Diary of Private W. J. Davidson, May 31, 1863—Noon

Yesterday morning the brigade left Canton, heading northwest. We made twenty miles and encamped for the night in a grove convenient to water, badly broken down by the march. Our division is now composed of five or six brigades of infantry and cavalry, under acting Major General Walker, and it is in fine fighting spirits. Nothing of interest on the route yesterday, except the crossing of the Big Black on a pontoon at 3 o'clock, P. M. To-day we have made about eight miles, and are now halted in a hot lane awaiting orders. The Forty-first Tennessee is the advance guard for the division. We have passed the little town of Benton, and are in eight miles of Yazoo City; by day after to-morrow we expect to meet the enemy. Besides our own, there are two other columns marching on the enemy, each said to be fourteen thousand strong, the whole under command of General Joseph E. Johnston. It is thought to be his intention to fall upon the enemy's rear at three points, while the Vicksburg garrison assails from the front. I expect some bloody work, but we are confident of the result.

SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 214-5

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Elizabeth Budd Smith, March 17, 1864

Headquarters Div. Seventeenth Army Corps,

Red River Expedition, Fort De Russey,

Avoyelles County, Louosiana, March 17, 1864.

My Dear Wife:

My last hurried letter to you was dated from on board ship at Vicksburg. The fleet of transports under my command sailed from that point at seven o'clock, Thursday, 10th inst., arrived at mouth of Red River and reported to Admiral Porter on Friday at noon. At 10 A.m., Saturday, sailed up Red River and Atchafalaya under orders and signals from flagship Black Hawk, to Simmesport. Morning of Sunday debarked my troops for inspection, review and drill by regiments. At seven o'clock P.M., received marching orders, and at 8 P.M. marched, bringing up the rear of the column, repaired bridges through the night, roads for greater part of the way bad and swampy; bivouacked at 4 A.M., Monday, eight miles from Simmesport. Meanwhile, Gen. A. J. Smith, with General Mower's command, had reconnoitred the front, driven four regiments of the enemy from a fortification, situate some five miles from Simmesport, and was making across country for Moreauville on Bayou L'Eglise. Gave my troops rest two hours; at six o'clock took up the line of march, moving forward rapidly till eleven o'clock, when I halted, ordered coffee for the men and fed the animals. Meanwhile pioneers were reconstructing bridge destroyed by the enemy. At noon resumed march which till this time had led us for the most part through a rich and highly-cultivated country past extensive canefields and sugar-houses, now crossing a bayou and penetrating a swamp spreading some few miles before us. Ascending a slight elevation, we suddenly emerged in one of the most beautiful prairies imaginable. High table land, gently undulating, watered by exquisite lakes occasional groves, the landscape dotted with tasteful houses, gardens and shrubberies. This prairie, called Avoyelles, is settled exclusively by French emigrés, many of whom, as our army passed, sought shelter under the tricolor of France. Pushing forward rapidly, we gained Marksville at 4.30 P.M. Deserters had warned us that the enemy were on our left flank and rear as early as three o'clock. My troops were well closed up. Two and a half miles beyond Marksville, I formed line of battle at 5.30, my right resting immediately on the left of the advanced forces. My transportation and ambulances parked far to the rear. As my command came to front, brisk musketry firing commenced at the fort. Some shells fell to the rear and right of my line. I was ordered by the general commanding to look well to my rear and left wing, that I might anticipate attack from General Walker with six thousand Texans. I stood to arms. At 6.30 news was brought me that the fort had surrendered. I threw out heavy pickets, stacked arms and went into bivouac, a piercing cold “Norther” sweeping over the plain. In summary, I remark that the command on the 14th inst, marched twenty-eight and a half miles, built a substantial bridge of sixty feet in length, repaired minor ones, and took a fort between sunrise and sunset. But one brigade, Colonel Ward, commanding, was actively engaged; their casualties nine killed, thirty-seven wounded. The substantial results I enclose in memorandum of ordnance and ordnance stores, to which may be added a large amount of commissary stores, flour, beef, sugar and molasses, and three hundred and thirty-four prisoners, thirty-four of whom were officers from lieutenant-colonel to third lieutenant.

Meanwhile, convoy and fleet had made slow and devious way through the tortuous windings of Red River, where navigation at present stage of water is difficult. Rapid current, frequent eddies, sharp bends and snags, are the natural obstacles; to these the enemy added rafts and spiles; nevertheless, as the fort surrendered, the Black Hawk rounded to land shortly afterwards the general commanding received the congratulations of the Admiral, whom he will compliment by present of the nine-inch Dahlgren, of the Indianola, and the two heavy guns of the Harriet Lane, recaptured. My command is in occupation of the fort, and will be engaged to-day and to-morrow in the demolition of the casemates, bridges, etc., etc., and finally the blowing-up of the magazines, in which we shall permit to be destroyed vast quantities of powder. The main body under command of General Mower, convoyed by Admiral Porter, sailed last night for Alexandria, where I expect to join them in three days. Gen. A. J. Smith remains with me, and gunboats Essex and Benton, Captains Grier and Townsend.

A glance at the map will give you my present locality without the aid of sketch; but I will enclose herewith draft and dimensions of fortifications that you may intelligently answer questions; to which end, indeed, I have written you a sort of condensed report. If you have not “Colton's” maps, you had better buy first volume, North and South America; meanwhile you can borrow and trace me down the Mississippi, up the Atchafalaya, pronounced “Chafalia,” to Simmesport, across country to Marksville, from thence to Fort De Russy, on the Red, thence up the river to Alexandria.

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 356-9

General Robert E. Lee’s Special Orders, No. 191

SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 191.

HDQRS. ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

September 9, 1862.

I. The citizens of Fredericktown being unwilling, while overrun by members of this army, to open their stores, in order to give them confidence, and to secure to officers and men purchasing supplies for benefit of this command, all officers and men of this army are strictly prohibited from visiting Fredericktown except on business, in which case they will bear evidence of this in writing from division commanders. The provost-marshal in Fredericktown will see that his guard rigidly enforces this order.

II. Major Taylor will proceed to Leesburg, Va., and arrange for transportation of the sick and those unable to walk to Winchester, securing the transportation of the country for this purpose. The route between this and Culpeper Court-House east of the mountains being unsafe will no longer be traveled. Those on the way to this army already across the river will move up promptly; all others will proceed to Winchester collectively and under command of officers, at which point, being the general depot of this army, its movements will be known and instructions given by commanding officer regulating further movements.

III. The army will resume its march to-morrow, taking the Hagerstown road. General Jackson's command will form the advance, and, after passing Middletown, with such portion as he may select, take the route toward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point, and by Friday morning take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, capture such of them as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry.

IV. General Longstreet's command will pursue the main road as far as Boonsborough, where it will halt, with reserve, supply, and baggage trains of the army.

V. General McLaws, with his own division and that of General R. H. Anderson, will follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middletown will take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at Harper's Ferry and vicinity.

VI. General Walker, with his division, after accomplishing the object in which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Loudoun Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Keys' Ford on his left, and the road between the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his right. He will, as far as practicable, co-operate with Generals McLaws and Jackson, and intercept retreat of the enemy.

VII. General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear guard of the army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, ordnance, and supply trains, &c., will precede General Hill.

VIII. General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson, and McLaws, and, with the main body of the cavalry, will cover the route of the army, bringing up all stragglers that may have been left behind.

IX. The commands of Generals Jackson, McLaws, and Walker, after accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will join the main body of the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown.

X. Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in the regimental ordnance wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, to procure wood, &c.

By command of General R. E. Lee:

R. H. CHILTON,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 19, Part 2 (Serial No. 28), p. 603-4

In The Review Queue: Greyhound Commander

Greyhound Commander:

Confederate General John G. Walker's

History of the Civil War West of the Mississippi

Edited By Richard Lowe

While a political refugee in London, former Confederate general John G. Walker wrote a history of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River. Walker’s account, composed shortly after the war and unpublished until now, remains one of only two memoirs by high-ranking Confederate officials who fought in the Trans-Mississippi theater. Edited and expertly annotated by Richard Lowe — author of the definitive history of Walker’s Texas division — the general’s insightful narrative describes firsthand his experience and many other military events west of the great river. Before assuming command of a division of Texas infantry in early 1863, Walker earned the approval of Robert E. Lee for his leadership at the Battle of Antietam. Indeed, Lee later expressed regret at the transfer of Walker from the Army of Northern Virginia to the Trans-Mississippi Department. As the leader of the Texas Division (known later as the Greyhound Division for its long, rapid marches across Louisiana and Arkansas), Walker led an attempt to relieve the great Confederate fortress at Vicksburg during the siege by the Federal army in the spring and summer of 1863. Ordered to attack Ulysses Grant’s forces on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Walker unleashed a furious assault on black and white Union troops stationed at Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana. The encounter was only the second time in American history that organized regiments of African American troops fought in a pitched battle. After the engagement, Walker realized the great potential of black regiments for the Union cause.

Walker’s Texans later fought at the battle of Bayou Bourbeau in south Louisiana, where they helped to turn back a Federal attempt to attack Texas via an overland route from New Orleans. In the winter of 1863–1864, Walker’s infantry and artillery disrupted Union shipping on the Mississippi River. According to Lowe, the Greyhound Division’s crucial role in throwing back the Union’s 1864 Red River Campaign remains its greatest accomplishment. Walker led his men on a marathon operation in which they marched about nine hundred miles and fought three large battles in ten weeks, a feat unmatched by any other division — Union or Confederate — in the war. Expertly edited by Richard Lowe, General Walker’s history stands as a testament to his skilled leadership and provides an engaging primary source document for scholars, students, and others interested in Civil War history.

ISBN 978-0807152508, Louisiana State Univ Press, © 2013, Hardcover, 135 Pages, Maps, Footnotes, Bibliography & Index. $3600.  To Purchase the book click HERE.