Brig. General Samuel Wragg Ferguson (1834-1917):
Confederate States Army Military Service:
As General P.G.T. Beauregard`s Aide-de-camp, then Capt. Sam Ferguson personally accepted the surrender of Fort Sumter from Major Robert Anderson, which initiated the Civil War to commence, he then ordered the U.S. Flag to be lowered at Fort Sumter and for the first time in history he gave the order for the Confederate First National Flag to be raised in its place. This being the first time that the Confederate Flag was hoisted and raised in victory to fly over a captured Federal installation won in battle during the war. It was this event that caused Lincoln to declare war on the Confederacy and begin recruiting 75,000 soldiers to strengthen the U.S. Army as the country prepared itself for war.
Sam Ferguson, soon fought at the battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), which was the first major conventional battle of the Civil War involving infantry, artillery and cavalry from both armies. In September 1861, Ferguson was present at the headquarters of General Joseph E. Johnston when the design for the Confederate Battle Flag was adopted, and after Hetty, Jenny and Constance Cary sewed the first three Confederate Battle Flags, Ferguson was there to see them presented to Generals Joseph E. Johnston, P.G.T. Beauregard and Earl Van Dorn at a ceremony on 28 Nov 1861 at Centreville, Virginia. This being just 25 miles south of Washington, D.C. and 2 miles north of Manasses where the Battle of Bull Run was fought. The design was from P.G.T. Beauregard and Senator William Porcher Miles. According to Ferguson these first three Confederate Battle Flags were cut and sewn from silk gowns belonging to the Misses Cary.
Ferguson went on to fight at Shiloh, Farmington and Corinth. Then he participated in the Vicksburg Campaign. Where Sam Ferguson was given command of a large portion of the Yazoo Delta up in northern Mississippi. There he operated against Federal shipping on the Mississippi river and opposed a Federal foray into the Mississippi river delta, at which point he attacked Admiral Porter and General Sherman in Little Deer Creek at the head of Rolling Fork and compelled them to abandon their expedition with their gunboats. It was here during this time that he met and married Catherine "Kate" Lee, a cousin of General Robert E. Lee and Fitzhugh Lee. After Vicksburg fell, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and was given command of his own cavalry brigade, which was headquartered in the northern Mississippi prairie country at Prairie Mount, just 5 miles north-west of Okolona. It was at this time that my 3rd Great Grandfather, who served and fought with the 2nd Alabama Cavalry, was placed under his command as part of that brigade and remained faithfully with him until the close of the war.
Ferguson then conducted numerous predatory raids, along with General`s Stephen D. Lee, Nathan B. Forrest, and James R. Chalmers, against Federal forces throughout northern Mississippi, northern Alabama and west Tennessee. He then opposed Sherman`s March to Chattanooga, then he screened and carried Maj. General Nathan B. Forrest through the Federal lines, into middle Tennessee to raise his last cavalry division of the war. He then conducted numerous raids along the M&C R.R. in west Tennessee and along the M&O R.R. in northern Mississippi. He then opposed Sherman`s Meridian Campaign from the Big Black River to Meridian and back, at which point he was briefly sent back up to northern Mississippi to reinforce Maj. General Nathan B. Forrest during the battle of Okolona. Days later he was ordered back towards Canton, to intercept Sherman`s army on their return to Vicksburg after destroying Meridian, where they caught up to him as his army was crossing the Pearl River and fought them daily until they crossed the Big Black River, about a week later. After which Sam Ferguson rested his command at Canton, MS. and was soon sent into central and north Alabama to hunt and chase down Confederate deserters and Alabama Unionists from their hiding places in the woods and caves, who were trying to cross the Union lines and take the oath of enlistment into the U.S. Army.
Ferguson was then sent into Georgia, to cover the retreat of Johnston`s Army of Tennessee, as it was forced to constantly withdraw and fall back southward from Dalton to Atlanta. At which point he was engaged in numerous daily fights and skirmishes against Sherman`s army, to prevent him from out flanking Johnston`s Army of Tennessee and being able to get behind him to cut off his retreat to Atlanta. A few of those being the battles of Rome Crossroads, Woodlands, Kingston, New Hope Church, Dallas, Adairsville, Kennesaw Mountain, Marietta, Smyrna, Nick-a-jack Creek and the Chattahoochee River. It was at this time that Ferguson`s brigade, for the first time, was ordered to dismount and take up positions in the trenches and from behind breastworks, fighting alongside the infantry, for days at a time in some instances, while remounting and fighting cavalry charges when required to keep the enemy from outflanking their position.
Ferguson then fought more bloody battles and engaged in more daily skirmishes, in and around Atlanta, for several months against Sherman`s army. Some of those being the battles of Peach Tree Creek, Bald Mountain, Decatur, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy`s Station, in addition to fighting against Sherman`s cavalry far in the rear of the Confederate army, for miles along the four railroads which connected through Atlanta, as Sherman was attacking Hood`s supply and communication lines. Specifically, during this time he opposed and fought against the cavalries belonging to Generals Stoneman, McCook and Kilpatrick in their efforts to destroy the railroads around Atlanta.
Ferguson and his cavalry brigade were the very last Confederate troops to leave Atlanta when it fell, he was ordered there to thinly occupy the trenches in an effort to screen Hood`s evacuation, to prevent it from being found out too soon, and to supervise the surrender of the city when that action would be required. Ferguson`s brigade was left behind to destroy the munitions and Confederate equipment which could not be removed during the evacuation, and he was given strict orders from General Hood to defend Atlanta to the last man until everything of military importance could be destroyed in Atlanta. After blowing up Hood`s ordnance trains on the night of 1 Sep 1864, along with the Atlanta train depot, Ferguson and his cavalry brigade were the last Confederate troops to leave Atlanta, around noon of 2 Sep 1864, as Mayor Calhoun moved out on the Marietta Road to surrender the Gate City to a portion of General Slocum`s command.
After the fall of Atlanta, Sam Ferguson and his brigade conducted countless raids in and around Atlanta as well as in North Georgia and East Alabama. When General John Bell Hood took the Army of Tennessee into Tennessee, heading for Kentucky, he ordered Generals Wheeler and Ferguson back to Atlanta to keep an eye on Sherman. In a matter of days, Sherman burned Atlanta and initiated his "March to the Sea," from Atlanta to Savannah. The only ones available to oppose Sherman`s destructive march, were Wheeler and Ferguson. Sam Ferguson operated at the rear and on the left and right flanks of Sherman`s army, harassing him the whole distance to Savannah, while Wheeler got out ahead of him and opposed his vanguard. After much fighting, when they reached Savannah, Ferguson was ordered to dismount his command and fill in the weak areas of Lt. General William Hardee`s trench lines and breastworks around the city. After an 11-day siege, Ferguson was ordered to remount his command and perform a rear-guard action covering the retreat of Lt. General Hardee`s command as they vacated the city, once again Ferguson was left behind to ensure the safety of those retreating and were the very last Confederate troops to leave that city, just like at Atlanta.
Soon enough Sam Ferguson was operating in South and North Carolina fighting against General Stoneman during his famous raids into North Carolina, at this time, mid-March 1865, Sam Ferguson`s childhood home of "Dockon," which was located on the Cooper river a few miles north of Old Charleston, was burned and his parents victimized by USCT regulators who were being protected under the U.S. Army to wreak havoc on their former plantations and owners, one of those being Colonel James Ferguson, the father of Sam Ferguson. Soon, Sam Ferguson and his cavalry brigade was ordered by President Jefferson Davis to meet him at Greensboro, N.C., and become part of his personal escort and bodyguard in his flight from North Carolina to Georgia, which he did. Sam Ferguson was one of the last 6 Confederate Generals with a command to attend the Last Confederate General Officer Meeting and War Council, which was held at Abbeville, S.C., on 2 May 1865, with President Davis and what was left of his Confederate cabinet. It was at this time that Jefferson Davis, his remaining Confederate Cabinet and the last six Confederate Generals with commands left in the field east of the Mississippi river, came to the conclusion to disband the Confederacy, which they did. Later that night they continued their march to Washington, Georgia, where they arrived on 3 May 1865. After President Davis decided to go on with a much smaller bodyguard of only 75 men, Sam Ferguson was ordered to disband his command and send his men home, which he did on the early morning of 5 May 1865.
I believe Sam Ferguson to be one of the more important Generals of the Civil War, and the only one to have participated at the very beginning and end of the hostilities; personally receiving the surrender of Fort Sumter from Major Robert Anderson, being selected as the first to raise the Confederate Flag over captured territory during the war, being present when the first three Confederate battle Flags were presented to Johnston, Beauregard and Van Dorn, being the last Confederate force to leave Atlanta and Savannah just before both were surrendered, as well as being with President Jefferson Davis at the very end of the hostilities, as part of his personal escort and bodyguard, during his flight from justice from North Carolina to Georgia. At which time, Sam Ferguson was one of the last six generals, with commands still in the field, in attendance when they disbanded the Confederacy, during the Last Confederate War Council and Cabinet Meeting, held at Abbeville, S.C. on 2 May 1865. Sam Ferguson`s cavalry brigade was one of the last commands in the field, east of the Mississippi river to disband at Washington, GA. on 5 May 1865, as they parted ways with President Jefferson Davis. Just five days later, Davis was captured at Irwinville, Georgia on 10 May 1865, and the Civil War was brought to a close. There really should have been much much more written about Sam Ferguson after the war, than there was. Having said that, I have still found a plethora of information regarding his service and his life after the war.