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

[larry_cockerham]

February 20, 1865 Sherman departed Columbia, SC in route to
Fayetteville, NC with the right wing going through Cheraw, SC and the
left wing through Lancaster and Sneedsboro, SC. Cheraw was a
storage facility for arms, powder and for personal property of
displaced Charleston residents, hoping to save their furniture and
gold from the invading army. It didn’t work.

[larry_cockerham]

February 21, 1865

From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:

On 21 February 1865 Loring's Division was ordered to move north of the Saluda River to near Newberry, South Carolina. The command situation in this Confederate Army of Tennessee was in disarray during all of this time. Gen. J. B. Hood had resigned and Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard had no central command authority and was not able to pull together the scattered Confederate forces which stretched from Texas to North Carolina and was unable to put together a coherent defense against Gen. Sherman.

[larry_cockerham]

February 22, 1865

Robert E. Lee ordered Gen. Joseph Johnston to assume command of the Army of Tennessee and all troops in the Departments of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The same day Feb 22, Union Force under Maj. Gustavus Schnitzer commanding the 2nd Iowa Cavalry returned to Eastport, Mississippi from the capture of Russellville, Alabama and reported that Brig. Gen. Roddey left Mt. Hope, Alabama, on February 20, 1865, to join Maj. Gen. N.B. Forrest at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. – as per Gene Cantrell of Sherman, TX in his 1996 History of the 5th Alabama CSA.

[larry_cockerham]

February 23, 1865
Jeff Weaver wrote in his history of the 58th North Carolina regiment:

Palmer's Brigade reached Charlotte, North Carolina on February 23 after wading across the shallow, frigid, Catawba River. After a few days in Charlotte the 58th moved to Salisbury and stopped there a few days.

From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:
On 23 February 1865 Gen. Joe Johnston was again appointed to head up the Army of Tennessee. Featherston's Brigade soldiered on, leaving Newberry, S.C., on the 23rd for a train ride to Pomoria, S.C.. From there they hiked to Unionville, S.C., and remained there until 3 March 1865

[larry_cockerham]

February 25, 1865
Charlotte, N.C. February 25, 1865 --1:15 p.m.
General R.E. Lee,
Richmond, Va.:

General Roddey reports from near Moulton, Ala., that enemy at Huntsville is reported collecting supplied for an early move on Selma via Tuscaloosa. Timbers are being delivered at Decatur for railroad bridge. Fourth Army Corps, Wood's, is encamped about Huntsville. Force there and at Stevenson estimated at 10,000 to 18,000 infantry.
G.T. BEAUREGARD.

General Johnston, on assuming the command of our forces in the South, issued the following order:

"Charlotte, North Carolina,
"February 25, 1865. "General Orders, No. 1.

"In obedience to the orders of the General-in-Chief, the under signed has assumed the command of the Army of Tennessee and all the troops in the Departments of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. He takes this position with strong hope, because he will have, in council and on the field, the aid of the high talents and skill of the distinguished General whom he succeeds. He exhorts all absent soldiers of the Army of Tennessee to rejoin their regiments and again confront the enemy they have so often encountered in Northern Georgia, and always with honor. He assures his comrades of that army who are still with their colors that the confidence in their discipline and valor which he has publicly expressed is undiminished.

"J. E. Johnston."

From the Southwest--General Forrest--Thomas's movements.

General N. B. Forrest has been placed in command of all the cavalry in the District of Mississippi, East Louisiana and West Tennessee. His first general order promises the re- organization of the cavalry with the restoration of discipline. He threatens extermination to all Confederate stragglers, robbers and deserters.

[larry_cockerham]

February 26, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Pomaria, South Carolina

From Edward Ball in Slaves in the Family, Random House, NY 2001:

“a band of soldiers in blue uniforms arrived on the lawn at Limerick. The federal troops told the slaves they were free….”

Limerick was a huge rice plantatioin near the Congaree River just west of Charleston. This and the adjoining plantations had several generations of slaves numbering in the hundreds.

[larry_cockerham]

February 28, 1865

N.B. Forrest received his commission as a Lieutenant General. Not bad for a man who joined initially as a private. Since he had a few bucks at the time, the recruiting of his first regiment, along with the purchase and smuggling into Tennessee of their equipment, bought him a quick promotion to Colonel. The rest was hard work.

That same day General Beauregard ordered Brig. Gen. P.D. Roddey to report to Lieut. Gen. Richard Taylor for orders, but keep Beauregard advised of enemy movements.

[larry_cockerham]

March 1, 1865

Headquarters Mar 1, 1865 General Robert E. Lee wrote:

General Johnston reports that Hardee’s infantry, without artillery or wagons, has reached Cheraw. No information of progress of Stewart or Cheatham. The enemy has been stationary for a few days. Our Calvary on their right think he is moving upon Florence or Cheraw; that on his left suppose he is advancing on Cheraw or Charlotte – R.E. Lee

[larry_cockerham]

March 2, 1865 Cheatham’s Corps in Unionville, South Carolina

From Jeff Weaver’s regimental history of the 58th North Carolina:

The Army of Tennessee was shifted on March 2, 1865 by train to Smith- field Station, now Selma, North Carolina, where General Joseph E. Johnston had been reinstated in command. Johnston was trying to consolidate his shrinking army.

The men of the 58th North Carolina and of Palmer's Brigade were by now nearly naked -- each soldier only a single blanket -- or less. Rations were very scarce. The Army of Tennessee passed the severe winter of 1864-65 in active field service. Despite severe exposure of the men and officers, there were no complaints. The men knew complaints would do no good and if they did complain, they did it with their feet and deserted.

In Whitfield Monroe Parker’s pension application he claimed that he served until the end of the war. That would mean he was still with this command. His injury probably meant that he needed assistance and could not tolerate long marches. The war for Whit Parker was not over.

[larry_cockerham]

March 3, 1865

J.L.M. Curry, Lt. Col., commanding, Fifth Alabama Cavalry, reported to Brig. Gen. Roddey, that the Union Fourth Corps is moving to the east toward Stevenson and Chattanooga. He also reports and embargo has been placed on the citizens of Huntsville and none are allowed to come out or cross the river until further notice.