Aot - 1865

[larry_cockerham]

Word from the boss...

April 21, 1865

HDQRS. MILILTARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI
In the Field, Raleigh, NC April 21, 1865

GENERAL JAMES H. WILSON
Commanding Cavalry Division of the Mississippi, Macon, GA
(Through General J.E. Johnston)

GENERAL: A suspension of hostilities was agreed on between General Johnston and myself on Tuesday, April 18 at 12 noon. I want that agreement religiously observed, and you may release the generals captured at Macon, occupy ground convenient, and contract for supplies for your command, and forbear any act of hostility until you hear or have reason to believe hostilities are resumed. In the meantime, it is also agreed the position of the enemy's forces must not be altered to our prejudice. You know by this time that General Lee has surrendered to General Grant the rebel Army of Northern Virginia and that I only await the sanction of the President to conclude terms of peace coextensive with the boundaries of the United States. You will shape your conduct on this knowledge unless you have overwhelming proof to the contrary.

W. T. Sherman, Major-General, Commanding.

 

[larry_cockerham]

A few Confederates still kicking...

April 23, 1865 Cheatham's Corps near Greensboro, North Carolina

 

[larry_cockerham]

A Tennessean causes problems...

April 24, 1865

General Grant reached Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh and brought with him the news that President Johnson had disapproved Shermans agreement with Johnston. Sherman was ordered to give forty--eight hours notice and then resume hostilities if there was no surrender. Sherman was incensed both by the disapproval and the large amount of material on the subject in the New York papers including the dispatch of March 3, 1865 from Lincoln to Grant stating the generals should accept nothing but surrender and should not negotiate peace. Sherman said he never received the message. The fiery general soon raged against Stanton and Halleck, claiming he had not gone beyond Lincoln's wishes. While historians differ, it does seem that Sherman had gone beyond military obligations, and that he did try to make a peace agreement. Grant was now under orders to direct military movements and left Sherman to carry them out. General Johnston was ordered to suspend the truce at once. President Davis approved Johnston's agreement with Sherman, not knowing it had been rejected by the Union.

 

[larry_cockerham]

April 26, 1865 ...

At the Bennett House near Durham, General William T Sherman met again with General Joseph E Johnston in midafternoon. Final terms of capitulation for troops of Johnston's command were signed following the formula set by Grant at Appomattox. The same day the terms were approved by Grant. All arms and public property were to be deposited by Confederates at Greensborough. Troops were to give their parole and pledge not to take up arms until released from this obligation. Side arms of officers and their private horses and baggage could be retained. All officers and men were permitted to return to their homes. Field transportation was to be loaned to the troops for getting home and later use. A small quantity of arms would be retained and then deposited in state capitals. Horses and other private property were to be retained. troops from Te[x]as and Arkansas were to be furnished water transportation. Surrender of naval forces with the limits of Johnston command. Thus the second major army of the Confederate States of of America totaling in all about thirty thousand men surrendered.

The Confederate Cabinet met with President Davis at Charlotte and agreed to leave that day with the aim of getting west of the Mississippi. ...". Exit, stage left?

 

[larry_cockerham]

Confederate last legs in Alabama

April 26, 1865

Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered the Army of
Tennessee to Gen. William T. Sherman at Bennett Place in west
Durham, North Carolina.

That same day Col. Josiah Patterson was writing from Alabama:

Somerville, April 26, 1865.
Brig. Gen. R.S. Granger,
Commanding U.S. Forces, North Alabama:

SIR: I have seen your letter and also that of General Thomas, addressed to the citizens of this county. Thanking you for your kind intentions, I beg leave to make the following statement: There is at this time a considerable force of Confederate cavalry in this section of country. I have received no notification of General Lee's surrender except through Northern channels. Although I do not doubt that it is so, yet you are aware that I can take no action in the premises unless I had official information of the fact, and it would be impossible for citizens of the county, with any degree of propriety, to make any engagements which would compromise them with a command which is composed of their relatives and friends. I make free to state, general, that if General Lee has surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, it leaves, in my judgement, our cause in a hopeless condition. A further shedding of blood would be suicidal. Guerrilla or partisan warfare would be the only warfare we could resort to, and that would prove disastrous alike to friend and foe. However much may have been said heretofore of guerilla warfare as a last resort, yet no good man, however patriotic he might be, would encourage, much less participate in, such a struggle. It is impossible for any action to be taken at this time. I will, however, communicate with General Roddey, and use my excretions to bring about such joint action on the part of the people and this command as will best secure life and property. In the meantime I respectfully ask that you refrain from any offensive operations for twenty days and I will do the same. You will please communicate with me immediately at this place as to what action you will take in this premises. You will perhaps not deem it improper for me to state no good man or brave spirit in our army takes pleasure in the assassination of President Lincoln. The deed has met with the universal condemnation of our troops, so far as I have heard an expression.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JOSIAH PATTERSON,
Colonel, Commanding Fifth Regiment Cavalry.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Walthall goes home; Davis on the lamb...

May 2, 1865

Major General Edward C. Walthall was paroled and
returned to his home in Mississippi.

Jefferson Davis and party arrived in Abbeville, Georgia where he paid his escort from the Confederate Treasury and released them from service.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Forrest speaks his mind

May 4, 1865

The 21st Tennessee Cavalry CSA surrendered at Citronelle, Alabama under the command of Lt. Gen. Taylor, son of the former president. This included the remnants of the cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest who declared "You boys can do what you **** please, I'm agoing home." This was in response to a proposal to move west and initiate guerilla warfare.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Generals Hatch and Forrest say 'good bye'

May 5, 1865

Two armies on the same road, or at least two soldiers covering much of the same ground was certainly true of Edward Hatch of Maine and Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee. These two men confronted each other across Tennessee and Alabama from 1863 until the war's end.

It was Hatch who had the last say at least on paper as he wrote the following document demanding the surrender of the remainder of Forrest's command:

[HEADQUARTERS FIFTH DIVISION, CAVALRY CORPS,
MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
Eastport, Miss., May 5, 1865.
Lieut. Gen. N. B. FORREST:

I am directed by the major-general commanding Department of the Cumberland to demand the surrender of all Confederate forces under your command on the same terms given to Generals Lee and Johnston by General Grant, viz:

Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer as you may designate, the officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their command; the arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officer appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers or the private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, and not to be disturbed by the U.S. authorities so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside.

If these terms are accepted, send an officer to Baldwyn or Eastport to arrange final preliminaries. Answer by bearer of these dispatches.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

EDWARD HATCH,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.]

SOURCE: Official Records

 

[larry_cockerham]

May 8, 1865

On May 8, 1865, General Richard Taylor, commander of the department, surrendered all of the forces under his command, including the remnants of the 39th Regiment N.C. Troops.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Davis to the slammer

May 10, 1865

Jefferson Davis reached Dublin, Georgia and was briefly reunited with his family before being captured that morning by the Fourth Michigan regiment. His next stop was Fortress Monroe, Virginia.

 

[larry_cockerham]

A parting shot....

May 25, 1865

The 10th TN Cavalry relieved of duty at Natchez, Mississippi and ordered to Nashville. Farrier James Patterson was about to head for his beloved Wilkes County, North Carolina to be reunited with his wife Amelia and children Mary Elizabeth, Letty Ann, Marcus Lafayette and James Elbert.

May 26, 1865 The Department of Mississippi forces who had been under the command of Gen. Smith were surrendered in New Orleans, Louisiana

June 13, 1865 The 10th TN Cavalry were ordered to Johnsonville, TN along with Private James Patterson Cockerham.

June 23, 1865 Gen. Stand Watie CSA, a Cherokee Chief, surrendered the last of the Native American forces.

August 1, 1865 The 10th TN Cavalry mustered out of service. The war for James Patterson Cockerham was finally over.

While the remnants of the once potent Army of Tennessee were fighting to the end in North Carolina, Generals Wilson and Forrest were still mounted over in Alabama and fought to the last Confederate horse.

This is the current 'end' of my tale, that of the men of the 10th Tennessee US Cavalry and the 63rd Virginia Confederate Infantry. The survival of two men of those respective regiments made possible my arrival on this earth. No more could be asked by me. If any of you can supply further details of these events between Chickamauga and Bentonville, I'd certainly be pleased to receive them. My thanks for your patience and the opportunity to share the history of these proud men.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Checking for updates

Folks, I merely wanted to bump this one up where I/we could review it to determine if I need to make additional posts. I will compare this to the current version of the "book" to see if significant additions have occurred. As this is done, we are now almost at January 1, 2010 in sinc with the calender at the time these events occurred in 1865, a mere 145 years ago.

 

[PINCKNEYUSMCRET]

Look forward to anything you care to add

Pinckney

 

[larry_cockerham]

After crossing of the Tennessee River

Taking a look at the earlier posts in this thread, I've concluded that there have been considerable additions made in this past year, hopefully for the better. Since all posts for the most part are identified by date (month and day) it is easy enough to compare. From here I will simply post for a while the current version.

TWO ARMIES ON THE SAME ROAD
CHAPTER III
As you have seen earlier in this document, much has been written concerning the travels and travails of the Army of Tennessee leading up to and including the retreat from the Battle of Nashville into North Alabama. In most references, the story stops at the Tennessee River on December 28, 1864. This broken, bloody, but still viable Confederate army was not completely beaten, just against the ropes. There was more war to be fought; they were not down for the count. There were still two armies, Blue and Gray, still traveling the same roads, often with fatal results. I believe that Whitfield Monroe Parker remained with the 63rd Virginia until the time of the battle at Bentonville before making his way on some mighty sore legs back to the green South Holston River Valley in the Wyndale community, a few miles south of Abingdon, Virginia. James Patterson Cockerham was to remain in service with the 10th Tennessee Cavalry until August 1865 when he returned to his family in the foothills of the Blue Ridge near Elkin in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It would have perhaps been better if these two and the half dozen or so other southern soldiers responsible for my presence on this earth had never left their homes in the Appalachian mountains. Duty did not allow that option.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Following is a series of chronological references taken from many sources, mostly official records or regimental histories.

The ITINERARY OF CHEATHAM'S CORPS was condensed from a journal kept by Major Henry Hampton. This outline of the movement of Cheatam's Corps and other units gives a good idea of the movement of the 63rd and 54th Virginia regiments between January and May 1865. Reorganized as the 54th Virginia, the men of the 63rd remained in LEE'S CORPS of the re-organized Army of Tennessee. The various Divisions and Corps of the Army of Tennessee moved generally on the same path through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and on to the end of the war in North Carolina. Many of the following notes are from that journal. The Journal of the Army of Tennessee, previously presented, stops with the crossing of the Tennessee River at Bainbridge, Alabama. Here is the rest of the story.

 

[larry_cockerham]

December 28, 1864

December 28, 1864

The Army of Tennessee completed their crossing of the Tennessee River at Bainbridge, Alabama and loaded their pontoons on wagons before heading off toward haven in Mississippi.

[Insert- General George H. Thomas Jan 20 1865 report: "General Wood's corps kept well closed up on the cavalry, camping on the night of December 25 six miles out from Pulaski, on the Lamb's Ferry road, and pursuing the same route as the cavalry, reached Lexington, Ala., thirty miles from Pulaski, on the 28th, on which date, having definitely ascertained that the enemy had made good his escape across the Tennessee at Bainbridge, I directed ****her pursuit to cease."]

[The enemy's cavalry, under Roddey, was met at Leighton, with whom Colonel Palmer skirmished and pressed back in small squads toward the mountains. Here it was ascertained that Hood's trains passed through Leighton on the 28th of December and moved off toward Columbus, Miss. Avoiding the enemy's cavalry, Colonel Palmer left Leighton on the 31st of December, moved rapidly via La Grange and Russellville and by the Cotton-gin road, and overtook the enemy's pontoon train, consisting of 200 wagons and 78 pontoon-boats, when ten miles out from Russellville. This he destroyed. Having learned of a large supply train on its way to Tuscaloosa, Colonel Palmer started on the 1st of January toward Aberdeen, Miss., with a view of cutting it off, and succeeded in surprising it about 10 p.m. on the same evening, just over the line in Mississippi. The train consisted of 110 wagons and 500 mules, the former of which were burned, and the latter sabered or shot]

 

[larry_cockerham]

[Insert – General Grant writing to General Sherman from City Point, Virginia December 27, 1864: "I have though that Hood being so completely wiped out for present harm, I might bring A.J. Smith here, with fourteen to fifteen thousand men. With this increase I could hold my lines and move out with a greater force than Lee has. It would compel Lee to retain all his present force in the defenses of Richmond or abandon them entirely…. Without waiting for further directions, then, you may make your preparations to start on your northern expedition without delay. Break up the railroads in South and North Carolina, and join the armies operating against Richmond as soon as you can."]

From the History of the 33rd Mississippi:

The next day the 33rd Mississippi marched to the Tennessee River at Bainbridge, Alabama. On the 28th the regiment crossed the river and marched on for the next two days to Tuscumbia, Alabama. From there they followed the rail line to Iuka, Mississippi, and arrived on New Year s Eve.

Federals camped at Lexington, Alabama Dec 28.

 

[larry_cockerham]

A recent visit

On September 13, 2007 I returned with my wife from a trip to Cullman, Alabama through Florence when I missed a turn and found myself on highway 72 going west from Tuscumbia. Much has changed in 142 years, to say the least. The city of Tuscumbia is still a blue-collar working man's town with lots of railroad and storage facilities in evidence. The river is still there, although much wider than in 1865, thanks to the Pickwick dam just a few miles downstream. One would never suspect the severity of the Muscle Shoals on civil war era traffic from viewing the calm, broad river today. The railroad has been re-constructed several times though it remains essentially in the same right-of-way as when Gen. John Bell Hood became one of it's most famous passengers. From a frozen and very muddy path along the railroad, US 72 has evolved into a very pleasant divided highway with folks flying along well in excess of the posted speed limit. Such was not the case when the survivors of the Bainbridge crossing trod along in wagons, on foot, or on the couple of trains that hastily transported the higher-ranked members of the AOT to temporary safety in northern Mississippi. A meal, a little warmth and some much overdue rest were the goals for the day. I had the same general goals, but could only imagine the suffering endured by that little army in 1865.

 

[larry_cockerham]

December 30, 1864

The 5th Division, 1st Brigade under Edward Hatch [US] camped at Taylor's Springs (now Killen, AL).

Likely James Patterson Cockerham was in attendance with his farrier's tools. He was about to leave the pursuit of the AOT and return to middle Tennessee to serve out the remainder of the war as a guard at various facilities, mostly New Johnsonville and other federal supply depots. This cavalry division was exhausted and their supply of horses was essentially depleted. It would take a few months before James Harrison Wilson could re-build his cavalry in Waterloo and Gravelly Springs, Alabama before starting his invasion of Alabama and Georgia on March 22, 1865. James and the 10th Tennessee had done their part to defeat the AOT in the Tennessee Campaign, it was time for better equipped, fresher troops, and a little rest for a thirty-two year old soldier.

The physically and mentally wasted Army of Tennessee, strong Confederate soldiers that they were, kept their heads high and what was left of their bodies as vertical as possible as they headed west along the railroad from Tuscumbia, Alabama in the direction of Iuka and Corinth, Mississippi. That railroad remains in much the same location today, though considerable maintenance has occurred in the last 150 years. It is followed closely by US Highway 72. I suspect because of safety and for a better change at foraging for food, the three Corps of this command quickly split up with Cheatham heading to Corinth, Lee stopping at Burnsville briefly before moving on to Reinzi and Stewart stopping at Burnsville. Forrest and his three cavalry divisions made it to Corinth with the central command.

Shortly all supplies and the train cars were being readied for transport at Columbus, Georgia, a short distance away. Reinzi was also on the rail line that connected Corinth to Columbus and points south.

 

[larry_cockerham]

December 31, 1864

Stephen D. Lee's Corps was in camp in Burnsville, Mississippi. The various corps of the Army of Tennessee sought much needed rest in Burnsville, Rienzi and Corinth before re-assembling at Tupelo. Below is a photo of the closed post office in the very sleepy town of Reinzi, Mississippi. There's a photo of the street in a later post. The railroad still runs through this little community on the way south to Mobile.

The 5th Division, 1st Brigade US (Hatch) moved to east side of Elk River and camped. Other Federals returned north from Lexington, AL marching 18 miles to camp at Sugar Creek.