General Pierre G. T. Beauregard to Samuel Cooper, December 22, 1864

CHARLESTON, December 22, 1864.        

(Received 23d.)

On the 16th instant enemy, 800 strong, occupied Pollard. After burning Government and railroad buildings, retreated in the direction they came. They were pursued thirty miles, losing a portion of their transportation, baggage, and supplies, leaving many dead negro troops on the road. Our forces, commanded by General Liddell, acted with spirit and gallantry.

G. T. BEAUREGARD,        

General.

General COOPER.

(Same to President, Secretary of War, and General Bragg.)

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 44 (Serial No. 92), p. 449; Richmond Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, Saturday Morning, December 24, 1864, p. 3

Diary of Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle: Monday, June 1, 1863

We all went to a review of General Liddell's brigade at Bellbuckle, a distance of six miles. There were three carriages full of ladies, and I rode an excellent horse, the gift of General John Morgan to General Hardee. The weather and the scenery were delightful. General Hardee asked me particularly whether Mr Mason had been kindly received in England. I replied that I thought he had, by private individuals. I have often found the Southerners rather touchy on this point.

General Liddell's brigade was composed of Arkansas troops — five very weak regiments which had suffered severely in the different battles, and they cannot be easily recruited on account of the blockade of the Mississippi The men were good-sized, healthy, and well clothed, but without any attempt at uniformity in colour or cut; but nearly all were dressed either in grey or brown coats and felt hats. I was told that even if a regiment was clothed in proper uniform by the Government, it would become parti-coloured again in a week, as the soldiers preferred wearing the coarse homespun jackets and trousers made by their mothers and sisters at home. The Generals very wisely allow them to please themselves in this respect, and insist only upon their arms and accoutrements being kept in proper order. Most of the officers were dressed in uniform which is neat and serviceable — viz., a bluish-grey frock-coat of a colour similar to Austrian yagers. The infantry wear blue facings, the artillery red, the doctors black, the staff white, and the cavalry yellow; so it is impossible to mistake the branch of the service to which an officer belongs — nor is it possible to mistake his rank. A second lieutenant, first lieutenant, and captain, wear respectively one, two, and three bars on the collar. A major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, wear one, two, and three stars on the collar.

Before the marching past of the brigade, many of the soldiers had taken off their coats and marched past the General in their shirt-sleeves, on account of the warmth. Most of them were armed with Enfield rifles captured from the enemy. Many, however, had lost or thrown away their bayonets, which they don't appear to value properly, as they assert that they have never met any Yankees who would wait for that weapon. I expressed a desire to see them form square, but it appeared they were “not drilled to such a manoeuvre” (except square two deep). They said the country did not admit of cavalry charges, even if the Yankee cavalry had stomach to attempt it.

Each regiment carried a “battle-flag,” blue, with a white border, on which were inscribed the names “Belmont,” “Shiloh,” “Perryville,” “Richmond, Ky,” and “Murfreesborough.” They drilled tolerably well, and an advance in line was remarkably good; but General Liddell had invented several dodges of his own, for which he was reproved by General Hardee.

The review being over, the troops were harangued by Bishop Elliott in an excellent address, partly religious, partly patriotic. He was followed by a congress man of vulgar appearance, named Hanley, from Arkansas, who delivered himself of a long and uninteresting political oration, and ended by announcing himself as a candidate for re-election. This speech seemed to me (and to others) particularly ill-timed, out of place, and ridiculous, addressed as it was to soldiers in front of the enemy. But this was one of the results of universal suffrage. The soldiers afterwards wanted General Hardee to say something, but he declined. I imagine that the discipline in this army is the strictest in the Confederacy, and that the men are much better marchers than those I saw in Mississippi.

A soldier was shot in Wartrace this afternoon. We heard the volley just as we left in the cars for Shelbyville. His crime was desertion to the enemy; and as the prisoner's brigade was at Tullahoma (twenty miles off), he was executed without ceremony by the Provost guard. Spies are hung every now and then; but General Bragg told me it was almost impossible for either side to stop the practice.

Bishop Elliott, Dr Quintard, and myself got back to General Polk's quarters at 5 P.M., where I was introduced to a Colonel Styles, who was formerly United States minister at Vienna. In the evening I made the acquaintance of General Wheeler, Van Dorn's successor in the command of the cavalry of this army, which is over 24,000 strong. He is a very little man, only twenty-six years of age, and was dressed in a coat much too big for him. He made his reputation by protecting the retreat of the army through Kentucky last year. He was a graduate of West Point, and seems a remarkably zealous officer, besides being very modest and unassuming in his manners.

General Polk told me that, notwithstanding the departure of Breckenridge, this army is now much stronger than it was at the time of the battle of Murfreesborough. I think that probably 45,000 infantry and artillery could be brought together immediately for a battle.

SOURCE: Sir Arthur James Lyon Fremantle, Three Months in the Southern States: April-June, 1863, p. 155-9

Army of the Cumberland: June 24-26, 1863

3A 23

ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND

June 24-26, 1863

Moving south about 3 mi. E., the XX Federal Corps (McCook) was stopped at Liberty Gap, 6 mi. S. E., by the 5th & 15th Arkansas Inf., of Liddell’s Brigade, later reinforced by Cleburne’s Division.  With its 1st (Jeff C. Davis) & 2nd (R. W. Johnson) Divisions heavily engaged, the XXth Corps sideslipped east to Hoover’s Gap, marching thence to Manchester.

Tennessee Historical Commission

LOCATION: Across the road from Christiana Middle School, 4675 Shelbyville Pike (US Route 231), Christiana, Tennessee.

Brigadier-General Thomas Kilby Smith to Eliza Walter Smith, April 24, 1865

Headquarters District Of South Alabama,

Fort Gaines, Ala., April 24, 1865.

My Dear Mother:

You must not feel vexed, as you say you are, in reference to Carr's getting my command.

The rough and tumble of an active campaign in this climate at this season of the year, with my shattered constitution, would be fatal. The wear and tear of the last four years has told upon me, and I am constantly warned to guard against exposure. Here I am comparatively comfortable, and though I cannot hope while exposed to the baleful influence of malaria to be well, I may ward off prostrating sickness. So that, take the matter in all its bearings, it is probably for the best that I should have been disposed of as I am for the present.

You say in reference to the fall of Richmond that you “cannot but feel the key is reached and rebellion unsealed.” It may be that it is unsealed; but it is not yet crushed, and you need not lay the flattering unction to your soul that peace is at hand, or that the rebellion is crushed. I notice by the Northern papers that the people are drunk with joy and jubilee. Instead of maintaining a quiet dignity, tumultuous pressure has been made to grasp the enemy by the hand and to kill the fatted calf and welcome the prodigal back. The rebels laugh in their sleeves. The North has not yet learned how to make war upon its adversary. But I don't intend to croak or play the bird of ill omen; the signs of the times are pregnant; millions of people in this nation are going up and down smarting with a sense of personal injury, mourning brothers, sons, husbands, fathers, sweathearts slain, homesteads burned, altars desecrated, property destroyed. There is no peace with these in this generation. In my judgment, there is just one hope for us now, and that is a war with a foreign power that would have the effect of uniting the belligerents. I have now prisoners with me, three generals and their staffs, Liddell, Cockrel, and Thomas. I guarantee that I can enlist all or the major part of them to go with me to Mexico or Canada to fight under the stars and stripes. But they won't go home to be contented. Neither men nor women will consent to go back to ruined plantations, depopulated cities, abandoned villages, and, without the aid of the peculiar institution, essay to rebuild, reconquer the wilderness, recreate a fortune without grumbling, and the bitterness of spirit will soon find occasion for fresh outbreak

SOURCE: Walter George Smith, Life and letters of Thomas Kilby Smith, p. 391-2

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones, December 25, 1864

Christmas ! — Clear and pleasant — white frost.

All quiet below. But it is believed on the street that Savannah has been evacuated, some days ago. I have not yet seen any official admission of the fact.

We have quite a merry Christmas in the family; and a compact that no unpleasant word shall be uttered, and no scramble for anything. The family were baking cakes and pies until late last night, and to-day we shall have full rations. I have found enough celery in the little garden for dinner.

Last night and this morning the boys have been firing Christmas guns incessantly — no doubt pilfering from their fathers' cartridge-boxes. There is much jollity and some drunkenness in the streets, notwithstanding the enemy's pickets are within an hour's march of the city.

A large number of the croaking inhabitants censure the President for our many misfortunes, and openly declare in favor of Lee as Dictator. Another month, and he may be unfortunate or unpopular. His son, Gen. Custis Lee, has mortally offended the clerks by putting them in the trenches yesterday, and some of them may desert.

Many members of Congress have gone home. But it is still said they invested the President with extraordinary powers, in secret session. I am not quite sure this is so.

I append the following dispatches:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

December 23d, 1864.

HON. JAMES A. SEDDON, SECRETARY OF WAR.

On the 20th, Gen. Early reported one division of the enemy's cavalry, under Gen. Custer, coming up the valley, and two divisions, under Gen. Torbert, moving through Chester Gap, with four pieces of artillery and thirty wagons.

On the 22d, Rosser attacked Custer's division, nine miles from Harrisonburg, and drove it back, capturing forty prisoners.

This morning, Torbert attacked Lomax near Gordonsville, and was repulsed and severely punished. He is retreating, and Lomax preparing to follow.

R. E. LEE.

DUBLIN, December 20th, 1864.

A dispatch from Gen. Breckinridge to-day, dated at Mount Airy, sixteen miles west of Wytheville, says he had fought the enemy for two days, successfully, near Marion. The enemy had retired from his front; but whether they were retreating to East Tennessee or not, he had not ascertained.

CHARLESTON, December 22d, 1864.

TO GEN. S. COOPER.

On the 16th inst, the enemy, 800 strong, occupied Pollard. After burning the government and railroad buildings, they retired in the direction they came.

They were pursued thirty miles, losing a portion of their transportation, baggage, and supplies, and leaving many dead negro troops on the road.

Our force, commanded by Gen. Liddell, acted with spirit and gallantry.

G. T. BEAUREGARD, General.

OUR INDIAN TROOPS.—Gen. Stand Watie, commanding our Indian troops in the trans-Mississippi Department, has fully clothed and armed all his men, and is in the vicinity of Fort Smith, attacking and destroying Yankee wagon trains.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 364-6