Aot - 1865

[larry_cockerham]

Thanks very much for your kind words and taking time to read my ramblings. Folks such as Ben Tilley have a story to tell concerning the true perspective of the soldier (particulary the Southern ones). I assume you notice old Ben didn't go around worrying too much about slavery. He was, like most of his comrades, trying to survive a less than desirable time.

[larry_cockerham]

January 6, 1865

Generals Stewart and Stevenson (commanding Lee's corps) were ordered to work the road where it was bad on their march. The Mississippi winter was still very much in evidence. Soft sandy soil did not hold up under the onslaught of thousands of poorly covered feet and animal hooves. The wagons, wobbly wheels and all, were in bad need of repair if not total abandonment.

[larry_cockerham]

January 7, 1865

Lee's corps arrived at Tupelo and went into camp.

January 7 – March 22 Wilson’s Cavalry at Gravelly Springs, Alabama

James Harrison Wilson was about to form the largest and best equipped equestrian fighting force in the history of the United States. After gathering men, horses and supplies he was ready for the task of stopping Nathan Bedford Forrest and Richard Taylor in their wobbly tracks. In the process he “captured” Alabama and Georgia before going on with his long life and military career.

[samgrant]

Does this house still stand? (see page 39)

Amazon Online Reader : Civil War Tales of the Tennessee Valley


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[larry_cockerham]

Sam, I doubt the house is still there. The reference says "it stood for 170 years"..... sounds like that means it bit the dust. I notice it also says Forrest spent the night there Sep 21, 1864.

“In September 1864, the legendary Gen. Forrest and his "Critter Company" crossed the river at Colbert Shoal and rode through Florence via the Huntsville Road. After capturing a Union garrison at Athens and wrecking the Nashville-and-Chattanooga Railroad in middle Tennessee that furnished supplies to Sherman's Army, he marched through Georgia. “
On Sep 20 George Spaulding was ordered from Pulaski to Shoals Creek with the effectives of the 10th and 12th TN U.S. cavalry. James P. Cockerham probably remained in Pulaski, still recovering from his wounds.

“Next, Forrest's cavalry re-entered Alabama with Col. W. H. Morgan's Union cavalry in hot pursuit. Forrest hoped to cross at the Bainbridge Crossing but the river was flooded. After locating a barge, his troops began a two-day process of transporting men and swimming the horses. The last regiment of Confederates was left to harass the Federals and told to meet the main body on Seven-Mile Island in two days. The two cold days on the island were spent without fires, fearing enemy detection. Incidents such as this only increased the myths and legends surrounding Forrest and his men.”

The Florence, Alabama website lists several historic residences that either are or were in the area. I suspect this house is covered. I've seen the name somewhere before. Hugh Riah Reynolds on Butler Creek Road.... I'll do some looking. McDonald, by the way is an excellent author who has been researching that area around Lauderdale Co., AL for many years.

[larry_cockerham]

This was written by Michele L. Valkevan in 1998 for the Lauderdale Co. AL Heritage Boook. The Reynolds house in not listed on the national register of historic places in Lauderdale County in 2007. I suspect it is gone.

"About 1845, Hugh Riah's father, Hamilton Reynolds died at the age of 84 and is believed to be buried in the family cemetery on Hugh Riah's farm. In December 1845, Hugh and Betsy's son, John Wiggins Reynolds, died at the age of 20. He is also believed to be buried in the family cemetery.

By 1860, Hugh and Betsy owned several hundred acres, and 20 slaves, as well as obtaining land for several of their married children. By this time, all but the youngest two had married. Then came the Civil War. Hugh Riah was 65 years old in 1861, wife, Betsy, 61. Most of their sons, sons-in-law and nephews joined the Confederate Army. Son James M. Reynolds served as Captain of Company B, 9th Tennessee Cavalry, a unit of Biffle's Battalion under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Capt. Reynolds' brothers, Richard Randolph and Wesley Blassingame, served as 2nd Sgt. and 3rd Sgt., while a third brother, Winston Pettus, and ten cousins, brothers-in-law and nephews served as privates.

The war years were difficult and made more so by the ravages of various bands of Union and Confederate deserters, draft-dodgers and criminals who came generally to be called "The Buggers." Their focus of activity was the area of Lauderdale near the state line. According to one family member, Hugh Reynolds was "hung" on three occasions by these thieves, trying to force him to tell where his money was hidden.

Though several were wounded in action, and James was taken to a Union prison camp (from which he escaped), all of Hugh and Betsy's sons returned home safely. Daughter Elizabeth Dorinda, who had only recently married William Hough, died in 1865 and was buried in the family cemetery.

The ravages of the war in Lauderdale County, coupled with the martial law, tax increases and loss of slave labor, made the Reconstruction Era, in many respects, more damaging to the family than the war had been. Property was lost in Sheriff's sales, criminal activity by The Buggers and others continued, and the price of cotton plummeted. Several of Hugh and Betsy's children moved to Arkansas, in an effort to find a better life. These included Nancy Emily and her husband, William Carroll Bailey; George Riley and his second wife, Nannie Hamm (his first wife, Elizabeth Hamm, died in 1857 and is buried in the Wade Cemetery in Iron City, Tennessee); Winston Pettus and his third wife, Margaret J. Bell, and Wesley Blassingame and his wife, Sarah Brewer. In August 1871, Hugh Riah Reynolds died at the age of 76, and a few months later, his 37 year-old son, Joseph Pleasant, was shot and killed. Both are buried in the family cemetery. Joseph Pleasant's widow, Mary Eliza Ragan, and their six children moved to Tishomingo Co., Mississippi where her family lived."

[larry_cockerham]

January 8, 1865

No orders of importance issued with reference to further movements.

January 9, 1865

Stewart's corps arrived at Tupelo and went into camp. The Union Cavalry was reported at Eastport, Mississippi. Time was running out for the Army of Tennessee in Mississippi. Thomas and Wilson were still on the trail.

MONTGOMERY, January 9, 1865.

President JEFFERSON DAVIS:

I will leave as soon as practicable for Hood's army, and will send to Hardee's assistance all troops which can be spared. Condition of common roads and breaks in railroads will, however, delay their arrival. Should circumstances permit I will return with them.

G. T. BEAUREGARD,
General.

Seems to me Beauregard and Davis tried to run a war by remote control, with the results that might be expected from poor management and minimal logistical support. Gentlemen and Ladies, what do YOU think?

[richard]

I just love what the National Geographic Society said about the AOT in there book on the War.

"The Army of Tennessee would never fight again" Page 340
"Eyewitness to the Civil War"

I guess that they stopped researching before Hood crossed the Tennessee River.

[johan_steele]

Never fight again... four major engagements and inumerable smaller ones. Proof the National Geographic doesn't know its... umm you get my point.

Larry another outstanding thread. When you gonna put her together in book format?

[ole]

In "One Road; Two Armies," Larry does have a real book. I don't know of another that traces the niggly little details of Hood's advance and retreat. He needs a local publisher who will fork over the geetas to put a skilled editor on the project. The result will be a book I'd buy in a New York minute.

ole