USA > Tennessee > The military annals of Tennessee. Confederate. First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, V.2 > Part 17
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
Price, W. C., d.
McConner, W. J., d. April 5, 1863.
Spain, W. R., d.
Smith, R. A., d. July 10, 1802. Taylor, W. W., d. July 28, 1862.
Burrows, W. M., d.
Barham, T. C., d.
Warren, J. C., d. May 7, 1862.
Burrows, R. T., d. Oct. 21, 1862.
Webb, Jack, d. Sept. 14, 1862.
COMPANY H. Captain, W. S. Adams.
Butler, E. M., d. Dec. 21, 1861.
Gordon, J. H., d. May 21, 1862.
Hamilton, Thomas, d.
Bland, L. T., d. June 17, 1862.
Hamilton, E. B., d. March 23, 1862.
Reese, Joseph, d. Nov. 23, 1862.
Harban, J. J., d. Oct. 3, 1862.
Taylor, W. B., d. Oct. 24, 1862.
Harper, Rufus, d. Dec. 22, 1962.
Howard, B. A., d.
Moore, Granville, d.
Writchey, William, d.
COMPANY I. Captain, H. B. Day.
Crews, T. P., d. Feb. 5, 1862.
COMPANY K. Captain, James H. Joyner.
FIFTY-NINTH TENNESSEE INFANTRY.
Oficial.]
FIELD AND STAFF.
Colonel, J. B. Cooke; Lieutenant-colonel, W. L. Eaken; Major, C. MI. Alexander; Adjutant, J. F. Love; Quartermaster, S. S. Stakely; Commissary, W. D. Van Dyke; Surgeon, G. W. Henly; Assistant Surgeon, J. M. Thomasson.
COMPANY A. Captain, Benj. A. Profet.
Cartright, H. C., d. Nov. 8, 1862. Stratton, John, d. Nov. 4, 1862.
Jack, Samuel, d. June 27, 1863.
COMPANY B. Captain, James P. Brown.
| Roaden, Marion D., k. Feb. 18, 1863.
COMPANY C. Captain, J. M. Hays.
Duncan, J. N., d. May 8, 1863. Smith, James I .. , k. at Vicksburg. Lyon, Jeremiah, k. at Vicksburg. Davis, J. R .. k. at Vicksburg. Glover, Samuel J., k. at Vicksburg.
Blevins, John, d. Sept., 1863. Raywood, A., d. Nichols, Timothy, d. Dec. 20, 1863. Carden, James L., d. Jan. 13, 1863. Hicks, Eldruige, d. Dec. 20, 1862.
COMPANY D. Captain, Reuben Giles.
McGinty, John, d. Jan. 2, 1863. Harrison, Alfred, d. Dec. 10, 1862.
Young, G. W., d. Nov. 20, 1862.
Drummond, B. M., d. Dec. 20, 1862.
Netherland, A. M., d. Reynolds, W. T., d. May 12, 1862.
Perry, J. S., d. March 20, 1862. Hoskins, Joe, d. Feb. 11, 1862.
Charte, Chesley C., d.
572
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
COMPANY E. Captain, J. A. McDermott.
Grigshy, W. J., d. Jan. 17, 1862. Sexton, Wm. J., d. Nov. 9, 1862.
COMPANY F. Captain, Henry D. Giesler.
Garger, George W., d. Sept. 1,1862.
Poore, Clayton P., d. Oct. 25, 1862.
Wolford, James'A., d. Nov. 25, 1862. Hudson, Robert, d. Aug. 8, 1863.
Stanfield, Samuel G., d. July 11, 1863. Millard, Hugh C., d. Aug. 13, 1863. Peters, Samuel, d. July 16, 1863. Wilder, John G., d. Aug. 11, 1863.
COMPANY G. Captain, John W. Stratton.
Preesley, G. W., d. Sept. 8, 1863. Nichols, S. R., d. Aug. 14, 1862. Morris, J. C., d. Aug. 10, 1862. Phillips, George A., d. April 1, 1862.
COMPANY H. Captain, John B. Cobb.
Ritchey, William, d. Nov. 2, 1862. Ritchey, Robert, d. Nov. 7, 1862.
Buckner, Jesse F., d. May 12. 1863.
Burns, Arthur, d. July 2, 1863. Maxwell. Jardon, d. June 21, 1863. Smith, William J., d. June 25, 1863. COMPANY I. Captain, William H. Smith. Boyd, Westley W., d. Feb. 24, 1863. COMPANY K. Captain, John S. Duckworth.
Wilson, Thomas, d. Dec. 1, 1863.
Dunn, John, d. June 23, 1863.
Russell, J. A., d. Oct. 21, 1862.
SIXTIETH TENNESSEE INFANTRY.
Official.]
FIELD AND STAFF.
Colonel, John H. Crawford; Lieutenant-colonel, Nathan Gregg; Major, James A. Rhea; As- sistant Quartermaster, John F. MeClure; Assistant Commissary Subsistence, Aken Crawford ; Surgeon, A. N. Harris; Assistant Surgeon, B. Y. Blair; Adjutant, C. S. Newman. COMPANY A. Captain, Frank S. Blair.
Phillips, George W., d. March, 1863. Shaffield, Moses, d. Aug. 13, 1863.
Odell, Abraham, d. March 10, 1803. Stephen, W. K., d. June 25, 1863. COMPANY B. Captain, Samuel R. Gammon.
Metlock, R. B., d. March 12, 1863. Stuart, William, d. April 9, 1863.
Winstead, Marion, d. Feb. 17, 1863.
COMPANY C. Captain, John H. Crouch.
Crouch, Capt. John HI., d. Aug. 28, 1863. Hair, Samuel, d. Muncy, T. M., d.
Scalf, James, d. March 20, 1863. Ball, Spencer, d. March 19, 1863.
COMPANY D. Captain, J. L. Hale.
Pritchett, W. H., d. Aug. 13, 1863. . | Bowman, D. K., d. May 9, 1863. Cain, William, d. Feb. 25, 1863.
Branch, L. F., d. June 1, 1863. Collins, Bailey, d. May 13, 1863. Eden, Michael, d. July 1, 1863. Norris, Abraham, d. Aug. 15, 1863.
-
Watson, William, d. Nov. 15, 1862.
McGill, Robert, d. July 17, 1863. Pearce, Marshall, d. July, 1863. Gaston, David, d. July 20, 1863. Wood, Lewis, d. July, 1863.
REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
573
COMPANY E. Captain, William P. Barron.
Bacon, Montgomery, d. March 9, 1863. Combs, M. S., d. March 14, 1863. -
Murray, R. B., d. March 6, 1863. Murray, Ira G., April 9, 1863.
COMPANY F. Captain, Mark Bacon. . Bowman, Alfred, d. March 29, 1803.
COMPANY G. Captain, Jos. R. Crawford.
Cox, Henry, d. Dec. 3, 1863.
Morton, W. G., d. July 3, 1863.
Cox, William, d. Aug. 10, 1863.
Pickens, S. P., d. Oct. 7, 1563.
Ford, B. M., d. Aug. 13, 1803.
Riley, J. W. P., d. July 27, 1863.
Galloway, Washington, d. Aug. 0, 1863.
Bowman, Archibald, d. July 2, 1863.
Galloway, Noah, d. July 10, 1863.
Lynville, John, d. March 12, 1863.
Hall, D. K., d. June 15, 1863.
Hale, John, d. March 10, 1863.
McCulley, James, d. July 7, 1863.
Booher, John, d. March 18, 1863.
COMPANY H. Captain, James C. Hodges.
Owens, John A., d. March 28, 1863.
Long, Lawson H., d. Feb. 27, 1863.
Dooley, Aaron, d. Feb. 20, 1863.
Mellin, Thomas L., d. March 6, 1863.
Robertson, Garrett W., d. March 14, 1$63. | Shropson, John, d. April 7, 1863.
COMPANY I. Captain, W. A. Wash.
Maloy, V. S., d. Feb. 6, 1863. Click, David, d. Feb. 18, 1863.
Click, Isaac, d. Feb. 6, 1863. -
COMPANY K. Captain, John M. Morrow.
Ray, S. F., d. March 2, 1863.
Ray, William, d. June 15, 1862.
Barnes, J. M., d. July 18, 1863.
Britt, Monroe, d. Sept. 8, 1863.
Carson, T. M., k. at Vicksburg.
Goode, William, k. at Vicksburg. Goode, Jacob, d. Aug., 1864. Haynes, James, d. April, 1864. Russell, Thomas, d. July 18, 1863.
-
COMPANY L. Captain, Harvey Hamilton.
SIXTY-FIRST TENNESSEE INFANTRY. BY J. G. ROSE, MORRISTOWN, TENN.
THIS regiment was organized at Henderson's Mills, in Green county, Tenn., November 10, 1862. It was composed of ten full companies, as follows: Co. A, Capt. I. N. Dodd, Greene county; Co. B, Capt. W. F. Sturm, Hawkins coun- ty; Co. C, Capt. James C. Jackson, Greene county; Co. D, Capt. -. Johnson, Washington county; Co. E, Capt. L. II. Denny, Sullivan county; Co. F, Capt. Jacob M. Alexander, Jefferson county; Co. G, Capt. F. M. Jackson, Grainger county; Co. H, Capt. S. C. Mitchell, Claiborne county; Co. I, Capt. W. N. Bew- ley, Greene county; Co. K, Capt. S. H. Kelton, Sullivan county.
The field and staff officers of the regiment, as first organized, were the follow- ing: Fountain E. Pitts, Colonel; James G. Rose, Lieutenant-colonel; James P.
.
Miller, Jeremiah, d. March 28, 1863.
Pinion, Jackson, d. March 28, 1863. Rich, Thomas, d. March 28, 1863. Rich, Jacob N., d. March 28, 1863.
E
574
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
Snapp, Major; James D. Thomas, Adjutant; F. W. Earnest, Captain and Assist- ant Quartermaster; W. H. Armstrong, Captain and Assistant Commissary; James Pitts, Surgeon; J. C. Bramley, Assistant Surgeon; John A. Radet, P. L. Cline, Hospital Stewards; W. H. Crawford, Chaplain.
During the war many changes occurred in the officers, but from want of reliable information they cannot all be noted here. Col. Fountain E. Pitts, who was ad- vanced in years and a minister of the gospel, resigned his Colonelcy in 1863; and thereupon Lieut .- col. Rose became Colonel, Major Snapp became Lieutenant-col- onel, and Capt. Dodd became Major. Col. Pitts was in command of the regiment from its organization (November 10, 1862) till May 1, 1863, when he left it at Vicksburg, Miss., and was never afterward in command of the regiment or in camp with it.
Immediately after organization the regiment was assigned to the command of Brig .- gen. John C. Vaughn, and ordered to the department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, and arrived at Jackson, Miss., late in November, 1862. The op- erations of the regiment prior to Gen. Sherman's demonstration on Vicksburg were unimportant, and need not be chronicled.
During the latter part of December, 1862, Gen. Sherman, with a large force of gun-boats and troops on board transports, was threatening Vicksburg. Gen. Vaughn's brigade, then encamped near Grenada, Miss., was ordered to Vicksburg. Arriving on the Vicksburg Bluffs December 24, 1862, the regiment first saw the enemy. His gun-boats and transports were a few miles above the city. In twen- ty-four hours active operations began along the line of defenses from the Vicks- burg Bluffs to Haynes Bluff, a distance of about twelve miles. The position of the Sixty-first Regiment was on the extreme left of this line, its left company resting on the Mississippi River at the bluffs above the city. Its front was cov- ered by a bayou and abatis, rendering a direct assault on that part of the line im- practicable. The operations of Gen. Sherman before Vicksburg, with a force vastly superior to the Confederates, continued some five or six days, during which the Sixty-first Regiment was continuously under arms and in position day and night, rations being cooked and issued to the men in line of battle; but as no vig- orous assault was made on its position, the casualties in the regiment were but few.
After this futile effort of Gen. Sherman to capture Vicksburg, the Sixty-first Regiment remained at that post, and constituted a part of its garrison till its capitulation to Gen. Grant, July 4, 1863. Its position in garrison was above the city, on the bluffs overlooking the river, and its daily duties consisted in picketing the river and silently watching the accumulation of Grant's army on the opposite side. While Gen. Grant was thus preparing for his Vicksburg campaign, the Sixty-first Regiment literally slept on its arms within a hundred yards of the works assigned it to defend-each company opposite its position in the line, and each soldier knowing his exact position in the works. Thus upon a given signal, day or night, the works held by the regiment were instantly manned.
But nothing important occurred to break the dull monotony of garrison duty until about the last of April, 1863, when Gen. Grant succeeded in running sev- eral gun-boats and transports past the Vicksburg batteries. With the aid of these he quickly transferred his immense army to the east bank of the Mississippi, be- low Vicksburg, and the campaign then began in earnest. Thenceforward all was
575
REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
activity and bustle in Vicksburg, as it was apparent the great struggle for that military post was at hand. Lieut .- gen. Pemberton, commanding the department, decided to meet Gen. Grant in the open field, and the battles of Grand Gulf, Ray- mond, Baker's Creek (or Edwards Depot), and Big Black followed in rapid sue- cession, resulting in a series of defeats for the Confederates. It is not the purpose of the writer to criticise Gen. Pemberton's movements and disposition of troops preceding the investment of Vicksburg further than to say that he handled his army in detachments when it should have been massed, and his forces were thus cut to pieces in detail. This was a misfortune which the Sixty-first Regiment suffered in common with the rest of that ill-fated army. The regiment, though out in the field, was not engaged in any of the battles above named but that of Big Black, some ten miles east of Vicksburg, on the Jackson road. This occurred May 17, 1863, the day after the battle of Baker's Creek, and resulted most disas- trously to the regiment. It deserves more than a passing notice.
In the evening of May 16, 1863, while the battle of Baker's Creek was in prog- ress, Gen. Vaughn's brigade was placed in position to protect the railroad bridge at Big Black River, some six miles in rear of the Confederate line of battle. The battle went against the Confederates at Baker's Creek, and shortly after dark the troops engaged therein began to cross the river on their retreat toward Vicksburg. The crossing continued through the night and until daylight, when all had crossed except a few stragglers. The position of Gen. Vaughn's brigade at once became critical. Occupying a line of unfinished carth-works, with Big Black River deep and sluggish in its rear, the brigade was now confronted by Grant's army, flushed with the preceding day's victory, and pressing close upon the retreating Confed- erates. The peril of the situation was realized by every private, and orders for the withdrawal of the brigade across the river were momentarily expected, because it was apparent that the position was not only untenable, but the bridge we were to defend no longer of use to us. On came Grant's victorious columns, but the order for the withdrawal of the brigade came not. The brigade occupied earth- works in shape of the letter V, with the flanks resting on the river above and below the bridge and the apex at the railroad, nearly a mile from the river. The position of the Sixty-first Regiment was on the left of the brigade, on a line ex- tending from near the railroad to the river. Earth-works had been hastily thrown up on part of this line-that is, on each end of it-leaving a space of about two hundred yards near the center without defensive works. This space was probably covered with water when the earth-works were constructed; but the water had evaporated, and the ground was then firm enough for the movement of troops.
Shortly after daylight on the morning of May 17, 1863, the Federal sharp- shooters appeared in our front. During the morning large bodies of Federal troops could be seen through an opening in the woods, massing in front of the regiment for an assault upon it. Seventeen regimental flags were counted passing through this opening. In the meantime a heavy line of Federal sharp-shooters kept up a continuous and deadly fusilade from the woods in front of the regiment. In this condition of things it was manifest that a charging column, such as was momenta -: rily anticipated, could penetrate to the open space in the works occupied by the regiment, and thus by an entilading fire drive it from its position. At this crit- ical juncture Adjutant James D. Thomas voluntarily undertook to go to Gen. Vaughn's position on the field to inform him of the anticipated assault on the
576
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
regiment, and to obtain, if possible, reinforcements to occupy the open space in the line. His mission was unsuccessful in procuring reinforcements, but it was none the less gallant, because the enemy's sharp-shooters swept the whole field! with their murderous fire, and the Adjutant went and returned at the imminent risk of his life. He had scarcely returned to his position with the tidings of his unsuccessful mission when the anticipated assault broke upon the regiment in all its fury. The assaulting column proved to be Gen. Osterhaus's division of the Federal army. It had been massed under cover of the timber and river-bank. It was formed in five lines of battle, covering the entire front of the Sixty-first Reg- iment, and it moved from its cover into the open field in our front in magnificent array, with banners flying and their burnished arms reflecting back the rays of the morning sun. None but he who has witnessed such a scene under similar cir- cunstances can realize the extreme solicitude of such a moment. On came the charging column over a level field of four or five hundred yards in extent, alter- nately advancing and faltering under our galling fire of buckshot and ball, until at last they gained the open space in our line, which was wholly undefended, and their victory was complete. This point gained, our whole line was entiladed, and at once became untenable. The writer of this sketch, in command of the regi- ment, at ouce ordered a retreat, and thus saved a portion of the regiment. This assault, in all its fierceness, fell almost exclusively on the Sixty-first Regiment, and it was well-nigh annihilated. Out of about four hundred men who respondel for duty on the morning of May 17, only one hundred and twelve were carried back to Vicksburg that evening. Nearly three hundred men of the regiment were killed, wounded, and captured. The loss of the enemy is known to have been very great, though the writer has no authentic information as to numbers. During the evening and night the remnant of our scattered forces was concentrated at Vicksburg, and on the morning of May 18 the Federal sharp-shooters again appeared in our front. By the morning of the 19th the investment of the city was complete. The position of the Sixty-first Regiment (or what was left of it during the siege was on the river-bluffs above the city, supporting Lynch's battery. Here for forty-eight days and nights, without shelter and with less than half ra- tions of poor quality, the men literally ate, slept, and fought in the trenches. It would be idle to attempt a description of their privation and suffering. The mor- tality resulting from exposure and insufficient food was great-in fact, much greater than from casualties in battle. During the first three or four days the enemy made vigorous assaults on our entire line, in the vain attempt to carry the works by storm, but Gen. Grant soon learned the futility of such efforts, and re- sorted to regular siege operations. It is not our purpose to detail the operations of the regiment during the siege. It is sufficient here to state that the remnant of the regiment that escaped the disaster at Big Black went through the forty- eight days siege, and were at the close paroled with the rest of the garrison. The parole of the writer is dated July 8, 1863, and is signed by "George C. MeKee. Eleventh Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, Major and paroling officer."
Thus the entire Sixty-first Regiment became prisoners of war. It was destined never to be reunited on the field as it was on the morning of May 17, 1533. That portion of it captured and paroled at Vicksburg was not exchanged until June 27, 1864. In the spring of that year many of these paroled prisoners were assembled in parole camps at Jonesboro awaiting exchange, and on being notified
577
REGIMENTAL HISTORIES AND MEMORIAL ROLLS.
of exchange the regiment took the field as mounted infantry. It was then assigned to the brigade of Brig .- gen. John C. Vaughn, and numbered from one hundred to one hundred and fifty officers and men. Much the larger part of the regiment capt- ured at Big Black was still confined in Northern prisons. These prisoners were not exchanged until the winter of 1864-5, when the Confederacy was toppling to its fall. After twenty months of close confinement, these men returned to their desolate and ruined homes, then in the Federal lines, and but few of them ever saw the regiment again. The prospects of the Confederacy were not then suthi- ciently hopeful to lure them from home and family to the privations and suffer- ings of camp-life. It was then manifest that the final collapse of the Confederacy was only a question of time.
The subsequent operations of the regiment as mounted infantry were of a char- acter corresponding to the cavalry branch of the service. In September, 1864, it took part in the affair at Carter's Depot and at Greeneville, Tenn., the latter re- sulting in the death of Gen. John H. Morgan. An account of the sad and tragic death of that gallant officer will perhaps be acceptable here. Gen. Morgan, in command of Vaughn's and Duke's brigades and one light battery of six guns, was moving on the enemy at Bull's Gap, commanded by Gen. Gillem. Gen. Mor- gan encamped for the night around Greeneville. His disposition of forces, if not unwise, was at least unfortunate. He took quarters at the residence of Mrs. Will- iams, in the town, surrounded by his personal staff only. The battery was posted on the knobs in the rear of the town, while the troops were cut up into detach- ments and sent from one to two miles out of town on the various roads leading into the town. But few if any troops were sufficiently near the General to protect him from a bold and sudden dash of the enemy. The Sixty-first Regiment was thrown forward as an outpost, and ordered to bivouac about four miles from the town on the Bull's Gap road, to send out scouts and picket its front, and await or- ders in the early morning. These orders were literally executed, and at daylight on the morning of September 4, 1864, the regiment was under arms and mounted, momentarily expecting orders to advance. No orders of any kind came, however, a fact that very much disconcerted the movements of the regiment.
During the night, which was dark and stormy, a boy about fifteen years old, re- siding in the vicinity, eluded our pickets, went to Bull's Gap, and gave Gen. Gil- lem information of our position. A force was at once dispatched, guided by par- ties who knew every foot of the ground, to surprise and capture the Sixty-first Regiment, occupying as it did the most exposed and advanced position of Gen. Morgan's command. The plan of capture was to send a force around to the rear of the regiment, and to attack it both in front and rear at daylight in the morn- ing. This programme was fully carried out as to the attack in front, which was made about daylight, while the regiment was awaiting orders, by a force moving up the Bull's Gap road. In a very short time the regiment was engaged by a manifestly superior force in its front. Not receiving the expected orders, and fearing a flank movement to cut him off, the writer, in command of the regiment, retired slowly in the direction of Greeneville, making occasional stands to resist the enemy in his front, and confidently expecting to find Gen. Morgan's command advancing to meet the enemy.
The force which was sent to the rear of the regiment, and which was to cut off its retreat, consisted of a regiment of Federal cavalry. The Federal officer in
37
578
MILITARY ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
charge of this force, learning through his guides from an old colored woman who lived near Greeneville that Gen. Morgan and staff were quartered at the Williams mansion in the town, determined to attempt his capture. This was not a part of the original programme, but seeing that Gen. Morgan was in his power, the glit- tering prize was so tempting as in his judgment to justify a departure from strict orders. While this proved fatal to Gen. Morgan, it probably saved the Sixty- first Regiment from capture. Accordingly, the Williams mansion, containing Gen. Morgan and staff, was surrounded by the enemy about daylight. On learn- ing this fact, Gen. Morgan attempted to escape through the back yard; but he was shot and captured in the lot in which the mansion was situated, and died in a few minutes thereafter. Thus was Gen. Morgan surrounded, shot, and captured, in the midst of his troops; but they were so posted that they could not protect him. His command being cut up into detachments, separated miles apart, and receiving no orders from their dead General, was the more easily routed and dispersed by the enemy.
The Sixty-first Regiment being, as above stated, hard pressed in front, and re- ceiving no orders from any source, continued to retire on Greeneville, fighting as it fell back, until about 9 o'clock A.M, when it had reached a position about one mile from the town. A cavalry line of battle was drawn up in its rear and across its line of retreat. This line, when first discovered-about six hundred yards in the rear -- was supposed to be the command of Gen. Morgan, ready to receive the enemy. So confident was the commanding officer in this opinion that he at once sent a courier to Gen. Morgan (as was supposed) for orders. Before proceeding very far the courier discovered that it was a Federal line of battle drawn up to cut off our retreat. On the return of the courier with this information-which at first was scarcely credited-the situation of the regiment became manifestly crit- ical. It was between two lines of battle, both composed of superior numbers; the one pressing it in front, and the other quietly waiting to receive it in the rear. It was clear that to extricate the regiment and save it from capture no time was to be lost. IIence, executing a rapid movement by the right flank, the regiment moved out northwardly from between the two Federal lines, through woods and fields, and making a wide detour around Greeneville, reached Rheatown about 2 o'clock P.M .; and there the writer first learned of the death and capture of Gen. Morgan. The regiment did not lose many in killed and wounded in this affair- names and number not remembered.
The above facts concerning the capture and death of Gen. Morgan, and the inci- dents and circumstances connected with it, the writer knows to be true so far as they transpired under his observation; in other particulars he believes them to be true upon the most satisfactory evidence. The highly sensational story published then, and often republished since, that a female member of Mrs. Williams's household (her daughter-in-law) rode through that dark and tempestuous night from Greene- ville to Bull's Gap, a distance of nineteen miles, and gave Gen. Gillem information of the situation at Greeneville, is a canard, as the writer knows from indubitable . evidence.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.