Walking Home after CW

[Devon Barlow]

James W. Merritt surrendered at Bennett Farm, NC. Family reports that he had to walk home to Atlanta, and while going home was shot by Union soldiers after the surrender. I know he was shot, as he had a very deformed left hand with an obvious gunshot wound in pictures, but does it seem likely that Union Soldiers would do this after the surrender??

 

[JoeCollector]

James W. Merritt surrendered at Bennett Farm, NC. Family reports that he had to walk home to Atlanta, and while going home was shot by Union soldiers after the surrender. I know he was shot, as he had a very deformed left hand with an obvious gunshot wound in pictures, but does it seem likely that Union Soldiers would do this after the surrender??

Yes, I believe this happened a lot. The Hatfields and McCoys feud started this way along with the hog theft. I'm sure I will be corrected if wrong.

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

James W. Merritt surrendered at Bennett Farm, NC. Family reports that he had to walk home to Atlanta, and while going home was shot by Union soldiers after the surrender. I know he was shot, as he had a very deformed left hand with an obvious gunshot wound in pictures, but does it seem likely that Union Soldiers would do this after the surrender??

My great-great-grandfather, David Land (my Avatar), was from the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, NC. When I first began trying to research his records, I made internet contact with cousins from NC who all related stories of David "walking home from the Civil War barefoot." David was captured on April 2, 1865, when Confederate lines were broken. He was sent to the last prison opened during the war on Hart Island, New York Harbor. Walking from there to the mountains of Western NC barefoot would have been quite a feat (no pun intended). Further research showed that the Union Army furnished water and rail transport to the released POWs "as close to their home as possible". David probably walked from Wilkesboro to his home in the mountains, and he was probably barefoot to say the least. I'm sure things were different for troops who surrendered in the field.

 

[MWood1841]

but does it seem likely that Union Soldiers would do this after the surrender??

anything was likely and emotions still very high on both sides after the big surrenders occurred. I would go a step further and say soldiers attempting to return home after confederate service were very vulnerable for retribution type acts if identified by federal troops. Not all, but its not hard to imagine acts of violence continued well after the surrenders

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

but its not hard to imagine acts of violence continued well after the surrenders

In parts of East Tennessee, both sides were still ambushing one another well into the 1870s.

 

[Jamieva]

Yes I believe Caroline Janney wrote about this in Ends of War. Some union soldiers didn't think the paroles were legit and would capture guys walking home etc

 

[R. Porter]

My great-great-grandfather, David Land (my Avatar), was from the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, NC. When I first began trying to research his records, I made internet contact with cousins from NC who all related stories of David "walking home from the Civil War barefoot." David was captured on April 2, 1865, when Confederate lines were broken. He was sent to the last prison opened during the war on Hart Island, New York Harbor. Walking from there to the mountains of Western NC barefoot would have been quite a feat (no pun intended). Further research showed that the Union Army furnished water and rail transport to the released POWs "as close to their home as possible". David probably walked from Wilkesboro to his home in the mountains, and he was probably barefoot to say the least. I'm sure things were different for troops who surrendered in the field.

I like your unintended pun, but you could also have said he was in defeat.

 

[huskerblitz]

Yes, I believe this happened a lot. The Hatfields and McCoys feud started this way along with the hog theft. I'm sure I will be corrected if wrong.

Meh, not really. Asa McCoy was killed by Confederate Home Guards in January 1865. But the real fued didn't start until more than a decade later.

 

[Johnny_Reb_1865]

anything was likely and emotions still very high on both sides after the big surrenders occurred. I would go a step further and say soldiers attempting to return home after confederate service were very vulnerable for retribution type acts if identified by federal troops. Not all, but its not hard to imagine acts of violence continued well after the surrenders

I remember seeing a video someplace that showed an unknown Confederate soldier's grave that was apparently in the middle of a highway. Story goes he was walking home and was shot by Union soldiers.

 

[JerryD]

James W. Merritt surrendered at Bennett Farm, NC. Family reports that he had to walk home to Atlanta, and while going home was shot by Union soldiers after the surrender. I know he was shot, as he had a very deformed left hand with an obvious gunshot wound in pictures, but does it seem likely that Union Soldiers would do this after the surrender??

Without knowing more details, anything is possible. Maybe the Union soldiers were trying to rob him, or drunk. Maybe he was caught trying to snatch a chicken to eat, or maybe passions were still running hot and someone said something they shouldn't. Not everyone was immediately ready for reconciliation after that war.

 

[TnFed]

In parts of East Tennessee, both sides were still ambushing one another well into the 1870s.

I had relatives on both sides during the war. Not one died during the war but five were killed from 66 to 70. Papers signed in Virginia must have not caught their attention .

 

[Don Dixon]

It was to the advantage of the Federal Army and the U.S. government that the Confederate armies be disestablished and the soldiers returned home as quickly as possible. During the meeting between Grant and Lee at Appomattox it was agreed that each Confederate soldier would be provided with an individual parole pass certifying that the man would not take up arms against the United States. Per Grant's instructions these passes could aid the former Confederates during their journey home, allowing them to use Federal transportation (ships and trains where available) or to draw food and supplies from Federal occupation forces in the South. The surrender agreements of the remaining Confederate armies were similar to that of the Army of Northern Virginia. Did that make getting home easy given the disruption of the southern transportation system? Probably not. But it is not poor starving Confederates walking home 1,000 miles on their crutches with bloody stumps for legs as some would have you believe. Demobilized Federal troops had to face the same transportation issues if they were among the many who had come from the south.

If you elected not to surrender and accept parole, then you could try to make it home on your own. Continuing to carry arms after the surrenders represented yet another problem. Armed bands of brigands - primarily deserters - had been a problem in the no-mans lands between the armies for the duration of the war. After the war, this continued to be a problem until occupation forces reestablished a modicum of law enforcement in the South.

Regards,
Don Dixon

 

[Scottish Rebel]

I had never heard of the Hatfields and the McCoys and the feud until they showed the mini-series back in 2012.
A real eye opener for sure.

 

[lupaglupa]

The end of the war did not end the hard feelings many soldiers had on both sides. It would not surprise me to hear that a soldier had been shot after the surrender.

 

[TnFed]

I believe that most East TN folks, whether they favor their rebel ancestors or their tory ancestors might agree that Alvin York and Audie Leon Mutphy are American heros. Both had a grandfather in the war, who was killed on leave. York"s grandfather was murdered by rebs and Murphy's by unionist. Walking around the hills and rollers of East TN could be bad for your heath. Very bad.

 

[Johnny_Reb_1865]

Here he is.
Some animal destroyed his historical marker.

Known But to God Historical Marker

Here rests the body of a soldier of the Confederacy, struck down by an unknown assassin in May of 1865-apparently on way to home in the South. (A historical marker located near Elkhorn City in Pike County, Kentucky.)

www.hmdb.org

"Known but to God" Historical Marker Destroyed

 Photograph by Forest McDermott, for HMdb.org On KY Rt. 80, near Elkhorn City, in the Breaks Interstate Park, a historical highway si...

eakycivilwar.blogspot.com

Flowers for Confederate Soldier Unknown - Find a...

This unknown Confederate soldier was assassinated on this spot while returning home after the end of the War Between the States, May 1865. He was buried by men of the local community, and his grave is marked by a rose bush.

www.findagrave.com

 

[Scottish Rebel]

Well done to the local community for taking care of him all these years.