Civil War History - The South & Western TheatersCheck this forum for all South and Western Theater Questions. Included are the Western, Pacific, Trans-Mississippi, & Lower Seaboard and Gulf Approach Theaters.
January 27, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in *******n, Mississippi by rail
*******n, Mississippi September 2004
I took some vacation time around the Labor Day weekend in 2004 and swapped travelling partners. My wife Darlene replaced Duke the Border Collie as we left for the Mississippi gulf coast in order to avoid hurricane Frances which was poised to gobble our original destination. It’s an ill wind that blows no one good. I was “forced” to drive down Interstate 59 through the city of *******n on the way to Gulfport. *******n is still a sleepy southern town 140 years after the Army of Tennessee assembled at the train yard for a ride east through Demopolis, Selma and Montgomery in Alabama to their destiny in North Carolina and a chance to return home. The only thing that assembled in *******n this day was the Tuskegee University football team ready to tackle some chicken at the local Barnhill’s Buffet. Talk about a lack of diversity, these boys take the prize. I shook the Coach’s hand and wished him well, being all the while thankful that we already had our chance at the chicken. [They beat Western Alabama 20-0 the next day.]
The history of this once proud city began in 1831 after a treaty with the Choctaw referred to as the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. The first white settler in the area was Richard McLemore of Virginia who had to wait until 1855 for the railroads to link to the area, but from that time *******n grew to become a major Mississippi city. At the beginning of the Civil War however, *******n only claimed 15 families, hardly a metropolis. The town supported a confederate arsenal, hospital, and a prisoner of war stockade.
In February 1864 General William Tecumseh Sherman’s army destroyed the city’s railroads. He was quoted at that time: “*******n no longer exists”. As soon as he left town, the hearty Rebels in the vicinity went to work and restored the tracks in 26 working days. William Sherman, much hated by the people of the South, perhaps for good reason, was a soldier above all else. He fought the Army of Tennessee from Chattanooga to Atlanta in the spring of 1864 and directed the Union armies under George H. Thomas in the fall and winter of 1864 in Tennessee.
He was still calling the shots in the spring of 1865 as the superior of James Harrison Wilson. As the Army of Tennessee made their way to South Carolina for the final curtain of the play, who was in wait? Yes, Bill Sherman and his army fresh from spending the winter eating shrimp in Charleston. The final curtain was to fall in May 1865 with William Sherman still on stage in the final scene next to his long time adversary Joseph Edward Johnston. Two Armies on the Same Road.
Between 1890 and 1930 *******n grew to be the state’s largest city, but at the time Whitfield Monroe Parker and the 63rd Virginia came to town in February 1865, little existed but a rail yard and a ride into the future. That ride held a promise of a return to the green hills of the Holston valley in southwestern Virginia. That was worth the trip.
This was posted by James Dalton on Genforum in 2001 concerning the use of the railroad by Union Forces in 1863. Conditions must have been similar, perhaps improved by 1865:
Question: Considering the times and location (all under Union control) about how far would a train run in a daylight day? (do not think they would run at night). They could only go as far as McDowell Landing (west of Demopolis in Alabama and be reloaded on a ferry for river trip to Demopolis, then rail trip to Selma, then river trip to Montgomery, then rail to the Georgia State Line, then had to swap trains because of track gage Etc.)
While the Army of Tennessee was able to make the movement from Mississippi to North Carolina using rail at times, the trip was arduous at best.
The presence of the railroad in *******n is still quite strong today with a large rail yard very near the center of downtown. I can imagine in 1865 that this was a collection point for the timber being removed from the vast forests of central Mississippi and nearby Alabama. The location is about midway between Jackson to the west and Montgomery to the east. On January 27, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps reported “in *******n, Mississippi by rail”. Private Whitfield Monroe Parker must have looked at this place and longed for a glimpse of the Holston River valley. He and his Virginia comrades were a long way from home in a strange land, having spent the first two months of the worst winter of their lives in Tennessee, north Alabama and in the vicinity of Tupelo. The last couple of weeks had brought much needed rest, nourishment, clothing and supplies before they started again on the journey into an unknown future.
Only a couple of months later, the remnant of this once proud Confederate army would spot the entourage of President Jefferson Davis traveling through Salisbury, North Carolina on the way to his capture in Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865. Born in central Kentucky, Davis was an 1828 West Point graduate and served his country well in the Mexican War. He was a member of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives 1835-1861 until he resigned to be elected President of the Confederacy for a six year term, the only person to ever hold that office. After spending 1865-67 in prison at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, he was paroled and returned to Mississippi where he engaged in several business ventures. He purchased his home Beauvoir by 1879 in Biloxi, Mississippi and lived there until his death 6 Dec 1889 in nearby New Orleans. He is buried in Richmond, VA. The home today is preserved on U.S. route 90 in Biloxi and commands a view of the Gulf of Mexico. The Confederate battle flag proudly flies with little attention in the side yard of the complex. Jeff Davis is gone, but the heritage of the South lives on. A few months after this was written, in the fall of 2005, Hurricane Katrina made a serious dent in Beauvoir’s aging structure including the museum. Much was lost, but not the spirit. Most of the damage will eventually be repaired.
Now in 2007, the insurance companies are starting to free re-construction funds and hundreds of volunteers have worked to collect and catelog artifacts displaced from the storm damage as well as repair general damage to the site. This facility is the primary tourist attraction for the cities of Gulfport and Biloxi [not counting the ******s which are also in repair mode] and is an integral part of the history of the Confederacy. Much remains to be accomplished, but the battle is on.
__________________ Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
Last edited by larry_cockerham; 01-21-2007 at 04:27 PM.
Larry, I just went to Wikipedia, and changed the "Confederate Army of Tennessee" entry from "The Confederate Army of the Tennessee was ..." to "The Confederate Army of Tennessee was..."
Never did a Wiki edit before.
If you look for the Army of Tennessee in Wikipedia, you will find ... not much. Maybe you would like to fill in that entry.
Larry, someone did indeed fill in the meager info on the Army of Tennessee on Wikipedia. You might check it out and correct any errors.
Gentlemen:
Wasn't AE Johnston the first commander of the AoT?
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Gentlemen:
Wasn't AE Johnston the first commander of the AoT?
Ole
Ole, a quick Google search didn't produce anyone with those initials? Are you perhaps confusing him with A.S. (Albert Sidney) Johnston who was killed in battle at Shiloh in 1862? I believe he was in command of the AOT at that time. A very competent soldier, aside from his demise.
__________________ Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
OOPS!
Seems my fingers insist on inserting an "E" before Johnston.
So AS Johnston preceded Bragg as commander of the AoT?
At least one reference lists the confederate Army at Shiloh as the Army of Mississippi, but my understanding is that designation was coined by PGTB for his forces and ASJ didn't object.
Comes down to the question of what Johnston's command (the entire western theater) was named. I disrecal exactly, and haven't time just now to dig.
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
I guess it might be like the evolution of the Federal Army of the Tennessee which started as smaller armies (Mississippi, Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland) and in which the dominant army absorbed the lesser ones over time. ???
__________________ -
"It was a very peculiar time." - Franklin D. Cossitt
Ancestors in USA Army: 6th IA Inf, 11th IL Cav, 1st AL Cav; 122nd NY Inf; 6th MI Cav; 35th MA Inf; 100th IL Inf; 1st CO Inf/Cav; 22nd IN Inf
Sam. Something much like that. But was Bragg the first commander of the Army of Tennessee? Or was AS Johnston?
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Ole, I'm sticking my neck out here spouting off without looking to verify, but as you know, that's happened before.
The appelation Army of Tennessee would not have been around in 1861-62 during the time of Vicksburg and probably Shiloh simply because the action was focused on the Mississippi and Ohio river basin as the yanks began their "invasion". I believe the term AOT was used more as a distinction between the western forces and Lee's guys in Virginia in subsequent years. Again, opinion, from memory I believe Albert Sidney Johnston who was killed in battle at Shiloh was replaced (at least in position, if not ability) by Bragg. Bragg is more closely identified with Chickamauga and Atlanta (Sep 1863 - Aug 1864) Bragg was a political ally of Jeff Davis as was J. B. Hood. Was Bragg at Shiloh? I'll have to look that one up.
__________________ Ancestors in US Army: 13th TN Cav; 10th TN Cav; 3rd NC Inf
Ancestors in CSA Army: 48th VA; 63rd VA, 5th NC Cav; 37th NC
Wife and Grandson's CSA: 15th AL, 51st GA, 41st TN; 36th TN; GA Mil 1197 Dist
Here's the "proof". Johnston in command of the Army of Mississippi ......: Don't forget ol P.G.T. Beauregard, the 'eyes of the home office'....
Battle of Shiloh Confederate Order of Battle
April 6-7, 1862..--Battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, Tenn.
Organization of the Army of the Mississippi, April 6-7, 1862.
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME X/1 [S# 10]
Army Of Mississippi
General ALBERT S. JOHNSTON
General G.T. BEAUREGARD
The Forty-seventh Tennessee, Colonel Hill, arrived on the field on the 7th; the Alabama and Arkansas battalions of the Third Brigade, Withers' division, not in the battle.
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