Forrest Officers of Forrest's 11th TN Cavalry in 'Close Confinemet'

lelliott19

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Has anyone ever heard of this before?
Was this Capt James M Edmondson kin to Belle Edmondson, the woman spy?

"Pursuant to orders issued by Gen. N. B. Forrest, at Columbia, Tenm, February 20, 1S63, the Eleventh Tennessee Cavalry was formed by the consolidation of Douglass's and Holman's battalions of "partisan rangers," and the addition of the companies of Capt. Charles McDonald and Capt. Phil. T. Allyn — in all eleven companies. Both battalions were earnestly opposed to the consolidation. Having been enlisted as partisan rangers by authority of the "War Department, they desired to remain such.

At the same time Gen. Forrest appointed his friend, Capt. James M. Edmondson, who had been a Captain of the infantry, to command the regiment. The entire field and staff were the appointment of Gen. Forrest. Much dissatisfaction arose among the officers and men. They believed they ought to be allowed a voice in the selection of their field officers. They regarded the arbitrary disposition made of them as a flagrant violation of their rights. They protested, believing that an investigation by the higher military authorities would vindicate their course.

This action was regarded by Gen. Forrest as mutinous, for which he placed a number of the officers under arrest, ordering them into close confinement at Columbia, Tenn., where they remained several weeks, when Col. Holman procured their release from close confinement by an order from Gen. Earl Van Dorn, commanding at Spring Hill, Tenn.

Maj. D. C. Douglass, who had been captured at Middleton, Tenn., on the 31st of January, 1363, was a prisoner of war. Maj. D. W. Holman, who on the 3d of February, 1S63, had been seriously wounded in the fight at Dover, Tenn., was reported by the army surgeons as perhaps mortally wounded; so that Gen. Forrest no doubt intended by his course to give the regiment an immediate efficiency, not supposing that there would arise the fierce and determined opposition which it met from the command.

No charges were ever preferred against the arrested officers, and they were released from arrest. So soon as Col. Holman was able to ride, though still quite lame, he returned to the regiment, which was encamped near Spring Hill. Col. Edmondson at once procured a leave of absence, and shortly after resigned. Lieut. Col. Holman immediately assumed command, was afterward promoted to the Colonelcy, and remained its commanding officer till its surrender at Gainesville, Ala., May 11, 1865."

Excerpt from: Military Annals of Tennessee; Regimental Histories and Memorial Rolls, (History of the) ELEVENTH TENNESSEE CAVALRY, Daniel Wilson Holman, Favetteville, TN. pp. 690-691. https://archive.org/stream/militaryannalso00lind/militaryannalso00lind_djvu.txt
 
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This is what happens on Sunday when I sleep late :D but yes, it is In either the Hurst bio, Jordan and Pryor, or the Morton book, because I remember it. I've always thought of it as one of those incidents typical of the war and totally ironic in Forrest's case, considering how many times he bucked authority.
 
I think this was the brother named Jimmie Belle referred to in her diary. He resigned in June of 1863 and the following year went to Europe. She didn't mention him too much but mentioned her other brother Eddie a good deal.

I believe one of the problems with the 11th was they were originally made up of several units of partisan rangers. Forrest was always dubious about the partisans and about how far he could really control them since they were auxiliaries. They were used to picking their own officers but the CSA had done away with that custom - that's why, when they signed on as real soldiers, Forrest replaced their officers.

The Edmonson family were long time friends of the Forrests, having known Mary Ann Forrest well before her marriage, when she lived at Horn Lake. The Edmonson home was a safe house for Bill Forrest's scouts, in particular the Henderson Scouts one of whom was her brother Eddie. After a while Belle was suspected of smuggling morphine and other drugs and a warrant was issued for her arrest, but Forrest loaded her, her aged father, his wife and even the dog onto a train for Pontotoc. Apparently Belle had a strained relationship with Forrest around this time, although she greatly praised his military exploits. Maybe it was because of a dispute with her brother?
 
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