The Three Trials of William Holland Thomas

   Thomas’s Legion is one of those Confederate infantry organizations with almost mythical status. In a day and time when Native Americans in the United States had been maligned and unfairly treated, a group of Cherokee joined the Confederate cause. They were led into the fray by their white chief, William Holland Thomas. Yet Thomas was a poor military leader. Three times during the war, he was court martialed by his superiors for various offenses.

   Thomas was born in 1805 near Waynesville, North Carolina. He was raised by his widowed mother, was running a store by the age of thirteen, and later, dealt in real-estate.  Thomas also read law. In 1848, he won a seat in the state senate and held that seat until 1861, an unusual feat for a Democrat in the Whigish mountain counties. His political fortunes were tied to internal improvements, largely the railroad. Most Democrats were not in favor of internal improvements unless they benefited the eastern counties. Thomas owned thirty-nine slaves according to the 1860 census, was married, and had three small children at home.[1] 

Col. William H. Thomas, from Clark's.

      Thomas had a long and complex history with some of his neighbors, the Cherokee. He ran a store in Qualla Town in Haywood County, and was adopted by Yonaguska, one of the Cherokee chiefs. Some of the Cherokee had agreed to an 1819 treaty in which they accepted land outside of what was considered tribal lands.  Worried that they would be forced west like other Cherokee, this group chose Thomas as their agent in dealing with the Federal government.  Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, Thomas fought for the rights of this small group, going as far as to buy thousands of acres of land for what became known as the Lufty Cherokee. After Yonaguska died, Thomas was elected their chief.[2]

   Because of his role with the Lufty Cherokee, Thomas had the idea of raising a company or battalion of Cherokee warriors to fight for the South. His first attempt, a company called the “Junaluska Zouaves,” really did not go anyplace. Thomas was busy in Raleigh with the secession convention and did not appear to do much recruiting.

   In November 1861, a group of Unionist burned bridges in east Tennessee. Some of the arsonists were caught and imprisoned in Tuscaloosa (read more here). Others were caught and executed, while the majority escaped, some fleeing to western North Carolina. Alarmed at the influx of malcontents, Governor Henry Clark organized ranger companies along the North Carolina-Tennessee boarder. Thomas was slow in organizing his rangers. It was not until April 1862 that the Highland Rangers were mustered into service. Thomas’s command was ordered to East Tennessee to guard railroad bridges. He continued to  recruit, eventually having an infantry regiment, usually under the command of Lt. Col. James R. Love, Jr.; Walker’s battalion, under the command of Lt. Col. William C. Walker;  Levi’s battery, under the command of Capt. John T. Levi; and the Indian Battalion, usually under Thomas.[3]

   It was while in East Tennessee that Thomas first ran into trouble. Thomas’s Legion, because of the rate of desertion, was put under the command of Brig. Gen. Alfred E. Jackson. The two clashed. In August 15, 1863, Jackson placed Thomas under arrest for disobedience of orders. Thomas was sent to Knoxville for trial, and either the trial was interrupted by the arrival of Federals under Ambrose Burnside, or the charges were dismissed.[4]

   In September 1863, as the Confederates abandoned much of east Tennessee, Thomas had orders to join Jackson at Bristol, Tennessee. Instead, Thomas took his Indian battalion and headed for North Carolina. Thomas claimed he had orders to do so, but those don’t seem to survive.[5]

   In December 1863, Thomas moved his command into east Tennessee, possibly planning to spend the winter near Gatlinburg, or possibly in support (and under orders) of Longstreet. Thomas’s command was caught unaware by Federals at Gatlinburg, and after an hour-long fight, retreated back into North Carolina. Soon thereafter, Brig. Gen. Robert B. Vance headed into Tennessee where he was captured on January 14, 1864. New departmental commander Joseph E. Johnston ordered Thomas arrested. The court martial was held in Asheville on February 23, 1864. Once again, the outcome is not known, but Thomas retained his command.[6]

   Thomas continued to try to hold the mountain passes in the Great Smoky Mountains. He struggled to keep not only his men fed, but their families as well. Desertions were rampant, leaving Thomas with too few men. Federals frequently rode into the area, striking at places in Thomas’s rear. Thomas continued to try and recruit, leading to his third arrest and courts martial. The commanding officer of the 6^th North Carolina Cavalry charged Thomas on May 11, 1864, for “[k]knowingly entertaining and receiving for his command” over twenty deserters from that regiment. He was charged with both conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman and for conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline. The trial was held in Goldsboro, North Carolina, October 22, 1864. Thomas was probably found guilty of all charges. In all likelihood, Thomas, who immediately went to Richmond, got Jefferson Davis to drop all but one of the guilty verdicts.[7]

   Thomas and his legion are kind of heroes in Confederate service. His Legion, composed of both Whites and Cherokees, does lend even more credence to the idea of a more diversified Confederate army (you can check out more here and here). But Thomas had many detractors during the war. Congressman A.T. Davidson wrote the Secetarty of War that month asking that Thomas’s command be disbanded. Davidson believed that Thomas had “greatly transcended his authority to the prejudice of the service…Thomas’s Indians are worthless and never will do any good.” In March 1863, Col. Benjamin S. Ewell, assistant adjutant general to Joseph E. Johnston, believed that Legions, including Thomas’s, should be broken apart, formed into traditional regiments in regulation brigades. “In their present condition they are inefficient,” he wrote. Another North Carolinian wrote in 1864: “One North Carolinian wrote to Governor Vance: “It is true, W H Thomas is in Jackson [County]. But what does he do? No order ever reaches him or if it does, his own way is the best.”[8]

      Thomas was paroled in Waynesville on May 9, 1865. He was forced to resign as chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, and then was sued by them, some say reluctantly, in an effort to gain possession of some of their lands. Thomas suffered with mental issues and died at the mental hospital in Morganton in 1893.[9]

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[1] McKinney, “William Holland Thomas,” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6:25.

[2] McKinney, “William Holland Thomas,” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6:25.

[3] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:31; Crow, Storm in the Mountains, 151.

[4] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:72.

[5] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:75.

[6] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:128.

[7] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:213.

[8] Brown and Coffey, North Carolina Troops, 16:213.

[9] McKinney, “William Holland Thomas,” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6:25.

More Confederate diversity – the Bunker brothers

    Several years ago, I wrote a post about the way the Confederate army was racially integrated. Actually, I’ve written on that subject a couple of times, talking about the lives of free men of color like the Townsend brothers in the 26^th North Carolina and the Cozzens brothers in the 37^th North Carolina. These men volunteered to serve, and, according to the 1860s, they were not white. You can check out those posts here and here.

   Along those same lines is the service of Christopher Wren Bunker. However, Bunker’s father was not Black, but was born in Thailand, as was his uncle. The two brothers are better known as Chang and Eng Bunker, the famous Siamese Twins.

   The brothers were born in the fishing village of Mekong, Siam, now Thailand, in 1811. They were conjoined at birth, and in August 1829, came to the United States. Due to their being conjoined, they were seen as oddities and picked up jobs with Hunter and Coffin and later with P.T. Barnum, traveling around the United States. They decided to settle in the states, became naturalized citizens, broke with Barnum, adopted “Bunker” as a surname, and set out on their own. For a time in the late 1830’s, they quit touring and settled in the Traphill section of Wilkes County, North Carolina.  Eng and Chang met two sisters, Adelaide and Sarah Yates, whom they married in 1843. Eng and Sarah had ten children, while Chang and Adelaide had twelve children. They relocated to Surry County, North Carolina.[1]

   One of those sons was Christopher Wren Bunker, born to Chang and Adelaide in 1845. On April 1, 1863, in Wythe County, Virginia, Bunker enlisted in Company I, 37^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. He was mustered in as a private. Bunker was captured at Moorefield, Virginia, on August 7, 1864, and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, arriving on August 24, 1864. A descriptive list described Bunker as having a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair, five foot eight, and twenty years of age. On March 4, 1865, Bunker was transferred to City Point, Virginia, where he was paroled.[2] 

Christopher W. Bunker (findagrave)

   But wait, there is another Bunker in the 37^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. Stephen D. Bunker, son of Eng and Laura Bunker, also served. According to his widow’s pension record, Stephen D. Bunker enlisted in July 1864. There is no clear record in the 37^th Battalion for Stephen, but there are a couple of pages for a D.C. Bunker who was absent wounded in 1864.[3]

   What about the 37^th Battalion Virginia Infantry? They were originally known as Dunn’s Partisan Rangers, organized in August 1862. Lt. Col. Ambrose C. Dunn was the first commander. The battalion saw duty during the Jones-Imboden Raid, the battle of White Sulphur Springs, the Siege of Knoxville, and the Valley Campaigns of 1864, including the battle of Moorefield and third battle of Winchester. The battalion disbanded in mid-1865.

   Chang and Eng Bunker passed away in 1874 and are buried at White Plains Baptist Church Cemetery in Surry County, North Carolina. Christopher Wren Bunker passed in 1932 and is buried at the Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery in Surry County.  Stephen D. Bunker passed in 1920 and is also buried at White Plains Baptist Church in Surry County.

   While there is probably not another story quite like that of Chang and Eng Bunker and their sons Christoper and Stephen, there are undoubtedly many other documented cases of diversity in the ranks of Confederate regiments.

 

 

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[1] Daniel Traywick, “Eng and Change Bunker,” Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 1: 269-70.

[2] CMSR, RG109, M324.

[3] CMSR, RG109, M324.

The use of Black spies in Eastern North Carolina.

   While researching my upcoming book on the battle of Plymouth (Savas Beatie), I came across one of the few accounts of the execution of a Black man for spying. A member of the 1^st Virginia Infantry, the morning of the battle, recalled that they found a Black man “wearing the dress of a field hand, and having a red handkerchief tied around his head.” Under these clothes was “the full uniform of a Yankee soldier.” The spy was “hung on the spot,” his identity unknown. Most people would either discount this story, or add it to a somewhat questionable list of atrocities committed by Confederate soldiers during the Plymouth Campaign.[1]

From Colyer.

   Yet in 1864, Vincent Colyer published an interesting account of using slaves as scouts and spies in Eastern North Carolina. Colyer, born in New York in 1824, was an artist. During the war, he served with the United States Christian Commission. In March 1862, after the battle of Roanoke Island and New Bern, Federal General Benjamin Butler appointed Colyer Superintendent of the Poor. He was ordered to employ up to 5,000 Black men, offering them $8 a month, one daily ration, and clothes. These men, mainly former slaves, constructed forts, unloaded cargo vessels, repaired bridges, built cots for hospitals, and operated as spies and scouts. Colyer writes that up to fifty Black men were employed as scouts and spies. “They went from thirty to three hundred miles within the enemy’s lines; visiting principal camps and most important posts, and bringing us back important and reliable information.”[2]

   Colyer then gives us a few names and exploits. One spy, Charley, made three trips to Kinston. W.M. Kinnegy also scouted for the Federals in Kinston. Two freemen who came into the lines were used to scout in the Beaufort area. 

   Spies are seldom mentioned in official correspondence. When they are, their race is almost never mentioned. Major General J.G. Foster, wrote from New Bern on January 20, 1863 to Henry Halleck, “I have just received information from a spy, who has been within the enemy’s lines and conversed with their soldiers, to the effect that the rebel force in this State has been largely increased; that the main body intended to be thrown by railroad either to Weldon or Wilmington… The rebel soldiers reported to the spy that 75,000 men were at Goldsboro.”[3] Writing from Suffolk on March 21, 1863, Maj. Gen. John J. Peck asked Major General Dix: “Is it not time for your peddler [spy] to return?”[4] Writing from Wilmington in August 1863, Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting complained to the Secretary of War that he had too few men. The few that he did have were busy, among other things, in the “detection of spies.”[5]

   Spies were even used in the greater Plymouth area. Major General John Peck, commanding the eastern North Carolina district, gave several accounts of using the local population to gather intelligence on Confederate operations.  In February 1864 Peck mentions a letter from Brig. General Wessels, commanding at Plymouth, that Wessel’s “spy has just come in from Halifax. He came from Wilmington, and 25,000 pounds of iron was on the same train.” It was iron for a gun boat. On March 18, Peck reported that Wessels had reported on the “return of a man sent out … to procure information concerning the ram at Halifax.” On March 29, Peck wrote that “My spy came in from Kinston last evening, having been out seven days.” There is little clue about the race of each of these spies, although Peck adds that in March, an officer had examined “all the contrabands” and that they “agree that there is a large force at Kinston, and also at Greenville, and that the obstructions below Kinston are being removed.”[6]

   The use of Blacks as spies, both free and formerly enslaved, was something of which even the Confederate high command was aware. In May 1863, Robert E. Lee, in writing to Lt. Col. J. Critcher, 15^th Virginia Cavalry, noted that "The chief source of information to the enemy is through our Negroes."[7]

   Was the treatment of the Black man caught wearing a Federal uniform under other clothes unusually harsh? Maybe not. Execution has been the normal punishment for spies caught by the enemy for quite some time. We need only to mention names like Timothy Webster and Sam Davis. There were other Black spies, probably the most famous on the Northern side being John Scobell, who worked for Pinkerton. Overall, the work of Black men and women as spies is one that needs to be explored more. That is a challenge. If spies are successful, no one, except their handlers, know of their accomplishments.

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[1] The Daily Dispatch, April 23, 1864.

[2] Colyer, Report, 9.

[3] OR, 18: 524.

[4] OR, 18:566.

[5] OR Vol. 29, pt. 2, 670.

[6] OR, Vol. 33, 291.

[7] OR. Vol. 25, Pt. 2, 826.

Samuel Johnson and the Plymouth Massacre

    Major General Benjamin F. Butler was in a tizzy. He had received a deposition from the provost marshal bearing incredible news, a note he had forwarded to General Grant. The deposition was from the orderly sergeant of Company D, 2^nd United States Colored Cavalry (USCC), Samuel Johnson. Johnson claimed that he was in Plymouth, North Carolina, with a “Sergeant French.” French was a recruiting officer and was in Plymouth “to take charge of some recruits.” Johnson claimed to have witnessed the April 1864 battle of Plymouth, the most successful combined Confederate army-navy venture of the war. On learning that the Federal garrison was going to be surrendered to the Confederate command under Brig. Gen. Robert F. Hoke, Johnson

Pulled off my uniform and found a suit of citizen’s clothes, which I put on, and when captured I was supposed and believed by the rebels to be a citizen. After being captured I was kept at Plymouth for some two weeks and was employed in endeavoring to raise the sunken vessels of the Union fleet.

   From Plymouth I was taken to Weldon and from thence to Raleigh, N.C., where I was detained for about a month, and was forwarded to Richmond, where I remained until about the time of the battles near Richmond, when I went with Lieutenant Johnson, of the Sixth North Carolina, as his servant, to Hanover Junction. I did not remain there over four or five days before I made my escape into the lines of the Union army and was sent to Washington, D.C., and then duly forwarded to my regiment in front of Petersburg.

   Upon the capture of Plymouth by the rebel forces all the negroes found in blue unforms, or with any outward marks of a Union soldier upon him, was killed. I saw some taken to the woods and hung. Others I saw stripped of all their clothing and then stood upon the banks of the river with their faces riverward and there they were shot. Still others were killed by having their brains beaten out by the butt end of muskets in the hands of the rebels. All were not killed the day of the capture. Those that were not were placed in a room with their officers, they (the officers) having previously been dragged through town with ropes around their necks, where they were kept confined until the following morning, when the remainder of the black soldiers were killed.

   The regiments most conspicuous in these murderous transactions were the Eighth North Carolina and, I think, the Sixth North Carolina.[1]

   Johnson’s account is often used as an example of the brutality of Confederate soldiers toward Black Federal soldiers captured during the war. Yet, Johnson’s account has numerous problems. First and foremost, there is no Orderly (or First) Sergeant Samuel Johnson in the 2^nd USCC.[2] Maybe the regiment was wrong. There was a Samuel Johnson in the 3^rd USCC. He did not enlist until July 11, 1864, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Another Samuel Johnson enlisted in the 4^th USCC in New Orleans on March 1, 1864. Yet another Samuel E. Johnson enlisted in Columbus, Ohio, on December 20, 1864, in the 5^th USCC. This soldier was appointed sergeant on February 1, 1865.[3] Maybe the provost marshal in his deposition got the first name wrong. There was a corporal Berry Johnson, but he was in Company G; Corp. Henry Johnson served in Company B; Sgt. Joseph Johnson served in Company L, but did not actually enlist until March 9, 1865; Pvt. Kuggs Johnson is the only Johnson in Company D, but he did not enlist until March 14, 1865; Richard Johnson enlisted on December 24, 1864 in Prince Anne County, Virginia. He was also a private, and his compiled service record states he was in various engagements like Petersburg, Virginia, on May 9, 1864; Richard R. Johnson was a sergeant in Company C but is reported present from March to June 1864. Maybe his service record was lost. But why not a pension record?[4]

   If Johnson’s service cannot be substantiated in the Company D, 2^nd United States Colored Cavalry, then that should end the conversation right there. Digging a little further, there is a record for a George N. French somehow connected to the 2^nd USCC. He does not seem to have been officially mustered into the regiment until March 18, 1866, at the rank of second lieutenant. In July (25^th or July 2, ‘65?) a B.H. French writes to the government asking about a son who was a lieutenant in the 2^nd USCC, stating he had been captured at Plymouth. B.H. French was living in Chicago at the time she wrote. There appears to be no prison record, no parole record, and no pension. What became of French?

   Johnson stated that after two weeks in Plymouth and a month in Raleigh, he was sent to Richmond, remaining an undisclosed time, when he was sent to be the servant of a “Lieutenant Johnson, of the Sixth North Carolina.” There is no Lieutenant Johnson/Johnston in the 6^th North Carolina. By the time that Samuel Johnson arrived with the 6^th North Carolina, that regiment had been ordered to the Shenandoah Valley.  From the vicinity of Hanover Junction, Johnson stated he escaped into Federal lines.

   What of the murder of Black Union soldiers so graphically described in Johnson’s affidavit?  One challenge is this: there were no Black regiments stationed in Plymouth during the battle. There were some recruiters and Black recruits for Black regiments. And it is possible that some were killed. However, one Richmond newspaper reported on April 27, 1864, that “two negroes in Yankee uniforms,” arrived with General Wessells (the Federal commander) and the other federal officers in Richmond.[5] Obviously, not all Black men found in uniform were executed in Plymouth.

   Black men, women, and children were held for some time in Plymouth. One newspaper reported that citizens from the surrounding area were “hastening” to Plymouth to “to reclaim the property stolen from them by the Yankees. Besides a large number of negroes, horses and other articles identified by their owners.”[6] On April 23, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard telegraphed Gov. Zebulon B. Vance, instructing him to send “the slaves captured” at Plymouth “to Wilmington,” to work on the fortifications.[7]

   It is interesting that Samuel Johnson never mentions James Dearing. Dearing’s ad hoc cavalry command plays a role in hunting down both Blacks and local unionists in many other accounts (many post-war, or contemporary to our time) of the battle. Many had escaped to the swamps where Dearing was sent to hunt them down. One report stated that 300 to 400 actually gave themselves up, and Lt. Charles French, with the U.S.S. Miami, picked up “many escaped soldiers . . . who had taken to the swamps.”[8] Yet Johnson never brings those in the swamps up in his affidavit.

   After the war was over, the members of the 101^st and 103^rd Pennsylvania Infantry, who fought at Plymouth and were captured, considered the matter at one of their reunions. They came to the conclusion that men like Samuel Johnson, and the veterans who wrote about the “massacre” after the war, were “mistaken.” They believed that “many negroes and native North Carolina Union soldiers were killed, and perhaps an occasional one brutally murdered, by individual soldiers, but the victims, apprehending cruel treatment, were attempting to make their escape, when by the laws of war, the victors are justified in shooting even an unarmed man.” They believed that Union soldiers, placed in the same situation, might enjoy the “same kind of sport.” They believed that Wessells, who was still in Plymouth when this supposedly took place, “would have instantly taken issue with the Confederates, had he any suspicion of such atrocities.” Considering that the 101^st and 103^rd finished the war in Andersonville Prison and had every right to be embittered against their foe, they declined to endorse the idea of a large-scale massacre of Black soldiers following the battle.[9]

   It is interesting to note that Samuel Johnson claimed to belong to the 2^nd USCC. Just a few weeks prior, the 2^nd USCC ambushed portions of Ransom’s brigade near Suffolk, Virginia, killing and wounding several. When Confederates discovered the house the sharpshooters were using, they set fire to it, with the Black soldiers inside, later declaring that “Ransom’s brigade never takes any negro prisoners…”[10] On passing along Johnson’s affidavit, Butler told Grant that “something should be done in retaliation for this outrage.” He had several prisoners from the 8^th North Carolina and, if in independent command, “I should take this matter into my own hands.” Grant ignored him and the testimony of Samuel Johnson.[11]

   It is entirely possible that Confederate soldiers, in the heat of the moment, killed fellow combatants after they had surrendered. It happens in all wars and not just with Confederate soldiers. Federal officers lost control of their soldiers at the battle of Fort Gregg in April 1865 (read more here). But the idea that Wayne Durrill advanced that “roughly six hundred U.S. soldiers, most of them black, whom the Confederates failed to take prisoner,” were killed, along with the testimony of Samuel Johnson, should be seen as unsubstantiated myth.[12]  

 

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[1] OR, Ser. 2, 7:459-460.

[2] Both compiled service records on Fold3 and Ancestry were checked, along with pension records. I also had someone else double check this.

[3] Various compiled service records.

[4] CMSR, Roll 0024, M1817, RG94.

[5] Richmond Whig, April 27, 1864.

[6] Richmond Examiner, quoted in the Memphis Daily Appeal, May 9, 1864.

[7] Papers of Vance, 3:185.

[8] The Daily Confederate, Apr. 30, 1864; ORN 8, 641.

[9] Dickey, History of the 103d Pennsylvania, 269-70.

[10] Charlotte Daily Bulletin, March 18, 1864.

[11] OR, Ser. 2, 7:459-460.

[12] Durrill, War of Another Kind, 206-8.

Remembering Snodgrass Hill

    For many, remembering the war brought painful thoughts of the past. Commanders of companies and regiments frequently had to relive the war when families wrote asking about the details of the deaths of their loved ones. John B. Palmer served as colonel of the 58th North Carolina Troops and fought at the battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, (you can read more about his life here). David B. Kirby, a cousin-in-law to Colonel Palmer, wrote the colonel about a decade after the war, asking about the details of the death of Edmund Kirby, his brother. Not only does Palmer provide details on the death of Kirby, but details on the role of the 58th North Carolina’s first charge against Snodgrass Hill. On their second charge at the close of the battle, they met the 21st Ohio Infantry. The Ohio soldiers retreated after the charge and the 58th North Carolina held the hill.

Col. John B. Palmer

   Columbia, S.C., June 10, 1875

MY Dear David: - Your letter of the 1st reached here during my absence in Baltimore. I will enceavor [sic] to answer your enquires as correctly as possible.

   At the battle of Chickamauga the 58th N.C. was in Kelly’s Brigade, Preston’s Division, Buckner’s Corps. Your brother Edmund was killed on the evening of the second day’s fight, in an attack on a strong position . . . It was the first charge by our division, but another division, Hindman’s, I think had previously charged and been repulsed.

   If my recollection serves me it was about 4 P.M. when your brother, who had been out in command of a skirmish line, was ordered back with two companies of the 58th. As soon as they reported I, in temporary absence of the brigade commander, was instructed to move with the brigade for the purpose of charging the Ridge [Snodgrass Hill]. We moved forward at a double quick and formed in line with the balance of the division near the base of [Snodgrass Hill], and I resumed command of my regiment. Here an officer, Gen. Hindman, I think, whose command had just been repulsed, at the request of our brigade commander, formed out brigade line for us, and we moved forward. Unfortunately instead of forming us on a line with the balance of the division, and parallel with position we were to charge, we were moved through the timber at a considerable angle, so that when the 58th emerged from the woods and got fairly under fire, the balance of the brigade was under cover. My regiment was a large one, consisting of twelve companies. Leit. Col. Kirby on the right, Maj. Dale [Dula] on the left. In spite of my efforts, seconded by Lieut. Col. Kirby, it was impossible, owing to the angle at which we were advancing, to keep in contact with the brigade on our right, and thus our left being so far in the rear and some little interval existing on our right, the right company, then right wing, and then the whole regiment became subject to a fire from the front, right and left of the enemy’s position. It was terrific. Company A, Capt. Tobey, started on the charge with thirty-four muskets, and reached the top of the hill with only twelve, losing twenty-two in the charge. In the very hottest of the fight, your brother, encouraging the men, and as he fell, I heard him cry, “push them men, (or boys) push them!” In this charge the regiment lost sixty-five men, the Lieut. Colonel, the Major and myself (slightly) wounded, and more than half the other officers either killed or wounded.

Lt. Col. Edmund Kirby

   In the regiment were three young men – boys, in fact – sons, and relatives of wealthy gentlemen of my acquaintance. These youth’s names were Childs, Sherwood and Phifer, all warm personal friends of your brother; indeed Childs had slept under the same blanket the night before. When after the fight I looked for your brother’s body, I found all the four together, almost within reach of each other. They were the most intimate friends your brother had in the regiment and must all have offered up their lives at the same moment.

   Shortly after dark our brigade, temporarily under my command, succeeded in capturing the troops who had been opposing us. They proved to be Ohio and Michigan troops, and I understood the officer to say, as I passed them to the rear, that they belonged to Granger’s command. Some of them said that when the 58th charged with such apparent recklessness, and without any apparent support, they thought we must be drunk.

   I think I told you that your brother had assumed the duties of Lieutenant Colonel only the day before the battle, and that having no proper uniform, he had cut four stars out of tin and affixed them to his collar to designate his rank; two of these stars were perforated by bullets.

Very truly yours,

John B. Palmer

David N. Kirby, Esq., New York

Lt. Col. Edmund Kirby's grave.

Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Kirby’s remains were exhumed after the war and were reburied at Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, next to the remains of his brother, Pvt. Reynold Marvin Kirby, Richmond Howitzers. The brother died of typhoid fever in July 1861. 

Palmer’s account appeared in the October 1876 issue of Our Living and Our Dead. A stone was placed on the grave of Edmund Kirby in 2012 through the work of the Col. John B. Palmer Camp 1946, Sons of Confederate Veterans.

 

Bringing Home the Confederate Generals killed during the Maryland Campaign

   There were eight generals, four from the Confederate army and four from the Union army, killed or mortally wounded at the battle of Sharpsburg in September 1862. None of the eighth are buried on the battlefield along Antietam Creek. All were taken back to their respective states and interred therein.

   Samuel Garland, Jr. was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1830. After graduating from the Virginia Military Institute in 1849, he obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia, setting up practice in Lynchburg. Garland was commissioned colonel of the 11^th Virginia Infantry in April 1861. His regiment was involved at First Manassas, and at Dranesville, and he was wounded at Williamsburg. Promotion to brigadier general came on May 23, 1862, with Garland being assigned a brigade in D.H. Hill’s division. The battles of Seven Pines and the Seven Days followed. Hill’s command was back with the Army of Northern Virginia as it made its way to Maryland. Hill’s division was tasked with guarding Fox’s and Turner’s Gaps at South Mountain, protecting the rest of Lee’s army engaged with the capturing of Harpers Ferry.[1]

   At Fox’s Gap, Garland was checking on his hard-pressed left flank when he was struck in the left hip. Garland told Colonel Ruffin “Col. I am a dead man, send for Col. McRae to take command.” Garland was placed in a blanket by four men and taken off the field, dying on the porch of the South Mountain Inn about fifteen minutes after his wounding.[2] Garland’s remains were first taken to Richmond, arriving on Thursday, September 18.[3] They were then transported to Lynchburg where he was buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery on September 24, 1862.[4]

   William E. Starke was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1814. Prior to the war, he operated a stage line then moved to Mobile, followed by New Orleans, working as a cotton broker. When the war came, he returned to Virginia, serving as an aide to Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett. Later, Starke was commissioned as colonel of the 60^th Virginia Infantry, fighting during the Seven Days battles. His commission as brigadier general came on August 6, 1862, and he commanded a brigade in Jackson’s division. He led the brigade at Cedar Mountain, Groveton, and Second Manassas (where he held division command).

   During the Maryland Campaign, Starke was placed under arrest by Jackson. Some “Foreign” troops were accused of vandalizing a store in Frederick. Starke commanded the Louisiana brigade, containing the famed Louisiana Tigers. Ordered to return to Frederick with his brigade so the culprits could be identified, Starke refused unless the other brigades in the division also returned. Jackson placed Starke under arrest but allowed him to remain in command. He helped with the investment of Harpers Ferry, and at Sharpsburg, was rushed to the Confederate left to shore up the line.[5] Starke, commanding a demi-brigade, rushed out of the west woods into a clover field, countering the Federal advance. His brigades were caught in a crossfire. As Starke attempted to help get the brigade of Alabama and Virginia troops moving toward the Federals, he was struck by three bullets. Sources differ on whether he was killed instantly or died about an hour later.[6] Starke’s remains were taken to Richmond, arriving on Sunday, September 21, 1862. His funeral was held in St. Paul’s Church on September 24, and he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.[7]

   Geroge B. Anderson was born near Hillsboro, North Carolina, in 1831. A graduate of both the University of North Carolina and the United States Military Academy. When North Carolina left the Union, Anderson resigned from the United States Army. He was commissioned colonel of the 4^th North Carolina State Troops. At Seven Pines, Anderson commanded W.S. Featherston’s brigade and was promoted to brigadier general shortly thereafter. Anderson’s brigade was assigned to D.H. Hill’s division during the Seven Days battles, where he was wounded. They missed Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas, but were back with the Army of Northern Virgina for the Maryland Campaign.[8]

   Anderson was heavily involved at the battle of Fox’s Gap, but survived unwounded. At Sharpsburg, his brigade was posted in the Sunken Lane (now Bloody Lane) during the middle portion of the fight. As the struggle for the Sunken Lane heightened, Anderson was struck in the foot, near the ankle joint.  Under fire, he was hauled out of the Sunken Road and taken to the Piper Farm, where his wound was examined and declared to be not dangerous. He was later borne via a stretcher further to the rear, under fire, placed in an ambulance, and taken to Shepherdstown where he found refuge in the Boteler home.  As the Confederate Army pulled back, Anderson was placed in a wagon and made his way to Staunton, catching a train through Richmond and on to Raleigh. It took him over a week to make the journey. Not long thereafter, it was discovered that the ball was still lodged in his ankle. Infection set in, and although the limb was amputated, Anderson died of his wounds on October 16, 1862, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh.[9]

Lawrence O’ Branch was born near Enfield, Halifax County, North Carolina, in 1820. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton College) in 1838, and later studied law. Prior to the war, he was the president of the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad and served in the United State House of Representatives. He declined to serve as Secretary of the Treasury in the Buchanan administration. At the start of the war, he served as quartermaster of the state of North Carolina, colonel of the 33^rd North Carolina Troops. Branch was promoted to brigadier general on November 16, 1861. He commanded the Confederate forces at the battle of New Bern in March 1862 – a Confederate defeat, and a brigade at Hanover Court House in May 1862, also a Confederate defeat. Following Hanover, his brigade was placed in A.P. Hill’s Light Division. Branch led his brigade through the Seven Days, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, and Chantilly.[10]

 At the start of the Maryland Campaign, Jackson had Hill under arrest, with Branch leading the Light Division. He was active in the capture of Harper’s Ferry and made the seventeen-mile march from Harpers Ferry to Sharpsburg on September 17, arriving late in the day. Most of the members of Branch’s brigade were posted on the hill overlooking Antietam Creek. Late in the day, as Branch was conferring with two other officers, a Federal soldier fired into the group, striking Branch as he was in the process of raising his field glasses to his eyes. Branch was instantly killed. One of Branch’s staff officers, Maj. Joseph Engelhard, escorted the general’s body home. In Richmond, Engelhard was met by four men, including William Blount and William Rodman, both relatives and former staff officers under Branch. When Branch’s remains arrived in Raleigh Thursday evening, military forces met the train and escorted the General's body to the Capitol rotunda, while providing a guard throughout the night. All businesses were closed on Friday morning, and the number of people on hand were said to rival the visit of Henry Clay in 1840. The next morning, funeral services were conducted by Episcopal clergyman Rev. Dr. Mason inside the Capitol. Branch was laid to rest in the Old City Cemetery, Raleigh.[11]

   The Federal generals killed during the campaign were Maj. Gen. Jesse L. Reno; Maj. Gen. Joseph K.F. Mansfield, Maj. Gen. Israel B. Richardson (mortally wounded), and Brig. Gen. Isaac P. Rodman (mortally wounded). They were likewise transported North for burial. Reno is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; Mansfield is buried in the Indian Hill Cemetery, Middle, Connecticut; Richardson is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Pontiac, Michigan; and, Rodman is buried in the Rhode Island Historical Cemetery South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

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[1] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 2:165.

[2] Hartwig, To Antietam Creek, 319; Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 25, 1862.

[3] Richmond Enquirer, September 23, 1862.

[4] Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 25, 1862.

[5] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 5:199.

[6] Sears, Landscape Turned Red, 194; Hartwig, I Dred the Thought of the Place, 64.

[7] Richmond Dispatch, September 23, 1862.

[8] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 1:18-9.

[9] Pawlak, Shepherdstown in the Civil War, 82, 103-4.

[10] Davis, The Confederate Generals, 1:118-9.

[11] Weekly State Journal, October 1, 1862; The Raleigh Register, September 27, 1862, October 1, 1862.