Longstreet, East Tennessee, and the weather of 1863-64

   In September 1863, Longstreet took part of his command and moved via railroad from Virginia to Northern Georgia, arriving in time to play a pivotal role in the battle of Chickamauga. After several weeks near Chattanooga, Longstreet moved his men to Knoxville, attempting to wrest control of the city away from the Federals. After the failed attack at Fort Sanders, Longstreet moved into East Tennessee. His force spent the winter there, occasionally battling with the enemy and trying to procure food. (You can read about some of their attempts to supply the army here.)

East Tennessee ca.1863 (LOC)

   Longstreet’s men spent the next five or so months in east Tennessee. They were often cold and hungry, and the weather played a role in the war as it frequently did.

   In December 1863, Longstreet’s men moved from Knoxville toward Bean’s Station. Lewellyn Shaver, a member of the 60^th Alabama Infantry, reported that it rained on December 14, and that the men marched “ankle deep in mud and inclining their heads to the rain as it fell. . . A more dismal day, or a condition more uncomfortable and forlorn can scarcely be conceived: blankets, wet and heavy—clothes, ditto. . . the temperature cold and penetrating…” After the battle of Bean’s Station, Shaver recalled the dead, “their pallid faces drenched and beaten by the rain-drops.”[1] After the war, Longstreet wrote that following the Confederate victory at Bean’s Station, “the weather grew very heavy and the roads, already bad, became soft and impracticable for trains and artillery… As winter had broken upon us in good earnest, it seemed necessary for us to give up the game of war for the time, seek some good place for shelter, and repair railroads and bridges, to open our way back to Richmond.” [2]

   Following the battle, Longstreet’s command moved to the vicinity of Morristown where they constructed winter quarters. Shaver wrote that for the next four weeks, it was intensely cold, with blankets and warm clothing in scant supply. The men had to travel in the snow to cut trees for their camp.[3] Moxley Sorrel, on Longstreet’s staff, stated that at the end of December, the “cold was intense, the record showing the lowest temperature for many years… the glass went down to zero and the entire army was quiet in the effort to keep warm.”[4] James Longstreet complained of a “bitter freeze of two weeks [that] had made the rough angles of mud as firm and sharp as so many freshly-quarried rocks…”[5]

   It was through the snow that the soldiers moved, arriving in Dandridge on January 29, 1864. Sorrel also wrote that the affair at Dandridge was conducted while it was “bitter winter weather, the ground sharp with ice…”[6] William R. Montgomery, 3^rd Batt. Georgia Sharpshooters, wrote that they moved twenty miles through the mud and snow. “Had to lay out 3 nights without any covering (in the snow) save the wide expanded arch of Heaven which you may imagine was by no means pleasant.” On the day he wrote (January 19, 1864), the ground was covered with snow and the wind blowing.[7]

   After a skirmish and remaining in the area several days, they moved to Brabson’s Ferry. Shaver recalled that the camp would be remembered because of the “intensity of the cold.” They soon returned to their camp near Dandridge where they built a bridge over Lick Creek. He also reported more rain during this time.[8] Montgomery wrote on January 20 that it had rained for three or four days. Snow prior to that had been 10 inches in some places.[9]

   There was more of the same in February. Lt. Richard Lewis, 4^th South Carolina, wrote on February 21 that those in camp were exposed “to the cold and chilling blast of winter.”[10] The weather moderated some over the next couple of weeks. Around March 1, the 60^th Alabama moved to Zollicoffer and stayed there several weeks. The weather had improved enough for the men to resume drill. Lieutenant Lewis wrote again of rain on March 9.[11]

   W. R. Stillwell, 53^rd Georgia Infantry, writing on April 3, 1864, recalled moving from Greeneville to Bristol. It took four days to cover the fifty-hour miles, in the snow.[12] After reaching Zollicoffer, Lieutenant Lewis wrote of his tramp, echoing Stillwell. Their march started with snow and sleet, then more snow and blistering winds. On reaching the camp at Zollicoffer, he and his comrades were able to “lay down and bask in sunshine for an hour or two” before pitching camp.[13]

   From these few glimpses we can make some logical deductions. While there were some good days (which get mentioned less in correspondence home), the weather was rough on Longstreet’s men during the winter of 1863-64. Frequent cold fronts passed through the area, bringing snow and sleet. On the nice days, warmer temperatures and sunshine thawed the roads, making travel difficult for supply wagons. Many letters and reminisces mentioned broken-down commissary wagons and artillery pieces sunk to their hubs. A more probing question is: was this all normal, east Tennessee weather? Judkin Browning and Timothy Silver argue that since the 1850s, the Tennessee River Valley area had been in a La Nina cycle. The Tennessee River, which had frequently flooded, was quiet.  However, in 1862, there were heavy rains. The rising Tennessee River allowed the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson.[14] Kenneth W. Noe writes that the winter of 1863-64 in East Tennessee was “exceedingly harsh.”[15] The poor weather taxed animals charged with bringing supplies, and the lack of clothing and shoes hurt the chances of Confederate forces wanting to advance on Knoxville or into Kentucky. From these accounts, we might surmise that the winter of 1863-64 was a little on the unusual side. We may also find a greater appreciation of the terrible hardships faced by these men as they fought a foe much more fearsome than the Union army: Mother Nature.

 

 

 

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[1] Shaver, A History of the Sixtieth Alabama Regiment, 31-32, 36.

[2] Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, 515.

[3] Shaver, A History of the Sixtieth Alabama Regiment, 37.

[4] Sorrel, Recollections of a Confederate State Officer, 220.

[5] Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox, 526.

[6] Sorrel, Recollections of a Confederate State Officer, 219.

[7] Montgomery, Georgia Sharpshooter, 100-101.

[8] Shaver, A History of the Sixtieth Alabama Regiment, 40.

[9] Montgomery, Georgia Sharpshooter, 103.

[10] Lewis, Camp Life of a Confederate Boy, 82.

[11] Shaver, A History of the Sixtieth Alabama Regiment, 41.

[12] Hattaway, The Stillwell Letters, 246.

[13] Lewis, Camp Life of a Confederate Boy, 86, 88.

[14] Browning and Silver, An Environmental History of the Civil War, 46-51.

[15] Noe, The Howling Storm, 353.

Torn families – the Burlesons, Yancey County, North Carolina.

 

Cumberland Gap

The War years are full of interesting stories and sad coincidences. Part of the latter may be found in the story of Daniel W. Burleson and his son William.

The Burlesons (sometimes Burlisons) were a middle-class family living in the mountains of western North Carolina. While the 1860 census enumerator did not divide their home county (Yancey County) into districts, they claimed they received their mail in Burnsville, North Carolina.

Like many families in the area, the war tore this family apart. William P. Burleson joined the 58^th North Carolina Troops in the summer of 1862. Like many records in the 58^th North Carolina, Burleson’s compiled service record is rather incomplete. We don’t know the exact date he enlisted, what company he joined, nor his rank. He was 18 years old. We might be able to assume that he was forced to enlist by the Conscription Act, but we really don’t know that either. All the records tell us is that he died of “typhoid fever” on September 15, 1862, at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. An announcement in the Asheville News on October 9, 1862, told people that William A. Burleson “was a pious boy and a good boy, and leaves a father and mother to mourn his loss.” (Jordan, NC Troops,14:422)

William’s father, Daniel, also joined the military. On May 6, 1864, in Cumberland Gap, where his son had died several months earlier, Daniel joined Co. H, 2^nd North Carolina Mountain Infantry (US). Daniel was 45 years old at the time of his enlistment. Five months later, on October 5, 1864, Private Daniel Burleson died of chronic diarrhea at the hospital in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. We really don’t know why or what compelled Daniel to enlist in the Federal army. The two North Carolina regiments from the western part of the state were not exactly models of fighting to preserve the Union, or even to free the slaves. They were more akin to robbing and plundering their neighbors. Daniel would leave several children back in Yancey County fatherless. (Two other sons would also join local Federal regiments in 1864).

There is really little more to add to this story. In a post-war widow pension application, John W. Burleson, one of Daniel’s other sons, stated that Daniel had been forced into the home guard and forced “to hunt up his neighbors, union men, [and] help force them into the rebel army and he did not want to do this any longer. The only thing left for him was to join the federals…” Of course, pension records are not always the most reliable source.

In the end, it is just another tragic glimpse of our history. Most of the graves of the Federal soldiers were relocated to the Knoxville National Cemetery after the war.  There is a good chance that is where Daniel Burleson is interred. The grave of William, and hundreds of other Confederates who died in the Cumberland Gap area, seems to be lost to history.

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.

Looking for 60

In June 1864, Capt. George W. Kirk led a raid from East Tennessee into Western North Carolina. Kirk surrounded and captured Camp Vance near Morganton, capturing around 300 junior reserves. On his return trip, he fought several skirmishes with home guard units, and burned several homes. Various Northern newspapers reported that Kirk captured 30 (and sometimes 60) "negroes," presumably local slaves. (see Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, July 23, 1864)

After tramping back through the mountains, Kirk took his prisoners to Knoxville. The 60 presumably local slaves were said to be enrolling in a local Colored Regiment. The regiment forming in Knoxville at this time was the 1st United States Colored Heavy Artillery. They were recruited to guard railroads and stores and prisoners in East Tennessee, freeing up white soldiers for front line actions. The only time I can find the 1st USCHA moving together as a regiment is during Stoneman's Raid.

To my knowledge, no one has ever looked for these 60 men who were abducted, or maybe "liberated" by Kirk during this raid, and joined the 1st USCHA. So, I did just that. The compiled service records of the 1st USCHA are online, and went through them, trying to pick out these men. I was hoping that once I did, I could go to their pension applications and find details about their enlistment in the United States Army.

My first clue was a letter in a newspaper, dated July 7, 1864, stating that the prisoners were back in Knoxville, and that the (presumed) slaves were joining a local regiment. So I had a date to work with. As I went through the compiled service records, I found 26 men who enlisted July 6-8, 1864. Fourteen were from North Carolina or Tennessee, from counties that Kirk passed through on his raid. But one of the challenges were the other 12. Thorton Coleman and William Coleman enlisted on July 6 and July 7, 1864. Both were from Richmond, Virginia. Were they brothers? Had they been sold to a slave owner in western North Carolina? Or, maybe brought with someone, sent further South where they had some degree of protection from (yankees), or even rented out. Part of the problem is that the compiled service records tell me where they were born, not where they were living in July 1864.

I thought, after I finished compiling a list of names, I could look for pension applications in the pension index on Fold3.com Then, I could make a decision about a quick trip to the archive in DC to look for other pieces of their story. But alas, the company of the 1st USCHA that I needed has not been digitized.

Of my list of 26, I can find two, George Forney, who was 20 years old in 1864, and Shaesser (Sharp) Caldwell , who was 25 when he enlisted, who appear back in Burke County in the 1890 Veterans Census. I am still looking for the others.

To be honest, I may never find "the rest of the story." But if just one of them left an account of how they were spirited across the mountains and given a chance to join the Union army after Kirk's raid on Camp Vance, then it will be worth the hunt. Heck, I've already gone further than anyone else with this story. I have a list of names, names of men nearly everyone else has forgotten.

1st US Colored Heavy Artillery on parade in Knoxville, TN. 

Another Tour

We had a chance this past Saturday to get out into the field once again. Our local SCV camp tries to take a field trip every year. This year, we visited a few of the sites in Knoxville, Tennessee. We started off our tour at the McClung Museum in Knoxville. The museum has a half-hour-long movie on the battle of Fort Sanders that was not half bad. The only thing I would complain about was that the movie said Burnside moved into east Tennessee and forced the Confederates out of the area. Actually, the Confederates in east Tennessee (save Frazier’s brigade at Cumberland Gap), were withdrawn to General Bragg in north Georgia, thus allowing Burnside to take east Tennessee. Much of the downstairs area is full of original artifacts pertaining to the war. I really enjoyed the original case of canister shot. There were also artifacts excavated from the construction site where a sorority house has now been built by UT. Next, we visited the Mabry-Hazen House, built in 1858 and full of original furnishings. Then we were off to Bethel Cemetery, a couple of blocks away. This cemetery contains the graves of 1,600 Confederate soldiers, including numerous Tar Heels from the 29th, 39th, 58th, 60th, and 64th NCT regiments. Finally, we headed over to the south side of town and visited the entrenchments at Fort Dickerson. As General Wheeler attacked from the south, Federal troops fell back into this earthen fort and stopped this portion of the Confederate advance. We tried to find neighboring Fort Stevens, but did not have much luck. We also drove over a portion of the Fort Sanders battlefield, and saw the two 15-inch Rodmans on the courthouse grounds. Overall, it was a great day, and I look forward to Camp 1946’s next outing.

Picture: three-inch rifle at Fort Dickerson.