Confederate Cavalryman

Ada Celeste Sweet: Strength In Extraordinary Circumstances

2010-06-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Although the possibility of under aged prisoners has long been conjectured, Ada Celeste Sweet, daughter of Colonel Benjamin Jeffery Sweet, is the only child documented to have actually lived behind the towering walls of Camp Douglas.

From an early age, Ada’s life took extraordinary turns. In the autumn of 1863, the Sweet family was residing in Wisconsin when Ada’s father, formerly a lawyer and Wisconsin Sate Senator, received the assignment to Camp Douglas as part of his service with the Twenty-first Wisconsin Regiment. This promotion immediately divided the family. In conduct highly unusual for the period, twelve year old Ada Sweet accompanied her father to Chicago even though her mother and siblings remained in Wisconsin.[i]

Officers of Camp Douglas were expected to reside within the camp. However, when their family accompanied them to their post, the officers commonly installed their wives and children in comfortable homes within the city of Chicago. This spared their loved ones the harsh, unsanitary conditions of the camp which was not considered a fit place for women and children. Following this example, Colonel Sweet, living as a single father, took up residence in downtown Chicago and enrolled Ada in a Catholic girls’ school.

When William Hoffman, commissary-general of prisoners, learned that Colonel Sweet was living in town with his daughter, he irately reported Sweet to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Unperturbed, Stanton diplomatically directed Sweet to change residence “in order that your personal attention may be given to the affairs at the camp.” Sweet quickly responded that he felt the move unnecessary as his downtown location was ideally located; being close to the telegraph, provost marshal, and quartermaster.[ii] Nonetheless, to please his superiors, Sweet moved to Camp Douglas, taking Ada with him.

By July 15th, 1864, Colonel Sweet and his daughter had taken up residence within Camp Douglas.[iii] Any account of reasons why Ada was not returned to her mother, boarded with a respectable family in town, or left in the care of nuns has been lost to history. What does remain clear is that Ada’s innocent childhood had come to a crashing halt.

While living in Garrison Square, Ada was needlessly exposed to a multitude of deadly diseases and frequently witnessed unspeakable acts of inhumanity. Each day, when Ada returned from school, she had free run of Garrison Square. One of Sweet’s fellow officers recalled the lonely “little girl” darting in and out headquarters in search of attention.[iv] Not yet a teenager, Ada daily witnessed guards forcing prisoners to “ride the mule” which was positioned near the prisons’ gate. Her writing shows evidence that Ada felt deep compassion toward these men.

“The man slipped away from the other prisoners and hide in our basement,…At night when I came home from school I saw him hiding there behind a barrel. I just kept quiet and didn’t say a word. About an hour later his absence was discovered. The alarm was given and a search was made, but it was too late. The man had run the guard and escaped. It was one of those things a child will do.”[v]

Colonel Sweet must have noticed the toll that living within the camp was taking on Ada. He wrote to Hoffman requesting to be allowed to move back into downtown Chicago. Hoffman, while tactful, remained adamant in his belief that Sweet should reside in camp, replying, “I feared that in your absence from camp it would necessarily fall into other and less reliable, hands, and for this reason I asked for the change.”[vi]

While Colonel Sweet was seen as a “reliable” officer who eventually rose to the rank of General, he was a demanding, self-centered father. By age 14, Ada’s formal education had ended. At 16, she literally became her father’s right arm. As his elbow had been seriously injured during the war, Ada was pressed to serve as her father’s secretary and scribe, writing down his every thought while he served as the United States Pensions Agent in Chicago.[vii] Ada continued in this position when her father became a deputy commissioner for the Internal Revenue Service in Washington DC. [viii] She quickly became adept at living in a “man’s world,” keeping matters confidential, and doing an adult’s work professionally.

After her father’s untimely death in 1874, 21 year old Ada was appointed as the Chicago Pension Agent. She held this position for eight years.[ix] Ada was the first female allowed to distribute money for the United States Government.[x] Legend holds that she received her post as a political favor from President Ulysses S. Grant who had learned that the General’s family would not be able to support itself without a steady income.[xi]

“Miss Ada C. Sweet has been made a United States Pension Agent at Chicago. The President has heretofore declined to appoint ladies to responsible disbursing positions, but the ability of Miss Sweet in the administration of the Chicago office while her father was Pension Agent, before he was appointed Deputy Commissioner, induced the President to make an exception in her favor. The Senate confirmed the nomination without the usual reference to a committee. ~ 'The States.'” [xii]

Despite being very effective in her work and making several improvements in the office, a scandal mars her record. In 1876 an investigation of the Chicago Pension Office was conducted after Congressman Hulbert accused Ada of bribing a male pension officer to resign so that she might have employment. Ada, who was no shrinking violet, refused to stoop so low as to answer the charge. The case was never resolved.[xiii]

During that memorable year of 1876, Ada served as president of the Chicago Woman's Club. The membership adored her. Upon her retirement, she was made an honorary life member.[xiv] Ada was also an avid member of the Illinois Audubon Society, and advocated for wild life delivering various speeches including "A Plea for the Birds."

Tragedy haunted the Sweet family. In 1879 when their mother died in a train accident, the Sweet children became orphans. Ada, now a single working woman, was left to rear two younger sisters. Her brother Lawrence had died in August 1872. Another brother ran away and was not found until 1889 when he was discovered working as a ranch hand in Arizona.[xv] Thus Ada and her sisters were left alone against the world.

The task of guiding and nurturing her sisters was not without its hazards. Matilda, whom the family called Minnie, was the Sweet’s second daughter. As a rather impetuous young woman she hastily became engaged to a recently arrived German emigrant. On October 5, 1880, 23 year old Minnie wed Frank Weber. While this couple went on to have two children, their marriage was not a happy one. The youngest sister, Martha Winifred Sweet, was equally headstrong. Winifred failed quite miserably in a career as an actress in New York. However, when she changed coasts, and changed careers at Ada’s urging, she rose to success as the noted “Sob-Sister” journalist Annie Laurie. Winifred gained her fame through writing investigative articles for the San Francisco “Examiner.” She married twice, neither time produced happy results. Made cautious by what she witnessed and her overriding feelings of unwillingness to surrender a hard earned independence, Ada never married. Instead she focused proudly on furturing her career.

“[3-405]
(Pensioner Dropped.)
U.S. Pension Agency
Chicago Ill.
July 1, 1883

Wm. W. Dudley
Commissioner of Pensions

Sir,

I hereby report that the name of Sarah J. DIXON, widow who was a pensioner on the rolls of this agency under Certificate No. 72253 and who was last paid at $8 to 31 Dec 1882 has been dropped because of REMARRIAGE.

Very respectfully,

Ada C. Sweet
pension agent”

Ada was a highly successful career woman at time when most women’s lives centered upon on housekeeping and children. However, her life was never without challenge, notoriety, and adventure. In 1886 Ada visited Europe and upon her return she began work as the literary editor of the Chicago “Tribune.”[xvi]

“Are We A Homeless People?

By Ada C Sweet

Puzzle to me is why so many American women find themselves useless at home – so useless, so uninterested that they can spend time and money in Europe, leaving their husbands to drift about in hotels or clubs or to live in their gloomy half shut houses, attended by servants and without anything that makes a house a home. Here on this side of the ocean…..”[xvii]

Following her father’s example, Ada always strived to further her career. In 1888 she became an Untied States Claims Attorney and held the position until 1905.[xviii] Yet, even in this position of power, Ada never forgot what she had seen at an early age at Camp Douglas. She became a political activist and member of the Civic Federation.[xix] She championed the rights of poor working women, worked with women prisoners, and fought for sanitary improvements within the city of Chicago.[xx]

The experience of residing in Camp Douglas where unsanitary conditions and common childhood diseases claimed the lives of thousand marked the course of Ada’s adult life. In 1890 Ada worked doggedly to raise funds and donate the very first ambulance to the Chicago Police Department. In 1892 she founded the Municipal Order League of Chicago. As its first president, Ada successfully lobbied for the creation of a department of street cleaning. Instead of being collected by a variety of private contractors, trash was now collected by the city and incinerated.[xxi] Ada also lobbied for public bathhouse citing that poor women often lived in tenements which had no facilities for bathing. Ada believed that every woman, regardless of her social class, deserved a safe place to bathe herself and her children. Ada was active as a suffragist and lent her name and strength to the movement. Indefatigable and never contented with the status quo, Ada worked on. In 1894, Ada organized the Columbian Ambulance Association in connection with the Chicago police department.[xxii] Concern for public health ran in the family. Ada’s sister Winifred wrote an undercover article for the San Francisco “Examiner” detailing the plight of poor working women who fell ill in public and the often brutal treatment they received from police officers and medical personnel.

Ada was a strong, invincible woman who refused to view herself as incapable of anything that could be accomplished by a man. She was simply not the sort to settle for the victim’s lot or tolerate pity. Her short story, “Poor Miss Pym,” which is the work most descriptive of her personal ethos, was published in “Harper’s Magazine” in 1899. Autobiographical in nature, the story tells the tale of an older single woman who, after witnessing the failing and abusive marriages of several friends, delivers a paper to a civic club objecting to the “idea that a woman who remains single is an object of pity.” Sadly, the “friends” of her story were in reality her own mother and sisters.

Ada tried to enter semi-retirement in 1905 when she became an editorial writer for the Chicago Journal. However she proved a most prolific writer, and contributed to a great number of newspapers and magazines. [xxiii]

“Don't make too much of the faults and failings of those
around you even be good to yourself, and don't harry your
soul over your own blunders and mistakes.

__ Ada C. Sweet”[xxiv]

Ever restless and striving for something more, Ada returned to full time employment in 1911. She served as manager of the women’s department of the Equitable Life Assurance Society until 1913.[xxv] Finally, in her late 60’s, age and the longing for closer family ties caught up with Ada.

“Music

What music sings no words could say,
And all the hidden springs of tears
Start forth into the light of day,
Grief has again its first sharp dread,
And disappointment cuts anew;
Mine eyes behold the loved and dead
And weep again the lost and true.
All the sweet voices heard no more,
And dear faces that have flown,
All the bright hopes my young life bore,
My heart recalls with every tone.
The smothered sweet of harp and flute
The human thrill of violin,
Make all my soul stand still and mute,
While memories flutter out and in.

Ada C. Sweet”[xxvi]

Lured by the warmer climate and the desire to live near her sister Winifred, Ada left Chicago for San Francisco. By the time of the 1920 Census, Ada had settled in Santa Rosa, California and in 1922 she was included in a "Who’s Who among the Women of California" which listed California’s Women Artists, Writers, and Musicians.[xxvii] On September 17, 1928, Ada died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Winifred Black Bonfils, (Annie Laurie) in San Francisco, California.[xxviii] Ada was 72 years old and had run a good race.

“Miss Ada Celeste Sweet

Special to the New York ‘Times’

CHICAGO. Sept. 17 – Miss Ada Celeste Sweet, A past President of the Chicago Women’s Club and pension agent at Chicago during the Administrations of Grant, Hayes, Garfield and Arthur, died today at the home of her sister, Mrs. Winifred Black Bonfils, at San Francisco, according to word received here. Born in Stockbridge, Wis., Miss Sweet was the daughter of General Benjamin J. Sweet, whose office of Pension Commissioner she filled after his death.”[xxix]

ENDNOTES

[i] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago” Chapter 13, p. 207
[ii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago” Chapter 13, p. 218
[iii] Kelly, Dennis. “ A History of Camp Douglas Illinois, Union Prison, 1861-1865” p. 65
[iv] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago” Chapter 14, p. 229
[v] Camp Douglas Newspaper File, Chicago Historical Society
[vi] “ Official Records of the War of the Rebellion” Ser. II, Vol. VII, p. 644.
[vii] “Portrait and Biographical Record of Cook and Dupage Counties, Illinios” p. 609
[viii] Waterloo, Stanley and Hanson, John Wesly, Jr. “ Famous American Men and Women” p. 434
[ix] New-York Times. May 9, 1876, March 19, 1878
[x] Osborne, Georgia L. “ Brief Biographies of the Figurines on display in the Illinois State Historical Library” #110
[xi] Wood, Sharon E. “The freedom of the streets: work, citizenship, and sexuality in a gilded age city” By Sharon E. Wood p. 38
[xii] Faithfull, Emily. “Victoria Magazine” Vol. 23 May – October 1874
[xiii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago” Epilogue, p. 368
[xiv] Osborne, Georgia L. “ Brief Biographies of the Figurines on display in the Illinois State Historical Library” #110
[xv] Abramson, Phyllis Leslie. “ Sob Sister Journalism” p. 34
[xvi] Waterloo, Stanley and Hanson, John Wesly, Jr. “ Famous American Men and Women” p. 434
[xvii] Sunday Morning Globe, Washington, D. C. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016353/1902-06-29/ed-1/seq-2.pdf
[xviii] Waterloo, Stanley and Hanson, John Wesly, Jr. “ Famous American Men and Women” p. 434
[xix] Osborne, Georgia L. “ Brief Biographies of the Figurines on display in the Illinois State Historical Library” #110
[xx] Sivulka, Juliann. “From Domestic to Municipal Housekeeper: The Influence of the Sanitary Reform Movement on Changing Women's Roles in America, 1860–1920”
[xxi] Chicago Metro History Education Center. “Chicago Women History” http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/history-fair/history-fair-a-nhd-theme/find-topics/chicago-women-history-topics.html
[xxii] Waterloo, Stanley and Hanson, John Wesly, Jr. “ Famous American Men and Women” p. 434
[xxiii] Osborne, Georgia L. “ Brief Biographies of the Figurines on display in the Illinois State Historical Library” #110
[xxiv]Haines, Jennie Day. “The Blue Monday Book”
[xxv] Pierce, Bessie Louise. “ As other See Chicago” p. 317
[xxvi] Tourgee, Albion W. “Our Continent” Vol. 2 July – December 1882
[xxvii] Loughporough, Jean. “Who’s Who Amount the Women of California 1922”
[xxviii] Osborne, Georgia L. “ Brief Biographies of the Figurines on display in the Illinois State Historical Library” #110
[xxix] The New York Times, September 18, 1928

June 1864: Starvation and Torture

2010-05-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

On June 1, 1864, Colonel Sweet wrote to his superior William Hoffman, Commissary General of Prisons, describing the improvements he had made in the arrangement and policing of Camp Douglas.[i] However, the changes which had been instituted at the camp by Colonel Sweet were not effective against escape attempts. That very night, prisoners made a coordinated attacked on the fence.[ii] Various groups of prisoners smashed the lamps while others rocked the fence. Darkness and motion inhibited the guard’s ability to shoot escaping prisoners as yet another group chopped their way through the fence with axes. Only one guard managed to discharge his gun from the parapet. Nevertheless, patrols on the ground, armed with pistols, halted the attempt and sent the various groups of prisoners fleeing for cover. Enraged, Sweet wrote to Hoffman saying that the rifles used by the guards on the parapets were too old and had been condemned.[iii] He went on to suggest that the prisoners were no longer afraid of these weapons and that he wanted new ones. In retaliation for the escape attempt, Sweet and the War Department reduced rations to starvation levels. When on considers that no one, guard or prisoner, had been injured, this actions seems unjustly punitive. The order written by Hoffman, lists the following:

Daily rations per prisoner:

Meat
14 ounces fresh beef
or
10 ounces pork or bacon in lieu of fresh beef
Bread
16 ounces flour or soft bread
or
14 ounces hard bread in lieu of flour or soft bread
or
16 ounces Cornmeal in lieu of flour or bread
Vegetables
12 ½ pounds of beans or peas per 100 rations
or
8 ounces rice or hominy per 100 rations
15 ounces potatoes per 100 rations

Every other day the sick and wounded were to have twelve ounces of sugar, five pounds of ground or seven pounds of green coffee or one pound of tea to every one hundred rations. Sickness increased and hygiene became an issue as soap was issued at 4 ounces per 100 rations.[iv] Hoffman noted that the saving incurred by the reduction of rations could be placed in the prison fund and used for making further improvements to the camp.

“The carpenters are at work again today. After dinner a Yankee told some of the men that we would have to move into the barrack opposite us, which caused a stampede to secure bunks. I got a middle bunk. The regiment that was in it moved to another barrack and gave us full possession, and we moved in. The barrack was very dirty and the balance of the evening was spent in cleaning out. It is also old and rickety and will have to be put on posts and remodeled. Both ends are now open.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[v]

Middle bunks were considered the most choice as leaking roofs affected the top most bunks and cold drafts the bottom most. Yet, none of the bare wooden bunks offered a comfortable night’s sleep.

Further complicating the difficulties of the lack of food were new “mess orders” which forbade anyone to enter the kitchen area of the barracks save the designed cook and two members of the water hauling detail.

“It is rather difficult to escape but now and then some fellow is lucky enough to do so. Several of my old companions have gone to another barracks and my only way of passing time is with my pencil and guitar but it is hard to get strings so I use my pencil more than my Music…They have taken our cooking vessels from us and instituted kitchens and shortened our rations giving us nothing but pork and bread and not quite enough of that .I do not mean fresh pork. Oh! No but salt picked pork. Old and fat and not water enough to wash it down. It is rather tough living but we stand it. I think if the commissioner were here for a week they would agree on an exchange.”

~Private William D. Huff[vi]

“James Terpin the Patrol in charge of our barrack No. 27 made us throw all the cooking utensils, boxes, bottles, old cloths etc. out in a pile, and scour up all the plates, cups, spoons, etc. and put them in our bunks. A few vinegar bottles, cigar boxes and scoured coffee pots were allowed to be kept. Nearly all our shelves were knocked down, and we have a general clean up. Notice was given us that if any person was caught in the kitchen except the cooks and the water details after today they would be punished. The kitchen for each Barrack had been partitioned off of the end of each barrack.

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry [vii]

Men who had long been mess mates and who had cooked together pooling their rations for group survival were now separated. This virtually ensured starvation for those who were not regrouped with friends.

"We are all out of rations and had to go without breakfast. The kitchen is furnished with a two pound boiler and a cooking stove. Henry Elder our commissary sergeant has charge of the kitchen. The following men volunteered to cook under him. Geo. Kersey from Co., A, Bolin G. Roberts from Co. B, Robert Feuston from Co. C, Ed Force from Co. D, and Gabriel Williams from squad 24. Rations for ten days were hauled to the kitchen. The first meal, a late dinner, consisted of a small piece of yellow corn bread and fat pickle pork per man. We drew it through a slide window between the kitchen and the barrack, in messes of ten, and it was then divided by the heads of the messes to suit the men. James Allen is the head of mess No. 7 the mess that I and Henry White are in, but we draw our mite together and eat it in our bunk or on the floor. My old mess have disbanded. Pa and Falles are together, Beach and Miller are together, and old Jerry Murphy is by himself.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[viii]

Prisoners quickly discovered that the only means left to procure a diet that would insure survival was to either make purchases from the sutler at greatly inflated prices or to write to every friend and family member begging to have packages of food and clothing sent as quickly as possible.

All packages sent to the prisoners were inspected for contraband items. It was not uncommon for inspectors to help themselves to handfuls of cigars or boxes of apples.

“Sunday June 5th, 1864. Weather pleasant. We have had a short roll calls for the last week, but this morning all the prisoners were marched in two lines around the whole prison near the dead line, and several columns through the square. Then Capt. Sponable assisted by Lieut. Proseus and some sergeants and corporals belonging to the patrol guard, counted the prisoners off in squads of 100 each. As soon as a squad was counted the left was advanced about six paces, the right standing firm, making a quarter right wheel, then they were allowed to sit down. When all were counted we were notified that a blue jacket had been stolen from the workshop, and that we would be kept where we were till we told who got it or where it was. This was news to me and it appeared to be the same with everybody else. An hour passed off and no tidings of the jacket. Capt. Sponable then told us that he would let us go to our quarters, and if the jacket was not found by one o’clock he would call us all out again. We were glad to get off for the most of us had not eaten breakfast yet. My mess was just pouring out the coffee when the roll call bugle sounded. When we returned we found everything cold and the fire out. I went to the express office and when my name was called I went in. The Yankee took a handful of cigars out of my box and then gave it to me. On arriving at my barrack I found the box to contain the following articles: A gray jacket and vest, and some socks, soap, crackers, marbles, and two novels for myself. A hat, socks, soap, thread, a pair of shoes, and part of a box of cigars for Pa. Also a hat and a pair of shoes for Estus Garret of 2nd Kentucky, which I immediately delivered to him in person. Everything came that the list called for. The box was started from Lexington, KY on the 1st inst. Making only three days on the way as it arrived at the express office yesterday. Shanks is now writing at the express office. We were not called out again. I think the jacket was found. There was no work done today. We moved our stove into the barrack.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[ix]

Burke went on to record that by June 6th “a good part of the camp” was out of rations and “it will be three or four days till we draw again.” While Burke and his father could eke by on food sent by family and friends, other prisoners starved.

“Our rations were most radically changed. All vegetables were cut off, and tea, coffee, and sugar became things of the past. One third of our bread was cut off and two thirds of our meat, the later being salted shoulders. Men were hungry now.”

~ R. T. Bean, Company I, Eight Kentucky Cavalry[x]

“The papers say that the U. S. Government can’t afford to issue any more coffee, sugar, or molasses. This is certainly very unwelcome news to us”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xi]

The Official Records shows that the elimination of coffee, tea, sugar, and molasses was a retaliatory move intended “to reduce the ration to that issued by the rebel Government to their own troops.”[xii] General Halleck, general in chief of the Union army, held Confederate prisoners in contempt and saw no reason to offer them a prison diet which was better than the diet the Confederate Army provided its soldiers in the field. Halleck failed to take into account that soldiers in the field could (or rather had to) forge for additional food stuffs. Furthermore, it was the Union blockade of Southern ports and waterways know as the Anaconda Plan which had effectively ceased Southern trade with other nations and caused wide spread shortages of coffee, tea, and sugar.

Forced labor continued with Colonel Strong demanding details of six men a day from each barrack “two to bring water and cut wood for the kitchen, two to keep the barrack and street in front well swept, two to carry out the waste water.” Prisoners were also conscripted to dig ditches, move lumber, and improve the streets.

By the middle of June, the prisoners were surviving on scraps and cooking only two meals per day. Despite the mass starvation, Sweet’s focus remained on superficial appearance. To impress inspectors and visiting members of the public, Sweet maniacally dressed his frail and dying prisoners up in new clothing.

“Friday June 17th, 1864. Weather pleasant. Our rations have given out, and we are living on scraps. There has been a good deal of clothing issued by the Yanks to the needy in the last four or five days, consisting of shoes, dark blue pants, gray jackets or coats, high crowned gray hats, cotton drawers, woolen shits, and a few socks, by the rules of war. When a Government holds prisoners of war a certain length of time or till they become needy, the Government is required to clothe them. So we have a right to the clothing. Most of the workhands have been working for clothing which they could have gotten without working if they had only waited. The majority of the prisoners are against working for the Yankees in any form. Two prisoners got into the Yankee camp and escaped over the fence by means of a ladder where there was no guard. I did not learn their names. I coughed part of the night."

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xiii]

Illness was ever present. Prisoners who managed to survive, watched those around them die in alarming numbers. While priests and ministers were allowed to visit the sick in the camp’s hospital, it required the urging of Chicago’s mayor before Sweet allowed nuns from his daughter Ada’s school to distribute food to those in the hospital. The nuns showed their appreciation by baking cakes for the guards.[xiv] One of the priests from St. James Church baptized 250 men. Sadly, 77 died soon there after. These baptism records are the only surviving Camp Douglas record that show the prisoner’s ages. They were as young as 17 and as old as 50.[xv]

J. P Parker died June 12th 1864
A. W. Johnson died June 18th 1864 of smallpox at Camp Douglas

-Company Deaths Recorded in the Diary of Ezekiel A. Brown , 62nd North Carolina[xvi]

“Monday June 13th, 1864. Weather pleasant. At roll call Frank Boyd of Company A was reported to have died at the hospital.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xvii]

William Henry Adams again wrote home on June 19th to describe the failing health of his brother George:

"He is sinking slowly. He don’t seem to suffer much but is very weak. It seems very hard for such a boy as George to be compelled to suffer so long."

George Forbes Adams lingered on, suffering for another month before his death.[xviii]

Homesickness beleaguered the prisoners.

“I wrote home. We drew rations, but no coffee, sugar, or molasses. Morgan is in Kentucky with a scattered force and has possession of Mt. Sterling, Winchester, Crab orchard, Richmond, Maysville, Cynthiana, Paris, and is near Lexington. Gold is quoted at $1.973/4. I got up on a barrack with some work hands and had a fine view of the lake and country. I saw a crowd collected at the race track nearby waiting for a race. The country looked green and the houses looked clean and comfortable. The people walking about as if there was no war going on, and here I have been wasting part of the prime of life in this miserable place as a prisoner, and not knowing how much longer I will be forced to remain. I could not help envying them their liberty, yet I try to be contented.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xix]

While his prisoners starved, Sweet was intent on keeping up appearances and expanding his camp. Prisoner’s Square now boasted Nightingale’s store where prisoners could purchase food and other various items from this close friend of Sweet’s at highly inflated prices, an express office where prisoners could send letters home and receive packages, a pharmacy, and D. F. Brandon’s photography studio where carefully staged photos of the prisoners were taken. Sweet plead with Hoffman asking permission to build 39 additional barracks “which would give a capacity to hold 11,880 prisoners, or would accommodate, by placing a few more men in each barrack, in round numbers, 12,000 men.”

Finally, cravings for power and control must have overtaken Sweet’s reason. Abandoning all ethics and humanity, Sweet instigated a brutal punishment system which pushed those prisoners on the brink of breaking right over sanitie’s edge.

“I saw one poor fellow who had lost his mind for fear of starving to death, and his cries for bread were pitiful in the extreme.”

~ R. T. Bean, Company I, Eight Kentucky Cavalry [xx]

No system for insuring the humane treatment of prisoners was in place, nor did it appear that anyone thought that such a system should exist. A punishment first conceived in 17th century Spain as an executioner’s torture device was revived and pressed into use at Camp Douglas. Similar to the “Spanish Donkey” which was designed to cleave a victim’s body in two, this new device consisted of a thin pointed rail suspended between two posts some ten to fifteen feet from the ground. It became known as “The Mule.” Prisoners were forced to sit upon the pointed rail with their weight resting against their anus, scrotum or coccyx. The guards often increased the suffering of their victims by attaching weights to their feet or placing large beef bones in their hands. After several hours, the force was so great that it severally damaged the area between the legs.

“There were some of our poor boys, for little infraction of the prison rules, riding what they called Morgan's mule every day. That was one mule that did the worst standing stock still. He was built after the pattern of those used by carpenters. He was about fifteen feet high; the legs were nailed to the scantling so one of the sharp edges was turned up, which made it very painful and uncomfortable to the poor fellow especially when he had to be ridden bareback, sometimes with heavy weights fastened to his feet and sometimes with a large beef bone in each hand. This performance was carried on under the eyes of a guard with a loaded gun, and was kept up for several days; each ride lasting two hours each day unless the fellow fainted and fell off from pain and exhaustion. Very few were able to walk after this hellish Yankee torture but had to be supported to their barracks.”

-Milton Asbury Ryan, Co. G, 8th MS Regiment[xxi]

“If the least sign of water or spit was seen on the floor the order was, Come, go to the mule or point for grub, which was to stand with the legs perfectly straight, reach over, and touch the ground with the fingers. If the legs were bent in the least, a guard was present with a paddle which he well knew how to use.”

~ T. D. Henry[xxii]

“June 28, 1864. Weather pleasant. We drew a loaf of light bread per man for one day. I got up on a barrack and had a view of the country. The Yanks have fixed a frame near the gate with a scantling across it edge up, and about four feet from the ground, which they make our men ride whenever the men do anything that does not please them. It is called ‘The Mule’. Men have sat on it till they fainted and fell off. It is like riding a sharp fence top.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xxiii]

Hell had been effectively recreated in Chicago yet, those who permitted it felt fully justified in their actions. Parades of spectators flocked to the camp as if they were visiting a zoo.

“Two carriages full of ladies and a lady on horse back drove through camp this evening. Citizens and ladies often appear on the parapet through the day and take a look at us. They are always accompanied by an officer and only stay a few minutes. They are not allowed to speak to us or we to them.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xxiv]

Sweet seemed to enjoy this public attention, especially the attentions paid by ladies of the upper class. While Sweet generally met with request from clergy and church groups with annoyance, he happily permitted the ladies of Grace Church’s Camp Douglas Hospital Aid Society to nurse prisoners housed in the prison’s hospital.

For the prisoners, there was nothing left but the daily challenge of endurance.

“Life in the prison was going from bad to worse. Half-fed, cursed, kicked, and abused for imaginary more that real misdemeanors, hope was dead and life an existence only that gave no promise of relief or escape. Our guards had been changed several times, but that brought no change in our favor. The meat furnished us was salted pork shoulders, and that was telling upon us. The scurvy broke out in a most virulent and aggravated form. Lips were eaten away, jaws became diseased, and teeth feel out. If leprosy is worse than scurvy, may God have mercy upon the victim! It was shocking, horrible, monstrous, and a disgrace to any people who permitted such conditions to exist…The scurvy sent many a man from Camp Douglas to his grave, and many more bear today its cruel. Loathsome scars. Our cries for relief were unnoticed; and the greater our sufferings, the more satisfaction it seemed to give our captors.”

~ R. T. Bean, Company I, Eight Kentucky Cavalry[xxv]

“Time like a sweeping billow, rolls steadily on, and nothing as yet intervenes to break the dull monotony of our prison life. Every day nearly the same thing is repeated. Our fare is poor, mostly bread and water and a small quantity.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xxvi]

ENDNOTES

[i] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII, 184-185
[ii] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII, 187-188
[iii] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII 187-188
[iv] Official Records, Series 2, 7: 183-184
[v] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[vi] Excerpts from the Diary of William D. Huff Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http
[vi] Bean, R. T. “Se://www.chicagohistory.com/
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[viii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[ix] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[x] Bean, R. T. “Seventeen Months in Camp Douglas.”
[xi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xii] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII, 150 -151
[xiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xiv] Levy, George. “To die in Chicago” Chap 13, pp. 216-217
[xv] Levy, George. “To die in Chicago” Chap 13, p. 217
[xvi] The Civil War Diary of Ezekiel A. Brown, http://www.jcncgs.com/civilwar/eabdiary.htm
[xvii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xviii] The Wartime Letters of William Henry Adams
[xix] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xx] Bean, R. T. “Seventeen Months in Camp Douglas” p. 270
[xxi] Ryan, Milton Asbury. “Experience Of A Confederate Soldier In Camp and Prison In The Civil War 1861-1865”
[xxii] Henry, T. D. “Treatment of Prisoners” p. 278
[xxiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xxiv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xxv] Bean, R. T. “Seventeen Months in Camp Douglas.”
[xxvi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry

May 1864: Gradual Erosion

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Prisoners at Camp Douglas circa 1864[i]

Any hopes that Colonel Benjamin Sweet, new commander of Camp Douglas, would show more mercy than Strong were purely in vain. Sweet quickly became known as a strict displinarian, increasing the already harsh punishments.[ii] Sweet forbid prisoners to receive boots in package from home. Further, Sweet eliminated candles from the rations citing that the prisoners had been using candles when attempting to tunnel out. He refused to to hear logical arguments that candles were used to light the barracks and hospital after dark.[iii] Reductions in the prisoner’s rations were made as money saving matters. Saving money impressed the higher uppers and Sweet was a career minded man who took great pains to the curry favor of his superiors.

“His tenure in command was marked by a zealous enaction of punitive measures endorsed by higher Union authorities. His measures resulted in the deaths of over 5,000 rebel prisoners.”[iv]

Sweet’s one show of concern was for his for his twelve year old daughter, Ada. His father's heart over came his ambition when he selected not to live at camp.[v] Officers often selected to have their children live away from the camp due to disease and poor sanitation. However, they themselves were expected to take up residence upon commision.

The camp itself continued to collect curious crowds of “sight seers.”

“Thursday May 5th, 1864. Weather pleasant. A procession of thirty citizens walked in two ranks through the principal part of camp headed by Major Skinner. A prisoner put on citizens cloths and came near passing out the gate with them as they left and escaping, but some short minded prisoner in the crowd standing by hollowed at him and caused the Yanks to notice him, and ordered him back. Notice was givien us that no more lights would be allowed after sun down, and we must go early to bed.”

- Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry [vi]

Sweet, concerned that prisoners might attempt to bribe guards if they were allowed to retain cash, ordered daily searches of the prisoners and of their barracks. Sweet also insisted that all money currently in the hands of prisoners be placed in a camp banking system. Most prisoners refused to do so as they found their own hiding places far more secure. When Hoffman, who had not been consulted regarding this new banking system, learned of Sweet’s actions; he promptly canceled Sweet’s banking system.[vii] Sweet, who had his eye on moving up the ranks, was very careful to never disappoint his superior again.

Rumors and underground gossip continued to circulate amongst the prisoners. There was talk of the sutler being forced out and replaced by a friend of Colonel Sweet’s, the possible reasons behind the rising price of gold, and the results of Battle of the Wilderness and various engagements near Spotsylvania, Virginia.

“We are all very eager to hear the news of the great battle between Gens. Grant and Lee in front of Richmond, Virginia. We are confident of Lee’s success and the impregnability of Richmond.”

- Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[viii]

Diseases continued to take their toll on the prisoner population. Burke sorrowfully recorded that his father, Elijah Watkins, and William Gibbons had made a “neat wooden marker” for the grave of their comrade William Wasson. It is unclear that the marker was ever placed as Burke further recorded that the bodies of smallpox victims were not allowed to be moved for a prescribed period after death.

On May 24, 1864 Colonel Sweet held a Roll Call and counted 5, 277 prisoners.[ix]

“Tuesday May 24th, 1864. Weather pleasant. At roll call we were notified to fall out again at 1 o’clock p. m. to have a general count. Most of us donned out best cloths as a precautionary measure, as we expected to have the barracks searched during our absence. At the appointed time the bugle sounded and we fell in line. The different regiments and squads all marched into out square and were formed in lines running parallel with our own. There was ten or twelve lines two deep, each stretching across the prison square making quite a show of Confederate troops. The Daguerreanist then took a picture of the whole crowd. We were counted off and divided into squads of one hundred and sixty-five each. A small squad had to be added to the old fourteenth to make the required number. Companies E, F, and Scott’s men formed a squad with Sergeant John H. Miller in charge of them. Pa has only to attend to our squad. We were out four hours but were allowed to sit down part of the time. After we were dismissed I learned that the total was 5,227 prisoners in camp. Gold is quoted at $ 1.85 ½ today.”

- Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[x]

On this day Sweet began to institute ruthless changes he felt were need to prevent escapes. While some of the changes appeared quite logical, others were additional money saving ploys. Major Skinner lobbied for the elimination of tea while Ninian Edwards, of the infamous beef scandal, advocated the exclusion of rice and vinegar. The prisoner’s rations no longer prevented scurvy. If the men could not manage to supplement their diets with food purchased from the sutler, bartered with other prisoners, or received in packages from home, they became seriously ill. Almost everyone went hungry. Some were literally starving.

“… starvation was carried on quite systematically. Our rations for breakfast consisted of five ounces of bread and six ounces of fresh beef. As the rations for two hundred men were boiled in a sixty-gallon kettle, it was necessary in order to cook it done, to boil it to shreds. In fact there was no more nutritious matter in it than in an old dish cloth, for dinner one pint bean soup and five ounces of bread, this was our living. This was not regularly issued, for the slightest offence would cause the captain's direful anger to be aroused, and as he would make most by stopping our rations this was quite a favorite punishment.”

-T. D. Henry, Company E, Duke's Regiment, Second Kentucky Cavalry, General J. H. Morgan's command[xi]

Under constant stress brought on by over work, over crowding, abusive punishments, lack of sanitary conditions, and lack of food; the prisoners sometimes took out their frustration upon each other. Burke recorded a fist fight which took place between Joseph McCarney and Doctor Scroggin who were both residents of “Smith’s barracks.” The doctor’s brother, Abner Scroggin, joined the fray. This prompted McCarney to draw his knife. As the fighting continued, McCarney cut both brothers. Abner Scroggins, the most injured party in the fight, went to the drug store while Joseph McCarney was spotted in the square and conscripted to fill dirt carts. When news of the fight reached Lieutenant Proseus, he and a sergeant sought out McCarney for questioning. As the sergeant drew his gun, Lieutenant Proseus relieved McCarney of his knife. McCarney was then hit, kicked, and ordered to “the dungeon.” A group of officers gathered before the dungeon and discussed the matter. As a crowd of prisoners looked on, McCarney was pulled from the dungeon, strip searched, and beaten one more. Patrols drew their guns and ordered the crowd of prisoners back to their quarters. Meanwhile Doctor Scroggin’s wounds had been dressed and Abner Scroggin had been sent to the camp hospital by ambulance. Less than a week later, Abner Scroggin died.

Conscription into work gangs was relentless. Sweet had selected to continue the barracks reconfiguration begun by Orme. Ruthless guards selected any prison that looked idle or appeared to be spreading camp gossip for work details. Burke recorded that the work was hot and hard and worse by the scarcity of drinking water.

“Sweet completed another rearrangement of Prisoner’s Square on June 1, with streets 50 feet wide and four barracks on a street. This arrangement moved them away from the fence and prevented tunneling. Thirty-two barracks sat on blocks, and prisoners white washed them inside and out. They measured 90 feet long, including a 20 foot add-on kitchen, and could house 165 men with two to a bunk.”[xii]

The grounds, which had been a sea of mud all spring, became an arid dust bowl as summer approached.

“Monday May 30th, 1864. Weather windy. I volunteered to help push a barrack that was on its way across the square. I worked two hours and quit. We drew rations for ten days. The following is what my mess of eight gets for the ten days: meal 24 cups, pickle-pork 22 lbs, hominy 4 qts, fresh beef 18 lbs, light bread 24 loaves, parched coffee 4 pts, molasses 3 pts, sugar 5 pints, salt 1 qts, potatoes, 1 peck. No soap flour candles, pepper, peas, beans, or vinegar were issued this time. Our beef and bread is not issued all at once, but we draw them in three different drawings during the ten days, so that we get them tolerable fresh. It is impossible to stand out five minutes without getting our eyes and faces full of sand and dust. I notice that nearly all the Yanks wear green goggles to protect their eyes. The sand blows about in drifts. I often think that the Yanks were not much to blame for wishing to go prospecting in the South, as their own country at least this part of it is not fit to live in. Gold is quoted by the evening papers at $1.91 ¼. A considerable rise.

- Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xiii]

ENDNOTES
[i] Chicago Historical Society
[ii] Heidler, David Stephen, Heidler, Jeanne T. and Coles, David J. “ The Encyclopedia of the American Civil War,” p. 345
[iii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 13, p. 208
[iv] Dodge, Russ. : Bio of Benjamin Jeffrey Sweet. Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7382985
[v] Flynn, John J. “Handbook of Chicago History” 1893, p. 345.
[vi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[vii] National Archives Record Group 393, v. 234, pp. 384-385
[viii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[ix] Record Group 393, National Archives, v.234
[x] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xi] Deposition of T. D. Henry, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. I. Richmond, Va., March, 1876. No. 4. April - Pages 273 - 276
[xii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 13, p. 211.
[xiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry

April 1864

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A group of Morgan’s Men photographed as prisoners on April 29, 1864. This photo was likely taken by D. F. Brandon.

Conditions were no better at Camp Douglas. Both long roll calls and escape attempts continued as the order of the day.

“April comes in wet and cold this morning. Had to get out to roll call at sun rise and stand for an hour or so more. It is bad enough to stand for that long but when we have to stand for 2, 3, or even 4 hours it is almost beyond human endurance and this is the case if any one of the men is missing. It is [hard] indeed to keep 4 or 5,000 men freezing because one or two is missing but we have to stand until the missing one is found. Many of the prisoners have escaped lately by tun[n]eling but that is about ‘played out’ now for they are raising all the [barracks] 4 feet off the ground.”

-Private William D. Huff[i]

“Sunday April 3d, 1864. Weather a little cool. We were kept out at roll call three hours and a quarter to find one missing man. When the bugle sounded to break ranks several of the regiment hollowed for joy and two of the guards threatened to shoot them. We have a mean set of guard with one exception, a little corporal by the name of Norton. WE nicknamed the four privates, viz: Old red, Jack Curd in disguise, Hessian Dutchman, and the Wild Irishman. Old red alias O’Hara is the most vindictive. He is always on alert, watching for a chance to shoot somebody. I often hear it whispered through the ranks, lookout, here come Old red. He bayoneted several of the men, and we have no particular love for him. A sergeant, two corporals, and five privates have charge of us, most of them I have named above, have to guard us at roll call, make details clean up in and around the barracks, and see that our rations and fuel are hauled to us. They also patrol the camp at night, and are independent of the regular guards on the parapet. Just at dark I took a walk through camp to see how the lamps at the foot of the fence threw their light. I found that the lamps were so close together and the light so brilliant that it would be almost impossible to get to the fence without being discovered by the guards on top. I was standing in the shade of one of the barracks arguing to myself the chances of dropping on the ground close to the fence in the darkest place and quietly digging under or cutting a plank, when Major Skinner and two other officers turned a corner near me with a lamp. The Major asked me where No. ten barrack was. I told him I did not know. He then said never mind, and passed on. I followed at some distance and passed them, halted at the door of one of the Chickamauga prisoners, where religious meeting was going on. I could see the officers I had just passed, in conversation with some reb. Another prisoner passed them and came to where I stood. He said the officers asked the reb if he (the reb) had not applied for the oath. I made up my mind that the reb was a treacherous scoundrel giving information to the Yankees, and returned to my quarters.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[ii]

Burke further recorded in his diary that on April 4, 1864 the prisoners sent a petition to Major Skinner asking to change the roll call so as to not cause the prisoners to stand outside for two or three hours in inclement weather. Major Skinner made no reply to their request.

In Washington, Abraham Lincoln was fielding complaints from fellow Kentuckians. Kentuckians with family, political, or business connects to Lincoln, felt it their right to attempt to sway his opinions.

A. G. Hodges, Esq. Executive Mansion,
Frankfort, Ky. Washington, April 4, 1864.

My dear Sir:

You ask me to put in writing the substance of what I verbally said the other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and Senator Dixon. It was about as follows:

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I can not remember when I did not so think, and feel. And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. I could not take the office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power. I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times, and in many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I have done no official act in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I did understand however, that my oath to preserve the constitution to the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every indispensable means, that government---that nation---of which that constitution was the organic law.

Was it possible to lose the nation, and yet preserve the constitution? By general law life and limb must be protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful, by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the constitution, through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the constitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution all together. When, early in the war, Gen. Fremont attempted military emancipation, I forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. When a little later, Gen. Cameron, then Secretary of War, suggested the arming of the blacks, I objected, because I did not yet think it an indispensable necessity. When, still later, Gen. Hunter attempted military emancipation, I again forbade it, because I did not yet think the indispensable necessity had come. When, in March, and May, and July 1862 I made earnest, and successive appeals to the border states to favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable necessity for military emancipation, and arming the blacks would come, unless averted by that measure. They declined the proposition; and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it, the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the colored element. I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater gain than loss; but of this, I was not entirely confident. More than a year of trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign relations, none in our home popular sentiment, none in our white military force,---no loss by it any how or any where. On the contrary, it shows a gain of quite a hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be no caviling. We have the men; and we could not have had them without the measure.

And now let any Union man who complains of the measure, test himself by writing down in one line that he is for subduing the rebellion by force of arms; and in the next, that he is for taking these hundred and thirty thousand men from the Union side, and placing them where they would be but for the measure he condemns. If he can not face his case so stated, it is only because he can not face the truth.

I add a word which was not in the verbal conversation. In telling this tale I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now, at the end of three years struggle the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man devised, or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God. Yours truly

A. LINCOLN"[iii]

Lincoln also received letters from prisoner’s families, begging for their release. These letters did not fall on deaf ears. Amazing as it may seem, Lincoln pardoned a few Kentuckians imprisoned at Camp Douglas.

Much to the delight of the prisoners, the new sutler began to sell several newspapers.

“The Chicago morning and evening papers are kept for sale at the sutler’s at ten cents each. They are the Post, Tribune, and Journal. The Times is a copperhead paper and its sale forbidden in camp since the first of September last. It has been smuggled in on a good many occasions at some risk.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[iv]

A copperhead was the slang term used to refer to Northerner’s with Confederate sympathies.

(NOTE: The following letter is presented in the original format)

“Camp Douglas April 7th, 1864

Dear Sister rec’ your letter of the 23rd with the shirts aso one from Father of later date, answered Fathers several days ago delaying yours also Jo’s til now as the nature of his demanded a hasty reply. My health has not been so good lately owing to the cold I caught during the past winter in the delicate state of my health so I reluctunlly obtained my consent to come to the Hospital one week ago where I have been much pleased with my change. I found very clean comfortable bed quarters good medical attention kind and attentive nurses and a wholesome diet as I could ask, all to my surprise as I always had a horror of the Hospital especially since my last summer’s experience. Think I’ve improved wonderfully; beyond my most sanquine expectations. My bowels are checked, my digestion improving rapidly, sufer no pain, only (principal) complain is debility; feel my strength increasing every day in fact I’ve never been so week as to be confined to my bed. Hope I will not be long ere I recover my former vigor & health. With necessary prudence indeed and the blessing of a kind providence, I feel better and more cheerfull than I’ve felt for months. Tel Father to apply directly to his excellency the President which if he had done at first no doubt would have proved successful, as others have to my certain knowledge lately: be not hasty but use every precaution and advantage. All your acquaintances are well. Have a nice place, plenty of leisure to read: have written Cousin F for reading matter, can hear from him nearly every day or get any little thing I want from the city.

Love to All write frequently to your Devoted Brother George.”[v]

Alas, George Forbes Adams, my second great-grandfather’s fellow 3rd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment member, did not receive a Presidential pardon. Adams died in the camp hospital on July 1864.

Falling ill while incarcerated at Camp Douglas was an extremely dangerous affair. Estimates range as high as one in seven men who entered the camp succumbed to illness. However, with official documents missing or destroyed, there is no way to verify the death toll.

“April 6th, ‘64

Am so sick today that I had to make an application to go to the hospital again. I have had the [flu] for the last 3 days very bad…

April 7th

I am in hospital again but can scar[c]ely tell what I am doing…My head is as big as a sugar hogshead…”

-Private William D. Huff[vi]

By April 10, 1864 the new prison hospital, located between White Oak Square and Prisoner’s, had been completed. While the new hospital proved to be both sanitary and efficient, the prisoners were much more concerned that day by two visiting ladies. Gawking at the prisoners had become sport for the leisure class.

“Sunday April 10th, 1864. Weather cloudy. Three or four rebs are standing on barrel heads at the gate as punishment for various offences. One of them for being caught with several canteens of the over joyful that he had bought secretly from some guard. Several of the reb workmen are at work at the carpenter shop framing some small buildings for the Yanks. The balance of the rations are being issued to the squads that did not finish yesterday. There is rumors afloat that Gen. Morgan and forces are near Bighill, Ky. There has been a low railing about 18 inches high put all around the camp about ten feet from the fence on the inside. It is called the dead line. Any person caught between the railing and the fence is liable to be shot without warning. If out hat blows over a guard must get it or we lose it. Two ladies escorted by an officer passed through the principal part of our camp. And as usual created some excitement among the rebs. One of the ladies actually of her own free will and accord deliberately kissed a reb. My stars how the rest of us envied him. When they came to the crowd near the gate to go out, some reb cried out, ‘Give way to the right and left, let the artillery pass.’”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

Colonel Strong continued to display his lack of humanitarianism and over step his bounds as garrison commander. New, visually humiliating forms of punishment came into vogue at Strong’s caprice. These included the wearing of placards stating the often minor offense, wearing the ball and chain, and a being secluded within the new dungeon inside Prisoner’s Square. Colonel Strong’s tactics were not only repulsive to the prisoners; the methods were drawing examination by Northern officials.

“Sometimes our boys, for some trivial offense, would be punished by putting them in the white oak, as they called it. It was a guard house made of white oak logs twelve or fourteen inches in diameter, notched down close with one small window in the end. Inside, the wall was a dungeon eight or ten feet deep. It was entered by a trap door, a pair of steps led down into this dark foul hole. It was pitch dark in there; one could not see his hand before him when the door was closed. One who had not been is such a place cannot have the least conception of it. I was thrown in this place for a trivial offense, for attempting to get a bucket of water at a hospital well while our hydrant was out of fix. I spent four of the most wretched hours of my life in that terrible place. I was taken out by the same guard who put me in there, and the cursing he gave me when he let me out would be a sin for me to repeat. I opened not my mouth; I knew better. I received one more genteel cursing while wounded in the prisoner's hospital at Nashville, which I will speak of later on. There were some of our poor boys, for little infraction of the prison rules, riding what they called Morgan's mule every day. That was one mule that did the worst standing stock still. He was built after the pattern of those used by carpenters. He was about fifteen feet high; the legs were nailed to the scantling so one of the sharp edges was turned up, which made it very painful and uncomfortable to the poor fellow especially when he had to be ridden bareback, sometimes with heavy weights fastened to his feet and sometimes with a large beef bone in each hand. This performance was carried on under the eyes of a guard with a loaded gun, and was kept up for several days; each ride lasting two hours each day unless the fellow fainted and fell off from pain and exhaustion. Very few were able to walk after this hellish Yankee torture but had to be supported to their barracks. There was another diabolical device invented; that was the ball and chain route. However that was seldom used unless some of the prisoners attempted to escape and were caught. The chain was riveted around the ankle and the ball at the other end of the chain. It was almost as much as the poor fellow could carry. That was one thing that stuck closer than a brother. It went with him by day and by night, and even lay by his side in his cold naked bunk at night.”

- M. A. Ryan, Company B, Fourteenth Mississippi Regiment[viii]

“If this failed to cause them to tell who assisted them in escaping, they were then thrown into an iron-clad dungeon ten by ten square, with a single window ten inches by ten. Think of a man staying in this place forty or fifty days, when it was as full as it could be, their only privy being a little hole in the floor, from which all the odor arose in the room.

When this failed a sixty-four pound ball and chain was placed upon their leg, with chain so short as to compel its wearer to carry the ball in their hand, or get some one to pull it in a little wagon while they walked at the side, the chain about twenty-eight inches in length. Some of the balls were worn more than six months.”

-T. D. Henry, Company E, Duke's Regiment, Second Kentucky Cavalry, General J. H. Morgan's command[ix]

“One very common punishment inflicted upon the prisoners was by the ball-and-chain route. An iron ball weighing perhaps seventy-five pounds was strongly attached to one end of a chain, and the chain then riveted to the leg of the offender. To walk and carry the ball was almost a physical impossibility, and the possessors made little carts into which the balls were dumped and hauled around. These pieces of ‘jewelry,’ so called, would stick closer than a brother, and their owners were so much ‘attached’ to them that they always took them to bed with them. It was a most excellent idea – it prevented their tolling out of bunks or walking while sleeping.”

-R. T. Bean, Company I, Eighth Kentucky Cavalry [x]

“Tuesday April 12, 1864l Weather cool and cloudy. I wrote to Henry C. Metcalfe of Lexington, Ky. Three of Chenault’s men were caught trying to escape last night. Today they and another for some other offence were balled and chained and put to work at the dirt pile in the center of the square filling the carts that are hauling off dirt. The chain to each iron ball or block is four or five feet long and very stout with a clasp to lock and unlock to fit around the ankle at one end. The ball looks as if it will weight about fifty-six pounds. The men have leather straps tied to their balls to enable them to carry them about when they have to move more than the length of the chain. The men call their balls and chains their time pieces. One of them takes his off on the sly by means of a fiddle string which he doubles and twists in the key hole of the clasp, and unlocks it whenever the Yanks are not about. One of his friends wished to see how it fit on his own ankle, so he sprung the lock and after satisfying himself he proceeded with the assistance of the owner to unlock it with the fiddle string, and it was with some difficultly and a great deal of anxiety to the wearer that it yielded to their efforts. The string having broken three or four times. There is all kinds of rumors about an exchange being agreed upon. Some persons seem to take a delight in starting rumors, and if they hear anything no matter how unreasonable they never rest till they have spread it all over camp. My friend James D______ though a well meaning fellow is one of this class that I noticed particularly. A detail cleaned out the ditches leading from the hydrants, but a good many of the men as usual took the nearest cut to the hydrants jumping or walking across the ditches, which broke in the edges and checked up the free drainage of water. The Patrols getting out of patience telling the men to go around and cross the ditches at the wagon crossing commenced punishing all that they caught jumping by making them jump across the ditch thirty or forty times in quick succession, then making them cross at the wagon crossing.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xi]

In the Western Theater, raiding still remained a viable tactic for the Confederacy. From mid March 1864, Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest had been conducting a cavalry raid into Tennessee and Kentucky. As Forrest’s men returned from Paducah, Kentucky, they made an infamous attach upon Fort Pillow, Jackson, Tennessee. The attack was particularly insidious and question remains as to whether it was intended as retaliation for support given to escaped slaves. White Union officers at Fort Pillow had openly recruited runaway slaves and mustered them into two regiments, the Sixth United States Colored Heavy and Light Cavalry, which served as part of the forts garrison of 292 African American soldiers and 285 white soldiers of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry.[xii]

At 3:30 P.M., on April 12, 1864, Forrest displayed a flag of truce and sent a forth a demand for unconditional surrender:

“The conduct of the officers and men garrisoning Fort Pillow has been such as to entitle them to being treated as prisoners of war. . . . Should my demand be refused, I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command.”[xiii]

Conflict and question surround reports as to exactly what happened during the attack. However, it is believed that Union African- American troops were grievously abused and massacred.

"There never was a surrender of the fort, both officers and men declaring they never would surrender or ask for quarter."

-Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery (Colored)[xiv]

Van Horns statement may be correct as numerous Federal rifles were found on the bluffs near the river and theUnion flag remained flying over the fort.[xv] These would normally be indications that no formal surrender had been made. However, as historian and author Jack Hurst sagely notes, “Federals running for their lives had little time to concern themselves with a flag.”[xvi]

It is possible that Forrest tired to assuage the furry of his Raiders and stop them. In a letter written to his wife three days after the battle, Confederate soldier Samuel Caldwell stated:

“…if General Forrest had not run between our men & the Yanks with his pistol and saber drawn not a man would have been spared.”[xvii]

There were also statements made by Forrest's Raiders accerting that the fleeing Union troops kept their weapons and frequently stopped to turn and shoot at their persuers. [xviii] Thus the Raiders claimed any man killed, be his skin black or white, was killed in self defense.

A contemporary newspaper account from Jackson, Tennessee, states that ‘General Forrest begged them to surrender,’ but ‘not the first sign of surrender was ever given.’ Similar accounts were reported in both Southern and Northern newspapers at the time.”[xix]

“Our troops, maddened by the excitement, shot down the retreating Yankees, and not until they had attained the water’s edge and turned to beg for mercy, did any prisoners fall into our hands--Thus the whites received quarter, but the Negroes were shown no mercy.”

- A Southern reporter traveling with Forrest[xx]

Others saw the events in a far different light.

“Surviving members of the garrison said that most of their men surrendered and threw down their arms, only to be shot or bayoneted by the attackers, who repeatedly shouted, ‘No quarter! No quarter!’”[xxi]

"…the poor, deluded negroes would run up to our men, fall upon their knees, and with uplifted hand scream for mercy, but were ordered to their feet and then shot down."

- Letter said to be written by Confederate Sergeant shortly after the battle[xxii]

“I with several others tried to stop the butchery. . . , but Gen. Forrest ordered them [Negro and white Union troops] shot down like dogs, and the carnage continued.”

- Confederate Soldier Achilles Clark[xxiii]

“Northerners, however, saw only one side. They read headlines announcing ‘Attack on Fort Pillow -- Indiscriminate Slaughter of the Prisoners -- Shocking Scenes of Savagery;’ dispatches from Sherman's army declaring ‘there is a general gritting of teeth here’; reports from the Missouri Democrat detailing the ‘fiendishness’ of rebel behavior; and editorials like that in the Chicago Tribune condemning the ‘murder’ and ‘butchery’.”[xxiv]

Writing in his Memoirs, Ulysses S. Grant recorded his horror upon hearing of the massacre.

“Forrest, however, fell back rapidly, and attacked the troops at Fort Pillow, a station for the protection of the navigation of the Mississippi River. The garrison consisted of a regiment of colored troops, infantry, and a detachment of Tennessee cavalry. These troops fought bravely, but were overpowered. I will leave Forrest in his dispatches to tell what he did with them.”

"The river was dyed," he [Forrest] says, "with the blood of the slaughtered for two hundred yards. The approximate loss was upward of five hundred killed, but few of the officers escaping. My loss was about twenty killed. It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners."

All of Washington was in outcry. Lincoln’s Cabinet cried for vengance. Secretary of State William Seward, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton demanded that an equal number of Confederate prisoners should be executed in an act of revenge. Grant himself was so outraged by the events at Fort Pillow he called for the end of prisoner exchanges. With the callousness that only a war hardened General would dare exhibit, Grant reasoned that Federal troops, with their superior manpower, could better withstand the loss of men than the Confederacy which had fewer men and more to lose. Bearing in mind the Confederates disregard for African-Americans, Stanton and Lincoln put the proper political spin on Grants’ barbaric observations. They knew Southern leadership considered black soldiers as mere runaway slaves and refused to afford they the rights of white prisoners of war. Further more, the Confederacy had issued an order calling for the summary execution or return to former owner of any former slave. Northern leadership would have the backing of vocal Abolitionist who were highly reluctant to continue prisoner exchanges under these conditions.

Thus, on April 17, 1864 Grant had political backing when he ordered General Benjamin F. Butler, negotiator of prisoner exchanges with the Confederacy, to demand equality in the the exchange and treatment of all prisoners.

“A failure to do so would ‘be regarded as a refusal on their part to agree to the further exchange of prisoners, and [would] be so treated by us.’”[xxv]

The demand was summarily refused. In regard to the matter, Confederate Secretary of War Seddon coldly stated:

“I doubt, however, whether the exchange of negroes at all for our soldiers would be tolerated. As to the white officers serving with negro troops, we ought never to be inconvenienced with such prisoners.”[xxvi]

In reply, Grant canceled all remaining talks regarding prisoner exchange. As a result, of these actions, both Northern and Southern prisoners continued to strave, endure physical abuse, and die from the uncontrolled spread of disease within the camps while the press continued to sell newspapers on the growing sensationalism surrounding the Fort Pillow massacre.

“On the 12th April, the rebel General [Nathan Bedford] Forrest appeared before Fort Pillow. . . attacking it with considerable vehemence. This was followed up by frequent demands for its surrender, which were refused by Major Booth, who commanded the fort. The fight was then continued up until 3 p.m., when Major Booth was killed, and the rebels, in large numbers, swarmed over the entrenchments. Up to that time comparatively few of our [i.e., Union] men had been killed; but immediately upon occupying the place the rebels commenced an indiscriminate butchery of the whites and blacks, including the wounded. Both white and black were bayoneted, shot, or sabred; even dead bodies were horribly mutilated, and children of seven and eight years, and several negro women killed in cold blood. Soldiers unable to speak from wounds were shot dead, and their bodies rolled down the banks into the river. The dead and wounded negroes were piled in heaps and burned, and several citizens, who had joined our forces for protection, were killed or wounded. Out of the garrison of six hundred only two hundred remained alive. Three hundred of those massacred were negroes; five were buried alive. Six guns were captured by the rebels, and carried off, including two 10-pound Parrotts, and two 12-pound howitzers. A large amount of stores was destroyed or carried away.”

- Harper’s Weekly, April 30, 1864

“The blacks and their officers were shot down, bayoneted and put to the sword in cold blood... . Out of four hundred negro soldiers only about twenty survive! At least three hundred of them were destroyed after the surrender! This is the statement of the rebel General Chalmers himself to our informant.”

- The New York Times, April 24, 1864 [xxvii]

“The Fort-Pillow wounded are doing much better than could be expected from the terrible nature of their wounds. But one, William Jones, had died, though Adjutant Learing and Lieut. John H. Porter cannot possibly long survive. Of the whole number, - fifty-two, - all except two were cut or shot after they had surrendered! They all tell the same story of the rebel barbarities; and listening to a recital of the terrible scenes at the fort makes one's blood run cold. They say they were able to keep the rebels at bay for several hours, notwithstanding the immense disparity of numbers and but for their treachery in creeping up under the walls of the fort while a truce pending, would have held out until "The Olive Branch" arrived with troops, with whose assistance they would have defeated Chalmers.

"So well were our men protected behind their works, that our loss was very trifling before the rebels scaled the walls, and obtained possession. As soon as they saw the Rebels inside the walls the Unionists ceased firing, knowing that further resistance was useless; but the Rebels continued firing, crying out, 'Shoot them, shoot them! Show them no quarter!'

"The Unionists, with one or two exceptions, had thrown down their arms in token of surrender, and therefore could offer no resistance. In vain they held up their hands, and begged their captors to spare their lives. But they were appealing to fiends; and the butchery continued until, out of near six hundred men who composed the garrison, but two hundred and thirty remained alive: and of this number, sixty-two were wounded, and nine died in a few hours after.”

- The Cairo News, April 16, 1864 [xxviii]

“A LETTER FROM A NAVAL OFFICER.

The following letter has just been received by Mr. BLOW, of Missouri, respecting the treatment of our soldiers after the surrender of Fort Pillow:

UNITED STATES STEAMER "SILVER CLOUD," MISSISSIPPI RIVER, April 22, 1864.

SIR:

Since you did me the favor of recommending my appointment last August, I have been on duty aboard this boat.

I now write you with reference to the Fort Pillow massacre. I write, because most of our crew are colored, and I feel personally interested in the retaliation which our Government may deal out to the rebels, when the fact of the merciless butchery is fully established.

Our boat arrived at the fort about 7 1/2 A.M., on Wednesday, the 13th, the day after the rebels captured the fort. After shelling them, whenever we could see them, for two hours, a flag of truce from the rebel Gen. CHALMERS was received by us, and Capt. FERGUSON, of this boat, made an arrangement with Gen. CHALMERS for the paroling of our wounded and the burial of our dead; the arrangement to last until 5 P.M. We then landed at the fort, and I was sent out with a burial party to bury our dead.

I found many of the dead lying close along by the water's edge, where they had evidently sought safety; they could not offer any resistance from the places where they were, in holes and cavities along the banks; most of them had two wounds. I saw several colored soldiers of the Sixth United States Artillery, with their eyes punched out with bayonets; many of them were shot twice and bayoneted also. All those along the bank of the river were colored. The number of the colored near the river was about seventy. Going up into the fort, I saw their bodies partially consumed by fire. Whether burned before or after death I cannot say, any way there were several companies of rebels in the fort while these bodies were burning, and they could have pulled them out of the fire had they chosen to do so.

One of the wounded negroes told me that he hadn’t done a thing, and when the rebels drove our men out of the fort they (our men) threw away their guns and cried out that they surrendered; but the rebels kept on shooting them down until they had shot all but a few. This is what they all say.

I had some conversation with rebel officers, and they claim that our men would not surrender, and in some few cases they could not control their men, who seemed determined to shoot down every negro soldier, whether he surrendered or not. This is a flimsy excuse, for after our colored troops had been driven from the fort, and they were surrounded by the rebels on all sides, it is apparent that they would do what all say they did, throw down their arms and beg for mercy.
I buried but very few white men; the whole number buried by my party and the party from the gunboat New Era was about one hundred.

The rebels had burned some of the white dead.

I can make affidavit to the above if necessary.

Hoping that the above may be of some service and that a desire to be of service will be considered sufficient excuse for writing to you, I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ROBERT S. CRITCHELL,
Acting-Master's Mate, U.S.N.
Hon. H.T. BLOW, member of Congress, Washington, D.C.”

- The New York Times, May 3, 1864[xxix]

On April 22, 1864 The Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War investigated the events of the battle and concluded that Forrest’s Raiders had shot most of the Union garrison after it had surrendered. [xxx] Further research into the events at Fort Pillow was conducted in the 1950’s and again in 2002.

Meanwhile, Camp Douglas had been inspected by John F. Marsh on April 16 1864.[xxxi] Mash showed open distain for Orme reporting:

“General Orme gives very little attention to his command at Camp Douglas.”[xxxii]

These remarks were the last blow Orme could stand to endure. No longer able to contain his distaste for his intolerable position he planned his resignation, affecting his own escape from Camp Douglas.

On April 27, 1864, General Orme fired Colonel Strong and replaced him with Colonel Benjamin J. Sweet whose right elbow had been crushed by a bullet during the Battle of Perryville.[xxxiii] In making this move, Orme chose his successor and got even with Strong. Two days later, Orme resigned as commander of of Camp Douglas, claiming that his health would not permit him to continue. Shortly there after Abraham Lincoln, Orme’s personal friend, urged him to accepted an appointment to the Treasury Department in Memphis, Tennessee. Orme acted as a as a supervising agent. However, his failing health continued to affect his ability to carry out his work and he resigned from the Treasury Department in November 1865. Despairing, Orme returned to his home in Bloomington, Illinois. There tuberculosis, which he had plagued him since serving in Mississippi, claimed his life on December 13, 1866.

ENDNOTES
[i] Excerpts from the Diary of William D. Huff Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http://www.chicagohistory.com/
[ii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[iii] Lincoln, Abraham. “Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln”. Volume 7.
[iv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[v] Wartime Letters of William Henry Adams http://morgans_men.tripod.com/adams.htm
[vi] Excerpts from the Diary of William D. Huff Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http://www.chicagohistory.com/
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[viii] Ryan, Milton Asbury. “Experience of a Confederate Soldier in Camp and Prison in The Civil War 1861-1865.”
[ix] Deposition of T. D. Henry, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. I. Richmond, Va., March, 1876. No. 4. April - Pages 273 – 276.
[x] Excerpts From An Account of Prison Life at Camp Douglas By R. T. Bean.
[xi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xii] Cimprich, John and Mainfort, Robert C. Jr. “Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence about an Old
Controversy,” Civil War History 28 1982 pp.293-94.
[xiii] Wills, Brian Steel. “ A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest” 1992 p. 182.
[xiv] Official Report filed by Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery (Colored).
[xv] Jordan, John L. "Was There a Massacre at Ft. Pillow?", Tennessee History Quarterly VI (June 1947), pp 99–133.
[xvi] Hurst, Jack. “Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography” 1993, p.174.
[xvii] Cimprich, John and Mainfort, Robert C. Jr. “Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence about an Old
Controversy,” Civil War History 28 1982 p. 300.
[xviii] Bailey, Ronald H., and the Editors of Time-Life Books, “Battles for Atlanta: Sherman Moves East,” 1985, p.25.
[xix] Cimprich, John, and Mainfort, Robert C., Jr., eds. "Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence About An Old Controversy", Civil War History 4 Winter, 1982.
[xx] Cimprich, John, and Mainfort, Robert C., Jr., Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence about an Old
Controversy,” Civil War History 28 1982 p.304.
[xxi] Bailey, Ronald H., and the Editors of Time-Life Books, “Battles for Atlanta: Sherman Moves East,” 1985
[xxii] Foote, Shelby. “The Civil War, A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox” 1974.
[xxiii] Cimprich, John, and Mainfort, Robert C., Jr Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence about an Old
Controversy,” Civil War History 28 1982 p.299.
[xxiv] Nevins, Allan. “The War for the Union: The Organized War to Victory 1864-1865.” 1971.
[xxv] Fuchs, Richard L. “An Unerring Fire: The Massacre at Fort Pillow.” 2002 pp. 143 -144
[xxvi] Fuchs, Richard L. “An Unerring Fire: The Massacre at Fort Pillow” 2002 p.144
[xxvii] Fuchs, Richard L. “An Unerring Fire: The Massacre at Fort Pillow.” 2002
[xxviii] William Wells Brown. “ The Negro In The American Rebellion- His Heroism and His Fidelity.” 1867.
[xxix] The New York Times Archive, http://www.nytimes.com/1864/05/03/news/the-fort-pillow-massacre.html?pagewanted=1
[xxx] U.S. Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, "Fort Pillow Massacre", House Report No. 65, 38th Congress, 1st Session.
[xxxi] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII, 57
[xxxii] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VII, 57
[xxxiii] Lossing, Benson J. “ Pictorial History of the Civil War in the United States of America,” 2006, p. 449

March 1864: Camp Douglas Mired in Mud and Misery

2010-04-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Colonel James C. Strong[i]

*A special note of thanks to Mr. James I. Evans for his most kind support and encouragement.

On March 1, 1864, diarist Curtis R. Burke recorded that his regiment had received tickets for ten days rations “which is unusual.” On March 3rd, Burke noted that new officers were arriving and “things will probably be harder.” Burke’s dark prediction proved correct.

“About this time Colonel Deland was ordered to the front. He was succeeded by Colonel B. J. Sweet as commandant of camp, Colonel Skinner as commissary of prisoners, and a fiend named Captain Webb Sponable as inspector of prisoners.

From this time forward the darkest leaf in the legends of all tyranny could not possibly contain a greater number of punishments. ”

-Deposition of T. D. Henry[ii]

On March 1, 1864, Colonel James C. Strong had arrived at Camp Douglas to serve as the new garrison commander. Previously, as a Lt. Colonel with the 38th New York, Strong had been severely wounded in the hip at Williamsburg, Virginia in May of 1862. Unable to move, Strong had lain beside a log for hours until his men located him by lantern light.[iii] Now serving with the Fifteenth Invalid Corps, Strong formally assumed command from De Land on March 3, 1864. [iv] De Land’s First Michigan Sharpshooters remained at Camp Douglas until 17 March 1864, when they left to join the Ninth Corps, in Annapolis, MD. In his diary, Burke recorded a camp rumor stating that some of the First Michigan Sharpshooters had deserted when they learned that they had been ordered to the front.

“March 4th, 1864

Today five months ago I landed here and I see no chance of exchange. Yet indeed I have every reason to believe that I will spend five months more under blue coat rule. I drew some comic picture of the convalescents which made Old dry Doctor laugh. Winter is not gone yet for it is snowing strong and swift…”

- Private William D. Huff[v]

Strong began with 526 men from Sweet’s Eight Invalid Regiment, 450 of his own, and the promise that four companies of the 11th Invalid Regiment would soon arrive. Unfortunately, about one third of these men were too sick or injured to serve duty. Thus, Strong was left to face the reality of controlling nearly six thousand prisoners with only 650 able bodied soldiers.[vi] Security was now at issue. Perhaps this was an underlying factor in Strong’s decision to take up residence in the city of Chicago despite Hoffman’s order to reside within the camp.[vii]

“About 166 men, amounting to 10 percent of the guard force, were ill on March 1, 1864. This emergency caused Colonel Strong to bar civilian workers from leaving camp ‘until all Prison workers had returned to their squares.’ He was referring to Prisoner’s Square and White Oak Square, where some prisoners remained.”[viii]

On March 5th Burke wrote that the prisoners received “positive instructions to write but one page of note paper.” By March 6th, new and rather inept officers took over roll call.

“Monday March 7th, 1864. Weather pleasant. We are kept out in the mud at roll call two hours again. The sutler store opened late in the day. I could not get to the counter and I got a friend ahead of me to make my purchases for me. We received the following additional orders:
1st. to rise at sound of bugle at sunrise.
2d. roll call at sound of bugle one hour after.
3d. dismissal at sound of bugle and breakfast.
4th. Fatigue detail at 8 o’clock A. M.
5th. recall of detail at 12 o’clock A.M.
6th. Dinner at 12 ½ o’clock P. M.
7th. Fatigue detail at 1 o’clock P. M.
8th. Recall of detail at 5 o’clock P. M.
9th. Supper detail at 5 ½ o’clock P. M.
10th. Lights out at 7 o’clock P. M.
Forty four more prisoners arrived today and were crowed in with the fourteenth Ky. As company F. They are a good looking set of men. Some of them were captured with paroles given them by the Yankees on a former occasion in their pockets, also writing from the Confederate authorities recognizing their paroles, and their being the rearrested was a violation of the rules of war.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[ix]

While the ban on packages from friends was lifted on March 11, 1864 censorship of mail increased dramatically.[x] Burke fumed that men often receive only an empty envelope, “The letters having been taken out at headquarters by the examiners on account of their being too long or containing contraband news.”

(Note: The following letter is presented in it's original format)

“Camp Douglas, Ill.
Mar. 12th, 1864

Dear Father,

Your kind letter of the 29th was received and read with interest George also received one from sister. It always cheers us up to hear to hear from the old home stead. You know that Georges very delicate and what inclined to have the blues anyway. I don’t think that his health is quite as good as it was when you were hear. The dyspepsy and chronic diarea are the two diseases that he suffers with. We heard directly from Brother John this week he is well and getting along first rate. The gentle man that brought the news belongs to the same Regt. that captured the 25th of Feb. James Gill is well so are Johnson West, Charley and all the rest of the neighbor boys that are hear. We kneed some more P. Stamps. When you write your letters must not be Longer that two pages of note or one of this kind of paper. I would like to have two calico and two woolen shits if you could find a convient way to send them. George joines me in love to all.

Your sons,

Wm H Adams”[xi]

A few small sanitary measures were begun around the camp during the change of command. On March 14th Burke’s barrack received two cast iron boilers. He was bemused with these contraptions, declaring “There is six feet of pipe to each, and they look like locomotives on a small scale at a distance.” However, the men now had means for washing their clothing. Even with this new means of maintaining of hygiene,
smallpox continued to spread throughout the camp.

“ Friday March 11th, 1864. Weather cool and cloudy. We had to attend roll call in a misty rain and snow. We drew beef and light bread and had soup for dinner. WE draw beef and light bread nearly every other day. We use the checker board in the mess now to kill time. Cards are rarely played. The small pox is raging moderately. Only four cases were taken from this square today. The mud on the way to and from the sutler store and sink is about eight or ten inches deep and no prospects of its drying up soon. This may encourage the spred of the smallpox. I hear of a man escaping every few nights although it had become a very difficult matter to get out.

Saturday, March 12th, 1864. Weather pleasant. We are still kept at roll call as long as usual. An order was read to us at roll call requesting all that wanted to take the oath to report to Col. Wm. Hoffman at Washington City D. C. by letter, stating why they wanted to take the oath, etc. etc. etc. I learn that two thirds of the prisoners sent to the smallpox hospital have died, and that there is about forty cases in the hospital now. There has been several escaped from there across the prairie on recovering. It rained after dark. Arguments, puzzles and hard questions are all the go this two or three past days to kill the time.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xii]

Rumors and speculation swirled about the camp. Through Northern news papers and smuggled reports, the prisoners were aware of general troop moments, victories, and defeats. Any glimmer of hope for the Confederacy gave rise to a new flurry of rumors. Such was the case by mid March. From February 3 to March 5, 1864, General William T. Sherman conducted a successful campaign around Meridian, Mississippi. Then, misfortune befell them when troops under General William Sooy Smith, intended to join Sherman, were defeated by Confederate cavalry at West Point, Mississippi on February 21, 1824.

“Sunday March 13th, 1864. Weather cool. A little snow on the ground. There is a rumor in camp that the Yankee army under Sherman has been defeated with heavy loss, and that we will be exchanged soon, and we are inclined to put some confidence in the rumor on account of the oaths being offered to us”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xiii]

Strong, perhaps due to his own tragic experiences in the war, was not a humanitarian leader. He showed neither mercy nor concern for his prisoners.

“Strong was the first garrison commander to exploit forced labor, and he searched the barracks ruthlessly to conscript prisoners for work details.” [xiv][xv]

It would appear that in taking these actions, Strong had the full support of the Commissary-General of Prisoners.

“Major-General Rosecrans,
Comdg. Department of the Missouri, Saint Louis, Mo:

Your telegram of the 14th is received. Paroled prisoners may perform any service, not armed, necessary for their own preservation. The ordinary fatigue duties about their own camp barracks are not in violation of their parole.

W. Hoffman
Commissary-General of Prisoners”[xvi]

Strong began to use prisoner labor to construct a drainage system.

“Monday March 14th, 1864 Weather cool. Our Yankee sergeant brought six spades, one rake and two wheelbarrows and called for a detail of nine men to dig a ditch in front of the barracks. The detail was taken from company A in alphabetical order. They dug sixty feet of ditch by twelve o’clock and were dismissed. At one o’clock company B furnished the detail of nine men till five o’clock, and dug one hundred and fifty feet of ditch. James Allen, myself Henry Beach, Chas. Byrnes, Jas. Beeler, Jack Curd, Edwin Colgan, Jorden Cook, and Frank Davis were the detail. Jack Curd was as usual in his comic mood, and took charge of us. The Yankee sergeant kept near us bossing the job. Jack Curd Kept his eye on him and when he turned his back Jack would give the word rest and when he turned towards us Jack gave the word work. The Yank kept pretty close most of the evening .Jack stopped to blow a little and wiping the sweat from his eyes said ‘I told the sergeant my name was spelled with a K instead of a C, but he wouldn’t believe it.’ We were dismissed at five o’clock. The night was cold.

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xvii]

If the intent of the labor program was to break the men’s morale, it appeared to have had mixed success. Some men carried on undaunted. Others, who were exhausted by illness, starvation, over work, and homesickness, entertained thoughts of death as the ultimate escape.

“March 21st 1864

"Dear Friends,

We take this opportunity of informing you that we are all well at this time. Was hoping that these few lines will reach your kind hand and find you all well. We would like to hear from you all and would like to see you all but we cannot tell when that will be, but one thing we must do and that is prepare to meet in Eternity, for it God permits us to live we will live for the future and we tell you all now that we are determined by the help of God to make our way to a better world. So no more at present, write [unreadable].
Stamey J. Dyer
Noah is still around."

-John Henry Dyer
62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment[xviii]

Dyer’s best friend, John Noah Frances, died in camp on December 30, 1864.

On March 18, 1864 the Invalid Corp were renamed the Veteran Reserve Corps and hence forth referred to as the VRC.[xix] Strong wrote to General Orme voicing his objections to finding that his men were living in an old barracks without a floor.[xx] This building was damp, poorly ventilated, and smelled of rotting garbage. Thus, the newly arrived jailors were living in the same conditions as the prisoners.

Cut off from the outside world, news became all important to the prisoners.

“In March 1864, members of the 14th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, Morgan’s Raiders, published a four-page newspaper called the ‘Prisoners Vidette.’ The name was derived from a variation on the Italian word for sentinel, and the handwritten newspaper carried reports and rumors. In addition to serious articles about unsanitary conditions and smallpox at Camp Douglas, prisoners placed personal advertisements, such as, “Wanted a Save Conductor out of Camp Douglas. Any price will be paid for the service. Rebel’ which was a sly reference to escape tunnels being dug by Morgan’s Raiders. Pvt. Abraham Lappin, who spent two years as a prisoner of war, placed an advertisement for handmade smoking popes, sold ‘wholesale and retail at Lappins factory. Block 17 three doors west of the south east corner. Give him a call you will hot be otherwise than satisfied.’’”[xxi]

While, strictly copyrighted by the Chicago Historical Society, the Diary of Private William D. Huff contains a drawing of “The Evening Journal.” It is possible to download Huff’s drawings from the History Lab lesson plans in “The Civil War” Up Close and Personal” section entitled “Who is William Huff? Blueback or Grayback” and “Look Out My Window. What Do You See? [xxii] The lesson plans may be accessed at http://www.chicagohistory.org/education/resources/history-lab/the-civil-war-up-close-and-personal

“Monday March 21st, 1864. Weather cool. Companies D and E furnished nine men each on detail to clean up around the barracks. The boys in next room are making a little newspaper called the Prisoners Vidette. It is on a sheet of foolscap and written with the pen altogether. It contains all of the camp rumors, original poetry, songs, and jokes, advertisement, etc. A good thing to kill time with.”

-Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xxiii]

As always, escape remained foremost in the prisoner’s minds.

“Wednesday March 23rd, 1864. Weather very pleasant. Twelve men escaped from the dungeon last night by means of a tunnel. Three of them passed out after day light, and but for day light coming too soon for them everybody in the dungeon would have escaped. The hole was soon discovered after day light and filled up. I visited David Hickey’s mess and saw a snow white mouse with pink eyes under a tumbler. It was the size of a common mouse and was caught in the coal box.”

“March 27th 1864. Weather cool. A tunnel was discovered by some treacherous rebel and reported to the Yanks. It is in the other square by the side of the fire place a kitchen near the fence. The rebs were busy cooking over the covered hole when an officer came in and said, “What are you cooking over that hole for? Ain’t you afraid your things will fall in?’ There is no hole here said rebs. Yes there is take the pots off, and I’ll show you. The rebs moved off their things and the officer removed the fire and ashes and raised a trap door disclosing the hole, much to the feigned astonishment of the rebs. The officer was angry and told the men that he would find every hole that they dug, and it was no use to dig them. The hole was filled up by pressing the rebs standing around into service. The men that dug it say that it would have been through on the outside of the fence in one more night. They had been detained a couple of nights on account of water rising in the hole. The ground being still very wet from the recent rains. There was only a few rebs that knew where the hole was, but there was a good many that suspicioned that there was one somewhere in that neighborhood and so put on their best cloths for two or three nights past in the hope of finding it, and escaping. The diggers were afraid of traitorous spies and worked secretly. Many true men were not posted. They were out slipping around as soon as it was well dark to learn something, and whenever they heard a noise or saw a Yankee patrol they would dodge into the nearest barracks like scared rats. Some rascally fellow played what would have been a severe joke on one Robert Lowery of Company A of this regiment, had he succeeded in escaping. “Secesh soap for sale!” were written on his back in large letters with chalk or soap. Of course, this would have caused his arrest on the first appearance of light. I received a letter from home from Brother Alonzo dated the 2th inst. The Chicago papers the Post and Tribune gives an account of the rebel Gen. Forest capturing Paducah, Ky and the city nearly burned down in the fight.”

- Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xxiv]

“The prisoners suspected treachery, but they were wrong. Reverend Tuttle wrote that Capt. Wells Sponable discovered the hole after spotting a prisoner running to the kitchen at one o’clock in the morning.”[xxv]

In response to the tunneling, kitchens near the fence were removed. Barracks were moved toward the center of the square, set on five foot post, and arranged into a grid pattern with streets between the buildings. Barracks floors which had been removed in December were now reinstalled and reinforced.[xxvi]

At the end of March 1864, 5, 462 Confederates were had been crowded into Camp Douglas.[xxvii] Hoffman had tents delivered in the event that the barracks could not handle that number of men. Rumor spread about the camp. Men were certain that the barracks would be destroyed and they would all be forced to live in tents. As usual, the rumor was incorrect and the tents were never used. [xxviii]

ENDNOTES

[i] New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center , NYS Division of Military and Naval Affairs http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/38thInf/38thInfPersonStrong.htm
[ii] Deposition of T. D. Henry, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. I. Richmond, Va., March, 1876.No.4. April - Pages 273 - 276
[iii] Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. “ The Theosophist, Part Six 1884 to 1885: Why They Couldn’t Hear Him” p. 75
[iv] Herek, Raymond J. “These Men Have Seen Hard Service” 1998, p.91
[v] Excerpts from the Diary of William D. Huff Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http://www.chicagohistory.com/
[vi] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 195
[vii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 195
[viii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 197
[ix] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[x] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 198
[xi] Wartime Letters of William Henry Adams http://morgans_men.tripod.com/adams.htm
[xii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xiv] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 197
[xv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xvi] Scott, Robert Nicholson. “The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Offical Records of the Union and Conferderate Armies, Series II, Vol VII, Republication 1972
[xvii]
[xviii] Deaths of Prisoners of War from the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nchaywoo/campdouglasdeathsnc.htm
[xix] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 198
[xx] RG 94, Regimental Letter Book
[xxi] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007, p. 50
[xxii] Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http://www.chicagohistory.com/
[xxiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xxiv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xxv] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 199, Tuttle. Edmund B. “ History of Camp Douglas,” p.17
[xxvi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry, Official Records, Ser. II, Vol. VII, 184-185.
[xxvii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 199
[xxviii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 12, p. 199

February 1864: Fire, Water, and Misery

2009-05-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

The necessity for a sewer at Camp Douglas was again brought to the attention of the quartermaster's department. No immediate action was taken.

The Sanitary Commission returned and made a report detailing the poor condition of the camp’s hospital. They were disgusted to find that inmates were without a change of clothing, covered with vermin, and without proper beds. The death rate was mounting; two hundred and sixty prisoners out of eight thousand died between January 27th and February 18. The commission was quick to point out that at such a rate the camp would be emptied by death in three hundred and twenty days.[i]

Dr. Clark returned to re-inspect the camp. He reconfirmed the lack of sanitation and cleanliness.[ii]

“Sunday February 14th, 1864. Weather pleasant. A case of smallpox was taken outside of the camp to the smallpox hospital, from the next barracks below us, and several other cases are reported, causing considerable uneasiness among the prisoners, and the Yanks themselves. Some Yankee surgeon came around and vaccinated nearly all of the fifth and fourteenth KY reg’ts. I concluded to put it off to see how it served others, not believing that the matter was pure. Pa as Sergeant major of the fourteenth KY got permission to build or partition a room in number eight barrack for his mess. So five or six of us made a double floor and a partition making a room ten feet wide by twenty-five feet long, with one window back and one window and a door front. The prisoners were marched out by regiments and vaccinated. In times of peace this used to be Valentine day, but I see nothing here to remind me of such old times.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[iii]

On February 16th, William Huff recorded that the weather was almost as cold as it had been in January. He too expressed concern that smallpox was spreading amongst the prisoners.[iv]

The vaccine must have been of some use as Burke’s entries complain more over lack of holidays than lack of health.

“Monday, February 22nd, 1864. Weather pleasant. The prisoners are amusing themselves out of doors at running, jumping, flying kites, and playing ball. Mrs. Finnley’s new sutlers store opened today with prices very high. We made up a mess fund of four dollars in Yankee money and I took charge of it as secretary and treasurer for the mess. I got some things today at the sutler’s for the mess. In times of peace this day was celebrated as Washington’s birthday, but I have not seen the slightest signs of any demonstration whatever on the part of the Yankees, but we still honor his memory.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[v]

Escapes were still being attempted.

“Saturday, February 27th, 1864. Weather cloudy. The whole camp ground was nearly covered with standing water, looking almost like a large pond. The Yankee roll call sergeant had some trouble to get our regiment out in line in the mud. Last night four prisoners tried to escape. They put two ladders against the fence and two got away, and one, John Cecil of Co. K eight KY was mortally wounded and the other man reached his quarters without detection. The Yankees are busy raising our barracks higher with jack screws. We were two feet from the ground before, but now we will be five feet. This is being done to prevent us from digging out under the floors. The barracks will be set on six inch timbers legs so that the Yanks can see under them. There [are] some twenty odd new Yankee barracks being erected in their part of the camp. I received a letter from Miss D. R. of Richmond KY. The night was cold, and the ground froze up.

Sunday, February 28th, 1864. Weather pleasant. Sun out. The Yanks are at work as usual today. We have good news of a severe Yankee defeat in Florida. Jno. Cecil shot yesterday died at the hospital today. Most of us washed and shaved up. Each of us generally washed once a week.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vi]

Even the smallest coincidences are striking as one reads these accounts. As Cecils married into both my maternal and paternal lines, the Cecil name struck me. Checking my files I discovered that James Edward Evans’ son Howard married John Cecil’s cousin (several times removed) Mayme Lee Summers. Had the two men known each other?

On February 29th, yet another fire blazed through Garrison Square. The cause does not appear to have but arson but rather a combination of flimsy wooden buildings and red hot stove pipes.

“Monday, February 29th, 1864. Weather cool. An old two story sutler’s store, and about two hundred feet of barracks and kitchens, also some sheds, wood, etc. were all burned in the Yankee part of camp today. Two steam fire engines and two hand engines were soon on hand. The evening paper stated that the sutler’s store was used as a carpenter’s shop, and a workman made a fire in the stove and went up stairs. By some means the shavings around the stove took fire and he was driven from the house by the smoke before he could save the tools. I made six dried apple pies today. A man or two escapes some way or other nearly every night.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

ENDNOTES

[i] Hesseltine, William Best. “Civil War Prisons”
[ii] Official Records of the War of the Rebellion Ser. II, Vol. VI, 908- 910
[iii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[iv] Diary of William Huff
[v] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[vi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry

January 1864: Frostbite, the Rumor Mills, and Moving Barracks

2009-05-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

“ Fire and Ice
by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

308 prisoners died at Camp Douglas in January 1864. This feeble essay is dedicated to their memory.

On January 1st, 1864, the temperature at Camp Douglas was recorded as 18 degrees below zero during the day and 25 degrees below zero later that night. The snowfall was very heavy. In his diary, William huff recorded awaking with frozen ears, nose and chin. During the night, the moisture from the men’s breath had frozen and two inch long icicles hung from the rafters. Huff’s wrath over the conditions was so great he was determined to report it to Head Quarters. The Union guard atop the walkway on the fence had to be replaced every half an hour due to the artic atmosphere.

The prisoners made the best of the bitter conditions.

“Friday, January 1st, 1864. New Year’s day. Weather bitter cold. The snow in some places was four and five feet deep, and a regular gale was blowing it about in drifts so that it nearly took a man’s breath from him to go even a hundred yards. Six or seven of the guards froze on their beats last night and this morning, so that they had to be taken to the Yankees hospital. I put a pot of dried peaches to cooking on the stove to make a big peach roll for dinner. Near twelve o’clock a guard was put at every door in the barracks and no one allowed to go out except for fuel, water or a case of absolute necessity. The severity of the weather remains unchanged, and I think these guards were taken from the fence to keep from freezing and put at the doors to prevent our escaping. I and Henry White [ate] our peach roll by ourselves. I intended to invite Pa and others in his barracks to take dinner with us, but the blockade cut off my communication. The men had to carry all the fuel and water they used, and some came near freezing at it. They had to go about four hundred yards to the wood yard by details. The wood and coal had always been hauled to us till today. At dusk an officer came around and notified us and the guards that in half an hour no one would be allowed outside of out barracks under any pretext whatever until daylight. The night was very cold, but the guards kept the coal stoves red hot all night, which kept the barracks warm, and we slept well.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry [i]

“In each barrack there was only two stoves to two hundred men, and for a stove to warm one hundred men, it was frequently red hot.”

~ T. D. Henry, Company E, Duke's Regiment, Second Kentucky Cavalry[ii]

In contrast, the freezing weather brought the fury the camp leadership felt toward the escape attempts to a head. General William W. Orme placed new regulations in effect. Curtis Burke noted them in his diary:

“January 3rd, 1864. Weather cold, but moderated a little since yesterday. The snow lies mostly in drifts, some of them five feet high and so hard that a man can stand on them. A Yankees Sergeant came around to all the barracks and read a long list of new rules or orders signed by brig. Gen. Orme and H. Burr, Assistant Adjutant Gen. Commanding Post of Chicago. Co. De Land and the other officers at headquarters still remain in office. The substance of the new orders are as follows: 1st that we must only write every thirteen days and then only one letter of two pages of note paper each. The whole number of prisoners in camp was divided into thirteen squads each having a certain day to write. 2nd That we can not visit other squares unless we get a pass from the officer of the day. 3rd That we must be in our barracks by five o’clock p. m. and put out all lights and fires out at the beating of the drum at eight o’clock p.m. and no one allowed out side of the barracks till day, except to go to the sink. A man in F. Cluke’s’ eight Kentucky badly cut a comrade in a personal quarrel.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[iii]

“We now write by "squad" of which there are 13 in the prison and one letter oneach day that the squad writes is allowed to each prisoner in it; so you see we are allowed to write one letter every 13 days.”

~ Robert W. Taylor, 10th Kentucky

“S. C. Crawford died Jan 4th 1864 of a protracted illness at Chicago”

~Ezekiel A. Brown, CO. G. 62 NCI[iv]

The new regulations did not seem to matter. Burke reported that guards found more tunnels on January 6th.

“Friday, January 8th, 1864. Weather cold. We have had rumors for several days that prisoners of war were ordered to Point Lookout, under gen. Butler’s jurisdiction to be kept till the Confederate Government will consent to recognize Butler and exchange negro soldiers captured. As far as I can learn, most of the prisoners would rather remain prisoners a year longer than be exchanged through Beast Butler (as we call him) for negro troops.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[v]

Confederates first began to refer to General Benjamin F. Butler as “Beast Butler” on May 15th, 1862, when he issued General Order No. 28 which directed Union soldiers in New Orleans to treat “as a woman of the town plying her avocation’ any female who insulted in any way an officer of the United States.[vi]

“Saturday, January 9th, 1864. Weather cool. The ground has thawed some leaving standing water. There is a foolish rumor circulated through camp by some mischevious person to the effect that the whole number of prisoners in camp had to draw beans to get ten black beans. The persons getting the black beans to be shot, in retaliation for ten men reported shot at Richmond, Virginia. Absurd rumors of various kinds circulated through camp.

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

President Lincoln met with Congressman Brutus J. Clay, of Kentucky, and a very frantic woman by the name of Mrs. Haggard. Mrs. Haggard’s nineteen-year-old son Edward was a prisoner at Camp Douglas and she wished to petition Lincoln for his release.[viii]

“Executive Mansion,
Washington, Jan. 14, 1864.

To-day Hon. Brutus J. Clay calls with Mrs. Haggard, and asks that her son, Edward Haggard, now in his nineteenth year, and a prisoner of War at Camp Douglas, may be discharged. Let him take the oath of Dec. 8. and be discharged. A. LINCOLN

Do the same for William H. Moore. A. LINCOLN”[ix]

On January 18th, 1864, the number of prisoners at Camp Douglas reached 5,616. Overcapacity was noted during inspection. Dr. Edward D. Kittoe, of the surgeon-general’s office, found the prisoners “filthy” and their barracks overcrowded. He concluded that the camp was unfit for use.[x] Dr. Kittoe is noted for his tireless efforts to institute more sanitary conditions and better medical procedures during the war. The work of this single individual likely saved thousands of lives, Union and Confederate.

“ ‘The [camp] is low and flat, rendering drainage imperfect,’ admitted Surgeon Edward D. Kittoe, U. S. Volunteers, ‘ [I]ts proximity to Lake Michigan and consequent exposure to cold, damp winds from off this large body of water, with the flat, marshy character of the soil, must of necessity create a tendency to disease…At [times] the ground is covered with snow and the frost is severe. When the frost gives way and fogs and usual dampness of spring succeed, in conjunction with the surrounding with large cattle yards, slaughter-houses and other offensive matter usual to the suburbs of large cities…disease will assume as a low or typhoid type, and per consequence, the rate of mortality will increase.’” [xi]

Endless months of hunger drove men to eat anything they could find. Near starvation, some prisoners, desperate for protein, killed and ate the rats that ran from under floorboards as one of the old kitchen buildings was demolished.

“I have seen men eat rats and pronounce the flesh good and palatable.”

~ R. T. Bean, Company I, Eighth Kentucky Cavalry[xii]

“Two of the men gathered them up to clean them and to eat them. I understand that rat eating is very extensively carried on in the other squares, but my curiosity has never made me taste any rats yet…[the men] clean them like squirrels and let them soak well in salt water.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xiii]

General Orme, determined to bring of order to the camp, began moving prisoners from White Oak Square to the new Prisoner’s Square in an effort to tighten security. To keep cost low, the old barracks were moved to the new square and set above the ground on five foot legs to prevent tunneling.

“The arrangements of the prison were changed. The barracks were all raised and placed on posts about four feet high, thus putting an end forever to future tunneling. An extra thickness of lumber was put on the fence to the height of about eight feet from the ground, and I realized that escapes were at an end.”

~ R. T. Bean, Company I, Eighth Kentucky Cavalry[xiv]

Prisoners were moved and shuffled in and out of various barracks for several days as the moving took place.

"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! or The Prisoner's Hope" (1864)
As sung by Edwin Kelly of Arlington Kelly & Leon's Minstrels.
Words and Music by George Frederick Root

In the prison cell I sit,
Thinking Mother, dear, of you,
And our bright and happy home so far away,
And the tears, they fill my eyes
Spite of all that I can do,
Tho' I try to cheer my comrades and be gay.

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades they will come.
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the free-land in our own beloved home.

In the battle front we stood
When their fiercest charge they made,
And they swept us off a hundred men or more,
But before we reach'd their lines
They were beaten back dismayed,
And we heard the cry of vict'ry o'er and o'er.

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades they will come.
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the free-land in our own beloved home.

So within the prison cell,
We are waiting for the day
That shall come to open wide the iron door,
And the hollow eye grows bright,
And the poor heart almost gay,
As we think of seeing home and friends once more.

Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching,
Cheer up comrades they will come.
And beneath the starry flag
We shall breathe the air again,
Of the free-land in our own beloved home.

Near the end of the month, the weather finally began to improve and the last of the barracks were rolled to their new locations.

“Wednesday, January 27th, 1864. Weather pleasant. We had to move out before breakfast. The whole number of barracks three hundred feet in all in length have the rollers under them and a capstan[?] on each side near one end to pull them along. The yanks told us to lay hold and help them and some of the men did so, but were ordered around so roughly that they quit. Then the yanks swore that we should not sleep in the barracks while being moved because we would not work. I received a letter from home dated the twenty-fist inst. And a notice from headquarters of some things for myself and Pa at the express office. Six or seven of us passed the guards with Pa and got our goods, etc. I got nearly everything that my letter called for. There [were] some apples in my box and the examiner gave me one and Pa one and a Yank sitting by wanted one of them, till the examiner told him that there was more in the box. We were not allowed to have the boxes for fear they had false bottoms etc. with money or contraband news in them. In the evening a good many of the men took their things outside of the square on a grass plot and erected some sheds out of old timber to sleep under. A lot of us got up on the new hospital on the sly and saw the lake, city, and surrounding country. The country outside of the city as far as I could see was nearly level and thinly settled. Near dusk an officer came around and made us all move back in the old square, where the mud was six inches deep, to spend the night. I and Henry White took our blankets over to number eight barrack where most of the fourteenth KY were and slept in an empty bottom bunk. This barrack with barracks No. nine and ten will also be moved as soon as our five barracks reach their new position. I did not think that so long a string of building could be moved without breaking to pieces. The rats kept me awake most of the night running around my head.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xv]

The above date, “the twenty-first inst.,” refers to the 21st of the current month. Thus the letter burke received from home was written on January 21, 1864.

On January 28th, 1864, Dr. William D. Lee, who had worked in the prison hospital, was arrested and charged in connection with bribery and an escape plot.

“William Lee, M.D. entered the Federal records in October 1863, when he was hired as a contract surgeon (a rank also called "acting assistant surgeon") at Camp Douglas, Illinois, providing care for the Confederate prisoners there. The following month, this Memphis-born physician took the Oath of Allegiance, and described how he and his family had been driven from his native Tennessee, because of his activities with the Union League.

A few months later, the city police in Chicago arrested a William R. Messick and found in his pockets many letters from John B. Messick (William's brother and a prisoner at Camp Douglas), a receipt that John had received $20 from Dr. Lee,... On the reverse is printed "D. F. Brandon, Photographer, Camp Douglas, Ill." Above that, in Lee's own hand, is: "Dr. W. D. Lee, M.D., Camp Douglas, Dec. 22'd, 1863." Lee's only defense was that he had known the Messicks before the war, through church, and was only trying to be helpful.

Lee was convicted of smuggling a total of $35 into the prison (enough to bribe a guard) and with smuggling letters out, also a serious offense. Hc was sentenced to two years of prison.

Incarcerated at Fort Delaware, Lee impressed Brigadier General Albin F. Schoepf, the prison's commander, and the post surgeon, Dr. C. E. Goddard. Schoepf wrote that Lee was a well-behaved prisoner and provided valuable health services to the Confederate officer prisoners. The effects of prison life and the deaths of his two children wore Lee down, and Schoepf recommended early release; Surgeon Goddard reported Lee to bc a "competent and useful doctor." In September of 1864, Lee was released and quickly applied for another Army post; his request was rejected on grounds of his previous conviction. Again, Schoepf intervened, sending a letter to the Surgeon General on Lee's behalf. By early 1865, Lee had another Army contract, this time signed in New Orleans. For the next eighteen months he worked at Baton Rouge, doing sick call and visiting the ‘cholera tents.’’[xvi]

ENDNOTES
[i] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[ii] Deposition of T. D. Henry, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. I. Richmond, Va., March, 1876.
No.4. April - Pages 273 - 276
[iii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[iv] Civil War Diary of E. A. Brown
[v] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[vi] Trefousse, Hans L. “ Ben Butler: The South Called Him BEAST!” 1957, p. 111
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[viii] Basler, Roy P., Marion Dolores Pratt, and Lloyd A. Dunlap, eds., “The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln”
[ix] ADS-P, ISLA.
[x] Levy, George .“To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 11, p. 183-184
[xi] Speer, Lonnie R. “Portals to Hell: Military Prison Camps of the Civil War” p. 136
[xii] Account given by R. T. Bean
[xiii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xiv] Account given by R. T. Bean
[xv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xvi] The sharp end, Jul/Aug 1999 by Beck, Michael, Valentine, Scott, Lyon, Robert, Fitzpatrick, Michael, Et al http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3905/is_199907/ai_n8852871/pg_3/

December, 1863: No Colder place

2009-05-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

"At Camp Douglas, President Bellows of the United States Sanitary Commission found deplorable conditions. Declaring that only some special providence, or some peculiar efficacy of the lake winds, could prevent the camp from becoming a source of pestilence."[i]

Alas, the winds blowing across Lake Michigan proved to be no blessing. These frigid blasts forced the prisoners at Camp Douglas to spend longer amounts of time inside their over crowded barracks. John Barker, of Cluke’s Regiment, wrote home claiming there could be “no colder place that God ever designed.” With little heat, inadequate shelter, and insufficient clothing, the prisoners were quite literally caught in winter’s icy grasp. The Diary of Private William D. Huff, copyrighted by the Chicago Historical Society, contains a riveting sketch of December personified as a dark and bearded male. To view this sketch and a handful of other drawings from Huff’s diary, one must download the History Lab lesson plans in “The Civil War” Up Close and Personal” section entitled “Who is William Huff? Blueback or Grayback” and “Look Out My Window. What Do You See? [ii] The lesson plans may be accessed at http://www.chicagohistory.org/education/resources/history-lab/the-civil-war-up-close-and-personal

On December 3, 1863, nearly one hundred of Morgan’s Men escaped through a tunnel dug in White Oak Square. Only fifty were recaptured.

“I learned that one hundred and two prisoners escaped last night. I went a few doors above here and saw the tunnel. It was commenced in one of the small rooms in the bottom of a bunk and ran out under the kitchen and guard line and came up just outside of the fence. If they had come up two feet back, they would have been seen by the guard. The Yankees were so mad that they came around and tore down all of the partitions [turning] all of the little rooms into one big room in each barrack. They also tore up the floors except under the bunks, and we enjoyed ourselves by jumping around on the sleepers. Col. De Land said that he would turn us all out in the weather if we did not quit digging out. The night air had free range through the barracks, but I slept well.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[iii]

“A great many escaped by tunneling. On one occasion a tunnel was discovered under the barrack occupied by (Cluke's regiment) the eighth Kentucky cavalry. Without trying to find out who dug the tunnel, the whole regiment was formed in column of eight deep, and a guard placed around them with instructions to shoot the first man who sat down; this was just after sun up; at two o'clock a man who had just returned the day before from the small-pox hospital, unable to stand longer fell; a guard saw him and fired; one man was killed dead, two others were wounded, one of them losing an arm, as it was afterwards cut off. This same fellow, who did the shooting, was promoted to a corporal's position, whether for this act or not, it is impossible to say, for he affirmed that he would not take $100 for his gun, as that was the eleventh prisoner he had shot with it.”

~ T. D. Henry, Company E, Duke's Regiment, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry[iv]

Infuriated with the frequency of escapes due to tunneling, De Land ordered that all planking be removed from the barracks’ floors. This was a drastic measure to take during freezing weather, but the young Colonel, who had once been incarcerated in a Confederate prison camp, showed no compassion for his prisoners.

De Land conceived a drastic remedy to counter the tunneling. ‘In view of this I have ordered all the floors removed from the barracks and cook-houses and the spaces filled with dirt even with the top of the joist…This will undoubtedly increase the sickness and mortality, but it will save much trouble and add security. ’” [v]

Even the removal of the floor and partitions did not quell De Land’s wrath. He ordered his men to confiscate the prisoner’s coats, tools, and personal cash citing that such items aided their ability to escape. Defective clothing that had been rejected as unfit for army use was issued to prisoners.[vi]

“We were all marched to the main square in front of headquarters where we found all of the prisoners from the other square also in line. All of the Yankee Lieutenants and Sergeants were set to work searching us. Some took our knives, money, etc. and put it on paper, but others kept no account. Like was done at Camp Morton. Then they came around again and took every good coat in the crowd, and distributed some thin cottonade pepper and salt jackets, and some thin black ridiculous looking tight spade tail Yankee coats in the place of their warm coats received from home. Some photographs were even taken from our men. In the meantime, a squad of Yankees and work hands searched our quarters and took all the good clothing they found, and the work hands stole some of the men’s rations. All of the axes, wood saws, and spades were taken away, depriving us of the means of cutting up our wood and cleaning up our quarters. They left a few rakes I believe and said that we could comb our heads with them.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

On December 4th, William Huff recorded a snow storm followed by sleet. The ground was covered in ice. He lamented the confiscation of the prisoner’s coats and the intensely cold weather.

By December 9th workmen had removed flooring from every barracks and prisoners were allowed to fill in the spaces between the floor joists with sand.

Edwin M. Stanton, the United Sates Secretary of War, ordered that there be no trade with sutlers. Thus, De Land ordered the sutler’s store closed on December 12th but permitted him to sell out his remaining stock. The barber shop and news stand were closed on December 17th and the sale of stamps, envelopes, and paper discontinued. However, those prisoners fortunate enough to procure Union “greenbacks” were allowed to spend their money “at the commissaries after eleven o’clock on ration days.” [viii] Curtis Burke and his messmate Henry White began laying in the necessary items to prepare a Christmas dinner.

Emily Todd Helm, half sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, visited the White house accompanied by her daughter Katherine. Mrs. Helm’s husband, Confederate General Benjamin Hardin Helm, had been killed during the Battle of Chickamauga.

"I never saw Mr. Lincoln more moved, than when he heard of the death of his young brother-in-law Ben Hardin Helm, only thirty-two years old, at Chickamauga. I called to see him about four o'clock on the 22nd of September; I found him in the greatest grief. 'Davis,' said he, 'I feel as David of old did when he was told of the death of Absalom.' I saw how grief stricken he was so I closed the door and left him alone."

~ Senator David Davis [ix]

"Mr. Lincoln and my sister met me with the warmest affection, we were all too grief-stricken at first for speech. I have lost my husband, they have lost their fine little son Willie and Mary and I have lost three brothers in the Confederate service. We could only embrace each other in silence and tears. Sister and I dined intimately, alone. Our tears gathered silently and feel unheeded as with choking voices we tried to talk of immaterial things."

~ Emily Todd Helm[x]

It was far from a pleasant trip. Northern newspapers made a great fuss over Mrs. Helm having passed through Union Lines, a U. S. Senator publicly insulted her and her daughter Katherine quarreled with Lincoln children. Feeling highly uncomfortable, Mrs. Helm returned to Lexington, Kentucky. There she wrote to Lincoln requesting permission to send clothing to the prisoners at Camp Douglas.

"I hope I am not intruding too much upon your kindness and will try not to overstep the limits that I should keep."[xi]

On December 23rd, General William Ward Orme replaced De Land as commander of Camp Douglas. Orme was the law partner of one of Abraham Lincoln’s close friends. Orme was also dying of tuberculosis. Disgusted by the chaos he found, Orme tried to bring order to the prison ration and clothing allotment systems.[xii] Meanwhile, in the wake of the Ninian Edwards beef scandal, De Land and the First Michigan Sharpshooters were ordered to the front.

Was my second great grandfather, James Edward Evans, imprisoned at Camp Douglas, struck with homesickness as Christmas neared? While I have never found any letters written by James Edward Evans, there was mail service into and out of the prison camp. Prisoners could even send letters from one prison camp to another. Prison correspondence was, of course, subject to censorship. Article XVII of a 20 April 1864 Federal circular specified that outgoing and incoming letters are to be examined by non-commissioned officers, and must be no more than one page in length.[xiii] Prisoners typically used the little space they were allowed to reassure loved ones of their safety and to request items needed for their survival.

“Bureaucracies take on a life of there own, and mail service between Camp Douglas and the Confederacy continued without a blink. It was only a matter of postage. Mail within the Union lines could come and go directly, and mail traffic beyond that went through ‘Flag of Truce’ exchange points in enemy territory. Aiken’s Landing behind the Confederate Lines was designated as such in March 1862. Prisoners attached three cents in Federal stamps and ten cents Confederate, if they had them; otherwise, they had to enclose cash in an outer envelope.”[xiv]

A letter sent by T. M. Page, 2nd Ky. Cavalry to Miss Mary S. Read of Decatur, IL .in which he thanks her for items send to him saying, “ you may rely on the earnest devotion and native courtesy of a follower of the Starry Cross of Dixie for the cordial appreciation of your kindness.” The black oval stamp on the envelope was stamp was applied after the letter was read by censors at Camp Douglas.

Colonel Hoffman, who must not have been in the holiday spirit, ordered the prisoners' rations cut by one quart of molasses and two ounces of bread on the day before Christmas, 1863.

“The regulation ration which prisoners were to receive consisted of 3/4 of a pound of bacon and 1 ¼ pounds of beef, 1 1/3 pounds white or 1 1/4 pounds of corn-bread, 1/10 pound of coffee, and 1 1/2 ounces of rice or hominy, 1/6 pound of sugar, a gill of vinegar, one candle, a tablespoon of salt, and beans, potatoes and molasses in small amounts. Contracts were made with various camps for local dealers for these rations."[xv]

"Since these rations, which consisted of... were considered too much for men leading a sedentary life, portions of the issues were ordered withheld. The sale of this non-issued portion went into the prison fund….”[xvi]

Curtis Burke’s Christmas included a hearty meal, gifts, and a visit from his father who was also a prisoner at Camp Douglas.

“The prospects for a dull Christmas were large. The cry of Christmas gift was seldom heard, and when it was, it was given more as a salute or a joke, no gifts being expected. When Pa came over to get Sergeants Millers and Browns morning reports, I caught him and invited him to take dinner with us. A Yankee Lieutenant came to examine the barracks and asked us if any of us were engaged in the gopher business (he meant digging out.) I got the following articles on order today, 10 candles, one bottle of pepper sauce, two lbs. of coffee, 7 lbs. sugar, 1 paper of black pepper, 1 paper of allspice, 1 lb. of butter, and 1 lb. lard - $2.45. Pa came over and made me a present of a pair of buckskin cavalry gloves, a pair of socks, a fancy shawl pin, and a fifty cent sutlers ticket. I did not get dinner till late. The stove was so crowded by other messes. My bill of fare was biscuits, tea, beans and bacon, buttered bakers bread, toasted, molasses, boiled onions laid in butter, cheese, peach pie, apple pie, onion pie, plain doughnuts, and sweet doughnuts. The tea cups, mugs, and glasses were refilled and Henry White offered the following toast.

Toast of Morgan’s Men

Unclaimed by the land that bore us,
Lost in the land we find,
The brave have gone before us,
Cowards are left behind.
Then stand to your glasses, steady,
Here’s a health to those we prize,
Here’s a toast to the dead already,
And here’s to the next who dies.

My guests were all well pleased. There was nothing going on at night except several men hollowing New York. The effect of too much mean whiskey aboard.

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xvii]

The day after Christmas, Burke learned “that nothing would be sold at the commissaries after today.” He and Henry White devised a plan for hiding their store of food.

“Weather cold and windy with some snow. I got the balance of the order on the commissary filled and copied off three Southern songs for the Rebel clerk for his attention to filling our order properly. I and Henry White concluded to build a swinging bunk across the barracks near the roof for the safety of the contents of our cupboard. We nailed up the rafters for the new bunk after dusk. Henry White made a raid on the lumber pile where the new hospital is being erected and we walked on the planks to make them look old, so the Yanks would not notice it.

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xviii]

Solomon Floyd Cook of Company G, 62nd Regiment, NC Infantry wrote home to his wife Martha Ann in East Laport, North Caroline.

“Camp Douglas, Chicago, IllDec. the 27th, 1863

Dear companion,

I take this method of letting you know I am well at present. Hoping these lines may find you and the children well. This day twelve months ago I left home. I have lived through many hardships since that time and I am yet alive and enjoying good health, better than usual. It is a sad misfortune that the horror of war has cast our lots in a foreign land but it is even so and we have to submit to its consequences whatever they may be. Hope it will not be long until we are exchanged and get back to our beloved homes and family.

The health of the reg and company is tolerable good at present.

Tell the friends of ____________[illegible], their relatives are generally well. M.M. Shelton is not very well but on the mend. ________ Hooper, L.W. and T.S. are all well. Send word to Pop and Elizabeth.

Martha I want you to write to me and let me know how you are all doing. You will be limited to a short letter otherwise it will not pass through. Write every week, probably I will get a letter after a while. Direct your letters to Chicago Camp Douglas Illinois marked to the Co. and Regt.

Nothing more but remains your affectionate husband until death.

S. F. Cook

Tell L. S. Shelton's family, he has been sick but getting well fast. Asks for them to write to him.”

Less than a year later, Solomon Floyd Cook died of smallpox while still incarcerated at Camp Douglas.

On December 30th, a blizzard and sub- zero temperatures were recorded at Camp Douglas. Neither more clothing nor additional firewood was allowed to the prisoners.

“Meigs [Montgomery C. Meigs, quarter master general of the Union army] vowed to provide supplies to prisoners with ‘the strictest economy’ and expected the prisoners of war to furnish their own clothing. This was impractical for prisoners who arrived at Camp Douglas wearing clothing unsuitable for winter.”[xix]

ENDNOTES

[i] Hesseltine, William Best. “Civil War Prisons” p. 52
[ii] Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities http://www.chicagohistory.com/
[iii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[iv] Deposition of T. D. Henry, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. I. Richmond, Va., March, 1876. No .4. April - Pages 273 – 276.
[v] Levy ,George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 10, p. 165.
[vi] Hesseltine, William Best. “Civil War Prisons” p. 46
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[viii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[ix] Helm, Katherine. “ Mary, Wife of Lincoln”, p. 216-217.
[x] Helm, Katherine. “ Mary, Wife of Lincoln”, p. 221-222.
[xi] Holzer, Harold. “The Lincoln Mailbag,” p. 118.
[xii] Heidler, David Stephen, Heidler, Jeanne T., Coles, David J. “ Encyclopedia of The American Civil War” p. 345.
[xiii] Official Records, Series II, Volume 7, p. 75.
[xiv] Levy, George. “To Die In Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Ch 2, p.44.
[xv] Hesseltine, William Best. “Civil War Prisons” p. 43
[xvi] Hesseltine, William Best. “Civil War Prisons” p. 44
[xvii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xviii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xix] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007 p.91.

November, 1863: Secret Tunnels, Escape Attempts, and Turning Out for De Land

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Running water sewers and toilets opened at Camp Douglas on November 6, 1863 creating a much more sanitary environment. Yet, no one appeared eager to remain in camp.

“Some of the men of Cluke’s and Johnson’s regiments in another square dug some underground passages for the purpose of escaping, and came near finishing them when some traitor told on them, and the Yanks marched them all out in the public square in front of headquarters and put a guard around them with the orders to shoot any person that sat down. The Yanks were trying to make the men tell who the headmen in the digging were. After standing several hours a guard fired into the crowd without cause, wounding three of Cluke’s regiment severely. I could not learn the truth about the affair. Some fifteen or twenty finally stepped out and acknowledged being the principal diggers and were sent to the dungeon. The rest were sent back to their barracks.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[i]

Escapees were not the only source of excitement. A serious fire occurred in Garrison Square the evening of November 11th. Barracks, fences, and sutler’s shops burned down.

“About dinner time the Yankee barracks in the main square took fire and attracted a large crowd of prisoners. The Yanks got scared for fear the prisoners would try to break out and brought out the company of Indians belonging to the first Michigan sharp shooters. They loaded their guns, at the same time ordering the crowd to disperse to their quarters, and we did so on the double quick. The Indians came down and the white officer in command put them on guard around the square. Then [he] came in and notified us that if we left the square we would be shot. I could see the fire from the kitchen. The frame barracks and pitched roof made a heavy cloud of smoke. The fire was stopped by cutting the barracks in two, after burning about three hundred feet of barracks and kitchens. Some of the new fence and Mrs. Finley’s sutler’s store was burned also. Most everything in the building got burned as the fire spread rapidly. The fire was accidental and caught from a stove pipe.”

~Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[ii]

While, strictly copyrighted by the Chicago Historical Society, the Diary of Private William D. Huff contains a drawing of this fire. It is possible to download Huff’s drawings from the History Lab lesson plans in “The Civil War” Up Close and Personal” section entitled “Who is William Huff? Blueback or Grayback” and “Look Out My Window. What Do You See? [iii] The lesson plans may be accessed at http://www.chicagohistory.org/education/resources/history-lab/the-civil-war-up-close-and-personal

Prisoners in Camp Douglas[iv]

Unaccustomed to so much leisure time, many of the men fell prey to homesickness.

“Do they miss me at home, do they miss me?
'Twould be an assurance most dear,
To know that this moment some loved one
Were saying, "I wish you were here."
To feel that the group at the fireside
Were thinking of me as I roam
Oh yes, 'twould be joy without measure
To know that they missed me at home.
To know that they missed me at home.”[v]

Their suffering was compounded by cuts to the rations. What little the prisoners still received was hardly fit to eat. Ninian Edwards, husband of Abraham Lincoln’s wife’s eldest sister, supplied the camp with inferior beef.[vi] Likewise, a Chicago baker cheated the prisoners by cutting the weight of a loaf of bread to two ounces.

“We draw fresh beef every other day, but it is not a number one article being mostly neck, flank, bones, and shanks.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

Colonel Hoffman came to investigate Camp Douglas on November 15th.

“Kentucky cavalrymen know as Morgan’s Raiders, named for Gen. John Hunt Morgan, worked diligently to escape and return to battle. One of Morgan’s Raiders, Samuel G. Grasty of Virginia, simply walked out of Camp Douglas to a friend’s house downtown and boarded a train for Richmond, but his fellow soldiers had to work harder to escape. One group of Morgan’s Raiders dug their way out of the dungeon, which was an extra-security prison, drawing admiration from guards for their ingenuity. Others hid their tools in a haystack at night and by daylight dug tunnels beneath their bunks to the other side of the perimeter fence.”[viii]

De Land became absolutely sadist in his punishment. He began hung prisoners by their thumbs and began shutting down the sutlers so that there was no means of procuring supplies save bribing guards.

“A prisoner of war's first duty is to survive; his second duty is to escape.” [ix]

In a sworn statement, Private Thomas D. Henry reported:

“I saw men punished thus until they would grow so deathly sick that they would vomit all over themselves, their heads fall forward and almost every sign of life become extinct; the ends of their thumbs would burst open; a surgeon standing by would feel their pulse and say he thought they could stand it a little longer. Some times he would say they had better be cut down.”[x]

Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg address. In a few brief words, Lincoln gave dignity and honor to those who had fallen in battle and fostered resolve in the hearts of those destined to carry on.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

~ Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863, The Gettysburg Address.

The same day, Curtis R. Burke recorded:

“Some rain fell. Col. De Land came down and called us all out in line [in] front of our barracks to look for tunnels. The barracks were searched, but no tunnels [were] found, and we were dismissed to return to our barracks.”[xi]

The next day, Colonel De Land returned.

“About dark Col. De Land and Capt Rhines, our commissary of prisoners, came down and made the whole regiment fall out in line in front of the barracks. Then we were marched under guard about a hundred yards out of the square toward the sutlers store. The night was chilly and the most of us had thrown a blanket over us not knowing how long we would have to stand out. The Yanks were looking for some of Duke’s regiment who had dressed up to escape and come down to our square and had been reported by some traitor as being among the fourteenth KY. The Yanks caught Wm. Overton, Chas. Steel, and Tho’s Von [Thomas Vaughn?] dressed in citizens suits and marched them off to the guard house, and we were permitted to return to our barracks having been out about an hour and a half.”[xii]

Colonel De Land was back yet again on the evening of Sunday, November 22nd:

“An hour before dark my regiment was called out in line and marched to the main square in front of headquarters. The most of us did not know what it was for, but Col. De Land soon called for four or five men by name. Three were in ranks and stepped out. The Yankees said that these men had threatened to hang a man by the name of Stovall belonging to my regiment for telling on some of the boys that were trying to escape. The Yankees said that they would protect Stovall, and they tied the three men up by the thumbs to the railing of the stand around the flag pole. Then sent Pa (our Sergeant Major) and Sergeant Wm. Miller back to our quarters to find the other two men called for with the pleasing information that if they did not find the men soon that they would be tied up by the thumbs in their places. The men that were tied stood it over a half an hour in silence and then commenced groaning and howling. It made me almost sick to hear them. Several times the Yankee officers asked them if they were ready to tell what they knew, and they answered that they knew nothing to tell. A Yankee surgeon examined them to see how much they could stand. There were some citizens standing around and they tried to get Col. De Land to take the men down. The men were taken down after having been tied up so [long] that they had to partly tip toe for an hour. One of the boys fainted, and another threw up all over himself. Their names were James Allen, John Sweeny, and Wm. Wason. Col. De Land gave us a lecture about threatening any person that choose to tell of our escaping and told us to return to our quarters and find the other two men or he would surely bring us back and make us stand out all night. We returned to our quarters and the two men, who had just returned from a visit to another square went to headquarters and gave themselves up and received their share of the punishment. They were let down when this traitor Stovall said that he forgave them.”

Burke went on to mention that Stovall chose to remain in the protection of headquarters rather than returning to the regimental barracks.

During the Civil War, prisoners, both Northern and the Southern, often attempted escape. It was generally accepted as an obligation of the uniform. Even the United States Christian Committee of Maryland reported:

“It is the duty of the government to keep prisoners as securely as possible, but on the part of the prisoner, it is his right and his duty to escape just as quick as he can…” [xiii]

None of the punishments De Land concocted swayed his prisoners’ determination to escape. Thus, on November 24th, the frustrated colonel issued an order against it!

“A Yankee Sergeant at roll call read a strict order against our escaping.”[xiv]

On November 27th, after four months imprisonment in the Ohio penitentiary, John Hunt Morgan escaped with six of his officers. They too tunneled out, using table knifes to dig their way to freedom. Morgan donned civilian clothing then calmly boarded a train. Alas, it was necessary to seat himself next to a Union major! Only moments later the train glided past the penitentiary.

“‘That's where the rebel General Morgan is now imprisoned,’ said the major. ‘Indeed,’ replied the disguised Morgan, ‘I hope they'll always keep him as safely as they have him now.' "[xv]

Morgan made his way south eventually arriving in Richmond where he was received as a hero with a parade and two days of being lauded over by the Virginia legislature. His imprisoned men were forgotten.

ENDNOTES
[i] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[ii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[iii] Chicago Historical Society, History Lab activities www.chicagohistory.com
[iv] Harpers Weekly, April 5, 1862.
[v] Mason, Caroline A. and Grannis, S.M. “Do They Miss Me At Home?”
[vi] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007.
[vii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[viii] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007, p. 78.
[ix] Doyle, Robert C. “A Prisoner's Duty: Great Escapes in U.S. Military History”
[x] Alexander, Dee. “Morgan’s Raiders” 1959.
[xi] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xii] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xiii] Report of the United States Christian Committee of Maryland, 1864
[xiv] Diary of Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry.
[xv] Doyle, Robert C. “A Prisoner's Duty: Great Escapes in U.S. Military History”

Additional Views of Camp Douglas

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“Harpers Weekly,” April 5, 1862

The F. Munson sketch.[i]

A copyrighted sketch showing how close Camp Douglas was to the lake may be found at chicagology.com/canp-douglas/

Superimposed the boundaries of old Camp Douglas.[ii]

Early sketch of Camp Douglas[iii]

ENDNOTES

[i] Leslie, Frank. “ Famous Leaders and Battle Scenes of the Civil War” 1896.
[ii] Bross, William. "History of Camp Douglas," Paper Read before the Chicago Historial Society, June 18, 1878, in Mabel McIlvaine, ed., “Reminiscences of Chicago during the Civil War”, New York: The Citadel Press, 1967 (originally published in 1914), p. 160.
[iii] Kirke, Edmund ."Three Days at Camp Douglas," “Our Young Folks: An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls”, Vol. 1, No. 4, April 1865, pp. 252-262: p. 253. Drawing from “Our Young Folks” magazine reproduced in Victor Hicken, "Illinois Camps, Posts, and Prisons," Illinois Civil War Sketches, Illinois State Historical Library for the Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois.

September - October, 1863: Camp Douglas under De Land's Get Tough Policy

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Life in Camp Douglas was rather puritanical. Reading material consisted of religious tracts, new testaments, hymn books, and a religious news paper entitled “American Messenger. Occasionally, a local paper made it into the hands of a prisoner. Parson Orr held meetings at the chapel and started a library for prisoners willing to join his religious society. Those who broke camp rules were dealt with in the most humiliating of fashions. At least one thief was punished by being forced to wear a placard emblazoned “THIEF!” as he and a guard walked through the camp. The prisoners slept on bare planks and worked hard making drainage ditches to remove standing pools of water. Mail from home was slow to get through, always inspected before it reached the prisoner. Any money enclosed in the letter was removed and a credit applied at the sutlers store. Alas the prices at these stores were highly inflated.

Another difficulty was finding water. The prisoners were forces to use two certain hydrates with the third being reserved for the guards.. On cold or wind days the trip was quite miserable. Waiting in line could take three to four hours. The trip was made even more dangerous as guard often shot without warning if they felt a prisoner was making an attempt to escape.

The barracks were in poor repair. Prisoners did what they could to mend leaking roofs and crack that allowed the wind to whistle through the thin walls. This was a dangerous undertaking as guards had orders to shoot any prisoner found of the roof of a barracks.

Numerous Raiders attempted escape by donning civilian clothing, bribing guards, and/or attempting to leave the camp under the cover of darkness. Curtis R. Burke recorded such events as “nightly occurrences.”

Religious groups from Kentucky tried to ease the suffering of the men by sending clothing. Alas it was not enough to fill the needs of all the prisoners. Cart loads of boxes and bundles arrived for the prisoners. Food, blankets, money, and clothing were highly prized gifts.

The Autumn rains began on October 2nd . The camp had very poor drainage and became a muddy swamp.

John Curd, a negro, produced a Minstrel show on October 5th which drew hundreds of prisoners in attendance. With the price of admission was 15 cents in Yankee Money or $3.00 in Confederate money, the Minstrels made a tidy profit! However the Camp guards put an end to the show at about half way through despite Curd showing the Lieutenant of the guard a permit from Colonel De Land.

On October 9, 1863 U. S. Colonel Hoffman sent Dr. A. M. Clark to inspect Camp Douglas. Dr. Clark noted a lack of guards, insufficient water, open sinks (pit toilets), lack of hospital capacity and bedding, poor ventilation, inadequate sewer system, dilapidated barracks, lack of blankets and stoves, and lack of personal hygiene amongst the prisoners. [i]

A businessman erected a wooden tower outside the camp and charged sightseers 10 cents to climb it and get a birds’ eye view of the prison. The sketch on which this engraving is based was likely made from that tower. This view offers a chance to better comprehend the layout of the different squares within the prison.[ii]

Camp Douglas was not a place where any soldier, Union or Confederate, wanted to be. Yet, they tried to make the best of it. The prisoners found a variety of ways to pass the time. Recreation topped the list of favored activities. There were games of cards, checkers, ball, and marbles. Companies challenged each other to contests of jumping and foot races. Kite flying and snowball fights were indulged in as weather allowed. Industrious individuals set up workshops in an effort to earn money which needed to purchase extra food and supplies. They included a silversmith, a pipe maker, a buggy maker, toothpick makers, and nearly 30 ring makers. While few prisoners could afford to buy the items their fellow inmates created, many guards made purchases. Often the guards resold the items in Chicago for a tidy profit.[iii]

Suffering and want among the prisoners was wide spread. Letters pleading for assistance were written to every person a man could recall. Errors in spelling and grammar in the following letter remain uncorrected thus allowing the reader to “hear” the writer’s voice.

“Camp Douglass Ill Oct 16, 1863

Mrs. Joyce

Madam

I am a stranger to you but am a member of your sons company Cap E Joyce comp K 2 Ky Reg Voll and was taken prisoner at Chickamauga on Sunday the 20th and I am here in prison at Camp Douglass and I would be very thankful to you if you would send me a couple pare drawers and a couple pare of woolen socks and a blanket for I have none and I would like you to send me two or three dollars in money if you please. I am very bad of for clothes and I do not know how long it will be till we are exchange. You’re son was not very well the last time I seen him. He was not in the fight. He was sick at Mobile but would soon be well a enough for duty. If you should send the things to me, direct your letter and package to Frank Mullen Comp K. 2th. Ky Reg Inf Voll Prisoner of War Camp Douglass Ill in care Comp. C. 3. Ky Cav and than I can get it and will be under many obligations to you.

Yours Frank Mullen” [iv]

On October 24, 1863, Dr. Clarks damning report of the conditions at Camp Douglas became public. Highly offended and on the defensive, Colonel Hoffman proposed that repairs to the camp be made at the prisoners expense and imposed new restrictions. Cooking stoves were removed and replaced with boilers. Now prisoners would no longer be able to bake bread and pies. Their diet would be limited to soups, stews, and boiled suppers. Hoffman further required that all prisoners clean their quarters and police the grounds immediately after roll call.[v] These requirements only heightened tensions within the camp.

Twenty-six of Morgan’s Raiders escaped from the maximum security area of Camp Douglas known as the White Oak dungeon on October 26, 1863. These men cut a hole in the plank floor, and then tunneled into an adjoining garbage pit to make their escape.[vi] It was an extreme embarrassment to camp leadership.

In a classic example of disorganized and faulty Confederate record keeping, a Roll of Company I, First Regiment Cavalry, Kentucky Volunteers, Confederate Army was finally filed on October 31, 1863. This roll was long over due as the first Regiment had long since been reorganized into the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry back in the autumn of 1862! The listing for the First Organization shows that the original Regiment members enlisted for 12 months. No date of enlistment, nor place of enlistment, is recorded for James Evans. Enlistment dates on this roll range from Oct. 17, 1861 to March 1, 1863. The Roll itself is datelined Knoxville, Tenn. Oct. 31, 1863.

“Roll of Company I, First Regiment Cavalry, Kentucky Volunteers, Confederate Army Reorganization – Consolidated First and Third Regiments #27 Evans J., Rank: Private”[vii]

Meanwhile, at Camp Douglas, the escape attempts were driving De Land to distraction. Rather than remaining an unflappable leader, De Land began to take the attempts personally and reacted in fury and disgust.

“De Land’s get-tough policy started with a serious shooting on November 3, 1863. An escape tunnel had been found under the Eight Kentucky Cavalry Barrack. De Land lined up the regiment and told the guards to shoot ‘if any sat down.’ According to T. D. Henry, a guard fired when a sick man fell. Henry claimed, ‘One man was killed, two others wounded, one of them losing an arm, as it was afterwards cut off.’”[viii]

Endnotes
[i] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, pages 146 -148.
[ii] Engraving of Camp Douglas made from a sketch by F. Munson
[iii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 18, pages 303 -305.
[iv] Letter written by Corp. Frank A. Mullen, Co. K, 2nd Ky. Inf.
[v] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, pages 150 -151.
[vi] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, 151-152.
[vii] McDowell, “The Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kentucky, Civil War, Confederate,” Vol. I pages 528 -529.
[viii][viii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 10, p. 157.

August, 1863: Prisoner at Camp Chase and Camp Douglas

2009-04-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

“Who but the Soldier knows the true definition of ‘War'?”

~ DeWitt C. Markle, 57th Indiana Volunteer Infantry[i]

Captured in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio on July 20, 1863, near the end of Morgan’s Great Raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, James Edward Evans was first sent to Cincinnati, Ohio then moved by steamboat to Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio on July 26, 1863.[ii] Camp Chase was originally a prison for civilian political prisoners but began processing military prisoners in preparation for exchange in 1862 under the policy of the Dix-Hill Cartel. After the collapses of the Dix-Hill Cartel on July 13, 1863, the population of Camp Chase rose dramatically. The prisoners were “accommodated” in wood frame buildings and huts. [iii] However, it quickly became apparent that other lodgings had to be found. Union leadership scrambled to find camps having room for prisoners.

Families of the Raiders appealed to government officials seeking the release of their captured loved ones. Unfortunately, while Kentucky had initially adopted a policy of neutrality in the war, the General Assembly now supported the Union. Thomas Bramlette was elected to replace Kentucky Governor James F. Robinson, who had served out Beriah Magoffin's unexpired term. Bramlette had resigned from the Union army in 1862 to accept President Lincoln's appointment as United States district attorney for Kentucky. Bramlette was not inclined to do anything that might assist in gaining the release of any of Morgan’s men.

Prisoners sent dozens of letters home reassuring their families and explaining the events of their capture. Imprisoned Captain Thomas M. Combs, in writing home to his wife Lou, answered my childhood questions of what became of the stolen horses:

“One man would frequently ride five horses down in one day. Mount a fine fresh horse in the morning, start off at a dead run, and before ten o’clock he would hardly be able to put one foot before another, then ride him up to a fine stable, change saddle and bridle, turn the tired horse loose in the lot and go ahead again.”[iv]

Camp Douglas, in Chicago Illinois, was selected as a fit prison for enlisted men. On August 17, 1863 the first group of Morgan’s Raiders arrived at the prison gates. A good number of Chicago citizens and the press turned out to capture a glimpse of the infamous Raiders.

“Generally, they are far better looking men than any of the secesh prisoners we had here before. Those butternut suits and shapeless slouched hats, would make an ugly man of anybody. All the colors of Joseph’s coat were represented in their wearing apparel: the butternut was worn by the careless quiet looking individuals, who had their horse blankets and tin cups strung across their shoulders. But the keen, black eyed out-and-out raiders of the dare devil stripe, had either a suit of black broadcloth, or a portion of our own soldiers’ blue uniform.”

~ The Chicago Tribune[v]

“Butternut” referred to the grey color of the Confederate uniforms. The material used to make Confederate uniforms was dyed in a process using the bark of the Butternut tree. While the Northern affront “secesh” was used to refer to secessionist and members of the Confederate army, “butternut” became the slur used when referring to both Southerners and those with Southern sympathies.

The following day, none other than Colonel Charles V. De Land was ordered to take command of Camp Douglas. Having been one of the officers that pursued and captured the Raiders, it was certain he would not look favorably upon his prisoners.

“Among the units chasing Morgan was the First Michigan Sharpshooters under Col. Charles V. De Land, aged 35. He entered the war as a captain in the Ninth Michigan Infantry in 1861 and saw some hard soldiering. Captured at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he was the only Camp Douglas commandant to have seen a Southern prison. Perhaps this explains his harsh treatment of prisoners at Camp Douglas.” [vi]

John Hunt Morgan and the few Raiders who escaped capture at Buffington Island continued to move northward through Ohio.

“Morgan’s Raid-Entry of Morgan’s Freebooters into Washington Ohio”[vii]

Those Raiders unfortunate enough to suffer capture and incarceration were being processed and sent to prison camps across the nation as a means to insure there would be no attempt at their rescue and less likelihood of a well organized mass escape attempt.

“As was the custom, the victor of a battle sent officers and enlisted men to separate prisons to prevent them from organizing a revolt. While their enlisted men were incarcerated in Chicago’s Camp Douglas, their commanding officers spent time at Fort Warren in Massachusetts and Johnson’s Island on Lake Erie.”[viii]

Curtis R. Burke arrived at Camp Douglas on Tuesday, August 18, 1863. He recorded his impressions in his journal:

"The guards said that we were going to Camp Douglas near Chicago, Ill. The cars run along the lake shore for some distance before we got to the suburbs of Chicago where we got out. I could see the city and a few sailing boats but no large crafts. We were marched about four hundred yards inland and arrived at the gate of Camp Douglas on Lake Street. I saw two street cars and several carriages of city folks waiting to see us. The gates swung open and in we marched. The camp appeared pretty large, with a high fence running around it. I saw a postoffice, barber shop, picture gallery, two sutler stores, a commissary house, and a chapel. The first square we entered was the Yankees quarters off to the left, with long barracks on the sides and flag pole in the center. Then we marched to another square that was vacant and they called it White Oak square. All of the barracks were long one story buildings. Four of them forming a square with a cook house on the outside of the square to each barrack and the length of the barrack."

On August 20, 1863 James Edward Evans was among a group placed aboard a railway car and transported to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. Here he languished for the next a year and a half as the Dix- Hill Cartel general exchange agreement had collapsed in July of 1863.[ix] The only remaining means of leaving the prison camp were death or taking the Oath of Allegiance.

“Prisoners were now stranded at Camp Douglas for the duration of the war. The cartel was dead, and the administration was skeptical about whether prisoners would honor the oath once released. For example, five of Morgan’s men earned jobs in the hospital by applying for the oath, but they promptly dug a tunnel and escaped.”[x]

It would not be impolite to describe Camp Douglas as a Hell Hole. From 1862–1865, more than 6,000 Confederate prisoners died from disease, starvation, and the bitter cold winters.[xi] Camp Douglas had not been not designed as a prison rather, it began as a training grounds for Federal troops. As a prison, it operated much like a minature city behind walls. Prisoners, guards, and sometimes paroled troops awaiting return to the front were all force to reside in appauling conditions. Situated in a biazzare location, Camp Douglas sat on swampy soil next to the University of Chicago. This land had been owned by Stephen Douglas and was donated to the city of Chicago upon his death.

“Survival at Camp Douglas depended upon many factors. Time and place of capture decided how much equipment and clothing a prisoner might save. Finding friends and forming groups for mutual aid, protection, and conversation was important.” [xii]

James Edward Evans was “lucky” enough to be in the company of other Raiders. What equipment and clothing he managed to bring to the camp is unknown. It is known that he was forced to drink from a contamined well upon his arrival.

“Only one water hydrant supplied the entire camp. It was not working when 558 thirsty prisoners arrived on August 20, causing them to use a contaminated well.” [xiii]

Once processed, the Raiders were assigned to crowded wooden bunk houses.

“The barracks were divided into little rooms with from two to ten bunks in each, and doors and windows to match, also one long room with a row of bunks on each side of the room, mostly three bunks deep or high, and making room for about eighty men.”

~ Private Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry[xiv]

Record showing the James Edward Evans as a POW at Camp Douglas.

Curtis R. Burke also recorded that on Thursday, August 20, 1863:

"A good many citizens and ladies came to take a look at Morgan's men. In the evening Parson Orr held forth in the square and a good many of the boys attended, and service was given out for the next day."

With the influx of Raiders, the number of prisoners at Camp Douglas reached 3,100. Sadly, this was only the beginning of overcrowding at the camp.

“Unfortunately for the hapless De Land, not only were the conditions still very poor, but some of his new prisoners included members of John Hunt Morgan’s infamous raiders. These men proved especially adept at finding ways out of the camp, and under De Land’s command there were more than 150 escapes from Camp Douglas.”[xv]

A group of Morgan’s Men at Camp Douglas in August 1863[xvi]

Ministers were allowed into Camp Douglas to preach sermons and distribute bibles. Some charitable groups, such as the YMCA and churches, took up donations to provide prisoners with blankets, clothing, food, medications, and cleaning supplies. The Chicago Bible Society supplied religious tracts to the prisoners.

“One Sunday Dr. Eddy was reading a verse to them: Show pity, Lord, O Lord, forgive; the next line was, Let a repenting rebel live. He quickly read it, Let a repenting sinner live, but the verse was well known to the prisoners. There was a roar of laughter and all serious attention vanished.”[xvii]

Sutlers (business men who sold goods or services to the prisoners) were also allowed into Camp Douglas. They included a photography studio, a barber shop, two grocery stores, 23 card tables, laundresses, newspaper boys, and peddlers who sold milk, butter, and vegetables.

Raiders at a staged card game[xviii]

“Because music enhanced military morale and musical instruments posed no security threat, Union guards allowed music to ring throughout camp Douglas. Joseph Dunavan of Company D, 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, spent his free time as a composer. One of his songs, ‘Twas a Pleasant Home of Ours, Sister,’ is still sold and sung today.”Small ensembles earned extra food, and a group of African American Confederate soldiers who organized a minstrel show played to sell out crowds, earning more than just their salary as Confederate soldiers. One homesick prisoner, Joseph Dunavan of Company D, 2nd Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, spent his free time as a composer. One of his songs, 'Twas a Pleasant Home of Ours, Sister' is still sold and sung today." [xix]

ENDNOTES
[i] Markle, DeWitt C. "'...The True Definition of War': The Civil War Diary of DeWitt C. Markle," ed. Erich L. Ewald, Indiana Magazine of History 89, no. 2, June 1993, p.129.
[ii] Compiled Military Service Record of James Edward Evans 1862 – 1865.
[iii] Further information regarding Camp Chase provided by the National Parks Service can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/123camp_chase/123facts1.htm
[iv] Thomas A. Coombs’ letter to his wife Lou dated August 14, 1863.
[v] The Chicago Tribune, August 19, 1863.
[vi] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, p. 141.
[vii] Harper’s Weekly Vol. VII No. 346 New York, Saturday, August 15, 1863.
[viii] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007, p. 37.
[ix] Compiled Military Service Record of James Edward Evans 1862 – 1865.
[x] Levy, George .“To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, p. 144.
[xi] Camp Douglas (Chicago)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Douglas_(Chicago)
[xii] Levy, George .“To Die In Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,”1999, Ch. 3, p.59.
[xiii] Levy, George. “To Die in Chicago, Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65,” 1999, Chap. 9, p. 143.
[xiv] Diary of Private Curtis R. Burke, Co. B 14th Kentucky Cavalry
[xv] Heidler, David Stephen, Heidler, Jeanne T. Coles, David J. .“ Encyclopedia of The American Civil War” p. 345.
[xvi] Photo is accredited with some speculation to D. F. Brandon.
[xvii] Kirkland, Caroline .“Chicago Yesterdays,” 1919, 108 – 109.
[xviii] Photo is accredited with some speculation to D. F. Brandon.
[xix] Pucci, Kelly. “Camp Douglas: Chicago’s Civil War Prison” 2007 p.49.

The Great Raid: Success or Failure?

2009-04-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

John Hunt Morgan was the one of the Confederacy’s most romantic heroes. In the early years of the American Civil War, he captured the Confederacy’s imagination and became a folk hero immortalized in poetry and song. Dozens of glowing anecdotes illustrated his ability to set the hearts of society Belles racing with acts of compassion and gallantry. Yet, was this dashing military figure in fact a capable leader? Did the actions and character of this single man impact the outcome of the American Civil War? What, if any, lasting impact was created by Morgan’s Great Raid into Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio?

Historian Edward G. Longacre succinctly described the purpose of raiding:

“One of the most important and most taxing assignments that devolved upon Civil War troopers was raiding. Quite often horse soldiers were ordered out in mass either to drive deep into enemy territory on a long, sustained march, or to make a quick stab in the rear of the opponents' lines.”[i]

Morgan has been hailed as an expert raider. Southern news papers reported Morgan’s deeds in the most laudable of tones, while Northern papers, such as the “New York Times” and “Harper’s Weekly,” took delight in vilifying Morgan. Today, modern authors cite Morgan as “the symbol of guerrilla war and primary model for the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act.”[ii] Does Morgan deserve such praise?

Morgan was a civilian prior to the Civil War and lacked military training. While he had created and equipped a group of home guards known as “The Lexington Rifles,” Morgan lacked textbook knowledge of the military arts. Therefore, he developed simple, yet effective, tactics. Raiding was “an inevitable strategic device in the face of the overwhelming material and numerical superiority of the North, and a logical corollary of the essentially defensive strategy of the South, but in the long run, mere raids could not affect the outcome of the war.”[iii] In this light, Morgan was a wily little David fighting a lumbering Goliath.

Morgan wisely selected battlegrounds which were steep, wooded, and difficult terrain to ride in. Thus, no traditional lines could be formed against him. Furthermore, Morgan used his men as both a cavalry and an infantry. Viewing his men as a “mounted infantry,” ala the Kentucky Mounted Rifleman in the War of 1812, the horse became a means of moving into battle. Once upon the battlefield, his men would dismount. The third member of each four man group took charge of the horses. Morgan also selected to bring along artillery. Thus he was, in effect, leading his own little army. Morgan’s Men traveled as lightly as possible, many even abandoning their sabers. Their weapon of preference was the medium Enfield rifle. Attacks were delivered on the double-quick. They were, in today’s terminology, fighting on the “hit and run” as “drive by shooters.”

Near the beginning of the Civil War, Morgan had several advantages over the Union Army which occupied Kentucky. As Lexington, Kentucky had been Morgan’s home and place of business, he knew both the terrain and the people of the areas he set about raiding. This knowledge allowed Morgan to travel directly and with speed, slip away down little known back roads, and find assistance from the citizenry when it was needed. More importantly, during this early period of the American Civil War, the South had a superior cavalry. Due to both the poor infrastructure and agrarian lifestyle of the Confederate States, Southerners had greater experience on horse back and access to stronger, more intelligent horses. Cavalry service carried an aura of glamour that attracted many young men. It was commonly accepted that "the best blood of the South rode in the cavalry." As the War ground on, the tides of fortune turned. Northerners gained experience in the saddle and were supplied with superior fire arms. Morgan’s Raider were quite surprised to find that they no longer no longer held the edge. These “brave knights” of the Confederacy were no longer invincible.

Morgan’s Men were accustomed to making foray’s from Tennessee into central Kentucky, an area many of the men had known since childhood. However, Morgan’s Great Raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio was no “quick stab.” While long-distance raiding against enemy lines of communications, supply depots, and railroads was recognized during this period as a legitimate cavalry tactic, this long sustained march caused Morgan’s men to become so exhausted and demoralized that they were no longer battle ready. Conversely, the morale of the forces perusing Morgan was on the rise. It was now the turn of the Union troopers to ride past their own doors with their wives and children running down the road to greet them. Rather than obtaining the goal of bringing the horror of war to the citizens of the North, Morgan’s Great Raid inspired scores of “stay at homes” to take up arms and defend their homes and loved ones. Likewise, the women of Indian and Ohio gladly supported the Union troops by preparing meals, singing, and cheering as they passed. Patriotism was never dimmed.

In the same essay referenced above, Mr. Longacre outlined the objectives of a cavalry raid:

“Basically, the objectives of cavalry raiders, whether on full- or limited-scale, long- or short-range expeditions, were to strike unexpectedly and decisively at assigned targets, to avoid battle with enemy forces of equal or larger size when at all possible, to gather intelligence about opponents' positions or campaign plans, to create maximum damage to enemy re- sources in minimal time, and to return to home base while suffering as few casualties as possible.

Favorite targets of Civil War raiders included enemy communication lines (particularly railroads), supply bases, garrisons, wagon trains, and loosely defended cities of military value. Raids were conducted either as ends in themselves or as diversionary maneuvers designed to distract the enemy's attention from larger movements by the main army.

Several conditions had to exist if a mounted raid were to be conducted successfully. First of all, the officer in charge had to be bold and aggressive but also prudent, capable of exercising strict authority when necessary and allowing subordinates the discretion to launch secondary operations when desirable.

He had to be adept at meeting unexpected turns of events, at implementing contingency tactics, and at fighting on the defensive as well as on the offensive, as conditions warranted.

Likewise, his subordinate officers had to be enterprising and imaginative, as well as deeply committed to serving their commander faithfully in moments calling for unity of purpose and action.

Then, too, the common soldiers had to be adaptable and resourceful, willing to endure the hardships of a long march in any sort of weather, capable of acting with individual initiative but also as members as a unified team, and able to wield axes and crowbars with vigorous precision.

Finally, the scouts and guides needed a full, accurate comprehension of the country to be traversed, a knowledge of nearby enemy troops and hostile citizens, and a wealth of detail about back trails and blind roads to be used in event of emergency.”[iv]

Morgan was a master of time management. During his Great Raid, he established the world’s record for moving cavalry as his men skirted the city of Cincinnati traveling nearly 100 miles in about 30 hours. He was also an expert at evasive maneuvering. Rarely was Union leadership able to pinpoint the exact city of Morgan’s aim. Following the old Napoleonic methods, the raiders were responsible for providing themselves with food and horses. They became as destructive as a plague of locust adeptly depleting the path of the raid of food, horses and fodder. Furthermore, Morgan allowed his men to “take the spoils of war” from Northern citizens. This often included “opening” stores and saloons. Toward the end of the Great Raid, reports of drunkenness and theft abounded. The once cunning unit was now more akin to a mob of drunken Fraternity brother armed with loaded shot guns. These raiders broke the code of traveling lightly and became weighted down with bolts of cloth, extra clothing, and unusual trinkets such as bird cages and ice skates. By turning a blind eye to this behavior Morgan betrayed his own departure from the actions of a gallant military hero. He grew notoriously lack in exercising authority over the irresponsible actions of his men. Northern newspapers mockingly rechristened the Great Raid as “The Calico Raid.” Only once did Morgan object to his men’s conduct, adamantly ordering stolen Masonic jewels be immediately returned. Regardless of it’s shamefulness, this wide spread theft was not the sort of damage capable of turning the tides of the war. Even the bridges, railroad tracks, locomotives, and flour mills destroyed by the Raiders were mere drops in the bucket. During the Great Raid, Morgan failed to capture or destroy any major targets.

Morgan’s imprudent manner in selecting to ignore General Wheeler’s orders is key to understanding his rapidly deteriorating state of mind. Wheeler had extended Morgan the right to move as he desired within the state of Kentucky, but commanded that he halt at the Ohio River. Nevertheless, Morgan could not reign in of his emotions and personal desire to recapture his former prestige. Many Cavalry men viewed long-distance raids as their best change at winning lasting fame. Yet, such raids were often of little practical strategic value. Morgan’s caprice resulted in dooming his entire command.

With the exception of his new wife Hattie, Morgan showed callous indifference. Gone was the benevalent figure of Southern folktale who protected women, bestowed gifts on children, and always looked after his men. This new self-centereed Morgan showed little thoughtfulness toward his subordinate officers and men. Morgan had been blessed with the good fortune to hand select the roughly 2, 400 men who accompanied him on the Great Raid. He surrounded himself with familiar subordinate officers including his brother Dick Morgan, his brother-in-law Basil Duke, and old cronies from his Lexington Rifles Days. This nepotism insured him unquestioning loyalty and adherence to his plans rather than to Wheeler’s orders. Morgan showed heartless insensitivity toward the troops he commanded. Morgan’s men spent the winter prior to the Great Raid in Tennessee where they were forced to make their camp in open fields building pitiful lean-tos out of fence rails and their raincoats. Each night as they slept, ice formed on their blankets. These men starved on rations of parched corn supplemented with whatever they could scrounge from the surrounding countryside. While there were a few deserters, most of the men continued to ardently follow their well heeled General who slept comfortable in elegant homes, dined at the finest tables, attended lavish balls, and married a young society belle. The devotion of these Confederate Volunteers stemmed from their desire to defend their homes, their families, and their agricultural life style. Their patriotic zeal for the Confederate States of America was so abundant; it blinded them to the flaws in their commanding officer. Morgan’s men were guilty of hero worship.

"General Morgan and his 2,460 handpicked Confederate cavalrymen, along with a battery of light artillery, departed from Sparta, Tennessee, on June 11, 1863, intending to divert the attention of the Union Army of the Ohio from Southern forces in the state."[v]

Morgan’s Men did an excellent job of downing telegram lines and intercepting Union intelligence sent in telegraph messages. They also excelled in planting counterintelligence. Upon entering Indiana, the Raiders spread false rumors that Morgan intended to attack Indianapolis. Morgan furthered this ruse by repeatedly having his telegraph operator, George “Lightning” Ellsworth, tap into the Union lines and, pretending to be a local operator, join any “conversations.” In this manner Morgan was able to spread disinformation regarding the size of his force, their direction of travel, and the number of artillery pieces with which they were equipped.[vi]

Tacitly, Morgan excelled at misdirection. He often broke his forces into small units, allowing one or two units to backtrack, zigzag, or act as decoys. These maneuvers purchased the main column valuable time. However cunning he was at tactics, during the Great Raid Morgan lacked a long term strategy that could bring military triumph to the Confederacy. After his younger brother Tom was killed in battle at Lebanon, Kentucky, Morgan seemed to lose his taste for warfare and avoided battle whenever possible. If a show of artillery did not bring immediate surrender, Morgan simply “vanished.” Almost every town that stood to confront him with a force of armed men discovered that Morgan led his men around the town on back roads as they evacuated their women and children.

While in Kentucky and Indiana, Morgan avoided “battle with enemy forces of equal or larger size.” In Ohio, as Morgan lost time facing road blocks and home guards, large numbers of Union troops amassed. By the time of the Battle of Buffington Island, Morgan was out numbered. Not only was this a result of meticulous planning by Burnside, Morgan’s own growing overconfidence and lack of willingness to view the situation as it was rather than as he wished it to be, led to his undoing. To his great shame, Morgan lost over 2,100 of his men at a time when every Confederate soldier was desperately needed.

While the timing of the Great Raid coincided with Vicksburg, Gettysburg, and Brigadier-General John Imboden’s raid upon the B & O railway in Bedford County, Pennsylvania; the only correlation to these campaigns lay within Morgan’s mind. It is rumored that Morgan hoped to join forces with Lee in Pennsylvania. As Lee suffered defeat and was forced to retreat, we shall never know if this was Morgan’s true intent. The Great Raid proved to be just another disheartening defeat for the Confederacy during the summer of 1863.

Morgan’s overconfidence led to poor planning. Morgan had attempted to conduct reconnaissance of Southern Indiana in June. He selected Thomas Hines to lead a small party of twenty five men to posing as a Union patrol. These men attempted to contact Southern sympathizers, commonly referred to as Copperheads, in the hope of to swaying them into joining the raid or providing support. Ominously, the reconnaissance attempt failed miserably. Not only was no such support found among the Northerners, the true identity of Hines’ party was discovered. During a skirmish near Leavenworth, Indiana, Hines abandoned his men and swam across the Ohio River. After weeks of wandering about in Northern Kentucky, Hines rejoined Morgan’s forces at Brandenburg, Kentucky. Apparently, Morgan was not shaken by anything Hines reported. Morgan heedlessly forged ahead. Once Morgan left Kentucky, he was out of his element and completely without aid. He no longer knew the lay of the land, which were the most direct roads, or which families could be counted on for assistance. Forced to press local citizens into guiding his columns, Morgan often lost valuable time. Another blow to Morgan’s intelligence gathering capability was the lost Captain Thomas Quirk, who was shot in the reign arm at Marrow Bone Creek. Quirk had led an elite group of scouts consisting mainly of former “Lexington Rifles.” Reconnaissance was the key to effective cavalry operations. Once Quirk was gone, intelligence gathering crumbled. The ultimate blunder came when Morgan’s scouts failed to note that Home Guards, rather than Union soldier, guarded the earthworks at Buffington Island. If the Raiders had attacked before the gunboats arrived, a greater number might have been able to escape.

Mr. Longacre concluded his essay by illuminating the criteria used to determine the relative success or failure of a raid:

“Military strategists have drawn up some informal rules that, if followed, would have led to a successful raid. One of the most important of these concerns the degree of value a raid might reach.

To be considered a complete and enduring success, a raid had to be linked in some way with a larger operation. Damage to enemy property, however extensive, was not deemed a sufficient feat unless it materially aided the greater designs of the general-in-chief of the army. In other words, a raid could be pronounced a full success only when it made strategic as well as tactical contributions to the fortunes of the army.

Another informal rule stated that a raiding force had to be small enough to facilitate speed and mobility (the key features of mounted campaigning) but at the same time sufficiently large to handle all of its assigned duties and, if necessary, follow contingency planning. Hence, the amount of work to be done in large part dictated the size of the force sent to accomplish it.”[vii]

The Great Raid was of very little value. Rather than confining his movements to Kentucky as he had been ordered, Morgan invaded Indiana in the hope of creating a spectacular, everlasting impression. While Morgan did recapture headlines and managed to act as a diversion allowing Bragg to withdraw toward Chattanooga, he did not achieve the glory for which he was striving. His greatest aims were unfulfilled. Politically, Confederates dreamt of bringing Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois into the fold. Yet not one of those states succeeded from the Union or brought aide to the Confederate cause. Likewise, there was no military value in Morgan’s Great Raid. Raiders captured and paroled nearly 6,000 Union soldiers and militia. These men were immediately released with little more impact than a bruise to their honor. Some Union supply lines were disrupted and infrastructure was somewhat disrupted when thirty four bridges were destroyed and railroad tracks were torn up at some sixty locations. Union troops were diverted from other duties to chase Morgan however; it was not enough of a drain on Northern man power to prevent Union victories Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Monetarily, 4,375 claims were filed which resulted in awarded damages totaling $576,225.[viii] In Ohio alone, approximately 2,500 horses were stolen and nearly 4,375 homes and businesses were raided. Morgan's Raid cost Ohio taxpayers nearly $600,000 in damages and over $200,000 in wages paid to the 49,357 Ohioans called up to man 587 companies of local militia.[ix] Intrinsic rewards included a renewed hope among Southners that the Confederacy might yet rally after the devastating losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and the perverted thrill of creating panic among the citizens of Southern Indiana and Ohio. On the balance, the Great Raid was a fruitless exercise.

“It is therefore doubtful on balance, these hit-and-run raids were ever worth the price the Confederates paid for them in dispersion of effort and in the absence, at critical times, of large bodies of cavalry from their proper place with the armies.”[x]

Southern historians such as Colonel Basil Duke have attempted to paint the Great Raid in glowing terms:

"The objects of the raid were accomplished. General Bragg's retreat was unmolested by any flanking forces of the enemy, and I think that military men, who will review all the facts, will pronounce that this expedition delayed for weeks the fall of East Tennessee, and prevented the timely reinforcement of Rosecrans by troops that would otherwise have participated in the Battle of Chickamauga."[xi]

While Morgan managed to cover Bragg’s retreat, the Great Raid brought about the utter destruction of Morgan's command. Only 300 men managed to escape across the Ohio River. Thus, all of the remaining 2,160 were among the died, the wounded who were left behind on the battle at the mercy of Union Troops or Northern civilian, or those captured and sent to Union prisons.

In the final years of the war, Union leadership came to view cavalry raids on lines of communication as calculable risk. Sherman blatantly ignored raiders. In the ultimate insult to Southern pride, raiders, once viewed as daring and glamorous cavalry men, were now considered little more than a pesky nuisance.

"After their capture, the enlisted men of Morgan’s command were transferred to military prisons as prisoners of war. The officers, however, were treated as civil criminals and imprisoned at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. This brought about cries of outrage from Southerners but it really worked to the officers’ advantage. If they had been treated as prisoners of war, they would have been taken to the Confederate Officers’ Prison at Johnson’s Island, Ohio. This was an island in Lake Erie from which there was little chance of escape. The Ohio penitentiary was not escape-proof, however, and on 27 November 1863, seven men including John Morgan tunneled out of the prison and escaped south."[xii]

John Hunt Morgan’s Great Raid was an abject failure. Not only was Morgan guilty of open defiance of orders, disgraceful vanity, rampant egotism bordering on mental illness, and a scandalously reckless lack of command; his twisted scheme to regain acclaim sacrificed his men upon his self-constructed alter of narcissism. John Hunt Morgan was no hero. He was, in the central Kentucky vernacular, “a damned fool!”

“Morgan's Raid netted few positive results for the Southern military. It did provide some hope to Confederate civilians that their military could still succeed following the Northern victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in early July 1863. It also caused a great deal of fear among Indiana and Ohio residents and cost several of these people some personal property that the raiders had seized. Almost 4,400 Ohioans filed claims for compensation with the federal government for items that they lost to the Confederates during the raid. The claims amounted to 678,915 dollars, with the government authorizing compensation in the amount of 576,225 dollars. While the Confederates succeeded in instilling fear in the civilian population, the raid inspired many of these people to fight even harder to defeat the Confederacy. In addition, the Confederate military lost an entire division of veteran cavalrymen. Morgan also failed to destroy any railroad tracks, bridges, or supply depots. The raid caused no significant harm to the transportation and communication infrastructure of the North. The raid had as many negative effects as positive ones for the Confederacy.”[xiii]

“He was not a brilliant military mind, but was instead a brash commander whose bravado often resulted in military failure, especially in 1863 and 1864.”[xiv]

“I will say this. That General Morgan could have got out of Ohio with his command had he have managed different. A day or two before we reached the Ohio River, he stopped the two last nights, before reaching the river and we slept the most of the night, when we should have been moving to the place where we expected to cross. We arrived at Portland on the Ohio at 8 P.M. the 18th when we should have got there or might have arrived early in the forenoon. We also had an ambulance and carriage train two miles or more long with sick and wounded who were able to travel. This ought to have been abandoned. We also had four pieces of artillery. All of this we brought up to this point. We should have plunged into the river as soon as we got to the river, abandoning our carriage and artillery. About 60 yards in middle of river was swimming. We could have built bonfires on each side of the river for light and got across and not many would have been drowned, not as many as was killed next morning in the fight. Yet, we remained until the sun must have been one hour high, before we made a move to cross and all night long every one of us that I heard express themselves said we would be captured, many of us if we remained all night. So it was as all seemed to this of course General Morgan's desire was to take everything over the river. But he should have known with the thousands after us, it was impossible.”

~John Weatherred, Bennett's Regiment or 9th Tennessee Cavalry [xv]

ENDNOTES

iLongacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War”
[ii] Ramage, James A. “Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby”
ii Starr, Stephen Z. “ Cavalry Tactics in the Civil War” Cincinnati CWRT, April 26, 1959 http://www.cincinnaticwrt.org/data/ccwrt_history/talks_text/starr_cavalry_tactics.html
iii Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War”
iv U.S. War Department, “The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies”, 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
v Mosgrove, George Dallas, "Following Morgan's Plume in Indiana and Ohio," Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XXXV. January-December, 1907.
vi Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War”
vii Figures supplied by the Ohio Historical Society
viii Harper, Robert S., “Ohio Handbook of the Civil War”. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio Historical Society, 1961. page 23.
ix Starr, Stephen Z. “ Cavalry Tactics in the Civil War” Cincinnati CWRT, April 26, 1959 http://www.cincinnaticwrt.org/data/ccwrt_history/talks_text/starr_cavalry_tactics.html
x Duke, Basil Wilson, “A History of Morgan's Cavalry.” Cincinnati, Ohio: Miami Printing and Pub. Co., 1867. page 460.
xi Barret, Frank. “”John Hunt Morgan” http://www.mahoningvalleycwrt.com/john_hunt_morgan_link.htm
xii Ohio History Central “Morgan’s Raiders.” http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=610
xiii H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Science. “ John Hunt Morgan and the Civil War in South Central Kentucky.” http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=13552
[xv] The Wartime Diary of John Weatherred http://www.jackmasters.net/we1863.html

July 20, 1863: Capture in Cheshire

2009-03-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

“Buffington Bar, July 20, 1863.
(Received July 21.)

Col. Lewis Richmond:
I have just received 81 prisoners from General Shackelford and Colonel Wolford. At Chester there are 135 more, captured by the Twelfth Kentucky Cavalry. My command is scouting in every direction. Of those sent from this place today, 600 were captured by my command, including Cols. Dick Morgan, Duke, Ward, and others; also the notorious Captain Hines. My troops fought at two points on yesterday. The citizens have buried 47 rebels, and Dr. Scriven buried 7. They are perfectly demoralized, broken up, and are endeavoring to escape in small squads. I will use every exertion to capture them all. The pursuit of Morgan has been difficult, and required a vast amount of patience and industry to effect a success. I have Colonel Huffman, brought in since I commenced writing, also several surgeons, as prisoners; the colonel is wounded.
Very respectfully,

E. H. Hobson,
Brigadier General, Commanding.”[i]

During the last confused hours of the Battle of Buffington Island, James Edward Evans, my second great grandfather, escaped with a group of men under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel James B. McCreary. McCreary hastily, and rather disjointedly, recorded these traumatizing events in his diary.

“Jul 20. Today we reached Cheshire. There Buffington was entrenched to a certain extent. The Yankees pressed us in the rear and fired upon us from their gunboats in front, Thus forcing us back to a high hill, where, after exhausting our ammunition, we surrendered 700 men. I saw Gen. Shackleford and arranged the terms of surrender. He allowed all field officers to retain side arms and horses, and all others to retain private property. This proposition I announced to all the officers and all voted to surrender, and thus ended the saddest day of my life.”

~ Lt. Col. James B. McCreary, 11th Kentucky Cavalry CSA [ii]

James Bennett McCreary later served in the U. S. Senate and as Governor of Kentucky

Legend holds that the men escaping with Lieutenant Colonel McCreary crossed this covered bridge in Megis County, Ohio as they fled. [iii]

General Shackelford had pursued escaping Raiders through out the night of July 19th and into the next afternoon of July 20th. In the late afternoon, he over took them near Kyger Creek, roughly ten miles from Gallipolis. Shackelford’s forces skirmished with the Raiders driving them to the top of a high bluff before demanding their surrender. Colonel Cicero Coleman was select from the remaining officers to broker the terms of surrender. The sun had set and rain was falling when the Raiders moved down hill to surrender.

Members of the Fifth Kentucky Cavalry recorded their capture in their diaries and letters to loved ones.

“20th of July at 4 P.M. we arrived at Cheshire ,O., on the river some 50 or 60 miles below Buffington. For several hours previous to arriving at Cheshire the 5th Ky. under my Comd. & the 6th Comd. by R. D. Logan were actively engaged with Woolford's and Judah's Cavalry that hotly pressed our rear. Ammunition being entirely exhausted, and one-half the command having lost their guns during the rapid retreat of the preceding day and night, and the river being impassable, we were forced to surrender. We held a Council of War on a high hill about 4 mi. below Cheshire and sent a flag of truce to [the commanding Union officer]. Col. Coleman, of Cluke's Regt. was our senior officer left, & the terms of surrender was agreed about sunset.”

~ Captain Thomas Monroe Coombs, Co. c, 5th KY Cavalry, Morgan’s Division, CSA [iv]

“Here an act of General Morgan’s gives the emphatic lie to the base slander started by Federal Officers and the Yankee Press that the General was taking care of himself and trying to leave his men to get out the best way they could. Some of our men had crossed and the General, who was riding a splendid horse, had started into the river, when the advancing gun boat attracted his attention. His practiced eye saw at a glance that it would arrive before one-third of our men could cross, he turned his horse and came back to the Ohio shore, nobly disdaining to place himself in safety and leave his followers under existing difficulties. Failing the second attempt to cross the river, we again turned and taking a course nearly north, we traveled almost incessantly for twenty-five or thirty miles, passing on the night of the 19th almost through a large camp of the enemy; then turning to the left we again came to the river on the evening of the 20th at Cheshire, some sixty or seventy miles below Buffington.

Here, again we found the river past fording and gun boats covering its surface, while overpowering numbers of the enemy were rapidly advancing in our rear; half our men were without guns, having left them in the fight and retreat of the previous day, and nearly all without ammunition. Confusion took the place of order, and Officers could not control the men, and thus every man for himself, we again commenced to retreat down the river. In the confusion the general part of Duke’s and Cluke’s regiments became separated from the rest of the command. We kept our way down the river three or four miles, took a position on a high hill and prepared to fight them again, but soon discovered that we were not only cut off from our leader and the head of the column, but that we were surrounded by a vastly superior force of the enemy. ‘Twas madness to contend against fate, and after a consultation, we surrendered. General Morgan with the remainder of the force was not captured until the 26th.”

~ Captain Thomas M. Combs, Company G, 5th KY Cavalry[v]

General Judah eagerly reported their capture.

“Pomeroy, July 21, 1863 – 3 a. m.

General Burnside:
I have just returned form Champaign Creek and Cheshire. One thousand and twenty prisoners are on the river at the latter place. They surrendered to General Shackelford at 5 p. m. last evening. I have seen them myself. I think the Fifth Indiana and Fourteenth Illinois will finish up tomorrow, if other forces do not. Boats should be sent up with infantry guards as soon as possible to these points and Cheshire for prisoners. I shall be here till daylight, perhaps longer.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier –General, Commanding.”[vi]

The Raiders, now Union prisoners, were loaded onto steamboats.

“Pomeroy, July 21, 1863.

General Burnside:
I dare not trust the prisoners going down with the Cincinnati six months’ men. I will wait for Manson’s or other infantry. The Fifth Indiana Cavalry found roads obstructed. I detained the regiment for the present. It is needed as guard to prisoners. Shackleford was last night at Cheshire.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.”[vii]

“Pomeroy, July 22, 1863.

Major-General Burnside:
The following is a list of prisoners: Sent on Starlight and Ingomar, 790; sent by General Hobson, 96; to go from here, 227; at Cheshire, 1,100; taken down by General Scammon, 160; total 2,321 [2,373]. Assuming at least 100 to have crossed the river, 2,450 are accounted for. Colonel Duke assured me that Morgan had but 2,800 men to cross the Ohio River with. I believe him. He accounted for the balance. Where shall I order General Shackelford’s forces to go, and where the troops of my division? I leave Kautz in command of 1,000 men, until all is quiet. I must dismount cavalry as guards to prisoners; the men can thus more readily join their commands. Captured horses will go by land; it is less expensive, and better for them.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier-General.”[viii]

James Edward Evans, captured in Cheshire, Gallia County, Ohio on July 20, 1863, was one of the prisoners taken by steamboat to Cincinnati, Ohio for processing. On July 26, 1863 he was moved to Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio.[ix] Camp Chase was originally a prison for civilian political prisoners but began processing military prisoners in preparation for exchange in 1862. After the collapses of the Dix-Hill Cartel, July 13, 1863, the population of Camp Chase rose dramatically. The prisoners were “accommodated” in wood frame buildings and huts. [x]

“Monday, July 20
The rest of his men leave full chisel during night. Daylight press after them again. Go out foraging for company. Get lot of bread. 1012 rebs surrender to union forces. Take them to Chester on river.

Tuesday, July 21 .
Changing old horses for captured ones. Several citizens claiming horses and taking them away.

Wednesday, July 22
Nothing of importance happens in camp. 180 of Morgan's men reported to have been captured.

Thursday, July 23
Orders to saddle. Prisoners to go away. 45th to guard them. Co. G takes passage on steamer Navigator. Start 5 p.m. Travel all night. On duty from 12 p.m. till 4 a.m. Friday evening very pleasant.

Friday, July 24
Still floating on the bosom of the old Ohio. Prisoners very quiet. Halt at Maysville. Plenty of apples to be had. Land at Cincinnati at dusk. ”

~ Charles W. Durling, Company G, 45th Ohio Infantry [xi]

Everywhere the prisoners were taken, local citizens pressed around them hoping to catch a glimpse of "Morgan’s celebrated horse thieves."

“I was afraid that my journal would be taken from me so I hid most of it in my comfort [blanket] and the rest I hid under sand where I was sitting. The bank above was crowded with union citizens and soldiers looking at us, making it hard to hide anything. Fortunately, before it came to my turn to be searched, Major Coffee of Wolford’s cavalry came along and stopped the search, making the Yanks give back the things that they had taken. Major Coffee was once a prisoner in the hands of Morgan’s command and had been treated well. I found all of my papers again, but three or four days items of the raid.”

~ Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B [xii]

“The prisoners arrived on the afternoon train from Cincinnati, which stopped at the State Avenue crossing, thus saving the trouble of marching them from the depot. A detachment of the Provost Guard had been detailed to keep the road from the track to the penitentiary clear of people —a measure that was absolutely necessary, considering: the large crowd that had collected.”

~ Harper’s Weekly [xiii]

“Cincinnati, July 24, 1863.

General Hartsuff:
I am granting no permits whatever to se the prisoners. Morgan, with his small remnant of 400 to 500, is across Muskingum, and evidently making for the Ohio. Shackelford is only 5 miles behind, and Major Rue with cavalry in front. We hope to get him yet.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.”[xiv]

The last of the stolen horses, whose fate I have pondered for over 30 years, were distributed to local Ohio farmers or became property of the Union army.

“Pomeroy, July 21, 1863.

General Burnside:
Most of the captured horses belong to farmers, who are suffering for want of them. Are you willing that they be restored to owners upon affidavit of proprietorship, the whole to be collected here and placed in hands of the provost-marshal of this county or some other agent or officer? I am beleaguered with applications for restoration.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.”[xv]

On July 26, 1863 John Hunt Morgan was surrendered to James Burbick, a Union "Home Guard" who was acting as Morgan’s guide, near Salineville, Ohio. Burbick, overwhelmed at the prospect of accepting a surrender, conveyed Morgan’s desire to Major Rue who in turn notified General Shackelford.

The Great Raid was at last over.

"Cincinnati, July 27, 1863.

Governor Tod:

Salineville, 26th.

General Burnside:
I captured John Morgan today at 2 p.m. taking 336 prisoners, 400 horses and arms. Morgan presented me his fine sorrel mare.

G. W. Rue,
Major Ninth Kentucky Cavalry.

This is one of the commands which you recommended should go to Bellaire, and Way, who brought him to a stand, was the other command, that were sent over the railroad. Your suggestions were good.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.” [xvi]

ENDNOTES

[i] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 780.
[ii] Diary of James B. McCreary
[iii] Ohio Historical Society
[iv] Diary of Thomas M. Coombs
[v] Letter from Thomas M. Combs to his Wife Lou, August 14-15, 1863 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~greenwolf/coombs/letter.htm
[vi] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, pages 783 - 784.
[vii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 784.
[viii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 788.
[ix] Compiled Military Service Record of James Edward Evans 1862 – 1865
[x] Further information regarding Camp Chase provided by the National Parks Service can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/123camp_chase/123facts1.htm
[xi] Diary of Charles W. Durling. Charles was killed in the siege of Knoxville, November 18, 1863
[xii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xiii] Harper’s Weekly, “Morgan’s Raid” August 15, 1863
[xiv] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, pages 796 - 797.
[xv] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 785.

[xvi]"Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," Part I - Reports, p. 808.

July 19, 1863: The Battle of Buffington Island

2009-02-28T15:50:00.000-08:00

* WARNING: This section contains period writing in which racial slurs appear. These remarks in no manner reflect the views or opinions of the blog’s author. Frank and open discussions regarding racism are strongly encouraged and advised.

With the raiders nearly encircled by Union troops, the Battle of Buffington Island erupted during the early morning hours of July 19. Amazingly, this battle involved three future presidents of the United States: James Garfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley.[i]

Dawn found the Raiders on a flood plain between Union gunboats on the Ohio River to the East and the forces of Brig. Generals Henry Judah, James Shackelford and Edward Hobson to the West. Eager to return to Southern soil, the Raiders approached the river discovering that earthworks, built by the local militia, had been abandoned during the night. But all was not well. Too late, the Raiders realized they had entered a well laid trap.

“With its cloud of skirmishers in advance,
With now the sound of a single shot, snapping like a whip, and now an irregular volley,
The swarming ranks press on and on, the dense brigades press on;
Glittering dimly, toiling under the sun – the dust-cover’d men,
In columns rise and fall to the undulations of the ground,
With artillery interspers’d – the wheels rumble, the horses sweat…
As the army corps advances.”[ii]

Union Artillery rolled over a bluff. As the morning fog lifted, it became plain to see that the Raiders had been ambushed. The Raiders were standing in a v shaped funnel with Union defenders at each side and gunboats on the river. They were faced attack from three directions.

Hobson’s cavalry had finally caught up with Morgan.

“Just as the sky was growing gray with coming dawn on July 19th the welcome sound of half a dozen shots by our advanced guard told us we had struck Morgan’s outpost. Colonel Kautz immediately pushed his command forward at a brisk gait. Debouching from the river hills into the valley of the Ohio, near Buffington Island, we developed Morgan’s force where it had been delayed by fog, waiting for daylight to ford the river into West Virginia. Morgan’s two thousand horsemen were waiting on the lower end of a valley that lay between the hills and the river. The Union troops under General Judah, coming up the river from Pomeroy, where the steamboats had landed them, approached the enemy about the same time our vanguard of General Hobson’s force, led by Colonel Kautz, began the decent into the middle of the valley occupied by Morgan. Colonel Kautz attacked immediately upon arrival; our two pieces of artillery, answering Judah’s guns, informed Morgan that those who had followed him from the Cumberland River had closed in on him.

With the rising of the sun the fog lifted, showing the gunboats in the river, and to Morgan all hope of escape by fording the shallow bar was gone.”

~ Captain Theodore F. Allen, 7th Ohio Cavalry [iii]

Northern soldiers and gunboats commenced shelling from the Ohio River.

Parkersburg, July 19,1863. (Received 4:10 p. m.)

General Burnside:
News just in that the gunboats prevented Morgan crossing 18 miles below here. This was seen by the scout himself. The boats are loaded and ready to start.

Wm. Wallace,
Colonel Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.”[iv]

General Judah had arrived during the night as Morgan slept.

“Headquarters United States Forces, Buffington Bar, July 19, 1863 – 10 a. m. (Received July 23.)

Major-General Burnside:
Agreeably with my promise by telegraph last night, I announce the defeat of Morgan’s force. I traveled all night from Pomeroy; reached Buffington Flats at 5:30 this morning. A dense fog pervades everything. I took a small advance guard, and, with my escort, advanced with my staff, to reconnoiter down a road surrounded by enclosed fields. I had proceeded cautiously but one-fourth of a mile, when I found myself surrounded by the enemy, in front and on my flanks, dismounted, who poured in a heavy fire. Before I could get a piece of artillery in position it was captured. Two men were killed –Major McCook and Lieutenant Price – and some enlisted men wounded; Captain Kise, assistant adjutant-general, and Captain Grafton, volunteer aide-de-camp, with about 30 men, were captured. Finding it impossible to resist the heavy force of three regiments brought up against me, led by Basil Duke, I retreated upon the main body, brought it into action, and, in less than half an hour, completely routed the enemy. I recaptured the piece I lost; captured large quantities of camp equipage, two pieces of the enemy’s artillery, and forced him to abandon the only three he had left, driving him upon General Hobson. Particulars given more fully in report. Large number of prisoners taken. Enemy’s loss not yet ascertained; it cannot fall short of 100 killed and wounded.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier-General.”[v]

The Raiders’ luck had run out. There was little choice but to try to evade capture.

“Cincinnati, July 19, 1863.

Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, Lexington, KY.:
Morgan’s force broken up today; about 1,000 prisoners already captured; a great many killed and wounded. Troops pursuing and picking them up. Colonels Ward and Dick Morgan among the prisoners. I will telegraph Colonel Harney direct. Expect to start back in noon train.

Geo. L. Hartsuff,
Major-General.”[vi]

Morgan encouraged those who dared to swim across the river under an unholy rain of cannon fire.

“In the early morning General Morgan rode into the river, but when about half way across, seeing that the greater number of his men would be forced to remain on the Ohio shore, he turned and rode back to that side of the stream, resolved to share the fate of his men.

Accompanying the raiders were a number of active and intelligent colored boys serving their young masters, to whom they were singularly devoted. Among them was a little fellow named “Box,” a privileged character, whose impudent airs were condoned by the cavaliers in consideration of his uniform cheerfulness and enlivening plantation melodies. When General Morgan had returned to the Ohio shore he saw Box plunge into the river and boldly swim toward the other side. Fearing the little fellow would be drowned, The General called him to return. ‘No, Marse John,’ cried Box, ‘if dey ketch you dey may parole you, but if dey ketch dis nigger in a free State he ain’t a-gwine ter git away while de wah lasts.’ Narrowly missing collision with a gunboat, Box crossed the river all right and escaped southward to the old plantation.”

~ Private George Dallas Mosgrove, 4th Kentucky Cavalry[vii]

Morgan turned northeast and made a second attempt to cross the Ohio River into West Virginia.

“Columbus, Ohio, July 19, 1863. (Received 9:30 p. m.)

Major-General Burnside:
Morgan struck the river at Buffington Island and was there repulsed. Proceeded up the river. Has twice tried to cross, without success. We have a good force at Marietta, and at Parkersburg militia force under command of Colonel Runkle. I doubt not we will take his entire command.

David Tod,
Governor.”[viii]

“The one desperate chance of escape was by the road leading out of the upper end of the valley, and towards this Morgan’s confused troopers swept through the standing grain fields of the fertile farm lands, with Colonel Kautz’s command in hot pursuit.”

~ Captain Theodore F. Allen, 7th Ohio Cavalry [ix]

“Sunday, July 19
Still pressing hard on Johnny. Came up with him about noon. Capture over 1000 prisoners at eight mile island.”

~ Charles W. Durling, Company G, 45th Ohio Infantry[x]

“July 18 – 19. All are on the ‘qui vive,’ for the Ohio River is full of gunboats and transports, and an immense force of cavalry is hovering in our rear. We reached Buffington tonight. All was quiet. A dense fog wrapped this woodland scene. Early in the morning of the 19th the Yankees guarding the ford were attacked by our force, and driven away and their artillery captured. Immediately after this, and whilst we were trying the river to ascertain if it was fordable, the gunboats steamed up the river. The transports landed their infantry, thousands of cavalry moved down upon us, and the artillery commenced its deadly work. We formed and fought here to no purpose. The river was very full inconsequence of a heavy rain away up the river. Shells and Minnie balls were ricocheting and exploding in every direction, cavalry were charging and the infantry with its slow, measured tread moved upon us, while broadside after broadside was poured upon our doomed command from the gunboats. It seemed as if our comparatively small command would be swallowed up by the innumerable hordes. About half of it was captured or killed. I made my way out by charging through the enemy’s lines with about one-half the Regiment, and finally formed a juncture with the remnant of our command under Gen Morgan, now numbering 1,200. With these we moved toward Cheshire, traveling rapidly all night, passing around the enemy’s pickets, over cliffs and ravines, which, under ordinary circumstances, would have been considered insurmountable.”

~ Lt. Col. James B. McCreary, 11th Kentucky Cavalry CSA[xi]

“ The first streak of morning light aroused us from our weary slumbers and mounting our tired and starving horses we prepared to meet the enemy, who in overwhelming numbers were rapidly closing around us, and several Gun Boats Gun Boats had ascended the river immediately in our front. We fought until our ammunition was expended and then retreated up the river, losing three or four hundred men; among them Cols. Duke, Smith & Morgan. I now had the command of our right & moving 9 m. up the river we again attempted to cross. Col. Johnson with about 300 men succeeded, but Gen. Morgan with the main body of the Comd. was nearly all night and making a wide detour on the 20th of July at 4 P.M. we arrived at Cheshire, O., on the river some 50 or 60 miles below Buffington. For several hours previous to arriving at Cheshire the 5th Ky. under my Comd. & the 6th Comd. by R. D. Logan were actively engaged with Woolford’s and Judah’s Cavalry that hotly pressed our rear. Ammunition being entirely exhausted, and one-half the command having lost their guns during the rapid retreat of the preceding day and night, and the river being impassable, we were forced to surrender. We held a Council of War on a high hill about 4 mi. below Cheshire and sent a flag of truce to Col. Coleman, of Cluke’s Regt. Was our senior officer left, & the terms of surrender was agreed about sunset.”

~ Captain Thomas M. Coombs[xii]

With about one thousand gallant but hopeless men, General Morgan withdrew form the Melee at Buffington Island and rode eastward, closely pursued by Hobson’s indefatigable cavalry. Weary and harassed, the Confederate chieftain continued to elude his relentless pursuers for six days, when, his followers reduced to two hundred men, he surrendered, July 26th, to a detachment of Hobson’s Kentucky Cavalrymen – Greek against Greek.”

~ Private George Dallas Mosgrove, 4th Kentucky Cavalry[xiii]

Another 700 Raiders became trapped with Basil Duke and Col. Smith and fought stubbornly until they were completely overwhelmed and forced to surrender.

“The dreaded missiles passed overhead and their hiss increased the panic. A shell struck the road throwing up a cloud of dust. Troopers began unloading their booty of the raid. Shoes, parasols, skates, birdcages were scatted to the wind. Long bolts of muslin and calico spun out in banners of brilliant colors, streaming in the morning sunlight. The wounded and terror-stricken occupants of the ambulance wagons urged the scared horses into headlong flight. Often they became locked together and were hurdled over as if by an earthquake. Occasionally a solid shot or unexploded shell would strike one, and dash it into splinters. The remaining section of Confederate artillery tumbled into a ravine as if the guns had been as light as feathers. The gunboats raked the road with grapeshot. In a moment the panic was complete and the disaster irretrievable.”

~ Brigadier-General Basil Duke[xiv]

“Immediately after the stampede began each one of Morgan’s troopers began to unload the plunder carried on his horse – boots, shoes, stockings, gloves, skates, sleigh bells, and bird cages scattered to the winds. Then the flying horsemen let loose their bolts of muslin and calico; holding one end, each cavalryman let the whole hundred yards stream out behind him. The most gorgeous kaleidoscopic view imaginable would not serve to describe the retreat of this ‘army with banners,’ and instantly, though greatly to our surprise, we found ourselves to be rainbow chasers in almost the literal sense of the word. No road could accommodate such a confused mass of two thousand flying horsemen, and they spread across the narrowing valley. Across the upper end of the valley a stream came down out of the hills to the river, cutting its way through the plain in a deep gorge. Into this gorge plunged and piled the flying cavalry, with their wagons of plunder, and our force close behind them. Some succeeded in getting beyond this sunken gorge to continue their flight, though many, dismounted and disabled, were captured here, while some halted a short distance beyond in the forest-clad hills to surrender, rather than continue a hopeless flight.”

~ Captain Theodore F. Allen, 7th Ohio Cavalry [xv]

“Sunday, July 19th, 1863. Weather clear. Day light came slow. We went to a stable and got corn for our horses before the fog cleared off. After feeding we rode down the river bank four or five hundred yards to a little village called Portland, Ohio where we dismounted to rest. I went to a house and got some bread and meat. About half of the people had left their houses. I had not been in town more than an hour when a detail of thirty men was called for to strengthen the pickets a few hundred yards below town. Sergeant Miller detailed me for one. We all went to the picket base and halted. We learned that one of our Brigades had taken some earthworks and a piece of artillery a short distance below us. About fifteen prisoners passed to the rear. We were on the river bank. Three of four of us gave our horses in charge of others and went down to the river and took a wash. We heard the boats puffing very plain and hurried to our horses. Buffington Island lay just below us. In five minutes more a shell burst some distance below us. The next one burst nearer on a bee line with us. We knew at once that the Yanks were shelling us. I dismounted and held my horse. The next shell burst right over us about fifty feet high. The boys commenced moving back slow, and I led my horse thinking it safer from the shells. Then two or three of the boats followed us up the river shelling us every few minutes. I saw a shell or solid shot strike the ground within two feet of the heels of a horse in the rear of one of the regiments, giving both horse and rider a shower of dirt. On reaching the hills our regiment bore a little too far to the left and got separated form the rest of the command. Myself, Henry Allen, Sergeant Brown and several others in going through the thick woods and bushes got separated from the regiment. We could hear them ahead of us. Sergeant Brown dropped a bundle and as he was leading an extra horse I dismounted and got it for him. The Yanks getting pretty close in our rear, we moved on. I took the lead. We crossed gullies, climbed steep banks, through thick matted undergrowth that I would have thought impossible to do. I felt proud of my horse for the manner in which he carried me through. In climbing a steep bank a grape vine took off my hat and nearly pulled me off my horse. I had to choose between my hat and my gun which I would loose. I concluded to let the hat go and save my gun and went on without going back for it. I reached an open road and found myself alone. I passed several pieces of our artillery upside down in a ditch with the horses cut loose. I soon found the regiment. A shell or two passed over us about tree top high showing that the Yanks were determined to shell us as long as we were within range. We still had hopes of getting with the balance of the command. The Yanks came up and fired into our rear. Co. A dismounted and fought them till the balance of the regiment reached a rise in the woods, and formed a line. We dismounted to fight and advanced about twenty-five yards. We stood behind trees waiting for the enemy to come up again. There was about two hundred stragglers from other regiments with us. They attempted to get away while we were in line, but they did not go more than a few hundred yards when a sharp fire was opened on them from the front and they came back in a hurry. Nothing coming up in the rear we mounted our horses, but had hardly done so when the Yanks came up and fired into us. We moved back slowly firing a few shots. I saw one Yankee horse loose in the front without a rider. No one hurt on our side. We soon found out that we were surrounded and cut of from the command entirely. Some of the officers by order of Col. Dick Morgan, who had been lost and just got with us, raised a white flag in the shape of a handkerchief on a ram rod. I left the regiment and took a road to the left in hopes of getting away. I did not go far till I met three or four of our boys coming back. They said they had tried to get out on several roads but the Yanks were all around us. I picked up a new hat that was too large for me and went back with them to the regiment. While Col. Dick Morgan was making the conditions of our surrender, we threw away nearly everything we had got on the raid. All of the pistols were thrown as far into the bushes as we could throw them. Some were thrown away in pieces. I met Pa [Burke’s father was a member of the same Company] looking as if he had lost something. I laughed and told him that we were trapped and had better make the best of it. Some of the boys even threw away greenbacks and watches for fear that the Yanks would treat them rough if they found such things about them. We cleared our saddles of everything new. There was enough things scatted through the woods to set up quite a respectable variety store. I got a hat to fit me. Most of us put on what ready made clothing we had on hand. There was some eight or ten left us with the bold intention of cutting their way out. We mounted, took our places, and rode four or five hundred yards down the road handing a Yank our guns as we passed. This made the second gun the Yanks had gotten from me. We came to where two or three regiments of Yankee cavalry and some artillery were in line. We formed two lines in front of them and were counted. The boys gave their spurs to the Yanks standing around. I called a young Yank and told him to take mine off and he did so thanking me for them. We then dismounted and stood in front of our horses. I loosened my saddle girt and slipped my bed comfort out knowing that I would need it to sleep on. I also took my journal from my saddle pockets and wrapped it up in the comfort, feeling very uneasy for its safety. We went through a light examination for arms and were marched into a field near by in the shade. We silently bid our horses good-by as they were led away. It was very warm and we were all very thirsty. Some of the Yankees took our canteens to a spring and filled them for us. WE were impressed with the unwelcome fact that we were no longer at liberty to do as we pleased. We were all in hopes that our being captured would give the rest of the command ample opportunity to escape from the large army in pursuit. Pa came across Lt. J. S. Pankey who before the war was one of his best marble agents in business. Lieut. Pankey said he would do anything he could for us. He appeared a little tipsy and gave me a fifty cent green back bill and would not let me give it back. We then marched through the dust back to our old camp near the river, a distance of three miles, where we found Lieut. Peddicord and a lot more of our boys. We halted in the middle of a wheat field with infantry guards around us. I noticed a good many pieces of artillery, also our own pieces that the yanks got before we could get them out of the bottom. I saw but one of our men dead on the field, but I heard that our loss in killed was five. In an hour or two Cols. Basil Duke and D. Howard Smith with about a hundred more of our command was brought in. The boys were all sorry that Duke was captured, but they cheered him when they found he was unharmed. The yanks issued some fat bacon and army crackers to us, and I picked up one of their haversacks with a tin cup and a spoon in it. I soon silenced all honest scruples and kept them. They were just the things that I needed. The guards and by standers handed us the nearest wheat shocks to sit on and sleep on. I opened three or four bundles of wheat and spread it on the ground myself. Henry White and Leven Young slept on it, and covered with my comfort. It was a warm one and the only thing in the mess in the way of bed clothing. I slept very well.

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B[xvi]

Very few Confederates managed to swim across the Ohio River and flee into West Virginia. Reports vary, giving numbers between 300 and 400 men managing to reach the opposite shore.

“About 350 of the boys crossed the river some distance above Buffington Island in the afternoon of July 19th under the command of Col. Adam R. Jackson [Johnson].”

~John Weatherred, 9th Tennessee Cavalry[xvii]

Among those who escaped across the river were David Berry, Colonel Adam “Stovepipe” Johnson, Warren Grigsby, and George Lighting Ellsworth.

“Looking back across the river I saw a number of hats floating on the surface, and knew that each represented a brave and gallant Confederate who had found a watery grave…”

~ Colonel Adam R. Johnson[xviii]

ENDNOTES

[i] Wittenberg, Eric J. “The Fight to Save The Buffington Island Battlefield” http://www.civilwarhome.com/buffington.htm
[ii] Whitman, Walt. “An Army Corps on the March.”
[iii] Allen, Theodore F. “In Pursuit of John Morgan,” Sketches of War History 1861-1865, Papers prepared for the Commandery of the Sate of Ohio, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 1896 -1903, pages 236-237.
[iv] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 779.
[v] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 776.
[vi] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 775.
[vii] Mosgrove, George Dallas. “Following Morgan’s Plume Through Indiana And Ohio.” Southern Historical Society papers. Vol. XXXV. Richmond, VA., January – December. 1907.
[viii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, pages 778 -779.
[ix] Allen, Theodore F. “In Pursuit of John Morgan,” Sketches of War History 1861-1865, Papers prepared for the Commandery of the Sate of Ohio, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 1896 -1903, p. 237.
[x] Diary of Charles W. Durling.
[xi] Diary of James B. McCreary.
[xii] The Diary of Captain Thomas M. Coombs.
[xiii] Mosgrove, George Dallas. “Following Morgan’s Plume Through Indiana And Ohio.” Southern Historical Society papers. Vol. XXXV. Richmond, VA., January – December. 1907.
[xiv] Duke, Basil W. “History of Morgan’s Cavalry,” 1867, pages 452.
[xv] Allen, Theodore F. “In Pursuit of John Morgan,” Sketches of War History 1861-1865, Papers prepared for the Commandery of the Sate of Ohio, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 1896 -1903, pages 237-238.
[xvi] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xvii] Diary of John Weatherred.
[xviii] Walsh, George. “”Those Damned Horse Soldiers” p. 195.

July 18, 1863: Going Home to Dixie

2009-02-22T17:28:00.000-08:00

As Morgan’s men drew nearer the Ohio River, a change in attitude swept over the ranks. Hunger, exhaustion, and the anticipation of returning home mingled with the uneasy fears that the Union troops were still all too close and that the next bullet fired by a bushwhacker or Ohio militia member might not miss.

“Athens, [July 18, 1863.]

General Burnside:
I have obtained the following from the military committee:

We sent out yesterday at 4 p.m. 100 men with axes, under Lieutenant Long, Seventh Ohio Cavalry, with 50 scouts, to impede Morgan’s progress; also 250 armed men from our county to their support. We have had dispatches from our front this fore-noon, saying that Morgan was moving on line of road through Rutland to Pomeroy. Our forces expected that they would move to get on his front in case he moved to go up river. Colonel Gilmore’s forces moved from here this morning at 3 a. m. on the line of our force. Will have 50 mounted men here waiting our orders, and we are all the time at our headquarters, and will forward any dispatches you may wish to any point desired.

M. M. Greene,
Chairman Athens County Military Committee.”[i]

The morale of the Raiders had faded. Only the promise of returning to the South propelled them onward toward the river.

“There is a land where cotton grows,
A land where milk and honey flows,
I'm going home to Dixie; Yes; I am going home
I've got no time to tarry, I've got no time to stay,
'Tis a rocky road to travel, to Dixie far away.
I've got no time to tarry, I've got no time to stay,
'Tis a rocky road to travel, to Dixie far away.”[ii]

At every possible location, the Ohio militia had blocked the roads with fallen trees and destroyed bridges. Thus, the engineers among the Raiders, known as sappers and miners, found themselves in constant demand.

Saturday, July 18th, 1863. Weather pleasant. We fed our horses well and saddled up. We moved early passing through the little village of D. where we saw a company of sappers and miners from our command with axes and shovels. The planks had been removed from the floor of a little bridge in the village by some home guards and hid so we had to go some distance to get by. We rode lively till about twelve o’clock when we came to a place in the road that was blockaded with trees cut across the road which brought us to a halt.”

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B [iii]

Burnside was pushing harder than ever for Morgan’s capture. Constantly pestering his field commanders by telegraph, he obsessively “micromanaged.”

“Cincinnati, July 18, 1863.

Captain Barringer, Parkersburg:
Keep the boats on your side of the river, and let nothing pass below for the present. Send messenger to Conine, asking him to scour the country well, and urge the blockading of the roads from Big Hocking to Athens. Will telegraph Colonel Wallace.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.”[iv]

“July 18, 1863.

Commanding Officer or Operator at Hamden:
Send following dispatch to General Hobson by swift courier:
General Hobson:
Push your command to the utmost of its capacity. If you can overtake Morgan with half your force, I am satisfied you can whip him. Judah ought to have been in front of Morgan, but stopped at Centreville last night. Left there this morning at 5 in pursuit. Send message by this courier.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.
P. S. General Hobson no doubt passed through Jackson this morning.”[v]

“Cincinnati, July 18, 1863.

General Manson: Portsmouth:
Have any of your command gone up the river? Am I to understand that Judah was at Centreville last night with his whole force, and was to leave there this morning at 5? Did you leave any of your command with him? Telegraph all you know of the position of the enemy. It was reported at Pomeroy that he was at Rutland at 2 this morning.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.”[vi]

Union troops advanced on the Raiders from the west and south.

“Saturday, July 18 .
John said to be moving towards Gallipolis. Feed at Keystone furnace. Travel all night till broad day light and passed through Manchester, Vinton, Winchester, Rutland & Chester.”

~ Charles W. Durling, Company G, 45th Ohio Infantry[vii]

“Gallipolis, July 18, 1863.

General Burnside:
A part of Morgan’s forces camped 15 miles from here last night. He is supposed to be in neighborhood of Pomeroy. General Scammon, with a portion of his command, left here early this morning. Three gunboats above. Re-enforcements, infantry and artillery, en route from the Kanawha. I can hold this place. Hobson and Judah about 10 miles behind Morgan. He will likely be surrounded tomorrow, if line is closed between Hamden and Athens.
A. A. Hunter,
Captain, Commanding Post.

Pomeroy, July 18, 1863

Major-General Burnside:
I marched all night from Portsmouth, and continued to Centreville yesterday. Morgan’s Advance got to within 4 miles of me ignorantly, then fell back, and made for Keystone Furnace, Rutland, and Chester. I pushed on to this place, 30 miles, where I arrived two hours since. Hobson is on this side of Rutland. All information assures me that Morgan passed Chester some three hours since, for Buffington Island. So certain, that I sent word to Hobson to push on all that can keep up in track of enemy, via Chester. I move in less than one hour to Buffington, via Racine, my best road. Moving thus, Morgan is in a trap, from which he can’t escape. I think I will be able to telegraph you his defeat tomorrow morning, should he have taken the route I am almost certain he has. A prisoner, who has been with Morgan all day, and released and came on foot from Chester, tells me that Morgan thinks Hobson has given out and given up pursuit. He does not know my position. He thinks he can manage the gunboats with his 10-pounder pieces. Scammon has gone from here to Buffington. I have sent boat to Gallipolis for rations for Hobson and myself.

H. M. Judah,
Brigadier-General”[viii]

Gunboats and Union transports plied the Ohio River delivering troops and supplies.

“Parkersburg, July 18, 1863.

Major-General Burnside:
One of my messengers just in, and reports Morgan at Chester, 26 miles from here, and 5 miles from Pomeroy, at 4 p.m. Four hundred militia went down to Buffington, with artillery, yesterday. Lieutenant Conine is at Little Hocking Bridge, with 1,200 men. I have no steamboat; expecting one down hourly, from Pittsburg, drawing 30 inches, The ferry-boat, drawing 26 inches, is at Blennerhassett’s Island, helping off steamer Eagle, which draws 36 inches. Stores all in Parkersburg, on Virginia side. Can use floats, if necessary, to help artillery or men.

A. V. Barringer,
Captain, and Commissary of Subsistence.”[ix]

Yet, Morgan seemed almost cavalier and completely heedless to the difficulties laying before him. Alas, crossing the Ohio into West Virginia would prove to be a far more difficult matter than simply splashing across a shallow ford.

Early on the morning of July 18th, the Raiders regrouped at Pomeroy. The area swarmed with Union troops and local militia.

“In passing near Pomeroy, there was one continual fight, but, now not with the militia only, for some regular troops made their appearance and took part in the programme. Colonel Grigsby took the lead with the Sixth Kentucky, and dashed through at a gallop, halting when fired on, dismounting his men and dislodging the enemy, and again resuming his rapid march. Major Webber Brought up the rear of the division and held back the enemy, who closed eagerly upon our track.”

~ Brigadier-General Basil Duke[x]

“General John Hunt Morgan led a force of 2,000 Confederate cavalrymen into Meigs County on July 18, 1863, during a forty-six day raid north of the Ohio River. After a skirmish with the 23rd Ohio Infantry, the Confederates paused to drink and replenish their canteens with cool spring water found in Rocksprings. Nearby, Isaac Carleton, a Meigs County native, was shot and wounded by a Confederate soldier.”[xi]

Finding the Ohio River swollen by recent rainfall to the north, the Raiders discovered it would not be possible to cross the river, normally shallow at this time of year, without a ferry or boat. They were forced to keep moving down a narrow canyon with Union troops firing at them from both sides.

"Every bridge had been destroyed, and at every pass and ravine the road was blockaded and defended by troops in concealment. A large number of 'blockaders' were captured and compelled to clear away the obstructions that many of them had assisted in making. Poor fellows, they felt their time had come, so badly were they frightened. Oftentimes the boys would dismount, and go in pursuit of these bushwhackers and command them to halt, but on they ran....never stopping until the boys laid violent hands upon them, holding them fast by main force. Even then they would strive hard to get away, just as some wild animals would do."

~ Lieutenant Peddicord

“We were within a few miles of Pomeroy, O. on the Ohio River where we intended going. The blockade was in a place where the road run between hills, besides it was defended by a strong force of home guards and bushwhackers to prevent our clearing away the obstructions. While we were waiting orders a lot of us went to a large white house on our right and got as much milk, bread, preserves, molasses, honey, etc. as we could eat and took some to the balance of the boys. The people had run off from home. Where people stayed at home and behaved themselves we did not disturb the house, but where people run away from home we rated them as home guards or bushwhackers, and took everything in the way of something to eat in the house. We waited about an hour and finding that we would lose too much time in clearing out the obstructions we turned back nearly a mile and took a road to our tight. The road was in a bottom or valley following the course of a branch [creek]. As usual the dust flew in clouds. We did not go far before the advance guard was stopped by a volley from home guards on a high bluff of rocks in a fork in the road. A ridge on our left sheltered us. We dismounted to fight. The enemy’s firing sounded as if it was nearing the fence on top of the ridge. So we hurried up to get the fence first. On reaching the fence we were surprised to find a deep wide valley with the left fork of the road between us and the enemy. We were ordered not to waste our ammunition as they were too far off to do any execution. Their spent balls passed over us once in a while. We fired a shot a piece at them to get the old loads out and load fresh again. Co. C and D. with assistance of [Colonel Adam “Stovepipe”] Johnson’s regiment dismounted and took up the hill on the right and flanked the party at the bluff driving them off. The right hand fork of the road led to the river but it was strongly blockaded. I could see the black clouds of smoke rising from the gunboats and transports on the other side of the hills in front of us. I was surprised to find that we were so close to the river. We mounted our horses and took the left fork about five hundred yards and dismounted to fight again. We nearly reached the enemy’s old position on the bluff when we were ordered back to our horses, the firing had ceased and we moved on the road still following the course of the branch with high hills and ridges on either side. The road was of gravel and a very good one. The rumor was that we were going some distance up the river to cross into Virginia. I began to wish that Gen. Morgan would take us to the river so high up that the gunboats could not get at us. We were bothered a great deal by the bushwhackers firing on us from the hills. In several places I saw them walking leisurely along firing and loading. I heard of several persons being wounded by them. We came to a place where the bridge was destroyed. The planks were taken off and hid and the balance burnt. The branch on both sides of the bridge was filled with fallen trees. The water was two or three feet deep and not running. Our only chance was to fill the branch up and make a solid bridge. Our regiment was dismounted to help the sappers and miners. We carried logs, rails, rocks, and dirt, throwing them in the branch till the pile was well out of the water then took the planks of the old bridge and made a good floor on ours. We cut the bank a little and the bridge was completed to the satisfaction of Gen. Morgan who was present. We had worked like Turks making some citizens living near work also. We mounted and moved on. Every mile or so we would come to places where trees were cut across the road. The advance guard would sing out ‘Sappers and miners to the front! Pass it back!” The sappers and miners would pass us in a jump and go clearing the road. We would hardly stop but pick our way around the obstacle and dash ahead to the next blockade. Sometimes the sappers and miners would be called in front before finishing their last job. We made all the citizens we could catch help clear the road. In this way the command did not have to wait. At last we got ahead of the blockades and double quicked five miles to the town of Chester, Ohio. We halted in the street and dismounted to rest. We opened a store and found a lot of provisions cooked in boxes and baskets that had been cooked for home guards who were to collect to blockade the roads, but we made good use of all the good things. I got two hats, a few yards of cotton and calico, a new curry comb and brush, a hand full of nutmegs, and a few other little tricks. The command coming up, we mounted our horses and moved a square down the street and halted a few minutes. One of the boys went into a grocery and brought us out some hard cider. Then we rode hard till dusk when we halted and dismounted to fight. We were told we were within a half mile of the Ohio River. The advance guard went ahead. We received no orders to move forward so we laid around by our horses and all came near going to sleep.”

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B [xii]

By late evening, they reached Buffington Island. Morgan’s scouts informed him that it would be too dangerous to attempt a crossing in the darkness as the ford was guarded infantry who had entrenched themselves in an earthworks and installed artillery.

“The General and staff passed us. We mounted our horses and rode quietly down a lane and halted within a hundred yards of the river. We were ordered not to unsaddle or make any noise. We dismounted and sat or lay in the fence corners holding our horses. Everything was quiet except a shot now and then from the advance guard and a scout from the regiment who were after home guards. Three or four squads of prisoners passed us to the rear. A thick fog arose and the night grew very chilly.

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B [xiii]

Morgan postponed the crossing until morning, allowing his weary men to rest. His sympathy for the condition of his men exhausted would prove their undoing. Union gunboats were making their way toward Buffington Island.

“From the 9th until the 19th through Indiana and Ohio was almost a continual skirmish day & night with Soldiers, Home Guards, & Citizens. We marched very hard and fast, breaking down our horses and procuring fresh ones. On the night of the 18th of July we reached the Ohio River at Buffington Bar and found a wide, deep and unfordable river, rapidly rising. We could not cross in the Stygian Darkness by which we were surrounded, and sinking down upon its shores, exhausted nature found repose in sleep.”

~ Captain Thomas M. Coombs[xiv]

“Deciding to wait, Morgan ordered Warren Grigsby's 6th Kentucky, D. Howard Smith's 5th Kentucky, and Captain Byrne's battery to approach within four hundred yards of the earthwork. At the first light of dawn these units were to storm the Yankee defenders. In the meantime scouts moved out in both directions along the river, searching for other possible fords. One of these parties found a number of leaky flatboats about a mile and a half upstream, and as best they could in the darkness set about caulking the seams. Junior Officers and sergeants making a hasty check of ammunition supplies found that some men had no more than two or three rounds left. But no one worried too much about that; Virginia and safety lay across the ford.

Here and there musicians with guitars, banjos, and fiddles - confiscated from luckless Ohio merchants along the way - began playing sentimental tunes. In the darkness the musicians drew together, and a few of the boys came to listen. Soon they were singing and playing "My Old Kentucky Home," then "Juanita," and "The Hills of Tennessee." To show off his dexterity a fiddler played a fast version of "The Arkansas Traveler," and some of the listeners tried to dance a mock reel on the wet stubble of the wheat field in which they were camped.”[xv]

Morgan slept comfortably that night, secure in the belief that the greatest risks were behind him. He was confident that his scouts had, in pre-raid planning, determined optimal crossing points. So secure was he that no videttes were posted that night.

While the leadership refused to acknowledge it, the average Cavalryman knew the hour for escape was at hand.

“In passing near Pomeroy, Ohio on the 18th of July, we had to fight at every cross road and every joint where the Blue Boys could find a good position to fight us and they were regular, who had come up by boats to Pomeroy from Cincinnati and had come out on every road from Pomeroy to fight us. After passing this the road ran through a deep ravine for 4 or 5 miles. We were fired on from the hills about all the way through. About 1 p. m. we reached Chester where we stopped for about two hours. This stop brought us to the Village of Portland on the Banks of the Ohio; a short distant above Buffington Island about 8 p. m. and the night was very dark and we remained all night holding our horses by the bridle reigns. Sleeping and talking and saying to one another often we would wake up at intervals through the night. That if we stay here until morning we will be surrounded and many of us will be captured.”

~ John Weatherred, 9th Tennessee Cavalry [xvi]

“ I was detailed about midnight with nine others under Lieut. [K. F.] Peddicord to cross the river in a couple of skiffs, and hunt for boats to cross the command in. We went to the river and the fog was so thick that we could not see ten feet in front of us. We could not see how wide the river was or anything about it. We had a citizen with us but he did not give us any information that was satisfactory. We stumbled around there for awhile and the Lieut. Postponed the project till day light. We were chilled through. I could hardly have put a cap on my gun, and we were glad to return to our horses. The boys made a few small rail fires, but were soon ordered to put them out for fear that the Yanks would see them and send a gun boat up and shell us. We could hear the boats puffing away on the river below us. I laid three rails near a deadened fire and slept about ten minutes."

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B [xvii]

ENDNOTES
[i] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 769.
[ii] Emmett, Daniel Decatur and Grafulla, C. S. "I'm Going Home to Dixie."
[iii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[iv] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 769.
[v]“ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 770.
[vi]“ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 771.
[vii] Diary of Charles W. Durling.
[viii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 770.
[ix] “ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p. 769.
[x] Duke, Basil W. “History of Morgan’s Cavalry,” 1867, pages 445-446.
[xi] Marker #6-53: Morgan's Raid Route, Ohio Historical Society.
[xii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xiii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xiv] The Diary of Captain Thomas M. Combs.
[xv]“ Morgan, the Hope of the West: Jackson to Buffington Island” http://www.civilwarhistory.com/Morgan/mogam.htm
[xvi] The Wartime Diary of John Weatherred.
[xvii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.

GENERAL ORDERS No. 12

2009-02-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

GENERAL ORDERS No. 12
HDQRS. TWENTY-THIRD ARMY CORPS,
Lexington, KY., July 17, 1863

The general commanding the corps hereby extends his thanks to the 200 officers and soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Michigan Regiment, under Col. O. H. Moore, who so successfully resisted, by their gallantry and heroic bravery, the attack of a vastly superior force of the enemy, under the rebel General John Morgan, at Tebb’s Bend, on Green River, on the 4th of July, 1863, in which they killed one-fourth as many of the enemy as their own little band amounted to, and wounded a number equal to their own.

The general also desires to commend, in the warmest terms, the officers and soldiers of the Twentieth Kentucky Regiment, under Lieut. Col. C. S. Hanson, who, at Lebanon, Ky., for six hours sustained a most unequal contest with the same force, only yielding when entirely surrounded, and the town was being burned over their heads, further resistance being impossible.

By command of Major-General Hartsuff:

George B. Drake,
Assistant Adjutant-General.[i]

ENDNOTES
[i] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, pages 768-769.

July 17, 1863: What’s Taking So Long?

2009-02-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

“I was at work that morning. Someone came riding like mad
Over the bridge and up the road—Farmer Rouf’s little lad.
Bareback he rode; he had no hat; he hardly stopped to say,
“Morgan’s men are coming, Frau, they’re galloping on this way.”[i]

Why was it taking so long for Morgan’s Raiders to reach Buffington Island? Why did it seem to take several hours, sometimes more than a day, for the column to pass a town? There are multiple reasons which, when viewed in combination, explain the impeded pace of Morgan’s Men as they crossed southern Ohio.

The Ohio militia, aided by able bodied citizens, were blocking roads with fallen trees and removing planking from bridges. This meant that the Raiders would have lost time at each instance they were forced to clear roads, ford a river, or splash through a stream. Futhermore, the Raiders were forced to carry axes to chop through the barricades erected in the roadways.

“July 17. Today we find our road badly blocked and “axes to the front” is now the common command. We have today passed through many little Dutch towns with which this country abounds. Tonight we halt near Pomeroy. The enemy are in considerable force in front. We attacked them and drove them from our front, and then moved rapidly in the direction of Buffington, where we intend to cross.”

~ Lt. Col. James B. McCreary, 11th Kentucky Cavalry CSA[ii]

As the men were traveling by horseback, the progress they could make each day was far slower than that of a modern unit traveling in motorized transport vehicles.

“It was thought best to vary the rate of march during a raid, whenever possible, to relieve the tedium occasioned by a sustained gait. Often the canter was temporarily substituted for the predominating gait, the trot, and sometimes a limited gallop would be employed for short periods. The minimal rate of travel over most terrain was slightly less than three miles per hour; any slower speed, except when riding over rough and broken land, was considered undesirable.

Usually the raiding column would halt for a ten-minute rest period every hour or two, with stops coming more frequently in unfavorable weather (unless, of course, the raiders were being closely pursued by enemy forces). Longer halts for midday and late afternoon meals were dictated by circumstances. The horsemen encamped for at least a portion of the night, for it was difficult if not impossible to sustain, a cohesive movement in total darkness.”[iii]

Skirmishes and bushwhackers also hindered the progress of the Raiders. As the Raiders became concerned that every thicket and fence row might hide armed men, progress was slowed by wariness.

“Although extreme danger seldom materialized, cavalrymen in unfriendly territory could never be certain that a bushwhacker was not hiding behind the nearest tree, with his rifle cocked and aimed. To combat all of these hardships, a raider needed an enduring spirit, a high degree of adaptability, implicit faith in his commander's judgment, and, ideally, a professional soldier's stoicism.”[iv]

Morgan’s Advance Guards were occasionally able to fool Ohio Militia members into the believing that the Raider’s members of the Union cavalry. However, on July 17, 1863 there were skirmishes at Berlin, Centreville, and Hamden.

“We rode along near the railroad for some distance. It was lined with burning cord wood. All the cowgaps and bridges were burning also. We got in advance but not without raising a terrible dust, and incurring the displeasure of acting Brigadier General Basil Duke. We came to a halt near a little town on a branch of the Cincinnati and Marietta railroad. We dismounted to fight. Our advance vidette Thomas Murphy had been dangerously wounded by a shot from some bushwhackers as soon as he entered town. In counting off I came out number three. Our boys deployed forward. A piece of artillery came to the front. We took the horses in the woods on our left. We saw some home guards in a point of woods. Three or four shells was thrown at them, but the order was countermanded. We moved through the town without further trouble.”

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B[v]

“Cincinnati, July 17, 1863

Capt. A. A. Hunter, Gallipolis:
After a skirmish with the militia at Berlin, the enemy have got away on the road to Pomeroy or Buffington. Cannot you send mounted messengers to cross the roads they must take, and order tout the citizens to blockade the roads in their advance? Do this instantly and use every exertion to have Morgan delayed: a very short check will enable our forces to overhaul him. Send copy of this to some reliable persons at Pomeroy, say Major [R. S.]Curtis, formerly of the Second Virginia Cavalry; also a copy to Captain Fitch, of the gunboats. If the citizens will exert themselves, he will be checked long enough to let our men catch him.

J. D. Cox,
Brigadier-General”[vi]

“Hamden, July 17, 1863

General Burnside:
General: The rebels have made a demonstration against my forces. We have driven them back, killing 2. We hold the roads and heights adjacent. The Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry passed through Piketon, at 8 o’clock, in pursuit. In one hour I can telegraph [result of] pursuit.
Ben. P. Runkle” [vii]

Berlin, July 17, 1863 – 2 p. m.

Major-General Burnside:
The enemy renewed his attack on my front, and in double my numbers, out flanking me on my right and left. They had several pieces of artillery, part rifled; shelled my position, and made demonstration to surround me. After the militia heard the shells and my men had been driven out of town, it was as much as I could do to hold my position, and impossible to take the offensive. I would not move the undrilled militia at all. We detained them over three hours, killed 4, and this was all I could possibly do. The enemy withdrew on the Wilkesville and Pomeroy road. The Second Ohio Cavalry did not arrive. Colonel Gilmore, with 1,000 men, failed to arrive, leaving but 1,500 men. They burned the furnaces. I wait orders.

Ben. P. Runkle,
Colonel.”[viii]

For the first time, Morgan was conducting warfare outside of the South. He no longer had the advantage of being intimately familiar with the terrain as he had been when conducting raiders into his native Kentucky. Dependence on the reports of his scouts, lack of maps, and being led at times by less than willing local guides slowed the pace of the column.

“Since most of the raiders would he given little or no advance information about the objectives of their operation, they were constantly plagued, to some degree, by uncertainty and doubt.”[ix]

Completely out of contact with Southern leadership in Richmond, Morgan had no official reports of Northern movements and often relied on newspapers for critical information. This heavy reliance on newspaper reports, as in the case of the reports of the depth of the Ohio River, proved disastrous.

“On July 17, The Daily Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Ohio River was only thirty inches deep at Buffington. Even if a boat was able to make it through, it wouldn’t be able to maneuver too well.”[x]

Conversely, Burnside demanded constant reports from his general and commanders and was not above sending multiple telegraph messages when he felt he wasn’t being provided with the information he craved.

“Cincinnati, July 17, 1863.

Col. August V. Kautz, Commanding Advanced Guard, Piketon:
Colonel Runkle, with 2,000 to 3,000 militia, is at Berlin, about 6 miles northwest of Jackson, and General Judah, with cavalry and artillery, is between Gallipolis and Jackson. Leave message for Colonel Runkle to hurry up.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.”[xi]

“July 17, 1863.

Colonel Runkle, Berlin:
Send messenger and copy of this dispatch back to General Hobson to hurry up and overtake Morgan tonight. If he can get his artillery and 1,500 men up, he can whip him, I think. Judah ought to be on the enemy’s flank by this time. You can join Hobson with any mounted force you have. Morgan ought to be caught.

A. E. Burnside,
Major-General.”[xii]

Finally, the very nature of the Cavalry column and the large number of men Morgan was traveling with was slowing progress.

“As a rule, the column marched in a particular order.

Scouts, who knew the territory well, rode far in advance of the main body, usually several miles ahead on the ‘point’ of the column. Quite often these men were disguised as civilians or enemy soldiers, which made them liable to execution as spies if unmasked and captured, but usually enabled them to travel in relative safety.Some cavalry leaders preferred to send their scouts into a designated territory a week or more in advance of the raiding force, if such time was available.

Confederate commanders such as John Hunt Morgan often employed this tactic, with gratifying results. These ‘advance men’ would ascertain the state of affairs along the route to be traveled and would report to the main force at prearranged locations, to guide the raiders, at regular intervals, along their way.

Behind the scouts on point came the Advance Guard of the raiding column, which ordinarily consisted of a small band of soldiers, usually one or two companies from a single regiment. The size of the advance guard, which rode perhaps a half mile in front of the main column, would vary according to the extent of the enemy forces liable to be encountered along the way. As with the scouts, the advance guard had to consist of men who knew the lay of the land, who were capable of thinking and acting quickly under pressure, and who could speedily warn the raiding force if any trouble developed at the point. An especially observant officer was needed to take charge of the advance guard.

Following the advance guard came the Main Body of the raiding force. Usually several regiments followed one after another with narrow gaps among them. The commander of the raiding column rode in the midst or to the rear of this body, escorted by aides and couriers.

Any artillery and supply wagons present also traveled in the middle of the column; such a position made them readily available to the commander and also afforded protection to the teamsters and train guards, as well as to the gunners who rode mounted alongside their cannon.

On either side of the main body, usually a mile or less away, rode several companies of Flankers. These soldiers were directed to alert the main force to enemy units moving along perpendicular roads and to curtail stragglers from the main body; they presented the raiding leader with a wide front along which to engage any opponents who might appear ahead.

The Rear Guard, usually several companies from the last regiment in the line of march--covered the route of the entire force. Here, again, an able officer was required to oversee the fulfillment of a number of demanding duties. These included rounding up stragglers, fending off pursuers, and putting finishing touches to the destruction of bridges, rail lines and supply depots that the main column had seized. The rear guard had to be able to move in any and all directions to handle its assigned tasks. Like the point, advance guard, and flankers, the rear guard was changed often to keep such a heavy burden of responsibility from resting too long on the same shoulders.”[xiii]

Unlike most raiders who traveled fast and light, stripped of all but the basic necessities, Morgan was traveling with over 2,000 men and carrying his sick and wounded in buggies and wagons. His men, in turn, had loaded themselves with “the spoils of war” and were carrying items such as bolts of cloth, stockings, and shoes. Morgan had not only broken Bragg’s Order by crossing the Ohio River, he was breaking the general rules for successfully conducting a raid!

The Union troops were quickly closing upon Morgan’s rear, making up time every hour.

“Friday, July 17
Morgan takes the lead. We bring up the rear. Pass through Jaspur, Piketown, Beaverton and camp at Jacksonville. Camp in fair ground. Evening quite cool.”

~ Charles W. Durling, Company G, 45th Ohio Infantry[xiv]

Seemingly headless, the Raiders worried more about mosquitoes and flies than the rapidly advancing Union troops.

“At dawn on the 17th, the raiders entered Jackson and spent a few hours raiding the local shops for needed goods. One item of peculiar interest to the raiders was a mesh, veil-like fabric that they draped over their hats to combat the pesky flies and mosquitoes of summer. As the rebels rode down Broadway and Main Streets, townsfolk said they look like some Arab sultan’s harem.”[xv]

Exhaustion and hunger took their toll upon the saddle weary Raiders.

“ At Piketon and at Jackson, Ohio, the home Guards had delayed Morgan’s advance, and we picked up some of his stragglers, In the literal sense of the word, these men were not stragglers, but were mostly men who were so worn down and utterly exhausted that further effort was impossible. When found, these men were always asleep – not in a gentle doze, but apparently dead. We would have to shake them, and roll them about roughly to awaken them. Often they would reply to questions, but in a dazed sort of a way, and evidently yet asleep. When finally we got them awake, they showed the greatest consternation and alarm, and asked how it all happened, that they could go to sleep among ‘Morgan’s Men’ and wake up to find themselves prisoners in the hands of Hobson’s Union Cavalry. They always wanted to know what had happened in the meantime and what had become of Morgan.”

~Captain Theodore F. Allen, 7th Ohio Cavalry [xvi]

“Friday, July 17, 1863. Weather pleasant. We fed our horses well again, but found little for ourselves. We saddled up and moved on. In an hour or two a detail was made from each section in our company to get something to eat for the men. I was one of the detail. We went ahead to the vidette who would not let us pass so I visited the houses as I came to them in the rear of the vidette. A couple of us went to a house and found no person at home, but a couple of little children. We looked into the cupboard and found some milk and a little bread. Then we got into a large jar of honey and ate as much as we wanted. We saw the lady of the house coming and covered up the honey again. When she came in we asked her to cook some bread for us. She willingly went to work saying she was a butternut or a copperhead as the abolitionists called them. The command had nearly all passed and my bread was just put in the oven. I told the other fellow that I could not wait for the bread and he agreed to wait for it. I caught up with my regiment just before entering Jackson, Ohio. We halted awhile in town I made my report with a hand full of bread. Some got more and others none.”

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B[xvii]

Once more, Morgan made at attempt at misdirection, splitting his force. One group moved toward Wilkesville and the other toward Vinton. Crossing the Ohio River was still his foremost goal. Morgan, relying on newspaper reports, was unaware that the Ohio River was rising. Heavy rains in the West Virginia mountains had caused the Ohio River to reach almost six feet in the area of Buffington Island.[xviii] At this depth it would be impossible to move wagons and artillery across the river without the aid of a ferry.

Meanwhile, both Northern and Southern citizens called for reports of Morgan’s Men. Even the “New York Times” covered Morgan’s movements.

“MORGAN’S GREAT RAID
He is Moving Eastward –Cincinnati to be Released from Martial Law
Cincinnati, Wednesday, July 15
Morgan’s rebel forces this afternoon were within twelve miles of Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio. He is supposed to be moving eastward.
This city will be released from martial law tomorrow.”

~"The New York Times”, July 17, 1863

As Morgan moved eastward, feelings of uneasiness were spreading among his men.

“Soon after[we passed] the houses of some butternut citizens who gave as all the milk, bread, butter, etc. they could raise. They were in favor of Vallandingham for their next governor. The horse pressing detail was still attending to business. We halted an hour before sun down and camped in a lot on the right side near a stable and house. The people had run off and left the house. We found plenty of corn for our horses. The boys got into the house cleaning it of everything fit to eat. I found a comic picture of Jeff Davis hanging from the gallows. The picture was framed and hanging over the mantel piece of the sitting room. One of the boys found a picture of Abe Lincoln in a magazine and cut it out and pasted it over the picture of Jeff Davis, so as to represent Lincoln hanging instead of Davis. I guess the family raised a howl when they saw it. We made out supper off of milk, bread and preserves. Some of the boys out too far from camp was fired on and six or seven of us took our guns and walked across the field a few hundred yards and seeing some citizens hailed them. They did not answer but started to run. We fired a shot or two at them and returned to camp. Several of us went to a little branch that run through our camp and took a good wash. We unsaddled and made our beds down on the grass. I was glad that we were going to have a good night’s rest, but something told me that we ought to ride all night, which would take us to the Ohio River and once across we would be safe. Several of the boys remarked that we ought to keep moving although they were in need of rest. Nothing disturbed us during the night, and I slept fine.”

~Curtis R. Burke, 14th Kentucky Calvary, Co. B[xix]

“ Camp Marietta, July 17, 1863.

General Burnside:
I have sent about 200 infantry, two pieces of artillery, and 50 mounted scouts to guard the ford at Buffington Island; also 145 infantry, to guard the boats at Mason City. I am about to forward 750 infantry toward Chillicothe, to assist our forces in that direction.

W. R. Putnam,
Colonel, Commanding Post.”[xx]

ENDNOTES
[i] Constance Fenimore Woolson, “Kentucky Belle.”
[ii] Diary of James B. McCreary.
[iii] Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War” Introduction.
[iv] Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War” Introduction.
[v] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[vi] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.765.
[vii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.766.
[viii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.767.
[ix] Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War” Introduction.
[x] Lester V. Horwitz, “The longest Raid of the Civil War,” Chap. 28, p 159.
[xi] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.764.
[xii] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.767.
[xiii] Longacre, Edward G. “Mounted Raids of the Civil War” Introduction.
[xiv] Diary of Charles W. Durling.
[xv] Murray, Jim. “ John Hunt Morgan Visited Southern Ohio in 1863,” The Southern Ohio Traveler, May 1995.
[xvi] Allen, Theodore F. “In Pursuit of John Morgan,” Sketches of War History 1861-1865, Papers prepared for the Commandery of the Sate of Ohio, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States 1896 -1903, p. 233.
[xvii] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xviii] Smith, Myron J. “Gunboats at Buffington, West Virginia History,” Vol. XLIV, No 2, p. 105.
[xix] Journal of Curtis R. Burke.
[xx] “Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,” Part I –Reports, p.766.