The 3rd Georgia Infantry Commandeer Breckinridge’s Train

   In reading through Jefferson Davis’s papers, there is an interesting discussion regarding a train. It is April 1865. Davis and most of the Confederate cabinet have moved from Greensboro to Charlotte. John C. Breckinridge, Secretary of War, had caught up with Davis in Greensboro. As the group makes its way across the piedmont of North Carolina, Breckinridge is called away to meet with Joseph E. Johnston as Johnston is meeting with William T. Sherman at the Bennett farm outside Durham.

John C. Breckinridge (LOC)

   Davis, who had reached Charlotte on April 18, was anxious for Breckinridge to rejoin him. While Federal cavalry had wrecked most of the railroad around Greensboro and Salisbury, it was still possible to get trains almost to Salisbury. Breckinridge telegraphs Davis from Salisbury on April 20: “We have had great difficulty in reaching this place. The train from Charlotte which was to have met us here had not arrived. No doubt seized by stragglers to convey them to that point. I have telegraphed the commanding officer at Charlotte to send a locomotive and one car without delay. The impressed train should be met before reaching the depot and the ringleaders severely dealt with.” Davis responds: “Train will start for you at midnight with guard.”[1]

   Now, the rest of the story…

   In 1916, W. Frank Marsh was in Charlotte, reading a historical marker that described the last meeting of the Confederate cabinet in the city. Marsh, a member of the 3^rd Georgia infantry, had made it all the way through the war, surrendering at Appomattox Court House. “We were not able to secure transportation back home, so many of us started to walk through Virginia and North Carolina, half starved and some of us almost barefooted. We reached a point past China Grove [Rowan County] coming into Charlotte, some two hundred of us, hungry and sad and a motley lot all bent upon getting back into the country where we had our homes. We came upon a train destined for China Grove to bring back General Breckinridge from there to the conference of the Confederate Congress in Charlotte [the Confederate Congress never met in Charlotte, only the Cabinet], but we took possession of that train and demanded that the conductor take us to Charlotte. He refused and said he was under orders to get General Breckinridge and take him to Charlotte as fast as possible. We insisted and took charge of the train with the result that we told the conductor he could detach the engine and tender and go to China Grove to get the general, who would have to ride upon the woodpile in the tender.”

   “We remained in charge of the cars until the engine came back from China Grove with the General riding in the tender and I guess he was mad, but we hooked onto the cars and were brought in toward Charlotte. Finally, the conductor announced we were in Charlotte, and we all got out of the train only to find that we were not in Charlotte but in a bull pen some half a mile or more from the town and all held prisoners. The home guards had been ordered out in Charlotte and they had us in charge, while they took away our three officers and locked them up in Charlotte for failing to keep the soldiers in subjection instead of letting them confiscate the train.”

   “The next morning we were all released and going into Charlotte found that they had released our officers. Something to eat in those times looked bigger to our eyes than a gold brick. Well, we went down to the railroad station and there we found a train of cars with an engine attached and steam up, ready to go somewhere.”

   “We all rushed on, but the doors were locked and we couldn’t get in, so a lot of us climbed onto the roofs and this broke in the old timber. We found that it was Jeff Davis’ special loaded with Confederate gold and silver, with many kegs of coins aboard and when Jeff Davis found us so determined to get to Georgia he ordered a train made up and we were carried to Chester, S.C., which was as far as the train could go as the bridge had been burned. Those were stirring times and no mistake.”[2]

   There is much to process between these two accounts – trains still running in North Carolina in April 1865, telegraphs still operating, the passage of Lee’s paroled men through North Carolina after Appomattox, a glimpse of the remnants of the Confederate treasury, along with the charming magnanimity of Davis, it is just nice to flesh out the fragments of two communications between Davis and Breckinridge.

  

---

[1] OR, Vol. 47, pt. 3, 814. See also Davis letters, Vol. 11, 553.

[2] The Charlotte Observer, October 20, 1916.

Site Visit Saturday: Jefferson Davis’s Flight South, Fort Mill, SC

 

   For a week, Jefferson Davis and the Confederate cabinet had called Charlotte, North Carolina, home. Numerous meetings had taken place, including discussions about the ongoing negotiations between Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston and Union general William T. Sherman. If the negotiations did not favor the Confederates, then Davis directed Johnston to move his army towards Charlotte. The plan was to move toward the Trans-Mississippi department, to Texas, and continue the war.  Yet Johnston favored surrender. Davis, with no army left to command in North Carolina, prepared to move south.

   The last full meeting of the Confederate cabinet was held in Charlotte on April 26, 1865. About noon, Davis and some of the cabinet rode out of Charlotte. Left behind was Attorney General George Davis. He had already resigned. Davis and his cavalry escort crossed over the Catawba River at Nation’s Ford and moved into York County, South Carolina. That evening, Davis stayed at the Springfield Plantation near Fort Mill, while others stayed at the home of Col. William E. White. That evening, Secretary of Treasury George Trenholm, already ill, grew worse. Not able to continue with the group, Trenholm submitted his resignation, which Davis accepted. Davis held an impromptu “cabinet” meeting, probably with Stephen Mallory and John C. Breckinridge. At the end of the meeting, Post Master General John H. Reagan rode up, and Davis informed him that he was now acting Secretary of Treasury.

   Davis and his party continued to move south, spending the night of April 27 in York. He would eventually work his way into Georgia, where he was captured on May 10.

   The route of Davis is marked with various highway trail markers through South Carolina and Georgia. The marker pictured is located at the intersection of N. White Street and Horse Road. I last visited this site in 2014.

Federal Prisoner of War Camps in the South

 

   Prisoners of war were an inconvenient reality of the war years. When the first batches arrived in Richmond following the battle of first Manassas, no one really knew what to do with them. Almost 1,300 Federal soldiers were brought to the Confederate capital. Brig. Gen. John H. Winder quickly impressed the John L. Ligon and Sons Tobacco Factory building and converted it into a prison. That was the beginning of the system of military prisons across the South.  

   There were at least 118 military prisons in the South. Many of them were opened for only a short amount of time. For example, the prisons in Alexandria, VA; Boerne, TN; Camp Groce, TX; Camp VanDorn, TX; Charlotte, NC; Dalton, GA; Galveston, TX; Greensboro, NC; Houston, TX; Huntsville, TX; Jackson, MS; Marietta, GA; Millen, GA; St. Augustine, FL; San Antonio Springs, TX; San Pedro Springs, TX; and, Savannah, GA were all open for a year or less, sometimes much less.

      No one is sure how many Union and Confederate soldiers were taken prisoner during the war. Numbers range from 400,000 to 674,000 men. One historian believes that 409,000 of these prisoners were captured Federal soldiers.  

   Major prisons of the South included Camp Sumter in Andersonville, Georgia, with 39,899 prisoners; Camp Lawton in Millen, Georgia, with 10,000 prisoners, many of them transfers from Camp Sumter; Belle Island, Virginia, with 10,000 prisoners; 15,000 in other various Richmond establishments; Danville, Virginia, with 4,000 prisoners; Salisbury, NC, with 10,321 prisoners, Savannah, Georgia, with 6,000 prisoners.

Camp Sumter

   The prison system was a complex operation during the war, and it leads to many different topics for exploration: just how did the system grow during the war years? What types of prisoners were housed at different facilities? What types of soldiers constituted the guard units at prisons? How were prisoners transported between prisoner of war camps? How many escaped? Who were the men responsible for overseeing prisoner of war camps? Was Henry Wirz any more of a war criminal than Albin Francisco Schoepf? How did local churches work with the prisoners in their communities? Were some local citizens sympathetic with the prison population? How brutal were prisoners towards each other? How many Federal prisoners galvanized and joined Confederate regiments? What were the medical situations like not only for the prisoners, but for the guards as well? How did the exchange system break down? What became of the prison sites after the war?

   While there are books on various prisons, I feel the best overview to date is Lonnie R. Speer’s Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War (1997). Over the course of the next few months, my plan is to try and explore many of the topics listed above. I actually have already started with this post a couple of weeks ago. Check out that post here.

McClung’s Tennessee Battery

 Many times, people ask where I get ideas. And to be honest, many of my ideas are connected. That first book on the 37^th North Carolina led to my books on the battle of Hanover Court House, Watauga County and the Civil War, Charlotte and the Civil War, the book on the Branch-Lane brigade, Feeding the Army of Northern Virginia, and in an indirect way, my history of the 58^th North Carolina Troops.

 But at other times, I come across little tidbits that make me just wonder what people or regiments or events get left out of the historical narrative. A few days ago, I acquired the two-volume Broadfoot reprint of Lindsley’s Military Annals of Tennessee. These two volumes provide brief glimpses of Confederate regiments from Tennessee. When finally tracking down McClung’s Battery, listed as Company A, First Tennessee Light Artillery, we simply get that Company A was under Capt. H. L. W. McClung. (870) A few pages over is a list of officers (877). But unlike other infantry and cavalry regiments and artillery batteries, there is no history of McClung’s command.

Crute, in his Units of the Confederate States Army, goes into a little more detail. The battery was organized in the fall of 1861 in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was involved in the battles of Fishing Creek and Shiloh, and then in the summer of 1862, was stationed at Vicksburg, then Port Hudson, then East Tennessee. In April 1864, it was sent with no guns to Saltville, Virginia (I’m not sure why they didn’t have guns). In August 1864, it was re-armed, only to lose its guns at the battle of Morristown, Tennessee, on October 28, 1864. The seventeen men who were left were transferred to Captain Lynch’s Battery and disbanded in April 1865. (317)

McClung's Battery, Shiloh (NPS)

The rangers at Shiloh NMP wrote a facebook post about the battery, and on another site on Barr’s Battery, the editors wrote a piece on McClung’s Battery. This is the most extensive piece written so far, about four pages. The battery was known as the Caswell Artillery. In December 1861, they were reported to have two-six pounders and two 12-pounder cannons. They were not really involved in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, in January 1862, but were forced to abandon their cannon on the retreat. By the time of the battle of Shiloh, they were re-armed, and two pieces were in action on April 7^th. In May, the battery was attached to Statham’s brigade, Breckinridge’s corps. The battery was soon in Vicksburg, and in August, was ordered to Port Hudson. By this time, they apparently had rifled cannons. A month later, the command was in Holly Springs, Mississippi. 

By December 1862, the battery was in East Tennessee – David’s brigade, Heth’s Division. For the rest of the war, they bounced around between various posts – Loudon, Carter’s Depot, Zollicoffer. They were engaged at the battle of Carter’s Depot in September 1863, where they lost the carriages to their guns. In November, they were reported as having no cannons. They were sent to Saltville, Virginia, shortly thereafter. It does not appear that they were re-armed until August 1864, when it was reported they had four pieces of artillery. In an engagement at Morristown, Tennessee, in October 1864, most of the battery was captured. The seventeen who escaped were assigned to Lynch’s Battery. The battery was disbanded in April 1865 at Christiansburg, Virginia.

Several months ago, I was exploring Captain Hugh McClung’s service record. He was court martialed in 1863. Many courts martial records were lost at the end of the war, but parts of McClung’s survive. There were six charges against him – violating the 14^th, 36^th, 39^th (twice), 45^th articles of war, and  “Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.” Many of these charges concerned falsifying muster rolls, “misapplying an artillery horse,” drunkenness while on duty, and permitting his men to break into a train car. McClung pled not guilty. The court found him not guilt on most of the charges, but he was guilty of trading artillery horses at Corinth in May 1862;  “Habitually failing to restrain his men from trespassing and depredating private property”; and, “Habitually drawing and appropriating to his own use, rations belonging to his men…” The court found him guilty. His punishment was to “forfeit all pay due him from the Confederate States, and that he be dismissed from the service.” However, when Major General Simon B. Buckner reviewed the case, he disagreed, finding that the charges were “utterly unfounded… the offences of the accused were rather those of omission than commission.” Buckner recommended mercy. The general added that during the attack on Knoxville, McClung, there under arrest, “offered to serve in any capacity.” Buckner believed that “Such conduct was worthy of a good soldier, and merits leniency.” Buckner remitted the findings of the court and ordered McClung to report to his battery. McClung would go on to be captured at the battle of Morristown and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner at Johnson’s Island.

Can I say that this will be my next regimental history? No, I can’t. But I find the story intriguing and the credible information in the greater realms of Confederate histography lacking. Now you know how projects come to me.

Confederate Wayside Hospitals

   There are many different types of Confederate hospitals. A regiment in camp early on in the war would set up a hospital in a tent or local building. (Later in the war, at least in the ANV, these regimental/brigade hospitals were combined into a division hospital, at least in the ANV). Going into a battle, a brigade would establish a hospital for wounded well behind the lines. Like a camp hospital, a series of tents or structures, or both, would be utilized. Once the wounded were well enough to be moved, they were transferred to a large city-wide hospital complex. After these were organized, the wounded would pass through a receiving hospital before being transferred to a general hospital. Any large city (and probably quite a few towns) connected to a railroad could have a general hospital. If a sick or wounded soldier could go home, he was given a furlough and sent in that direction. Hospitals sprang up across the South to serve these soldiers. They would give the men food, possibly a change of bandages, and a place to wait while waiting for a connecting or refueling train.

   To date, there has not been much published on Confederate Wayside Hospitals. In Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein’s The Encyclopedia of Civil War Medicine, we find a brief entry. Schroeder-Lein tells us that “Wayside hospitals were often initially developed and at least partially staffed by local women’s relief organizations…” In May 1863, the Confederate Congress passed a law directing the surgeon general to establish “way side” hospitals. Schroeder-Lein concludes that there were seventeen such hospitals in Virginia, with others in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. (159) She probably dug that list out of an appendix in Cunningham’s Doctors in Gray. Cunningham does not say much about wayside hospitals. He does provide a list of hospitals, but surely that list is incomplete. There had to be more than two hospitals in Tennessee during the war, for example.

Marker for the Wayside Hospital in Columbia, SC. 

   My first real encounter with a Wayside Hospital came while I was working on Civil War Charlotte. There were three different railroads that converged in Charlotte. Two of those, the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad, which connected Charlotte to Columbia, and the North Carolina Railroad, which connected Charlotte to Salisbury, was a major route connecting the Deep South with the Upper South, especially after the loss of the line through East Tennessee in September 1863.

   It is not clear when the ladies in Charlotte formed their wayside hospital. There is mention of the Hospital Association of Mecklenburg County in July 1861, but this looks to largely be concerned with a group of ladies who went to the Peninsula of Virginia to minister to the sick of the First North Carolina Volunteers. The first real mention comes in July 1862, following the Seven Days campaign, when Dr. R. K. Gregory was appointed “as surgeon of the Hospital at Charlotte, established by the citizens for the benefit of sick and wounded soldiers passing through or detained at this point.” (Charlotte Democrat July 15, 1862). In 1896, Miss Lily W. Long wrote an article published in the Charlotte Observer about this first hospital: “The first Hospital in Charlotte was established by the ladies in a large building used as the washhouse for the military institute, now the graded school. This building has since been removed. Here all arrangements were made for the care of passing soldiers. Every day two members of the hospital association went there with supplies of all necessary articles and gave their time and strengths to nursing and caring for our men. After a while the Confederate government took charge of the Wayside hospital, placed it under the care of the Medical department and used buildings of the Carolina Fair Association on what is now Middle Street, between Morehead and the railroad crossing, south….”

Part of the NC Military Institute in Charlotte served as a
Wayside Hospital.

   Richard Gregory, a Greensboro, North Carolina native and former US army doctor, was assigned as post doctor for both the General Hospital and Wayside Hospital in Charlotte. Gregory asked the ladies of Charlotte and the surrounding area to supply old sheets, pillow slips, counterpanes, and lint, along with "any delicacies, such as would gratify and be suitable for the sick and wounded" to be left in his office. It appears that women were active in the Wayside Hospital. At times, the Charlotte Daily Bulletin ran work assignments for the next few days. On November 26, Mrs. Sinclair and Mrs. Carson; Thursday, Mrs. C. C. Lee and Mrs. Capt. Lowe, and on Friday, Mrs. Overman and Miss Patsy Watson. On Monday, November 3, the duty fell to Mrs. Lucas and Mrs. Wilkes; Tuesday Mrs. C. Elma and Mrs. E. Britton; Thursday, Mrs. Coldiron and Mrs. John Howie; and, on Friday, Mrs. N. Johnston and Mrs. R. Surwell.

   Jumping across the state, we have the Wayside Hospital in Weldon. Walter Clark, in volume four of North Carolina Troops, tells us the Wayside Hospitals were established in Weldon, Goldsboro, Tarboro, Raleigh, Salisbury, and Charlotte in the summer of 1862, and replaced by General Hospitals in September 1862. I don’t believe this is accurate, as Wayside and General hospitals are still listed as separate entities through 1864. (624) I don’t see, in Cunningham’s list, evidence of Weldon ever having a General Hospital. Regardless, there are some interesting tidbits about the hospital in Weldon found in Cornelia Spencer Edmondston’s diary   (I will confess here that I am extracting these from Toalson’s No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery, & Desertion.). In February 1864, Edmondston writes of purchasing 38 dozen eggs from another local lady for the hospital. She is paying $1.00 a dozen. Twenty-five dollars has been donated, while her family covers the remining $13. (29) On March 20, Edmondston wrote: “Mr Wilkinson, the Agent of the Hospital, has been here for supplies. His trip was almost unsuccessful, for besides some Potatoes which Mr E had bought for him, some Lard which we could ill spare from the plantation but felt forced to sell him, & some Peas which Mr E gave him squeezed from the seed peas & the few household things I could contribute (very few indeed) & some eggs, 27 doz, which we bought from the negroes, he went back as he came. No one else had anything to spare, so swept is our country by Gov. Agents and Commissaries.” (71)

   There is a lot to unpack in those two diary entries. People contributed money to support the Wayside Hospital in Weldon; items were purchased locally for the hospital; the hospital had a person who traveled around the area looking for supplies; and, government officers impressed a lot of the food in areas, making the local support of these hospitals difficult.

   This post is just an introduction. Was there a Confederate Wayside Hospital in your community? Please feel free to share and maybe we can compile a more complete history of this piece of Confederate history.

Wayside Hospitals, per Cunningham

Alabama

Demopolis          Surg. H. Hinckley

Eufaula                 Surg. P. D. L. Baker

Selma                    Surg. W. Curry

Talladega             Surg. G. S. Bryant

Florida

Madison              Asst. Surg. J. Cohen

Georgia

Fort Gaines         Surg. E. W. McCreery

Mississippi

Guntown             Surg. J. M. Hoyle

Liberty                  Surg. R. M. Luckett

North Carolina

Charlotte (No. 6)               Surg. J. W. Ashby

Goldsboro                           Dr. L. A. Stith

Greensboro (No. 2)         Surg. E.B. Holland

Salisbury (No. 3)               Surg. J. W. Hall

Tarboro (No. 7)                 Dr. J. H. Baker

Weldon (No. 1)                  Surg. H. H. Hunter           

Wilmington (No. 5)          Surg. J. C. Walker

South Carolina

Florence              Surg. T. A. Dargan

Greenville           Surg. G. S. Trezevant

Kingsville             Surg. J. A. Pleasants

Virginia

Burkesville          Dr. T. R. Blandy

Lynchburg           Surg. A. C. Smith

Petersburg         Surg. M. P. Scott

War Department Papers Captured in Charlotte

Post-war image of the Mecklenburg County Courthouse

    To my knowledge (limited, I know), there has only been one article ever written on Confederate War Department papers. Dallas D. Irvine wrote "The Fate of Confederate Archives: Executive Office" and it appeared in The American Historical Review in July 1939. Irvine talks a great deal about the Papers of Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, but for the next few lines, I would like to focus on the papers other than those of the Executive Branch.

   Irvine tells us that the papers of the State and War Departments were boxed up and sent away from Richmond. The State Department papers were sent away prior to the evacuation on April 2, 1865. William J. Bromwell, "disbursing clerk," was in charge. The papers were first taken to the Danville Female College, but Bromwell later loaded them back on the train and took the State Department papers to Charlotte. In Charlotte, "the containers were placed in packing crates marked with his [Bromwell's] initials and stored in the courthouse." Later, in fear of a Federal raid, they were removed to the "country" under the care of Mr. A. C. Williams" (826).  Bromwell wrote to Judah P. Benjamin on April 5, so I would assume they were in Charlotte and then the "country" by this date.

   According to Irvine, the papers of the Quartermaster's Department were shipped to Lynchburg, Virginia. All 128 cases of them were captured there. Records of the Exchange Bureau were left in Richmond, along with the records of the Engineer Bureau and from the office of the chief paymaster. The War Department papers were hurried out of Richmond on the night of April 2, 1865, and taken to Charlotte. There were reportedly 81 crates of documents. When Jefferson Davis chose to leave the Queen City, the papers of the War Department were turned over Gen. Samuel Cooper.

   Other papers from the War Department were destroyed, including the records of the Surgeon General, Commissary General, Signal Office, and Army intelligence Office. Other records still missing to this day include those of the Engineer Bureau, Ordnance Bureau, Niter and Mining Bureau, Office of Foreign Supplies, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Engineer Bureau papers were reported as abandoned in a railroad car in Greensboro. The ordnance records might have made it as far as Charlotte. It was reported that some records were destroyed at Fort Mill, South Carolina, possibly including the records of the Naval Department.

Some of the "Rebel Archives." Photo by Lee Spence. 

   The State Department records mentioned above, according to Irvine, were retrieved by Bromwell after the war and brought to Washington, D.C., by Confederate colonel John T. Picket. Picket put the papers up for sale in 1868, and they were finally sold to the US Treasury Department in 1872. In 1906 and 1910, they were transferred to the Library of Congress.

   An interesting paper trail for the War Department records can be found in the Official Records. After the surrender at the Bennett Place, Joseph E. Johnston made his way to Charlotte. Cooper notified Johnston of the papers, and on May 8, Johnston wrote from Charlotte to Maj. Gen. John Schofield: "It has just been reported to me that the archives of the War Department of the Confederate States are here. As they will furnish valuable materials for history, I am anxious for their preservation, and doubt not that you are too. For that object I am ready to deliver them to the officer you may direct to receive them." (OR 47, 3:443)

   Schofield finally responded on May 12, writing from Raleigh. He informed Johnston that he was sending "Lieutenant Washburn, of my staff, to receive the War Department papers... I fully share your desire for their preservation, as they will be invaluable to history, and will take care that they be properly preserved for that purpose." (OR 47, 3:483).

   When C. P. Washburne came calling on the evening of May 14, Johnston was out, but replied to Washburne's note that the documents had already been turned over to the local post commander. However, Johnston agreed to meet with Washburne the next morning. An observer noted that the papers were stored in a building on main street, "in a cellar-a dark, dismal spot... wagons were procured, and the boxes containing the documents conveyed to the railroad" and then taken to Raleigh. There were 83 boxes "of various sizes, from an ammunition box to a large clothing chest... They were also of all shapes. Some of them are rifle boxes, and many of them resemble the ordinary army mess chest." 

   Washburn wrote Col. W. M. Wherry on May 14 from Charlotte that he had the "rebel War Department documents" and would start for Raleigh at 7 o'clock the next morning (OR 47, 3:497). The papers were shipped via rail to Raleigh.

   US Secretary of War Edwin Stanton wrote to Schofield on May 16: "Please turn over to Colonel Cutts, to be brought here immediately, all the rebel War Department papers and correspondence recently captured by you, and all papers or correspondence relating to the rebellion or the operations of the rebel Government in Richmond... Also give Colonel Cutts transportation and every facility to get here with the papers as speedily as possible" (OR 47, 3:510).  At the same time, Schofield writes to Henry Halleck: "I have all the archives of the late rebel War Department, including all the army muster-rolls, officers' reports, captured flags, &c. They amount to about two car-loads" (OR 47, 3:511). Halleck fired back on May 16: "Box up all captured Confederate papers, flags, &c., and send them to C. A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War... Preserve every paper, however unimportant it may appear. We have the key to their ciphers. Important links of testimony have been discovered here of the Canadian plot." (OR 47, 3:511-12)

   There were several notes passed between Stanton, Halleck, and Schofield on May 17. Halleck informed Stanton that the boxes, "weighing ten tons" would set out that evening. Stanton wanted the papers shipped via rail, but that was not to be. Schofield then prepared a manifest of what he was shipping:  

   Halleck then notified Stanton that the papers "left Raleigh on the evening of the 17th." They were presumably shipped via rail to New Bern "or Beaufort," placed on the steamer John Tracy, and sent to Fort Monroe. Schofield sent a member of his staff, Colonel Treat, with the documents.  (OR 47, 3: 534)

   Stanton was trying to connect Jefferson Davis with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The papers soon arrived in Washington, D.C., but the connection between Davis and John Wilkes Booth eluded not only Stanton, but also historians up until this day.

Getting between the Confederate Capitals

One aspect of the War that has always been of interest to me is the role of transportation. In our world, we can easily travel from place to place, and find ourselves irritated when traffic, weather, mechanical issues, or accidents delay or divert our journeys or cause us to change forms of transport.  However, throughout the nineteenth century, including the four years of the war, travel was often complex and convoluted. Yet, it often came with a surprising variety of choices, and sometimes at greater speed than we would expect of a world without interstates or the internal combustion engine.   Most travel was conducted not from point A to Point B, in a single vehicle, but from one rail station, dock, or coach  stop to another, with multiple changes of transport in between.

This is true when looking at the various cities that served as a Confederate capital. When the delegates arrived in Montgomery, a few undoubtedly rode on horses or arrived by carriages. The majority came by train or by riverboat. When the first session was over, they left by the same means. In May 1861, when Jefferson Davis and a few others set out for Richmond, it was a trip that took only three days. Davis left on May 26, and arrived in Richmond on May 29. Save for the occasions when he rode out to inspect the troops in the defenses around Richmond, Davis resorted to rail travel. This includes when Davis visited the fields of Manassas in July 1861, and when he visited the Army of Tennessee in late 1863.

The Confederate government took to the rails on the night of April 2, 1865. The engine that pulled the train from Richmond to Danville was the Charles Sneddon. When Davis chose to abandon Danville, he set out on one train bound for Greensboro, but that engine broke down, leaving the president and cabinet alone in the darkness while a new engine was retrieved from Danville. When it came time for Davis to move from Greensboro to Charlotte, he was forced to take to the horse once again. Stoneman's raiders had wrecked many of the lines in and around Greensboro.

The image above is of the Charles Sneddon - the train last train out of Richmond. 

What happened to George Trenholm?

Anytime you are researching and have more than one source, you run into the possibility of the sources not agreeing. Such is the case of the journey of Confederate Secretary of the Treasury George Trenholm and the last days of the Confederate government.

There are four places that claim to have hosted the last meeting of the Confederate cabinet: Charlotte, NC; Fort Mill and Abbeville, SC; and, Washington, Georgia. My argument has always been that the last meeting of the Confederate cabinet was in Charlotte on April 26, 1865. After that morning meeting in the Phifer home, the government more or less broke up for all practical intents and purposes.

Who was present at that meeting?

George Davis - Attorney General

Judah P. Benjamin - Secretary of State

George Trenholm - Secretary of the Treasury

John C. Breckinridge - Secretary of War

Stephen Mallory - Secretary of  Navy

John H. Reagan - Postmaster General

George Davis was the first to leave. On April 25, Jefferson Davis advised George Davis (no relation) to look after his family. George Davis submitted his resignation, and it was accepted the following day. I do not believe that George Davis crossed into South Carolina with Jefferson Davis's party.

George Trenholm - The Secretary of the Treasury was sick, and had been sick on the entire trip, from Richmond to Danville to Greensboro, and eventually to Charlotte. He was so ill that the other members of the Confederate cabinet gathered in his room on the morning of April 26 before setting out. Mrs. Trenholm, who was a member of the party, wrote afterwards: "We started again in the ambulance on the 26th & reached Mr. White's, three miles from the Catawba Bridge (Fort Mills) the same day. Here Mr. Trenholm was so sick we had to stop a day. The President & Cabinet  proceeded on their journey. Mr. Trenholm had a consultation with them and decided that he was unable to go on with them and attend to the duties of his office so he there handed in his resignation." I believe Mrs. Trenholm's account was written after the events transpired.

An interesting, conflicting account is that of John T. Wood, one of Davis's staff officers. His diary seems to be a day  off. He chronicles that George Davis resigned on April 24, that the party crossed the South Carolina line on April 25, the same day that Trenholm resigned.

Post Master General Reagan wrote after the war that Trenholm, "made an effort to travel with us, but after some twenty miles found himself to go further, and resigned his position as Secretary of the Treasury. Thereupon a meeting of the Cabinet was held, in my absence; and after consultation, the President sent for me and requested me to accept the appointment as Secretary of the Treasury..." 

Jefferson Davis himself, writing in Rise and Fall of Confederate Government, states, "I rode out of Charlotte attended by the members of my Cabinet (except General Davis, who had gone to see his family residing in that section, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Trenholm, who was too ill to accompany me), my personal staff and cavalry, representing six brigades, numbering about 2,000."

In a letter written in 1919, a Phifer descendant stated that the Trenholms remained in Charlotte several days before traveling to Fort Mill and to Winnsboro before turning toward home.  

There are many who claim that Fort Mill, South Carolina, was the site of the last meeting of the full Confederate cabinet. Reagan admits he was not there. George Davis had already resigned, and it would appear that Trenholm was not with the group, at least according to Jefferson Davis.  That leaves three members : Mallory, Benjamin, and Breckenridge, hardly the full Confederate cabinet.  

Thoughts?

Last speech of Jefferson Davis.

While rooting around the other day, I came across the few lines below, reportedly delivered by Jefferson Davis from the front steps of the Bates House in Charlotte. The speech would have been given on April 18, 1865. The date of the article was May 20, 1896. I have read (but not looked for the actual piece) that there was an earlier version of this speech printed in a newspapers in Georgia, maybe just a couple of years after the war. If these claims are true, then would this not be the last speech of Jefferson Davis? Would not Charlotte be the place of that last speech?

"My friends, you greet me as cordially as if I brought you tidings of victory, while indeed I am the bearer of bad news. Gen. Lee has been forced to surrender--but the men live yet. The war has been for the people and by the people, and if they are firm and true there is hope. I thank you from my heart for this evidence of your confidence, and can say in reviewing my administration for the last four years, I am conscious of having committed errors and very great ones, but in all that I have done, in all that I have tried to do, I can lay my hand upon my heart and appeal to God that I have but one purpose to serve--but one mission to fulfill--the preservation of the true principles of constitutional freedom, which are as dear to me to-day as they were four years ago. I have nothing to abate or take back. If they were right then, they are right now and no misfortune to our arms can change right into wrong. Again I thank you."

Confederate Monuments in Charlotte

For a long time, I've been collecting information on North Carolina's Confederate and Union monuments and markers. Just when I think I've collected something (photos, newspaper articles, etc) on each one of them, I find a new one - yes, a new monument.  Or, at least a reference to a new monument.

For the past couple of days, I've been working on the monuments erected by the UDC in Charlotte, starting in 1910 with the marker for the Confederate Navy Yard.  To date, there were 10 monuments in the greater Charlotte area, probably more than any other municipality in the state. Of course, not all of these were erected by the UDC. Here is the list that I'm working on.

1887 - Monument, Elmwood Cemetery.
1910 - Iron Marker, Confederate Navy Yard, currently in storage?
1915 - Bronze Marker, Last Cabinet Meeting.
1927 - Bronze marker on boulder, marking North Carolina Military Institute, also called the D. H. Hill School marker. Current location unknown.
1938 - Stone archway to Mrs. Stonewall Jackson. Torn down by the 1960s. Bronze plaque in the general area.
1930s - US Mint Marker (date and current location, unknown)
Davis/Lincoln Assassination  (date unknown, but still in sidewalk)
Temporary residence of Atty. Gen. Davis (date and current location unknown)
Judah Benjamin. (date unknown, granite slab supposedly at 200 block, South Tryon. Unconfirmed).
1997 - City Hall.


Some folks might say "well, you should know all about this." And yes, I probably should. But I don't. Any information you might have would be great. I guess the next time I am in town, I'll need to get out and wander the streets of Charlotte. Maybe a friend or two will join me as we explore these mysteries.

Brothers versus brothers.

We are all familiar with the idea of the War being a War in which brothers fought against brothers. But how often do we actually come across those stories? In my research for Civil War Charlotte, I've actually found on such tale. Ok, I kind of knew this story before, but not all of the details. So, here are the details.
     In 1838, Dr. John H. Gibbons became chief assayer at the new United State Mint in, or near, Charlotte, North Carolina. The first gold rush was rapidly expanding the town. Previously, the Gibbons family had lived in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia to be exact. There were ten Gibbons children.
     One of those sons was John Gibbon (no, I don't know why he does not have the s). John was eleven when the family moved, and went on to spend about five years in the Queen City. John graduated from West Point in 1847, and served in the Mexican War and the Seminole War, and taught artillery tactics at West Point.  When the Civil War started, John became chief of artillery for Irvin McDowell. In 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers and assigned command of a brigade of Wisconsin Men. Later, this brigade was known as the Iron Brigade. John later commanded the 2nd Division, II Corps, and at Gettysburg, commanded the Corps during part of the battle. It was on his front that the Picket-Pettigrew-Trimble charge landed on July 3. He was also wounded the second time. Gibbon would later command the XVIII Corps, and then the XXIV Corps. Following the War, he served out West, battling the Sioux , Cheyenne, and Nez Perce. He later commanded the Army of the Pacific Northwest, before retiring in 1891. He died in Baltimore, Maryland,  and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
     An older brother was Lardner Gibbon. Lardner was a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was sent by the US government to explore the Amazon River. On July 2, 1861, he was appointed a captain in the Confederate States Artillery. He is listed as ordinance officer and commander of corps artillery in the 2nd Military District of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.  He later resigned on August 5, 1863. Just what his role was after his resignation is unclear. An interesting aside is that both John and Lardner served as best men in the wedding of Daniel Harvey Hill. Lardner died on January 1, 1910.
     Yet another older brother to John was Robert Gibbon. He was born in 1822 and graduated from the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia.  He returned to Charlotte where he was living when the War commenced. Robert was appointed surgeon of the 28th North Carolina Troops on or about September 25, 1861, and served in this capacity until appointed senior surgeon of James H. Lane's brigade on January 29, 1864. Once the War ended, Robert returned to Charlotte and practiced surgery in the Queen City. Two of his sons founded Presbyterian Hospital. Robert died on May 14, 1898.
     The last brother was Nicholas Gibbon. He was born in 1837 and was attending lectures at the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia when the war commenced. He returned to Charlotte and enrolled in the North Carolina Military Institute, under the command of family friend D. H. Hill.  Nicholas served as a private in the 1st North Carolina Volunteers. Once that regiment mustered out of service, Nicholas was appointed Assistant Commissary of Substance in the 28th North Carolina Troops (under the command of James H. Lane, another North Carolina Military institute professor). Nicholas served in this capacity until resigning on September 17, 1863. He then served on Cadmus Wilcox's staff and in other positions until returning to North Carolina to look for deserters. Nicholas married into the Alexander family and farmed in Mecklenburg County after the War. He died on October 17, 1917.
     There you have it, brothers fighting brothers. By the way, two of the Gibbon sisters also married Confederate soldiers, and somehow, they are all related to James J. Pettigrew.

Returning to the NC G. A. R.

So, after some research, as well as emails with Wendell Small, Bruce Long, Doug Elwell, and Chris Meekins, I am ready to put together a summary on North Carolina and the Grand Army of the Republic. Tell me what you think… Am I right or wrong, or, where does this need more?



The Grand Army of the Republic was created in Indiana in April 1866. The G. A. R., founded upon the principles of “Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty,” was a fraternal organization for former Union soldiers. At the state level, the G. A. R. was organized into a department, and organizations in different towns and cities were known as Posts. At its zenith, the G. A. R. contained 490,000 members (1890), and every year, starting in 1866, held national encampments in a different city each year. The organization held its last national encampment in Indianapolis in 1949, and with the death of its last member, ceased to exist in 1956. In the 1880s through the 1910s, the G. A. R. was a major driving force in national politics. Many G. A. R. posts met in their own facilities, erected numerous monuments, and maintained homes for old soldiers.

The North Carolina Department of the Grand Army of the Republic was organized on July 11, 1868, with eight posts, including ones in Wilmington and Raleigh. The North Carolina Department was disbanded on December 2, 1872. Nationally, the G. A. R. itself almost ceased to exist. In the 1880s, under new leadership, the G. A. R. once again began to flourish. National leaders decided to form posts in North Carolina and Virginia into a department: the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. Starting in the late 1880s, new posts were created. Many of the posts were located in the coastal area where the Union had a firm grasp early in the war, or in the mountain areas to the west. In 1897, there were an estimated 400 G. A. R. members in North Carolina, spread out in seventeen posts. Some of the posts in the eastern part of the state were composed entirely of former members of the United States Colored Troops.

One of the most active (and long-lasting) G. A. R. posts in North Carolina was the Maj. Gen. John F. Hartranft Post in Charlotte. The Post was created in 1890 and continued to exist through 1931. The Hartranft Post seem to regularly meet with their Confederate counterparts in the United Confederate Veterans for activates on Confederate Memorial Day, and then the Hartranft Post annually made a pilgrimage to Salisbury on the Federal Memorial Day to decorate the graves of Union soldiers at the National Cemetery.

Like the United Confederate Veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic does not exist any more. All of the men that were eligible to join have long ago crossed over the river. However, just as there are organizations out there that continue to commemorate the Confederate Veterans, similar organizations also exist for the Union Veteran. North Carolina has its own chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans, with posts in Fayetteville, Charlotte, Asheville, Raleigh, and Morehead City. You can learn more about the North Carolina Sons of Union Veterans here .

North Carolina Military Institute

Home again – I had a great time visiting with the Central Ohio Civil War Round Table and especially with Mike Peters. If you live in the area, you should really consider joining. I was honored to be one of their guests, and their folks were really great, asking loads of super questions. My talk was on the battle of Hanover Court House (have I done this program for your group?).

One of the members of the COCWRT raised this question: Virginia has the Virginia Military Academy, and South Carolina has the Citadel. What did North Carolina have? The answer would be the North Carolina Military Institute. The school was founded in 1858 by local Charlotte businessmen and Dr. Charles J. Fox. The school was located in Charlotte. This school is not to be confused with the North Carolina Military Academy (also called the North Carolina Military and Polytechnic Academy or the Hillsborough Military Academy) founded in 1858 in Hillsborough by Charles C. Tew.

We don’t know a great deal about the school itself, except it was very popular. By April 1861, the school had 150 students. Not long after the start of the war, Governor Ellis ordered the cadets to Raleigh to serve as drill masters. The school closed during the war, and at times, the buildings were used as a Confederate hospital. The building stood at East Morehead and South Boulevard.

West Point-trained-Daniel Harvey Hill was serving as superintendent of the school at the start of the war. He was elected colonel of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers and, later in the war, briefly attained the rank of lieutenant general. Hill survived the war.

South Carolina-born and also West Point-trained Charles C. Lee was also teaching at the school at the start of the war. Lee was lieutenant colonel of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers (and later colonel after Hill’s promotion). Later, Lee served as colonel of the 37th North Carolina Troops. He was killed at Frayser’s Farm and is interred in Charlotte.

VMI-educated James H. Lane was also teaching at the North Carolina Military Institute. Lane, a Virginia native, was elected major, and then lieutenant colonel of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers before being elected colonel of the 28th North Carolina Troops.

There are probably a lot of other company and regimental level officers in North Carolina regiments who attended the institute, but to find them would probably require several days of searching. Anyone know of any more from your own research?

I found this in a issue of the Charlotte Observer from 1889:
As at first organized, the session lasted, without intermission, throughout the year, the months of August and September being spent campaigning in the mountains of North Carolina. At the end of the second year cadets received a furlough of months.
There were a scientific and a primary department. In the former the West Point curriculum was closely followed, and the students were required to board in the buildings and to be under military discipline.
There was a primary department, which aimed to prepare students for any college. Such of these students as boarded in the buildings were likewise under military discipline.
The institute provide board, lodging, fuel, lights, washing, arms, equipment, medical attendance, uniforms and all clothing, except underclothes, for $200 per annum. No extra charges.

Another issue of the Charlotte Observer (1915) wrote that the “first Confederate flag raised in the city was hosted there when Fort Sumter fell, by the students of the North Carolina Institute.”

After the war, there was talk of D. H. Hill (along with Wade Hampton), re-opening the Military School, but nothing became of Hill’s proposals. Later, the building was used as a girl’s school, and from 1873 until 1882, as the Charlotte Military Academy. Later, it was used by the Charlotte Public School system, until it was torn down in 1954.

Observations on the 1929 National UCV Reunion

North Carolina only held the National Reunion for the United Confederate Veterans once: in 1929. This is a mystery to me. Other states held the national reunion multiple times. Tennessee held it at least ten times; Virginia, six; Alabama, six; Texas, five; Georgia, five; and Louisiana, four. Even Florida held it twice: once in Jacksonville in 1914, and in Tampa in 1927. Colorado held it once, in 1939, as did Washington, DC, in 1917.

So why only once in North Carolina? With more men provided, more men killed, than any other state, what were the politics behind the reunion site committee? Most of the time, the cities in the running tried to put together the best possible package to attract the reunion to their city. While the reunions were a strain on the cities, they did provide large amounts of revenue.
Notice how the mayor was there, the governor was there, and others not connected to the UCV came out to welcome the old soldiers and their guests.

Also, what happened to the marker?

1929 Charlotte Reunion pt. 2

After the parade, many participated in a "Memorial Hour", where the members of UCV, SCV, and CSMA gathered to pay "tribute... to departed comrades and members of the three organizations" Associate Justice Herriot Clarkson gave an address. General Goodwyn "gave a brief tribute to his departed comrades, and a silent prayer was held for Henry L. Wyatt, of North Carolina, first soldier killed in the war..." others also offered up small tributes.

Other events highlighted the program. There were receptions, teas, garden parties, dances, and veteran ball. One observer wrote: "many [veterans who] seemed too feeble to walk any distance could shake a wicked foot when the music called for action." A special concern was held in Independence Park, "where a score of bands, under the direction of Capt. Taylor Branson, leader of the Marine Band, gave a joint concert, concluding with "Dixie: and the "Star-Spangled Banner..." A play depicting the rise and fall of the Confederacy was witnessed by "many thousands."

Two comrades passed on while at the reunion. One was "General" Cortez A. Kitchen, Commander of the Missouri Division, UCV. The other was Maj. John Hancock of Austin, Texas.
Finally, just after the reunion, a "reunion Marker" was dedicated.

"An interesting occasion following the reunion was the dedication, on Friday afternoon, of a memorial marker at the new Auditorium which commemorates the holding of the thirty-ninth annual reunion in Charlotte. The marker as the gift of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Rev. Albert Sidney Johnston, SCV, presided over the exercises. The veil was drawn by Thomas Jonathan Jackson Preston, great grandson of Stonewall Jackson, and little Nancy Palmer Stitt, granddaughter of Capt. William Morrison Stitt. The official roster and records of the reunion were placed in the memorial. Dr. Own Moore gave the dedicatory address, and the exercises were closed with taps."

The 1929 UCV Reunion in Charlotte. pt. 1

This week’s past encounter with a gentleman who witnessed the 1929 national United Confederate Veterans reunion has prompted me dig a little deeper into the reunion itself. I went by the library today and copied several pages from Volume 37 of Confederate Veteran Magazine.

There was an estimated attendance of 3,500 veterans at the reunion, with 20,000 more guests. The event started on Tuesday evening, June 4. The "Marine Band" [Corps?] played that evening, along with the "reunion chorus, made up of local men and women..." The veterans were welcomed by Mayor George E. Wilson, and Gov. O. Max Gardner. Gardner praised "this remnant of the bravest army of the America continent and the most patriotic citizens that ever dared venture their lives and all for principles they held dear." Mississippi senator Pat Harrison also welcomed the veterans and gave a talk on Jefferson Davis.

Business began on Wednesday morning. Former Arkansas governor Charles H. Reid gave a short address, along with former mayor F. M. Reid, current Mayor Wilson, C. O. Kuester, of the Chamber of Commerce, Gen. W. A. Smith, commander of the North Carolina Division, Mrs. A. McD. Wilson, president of the Confederate Memorial Association, Mrs. W. C. N. Merchant, president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Edmond R. Wiles, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A series of resolutions were passed that afternoon, including an effort to purchase Stratford, the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee.

On Thursday afternoon, new officers were elected. The commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, Richard A. Sneed, was elected commander-in-chief. The group then voted to hold their next reunion in Biloxi, Mississippi.

On June 7, the parade took place. The unnamed correspondent wrote:
"Passing through solid walls of humanity, perhaps the largest crowd ever assembled on the streets of Charlotte, the Confederate parade, climax of the thirty-ninth annual reunion of Confederate veterans, moved to the sound of enthusiastic cheers and wild applause on the morning of June 7, a line of march said to cover five miles, taking some two hours in passing a given point. Three wars were represented in the veteran soldiery taking part - the War between the States, the Spanish-American, and the World War - while the soldiers of the present were represented by the National Guard of North Carolina and other military units from schools and colleges - all making a grand array. The Boy Scouts were in line in great force, and made a great impression. There were miles of cars, loaded with veterans of the gray and their fair official ladies, a colorful note with flags and other decorations. In the lead was the Marine Band sounding patriotic airs, and many others were interspersed throughout the line, whose martial strains were heard above the cheers of the multitude of onlookers. There were Sons of Veterans, Daughters of the Confederacy, the Memorial Women, and members of local patriotic associations, all adding a note to the wonderful pageant moving through the streets of Charlotte, the like of which may never be seen again.

"After leading the parade, the new and retiring Commanders in Chief, the governor of North Carolina, and other notables of the reunion, with their wives and official ladies, stood at attention in the reviewing stand as this pageant moved past, a wonderful spectacle, ‘showing,’ as Governor Gardner expressed it, ‘to us of the present generation the glory and greatness of the Old South in the veterans and the splendid future of the new in the Boy Scouts."
"Of the veterans of the gray line, the Charlotte Observer said: ‘They did not feel the weight of the years nor the heat of the day; all their hearts were in the wave of emotion that swept over them and connected the memories of the past with the glorious reality of the day. The parade was more than a line of march; it was a pageant of the South, containing visible expressions of the best that the country has to offer. The bravest of the manhood of the South and the fairest of Southern womanhood were there, glamorous with the emotion that can come only from a deep feeling of patriotism and love."