USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 4
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CHAPTER VI
The "Lone Star" Flag of Texas Woven by a Georgia Woman
4 IT is a well authenticated fact that the famous "Lone Star" flag of Texan Independence was born on the soil of Georgia; and the beautiful emblem which was destined to win historic immortality at Goliad was de- signed by a young lady of Crawford County : Miss Joanna E. Troutman. The following account has been condensed from a brief history of the flag written by Macon's pioneer historian, Mr. John C. Butler, who was thoroughly con- versant with the facts from the Georgia standpoint and whose story is corroborated by an article found in an old copy of the Galveston News. Says Mr. Butler :*
"On November 12, 1835, a public meeting was held in Macon. Robert Augustus Beall, John Rutherford, and Samuel M. Strong were among the speakers who endorsed the claims of Texas. Lieutenant Hugh M. McLeod, from West Point, addressed the meeting in a spirited appeal, pledging himself to resign his commission and to embark as a volunteer. He declared that what Texas needed was soldiers-not resolutions.
"Captain Levi Eckley, commander of the Bibb Cav- alry, presided, with Simri Rose as secretary. Colonel William A. Ward, of Macon, proposed to form a company of infantry to enlist in the Army of Texas, whereupon thirty-two gentlemen came forward and enrolled as vol-
*Historical Record of Macon, by John C. Butler, Macon, 1879, pp. 131-137.
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THE "LONE STAR" FLAG OF TEXAS
unteers. On motion, the chair appointed General R. A. Beall, Colonel H. G. Lamar, Colonel T. G. Holt, James A. Nisbet, Esq., and Dr. Robert Collins, a committee to solicit subscriptions; and before the meeting adjourned $3,150 was handed in to the committee, Dr. Collins paying in cash the greater part of the amount.
"As the company passed through other towns en route to Texas other recruits were added. At Knoxville, in Crawford County, Miss Joanna E. Troutman-after- wards Mrs. Vinson-a daughter of Hiram B. Troutman, made and sent a beautiful banner of white silk, with a blue lone star upon it, to Lieutenant McLeod to present to the company at Columbus. The following is a copy of the letter acknowledging the receipt of the flag :
COLUMBUS, GA., November 23, 1835. "MISS JOANNA :
"Colonel Ward brought your handsome and appro- priate flag as a present to the Georgia Volunteers in the cause of Texas and Liberty. I was fearful from the shortness of the time that you would not be able to finish it as tastefully as you would wish, but I assure you, without an emotion of flattery, it is beautiful, and with us the value is enhanced by the recollection of the donor. I thank you for the honor of being the medium of presentation to the company; and, if they are what every true Georgian ought to be, your flag will yet wave over fields of victory in defiance of despotism. I hope the proud day may soon arrive, and while your star pre- sides none can doubt of success.
Very respectfully your friend, HUGH MCLEOD."
Signed :
"This patriotic standard, made in Crawford County, by Miss Troutman, became renowned in the history of the gallant young republic as the first flag of the Lone Star State ever unfurled on Texas soil! As they were not permitted to organize within the limits of the United
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
States, Colonel Ward proceeded with his followers to Texas, where they were organized according to regula- tions. He gathered about one hundred and twenty men who were formed into three companies. These were then organized into a battalion, the officers of which were: William A. Ward, major; William J. Mitchell, surgeon; David I. Holt, quartermaster; and Henderson Cozart, assistant quartermaster. The captains were: W. A. O. Wadsworth, James C. Winn and Uriah J. Bulloch.
"After several engagements with the Mexicans, the battalion joined the command of Colonel Fannin and formed a regiment by electing Fannin colonel and Ward lieutenant-colonel. The regiment numbered five hundred and was stationed at Fort Goliad. On March 13, 1836, the original battalion, under Ward, was sent thirty miles to the relief of Captain King who had thirty men pro- tecting a number of families in the neighborhood of a church at the mission of Refugio. On the arrival of the battalion, they found Captain King surrounded by a large force of Mexicans who disappeared on discovering that he was re-enforced. Afterwards, on leaving the mission, King, with his command, was captured and killed.
"Re-enforced to the number of fourteen hundred men, the Mexicans then intercepted Ward, who retired to the church. Breast-works were made by the battalion of pews, grave-stones, fences and other things, and the fire of the Mexicans was resisted for two days, with a loss to the enemy of one hundred and fifty men, and of only six to the Americans. But the ammunition of the battalion was exhausted on the third day of the battle, when Colonel Ward was reluctantly forced to capitulate, signing the regular articles according to the rules of war.
"It was stipulated that the battalion would be re- turned to the United States in eight days. Colonel Fan- nin, in the meantime, sent four different couriers to ascertain the cause of Ward's delay, each of whom was captured and shot by the Mexicans. The latter were again heavily re-enforced and advanced upon Fort
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THE "LONE STAR" FLAG OF TEXAS
Goliad. (See elsewhere an account of the massacre of Fannin's men, a large percentage of whom were Geor- gians). Ward's battalion was included in this massacre, having been brought in as prisoners of war.
"From an old copy of the Galveston News the follow- ing account is taken: 'The flag of the Lone Star whichi was first unfurled in Texas was borne by the Georgia battalion, commanded by the late Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, who with almost his entire command was massa- cred at Goliad, in the spring of 1836, in what is known as 'Fannin's Massacre,' he being next in command to the lamented Colonel James W. Fannin. The flag was presented to Colonel Ward's command as they passed through Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga., by the beauti- ful Miss Joanna E. Troutman. It was made of plain white silk, bearing an azure star of five points. On one side was the inscription in rich but chaste colors : 'Liberty or Death'; and, on the other, the patriotic Latin motto: 'Ubi Libertas habitat, ibi nostra patria est.' "*
"The flag was first unfurled at Velasco on January 8, 1836. It floated to the breeze from the same liberty pole with the first flag of Independence which had just been brought from Goliad by the valorous Captain Wil- liam Brown. What became of the flag of Independence we do not know, but the beautiful star of azure was borne by Fannin's regiment to Goliad, and there gracefully floated from the staff. On March 8, 1836, an express arrived at Goliad from Washington, on the Brazos, offici- ally announcing that the convention then in session had formally made solemn declaration that Texas was no longer a Mexican province but a free and independent republic.
"Amid the roar of artillery, the beautiful 'Banner of
*"Where Liberty resides, there our country is."
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
the Lone Star' was hoisted to the top of the flag staff, where it proudly streamed over the hoary ramparts and the time-shattered battlements of La Bahia. But just as the sunset gun was fired and the usual attempt was made to lower the colors, by some unlucky mishap, the beautiful silk banner became entangled in the halyards and was torn to pieces. Only a small fragment remained adjusted to the flag staff; and when Colonel Fannin evacuated Goliad to join General Houston, in accordance with received orders, the last remnant of the first 'Flag of the Lone Star' was still fluttering at the top of the staff from which first floated the flag of Texan Inde- pendence.
"With the capture of Santa Anna, at the battle of San Jacinto, the silver service of the wily commander was also captured, and some of the trophies of victory, including his massive forks and spoons, were forwarded by General Rusk to Miss Troutman, in token of the regard which this Georgia lady had inspired in the stern, scarred patriots of the Revolution. On the meeting of the first Congress, the Flag of the Lone Star was adopted as the flag of the Republic and the seals of office ordered engraved with the star upon them. The public recognition of the maternity of the first Flag of the Lone Star as be- longing to Georgia was made by General Memmican Hunt, the first minister from the Republic of Texas to the United States.
CHAPTER VII
"Little Giffen of Tennessee": How a Famous Ballad Came to be Written
I N the opinion of literary critics, "Little Giffen of Tennessee" deservedly ranks among the most famous war ballads of the English language. The author of the poem, Dr. Frank O. Ticknor, was an eminent physi- cian of Columbus, Ga .; and in going the rounds of his country practice, he often amused himself by dashing off spirited lines, not a few of which were written on the backs of prescription blanks. His poems while lacking perhaps in literary finish are replete with lyric fire and sweetness. Most of them are merely song-skele- tons but they possess a rythm most captivating to the ear. "Little Giffen" was written during the last year of the war and the circumstances which led to the composition of the famous ballad are narrated in the following graphic sketch from the pen of Colonel Charles J. Swift, a resi- dent of the city of Columbus, and a prominent member of the Georgia bar. The sketch contains the first authen- tic account which has yet appeared in print .*
"After the battle of Chickamauga, there was con- tinual fighting between the two hostile armies from Dal- ton to the Chattahoochee River. The pressure of the advancing enemy was persistent, but at every stand he
*Condensed from an article published in the Columbus Ledger in the fall of 1909.
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
was opposed by the stubborn resistance of the retreating foe, under Gen. Johnston, who adopted the tactics of the famous Roman general Fabius Maximus, in order to draw Gen. Sherman from his base of supplies. Gen. Johnston was removed in the summer of 1864, and the determination of what the final issue of his plans might have been has become purely a matter of speculation.
"Gen. Hood succeeded Gen. Johnston in command. Subsequent to the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, etc., the cities and towns which could be conveniently reached by train from Atlanta began to receive a great many sick and wounded Confederate soldiers. These increased as Johnston's army approached Atlanta, and the battles between Hood and Sherman caused every available building in these cities and towns to be converted into Confederate hospitals. One of these in Columbus was the old Banks building on the east side of Broad street, nearly opposite the fire engine house. One of the inmates of this hospital was a mere youth, so badly wounded in one of his legs, that gangrene had supervened.
"Dr. Carlisle Terry, then and afterwards a leading physician of Columbus, was the general surgeon in charge of the hospitals. Mrs. Evelyn P. Carter, Mrs. W. D. Woolfolk and Mrs. Rosa N. Ticknor were sisters, who, with other ladies of Columbus, made frequent visits to the hospitals to minister to the sick and wounded. These sisters were the daughters of Major Thos. M. Nelson, formerly of Virginia, and related to the Byrds, Pages and Nelsons, who have been distinguished in the Old Dominion from the earliest Colonial days.
"In going through the old Banks building hospital, Mrs. Ticknor and her sisters came to the cot on which was lying the wounded youth. He was very young, and was wasted away to a mere skeleton, and so weak and emaciated that he seemed more dead than alive. Moved by an unusual sympathy and motherly tenderness that the sacrifice of war and the toll of battle should include
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"LITTLE GIFFEN OF TENNESSEE"
one so young, they asked permission to remove him and to take him to one of their homes. Dr. Terry looked at the apparently dying soldier lad and consented to his removal but said somewhat sardonically to the visitors, that they would probably be put to the trouble of sending him back dead, in a day or two.
"Following these preliminaries at the hospital, New- ton Giffen was taken to the home of Dr. and Mrs. Ticknor, at Torch Hill, five miles south of Columbus. For days and nights the unequal struggle went on, between the faintest signs of life in the patient and the gangrenous poison which pervaded his system. But Torch Hill was on the heights where the breezes were refreshing and the air pure and balmy, and there 'Little Giffen' had a physician's attention and the gentlest nursing from the host, her sisters, and others in this Southern home. When he had somewhat advanced toward recovery he told them that he was Newton Giffen from East Ten- nessee, where his mother was still living; that he could neither read nor write; that since he had enlisted in the army he had been in eighteen battles and had been wounded seriously for the first time by the one which had brought him to his present affliction.
"Dr. Douglas C. Ticknor, son of the poet. is now a practicing physician in Columbus. To avoid seeming anachronisms in the recital, this Dr. Ticknor will be in several places spoken of as Douglas. He was about six years younger than Newton Giffen, but as the eldest of the Ticknor children, he well remembers the request his mother and aunts made to take Newton from the hospital, and he has never forgotten his impression of Dr. Terry's manner and expression, betokening the utter uselessness of the change to save the life of the patient.
"At Torch Hill, Newton's improvement was slow and protracted. When he was able to sit up and to prop himself on his elbow, he took his first daily lessons in
ยท
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
the art of reading and writing. This latter accomplish- ment enabled him to pen his first letter to his mother far away in the wilderness of her Tennessee mountain home. The second letter was to his captain. The one written to his mother probably never reached its destination, but the one to his captain did, and the answer was almost literally as the poem has it. When Newton was able to get out of doors, he and Douglas Ticknor were good chums and companions. The latter recalls that Newton was very industrious, gave a great deal of attention to the wrapping of the apple trees to keep the rabbits from eating the bark, and that both of them went forth on occasions to pick blackberry leaves to make green tea. Dr. Douglas Ticknor describes Newton as having very light hair, fair complexion, of unusual tallness for his age, and very thin.
"Before he had entirely recovered, Newton received a letter from his captain urging him to return to his company at the earliest possible moment. On receipt of this letter, Newton made preparations for an immediate start. He bade a tearful farewell to Dr. and Mrs. Tick- nor and all the members of the family and promised, if spared, to write to them. His manly character and bear- ing, his sincerity and gratitude left no room for doubt that he would write at the first opportunity ; but no letter ever came. Hence the inference by those who were look- ing for a letter from their former charge, that he had been killed in the first engagement after his return to the front. This is the only statement in the poem which cannot be positively substantiated. All others are actual facts-so much so, indeed, that when Dr. Ticknor wrote 'Little Giffen,' he read the first draft of it to Mrs. Tick- nor and was about to tear it up, remarking 'it was too true to be good poetry.' Mrs. Ticknor interposed and saved the poem from destruction.
"On the morning when Newton Giffen left Torch Hill on his way to his company, passage was taken on an old
43
. . "LITTLE GIFFEN OF TENNESSEE"
gray army horse, Newton riding in front and Douglas riding behind. Getting near to Bull Creek bridge, about half way between Torch Hill and Columbus, they found the waters of the creek at flood height and covering all the lower lands on the side of their approach to the bridge. The old horse, getting a little off the road where the water covered it, fell into a big washout and in struggling to extricate themselves, both of the boys were unhorsed, and came near being swept down the stream and drowned. Douglas Ticknor and the horse got ashore on the side next to home. 'Little Giffen' was carried by the current to a point where he gained a footing close to the bridge. About the time the excitement and danger was over, a negro drove up with a four-mule team on his way to Columbus. He kept in the track of the submerged road and met with no mishap such as that to the boys and the old gray horse. With no other possession than his dripping and muddy clothes, 'Little Giffen' climbed into the four-horse wagon and standing up waved a last fare- well to his friend, Douglas, on the other side of the raging waters.
"It is said by some that Newton was wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro. However, it is more probable that he was wounded in the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 10, 1863. This would not be inconsistent with the order of time belonging to the events of which the poem treats. The letter that Newton received urging his return, was very likely co-eval with the general order by Johnston for his officers and captains to get every man back to his command who might be able to return.
"Many of the surviving veterans of the army of Ten- nessee under Johnston remember the urgency of these recalls. It is very well established that 'Little Giffen's' name was Isaac Newton Giffen, and that his father was a blacksmith. He was brought to Columbus in September, 1863, and left Torch Hill in March, 1864. The big over-
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
flow at Bull creek bridge was presumably from the equi- noctial storm.
"Johnston took command of the army of Tennessee in December, 1864. The winter having ended, the opera- tions known as the Dalton-Atlanta campaign commenced in the spring, after this; and it is more than likely that in making readiness for this campaign, 'Little Giffen' and other absentees received notices to return to the front. Dr. Ticknor was born in Jones county, Georgia, and in 1874, he died in Columbus, Ga., in his fifty-second year. He is buried in Linwood cemetery, in Columbus. Mrs. Ticknor is in her eightieth year, (1909), and is living in Albany, Ga., with her son, Mr. Thos. M. Tick- nor."
Such in brief is the history of this famous ballad whose exquisite versification has charmed the ears of thousands on both sides of the water. The poem has been translated into numerous foreign tongues. Though written at random, in the nervous style of one whose time was largely consumed by the weighty cares of his profes- sion and whose incense to the muses was offered at odd intervals, this unpremeditated song is nevertheless one of the gems of the war period of American letters. It is practically certain that Little Giffen fell in battle soon after leaving Torch Hill. The character of the lad, his promise to write if spared, the kindness which was lav- ished upon him by devoted friends, the sense of gratitude which he must have felt for favors received, and the long silence which followed his departure, these preclude the supposition that he could possibly have survived the clash into which he again plunged. Doubtless he was numbered among the unknown dead in one of the battles which occurred soon thereafter; but Dr. Ticknor has happily rescued the lad's name from oblivion and blazed it im- mortally upon the heights of song.
CHAPTER VIII
James Ryder Randall: Origin of "Maryland, My Maryland"
I T is not the least among the favors which Fortune has showered upon Augusta that it was long the home of the gifted poet who wrote the immortal war-lyric: "Maryland, My Maryland." James Ryder Randall was by destiny a Georgian. Though born in Baltimore, Md., January 1, 1839, he died in Augusta, Ga., January 15, 1908. For many years he was an honored and beloved editor on the staff of the Chronicle; and his ashes today rest in Augusta's beautiful city of the dead. Between the dates which measured his useful life he saw much of the world. At Georgetown, D. C., he received his educa- tion; he taught for a while in Poydras College in Louis- iana; and then he drifted to New Orleans. On account of hemorrhages from the lungs he was mustered out of the service shortly after enlistment in 1861; but there was not a soldier in the ranks who possessed more of the fire of battle. He resided for a brief period at Anniston, Ala., an industrial center, where he edited the Hot-Blast; but, to quote the Macon Telegraph, "for Randall to be at the head of a journal devoted to such hard facts as pig- . iron looks to us like putting Saladin to carving gate-pegs with a scimitar."
He was at one time secretary to Congressman William H. Fleming, of Georgia, afterwards to Senator Joseph E. Brown, and during this period he was brought into close contact with prominent men. His letters to the
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
Chronicle were widely quoted by his contemporaries and are still replete with interest to the student of politics. Says Prof. Matthew Page Andrews, his accredited biog- rapher *: "Except for these visits to Washington, Ran- dall established himself, for forty years or more, far from his native city and State. But in 1907, under the auspices of the appreciative Edwin Warfield, then Gov- ernor of Maryland, a plan was suggested for the official recognition and material support of the poet who had so immortalized his State in song. He was the guest of the city of Baltimore in the home-coming festivities of 1907. He renewed his friendship with the Hon. Wil- liam Pinkney White, then at the age of 84, an active member of the United States Senate, who made arrange- ments for the publication of his poems, the compilation of which his later and most devoted friend, Miss Lilian McGregor Shepherd alone was able to induce him seri- ously to begin. To her was penned his last words of longing for his native State of Maryland, written from Augusta and received by her on the day of his death. Sustained by an unfaltering religious faith, he had no fear of dying, but his days had been the days of a dreamer, buffeted by a sea of troubles. He gave the best he had to his friends; his life to his home and family; to his native State an immortal name; and to the English lan- guage perhaps the greatest of all battle-hymns."
Professor Andrews thus narrates the circumstances under which the famous song was composed. Says he : "The date was April 23, 1861. Mr. Randall was then at Poydras College, in Louisiana. The poem was inspired during the sleepless night which followed the reading of an account of the clash between the citizens of Baltimore and the Sixth Massachusetts marching through the city to Southern soil, in which the first citizen to fall was a friend and college mate of the poet. Randall was then
*The Poems of James Ryder Randall, edited by Matthew Page Andrews, New York, 1910. Introduction.
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JAMES RYDER RANDALL
but twenty-two years of age. Poydras College was a tolerably well-endowed Creole institution at Point-Cou- pee. But subsequent fires have destroyed every object associated with the writing of 'Maryland, My Maryland,' from the desk of the poet-teacher to the buildings of the college itself. The morning after the composition was finished the poet read it to his English classes, who re- ceived it with enthusiasm. Upon being urged to publish it, the youthful instructor at once sent the manuscript to the New Orleans Delta, where it first appeared on April 26, 1861; and from this paper the words were reprinted by newspapers throughout the Southern States."
"In Maryland the poem was first published several weeks later in a paper, the South, established in Balti- more by Thomas W. Hall, who was shortly thereafter confined in Fort Warren for spreading such seditious sentiments. It was published in various forms in the poet's native city of Baltimore, where it was evident that a majority of the leading people, through close associa- tion with Southerners in business and social relations, sympathized with the South and were bitterly opposed to the intended coercion of the seceding States. While the words and sentiments of the song thrillingly appealed to Southern sympathizers, the music lovers of Baltimore saw in the swing and melody of the verse unexampled opportunity for some immediate musical adaptation in song. Henry C. Wagner, of the poet's native city, was the first to sing it to the tune of 'Ma Normandie,' then a familiar air. But though the French language was the means of starting the poem upon its melodious song- life, it was through the medium of the German that it reached the final form in which it now appears."
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