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Paper and transcript for the Civil War diary of Absalom Joshua Burum

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  • Judy H. Leas’ 66-page paper titled The Civil War diary of Absalom Joshua Burum was completed spring 1965 while Leas was attending Fresno State College. Burum, a native of Tennessee, joined Colonel Thomas’ regiment September 27, 1862 and, as first sergeant, fought alongside Colonel William Stringfield and the rest of the Legion for over two and a half years. Leas’ paper covers A. J. Burum’s family background, his experience as it compares with other Confederate soldiers, an annotated transcript of his diary, and a list of dates and locations of Burum’s travels in 1864. Judy H. Leas is the daughter-in-law of Ernestine B. Leas, Burum’s great granddaughter. Click the link in the Related Materials field to view the original diary.
  • FRESNO STATE COLLEGE THE CIVIL WAR DIARY OF ABSALOM JOSHUA BURUM . History 199 Spring 1965 Judy H. Leas TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 I. THB FAI~ILY BAC1.GROUND OF ABSALOM JOSIDJ&. BURUM 3 II. BURUM'S EXPErtiENCBS COMPARED WITH A GENERAL PICTURE OF THE LIFE OF A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER 6 III. THE DIARY OF ABSALOM JOSIDJA BURUM AEPENDIX •• . . . . . . . . . BIBLIOGRAPHY • • . . . . ii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 63 76 INTRODUCTION The purposes of this paper are threefold: (1) it presents the background of Absalom Joshua Burum so he can be better understood; (2) it compal~S Burum's experiences WLth a · generalized picture of a soldier's life; and, (3) it presents the diary kept by Burum during the year 1864. The paper is divided into three parts. In the first I part the family history, background and life of Absalom Joshua Burum are stated. The only available information on Burum's background is from family records in the possessiqn of r1rs. Nat Leas. The second part of the paper compares Burum's Civil War experiences with a generalized picture of a soldier's life during the same period. Only the areas mentioned in the diary--such as rations, camp conditions, illness, letters, attitude toward the Yankees, and the soldier's desire to see his family--are discussed. The last part of the paper consists of the diary kept by Burum. Footnotes have been added to clarify names of people, places, ·or events mentioned. Generally only the events in which Burum participated ~ave been verified, although in some instances, it was impossibl~ to find any information. Burum mentioned rumors of battles ~d ~oases at different times, but I did not check on them. ~inca . the orig~al diary ! . • • 1 ._.,... ~~-~ .. : ~::;~.~ ·~ . . · · ..... ;. } • • t . ·• 2 has been misplaced, I had to work from a copy that had been typed by Mrs. Samuel Ernest Burum. -~:tL~.JG- .. A :1.:.-~J.'- \ c~<G~ ~ ~,,,1~\lU\~\)~JVV\Il).l.JWYUl ~ .. · . . - ,· : I. THE FAMILY BACKGROUND OF ABSALOM JOSh~A BURUM The first Burum,1 Henry, of German descent and in all probability a native of Germany, came to the United States about the time of the American Revolution. In Tennessee he married a Miss Miller and they had ope son, Henry, Jr. ' Henry, Jr. married, one at a time, three women named Nancy: Nancy King, Nancy Blodgett, and Nancy Cox Singleton~ Absalom Joshua Burum, born October 27, 1828, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, was the first son of Henry, Jr~ and Nancy King. He had one brother, Pas chal, and four half­brothers and one half-sister--Peter G. (by Nancy Blodgett), Henry, John, Nancy and Susan (by N~cy Cox Singleton). Absalom Joshua married his first cousin, Nancy King Gallaher, 2 around 1850. They had eleven children--six s ons and five daughters. Absalom is kno ~~ to have at~ended college. He was a Mason and a leader of the community, While he served in the Confederate Army, he kept a diary which i s not a hist·ory of 1The only information available on the background of Burum is family records in the poss~ssion of Mrs. Nat Leas of Fresno, California. 2Nancy King Gallaher was bo~n July ·23, 1832. Her parents were George Gallaher and Lucinda King. Lucinda and Nancy King, the mother of Absalom, 1-1e:re sisters. Nancy King Gallaher Burum died on May 16, 1911 in Delano, California. 3 .. •, - .. '·. :.- {. • l . - -:~.- . :·' . . . ,,i.·· 4 the progress of the war, but is a record of his personal contacts, inconveniences, and home s ickness. Burum enlisted in Company K, Infantry Regiment, Thomas Legion, North Carolina Troops on September 27, 1862, at Winter's Gap, East Tennessee, for a period of three years.3 At the time he enlisted Burum was described as a thirty-four year old farmer, six feet tall, with a fair complexion, dark eyes and dark hair. Burum entered the w~r with the rank of sergeant and held the same rank until tqe end of the war • . Burum appeared on the same company muster roll throughout his term of service; according to the muste~ roll, Burum was paid once ·in 1862, five times in 1863 and not once in 1864. In 1864, there are only records showing Burum received t wo issues .· of clothes--one in June and one in December. On May 24, 1865, Burum signed the Oath of Amnesty, agreeing to conform to the order abol~sring slavery. Before the Civil War, the Burum family had Negro slaves, but there is no record o~ how many. After the War, ~urum gave each head of a family among his slaves a tract of land with which to make a living. After the War, Burum returne~ to his farm in the rich bottom land along the Clinch River. ae died on February 1, 1892 and was buried in the family plot +n Kingston, Tennessee, which is now a part of the atomic in8tallations at 3Burum's Civil War record was obtained from the General Service's Administration, National Archives and .Records Serv~ce, W~shington, D.C. S~e appendix for a C9PY of h~s reco,rd .• -~ .\ 5 0~: Ridge • Tennessee. The graveyard was enclosed •rri th a fence ) and the graves included those of family members and Negro slaves. f ~: :~·;) ,· -:· _;?.X:'- ::' - - ·,;·t~~/-~/~ :1:-f:f :'; __ · _.- II· BURUM'S EXPERIENCES COTII.fARED i'IITH .A \ .· :· . . . ·. . "' , . ~ GENERAL PIC'J:URE OF THE LIFE ·.···.·.··,. .... ' ,• <: ~ :-~·--:/· .. r7f·\f-;'.):;-:~'.> · . In order to O::e:::::E::Ba: :::::: te t he · \"::>i·. _':;·~' ./\'· .·.;.:·· ~\·· .· itl.conveniences and hardships Burum engoWltered this section . .. .• : 'J. . • . • • :, ~ t • . ·. y. ·. ' ·. ~ · · ·'' -~ of the _paper compares · Burum' s exp erieno~s with a more , ' .) . . .· .: .·~ .. : . · .. -,)i ·:.:-:.·~ ~-···_:·; .. ,· ~: •. :gen!3ralized picture of a Confederate soldier's life. .. :. • -~ t : :_. . f<; • : . • . . . . ·. . .. . .. =· :-'· ~ ·: . .-~ .. · . .. · · Burum mentioned two concerns--food and weather--often , . . ~ .. . . : .. ·.' .. .· ·: .; ~ • -!": .... ' .. '. ' throughout his diary. Food was mentioned mainly because of the lack of it. Despite the f act that the south had bountiful ·crops during the war, the soldiers were forced to accept . reduced rations and poor quality suppLies. The failure was not of production, but of distribution. "The most serious difficulty was the inadequacy of transportation systems. The I Confederacy's railroad system was never equal to war needs, and after 1862 it began .to deteriorate :rapidly from inability to replace worn-out rails and rolling ~ } ock. From 18.63 till the war's end, while armies were struggling along on half- _ratio'ris, immense qua.p.tities of foodstuffs assembled by .commissary agents • • • rotted at the ctepots. "l It was not uncommon -for the army to have to wai~ fpr its rations to come .1Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of Johnny Reb: The '·:· · ... :~:;:: : :.· ·:. · · Common Soldier. of· the Confederacy ( I tld:j..anapolis: Bobbs­.. ··'. ·, · .. ~:- ·. -.~· ·: .: ··. rllerrill Co.~ ; · 1.943 , 'R •. 97. 6 L 7 up before continuing on its march. Due to the problems of supplying food to the soldiers the meat issue was reduc·ed in l863 and in l864 the flour or meal ration was decreased to ~ .,,...,'I. one pound. 2 Burum commented on the poor quality of his food and the reduction of rations. One of the common ways of adding to the food supply was a foraging expedition. Burum mentioned that he went on such expeditions at different times. The getting of foods by any means other than purchase was known as "foraging." Included under t his polite designation were activities as various as the gathering of nuts, berries and pawpaws, the plucking of fruit and vegetables from abandoned orchards and gardens, the solicitation of milk, eggs and other edibles at farm­house doors • • • and the clandestine forays on stock pens and chicken roost s . \'lhether of the innocent or the blamable sort, foraging was a widely used and effective means of replenishing scant larders.3 Another i·Tay of obtaining supplies was to capture them from the Yankees. "Of all the goods obtained from Federals none was more appreciated than coffee. This became scarce in the early months of the war and at the beginning of 1862 it disappeared from government issues to parts of the army ."4 By this accepted method Burum added coffee, sugar, and molasses _ to his food supply on July 4. The soldier's food was poor in quantity and quality . Rations consisted mainly of cornbread and beef; veget ables were rarely distributed. 2Wiley, p . 91. 3Bell, p. 102. 4Bell, p. 102. As a result scurvy and emaciation • i :·:. /. •. ~· t. ." ';;': ...I. 8 were common. 5 Indeed, Burum, at one time, received spoiled rations. Once the .men obtained food, they generally prepared their own food in small groups called messes. "Messes were usually composed of men who were drawn together by ties of kinship or congeniality."6 The men toolt turns in preparing , cooking, and serving the food. Each group was handica~ ped by a lack of cooking utensils such as s~~llets, pans, and kettles. 7 Burum's mess consisted of tAr~e relatives and two friends. · When an ~ncounter with the Yank~~s was expected certain preliminaries were necessary. One of these was the issue of extra provisions, accompanied by the order to "cook up" from three to five days rations, so that time would not have to be taken for 8 the preparation of food during the anticipated action~ Burum mentioned orders to cook up extra rations throughout his diary. In the areas of obtaining and· preparing food, Burum's experiences also seem to fit into the general pattern discussed previously. BurUm participated in ·foraging expeditions, mentioned his rations being reduced to two­thirds of a pound of flour and three-q~~rters of a pound of beef per day (April 5), and was a me~R~r. of a group called a mess. . . . - ... 5 Bell, pp. 95, 97, 98. 6Wiley, p. 106 • ,, ··'' ···(New '1 :.~~ .~:;5~=~:' •'. .:·: . :., ~~.:: I . ?Clement Eaton, A.History of the Southern .Confederacy Yo:rk: I1acMillan co., 1954), P ~ 9..~ .. ;_ _; .... 8 ·.· · ....: . . ........... . .Wile:(, .P. · 68 .· .. . ..... . \ . : . '. . ~ ' ·. .. . . ... :. • • ... - •• • J - •• 7 • • ' >· . ~ .. • : !. .. ·' • ~ ! . . .. · ·. '· .... :_:.' • t ....... , .. <-. ,: ' - < : .. ·, ·;.. 9 Weather, as the second main concern of Burum's , is important because the men were living and fighting in the out­of- doors. Any change in the weather, whether sun, rain or snow, would certainly affect the comfort of the soldier. Many men Nere keenly aware of the cold, rain, and snow because of a lack of adequate clothes, shoes, and bl~kets . The Confederate government ' s intention to supply the major portion of clothing fell short of fulfiilment becauoe of the tightening Northern blockade and the shortage of specie, thus preventing importation from Europe. By the end of . the war the South .was able to manufacture more textiles to offset the lack of importation . But the demand by certain states of extreme state's rights prevented a fair distribution of clothing and blankets . But overzealous governors like Vance of ~rorth Ca~olina insisted on holding on to huge surpluses against the possible needs of their own regiments while less fortunate Rebs suffered from deficiencies. North Carolina had forty textile factories in 1864, half as many as the other Confederate states combined. She claimed the output of these almost exclusively for her o~m soldiers, despite the fact that she drew large quantities of Hool and other raw materials from sister states • • • While Lee co ~n lained of raggedness and barefootedness of hi? men in the \>Tar ' s last winter, Vance hoarded in North Carolina warehouses "92,000 uniforms, great stores of leather and blan~ets, and his .troops in the field were all comfortably clad." This was 9 state 's Rights carried to its most costl.Y extreme. ·. Therefore, in general , North Carolina troops ·fared better than troops from other parts of the country . Since Burum was in the Infantry Regiment, Thomas Leg·ion, of i~o rth 9\'li1ey, p . 113. • !·. l I . I I I· .. ~ . '· . ... ·. ., . • ! 10 Carolina troops, he benefitted from the actions of Governor Vance. In June and December of 1864 £urum's name appeared on a Confeder.ate receipt roll for clothing . "Company officers were required to keep a record of clothing dispensed--two general issues a year were contemplated , one of \·T-i nter uniforms . in the fall and the other of sp ring--~nd soldiers '''ho did not receive the full amount allovred Here to be credited on the pay roll with the valu~ of articlez due them Even though the majority of soi-diers did not have adequate clothes, it appeared that :Surwn ~·!as an e~ception by being able to obtain clothes near t.P.e end of the vrar. The uniform \vhich Burum wore was probably a yello ~·lish brown r~sulting from the use of dye made of cop-peras and walnut shells. This butternut color replaced the gr~y which had been common earlier in the war. Brogans had replaced boots which were not suitable for marchj.ng. And "hats were the prevailing vogue. Soft hats were preferred not only because they were more comfortable, but ~lso they gave greater protection from sun and rain; and at nig~t they made 'capital pillows.' Shapes varied ... but the m~dium-brimmed slouch was by far the most popular." 11 It is conjecture that the above description fits what Burum had as a ~~iform ; however, since this is the common uniform for ~o~t soldiers late in the war, it is probably a fairly cloee descriptio~. 10Wiley, .· p. 111. .11 . . . . Wi~ey, pp. lll-112. . ~ . .. ,~. . \ 11 Another reason for much interest in weather conditions was that the soldiers generally lived in the open; and rain or snow could make camp an unpleasant place. In January, . 1864, Burum mentioned that his brigade occupied cabins left ' by the Yankees, but that his cabin was too small for two messes, so they built a new one. The cabin was probably a small hut made of logs, chinked and daubed with mud . The hut afforded some protection from the weatqer and was probably fairly comfortable as long as wood for a fire was available.12 Although it was a prevailing practice to stop offensive maneuvers during the winter and go into winter quarters, the >> . .~,·r . -"~ brigade Blirt:i:m-W.as -4:n...,did not do this. They .were involved in various contacts with the enemy and scouting expeditions into the North Carolina mountains during January; and they never did settle in one pla.ce for the "\dnter . Besides the two main concerns of food and weather, Burum mentioned other areas which may be compared id th a generalized picture of the same situation. The remainder of this section discusses such areas as concern for and contact with his family, recreation, religion, illness, the poor behavior of Southern troops , and attitudes toward Union people and Yankee soldiers . An important part of a s oldier ' s life ~.,ras receiving news from his famil~ and friends--eith0r by letter or by a per son just returned from home. Receiving letters was more 12-lviley, p. 60. i i· I ! r I I ,• f. 12 important than writing them; an intense eagerness to get mail was almost universal. 13 "The form and style ·of letters naturally varied with ·the cultural background of the correspondents ••• A good part of them were of fair quality in· language, spelling and organization ... But a larger part were badly written from every standpoint of e·xternal form."14 Burum's letter home on April ll undoubtedly reflected the fact that he had attended college and it was probably better written than most lette~p· Throughout ·his diary Burum mentipned receiving only two letters; one was from his brother, ;p~ter, on i-iay 6 and the other on October 20 stated the Yankees had sent his father to Camp worry Chase Chase. The about was a news about Camp Chase probably caused Burum to his father's health and welfare bec·ause Camp Ohio.15 In Federal prison camp, located west of Columbus, the prison camp Burum's father would be exposed to overcrowded conditions where sickness was prevalent.16 Much sickness resulted from exposure, mental depression and Unsanitary conditions in the camp.17 Although the horrors of prison camps were not willful and ma~~yolent, but were due to 13Wiley, p. 192 l4Wiley, p. 201. l5r.1ark Mayo Boatner, III, The Ci vi, ·'liar Dictionary (New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1959), p . 117. · 16 . Eaton, p. 107. 17Wil1iam Best Hesseltine, Civil ;;far Prisons: in War Psychology (Ohio: Ohio State Upiversity Press, p. 5.2. ' : 13 a "combination of human blundering in the face of vast, bewildering problems, by hasty action, fear, blinding passions, and the climate of horror that makes up war itself,"18 the , life of anyone in them would be threatened. However, on November 24, Burum _called on an old acquaintance and learned that his father had been taken to Knoxville and had not been sent to CB.l!lp Chase. Thus, Burum received news of his family by a second common way. E8r]ier, on March 8, he had received news that his family was well and had enough food if the YaBkees allowed the~ to keep it. So by the means of letters and personal messages a sold~er was able to maintain contact with his family and friends. Not all of a soldier's life was dangerous and unpleasant; the men found ways to ease the hardships of their existence. A birthday of a comrade would cause a celebration. Burum mentioned such a birthday celebration for James Gallaher on March 15 in which the entire mess had dinner in the country with a Union widow. It was a common practice for the men to go out into the country, seeking better food and, at the same time, female companionship. "Not a few Rebs found recreation in meetings of fraternal and benevolent associations. The ~\tsonic order was I . particularly active among some portions of the army ..19 Although Burum did not mention attending any Nasonic meetinr~ s, . 18John T. Ransom, John Ransom's Diary (Ne''l York: Paul S. Eriksson, Inc. , 1963) , p. XVI. · · ·-· l9Wiley, p. 168. • •. t ; . I ·I I l 14 it is possible that he did so because he belonged to the Masonic order in his home town. In connect ion with the Masons, however, he did mention going out to see the Yankees prisoners which were captured on May 15 and finding several belonging to the l\1asonic ord.e r . Burum became:> s o f r iendly with one that they exchanged names, addresses , and promises to write each other's famili es , i f they got home , to tell of the other's location and health. Practical jokes were another COIIlfllOP way to break uu boredom in camp. Burum described in s ome detail the pra ctical jokes that were played on April Fool's Day within hi s brigade. Religion seemed to be of some interes t in Burum' s life. In his diary he mentioned preaching four times. On April 3 Burum commented that Christianity seemed at a low ebb because the chaplain seldom preached. Again, on April 10, he complained of no preaching and no service for a day of fasting, humili­ation and prayer appointed by President Davis. He wrote, on April 24, "Parson West will preach at 11 a.m. Something will turn up surely for he has not preached, in, I don't know what time." 20 However, on Hay 22, Burum went ~0. preaching and heard two ministers; the first was a visiting Methodist m~ister from a nearby college and the seo9nd was an Episcopalian chaplain from J. H. I<lorgan 1 s command. The lack of more religious serv + c~s was probably due to the shortage of chaplains throughout the Confederate Army. 20see page 37 of this paper. 15 The government tried to apportion one chaplain for every regiment, but it was unable to have an adequate number because of low pay and the lack of trained men. 21 Religion was also broue,ht to the army by visiting missionaries and local preachers. 22 In most services denominationalism was minimized. The services consisted largely of preaching and prayer meetings, and usually held on Sunday morning . 23 "Sermons delivered to camp audiences, whether by chaplains, officers, or visitors, were usually ·couched . in simple terms . Subjects receiving the most frequent attention were the necessity of repentance, the uncertainty of life, the consequences of sin, the terrors of hell, ••• and the universality of divine mercy." 24 As early as January 14 Burum mentioned being ill and remaining in camp for two days. On July 22 ~rum stated he was sick and unable to report for duty. The next day he reported to a surgeon who ordered him to the hospital at :r-1ount Jackson. From Mount Jackson Burum was sent in a. train of wagons with other sick and wounded to Staunton, Virginia. From Staunton , Burum was sent to Lynqhburg where he was placed in a 'vayside hospital. On July 31 he enrolle.d in Miller Hospital where he remained 'until August 24; he was then moved to the Knight's Hospital where he remained until 21Eaton, p . 101. 22:&aton, p . 101 . ... 23Wiley, PP • 184 and 187 . 24wu.ey , P • 190 . I • ' ' I· I i 16 October 8 when he left to rejoin his command . Al thour~h Burum never stated the cause of his illness , he comment ed in A~~ u n t and September that he · was so weak he could hardly walk and that he was not feeling any better. Burum's laGt entry concP-rninG illness was November 10 when he said he was left in camp with the other sick soldiers while the army marched out. Bururn's illnesses and subsequent ho spital expP.riencea were not unique. Joseph Jones, one of the forcmo~t authorities on Confederate medicine, estimated that on an avera~e each Southerner soldier was ill or Nounded six times during the war, and that there were five times as many cases of sickness as of injury. He es timated further that for every soldier who died as a result of battle there were three who perished from disease.25 Some of the reasons for so much sickness were "continued exposure and fatigue, bad and insufficient food, salt meat, indifferent clothing, want of cleanliness, poor shelter, exposure at n·ight to sudden changes of temperature, infected tents and camps." 26 "The most common diseases were diarrhea, dysentery, ·malaria, typhoid fever, erysipelas, p. ne. umonia and measles •. Not infre~uently soldiers had smallpox, malaria, tuberculosis, and sometimes scurvy and itch." 27 The respiratory infe ctions caused many deaths; measles, mumps, and ve~ereal diseases 25Wiley, p. 244. 26E. 1\ierton Coulter, The Confederate States of America· 1861-1865 (Louisiana: Loui~~~a State University ' ... Press; 1950), p. 428. · 27 C.oul te.r, p. 429. 17 were annoyine, but not fatal. 28 Hospitals were ~cattered throu~hout the South; some were controlled by the government and some were maintained privately. Conditions in the ho upitals were generally bad. 29 Despite the aid of women' s voluntary hospital re+ief aocietiea, the government could not, at f irst, provide adequate medical personnel, medicines, hospital facilities or trans~ortation. "After 1862 hospital resources throughout the Confederacy seem to have been fairly ample for the care of the sick except in short periods following great battle~ when accommodations were -unduly taxed."30 Medical services also increased when "way hospitals" were located on different railroad routes, beginning in 1863.31 Although the Confederate troops w.~h;.e usually fought well in battle, there were some instances of panic among the troops and disobedience to orders which caused the loss of a battle. Burum described two such incidences in which he was involved. The first incident occurred on June 5 near ?ort Republic. A large force of Federal troops was repulsed three times; they then made a flanking movement which the Sixtieth 28Richard H. Shryock, "A Medical Perspective on the Civil War," The American quarterly, XIV, No. 2, Pt. 1 (Summer, 1962), p. 165. 29coulter, pp. 433 and 435. 30Wiley, pp. 206-261. 3lEdwin B. Coddington, "Soldiers' Relief in the Seaboard States of the Southern Confederacy," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XXXVII, No. 1 (June, 1950), p. 20. I I: 1'_-_, .... 18 Virginia unit could not hold. Btirum described thP. P.n0 uin ~ panic as "they stampeded rip:ht t hrou~h our Ree iment and compelled us to take care of ours elves."32 On Oc tober 19 at Fisher's hill, Burum was involved in an incident Gho1vin ~ t he sad results when soldiers ref us ed to obey or ders. The Confederate soldiers had been s ucc essful in an attack upon the Yankees; but the Sout hern t roops stopped t o plunder. The Union forces were able to r e-group, attac~, and win the ba t t le as a consequence of the Southern soldiers' re f usal t o fi ~h t . Although Southern soldiers were general+y courageous in battle, there were some ins tances of cowardice. Burum never did express an attitude of hatred towa rd the war or toward Union people. In fact, he commented after a successful battle against the Federals that "the 44th Tenn. R~g't arrived too late f or the fun." 33 Later on, near Bunker Hill, Burum again stated "we are going to have some fun now. We are within Yankee lines ."34 From this i nformation it is impossible to assess whether this was his true attitude toward fight·ing. There was not enough information available to determine how similar Burum's attitud~ was to other soldiers. Burum had a low opinion of the Y~kee soldiers as a group. On May 19 he wrote: "The Yankee :prisoners we capture ' - 32see page 46 of this paper. 33see page 38 of this paper. 34see page 49 of this paper. l 19 are almont all drunk. If thn.t is the only way thr~ y can be induced to fight US t they ffid better "J.Ui t and 1 let UC alone • t "35 On the next day Burum again mentioned the drunkennESs of Northern soldiers. Burum's opinion. of Union troops fit with the common Southerner attitude considering th~ men in blue as "an unsavory sort of people who came from a low and vulgar background." 36 In contrast to his low opinion 9f Union soldiers, Burum considered Union civilians as k~d and hospitable. ~fuen rations were scarce it was a common practice to eat with people living in the countryside. Indeed, Burum was so friendly with one Union family that he and his friends held a birthday celebration in their home.37 Burum expressed his emotions not as hatred of the war, but as a longing to· be reunited with his family. According to Bell Irvin Wiley, 38 the average Rebel private was from a middle-class, rural society, largely non­slaveholding. He was comparatively youpg and often unmarried. At times he felt sickness, nostalgia and war-weariness. He complained of scantiness of clothes and inadequate rations. Johnny Reb had a genuine attachment to close associates and was good-natured and gregarious. He wa~ not immune to panic, but was generally determined and courag~ous. - ~ 35see page 42 of this paper 36wiley, p. 309. 37see page 30 of this paper. 38w11ey, p. 347. ...: - ...... . ' .. .· . ; . ~ .. ·.. . ~ \ •• • I ·:.· j I • \. ! ' .. :,; . ·-·~ .,.,, : .. h ,. - .. . l .. i . . 20 In some ways · Burum fit this description anrl in :-.; orn ~ · ways he did not. He was a farmer from a rural ~ocicty, hut ·was ·a slave-owner. The bulk of the army ran ~ ed in a~e from ··eighteen to thirty-five; 39 Burum war; thirty-four vrhcn he enlisted and had already been married. In hi s diary Burum expressed feelings of illness, nostalgia and war-wea riness . Although Burum complained about the rations he never did complain of the lack of clothes. Bur~ showed hie r.;r egarious nature and attachment to close associa~e~ by continual mention of contacts with old friends. Burum described some moments ·of panic, but, more often expressed his desire for eventual victory. . · ,: .. : .'... .• , .~ ! ... . : '. ?:~.W.iley, p. 3 30 • . ; .. , .' . '. ; . ~ I ·I : : ~·· : .. :.. . . ~: . • -. - !~· .• : •• r ~ .. ·. , .. ... ;"~ I • :' ·. ~ . . .;, \ .' . ' I • • 0 '<.I o ' . . ~ . . : . . . : :: '"' -.'~ ... ~ . ,\} : . ·: . . . . . ·,. :: . .· .. · ... o"'" I ' ""',· ': .. ... · ;;,! ,. III. THE DIARY O.F ABSAL01'1 JOSHUA BURUM (Copied from pers onal diary of A. J. Burum) P1EMORANDUN A. J. Burum Co. K. Regt. Thomas' Legion January 1, 1864 January lst, 1864 Another year has been numbered with the past. year has set in very cold and disagreeable. We are now encamped at or near \vhi tesburg. 1 The new The whole of Gen'l. Ransom•s2 Division is here-­composed of Gen'ls . Course's, 3 Ranoom's and Jackson•s4 Brigades. 1Burum in the Thomas Legion was on duty in Eastern Tennessee under the command of Brigadier-General A. E. Jackson. They were operating against bushwhackers in the area. See The War of the Rebellion: A Com ilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891), XL~II, Pt. II, p. 1525. For Burum's route of marching see map~ in appendix. 2r~Iajor-General Robert Ransom, Jr., had been commander in Eastern Tennessee since October, 1863. See Boatner, p. 679. 3Burum probably is referring to Brigadier-General Montgomery D. Corse. See Boatner, p. 204. 4 Jackson's Brigade, which included the Thon;as' North Carolina Regiment was on detached service in Eastern Tennessee. SeeS Ser. I XXXIII p. 1525 The War of the Rebellion ••• , XXXII, Pt. II, p. 1525. 21 I I I I I ~ 1· l•'} . , . . ' r t . t. ~ • . . ' .'),_ ,'.J_ \ve :1re sla ;ing [sic J the timbe r herr> f or some rr1en [ ·de J. All seems to be quiet. Gen'l. LonG~treet5 i n below nere somewhere with three Divisions of the army . They have been talking of e;o.ing to Winter quarters · for some time, but as cold as the weather i ~ , we see no movement of the kind. January 5th , 1864 Moved our camp some two or three hundred yards on account of the scarcity of f irewood. There is now at lea ~ t 10 acres cleared of every tree, where it was good heavy timber, when we first came here. January 7th~ 1864 Left Whitesburg and marched to Bull's Gap--distant some six or eight mileso We camped in little cabins built by the Yankees. Our shantie (sic] was rather small for our two messes & we buil~ one of our o'l\rn. January 13th, 1864 Our comp~~y was sent out ~ ith the wagon train on a foraging expidition [ sic], on Lick Creek . Jas. B. Gallaher, 6 belonGing to ~he 26th Ree iment- 5Lieutenant-General James Longstree-t commanded the De pa rt.of East Tennessee from December 5 , 1863 to April 12v 1864. See \'lilliam Frayne AITlann ( ed. ) , Pers onnel of the Civil War (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, +951), I, p. )05. 6Any person whose last name is Gallaher, mentioned in the diary, probably is related to Eurum in some way since -. f. 23 Tenn. Vol. and who was wounded in the thi~h in the Chick:J.mnuga fiBht was cut off from hi ~ command, rmd came to our comnany, for the present. January 14th, 1864 A courier was started to call in our forar~in~ waeons. We are to leave here tomorrow for Jonesboro, I suppose. Being unwell I did not go with the comp~y. Dr. T. F. Seinknith, one of our neiehbors, from Anderson County, Tenn. came to us and Wil.l remain with us for a while. Friday, January 15th, 1864 .. ;, ..... ~. . ~ :· Our wagons & company have not come in yet. Our division left by daylight this morning leaving the sick in camps. ·saturday 16th Our company .and wagons came in yesterday morning & we left this morning for Morristown, instead of Jonesboro, to get with our command. Canonading &. musketry was brisk and plain as we neared Morristown. It seems we will have to pitch into it now, for we are on the front. Sunday 17th Canonading still continues. Abo~t 2 o'clock we received ~ic] orders to march immediately; · and such another Burum married his first cousin, Nancy Kipg Gallaher. But there are no family records to show the relationship of the rest of the Gallaher's to Burum. I : ,. • I li ' p It 1: • t •' ,.:J ;· 24 r:atherine up tricks and fixinG to get away you never saw. ·Ne moved out about 6 or 8 miles from Morristown, in the direction of Doudridge (?)7 & are waitinr paitently CsicJ for an advance of the enemy, or for orders to go forward and meet them.· Monday 18 - We are now out on pickett ~icJ w!th about 30 men. There was a squad of six soldiers capt~~e~ at this post a few days · ago, conseq~ently we have to k~e~ out a close watch for some flru1king parties. Tuesday 19 vle were relieved of our post this morning, by another pickett [sic] from our command. We had a considerable snow last night, but having fixed up a temporary shelter and bunks· of straw, we fared finely, for soldiers. Our present camps are about 2t ~~les from Talbots Station: and we had just got in, when we recieved {Pic] orders to be ready to march by One O'Cloc~. Night found us after a hard march, at Sulphur Springs C~pground. Our brigade is no'" alone. ordered to other positions. The ot~er two having been because it is locateq in no DOuQfidge. 25 Vlcdne.sdny 20th We arc otill on the march to--I don't know where. Some say to Jonesboro and other::; to Chucky River. But here we are at Bull's Gap again--in our little shanties as snug as you please. Houst., Jim and Doctor went out to Wm. o~ en o lust night and never caught up 1·1i th us until somtime [sic] after we arrived here. Thursday 21st We left Bull's Gap today at 12 O'Clock. We are bearing too much toward the N. Carolina mountain ~> for Jonesboro; Some ot the boys think we · are going to the mount.ains to hide. ·. We passed through a little town today, called· Spring- 1·vale and camped away beyond in the woods. Friday 22 We left our camps , in the woods, this morning, crossed Chucky8 and camped close up to the mountains.9 Sunday 24 We have orders today to cook up 3 days rations and prepare for marching somewhere. River. 8This. is evidently a shortened ~arne for the Nolechucky 9G. M. Sorrell, Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General, from the Department of Eaot Tennessee head­quarters, on January 21, inquired if General Jackson had gone after the bushwhackers; from Burum' a report. they had. · See The ~lar of the Rebellion ••• , XXXII, Pt II, p. 595. 26 We had preachinr; by Pnrson We::;t & after ;;cr•licec He took our h.lankets, r ations , guns & a~unition, leaving our kn~p sacks, & set off toward the mountains. Tuesday 26 We have returned from a scout into N. C:·rolina mountains. It is a rough mountainouo countr.v, es occially on ·shelton's LaUrel, and all other Ln.ureln that we viRited. \'le never saw more than a half dozen men in our ~tlhoic · trip, of two days marchine. ';ie shot at three, who made their escape and brought one out with us. We captured 3 horse::;-­got as many green apples as we could eat while we staid [1ic] in there and· fell in with our wagons ·& the balance of the command on Horse Creek.10 We left our camps soon this morning and after climbing and decending [!ic] mountains, a distance of about 16 miles, we never saw a house until we got within 2 miles of camps. We were on some high peaks in the mountatns, where we could see almost the .whole landscape of E. Tennessee. As far as ,.,.e could look to the East & South \'las a dense hetrogenious [sic] mass of mountains upon mountains, jammed up in every con- . cieveable GsicJ way. It was indeed a beautiful scenery--the 100rders from headquarters, Department on E~st Tennessee on January 25, 1864 to Brigadier-General A. E. Jackson from G. H. Sorrell, Lieutenant and Assir;t::1.~1 t-Ad jutant­Gene- ral were "the enemy appears to be operating on the south side of the French Broad {River) agains t our fora~ ing trains • • • • The commanding general desires that in addition to your o ~ erations against the bushwhackers you should cive your attention to these parties and endeavor to capture them and protect the trains •••• " See The War of the Rebellion ;. ·• ..... :;_' _, .. ... · ~ • , XXXII, Pt ~ II, P• 610 • ._ -~~ .. S T'";. :;':. ~· _;.:;;•·• .. - • • I • ~- •' 'I I ' i, • ' \ • I • "• •; '•' ~ ' • ' ·-,·. ,·... ·. ,,. •_· ... · . ·."~ , ·;. t • I '; .s." ~t::~"·l' ! .• : .... 5'·t .. ~~.:: : . 0 • 27 mountainr. on on(~ :: ld1:1 and i.hf· valley of t.hr: B. 'T'r.nnf1~ :P.c [111c] on th(~ ot;h• :r, dotted ovnr with tm·m::-~, villat~en & farm ~ nr: far as the eye could reach. Wednesday 27th We left Horse Creek this morning. t-1arched up Chucky and camped near a little creek 11 miles from Jonesboro. Thursday 28 We cooked up two days rations ~d started on another trip into the mountains. ive are going over on Indian Creek in Greary Cove, where there are lots of bushwhackers. We had not proceeded more than two miles from camps when our advance guard met up with a small squad of bushwhackers, one of whom they killed by the name of Pritchett, ·and the .rest made their escape. The Legion was divided into two parties--one going to the upper and the other to the lower end of the cove & at night we . met at Red Bank on Chucky Riv~~~ A dispatch lvas sent back to ou~ wagons for more rations so that we would have time to stir up ~~ese renegades & deserters that are said to be lurking fn these parts. Friday 29 We have been waiting for our rations to come up before going further into the mountains. Saturday 30 w·e left our camps last night a1- moon up, about ··. '. I 0 : 0 ..... ' £. 0 ' 0 I I I o 28 2 O'Clock I nuppone, and ntruck off for parts unknown. I suppose we are going to Carter's Station from all tha t I can j ~. 0 00 ° learn, ai?.d this. morning finds us here after a hard days 1. 0: 0 0 ~ 0 • 0 ; ; 0 ; !, ' 0 march. l.i . ·~ .. o, 0 ;~! 1 • ' .' ·~~:• ' I o> : 0 0 I o o .. Sunday 31 Nothin~ new from below. It seems that Genl. Longstreet12 is merely ~atching them below. '0 Monday Feb. 8th One more week has passed around &nd but little news ~rom below that is reliable. Longstreet, I understand, is ,0., adv~cing slowly--building the R.R. bridges as he goes. Honday 15 Another week has been numbe~ed with the past. During the week two trains have pa~sed down the road loaded with Pontoons to b+idge the river at the Plains or somewhere else. I suppose our trains ~ to the Plains now ~ongstreet's position is a dangerous on~ with Cumberland gap . in his rear. 11on January 28 orders were sent to Brigadi~r­General A. E. Jackson from the headquarters of the Department of East Tennessee, ordering him to move q~icluy as possible to Ccrter's Station and "to defend the \vatauga bridge and property, and to hold the position at ali ·hazards • • • .,, .~gainst an enemy raid. See The lvar of the Rebellion, XXII, .Pt. II, pp. 627-8. 0 • • •• 22 • ... . · 29 I•londay 22nd 1864 We all understand that Longstreet 1 r. fallin r~ bncl-: ·from Knoxville at;ain. The pontoons have been brought here ·~.nd dropped. Saturday 27th There has been some ar~illery, several pieces, ~rought up here and left. It appears like Longstreet was ~oinp, to fall back & give up E. Tenn. for good I am afraid. Monday 29th Jas. B. Gallaher13 & myself went up to Zollieoffer14 this evening & staid (sic] all night. Tuesday March 1st It is raining this morning. \·ie met with Dr. Seinknith, D. H. Gallaher & Wm. "\ . Henly who had went [.sicJ to .Bristol a day or two before to see some E. Tenn. Brigades who were captured near Cumberland Gap. There were 246 of them. C. H. Anderson & others were amoung [sicJ them. Geo. H. Gallaher was on the train from the army at Dalton. Wednesday 2nd /s;0 It is said that the trussel~over the river at Zollieoffer has given away on account of a little tide in the river, but will soon be repaired. l3see page 22 concerninr: the Gall.fi11<~ rs 1 relationship to Burum. l4Probably refers to Zollicoffer. Zollicoff er was consistently misspelled, which may be due to Burum 1 s lack of knowledge or to a misinterpretation when the diary was copied . -. o ··: ' •• : I o"' . . . . i· .\.. ..... :. ..: . :, lt,'~-........ 1 ·~· , .... :. ..i • I ' o . _.. . ·. ) 0 ~.. ., . .· ' .. . . . ~ 'L'uesday 8th 1\hrch 1864 Geo. II. G:·llaher left hero this naornin,<~ fr. went rlovm about· Bull' s Gap to the front to cee some of the boys hclonr;­. · /i~g to the 63rd Regt. Tennessee Volunteer:;; . .. James Hardin of Knox Co. Tenn. has sli pped throu r~h the enemies lines and came (§icJ out. He rE' !)resentn our families as being well and having provisions suffecient ~ic] i .f allowed to keep them . . The Yankees or Renegad·ee are burning barnes · hsi~ and cutting up generally down there~ Thursday lOth Marvell Ballew has been with us , in pass ing up and dorm the road. Geo. H. Gallaher returned from below. No · ne~s of importance--a few Yankee prisoqers are passing up the .:. :.~,.' ·. road every few ·days • . ~. .. . . \ '• .. . ·-: .... . ..... : . ,._, •.:: . • • , I • ,• ~ , ': . • Saturday 12th Geo. H. Gallaher & myself went qut in the country about (4) four miles and got our dinner , We enjoyed ourselves finely. The name of the ~e ople we ate w~th was Touder \'le bought 2 chickens & a couple of pounQ.~ of bacon. We have been in the habit of eating dinn~r, ocpasionally when r ations ~re scarce, over the ridge here at the W~dow Daniels, an old lady. Her daughter, Mrs. Williams, liv~~ with her. They are : · .. >·:.:: .; · :: ·P'n;ion P.~o;ple but treat us very well. · . ' I ,::.4,!: ' ..... ; '> · · · ::: · h-" ~:_-·. .Tuesday 15th ~ . ;' u.' ·:~ . ":, :~ . :. . . ::' • : . . • ' .. . . '.::": .:1.t •.:::·: ·.: · :; ~ .,·. . . Dr·. Seinkni th, :_~:~fM?;;cx{.~:~_~';!,\'~ .> {:·'"' ~,' : . ·. ·. . ·.• ... A. W. Manly, Jas. B. Gallaher, Geo ; H. ..~ .. ) l G:•llaher, D. H. Gallaher and .rny r;elf, our entire JV1rs. D:u1 iels and Williamo to give uo ·a partinr; dinner to:J a.~l· George and Jao. Gallaher will leave tomorrow for Dalton, Ga . It was Jas. Gallaher's birth day and we therefore celebrated and enjoyed ourselves finely under the circumstances. \vednesday 16th Geo. H. & Jas B. Gallaher left this ev~ning on the train at 5 O'Clock. Thursday 17th Hr. D. F. Butler Made us a visit, from White Sulphur Springs, Va. Tuesday 22 It snowed this morning and is still snowing this evening. The snow is full five inches deep ·now. Houst has been sick for several days. He is very fretful & always growling at us about everything. The snovr is somthing Csic] near a foot deep • . ,·. Friday 2-5th ; . It snowed again last night. It i ·s again reported that Longstreet is falling back to Va. I fear that our homes have "gone up (?)"during the war. Oh, that Providence would smile upon us, and cause this unholy war to cease. I hope long ere · 1 ~1esses were usually composed of six to eight men who were drawn together b.. ties of kinstlip or cong.eniali ty." Wiley, p. 106. The three Gallahers are probably related by marriage to Burum. :I o ·.1 . • 1', , .. . , -:-·· ·. ) 2 ano t her Goocl i~ ridn y r oll0 around that our country will be :-··· .: blest with a periim . n ent peace. Saturday 26th ... ' '\ .... -.. ~ . . .. Recieved wicJ the fir s t -No. of the Lynchburg Republicans. Sunday 27th We are laying here guard i ng th~ bridge a t C: .. r ter ' n Station. it i n reported th~t Lon gst~eet is falling back to Va . i'1onday 28th We have rain and snow--rough disagreeable weather for ~roops to be moving. Tuesday 29 Cap It. r.fcCaula--commanding pioneer Co. i s fix ine t he Pontoon bridge across the r i ver at this place. I suppo s e it is done for the waggon (sicJ trains_, ~ to cross as the waters are rising. Wednesday 30 The army has commenced passing n~re • :· J-1cLa:w' sl:.6 ·Division passed here today •. : .... , ·rhursday 31st Ma j. Genl. I went out in the county four milefi , up ·,·;atunga river . ·16 . ·. ·· Probably refers to Major-General Lafayette M' Laws. Am~; P,; 31:7 • . <.f. . . . ~ : .." -·~? ~·- . ~ .. ·~ r . '·~· . -~"-'-"' .. :.~~::~' /: .. 33 forar~int~ today & returned to cam ps n.hout one or t•1o ()' Clnc.k. ~h .i . Genl:;. Buckman17 :mel Hood' n18 Di vi::; ion~ today. There is a vast army o.f them all--r;ome thirty th o u ~_: a..YJ.d or more. Lts. A. r1. Hardin & Suml. Laffett (?) called on us as they passed. It looks hard to thun r,ive up our hornen to the enemy, without seeing our families for near a year past, but perhaps it is all for the better. Friday April 1st All-fools-day. Dr. Seinknith qad Lt. Peak running around all morning looking for Col Carter of the 1st Tenn. Oav'lry. Saml. Bradley & J. J. (?) Butler from the lower army has come around to see us--when upon A. W. Manly going back to his pickett ~ic] post told John H. Right that his father had come out from amoung (§icJ the Yankees & wa~ . at camps ~icJ. John was off in a minute to hear the news-- he merely shakes hands and speaks to Sam. Bradley goes into his tent & says, "Where' s Daddy. ~icJ April Fool" Saturday, 2nd April Lt. John Triplett was with us last night. Col. Guiltner's (?) 19 Cavalry is here now & we are again on the front. Our forces have all fell CsicJ back. They have ta}~en ,•. 17could possibly refer to Major-General S. B. Buckner since I f ound no mention of a Major-Genera.l l3uclcma."1.. See Amann, p • 177. 18Brigadier-General John B. Hood assumed command of the Second Corps, (Hardee's), Army of the Tennessee, . (Department of Tennessee) on February 25, 1864. .See Amann, pp. 194 and 284. : l9Probably refers to General Giltner .• · !," •• ~ t • ' • ,·~ .. ,:· .. ~ ... ~;· .. -~.·1· : ....,~ : . ; .. .! ' ,. .. :j :._. •, . . . · . . = t '; .~ ~ ·,· ; • , .. 34 1' . .. .. '- :· /. : ·:,. . ' ' ···. . ordered to take it up to Zollieoff er 9 miles· abov~ here. .le ! .. ·- ··i ~.·· · .·_.' tnay not stay here much lono~.:>: er. E very b o d y i 3 1· nqu1· r1· n0 w·n ere are you going? \•/ha t does this move me8.11? But no one Y.now:i . All is a mys tery. With patience vle wil.:L await the re ~ ul t, ,.' hoping it . '\-rill rid E. Tenn. of t he last l<'ederai • . ' .-: '· Sunday 3rd The Cavalry has fell baclc acro~3 the river and l ,eft us entirley ~icJ on the front. 'de crosped the river tod n.y an~ encamped below the depot amoung {_§icJ the rocks and hill :~. Christianity seems to be at a low ebb. Our Ch a pl ain (·. ':. ;. .·.:_.lays about here in camps & seldom ever preaches • ,.II,; ., 1 • I, I ' .~' ' ' • .7'1 '· .. . . .·.·.;. :_._: :_ . ·. j·'. -~· ~~ ., ~ ~;. :. ;. ·. ~ ·r ·. . ~ : . ..· .. . Tuesday 5th . . . ~ " i .J ••• • • ·.·· :· •• 'J. ~- •• , . . Our rations are novr reduced to t\-ro-thirds of a pound of flour & three quarters of a pound .of beef per day. He ·draw a little rice occasionally & about a half pound of bacon every week. That is 5 days rations of beef and 2 of bacon. The rat ions are short but we can live on them or less for some time yet. · We prefer starvatiop to sub,jagation {jicJ. They have not taken down the telegrapq ¥ire from this ~lace, but have now es·tablinhed an office her~! Our Sappers & .· : · · :::· · :,. :" !-1iners :; :./ ?;~;<: /:j: _; ··l - are still pushing ahead on this Rridge~ ;. ~.' " "; . Wedrtesd·ay 6th . J. L. Cox, of Louisville, Blount County, Tenn. has . ·. ·. . ~ ~- .: "' . '"; ·' i· just .come out of the enemy's lines. The Southern people are .. ~'::·:".;~;~\ :~·~:,:·.~;-. ·ro.bbe,d ... :of . almost everything they h~ve. One of Papa's black >;; (YG:~~a;,:L;;t:!~tt~!~;2{,2;/ ': :. , , , ,, 35 . boys "Jep" who was nressed into r>ervice by Horace 1-,ostcr, 8 notoriou:..: Lincolnite, escaped and came out with Capt Oaborne's Rebel Cavalry while on a raid near Louir;ville, Tenn. Thursday 7th Thos. C. Wright, a private of Company B. 63 Regt. Tenn. Vols . visited us today. He vTas wounded at Chickamauga in the head. Tom looks well & is right for ~he South. Sunday lOth 1864 Wet, cold, disagreeable weather. No preaching, we never even had a service last Friday day of fasting, humiliation & prayer appointed by the President. A tr:-:.in went down this morning bearing a flae of tru.ce as far as Greenville. There will be another one go down tomorrow. Jouthern families are leaving Knoxville and Union families are going North. Honday 11th April I have written a fe ,., lines home by flag of truce today. Oh! that I could have written morel b~t must necessarily put up with a short notice of my health & etc. We drew one pound of flour to the man today, to make up deficiency as back rations. 'i\ednesday 13th Dr. Seinknith returned to the company. There is talk of another flag of truce going down again shortly. ·~. _,.: .. ' . . t• ;- ,: .. ... 36 Friday 15th D. H. Gn.llaher returned from Hospital. They arc ;:till ·at work on the bridGe h~re. Saturday 16 A ;· ~ ril Rain & a little snow here today. Wet, cold, disagreeable ·weather. The mountains ane white with snow • . r.1onday 18 - The flag of truce train went do}iP today & returned this evening. Several families carne out, Mrs. Hilbern Walker was amoung [sicJ them. She says the Southern families are faring tolerably well Generally . The Lincolnites say they intend to kill all of Butlers men on sight. Th~y must be . careful or Butler's men might save '· a few of thetn. Tues~ay 19 Snow and rain this morning . We ~ave orders this evening to draw five days rations this eyening and be ready for a scout soon in the morning. Thursday 21st \ve left last night on our scout at 10 0' Clock & today are at Elizabethton. The people thoueht that the robbers were about to run in on them. Some of the boys are scouting · ... <:'·:. :. ~round-;10 ·others and myself are here ~~ town awaiting orders. ·.'· . r · . . : ,· . . . . , : ..... . : .. ' · -- -:~ Friday 22nd April 1864 .. ; ~ .• \ ,t "' ,; •I. I . ~.:. : ' .~ .... . . ·~ ·· . .',:·- ::·,: .. :· .-· . .-:.\ <-~,.-· .'_:_.: .. .-,'· ~-i~ . $.q'ila.d. left Elizabethton YEtf:lterday evening &: met ;~:)j~;Jl~~j :.~~~J:ff.h{.~Id.;.;:~~;; ~:~~. ,·, •, , "' :.'c ; ·. · • • . 37 the rc:;t of the command at Taylor: ; i>cho01 hou::e n"~J.r thr: mouth of J.luffo.low [ficJ 20 Creek. ~nmc of u~: hrw inp; e;i ve [;.i.e] out &Ot permission to return to co.rnps--th~ rest of the Comm;;uld ' went below to Jonesboro. I had my whiskers shaved off & my hnir trimmed this evening. The weather has turned warm and clear & now every-thing has the appearance of s~ring. Sunday 24th Purson West will preach today -t 11 O'Clock A.M. Somthing GsicJ will turn up surely for he has not preached, in, I don't know what time. Nonday 25 - Capt Gammon's company captured a Yankee & 2 others made their escape. There is considerable excitement here about the affair someway. It is said that the Genl. & staff are afraid the escaped Yankees will make a raid on us here at 21 c : ~ rter. 20The organization of Buckner's Division, Brigadier­General :3ushrod R. Johnoon commanding, April 20, included Jackson's Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Alfred E. Jackson and Thomas' regiment (Legion) comman~ed by Lieutenant­Colonel James R. Love. __ ;ee The War of the Rebellion • • • , · XXXII, Pt. III, .1. 802. . .. 21on April 25 General Braxton Bragg sent the following re port to Jefferson Davis. '"rhe mov.ement of Thomas' Legion, noK in .Sri::;adier-General Jaclwon 1 s J3rigadc, Buckner' G Dc :::J.rtment, wao delayed to admit of an in ~; ·9 ectio!l. The report h3.s just cG1me i n . The le~ion composed of one reeiwcnt and one battalion, has a battery of artillery associated with it, and is called a brigade, under Brigadier-General A. E. Jackson. It reports 360 .::nen for duty, but could show but 180 on parade--all in miserable order. I propose to order tne infantry of ·iiestern North Carolina, relieving Gener;·l.l. Jackson." See The \·:ar of the P..ebellion • • • , TJ:II, p. 326. · ' -· ·. 38 Tuesday 26 The Yankees attacked uc here yer1t e rd~1y a bout 1? 0' Clock & we skirmished or fought them until nnrk. \·JP. were in a close place yesterday evenin ~ , but the Y: !nkccR were afraid of us after we had picked off a few of them. We had a few captured but none killed & we know of at least 10 Yankees biting the dust. 1:/e .got sever· 1 fine guns & saber:::;. There was Wic] two Yankee regiments acainst p~f Legion of 300 (?500) men for duty. We held our po s ition and maintained our former reputation for handeling ~ic] tre Yank. ~here was occasional shots thrau~h the pight. The Yanks staid fPiiJ until this morning--thinking that we Y~' ould fall back, as on a former occassion [.sic], but our boys gave them a warm salute this morning just at day, which lasted an hour or two, and then they made it convenient to leave us the victors of the day. ~le have only three Yankee f:riso!1ers , but there are others in our sight lifeless wqo have laid their last land warrant. ;ve had no artillery unt~l after the fight was over--the. train having broken down this ~~de of Zollioffer. The 44th Tenn. Regt. arrived too late for the fun. 22 T·uesday !\'lay 3rd ~pring has just opened here and still the nights are 22Aaj or-General .S. B. Buckner, on .. pril 26, sent the follmving report to General S. Cooper. '''rhe enemy, ap:parently a strong reconnaissance were skirmishing .with General Jackso~ at Carter's Depot yesterday evening •• · ." The War of the · Rebellion .• , XXXII, Pt. II, p. 831, 39 cold & frocty. Lt. Mont~omcry & Geo. Snow of the lnt Tennc~nee Cavalry are with us wai tine; for their Regt. to come dovm. Thursday May 5th We understand they are fighting about Dalton Ga. Our arms have been successful at all points this Sprine. Fighting in Va., too, at Chanclor-sville . WicJ. 23 The Yankees have been whipped in Eastern N. C., Plymouth, Washington and other points. Friday 6th r1ay Recieved ~ic] a letter from Bro. Peter from Dalton Ga. Dated Apr. 26th. 24 ·saturday May 7th--Bristol We left Carters this morning. All· the troops were ordered up the road. Sunday 8th Glade Springs25 ~·le lett Bristol at 11 0' Clock last night & arrived here awhile before day & are here loading commissaries on the 23The Battle of the Wilderness on May 5-6 near Chancellorsville, Virginia, "ended ~ndecisively as the armies of Lee and Grant wrought mutual destruction upon each other." Gorton Carruth and . associates (ed.), The Encyclopedia of American ·Facts and Dates (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1956) p. 272. . . -24Peter, whose mother was Nancy Blodgett, was BUrumis half-brother. 25General B. R. Johnson, on Ap~il 28, had been ordered to "send Wharton's brigade to Glade Springs by rail as soon as practica~le." See The War of the Rebellion ••• , XXXII, Ft. III, p. 5,36. ·/ ·· 40 tr ~ !in, to be run out to f:al tvJlle V·1. We arc all to :;o to Saltville thi ::; evening . Saw Genl. J. H. Morgan. 26 Monday 9th-- Sn ltvill ~ , Va.--LRnded here at dark, 9 miles. Several regts. of infantry and ~ considerable amount of Cavl'y left here last nicht. We wer~ ordered · out s oon ' this morning on pickett ~icJ,·lookirtg fpr the Yanks . It in reported that the enemy have run in wi~~ ~ force at Dublin. Our men are after them. Genl. Morgan ~~p,~cts to mount the ballance f§ii} of his Command. Tuesday lOth May--Saltville--We are still here on pickett ~i~, at the ford of the river. Holston River at this point is quite scall. We are about i mile from the I Depot N. W. of Saltville. Wednesday 11--We got news from Richmond on Monday that Gen. Lee27 had whipped the enemy & ca~~Ufed 25000 prisoners-- also good news from the West--Price 28 pas Steel surrounded and demanded a surrender. Stee129 is y~lling to capitulate if 26on !-1a.y 2, 1864 Brigadier Gener~l Jo}1.n H. Morgan had been relieved of duty in the Departm~nt of East Tennessee and ordered to re port, with his brigade, tp General Bre.ckinridge. See Amann, p. 319. 27General Robert E. Lee comm~d~d the Confederate Army and the Department of North Virginia. · See Amann, p. 302. 2~ajor-General Sterling Price assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi Department on March l~. 1864. See Amann, p. 332. 29Within the Union Army Brigaqier-General Wi11iam Steele was assigned to duty in the · T~4P~-Mississipp1 Department on January 9, 1864. See Amann, P• 34~, · · 41 Price will trNit the neero @icJ as prir:oncrs of w:1.r, which was refused, of course. Thursday 12--The news from Richmond :-tnd tho 'lle:Jt ·a.re confirmed. The Yankees are still at Dublin, nome 60 miles below here. It is reported that they (Yankees) have burned New River bridge just beyond Dublin a few miles. Friday 13th 1864--We are still a~ 3altville, Va. & may remain here for some time. The news from around Richmond is still cheering . Lee's official report says we have 37000 prisoners--a great victory to cheer us on; for this seems to be the big move with the Federals to crush out the rebellion. If they make a failure this summer it is thought that we will soon have peace. Speed the time, 0 Lord. It is reported ·today that the New river~~idge is not burned, and the Yankees · are falling back from Dublin. A. H. Gallaher is here. Saturday 14th May, 1864.--Reports from all quarters tell of victory to our arms. Genl. GsicJ Price surrounded and captured Genl. WicJ Steel in the Trans-Mississippi Dept.-­amounting to about 9000 prisoners. The weather is wet and cold. Sunday 15th--Still wet and disagreeable. News from all points cheering, Lee having captured one entire wing of Grants3° army. Rumor says 46000~-glorious if true. Push up and let's have peace. We have near 309 Yankee prisoners here·, 30Major-General Ulysses S. Gr~t in the Union army. See Amann, P• 3. 42 cnptttrl?d by Genl. Horr-an near Dublin. I went out to ~; cr. tr.cm today. I fow1d a fr.w bclont';ing to the i~n.sonic Order, and enjoyed myself finely with them. I got thr! address of one in particular who"m I liked very well, & c ave him my ad d rc0~, by request, also. He promised to write tq our folks, if he ever got homE?, & let them know our whereabqu~o, e'tc. His name and Thursday, May 19th, 1864--We a:re still here at Saltville, Va. Wm. A. Henly left us last Tuesday--or the 16th inst. He went to Genl. Vaughn's31 Comd. John F. Kieth is here in his place. Our neHs from all quarters is quite cheering. Genls. Smith, E. K. 32--Price & Taylor33 have almost cleaned out the Trans-Mississippi Dept., and we have good news from around Richmond, if true. They have another hard fieht there. The Yankee prisoners we capture are almost all drunk. If that is the only way t~ey can be induced to fight us, they had better quit and "let qs alone." 31General John C. Vaughn commanq~d a mounted brigade in Eastern Tennessee and South-western · v~rginia. See Boatner, p. 868. 32Lieutenant-General E. Kirby S~;th assumed command of the Trans-Mississippi Department on f1~rch 7,- 1863, and held the position until he relinquisheq ~t temporarily on April -19, 1865. See Amann, p. 345. · ·, 33Probably refers to Lieutenany ~ichard Taylor.. See Amann, p. 354. . .. : ~ 43 Frinay :'b.y 20th 1864--I surnone th~.Y have hnrl n. h~avy fi,r:~ht between 1~well' s 34 Corp. & the Yanker.:-:;. The Yankees were so numerous that the:v 11 tterally wicJ ran over our men. A ereat many were killed and as fast as they came up to our entrenchments,--they were so drunk & sa near exhausted tpat they were unable to defend themselves, ~q were consequently sent to the rear as prisoners of war a~. fe.st as they came in. It is said that the like was never know,p pefore. ' · Saturday 21st--The news of the +;:1at fight is confinned. After the first assault, Grant ordered up 40,000 reserves, who refused to fight or charge our works, but Grant told them t~at their men who had gone before were there in possession of our fortificati9ns at which they co~enced moving on in & were li tterally ~icJ mowed down. Our loss in killed, wounded and missing is 20,000, the Yan~s ~t least 80,000. Sunday 22nd Hay--Went to preaching today--heard the Rev. Prof. Longly of Emory & Henry Colle~e in the forenoon and Chaplin ~ii} Cameron of J. H. Morg~' s Command. The fqrmer is a Nethodist minister, the l~t~~r an Episcopaiian. ·r.ronday 23d--A member of Compally ~ died last night,-- Charles Burris--after a "post mortum" e~amination it was found that he had inflamation of the QQV~ring of the bowels • .... '--:-----------.:....---------:-.~. ...., ..--------- 34Lieutenant-General R. S. Ewe++ ~as assigned the command of the Second Corps, Army of no~th Virginia on January ·, ~1, l864. See .Amann, p. 255. · . . ..•:-- ~ • • r • .".: : ~ I · 1 , 1 . : . 1':' :,, .~.. : ~~· ;· .. :. I. \ ... ~: ; .· . ' ~ .. I'' :' I ':",:•1 : • ~ 44 The nymptoms were similar to the Cramp Cholic. He waG b11ried this evening with Military honors. Chaplin (picJ Cameron held funeral services at the grave and delivered ail a ···p ropriat~ sermon. Wednesday 25th--We still continue to receive good news from every quarter. Reports a!e different but all are good. ~le understa..."ld that Genl. Johnson has ·repu.lsed the Yankees ' about Dalton, Ga., 35 but has had to fa~l. back on e.ccount of supPrior numbers against him. Saltville, Va. Friday 27th Mayj 1864--We only draw rice & some spoilt ~icJ bacon, owing to the commissaries failine to come up. Our rations are still very shor·t. One pound of corn meal, & one third of a pound of b,acon per man a day. We generally barter our rice for other provisions--today we swapped it in the country for corn meal, We gave six lbs. (pounds) of rice for 24 pounds of meal, Monday 30th 1864--Left Saltvill~ on the train and arrived at New River where the ·bridge ~~~burned a short time .. since, on the morning of the 31st. Tuesday 31st 1864--We \'rere p r~ttr well al:,. day qr()$sing the river, and at night arrived at Cen1;ral Depot. ·. ,, 's . . : 'r'lednesday June lst--i' rrived a~ Lynchburg at 5 in the · ~··. ::~· ~ : .. ~_~,. -. ,-. -----------------------------------~r:~-· ---------------------- 0 .i ·,~?Near Dalton, Georgia General:·J. E. Johnston succe.ss­fully held .off ·the Union· ririDY from May 5 · to 8; but on. 'May . 9 ... · the Confederates were' forced to aband.cm Dalton. S~e Boatner, · P• 705. , . r ) 45 evenine. .56 Here I s~w Harrison D. & ~-Los~on Sin~leton; ~l s o Wm. A. Henley, formerly of our company. Thursday June 2--Arrived at Charlottsville about 12 O'Clock & left the same day at 3 in the evenine. Passnd through 4 tunnels, one of which is about a mile through. Passed through Waynesboro near. the bie tunnAl & some other little .. to1m_s ~lone th~ Rail Road, & _ B;~~iv~d at S,'!i.aunton in the evenip£; and mar.ched out at night, op the Pike ro8.d leading to Winchester, some 6 ~ilea. Friday 3d, 1864--We have marched some 10 miles to day, & are now fronting the enemy who are about 4 miles beyond the North fork of the Shenandoah. We are on the other side .from them. Saturday June 4th 1864--We went out today and formed a line of battle expecting the enemy to advance. We "~orere · called in, drew and partly cooked some rations & marched · several miles back on the Pike towards Staunton. Sunday June 5th--Left our encampment early this morning & left the Pike in the directipn of Port _Republic. i~e h ad not marched far before we came in contact wit