What If?

On February 17, 1862, the First Georgia, along with two Tennessee Regiments, received transfer orders.  They were to head west to join the forces under General Albert Sidney Johnston.  Excitement prevailed in camp, as written by a correspondent for the Atlanta Southern Confederacy:
 

CAMP MASON, NEAR Winchester, Va.,

February 17, 1862.

Editors Southern Confederacy:

            Great excitement and activity prevails this morning throughout the camp of Gen. Loring’s whole former command.  This officer was recently promoted a Major-General, and no doubt, will be assigned to another Department of the Army.  His former Brigade have all been transferred from the Valley District to other Divisions of the army; and have been disposed of as follows:  The 1st Georgia, 1st and 3rd Tennessee Volunteers, received orders late yesterday evening to report without for delay for duty, in Gen. A. S. Johnston, at Knoxville, Tenn.  Orders were issued at the same time to the 3rd Arkansas, 7th and 14th Tennessee Volunteers to the effect that those Regiments should report forthwith to Gen. Holmes, commanding the Aquia District, at Fredericksburg, Va.  The remainder of Gen. Loring’s late command, comprising the 21st, 23rd, 37th, 42nd, and 48th Virginia Volunteers, together with Maj. Munford’s Battalion of Irish Regulars, are ordered to report immediately to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Manassas.

            This is a complete re-organization of Brigades, and I havn’t, as yet, been able to learn under whose immediate command the several Brigades will be placed.  I learn Geo. Kirby Smith’s Brigade are marching hither from Manassas, to supply the place of the troops before mentioned in the Valley District.

            We will leave this place for our several points of destination as soon as we can get transportation.  Quartermasters are actively employed this morning devising means of transportation.  Wagon-masters and teamsters are equally as busy in getting their wagon trains and teams ready for the march.

            There is an expression of joy resting on every countenance at the prospect of leaving this frigid, rigorous climate.  There is not a single regret in the heart of any one of us at the thought of leaving the snow-clad mountains of Northern Virginia.  The truth is, we’ve performed such hard service, and experienced such intense suffering in this field of military labor, that we were willing and anxious to be transported to some other department of the army.  We now go with cheerful hearts to meet the ruthless invader of our soil in new and different fields.  Clothed with justice and right, our valiant boys, with strong arms and brave hearts, will meet the Hessians successfully on any field in which anything like an equal number is engaged on either side.

            We’ve had one or two considerable snows here of late.  This is cold and disagreeable day.  It is sleeting very heavily.  We will march to Strasburg, 18 miles distant; thence we will go by Railroad to our point of destination.

            Please change my paper to Knoxville, Tenn.  I while away many hours profitably and pleasantly perusing your almost invaluable paper.  You will hear from me again soon.  Haven’t time to write more at present.

                                                                                                                        NESTOR.

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The First Georgia would not make it to Johnston's army.  Landslides on the railroad halted the regiment.  Because the First was close to the end of its one-year term of service, it was decided to divert the regiment back to Georgia to muster out.

I have often wondered what would have happened if the tracks had not become blocked.  Would the First Georgia have joined General Johnston's army?  Would they then have been held in service long enough to participate in the horrendous Battle of Shiloh? 

Witness To Suffering

On January 19, 1862, Lieutenant Evan P. Howell of the Washington Rifles wrote home to his uncle of the suffering his company had endured during the march from Winchester to Bath and then on to Romney.  The letter was published in the February 5 edition of the Sandersville Central Georgian.

3 MILES WEST OF ROMNEY, Va.,

January 19, 1862.

Dear Uncle:  I have had nothing of much importance to write up to the first of this month; and since then we have been moving from place to place so that I could not write.

On the 1st of January, as you have heard from the newspaper, we left Winchester, taking a western course.  Three days match, camping at night without tents or blankets on the snow-covered ground, brought us to Bath, where the celebrated Berkley Springs are.  Here there was quite a large force of the enemy, but on our approach they ran off, leaving their sick, a number of tents, provisions, stores, &c.  Our troops double quicked through the town in pursuit of them, but were unable to get but twenty prisoners.  These belonged to the 39th Illinois Regiment.  I saw them and was near by when one was captured.  I had charge of the Ordnance train on that day, and had gone forward to know what to do with it when a little fellow run down to the road and said there was a Yankee at his house, which was about two hundred yards distant.  We sent up some men who found the Yankee under the bed.  He appears very well satisfied with his situation.

At Bath our troops were divided,--Col. Rusk, of the 3rd Arkansas Regiment, took his Regiment and the 37th Virginia and went west of Bath towards the Capon Bridge with the object to burn this bridge, which is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad while the balance of our troops went north toward Hancock, Maryland.  We arrived at that place in a short time—or more properly opposite it, for it is on the other side of the Potomac—stayed there for two days without anything to eat or a blanket to sleep on.  We shelled the town to our satisfaction, and Col. Rusk returning after having accomplished his object, we all turned back, having, I presume, done all we intended.  We came twelve miles from Bath where we camped three days to recruit our health.  After the experation of that time we took up our line of march for Romney, where there were 4,000 of the enemy under Gen. Kelly.  We reached Romney after a march of five days and found the Yankees had left just as soon as they heard we were advancing on them, notwithstanding they were strongly fortified.  We got a considerable lot or stores from them here but not as much as we got at Bath and Hancock.

Now I have told you what we have done I will next tell you what it has done for us.  Our Regiment left Winchester with seven hundred men and brought to Romney only two hundred and forty men.  The Washington Rifles left Winchester with sixty-two men and now have twenty-five.  Two-thirds of our Regiment are now sick enough to be in the Hospital.  I notice that the army correspondence from Manassas think it is hard for their sick to lay in the horrid Hospitals, and speak of the hardships their troops undergo in winter quarters.  But what would they think of our fix?  In the bleak climate of North Western Virginia, the ground covered one foot deep with snow, with the meager protection of a common tent and half the time not even that, traveling in the day over the rough frozen road, some men with their bare feet on the ground.  This is no exaggerated picture, we see it every day.  I marched day before yesterday seven miles with my toes on the icy road, having worn out the second pair of shoes since I left Winchester.

It would move the heart of any one who is not in the army (for all of us are used to it,) to go through this camp and hear the terrible coughing—some coughing until they vomit.  Yet we have no Hospital for our sick.  Few men at home have any idea what we are undergoing, nor is it possible to tell all we have stood.

Yours affectionately,
E. P. HOWELL.

Diary Continues

Saturday, July 13th, 1861.—At daylight this morning, our “rear guard” arose, almost shivering with cold, caused by the rain which had been steadily falling on us during the night. After a march of a mile and a half, or two miles, we came up with the brigade, and found many of the boys eating parched corn, with a relishing and greedy appetite, most of our provision wagons being upset in the mountains during the previous night. Here, I was reminded of the march of the children of Israel, under the command of Moses and Aaron, when the children began to murmur for bread, &c., &c. Every exertion was made by Capt. Crump and Lieut. Wheeler, (who came to the camp the night previous,) to procure something for their company to eat, but with little success.

After the three Virginia regiments of infantry were placed in front, and the 1st Georgia regiment bringing up the rear, we started on our weary march, the rain still pouring in torrents, and every man as wet as water could make him. We had marched but a short distance, when the Lincoln army came up in the rear, and gave us battle. The fighting continued until evening, during which we lost our commanding General. A braver or more noble and worthy man never fell on the field of battle. That he was brave and daring, we need no better proof than his conduct during this engagement. During this battle, a portion of the Georgian regiment was cut off from the main body of the army, and being among that number myself, I can speak in my future notes, only of that unfortunate squad, which consisted of Maj. Thompson, of the Field Staff, Capt. Crump and Lieut. Russell of the Walker Light Infantry, with about half their company; Capt. Pinckard, of the Quitman Guards, Capt. Jones of the Washington Rifles; Capt. Evans, of the Bainbridge Independents, and Capt. Ezzard of the Gate City Guards, together with a portion of every company in the regiment, numbering in all about three hundred. Late in the evening after we had retired some distance from the battlefield, on the side of the mountain, a council was held by the commissioned officers present to come to some determination as to our mode of getting out of the mountains, and joining our comrades. It was here determined to make our way across the mountains, through the wilderness, in search of the turn-pike leading to Staunton—Capt. Crump and Lieut. Russell, of the Walker Light Infantry, only, voting to return and fight our way through a desperate foe to our boys, being ignorant of their fate. As to the relative strength of the two armies here, I will only say that the Lincolnites out-numbered us, two to one. Maj. Thompson taking the bridle, saddle, &c., off his horse, throwing them in the bushes and turning the horse loose, we crossed the mountains, and slept during the night in a glade some two or three miles from the battle field, not, however, out of hearing of the guns of the enemy.

Sunday, July 14, 1861.—This morning at day light we started on our march through the hills, weak from hunger, and somewhat discouraged with the gloomy prospect of finding food to-day. It is thought by those of our company having maps in their possession that we are within twelve miles of the turn pike, and that we will reach it this evening. Marching through a laurel range of mountains, almost impassable, nearly all day, we halted in the afternoon, and ate freely of birch bark, and a kind of grass of week called “sheep-sorrel.” It will be remembered that a large number of our company have had nothing to eat since Thursday morning, and have been on a tedious and tiresome march since that time.

After a brief rest, we renew our gloomy march, eating bark and grass as we journey. Night finds us in a rough, rocky ravine near one of the many small, swift mountain streams that course their way through the laurel forests of this cold, dismal, and uninhabited portion of the mountains of northern Virginia. It is raining. Who can imagine our condition? our feelings? We are only kept from suffering severely from the cold, during the day by the most active exercise; and now night is upon us, and such a night! Nothing heard except the falling of the rain drops, the running of the aforesaid brook, and the croaking of a raven in some hollow tree farther up the mountains. Here we must rest for the night. We cannot move, or we might pitch from the top of a precipice into eternity. How shall we sleep? We have no blankets! We have divested ourselves of everything except what we wear, and many have had their clothes nearly torn from them by the brush in passing through the laurel thicket.

What would our mothers and sisters think, and say, if they knew our condition? I have just heard a member of the Walker Light Infantry say that he would not have his wife know of his present sufferings for a million of dollars; another said he would not have his mother made acquainted with his present situation for twice that amount. I feel around in the dark for a place to sleep. I prop myself against a tree to prevent my rolling down the mountain, and soon I am asleep. I dream—but not of HOME. Here I shiver with cold, half sleep, and half awake, until morning.

Flag of the Washington Rifles

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in conference assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to deliver to the proper authorities of the respective States in which the regiments which bore these colors were organized certain Union and Confederate battle flags now in the custody of the War Department for such final disposition as the aforesaid proper authorities may determine.

This act, passed by the United States Congress in 1905, and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, returned flags carried by Confederate troops to the Southern States. Among these banners was the First National pattern flag of the Washington Rifles, Company “E” of the First Georgia Volunteer Infantry. The colors were in poor condition, the fabric tattered and torn.

In 1861, forty-four years earlier, the banner’s silk shone brightly, and its canton proudly displayed the painted Georgia state coat of arms. The lovingly sown flag was presented to the Washington Rifles as they prepared to depart for Camp Oglethorpe in Macon. The scene was described in the April 3 edition of the Sandersville Central Georgian:

On Monday previous to their departure, the ladies of Sandersville, with their usually liberality and promptness, prepared a sumptuous dinner in the Court House for the benefit of the Rifles, but of which all were invited to partake. We were not present, but we have heard but one opinion expressed in regard to the manner in which the affair was conducted, and that one is highly creditable to the fair donors. The ladies of our town know how to get up these things, and in the present instance they more than excelled any former public occasion amongst us. After all who chose had partaken of the dinner, an abundance for several days’ subsistence was packed away to be carried with the company. The ladies during the day presented the company with a handsome flag of the Confederate States. Sustained by the hand, and encouraged by the smiles of fair woman, what would not man dare—what would he not achieve?

Business also prevented our hearing the address delivered by Col. J. S. Hook before the company and the public on this occasion. We are told, however, that it was the most felicitous and appropriate; that in patriotic and soul-stirring words he depicted the honor and glory of a life devoted to the defence of one’s country, and said, that while he was conscious it was unnecessary to so speak in this instance, he would exhort them never to permit the flag confided to their keeping by the angel band of women to be tarnished by one unpatriotic act, or soiled by the hand of a foe. The ceremonies were highly interesting, and very creditable to all engaged.

During the retreat of General Robert S. Garnett’s Army of the Northwest from Laurel Hill in July of 1861, many of the flags belonging to the various companies of the First Georgia were stored in wagons. Panicked teamsters jettisoned equipment from entangled wagons as the column worked its way through the Allegheny Mountains, and many wagons were simply abandoned when they became stuck. One such wagon was left behind at a river crossing just north of Kalers Ford, where Colonel Ramsey fought a rearguard action against pursuing Union troops, and where six companies were cut off from the army and forced to wander lost in the trackless wilderness. This wagon contained the banner of the Washington Rifles. As Federal troops crossed the river in pursuit of the Confederates, a soldier of the Ninth Indiana found the Rifles’ colors in the wagon. Climbing atop the wagon, he unfurled the colors and waved it, either to urge on his comrades, or possibly just to show off what he had discovered. The banner was sent north, where it remained in the War Department’s collection of captured flags. It was returned to Georgia as one of the returned battleflags.

The image at the top of this column is from a brochure titled “The Returned Battle Flags,” which was given as a souvenir during the United Confederate Veterans Reunion held in Louisville, Kentucky, in June of 1905. It shows the Washington Rifles flag as it looked when returned to Georgia. The banner, made of silk, continued to deteriorate, but was restored by conservators in recent years. The banner is now part of the collection of the Georgia Capitol Museum in Atlanta. The restored flag can be viewed here.

Time To Move On

With much persuasion from friends such as Virginia Governor John Letcher, General Jackson withdraws his resignation from the army.  He immediately files charges against General Loring for neglect of duty and "Conduct subversive of good order and military discipline." 

President Davis and Secretary Benjamin have had enough of the feud between the two officers.  They decide to break up the Army of the Northwest - all the Virginia regiments will remain with the Valley Army, but the others are to be forwarded to other commands:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
Centreville, Va., February 14, 1862

General JACKSON:

SIR: The President, through the Secretary of War, directs that the Georgia regiment now with General Loring be sent immediately to Knoxville; that the two Tennessee regiments of General Anderson's brigade and Colonel Rust's (Arkansas) regiment be sent to report to Major-General Holmes, commanding Aquia District, and the remaining troops of General Loring's command sent to this district (of the Potomac). Please give the necessary orders from these movements, to be made in the order in which they are written above.

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Thanks to all who stopped by the Mercer University Press table last weekend during the Chickamauga Civil War Show. 

Me with Marsha Luttrell of Mercer University Press

Enough is Enough

The tension radiating out of Romney has come to a head. The petition signed by the officers of the Army of the Northwest, and endorsed by General Loring, has made its way to the desk of Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin and President Jefferson Davis. Impatient for results, Colonel Taliaferro has obtained leave and has journeyed to Richmond with the intention of persuading the government to recall the Army of the Northwest to Winchester. Davis, alarmed at the possibility of Loring’s command being surrounded, directs Benjamin to order the troops out. Benjamin sends a short, terse order to Jackson:

“Our news indicates that a movement is being made to cut off General Loring's command. Order him back to Winchester immediately.”

Jackson is astounded to receive this order, but he complies, ordering the Army of the Northwest to return to Winchester. Outraged that all the gains made by his campaign have been negated, Jackson sends a carefully worded letter to Benjamin:

HEADQUARTERS VALLEY DISTRICT,
Winchester, Va., January 31, 1862.

Honorable J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War:

SIR: Your order requiring me to direct General Loring to return with his command to Winchester immediately has been received and promptly complied with.

With such interference in my command I cannot expect to be of much service in the field, and accordingly respectfully request to be ordered to report for duty to the superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, as has been done in the case of other professors. Should this application not be granted, I respect fully request that the President will accept my resignation from the Army.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

T. J. JACKSON,
Major-General, P. A. C. S.

Jackson's superior officer, General Joseph E. Johnston, is taken aback by Jackson's request:

HEADQUARTERS,
Centreville, February 7, 1862,

Respectfully forwarded, with great regret. I don't know how the loss of this officer can be supplied. General officers are much wanted in this department.

J. E. JOHNSTON,
General.

The Confederacy is in danger of losing one of its heroes.

Indorsement

On January 26, General Loring receives the letter from his officers.  He adds an indorsement of agreement:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHWEST,
Romney, Va., January 26, 1862.

As this is a respectful communication, and presents for the consideration of the honorable Secretary of War the true condition of this army, and coming from so high a source, expressing the united feeling of the army, I deem it proper to respectfully forward it for his information. I am most anxious to re-enlist this fine army, equal to any I ever saw, and am satisfied if something is not done to relieve it, it will be found impossible to induce the army to do so, but with some regard for its comfort, a large portion, if not the whole, may be prevailed upon.

At the earliest possible moment I shall write more fully.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

W. W. LORING,
Brigadier-General, Commanding, &c.

Loring forwards the letter on through channels.  The next officer to read it will be "Stonewall" Jackson.

The Winter Of Our Discontent

The officers and men quartered in Romney feel forsaken by their commander, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.  They are convinced that he has pulled the Stonewall Brigade - his "pets" - back into nice, warm winter quarters in Winchester, while leaving the Army of the Northwest to make out as best they can in the exposed position at Romney.  The discontent comes to a boil as several officers meet to draft a letter to General Loring.  This so-called "Romney Petition" is signed by the various brigade and regimental officers.  As Colonel Ramsey and Lt. Colonel Thompson of the First Georgia are both absent in sickbeds, Major James W. Anderson signs the petition as commanding officer of the First.

JANUARY 25, 1862.

Brigadier-General LORING,
Commanding Army of the Northwest:

GENERAL: The undersigned officers of your command beg leave to present their condition to your consideration as it exists at Romney. It is unnecessary to detail to you,who participated in it all, the service performed by the Army of the Northwest during the last eight months. The unwritten (it will never be truly written) history of that remarkable campaign would show, if truly portrayed, a degree of severity, of hardship, of toil, of exposure and suffering that finds no parallel in the prosecution of the present war, if indeed it is equaled in any war. And the alacrity and good-will with which the men of your command bore all this hardship, exposure, and deprivation would by death and disease, the remainder were about preparing quarters to shield them from the storms of winter in a rigorous climate. Many had prepared comparatively comfortable quarters, when they were called upon to march to Winchester and join the force under General Jackson. This they did about the 1st of December, with the same alacrity which had characterized their former conduct, making a march of some 140 miles at that inclement season of the year.

After reaching Winchester, as expected, was ordered in the direction of the enemy, when all cheerfully obeyed the order, with the confident expectation that so soon as the object of the expedition was attamed they would be marched to some comfortable position, where they could enjoy a short respite and recruit wasted energies for the spring campaign.

The terrible exposure and suffering on this expedition can never be known to those who did not participate in it. When men pass night after night in the coldest period of a cold climate without tents, blankets, or even an ax to cut wood with, and without food twenty-four hours, and with some of the men nearly two days at a time, and attended by toilsome marches, it is not to be thought strange that some regiments which left Winchester with nearly 600 men should now, short as the time has been, report less than 200 men for duty.

Instead of finding, as expected, a little repose during midwinter, we are ordered to remain at this place. Our position at and near Romney is one of the most disagreeable and unfavorable that could well be imagined. We can only get an encampment upon the worst of wet, spouty land, much of which when it rains is naught but one sea of water and a consequent corresponding depth of mud, and this, too, without the advantage of sufficient wood, the men having to drag that indispensable article down from high up on the mountain side.

We are within a few miles of the enemy and of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which imposes upon our men the continued hardship of very heavy picket duty, which will in a short time tell terribly upon their health and strength. We regard Romney as a place difficult to hold, and of no strategical importance after it is held. Besides, the country around it for some distance has already been by the enemy exhausted of its supplies. Your army could be maintained much more comfortably, and at much less expense, and with every military advantage, at almost any other place.

Another consideration we would endeavor to impress upon your mind: All must be profoundly impressed with the paramount importance of raising an army for the next summer's campaign. When we left Winchester, a very large proportion of your army, with the benefit of a short furlough, would have enlisted for the war, but now, with the present prospect before them, we doubt if one single man would re-enlist. But if they are yet removed to a position where their spirits could be revived, many, we think, will go for the war.

In view of all these considerations and many others that might be presented, we ask that you present the condition of your command to the War Department, and earnestly ask that it may be ordered to some more favorable position.

Respectfully,

WM. B. TALIAFERRO,
Colonel, Commanding Fourth Brigade Northwestern Army.

SAML. V. FULKERSON,
Colonel, Thirty-Seventh Virginia Volunteers.

VAN H. MANNING,
Major, Commanding Third Arkansas Volunteers.

J. W. ANDERSON,
Major, Commanding First Georgia Regiment.

A. V. SCOTT,
Captain, Commanding Twenty-Third Virginia Volunteers.

JESSE S. BURKS,
Colonel, Commanding Third Brigade Northwestern Army.

D. A. LANGHORNE,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Forty-Second Virginia Volunteers.

P. B. ADAMS,
Major, Forty-Second Virginia Volunteers.

J. Y. JONES,
Captain, Commanding First Battalion P. A. C. S.

R. H. CUNNINGHAM, JR.,
Captain, Commanding Twenty-First Virginia Volunteers.

JOHN A. CAMPBELL,
Colonel, Commanding Forty-Eighth Virginia Volunteers.

A Change of Plans

Romney has been occupied by Confederate forces, and "Stonewall" has the prize he has long coveted, but he remains dissatisfied.  Looking north toward the Potomac River, he sees an immense supply depot at Cumberland, Maryland, which he decides can be taken with quick action.  Jackson plans to send the Stonewall Brigade, along with Colonel Taliaferro's Fifth Brigade of the Army of the Northwest, on a fast march from Romney toward Cumberland to destroy the railroad bridge and capture the supplies.  These plans fall through, however, due to the exhaustion of the troops.  Many of Jackson's and Taliaferro's regiments are down to a shadow of their former strength due to sickness, with a flood of ill soldiers overwhelming facilities in Winchester.  That, coupled with near mutinous sentiment in the Army of the Northwest, forces Jackson to cancel his advance.  He advises the Confederate Secretary of War, Judah P. Benjamin, that he is making arrangements for putting the army into winter quarters:

HEADQUARTERS VALLEY DISTRICT,
Romney, January 20, 1862,

Honorable J. P. BENJAMIN, Secretary of War:

SIR: Though the enemy have retreated to the Potomac, yet they continue in possession of the frontier of this district from 7 miles below Cumberland to the Alleghany. On the 1st of this month there was not a single loyal citizen of Morgan County who in my opinion could with safety remain at home, and the same may be said respecting the most valuable portion of Hampshire County. A kind Providence has restored to us the entire county of Morgan and nearly the entire county of Hampshire, but so long as the enemy hold possession of the railroad bridge 5 miles below Cumberland and the two railroad bridges above Cumberland they can make dangerous inroads upon us.

On last Friday night I designed moving rapidly with my old brigade and one of General Loring's, for the purpose of destroying one of the railroad bridges across the North Branch of the Potomac west of Cumberland and thus cut off their supplies from the west, and consequently force them to reduce their army in front of me; but as General Loring's leading brigade, commanded by Colonel Taliaferro, was not in a condition to move, the enterprise had to be abandoned. Since leaving Winchester, on the 1st instant, the troops have suffered greatly, and General Loring has not a single brigade in a condition for active operations, though in a few days I except they will be much improved, and will, if placed in winter quarters, be able to hold this important portion of the valley, but these quarters should be well selected and the positions strengthened, and hence the great importance of having a good engineer officer. It will not do for me to remain here much longer, lest General Banks should cross the Potomac. Consequently in a few days I expect to leave this place, taking with me Garnett's brigade. I have written to General Johnston that, unless otherwise directed, General Loring's command will go into winter quarters in the South Branch Valley, General Carson's at Bath, General Meem's at Martinsburg, and Garnett's at Winchester. The cavalry will be distributed at various points along the northern frontier. General Bogg's brigade, which principally belongs to the South Branch Valley, will be distributed over the section of country to which it belongs.

It is very desirable that the troops should go into winter quarters as soon as possible, so I trust that you will send me the best engineer officer you can, though it be for only ten days.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. J. JACKSON,
Major-General, P. A. C. S., Commanding

January 17, 1862

For the past several days, General Thomas J. Jackson’s Valley Army has been struggling through terrible winter conditions as it moves toward Romney.  The Stonewall Brigade, under General Richard Garnett, entered the town on January 15.  General Loring’s brigades of the Army of the Northwest reach Romney by the 17^th.  The sight that greets the troops is appalling, for the Union garrison had vandalized the town before retreating.  “Nearly every dwelling, mill, and factory,” wrote Dr. Robert L. Dabney, Jackson’s friend and soon-to-be chief of staff, “. . . was consumed; the tanneries were destroyed, and the unfinished hides slit into ribbons; the roadside was strewed with the carcasses of milk-kine, oxen, and other domestic animals, shot down in mere wantonness. As they came in view of the town, lately smiling in the midst of rural beauty, scarcely anything appeared, by which it could be recognized by its own children, save the everlasting hills which surround it. Gardens, orchards, and out-buildings, with their enclosures, were swept away; the lawns were trampled by cavalry horses into mire; many of the dwellings were converted into stables, and the blinds and wainscot torn down for fuel; and every church, save one, which the Federal commander reserved for the pious uses of his own chaplains, was foully desecrated.”

Rumblings of Discontent

The troops of the First Georgia, as well as the rest of the Army of the Northwest, are beginning to question the competence of the hero of Manassas, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.  The general's determination to occupy Romney regardless of the horrible winter conditions is also causing the men to wonder about his sanity as well.  Letters filtering back to Georgia are full of rantings against Jackson, as evidenced in this missive, written by a soldier from his sickbed in Winchester, and printed in the Columbus Daily Enquirer:

The First Georgia Regiment—Their

Services and Sufferings.

We take the following interesting extracts from a private letter received in this city:

WINCHESTER, VA., Jan. 16, 1862.

* * We are all completely worn out, having suffered greatly from our trip to Bath and Hancock. Our Regiment is completely broken up, there being not over 100 men now left in ranks.

You may have heard some of the particulars of our recent trip to “the Springs”—a trip which, as the Editor of the Winchester Republican says, “was certainly not undertaken by Gen. Jackson for pleasure or for health of himself or his command, unless they all have the constitutions of jackasses, which improve by being frosted all winter.” We had been promised to be paid off on the first of January; but instead of receiving our pay we received orders to pack up and march. We started toward Romney, which we all thought was our destination, but after marching five or six miles, we left the road and started toward Bath. Our trip has been a very hard one, and had told severely on our whole army and particularly on our regiment. Our brigade, or at least two regiments of it, ours and the 3d Virginia, were in the advance—did all the advance picket and guard duty. We slept every night except three for two weeks in the snow, without tents or blankets, and for three days had not a mouthful to eat. I had thought that in the retreat from Laurel Hill we had seen the worst phase of a soldier’s life, but I think I only express the feelings of a majority of our men when I say that I would rather take two such trips as that than go through the exposure and hardships of the last two weeks.

On our return we camped at a cross road about twenty miles from here, and staid there three or four days. From here many of our sick were sent back to Winchester; and on leaving camp, Monday, our regiment, which, when we left here on the 1st of January numbered nearly 700, marched with less than two hundred and fifty men. The rest had all broken down, and had to stop and come back. Our officers told us that if anyone had a bad cold, or was the least unwell, and did not feel perfectly able to undergo a severe winter campaign, they did not want them to go on with the army, but would advise them to get back to town as soon as possible.

This trip will cost the lives of over a thousand men, and nothing has been accomplished to repay this sacrifice. The army—what there is left of it—has gone on to Romney, I believe. We are all completely used up and sick, and shall stay here till we get better. Every hospital here is filled, and ever farm house between here and the army is crowded with sick soldiers. We have succeeded in getting a comfortable room here with a private family, and I think by taking care of ourselves, will soon be well again.

January 5, 1862

“Stonewall’s” troops spend a horrific night in the sub-freezing temperatures along the bluffs overlooking the Potomac River. Little shelter is available due to the lagging behind of the wagons containing their tents. Soldiers huddle near fires for warmth. One soldier later reports that he didn’t stand picket, he ran picket in order to keep from freezing. Private Sam Watkins of the First Tennessee Regiment is horrified as his detachment discovers several Georgians frozen to death. “Some were sitting down and some were lying down; but each and every one was as cold and as hard frozen as the icicles that hung from their hands and faces and clothing--dead! They had died at their post of duty. Two of them, a little in advance of the others, were standing with their guns in their hands, as cold and as hard frozen as a monument of marble--standing sentinel with loaded guns in their frozen hands!”

Carrying a demand for the Union troops to surrender, Colonel Turner Ashby crosses the Potomac to confer with Federal commander General Frederick Lander. Jackson’s message advises that if Lander does not surrender, “Stonewall” will open on the town with with his batteries on the town. Lander’s reply is to give his compliments to General Jackson and “tell him to bombard and be damned!” Jackson orders his gunners to open fire at 2:00 pm. He also sends the Fourteenth Tennessee two miles upstream to begin construction of a bridge.

The soldiers huddle around their campfires as they prepare to endure another frigid night. In a letter to the Atlanta Southern Confederacy, one Georgian describes his environment: “Sunday night a heavy snow fell covering terra firma with a white carpet at least three inches thick. Our wagon train being several miles in our rear, we had to remain in this snow storm without tents or provision, and but one blanket to shield us from that slow-falling, flaky offspring of dew and frost. Of course there was but little sleeping done that night by our boys. Occasionally one, worn down of fatigue, would sink into a disturbed slumber as he sat near the camp fire”

January 4, 1862

As morning dawns on January 4, Jackson aligns his brigades for the push into Bath. The First Georgia, along with the Twenty-First and Twenty-Third Virginia, is placed on the main road leading into town, while other regiments line up along the base of the ridges on either side of the valley. Furious after artillery fire from Warm Springs Ridge brings Colonel Gilham’s brigade to a halt, Jackson orders the First Tennessee onto the ridge to take the guns.

Confederate cavalry, led by Lt. Col. William S. H. Baylor, charges into Bath. The Georgians and Virginians on the main road rush up the main road into town, led by General Jackson himself. The Federal garrison retreats, heading north toward the Potomac River crossings at Sir Johns Run and Hancock, Maryland. Jackson orders the First Georgia and Twenty-Third Virginia, along with cavalry under Colonel Turner Ashby, forward to pursue the retiring Union troops. He next directs General Loring to move his brigades north in hopes of capturing the Federals before they can escape across the Potomac, while the Stonewall Brigade remains in Bath to hold the town. The Union soldiers make it over the river to the safety of Hancock, much to Jackson’s irritation.

Jackson directs his troops to take position on the bluffs overlooking the Potomac, but orders that there be no fires that would give away their locations. As night falls, the temperatures plunge below freezing. A soldier from the Oglethorpe Infantry voices the anger of the men toward “Stonewall:”  "We were not allowed to build fires, lest the enemy should shell us. Men walked up and down, to and fro, to keep warm. Now and then we could see a little blaze started--somebody disobeying orders--and then an order “put out that fire” – “wait until the General has his fire, then you can have yours.” Here we stood shivering and hungry.” At 1:00 am, Jackson finally relents and allows the men to build fires.

January 3, 1862

General Jackson wants to attack the Union garrison at Bath on January 3^rd, but his plans go awry.  His troops continue to labor along through the harsh winter conditions, but by mid-afternoon they are still close to three miles from the town.  After a brief skirmish with Federal pickets, Jackson orders General Loring’s lead brigade, under Colonel William Gilham, to advance into Bath.  Loring, furious with “Stonewall” for ordering an attack by cold and exhausted men, countermands Jackson’s order and directs his Army of the Northwest to go into bivouac.  Jackson is furious with Loring for this, leading to a heated exchange between the two officers.  Loring rails at Jackson for not keeping him apprised of his commander’s plans, at one point exclaiming that he “would find myself in command of an army of the object of whose movement I know nothing!”

January 1, 1862



"Stonewall" Jackson

 As the New Year dawns, Major General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson begins his drive to take the strategic town of Romney, in western (now West) Virginia. Jackson believes that if he can drive out or capture the Federal garrison there, he will have a springboard to launch raids against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and possibly return Western Virginia to Confederate control.

Early on the morning of January 1, Jackson’s small army begins its march from Winchester, Virginia. His forces include his own vaunted Stonewall Brigade, as well as three brigades from the Army of the Northwest, commanded by Brigadier General William W. Loring. Loring’s Fifth Brigade, led by Colonel William B. Taliaferro, consists of the Third Arkansas, Twenty-Third Virginia, Twenty-Seventh Virginia, and Ramsey’s First Georgia.

Led off by the Stonewall Brigade, Jackson’s troops start out early on an unusually warm winter morning. The air is clear, and the temperature soon rises into the 50’s. Quickly becoming overheated in the mild temperatures, many of the soldiers discard their winter coats by piling them in wagons or simply tossing them alongside the road. By early afternoon, clouds laden with snow and ice are scudding overhead, and the temperatures plunge below freezing. As frozen precipitation coats the men’s clothing and equipment, the column struggles along. The wagons are now far in the rear, leaving the soldiers unable to retrieve their coats. By that evening, the column reaches the small community of Pughtown, barely eight miles from their starting point.

Camp Diversions

Let me take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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150 years ago, high in the Allegheny Mountains, life was relatively quiet.  As winter settled in over the mountains, skirmishes between the enemy armies dwindled.  Soldier's thoughts were turned more toward keeping warm as snow fell on the camps of the First Georgia.  Many hoped that they would be moved to winter quarters in warmer climes.  Meanwhile, the men did what they could to keep their shelters snug and to keep boredom at bay, as described in this article from the Augusta (GA) Chronicle & Sentinel of November 24, 1861: 

From a Member of the Walker Light Infantry.

We are permitted to take the following interesting extracts from a private letter of a member of the Walker Light Infantry. It shows that, even in that bleak country, camp life has its pleasant aspects.

CAMP BARTOW, Nov. 17th, 1861.

Dear Friend:--We are having a cold time now, the ground being covered with snow and ice. But few in our regiment have ever seen such cold weather; but the boys enjoy it and suffer no one to pass, not even the Colonel, without pelting the passer with snow balls. Colonel Clark and our Surgeon are enjoying themselves with this pleasant sport. Joe Taliaferro is sitting in the corner reading “Valentine Vox;” Capt. Crump and Fred. Stoy are talking over the adventures of the latter in the mountains; Russell is writing; Hood and Charley Doughty have gone on the Alleghanys to hunt provisions; Gibson, Deas, Bugg and Bowden are on picket guard; Larus has gone with a requisition for blankets and shoes, while the other members of the company are either keeping warm by the fire, or cooking their dinner.

The men enjoy good health, but I fear that many will suffer much with cold if we are not ordered soon to go into winter quarters. I do not think that any but insane man can approve prosecuting an active campaign in North Western Virginia this winter.

In our tent we are quite comfortable, having a fire-place. It is made by digging a trench which is covered with rock, one end being in the tent, in which we build a fire, a barrel with both heads knocked out is our chimney: but even with the fire my hands are so cold I can hardly write.

Monday.—I was interrupted in writing by Col. Clark bringing up the Regiment, armed with snowballs to take our battery. After a desperate fight, they succeeded.

Yesterday Henry J. Sibley arrived with blankets, &c. He gave to our company each man a blanket, undershirt and pair of socks. He also gave articles to the Oglethorpe Infantry and other companies.

An order has just been received for us to march to Staunton on Thursday, there to receive other orders. We are ordered to send our trunks and all extra baggage to-morrow.

As it is so cold I can hardly hold my pen, you will excuse brevity. The company are all well.

Yours, &c., W.

The War Settles Down

After the Confederate victory at Greenbrier River, a stalemate settled over the Allegheny Mountains as Federal and Confederate soldiers settled into their camps and began to prepare for winter.  The tedium of camp life was broken by an occasional skirmish, as Union troops probed the defenses at Camp Bartow.  One soldier, writing under the pen-name of "Nestor," described the activities in a letter to the Atlanta Southern Confederacy:

CAMP BARTOW, Green Briar River,

Pocahontas County, Va.,

Tuesday Evening, Oct. 15th, 1861.

Dear Confederacy: The almost painful monotony of our camp was dispelled this morning about ten o’clock, on the reception of intelligence that the enemy was coming down to attack us. Instantly the whole camp presented a most lively appearance, and imposing scene—men rushing from ditches and batteries, where they had been working all the morning, to their tents for their arms and accoutrements—the clear, loud ringing voices of our officers commanding their respective companies to “fall in”—the rapidity with which this order was executed—aid-de camps and scouts rushing across the field under full gallop, coming in from every direction with dispatches to Gen. Jackson, al tended to induce us to believe that there was hot work just at hand; and the cool, determined manner of the men, their resolute countenances, showed plainly how deeply they were impressed with the importance of performing, even at the cost of their lives, the duty expected to be assigned them, and their willingness, yes, eagerness, to enter into the contest.

Having stood under arms for some time, momentarily expecting orders to march out to meet the enemy, it was ascertained that the alarm was in consequence of our pickets stationed on the Green Bank Road, leading south-west from here, being fired upon by a small body of Yankees: and also in consequence of one regiment of Hessians being discovered at a point of the road leading to Cheat Mountain, about four miles distant from this encampment. Some are of the opinion that the enemy is sending out strong reconnoitering parties to find out, if possible, our most assailable point, after which he will attack us; while others believe that he is now sending around parties to flank us on either side, and that a large force will be brought up in front, so soon as these flankers shall have had time to gain their respective positions, when we will be simultaneously attacked from three different points. Whether these opinions prove to be correct or not, time alone can tell. One thing, however, is certain, the indications upon which the belief that we will be attacked here in a few days is predicated, are very strong, and as the enemy is not likely, from his experience on the 3d inst, to attack us without having a vastly superior force, you need not be surprised to hear of a great and bloody battle at this point soon.

Gen. [Henry R.] Jackson’s command occupies the same position now that it did prior to the battle of 3d inst. Since that time we have labored very hard in strengthening our old fortifications and in constructing new ones. The result of this work is, that we are now more than twice as able to repulse an attack from the enemy as we were on the day of the recent battle at this place, with the same arms and force we then had. But since that time we have received four pieces of artillery of the following calibre: Two 12-pound howitzers and two rifled 6-pounders, and we were also reinforced this morning by Col. [Samuel V.] Fulkerson’s Va. Regiment, which has been for some time past guarding a pass in the mountains about seven miles south-west from this place. With this addition in men and arms, and the strong position we now occupy, I dare say we can repulse the efforts of at least 15,000 Hessians to break through our lines; indeed, some are of opinion that with the force we now have here, our position is impregnable against an attack of 20,000.

The health of this division of the Army of N. W. Virginia is improving rapidly. But few cases of fever among the soldiers composing it. The weather for the last five days has been fair and very cool. We have had a heavy frost every morning since the 11th inst. I saw ice this morning one-fourth of an inch thick. If anything is to be accomplished here in a military point of view during this campaign, it must be done speedily; for the deep snows and bleak winds of winter will soon put a stop to all active military operations in N. W. Virginia.

NESTOR.

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I'd like to express my thanks to the Monroe County Historical Society and the Cabiness Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy for their warm welcome during my recent book signing and presentation in Forsyth, Georgia.  Also thanks to the members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Capt. C. F. Connor Camp #849 who braved the rainy weather to come to my talk in Newton, North Carolina.

Great Expectations

Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army,
as he appeared at the beginning of the Civil War.

Considered by many to be the best soldier in the pre-war United States Army, Robert E. Lee had been offered command of the Union Army being assembled around Washington. Unwilling to lead an army which would probably be sent against his native state of Virginia, Lee chose instead to resign his commission. Shortly thereafter he was offered command of all Virginia forces, which he accepted. When Virginia seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, the state troops were absorbed into the Confederate army. Lee was quickly offered the job of military advisor to President Davis.

After the disastrous retreat of General Robert S. Garnett’s Army of the Northwest from Laurel Hill, and that general’s death at Corricks Ford, General William W. Loring was ordered to Western Virginia to take command of the army. Still anxious over the state of affairs in the region, President Jefferson Davis decided that more help was needed, so he ordered his most trusted advisor to head west. Expectations were high that Lee could recover the region for the Confederacy. However, the general proceeded under the handicap of having no specific orders to take charge, rather, he was given vague instructions to oversee and advise the area commanders. Loring, who had outranked Lee in the pre-war army, and who had only been in command for a short time, viewed Lee’s arrival as a hindrance.

Undertaking a personal reconnaissance of the area, Lee began planning for an offensive which would push the Federal army back out of Western Virginia. The general had high hopes for success. The events which transpired over the month of September would dash those hopes, and cause Lee’s reputation to plummet.

July 20, 1861

The bulk of Major Thompson’s 300 men, led by “Tanner Jim” Parsons, begin to come into the camp at Monterey There they are greeted with wild cheering and laughter by their comrades, who had been certain that they had all been all been captured or killed.

Amazingly, when all of Thompson’s troops arrive and are accounted for, not one man is missing. However, the trek through the wilderness had shattered the health of many. An officer later wrote that “A great many of those who had suffered so much died of fevers and other ailments in a few months. Most of those who had become crazy, recovered for a time, but either died soon afterward or become permanently deranged.”

James Rust Parsons, the savior of Major Thompson’s 300, received the grateful thanks of the regiment. Following the war, the soldiers sang “Tanner Jim’s” praise at their reunions and in their memoirs. Parsons himself was unable to return home after the rescue, however. Because of the strong Unionist sentiment in the region, he believed he would be killed if he returned – in fact, there were several reports that he had been murdered for helping the Georgians. Parsons traveled westward to Iowa, where he took refuge with his brother, Robert Slack Parsons. Not until the war ended would he feel safe enough to return to his farm in the Allegheny Mountains.

Thus ended the tragic retreat of the Army of the Northwest.  Reinforcements would continue to arrive in Monterey to bolster the command, but it would be many weeks before the army would be ready for another campaign.

July 19, 1861

The decimated Army of the Northwest straggles into Monterey.  General Jackson is shocked and dismayed at the condition of the troops, and the next day sends the following dispatch to Richmond, in which he describes the wretchedness of Colonel Ramsey's command:

BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS,
Camp at Monterey, July 20, 1861.
Colonel GEORGE DEAS,
Assistant Adjutant-General, C. S. Army, Richmond, Va.:


SIR: Yesterday I received the letter of General Lee of the 16th of July, unaccountably delayed upon the road, in which he refers to the importance of defending the mountain passes to prevent the advance of the enemy to the Central Railroad at Millborough. I have been exceedingly anxious that the general should be apprised by personal inspection of the indescribable condition into which this branch of the army has fallen, and therefore have learned with great pain, through Major Harman, that his contemplated movement toward this quarter has been delayed. I can confidently say that of all the troops under my command the regiments from Georgia and North Carolina are alone reliable and fit for service, all the rest having been demoralized to a greater or less extent by our late disasters. The condition of Colonel Ramsey's command, the larger portion of which has arrived in camp, is in truth pitiable. Officers and men are absolutely stripped of everything-tents, clothing, cooking untensils, shoes-and I am sorry to believe that many have thrown away their arms. Men and horses jaded, dispirited, half, and limping, are wholly unfit for duty, and what disposition to make of them is a most serious question. No re-enforcements have come up from below. The Arkansas regiment, so long and anxiously looked for, did not leave Stauntion until yesterday. It certainly must be obvious at a glance that with the available troops at hand little or northing can be done, and yet, unless the points referred to by the general be taken at once, they must pass into the enemy's hands. Is the whole country thus to be surrendered? A glance at the map will show that to prevent the advance of the enemy at least two routes toward the east must be at once held-the one upon which we now are had the turnpike from Huttonsville through Huntersville to Millborough. My letter of yesterday will have informed you that I have sent forward a small but comparatively well-organized force to occupy the Alleghany pass on the former, with the faint hope that they might ascertain by reconnoitering that the Cheat pass had as yet been neglected by the enemy, and by a forced march at night might throw themselves into it. This movement, contemplated by me from the first, had been delayed by the sickness of Colonel Johnson, who, it is needless to say, had been my main reliance. I am sorry to say that he is still unwell and unable to sustain the advance by his presence. The inhabitants of Pocahontas, through which the other route passes, are said to be loyal. Those of them who are not already in General Wise's brigade are flying, or are disposed to fly, to arms. But they appeal for assistance and ask not to be abandoned. Under these circumstances, weak as I am, the receipt of the general's letter decided me at once to send the Sixth North Carolina Regiment into Pocahontas and to the Elk Mountain pass, said to be defensible, accompanied by the Bath County Cavalry. I have taken the liberty of countermanding the proclamation of Major Harman calling upon the militia of Pocahontas and adjacent counties to rendezvous at Staunton. Have directed that they rendezvous at Huntersville; have sent them powder for their rifles; have ordered them to go at once against the enemy, to blockade the road from Huttonsville to Elk Mountain by felling trees before him, and to beset his flanks from the adjacent woods and fastnesses. I have also written to Major Harman to send one of the regiments at Staunton by the railroad and Millborough int the same direction, and shall make arrangements at Huntersville for their supplies. I think the general will perceive that in comparison with my resources I have undertaken a vast deal, and yet what else was to be done? I must either advance or retreat from this point. To advance may be dangerous; to retreat would be ruinous, since the whole country, thus apparently abandoned, would turn from us to receive the enemy with open arms. I must be excused, therefore, for praying most earnestly that attention be turned in this direction; that re-enforcements of all kinds be forwarded at once; that some one more competent than I be placed in charge of these complicated operations; or that, if this cannot be, the necessary staff officers be sent to my assistance, since, without any exaggeration, apart from the anxieties of my position, flesh and blood cannot long stand the mere detail imposed upon me.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
HENRY R. JACKSON,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.