Civil Defense and the Confederacy

   Mention Civil Defense (Cold War) or Civilian Defense (World War II), and we get pictures of Air Raid Wardens, the Aircraft Warning Service, blackouts, Victory Gardens, and scrap drives. The Office of Civilian Defense was established by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 20, 1941, an effort to coordinate federal and state responses in regard to protecting civilians and mobilizing them for what became World War II. The program was terminated on June 4, 1945. In 1950, another movement began, this time labeled as Civil Defense, an attempt to try and prepare people in the advent of nuclear war. Many programs under Civilian Defense and Civil War defense were the same.

   Someone recently asked if there was a correlation between what the United States government was doing in the 1940s and 1960s and the Confederate government. Like most historical questions, the answer is no, and yes.

In the Hospital, 1861, by William L. Sheppard.

   Nationally, there was no one in charge of any type of program in the Southern Confederacy. (Really no program like this in the Northern states, either.) Civilian Defense during World War II was run by the governors in various states, who appointed county-level boards and committees. However, in most cases in the South, people in various communities set up what might be termed “civilian defense” on the local level. 

Ladies Aid Societies – at the outset of the war, various Ladies Aid Societies were set up to provide clothing and other necessities for soldiers. Just about every community had these organizations. The Greenville Ladies Association (South Carolina) held their first meeting on July 19, 1861.Their purpose was “to relieve the sick and wounded among soldiers, by forwarding to them linen, underclothing, cordials, bed ticks, socks, etc. Secondly, to make winter clothing for the volunteers of the Confederate Army.”[1] These aid societies were not just confined to large areas. Smaller counties likewise set up Aid Societies with the same goals. In the foothills of western North Carolina, the ladies of Caldwell County likewise formed an aid society in September 1861. They often collected necessities for the soldiers. This included normal things, like socks, shirts, drawers, coats, quilts and comforters, as well as the more unique, like three dozen candles, four bottles of lemon syrup, half a dozen cups and saucers, thirty copies of the New Testaments, and roots like slippery-elm, sage, pepper, mustard, flax-seed, hops, etc.[2] Women will continue to make and donate clothing throughout the war, but many of the uniforms were manufactured via contract or “piece” work. A depot would provide the materials, already cut out, and the ladies would take them home and sew them, returning the finished articles to the depot and being paid by the piece they completed. Sewing, especially during the Great Depression and in the days of the Works Progress Administration, often under the auspices of the Red Cross, was a major producer of locally made clothing and mattresses. Women mailed packages to their loved ones overseas, and took on jobs, making uniforms in factories.

War effort – during War World II, families were encouraged to save by-products from the kitchen, namely grease from cooking bacon, which could be used in manufacturing explosives (glycerin). The government went as far as to set up the American Fat Salvage Committee. During the 1860s, it was not so much bacon grease that was collected, but nitre for making gunpowder. The Nitre Bureau in Richmond ran an advertisement in a newspaper in 1864, asking the public for dead animals.[3] John Haralson famously posted in a newspaper in Selma in July 1863: “The ladies of Selma are respectfully requested to preserve the chamber lye collected about their premises for the purpose of making nitre. A barrel will be sent around daily to collect it."[4]

Hospitals were a kind of novelty at the start of the 1860s. They existed, but they were usually for the poor. Doctors usually made visits to patients in homes. With the excess of patients that the war produced, both those wounded and those who were sick with one of the many camp diseases, hospitals sprang up all over the place. Due to the number of soldiers passing through Charlotte in mid-1862 via the railroad, local ladies stepped up and established a hospital association. They acquired the wash house of the North Carolina Military Institute. The names of the ladies on duty were published in the local newspaper, while two other volunteers visited the homes of the Hospital Association volunteers to collect supplies – food and bandages – to staff the hospitals. The Confederate government later took charge of the hospital, but the ladies continued to volunteer. This was repeated across the South.[5] During World War I and World War II, the Red Cross employed “Grey Ladies,” volunteers who wrote letters, read, and provided other services to disabled soldiers. There were many medical volunteers in Civilian Defense during World War II, beyond the Red Cross, including doctors, nurses, and nurses aids.

Different Civilian Defense jobs,

Ambulance Drivers – along the same lines as those who ministered in hospitals were ambulance drivers. The Richmond Ambulance Corps was established in 1862. This group met the trains bearing wounded at the depot in Richmond, conveying them to various hospitals, and later the receiving hospital, for medical care.[6] During World War II, there were volunteer messengers recruited into Civilian Defense.

Scrap Drives – Outside of Rosie the Riveter, the most iconic image of the United States home front during World War II was of the scrap drives. School children and scout troops collected thousands of pounds of scrap in the way of old iron, tires, records, and paper to be turned into munitions for the war effort. Likewise, there were collections of scraps across the South during the war years. S.D. Rodifer advertised in February 1862 that he was paying the “highest price in Cash” for “Wrought Scrap,” brought to his shop in Selma, Alabama.[7] William L. Brown, in charge of the Confederate States Arsenal in Richmond, advertised in June 1863 that he was looking for “Scrap iron and Lead, Wrought iron and scrap lead.”[8]

Chaplains – one of the volunteer roles for Civilian Defense was that of chaplain, although the role is not clearly defined. During the 1860s, pastors of churches visited local hospitals, worked on collecting foodstuffs and clothing, forwarding the items to the front and at times taking the items to the front themselves. Several churches and denominations sent missionaries and colporteurs to the front with tracts and Bibles.

While not called Civilian Defense during the 1860s, the ideas were certainly woven into the fabric of Southern society.

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[1] C.M. Landrum, Minutes of the Proceedings of the Greenville Ladies’ Association in Aid to the Volunteers of the Confederate Army, 1861-1865, James W. Patton, ed., New York, 1937, 15.

[2] Semi-Weekly Standard, November 13, 1861.

[3] Richmond Dispatch, March 23, 1864.

[4] If you have an actual citation for this oft repeated quote, please drop me a line.

[5] Hardy, Civil War Charlotte, 34-35.

[6] Ash, Rebel Richmond, 14.

[7] The Daily Selma Reporter, February 10, 1862.

[8] Daily Richmond Whig, June 25, 1863.

Robert E. Lee’s Compiled Service Record

    For anyone wishing to research a person, regiment, or just about anything else connected to the War, the first place to stop is the Compiled Service Records. At the very end of the war, scores of boxes from the Confederate War Department were turned over to Federal officials in Charlotte (you can learn more about this here). These papers were transported to Washington, D.C., where they were gone through by officials, trying to tie Jefferson Davis to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

   Part of the War Department papers were the muster roll sheets for the various regiments in Confederate service. These muster rolls were completed once every two months and were used to pay the individual troops. Other correspondence was also included. All of this wound up in Washington, D.C.

   After the war, there were various pension acts passed. For Federal soldiers, the pensions came from the US Congress. For Confederate soldiers, pensions came from their various states. The validity of each claim had to be verified. Were they good soldiers who were honorably discharged versus not-so-good soldiers: men who had deserted or been dishonorably discharged. Beginning in the 1890s, the War Department began creating the Compiled Service Records. The muster roll sheets, regimental returns, descriptive books, information from hospitals, and any other materials the clerks could find were copied onto various cards (usually one for each surviving muster). With other surviving documents, these cards were placed in envelopes and filed away by states and regiments. When a pension applicant or state official wrote the War Department inquiring about a veteran’s service, it was (usually) easy to pull those records, summarize the information, and send a letter with the necessary details.

   Robert E. Lee never served in a regiment. He, along with thousands of others who were staff officers, had a special category  (now known as “Confederate officers). Although Lee served as a military advisor to Jefferson Davis, as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and then, toward the end of the conflict, as overall Confederate commander, his folder only contains 66 pieces.

   Several of the cards refer to letters found in other places. For example, there is a card for a letter that Lee wrote to Jefferson Davis on February 19 and February 23, 1865. They are in the file of Charles E. Jones. Both letters deal with correspondence from Beauregard. Another refers to a special order issued on June 2, 1862, assigning Lee to command the army in Virginia.

   One card outlines Lee’s service as commander of the department of South Carolina, Georgia, and East Florida, including a list of his staff; his promotion to brigadier general in the regular Confederate Army; and his parole at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.

   And then there are more mundane things, like a requisition for forage for the third quarter of 1864. Lee had two horses (Traveler and Lucy) and asked for eight pounds of corn and eight pounds of oats, daily. It is interesting that in August 1864, the voucher listed four horses.

   There are pay vouchers for his thirty years of service. It is interesting to note that Lee was paid $301 a month, plus an additional $100 a month for commanding an army, plus an extra $54 a month for his thirty years of service. There are several official letters that Lee wrote. One is dated March 26, 1863, and addressed to Maj. A. H. Cole. His total pay for the months of April, May, June, and July, 1863, was $1,820.00.

   Included is a telegram from Lee to Secretary of War James Seddon, written December 4, 1862, regarding corn in the upper Rappahannock valley; a note from Secretary of War Seddon regarding the nomination of Lee for Commander in Chief; and various other letters while Lee was serving as military advisor to Davis in the spring of 1862.  These include notes to Beauregard, E. Kirby Smith, Lovill, and Josiah Gorgas.

   Also included are a handful of letters from twentieth-century people, including Douglas Southall Freeman, asking for details on Lee’s military service. Writing on August 15, 1925, Freeman was interested in any correspondence from Lee between April 1 and April 10, 1865. Freeman was advised to consult on the Official Records.

   I was curious about how Lee’s Compiled Military Service Record, at 67 pages, stacked up against some of the other Confederate commanders: P.G.T. Beauregard comes in at 170 pages; E. Kirby Smith, 81 pages; and Joseph E. Johnston, 129 pages.

   Once again, if you are going to research a person or regiment/brigade, etc., the Compiled Military Service Records, now housed at the National Archives and available online at fold3.com, is the place to start. You might find nothing, and you might discover a gold mine!

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.

  

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[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

Captured Federal flags apart of materials surrendered in Charlotte

   A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on the captured CS papers in Charlotte at the end of the war. You can catch that article here. What was captured, and what was lost, is a topic that occupies my mind from time to time. I kind of side with Joe Johnston - more of this should have been preserved for history! Johnston wrote to Maj. Gen. John Schofield on May 8, 1865: "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)

   In that lot of 81 or 83 boxes (different accounts) are "5 boxes, marked captured flags." (OR 47, 3: 534) Of course, we don't know the size of these boxes. There were 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." (OR 47, 3:497).

   If a Confederate soldier captured a flag in battle, then it was usually sent further up the chain of command, and eventually forwarded to Richmond and the War Department. An interesting article appeared in the Richmond Enquirer in November 6, 1863 (possibly from the Atlanta Appeal). The article stated that "Lieut. Hugh Farley, of General Kershaw's staff, who, for his gallantry in the battle of Chickamauga, was detached, with four other kindred spirits from various divisions of the army, to carry the twenty-five captured flags to Richmond, has returned. But he gave an account of the mission which ought to put to blush every man connected with the department to which the embassy was sent.- He states that on arriving at the capital, the flags were taken, tumbled into a wagon driven by a negro to headquarters, and there, without ceremony--without even a recognition of the grave men who had borne them from the field-they were turned over to the clerks of the War Department like so many pieces of flannel." The rest of the article goes on to lambast the "well fed" clerks and government officials in Richmond. (November 6, 1863.)

   A delegation accompanying the flags appears to have been the standard operating procedure, at least through 1863. An order from Ewell, issued on June 15, 1863, stated that, "The garrison flag, captured by Maj. General Early's division, will be sent to Richmond by a detail to be made by Maj. Gen. Early." (Richmond Dispatch July 1. 1863). I presume this was a flag captured in Winchester.

    An interesting article from the Desert News (Salt Lake City), but probably cobbled together from another newspaper, stated that the "rebels claimed that they had 239 of our flags." (March 15, 1865.) One little piece came from the Wilmington Herald, May 22, 1865. The article was discussing the captured boxes that had recently passed through Raleigh. In the lots were "four boxes marked captured flags'-two of them 1863. These contain the battle flags captured from regiments in the Union army, and their recovery will undoubtedly be an immense satisfaction to those interested. The battle flags lost by the national forces at Chickamauga and the few lost during the Gettysburg campaign are among the most prominent." (May 22, 1865) There might be a list somewhere of these captured flags.

Flag of 17th Michigan captured by 37th NC 

   One of the flags I believe in the lot turned over to US forces in Charlotte belonged to the 17th Michigan Infantry. It was captured on May 12, 1864, at Spotsylvania Court House by Lt. James M. Grimsley, 37th North Carolina. Billy Mahone tried to claim that this flag was captured by one his men, and not by a member of Lane's brigade. According to sworn statements, Lieut. Grimsley, with twenty or thirty of his regiment, met with a yankee color Sergeant and some half dozen other yankees; that Lieut. G. demanded their surrender to which the Sergeant replied, "certainly Lieutenant, but as I have carried the colors so long, please let me carry them to the rear;' that Lieut. G[rimsley] consented, directing some of his men to take charge of them and keep a sharp lookout upon them. Corporal Plummer in addition, and just here, testified that at that time the yankee Sergeant took off the oil cloth cover which belonged to the flag, and which he had tied around his waist, and also the staff pouch now used in the 37th N. C. T. and gave them to him.... Grimsley with his men conducted the party to the rear with the colors. Just before getting to the edge of the woods, Lieut. Grimsley probably desirous of carrying  his capture himself into the lines, told the Sergeant to hand the flag over to him, which he did." (Our Living and Our Dead January 21, 1874)

   C. S. Venable, Lee's A. D. C., signed a note on May 13, 1864, acknowledging the captured flags had arrived at headquarters.

      The 17th Michigan's flag was presumably sent to Richmond, and when the Confederate capital was abandoned, boxed up and sent via rail to Charlotte, where it was turned over to Federal forces in early May 1865. From there, it was sent to Washington, D. C., with the other boxes from the War Department.

   A couple of weeks ago, I was talking (emailing) with Mat VanAcker about the flag of the 17th Michigan. He works with the Save the Flags program at the Michigan State Capital. I believe that the flag of the 17th Michigan was issued not long after the regiment was mustered into service in 1862. There are battle honors painted on the flag, including Antietam, Vicksburg, and East Tennessee. Mr. VanAcker cannot quite confirm when the flag was turned back over to the state of Michigan, but it was possibly on July 4, 1866, when the veterans of other Michigan regiments presented their flags brought home to the state at a ceremony in Detroit. However, it appears that veterans of the 17th Michigan worked quickly. Usually, it took years and copious amounts of paperwork for veterans to retrieve those flags captured during the war. (Would this not be a treasure trove to find?)  Thanks to the conflict between Mahone and Lane regarding the capture of this flag, we know more about its journey on May 12, 1864. It would be an interesting story to find out more about its capture from the Federal side.

   Those four or five boxes of captured US flags, turned over to Federal forces in May 1865,  make up just one more little part of the war on a much grander scale.

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. 

The pictures I wish I had.

Every so often, some message will be floating around on facebook that goes something along these lines: "If you could go back in history for one day to observe something, when and where would you go?" Or, "If you could talk for one hour with just one person from the past, who would it be?" I've kind of developed an answer of my own. I would not want to go back for a day to observe something, but I would want to go back with a camera to take a few pictures of places and people to fill in the gaps and gather images we need to have today. Such a list could go on and on, and researching and writing The Capitals of the Confederacy has brought to the forefront my desire for several images I wish we could have. So here is my short list, an inventory of photographs I wish I could have had to complement The Capitals of the Confederacy.

1. Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens together, maybe even on inauguration day. I'd probably take this photo in Montgomery, namely because it rained when Davis and Stephens were inaugurated in Richmond. I would want a photograph of Davis and Stephens, a close-up on the portico of the Alabama state house in Montgomery, standing side by side, or, maybe Davis sitting and Stephens sitting, because Stephens was so small. While I am in Montgomery, I might try to get photos of the various buildings while they were being used by the Confederate government, and maybe one of Toombs, Stephens, the Cobbs, and Rhett together.

2. When the Confederate government moved to Richmond, they acquired several buildings to use as government offices. One of those buildings was the Old United States Custom's House. Davis's executive office was located in the judge's chamber. The court room was turned into a cabinet meeting room and war planning office. According to one later history, the walls were covered with large maps of both the new Confederacy and the surrounding border states. A picture of Davis's office, and the cabinet meeting would be grand. Of course, while in Richmond, there are other photographs I would take: The Confederate House and Senate chambers, in the Virginia State House, with the members at their desks. A picture of Davis's office at Spotswood Hotel (room 83) would also be nice. There are many other photos I would take in Richmond - the interior of Chimborazo, Winder, and Jackson Hospitals; the matrons and slaves/free persons of color working at those hospitals; ladies making uniforms; Camp Lee; the prostitutes who lived in Screamerville;  the gravediggers plying their trade in Hollywood and Oakwood Cemeteries; Davis and his cabinet; the aftermath of the bread riots in 1863; Stonewall Jackson's funeral.... This list could probably go on for a couple of pages, but those listed would be in my top ten.

3. Following the fall of Petersburg, many left Richmond for Danville. Off the top of my head, I am not aware of any war-time photographs of Danville. I am aware of post-war photographs of some of the tobacco warehouses used as Federal prisoners, and of the Sutherlin Mansion, and a few other structures. How about a war-time photo of the Sutherlins in front of their grand home, or maybe with Davis in the front parlor? A photo of the defenses constructed outside the town would also be nice.

4. A number of war-time buildings in Danville still exist, so it is possible to get a feel for the war-time era. In Greensboro, where Davis and cabinet went next, there is really not much to see. The building that Davis stayed in is gone, and likewise, the buildings connected with the train depot. A photograph of the boxcar that the cabinet used while in Greensboro, or maybe the headquarters train of P. G. T. Beauregard would have been awesome.

5. I am quite certain that there are no war-time photos of Charlotte. I, along with other folks, have searched for years. Davis standing on the front porch of the Bates home, making his speech, would have been grand. Maybe a photo of the CS Naval works in Charlotte, the meeting of the cabinet in the bank, or even at the Phifer home around the sickbed of Trenholm would be outstanding. Or a war-time photo of the old US mint building, where the CS treasury was temporarily deposited, or even the US soldiers who garrisoned the town after the war was over. A big wish would be D. H. Hill, James H. Lane, and Charles C. Lee with the Cadets of the North Carolina Military Institute before they marched off to serve as drill masters would help me highlight several books.

I guess this list could go on and on - I would probably spend a lot of time photographing men in the field, Lee and his staff in front of his headquarters tent, various regiments in the mid-war time frame in line of battle with their colors unfurled, Lee and Jackson together. The battle fields of Chickamauga, Resaca, and Kolb's Farm right the battles there. Yes, this list could go on and on and on......

The woodcut above is an idealized image of Davis and his first cabinet. To my knowledge (and about everyone else's, too) it is not based on an actual photograph, but it would be fantastic to have such a photo of Davis and the entire cabinet together.

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?