Transferring prisoners across the South.

   According to the Library of Congress’s Civil War Desk Reference, there were 211,411 Federal soldiers taken prisoner during the war. Of those, 16,668 were not incarcerated. They were paroled without going to a prisoner of war camp. That leaves 194,743 who did time in one of numerous prisons across the South. Considering the prisoners of war camps were spread out across the South, how did the Confederate government move these prisoners from camp to camp?[1]

   After a Federal soldier was captured, he was taken to a secure location to the rear of the battlefield and corralled together with other prisoners. Charles Mattocks of the 17^th Maine Infantry was captured on May 5, 1864, during the battle of the Wilderness. Mattocks wrote in his journal that he was sent to the rear “and delivered to the Provost Guard.” That evening, the group, composed of 10 officers and 150 men, was moved a mile and a half further back. The next morning, the prisoners were started on foot to Orange Court House. Their escorts were “Lee’s Body Guard,” the 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. Mattocks considered his escorts “very nice chaps. They showed us every favor possible and even allowed us to ride their horses when we were tired.” It was on the morning of May 7 that Mattocks writes of being searched by the Provost. On May 8, Mattocks and his companions were loaded on the railroad and shipped to Lynchburg, Virginia. Mattocks mentions almost escaping “owing to the smallness of the guard,” but the attempt was foiled. He was eventually moved via Danville, through the Carolinians, and then to Macon, Georgia. Mattocks says little of his guard while on his journey.[2]

   It appears that different regiments were utilized to escort prisoners to holding areas. The 16^th Alabama Infantry was detailed to escort prisoners to the rear during the battle of Shiloh in April 1862.  A member of the 9^th Alabama Infantry reported that his regiment escorted a large number of Federal prisoners to the provost marshal following the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. Also following Chancellorsville, the 52^nd North Carolina, late in arriving at the battlefield, was sent back to Richmond guarding 2,000 Federal prisoners. Following Gettysburg, Picket’s depleted division became a large provost escorting prisoners toward Maryland and Virginia, much to the chagrin of the Virginians.[3]

Train Of Prisoners Approaches Savannah River, Drawing is a drawing by Quint Lox.

   The 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry was frequently used to transport Federal prisoners from the battlefield to a railhead. At Fredericksburg, Company A assigned to guard the prisoners actually boarded the train, continuing into Richmond. At Chancellorsville, Company D was reported escorting 650 prisoners to Guinea Station on the night of May 3. Following the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the battalion moved with about 400 Federal prisoners in front of them, and corralled prisoners following the battle of Cold Harbor. It is possible that the duty continued through the siege of Petersburg, but the mundane assignment seldom appeared in their letters or diaries. The 39^th Battalion Virginia Cavalry was not the only force to escort prisoners. Capt. Edward A.H. McDonald, 11^th Virginia Cavalry, recalled escorting prisoners from the battle of Cedar Run, Virginia, in August 1862, to the rail station at Orange Court House.[4]

   It would be a common thought that the task of moving prisoners would fall under the duties of the Army Provost. However, Kenneth Radley tells us in his book on the subject that “Escorts for prisoners as they filtered back along the chain were only infrequently provided by the provost because of their severely limited strength; that duty had to be performed by whatever other troops were available.”[5]

   It is unclear if escort companies listed in the Army of Tennessee performed the same duty as those in the Army of Northern Virginia. It seemed that every division, corps, and army commander was listed as having such a company. For example, for the battle of Chickamauga in September 1863, two companies are listed as escort for Braxton Bragg: Dreux’s Company Louisiana Cavalry and Holloway’s Company Alabama Cavalry (Crocheron Light Dragoons), both under the command of Capt. Guy Dreux. After Bragg’s departure, Joseph E. Johnston retained both companies as escorts.

   Whole regiments were used to move prisoners. LeGrand J. Wilson, 42^nd Mississippi, recalled being sent to guard prisoners on Belle Island, Richmond. The men found the duty “very disagreeable.” Finally, the prisoners were paroled and sent out to be exchanged. The 42^nd Mississippi detailed 300 soldiers to escort the 5,000 prisoners to Varina Landing. The Confederates had to walk in front of the Federals, keeping a slow pace due to the heat. Even with those safeguards, several Confederates and Federals fell out, with several of the Federals dying.[6]

   At times, prisoners were moved through the interior of the Confederacy to other prisons. Railroads were utilized for these transfers. It was easier to secure the prisoners within box cars, thus reducing the amount of guards needed for each trip. Captain Benjamin F. Grigg, Company F, 56^th North Carolina, was reported absent on detail “guarding prisoners” in January-February 1864. According to family, Grigg was in charge of a fifty-man detail escorting prisoners from Richmond to Andersonville. The 5^th Georgia Reserves, or at least part of the regiment, escorted prisoners into Savannah. In December 1864, the 58^th North Carolina moved 1,200 prisoners from Columbia, Tennessee, to Corinth, Mississippi. The trip was arduous, with the regiment (numbering about 311 men) moving their 1,200 prisoners partially on foot and partially via rail.[7]  

   There were undoubtedly many regiments, or portions of regiments, detailed to move Federal prisoners across the South during the war years. Some of these men might have welcomed the diversion, a chance to escape the boredom of winter camp or just to see a different part of the country. Others probably found the duty laborious and were happy to be free of their charges. One thing is for certain: this is a portion of the war that needs to be explored more.

This article is a part of a 2021 series exploring the fringes of military prisons in the South. You can check out the other articles below:

Federal Prisoner of War Camps in the South

Federal Prisoners and Southern Ministers and Chaplains 

The Types of Prisoners at Salisbury Prison

  

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[1] Civil War Desk Reference, 583.

[2] Mattocks, “Unspoiled Heart”: The Journal of Charles Mattocks of the 17^th Maine, 138-152.

[3] Barrett, Yankee Rebel, 102; OR, Vol. 10, 1:597; 15:969; Jordan, NC Troops,12:399.

[4] Hardy, Lee’s Body Guard, 23, 34, 60, 64; Rolph, My Brother’s Keeper, 94.

[5] Radley, Rebel Watchdog, 164-65.)

[6] Wilson, The Confederate Soldier, 93-94.

[7] Munson, North Carolina Civil War Obituaries, 158n.133; Speer, Portals to Hell, 268;  Hardy, The Fifty-eighth North Carolina Troops, 146-47.

Sgt. Matthew Goodson

While on our grand tour a week ago, we took a drive through Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg. We’ve been cemetery junkies for a long time and never pass up a chance to stroll through another. I actually teach a class on gravestone art, and I’m always looking to expand my collection of images that I use.

While driving through the cemetery, we happened upon the grave of a Tar Heel – Sgt. Matthew Goodson, Co. F, 52nd North Carolina Troops. Goodson and one other soldier (from Virginia I think), seemed to be the only Confederates buried in the cemetery. Evergreen is a very historic area, was part of the fight at Gettysburg, and has many historic graves, including members of the Getty family, John Burns, and Jenny Wade. If you are ever in the ‘burg, take a moment to drive by.

So, back to Goodson. A peek at his service record from the North Carolina Troop book series shows that he was a merchant in Cabarrus County prior to enlisting at the age of 34 in May 1862. He was mustered in as a private in Company A (not Company F, as his stone says), On March 1, 1863, Goodson was promoted to first (or orderly) sergeant of Company A. On July 3, 1863, during the battle of Gettysburg, he was wounded in the lungs and captured. Turning to a different source (Coco’s Wasted Valor), we learn that Goodson, after his capture, was taken to the Jacob Schwartz farm, which was being utilized as a hospital by the II Corps. Goodson lingered until July 12, 1863, when he perished. The sergeant was interred in a cornfield on the property of Schwartz, one of the three burial sites on the farm.

In January 1866, a local farmer wrote to Goodson’s widow, informing her that he had found the grave and was having it reinterred in Evergreen Cemetery, “where he would personally mark it well, care for it, and make sure it would never be lost.” Apparently, Evergreen Cemetery had voted to set aside a section of the cemetery for Confederate graves, just like the section it had for Union graves. In August 1867, the cemetery board decided to “move the Rebel dead buried in Ever Green Cemetery to a more secluded place…” As of 1990, that “seclude place,” according to Coco, had still not be found. Goodson’s grave has a Confederate marker from the Veterans Administration, along with an iron cross. I wonder, in the past twenty years, has his grave been found? Or is this just a memorial stone? Goodson has a cenotaph at the First Presbyterian Church in Concord, North Carolina.

Gates County

Gates County was formed in 1779 from portions of Chowan, Hertford, and Perquimans Counties. It was named in honor of Patriot general Horatio Gates. He was also honored with the naming of the county seat, Gates Court House, that was changed to Gatesville in 1831.

In 1860, the total population of Gates County was 8,443 people, including 3,902 slaves and 282 free persons of color. One article claims that Gates County was composed mostly of “subsistence farmers [who] did not hold many slaves.” Hmmm, I would think the census says otherwise. In the 1860 presidential election, Breckinridge received 338 votes, Bell received 394, and Douglas received a scant 12 votes. In the February 1861 vote on the question of calling a convention to consider the question of secession, Gates County men voted 367 for, with 141 against. Alfred J. Walton was the elected representative to the convention in May 1861. Walton was a farmer and a “strong secessionist after Lincoln’s call for troops.” He was a justice of the peace and chairman of the county court.

Gates County produced several companies for the Confederate cause. They included Companies B and H, 5th North Carolina State Troops; Company E, 33rd North Carolina Troops; Company C, 52nd North Carolina Troops; Company I, 68th North Carolina Troops; and, Company C, 2nd North Carolina Cavalry.

William P. Roberts, regarded as the “youngest Confederate general,” hailed from Gates County. He was born there in 1841, and prior to the war, was a teacher and a private in the local Militia. He enlisted on June 10, 1861, in what would become Company C, 2nd North Carolina Cavalry. Roberts was mustered in as an orderly (or first) sergeant, and on September 30, 1861, was appointed a second lieutenant. By August 13, 1862, he was captain of his company and in February 1864, appointed major of the Second. Roberts was wounded in the head at Haw’s Shop, Virginia, in June 1864, and soon thereafter took command of the Second. He was officially promoted to colonel August 19, 1864. Roberts was promoted to brigadier general in February 1865, and assigned a brigade in Lee’s Divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia. Robert E. Lee is supposed to have presented Roberts with his own gauntlets in recognition of Roberts’s maturity and leadership. He was paroled at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. He later served as a Virginia legislator. Roberts died in Norfolk in 1910, one of the last living Confederate generals, and is buried in the Old City Cemetery in Gatesville.

Information regarding military activity in Gates County is scarce.

The US Navy landed in Gates County on May 9, 1862, and burned a warehouse containing “bacon, corn, lard, fish, &c.” They were attacked on their return to Elizabeth City.

June 5 through 7, 1863, found a US Navy reconnaissance through the county and down the Chowan River.

John A. (Jack) Fairless, a deserter from the 52nd North Carolina Troops, apparently caused much trouble for local citizens in the area. His band of men “pillaged, plundered, burned, and decoyed off slaves in their forays into Chowan, … Berties, Perquimans, Hertford, and Gates Counties.”

Like in so many counties in North Carolina, the citizens in Gates County erected a monument to local Confederates on July 8, 1915.

An interview with Skip Smith

I recently found a press release about the 26th NCT Reactivated’s latest preservation project: the flag of the 22nd North Carolina Troops. I thought some of you might be interested in learning more about what these great folks do for North Carolina History. Below, please find an interview with my friend, Skip Smith, Colonel of the 26th North Carolina Troops.

Skip, several news outlets are reporting that the 26th NCT Reactivated is going to raise funds to preserve yet another North Carolina battle flag. How did your group get involved in the preservation process?

In 2004 we decided to raise the money to preserve the 26th NC's Burgess Mill flag...initially we had not thought about the big picture but, it did not take long for us to realize that we needed to work on other flags...in talking with Betsy Buford, then NCMOH Director we found that there was a great need in this area as the Mus. did not have the funds to restore much of what they have in storage...we each exchange letters stating that we were formally creating a partnership with the NCMOH to raise money for the restoration of some of the battle flags...it has now evolved into the project and goal to raise the money for one flag per year...

Why is preserving Confederate battle flags important? Some people would prefer to just let them rot.

We decided to focus on the Battle Flags for one reason - they represent all men who marched beneath their folds...they have a story to tell and the only way this could be done was for them to be on display...while we respect other people's feeling and opinions, we do not let that dictate our mission...our focus is on the history and story these flags tell and not the modern politically correct story that some weave into them...these were battle flags that were designed to lead troops into battle...they became the pride of each Regiment...and for us it is important to preserve them for future generations...

What have been some of your most successful fundraising endeavors?

While there are other projects we have completed, there are three that have a special place in our minds...a) we have completed the fundraising for four North Carolina regiments battle flags, b) we raised $27,000 for a creation of a monument to the 26th NC on the New Bern Battlefield and c) the 26th NC led the process of getting the North Carolina Memorial at Gettysburg cleaned....

How do you decide which flag to preserve next - do you look at all of the flags to see which ones are in the greatest need, or are you drawn to certain flags because of their background?

After we completed the Burgess Mill flag of the 26th NC, we decided to first focus on the other flags from the Pettigrew-Kirkland-McCrae Brigade...our second flag was going to be the 11th NC's but, once we got started our friends in the 1st NC came forward and asked to be able to take care of that flag...we were very happy to turn that over and shifted gears to the 52nd NC's flag...once that flag was complete we went after the 47th NC's...once the fundraising for this flag was complete our goal of taking care of the brigade's battle flags was complete...we then looked at the list of flags the Mus. has and decided to work on the 58th NC's flag as this is a unit we portray from time to time...as to the process of picking our flags, we have a )committee that looks at the list of flags and by working with the Mus. we simply select one...

Tell us about your newest endeavor, the restoration of the flag of the 22nd North Carolina Troops.

This year's project, the battle flag of the 22nd NC, came in a different way...two years ago the Greensboro newspaper ran an article on the Adopt-an-Artifact program that the NCMOH had started...in this story they used the battle flag of the 22nd NC as the focus because there was a company from Guilford County in the 22nd NC...several people responded to the story by sending in donations to restore the battle flag of the 22nd NC (about $500)...in talking with the Mus. last year about our 2010 project, we started talking about the fact that this money might sit there for a while and we just did not feel this was right for those people that had sent in their donations...thus, we decided to make it our next project....we have trifolds and posters at each State Historic Site to not only raise awareness to our project but to also encourage others to adopt a flag to restore...at this time there are five organizations working on other flags!!!

What can people do to help?

To help with the restoration of the 22nd NC's battle flag, people can visit our website www.26nc.org and click on the link at the bottom of the homepage...