Gratuitous Printing

The following very sensible remarks from an exchange almost every publisher will heartily endorse. We have had considerable of this kind of experience ourselves:

“It has been the custom of all associations and individuals to impose upon editors the publication of resolutions, obituary notices, advertisements of benevolent enterprises and various other articles of limited or individual interest without charge. We have done quite our share of that kind of work. If associations consider it due to deceased members to pass resolutions testifying to their virtues and condoling with their relations, they must henceforth consider it due to publishers to pay for them; and if literary, school and other associations cannot exist without gratuitous printing they must be too slightly prized to promise substantial benefit to the members. – Until we find teachers who teach gratis; butchers who furnish steaks and roasts without charge, lawyers who counsel without fees; farmers who donate their wood and produce, &c., we must decline being in the list of printers who print without compensation.”

A sensible publisher, that – [Gate City]

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa June 18, 1864

Reading Old Abe’s Proclamation to the Rebels

A correspondent with General Sherman’s army narrates the following:

“Brigadier General Morgan informs me of an incident that occurred on his line of operations, that is too good to be lost: While his brigade occupied the gap between Oak Knob and Rocky Face, recently a corporal of company I, 60th Illinois, broke from the line and under cover of projecting ledges got up within twenty feet of a squad of rebels on the summit. Taking shelter from the sharpshooters he called out:

“I say, rebs, don’t you want to hear Old Abe’s amnesty proclamation?”

“Yes!” was the unanimous cry “give us the ape’s proclamation.”

“Attention!” commanded the corporal, and in a clear and resonant voice he read the amnesty proclamation to the rebels, beneath the cannon planted by the rebels to destroy the fabric of government established by our fathers. When he arrived at those passages of the proclamation where the negro was referred to he was interrupted by the cries of “none of your d—d Abolition. Look out for rocks! And down over his hiding placed descended a shower of stones and rocks. – Having finished the reading the corporal asked,

“Well, rebs, how do you like the terms? Will you hear it again?

“Not to-day, you bloody Yank. Now crawl down in a hurry and we won’t fire,’ was the response, and the daring corporal descended and rejoined his command, which had distinctly heard all that passed. I regret I could not learn the name of the corporal, for he must get promotion at the hand of Father Abraham and Governor Dick Yates.”

– Published in The Union Sentinel, June 18, 1864

From the 18th

A letter received by Mrs. Duncan from the Captain, dated Fort Smith, May 31st, says the health of those of Co. B, who are at the Fort was tolerably good. – Most of the Regiment had gone on a scout down the River, 16 of whom while straggling behind were charged on by the enemy, and killed or taken prisoners – 3 of whom are known to have been killed; whether any of them belonged to Co. B was not known. He says the Reg. has lost 150 men since it started on that Camden trip – and that the bushwhackers are thick within five miles of the Fort, to avoid whom,

[The paper at this point is torn and folded over, hiding the remaining text of the article.]

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 18, 1864

From the 39th

We have been permitted to make a few extracts from a letter written home by J. L. Millard, of Co. D, 39th Iowa Inft., dated Rome, Ga., June 4th, which doubtless will be of interest to those having friends in that Reg. He says:

The 39th, all day Sunday, May 8th, led McPherson’s column in the successful flank movement which caused Johnson to evacuate Dalton. The 39th also lead the way through the noted Snake Creek Gap, where within six days from the time the 39th went through, they had been followed by over one hundred thousand Union Soldiers, with all their immense trains of supplies. Four companies of the 39th, (Co. D included), were in the first fight that ever took place between the Union and Rebel soldiers South of Dalton.

On the morning of the 15th (Sunday) we were moved down near the Ostanula River, in the direction where Dodge’s Division was laying pontoons. On these one brigade crossed in the afternoon, and passed through an open field half a mile. The rebels, who were lying in wait for them, charged down on them furiously. The fight was terrible but it did not last long. Our men stood firm and finally charged on, and drove them in disorder. The Iowa 7th lost heavily in this fight. Our regiment passed over immediately expecting to take part in the fight, but the rebs did not try it again that night. We threw up breast works that night, and the next morning felt for, found them and drove them for a while, when they halted, and we fought them all day. In this fight our brigade came very near being surrounded.

Our Brigade is now at this place – the advance is far down towards Alotona [sic]. It has been continual fighting from Ringgold down as far as our advance has gone.

Other items omitted for want of time and room.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 18, 1864

General News

It is a fact not perhaps generally known, that Washington drew his last breath in the last hour in the last day of the last week, in the last month of the year, and in the last year of the century. Saturday night, 12 o’clock, December 31, 1799.

Maxamillian is at last on his winding way to Mexico. He comes to visit a country conquered by foreign arms – to rule a people who despise and detest him. The throne he mounts is propped up by the French bayonets; the power he proposes to wield is usurped.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, June 4, 1864

A Contest Without A Parallel

The fighting in Virginia during the past week is destined to form one of the most memorable incidents in the history of human warfare. The world never saw anything like it. All other conflicts seem tame and flat beside it. It stands out in dreadful prominence, unique unprecedented, unparalleled.

Most of the great battles of history have been comparatively short duration. Even those upon the issue of which the fate of empires has turned, have been decided within the compass of a single day. The battle of Austerlitz was fought and finished between sunrise and sunset. The battle of Waterloo commenced at 11 o’clock in the forenoon and closed before dark. The battle of Marengo was an afternoon job. The battle of Solferino embraced only sixteen hours between the firing of the first gun and the route of the Austrians.

But here we have two days of almost continuous fighting! A respectable sized battle on Wednesday afternoon; fighting all day Thursday; fighting Friday until midnight; fighting lightly Saturday morning, and fiercely Saturday night; fighting desperately the greater part of Sunday; fighting by driblets Monday, and the bloodiest battle of the war on Tuesday! And yet no decisive victory achieved; and, so far at least, as we are concerned, no signs of flagging. Our brave fellows still enthusiastic – still eager for the fray – still determined to press on until the foe has been finally routed or destroyed. Was such courage, such pluck, such unflagging resolve, such constancy of purpose ever witnessed since the world began?

The, as regards the losses: the most sanguinary conflicts that history records fall short, with one or two exceptions, of the terrible aggregate of results of the bloody work of the past few days. At Solferino the French lost 12,000, the Sardinians 5,000, and the Austrians 20,000. At Marengo, the total loss on both sides did not exceed 14,[000]. At Waterloo the aggrate loss on [both] sides did not exceed 35,000, but in [this] series of battles which have been raging [in] Virginia during the few days past our loss is reported at over 30,000 while [that] of the enemy is estimated even larger. [ ] can recall only one instance in modern w[ar] where the losses were so heavy. At the battle of Leipzig the French had 60,000 a[nd] the Allies 50,000 men placed hors du combat; but then all Europe was engaged and had a three days’ tussle of it. [Albany Evening Journal.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 4, 1864

Lee’s Plans

The following, purporting to be a letter from the Chief Clerk of the rebel War Department, is published. Its genuineness is not established, yet such is thought to be probable, inasmuch as it agrees with many known facts connected with the matter referred to:

Confederate States of America.
War Department.
Richmond, Va., April 18th

My Dear Friend:– The reason of my [missing, bottom of the page is torn away which contains most of the last line in this column] of the 2d instant before, is that I could not do so without violating the regulations of the department. Indeed, I cannot give the information you desire now, without transgressing the rules; but, knowing your patriotism and discretion, I shall venture to do so.

Gen. Lee’s plans are perfected, and the President, Secretary, and even grumbling B. are delighted with them; and it only remains for the departments and bureaus to carry out their parts of them. Your conjectures that the seat of war will be transferred to the North is correct, and you may depend that this time Gen. Lee will got prepared to remain there until the Yankees sue for peace. The intention is to give him 150,000 men. The troops will be withdrawn from point of minor importance, wand as Charleston and Mobile are no longer in danger, the troops near those points can be spared also, so that there will be no difficulty in giving him the required number of men; he has at hand more than two-thirds the number now, and we are hurrying up others from every direction.

Enough will be left in and around the city to defend it if assailed via the Peninsula, and enough to confront Meade, and keep him North of the North Anna, or at all events north of the South Anna, while Lee will make a flank movement and push two columns northward, both Longstreet and Stuart going with him. These, in brief are the plans of the Summer campaign, and they will surely be carried out unless unfortuantely, the enemy advances before Lee gets ready, and necessitates a change of programme. If, unfortunately, Lee should be obliged to fall back, Beauregard will have command of the defense of the city, while Lee will, with all the force what can be spared, operate in conjunction with Johnson and carry the war into Ohio. Thirty thousand can hold the capital against all the men the enemy can send here.

In a few days I will write you again more at length. Remember me to Mrs. Lewis and the girls. Truly your friend,

B. R. Wellford, Jr.

Hon. D. W. Lewis.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 4, 1864

From The Sixth

Resaca, Georgia, May 17th, 1864.

Mr. Caverly:–

I just now find the first minute to devote to the “Sentinel.”

We have just fought one of the hardest fought battles of this war, and are again victorious. Ere this reaches you, you will have been advised of the particulars of the fight, but as many of our friends and relatives in Clark, will be anxious about us, I will give you a list of the casualties in Cos. F and B.

I regret to state that David Shearer, of Co. F, is no more. He fell on the 14th, while nobly defending his country’s flag. He was a good soldier, a kind companion, and we all feel that we have lost a dear friend, and our country one of her brave defenders. – Samuel Hart – Recruit, Co. F – severely wounded in hip. Coleman Barber, Co. F, leg amputated. William Hamilton, Co. B, in thigh slightly. Samuel Musselman, Co. B., abdomen slightly. William D. Tull, Co. B, mortally wounded. All the wounded are doing well. The loss in the sixth was five killed and wounded. We have taken some three thousand prisoners. Nearly all of the Rebel dead were left in our possession – we have already buried over eleven hundred of them. Their loss in killed far exceeded ours. They moved most of their wounded. Our army has driven Johnson 35 miles south of Dalton and are still in pursuit. Prisoners are still coming in.

The health of the Reg. is good – I neglected to mention John Campbell, Co. B, who is slightly wounded in the head.

My time is very limited, and my facilities for writing very poor. When we get settled I will write you again. Truly yours,

Ed. F. Alden
6th Iowa Infantry

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 4, 1864

Letter from Adjt. E. H. King

Head Q’r’s. 15th Iowa Inft. V. V.
Huntsville, Ala., May 24, 1864

Mr. Caverly:–

This command – consisting of three brigades of Gen. Crocker’s Division, and two Brigades of Gen. Leggett’s Division, in all twenty Regiments of Infantry and six Batteries of Artillery, under command of Brig. Gen Leggett – marched from Clifton, Tenn., to this place from the 16th to the 23rd inst., laying over one day in Pulaski, Tenn., to rest the troops and procure supplies. Maj. Gen. Blair accompanied the expedition, but took no command of troops until arriving at Huntsville, where he came in command of the troops of the 17th Army Corps.

The march was very difficult of performance, the roads being exceedingly stony and rough, and the weather warm and suffocating. The distance traveled is about one hundred and twenty miles. The men are foot-sore and weary but are in good heart, eager to push to the front and be with Gen. McPherson.

The country from Clifton to Huntsville is very rugged and covered with stones. It is poor beyond description, but well watered with springs brooks and rivers, whose waters are clear as crystal, and whose shores are frequently lined with magnificent rocky battlements beautifully tinged with pine and cedar trees. The inhabitants are chiefly loyal citizens, and assemble in scores by the road-side to welcome us forward to the accomplishment of the great mission before us. There is this most noticeable feature in all Tennessee society, especially in the part through which we traveled. Where one family lives in luxury one hundred are almost at the starving point. In Alabama, near Huntsville, the case is not near so hard, but is certainly an unpleasant one to contemplate.

To-morrow at “peep o’day,” this command under Gen. Blair, will be slowly plodding its way to the front via Decatur. It is impossible to tell accurately the scenes which we must pass. Former experience tells us they will be dangerous and harrowing. But we are prepared. News from every quarter is encouraging, and we look forward to the close this campaign with hopeful and confident expectations. But my leisure ceases. Good by. Respectfully,

E. H. King

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, June 4, 1864

The War in North Missouri

Quincy, Ill., April 8. – Col. Glover has at last commenced meting out justice to the North Missouri rebels. We learn from reliable authority that a man named Jones, whom he arrested last summer in Monroe county, and released upon his taking the oath, was again arrested by him about two weeks since in violation of his parole. He was brought to Shelbyville, and last Thursday was shot by the Colonel’s order.

A portion of Capt. Benjamin’s company, attached to Col. Glover’s regiment, while out on a scout near Walkersville, Shelby county, were fired upon by a party of bushwhackers concealed in a thicket, killing two soldiers and a citizen of that county who happened to be riding with them. They returned the fire and charged upon the seceshers, who skedaddled, leaving three of their number dead upon the ground. They did not take any prisoners, that game being about played out, rebel oaths thus far having proved poor property.

– Published in Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, April 10, 1862 & also in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 3

How General Wadsworth Got Shoes For His Soldiers

The following characteristic anecdote of the fallen hero, from the pen of one of the Editors of The New York Evening Post, will be read with interest.

“He had a reputation in the army for the excellent care he took of those under his command. He would not let them suffer if thoughtfulness, providence and ingenuity could prevent it.

“Make out a requisition for extra shoes,” we heard him say to one of the Brigadiers; “about one pair of shoes for ever two men. I think we can get them of the Quartermaster, but I will see to it, that at any rate they are got. They will not be heavy to carry, and we shall find [t]he value of them before we get through.”

“I remember,” he added, “during the march through Maryland, before the battle of South Mountain, we passed over a tract of country extremely rugged and stony, and I saw not only men, but officers walking along with bleeding feet. The Men’s shoes gave out entirely. It hurt my feelings more than I can tell you, to see the good fellows trudge along so. We came to a town on the line of march, and I, who was riding at the head of the column, spurred ahead to see if there were not some shoe stores where I could purchase what was needed for the men. All the shops were closed, the first men I saw were two sitting outside a closed shop.

“Are there any shoe stores in this town?” I asked. They replied, in a gruff way, that they could not tell, there might be and there might not. I told them that I wanted to buy shoes for my troops, who were barefooted. They replied they guessed I wouldn’t get many.

“At that,” said the General, “I got angry. Said I there are two pair of shoes at any rate which I see on your feet. Take them off instantly! I shouted to them. They were obliged to do it. I went through the town and took the shoes off every man’s feet I could see; and thus I raised about two hundred pairs in all. One fine old fellow, a miller, whom I met, I did not deprive of his own pair; I rode up to him and asked if he and any old shoes he could spare me, describing the pitiful condition of my men. The old man said, “I don’t know if there’s any shoes in the house or not, but,” looking down at his feet – “here’s a pair you’r[e] welcome to at any rate.” I would not let him take them off, but he gave me some from his house. All the rest I stripped.”

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, May 28, 1864

Cure For Spavin

Add two table-spoons for melted lard, one of cantharides, made fine or pulverized, and a lump of corrosive sublimate as large as a pea – all melted up and applied once a day till used up, confining it to the callous. This quantity is for one leg and may be relied on as a cure. It will make a sore, and the joint will be much weakened while applying the medicine. No need of alarm, it will all be right when healed up. [Farmer and Mechanic

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, May 28, 1864

Rare Civil War Spur Found At Harding House Site

Sweltering temperatures, pesky bugs and blisters brought on by combating the hard battlefield soil weren’t enough to discourage volunteers who, for the second weekend in a row, braved the 94-degree heat to participate in the Harding House Civil War History Survey on July 19-20.

The project, which is a geospatial/archaeological project conducted this month on land slated for development in August, was initiated by Dr. Tom Nolan and archaeologist Zada Law, both members of MTSU’s geosciences faculty, with assistance from Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of the MTSU Forensic Institute for Research and Education, as well as members of Middle Tennessee Metal Detectors, MTSU anthropology and public history students, Gib Backlund and Jim Lewis from the National Park Service, and developer Stonegate Commercial.

“We're having to do this work in a really short time frame in one of the hottest and most humid parts of the year,” remarked Law of the all-volunteer effort. “The heat, actually the humidity, was brutal out there.”

In spite of the heat-related conditions, “We completed a systematic metal detecting survey of the surface of almost the entire development tract,” she noted. “And we also conducted a pedestrian archaeological reconnaissance of the field where the Harding's brick kiln is reported to have been located.”

As a result, the final weekend of the July survey yielded historically valuable finds, said Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, who credits and praises project volunteers for the recovery of not just farm implements, bullets, shell fuse and shell fragments, but also for the weekend’s most celebrated Civil War artifact—and one which brought cheers from the exhausted survey teams.

“Right by where we had parked our vehicles, we found a Civil War-period spur, with a silver rowel, which is the small wheel of a spur that has sharp edges,” Nolan related, with excitement. “It even had the chain and buckle that had held it on (its owner’s boot) … and you could see how it had been lost, because one of the attachments on it broke.”

The volunteer-motivating discovery, which was located on Saturday, July 19, was one that once belonged to “a cavalry soldier or an officer,” he noted.

Regarding the horseshoe, Backlund, chief of operations for Stones River National Battlefield, said, “It’s cavalry, but it’s United States as opposed to Confederate States. It also has a mark on it that may indicate the maker. We’re not sure of the dates exactly, but it’s Civil War era … and we have museum technicians looking at the marks on it now.”

As for the weekend’s artifact tally, “The team of volunteers from the metal-detecting club made it possible for us to do a metal detecting survey over almost all the tract,” Law said. “I think between Saturday and Sunday, we may have had perhaps 30-40 individual fragments including things like shell fragments that are possibly Civil War era.

“It's so hard to tell with the clay dirt still clinging to them, and because the clock is ticking down to development, we focused on collecting the artifacts and getting their locations and moving on,” she continued. “We may have collected some non-Civil War pieces (such as farming equipment and fence wire), but experts in this era of material cultural can sort that out later.”

Backlund confirmed that the July 19-20 survey effort yielded more “minie balls, round shot … and pieces of horseshoes.” Moreover, he said he’s hopeful the teams will be able to “go out again” to further continue the survey, even though the past weekend marked the volunteers’ final survey activity for July.

“None of this would have been possible without the great volunteer response, and that’s the truth,” Nolan observed. “We couldn’t have done it without them, and I am so pleased that the anthropology students were willing help. They conducted all the GPS data collection and bagging in the field. … (And) Middle Tennessee Metal Detectors was a pleasure to work with. They systematically covered the ground, worked well with the GPS and photography teams, and were very knowledgeable about the artifacts they recovered.”

“We had six new volunteers this past weekend,” Law added. “One man and his grade-school son came from Wisconsin to help. Our crew on Saturday numbered about 25 and about 12 on Sunday. Plus, students from MTSU's public history program and anthropology program were out photographing, GPSing location coordinates and creating a field inventory of the artifacts we found.”

Heralding the Harding House Civil War Survey as a true partnership for historic preservation, Law said this project differed from other such efforts she’s participated in, because of the cooperative aspect of the developer and other participants.

“Much of my archaeological survey work has been connected with projects that have some type of regulatory requirement that historic sites, including archaeological sites, be taken into account before development,” she explained. “What is different about the Harding House survey is that there is no regulation or legislation that requires the developer to allow scientific community to collect historic data before development.

“Of course, once the construction equipment starts pushing dirt around, the location of the artifacts and other archaeological signatures of the conflict will be destroyed and data that may allow us to better understand this day of the battle and where troops were positioned will be gone forever,” she noted. “So we're really grateful that the developer has allowed us to go on his land prior to construction to conduct this survey.”

Overall, Nolan said the volunteer partnership gleaned small amounts of ammunition and other artifacts that will aid in helping historians better pinpoint the location of the troops on the first day of the Stones River conflict. Additionally, he said he remains hopeful that volunteers will be allowed to return to the site after construction crews begin grading the area for development.

“We made positive connections between metal-detecting club members and members of scientific community, working together to capture and identify the historic information that is contained in the ground resulting from this conflict before development,” Nolan confirmed.

About the Harding House Site

Owned by Giles Scales Harding and destroyed by fire in the 1870s, the Harding House/brick kiln site is reported to be the locale of heavy fighting during the initial Confederate attack on Stones River Battlefield, where Confederate Col. Arthur M. Manigault and Brig. Gen. J. Patton Anderson attacked the forces of both Union commanders Brig. Gen. Joshua Sill and Col. George Roberts.

Prior to being the scene of heavy fighting, the home was made a field hospital by and for Union troops, dubbed “Hospital Harding,” and at one time had about 150 wounded. The home’s owners and family were forced to evacuate the home and did not return until after the war. However, at one point the home was hit by cannon fire that killed four of its wounded occupants and reportedly broke the legs of the Harding family’s piano. When the family returned, one Union soldier, to weak to travel, remained. Giles’ wife, Mary Hollowell Blackman, assigned the couple’s daughter, Ellen Amy, to tend to the ailing man until he departed, leaving Ellen a $2 ½-dollar gold piece minted in 1851 as a show of his gratitude

Findings from a 1999 study prepared for the National Park Service denote the Harding House as being among the most significant sites and actions of the Battle of Stones River, coming in at No. 6 of 23 locales on or near the national park’s 570-acre boundary.

– Originally published HERE in The Murfreesboro Post, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1:10 p.m., July 21, 2008

A Letter from Adj. E. H. King

Head Quarters 15th Iowa Inft.
Clifton, Tenn., May 11, 1864

Mr. Caverly :–

Again we are “in the field,” again enjoying the hardships of “Camp life,” again luxuriating in the pleasures derived from eating “hard tack and bacon,” and retrospecting the scenes of the past few weeks, are prone to remember, that, at home, it is not so. It is happiness to reflect upon our “welcome home,” after enduring two and a half years service upholding the “Starry banner,” suffering the carnage of many hard fought battles, and pestilential diseases.

The tender greetings, the fervent blessings, the cordial and extending welcomes given us together with the abundant and substantial hospitalities bestowed upon us on every occasion, can only be remembered with feelings of pleasantness and gratitude for all these demonstrations of kindness to us, and sympathy with us, in enduring the hardships and privations of a soldier’s life, and for all those other feelings and sentiments of regard, which words and actions fail to express; we tender you, the people of Oceola, of Clark Co., and of the glorious State of Iowa, – our most heart felt thanks.

Our brief sojourn in Keokuk, – from the 22nd until the 27th of April, – I am proud to say, was a continuance of that kind regard bestowed upon us everywhere. And now that we are again in a country desolated by the hand of “grim visaged war,” and where instead of meeting friends, we are confronted by a relentless enemy, ready at all times to destroy life. We look back upon those scenes and pleasures, as constituting an “Oasis” in the desert of life in the army, and dwell upon them with pride and comfort

Our regiment arrived a[t] Clifton, Tenn. at 2 o’clock P. M. The 6th Inst., per steamer “Henry Von Phull,” having left Paducah, Ky. On the 5th at 8 A. M., and Cairo, Ill. At 2 A. M. on the 2nd. Nothing of note transpired on the trip, expecting an occasional shot from guerillas along the Tennessee River which failed to damage any one. Our stay at Paducah, was occasioned by a threatened attack on that place Forrest [sic]. Perhaps from a knowledge of our presence, (there were 8 regiments of Inft. And 2d [sic] batteries of artillery, all commanded Brig. Gen. Forrest in the detachment,) the attack was not made, and we passed to Clifton without serious molestation. The fleet carrying us thither consisted of eleven transports, and two gunboats, creating a magnificent spectacle in the mind of the beholder, sailing one hundred and fifty yards apart.

The Tennessee river is a deep clear and narrow stream, with no variety of scenery in Kentucky, but nearing Clifton, becomes picturesque and romantic.

Clifton contains but few people, and in the “palmy [sic] days of the Republic” obtained some importance from the Cement and Iron manufactories in its vicinity. The most important buildings have been burned. The people are mainly loyal, and have given twenty five hundred troops for the Government within the space of a few miles, being, our general says, a larger ration of troops according to the population, than has been furnished by any district in the northern States. In consequence thereof, foraging from the country is prohibited. A rumor has been current for a few days in camp, that Gen. Grierson has attacked and routed Forrest’s command making Forrest himself prisoner and two hundred of his men. To offset this came a report this A. M. that Gen. Grant and Staff have been captured by the rebels. As we do not know the facts, these stories are discredited.

The weather has been very warm until today, which is wet and cold. Health is quite good, though a few of the “New Recruits” are having the measles.

Yours truly;

E. H. King

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, May 28, 1864

Harding ‘Evidence’ Bolsters Stones River Battlefield Accounts

By Mike West, Managing Editor

Artifacts found last weekend near the site of the Harding House attest to some of the key moments of the Battle of Stones River.

Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, along with archaeologist Zada Law, led the all-volunteer team on its first day of the survey at the Harding House site off Wilkinson Pike. The site, which is near Medical Center Parkway, is scheduled for development.

Among the 40 to 50 discoveries included lead shot, minie balls, canister shot and a Civil War-era horseshoe.

Many of the Confederate troops with the Army of Tennessee were armed with inaccurate, outmoded muskets that fired lead balls. Union troops, in many instances, were using state-of-the-art rifled muskets that fired minie balls.

Fighting near the Harding House was an artillery battle with Confederate Capt. David D. Water’s Alabama Battery trying to suppress the fire of Union cannons including Capt. Asahel Bush’s 4th Indiana Battery.

Water’s unit was placed a few hundred yards east of the Harding’s brick kiln.

Bush’s unit was supporting Brig. Gen. Joshua Sill’s Brigade. Sill had just been shot dead in the fighting on a ridge near the Harding family’s brick kiln. He had led a charge in an attempt to break the Confederate advance.

“In this charge the gallant Sill was killed; a rifle ball passing through his upper lip and penetrating the brain,” Sheridan wrote in his memoirs.

It was a rifle ball not unlike the one discovered last weekend by the archeological team.

With the Union infantry running low on .69-caliber minie ammunition, artillery was key at this point of the battle.

Waters, firing 12-pound Napoleon cannons, tried to knock out the Union armaments by firing spherical case rounds. If correctly placed, the rounds exploded in the air, showering the enemy with rifle balls and shrapnel. The rounds were often very effective against artillery emplacements.

The Napoleon, cast in bronze, was the most popular smoothbore cannon used during the Civil War. It was a safe, reliable artillery piece that was especially effective at close range.

Bush was equipped with more powerful Parrott rifled cannon. Cast from iron, the Parrotts were extremely accurate, but had a tendency to explode, killing or maiming its gun crew

The Indiana artillery was firing the deadliest round used during the Civil War, canister shot, which transformed cannon into giant shotguns that would cause a wide swath of destruction.

The canister fire drove one section of Water’s guns from the field, wounding several Confederate gunners, wrecking a caisson and disemboweling some artillery horses.

Rebel Private Sam Watkins, who was troops making the final Confederate charge against Sheridan, counted some 80 dead horses in the area between the Harding house and across Wilkinson Pike.

Weather permitting, the historic survey of the Harding house site is expected to continue this weekend.

“I think what we found the first day was gratifying,” said archeologist Law. “I had no expectations, but I had hopes, so I was so gratified that we found some Civil War artifacts.

“I think what we did locate demonstrates our methods worked well,” she added, “and that our approach to this project is one that will yield results … and help identify where the troop locations were.”

We are so appreciative of everyone who came out to help and support this survey,” survey leader Nolan said. “Dr. Hugh Berryman of MTSU anthropology department and his daughter, along with Gib Backlund and Jim Lewis from the National Park Service showed up on their day off. Everyone was very enthusiastic and seemed to have fun in spite of the intense heat.”

Because the Civil War artifacts were “buried pretty deep and the ground was so dry and hard, the volunteers definitely had to work hard,” Nolan said. “But their efforts were time and energy well spent.”

Law said finding the artifacts was thrilling.

“And I am just so glad so many people gave up their time to come help us with this work on behalf of historic preservation,” she said.

“Just like all of us, I think the volunteers were grateful to the developer, Stonegate Commercial and its president, Tommy Smith, to let us be out there and excited to be part of a systematic study of the property ... (where what they find) will be synthesized and added to our understanding of this long-ago battle,” Law said.

– Originally published HERE in the Murfreesboro Post, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 9:00 am, July 20, 2008

The Harding House Survey

Thank you to Lisa Rollins, Director of Special Media Projects News and Public Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University for sending along photographs from the Harding House Survey

About 25 volunteers from MTSU’s anthropology program and Middle Tennessee Metal Detectors gather July 12 at the Stones River Battlefield to begin searching for Civil War artifacts near the Harding house site. The purpose of the geospatial/archaeological survey, led by Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, is to recover and map artifacts from the battlefield and create a permanent spatial record of their locations for future study.

Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education, watches as MTSU anthropology student Tyler Parrott, left, readies his GPS equipment to record locations at the Stones River Battlefield. The pair was part of an all-volunteer team that began conducting a geospatial/archaeological survey July 12 for artifacts and mapping purposes near the historic Harding house site, which is slated for development this summer.

This Civil War-era lead shot, deformed from an impact, was among the items recovered July 12 by an all-volunteer team working to survey the Harding house site near the Stones River Battlefield. The geospatial/archaeological project, dubbed the Harding House Civil War History Survey, was rained out July 13, but will continue later this month.

This Minié ball—or minie ball—was recovered July 12 as part of a geospatial/archaeological survey near the Harding house site, which was led by Dr. Tom Nolan of MTSU’s geosciences faculty. Nolan said the find is “the type of projectile fired by the majority of Civil War rifled muskets.”

This horseshoe remnant was among the 40-50 items recovered July 12 as part of the Harding House Civil War History Survey near Stones River Battlefield. The horseshoe’s age is consistent with the Civil War era, but there is no way to know if it was once on a horse used by cavalry or on a farm horse, observed Zada Law, archaeologist and adjunct professor for MTSU’s geosciences.


This “canister shot,” which behaves like a giant shotgun shell when fired, was one of 40-plus items recovered July 12 as part of a geospatial/archaeological survey led by Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, to recover and map artifacts from the Harding house/battlefield area and create a permanent spatial record for future study. Nolan said this find represents part of an artillery round that was used “when the artillery needed close-range fire power.”

The revivifying effects of Spring...

...are becoming evident in the increased business aspect of our streets, while merchants generally are rolling in their new supplies for spring trade and framers are thronging our streets with their surplus produce. Our artisans too are refitting and laying a foundation for a summer campaign. All in all, it appears that business men are getting tired of the cry “All quiet on the Potomac.”

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, April 16, 1864

Spotted Fever

This disease is still in the south eastern part of this county. Mr. Kyte, three days since informed us of eleven deaths there within the last six or eight days, and of some other cases, that would probably prove fatal. The following is a list of deaths by this disease which he gave us.

Mrs. Robert Moyers, Mrs. Wm. McCoy, Mrs. J. Headly and child, Mr. Sanders, for of John McCoy’s children, tow of McCartney’s and Mr. Kirby’s wife.

We have hears of no cases in other parts of the county.

– Published in The Union Sentinel, Osceola, Iowa, April 16, 1864

Civil War Artifacts Uncovered At Harding House Site

Some 40-50 artifacts were recovered July 12 near the Stones River Battlefield on the first day of the Harding House Civil War History Survey, a geospatial/archaeological project that is being conducted this month on land slated for development this summer.

Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, along with archaeologist Zada Law, led the all-volunteer team on its first day of the survey, which yielded Civil War-era artifact finds such as lead shot, a minie ball and a canister shot, among other battle-related discoveries.
Some 25 selected volunteers, including MTSU anthropology and history students, as well as members of Middle Tennessee Metal Detectors, used metal detectors and GPS equipment to survey and map the area around the Harding House site, where Brig. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s Union division held up the Confederate advance during the first day of the Battle of Stones River on Dec. 31, 1862.

“I think what we found the first day was gratifying,” remarked Law. “I had no expectations, but I had hopes, so I was so gratified that we found some Civil War artifacts.

“I think what we did locate demonstrates our (research) methods worked well,” she added, “and that our approach to this project is one that will yield results … and help identify where the troop locations were.”

Although the team’s second planned survey day was rained out, Nolan said the “good volunteer turnout” on its first day set the project on a successful course.

“We are so appreciative of everyone who came out to help and support this survey,” he said. “Dr. Hugh Berryman of MTSU anthropology department and his daughter, along with Gib Backlund and Jim Lewis from the National Park Service showed up on their day off. Everyone was very enthusiastic and seemed to have fun in spite of the intense heat.”

Because the Civil War artifacts were “buried pretty deep and the ground was so dry and hard, the volunteers definitely had to work hard,” Nolan said. “But their efforts were time and energy well spent.”

Heat, hard work and rain aside, “Anytime you find anything that takes you back to the past, it's just a real thrill,” added Law, who said she was inspired during the search when a lead shot was recovered.

“To pick up that lead shot that came out of the guns so long ago just really took me back in time,” she remarked. “And I am just so glad so many people gave up their time

to come help us with this work on behalf of historic preservation.”
An adjunct professor for MTSU’s geosciences department, Law said the volunteers—like the survey’s leaders—also seemed gratified by the initial finds.
“Just like all of us, I think the volunteers were grateful to the developer, Stonegate Commercial and its president, Tommy Smith, to let us be out there and excited to be part of a systematic study of the property ... (where what they find) will be synthesized and added to our understanding of this long-ago battle.”

Nolan and Law plan to continue the project, known as the Harding House Civil War History Survey, this month and hope their volunteer turnout stays high.

“We are going to continue our same methods and hope we will have as many, if not more volunteers, as before,” Law said. “ The park service has been so helpful and cooperative to us, as has the developer, and we are so, so grateful for this chance to recover pieces of the past (before the land is commercially developed).”

According to findings from a 1999 study prepared for the National Park Service, the Harding House was determined to be among the most significant sites and actions of the Battle of Stones River, coming in at No. 6 of 23 locales on or near the national park’s 570-acre boundary. In fact, the Harding House/Brick Kiln Site is cited as being the locale of heavy fighting during the initial Confederate attack as Confederate Col. Arthur M. Manigault and Brig. Gen. J. Patton Anderson attacked the forces of both Union commanders Brig. Gen. Joshua Sill and Col. George Roberts.

“Once the area is developed, this historic record will be gone for good so it’s vital that we work to recover historically significant artifacts and identify the location of the Harding house and any outbuildings to further an existing GIS study on regimental positions and movements during the Battle of Stones River,” Nolan observed.

– Publushed HERE, in The Murfreesboro Post, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Posted: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 3:28 pm

A House Divided: A Review of "Two Brothers"

Two Brothers: One North, One South
By David H. Jones

With the coming of the American Civil War many families found themselves torn apart by conflicting ideologies and loyalties. Fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, brothers and cousins sometimes faced each other on opposite sides across a field of battle. Often times, and certainly with more frequency the families most severely divided came from the border states of Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland. The Crittenden and the Todd families are but two examples on a lengthy list one might compile of families that were split apart by the war. The Prentiss family of Baltimore, Maryland is a family that could also be enumerated on just such a list.

In his novel, “Two Brothers: One North, One South,” David H. Jones tells the story of the Prentiss family. Clifton, the older brother, fought for the Union cause and rose to the rank of major in the 6th Maryland Infantry, while his younger brother, William served in the Confederate Army with 2nd Maryland Battalion. Both were mortally wounded minutes and yards apart at Petersburg, Virginia in the closing days of the Civil War.

After the battle the brothers were taken to Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. where they are cared for in separate wards. One of the volunteers in the hospital was Walt Whitman who frequently visited William, and upon William’s passing located Clifton to inform him of his brother’s death. Two other Prentiss brothers, John & Melville, arrive soon after, and Whitman tells the three siblings what he has learned about William’s service with the Confederate Army.

Unfortunately Mr. Jones’ novel has a few serious flaws. The title of the book, “Two Brothers,” is somewhat misleading, as Clifton’s storyline is often overshadowed by that of his younger brother. The story is told from the opposing viewpoints of Clifton and William; however William’s story is filtered through Walt Whitman, which brings me to the narration.

There is not a central narrator in Jones' novel. Clifton Prentiss tells his part of the story and Whitman is left to relate William’s. There are several times throughout the book, especially at the beginning of chapters where it is not all together clear as to who exactly is narrating, Clifton, Whitman, or a literary 3rd person narrator. Whitman’s narration is particularly flawed as he relates details that he did not have first person knowledge of and most certainly could not remember with such clarity. This is problem when the novel wanders off with the secondary characters of sisters Hetty and Jenny Cary and their cousin Constance Cary, in which Whitman is giving third hand information to the surviving Prentiss brothers. Whitman was not present for any of the events related, and for some of them neither was William. How did Whitman come to know of such things? Many of the episodes involving the Cary’s are tangential in reference to William’s story and should have been judiciously pruned from the novel.

There is far too much exposition in the book. There is a writer’s axiom that states: “Show, don’t tell.” Jones spends too much time telling the story, and instead of showing it through the eyes and actions of his characters. I got the impression that Mr. Jones, knows a lot about the Civil War, and just couldn’t help inserting his knowledge into the story… for one example, the book is set in June of 1865, at one point the author makes a reference to Lew Wallace and notes that he would later gain fame as the author of “Ben Hur” which would not be published for another fifteen years.

The dialogue does not ring true, especially when it is weighted down, as it often is, with exposition relating details to the reader that would have been common knowledge to anyone during the war.

The characters are two dimensional, there is no character development. The war years were years of turmoil and angst for any and all who lived through them. There is plenty of room for Mr. Jones to have taken literary license and given motive to his characters actions, or gone into their heads, to see the story through their eyes, to show us what their motivations and how they felt about things. It was an opportunity missed, and therefore the reader is left not caring about the characters. As for John and Melville Prentiss, they serve absolutely no function in the book at all. The character of Walt Whitman is used solely as a literary device to tell the story, and is also never fully fleshed out as a character.

There is much to like about Jones’ novel, negating its structural and narrative problems, it is a great story, and I enjoyed reading about the Prentiss brothers and the Cary Sisters. But unfortunately even the most beautiful house cannot remain standing when it is placed upon a weak foundation.