Most decisive Confederate victories.

   There was one goal for army commanders: to obliterate the opponent. While this was their objective, it seldom happened. The enemy often escaped to fight again another day. The American Battlefield Trust has 10,000 battles and engagements fought between 1861 and 1865. Which ones were the most decisive Confederate victories is a hard list to determine. Here are five on my list.[1]

Brice’s Crossroads, Tennessee

   Fought in June 1864, this battle pitted Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest, with 3,500 men, against 8,122 Federal soldiers under Brig. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis. The Federals were moving from Memphis toward Northern Mississippi in an effort to keep Forrest preoccupied and away from the major supply line stretching from Nashville into North Georgia. Federal forces were able to slowly push back Confederate cavalry. With Confederate reinforcements arriving, the Federals called for infantry support. Confederate attacks forced the Federals into a tighter defensive line. A Confederate attack across a bridge spanning the Tishomingo River failed but caused panic in the Federal lines. Federal soldiers fled in disorder, and many were captured by the pursuing Confederate cavalry. The Federals lost sixteen of their eighteen artillery pieces, and 2,249 men, a loss of about 27%. Sturgis finished the war “awaiting orders.” Brice’s Crossroads is considered one of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s greatest victories.[2]  

Olustee, Florida

   The often-overlooked February 1864 battle of Olustee, Florida, could have been another Richmond, Kentucky, had Confederates cavalry been a little more active in securing the fleeing Federal army. Once again, the two sides were almost evenly matched. Federal general Thuman Seymour, with a force of 5,500 men, faced off against general Joseph Finegan, with 5,000 men (all estimates). The Federals had disembarked at Jacksonville and were moving toward Lake City. The Confederates were waiting for them at Ocean Pond/Olustee, and the Federals attacked in piecemeal fashion. Federal losses were 1,861, about 34%, including six artillery pieces. The Civil War Book of Lists, due to the ratio of troops involved, places Olustee as the second bloodiest battle of the war for the Union. The Federals retreated back to Jacksonville. [3]

(Historical Marker Database.)

Richmond, Kentucky

   Fought at the same time as Second Manassas, the August 1862 battle of Richmond, Kentucky, often gets overshadowed. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. E. Kirby Smith tangled with Federal forces under Brig. Gen. William “Bull” Nelson. The forces were about even: 6,580 US v. 6,500 CS. Often described as a “running fight,” the Federals took up at three defensive positions, the last being in and around the cemetery in Richmond. In the end, the Federals lost an estimated 5,353, killed, wounded, and captured, including Bull Nelson, who was wounded, but escaped. Smith wrote that the Federals lost “some twenty pieces of artillery,” or, all that the Federals brought to the field. “Indeed, everything indicates the almost entire annihilation of this force of the enemy,” Smith wrote. Confederate forces were able to capture the capital of Kentucky a few days later. Federal losses were 81% of those engaged.[4]  

Plymouth, North Carolina

   Combined Confederate army and navy operations during the war were rare, and the April 1864 battle of Plymouth might be the pinnacle of Confederate success. The Federal garrison at Plymouth was commanded by Brig. Gen. Henry W. Wessells, with about 3,000 men, excluding the US Navy, which included four ships. Confederate commander Brig. Gen. Robert F. Hoke commanded around 4,500 men, excluding two Confederate naval vessels. At the end of the three-day siege, two Federal vessels were sunk, while Wessells listed his losses in killed, wounded, and captured at 2,843. A handful of members of the 2^nd North Carolina Volunteer Infantry (US) and Black recruits for various United States colored Troop regiments escaped. Losses were around 97%, including some twenty cannons, mostly heavy seacoast guns.

Munfordville, Kentucky

   Located south of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Munfordville just might just vie with Plymouth as one of the most complete victories of the war. Munfordville was garrisoned by a Federal force just over 4,000 men under the command of Col. John T. Wilder. Braxton Bragg, commanding 16,000 Confederate soldiers, launched his campaign to wrest control of Kentucky from the Federals in September 1862. Initial Confederate attacks were repulsed with losses. Bragg brought up the rest of his command, encircling the Federal garrison. All 4,133 Federal soldiers were surrendered by Wilder. Federal loss was 100%.[5]

   So, how doe these battles stack up? Federal losses at Gettysburg were 24%; Chickamauga 26%; Chancellorsville, 17%; Sharpsburg, 14%; Perryville, 7%; Pea Ridge, 12%; Murfreesboro, 31%; Cedar Mountain, 29%; Port Republic, 28%.[6]

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[1] https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-facts

[2] Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary, 85.

[3] The Civil War Book of List, 97.

[4] Lambert, When the Ripe Pears Fell, 234; OR, Vol. 16, pt. 1, 932-33.

[5] Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary, 575.

[6] Aall American Battlefield Trust numbers.

James Dearing at Plymouth

Over the past few months as I have worked on the Plymouth project, I discovered that no one really understands the role of Col. James Dearing. It is like he was every place, and in command of everything. How much of this is actually true? Maybe we should dig a little deeper into this story. 

James Dearing (Avoca Museum)

   Dearing was born in Campbell County, Virginia, on April 25, 1840. He entered West Point in 1858, and when Virginia seceded, he resigned on April 22, 1861, and returned to his native state.  Dearing first served as a lieutenant in the Washington Artillery, seeing action at the first battle of Manassas. In April 1862, he was promoted to captain, followed by a transfer to Latham’s battery. Dearing saw action during various portions of the Peninsula Campaign, although he was reported out sick during the Seven Days battles. Dearing was back with his battery during the battle of Second Manassas, this time as a part of James Longstreet’s command. Dearing missed the battle of Sharpsburg, being sent to southeastern Virginia. By December of 1862, Dearing was in command of three batteries. Following the battle of Fredericksburg, he was promoted to major.

   It was back to eastern Virginia for Dearing and his artillery battalion. While there, he was given command of a scouting expedition of infantry and cavalry, and captured several Federal pickets close to Suffolk. Dearing had his battalion broken up, and a portion of it was captured. With the reorganization of the army after Chancellorsville, Dearing’s battalion was enlarged. It was still assigned to Longstreet’s command. Following their involvement in the battle of Gettysburg, Dearing returned to Virginia. Dearing was back in Southeast Virginia that fall and early winter, this time in command of a cavalry battalion. He was also promoted to colonel and commanded a small group of mixed cavalry and artillery, and participated in the failed attempt to capture New Bern.[1]

   Dearing was a part of Robert F. Hoke’s force that invested and captured Plymouth in April 1864. He commanded the 8^th Confederate Cavalry with the Virginia Horse Artillery. Since no official record from Dearing, or Hoke, or the other two Confederate brigade commanders survives, it is really hard to say what his role in the battle was. Letters and diaries have him every place, fighting on every part of the field. Some of Dearing’s cavalry opened the battle by capturing Federal pickets.

   On April 17, Hoke ordered Kemper’s brigade, under Col. William R. Terry, with Dearing, to the Confederate left, testing the defenses of Fort Gray to the north of town. One historian writes that Dearing was ordered by Hoke to attack the fort. However, Terry outranks Dearing and the command to attack the fort should have gone to Terry.[2]

   Portions of Dearing’s command were sent to the Confederate right to scout the Columbia road, but just who these Confederates were serving under is not clear. On April 18, the second day of the battle, Dearing was ordered to take his artillery and reposition towards the Confederate center, this time facing Fort Wessells. Terry also repositioned Kemper’s brigade, and his brigade supports Hoke’s brigade, under the command of Col. John T.  Mercer, in their attack that captures the fort. One account has Dearing’s artillery arriving after the first charge to take the fort had failed.[3]

   After the Albemarle arrives and sinks the Southfield and drives off the Miami, early on the morning of April 19, it is Dearing that is sent to demand that Brig. Gen. Henry Wessells surrender the garrison at Plymouth, a demand that is refused. Late in the day, all of Dearing’s Cavalry, with Ransom’s brigade, is sent to the Confederate right. Dearing is in the area in the darkness, scouting the Federal lines and looking for a way over Conaby Creek. Ransom’s brigade makes its way over the creek, and early on the morning of April 20, launches an attack that captures the redoubt on that side of the town, in which Dearing is in front during the attack. After the works are successfully captured by the Confederates forces, Dearing and an unnamed officer from the Albemarle are seen rowing up the river toward Fort Gray. They are bringing a message from Hoke to the commander of the small fort, stating that further resistance is futile.[4]

   As already stated, if Dearing, Ransom, Lewis (who took command of Kemper’s brigade after Mercer was killed) or Hoke wrote an official report after the battle, they appear lost to history. Dearing was promoted to brigadier general soon after the battle. He spent the next couple of months in North Carolina, then in July, was transferred back to the Army of Northern Virginia and placed in Rooney Lee’s division. Beauregard recommend Dearing for promotion to major general, but that never happened. Dearing was mortally wounded at the battle of High Bridge on April 6, 1865, dying in Lynchburg on April 22.[5]  

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[1] Parker, General James Dearing, 1-50.

[2] Newsome, The Fight for the Old North State, 208.

[3] Roanoke Beacon, July 26, 1895; Richmond Dispatch, May 2, 1864.

[4] Johnston, Four Years a Soldier, 298; The Smithfield-Herald, April 19, 1901; The Standard Union, August 2, 1890; The National Tribune, September 25, 1884.

[5] Parker, General James Dearing, 60-95.

Help Save the Wyse Fork Battlefield

 Why preserve battlefields? That’s a great question. If we were to present that question to the millions of men who fought during the 1860s, what would they say? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain once said (at the dedication of the Maine Monument at Gettysburg in 1888) that “In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls… generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.” There is a lot to unpack there: bodies are gone but spirits linger… future generations will come to these “deathless fields, to ponder and dream.” Some battlefields are meticulously preserved. Shiloh, Perryville, and Sharpsburg come to mind as places where a person can stand and see what happened. However, it takes a great deal of work and perseverance to preserve these spots of land for future generations who want to come “to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them.”

The battle of Wyse Fork in North Carolina does not carry the name recognition that Gettysburg or Chickamauga does. Yet for the 20,000 plus Confederate and Union soldiers involved, it was just as real as some of the larger campaigns the armies waged. For the 2,600 who were killed and wounded . . . And now, the state of North Carolina wants to build a new interchange with US 70 and Wyse Fork/Caswell Station Road. This new interchange would destroy large portions of the March 10, 1865, battlefield.

Following the capture of Wilmington, Federal General John Schofield was ordered to capture Goldsboro and accumulate building supplies for Sherman’s army moving into North Carolina. Using New Bern as a starting point, Federal forces under the command of Brig. Gen. J. D. Cox advanced. On May 7, Federal forces ran into Confederates under Braxton Bragg at Southwest Creek, just east of Kinston. Bragg was hoping to delay or halt the Federal advance. Reinforced overnight by a division under D. H. Hill, Bragg planned to attack the Federals. The flanking force was a division under Robert F. Hoke, and he successfully flanked the Federal force, capturing artillery. Hill launched an attack later that day toward the Federal right flank and then sought to intercept the retreating Federals, which he never actually found. Bragg ordered Hill to return to his original position. Confederate forces captured over 1,000 Federals that day. Federal reinforcements arrived overnight and dug in. Early on March 9, Hoke again probed the Federal lines. That afternoon, Bragg ordered him to attack on the morning of May 10. Hoke attacked the Federal left, and Hill also advanced, but on finding twice their number, his troops were forced to fall back after the Federal force counterattacked. That night, they crossed the Neuse River and encamped near Kinston. (This summary was drawn from Barrett’s The Civil War in North Carolina. The best book on the subject is “To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Fork, March 1865 by Mark Smith and Wade Sokolosky.)

While the American Battlefield Trust has preserved a small part of the Wyse Fork Battlefield, the location of the Federal counterattack on March 10 is not preserved and is in danger of being carved up into an interchange. There is an alternative spot to put an interchange that will not destroy a part of the battlefield. This is a state project. Please contact your state representatives in the General Assembly  (house and senate) and ask them to preserve this important piece of battlefield property and stop the proposed by-pass in Lenoir County. You can find your North Carolina representatives here. You can also contact the American Battlefield Trust and ask them to get involved. There is a “Save Wyse Fork Battlefield” group on Facebook.

Site Visit Saturday: Fort Harrison

 

   The armies, both gray and blue, tore up the landscape wherever they went during the war. Thousands of acres of trees were felled, and in many places, the ground itself was overturned and reshaped into field fortifications. In many cases, those fortifications are really the only visual evidence that remains to remind us the carnage of the 1860s.

   Fort Harrison, near Richmond, Virginia, was a part of field fortifications constructed by Confederates beginning in June 1862. The fort was named after Lt. William Harrison, a Confederate engineer, and was the largest fort in a series of works that stretched from New Market Road to the James River. Parts of the fort and the abatis in front were constructed by 200 convicts from the state penitentiary, 300 black laborers, and the 17^th Georgia Infantry. Fort Harrison and the corresponding lines were considered a critical link in Richmond’s defenses, and on September 29, 1864, the Federals launched an attack. Confederate forces near the Fort numbered just 800 men, with a mere 35 artillerists manning the actual fort. The artillery appears to be from John Guerrant’s Goochland Artillery.

   The Confederate defenders did not really stand a chance. Over 8,000 Federal soldiers attacked and carried Fort Harrison and the surrounding works. Seeing a potential threat to Richmond, Robert E. Lee ordered a counterattack on September 30. The attacking Confederate force consisted of Anderson’s Georgia brigade, Bowles’s brigade of Alabamians, and Bratton’s South Carolina’s brigade, under the command of Maj. Gen. Charles Field. In Hoke’s division were the brigades of Scales, Colquitt, Kirkland, Hagood, and McKethan. Confederate naval forces and land artillery shelled the Fort. Around 1:45, the attack commenced. While the plan of attack designed by Lee looked good, it fell apart from the beginning. An ill-coordinated attack by 10,000 Confederates failed to dislodge the Federal defenders. The Confederates fell back and established a new defensive line, while the Federals re-worked Fort Harrison and renamed it Fort Burnham, a Federal general killed during the first attack on September 28.

   The well-preserved Fort Harrison is a part of the Richmond National Battlefield Park. I last visited in March 2018.

Who carried Robert E. Lee's flag?

 Earlier this week, I asked this question on my facebook page: who carried Robert E. Lee's headquarters flag? The short answer would be, after November 1862, it was a member of Company C, 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry. So far, the name of the soldier(s) eludes me and my efforts to discover it.

This however, leads to a larger question about Confederate generals and their headquarters flags. Did all Confederate generals have one? How many survive? Were they uniform or did the style vary from general to general?

Robert E Lee's first HQ flag 

The surviving headquarters flag of Robert E. Lee is probably the most famous. According to the research of the former Museum of the Confederacy (now the American Civil War Center), this flag was used by Lee from 1862  to 1863. It is unknown when he acquired this flag (believed to have been made by his wife), but we can assume it was after June 1862 when he was tapped to replace the wounded Joseph E. Johnston. He used this flag through the battle of Gettysburg. Sometime in late 1863 or early 1864, Lee replaced this headquarters flag with a Second National. At the end of the war, the Second National was cut up, instead of being surrendered. As an interesting aside, Lee's first headquarters flag was boxed up in the final days of the war and sent to Charlotte with other papers. It was found by a Government official and removed before the other papers and flags were turned over to the Federals.

Looking beyond R. E. Lee, there are the famous silk ANV-pattern flags made by the Cary sisters of Baltimore, Maryland, and presented to generals Joseph E. Johnston, Earl Van Dorn, and PGT Beauregard in the fall of 1861. Other Confederate generals who used traditional ANV battle flags as headquarters flags include Edmund Kirby Smith, Arnold Elzey, Fitzhugh Lee, and Joseph B. Kershaw. James H. Lane makes mention of surrendering his headquarters flag at Appomattox, but just what this flag looked like is unknown. The North Carolina Museum of History has the battle flag-style headquarters flags of Rufus Barringer and Bryan Grimes.

Robert F. Hoke's HQ flag

Several Confederate generals adopted Second Nationals after its adoption in May 1863. Robert E. Lee's Second National has already been mentioned, and several pieces of the flag reside at the American Civil War Museum. The Museum also has the Second National headquarters flags of JEB Stuart, Simon B. Buckner, and Jubal Early. A Second National Confederate flag, possibly the first one ever made, was draped over the casket of Stonewall Jackson following his death on May 10, 1863. The North Carolina Museum of History has Robert F. Hoke's Second National

Daniel H. Maury's HQ flag

There were variants, of course (we are talking about Confederates, right?). Samuel French supposedly used a captured V Corps Headquarters flag for his own headquarters. William L. Jackson used a variant of a Second National.  Lawrence O. Branch used a First National. Dabney H. Maury had a flag with a white border, red field, white Christian cross, and stars.

Lawrence O. Branch's HQ flag. 

Back to my original question: was there someone on staff whose job it was to carry the headquarters' flag? Maybe, but probably not.  In 1931, J. Churchill Cooke, 4th Virginia Cavalry, left us this reminiscence: "My company, the Hanover Troop, was an old organization in existence many years before the war... The company was composed of men from all parts of the county, many of them from that part of the county where several battles were fought. Before Jackson reached Mechanicsville, all of the men of my company were assigned to different generals as guides, scouts, and couriers. The captain of my company rode up to me with a flag and said: "Sergeant, as you are from the upper part of the county and don't know this part, I can't assign you to any of the generals, but here is Jackson's headquarters flag, which I shall give you to carry.' I took the flag and said I hoped I would not disgrace it. I reported to General Jackson as his flag bearer. He sent me word not to stay very close to him, only keep him in sight, which instructions I tried to comply with. I was with Jackson and in sight of him during the Seven Days." (Confederate Veteran Vol. 38, 248)

Company C, 39th Battalion Virginia Cavalry was assigned to Lee as his personal company of scouts, guides, and couriers. However, it appears that portions of the company rotated in and out every day. A detail of men would report for duty. It is my belief that if Lee needed to go someplace with his headquarters flag, a member of the day's detail was assigned to bear it. It would be feasible to say every member of the company might have carried one of those flags during the war.