History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A., Part 18

Author: Scott, Samuel W; Angel, Samuel P., 1840-
Publication date: [c1903]
Publisher: Philadelphia : P. W. Ziegler
Number of Pages: 576


USA > Tennessee > Johnson County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 18
USA > Tennessee > Carter County > History of the Thirteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Cavalry, U. S. A. > Part 18


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As we passed through Marion on this date, Mrs. Huff who before her marriage to Rev. Mr Huff was Miss Martha Johnson, daughter of Thomas C. Johnson and grand-daughter of Hon. Abraham Tipton all of Eliza- bethton, Tenn., and her sister Miss Mary Johnson, brought out a large quantity of provisions on waiters nicely prepared and many of our officers and men whom they knew were served with an elegant breakfast. We


shall retain this act of kindness in our memory always and will revere the memory of Miss Mary (Mrs. Rucker ) now deceased, for the hospitality shown us that day as well as for the many pleasant hours spent at the John- son family home in our boyhood. Dr. A. L. Carrick, Brigade Surgeon, was left in charge of our wounded at Marion and was captured and taken to Richmond as a prisoner of war, and did not again return to the Brigade. The Doctor was a most affable and agreeable gentleman, and since the war was coroner of the city of Cincinnati.


On the 18th the Regiment was ordered across Walker's mountain in the direction of the salt works. It was rain- ing hard and we could hear heavy fighting between the forces of Burbridge and Breckenridge in the vicinity of Marion. Before reaching the top of the mountain we. were ordered back by courier.


CAPT. J. H. NORRIS. (See page 294.)


CAPT. THOMAS J. BARRY. (See page 204.)


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Returning, the Regiment was placed in position on the south side of town where we remained all night in the rain, expecting to charge the enemy at daylight. Mov- ing towards the enemy at daylight we found he had re- treated. He was followed by the 12th Ohio Cavalry who captured some wagons and caissons that had been aband- oned.


On the night of the 18th the rumor was circulated that Gen. Stoneman was about to surrender the whole command. A number of our Regiment who had been conscripted in the rebel army and had deserted it, fearing if captured they would be treated as deserters, a fate which they had much reason to fear, left the Regi- ment and took to the mountains. In justice to these men we will say they rejoined the Regiment on its return to Knoxville and were not reported as deserters.


The rumor of the surrender was only one of hundreds of groundless rumors that are familiar always in camps and probably originated from Gen. Stoneman once sur- rendering his command in Georgia, during the Sherman campaign.


On the night of the 19th we went into camp near Sev- en-Mile Ford, a few miles from King's Salt Works, now Saltville, Virginia.


The garrison at that place had been reinforced by Gilt- ner's, Cosby's, and what remained of Duke's brigades.


At about 3 P. M., December 20, 1864, our Regiment approached to within about 1500 yards of Fort Brecken- ridge. A piece of artillery had been placed in position in our front and General Stoneman, himself acting as gunner, directed the firing. The enemy had dug "Gopher holes" in front of the fort and we could not see them, but when the artillery was fired they left their holes and ran to the fort. Gen. Burbridge's command was on our right and that officer had been directed to attack the fort in his front simultaneously with the attack of our Bri- gade on Fort Breckenridge. Night, however, came on and nothing had been accomplished.


We here introduce General Stoneman's report of the


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part taken in the capture of the Salt Works by Gen. Gil- lem's command (or rather by the Brigade commanded by Col. John K. Miller), which was made to Gen. Scho- field, Department Commander, on January 6, 1865, which appears in "The Conduct of The War," Volume I, page 428. This is from the very highest authority, the Major-General in command of the expedition.


General Stoneman says : "I now directed Colonel Stacy with his regiment, the Thirteenth Tennessee Cav- alry, to make a detour to the left, dash into the town, commence burning and shouting and make as much con- fusion as possible. My instructions were carried out by Col. Stacy in the most satisfactory manner. A portion of his Regiment he set to work burning the town, and with the rest he dashed up the steep hill on which Fort Breckenridge is situated, over the rifle pits and into the gorge of the work capturing two guns, two commission ed officers and several privates without the loss of a man and with but two horses killed. This was a signal for a general stampede of the enemy, and by II o'clock in the night all the works were evacuated and in the possession of Col. Stacy, and the town of Saltville was in flames. At daron of the day following I received a message from Gen. Burbridge through one of his staff officers that at 4 o'clock A. M. his advance guard had reached the town of Saltville and reported the enemy had first burned and then evacuated the town the night before. The whole of the 21st was devoted to the destruction and demolition of the buildings, kettles, masonry, machinery, pumps, wells, stores, materials and supplies of all kind, and a more deso- late sight can hardly be conceived than was presented to our eyes on the morning of the 22d of December by the Salt Works in ruins."


We will quote other extracts from General Stoneman's report which refer especially to our Regiment and Bri- gade as the entire report would not be of sufficient inter- est to our readers to introduce it in full.


In his summary of objects accomplished by this ex- pedition Gen. Stoneman says: "Duke's command was


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badly whipped by Gillem at Kingsport and his wagon train captured; also 84 prisoners, including Col. Dick Morgan, then temporarily in command. * * Gillem's Brigade, reinforced by the Eleventh Kentucky and Eleventh Michigan Cavalry of Burbridge's com- mand, captured Marion, drove Vaughn from that point beyond Witheville, destroyed all the railroad bridges from that place to Reedy Creek ; captured and destroyed Witheville with all its stores and depots, embracing 25,- 000 rounds of fixed ammunition, a large amount of an- munition for small arms, pack-saddles, harness and other quartermaster stores, a large amount of subsistence and medical supplies and caissons, ten pieces of artillery, two locomotives and several cars; quite a large number of horses and mules were captured ; a number of commis- sioned officers and 198 enlisted men were captured and paroled."


" In the capture of Saltville and the works surround- ing it, though the whole force under my command was present, to Col. Stacy and the Thirteenth Tennessee Cav- alry is due the credit of having acted the most conspicu- ous part. of the conduct of the command I cannot speak in terms of too high praise and with but few exceptions each and all merit the approba- tion of the Government and have my sincerest thanks. Neither danger, long marches, sleepless nights, hunger nor hardships, brought forth a complaint and the utmost harmony and good feeling prevailed."


On the afternoon of the 21st the Regiment moved a short distance on the Glade Springs road and went into camp during a heavy snow storm. Without the protec- tion of tents or any shelter whatever it did not seem pos- sible for human beings to survive without some protection from this inhospitable climate in mid-winter, but we do not remember to have heard much complaint. The night spent in and around Fort Breckenridge was dreadfully cold and we were not allowed to build any fires except inside the fort.


On this night a deserted house was found near camp,


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the inhabitants probably having been frightened away by the fighting in the vicinity recently. Our field and staff and as many as could be accommodated took posses- sion and found provisions in abundance, consisting of corn meal, meat, lard and a large jar of cream. The house was very well furnished with two beds, chairs, books, tables and cooking utensils. The clock was still running. We made ourselves at home and put our cooks at work to prepare supper while we sat around a comfort- able fire in an old-time fire-place. This was a piece of good fortune we had not counted on. "The ill wind' that had blown this unfortunate family from home had furnished us poor soldiers with a shelter. Thus the old adage "It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good" was once more verified.


After supper we went to bed-five or six in each bed- piled in cross-wise-and slept the sleep of the weary, if not of the just.


On the 22d we crossed the North Fork of the Holston river and turned our faces towards Tennessee, or, as the boys said, "back to God's country." Going down the river the road was overflowed in many places and the weather was so cold our boots would freeze to our stir- rups unless we kept our feet moving. We camped that night in an old field, making beds of frozen corn-stalks with our blankets spread over them.


On the 23d we continued our march down the river, leaving it near Kingsport and taking the Poor Valley road at Brown's. Capt. Dyer and Adjutant Scott were sent out to a large brick house as protection for five orphan ladies ranging from 15 to 25 years old, who dwelt there alone. They were nice refined people and enter- tained these officers with a good supper as well as music and songs. Capt. Dyer, like most of his race, being witty and entertaining, enjoyed the society of the young ladies, and so the hours flew away until the morning hours ap- proached. The officers instead of going to bed thought best to go to camp as the command would probably start early. Provided with candles,-they had no lanterns-


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they started in "that darkest hour that comes just before the dawn." The camp-fires had died out and all was still. Their lights soon went out and they continued to walk without finding the camp. Fearing they were going in the wrong direction they thought it best to stop and wait. Finding a shuck pen they crawled in and soon went to sleep, but were soon awakened by the sound of the bugle near by and reached camp just as the Regiment was moving out.


Continuing our march on the 25th (Christmas Day). and passing over the same road over which we had passed so rapidly a short time before, we came back through Rogersville and made our headquarters at Mr. Cope's, 31/2 miles west of that place.


On the 26th we halted to rest at Mrs. Rogers', near Mooresburg. A fine wedding dinner had been prepared there and some of our hungry men and officers, with Sergeant-Major John P. Nelson in the lead, soon scented the good things and found a cupboard loaded down with turkeys, chickens and pies. The ladies said they were cooked for the poor colored people. Nelson told them lie was fighting for them and it was all right, and they pro- ceeded to make way with the wedding dinner. Resum- ing the march we reached Mrs. Bassett's, where we stayed on the second night out from Knoxville. Two days later we reached our old camp, near the Fair Grounds at Knoxville, having been gone 201/2 days and marching a total distance of 870 miles or an average of 421/2 miles every 24 hours, over hills and mountains, through rivers and high waters, snow and rain, skirmishing and fighting and with little rest or sleep.


Notwithstanding the almost unparalleled marching and suffering from cold, hunger and fatigue during the expedition into Southwest Virginia our Regiment, though in much need of rest, did not feel so depressed and woc- begone as when we reached Knoxville in November after our defeat at Bull's Gap. We felt that we had more than repaid Breckenridge and Vaughn for all the trouble they had given us. We had re-established ourselves in


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our own estimation and that of our friends as well as the higher officers in the army. We had materially aided in inflicting a blow to the now tottering Confederacy from which it could not recover and which would hasten the end and the restoration of peace.


On the 2d day of January, 1865, we moved our camps to Cantonement Springs, a short distance east of the Fair Grounds, built comfortable winter quarters, cleaned off our grounds, and were actively engaged in straightening up the affairs of the Regiment, enforcing discipline and returning to drill, guard-mount and dress-parades. We were now well satisfied with ourselves and set about en- joying life to the best advantage.


A number of changes had already taken place in the officers of the Regiment which we have not noted and at this time there were quite a number of others. The promotion of Captain Stacy to Lieut-Colonel had re- sulted in a vacancy of the captaincy in Company F, which was filled by the promotion of Lieut. B. A. Miller to the captaincy of that company. The resignation of Major Doughty caused the promotion of Capt. Patrick F. Dyer to Major of the First Battalion and Lieut. Isaac A. Tay- lor was appointed Captain of Company B. Major Eli N. Underwood resigned and Captain C. C. Wilcox was ap- pointed Major of the Second Battalion. S. W. Scott, who had succeeded Adjutant Stacy on September 24th. 1864, as Adjutant of the Regiment, was now promoted to Captain of Company G, and Lieut. S. P. Angel, of Company G. was appointed Adjutant of the Regiment Major J. H. Wagner resigned June 19th, 1865, and was succeeded by Capt. R. H. M. Donnelly, who was appointed Major of the Third Battalion, and Lieutenant Alfred T. Donnelly was appointed Captain of Company D, and was succeeded by John P. Nelson of Company F, who was appointed Sergeant-Major. This officer was promoted to Second Lieutenant of Company L August 21, 1865, but was not mustered as such.


Other changes were made by resignations and promo- tions which will appear in the Company rolls further along.


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CHAPTER XXIV.


Stoneman's Second Raid Into Virginia. North Carolina. South Carolina and Georgia .- Fight at Wytheville, Va., and Salisbury, N. C .- Pursuit of President Davis .- Destruction of Confederate Stores .- The Armistice .- Return to Tennessee .- At Lenoirs Station.


Many of the resignations at this time were caused by the belief that the war was virtually ended, and another reason was that many officers felt uneasy about their peo- ple and affairs at home and were anxious to return and look after them.


We were in camp at Cantonement Springs from Janu- ary 3d, 1865, until March 20th, 1865. Our time was passed very pleasantly and comfortably. Many of the "boys," especially the younger ones of the officers and men, had formed the acquaintance of young ladies in the city. This gave them an opportunity to attend balls. parties and places of amusement and make pleasant even- ing calls. A number of our officers and others from the upper counties had brought their families to Knoxville. These often entertained members of our Regiment whom they knew, and afforded them pleasant places to visit and they also visited us at Cantonement Springs.


Many old Carter and Johnson county friends spent a good deal of time with us in camp and we appreciated their society and friendship.


Among these were Dr. Wm. C. Singletary, who was born and raised in Elizabethton but had moved to Ar- kansas. Although in a strongly rebellious country, he was a Union man. He was conscripted and taken into the Confederate army but being a physician he got into the medical department. When he got an opportunity he left the Confederate service. He had many friends in the Regiment and spent the time pleasantly while with us.


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Col. Stacy got leave of absence to visit his home at Ripley, O., on account of the serious illness of his sister. We were sorry to learn upon his return that she had died.


While at Knoxville many of our Regiment were sick from exposure on the Virginia raid, and there were many deaths. Most of them sleep in the beautiful National cemetery at Knoxville beneath the dear old flag and under the watchful care of the Government for which they gave up their lives.


In March, 1865, Gen. Sherman had made his "March to the Sea." General Grant was pounding away at Lee's Army around Petersburg and Richmond. The Confed- erate soldiers disheartened and poorly clad after four year's of heroic fighting and endurance had lost heart and many of them were leaving the field, believing all was lost but honor, and that further resistance was only "a useless effusion of blood;" yet many clung to their leaders, and the leaders stood by their honored chief with a heroism nowhere surpassed in all the annals of his- tory. But it was evident at this time that the confeder- ate Government must soon fall to pieces and that the cause for which the South had battled so heroically must soon pass into history as the "Lost Cause."


Whether President Davis would attempt to hold as many soldiers in the service as possible, and dividing into small bands engage in a guerilla warfare, as had been threatened by the Southern press, or whether, when forced to leave Richmond, Mr. Davis would attempt to join the trans-Mississippi army under Gen. Kirby Smith with such following as he could get and continue the war indefinitely there was a matter of uncertainty. Whatever his purpose might be it was the intention of our Government to prevent the escape of Mr. Davis from the east of the Mississippi and to capture him with the Confederate Archives and Treasury at the earliest pos- sible moment. For this purpose among other dispositions of the army to prevent the escape of President Davis and to cut off the retreat of General Lee's army southward,


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which was now inevitable, Major-General Stoneman was assigned to the Department of East Tennessee to col- lect all the cavalry force available, again destroy the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad in Southwest Virginia which had been repaired, and thence to operate in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, or wherever the exigencies of affairs, which would be determined by the movements of Gen. Lee and President Davis, should de termine. Gen. A. C. Gillem was now made Division Commander with orders to assemble his forces at Mossy Creek on the 22d of March, 1865. This Division was composed of Miller's, Brown's and Palmer's Brigades.


On the 21st of March our Brigade broke camps at Knoxville and moving east passed through Strawberry Plains, joined the Division at Mossy Creek on the 22d. and on the 23d the command moved to Morristown where five day's rations and one day's forage was issued to the command.


On the morning of the 24th Colonel Miller, with his Brigade, moved in the road toward Bristol with orders to take the north or Snapp's Ferry road at Bull's Gap and by a rapid march to Fall Branch to get on the rail- road between Jonesboro and Carter Depot.


The Thirteenth was still under the command of Licut .- Col. Stacy. Leaving Greeneville and Jonesboro to our left we passed through Fall Branch and on to Carter's Depot, reaching Elizabethton on Sunday, the 26th of March. Here the boys had the privilege of leaving their companies and greeting their families and friends with the understanding they were to join the Regiment on the following day. They scattered in every direction, some going to Stony Creek, Gap Creek, Taylor Town, Valley Forge and the Doe River Cove, and to whatever places in that vicinity their friends lived.


John S. Hilton, of Company G. one of our youngest and bravest soldiers, and son of Thomas M. Hilton, of Elizabethton, was left at home sick and died on April 10. I865.


Our stay with friends was of short duration and on


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the 27th, about noon, the Regiment moved up Doe river past what is now Valley Forge, and joining the rest of the Division at Doe River Cove ( Hampton), proceeded to Cardin's Bluff and up the Watauga river, and encamp- ed near where the town of Butler is now located on the opposite side of the river. Here again many of our men were in the midst of their friends and homes and had the privilege of visiting them.


On the 28th the command moved at 6 A. M., crossing the Iron mountain and marching up the Watauga river all day in rear of the Division, reaching Boone, N. C.


On the 29th, leavng Boone, we marched on the Wilkesboro road, reached Patterson's factory in the after- noon, got rations and feed, burned the factory and de- stroyed everything in the way of subsistence and resumed our march in the rain and kept it up until after dark, when we went into camp. On the following morning we moved at daylight and found the water courses very much swollen from the recent rains. This was a most disagreeable day's march. The rain continued and at the ford of the Yadkin river the river was rising so fast that while the front of the Regiment crossed without difficulty the rear companies had to swim their horses.


On the 3Ist we moved out on the Salem road eight miles and found the Yadkin river too full to cross. The rain had ceased and the afternoon was bright, having the appearance of Spring.


April Ist we passed through a fine section of country and remembered that a year ago we were in Middle Ten- nessee, and now we were in the land of pine and tar, "of cotton seed and sandy bottom." It was "All Fool's Day" but we had no time for foolishness. We passed through Jonesville, but did not see Mr. Jones,-suppose he "had gone and runned away." We went into camp three miles south of this place, where we found abundance of forage.


On the next day we returned to Jonesville, crossed the Yadkin river, which was very deep. There was a large cotton factory here and lots of girls, who flirted with the


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"Yankee boys." We marched on through Dodson, not a very pretentious village, and continued the march all night, stopping at Mount Airy, N. C., at daylight. Mount Airy was noted as having been the home of the famous Chinese twins, Eng and Chang, who after exhibiting themselves through Europe and this country and accu- mulating a large fortune married two ladies who were sisters, and built them an elegant home and settled down in this little Southern town. They were a strange freak of Nature, being two individuals united by a fleshy liga- ment extending from the right side of the body of one of them to the left side of the other one.


From Mount Airy Col. Miller was ordered to detach 500 of the best mounted men of his Brigade and pro- ceed to Witheville, Va., by way of Porter's ford on New river and destroy the railroad bridge over Reedy creek and at Max Meadows, together with the depot of supplies at Witheville. Col. Miller took with him detachments from each Regiment of the Brigade. Reaching the New river it was found to be very much swollen from the re- cent rains. A citizen who lived near was impressed into service to pilot a squad of our men across the river, who built a fire on the opposite bank to indicate the direction to take across the ford. Col. Stacy crossed with this first squad, leaving Adjutant Angel on the south side to direct the men as they came to the river to go well up on the shoal on the south side before starting into the river. and then direct their courses so as to be certain to come out below the fire on the other side. Many of the men who had small mounts were slow to make the venture into the river. William Jenkins, of Company A, was mounted on a mule and swore he would not try to cross on it, but seeing the others plunge in and that he would soon be left "alone in his glory" he decided to venture in with his donkey and got safely across. Col. Miller's orderly got too low, and had the Colonel not hastened to his rescue he would have drowned. The next morning just after daylight the command reached Witheville, having marched 55 miles and fed only twice. The day was spent


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until well in the afternoon tearing up the railroad track for miles and destroying the railroad bridge across Reedy Creek, west of the town. About this time our pickets were driven in and we were forced to fall back to Withe- ville ,which was done in good order. Col. Miller at first hoped he would be able to hold his position and retreat at night under cover of the darkness, but the enemy was in strong force and we were compelled to fall back on the same road we came in on that morning. We crossed Walker's ridge by a circuitous route and had to hold the enemy in check by forming on the spurs of the ridges and fighting and falling back alternately. We had been fight- ing a largely superior force of the enemy and had he had the fighting qualities of other days our chances of escape would have been slim, but this force was demoralized and were flying from East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to assist Gen. Lee in his last struggle around Richmond and to be present as the sequel proved at the obsequies of the gallant army of Northern Virginia at Appomatox.


We continued the march to Porter's ford and recrossed the river, this time without difficulty as the river was not so high. After crossing the river we went into camp fifteen iniles from Witheville and remained there until the morning of the 6th when we resumed the march early, halting two hours at Poplar Camp to rest and feed, we then passed on through Hillsville, Va. Just before day we went into camp, having marched thirty-two miles since 2 P. M. the preceding day.




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