While doing some research recently I found this history of Stanford’s Mississippi Battery in the J.L. Power Scrapbook at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Power was named Superintendent of Army Records for the State of Mississippi in the latter stages of the war, and his responsibilities included keeping an historical record of the Mississippi units that served in the war. Power started his scrapbook during the war, and filled it with newspaper accounts of Mississippi units. This history of Stanford’s Battery was clipped from an unnamed newspaper, apparently in 1866, judging from the dateline at the top of the article. Unfortunately, it was a two-part article, and the second part is not present – If I can figure out which newspaper it came from, I will see if I can track down the second part of the history and publish it in a future article.

This history of Stanford’s was written by Corporal Benjamin W.L. Butt, who enlisted in the battery on March 17, 1862, at Corinth, Mississippi. A native of Duck Hill, Mississippi, he served with the unit until the end of the war in 1865.

Card From the Service Record of Benjamin W.L. Butt

Carrollton, Mississippi, August 15, 1866

Dr. J.L. McCall, Dear Sir: Yours of the 8th, instant, is at hand, and I send you herewith a historical sketch of Stanford’s Battery carefully compiled from my ‘war journal.’ It could not be made shorter without omitting many items of importance. As it is a narration of soul-stirring events which might easily by expanded into a volume, must necessarily lose much of their interest in being reduced to a few pages of bare facts.

I have left a few blanks in the beginning which you may be able to fill, as to dates &c. If you discover any erroneous statements, correct them. I have indulged in no eulogies, as the facts can testify for themselves. Neither have I complimented individuals where all, or nearly all did so well.

Imperfect as this sketch may be, yet I believe that our boys who see it will testify as to its correctness, and I would therefore like to see it published, that the public may know the part that was acted by Stanford’s Battery in the drama of the ‘Lost Cause.’ Honor to the noble dead, and respect to the gallant survivors demand it. Very respectfully Yours, B.W.L. Butt

This command was organized in the summer of 1861, at Grenada, Mississippi. On the _____ of September it was mustered into the State service – transferred to the Confederate States’ service on the 6th of November, and on the 7th was ordered to Columbus, Kentucky, to report to Major General Polk. The company left Grenada with 64 men rank and file, and four commissioned officers, to-wit: T.J. Stanford, Captain; H.R. McSwine, Senior 1st Lieutenant; A.A. Hardin, Jr., 1st and T.R. Trotter Second Lieutenant.

The command remained at Columbus till that place was evacuated, and then fell back with the army to Corinth, Mississippi, in March, 1862. In March, First Sergeant J.S. McCall was elected 2nd Lieutenant. The company was now fully equipped, and had secured a fine lot of horses, and six brass field pieces – two 12-pound howitzers, three 6-pounders and one 3-inch rifle.

For about three weeks the company was exercised in drilling. On the 3rd of April it moved with the “Army of Mississippi” under command of General A.S. Johnston, towards Pittsburg landing, on the Tennessee River, where the Federal army under Grant was posted.

The company had been considerably strengthened by recruits, and 25 men of the Vaiden, Mississippi, Artillery, (their command having no guns) volunteered to fight with Stanford’s Battery. The command was, at that time, connected with A.P. Stewart’s Brigade, Clark’s Division.

On Sunday morning April 6th, the memorable battle of Shiloh commenced. Stanford’s Battery advanced with the third line of battle, and at 10 A.M., formed under the fire of a Federal Battery, 400 yards distant, which had been twice charged unsuccessfully by our troops. One man and two horses were killed before the command could be wheeled into position. Five or six rounds were fired rapidly when our infantry again charged, and captured the Federal battery. Stanford’s Battery was not again engaged during the day, but was under fire, and when the Federal army had been driven to the Tennessee River in the evening, the company was ordered to advance, and was exposed to a heavy shelling from the gunboats. Bivouacked on the field. Buell’s command arrived during the night, and on the morning of April 7th the battle was renewed.

Position Marker for Stanford's Battery at Shiloh

About 10 A.M., Stanford’s Battery again became engaged with a battery of the enemy some 500 yards distant. The firing for half an hour was terrible. Our infantry support then charged, but were quickly repulsed and badly scattered. General Breckinridge ordered Captain Stanford to hold his position until the infantry could be reformed. The Battery was now without support. Soon a column of Federal troops appeared about 300 yards distant. A destructive fire of canister was poured into their ranks. They immediately charged the battery. So many horses in each team were killed or wounded that the company, in order to avoid capture, was compelled to retreat with the loss of four guns.

Position Held by Stanford's Battery at Shiloh

The entire loss of the command in the two days’ action was 4 guns. 6 men killed or mortally wounded (Of these one killed and two wounded belonged to the Vaiden Artillery.) 15 slightly or severely wounded, 2 captured and 64 horses killed or captured. The guns were afterwards recaptured, but for want of horses could not be brought off the field, and the company with the remainder of the army fell back to Corinth, a toilsome march through mud nearly six inches deep.

No blame was attached to Captain Stanford for the loss of his guns since he was acting under orders. Two were brought off, and after reaching Corinth the command was again equipped with horses, and a battery of four brass rifled pieces.

General Polk, in his official report of the battle of Shiloh, complimented Stanford’s Battery as ‘volunteers who never having heard the sound of their own guns, formed under a galling fire and gallantly held their ground.’

The company remained at Corinth until that place was evacuated by the army in May, 1862. There had been much sickness in the command, and some 20 or 25 had died, but it had been kept up by recruits so that the guns were always manned. From Corinth the army fell back to Tupelo where its health greatly improved.

On the 23rd of July, Stanford’s Battery, with most of the artillery of the army took up its line of march by way of Columbus, Mississippi, Tuscaloosa, and Montevallo, Alabama, and Rome, Georgia, to Chattanooga, the infantry having gone by railroad. Arrived at Chattanooga on the 14th August, having marched 420 miles in 22 days. The company at this time numbered 107 men present.

Rested a few days near Chattanooga, and then marched with the army under Bragg across Tennessee into Kentucky, via Sparta, Gainesboro and Glasgow. Arrived at Mumfordsville, Kentucky, September 17th, just as the garrison there of 4800 men had surrendered to General Bragg. Marched through central Kentucky, via New Haven, Bardstown, Springfield, and Perryville.

On the 8th of October the battle of Perryville was fought, commencing at noon, and ending soon after dark. Our forces engaged portions of three divisions, numbered about 15,000 men. The Federal force according to General Buell’s official report, ’58,000 effective men.’

Stanford’s Battery was engaged early in the action and fought an artillery duel with a Federal rifle battery for an hour and a half, at a distance of a mile. Three of our men were killed by a single shot. At length our infantry charged and the Federal forces were driven back. The battery advanced and by a few well directed shots drove the Federal infantry from a strong position which was immediately occupied by our troops and the enemy pursued.

The Battle of Perryville - HARPER'S WEEKLY, November 1, 1862

Bivouacked on the field. The Federal left wing had been driven back four or five miles. Heavy reinforcements were not coming to General Buell. On the morning after the battle our army fell back towards ‘Camp Dick Robinson.’ On the 13th of October it commenced its retreat from Kentucky via Cumberland Gap. The march was arduous. Rations reduced first to one half and then to one fourth pound of flour per diem with beef without salt. Soldiers offered a dollar for a ear of corn.

Arrived at Knoxville, Tennessee, on the 24th of October. On the 25th snow fell five inches deep. Suffering great, as the troops were almost destitute of clothing, tents and blankets. Army left Knoxville on the 31st. Infantry went by rail, and Stanford’s Battery with the most of the artillery across the mountains to Tullahoma. Arrived at the latter place on the 10th of November.

The distance marched by the artillery from Tupelo, Mississippi, to Tullahoma, Tennessee, in this campaign of three and a half months was 1260 miles. During that time Stanford’s Battery was attached to Stewart’s Brigade, Cheatham’s Division, Polk’s Corps.

END OF PART ONE

Harrisburg is one of the lesser known battles in which the 38th took part, which is a shame, as it was a very bloody fight that cost Mississippi dearly. Mabry’s Mississippi Brigade, of which the regiment was a part, suffered extremely high casualties in this battle. This Mississippi battleground was consecrated with Mississippi blood, and the men from the Magnolia state who fought there have earned the right to be remembered.

Prior to the Battle of Harrisburg, the 38th Mississippi had been designated a mounted infantry unit and attached to the cavalry brigade commanded by Colonel Hinchie P. Mabry, a fiery Texan who had commanded the 3rd Texas Cavalry earlier in the war. Mabry’s brigade was engaged in operations against the Yankees around Yazoo City up until early June, 1864, when they were transferred to north Mississippi to help deal with the coming Union invasion of that region.

NEVER WAS A MORE GALLANT CHARGE MADE

On receipt of the orders transferring his brigade, Colonel Hinchie P. Mabry quickly had his men in the saddle headed for north Mississippi.  The 38^th Mississippi arrived with the brigade in Okolona on June 13, 1864, and were assigned to the army commanded by the Confederate “Wizard of the Saddle,” Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest.2  The 38^th arrived just after Forrest completed one of his greatest victories, the battle of Brice’s Cross Roads on June 10, 1864.  Confidence in their new general was high among the member of the regiment, and Erastus Hoskins wrote his wife, “Our men are all anxious to get in one fight under Forrest.”3  Having missed the battle, Mabry’s Brigade remained at Okolona until the end of June, when they were ordered to Saltillo, Mississippi.4

General Nathan Bedford Forrest - Library of Congress

Forrest’s victory at Brice’s Cross Roads had a very strong impact on Union strategy and led to the 38^th’s first fight in their new command.  At the time of the Union defeat at Brice’s Cross Roads, General Sherman was engaged in his Georgia Campaign, and his army was supplied via the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad.  If Forrest could cut this vital lifeline, the Union army in Georgia might grind to a halt.5  After Brice’s Cross Roads, the threat from Forrest seemed very real, and Sherman resolved to deal with the problem once and for all.  On June 16, 1864, the fiery general issued the following order to Major General James B. McPherson, commander of the Department of the Tennessee:

…I wish you to organize as large a force as possible at Memphis, with Generals A. J. Smith or Mower in command, to pursue Forrest on foot, devastating the land over which he has passed or may pass, and make him and the people of Tennessee and Mississippi realize that although a bold, daring, and successful leader, he will bring ruin and misery on any country where he may pause or tarry.  If we do not punish Forrest and the people now, the whole effect of our past conquests will be lost.6

Command of the expedition to destroy Forrest was given to Major General Andrew J. Smith, and on July 5, 1864, he led a force of 14,000 men and 24 cannon out of La Grange, Tennessee, headed south into Mississippi.  To combat this expedition Forrest had an army of 7,500 cavalry, 2,100 dismounted cavalry serving as infantry, and 20 cannon.7

In response to the federal advance Mabry’s Brigade was moved forward from Saltillo to Ellistown, 15 miles northwest of Tupelo, on July 9.  On arrival the brigade was temporarily attached to Brigadier General Abraham Buford’s Division for the coming battle.8

Before the 38^th left Ellistown, Major Robert C. McCay, commander of the 38th Mississippi,  penned a hasty letter to his wife Elizabeth, speculating on where the regiment was headed.  He told her:

I drop you a line to say we are sending everything to the rear except what we can carry on horseback, and suppose by tomorrow we will be on our way to Sherman’s rear, or else to Tennessee.  We are certainly going this time to do something, what, the distant future will have to reveal.  God grant that we will meet with success, and all return safe.  I go to do my duty and if we fight will try to make a name for my command.9

At this point in the campaign, it appeared that the Union column was headed for Okolona, and in anticipation of this move the 38^th, along with the rest of Buford’s Division, was ordered to Pontotoc as a blocking force.  The weary Rebels arrived in town the morning of July 10 after an exhausting all night ride.10  That same day, Stephen D. Lee, the department commander, and General Forrest, the army commander, set up a joint headquarters at Okolona.  Lee, being the senior officer present, assumed overall command of the expedition against the federals.

When he arrived in Pontotoc, General Buford was ordered to position his men so that they were in front of and on the flank of the approaching Yankee column.  He placed his men, including the 38^th, five miles south of Pontotoc on the Pontotoc-Okolona Road.  His orders stated he was to offer a stern resistance to the Union advance and only retreat back to Okolona if compelled by a superior enemy force.11

On July 11, the Yankees marched into Pontotoc, driving out the advance pickets of Buford’s Brigade.  The next day, the Union soldiers marched out of town heading straight for the Confederate defensive line south of Pontotoc.   Heavy skirmishing took place as the Rebels contested the Yankee advance, but the 38^th was held in reserve and took no part in the fighting.12  On July 13, General Smith changed his line of march and moved off to the east towards Tupelo.  This move came as quite a surprise to Lee and Forrest, who planned to fight the decisive battle against Smith on ground of their choosing near Okolona.13

As the federals moved rapidly towards Tupelo, Mabry’s Brigade, with Forrest at its head, pressed the rear guard of the retreating army.  As the Yankees passed through Pontotoc, Forrest ordered Mabry to force his way into the town.  The Colonel led his men in a furious charge into the hamlet, pushing aside the 7^th Kansas Cavalry and Company A of the 61^st United States Colored Troops.  Private F. H. Holloway of the Brent Rifles later wrote an account of this charge for Confederate Veteran Magazine saying,

I should like to hear from any old soldier who was with Mabry’s Brigade, Forrest’s Command, in July, 1864, at Pontotoc, Miss., when the Yanks began to fall back.  Do you remember how the ladies shouted and waved their handkerchiefs at seeing the boys in gray after them?  How we scoured the thickets for the Yanks, and how they would fire a volley and run?14

The 38^th continued the pursuit of the retreating federals, fighting numerous skirmishes throughout the day as the Union column pushed on towards Tupelo.  The chase continued until 2 a.m. on July 14, when the Rebel horse soldiers pulled up their sweat streaked mounts one mile outside of Harrisburg, a small hamlet two miles west of Tupelo.15  There the Rebels found the federal army drawn up in line of battle, waiting to receive an attack.  Although the Confederates were outnumbered and facing a determined enemy, General Lee felt he had to attack.  He later explained his decision to fight saying,

…all the armies of the Confederacy were facing superior numbers and resources, and everywhere Confederate armies at this stage of the war had to fight against great odds or not fight at all.  On this occasion not to fight would have been to have given up the great corn region of Mississippi, the main support of other armies facing the enemy on more important fields.16

The Union army was in a very strong defensive position, their line of battle running for a mile and a half along the crest of a ridge that gave an excellent view of the surrounding landscape.  From the crest of the ridge the land sloped gently downward to a wood line several hundred yards away.17

Map of the Harrisburg Battlefield - Mabry's Brigade was located on the extreme left of the Confederate line, north of the Pontotoc Road - Library of Congress

To reach the federals Mabry’s men would have to advance uphill and cross several hundred yards of open ground while exposed to artillery and musket fire.  To make matters worse, the Rebels had to make their assault under a blistering Mississippi sun, and heat exhaustion would take a heavy toll.18

Preparing to attack, General Lee took personal command of the left wing of the army, which would attack the right and center of the federal line.  General Forrest took command of the right wing of the army, and was ordered to swing his men around the Union left and attack the vulnerable flank.19

The 38^th Mississippi dismounted from their horses and deployed with Mabry’s Brigade on the extreme Confederate left and prepared to advance.  Just after 8:00 a.m. General Lee gave the order to attack, and with Major McCay at their head the regiment pressed forward towards the Union line.20

According to General Lee’s plan, the left wing under his command was to attack first and strike the federal right a hard blow to keep their attention on that section of the battlefield.  Once the Rebel left was heavily engaged, Forrest was to smash the federal left flank.  The plan went badly from the start, with the brigades of Lee’s left wing failing to coordinate their movements and attacking piecemeal, allowing the federals to concentrate their fire and shred each unit as it attacked.21

As the 38^th Mississippi cleared the woods and moved into the open, they were immediately targeted by the Union cannoneers, and iron shot and shell began to tear holes in the gray line.  The Mississippians dressed their ranks and continued across the killing field separating them from the Yankees.  When they were within 300 yards of the Union line a terrific fire from the Union infantry opened on them, but the 38^th pressed on through the hailstorm of lead.22  Major McCay was at the forefront of the regiment urging his men to go forward when he was struck in the head by a Yankee bullet.  He fell into the arms of Colonel Mabry, dead before he touched the ground.23  In his after action report, Mabry gave a vivid account of the charge that killed so many of his men:

I immediately ordered a charge, but the heat was so intense and the distance so great that some men and officers fell exhausted and fainting along my line, while the fire from the enemy’s line of works by both artillery and small-arms was so heavy and well directed that many were killed and wounded.  These two causes of depletion left my line almost like a line of skirmishers.24

Despite heavy casualties, the 38^th Mississippi pressed on, leaving a trail of gray clad bodies to mark the path of their advance.  At about sixty yards from the Union line the fire was so intense that the survivors in the regiment were forced to take shelter in a small depression that afforded them some protection from the hurricane of fire being thrown at them.  The men quickly brought their muskets to bear on the nearby Union line, loading and firing as fast as they could.25  Those who made it to the relative safety of the depression found themselves under the leadership of Captain John J. Green of the Johnston Avengers, the only company commander still with the regiment.  Mabry eventually gave Green the order to take his men and advance on the Yankee line, but the young Captain bluntly stated, “Colonel, we have exhausted every round of ammunition, but if you say so we will try again with empty guns.”  On hearing these words Mabry replied, “We can’t stay here and live.  Order your men back.” 26

Captain John Jasper Green was the only company commander of the 38th Mississippi to survive the battle unharmed - CONFEDERATE VETERAN MAGAZINE

The heavy fire from the Union Infantry and artillery kept the 38^th pinned in place, and the regiment was not able to immediately withdraw.  The men were only able to pull back after the Tennessee brigade of Colonel Tyree H. Bell advanced on their right and the Yankees switched their fire to the new threat.27  When the musket fire slackened, the 38^th retreated out of the range of the Union guns, and the dazed survivors took stock of the calamity that had befallen them.  The regiment was smashed and took no further part in the battle.28

The other units in Lee’s left wing suffered the same fate as the 38^th – their piecemeal attacks were all easily repulsed with very heavy losses to the Rebels.  When General Forrest saw the fearful destruction of the left wing, he called off the attack on the right by the men under his command.  The Confederates then prepared themselves for a Union counter attack, but General Smith thought his exhausted men had seen enough action for one day and did not elect to continue the contest.  On July 15, with his men low on ammunition and food, he decided to return to Memphis.  General Lee initially followed the retreating federals, but owing to the thoroughly worn out condition of his men, and the heavy casualties his army had sustained, he called off the pursuit on July 16.29

The charge at Harrisburg was clearly the high water mark of the 38^th Mississippi’s service.  Outnumbered and outgunned, the rank and file of the regiment pressed home their attack with great valor in spite of the odds against them.  For their bravery, the regiment paid a very dear price: twenty men were killed, fifty-one wounded, and three were missing. for a total casualty list of seventy-four.  An examination of the dead and wounded shows the officers of the 38^th paid a particularly high price at Harrisburg:  three were killed, including the commanding officer Robert McCay, and nine were wounded.  Captain John J. Green was the only company commander in the regiment to come out of the fight unhurt.  The command structure of the 38^th had been decimated in a few short hours.30

Shortly after the battle Erastus Hoskins wrote his wife and gave her a detailed account of the battle:

…the enemy threw up works of rails & logs and early in the morning of the 14^th our forces advanced and the battle raged in earnest – our boys say it was the hottest place they had ever been in – our regiment lost very heavily – it went into the fight with 158 men – and lost 13 killed and 57 wounded – and 10 missing – in all 74 – which was more than any other regiment – it went farther than any other in the charge and remained longer Col. Mabry says there never was a more gallant charge made – than the one made by the 38^th Maj. McCay acted gallantly and was shot in the head and fell dead in the field – Adjt. W. L. Ware was mortally wounded in the breast – but of 9 officers commanding companies – 1 was killed and 7 wounded – a severe blow to the 38^th.  I don’t think we gained any thing by the fight it might be termed a draw battle I think the loss on both sides about the same – and while the enemy could not advance south – We could not advance on them – the enemy finally retreated leaving us in possession of the field – Which makes us the victors though dearly paid for.31

Six days after the battle, Colonel Mabry penned a letter to Elizabeth McCay, wife of Major Robert McCay, to inform her of her husband’s death.  His compassionate words are a fitting tribute to Major McCay:

With feelings of deepest sorrow, I announce to you the death of your husband – Maj. Robert C. McCay 38^th Miss. (Mounted Infantry).  He was killed in battle at Harrisburg, Miss. on the 14^th Inst. while gallantly leading his regiment.  While nothing can atone to you and your children for his loss, it will be a consolation to know that he died nobly at his post.  He was shot through the head and fell in my arms and expired without a struggle.  None excelled him in devotion to his family, fidelity to his country, and gallantry as a champion in the glorious struggle for freedom.  As his commander, as his associate, as his friend I mourn with you his loss.  May that faith in him who does all things aright, soften the sorrows of your sad bereavement.32

The battle of Harrisburg left the 38^th Mississippi a broken ruin of it’s former self, but for the rank and file of the regiment, there were still battles left to fight.  They were few in number, but these soldiers were survivors of the very worst the Yankees could throw at them, and they fought on to the bitter end.

This picture postcard from the early 1900s shows the Powhatan Hotel, which had by then been renamed the Ford Hotel. It was in this building that Major Jonas wrote his poem.

While a guest at the Powhatan Jonas wrote a poem that came to be loved throughout the South, a mournful dirge to the lost Confederacy known by the simple title “Lines on the back of a Confederate Note.” Years later Jonas wrote an account of how the poem came to be written, which was published in Volume 14 of Watson’s Magazine:

Among the guests of the hotel was a vaudeville troupe hailing from Philadelphia, and they were very kind to the ‘Johnnie Rebs,’ as they called us. It happened that among the federal captures was a carload of unfinished Confederate notes, chiefly of large denomination, with backs blank, and these became scattered among the Yanks. Miss Annie Rush, one of the leading actresses, came into possession of quite a ‘bunch’ of this embryo money, and she brought the bills to our lounging room, distributing them with the request that each would ‘write her a sentiment as a souvenir.’ I had some little standing among the boys as a ready scribbler, and I think I wrote all the ‘sentiments’ for the gang on scratch paper, each one transcribing his offering upon the note blank alloted him.

This Confederate $500 note was like the one on which Jonas wrote his poem

Upon my bill I wrote the lines that unwittingly struck a patriotic chord and ‘will not down.’ If I had chosen from the lot I would possibly have taken one of the other poems for mine, as time had not yet given sacred tinge to things Confederate. Among those present when the lines were written were Capt. A.B. Schell, now of Louisville, the gallant commander of Cheatham’s Sharpshooters; Capt. D.L. Sublett, late of Chattanooga, ordinance officer; Major Claire, I think of Johnson’s staff; Mr. Sublett of Virginia and others whose names I do not now recall.

Of course I did not appreciate my work, writers seldom do, and would have forgotten it but for the fact that the recipient gave it, or a copy of it, to the New York Metropolitan Record, then a Southern sympathizing weekly that had a tremendous circulation South, where it appeared a few months after the war over my signature, and headed ‘Something Too Good To Be Lost.’ Since then it has appeared one or more times in almost every paper or magazine in the South; in many Northern papers, even in the Congressional Library Almanac, and in foreign prints and books of war poems, and in nine cases out of ten as anonymous, or attributed to, or claimed by others.

Here is the poem that struck such a cord with the people of a dispirited and defeated South:

Lines on the Back of a Confederate Note

Representing nothing on God’s earth now, and naught in the waters below it, as the pledge of a nation that’s dead and gone, keep it, dear friend, and show it.

Show it to those who will lend an ear to the tale that this trifle can tell, of Liberty born of the patriot’s dream, of a storm-cradled nation that fell.

Too poor to possess the precious ores, and too much of a stranger to borrow, we issued to-day our promise to pay, and hoped to redeem on the morrow.

The days rolled by and weeks became years, but our coffers were empty still; coin was so rare that the treasury’d quake if a dollar should drop in the till.

But the faith that was in us was strong, indeed, and our poverty well we discerned, and this little check represented the pay that our suffering veterans earned.

We knew it had hardly a value in gold, yet as gold each soldier received it; it gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay, and each Southern patriot believed it.

But our boys thought little of price or of pay, or of bills that were overdue; we knew if it brought us our bread to-day, ‘Twas the best our poor country could do.

Keep it, it tells all our history o’er, from the birth of our dream to its last; modest, and born of the Angel Hope, like our hope of success, it passed.

Illustrated poster depicting Confederate money along with the poem by Major Jonas

After returning home to Aberdeen, Jonas decided he had a talent for writing, and founded his own newspaper, the Aberdeen Examiner, which he edited himself for over fifty years. When he passed away in Aberdeen on September 13, 1915, his obituary in Confederate Veteran Magazine said of him, “Wielding a powerful pen, possessed of encyclopedic information, he was the match for any of the molders of opinion throughout this great land and undoubtedly could have discharged with eminent distinction and satisfaction the duties of any editorial tripod in any of its great cities. Dedicating the magnificent powers of his royal manhood to the service of his adopted state, he wrought his brain and heart and soul into the fibers of her civic life.”

This postwar picture of Sidney Jonas was used when his obituary was published in Volume 24 of CONFEDERATE VETERAN MAGAZINE

Today Sidney Jonas is at rest in the Old Aberdeen Cemetery in Aberdeen, Mississippi, but his ode to a lost Confederacy lives on.

View from Battery DeGoyler looking toward the Great Redoubt and Louisiana Monument. The building in between was built during the 1930s and for many years was used as the park visitor center.

View from Battery DeGoyler looking toward the Illinois Monument and Shirley House

The torn land, downed trees and burned spots really give the viewer a feel for what this land must have looked like during the siege

View from the Illinois Monument looking back toward Battery DeGoyler

Another view of Battery DeGoyler from the Shirley House - for over half a century this scene was totally obscured by trees

View from the Shirley House looking toward the old visitor center

Display near the Shirley House explaining the effort to return the battlefield to its 1863 appearance

Having seen the changes made to the park firsthand, I have to say I’m very pleased with the work so far. For years it has been very difficult to visualize the battlefield as the soldiers would have seen it. With the trees removed from core areas of the battlefield, this will no longer be a problem, and I’m sure it will increase the enjoyment and understanding of the park by the general public.

HOW OLD SMITH ESCAPED

‘Old Smith,’ an old German drummer in the 16th Mississippi Regiment, was notorious for

The Regimental Flag of the 16th Mississippi Infantry - In the flag's upper quadrant is the handwritten inscription, "Through God we shall do valiantly, for He is that shall tread down our enemies."

straggling on the march whether advancing or retreating, he was always in the rear. In General Jackson’s great retreat from the valley of the Shenandoah, after whipping Banks old Smith got some miles behind, and while sitting on the roadside, solitary and alone, resting and eating his beef and biscuit he observed a full regiment of Yankee cavalry approaching. He jumped out into the woods and as the Yankees came near he thundered away on his drum beating the long roll with a terrible vim. (The long roll is the signal of an enemy at hand, and to form the line of battle.) His trick was successful; for the Yankees supposing, of course that there was an infantry regiment lying in the thicket, faced about and skedaddled in the regular Bull Run style. Old Smith, replacing his drum on his shoulder, came out into the road again with his beef and biscuit in one hand and drum sticks in the other, resumed his march with his usual equanimity.

It’s a great story – I can just see in my mind’s eye old Smith the drummer, beating furiously on his drum and laughing as he watched the Yankees advance to the rear – but the question comes to mind, is it just a story that was hatched by some reporter looking to entertain his readers, or was this an actual event? I decided to see if I could find out.

Illustration of Civil War Drummers beating reveille in camp - HARPER'S WEEKLY

The first thing I needed to do was determine if there was a drummer named Smith who served in the 16th Mississippi Infantry. My task was made infinitely more difficult because all I had was a last name, and to make things worse the name was Smith, only the most common name in the Confederacy. I started my task by going to the National Park Service’s Soldiers and Sailors system, and pulled up the roster for the 16th Mississippi, and found that there were 34 men named Smith that served in the regiment. One by one, I clicked on the names to find out if any of them was listed as a musician. Finally on Smith #33, I got a hit – William H. Smith was listed as being in the regimental band.

Armed with a complete name, I went to the Fold3 website, and pulled up the service record of William H. Smith. The newspaper article gave me two pieces of information that I wanted to check against the service record – first it said he was old, and second it said he was German. After looking through a few of the cards in his file, I found a descriptive list that stated William H. Smith was 38 years old, which did make him an old man in that day and age. I also found that his place of birth was listed as Germany, so I was two for two. The card went on to say that Smith was captured in September 1862 by the 8th Illinois Cavalry at “Monocacy,” which was referring to the Monocacy River in Maryland – at that time the 16th was in the area as they took part in General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North, which culminated in the Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862.

So what does all of this information mean? Well, I did not find a smoking gun that proved beyond the shadow of a doubt the story is real – and I would have been very surprised if I had. But what I did find was that every solid fact about the story that I could check did turn out to be true. There was a man named Smith in the 16th Mississippi; he was 38 years old, which could be considered old at that time; his unit did serve under Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, and our man was with the unit at that time; and he was listed as being a member of the regimental band. So the best that I can say is that the story is very likely true, and something like what was reported in the Macon Telegraph did happen. But true or not, it sure is a good story.

Union, Newton County, Mississippi, June 17, 1896

Dear Madam: I send herewith $1.00 [in] stamps to be used in your society on soldiers cemetery at Resaca. I have no brother or other near or even distant relative sleeping on that glorious field that I know of but seven of my regiment lie there. I will append the names that I remember. My good right arm lies about a mile south of Resaca, Ga., just north of a church at the root of a large oak or chestnut tree. It was put in a board box and buried by a comrade. Hence you see I feel an interest in the wild hills of Resaca.

I was a private in Company B, Eighth Mississippi Volunteer Inf., and was wounded in right shoulder and throat about dark in a charge on the enemy’s works, May 14, 1864, on the side of a hill just west of the village on the north side of the river. I was carried back to the bluff below the bridge, where about three or four hundred poor fellows were lying torn, bleeding, and some dying. After a time I crossed the bridge, and faint and sick, I was trying to make my way to Cheatham’s Division Hospital, which was in the church. A man came into the road with an ox wagon loaded in part with beds which appeared to be very white. Some one called him Motes and asked him about his family, and he said they had gone on to Calhoun.

The Battle of Resaca - Library of Congress

Mr. Motes insisted that I should ride, and said his wife would not care if all her beds were dyed with rebel blood. He carried me to the old church. I would like to know what became of Mr. Motes; I could not see his face. The night was dark. Sunday morning, May 15, about eight o’clock, my right arm was amputated at the shoulder joint. Thirty-two years have passed since then, and strange it may may seem that a boy soldier, that few thought could live, is writing this reminiscence of those two days of carnage.

Never shall I forget the morning of that fateful 14th of May, when at early dawn the signal guns told us in tones of thunder that both armies were ready for the work of death. Bright rose the sun, tipping mountain peak with blooming rays of silver and bathing valley and woodland in a flood of golden light, a scene never to be witnessed again by hundreds of the boys who wore the blue and the gray. In the streets of Resaca that day I saw enacted a deed of heroism which challenged the admiration of all who witnessed it. A wagon occupied by several ladies was passing along north of the river and just west of the railroad, when a Yankee battery opened fire on it and, until it had passed over the bridge, poured a storm of shells around it. A young woman stood erect in the wagon waving her hat, which was dressed with red or had a red ribbon or plume on it, seemingly to defy the cowards who would make war on defenseless women.

I felt then, and I do to-day, for that woman a man could freely die. Many a rebel boy felt as I did that day. I was taken from the church to a bush-arbor on the west side of the railroad, where I expected to die. A middle-aged woman dressed in black came with nourishment and (God bless her) fed me, and during that awful day ministered to the wants of the wounded and dying. If I remember correctly she came often to me with food and drink. Who she was I may never know, but she was a noble woman.

Will you, kind lady, bear with me while I relate just another incident of that sunday? Perched upon the top of a lofty tree near the church was a mocking bird warbling his sweet notes of joy and gladness ever now and then darting out to catch a minie ball as it went singing by but my comrade told me my little bird sang on until dark. I first called attention to that sweet songster which it seemed was trying to cheer me in that dark hour of my young manhood.

I am now nearly sixty years old, my head is almost white. I have a noble son who was then a babe, now a prominent teacher. I have two sweet daughters, and five little grandchildren who never tire of hearing grandfather tell of the time when death seemed so near, and they shed tears with me while looking in my empty sleeve. I tell them my good arm is sleeping in Georgia and that sometime, in the morning of the resurrection, God will restore my arm but they cannot understand and become indignant at the Yankees.

This picture of John C. Portis was used with his obituary in the January 1910 edition of CONFEDERATE VETERAN MAGAZINE.

I fear I have worried you and if you do not wish to keep this among the papers of the society you can destroy it. I felt that I would like to write this, and, that maybe someone would see if the tree is standing and perhaps find my lost arm a place in the soldier’s cemetery. If not it can rest on until God shall bid it rise and meet its long severed companion where wars dread alarm will be heard no more. May God bless the noble women of the sweet sunny South in all their work of love and devotion to the memory of the heroes who fell battling for the ‘lost cause.’

I hope that I may live to contribute more to aid you in your loyal task. Again, God bless you dear ladies, is the prayer of Private John C. Portis, Co. B, 8th Miss. Reg. Vols. Infantry U.S.A. J.E. Jackson’s Brigade, Walker’s Division.

The lady to whom Portis wrote, Mrs. Elizabeth Simmons, was president of the Ladies Memorial Association of Resaca, which had been founded in 1866 to establish a cemetery for the many Confederate dead buried around the city. Simmons spearheaded a number of improvements to the graveyard, and was so committed to the cemetery that she asked to be buried there when she died. When she passed away in 1907 her request was honored, and she remains the only female buried in the Resaca Confederate Cemetery.

The grave of Elizabeth Simmons in the Resaca Confederate Cemetery

Simmons was truly grateful for the letter that Portis wrote, for he revealed the names of a number of men in the 8th Mississippi that were buried at Resaca. Mrs. Simmons wrote him the following letter in reply:

Calhoun, Ga., July 1, 1896

J.C. Portis, Union, Miss.

Dear Sir: Your kind and encouraging letter received. I return thanks for the association. Your letter gave us some information that we greatly desired – probably never would have gotten otherwise in regard to a group of graves eleven in number. We knew they were in the 8th Miss., that was all. You gave us Major Watkins’ name, getting his correctly brought out the other ten, which were almost entirely obliterated, we had begun to fear that this group of graves would have to be marked ‘unknown.’ Thank you for the light, it is greatly appreciated. Rest assured I have given the resting place of your comrades special attention. They were  buried in a beautiful shady place, a large crab apple tree has grown up in the center of the group.

Entrance to the Confederate Cemetery at Resaca

The improvements on the cemetery are not being completed as fast as we desire for the want of funds, we are placing a small marble head stone at each grave and want to enclose the grounds with a neat substantial iron fence, the work is being done now [and] will be very substantial. Again thanking you, I am, Respectfully, Mrs. E. J. Simmons, Pres’t Memorial Association

After he recovered from his terrible wound, Portis was discharged from the army and returned to his home in Union, Mississippi. He became a Methodist minister after the war, and was a much beloved figure in his community. When he died in 1909 his obituary said of him, “He was public-spirited in all that made for his country’s good, and was a power for great moral and civil uplift in his community…He was beloved by his war comrades, and for them he always cherished a fraternal love. His mind was stored with memories of the thrilling events of the four years of the war, and he was ever ready to entertain with reminiscences. He nobly fought the battle of life, and now his armor has been laid by while he rests ‘under the shade of the trees.”

John C. Portis died on October 31, 1909, and is buried in the Memorial Park Cemetery at Union, Mississippi.

Grave of John C. Portis

A Sword Recovered

Near the close of the battle of Ball’s Bluff October 21, 1861, First Lieutenant J. Evarts Greene, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, found himself surrounded by the enemy so that to fight longer was useless, and to run away impossible. At this moment a grey coated gentleman stepped forward, and, raising his cap courteously, said: ‘I am Captain Singleton of the Thirteenth Mississippi. [Editor's Note: Singleton was in the 18th Mississippi] I must ask you to surrender.’ Mr. Greene returned the salute, mentioned his name and rank, and handed Captain Singleton his sword. Two young men of Captain Singleton’s company were then directed to take Lieutenant Greene to the rear. They escorted him to Leesburg, about four miles distant, chatting pleasantly by the way, for they were very obliging and friendly young fellows, and some hours later all the prisoners taken that day started from Leesburg for Centreville under a guard commanded by Captain Singleton, who showed to them all possible civility and kindness while they were under his care.

This Illustration depicts the fighting that took place during the Battle of Ball's Bluff - Library of Congress

On arriving at Centreville he turned over his prisoners to the officer designated by General Beauregard to receive them, and they saw him no more. Captain Singleton had been a member of congress for three terms before the war. soon after this time he retired from the army and entered the Confederate Congress. When Mississippi was thought to be sufficiently reconstructed to be entitled again to representation in the national government, Captain Singleton, or the Hon. Otho R. Singleton as he should now be called, was elected to the house of representatives, and has been re-elected to successive congresses since. Mr. Greene has had some correspondence with him, and when visiting Washington in January last had a most agreeable interview with his former captor, who seemed inclined to make up by the warmth of his present friendship for the conditions of formal enmity under which they had first met. Of course the circumstances of their meeting were recalled, and Mr. Singleton expressed his intention to return the sword which Mr. Greene had surrendered more than twenty-one years ago.

This engraving from the ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS depicts the panicked flight of the Union forces from the Ball's Bluff battlefield. Captain Green was captured during this retreat. - Library of Congress

On Tuesday the sword arrived by express addressed to Senator Hoar, who had already received the following letter; ‘Hon. Geo. F. Hoar – My Dear Sir: I have taken the liberty of sending to your address by express today a United States sword belonging to Maj. Greene, who visited you at Washington the past winter. I failed to obtain his address when here, and beg to trouble you to see that he gets it. This sword was surrendered to me by Maj. Greene immediately after the battle of Ball’s Bluff, in Virginia. My earnest desire has ever been to return it to its owner, and assure him of my great respect for him as a citizen and soldier. Most truly yours, O. R. Singleton.’

Mr. Singleton had been kind enough to promote Captain Greene one grade, but otherwise his letter calls for no further remark. The sword has suffered no damage, and is entirely fit for further service, but its owner hopes that it will never be drawn on another battle field. It will not, however, be beaten into a plowshare, nor worked up into steel pens.

Captain Otho R. Singleton commanded Company C of the 18th Mississippi Infantry, and the Battle of Ball’s Bluff was only the second fight in which the regiment had been engaged. They had fought at Bull Run in July 1861, but Ball’s Bluff would turn out to be the 18th Mississippi’s true baptism by fire. In the fighting the regiment gave a good account of itself, but the cost in lives was very high: the 18th Mississippi had 32 killed and 63 wounded. Among the dead was Colonel Erasmus R. Burt, the commander of the regiment.

Colonel Erasmus R. Burt commanded the 18th Mississippi Infantry at Ball's Bluff and was killed in the fighting. - Photo from the Wikipedia article on Colonel Burt

Wanting to know more about the incident in which Captain Greene surrendered his sword to Captain Singleton, I did a little looking and found that Greene had written an account of his capture for The Old Guard, published in Worcester, Massachusetts, on January 20, 1886. In this article he related how he was captured:

Near the end of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff I found myself in close contact with a large number of the enemy. The sun had already set, and in the woods where we were it was dark enough so that I did not at once recognize them as enemies. I was surrounded, and escape was impossible. When they discovered that I was a ‘Yank,” some of them cried, ‘Kill him,’ ‘Bayonet the d–d Yankee,’ and other greetings of that character, and one grasped my arm. I shook him off, and called for an officer. A grave looking man, tall and soldierly, stepped forward and courteously mentioned his name, Captain Singleton of the — Mississippi. I responded, giving my name and rank, and at the same time offered him my sword, which I held in my hand. He received it, and, calling two men from the ranks, directed them to take me to the rear.

In closing out his article, Green described how he was led away to captivity by Captain Singleton, and how grateful his was for the kindness shown to him by the Mississippian:

Then began our tedious, dreary march, through rain and mud and swollen streams. It ended late the next night at the stone house on the famous Bull Run battlefield. Of the incidents of that march I cannot write here. I will only say that our guard was commanded by Captain Singleton, the same officer to whom I had surrendered, now a member of Congress from Mississippi, who was throughout courteous and kindly, and as considerate of our comfort as his strict orders permitted him to be.

Captain Jeremiah Evarts Greene was sent to Richmond, Virginia, where he was held in captivity for four months before being exchanged. He was promoted to captain in January 1862, and commanded a company in the 15th Massachusetts until he was honorably discharged in October 1862. He eventually became postmaster of his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, a job in which he served until his death on November 8, 1902.

This picture of Jeremiah Evarts Greene was published with his obituary in the WORCESTER DAILY SPY, November 9, 1902

Otho R. Singleton resigned from the 18th Mississippi shortly after the Battle of Ball’s Bluff to become a member of the Confederate Congress, an institution in which he served until the end of the war. In 1875 he was elected to the United States Congress, and served until 1887. He died in Washington, D.C., on January 11, 1889.

This image of Otho Singleton was taken in the 1850s when he was serving in the United States Congress - Library of Congress

I don’t know what happened to the sword of Captain Greene, but I hope that one of his descendants has it hanging in some prominent spot in his home. It’s a powerful reminder of a moment in time when two enemies put aside their differences and became friends.

Ingraham was born in Adams County, Mississippi, on December 28, 1843, the son of Reverend Joseph Holt Ingraham. His father was one of the pioneer settlers of Mississippi, moving to the state about 1830 and settling in Natchez. In 1835 he wrote The Southwest, By A Yankee, which is one of the best early accounts of life in Mississippi.

Ingraham was still attending school when the Civil War started, and the teenager left his

This photo of 19-year-old Prentiss Ingraham was taken while he was serving in the Civil War. It is from the article COLONEL PRENTISS INGRAHAM: HIS LIFE AND WORK by A.C. Chase, published in BOB TAYLOR'S MAGAZINE, October 1905

studies to enlist in the Confederate army. He joined Company K, 1st Mississippi Light Artillery at Port Gibson, Mississippi, on May 7, 1862. The private spent much of his time detailed to the regimental headquarters of the battery, and he eventually worked his way up to the rank of sergeant.

During his service with the battery, Prentiss took part in the Port Hudson, Louisiana, campaign in 1863, and in later years he wrote an article about his experiences. In reminiscing about the battle he wrote: The siege was from May 21 to July, under a burning sun. The battle of Port Hudson began miles away from the stronghold, Augur’s division bringing on the fight by a sharp action at Port Hudson Plains. Sharp as it was, and at close quarters, here Abbey’s Battery – (K), First Mississippi Light Artillery – made a charge upon the enemy, unlimbering and going into action and in the very faces of General Augur’s troops, supported only by two hundred of Powers’s cavalry. We – the writer was with this command – advanced our gun muzzles until in our turn we were compelled to retreat upon our reserve, which we did, still firing. There are doubtless men of Augur’s division still living who will remember this artillery charge, which allowed the Confederate forces to retreat in good order into Port Hudson.

After being captured and paroled at Port Hudson when the garrison surrendered on July 9, 1863, Prentiss returned to Confederate service once he was declared exchanged. His service record abruptly ends in 1864 with no indication of why, so his whereabouts for the remainder of the war are uncertain.

When the war ended in 1865, most Mississippians were glad to return home and begin picking up the pieces of their shattered lives; but not Prentiss Ingraham. Apparently he had developed a taste for the soldier’s life, for he became a wandering soldier of fortune. He first went to Mexico and fought with the rebels under Juarez against Emperor Maximilian. His service was cut short, however, when he was wounded in a duel with a fellow officer he was serving with.

After recovering, Ingraham went to Europe and joined the Prussian army to fight against Austria, and when this conflict ended he traveled to Crete, where he aided the natives in their fight against the Turks. When this revolt was crushed, Ingraham visited Persia, the Holy Land, India, and China before ending up in Africa. He then toured Egypt, Algiers and Morocco, and then Spain, Italy, Germany and Russia, before finally stopping for awhile in London. It was in the English capital that Ingraham found the calling that would make him world famous: writing. He composed an article for the Pall Mall Gazette, and the editor was so impressed that he had him write a whole series of articles about his views on English society.

Sensing that his future in the literary world was bright, Ingraham decided to return to the

Prentiss Ingraham posed for this photo with Buffalo Bill Cody - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

United States, and he began writing dime novels to make his living. In the early 1880s, he traveled to the American west, where he met and befriended Buffalo Bill Cody. Many of his novels featured Cody, as well as other western notables such as Wild Bill Hickok and Texas Jack Omohundro. A prolific author, Ingraham wrote between 600 and 1,000 novels during his 34 year career as a novelist. For much of that time Ingraham lived in New York City, Easton, Maryland, and in Chicago. In his later years he moved back to Mississippi, and eventually went to live at Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’ former residence, which was then being used as a home for Confederate veterans.

One of Ingraham's dime novels about Buffalo Bill Cody

The old soldier died at Beauvoir on August 16, 1904, and is buried on the grounds. During his lifetime the countless novels he had written helped romanticize the old west to a generation of American readers. In his obituary for the Times-Picayune (New Orleans),

Prentiss Ingraham's grave at Beauvoir

a reporter wrote: Though just past 60 years of age, he had gone through a life’s experience as romantic and as exciting as that of the knights of olden times. Soldier, poet, journalist, novelist, traveler in many parts of the globe, he led a strenuous, reckless existence, crowding in less than fifteen years – from 1861 to 1875 – events of military prowess in a meteoric career that is perhaps unrivaled in the history of any soldier of fortune.

This book is affectionately dedicated to the few who survive of the six hundred thousand Confederate Soldiers, who fought as few men have ever done; who suffered and sacrificed as few men have ever done; who, with sublime courage in the midst of distress and poverty, rose from the ashes of ruined homes and desolate hearthstones, left in the track of the mightiest war of the century, as no men have ever done.

Thornton H. Bowman enlisted in the “Tensas Cavalry” from Tensas Parish, Louisiana, on February 28, 1862. This unit crossed the Mississippi River and became Company A of Wirt Adams Regiment of Mississippi Cavalry. In his book Bowman summed up his personal service to the Confederacy in one long paragraph:

I was a private soldier in Company A, Wirt Adams’ regiment of Mississippi Cavalry, in the army of Tennessee. I was with my command on the retreat from Kentucky and Tennessee to Corinth, under Albert Sydney Johnston; was with them in all the cavalry engagements about Iuka; was with them at the battle of Shiloh; was with Forrest in his daring attack on Sherman’s division on the retreat from Shiloh; rode with my command down Britain’s lane, in Tennessee. Here I fell beneath my horse, almost in touch of the heroic Montgomery, Briscoe, Swayse and others lying dead at the cannon’s mouth. I was made a prisoner, and after my exchange, was transferred to Cameron’s battery. Was with the battery, in all its fights, until promoted to a lieutenantcy in McNeil’s cavalry. I was disabled by a fall of my horse, which resulted in entire disuse of my right leg, forcing me to leave the army in the summer of 1864. I know, comrades, all about the weary ride, the scant rations, and the lonely picket post. I am acquainted with the ping of the minnie ball, the shriek of the shell, and the boom of the cannon. 

Photograph of Thornton H. Bowman from REMINISCENCES OF AN EX-CONFEDERATE SOLDIER

Bowman had a very distinguished post-war career. He moved with his wife and children to Texas in 1871 where he soon got involved in politics. In 1874 he became a clerk in the Department of State. From 1881 to 1883, Bowman served as secretary of state in the administration of Texas governor Oran M. Roberts. In the 1890s he was twice elected county judge of Howard County, Texas, and in 1899 he was appointed superintendent of the State Orphan’s Home in Corsicana, Texas.  He died on November 24, 1905, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

Postwar photograph of Bowman from REMINISCENCES OF AN EX-CONFEDERATE SOLDIER

This engraving of Bowman and brief biography appeared in the DALLAS MORNING NEWS, April 11, 1896

For anyone interested in reading Bowman’s book, it is available for free download on Google Books.

Mr. Editor: As it is raining very hard this evening, and I have no amusements to pass away time, no pleasant associations – as the citizens are still inclined to look upon us as unprincipled men of no standing in society, and as having no business to be here ‘oppressing their rights,’ as they term it – I have concluded to remain at home and write you in regard to the doings in this department, and should you deem it worthy a place in the columns of your paper, it may possibly interest some of your many readers, knowing it to be from one of Cleveland’s sons who has been in the ‘Army of the Union’ since May 8, 1861; at least I trust it may.

But stop, I want to tell you how pretty the women carry on the smuggling trade at this point. A few days ago a young lady desired to enter our lines on Big Black river, and the Provost Marshal at that point, Captain John Raymond (an efficient officer and well worthy of the position he occupies) admitted her. He suspected her of being a smuggler, and had her sent to this office, in charge of Lieut. Verney, for examination before Col. Wilson, Provost Marshal 17th Army Corps. As the lady and the Lieutenant entered the office, the latter introduced her to Col. W., and told him that suspicion rested upon her as being engaged in the smuggling business, &c. She was requested to step into the private office, and had her basket and valise examined, in which were found a few letters. This aroused the Colonel’s suspicions, and he asked her if she had any more, and she said no. He immediately sent for Mrs. Kelly, the wife of a Lieutenant of our army, and had her examine Mrs. Armstrong’s person. Nicely buttoned to a belt fastened around her waist, and between her skirts, were found two little ‘Rebel Mail Bags,’ full of letters from all parts of Dixie, and some of them were rich, I assure you. I had the pleasure of reading a great many of them, and should judge from the tenor of some of them that Dixie is a hard place to make a living in. After all the letters were taken from her, she was released, I know not for what reason, except because we have no place appropriate to confine the fair sex. 

Wartime image of Union soldiers at Big Black River Station. The Big Black River was the unofficial dividing line between Union controlled territory and Confederate territory. As it was one of the major entry points into Vicksburg, the Union troops stationed at the Big Black River saw more than their fair share of smugglers, both coming and going.

She was very good looking, and appeared to be very intelligent, but ‘Oh! gracious,’ how tormented mad she did look when she went out of the office, and as she passed me, she turned around and said: ‘There I hope you are satisfied!’ I replied, ‘Yes marm,’ and away she flew, just as mad as a chicken in a slop-barrel.