THE 
 
 LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS 
 
 OF 
 
 TENNESSEE 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS WILLIAM HUMES, S. T. D. 
 
 The noblest word in the catalogue of social virtues 
 is Loyalty" JOHN RUSKIN. 
 
 KNOXVILLE, TENN. 
 OGDEN BROTHERS & COMPANY 
 
 1888. 
 
Copyright, 1888, 
 BY THOMAS WILLIAM HUMES. 
 
 Ogden Bros. & Co, 
 
 Winters and Stationers, 
 
 Knoxville, Tenn. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 IN 
 
 LOVE AND GRATITUDE 
 TO 
 
 OP 
 
 LLOYD P. SMITH AND EDWAKD EVERETT, 
 
 FRIENDS AND HELPERS 
 OP A 
 
 SUFFERING PEOPLE. 
 
 42Z22U 
 
UN iv, or 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ,HE attitude which a large majority of the 
 people of East Tennessee deliberately as 
 sumed and persistently maintained in the Civil 
 War of i86i- 65, was remarkable. It had no 
 precise parallel within the limits of the ten se 
 ceded States, and there was no distinctive and 
 numerous population in any one of the loyal States 
 whose surroundings were so greatly unfavorable 
 to a like attitude of devotion to the Union. 
 
 The majority of citizens in each of the border 
 slave States of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri 
 adhered to the United States, and their respect 
 ive governments were administered accordingly. 
 But their territorial and other important rela 
 tions were altogether different from those of 
 East Tennessee. Maryland lay contiguous to 
 the district and capital, where the Federal Gov 
 ernment must and did especially defend itself. It 
 is separated from Virginia not only by the Dis 
 trict of Columbia but by the Potomac River and 
 Chesapeake Bay, and it had no nearness to any 
 other seceded State ; while Pennsylvania stretched 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 all along its northern border, and the other loyal 
 States of New Jersey, New York and Ohio 
 were not far distant. Kentucky was bordered 
 by the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. And 
 Missouri was almost surrounded by Illinois, Iowa, 
 Nebraska and Kansas. A majority of the people 
 of West Virginia were steadfast in their friend 
 ship for the Union, notwithstanding the State, of 
 which they were citizens, seceded. But West 
 Virginia bordered chiefly upon Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio and Kentucky. It was easy of access to 
 influences favorable to the Union. At the same 
 time the armies of the United States could with 
 out great difficulties enter and occupy its terri 
 tory, and this fact helped to confirm the loyalty 
 of its people. 
 
 East Tennessee was entirely removed from 
 thoroughly loyal States. The only contiguous 
 one that did not join in the work of secession 
 was Kentucky^jwhich was held to its place_in 
 the Union against the will of a considerable 
 minority of its citizens. Otherwise, East Ten 
 nessee was bounded on the north and east by 
 Virginia, on the east by North Carolina (lying 
 between Virginia and South Carolina), and on 
 the south by North Carolina and Georgia. High 
 mountains surrounded it on every side, and on 
 the west separated it from the other grand di- 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 visions of Tennessee, where prevailed a spirit of 
 disunion that found sympathy and support in the 
 adjoining Gulf States of Alabama and Missis 
 sippi. 
 
 The wonder is that the people of East Ten 
 nessee, situated as they were far removed from 
 States and populations where slavery did not 
 exist 5 having railway connections and water 
 communications only with those States that were 
 hostile to the United States should yet have set 
 their faces as a flint against secession. The 
 wonder is, not only that they sprung quickly 
 with uplifted hands to the defence of the Union 
 at the very beginning of the assaults upon its 
 life, but were also its active or suffering friends 
 to the close of the strife. Difficulties and dan 
 gers on that behalf, they encountered without 
 flinching. Reproaches, and severities that in 
 some instances were cruel persecutions, they 
 endured with fortitude. Under the influence of 
 an ardent patriotism, most of their able-bodied 
 men, in order to save their personal liberty or 
 life, or to escape being forced to fight against 
 the Nation, left home and family and fled, as 
 they then called it, to "God s Country" ; cross 
 ing difficult rivers and mountains by day, and 
 snatching at night short sleep in the dark for 
 ests through which they passed ; suffering from 
 
8 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 hunger and fatigue, from drenching rains and 
 alarms from foes, until at length, where the 
 star-spangled banner was floating securely in 
 the air, they enlisted by tens of thousands, to 
 help with arms in saving the Nation s life. 
 
 During the War period, in more than two 
 years of which the Southern Confederacy ruled 
 over East Tennessee, the property of these ref 
 ugees and that of Union people who remained 
 at home, was seized and used or destroyed, until 
 impoverishment and want prevailed to an alarm 
 ing extent. In numerous instances, starvation, 
 like a gaunt wolf, threatened the door, and the 
 hearts of many were sickened by hope of suc 
 cor long deferred ; but the fire of devotion to 
 the Union still lived and glowed within them 
 strong and bright until the end came. 
 
 The scene in a momentous tragedy, thus pre 
 sented in a region of country so isolated from 
 the great world that its actors could have no 
 stimulus to their constancy in the heard applause 
 of admiring spectators, was phenomenal, even in 
 that time of heroic deeds. It was the reproduc 
 tion, upon the same stage, after nearly a van 
 ished century, of the same broad patriotism to 
 some extent inherited which sent a thousand 
 riflemen from Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga 
 River, to win for the American colonies a vie- 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 tory at King s Mountain; and which afterwards 
 
 
 
 triumphed over a spirit of revolutionary separa 
 tion, in retaining the allegiance of the people of 
 Frankland to the mother State of North Carolina. 
 Without doubt, the chief sentiment that animated 
 the hearts of loyal East Tennesseeans in i86i- 65 
 was one of duty. "The duty of preserving the 
 liberty which their ancestors, through God s 
 blessing, won, established and handed down" to 
 them a duty which has been said to be "no 
 less imperative than any commandment in the 
 second table; if it be not the concentration of 
 the whole." * To whatever causes their con 
 duct may be attributed, it at least conveys the 
 impression of their strong individuality as a peo 
 ple and invites the closer observation and study 
 of the political philosopher. 
 
 It is certain, also, that the steadfast attachment 
 of East Tennessee to the Union and the effi 
 cient aid it gave to its preservation, formed an 
 important factor in the war and contributed in 
 no small degree to its final result. Had its ter- 
 ritory been friendly ground for the encampment, 
 sustenance and transit of Southern armies, and 
 had the ranks of those armies been recruited 
 with the thirty thousand East Tennesseeans who 
 volunteered in the service of the United States, 
 
 Two Brothers Hare in "Guesses at Truth . 
 
10 PEEFACE. 
 
 the course of events might have been seriously 
 \ deflected and the war been prolonged, to the 
 hurt of the whole country. 
 
 It is of occurrences during the conflict in 
 that territory, shut in by rock-ribbed mountains, 
 and chiefly in its central town, that these pages 
 will tell. The purpose of the narrative is to 
 instruct as well as to interest the general reader, 
 and it may afford a help, however slight, to some 
 gifted mind that shall in the future attempt the 
 history of the War of i86i- 65 in the spirit of 
 a sound Christian philosophy. 
 
 It is also the hope of the author that this 
 volume will serve to confirm the reader s patriot 
 ism, or to quicken the sentiment into life, if it 
 only slumber within him. The love of country 
 has justly been extolled by the tongue of the 
 eloquent orator and the pen of the gifted poet. 
 Both the philosopher and the religious teacher 
 commend it, and it is profoundly interesting to 
 know that the Author of Christianity cherished 
 that sentiment in its purity, and in full harmony 
 with his wide-reaching love for other nations 
 than His own of Israel. Some of His country 
 men once interceded for His favor in behalf of 
 a Roman centurion, with the reason, "he loveth 
 our nation." The plea was not rebuked by 
 Him, and as the petition which it aimed to 
 
PREFACE. l l 
 
 strengthen was quickly granted, we may infer 
 that it influenced Him. 
 
 Every one will probably admit that the spirit 
 of patriotism is praiseworthy, but it is well to 
 consider that it is sometimes liable to slip from 
 the guidance of wisdom and to be narrowed 
 
 o 
 
 down in its range of working to a section or a 
 party. On the contrary, it should be as broad 
 as it is ardent; its boundaries those of the Na 
 tion; and while it rises immeasurably above the 
 base greed for office, it should equally rise above 
 the bitterness and contentions of partisan zeal 
 into the pure and serene atmosphere of fellow- 
 citizenship. It may be blindly perverted, but a 
 true love of country can never be intelligently 
 applied to the uses of an inordinate ambition, or 
 to supply the necessities of a huge wrong. 
 "History," it is often repeated, "is Philosophy 
 teaching by example." If so, then it would be 
 wrong to let the splendid example of unadul 
 terated patriotism given by the Union people of 
 East Tennessee in the War of i86i- 65, go un- 
 chronicled. No popular leaders induced it. The 
 courage and fortitude it presents sprang from 
 deep and strong love for the Union of the States 
 in one Nation deep and strong love for their 
 -whole country. 
 
 Impressive also are the lessons of true and 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 far-reaching patriotism given by the heroic Rhode 
 Islander and his fellow-soldiers, in rescuing East 
 Tennessee, at great pains, danger and loss, from 
 a usurped power; and by. the generous people 
 of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, 
 Maine and other States, in relieving it from im 
 pending famine. These interpositions, not to de 
 stroy, but to save its people, should teach Amer 
 icans, as long as the Republic lasts, that, in the 
 words of Mr. Edward Everett : " If the Union 
 means anything, it means not merely political 
 connection and commercial intercourse, but to 
 bear each other s burdens and to share each 
 other s sacrifices ; it means active sympathy and 
 efficient aid." 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENT IN EAST TENNESSEE NATURAL FEATURES OF 
 THE REGION ITS PEOPLE ITS CENTRAL TOWN 19 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY THE FRONTIER PATRIOTIC SPIRIT CALL TO 
 ARMS MARCH TO BATTLE 37 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 EARLY HISTORY THE PURSUIT THE BATTLE THE VICTORY. . . 49 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY MOUNTAINEERS DISSATISFIED AN INDEPEND 
 ENT STATE CONFLICT OF AUTHORITIES 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY FRANKLAND S CORRESPONDENCE ITS STRIFES 
 I TS DEATH, UPON DEFEAT OF ITS CHIEF His ESCAPE.... 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SHADOWS OF COMING EVENTS POLITICAL HARANGUES A Sus- . 
 PECTED "INCENDIARY" BIBLE SOCIETY COLPORTEUR IN 
 SCOTT COUNTY 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STATE FOR THE UNION A STRANGER IN TOWN SECESSION 
 OF TENNESSEE PRE-ARRANGED BIBLICAL CO-INCIDENCE 
 UNION ORATORS AN ASSASSINATION 90 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE THE UNION CONVEN 
 TION AT GREENEVILLE 103 
 
1 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GROWING WRATH JOY OVER VICTORY GEN. ZOLICOFFER A 
 YANKEE BOY S PASSPORT LIGHTS AND SHADOWS ESCAPE 
 OF CONGRESSMEN FORGED LETTERS TO BOSTON A MILI 
 TARY ZEALOT BRIDGE BURNING 120 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEVERE TREATMENT OF UNION MEN OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE 
 IMPRISONMENTS EXECUTIONS 138 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 REIGN OF TERROR A NOTED PATRIOT His PAINFUL EXPERI 
 ENCES AND FINAL DELIVERANCE A REFUGEE S PERILOUS 
 JOURNEYCONSCRIPTION CAPTURE OF FLEEING MEN 152 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GENERALS KIRBY SMITH, J. E. JOHNSON AND BRAGG REFUGEES 
 INVITED HOME BY PROCLAMATION MRS. BROWNLOW, HER 
 CHILDREN AND MRS. MAYNARD EXILED GENERAL CON 
 DITION OF THINGS RESULTING FROM SECESSION 169 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NEWS AND LITERATURE IN THE CONFEDERACY A MIXED DIN 
 NER PARTY AND ITS CONVERSATION CARTER S RAID AND 
 WHAT BEFELL A RECRUITING OFFICER AN UNTERRIFIED 
 YANKEE CITIZEN OF GEORGIA SANDERS RAID DEATH OF 
 PLEASANT MCCLUNG 188 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 GEN. BUCKNER S RETREAT A CITIZEN S ADVENTURE GENERAL 
 BURNSIDE; His WELCOME; His EXPEDITION CUMBERLAND 
 GAP; ITS SURRENDER AN ECCENTRIC FARMER MILITARY 
 MOVEMENTS IN EAST TENNESSEE FIGHT AT BLUE SPRINGS 
 AFFAIRS AT AND NEAR LOUDON BURNSIDE AND THE 
 PEOPLE 208 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 GRANT AT CHATTANOOGA PERIL OF BUBNSIDE THEIR CO 
 OPERATION LONGSTREET AT LOUDON BURNSIDE RETREATS 
 
 AND is PURSUED BATTLE OF CAMPBELL S STATION MILI 
 TARY CONDITIONS AT KNOXVILLE ESCAPE OF LEADING 
 UNIONISTS 234 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE ITS DEFENDERS AND DEFENCES COLONEL 
 SANDERS His DEATH AND FUNERAL PROGRESS OF THE 
 SIEGE BURNING OF NORTH KNOXVILLE 250 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOSPITAL NEEDS A SCENE AT HEADQUARTERS INCREASED 
 DESTITUTION ASSAULT ON FORT SANDERS LONGSTREET 
 RETREATS SHERMAN S APPROACH BURNSIDE GIVES HONOR 
 TO His ARMY 268 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CAPT. POE S CONCLUSIONS PRESIDENT LINCOLN S PROCLAMA 
 TION GENERALS SHERMAN AND GRANT INTERCESSIONS 
 WITH GEN. FOSTER BATTLE OF RESACA INFLUX OF REF 
 UGEES TO KNOXVILLE 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF EAST TENNESSEE WATAUGA 
 SCENERY LANDON C. HAYNES AT A DINNER PARTY NA 
 THANIEL G. TAYLOR His WRONGS His FEARS FOR THE 
 PEOPLE His MISSION TO THE NORTH AND WORK AT PHILA 
 DELPHIA EDWARD EVERETT S SPEECH AT FANEUIL HALL.. 301 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FUND FOR RELIEF OF EAST TENNESSEE AT BOSTON, PORTLAND 
 AND NEW YORK MR. TAYLOR AND FAMILY IN GREAT 
 TROUBLE THEIR TIMELY RELIEF KNOXVILLE EAST TEN 
 NESSEE RELIEF SOCIETY PENNSYLVANIA COMMITTEE EF 
 FECTIVE WORK IN RELIEVING DESTITUTION SUMMARY OF 
 RESULTS.. . 
 
 APPENDICES . . 337 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ASSAULT ON FORT SANDERS Frontispiece. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. EDWARD EVERETT 22 
 
 PORTRAIT OF MR. LLOYD P. SMITH 34 
 
 PORTRAIT OF REV. WM. G. BROWNLOW 77 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. THOMAS A. R. NELSON 90 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. JOHN BAXTER 108 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. ANDREW JOHNSON 129 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. CONNELLY F. TRIGG 153 
 
 PORTRAIT OF HON. HORACE MAYNARD 174 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GEN. A. E. BURNSIDE 208 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GEN. S. P. CARTER 245 
 
 PORTRAIT OF GEN. JOSEPH A. COOPER 294 
 
 PORTRAIT OF REV. NATHANIEL G. TAYLOR . , .313 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENT IN EAST TENNESSEE NAT 
 URAL FEATURES OF THE REGION ITS PEO 
 PLE ITS CENTRAL TOWN. 
 
 " With gold and gems if Chilian mountains glow ; 
 
 If bleak and barren Scotia s hills arise ; 
 
 There plague and poison, lust and rapine grow ; 
 
 Here peaceful are the vales, and pure the skies, 
 
 And freedom fires the soul, and sparkles in the eyes." 
 
 BEATTIE. 
 
 /~PHE first English fort built in Eastern Ten- 
 _L nessee was that of Loudon, in 1757, so called 
 for the Earl of Loudon, at the time Governor of 
 Virginia. It stood at the junction of the Tellico and 
 Little Tennessee rivers, now in Monroe County, 
 and 35 miles southwest of Knoxville. Its garrison 
 of from two to three hundred men was, with three 
 exceptions, massacred by the Indians in 1760, and 
 with it a number of women and children. 
 
 The first permanent settlement of Anglo-Amer 
 icans in the region was made on the Watauga 
 River, not far from the present northwestern bor 
 der of North Carolina. As early as 1748, explorers, 
 traders and hunters from Virginia had visited that 
 part of the land. Thirteen years afterwards, nine- 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 teen men were attracted to it from the same State 
 by the abundance of its game and were employed 
 as sportsmen on Clinch and Powell s rivers for 
 eighteen months. Another company went to 
 wards it from North Carolina, but with the ex 
 ception of the famous Indian hunter and fighter 
 Daniel Boone, they halted at the spot where now 
 is Abingdon, Virginia. Probably he had before 
 been on the waters of the Watauga, for a beech 
 tree, that stands on Boone s creek, a tributary of 
 that river, not far from Jonesboro, still bears this 
 inscription, 
 
 " D. Boon cilled a Bar on tree in the year 1760." 
 
 These visits were followed by others from com 
 panies of hunting pioneers. In 1764 Boone re 
 turned to the same region from his home on the 
 Yadkin River, North Carolina. Another pioneer 
 gave him a glowing description of the country 
 which is now Kentucky, and in 1771 he endeavor 
 ed with a party of eighty persons forty of whom 
 were hunters to pass into it through Cumberland 
 Gap. They were waylaid and fiercely assailed by 
 Indians and were forced to abandon the enterprise. 
 Some four years later it was successfully renewed, 
 and Boone, passing over the Clinch and Cumber 
 land mountains from East Tennessee, led in the 
 establishment beyond them of a great Common 
 wealth. 
 
 An eminent historian of the United States, after 
 relating the wrongs to which the people of North 
 Carolina were subjected in 1770-71, under the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 2 1 
 
 provincial Governor, Tryon, proceeds to tell how 
 and where they fled from oppression. 
 
 " Without concert instinctively impelled by dis 
 content and the wearisomeness of life exposed to 
 bondage men crossed the Alleghanies and de 
 scending into the basin of the Tennessee, made 
 their homes in the valley of the Watauga. There 
 no lawyer followed them ; there no King s Gov 
 ernor came to be their Lord ; there the flag of 
 England never waved. They rapidly extended 
 their settlements. By degrees they took posses 
 sion of the more romantic banks of the broader 
 Nolachucky, whose sparkling waters spring out of 
 the tallest mountains in the range. The climate 
 was invigorating ; the health-giving westerly wind 
 blew at all seasons ; in spring the wild crab-apple 
 filled the air with the sweetest perfumes. A fer 
 tile soil gave to industry good crops of maize ; the 
 clear streams flowed pleasantly, without tearing 
 floods ; where the closest thickets of spruce and 
 rhododendron flung the cooling shade furthest over 
 the river, trout abounded. The elk and the red 
 deer were not wanting in the natural parks of oak 
 and hickory, of maple, elm, black oak and 
 buckeye. Of quails and turkeys and pigeons there 
 was no end. The golden eagle built its nest on 
 the topmost ledge of the mountain, and might be 
 seen wheeling in wide circles high above the pines, 
 or dropping like a meteor upon its prey. The 
 black bear, whose flesh was held to be the most 
 delicate of meats, grew so fat upon the abundant 
 acorns and chestnuts that he could be run down 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in a chase of a hundred yards ; and sometimes the 
 hunters gave chase to the coward panther, strong 
 enough to beat off twenty dogs, yet flying from 
 one." * 
 
 The entire valley of East Tennessee, extending 
 from the southwestern border of Virginia to North 
 ern Georgia, embedded in the mountains, offers 
 peculiar attractions. Nearly fifty years ago an 
 English gentleman, who had lived there several 
 years, published a pamphlet in London,f in which 
 he said : 
 
 " To one who has resided some years in the val 
 ley of East Tennessee, breathing the pure air from 
 its mountains and drinking of its crystal springs, 
 enjoying the sunny smile of its temperature and 
 the cooling shade of its noble forests, delighting 
 the eye and the heart with its fields of fruitfulness 
 which at every turn present a new aspect, it is not 
 England s laughing meads, nor her flowering 
 orchard trees, nor yet Lomond and the Trosachs, 
 with all their beauty and historical associations 
 and the magic thrown around them by the exu 
 berant imagination of the poet, that could tempt 
 him again to quit the peaceful solitude, the clear 
 blue sky, the song of the mocking-bird, the note of 
 the dove, the hum of the humming-bird, and the 
 silence of nature \vhere all is echo." 
 
 The Hon. Edward Everett, in an address he 
 delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, February, 1864, 
 
 * Bancroft. Ch. XLVI.: Ed. 1854. 
 
 f- "A Brief Historical, Statistical and Descriptive Review of East Tennessee, 
 Developing its Immense Agricultural, Mining and Manufacturing Advantages. 
 By J. Gray Smith." * * * London, 1842. 
 
HON. EDWARD EVERETT. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 which was called forth by the then suffering con 
 dition of the people of East Tennessee in conse 
 quence of the war, said of it : 
 
 " A more interesting region, or one more enti 
 tled to our most active sympathy, is not to be 
 found within the limits of tlie United States. 
 Forming a part of the noble State of Tennessee, 
 it is in many respects a State in itself, and not a 
 small one either. It consists of the broad valley 
 of the magnificent river, which traverses it from 
 northeast to southwest, three hundred miles in 
 length, and with a varying width of from fifty to 
 seventy-five miles and of the slopes of the mount 
 ains, which separate it on the north from Ken 
 tucky, on the southwest from Middle Tennessee, 
 and on the southeast from North Carolina and 
 Georgia : a beautiful valley, between beautiful en 
 closing hills, fertile many of them to their summits, 
 sparkling with a hundred tributaries to the noble 
 stream which forms its principal feature. 
 
 " That river is in some respects one of the most 
 remarkable on the continent. Its northern afflu 
 ents rise in the State of Virginia, but, as if to read 
 a lesson of patriotism in the very face of the soil, 
 as if to prop the fabric of the Union by the eternal 
 buttresses of the hills, instead of flowing to the 
 Atlantic like the other rivers of Virginia, it gathers 
 up the waters of its tributary streams, Holston 
 and Clinch and French Broad, and connecting 
 Virginia and the Carolinas with East Tennessee, 
 flows southward down to the northwestern corner 
 of Georgia. There, after kissing the feet of the 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 glorious hills of Chattanooga, instead of flowing to 
 the Gulf, its seeming natural direction, it coquets 
 with Northern Alabama, breaks into the Muscle 
 Shoals, plants Decatur at their head and Florence 
 at their feet, and then sweeping back to its native 
 North, traverses the entire width of Tennessee a 
 second time, apparently running up hill for \vhile 
 it is flowing northward, the Mississippi, parallel to 
 it, and at no great distance, is rolling its floods 
 southward enters the State of Kentucky, and 
 empties into the Ohio, fifty miles above the junc 
 tion of that river with the Mississippi, thus binding 
 seven States in its silver circuit, and connecting 
 them all with the great central basin of the conti 
 nent. 
 
 " The soil of Eastern Tennessee is rich ; the 
 mountains are filled with coal and almost every 
 variety of ore ; their slopes bubble with mineral 
 springs ; the climate is temperate and healthful ; 
 the territory divided into farms of a moderate size, 
 for the most part tilled by frugal, industrious men, 
 who own the soil, which yields them its well- 
 earned abundance. In no part of the State are 
 there so few slaves ; in none is there a more sub 
 stantial population ; in no part of the South is the 
 slave interest so feeble. East Tennessee greatly 
 resembles the lower ranges and fertile valleys of 
 the Alps, and it has been often called the Ameri 
 can Switzerland. It is divided into thirty counties, 
 and its population does not, I think, fall short of 
 300,000 souls. * 
 
 * Its population was 301,056 in 1860, and 428,929 in iSSo. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 " But this grand valley, with the hills that en 
 close it, possesses an interest for us far beyond 
 that which attaches to their geographical features, 
 merely as such. It is one of the most important 
 links in that chain of valley and mountain which 
 traverses the entire North American continent, 
 from northeast to southwest, separating the streams 
 which flow into the Atlantic from those which 
 seek the St. Lawrence, the Ohio and the Missis 
 sippi. Forcing its way down into the heart of the 
 region whose alluvial plains are devoted to the 
 culture of tobacco, cotton, rice and sugar by slave 
 labor, this ridge of highlands, with the valleys em 
 bosomed in them, from the time you begin to 
 leave the State of Pennsylvania, begins to assume 
 the highest political importance in reference to the 
 present stupendous struggle. Extending to the 
 southwest as far as Northern Alabama, this noble 
 mountain tract, and the valleys enclosed in its par 
 allel and transverse ridges, is, by the character of 
 its climate, soil, and natural productions, the natu 
 ral ally of the North. Here, if nowhere else, we 
 may truly say, with the German poet : 
 
 Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit ; der Hauch der Grufte 
 Steigt nicht hinauf, in die reinen Lufte. 
 
 That means 
 
 On the mountain is Freedom ; the breath of the vales 
 Rises not up to the pure mountain gales. 
 
 East Tennessee has been sometimes called the 
 Switzerland of America, and certainly there are 
 
26 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 strong resemblances between the two countries. 
 They are unlike in that the former is wanting in 
 the lake feature that distinguishes Switzerland. 
 East Tennessee, however, abounds wonderfully in 
 natural springs of pure and limpid water, and has 
 a multitude of creeks and rivers. Some of these 
 last bear euphonious names, as Watauga, Nola- 
 chucky, Tellico, Hiwassee and Tennessee. The 
 climatic advantages of the region result, partly, at 
 least, from its having a Southern location and a 
 Northern elevation peculiarities which a Swiss 
 gentleman who visited it thirty years ago, in ful 
 fillment of his long cherished desire, was quick to 
 observe. 
 
 Following the first immigrants to the region, 
 who were from Virginia and North Carolina, and 
 among whom were some of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
 others came, particularly to the county seats, di 
 rectly from the north of Ireland ; but the great 
 majority of the settlers were of American birth 
 hardy and adventurous spirits, in great variety, 
 such as are apt to seek a frontier life. 
 
 In the valleys and along the highways and rivers 
 have always been much intelligence and moral 
 worth, with admixtures, -as elsewhere found, of 
 ignorance and vice. Sufficient public schools have 
 been sadly wanting in former years; yet education, 
 by which comparatively few profited, has been 
 esteemed and promoted in the Commonwealth 
 from its beginning. Three colleges were estab 
 lished in East Tennessee before the Territory be 
 came a State : one each in Washington, Greene 
 
INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 
 
 and Knox counties ; and soon after this century 
 began, county academies were chartered through 
 out the State. 
 
 At first the Presbyterian Church existed almost 
 if not altogether alone, but before long it was suc 
 ceeded by Methodist and Baptist churches. * 
 
 Accustomed as have been the people of the more 
 mountainous counties to ruder modes of living and 
 narrower means of education, their social condition 
 is freer, even from healthy restraints. They are 
 gifted with good natural qualities, but these have 
 not been always cultivated to the repression of 
 other traits and tendencies. They are brave, but 
 many of them are liable to needless tests of per 
 sonal valor ; independent, but prone to notions of 
 individual liberty inconsistent with right ideas of 
 law and order ; social, but inclined to promote 
 good cheer by artificial means of excitement. 
 
 In 1848 a recent diplomatic agent of the United 
 States in Indiaf found his way to this very se 
 cluded region, seeking, under the pressure of severe 
 domestic bereavement, to " get rid of himself." 
 He succeeded in doing so by dwelling for the win 
 ter at the southern base of the Cumberland Mount 
 ains. Afterwards he ascribed to the highlanders 
 among whom he hibernated, three favorite sources 
 of excitement, namely, political stump-speakings, 
 religious camp-meetings, and home-made liquors. 
 An unlearned population, far removed from the 
 world and its thoroughfares, they highly prize their 
 
 * See Appendix: Note A. f Mr. Balestier. 
 
28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 
 
 right of suffrage to make legislatures and judges, 
 members of congress, governors and presidents. 
 Their religious instinct, once awakened, is quick 
 to respond to fervent preaching that is sustained 
 by stirring devotional songs. Their animal spirits 
 are apt to be depressed by the monotony of their 
 daily life, and the juice of Indian corn gives relief. 54 
 That corn is the grain that is chiefly grown in the 
 highlands. Its meal and the salted flesh of hogs 
 are principally their food. Eager candidates for 
 office supply them with mental aliment at heated 
 discussions pending the elections, and the result is 
 that although many of them are without the 
 knowledge acquired at school, all of them are 
 informed concerning questions of public policy. 
 Probably no people of equal numbers can be found 
 in the land who excel those of East Tennessee in 
 acquaintance with current politics. It is to be con 
 fessed that more than a few of the mountaineers 
 are deficient in historical lore. Certain great 
 events of the Nation s earlier life, whose results 
 they have exaggerated, have a firm lodgment in 
 their minds, but lie there unqualified by knowledge 
 of later occurrences. An anecdote related by 
 John Mitchell will illustrate. 
 
 Scarcely had the United States diplomatic agent 
 just now spoken of, departed upon an Oriental 
 mission, when the weary Irish patriot arrived from 
 Australia, in this isolated region. He, too, sought 
 retirement, and in Tuckaleechee Cove, near the 
 
 * In 1887 East Tennessee voted in favor of a State prohibition law by a ma 
 jority of nearly 13,000. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 Smoky Mountains, he found it, with his family. 
 One day some of the neighbors met together, after 
 the not unfrequent idling custom of men in the 
 mountains perhaps for friendly gossip, or to shoot 
 at a mark in rivalry of skill for a prize. One 
 said : 
 
 " Who is this stranger, anyhow ? He don t do 
 nuthin only him and his son go fishin and shootin V 
 
 " O," another replied, " don t you know who 
 that is ? That s John Mitchell, the exile of the 
 British Government." 
 
 " British Government indeed ! " said the first 
 speaker. " I thought we had whipp d that con- 
 sarn out long ago." * 
 
 One virtue obtains almost universally among the 
 people of East Tennessee that of hospitality. It 
 has to some extent diminished in the valleys, where 
 the inhabitants live as did their ancestors from 
 plentiful tables and various dishes, but where, since 
 the war ended, the increase of travel and of com 
 mercial intercourse with other parts of the country 
 have checked generosity and enlarged prudence. 
 \et it has lost none of its olden-time proportions 
 in the mountains, where the table lacks nothing in 
 abundance but a good deal in variety ; where the 
 narrow range of habitual diet affords small oppor 
 tunity for skill in cookery, and even that opportu 
 nity has not been improved. There the signs of 
 an advanced civilization the steam-engine, the 
 telegraph and the telephone have never invaded 
 the air with whistle or wires ; but the stranger will 
 
 * The mountaineers are innocent of the dialect given them in recent novels. 
 
3 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be kindly entertained for the night at little or no 
 charge, and probably when he departs in the morn 
 ing, will be cheered on his way by the expressed 
 hope of his host that he will come again. Not 
 that the landlord thinks money js worthless. For 
 he and his countrymen are sharp traders. With 
 out adventuring at the start upon fixed sums, they 
 " beat about the bush " to find out how much can 
 be had or how little be paid by them, and both 
 buyer and seller are wide awake to " get the best 
 of the bargain." They also know points of law, 
 and are unduly given to litigation in defense of 
 their real or supposed rights. 
 
 Slavery, even in the modified, domestic garb it 
 wore among them, had a depressing, degrading 
 influence upon the white common laborers. This 
 was more obviously so with the several thousands 
 of inert, improvident people, such as are to be 
 found more or less in all regions, but who are apt 
 to be more numerous where the climate is genial 
 and a few acres of land with a poor tenement can 
 be cheaply rented. These led an Arab sort of life, 
 living in a log cabin and growing a crop of corn, 
 then, not " folding their tents," but packing up their 
 " plunder" the synonym for household goods 
 and flitting away with their children and dogs to a 
 cabin of another proprietor. For this class, who 
 lived " from hand to mouth," and whose content 
 ment was partly due to the fact that their covet- 
 ousness had no incitements to indulgence, the ne 
 groes of substantial families had an unconcealed 
 contempt. Another and better class consisted 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 l 
 
 more numerously of diligent and thrifty farming 
 people. In them slavery induced, by some subtle, 
 indefinable influence, an industrial languor. It ap 
 proximated them to the slaves, despite their differ 
 ence in color and personal relation to the masters ; 
 and it barred their way to improvement of condi 
 tion, by pushing them as tenants from the more 
 fertile acres which the slaves tilled, to the thin soil 
 of the hillsides. Now, under the reign of free 
 dom, these small but industrious farmers have 
 access by lease to the richer lands. 
 
 The mountaineers, strictly speaking, felt no con 
 cern about the institution of slavery itself, and 
 knew but little. Here and there among them were 
 men of competent means, some of whom owned a 
 few negroes. Generally they looked upon slavery 
 as something foreign to their social life, but they 
 had no imperative, philanthropic impulses to con 
 tend against it. They would have been displeased 
 at its coming near their homes in the imperious 
 majesty it wore in the cotton States. At the same 
 time they were satisfied to let men of the South 
 keep serfs at pleasure, but they counted it no bus 
 iness of theirs to help in the work; If the perpe 
 tuity of the Union or that of slavery were the 
 question at issue, they would have no hesitation in 
 deciding. Let slavery perish and the Union live. 
 Yes ! the Union the Government handed down 
 to them from Washington and his compatriots ! 
 // must survive. For it they would fight, and, if 
 necessary, die. 
 
 While the men high up on the hills had no phil- 
 
32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 osophic reflections nor any humanitarian hate to 
 wards slavery, a strong aversion to it had been 
 manifested from an early period by some men of 
 the valleys. " A powerful appeal for the abolition 
 of slavery" was published as a communication in 
 the Knoxville Gazette, 1797. It called a meeting 
 of the citizens of East Tennessee at a town in 
 Washington County, March, 1797, to form a Man 
 umission Society. The communication bears in 
 ternal evidence of having been written by a mem 
 ber of the Society of Friends. Not then, but in 
 1815 the proposed society was organized. 55 The 
 Rev. John Rankin, born February 4, 1793, Jeffer 
 son County, East Tennessee, graduated at Wash 
 ington College, was ordained a Presbyterian min 
 ister, but having imbibed anti-slavery sentiments 
 from his mother in Rockbridge County, Virginia, 
 he removed his residence from Tennessee to a free 
 State and became a leading abolitionist. Before 
 his recent death at the advanced age of nearly 
 ninety years, at Ironton, Ohio, he gave authority to 
 the statement that " the sentiment of abolitionism 
 originated in Tennessee about 1814, there being 
 then an anti-slavery society in Jefferson County, 
 East Tennessee.f The Manumission Society first 
 mentioned, prosecuted its work diligently for years. 
 In March, 1819," 2T40 Ma num iss ion Intelligencer" 
 a weekly newspaper, was issued at Jonesboro, and 
 its publication gave place, the year following, to 
 
 * Moses White, Esq., in an address to the Tennessee Press Association, has 
 made these historical statements. 
 
 {See letter of " Gath " (George Francis Townsend) Cincinnati Enquirer, 
 September, 1885. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 33 
 
 "The Emancipator" monthly, by Elijah Embree, 
 one of two brothers, Friends, from Pennsylvania, 
 who manufactured iron near Elizabethton. On 
 his death, it was succeeded by " The Genius of 
 Universal Emancipation" at Greeneville, pub 
 lished by Benjamin Lundy, a Friend, from New 
 Jersey. It lived until 1824. 
 
 After that date, the sentiment of aversion to 
 slavery survived and in various ways was mani 
 fested, and although it was eventually counteracted 
 by the political strife which grew out of the sub 
 ject, it never ceased to exist firmly in many minds. 
 A home in the great valley of East Tennessee was 
 not formerly adapted to the cultivation of pro- 
 slavery sympathies in persons of humane disposition 
 and healthy sensibilities. For along the highway 
 through that valley, slave-dealers transported ne 
 groes whom they had bought in Virginia and in 
 tended to sell in Southwestern States. The sales 
 of these unfortunates, often because of their mas 
 ters necessities, had in some instances separated 
 families : and lest the men, moved by sorrow over 
 the disruption, by aversion to their destined mar 
 ket, or by desire for freedom, should escape on .the 
 way, the dealers fettered them two and two to a 
 strong chain running lengthwise between. It was 
 pathetic to see them march, thus bound, through 
 the towns, and to hear their melodious voices in 
 plaintive singing as they went. By-standers then 
 saw slavery without the disguise, with which Lau 
 rence Sterne pronounced it " still a bitter draught," 
 and the spectacle was apt to create or strengthen 
 
34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 antipathy to the institution in unbiased minds. 
 Knoxville, the central town of this entire region, 
 stands on the northern bank of the Tennessee 
 River, four miles below the junction of the Holston 
 and French Broad rivers, which rise, the first in 
 Virginia and the second in North Carolina. From 
 
 o 
 
 1792 to 1796 it was the capital of the "Territory 
 south of the river Ohio," and from 1796 to 1816, 
 that of the State of Tennessee. Its society had at 
 that time a relative distinction for character and 
 influence which it has never lost In 1865 the 
 town received a strong impulse to growth, from 
 which its population in 1870 was 8,682, in 1880 it 
 was 9,693, and in 1886 it was about 30,000. The 
 great, and of late, rapid increase is largely owing 
 to immigration from Northern States. Thrifty and 
 enterprising new-comers have added in a marked 
 degree to the trade and prosperity of the place. 
 Like results have followed more or less through 
 out East Tennessee, especially at Chattanooga, 
 since the war disclosed the natural advantages of 
 the whole region to the knowledge of the world 
 outside of it. So obvious are the benefits that will 
 accrue to it from worthy immigrants, that even 
 the most zealous sectionalists have yielded their 
 prejudices so far as to give even "Yankees" not 
 only a welcome, but an invitation to dwell in the 
 land. 
 
 Lloyd P. Smith and Frederick Collins, of Phila 
 delphia, visited the region in March, 1864, upon a 
 benevolent errand. In their published report of 
 the visit they said : " The existing war is clearly 
 
LLOYD P. SMITH. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 35 
 
 destined to introduce Northern men, Northern 
 ideas and Northern enterprise into the border 
 States, and, as our military lines advance, through 
 out the whole South. * * * East Tennessee, 
 with its fertile lands, its rich mines and valuable 
 water-power, presents a fine field for the applica 
 tion of Northern labor and capital ; and when this 
 calamity is overpast, and a direct railroad commu 
 nication with the North is secured, it will prosper 
 as never before. Especially will this be the case 
 when the incubus of slavery is thrown off." These 
 words are now in a measure fulfilled prophecy. 
 
 Topographically, East Tennessee is at the very 
 heart of the Atlantic States. It has been observed 
 that " Knoxville is the exact geographical center 
 of the eastern half of the United States : the cor 
 ners of the eastern half being Eastport in Maine, 
 Key West in Florida, the mouth of the Rio Grande 
 in Texas, and a point in Lake Superior on the 
 northwest boundary (water or lake) line of Mich 
 igan. The point is north of Isle Royal in the 
 lake. The opposite sides of the figure formed by 
 lines drawn from and to these corners are respect 
 ively parallel and equal, and its diagonals intersect 
 at Knoxville. The more exact the map, the more 
 exactly is Knoxville found to be at the point of 
 intersection." * 
 
 * Hon. Henry R. Gibson. 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS 
 OF TENNESSEE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY THE FRONTIER PATRIOTIC 
 SPIRIT CALL TO ARMS MARCH TO BAT 
 TLE. 
 
 " Men who their duties know, 
 But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain ; 
 
 ******** 
 
 These constitute a State." 
 
 SIR WILLIAM JONES. 
 
 hardy and brave settlers on the Watauga, 
 1 Holston and Nolachucky rivers, among lofty 
 mountains, dwelt in such peace as their savage 
 neighbors permitted, and in contentment with their 
 great distance from the busy world. Having 
 leased the territory from the Indians, they pro 
 ceeded to organize the 
 
 FIRST REPUBLIC EVER FORMED IN AMERICA. 
 
 There was no established government of any 
 kind within their reach, whose protection they 
 
3 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 could enjoy while they owned its authority. 
 Therefore, under the pressure of a civil necessity, 
 they met in convention, entered into a written as 
 sociation, prescribed laws and elected commission 
 ers for the administration of justice and the con 
 duct of public affairs. Their commonwealth ex 
 isted for several years. 
 
 In 1774 the Shawnees and other Indian tribes 
 assailed the western frontier of Virginia. Lord 
 Dunmore, Governor of that State, called for vol 
 unteers to resist the invasion, and of those enlisted 
 from southwestern counties of the colony, a regi 
 ment under Col. Christian assembled at New River. 
 To it a company of more than fifty men from Sul 
 livan and Carter counties (East Tennessee), com 
 manded by Capt. Evan Shelby, joined themselves, 
 and with it went to Greenbrier, where Gen. Lewis, 
 commander in chief, assembled his forces. From 
 there the army marched with difficulty for twenty- 
 five days through the wilderness, along the rugged 
 banks of the Kanawha River, to Point Pleasant on 
 the Ohio. Two of Capt. Shelby s men were in 
 strumental in preventing the Indians, before day 
 on the loth of October, from surprising and prob 
 ably overthrowing the army of Gen. Lewis. In 
 the hotly contested battle which immediately fol 
 lowed, some of the same company dislodged a 
 body of the savages from an important vantage 
 ground, and thus ensured victory to the Americans. 
 The defeat of the Indians was so complete that 
 they were subdued into a peace which lasted for 
 two years. Judge Haywood, in commenting upon 
 
PATRIOTIC SPIRIT. 39 
 
 the unexpected discovery of the enemy by men 
 from East Tennessee, to the salvation of the whole 
 army of the provincials, remarks : " Thus it has 
 happened that East Tennessee, in the earliest 
 stages of her infancy, has been called on to con 
 tribute all in her power to the common defense, 
 and seems to have been made much less for her 
 self than for the protection of her neighbors." 
 
 In the resistance made by the American Colonies 
 to the Government of Great Britain, these settlers 
 early expressed their sympathy. Important events 
 touching the welfare of a people may be remotely 
 separated in space while they are closely related 
 in time. On the fifth day of September, 1774, 
 when the army of Gen. Lewis at Greenbrier was 
 about starting on its hard march down the Ka- 
 nawha River, to win a victory that would compel 
 the Indians into peace, the first Continental Con 
 gress met in Philadelphia, to deliberate for the lib 
 erty and welfare of the American people. The 
 King of Great Britain rejected the offers of that 
 Congress. The British Parliament met in Novem 
 ber, and again after the holidays. The twentieth 
 day of January was the first day of the session in 
 the House of Lords. On the very same day the 
 men of the settlements beyond the Alleghanies, 
 where the Watauga and the Holston flow to the 
 Tennessee, united with the men of the southwest 
 ern corner of Virginia in council near Abingdon. 
 On hearing what Congress had done, they unani 
 mously declared their adhesion to it. To the Vir 
 ginia delegates in Congress they wrote : 
 
4 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 " We explored our uncultivated wilderness, bor 
 dering on many nations of savages, and surrounded 
 by mountains almost inaccessible to any but these 
 savages. But even to these remote regions the 
 hand of power hath pursued us, to strip us of that 
 liberty and property with which God, nature and 
 the rights of humanity have vested us. We are 
 willing to contribute all in our power, if applied to 
 constitutionally, but cannot think of submitting our 
 liberty or property to a venal British Parliament or 
 a corrupt ministry. We are deliberately and res 
 olutely determined never to surrender any of our 
 inestimable privileges to any power upon earth, 
 but at the expense of our lives. These are our 
 real though unpolished sentiments of liberty and 
 loyalty, and in them we are resolved to live and 
 die." 
 
 The War of the American Revolution began at 
 Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775 (on the an 
 niversary of which day, eighty-six years afterwards, 
 was the fight at Baltimore). In describing the 
 swift travel of the war message from Massachu 
 setts throughout the Colonies, the historian Ban 
 croft represents it as overleaping bays and rivers 
 and the Dismal Swamp, passing through pines and 
 palmettoes, and transcending hills and mountains. 
 "The Blue Ridge took up the voice and made it 
 heard from one end to the other of the valley of 
 Virginia." And westward still : " The Allegha- 
 nies, as they listened, opened their barriers that the 
 c loud call might pass through to the hardy rifle 
 men on the Holston, the Watauga and the French 
 
PATRIOTIC SPIRIT. 4 1 
 
 Broad," who, for some years after the beginning 
 of the war, knew that it was going on, but the 
 scenes of its battles were far removed from their 
 secluded homes. The echoes of their wooded 
 hills were now and then awakened by the notes of 
 the " spirit-stirring drum and ear-piercing fife," but 
 never by any martial sounds from conflicts with 
 arms in the American Revolution. Georgia, in 
 1779, was brought into subjection to the King. 
 About a hundred patriots, led by Col. Clarke, had 
 fled to the mountaineers for refuge, and obtained 
 helpers in their conflict with the British, in order 
 to renew which, they returned home. Refugee 
 Whigs had also come from east of the Alleghanies 
 to the Washington District, into which North Car 
 olina in 1777 organized the Watauga and adjacent 
 settlements. The accounts given by all these of 
 the persecutions and cruelties inflicted by the Brit 
 ish and Tories, had moved the frontier men to 
 friendly sympathy with the sufferers, and to slum 
 bering wrath against the oppressors, and they only 
 needed opportunity to actively join their brethren 
 in the struggle of the Colonies for independence. 
 The summer of 1780 had opened, and that oppor 
 tunity was soon offered. 
 
 On the nth of May, Charleston was surrendered 
 by General Lincoln to Sir Henry Clinton. Shortly 
 afterwards the British power was so triumphantly 
 extended over South Carolina as to rally to its 
 support all timid, wavering and disaffected people. 
 North Carolina was in danger of being conquered. 
 Col. Ferguson, of the British army, was marching 
 
42 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 towards it and threatening it with invasion. Col. 
 Charles McDowell, temporarily chief commander 
 of the Whig forces in North Carolina, called on 
 Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby, of Wash 
 ington District, for help, "as soon as possible," 
 against the invader. They promptly responded, 
 and in July, Sevier, with two hundred mounted 
 riflemen from Washington County, and Shelby, 
 with an equal number from Sullivan County, 
 joined McDowell s camp on Broad River, South 
 Carolina. They did good service in several con 
 flicts with the enemy, in capturing the fort held 
 by Col. Moore on the Pacolet River and its garri 
 son, and in winning the battle at Musgrove s Mill, 
 where more than two hundred British prisoners 
 were taken. Upon the heels of this victory came 
 news to McDowell of Gen. Gates defeat at Cam- 
 den and Sumpter s disaster. This disheartened 
 the army; it was in a position of danger and 
 could only withdraw. So great indeed were its 
 apprehensions and sense of inability to hold its 
 own in the field, that it fairly dissolved. Shelby 
 and Sevier, with their regiments, returned at once 
 to their distant homes, yet ready of mind soon to 
 renew the warfare. Not long after, McDowell, 
 with a company of several hundred men, sought 
 refuge in the same hospitable region. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cornwallis, flushed with his victory 
 over Gates (August 16) at Camden, was eager for 
 other triumphs, and by his direction Ferguson and 
 his troops pressed their way up to the present 
 Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The result was to 
 
CALL TO ARMS. 43 
 
 encourage the Tory inhabitants and rally them to his 
 support. Already, to his displeasure, the moun 
 taineers had given him lessons of their prowess in 
 battle. In September he sent a message to the 
 officers on the western rivers that " if they did not 
 quit their opposition to the British Government, 
 he would march over the mountains, hang their 
 leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and 
 sword." This fierce missive did not frighten or 
 deter those to whom it went. It rather incited 
 them to hostile action. The presence in their 
 country of refugee Whigs, some of whom had but 
 recently arrived, was a constant reminder of the 
 bitter and relentless hate of their enemies, that 
 provoked them to sturdy resistance. Their patri 
 otic spirits only needed an incentive to go forth to 
 war, and Ferguson s threat furnished it. Col. 
 Shelby, on receiving it, immediately rode fifty miles 
 to confer with Col. Sevier. They determined to 
 anticipate Ferguson, to call their riflemen to arms 
 and march unexpectedly upon his camp. Col, 
 Wm. Campbell, of Washington County, Virginia, 
 near by, was asked and consented to join the expe 
 dition. Sycamore Shoals, Carter County, Tennes 
 see, was chosen as the place, and September 25, as 
 the time, for assembling the forces. On the ap 
 pointed day, one thousand and forty men met at 
 the Watauga River, armed with Deckard rifles 
 many of them with their feet in moccasins. Offi 
 cers and men wore hunting-shirts ; every soldier 
 had a shot-pouch, knife, tomahawk, knapsack and 
 blanket. Four hundred men under Campbell were 
 
44 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 from Washington County, Virginia, two hundred 
 and forty under Shelby were from Sullivan County, 
 North Carolina, and the same number under Se- 
 vier, from Washington County, North Carolina. 
 One hundred and more, under Col. McDowell, 
 were exiles from east of the Alleghanies. 
 
 The scene was picturesque in its natural features. 
 In the valley and on the surrounding hills the thick 
 woods were no longer dressed in summer green. 
 Their leaves, touched by the first frosts, had begun 
 to put on their autumnal coats of yellow, orange 
 and red, mingled with the perpetual verdure of 
 cedars and pines. In the midst stood a thousand 
 men in simple, homely attire. They were healthy, 
 because of the pure, tonic air they breathed 
 strong, by physical exercise among the hills alert, 
 by living in dangers from savage foes equipped 
 with guns, which their sharp eyes and skillful fin 
 gers made sure of aim and deadly in effect. Alto 
 gether, there were plentiful materials present for 
 the pencil of an artist. The patriotic enthusiasm 
 that filled the hearts of the gathered mountaineers, 
 in harmony with the natural surroundings, gave a 
 nobility to the scene that could not be portrayed 
 on canvas or described but imperfectly in verse. 
 
 They who led in the enterprise had reverence of 
 mind. It was a bold undertaking for a body of 
 raw militia to encounter trained and tried soldiers 
 in deadly fray, but their trust was not chiefly in 
 themselves. There were Scotch-Irish Presbyteri 
 ans among them who had strong faith in God, and 
 the influence of their teaching and life had been felt 
 
MARCH TO BATTLE. 45 
 
 by other settlers. Before the march began, prayer 
 was offered by the Rev. Samuel Doak to Him who 
 is supreme in heaven and earth. The minister 
 associated the occasion and its purpose with the 
 wars of Israel, under a departed dispensation of 
 religion. One historian relates that the petitions 
 were " accompanied with a few stirring remarks 
 befitting the occasion, closing with the Bible quo 
 tation, the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, 
 when the sturdy Scotch-Irish Presbyterians around 
 him, clothed in their tidy hunting-shirts and lean 
 ing upon their rifles in an attitude of respectful 
 attention, shouted in patriotic acclaim: The sword 
 of the Lord and of our Gideons ! : 
 
 Buoyant with hope of triumph they went for 
 ward : on over the Little Doe and Big Doe rivers, 
 then through a gap between the Yellow and the 
 Roan mountains, then down along Roaring Creek 
 and Big Toe River, following ravines, over stony 
 ground. All around them from the start, the 
 mountains stood, sublime in grandeur, one, not 
 far distant, higher than any other in the Atlantic 
 States, and mountains were ahead of them. On 
 they went, through the Blue Ridge at Gillespie s 
 Gap, then over Silver and Linville mountains to 
 the Catawba River, along its bank and across 
 Linville River to Quaker Meadows. There Col. 
 Cleveland and Maj. Winston, with three hundred 
 and fifty North Carolinians, joined them. 
 
 When encamped in the gap at South Mountain, 
 
 * "History of the Battle of King s Mountain," by Dr. Lyman C. Draper: (the 
 fruit of laborious historical research, and exhaustive of its subject.) 
 
4-6 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 they supposed Ferguson to be at Gilbert-town, 
 about eighteen miles distant, and for the impending 
 conflict with him, it was needful they should have 
 a commander. Who should it be ? Their choice 
 fell upon Col. Campbell, who had the largest regi 
 ment. Cleveland, McDowell and Shelby encour 
 aged the men in brief and pithy words, and every 
 one unwilling to go into battle was allowed to 
 withdraw, but no one left. The march was re 
 sumed. They soon learned that the enemy had 
 retreated. 
 
 On top of the Yellow Mountain, the second 
 night after leaving Watauga River, two men had 
 deserted from Sevier s regiment, and carried word 
 to Ferguson that the mountaineers were advancing. 
 He was alarmed, because, not only that he knew 
 their mettle in fight, but that he had furloughed 
 many Tory soldiers to visit their homes. Three 
 days before, he had changed his camp a short dis 
 tance (from Gilbert-town to Green River), in the 
 hope of capturing Col. Clarke and his men, on 
 their way from Georgia to Nolachucky. Quickly, 
 upon learning that " the Back-water men," as he 
 called them, were on the way to assail him, he 
 sent word (September 30) to Lord Cornwallis, 
 sixty miles distant, whom the message did not 
 reach for a week. To the British commander at 
 Ninety-Six he also wrote for reinforcements, which 
 could not be given. In beginning to retreat, he 
 went, not towards Charlotte, Cornwallis head 
 quarters, but southward, as if his destination 
 were, as he said it was, Ninety-Six ; and by this 
 
MARCH TO BATTLE. 47 
 
 attempt to deceive, revealed his sense of danger. 
 
 Military prudence required that he should call 
 the Tories to his help. Accordingly, on the second 
 day of the retreat, there went out from his camp 
 a circular to " the inhabitants of North Carolina," 
 in which he described the on-coming descent of 
 Whigs from the hills as "an inundation of barba 
 rians." " If you wish," he said, " to be pinioned, 
 robbed, and murdered * * * by the dregs of 
 mankind ; * * * if you wish or deserve to 
 live and bear the name of men, grasp your arms in 
 a moment and run to camp. The Backwater men 
 have crossed the mountains. McDowell, Hampton, 
 Shelby and Cleveland are at their head, so that 
 you know what you have to depend upon. If you 
 choose to be degraded forever and ever by a set 
 of mongrels, say so at once, and let your women 
 turn their backs upon you and look out for real 
 men to protect them." 
 
 The next day, changing the direction of retreat, 
 he went a few miles, watched all night for an 
 attack, then marched twenty miles and halted 
 forty-eight hours, with only thirty-five miles be 
 tween him and Cornwallis. In a dispatch to that 
 General, he spoke of his enemy as " of some con 
 sequence" by reinforcements, and of his hopeful 
 ness, yet doubt, of success. "Three or four hun 
 dred good soldiers part dragoons," he said, 
 " would finish the business. Something must be 
 done soon." Sixteen miles more of travel brought 
 him to King s Mountain, a ridge sixty feet high, 
 six hundred yards long by two hundred and fifty 
 
48 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEEES. 
 
 wide at its base, and from sixty to one hundred 
 yards wide on top. Upon it he encamped, Octo 
 ber the sixth. Without fortifying the position, he 
 expressed entire confidence in maintaining it. 
 Several Whig leaders in their narratives attribute 
 sayings to him on the subject that are boastful and 
 blasphemous. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY THE PURSUIT THE BATTLE 
 THE VICTORY. 
 
 "Hark to the trump and the drum, 
 And the mournful sound of the barbarous horn, 
 And the flap of the banners that flit as they re borne, 
 And the neigh of the steed, and the multitude s hum, 
 And the clash, and the shout, They come! they come! " 
 
 LORD BYRON. 
 
 T^ERGUSON S foes heard, on October 4, of his 
 . retreat, but were doubtful of its direction. 
 Following his footsteps, they made little progress 
 that day, for men and horses were weary. Maj. 
 Candler, with thirty of Clarke s refugees from 
 Georgia, joined them ; also, in the march on the 
 5th, Maj. Chronicle, with twenty men from the 
 Catawba River. Col. Lacey arrived that night at 
 their camp on Green River, from an encampment 
 of four hundred and thirty Whigs, in Rutherford 
 County, two hundred and seventy of whom were 
 South Carolinians under Colonels Lacey and Hill, 
 and one hundred and sixty were North Carolinians 
 one hundred commanded by Col. Williams, and 
 sixty by Colonels Graham and Hambright. Lacey 
 gave the mountaineers definite information con 
 cerning Ferguson, and it was agreed that they and 
 the forces Lacey represented should meet at the 
 
5 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Cowpens and combine. The same night, about 
 seven hundred of the troops commanded by Col. 
 Campbell and his compatriots, whose horses were 
 in condition for rapid movement were selected, 
 and on the next day they marched to the Cowpens? 
 leaving seven hundred men under command of 
 Maj. Herndon to follow more slowly. 
 
 At the Cowpens, a junction of forces as pre 
 arranged was made. The four hundred and thirty 
 soldiers commanded by Lacey and others, were 
 reduced by selection to two hundred and ten. 
 These made the whole body of chosen cavalry, 
 nine hundred and ten. At 9 P. M. October 6, they 
 started and rode all night in a drizzling, rain to 
 overtake Ferguson, whose army, as a spy informed 
 them, numbered fifteen hundred men. With the 
 return of daylight, they made better speed, but 
 still the rain fell and they could scarcely keep their 
 guns dry. They forded the deep waters of Broad 
 River at sunrise, halted a few minutes to breakfast 
 from the scanty food they carried, and would have 
 halted at noon, because of the stormy weather and 
 their fatigue. Campbell, Sevier and Cleveland 
 proposed to do so, but Shelby, with profane words, 
 refused. He would brook no delay until night fell 
 or Ferguson was found. A scout who had visited 
 a Tory family, disguised as " a true King s man," 
 brought them word that the British army was 
 posted on King s Mountain. When within a few 
 miles of it, they captured from a courier a dispatch 
 sent by Ferguson to Cornwallis, calling for help 
 by reinforcement and declaring his purpose against 
 
THE BATTLE. SI 
 
 the rebels in very uncourteous and profane lan 
 guage. It was told to the American troops, and 
 only quickened their speed. With galloping horses 
 they went forward in sight of the enemy s camp. 
 
 It was early in the afternoon of the seventh of 
 October, 1780. The rain had ceased and the 
 clouds were rolling away before the bright shining 
 of the sun. This was auspicious. These plain 
 men from west of the Alleghanies may not have 
 understood how critical was that hour of the 
 American Revolution, even as well as did the har 
 ried Whigs from the Carolinas who were their 
 companions in arms ; but they were wide awake 
 to the value of the rights for which their country 
 men contended, and of the opportunity at hand 
 to help them. Not one of those who were about 
 to go into battle for the. Colonies saw, as the men 
 of to-day can see, along with the greatness of the 
 danger to the struggle for American independence, 
 the important consequences of their own heroic 
 conduct. Men engaged in war are intent upon 
 present deeds rather than thoughtful of future 
 results. 
 
 That day s conflict would roll away the clouds 
 that filled the civil and political sky of the Colonies, 
 or would make them darker and thicker. As that 
 day went, would go the destiny, not only of the 
 infant Republic, but with it, that of hundreds of 
 millions of the human race. The battle might 
 close the door or open it to " a Government of the 
 people, by the people, and for the people," on a 
 mighty continent, where families of every nation 
 
52 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and language should dwell in the faith of Christ 
 and brotherly love. O, men of the hills, where 
 freedom always has a home, be brave of heart and 
 firm of hand, in the presence of such a grand pos 
 sibility ! And those plain, hunting-shirted riflemen 
 were not afraid. Therefore they shall be honored 
 by all people of right mind and true heart until 
 time ends. 
 
 Dismounted from their horses, they formed for 
 battle in four columns around the mountain. Two 
 columns were on the right one, Campbell s regi 
 ment of Virginians, and the other, Sevier s regi 
 ment, with McDowell s and Winston s battalions. 
 Two columns were on the left one composed of 
 Shelby s regiment and Williams command; the 
 other of North Carolinians, under Cleveland, 
 Chronicle and Hambright, and of South Caroli 
 nians, under Lacey and others. The chief officers 
 briefly exhorted their men to do valiantly. Camp 
 bell, addressing each corps in turn, told those who 
 were afraid to stand back, but no one moved. In 
 stead, men threw their hats into the air and wrap 
 ped their heads tightly in handkerchiefs, that their 
 quick step through the woods might be easier. 
 Up the mountain sides they went, in the face of 
 an equal and boastful foe. 
 
 And now, the red-haired Campbell begins the 
 attack, moving over the roughest ground. The 
 shouts of his men swell on the air. Shelby s 
 troops respond, and then others, until the whole 
 mountain is enveloped in sound. Ferguson and 
 his second, Capt. De Peyster,* hear the outcries. 
 
 * Dr. Ramsey writes, " Dupoister." 1 
 
THE VICTORY. S3 
 
 Ferguson s mind is touched with fear of defeat. 
 De Peyster says, "These things are ominous."" 
 Soon, Campbell, nearly at the hill-top, opens a 
 deadly fire, and quickly the shrill notes of Fergu 
 son s whistle, inciting the British to battle, mingle 
 with the roll of his drums. Campbell is forced to 
 retreat down the mountain to its very foot, so 
 fierce is the bayonet charge of regulars and Tories. 
 But he rallies his men and again they ascend, driv 
 ing back their enemy. Lacey and Hill, with their 
 troops, join in the conflict. The left center, under 
 Shelby, is almost to the summit, and pours hot 
 volleys through the slight defences, putting Fergu 
 son s person in danger. De Peyster confronts the 
 assailants, charges them with bayonets, and Shelby 
 also is compelled down the mountain. Back from 
 successful repulse of his foes, De Peyster returns 
 to repel the "brave and gentle Cleveland," Chron 
 icle and Hambright. Chronicle is slain, and Will 
 iams dies, fighting bravely. Meanwhile, Campbell, 
 McDowell and Shelby, on the other side of the 
 mountain are again ascending, in conflict with Tory 
 riflemen, shouting, "Huzza, boys!" as they ad 
 vance. Sevier has gained the hill-top. He presses 
 the British center, and is charged by the regulars 
 but holds his ground. As the combat deepens 
 about him, Campbell and Shelby have won to the 
 summit. Then all the contending forces are face 
 to face, and there is a general melee firing with 
 guns and charging with bayonets. Bailie Peyton 
 says that at the first of the conflict " the mountain 
 appeared volcanic ; there flashed along its summit 
 
54 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and around its base and up its sides one long sul 
 phurous blaze." Judge Haywood says that at a 
 later moment "the mountain was covered with 
 flame and smoke, and seemed to thunder." 
 
 Soon the end of the battle is at hand, and all is 
 a more violent storm of strife and tumult, freighted 
 with wounds and death. Ferguson is in the midst 
 of it, calmly courageous but restlessly active. He 
 is here and there all over the field wounded in 
 his right hand, but heedless of personal danger 
 giving courage to others as he goes, and bearing 
 the silver whistle, whose sharp sound quickens his 
 men s pulses to the fray. He orders the cavalry 
 into action and his regulars to charge, but at last, 
 in vain. The Americans press him on all sides 
 into ever narrowing limits. A white flag goes up 
 from the Tories and he pulls it down. Another is 
 raised at a distance, and quickly he is there to level 
 it with the dust. A surrender is suggested to him 
 by friends, repeatedly, but he will not listen to it. 
 He TV ill not give up his sword to men whom, with 
 a curse, he calls "banditti" : but he will escape by 
 cutting his way through the hostile ranks with a 
 sword in his left hand. Two officers join him in 
 the attempt. Dashing at a weaker point in the 
 Whig lines, he strikes with his sword until it is 
 broken, and falls, pierced with bullets. Instantly 
 De Peyster surrenders. The battle is finished. It 
 was about an hour long. 
 
 In the confusion that followed, the Whigs ceased 
 not at once from firing. The British called for 
 quarter, but kept their weapons. The fearless 
 
THE VICTORY. 55 
 
 Shelby galloped up to their lines and commanded, 
 if they wanted quarter, to lay down their arms. 
 Perhaps animosity against the Tories would not 
 die in some Whigs as soon as white flags were 
 raised, for wars between neighbors are apt to be 
 next in bitterness to religious wars. Some allow 
 ance also is to be made for the difficulty of self- 
 restraint common to men in the heat of passion 
 and strife. Their destructive zeal is slow to abate. 
 Col. Campbell had to cry out to his men, " Don t 
 shoot !" " Cease firing !" and actively to promote 
 mercy ; but when De Peyster profanely com 
 plained to him of the unfairness, he declined with 
 dignity, to reply, except by ordering the prisoners 
 into position. The victory was complete. Of the 
 soldiers composing Ferguson s army, two-thirds 
 were prisoners and the other third were killed and 
 wounded in nearly equal numbers. Of the Amer 
 icans, twenty-eight were killed and sixty-two 
 wounded. Eight days after the battle the con 
 querors began their march westward. They had 
 received information, which proved untrue, that 
 Tarleton, a bold, skillful and ruthless British offi 
 cer, was advancing upon them. On the contrary? 
 Cornwallis and Tarleton were fleeing at the time 
 from Charlotte to South Carolina, in fear that the 
 mountaineers by thousands were about to assail 
 them. The intention and hope of the British com 
 mander to bring North Carolina, and then Virginia, 
 into like subjection with South Carolina and Geor 
 gia, were frustrated by the defeat of Ferguson. 
 It disheartened Tories who had openly taken sideg 
 
56 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 with the British, and deterred others from follow 
 ing their example. At the same time the victory 
 of the Whigs inspirited their friends everywhere. 
 Their revived faith in the final success of the Col 
 onies, moved them to more hopeful effort in its 
 behalf. 
 
 The up-rising of the mountaineers so sponta 
 neous and yet so deliberate their cheerful march 
 over natural difficulties, their eager and persever 
 ing pursuit of a formidable enemy, their well- 
 planned and swiftly executed attack on his chosen 
 ground all these combined, give their enterprise 
 a high place in military annals. Add to them the 
 great need at that time to the struggling Colonies 
 of the victory they won and its important good 
 results, and its title to the niche of fame it fills in 
 the temple of American history, cannot be im 
 peached. It turned the tide of battle. It led the 
 way to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 
 and then to peace with Great Britain. The 
 king and his counselors were already discouraged 
 by military reverses and tired of their vain efforts 
 for seven years to conquer. They were compelled 
 to acknowledge the independence of the United 
 States. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY MOUNTAINEERS DISSATISFIED 
 AN INDEPENDENT STATE CONFLICT OF AU 
 THORITIES. 
 
 "Hail sacred Polity, by Freedom rear d ! 
 Hail sacred Freedom, when by Law restrain d! 
 Without you what were man? A grovelling herd, 
 In darkness, wretchedness and want enchain d." 
 
 BEATTIE. 
 
 /~pHE early history of East Tennessee, like that 
 _L of all frontier regions of the United States in 
 their westward march to wider empire, has its ro 
 mantic and thrilling incidents of war with savages. 
 Those may here be fitly omitted, but there is one 
 episode in that history that should be briefly told. 
 For it throws light upon the character of the first 
 inhabitants, and so upon that, not only of their de 
 scendants, but also of the newer population, which 
 it is reasonable to suppose has been more or less 
 assimilated to the strong original type. 
 
 The State of Frankland or Franklin, as it is 
 differently called by the two historians of Tennes 
 see, Haywood and Ramsey, had a brief and troubled 
 life. Several causes co-operated to bring it 
 into being. One was the uncertain legislation of 
 North Carolina concerning its western lands, and 
 its insufficient regard, apparent or real, for the 
 
58 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 welfare of their inhabitants. A second cause lay 
 in the triumphant spirit of freedom and independ 
 ence cherished by the mountaineers when the war 
 of the American Revolution was over, and their 
 quickness to assert natural rights in the face of 
 presumed governmental neglect. 
 
 The people of North Carolina west of the Al- 
 leghanies were in frequent conflicts with the In 
 dians, but there was a difference in opinion as to 
 the payment by the State of the expenses incurred. 
 Mutual jealousies arose between the eastern and 
 western counties, followed by contention. 
 
 At length in May, 1783, North Carolina ceded 
 its western lands to the United States, provided 
 that Congress should accept the cession within 
 two years: until such acceptance the sovereignty 
 of the State in the premises being reserved. The 
 North Carolina Bill of Rights contained provision 
 for the formation of a new State from that terri 
 tory; and if its people, as they supposed, were to 
 be left during two years to depend upon them 
 selves for their protection and well-being, they 
 considered it a propitious time to establish an 
 independent State Government. The necessities 
 of their civil society seemed to demand it, for the 
 District of Washington was as yet without a Su 
 perior Court, and there was no existing law author 
 izing a call of the militia by its general to resist 
 the Indians, whose hostilities continued. In this 
 emergency a convention of delegates chosen by 
 the people of Sullivan, Washington and Greene 
 Counties, was held at Jonesboro, August 23, 1784, 
 
MOUNTAINEERS DISSATISFIED. 59 
 
 and formed an Association. It also declared the 
 disadvantages to those counties from union with 
 others more numerous and powerful east of the 
 mountains, and the benefits they would derive from 
 a separation. It provided for a delegate and me 
 morial to Congress, and for the detention of all 
 moneys collected by public officers " until some 
 mode be adopted and prescribed to have accounts 
 fairly and properly liquidated with the State of 
 North Carolina." The convention finally ad 
 journed to meet again at Jonesboro, which it did 
 in December of the same year, but before then 
 the Legislature of North Carolina met and re 
 pealed the Act ceding its western lands to the 
 United States, organized the counties established 
 on those lands into a new District, for which a 
 Superior Court should be held in Washington 
 County, and provided for it judicial officers, formed 
 the militia of the District into a brigade and ap 
 pointed Col. Sevier its general. These acts were 
 thought by that officer sufficient to redress the 
 grievances of the offended counties, and both by 
 speech and letter he endeavored to influence the 
 electors to desist from further measures looking to 
 a separation from North Carolina, but shortly he 
 was persuaded to a different mind. The election 
 of new delegates to a convention was completed, 
 and when assembled in December, it adopted a 
 State Constitution, subject to the will of its suc 
 cessor, to assemble in November, 1785; and also 
 ordered the election of a Legislature, which should 
 hold its first session early in the same year. The 
 
6o 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Legislature, upon convening, elected John Sevier 
 Governor, and other State officials, and through 
 the Speakers of its two Houses informed Governor 
 Martin of North Carolina that the inhabitants of 
 Sullivan, Washington and Greene Counties had 
 declared themselves independent of the authority 
 and government of the parent State. 
 
 To this communication Governor Martin replied 
 courteously but firmly, and at length. He argued 
 the fallacy or insufficiency of the reasons given by 
 the western people for their conduct. He empha 
 sized the facts, that the sovereignty of North Car 
 olina over the ceded territory had been reserved 
 until Congress should accept the gift, and that the 
 Legislature had subsequently repealed the Act of 
 cession. He affirmed that the good will of the 
 State to the disaffected counties, had been shown 
 by its recent ample provision for the regular ad 
 ministration of justice and the authoritative use of 
 the militia. He denied that goods to compensate 
 the Indians for their lands had been stopped by 
 the State on the way and that in consequence 
 murders had been committed by the savages. The 
 goods, he averred, had only been delayed, that 
 should the cession be accepted by Congress, they 
 might go under its regulations. With some elo 
 quence of words he exhorted all loyal citizens of 
 the western counties to be firm in their adherence 
 to the State he represented, and warned all per 
 sons concerned in the revolt who " had probably 
 been seduced from their just allegiance by ambi 
 tious and designing men," to refuse obedience any 
 
AN INDEPENDENT STATE. 6 1 
 
 longer to "the self-created power and authority 
 unknown to the Constitution of the State and 
 unsanctioned by the Legislature." The lessons 
 which history teaches concerning needless revolu 
 tions were referred to by him, and the reflection 
 advised that "there is a national pride in all king 
 doms and states which inspires every citizen and 
 subject with importance the grand cement and 
 support of government which must not be in 
 sulted." That insult he felt had been inflicted by 
 the w r estern counties; "the honor of the State 
 had been especially wounded" in their "prema 
 ture seizure by violence of that independence 
 which in time no doubt would have been granted 
 by consent." And he besought them "not to tar 
 nish the laurels they had won at King s Mountain 
 in supporting the independence of the United 
 States, by supporting a black and traitorous re 
 volt." 
 
 The circulation of this document strengthened 
 the wills of the friends of North Carolina and 
 increased their number among the western peo 
 ple, but the majority in the new State were un 
 moved from their previous purpose, and the 
 work of governmental organization went forward. 
 Courts and Magistrates were appointed and new 
 counties formed. Salaries were allotted to State 
 officials, to be paid in current money of Frank- 
 land, (six shillings to the dollar) or in specified 
 articles received from the people in payment of 
 taxes and at like rates of value. These miscel 
 laneous articles included "flax and tow linen, 
 
62 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 woolen and cotton linsey, beaver, otter, raccoon, 
 fox and deer skins, bacon, tallow and bees-wax, 
 rye whisky, peach and apple brandy, home-made 
 sugar and good tobacco." 
 
 The inchoate State gave due attention to its 
 relations with the Indians, and conducted all its 
 affairs without serious difficulty until near the 
 close of the year 1785. Before that time an 
 attempt was made in Washington County, Vir 
 ginia, to use the privilege accorded to its citizens 
 by the original Association of western counties, to 
 join the new Commonwealth,- but the movement 
 was speedily prevented by Patrick Henry, then 
 Governor of Virginia. The Convention of Frank- 
 land appointed to be held in November 1785, met 
 at Greeneville in that month, adopted a Constitu 
 tion like that of North Carolina, and sent a me 
 morial to Congress by William Cocke, Esq., which 
 was fruitless. Five days later the Legislature of 
 North Carolina convened and passed an Act de 
 clarative of its desire a to extend the blessings of 
 civil government to citizens of the western coun 
 ties until such time as they might be separated 
 with advantage and convenience to themselves," 
 and "to hear and redress their grievances." It 
 offered amnesty to all persons concerned in estab 
 lishing the State of Frankland who should renew 
 their allegiance to the State of North Carolina. 
 It provided for an election of members of the 
 General Assembly next succeeding, to be held in 
 the revolted counties, and also appointed civil and 
 military officers for those counties, who should 
 
CONFLICT OF AUTHORITIES. 63 
 
 supersede like officers of the State of Frankland. 
 Ever since the repeal by North Carolina of the 
 Act ceding its western lands to the United States, 
 there had been opposition to the new State among 
 its citizens. The two parties were now brought 
 into closer antagonism. Under the authority of 
 both rival governments, courts were held in the 
 same counties, different laws were enforced, taxes 
 levied and the militia called into service. Of 
 course it followed that mutual animosities grew 
 more intense, and practical collisions were fre 
 quent. On several occasions armed men of the 
 respective parties visited rooms where courts were 
 held by their adversaries ; violent seizures were 
 made of public records, and officers of the courts 
 turned out of doors. In one instance the papers 
 of a Frankland clerk having been forcibly abducted 
 by partisan friends of the parent State, they were 
 afterwards recaptured, and their official owner, to 
 secure their future safety, hid them in a cave. 
 These spoliations on both sides were more or less 
 disastrous to litigants and owners of real estate. 
 They also excited contentious followers of the two 
 governments beyond self-control, and their exas 
 perated feelings found vent at public meetings in 
 pugilistic encounters. The combatants did not so 
 far forget that they were neighbors, as do men at 
 this period of more advanced civilization, and re 
 sort to the use of deadly weapons. They con 
 tented themselves with fisticuffs as means of draw 
 ing blood. 
 
 Gen. John Sevier, Governor of Frankland, and 
 
64 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Col. John Tipton, Judge, by appointment of North 
 Carolina, were universally recognized as chief 
 champions of the two State sovereignties that 
 struggled for the supremacy. Even they were 
 once betrayed into a trial of personal prowess after 
 a primitive and comparatively harmless method. 
 In colloquy they were led into discussion upon the 
 exciting questions of the day and locality, then 
 into an exchange of angry words, and finally to 
 engage in pommeling each other with clenched 
 and ungloved hands, without important results. 
 The encounter, however, occurring as it did early 
 in the history of social alienations, served hurtfully 
 as an example that was abundantly imitated by 
 members of the chieftains families and by their 
 adherents. 
 
 Col. Tipton, at the election in Washington 
 County to the North Carolina General Assembly, 
 was elected Senator. At the same time many 
 of the people manifested the change wrought in 
 their political sentiments by enrolling their names, 
 in token that they accepted the amnesty offered by 
 North Carolina in 1785, and returned to their alle 
 giance. It was evident that hostility to the revo 
 lution in government had become strong enough 
 within its own orbit of movement to endanger the 
 ultimate success of the new State. In 1786 dis 
 order prevailed in the disputed territory concern 
 ing ordinary revenues from the people. For, on 
 the plea of uncertainty as to the validity of taxa 
 tion by either government, no payment would be 
 made to either; and both governments feared to 
 
CONFLICT OF AUTHORITIES. 65 
 
 enforce collections from delinquents, lest they 
 might lose the taxpayers allegiance. 
 
 In November of the same year, the three west 
 ern counties of Sullivan, Washington and Greene 
 had representatives in the North Carolina Legisla 
 ture. Not of their number, but on a special mission 
 from those counties, Wm. Cocke appeared 
 before the North Carolina House of Commons, 
 and made a long and able speech on their behalf. 
 He told how the Act ceding them to the United 
 States had led to their separation. Left, as they then 
 were, without any certain authority over or vested 
 in them, without means of defense against frequent 
 attacks from Indians, and with no protection or aid 
 from any human power, they were compelled by 
 the necessities of the case to provide for their own 
 welfare and safety. To be sure, in the winter fol 
 lowing the Act of Cession, it was repealed by 
 North Carolina, but the repeal found them penni 
 less and defenseless, with even more urgent rea 
 sons than before to care for themselves. North 
 Carolina sent them no help in money or supplies, 
 nor a single soldier, while their savage foes were 
 angered and threatening, because of the stoppage 
 of goods for them by the way. He represented 
 the condition of the western people to be one of 
 distraction, suffering and poverty, such as should 
 move a magnanimous State to banish its animos 
 ity, to bury the past with its differences and errors, 
 and to extend friendly sympathy and relief, "If," 
 said he, " the mother should judge the expense of 
 adhesion too heavy to be borne, let us remain as 
 
66 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 we are and support ourselves by our own exer 
 tions: if otherwise, let the means for the continu 
 ance of our connection be supplied with the degree 
 of liberality w r hich will demonstrate seriousness 
 on the one hand and will secure affection on the 
 other." 
 
 The address was well received by the House of 
 Commons, and influenced the General Assembly 
 to a spirit of moderation in dealing with the 
 estranged counties. It proceeded to pardon all 
 offenders who had returned to their allegiance and 
 restore them to civic rights; being careful at the 
 same time, by further legislation to maintain the 
 authority of the State and provide for the due ad 
 ministration of justice under its laws. The effect 
 of its temperate conduct was to increase the num 
 ber of its friends in the west. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY FRANKLAND S CORRESPOND 
 ENCE ITS STRIFES ITS DEATH, UPON DE 
 FEAT OF ITS CHIEF His ESCAPE. 
 
 " Contention, like a horse 
 Full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose, 
 And bears all down before him." 
 
 SHAKS. ; Henry IV. 
 
 "How just soever 
 
 Our reasons are to remedy our wrongs, 
 We re yet to leave them to their will and pow r, 
 That to that purpose have authority." 
 
 MASSINGER. 
 
 npHE State of Frankland, although weakened by 
 1 defections of its former friends at home, still 
 stood with unbroken frame, but over it hung por 
 tentous signs of more deadly strife among its citi 
 zens and of disaster to itself that might be fatal. 
 In view of them, all aid and support that could 
 properly be had, were important to it. As early 
 as 1784, at Gov. Sevier s suggestion, the General 
 Assembly had, by a competent diplomatic agent, 
 expressed to the Governor of Georgia, its willing 
 ness to unite with that State in a war which 
 threatened to become necessary against the Creek 
 Indians. The Legislature of Georgia gave re 
 spectful consideration to the letters, and friendly 
 communications were interchanged in 1787; but 
 
68 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the Governor of Georgia, while acknowledging 
 gratefully the readiness of the Frankland govern 
 ment to co-operate as desired, was prudent to limit 
 his assurances of reciprocal service to his power, 
 and to consistency with the interests of the State of 
 Georgia and its paramount duty to the United 
 States. Less reserve of sentiment was shown by 
 prominent citizens of Georgia. They spoke in 
 warm praise of the zeal for liberty manifested by 
 the Franks, and of the independent State they had 
 organized. Sevier was addressed by letter as its 
 Governor, and in social circles men drank "success 
 to the State of Frankland, His Excellency, Gov 
 ernor Sevier and his virtuous citizens." 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Franklin had a wide reputation 
 for great wisdom concerning public affairs, and 
 Gov. Sevier wrote to him for advice as to the new 
 State. He replied from Philadelphia, June 30, 
 1787, acknowledging the honor done him by "His 
 Excellency and Council." "There are two things," 
 he said, "which humanity induces me to wish you 
 may succeed in : the accommodating your misun 
 derstanding with the government of North Caro 
 lina, and the avoiding an Indian war by preventing 
 encroachments on their lands. Such encroach 
 ments are the more unjustifiable, as these people 
 in the fair way of purchase, usually give very good 
 bargains, and in one year s war with them you 
 may suffer a loss of property and be put to an 
 expense vastly exceeding in value what would have 
 contented them perfectly in fairly buying the lands 
 they can spare. * * * * I have no doubt of 
 
FRANKLAND S CORRESPONDENCE- 69 
 
 the good disposition of your government to pre 
 vent their receiving such injuries; but I know the 
 strongest governments are hardly able to restrain 
 the disorderly people who are generally on the 
 frontiers, from excesses of various kinds, and 
 possibly yours has not as yet acquired sufficient 
 strength for that purpose. It may be well, how 
 ever, to acquaint those encroachers that the Con 
 gress will not justify them in the breach of a 
 solemn treaty; and that if they bring upon them 
 selves an Indian war, they will not be supported 
 in it, I will endeavor to inform myself more per 
 fectly of your affairs by enquiry and searching the 
 records of Congress; and if anything should occur 
 to me that I think may be useful to you, you shall 
 hear from me thereupon. 
 
 "I conclude with repeating my wish that you 
 may amicably settle your difficulty with North 
 Carolina. The inconvenience to your people of 
 attending so remote a seat of government, and the 
 difficulty to that government in ruling well so re 
 mote a people, would, I think, be powerful induce 
 ments to it to accede to any fair and reasonable 
 propositions it may receive from you, if the Ces 
 sion Act had now passed." 
 
 The course of events in the last months of 1787 
 moved rapidly towards their definite conclusion. 
 John Sevier was still addressed in letters by Dr. 
 Franklin and the Governor of Georgia as Gov 
 ernor of Frankland. While the eminent, philan 
 thropic statesman persuaded to a policy of peace, 
 the fruit of fair dealing with the Indians; the 
 
?0 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Legislature of Georgia passed an Act to levy three 
 thousand of its own citizens for war with the 
 Creeks as irreconcilable enemies, and Gov. Math- 
 ews sent a copy of that Act to Gov. Sevier with 
 the request for fifteen hundred men from Frank- 
 land to assist in the campaign. Gov. Sevier 
 yielded to this solicitation, and about the end of 
 the year gave orders for arraying his militia. 
 
 Meanwhile the rival Governments proceeded 
 with their respective affairs in the disputed ter 
 ritory. The Legislature of Frankland met at 
 Greeneville in September, 1787. It appointed two 
 prominent citizens to represent it before the North 
 Carolina General Assembly, to which members 
 were elected from all the western counties. That 
 Assembly met in November, offered anew to all 
 who had departed from their allegiance full par 
 don and restoration to citizenship, and passed other 
 lenient measures relating to non-compliance with 
 the State revenue laws and delay in reporting tax 
 able property. A proof of the waning fortunes of 
 Frankland was given in the acceptance of a Su 
 perior Court Judgeship for the West by David 
 Campbell under an appointment from the North 
 Carolina Legislature at that session. He had been 
 a member of the Convention of 1784 that led to 
 the formation of the new State, and of the Con 
 vention in 1785 to frame a Constitution, and had 
 also been a Judge of its Superior Court by elec 
 tion of the Legislature in 1785: and his consent to 
 serve its adversary at such a juncture, though it 
 brought upon him severe reproach for desertion, 
 
FRANKLAND S STRIFES. 7 1 
 
 in one instance directly from Gen. White, a fast 
 friend of Frankland, nevertheless tended to con 
 vince some that he had left "a sinking ship." 
 
 At the same time the internal dissension drew 
 near its crisis. Late in the year 1787, a writ of 
 fieri facias had been issued, and early in 1788^ 
 the- sheriff, under authority of North Carolina, 
 executed it against the estate of Gov. Sevier; 
 visited his farm on the Nolachucky River, carried 
 off his negroes and lodged them securely at the 
 house of his principal foe, Col. John Tipton, 
 Sevier, at the time, was absent from home and near 
 Greene County, providing for defence of the peo 
 ple against a threatened attack by Indians. Hear 
 ing of the sheriff s procedure, he at once rallied 
 to him one hundred and fifty men from the Coun 
 ties of Greene and Sevier and what is now Blount 
 County, and went with them to the house of Tip- 
 ton, against whom the fuel of his wrath had but a 
 short time before been freshly kindled by his 
 adversary s attempt, foiled by Sevier s absence, to 
 seize his person. Tipton had but fifteen men in 
 his dwelling when the Governor arrived with his 
 militia and a small piece of artillery. It was in 
 the afternoon. Sevier demanded an unconditional 
 surrender, and was answered defiantly, with an 
 expletive. The oral summons to yield was then 
 followed by one in writing. To it Tipton made 
 no reply, but sent it to Col. Maxwell of Sullivan 
 County, with a call for help. Several days passed, 
 but Sevier forbore to make an assault. Messen 
 gers successfully escaped from the house to gather 
 
7 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 recruits, some of whom afterwards made their 
 way into it. The third night a reinforcement of 
 one hundred and eighty men under Col. Maxw r ell 
 arrived, awaited the break of day and then ap- . 
 proached the beleagured dwelling simultaneously 
 with an attack upon its defenders by the Governor. 
 The recruits fired their guns and dashed forward 
 with a ringing shout that was answered by another 
 from the besieged, and followed by a sally. The 
 united forces triumphed. Sevier s men were 
 thrown into a panic and fled. Some of them and 
 their one unused piece of artillery were captured. 
 Among the prisoners were two of Sevier s sons, 
 whom two brothers Webb would have killed in 
 revenge for the death of their brother in the fight, 
 but Tipton prevented them. According to a more 
 dramatic account, Tipton himself was determined 
 to hang the two youths, but was dissuaded by 
 friends, who drew an imaginary picture of his own 
 sons as captives and about to be slain in enmity to 
 their father. He w r as melted to tears, and with 
 strong self-reproach for his weakness, gave the 
 young men their liberty. Indeed the two parties 
 appear to have been animated throughout the 
 affair by a spirit not altogether unneighborly. 
 Sevier, from the beginning of the troubles, had 
 been disposed to moderation. He sought on this 
 occasion the recovery of his slaves, but delayed, 
 although urged by others, to make an assault. 
 Many of the men on both sides were unarmed, 
 and some having weapons did not load them, or 
 loading them, fired into the air. One of them said: 
 
DEFEAT OF SEVIER : DEATH OF FKANKLAND. 73 
 
 "We did not go there to fight. The men did not 
 try to hit anybody. Most of us went to prevent 
 mischief, and did not intend to let the neighbors 
 kill one another." 
 
 Account is given of only two persons who were 
 killed during the whole encounter, and but two or 
 three were wounded. Right royal citizens were 
 these in carrying on a civil war! Their example 
 of mutual forbearance deserves at least historical 
 transmission. A fatal blow had been received by 
 the Government of Frankland. In May, 1788, the 
 authority of North Carolina was established with 
 out dispute over the western counties. Sevier, 
 after his defeat, devoted himself unreservedly to 
 the service of the people against the Indians, and 
 collecting troops led them victoriously into that en 
 emy s country. While employed in military duties 
 on the frontier, a bench warrant was issued from 
 the Superior Court of North Carolina, at Jonesboro, 
 against him for the crime of high treason. His 
 seizure, arraignment for trial and perhaps his pun 
 ishment were therefore from that date, reasonably 
 certain; but the time of their occurrence was to 
 be determined by circumstances. His eminence 
 among the men of his day was partly owing to 
 solid and brilliant qualities, which under proper 
 culture would have given him distinction in much 
 less rude society and more peaceful surroundings 
 than those in which he lived. The facts that he 
 served as first Governor of Tennessee three suc 
 cessive terms, and after an interval of a few years, 
 three other terms by election of the people bien- 
 
74 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 nially and was then twice chosen a Representative 
 in Congress, are weighty evidences of his ability, as 
 well as his popularity. Judge Haywood, who was 
 the Governor s contemporary during the latter 
 part of his public life, says that John Sevier " had 
 by nature a talent for acquiring popular favor, 
 * * a friendly demeanor, a captivating address, 
 
 * was generous, liberal and 
 
 hospitable, * * and to crown all, was a soldier. 
 To him it was no secret that in republican govern 
 ment, where the democratic principle is a main in 
 gredient in its composition, the love of the people is 
 substantial power. The frontier people adored 
 him. They called him familiarly Nolachucky 
 Jack. Whenever at future elections* that name 
 was pronounced, it had the effect of electrical 
 power in prostrating the pretensions of every op 
 posing candidate." * 
 
 The State of Frankland was numbered among 
 the things that were and are not. All that remains 
 in this brief narrative is to tell what afterwards 
 befell him who was its faithful head while it sur 
 vived, in consequence of his official connection 
 with it. 
 
 In October, 1788, Sevier returned home from 
 the frontier and appeared openly among the peo 
 ple. At Jonesboro in company with some personal 
 followers, he was charged by a returned soldier 
 with failing to prevent, when he had the power, 
 the murder of certain friendly Indians, and there 
 was a quarrel, followed soon afterwards by another 
 
 * Hay wood s History of Tennessee: Knoxville, Tenn., 1821. Svo. 
 
SEVIER S ARREST AND ESCAPE. 75 
 
 in the vicinity. A door was thus opened to 
 the revival of animosities and to violent pro 
 cedures against him for grave reasons of State. 
 He was pursued during the night by armed 
 men, was sought for at several houses, and 
 found about sunrise, when he surrendered 
 without resistance. After running the risk of 
 injury from his enemies in the first flush of 
 their wrath, he was led a prisoner to the 
 county town and from there was sent under 
 guard to Morganton, North Carolina. In the 
 journey, his hands were unbound, and he at 
 tempted to escape. The earliest historian of 
 Tennessee has been followed by the second in 
 stating that Sevier failed in that attempt and 
 in representing that he was rescued by a few 
 of his . friends from the custody of the sheriff, 
 in the presence of the judge, at Morganton: 
 but according to an oral tradition which has 
 been recently published and appears to be 
 authentic, Sevier succeeded in escaping while 
 on the way to that town. The narrative 
 heretofore accepted as accurate beyond doubt, 
 is, in substance, appended, and also, the state 
 ment lately made, in contradiction of it.* 
 
 In November of the same year, the Leg 
 islature of North Carolina excluded Sevier from 
 its amnesty to political offenders and from all 
 State offices, but he was elected with great 
 unanimity to the State Senate in August, 1789. 
 Of that body he was admitted as a member 
 
 * See Appendix: Note B. 
 
?6 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 not without a brief delay after his appear 
 ance at the capital; and subsequently he was 
 appointed to his former office of Brigadier Gen 
 eral of the western counties, now included in 
 East Tennessee. 
 
WILLIAM G. BROWN LOW. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SHADOWS OF COMING EVENTS POLITICAL HA 
 RANGUES A SUSPECTED "INCENDIARY" BI 
 BLE SOCIETY COLPORTEUR IN SCOTT COUNTY. 
 
 1 When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks ; 
 When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand ; 
 When the sun sets, who doth not look for night? 
 Untimely storms make men expect a dearth: 
 All may be well ; but if God sort it so, 
 Tis more than we deserve, or I expect." 
 
 SHAKS., Richard III. 
 
 "pHE Civil War begun in 1861 had for years its 
 _L premonitions even in so retired a portion of the 
 United States as East Tennessee then was; but they 
 were not understood by the wisest of observers. The 
 increased alarm among friends of the institution of 
 slavery for its safety, would alone have been om 
 inous; for strong fear of losing possessions tempts 
 to rash and violent means of relief. There were 
 other signs of coming evils: the growing desire,, 
 especially of politicians in the South who were ex 
 tremists, not only to preserve slavery within its 
 existing limits but to fortify its perpetuity by ex 
 tending its area; and also the widened direction of 
 an intense and long-cherished animosity against 
 abolitionists, so as to include in it all "Yankees" 
 or " the North " in general. These sectional senti- 
 
7 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ments were not shared by the great body of East 
 Tennesseeans. The large majority of them were 
 not slave-holders. Cotton was not grown in the 
 region, except that a very few farmers had small 
 u patches " for domestic use. Even where slaves 
 were owned, " the peculiar institution " most often 
 wore a homely aspect. The negroes after a patri 
 archal fashion, were part of one household the 
 white and black children played together without 
 fastidious reserve, and mutual kindly affections 
 prevailed throughout the whole family. In 1860 
 the slaves we.re about one-tenth only of the popu 
 lation, and in over one-third of the counties less 
 than one-seventeenth. The unlikeness of the 
 mountainous region which is located centrally in 
 the Atlantic States, to that of the planting States, 
 is positive, and the dissimilarity in social and other 
 conditions between their respective inhabitants 
 could scarcely have escaped the observation of sa 
 gacious minds at the period named, when contem 
 plating the political future. It may have been not 
 without reference to possible coming emergencies, 
 and to the promotion of sympathy with sectional 
 sentiments among these mountaineers that one of 
 the "Southern Commercial Conventions" which 
 were feeders to disunion, was held in 1857 at the cen 
 tral town of East Tennessee, For its population 
 then was only something over four thousand and its 
 commercial vitality was small. Conspicuously ap 
 parent in the deliberations of that Convention was 
 a spirit of sectional zeal, which once fairly excited 
 and diffused, might easily upon opportunity or need 
 
SHADOWS OF COMING EVENTS. 79 
 
 be turned into a political dissolving temper. It 
 would be interesting to know how many of those 
 who were prominent in that and other " Southern 
 Commercial Conventions" were also not long after 
 wards, active in the work of secession. Of the 
 lawyers who figured in the Knoxville mercantile 
 assembly was a Virginia " Hotspur." A few years 
 later he told the South Carolinians who stood 
 ready, if possible, to dissolve the Union; "strike a 
 blow and Virginia will go out !" The blow was 
 struck, Fort Sumpter fell, and Virginia went out. 
 As the ante-bellum decade drew .nigh its close, 
 a South Carolina gentleman of distinction visited 
 the same very interior town. Currently told, he 
 was father of the saying that "the Yankees know 
 nothing of government; their only idea of it is 
 that the majority shall rule." To this sentiment a 
 ready-witted editor responded, that its author 
 "differed from the Yankees in but one particular, 
 his only idea of government being that the minor 
 ity shall rule." This gentleman was of an aristo 
 cratic turn of mind. Evidently he considered the 
 country men among whom he dwelt for the time fit 
 subjects for a study, the precise nature and conclu 
 sions of which others could only conjecture. One 
 day at his hotel he was wrapped in long and quiet 
 but intent contemplation of the people on the 
 street. A citizen friend who had looked on him 
 as he mused, fancied in the light thrown back on 
 memory by the flames of war shortly afterwards 
 kindled, that the silent reflections of the stranger 
 had reference to the impending conflict; not as an 
 
o THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 emissary from a dissaffected State, much less bent 
 individually upon unfriendly espionage of the land, 
 but as a political philosopher, forming an estimate 
 of the capacity of the people before him for sharing 
 in a life and death national struggle, and weighing 
 in the scales of his judgment the relative proba 
 bilities of their inclining to favor one or the other 
 of the antagonists in that struggle. 
 
 In 1860, late in the canvass for the Presidency 
 of the United States, a political discussion took 
 place at Knoxville between three of the candidates 
 for Elector from the State at large: Mr. W. C. 
 Whitthorne on the Breckenridge ticket, Mr. Na 
 thaniel G. Taylor on the ticket for Bell, and Mr. 
 Hopkins on that for Douglass. Mr. Whitthorne 
 spoke respectably well. Mr. Taylor was truly 
 eloquent. His description of the civil war, which 
 he declared the friends of Mr. Breckenridge were 
 
 o 
 
 contriving to bring upon the country in the event 
 of their party being defeated and the Republican 
 candidate s election to the Presidency, was vivid 
 and powerful. Few, if any, of his hearers, how 
 ever, had a real expectation that the calamity he 
 so graphically depicted would shortly befall the 
 land. He said that the people of East Tennessee 
 were " determined to maintain the Union by force 
 of arms against any movement from the South 
 throughout their region of country to assail the 
 Government at Washington with violence, and 
 that the secessionists of the cotton States in at 
 tempting to carry out their nefarious design to 
 destroy the Republic, would have to march over 
 
POLITICAL HARANGUES. 8t 
 
 his dead body and the dead bodies of thousands 
 of East Tennessee mountaineers slain in battle." 
 
 The speech of Mr. Hopkins was lucid and logical, 
 and reflected much credit upon his skill and power 
 in debate. His antagonism was especially to the 
 followers of Mr. Breckenridge as the authors of a 
 ruinous breach in the unity of the Democratic 
 party that had so long ruled the nation and dis 
 pensed its offices and emoluments. 
 
 Shortly before the Presidential election in the 
 autumn of 1860, William L. Yancey of Alabama, 
 came to Knoxville by pre-arrangement with resi 
 dent extremists on the subject of " Southern 
 rights," and spoke to a popular assembly in the 
 open air. He labored to show that the South did 
 not receive justice at the hands of the North, that 
 the negro was never intended by the Federal Con 
 stitution and its authors as anything more than 
 property, that it was the interest of the white man 
 of the South to perpetuate slavery, because it gave 
 the South a political power in Congress it would 
 not otherwise have, and also for other reasons 
 which he stated. 
 
 Among those who then heard him for the first 
 time some were disappointed that they did not find 
 in him the able orator whom Fame had heralded. 
 His voice, without being disagreeable, had no spe 
 cial good qualities, and was too monotonous of 
 tone. He showed, however, great earnestness, 
 and now and then rose to eloquence. Evidently 
 he had a quick, high and imperious temper, 
 a bold and determined will, superior readiness 
 
82 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and skill in debate, and the disposition to domineer 
 over opponents. His determination seemed to be 
 not to heal existing dissensions but to maintain by 
 strife the South s rival power in the nation. 
 
 His speech was not well received by many of 
 those who heard it. At one time being rudely 
 interrupted by a man in the crowd, he perempto 
 rily silenced the intruder. Before concluding his 
 discourse, a note was handed to him. Having 
 read it, he asked the writer to come upon the 
 platform. The note conveyed a desire to know, 
 if, in the event of Mr. Lincoln s election to the 
 Presidency, Mr. Yancey would favor the secession 
 of the Southern States from the Union and forcible 
 resistance to the Federal Government? The per 
 son so unexpectedly elevated to the side of the 
 orator was Mr. Maney, from Pennsylvania, but 
 for some years a citizen of Tennessee; endowed 
 with much good sense, large acquaintance with 
 public affairs and considerable readiness of speech. 
 A brief colloquy ensued, in which Mr. Yancey 
 endeavored without success to bring Mr. Maney 
 into ridicule. At length it came to light that the 
 latter was the representative of others in the 
 assembly whose names were signed to the note, 
 and which were then called aloud by Mr. Yancey, 
 with a request that the persons bearing them 
 should ascend to the platform. They complied 
 accordingly: Rev. William G. Brownlow, Judge 
 Samuel R. Rodgers, O. P. Temple, John M. 
 Fleming, and Wm. R. Rodgers, M. D. 
 
 The orator proceeded to read an extract from a 
 
POLITICAL HARANGUES. 83 
 
 published speech or letter of the Hon. John Bell 
 of Tennessee, declaring his mind as to the course 
 of conduct the slave States ought to adopt, should 
 Mr. Lincoln be elected. He then desired to know 
 severally from the gentlemen before him, whether 
 they endorsed Mr. Bell s sentiments ? Mr. Tem 
 ple answered that he approved them, if the words 
 in which they were expressed were taken with 
 their context and rightly interpreted: at the same 
 time adding, that in his own opinion, any forcible 
 resistance to the Federal Government would be 
 improper. Of like purport in general, was the 
 reply made by each of his companions, except that 
 of Mr. Brownlow. When called on to answer he 
 said "that not only would he refuse to join in any 
 secession or armed opposition to the authority of 
 the National Government because of Mr. Lin 
 coln s election, but that any body of men attempt 
 ing to march on Washington City with hostile 
 purpose through East Tennessee, would find there 
 thousands of men ready to prevent them by force 
 of arms. Among those defenders of the Union, 
 he," Mr. Brownlow, "would take his stand, and 
 that over their dead bodies they who sought to 
 overthrow the Government would have to make 
 their way." 
 
 Mr. Yancey replied. He gave it as his opinion 
 that the statement from Mr. Bell that had been 
 read, favored the idea of resistance under certain 
 circumstances. Declining to answer at once and 
 in few words the inquiry first propounded, he went 
 into a historical statement of the question of se- 
 
84 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEEKS. 
 
 cession as it had been agitated in Alabama, and of 
 his connection with it. Finally he said, that as a 
 loyal son of that State, he would abide by its de 
 cision in the case and go as it might go. "As for 
 this man," he said, turning to Mr. Brownlow, 
 "who talks of confronting the sons of the South 
 in a contest for their rights, with the armed oppo 
 sition of East Tennesseeans, if his (Mr. Yancey s) 
 State determined upon resistance, he would meet 
 Mr. Brownlow in the bloody strife, and" making a 
 violent gesture towards Mr. B. s person, "would 
 give him the bayonet up to the muzzle." At this 
 utterance and action, a strong sensation passed 
 through the assembly. The orator went on to 
 reproach his opponent, that being by profession a 
 minister of the Gospel, he should be a fomenter 
 of strife, and counseled him to amend his con 
 duct. Mr. Brownlow replied in his peculiar 
 style with pungent words, and soon the people 
 dispersed. 
 
 The Alabamian s friends seemed to be jubilant 
 over the victory they claimed to have won in the 
 wordy encounter. The other party were less 
 demonstrative but more determined than before, 
 and were moved to various degrees of wrath by 
 the disunion sentiments to which they had listened. 
 Some, while stirred to indignation by the senti 
 ments, which they considered atrocious, and at the 
 speaker s audacity in uttering them, had yet a feel 
 ing of regret that their own champions were put on 
 the platform at disadvantage; had been subjected 
 in turn to questioning by their adversary, as wit- 
 
A SUSPECTED INCENDIARY. 85 
 
 nesses might be in court by an adroit attorney; and 
 were compelled to relative silence, while he, on 
 the point at issue, fully delivered his mind with 
 an air of triumph to the exhilaration of his friends. 
 
 When the result of the Presidential election W T S 
 known, the political excitement greatly increased. 
 There had been no electoral ticket in Tennessee 
 for the Republican candidates: and had any citizen 
 of the State openly advocated Mr. Lincoln s elec 
 tion, he would have had to suffer indignity and 
 injury, or to flee from his home. The general 
 public sentiment was hostile to the Republican 
 party and at the same time friendly to the contin 
 uance of slavery where it existed, without inter 
 ference frorrTabroad. As between secession and 
 the preservation of the Union, opinions differed 
 both in kind and degree of strength. A single 
 incident will illustrate the situation: 
 
 A citizen of Ohio, selling fruit-tree scions arrived 
 at Knoxville from Asheville, North Carolina. He 
 was closely followed by the newspaper of that vil 
 lage, fixing strong suspicion upon him from slight 
 evidence, as a peregrinating Abolitionist with a sin 
 ister purpose. Meanwhile he with his chattels 
 personal, had found temporary lodgment on the 
 Deaf and Dumb Asylum grounds. Some medical 
 students at Philadelphia from Mississippi and Ala 
 bama, influenced by political fervor, when the 
 \vork of secession began, incontinently abandoned 
 their professional studies, and departed homewards. 
 Arriving at Knoxville on their way, and hearing of 
 the alleged anti-slavery Ohioan, they went without 
 
86 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 delay and demanded his expulsion from the com 
 munity. But because of the Asylum s Principal, 
 they failed in their errand, and as rumor told, were 
 humorously rebuked by him for their impertinent 
 wrath and intolerance. 
 
 Their visit was soon succeeded by one of more 
 formidable proportions from indignant citizens, 
 with a local office-holder of the United States at 
 their head. The suspected political " incendiary" 
 was arrested and led a prisoner to the court-house. 
 There excited people gathered, until the room was 
 filled to its utmost capacity. Nor could this fact 
 justly occasion surprise. Slaves bore the fatal 
 stigma in public estimation, generally, of being not 
 -persons, but things. Their classification therefore, 
 in common with houses, goods and whatever else 
 could, like them, be bought and sold, was under 
 the head of property. And any alarm raised that 
 peaceful possession of them was endangered, nat 
 urally enough assembled a crowd. A citizen, at 
 tracted to the meeting by its understood object, 
 entered the court-room, as Parson Brownlow in 
 concluding a speech, gave no opinion -pro or con 
 about the stranger, but advised the people to watch, 
 for that fomenters of trouble with the negroes were 
 abroad in the country. 
 
 Afterwards, the committee of citizens appointed 
 to consider and determine the extent of grievance 
 inflicted upon the community and what should be 
 its redress, reported through its chairman, who 
 had led in making the arrest, that the stranger 
 was guilty of Abolitionism and should be ordered 
 
A SUSPECTED INCENDIARY. 87 
 
 to leave the town which his presence put in dan 
 ger. But further proceedings in the direct line of 
 a vote upon the proposition, were halted by the 
 courageous interposition of the Deaf Mutes Asy 
 lum Principal in behalf of the prisoner, with whom 
 he had conversed, and who, he averred, was not 
 an extreme and dangerous anti-slavery man. This 
 reduction of the guilt of the accused, was promptly 
 and hotly resented by the committee s chairman 
 as a denial of his personal veracity, not to be 
 borne. The Principal, without disputing the logi 
 cal sequence of that deduction, stoutly maintained 
 the truth of his statement, and an altercation en- 
 sued that threatened to end in a general row. The 
 assembly became tumultuous. Men ready for 
 fight with sticks and pistols sprang upon the plat 
 form, where stood the disputants, between whom 
 a third person, urged on by others, had interposed 
 himself and essayed to speak. But he could not 
 be heard because of the great clamor, accompanied 
 by violent gesticulations, of the assembly. At 
 length a few words from the tertium quid, minim 
 izing the difficulty into a mere difference of opinion 
 between two gentlemen, were listened to, and the 
 excitement subsided. 
 
 As for the troubled Ohioan, he " stood not upon 
 the order of his going" from a locality inhospitable 
 and dangerous to strangers who felt free to say 
 that they did not find their Bibles and human 
 slavery altogether harmonious. It is to this day, 
 however, an unsolved question, whether as he 
 went, righteous indignation at the treatment he 
 
88 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 had received or sincere joy at his escape from 
 worse ills, prevailed in his soul. 
 
 The mental agitations of people living in towns 
 and in less remote parts of the country, caused 
 by the work of secession as it progressed, were 
 painfully shared by many older and conservative 
 persons. They could not bear the thought of a 
 dissolution of the Union, and in some instances 
 were moved by it to tears, alternating with anger. 
 As the possibility of so dire an event grew in their 
 apprehensions, they shrank back from witnessing 
 its occurrence, as one might do from looking on at 
 the death of a beloved kinsman.* But the dwell 
 ers in the more mountainous parts of East Ten 
 nessee, " far from the madding crowd," were com 
 paratively free from all such agitations and griefs. 
 
 In the autumn of 1860 a Colporteur of the 
 Knoxville Bible Societyf distributed the Book 
 among the people of Scott County, Tennessee, 
 a very elevated region near the Kentucky border 
 line. On returning, home, he made a report of 
 his labors to Mr. C., Depositary of the society, 
 who greatly deplored the possible destruction of 
 the Union. The Colporteur soon afterwards met 
 another Unionist, and said: 
 
 " Do you know that Mr. C. is going to Scott 
 County to live?" The other, knowing Mr. C. to 
 be a person of wealth, who would by such an ex 
 change lose comfortable surroundings, answered: 
 
 "No! how is that?" 
 
 "O>" said the Colporteur, "I told him that I 
 
 * See Appendix, Note C. f Note D. 
 
BIBLE SOCIETY COLPORTEUR. 89 
 
 asked the people over in Scott County how were 
 times with them, and they said, not very good. 
 I inquired if that was because of the troubles in 
 the country? They asked, what troubles? I 
 said: Troubles to the Union. Haven t you 
 heard that South Carolina has seceded? They 
 answered, no! 
 
 "Now," the Colporteur added, "I told this to 
 Mr. C. and he says he is going to Scott County 
 to live: for if the Union should be dissolved, he 
 ivill never hear of it over there" 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STATE FOR THE UNION A STRANGER IN 
 TOWN SECESSION OF TENNESSEE PRE-AR 
 RANGED BIBLICAL COINCIDENCE UNION OR 
 ATORS AN ASSASSINATION. 
 
 " Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
 And the first motion, all the interim is 
 Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream; 
 The genius and the mortal instruments 
 Are then in council; and the state of a man, 
 Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 
 The nature of an insurrection." 
 
 SHAKS. ; Julius Ccesar. 
 
 /~pENNESSEE was unwilling to depart from her 
 _L wise sisters in the Union and join the others 
 in committing what one of her adopted sons, a 
 General of the Confederate army, said to his 
 friend after the war had ended, "was one of the 
 greatest blunders in history." The Legislature of 
 the State proposed a convention to decide what 
 the State should do concerning its national rela 
 tions. Governor Isham G. Harris and his sympa 
 thizers, no doubt considered the secession of Ten 
 nessee could be most conveniently accomplished - 
 through that instrumentality: and it was ordered 
 that the question of holding such a convention 
 should be determined by the people at the ballot- 
 box, February 9, 1861. 
 
HON. T, A. R. NELSON. 
 
THE STATE FOR THE UNION. 91 
 
 Love for the Union had not yet weakened in 
 many persons throughout the State, who at later 
 points of time could* not withstand the accumu 
 lated force of motives to give it up, some of whom 
 in finally surrendering it, hushed their lingering 
 objections with the plea of necessity. The major 
 ity of people were used to think of the Union as a 
 precious heritage from their ancestors, and they 
 were unable to see that they ought to throw that 
 inheritance away, because the Republican candi 
 date for Chief Magistrate of the Nation had been 
 elected. Even at the city of Memphis an en 
 lightened public sentiment in favor of maintaining 
 the Union widely existed in the fall of 1860, and 
 found expression at a large public meeting, called 
 and participated in by more than a few of the best 
 citizens. Before the February election the ques 
 tion of secession was often discussed, not only by 
 politicians before assemblies, but by citizens in 
 conversation. While enthusiastic disputants threw 
 arguments thick and fast without convincing one 
 another, they still parted in friendship, that was 
 sometimes abated by the controversy. The time 
 had not then come for the wrathfulness of the 
 political atmosphere and excitement of men s pas 
 sions, to prevent colloquial and peaceful inter 
 change of opinions. As a general rule, secession 
 ists and the disaffected towards the newly chosen 
 Government at Washington, were more numerous 
 in East Tennessee among the rich and persons of 
 best social position, and were greatly out-num 
 bered among the middle and poorer classes. 
 
9 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 The election in February resulted in a majority 
 of more than sixty thousand voters for Tennessee 
 continuing in the United States, and also in a de 
 cided majority against holding the proposed con 
 vention. It was clearly to be seen that the people 
 were content to continue in old and tried paths, 
 and did not think it wise or expedient even to send 
 delegates of their own choosing to discuss the 
 vital questions that agitated and threatened the 
 country. Many of them looked upon the conven 
 tion with apprehension as a contrivance for 
 mischief. What if the enemies of the United 
 States intended and should use it as a hot 
 bed to mature an ordinance of secession, 
 which, like the gourd over the head of the dis 
 pleased and murmuring Hebrew prophet at Nin 
 eveh, quickly grown, would quickly perish? Has 
 not experience any lesson to teach on the subject 
 of unusual gatherings of inflammable materials, 
 which a spark may kindle into a great fire, when 
 the air is very dry from intense heats? 
 
 With the advent of spring, in 1861, the mutter 
 ing of the storm gathering in the national heavens 
 became louder and longer. The inauguration of 
 Mr. Lincoln on the fourth of March, was affirmed 
 by men in Tennessee with others in the South, who 
 were bent upon separation, to be an ample reason 
 in itself for a dissolution of the Union. His words 
 when he took the oath of office, so full of friend 
 ship and good will to the South, fell idly on their 
 ears, and his abstinence from any act to disturb 
 its peace, did not abate their hostility a fraction. 
 
A STRANGER IN TOWN. 93 
 
 During the month of March a young New 
 Yorker arrived at Knoxville, returning home from 
 Havana, where he had dwelt in the winter for the 
 sake of health. He found New Orleans, through 
 which his journey lay, all in a ferment over the 
 cauldron of political troubles in the land. Not 
 being versed in State-craft nor fully impressed by 
 the gravity of the national situation, he was dis 
 posed to look with a lenient eye upon the insubor 
 dination to the Federal Government prevailing in 
 the Queen City of the South. Louisiana desired to 
 have a government of its own, and with great 
 generosity, he said it might be well to let its peo 
 ple make the experiment. He, at least, was not 
 inclined to coerce them into obedience. Now and 
 then in his leisure at Knoxville, as the times were 
 ominous, he kept on the alert for news. One day, 
 being told of the fall of Fort Sumter, he inquired 
 of an ardent secessionist standing near: 
 
 " Was the attack upon the Fort without provo 
 cation ?" 
 
 The citizen addressed, took the question, not as 
 it was intended, merely to learn how the fight be 
 gan, but as a provocation. At once he spoke with 
 stern manner and strong words of Southern rights 
 and as his sectional zeal grew more fervid with its 
 venting, he asserted that " one Southern man could 
 whip five or six Yankees." He himself " could 
 whip three or four." 
 
 "My friend," was the reply, "you are mistaken. 
 We are all of one Anglo-Saxon blood and North 
 ern men can fight, as well as Southern." 
 
94 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 A few hot-bloods not far off, overheard the con 
 versation. One of them told his companions he 
 knew the stranger by his peculiar speech to be a 
 Yankee, whom the party at once talked of sub 
 jecting to the indignity of "a ride on a rail." He 
 caught enough of their words to learn the hostile 
 meaning, and obeying the instinct of his courage, 
 to which his strength looked unequal, he calmly 
 walked up to the company and stood, waiting their 
 pleasure. They kept silence, being discomfited by 
 his composed bearing and shortly went their way. 
 
 This boastful estimate of the greatly superior 
 fighting capacity of Southern men, compared with 
 Northern, was widely entertained and expressed 
 in terms not much less exaggerated. It had its 
 root in the idea that Northern people were not 
 "chivalric," and were so devoted to money-making 
 that they would not go to war for the sake of any 
 principles involved in the attempt to dissolve the 
 Union. The two notions helped no little to em 
 bolden the secessionists in their purpose of disin 
 tegration. 
 
 The experience of the young stranger with the 
 effervescence of warlike feelings on the street, did 
 not end with the above incident. Not many days 
 afterwards, the town postmaster was seen emerg 
 ing from his office with an unnatural paleness of 
 face, that indicated intense mental excitement. 
 The cause was soon explained by his mounting a 
 goods -box on the principal business street, for 
 want of a better rostrum, and reading aloud to the 
 crowd which immediately gathered, President Lin- 
 
A STRANGER IN TOWN. 95 
 
 coin s Proclamation calling for seventy-five thou 
 sand men. A copy of it had just arrived by mail. 
 The reading was followed by enthusiastic and mar 
 tial oratory that stimulated to greater heat the 
 temper of hearers whom the Proclamation of 
 fended. At that moment the New Yorker ap 
 peared on the scene and desired to see the docu 
 ment. Having no opportunity, he passed along 
 the street with a friend to a distant point where 
 the postmaster was about to read it from a door 
 step to another audience, which they joined. 
 
 Profound attention was given by all listeners, 
 until the words " loyal citizens" were read, when 
 a strong voice cried out: 
 
 " If there is a loyal citizen present, let him now 
 speak!" 
 
 No one made reply. The call came from one of 
 a company of young men who were exceedingly 
 zealous, and had it moved the inoffensive Yankee 
 to speak indiscreetly in the surroundings, it may 
 easily be inferred that he would have been handled 
 with severity. When the reading was concluded, 
 he and his friend joined in a subdued laugh over 
 escaped mischief and joyfully departed.* 
 
 Governor Isham G. Harris, fired with increased 
 zeal by the beginnings of actual hostilities, called 
 an extra session of the Legislature for May, 1861. 
 The certainty of war determined some minds to 
 favor resistance to the Federal Government by 
 force, which had before adhered to the Union 
 without reference to such an ordeal. A conserv- 
 
 * See Appendix: Note E. 
 
9 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ative regard for institutions derived from the past, 
 had influenced them at first to cherish Union sen 
 timents, but their intimate personal and social rela 
 tions were more with men who were already en 
 listed in sympathy with the intended revolution. 
 They had resisted the influence of these associates 
 while the peace was unbroken, yet they had 
 combative temperaments and the President s Proc 
 lamation roused their slumbering pugnacity. Their 
 own passions being loosed from bit and bridle, as 
 they must have a share in the contention, on whose 
 side should it be but on that of nearest kith and 
 kin. The cause they had deemed unrighteous 
 and against which they had argued and voted, be 
 came righteous in their eyes, when seen through 
 the red and lurid atmosphere of Mars. 
 
 Others there were who had little strength of 
 
 o 
 
 character, and had been opposed to secession 
 chiefly because it threatened to disturb the even 
 tenor of their lives. The noise of war in the air 
 did not stir their blood or change their minds: but 
 the same easy-going disposition the same aver 
 sion to be disquieted which had made them Union 
 ists at first, led them to fall into the current of 
 popular feeling in their vicinity, which the entrance 
 upon bloody strife made stronger and swifter 
 for secession. Some for the first time, then 
 heartily responded to the pleas they heard for 
 sympathy and co-operation from Tennessee with 
 the Southern States, as more nearly its sisters, and 
 needing its help. Others yielded to those pleas, 
 because they feared the reproach of their com- 
 
SECESSION OF TENNESSEE PRE-ARRANGED. 9? 
 
 m unities for want of right affection and just con 
 duct, or worse still, to be called "scalawags" and 
 " Lincolnites." 
 
 The material interests which were affirmed, and 
 by many believed to be at stake in the conflict for 
 "Southern rights," had their influence to increase 
 the number of secessionists in parts of Tennessee 
 after the appeal to arms. The growth of disunion 
 sentiments, like their germination, depended more 
 or less upon the climate and soil. In West Ten 
 nessee, where cotton is the chief product and 
 slaves were very numerous, the friends of the 
 Union eventually, were few and far between. At 
 the city of Memphis, a large cotton port, where a 
 strong Union sentiment existed in the autumn of 
 1860, the voters against secession four months 
 later, could be counted on the fingers of one hand. 
 In Middle Tennessee the secessionists increased in 
 numbers, less in proportion to population, than in 
 West Tennessee: but in East Tennessee, there was 
 no important change in the relative strength of 
 parties produced by the commencement of hostili 
 ties. During April, the political excitement in the 
 chief town of the latter region, rapidly waxed 
 strong as it did elsewhere in the land: but it dif 
 fered then and afterwards in the bitterness mixed 
 with it growing out of the close and sharp divi 
 sions among neighbors. The near prospect of a 
 general civil war increased the disposition of the 
 revolutionary party to vigorous proceedings and 
 added something to its confidence. The friends 
 of the United States were put more on the de- 
 
 F 
 
9 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 fensive against the charge of disloyalty to their 
 own section of country, and found it necessary to 
 use discretion as well as firmness. Sometimes the 
 adverse parties came near to collisions on the 
 streets. 
 
 Tidings of "the fight at Baltimore" vibrated on 
 men s nerves like a shock of electricity. It was 
 on Friday, April 19. On Sunday, people went to 
 church with the exciting news yet ringing in their 
 ears. Singularly enough, as a coincidence, widely 
 observed, and thought by some to be prophetic, 
 the first lesson for the day (third Sunday after 
 Easter) read in the worship of God in many 
 ;churches of the land, began with the ninth verse 
 of the third chapter of the prophet Joel, in these 
 words: 
 
 "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare 
 war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of 
 war draw near; let them come up; beat your 
 plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks 
 into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." 
 
 Universally the worshippers were unprepared 
 to hear a portion of God s Word, long before pre 
 scribed, but so well suited to the particular time 
 that it might have been selected that morning, and 
 they were impressed or startled. Another portion 
 of Holy Scripture read on the same occasion by 
 like prescription, and which had special fitness to 
 existing circumstances, breathed no martial strains, 
 and therefore received less attention as a coinci 
 dence. It was in the Epistle for the Sunday, from 
 St. Peter s first Epistle: 
 
BIBLICAL COINCIDENCE. 99 
 
 " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man 
 for the Lord s sake: whether it be to the king as 
 supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are 
 sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and 
 for the praise of them that do well. For so is the 
 will of God." 
 
 Aiming to promote a spirit of order and peace, 
 the minister who conducted these religious ser 
 vices at Knoxville preached that morning upon the 
 importance of right government and obedience to 
 it of using freedom, not in the service of evil 
 passions, but of neighborly, kind affections, from 
 the apposite words; 
 
 " For, brethren, ye have been called unto lib 
 erty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the 
 flesh, but by love serve one another." 
 
 As if, however, the hour for discord had come, 
 and its footsteps would not tarry, the result of the 
 day was the loss to the church of several leading 
 families whose sympathies were strongly with 
 "the South," including that of a church warden. 
 He was a worthy citizen and sincere Christian, but 
 he " could no longer attend as a worshipper and 
 listen to the prayer for the President of the United 
 States and all in authority, " as set forth in the 
 Book of Common Prayer. The prayer dates back 
 to the year 1789. 
 
 The agitations and mutual wrath of parties at 
 the locality, each of them being strong, were sensi 
 bly increased by the secession of Virginia and the 
 forcible seizures of Harper s Ferry and the Ports 
 mouth Navy Yard, which followed not long after 
 
100 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the Baltimore fight. Notwithstanding the people 
 of Tennessee had voted against secession in Feb 
 ruary, 1 86 1, by a majority of 60,000, now, in the 
 absence of any later expression of their will on 
 the subject through an authorized channel, the 
 State Government entered into a military league 
 with the Southern Confederacy and passed an or 
 dinance of secession subject to the ratification of 
 the people at the polls on the eighth of June. Un 
 der that league troops were enlisted throughout 
 the State, and so without having seceded or be 
 come a member of the Confederacy, Tennessee 
 was placed independently in actual rebellion against 
 the United States. Some eight hundred of these 
 soldiers were stationed in camp near Knoxville. 
 One day Andrew Johnson and Thomas A. R. Nel 
 son addressed the people on the principal business 
 street of the town, the court-room being too small 
 to receive them. The meeting was disturbed by 
 the loud music of a Confederate band from a 
 neighboring hotel, and by the threatening de 
 meanor of armed men who had just been ad 
 dressed by secession orators and were parading 
 the streets. A bloody collision was only prevented 
 by the friendly interposition of peaceably disposed 
 men from both parties. The same two Union 
 leaders were soon afterwards stopped in address 
 ing the people at Blountville in the strong Demo 
 cratic county of Sullivan, and compelled to desist. 
 On the twelfth of May the United States flag was 
 raised by some Unionists to the top of a liberty 
 pole fixed near a spot of public resort in the town,. 
 
UNION ORATORS: AN ASSASSINATION. IOI 
 
 and a stirring speech in keeping with the occasion 
 was made by Connelly F. Trigg, Esq. Among his 
 sympathizing hearers was Charles Douglass, a cit 
 izen of violent disposition and addicted to the use 
 of strong drink, which without detaining him at 
 home, tended to increase his contentiousness. 
 Being a democrat and an ardent admirer of An 
 drew Johnson, he followed that distinguished poli 
 tician into the Union party. Between him and a 
 Major of the Military League State troops Wash. 
 Morgan a few angry words were spoken after 
 the flag raising, and Douglass was subsequently 
 fired upon by his adversary and a military com 
 panion, when not expecting an assault. 
 
 He escaped with slight hurt, but the shots aimed 
 at him mortally wounded a harmless countryman 
 entering a store door. The soldiers in camp were 
 excited upon being informed at once of the affair 
 by Major Morgan, and some hundreds of them 
 under his leading, intent upon Douglass s death 
 were intercepted on their way to town by a dis 
 creet Colonel of their army with help from influ 
 ential citizens, and persuaded to return to their 
 tents.* 
 
 The offending Unionist was not however to es 
 cape from his enemies. While seated before a front 
 window of the second story of his house he was 
 shot from a hotel upper window, a hundred yards 
 distant. After a few days of suffering he expired. 
 His murderer was unknown, but was thought to 
 be either the Major or some one of that antago- 
 
 *See Appendix Note F. 
 
102 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 nist s fellow-soldiers procured for the purpose. 
 The circumstances of his death excited wide re 
 gret in the community, except among a few 
 extremists whose over-heated passions had so be 
 clouded their moral sense, that they could hear of 
 the assassination with the same indifference they 
 would hear of a man being slain in battle. By 
 many of the Union men he was looked upon as a 
 martyr in their cause. 
 
 The eighth of June, on which day the people 
 were to vote upon the ordinance of secession 
 adopted by the General Assembly, was drawing 
 nigh, and as East Tennesseeans in a majority of 
 cases were averse to it, special efforts seemed ad 
 visable at Nashville to influence them in its favor. 
 Certain persons therefore, Hon. John Bell among 
 them, visited Knoxville and other places in the 
 eastern division of the State, but their addresses 
 and labors were of little or no avail. Mr. Bell 
 would not advocate secession, being still hostile to 
 it as a political doctrine, but he was understood to 
 declare himself u a rebel." Other visitors from 
 Middle and West Tennessee were less reserved in 
 advocating the doctrine, and in commending the 
 ordinance to the people for their suffrages. Mean 
 while Andrew Johnson, Horace Maynard and 
 Thomas A. R. Nelson were active in making pub 
 lic speeches for the Union. This they did at im 
 minent risk of injury or death from soldiers of the 
 Confederacy (who were transported at that time 
 from the Southwest through East Tennessee to the 
 defence of Virginia), or from the State allied troops. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE EAST TENNESSEE UNION CONVENTION AT 
 KNOXVILLE. THE EAST TENNESSEE UNION 
 CONVENTION AT GREENEVILLE. 
 
 " You must not think 
 That we are made of stuff so flat and dull 
 That we can let our beard be shook with danger, 
 And think it pastime." 
 
 HAMLET. 
 
 " True fortitude is seen in great exploits 
 That justice warrants and that wisdom guides ; 
 All else is tow ring, frenzy and distraction." 
 
 ADDISON S Cato. 
 
 TO a thoughtful observer at that time, Tennes 
 see s condition was novel unlike that of any 
 other State. For while its people had not called 
 for or ratified any Act declaring it no longer a 
 member of the Union, its Governor and Legisla 
 ture had formed a military league with the enemies 
 of the Union, and in doing this appeared to have 
 done several wrongs. They had exercised a right 
 of sovereignty expressly denied to the several 
 States by the Constitution of the United States, to 
 which the State was certainly subject while in the 
 Union, as it must be allowed to have then been, 
 even upon the admission that an Act of secession 
 when ratified by the people would be valid. And 
 in forming an alliance between Tennessee and the 
 
104 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Southern Confederacy and levying troops from the 
 citizens of the State to promote the objects of the 
 Confederacy, they had assumed authority and 
 power not delegated to them by the people, and 
 had also anticipated in effect the very action of the 
 people upon the question of secession, which they 
 professed to admit depended on the will of the 
 people as it might be expressed on the following 
 eighth of June. For by placing the State in mil 
 itary league with the Southern Confederacy and 
 by levying Tennessee troops to carry out the pur 
 poses of that league, they had not only put the 
 State into an attitude of de-facto hostility to the 
 United States, but also placed the voters in sur 
 roundings which would secure a majority of them 
 at the polls for secession; so that the popular will 
 in the matter was practically pushed as far into the 
 back-ground, as if the Governor and Legislature 
 in passing an ordinance of secession, had alto 
 gether ignored the existence of the people. The 
 popular vote in the ensuing June considering all 
 the appliances procured and brought to bear upon 
 it would not be an election between alternatives, 
 but could only be decided in conformity with the 
 already known will of the Governor and Legisla 
 ture. In a word, the people were made a mere 
 figure-head in the whole transaction. 
 
 Such were the views of many intelligent and 
 patriotic East Tennesseeans. They thought that 
 a bold attempt had been made to override the free 
 will and real mind of the people through the usur 
 pation of power and in defiance of State and 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE. . 105 
 
 National constitutions; and by contrivance and 
 force to array Tennessee in line with the States 
 armed against the United States. Should they 
 tamely submit to the usurpation without protest, 
 while yet its purpose was not fully accomplished? 
 The revolutionary scheme that had prevailed in 
 other Commonwealths had now come by means 
 of new devices to darken their very doors with its 
 baleful presence and premature forces ere long 
 to be followed by many and dire ills. What should 
 be done? In time of trouble and danger it is wise 
 for men to counsel with one another. Let the peo 
 ple be invited to meet together by newly-chosen 
 representatives, well informed of the serious polit 
 ical situation, who shall calmly deliberate and 
 determine. This conclusion was expressed by the 
 publication of the following notice : 
 
 " EAST TENNESSEE CONVENTION." 
 
 " The undersigned, a portion of the people of 
 East Tennessee, disapproving the hasty and incon 
 siderate action of our General Assembly, and sin 
 cerely desirous to do in the midst of the troubles 
 which surround us what will be best for our coun 
 try and for all classes of our citizens, respectfully 
 appoint a convention to be held in Knoxville on 
 Thursday, the thirtieth of May, and we urge every 
 county in East Tennessee to send delegates to this 
 convention, that the conservative element of our 
 whole section may be represented, and that wise, 
 prudent and judicious counsels may prevail, look 
 ing to peace and harmony among ourselves. 
 
io6 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 "(Signed by), F. S. Heiskell, C. H. Baker, S. R. 
 Rodgers, W. Rodgers, M. D., John Baxter, C. F. 
 Trigg, David Burnett, John Williams, John J. 
 Craig, W. H. Rogers, O. P. Temple, John Tunnell, 
 W. G. Brownlow and others." 
 
 These were citizens whose names commended the 
 appointment they made to general attention and to 
 the co-operation of all who sympathised in its ob 
 ject: and at the time proposed, being Thursday, 
 the Convention assembled at Temperance Hall, 
 Knoxville. The delegates present numbered four 
 hundred and sixty-nine, representing twenty-six 
 counties, which with two other counties repre 
 sented by two resident proxies, constituted nearly 
 the whole of East Tennessee. As the meeting 
 was held in Knox County, and therefore was more 
 easy of access to its delegates, they were much 
 more numerously appointed and in attendance than 
 were those from any other county. Still there 
 were three hundred and twenty-seven present 
 from other counties. Contiguity to the place of 
 assembling, would of course affect more or less 
 the relative attendance from all parts of the region 
 included in the convention, but so too would the 
 degrees of Union sentiment existing in them. Ac 
 cordingly, of counties immediately adjacent to 
 Knoxville and strongly devoted to the Union, 
 there were delegates from Anderson, Blount, Jef 
 ferson, Union, Roane and Sevier, aggregating one 
 hundred and fifty-eight; Roane sending the largest 
 number and Jefferson the smallest. Among dele 
 gates from other counties lying in the great valley, 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE. 107 
 
 there were twenty-eight from Greene and twenty- 
 four from McMinn: Hamilton, at the extreme 
 southwest, equalled McMinn in numbers, and Sul 
 livan, at the extreme northeast, had a sufficient 
 Union element to send six representatives. Dis 
 tance lessened attendance from the mountain 
 counties: but Johnson sent thirteen delegates from 
 the far east, and Carter five; and although travel 
 on horseback was difficult at a time so troubled, 
 ten were present from Campbell County on the 
 north, and six from Morgan on the west. In Scott 
 County, east of Morgan, the mountains pierce the 
 clouds, the scenery is grand and the slaves were 
 only one in forty-five of the population. It was 
 its people in their high and peaceful homes who 
 did not hear that South Carolina had seceded until 
 the event lost all its freshness as news: and possi 
 bly tidings of the convention at Knoxville had not 
 gone to them with enough fleetness of wing to 
 give timely information. Yet they were alive and 
 awake to the worth of " Liberty and Union, one 
 and inseparable, now and forever!" and the time 
 would come to them for action. The tidal wave 
 of battle would ere long toss its foam and spray 
 upon the foundations of the everlasting hills among 
 which they dwelt; and they would do their part 
 in saving the ship of state from being wrecked in 
 the storm. Rhea County and Sequatchie, a little 
 county embedded in the mountains north of Chat 
 tanooga, were the only ones in East Tennessee 
 unrepresented in the convention; but why, does 
 not appear.* 
 
 * See Appendix: Note G. 
 
io8 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 The deliberative body assembled on the 3oth of 
 May, was composed of intelligent, patriotic citi 
 zens, who were deeply impressed with the gravity 
 of the political and civil condition and of the ques 
 tions at issue: and they were mindful to turn, in 
 that hour of perplexity and peril, to God, " the 
 Governor among the nations," and to supplicate 
 Him in faith for guidance and help. Prayer to 
 Him was offered, upon request, by a Christian 
 minister, and then the meeting was organized. 
 The Hon. John Baxter was appointed President 
 temporarily, and upon nomination of a committee 
 of his selection, permanent officers were chosen 
 by acclamation, as follows: 
 
 President, Hon. Thos. A. R. Nelson, of Wash 
 ington County; Vice President, Col. J. G. Spears, 
 of Bledsoe; Assistant Vice Presidents, R. D. 
 Wheeler, of Campbell, J. C. Murphy, of Sevier, 
 M. R. May, M. D., of McMinn, John Williams, of 
 Knox, and William Heiskell, of Monroe. Secre 
 tary, John M. Fleming, of Knox; Assistant Secre 
 taries, A. L. Greene, of Roane, S. P. Doss, of 
 Bledsoe, and J. M. Meek, of Jefferson. 
 
 Before taking his seat, the President elect ad 
 dressed the convention for above an hour, with 
 more than his usual powers of argument and ora 
 tory. As described at the time, " he forcibly re 
 viewed the history of the revolutionary movement 
 that was convulsing the country, exposed with 
 masterly ability the usurpations of the Governor 
 of Tennessee and the unconstitutional acts of the 
 Legislature at its recent extra session, and closed 
 
HON. JOHN BAXTER. 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE. 109 
 
 with an earnest, eloquent appeal to the members 
 of the convention to discharge their responsible 
 duties with calmness and firmness; to submit to 
 no wanton tyranny, and to acquiesce in the will of 
 the people, if constitutionally and legally ex 
 pressed." 
 
 On motion, the President then appointed a gen 
 eral committee to prepare and report business for 
 the convention. It consisted as follows: 
 
 Connelly F. Trigg, of Knox; Alexander E. 
 Smith, of Johnson; J. T. P. Carter, of Carter; S. 
 T. Logan, of Washington; James P. McDowell, of 
 Greene; William Mullenix, of Sullivan; Wm. C. 
 Kyle, of Hawkins; William McFarland, of Jeffer 
 son; Samuel Pickens, of Sevier; Rev. W. T. Dow- 
 ell, of Blount; Daniel Heiskell, of Monroe; John 
 W. Wester, of Roane; Daniel C. Trewhitt, of 
 Hamilton; R. M. Edwards, of Bradley; B. F. Sta 
 ples, of Morgan; David K. Young, of Anderson; 
 David Hart, of Campbell; George W. Bridges, of 
 McMinn; T. J. Matthews, of Meigs; A. C. Yates r 
 of Cumberland; J. M, McCleary, of Polk; S. P, 
 Doss, of Bledsoe; E. E. Jones, of Claiborne; Isaac 
 Bayless, of Union; Harmon G. Lea, of Grainger, 
 and P. H. Easterly of Cocke. Marion County 
 was represented on the committee by Wm, G, 
 Brownlow, proxy; and he, with Wm. C. Kyle, as 
 proxies, represented Hancock County of the dis 
 tinctive mountain region. 
 
 While this committee was absent for delibera 
 tion, Gen. Thomas D. Arnold, of Greene County, 
 a veteran in politics as well as the law, was intro- 
 
HO THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 duced to the convention. He spoke at considera 
 ble length in opposition to " the schemes of the 
 Governor and Legislature of Tennessee to plunge 
 the people against their own will into a ruinous 
 and unwarranted revolution." His speech was 
 " bold, pointed, earnest and eloquent." 
 
 On the morning of the second day of the con 
 vention, the general committee submitted their re 
 port, which after discussion by various members 
 and amendment, was unanimously adopted. It 
 was as follows: 
 
 "In the enumeration of rights of citizens which 
 have been declared under the solemn sanction of 
 the people of Tennessee, there are none which 
 should be more warmly cherished or more highly 
 estimated than that which declares that the citi 
 zens have a right in a peaceable manner to assem 
 ble together for their common good. And at no 
 time since the organization of our Government 
 has there been an occasion which called so loudly 
 for the exercise of that inestimable right, as that 
 upon which we are now assembled. 
 
 "Our country is at this moment in a most deplo 
 rable condition. The Constitution of the United 
 States has been openly contemned and set at defi 
 ance, while that of our own State has shared no 
 better fate and by the sworn representatives of the 
 people has been utterly disregarded. 
 
 "Constitutions, which in other days were wont 
 to control, and give direction to our public coun 
 cils and to those in authority by the fiat of the 
 people, have been wholly supplanted; and fanati- 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLLE. I 11 
 
 cism, passion and prejudice have assumed an arbi 
 trary sway. Law and Order seem to have yielded 
 their beneficent offices for the safety of the country 
 and the welfare of the people: and in their stead, 
 Revolution, despite its attendant horrors, has raised 
 its hideous head. The condition of the country is 
 most perilous, the present crisis most fearful. 
 
 " In this calamitous state of affairs, when the 
 liberties of the people are so imperilled and their 
 most valued rights endangered, it behooves them 
 in their primary meeting and in all their other ac 
 customed modes, to assemble, consult calmly as to 
 their safety, and with firmness to give expression 
 to their opinions and convictions of right. 
 
 u We, therefore, the delegates here assembled, 
 representing and reflecting, as we verily believe, 
 the opinions and wishes of a very large majority 
 of the people of East Tennessee, do resolve and 
 declare: 
 
 " That the evils which now afflict our beloved 
 country, in our opinion, are the legitimate offspring 
 of the ruinous and heretical doctrine of secession; 
 and that the people of East Tennessee have ever 
 been and we believe still are opposed to it by a 
 very large majority. 
 
 " That while the country is now upon the very 
 threshold of a most ruinous and desolating civil 
 war, it may with truth be said, and we protest be 
 fore God, that the people so far as we can see, 
 have done nothing to produce it. 
 
 "That the people of Tennessee, when the ques 
 tion was submitted to them in February last, de- 
 
112 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 cided by an overwhelming majority that the rela 
 tions of the State towards the Federal Government 
 should not be changed; thereby expressing their 
 preference for the Union and Constitution under 
 which they had lived prosperously and happily, 
 and ignoring in the most emphatic manner the idea 
 that they had been oppressed by the General Gov 
 ernment in any of its Acts, legislative, executive 
 or judicial. 
 
 "That in view of so decided an expression of 
 the will of the people, in whom all power is inhe 
 rent and on whose authority all free governments 
 are founded; and in the honest conviction that 
 nothing has transpired since that time which should 
 change that deliberate judgment of the people; we 
 have contemplated with peculiar emotions the per 
 tinacity with which those in authority have labored 
 to over-ride the judgment of the people and to 
 bring about the very result which the people them 
 selves had so overwhelmingly condemned. 
 
 " That the Legislative Assembly is but the crea 
 ture of the Constitution of the State, and has no 
 power to pass any law or to perform any act of 
 sovereignty, except such as may be authorized by 
 that instrument: and believing as we do, that in 
 their recent legislation the General Assembly have 
 disregarded the rights of the people and trans 
 cended their own legitimate powers; we feel con 
 strained, and we invoke the people throughout 
 the State as they value their liberties, to visit 
 that hasty, inconsiderate and unconstitutional leg 
 islation with a decided rebuke, by voting on the 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE. HJ 
 
 eighth day of next month against both the Act of 
 Secession and that of Union with the Confederate 
 States. 7 
 
 " That the Legislature of the State, without hav 
 ing first obtained the consent of the people, had no 
 authority to enter into a Military League with the 
 Confederate States against the General Govern 
 ment, and by so doing to put the State of Tennes 
 see in hostile array against the Government of 
 which it then was and still is a member. Such 
 legislation in advance of the expressed will of the 
 people to change their governmental relations, was 
 an act of usurpation, and should be visited with 
 the severest condemnation of the people. 
 
 " That the forming of such Military League, and 
 thus practically assuming the attitude of an enemy 
 towards the General Government, this too in the 
 absence of any hostile demonstration against this 
 State, has afforded the pretext of raising, arming 
 and equipping a large military force, the expense 
 of which is enormous and will have to be paid by 
 the people. And to do this, the taxes, already 
 onerous enough, will necessarily have to be very 
 greatly increased, and probably to an extent beyond 
 the ability of the people to pay. 
 
 " That the General Assembly, by passing a Law 
 authorizing the volunteers to vote wherever they 
 may be on the day of election, whether in or out 
 of the State; in offering to the Confederate 
 States the Capitol of Tennessee, together with 
 other acts, have exercised powers and stretched 
 their authority to an extent not within their con- 
 
H4 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 stitutional limits and not justified by the usages of 
 the country. 
 
 "That Government being instituted for the 
 common benefit, the doctrine of non-resistance to 
 arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish 
 and destructive of the good and happiness of 
 mankind. 
 
 "That the position which the people of our sis 
 ter State of Kentucky have assumed in this mo 
 mentous crisis, commands our highest admiration: 
 their interests are our interests: their policy is 
 the true policy, as we believe, of Tennessee and 
 all the border^States. And in the spirit of free 
 men, with an anxious desire to avoid the waste of 
 the blood and treasure of our State, we appeal to 
 the people of Tennessee, while it is yet in their 
 power, to come up in the majesty of their strength 
 and restore Tennessee to her true position." 
 
 The declaration concluded: "We shall await 
 with the utmost anxiety the decision of the people 
 of Tennessee on the eighth day of next month, 
 and sincerely trust that wiser counsels will pervade 
 the great fountain of freedom, the People, than 
 seem to have actuated their constituted agents." 
 
 Hon. Andrew Johnson, who had begun an ad 
 dress to the convention before the committee made 
 their report, afterwards proceeded with it. Ac 
 cording to the official record of the convention, 
 "he spoke three hours and commanded earnest 
 attention throughout his entire speech," which 
 "was masterly in argument" and carried "convic 
 tion to every honest mind that heard it." During 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT KNOXVILLE. US 
 
 the two days session, there was much friendly 
 debate upon the report, &c. The set addresses of 
 Messrs. Nelson, Arnold and Johnson were the con 
 spicuous oratorical features of the occasion and 
 made strong impressions; but whatever others 
 said touching the subjects that had brought the 
 delegates together, was listened to with the ready 
 minds of men who felt profoundly. 
 
 It should be remembered that these things were 
 spoken and done, not in a corner, but in the broad 
 light and open air, and under the intimidating in 
 fluence of hostile soldiers close at hand. They 
 rode along the highway in sight of the convention 
 and shouted at it their defiance and scoffs; but 
 without otherwise molesting it. 
 
 THE CONVENTION IN GREENEVILLE 
 
 Was held nine days after the election, which was 
 declared to be in favor of secession. It met on 
 the 1 7th of June, according to adjournment from 
 Knoxville on the 3ist of May. The delegates 
 present numbered two hundred and ninety-two, 
 from twenty-six counties: four other counties be 
 ing represented by proxies. The change of place 
 greatly diminished the attendance from some 
 counties and increased it from others.* The gen 
 eral committee appointed at Knoxville was con 
 tinued with some changes, chiefly to supply ab 
 sences; its new members being W. B. Carter, of 
 Carter; Jas. W. Deaderick, of Washington; R. L. 
 Stanford, of Sullivan; John Netherland, of Haw- 
 
 * See Appendix Note II. 
 
n6 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 kins; Jas. P. Swarm, of Jefferson; Charles F. Bar 
 ton, of Hancock; W. B. Staley, of Roane; J. 
 Stonecipher, of Morgan; L. C. Houk, of Ander 
 son; J. A. Cooper, of Campbell; R. K. Byrd, 
 proxy for Cumberland; Wm. M. Biggs, of Polk; 
 J. G. Spears, of Bledsoe; S. C. Honeycutt, proxy 
 for Scott; and E. S. Langley, for Fentress. 
 
 On the second day the committee recommended 
 to the convention, a Declaration of Grievances 
 with Resolutions, which were discussed and finally 
 adopted. In these were set forth at greater length 
 their sentiments and the reasons for them, than 
 were in the similar document at Knoxville. 
 
 The Declaration affirmed that so far as the con 
 vention could learn, the election held in Tennessee 
 on the eighth of June " was free with but few ex 
 ceptions, in no part of the State other than East 
 Tennessee. In the larger parts of Middle and 
 West Tennessee, no speeches or discussions in 
 favor of the Union were permitted. Union papers 
 were not allowed to circulate. Measures were 
 taken in some parts of West Tennessee, in defi 
 ance of the Constitution and laws which allow 
 folded tickets, to have the ballots numbered in such 
 manner as to mark and expose the Union votes. 
 * * * "Disunionists in many places 
 
 had charge of the polls, and Union men when 
 voting were denounced as Lincolnites and Aboli 
 tionists. The unanimity of the votes in many 
 large counties, where but a few weeks ago the 
 Union sentiment was so strong, proves beyond 
 doubt that Union men were overawed by the ty- 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT GREENEVILLE. 1 1 
 
 ranny of the military power and the still greater 
 tyranny of a corrupt and subsidized press. * * * 
 For these and other causes we do not regard the 
 result of the election as expressive of the will of 
 a majority of the freemen of Tennessee. Had 
 the election been conducted as it was in East Ten 
 nessee, we would entertain a different opinion." 
 
 The convention, in its " Declaration of Griev 
 ances," testified with emphasis to its love for the 
 Union, whose virtues and benefits it extolled; and 
 its hate of secession, whose ^treacheries, falsehoods, 
 violences and evil results," it arraigned in detail 
 and condemned. Yet manifestly, it was averse to 
 angry strife with fellow-citizens of the State who 
 differed from it in opinion, and it was inclined to 
 cultivate forbearance and peace with them. At 
 first it had even contemplated standing aloof from 
 any conflict with arms that might take place with 
 out and beyond the State. But it complained that 
 its political opponents had shown a self-willed, in 
 tolerant and severe temper towards Union men. 
 The Declaration said, in speaking of secession: 
 
 " Its bigoted, overbearing and intolerant spirit 
 has already subjected the people of East Tennes 
 see to many petty grievances." They " have been 
 insulted; our flags have been fired at and torn 
 down; our houses have been rudely entered; our 
 families treated with insult; our peaceable meet 
 ings interrupted; our women and children shot at 
 by a merciless soldiery; our towns pillaged; our 
 citizens robbed and some of them assassinated or 
 murdered." 
 
n8 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 "No attempt has been spared to deter the Union 
 men of East Tennessee from the expression of 
 their free thoughts. The penalties of treason have 
 been threatened against them, and murder and 
 assassination have been openly encouraged by lead 
 ing secession journals. As secession has been thus 
 overbearing and intolerant while in the minority 
 in East Tennessee, nothing better can be expected 
 of the pretended majority, than wild, unconstitu 
 tional and oppressive legislation; an utter contempt 
 and disregard of Law; a determination to force 
 every Union man in the State to swear to the sup 
 port of a Constitution he abhors, to yield his 
 money and property to aid a cause he detests, and 
 to become an object of scorn and derision, as well 
 as a victim of intolerable and relentless oppression." 
 
 "In view of these considerations and of the fact 
 that the people of East Tennessee have declared 
 their fidelity to the Union by a majority of about 
 twenty thousand votes," the convention appointed 
 three of its members to prepare and present a me 
 morial to the State Legislature, asking its consent 
 to the formation of a new State to be composed of 
 East Tennessee and such counties in Middle Ten 
 nessee as desired to co-operate to that end. Other 
 resolutions were adopted, which provided for a 
 convention of delegates, duly elected at the polls 
 by the constituency of the new State, to be held at 
 Kingston. Unanimity prevailed, except that two 
 of the Hawkins county delegates protested against 
 the action of the convention. 
 
 It was in session four days, during which time 
 
UNION CONVENTION AT GREENE VILLE. 1 19 
 
 the " Louisiana Tigers " of the Confederate army 
 halted at Greeneville on their way to Richmond. 
 Their commander embraced the occasion to make 
 a speech, and his soldiers expressed their ill-will 
 to the convention by derisions and small indigni 
 ties, but there was no blood shed. Unterrified and 
 unmoved to acts of resentment, the delegates per 
 severed in their work, fully persuaded of the hon 
 esty of their purpose and the righteousness of their 
 cause. Because they felt the need of superior 
 counsel and help, and trusted in Him who only is 
 wise and powerful to bestow these, the daily pro 
 ceedings of the convention were opened with 
 prayer by various Christian ministers. 
 
 Enthusiastic delegates were in favor of forming 
 at once a Provisional Government and organizing 
 an army, with John Baxter for its General. But 
 he, assisted by James W. Deaderick, A. H. Max 
 well and others, advocated less hasty action, and 
 moderate counsels prevailed. He advised that in 
 stead of hopeless war on the spot, all who chose 
 should join the United States army in Kentucky. 
 Spears, Byrd, Cooper, Houk, Clift and others did 
 so speedily. 
 
 If the request to the Legislature for a new State 
 should not be granted, it was expected by some 
 delegates that an independent government would 
 still be formed at the Kingston convention, but the 
 adverse military occupation of the region, and the 
 progress of events prevented further action. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GROWING WRATH JOY OVER VICTORY GEN. 
 ZOLICOFFER A YANKEE BOY S PASS-PORT 
 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS ESCAPE OF CON 
 GRESSMEN FORGED LETTERS TO BOSTON 
 A MILITARY ZEALOT BRIDGE-BURNING. 
 
 The days of the nations bear no trace 
 
 Of all the sunshine so far foretold; 
 The cannon speaks in the teacher s place 
 
 The age is weary with work and gold, 
 And high hopes wither, and memories wane; 
 
 On hearths and altars the fires are dead ; 
 But that brave faith hath not lived in vain 
 And this is all that our watcher said." 
 
 FRANCES BROWN. 
 
 "PHE indignation of the Union men and the in- 
 J_ tolerance of the Secessionists were obviously 
 increased by the election of the 8th of June and 
 its announced result. The first declared the vote 
 was fraudulent; the second exulted, that by it the 
 State became a member of the Southern Confed 
 eracy. The railroads were busy much of the time, 
 as they had been for a short time before, in the 
 transportation of troops from the Southwest 
 through East Tennessee to Virginia. This transit 
 of soldiers was witnessed by people loyal to the 
 Union with feelings of strong dissatisfaction, which 
 sometimes grew into great animosity and wrath. 
 
JOY OVER VICTORY. 121 
 
 Once a mass-meeting of Unionists was in progress 
 at Strawberry Plains, Jefferson County, during the 
 excitement over the election, when a regiment 
 from the South passed by on the railway. A con 
 flict with fire-arms between members of the two 
 hostile parties took place, but no life was lost. 
 The incident tended to exasperate the public tem 
 per. It was exceptional, however. Generally the 
 people repressed their grief and pain at such 
 scenes enough, at least, to avoid all violent dem 
 onstrations towards their adversaries. They vented 
 them to one another, sometimes with bated breath. 
 
 The United States flag had been lifted up and 
 displayed from liberty poles without a rival, at the 
 beginning of the dissensions. Then it had for 
 months contested supremacy in the air with the 
 flag of the Southern Confederacy. At length the 
 United States flags were taken down under com 
 pulsion, except in a few instances, where, being 
 private property, their removal was prevented for 
 a time by the boldness and firmness of the owners. 
 
 News of the first battle of Manasses in July, 
 1 86 1, was hailed with gushing delight by the 
 friends of the Confederacy. In the town they 
 were not so strong numerically as in actual ascend 
 ency, and tidings of that victory encouraged the 
 manifestation of their special sympathies in the 
 war more freely and defiantly. In the overflow 
 of their elation of spirits, various means of noisily 
 celebrating the recent triumph were adopted. 
 Even the bells of churches, innocent as they were 
 of all connection with bloody fields of conflict be- 
 
122 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 tween brethren, were joyfully rung. Zealous citi 
 zens, who never before had shown any particular 
 interest in the musical instruments whose business 
 it is to call Christian people to the house of prayer, 
 were active in making them contribute their voices 
 to the general Jubilee.* Words of bitterness and 
 wrath against " the Yankees," and against Union 
 men under several opprobrious names, were more 
 freely used. Alienations of close kinsmen and 
 ruptures of friendly relations, were widened and 
 deepened. Other swords there are besides those 
 of steel, wielded in civil wars. Quite as sharp 
 and effective are they in wounding feelings and 
 cutting through social ties, as are metallic blades 
 in severing limbs and piercing bodies. 
 
 About this time Gen. Felix K. Zolicoffer, of 
 Nashville, was appointed to the supreme command 
 in East Tennessee, and with his military staff, he 
 went into camp at Knoxville. Years before, he 
 had been a journeyman printer in the town, and 
 his friendships then formed among its citizens, had 
 subsequently been increased in number. He 
 seemed disposed to exercise authority over the peo 
 ple with a lenient hand, and to abstain from needless 
 severities. At the beginning of the Southern Con 
 federacy, complaint was made at some localities, 
 that in filling offices under the new Government, 
 Democrats were chiefly appointed to the rejection 
 
 * A Union man, who was also an elder of a Presbyterian Church, was grieved 
 to hear its bell jowiing with merriest notes in the chorus of song. He sought with 
 speed to know the reason, and found a citizen of good social position, whose inti 
 mate relations were more with this present world than with that which is to come, 
 had got into the Church by a window, and was vigorously applying his gentle 
 manly muscle on the rope that led to the steeple. 
 
GENERAL ZOLICOFFEfc. 123 
 
 of Whigs, who were equally or more competent. 
 This may have been done, because Democrats 
 were known as a party, to have had stronger sym 
 pathy with the secession movement at its initiation, 
 and were believed to be worthy of fuller confi 
 dence in its interests. Zolicoffer, while the Whig 
 party survived, was prominent in its ranks, and 
 some of those who affiliated with him at that time, 
 were in 1861 devoted to the Union. With them, 
 after entering upon his military duties, he chose to 
 continue friendly intercourse. This caused jeal 
 ousy and ill-feeling towards him among intolerant 
 observers, and the Register^ a small daily news 
 paper of the town, blamed him in its editorial 
 columns, for too mild use of his power. These 
 censures did not seriously affect his mind. He 
 still permitted the Whig newspaper edited by 
 William G. Brownlow to continue its weekly 
 issues, although its sentiments were in obvious 
 sympathy with the United States, and its submis 
 sion to the Southern Confederacy was clearly the 
 result of necessity. At the same time he had the 
 editor s son, John Bell Brownlow, arraigned before 
 him upon accusation by Gen. Lane, of McMinn 
 County, of circulating a copy of Helper s book, 
 entitled " Impending Crisis of the South." The 
 youth accidentally found a copy of the book which 
 had been sent to the editor by mail, and loaned it 
 upon urgent request to a friend. He was speedily 
 acquitted of the alleged offence: but, under an 
 order before issued concerning arrested civilians, 
 he was, after three days detention as a prisoner in 
 
124 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 camp, handed over to the Confederate Court. 
 Judge Humphreys repeated the acquittal, but sug 
 gested the administration to the youth of the spe 
 cific for doubtful loyalty, i. e. an oath of allegiance, 
 which he refused to take, and was released. 
 Altogether, Gen. Zolicoffer manifested sufficient 
 official zeal, and a few months later he was severe 
 in sending his cavalry abroad to disarm peaceable 
 Union men in Anderson, Campbell, Scott and 
 Fentress Counties. 
 
 People are apt to suppose that in time of war 
 the authority of a General, like that of a Judge or 
 Governor in time of peace, will be respected by 
 his civilian allies, and that a wrong done by them 
 in despite of it, is easily remedied. On the con 
 trary, the excessive ardor of the allies sometimes 
 blinds their respect for the authority, which then 
 fails to redress the wrong. The sign manual of Gen. 
 Zolicoffer proved of no avail to a young man from 
 Connecticut, who had been a student of the Uni 
 versity at Knoxville for two years. In 1861 a 
 few of his fellow-students, catching the spirit of 
 intolerance from their elders, annoyed and angered 
 him with reproachful words because of his nativ 
 ity. He decided to return home, and Gen. Zoli 
 coffer gave an official letter that should permit him 
 to travel without interruption into Kentucky by 
 way of Nashville. But when about to leave that 
 city by railroad, he was arrested without cause 
 and taken before a committee of citizens, the chair 
 man of which was also from Connecticut, and 
 illustrated the opinion that "Northern men with 
 
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS. 125 
 
 Southern principles " not unfrequently during the 
 war exceeded Southerners in their sectional zeal. 
 The student s letter of safe conduct through 
 the State was adjudged insufficient, and the 
 committee required him to take an oath of 
 their dictation in order to prosecute his journey, 
 Gen. Zolicoffer, when informed of the facts, prom 
 ised an inquiry. The student, on reaching Con 
 necticut, joined a company of United States vol 
 unteers, was repeatedly promoted for gallant 
 conduct, left the army at the end of the war a 
 Major, and is now a worthy, prosperous citizen of 
 Los Angeles, California. 
 
 Gen. ZolicofFer had a pleasant military family at 
 his encampment, where visitors were kindly re 
 ceived. Every circle of personal associates, com 
 posed of men who are in the front of the strife at 
 such stormy periods, is liable to quick and fatal 
 disruption. In this instance the speedy mortality 
 was impressive. 
 
 On the bright, delightful morning of the second 
 of September, 1861, a civilian from the town was 
 conducted to the tent of Gen. ZolicofFer, with 
 whom were Gen. William R. Caswell, Commander 
 of Tennessee Provisional soldiers, and Major F. 
 B. Fogg, only son of the eminent lawyer and ex 
 cellent man, Francis B. Fogg, Esq., of Nashville, 
 who was a steadfast friend of the Union. Major 
 Fogg and other young men members of the 
 Chief s staff talked with lively interest of the 
 news they found in the mail just then brought to 
 camp, that General Albert Sidney Johnston had 
 
126 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 arrived in the Atlantic States from California. 
 The visiting citizen, having but a small stock of 
 knowledge on hand concerning military men, 
 asked: "And who is Albert Sidney Johnston?" 
 The prompt reply was: "O, he is the greatest of 
 all the Confederate Generals." 
 
 The annals of events in the succeeding twelve 
 months, cast sombre shadows upon the remem 
 brance of that scene: the cheerful company, hold 
 ing pleasant converse, the fresh and sunny au 
 tumnal air, and the mingled light and shade of the 
 forest playing among the tents. For during that 
 short period, the principal persons in the scene 
 were no more! General ZolicofTer was killed at 
 the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky, in January, 
 1862. Major Fogg was there mortally wounded. 
 In August, General Caswell was murdered in the 
 
 o " 
 
 woods near Knoxville, as was believed by a fugi 
 tive slave whom he was endeavoring to arrest. 
 And General Albert Sidney Johnston, the object of 
 their special admiration, and around whom clus 
 tered thickly the confidence and hopes of friends 
 of the Southern Confederacy, fell heroically con 
 tending for it on the battle field of Shiloh. 
 
 Early in August the usual bi-ennial elections in 
 Tennessee for Governor, the Legislature and mem 
 bers of Congress took place. The Union candi 
 dates for Congress were elected by overwhelming 
 majorities. They held that they were properly 
 members elect of the United States Congress, and 
 accordingly they were quickly furnished by the 
 sheriffs of the counties with authenticated returns 
 
ESCAPE OF CONGRESSMEN. 127 
 
 of the voting, that they might proceed at once to 
 Washington, leaving vacant the seats in the Con 
 federate Congress at Richmond which East Ten 
 nessee was entitled to fill. Had their purpose 
 fully succeeded, a humorist might have found in 
 the result a grim joke, to which considerations of 
 even-handed justice would have lent a flavor. For 
 the electors were friends of the United States, and 
 if represented in any Congress, should have been 
 so in that of the United States. 
 
 The result was not wholly successful with the 
 three gentlemen chosen. The only route any one 
 of them could take to Washington without certain 
 arrest, led through the Cumberland Mountains 
 which divide East Tennessee from Kentucky, and 
 over the rough, hilly country that lies on both sides 
 of those mountains. Ridge after ridge and river 
 after river would have to be crossed and the jour 
 ney be made on horse-back. 
 
 The Hon. Horace Maynard, Representative from 
 the second or Knoxville District, in order to avoid 
 armed arrest, was already on the way from his 
 home to the Kentucky border when the election 
 occurred, and soon after was safely beyond it. A 
 sort of consternation among friends of the South 
 in the town followed upon tidings of his adventu 
 rous exodus. And although he was an esteemed 
 ruling elder in one of the Presbyterian Churches, 
 some of the public petitions provoked by the un 
 welcome news were scarcely in harmony with the 
 Spirit of the Lord, for they savored more of 
 anathema than of benediction. Fortunately for 
 
128 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the intended victim, as one may fairly conclude 
 from subsequent events, the petitions did not as 
 cend as high as the ceiling of the house. 
 
 The Hon. Thos. A. R. Nelson was less for 
 tunate than Mr. Maynard. He attempted to pass 
 from his home at Jonesboro through the south 
 western corner of Virginia into Kentucky. At 
 Cumberland Gap the lines of Virginia, Kentucky 
 and Tennessee converge to a point. It was al 
 ready occupied by Confederate troops, and a small 
 body of them intercepted him on the road at night. 
 He was taken by way of Abingdon, Va., to Rich 
 mond a prisoner, and had to run the gauntlet of 
 infuriated and threatening people at the various 
 railway stations. After a short detention in cus 
 tody, he was released upon giving a written prom 
 ise to the President of the Confederacy to abstain 
 from overt acts of hostility against it, and returned 
 to dwell peaceably in Tennessee. 
 
 The Hon. George W. Bridges, of the Third or 
 Athens District, contrived to effect his escape into 
 Kentucky through the Cumberland Mountains in 
 Fentress County, Tennessee. It was pre-arranged 
 that his wife and children should immediately fol 
 low him, but they were made the means of en 
 snaring his feet. The Confederate commander of 
 a post on the border detained his family, decoyed 
 him to return by a message of his wife s illness, 
 and then placed him in arrest. Another instance 
 was thus added to the many furnished by history, 
 teaching that in all important and dangerous enter 
 prises it is wise to "look not back," even for the 
 
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
FORGED LETTERS TO BOSTON. 129 
 
 sake of cherished objects of natural affection, lest 
 through the adroit use of them by enemies, they 
 become fatal impediments. Mr. Bridges was car-* 
 ried to Knoxville, where he signed a pledge or 
 took an oath of submission to the Confederacy* 
 In a short time he obtained permission to pass 
 into Kentucky to transact a matter of business, 
 and improved that opportunity to extend his jour 
 ney to Washington, where he served a term in 
 Congress. 
 
 Hon. Andrew Johnson had preceded Mr. May- 
 nard to that city. In June the Richmond (Va.) 
 Enquirer had made publication concerning a recent 
 transaction at Knoxville which, if Mr. Johnson 
 were indeed a party to it, seriously involved him; 
 but the facts went to show that an attempt had 
 been made to obtain money for political uses by 
 the forgery of his name. On the 3oth of that 
 month he published from Washington a statement, 
 "in order," to use his own words, "to expose the 
 dishonorable and wicked means resorted to by 
 Secession to carry out its nefarious and corrupt 
 designs in attempting to overthrow and break up 
 the best Government the world ever saw." 
 
 Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, received a 
 forged letter, marked PRIVATE, and dated "Knox 
 ville, Tenn., May 15, 1861" on which day An 
 drew Johnson, whose signature it bore, was 
 addressing a Union Convention at Elizabethton, 
 one hundred and eighteen miles from Knoxville. 
 It read: 
 
 DEAR SIR : I received your kind favor on yesterday and hasten 
 H 
 
*3 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 to reply. Thank you for the high regard you seem to have for my 
 patriotism and my devotion to my country. 
 
 What assurances can I have from you and your people of mate 
 rial aid in the way of money, men and arms, if I can succeed in 
 arousing my people to resistance to this damnable treason in the 
 South? This is very important. We have a formidable Union 
 element in East Tennessee, which can be judiciously managed, if 
 we can obtain the aid alluded to. Harris, Governor of the State, 
 will not let us have arms nor money: therefore we must appeal to 
 you. Let me hear from you forthwith. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 To the above, this answer was sent: 
 
 BOSTON, May 18, 1861. 
 
 DEAR SIR : If your note to me were printed in our newspapers, 
 it would be good for ten thousand dollars in three days time. But 
 of course I must only use it as a private letter. In order that you 
 may be sure of something at once, I write below this a draft, which 
 some of your Union bankers or merchants may be willing to cash 
 at the usual premium for East exchange. Probably Gardner & Co., 
 Evans & Co., Douglass & Co., of Nashville, will know it. The 
 Government will soon exhibit a power which will astonish even 
 you. The Nullifiers have been playing into Scott s hand for three 
 weeks, and now they have lost the game. 
 
 Yours with regard, 
 
 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 If you cannot use the draft, return it and tell me what to send. 
 
 The draft was as follows: 
 
 BOSTON, May 18, 1861. 
 
 At sight, without grace, pay to Andrew Johnson or order, One 
 Thousand Dollars, for value received, and charge to my account. 
 
 AMOS A. LAWRENCE. 
 To MASON, LAWRENCE & Cp., Boston. 
 
 The acceptance of Mason, Lawrence & Co., 
 was on the face of the draft. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence received the following in reply: 
 
 KNOXVILLE, TENN., June 6, 1861. 
 Amos A. Lawrence, Esq., near Boston, Mass.: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : I have received your two letters to-day. Thank 
 
A MILITARY ZEALOT. 13 x 
 
 you most sincerely for your proffered aid. We need it, need it 
 badly. As yet I have not been able to use your draft ; I am afraid 
 to do so. Send me, if you can, $5,000 or $10,000 in New England 
 currency, in large bills, by mail, via Cincinnati. Be sure to do it 
 promptly. Don t delay. I can now purchase a lot of arms if I had 
 the means. 
 
 How do you propose to introduce aid or arms into East Tennes 
 see ? By wha-t route and by what method ? Answer soon. 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 To this communication no response was made. 
 Mr. Lawrence, by some means or other, had his 
 eyes opened to the game which the conspirators 
 were attempting, and gave them no further atten 
 tion. 
 
 Later in the autumn Gen. ZolicofFer moved his 
 forces towards the Kentucky border. He even 
 passed beyond Cumberland Gap and established 
 his camp north of Cumberland (river) Ford, near 
 Barbourville, Kentucky. After his departure there 
 was a succession of officers in command at Knox- 
 ville. First, Col. Wm. B. Wood, of Alabama, 
 w r hose zeal was intense and did not leave room 
 enough in his mind for the exercise of that discre 
 tion, which is said to be the better part of valor. 
 On the 28th of October, his want of self-control, 
 and therefore, unfitness to command others, was 
 signally shown. An affray occurred in the town 
 between a few citizens and some of his men, grow 
 ing out of an attempt by the police to subject the 
 disorderly soldiers to the civil authority, and their 
 resistance. He represented that the joy of Union 
 men over the news that Gen. Zolicoffer w r ith his 
 army had fallen back on Cumberland Ford, be- 
 
I3 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 came so irrepressible that " some eight or ten of 
 the bullies or leaders made an attack on some of 
 (his) men near the Lamar House and seriously 
 wounded several." He immediately marched a 
 company of cavalry and one hundred infantry into 
 the town. In an overflow of wrath he slighted 
 the proposal. of the Mayor to unite with him in 
 restoring and preserving order, and proceeded to 
 search actively for the frightened guardians of the 
 municipality. They, meanwhile, had made their 
 escape. Entering the store-house of a leading 
 mercantile firm, he demanded in a lordly style that 
 the building should be thoroughly examined, and 
 sternly threatened that if he found one of the al 
 leged culprits secreted in the house, he would burn 
 it down. The quiet and brave head of the firm 
 assented to the demand, but as it resulted in no 
 discovery there was no conflagration! The gen 
 eral bearing on the occasion of the wrathful officer 
 may be inferred from this incident. It is manifest 
 from the correspondence between Gen. Zolicoffer, 
 Col. Wood and others, that the angry disaffection 
 of friends of the Union in East Tennessee under 
 Confederate domination made them restless. Col. 
 Wood, writing from Knoxville on the first day of 
 the month, to Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of 
 War, at Richmond, said: "There can be no doubt 
 of the fact that large parties, numbering from 
 twenty to a hundred, are every day passing through 
 the narrow and unfrequented gaps of the mountain 
 into Kentucky to join the army. My courier, just 
 in from Jamestown, informs me that a few nights 
 
BRIDGE BURNING. 133 
 
 since, one hundred and seventy men passed from 
 Roane County into Kentucky. I do not believe 
 that the Unionists are in the least reconciled to the 
 (C. S.) Government, but on the contrary are as 
 hostile to it as the people of Ohio, and will be 
 ready to take up arms as soon as they believe the 
 Lincoln forces are near enough to sustain them." 
 
 On November 8th, an organized plan was par 
 tially carried out, by parties of Union men, to burn 
 the bridges of the two railways from Knoxville, 
 one eastward to the Virginia line and the other 
 westward to Chattanooga, and Dalton, Georgia. 
 The bridges over the Hiwassee River, Lick Creek, 
 Greene County, and three other streams, were de 
 stroyed. That over the Holston River at Straw 
 berry Plains, Jefferson County, was saved by the 
 bravery of its watchman. These violences created 
 great excitement and alarm. They were the first 
 overt aats of resistance from among the people to 
 the power by which they were subjected; and 
 were committed, no doubt, not in a spirit of mere 
 wanton mischief, but of war upon an enemy and 
 for the purpose of seriously interrupting the mili 
 tary communications of the Southern Confederacy. 
 Some political friends of the destructive workers 
 justified the burnings as acts of war. Others, 
 while not dissenting from that opinion, yet thought 
 them inexpedient, hurtful to public convenience, 
 and as a military movement, conducive to no im 
 portant practical results, because unsupported by 
 a sufficient armed force from outside the region. 
 
 The Confederate States authorities had appre- 
 
134 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 hended an outbreak of the slumbering discontent 
 of the people; but they could not at first measure 
 the import of this particular aggression. They 
 were therefore liable to suppose it was the fore 
 runner of a general uprising against them, which 
 would be sustained by United States soldiers from 
 Kentucky. The circulation of the news concern 
 ing it was quick and general and bred universal 
 agitation, especially among friends of the Confed 
 eracy. Citizens gathered in towns and soldiers in 
 camps, to hear declamations. Everywhere, these 
 assaults and the danger of others, were their topics 
 of conversation. Telegrams flew on the wires and 
 letters went by mail to Knoxville, increasing the 
 alarm. A dispatch from Charleston, Term., said, 
 " Seventy-five Union soldiers were to-day near 
 Harrison. They had knapsacks." And again, 
 "Jeff Mathes is within twelve miles of this place: 
 has one hundred men." From Chattanooga: 
 " About nine hundred men, part of them from 
 Bradley County, leave Clift s in this county to-day 
 in squads, either to organize for operations against 
 this place and Loudon bridge, or to meet Union 
 forces from Kentucky. The regiment is formida 
 ble." A later message said, " They have formed 
 a camp at Bower s, near Smith s Cross Roads. 
 They may return to this place or to Loudon. 
 They calculate to organize one thousand men." 
 From Athens it was written that " some fifteen 
 hundred Lincoln men are under arms in Hamilton 
 County, ostensibly for Jamestown. Their desti 
 nation is more probably Loudon bridge." The 
 
MARTIAL LAW. 1 35 
 
 Major in command at Loudon, on the Tennessee 
 River, thirty miles west of Knoxville, wrote: "The 
 Union feeling in this county is exceedingly bitter, 
 and all they want, in my opinion, to induce a gen 
 eral uprising, is encouragement from the Lincoln 
 armies. They have a great many arms, and are 
 actually manufacturing Union flags to receive the 
 refugee Tennesseeans when they return. They 
 are getting bold enough." Col. Wood wrote: 
 " The whole country is now in a state of rebellion. 
 A thousand men are within six miles of Strawberry 
 Plains and an attack is contemplated to-morrow" 
 (November 12). "They (the Unionists) are gath 
 ering in large force and may secure (Washington 
 bridge) in a day or two." " About two miles 
 from here in Sevier County, already three hundred 
 in camp, are being re-inforced." 
 
 Knoxville was at once put under martial law. 
 The people s houses were arbitrarily entered 
 day and night by military direction and their 
 guns and pistols demanded. Even weapons in 
 tended only for sporting uses or for rivalry 
 in marksmanship were included in the exac 
 tion. In but few instances was the requisition 
 evaded by timely secretion of the implements. 
 In others, they were indignantly surrendered, 
 carried off to the armory, and some of them 
 never restored. No one was allowed to depart 
 from the town without a pass-port signed by 
 a committee of three leading secessionists from 
 among the select few citizens, whom Editor Sperry, 
 of the town newspaper, compared, not facetiously 
 
136 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 but seriously, to the few righteous men who might 
 have saved Sodom and Gomorrah if they could 
 have been found. At first no one was permitted 
 to enter the town without a paper of that kind, 
 which could only be procured from the committee 
 centrally located. Church-going people from the 
 vicinity were surprised on Sunday morning to find 
 armed men in the way who refused them ingress 
 until a messenger, sent by some friend known to 
 be loyal to " the South," went and returned with 
 the requisite passes. An old citizen of the county 
 who had a mind of his own and stoutly adhered 
 in sentiment to the Union, went to town without 
 interruption, probably through oversight of the 
 guard, but on returning homeward, his passport was 
 demanded. He had none to show, for to procure 
 such a document, it was necessary by order of the 
 Committee of Three to take an oath of allegiance 
 to the Southern Confederacy, and that he had pre 
 determined he would not do. He was arrested, 
 led back, arraigned before the committee, and re 
 fusing to take the prescribed oath, he was placed 
 on confinement to the limits of the town until his 
 case should be tried before the Confederate States 
 Commissioner. Whether he was sent to jail, into 
 which many were then being cast for what was 
 called "Union talk," does not appear. Col. Wood, 
 writing from Knoxville to Adjutant General Cooper 
 at Richmond, said: "I feel it to be my duty to 
 place this city under martial law, as there was a 
 large majority of the people sympathizing and 
 communicating with them by the unfrequented 
 
MARTIAL LAW. 137 
 
 mountain paths, and to prevent surprises and the 
 destruction of public property. I need not say 
 that great alarm is felt by the few Southern men 
 here. They are rinding places of safety for their 
 families and would gladly enlist if we had arms 
 for them." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SEVERE TREATMENT OF UNION MEN OATHS 
 OF ALLEGIANCE IMPRISONMENTS EXECU 
 TIONS. 
 
 " Patience, my lord ; why tis the soul of peace : 
 Of all the virtues tis the nearest kin to heaven ; 
 It makes men look like gods : the best of men 
 That e er wore earth about him, was a sufferer, 
 A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit, 
 The first true gentleman that ever breathed." 
 
 DECKER. 
 
 /IpHE attacks from armed Unionists upon differ- 
 L ent points that were expected and feared by the 
 Confederate authorities just after the bridge burn 
 ings, did not occur. Previously, disaffected peo 
 ple in some instances and at various localities had 
 been violently treated by over-zealous neighbors 
 or by lawless soldiers in small squads whipped 
 with hickories or arrested for their Union senti 
 ments and forced to pay money for their release. 
 It was not considered the business of officials to 
 redress such wrongs, even when brought to their 
 attention; for to be a Union man was regarded in 
 their minds as itself a crime, and injustices suf 
 fered on that account outside the operation of the 
 law, could not rightfully be appealed into court. 
 Besides, to interpose for their repression Would 
 tend to cool the ardor and check the activity of 
 
SEVERE TREATMENT OF UNION MEN. 139 
 
 Southern partisans, and that would be bad policy. 
 Now that the Union people had grown restive 
 under a power which they felt to be alien and hos 
 tile to their Government and Country, and a few 
 adventurous spirits among them had assailed that 
 power, it was concluded that the whole population 
 was blameable, and should be dealt with more se 
 verely by the Confederate Government. General 
 Zolicoffer wrote from his headquarters at Jacks- 
 boro, Nov. 1 2th, to Col. Wood, at Knpxville: 
 
 I will to-morrow send dispatches to the forces near Jamestown, 
 the cavalry near Huntsville, that near Oliver s, and start out the 
 cavalry here, to commence simultaneously disarming the Union 
 population. You will please simultaneously send orders to all de 
 tachments under your command to inaugurate the same movement 
 at the same time in their various localities. Their leaders should 
 be seized and held as prisoners. The leniency shown them has 
 been unavailing. They have acted with duplicity and should no 
 longer be trusted.* 
 
 On the 2oth of November Col. Wood wrote 
 from Knoxville to Hon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary 
 of War, Confederate States, at Richmond: 
 
 SIR : The rebellion in East Tennessee has been put down in some 
 of the counties, and will be effectually suppressed in less than two 
 weeks in all the counties. Their camps in Sevier and Hamilton 
 counties have been broken up and a large number of them made 
 prisoners. Some are confined in this place and others sent to 
 Nashville. In a former communication I inquired of the Depart 
 ment what I should do. It is a mere farce to arrest them and turn 
 them over to the Courts. Instead of having the desired effect to 
 intimidate them, it really gives encouragement and emboldens them 
 in their traitorous conduct. Patterson, the son-in-law of Andrew 
 Johnson, State Senator Pickens and several other members of the 
 Legislature, besides others of influence and distinction in their 
 counties, these men have encouraged the rebellion, but have so 
 managed as not to be found in arms. Nevertheless all their actions 
 and words have been unfriendly to the Government of the Confed- 
 
 * See Appendix: Note I. 
 
14 THE LDYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 erate States. Their wealth and influence have been exerted in 
 favor of the Lincoln Government and they are the parties most to 
 blame. 
 
 They really deserve the gallows, and if consistent with the laws, 
 ought speedily to receive their deserts. But there is such a gentle 
 spirit of conciliation in the South, and especially here, that I have 
 no idea that one of them will receive such a sentence at the hands 
 of any jury. I have been here at this station for three months, half 
 the time in command of this Post; and I (have) had a good oppor 
 tunity of learning the feeling pervading this country. It is hostile 
 to the Confederate Government. They will take the oath of alle 
 giance with no intention to observe it. They are the slaves of 
 Johnson and Maynard and never intend to be otherwise. When 
 arrested, they suddenly become very submissive and declare they 
 are for peace and not supporters of the Lincoln Government, but 
 yet claim to be Union men. At one time, while our forces were at 
 Knoxville, they gave it out that a great change had taken place in 
 East Tennessee and that the people were becoming loyal. 
 
 At the withdrawal of the army from here to the (Cumberland) 
 Gap and the first intimation of the approach of the Lincoln army, 
 they were in arms and scarcely a man but was ready to join it and 
 make war upon us. The prisoners we have, all tell us that they had 
 every assurance that the enemy was already in the State and would 
 join them in a few days. I have requested at least that the prison 
 ers I have taken be held, if not as traitors, as prisoners of war. To 
 convict them before a Court is next to an impossibility. But if they 
 are kept in prison for six months it will have a good effect. The 
 bridge-burners and spies ought to be tried at once." 
 
 To this communication was replied: 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, RICHMOND, November 25, 1861. 
 Col. W. B. Wood: 
 
 SIR Your report of the 20th instant is received, and I now pro 
 ceed to give you the desired instruction in relation to the prisoners 
 of war taken by you among the traitors of East Tennessee. 
 
 First. All such as can be identified in having been engaged in 
 bridge-burning are to be tried summarily by drum-head court-mar 
 tial, and, if found guilty, executed on the spot by hanging. It 
 would be well to leave their bodies hanging in the vicinity of the 
 burned bridges. 
 
 Second. All such as have not been so engaged are to be treated 
 as prisoners of war, and sent with an armed guard to Tuscaloosa, 
 Alabama, there to be kept imprisoned at the depot selected by the 
 Government for prisoners of war. 
 
SEVERE TREATMENT OF UNION MEN. 14 l 
 
 Whenever you can discover that arms are concentrated by these 
 traitors, you will send out detachments, search for and seize the 
 arms. In no case is one of the men, known to have been up in arms 
 against the Government to be released on any pledge or oath of 
 allegiance. The time for such measures is pawt. They are all to be 
 held as prisoners of war, and held in jail to the end of the war. 
 Such as come in voluntarily, take the oath of allegiance and sur 
 render their arms, are alone to be treated with leniency. 
 
 Your vigilant execution of these orders is earnestly urged by 
 the Government. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) J. P. BENJAMIN, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 COL. W. B. WOOD, Knoxville, Tenn. 
 
 P. S. Judge Patterson Andy Johnson s son-in-law, (Rem. Cor- 
 resp.), Col. Pickens and other ring-leaders of the same class, must 
 be sent at once to Tuscaloosa to jail as prisoners of war. 
 
 The Hon. W. H. Humphreys had been on the 
 Bench of the United States District Court before 
 Tennessee seceded. He had warmly espoused the 
 cause of the Southern Confederacy and was ap 
 pointed by it to a similar office under its Govern 
 ment. As preliminary to his new duties, he 
 announced from the Bench his determination to 
 punish all treason and rebellion against the author 
 ity he represented. Union men were arraigned 
 before him upon various charges. The only crime 
 of a majority of them was love of the Union. For 
 their political purgation, an oath of allegiance was 
 thought to be sufficient, and upon taking it they 
 were summarily released. 
 
 The compulsory swearing of fealty during the 
 progress of the war had in many instances a de 
 moralizing effect. It made familiar to men the 
 idea of an oath as having in itself no binding force, 
 and therefore tended to increase the lenient regard 
 
142 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 which was before too prevalent for the crime of 
 perjury. No doubt an oath of allegiance was ad 
 ministered to many men on both sides of the con 
 flict, under compulsion of their wills, who in their 
 hearts considered it null and void. They felt as 
 Hudibras puts it : 
 
 "He that imposes an oath, makes it, 
 Not he that for convenience takes it : 
 Then how can any man be said 
 To break an oath he never made." 
 
 Said a Union man, when rumor was current that 
 everybody would soon be made to swear loyalty 
 to the Confederacy, he would take such an en 
 forced oath "from the teeth out." And so too, an 
 ex-Confederate soldier, made to swear loyalty to 
 the United States, muttered to his friend the words 
 of Galileo when compelled to abjure the Coperni- 
 can system: "It still moves!" Yet both the 
 Unionist and the Confederate were conscientious, 
 worthy citizens, who alike in times of peace, would 
 esteem the oath before a court of justice as " a 
 recognizance to heaven," and again, to quote pithy 
 lines from Hudibras, as 
 
 Being " not purposed more than Law 
 To keep the good and just in awe, 
 But to confine the bad and sinful, 
 Like moral cattle in a pinfold." 
 
 However, despite all ethical objections to the 
 miscellaneous administration of the oath of allegi 
 ance, and the numerous instances of its futility in 
 the war, its reputation still held good as a specific 
 for curing disloyalty; or at least, as a certain pre 
 ventive of ill consequences from that political 
 
OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE. 1 43 
 
 sickness through men afflicted with it. Therefore 
 the extensive use of it by Judge Humphreys in 
 his court-room with Union citizens indicated no 
 lower degree of intelligence in him, although in 
 the opinion of some it might show his lack of ju 
 dicial wisdom. Instances were not wholly want 
 ing in which the use of that requirement was 
 denied him, because the patient thought the pre 
 scribed dose too astringent for health of conscience, 
 as may be seen by the following from the Knox- 
 ville Whig of that period: 
 
 "On Saturday evening, Mr. Perez Dickinson, for the last thirty 
 
 years a successful merchant of Knoxville, returned from the North 
 
 whither he had gone with a written permit from Governor Harris, 
 
 to attend to business connected with the two firms of which he is 
 
 a member. On Monday morning he was arrested upon a warrant 
 
 based upon an affidavit by Attorney Ramsey-, setting forth that said 
 
 Dickinson was born in the State of Massachusetts, and that he had 
 
 been to the North and held intercourse with the Northern people. 
 
 This was the charge, and this affidavit was all the proof offered 
 
 against him. His Honor Judge Humphreys, bore testimony to the 
 
 good character and high standing of Mr. Dickinson, and proposed 
 
 to him that he should at once and without any investigation (by the 
 
 court), take an oath of allegiance and fidelity to the Confederate 
 
 States. Mr. Dickinson rose and responded in a brief address 
 
 spoke of his coming here when a boy some thirty years ago of his 
 
 being an orderly and law-abiding citizen of his all being here, and 
 
 of the bones of his mother, sisters and brother being here denied 
 
 that he had held any intercourse with tbe people of the North in 
 
 violation of his parole to Governor Harris, and declined, under th e 
 
 circumstances of compulsion surrounding him, to take the oath. 
 
 His Honor then instructed him that he would have to give a bond 
 
 of ten thousand dollars for his good behavior during the few days 
 
 allotted him to remain in the State." 
 
 The reputable merchant refused to give the 
 bond, and was prepared to depart. Notwithstand 
 ing that refusal, the Judge, upon advice of politi 
 cal friends, permitted him to remain. 
 
144 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Arraignment of prisoners before the Judge 
 sometimes rested on no foundation whatever. 
 Rev. W. H. Duggan, a Methodist minister, of 
 McMinn County, was charged in the indictment 
 with having prayed for the United States Govern 
 ment: but the evidence showed that the praying 
 had been done before Tennessee seceded from the 
 Union, The manner in which he was treated was 
 described at the time in the Whig newspaper, 
 under the eyes of the authorities, It illustrated 
 the condition of things in the region: 
 
 " Some twenty-five persons, citizens of McMinn County, were 
 brought before Judge Humphreys on Monday, about twenty of 
 whom were released on the ground that there was nothing against 
 them. The truth is, they had voted the Union ticket and they had 
 voted for years against certain men : and this explained their arrest. 
 They were taxed with small fees to pay costs and required to take 
 the oath, although they had committed no offense. The other five 
 were retained for further hearing and sent into camps under a mil 
 itary escort for the night. Among these was Rev. W. Duggan, a 
 member of the Holston Annual Conference, and the preacher in 
 charge of the Athens Circuit, * * * a man of truth and in 
 tegrity. 
 
 He was arrested at a quarterly meeting on Friday night, and 
 marched on foot on Saturday nine miles, being refused the privilege 
 of riding his own horse : and on Sabbath he was landed at Knox- 
 ville. He is a large, fleshy man, weighs two hundred and eighty- 
 one pounds, and was recovering from a long spell of fever. He 
 gave out at a spring some seven miles from where he started. The 
 day was warm, and his feet were sorely blistered. He begged per 
 mission to ride; he was refused, cursed, denounced and threatened 
 with bayonets ! His horse was led after him as if to aggravate 
 him. They even refused him water to drink or anything to eat 
 until Sunday." 
 
 He is represented in the same editorial to have 
 had "the confidence of men of other denomina 
 tions." 
 
 That he was "a very poor man, with a wife and 
 
IMPRISONMENTS. 1 45 
 
 six helpless children" could have availed him noth 
 ing had he been guilty, but the absence of all 
 evidence that he had done anything for which he 
 should be punished, induced his discharge after 
 three days custody in camp, "without entering 
 into bonds or taking any oath." 
 
 Some of the Union men arraigned before Judge 
 Humphreys were temporarily imprisoned. It was 
 not, however, until his departure from the scene 
 and after the bridge-burnings, that more severe 
 measures were adopted against that class of cit 
 izens. 
 
 Commissioner Robert B. Reynolds presided 
 over these stringent proceedings at first and for 
 some time. He was a native Tennesseean, had 
 "the courage of his opinions" and had been con 
 spicuous as one of the few and faithful, who at the 
 home of Hugh Lawson White, adhered to Martin 
 Van Buren as Andrew Jackson s lineal successor. 
 Afterwards he was a Paymaster in the United 
 States Army. Probably his appointment to the 
 office of Confederate States Commissioner was 
 more due to two of his qualifications than to any 
 thing else. These were, his great zeal for "the 
 South," according to a current phrase, "in its con 
 test for its rights," and his understood inflexibility 
 of will. There were members of the Bar who 
 thought his knowledge of the Law to be deficient, 
 and his adversaries attributed brusqeness and aus 
 terity to his judicial manner. On the other hand, 
 his political friends commended his performance 
 of duty to the Government he served with such 
 
146 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 full and ardent sympathy. No one could com 
 plain of him for want of diligence and energy as a 
 worker. 
 
 A large number of political offenders were ar 
 rested. " Union talk" became a more serious mis 
 demeanor. The common jail was filled up rapidly. 
 Some prisoners were sent to Alabama for confine 
 ment. One of these was the Hon. Mr. Pickens, 
 State Senator from the counties of Blount and Se- 
 vier. He had been already designated by name 
 as a victim, in a postscript from Secretary of War, 
 J. P. Benjamin, to Col. Wood. His son had been 
 of the party that unsuccessfully assailed Straw 
 berry Plains bridge, and was there wounded, but 
 not mortally, evaded the soldiers who pursued 
 him until his injury was healed, then escaped into 
 Kentucky and joined the Federal army. Senator 
 Pickens was a person of superior character and 
 greatly esteemed by the people. He did not long 
 survive, a captive and exile at Tuscaloosa, Alabama; 
 and when death had released him at one and the 
 same moment from "this prison of the body" and 
 from a Confederate jail, his wife, too, sickened and 
 went to the higher freedom into which his spirit 
 passed. 
 
 A number of persons had been arrested at dif 
 ferent places, who were accused of having shared 
 in the assaults upon bridges or their destruction. 
 Col. Ledbetter, in command of the Post at Greene- 
 ville (reputed to be a native of the State of Maine), 
 "stuck in the letter" of Secretary Benjamin s in 
 structions that "all such (prisoners) as can be 
 
EXECUTIONS. 147 
 
 identified in having been engaged in bridge-burn 
 ing are to be tried summarily by drum-head court- 
 martial, and if found guilty, executed on the spot 
 by hanging," and also " to leave their bodies hang 
 ing in the vicinity of the burned bridges." In 
 consequence, two men Hensie and Fry were 
 hung at Greeneville by Col. Ledbetter s immediate 
 authority and without delay. Their bodies, instead 
 of being quartered and distributed abroad after an 
 old English custom, were left suspended for four 
 days near the railroad track. In that exposure, 
 they seem to have been less of a terror to Union 
 men of the vicinity, than objects of merry obser 
 vation to railway passengers. Had not the execu 
 tions been so hasty, it might have been discovered, 
 in time to save Fry s life, that not he, but another 
 person of the same surname, was the real offender 
 in the case. 
 
 Among the many prisoners at Knoxville, were 
 some under like accusation with the two hung at 
 Greeneville: but proceedings against them were 
 more deliberate. They were tried by a court- 
 martial, organized under Gen. Carroll, of Middle 
 Tennessee, successor of Col. Wood at the Post, 
 and by common repute of dissipated habits. For 
 nearly one month, Wm. G. Brownlow was an in 
 mate of the jail. He states that at the time he 
 was cast into it, the prisoners numbered about one 
 hundred and fifty; that on the lower floor where 
 he was kept, there was not room for all to lie down 
 at one time, and therefore they stood on their feet 
 and rested alternately; that the only article of fur- 
 
148 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 niture in the building was a dirty wooden bucket, 
 from which the prisoners drank water with a tin 
 cup; and that their food consisted of meat and 
 bread, scantily supplied, sometimes half raw, some 
 times burned. To the truth of his description, in 
 the main, there is extant, corroborative testimony. 
 Some prisoners shook his hand silently with tears; 
 some faces lighted with joy to see him; some man 
 ifested a sense of humiliation wrought by their 
 condition, and many were depressed in spirits. A 
 few notes taken from his diary in jail will show the 
 nature and extent of the work carried on by the 
 military towards suspected and convicted Union 
 people: 
 
 SATURDAY, Dec. 7. This morning forty of our number, under a 
 heavy military escort, were sent off to Tuscaloosa. Thirty-one 
 others arrived to take their places from Cocke, Greene and Jefferson 
 Counties. They bring us tales of woe from their respective counties 
 as to the treatment of Union men and Union families, by the 
 * * * * cavalry in the rebellion. They are taking all the 
 fine horses they can find and appropriating them to their own use ; 
 they are entering houses, breaking open drawers and chests, seizing 
 money, blankets and whatever they can use. 
 
 MONDAY, Dec. 9. More prisoners arrived this evening. Twenty- 
 eight are in from Jefferson and Cocke counties. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, Dec. 11. Fifteen more prisoners came in to-day 
 from Greene and Hancock counties, charged with having been 
 armed as Union men and accustomed to drill. 
 
 THURSDAY, Dec. 12. Fifteen of our prisoners were started to 
 Tuscaloosa this morning to remain there as prisoners of war. They 
 had no trial, but were sent upon their admission that they had been 
 found in arms as Union men, preparing to defend themselves 
 against the assaults and robberies of the so-called Confederate cav 
 alry. Poor fellows ! They hated to go. 
 
 FRIDAY, DEC. 13. Three more prisoners in to-day from Hancock 
 and Hawkins Counties. Charge as usual Union men, attached to 
 a company orf Home Guards. 
 
IMPRISONMENTS. 149 
 
 SATURDAY, DEC. 14. Three more prisoners from the upper coun 
 ties were brought in to-day. They speak of the outrages perpe 
 trated by these rebel troops, and of their murderous spirit. 
 
 SUNDAY, DEC. 15. Started thirty-five of our lot to Tuscaloosa t 
 be held during the war. Levi Trewhitt, an able lawyer, but an old 
 man, will never get back.* His sons came up to see him, but were 
 denied the privilege. Dr. Hunt, from the same county of Bradley, 
 has also gone. His wife came sixty miles to see him, and came to 
 the jail door, but was refused admittance. 
 
 MONDAY, DEC. 16. Brought in Dr. Wells and Col. Morris, of 
 Knox County, two clever men and good citizens. Their offence is 
 that they are Union men, first, and next they voted and election 
 eered as old Whigs, * * * * years ago. 
 
 TUESDAY. DEC. 17. Brought in a Union man from Campbell 
 County to-day, leaving behind six small children, and their mother 
 dead. This man s offence is holding out for the Union. To-night 
 two brothers named Walker, came in from Hawkins County, 
 charged with having " talked Union talk." 
 
 WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18. Discharged sixty prisoners to-day who 
 had been in prison from three to five weeks taken through mistake? 
 as was said, there being nothing against them. Business suffering 
 at home unlawfully seized upon and thrust into this uncomfortable 
 jail they are now turned out. 
 
 THURSDAY, DEC. 19. To-night twelve more Union prisoners were 
 brought in from lower East Tennessee, charged with belonging to 
 Col. Cliffs regiment of Union men, arming and drilling to go over 
 to Kentucky and join the Federal army. 
 
 SATURDAY, DEC. 21. Took out five of the prisoners brought here 
 from the Clift expedition liberated them by their agreeing to go 
 into the rebel army. Their dread of Tuscaloosa induced them to 
 go into service. They (the Confederate authorities) have offered 
 this chance to all, and only sent off those who stubbornly refused. 
 
 SUNDAY, DEC. 22. Brought in old man Wampler, a Dutchman 
 seventy years of age, from Greene County, charged with being an 
 "Andrew Johnson man and talking Union talk." 
 
 FRIDAY, DEC. 27. Harrison Self, an industrious, honest and here 
 tofore peaceable man, a citizen of Greene County, was notified this 
 morning that he was to be hanged at four o clock, p. M. His daugh 
 ter, a noble girl, modest and neatly attired, came in this morning 
 to see him. Heart-broken and bowed down under a fearful weight 
 
 *He died in prison. 
 
15 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 of sorrow, she entered his iron cage and they embraced each other 
 most affectionately. My God, what a sight ! What an affecting 
 scene ! (The prisoners looking on were moved to tears.) But her 
 short limit to remain with her father expired, and she came out 
 weeping bitterly shedding burning tears. Requesting me to write a 
 dispatch for her and sign her name to it, I took out my pencil and 
 a slip of paper and wrote the following : 
 
 KNOXVILLE, Dec. 27, 1861. 
 Hon. Jefferson Davis: 
 
 My father, Harrison Self, is sentenced to hang at four o clock 
 this evening, on a charge of bridge-burning. As he remains my 
 earthly all and all my hopes of happiness centre in him, I implore 
 you to pardon him. 
 
 ELIZABETH SELF. 
 
 With this dispatch the poor girl hurried off to the office two or 
 three hundred yards from the jail ; and about two o clock in the 
 afternoon the answer came to General Carroll telling him not to 
 allow Self to be hung. Self was turned out of the cage into the 
 jail with the rest of us, and looks as if he had gone through a long 
 spell of sickness. But what a thrill of joy ran through the heart of 
 .that noble girl ! Self is to be confined, as I understand, during the 
 war. This is hard upon an innocent man ; but it is preferable to 
 hanging." 
 
 There follows in the diary an account of an in 
 terview at first refused, and finally granted for 
 twenty minutes between a small farmer from Se- 
 vier County, bearing the name of Madison Gate, 
 and his wife she with a babe in her arms, and the 
 prisoner too ill with a fever to stand on his feet, 
 but lying on the floor in one corner of the jail with 
 "a bit of old carpeting" for a bed and "some sort 
 of bundle as a pillow." 
 
 During the month of December three of the 
 prisoners, having been convicted by court-martial 
 of bridge-burning, were executed by hanging. 
 One of these, C. A. Haun, was a young man, but 
 the head of a small family. He was hanged 
 alone on the eleventh day, and maintained a 
 
EXECUTIONS. 
 
 courageous spirit on the scaffold. The other two, 
 whose name was Harmon, were father and son. 
 They died after the same method six days later, 
 and protested their innocence to the end. Whether 
 for the sake of economy or for some other unknown 
 reason, the military authorities had not provided 
 for the solemn occasion suitable means for ushering 
 more than one of the two souls into eternity at a 
 time. The omission is to be deplored, as it left 
 room for imputing to the managers of the pitiful 
 spectacle a singular want of humanity in compel 
 ling the father to witness his son s ignominious 
 death, while awaiting his own. 95 
 
 * See Appendix Note J. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 REIGN OF TERROR A NOTED PATRIOT His 
 PAINFUL EXPERIENCES AND FINAL DELIVER 
 ANCE A REFUGEE S PERILOUS JOURNEY 
 CONSCRIPTION CAPTURE OF FLEEING MEN. 
 
 "Go, say, I sent thee forth to purchase honor; 
 And not the king exiled thee. Or suppose 
 Devouring pestilence hangs in our air, 
 And thou art flying to a fresher clime. 
 Look, what thy soul holds dear, imagine it 
 To lie that way thou goest, not whence thou comest." 
 
 SHAKSPEARE, Richard II. 
 
 T^OR a considerable time, including that in which 
 L these trials, imprisonments and executions oc 
 curred, there was a reign of terror over Union 
 people. The vigilance of the party in power sub 
 jected even citizens of better social position to 
 arraignment for slight or insufficient reasons. To 
 have been born in a Northern State was prima 
 facie a ground of suspicion, unless the person 
 were a pronounced friend of the rebellion. Equally 
 so was the fact that one had been a conspicuous 
 Unionist before the secession of Tennessee, more 
 especially if his position in reference to public 
 affairs generally, was prominent. Dr. R. H. Hods- 
 den, of Sevier, and Representative of that county 
 and Knox, was hunted for, but evaded the search 
 until he was induced to believe that he would not 
 
HON. C. F. TRIGG. 
 
REIGN OF TERROR." 153 
 
 be harshly treated. He then surrendered himself 
 to his pursuers, and upon giving security for his 
 good conduct and declaring his submission to the 
 Confederate Government, he was released from 
 custody. Col. Connelly F. Trigg, chairman of the 
 chief committee in the Union Convention at Knox- 
 ville and Greeneville, of May and June, feared 
 with good reason that he would be arrested. 
 He therefore made his escape speedily but 
 with difficulty through the mountains into Ken 
 tucky. Other lawyers, known to have been 
 friends of the Union, were admitted to the 
 practice of their profession before Judge Hum 
 phreys, upon their submission to the Confeder 
 ate Government. 
 
 During this time, General Zolicoffer, whose 
 camp was on the Kentucky border, made a visit 
 to Knoxville, and by his direction, as it was under 
 stood, the soldiers who guarded the town and also 
 the requirement of an oath of allegiance for ingress 
 and egress, were withdrawn. The general condi 
 tion of things, however, was so disturbing and 
 offensive to Union men throughout East Tennessee 
 that their departure from the country became more 
 frequent. Among their leaders who had not yet 
 gone away, the person most obnoxious to the Con 
 federate authorities was the Rev. Wm. G. Brown- 
 low. He had been from the beginning of their de 
 facto government in the State a thorn in their flesh. 
 Through his weekly journal, the Whig, he had 
 annoyed them with complaints of acts of oppres 
 sion and violence, and a bold use of the freedom 
 
154 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 of the press, which left no room for doubt of his 
 loyalty at heart to the United States, yet gave no 
 occasion for his arrest and punishment. These 
 ills threatened him so strongly about the middle of 
 October, that he felt compelled to suspend the pub 
 lication of his newspaper. In the number issued 
 on the 2ist of that month, he informed its readers 
 of the indictment impending over him before the 
 grand jury of the Confederate court at Nashville, 
 and that he could probably " go free by taking the 
 oath" which the authorities were " administering 
 to other Union men," but his "settled purpose" 
 was 4< not to do any such thing." He spoke of 
 "the wanton outrages upon right and liberty" suf 
 fered by the people of East Tennessee "for their 
 devotion to the Constitution and laws of the Gov 
 ernment handed down to them by their fathers and 
 the liberties secured to them by a war of seven 
 long years of gloom, poverty and trial;" and con 
 cluded with his expectation of " exchanging with 
 proud satisfaction the editorial chair and the sweet 
 endearments of home for a cell in the prison or 
 the lot of an exile." Both these were not far dis 
 tant from him. Entreated by friends to be absent 
 for a time, he went with Rev. Jas. Cumming, an 
 aged Methodist minister, into Blount County. 
 
 Informed that Confederate cavalry were search 
 ing for him with deadly intent, he and others 
 members of the Legislature, preachers and farmers 
 fled into the Smoky Mountains that separate 
 North Carolina and East Tennessee. There, in 
 Tuckaleeche and Wear s coves, they were en- 
 
A NOTED PATRIOT. 155 
 
 camped for days in concealment, but were at length 
 driven by close pursuit to disperse in pairs, and he, 
 with Rev. W. T. Dowell, went to a friend s house 
 six miles from Knoxville. From thence Brown- 
 low addressed a letter on November 22, by Col. 
 John Williams to Gen. W. H. Carroll, asserting his 
 innocence of all complicity in the bridge burnings; 
 that he had kept the pledge he with other leading 
 Union men had given Gen. Zolicoffer, " to counsel 
 peace," and he claimed protection under the civil 
 law. To this, Gen. Carroll, on November 28, re 
 plied that Mr. Brownlow should meet with no per 
 sonal violence by returning to his home, and if he 
 could establish what he had said by letter, he should 
 have every opportunity to do so before the civil 
 tribunal, were it necessary: Provided, he had com 
 mitted no act that would make it necessary for the 
 military law to take cognizance. Gen. Crittenden 
 had succeeded to the chief command at Knoxville, 
 and to him, eight days before the above named 
 letter of Gen. Carroll, the following was written: 
 
 CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA, 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, RICHMOND, Nov. 20,1861. 
 To Major General Crittenden: 
 
 DEAR SIR I have been asked to grant a passport for Brownlow 
 to leave the State of Tennessee. He is said to have secreted him 
 self, fearing violence to his person, and to be anxious to depart from 
 the State. 
 
 I cannot give him a formal passport, though I would greatly pre 
 fer seeing him on the other side of our lines as an avowed enemy. 
 I wish, however, to say that I would be glad to learn that he has 
 left Tennessee ; and I have no objection to interpose to his leaving 
 if you are willing to let him pass. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 J. P. BENJAMIN, 
 Secretary of War. 
 
I5> THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 This advice was obeyed by the transmission of 
 the following: 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, KNOXVILLE, TENX., Dec. 4, 1861. 
 W. G. BROWNLOW, ESQ : The Major General commanding directs 
 me to say that upon calling at his headquarters within twenty-four 
 hours, you can get a passport into Kentucky, accompanied by a 
 military escort, the route to be designated by Gen. Crittenden. 
 I am, Sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 A. S. CUNNINGHAM, 
 
 Acting Adj t General. 
 
 Before the expiration of the allotted time, Mr. 
 Brownlow, accompanied by the Hon. John Baxter 
 who had originally applied at Richmond to 
 Secretary Benjamin, for the passport reported 
 in person to General Crittenden. It was then 
 arranged that he should depart for Kentucky 
 on the yth, in charge of Capt. Gillespie and 
 cavalry company. But on the 6th he was arrested 
 by the marshal upon a warrant issued by Commis 
 sioner Reynolds, and based upon the affidavit of 
 District Attorney Ramsey, that Brownlow was a 
 traitor to the Confederate States. Application to 
 bail the prisoner was made by his friends and a 
 large sum in good bond was offered, but these 
 were refused, and he was sent to jail. In it he was 
 confined until the last of December, when upon 
 representation of his dangerous illness to Capt. 
 Monserrat, then Commandant of the Post, made 
 by his family physician, Dr. O. F. Hill, he was re 
 moved to his own house. The District Attorney 
 had the case of the prisoner taken up in court, and 
 read to the Commissioner a letter from Secretary 
 Benjamin to the Attorney of some length, person 
 ally historical and explanatory, concerning the 
 
A PAINFUL EXPERIENCE AND DELIVERANCE- 157 
 
 promise of a passport to the offender, upon his 
 surrender. It concluded with the words: 
 
 Under all the circumstances, therefore, if Brownlow is exposed 
 to harm from his arrest, I shall deem the honor of the Government 
 so far compromitted as to consider it my duty to urge on the Presi 
 dent a pardon for any offense of which he may be found guilty ; and 
 I repeat the expression of my regret that he was prosecuted, how 
 ever evident may be his guilt. 
 
 Thereupon the District Attorney entered a nolle- 
 -prosequi in the case, and Commissioner Reynolds 
 ordered the prisoner s discharge. He was in 
 stantly arrested by the military authorities, and a 
 guard of soldiers placed around his house day and 
 night. For the greater part of January and Feb 
 ruary his bodily illness continued, partly owing no 
 doubt to mental anxiety and troubles in the midst 
 of enemies, some of whom cordially hated and 
 annoyed him. From the threatenings that sur 
 rounded him, the apprehensions they naturally 
 awakened, and the vexations of his life in custody, 
 he was delivered by the obedience of Major Mon- 
 serrat to an order by telegraph from the Rich 
 mond Secretary of War, authorizing him "to send 
 Brownlow out of Tennessee." On the third of 
 March, the irrepressible friend of the Union de 
 parted on his journey for another and, certainly 
 for him a better country, than that in which he so 
 journed and where he had with singular determin 
 ation and zeal waged an angry contest against 
 odds. Defeated at home, he left it with strong 
 hope of the coming time when the cause which he 
 had deeply at heart should be there victorious and 
 he among the victors. His departure at the time, 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and in the manner adopted, could not do other 
 wise than afford a sense of relief not only to him 
 and his friends, but also to many of his enemies. 
 In this latter class were some who would have 
 been gratified had he been sent to jail at Tusca- 
 loosa or even to the gallows, for their passions 
 against him as the persistent "very head and 
 front" of offence to them, were kindled to white 
 heat. And the Register of the town expressed 
 their mind, in declaring the action of the Secre 
 tary of War as "worse than a crime a blunder," 
 and that the authorities had "been outwitted and 
 over-reached diplomatically" by giving a "pledge 
 to convey Brownlow within the Hessian lines." 
 Besides, they feared that the results to the Con 
 federate supremacy in East Tennessee of his in 
 fluence and work north of the State, would be as 
 that journal predicted, disastrous. It was with 
 delays and difficulties he reached Nashville; but 
 after a journey of two hundred miles, requiring 
 twelve days, on the fifteenth of March he was de 
 livered by his military Confederate escort within the 
 Federal lines at that city. There he was heartily 
 welcomed. Among those who greeted him were 
 his former East Tennessee compatriots, Andrew 
 Johnson, then Military Governor of the State, 
 Horace Maynard and Connelly F. Trigg. They 
 and he were glad to meet again on soil of the 
 United States where, under its protection, they 
 were free. 
 
 For along time previous, less conspicuous Union 
 men had been leaving East Tennessee for Ken- 
 
A REFUGEE S PERILOUS JOURNEY. 159 
 
 tucky in smaller or larger companies. The stream 
 of departure was sometimes feeble, at others 
 strong, but always continuous. Among those who 
 left in the earlier part of that time was R. L. 
 Stanford, M. D., of Sullivan County. His com 
 pulsory expatriation resembled that of many that 
 occurred. On his return to East Tennessee, a Sur 
 geon of the United States Army under General 
 Burnside, in September, 1863, he gave substantially 
 a narrative of his escape that shows the dangers 
 to single refugees: 
 
 In 1861 his Union sentiments made him very 
 obnoxious to many of his neighbors. One day, 
 returning home from visits to patients, he found 
 on approaching it, that he had to pass through an 
 array of armed men on both sides of the way. 
 He braced up his nerves and rode between the 
 threatening lines with his hat off and bowing to 
 the right and left as he proceeded. No one of 
 his enemies, who were also his neighbors, was 
 willing to take the responsibility of being the first 
 to fire upon him; and unhurt, he passed the 
 gauntlet. That night he concluded, from writ 
 ten warnings, that it was prudent he should obey 
 the order given him to leave the country. In his 
 journey next day to Kentucky by way of Cum 
 berland Gap, he was accompanied by Rev. Mr. 
 M., a Methodist minister. At night they halted 
 at a wayside inn, north of the Clinch Mountains, 
 where a few Confederate officers soon arrived. 
 One of them (Col. David Cummings) and Dr. 
 Stanford being acquaintances, they held a friendly 
 
l6o THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 conversation while imbibing moderately of the 
 drink, stronger than water, set before them by the 
 landlord. 
 
 "Doctor," said the Colonel, "let me ask where 
 you are going?" 
 
 "To tell you the truth, Colonel," replied the 
 Doctor, "I am going over the mountains to buy 
 some cattle of these Kentuckians to feed our 
 people." 
 
 During the colloquy Colonel C. made a signifi 
 cant motion to his fellow-officer, not unobserved 
 by the watchful refugee. The Methodist minister 
 being of a timid nature, had meanwhile taken a 
 seat at the farther end of the long front porch, 
 with his hat pulled over his ears to avoid recogni 
 tion. Soon night fell, supper was announced, and 
 while it went forward Dr. Stanford, feigning ill 
 ness, rose from the table and went down the road 
 he had just traveled until a covert of bushes was 
 reached. He knew that the two Confederate 
 officers would shortly pass by on their way from 
 Cumberland Gap to Bean s Station in the great 
 valley of East Tennessee, and from weary waiting 
 in concealment he was at length relieved by the 
 sound of their horses feet approaching. When 
 arrived opposite the spot where he hid, they halted, 
 and the owner of a cabin across the way obeyed 
 their summons to its door. Frightened at first by 
 the thought that he was about to be discovered, 
 he soon dismissed all anxiety upon over-hearing 
 the conversation that ensued between Col. Cum- 
 mings and the man of the house, to whom the 
 
A REFUGEE S PERILOUS JOURNEY. l6l 
 
 former gave a letter for delivery to the army mes 
 senger who would pass by the next morning to 
 Cumberland Gap. 
 
 At a very early hour the next day, the two ref- 
 gees resumed their journey. When they were 
 entirely beyond hearing upon the road, the physi 
 cian said to the minister: " I think it probable that 
 Col. Cummings has left a letter to be sent to the 
 Gap for our arrest there. If the messenger carry 
 ing it overtakes us on the way, I shall instantly 
 shoot him." At that early period of the war, peo 
 ple generally were unaccustomed to the pre-medi- 
 tated destruction of human life, and some of them 
 at least were slow to think of it as wearing any 
 complexion but that of bloody murder. It is not 
 surprising, therefore, that the face of the Christian 
 minister, on hearing the deadly intention of his 
 companion, should have lost its usual color. " He 
 turned as white as a sheet." 
 
 Arrived at Cumberland Gap without adventure, 
 Dr. Stanford met with a Confederate Lieutenant 
 his personal friend who had joined the army un 
 der constraint. The young man, knowing the 
 mind of the refugee, gave him in conversation 
 without the camp and under the pledge of secrecy, 
 the word and sign by which he might pass the 
 sentries on the road over the Gap.* The minister 
 earnestly dissuaded him from attempting to cross 
 the mountain, and failing in this effort, lay sleepless 
 throughout the night, tossed with fears of ills that 
 would befall them on the morrow. Breakfast over, 
 
 * NOTE. The youthful officer was soon after killed in battle for the Confederacy. 
 
 T 
 
1 62 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the Doctor rode unconcernedly on his way without 
 any interference from the sentinels, while the min 
 ister, abandoning the enterprise, stood and watched 
 his companion s progress in ascending the mount 
 ain gap. 
 
 Once safely beyond interruption, the refugee put 
 spurs to his horse and rode swiftly forward. By 
 and by, with the mountain fairly left behind, he 
 checked his horse and fell into reflections upon 
 his home his wife his children. Should he 
 ever see them again? Perhaps not certainly 
 not soon probably not for years. And then,, 
 what would be his personal future? The 
 perils which ordinarily attend human life are 
 doubly increased to one adventuring as he was 
 among strangers at a time when the whole 
 country was involved in violent conflict. Gather 
 ing together the reins that hung loosely on his 
 horse s neck, and lifting up his head he saw just 
 before him a company of armed men. "Ah, then," 
 was his thought, "I am to be foiled after all, and 
 taken back a prisoner to the Gap." Rallying cour 
 age, he rode forward, asked for a drink of water, 
 and was told to help himself with a gourd from the 
 spring near by. The men looked at him with cu 
 rious and suspicious eyes. One of them said to 
 him bluntly: 
 
 "What are you: Union man or Confederate?" 
 " Now, gentlemen," said he, that s hardly a fair 
 question. As you are decidedly in the majority, it 
 seems only right that you should first tell me what 
 you are." 
 
A PERILOUS JOURNEY. 163 
 
 He was answered with a smile, but was also 
 assured that their question could not be met with 
 such evasion. He then boldly said he was for 
 the Union. 
 
 " So are we," they replied. "These rebels have 
 come and taken possession of the Gap, and we 
 Kentuckians have met here to see what they are 
 after." 
 
 From that friendly encounter the refugee went 
 forward without molestation to his journey s end, 
 volunteered in the service of the United States 
 army and was appointed a surgeon. 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1862, the battle of Fish 
 ing Creek, or Mill s Springs, Kentucky, was fought 
 and the victory won by General Thomas, of the 
 United States army, produced a strong, disturbing 
 sensation among the Confederates at Knoxville. 
 For this there were good reasons. The battle 
 field was not far distant; it was the first fight of 
 any importance that was at all near the town; the 
 Confederate chief Zolicoffer and his subordinate 
 Generals, Crittenden and Carroll, had been suc 
 cessively in command at Knoxville, and many of 
 their troops had been stationed there at different 
 times. Upon their defeat, they went according to 
 the rule with Buonaparte s soldiers upon their de 
 feat at Waterloo: sauve qui peut ; and some of 
 them in the pell-mell flight were not slow in reach 
 ing Knoxville. The tidings they carried created 
 intense excitement, anger and fear. At first the 
 blame of the defeat was attributed chiefly to Gen. 
 Crittenden and his inferior in office, Gen. Carroll, 
 
164 THE LOYAL MOtJNTAINEERS 
 
 both of whom, it was alleged, were drunk on the 
 eve of the occasion. The story ran, that Zolicof- 
 fer, who was slain in the fight, had opposed the 
 attack upon the Federal army, and that being over 
 ruled, he had entered on it reluctantly. All the re 
 proaches visited upon Crittenden and Carroll grew 
 out of, or were plausibly justified by, their reputa 
 tion for using spirituous liquors to excess. When 
 the agitation subsided, the Fishing Creek tales 
 were found to be untrue. Gen. Crittenden, from 
 being cursed as an inebriate and almost suspected 
 as a traitor, became an object of friendly sympathy 
 as a victim of ill luck in war. Popular opinion is 
 always capricious and prone to undue elation or 
 depression in prosperous or adverse circumstances. 
 The wrath to which calamities move the thought 
 less and passionate must be vented upon somebody, 
 and it is apt to turn upon him through whose well 
 known frailty the calamity may easily have been 
 incurred. The intemperate man has to suffer for 
 a time at least, on occasions of ill to which he is a 
 party, from the quick presumption in people s 
 minds that his vicious indulgence stands as an open 
 door to all blunder and disaster. 
 
 The fall of Fort Donelson on February i, 1862, 
 had been followed, by a panic at Nashville that was 
 ludicrous in some of its scenes and incidents. It 
 spread, feebler and with less extravagant display, 
 to other places in Tennessee. The small migra 
 tion of families to Georgia from Knoxville imme 
 diately on the heels of the disaster was really 
 needless, for the Fort was more than two hundred 
 
CONSCRIPTION: ESCAPE OF REFUGEES. 165 
 
 miles distant, with the Cumberland Mountains in 
 tervening. Governor Isham G. Harris and the 
 Legislature felt compelled to flee from Nashville. 
 He took up his residence at Memphis and assem 
 bled there a quorum of the Legislature, which 
 passed an act calling the State militia between the 
 ages of eighteen and forty-five into active military 
 service. The Governor took steps promptly to 
 enforce the law, but in East Tennessee the prelim 
 inary measures were not very effective. In many 
 instances the people refused to attend muster at 
 their regimental parade grounds, where, indeed, 
 they had not been used for many years to assemble 
 for military training. It was not long before many 
 men sought refuge in Kentucky from the conscrip 
 tion. They left their homes in companies of ten, 
 fifty or a hundred, starting at night, sometimes 
 concealing themselves during the day and resu 
 ming their journey under cover of the darkness, and 
 at length passed over the border, rejoicing that 
 they were free from the strong hand that would 
 force them to fight against the United States. 
 With the joy they felt at their deliverance was 
 mingled an earnest purpose to return, attended by 
 powerful friends, to their beloved land and restore 
 it to the nation. 
 
 A body of refugees numbering six or seven hun 
 dred, assembled early one day at Blain s Cross 
 Roads, Grainger County, and took up their line 
 of march for the mountains on the northern fron 
 tier. More than half safely escaped from the 
 Confederate cavalry which pursued them, but over 
 
1 66 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 three hundred, who had in the morning been un 
 intentionally separated from their companions, 
 were taken prisoners. Cowardice was imputed to 
 them by ready censors for surrendering at once to 
 a force numerically inferior. But they were sur 
 rounded by their enemies in an open field they 
 were comparatively unarmed had no able and 
 efficient leader nor any military training and were 
 mostly of immature age. As these young men, 
 with weary eyes and feet, were marched under 
 guard through the streets of Knoxville on their 
 way to jail in the South, for the crime of trying to 
 escape enforced service in arms against the United 
 States, an observer who loved the Union might be 
 pardoned if his throat choked with a throb of 
 pity from his heart and his cheek flushed hot with 
 righteous indignation at the violence. How many 
 of the prisoners, most of whom were only just 
 old enough to be included in the conscript law, 
 ever saw their homes again it is impossible to say. 
 Probably some died in a Georgia prison or on the 
 way to it. Some probably in utter hopelessness 
 were persuaded to wear the grey, and died in the 
 Confederate service. Some may have escaped at 
 one time or another to within the Union lines. It 
 is doubtful if more than a few of them ever re 
 turned. 
 
 "Parson Brownlow," as he was often called, 
 made this entry in his Diary for 1862, while he 
 was in prison: 
 
 SATURDAY, MARCH 1. Thirty Union men, well dressed, were 
 arrested by the cavalry who found them leaving for Kentucky to 
 
ESCAPE OF REFUGEES. 167 
 
 avoid the draft ordered by Governor Harris. Seventeen of them 
 agreed to join the Confederate army to keep out of jail. 
 
 But a Sabbath past they brought twenty Union men out of jail, 
 arms tied behind them with strong ropes, and inarched them with 
 bayonets to the depot, cursing and insulting them, and sent them 
 off to Tuscaloosa to be held as prisoners of war." * * * To 
 have seen them coming out of the jail yard and entering the street 
 would have brought tears from the eyes. 
 
 Brownlow, two days afterwards, started for 
 Nashville, and the work of arresting refugees had 
 then only begun. 
 
 Mr. Edward J. Sanford, at the time a young 
 man, was, as he is now, a citizen of Knoxville. 
 His narrative of the escape made by him and oth 
 ers through the mountains, from the conscript law, 
 is interesting in itself.* It is still more so, as illus 
 trating the privations, dangers and sufferings 
 through which men of like principles and decision 
 with him, had to pass at that time, in going from 
 East Tennessee to a land of liberty, under law and 
 in harmony with their conscience and will. There 
 did not appear to be any hope of deliverance com 
 ing to them from without. It is true that early in 
 March, 1862, the 2nd Regiment of East Tennessee 
 Infantry, accompanied by one company each of the 
 ist Regiment, East Tennessee Infantry, and Mon 
 day s Kentucky Cavalry, all commanded by Col. 
 J. P. T. Carter, adventured from Kentucky through 
 Big Creek Gap in the Cumberland Mountains into 
 Campbell County, East Tennessee. They found 
 the Gap blockaded by the Confederate troops, but 
 managed to pass it, attacked a force at Sharp s 
 Church in the neighborhood and routed it, wound- 
 
 * See Appendix: Note K, 
 
1 68 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ing, killing and capturing a considerable number 
 of the men. The raiders cavalry went down the 
 valley to Jacksborough, where they encountered 
 the scouting party of Capt. James Gibson. In the 
 fight that ensued, Capt. Gibson was slain and Capt. 
 Winstead, of the Sappers and Miners, was taken 
 prisoner, but no important results followed the ad 
 venture. Col. Carter without delay retreated into 
 Kentucky, and at that date no other like military 
 expedition was even expected. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GENERALS KIRBY SMITH, J. E. JOHNSON AND 
 BRAGG REFUGEES INVITED HOME BY PRO 
 CLAMATION MRS. BROWNLOW, HER CHIL 
 DREN AND MRS. MAYNARD EXILED GENERAL 
 CONDITION OF THINGS RESULTING FROM SE 
 CESSION. 
 
 " Faults are easier look d in, than redress d : 
 Men running with eager violence, 
 At the first view erf errors, fresh in quest; 
 As they, to rid an inconvenience, 
 Stick not to raise a mischief in the stead, 
 Which after mocks their weak improvidence. 
 And therefore do not make your own sides bleed, 
 To pick at others." 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 IN the spring of 1862, the authority and power 
 of the United States throughout East Tennes 
 see, were thoroughly supplanted by those of the 
 Confederate States. Any benefits, however, which 
 might result from the substitution to that region 
 and all its people did not presently appear. There 
 was no violence going on within its borders, except 
 that inflicted by Confederate soldiers; and the 
 actual strife between hostile armies was far away. 
 The general condition of things was most deplora 
 ble. As a large majority of the able-bodied men 
 
17 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 had fled or were fleeing under the impulse of pa 
 triotism and duty to another State, that they might 
 stand beneath the folds and uphold the staff of the 
 American flag, many fields were left untilled. The 
 fruits and grains gathered in by farmers from their 
 labors in 1861, had been or were being consumed 
 by the military who occupied the country, and no 
 just expectations were indulged of an ordinary 
 harvest in 1862. The outlook, indeed, in every 
 respect of the people s welfare was discouraging. 
 One conclusion it favored that secession, as a 
 remedy for real or imaginary ills, resulted for the 
 time in greater evils. 
 
 About this date Gen. E. Kirby Smith was appoint 
 ed to the supreme command at Knoxville. He had 
 been at the battle of Manassas, and was reported as 
 wounded, but not seriously. He was reputed to 
 have firmness, decision of will and other qualities 
 of character required by his office, and also of as 
 great humanity and kindness as consist with the 
 vigorous conduct of war. A marked contrast in 
 his favor was observed between his general bear 
 ing at the town and that of some Confederate 
 officers who had chief command there. In schol 
 arly attainments he surpassed them all, in personal 
 morals he was without reproach, and his manners 
 were quiet and unpretentious. 
 
 It will bear mention in this connection that two 
 distinguished Generals of the Confederate army 
 Joseph E. Johnson and Braxton Bragg briefly 
 tarried on their way at different times in the town. 
 There were little incidents in their respective visits 
 
GENERALS JOHNSON AND BRAGG. 
 
 that afterwards entered into the talk of the citizens 
 and were thought to be characteristic. 
 
 Gen. Johnson ranked very high in people s es 
 teem for both modesty and ability, and had the 
 credit of being a natural, as contra-distinguished 
 from an artificial, man. During his stay he was 
 called on by an aged colored woman who had 
 nursed him in childhood. Some men would have 
 been indifferent or repellent to the hearty greet 
 ings she gave him in presence of stern warriors: 
 but her w r ords of love and blessing made way 
 through his coat of mail, and to the surprise of 
 by-standers, filled his eyes with tears. 
 
 Gen. Bragg, from his hotel, summoned a Swiss 
 tailor, who was of like political sympathies, to 
 come and take his measure for a new suit of 
 clothes. The civilian, perhaps thinking the call too 
 peremptory, or desiring to honor his own vocation, 
 declined to obey. The officer s demand for the 
 tailor s attendance was then repeated, accompanied 
 with the statement that "General Bragg never 
 went out to be measured for clothing." The un 
 dismayed citizen again refused, and bade the mes 
 senger say that he "never went out to measure 
 people for clothing." And the warrior who com 
 manded regiments and brigades of soldiers was 
 compelled to surrender to one man, whose only 
 weapons were a pair of shears, a needle and a 
 tailor s goose! "Inter arma, leges silent" sed 
 non sartori. 
 
 Gen. Kirby Smith had too clear intelligence not 
 to see that it was expedient or even necessary to 
 
I7 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 do whatever was possible to recover the losses 
 already incurred and to prevent any further losses 
 in the able-bodied male population of East Ten 
 nessee, and to promote the greater cultivation of 
 lands. Therefore, on April i8th, 1862, was pub 
 lished from headquarters, Knoxville, this 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The Major General commanding this Department, charged with 
 the enforcement of martial law, believing that many of its citizens 
 have been misled into the commission of treasonable acts through 
 ignorance of their duties and obligations to their State, and that 
 many have actually rled across the mountains and joined our ene 
 mies under the persuasion and misguidance of supposed friends, but 
 designing enemies, hereby proclaims : 
 
 First. That no person so misled, who comes forward, declares 
 his error, and takes the oath to support the Constitution of the State 
 and of the Confederate States, shall be molested or punished on 
 account of past acts or words. 
 
 Second. That no person so persuaded and misguided as to leave 
 his home and join the enemy, who shall return within thirty days of 
 the date of this proclamation, acknowledge his error, and take an 
 oath to support the Constitution of the State and of the Confederate 
 States, shall be molested or punished on account of past acts or 
 words. 
 
 After thus announcing his disposition to treat with the utmost 
 clemency those who have been led away from the true path of patri 
 otic duty, the Major General commanding furthermore declares his 
 determination henceforth to employ all the elements at his disposal 
 for the protection of the lives and property of the citizens of East 
 Tennessee whether from the incursions of the enemy or the irreg 
 ularities of his own troops and for the suppression of all treasonable 
 practices. 
 
 He assures all citizens engaged in cultivating their farms, that he 
 will protect them in their rights, and that he will suspend the militia 
 draft under the State laws, that they may raise crops for consump 
 tion in the coming year. He invokes the zealous co-operation of the 
 authorities and of all good people, to aid him in his endeavors. 
 
 The courts of criminal jurisdiction will continue to exercise their 
 functions, save the issuance of writs of habeas corpus. Their writs 
 will be served and their decrees executed by the aid of the military, 
 when necessary. 
 
REFUGEES INVITED HOME BY PROCLAMATION. 1 73 
 
 When the courts fail to preserve the peace or punish offenders 
 against the laws, those objects will be attained through the action of 
 military tribunals and the exercise of the force of his command. 
 (Signed) E. KIRBY SMITH, 
 
 Maj. Gen. Comm dg Dep t E. T. 
 
 Five days after the issuance of the above pro 
 clamation there was published as follows : 
 
 TO THE DISAFFECTED PEOPLE OF EAST TENNESSEE. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE, 
 
 OFFICE PROVOST MARSHAL, April 23, 1862. 
 
 The undersigned, in executing martial law in this Department, 
 assures those interested who have fled to the enemy s lines, and 
 who are actually in their army, that he will welcome their return to 
 their homes and their families : they are offered amnesty and pro 
 tection, if they come to lay down their arms and act as loyal citizens, 
 within the thirty days given them by Major General E. Kirby Smith 
 to do so. 
 
 At the end of that time, those failing to return to their homes and 
 accept the amnesty thus offered, and provide for and protect their 
 wives and children in East Tennessee, will have them sent to their 
 care in Kentucky, or beyond the Confederate States line, at their 
 own expense. 
 
 All that leave after this date, with a knowledge of the above 
 acts, their families will be sent after them. 
 
 The women and children must be taken care of by husbands and 
 fathers, either in East Tennessee or in the Lincoln Government." 
 (Signed) W. M. CHURCHWELL, 
 
 Col. and Provost Marshal. 
 
 It is obvious from the preceding documents, that 
 the Confederate authorities were uneasy over the 
 prospect of a diminished harvest from the soil the 
 ensuing season; and not only for political reasons, 
 but to avoid a scarcity of food because of the de 
 parture of many farmers, they would be glad to 
 have them return home. 
 
 The men thus invited to return, made no answer 
 from beyond the mountains which walled in their 
 beloved land on the north. It was like whistling 
 
174 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 to the winds to call them back. And they con 
 tinued to go until they were thirty thousand strong 
 wearing the blue. As to the threat that after 
 thirty days, unless they recanted their faith in the 
 Union, came home and swore to be loyal to the 
 Confederate States, their wives and children should 
 be sent after them at their own expense, it was a 
 mere brutum fulmen, and if it ever reached their 
 ears they treated it with indifference or perhaps 
 with derision. Its fullfllment belonged to the cat 
 egory of human impossibilities. The expulsion 
 and march of an army of women and children 
 from East Tennessee over mountains and rivers 
 into Kentucky who could be counted by tens of 
 thousands, would have sent a thrill of amazement 
 akin to horror throughout enlightened Christen 
 dom. It is not to be supposed, however, that the 
 Confederate authorities intended to carry into effect 
 the threat of such retaliation. Nor does it appear 
 that the threat emanated from or was approved 
 by the Major General commanding the Depart 
 ment of East Tennessee. He did, however, au 
 thorize the order of the Provost Marshal for the 
 compulsory removal from Knoxville via Norfolk, 
 Virginia, beyond the Confederate lines of the 
 wives and families of two prominent Union men 
 Hon. Horace Maynard and Rev. William G. 
 Brownlow. In those cases special reason for the 
 harsh measure was assigned. The following letter 
 was sent from headquarters addressed to 
 
 Mrs. W. Gr. Brownlow, Knoxville: 
 
 MADAM By Major General E. Kirhy Smith I am directed most 
 
HON. HORACE MAYNARD. 
 
MRS. BROWNLOW AND MRS. MAYNARD EXILED. I 75 
 
 respectfully to inform you that you and your children are not 
 held as hostages for the good behavior of your husband, as repre 
 sented by him in a speech at Cincinnati recently, and that yourself 
 and family will be required to pass beyond the Confederate States 
 line in thirty-six hours from this date. Passports will be granted 
 you from this office. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 W. M. CHURCHWELL, 
 Colonel and Provost Marshal. 
 April 21, 1862. 
 
 At Mrs. Brownlow s immediate written request 
 the time of departure was extended a few days, 
 and on April 25th, she and her family, being a 
 party of four adults and four children, were con 
 ducted by way of Norfolk out of the Confederacy. 
 With these exiles were sent Mrs. Horace May- 
 nard and family, whose expatriation could not of 
 course be covered by the plea of Mr. Brownlow s 
 utterances in Cincinnati: but although Mr. May- 
 nard was not inculpated by that alleged offence, or 
 a like one from his own lips, he was highly obnox 
 ious as a Union leader who had gone to the en 
 emy. 
 
 Mrs. Brownlow was a native Tennesseean, and 
 Mrs. Maynard, born in Massachusetts, had resided 
 in the town for some twenty years. In the pend 
 ing conflict their sympathies were naturally and 
 properly with their husbands, but they had stood 
 entirely aloof from active politics, and no charge 
 of misdemeanor in word or deed was made against 
 them. Mrs. Maynard, a lady of superior culture 
 and fine sensibilities, was sickened in the enforced 
 departure from her home by its excitement and 
 worry, and a hemorrhage of her lungs ensued: 
 
176 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 but her spirit was bravely equal to the emergency, 
 and when the appointed hour came she was ready 
 for the journey under military escort. 
 
 As the war advanced, shops and mercantile 
 houses in some instances were closed, but as a rule, 
 they kept open doors with diminished stocks. A 
 few new shops were established and traders found 
 employment not unprofitable. Prices gradually in 
 creased until they became very high. Many 
 articles in frequent or habitual use by the people 
 could not be had at any price, or if at all, only in the 
 smallest quantities. Coffee, which formerly could 
 be bought at from 14 to 16 cents a pound, became 
 scarce soon after hostilities began, and before long 
 sold at one dollar a pound. Salt, almost a neces 
 sary of life, could only be obtained with difficulty, 
 and its price of 2^ and 3 cents a pound, rose to 
 30 cents and more. Brown sugar advanced from 
 12^ cents to 75 cents a pound. Common calicoes, 
 before sold at 12^ cents a yard, increased eight 
 fold in price by retail. Men s ordinary apparel 
 shared in the upward movement of values, espe 
 cially shoes of all kinds, which sold by and by, for 
 from ten to twenty dollars a pair, and boots, which 
 went up to twenty dollars and more. 
 
 The great increase in prices of dry goods and 
 groceries induced a corresponding advance by 
 producers in those of grain, meat, poultry, vegeta 
 bles and fruits. Provision for their own mainten 
 ance demanded of the farming class that what they 
 had to sell should be valued higher. 
 
 At the beginning of the troubles gold and silver 
 
PRESENT ILL RESULTS OF SECESSION. I?7 
 
 passed out of general circulation. Next the notes 
 of the various banks chartered by the State grad 
 ually disappeared. Numbers of people hoarded 
 these notes as a provision for possible exigencies, 
 and they were valued in exchange at twenty-five 
 per cent, more than Confederate notes. The 
 banks themselves were ready enough to pay out 
 the latter notes to customers, and by doing this 
 withdrew much of their own paper from circula 
 tion. Gold was sold for Confederate notes at a 
 premium of one hundred per cent, or more. 
 
 By the necessities of the times the question of 
 sustenance was of general consideration. As the 
 rate of interest and salaries of civilians continued 
 the same, they who depended for maintenance upon 
 income from loans or upon stipends for regular 
 services, suffered from the derangement in all 
 affairs. Debtors who before had such strong re 
 luctance to pay their just obligations, that their 
 hearts fainted in the endeavor, became wholly met 
 amorphosed. They manifested a cheerful zeal to 
 settle their debts, which would not let them await 
 the coming of the creditor. For they could pay 
 in depreciated bank notes, or better still, Confed 
 erate notes were plentiful and could be used in 
 liquidation. A citizen of well known loyalty to 
 "the South," especially one of prominence, could 
 probably refuse them in payment of debts, but such 
 a refusal by others might lead to unpleasant conse 
 quences. It might diminish one s reputation as a 
 friend of the Confederacy, or worse still, if that 
 reputation were already damaged, subject him to 
 
I? THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the reproach visited upon all " Lincolnites, tories 
 and traitors." Nevertheless, the pecuniary disad 
 vantage of taking a depreciated currency, which 
 was going down all the time, as a valid tender, 
 was too plain to fail of its influence. The unwil 
 lingness and refusals of people to be paid in Con 
 federate notes, at length attracted the attention of 
 the authorities, and it was ordered, in the spring of 
 1862, that persons refusing to receive such notes 
 should be held guilty of political offense and be 
 punished accordingly. The order sufficed to cor 
 rect the growing tendency, as no instance of an 
 arraignment for violating it was publicly known. 
 
 The civil law courts were still held, but with im 
 perfect sessions, except the County Court, which 
 met regularly on the first Monday of each month. 
 Justice, in a capacious robe, with bandaged eyes 
 and a pair of balances in hand, had been thrust 
 into the back-ground. And its imitation, dressed 
 in regimentals, with stern visage and wielding a 
 sharp sword, stood in the front. In the sphere of 
 ordinary legal proceedings dullness reigned, but 
 the Confederate tribunals and the courts martial 
 derived a stiff business look, without any pleasant 
 animation, from the trial of offenders for disloyalty 
 or treasonable practices. 
 
 From an early period of the troubled conditions, 
 the State Deaf Mute Asylum was appropriated to 
 use as a hospital for sick soldiers. The climate in 
 winter was too cold for those who came from 
 Alabama and other Gulf States, and they suffered 
 much from the inclemency of the weather in 1861 
 
PRESENT ILL RESULTS OF SECESSION. 1 79 
 
 and 1862. The mortality in hospitals that winter 
 was great two or three patients dying daily for a 
 considerable time. 
 
 After the battle of Fishing Creek, January, 1862, 
 the buildings of East Tennessee University were 
 taken by the military for the lodging of wounded 
 men, and afterwards the Male Academy was 
 turned by them into a guard house. These diver 
 sions of school property to uses of the army, seri 
 ously interfered of course with the work of edu 
 cating boys and young men. And yet the loss 
 incurred in that way was not very serious, because 
 the number of students in the disordered state of 
 things had severely diminished. The army had 
 absorbed some of the older youth into its ranks, 
 some borne on the fierce currents of excitement, 
 drifted off one way or another, and many were 
 demoralized from study by the abnormal social 
 conditions. One of the University professors had 
 been for years a most successful teacher of boys. 
 He hailed from north of Mason and Dixon s line, 
 and before the secession of Tennessee in June, 
 1861, had expressed his Union sentiments in letters 
 to friends who dwelt in the taboo-ed region be 
 yond the Ohio River. As the State was then still 
 in the Union, all letters from it by mail should have 
 been transmitted to their destination without pre 
 vious disclosure of their contents, but this was 
 forbidden by patriotic zeal for the Confederacy, to 
 which the State was bound by a military league. 
 Of the intercepted communications to a distance 
 written by Union citizens, were some by the pro- 
 
l8o THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 fessor. Then there went to him in writing anon 
 ymous threats of personal indignity and injury, 
 and the circumstances of the case appeared to 
 justify the fears they excited in him. After seek 
 ing judicious advice and not being willing to con 
 tend with the wrath of his enemies, he shortly 
 departed for Ohio and left goods and chattels 
 behind him, which were afterwards seized and 
 confiscated. 
 
 Another of the professors a clergyman of the 
 Presbyterian Church became an officer in the 
 Confederate army. Another, who was a native 
 of the county, moved with fear of being forced 
 to serve in that army, and loving the Union, 
 fled the country to Washington and only re 
 turned upon the advent of Gen. Burnside into 
 Knoxville. The President of the University a 
 clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 thought that some such unwelcome advent would 
 occur in 1862. In the earlier part of that year, 
 therefore, he made a prudent arrangement with 
 his associates to teach the few students who re 
 mained until the session s end, and departed for a 
 quiet home in North Carolina. Not long after 
 wards the doors of the institution were closed to 
 the work of education for four years. Schools for 
 the instruction of children continued in the town 
 to a limited extent, but their usefulness and suc 
 cess were lessened by the prevailing anxieties and 
 excitements. 
 
 The public worship in the several Christian 
 Churches was conducted without interruption. In 
 
PRESENT ILL RESULTS OF SECESSION. 
 
 several of them politics were introduced into the 
 prayers to God or in the preaching to men from 
 the pulpit, or in both. After Confederate troops 
 occupied the place, the chaplain of a regiment 
 would now and then preach in a church that was 
 strongly in sympathy w r ith the Confederacy. The 
 pastor of one of the churches kept aloof in his 
 sermons from the chief topic of the day, but often 
 made the success of the Confederacy a subject of 
 petition in his public devotions. The pastor of 
 another was less reticent, and expressed his politi 
 cal sentiments with much warmth and frequency 
 from the pulpit, in both prayers and sermons. The 
 minister of a third church, in 1861 became involved 
 in local strife connected with the great conflict of 
 the time, to the partial hurt of his usefulness. His 
 successor was a stranger, and adhered more closely 
 to the usual line of clerical duty, but it was under 
 stood that he heartily sympathized with the friends 
 of secession. They were largely in the majority 
 among church-goers, and all these ministers were 
 esteemed and beloved by the great body of their 
 respective peoples. The war therefore, occasioned 
 no break in the substantial unity of their churches, 
 nor any material decrease in the attendance of 
 worshippers. Than these, another church was 
 less fortunate. Its rector entertained Union senti 
 ments, to which some of its more influential fami 
 lies were strongly opposed. He was also in dis 
 agreement with the bishop of the diocese, not 
 personally, but officially, as the latter had set forth 
 in July, 1 86 1, by request of the Diocesan Conven- 
 
1 82 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 tion, a form of prayer for the success of the Con 
 federacy which the rector felt he could not in good 
 conscience use. The bishop, while manifesting 
 all fatherly kindness to the non-conforming minis 
 ter, decided that he could make no exception to 
 the rule of obedience. He was then asked for 
 and gave the rector a letter dimissory to Bishop 
 Smith, of the Diocese of Kentucky, which was 
 forwarded and accepted. The minister was disa 
 bled by an accident from following the letter in 
 person as he intended, and the rectorship, which 
 he had before resigned, was filled by a clergyman 
 from the neighboring town of Loudon. The 
 priest of the Roman Catholic Church was un 
 known in connection with the troubles. His suc 
 cessor at a later period, "Father Ryan," was quite 
 a young man, of delicate physique, but of a ready 
 mind, lively imagination and rhetorical power. He 
 had espoused the cause of the Confederacy with fer 
 vid enthusiasm, and used his talents zealously in its 
 behalf. His published poetical effusions were often 
 inspired by devotion to the "Sunny South" and 
 its flag. Sometimes they were filled with his 
 thoughts of the wrongs it had suffered, and have 
 been no little admired and praised by many of its 
 friends. It showed the mastery of political over 
 religious as well as other sympathies in the war, 
 that among those who attended upon his discourses 
 were men who in times of peace would not, be 
 cause of their religious prejudices, enter the door 
 of a Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 Many citizens, because of their political sym- 
 
PRESENT ILLS OF SECESSION. 183 
 
 pathy or distrust of the outcome, abstained from 
 keeping actively along with the current of affairs 
 through 1862 into 1863, under the reign at 
 the locality of the Confederate Government. 
 They merely subsided into quiet and retire 
 ment. Deploring the country s condition and 
 observing the progress of events with more or 
 less interest, they yet gave their thoughts and 
 time to ordinary duties, content to await what 
 ever the future might develop. To people of 
 truly Christian character, the habitual surroundings 
 of pageantry, clamors and clashes of war were 
 disagreeable: and for the promotion of a higher 
 life in the soul, they turned to seek "water out of 
 the rock of flint." Their religious principles be 
 came firmer and stronger, and they themselves 
 more like their Master in the spirit of His mind. 
 On the other hand, the vicious and profane were 
 emboldened to greater wickedness, and the wicked 
 dispositions of some could only be checked by 
 military discipline. It is not to be disputed also, 
 that some professed Christians were demoralized 
 by the war and fell away from their uprightness. 
 History repeats itself. The results just named are 
 like those which have followed all great calamities 
 to human society in the form of civil wars, pesti 
 lences and famines. 
 
 Evidently a revolution had not only been at 
 tempted politically, but was actually progressing 
 in other respects. Its fruits thus far were so ill and 
 sour as to confirm the opinion of some that it had 
 better have been unborn or stifled in its birth; bet- 
 
1 84 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ter that the evils which it was proposed to remedy 
 had been patiently borne with, and so far as they 
 really existed, peacefully removed. In the time to 
 come, its life might be short or long, and its con 
 sequences prove it for better or worse, but one 
 thing was certain: a most disagreeable change of 
 present conditions had occurred. Old things had 
 been displaced and new ones substituted. Citizens 
 who preferred that the former order were restored, 
 found their hopefulness to that end beset with dis 
 couragements. These very differently affected the 
 minds of Union men. All along the way since 
 the spring of 1861, they had been like an unorgan 
 ized army retreating before a closely pursuing foe. 
 Sooner or later, some had weakened and fallen; 
 some had turned aside and lain down to sleep; 
 some still trudged on, but lagged behind their 
 companions. And all these had previously made 
 up their minds to be captured. At length the 
 number of staunch friends of the United States 
 left by refugees through the mountains was largely 
 diminished. 
 
 Among the country people there had been abso 
 lutely little submission of mind to the power over 
 them as a de jure government, and the spirit of 
 patriotic adventure was strong. In more than a 
 few instances it incited them to toilsome and haz 
 ardous ridings over the mountains into Kentucky, 
 and back again with news concerning the war 
 which could not otherwise be had, except as it 
 might be stintedly published from Richmond after 
 being distilled in Confederate alembics. The pre- 
 
PRESENT ILLS OF SECESSION. 185 
 
 sumption is, that as opportunity served, not only 
 was general news carried by these messengers, 
 but also valuable information relative to military 
 situations and movements. Among Union women 
 there were heroines in action, equal to their grand 
 mothers in the first settlement of the land when 
 the Indians were a terror. * 
 
 In April, 1862, tidings brought to East Tennessee 
 of the battle of Corinth, like those elsewhere cir 
 culated at first in the South, were exaggerated. 
 " The slaughter of the Yankees," as reported, "was 
 enormous," and the number of Confederates killed 
 and wounded was very small. Great rejoicings 
 followed over the victory said to have been won 
 by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, but these soon 
 abated, for what reason Union citizens could not 
 tell. They had their suspicions that the actual re 
 sults differed materially from the extravagant 
 statements that had been boastingly made, but 
 their incredulity did not rest upon knowledge of 
 any facts. Former experience had taught them 
 not to give credence to such statements, but to 
 discount them largely on the score of military pol 
 icy in time of war, and even more on account of 
 the intense party bias which prevailed in Confed 
 erate circles. After the evacuation of Corinth by 
 Gen. Beauregard, the demonstrations of the Fed 
 eral forces towards East Tennessee, which had 
 begun before, became more threatening. They 
 compelled the Confederate troops at Bridgeport to 
 retire, made indecisive attacks upon them at Chat- 
 
 * See Appendix Not* L. 
 
J THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 tanooga and Cumberland Gap, and harassed them 
 in East Tennessee into frequent and forced marches. 
 Finally General Kirby Smith evacuated Cumber 
 land Gap under military necessity, and the Federal 
 army under Gen. G. W. Morgan occupied his forti 
 fications. 
 
 In July, 1862, Gen. John H. Morgan, of Kentucky, 
 who had considerable fame as a partisan Confeder 
 ate officer, having been defeated at Lebanon, Tenn., 
 reorganized his command and made Knoxville his 
 starting point for a new expedition. He passed into 
 Kentucky, capturing and destroying, engaged the 
 Federals in battle at Cynthiana, and at length with 
 drew from that State before a superior force. One 
 year later he again entered Kentucky from Sparta, 
 Tenn., just west of the Cumberland Mountains, 
 and went upon his well known raid into Ohio and 
 Indiana. Afterwards he again appeared in East 
 Tennessee, and one night, when asleep in a private 
 dwelling, exceptionally well provided, at Greene- 
 ville, he was surprised by a party of United States 
 soldiers. They had been informed as to where he 
 lodged, and in his attempt, partially dressed, to 
 escape through the garden of his hostess, a soldier 
 fired upon and killed him. 
 
 The ordinary routine of things at Knoxville was 
 enlivened in the summer of 1862, by the arrival of 
 some forty United States soldiers who had been 
 taken prisoners by Col. Forest, in the military ad 
 venture and surprise he accomplished at Murfrees- 
 boro. They bore their adversity with fortitude 
 and unlessened devotion to their country. Horses 
 
PRESENT ILLS OF SECESSION. 187 
 
 and wagons captured at the same time, accompa 
 nied them and with the prisoners presented a spec 
 tacle of military trophies that drew a crowd of 
 triumphant beholders. Some of these spectators 
 made then their safe and nearest approach to the 
 destructive war, which they had rejoiced that oth 
 ers should carry on with danger and hurt. The 
 captured men were sent to Georgia. An exhibi 
 tion by authority less creditable than the show of 
 prisoners and horses was that of the private cor 
 respondence seized at Murfreesboro, which was 
 distributed the next day among soldiers and citi 
 zens and read on the streets. 
 
 About the middle of August, 1862, Gen. Kirby 
 Smith, having collected forces sufficient for the 
 purpose, made a forward movement into Kentucky, 
 crossing the mountains at a gap considerably west 
 of that named Cumberland. Soon after he de 
 parted, Col. W. M. Churchwell, Provost Marshal, 
 died of disease that was probably contracted 
 through exposure the previous winter at Cumber 
 land Gap. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NEWS AND LITERATURE IN THE CONFEDERACY 
 A MIXED DINNER PARTY AND ITS CONVERSA 
 TION CARTER S RAID AND WHAT BEFELL A 
 RECRUITING OFFICER AN UNTERRIFIED YAN 
 KEE CITIZEN OF GEORGIA SANDERS RAID 
 DEATH OF PLEASANT MCCLUNG. 
 
 " Young men soon give, and soon forget affronts ; 
 Old age is slow in both." 
 
 ADDISON S Cato. 
 
 11 A wise man * * * examines if those accidents 
 Which common fame calls injuries, happen to him 
 Deservedly or no. Come they deservedly? 
 They are no wrongs then, but punishments : 
 If undeservedly and he not guilty, 
 The doer of them first should blush not he." 
 
 JONSON. 
 
 IT is not advisable to follow closely the course of 
 events at the locality during the next winter and 
 spring, for the most of them were not important 
 or interesting enough to be chronicled. Men and 
 things settled down into a state of comparative 
 quiescence under the new Government. While 
 with some there was glad acceptance of the exist 
 ing power, others, silently submitting to it, looked 
 out, hopeful of soul for its overthrow, and secretly 
 listened for news of victories to the United States 
 armies at a distance. Tidings of all occurrences 
 
LITERATURE IN THE CONFEDERACY. 189 
 
 beyond the limits of the seceded States were mea 
 gre in quantity and obtained with difficulty, except 
 so far as the few newspapers still published in the 
 South, gave them. These papers had dwindled 
 away in size, and of course had little room in their 
 columns for news from the United States and from 
 foreign lands, after printing matter of local interest. 
 If any news from outside were published, which 
 was thought to bear seriously upon the fortunes of 
 the war, its proportions had to be shorn and its 
 color changed to suit politic requirements. The 
 Richmond (Va.) Examiner, with its very able edi 
 torials by Mr. Daniel, was more in circulation than 
 any other journal from a distance, and some per 
 sons counted themselves happy in the opportunity 
 to peruse it. There was an independence in its 
 tone that reminded Union men of former days of 
 the Republic, and its zest was enhanced to their 
 mental palates by its occasional fault-finding with 
 those in authority. At length its dimensions were 
 reduced by the necessities of the times to one-half 
 sheet of very indifferent paper. If, as was some 
 times the case, a few newspapers were smuggled 
 into the town from the North by the underground 
 railway via Kentucky, and came into the hands of 
 a Union citizen, they were counted as worth their 
 weight in gold. He first devoured their contents 
 in secret, then passed them covertly to a friend, 
 and so they would continue their rounds among 
 hungry readers. In like manner would be circu 
 lated any important news received by the "grape 
 vine telegraph." Such eagerness among Union 
 
19 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 men for information from without, was no doubt 
 largely due to their hope of deliverance, but it w r as 
 partly owing to their desire to know something of 
 what was going on in the great world beyond the 
 limits of the Confederacy. They felt like men in 
 a prison, and to this day many of the current 
 events in that world for more than two years are 
 blank in the knowledge of persons in the South, 
 who had been accustomed to keep pace with jour 
 nalistic columns. 
 
 As for current literature and science, periodicals 
 and new books, they found no access at all to the 
 place from abroad. The only volumes recently 
 published, copies of which had circulation were, 
 "A Strange Story," by Bulwer, and a translation 
 of Victor Hugo s " Les Miserables." These had 
 been re-printed at Richmond, and were remarka 
 bly inferior in their mechanical execution. The 
 paper on which they were printed and the typog 
 raphy vied in poverty and unhappiness. The 
 covering was of wall-paper with very large figures, 
 the mutilation of which, in adapting the binding to 
 its use, added to the grotesque appearance of the 
 books. 
 
 News was still given by authority. The com 
 munity would be told of a battle somewhere, in 
 which many " Yankees" were killed, wounded and 
 taken prisoners, and the Confederate losses were 
 relatively small. These reported victories, with 
 their great disparities in results, occasioned, as did 
 the news from Corinth, much open joy on the one 
 hand and secret incredulity on the other. They 
 
A DINNER PARTY AND ITS CONVERSATION. 
 
 who doubted and still clung to the Union, although 
 reduced in numbers, were not so crushed in spirit 
 as to sulk, Achilles like, in their tents, but they 
 sought one another s company, listened to news 
 from the United States, brought in by adventurous 
 runners, discussed the situation and probabilities, 
 and encouraged each other to steadfastness. Some 
 times the national heavens wore to them an intense 
 gloom, relieved by but few dim rays of hope. But 
 at one time their hope grew very bright, only to 
 suffer a fatal eclipse. No occurrence of the war 
 gave the Union people of East Tennessee such 
 disappointment as the failure of General McClel- 
 lan s Peninsular campaign. In their imaginations, 
 "Little Mack" was the hero of the epoch, the Al 
 exander who would cut the Gordian knot of the 
 rebellion, the American Caesar who would shortly 
 capture the insurgents capital and proclaim to the 
 nation, u Veni, vidi^ vici" And when they learned 
 the campaign s result, they did so with more grief 
 and discouragement than was felt elsewhere in the 
 land, because of their isolation from sympathy and 
 their unfriendly environment. 
 
 In the great majority of instances, friendly social 
 intercourse between people of hostile opinions had 
 ceased, but there were exceptions to the rule. 
 Early in May, 1863, a civilian who was firm in his 
 devotion to the Union, but strong also in his attach 
 ment to personal kinsmen, and equally free in man 
 ifesting both, had a number of invited guests to 
 dine with him one day. News of the death of 
 Gen. Stonewall Jackson had but just arrived, and the 
 
I9 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 sorrowful event was a topic of conversation at the 
 table. The hero who had recently departed, has 
 been since the war ended, an object of reverent 
 admiration to some people who cared nothing for 
 or detested secession, as well as to all who sympa 
 thized with it. While the bloody conflict was go 
 ing on, the godliness which was a strong trait in 
 his character, seemed to sanctify altogether in the 
 view of some minds, the cause for which he fought 
 so bravely and skillfully. They would, no doubt, 
 have stoutly rejected the dogma of works of super 
 erogation. But the religious merits of General 
 Jackson appeared to more than counterbalance 
 with them all religious demerits of others who 
 sought with him to dissolve the Union. In the 
 conversation just mentioned, pertinent expressions 
 were given of esteem for the deceased and of re 
 gret for his death. After these had been spoken 
 a young man at the table exclaimed: 
 
 " I have no doubt that General Jackson is now 
 commanding a legion of angels in heaven!" 
 
 This sentimental climax to the panegyrics before 
 uttered, somewhat startled its hearers, and seemed 
 to forbid any remark that might even imply dis 
 sent. The prevailing silence was broken by one 
 of the company relating an anecdote of the Rev. 
 David Nelson, who had been for years a doctor of 
 medicine. From being a downright religious scep 
 tic, he had been converted to the Christian faith, 
 had become a prominent Presbyterian minister in 
 East Tennessee, and was the author of a book en 
 titled, " The Cause and Cure of Infidelity," which 
 
A DINNER PARTY AND ITS CONVERSATION. 193 
 
 once had a very extensive circulation. He was in 
 Washington City during the presidency of Andrew 
 Jackson, who, hearing of his presence in the city, 
 sent him an oral invitation to visit him at the 
 White House. The two had been well known to 
 each other in former years and were personal 
 friends, but Dr. Nelson said, in narrating the inci 
 dent, he had found after becoming a Christian min 
 ister, little or no benefit to result from his social 
 visits to men in high places of the State or Nation. 
 He therefore did not make the proposed visit. The 
 President then sent him a written request to go 
 and see him, and Dr. Nelson went. General Jack 
 son had lost his wife by death, and the affliction 
 had been the means of leading him to serious re 
 flection and to faith in Christ to baptism and 
 membership in the Presbyterian Church. As a 
 consequence, the conversation that ensued between 
 him and his reverend visitor, was of a religious 
 nature. Dr. Nelson, in speaking afterwards of the 
 interview, said: 
 
 " I talked with General Jackson. I think he is 
 a true Christian. Yes, I think when he dies he 
 will go to heaven. But he will be no bigger than 
 a rat! There s my old colored man a preacher. 
 He will be soaring away up in heaven, while Gen- 
 |eral Jackson will be crawling along on the floor 
 ilik e a rat." 
 
 This recital was followed at the table by a silence 
 as deep and universal as that which went before 
 it. Whether the guests highly valued Dr. Nel 
 son s opinions that degrees of blessedness obtain 
 
194 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 in heaven and that high and low positions will in 
 some instances be reversed up there, is by no 
 means certain. But they appeared to think that 
 the story entailed a moral which lay in its applica 
 tion, that the subject was exhausted and the con 
 versation might be discreetly diverted to another 
 topic. 
 
 In December, 1862, Gen. Samuel P. Carter made 
 a military raid into that portion of East Tennessee 
 lying nearest Virginia. He was a native of one 
 of the most eastern counties of Tennessee, which 
 bears his surname, and he belonged to a promi 
 nent and influential family. He had been for years 
 an esteemed officer of the United States Navy, 
 but in 1862, was detached from it and assigned to 
 duty with the land forces in Kentucky which might 
 operate in East Tennessee. There, it was proba 
 bly thought, his nativity and name would prove 
 collateral aids to his services. This particular en 
 terprise was brilliantly executed, but he was com 
 pelled by the gathering of superior hostile forces 
 to withdraw from it speedily. A compend of his 
 report of the expedition is appended.* 
 
 A very young man, son of Wm. Harris, a worthy 
 merchant of Dandridge, Jefferson County, fled to 
 Kentucky in the summer of 1862, from the con 
 scription. He became a volunteer in the United 
 States Army and was made captain in the East 
 Tennessee troops, was sent by the Colonel of his 
 regiment to obtain recruits in Sevier County, East 
 Tennessee, crossed the mountains for that pur- 
 
 *See Note M. 
 
WHAT BEFELL A RECRUITING OFFICER. 195 
 
 pose with General Carter s command on its raid, 
 left it at Union Railroad depot, and was betrayed 
 and captured in Washington County. From there 
 he was brought to Knoxville and tried by court 
 martial as a deserter from the Confederate army, 
 was found guilty and sentenced to death. Gen. 
 Burnside communicated from Kentucky to the 
 Confederate Government that Captain Shade T. 
 Harris was an officer of his army, for whom he 
 held Captain Battle, of the Confederate States 
 Army, as hostage, but no exchange of the men 
 was effected. Subsequently Captain Battle was 
 released at Nashville through some misunderstand 
 ing or mal-administration, Harris being still de 
 tained. His friends claimed that he was a United 
 States soldier. Perhaps prompted by the feeling 
 that a Christian minister who was a Union man 
 would more heartily advise with and prepare him 
 for approaching death, his father requested a min 
 ister who bore that reputation to visit the prisoner. 
 Authority to do so was promptly granted upon 
 application, but the reverend man was rather sur 
 prised to be attended on his errand by two soldiers 
 " armed to the teeth," as though he had not only 
 dangerous propensities but Sampsonian strength. 
 This formidable guard, with its superfluous watch 
 fulness, kept close to the minister s person while 
 he read the Word of God to the prisoner, prayed 
 with and counselled him. The jail was crowded 
 with inmates and the miserable food that waited 
 to be scantily dished out to them lay thrown to 
 gether in a box on the way from the main door. 
 
196 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 One result of the visit was, that with consent of 
 the authorities, a quantity of good, wholesome 
 bread from the baker s went that day to regale the 
 prisoners. The ministerial visit, with a reduced 
 military escort, was now and then repeated, and 
 the condemned youth was exhorted to cherish 
 a spirit of forgiveness to his enemies, as a duty r 
 because of God s forgiveness through Christ. 
 He professed to do this. The fatal day drew 
 near. A coffin was prepared for the body of the 
 alleged culprit. His father learned from Rich 
 mond that a reprieve had been granted, and 
 visited the recently appointed Commandant of 
 the Post at Knoxville, who in reply to an inquiry 
 concerning the respite from President Davis, said 
 he did not know, and told an Aid to look and see. 
 Several pigeon holes were examined, and the offi 
 cial document was at length found! No doubt 
 King David was right when he said to the prophet 
 Gad, "I am in a great strait: let us fall now into 
 the hand of the Lord: for his mercies are great: 
 and let us not fall into the hand of man."* 
 
 Throughout the winter of 1862-3, and the next 
 spring, the current of life in the community, with 
 its mingled civil and military elements, flowed on 
 in wonted channels. The occupancy of the town 
 by Confederate troops and the conduct of their 
 affairs made the most prominent and engrossing 
 feature on the face of things. There were soldiers 
 on the streets, and sick or dying soldiers in the 
 hospitals. Courts martial were held, and stories, 
 
 * See Appendix: Note N. 
 
PREVALENT DULLNESS AND INFLATION. 
 
 true or false, of military movements and skir 
 mishes, of battles, victories and defeats, were fre 
 quent topics of conversation. Men bought and 
 sold, Confederate notes and bonds went down in 
 value, and gold went up. Purchases of different 
 commodities in trade and of real estate, were made 
 in sums of money, nominally large and really small. 
 Some men seemed to prosper in their financial 
 operations, in like manner with the speculator, of 
 whom an admiring friend said, " He is rich that is 
 to say, he is not rich, but he has all the sensations." 
 But there was no firm foundation in pecuniary 
 affairs and many of the superstructures were 
 chaffy. 
 
 In general, things appeared to be permanently 
 settled. There was so much of ordinary routine 
 in their daily movement, so little of jarring or erup 
 tion about it, that men, if disposed, might easily 
 think that the Government under which they lived 
 had a long, indefinite future before it. To some 
 observers, however, the uniformity in the move 
 ment, like that in the soldiers dress and march, 
 had too much the look of being imposed by mere 
 power and of wanting in healthy freedom. After 
 all that might be said favorably of the social con 
 dition, one had to admit that it was too dull and 
 monotonous to suit rational beings, and needed an 
 infusion of vitality from some source or other. To 
 observers whose spirits revolted against their sur 
 roundings, and were fed with the hope that 
 
 "Springs eternal in the human breast," 
 
 the state of society suggested its comparison to 
 
198 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 that of the inhabitants of a remote locality in a 
 great empire, where insurrectionists temporarily 
 held power and things went on among the people 
 under a prevailing sense of suppression. They 
 were compelled to silence but were still resistful 
 of mind to the power that held them down. They 
 had faith that the surrounding night would sooner 
 or later disappear before the light of day, bringing 
 
 " Stern and imperious Nemesis, 
 Daughter of Justice, most severe; 
 ***** 
 
 Whose swift, sure hand is ever near." 
 
 During this period of a more quiet Confederate 
 rule over the region, there was an occasional esca 
 pade of persons from the Gulf States through East 
 Tennessee to the North. Secretly a system had 
 been perfected by which they and other refugees 
 were directed from point to point and supplied 
 with means of conveyance by resident citizens 
 well known to each other and their special friends 
 whose names were never exposed as helpers in 
 such a work. One of this class of travellers was 
 Mr. B., a native of Connecticut, but for many re 
 cent years a respectable, peaceable citizen of a 
 State south of Tennessee. 
 
 At the advent of the war, knowing that he had 
 the esteem generally of his neighbors, he did not 
 think of being disturbed during its progress, in the 
 quiet pursuit of his lawful business. After the 
 conflict had fairly begun, the passions of men 
 made them sharply sensitive to the presence of 
 one, whose antecedents formed a ground of sus- 
 
AX CJNTERRIFIED YANKEE. 199 
 
 picion that he was not " loyal to the South." He 
 belonged by birth to the hated race of "Yankees," 
 and although he was discreet of speech and well 
 behaved, it was supposed that he could not well 
 enough love the production of cotton by slave 
 labor, to be allowed in the town at such a critical 
 time. Therefore he received in writing an anony 
 mous warning to leave the country, but he refused 
 to heed it. Another was sent to him with the 
 same result, and yet another. At length he was 
 threatened in an open and positive way, that forced 
 him to answer with emphasis, " They told me," 
 said Mr. B., speaking with a decided nasal twang, 
 "they told me I must leave or forfeit my life, and 
 I told them I would forfeit my life!" 
 
 He was evidently such a man as Hosea Biglow 
 would admire. George Borrow says, "When 
 threatened by danger, the best policy is to fix your 
 eye steadily upon it and it will in general vanish 
 like the morning mist before the rising sun; 
 whereas, if you quail before it, it is sure to become 
 more imminent." 
 
 The result of that policy by Mr. B., was that 
 without further molestation, he was permitted to 
 continue his residence in the town. Long after 
 wards, he chose to depart with a young man as 
 companion, and passed through Knoxville to Mor- 
 ristown, where Mr. N. would provide them con 
 veyance over the mountains into Kentucky. 
 
 One afternoon in June, 1863, agitating news 
 spread from the military to the people. Col. Wm. 
 P. Sanders, of the United States Army, was said 
 
200 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 to be marching upon the town with a formidable 
 force, to be already not far away from it, and 
 would arrive on the morrow r . The cry, "To 
 arms!" went everywhere. Messengers upon the 
 streets summoned citizens to shoulder their guns 
 and aid the military in resisting the invader. " To 
 the front! to the front!" And away men sped 
 under a strong sense of duty. The tradesman left 
 his store, the laborer his toil, the mechanic his 
 shop, the lawyer his office and even the clergyman 
 his study. Young and more mature men, and boys, 
 obeyed the call, in some instances as if eager for 
 the fray. 
 
 A noble spirit is that of patriotism. Who is 
 there of such base metal, as not to be prompt in 
 defending his home, his city, his native or adopted 
 land? That arrant coward, John FalstarT, thrice 
 pronounced "a plague upon all cowards!" And 
 the sentiment, put into rude or elegant phrase, has 
 the common consent of mankind. There is "a 
 common and indeterminate courage," w 7 hich Ed- 
 mondo De Amicis says a in Europe is considered 
 with chivalric reciprocity, the property of all 
 armies." Bishop Stephen H. Elliot (eminent scholar 
 and gentleman) said that the late civil war proved 
 one thing that there are few men not brave 
 enough to right. Much rarer is moral courage, 
 as it is immeasurably superior in kind. Physical 
 courage has more of its roots in the animal nature 
 and is liable to great heats and fury. Moral cour 
 age, having its roots in the conscience and being 
 trained by the reason, has firmness and compo- 
 
SANDERS S RAID. 2OI 
 
 sure. Nor is all patriotism alike. It differs in 
 scope and expression. That which is narrow and 
 tied down to a section is apt to have a concentra 
 tion of energy, which gives a certain fire and dash 
 to its courage. The patriotism that includes the 
 whole country in its arms, may because of breadth, 
 have less flaming intensity, but has more substan 
 tial capacity for calm endurance in heroic action. 
 On June i4th, 1863, by order of Maj. General 
 Burnside, then commanding the Department of the 
 Ohio, Col. Sanders (Fifth Kentucky Cavalry), 
 started from Mount Vernon, Kentucky, for East 
 Tennessee, with a party of fifteen hundred men, 
 which included the First East Tennessee Regi 
 ment under Col. R. K. Byrd. He passed via the 
 neighborhood of Huntsville, Scott County, East 
 Tennessee, and Montgomery, Morgan County, and 
 leaving Kingston and Loudon in succession to his 
 right, made some captures at Lenoir s, and moved 
 up to Knoxville at daylight on the 2oth. General 
 Buckner was in command of the Confederate 
 Army in East Tennessee. He was absent that 
 day, having gone the previous morning to concen 
 trate his forces at Clinton, but all possible prepar 
 ations were made to repel Col. Sanders. After 
 wards it was stated that he had no intention to 
 assault the town, which if he had taken he could 
 not have held. Fie himself officially reported that 
 he " made demonstrations against Knoxville so as 
 to have their (Confederate) troops brought from 
 above." An engagement followed upon his ap 
 pearance before the town between the two hostile 
 
202 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS 
 
 parties, chiefly with a Confederate battery planted 
 on Summit Hill, southwest of and overlooking the 
 
 O 
 
 railroad depot, and a United States battery on 
 elevated ground opposite, near the junction of 
 Fifth Avenue and Crozier streets, North Knoxville. 
 Few injuries resulted to either side. Most of the 
 shells thrown by Col. Sanders guns, missing their 
 mark, flew over the town harmlessly enough, ex 
 cept in frightening the women and children with 
 their whizzing through the air. But the casualties 
 from one of the shrieking missiles were serious to 
 the Confederates. It first mortally wounded the 
 captain of a company of citizen volunteers, then 
 struck and killed a sergeant who on higher ground 
 was nearly prone with the earth to avoid harm, 
 and finally exploded, killing a Lieutenant from 
 Florida, who with other convalescents from the 
 army hospital in the Deaf Mute Asylum close by, 
 sat on a fence to see the fight. 
 
 The Captain of Volunteers was a young man of 
 specially amiable and genial qualities. His bravery 
 and vivacity of spirits led him into heedlessness of 
 danger. As he stood upon the hill-top that morn 
 ing, nigh to the Confederate earth-works and 
 artillery, and saw his fellow-soldiers drop for safety 
 into the ditch at the same moment with the flash 
 of Sanders guns, he exclaimed, standing upright: 
 "Don t be afraid; there s no danger!" Instantly a 
 shell hit him, and his mutilated body was tenderly 
 borne to a kinsman s house in town. Surgical aid 
 was summoned and could mitigate his sufferings, 
 but not save his life. 
 
DEATH OF PLEASANT McCLUNG. 2O 3 
 
 A non-combatant minister of the gospel, having 
 removed his invalid wife to a friend s house less 
 exposed to the flying shells, was seeking the same 
 refuge for his infant child. As he walked, he met 
 a brother minister, who had just taken part in 
 the fight. The contrast, one bearing in his arms 
 a musket and the other a child, was almost comi 
 cal, and provoked a smile from the Quaker-like 
 professional. He repressed it in presence of the 
 grief he quickly encountered, as he met the 
 wounded Captain s wife and children. 
 
 "O, Mr. - ," she cried aloud, throwing her 
 arms aloft into the unsympathizing air, "they have 
 killed my husband! Come and see him!" 
 
 This he did, and administered such consolation 
 as our holy religion affords for sufferers. The dy 
 ing young man was a sincere Christian believer. 
 It was noted that only the Sunday evening before, 
 with his family around him at home in the coun 
 try, he had sung, with a heavenward aspiration of 
 spirit, the grand old hymn, on whose winged 
 words of divine promise and human faith many a 
 devout heart has often risen into the Christian em 
 pyrean: 
 
 "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord." 
 
 As his life ebbed fast away, his right hand now 
 and then pressed that of the kneeling minister, in 
 sympathy with the supplications offered to God. 
 Soon the end came, and his dying breath went 
 forth in prayer. Among his petitions to the King 
 invisible, was one of " forgiveness to those who 
 killed him." 
 
204 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 No doubt he meant the enemies with whom he 
 did battle that morning; but were there not others, 
 positively, although remotely in time, accountable 
 for his death? Who inaugurated that bloody war 
 whether it were rightly named civil or infer 
 nal? Did it come down from the sky above or 
 leap up from the deep beneath, fully matured, as 
 Minerva sprung forth from the head of Jupiter, in 
 complete armor, with lifted spear and clashing 
 weapons? Or was there some gigantic national 
 wrong against humanity, that clamored for right 
 eous adjustment, and would not sleep until it found 
 redress? Was it begotten of enthusiastic philan 
 thropy? Or of an unholy love of lordship? Of 
 zeal for freedom and hate of oppression? Or of 
 ambition to cut the Nation in two and create one 
 with slavery for its corner-stone? Was it evolved 
 from the heart and brain of William Lloyd Gar 
 rison and Wendell Phillips? Or from those of 
 Jefferson Davis and Robert Toombs? Did the 
 first gun fired on Fort Sumter, whose echoes went 
 sounding through the land and sent the patriotic 
 pulses of the people bounding to the quickstep of 
 marching battalions, begin the biggest strife the 
 world has known? Or were its seeds sown in 
 earlier decades, when men, women and children 
 of barbaric Africa, cruelly crowded in slave-ships, 
 were freely imported to American Colonies and 
 States, to be forever an inherited " bone of con 
 tention?" 
 
 "Forgiveness to those ivho killed him?" Let 
 the question in all its bearings of responsibility for 
 
DEATH OF PLEASANT McCLUNG. 205 
 
 his death, be referred for answer to the Son of 
 Man, whom God has appointed to judge the quick 
 and dead! Meanwhile, let thy dismembered body r 
 O, Pleasant Miller McClung, sleep on in the quiet 
 grave of thy early manhood, until the morning of 
 the resurrection of the dead! Then shalt thou 
 meet those for whom thou didst pray forgiveness. 
 And surely, thy unstudied petition was so like one 
 that passed from the pale lips of the Man of Sor 
 rows when expiring on the cross, that it must have 
 gone up through Him to the throne of eternal 
 grace. Sleep on, then, until that coming day! 
 Multitudes, equally brave wearing the blue or the 
 gray fell on sleep in the same mighty conflict. 
 In many and crowded cemeteries the grass grows 
 on lowly mounds over them, the white and pulse 
 less marble glints in the shine of the sun as it 
 rises and sets, and the birds sing their peaceful 
 requiem in the air. And shall they not a grand 
 army, hundreds of thousands strong come again 
 to life? What if some are in unmarked graves? 
 What if some graves have headstones that bear 
 the sorrowful word, " Unknown?" God knoivetk! 
 And they shall rise again, for He has said it. 
 But if, in the generations hereafter, " Columbia" 
 is indeed " to glory arise," O ye, her sons, heed 
 well the lesson taught by the war between her 
 children in 6165. "The beginning of strife is 
 as when one letteth out water, therefore leave off 
 contention, before there be quarreling." 
 
 In this Republic the avenues to employment are 
 so many and wide open, that some measure of 
 
206 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 success awaits all who have capacity and diligence. 
 Justly enough, a poor and obscure lineage does 
 not prevent the rise to eminence or wealth of him 
 who is worthy, nor are they to be attained by the 
 son of rich or notable parents, who has no merit 
 of his own. "Parson Brownlow," in writing once 
 for the public about some of his enemies to whom he 
 attributed aristocratic pretensions, compared them 
 to "turnips, the better part of which is under 
 ground." Still, wisely enough, men generally 
 even under Democratic institutions, count an hon 
 est and industrious ancestry of some worth. By 
 common consent, sons are to be commended who 
 copy the virtues and good conduct of their fathers. 
 One of the guests at a dinner party in Knoxville 
 given to Gen. Burnside, said to him: "Andrew 
 Johnson deserves great credit for having risen from 
 poverty and obscurity to honorable distinction in 
 the country." The General was expected to reply 
 in just the same strain of sentiment. His answer 
 was: "Yes! but so does every man who inherits 
 superior advantages and uses them wisely and 
 faithfully." And there are strong temptations to 
 idleness and improvidence besetting the young 
 man who is born to affluence and favorable oppor 
 tunities, which it is meritorious in him to over 
 come, and with which the poor boy has never to 
 struggle. 
 
 The genealogical facts concerning the young 
 Captain who met his death on Summit Hill during 
 the " Sanders raid" are interesting, for he was the 
 only living man in whom met lines of descent from 
 
PLEASANT McCLUNG COL. SANDERS. 207 
 
 two persons distinguished in the earliest history of 
 Tennessee and Knoxville. He was the great 
 grand-son of William Blount, Governor of the 
 Territory south of the Ohio, from 1792 to 1796, 
 and also of James White, founder of Knoxville, 
 (the capital of the Territory) and fellow-worker 
 of Blount in the organization of Tennessee. 
 
 Col. Sanders, after one hour s passage at arms 
 with the Confederates under the command pro 
 tern, of Col. R. C. Trigg, took up his line of march 
 eastward and burned the bridges at Strawberry 
 Plains and Mossy Creek. He captured stores and 
 prisoners at several places, and was finally com 
 pelled to withdraw hastily to Kentucky. His en 
 emy pressed him closely on all sides, and to avoid 
 capture, he had to pass the mountain by an unfre 
 quented gap, (Smith s) through which there was 
 no road, but only a bridle path, to follow. Reports 
 made by the respective parties in the conflict, are 
 appended in a condensed form. 55 
 
 When the excitement occasioned by Sanders s 
 visit had passed away, Knoxville returned to its 
 former quiet condition and remained so for two 
 months. 
 
 Meanwhile, the United States forces which held 
 Cumberland Gap were in turn compelled by their 
 adversaries to evacuate it, because of insufficient 
 supplies. 
 
 *See Notes O. and P. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 GEN. BUCKNER S RETREAT A CITIZEN S AD 
 VENTURE GEN. BURNSIDE; His WELCOME; 
 His EXPEDITION CUMBERLAND GAP ; ITS 
 SURRENDER AN ECCENTRIC FARMER MIL 
 ITARY MOVEMENTS IN EAST TENNESSEE 
 FIGHT AT BLUE SPRINGS AFFAIRS AT AND 
 
 NEAR LOUDON BURNSIDE AND THE PEOPLE. 
 
 " Now is the winter of our discontent 
 Made glorious summer by this sun of York; 
 And all the clouds that lowered upon our house, 
 In the deep bosom of the ocean buried." 
 
 SHAKS. : Richard III. 
 
 Gen. Buckner had been for some time at Knox- 
 ville in command of the military department o 
 Kentucky, Middle and East Tennessee, North 
 Alabama and Southwest Virginia. His personal 
 presence was commanding and adapted to fill the 
 popular notion of a grand army officer. The at 
 tention of citizens was attracted and their criticism 
 challenged by his imposing appearance, as he rode 
 without escort upon a splendid charger through 
 the principal street. His reputation was that of a 
 true gentleman and a soldier of superior merit. 
 The public esteem had been drawn to him, by his 
 conduct at the fall of Fort Donelson, in compari 
 son with that of his companion-generals, espe 
 cially Floyd. 
 
MAJ. GEN. A. E. BURNSIDE. 
 
GEN. BUCKNER S RETREAT. 209 
 
 Late in August, to the surprise of civilians, he 
 departed westward with his troops, crossed the 
 Tennessee River, twenty-nine miles distant and 
 burned the railway bridge behind him. Some 
 thing important had happened or was expected, 
 but the people in their ignorance could only won 
 der as to its nature. The retreat left them unpro 
 tected from roving, lawless bands, which the war 
 had spawned. One of these came into the town 
 at night and despoiled stables of horses. A citizen 
 was roused from sleep by their near prowling. 
 Hastening to his stable, he came upon thieves who 
 quickly decamped. They had brought to the spot 
 a valuable horse just stolen by them from a near 
 stall. They left it behind in the hurry of flight, 
 but took away the horse whose owner had alarmed 
 them. Without intending a deed of disinterested 
 benevolence by interfering with the rogues work, 
 he had saved his neighbor s property, losing his 
 own. The next day*steps were taken to form com 
 panies of armed townsmen for defence against 
 marauders. Before any thorough organization to 
 that end was made, an unexpected event occurred. 
 
 It was the 2nd of September, 1863. A worthy 
 Swiss immigrant of the town at the beginning of 
 the war espoused the side of " the South" with all 
 the fervor of his naturally ardent disposition. His 
 friend, " native and * * to the manner born," 
 was a decided Union man, and because of his sen 
 timents, met with various troubles during the Con 
 federate supremacy at the place, but the true- 
 hearted Switzer was steadfast in his friendship, at 
 
 M 
 
210 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 the risk of losing caste with his own party. In 
 the afternoon of the day, he had concluded a visit 
 to the Unionist and was walking homeward, when 
 to his astonishment he saw three men on horse 
 back and in blue uniforms, four hundred yards dis 
 tant, galloping towards him as if for life. "Halt!" 
 they shouted. But not heeding their call, he turned 
 and ran to the room of his friend, crying out as he 
 entered it, "The Yankees are coming!" Instantly 
 the family assembled, and as quickly the soldiers 
 in blue were at the door. They were advance 
 riders of the army under Maj. Gen. Burnside, and 
 being on the lookout for hostile soldiers in the town, 
 they had pursued the Switzer in the belief that he 
 was one. Through an upper window his friend 
 looked out upon the troopers in the yard, but they 
 saw in the company gathered above, the man whom 
 they had followed, and immediately one of them, 
 with face white from excitement, raised his pistol 
 and pointing it upward at thfe group exclaimed, 
 "There he is now! Stand out of the way, ladies!" 
 The native citizen stepped forward and said. "Don t 
 shoot ! I am a Union man." The pistol was at 
 once lowered, but the soldiers kept their ground 
 and must needs be talked with. The Switzer 
 bravely said in his imperfect English, that he would 
 go down stairs and give himself up, but his compan 
 ion would go before, and opening the front door, he 
 assured the eager troopers that the man they sup 
 posed to be a Confederate soldier, was only a citi 
 zen at the house as a visitor. They were at once 
 pacified, made apologies and rode away. 
 
GEN. BURNSIDE: HIS WELCOME. 211 
 
 The United States army had indeed arrived, and 
 to look upon it, the delighted Union man sought 
 without delay the principal street. At the end of 
 two squares he found the way barred by a sen 
 tinel. In the halt thus imposed upon all per 
 sons, he was entertained by the outspoken dis 
 pleasure of the company chiefly ladies of the 
 neighborhood at the incoming of the "Yankees." 
 One of them a truly amiable, but for the time 
 deeply offended matron gave free vent to her 
 feelings until the current of her thoughts was di 
 verted at the suggestion of a bystander, that the 
 town might well be thankful for the protection the 
 United States army afforded it from robbers. Only 
 a few nights before they had stolen from her a val 
 uable pony. This recollection turned her resent 
 ment from " Lincoln and his hordes" to the source, 
 as she thought, of all present woes to the country. 
 " If it had not been for South Carolina," she com 
 plained, a we should not have had all this trouble!" 
 
 Gen. Burnside, on his arrival, established his 
 headquarters in a large mansion recently vacated 
 by its owner, which stood near the principal street 
 and had a spacious front yard. From its covered 
 porch a large United States flag was lifted up, and 
 in its drooping folds the welcoming crowd wrapped 
 themselves with beaming faces. Expressions of joy 
 from the people rung upon the air. They hailed the 
 General as their deliverer from a hated power 
 and the oppression it inflicted; and also as the rep 
 resentative of their beloved nation, clothed with 
 its authority and armed with its sword. Some of 
 
212 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 them were so glad that they scarcely knew what 
 to do with themselves. In the overflow of their 
 emotions they could have clasped him in their arms, 
 or, if opportunity had served, have drawn him in 
 a carriage with their own hands all over the town, 
 that everybody, men, women and children, might 
 look upon him. Meanwhile he bore himself with 
 dignity and gentleness. Briefly he addressed them 
 with words suited to the occasion and full of 
 friendly sympathy. Then, his attentive hearers, 
 elated with joy as with new wine, were eager for 
 more discourse. An adjournment was made to 
 the courthouse, and from its front several citizens 
 addressed the assembly in the open air. 
 
 The expedition of Gen. Burnside into East Ten 
 nessee had been conceived in his mind at least six 
 months before it was made. He took command 
 of the department of the Ohio, at Cincinnati, 
 March 25, 1863. It included Indiana, Ohio, Mich 
 igan, Illinois, Kentucky (excepting west of the 
 Tennessee River), and "all of East Tennessee that 
 he might at any time occupy." At that date Gen. 
 Pegram, with a formidable cavalry force, had 
 marched from East Tennessee across the Cumber 
 land River, had driven the United States forces to 
 the north of Kentucky River, and had taken pos 
 session of Danville and its vicinity. In a few days, 
 by direction of Gen. Burnside, Gen. Gilmore com 
 pelled Gen. Pegram to retreat; and afterwards at 
 Somerset, with the co-operation of Gen. Manson, 
 commanding a part of Gen. Boyle s forces, com 
 pletely defeated Pegram, and made the Cumber- 
 
BURNSIDE S EXPEDITION. 213 
 
 land River again the dividing line. Central Ken 
 tucky was for the next month free from hostile 
 forces. Early in May, upon the organization of 
 the troops in that State into the Twenty-third army 
 corps, under Gen. G. L. HartsufF, Gen. Burnside at 
 once commenced to make preparations for moving 
 into East Tennessee. On June 3d he left Cincinnati 
 to take command in person of the troops which were 
 organizing for that movement, and which consisted 
 of the two divisions of the Ninth army corps un 
 der Gen. Wilcox and a portion of the Twenty- 
 third corps under Gen. Hartsuff. On arriving at 
 Lexington, Ky., he received an order to send the 
 Ninth corps to Gen. Grant, and in consequence, 
 the expedition to East Tennessee had to be defer 
 red. After Col. Sanders returned to Kentucky 
 from his raid, " preparations were still continued" 
 by the General, " in the hope of being able to spare 
 sufficient force to go into East Tennessee." But 
 they were disturbed by the approach of the rebel 
 General, John H. Morgan, with a large cavalry 
 force, about the ist of July, on his memorable raid 
 through Kentucky and Indiana into Ohio, which 
 resulted in his surrender near Steubenville, and 
 the capture altogether of 3,000 men three-fourths 
 of the troops with which he had entered Kentucky. 
 While the United States soldiers were absent in 
 pursuit of Morgan, a considerable force of rebel 
 cavalry under Col. John S. Scott, went from East 
 Tennessee, crossed the Kentucky River and ap 
 proached the Ohio, evidently with the view of as 
 sisting Morgan on his expected return. They were 
 
214 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 soon driven out of Kentucky with heavy loss, by 
 Col. Sanders cavalry after it came back from the 
 pursuit of Morgan. 
 
 Then preparations were again begun by Gen. 
 Burnside for a movement into East Tennessee. 
 As the troops were worn and scattered by their 
 recent fatiguing services, it required much labor 
 and time to perfect the organization necessary for 
 that purpose. He appointed Gen. J. D. Cox to 
 take charge in his absence of the District of Ohio, 
 Gen. Wilcox of the District of Indiana, and Gen. 
 Boyle of Kentucky, all of whom he considered 
 " officers of great skill and determination." On 
 August loth, he left his headquarters at Cincinnati 
 to join the column that was to march into East 
 Tennessee. It consisted of the Twenty-third army 
 corps, commanded by Gen. HartsufT, and on the 
 zoth was located as follows, viz.: White s division 
 at Columbia, Ky.; Hascall s division at Stamford; 
 Carter s division at Crab Orchard; Graham s cav 
 alry at Glasgow; and Woolford s cavalry at Som 
 erset. As ordered, Gen. Hartsuff moved his com 
 mands as follows: Hascall s division to Kingston, 
 Tenn.. by way of Somerset, Chitwood, Huntsville 
 and Montgomery; White s division from Columbia 
 to Montgomery, Tenn., by way of Creelsboro and 
 Albany, Ky., and Jamestown, Tenn.; Graham s 
 cavalry to join White by way of Burksville, Al 
 bany and Jamestown; and Woolford s cavalry 
 brigade to guard the supply and ammunition trains 
 that were with Hascall s division. Carter s cavalry 
 brigade, which Gen. Burnside s headquarters ac- 
 
BURNSIDE S EXPEDITION. 215 
 
 companiecl, was to move by way of Mt. Vernon, 
 London and Williamsburg, Ky., over the Jellico 
 Mountains to Chitwood, Huntsville, Montgomery 
 and Kingston, Term., except such portions as might 
 be detached. These forces were directed to meet 
 at such times and places as not to interfere with 
 each other s movements; and the whole work was 
 performed with wonderful promptness and accu 
 racy, considering the great difficulties in the way, 
 of steep, rugged mountains, bad roads and short 
 forage. 
 
 At Williamsburg, a cavalry force under Col. 
 Byrd, of the ist Tennessee Regiment, was de 
 tached for the purpose of making a demonstration 
 on Knoxville, by way of Big Creek Gap, and at 
 Montgomery a cavalry force was detached with 
 orders to pass through Winter s Gap and occupy 
 Knoxville. The main body of the command moved 
 on the direct road to Kingston, which point the 
 advance reached on the ist of September. Col. 
 Foster arrived at Knoxville September 2nd, cap 
 tured several engines and cars, which he sent up 
 the railroad to Morristown, Greeneville and near 
 Jonesboro, and took also large quantities of sup 
 plies. Little resistance was met with by the Fed 
 eral troops, throughout their entire march from 
 Kentucky the enemy in all cases retreating before 
 them. Their main body, with Gen. Burnside in 
 person, moved forward from Kingston and reached 
 Knoxville on the 3rd. In his opinion, "nothing 
 could be better than the conduct of the officers 
 and men of the Twenty-third corps; from the 
 
2l6 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 time it left Kentucky, their labors were most diffi 
 cult, but were performed with the greatest accu 
 racy and efficiency." The mountainous route by 
 which the army traveled was long and fatiguing, 
 but it was the only one possible. At the end of 
 the journey the army was, he said, " in the midst of 
 friends;" it " found the people generally loyal and 
 disposed to do all in their power for its comfort 
 and welfare." At the same time it was more than 
 two hundred miles from the Ohio River, and one 
 hundred and fifty miles from the nearest point 
 where the mountains and ridges that traverse 
 Southeastern Kentucky give place to the fertile 
 and garden-like " blue-grass region." From be 
 yond those highlands, supplies for the army must 
 be transported in wagons drawn by mules, whose 
 mongrel nature, hardy as it is, was so unequal to 
 the roughness and toil it had to bear in the work 
 of transportation, that the number of their dead 
 bodies lying on sides of the road over the mount 
 ains might be named Legion. It was currently 
 estimated, as aggregating from first to last, ten 
 thousand. Although the army occupied Knox- 
 ville and other important points in East Tennessee, 
 it had not exclusive possession of that region. 
 The great body of the population was friendly, but 
 there were hostile troops in several directions. 
 
 Before leaving Kentucky, Gen. Burnside had 
 organized a division of new troops under Col. De 
 Courcy, to move down upon the north side of 
 Cumberland Gap, and if possible, occupy that po 
 sition. On his own arrival at Knoxville, he learned 
 
CUMBERLAND GAP: ITS SURRENDER. 217 
 
 that the Gap was still occupied by the enemy. He 
 directed Gen. Shackelford to proceed to its south 
 side, and if within his power, capture the garrison. 
 Gen. Shackelford on arriving there, communicated 
 with Col. De Courcy on the north side by courier, 
 and ascertained that the position was too strong 
 to be carried by the small force under his com 
 mand. Gen. Burnside, upon being informed of 
 this fact, started at once for the Gap, with Col. 
 Gilbert s brigade, and after a march of 60 miles in 
 53 hours, reached it on September 9th. Disposi 
 tions were made to assault the place, but before 
 the next morning, he demanded of Col. Frazer, 
 Who was in command of the garrison, that he 
 should surrender. The demand was complied 
 with, and nearly 2,500 men were delivered over to 
 the United States, together with all the material 
 and armament of the fort. Shackelford s and Gil 
 bert s brigades returned to Knoxville, and Col. De 
 Courcy s division (then under command of Col. 
 Lemert) was left as a garrison at the Gap. 
 
 As the Commander-in-chief was drawing nigh 
 to that place on the 9th, with Gilbert s brigade, he 
 was given an illustration, somewhat extravagant in 
 its manner, of the joy inspired among the loyal 
 people of East Tennessee by his coming, and of 
 the respectful affection they had for him per 
 sonally. 
 
 An eccentric farmer, son of a learned judge at 
 Knoxville, resided in the autumn of 1863, near 
 the Gap. Amusing stories are yet current of his 
 unaffected oddities. He was a man of much 
 
218 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 simplicity of character, of high, impulsive temper, 
 of great frankness, a warm and steadfast friend, 
 a strong hater, quick to speak his mind, and 
 in his earlier mature years, a ready fighter. It is 
 related of him, that having once quarreled with a 
 neighbor who bore the not uncommon name of 
 John Smith, he contracted sometime afterwards a 
 bodily illness that brought him nigh to death s 
 door. Some of his friends advised, in view of the 
 probability that his end was at hand, that he should 
 be reconciled with his enemy. To this he con 
 sented, and accordingly John Smith was sent for, 
 and without delay, arrived. The two adver 
 saries " made friends" shook hands and parted 
 in strong doubt of another meeting between them 
 on earth. But the sick man reflected that he 
 might get well, and in his great candor, he called 
 out from the bed to his former enemy, who was 
 about leaving the room: " I say, Smith! you un 
 derstand. This is all very well if I die; but if I 
 get well, it goes for nothing!" 
 
 He was a Union man during the war, from the 
 crown of his head to the soles of his feet. Noth 
 ing else could have been expected of one who was 
 accustomed to espouse a cause with his whole 
 soul, who had always been an intense Whig in 
 politics, and whose love of country was both unal 
 loyed and fervent. Hearing that the Commander- 
 in-chief of the United States army was drawing 
 near Cumberland Gap, he went forth to meet him, 
 and falling down upon his knees in the highway, 
 he expressed aloud to the General, by words and 
 
AN ECCENTRIC FARMER. 219 
 
 gestures, his thankfulness, love and joy. It was 
 with some astonishment, mingled with gratification, 
 that Gen. Burnside witnessed this exhibition of pa 
 triotic feeling, to which he made a kindly response. 
 And afterwards, whenever others told of the 
 incident, his amused memory would light up his 
 face with a broad smile, which was instantly re 
 strained, as if by a feeling of respect for the 
 honest enthusiasm that had expressed itself so 
 oddly at the Gap. He seemed to think that the 
 occurrence had its serious as well as its funny side. 
 Before leaving Cumberland Gap, he received the 
 following dispatch: 
 
 HEADQUARTERS 21sT ARMY CORPS, 
 
 CHATTANOOGA, Sept. 10, 1863, 2 A.M. 
 MA.T. GEN. A. E. BURNSIDE, 
 
 Commanding Department of Ohio Tennessee River : 
 SIR I am directed by the General commanding the Department 
 of the Cumberland to inform you that I am in full possession of this 
 place, having entered it yesterday at 12 M. without resistance. 
 
 The enemy has retreated in the direction of Rome. Ga., the last 
 of his force, cavalry, having left a few hours before my arrival. At 
 daylight I made a rapid pursuit with my corps, and hope that he 
 will be intercepted by the center and right, the latter of which was 
 at Rome. The General commanding department requests that you 
 will move down your cavalry and occupy the country recently cov 
 ered by Col. Minty, who will report particulars to you, and who has 
 been ordered to cross the river. 
 
 (Signed) T. L. CRITTENDEN, 
 
 For Maj. Gen. Commanding. 
 
 This information relieved Gen. Burnside from 
 all apprehension concerning Gen. Rosecrans. It 
 also fixed his determination to occupy all the im 
 portant points above Knoxville, and if possible, 
 reach the Salt Works near Abingdon, Va. Suffi 
 cient forces were left at Kingston and Loudon. 
 
220 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Col. Byrd, who was stationed at Kingston, was 
 ordered to occupy Athens, and if possible, Cleve 
 land, thus communicating with the cavalry of Gen. 
 Rosecrans, as requested in the above dispatch, and 
 as directed in another soon afterwards received 
 from Gen. Halleck at Washington, as follows: 
 
 Hold the gaps of the North Carolina mountains, the line of the 
 Holston River, or some point (if there be one) to prevent access 
 from Virginia; and connect with Gen. Rosecrans, at least with your 
 cavalry. 
 
 A heavy force under the Confederate General 
 Jones, was then holding points in the upper part of 
 East Tennessee Valley, which, by the above order, 
 Gen. Burnside was to occupy. Col. Foster s brig 
 ade had been doing excellent service in keeping 
 that force in check. Gen. Hartsuff was directed 
 to send at once all his infantry (except Gilbert s 
 brigade), and also Woolford s cavalry up the val 
 ley. Col. Carter s cavalry brigade was already well 
 advanced in that direction. On the i6th, at night, 
 Gen. Burnside received another dispatch from 
 Gen. Halleck, sent on the i3th. It read: 
 
 It is important that all the available forces at your command be 
 pushed forward into East Tennessee ; all your scattered forces 
 should be concentrated there ; move down your infantry as rapidly 
 as possible towards Chattanooga to connect with Rosecrans. 
 
 Early on the morning of the lyth, Burnside sent 
 orders by telegraph for the Ninth corps and all 
 other available troops then in Kentucky, to join 
 him at once. He also gave instructions for all the 
 troops then in upper East Tennessee and not in 
 presence of the enemy, to retrace their steps down 
 the valley towards Rosecrans. The same day he 
 
MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN EAST TENNESSEE. 221 
 
 received another telegram from Halleck, dated the 
 i4th, as follows: 
 
 There are several reasons why you should reinforce Rosecrans 
 with all possible dispatch. It is believed the enemy will concen 
 trate to give him battle ; you must be there to help him. 
 
 Burnsicle then repeated his order concerning the 
 troops up the valley. Having already started to 
 take command of them in person, and efficiently 
 to promote the purpose of their movement, he 
 proceeded beyond Jonesboro to near the Watauga 
 River, When arrived at the extreme advance of 
 his command, he saw no way of extricating it from 
 its situation, except by attacking the enemy s posi 
 tion at Watauga bridge. A cavalry brigade under 
 Col. Foster was sent around on the morning of the 
 23rd, to threaten the enemy s rear, who on that 
 night burnt the bridge and evacuated the position. 
 Immediately Burnside set in motion all the United 
 States troops, except a small portion of cavalry, on 
 the way to aid and relieve Rosecrans. The fol 
 lowing day he returned to Knoxville. 
 
 His movements were watched from Richmond. 
 On the day w r hen he received Halleck s telegram 
 of the i4th, a close observer at that city wrote: 
 u It is said the enemy is evacuating East Tennessee,, 
 concentrating, I suspect, for battle with Bragg." * 
 
 It may easily be seen that it was impossible that 
 the obedience promptly given by Burnside to Hal 
 leck s order, could avail in helping Rosecrans, as 
 intended. The United States troops, which were 
 in the upper country of East Tennessee, according 
 
 * See "A Rebel War Clerk s Diary at the Confederate States Capital," Vol. 
 2, page 46. 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 to instructions before given to Burnside, were from 
 150 to 200 miles distant from Chicamauga, where 
 Rosecrans was to do battle, and they could not 
 travel so far in the very short time before that bat 
 tle began, even if they were moved towards the 
 spot as rapidly as possible. Afterwards, when 
 Rosecrans had established himself in Chattanooga, 
 many dispatches passed between Halleck and 
 Burnside, in reference to the latter s going to 
 strengthen and assist Rosecrans, and some mis 
 understandings occurred in regard to the purport 
 of those dispatches. Gen. Burnside, in his report 
 to the War Department, gives the underlying rea 
 son. He says: "I was averse to doing what would 
 in any way weaken our hold in East Tennessee, 
 and he (Halleck) was anxious lest Rosecrans 
 should not be able to hold Chattanooga. He 
 (Rosecrans) was not disturbed at Chattanooga, and 
 we held our ground in East Tennessee, so that 
 what occurred in no way affected the result." 
 
 By the 3oth of September, the whole of the 
 Ninth army corps arrived, numbering about 6,000 
 men. Previous to that date, Gen. White s division 
 had been sent to Loudon, Col. Woolford s cavalry 
 had reinforced Col. Byrd, and they were instructed 
 to connect with Rosecrans cavalry; Gen. Carter 
 held Bull s Gap, which was then the most ad 
 vanced position of the United States troops up the 
 valley, and Col. Haskell was in support at Morris- 
 town. Many of the men were suffering from want 
 of clothing, for there was great difficulty in getting 
 sufficient supplies across the mountains, and the 
 
FIGHT AT BLUE SPRINGS. 223 
 
 temperature of the air was frosty. On October 
 5th, Gen. Wilcox arrived at Cumberland Gap with 
 four new regiments of Indiana troops. He was 
 ordered to Morristown, and thence to Bull s Gap, 
 and to him Col. Raskin s brigade was directed to 
 report from Morristown. Gen. Burnside had de 
 termined to push his advance farther up the valley, 
 and with this purpose he sent the Ninth corps, 
 under Brig. Gen., R. B. Potter, in that direction, 
 together with all the cavalry under Gen. Shackel- 
 ford, except Byrd s and Woolford s brigades. A 
 junction of all these forces was made at Bull s 
 Gap, where Gen. Burnside arrived in person on 
 the 9th, and on the following morning an advance 
 movement was ordered. At Blue Springs, be 
 tween Bull s Gap and Greeneville, the enemy 
 was found in heavy force and in a strong posi 
 tion between the wagon road and the railway 
 to Greeneville. The United States cavalry occu 
 pied him in skirmishing until late in the afternoon. 
 Col. Foster was sent, with instructions to establish 
 his brigade in the rear of the enemy, on the line 
 over which the latter would be obliged to cross in 
 retreating, and at a point near Rheatown. An 
 attack from the front was delayed until sufficient 
 time had passed, probably for those instructions 
 to be fulfilled. After 5 P.M , Gen. Ferrero s division 
 of Gen. Potter s command, moved forward in the 
 most dashing manner, driving the enemy from his 
 first line, and compelled him to retreat that night. 
 Gen. Burnside pursued early in the morning, driv 
 ing his foes again beyond the Watauga River, 
 
224 THE LOYAL MOUNT AINEEKS. 
 
 where he directed the United States cavalry to 
 hold them. Col. Foster s brigade met with serious 
 difficulties upon its special errand, chiefly in rough 
 roads, and did not reach its intended point of estab 
 lishment in the rear ground and check the enemy 
 in his retreat by night on the 9th, but it joined the 
 pursuing forces next morning.* The cavalry was 
 left in the advance, supported by Col. Raskin s 
 brigade of infantry at Jonesboro, Gen. Wilcox was 
 left at Greeneville, and the Ninth corps returned 
 to Knoxville. 
 
 Nothing of importance occurred in the region 
 of this fight until the ist of November, when the 
 outposts at Kingsport and Blountville were driven 
 in, and in consequence the road from Kingsport 
 to Rogersville was left unguarded. A heavy 
 force of the enemy under Gen. S. Jones moved 
 down that road, surprised a brigade of United 
 States cavalry under Col. K. Garrard at Rogers 
 ville, and completely routed it. Col. Garrard, with 
 his shattered forces, retreated to Morristown, and 
 as the strength of the force which attacked him 
 was unknown to Gen. Burnside, he prudently di 
 rected Gen. Wilcox to fall back to Bull s Gap and 
 hold that position. From that time until the iyth 
 of the month, operations were confined to cavalry 
 fighting, skirmishing and foraging. 
 
 West of Knoxville, on the south side of the 
 Tennessee River, below Loudon, the enemy were 
 
 * NOTE. The Comte de Paris charges guilty neglect" upon Foster: that while 
 he halted his column under the pretext of allowing his men time to rest, he sent on 
 the road to Henderson s Mill the Fifth Indiana Regiment, through which the Con 
 federate troops easily opened a way. The Civil War in America, Vol. It. 
 
AFFAIRS AT AND NEAR LOUDON. 225 
 
 very active during the early part of October. On 
 the i9th of that month, Gen. Burnside had direc 
 tions to report to Gen. Grant, commanding Division 
 of Mississippi, concerning the situation and opera 
 tions of his forces. This he did, and at the same 
 time sent a flag of truce through Col. Woolford s 
 lines, whose headquarters were at Philadelphia, 
 Tenn. The enemy s cavalry took advantage of 
 the flag, made an attack upon Col. Woolford, and 
 captured from 300 to 400 of his men and some 
 mountain howitzers. On the z8th, the forces at 
 Loudon were moved to the north side of the Ten- 
 nesee River, and the pontoon bridge was taken up 
 and transported to Knoxville. There it was thrown 
 across the Tennessee, and proved of immense ser 
 vice during the siege. The indications at that date 
 were that Bragg was sending a considerable force 
 against Burnside. The latter reinforced Kingston 
 with Col. Mott s brigade of infantry, left Gen. 
 White and his command at Loudon, and posted 
 Gen. Potter with the Ninth corps at Lenoir s, 
 about five miles east of Loudon. All the available 
 cavalry force at Knoxville was thrown on the 
 south side of the Tennessee River, with instruc 
 tions to guard it down to the junction of Little 
 Tennessee and Tennessee rivers opposite Lenoir s. 
 And in order to enable the United States forces to 
 communicate with each other, Gen. Potter was 
 instructed to build a pontoon bridge over the Ten 
 nessee just above the mouth of the Little Tennes 
 see. That was done with great expedition, under 
 superintendence of Col. O. E. Babcock. Some 
 
 N 
 
226 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 correspondence was carried on between Generals 
 Grant, Halleck and Burnside as to the proper 
 points to be occupied in East Tennessee, and a 
 visit to Burnside s headquarters followed from Col. 
 Wilson, of Grant s staff, by order of his chief, ac 
 companied by Hon. Chas. A. Dana, Assistant Sec 
 retary of War. Burnside gave them his reasons 
 in full for desiring to hold Knoxville in preference 
 to Kingston. They concurred with him in that 
 conclusion. They all agreed it would be proper 
 to recommend that both places be held, if possible, 
 but certainly Knoxville. At that date it was defi 
 nitely known that Longstreet was moving against 
 Burnside. 
 
 Sometime before, Gen. Shackelford had been 
 ordered to report from upper East Tennessee at 
 Knoxville, to take command there of all the United 
 States cavalry, and on the approach of Longstreet, 
 Raskin s brigade was ordered to that place. This 
 left Gen. Wilcox, with his new division, with some 
 newly recruited North Carolinians, and also Fos 
 ter s division of cavalry, composed of Graham s 
 and Garrard s brigades, in the country above 
 Knoxville. The whole command in that region, 
 though it consisted of good men, was in bad con 
 dition, for want of almost everything that was 
 needful. Burnside, when he learned certainly that 
 Longstreet was advancing towards him, directed 
 Wilcox to arrange for the march of his command 
 to Cumberland Gap, in the event telegraphic com 
 munication between him and Gen. Burnside s 
 headquarters should be broken. On that night, 
 
LONGSTREET SENT TO CAPTURE BURNSIDE. 227 
 
 November 16, it was cut off, at the same time that 
 the siege of Knoxville was about to begin. 
 
 The United States Army under Gen. Rosecrans 
 had been saved on the 2oth of September by the 
 firmness of Gen. Thomas. It was then shut up in 
 Chattanooga by Gen. Bragg, who reported to 
 Richmond that he expected its " speedy evacua 
 tion" of that place, " for want of food and forage." 
 Whether Bragg thought that, as he said, he held his 
 enemy at his mercy, and therefore could weaken 
 his own force for a distant purpose, or whether, 
 as Gen. Grant thought probable, the movement of 
 troops to that end was ordered by Jefferson Davis, 
 in default of his endeavor to reconcile a serious 
 difference between Bragg and Longstreet, a heavy 
 force, including cavalry, was detached from Bragg s 
 army and sent under Longstreet to capture Burn- 
 side.* 
 
 The United States General who was the intended 
 victim of that undertaking was not blind to the 
 possibility that his military occupation of East 
 Tennessee would shortly be brought to an end by 
 a hostile force from the southwest. The bare 
 thought of such an event deeply grieved 1pm, not 
 only as a disaster to the Federal Government, but 
 also as a great calamity to the Union people of 
 East Tennessee. A short time before Longstreet s 
 march upon Knoxville began, Burnside in private 
 conversation with a citizen-friend, spoke with 
 
 * Gen. Grant, in his " Personal Memoirs 1 (see Vol. II., page 49) puts the force 
 with which Longstreet left Chattanooga "to go against Burnside at about fifteen 
 thousand troops, besides Wheeler s cavalry, five thousand men." For Longstreet s 
 mind as to the situation, see Appendix, Note R. 
 
228 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 strong feeling of the possibility that he would not 
 be able to continue to those people his protection. 
 Had they known that not without reason he 
 thought such a contingency existed, they would 
 have been as deeply pained as he was, at the idea 
 of his departure. He had been among them only 
 about ten weeks, but in that brief time he had won 
 their hearts. He had made good use of his oppor 
 tunities to establish the military supremacy of the 
 United States, to extend its area in East Tennes 
 see and to hold it in possession against enemies. 
 He had also, without putting aside the dignity be 
 coming his official position, manifested the kindly 
 sympathy he sincerely felt for the Union people 
 who had suffered for more than two years under 
 Confederate rule, he had permitted a healthy free 
 dom of approach to his presence, had listened 
 when at leisure to their griefs and wrongs, had 
 now and then, as his public duties permitted, par 
 taken of their hospitalities, and in a word, had in 
 various ways showed that he was their friend. 
 Everywhere he was looked upon with respect 
 and affection. Even among citizens, at heart 
 hostile .to the flag he defended, were some who 
 admired and liked him. They could not well be 
 otherwise than content with him, for he visited 
 them with no needless severities and his judgments 
 were reasonable. His native magnanimity of soul 
 would have lifted him above seeking revenge for 
 his private wrongs suffered from the conflict, but 
 he had no such wrongs. The bitterness and ani 
 mosities which he found the war had produced 
 
BURNSIDE AND THE PEOPLE. 229 
 
 among neighbors in East Tennessee, met with no 
 favorable response from his own heart. He could 
 not fully understand them, and spoke of their 
 existence with mingled surprise and regret. 
 
 In the same connection he related that in his 
 recent march from Kentucky, he pitched his 
 tent at the base of the mountain on the Ten 
 nessee side. By and by, a number of the moun 
 taineer Unionists gathered not far off, and soon, 
 a few of them stepped out from the com 
 pany and approached the General as a com 
 mittee. They said to him, "General, we want 
 you to give us authority to go down here into 
 the valley, and carry off the hogs and cattle 
 we find there." This request the General re 
 fused in few words. "But," they said, "that is 
 the way they have treated us. And we will 
 not make any mistakes. We will carry off only 
 the cattle and hogs of the rebels." The General 
 replied, "That is not my way of carrying on 
 war;" and the petitioners withdrew very much 
 disappointed. 
 
 General Burnside was buoyant with hope that 
 the Union of the States would not only be pre 
 served, but be stronger and better from the tri 
 umphant conclusion of the war in its behalf. He 
 once expressed an opinion, which did not show 
 great sagacity as a worldly-wise politician. It was 
 the reflection, at the moment, of his own generous, 
 magnanimous spirit, rather than a deliberate con 
 clusion of his judgment from careful weighing of 
 future possibilities. In conversation with a few 
 
230 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 friends concerning the ruinous losses by citizens 
 generally of personal property, he ventured the 
 prediction that "when the war is over, everybody 
 will be paid." 
 
 Business at head-quarters was necessarily alive 
 and active. Gen. Samuel P. Carter was Provost 
 Marshal General. His office was a place of many 
 affairs, and was visited by various applicants and 
 their friends. There were citizens from near at 
 hand and from a distance, who wanted to take the 
 oath of allegiance to the United States, some of 
 whom had been before of doubtful loyalty, 
 and who desired, when they had passed through 
 that process of political purgation, to carry home 
 with them an official certificate of their title to the 
 protection by the United States Government, of 
 their persons and property. There were men from 
 town and country who wanted to "go North" on 
 business, or to get away from the strife, its tur 
 moils, uncertainties and troubles, or to leave for 
 Europe. There were men under arrest to be dealt 
 with, or recusant citizens to be allowed the free 
 dom of the town on parole or to be held as host 
 ages, and others still who invited by their belliger 
 ent and dangerous speech a compulsory trip for 
 themselves to Camp Chase or preferably into the 
 Confederate lines. Then there were men of known 
 loyalty, who had complaints to make, or claims to 
 be adjusted, or this, that or something else done or 
 prevented or remedied. Citizens who had influ 
 ence with the military authorities, were kept busy 
 in the service of their Confederate friends and 
 
BUSINESS AT HEADQUARTERS: AN ALARM. 231 
 
 neighbors. To some of such workers it was a 
 labor of love, but probably not to all. Instances 
 occurred, if rumor were true, of ten dollars each 
 being charged for introducing people to General 
 Carter. There were also orders to issue, official 
 reports to receive, and troops to be sent here and 
 there. Sometimes Union citizens, overflowing 
 with patriotic zeal, had news to tell at headquar 
 ters, which they thought to be important. If now 
 and then their zeal outstripped their discretion, it 
 was little wonder that the information they carried 
 should be lacking in accuracy. No doubt such 
 instances of unintentional but hurtful mistakes 
 were rare, for military life and discipline forbade 
 their repetition even by civilians. One case was 
 visited with a reprimand to the offender that was 
 justly severe upon him and amusing to others. 
 
 Late one night a strong partisan interrupted the 
 serenity at headquarters with the exciting statement 
 that the Confederates had marched upon Maryville, 
 in Blount County, 17 miles distant, where were 
 only a few United States soldiers. Quickly a suffi 
 cient body of cavalry were summoned from their 
 beds into their saddles and dispatched to repel the 
 invading force. The alarm proved to be false; no 
 Confederate troops were found in or near Mary 
 ville. The next day, General Burnside, on meet 
 ing his deceived and deceiving informant, said to 
 
 him, "Mr. , you bring me a great deal of news. 
 
 Now, I don t want you to bring me any more, for 
 the average is bad /" 
 
 It has been said that all religion springs from a 
 
232 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 sense of dependence upon the Supreme Being. 
 We may doubt the truth of the postulate, but cer 
 tainly all true religion includes that sense, and it 
 had its proper place in the mind of Gen. Burnside. 
 While his personal and social conduct in East Ten 
 nessee was upright and blameless, he was not for 
 getful of Him who "doeth according to His will 
 in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of 
 the earth," and to thoughts of whom, the respon 
 sibilities of his position, its difficulties and dangers 
 tended to move him more actively. He once said 
 to a friend during that period, that he "loved some 
 times to retire to his own room, there to lift up his 
 mind and heart to God, and to give himself to 
 quiet meditation." The impression made by his 
 conversations, his reverent participation in the 
 worship of God and hearing of the gospel, was 
 that without much knowledge of religious doc 
 trine, he accepted in faith the truth of Christianity. 
 Immediately after his first arrival at Knoxville, 
 Burnside sent to a certain Christian minister, who 
 because of his Union sentiments had been excluded 
 for precisely two years from his pastoral charge, a 
 written invitation to fill the unoccupied pulpit of 
 his own church on the next Sunday. The request 
 was complied with the day being the 6th of Sep 
 tember. By one of those curious coincidences 
 which have been noticed to occur at different times 
 in similar religious services, when the portion of 
 the Psalms for that morning came to be respon- 
 sively read, the minister unexpectedly to himself 
 and to the surprised attention of some in the con- 
 
A CO-INCIDENCE IN WORSHIP. 233 
 
 gregation who knew all the facts of the case, be 
 gan, as prescribed, with the words: 
 
 "I will magnify thee, O Lord; for thou hast set 
 me up, and not made my foes to triumph over me." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 GRANT AT CHATTANOOGA PERIL OF BURNSIDE 
 THEIR CO-OPERATION LONGSTREET AT 
 LOUDON BURNSIDE RETREATS AND is PUR 
 SUED BATTLE OF CAMPBELL S STATION MIL 
 ITARY CONDITIONS AT KNOXVILLE ESCAPE. 
 OF LEADING UNIONISTS. 
 
 "Once this soft turf, this rivulet s sands, 
 Were trampled by a hurrying crowd, 
 And fiery hearts and armed hands 
 Encountered in the battle cloud. 
 Ah ! never shall the land forget 
 
 How gushed the life-blood of her brave : 
 Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, 
 Upon the soil they sought to save." 
 
 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 
 
 The departure of Longstreet from Bragg against 
 Burnside, taking with him twenty thousand men, 
 or more, including 5,000 cavalry under Wheeler, 
 occurred on the 4th of November. It was very 
 soon known at the United States headquarters at 
 Chattanooga and at the White House in Washing 
 ton. Grant was eagerly desirous to extend relief 
 to Burnside, but it was not in his power. That 
 end would have been gained by inflicting a defeat 
 upon Bragg, against whom he could not move un 
 til joined by Sherman, who was then on his way 
 with reinforcements from Memphis to Chattanooga.. 
 
PERIL OF BURNSIDE. 235 
 
 Before Longstreet started on his expedition, dis 
 patches were constantly coming to Grant from the 
 alarmed authorities at Washington, urging Him to 
 "do something for Burnside s relief;" calling atten 
 tion to the importance of holding East Tennessee, 
 saying that the President was much concerned for 
 the protection of the loyal people in that section, 
 &c., &c. To this statement in Grant s Personal 
 Memoirs, he adds: u We had not at Chattanooga 
 animals to pull a single piece of artillery, much 
 less a supply train. Reinforcements could not 
 help Burnside, because he had neither supplies nor 
 ammunition sufficient for them: hardly, indeed, 
 bread and meat for the men he had. There was 
 no relief possible for him, except by repelling the 
 enemy from Missionary Ridge and about Chatta 
 nooga." 
 
 After Longstreet s movements began, the Wash 
 ington authorities were still more. solicitous for the 
 safety of the United States army at Knoxville, and 
 were importunate by telegraph with Grant to " do 
 something" to succor it. He was disposed to do 
 all he could for that purpose. On November yth, 
 he ordered Gen. Thomas to make " an attack on 
 the northern end of Missionary Ridge with all the 
 force" he could " bring to bear upon it, and when 
 that is carried, to threaten and even attack, if pos 
 sible, the enemy s line of communication between 
 Dalton and Cleveland." This was with a view to 
 "force the return of the (Longstreet s) troops that 
 had gone up the valley." But Thomas with his 
 chief engineer, William Farrar Smith, and chief 
 
2 3 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 of artillery, Brannan, looked carefully over the 
 ground, on which the proposed attack would have 
 to be made. They became convinced that it was 
 not feasible, and Smith so reported to Grant at 
 once, and the order was countermanded. In his 
 official report Grant says: "After a thorough re- 
 .connoisance of the ground, "it was deemed utterly 
 impracticable to make the move until Sherman 
 could get up. * I was forced to leave 
 
 Burnside for the present to contend against supe 
 rior forces of the enemy," Longstreet on No 
 vember I3th was still at Loudon, which he could 
 reach by railroad. Grant thought that probably 
 he tarried so long at the latter place in obedience 
 to orders, the point being eligible for the reason, 
 that if necessary, he could speedily return to the 
 support of Bragg, or otherwise proceed to Knox- 
 ville, 29 miles distant, by the common highway. 
 His presence at Loudon was definitely known at 
 the last named date. 
 
 On the morning of the i4th (Saturday), Gen. 
 Burnside left Knoxville, accompanied by his visit 
 ors, the Hon. Mr. Dana and Col. Wilson, by 
 the Hon. Horace Maynard and others, to Le- 
 noirs, five miles east of Loudon, where they parted 
 from him. He found that Longstreet was building 
 a bridge from the west to the east bank of the 
 Tennessee River, at Hough s Ferry, just below 
 Loudon, and had thrown a force across in advance 
 of the main body of his army. Burnside sent 
 Gens. Potter and White to drive it back, which 
 by nightfall they did, the day being consumed in 
 
GRANT AND BURNSIDE CO-OPERATE. 237 
 
 skirmishing. He had previously proposed by tel 
 egraph to Grant that he, Burnside, should draw 
 Longstreet on to Knoxville, so as to separate him 
 at a greater distance from his base, and prevent 
 him from going as quickly as he might from Lou- 
 don, to give help to Bragg, if needed. The sug 
 gestion was approved by Grant, who in reply dis 
 patched to Burnside on the i4th, that Sherman 
 would be ready to move from Bridgeport towards 
 Chattanooga by the following Tuesday, i7th, at 
 furthest. Grant s dispatch continued: "If you can 
 hold Longstreet in check until he, Sherman, gets 
 up, or by skirmishing and falling back, can avoid 
 serious loss to yourself, and gain time, I will be 
 able to force the enemy back from here and place 
 a force between Longstreet and Bragg that must 
 inevitably make the former take to the mountain 
 passes by every available road to get to his 
 supplies." 
 
 General Grant estimated at its true worth the 
 advantage he would derive in his intended battle 
 of Missionary Ridge, from the absence of Long- 
 street and his veteran soldiers. He has written- 
 that " the victory at Chattanooga was accom 
 plished more easily than was expected by reason 
 of Bragg s making several grave mistakes," and 
 the first of the three, he proceeds to state, was 
 "sending away his ablest corps commander with 
 over twenty thousand troops." 
 
 General Burnside in his official report, says in 
 connection with a recital of his first encounter with 
 Longstreet near Loudon: "Knowing the purpose 
 
238 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 of Gen. Grant as I did, I decided that he could be 
 better served by drawing Longstreet farther away 
 from Bragg than by checking him at the river, and 
 I accordingly decided to withdraw my forces and 
 retreat leisurely towards Knoxville, and soon after 
 daylight on the i5th the whole command was on 
 the road." His object was attained. As he retired, 
 his adversary pursued, except that Longstreet sent 
 Wheeler s cavalry by way of Maryville to seize 
 the heights on the south side of the river, opposite 
 and commanding Knoxville. Wheeler surprised 
 and captured at Maryville, the Eleventh Kentucky. 
 Gen. Parkes with a part of the 23rd corps, and a 
 body of cavalry under Gen. Sanders had been left 
 at Knoxville to pro tect it. Sanders checked the 
 progress of Wheeler and fell back upon the heights 
 south of the river, where he and Parkes defeated 
 Wheeler, who retreated to join Longstreet by way 
 of Louisville. To that village, Longstreet had 
 tried to have boats towed up the Tennessee River, 
 but the current was too rapid. 
 
 New life was given the United States troops at 
 the front by Burnside s coming to them. As 
 he went forward, he passed by a large body of 
 them, near Lenoir s Station. " Under his slouched 
 hat," says one of his observers, "there was a 
 sterner look than there was wont to be." "There 
 is trouble ahead," said the men: but the cheers 
 which rose from regiment to regiment, as, with 
 his staff and battle flag he swept past, told the 
 confidence which all felt in "old Burnie." Their 
 strong trust in him was also shown when he arrived 
 
BURNSIDE RETREATS AND IS PURSUED. 239 
 
 near Loudon and took the chief command. One 
 of them relates: 
 
 " Notwithstanding the continued rain and the 
 heavy roads, the presence of our commander pro 
 duced a noticeable change in the spirit of the 
 troops. An hour before, the men were deliberately 
 covering themselves with mud, as if that were an 
 appropriate mourning for their departed hopes, 
 and their guns seemed naturally to seek a reverse 
 position. But now they were all animation, and a 
 slip here and a fall there, was made the cause of 
 laughing, notwithstanding the rain. I think the 
 secret of it was, that we reposed in our leader an 
 almost perfect confidence resulting from long and 
 tried associations. Few corps commanders have 
 ever won the affection of their men as Burnside 
 did." 
 
 The retreating march on the i5th was made 
 with difficulty. Clouded heavens in the morning, 
 soon gave forth heavy rain, followed by a cold 
 north wind. The roads were almost impassable. 
 Regiments of infantry had often to pull the artil 
 lery with ropes from out of the deep, stiff mud in 
 which it stuck. Now and then, horses were held 
 fast by the tough, clay soil, until a detail of men 
 came to their deliverance. Soldiers lost their shoes 
 in it, and on running back to recover them were 
 greeted by the merry laughter of their compan 
 ions. At Lenoir s, the army halted for the night 
 of Sunday. The air was bitter cold. To avoid 
 observation only one fire was allowed to each 
 company. The hours of darkness passed away in 
 
240 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 broken rest and petty alarms. In the early morn 
 ing, one hundred wagons, whose mules were needed 
 to draw the artillery, and also as much of the sup 
 plies bacon, coffee, sugar as the soldiers could 
 not carry, were burned. Officers baggage, books 
 everything that could not well be transported 
 were destroyed. The trains were started for 
 Knoxville, guarded by the 79th New York High 
 landers. Then a number of military divisions and 
 the artillery, moved forward to the village of 
 Campbell s Station, eight miles distant. A brigade 
 guarded the rear, and at one time was severely 
 pressed by its enemies, until it turned and drove 
 them back. In the struggle, Col. Smith of the 
 20th Michigan was killed at the head of his regi 
 ment after most able conduct. 
 
 Not far west of Campbell s Station another 
 highway from Kingston forms a junction with the 
 road they traveled. It was believed that Long- 
 street would try to reach that point first, in order 
 to cut Burnside off from Knoxville. Therefore, 
 the latter sent Gen. Hartraupt with his division 
 and Col. Biddle s cavalry, in advance to the fork 
 of the roads. They were successful in anticipating 
 their foes, and held the point of junction until all 
 the United States troops and their trains had 
 passed, but not without some fighting. Among 
 their losses by death, was one specially lamented, 
 that of Lieut. P. Marion Holmes, of Charlestown, 
 Mass., a member of .the Bunker Hill Club, who 
 bore on his person its badge, engraved with the line, 
 
 " Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori," 
 
BATTLE OF CAMPBELL S STATION. 241 
 
 quoted by Warren just before the battle of Bunker 
 Hill. He is described as "frank, courteous, manly, 
 brave; one who had won all hearts." 
 
 While that contest was going on, Col. Loring 
 reconnoitered the ground near Campbell s Station 
 and Gen. Potter planted his artillery there. Gen. 
 Burnside also proceeded to dispose his troops at 
 the village for battle, as he felt it to be necessary 
 to check his enemy in order that his own trains 
 might get to Knoxville. His infantry was drawn 
 up in line between two ranges of hills nearly a 
 mile apart. Gen. Ferrero s division, Ninth corps, 
 was placed on the right of the road. Gen. White s 
 division, Twenty-third corps, held the centre, and 
 Gen. Hartraupt s division, Ninth corps, was on his 
 left. The batteries were chiefly on the right of 
 the road, only one of the five being on its left. At 
 noon Longstreet s troops advanced out of the 
 woods to the attack in two lines of battle, with a 
 line of skirmishers in front. As the whole field of 
 action lay exposed, the panorama was very inter 
 esting for its scenic effect. When the Confederate 
 troops had emerged from the forest, their heavy 
 and well-dressed ranks went forward rapidly with 
 colors flying. Benjamin s battery on Burnside s 
 right and Roemer s battery on his left, opened fire 
 upon them immediately with shot, which tore gaps 
 in their ranks, but their line closed up, and they 
 still advanced. Then the batteries, with accuracy, 
 poured forth shell, which broke them up so badly 
 that nothing else could be done but to fall back, 
 which they did in confusion. The Confederate 
 
242 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 batteries were brought into service and played 
 with some precision upon the Union infantry, and 
 an artillery duel ensued that made the very hills 
 tremble.* 
 
 Under cover of the smoke and the woods a 
 strong column moved against and pressed a 
 brigade of Burnside s right, which changed its 
 front, and by its resistance, with the aid of double 
 charges of canister shot from artillery at short 
 range, his enemy s column was checked, and re 
 treated. 
 
 Longstreet then maneuvred to turn the Federal 
 left. As there was some high ground on that 
 hand, commanding Burnside s position, which he 
 saw his enemy was endeavoring to occupy, and he 
 could not, for lack of men, extend his own line to 
 prevent the threatened movement, he moved his 
 troops and established a new line upon a ridge 
 nearly three-fourths of a mile to the rear. This 
 was done under a heavy artillery fire from his 
 enemy, but with no disorder. It was about 4 p. M. 
 Quickly a fierce attack was made upon the new line, 
 not in front, but flank and rear, at the extreme 
 left. That was handsomely repulsed. His enemy 
 went back in disorder, and did not renew the fight. 
 The United States troops were much elated by 
 their success against odds, Burnside having had 
 only about five thousand men in the battle, and his 
 adversary from two to three times that number. 
 
 * NOTE. " Near one of the batteries, when the wind would lift the smoke a 
 little, we could distinguish a pair of (high) boots that resembled Burnside s boots, 
 and judging from an occasional glimpse of an old soft felt hat which seemed to be 
 nearly above them, we knew that somewhere between the two, our commander had 
 his headquarters established. WILL. H. BREARLEY." 
 
BATTLE OF CAMPBELL S STATION. 243 
 
 He states in his official report: "Our loss in killed, 
 wounded and missing was about three hundred, 
 and that of the enemy must have been very severe, 
 as he was the attacking force."* The "Rebellion 
 Record" extols the military maneuvres of both 
 armies for skill and beauty as showing admirable 
 discipline. Although comparatively an insignifi 
 cant fight, "it certainly will rank among those 
 contests in which real generalship was displayed. 
 Every motion, every evolution, was made with 
 the precision and regularity of the precision on a 
 chess-board." The result was decisive. Burn- 
 side s line of retreat was saved, and he was given 
 the few precious hours that were absolutely neces 
 sary to further fortify, and so, to hold Knoxville. 
 
 To that town, fifteen miles distant from Camp 
 bell s Station, the United States troops moved off 
 silently, as soon as night fell. 
 
 During the night before at Lenoir s, following 
 upon a day of weariness and anxiety, neither 
 officers nor men had slept. No one could speak 
 to his fellow, and in the thick darkness through 
 the long, long night, they lay on their arms wait 
 ing for the morning, which ushered in a day of 
 hard fighting. When that was ended, their sol 
 dierly patience and power of physical endurance 
 were subjected to the additional test of marching 
 over very muddy roads for another dark night. 
 Some of them fell asleep from utter weariness as 
 
 * Charles F. Walcott s History of the 2ist Regiment Massachusett s Volun 
 teers states the Union troops at six thousand, and their losses twenty-six killed, 
 one hundred and sixty-six wounded and fifty-seven missing. The Rebellion 
 Record, Vol. VIII, gives the rebel loss as one thousand killed and wounded. 
 
244 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 they walked, but without losing their places in the 
 ranks. About four o clock on the morning of 
 Monday, November i7th, they reached their des 
 tination. In the night, General Burnside arrived 
 at his headquarters. 
 
 In the afternoon of the preceding Saturday 
 startling rumors were circulated in Knoxville, that 
 a considerable body of Confederate cavalry had 
 appeared on the south side of the river opposite 
 the town, and had attacked Col. Woolford with 
 success, capturing a portion of his regiment. It 
 was said, "they are rapidly moving upon the 
 town," "they are already at Rockford, only nine 
 or ten miles away and still coming." At the same 
 time Gen. Shackelford could be seen with his staff 
 upon Gay Street, riding towards the pontoon 
 bridge, which had been transferred from the Ten 
 nessee river at Loudon, and thrown across it at 
 Knoxville. Placed by Gen. Burnside in command 
 of all the cavalry, the reason of his then taking 
 the field was the arrival of Gen. Wheeler, sent by 
 Gen. Longstreet from Loudon to take possession 
 of the heights on the south side of the river oppo 
 site Knoxville. Considering the importance and 
 peril of Gen. Shackelford s errand, he appeared 
 to a citizen observer, cool and calm to the point 
 of indifference. Readers of romantic fiction and 
 lovers of American chivalry, are accustomed to 
 associate with their ideas of the warrior and hero 
 a gay, prancing steed, of fiery temper and proud 
 head. The horse he rode was a gentle, well- 
 conditioned pacer, with a short tail, and the tout 
 
MAJ. GEN. S. P. CARTER. 
 
ESCAPE OF UNION CITIZENS. 245 
 
 ensemble of such a quadruped, capable of serving 
 equally well any and every member of a family. 
 The chief of cavalry himself, as he rode along the 
 street, was composedly smoking one of the short- 
 stemmed pipes which were extensively used by 
 the soldiers. As the conflict on the south side 
 ended in possession of its hills being retained by 
 the Federal troops, the unpleasant fears Union 
 citizens felt concerning the capture of the town 
 were shortly dispelled: but with the morrow sim 
 ilar apprehensions were aroused among a few 
 leading public men upon being informed of Long- 
 street s advance with his main army and of Burn- 
 side s retreat upon Knoxville. 
 
 General Saml. P. Carter was of course advised 
 of those movements and was strongly impressed, 
 as well he may have been, with the imminent dan 
 ger there was, that the United States army with 
 only 12,000 men, would be unable to hold the 
 town against 20,000 men including cavalry. In his 
 regard for the safety of certain prominent Union 
 citizens, he sent them word of the disastrous con 
 tingency shortly ahead, and, if they chose to escape 
 the consequences of its occurrence, that he would 
 provide them an escort as far as expedient on their 
 way to the more favored clime of Kentucky. At 
 such a time, men whose active locomotion may 
 deliver them from imprisonment that might end in 
 death, are apt to 
 
 " Stand not upon the order of their going, 
 But go at once." 
 
 Their dislike to travel night and day by wretched 
 
246 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 roads, over mountains and unbridged rivers, and 
 their sensitiveness to ridicule for imputed coward 
 ice, are not strong enough to overcome their love 
 of personal liberty and life. Many or all of them 
 who received the Provost Marshal General s mes 
 sage some of whom were of less note but still 
 liable to violent treatment if they were captured 
 speedily took their leave of home and its comforts 
 and were conducted by Capt. A. J. Ricks, eight 
 miles to the picket lines. Among the refugees 
 were John Baxter, William G. Brownlow, Samuel 
 R. Rodgers, Thos. A. R. Nelson, O. P. Temple, 
 John M. Fleming, Samuel Morrow and M. M. 
 Miller of Knoxville, and John Netherland and Ab 
 salom A. Kyle of Rogersville. It was after night 
 fall and raining heavily when they started, and 
 their transit on horseback through the darkness 
 upon a road shortly before traveled and reduced to 
 mire by 6,000 or 7,000 hogs that had been brought 
 in to supply the army, could not fail to attract 
 attention from people of the country through 
 which they passed.* Despite all perils and diffi 
 culties the journey was at length safely accom 
 plished. 
 
 The company thus delivered from impending 
 harm, might have been joined at the start by some 
 other citizens of less prominence, had they been 
 included in the message and given an opportunity 
 to depart. 
 
 One of that description had been informed in suc 
 cession by his personal friends of both parties, that 
 
 * See Appendix: Note S. 
 
LONGSTREET S APPROACH. 247 
 
 it was intended, if the town fell into the hands of 
 Longstreet, to seize and hold him as hostage for a 
 contumacious enemy of the United States whom 
 Gen. Burnside had found it necessary to send to 
 Camp Chase. He gave no heed to the warning, 
 because he rested in his strong impression of the 
 town s security from enemies, but this mental per 
 suasion was disturbed on the afternoon preceding 
 the exodus of noted public men, as just related. 
 Passing along the street in utter ignorance of 
 events then transpiring between the hostile armies 
 not far from Loudon, he met a fellow-citizen of 
 capricious loyalty, who had been known as a 
 "Southern man" during the Confederate regime, 
 but was understood to have publicly thanked the 
 Lord upon the advent of Gen. Burnside s army, 
 for "bringing in our friends." In the conversation 
 that ensued on the street, the person of versatile 
 opinions indulged in such fault-finding with the 
 United States Government, its policy, &c., as to 
 suggest a strong suspicion that he was adapting 
 his sails to a contrary wind. Acting upon this 
 conjecture, the citizen who had been forewarned 
 of his danger if the town should change its mas 
 ters, went immediately to the house of Gen. Car 
 ter, and found his staff in a state of unusual ex 
 citement. In reply to his question, "What is the 
 matter?" the visitor was told, "Longstreet is 
 marching upon Knoxville with, it is said, 20,000 
 men. Burnside is retreating from Loudon, fight 
 ing as he comes. We do not know what is going 
 to happen." Said the citizen, " I have been told 
 
248 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 that I had better get out of the town in the event 
 it is to be captured. Should anything more of im 
 portance occur, I shall be glad to know it." After 
 night, a few hours later, two gentlemen called on 
 him. They were aides, one of whom said, " We 
 have been sent by Gen. Carter to say, that you 
 must leave town for Kentucky early to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 After a night s deliberation, though very loth to 
 leave home, wife and children, he decided that the 
 direction of his military friend called for some 
 obedience, and with reluctant mind and slow hands 
 he made preparations for the journey. These were 
 not completed before the second morning, but 
 when all was ready he decided, before starting, to 
 say "good-bye" to Gen. Burnside. Near a large 
 gate that opened from the street upon a wide yard 
 in front of headquarters, the Commander-in-chief 
 was found about to mount his horse. His brows 
 were knit, stern determination sat upon his face, 
 and his whole soul seemed to be wrapped in earn 
 est self-communion. The fighting had begun west 
 of the town between his troops and Longstreet s 
 and he was on the eve of starting to the front. 
 The citizen saw at once that then was not the 
 time to speak. He was content to keep at a dis 
 tance and thoughtfully contemplate the man to 
 whom the moment was evidently a supreme one. 
 Perhaps it was a critical one in the destiny of 
 many people in the region for whose defence the 
 General had been appointed. 
 
 The civilian may be forgiven, if as he stood and 
 
CONFIDENCE IN BURNSIDE. 249 
 
 looked at the man of war going forth to conflict, 
 he should be reminded of Job s words descriptive 
 of the war horse : 
 
 " He goeth on to meet the armed men, 
 He mocketh at fear and is not affrighted, 
 Neither turneth he back from the sword." 
 
 As the citizen stood and looked, there came 
 upon him the irresistible conviction that Burnside 
 would hold the town ! Immediately turning upon 
 his heel, he went home and sent to the stable the 
 horses which were waiting to take him to Ken 
 tucky. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE ITS DEFENDERS AND DE 
 FENCES COL. SANDERS His DEATH AND 
 FUNERAL PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE BURN 
 ING OF NORTH KNOXVILLE. 
 
 "Flag of the free hearts hope and home, 
 By angel hands to valor given ; 
 Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, 
 And all thy hues were born in heaven ; 
 Forever float that standard sheet ! 
 Where breathes the foe but falls before us, 
 With Freedom s soil beneath our feet, 
 And Freedom s banner floating o er us." 
 
 JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE. 
 
 From Campbell s Station, Gen. Burnside, on No 
 vember i6th, sent instructions to Capt. Orlando 
 M. Poe, chief engineer of the Department of the 
 Ohio, who was at Knoxville, to select lines of 
 defence for the town, in readiness for the troops 
 to occupy positions. This order Poe was able r 
 from previous and frequent examinations of the 
 ground and his familiar knowledge of the army,. 
 to fulfil quickly. Before leaving Kentucky he had 
 organized an engineer battalion from the 23d corps r 
 and by great efforts had brought over the moun 
 tains engineering tools. 
 
 Knoxville is situated chiefly on a hill, about two 
 hundred feet high on the north bank of the Ten- 
 
ITS DEFENDERS AND DEFENCES. 251 
 
 nessee river. The hill, at its top, has a wide table 
 land, and is separated on the east and west by 
 creeks from even higher hills that rise up from the 
 river. In the valley immediately on the north, 
 runs the road of the East Tennessee, Virginia and 
 Georgia Railway Company, beyond which the 
 town was then but partially extended.* 
 
 Capt. Sims , 24th Indiana, and Henshaw s battery 
 (the first of six and the second of two James rifle 
 guns), and also four brass six-pounders, occupied 
 Temperance Hill on the east side of First Creek, 
 supported by Chapin s Brigade of White s Divi 
 sion, and Riley s Brigade of Hascall s Division of 
 the Twenty-third army corps. Shield s battery, 
 six twelve-pound Napoleons, and part of Wilder s, 
 occupied Mabry Hill, which is higher and farther 
 east than Temperance Hill. These were sup 
 ported by the brigades of Cols. Hoskins and Case 
 ment, extending from Bell s house on the northern 
 base of Mabry Hill to the river south of it. One 
 section of twelve-pound howitzers was planted 
 on Flint Hill, nigh to that point on the river manned 
 by soldiers of loyal Tennessee regiments. On the 
 west of the main town and Second Creek, Roe- 
 mer s battery of four three inch rifle guns, occu 
 pied College Hill near the river, supported by 
 Morrison s brigade of the First Division, Ninth 
 army corps. At the fort on the hill top northwest 
 of College Hill, were placed Benjamin s battery 
 of four twenty-pound Parrotts, and Buckley s 
 battery of six thirteen-pound Napoleons, sup- 
 
 *Appendix: Note T. 
 
252 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ported by Humphrey s and Christ s brigades, of 
 the First Division, Ninth army corps. The ground 
 occupied by this Division extended from the river 
 near the mouth of Second Creek around to the 
 point where the East Tennessee, Virginia and 
 Georgia Railway crosses Second Creek, north 
 west of the older town, and was under the com 
 mand of Gen. Ferrero. Gitting s battery was on 
 Vine street, overlooking the railroad depot on the 
 north, and between it and First Creek was the 
 Fifteenth Indiana battery of three three-inch rifle 
 guns these two batteries being supported by the 
 Second Division, Ninth army corps, (Gen. Hart- 
 raupt s), extending from Second to First Creek 
 and parallel to the railroad. 
 
 On the south side of the river were Shackel- 
 ford s cavalry and Cameron s brigade of Hascall s 
 Division, Twenty-third army corps, the latter 
 supporting Koukle s battery of four guns and two 
 sections of Wilder s battery (all three-inch rifles). 
 Riley s brigade was held in reserve in the streets 
 of the town. 
 
 The defences at first raised by the troops were 
 simply ditches four feet wide and deep, w r ith the 
 excavated earth embanked on the outside; except 
 the more formidable structures on Temperance 
 Hill and those held by Lieut. Benjamin s battery 
 built by the engineer battalion. Fatigued as were 
 the soldiers who had been at Campbell s Station, 
 they as well as others, labored with energy upon 
 the entrenchments throughout the whole day and 
 night of November i7th, and would then have 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A SIEGE. 253 
 
 been compelled to cease, had not Col. Sanders, 
 with his cavalry on the Kingston road, and Col. 
 Pennybaker, with his mounted regiments on the 
 Clinton road, held Longstreet s forces in check. 
 Capt. Poe says: "The hours in which to work, 
 that the gallant conduct of our cavalry secured us, 
 were worth to us a thousand men each." The next 
 morning two hours of rest were given them, and 
 were used in sleep by the men without delay on 
 the ground where they stood. At the same time 
 Gen. Burnside, in consultation with Capt. Poe and 
 Col. Sanders, was informed by the first that the 
 rifle pits would be ready for defence before the 
 end of many hours, and by the other, that with 
 his cavalry, "seven hundred strong and in good 
 fighting trim," he could hold Longstreet at bay 
 until that time had expired. For another day and 
 night the men persevered in labor with ready wills 
 and hands. The suggestion by one of their officers 
 that the alternative of effective resistance to the 
 enemy would be a visit to Libby prison, served 
 as an incentive to both industry and heroism. 
 Many of them had been without rest but for two- 
 hours in a hundred, and it was necessary for their 
 relief that contrabands and citizens should be 
 pressed into service. The former did heartily the 
 tasks assigned them, the difficulty of which in 
 some instances may be inferred from the fact that 
 places for the guns of Benjamin s and Buckley s 
 batteries could only be cleared by four hours dili 
 gent labor of two hundred men. Of the citizens 
 who had to work on the entrenchments, they who 
 
254 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 were loyal to the United States did their duty 
 cheerfully, but "many," according the Chief En 
 gineer, "were rebels, and worked with a very 
 poor grace, which blistered hands did not tend to 
 improve." 
 
 In the afternoon of the i8th the skirmishing be 
 tween Sanders 5 dismounted cavalry and Long- 
 street s advance, two miles west of the town, was 
 concluded by a fire of artillery upon Sanders, 
 which compelled him to retreat after he had suc 
 cessfully resisted with rail fences as shields the 
 charges of his powerful foe. At the close of the 
 contest he received a mortal wound, reeled upon 
 his horse and falling, was caught in the arms of 
 his men and taken to a house in town. In full 
 possession of his mind, there was no disturbance 
 of its calmness by the answer of the surgeon to 
 his question as to the nature of his wound. Death 
 had no terrors for him. "He had done his duty 
 and served his country as well as he could." That 
 was all in few and simple words he had to say. 
 The following day, being informed that the end of 
 his life was nigh at hand, he asked for a Christian 
 minister, and then that he should be baptized in 
 the faith and name of Jesus, the Son of God. The 
 Rev. Mr. Hyder, chaplain of the post, complied 
 with this earnest desire, and a writer in the 
 Atlantic Monthly* relates that, "then the minister 
 in prayer commended the believing soul to God, 
 General Burnside and his staff, who were present, 
 kneeling around the bed. When the prayer 
 
 *Major Burrage, of the 36th Massachusetts Regiment. 
 
FUNERAL OF GEN. SANDERS. 255 
 
 was ended, General Sanders took General Burn- 
 side by the hand. Tears dropped down the 
 bronzed cheeks of the chief as he listened to the 
 last words which followed. The sacrament of the 
 Lord s Supper was now about to be administered, 
 but suddenly the strength of the dying soldier 
 failed, and like a child he gently fell asleep." To 
 this pathetic recital its author appends the quota 
 tion from the sayings of Him who spake as never 
 man spake: "Greater love hath no man than this, 
 that a man lay down his life for his friends." 
 
 It was found impossible to assemble the chief 
 officers of the United States army by day at the 
 funeral of their slain companion. Longstreet s 
 troops had advanced to the ridge for which they 
 fought and planted themselves within rifle range 
 of the defences on the northwest, and the town 
 had become fairly besieged, north, from the river 
 above to the river below. Lines parallel with and 
 in cannon range of Burnside s, had been established, 
 and redoubts had been thrown up for batteries, 
 which on the third day opened a continuous fire 
 that met with prompt answer. There was need 
 of constant vigilance and alertness upon the long 
 line of defences, and those in command could not 
 prudently leave their posts of duty in day-light. 
 
 In the afternoon, a resident minister of the Gos 
 pel was requested by General Burnside to attend 
 after nightfall the funeral of the officer, whose 
 wound unto death had signalized the beginning of 
 the siege and thrown a dark shadow upon the 
 spirits of his companions. They gathered together 
 
256 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 at their commander s headquarters, and among 
 them was the Chief Engineer of the Department, 
 who was a personal friend of the deceased his 
 only class-mate at the siege who spoke of him as 
 a " most gallant, chivalric soldier and noble gentle 
 man." To Capt. Poe, Gen. Sanders had commu 
 nicated the premonition he had, that death awaited 
 him in battle on the day he fell. And with the 
 Captain, he had left on going to the field, some per 
 sonal treasures, among which were a few letters 
 from one who he had hoped would in the future be 
 his bride. He was yet young, his age being 28. 
 
 As the party of mourners passed down the 
 street to the hotel where the body lay, Gen. Burn- 
 side spoke of the extraordinary personal daring of 
 the departed man. With sad emphasis he said, 
 "I told Sanders not to expose himself, but he 
 would do it." Upon reaching the hotel, the com 
 pany s number was increased by waiting friends, 
 and after religious offices a procession was formed 
 upon the silent street. There was no plumed 
 hearse, drawn by well-fed horses, but kindly hands 
 of brother-soldiers to bear the dead, at the end of 
 
 " The path of glory that leads but to the grave." 
 
 A sort of weird solemnity invested the darkened 
 scene. Its features were in such strong contrast 
 with those which might be expected in the fitness 
 of things it would wear. No funeral strains of 
 martial music floated on the air. Its quiet was not 
 even disturbed by the dull thumping of the solitary 
 drum and the heavy tread of armed soldiers. It 
 
FUNERAL OF GEN. SANDERS. 257 
 
 seemed as if War, disrobed of its pomp and pag 
 eantry, had taken its departure and its absence 
 was supplied by heaven-born Peace, clothed in 
 plain and simple attire, disdaining through pro 
 found grief all trappings of woe. An observer 
 might fancy that the army, which with dauntless 
 courage refused to surrender to men in superior 
 force, had now surrendered to God, and that its 
 chieftains, having yielded up their swords, were 
 marching along the way into captivity. 
 
 But yet, not all is peaceful. For hark! there 
 comes the sound of booming cannon. And 
 every little while it again peals forth upon the 
 hushed air. From the presence of these night 
 obsequies, War is gone, but he lingers near and 
 bids defiance to the encroacher on his domain. 
 Little heed, though, do the mourners give to his 
 hoarse notes. And the heavens appear to sympa 
 thize in the grief, for their face is covered with 
 mist as with a veil, and hanging low in the western 
 sky, a young moon sheds her dimmed luster on the 
 scene, and from above all, the loving eye of One 
 looks down, without whose notice, although He 
 rules the army of heaven, not a sparrow falls to 
 the ground. 
 
 At the head of the procession went the Com 
 mander-in-chief and the minister. By their side 
 walked the Medical Director of the army,* bearing 
 a lighted lantern in his hand. Said the clergyman: 
 
 "I am reminded of the lines on The Burial of 
 Sir John Moore." 
 
 * Dr. Jackson, of Pennsylvania. 
 
258 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Gen. Burnside quickly replied, striking his hand 
 on his thigh, "I have thought of them twenty times 
 to-day." 
 
 That lantern did duty at the grave, as the body 
 was committed, " earth to earth, ashes to ashes, 
 dust to dust," in hope of the resurrection of the 
 dead. When all was over, the General said to the 
 minister a thoughtful word concerning the event, 
 inevitable, awaiting all men; and then every one 
 went his way, some to watch and some to sleep: 
 but probably few of the company could forget 
 the burial of Gen. R. M. Sanders, in the likeness 
 of its circumstances to the "Burial of Sir John 
 Moore." 
 
 "Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note 
 
 As his corse to the ramparts we hurried, 
 Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot 
 O er the grave where our hero we buried. 
 
 We buried him darkly at dead of night, 
 
 The sod with our bayonets turning, 
 By the struggling moonbeams misty light, 
 
 And the lantern dimly burning. 
 
 Few and short were the prayers we said 
 
 And we spoke not a word of sorrow, 
 But we steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead 
 
 And we bitterly thought of the morrow. 
 
 But half of our heavy task was done, 
 
 When the clock struck the hour for retiring, 
 
 And we knew by the distant random gun 
 That the foe was sullenly firing. 
 
 Slowly and sadly we laid him down 
 From the field of his fame, fresh and gory, 
 
 We carved not a line, we raised not a stone 
 But we left him alone in his glory." 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 259 
 
 On the morning of November zoth the defences 
 were thought to be capable of resisting any prob 
 able foe, but during that entire day and night, the 
 work of strengthening them was continued. In 
 deed such labor was prosecuted for a considerable 
 period of time, in which the besiegers were also 
 busy at work for a contrary purpose. All that skill 
 and toil could effect was done to hold the town. 
 First Creek was successfully dammed at the Vine 
 Street bridge, and a dam that made a strong 
 obstacle was built across Second Creek where it 
 passes through a tunnel under the railroad. In 
 front of the rifle pits, a chevaux de frise was 
 formed of pointed stakes, bound together by wire, 
 and nearly five feet high, and at one place two 
 thousand pikes, captured at Cumberland Gap, 
 were used for a like purpose. In front of the 
 stakes thick branches of trees were firmly set in 
 the ground. The besiegers occupied a large brick 
 dwelling house a short distance west of Fort San 
 ders, which the adult children of the Hon. Wm. 
 B. Reese, Sr., deceased, had been compelled to 
 vacate. The sharp-shooting carried on from it 
 became at length so annoying that at night on the 
 2oth, the Seventeenth Michigan regiment was sent 
 to destroy the building. One might have supposed 
 from the loud voice of the Colonel in giving 
 orders and the ringing cheers of his men, that a 
 small army was approaching the house, and in 
 a great fright the inmates ingloriously fled without 
 firing a gun. The dwelling and barns were 
 burned to the ground. On that day, there was a 
 
2 6o THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 repetition of the firing from a battery Longstreet 
 had planted upon the Tazewell road, and which 
 had thrown the first shells into the town without 
 harm at either time. For several days there were 
 constant sharp-shooting, skirmishing and cannon 
 ading without important consequences. 
 
 It was believed by some that had Gen. Long- 
 street attempted with concentrated forces to take 
 the town upon his arrival, he would have suc 
 ceeded, but the judgment of mere civilians upon 
 the subject is of little or no account, and compe 
 tent military strategists would probably differ in 
 opinion concerning it. There can be no doubt 
 that his delay in a vigorous and determined assault 
 increased the hazard of defeat, by giving Burnside 
 time and opportunity, which he took care to im 
 prove, for adding to the strength of his defences. 
 Perhaps Longstreet felt that he had Burnside in a 
 trap from which there was no reasonable hope of 
 escape, and that instead of sacrificing men in cap 
 turing him by violent conflict, he would compel 
 the surrender of the United States army by starva 
 tion. To all appearances the Confederate com 
 mander had plenty of time to that end. Armed 
 help could not come to the besieged, except from 
 Gen. Grant at Chattanooga, whose predecessor 
 had not long before sustained a quasi defeat at 
 Chicamauga, who was confronted by a powerful 
 foe, and who, Gen. Bragg, from his own advan 
 tageous position, thought was at his mercy. Could 
 Longstreet have fore-seen the complete rout of 
 Bragg at Missionary Ridge, no doubt he would 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 261 
 
 more actively have prosecuted his undertaking at 
 Knoxville,but alas! for the shortness of human pre 
 vision. Important events in the womb of the near 
 future, military as well as civil, are foreknown but 
 by Him who only is wise. As Longstreet could 
 not anticipate the serious disaster to the Confed 
 erate arms at the battle of Chattanooga, he sat 
 down before Knoxville with composure and wari 
 ness, and rather toyed with his supposed victim 
 than contended with him as an equal adversary. 
 
 And really, the investment of the town was so 
 closely maintained, that a surrender of the be 
 sieged army, because of starvation before relief 
 could be had from any quarter, seemed within the 
 range of probabilities. The amount of its supplies 
 when the siege began was very limited. Cattle 
 and hogs were at once slaughtered and salted down, 
 but there were in the commissary department only 
 one or two days rations for the whole army. Only 
 quarter rations were at first issued. Within a few 
 days these were wholly stopped, as all that could 
 be served were needed by the hospitals, and no 
 sugar or coffee could be had. Possession was 
 taken of the mills for Government use. Citizens 
 were living upon plain food in reduced quantities, 
 but these were necessarily drawn upon to meet 
 the army s necessities. The larders of people who 
 sympathized with the Confederacy had especially to 
 suffer. In some cases Union families befriended 
 their neighbors, who in the exigency would other 
 wise have been put to great straits. A Union man 
 might be troubled by the thought that he was giv- 
 
262 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ing "aid and comfort to the enemy," by keeping 
 under his bedstead a sack of flour for a Secession 
 ist who had a wife and five children to feed (of 
 which there was an instance), but his troubled 
 mind would easily find refuge in the thought that 
 he was obeying the teachings of humanity. A 
 spirit of fear was widely diffused, under the influ 
 ence of which money as well as provisions, were 
 temporarily transferred for safety from one person 
 to another. The fright was greatest in respect to 
 cash, at the begi-n-ning of the siege, when not only 
 small sums thus changed hands, but a place of se 
 cure deposit for large ones was eagerly sought. A 
 citizen was surprised by a night visit, the object of 
 which was to leave with him a hundred thousand 
 dollars, belonging to a stranger who the next morn 
 ing had sufficient nerve to decamp to Kentucky, 
 carrying the money with him. 
 
 By the pontoon bridge over the river, free access 
 was had by Burnside s troops to a portion of the 
 country that was intensely loyal to the United 
 States, including the southern side of Knox county 
 and the whole of Sevier County. Some of the 
 people of that region voluntarily furnished supplies 
 to the besieged; and foraging parties from the 
 army were sent out, who returned with corn, 
 wheat, &c. By these means, conducted by Capt. 
 Doughty, spoken of by the commander-in-chief as 
 " a most excellent officer," the commissary depart 
 ment was enabled to issue during the siege after 
 its first few days, bread made of mixed flour, meal 
 and bran, but then only in half and quarter rations. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 263 
 
 Even for this bread, corn on the cob, eaten in some 
 instances unroasted, had to be substituted several 
 times late in the siege. Soldiers often ate at 
 once the small piece of bread which was their 
 whole allowance of nourishment for twenty-four 
 hours. Some of them, whether from a prudent 
 regard to the returning excesses of hunger, or to 
 keep up the fiction of three meals a day, divided 
 their bread into as many parts, which gave them a 
 single mouthful for each meal. This scanty fare 
 was increased on occasional days by a piece of 
 fresh pork. 
 
 The besiegers wisely thought it important to de 
 prive Burnside of his supplies from south of the 
 river, and for that purpose to destroy his bridge. 
 Therefore Confederate soldiers were sent a few 
 miles up the Tennessee to Boyd s Ferry a point 
 near its junction with the French Broad River, for 
 the construction of a raft, which floating down 
 would carry away the pontoon. News of this 
 intended feat was conveyed to headquarters. 
 Townsmen understood that one of the patriotic 
 and courageous women, who never failed in 
 East Tennessee to serve the United States upon 
 opportunity, from her home in the country saw 
 the hewing down of timber and building of the 
 raft, then adroitly she made her way by night 
 through the Confederate lines with informa 
 tion to Knoxville, at the risk of liberty and life. 
 In consequence, on the zzd, at the General s order, 
 Lieut. Col. Babcock and Capt. Poe constructed a 
 boom, by stretching an iron cable 1,000 feet long 
 
264 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 across the river above the bridge. Begun at 5 p. 
 M., it was finished at 9 A.M. the next day, and three 
 days later upon renewed alarms, a second boom 
 ^as laid, of long timber fastened with chains, on 
 the surface of the water. 
 
 On the 23d, after night had fallen, the Second 
 Division, Ninth army corps, (Gen. Hartraupt), was 
 attacked and forced to fall back through that part 
 of the town lying north of the railroad. In this 
 retreat, houses that were occupied, or in danger of 
 being so, by Confederate sharp-shooters, were set 
 on fire and burned. For that purpose the Federal 
 troops made some gallant sorties. Among the 
 buildings destroyed in the course of the general 
 battling in that quarter, were dwellings of citizens. 
 In a few instances families were able to save some 
 of their household goods, to which work officers 
 and men contributed help when it was possible, 
 but on the night of the 23d, little or nothing could 
 be done in that way. The railroad machine shops, 
 numbering eighteen or twenty buildings, and a 
 former Confederate arsenal containing a large 
 quantity of war material, shared in the conflagra 
 tion. The flames that with crackling noise wrap 
 ped many houses in their glowing arms, the bil 
 lows of smoke brightly spotted with huge sparks 
 and burning fragments of wood, the crash of 
 breaking timbers and falling roofs, the explosion 
 of shells in the arsenal, the firing of guns by the 
 contending armies which the light of the flames 
 made conspicuous, and their defiant shoutings at 
 each other in tumultuous anger, altogether com- 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 265 
 
 t>ined to form a remarkable scene. To a lively 
 imagination, it might seem a panorama of the 
 infernal region that the roar of guns was the 
 music of its orchestra, and that evil spirits joined 
 in the melee, were struggling for the mastery in 
 the smoky air above the blazing houses and fight 
 ing men. The conflagration lasted nearly all 
 night. 
 
 Next morning the ground from which the Union 
 army had been driven was recovered by Lieut. 
 Colonel Hawkes of the Twenty-first Massachu 
 setts. 
 
 The 24th witnessed a brave sally of the Second 
 Michigan Volunteers upon the enemy s advanced 
 rifle pits north of Fort Sanders. They were at first 
 successful, but not being properly supported, were 
 finally repulsed, with some loss. On the night of 
 the same day, a pontoon bridge was thrown across 
 the river below the town, upon which a portion of 
 Longstreet s forces passed over, and on the 25th 
 they made a desperate attempt to seize the heights 
 commanding Knoxville, but Gen. Shackelford, re 
 inforced by Col. Riley s brigade, encountered and 
 defeated them. Failing in that object, they planted 
 a battery upon a high bluff close to the river s 
 southern bank, more than a mile distant from Fort 
 Sanders, but partially commanding it and also the 
 nearer earthworks on College Hill. 
 
 The 26th was thanksgiving day, and Gen Burn- 
 side issued an order for its observance, not in cus 
 tomary feasting, which was impossible, but by 
 gratitude to God; and he recalled to his men s 
 
266 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 minds the trials of those who established the 
 Republic, as an encouragement to endure their 
 own hardships. And indeed they had need of 
 fortitude, for not only were they hungry, but the 
 weather was cold the overcoats and blankets of 
 many had been cast away at Campbell s Station, 
 with their tents and their resource for warmth 
 was to crawl, when off duty, into holes which 
 they dug in the bank, back of the trenches. Still 
 as they ate their bits of bread, their thoughts were 
 turned to loved ones at home, and their hearts 
 might be thankful. After dark, important posi 
 tions were made stronger in front with telegraph 
 wires stretched from stump to stump. 
 
 On the zyth Longstreet kept up active firing 
 chiefly with artillery, but Burnside s army was 
 silent. Early that evening there was much cheer 
 ing by the besiegers and music from their bands. 
 In the night men were employed in chopping 
 down trees, clearing the way for a battery on 
 the south-side river bluff, two thousand yards and 
 more from Fort Sanders. The signs of their 
 taking positions in the front for attack were so- 
 strong in the afternoon that the Federal soldiers- 
 stood in the trenches awaiting it. 
 
 Both armies were hard at work on Saturday,, 
 the 28th. The battery of six guns on the river 
 bluff opened fire upon Roemer s battery between 
 Fort Sanders and west of College Hill, but did no 
 harm. About n o clock at night, which was 
 cloudy and very dark, the enemy attacked and 
 drove in the pickets in front of Fort Sanders, cap- 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 267 
 
 tured many of them and occupied their lines about 
 one hundred yards away from the Fort. The 
 fighting was hot, and lasted two hours. Capt, 
 BufFum, with a fresh detail, established a new line 
 of pickets and by hard work, new pits were thrown 
 up before day. There was skirmishing all night 
 long, and a slow cannonading from the enemy s 
 guns, principally upon Fort Sanders. The hours 
 of darkness seemed long to Burnside s men, for they 
 had to stand in the trenches, with no extra clothing 
 to protect them from the cold. 
 
 Evidently, Fort Sanders was to be assaulted. 
 Longstreet had had his arms around Knoxville for 
 ten days ? and had closed its doors to all messages 
 from Burnside s friends. Grant had sought to 
 send encouraging words from Chattanooga to the 
 besieged commander, but could only dispatch them 
 to Gen. Wilcox at Cumberland Gap, in the hope 
 that by some means or other they might be trans 
 mitted to Knoxville. And now, the Confederate 
 commander determined to come into close wrestle 
 with his adversary and bring the siege to a tri 
 umphant conclusion. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOSPITAL NEEDS A SCENE AT HEADQUARTERS 
 INCREASED DESTITUTION ASSAULT ON 
 FORT SANDERS LONGSTREET RETREATS 
 SHERMAN S APPROACH BURNSIDE GIVES 
 HONOR TO HIS ARMY. 
 
 " Hark ! to the call of the bugle horn, 
 Or the quick rattle of mustering drum ! 
 Swift to the summons at even or morn, 
 Bronzed and bearded the gallants come. 
 Balls from the rifle-pits plug about, 
 Great guns boom from the big redoubt, 
 And the angry hiss of the burning shell 
 Screams through the fire of smoke and hell. 
 
 1 Who s for the trenches ? We must have it out ; 
 Now is the time, lads, to try the redoubt. 
 Belted with fire and shrouded with smoke. 
 Girdled with rifle-balls as with a wall, 
 Yet with a yell from the trenches they broke, 
 Plunging through rifle-balls, hell-fire and all." 
 
 REV. WALTER C. SMITH, 
 In "Hilda Among the Broken Gods." 
 
 To a peace-loving civilian, not enlisted in the 
 fray, it seemed on the 28th of November, that 
 there had been enough of wounds and blood-shed 
 during the siege to have satisfied any but a very 
 ruthless soldier. Such were not those who en 
 gaged in strife at Knoxville, but war has its inex 
 orable demands, and the soldier cannot refuse 
 them. Therefore must sanguinary scenes be en- 
 
HOSPITAL NEEDS. 269 
 
 acted on the morrow at Fort Sanders, at the sight 
 of which the cheek of such a civilian might well 
 grow pale with horror. All that happened on the 
 preceding ten days would not compare with it. It 
 was shocking to hear, at the first of the invest 
 ment, the noise of musketry and artillery, know 
 ing that it came from fellow-countrymen engaged 
 in killing each other, and shocking to listen to the 
 groans of wounded soldiers, borne along the 
 streets in ambulances from the field of battle, and 
 one s pity was deeply moved at seeing strong men 
 prostrate in hospitals, with features sharpened by 
 pain or pallid with the touch of death, but if one 
 would learn greatly more of the evils of war, let 
 him wait for the morrow and study the lesson it 
 teaches. 
 
 At one time during the siege the hospitals in use 
 became over-crowded and others had to be pro 
 vided. One afternoon a Union citizen who was 
 thought to have considerable influence with the 
 United States military authorities, was visited by 
 Judge A., who said: 
 
 "Mr. B., they are about to take the house of the 
 Rev. Mr. C. and use it as a hospital." 
 
 "I am very sorry to hear it," replied B. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. C. had a wife and children, and 
 might well be commiserated, if he and they 
 should be turned out of doors in such sharply cold 
 weather. 
 
 "I wish," proceeded the Judge, "you would see 
 Gen. Burnside, and if possible, prevent it." 
 
 "Certainly," said B.; "will you not go with me?" 
 
270 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 The Judge consented and they started for head 
 quarters, but upon reaching the first street corner, 
 the Judge stopped. 
 
 "Mr. B.," said he, "I have not much influence 
 with the authorities. I wish you would undertake 
 this matter alone." 
 
 "Very good," was the reply; for B. knew that 
 his companion, although a worthy citizen and em 
 inently learned in the law, was of doubtful reputa 
 tion for loyalty to the United States, and as a good 
 name in that last respect was of chief importance 
 in the enterprise, he concluded that the Judge 
 might as well withdraw. 
 
 Upon being admitted to headquarters Mr. B. 
 found the Commander-in-chief engaged. Seizing 
 the first good opportunity, he said: 
 
 "General, I learn from Judge A. that the house 
 of the Rev. Mr. C. is about to be taken and used 
 as a hospital." 
 
 "We do not take the houses of ministers of the 
 Gospel for army purposes. Judge A. has been to 
 us this morning and obtained exemption of his 
 own house from that use." And then, calling with 
 a loud voice to his adjutant, who was at the other 
 end of the large room, the General said: 
 
 "Col. Richmond! send word to Dr. Jackson to 
 take Judge A. s house and use it for a hospital." 
 
 Mr. B., at this unexpected result of his interpo 
 sition in behalf of the clergyman, was secretly 
 perturbed. If he had known that the Judge had 
 only a short time before applied successfully for 
 the exemption of his own house, he could have 
 
A SCENE AT HEADQUARTERS. 271 
 
 refrained from naming him. As it was, the Judge 
 had been brought to grief by the intercession. 
 
 General R. B. Potter stood near and listened to 
 the colloquy. His countenance wore an air of 
 martial severity that was adapted more to repel 
 than encourage further mediation. Mr. B. had, 
 however, a "happy thought," and summoning up 
 courage, he said: 
 
 "General, Doctor Jackson, I know, has already 
 taken possession of a suitable building for a hos 
 pital and has never used it." 
 
 Promptly the General called out again, "Col. 
 Richmond! you need not send that message to 
 Dr. Jackson. Send him word to come and see 
 
 me." 
 
 Whatever passed in their interview, neither 
 Judge A. nor the Rev. Mr. C. was disturbed. 
 
 The sufferers in hospitals were all from the 
 army. Few citizens received injury from the be 
 siegers, for Gen. Longstreet did not bombard the 
 town. It was said that he refrained from doing so 
 through the influence of citizens of Knoxville who 
 accompanied his army. The only death in the 
 town caused by the fighting was that of a child on 
 the street, who was struck by a stray minnie ball. 
 One death among Longstreet s men, which caused 
 great grief to him and his military family was that 
 of a young sharp-shooter, who was occupying the 
 tower of the house* where Gen. Longstreet had 
 his headquarters. Blood flowed profusely from 
 the wound as the body was carried down stairs, 
 
 * Mr. Robt. H. Armstrong s, over one mile west of Fort Sanders. 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and all efforts to remove the stains from the steps 
 were unsuccessful. 
 
 The great scarcity of food was even more pinch 
 ing for the horses and mules than for the soldiers. 
 So difficult was it to find sufficient provender for 
 them that many of them were taken across the 
 river and turned loose. A number of horses, left 
 tied in an open field, fed upon one another s manes 
 and tails, and were finally reclaimed in a condition 
 of ridiculous nudity. Towards the close of the 
 siege, among the reports of general officers made 
 to headquarters at night, was one from Gen. Man- 
 son of Indiana. In it was the statement that "the 
 mules had that day eaten up the fifth wheel of a 
 caisson." The official report of this exploit of 
 stubborn animals, whose chief vivacity was sup 
 posed to be in their heels, lightened the social at 
 mosphere for a moment of its cares, and provoked 
 a round of laughter from the company, in which 
 the Commander-in-chief heartily joined. Habitu 
 ally, a spirit of cheerfulness prevailed at head 
 quarters. At first they were established in a large 
 and commodious mansion on the principal street; 
 but a hostile shell struck near the house, and it 
 was conjectured that his enemy had learned of 
 Burnside s precise location from citizens of the 
 town. Therefore, upon advice of friends, his office 
 was transferred to a store-house, one hundred 
 yards southward across the way. There, as the 
 siege progressed, when the work of the day was 
 over, he relaxed in pleasant conversation with his 
 military family, the younger members of which 
 
INCREASED DESTITUTION. 273 
 
 occasionally joined in vocal music with spirit and 
 effect. A favorite song of the party was Mrs. 
 Howe s Battle Hymn of the Republic: 
 
 "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." 
 
 There, at night, Union citizens visited, to learn 
 his mind concerning the military situation and 
 draw comfort and encouragement from his frank 
 and hopeful words. Nor were those known to 
 have been "Southern sympathizers," but who gave 
 no occasion of offense to the authorities, excluded 
 from his presence during the day, when seeking 
 it in their troubles. Men who indulged in open 
 and persistent contumacy, he visited with restraint, 
 but more obnoxious cases of that kind were chiefly 
 sent by Gen. Foster after the siege within the 
 Confederate lines. 
 
 To the scarcity of food for man and beast was 
 added that of fuel. There was a general destruc 
 tion offences in the town to supply the necessity, 
 which was specially urgent in the hospitals, where 
 the cold hastened the death of more than one fee 
 ble patient. The celerity with which a company 
 of soldiers, acting under orders, could pull down 
 planks, wrest up posts, and carry them all away, 
 was remarkable. The spectators stood amazed. 
 Unionist owners were contented over their losses, 
 knowing the army s need, and friends of the South 
 who lost, grieved in silence. 
 
 Not the least trying quality in the existing con 
 dition to the minds of Union people, was the un- 
 
 Q. 
 
274 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 certainty of the result, so full to them of weal or 
 woe. Their anxiety was lessened by emulating 
 the confidence of the soldiers in Burnside. As 
 for any quiet reflection upon probabilities, they 
 had little or no opportunity to indulge in it. 
 Even the returning hours of darkness did not 
 bring stillness. The night of November 28th was 
 especially disturbed. The noise from the fighting 
 near Fort Sanders for two hours about midnight, 
 was followed by cannonading from Longstreet, 
 which shook the frailer houses of citizens and 
 broke their sleep into fragments. Before 6 o clock 
 next morning, people looking westward from upper 
 windows, could see the flashing of artillery on the 
 river bluff beyond College Hill, which accompanied 
 
 THE ASSAULT UPON FORT SANDERS. 
 
 Its garrison consisted of Benjamin s battery, part 
 of Buckley s, and portions of both the 79th New 
 York and the 2nd Michigan volunteer infantry. 
 The fort itself was a bastioned earthwork, built 
 upon an irregular quadrilateral, fronting 125 yards 
 each, on the north and south, 95 yards on the west 
 and 85 yards on the east. The last named front 
 was left open to be afterwards stockaded; the 
 southern front was about half and the northern 
 nearly finished, and the one on the west was en 
 tirely so, except cutting the embrasures. The 
 bastion angles were very heavy, the relief of the 
 lightest one being 12 feet. The ditch of the fort 
 was 12 feet wide and from 7 to 8 feet deep. On 
 
ASSAULT ON FORT SANDERS. 275 
 
 the parapet were laid bales of cotton, which a 
 covering of wet hides prevented from ignition by 
 the cannon. 
 
 The whole command of Gen. Burnside were on 
 the alert during the night. Especially so was 
 Lieut. Benjamin, with his two hundred and twenty 
 men under orders to keep strict silence. Just as 
 the sun rose, the National flag was unfurled above 
 the fort, and as the music of the "Star-spangled 
 Banner" was poured forth at the same moment by 
 the Division band, the voices of the men also went 
 up in cheer after cheer. Then the enemy began a 
 furious fire from batteries on the north and west, 
 700 and 1500 yards distant, and from the battery 
 across the river. This cannonading lasted for 
 twenty minutes, injuring only one man, but it met 
 with no reply from Burnside s batteries. Imme 
 diately a fire of musketry was opened by Long- 
 street, and at the same time a heavy column of 
 troops, which he had concentrated in the night 
 upon the ridge about 80 yards from the bastions, 
 charged on them under cover of a fog, at a run, 
 His order, issued after midnight, through Maj. 
 Gen, McLaws, was as follows: 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, Nov. 29, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL : Please impress your officers and men with the im 
 portance of making a rush when they once start to take a position 
 as that occupied by the enemy yesterday. If the troops once 
 started rush forward till the point is carried, the loss will be trifling ; 
 whereas, if they hesitate, the enemy gets courage, or being behind 
 a comparatively sheltered position will light the harder. Besides, if 
 the assaulting party once loses courage and falters, he will not find 
 courage, probably, to make a renewed effort. The men should 
 therefore be cautioned before they start at such a work, and told 
 
2? THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 what they are to do, and the importance and great safety of doing it 
 with a rush. 
 
 (Signed) J. LONGSTREET, Lieut. Gen l. 
 
 The bastion against which the assault was spe 
 cially directed, fronted to the north and was almost 
 finished. Its relief was about 13 feet, which added 
 to the depth of the ditch, say 7 feet, made a dis 
 tance of 20 feet from the bottom of the ditch to 
 the interior crest. This and the steepness of the 
 slope presented grave difficulties to the assailants. 
 Add to them the dampness of the morning, the 
 nature of the soil, the obstacles placed in front 
 of the ditch and the absence of scaling ladders, 
 and the success of the storming party was, in 
 advance, most uncertain. The columns formed 
 by Longstreet were of his best men, and consisted 
 of three brigades of Gen. McLaw s division: one 
 of Georgians under Gen. Wofford, one of Mississip- 
 pians under Gen. Humphrey, and the third com 
 posed of Generals Anderson s and Bryant s brig 
 ades, South Carolinians and Georgians, with others. 
 They went forward as ordered, "with a rush" 
 impetuously, and with a yell. First they en 
 countered the abattis which broke their lines; then 
 the telegraph wires tripped up and threw headlong 
 whole companies. In their confusion, Lieut. Ben 
 jamin opened upon them with canister from his 
 triple-shotted guns, and at the same time, por 
 tions of Gen. Hascall s division, placed the night 
 before by Gen. Ferrero on the flanks of the fort, 
 made a cross fire upon the assailants. Although 
 many of them fell because of the entanglements, 
 
ASSAULT ON FORT SANDERS. 277 
 
 the weight of the column forced its advance for 
 ward. In two or three minutes a crowd plunged 
 into the ditch, and a few tried to reach the para 
 pet. The raking shot from the fort still poured 
 swiftly down upon them. Shells lighted in hand 
 and tossed by Lieutenant Benjamin into the strug 
 gling mass, helped in the work of its destruction. 
 A second brigade follows the first, to attack and 
 be slaughtered, but some of the men, escaping the 
 ditch and surviving the tempest of death, press 
 on and upward. Some climb the embankment. 
 Three battle flags are planted on its top and are 
 instantly pulled down. An officer with his hand on 
 the muzzle of a cannon demands surrender of the 
 fort and is immediately blown to pieces. Others 
 also demand it and are felled. A dozen courage 
 ous men get into the bastion, are surrounded and 
 disarmed. Two hundred prisoners are taken and 
 sent to the rear. The garrison has helpers in the 
 defence and bravely they stand or move on steady 
 feet. They are sons of Michigan and Massachu 
 setts.* Hopeless of success the storming party 
 retreat, and the defenders shout, "Hurrah! hur 
 rah! hurrah!" Distant soldiers listen and are 
 glad, for the Union is triumphant. The star-span 
 gled banner still floats in the air where it was 
 unfurled when the sun rose.f 
 
 *Wm. Todd in "History of Seventy-ninth Highlanders, N. Y. Volunteers," 
 says that the Second Michigan was a part of the reinforcement, (page 383.) Chas. 
 F. Walcott in "History of Twenty-first Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers," 
 page 289, states that the garrison was reinforced by five companies Twenty- 
 ninth Massachusetts, two companies Twentieth Michigan and a brigade of the 
 Twenty-third corps. 
 
 f-The boast among the besiegers had been that they "had got Mr. Burnside 
 and his pet corps into a trap." 
 
278 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 The ground between the fort and the crest is 
 
 o 
 
 strewn with the slain and with wounded men cry 
 ing for help. The ditch is filled with them almost 
 to the brim. Burnside tenders a flag of truce and 
 it is accepted. Now bury the dead and care for 
 the wounded. Bring up the empty ambulances 
 and send them away full to the hospitals. See to 
 the bodies of Confederate soldiers piled one upon 
 another. Some are dead and some are dying. 
 Others are injured but will survive. Pull away 
 the corpses ruddy-faced in battle a little while 
 ago, now white-faced in death. Let the living 
 men who are lying underneath have fresh air. 
 How glad they are to breathe freely again and to 
 be in the sunlight! Draw them forth, whether 
 they are silent or groaning. What is that? One 
 of them speaks. "O God," he cries, "this is hor 
 rible."* And so it is. Let us depart from the 
 scene. 
 
 Finally, call the roll, and count the losses of the 
 contending parties. The difference in numbers of 
 their killed and wounded resembles that of the 
 battle of New Orleans, between such losses in the 
 armies of Jackson and Packenham. Of the 
 United States soldiers, there were eight killed and 
 five wounded.f Of the Confederate officers and 
 men, there were probably seven hundred killed 
 and wounded and three hundred taken prisoners. 
 
 * A fact. An intelligent eye witness of the scene, who served in the United 
 States Army and numerous battles of the period, affirms that he never witnessed 
 such a spectacle of human slaughter. 
 
 j-Capt. Poe says in his report, four killed and eleven wounded. 
 
ASSAULT ON FORT SANDERS. 279 
 
 The stands of arms captured were to be counted 
 by the thousands. 
 
 On both sides the military conduct was heroic. 
 Gen. Burnside said: "The gallantry of this de 
 fence has not been excelled during the war." He 
 congratulated the division of Gen. Ferrero, par 
 ticularly Lieut. Benjamin and the officers and men 
 with him in the fort, upon "this great achieve 
 ment." Pollard (Confederate) says: "Never, ex 
 cepting at Gettysburg, was there in the history of 
 the war, a disaster adorned with the glory of such 
 devout courage as Longstreet s repulse at Knox- 
 ville." 
 
 There was during the assault and for some time 
 after, sharp righting on the south side of the river, 
 but the Federal troops maintained their lines of 
 possession. The attack upon them was at first 
 slightly to their disadvantage, but it was finally 
 repulsed with heavy loss to their enemy. Long- 
 street s defeat at Fort Sanders was discour 
 aging. Gen. B. R. Johnson, who had just joined 
 him, asked permission to renew the assault with 
 two brigades he had brought with him from Chat 
 tanooga. He was refused.* Gen. Longstreet 
 gave orders to withdraw his lines, for the purpose 
 of returning to Chattanooga. Just then he was 
 
 *NoTE. At a reception given Gen. Burnside, January, 1864, at Boston, by the 
 Second Massachusetts Infantry, the General in the course of his speech, told how 
 he asked a rebel prisoner four or rive days after the attack on Fort Sanders 
 why Gen. Longstreet did not make a second one. "Well," said the prisoner 
 "General, I will tell you. Our men just swear that they are never going into that 
 slaughter pen again, and when they won t go, the ball won t roll." 
 
 (See Chas. F. Walcott s History of the Twenty-first Regiment Massachusetts 
 Volunteers.) 
 
280 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 informed via Richmond of Bragg s defeat by 
 Grant and he was ordered to retire from Knox- 
 ville and go to the succor of Bragg. As an attempt 
 to obey the order would be worse than useless, 
 with Grant s victorious army between him and the 
 retreating General whom he was ordered to suc 
 cor, Longstreet concluded to continue the siege in 
 the hope of drawing Grant to the relief of Burn- 
 side, and so from the pursuit of Bragg. 
 
 For several days in the beginning of December, 
 work w r as continued upon the defences of the 
 town by the Federal army, and constant watchful 
 ness was observed. Then, as well as previously, 
 telegraphic wires connected headquarters and all 
 the forts. Gen. Burnside observed constant per 
 sonal vigilance; therefore an assault upon any 
 point would be quickly known and met by him. 
 The greatest precautions were taken. Skirmishers 
 were supplied with cotton balls soaked in turpen 
 tine, which thrown blazing into the air would ex 
 pose an attacking column. Rockets, to be used 
 in like manner for the same purpose, were placed 
 along the lines. Locomotives and driving wheels 
 were fastened to the defences with ropes, by cut 
 ting which, they could be sent rapidly down hill to 
 repel an assault. By the issuance of stored and 
 captured arms, at least every other soldier had two 
 guns at his post; but their chief want was the 
 means, not of resistance to their enemies by force, 
 but of sustaining life and strength. Rations were 
 smaller every day, and in their hunger a single 
 particle of food was so precious they were eager 
 
LONGSTREET RETREATS. 281 
 
 to adroitly make it their own.* On December 2d, 
 Burnside had tidings by a courier from Grant of 
 the battle of Chattanooga, and also a promise that 
 Sherman should come to raise the siege of Knox- 
 ville. At noon of the same day a single gun was 
 fired from Fort Noble which signalled this news, 
 and the brigade stood in the trenches and gave 
 three cheers for Grant and Chattanooga. The 
 hope of early reinforcements buoyed up the spirits 
 of the soldiers, but as their nutriment consisted of 
 a little meal made of corn and cobs, with a bit of 
 pork, or of eight ounces of flour for each man, 
 the hope could not wholly disperse their gloomy 
 thoughts about Libby prison and Andersonville. 
 
 On December 3rd, the enemy s trains were seen 
 moving eastward, and at night Capt. Audenried, of 
 Gen. Sherman s staff, reached Gen. Burnside s 
 headquarters. Relief was actually on the way, 
 and the movements of Longstreet s trains on the 
 4th indicated an early abandonment of the siege. 
 In the afternoon, however, his skirmishers were 
 unusually active and their fire was easily provoked. 
 The besieged stood under arms all night in expec 
 tation of an attack, but the zealous shooting which 
 had led them them to fear it, was intended to cover 
 another sort of movement. The next morning a 
 profound silence reigned all around the town out 
 side its defences. The pickets of the 36th Massa 
 chusetts, under Capt. Ames, were the first to dis- 
 
 * NOTE. One of them relates: " Whenever any of us could get off duty, we 
 would stroll over to where the teamsters were feeding their mules; should the 
 teamsters be gone, the mules invariably lost their rations. Frequently the kernels 
 of corn that the mules and horses could not help losing, were picked up out of the 
 dirt and eaten by the nearly famished troops." 
 
282 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 cover that the besiegers had taken up the line of 
 march. The First brigade began to cheer over 
 the discovery, and this cheering was echoed all 
 along the lines until the men almost lost their 
 breath. Their hats were thrown away as they 
 shouted, and when every man s head was re-cov 
 ered he shook hands with every other man he met, 
 and there was a general jubilee. Longstreet had 
 moved off, as Burnside said, "in remarkably good 
 order," and the few cavalry who could be mounted 
 for pursuit were unable to make any impression 
 on him. 
 
 On that day a letter came to headquarters with 
 congratulations from Gen. Sherman, at Maryville, 
 17 miles distant, saying that he could bring 30,000 
 men into Knoxville the next day, but as Long- 
 street had retreated, unless Burnside specified that 
 he wanted troops, Sherman would let his men rest 
 and he himself would ride to see him. On the 
 morrow, the distinguished visitor arrived in town 
 and was hospitably entertained by the Commander- 
 in-chief.* Their conference resulted in the agree 
 ment that Sherman s forces, with the exception of 
 Gen. Granger s corps, should return to Grant at 
 Chattanooga. 
 
 On Monday, December 7th, all available infantry 
 were sent in pursuit of Longstreet and halted at 
 Rutledge. The cavalry went to Bean s Station,, 
 but refrained from attacking him at Red Bridge,, 
 for want of sufficient strength. On the nth, Gen. 
 Burnside, in compliance with his previous sugges- 
 
 * Appendix: Note U. 
 
BURNSIDE HONORS HIS TROOPS. 283 
 
 tion, was relieved by Maj. Gen. Foster in command 
 of the Department, and the following day he de 
 parted for Cincinnati. There, a few days after 
 wards, in a public speech, he gave all the honors 
 he received, to his officers and soldiers. One of 
 them has said: "These kindly words" they "will 
 ever cherish; and in all their added years, as they 
 recall the widely separated battle-fields, made for 
 ever sacred by the blood of their fallen comrades, 
 and forever glorious by the victories there won, it 
 will be their pride to say, We fought with Burn- 
 side at Campbell s Station and in the trenches at 
 Knoxville. " * 
 
 Burnside s departure from East Tennessee was 
 witnessed generally with sincere and in some 
 instances profound regret. He had the affection 
 ate esteem of the people which to every wise 
 and good man, is of more value than admiration 
 of his talents. His conduct of military affairs had 
 been grandly heroic, and he was justly rejoiced 
 over the behavior of his men. He wrote : 
 
 "I shall ever remember with gratitude and 
 pleasure, the co-operation, devotion, courage and 
 patient endurance of the brave officers and men 
 of the Ninth and Twenty-third corps, who have 
 served so faithfully and conspicuously in Kentucky 
 and East Tennessee. During the whole siege, 
 and in the midst of the most arduous labor and 
 greatest privations I never heard a word of dis 
 content or distrust from any one of them. Each 
 man seemed anxious to do his whole duty, and to 
 
 * See Atlantic Monthly, for July, 1866 
 
284 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 their perseverance and courage is due the ultimate 
 success of the defence of Knoxville. 
 
 "The loyal people of East Tennessee will always 
 be gratefully remembered by me for their hearty 
 co-operation, efficient aid and liberal hospitality." 
 
 Chief Engineer, Captain Poe, has said: 
 
 "There is no language sufficiently strong which 
 I can use to express my admiration for the con 
 duct of the troops. From the beginning of the 
 siege to the end, every man did his whole duty. 
 The cheerful looks and confident bearing which 
 met us at every turn, made it seem as though we 
 were sure of victory from the first. It is doubtful 
 whether any man within our lines had at any time 
 after the first forty-eight hours, any fear of the 
 result. All privations were borne, all hardships 
 undergone, with a spirit which indicated as plainly 
 as if written on the walls, that success would 
 attend our efforts. The troops of the Ninth and 
 Twenty-third army corps were chivalric rivals 
 where duty was to be done. Never before had 
 an engineer officer less cause to complain of the 
 manner in which his instructions and directions 
 were carried out." 
 
 In the same connection, he testified to the great 
 value of the contrabands services, in many cases 
 voluntarily offered. "Nearly two hundred of them 
 labored during the siege, and for the first week, 
 regularly eighteen hours in the twenty-four. The 
 amount of their work, performed both day and 
 night, the whole time," he said, "was truly aston 
 ishing." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CAPTAIN POE S CONCLUSIONS PRESIDENT LIN 
 COLN S PROCLAMATION GENERALS SHERMAN 
 AND GRANT INTERCESSIONS WITH GEN. FOS 
 TER BATTLE OF RESACA INFLUX OF REF 
 UGEES TO KNOXVILLE. 
 
 "What is the end of fame? Tis but to fill 
 A certain portion of uncertain paper." 
 
 BYRON. 
 
 "No more shall the war-cry sever, 
 
 Or the winding rivers be red; 
 They banish our anger forever 
 
 When they laurel the graves of our dead ! 
 Under the sod and the dew, 
 
 Waiting the judgment day ; 
 Love and tears for the Blue ; 
 Tears and love for the Gray." 
 
 F. M. FINCH. 
 
 Captain Poe, towards the conclusion of his offi 
 cial report to Gen. Burnside, has given a judicious 
 estimate of the events just narrated, He says: 
 
 "The siege of Knoxville passed into history. If 
 mistakes were made in the defence, they were cov 
 ered by the cloak of success. That many were 
 made in the attack was apparent to us all.* That 
 the rebels made a great error in besieging, is as 
 evident as it now is, that to accept siege at Knox 
 ville was a great stroke of military policy. The 
 
 * See Appendix: Note V. 
 
286 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 results of the successful defence are, the defeat of 
 Bragg s army and consequent permanent estab 
 lishment of our forces at Chattanooga, with toler 
 ably secure lines of communication; the confirm 
 ation of our hold upon East Tennessee; the dis 
 comfiture and loss of prestige of the choicest 
 troops of the enemy s service. 
 
 Is there any man of that part of the army of the 
 Ohio which was in Knoxville, who would exchange 
 his nineteen days of service there for any other of 
 the achievements of his life? Was there a regi 
 ment there which will not put Knoxville on its 
 banners as they now bear Roanoke or Newbern, 
 Williamsburg or Fair Oaks, Chantilly or South 
 Mountain, Antietam or Vicksburg?" 
 
 The news of Burnside s successful defence car 
 ried joy to Washington and to all friends of the 
 United States everywhere. The President issued 
 a proclamation concerning it, in which he spoke 
 of the retreat of the enemy from before Knox 
 ville "under the circumstances rendering it proba 
 ble that the Union forces" could not thereafter "be 
 dislodged from that important position." He rec 
 ommended that "all loyal people" should "on re 
 ceipt of this information, assemble at their places 
 of worship and render special homage and grati 
 tude to Almighty God, for this great advancement 
 of the National cause." Congress joyfully thanked 
 Burnside and his army. 
 
 Maj. Gen. John G. Foster, Gen. Burnside s suc 
 cessor in command of the Department, was a 
 wholly different type of man, and could not have 
 
GENERAL SHERMAN. 287 
 
 sustained rivalry with Burnside in his characteristic 
 lines of life and conduct. Nor was Foster at all 
 emulous to excel him in that way. He sought to 
 do his duty after his own fashion, and the fault 
 finding to a limited extent, with which his admin 
 istration met, was largely due to the comparison 
 civilians would silently make in their minds be 
 tween him and his predecessor, to his depreciation, 
 as the lesser of the two chief lights in their military 
 firmament. 
 
 Gen. Sherman, who had arrived in town on De 
 cember 6, remained only a few days. His freely 
 active temperament was a subject of observation. 
 He held himself in no severe restraint, such as 
 a small official s sense of dignity would impose. 
 A young Unionist who had been driven from his 
 home to take refuge in Knoxville, had some skill 
 in portrait painting, and desired to copy a portrait 
 of the deceased Bishop Otey of Tennessee that 
 hung in the parlor of the house then occupied as 
 headquarters. When he applied to Gen. Foster 
 for a loan of the picture, Gen. Sherman heard the 
 request and springing quickly to his feet, said: 
 
 "Bishop Otey! I knew Bishop Otey. Let s go 
 and see it." 
 
 When the company had gathered before the 
 likeness, he added 
 
 "I must have that picture. I shall present it to 
 Bishop Otey s family." 
 
 The young artist, looking intently at the speaker, 
 said, with great sang froid 
 
 "What is your name?" 
 
288 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 "Sherman," was the reply. 
 
 "General Sherman?" he persisted. 
 
 "Yes!" said the General: and asked, 
 
 "How long do you want the picture?" 
 
 Being told, he consented to the loan, and in all 
 probability forgot entirely that he had made it.* 
 
 Shortly after Gen. Sherman s departure from 
 the town, Gen. Grant visited it, and his reputation 
 for unaffected simplicity of manner, was con 
 firmed to those who formed his acquaintance. 
 During an interview with him by a citizen, the 
 conversation turned upon the siege. The visitor 
 said: 
 
 "General, I understand that General Longstreet 
 is loitering in upper East Tennessee." 
 
 "Yes," he replied, "I wish now that I had or 
 dered Gen. Sherman to drive him out." 
 
 This frank admission of a failure to do what 
 ought to have been done, showed at least, that 
 his head was not turned by the laurels won at 
 Vicksburg and Mission Ridge, and that he was 
 not morbidly sensitive about the perfection of his 
 military judgment. If he had then known the 
 full extent of the ills to the people of upper East 
 Tennessee which Longstreet s stay among them 
 would inflict, the omission of the order to Sher 
 man would have caused him greater regret; for 
 that stay was prolonged for months. It was in 
 strumental of much annoyance to the United 
 
 * Bishop Otey was at first in the troubles of 1860 61, a decided Union man, 
 but when actual hostilities began, he espoused the cause of "the South." Upon 
 the occupation of Memphis by the United States forces, Gen. Sherman showed 
 him kind and valuable attentions. 
 
A TEXAN IN TROUBLE. 289 
 
 States troops at various points, and Longstreet s 
 army, by living upon the country, contributed 
 largely to bring upon its inhabitants the great des 
 titution of food, from which they severely suffered 
 in i864- 65. 
 
 Gen. Foster had received a wound during the 
 Mexican war, from the effects of which he still 
 now and then suffered, and which furnished a con 
 venient reason for his being refused to unwelcome 
 visitors. Upon one very cold afternoon, two visits 
 in quick succession were made to a citizen, by 
 persons who sought his mediation with General 
 Foster. First came a committee of Free Masons. 
 A Kentuckian, who belonged to a Texas regi 
 ment, had been unavoidably separated from it at 
 the time of Longstreet s retreat from Knoxville, 
 and he had endeavored to rejoin it through the 
 country south of the Tennessee river. In doing 
 this, he had unfortunately for himself, worn, 
 in part at least, the uniform of a Federal soldier, 
 and had also entered in his diary that he had rep 
 resented himself as one, in conversation with a 
 woman. He was captured while hiding in a hay 
 stack, was brought to Knoxville, tried by court- 
 martial and condemned to death as a spy. Strong 
 sympathy was felt for him by resident friends of 
 the Confederacy, and this was shared by the Free 
 Masons, of which fraternity he was a member. 
 A committee of that order desired the citizen they 
 visited to intercede with Gen. Foster to reprieve 
 the prisoner until further proof of his innocence, 
 which they believed to exist, could be produced. 
 
290 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 They had scarcely gone, when a regimental 
 officer from Mississippi made his appearance. 
 Longstreet, in going eastward, had left in a hos 
 pital at the paper mill three miles northwest of the 
 town, a number of wounded men, among whom 
 were officers Moody and Smith. The former was 
 suffering from heart disease, which did not, how 
 ever, prevent his really distinguished presence upon 
 the streets. His remarkable stature and aristo 
 cratic physique crowned with a planter s broad- 
 brimmed hat, and his lordly bearing, combined to 
 embody the idea which the natives entertained of 
 " Southern chivalry," and to attract special atten 
 tion. He was said to be withal, a cousin of the 
 Rev. Granville Moody, of the United States Army, 
 and known as "the fighting parson." The other 
 Confederate officer was Major Smith, who be 
 cause of his wounds, was still confined to his room 
 in a private dwelling. On that day some rebel 
 soldiers at the town had broken their parole, seized 
 guns and absconded. In consequence, Gen. Fos 
 ter had ordered that all other Confederate prison 
 ers on parole should be arrested and sent to jail. 
 This confinement Major Moody averred that he 
 and Major Smith were physically unable to en 
 dure in such severe weather; and his request was 
 that the citizen should intercede with the Com 
 mander-in-chief to still allow them liberty in the 
 town. Equipped with this double errand, the 
 citizen went on his way over the sleety pavements 
 to that officer s dwelling and said to the orderly 
 who opened the door: 
 
INTERVIEW WITH GEN. FOSTER. 29! 
 
 "I wish to see General Foster." 
 "General Foster can t be seen; he is sick." 
 The citizen, at his own request, was then shown 
 to the room of another United States Officer in 
 the same house. There another visitor, General 
 
 , had preceded him. He was evidently under 
 
 the influence of potations from a bottle of strong 
 drink that stood on the table near him, and soon 
 the new comer s refusal to partake of his spirituous 
 devotions was resented by him with maudlin free 
 dom and profanity. By and by came a knock at 
 the door, and who should enter but the veritable 
 General, who just before had been announced as 
 too ill to receive a visitor. 
 
 Not long before, Gen. Foster had sent copies of 
 a Proclamation by President Lincoln, to be dis 
 tributed among the soldiers of Gen. Longstreet. 
 The latter thereupon had forwarded a sharp let 
 ter to Foster, rebuking him for discourtesy, and 
 inviting him to transmit such documents directly 
 to the commander, instead of seeking to circulate 
 them privily among the soldiers of his command. 
 To that letter Gen. Foster had prepared an answer, 
 and he proceeded to read it to the owner of the 
 room, not probably without expectation of the 
 high encomium which that gentleman gave it. 
 
 When a suitable opportunity occurred, the citi 
 zen sought to fulfill his mission, first by repeating 
 to Gen. Foster the statement of the committee of 
 Free Masons, and conveying their petition for a 
 short reprieve to the young Kentuckian. 
 
 "No!" was the General s reply, with knit brows 
 
292 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 and emphatic tone, "he must die." And die he 
 did the next day, on the gallows. Afterwards it 
 was said that the execution might not or would not 
 have taken place, had not Longstreet s army, early 
 in its retreat, hung a Union man, and left on a tree 
 by the way-side his lifeless body, placarded with 
 offensive words. Information of the young Ken- 
 tuckian s death, and of the Christian faith and hope 
 with which he met it, was sent to Richmond, Ky., 
 by a clergyman who was with him in his last days.* 
 Although it was conveyed to his aged father and 
 mother by their friend/f" with all possible discre 
 tion, the sorrowful news almost broke their hearts. 
 "But," the ruthless politician may ask, "must not 
 war as well as law, have both its just and unjust 
 verdicts? Must it not have its revenges as well as 
 its wrath?" If so, then let it stop altogether its de 
 stroying marches and strife, and cease from breaking 
 hundreds and thousands of good old loving hearts 
 by the untimely death of their sons? Why not? 
 
 Concerning the second subject of intercession 
 with Gen. Foster, the imprisonment of Majors 
 Moody and Smith, he was so far lenient as to con 
 sent that they should not go to the common prison, 
 but be confined in comfortable quarters. Mean 
 while, however, Provost Marshal General S. P. 
 Carter, in consideration of their physical condition, 
 placed them again on parole. 
 
 Following upon the return of Generals Grant 
 and Sherman to Chattanooga, the defences of the 
 town were still further strengthened, and it re- 
 
 * Rev. Joseph II. Martin. -j- Judge Daniel Breck. 
 
QUIET CONDITIONS. 293 
 
 mained without serious disturbances from enemies 
 until the end of the Confederacy. Once quite an 
 alarm was raised in consequence of a rapid move 
 ment of Wheeler s cavalry through the country 
 and not far away from Knoxville, but the excite 
 ment soon subsided and order and peace prevailed 
 as before. New conditions were attended by a 
 hopeful vitality. Some of the officers stationed at 
 the post during 1864-5 mingled freely in social in 
 tercourse with the citizens. Among these were 
 Gen. Tilson of Maine and his staff; Gen. S. P. 
 Carter, among whose aides was Capt. Thomas; 
 Col. Gibson, Gen. Stoneman and Col. Ewing. Gen. 
 J. D. Cox of Ohio impressed all who made his ac 
 quaintance, by his fine character and culture. An 
 exhaustive list of officers worthy of mention would 
 include Captains Whitman and Chamberlain of the 
 Quarter-master s Department, Medical Directors 
 Jackson and Curtis, and Dr. S. H. Horner. 
 
 General Schofield succeeded General Foster in 
 chief command. He administered affairs judi 
 ciously and impressed observers as a serious per 
 son, who understood the value of method in con 
 ducting business, whatever its relations to human 
 life. 
 
 Late in April, 1864, Gen. Schofield was ordered 
 from his post to join Gen. Sherman s army in its 
 famous march. Therefore, the Twenty-third army 
 corps, under his command, leaving Strawberry 
 Plains and Knoxville, arrived after a hard march 
 and was concentrated May 2 on the Hiwassee 
 River, near Charleston and Calhoun. That corps 
 
294 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 included several Tennessee regiments, viz.: the 
 Third infantry, Col. Wm. Cross; the Fifth, Col. 
 James T. Shelley; the Sixth, Col. Joseph A. 
 Cooper;* the Eighth regiment, Col. Felix A. 
 Reeve; and, soon after added, the first infantry, 
 Col. R. K. Byrd. 
 
 The "loyal mountaineers" of Tennessee who 
 enlisted in the United States army proved their 
 courage upon various battle fields. No opportu 
 nity has heretofore occurred in this narrative, to say 
 a word on that subject. The commendation which 
 Gen. Burnside gave his troops, of course included 
 the East Tennessee soldiers, who were a part of 
 his command before and during the siege of Knox- 
 ville. The valor which animated them and their 
 compatriots from the same region, was signally 
 illustrated by the conduct of the above named reg 
 iments at the battle of Resaca. The army corps 
 to which they belonged having been united May 
 2d, on the Hiwassee River, proceeded to the vi 
 cinity of Dalton, Georgia, before which place Gen. 
 Sherman was arranging his lines for the first of 
 the series of encounters with the Confederate 
 army which he had on his way to the sea. Gen. 
 Thomas on May yth had a successful engagement 
 at Tunnel Hill. Schofield s corps of which the 
 Third and Sixth Tennessee regiments were a part 
 came into position on Thomas s left, and occu 
 pied a steep ridge. On its side the men slept. 
 The right wing and centre of Sherman s army had 
 advanced so far that on the 9th Schofield was or- 
 
 * Soon after, for gallant conduct, made a Brigadier General. 
 
GEN. JOSEPH A. COOPER. 
 
BATTLE OF RESACA. 
 
 dered to extend his lines farther to the left. An 
 East Tennesseean, who was then a Union officer 
 and an actor in the scene, relates that Gen. Scho- 
 field, "forming his divisions in two lines of battle, 
 with his right resting at the base of the hills, 
 moved down the valley in the direction of the 
 Confederate lines, entrenched behind earthworks. 
 As these two long blue lines moved forward under 
 the eye of the soldiers who covered the crest of 
 the hills to the north, their hundreds of flags float 
 ing in the breeze and their bayonets glistening in 
 the bright sunshine, a band began to play The 
 Star-spangled Banner, and cheers rent the air 
 from ten thousand voices. It was a most inspirit 
 ing pageant and filled the men with the wildest 
 enthusiasm."* 
 
 Soon the skirmishing began, and was quickly 
 followed by firing from the Confederate artillery, 
 which continued during the afternoon, but did not 
 prevent the Union column from moving slowly 
 and steadily onward until when night fell, it was 
 within a few hundred yards of the Confederate 
 works. The losses of the day were not very 
 heavy, those of the Tennessee regiments being 
 perhaps a score killed and twice that number 
 wounded. The men lay during the night with 
 their cartridge boxes belted around them, greatly 
 anxious of mind because of the nearness to each 
 other of the hostile lines, and were compelled to 
 feed upon such rations as were possible without 
 kindling fires. The bayonet charge which they ex- 
 
 * C;ipt. William Rule. 
 
296 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 pected to make early the next morning was not 
 ordered, for Gen. Sherman determined to flank 
 General Johnson s army and compel its sur 
 render or retreat. To aid in that movement, 
 Schofield s divisions were quietly withdrawn a 
 few troops, horse and foot, taking their place 
 and were marched to the rear, from thence to 
 pass around the Union lines to the neighborhood 
 of Resaca. 
 
 Gen. McPherson had preceded Schofield and 
 taken position, and on the I3th the Second divi 
 sion of the latter s corps, commanded by Gen. H. 
 M. Judah, and its Third division commanded by 
 Gen. Jacob D. Cox, were formed into two lines 
 of battle. The Confederate works were a few 
 hundred yards distant, with a strip of woods inter 
 vening. For two hours there was skirmishing 
 between the hostile forces. The Confederates, 
 after being driven back, made a more stubborn 
 resistance. Then at the word, "Forward!" the 
 main line of the Union troops advanced with fixed 
 bayonets. Soon they reached the crest of a ridge, 
 in full view of their entrenched enemy and within 
 range of his rifles. Twenty or more pieces of 
 artillery opened fire upon them with grape and 
 canister shot. The minnie balls they encountered 
 fell thickly like hail-stones in a storm. Down the 
 hill side to the assault they went at a double-quick 
 step. Their cheers, as they went, rose clear and 
 strong above the din of the battle. At almost 
 every step one man in every ten of them dropped 
 from the ranks, which still pressed forward and at 
 
BATTLE OF RESACA. 297 
 
 the base of the hill entered an open field. There 
 a creek, parallel with both army lines, stopped 
 their way. The trees upon its banks had been 
 cut down, and presented a tangled mass which 
 forbid their progress. To attempt a passage 
 through it under their adversary s heavy fire, 
 would have been to incur a needless sacrifice of 
 human life. Therefore they were ordered to fall 
 back, and leaving many of their number up to 
 their necks in the water of the creek, until night 
 iell to their release, the survivors retreated across 
 the ridge and re-formed. 
 
 The losses of the command were distressingly 
 large. Of the two thousand men, First brigade, 
 Second division, Twenty-third army corps, who 
 went that day into action, between four hundred 
 and fifty and five hundred were killed and 
 wounded in fifteen minutes. In that brigade 
 the Third regiment Tennessee lost one hundred 
 and twenty-five: the Sixth Tennessee regiment 
 was strangely preserved, its losses being only 
 thirty. 
 
 The subsequent movements of Gen. Sherman s 
 army resulted in the evacuation of Dalton by Gen. 
 Johnson, and during the night of May i5th, his 
 forces around Resaca were withdrawn. The 
 Confederate army, being forced from its first 
 stronghold of resistance in the Georgia campaign, 
 on the next day moved southward. The bloody 
 battle of Resaca has been thought to be interest 
 ing to Tennesseeans from the fact that in it " the 
 valor of Tennessee soldiers on both sides was dis- 
 
298 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 played, was fully tested and found equal to the 
 emergency."* 
 
 At that date, the siege of Knoxville was fully 
 numbered with the things of the past, and the 
 possession of East Tennessee by the United States 
 army had all the permanence possible in the cir 
 cumstances. The country however, was in a sad 
 condition. It had been the previous year, not 
 only disquieted but impoverished, and in the win 
 ter of i863- 64 there began an unexampled flood 
 of immigration into the town from adjoining and 
 eastern counties. It consisted not only of needy 
 white people. Everywhere the negroes upon ob 
 taining their freedom during the war, manifested 
 a strong inclination for town life. On this occa 
 sion that disposition was sharpened by the hope 
 of finding not only refuge from harm but neces 
 sary food. At first the stream of new, homeless, 
 hungry population was small, but as confidence in 
 the security and certainty of rest which Knoxville 
 offered and of finding there the sufficient nourish 
 ment which could not be had at home increased, 
 the tide of immigrants rose higher. It filled 
 vacant tenements, and flowed into the rooms of 
 the University buildings not already occupied by 
 soldiers. The refugees came into town on rail 
 road trains and lay all night on the uncovered de 
 pot platform, exposed to the inclemencies of the 
 weather. The question which humanity as well 
 as Christianity prompted was, what should be 
 done with and for them. The calamity had many 
 
 *See Appendix: Note W. 
 
INFLUX OF REFUGEES. 299 
 
 and deep sources, and threatened to grow with 
 the lapse of time. It would inevitably be fed 
 more and more from the large impoverishment 
 that extended over a wide region, and for which 
 there seemed to be no remedy. Its evil results, 
 thus brought home to the very doors of the peo 
 ple of Knoxville, might be overcome in their pres 
 ent magnitude; but how should they be met in the 
 future when full grown in size? The only feasible 
 method was to send forth supplies from there to 
 meet and overcome it. The sole yet fatal objec 
 tion to such a plan was the absence of means to 
 carry it into effect. 
 
 But God is good, and His mercy is over all His 
 works. He had already put it into the heart of 
 one of His servants to begin an enterprise that 
 would by His blessing bring help from a distance 
 to the needy people, more than a few of whom 
 were ready to perish. 
 
 At that date war had wrought its ravages for 
 more than three and a half years. For a large 
 part of that period, in some regions of the land, 
 it had stayed the hand of the husbandman from 
 industrious toil and prevented the fruits of the 
 earth. In many instances the farmers barns were 
 no longer, as formerly, filled with plenty, for the 
 words of Joel, so ominously read in churches on 
 the Sunday after the Baltimore fight in April 1861, 
 had proved truly predictive, and plough-shares 
 had been turned into swords. Multitudes of 
 hearts everywhere from Maine to the Gulf, and 
 from the Atlantic to the far West, were now 
 
300 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 yearning for peace. Had not enough blood been 
 shed, enough human life sacrificed upon the altar 
 of Mars? Might not Americans cease now from 
 destroying each other and brethren be recon 
 ciled? Perhaps the night of desolation and sor 
 row was well nigh spent and the day of peace 
 about to dawn! And so it was, but men did not 
 know it. 
 
 Soon kindly hands came in and healed where 
 they could the wounds war had inflicted. They 
 fed the hungry and clothed the naked, until by 
 their industry they could feed and clothe them 
 selves. It was a Christ-like work in which any 
 man might be thankful to be engaged. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF EAST TENNESSEE 
 WATAUGA SCENERY LANDON C. HAYNES AT 
 A DINNER PARTY NATHANIEL G. TAYLOR 
 His WRONGS His FEARS FOR THE PEOPLE 
 His MISSION TO THE NORTH AND WORK AT 
 PHILADELPHIA EDWARD EVERETT S SPEECH 
 AT FANEUIL HALL. 
 
 " Alas, poor country ; 
 
 Almost afraid to know thyself ! It cannot 
 Be call d our mother, but our grave ; where nothing 
 But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile." 
 
 MACBETH. 
 
 An intelligent observer of the condition of East 
 Tennessee in the spring of 1863, did not need any 
 supernatural gift of prescience to enable him to 
 see that a dangerous scarcity of food would befall 
 its people at no very distant day. This evil espe 
 cially impended over counties where love for the 
 Union was relatively strongest, and from which 
 means of sustenance for Confederate troops had 
 been more largely drawn. Twelve months had 
 elapsed since Gen. E. Kirby Smith, in chief com 
 mand at Knoxville, had the sagacity to foresee the 
 ills that threatened the whole region because or 
 the withdrawal of nearly all its able-bodied men 
 from agricultural pursuits, and had thought it 
 
302 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 advisable to proclaim his promise that he would 
 suspend the operation of the conscript law until 
 men should cultivate their fields another season 
 and raise crops of farm products. 
 
 Besides the more than thirty thousand men who 
 were absentees northward nearly all of whom 
 had enlisted in the Federal army and the un 
 known number who had been sent to the Southern 
 prisons, some thousands were in the Confederate 
 army. So that probably more than one-eighth of 
 the entire population were withdrawn from all 
 peaceful labor and chiefly from tilling the soil. 
 As long before as 1861 and 62, the earth had 
 very scantily yielded its fruits, because little work 
 had been done in cultivating it. Even that little 
 had been performed in the midst of excitements, 
 agitations and disturbances, and was therefore 
 defective in quality. Many Confederate soldiers 
 had been quartered here and there throughout 
 East Tennessee, or were in active movement over 
 it from point to point. They had to be fed, and 
 being imperfectly disciplined, they wasted much 
 even of that they bought of their friends, and still 
 more of that they took from Union people. The 
 provisions and provender they ruthlessly seized, 
 might be transported by them elsewhere or be 
 wantonly destroyed on the spot. In the procla 
 mation by Kirby Smith, April, 1862, was a clause 
 following the invitation to Union refugees, which 
 testifies of his good intentions to correct disorders 
 committed by his own troops. In doing this, it 
 bears witness also to their wrong doings and the 
 
DEPLETION OF EAST TENNESSEE. 33 
 
 need there was of protection from them being 
 assured to all citizens. He said: "The Major- 
 General commanding, furthermore declares his 
 determination henceforth to employ all the ele 
 ments at his disposal for the protection of the lives 
 and property of the citizens of East Tennessee, 
 whether from the incursions of the enemy, or the 
 irregularities of his own troops." 
 
 The depleting causes continued during the year 
 1863. One who had good opportunity to be in 
 formed on the subject says, that in the summer of 
 that year; "East Tennessee was full of parties 
 marching and countermarching, skirmishing and 
 battling, ravaging and devastating the whole coun 
 try, which was far distant from reliable bases of sup 
 ply. The young laboring men were in the armies; 
 and what was left of the people s substance being 
 wasted, the prevailing want pressed upon the 
 brink of starvation and was brought to the homes 
 of thousands who had never known hunger before. 
 The present and prospective victims of the ex 
 treme destitution were women and children, old 
 men and invalids." When autumn came, to be 
 followed by winter, the out-look was omin 
 ous and distressing. Was there any way possible 
 of mitigating the growing calamity? If so, how 
 and from whence could help be had? 
 
 It will be remembered that the first permanent 
 settlement in East Tennessee was on the banks of 
 the Watauga River near the present Elizabethton; 
 and that there, in 1780, the "Back-water men," 
 as the British Colonel, Ferguson, called them, 
 
34 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 gathered under Shelby, Sevier and Campbell for 
 their patriotic military expedition to King s Moun 
 tain. The natural surroundings of the spot are 
 now attractive in summer. From the site of the 
 Old Fort, which was built in early days for defence 
 against the Indians on an elevation 300 yards south 
 of the river, the eye may rest on the blue front of 
 Holston Mountain, seven or eight miles distant. 
 To the east is Lynn Mountain, three miles away; 
 to the south is the blue outline of the Unaka and 
 Roan mountains; in the south-west is the bold 
 and craggy front of the Buffalo Mountain, that 
 may easily be fancied to resemble an ancient castle 
 of massive strength, and standing in solitude, its 
 brow uplifted into the skies, impresses the mind of 
 the spectator with a feeling of awe for its grand 
 eur and majesty. And among all these mountains 
 are pleasant vallies, through which flow the Doe 
 River, Buffalo Creek, the Watauga River, Indian 
 Creek, and twenty miles away, the Nolachucky 
 River. The various features of the landscape 
 combine to form a sublime and beautiful panorama. 
 At a dinner party given at Memphis after the 
 recent war ended, to members of the Mississippi 
 Bar, Gen. N. B. Forest, of Confederate memory, 
 intended, it is said, to administer in pleasantry a 
 sharp stimulus to the rhetorical powers of his 
 friend, Col. Landon C. Haynes, who was present 
 and had the reputation of being one of Tennes 
 see s most brilliant orators. It was the habit of 
 certain persons in 1861 and for some years after 
 wards, to speak contemptuously of East Tennes- 
 
LANDON C. HAYNES SPEECH. 35 
 
 see because of its devotion to the Union. The 
 habit seems not yet to have expired, seeing that 
 not long ago a leading journal at the metropolis of 
 the State could utter the historical solecism that 
 the people of East Tennessee were descendants of 
 men who were friends of Great Britain in the War 
 of the American Revolution! Gen. Forest, merely 
 to incite Col. Haynes to make an eloquent re 
 sponse, adopted a reproachful phrase, current 
 among Secessionists, in giving this toast: 
 
 "Col. L. C. Haynes: our honored guest from 
 East Tennessee that God-forsaken country." 
 
 Col. Haynes was instantly on his feet, and in the 
 spirit that dictated the lines: 
 
 " Breathes there a man, with soul so dead, 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 This is my own, my native land !" 
 
 spoke in his best style of voice and manner, as 
 follows: 
 
 " Sir, I proudly plead guilty to the soft impeach 
 ment. I was born in East Tennessee on the 
 banks of the Watauga which in the Indian ver 
 nacular means beautiful river: and beautiful river 
 it is. I have stood upon its banks in my child 
 hood, and looking into its glassy waters, beheld 
 there mirrored, a heaven with moon and planets 
 and trembling stars, and looking upward, have 
 beheld the heaven, which the heaven below re 
 flected. Away from its rocky borders, stretches 
 a vast line of cedar, pine and hemlock evergreens, 
 back to the distant mountains more beautiful 
 
306 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 than the groves of Switzerland reposing on a 
 back-ground as perfect in grandeur as the cloud- 
 lands of the Sierra Nevada of the far West. 
 
 "There stands the towering Roan, the Black, 
 and the magnificent Smoky mountains, upon whose 
 summits the clouds gather of their own accord, 
 even on the brightest day. There I have seen the 
 great spirit of the storm lie down in his pavilion 
 of clouds and darkness to quiet slumbers. Then 
 I have seen him awake at midnight and come forth 
 like a giant refreshed with repose, arouse the tem 
 pest, and let loose the red lightnings that flash for 
 hundreds of miles along the mountain tops swifter 
 than the eagle s flight in heaven. Then I have 
 seen those lightnings stand and dance like angels 
 of light to the music of Nature s grand organ, 
 whose keys were touched by the fingers of Jeho 
 vah, and responded in notes of thunder resound 
 ing through the universe. Then I ve seen the 
 darkness drift away, and morning get up from her 
 saffron bed, and come forth like a queen robed in 
 her garments of light, and stand tip-toe on the 
 misty mountain heights. And while black night 
 fled away to his bed-chamber at the pole, the 
 glorious sun burst forth upon the vale and river 
 where I was born. O, glorious land of the moun 
 tains and sun-painted cliffs! How can I ever 
 forget thee?" 
 
 On the same river whose surroundings were 
 thus described, was also born and still dwelt, 
 Nathaniel G. Taylor a near kinsman of the post 
 prandial orator. He it was who in debate at 
 
NATHANIEL G. TAYLOR. 307 
 
 Knoxville during the Presidential canvass of 1860, 
 spoke with almost prophetic tongue of the civil 
 war and its train of dreadful ills, which he alleged, 
 the malcontent politicians of a great party were 
 preparing to bring upon the country if Mr. Lin 
 coln were elected. So vivid was the picture 
 which he then drew of those evils, that, as before 
 related, some of his hearers wept. But the tears 
 they shed, compared with the many that fell from 
 the eyes of women and children during the war, 
 were as the few scattering drops that clouds in 
 summer send down to tell of the torrents of rain, 
 with which the land is soon to be drenched. The 
 eloquent speaker on that occasion, had been, in 
 1863, grieved for more than two years by seeing 
 and hearing of the unjust violences to which the 
 Union people of East Tennessee were subjected. 
 It is impossible now to determine with strict ac 
 curacy the details of wrongs they suffered from 
 their enemies. To use his words, those wrongs 
 included: 
 
 "The confiscation of property, merciless con 
 scription, arrest, imprisonment, the execution of 
 the death sentence by drum-head court-martial, 
 running the gauntlet of rebel bullets and bayonets 
 for great distances by 30,000 men to reach the 
 United States flag and join its army; the martyr 
 dom of from 2,000 to 3,000 non-combatant, 
 unarmed Union people in thirty-one counties, by 
 shooting, hanging or slaughtering in cold blood;* 
 the despoilment of personal property, and conse- 
 
 *See Appendix: Note X. 
 
3 o8 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 quent upon all these, a widespread destitution of 
 the very necessaries of life." 
 
 Mr. Taylor was known to be a Union man, and 
 therefore could not be permitted to dwell peace 
 fully at home with his wife and children. He was 
 arrested and tried by a drum-head court-martial 
 as an accomplice in the bridge burnings of 1862, 
 but was acquitted. Afterwards, being threatened 
 with arrest and imprisonment upon the charge of 
 High Treason against the Confederacy to end, 
 perhaps, in his death he sought refuge in secluded 
 and very inaccessible gorges of the mountains. 
 His concealment there was attended with priva 
 tions, but it disconcerted enemies in their pursuit. 
 Upon learning of Burnside s advent into East Ten 
 nessee, he became perplexed in mind as to his per 
 sonal duty. He could not remain in his hiding 
 place without danger of being discovered and 
 hunted from it, if not seized. The Confederate 
 troops were between him and Burnside at Knox- 
 ville, and he could reach there only with difficulty 
 and risk. If he attempted to do so and succeeded, 
 in what way under the protection of friendly 
 power, could he best serve his country? He al 
 most determined to seek for a suitable position in 
 the United States army, but postponing a conclu 
 sion, he submitted the subject to God in prayer. 
 Upon doing this, he was persuaded that his petition 
 for guidance and direction was answered by the 
 strong impression of a new idea upon his mind. 
 
 For some time he had been deeply moved at 
 heart, in his daily and nightly reflections, by a vis- 
 
N. G. TAYLOR S MISSION TO THE NORTH. 39 
 
 ion which the unhappy condition of East Tennes 
 see suggested; a vision of famine and death 
 swiftly coming upon its people. Prayer in faith 
 had been the means of opening his eyes as to what 
 he should do in relation to those impending evils. 
 He thought that the Spirit of the Lord spoke to 
 his own spirit: "Your duty is to go and tell the 
 people of the North, of this great, threatening 
 destitution, that they may interpose with their be 
 neficence between it and the suffering people of 
 East Tennessee." He accepted the conclusion as 
 from Him who inspires those who trust in Him 
 to all good and praiseworthy undertakings. Es 
 caping at once through the Confederate lines to 
 Knoxville, he proceeded from thence to Cincinnati 
 upon his humane and patriotic mission. There he 
 met with sympathizing friends of his enterprise, 
 to promote which several hundred dollars were 
 contributed by citizens, after a public meeting had 
 been held and an address heard from him. The 
 amount would have been larger, had there not 
 been already a stream of needy refugees from the 
 seceded States to Cincinnati and other points on 
 the Ohio River, which two months later grew into 
 "great numbers." To provide for that out-flow of 
 "thousands of women, children and aged men 
 all meanly clad, well-nigh starved, and many well- 
 nigh heart-broken," the Refugee Relief Commis 
 sion was established at Cincinnati. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, then Military Governor of 
 Tennessee, gave Mr. Taylor a letter of endorse 
 ment and commendation, to which President Lin- 
 
310 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 coin added a similar one, and on arriving at Phila 
 delphia he was received most kindly. Nearly two 
 months before, the extreme necessity which in 
 duced his visit, had been brought incidentally to 
 the attention of a few patriotic and benevolent 
 ladies of that city. Mrs. Joseph Canby and Mrs. 
 Caleb W. Hallowell heard some soldiers of Kear 
 ney s regiment, early in December, 1863, speak of 
 the famine in East Tennessee, and of how they 
 themselves had sometimes lived on a cracker a 
 day in order to give to the children who flocked 
 to the camp, begging for the remnants of their ra 
 tions. Touched with compassion, the two ladies 
 quietly proceeded to sew and collect articles, and 
 being joined by friends and neighbors, including 
 some from Norristown and Lancaster County, a 
 fair was held. Its cash proceeds and several boxes 
 of clothing were forwarded to Knoxville and dis 
 tributed to the needy. 
 
 In January, 1864, the Governor of Pennsylvania 
 recommended to the State Legislature the subject 
 of Mr. Taylor s mission, and the latter delivered 
 an address in the Philadelphia Academy of Music. 
 A Relief Association for East Tennessee was at 
 once organized with Ex-Gov. Jas. Pollock, Presi 
 dent, Joseph T. Thomas, Secretary, Caleb Cope, 
 Treasurer, J, B. Lippincott, Chairman Committee 
 on Collections, and Lloyd P. Smith, Chairman 
 Executive Committee. The people of the city 
 cheerfully responded to the call upon them for ma 
 terial aid and contributed over twenty-six thousand 
 dollars. From that date, the Pennsylvania Asso- 
 
EDWARD EVERETT S SPEECH. 311 
 
 ciation was of great benefit to the whole under 
 taking, (especially through the Chairman of its 
 Executive Committee) in various ways by wise 
 counsels and active co-operation, as well as by 
 warm sympathy, encouragement and gifts. 
 
 From Philadelphia, Mr. Taylor upon advice went 
 to Boston. On the loth of February, a crowded 
 assembly in Faneuil Hall, including many ladies, 
 gave him an enthusiastic greeting. Upon nomi 
 nation by Hon. J. Wiley Edmunds, Officers of the 
 meeting were elected: Hon. Edward Everett, 
 President; Gov. Andrew, Mayor Lincoln, Hons. J. 
 
 E. Field, A. H. Bullock (Speaker), Robert C. Win- 
 throp and Chas. B. Loring; also Wm. Clafflin, 
 Patrick Donahoe, Wm. B. Rogers, Chas. B. 
 Goodrich, Jas. Lawrence, Rich d Frothingham, 
 Julius Rockwell, Chas. L. Woodbury and John 
 M. Forbes, Esqs., Vice Presidents; and Col. 
 
 F. L. Lee and Sam l Frothingham, Jr., Secre 
 taries. 
 
 Hon. Edward Everett stepped forward upon the 
 platform and spoke. He requested the respectful 
 attention of the assembly to Mr. Taylor on his 
 own account, and also that they should " hear him 
 for his cause" the cause, not simply of the Union, 
 but of faithful Union men who from the beginning 
 of hostilities "had stood at the post of danger; on 
 whom the storm of war first broke, and on whom 
 from that day to this, it has beat with its wildest 
 fury." "At this distance from the scene of war," 
 he said, "we hear only the far-off roar of the tem 
 pest; but all its waves and billows have gone 
 
312 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 over the devoted region for which our honored 
 guest comes to plead." 
 
 Mr. Everett then gave the true and beautiful de 
 scription of East Tennessee, which has been re 
 peated in the Introduction to these chapters. He 
 said of that region: 
 
 "Overrun it may be by the armed forces of the 
 rebellion, but all its sympathies and attachments 
 are with the loyal States. While the aristocracy 
 of the southeastern counties of Maryland, were 
 shouting My Maryland, the farmers in the west 
 ern counties in Cumberland Valley shouted back, 
 No, it s our Maryland. Western Virginia, a por 
 tion of the same grand chain of mountain and 
 valley, is as loyal as Massachusetts. Then comes 
 Western North Carolina, and still more, Eastern 
 Tennessee, the home of our honored guest, and of 
 as true hearted, loyal, Union loving a population 
 as there is on the continent. As far down as 
 Northern Alabama, the mountain district is filled 
 with Union sentiment. It was with the greatest 
 difficulty it was engineered into secession." 
 
 In continuation the eloquent orator spoke of the 
 large majority at the polls in East Tennessee, Feb 
 ruary, 1 86 1, against a convention for the purpose 
 of seceding and of the subsequent "outrages and 
 cruelties, of which the Union-loving inhabitants 
 were made the victims." He told how, that 
 "thrown upon their own resources, they naturally 
 sought to save themselves from being overrun by 
 destroying the bridges on the chief lines of com 
 munication," and that in consequence, the great 
 
REV. N. G. TAYLOR. 
 
N. G. TAYLOR S SPEECH. 3*3 
 
 majority of the people of the region were subjected 
 by the Richmond Government to great severities. 
 In that connection he read and sharply censured 
 the letter of Mr. Benjamin, Secretary (C. S.) of 
 War, heretofore repeated. 
 
 In concluding, he said to his fellow-citizens that 
 their brethren of East Tennessee, fighting battles 
 and suffering persecution, represented a common 
 cause, and he feared the promptest relief extended 
 would be too late to save some from starvation. 
 "This," he added, "must not be. If the Union 
 means anything, it means not merely political con 
 nection and commercial intercourse, but to bear 
 each other s burdens and to share each other s 
 sacrifices; it means active sympathy and efficient 
 aid." 
 
 Mr. Taylor followed with a fervent and im 
 pressive address, in which he briefly related the 
 historical events in East Tennessee from the be 
 ginning of 1 86 1, told of the wrongs inflicted upon 
 its people, of the voluntary exile of its men and 
 their enlistment in the United States army, of the 
 desolation their homes and fields had suffered from 
 the war, of the deep, wide and threatening desti 
 tution existing among them, and he appealed on 
 their behalf to the prosperous people among whom 
 he stood, to send them help. He spoke plainly, 
 with strong and earnest convictions of the truth, 
 and with the burning passion which a sense of the 
 injustices he narrated had enkindled in his soul. 
 Inspired with a profound and lofty patriotism, by 
 the presence of distinguished persons and a 
 
3H THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 thronged audience on a spot of lively associations 
 with liberty and the Republic, and by the import 
 ance of his theme, his speech was with unwonted 
 power. His hearers were carried away by his 
 eloquence as on a mighty wave of enthusiasm, 
 and all criticism of his style, wherein it was not in 
 harmony with the demands of a higher culture, 
 was forgotten in their glowing sympathy with his 
 subject and the ardent love of country to which 
 his words quickened them. 
 
 When he had finished, resolutions expressive of 
 hearty fellowship with the Unionists of East Ten 
 nessee in their fidelity and sufferings, and of a ready 
 mind to minister to their needs, were presented by 
 Geo. B. Upton and unanimously adopted. Hon. 
 Rob t C. Winthrop said a few words, and Judge 
 Thomas Russell spoke ardently, more at length. 
 He referred to the statements of Mr. Taylor con 
 cerning destitution among the people whose cause 
 he pleaded, and said: 
 
 "Let me add that this testimony is confirmed 
 by one of the Generals who marched to relieve 
 Burnside. General Blair has just told me a touch 
 ing story of the devotion of the women who 
 crowded to the line of his forced march, to wel 
 come the sight of our armies; to wave the flags 
 which in evil days they had hidden in the secret 
 recesses of their homes, even as they kept the 
 love of the Union in their hearts; to bring the last 
 piece of bacon, the last handful of meal, to feed 
 the advancing soldiers of the Union cause. Often 
 he forbade his men to take the scanty gifts of the 
 
GEN. FRANK BLAIR S LETTER. 315 
 
 poor. As often, he heard the reply, Take it; I 
 have a husband, a son, at Knoxville; take it all for 
 the Union. These are the people for whom our 
 aid is sought." 
 
 A letter was also read from Gen. Frank Blair, 
 reciting the same facts, and expressing his hope 
 that liberality would a be stimulated by remem 
 brance of the kindness and devotion of the loyal 
 women of Tennessee who succored our toil-worn 
 soldiers on their march to the relief of their be 
 leaguered brothers, many of whom were sons of 
 Massachusetts." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FUND FOR RELIEF OF EAST TENNESSEE AT 
 BOSTON, PORTLAND AND NEW YORK MR. 
 TAYLOR AND FAMILY IN GREAT TROUBLE 
 THEIR TIMELY RELIEF KNOXVILLE EAST 
 TENNESSEE RELIEF SOCIETY PENNSYLVANIA 
 COMMITTEE EFFECTIVE, WORK IN RELIEVING 
 DESTITUTION SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 
 
 The quality of mercy is not strained ; 
 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath ; it is twice blessed ; 
 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 
 
 MERCHANT OF VENICE. 
 
 The only measure of relief for East Tennessee 
 contemplated by the resolutions adopted at Faneuil 
 Hall, was an appropriation by the State Legisla 
 ture, and no arrangement was made for obtaining 
 individual subscriptions. Col. Taylor had, how 
 ever, touched a chord which drew a sympathetic 
 response from the community. On the day after 
 the public meeting, a contribution of three dollars 
 was received by the President of the Association 
 from a "Teacher in a Public School," which within 
 a week was followed by other gifts amounting to 
 more than a thousand dollars. Means were then 
 organized to receive and announce donations. 
 Legislative aid was prevented by constitutional 
 
E. T. RELIEF FUND A.T BOSTON. 3*7 
 
 difficulties, and the executive committee of the 
 relief society published an address to the people 
 of Massachusetts, in order to enlarge the field of 
 contributions. From that time the fund increased 
 with remarkable rapidity. Soon it amounted to 
 more than $90,000. Public opinion had assigned 
 $100,000 as the sum to be raised by private sub 
 scription, and it was completed June, 4 by a gift 
 of $1,000 from a children s fair. 
 
 Boston and its suburbs were chief sources of 
 these donations, but many of them were made 
 from other places and States. The enthusiasm to 
 help in the work was ardent and prevailed among 
 all the people. Mr. Everett kept the public con 
 stantly informed of the contributions as they were 
 received and his patriotic presence inspired others 
 to assist.* 
 
 In the spring Mr. Taylor visited Maine, and 
 eleven thousand dollars were given through Gov. 
 Cony, and a relief association organized at Port 
 land. He also visited New York city upon invita 
 tion, but the holding of a metropolitan fair at the 
 place and time, prevented any important results 
 from his labors. His address there was well re 
 ceived and a society formed which adopted means 
 to promote the object of his mission. A letter 
 from Gen. S. P. Carter was read on the occasion, 
 dated at Knoxville a few weeks previous, in which 
 he said: "From 40,000 to 50,000 troops have been 
 in East Tennessee for more than four months; of 
 that number, 10,000 to 15,000 were cavalry. In a 
 
 * See Appendix: Note Y. 
 
318 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 great measure both armies lived off the country. 
 The rebels drew all their supplies from it. Of 
 course nearly the whole of the forage subsistence 
 of East Tennessee has been consumed. Many 
 families have been left without a bushel of corn or 
 a pound of meat. And it is certainly to the credit 
 of the people, that although they have been strip 
 ped of their substance by their own friends by 
 our troops there is no abatement of their love for 
 the old Government. Many rations have been 
 issued daily from the Government stores; but for 
 this, more than a few would be without bread. 
 Even those who have supplies have only enough 
 to last for a short time, and then, unless assist 
 ance comes from abroad, many, I fear, will suffer 
 terribly for bread." * * * # From the de 
 struction of fences, impressment of horses, and 
 absence of forage as well as laborers, I fear that 
 only a small part of our farms will be cultivated 
 during the present year. Numbers of the people 
 are driven to seek homes north of the Ohio; many 
 others must follow, not willingly, but because 
 there is no help for it." 
 
 An address to the people of the State of New 
 York, drafted by William Cullen Bryant, Esq., was 
 published by a large and influential committee; but 
 the aggregate of contributions to the New York 
 city relief fund was less than $20,000, of which 
 one-fourth was from Buffalo. 
 
 Mr. Taylor s wife and children had of necessity 
 left home, and with them he dwelt at Haddonfield, 
 N. J. As strangers, with narrow means of sup- 
 
MR. TAYLOR AND FAMILY IN TROUBLE. 319 
 
 port, their faith and patience were tried, and at 
 one time severely. They were delivered when in 
 great need, by an interposition that appeared to 
 come from a Divine Providence. 
 
 The family of exiles, numbering thirteen, al 
 though not free from painful recollections of recent 
 life in Tennessee, were no longer disturbed by 
 alarms of war or shocked by atrocities of a hos 
 tile soldiery, and were contented and happy in 
 their new home. In the afternoon of the day 
 when Mr. Taylor returned from an absence of six 
 weeks in New England, his wife said to him: 
 
 a We are nearly out of provisions. You must 
 go to market in the morning. Besides, the rent is 
 due next Monday and it must be met promptly." 
 
 "Well, of course I ll go to market, and I ll settle 
 the house-rent; but I suppose (drawing an almost 
 empty purse from his pocket) you will furnish the 
 money, as I believe I am about broke." 
 
 "Why, dear me," she exclaimed, with length 
 ened face and fading color, "is it possible you have 
 come back home without money? You are surely 
 jesting." 
 
 "Indeed, my dear wife, I am in dead earnest. 
 All I have in the world is this five dollar bill," 
 
 For the first time in all their troubles, she lost 
 faith and hope, and was helpless. Overcome by 
 emotion and unable to speak, she dropped into a 
 chair, sobbing. When the power of speech re 
 turned, she bewailed their condition: 
 
 "Oh! oh! just think to what we have come. 
 Here we are a thousand miles from home. If we 
 
320 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 were there, enemies are ready to kill us. Here 
 we are among strangers, in a rented house rent 
 due provisions all gone thirteen in family and 
 only that live dollar bill between us and starvation." 
 
 Confessedly, the case had a dark out-look, and 
 to any person of desponding mind it would appear 
 desperate. Her paroxysms of grief brought all 
 the household together; they stood around in deep, 
 silent sympathy; but the head of the family soon 
 rallied courage to speak in a tone of cheerfulness, 
 not very well sustained: 
 
 "My dear wife, I am astonished at your want of 
 faith and extravagant apprehensions. We are in 
 deed among strangers, but they are our friends. 
 Would the Lord lead us through all the dangers 
 we have survived, only to let us starve here in a 
 peaceful, prosperous land? And that, when we 
 are in His service working for the poor and des 
 titute in unhappy East Tennessee? Away with 
 your fears, and be assured that the same God who 
 has led us safely so far, will lead us safely to the 
 end." 
 
 Her mind was calmed by these words, but they 
 failed to remove all its doubts and forebodings. 
 Next morning, the husband went to Philadelphia, 
 armed with a bushel market basket, and after pay 
 ment for a round ticket by railroad, with his five- 
 dollar bill distressingly reduced in size. Prices of 
 provisions were high. He had to buy inferior 
 qualities to supply the needful quantity, and to use 
 thought and skill lest his little means prove unequal 
 to the occasion. At length he started homeward, 
 
PRAYER FOR HELP ANSWERED. 321 
 
 with the basket cheaply but plentifully filled, and 
 in passing through Haddonfield was hailed by the 
 postmaster and given a letter for his wife. It was 
 postmarked at Boston. Who could have sent it? 
 "Perhaps some of our rebel kin," he thought, 
 "have been captured and taken to that city, and 
 have written to her." 
 
 All day he had been praying inaudibly to the 
 Lord for help, and he believed it would come, but 
 all his forecastings as to the whence, how and 
 when of its coming, had only been perplexing. 
 He did not dream it would be from strangers and 
 a distance; yet his curiosity was so keen to know 
 who had written the letter that, contrary to his 
 habit, he broke the seal and read. 
 
 It informed Mrs. Taylor that its writers highly 
 valued the important services her husband was 
 rendering to the cause of humanity and of our 
 country; that they were aware of his inability, be 
 cause cut off from all home resources, to maintain 
 his family while he successfully prosecuted his 
 good work; and therefore they begged her to ac 
 cept the within check as a testimonial of their ap 
 preciation of his labors and their kindly regard for 
 his wife and children. The names of six persons 
 were subscribed to the letter, and it enclosed a 
 check on Philadelphia for one thousand dollars. 
 A mountainous weight rolled from the heart of 
 its surprised reader. Midnight had changed to 
 day. His whole soul bowed itself in thankfulness 
 to the God of Elijah, for he looked on the thousand 
 dollars as sent directly from the Lord. Quicken- 
 
322 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ing his steps, home was soon reached. At its en 
 trance stood the tearful wife, as he drew near 
 whistling a joyful hymn-tune. Alarmed at his 
 lightness of spirits, she cried out: 
 
 "What in the world is the matter, Mr. Taylor? 
 You are surely deranged. How else could you 
 come home whistling, with only the contents of 
 that basket between your poor family and starva 
 tion? I know you must be crazy!" 
 
 "Never was of sounder mind in all my life. It 
 is you that are deranged, my dear! Did not I tell 
 you, The Lord will provide? There, read that 
 (handing her the letter). See how thankless it is 
 to doubt His promises; ar-d learn to trust the 
 Lord." 
 
 She wiped away her tears and began to read. 
 Gradually the signs of distress and depression dis 
 appeared from her face and it beamed with hope, 
 gratitude and joy. Meanwhile his thoughts were 
 busy concerning the Hebrew prophet and God s 
 commissary-ravens the replenished oil-cruse and 
 meal-tub the weary disciples tugging at the net, 
 over-full of fish and concerning Him who still and 
 ever reiterates in men s dull ears, " Ask and ye 
 shall receive." When she had finished reading, 
 she wept tears of joy, and with uplifted hands ex 
 claimed, "Never again will I distrust my Lord as 
 long as I live." 
 
 In July, 64, Mr. Taylor, by request, undertook 
 a tour through the State of New York, accompa 
 nied as he had been before to New England, by J. 
 E. Peyton. The heat of August and the political 
 
KNOXVILLE E. T. RELIEF SOCIETY. 3 2 3 
 
 excitement in the canvass for the Presidency soon 
 brought these labors to an end. 
 
 Because of the scarcity of food in East Tennes 
 see, the Sanitary Commission sent some supplies 
 from Cincinnati to relieve it, but the evil was too 
 great to be overcome without extraordinary means. 
 Not long after Mr. Taylor s visit to Philadelphia, 
 it was advised by his Eastern friends that an asso 
 ciation should be organized in the destitute region, 
 to receive gifts and administer help to the needy; 
 and also that a competent committee, representing 
 the distant contributors should visit the afflicted 
 people, to observe their condition, confer with the 
 society located among them and to report. Ac 
 cordingly on February 8, 1864, at a public meeting 
 in Knoxville, a relief association was formed and 
 officers elected: Rev, Thomas W. Humes, Presi- 
 ident; Executive Committee, William Heiskell, 
 Samuel R. Rodgers, John Baxter, O. P. Temple, 
 William G. Brownlow, R. D. Jourolmon, George 
 M. White and David Richardson; John M. Flem 
 ing, Secretary; M. M. Miller, Treasurer. Mr. 
 Fleming was soon succeeded by George M. White 
 as Secretary; and after one year David A. Dead- 
 erick became Treasurer of the Society. Needful 
 agents were appointed for purchase and trans 
 portation of supplies. 
 
 About the same time, two Commissioners of the 
 Pennsylvania Relief Society, Lloyd P. Smith and 
 Frederick Collins, expended at Cincinnati, on their 
 way to East Tennessee, over $8,000, in buying and 
 shipping to that region, articles of food, chiefly 
 
3 2 4 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 flour, bacon, salt, sugar and coffee. These were 
 transported to Nashville, free of charge, by means 
 of a credential letter from Chas. H. Dana, Assist 
 ant Secretary of War, to Gen. Grant. Soon after 
 wards, $28,000 were used for like purchases at 
 the former city by Mr. Hazen, agent of the Knox- 
 ville Society, which were forwarded by means of 
 $2,000, kindly loaned by Hon. Joseph E. Fowler, 
 of Nashville. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Commissioners were well 
 qualified for the duties assigned to them, and which 
 required they should make a tedious and uncom 
 fortable journey of 2,500 miles and of nearly three 
 weeks time. They were heartily welcomed at 
 Knoxville, and gave to its Association a memoran 
 dum of their own Society s judgment concerning 
 the distribution of supplies. They advised first, 
 that the provisions should be given away to those 
 who were unable to buy, and secondly, that to all 
 other applicants they should be sold; the prefer 
 ence to be given, among both classes, first to Un 
 ion families who had suffered on account of their 
 loyalty; second, to families, who, without having 
 specially suffered, had adhered throughout to the 
 Federal Government; thirdly, to people who, 
 whatever their past conduct, had given their adhe 
 sion to the United States. Lastly, they recom 
 mended that the old men, women and children of 
 families which then had representatives in the 
 Confederate army should be permitted to share in 
 the bounty, no part of which, they thought, was 
 intended for secessionists of the fighting age. The 
 
EXTENT OF DESTITUTION. 325 
 
 plan thus proposed was adopted by the Knoxville 
 Association, and practically observed. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Commissioners informed 
 themselves as far as possible concerning the des 
 titution said to prevail throughout the region. 
 Before they reached Knoxville, refugees had been 
 arriving there daily in growing numbers and some 
 of them slept of necessity in the open air. Gen. 
 Carter, U. S. Provost Marshal, and Wm. G. Brown- 
 low, U. S. Treasury Agent, provided shelter for 
 the needy. Rations were also issued to them for 
 a time and until the necessities of the army pre 
 vented. * The destitution was found to be all 
 that it had been represented to persons at a 
 distance. 
 
 Thrifty and well-to-do people were not exempt 
 from it. One instance came directly to the knowl 
 edge of the Commissioners. A member of the 
 Society of Friends from Blount County, sought for 
 help from the the U. S. Quartermaster at Knox 
 ville, saying that he and all his people had nothing 
 to eat. Before the peace of the country had been 
 broken, they lived in plenty. At various places 
 the visitors met with refugees on their way to the 
 North in search of bread, not only from East Ten 
 nessee, but from Western North Carolina, North 
 ern Georgia and Northern Alabama. Their losses 
 
 * After the siege of Knoxville, soldiers of Burnside s army had only half ra 
 tions of bread. Sergeant White, in his Diary, Walcott s History 21 st Massachu 
 setts Regiment, says: u I have to-day seen soldiers scrambJ ing after corn in 
 the ear, as though it was the greatest of luxuries. We parch it. Officers eat it, as 
 well as privates. Well, its all for the Union and wo are driving the rebels to the 
 wall, thank God!" A committee of citizens requested Gen. Foster to send the 
 people out of the country, rather than the U. S. army should evacuate it, 
 
326 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 had been entire, and having no means to buy food 
 and shelter by the way, they kept on fleeing, for 
 behind was threatening starvation. In their 
 poorly clad and dispirited condition, sickness 
 among them, especially of women and children, 
 was inevitable. Pitiful cases of afflicted families 
 came to the knowledge of the Commissioners, 
 such as that of a mother and four children, all 
 prostrated at the same time by disease. These 
 unhappy emigrants were to be counted by thou 
 sands, not always impelled only by hunger and 
 losses of property. Fear of being coerced to do 
 military service for the Confederacy was in some 
 instances an additional motive. At one town, a 
 Western North Carolinian, nearly three-score 
 years old, lay dangerously ill. His distressed 
 wife, standing at his bed-side, said: "We came 
 away because the c Rebs took away every thing 
 from us and were about to force my husband and 
 my son, 17 years old, into their army." 
 
 At a point between Bridgeport and Chattanooga, 
 the Commissioners, detained by a railroad acci 
 dent, approached a group of passengers, decently 
 but poorly dressed, huddling around a fire. They 
 were three families, thirteen persons in all, on their 
 way to Vincennes, Indiana, where they had friends. 
 One old man, dressed in home-spun and wearing 
 a straw hat, said simply, "All gone!".* He lived 
 eleven miles east of Knoxville, and when Burnside 
 arrived, he volunteered and was in camp five 
 
 * NOTE. "To which," say the Commissioners, "he might have added, and 
 with more truth than Francis the First at the battle of Paria, save honor. " 
 
PENNSYLVANIA COMMITTEE. 3 2 7 
 
 weeks, but he was then refused on account of his 
 age being over sixty-six years old. 
 
 The evidences of a superior loyalty to the United 
 States among East Tennesseeans (and Western 
 North Carolinians) were as conclusive to the vis 
 itors from Philadelphia, as were those of great 
 destitution. A farmer who had emigrated and 
 was returning home, told them that if secession 
 had succeeded, he would have left all and remained 
 at the North. He said, "I would rather protect 
 the Government than protect my property. If I 
 had one bushel of corn, I would be glad to give 
 one-half of it to the Union men. We could do a 
 heap of good, if we could only stay there and 
 raise truck for the army." The mind he expressed 
 was that of the people generally, and justified the 
 opinion that "with the men of East Tennessee, 
 devotion to the Union was not a mere sentiment, 
 but a passion." 
 
 In March, 1864, Mr. Thomas G. Odiorne of Cin 
 cinnati, was appointed purchasing and forwarding 
 agent of the Society. He consented to serve, re 
 luctantly and only upon condition that no remu 
 neration be paid him. Too much can scarcely be 
 said of the wisdom and fidelity with which he ful 
 filled his office. 
 
 As the summer advanced the beneficence ad 
 ministered by the Society told perceptibly upon 
 the destitution. Clothing as well as food was dis 
 tributed. Two thousand dollars were invested in 
 goods which were made into garments by the La 
 dies Sewing Circle of Boston, and numerous boxes 
 
328 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 of clothing were contributed from various sources, 
 all of which timely and useful were issued with 
 discretion to the needy by Mrs. Maynard and Mrs. 
 Humes at Knoxville, and by chosen agents at 
 other places. Shoes amounting in value to $7,000 
 were bought by Mr. Everett at Boston, and 
 $4,000 worth of woolen goods by Mr. Lloyd P. 
 Smith at Philadelphia, and shipped on a U. S. Gov 
 ernment steamer ; but they were burned at John- 
 sonville, on the Tennessee River, by order of the 
 Commandant of the Post, along with a quantity of 
 Government stores on board, to prevent their cap 
 ture by the army of Gen. Hood. No compensa 
 tion was made. 
 
 The friends of the work of relief were not un 
 mindful of the needs of refugees at Nashville, 
 through which city more than 9,000 of them passed 
 in the first two months of 1864, from different 
 parts of the South, being chiefly old men, women 
 and children. The Pennsylvania Association, by 
 its Commissioners contributed $1,500 of its funds 
 to the Nashville Aid Refugee Society, in March, 
 to which the Knoxville Association added a dona 
 tion of $1,000 the following October. 
 
 In August, 1864, Mr. A. G. Jackson resigned the 
 office of resident General Agent, and was suc 
 ceeded by Rev. E. E. Gillenwaters, who continued 
 to serve to the end of the work. Both were com 
 petent and faithful in the conduct of affairs. 
 
 The Hon. Edward Everett, to whom the people 
 of East Tennessee are so largely indebted for the 
 means of deliverance in their time of trouble, de- 
 
MR. EVERETT HONORED. 3 2 9 
 
 parted this life, January 15, 1865, and a meeting of 
 the citizens of Knoxville Hon. Seth J. W. Lucky, 
 President and D. A. Deaderick, Secretary was 
 soon after convened to honor his memory. Sin 
 cere sorrow for his death and strong esteem for his 
 character and life were expressed in resolutions 
 by the assembly and appropriate addresses were 
 made. The speakers hearts were in profound 
 sympathy with their subject and their minds found 
 ready utterance in apt and glowing words. Grat 
 itude to the deceased statesman and patriot, was 
 conspicuous in all that was said. The common 
 sentiment was well expressed by one of those who 
 spoke: 
 
 "It is not -saying too much to affirm that the his 
 tory of our people during the last four years, is 
 one of the most remarkable chapters in the his 
 tory of the race. Enough is already known of it 
 to excite the admiration of all friends of the coun 
 try. In Mr. Everett s case, it took a practical 
 form resulting in a fund of upwards of one hun 
 dred thousand dollars in cash, expended with a 
 sagacity and fidelity that, aided by the benevolent 
 of both sexes among our own citizens, will make 
 thousands of humble sufferers bless the memory 
 of their distant and unknown friend." 
 The orator concluded with the words: 
 "As we follow his retreating form and begin to 
 take the account of our loss, I cannot help feeling 
 that from the aggregate of learning, the sum total 
 of human knowledge, all that makes up the com 
 plex idea of civilization and lends grace to the af- 
 
33 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 fairs of men, he, in departing, has taken away a 
 larger measure, than will in like manner be with 
 drawn by any one he has left behind." * 
 
 Twelve months after the work of relief began, 
 the destitution was largely diminished but still 
 serious, especially in the most eastern counties 
 of the State, which military conditions had pre 
 vented from being reached with supplies. When 
 hostilities ceased, the people of those counties be 
 ing the most needy, received chief attention and 
 help from the Association, which distributed 
 among them in 1865, fifty thousand dollars in 
 goods and provisions. Its ability to do this, and at 
 the same time assist the needy in other counties 
 was due to the faithful observance of the plan re 
 commended by the Pennsylvania Commissioners 
 by which, the supplies, excepting issues without 
 charge to the penniless, and sales at cost to sol 
 diers wives and widows who had means, were sold 
 to citizens, able to pay, at an advance. The results 
 obtained, were as follows: 
 
 First, the aggregate receipts of the Association 
 by gifts from a distance, of one hundred and sixty- 
 seven thousand dollars, were increased to two 
 hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars. 
 
 Second, the amount of cash paid for food and 
 clothing, alone, was more than that originally con 
 tributed, From the proceeds of sales were also 
 paid the cost of freight and insurance, the salaries, 
 wages and expenses of all officers, agents and em 
 ployes ; all other necessary expenses ; twelve 
 
 * Hon. Horace Maynurd. 
 
RELIEF SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 33 l 
 
 thousand dollars for shoes and woolen goods de 
 stroyed at Johnsonville ; three thousand dollars for 
 aid to refugees at Nashville, and five hundred dol 
 lars sent to Portland, Maine, which had given thou 
 sands to East Tennessee, and later had suffered by 
 a great fire. 
 
 Third, as the benefit of the poor and needy was 
 the controlling purpose of the Association in all 
 its deliberations and transactions, that supreme 
 end was practically reached in the use of the fund 
 originally contributed. The articles of food pur 
 chased and distributed were judiciously chosen, 
 and the wearing apparel, in buying which fifty 
 thousand dollars were expended, was suited to the 
 wants of the people.* 
 
 Altogether, there was much cause for congratu 
 lation among the friends of the undertaking both 
 at home and abroad, that at a period of time when 
 because of civil war, vast sums of money were 
 lavishly expended and temptations to mis-use of 
 them were strong, more than one hundred and 
 sixty thousand dollars should have been man 
 aged with such prudence and efficiency and 
 with such strict integrity, for the relief of the 
 suffering people of East Tennessee. The gen 
 erous givers and the thankful beneficiaries were 
 far away from each other in space. A deep 
 gulf of deadly strife intervened between them; 
 but across that gulf, their hearts went forth 
 and were clasped together the prosperous and 
 the comfortless, in love for the American 
 
 * See Appendix: Note Z. 
 
33 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Union, and in brotherly love as fellow-coun 
 trymen. 
 
 11 Those friends thou hast and their adoption tried, 
 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel." 
 
 Sincere human friendships by no means perish 
 with the loss of their mortal surroundings. To a 
 pure mind, inspired by the truth, they are spiritu 
 ally related to the invisible and permanent. Else, 
 hopelessly we should often have to cry 
 
 " For the touch of a vanished hand, 
 And the sound of a voice that s still." 
 
 Just so with human citizenship, wisely con 
 ceived and cherished. It is more than a mere 
 symbol of one higher and nobler. As one has well 
 said: 
 
 "There is a mystery in all affections which rises 
 above vulgar instincts; it is thus with the love of 
 country. The patriot sees in her more than can 
 be seen by those who are without; and yet he re 
 members that there remains in her much that can 
 not meet his eye; for it is part of the greatness of 
 a nation, that though her fields and cities are visi 
 ble things, her highest greatness and most sacred 
 claims belong in part, like whatever includes a 
 spiritual element, to the sphere of things un 
 seen. " * 
 
 The archetype of our country is the " better 
 country, that is, an heavenly," for which prophetic 
 souls children of faith and promise have yearned 
 
 * Aubrey de Vere. 
 
HERE, AND THERE. 333 
 
 throughout all the centuries. A man dwelling 
 here, may have there his citizenship, and in its 
 fulfillment is required and insured the performance 
 of all other civic duty. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 NOTE A : Love of Religious Excitement. 
 
 " B: Contrary Statements ; Sevier and Tipton. 
 
 " C : A Southerner s Letter, in 1861. 
 
 " D: Rev. Herman Bokum. 
 
 " E: A New-Yorker s Letter, in 1861. 
 
 " F: Col. David Gummings. 
 
 " G: Delegates to Union Convention. 
 
 , . TT . (I it 
 
 11 I: Employment of Bloodhounds. 
 
 11 J: Verse on the Execution of Haun and the Harmons. 
 
 " K: Edward J. Sanford s Narratire. 
 
 " L: Heroism of East Tennessee Women. 
 
 " M: Gen. Samuel P. Carter s Raid. 
 
 " N : Lieut. S. T. Harris, at Columbia, S. C., &c. 
 
 " O: Report of Col. Win. P. Sanders raid. 
 
 " P : Report of Col. R. C. Trigg, (C. S. A.) 
 
 " R: Letter from Gen. Longstreet. 
 
 " S: Concerning Knoxville refugees. 
 
 " T: Capt. Poe s Topography of Knoxville. 
 
 " IT : Gen. Sherman s dinner with Gen. Burnside. 
 
 " V: Col. E. P. Alexander, (C. S. A.) concerning the siege. 
 
 " W : List of superior U. S. A. officers from East Tennessee. 
 
 " X : Martyrdoms of non-combattant Unionists. 
 
 " Y : Concerning gifts at Boston to East Tennessee relief. 
 
 " Z : Receipts and expenditures for East Tennessee relief. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE A: Page 27. 
 
 The love of religious excitement, attributed by the ex-United 
 States Consul at Singapore, to the mountaineers of East Tennessee, 
 is apt to exist among a civilized, yet, uneducated people, who lead 
 a simple, natural life. Its indulgence was formerly much greater 
 in the Western States. 
 
 A religious excitement sprung up in East Tennessee in 1802, which 
 was attended with remarkable bodily manifestations, familiarly 
 called " the jerks." The affection included among its subjects 
 equally the young and old, the strong and weak, the good and bad 
 in previous moral character, those who desired and those who hated 
 it. Involuntary, it had no premonitory symptoms, and left the pa 
 tient as he was before. The very atmosphere seemed to be laden 
 with an influence that brought the mind and body into relation 
 and sympathy that were abnormally close. If the preacher, after a 
 smooth and gentle course of expression suddenly changed his voice 
 and language to the awful and alarming, instantly some dozen or 
 twenty persons or more would simultaneously be jerked forward 
 where they were sitting, with a suppressed noise, once or twice, like 
 the barking of a dog. And so it would continue or abate, according 
 to the tenor or strain of the discourse. 
 
 This extraordinary nervous agitation commenced in East Tennes 
 see at a " sacramental meeting," and on that day several hundreds 
 of persons were seized with it. At first uniformly confined to the 
 arms, the quick, convulsive motion went downwards from the 
 elbow, and these jerks succeeded each other after short intervals. 
 For some time no religious meeting was held in which this novel, 
 
34 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 involuntary exercise was not exhibited by more or less of the audi 
 ence in that part of the country where it originated. Generally, all 
 who had once been its subjects, continued to be frequently affected, 
 and not only at meeting but at home, and sometimes when entirely 
 alone. After the commencement of the " jerks" they spread rapidly 
 in all directions. Persons drawn by curiosity to visit the congrega 
 tions where they existed, were often seized, and when they returned 
 home they would communicate them to the people there. In some 
 instances they occurred in remote valleys of the mountains, where 
 the people had no opportunity of communication with the infected. 
 In East Tennessee and the southwestern part of Virginia, their 
 prevalence was the greatest. Soon the " exercise" began to assume 
 a variety of appearances. While the jerks in the arms continued to 
 be the most common form, in many cases the joint of the neck was 
 the seat of the convulsive motion, and was thrown back and forward 
 to an extent and with a celerity which no one could imitate, and 
 which to the spectator was most alarming. A common exercise 
 was dancing, performed by a gentle and not ungraceful motion, but 
 with little variety in the steps. One young woman had what was 
 termed, "the jumping exercise." It was truly wonderful to observe 
 the violence of the impetus with which she was borne upwards from 
 the ground : it required the united strength of three or four of her 
 companions to confine her down. None of these varieties however, 
 were half so terrible to the spectator, as that which affected the 
 joint of the neck, in which it appeared as if the neck must be 
 broken. Besides these exercises, there were some of the most 
 curious and ludicrous kind. In one, the affected barked like a dog, 
 in another, boxed with fists clenched, striking at any body or thing 
 near, in another, ran with amazing swiftness, -imitated playing on 
 a violin, or sewing with a needle, &c. 
 
 The affection was "imported into Kentucky" as well as Virginia. 
 Not only was it contagious, but particular kinds of exercise were 
 caught from a stranger visiting a congregation that had known it in 
 other forms of bodily movement. 
 
 These nervous agitations were at first received as supernatural 
 agencies, intended to arrest the attention of the careless multitude, 
 and were therefore encouraged and sustained by many of the pious, 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 34 1 
 
 but after a while they became troublesome. The noise made by 
 the convulsive motions in the pews was such, that the preacher 
 could not be composedly heard ; and in several of the exercises the 
 affected person needed the attention of more than one assistant. 
 Besides, subjects of the jerks became weary of them, and avoided 
 serious and exciting thoughts, lest they should produce this effect. 
 However, they all united to testify, that in the most violent and 
 convulsive agitations, when the head would rapidly strike the 
 breast and back alternately, no pain was experienced ; and some 
 asserted, that when one arm only was affected with the jerks, it 
 felt more comfortable than the other through the whole day. In 
 some places the persons affected were not permitted to come to the 
 church on account of the noise and disturbance produced. The 
 subjects were generally pious or seriously affected with religion, 
 but not universally. There were cases in which the careless, and 
 those who continued to be so were seized. The dread of the 
 jerks was great in many persons, both religious and careless, 
 and the affection did not contribute to the advancement of reli 
 gion. There were persons however, who after much experience 
 still approved them. 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE B : Page 75. 
 
 According to Haywood and Ramsey, the ex-Governor of Frank- 
 land, when attempting to escape in the mountains on the way to 
 Morganton, was pursued, became entangled in the woods, was fired 
 upon, by one of the guard, was recaptured unhurt and delivered 
 to the High-Sheriff of Burke County, N. C. Gen. McDowell, Se- 
 vier s compatriot at King s Mountain and another friend, procured 
 him a brief liberty, which the Sheriff renewed. The Court was 
 then in session and the prisoner was arraigned before it as a traitor 
 to North Carolina. Six of his friends had separately come from 
 west of the mountains to Morganton : Dr. James Cozby, his former 
 Army Surgeon; Maj. Evans, his tried fellow-soldier; his two sons 
 James and John, and two others, Greene and Gibson. 
 
 Dr. Ramsey s history repeats the narrative in MS. of one who 
 lived at that time. He tells that four of the six men above named 
 
34 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 concealed themselves outside the town, while Cozby and Evans 
 went into it and entered the crowd attracted to the scene by the 
 prisoner s fame. Evans, apparently an unconcerned visitor, led 
 Sevier s horse, (celebrated for swiftness,) in front of the Court 
 house, and threw the bridle carelessly over its neck. Cozby went 
 into the house, and his eyes met those of the prisoner. Sevier at 
 once knew that rescue was at hand, but a sign from Cozby re 
 strained him. There was a pause in the trial. (Jozby stepped for 
 ward in front of the Judge and asked him with quickness and 
 energy : "Are you done with that man?" His hearers were startled 
 and wondering, and while their attention was turned aside, Sevier 
 sprang to the door, then to the saddle on the waiting horse and 
 speedily was gone. He was followed by his rescuers and welcomed 
 by the two friends who were without the town. Then, away the 
 whole party went homeward, leaving their pursuers hopelessly be 
 hind. 
 
 There have been recent publications concerning Sevier, in which 
 his antagonist, Tipton, has been Rpoken of unfavorably. J. C. Tip- 
 ton, an aged grandson of Col, John Tipton, has been moved to pub 
 lish, that there are two errors in current history of that early period 
 One of these is in the statement that Tipton would have hung Se 
 vier s sons, his prisoners, but was persuaded by friends to spare 
 their lives. The second error, relates to Sevier s deliverance from 
 captivity. Mr. Tipton affirms that "Col. Tipton started Gov. Sevier 
 to North Carolina for trial under a guard of two men, that Sevier 
 escaped in the mountains on the way, and was not taken to Mor- 
 ganton." He represents that these facts were received by him from 
 his father, Jonathan Tipton, to whom they were communicated by 
 Col. John Tipton. He admits that the errors of which he writes, 
 should have met long since with correction, but the general char 
 acter of both Tipton and Sevier having been that of "honorable, 
 brave and magnanimous men," the necessity for it sooner has not 
 seemed urgent. The historical revival of the subject now invites 
 this act of justice to the memory of his ancestor. 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE C : Page 88. 
 The following letter to the author of these Reminiscences, is from 
 
APPENDICES. 343 
 
 his friend, a gentleman of superior social and professional stand 
 ing, and a citizen of Richmond, Virginia. It expresses his mind, 
 and probably that of many other intelligent and reflecting persons 
 in Virginia at the time it was written, concerning the civil and 
 political situation. 
 
 RICHMOND, Dec. 26, 1860. 
 
 1 There are times when friends are indeed blessings. I prize a 
 sympathizing friend more and more every day : and I almost think 
 that the time has come when union with Christ is the only bond 
 that can certainly survive the shock and the disintegration that 
 threaten our social structure. 
 
 After a conversation held last evening with a circle of intelligent 
 friends, I retired to my room convinced that we are, as a nation, all 
 adrift, under cross tides, under high and variable winds, without 
 chart, compass or generalship, except the secret purposes of the 
 Eternal Mind. 
 
 Paul s experience on the Adriatic, without sun, moon or stars for 
 many days, comes up to my mind. This only I know, that God is 
 serene ; in knowledge and power, the sure trust of His Church and 
 people. 
 
 The work of disintegration goes on, without any combination, 
 as yet, of the forces. The inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, (if he is in 
 augurated,) will give proportions and type to the entire Southern 
 elements, which will present a distinct and palpable issue to the 
 North and South. 
 
 I incline to think that the South will become substantially a unit 
 upon the main points at issue, whilst the North is likely to be di 
 vided both on the moral and political questions pressing upon them. 
 Then a line will have to be conceded or fought for, or a reconstruc 
 tion of the Federal Government will take place. The West and 
 North West are inoculated already with the doctrine of free trade ; 
 and if Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Mobile and New 
 Orleans are declared free ports of entry, the laws of trade will prove 
 invincible powers, aided by foreign diplomacy and interests, before 
 which manufacturing New-England will have an unequal struggle. 
 
 The trouble is with Pennsylvania and her iron interests ; but New 
 
344 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 York will force Philadelphia into Southern sympathies, and Com_ 
 merce will butter the bread of politicians. Such are my poor 
 thoughts. 
 
 I go with a United South on such grounds as Kentucky, Ten 
 nessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia may consent to. The 
 Cotton States cannot, as I think, make themselves respected as an 
 independent power, at home or abroad. They will feel this before 
 their Conventions dissolve. 
 
 Our pride needs to be humbled ! our national and public sins to 
 be felt and deplored. I trust the fourth of January will bring the 
 people of God before Him in such an attitude, that He, as He alone 
 can, will deign to hear and save us yet. 
 
 ******** If this Union is to be dissolved, and 
 especially if extreme Cotton ideas are to prevail, I would willingly 
 accept a home in England or Scotland. The thought of exile from 
 America ! Strange ! ! ! But I am now humiliated and grieved, so 
 that I know not what more I could feel except at the horrors of 
 blood shed by brothers." 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE D : Page 88. 
 
 This Bible Colporteur was Rev. Herman Bokum, a Minister of the 
 German Reformed Church and a Pennsylvanian, who had resided 
 for five years on a farm near Knoxville. His education was supe 
 rior in kind, and he had the Germanic conscientiousness with which 
 Martin Luther was so magnificently gifted. Under his eccentric, 
 decidedly brusque manners, there lay hidden a tender heart and a 
 deep vein of piety. Whatever disturbances his mind had once suf 
 fered from outward troubles, it certainly had emerged from them 
 (as is sometimes the outcome in such cases,) with a sharpness of 
 discernment, of which minds are blameless that have never been 
 moved from their even tenor and plodding ways. His mental as 
 tuteness was of little or no use to him in the conduct of his own 
 affairs, his poverty always keeping in front along with his sincer 
 ity. But he early saw the fatal drift of the Secession movement 
 and the magnitude of the proportions to which it would grow. Dr. 
 Hill, then President of Harvard University, told a Tennesseean 
 after the war had closed, that his eyes had been first opened by Mr. 
 
APPENDICES. 345 
 
 Bokum, to the reality of the Rebellion, early in its progress, as a 
 great and portentous fact. Being an ardent Union man and of a 
 fearless nature, he soon became obnoxious to the Confederate au 
 thorities. Eventually they detailed a file of soldiers to arrest him 
 at his home. But he heard of their coming and made his escape 
 over the mountains through Kentucky to Philadelphia. There he 
 was appointed a Hospital Chaplain and in 1863 published in pamph 
 let, "A Refugee s Testimony," being a narrative of his personal 
 experiences in Tennessee. 
 
 APPENDIX : .NOTE E : Page 95. 
 
 The young New-Yorker soon went on his way homewards. At 
 Washington City he was forced to tarry, and from there he wrote to 
 his friend at Knoxville as follows : 
 
 April 23, P. M., 1861. 
 
 "1 have succeeded in effecting a junction with my other forces 
 my brother and brother-in-law but we are all now prisoners of war ! 
 Not that I would give you to understand that we are in the power of 
 either of the belligerents, but because of the war we are most de 
 cidedly prisoners in this place. 
 
 I found the whole line of the road in a blaze of enthusiasm and 
 excitement from Knoxville to Lynchburg, which place I reached the 
 next morning. Having occasion for a business purpose to introduce 
 myself to , Warden of the Church there, (the Clergyman be 
 ing absent), he very kindly asked me to stay at his house, which I 
 did until Monday morning, when I came on here without interfer 
 ence. 
 
 The people of Virginia display a noble spirit of patriotism if it 
 were only in a right cause, which I cannot feel to be the case. The 
 very soil seems to teem with armed men. Even the boys and the 
 old men are enlisting, and the cry is To Washington! Senator 
 Mason addressed them on the route and said, War has begun, and 
 Jeff. Davis with two thousand Carolinians is already at Richmond. 
 I regret the policy of the Government and think it is a grand mis 
 take ; but it is the most absurd dream in the world that Lincoln 
 wishes to lead an army against the South. The truth is, Virginia s 
 sympathies are so much more with the South than with the Govern- 
 
346 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ment, that although denouncing utterly both South Carolina and 
 Secession, she preferred uniting her fortunes with them, to sustain, 
 ing a policy which involved force against them to any degree at all- 
 
 I am struck with the fact that at the South the loyal feeling goes 
 to the State, while at the North it goes to the General Government. 
 The radical difference of belief concerning the relations of the sep 
 arate States to the Nation, is a principal cause in the whole trouble. 
 The very same act which crazes Virginia, crazes the whole North in 
 an opposite direction, and brings Pierce, Buchanan and Fillmore 
 out in support of the Government. 
 
 My friends (at Lynchburg) did not dare invite me to take part in 
 the services, and the most atrocious sentiments were uttered in my 
 hearing against Lincoln and the Yankees. Here all seems quiet 
 110 cannon in the streets and few soldiers to be seen. Martial law is 
 not proclaimed and there is a wonderful contrast to the feverish at 
 mosphere of Virginia. Still I believe the Government is wide 
 awake and more ready than people dream of. Communications 
 have been open to Baltimore but broken up beyond. To-day Rev. 
 
 Mr. P and I concluded to go there and try to make our way 
 
 around through Harper s Ferry and Hagerstown, but we found that 
 since morning the Government had seized the depot and would 
 allow no train to leave. So here we are. 
 
 I despond very much about peace. Perhaps I am superstitious, 
 but the two singular portents (which have so many parallels in his 
 tory) of the first lesson last Sunday from Joel, and the co-incidence 
 of the Baltimore fight with the anniversary of the battle of Lexing. 
 ton, dishearten me. 
 
 The Potomac is now fortified and the Government must march its 
 troops through Maryland or give up its Capital. Unless this should 
 be seized soon, it will not be done ; and if Maryland refuses passage 
 through her borders to men and provisions, Maryland must be put 
 down, if it burns her every town and makes the State a desert. Self 
 preservation will extort that. 
 
 But in these exciting times we must do what we can to check the 
 madness of the people. Do not let yourself suppose, as so many 
 seem to do, that all this excitement at the North is hatred of the 
 South. No such thing. The very same feeling of patriotism which 
 
APPENDICES. 347 
 
 in Lynchburg called six hundred men to arms and equipped them 
 with eighteen thousand dollars, is at the North rallying all to the 
 support of the old and loved Government no conglomeration of 
 States but the Federal Union. That hates will arise on both sides 
 now, we must expect. AVar lets loose fearful passions, and I know 
 human nature is alike every where ; and judging from what I saw in 
 Virginia, I can readily believe the North will be about as bad." 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE F : Page 101. 
 
 Colonel David Cummings, of Anderson county, an officer of the 
 Tennessee (Confederate) troops, was conspicuous in preserving 
 peace at the time of the imminent deadly collision between Union 
 men and Secessionists on the principal street of Knoxville. It was 
 he, who with two Union citizens, Abner Jackson and John Wil 
 liams afterwards succeeded by persuasion in halting hundreds of 
 State soldiers on their way from camp to the town with a destruc 
 tive purpose against Charles Douglass, and so, in preventing a 
 bloody encounter between the Soldiers, and Douglass with his 
 friends. It was also Col. Cummings, who on a subsequent day, as 
 the body of the murdered Douglass was borne along the street to its 
 grave, relieved the occasion of its reproach in the eyes of unfriendly 
 observers, by magnanimously joining on horseback the officiating 
 minister in leading the sad procession. 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTES G AND H: Pages 107 and 115. 
 
 Delegates to the Union Convention at Knoxville and Greeneville, 
 Tenn., May 30 and June 17, 1861. 
 
 Names unmarked are of members present only at Knoxville. 
 Names marked * are of those present only at Greeneville. 
 Names marked t are of those present on both occasions. 
 
 ANDERSON COUNTY. 
 
 T. Adkins, Lindsey D. Hill, James Ross, 
 
 J. Ayres, L. Hockworth, Philip Sieber, 
 
 H. H. Baker, Oliver Hoskins, William Smith, 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ANDERSON COUNTY CONTINUED. 
 
 John Black, fL. C. Houk, J. Thompson, 
 
 J. C. Chiles, J. B. Lamar, P. C. AVallace, 
 
 J. H. Cox, G. W. Leath, John Weaver, 
 
 William Cross, Samuel Moore, W. W. Weaver, 
 
 J. A. Doughty, L. A. Powell, A. T. Williams. 
 
 Edward Freels, Grandison Queener, D. K. Young, 
 
 John Freels, Win. Reynolds, S. C. Young. 
 W. S. Freels, 
 
 S. P. Doss, 
 
 J. W. McReynolds, 
 
 BLEDSOE COUNTY. 
 
 Win. S. Findlay, M.D., fJ. G. Spears. 
 
 S. F. Bell, 
 Henry Brakebill, 
 Rev. J. S. Craig, 
 *F. M. Cruze, 
 W. H. Cunningham, 
 tRev. W. T. Dowell, 
 W, L. Dearing, 
 Rev. W. T. Dowell, 
 Robert Eagleton, 
 tSolomon Farmer, 
 S. C. Flannigan, 
 H. Foster, 
 David Goddard, 
 William Goddard, 
 
 BLOUNT COUNTY. 
 
 John Godfrey, 
 *J. R. Frow, 
 Henry Hamrnell, 
 J. M. Heiskell, 
 *H. J. Henry, 
 James Henry, 
 Spencer Henry, 
 Isaac Hinds, 
 W. A. Hunter, 
 G. W. Hutsell, 
 John Jackson, 
 Alex. Kennedy, 
 Edward Kidd, 
 Jefferson Kidd, 
 
 BKADLEY COUNTY. 
 
 S Beard, C. D. Champion, 
 
 J. S. Bradford, A. A. Clingan, 
 
 *J. G. Brown, J. N. Dunn, 
 
 J. M. Campbell, M. D., tR. M. Edwards, 
 T. L. Cate, 
 
 James Henry, 
 tA. Kirkpatrick, 
 Sanders Leeper, 
 Stephen Matthews, 
 Fleming Mays. 
 Andrew Me Bath, 
 M. McTeer, 
 Robert Pickens, 
 Thomas Pickens, 
 James H. Rowan, 
 John Trew, 
 Jas. H. Walker, 
 tLavater Wear. 
 
 S. P. Gaut, 
 C. T. Hardwick, 
 J. L. Kirby, 
 John McPherson, 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 349 
 
 George Bowling, 
 William Carey, 
 tJoseph A. Cooper, 
 David Hart. 
 
 CAMPBELL COUNTY. 
 
 Joseph Hatmaker, 
 John Jones, 
 J. L. Keeny, 
 
 John Header, 
 Wm. Robbins, 
 R. D. Wheeler. 
 
 *B. P. Angel, 
 *J. L. Bradley, 
 John W. Cameron, 
 J. T. P. Carter, 
 *L. Carter, 
 *W. B. Carter. 
 *W. J. Crutcher, 
 *J. Emmet, 
 *J. Hendrickson. 
 
 CARTER COUNTY 
 
 *T. M. Hilton, 
 *J. G. Lewis, 
 *Wm. Marsh, 
 *B. M. G. O Brien, 
 *J. Perry, 
 *V. Singletary, 
 *H. Slagle, 
 *L. Slagle, 
 
 *H. C. Smith, 
 *John M. Smith, 
 Daniel L. Store, 
 *D. Stover, 
 tAbram Tipton, 
 tC. P.Toncray, 
 *Robert Williams, 
 *C. Wilcox. 
 
 *J. J. Bunch, 
 tE. E. Jones, 
 
 F. Kindred, 
 
 CLAIBORNE COUNTY. 
 
 *F. Jones, 
 *V. Myers, 
 
 COCKE COUNTY. 
 
 *J. Bible, *W. Graham, 
 
 *W. A. Campbell, *W. Hornett, 
 
 fJ. W. Clarke, *S. H. Inman, 
 tP. H. Easterly, 
 
 *H. Sewell, 
 *J J. Sewell. 
 
 *W. Nicely, 
 *G. L. Porter, 
 * William Wood. 
 
 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 
 
 A. C. Yates, *R. K. Byrd ; Proxy. 
 
 FENTRESS COUNTY. 
 
 . B. Langley ; Proxy. 
 
 GRAINGER COUNTY. 
 
 tJohn Brooks, t James James, fD. C. Senter. 
 
 tHarmon G. Lea, *Edward L. Tate. 
 
350 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 *Thos. D. Arnold, 
 tSamuelH. Baxter, 
 
 * Jacob Bible, 
 *H. B. Boker, 
 *J. Brannon, 
 
 t James Britton, 
 t James Britton, Jr., 
 T. G. Brown, 
 *W. R. Brown, 
 tWm. Caveuder, M.D 
 tG. Click, 
 tR. A. Crawford, 
 
 * William H. Crawford 
 *W. D Culver, 
 
 *E. Davis, 
 *Thomas Davis, 
 *J. B. Dobson, 
 *B. Earnest, 
 *N. Earnest, 
 A. G. Easterly, 
 
 GREENE COUNTY. 
 
 tJonathan Easterly, *George Kinney, 
 Reuben Easterly, t Alexander A. Lane, 
 R. M. Easterly, *John Love, 
 
 Adam Farnsworth, fJohn Maloney, 
 *James A. Galbreath,W. A. Maloney, 
 tCharles Gass, tW. D. McClelland, 
 
 *George F. Gillespie, *B. .McDannel, 
 fSolomon Goode, tJas. P. McDowell, 
 tAbram Hammond 
 
 .,*C. Harden, 
 *Peter Harmon, 
 *J. W. Harold, 
 
 , *J. P. Holtsinger, 
 *A. W Howard, 
 
 *Samuel McGaughey, 
 * Anthony Moore, 
 *J. Myers, 
 
 *Hon. D. L. Patterson, 
 *J. G. Reeves, 
 *David Rush, 
 tChas. Johnson,M.D., fB. B. Sherfie, 
 
 tRobert Johnson, 
 * James Jones, 
 tJohn Jones, Jr., 
 tWilliani Jones, 
 *J.Kerbaugh, 
 
 tD. G. Vaiico, 
 *C. M. Vestal, 
 fA. W. Walker, 
 tWm. West, M. D., 
 ^Israel Woolsey. 
 
 John Anderson, 
 J. D. Blackford, 
 
 F. O. Blacknall, 
 A. M. Gate, 
 
 G. O. Gate, 
 
 E. M. Cleaveland, 
 tWilliam Clift, 
 Wm. Crutchfield, 
 William Denny. 
 
 HAMILTON COUNTY. 
 
 J. F. Early, 
 R. Hall, 
 Wilson Hixson, 
 J. D. Kenner, 
 Monroe Masterson, 
 J. A. Matthews, 
 P. L. Matthews, 
 *S. McCaleb, 
 
 A. W. McDaniel, 
 R. C. McRee, 
 Peter Mounger, 
 A. A. Pearson, 
 I C. Rogers, 
 A. Selser, 
 J. G. Thomas, 
 tD. C. Trewhitt, 
 
 HANCOCK COUNTY. 
 
 *Charles L. Barton, Wm. G. Brownlow and Wm. C. Kyle : Proxies. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 3S 1 
 
 HAWKINS COUNTY. 
 
 *Thomas Benny, 
 
 tWm. C. Kyle, 
 
 *John Netherland, 
 
 fJohn Blevins, 
 
 *A. A. Kyle, 
 
 Robert G. Netherland, 
 
 tA. P. Caldwell, 
 
 *C. J. McKinney, 
 
 John Vaughn, 
 
 *C. W. Hall, 
 
 *H. Mitchell, 
 
 * James White, 
 
 *A. B. Keel. 
 
 
 
 
 JEFFERSON COUNTY. 
 
 
 *John Alderson, 
 
 W. A. Haun, 
 
 *R. D. Rankin, 
 
 tSam l Anderson, M.D 
 
 .Joel Johnson, 
 
 *E. A. Sawyers, 
 
 J. M. Bewley, 
 
 tWilliam Jones, 
 
 *C. K. Scruggs, 
 
 *Rev. J. R. Birchfield 
 
 ,*W. Kirkpatrick, 
 
 tJ. P. Swann, 
 
 tA.A. Caldwell, M. D. 
 
 ,tL. F. Leeper, 
 
 *N. B. Swann, 
 
 tf^Twnrul 1VT T) 
 
 ,*L. McDaniel, 
 
 tJohn Tate, 
 
 
 *J. L. Coile, 
 
 Wm. McFarland, 
 
 *M. Thornburg, 
 
 tWilliam Dick, 
 
 tJ. Monroe Meek, 
 
 *John Thornhill, 
 
 tWiley Foust, 
 
 *N. Newman, 
 
 *Edward West, 
 
 *Wm. Harris. 
 
 
 
 
 JOHNSON COUNTY. 
 
 
 *Alexander Baker, 
 
 *Kemp Murphy, 
 
 *A. G. Shown, 
 
 tR. R. Butler, 
 
 tJohn Murphy, 
 
 G. H. Shown, 
 
 tJ. W. M. Gray son, 
 
 J. Norris, 
 
 F. Slimp, 
 
 *Samuel Howard, 
 
 *J. H. Norris, 
 
 tA. D. Smith, 
 
 MT. Locke, M. D., 
 
 *J. F. Norris, 
 
 D. Smithpetre, M. D., 
 
 Rev. L. Madron, 
 
 *H. C. Northington, 
 
 tJ. H. Vaught, 
 
 *H. P. Murphy. 
 
 tS. E. Northington, 
 
 tRev. L. Venable, 
 
 
 KNOX COUNTY. 
 
 
 F. A. Armstrong, 
 
 R.B. Gibbs, 
 
 John H. Mynatt, 
 
 John Armstrong, 
 
 A. Gideon, 
 
 R. G. Mynatt, 
 
 Caleb H. Baker, 
 
 Wilson Groner, 
 
 David Nelson, 
 
 J. P. Barger, 
 
 James Hall, 
 
 Jacob L. Nelson, 
 
 tJohn Baxter, 
 
 R. M. Hall, 
 
 J. M. Nelson, 
 
 William Beard, 
 
 Robert Harper, 
 
 Nicholas Nelson, 
 
 James D. Bell, 
 
 R. A. Harrison, 
 
 H. Osborne, 
 
3S 2 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 KNOX COUNTY CONTINUED. 
 
 J. S. Bell, 
 R. M. Bell, 
 R. M. Bennett, 
 F. H. Bounds, 
 H. R. Brown, 
 John Brown, 
 John M. Brown, 
 T. W. Brown, 
 tWm. G. Brownlow, 
 tJ. F. Bunker, 
 Absalom Burnett, 
 David Burnett, 
 John A. Callaway, 
 *A. C. Callen, 
 P. H. Cardwell, 
 
 C. W. Carnes, 
 T. W. Carnes, 
 W. B. Carnes, 
 M. Childress, 
 Henry Chiles, 
 tH. R. Clapp, 
 William Clapp, 
 AVilliam Coker, 
 John M. Conner, 
 W. A. A. Conner, 
 George Cooper, 
 F. Coram, 
 
 John J. Craig, 
 Robert Craighead, 
 O. H. Crippen, 
 John Currier, 
 tA. Davis, 
 
 D. F. DeArmond, 
 P. Derieux, 
 fJohn Devers, 
 
 James Hartley, 
 W. E. Hedgcock, 
 F. S. Heiskell, 
 John Henson, 
 A. D. C. Hinds, 
 William Hines, 
 Daniel Hommell, 
 Joseph Hubbs, 
 *Abner G. Jackson, 
 L. D. Johnson, 
 William D. Johnson, 
 W. Kennedy, 
 Daniel King, 
 John Kirk, 
 tAndrew Knott, 
 Joseph Larew, 
 W. R. Lawrence, 
 M. D. Lea, 
 Seth Lea, 
 John Lester, 
 John Letsinger, 
 *Lewis Letsinger, 
 Thomas Long, 
 John Looney, 
 Jas. C. Luttrell, 
 John Luttrell, 
 J. Luttrell, 
 J. M. Marcum, 
 tJames Maxwell, 
 W. N. Maxwell, 
 John J. May, 
 *Horace Maynard, 
 tSamuel McCammon, 
 Wm. McClelland, 
 Levi McCloud, 
 
 tD. W. Parker, 
 James Raison, 
 tA. P. Rambo, 
 Lewis Reed, 
 Jacob Reid, 
 B. Roberts, 
 *Henry Roberts, 
 Milton Roberts, 
 Samuel R. Rodgers, 
 Thomas Rodgers, 
 tWm. Rodgers, M. D., 
 *P. A. Ruble, 
 Frederick Rule, 
 P. Rutherford, 
 William Sharp, 
 Joseph Shell, 
 Matthew Simpson, 
 P. H. Skaggs, 
 James Smith, 
 tJohn Smith, 
 tT. A. Smith, 
 tRobert Sneed, M. D.. 
 Jesse Stubbs, 
 W. H. Swan, 
 James Tarwater, 
 tO. P. Temple, 
 t Andrew Thompson, 
 G. W. Tindell, 
 tC. F. Trigg, 
 A. R. Trotter, 
 John Tunnell, 
 H. Turner, 
 John Vance, 
 P. Walker, M. D., 
 Thos. J. White, 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 353 
 
 KNOX COUNTY CONTINUED. 
 
 J. R. Draper, 
 tJohn M. Fleming, 
 Joseph W. Fowler, 
 B. Frazier, 
 *J. D. French, 
 Joseph Garner, 
 J. O. Gentry, 
 P. George, 
 
 J. C. S. McDaniel, 
 J. A. McMillan, 
 A. A. Meek, 
 J. H. Morris, 
 A. K. Mynatt, 
 Col. Mynatt, 
 Hugh Mynatt, 
 H. D. C. Mynatt. 
 
 MARION COUNTY. 
 
 tWilliam G. Brownlow : Proxy. 
 
 W. W. Alexander, 
 1M. D. Anderson, 
 tG-eorge W. Bridges, 
 David Brient, 
 Rev. H. Buttram, 
 Charles Gate, 
 Robert Cochran, 
 *A. C Derrick, 
 J. J. Dixon. 
 
 Andrew Campbell, 
 Thomas Miller. 
 
 I. C. Brown, 
 A. W. Cozart, 
 *T. H. Davis, 
 
 M MINN COUNTY. 
 
 0. Dodson, 
 Win. L. Dodson, 
 C. Foster, 
 J. H. Hornsby, 
 A. Hutsell, 
 Nathan Kelly, 
 Win. L. Lester, 
 M. R.May, M. D., 
 
 MEIGS COUNTY. 
 
 tT. J. Matthews, 
 
 MONROE COUNTY. 
 
 tJohn Williams, 
 Calvin Wood, 
 John Wood, 
 R. H. Wood, 
 F. M. Yarnall, 
 Martin Yarnall, 
 R. A. York, 
 
 T. B. McElwee, 
 tJohn McGaughey, 
 N. J. Peters, 
 Wm. Porter, 
 E. T. Renfro, 
 B. Wells, 
 
 Rev. John Wilkins, 
 D. P. York, 
 
 Thomas Sessell, 
 
 W. H Dawson, Samuel M. Johnson, 
 
 fB. Franklin, M. D., J. R. Robinson, 
 tWilliam Heiskell, Wm. M. Smith. 
 
 *T. H. Davis, 
 
 tS. C. Honeycutt, 
 *Rev. W. R. Jackson, 
 v 
 
 MORGAN COUNTY. 
 
 tE. Langley. 
 tJ. M. Melton, 
 B. T. Staples, 
 
 M. Stephens, 
 tJesse Stonecipher, 
 
354 
 
 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 POLK COUNTY. 
 
 *W. M. Biggs, 
 
 *J. Adkisson, 
 tW. M. Alexander, 
 t Joseph Anderson, 
 J. W. Atkisson, 
 F. Bales, 
 tJ. W. Bowman, 
 R. W. Boyd, 
 E. W. Brazeale, 
 tR. K. Byrd, 
 T. F. Carter, 
 Samuel L. Childress, 
 Isaac A. Clark, 
 William Clark, 
 E. S. Clarke, 
 T. T. Coffin, 
 J. I. Dale, 
 Reuben Davis, 
 John DeArmond, 
 
 *W. J. Copeland, J. M. McCleary, 
 
 ROANE COUNTY. 
 
 P. I. Doremus, 
 G. W. Easter, 
 W. L. Goldston, 
 A. L. Greene, 
 *J. S. Hagler, 
 Wesley Harwell, 
 tD. F. Harrison, 
 John Hays, 
 J. O. Hays, 
 *W. J. Hornsby, 
 E. D. Hoss, 
 t James H. Johnston, 
 tGeorge Littleton, 
 William Lowry, 
 Joseph B. Martin, 
 tThomas J. Mason, 
 W. S. Patton, 
 Wm.E. Pope, 
 
 tM. Rose, 
 W. P. Rose, 
 T. Russell, 
 tJ. T. Shelley, 
 Win. H. Selvidge, 
 J. Y. Smith, 
 *W. B. Staley, 
 tT. J. Tipton, 
 tJ. J. West, 
 C. C. Wester, 
 J. W. Wester, 
 tL. M. Wester, 
 Samuel Williams, 
 John Womble, 
 *J. Wyatt, 
 tF. M. Wylie, 
 *L. M. Wylie, 
 tF. Young. 
 
 SCOTT COUNTY. 
 
 *S. C. Honeycutt: Proxy. 
 
 *L. D. Alexander, 
 tJ. H.Caldwell, 
 *J. Caldwell, 
 *J. Gate, 
 William Catlett, 
 Harvey Cowan, 
 R. M. Creswell, 
 tRev. Jas. Cummings, 
 *John Douglass, 
 
 SEVIER COUNTY. 
 
 Lemuel Duggan, 
 t Wilson Duggan, 
 *F. L. Emmert, 
 tJ. K. Franklin, 
 tJ. T. Havis, 
 tR.H.Hodsden,M. 
 tEdmund Hodges, 
 *C. Innian, 
 David Keener, 
 
 Alexander McBath, 
 tD. McCroskey, 
 *H. Mount, 
 tJ. C. Murphy, 
 William Petty, 
 D.jtSamuel Pickens, 
 tD. M. Ray, 
 Isaac Russell, 
 E. H. Williams. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 355 
 
 P. N. Ea-sley, 
 *J. Hughes, 
 t James Lynn, 
 
 tlsaac Bayless, 
 John Cox, 
 F. P. Hansard, 
 L. Huddleston, 
 
 D. B. Barkley, 
 *J. Biddle, 
 *C. Bashor, 
 tA. J. Brown, 
 *M. H. Clark, 
 *Jas. W. Deaderick 
 *C. A. Eames, 
 *J. W. Ellis, 
 *J. A. Estes, 
 *R. L. Gillespie, 
 *T. 8. Gillespie, 
 *W. Glaze, 
 J. F. Grisharn, 
 *P. II . Grisham, 
 *J. W. Hartman, M. 
 
 SULLIVAN COUNTY. 
 
 William Mullenix, 
 tG. R. Netherland, 
 
 UNION COUNTY. 
 
 *M. V. Nash, 
 A. McPheters, 
 J . G. Palmer, 
 
 tJacob Shewalter, 
 tR. L. Stanford, M. D. 
 
 J. M. Sawyers, 
 
 S. H. Smith, 
 
 tJ. W. Thomburg. 
 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 *E. S. Harvey, 
 tA. Hoss, 
 *E. Keezell, 
 *A. Kibbler, 
 fS. T. Logan, 
 tJ. F. Mahoney, 
 *E. S. Matthews, 
 *Wrn. H. Maxwell, 
 *R. B. McCall, M. D., 
 *D, M. McFall, 
 *R.JM. McKee, 
 *G. W. Nelson, 
 tThos. A. R. Nelson, 
 *D. Onk, 
 
 *E. W. Oughbrough, 
 tR. H. Palmer, M.D., 
 tS. K. N. Patton, 
 *Jolm Penuybaker, 
 *H. Presnell, 
 *W. M. Reese, 
 *J. Slack, 
 *W. Slemmons, 
 *W. Smith, M.D., 
 *A. B.Tadlock, 
 *E. H. West, 
 t&. West, 
 *G.%. Wilson, 
 *J. Yerger. 
 
 D, 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE I : Page 139. 
 
 A comparison of the date of Gen. Zolicoffer s letter from Camp 
 bell County to Col. Wood, announcing his purpose immediately to 
 disarm the Union population, with the date of the following adver 
 tisement in the Memphis Appeal by two Confederate officers, written 
 from the same county, seriously weakens the plea given in the ad 
 vertisement for the barbarous use of so many dogs against that pop 
 ulation. For disarmed Union men could scarcely carry on an irreg 
 
356 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ular warfare that would require or justify the employment to their 
 damage of sanguinary beasts. 
 
 "BLOODHOUNDS WANTED/ 
 
 "We, the undersigned, will pay five dollars per pair for fifty pairs 
 of well-bred hounds, and fifty dollars for one pair of thorough-bred 
 bloodhounds that will take the track of a man. The purpose for 
 which these dogs are wanted is to chase the infernal, cowardly Lin 
 coln bushwhackers of East Tennessee and Kentucky, (who have 
 taken advantage of the bush to kill and cripple many good soldiers,) 
 to their haunts and capture them. The said hounds must be deliv 
 ered at Captain Hammer s livery stable by the 10th of December 
 next, where a mustering officer will be present to muster and in 
 spect them." 
 
 (Signed) F. N. MCNAIRY, 
 
 H. H. HARRIS, 
 Camp Crinforth, Campbell Co., Tenn., November 16. 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE J : Page 151. 
 
 In proof that the hanging of young Harmon before his father s 
 eyes, while the latter awaited death by the same method, was not, 
 as a grave judicial procedure, without censorious comment at the 
 time, are these satirical lines by one who was more of a wag than 
 a poet. Necessarily, they had a very limited circulation in M. S- 
 among friends. 
 
 To General 
 
 Plentiful heroes from this War will spring, 
 
 With praise of whom shall Fame s proud arches ring, 
 
 And unborn generations with pains be taught, 
 
 At mother s knee and school, what deeds they wrought. 
 
 But thou, as Jupiter excels in light 
 
 Planets and stars which deck the robe of night, 
 
 Shalt for thy courage and milit ry skill 
 
 Above compeers, historic pages fill. 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 They have won battles, strong batteries storm d, 
 And such small deeds, common in War, perform d : 
 But thou, with soaring aim, hast hung three men, 
 Sentenced by Martial Court and thy brave pen. 
 These loved their country ; one, in prime of life 
 Bequeathed it all he had, children and wife ; 
 The second, gray with age, the third, his son, 
 Whom thou didst order, by no pity won, 
 Should to life s closing scene together go, 
 And while one died, the other see his woe ! 
 Brave General ! goodness ever is allied 
 With greatness. Be thou, thy country s pride ! 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE K : Page 167. 
 NARRATIVE BY EDWARD J. SANFORD OF KNOXVILLE, TENN. 
 
 In February, 1862, the Rebel Conscript Law was enacted in Ten 
 nessee declaring every man between the ages of eighteen and forty- 
 five a soldier of the Southern Confederacy, and the then Governor, 
 I. G. Harris, made a call for the entire militia force of the State. Con 
 sequently the prospect of being speedily compelled to do battle 
 against their sense of right and justice, added to the already preca 
 rious condition of those citizens who were known to entertain 
 Union sentiments, and many companies of Union men were formed 
 in East Tennessee for the purpose of running through the rebel 
 lines and joining the Federal army in Kentucky. 
 
 For several days previous to April 18, 1862, such a company was 
 forming in Knox and Blount counties. Guides were procured who 
 knew the mountain-paths and who were constantly passing to and 
 from the Federal camp in Kentucky. For the ostensible purpose 
 of buying beef in the mountain region fo"r the Confederate army, 
 passes were procured by men who employed their time in prepar 
 ing a boat on the Clinch river, about twenty miles north of Knox- 
 ville and secreting it from the watchful eyes of rebel pickets, so 
 that the company could be set over without delay. 
 
 The place of rendezvous was on Bullrun creek, fifteen miles north, 
 uud its time midnight, April 18, The party was to number three 
 
THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 hundred and seventy-five men ; but the authorities at Knoxville 
 having got wind of the matter, placed a strong guard around the 
 town which prevented seventy-five of this number from their pur 
 pose. I was fortunately one of the few citizens who intended to 
 join the party and were outside of the town before nightfall when 
 the guard was stationed. A carriage ride with my wife early in the 
 evening, as though only for recreation, gave me the opportunity 
 without suspicion, to pass into the country ; and leaving her at the 
 house of a friend five miles from town to return home the next day, 
 I went on foot to the house of the well-known Unionist, Andrew 
 Knott, Esq., and remained there until nearly dark. By that time 
 six others had come to bear me company. Two of these were the 
 son and son-in-law of Squire Knott, who united with his family to 
 bestow their best wishes on the little band at its departure. Ac 
 cessions to it were almost constantly received, as we cautiously pro 
 ceeded on our way to the rendezvous. We avoided the intervening 
 houses of rebels by going through the fields. But happily this pre 
 caution was seldom necessary, for from almost every house we 
 passed, one at least was added to our number, and many were the 
 words of encouragement given and bitter tears shed by mothers, 
 sisters and wives, as those they held dear stepped noiselessly forth 
 from their homes and joined the marching column. Before reach 
 ing the appointed place of meeting, our number had increased to 
 seventy-five, and there we found seventy-five men awaiting us. 
 Every one had a haversack of provisions ; all were without blankets 
 and extra clothing and only one-third of the company had suc 
 ceeded in arming themselves for defence with guns or pistols. One 
 half of the whole party did not arrive at the time agreed upon. 
 
 We had no shelter, our clothes were completely wet by the rain 
 which had fallen during the entire night and we dared not make a 
 fire, as it would have exposed us to the enemy who, we had reason 
 to know had discovered our movements. For a small scouting 
 party of theirs had captured a few miles back two of our party who 
 had fallen behind the main body. After a short consultation we 
 pushed on as fast as possible and found our boat unmolested where 
 it had been hidden. One-half of our company at one time were set 
 over the river and it so happened that I went with the fir?t boat 
 
APPENDICES. 359 
 
 load. We found relief from fatigue in putting off our haversacks 
 and, (although the rain was pouring down,) in sitting upon the 
 ground on the north side of the stream, while the boat returned for 
 the rest of our party. But scarcely were we seated when a startling 
 cry arose that the rebel cavalry were upon us We knew at once 
 that if such were the case, our only safety was in fighting, for the 
 river behind us barred our escape in that direction. In a moment 
 a line was formed ; those fortunate enough to have either gun or 
 pistol stood in front and the unarmed behind ; and the expected 
 attack was awaited. 
 
 Two horsemen could be seen approaching through the woods, but 
 in the darkness it could not be told whether they were in advance of 
 a column of troops or not. In either case we concluded they were 
 enemies and with weapons levelled, we listened for the word of 
 command to fire upon them. Much to our joy however, they gave 
 us the friendly countersign, and we found that they were an Official 
 of Anderson county and others, who had come to show us on our 
 way. It was then about two o clock in the morning and without 
 waiting for the second half of our party to cross the river, we went 
 forward under the guidance of our recently supposed enemies at a 
 "double quick" pace. Not a word was spoken as we pressed on 
 without halting, sometimes through woods and sometimes through 
 fields. As day began to break, from a very secluded spot in a piece 
 of thick woods through which we were going, out stepped a small 
 man with dark eyes and determined look, who without a word 
 motioned us to follow him and then went rapidly ahead. The An 
 derson County Official who had guided us, immediately turned back 
 homeward, bidding us adieu with a wave of his hand. Our new 
 guide started off at such a quick gait that it was difficult for our leg- 
 weary party to keep up with him. Some of them finding it impos 
 sible to do so, were obliged to fall behind and risk the chance of 
 capture. We had walked almost forty miles during the night, 
 through a hard and constant rain and over muddy, slippery ground. 
 Our guide, (Wash Vann by name,) seeing that all were much 
 fatigued, led the way to a secluded place near Nelson s Ridge and 
 there halted the company for needed rest. Haversacks were then 
 opened, a breakfast made from their contents and nearly all stretched 
 
360 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 themselves upon the wet ground for repose. A few men were put 
 upon the watch and soon the others were fast asleep. All was quiet 
 for about two hours, when (at 9 A. M. of the 19th) we, who served 
 as sentinels, discovered a man walking very fast and coming upon 
 the trail we had made. He seemed to be scrutinizing our track g 
 and was evidently following us, but for what purpose of course we 
 could not tell. He approached within thirty yards of us before he 
 raised his eyes or perceived that we were near. At the first glance, 
 he turned and began to run ; but hearing the word, Halt ! he looked 
 over his shoulder and seeing that several rifles were drawn upon 
 him, he thought it wise to obey the summons. When he came up, 
 we catechized him very closely, asking him where he was from? 
 how far he had followed us? Where going? &c. To none of these 
 questions could he give a satisfactory answer ; but crossed himself 
 frequently and seemed much confused. He said he was a rebel, but 
 could tell nothing about the rebel troops. We concluded that he 
 had been sent to pursue and discover us for the information of our 
 armed enemies, and that our longer delay at the spot would be dan 
 gerous. Our short rest and breakfast, with the excitement conse 
 quent upon taking a supposed spy, made us all ready to start at 
 once. Our prisoner was ordered to fall in and told that if he at 
 tempted to escape, he would be shot. 
 
 We soon ascended Nelson s Ridge and from its summit we could 
 see the rebel cavalry scouts hunting for us in the valley road below, 
 and trying to cut us off, as they were not able on horses to follow us 
 over the Ridge. By going very cautiously through the thickets we 
 managed to escape discovery, safely crossed the valley road north of 
 Walson s Ridge and soon began the ascent of the Cumberland 
 Mountains, where for the time we felt secure from pursuit by cav 
 alry. 
 
 In order to understand our real condition at that time and what 
 had saved us from capture, it will be necessary to revert to the place 
 where we had crossed Clinch river, and notice what was transpiring 
 there. As before stated, one-half of our company crossed Clinch 
 river before two o clock in the morning. But the remainder, num 
 bering about one hundred and fifty, did not do so until near day 
 light. In consequence they were discovered by a rebel, named 
 
APPENDICES. 361 
 
 Jones, who lived in the vicinity. He gladly hurried off to a rebel 
 cainp a few miles below and gave information. The rebels were on 
 the alert, for they had previous notice that a party of Union men 
 were in the neighborhood, and they gave quick pursuit. But for 
 tunately, a Union man hearing that our friends would probably be 
 overtaken by their enemies, hurried along a near way and told them 
 of their danger. Upon receiving this warning, they had but time 
 to hide in a thicket close at hand, when the pursuing cavalry went 
 rushing by at the top of their speed upon the trail the first half of 
 our company had made hours before, without discovering that any 
 of the fugitives were being left behind them. As the cavalry moved 
 with the utmost possible speed, they reached the spot where we had 
 rested, only an hour after we had left it, and where, but for our cap 
 ture of the spy, they would no doubt have found us. The hour we 
 had, in advance of the troopers, had been well improved and en 
 abled us to find safety from them in the Cumberland Mountains. 
 
 It was then dark. We had walked rapidly for twenty-four con 
 secutive hours, excepting the two hours of halt. The rain, which 
 had fallen during the whole period, came dowu in torrents at its 
 close. Every one suffered with fatigue, but some were so overcome 
 by it they could not proceed at all. Soon the darkness became in 
 tense ; we had almost to grope our way ; no one could pick his foot 
 steps, and there were many bruises and scratches of the flesh. But 
 over the rocks and through the brush we had to go in the gloom of 
 that dreadful night. At length the joyful sound of " halt!" was 
 heard. Our guide said that we were five miles from any shelter or 
 habitation. It must have been a dismal spot at all times. On every 
 side arose high hills which would almost shut out the light of the 
 mid-duy sun. But in the then impenetrable darkness and pouring 
 rain, the thick forest seemed a fit abode for evil spirits. Yet it af 
 forded security from enemies, and we were glad to rest even there. 
 No one of the company would be apt ever to forget the wretched 
 night we spent at that place. After supper from our water-soaked 
 haversacks, we lay down to rest as best we could, without blankets 
 or other means of protection from the wet ground and drenching 
 rain, having agreed \\ithout a dissenting voice that the place ought 
 to be known for all time as Camp Misery ! 
 
362 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 As soon as it was light enough the next morning, we again moved 
 forward and soon began to ascend the highest point of the Cumber 
 land Mountains, known in that vicinity as "The Smoky Range." 
 On its top, alternate snow and rain were substituted for the contin 
 uous, soaking rains of the previous thirty-six hours, and added 
 much to our discomfort. On the top of that and adjacent peaks we 
 travelled nearly the whole day, keeping upon the roughest and 
 highest surfaces to prevent successful pursuit on horses. Our expe 
 rience during the remainder of the journey was like that already 
 related. The enemy tried to intercept us, when in passing from 
 one hill to another we crossed over the valley roads, as we were 
 obliged to do. On such occasions one or two of our number would 
 first advance cautiously and reconnoitre. If no danger appeared, 
 the whole company would then pass over the road swiftly, making 
 as little trail as possible, and sometimes by walking backwards, 
 leaving deceptive impressions on the soil. 
 
 One incident of the trip will show after what manner the people 
 of Scott county were organized to resist their enemies. They were 
 most thoroughly loyal to the United States and both determined 
 and active. Through one of the narrow and deep vallies among 
 the hills over which we traveled, runs New River. Usually it is 
 little more than a creek, but at that Spring-time because of the 
 heavy and steady rains, it was a formidable stream. When arrived 
 on its southern bank we could find but one small canoe ; and know 
 ing it would be imprudent to wait until the whole company could 
 be carried in it over the river, the guns and provisions were placed 
 in the boat, and all who could swim jumped in and breasted the 
 waters. Upon the hillside about the fourth of a mile in front of us, 
 could be seen a small cabin, and as our guide said that the occupant 
 was a Union man, we did not hesitate to approach it. We saw no 
 one about the house until one of our guns, in being placed in the 
 canoe, was accidentally discharged. Immediately a man ran from 
 the house to the stable, mounted a horse and rode rapidly up the 
 hillside. We thought this a suspicious circumstance, and on reach 
 ing the house and making known who we were, it came to light that 
 the horseman, in the belief that our company was one of rebels, 
 had sped over the hills to inform the "Home Guards" of which he 
 
APPENDICES. 363 
 
 was a member, and that they would probably fire upon us from 
 every convenient spot, or as it was commonly termed "bush-whack" 
 us. But upon this a woman of the family went ahead of our party, 
 and let the Guards" know their mistake ; and the wounds or death 
 they would have inflicted upon us were averted. Knowing us to be 
 friends of the Union, we were in their eyes as brothers, and in 
 stead of resistance and blows, they would have given us help and 
 comfort to the utmost limit of their power. 
 
 At the end of the sixth night of this kind of travel we arrived at 
 the Federal Army Camp at Boston, Kentucky. The second half of 
 our original company, whom we had left behind at Clinch river, 
 joined us the day before that termination. This accession made us 
 three hundred strong. The sight of that camp gave us relief, joy 
 and thankfulness, which they only can understand who have had 
 complete deliverance from protracted sufferings and trouble. Be 
 neath the flag of our choice we found nourishment, rest, protection 
 and a hearty welcome from friends who had gone before us and were 
 anxious to hear from dear ones at home. In six hours, three com 
 panies of as good soldiers as were ever dressed in blue were added 
 to the Sixth East Tennessee Regiment and went forth to do battle 
 for their homes and country. But they all united afterwards in 
 saying that no week of their lives as soldiers, would begin to com 
 pare in hardships with the one they spent in this trip over the 
 mountains. 
 
 Before closing this narrative, I should state that the supposed 
 spy whom we captured at our first halting-place and whose cap 
 ture saved us from being overtaken by the pursuing cavalry, proved 
 to be one of a party of Union men who had several days previously 
 been attacked on their way to Kentucky and all either scattered or 
 captured. Being lost in the woods, he accidentally came upon us 
 while resting, and under the supposition that we were Rebel sol 
 diers, he gave us confused statements. In a short time he learned 
 the true character of his captors ; but fortunately for us, we did not 
 find out that he was on our side, until we had reached for the night 
 a secure position. He afterwards carried a musket in the Sixth 
 East Tennessee Regiment and was called one of its best soldiers. 
 
364 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE L : Page 185. 
 
 Mrs. Edwards, wife of Mr. Edw. C. Edwards, of Campbell county, 
 carried information, at the cost of exposure to inclement weather 
 and risk of arrest and puiiishrnent, to the Union troops in severa 
 instances. Once she traveled from her home in a buggy to Le- 
 noir s Station on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railway, and 
 thence by Rail to Athens, 55 miles southwest of Knoxville, and 
 quickly returned. She was accompanied by a neighbor s adult 
 daughter, Miss Bettie Carey, to whom she did not divulge her pur 
 pose. They traveled with passports from the Confederate author 
 ities, and accomplished the journey of more than 150 miles with 
 remarkable celerity. Upon arriving again at home, Mrs. Edwards 
 mounted her horse, and with the valuable knowledge concerning 
 intended movements of the Confederate troops which she had ob 
 tained on her recent visit among them, she went alone through the 
 rain over Pine Mountain to the encampment of Gen. J. G. Spears, 
 near the Kentucky border. He was of Bledsoe county, East Ten 
 nessee, and in May and June, 1861, a member of the Union Con 
 vention at Knoxville and Greeneville. The information given] him 
 by Mrs. Edwards, was the means of saving from capture, him and 
 his soldiers, and also, several hundreds of East Tennessee refugees 
 who were on their way to the interior of Kentucky. General Spears 
 thought that she deserved for her daring, patriotic exploit, so useful 
 in its results to his army, more than wordy gratitude ; and that she 
 should be paid two thousand dollars by the Federal Government ; 
 but the papers he gave her to prove that reward was justly due her 
 failed of their purpose. The United States has never paid it in 
 whole or in part; but her work was not done for the sake of money. 
 
 On another occasion, when Winter was about passing into the 
 Spring of 1863, she went on a patriotic errand to Williamsburg, 
 Kentucky, accompanied by Miss Bettie Carey, both on horseback, 
 their cavalier being a son of Mrs. Edwards, ten years old, mounted 
 on a mule, but as on the previous trip, she kept her special purpose 
 from her companion. Their ostensible object was to purchase sup 
 plies needed by their households. As the first night closed in upon 
 the travelers, they lost their way on Pine Mountain. Mrs. Ed- 
 
APPENDICES. 365 
 
 wards preserved her cheerfulness and hopefully said, that by and 
 by they would find a house. This they did after tedious wander 
 ing in the cold and darkness. Observing a light, they found the hos 
 pitality they sought in a log cabin which had but one apartment. 
 Their supper, consisting of coffee corn bread and bacon, was kindly 
 provided by the family, and one of the beds in the room was as 
 signed to their use. The two women, with the lad nestling at their 
 feet, slept as comfortably aw the cold wind which found entrance 
 through the crevices of the house would permit. 
 
 The journey had several difficulties, not the least of which was in 
 fording rivers that were in such a swollen condition, that the horses 
 had almost to swim and their riders were compelled to mount high 
 in their saddles to escape the waters. Mrs. Edwards alone knew 
 what communications she had with others at Williamsburg in rela 
 tion to the War. In returning home, they were hospitably fed and 
 lodged at the house of a worthy Union man, of whom, as illustra 
 ting the wanton cruelties inflicted here and there upon country 
 people by the Confederate soldiery, it has to be said, that not long 
 afterwards, he was arrested by them at his home, and deliberately 
 shot to death, and two of his neighbors of like mind, at the same 
 time shared his fate. 
 
 ""Were the three men charged with any offence?" was the ques 
 tion asked of the lady who told of the occurrence in connection 
 with the above narrative. "O, no!" was her reply; "they were 
 only Union men." 
 
 There was an instance of dangerous adventure in behalf of the 
 United States, which a young lady and a boy who had just entered 
 his teens undertook during the siege of Knoxville. According to a 
 report made to the House of Representatives, (50th Congress, 1st 
 Session,) by its Committee on War Claims, Gen. Grant sent an im 
 portant dispatch to Gen. Burnside. So overrun was the territory 
 between Chattanooga and Knoxville by Confederate troops, that it 
 could only be delivered, if at all, with great difficulty and hazard, 
 At length, Miss Mary Love, of Kingston, Tennessee, agreed to take 
 the message through the Confederate lines. She went, attended by 
 a guide, Thomas F. Carter, as far as Louisville, Tennessee. Being 
 there compelled to abandon personally the attempt, she could find 
 
366 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 but one person who was willing to prosecute it : and to him, a boy, 
 John T. Brown, only 13 years of age. she entrusted the dispatch. 
 He carried it safely to its destination, but has never received from 
 the Government, any acknowledgment of his brave and patriotic 
 service. 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE M: Page 194. 
 
 [From the Official Report of General Carter.] 
 
 A movement of troops into East Tennessee was proposed as early 
 as November 25, 1862, but was not ordered until December 19, when 
 arrangements for it had been completed. It was hoped that the 
 force to be sent on this hazardous but important expedition, would 
 have been much larger than that which the Commander of the 
 Department felt could be detached for that service when the time 
 to enter upon it arrived. 
 
 The original design was to divide the force into two columns, and 
 strike the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad at two points at 
 the same time, distant 100 miles apart, and by moving towards the 
 centre, destroy the road for that distance. 
 
 A junction of the forces (consisting of two battalions 2nd Mich 
 igan Cavalry, Lieut. Col. Campbell; the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 
 Major Russell ; and one battalion 7th Ohio Cavalry, Major Raimej ) 
 was made near the mouth of Goose Creek, Clay County, Kentucky. 
 As ordered by Gen. Burnside, Col. Charles J. Walker of the 10th 
 Kentucky Cavalry was placed in command of the cavalry brigade. 
 
 The troops were ordered to move without baggage, with ten days 
 rations, and 100 rounds of ammunition ; but as it was feared some 
 difficulty would be met with in obtaining forage, a supply train was 
 ordered to proceed some 60 miles on the route and then transfer 
 forage and rations to a train of pack mules. On the 22nd Decem 
 ber Gen. Carter, who left Lexington on the 20th, came up with the 
 two battalions of the 2nd Michigan and the 9th Pennsylvania at 
 McKee, Jackson county, Kentucky, and after one day s necessary 
 detention, they effected a junction on the 26th with the remainder 
 of the troops, (1st Battalion of 7th Ohio Cavalry) at Heard s on 
 Goose Creek. The whole force amounted only to about 1,980 men, 
 
APPENDICES. 367 
 
 and of that number a considerable portion were in the field for the 
 first time. 
 
 The inarches owing to the roughness and narrowness of the roads, 
 (being merely bridle paths along the banks of creeks and over steep 
 and rugged mountains) were of necessity slow and tedious, and 
 their length had to be governed by the distance to the several points 
 at which forage could be obtained. It was not until about meridian 
 of the 28th, that they reached the foot of the Cumberland mountain 
 (on the north side,) opposite "Crank s Gap," 12 miles to the south 
 ward and eastward of Harlan Court House. The pack train was 
 sent back in charge of a detachment of the Kentucky State Guard. 
 
 A little before sunset they reached the summit of the Cumberland 
 mountain, and had the field of their operations, with its mountains 
 and rallies spread out before them. Gen. Carter then consulted 
 with the officers of his command, and it was the unanimous opin 
 ion that the force was entirely too small to venture on a division ac 
 cording to the original plan. This decision seemed to be the more 
 necessary from the news they had received through East Tennessee 
 refugees at the foot of the mountain, relative to the disposition of 
 the rebel forces along the line of the railroad. 
 
 Soon after dark, the advance commenced the descent of the 
 mountain, hoping to make a long inarch before sunrise, but owing 
 to the steepness, narrowness and roughness of the way, the rear of 
 the column did not reach the foot of the mountain, until 10 p. m., 
 having consumed four hours on the way. Gen. Carter was told 
 there were 400 rebel cavalry in the vicinity of Jonesville one mile 
 distant. As it was important to move through Lee County, Vir 
 ginia, without exciting suspicion, he moved down Cane Creek, and 
 passing through a Gap in Poor Valley ridge, crossed Powell s Valley 
 about five miles east of Jonesville. On leaving the valley road, 
 his guides were at fault and valuable time was lost in finding the 
 way. The march was continued through the night and at daylight 
 the troops reached the top of Wallen s Ridge, 22 miles dis 
 tant from the foot of Cumberland Mountain, and halted. Thus far 
 they had advanced without giving any alarm, or even exciting any 
 suspicion as to their character. The village of Shelbyville lay im 
 mediately below, and but for the imprudence of an officer in allow- 
 
368 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 ing the men to visit the village, they could have passed on as rebel 
 cavalry. A number of rebel soldiers belonging to Trigg e battalion 
 were within Carter s lines, supposing they were among friends and 
 w r ere captured. 
 
 In a short time the U. S. troops were again in the saddle, 
 passed through Stickleyville, across Powell s Mountain, and 
 through Pattonsville. Before sunset, they crossed Clinch River 12 
 miles from Estillville, Scott County, Virginia, and halted for a 
 couple of hours. News of their approach had gone before them, 
 but few of the rebels were disposed to credit it, believing it im- 
 po sible that a Government force would venture so far within their 
 territory. Upon arriving at Estillville at 10 p. M., they were told 
 that a considerable rebel force was in possession of "Moccasin 
 Gap," prepared to resist their passage. Gen. Carter could not af 
 ford to lose time. The Michigan Battalions were dismounted, and 
 under Lieut. Colonel Campbell, a portion was deployed and moved 
 through the Gap. Being unacquainted with the ground, and hav 
 ing to guard against an ambuscade in this strong pass, which could 
 have been held by a strong force against greatly superior numbers 
 they advanced with great caution. It was midnight before the rear 
 of the column had passed through. The enemy, deterred by this 
 resolute advance, fled towards Kingsport, East Tennessee, without 
 firing a gun. A rebel Lieutenant and several soldiers with their 
 arms, were captured on the south side of the Gap, on the Bloiint- 
 ville road. During the remainder of the night the men moved for 
 ward as rapidly as was practicable over unknown roads, picking 
 up rebel soldiers by the way. Owing to the darkness of the night, 
 a portion of the command lost their way and became separated from 
 the main body. A small force of the enemy s cavalry, hovering 
 about the rear, killed a Sergeant of the 2nd Michigan, and captured 
 two others who had wandered from the road. At daylight on the 
 morning of 30th December, the troops reached the town of Blount- 
 ville, Sullivan County, East Tennessee, surprised and took posses 
 sion of the place, captured some 30 soldiers belonging to the 4th 
 Kentucky Rebel Cavalry and paroled them. They were there in 
 formed that at Bristol, some eight miles distant, there was a large 
 amount of stores, besides the meat of a considerable number of 
 
APPENDICES. 369 
 
 hogs, belonging to the Rebel authorities, but as the place was 
 guarded, according to the best information obtained, by a regiment 
 of Infantry under Colonel Sliinp, (said to be 900 strong,) a Cavalry 
 force under Colonel Gettner and a battery, they were reluctantly 
 compelled to leave it on their left, and move towards the railroad 
 bridge at Union, six miles from Blountville. The General sent for 
 ward Lieut. Colonel Campbell, with a portion of the 2nd Michigan 
 under the direction of Col. Jas. P. T. Carter of 2nd East Tennessee 
 Infantry, towards Union, with orders to take the place and destroy 
 the railroad bridge across the Holston river. As soon as the remain 
 der of the troops which had been separated during the night, came 
 up, he moved them rapidly forward in the same direction. When 
 he reached Union, he found the town in the possession of his men, 
 and the railroad bridge, a pine structure some 600 feet in length, 
 slowly burning. The rebel force, about 150 strong, consisting of two 
 companies of the 62nd North Carolina troops under command of 
 Major McDowell, had surrendered without resistance ; the Major 
 himself having been first captured by the advance of the U. S. 
 troops while endeavoring to learn if there was any truth in the re 
 port of their approach. The prisoners were paroled, and a large 
 number of them were that afternoon on their way to the mountains 
 of North Carolina, swearing they would never be exchanged. Their 
 joy at being captured seemed to be unbounded. 
 
 The stores, barracks, tents, a large number of arms and equip 
 ments, a considerable amount of nitre, a railroad car, the depot, &c., 
 &c., were destroyed; also a wagon bridge across the river, a few 
 hundred yards below the railroad bridge. As soon as the work of 
 destruction was fairly under way, Gen. Carter dispatched Colonel 
 Walker with detachments from the 2nd Michigan, 9th Pennsylvania 
 and 7th Ohio Cavalry, in all 180 men, the whole under the guidance 
 of Col. Carter, towards the Watauga bridge at Carter Depot, 10 
 miles west of Union. On their way they captured a locomotive and 
 tender, with Col. Love of the 62nd North Carolina troops, who hav 
 ing heard of the approach of the "Yankees," had started on the 
 locomotive to Union, to ascertain the truth of the rumor. On the 
 detachments reaching the Station about sunset, they found the 
 enemy, consisting of two companies of North Carolina troops, esti- 
 w 
 
THE LOYAI, MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 mated by Colonel Walker at nearly 200 men, falling into line. Col 
 Walker gallantly attacked them and after a brief but warm resist 
 ance, they broke and fled to the woods. The gallant Major Roper 
 of the 6th Kentucky Cavalry, with two Companies of the 9th Penn 
 sylvania Cavalry under Capt. Jones of that Regiment, made a dash 
 ing charge and captured and destroyed many of their number. Maj. 
 Roper s loss was 1 killed, 1 mortally, 1 severely and 2 slightly 
 wounded. The entire loss of the enemy, owing to the darkness of 
 the night, could not be learned with certainty, but it w r as in killed, 
 12 to 16. The railroad bridge across the Watauga River, some 
 300 feet in length, was soon in flames and entirely destroyed ; also 
 a large number of arms and valuable stores. The captured loco 
 motive was run into the river and completely demolished, destroy 
 ing in its passage one of the piers of the bridge 
 
 The men and horses, especially the latter, were much worn and 
 jaded from constant travel and want of rest. The alarm had been 
 given. The rebels had the road open to Knoxville and could move 
 up a strong force. The General also learned that some 500 cavalry 
 and 4 guns, under Col. Folks, were within three miles ; that an In 
 fantry force would be concentrated at Johnson s depot, six miles 
 west of Carter s station by daylight ; and further, that Humphrey 
 Marshall, who was at Abingdon, Virginia, was moving his troops to 
 occupy the mountains and thus cut off his egress. It was deemed 
 prudent therefore to return. The command left Watauga, and after 
 a hard march, reached Kingsport at the mouth of the North Fork of 
 the Holston River at sunset on the 31st of December. After feeding 
 and resting a short time and issuing meat to the men, they were 
 again in the saddle, passed eight miles north of Rogersville, and 
 reached Looney s Gap on Clinch Mountain late in the afternoon, 
 passed through without opposition, and about 11 P. M., January 1st, 
 reached a place on the edge of Hancock County, Tennessee, where 
 forage could be procured, and bivouaced for the night. This was 
 the first night s rest the men had been able to take since the night 
 of the 27th ult. They had been annoyed during the day and 
 night by bushwhackers, but Providentially escaped with only two 
 men slightly wounded. 
 
 Soon after daylight on the morning of the 2d inst., the command pro- 
 
APPENDICES. 371 
 
 ceeded towards Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia, with the intention of 
 reaching the foot of Cumberland Mountain on the Kentucky side 
 before halting. Its march was much impeded during the day by 
 bushwhackers, who constantly annoyed the front and rear. Just 
 before reaching Jonesville, they endeavored to check Gen. Carter 
 by occupying the hills in his front with two companies, (supposed 
 to be Larimore s and Staley s) ; but they were soon driven from 
 their strong position by the skirmishers of the 2d Michigan. The 
 command reached Jonesville late in the afternoon ; but before its 
 rear guard had passed, it was attacked by about 200 rebels. Col. 
 Walker took charge of the rear guard, reinforced by two light com 
 panies and drove the assailants back to the woods. Several of their 
 number were killed, one in the village of Jonesville and some 
 twenty were captured during the day, without suffering any loss. 
 From prisoners the General learned that the passes in Powell s and 
 Clinch mountains, through which he marched in going to Union, 
 had been blockaded and were occupied by three or four companies 
 of infantry. He reached the foot of Cumberland Mountain, pass 
 ing through "Crank s Gap," at 11 p. M., and bivouaced ; men and 
 horses completely jaded and worn, having been in the last five 
 days and seventeen hours, but thirty hours out of the saddle. 
 
 On the 5th inst., the command reached Manchester, Clay County, 
 Kentucky, and rested on the following day. 
 
 Gen. Carter says in conclusion, that "notwithstanding the inclem 
 ency of the weather, the severity of the march and the scanty sup 
 ply of rations, for no inconsiderable portion of the time ; both offi 
 cers and men bore their hardships without a single murmur or 
 word of complaint. They returned after a journey of 470 miles, 170 
 of which were in the enemy s country, in high spirits and in good 
 condition, proud to think they had accomplished a feat which for 
 hazard and hardship has no parallel in the history of the war." 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE N : Page 196. 
 
 When the United States Army under Burnside approached Knox- 
 ville, September, 1863, Captain S. T. Harris was taken with other 
 prisoners to Columbia, S. C. He was there put in chains that 
 weighed from 12 to 15 pounds, and cruelly imprisoned. His father 
 
37 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 applied to President Davis, and in consequence, he was transferred 
 from the filthy and almost airless cell where he lay, to a better 
 one. 
 
 In the same prison were confined a scaling party of the United 
 States Naval Officers, who had been captured in a night attack on 
 Fort Sumter, September, 1863. One of them was Ensign Porter, of 
 whom the Rev. H. Clay Trumbull says in the Church Magazine, 
 August, 1886; Apart of the time he was in irons as one of the 
 hostages for two Confederate privateersmen who were held by our 
 (the United States) Government as pirates. He was the life of the 
 party. He was always taking a cheery view of the situation. * * 
 * * In a room of the jail, adjoining that of the naval officers, 
 there was confined in irons a Captain Harris of Tennessee, held as 
 a hostage for some Confederate prisoner under special charges. It 
 was a delight of Ben. Porter to put his mouth to the key-hole of the 
 intervening door and whistle a lively tune, while the Captain 
 danced to it with the accompanying clanking of his chains. After 
 Porter had been himself in irons, he taught Captain Harris how to 
 remove and replace his handcuffs and fetters, without the knowl 
 edge of the prison officials. It -was through this instruction, that 
 Captain Harris s life was saved when the Columbia jail was burned, 
 early in 1865." 
 
 Captain Harris relates that he was hurried off with other prison 
 ers under guard from Columbia, that they might not be delivered 
 by Gen. Sherman s army, and that, having learned while in prison 
 at Knoxville the trick of slipping off his chains at pleasure, he re 
 leased himself of those with which he had been bound in Columbia 
 and left them in a swamp. He was paroled at Charlotte, N. C., and 
 in exchange for Captain Ellison of the C. S. Army, a prisoner at 
 Nashville held as hostage for him by order of President Lincoln, he 
 was finally transferred from Wilmington, to the United States au 
 thorities. On his return to Knoxville, where he had forgiven all 
 his enemies when expecting soon to be executed, he did not fully 
 illustrate the saying of the poet, that young men "soon forget af 
 fronts ;" but meeting with one who had sought his life when a help 
 less prisoner, he remembered the wrong, and in a brief interview 
 redressed it to his enemy s discontent. 
 
APPENDICES. 373 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE O: Page 207. 
 
 [From official reports concerning- the Sanders raid in East Tennessee, June 
 
 14-24, 1863.] 
 
 Colonel William P. Sanders, in obedience to special instructions 
 from the General Commanding the Department, left Mount Vernon, 
 Kentucky, June 14, 1863, with a force of 1,500 mounted men, com 
 posed of detachments of different regiments, as follows : Seven 
 hundred of the 1st East Tennessee mounted Infantry, under,Colonel 
 R. K. Byrd ; 200 of the 44th Ohio mounted infantry, under Major 
 Moore ; 200 of the 112th Illinois mounted infantry, under Major 
 Dow; 150 of the 7th Ohio Cavalry Volunteers, under Captain Ran- 
 kin; 150 of the Second Ohio Cavalry volunteers, under Captain 
 Welch ; 100 of the First Kentucky cavalry Volunteers, under Cap 
 tain (G. W.) Drye, and a section of Captain Konkle s battery, First 
 Regiment Ohio Artillery Volunters, under Lieutenant Lloyd, for 
 the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad. From Mount Vernon to 
 Williamsburg, on the Cumberland river, ti distance of sixty miles, a 
 train of wagons containing forage and subsistence stores, accom 
 panied the expedition. From this point, he followed a route known 
 as the Marsh Creek road to near Huntsville, Tennessee, leaving 
 that place a few miles to his left. He reached the vicinity of Mont 
 gomery, Tennessee, on the evening of the 17th of June, and learn 
 ing that a small party of rebels were stationed at Wartburg, one 
 mile from Montgomery, he sent 400 men from the 1st East Tennes 
 see to surprise and capture them, following one hour afterward him 
 self with the remainder of the command. The surprise was com 
 plete. They captured 102 enlisted men and two officers (one of 
 them an aide to General Pegram,) together with a large number of 
 horses, sixty boxes artillery ammunition, several thousand pounds 
 of bacon, salt, flour, and meal, some corn, 500 "spades, 100 picks, 
 besides a large quantity of other public stores, and six wagons with 
 mule teams. The prisoners were paroled, and the property de 
 stroyed. 
 
 A small portion of this command, who were out some distance 
 from the camp, with their horses, escaped and gave the first notice 
 of Sanders s approach, at Knoxville, Kingston, Loudon and other 
 places. From that point he marched toward Kingston. When with- 
 
374 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 in eight miles of it, he learned positively that Scott s brigade and 
 one battery were at that place, guarding the ford of Clinch River. 
 For this reason, leaving Kingston to his right, he crossed the river 
 eight miles above, at Waller s Ford on the direct road to London. 
 At daylight, on the 19th (June), he was within three miles of Lou- 
 don, and about the same distance from Lenoir s. He there learned 
 that a force of three regiments was at the Loudon bridge, with eight 
 pieces of artillery, and that they had been for two weeks strength 
 ening the works at that place, digging rifle pits, ditches, &c. A 
 courier was captured from the commanding officer at Loudon, with 
 dispatches ordering the forces from Kingston to follow in Sanders s 
 rear, and stating that the troops from Lenoir s had been ordered to 
 join them. Sanders determined to avoid Loudon and started imme 
 diately for Lenoir s station, which place he reached about 8 A. M., 
 arriving there about thirty minutes after the departure of the rebel 
 troops. At that station he captured a detachment of artillerymen, 
 with three pounder iron guns, eight officers and fifty-seven en 
 listed men, burned the depot, a large brick building, containing five 
 pieces of artillery, with harness and saddles, two thousand five hun 
 dred stand of small arms, a very large amount of artillery and mus 
 ket ammunition, and artillery and cavalry equipments. The "depot 
 was entirely occupied with military stores, and one car filled with 
 saddles and artillery harness. He also captured some seventy-five 
 Confederate States mules and horses. There was a large cotton 
 factory with a large amount of cotton at the place, and he ordered 
 that it should not be burned, as it furnished the Union citizens of 
 the country with their only material for making cloth, but it was 
 burned by mistake or accidentally. He had the telegraph wire and 
 railroad destroyed from there on to Knoxville, at points about one 
 mile apart. He met the enemy s pickets at Knoxville about 7 P. M. 
 on the 19th (June,) and drove them to within a mile of the city. 
 Leaving a portion of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry on the southwest 
 side of the town, he moved the rest of his command as soon as it 
 was dark by another road entirely around to the other side, driving 
 in the pickets at several places, and cut the railroad, so that no 
 troops could be sent to the bridges above. At daylight he moved 
 up to the city on the Tazewell road and found the enemy well 
 
APPENDICES. 375 
 
 posted on the heights and in the adjacent buildings, with eight or 
 nine pieces of artillery. The streets were barricaded with cotton 
 bales, and the batteries protected by the same material. Their 
 force was estimated at 3,000, including citizens who were im 
 pressed into service. After about one hour s skirmishing Sanders 
 withdrew, capturing near the city two pieces of artillery, 6 pounders, 
 the tents, and all the camp equipage of a regiment of conscripts, 
 about eighty Confederate States horses, and thirty-one prisoners. 
 
 He then started for Strawberry Plains, following the railroad, and 
 destroyed all the small bridges and depots to within four miles of 
 the latter place at Flat Creek, where he burned a finely built, cov 
 ered bridge and also a county bridge. The guard had retreated. 
 He left the railroad three miles below the town, and crossed the 
 Holston River, so as to attack the bridge on the same side the 
 enemy were. As soon as he came in sight they opened on the ad 
 vance with four pieces of artillery. He dismounted the infantry and 
 sent the 44th Ohio, under Major Moore, up the river, and the rest 
 under Colonel Byrd and Major Dow, to get in their rear. After 
 about an hour s skirmishing, the enemy was driven off, and leaving 
 a train and locomotive with steam up in waiting, a portion of them 
 escaped. All their guns (five in number), 137 enlisted men and two 
 officers, a vast amount of stores, ammunition, and provisions, (in 
 cluding 600 sacks of salt) about seventy tents and a great quantity 
 of c;mp equipage were left in his hands. He remained at the 
 place all night and destroyed the splendid bridge over the Holston 
 River, over 1,600 feet long, built on eleven piers, the trestle in 
 cluded. 
 
 At daylight on the 21st (June) he started up the railroad for the 
 Mossy Creek bridge, destroying the road at all convenient points. 
 At Mossy Creek, New Market and vicinity, he captured 120 prison 
 ers and destroyed several cars, a large quantity of stores, several 
 hundred barrels of saltpetre, 200 barrels of sugar, and a large 
 amount of other stores. The bridge burned at Mossy Creek was a 
 fine one, over 300 feet in length. Near this place he also destroyed 
 the machinery of a gun factory and a saltpetre factory. 
 
 He determined to leave the railroad here and endeavor to cross 
 the mountains at Rogers Gap, as he knew every exertion was being 
 
376 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 made on the part of the enemy to capture his command. Fording 
 the Holston, at Hay worth s Bend, he started for the Powder Spring 
 Gap of Clinch Mountain. There a large force was found directly in 
 his front, and another strong force overtook and commenced skirm 
 ishing with his rear guard. By taking country roads he got into the 
 Gap without trouble or loss, and had all this force in his rear. On 
 arriving within a mile and a-half of Rogers Gap, he found that it 
 was blockaded by fallen timber, and strongly guarded by artillery 
 and infantry, and that all the gaps practicable were obstructed and 
 guarded in a similar manner. He then determined to abandon his 
 artillery and move by a wood path to Smith s Gap, three miles from 
 Rogers Gap. The guns, carriages, harness and ammunition were 
 completely destroyed, and left. He had now a large force, both in 
 front and rear, and could only avoid capture by getting into the 
 mountains, and thus place all his foes in the rear, which he suc 
 ceeded in doin?, after driving a regiment of cavalry from Smith s 
 Gap. The road through this pass was only a bridle path, and very 
 rough. He did not get up the mountain until after night. About 
 170 of his men and officers got on the wrong road, and did not re 
 join the command until it reached Kentucky. 
 
 Owing to the continual march, many horses gave out and were 
 left, and although several hundred were captured on the march, they 
 were not enough to supply the men. He reached Boston, Ky., on 
 the 24th, with a loss of two killed, four wounded and thirteen miss 
 ing. The number of prisoners paroled by him was 461. 
 
 After acknowledging his indebtedness for the success of the ex 
 pedition to several officers of his command, Col. Sanders did so 
 chiefly to Sergeant Reynolds, First East Tennessee volunteers, and 
 his guides. He said: "Reynolds knowledge of the country was 
 thorough, reliable and invaluable." " All the officers and men de 
 served great credit and praise for the cheerfulness with which they 
 submitted to great hardships and fatigue, and their energy and read 
 iness at all times either to fight or march." 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE P. Page 207. 
 
 [Confederate account of the fight at Knoxville, in the Sanders Raid, condensed 
 from the Report of Lieut. Col. Milton A. Haynes, C. S. Artillery, to Maj. Von 
 Sheliha, Chief of Gen. Buckner s staff.] 
 
APPENDICES. 377 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF EAST TENNESSEE, 
 
 KNOXVILLE, JUNE 21, 1863. 
 
 Major General Buckner had marched toward Big Creek Gap with 
 all the artillery and all the other disposable force at this post, except 
 Colonel Trigg s 51st (54th) Virginia Regiment, and Colonel J. J. 
 Finley s 7th (6th) Florida Regiment; effective force about 1,000 
 men ; leaving Colonel Trigg temporarily in command at Knoxville . 
 On the morning of the 19th, Maj. Von Sheliha, Acting Chief of Staff, 
 was informed that the enemy in large force had passed by London, 
 and were at Lenoir s Station, twenty-four miles from Knoxville, and 
 he requested Lieut. Col. Ilaynes to take charge of the artillery de 
 fence of the city, and to organize his force from the convalescents 
 in the hospitals and from citizens, to man his guns then in the city. 
 At the same time he ordered Maj. S. H. Reynolds, Chief of Ord 
 nance, to issue to Lieut. Col. Haynes as many field pieces as could pos 
 sibly be put in condition within a few hours, and to furnish him with 
 all necessary equipments and one hundred rounds of ammunition. 
 This order was fulfilled as far as was practicable 
 
 In the mean time the citizens of Knoxville had been ordered to 
 report to Col. Haynes or to Col. (E. D ) Blake for duty for the de 
 fence of the city. 
 
 At 3 o clock in the afternoon of that day it was known that the 
 enemy was within five miles of the city, and their advance were 
 skirmishing with thirty-seven of our cavalrymen, being all that 
 were then in Knoxville. The eight pieces of artillery at the ord 
 nance department were immediately posted in sections. First, at 
 College Hill, under Maj. Baker (the exposed point) ; second, on 
 McGhee s Hill, under Capt. Hugh L. McClung, and third, under 
 Lieut. Patterson and Lieut. J. J. Burroughs, at Summit Hill. This 
 last battery had been fortified during the afternoon, under the su 
 perintendence of Capt. (W. F j Foster, of the engineers, with a cot 
 ton bale revetment. During that evening, the enemy failing to ad 
 vance, Colonel Trigg removed Major Baker s battery from College 
 Hill to a point near the Asylum Hospital. In the evening about 200 
 persons, citizens and convalescent soldiers from hospitals, had re 
 ported for duty, and each of the batteries was fully manned, al- 
 
378 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 though in the morning of the same day there was no artillery force 
 whatever in the city. 
 
 During the night the pickets of the enemy advanced upon the 
 city, but the Confederate pickets, thrown out by Col. Trigg, after an 
 hour s skirmish, drove them back at about 2 o clock in the morning. 
 
 At 7 o clock on the 20th, four pieces of artillery, detached by Gen. 
 Buckner from his command, reached the ordnance depot, and were 
 immediately taken to the rear as a reserve. Soon after, the enemy 
 advanced at double quick time from beyond the workshops in North 
 Knoxville, where the Confederates had neither battery nor soldiers 
 to oppose them. Colonel Haynes took " a section of Wyly s 
 battery, and moved them at a gallop to a point immediately 
 in front of the advancing column, and opened fire upon them 
 with spherical case. The enemy took shelter behind houses and 
 fences, and threw forward sharpshooters within 200 yards of the 
 Confederate Battery, which was entirely unsupported by infantry, 
 and 400 yards from any support. At the same time a battery of 
 three-inch rifled guns belonging to the enemy opened upon the Con 
 federates at 800 yards, and during the first two or three shots killed 
 and wounded some of their men and several horses. The battery 
 was then advanced and ordered not to fire at the artillery, but at the 
 infantry. The enemy at this moment forming a column, advanced 
 rapidly, but after receiving two rounds of canister, they retreated." 
 " During the same time the battery under Lieut. J. J. Burroughs and 
 Lieut. Patterson on Summit Hill, were also engaged and kept up a 
 continual fire, during which Capt. McClung and Lieut. Fellows were 
 killed. The section under Lieut. Whelon, before ordered by Col. 
 Trigg to Temperance Hill, opened fire from there upon the retreat 
 ing enemy, which, with the fire from Wyly s battery, Burrough s 
 battery and Maj Baker s, completed the victory. ****** 
 "The enemy had one battery of artillery and about 2,600 men, op 
 posed by about 1,000 men, part of whom were citizens and conva 
 lescent soldiers." 
 
 Col. Haynes says in his report : "Among many citizens who re 
 ported to me that day for duty, I must not forget to mention Hon. 
 Landon C. Haynes, Hon. Wm. H. Sneed, Hon. John H. Crozier, 
 Rev. Joseph H. Martin and Rev. Mr. Woolfolk, and many others 
 
APPENDICES. 379 
 
 who do not desire me to mention their names. With such compa 
 triots and such fellow-soldiers a man might willingly at any time 
 meet the foe. 
 
 "Our loss was two officers and two enlisted men killed and four 
 enlisted men wounded. Loss of enemy, forty-five." 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE R : Page 227. 
 
 [Gen. Longstreet, concerning the military situation in East Tennessee, Nov., 1863.] 
 
 Whether or not the movement of Longstreet against Burnside 
 originated with Mr. Jefferson Davis, as Gen. Grant was informed, 
 it appears from the following letter published in 1871,* that Gen. 
 Longstreet was dissatisfied with the way in which Gen. Bragg had 
 ordered things and was conducting operations in front of Chatta 
 nooga ; that he attributed the idea of his own expedition to Bragg s 
 mind ; that he thought it was the least favorable of opportunities 
 for relief to the situation, but that having heard of it, he had proposed, 
 without avail, a plan to make the movement greatly advantageous. 
 Gen. Grant in his Memoirs, puts the force with which Longstreet 
 left Chattanooga "to go against Burnside" at about 15,000 troops 
 besides Wheeler s Cavalry, 5,000 more. 
 
 Extract from a letter written by Gen. Longstreet, dated July 12th, 
 1871: 
 
 "I have just concluded to send you a copy of a letter written by me 
 just on the point of mounting my horse to start upon the East Ten 
 nessee campaign . It was written after my tent was struck, sitting 
 in the rain, (a light drizzle) from the head of an empty flour barrel ; 
 but I think that, concise and hurriedly as it was written, it plainly 
 indicated that I understood what Grant s campaign would be ; that 
 is, I understood the conditions and situations of the two armies well 
 enough to know what Grant should do, and it is always safe to as 
 sume, with such a man, that he will do what he should do. Seeing 
 the letter that I send a copy of, amongst my papers that I was over 
 looking, I determined to send it, in order that you might be assured 
 of our force and of my appreciation of the campaign when it was 
 projected by General Bragg:" 
 
 * In a pamphlet, entitled u Recollections of the East Tennessee Campaign," by 
 Will II. Brearley, Company E, lyth Michigan Volunteers." Detroit. 
 
380 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 HEADQUARTERS, CHATTANOOGA, Nov. 5, 1863. 
 " S. B. BUCKNER, MAJOR GENERAL. 
 
 MY DEAR GENERAL I start to-day for Tyner s Station, and expect 
 to get transportation to-morrow for Sweetwater. The weather is so 
 bad, and I find myself so occupied that I shall not be able to see you 
 to say good bye. 
 
 When I heard the report around camp, that I was to go into East 
 Tennessee, I set to work at once to try and plan the means of making 
 the move with security, and the hope of great results. 
 
 As every other move had been proposed to the General and re 
 jected, or put off till time made them more inconvenient, I came to 
 the conclusion as soon as the report reached me, that this was to be 
 the fate of our army ; to await till all good opportunities had passed, 
 and then, in desperation, to seize upon the least favorable one. 
 
 As no one had proposed this East Tennessee campaign to the Gen 
 eral, I thought it possible that we might accomplish something by 
 encouraging his own move, and (I) proposed the following plan, viz : 
 To withdraw from our present lines, and the forces now in East Ten 
 nessee : the latter to be done in order to give the impression to the 
 enemy that we were retiring from East Tennessee, and concentra 
 ting here for battle or for some other movement, and place our army 
 in a strong (concentrated) position. The moment the army was to 
 gether, make a detachment of 20,000 to move rapidly against Burn- 
 side and destroy him; and by continued rapid movements, to 
 threaten the enemy s rear and his communications to the extent that 
 might be necessary to draw him out from his present position. This, 
 at least, is a tedious process, but I thought it gave promise of some 
 results, and was therefore better than lying here destroying our 
 selves. 
 
 The move, as I proposed it, would have left this army (Bragg s) 
 in a strong position and safe, and would have made sure the capture 
 of Burnside. That is, the army here could spare 20,000 if it were in 
 the position that I proposed, better than it can spare 12,000, occu 
 pying the lines that it now does. Twenty thousand men well han 
 dled could surely have captured Burnside and forces. Under pres 
 ent arrangements, however, the lines are to be held as they now 
 are, and the detachment is to be of say, 12,000. We thus expose 
 
APPENDICES. 381 
 
 both to failure, and really take no chance to ourselves of great re 
 sults. The only notice my plan received was a remark that General 
 Hardee was pleased to make : I don t think that that is a bad idea 
 of Longstreet s. I undertook to explain the danger of having such 
 a long line under the lire of the enemy s batteries, and he concen 
 trated, as it were, right in our midst, and within twenty minutes 
 march of any portion of our line. But I was assured that he would 
 not disturb us. I repeated my ideas, but they did not even receive 
 notice. Twas not till I had repeated my plan, however, that Gen. 
 Hardee even noticed me. 
 
 Have you any maps that you can give or lend me? I shall need 
 every thing of the kind. Do you know any reliable people living 
 near and east of Knoxville, from whom I might get information of 
 the condition, strength, &c., of the enemy. I have written in such 
 hurry and confusion of packing and striking camp, that I doubt if I 
 have made myself understood. 
 
 I remain very sincerely your friend, 
 
 (Signed) J, LONGSTREET, 
 
 Lieutenant General. 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE S : Page 246. 
 
 [The night ride of Refugees to Kentucky.] 
 
 One of the party of refugees from Knoxville, as Longstreet ap 
 proached it, relates : "The attention of wayside inhabitants, on the 
 occasion of this escapade was the sharper, because the news of 
 Longstreet s advance had already spread through the country ; and 
 many were the questions with which the excited and curious popula 
 tion plied the fleeing party ; such as "What is the matter," etc., 
 etc. The discomfort of the travellers was especially relieved by the 
 tongue of an elderly woman whom they encountered. In order to 
 relish the amusement her sallies afforded them it should be remem 
 bered that "Parson Brownlow" as he was often called, not only had 
 great popular notoriety, but was as highly esteemed by one party to 
 the strife as he was intensely hated by the other. By the rebels 
 he was thought to be, 
 
 "The very head and front of their offending." 
 
382 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 By the Union people he was everywhere known as their fearless 
 and indomitable champion ; and the idea of his giving way before 
 the coming of their foes, could find place in their minds only 
 along side of a desperate emergency. 
 
 As we plunged along with the north star for our main guide, we 
 were continually hailed to know what was the trouble, and what 
 was the state of things at Kuoxville ? It is specially remembered 
 that just after entering Anderson County, we were saluted by one 
 of the numerous families peculiar to that region, headed by the 
 matron, torch in hand : 
 
 "What in the name of goodness does all this mean? and where 
 are you men going ? Is Burnside retreating ? or who are you any 
 how?" 
 
 It was mildly answered to her by one of the more polite-man 
 nered gentlemen of the party, that Gen Burnside, so far from being 
 able to retreat, was in all probability a prisoner with his whole 
 army. 
 
 And are you running, exclaimed she, without firing a gun? 
 Oh no ! said an elderly gentleman ; we are simply retiring in good 
 order, to save the country. 
 
 Yes! said she, as she flamed her torch with a sort of patriotic 
 fierceness; I expect the next thing I ll hear will be that Old Bill 
 Brownlow is running too ! 
 
 At this juncture, the reverend gentleman so irreverently referred 
 to, in a subdued tone of voice, remarked : 
 
 Gentlemen, this is no place to make a stand ; I think I d rather 
 encounter Longstreet s army, or Vaughn s cavalry, than that 
 woman. "* 
 
 Capt. A. J. Ricks, the military escort of the party says: "One 
 man of the group, from the beginning of the hazardous ride, im 
 pressed me with the coolness, judgment and courage, with which he 
 confronted dangers, and advised as to the best means of avoid 
 ing them; and it was soon apparent that the distinguished 
 band looked to him as leader and adviser. And when, at an 
 hour that all agreed my orders required me to leave them to 
 their own chances and I parted from them with many misgivings as 
 
 * "The Nashville (Tenn.) Union." 
 
APPENDICES. 383 
 
 to their safety, I noticed that they all instinctively turned to John 
 Baxter, as pilot and commander." 
 
 They did so with good reason, for he had quick and accurate 
 judgment and a powerful will. Mr. Ricks, now of Massilon, Ohio, in 
 his address at a meeting of the bar of northern Ohio, held at Cleve 
 land, Ohio, April 6, 1886, concerning the recent death of the Hon. 
 John Baxter, of the U. S. Circuit Court, related some interesting in 
 cidents in the Judge s personal history during the civil war. 
 
 "No one of all the famous Union men of that conspicuously loyal 
 section, (East Tennessee,) was more fearless, consistent or aggres 
 sive in the struggle against secession than our departed friend. 
 He was a leader in the historic Union Convention of 1861, 
 which held its session, planning open opposition to the Con 
 federacy, while rebel regiments by the train load, destined for 
 Virginia, were passing by within hailing distance. Johnson, May- 
 nard, Brownlow, Nelson and Baxter were the leading spirits in its 
 deliberations." 
 
 "Although the disposition of many members of that convention 
 to make organized armed resistance at once, and to put Baxter in 
 command of the forces was not approved by his knowledge of the en 
 vironment, he was recommended from Greeneville to President Lin 
 coln for a Brigadier General s commission in the army. This honor 
 was tendered, but for satisfactory reasons was declined. 
 
 " In 1862, while on professional business at Memphis, he was ar 
 rested by the Confederate military authorities and confined to prison 
 sixteen days, refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the Southern 
 Confederacy, but finally, he was unconditionally released." 
 
 " In 1861, he defended three Union men* before a Confederate Mil 
 itary Commission. They were charged with having burned railroad 
 bridges in aid of the Union cause. He argued against the jurisdic 
 tion of the tribunal, contending that so long as the civil courts were 
 open and the due course of legal proceedings was uninterrupted, the 
 citizens arraigned were entitled to a trial by jury, after indictment 
 by a grand jury, a doctrine long afterwards affirmed by the Supreme 
 Court, in the Milligan case." 
 
 " In 1862. a gallant band of Ohio soldiers, known as the Mitchell 
 
 *IIaun, and the two Harmons, father and son, executed at Knoxville. 
 
384 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 raiders, who, in a lawful military expedition, had seized some en 
 gines and cars and run them towards the Federal lines, were cap 
 tured and tried before a court martial as spies. Baxter volunteered 
 to defend them and made a fearless argument for them before the 
 court martial at Knoxville, urging that they were not spies en 
 gaged in a sneaking expedition, but that taking the risks of war, 
 they had made an open venture as soldiers under legitimate 
 military orders, and were entitled to be treated as prisoners of war, 
 subject to exchange, &c. But the spirit of animosity was then so 
 great, that the argument of the Union lawyer was of no avail, and 
 seven of the brave men were shot as spies, while five others escaped 
 during the excitement of a retreat. One of them is now a promi 
 nent Methodist clergyman of this State. 
 
 " One other incident of this stormy and eventful part of his life, 
 forcibly illustrates his fearless character. In 1861, happening one 
 day to step into the Court-house, he found a meeting of citizens 
 called to devise means for raising troops for the rebel army. A per 
 son in the audience, unfriendly to him, and desiring to provoke him 
 to talk in the presence of soldiers, suggested that perhaps Colonel 
 Baxter would make them a speech. He did so, and made quite a 
 different speech from what they wanted to hear. He compared the 
 resources of the North and South told them that superior numbers 
 and wealth and advantages in arming and equipping forces were 
 sure to give the North success ; and that the war, if prosecuted long, 
 would end in the liberation of their slaves, loss of life and treasure 
 and final defeat. He also argued against the policy of conscripting 
 Union men for the Confederate army, and advised the soldiers pres 
 ent, that such men would be of no service or aid to them. A garbled 
 report of the speech was published in a Confederate paper, making 
 it even more obnoxious than it was as delivered. A Georgia regi 
 ment stopped a few days afterwards, on the way to Virginia, and a 
 few personal enemies of Baxter supplied them with drink and copies 
 of the paper containing the garbled speech and suggested that he 
 ought to be hanged. They proceeded to the Court-house where, it 
 w r as reported, that Colonel Baxter was engaged in the trial of a case. 
 His friends, learning of the danger that threatened him, reached the 
 Court-house in advance of the soldiers and advised him to flee for 
 
APPENDICES. 385 
 
 his life. Instead of doing so, he walked out of the Court-house in 
 the midst of [the soldiers and inquired if they were looking for 
 him. One of the leaders thrust a copy of the rebel paper into his 
 hands and asked him if he was the man who made that speech ? 
 He told them in a cool, deliberate, fearless manner of the circum 
 stances under which he had made a speech and of the character of 
 the one actually delivered of the spirit that actuated the men in 
 calling on him for the speech, and of the motive that prompted the 
 publication of it in a garbled form ; and then portrayed the cow 
 ardice of those who had incited them through drink to come by 
 hundreds to take the life of an unarmed and unprotected man. 
 He asked them if they proposed to be the tools of such men, who 
 dared not confront him personally? His manner, his tact, 
 his manly courage, first startled them, then arrested their at 
 tention to his defence and finally won their admiration. Instead 
 of hanging him, they applauded his pluck and approved his 
 denunciation of his enemies. And it is believed that he could easily 
 have turned their fury against his assailants, if he had made the at 
 tempt." 
 
 APPENDIX: NOTE T. Page 251. 
 
 [The Topography of Knoxville and Its Vicinity.] 
 
 "On the north bank of the river, a narrow ridge is formed, ex 
 tending from a point about two and a-half miles east of Knoxville, 
 to Lenoir s. It has an average base of about one and a-half miles 
 in width. At Knoxville, the width is about one mile. This ridge is 
 cut through at short intervals by small streams, two of which, First 
 and Second creeks, run through the town of Knoxville at a distance 
 from each other of about three-fourths of a mile. The main part of 
 the town is built upon that portion of the ridge bounded on the north 
 west by the valley, on the southwest by Second Creek, on the south 
 east by the Holston River and on the northeast by First Creek. It 
 has the appearance of a table, elevated about 150 feet above the 
 river, and about 100 feet above the valley. Again, Third Creek is 
 found about seven-eighths of a mile below Second Creek, forming a 
 x 
 
386 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 second similar table. A depression in the ridge about the same dis 
 tance east of First Creek, forms still another table upon which is 
 built East Knoxville. This elevated ground is called Temperance 
 Hill. From this eastward, the ridge is more broken until it disap 
 pears and other ridges spring up. This last division is known as Ma- 
 bry s Hill, and is the highest ground by some twenty feet to be found 
 on the north side of the river within cannon range of Knoxville." 
 
 CAPTAIN O. M. POE, 
 Chief Engineer, Dept. of the Ohio. 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE U. Page 282. 
 
 Gen. Sherman found on Gen. Burnside s table such a good dinner, 
 that he exclaimed at its contradiction of statements he had heard, 
 that the besieged army was starving. Gen. Burnside explained that 
 he had access to supplies from farmers on the south side of the river. 
 No doubt the dinner was exceptional in the family and had been 
 provided at extra pains, in honor of the guest. Had he shared the 
 rations of the soldiers during the siege, he could have verified the 
 reported scarcity. 
 
 The Comte de Paris seems to have read between the lines of Gen. 
 Sherman s Memoirs, for he represents that "Gen. Sherman relates 
 his astonishment when entering a place (Knoxville; which he be 
 lieved to be reduced to the last extremities, he beheld a park of the 
 finest cattle, and when afterwards, Burnside bade him sit down to a 
 table abundantly served, he understands that the peril has been ex 
 aggerated." (History of the Civil War in America : By the Comte 
 de Paris, Vol. IV., page 329.) 
 
 The Count is here distressingly inaccurate. Gen. Sherman does 
 not say that at Knoxville he beheld a park filled with the finest 
 cattle. He could not have done so, for they were not there to be 
 seen. The "park and the finest cattle" are figments of the imagina 
 tion. 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE V. Page 285- 
 
 Will H. Brearley of Michigan quotes from a letter written by 
 Col. E. P. Alexander, Chief Engineer of Gen. Longstreet, dated Octo 
 ber 18, 1870, as follows : 
 
APPENDICES. 387 
 
 "I believe I know as much or more of the assault on Fort Sanders 
 than any one living, as I first proposed and planned it not, however, 
 as it was carried out, for several days delay was caused by the 
 arrival upon the ground of Bragg s engineer, Gen. Leadbetter, who 
 insisted on an attempt above the town, which, however, he gave 
 up in a reconnoisance ; and by an additional delay of one day of bad 
 weather, during which Gen. Leadbetter suddenly decided to give up 
 the plan we had agreed upon and try a surprise ! ! ! I was then too 
 young and modest to say a word of objection, and the attempted 
 surprise ended as you well know though doubtless was and will 
 always remain a surprise to you, in one sense at least." (See 
 "Recollections of the East Tennessee Campaign.") 
 
 Mr. Brearley also states in his sketches, that during the truce 
 ordered at the conclusion of the Fort Sanders fight, Capt. Poe and 
 Col. Alexander, who had been acquaintances at West Point, had an 
 interview. "Col. Poe very naturally felt like bantering Col. Alex 
 ander about the morning s work, and asked him if they intended to 
 try it again? which was answered in the negative. Col. Alexander 
 then said, We did not know there was a ditch in front of the Fort; 
 which was responded to by an invitation from Col. Poe to go up and 
 see it, but was politely declined with, I am fully satisfied on that 
 point. " 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE W. Page 298. 
 
 Commissioned Officers of the United States Army from Tennessee, 
 in 1861- 65, above the grade of Lieutenant: 
 
 Major Generals by Brevet Samuel P. Carter, Joseph A. Cooper, 
 Alvin C. Gillem. 
 
 Brigadier Generals William B. Campbell, Andrew Johnson, James 
 G. Spears. 
 
 Brigadier Generals by Brevet James P. Brownlow, George Spauld- 
 ing, William J. Smith. 
 
 Colonels Spencer B. Boyd, R. K. Byrd, J P. Carter, Wm. Cross, 
 L. C. Houk, Fielding Hurst, Robert Johnson, George McPherson, 
 James M. Melton, John K. Miller, George W. Moore, John Murphy, 
 Samuel K. N. Patton, Joseph H. Parsons, William C. Pickens, 
 
388 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 William F. Prosser, Daniel M. Ray, Felix A. Reeve, James W. 
 Scully, James T. Shelley, William B. Stokes, Daniel Stover, Isham 
 Young. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonels James T. Abernathy, Joseph H. Blackburn, 
 Albert F. Beach, Stephen Beard, W. K. M. Breckenridge, George 
 W. Bridges, J. W. Bowman, Andrew J. Brown, Roderick R. Butler, 
 John C. Chiles, William J. Cleveland, William J. Clift, William R. 
 Cook, R. Clay Crawford, James J. Dail, R. A. Davis, Calvin M. 
 Dyer, John Ellis, John Feudge, Frank F. Fisher, Frank T. Foster, 
 Robert Galbraith, Abraham E. Garrett, J. W. M. Grayson, George 
 A. Gowin, Charles C. Halfling, Owen Haney, Isaac R. Hawkins, 
 Charles C. Holding, William H. Ingerton, John S. Kirwan, George 
 D. La Vergne, Edward Maynard, John B. Minnis, Charles C. Mc- 
 Caleb, Michael L. Patterson, Milton L. Phillips, Thomas H. Reeves, 
 Pleasant C. Rutherford, William M. Sawyers, Orlando H. Shearer, 
 James W. Spaulding, Brazilian P. Stacy, William P.Story, Duff C. 
 Thornburgh, Jacob M. Thornburgh, D.C.Trewhitt, Fremontin Young. 
 
 Majors John F. Armstrong, William S. Barnett, Benjamin J. 
 Bingham, Edward Black, Luther M. Blackman, James S. Bradford, 
 Jason A. Bradshaw, William H. Bean, Sater Boland, James 0. 
 Berry, Thomas H. Boswell, David G. Bowers, Morgan F. Buekhart, 
 D. A. Carpenter, Favor Cason, Albert C. Catlett, M. Cleaveland, 
 Henry Crumbliss, Ben. Cunningham, William B. Davis, James E. 
 Deakins, William J. S. Denton, James M. Dickerson, Oliver M.Dod- 
 son, David C. Donett, Robert H. M. Donnelly, George W. Doughty, 
 R. H. Dunn, Patrick F. Dyer, John Elliott, John Ellis, Daniel D. 
 Emerson, Henry G. Flagg, A. Marion Gamble, Joseph Grigsby, 
 Sterling Hambright, Abram Hammon, John S. Herman, James H. 
 Hornsby, George W. Hutsell, Charles Inman, James H. Johnson, 
 Christopher C. Kenner, Gaines Lawson, Mack J. Liaming, William 
 R. McBath, Francis M. McKey, Louis Mandazy, Middleton L. 
 Moore, John Parr, Samuel W. Pickens, John M. Sawyers, Charles 
 C." Shoyer, Eldridge S. Sidwell, Burton Smith, Meshac Stevens, 
 Benjamin F. Taylor, Robert M. Thompson, Russell Thornburgh, 
 Alexander Thurneck, William R. Tracy, Eli N. Underwood, Joseph 
 H. Wagner, S. L.Warren, Shelah Waters, Thos. Waters,H. W. Wells, 
 C. C. Wilcox, Wilson W. Willis, John Wortham, John C. Wright. 
 
APPENDICES. 389 
 
 Captains James W. Adkisson, William C. Allen, Allen G. Aii- 
 derson, Francis M. Anderson, Max H. Andrea, William Ausmus, 
 Alfred C. Aytse, Julius Aytse, Daniel W. Baker, Frederick W. Ba 
 ker, R. M. Baldwin, A. B. Earner, William S. Barnett, Charles L. 
 Barton, Thomas J. Barry, Ezekiel W. Bass, Albert F. Beach, Wil 
 liam H. Bean, William O. Beebe, James W. Bell, RufusM. Bennett, 
 Charles S. Berry, James W. Berry, William S. Bewley, John C. Bi 
 ble, Thomas Bible, James M. Bishop, Edward R. Bladen, Joseph 
 II. Blackburn, Leonidas Blizard, Ainsworth E. Blount, James L. 
 W. Boatman, James S. Bonham, Francis H. Bounds, James J. R 
 Boyd, John C. Boyer, John S. Bowers, James W. Branson, Jacob 
 P. Brient, Davis Brooks, David W. Brown, John D. A. Bryan, S. S . 
 Buck, Charles H. Burdick, William C. Burnett, John H. Byrd, 
 Robert E. Cair, David M. Caldwell, William A.. Campbell, Thomas 
 J. Capps, Andrew C. Card, James L. Carter, Landon Carter, Rob 
 ert C. Carter, Alfred M. Gate, William L. Gate, Charles D. Cham 
 pion, Elisha Chastain, Joseph W. Chockley, William J. Cleveland, 
 James Clift, Judge R. Clingan, Robert H. Clinton, Samuel S. Cobb, 
 William A. Cochran, Charles W. Coker, Lafayette Coil, Gillon . 
 Collins, Joseph A. Collins, Louis Collins, James E. Colville, George 
 B. Colver, Albert Cook, Bennett J. Cooper, Alfred Couch, Reuben C. 
 Couch, Adam T. Cottrell, William J. C. Crandall, Jordan W. Creary, 
 Robert C. Crawford, Jacob P. Crooker, Charles W. Cross, John H. 
 Cross, Thomas J. Cypreh, John A Davis, Ross R. Davis, Thomas 
 Davis, James A. Davison, John F. DeArmond, Jas. E. Deakins, 
 Spencer Deaton, Risden D. Deford, John G. Dervan, David J. Dick 
 inson, Dennis Donahue, Alf. T. Donnelly, Robert H. M. Donnelly, 
 James A. Doughty, John C. Dougherty, Thomas J. Dougherty, Ru- 
 fus Dowdy, Thomas P. Duggan, John 0. Duff, James L. Dungan, 
 Pat. F. Dyer, Thomas H. Easley, Thomas D. Eddington, John H. 
 Edwards, James H. Elkins, Daniel Ellis, John W. Ellis, Richard 
 Ellis, Peter Engels, Samuel E. Erwin, Samuel P. Evans, James T. 
 Exenn, William Farmer, Eli G. Fleming, David Floerke, Munro M. 
 Floyd, Michael Fogarty, Asbury Fowler, Richard B. Freeman, Ja 
 cob Fritts, Fred. F. Fulkerson, James H. Galbraith, Theodore W. 
 Garnbee, A. Marion Gamble, Robert L. Gamble, William A. Gar 
 ner, Andrew J. Garrison, Joseph W. Gibson, Homer Gillmore, 
 
39 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 Ellas Goddard, James A. Goddard. Pastede L. Good, George W. 
 Gorman, Thomas J. Gorman, William M. Gourley, John T. Gra 
 ham, George W. Gray, Benjamin F. Green, James C. Green, Joseph 
 Grigsby, Gid. R. Griffith, George E. Grisham, Martin V. Guest, 
 Robert A. Guthrie, Newton Hacker, John N. Haggard, Jacob S. 
 Hagler, Jonathan H. Hall, Henry D. Hamrn, Abram Hammond, 
 Drury P. Harnell, John W. Harrington, Shadrick Harris, William 
 Harrison, John Harrold, William L. Hatherway, William C. Hay- 
 worth, George W. Heard, John Heavy, Willis E. Hedgecock, Jacob 
 M. Hendiickson, James M. Henry, Chester J. Hoag, Elijah J. 
 Hodges, Harry Hodges, Henry G. Hodges, George W. Holtsinger, 
 Samuel C. Honeycutt, Robert N. Hood, James Howe, George E. 
 Huckaba, William Hughes, I evi Hurst, John W. Isbell, Solomon 
 Irick, Otta Jacobi, Wilson C. Jackson, Alexander J. P. Jarcroy, 
 S. M. Jarvis, David B. Jenkins, William D. Jenkins, Lafayette 
 Jones, Thomas A. Jones, Wade Jones, Armine T. Julian, John 
 O Keefe, Henry C. Kelly, Nathan D. Kemp, James P. Kendrick, 
 Henry C. Kerner, William A. Kidwell, Jno. F. Kincheloe, James H. 
 Knight, Alfred Lane, Morgan Lane, Richard S. Lane, Ephraim 
 Langsley, William L. Lea, James L. Ledgerwood, Wash. L. Ledger- 
 wood, Henry N. Lee, Samuel Leinart, George Littleton, Jesse M. 
 Littleton, Henry C. Lloyd, Jacob K. Lones, William S. Long, Rich 
 ard H. Luttrell, Alexander Lynch, Vanatta MacAdoo, James R. 
 McBath, J. T. 0. McCaleb, Samuel McCaleb, Oliver P. McCammon, 
 Moses McConnell, Thos. McDermott, Francis M. McFall, James Mc- 
 Gill, John McKay, Francis M. McKey, Nelson McLaughlin, Thomas 
 McNish, George McPherson, Rufus McSpadden, Fielding L. McVay, 
 Daniel Me William, John W. Magill, Daniel D. Markwood, James 
 M. Martin, John Martin, John H. Martin, Samuel H. Martin, 
 George W. Massey, Monroe Matterson, Goldman G. Meador, 
 Daniel Meador, Bayless A. Miller, John A. Miller, Mitchell R. 
 Millsaps, James A. Montgomery, William F. Morgan, William 
 W. Mosier, William W. Mount, W. M. Murray, Archibald My 
 ers, James C. Myers, Vincent Myers, David M. Nelson, Jacob H. 
 Norris, Samuel E. Northington, Polasky W. Norwood, George Oat- 
 ley, David Odell, Will Odle, William J. Patterson, Robert J. Patty, 
 James P. Patey, William B. Pearson, E. L. Pennington, John C. 
 
APPENDICES. 391 
 
 Penoyar, Daniel T. Peterinan, George W. Peters, William C. Peter 
 son, W. W. Phillips, Chas. A. Pickens, Samuel W.Pickens, Levi 
 Pickering, John D. Poston, Pleasant M. Pryor, William Pryor, James 
 H. Queen, Norton E. Quinn, Robert W. Ragon, Thomas Rains, 
 David Ressh, Alexander D. Rhea, Elias H. Rhea, William 0. Rick- 
 man, Barney J. Riggs, Andrew J. Roberts, James G. Roberts, John 
 
 C. Rodgers, John T. Robeson, Harbert S. Rogers, Robert A. Rogers, 
 Thomas J. Rodgers, Samuel P. Rowan, Samuel W. Scott, Andrew 
 P. Senter, James B. Sharp, David Sharp, John Sharp, William C. 
 Sheltou, Chas. W. Shipmate, H. N. Y. Shipp, John Simpson, Alex. 
 P. Slatery, John C. Slover, Francis A. Smith, John W. Smith, Louis 
 Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Brazilia P. Stacy, Thomas Stephens, Alex. 
 
 D. Stone, Van Stuart, Fred Slirnp, John B. Tape, Isaac A. Taylor, 
 John W. Taylor, Spencer J. Tedder, James B. Terry, William P. 
 Testerman, Samuel Tewls, James R. Thompson, Robert M. Thomp 
 son, Samuel W. Tindell, Thomas D. Tip ton, John H. Trent, Jacob 
 F. Tregler, William A. Tuiggs, Joseph D. Turner, Joseph D. Under- 
 down, John A. Wagner, James H. Walker, John P. Walker, The- 
 ophilus F. Wallace, Henry E. Warren, Shelah Waters, Thomas 
 Waters, John W. Watkins, William C. Webb, William D. Webster, 
 Robert Weitmuller, Louis M. Wester, Samuel West, William 0. 
 White, Galyon Wiley, Moses Wiley, Pleasant Williams, Eli P. 
 Willis, Joseph N. Witt, William R. Willoughby, A. H. Wilson, John 
 Wilson, Jonathan E. Wood, Martin V. Wood, Robert A. Woolen, 
 Gideon Wolf, Cushbert B. Word, James Wortham, Edwin F. Wiley, 
 James B. Wyett, David K. Young. 
 
 Adjutants Noah Acuff, Samuel P. Angel, John K. Beckner, 
 Charles H. Bently, Moses C. Brown, Nathaniel B. Brown, Frank 
 Cameron, James B. Carpenter, Henry A. Cobin, Lawrence Forkner, 
 Joseph P. Galbraith, James R. Gettys, Charles C. Haefling, William 
 S. Hall, John M. Harris, W. R. Harris, John W. Hines, Jacob Leal), 
 William A. McTeer, George B. Morehead, Spencer Munson, John 
 Murphy, Henry W. Parker, Jesse S. Reeves, William H. Roberts, 
 William Rule, Eli T. Sawyers, William J. Scott, Ashley L. Spears, 
 William J. Stokes, Gustavus E. Teubner, Horace H. Thomas, John 
 Thomas, John H. Thorington, William B. Tickering, William Van 
 J)orn. 
 
39 2 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE X. Page 307. 
 
 MARTYRDOM OF UNION PEOPLE. 
 
 Mr. N. G. Taylor undertook after the war ended, to collect ma 
 terials for its "Unwritten History" in East Tennessee, and they not 
 only confirmed but enlarged the knowledge he acquired in 1861- 2 
 and 3 concerning the cruel treatment of Union people during those 
 years. His estimate of those unarmed, who were put to death in 
 various ways throughout that region, is founded upon diligent in 
 quiries. In writing to a friend, February 22, 1886, he says, " I was 
 at some pains to gather up from the different counties the facts on 
 this point, and the result showed an aggregate of 2,500 to 3,000 non- 
 combatants massacred for their Union sentiments. I had at that 
 time a list of those thus slaughtered in this (Carter) county, which 
 aggregated 70 or 75 ; in Greene County over 200 ; in Washington 
 County over 100, &c., &c." 
 
 Hon. C. W. Hall, of Rogersville, Tenn., in 1861-2, in "Threescore 
 Years and Ten, by a Lawyer" (Cincinnati, 1884), tells of such atroc 
 ities. He says : "Guerilla bands claiming to belong to the Rebel 
 army, were engaged generally in the plunder of Union families. 
 One of these bands was commanded by one William Owens. His 
 company was a band of cut-throats, marauding around, seeking to 
 shed blood. They found a lad of some sixteen years, whose name 
 was Lizemore. His father was a Union man and quite aged. This 
 gang of desperadoes arrested the old man, took the boy into the 
 woods and deliberately murdered him. Whether the Confederate 
 Commander in East Tennessee commissioned Owens to plunder and 
 kill in order to subdue the loyal sentiment of that section, as Rey 
 nolds and others were trying to do in other counties is not stated. 
 One fact is known, viz. : that Owens was recognized by the Rebel 
 military as a Captain." After detailing the cruel treatment to 
 which Union people were subjected, Judge Hall adds: "These out 
 rages were not confined to the more populous portions of the coun 
 ties, but were often perpetrated in the hills and hollows, and usually 
 upon men reputable at home, but bold enough to confess their loy 
 alty. Indeed it was a rare thing to find a man who had a bad char 
 acter before the war, advocating the Union cause." 
 
APPENDICES. 393 
 
 APPENDIX : NOTE Y. Page 317. 
 
 The list of contributors to the Boston Fund for the relief of East 
 Tennessee, is interesting. Some sent their proper names with their 
 gifts. Mr. George F. Bartlett, of New Bedford, wrote to Mr. Everett : 
 " In response to Col. Taylor s touching appeal in behalf of our suf 
 fering loyal brethren in East Tennessee, I cheerfully part with the 
 only thing saved from the whaleship * Lafayette, burned by the pi 
 rate * Alabama, April 15, 1863, off Fernando de Noronha, and en 
 close the same to you herewith, viz : (G) six English sovereigns, 
 worth about forty-three dollars. Captain Lewis was fortunately on 
 shore with this gold to purchase stores, when Capt. Semmes steamed 
 around the island and burned his ship. I will regard it as a forced 
 contribution from Capt. Semmes, in the name of the immortal La 
 fayette, who loved our country and its Father, and I am most happy 
 in being able to make so worthy a bestowal of it." 
 
 Hon. J. L. Motley, Jr., U. S. Minister at Vienna, wrote : " I en 
 close a check for $200, and I wish it was in my power to send a much 
 larger sum. When, in after days, the history of this unexampled 
 insurrection against Liberty comes to be written, there will be few 
 episodes more moving or more instructive than the record of those 
 Tennesseeans who have so long sustained the Eepublic and its 
 principles, amid such trial and at such sacrifices. Certainly it is no 
 charity on our part to assist them, but a sacred duty, which I am 
 sure that all will fulfill in proportion to their means." 
 
 Master John W. Pierce, Jr., twelve years old, wrote from S. "W. 
 Harbor, Tremont, Maine : " Dear Sir: Enclosed please find twenty- 
 five dollars, which I have collected for the suffering East Tennes 
 seeans. I had read and heard so much of these loyal people that I 
 wished very much to do something for them. I said to my mother, 
 I will give them my dollar, all my money. She said that will do very 
 little good alone, but I might go round and ask my young friends to 
 give for this noble cause. I was pleased to do so, and have collected 
 this sum. I found both old and young ready to give me something ; 
 very few refused. In one family I got almost five dollars. I know 
 this is a small sum compared with the thousands you are receiving, 
 but if some little boy in each town in this State would go round 
 
394 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 among his friends, the sums thus collected would make thousands 
 of dollars, and oh ! how much suffering would be relieved." 
 
 Some, in transmitting their gifts, substituted for their proper 
 names, such inscriptions, as "A little boy, six years old, his own 
 money," "A poor ex-teacher," "A schoolgirl s monthly allow 
 ance," "A" law student at Cambridge, being one-half of all he 
 has," " C. and J., two poor young men," " Three little sisters," 
 " A Vermont soldier on the Potomac," " One day s pay of a navy 
 yard employe," "A lady, aged 83," Acts, llth ch., 26 and 27th 
 verses," "The earnings of a little boy," "A poor old duster." 
 The citizens of historic Lexington sent $280, and eight little girls, 
 $80, the proceeds of a fair they held at Plymouth. The Pastor of 
 the Second Church in Dorchester, in remitting its contribution for 
 the patriots of East Tennessee," said: "We" observe a fourth Sab 
 bath evening of each month as a time for prayer for our country, 
 and last evening thought it fitting to act as well as pray." The Pas 
 tor of the Congregational Church at Taunton, delivered a special 
 sermon in the same behalf, and the responsive offerings of his peo 
 ple amounted to $870. From the Unitarian Society at Watertown, 
 founded in 1630, its Pastor sent a handsome contribution "for 
 brothers who suffer for their dear country s cause and glory." The 
 44th Regiment of Massachusetts volunteers had been given $5,000 
 by fellow-citizens. One-fifth of the sum was transferred through 
 the Colonel to the fund " for the relief of the suffering loyalists of 
 East Tennessee." "Anonymous" enclosed $500 in a note, saying: 
 " I have stood in the fight many a day by the side of those East 
 Tennesseeans, but I see that there are yet other ways of doing one s 
 duty towards them, so I add my contribution to their aid." Another 
 "Anonymous" wrote: "Fifty dollars from one, who in days of yore 
 was a short sojourner about Knoxville, and whose then estimate of 
 East Tennesseeans has been borne out and tested." "A Young En 
 sign" left his gift, as he " went forth to serve his country." 
 
 The tone of the communications received, showed the ardent 
 patriotism and abounding liberality of the people. Mr. Everett 
 styled it "a noble letter," in which the Selectmen of Dorchester 
 sent about $3,000 the gifts of its citizens and Churches. Three 
 school-girls at Chelsea devoted their afternoons to visiting "from 
 
APPENDICES. 395 
 
 house to house in the little town, which is far from rich, with a sub 
 scription paper, asking from each person the small sum of ten or 
 fifteen cents." They wrote to Mr. Everett: "It might be a com 
 forting thought to the suffering Tennesseans, if they could know 
 how generous and interested even the poorest people have been in 
 their cause. One poor old woman gave all the money she had 
 (seven cents), with the earnest wish that it was a great deal more, 
 and that it might also do a little good." Their collections amounted 
 to $45. The boys of Mr. Allen s School at New Bedford made their 
 gifts under the caption : 
 
 "The loyal boys of Massachusetts, to the loyal boys of Tennessee, 
 send greeting. Having heard through Col. Taylor of the hardships 
 and privations that you have endured while your fathers and our 
 fathers have been struggling side by side for the support of the 
 Union cause and the defence of Liberty, and feeling that, although 
 remotely situated, we are brothers and have a united interest in the 
 prosperity of our glorious country, we wish to manifest to you our 
 sympathy." 
 
396 THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 
 
 APPENDIX. NOTE Z. Page 331. 
 
 CASH BALANCE SHEET OF THE EAST TENNESSEE RELIEF ASSOCIATION. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 From the E. T. R. A. at Boston, by Mr. Edward Everett, $100,000 00 
 From the New England Loyal Relief Society, by M. 
 
 Brimmer, Esq 10,000 00 
 
 From the E. T. R. A. of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia 26,184 55 
 
 " at New York City 15,67518 
 
 " " " at Portland, Me., $7,641 16; also, 
 
 through Governor Cony, $3,518 90 11,160 06 
 
 From Stamford, Connecticut 1,200 00 
 
 " Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania 1,000 00 
 
 " Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Packer Institute, $236 36; Boys 
 
 C. and P. Institute, $271 17 507 53 
 
 From Utica, New York 500 00 
 
 " Cincinnati, Ohio 402 00 
 
 " Knoxville, Tennessee 211 25 
 
 " Providence, Rhode Island 200 00 
 
 " Springfield, Mass 156 75 
 
 " Springfield, Ohio 134 00 
 
 " Quincy, Illinois, (Ladies Needle Picket) 100 00 
 
 $167,431 32 
 From sales at Knoxville, from 1864 to 1868, $46,413 82 
 
 " by County Agents " " " 37,55792 
 " Loans to poor, 185 00; interest in Cin 
 cinnati, &c., 172 08 357 08 
 
 From various sources, 191 55 ; cash in ex 
 cess, 253 82.. 445 37 84,774 19 
 
 $252,205 51 
 
 Boxes and barrels of clothing, &c., were received: From Massa 
 chusetts towns and Boston, 34 packages; N. E. Refugee Aid So 
 ciety, 15 ; American Union Commission, 13 ; Unknown, 15 ; Phila 
 delphia Ladies Relief Association, 9 ; Ladies Aid Society, Wil 
 mington, Delaware, Refugee Commission, Cincinnati, and Sag Har 
 bor, New York, 2 each ; Dunkirk, Binghampton, and Saugerties, N. 
 Y., 1 each. 
 
APPENDICES. 397 
 
 EXPENDITURES OF THE EAST TENNESSEE RELIEF ASSOCIATION. 
 1864. 
 
 Feb. For supplies of food at Cincinnati, by Philadel 
 phia Committee ; freight, insurance, &c $8,106 66 
 
 Mar. For supplies of food at Cincinnati, by General 
 
 Agent ; freight, insurance, &c 32,759 49 
 
 1864 & 5 For supplies of food from Cincinnati, by 
 
 Thos. G. Odiorne ; freight, insurance, <&c 90,892 10 
 
 Goods made into clothing by Ladies Sewing Cir 
 cle, Boston 2,00000 
 
 Dry Goods bought by General Agent at Philadel 
 phia and New York 11 ,000 00 
 
 Dry goods and groceries bought at Cincinnati by 
 
 General Agent 45,903 70 
 
 Wheat bought at Cincinnati by General Agent. . 4,133 51 
 
 Freight, insurance, &c., on above purchases 4,075 08 
 
 Shoes at Boston and woolen goods at Philadel 
 phia (Mr. Everett and L. P. Smith) 12,041 10 
 
 Stipends and expenses of Agents (including 
 
 Nashville), buying and forwarding 3,596 56 
 
 Supplies bought at Knoxville in successive years 
 
 to 1868.. 2,409 37 
 
 $216,977 57 
 1864-5 Salaries and expenses attending contribution 
 
 of fund , 11,187 57 
 
 For 4 Years Home Agency, officers of the Association, 
 
 employes, &c 10,442 73 
 
 Cash for support of refugees and poor at Knox 
 ville, Nashville and Cincinnati 6,961 15 
 
 House rent, labor, drayage, printing, &c 3,911 31 
 
 Gift towards Everett Hospital, Knoxville 2,000 00 
 
 Gift for relief of sufferers by fire, Portland, Me.. 500 00 
 
 $251,980 33 
 Balance cash on hand, July, 1868 225 18 
 
 $252,205 51 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Arnold, Thomas D 109 
 
 Baxter, John 106, 108, 1 19, 156, 246, 323 
 
 Bell, John 83, 102 
 
 Benjamin, Lieut 241, 251, 274, 275, 277, 279 
 
 Benjamin, J. P 140, 155, 157, 313 
 
 Blue Springs, fight at 223 
 
 Bragg, Gen. Braxton 171 , 227, 234, 237, 280 
 
 Bridges , Hon George W 128 
 
 Bridges on railways In East Tennessee burned 133 
 
 Brownlow, Wm. G 83, 106, 147, 153-158, 166, 246, 323, 325 
 
 Buckner, Gen. Simon 201, 208-9 
 
 Burnside, Gen. A. E., 201, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 217, 219-224, 227, 
 230-232, 236-238, 241, 250-54, 256, 258, 265, 272-3, 279, 280, 283 
 
 Byrd, Col. R. K 201, 215, 220, 222, 294 
 
 Campbell, Col. Win 43, 46, 52-5 
 
 Campbell s Station, battle of 241-2-3 
 
 Carroll, Gen 147, 155, 163 
 
 Carter, Gen. Samuel P 194, 222, 230, 245, 247, 248, 317, 325 
 
 Carter, Col, J. P. T 167, 214, 220 
 
 Church Ministers 180-1-2 
 
 Churchwell, Col. Wm. M . 173, 174, 187 
 
 Cooper, Col. (Gen.) Joseph A 116, 119, 294 
 
 Cox, Gen. J. D 214,293,296 
 
 Crittenden, Gen. (C. S. A.) 155, 156, 163-4 
 
 Cumberland Gap 128, 131, 161, 186, 187, 207, 216, 223, 226 
 
 Dana, Charles A 226, 236, 324 
 
 East Tennessee Relief Society 310, 311, 317, 323 
 
 Everett, Edward 12, 22, 311, 317, 328, 329 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 Executions 147, 150, 151 
 
 Ferrero, Gen 223, 241, 252, 276 
 
 Foster, Maj. Gen 286, 289, 291 
 
 Foster, Col 215, 221, 223- 4, 22G 
 
 Grant, U. S 225, 226, 227, 234- 5- 6, 237, 267, 281, 288 
 
 Halleck, Gen 220, 221, 222 
 
 Hartraupt, Gen 240, 241, 252, 264 
 
 Heiskell, William 108, 323 
 
 Humphreys, Judge W. H 124, 141, 143 
 
 Imprisonments 145, 146 
 
 Johnson, Hon. Andrew 100, 102, 114, 129, 158, 309 
 
 Kirby Smith, Gen. E 170, 171- 3, 186, 187, 301 
 
 Knoxville 34, 35 
 
 Lenoir s 201, 225, 238, 239 
 
 Lincoln, President A 92, 94, 235, 286, 309 
 
 Longstreet, Gen. . . 226, 227, 234, 238, 241, 261, 265- 6-7, 271, 275- 6, 
 
 279, 281, 291 
 
 London 134- 5, 201, 222, 225, 236-7, 239 
 
 May, M. R., M. D.. 108 
 
 Maynard, Horace 102, 127, 158, 174, 236 329 
 
 Military League 100, 104, 113 
 
 Murphy, J. C 108 
 
 Nelson, Thomas A. E, 100, 102, 108, 128, 323 
 
 Pennsylvania Commissioners 323, 324, 326, 330 
 
 Poe, Capt. Orlando M 250, 253, 256, 263, 284, 285 
 
 Potter, Brig. Gen 223, 225, 236, 241, 271 
 
 Reynolds, Robert B 145, 157 
 
 Rosecrans, Gen 219, 221-2 
 
 Sanders, Col. (Gen.) Win. P 199, 201- 2, 207, 213, 238, 253, 254, 
 
 255, 256 
 
 Schofield, Gen 293, 294, 295- 6 
 
 Sevier, Col. John 42, 43- 4, 46, 53, 59-60, 63, 67-71- 76 
 
 Shackelford, Gen 223, 226, 244 
 
 Shelby, Col. Isaac 42, 43- 4, 46, 50, 52- 3 
 
 Sherman, Gen. W. T 234, 237, 281, 282, 287, 288, 293, 296, 297 
 
 Slavery in East Tennessee 30-34, 78 
 
 Smith, Lloyd P. . . 34, 310, 323, 328 
 
400 INDEX. 
 
 Spears, J. G 108,119 
 
 Stanford, Dr. R. L 159-163 
 
 Taylor, Nathaniel G. . . .80, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 313, 316, 317, 
 322, 323 
 
 Temple, 0. P ..... 82- 3, 106, 246, 323 
 
 Thomas, Gen 163, 227, 235, 294 
 
 Trigg, Connelly F 101, 106, 109, 153, 158 
 
 Union Convention at Knoxville and Greeneville 105-119 
 
 University, East Tennessee 179-180, 298 
 
 Wheeler, Gen 234, 238 244, 293 
 
 Wheeler, R. D 108 
 
 White, Gen 214, 222, 236, 241 
 
 Wilcox, Gen 214, 223, 224, 226, 267 
 
 Williams, John . . 106, 108 
 
 Wood, Col. W. B 131, 132, 136, 139 
 
 Woolford, Col 214, 222, 225, 244 
 
 Yancey, Wm, L 81-85 
 
 Zolicoffer, Gen. Felix . . ... .122-126, 131, 139, 153, 163 
 
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