USA > Virginia > Tazewell County > Tazewell County > History of Tazewell county and southwest Virginia, 1748-1920 > Part 57
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cvery point of vantage, burning bridges, blocking roads, etc., so delayed the advance that Early reached Lynchburg in time to save the city. On the 18th of June, Hunter became alarmed and commenced an ignominious retreat, fleeing through the mountains of West Virginia, to the Kanawha, thus leaving the way open for Early's advance on Washington City."
BURBRIDGE RAID AND BATTLE AT SALT WORKS.
The fourth, and last, Federal raid through Tazewell County was under command of Brigadier General Stephen G. Burbridge; and was made in the last days of September and the first days of October, 1864. His object in making the expedition was to get to and destroy the Preston Salt Works, situated on the North Fork of Holston River, in Smyth County. From these works the Southern States were getting their principal supplies of salt.
General Burbridge assembled an army of five thousand men at Pikeville, Kentucky. From that place he marched to the Louisa Fork of Big Sandy River, and up that stream to Grundy 'in Buchanan County. Then he proceeded up the Louisa River, using the Kentucky and Tazewell C. H. Turnpike, crossed the Dividing Ridge. and entered the Clinch Valley at the present village of Raven, in Tazewell County. He then moved up the Clinch, passing Richlands, and arrived at Cedar Bluff on the 30th of September. There he came in contact with a body of Confederates, mostly Ken- tuckians, who were commanded by that splendid soldier, Colonel Giltner, of Kentucky. Burbridge pressed on from Cedar Bluff toward the Salt Works, marching through the Cove, crossing Clinch and Little Brushy mountains, and passing through Laurel Gap. Giltner and his small foree could do nothing more than place obstruc- tions across the roads and delay the advance of the Federals.
Burbridge passed through Laurel Gap on Saturday evening, October 1st, 1864. Instead of pressing on to the Salt Works, where Giltner had gone and joined the Confederate forces. he encamped for the night in the river bottoms, just south of Laurel Gap. now owned by Thomas E. George. Some military critics have ventured the opinion that Burbridge committed a serious blunder by not rushing on to attack the Confederates in the night time, and before they received reinforcements. It is more than probable that the Federal General found his troops so exhausted by their long and
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difficult march that he deemed it safest to rest them before making an attaek.
On the morning of the 2nd of October, he broke camp and marched to the scene of battle, arriving there at about 9:30 o'clock. About the same time General John S. Williams got to the Salt Works, bringing with him nearly a thousand men. The Confederate General had three thousand men, including seven hundred reserves from the counties of Tazewell, Washington, Wythe, Grayson and Carroll. The reserves were men over forty-five years old and youths under eighteen.
The Confederates had formed their line of battle along the tops of the bluffs and eliffs on the south side of the North Fork of the Holston, reaching up the river from Buffalo Ford, and down the stream to where the chemical plant of the Mathieson Alkali Works is now located. When Burbridge arrived at 9:30 o'clock he promptly formed his lines on the north side of the river, fronting the Confederate forces, and the battle began about 10 o'eloek. Eael army was commanded by a Kentuekian, and both of the armies engaged were composed very largely of Kentuekians. The battle was continued from 10 o'clock in the morning until sundown, when vietory perched upon the banner of the Confederates. Summers in his history of Southwest Virginia, says:
"The Federal loss in killed and wounded in this battle was about three hundred and fifty, the number of prisoners captured is va- riously estimated at from three to twelve hundred. The Federals left upon the field one hundred and four white and one hundred and fifty-six negro soldiers.
"The Confederate loss was eight killed and fifty-one wounded. among the killed being Colonel Trimble and Lieutenant Crutchfield, of the Tenth Kentucky Regiment."
Among the reserves, who aeted with great valor was one eom- pany from Tazewell County, that were a part of the 13th Batta- lion of Virginia Reserves. That battalion was commanded by Colonel Robert Smith of Tazewell County, with Major Henry Smith of Russell County second in command, and was composed of the following companies :
Company A, Smyth County, commanded by Captain Robert Brown.
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Company B, Tazewell County, commanded by Captain Samnel L. Graham.
Company C. Washington County, commanded by Lieutenant J.
S. Booher.
Company D. Smyth County, commanded by Captain Evan D. Richardson.
Company F, Washington County. commanded by Captain Wil- liam Barrow.
Colonel Robert Smith was born at Jacksboro, Tennessee, March 1st, 1819. In 1839 he married Miss Dorinda Cecil, daughter of Samuel Cecil, and took up his residence in Tazewell County in 1848. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 13th Battalion, Virginia Reserves, in 1864, and commanded that battalion at the battle of Saltville on October 2nd, 1864, where he and his men won fame for their gallantry. In 1871, Colonel Smith moved with his family to California, where he died at a venerable age in December, 1899.
Company G, Russell County, commanded by Captain A. P. Gilmer.
Company H. commanded by Captain George E. Starnes.
Company I, Washington County, commanded by Captain Thomas E. Patterson.
The 13th Battalion held the line in front of the residence of "Governor" (James) Sanders. Every attack made by the Federals was repelled, and the battalion did such valiant service that Sum- mers, writing about the part the reserves took in the battle, says:
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"It was thought at the time that the bravery exhibited in this contest by the reserves from Southwest Virginia was equal to the bravery exhibited by the citizens of this county at King's Mountain in 1780."
Burbridge began to retreat very soon after the battle was ended; and returned to Kentucky by the same route he had used in making the advanee to the Salt Works.
After four years of heroic struggle and awful sacrifice the depleted armies of the Confederacy were compelled to ground their arms and furl the "Stars and Bars."
Tazewell County had sent forth nearly two thousand of her best and bravest sons to do service for their country. Many of them had fallen on battle fields, and were resting in heroes graves; many had been maimed and physically impaired for life; others were in Federal prisons and their home-coming was delayed; but those who were still fit returned speedily to their homes and dear ones. It was not a land made desolate by the iron-hoof of war to which they returned. The rich soil, gushing springs and beautiful streams the pioneers found when they came to the Clineh Valley were still here. It was springtime when the Tazewell soldiers got back home. The pastures on the hills and mountain sides, and the meadows along the streams were carpeted with that exquisite verdure which had made and still makes Tazewell almost world-famous. The returned soldiers went earnestly to work to further develop and beautify the land they had inherited from the pioneer fathers and mothers. How faithfully they and their sons have performed that service is now to be seen on every hand.
RECONSTRUCTION AND REORGANIZATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
Upon the downfall of the Confederate States, the State govern- ment of Virginia, that had been exercising at the capitol govern- mental functions during the war, was necessarily overthrown. Franeis H. Peirpont had been elected Governor of Virginia on the 20th of June, 1861, by a bogus convention that assembled at Wheel- ing. He established his seat of government at Wheeling; and kept it there until the State of West Virginia was admitted to the Union and the government of the new State was organized. On the 20th
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of June, 1863, Governor Peirpont removed his seat of government to Alexandria. And, on the 9th of May, 1865, Andrew Johnson, Presi- dent of the United States, issued a proelamation recognizing Peir- pont as Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In this proclamation, President Johnson ordered: "That all acts and proceedings of the political, military, and civil organiza- tions which have been in a state of insurrection and rebellion within the State of Virginia, against the authority and the laws of the United States, and of which Jefferson Davis, John Letcher, and William Smith were late the respective chiefs, are deelarcd null and void. All persons who shall exercise, claim, pretend or attempt to exercise any political, military or civil power, authority, juris- dietion or right, by, through or under Jefferson Davis, late of the city of Richmond, and his confederates, or under John Letcher or William Smith, or civil commission or authority issued by them or either of them, since the 17th day of April, 1861, shall be deemed and taken as in rebellion against the United States, and shall be dealt with accordingly." The President also declared that the Federal Government would aid Governor Peirpont, "in the lawful measures which he may take for the extension and administration of the State government throughout the geographical limits of the said State."
Following the issuance of President Johnson's proclamation, Governor Peirpont, with his executive officers, removed the seat of government from Alexandria to Richmond, and occupied the gov- ernor's mansion and the capitol. The first entry in the Executive Journal was made on the 23rd of May, 1865, and is as follows:
"His Excelleney the governor, in pursuance of the authority in him vested by the laws of the Commonwealth, and upon due informa- tion of the suppression of insurrection and domestic violence within the limits of the Commonwealth, ordered that the seat of government be restored to and re-established at the city of Richmond, from and after this date, and issued his proclamation accordingly."
By the mandate of the President's proclamation, every civil office in Virginia-State, county, and municipal-became vacant; and it was incumbent upon Governor Peirpont to see that all such offices were refilled with eapable men.
The last term of the county court of Tazewell, while the Con-
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federacy was in existence, was held on March Ist, 1865. S. W. Cecil presided, and the other justices sitting were, W. H. Buchanan and S. F. Watts. For nearly seven months thercafter the county was without any court or county officers; but the affairs of the county remained as orderly as when the pioncers lived here without any justices or constables to maintain order.
The first term of the county court, held under the restorcd, or Peirpont, government was on the 27th of September, 1865; and the first orders entered were the following:
"Be it remembered that on this the 27th day of September, in the year 1865, at Tazewell Court House appeared William O. Yost, William H. Buchanan, Adam Hedrick, Rees B. Higginbotham, Reizin R. Steel, Samuel H. Chiddix, Joseph C. Brown, Mark T. Lockhart, James Hankins, Henry Hunt, Jonathan Smith, Hugh D. Dudley, James Davis, Granville Jones, and David G. Yost, who pre- sented commissions from F. H. Peirpont, Governor of Virginia, as justices of the peace for said county from this day till the 1st day of August, 1868, who took and subscribed the oath prescribed by the Constitution and the oath of office before Washington Spotts, one of the Commissioners appointed by said Governor for the said county of Tazewell."
William O. Yost was elected presiding justice for the term to expire the 1st day of August, 1868.
Rees B. Gillespie, who had been elected sheriff on the 17th day of August, 1865, by the qualified voters of the county. qualified to serve from the 27th day of August, 1865, until the 1st of January, 1867.
Sterling F. Watts, who had been elected at the same election as Commonwealth's Attorney for Tazewell County, qualified by taking the necessary oaths.
Rees B. Gillespie, sheriff of the county, appointed H. R. Bogle, William Hankins and Mathias Harrisson his deputies. and they qualified as such.
David A. Daughtery, who had been elected Commissioner of Revenue for District No. 1, and Charles J. McDowell, who had been elected Commissioner of Revenue for District No. 2, appeared and qualified.
Simon W. Young, William Hankins, James Allen, and Ransom S.
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Dudley qualified as constables; and Thomas B. Crabtree qualified as overseer of the poor.
James W. Thompson, who had been elected elerk of the county at the election in August, qualified-his term of office to extend until the 30th of June, 1870.
Thus was the county government of Tazewell reorganized with- out any carpetbag element in it.
The President of the United States having, by proclamation, deelared the government of Virginia restored, an election was held in the fall of 1865 to elect members of the General Assembly; and George W. Deskins was elected as the representative of Tazewell County. At the session held during the winter of 1865-66 the General Assembly proceeded to elect the various State officers and to enact such laws as were made necessary by the results of the war.
The Fourteenth Amendment was passed by Congress in July, 1866, and its ratification by the Southern States was made a condi- tion precedent to their readmission to the Union. The Amendment was indignantly rejected by the Legislature of every Southern State, except Tennessee. In the Virginia Legislature, at the ses- sion of 1866-67, only one member voted for its acceptance. The rejection of the Amendment gave Thad Stevens and his radical associates in Congress rare opportunity to vent their hatred for the unhappy South. They began immediately to formulate their Recon- struetion measures.
On the 2nd of March, 1867, Congress passed an act which pro- vided for establishing military governments in the "rebel States". Under its operation Virginia was designated "Military District No. 1." The aet also provided that the people of the "rebel States" should frame acceptable constitutions and adopt the Fourteenth Amendment before they could have representation in Congress; and the act further provided: "That until the people of any of said States shall be by law admitted to representation in Congress, any eivil government which may exist therein shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respeets subject to the paramount authority of the United States, at any time, to abolish, modify, control or supersede the same."
The aet of March 2nd, 1867, also provided for the election of members to a convention to frame a constitution for Virginia, and authorized the voters of the State to vote for or against a convention
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to form a constitution. An election was held on the 3rd of Decem- ber, 1867, a convention was voted for by a majority of the people, and delegates elected thereto. Colonel James Milton French, of Bland County, was elected to represent Tazewell and Bland counties in the convention. The convention met at Richmond on the 3rd of December, 1867, and framed what has since been known by the name of the "Underwood Constitution."
Thereupon, Congress passed an act on the 10th of April, 1869, authorizing the submission of the Constitution of Virginia to the people for ratification or rejection, and provided for the election of State officers and members of Congress at the same election. The act also prescribed that the President of the United States should submit the Constitution to the people of Virginia at such time as he deemed best, and should also submit to a separate vote such provisions of said Constitution as he deemed best.
There were several clauses of the Constitution that were obnox- ious to all the white people and many of the negroes of the State; and President Grant ordered that the obnoxious clauses, each, be submitted separately. He issucd a proclamation on the 14th of May, 1869, ordering that the election for ratification or rejection of the Constitution be held on the 6th of July, 1869. The election was held at the designated time, and the Constitution was adopted, the affirmative vote being 210,555, and the negative vote 9,136. The obnoxious clauses were rejected by a majority of more than forty thousand votes.
At this same election Gilbert C. Walker was elected Governor of Virginia, John F. Lewis, Lieutenant Governor; and James C. Taylor, Attorney General. Governor Walker was inaugurated on the 21st of September, 1869; and the General Assembly, elected under the Constitution, met at the capitol on the 5th of October, 1869. On the 8th of October the Legislature ratified and adopted both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. In this manner civil government was restored in Virginia, and the State again became a member of the Federal Union.
In the meantime, while the State was under military rule, the terms of the justices who were appointed by Governor Peirpont, and who constituted the county court for Tazewell County, had expired. General George Stoneman, who was then in command of
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History of Tazewell County
Military District No. 1, appointed a new list of justices. The new court held its first term on the 31st of March, 1869, when the following business was transacted, as shown by the order book of the court :
"Be it remembered that on the 31st day of March, in the year 1869, at Tazewell Court House, in the County of Tazewell, appeared Henry F. Hunt, Jacob Wimmer, William T. Doak, James Albert, Crockett Stump, Jeptha Fallen, John G. Prater, George T. Falkner, William B. Yost, William J. Tabor, Absalom J. Hall and William Lester, who severally produced commissions from Bre't. General
Captain Henry Bowen was the most distinguished son of Tazewell, certainly the most highly honored by his people. He was born at Maiden Spring on December 26th, 1815, and died in view of the old homestead-the place of his nativity, on the 29th day of April, 1915. In May, 1861, he entered the service of the Confederate States as a member of the "Tazewell Troopers;" and at the age of twenty-one became captain of that gallant company, and led it in the frequent battles in which it was engaged until he was captured at the battle of Winchester in September, 1864. In this battle Taze- well lost several of her brave boys. Captain Bowen's distinction in civil life began when he was elected to represent Tazewell County in the Virginia General Assembly in 1869. He served at the sessions of 1869-70 and 1870-71; and had the distinction of being a member of the General Assembly that restored Virginia to the Union by the adoption of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Federal Consti- tution. In 1882 he was elected to Congress by the Readjusters, as the representative of the Ninth Congressional District. And again in 1886 he was elected a member of Congress by the Republican Party. Upon his retirement from Congress, he returned to the vocation of his pioneer ancestors-that of grazier and farmer-which noble calling he followed to the end of his life.
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George Stoneman, Commanding the Military District of Virginia, who took and subscribed to the oath prescribed by the Congress of the United States by act passed the 2nd day of July, 1868, before Henry F. Hunt a justice of the peace for said County, and a majority of the justices being present they procceded to election of one of their body for presiding justice, and Henry F. Hunt was declared duly elected presiding justice of this Court."
David Lester, who had been appointed by Gencral Stoneman sheriff of Tazewell County, qualified as such.
Rees B. Gillespie, who had been appointed clerk, qualified.
John G. Lester qualified as Commissioner of Revenue for Dis- trict No. 1, and John S. Moore qualified as Commissioner of Revenue for District No. 2.
Mathias H. Beavers qualified as constable for District No. 1, and Rees B. Lester qualified as constable for District No. 2.
The justices and county officers that were appointed by General Stoneman served for one year. Under the provisions of the Under- wood Constitution the old county court system was abolished; and the last term of that court was held in Tazewell County on the 30th of March, 1870. James P. Kelly was elected judge of the county court of Tazewell by the General Assembly at its session of 1869-70.
The first term of the county court of Tazewell, under the new system, was begun on the 27th day of April, 1870, with Judge James P. Kelly presiding.
Rees B. Gillespie was appointed clerk of the court, Henry C. Alderson was appointed Commonwealth's Attorney, and Charles A. Fudge was appointed sheriff of the county. He appointed Hamilton R. Bogle, Alexander St. Clair, F. P. Spotts, and William H. Bar- nett his deputies. All of these were qualified by the court and entered immediately upon the duties of their respective offices. It was necessary for Judge Kelly to make these temporary appoint- ments ; and the several appointees served until their successors were elected by the voters of the county.
The despised military rule under abhorred Reconstruction was thus completely terminated in Tazewell County. This county, however, had escaped the evils of the much hated carpetbag govern- ment, for during the entire Reconstruction period the affairs of the county were administered by men who were "natives here and to the manner born."
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APPENDIX TO WAR AND RECON- STRUCTION PERIOD
Containing the Names of Tazewell Men Who Served as Field and Company Officers In the Confederate Army
LIST OF FIELD AND COMPANY OFFICERS.
It was my intention to procure for publication rolls of the twenty companies from Tazewell County that were in the service of the Confederate States. This scheme has been impossible of accom- plishment, as very few of the rolls have been preserved. Only four or five have been obtained, and these are two few to publish.
A friend of the author informed him that valuable information about the Confederate soldiers from Tazewell County could be secured from 'Squire S. M. Graham, son of the gallant Colonel Wil- liam L. Graham. From Mr. Graham I have received information of great value. He has furnished it in such excellent form that I will make no alterations, but publish as it came from his pen. It is as follows:
Graham, Va., Jan. 8th, 1919.
Col. W. C. Pendleton,
Marion, Va.
Dear Colonel :
I have just received your letter of the 6th inst., asking for information as to the companies organized in Tazewell County, that served in the Confederate Army. I regret that I cannot give you all the information you desire. I remember well all the Field Officers and Captains that went from this county into the Confed- erate Army ; but I cannot recall the Lieutenants-some of them I remember, but very few.
I have no record of these companies, nor the officers, except a short one, I compiled from memory about two years ago.
There were twenty companies organized in Tazewell County,
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that served in the Confederate Army-ten companies of infantry and ten companies of cavalry.
The first four companies were organized early in the spring of 1861, and were incorporated in the 45th Regiment Va. Inf. as Companies A, G, H, and K. Joseph Harrisson was the first Cap-
Colonel Joseph Harrisson was among the first of Tazewell's sons to enter the service of the Confederate States as a soldier. He was elected captain of Company A, 45th Regiment, Virginia Infantry, in May, 1861, and served as captain of that company until the spring of 1862. For the remainder of the war he was continually engaged in other branches of the service. Colonel Harrisson was born within the present limits of the town of Tazewell in 1830, and died here in 1905. He was a man of undaunted courage and was an excellent soldier.
tain of Co. A. He served until the spring of 1862. John Thomp- son was the second Captain and served until the end of the war. William Browne was the first Captain of Co. G. He served as Captain until the spring of 1862, when he became Colonel of the regiment. He was mortally wounded at the battle of Piedmont in June, 1864. He was a West Pointer, and an accomplished officer. After the promotion of Colonel Browne, James S. Peery beeame Captain of Co. G. He was captured at the battle of Piedmont and was not released from prison until the war ended.
Edwin Harman was the first Captain of Co. H. Robt. H. Tay- lor Ist. Lieutenant. C. A. Fudge, 2nd Lieutenant and Armour Bailey, 3rd Lieutenant. In the spring of 1862 Captain Harman became
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Lieutenant Colonel of the 45th Reg. and was mortally wounded at the battle of Cloyd's Farm in May, 1864. When promoted to Lieu. Col. he was succeeded as Captain of Co. H. by Charles A. Fudge. Capt. Fudge was desperately wounded and captured at the battle of Piedmont in June, 1864, and was not released from prison until the end of the war. He never fully recovered from the wound. Lieutenant Bailey remained with the company until the end of the
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