PAROLING AND DISBANDING JOHNSTON'S ARMY--CLOSING SCENES OF THE WAR
IN NORTH CAROLINA
General Schofield's policy when left in command--Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation in force--Davis's line of flight from
Charlotte, N.C.--Wade Hampton's course of conduct--Fate of the
cabinet officers--Bragg, Wheeler, and Cooper--Issuing paroles to
Johnston and his army--Greensborough in my district--Going there
with Schofield--Hardee meets and accompanies us--Comparing
memories--We reach Johnston's headquarters--Condition of his
army--Our personal interview with him--The numbers of his
troops--His opinion of Sherman's army--Of the murder of
Lincoln--Governor Morehead's home--The men in gray march
homeward--Incident of a flag--The Salisbury prison site--Treatment
of prisoners of war--Local government in the interim--Union
men--Elements of new strife--The negroes--Household service--Wise
dealing with the labor question--No money--Death of
manufactures--Necessity the mother of invention--Uses of
adversity--Peace welcomed--Visit to Greene's battlefield at
Guilford-Old-Court-House.
On Thursday, the 27th of April, the same day on which Sherman issued
his order announcing the final agreement for the surrender of
Johnston's army and the homeward march of most of his own forces,
General Schofield issued his own order declaring "the duty of all to
cultivate friendly relations with the same zeal which has
characterized our conduct of the war, that the blessings of union,
peace and material prosperity may be speedily restored to the entire
country." [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. 330.] He
invited all peaceably disposed persons to return to their homes and
resume their industrial pursuits. He promised also the loan of
captured horses, mules, and wagons to those who had been deprived of
their own by the armies, and food for the needy during the period
when all must be busy planting if the season were to be made of any
avail for agriculture. His order concluded with these words: "It
will be left to the judicial department of the government to punish
those political leaders who are responsible for secession,
rebellion, and civil war with all its horrors. Between the
Government of the United States and the people of North Carolina
there is peace." [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii.
p. 330.]
In a separate order of the same date, to remove all doubt as to the
end of slavery, he declared that "by virtue of the proclamation of
the President of the United States, dated January 1, 1863, all
persons in this State heretofore held as slaves are now free, and it
is the duty of the army to maintain the freedom of such persons."
[Footnote: _Id_., p. 331.] He recommended immediate fair contracts
of hiring and the resumption of profitable industry, so that
disorganization of labor might be avoided. He told the freedmen that
it was not well for them to congregate about towns or military
camps, and that they could not be supported in idleness. All classes
of people were thus put upon the footing Sherman had intended in his
first convention with Johnston, and Schofield's orders issued whilst
Sherman was still with us at Raleigh may be received as an
authoritative interpretation of the latter's views.
The Confederate troops were mostly concentrated about Greensborough
upon the railroad from Richmond through Danville and Charlotte to
Columbia in South Carolina, and the line of railroad we had followed
from Goldsborough to Raleigh continued westward to Greensborough.
Outposts, Confederate as well as National, remained at stations
between the two armies, but no collision had occurred since the
truce established on the 19th. [Footnote: _Id_., p. 250.] Mr. Davis
had remained at Charlotte in the interval between the two
conventions, but when the separate surrender of Johnston's army was
determined, he started southward with a vague purpose of joining
some of the smaller organized armies released from the armistice by
our administration's rejection of the terms of Sherman's first
convention. He tells us that he still hoped that he might cross the
Mississippi with such forces as could be concentrated, joining Kirby
Smith, who commanded there, and in the last resort carrying a body
of irreconcilables out of the country into Mexico. [Footnote: Davis,
Rise and Fall, vol. ii. pp. 694, 696.] A line of retreat southward
had been agreed upon in case Johnston should not surrender, and some
accumulations of supplies had been made at Chester, S. C., and other
points upon it. General Bragg had been placed in command there,
reporting directly to Davis or the Confederate War Department,
[Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p. 836.] and some
cavalry in West Virginia under General Echols had been ordered to
pass by mountain routes to the same region. [Footnote: _Id._, p.
795.] As soon as the truce was ended by the notice of the 24th,
Davis started southward by the route indicated, which kept well to
the westward of Columbia by way of Abbeville, aiming to cross the
Savannah River above Augusta at the pontoon bridge near the junction
of Broad River with the Savannah. [Footnote: _Id._, vol. xlix. pt.
i. p. 548.] His party disintegrated before he entered Georgia, and
he was nearly alone with his family when he was captured thirty or
forty miles southeast of Macon.
General Wade Hampton was one of those who preferred any alternative
rather than surrender, and had opposed even the terms of the first
convention to which Davis had assented. [Footnote: _Id._, vol.
xlvii. pt. iii. p. 813.] He promised that he would bring to Davis's
support "many strong arms and brave hearts,--men who will fight to
Texas, and who, if forced from that State, will seek refuge in
Mexico rather than in the Union." [Footnote: _Id._, p. 814.] On the
25th, when Johnston's surrender was already resolved upon,
Breckinridge sought to arrange that Hampton, with his cavalry, might
join Davis, [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p.
837.] but Sherman insisted on the capitulation of the army as a
unit, and Hampton was included. The latter had visited Davis during
the first armistice and obtained his permission to bring out the
cavalry before the surrender, but on his return to his command, on
April 26th, he found that the surrender had been made. Setting up
the claim that the arrangement made with Davis had detached his
troops from Johnston's army, although they were actually serving in
it, he notified Johnston that they and he would not regard
themselves as embraced in the capitulation, unless Breckinridge, the
Secretary of War, should say they were within it. [Footnote: _Id._,
p. 841.] He had given orders to Wheeler to move the command toward
South Carolina, and Butler's division was moving in the same
direction. [Footnote: _Id._, pp. 841,847.] Johnston, feeling that
his honor as a commander was involved, sent peremptory orders to
Hampton to march back to the position near Hillsborough which he had
abandoned. He gave Wheeler similar orders. [Footnote: _Id._, pp.
844, 846. See also Johnston to Sherman, _Id._, p. 336.] Breckinridge
gave Hampton the opinion that the troops were bound by the
capitulation, though Hampton himself might not be. [Footnote: _Id._,
p. 851.] The latter thereupon informed Butler and Wheeler that he
could give them no orders, and asked leave of Johnston to withdraw
his former letter, substituting one which only claimed personal
exemption from the surrender. [Footnote: _Id._, pp. 845, 847.] In
transmitting this, he sent a long letter of apology, explaining his
embarrassment. He asserted that in his consultation with Mr. Davis a
plan was agreed upon to enable the latter to leave the country. He
must now either leave him to his fate or go with him under the ban
of outlawry. He thought his personal duty was to go, but would leave
his command to abide the terms of the convention, or if any joined
him, he said, "they will be stragglers like myself." [Footnote:
Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p. 846.] Enough "straggled"
to make up Davis's escort to about 3000 men, comprising six brigade
organizations; but Hampton seems to have thought better of the
determination to be an outlaw, and though he did not give his parole
with the rest of Johnston's command, he did not join Davis.
[Footnote: Davis, Rise and Fall, vol. ii. pp. 689, 690.] His
explicit statement of the aim of Davis's flight warrants us in
concluding that the dream of further military operations beyond the
Mississippi was never a serious purpose. After the disbanding of the
escort at the Savannah River, Breckinridge and Benjamin reached the
coast of Florida and escaped to Cuba. Mallory and Attorney-General
Davis seem to have reached their own homes; Reagan remained with his
chief, and was captured; [Footnote: _Id_., pp. 694, 695.] Bragg and
Wheeler were captured near Athens, in Georgia, using questionable
ruses to escape. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlix. pt. i. pp.
550, 551.] General Cooper, the adjutant and inspector-general of the
Confederate army, remained at Charlotte, and received the benefit of
Johnston's capitulation, while he did all in his power to preserve
the Confederate archives, which were there in railway cars.
[Footnote: _Id_., vol. xlvii. pt. iii. pp. 842, 848.] This
digression to follow the fate of Mr. Davis and the group of civil
and military notables who were with him in his southward flight,
will help us understand some of the peculiar incidents attending the
paroling of Johnston's army at Greensborough. I will now return to
events of which I was a witness.
On Sunday, the 30th April, the printed blanks for the paroles were
ready, and Brevet Brigadier-General Hartsuff, inspector-general on
Schofield's staff, was put in charge of the details of their issue.
He went up to Greensborough from Raleigh, accompanied by about a
dozen officers detailed from the department and corps staff. It had
been intended that he should take with him a guard of a regiment I
had selected for the purpose, but at Johnston's request the troops
were held back a few days. [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii.
pt. iii. pp. 349, 351, 483.] Schofield had arranged the general
scheme of subdividing the State into military districts, of which I
was to command the western, whilst Major-General Terry took the
central, and Brigadier-Generals Palmer and Hawley retained the coast
districts which they already had. In anticipation of the formal
order, [Footnote: _Id._, p. 396.] the detachment to guard the arms
and stores which should be received came from my command, and I
detailed the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio, a regiment which had won
high praise in the review at Raleigh for its splendid form and
discipline, and which was an orderly, reliable body of men in battle
as on parade. It was ordered to take along also its excellent brass
band and drum corps, for I meant to have the duties of a garrison
performed in the presence of the Confederates with all the honors.
Sherman had left Raleigh in the evening of Friday (28th), to make a
brief tour to Charleston and Savannah, by sea, nominally to inspect
that part of his command, but really to pass the time whilst the
body of his army was marching to Washington, and to avoid visiting
that city in the irritation he felt at his treatment by the
Secretary of War. [Footnote: _Id._, pp. 337, 338.] Johnston had
arranged, on the 1st of May, to send General Hardee down to Raleigh
for personal consultation with Schofield in regard to details of the
homeward march of his troops, but the satisfactory arrangement of
the supplementary terms made this unnecessary. [Footnote: _Id._, pp.
366, 857.] Schofield determined to go to Greensborough himself,
starting early on Tuesday morning (2d), and I was asked to accompany
him. [Footnote: _Id._, p. 376.] We left Raleigh by train at seven
o'clock, with the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio as a guard, and at
Durham were met by a dispatch from General Hartsuff, saying that the
whole Confederate army was "dissolving and raising the devil." I
telegraphed for another regiment to follow us, and we went on to
Hillsborough. There we met General Hardee, who joined our party, and
we went on to Greensborough. [Footnote: Official Records, vol.
xlvii. pt. iii. p. 376.]
As the train left Hillsborough, we passed through a body of
Confederate cavalry, and were within the enemy's lines. I confess it
was with a curious, half-uneasy sensation that I thus for the first
time found myself on the wrong side of the Confederate outposts
without having driven them in by a hostile advance. It was not easy
to orient one's self at once with the new condition of things, and
it would hardly have been a surprise to find that we had been
entrapped by a ruse.
This soon wore off, however, and Hardee made the journey a very
agreeable one to us. He had been commandant of cadets at West Point
just before the war, and had from the first an "inside" view of the
rebellion. His "Tactics," adapted to our army use from the French,
had been the authoritative guide of our army drill, and by that
means his name had been made very familiar to every officer and man
among us. His military career had been among the most distinguished,
and he had commanded a corps in front of us during the whole Atlanta
campaign. There was therefore no lack of subjects for conversation,
and the time ran rapidly away. Hardee was in person and bearing a
good type of the brilliant soldier and gentleman. Tall and well
formed, his uniform well fitting and almost dandyish, his manner
genial and easy, his conversation at once gay and intelligent, it
would be hard to find a more attractive companion, or one with whom
you would be put more quickly at ease.
Our mission naturally led us into a review of the war, and we asked
him what had been his own expectation as to the result, and when he
had himself recognized the hopelessness of the contest. "I confess,"
said he, laughing, "that I was one of the hot Southerners who shared
the notion that one man of the South could whip three Yankees; but
the first year of the war pretty effectually knocked that nonsense
out of us, and, to tell the truth, ever since that time we military
men have generally seen that it was only a question how long it
would take to wear our army out and destroy it. We have seen that
there was no real hope of success, except by some extraordinary
accident of fortune, and we have also seen that the politicians
would never give up till the army was gone. So we have fought with
the knowledge that we were to be sacrificed with the result we see
to-day, and none of us could tell who would live to see it. We have
continued to do our best, however, and have meant to fight as if we
were sure of success."
Amongst many other things, our talk turned upon the Atlanta
campaign, and he told some interesting facts in regard to Hood's
obstinate holding on at Atlanta when Sherman was executing the
movement around the place on the south. It happened that my own
division held the pivot point close to the works of the city on the
southeast, and Hardee's corps occupied the lines in front of us. He
said an old woman had been brought to him who said she had gone to
General Cox's headquarters to beg some provisions, and the general
had told her she could have none, as the soldiers had not enough for
themselves. I had no remembrance of such an incident, and such
applications were hardly likely to reach a general officer unless he
wished to catechise the person for information's sake; but a laugh
was raised at my expense as Hardee in telling the story repeated
some profane camp expletives as having added emphasis to the
refusal, according to the old woman's account of it. Schofield
merrily rallied me on a change of habits of speech when not with my
usual associates, and refused to credit my protestation that the
story only proved that she had seen some wicked commissary of
subsistence. Hardee helped the fun by pretending to think of other
proof that the woman was right; but he went on to give the matter
real historical interest by telling how he had taken the woman to
Hood that he might learn what she said she had seen and heard. On
her repeating the expression about our not having rations enough for
ourselves, Hood exclaimed, "There, Hardee! It proves that it is just
as I told you. Wheeler [his cavalry commander who was on a raid] has
broken Sherman's communications; he is short of provisions and is
retreating north by the Sandtown road. The troops that have moved
from the north of the city have gone that way."
The Sandtown road was a well-known road going northward from the
Chattahoochee River at the place named, which was some miles west of
the Chattanooga Railroad. It was a plausible explanation of
Sherman's movements as far as they then knew them, but had no better
foundation than Hood's own hopes and wishes. Yet, Hardee said, Hood
stuck to this view till in our swinging movement to the south, we
broke his railway communication with Jonesboro. Then came his hasty
evacuation of Atlanta, the destruction of his stores, the explosion
of his ammunition, and the night march to reassemble his army at
Lovejoy's station. He confidently believed that the siege was raised
till Sherman's army was astride of his principal line of retreat,
and it was only by the most desperate exertion that he escaped from
utter ruin.
On reaching Greensborough we were at once escorted to General
Johnston's headquarters, the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio being
ordered to remain near the station till more complete arrangements
were made. Our object had been to have force enough to guard the
arms and stores against petty pillage or destruction, but not enough
to provoke a collision with the larger organizations of the
Confederates. Johnston had declined the hospitality of citizens of
Greensborough, partly from a motive of delicacy, as I suspect,
fearing he might compromise those who would thus be indicated as his
friends, though his usual custom was to live under canvas rather
than in a house. His tents were pitched in a grove in the outskirts
of the town, and he awaited us there. It seemed to us, as we
approached, that the little encampment was not quite so regular and
trim as our own custom required. The wall tents did not sit quite so
squarely upon the ground, and the camp was not laid out with
regularity. The general indirectly apologized for some of these
things by saying that we could not expect the discipline in his army
to be fully maintained when all knew that it was on the eve of being
disbanded. Indeed our presence there with a detachment of our own
troops was partly the consequence of the tendency to disintegration
and the consequent breaking down of discipline which was rapidly
going on, of which the dispatch which met us on the way was a
warning. We learned that the officers of the staff had for several
nights stood guard over their own horses, efforts to steal them
having been successful in one or two instances. The general himself
was the only one who had been exempt from guard-duty. The soldiers
knew that the war was over and that there was in fact no superior
power to enforce military subordination. They were anxious to make
their way homeward, and fearful that they might be treated as
prisoners of war if they remained. A horse or a mule was too
valuable a prize not to be a great temptation; they naturally
thought that as there was no longer a Confederate States government,
the men to whom arrears of pay were due had a right to whatever they
could seize, and they were not disposed to distinguish between
public and private property. The guards set to protect the
commissary stores would wink at the pillage of them or assist in it,
and the men were inclined to defy any authority exercised in the
name of the Confederacy. They remembered the relentless character of
the conscription which put them in the ranks, and were kept together
chiefly by the assurance that they should all be promptly paroled
and helped on their homeward way. The strongest consideration was
perhaps the announcement that the parole would be a necessary
protection to them against subsequent arrest. It was a curious fact
that the moment the blue-coated sentinels began to pace the "beats"
around the warehouses, parks of artillery, etc., the submission of
these men to the United States authority was most complete. They
were scrupulously respectful in their bearing and language, and the
groups of them who gathered about with an earnest sort of interest,
would obey the slightest direction of the sentry with a cordiality
and alacrity which was in singular contrast with the sort of
ostentation of defiance they showed toward their own officers.
I have anticipated a little in order to give some idea of the
condition of things in Johnston's army, and will return to our
interview with the general himself. He welcomed us with dignity,
though there was a little reserve in his courtesy that was naturally
due to the gravity of the responsibility and the duty imposed upon
him. Hardee, as a subordinate, free from this burden, could afford
to give way to a natural _bonhommie_, and the difference of
situation emphasized the distinctive traits of the men. Johnston was
a smaller man than Hardee, his uniform showed less care for
appearances, his manner was quieter, but no one would for a moment
fail to see that he was the commander. His quiet tones were clear,
his gravity was full of conscious power, and the deference shown him
by his subordinates was earnest and respectful.
The preliminary details of our task were soon settled. General
Schofield had already promised rations to the Confederate troops
whilst awaiting the issue of the certificates of parole, and on
their way home; to give them railway transportation as far as
railroads were running, and to carry out Sherman's offer to let the
Confederate horses and mules be distributed as far as they would go,
to assist the men on their way, and in putting in a crop for their
families' support as soon as possible. When the necessary business
was disposed of, the conversation became more general.
General Schofield inquired what was the number of officers and men
to be paroled. Johnston replied that he could hardly be definite as
he would like to be: his morning report of "effectives" gave only
the men answering to their names with arms in their hands in the
line of battle. It would not include stragglers or men detached or
on special duty. His last return of effectives showed, as he said,
about 16,000 men. Wade Hampton, with much of his cavalry, had
refused to come in to Greensborough to be paroled with the rest, and
were supposed to be either disbanded or to be making their way
southward. Johnston thought the place of these might be made up by
the classes not enumerated in the return of effectives, and that
there might therefore still be about 16,000 in camp who would
present themselves to be paroled. He then added that in this
campaign their reports and returns had not been kept up promptly,
and that he had relied for practical use upon a summary of the
morning reports of "effectives." [Footnote: See pp. 424, 425,
_ante_.] There could be no question as to his complete frankness and
sincerity in this. The inquiry was put to make sure that we had
enough printed blanks for the paroles, and it was a matter of mutual
interest to get their issue completed with as little delay as
possible. The Official Records, moreover, confirm his statement as
to the abbreviated returns and the numbers they gave, while making
clear their loose inaccuracy. [Footnote: Official Records, vol.
xlvii. pt. ii. p. 1382; pt. i. p. 1059; pt. iii. p. 839.] The most
important fallacy in the Confederate return of "effectives" was that
by giving only the arms-bearing men answering to the roll-call, it
omitted the growing large class of stragglers hanging about the
camps many of whom might be in line when an engagement occurred.
The number of officers and men actually paroled by us in the
Carolinas turned out to be 39,012, which included men in hospitals,
some naval officers and sailors, the quartermaster's and other
special duty, detachments, etc. [Footnote: _Id._, pt. i. p. 1066.]
Johnston's inspector-general reported on 3d May the number of "final
papers" issued to the army proper at 27,749, and the number of men
who received their share of the silver distributed on April 28th was
32,174, [Footnote: _Id._, pt. iii. pp. 850, 867.] the difference
being in the cavalry, where 5000 men disbanded or went off with
Hampton before the paroles were issued. The report of the paroles
shows also that the Carolina troops had nearly all vanished during
the campaign, the Western troops of Hood's old army making the great
bulk of those who stayed with the colors.
Johnston was very warm in his recognition of the soldierly qualities
and the wonderful energy and persistence of our army, and the
ability of Sherman. Referring to his own plans, he said he had hoped
to have time enough to collect a larger force to oppose Sherman, and
to give it a more complete and efficient organization. The
Confederate government had reckoned upon the almost impassable
character of the rivers and swamps to give a respite till
spring,--at least they hoped for this. "Indeed," said he, with a
smile, "Hardee here" (giving a friendly nod of his head toward his
subordinate) "reported the Salkehatchie swamps as absolutely
impassable; but when I heard that Sherman had not only started, but
was marching through those very swamps at the rate of thirteen miles
a day, making corduroy road every foot of the way, I made up my mind
there had been no such army since the days of Julius Caesar." Hardee
laughingly admitted his mistaken report from Charleston, but
justified it by saying that all precedent was against such a march,
and that he would still have believed it impossible if he had not
seen it done.
All the Confederate officers from Johnston downward were very
earnest in impressing upon us their confidence that the army gave up
the struggle without bitterness, and that we could rely not only
upon their keeping their parole in good faith, but in their anxiety
to become again good citizens of the United States in every sense of
the word. The assassination of Mr. Lincoln was spoken of, as both an
odious crime and an extremely great misfortune to the South, tending
to involve the future in gloomy doubt by reason of the probable
effect upon Northern public sentiment and upon the policy of
Congress and the new administration. Hardee said that for himself he
thought he should go abroad for a time, till the heated and
exasperated feeling at the North should subside, and then return to
his home and his private affairs. I do not remember that Johnston
opened his mind on this point, and think he was gravely reticent,
scarcely choosing to share with strangers, in our relation to
affairs, the deep anxiety he must have felt. Hardee's means were
understood to be more ample than most of the Southern officers
possessed, and a course that was feasible for him was not so for
most of them. The task of winning a mere livelihood was by no means
a promising one for men left without a profession and without
property, in a country that seemed to be irretrievably ruined.
When we closed the interview, I am very sure that we of the National
side had already formed a very high opinion of the personal
character of the distinguished officers we had met, and had begun to
feel a sincere sympathy with them in their manifest purpose to meet
honorably and manfully the demands of the new situation. I recorded
at the time my own feeling that I had rarely met a man who was
personally more attractive to me than General Johnston. His mode of
viewing things was a high one, his thoughts and his expression of
them were refined, his conscientious anxiety to do exactly what was
right in the circumstances appeared in every word and act, his
ability and his natural gift of leadership showed without effort in
his whole bearing and conduct.
An incident which occurred at the time General Johnston left
Greensborough is striking proof of the scrupulous exactness he was
determined to exercise in carrying out the terms of the surrender.
He had gone southward as far as Charlotte to superintend the last
movement of his forces as a body and the final disbanding, and
before parting with the members of his staff learned that one of
them had preserved as a relic a little cavalry guidon of silk in the
form of a national flag scarce larger than a handkerchief. The
general immediately reclaimed it, and afterward sent it back under
the provision of the surrender which agreed that all captured flags
in the hands of the Confederates should be restored. He apologized
for the staff officer, saying that he knew no wrong had been meant
and the little flag had been regarded as a trifling but interesting
relic; yet he felt that there should be no limitation on their part
in carrying out strictly the terms agreed upon. The manner in which
all this was done, quite as much as the thing itself, showed the
earnestness and sincerity of his purpose to do everything in his
power to enforce the spirit as well as the letter of every promise
he had made for himself and his army. He had returned to his home at
Danville, Va., before he had been able to send to us this flag with
another that had been omitted, and his solicitude in regard to it,
even in the midst of anxiety in regard to his family, was shown by a
note which accompanied the parcel. It ran as follows:--
"DANVILLE, June 5th, 1865.
GENERAL,--I have requested Major Shackford, Provost Marshal of this
post, to forward to you a small box containing the color, standard,
and guidon which I mentioned to you in Greensborough.
I beg you to explain to Major-General Schofield that they were not
in my possession when we were in Greensborough, nor until I reached
Charlotte, and that they were not sent to him from that place
because I expected to visit Raleigh and there deliver them to him.
This visit was prevented by the condition of my family. You may
remember that the same cause, as I explained to you orally,
prevented my delivering them to you in person.
Most respectfully,
Your ob't serv't,
J. E. JOHNSTON.
MAJOR-GENERAL Cox,
U. S. Army."
General Schofield and myself passed the night at the house of
ex-Governor Morehead, who had urged us to do so. Our host had been
one of the leading Whigs of North Carolina in the _ante-bellum_
days, and with his friends and neighbors Gilmer and Graham had
opposed secession at the beginning; but with the instinct of
politicians, they had striven to lead the current they could not
stop when once it had carried them away. The house was a comfortable
villa in the Italian style, with a tower overlooking the rolling
country for a long distance. The architecture was simple but
effective, and the house had evidently been a home of comfort and
ease in better times. We were frankly and cordially welcomed, and
allowed to see the mixed feelings with which the reassembled family
accepted the collapse of the Confederacy. Among the young people was
a son of the governor who had been desperately wounded but had
recovered. The rebellion had had their devoted support, but they
said, "That is all past now," and seemed eagerly desirous to get
into accord with the new order of things. The young man told of his
army adventures, and compared notes with us as to camp life in the
different armies. We were struck with the strong comparison he made
in speaking of his wound. A bullet had entered his mouth and passed
out at the back of his neck, and he said it felt, for all the world,
as if a city lamppost with its cross-bar had been dragged through
his head. I have no doubt this gave as good an idea of the sensation
as possible, for I have often heard wounded men speak of the feeling
of having received a terrible blow from some big and heavy thing,
when hit with a musket-ball. The ladies entertained us with
half-gay, half-pathetic stories of the way home-life had run on
during the long campaigns, and of the ingenuity they were obliged to
use to supply the place of tasteful articles of dress or adornment
when the blockade had become stringent, and when each little
community was thrown almost wholly upon its own resources. The head
of the house discoursed more gravely of the situation of the country
at large, and tried to forecast the future. Now that the surrender
was made, he was anxious that the army should be disbanded and sent
home as soon as possible, for the disposition of the Confederate
soldiers to pay their arrears by pillage made him fear that his own
farm would be stripped bare before they got away. There is no doubt
that there was a good deal of cause for such anxiety, especially for
leading men whom the private soldiers were disposed to hold largely
responsible for all their woes. It was no slight test of character
and good breeding, under such anxieties, for the family to pay
delicate and courteous attention to the comfort of their guests, and
to keep as far as possible in the background everything that might
betray their own troubled feelings.
On Wednesday (3d May) General Schofield returned to Raleigh, leaving
me in responsible command of the district. [Footnote: Official
Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. pp. 394, 407.] By administering the
parole to the troops by companies and regiments, keeping a number of
officers at work and using abundant clerical assistance in verifying
the copies of rolls, the task had been completed in a couple of
days, and General Johnston began to move his men southward. General
Cheatham with the Tennessee troops marched across the Great Smoky
Mountains, but the others were ordered to rendezvous at West Point
in Georgia, which was a central place for all who lived in the Gulf
States, from which they could most readily reach their homes. While
they remained together they were fed by us, and we furnished rations
sufficient to sustain them on the journey. Our ration, too, was
quite a different thing from theirs, and the men seemed more
affected by this bestowal of unwonted and abundant supplies than by
any other incident in the surrender. They said it seemed hardly
possible that men who were but yesterday arrayed in deadly hostility
to them, could now be supplying their wants so liberally.
Whilst they stayed they seemed never to tire of watching our men on
duty and on the various parades. Our guard-mounting was particularly
a show affair. From the moment the music struck up on the parade
ground, and the detachments for the guard from the different
companies began to file out and march into place, there was always a
large concourse of the men in gray making a most interested body of
spectators. The smart appearance of the men, the rapid inspection of
arms, of haversacks and knapsacks, the march in review, the
assignment to posts, the final marching off the field, all seemed to
give them great enjoyment. They said they had not paid much
attention to the formalities which so greatly relieve the drag and
labor of military life even in the field, and they were ready with
cordial and appreciative praise of the discipline and finish in
drill which they saw.
As the Confederate troops left Greensborough, I concentrated my own
corps there, [Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. pp.
376, 384, 396, 502.] sending one of the infantry divisions to
Salisbury, and Kilpatrick's cavalry division to posts still farther
toward the southwest. A visit of inspection which I made to
Salisbury gave me the opportunity of examining the site of the
recent prison camp there. The treatment of our prisoners by the
Confederate authorities is a repellent subject, and I would gladly
pass it by and say nothing discordant with the tone of high honor
and respectful good-will which marked the conduct of the leading
officers of the Confederate forces in the field. We may fairly admit
that the resources of the Confederacy had been so taxed that food
and clothing were hard to procure, and that their armies in the
field were ill-fed and in rags. There is, however, a limit beyond
which a government calling itself civilized may not go, and as the
public opinion of the world, crystallized into what we call
international law, will not permit the wholesale decapitation of
prisoners, as might be done by a king of Ashantee or Dahomey, so it
forbids the herding of captive men in a mere corral, leaving them
utterly without shelter of any sort through the sleet and rain of
winter, near the North Carolina mountains. It forbids starving them
to death or leaving them to rot with scurvy because they are not
supplied with wholesome food and medicines. It is the plain duty of
a civilized government to parole and send home military prisoners
who cannot be fed or sheltered. If controversies as to exchange
existed, such conduct would have been the surest way to shame us out
of any position that was wrong, and the public opinion of the world
would have been powerful in making it the more profitable way, as it
was the only one not utterly barbarous. I speak with a solemn sense
of the obligation to avoid every railing accusation when I say that
it would have been humane and civilized in the comparison, if the
prisoners at Andersonville and Salisbury had been shot down by
fusillades or quickly poisoned by wholesale (as Napoleon was accused
of doing at Jaffa) instead of subjecting them to death by starvation
and exposure which swept them away at a rate no plague ever rivalled
or approached. I have seen too much of the Southern people, in arms
in the field and in their homes, to believe for one moment that they
would knowingly approve the treatment our prisoners received. But
their own reputation before the world makes it their duty to fix the
responsibility for a great crime upon those whose commands or whose
criminal negligence caused horrors which are among the most odious
things in the world's history.
I had seen at Wilmington and Goldsborough the condition of
train-loads of these released captives. Their situation has been
surgically and medically recorded in the surgeon-general's official
reports. There is no room for dispute. They were men reduced to
idiocy and to the verge of the grave by the direct effects of hunger
and exposure and the diseases necessarily connected with such
suffering. They were not of the dregs of humanity, who might be said
to fall into animality when the restraints of society and of
discipline were removed. They were many of them men who had
respected positions and refined surroundings at home. These were the
victims who looked vacantly with glazed eyes and could mumble no
intelligent response when asked their names, where was their home,
what was the name of the mother that bore them.
At Salisbury the pen in which part of the prisoners had been kept
was still to be seen. There were, as I remember it, two levels or
"benches" in it, and in the little bluff or slope from one to the
other were still to be seen the holes the poor prisoners had dug to
make a little cave in the earth that would drain itself and give
some shelter from the winter weather. I talked to women of the place
who with tears upon their faces told of the efforts some of them had
made to have the worst of the treatment corrected, or to procure
some mitigation of the want and hardship. The evidence seemed
conclusive that any marks of common sympathy or Christian pity were
repelled by the officials in charge of the prisoners and treated as
indications of disloyalty to the Confederate government.
The Confederacy was full of places where the almost limitless forest
afforded timber without end, and the labor of the prisoners
themselves under the same guards that garrisoned the prison would
have comfortably housed and warmed them, and then the scant and
wretched rations would not so soon have been the cause of emaciation
and disease. The risk of escape would not have been great, and I
doubt if as many would have got away as in fact managed to do so in
the actual circumstances. The almost certainty of sickness and death
nerved many a man to incredible exertions to be free, who would have
waited more patiently for an exchange if his condition had been less
intolerable or less sure of a fatal result. But even if there had
been some more escapes, it would be no argument in favor of the
horrible system which was adopted. There is no resemblance between
the situation of prisoners in a pen, and that of soldiers in
bivouac. The latter build shelters of rails or of brushwood, if they
have no shelter-tents, and they are very rarely stinted in firewood.
Their active life helps to preserve their vigor. To liken these to
men without shelter of any kind and without fire enough to cook by,
herded inside a ring-fence in winter weather, is an abuse of words.
Enough of the shocking subject!
As soon as headquarters baggage could be brought up I established my
own camp in the northern edge of Greensborough, in a grove which was
part of the grounds attached to the mansion of Mr. Dick, since that
time judge of the United States District Court. The first impression
of the people was that all government was now in the hands of the
army, and we had no little difficulty in correcting it. The policy
of the government was to recognize the ordinary courts and local
magistrates, and to support their authority in preserving the peace,
punishing crimes, and determining ordinary civil rights. The
political organization of the State was left subject to such changes
or conditions of reconstruction as might be prescribed by national
statute. The army, however, was the present palpable fact. The
muskets and the cannon were physical engines of power that everybody
could see, and everybody knew that the commandants of department and
district could use them if need be. There was, therefore, a national
tendency, both in civil magistrates and in the people, to refer all
sorts of questions to the military authorities. I tried in good
faith to make it understood within my own district that we were
averse to meddling with local affairs, and wished the ordinary
current of civil administration to run on in its accustomed channels
till it should be replaced by that which should have the new
authority of a reconstructed state under Acts of Congress. I not
only promulgated this through the military channels, but I accepted
several invitations to address the people at different points and
explain our attitude and purpose during the interregnum, and to give
them serious advice as to their conduct in the very trying
circumstances in which they were. It need hardly be said that the
gist of this advice was to recognize the absolute death of the
system of slavery, to deal with the freedmen with perfect sincerity
as free laborers who were at liberty to make the best bargain they
could for their labor, and to confine for the present their
political activity to the duty of keeping alive such local
magistracies as would prevent the community from falling into
anarchy. There was a wistful solicitude noticeable in people of all
classes to know what was to become of them. Their leaders had
educated them to believe that the success of the National arms would
mean the loss of every liberty and subjection to every form of
hateful tyranny. Yet they almost universally showed a spirit of
complete resignation to what might come, and a wish to conform
obediently to everything enjoined by the officers of the occupying
army. It was the rarest thing in the world to meet with anything
like sullen resistance or hostile or unfriendly utterances.
[Footnote: The same disposition in the people was noticed elsewhere
in the South. Halleck said, in a dispatch of April 22d, "From all I
can learn, Richmond is to-day more loyal than Washington or
Baltimore." (Official Records, vol. xlvi. pt. iii. p. 888.) Sherman
sent similar reports from Savannah. (_Id_., vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p.
371.)] My own stay in North Carolina did not extend into the period
of the provisional governments authorized by Acts of Congress, and I
was not personally witness to the varying phases of sentiment among
the people at that time.
The political character of North Carolina during the war had been
different from that of the Gulf States. We found very few indeed who
were known as "original Secessionists." The "old Whigs" had given
the tone to public sentiment, and the community as a whole had
sincerely desired that the Union might be preserved. Yet a society
based upon slavery had such community of interest with the States
further south that it was soon dragged into the secession vortex.
When once war had begun, the growth of hostility against what was
regarded as their public enemy was rapid, and in every State a war
party in time of war has a great advantage over the opposition. The
charge of "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" is too powerful a
weapon against the minority, and the outward appearance was soon
that of almost complete unanimity in the desperate struggle to make
secession a success. Party leaders were borne along upon the
current, and vied with each other in extravagant professions of
devotion to the Confederacy.
In such circumstances the men who were at heart opposed to the war
thought they were doing all that was wise or prudent in making what
they called a constitutional opposition to the Davis government,
professing to acquiesce in the Confederate organization, but urging
the negotiation of peace on the best attainable terms. In the fever
of actual conflict the following of such men was small, although it
seemed plain to me that a majority of the people of the State
sympathized with them at heart.
The outspoken Union men were, almost as a matter of course, treated
as traitors, and lived under a reign of terror. In the mountains,
where their numbers were considerable, they were the victims of a
relentless guerilla warfare, as the same class was upon the other
slope of the Great Smokies in East Tennessee.
Out of these classes came the elements of new struggles for
political power. The minority naturally felt that their time had now
come, and were not altogether patient with the principles of our
democratic Constitution, which require that a majority shall not be
disfranchised, and which therefore make it practically impossible
that a minority shall rule. At the time I am speaking of, these
elements were quiet in the first stunning effect of the collapse of
the Confederacy; but we could see the tendencies to antagonisms that
were to agitate the State during the next decade.
The negroes were, of course, of none of these parties. Very few of
the whites were in favor of emancipation on principle, though all
accepted it as the inevitable result of the war. Tacitly or
avowedly, they all admitted that the fate of the "system" had been
the real issue at stake, and that the surrender meant universal
freedom. But the colored people were ignorant, and had cherished
strange illusions as to the change which was to come to them. It was
a common belief among them that the whites were to be stripped of
all property, and the land to be given to them. We had heard curious
discussions among them around the camp-fires, in which they had
apportioned the real and personal property among themselves. The
faith that they were each to have "forty acres and a mule" was of a
little later growth. The first noticeable thing among them after the
surrender was the almost universal disposition to quit work. It
would have been very natural that they should wish for a great
holiday, and try to realize their freedom by extending it at their
own will, and thus prove to themselves that no man was their master.
But in addition to this, they seemed to fear that any continuance of
the relation of laborers for their former masters would cover some
waiver of their right to freedom. Yet, as they had hopes that the
real estate would be given to them by the National government, they
were disinclined to leave the old home. The outcome was that for a
time they occupied their old quarters and asserted a kind of
proprietorship in them, whilst they "struck" from labor.
When it is remembered that the kitchen of Southern houses is a
detached building of which the servants have exclusive occupation,
it will easily be understood that the situation was anything but
comfortable for housekeepers. Oftentimes they could neither hire
cooks nor get access to the open kitchen fire and the rude utensils
which the colored people appropriated as their own. According to my
observation, the Southern white women were very systematic and
thorough in the supervision of household work, but were necessarily
ignorant of the actual manipulation. They knew what flour and other
ingredients to weigh out for a batch of bread, but they had never
done the baking. Some of them tried their first experiments over the
open fire with "Dutch ovens" and other primitive implements, whilst
a group of colored women sat around commenting drolly but most
exasperatingly upon the results. As a temporary compromise, we were
obliged to "clear the kitchen" by military authority, making it
known that that was part of the "house," and that if the mistresses
of the mansion had to do their own work, it was not necessary that
it should be done before such an "audience." Such a social crisis is
always short, but it is very severe. No doubt those who have gone
through it look back upon it as one does upon the day after a fire,
when the wretchedness of dirt and destruction seems hopeless, but,
like other mundane things, soon passes away and is spoken of as all
"part of a lifetime."
A delicate and amiable lady, whose fortune at her marriage had been
of that ample sort which was measured in Southern parlance as "a
hundred negroes," herself told me, with a mixture of tearful pathos
and recognition of the comic side of it, of her own first efforts to
make a batch of soda biscuit for her husband and children after she
got possession of her kitchen. She knew all about the rule, but in
new practice the rule didn't work. The ingredients got wrongly
mixed; the fire was too hot or not hot enough; some biscuits were
burnt to a crisp, some were not cooked, and none were eatable, and
her heart was ready to break at the prospect of her family's
condition till something could be done to remedy the trouble. In
more than one household our officers' messes helped tide over the
painful interval by giving camp hospitality and friendly assistance
to their new neighbors. We frequently heard housekeepers say that if
they only had the snug ranges of Northern kitchens within the house
they would have made light of the labor; but their outdoor kitchens
and primitive methods, which produced appetizing results in the
hands of colored cooks who had been brought up to them, were killing
upon those who had been delicately reared.
We saw more of the domestic form of this social anarchy than of farm
labor, for the outdoor work could wait, whereas the indoor work
could not. The same difficulty was everywhere, however, and the
intelligence of the community soon hit upon temporary expedients.
Such men as Mr. Gilmer and Judge Dick took the lead in advising the
colored people to avoid their apprehended risk of compromising their
freedom, by hiring out temporarily to work for others than their old
masters. By thus changing about, the consciousness of working under
a voluntary contract was stronger, and the uneducated brain was less
puzzled to tell whether any change of situation had really come. We
did our best to dispel the notion that wealth and idleness were to
follow emancipation, and to encourage the freedmen to resume
industrious labor as the foundation of real freedom and
independence. [Footnote: See General Schofield's Order No. 46;
Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p. 503.] The peaceful
character of the colored people was shown even in what they supposed
was a great revolution in their favor. There was no rioting or angry
disturbance,--no effort to accomplish anything by force. They
abandoned for the time their usual employments, and congregated in
their quarters or in groups about the streets, waiting for some
great thing to happen. There was, of course, plenty of talk and some
excitement, but even this gradually diminished; and as they began to
realize that without work there would be no food, they made such
bargains as suited them, and the affairs of the plantation and of
the house began to move on. The owners of property did not hope for
profits; they expressed themselves earnestly as anxious only that
such crops might be raised as would save the community, white and
black alike, from absolute destitution. I know of prominent examples
of well-known men offering the farm hands all that they could raise
for that season if they would only go to work and plant something
which could still ripen into food. The season was advancing, and a
little delay was very dangerous. The last chance for a crop in that
year would soon be gone. The influence and advice of sagacious and
prudent men was never more useful, for society seemed to be resolved
into its original elements when all authority but the military went
for nothing. As soldiers, we refrained from meddling in civil
affairs, but it was understood that we should preserve the peace and
allow no force to be used by others. It was a time when everybody
felt the need of being patient and conciliatory, and the natural
authority of known character and wisdom asserted itself. Everybody
soon went to work to make a living, and the burning problems of
political and social importance were postponed.
A serious inconvenience was immediately felt in the lack of a
circulating medium. The Confederate currency was at once made
worthless by the failure of the rebellion, and there was nothing to
take its place. The extent to which its depreciation had gone was
amusingly shown by a printed notice and list of prices I found
posted in a country tavern, already some months old. In it the price
of a dinner was put at ten dollars, and other meals and
accommodation in proportion. Still this currency had served for
business purposes, and it being gone, the community had to go back
for the time to primitive barter.
We had opportunity to notice to what great straits the people had
been reduced for two years in the matter of manufactured goods of
all kinds. Factories of every sort were scarce in the South when the
war began, and resources of every kind were so absorbed in the war
that there was no chance for new ones to spring up. Carriages,
wagons, and farm implements went to decay, or could only be rudely
patched up by the rough mechanics of the plantation. The stringent
blockade shut out foreign goods, and the people were generally
clothed in homespun. In many houses the floors were bare because the
carpets had been cut up to make blankets for the soldiers. Ladies
made their own shoes of such materials as they could find. They
braided their own hats. They showed a wonderful ingenuity in
supplying from native products the place of all the articles of use
which had formerly been imported from foreign lands or from the
North. Taste asserted itself, perhaps all the more in such
discouraging circumstances, and feminine refinement and love of
adornment worked marvels out of the slenderest materials. A
home-made straw hat ornamented with feathers of barnyard fowls and
domestic birds was often as jaunty and as pretty as any Parisian
bonnet. Simple dyes were made to give to coarse cotton stuffs a
lively contrast or harmony of pure colors as effective as the varied
and elaborate fabrics from the European looms. In some respects this
self-dependence heightened the personal advantages of those who
excelled in ingenuity, in taste, and in skill; for the clothes
indicated better the character of the wearer than those which are
made on one pattern in the shop of a fashionable mantua-maker.
Adversity has such uses and such compensations that I should hardly
reckon the poverty of the Southern States during 1864-65 as a burden
greatly felt in private life. All such things are comparative, and
where all the people undergo the same privations, the odious
comparisons and jealousies between richer and poorer disappear in a
measure. A simple life full of great enthusiasms is one a
philosopher may find much satisfaction in, and has, many a time,
been pictured as an ideal calculated to bring out the best qualities
of men and women and therefore to make life more truly enjoyable. I
greatly doubt if Southern people, in looking back on the war time,
find anything to regret in the simple fare and plain dress of the
enforced economy of that period. The real griefs and burdens, if I
am not mistaken, came from other sources. Among thoughtful people
there must have been from the summer of 1863 serious doubts of the
possibility of a successful outcome of their struggle, and a growing
and unhappy conviction that the fearful waste of life and treasure
would be in vain. They must have had grave misgivings also as to the
righteousness of a cause which championed an institution condemned
by the whole world and in conflict with the general progress of
Christendom. To see their best and bravest consumed in the fire of
successive battles, and to be waiting only till the slaughter should
make it impossible to keep armies in the field, must have been a
grief and a suffering which made all physical deprivations seem
small indeed.
I think I cannot be mistaken in the judgment I formed at the time,
that to the great body of the Southern people it was a relief that
the struggle was really over; that they breathed more freely and
felt that a new lease of life came with peace. They had been half
conscious for a good while that it must end so, and they were in the
mood to be at least resigned, if not readily to profess the pious
conviction that "it was all for the best." With the reactions and
political exasperations that came later, I have here nothing to do.
My purpose has been to reproduce, as far as my memory serves, the
scenes and the surroundings of that last military duty of the great
war. Why it was that the mellowness of spirit which seemed then so
prevalent could not have ripened without interruption or check into
a quicker and more complete fraternization, belongs to another field
of inquiry. The military chronicler stops where he was mustered out.
A summer ride which a party of us took to the battlefield of
"Guilford-Old-Court-House" may be worth noting as an encouragement
to believe that our descriptions of the scenes of our own
engagements need not become unintelligible even in the distant
future. Among the combats of our Revolutionary War, Guilford Court
House ranks high in importance; for the check there given to the
invading British army under Lord Cornwallis by the Continental
forces under General Greene was the turning-point in a campaign.
Greensborough is the present county-seat of Guilford County, and the
"Old Court House," a few miles distant, has disappeared as a
village, a few buildings almost unused being the only mark of the
old town. Natural topography, however, does not change its material
features easily, and in this case a cleared field or two where the
forest had formerly extended seemed to be the only change that had
occurred in the past century. With General Greene's official report
of the battle in our hands, we could trace with complete accuracy
every movement of the advancing enemy and his own dispositions to
receive the attack. We could see the reasons for the movements on
both sides, and how the undulations of surface and the cover of
woods and fences were taken advantage of by either commander.
Military principles being the same in all times, we found ourselves
criticising the movements as if they had occurred on one of our own
recent battlefields. It brought the older and the later war into
almost startling nearness, and made us realize, as perhaps nothing
else could have done, how the future visitor will trace the
movements in which we have had a part; and when we have been dust
for centuries, will follow the path of our battalions from hill to
hill, from stream to stream, from the border of a wood to the open
ground where the bloody conflict was hand to hand, and will comment
upon the history we have made. It pointed the lesson that what is
accurate in our reports and narratives will be recognized by the
intelligent critic, and that the face of the country itself will be
an unalterable record which will go far to expose the true reasons
of things,--to show what statements are consistent with the physical
conditions under which a battle was fought, and what, if any, are
warped to hide a repulse or to claim a false success. Nature herself
will thus prove the strongest ally of truth.
NOTE.--General Cox was the spontaneous choice of the "Union Party"
of Ohio for Governor, and was nominated at its Convention held in
Columbus, June 21,1865, while he was still engaged in his military
duties in North Carolina. At a ratification meeting, held in the
evening after the Convention, Senator Sherman said, speaking of the
ticket: "It is headed by a gentleman who is not only a soldier, but
a statesman and scholar,--a man of the highest and purest
character,--a man who, in all the walks of life, will be a model for
us all. I thank you for that nomination,--although I believe the
people made it before the Convention met." At a reception in honor
of General Sherman given in Columbus, July 13, 1865, the general
himself was called on to speak. After mentioning Grant, whose fame
was secure, and McPherson, his beloved companion in arms, he said:
"And here is General Cox, who is your candidate for Governor,--a man
who did his whole duty from first to last and did it well and will
do it to the end."
General Cox was elected by a handsome majority, served one term,
returned to the practice of the law, and in 1869 was appointed
Secretary of the Interior, by General Grant. Retiring to private
life at the end of twenty months, he occupied many positions of
trust and honor: President of the Toledo and Wabash Railroad, Member
of Congress from the Toledo District, President of the Cincinnati
University, Dean of the Cincinnati Law School, etc. His reading was
extensive; his scholarship profound. In microscopic research he
attained world-wide distinction and he received the Gold Medal of
Honor at the Antwerp Exposition of 1891, for excellence in
micro-photography.
He was thrice honored with the degree of LL.D., the last time by
Yale College, in June, 1877. As an indication of the esteem in which
he was held by those among whom he went as an armed invader, it
should be mentioned that one of the degrees was conferred by the
University of North Carolina, in June, 1870.
He was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the
Massachusetts Historical Society, the Royal Microscopical Society,
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the
Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, the Cobden Club, and a
number of others.
His contributions to the magazines, historical, literary, and
scientific, were numerous, and his series of critical and
biographical reviews in "The Nation," from the beginning of its
publication to the summer of 1900, constitutes a most valuable and
interesting commentary on public men and affairs and military
operations at home and abroad.
His public addresses, many of which were published in pamphlet form,
were marked for their literary finish, their wealth of learning and
suggestion, their deep philosophical insight, and their lofty
patriotism.
He had little leisure for writing books, but has contributed to the
literature of the war several articles in "Battles and Leaders of
the Civil War"; the volumes on "Atlanta," and "The March to the Sea,
Franklin and Nashville," in the Scribner War Series; "The Second
Battle of Bull Run," in which he took issue with the findings of the
Second Court of Inquiry in the Fitz-John Porter case; "Franklin," a
detailed account of that battle, together with the events leading up
to it and the controversies following it; the last half of Force's
"Sherman" in the Great Commander Series; and the above "Military
Reminiscences." However much men may differ with his conclusions,
none who knew him personally ever questioned his candor and
sincerity, and his disposition to be absolutely fair in his
treatment of others.
W. C. C.
APPENDIX C
TESTIMONIALS OF COMMANDERS
_Rosecrans, in his Report of the Campaign of_ 1861, _Nov._ 25, 1861.
_Official Records, vol. v.p._ 259.
"It is a great pleasure to say to the commanding general that I have
found General Cox prudent, brave, and soldierly, and I specially
commend his prudence and firmness in occupying Cotton Hill, details
of which are given in his report in the appendix."
_Rosecrans, in Correspondence with McClellan_, _Nov._ 19, 1861,
_asking for Changes in Officers, etc._ _Official Records, vol. v.p._
657.
"General Cox is the only reliable man here;" _i. e._, of the
brigadiers with him at Gauley, Schenck having gone home sick.
_McClellan, to Army Headquarters, after South Mountain and
Antietam_, _Oct._ 5, 1862. _Official Records, vol. xix. pt. ii. p._
383.
"MAJOR-GEN. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
In compliance with your instructions, General Cox has been ordered
to report to you for duty on the Kanawha. General Cox's gallant
services in the battle of South Mountain and at Antietam, during
which, after Reno's fall, he commanded an army corps, contributed
greatly toward our success in those hard-fought engagements. He has
been recommended by General Burnside, his immediate commander, for
promotion. Although I am now to lose the services of this valuable
officer with this army, it is no more than an act of justice to him
that I should concur in the recommendation of General Burnside,
which I do most cordially and earnestly, and request that the
promotion be made at once. (Signed) GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Maj.-Gen."
_Schofield to Sherman, after the Atlanta Campaign. Official Records,
vol. xxxix. pt. ii. p_. 366.
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE OHIO,
DECATUR, GA., Sept. 12th, 1864.
MAJOR-GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, Commanding Military Division of the
Mississippi.
GENERAL,--I have the honor to recommend for promotion the following
named officers of my command for gallant and meritorious services
during the campaign just ended:
Brigadier-General J. D. Cox is now the senior Brigadier-General of
Volunteers in active service. He has held various important commands
during the war and was appointed Major-General in 1862, but his name
was withdrawn from the list sent to the Senate for confirmation,
because of the limitation by law of the number of Major-Generals
authorized to be appointed. General Cox commanded the 23d Army Corps
for some time previous to the assignment of Major-General Stoneman
to that command. During the summer's campaign he has commanded the
third division of that corps under my immediate personal
observation. I have no hesitation in saying that I have never seen a
more able and efficient division commander. General Cox is possessed
of a very high order of talent and superior education. As a
commander he is discreet, energetic, and brave. As a just reward for
long, faithful, and efficient service, and as an act of justice to
the army and the country, I earnestly recommend that
Brigadier-General J. D. Cox be appointed Major-General of
Volunteers.
I earnestly hope all the appointments above recommended may be made.
Should the number of vacancies in the grades of Major-General and
Brigadier-General not justify the appointment of so large a number
from this army, I respectfully request that the officers who may not
be appointed may receive the Brevet of the rank for which they are
recommended. Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General Commanding."
_Sherman to Halleck, after the Atlanta Campaign. Official Records,
vol. xxxix. pt. iii. p._ 413.
"HEADQUARTERS, MIL. DIV. OF THE MISS.
IN THE FIELD, GAYLESVILLE, ALA., Oct. 24,1864.
GENERAL H. W. HALLECK, Chief of Staff, etc.
GENERAL,--I always designed to canvass the claims to promotion of
all aspirants in the army, so as to save the President the invidious
task of judging among so many worthy men, all of whom can only be
known to him by the record. But events and movements have followed
each other so rapidly that my army commanders have not been able to
attend to the matter, but have sent into my office the detached
papers of each. These I herewith inclose, indorsed with my own
individual opinion. I have not General Thomas' list, but will
instruct him to send it direct from Nashville, where he now is. If
necessary [_sic_] to promote to divisions and brigades the officers
now exercising the rank of major-general and brigadier-general, it
be necessary to create vacancies, I do think the exigencies of the
country would warrant the muster out of the same number of generals
now on the list that have not done service in the past year.
The following persons should be promoted to the rank of
major-general: . . .
Army of the Ohio: Brig.-Gen. J. D. Cox to be major-general....
All these are actual division commanders, men of marked courage,
capacity, and merit, who are qualified to separate commands....
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN,
Major-General."
_Schofield to Thomas, after the Battles of Franklin and Nashville.
Official Records, vol. xlv. pt. ii._ p. 273.
"HEAD QUARTERS, ARMY OF THE OHIO,
FRANKLIN, TENN., Dec. 19, 1864.
MAJ.-GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS, Commanding Dep't of the Cumberland.
GENERAL,--I have the honor to enclose herewith a letter to Maj.-Gen.
Halleck, Chief of Staff, urging the promotion of Brig.-Gen. Cox, and
to urge that it may be forwarded with your indorsement. Unless
General Cox can obtain the promotion which he has so often earned,
he will soon quit the service, which would be an irreparable loss to
my command.
I am, general, Very Respectfully,
Your obed't serv't,
(Signed) J. M. SCHOFIELD, Maj.-Gen."
_Schofield to Halleck, after the Battles of Franklin and Nashville.
Official Records, vol. xlv. pt. ii. p. 273._
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE OHIO,
FRANKLIN, TENN., Dec. 19, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL H. W. HALLECK, Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, D. C.
GENERAL,--I desire earnestly to ask your attention, and, through
you, that of the President and Secretary of War, to the claims of
Brigadier-General J. D. Cox to promotion. It is unnecessary to
recite, in detail, the services of so distinguished an officer. He
has merited promotion scores of times by skilful and heroic conduct
in as many battles. He is one of the very best division commanders I
have ever seen, and has often shown himself qualified for a higher
command.
Permit me to say that in overlooking the merits of such an officer
as General Cox, the Government has, unintentionally of course,
committed an act of great injustice, and one which must soon deprive
the country of his services. An officer cannot exercise for three
years a command which he is universally admitted to be eminently
qualified for, and yet be denied the corresponding rank, while his
juniors, notoriously less deserving, are promoted, without feeling
such mortification and chagrin as must drive him from the army.
Excuse, General, the earnestness with which I refer to this matter.
I do not exaggerate the merits of the case; on the contrary, I do
not half state it.
I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General."
_Thomas to Halleck, after the Battles of Franklin and Nashville.
Official Records, vol. xlv. pt. ii. p. 274._
[Indorsement] "HEAD Q'RS, DEP'T OF THE CUMBERLAND.
IN THE FIELD, TENNESSEE, Dec. 20, 1864.
Respectfully forwarded, earnestly recommending the promotion of
Brig.-Gen. J. D. Cox to the grade of Major-General. His services on
the Atlanta campaign entitle him to the promotion asked for, and at
the battle of Franklin he was eminently distinguished for personal
courage as well as for the skilful management of his command.
(Signed) GEORGE H. THOMAS,
Maj.-Gen. Com'g."
_Thomas to Halleck, Dec. 23, 1864, again recommending General Cox
for Promotion. Official Records, vol. xlv. pt. ii. pp. 234, 235._
"HEADQUARTERS THIRD DIVISION, 23D ARMY CORPS.
ON GRANNY WHITE PIKE, December 17, 1864.
MAJ. J. A. CAMPBELL, Ass't Adj't-Gen., Army of the Ohio.
MAJOR,--I have the honor to claim for my command the capture of
eight pieces of the enemy's artillery, in the charge made by the
first brigade last evening. The four pieces captured by the Eighth
Tennessee Infantry, as stated by Colonel Doolittle in the
accompanying dispatch, were not put under guard at the moment, and a
guard was subsequently put over them and the pieces claimed by
McArthur's division, Sixteenth Corps.
J. D. Cox,
Brigadier-General Commanding."
[Inclosure] "H'DQ'RS, 1ST BRIGADE, 30 Div., 23d ARMY CORPS. IN THE
FIELD, December 17, 1864.
CAPT. THEODORE Cox, Ass't Adj't-General.
SIR,--I have the honor to report that in the charge on the enemy's
works yesterday, my brigade captured eight pieces of artillery,
light twelves, instead of four as reported verbally. The four pieces
claimed by McArthur's division, Sixteenth Corps, were taken by the
8th Tennessee, who drove the enemy from them. The 12th Kentucky took
the other four pieces. CHAS. C. DOOLITTLE, Col. 18th Michigan
Inft'y, Commanding."
[First Indorsement] "HEAD Q'RS, ARMY OF THE OHIO, FRANKLIN, TENN.,
Dec. 19th, 1864.
Respectfully forwarded to Head Quarters Department of the
Cumberland.
(Signed) J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major-General."
[Second Indorsement] "H'DQ'RS DEP'T OF THE CUMBERLAND, DUCK RIVER,
TENN., Dec. 23, 1864.
Respectfully forwarded to Maj.-Gen. H. W. Halleck, Chief of Staff,
recommending that Brig.-Gen. J. D. Cox be promoted to the grade of
Major-General.
(Signed) GEO. H. THOMAS,
Maj.-Gen. U. S. Vols., Commanding."
RECOMMENDATION FOR CORPS COMMAND
"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, WILMINGTON, N. C.,
February 24, 1865.
LIEUT.-GEN. U. S. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States.
City Point, Va.
GENERAL,--I respectfully request that the troops in this department
which do not belong to the Twenty-third Army Corps may be organized
into an army corps, and that Maj.-Gen. Alfred H. Terry be assigned
to its command. Also that Maj.-Gen. J. D. Cox may be assigned to the
command of the Twenty-third Army Corps.
I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General."
[Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. ii. p. 559.]
[_Letter of same date_.]
"... I have asked for the assignment of General Cox and General
Terry to corps commands, both because the strength of my command
renders it desirable, and because it will enable me to leave either
the one or the other in command of the column which I may not be
with at any time." [Footnote: _Ibid_.]
"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE OHIO,
GOLDSBOROUGH, N. C., March 22, 1865.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.
Near a month ago I wrote you a letter requesting that Maj.-Gen. J.
D. Cox be assigned to the command of the Twenty-third Army Corps,
and that the remaining troops in this department be organized into a
corps in command of Maj.-Gen. A. H. Terry. Having received no reply,
I presume that my letter did not reach you; therefore I beg leave to
renew the request. But if it be not deemed advisable to organize a
corps for General Terry, I nevertheless respectfully request that
Major-General Cox may be assigned to the command of the Twenty-third
Corps.
J. M. SCHOFIELD,
Major-General."
[Indorsement] "GOLDSBOROUGH, N. C., March 23, 1865.
I approve this. I know that General Cox is a good officer, and
General Terry has the best possible reputation. General Schofield
will want two corps organizations as soon as possible.
W. T. SHERMAN,
Major-General, Commanding."
[Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. ii. pp. 960, 961.]
"CITY POINT, VA., March 25, 1865.
HON. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War, Washington.
General Schofield recommends and I approve the appointment of
General Cox to the command of the Twenty-third Corps. He also asks
the organization of the balance of the troops in his department into
a corps under General Terry. This will be of great advantage to his
command. I would suggest that Terry's corps be called the Tenth.
U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant-General."
[Footnote: _Id._, pt. iii. p 18.]
"GENERAL ORDERS No. 49.
WAR DEP'T, ADJ'T-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, March 27, 1865.
By direction of the President, the following assignments are hereby
made:
I. Maj.-Gen. A. A. Humphreys, to the command of the Second Army
Corps.
II. Maj.-Gen. J. G. Parke to the command of the Ninth Army Corps.
III. Maj.-Gen. J. D. Cox to the command of the Twenty-third Army
Corps.
IV. All other troops in North Carolina not belonging to corps in
General Sherman's army will constitute the Tenth Army Corps, of
which Maj.-Gen. A. H. Terry is assigned to the command.
By command of the Secretary of War,
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Assistant Adjutant-General."
[Footnote: Official Records, vol. xlvii. pt. iii. p. 34.]
INDEX
NOTE. For economy of space the usual abbreviations for proper and
geographical
names are employed. Other abbreviations are:
A., army;
a. a. g., assistant adjutant-general;
a. d. c., aide-de-camp;
adm., admiral;
adm'n, administration;
A. C., army corps;
art., artillery;
bat., battery;
br., brevet;
brig., brigade, brigadier;
capt., captain;
cav., cavalry;
ch., church;
ch'f, chief;
C. H., courthouse;
co., company;
col., colonel;
com., commodore;
com'd'g, commanding;
com'r, commander;
conf., confederate;
cr., creek;
C. S. A., Confederate States Army;
dep't, department;
dist., district;
div., division;
gen., general;
Gov., Governor;
h'dqu'r's, headquarters;
inf., infantry;
insp., inspector;
l't, lieutenant;
maj., major;
mt., mountain;
pos., position;
reg., regular;
reg't, regiment;
R., river;
R. R., railroad;
Sec'y, secretary;
sta., station;
U. S. A., United States Army;
U. S. V., United States Volunteers.
The rank of officers is given as of the date when the events
described in the text occurred.
ABBOTT, Jos. C., colonel 7th New Hampshire, commanding brigade, at
Federal Point, North Carolina.
Aides-de-camp,
intimate association with commanding officer;
how appointed;
duties of,
Ames, Adelbert, brigadier general United States Volunteers,
commanding division at Federal Point and Ft. Fisher, North
Carolina;
with General Cox's column on Cape Fear River.
Amnesty,
approved by Lincoln;
discussed by Sherman and Johnston;
extended to all in arms at Lee's surrender;
sustained by popular feeling.
Anderson, Adna, operates Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad.
Anderson, Chas., colonel 93rd Ohio;
wounded at Stone's River;
elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio.
Anderson, Edw. L., captain 52nd Ohio,
wounded at Jonesboro.
Anderson, Fred. Pope, lieutenant 181st Ohio.
Anderson, Geo. B., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
at South Mountain.
Anderson, Geo. T., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
assaults Ft. Sanders.
Anderson, Henry R., captain 6th U. S. Infantry
Anderson, Larz, brother of General Robt.
Anderson, had five sons in Union army.
Anderson, Larz, Jr., aide-de-camp on staff of
General North Carolina McLean.
Anderson, Latham, colonel 8th Cal.
Anderson, Nicholas L., colonel 6th Ohio,
wounded at Stone's River and Chickamauga.
Anderson, Richard H., major general Confederate States Army,
at Maryland Heights;
at Antietam.
Anderson, Robt., lieutenant colonel 9th Pennsylvania, commanding
brig, at Antietam.
Anderson, Thos. McA., captain 14th U. S.
Infantry, later colonel same.
Anderson, Wm. M., brother of General Robt.
Anderson, had two sons in Union army.
Anderson, Wm. P., captain and assistant adjutant-general at
Cincinnati.
Andersonville, confederate treatment of prisoners at.
Ankele, Chas., major 37th Ohio, at Princeton,
West Virginia
Andrews, Lorin, President Kenyon College,
colonel 4th Ohio.
Anthony, Sister, hospital work at Camp
Dennison.
Antietam, battlefield described;
map of;
fords of;
battle on the right;
battle on the left;
conduct of, criticised; losses at.
Appointments, general officers U. S. A.,
laws regulating;
practice concerning.
Army of the Potomac, shares in McClellan's
errors as to enemy's strength and supports his views;
its failures contrasted with success of western armies.
Army Corps,
1st,
at South Mountain and Antietam;
losses at Antietam;
2nd,
at South Mountain and Antietam;
4th,
marches to relief of Knoxville;
at Blain's Cross-roads;
privations in E. Tennessee;
withdrawn to Knoxville;
winter quarters between Kingston and Loudon;
Wood's div in pursuit of Longstreet;
returns to Army of the Cumberland;
concentrates at Cleveland;
connects Army of Cumberland with Army of the Ohio;
at Tunnel Hill;
Newton's division at Rocky Face;
during Hood's Tennessee campaign;
General Couch assigned to;
dissatisfaction in corps;
at battle of Nashville;
in pursuit of Hood.
5th,
at Antietam.
6th,
at Alexandria;
in reserve at Crampton's Gap;
not at Antietam when fight began.
9th,
Kanawha division attached to;
at Fox's Gap, South Mountain;
extreme left at Antietam;
waiting for orders to advance;
difficulties in carrying bridge and fords over the Antietam;
overcomes them all and drives enemy into Sharpsburg;
attacked in left and rear by A. P. Hill's division;
maintains its position;
losses at Antietam;
moved by sea from North Carolina to Ft. Monroe;
sent to Falmouth, Virginia, and Warrenton to join Pope;
Kanawha division detached and sent to West Virginia;
sent to Kentucky much weakened by malarial disease;
recuperates in Kentucky;
moves into E. Tennessee;
movements in E. Tenn;
at siege of Knoxville;
at Blain's Cross-roads;
Strawberry Plains;
in winter quarters;
ordered East again with Burnside in command.
12th,
covers trains of Pope's army;
at Antietam;
losses at Antietam;
in support of Sedgwick.
14th,
at Tunnel Hill;
at Resaca;
deprived of Davis' division;
reunited at New Hope Church;
at Peachtree Creek;
at Averasborough and Bentonville.
15th,
at Villanow;
at Dallas;
at Roswell;
at Atlanta;
at Ezra Church;
at Bentonville;
on march to Raleigh.
16th, same as last.
17th
moves from Decatur, Alabama, via Rome to Allatoona;
and Ackworth;
in North Carolina
20th,
at Bridgeport and Wauhatchie, Tennessee;
at Dug Gap;
through Snake Creek Gap;
at Resaca;
off its beat;
again, at crossing of the Etowah;
assaults confederate lines at New Hope Church and is repulsed;
in reserve;
flanking movement near Ackworth;
at Kolb's farm;
at Peachtree Creek;
holds Atlanta;
at Averasborough and Bentonville;
on march to Raleigh;
marches through Raleigh.
23d,
organized;
pursuit and capture of Morgan raiders;
scattered and fatigued by the chase;
ordered back to Kentucky;
advance into E. Tennessee;
service in E. Tennessee;
at Loudon;
in battle of Campbell's Station;
at siege of Knoxville;
at Blain's Cross-roads;
privations;
unanimous re-enlistment;
at Strawberry Plains;
sufferings from intense cold;
marches to Dandridge;
back to Strawberry Plains;
winter quarters at Knoxville;
march to Morristown;
good soldiers;
at Rocky Face;
at Resaca;
reinforced by nine new regiments at the Etowah;
at Burnt Hickory;
swings to the left;
forces crossing of Noyes's Creek;
advances to Cheney's;
at battle of Kolb's farm;
forces crossing of Olley's Creek and gains threatening position
beyond enemy's left flank;
holds position while Sherman's army passes to rear and right;
forces crossing of Chattahoochee at Soap Creek;
extreme right flank of army southwest of Atlanta;
Cox's division covers itself by field intrenchments in fifteen
minutes;
October campaign, 1864, General Cox in command;
ordered to report to Thomas;
march to Dalton;
cars to Nashville;
at Columbia, Tennessee;
at Pulaski;
race back to Columbia;
at Columbia;
at battle of Franklin;
at battle of Nashville;
follows Smith's corps in pursuit of Hood;
recruited to 15,000;
hard winter march from Columbia to Clifton, Tennessee;
transported from Clifton to Washington: shipped to North
Carolina;
ascends right bank of Cape Fear River, captures Ft. Anderson,
Town Creek, and compels evacuation of Wilmington;
at battle of Kinston;
losses at Kinston;
dress parade at Goldsborough in honor of Sherman's arrival;
march to Raleigh;
at Raleigh;
at Greensborough.
Army Headquarters, business centre for a large military population.
Army Pets.
Army Regulations, necessity for careful study of.
Atlanta Campaign;
decisive importance of, recognized by Southern leaders.
Atlanta, Battle of.
"Atlantic,"
Collins line steamship used in transporting part of 23d army corps
to North Carolina.
Audenreid, Jos. C., captain,
and aide-de-camp on Sherman's staff, rides around enemy's lines
into Knoxville.
Augur, Christopher C., appointed major general
Averasborough, North Carolina, battle of.
Badger, George E.,
ex-senator from North Carolina, joins Graham's peace delegation;
mentioned.
Baker, Lawrence S., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
in command of North Carolina militia at Kinston.
Ball, Hon. Flamen,
attorny for Burnside in Vallandigham _habeas corpus_ case.
Ballot,
extension of, to soldiers in the field.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
importance of;
Union forces collected on line of.
Banks, N. P., major general United States Volunteers,
commanding forces in Shenandoah Valley;
defeated by "Stonewall" Jackson;
in charge of defences of Washington.
Barbarism,
tendency of war to make men relapse into;
efforts of officers to curb tendency;
of Union armies exaggerated to keep up war spirit of Southern
people.
Barker, C. W., major 12th Ill. cavalry,
in West Virginia
Barlow, Francis C., colonel 61st New York,
desperately wounded at Antietam.
Barnett, James, colonel 1st Ohio Artillery,
in West Virginia
Barriger, John W.,
captain and commissary on General Cox's staff;
good qualities.
Barter, Richard F., colonel commanding brigadier,
in 23d army corps, at Olley's Creek
Bascom, Gustavus M.,
aide-de-camp on General Cox's staff;
promoted to major;
accompanies General Cox to E. Tennessee;
transferred to Stoneman's staff.
Bates, Joshua H., brigadier-general Ohio Vol. Infantry,
at Camp Dennison.
Batteaux,
used for transportation of supplies from head of navigation to
Kanawha Falls;
more economical than wagon transportation.
Baxter, John, loyalist,
lawyer at Knoxville, afterwards U. S. Circuit Judge for 6th
Circuit.
Beauregard, P. G. T., lieutenant general Confederate States Army,
suggested by Lee to succeed Bragg;
Davis takes no notice of suggestion;
ordered to reinforce Polk with 10,000 men;
replies, impracticable;
in command Western Department;
confers with Hood;
says latter departed from plans agreed on;
criticised by Sherman;
hears of Thomas' expected reinforcements and orders Hood to take
aggressive immediately;
commands forces in the Carolinas;
orders Hardee to evacuate Charleston;
confesses inability to resist Sherman's march;
startles Davis;
retreats into North Carolina;
superseded by Johnston;
estimates of forces contradicted by official returns;
at Greensborough;
declares further prosecution of war hopeless.
Becker, Gottfried, lieutenant colonel 28th Ohio,
at South Mountain.
Beecher, Henry Ward,
meeting with General Cox;
correspondence with Stanton about photographs of Lincoln cortege.
Bell, T. S., Pt colonel 51st Pennsylvania,
killed at Burnside bridge.
Benham, H. W.,
captain of engineers;
consults about fortifying Gauley Bridge;
appointed brigadier general;
at Carnifex Ferry;
Cross Lanes;
near Gauley Bridge;
ordered to move to rear of Floyd's position on Cotton Hill and
intercept retreat;
fails to do so;
Rosecrans orders court-martial, but McClellan suppresses it;
transferred to another department.
Benjamin, Judah P., attorny-general Confederate States Army,
at Davis' last cabinet meeting;
decides States alone can dissolve confederacy and return to their
allegiance;
escapes to Cuba.
Benjamin, Samuel N., lieutenant 2nd U. S. Artillery,
at Antietam;
at Ft. Sanders;
reports cowardice of commanding officer.
Bennett, residence of, near Durham, North Carolina,
where Sherman and Johnston discussed terms of surrender.
Bentonville, North Carolina,
battle of;
sound of battle heard fifty miles away.
Beverly, West Virginia,
concentration of confederate troops at;
importance of situation;
abandoned after battle of Rich Mountain
Big Creek Gap, fine view through.
Big Sandy River,
as transportation route to E. Tennessee
Big Sewell Mountain,
reached by Cox's advance;
occupied by General Cox;
difficulty of hauling supplies to;
compels retirement.
Birkhimer's "Military Government and Martial Law" cited.
Blair, Frank P., major general United States Volunteers,
prefers command in Sherman's Army to seat in Congress;
commands 17th army corps;
marches from Decatur, Alabama, to Rome, Kingston, and Ackworth;
his corps makes good Sherman's losses in Atlanta campaign;
sent to Missouri to stump;
wants to stop foraging in North Carolina
Blenker, Louis, brigadier general United States Volunteers,
ordered to join Fremont;
does not arrive in time to participate in advance.
Blizzard,
fearful in E. Tennessee, Jan. 1864.
Blockhouses,
construction and use in railroad defence.
Bloodgood, Edw., lieutenant colonel 22nd Wisc.,
captured with his command by Forrest.
Bloody Lane,
at Antietam.
Bluestone River, West Virginia,
operations on.
Bondurant, J. W., captain Alabama artillery,
at South Mountain
Bonticou, Jos. C., lieutenant 2nd Kentucky, scout,
mistakes McCook's tents for enemy's camp.
Boone courthouse, West Virginia,
confederate militia routed at.
Boone, Thos. C., lieutenant colonel 115th Ohio,
commanding Kemper Barracks, Cincinnati.
Border States,
slavery question most troublesome in;
military administration in;
distasteful.
Boughton, Horace, colonel 143rd New York,
commanding brig, at battle of Kinston.
Bounty Jumping,
evils and extent of;
arrest of deserters and efforts to prevent frauds.
Boyle, Jere. T., brigadier-general United States Volunteers,
in Morgan raid;
commanding 1st division 23d army corps
Bradley, D. C., lieutenant 65th Ill.,
aide-de-camp on General Cox's staff.
Bragg, Braxton, general Confederate States Army,
invades Kentucky;
sends large forces to Johnston's assistance in Mississippi;
reinforced by Longstreet's corps before Chickamauga;
forces of, opposing Rosecrans;
weakened by absence of Morgan;
losses at Chickamauga;
unable to break line of supplies for Chattanooga;
orders Longstreet to E. Tennessee;
intends crushing Burnside and quick return;
defeated at Chattanooga;
Longstreet's return cut off;
evil consequences;
asks for investigation;
want of confidence in;
directed to turn command over to Hardee;
quoted by Davis;
correspondence with Johnston;
with Hood;
goes to Atlanta to examine condition of affairs and reports;
exposes habitual underestimate of their forces by confederate
generals;
commanding department of North Carolina;
headquarters at Wilmington;
forced to evacuate by General Cox;
forces of, Feb. 10th;
serves under Johnston;
concentrates all forces and attacks General Cox at Kinston;
mistaken order;
waits for reinforcements;
final attack at Kinston;
repulsed;
forces of, at Kinston;
at Chester, South Carolina;
captured near Athens, Georgia
Brannan, John M., brigadier-general United States Volunteers;
at Chickamauga.
Breckinridge, John C., Secretary of War Confederate States Army,
admits slavery to be dead;
takes part in Sherman-Johnston conference;
at Davis' last cabinet meeting;
decides Hampton's troops bound by capitulation but H. himself free
to ignore;
escapes to Cuba.
British Army,
weak points revealed;
not so apt in learning new lessons as our own.
Brough, John, Union Democrat,
defeats Vallandigham.
Brown, Rev. Fred. T., chaplain 7th Ohio,
trip from Sutton to Gauley through enemy's lines to bring Cox
information.
Brown, Jos. E., Governor of Georgia,
tenders 5000 militia for defence of Atlanta;
urges reinforcements to prevent fall of Atlanta;
exasperation with confederate government;
bitter correspondence with confederate war department;
mentioned.
Brownlow, James P., colonel 1st E. Tennessee Cav.
Brownlow, Wm. E., "Parson,"
leading loyalist at Knoxville.
Buckner, Simon B., major general Confederate States Army,
commanding in E. Tennessee;
joins Longstreet in siege of Knoxville.
Buell, Don Carlos, major general United States Volunteers,
General Cox ordered to join;
order countermanded on Rosecrans' protest;
objects to invasion of E. Tennessee;
sends Garfield to Big Sandy, and Morgan to Cumberland Gap;
retreats before Bragg;
ordered before military commission;
why Rosecrans chosen to succeed.
Buford, Abram, brigadier-general Confederate States Army,
commanding division Forrest's cavalry
Buford, N. B.,
appointed major-general United States Volunteers;
not confirmed.
Bull Run,
second battle of, guns heard at Washington;
news of Pope's defeat reaches Washington.
Bull Run bridge,
stout defence by Scammon.
Burbank, Sidney, major, mustering officer at Camp Jackson.
Burdsall, Henry W., commanding ind. Co. Ohio Cavalry.
Burnside, Ambrose E.,
twice declines command of Army of Potomac and urges McClellan's
retention;
commanding right wing;
first impressions of;
at South Mountain;
sharp reply to Hooker's report;
relations with McClellan;
command divided at Antietam;
leaves Cox in command of 9th army corps;
understanding of McClellan's plans;
practically without command;
order to attack, when received;
efforts to hurry advance;
McClellan's true friend;
heartily advocates emancipation and advises McC. on subject;
forwards Porter's dispatches about Pope to Washington;
held responsible by Porter for his court-martial;
grieved by division of his command, and McC.'s withdrawal of
confidence;
and unjust reprimand;
explains delay;
fine appearance on field;
cordial manners, popularity with his troops;
sincerity and unselfishness;
appointed to succeed McC. in spite of his protests;
dispiriting effect of his defeat at Fredericksburg;
ordered to Department of the Ohio;
plans for occupying E. Tennessee;
headquarters at Cincinnati;
character and habits of;
General Order No. 38;
warns Cincinatti papers against publishing military information;
causes arrest and trial of Vallandigham;
suppresses "Chicago Times";
overruled by the President;
plans campaign into E. Tennessee;
efforts to agree with Rosecrans on plan of advance;
directed to send 9th army corps to Vicksburg;
departure with staff for E. Tennessee;
recall;
organizes raids into West Virginia, E. Tennessee, and S. W.
Kentucky;
efforts to catch Morgan;
declares martial law in southern Ohio, during Morgan raid;
imprisons Morgan and his officers in Ohio penitentiary;
dramatic announcement of fall of Vicksburg;
rejoices in return of 9th army corps;
Halleck's unjust treatment of;
concentrates forces and advances into E. Tennessee;
captures General Frazer and 2500 men at Cumberland Gap;
impossibility of co-operating with Rosecrans;
congratulated by President and Halleck;
asks to be relieved;
organizes and arms E. Tennessee volunteers;
directed to move toward Chattanooga and support Rosecrans;
inability to reach River before battle of Chickamauga;
explains to War Department;
concentrates near Loudon;
attacks confederate General Jones and drives him into Virginia;
relations with Rosecrans;
informs Grant of his situation and necessities of troops;
opposes Longstreet;
well-conducted retreat to Knoxville;
relieved of command;
habitual unfriendliness of Halleck;
Congress passes resolutions of thanks;
at his best in such commands;
lack of system and other faults;
offers General Cox corps command in E. Tennessee;
recommends him for such appointment to General Foster;
plans another expedition to North Carolina;
not allowed to carry it out.
Burnside's Bridge,
across the Antietam;
least promising point of attack;
carried by Cox's command;
losses at.
Butler, Benj. F., major general United States Volunteers,
relieved of command;
criticises Grant in farewell order;
further assignment to command opposed by Grant.
Butler, M. C., major general Confederate States Army,
sent to assist Johnston in driving back Sherman;
included in Johnston's capitulation.
Butterfield, Daniel, major general United States Volunteers,
interferes with Schofield's advance;
declines to act on his request;
claims to outrank S. and disputes his authority.
Buzzard Roost,
strong defensive position at Dalton, Georgia;
attacks on, by Newton, and Geary.
Byrd, Robt. K., colonel E. Tennessee volunteers;
commanding cavalry in E. Tennessee;
at crossing of Olley's Creek
Cameron, Daniel, commanding brig, in Cox's division 23d army corps,
carries bridge over Noyes' Creek;
supports Byrd beyond Olley's Creek;
intrenches between Byrd and Reilly.
Camp Dennison, Ohio
camp of instruction;
laid out by General Cox;
huts built;
floors laid;
drilling of militia;
water works;
routine at;
measles at;
re-enlisting of three months men at.
Camp Jackson, near Columbus, Ohio,
first depot of recruits.
Camp Lookout, West Virginia;
amusing incident.
Campbell, John A., ex-justice U. S. Supreme Court,
confederate peace commander.
Campbell, John A., major and assistant adjutant-general on
Schofield's staff.
Canby, Edw. R., major general United States Volunteers,
Grant plans movement by.
Cantey, James, brigadier general Confederate States Army,
at Resaca.
Carnifex Ferry, West Virginia,
map of;
battle of.
Carrington, Henry B., brigadier general United States Volunteers,
superseded by Hascall at Indianapolis;
restored at Morton's request;
active in prosecuting Knights of Golden Circle.
Carter, John C.,
captain U. S. steamer "Michigan";
aids in defeating plot to release rebel prisoners.
Carter, Samuel P.,
assists in re-occupation of Kanawha valley;
commanding division of mounted troops;
advance into E. Tennessee;
joins 23d army corps;
succeeds Meagher in command of division at Beaufort, North
Carolina;
in advance on Kinston;
good conduct in first day's battle;
again, on final assault;
commanding division composed of Palmer's and his own;
transferred to third (Cox's) division of 23d army corps, when
latter assumes corps command.
Casement, John S., major 7th Ohio,
brings 400 to Charleston after surprise at Cross Lanes;
colonel of 103rd Ohio;
recruits new brass band for his brigade;
at battle of Nashville;
on expedition to North Carolina;
on advance up right bank Cape Fear River
Cavalry,
activity of confederate;
raids usually costly affairs;
difficulties of mounting;
enormous waste of horses;
outpost and patrol duties more important than showy raids.
Cave Spring, Georgia,
description of;
rendezvous for Hood and Beauregard.
Chalmers, James R., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
commanding division in Forrest's cavalry, at battle of Nashville.
Chantilly, battle of.
Chaplains, army.
Charleston, South Carolina,
fall of, has depressing effect on Confederacy.
Charleston, West Virginia,
strategic position;
taken by General Cox;
inundated;
headquarters of General Cox winter of 1861-2;
remissness of city officials;
reoccupied by General Cox.
Chase, Salmon P.,
Secretary of Treasury;
differences with President Lincoln:
corresponds with Garfield;
chief justice, entertains General Cox.
Chattanooga, Tennessee,
siege by Bragg;
line of supplies opened;
lines of communication with Nashville and North;
fortified and garrisoned.
Cheatham, Benj. F., major general Confederate States Army,
controversy with Hood;
at battle of Atlanta;
succeeds to command of Hardee's corps;
at battle of Nashville;
joins Bragg's army in North Carolina;
after capitulation, moves across Great Smoky Mountains with
Tennessee troops.
Chickamauga, battle of.
Chief Command, strain of, as compared with subordinate position.
Chief of Staff, importance of position
Christ, B. C., colonel 50th Pennsylvania,
commanding brigade at South Mountain;
at Antietam.
Christian, Wm. A., colonel 26th New York,
commanding brig, at Antietam.
Christie, S. L.,
captain and aide-de-camp on General Cox's staff;
resigns on account of ill health.
Cincinnati,
headquarters Department of the Ohio;
in 1863 a centre for rebel sympathizers;
refuge for Southern women;
defended against Morgan raiders;
enthusiasm over surrender of Vicksburg.
Claassen, Peter J., colonel 132nd New York,
commanding brig at battle of Kinston.
Clarke, Melvin, lieutenant colonel 36th Ohio,
at South Mountain
Clay, Cassius M., major general United States Volunteers,
not assigned to duty;
resigns and is appointed min. to Russia.
Clayton, H. D., major general Confederate States Army,
at Kinston;
falls on Upham's flank.
Cluseret, Gustave,
colonel and aide-de-camp on Frémont's staff;
amusing controversy with General Milroy;
military chief of Paris commune in 1870.
Cobb, Howell, brigadier general Confederate States Army,
at South Mountain
Coburn, John, colonel 33rd Indiana commanding brigade,
captured by Van Dorn.
Cochrane, John, brigadier general United States Volunteers,
war Democrat, consults McClellan about Emancipation Proclamation;
publishes recollections of interview;
attempts to bring McClellan and Chase into harmony.
Cockerill, Giles J., commanding battery D 1st Ohio artillery,
at Kolb's farm.
Coffee,
value of, in army rations;
improvised coffee-mills.
Colburn, A. V., colonel and assistant adjutant-general on
McClellan's staff,
accompanies him on rides about Washington.
Coleman, Aug. H., lieutenant colonel 11th Ohio,
leads charge up Cotton Mountain, West Virginia;
at South Mountain;
killed at Burnside bridge.
Coleman, D., colonel Confederate States Army,
commanding brigade at battle of Nashville.
Colored Troops,
excellent conduct in skirmish at Federal Point.
Colquitt, Alfred H.,
colonel Confederate States Army commanding brigade at Antietam.
Comly, James M.,
major 23d Ohio;
repulses attack at Pack's Ferry, West Virginia
Comstock, C. B.,
lieutenant colonel engineers on Grant's staff;
gets key to cipher dispatches;
reprimanded by Stanton;
accompanies Terry's expedition against Ft. Fisher;
suggests flanking Hoke's position at Federal Point;
plan adopted by Schofield, but fails on account of heavy gales and
deep sands;
explains Schofield's use of hospital steamer "Spaulding".
Confederate Army,
dwindles as hopes of success vanish;
disorders threatened on capitulation;
complete submission to U. S. authority;
paroled and sent home;
manifest interest in drill and discipline of U. S. troops.
Confederate Currency,
enormous depreciation of. 195.
Conine, Jas. W.,
lieutenant and aide-de-camp on General Cox's staff;
appointed colonel of 5th U. S. Colored troops.
Connecticut Troops,
8th Infantry at Antietam;
11th Infantry at Antietam;
15th Infantry at Kinston.
"Contrabands,"
slaves of confederate officers coming into Union lines;
term gradually applied to all escaped slaves;
difficulties in treatment of.
Cook, Asa M., captain 8th Massachusetts Artillery,
at South Mountain
Coon, Datus E., colonel United States Volunteers,
commanding 2nd brigade Wilson's cavalry at Nashville;
captures enemy's cavalry baggage train.
Cooper, Jos. A., colonel 6th E. Tennessee,
promoted brigadier general and assigned to command 2nd division
23d army corps;
at Johnsonville, Tennessee;
ordered to Beard's Ferry;
masterly retreat from.
Cooper, Samuel, adjutant and inspector general Confederate States
Army,
capitulates with Johnston's army;
tries to preserve confederate archives.
Corps Commander,
takes precedence over ranking major generals not assigned to corps
command.
Corse, John M., brigadier general United States Volunteers,
successfully defends Allatoona.
Cotton Mountain, West Virginia,
overlooking Gauley, seized by Floyd;
annoying fire from;
Floyd's position on, carried by Cox and Schenck.
Couch, Darius N., major general United States Volunteers,
at Yorktown;
ordered to observe A. P. Hill at Harper's Ferry;
should have come on field of Antietam not later than Hill;
but did not appear;
reports to General Thomas for duty, assigned to 4th army corps;
owing to dissatisfaction in that corps assigned to 23d army corps;
outranks General Cox and displaces him as second in command;
at battle of Nashville;
on march from Columbia to Clifton;
commands 23d army corps _en route_ from Clifton to Washington;
sails with his division to Beaufort, North Carolina;
commands two divisions 23d army corps left at Wilmington;
ordered to support of Cox at Kinston;
commands 2nd division 23d army corps under General Cox.
Coughlan, James,
lieutenant 24th Kentucky and aide-de-camp on General Cox's staff;
daring ride at Olley's Creek;
captured near Atlanta, exchanged, and killed at Franklin.
Councils of War,
why they never fight.
Cox, Jacob D.,
in Ohio Senate;
assists Governor Dennison in enrolling and organizing State
militia;
appointed brigadier general O. S. V. April 23d, 1861;
inspects State arsenal with McClellan;
in command of Camp Jackson;
inspects site with McClellan and lays out Camp Dennison;
first lessons in camping out and brigade drill;
extensive reading of military works;
all but one of his regiments ordered away;
ill effects of repeated change of command;
appointed brigadier general United States Volunteers;
confirmed;
ordered to Kanawha valley with raw regiments not yet equipped;
begins operations on a base 100 miles broad;
with 3400 men ordered to drive out Wise, who had 4000;
begins advance July 11th;
wild rumors;
affair at Scary Creek;
turns enemy's flank at Tyler Mountain;
captures Charleston;
presuming colonels;
quiet manner often led to similar difficulties;
experience with newspaper correspondents;
captures Gauley Bridge with 1500 stands of arms and munitions of
war;
congratulated by McClellan and Rosecrans;
establishes post at Gauley, scouts in all directions, sends out
detachments to deceive enemy;
left with only 1800 men to oppose Wise and Floyd with 8000;
suppresses mutinous excitement;
meets Rosecrans at Cross Lanes;
joined by McCook's brigade;
at Camp Lookout;
at Big Sewell Mountain;
skirmish with Wise's legion;
difficulty of obtaining supplies forces retirement to Camp
Lookout;
holds post at Gauley during occupation of Cotton Mountain by
Floyd;
carries Cotton Mountain by front attack up river face;
commands District of Kanawha, headquarters at Charleston;
ordered to report to Buell in Kentucky, countermanded on
Rosecrans' protest;
first military execution ordered;
weeding out incompetents and improving drill and discipline of
Kanawha division;
scrutiny of correspondence between confederates and residents
within the lines;
dealing with non-combatants;
disapproves of test oaths;
policy with regard to escaped slaves;
controversies with owners;
prefers seasoned volunteers to regulars;
rapid improvement of volunteer officers;
rebuilds bridge at Gauley;
uses batteaux for transportation on upper Kanawha;
reports to Frémont 8500 seasoned troops under his command;
pursuant to Frémont's plan of campaign moves to Princeton, West
Virginia;
affair at Princeton;
retires to Flat Top Mountain, on advices that Jackson's defeat of
Banks upsets campaign;
ordered to Washington with his command;
Kanawha division marches 90 miles in 3-1/2 days fully equipped,
over mountain roads;
impressions of Secretary Stanton;
in defences of Washington under McClellan;
meets Pope and McDowell retreating to Washington;
commends general scheme of Pope's campaign;
learns through his scouts of Lee's invasion of Maryland;
methods of collecting and sifting information;
condemns McClellan's spy system;
ordered to report to Burnside;
first impressions;
attached to 9th Corps and takes advance;
shocked at straggling in Army of Potomac;
meets General Reno;
good impression made by Kanawha division;
at the Monocacy;
at Frederick, Maryland;
supports Pleasanton;
commands in action at Fox's Gap, South Mountain;
Reno arrives late in day, is killed almost immediately, and Cox
succeeds to command of the corps;
expresses his pride in the conduct of the Kanawha division;
meets McClellan and principal officers of Army of Potomac at
headquarters;
retained in command of 9th Corps;
part it was to take in the battle;
carries Burnside bridge and fords in front and drives confederate
right wing back to Sharpsburg;
movement arrested by arrival of A. P. Hill's division from
Harper's Ferry and flank attack;
holds his position and sleeps on battlefield;
gets hints of a project to make McClellan dictator;
consulted by McC. as to how he should treat Emancipation
Proclamation;
warns him against putting himself in opposition to administration;
accompanies Lincoln in ride over battlefield of Antietam;
promoted to major general and command of 9th Corps;
ordered to return to Kanawha valley, overrun by confederate forces
in his absence;
commands District of West Virginia;
takes leave of 9th Corps;
Stanton;
and Chase;
reports to General H. G. Wright at Cincinnati;
impressions of;
inspects commands of Morgan and Lightburn;
contracts for wagons and transportation;
reoccupies Kanawha valley, driving out Loring, Echols, and
Jenkins;
administration of affairs in West Virginia;
headquarters at Marietta;
staff reorganized;
appointment as major general not confirmed;
severe disappointment;
evils of subjecting military appointments to political action;
reports to General Schenck at Baltimore;
ordered to Columbus to assist Governor in enrolling and organizing
conscripts;
commands Military District of Ohio, headquarters at Cincinnati;
relations to Burnside;
disinclined to arrest Vallandigham followers;
District of Mich, added to his command;
acting chief of staff for Burnside;
transacts business of the Department of the Ohio, in Burnside's
name;
firm dealing with extreme Democratic partisans;
nomination fails because it had support of neither regular army
officers nor politicians;
secures approval of immediate commanders;
urgent to obtain field command;
reads Kinglake's "Crimean War" and derives comfort from record of
experiments and blunders in English Army;
defeats plot to free prisoners on Johnson's Island;
offered corps command in E. Tennessee by Burnside;
investigates treatment of prisoners at Johnson's Island;
ordered to report to commanding general in E. Tennessee;
winter ride over Mountains;
meets Burnside and staff coming out;
assigned to command District of Kentucky;
distaste for such commands;
assigned to command 23d army corps;
at Strawberry Plains;
first meeting with Grant;
reports to Sheridan at Dandridge, in;
retreat to Strawberry Plains;
drives back rebel advance toward Knoxville;
threatened with pneumonia;
winter quarters at Knoxville;
yields command of 23d army corps to Major General Stoneman;
asks for command of Sheridan's division 4th army corps;
Major General Newton gets it;
meets Schofield;
acts as chief of staff for Schofield;
amusing occurrence on grand rounds;
at Newmarket, E. Tennessee;
at Morristown;
offers plan of campaign for Army of the Ohio;
approved by Schofield;
offered permanent position as chief of staff, or division in 23d
army corps;
takes latter;
second in command to Schofield;
ordered to join Sherman, drives enemy out of E. Tennessee and
destroys railroad back to Knoxville;
march to Dalton;
first meeting with Sherman and Thomas;
commands extreme left at Dalton;
retires left wing in presence of enemy;
movement praised by Sherman and Schofield;
protects exposed flank by fallen timber;
beginning of field intrenchments;
marches through Snake Creek Gap and takes position on left of
army;
carries intrenchments on confederate right at Resaca;
commands advance and extreme left on march from Resaca to
Cassville;
outflanks confederate army and forces abandonment of position
before Cassville;
follows confederate rearguard to crossing of Etowah River;
privations when marching without baggage;
on march to New Hope Church lines;
assumes command of 23d army corps on Schofield's becoming
disabled;
turns confederate position at New Hope Church;
closer relations with Sherman;
unseen perils, narrow escape;
heavy rains and discomfort;
gloomy thoughts;
occupies position on extreme right, separated a mile from rest of
army;
forces crossing of Noyes' Creek;
supports Hascall at Kolb's farm, against Hood's attack;
forces crossing of Olley's Creek, intrenches in commanding
position beyond enemy's left flank;
holds position gained, three miles from continuous lines of
Sherman's army, for several days;
effects crossing of Chattahoochee at Soap Creek;
extreme right flank southwest of Atlanta;
his division covers its front with intrenchments in fifteen
minutes;
at Decatur, Georgia;
in command of Army of the Ohio during October campaign;
mild reproof of brig, commander who prefers a cursing;
in pursuit of Hood;
Sherman plans to take 23d army corps on march to the sea with Cox
in command;
Schofield protests, Cox yields;
resumes command of his own division;
recommended for promotion by Schofield and Sherman, App. C;
farewell to Sherman;
march to Dalton; visits Chattanooga;
and Nashville;
votes for Lincoln, on train;
pet lizard; at Franklin, Tennessee;
at Columbia;
at Pulaski;
race back to Columbia;
writes book on "Battle of Franklin;"
at Nashville, after retreat from Franklin;
position as second in command, reduced by appointment of Major
General Couch to a division;
at battle of Nashville;
exposure on night after battle;
pursuit of Hood;
revisits Franklin and studies battlefield;
also Spring Hill and Columbia;
rebuilds bridges and improves roads;
suffers from malarial poisoning;
obtains sick leave;
does not use it, as active campaigning is proposed;
earnestly recommended for promotion by Schofield and Thomas, App.
C;
appointed major general as of Dec. 7, to fill vacancy caused by
McClernand's resignation;
hard march from Columbia to Clifton;
still suffering from malaria;
goes home while 23d Corps is transported from Clifton to
Washington;
rapid improvement in health, and new zeal; rejoins corps at
Washington;
interviews with Stanton, Chase, Garfield, Dennison, Schenck, Henry
Ward Beecher, Henry Winter Davis, and others;
sails with his division to Cape Fear River, North Carolina; at
Federal Point;
commands column ascending right bank of Cape Fear River, capturing
Ft. Anderson
and Town Creek, with two cannon and 400 prisoners, and compelling
evacuation
of Wilmington;
uses discretion in not strictly obeying Schofield's orders;
permanent assignment to command 23d army corps urged by Schofield,
App. C;
takes command of troops at New Berne, North Carolina, and advances
on Kinston;
two battles at Kinston;
losses at Kinston, chiefly in Upham's brigade, which was
surprised;
hears sound of battle of Bentonville, fifty miles away;
occupies Goldsborough;
permanently assigned to command 23d army corps, App. C;
march to Raleigh;
vigorous measures to stop pillage and arson;
precautions against soldiers wreaking vengeance for assassination
of Lincoln;
commands western district of North Carolina, with headquarters at
Greensborough;
interview with General Hardee;
with Johnston;
visit to Salisbury, confederate treatment of prisoners denounced;
recognizes local courts and magistrates;
notes complete submission on part of North Carolina people to
results of the war;
limits authority to preserving the peace;
visits Guilford-Old-Court-House, and battlefield;
sentiments inspired thereby.
Cox, Theodore, brother of above, vol.
aide-de-camp, at South Mountain and Antietam;
lieutenant in 11th Ohio and aide-de-camp by appointmentt;
at skirmish before Knoxville;
at Knoxville;
adjutant general on General Cox's staff;
accuracy and business system of;
issues orders for good conduct of troops on shipboard.
Crane, Orrin J., major 7th Ohio, at Antietam.
Cranor, Jonathan, colonel 40th Ohio, in West Virginia
Crawford, Samuel W., brigadier general United States Volunteers, at
Antietam.
Creighton, Wm. R., lieutenant colonel 7th Ohio,
comes in with Tyler after surprise at Cross Lanes;
reproaches himself with cowardice;
record of gallantry, until killed at Ringgold, Georgia
Crittenden, Eugene W., colonel commanding cavalry
brigade in 23d army corps, reports to General Cox at Olley's Creek
Crittenden, Thos. L., major general United States Volunteers, in E.
Tennessee.
Crome, G. L., lieutenant McMullin's battery;
killed at South Mountain
Crook, Geo., captain 4th U. S. Infantry, colonel
36th Ohio, at Cross Lanes;
Summersville;
personal description of;
captured at Cumberland;
first vote; at Lewisburg, West Virginia;
defeats Heth;
attached to Kanawha division;
reports to Pope at Warrenton, Virginia;
commanding brig, in Kanawha division;
supports Scammon;
at South Mt;
attached to Sturgis' division at Antietam;
carries ford of Antietam above Burnside bridge;
promoted brig, general;
ordered to Clarksburg, West Virginia;
commands Kanawha division;
marches from Clarksburg to Gauley Bridge;
at Gauley Bridge;
transferred to Rosecrans' command in Tennessee;
commends discipline of Kanawha division,
Cross Lanes, West Virginia,
7th Ohio surprised at and routed;
consultation of Rosecrans and Cox at.
Cutler, Hon. Wm. P.,
M. C. from Marietta, Ohio, expresses popular distrust of Lincoln's
ability.
DALTON, Georgia,
geography of vicinity;
impregnable to attack from north or west;
operations about;
strong character of defensive works.
Dana, Chas. A.,
Assistant Secretary of War;
cipher dispatches to Stanton about Rosecrans and his officers;
visits Burnside at Knoxville;
reports to Grant;
judgment of army officers at Chattanooga;
advises Stanton concerning interview between Lincoln and
confederate peace commanders;
concerning prayers for the President in Episcopal churches at
Richmond.
Dandridge, E. Tennessee, affair at;
a surprise all around;
both armies retreat.
Davis, David, Justice of U. S. Supreme Court,
change in views regarding trial by military commissions in
Indiana;
Davis, Henry Winter, M. C. from Maryland,
dines with General Cox in Washington;
opposes re-election of Lincoln;
witty and scathing denunciation of L.
Davis, Jefferson, President Confederate States Army, advises
with Lee about successor to Bragg;
differences with Beauregard and Johnston;
finally appoints Johnston;
urges aggressive action;
correspondence with Johnston;
plans thwarted by long discussion;
begs Johnston to retreat no further;
receives no encouragement from him;
sends Bragg to Atlanta to examine and report on condition of
affairs;
relieves Johnston and appoints Hood;
convinced Hood needs intellectual guidance;
urges Hardee to hold Charleston, and stop Sherman on line of
Combahee River;
startled by Beauregard's confession of inability to stop Sherman;
notes difference between B.'s estimate of forces available and
official returns;
goes to Danville on fall of Richmond;
thence to Greensborough, North Carolina;
orders arrest of Governor Vance's peace commanders;
advised by all his generals and cabinet that further prosecution
of war was hopeless;
authorizes Johnston to negotiate with Sherman;
holds last cabinet meeting at Charlotte;
unanimous decision that confederacy is conquered;
assents to Johnston's surrender;
reputed "plunder" nearly all paid out to Johnston's troops and his
personal escort;
tries to escape beyond Mississippi;
captured S. E. of Macon.
Davis, Jeff. C., brigadier general United States Volunteers,
commanding division in Army of the Cumberland;
movement on Rome;
occupies Rome;
attached to McPherson's command temporarily;
assault on Kennesaw.
Dawes, Ephraim C., major 53rd Ohio,
analysis of opposing forces in Atlanta campaign.
Dawes, Rufus R., lieutenant colonel 6th Wisc.,
at Antietam;
"Service with the Sixth Wisconsin," cited.
Day, D. W. H., captain and assistant quartermaster,
accompanies General Cox on winter ride to E. Tennessee;
selects wagons and teams;
marks fords;
keeps teams moving;
secures tents and flies for army headquarters;
in charge of horses and mules sent from E. Tennessee to Kentucky
for pasture;
energy commended.
Dayton, Ohio,
assaults on soldiers at, not punished by local courts;
how punished.
DeCourcey, John F., colonel 16th Ohio,
in West Virginia campaign fall of '62;
moves on Cumberland Gap.
Defensive Tactics,
generally better in rough country.
Dennison, Wm., Governor of Ohio,
prepares State for war;
appoints McClellan major general;
sends two regiments to Washington;
incessant work;
urges McClellan to occupy West Virginia in force;
at Washington;
mediates between Lincoln and McClellan;
supported by Cox in Ohio senatorial contest;
postmaster general;
entertains General Cox.
De Trobriand, P. R., colonel 55th New York,
says New York 7th furnished 300 officers for Union army.
De Villiers, Chas. A.,
brigadier major on General Cox's staff;
captured outside of lines at Scary Creek;
escapes and reports for duty at Gauley;
hazardous ride to report occupation of Cotton Mountain by Floyd;
crosses New River, scales cliffs and assaults enemy on Cotton
Mountain.
Devin, Thos. C., colonel 6th New York Cavalry,
ordered to report to General Cox.
Dick, Robt. P., resident of Greensborough, North Carolina,
in whose grove army headquarters were established, since appointed
U. S. District Judge;
advises colored people to hire out to others than their old
masters.
Dickson, Wm. M.,
cited as to Key's influence over McClellan.
Discretion,
to be exercised by subordinate on detached service in obeying
orders issued without full knowledge of his position.
Doddridge, cashier of a Charleston, West Virginia bank,
Union man;
paymaster in Union army.
Dodge, Grenville M., major general United States Volunteers,
commands 16th Corps;
builds bridge over Chattahoochee at Roswell.
Donaldson, James L., colonel United States Volunteers, chief
quartermaster at Nashville,
describes Thomas's feelings after Nashville campaign.
Doolittle, Chas. C., colonel 18th Michigan,
commanding post at Decatur, repulses Hood;
joins General Cox at Stevenson;
chief of staff for General Cox;
takes command of Reilly's division 23d army corps;
carries enemy's intrenchments and captures eight guns at battle of
Nashville;
and returns to his own regiment when 23d Corps goes to Washington.
Doubleday, Abner, brigadier general United States Volunteers,
commanding division, at Antietam.
Douglas, Stephen A.,
speech at Columbus after fall of Ft. Sumter;
pledges support of Dem. party to Lincoln's administration.
Dow, Tristram T., major 112th Ill.,
appointed inspector general on Cox's staff;
reconnoitres fords before Kinston;
carries message from Schofield to Hoke.
Draft,
preferred to system of raising new regiments and letting old ones
die out;
Sherman cited;
act providing for;
weakened by commutation clause;
insignificant numbers drafted in Ohio.
Drayton, Thos. F., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
at South Mountain
Duke, Basil W., brigadier general Confederate States Army, history
of Morgan raid cited.
Dunham, Robert T., captain and assistant adjutant-general on
General Geo. W. Taylor's staff at Bull Run
bridge,
Dunker Church, on battlefield of Antietam,
Durell, Geo. W., captain battery D Pennsylvania Artillery,
at South Mountain;
at Antietam.
Duryea, Abram, brigadier general United States Volunteers, at
Antietam.
Early, Jubal A., brigadier general Confederate States Army, at
Antietam.
East Tennessee,
plans for Union advance into, Rosecrans';
approved by McClellan;
Frémont's;
ignorance of topography: combination of the two adopted;
fails because separate columns defeated and driven back by Jackson
before concentration effected;
occupation of E. Tennessee urged by Lincoln on all general
officers in the West;
Burnside's plan;
proposes railroad from Danville to;
Chattanooga best base for supplies;
confederate forces in;
map of;
rejoicing of people at Burnside's coming;
terror and indignation when he was ordered to leave and join
Rosecrans;
military operations in;
Sherman's horror of;
importance of holding;
impossibility of supplying army in, by mountain roads;
terrible destruction of draft animals;
privations of army in, during winter of;
almost unanimous re-enlistment, in spite of hardships;
absence of forage;
fearful blizzard;
sufferings of troops;
bitterness of feeling between loyalists and secessionists.
East Tennessee troops,
unwillingness to serve away from home;
discipline lax, courage and devotion unexcelled;
1st Cavalry;
1st Infantry;
6th Infantry;
East Tennessee University, at Knoxville, fortified;
Echols, John C., brigadier general Confederate States Army, pursues
Lightburn down the Kanawha;
supersedes Loring in command of West Virginia forces;
resumes positions abandoned by Loring;
retreats before General Cox;
ordered to make his way from West Virginia into N. W. part of
South Carolina,
Effective Total,
meaning of, in confederate reports;
leads to habitual underestimate of their forces by confederate
commanders.
Elliott, Washington L., colonel 47th Ohio, in
West Virginia;
in E. Tennessee;
at Mossy Creek
Ellsworth Zouaves, equal in drill to West Point cadets,
Emancipation Proclamation, how received in McClellan's army.
Enyart, David A., lieutenant colonel 1st Kentucky,
routs confederate militia at Boone courthouse, West Virginia;
crosses Kanawha, scales cliffs and helps capture Cotton Mountain
Episcopal Clergy, at Richmond,
ordered by Stanton to pray for the President of the U. S.
Evans, N. G., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
in Maryland campaign;
at Antietam.
Ewell, Benj. S., colonel Confederate States Army,
on Johnston's staff;
sent to Richmond to explain Johnston's position;
reports to Johnston.
Ewell, R. S., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
division of, at Antietam,
Ewing, Hugh, colonel 30th Ohio,
in Kanawha Division;
reports to Pope at Warrenton, Virginia;
at South Mountain
Executive Power,
exercised in spite of adverse judicial decisions,
Ezra Church, battle of,
Fairchild, Harrison S., colonel 89th New York,
at South Mountain; at Antietam.
Fayette courthouse, West Virginia,
advanced post;
Union troops.
Ferrero, Edw., colonel 51st New York,
at South Mountain;
at Antietam;
in E. Tennessee;
at Ft. Sanders.
Field Intrenchments,
development of;
facility in making;
costliness of assaulting;
at New Hope Church;
at Cold Harbor; at Ezra Church;
confederate troops refuse to assault breastworks;
at Kinston.
Fitch, E. P.,
quartermaster on General Cox's staff;
arrives at Alexandria with trains and baggage of Kanawha Division;
at Antietam; chief quartermaster District of West Virginia
Flat-top Mountain, West Virginia,
barrier to approach from S. W. Virginia;
advance of Kanawha Division to;
key point for movement to S. West Virginia;
description of;
abandoned by U. S. troops.
Floyd, John B.,
unites with Wise to drive Union forces out of Kanawha valley;
surprises and routs 7th Ohio at Cross Lanes;
mysterious inaction thereafter;
defeated at Carnifex Ferry;
differences with Wise;
marches to Fayette courthouse;
and occupies Cotton Mountain, from which he shells Gauley Bridge;
driven off the Mountain by General Cox;
escapes capture by reason of Benham's inactivity;
indirectly commends General Cox's administration of Kanawha
District.
Foraging,
easily degenerates into pillaging and arson;
Blair and Howard recommend its prohibition;
Sherman promises to stop it after reaching North Carolina;
vigorous measures of General Cox to repress;
country near Raleigh stripped bare by Slocum's "bummers".
Force, Manning F.,
lieutenant colonel 20th Ohio;
brig, general, married sister of General Pope's wife.
Foreign Intervention, threatened. 485.
Forrest, Nathan B., brigadier general cavalry Confederate States
Army,
captures Col. Bloodgood's command near Nashville;
compared with Morgan;
successful handling of mounted troops;
Mower promoted for reputed defeat of;
ordered to join Hood, captures Athens, repulsed at Pulaski;
ordered to raid Western Tennessee;
causes panic and destruction of three steamboats and stores at
Johnsonville;
joins Hood at Florence;
covers Hood's turning movement east of Columbia;
attacks at Spring Hill;
absence seriously felt by Hood at battle of Nashville;
commands rearguard on Hood's retreat;
at Okolona.
Forts,
masonry and earthworks discussed.
Ft. Anderson, Cape Fear River,
attacked by "Montauk" and gunboats;
captured by General Cox.
Ft. Fisher,
captured by General Terry;
where described.
Ft. Sanders, Knoxville, E. Tennessee,
named after General W. P. Sanders;
described;
assault on, by Longstreet's forces, repulsed.
Ft. Sumter,
bombardment announced in Ohio Senate;
occasions popular uprising, without distinction of party;
flag raised again by Anderson.
Foster, Abby Kelley,
shouts "Glory to God" when bombardment of Sumter announced.
Foster, John G.,
appointed major general United States Volunteers;
succeeds Burnside in E. Tennessee;
assigns General Cox to command 23d army corps;
Sturgis to cavalry corps;
demonstrates to Grant impossibility of winter campaign;
disabled by fall of horse;
gives veteran furlough to several regiments;
concentrates at Knoxville;
sends horses and mules to pasture in Kentucky;
permanent winter quarters;
retires from command on account of ill health;
again explains to Grant, at Nashville, impossibility of winter
campaign in E. Tennessee.
Foster, John W. colonel United States Volunteers,
operations in E. Tennessee;
at Mossy Creek
Fourth U. S. Artillery, battery B,
at Antietam.
Fox's Gap, in South Mountain,
captured by Kanawha Division under General Cox.
Franklin, battle of,
undeceives Thomas as to Hood's intentions;
where described.
Franklin, F. E., major 37th Ohio,
at Princeton, West Virginia
Franklin, Wm. B., major general United States Volunteers,
ordered to join Pope;
slow in moving;
assigned position near Alexandria;
relieved on charges preferred by Pope;
reinstated at McClellan's request;
with 6th army corps, held in reserve, at Antietam.
Frazer, John W., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
captured with 2500 men by Burnside at Cumberland Gap.
Frederick, Maryland,
confederate army concentrates near;
evacuated by;
a loyal city;
demonstration on arrival of Union troops;
grand army encamped near.
Frémont, John C., major general United States Volunteers,
commands Mountain Department;
appointment on political grounds;
plan for advance on E. Tennessee;
modifies it on Rosecrans' suggestion;
separate columns defeated before concentration effected;
relieved of command;
not again assigned to duty.
French, Samuel G., major general Confederate States Army,
joins Johnston's army at Kingston, Georgia
French, W. H.,
captain and commissary on Burnside's staff.
French, Wm. H., brigadier general United States Volunteers,
at Antietam.
French's Mill, West Virginia,
operations near.
Frietchie, Barbara,
a fictitious character.
Frink, Chas. S.,
surgeon major, General Cox's division;
treats General Cox for illness due to exposure after battle of
Nashville.
Frizell, Jos. W.,
lieutenant colonel 11th Ohio;
traps confederate cavalry near Hawk's Nest, West Virginia
Fry, Jas. B., colonel and assistant adjutant-general U. S. A.,
on Lincoln's reasons for certain military appointments;
provost-marshal-general at Washington;
ably administers draft laws.
Furnace,
for tent, field construction.
Gallup, Geo. W., lieutenant colonel 14th Kentucky commanding brigade
in 23d army corps,
at Johnsonville, Tennessee
Garfield, Jas. A.,
in Ohio Senate;
resolves to enter army;
defeated in election for colonel of 7th Ohio;
appointed colonel of 42nd Ohio;
in Big Sandy valley;
Rosecrans' chief of staff;
sums up answers of general officers and urges Rosecrans to
advance;
influence of his report;
sent to Washington with Rosecrans' report after battle of
Chickamauga;
questioned by Stanton;
tells General Cox the story of Chickamauga;
leaves army to enter Congress;
chairman of commission on military affairs;
regard for Rosecrans;
letter to Chase about R.'s inaction at Murfreesborough;
defended;
entertains General Cox in Washington;
draws out his guests.
Garland, Samuel, Jr., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
killed at South Mountain
Garnett, Robt. S., brigadier general Confederate States Army,
at Beverly, West Virginia;
retreats after battle of Rich Mountain;
killed near Carrick's Ford;
lacking in enterprise.
Garrard, Israel, colonel cavalry United States Volunteers,
in East Tennessee;
at Decatur and Stone Mountain, Georgia
Garrard, Kenner, brig, general,
commanding cavalry division in McPherson's army;
movement on Rome;
reports confederate cavalry at Kennesaw superior in numbers;
destroys Georgia RAILROAD east of Atlanta;
in pursuit of Hood.
Garrett, John W., President B. and Official Records R. Co.,
suggests dictatorship of McClellan.
Gauley Bridge, West Virginia,
key point of Kanawha valley;
captured by General Cox with 1500 stand of arms and munitions of
war;
importance of position;
map of;
how fortified;
Rosecrans' headquarters;
cannonaded from Cotton Mountain by Floyd;
bridge reconstructed;
burned on Lightburn's retreat;
supplies forwarded to, by batteaux on upper Kanawha;
Lightburn's abandonment of, criticised;
reoccupied by General Cox.
Geary, John W., brigadier general United States Volunteers,
at Wauhatchie;
assaults Rocky Face, at Dug Gap, repulsed with loss.
Georgia,
map of northern.