This Date 1865 with the Army of Tennessee (new stuff)

[ole]

Thanks much for that "proof," Larry. But ....... This is what I was referring to when I mentioned that PGTB named his command the Army of Mississippi with no objection by ASJ.

The gathering at Corinth brought together several different groups of small commands all under the official authority of AS Johnston. (Gotta keep practicing to keep the E out of that.) I believe the troops with Johnston were the Army of Tennessee. Bo named those gathering with him the Army of Mississippi and Johnston didn't object. I believe I read that in Larry Daniel's book on Shiloh which, if I'm recollecting correctly, was quite critical of Johnston's compliance with Bo's usurpation of command. So. The CSA at Shiloh went down in the books as the Army of Mississippi, but that doesn't change my perception of Johnston's forces as the Army of Tennessee.

Make sense?

Ole

[larry_cockerham]

Originally Posted by ole

Make sense?

Ole

About as much as I can handle. In as much as Albert Sidney Johnson went down in battle, he didn't have to worry about the name for very long. This was another example of the 'evolution' of the Confederacy necessitated by their youthful existence as a 'government'. Things didn't improve a great deal as the war progressed, hence the eventual predictable outcome.

[samgrant]

I've lost track, but I copied this from Wikiedia:

Bragg brought his forces to Corinth, Mississippi, and was charged with improving the poor discipline of the Confederate troops already assembled. He commanded a corps at the Battle of Shiloh and attacked the Hornet's Nest with piecemeal frontal assaults. After the Confederate commander, General Albert Sidney Johnston, was killed at Shiloh, General P.G.T. Beauregard assumed command. On that day, April 6, 1862, Bragg was promoted to full general, one of only eight in the history of the Confederacy, and assigned to command the Army of Mississippi.[1]

(Sorry for the embedded links)

But if you go to that last one you will find:

"On November 20, 1862, it was renamed the Army of Tennessee."

[larry_cockerham]

Sam, you have 'em surrounded. Beauregard, Bragg and Hood all kept their lips precariously close to Davis' hindquarters.

[ole]

Can't find anything wrong with that. What then, was the name of ASJ's command?
Ole

[samgrant]

Originally Posted by ole

Can't find anything wrong with that. What then, was the name of ASJ's command?
Ole

Well, back to wikipedia:

On May 30, 1861, Johnston became the second highest ranking Confederate General (after the little-known Samuel Cooper) as commander of the Western Department. He raised the Army of Mississippi to defend Confederate lines from the Mississippi River to Kentucky and the Allegheny Mountains.

And then refer back as to how the A of M became the A of T.

Elementary!

[larry_cockerham]

Old Sid Johnston was in more or less a direct command line from Jefferson Davis through Gen. Seddon until God took over at Shiloh. The Confederacy was just getting 'organized' during that period.

[larry_cockerham]

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. 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 catalog 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.

[ole]

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).

My understanding is that, toward the end of the war, a train might travel as much as 10 miles per hour due to the abysmal condition of the lines (worn out, unmaintained, used heavily). Presumably, early in the war, one might maintain a speed of about twice that -- or a little more.

All railroads, north and south, were built early in the learning curve. They hadn't perfected the roadbed and many miles still used strap rails. When the war started, maintenance plummeted in the south and skyrocketed in the north.

Ole

[larry_cockerham]

This subject of trains is a sidelight with me as you've probaby seen. Fascinating that the Confederates still tried to use their broken as well as simply not yet completed lines. In some cases gauge differences were also a problem. Forrest tried to help the Union boys maintain their line between Nashville and Chattanooga several times, but his offers were rejected as soon as possible. Lots of good bridges blown in the general direction of Ohio during this war. I've often thought about the young Union lieutenant whose train rounded the curve north of Wartrace, TN on a bright December morning only to see Forrest and Gen. William Henry Jackson smiling at him from the tracks ahead. Train ride was over.