friends was of short
duration and on the 27th, about noon,
the Regiment moved up Doe river past
what is now Valley Forge, and joining
the rest of the Division at Doe River
Cove (Hampton), proceeded to Cardin's
Bluff and up the Watauga river, and
encamped near where the town of Butler
is now located on the opposite side of
the river. Here again many of our men
were in the midst of their friends and
homes and had the privilege of visiting
them.
On the 28th the command moved at 6 A.
M., crossing the Iron mountain and
marching up the Watauga river all day in
rear of the Division, reaching Boone, N.
C.
On the 29th, leaving Boone, we marched
on the Wilkesboro road, reached
Patterson's factory in the afternoon,
got rations and feed, burned the factory
and destroyed everything in the way of
subsistence and resumed our march in the
rain and kept it up until after dark,
when we went into camp. On the following
morning we moved at daylight and found
the water courses very much swollen from
the recent rains. This was a most
disagreeable day's march. The rain
continued and at the ford of the Yadkin
river the river was rising so fast that
while the front of the Regiment crossed
without difficulty the rear companies
had to swim their horses.
On the 31st we moved out on the Salem,
road eight miles and found the Yadkin
river too full to cross. The rain had
ceased and the afternoon was bright,
having the appearance of Spring.
April 1st we passed through a fine
section of country and remembered that a
year ago we were in Middle Tennessee,
and now we were in the land of pine and
tar, "of cotton seed and sandy bottom."
It was "All Fool's Day" but we had no
time for foolishness. We passed through
Jonesville, but did not see Mr.
Jones,—suppose he "had gone and runned
away." We went into camp three miles
south of this place, where we found
abundance of forage.
On the next day we returned to
Jonesville, crossed the Yadkin river,
which was very deep. There was a large
cotton factory here and lots of girls,
who flirted with the "Yankee boys." We
marched on through Dodson, not a very
pretentious village, and continued the
march all night, stopping at Mount Airy,
N. C., at daylight. Mount Airy was noted
as having been the home of the famous
Chinese twins, Eng and Chang, who after
exhibiting themselves through Europe and
this country and accumulating a large
fortune married two ladies who were
sisters, and built them an elegant home
and settled down in this little Southern
town. They were a strange freak of
Nature, being two individuals united by
a fleshy ligament extending from the
right side of the body of one of them to
the left side of the other one.
From Mount Airy Col. Miller was ordered
to detach 500 of the best mounted men of
his Brigade and proceed to Witheville,
Va., by way of Porter's ford on New
river and destroy the railroad bridge
over Reedy creek and at Max Meadows,
together with the depot of supplies at
Witheville. Col. Miller took with him
detachments from each Regiment of the
Brigade. Reaching the New river it was
found to be very much swollen from the
recent rains. A citizen who lived near
was impressed into service to pilot a
squad of our men across the river, who
built a fire on the opposite bank to
indicate the direction to take across
the ford. Col. Stacy crossed with this
first squad, leaving Adjutant Angel on
the south side to direct the men as they
came to the river to go well up on the
shoal on the south side before starting
into the river. and then direct their
courses so as to be certain to come out
below the fire on the other side. Many
of the men who had small mounts were
slow to make the venture into the river.
William Jenkins, of Company A, was
mounted on a mule and swore he would not
try to cross on it, but seeing the
others plunge in and that he would soon
be left "alone in his glory" he decided
to venture in with his donkey and got
safely across. Col. Miller's orderly got
too low, and had the Colonel not
hastened to his rescue he would have
drowned. The next morning just after
daylight the command reached Witheville,
having marched 55 miles and fed only
twice. The day was spent until well in
the afternoon tearing up the railroad
track for miles and destroying the
railroad bridge across Reedy Creek, west
of the town. About this time our pickets
were driven in and we were forced to
fall back to Witheville ,which was done
in good order. Col. Miller at first
hoped he would be able to hold his
position and retreat at night under
cover of the darkness, but the enemy was
in strong force and we were compelled to
fall back on the same road we came in on
that morning. We crossed Walker's ridge
by a circuitous route and had to hold
the enemy in check by forming on the
spurs of the ridges and fighting and
falling back alternately. We had been
fighting a largely superior force of the
enemy and had he had the fighting
qualities of other days our chances of
escape would have been slim, but this
force was demoralized and were flying
from East Tennessee and Southwest
Virginia to assist Gen. Lee in his last
struggle around Richmond and to be
present as the sequel proved at the
obsequies of the gallant army of
Northern Virginia at Appomatox.
We continued the march to Porter's ford
and recrossed the river, this time
without difficulty as the river was not
so high. After crossing the river we
went into camp fifteen miles from
Witheville and remained there until the
morning of the 6th when we resumed the
march early, halting two hours at Poplar
Camp to rest and feed, we then passed on
through Hillsville, Va. Just before •day
we went into camp, having marched
thirty-two miles since 2 P. M. the
preceding day.
The next morning Col. Miller received
orders to march towards Taylorsville,
Patrick county, Va. We marched all day
the 7th and after a short rest and feed
continued the march through the night.
During the night some of the men found
two barrels of brandy and after the
"spirits" went down the men's spirits
went up and many men and officers began
to get merry but the fun was spoiled by
Col. Stacy having the heads knocked out
of the barrels and the contents emptied.
We fed at daylight and resumed the
march, crossed the Blue Ridge and
reached Taylorsville, N. C., at 2 P. M.,
where we camped for the night. At this
place we rejoined Gen. Stoneman's
Division.
On the 9th we passed through Danbury, N.
C. This was a rough, poor country and
forage scarce.
On the l0th we again resumed the march,
passing through Germantown, which looked
to have been a nice. prosperous place
before the war. We stopped and fed here,
and resuming the march, passed through a
fine section of country, reaching the
Yadkin river at 7 A. M., crossed at
"Shallow Ford," passed on through
Huntsville, N. C., and rested for
several hours and fed our horses one
mile beyond this place. Marching again
near noon on the Mockville road we
passed the town and went in camp until
12 o'clock at night. At 12.3o A. M. the
command was again in motion, Col.
Miller's Brigade in advance. Marching
three miles we came to the South Yadkin
river, a deep and rapid stream. A few
rebels were on the north side of the
river, but they offered no resistance to
the passage of the command. Just at
daylight on the 11th of April the
Thirteenth came upon the enemy's
pickets, which were driven back to
Grant's Creek. Just before reaching this
creek our Regiment was fired on by
artillery and musketry from the enemy
stationed on the side of this stream
next to Saulsbury. It was discovered
that part of the flooring had been taken
up from the bridge across this creek and
piled up on the side next to the enemy.
The trains could be heard going in and
coming out of Saulsbury four miles
distant. Cols. Miller's and Brown's
Brigades were closed up and a section of
Captain Patterson's Battery under Lieut.
Reagan (Captain Patterson being now A.
A. G. on General Gillem's staff), was
ordered forward. About this time Major
Donnelly, of the Thirteenth, with a
detachment of about 100 men was ordered
down the creek, and crossing, with other
detachments that had been sent to cross
at different points, engaged the enemy.
As soon as the enemy were engaged by
these detachments at different points,
the Thirteenth, under Col. Stacy, was
dismounted under heavy fire from the
enemy's artillery, and moving forward on
foot drove the enemy from the bridge,
and the flooring having been replaced by
detachments of the Eighth and Thirteenth
Tennessee Cavalry, the Regiment charged
across the bridge under a very heavy
fire of artillery drove the enemy, their
retreat soon becoming a rout. Our
Regiment pursued the enemy and at the
junction of the Statesville road were
joined by Major Sawyer's battalion of
the Eighth Tennessee Cavalry and Major
Keogh of Gen. Stoneman's staff, who had
captured all the artillery the enemy had
been using against us on our right. The
pursuit was kept up until those who were
not captured had scattered and concealed
themselves.
In this action we have found difficulty
in finding from General Gillem's and
other reports the exact position and
part taken by the Eighth and Ninth
Tennessee Cavalry and our Artillery. The
part taken by our own Regiment is
largely made up from a diary kept by one
of our officers, and from Gen. Gillem's
official report to Major Bascom, Gen.
Stoneman's Assistant Adjutant-General.
Gen. Gillem in this report mentions
Major Sawyers and one battalion of the
Eighth which did splendid service, and
we have no doubt the remainder of this
gallant regiment did its full duty in
this engagement, and the same may be
said of the Ninth, which was a splendid
regiment, always ready to perform its
duty under all kinds of circumstances
and upon all occasions.
Adjutant Angel was riding a white horse
at the opening of this fight and was
therefore a conspicuous target for the
enemy. When the Regiment was dismounted
before the charge across the bridge, and
just as he was in the act of
dismounting, a shell from the enemy's
battery burst just over him frightening
his horse so badly that he fell,
throwing the Adjutant to the ground,
dislocating the middle finger of his
right hand.
In Gen. Gillem's report above referred
to he makes special mention of Col. John
K. Miller's gallantry at Saulsbury and
adds: "For which I respectfully and
earnestly recommend him for the brevet
of Brigadier General." He recommends
Lieut.-Col. Stacy, "For his uniform
gallantry, especially at Saulsbury."
The Regiment left Saulsbury at dark on
the 13th of April, marching all night
reached Statesville in Iredell county at
daylight, and Taylorsville, N. C., about
noon on the 14th, where we remained all
night.
On the 15th we marched in the direction
of Lenoir; and moved slowly on account
of being encumbered with prisoners
captured at Saulsbury. Remained in camp
the 15th. Our prisoners and a large
number of negroes who were following the
army and retarding its progress were
sent from here under a guard of soldiers
to Knoxville. Tenn. On the 17th we
marched on the Morganton road, running
on a small force of ,rebels, charged and
routed them, capturing a piece of
artillery. We feel safe in saying that
at this place Lieut. James Atkinson, of
Battery E, First Tennessee Light
Artillery fired the last hostile shot
fired by artillery in the Civil War. It
will be remembered that Petersburg and
Richmond had fallen, General Lee had
surrendered to Grant on the 9th of April
and President Lincoln had been
assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth on the
night of the 14th of April. These three
events transpiring within the short
space of a few days are perhaps the most
noted in our historic calendar.
Reaching Morganton on the 17th we
remained there until the morning of the
19th, when we marched on the Asheville
road passing through Marion, N. C., and
encamped at Pleasant Garden on the
Catawba river and remained over night.
On the 20th crossed the river and went
to Swannanoa Gap at the foot of the Blue
Ridge, which we found blockaded and held
by a small force of rebels. Gen. Brown's
Brigade left us here, going in the
direction of Rutherford. Our Brigade
remained here in front of the enemy who
occupied a strong position with
artillery in the gap, all day of the
21st. By a singular coincidence, here in
the "Sunny South." we were again
confronted with Vaughn's and Duke's men,
whom we had met so often in East
Tennessee. On the 22d we marched at 2 A.
M. over the same road we had passed over
two days before, passing through Marion
and went into camp at Rutherford. Soon
after daylight on the 22d a squad of
Confederate officers, apparently of high
rank, gave us our first information that
President Lincoln had been assassinated,
and confirmed the report of General
Lee's surrender to Gen. Grant. The
information of these two events, the one
so sad, filling our hearts with the
greatest sorrow left little room for the
joy that would otherwise have filled our
hearts over the good. news that the war
was virtually over, and our hardships
were soon to end, and we would be able
to turn from the scenes of suffering and
bloodshed to the pursuits of peace and
the pleasures of home and friends once
more. But our great sorrow over the
death of our loved and honored President
left little room at this time to rejoice
at anything.
On the morning of the 23d we moved
early, passing through Columbus near the
foot of the Blue Ridge, where we fed,
got supper and continued our march until
12 o'clock midnight, crossing the
mountain at Howard's Gap, reaching
Hendersonville, N. C., on the morning of
the 24th, where we camped until 7 P. M.;
marching again on the Asheville road
went into camp late at night. On the
next day we marched towards Asheville,
Gen. Gillem intending to attack the
strong garrison at that place, as he had
not yet been officially notified of the
truce or armistice that had been agreed
upon between Gen. Sherman and Gen.
Johnson. At 3 P. M. on this date Gen.
Gillem received a flag of truce from Gen
Martin commanding the Confederate forces
at Asheville and was notified of the
existence of the armistice which
provided that hostilities should cease
and not be resumed' without giving
notice. On the same afternoon General
Gillem received official notice from
General Sherman of the existence of the
truce. It was now arranged that General
Gillem's Division, or at least Col.
Miller's Brigade should return to our
base at Greeneville Tenn., and our men
were provided with three days' rations.
On the 25th we marched through
Asheville, the enemy had stacked arms in
accordance with the truce and rebel
soldiers lined both sides of the
streets, the soldiers on both sides
guying each other. We camped ten miles
north of Asheville that night and next
day, now moving in the direction of
Tennessee, we reached Marshall, N. C ,
where we were overtaken by a courier
with orders to return and join in the
pursuit of President Davis, who had left
Richmond and was trying to make his way
across the Mississippi.
There was more or less disappointment at
the idea of turning our backs instead of
our faces towards Tennessee, but we had
become somewhat accustomed by this time
to doing not what we pleased but what it
pleased "Uncle Sam" to have us do.
On the 26th, after receiving new orders,
we returned to the same camps and
remained over night. The next morning,
returning to Asheville, Gen. Martin
refused to let us pass back through that
place, when we opened fire, driving in
his outposts, and after considerable
skirmishing, our command passed back
through the town, taking 5o or 6o
prisoners, whom we sent back t..)
Knoxville, Tenn., together with our sick
and disabled men, artillery and all
superfluous baggage.
On the morning of the 28th we moved out
in the direction of South Carolina,
camping again at Hendersonville. East of
this town we took the Transylvania road
and camped at Bravard, which was the
county seat but not much town as yet,
but since grown to be an important
place.
On the 30th we crossed the Blue Ridge
stopping on the summit at Caesar's Head
to muster for pay. We were now in the
Palmetto State, the first to secede from
the Union and fire the first shot at the
old flag and we did not at that time
have many scruples about despoiling the
country. We reached Anderson, S. C., May
1st, where we remained in camp all day
the 2d; marched at dark that night, and
stopped to feed at daylight on the
morning of the 3d. At this place Gen.
Palmer joined us with his brigade and
the Thirteenth was detached and sent on
in the direction of Athens, Ga.; marched
until late in the afternoon, when we
stopped and rested a few hours. Resuming
the march we traveled all night,
arriving at Athens early next morning,
capturing 30o prisoners. That day Col.
Stacy and staff took dinner with Gen.
Reynolds, of the Confederate army. We
marched at 2 P. M., reaching Lexington,
Ga., where we camped for the night. Some
of our men had done some looting at
Athens, and after going into camp at
Lexington the Regiment was called out,
formed and every man searched;
twenty-two watches were found, which
were placed in the hands of Lieut.
Honycutt, who was sent to Athens to
deliver them to Gen. Palmer, to be
returned to their owners. It is to be
regretted that in every large number of
troops, in time of war and the
suspension of civil law, there are
always some men who do dishonorable acts
that bring discredit. upon the
organization to which they belong.
Remaining all day in Lexington, we sent
out scouting parties to look out for
President Davis, who with his escort,
were supposed to be in that vicinity. On
the 6th we moved to Washington, Ga.
Major Wilcox had preceded us with a
strong detachment, but was met by a
strong force of the enemy near the town
who refused to let him enter. A courier
was sent back and the Regiment came up
at a trot and found the rebels had
withdrawn. Moving into town we found the
place full of rebels, President Davis
having disbanded the greater part of his
escort here, and left the town on that
day. Had not Major Wilcox been detained
contrary to the agreement of the
armistice he would, without doubt, have
captured the President of the
Confederacy, and this honor would have
fallen to the Thirteenth Tennessee
Cavalry instead of the Fourth Michigan
Cavalry by whom he was captured May 10th
at Irwinville, Georgia.
On the morning of the 7th Col. Miller
received orders to move south to
Crawfordsville, Ga., the home of Hon.
Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of
the Southern Confederacy.
Adjutant Angel, of the Thirteenth, was
the first officer of the Regiment that
had the honor of meeting Mr. Stephens.
He called on him at his home and met
Judge Stephens, the brother of the
Vice-President and the latter's private
secretary. Mr. Stephens conversed
pleasantly with Adjutant Angel in regard
to the situation and the ending of the
war. He said on that occasion that
President Davis could have had any
settlement of the war he would have
demanded, the only stipulation on the
part of the Federal Government being the
preservation of the Union of the States.
Mr. Stephens also said that after the
liberal proposition made to Mr. Davis by
the authorities of the Federal
Government were rejected by him he
(Stephens) left Richmond never to
return. Mr. Stephens himself, at the
beginning of the war had a strong
attachment for the Union and opposed
secession until his State passed an
ordinance of secession, but Mr. Davis
would he satisfied with nothing less
than the recognition of the Confederacy
as a separate and distinct republic,
built upon the cornerstones of "Slavery
and State's Rights."
In contending for this with the
obstinacy characteristic of the man, the
South lost what her people thought at
that time to be her dearest rights,
without which she could never prosper
nor be happy. But time has proven that
slavery was a blight on the fair land,
and since its extinction agricultural
and manufacturing industries have
prospered as never before, and the
beautiful Southland with her gifted sons
and daughters enjoying the products of
her rich soil, her healthful climate,
with great enterprises and the hum of
industry on every hand, rivaling her
Northern sister States in progress and
prosperity, and in patriotism and
loyalty to the country's flag, she is
"the Garden-spot" of the nation and the
world.
Mr. Stephens at first thought we would
place him under arrest but was assured
by the officers that they had no
instructions or authority to molest him
and did not desire to do so.
He extended a cordial invitation to our
officers to take supper with him at his
home. Col. Stacy, Major Wilcox, Adjutant
Angel, Dr. Cameron and Lieut.
Freels accepted the invitation and had
the honor of being the guests of this
distinguished gentleman for supper and
breakfast. President Davis was captured
by Federal officers and soldiers but
Vice-President Stephens captured these
officers of our Regiment by his
sociability and hospitality. But it
would appear from the following
interesting clipping, which came into
our hands later, that while our Regiment
missed the honor (and reward) of
capturing President Davis, it was
through the orders of our Colonel. John
K. Miller, and by a detail from our
Regiment, one of whom was Corporal
Burchfield, of Company G, that
Vice-President Stevens and General
Robert Toombs, the two most
distinguished men, next to the President
and General Lee, of the Southern
Confederacy, were arrested:
"Mr. John G. Burchfield, of the General
Land Office. had a lot of experience in
the war between the States, and was on
hand while several stirring things were
developing. He was one of the East
Tennessee soldiers, and was for the
greater part of the war in the cavalry.
He was one of the men who pursued the
fleeing officials of the Confederacy.
"Mr. Burchfield was one of the eight men
who arrested Gen. Robert Toombs, the
Confederate Secretary of War, and one of
the most brilliant and eccentric men in
the South—a fire-eater of the rankest
type. General Palmer, commanding a
division of the Twenty-third Army Corps,
had a body of troops which he marched
from Virginia through the Carolinas and
into Georgia in pursuit of the heads of
the fallen government. Col. John K.
Miller, of the Thirteenth Tennessee
Cavalry, was ordered to detail men to
arrest General Toombs, and Mr.
Burchfield was one of the detail.
"The division had chased the President
of the Confederacy and the members of
his cabinet from Richmond, by Saulsbury,
N. C., to Abbeville, S. C., where the
last cabinet meeting was held. The Union
troops arrived shortly after the
President left. The pursuit was then
bent toward Anderson, where the larger
part of the funds of the Confederate
treasury was left. The specie was in
kegs, and a wagon load of the kegs was
carried out of town and buried, but the
place was pointed out by an old negro.
The Union soldiers got several hundred
thousand dollars, a great deal of it in
silver and gold. The plates for printing
the money were in the lot, and several
of them are in existence today. The
depot agent and a Hebrew merchant were
arrested and examined as to the
movements of the President and the
cabinet, but nothing could be elicited.
"General Toombs was found by Colonel
Miller's detail at his home in Athens.
He came out on the piazza and asked the
boys to come in. He received them as if
they were the most welcome guests in the
world, and sent a negro to the cellar
for wine. After a good dinner the
soldiers put the General in his carriage
and started to Milledgeville. The party
moved to Crawfordsville, where lived
Alexander H. Stevens, the Vice-President
of the Confederacy, the "great commoner"
of Georgia. The old statesman walked on
crutches to the piazza and welcomed the
soldiers, saying that he knew what they
came for. There were several negroes
about the place, and they were ordered
to take the horses in charge. Sherman's
army had made the feeding of horses a
mere empty formality in that section,
but the men fared better, and got a good
meal. After a night's rest at Liberty
Hall the soldiers resumed the march. Mr.
Stephens was placed in the carriage with
General Toombs. This was probably far
from the liking of either of the eminent
men, but they had to submit. They were
inveterate enemies, having represented
in many a fierce debate their
speculative claims of the aristocracy
and the common people. Gen. Toombs was a
strenuous opponent of so-called popular
rights, and was a fire-brand for
secession. The distinguished prisoners
were put in prison at Milledgeville, but
were soon brought to Washington, where
they took the oath of allegiance.
"Colonel Miller is now living at
Bristol, Tenn., at an advanced age. He
has some of the dies and plates captured
at Anderson. His command was at
Washington, Ga., when Gen. Joe Wheeler's
men were paid for the last time by
Secretary of the Treasury Judah P.
Benjamin. They were paid in coin and
bought a great quantity of c10thing from
the Union troops, who had captured
immense stores in Augusta. Later the
Union troops gave the Confederates a lot
of the Confederate trousers secured in
Augusta."
We left Crawfordsville May 8th, marching
in the rain, in the afternoon we arrived
at Sparta, Ga., where Col. Stacy and
staff were entertained by a gentleman
who was at the head of an institution of
learning at that place. He treated us
with the old-time Southern courtesy and
hospitality. We marched early on the
morning of the 9th, reaching
Milledgeville, the capital of the State
of Georgia, where we went into camp and
remained until Sunday. While here a
number of our officers made headquarters
at the residence of Col. McKinley, an
old planter who lived just across the
Oconee river. The Colonel was, of
course, a warm devotee of the now "Lost
Cause," but his wife, a lady whom he had
married in Boston, Mass., the
birthplace, we might say, of
abolitionism and opposition to Southern
slavery, was apparently far more devoted
to the South than her husband. Another
affable Southern gentleman whom we met
here was Major Hawkins. He and Col.
McKinly made a pleasant visit to our
camps on the day we left, the 13th, and
Colonel Stacy, Major Wilcox. Dr.
Cameron, Dr. Blackburn, Adjutant Angel
and Lieut. Freels accepted an invitation
to visit Major Hawkins' splendid home,
three miles from town. Here we were
served with the most elegant and
sumptuous dinner we had while soldiering
in Dixie. The side-board was provided
with the rarest brands of wine and we
disregarded all our former vows of total
abstinence and indulged, though not
excessively, in the tempting fluid.
Soldiering was so agreeable in this
locality that we broke camp with some
regret. We had now lost interest in the
pursuit of Davis, he having been
captured if we remember correctly by
Col. Pritchard, of the 11th Wisconsin
Cavalry, and our duties consisted only
of guard duty and some scouting. At 1
o'clock A. M. on the 14th we left camp
marching north, and going 15 miles took
breakfast at the home of an old maid who
owned a plantation and 40 or 50 negroes
who were still there and under the
strictest discipline, as their conduct
while we were present showed. She
refused to open her crib, but with us
necessity overcame our gallantry to the
fair sex and an ax answered every
purpose of a key. Her smoke house
suffered the same fate. Hams and
breadstuff were found in abundance, and
we put the negro women to cooking and
kept them at it until all were fed. The
negroes now aware of "Massa Lincoln's
proclamation" did not neglect their
opportunity. No one molested the old
lady but she "blessed us" in language
not found anywhere in the Scripture.
When we left about a dozen of the finest
negro men she had left with us. This was
evidently the first taste of the results
of the war this lady had and it did look
hard we suppose from her standpoint.
About noon we fed again, this time with
a Mr. Jackson, who had married a Miss
Lones, of Knoxville, Tenn. The treatment
here was different on both sides. We
were treated respectfully and civilly
and returned the compliment to the
family, treating them with every
consideration.
We reached Greensboro, Ga.. that evening
at dark, and remained there, resting
until the 10th of May. While there
President Jefferson Davis passed through
on the cars, under guard, on his way to
Washington. A number of our officers and
men who were at the depot had a view of
the famous ex-President of the Southern
Confederacy, whose name had been "on
every lip," both North and South for
four years, and had been the theme of
more blessings and curses, save, perhaps
that of Abraham Lincoln, than that of
any man living or dead.
Major Patrick F. Dyer, of the
Thirteenth, who as we have stated was
captured at the first battle of Bull's
Run and imprisoned in Libby prison at
Richmond, Va., was present when the
train bearing Mr. Davis pulled up and
stopped at Greensboro. The Major got
into the car and with the boldness of
the Irish race addressed Mr. Davis, and
said: "Mr. President I am glad to meet
you. Probably you do not remember me.
When I was in Libby prison I often saw
you taking a ride past the prison on a
fine white horse. You were at liberty
then and I was a prisoner, now you are a
prisoner and I am at liberty—such are
the fortunes of war—good-day, Mr.
President."
Greensboro was the base of supplies for
the State of Georgia. Governor Brown and
the State officers had absconded leaving
large supplies for man and beast at this
point which fell into our hands and were
shipped to Atlanta for the use of
General Wilson's army. Our men were
supplied with underwear and blankets.
The c10thing we did not care to wear as
we were not partial to gray at that
time.
We left Greensboro on the 10th on our
return to East Tennessee. The war being
now ended, the great anxiety of officers
and men to return to Knoxville where it
was believed we would soon be mustered
out of the service was an incentive to
hard marching and kept up the spirits of
the men. We crossed the Savannah river
the 21st, on some of the same pontoon
bridges that had been used by Gen.
Sherman's troops on their march South.
On the 22d we passed through Williamson
and camped three miles south of
Greeneville, South Carolina. Just before
reaching that place we were fired on
from ambush by some guerrillas or
"bushwhackers," and captured the men who
were supposed to have been engaged in
the firing. The next morning it was
decided to shoot them without trial or
ceremony, as it was felt that now that
the war was over, examples must be made
of men engaged in outlawry. Lieut. T. C.
White was ordered to take a squad of
soldiers and after the command passed
shoot these men, bury them and rejoin
the command. After the main body of the
command had passed and the rear guard
came up under Lieut. Freels. and Lieut.
White was ready to execute his orders,
the older of the three prisoners asked
if there was a Freemason present. Dr.
Cameron, who was a member of that order,
was pointed out and the prisoner gave
him the "Grand-hailing sign of Distress"
of the order, whereupon Dr. Cameron
agreed to take the responsibility of
requesting Lieut. White to postpone the
execution and bring the prisoners
forward until Colonel Miller, who was
also a Mason, could be consulted. After
questioning the men closely and hearing
a very straightforward story from them
that they were disbanded Confederate
soldiers returning to their homes, that
they had had no arms since leaving the
army and were not engaged in the firing
on the command, Colonel Miller released
them.
On the 24th the command reached
Greeneville, S. C., where they got a
full supply of rations and remained
over. night.
On the 25th again crossed the Blue Ridge
at Saluda Gap, passed through
Hendersonville, N. C., and camped within
eight miles of Asheville, N. C. We
passed on through that place on the 26th
and proceeded down the French Broad
river to Marshall, N. C. Having no
forage at that place we left at 4 A. M.
on the morning of the 27th; that day,
having no feed, the men grazed their.
horses then moved on beyond Paint Rock
where we met a forage train with
supplies and encamped for the night.
On Sunday morning, May 28th, we moved at
4 a. m. and our horses being well fed we
arrived at Greeneville, Tenn., at 10 A.
M. on that day and went into camp. On
the 30th the Brigade moved out on the
Knoxville road. We were now among
familiar scenes, passing over our old
battle grounds, nearly every foot of the
ground we were traveling over we had
contested with the enemy at one time or
another.
We arrived at Flat Creek, a few miles
east of Knoxville, about the 2d of June,
and remained at that place a day or two,
when we moved to Lenoir's Station on the
East Tennessee and Virginia railroad
(now Southern), 3o miles west of
Knoxville.
On this our final raid and our last
active service in the field we had
marched a distance of about moo miles,
passing through parts of five States and
through numerous towns and cities,
crossing the principal southern rivers,
and crossing and recrossing the
different ranges of the Allegheny
mountains a number of times.
At the time the regiment left Knoxville
to go on the Stoneman raid a few of the
officers and quite a number of men were
on the sick list and not able to proceed
with the command. Those who were unable
to be up at all were sent to the
hospital while others who were not
seriously ill, but were not able for
duty, were left in what was termed the
"Invalid Camp," under command of Major
J. H. Wagner. As they improved they were
assigned to various duties, and some
made efforts to reach the command. Some
of our men who had become sick or
overcome with hard marching were sent
back from North Carolina and were sent
to the Invalid Camp.
S. W. Scott, who had just been promoted
to Captain of Company G, and assigned to
the command of the company, was sick
when the command left Knoxville. Knowing
the Regiment would pass through
Elizabethton, his home town, he started
out with the command, hoping if he did
not get able to go farther, to reach his
home, where, in case he got worse he
would receive the attention of home
folks and good nursing. But on the
second day he became so much worse that
he could not proceed further and was
left at the home of Mr. Newman, close to
the old college building near Mossy
Creek, Tenn. He was confined to his bed
there about two weeks. Orderly James
Allan, who was left to take care of him,
being anxious to join the command was
allowed to proceed. Capt. Scott was
treated kindly by Mr. Newman, who had
sons in the Confederate army, and Mrs.
Newman gave him kind and motherly
attention. He was treated by Dr. Brumit,
a local physician. After recovering
sufficiently he returned to Knoxville,
where he remained until the 14th of
April, when in company with Capt. B. A.
Miller, who had not been able to go with
the command on account of sickness, and
Dr. A. Jobe, who was trying to make his
way to his home at Elizabethton, went up
to Whitesburg on the train, that being
as far as the train was being run east
at that time. Captain Miller, Capatin
Scott and Dr. Jobe remained at
Whitesburg that night, the two former
enjoying the hospitality of Mr. George
W. Crumley's family, who had been their
neighbors at Elizabethton. This party
was joined at Whitesburg by four
cavalrymen of the Thirteenth, who had
been started from Knoxville to bring
their horses by the State road. The
party accompanied by the soldiers left
Whitesburg on the morning of the 15th,
passing through the army corps which had
been sent into East Tennessee under Gen.
Stanley to cut off Lee's retreat, should
he have attempted to go in that
direction. Passing through Bull's Gap,
near Gen. Stanley's headquarters, we met
an orderly riding excitedly and
seemingly in a great hurry, but we
succeeded in learning from him of the
assassination of the President.
Arriving at Greeneville Captains Scott
and Miller learned from Major Donnelly,
who had returned from North Carolina,
that the command had turned back and
gone in pursuit of Davis and they
returned to Knoxville. Major Wagner
having resigned, Capt. Scott was
assigned to the command of the Invalid
Camp until the Regiment returned, when
all joined it and went with it to
Lenoir's Station. |
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