From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
[After Bentonville] The Confederates retreated to Smithfield, North Carolina, and huddled around camp fires until 28 March 1865. Featherston's Brigade was then ordered to head for Charlotte, North Carolina, on that day. The brigade had reached Salisbury by 31 March 1865 and was ordered to stop there to defend the crossings of the Yadkin River.
March 29, 1865 Headquarters Lee’s Corps
Pettus Brigade of Stevenson’s division, were at once placed upon the cars and encamped that night beyond the Neuse and below Kinston. Before day the next morning, we relieved Hoke’s Division in the trenches on Southwest Creek, while it made a flank movement to the Yankee left …
March 31, 1865
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
On 31 March 1865 an organizational chart of Johnston's army showed Featherston's Brigade as being commanded by Major Martin A. Oatis and the 33rd Mississippi as being commanded by Lt. George B. Lenoir.
Larry:
If you ever make this series available on a CD or zip, I'd be most interested in obtaining a copy.
Ole
A good friend posts your bail. A really good friend sits with you and says, "Dang, that was fun."
Ole, I have all this in my draft file TWO ARMIES ON THE SAME ROAD. I'd be happy to send a file attachment if you will e-mail me at lcoc@bellsouth.net. This is a working document, changing from day to day as facts are located. I'm still learnin'
On with the war! April 1, 1865
From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
On 1 April 1865 Gen. Beauregard telegraphed to Gen. Johnston that he had ordered Featherston's troops to Greensborough to oppose a reported Federal cavalry force led by Gen. George Stoneman. The men of Featherston's Brigade spent the first week of April at Greensborough but there was little fighting.
Selma April 2, 1865 Battle of Selma, Alabama (Wilson defeated Forrest)
Selma, Alabama
Located 70 miles east along the railroad from *******n, this city was the main source of manufactured armament for the confederacy and was protected mostly by its southern location during the war. That lasted until General James Harrison Wilson and his 14,000 thousand man cavalry decided to eliminate this activity in March of 1865. A few weeks earlier the Army of Tennessee had passed through on their way to find William Tecumseh Sherman’s army in South Carolina. Only one building remains today, as a museum, which witnessed this event. The Selma city web page includes: “During the War Between the States, when Selma was the arsenal of the Confederacy, the building was converted into a hospital for wounded and ill Confederates. The need for this humanitarian service may have influenced Federal General J.H. Wilson to spare the building when his troops ravished Selma in early April, 1865.” This is a reference to the Smitherman building in Selma which was a Presbyterian Church at the time of the war.
Records from 2 Apr 1865, the day of the battle, indicate the presence of the 7th Ohio and 4th Iowa Cavalry as part of Wilson’s command.
The little city of Selma, Alabama was the center of manufacture of almost every war material needed by the Confederacy, including cartridges, saltpetre, powder and shell, rifles, cannons and steam rams.
About 10,000 folks were employed in this activity and the city was a major distribution point for Confederate arms. The ironclad Tennessee’s hull was laid in Selma. The city was located far enough south to avoid early attempts to reach its borders. Both Sherman and Grierson failed to reach the city in the early part of the war.
The following has been posted on the internet by Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia:
Battle of Selma
Main article: Battle of Selma
On March 30, Wilson detached Gen. John T. Croxton's Brigade to destroy all Confederate property at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After capturing a Confederate courier who carried dispatches from Forrest describing the strengths and dispositions of his scattered forces, Wilson also sent a brigade to destroy the bridge across the Cahaba River at Centreville. This action effectively cut off most of Forrest's reinforcements. Then began a running fight that did not end until after the fall of Selma.
Battle of Selma Map
On the afternoon of April 1, after skirmishing all morning, Wilson's advanced guard ran into Forrest's line of battle at Ebenezer Church, where the Randolph Road intersected the main Selma road. Here Forrest had hoped to bring his entire force to bear on Wilson. However delays caused by flooding plus earlier contact with the enemy enabled Forrest to muster less than 2,000 men, a large number of whom were not veterans but militia consisting of old men and young boys.
The outnumbered and outgunned Confederates fought bravely for more than an hour as more Union Cavalry and Artillery deployed on the field. Forrest himself was wounded in a charge by a saber-swinging Yankee Captain who he killed with his revolver. Finally, a mounted Federal charge with carbines blazing broke the Confederate militia causing Forrest to be flanked on his right. He was forced to retreat under severe pressure.
Early the next morning Forrest arrived at Selma, "horse and rider covered in blood." He advised Gen. Richard Taylor, departmental commander, to leave the city. Taylor did so after giving Forrest command of the defense.
Selma was protected by three miles of fortifications which ran in a semi-circle around the city. They were anchored on the north and south by the Alabama River. The works had been built two years earlier, and while neglected for the most part since, were still formidable. They were 8 to 12 feet high, 15 feet thick at the base, with a ditch 4 feet wide and 5 feet deep along the front. In front of this was a picket fence of heavy posts planted in the ground, 5 feet high, and sharpened at the top. At prominent positions, earthen forts were built with artillery in position to cover the ground over which an assault would have to be made.
Forrest's defenders consisted of his Tennessee escort company, McCullough's Missouri Regiment, Crossland's Kentucky Brigade, Roddey's Alabama Brigade, Armstrong's Mississippi Brigade, Gen. Dan Adam's state reserves, and the citizens of Selma who were "volunteered" to man the works. Altogether this force numbered less than 4,000, only half of who were dependable. The Selma fortifications were built to be defended by 20,000 men. Forrest's soldiers had to stand 10 to 12 feet apart in the works.
Wilson's force arrived in front of the Selma fortifications at 2 pm. He had placed Gen. Eli Long's Division across the Summerfield Road with the Chicago Board of Trade Battery in support. He had Gen. Emory Upton's Division placed across the Range Line Road with Battery I, 4th US Artillery in support. Altogether Wilson had 9,000 troops available for the assault.
Selma battle continues The Federal commander's plan was for Upton to send in a 300 man detachment after dark to cross the swamp on the Confederate right; enter the works, and begin a flanking movement toward the center moving along the line of fortifications. Then a single gun from Upton's artillery would signal the attack by the entire Federal Corps.
At 5 pm, however, Gen. Long's ammunition train in the rear was attacked by advance elements of Forrest's scattered forces coming toward Selma. Both Long and Upton had positioned significant numbers of troops in their rear for just such an event. However, Long decided to commence his assault against the Selma fortifications to neutralize the enemy attack in his rear.
Long's troops attacked in a single rank in three main lines, dismounted with Spencers carbines blazing, supported by their own artillery fire. The Confederates replied with heavy small arms and artillery fire of their own. The Southern artillery, in one of the many ironies of the Civil War, only had solid shot on hand, while just a short distance away was and arsenal which produced tons of canister, a highly effective anti-personnel ammunition.
The Federals suffered many casualties (including General Long himself) but not enough to break up the attack. Once the Yankees reached the works, there was vicious hand-to-hand fighting. Many soldiers were struck down with clubbed muskets. But the Yankees kept pouring into the works. In less than 30 minutes, Long's men had captured the works protecting the Summerfield Road.
Meanwhile, General Upton, observing Long's success, ordered his division forward. The story was much the same for his men as on Long's front. Soon, US flags could be seen waving over the works from Range Line Road to Summerfield Road.
After the outer works fell, General Wilson himself led the 4th US Cavalry Regiment in a mounted charge down the Range Line Road toward the unfinished inner line of works. The retreating Confederate forces, upon reaching the inner works, all allied and poured a devastating fire into the charging Yankee column. This broke up the charge and sent General Wilson sprawling to the ground when his favorite horse was wounded. He quickly remounted his stricken mount and ordered a dismounted assault by several regiments.
Selma finale Mixed units of Confederate troops had also occupied the Selma railroad depot and the adjoining banks of the railroad bed to make a stand next to the Plantersville Road (present day Broad Street). The fighting there was heavy, but by 7 pm the superior numbers of Union troops had managed to flank the Southern positions causing them to abandon the depot as well as the inner line of works.
In the darkness, the Yankees rounded up hundreds of prisoners, but hundreds more escaped down the Burnsville Road, including Generals Forrest, Armstrong, and Roddey. To the west, many Confederate soldiers fought the pursuing Yankees all the way down to the eastern side of Valley Creek. They escaped in the darkness by swimming across the Alabama River near the mouth of Valley Creek (where the present day Battle of Selma Reenactment is held.)
The Yankees looted the city that night while many businesses and private residences were burned. They spent the next week destroying the arsenal and naval foundry. Then they left Selma heading to Montgomery and then Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and the end of the war.
more Selma This little city was to gain fame from the civil rights marches begun there in the 1960s when African Americans continued their struggle for recognition and equality, something the Civil War had started, but never really completed. Barnhill’s Buffet in *******n while filled with the Tuskegee football team, was also about thirty per cent occupied by white customers. That would not have been the case before 1960. Driving through south Mississippi and Alabama in 2004, one can see folks of all races in both public and private situations with no animosity. If the Civil War contributed to that, it may have been worth the trouble.
Nathan Bedford Forrest’s troops surrendered 140 miles southwest from here in Citronelle, Alabama May 5, 1865 with the army in command of Lt. Gen. Taylor who had replaced Gen. John Bell Hood.
more Railroads “Wayne Cline's Alabama Railroads illustrates why for the Confederacy the significant gaps in the state's railroad lines proved disastrous. Although the unfinished line from Pollard to Tensaw was completed within the first year of war, there was no Tensaw to Mobile connection until after 1865. With Herculean efforts a spur line was built from the Alabama & Mississippi Rivers Railroad to connect the Confederate industrial complex at Selma with the iron ore regions and iron furnaces of the mineral district; but the failure to bridge the Tombigbee River and connect Selma with *******n, Mississippi, prevented the rapid flow of troops and supplies to the west. The railroad route between Chattanooga, Tennessee, through the hill country and the mineral district of Alabama to *******n, Mississippi, would have helped the Confederate cause, but although some of the survey was graded, the railroad remained only a dream until the 1870s.”
April 8 April 8, 1865
On the 8th Gen. Stewart received orders to consolidate the depleted regiments.
Some of the following is from a transcription of the diary of
William Taylor Mumford Company B First Louisiana Heavy
Artillery Regiment (April 1865)
Tough week for the CSA April 9, 1865
Appamattox Court House, Virginia. Robert E. Lee
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses S. Grant.
April 11.1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Raleigh, North Carolina
April 12, 1865 On the [Steamer] Sumpter, going up the Tombigby River. Demopolis is supposed to be our destination. Having no relief for the engineers or pilots, we stopped about dark at a small place called Jackson and remained there all night. [Steamer] Heroine anchored in the stream just alongside.
April 13, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln shot. He died next day.
April 14, 1865 ... Good Friday, April 14, 1865, ... Shortly after 10:00 P.M., in the presidential box at Ford's Theater, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth. ... General Grant had turned down an invitation to attend, pleading he had to visit his children. It was known there was "chilliness" between Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Grant. At the theater ... a pistol shot was heard ... A bullet had gone through the back of the head and lodged near the right eye.... Sec. of War Stanton took charge of the pursuit of Booth and his accomplices as the telegraph wires hummed the awesome news to the nation. General Grant was at Baltimore when informed of the tragedy and he immediately returned to Washington. ...
April 14, 1865 (Good Friday) Arrived in Demopolis at 12.30 A.M. and after a few hours delay, marched to a camping ground about two miles from the landing. Col. Chas. A. Fuller, 1st La. Arty., in command of all the troops, about sixteen hundred all told. A most miserable camping ground, very low and swampy. No rations issued yet, the command greatly in need of something to eat. Great confusion, no one seems to know his business. The garrisons of McIntosh and Gladden are greatly in want of equipment, etc., for service in the field. What will be our next move, puzzles all.
A. Lincoln April 15, 1865 ... At 7:22 A.M., President Abraham Lincoln died. ... The Cabinet, except for the injured Seward, formally requested Vice-President Andrew Johnson to assume the office of President. At 11:00 A.M. at the Kirkwood Hotel, Chief Justice, Salmon Chase administered the oath in the presence of the Cabinet and congressman.
Sherman-Johnston April 17, 1865
Generals William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston met at the Bennett House near Durham N.C. A short time before, Sherman had received news of the assassination of the President. Johnston told Sherman it was a great calamity to the South. In their talks the two generals went further than just surrendering Johnstons army. They discussed the terms of an armistice for all the remaining Confederate armies. Sherman later disclaimed going beyond negotiations over Johnston's army but admitted: "it did seem to me that there was presented a chance for peace that might deem valuable to the Government of the United States and was at least worth the few days that would be consumed in reference." They agreed to meet the next day.
Save your Confederate money? April 18, 1865
Left McDowell’s Landing at 6.30 A.M. on the train for *******n. Arrived safely at *******n at 2 P.M. Drew rations at the depot and marched out two miles from town to camp. All kinds of rumors in circulation about the capture of Lee’s army and the death of President Lincoln and Mr. Seward. About sixty men of the regiment sent to the hospital in the last two days. A few men desert every night. Full rations issued to the troops now and a small ration of coffee and sugar. Gold sold today at one hundred for one, and greenbacks at seventy-five for one.
April 18, 1865 Jefferson Davis spent two weeks in Charlotte, NC. He was giving a speech this day when he received word of Lincoln’s
assassination.
April 18, 1865 After more talk at Durham N.C., Sherman and Johnston signed "Memorandum or basis of agreement." The highly controversial document call for an armistice by all armies in the field. Confederate forces were to be disbanded and to deposit their arms in the state arsenals. Each man was to agree to cease from war and agree by state and federal authority. The President of the United States was to recognize the existing state governments when their officials took oaths to the United States. Reestablishment of Federal courts would take place. People were to be guaranteed rights of person and property. The United states would not disturb the people of the South as long as they lived in peace. And general amnesty for Confederates.
The generals recognized that they were not fully empowered to carry out such far-reaching measures and that the necessary authority must be obtained. It was clear Sherman went far beyond Grant at Appomattox. He was actually entering into reconstruction policy. He sent the terms to Grant and Halleck, asking approval by the President. Sherman also offered to take charge of carrying out these terms. Later he was to deny any ursupation of power on his part and to claim the agreement was according to Mr. Lincoln's wishes as Sherman knew them.
President Davis [of the Confederacy] and his disconsolate party slowly moved southward to Concord N.C.
April 20, 1865
City of Macon, Georgia captured by Gen. James Harrison Wilson. Two armies. One road. Records of 2nd Indiana Cavalry.
April 23, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps near Greensboro, North Carolina
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