USA > Georgia > Floyd County > Rome > A history of Rome and Floyd County, State of Georgia, United States of America; including numerous incidents of more than local interest, 1540-1922, Volume I > Part 18
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Practically half of the Eighth's 1,000 Georgians fell dead or wounded, or were captured or lost. The Fourth Alabama was also well decimated. Bar- tow led his men to an exposed emi- nenee which was too hot to hold.
When the command to retire was given, I did not hear it, and soon found myself with none but dead and wound-
ed around me. I fell back to a thicket and met Jim Tom Moore, who said he did not know where were the rest of the men. Ike Donkle sang out, "Rally, Rome Light Guards!" About a dozen came out of the thicket and were im- mediately fired upon by a regiment in a protected position. The Romans re- turned the fire, then fell back to cover. My hat and coat were well riddled, but my skin was untouched.
Among our dead were Jas. B. Clark, Dr. J. T. Duane, a native of Ireland, who had come to Rome only a few
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years before and opened a dental of- fice; Geo. T. Stovall, a bachelor, su- perintendent of the First Methodist Church Sunday School, and perhaps the most beloved young man in the town; Charles B. Norton, a clothing merchant, and D. Clinton Hargrove, a lawyer, my uncle and a brother of Z. B. Hargrove. Charlie Norton was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Norton and a brother of Mrs. Wm. M. Towers. Among our wounded were M. D. McOsker and L. T. ("Coon") Mitch- ell,* son of Dan'l. R. Mitchell, one of the four founders of Rome.
When Charlie Norton was shot, he pitched forward and fell across me, for I was on my knees firing. He was the first Light Guard member to be killed. It was a horrible sight; men falling all around, some dying quickly and the others making the day hideous with their groans. Considering that so many were our boyhood friends, it was all the harder to bear.
Bartow fell mortally wounded, and was attended by Dr. H. V. M. Miller. A short time previously he was at- tempting to rally his men. Frenzied at his heavy loss, he seized a flag from the hands of a color bearer. It hap- pened that these were the colors of a South Carolina unit under Bee. The incident was noticed by Bee, who rushed up and snatched the colors from Bartow. Bee also lost his life in this fight. Had he and Bartow been spared, it is quite likely they would have fought a duel.
As the Eighth Georgia marched off the field at the conclusion of the battle, Gen. Beauregard saluted and cried: "I salute the Eighth Georgia with my hat off. History shall never forget you !"
Capt. Magruder received two wounds at First Manassas. Later, at Gar- nett's farm, near Richmond, he was wounded twice on the same day. Part of his nose and right jaw were torn away, and his shoulder was badly shot. Having had his face bandaged, he was rushing back to the front when a mid- dle-aged man in homespun suit and broad-brimmed hat stopped him and said:
"Major, you are more seriously wounded than you realize. You must take my carriage and go to the hos- pital."
Capt. Magruder pushed on abruptly, telling the man to mind his own busi- ness. A soldier who saw the meeting asked Capt. Magruder a moment later if he knew it was Jefferson Davis he
was talking to. Capt. Magruder turned quickly and apologized, explaining that nearly all the officers had been inca- pacitated or captured, and that he must take command. He went through the thickest of the fight, fainted and was borne from the field. After a while he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At Petersburg he was wounded twice; once slightly and suffered a broken arm. Surgeons insisted on amputa- tion but he refused and his elbow was always stiff thereafter. He was sent to "Frescati," the Magruder home- stead in Virginia, which he had helped put in order to receive his wounded comrades.
Judge Augustus R. Wright, Federal and Confederate Congress- man, contributed the following to the discussion of intrigue at Rich- mond :
Richmond, Va., Feb. 26, 1862. Francis C. Shropshire,
Rome, Ga.
My Dear Frank : On Saturday last we had the ceremonies of the inaugu- ration. Imposing, very. A gloomier day never settled upon the capital of Virginia. The rain fell in torrents. Notwithstanding, the crowd was im- mense. President Davis made his speech and took the oath at the eques- trian statue of Washington. The com- mending of himself and his country into the hands of God at the conclu- sion of the ceremony was a sublime scene. Emaciated and careworn, with a deep feeling of sadness pervading his pale, intellectual features, there was anearnestness and solemnity in his mannr that satisfied the beholder. His spirit was even then in deep com- munion with his God. There were no Christian doubts that he had prayed before in the deep humility of a trust- ing and faithful heart.
Mr. Davis, in my opinion, is a Chris- tian President, and if he is, God will take care of him and the young suf- fering country which he rules for the next six years.
The vileness of our race is being ex- hibited here every day in the efforts of some of those who were first to overthrow the old Government, ** to shake the confidence of the people in
*Mitchell told later how Stovall had men- tioned to him the night before the battle a premonition of death. Stovall was humming at the time his favorite song, "Jesus Lover of My Soul." His last words were, "Tell my mother I have gone to Heaven."
** Presumably at Montgomery.
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OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR-FIRST MANASSAS
their rulers in the hour of misfortune and public calamity, the time when of all others we should stand by the Gov- ernment with the most heroic forti- tude, and strengthen by every means in our power the confidence of our peo- ple in our rulers.
Some already declare Congress is bound by no Constitution in time of war, others that we must change the organic law again; the best way to get clear of incompetent rulers is for the people to rise in their might and overthrow them.
It is fearful to hear the talk in Con- gress and out of it. If we are not careful, and meet with a few more re- verses, we shall have the revolution all over again.
I shall stick to the President because it is right, because he is worthy, and because it is the only course to secure law and order and any Government at all.
There are a great many currents and undercurrents here-demagogues working like maggots on the body pol- itic; the body of the people are like a seething caldron-traitors in great evidence that glory in the news of our defeat. Upon requiring the office- holders to take the oath of allegiance, I understand there were 40 who re- fused.
The situation at this time: The Federal army numbers 500,000, the Confederate army about 350,000. Mill Spring surrendered Feb. 6; Gen. Jolli- coffer, a favorite Southern general, killed. Fort Donelson, on line of Mis-
sissippi River, surrendered Feb. 16, with about 15,000 men.
“God is my refuge and my strength;" out of the darkness He will bring light, and upon these shadows His spirit will move in strength, and we shall have a new Government to shed its blessings, I hope, upon a free, intelligent and Christian people.
Yours truly,
AUGUSTUS R. WRIGHT.
The Civil War, like every other war, was not free of profiteering. Occasionally the boys at the front would write back their opinions of money grubbing and hoarding, and as early as a year after the open- ing the home folks were sniping at its pudgy form. The Tri-Week- ly Courier of Tuesday, Apr. 8, 1862, printed the proceedings of a county mass meeting at the City Hall, in which strong resolutions were passed against extortionate prices which were crippling the men on the firing line and working a hard- ship on non-combatants. Col. James Word was chairman of the meeting and R. D. Harvey secre- tary. The resolutions were drawn by a committee composed of Dan- iel R. Mitchell, H. Aycock, B. F. Hawkins, Kinchin Rambo and J. W. Dunnahoo, and they were passed unanimously.
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A HISTORY OF ROME AND FLOYD COUNTY
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2.1101
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FINE DWELLINGS OF HILL AND COUNTRYSIDE.
The elegant simplicity of Rome homes has often been remarked. Here we see a few of the finer structures in their artistic settings. At top, the Second Avenue home of C. Wm. King; next, "Beverly Hall," the country estate of J. Nephew King, near DeSoto Park; center, the Fourth ward dwelling of the late J. A. Glover. The two bottom pictures are of "Hill- crest," East Rome dwelling of Jno. M. Graham.
CHAPTER II. A Rome Engine Chases The "General
A LTHOUGH the story of "Andrews' Wild Raid" of Apr. 12, 1862, is well known to followers of Civil War history, the part played by a Rome engine in the chase and capture of this band of desperate men has remained buried in oblivion. This engine was the "Wm. R. Smith,"* a small, "wood-burning" affair named after Col. Wm. R. ("Long Bill") Smith, first president of the Rome Railroad. Her engineer was Oliver Wiley Harbin, ** and the conductor of the Rome Railroad train to which she was attached and which awaited the arrival of the Atlanta train at Kingston was Cicero A. Smith, also of Rome, son of Jacob Smith, an uncle of "Bill Arp." ***
The following account is taken partly from an illustrated folder issued in 1903 under direction of W. L. Danley, of Nashville, Tenn., general passenger agent of the N. C. & St. L. railway, lessees of the Western & Atlantic (state) rail- road, and partly from "Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials & Leg- ends," Vol. II, ps. 230-234 .****
James J. Andrews, a Union spy and contraband merchant of Flemingsburg, Ky., was commissioned by Gen. O. M. Mitchel to lead a raid into Georgia and burn the railroad bridges between Big Shanty (Kennesaw, Cobb County) , and Chattanooga, Tenn. Gen. Mitch- el's division of Buell's Union army was in camp near Shelbyville, Tenn., and it was from this point that An- drews took 21 men in civilian clothes and made his way through the Confed-
*Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials & Legends, Vol. II, p. 233.
** Authorities : Judge Jno. C. Printup, Mrs. Susan Cothran Smith, of Birmingham, daugh- ter of Col. Wade S. Cothran, superintendent of the road; H. H. Wimpee, of Rome.
*** Authority : Mrs. Smith. Cicero A. Smith was a brother of Miss Mollie Smith, Henry A. Smith and James Smith, of Rome.
**** Contributed by Wilber G. Kurtz, of Chi- cago, who married a daughter of Capt. Wm. A. Fuller, one of the principals in the es- capade.
erate lines to Marietta, seven miles south of Big Shanty. Mitchel was to capture Huntsville, Ala., on the same day that Andrews' raiders were tear- ing up the road, and supplies being cut off from the South for the Confed- erate garrison at Chattanooga, Mitchel was to march from Huntsville on re- ceiving word from Andrews, and over- whelm the Tennessee town. Reinforce- ments sufficient to hold Chattanooga were to be rushed to Mitchel's aid.
Andrews was familiar with the road, but heavy rains delayed him a day and he decided to make his dash Apr. 12 instead of the 11th, reasoning that the rains would hold up Mitchel's force a day as well. Consequently, he did not reach Marietta until the night of Apr. 11. At Marietta the presence of this group of strangers attracted some attention, but they explained that they were Southerners who had made their way through the Northern lines and wanted to join the Confederate army.
At 6 o'clock on the morning of Apr. 12 Capt. Wm. A. Fuller, conductor of the northbound passenger train, pulled the bell cord that sent the engine puff- ing out of the Union Station in At- lanta. This was the engine "General," built by the Rogers Locomotive Works at Paterson, N. J., in 1855, a trim wood-burner with a sharp cowcatcher and bellows stack, which for some years has been on exhibition at the Union depot, Chattanooga. The en- gineer was Jeff Cain, and Capt. An- thony Murphy, well-known Atlantan and superintendent of the W. & A. shops, went along. Three empty box cars were carried next to the engine to bring commissary stores from Chat- tanooga to Atlanta.
When the train reached Marietta, 20 miles northwest of Atlanta, two of An- drews' party for some reason failed to get aboard, but the other twenty clambered on, having bought tickets for various points beyond Big Shanty. It was customary for this train to stop 20 minutes at Big Shanty so the train crew and passengers could get break- fast at Lacey's Hotel. This was done on this occasion, and Capt. Fuller sat with his face toward his engine, where he could see through an open window, 40 feet from the train.
In Andrews' party were four en- gineers and firemen, some couplers and
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others familiar with railroad work, and practically all of them were armed with pistols, and several carried pliers for cutting telegraph wires. Although Big Shanty had 3,000 Confederate sol- diers in training (at Camp McDon- ald), it did not boast a telegraph sta- tion. The commanding officer had re- quested Capt. Fuller to take in tow several deserters who might board his train, hence when the conductor saw the strangers uncouple the engine and the three empty box cars from his train and start off, he thought they were Confederate undesirables.
"Some one who has no right to do so has gone off with our train!" shouted Capt. Fuller. The sixteen men in the last box car waved defiantly as they turned a curve and were lost to view. The alarm was sounded through vil- lage and camp.
A bugler called together the High- land Rangers, a horse troop com- manded by Capt. J. L. Kerr, a Rome tailor, which was Co. G, of the First Georgia Cavalry, commanded by Col. J. J. Morrison, of Polk County. The horsemen dashed away in hot pursuit. Among them were four Roman broth- ers, M. A. J. (Matt), Wm., George and Dave Wimpee .*
Capt. Fuller used the tools at hand. He pitted leg power against steam. Mr. Cain and Capt. Murphy followed closely. At Moon's Station, two miles away, they got a hand car off a side- track. The men at the station had had their tools taken forcibly by the raiders. They reported that the strangers had cut 100 yards of wire from the telegraph poles, and carried it with them. Capt. Fuller then com- prehended the design, and put new de- termination into his efforts. He had arrived here ahead of his companions, so pushed the hand car back and picked them up. Two of them shoved the rude conveyance while the third rested and kept a sharp lookout ahead. Rain was falling in a gloomy drizzle.
Capt. Fuller figured that the down- grade to Etowah Station, at the Eto- wah river, would probably enable him to get to that point (fifteen miles from Moon's) by the time "The General" had climbed the grade thence to Kingston, and that at Kingston freight trains were due to hold up the raiders a while. A pile of crossties was removed from the track a mile north of Moon's. At Acworth they got pistols and were joined by Steve Stokely, of Cobb Coun- ty, and a Mr. Smith, of Jonesboro, Two rails had been removed just be-
fore reaching Etowah, so the hand- car had to be lifted along some 75 feet.
After a heroic effort, Etowah was reached, and there, justifying the hopes of Capt. Fuller, stood the old engine "Yonah," the property of the Cooper Iron Works. The engine was standing on a sidetrack near the Eto- wah trestle, and the tender, detached. was on the turn-table. The tender was turned around and attached to the en- gine, and off they went. No further impediments were encountered up to Kingston, fifteen miles from Etowah.
By this time the countryside was in a fever of excitement. Andrews was telling curious station masters and trainmen that he was running an am- munition train to the relief of Gen. G. T. Beauregard, at Corinth, Miss. He also stated that Capt. Fuller's pas- senger train was coming along behind; but when the people saw Capt. Ful- ler's bedraggled crew, they knew the truth.
The "Yonah" pawed up sparks as her wheels slipped in starting; then she made record speed to Kingston. Andrews had just left. He had per- suaded the freight engineers to give him right of way, and was off with a mocking laugh. The "Texas" found the freights so arranged that she was hopelessly pocketed, but on the left- hand prong of the "Y," pointed toward Rome, was the "Wmn. R. Smith," steam up and waiting for the Atlanta trans- fer passengers. Capt. Fuller pressed this engine into service, and her en- gineer, O. Wiley Harbin, ran her a distance of five miles, faster than the "stringers" and flat rails of the Rome railroad would have stood. In the cab of the Rome engine were also seated the Rome train conductor, Cicero A. Smith, Capt. Fuller, Mr. Cain, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Stokely and Mr. Smith. Four miles south of Adairsville (Cass County), 60 yards of track was found to have been torn up. The "Smith" was stopped with a jerk and Capt. Ful- ler and his four companions ran ahead after thanking the crew from Rome. The Romans remained behind to look after their engine, and slowly steamed back to Kingston and took up their previous position.
Capt. Fuller pressed on two miles as fast as his legs would carry him, again leading his crowd by several furlongs. After half a mile Murphy was the only one he could see. Presently an express freight train came puffing along with 20 cars. Capt. Fuller stood
* Authority : H. H. Wimpee.
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A ROME ENGINE CHASES THE "GENERAL"
on the track, brandished his pistol and brought the train to a stop. The en- gineer, Peter Bracken, recognized him and heard his hastily-told story. They waited for Capt. Murphy to arrive, then backed up the road as fast as pos- sible, Capt. Fuller standing on the last box car, 20 lengths away, and giving signals so the engineer could tell how to run. Others now on the train were Fleming Cox and Henry Haney, fire- man of the freight, and Alonzo Mar- tin, wood passer. Smith and Stokely had been left behind. The train was now being pushed by the Danforth and Cook engine "Texas."
When within 200 yards of the switch at Adairsville, Capt. Fuller jumped down, ran ahead and changed the switch so as to throw the 20 cars on the sidetrack. He then reversed the switch and hopped on the "Texas," which sped on her way. So quickly had this change been effected that en- gine and cars ran side by side for near- ly 1,000 feet. The "Texas," it should be borne in mind, was still running backward, whereas the "General" was pointed ahead. This gave the "Gen- eral" quite an advantage because the instability of a tender running fast ahead tends to throw it off the track. Calhoun, Gordon County, ten miles from Adairsville, was reached in twelve minutes. Here Edward Hen- derson, 17, telegraph operator at Dal- ton, had arrived on the morning pas- senger train, to see what was the mat- ter with the telegraph wires. Running at 15 miles an hour, Capt. Fuller stretched out a hand to him and pulled him aboard the engine.
While they sped along as fast as an engine with 5 feet, 10-inch driving wheels could run, Capt. Fuller wrote the following telegram to Gen. Ledbet- ter at Chattanooga, handed it to young Henderson and told him to hop off quick at Dalton and put it through :
"My train was captured this morn- ing at Big Shanty, evidently by Fed- eral soldiers in disguise. They are making rapidly for Chattanooga, pos- sibly with an idea of burning the rail- road bridges in their rear. If I do not capture them in the meantime, see that they do not pass Chattanooga."
Two miles north of Calhoun the fly- ing raiders were sighted by the pur- suers for the first time. They de- tached the rear freight car at a point where they had made a fruitless effort to tear up a rail with a crow-bar. This car was coupled in front of the "Tex- as" without stopping, and Capt. Fuller mounted it and signalled to the en-
gineer, who could not see ahead. The end of this car had been punched out so crossties could be strewn along the track, ties having been taken from the roadbed at various points. Two and a half miles farther, Capt. Fuller en- countered another loose freight car. This was taken on in front, and the gallant captain moved up a car length. The bridge over the Oostanaula River was crossed safely and at Resaca Capt. Fuller left the two cumbersome freight cars on a siding, and sped onward with the "Texas" only. At a short curve two miles north of Resaca a T-rail diagonally across the track was seen too late to stop. Capt. Fuller was standing on the tender, and he clung to the side and closed his eyes a mo- ment in anticipation of a crash. The right fore wheel swept the rail off the track like it had been a straw, and they were safe again. They were said to have been making 55 miles an hour. This was undoubtedly one of the rails whose removal halted the engine from Rome. It was probably dropped off the third and last box car, hence there was no time to place it straight across. Only two or three times were obstruc- tions met with between Resaca and Dalton, a distance of fifteen miles; these were quickly removed. At Dal-
COL. WADE S. COTHRAN, banker and pro- moter, who, with John Hume, caused the Nobles to move to Rome.
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ton the telegraph operator was drop- ped, and he managed to get his mes- sage on the line a few seconds before the wires were snipped up the road. The customary acknowledgment at the end of the message was not received from Chattanooga because the pliers had been used so quickly.
Two miles north of Dalton the des- perate fugitives were seen frantically attempting to tear up a rail. Col. Jesse A. Glenn's regiment was camping nearby, and its members also noticed the work of Andrews' men. Before the soldiers could come up, the An- drews band had made off again. The fifteen miles from Dalton to Ringgold (Catoosa County) was made in faster time than Capt. Fuller had ever made it in his 22 years as a conductor. At middle distance between these two points stood the long tunnel at Tunnel Hill, Whitfield County. Here was a fine opportunity for the pursued to wreck the determined pursuers. Had they stopped a short distance beyond the tunnel and sent their last box car into the dark passageway, a shocking tragedy might have been enacted. However, they were too hotly pursued to try such an experiment.
The intervening distance had been eaten up by the "Texas" until, half way between Ringgold and Graysville (a mile and a half north of Ringgold), the "General" was only a quarter of a mile in the lead. The "General" was weakening perceptibly, due to complete exhaustion of her wood and water sup- ply. The last splinter had been shoved into the firebox and the last drop of water squeezed from her tank. The once white smoke belching from her clumsy but business-like stack had been transformed into a hot breath. The 20 reckless mutineers who had commandeered her would have chucked in their hats, shirts and shoes except for the job of tearing through bram-
bles and streams. Several pine knots had been passed back to the box cars to set them on fire and send to the rear a flaming messenger of death. Had this sortie been successful, the chance of escape might have been greatly heightened, for the flames would have closed around the chugging "Texas" like a snare. A small fire was started in the car, but the dampness made the attempt a failure. It was probable that the plan was to fire the car and leave it on the next bridge, but the "General" could not pull the grade, and the car was cut loose. Capt. Ful- ler picked it up, and put out the fire. The fugitives now abandoned the
"General" and ran through the woods to the west. "Every man take care of himself!" shouted Andrews, and they scattered in squads of three or four.
At Ringgold Capt. Fuller had sight- ed 50 or 75 soldiers and had shouted word for them to mount their horses and come forward in the chase. At a fork in the Chickamauga near Grays- ville four of the raiders were captured, and one of them was forced to tell who they were. The neighborhood was thoroughly awakened, and within a fortnight all of the 22 had been round- ed up, including the two who had failed to take the train at Marietta. Although badly tuckered out, Capt. Fuller, Capt. Murphy, Fleming Cox and Alonzo Martin took to the woods in pursuit of the raiders, but soon left the chase to the men on horseback. Some of the pursued hid out in mountains and canebrakes, but were turned up when they applied at farm houses for food.
The following Kentucky and Ohio men participated in the raid :*
Jas. J. Andrews, leader, citizen, Flemingsburg, Ky .; Wm. H. Campbell, citizen, of Kentucky.
Marion A. Ross, sergeant major; Wm. Pittinger, sergeant, Company G; Geo. D. Wilson, private, Company B; Chas. P. Shadrach, private, Company K, all of Second Ohio Infantry.
Elihu H. Mason, sergeant, Company K; Jno. M. Scott, sergeant, Company F; Wilson M. Brown, corporal, Com- pany F; Mark Wood, private, Com- pany C; Jno. A. Wilson, private, Com- pany C; Wm. Knight, private, Compa- ny E; Jno. R. Porter, private, Com- pany G; Wm. Bensinger, private, Com- pany G; Robt. Buffum, private, Com- pany H, all of 21st Ohio Infantry.
Martin J. Hawkins, corporal, Com- pany A; Wm. H. Reddick, corporal, Company B; Daniel A. Dorsey, cor- poral, Company H; John Wollam, pri- vate, Company C; Samuel Slavens, pri- vate, Company E; Samuel Robertson, private, Company G; Jacob Parrott, private, Company K, all of 33rd Ohio Infantry.
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