PEPPER- Anderson, SC

Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States.

History
Anderson was named for a Revolutionary War hero, Robert Anderson. General Anderson and Andrew Pickens surveyed the land in the area. The Cherokees lived in the area until 1777. The land was then ceded to South Carolina by the Cherokee in a treaty negotiated by Pickens. This area was then called the Pendleton District for official purposes. In 1826, the Pendleton District was divided into two districts — Anderson and Pickens. Because the town of Pendleton was at the top of the county, too close to the Pickens border, a new courthouse was built at the center of the county. A small town, named Anderson Courthouse, built around the courthouse, and this community eventually became known as Anderson. The original courthouse was built of logs, but 10 years later, a courthouse made of bricks was erected to replace it. A still-standing Anderson County Courthouse, built in 1898, now faces the current courthouse and is built on the site of the original.

The settlers of this area were mostly Scots-Irish who came from Virginia and Pennsylvania to farm. Farmers grew corn and raised hogs. Much later, cotton became the cash crop of the area. By the late 1800s, the Anderson area was filled with numerous textile mills. Due to the innovation of Anderson engineer William Whitner, electricity could be conducted by wire to mills throughout the county. Anderson was the first city in the United States to have a continuous supply of electric power, which was supplied by a water mill located in the high shoals area of the Rocky River in Anderson County. The first cotton gin in the world to be operated by electricity was built in Anderson County in 1897. Several areas of Anderson are named in Whitner's honor, including a downtown street. Anderson became known as "The Electric City," a nickname that it still holds today.

GENERAL- Nurses of the Civil War

"You have given your boys to die for their country;
now you can give your girls to nurse them."
(Nurse Mary Stinebaugh to her father in 1863)

Nurse Kit during Civil War



A devoted nurse later praised her female colleagues: "Would that I could do more than thank the dear friends who made my life for four years so happy and contented; who never made me feel by word or act, that my self-imposed occupation was otherwise than one which would ennoble any woman. If ever any aid was given through my own exertions, or any labor rendered effective by me for the good of the South-if any sick soldier ever benefitted by my happy face or pleasant smiles at his bedside, or death was ever soothed by gentle words of hope and tender care, such results were only owing to the cheering encouragement I received from them. They were gentlewomen in every sense of the word, and though they might not have remembered that "noblesse oblige," they felt and acted up to the motto in every act of their lives. My only wish was to live and die among them, growing each day better from contact with their gentle, kindly sympathies and heroic hearts.

Some historians believe that somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 women volunteered their services as nurses throughout the duration of the Civil War, the majority of them being from northern states. However, such an estimate is questionable due to the fact that several nurses, upon receiving appointments, refused to have their names recorded in the official books. Mrs. M. J. Boston once said to the surgeon she was working under, "I do not want any pay for my services. I only try to do all I can for the soldiers." Other women who made similar decisions found it even more difficult to collect pensions later in their lives. With the lack of documentation, it is nearly impossible to claim the exact number of women who performed duty as nurses. Yet, we do know that their work was greatly appreciated by the men they cared for. John G. B. Adams, once the National Commander of the G.A.R., expressed that the memory of these nurses "will ever live in the hearts of the veterans they nursed with such tender care."

GENERAL- Hospitals in the Civil War

To care for both the sick and the wounded, regiments established hospitals (or combined with other regiments to form brigade or division hospitals). These hospitals were usually run by the regimental surgeon and his assistants. While campaigning, these hospitals were usually set up in any building available near the battlefields, usually farm houses or barns. If no buildings were available, open air tents would be used. While the surgeons and assistant surgeons were medical doctors, other hospital staff did not have any medical training. Nursing was in its infancy, relying on male nurses who had no medical experience.Other hospital staff such as ambulance drivers and cooks were regular soldiers assigned to hospital duty.

In the Civil War, two soldiers died of disease for every one killed in battle. Scurvy, dysentery, typhoid, diphtheria, and pneumonia were common. Farm boys, crowded together in camps with other men for the first time in their lives, were especially susceptible to every sort of ailment. There were epidemics of measles, mumps, and other childhood diseases. Hospitals were a dangerous place due to these diseases even for healthy men working there. A Union soldier said "If a fellow has to go to the hospital, you might as well say good-bye to him."

Amputation was the primary surgical method of the time. Eight out of ten amputees did not survive their operations. They usually died of shock or of infection. Chloroform or ether were used as anesthetics but there was no attempt at maintaining sterile conditions. Wounds routinely became infected. Surgeons would wipe their scalpels and saws off on their aprons between surgeries. Wiping down operating tables or using saw dust on the floors was an attempt to absorb blood to keep things from being slippery rather than an attempt at cleanliness. The idea of germs spreading in an un-sterile environment was unknown. Antibiotics to fight infection did not exist.

TAYLOR- Hospital #9, Richmond, VA

Wayside Hospital General Hospital
Also called: Banner Hospital, Grant Hospital, Wayside Hospital. Formerly tobacco factory of William H. Grant. Designed by Samuel Freeman and built in 1853. Opened 2 December 1861. Libby Prison Hospital attached to its operation. Designated as Wayside Hospital for men on furlough or honorable discharge on 6 August 1863. Used as barracks by Federal occupation forces. Capacity over 250. Location: northeast corner of 19th and Franklin Streets.

TAYLOR- Fort Delaware

NOTE: TAYLOR, WILLIAM HORNE Pvt
Enlisted at Hamburg AR on 10 May 1862. Fought at Prairie Grove where he was injured and spent 3 months in hospital at Cane Ridge. Was present for the Battle of Helena AR where he was captured and sailed on the steamer "Silver Moon" to Alton Illinois. He was transferred to Fort Delaware 4 April 1864 and released 10 March 1865 to a hospital at Richmond VA.




Fort Delaware is a harbor defense facility built in 1859 on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. During the American Civil War, the Union used Fort Delaware as a prison for Confederate prisoners of war.

History
In 1794, the French military engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant was surveying for defensive sites. He identified an island that he called Pip Ash "as an ideal site for the defense of the prize of American commerce and culture".

The island that L'Enfant called Pip Ash was locally known as Pea Patch island. This island was mostly unaffected by humanity with one exception. Dr. Henry Gale, a New Jersey resident, used Pea Patch as a private hunting ground. Gale was offered $30,000 for the island by the US military, but he refused. The military was determined to get the island, so they appealed to the Delaware state legislature, which seized the island from Dr. Gale on May 27, 1813.

Construction of the fort and the Civil War
Construction of a fort on Pea Patch island began sometime before Dec 8, 1817. Chief Engineer Joseph Gardner Swift mentions a fort on the "Pea Patch in Delaware river" among forts that are progressing nicely.[3] A fire destroyed much of the work February 8–9, 1831. Captain Richard Delafield asked for $10,000 to tear down the remaining structure the following year. The structure was torn down in 1833.

Captain Delafield desired to "erect a marvel of military architecture on Pea Patch." The present structure was erected between 1848 and 1859, becoming the largest fort in the United States at the time.

During the Civil War, beginning in 1862, the island became a prison for captured Confederates and local Southern sympathizers. They were housed not in the fort itself but in wooden barracks that soon covered much of the island. Most of the Confederates captured at Gettysburg were imprisoned there. By August 1863, there were 12,500 prisoners on the island; by war’s end, it had held some 40,000 men. The conditions were predictably notorious, and about 2,900 prisoners died at Fort Delaware.

The fort was also used to organize and muster troops from the first state. Ahl's Heavy Artillery Company was organized there for garrison duty and served there during its entire service.

TAYLOR (CSA)- Alton, IL

NOTE: TAYLOR, WILLIAM HORNE Pvt
Present for the Battle of Helena AR where he was captured and sailed on the steamer "Silver Moon" to Alton Illinois. He was transferred to Fort Delaware 4 April 1864 and released 10 March 1865 to a hospital at Richmond VA.

Introduction


Although Alton once was growing faster than its sister city of St. Louis, a coalition of St. Louis businessmen planned to build a town to stop its expansion and bring business to St. Louis. The result was Grafton, Illinois.
The first penitentiary in Illinois was built in Alton. While only a corner of it remains, it once extended nearly to "Church Hill". During the American Civil War, Union forces used it to hold prisoners of war, and some 12,000 Confederates were held there. During the smallpox epidemic of 1863-1864, thousands of men died. A Confederate mass grave on the north side of Alton holds many of the dead from the epidemic. A memorial marks the site.

The Alton Penitentiary
The Alton penitentiary was the first state prison built in Illinois in 1830-31. It was opened in 1833, a city on the Mississippi River. It was too near the river and in an undrained and ungraded area, and the prison aroused much criticism. There was an investigation, resulting in a decision to abandone the operation as soon as a new prison could be completed at Joliet. It was closed in 1860, when the last prisoners were moved to a new facility at Joliet. By late in 1861 an urgent need arose to relieve the overcrowding at the Union's Gratiot State Prison.

On December 31, 1861, Maj. Gen. Henry Halleck, Commander of the Department of the Missouri, ordered Lt-Col. James B. McPherson to Alton for an inspection of the closed penitentiary. Halleck asked Adjutant General Lorenzo Thomas for authority to take over the abandoned penitentiary at nearby Alton, Illinois, provided he could obtain the consent of the state governor, Richard Yates. Thomas gave permission and Yates gave consent.
McPherson reported that the prison could be made into a military prison and house up to 1,750 prisoners with improvements estimated to cost $2,415. With the Joliet facilities in use just before the Civil War, the abandoned Alton Prison was taken over by authorities early in 1862 for use as a 'military detention camp".

The first prisoners arrived at Alton Prison on February 9, 1862 and members of the 13 th U.S. Infantry were assigned as guards, with Lt. Col. Sidney Burbank commanding. By February 12, the prison was already overcrowded.

PRISON:
The prison had a main, 3-story penitentiary building containing 256 cells. Each cell measured about 4x7 feet. There were also 5 large rooms divided by partitions, this provided 2 enclosures each. Of the 2 enclosures, one measured 7x4 feet and the other one was 20x4 feet.There were several other buildings in the yard, enclosed by a large stone wall. One of the buildings was a 2-story wood-frame measuring 46x97 feet on the first floor and 46 sq. feet on the second floor. There was an old 2-story stable measuring 29x49 feet on each floor. Two other buildings were used for confining Union troops held under court-martial, 50x103 foot building, and some civilian prisoners, 50x36 foot building.
The maximum capacity was estimated at 800 prisoners. Throughout most of the war, it held between 1,000 and 1,500 prisoners. By 1865, it held nearly 1,900 prisoners.

During the next 3 years over 11,764 Confederate prisoners would pass through the gates of the prison. Of the 4 different classes of prisoners housed at Alton, Confederate soldiers made up most of the population. Citizens, including several women, were imprisoned here for treasonable actions, making anti-Union statements, aiding an escaped Confederate, etc. Others, classified as bushwhackers or guerillas, were imprisoned for acts against the government such as bridge burning and railroad vandalism.

The prison hospital began as a room in the main prison building. As illness among the prisoners increased, the hospital grew and included 2 converted workshops in the prison yard. The bodies of the dead prisoners were kept in the prison deadhouse until they could be buried.

LIFE & CONDITIONS:
Most of the prisoners remained in their cells and had limited access to the prison yard. Those confined in the buildings of the yard were allowed certain periods for outside recreation.

The prison did not have a regular water supply. A well was located on the prison grounds, but as soon as the first prisoners were transferred in, the well-water was discovered to be non-potable. A system was developed in which water from the Mississippi River would be hauled in casts back to the prison.
Heat was supplied wood-burning stoves set up in the hallways of the main buildings and gaslights were used for light. The buildings in the prison yard had stoves in the rooms for heat and coal-oil lamps used for light.

Conditions in the prison were harsh and the mortality rate was above average for a Union prison. Hot, humid summers and cold Midwestern winters took a heavy toll on prisoners already weakened by poor nourishment and inadequate clothing. The prison was overcrowded much of the time and and sanitary facilities were inadequate. Pneumonia and dysentery were common killers but contagious diseases such as smallpox and rubella were the most feared. The bad sanitation produced a small-pox epidemic that raged for weeks, When smallpox infection became alarmingly high in the winter of 1862 and spring of 1863, a quarantine hospital was located on an island across the Mississippi River from the prison. The smallpox caused 6-10 prisoners to die daily.

Fearing that the disease might spread to the town, Alton's citizens demanded that ill prisoners be removed from the city area, and many were taken to the north end of McPike's Island in the Misissippi River. McPike's Island was a small uninhabited isle in the Mississippi River directly across from the prison. There was a deserted summer cottage that been converted to a hospital pest house, a ward to quarintine those having highly contagious diseases. The ward soon became overcrowded.

There is not any records kept of deaths at the prison or on the island, known by locals as "smallpox island", but it was estimated that several thousand Confederates were buried on the island in 1863-1864, and many were buried in the Confederate Soldiers' Cemetery in North Alton. Up to 300 soldiers and prisoners that died there, and were buried on the island, which is now underwater. About 1,534 prisoners died there. An additional number of civilians and Union soldiers were victims of disease and illness.

There were constant escape attempts from the prison, some successful. On November 17, 1862, after a fire was set, a group of 4 prisoners got over the wall during the confusion. They used a braided bedclothes cord tied to a ladder against the outer prison wall.

On the night of July 25, 1862, Col. Ebeneezer Magoffin of Missouri and 35 other prisoners crawled into a tunnel they had cut through 8 feet of masonry and excavated for 50 feet, only 3 feet below the the ground surface; then they cut through the 3-ft. thick limestone foundation of the outer prison wall. They used a herd of cattle in the area to cover there escape. Only 8 were recaptured. Because of this, Burbank and the 13th Regiment were transferred to the front-lines and the 77th Ohio Volunteers replaced them as guards, with Col. Jesse Hildebrand commanding.

TAYLOR- Battle of Helena, AR

Monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Helena


The Confederate attack on the Mississippi River town of Helena (Phillips County) was, for the size of the forces engaged (nearly 12,000), as desperate a fight as any in the Civil War, with repeated assaults on heavily fortified positions similar to the fighting that was to be seen in 1864 in General Ulysses Grant’s overland campaign in Virginia and General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta, Georgia, campaign. It was the Confederates’ last major offensive in Arkansas (besides cavalry raids and the repulse of the Camden Expedition) and the last Confederate attempt to seize a potential choke point on the Mississippi. But the Battle of Helena has been little noted and not long remembered because it was fought the day the Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, Mississippi, surrendered to Grant and the day after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Federal forces under Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis occupied Helena in July 1862. Dubbed “hell in Arkansas” by a wag in the garrison, Helena became a major Union logistical base on the Mississippi River, strategically located not far above Vicksburg. Helena is on the high ground of Crowley’s Ridge, which creates an excellent defensive position, though it could be a death trap if the enemy took the high ground on the bluffs beyond the town. Helena’s strategic importance increased when Grant laid siege to Vicksburg. In mid-June 1863, Lieutenant General Theophilus Holmes, commander of the Confederate District of Arkansas, decided to attack Helena after prodding from Secretary of War James Seddon and Lieutenant General Kirby Smith. Holmes had been hesitant until Helena’s garrison was depleted for the siege of Vicksburg.

On June 18, Holmes met with Major General Sterling Price and Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke in Jacksonport (Jackson County) to plan the attack. Holmes issued an order: “The invaders have been driven from every point in Arkansas save one—Helena. We go to retake it.” Although tagged as vacillating and dilatory, once committed, Holmes swiftly set the campaign in motion and attacked Helena. Setting off from Jacksonport on June 22, Price’s infantry and Marmaduke’s cavalry made a ten-day march covering sixty-nine miles to Moro (Lee County) on rain-soaked roads. They crossed Grand Prairie, then improvised a ferry over Bayou De View after a bridge constructed by Price’s engineer, Lieutenant John Mhoon, was washed away. While Price and Marmaduke’s troops converged on Helena, a second column of infantry commanded by Brigadier General James Fagan advanced from Little Rock (Pulaski County). Fagan’s men had an easier march, being able to travel by rail and steamboat as far as Clarendon (Monroe County).

A Confederate council of war took place July 3 at the Allen Polk house five miles west of Helena. Helena’s fortifications were stronger than expected, but those present approved Holmes’s plan for a converging attack with his 7,646 troops effective to commence at daybreak the next day, with Fagan attacking from the southwest, Price from the west, and Marmaduke from the north. Holmes’s plan of attack was made without adequate reconnaissance and a lack of intelligence as to the strongly fortified Union defensive positions.

Union Major General Benjamin M. Prentiss had learned at Shiloh in Tennessee about the need for prepared positions. He established four fortified positions on the bluffs north and west of town, Batteries A and B to the north taking advantage of Rightor Hill, Battery C east of the city on Graveyard Hill, and Battery D near the home of General Thomas Hindman on Hindman Hill southwest of town commanding the Upper Little Rock Road. Also, a heavily fortified redoubt called Fort Curtis was built at the city’s western edge.

The attack was no surprise, because word of the Confederate advance had already reached Prentiss. The Union army, 4,129 strong, was under arms at 2:30 a.m. Prentiss had trees cut to block the approach roads, and, although Holmes’s infantry crawled through this obstacle, most Confederate artillery could not advance.

Firing broke out along the picket line at 3:00 a.m. Holmes’s order to attack at daybreak proved imprecise. Price apparently left the council of war thinking that “daybreak” meant “dawn,” while Fagan understood it as “first light.” Launching the attack on Hindman Hill (Battery D) at first light, a full hour before Price, Fagan’s men suffered heavily under enfilading fire from Graveyard Hill (Battery C) to Fagan’s left. Fagan’s men carried lines of rifle pits but could not reduce Battery D.

Price’s men wandered through broken country before attacking at dawn. Storming up Graveyard Hill, Price’s infantry took Battery C. The troops tried to turn the guns on the enemy but found them disabled. A charge on Fort Curtis resulted in heavy Confederate casualties and accomplished nothing. Attempts to help Fagan’s troops take Hindman Hill also failed.

To the north, Marmaduke’s cavalry failed to take Rightor Hill, stymied by troops under Colonel Powell Clayton in a flanking position on the Union right behind the levee. Colonel Joseph Shelby’s attack was repulsed. (Marmaduke’s anger about Brigadier General Marsh Walker’s failure to advance on the right resulted in a Little Rock duel on September 6, 1863, in which Marmaduke killed Walker.)

The defenders along the line were materially aided by supporting fire from the timber-clad USS Tyler. Acting Ensign George L. Smith reported firing 413 rounds, mostly eight-inch ten- and fifteen-second shells. At 10:30 a.m., Holmes ordered his army to withdraw. Large groups of Confederates trapped in ravines surrendered, including Colonel Samuel Bell, Lieutenant Colonel Jeptha C. Johnson, and more than 100 men of the Thirty-seventh Arkansas, after trying to take Hindman Hill from the south. The Confederates retreated unmolested by Prentiss, who feared a renewal of their attack.

The Second Arkansas Infantry (African Descent) held the extreme left of the Union line. Although these troops were not directly attacked and suffered only five wounded, the role they played in the battle received wide notice in the Northern abolitionist press.

From the Confederate point of view, the Battle of Helena was a tragic waste. The bloody attack turned out to be a cruel and pointless irony, coming as it did on the day Vicksburg fell. Holmes’s army clearly brought with it to Helena a fighting spirit, but morale suffered badly after such a repulse. The fierce riverside battle was the unsuccessful culmination of the last major Confederate offensive in Arkansas. Soon after, only cavalry raids and guerilla activity would trouble Union forces north of the Arkansas River, and the state capital, ten weeks later, slipped from Confederate control. For the Union, Helena represented the long-awaited crack in the Arkansas Confederates’ façade.

TAYLOR- Cane Hill History

Town History

*Family Importance. Location of Hospital where William Horne Taylor spent 3 months recuperating following the Battle of Prairie Grove (Arkansas).

Cane Hill, settled by Europeans in 1827, was the earliest settlement in Washington County. It was known as an educational center because the first college in Arkansas to admit women was in Cane Hill. In addition, it had the state’s first public school, library, and Sunday school. Several of the oldest houses in northwest Arkansas still stand in Cane Hill. It was also the site of an all-day skirmish in the days before the Battle of Prairie Grove (December 7, 1862).

Most of the early settlers came from the Crystal Hill–Little Rock area (Pulaski County), attracted by the rich soil, plentiful freshwater springs, and the canebrakes in the temperate mountain climate. In addition, many Cherokee had recently been removed from Arkansas to Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma) and points west, opening northwest Arkansas for white settlement.

Cane Hill (also known as Boonsboro after Daniel Boone) was the site of one of the county’s first institutions of higher learning. The Cane Hill School opened its doors for students in April 1835. In 1852, it became a college for men only, but women could attend the Female Seminary. The first site of the Cane Hill Female Seminary was in Clyde, one mile south of Cane Hill.

The school closed with the advent of the Civil War in 1861, and three of the four buildings were burned in 1864. The men’s dormitory that survived was used as a hospital for the wounded soldiers under the command of Union brigadier general James G. Blunt.

After the war ended, the college reopened, and women were admitted to the Female Seminary. In 1875, Cane Hill College became the first college in Arkansas to admit women for its degree program. Five women were granted baccalaureate degrees in 1877.

In 1891, Cane Hill College moved to Clarksville (Johnson County) and became the Arkansas Cumberland College; in 1920, it was renamed the College of the Ozarks, and in 1987, the college became the University of the Ozarks.

The area now known as Cane Hill was originally three rural communities. The northernmost section was the original site of the Cane Hill post office and was later known as White Church. The site of the current Canehill post office was also known at various times as Boonsboro, Boonsborough, and Steam Mill. The southernmost community, in present-day Clyde, was known as Russellville. None of these communities was ever incorporated.

A prominent landmark in the Cane Hill area is the water-powered mill known variously as the Pyeatte-Moore Mill and the Moore-Buchanan Mill. Built during the 1830s, the mill was used to grind wheat for flour and corn for corn meal, to saw logs, and even to card wool. It appears to have been moved to its present location on Jordan Creek in 1902 and was used until the 1930s. The remains of the thirty-six-foot diameter draw wheel can still be seen, and the mill is in the process of being restored.

Besides being one of the oldest settlements in northwest Arkansas, the Cane Hill area was the site of a skirmish nine days before the Battle of Prairie Grove. On November 28, 1862, 5,000 Union forces, led by Brigadier General James G. Blunt, surprised 2,000 Confederate cavalry, led by Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke, while they were gathering winter supplies. By the end of the day, Blunt’s Union forces chased the Confederate forces toward the south side of the Boston Mountains, capturing them with their much-needed winter food supplies intact. Blunt then set up his headquarters at Cane Hill, preparing for the Battle of Prairie Grove.
Cane Hill has several landmarks that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The six houses are the Blackburn House, the Anthony R. Carroll Building, the Earle House, the David Noah Edmiston House, the John Edmiston House, and the Zeb Edmiston House. The Pyeatte-Moore Mill, and the Bethlehem and Cane Hill cemeteries are also listed on the National Register.

Today, Cane Hill is simply rural farmland with one main street, but several annual events are held in town. On the third weekend in September, the Cane Hill Harvest Festival is held on the Cane Hill College grounds on State Highway 45. Since 2001, the Cane Hill Kite Festival has been held in March at the Springfield Ranch, across from the U.S. Post Office. The Cane Hill College houses the Cane Hill Museum.

TAYLOR- Battle of Prairie Grove

Thomas Carmichael Hindman, a prominent attorney and politician from Helena (Phillips County) who served as a brigadier general in the Confederate army; circa 1863.



Winter in the Ozarks is harsh. The soldiers and citizens in the northwestern Arkansas Ozarks suffered mightily through the early winter of 1862, and their plight was exacerbated in the Battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862.

The Union Army had secured the bulk of the state of Missouri against the Rebels by mid 1862.

The Battle of Prairie Grove was the last time two armies of almost equal strength faced each other for control of northwest Arkansas. When the Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi withdrew from the bloody ground on December 7, 1862, the Union forces claimed a strategic victory. It seemed clear that Missouri and northwest Arkansas would remain under Federal protection.

Brigadier General James G. Blunt’s Union command remained in the Cane Hill (Washington County) area after the engagement there on November 28. This encouraged Major General Thomas C. Hindman
to attack the Federal troops with his Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi at Fort Smith (Sebastian County) thirty miles away. The Southern army crossed the Arkansas River on December 3 and marched north into the rugged Boston Mountains. Learning of the Confederate threat, Blunt requested assistance from the two divisions of the Union Army of the Frontier under the command of Brigadier General Francis J. Herron camped near Springfield, Missouri, about 120 miles away. Immediately, Herron ordered a forced march in hopes of joining Blunt’s command at Cane Hill before the Confederates could attack.

On December 6, Confederate cavalry drove in Blunt’s pickets on Reed’s Mountain while the rest of Hindman’s Southern forces arrived and camped near the home of John Morrow on Cove Creek Road. During the night, the Southern commanders learned that Herron’s men in blue had arrived at Fayetteville (Washington County). They decided to march north past Blunt and intercept and attack the Union reinforcements somewhere between Fayetteville and Cane Hill. It would be at Prairie Grove (Washington County).

The battle began at dawn on December 7, with the defeat of Union cavalry by Confederate mounted soldiers a mile south of the Prairie Grove church. Federal troops retreated toward Fayetteville with the Southern cavalry in pursuit. The panicked Union soldiers stopped running when Herron shot a soldier from his horse. The Confederate cavalry skirmished with Herron’s main army before falling back to the top of the Prairie Grove ridge, where the Confederate artillery and infantry were already in line of battle in the woods.

After crossing the Illinois River under artillery fire, Herron positioned his artillery and exchanged fire with the Confederate cannon. The superior range and number of Union cannon soon silenced the Southern guns, allowing the Union infantry to prepare to attack the ridge. Before the infantry advanced, the Union artillery pounded the Southern position on the ridge for about two hours.

The Twentieth Wisconsin and Nineteenth Iowa Infantry regiments crossed the open corn and wheat fields in the valley before surging forward up the slope, capturing the Confederate cannon of Captain William Blocher’s Arkansas Battery near the home of Archibald Borden. The Union soldiers continued their advance until suddenly the woods erupted with cannon and small-arms fire. The Confederates surrounded the Federal troops on three sides and quickly forced them to retreat to the Union cannon in the valley. A Southern counterattack went down the slope into the open valley, where it was met with case shot composed of small lead balls inside exploding projectiles. Herron’s artillery also used canister shot, consisting of tin cylinders filled with iron balls packed in sawdust which, when fired, turned a cannon into a giant shotgun blast, leaving gaping holes in the Confederate ranks and forcing a retreat to the cover of the woods on the ridge.

Seeing Confederate movement on his flank, Herron decided to attack again. The Thirty-seventh Illinois and Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry regiments went up the hill into the Borden apple orchard. Lieutenant Colonel John Charles Black of the Thirty-seventh Illinois led the way with his right arm in a sling because of a wound he had sustained at Pea Ridge (Benton County) nine months earlier. Outnumbered, the Federal soldiers fell back to a fence line in the valley, where they stopped another Confederate counterattack using Colt revolving rifles carried by the men of Companies A and K of the Thirty-seventh Illinois. Black sustained a serious wound to his left arm but remained with his command until it was out of danger. Black received the only Medal of Honor awarded for this battle.

With only two fresh infantry regiments left, Herron’s command was in peril even as Confederate troops began massing to attack the Twentieth Iowa Infantry, which served as the Federal right flank. Before the attack, two cannon shots rang out from the northwest at about 2:30 p.m., signaling the arrival of Blunt’s command; he quickly deployed and attacked the Confederate left flank. Blunt’s division was at Cane Hill the morning of December 7 expecting to be attacked by the Confederates. Hindman left Colonel James Monroe’s Arkansas cavalry on Reed’s Mountain to skirmish with Blunt’s Federal troops while the rest of the Confederate army marched past the Union position. The ruse worked, as Blunt’s command remained in a defensive position at Cane Hill until it heard the roar of battle at Prairie Grove. Marching to the battlefield, the Union soldiers under Blunt arrived in time to save Herron’s divisions.

The Confederates responded to the Union advance on their left flank by skirmishing in the woods with the Federal troops until Blunt gave the command to fall back to his cannon line in the valley. Believing this was an opportunity to win the day, Brigadier General Mosby M. Parsons, in command of the Confederate Missouri Infantry brigade, launched an attack across the William Morton hayfield at about 4:00 p.m. As the Southern soldiers advanced, a devastating fire from all forty-four cannon in the Union army tore into the Confederate ranks, which fell back to the cover of the wooded ridge as darkness fell.

Nightfall ended the savage fighting, but neither side gained an advantage. The opponents called for a truce to care for the wounded and gather the dead. During the night, the Confederates wrapped blankets around the wheels of their cannon to muffle the sound and quietly withdrew from the ridge because of a lack of ammunition and food. Federal troops slept on the battlefield with few tents or blankets and without campfires even though temperatures were near freezing.

Hindman’s command had about 204 men killed, 872 wounded, and 407 missing with several of the missing being deserters. The Federal Army of the Frontier had 175 killed, 808 wounded, and 250 missing. The Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi consisted of about 12,000 troops from Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and the Cherokee and Creek nations, with about twenty-two cannon. The Union Army of the Frontier had about 10,000 soldiers from Arkansas, Missouri, the Cherokee and Creek nations, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, and Wisconsin, with about forty-four cannon.

The battle was a tactical draw, with the casualties about the same in each army. But the Southern retreat during the night gave the Union a strategic victory, as a full-scale Confederate army would never return to northwest Arkansas, and Missouri remained firmly under Union control. This savage battle was probably the bloodiest day in Arkansas history.

TAYLOR- CSA, Company G, 29th Arkansas Infantry, also known as 1st Arkansas Infantry

Introduction
The 1st Arkansas Infantry (1861-1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. There were two regiments known as "1st Arkansas", the other being the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, which served with the Union Army.

At the beginning of the war Arkansas organized some 48 infantry regiments. Most, like the 1st Arkansas, served most of the war in the "western theater". Only the 3rd Arkansas, the most famous of the regiments fielded by that state, served the entire war in the "eastern theater". The 1st Arkansas regiment was first organized in May of 1861, at the outbreak of the war. Made up of 10 companies from Clark, Union, Ouachita, Jefferson, Jackson, Pulaski, Arkansas and Drew counties, the regiment was sent to Lynchburg, Virginia for training the same month it was accepted into the Confederate ranks.

Under the command of Colonel and later Major General James Fleming Fagan, the 1st Arkansas initially received garrison duty. They were present at the First Battle of Bull Run, but were not engaged. In February of 1862 they were transferred and attached to the Army of Mississippi under the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, and fought at the Battle of Shiloh. It was at Shiloh that they became best known, mainly due to the heavy casualties they sustained. Entering the battle with a force of just over 800, they took 364 casualties, 45 percent of their force. Following that battle, they were reorganized and received replacements, then were assigned to General Pat Cleburne’s division as a part of the Army of Tennessee, with whom they would remain for the rest of the war. They would go on to take part in the Battle of Murfreesboro, Battle of Chickamauga, Battle of Chattanooga, and the Battle of Franklin, as well as several other smaller battles.

The Confederacy had only one medal for valor, the Confederate Medal of Honor (a.k.a Southern Cross of Honor). Twenty seven soldiers of the 1st Arkansas Infantry were awarded the medal, although the Confederacy lacked the funds to manufacture the actual medals.

On April 26, 1865 the regiment was present with the Army of Tennessee when it surrendered in Greensboro, North Carolina.



History
The Jackson Guards were organized in May of 1861 by Captain Alexander Corbin Pickett in the town of Jacksonport, Arkansas, along the White River. The town of Jacksonport was then an important river town, laden with trade riverboats headed to St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. When the cry of war broke out among the country, Captain Pickett organized a company of men to go off to fight. The company numbered 111 men strong at it’s original mustering in on May 5,1861. On this day, in a pouring rainstorm, the company formed up and marched off to the Presbyterian church in the center of Jacksonport where it was presented with a gorgeous flag made by the ladies of Jacksonport. The flag, in the stars and bars pattern was of beautiful silk and was embroidered with the name of the company, the Jackson Guards. The company was made up of mostly young men barely the age of twenty, sons of wealthy merchants, lawyers, druggists, doctors, etc.. Following a tearful departure from family and loved ones, the company marched down to the White River and there boarded the steamer "Mary Patterson". They were soon on their way to Memphis,TN. And then off to the seat of the war in Virginia.

At Memphis, the company was organized into the First Arkansas Infantry Regiment, of which James Fagan was elected it’s first Colonel. The Jackson Guards were enlisted for a term of one year on May 10, and the line officers and NCO’s were elected (appendix 1). From Memphis, the regiment boarded trains and traveled to Lynchburg, Va.. The 1st ARK arrived in Richmond on June 1 and went into camp at the fair grounds about one mile out of the city. Soon the 1st was off to Fredricksburg, and camped there in the city briefly and then continued on to Brooks Station where it was assigned to Ruggle’s brigade in the Department of Fredricksburg, under General Theophilus Hunter Holmes. At Brooks Station, along Aquia Creek, the men established Camp Jackson. Here they were drilled by cadets for 8 hours a day. They also heard their first enemy firing at Camp Jackson, as Confederate batteries along the river engaged Federal warships. During this time the troops suffered heavily from measles and diarrhea. The 1st lost over 50 men at this time. By June 28 the 1st was in place at Marlboro Point, still along Aquia Creek.

On July 17, the 1st was ordered to cook 3 days rations and was soon off on the march towards Mannassas Junction. July 21st saw the 1st ARK encamped in an orchard near Union Mills Ford on Bull Run. All afternoon the 1st waited in line of battle listening to the distant firing, itching to get into the fray. Then finally the 1st was ordered to double quick eight miles in the scorching heat to reach the battlefield. They were immediately placed in reserve of Purcell’s battery upon their arrival. The battery was tearing apart the fleeing masses of bluecoats. The 1st had arrived just too late to be actively involved in any of the action at Manassas. On July 22nd, they were withdrawn from the battlefield, and were soon in quarters at Camp Holmes near Evansport. In September, the 1st ARK was placed in Gen. John G. Walker’s brigade with the 2nd Tennessee and 12th North Carolina regiments. During the encampment at Evansport, the 1st was involved in the construction of river batteries along the Potomac and spent the winter blockading and picketing the river. The troops had things rather well here at Evansport, living in well constructed log huts, and being fed plenty. The health and discipline of the regiment was also vastly improving. The men were becoming soldiers. The only action seen at Evansport was the ceaseless artillery dueling between the artillery batteries on opposite sides of the river. Fortunately no one of the 1st was killed throughout the winter by this. On Christmas day 1861, the 1st ARK was ordered to a new position back at Aquia Creek. Here the soldiering was easy, referred to by many as "Sunday Soldiering". The town of Fredricksburg was nearby and many men of the 1st took the opportunity to enjoy the luxuries of the town. They spent the rest of the winter guarding the Potomac River. In middle January, the regiment was placed in a brigade with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd North Carolina and 30th Virginia regiments and Cooke’s and Walker’s batteries once again under Gen. John G. Walker.

In February 1862, all but 6 members of Company G reenlisted for the duration of the war. On February 28 the 1st was relieved by the 3rd Arkansas regiment and were ordered to rendezvous at Memphis,Tn. on March 15. Upon arrival at Memphis, the regiment immediately went to Corinth. On March 17, at Corinth, the 1st Arkansas was reorganized and new officers were elected(appendix 2). The 1st was then assigned to Col. Randall Gibson’s brigade with the 4th 13th and 19th Louisiana regiments and Vader’s Mississippi battery. They were now designated the first brigade(Gibson’s) first division(Ruggle’s) second corps(Bragg) in the Army of the Mississippi, commanded by Albert Sydney Johnson. On April 4, the regiment moved in the direction of Pittsburg Landing, and Shiloh.

The 1st ARK arrived in Shiloh in the late afternoon of April 5. At 4:00 a.m., April 6, the regiment begin it’s march toward the enemy, loaded with 3 days rations, 40 rounds of ammunition and full marching equipment. The 1st plowed into the unsuspecting Yankee camps and sent the Federals running, abandoning all their equipment in their scurry to the rear. Members of the 1st picked up a great deal of Union money and supplies as they overran the abandoned camps. The regiment then advanced nearly another mile before encountering any sort of organized Federal resistance. Soon, the boys of the 1st found themselves squarely facing the heart of the Union line at the Sunken Road. The regiment marched across a wheat field, into a dense thicket of undergrowth, down into a ravine, and to a hill beyond. Company G found itself in a bit of confusion at one point over a command to march forward or at the right oblique, and Captain Shoup, thinking his men were faltering, stepped in front of the company, unsheathed his newly captured Union sword, and told the men to follow him. Just as he did this the sword was shattered in his hand by a minie ball. With this, the inspired men rushed forward into the fury of the Hornet’s Nest, or the Butcher’s Pen, as the Arkansans called it. The fighting here was absolutely furious, the bullets flying in such volume and intensity to remind the soldiers of a constant swarm of hornets buzzing around them. Three times the men of the 1st ARK charged back into this swirling cauldron of violence. In this fight the men of the 1st lost 364 killed and wounded, well over one-third of the regiment. Company G lost 4 men killed, 18 wounded, and 1 missing. The regiment fell back that night to bivouac in the captured Union camp.

The 1st ARK fell back into line about 7:00a.m. on the morning of April 7. They immediately were thrown back into the action. They overran and captured a gun of Thurber’s Missouri battery(U.S.), but soon were forced to relinquish it to great numbers of Union reinforcements concealed in the woods beyond. The brigade was then ordered to fall back. The brigade was soon after thrown against the Union line near Water Oaks Pond, but failed to break through and eventually fell back from the pressure of the overwhelming Union numbers. The entire Confederate army was pushed back and retreated to Corinth to regroup and await reinforcement. Overall, at Shiloh, Company G lost 2 killed, 2 captured, 21 wounded, and 1 desertion, the company’s first of the war. The 1st was again involved in another reorganization, and certainly not to be their last, at Corinth. The 1st ARK was now placed in the Fourth Brigade, under Col. J.C. Moore. The brigade also included the 2nd Texas and the 51st Tennessee regiments. Throughout April and May of 1862, the 1st spent time on picket and outpost duty around Corinth. Several skirmishes occurred during this time, most notably being the engagement at Farmington on May 9. On May 29 Gen Beauregard withdrew his army from Corinth, and during the withdrawal Company G lost 6 more men to desertion.

By June 9 the army had moved fifty miles south to Tupelo, Ms. Here there was more reorganizing of the Army of Mississippi. Now the 1st Arkansas was under the command of Col. John W. Colquitt, former major of the regiment, who began the war as a lieutenant in Company I. They were in Gen. L.M. Walker’s brigade, with the 13th, 21st, and 38th Louisiana and Crescent(Louisiana)Infantry regiments and Lumsden’s Alabama battery, Barrett’s Missouri battery, and an independent Tennessee regiment. August 7 witnessed the arrival of the 1st in Atlanta, having traveled via Mobile and Montgomery. From Atlanta they headed off to Chattanooga for the beginning of Bragg’s Kentucky campaign and, once again, more reorganizing. The 1st ARK would now be in Col S. Powell’s third brigade(with the 45th Ala, 24th Miss., 29th Tenn., and Barrett’s battery) of Gen. Anderson’s second division of Hardee’s second corps. From Chattanooga, the regiment headed north through central Tennessee and into Kentucky. The 1st arrived in Glaskow,Ky. On Sept. 14, 1862. September 18 witnessed Bragg’s army surround and capture a garrison of 6000 Union troops at Munfordville,Ky.. The 1st then continued north and marched to Danville,Ky.. It was a very hard and strenuous march and the men arrived at Danville extremely worn out and foot-sore. On October 7, the regiment was encamped at Perryville,Ky.. At dawn on October 8, the 1st was drawn up in line of battle, and that day went into the fighting at the battle of Perryville, although they were not very heavily engaged any more than some artillery and sharpshooter fire. The regiment was withdrawn through town and soon the entire army was retreating back into Tennessee. Although both sides lost heavily, the battle at Perryville was inconclusive and the Confederate army retreated without having achieved it’s goal of reclaiming Kentucky. Throughout the months of October and November, the army kept in motion constantly, moving from Kentucky to Knoxville, then on to Chattanooga. On November 20, the Army of the Mississippi officially became the Army of Tennessee. The 1st ARK arrived at the Duck River, near Shelbyville,TN. on November 25. The army was once again reorganized at this time, but the 1st was not immediately effected. On December 4, the regiment was moved to College Grove, near the village of Eagleville, 20 miles west of the town of Murfreesboro,Tn..

On December 12, Gen. Anderson’s division, to which the 1st belonged, was disbanded. The 1st ARK still commanded by Col. Colquitt, remained in Hardee’s corps but was now placed in Gen. Patrick Royayne Cleburne’s second division, and in Brig. Gen. Lucius E. Polk’s brigade. Also in Polk’s brigade were the 13th and 15th Arkansas(consolidated), 5th Confederate, 2nd Tennessee, 5th Tennessee, and Calvert’s Arkansas battery.

To counter a move on Murfeersboro by Rosecran’s Federal army, the division was ordered to Murfreesboro on Dec. 28. The regiment camped along the Stones River on the extreme right of the Confederate army. After dark on the 30th, the 1st ARK was shifted to the extreme left flank of the army, and camped without fires in a rough cedar woods. The weather for the past three days had been miserably cold, with freezing rain, hail, and numbing winds. The 1st waited throughout the night as the order to attack, as soon as it was light enough to see, was given. When the attack was begun on the early morning of the 31st, the 1st formed part of the second line of attack, behind the division of Gen. McCown. The brigade was third from the left in the line of Cleburne’s division, and the 1st was second in line from the left within the brigade. The men fell into line that morning without breakfast, only a small ration of whiskey was given to the men. At 6:20a.m. the attack began.

The 1st ARK stepped out across an open field toward the Union lines. The enemy concealed behind a rail fence opened on the men and the loss was great, but the men pressed on and soon had the Federals on the run. The losses to the Federals was also great. The 1st kept on, driving the bluecoats for nearly 3 miles through rough and hotly contested forests of rough cedar and limestone outcroppings. Eventually the men ran into a strong line of Union artillery and infantry that they could not advance upon, as their ranks had been so depleted by 7 hours of continuos fighting. The regiment fell back about 400 yards to reform and replenish ammunition. The men lay in line of battle through the night, awaiting a possible counterattack. The next day the battle was renewed but the 1st was not seriously tested and remained where it was until Jan.2. In a last attempt by the Federals to break the line, the troops were scattered and overrun. The regiment was ordered to fall back to it’s position of December 30th. From Murfreesboro, Bragg’s army retreated south to Tullahoma, where it spent the remainder of the winter. The retreat from Stones River was one of the most difficult marches of the war for the men of the 1st. After fighting an extremely violent, grueling battle for 3 days in the worst possible weather conditions, the regiment retreated by night, nearly starved, in a relentless, cold, cold rain. If the men stopped they would fall over of exhaustion. This march pressed the men to their limit, as far as human nature could go.

Winter quarters in the winter of 1863 was a welcome respite for the men of the 1st ARK. They again had tents to sleep in and received good rations. Their corps commander, Gen. Hardee, author of Hardee’s Tactics, and their division commander, Gen. Cleburne, were sticklers for drill and the men drilled for hours a day at Tullahoma. Gen. Hardee hosted company drill contests to boost the spirit of the men. Company G finished third in the division in drill. The spirit of the fighting men was again high as a result of winter quarters.

Throughout the spring and into the early summer, the 1st was active constantly. They moved around every day, not staying anywhere for more than three. They covered area from north and west to Murfreesboro and south and east to Chattanooga. The 1st was in Tullahoma with the rest of it’s brigade on June 24. June 29 and 30 saw the first in the entrenchments around Tullahoma awaiting a Federal attack. The evening of the 30th, they retreated to Alsonia without engagement. By July 9 the 1st had reached Tyner’s Station outside of Chattanooga. The entire army had withdrawn under the pressure of Rosecran’s army. The regiment remained at Tyner’s Station until August 17th. While encamped at Tyner’s, General Cleburne kept the troops busy by drilling and by constructing forts and earthworks. On July 31, the 1st underwent yet another reorganization. They were now in the corps of Lt. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill, and their brigade, still under Gen. Polk, was made up of the 3rd and 5th Confederate(consolidated), 2nd Tenn., 35th Tenn., 48th Tenn. And Calvert’s battery. On August 17, the regiment marched 6 miles south to Graysville. On the 23rd they began to move north for the first time in a long while, when they marched 14 miles north to Gardenshire’s Ferry, where they remained until September 10th, when they again retreated south to Lafeyette, going by way of Chattanooga. On September 11, the regiment moved north to Dug Gap as part of an intended attack by Bragg, but the attack was never made, and the regiment was left to guard the gap against a possible federal attack. The next day, the regiment pressed on to Rock Springs Church, 12 miles north of Lafayette, to oppose another possible federal advance that never happened. They then returned to the Lafeyette area to only return on September 18, as the division took position along the Chickamauga Creek, a few miles east of the Lee and Gordon Mills.

September 19, 1863, the battle of Chickamauga was at hand. The first was initially placed in reserve, but soon after the battle opened, Cleburne’s division double-quicked in the direction of the firing. As the men approached Chickamauga Creek, they stopped to remove their shoes and trousers before plunging into the stream, with that Gen. Cleburne road up shouting, "Boys, go through the river, we can’t wait!" The men plunged through the stream and at near the head and right flank of the division, were among the first to be engaged, instead of being reserves. As they moved north along the Chickamauga Creek, they passed the soldiers of Walker’s corps, lying prone on the ground, who cheered the men of Cleburne’s division, recognizing them by their distinctive blue flags. The regiment continued north along the Jay’s Mill road, until it halted near Jay’s Mill. The division was formed in one single line of battle facing west. The first was the third regiment from the right flank, in the center of Polk’s brigade. Gen. Cleburne spent about half an hour getting his division in line properly before beginning the attack. At 6:00p.m., with only 10 minutes of daylight remaining, the advance began. They advanced into the dark forest, all the while passing the dead, wounded, and disoriented of the morning’s battle that had raged here. The men of Polk’s brigade swiftly and decisively overran their federal opposition, the only clearly victorious section of Cleburne’s night attack. The fighting was intense, confusing, and frightening all along the line this night, it was no easy work for the men of the first. The men slept on their arms in line through the night.

At 10:00a.m., September 20, the fighting resumed for the 1st ARK. They moved off in line forward, then obliqued to the left, then obliqued back right. The units began to lose their alignment, and before they could be rectified they ran into stiff artillery fire from union batteries. They continued to advance for another 500 yards, enduring this horrific fire. The regiment then crested a ridge and came within 125 yards of the federal works. The works were so well camouflaged with brush and felled trees that they were nearly invisible to the confederates. Then the federals opened fire, and the effect was galling. Three tightly packed union brigades released their fury upon the men of Polk’s exposed brigade. 4000 union rifles laid out volleys with parade ground precision into the 1100 men of Polk’s brigade. The federals, 4000 strong lost only about 40 wounded, and three killed, Whereas Polk’s brigade lost nearly 400 of 1100 men. The 1st ARK, with the rest of the brigade, was quickly ordered to fall back behind the ridge. From there, they tried to continue to return the fire of the federals, but it was useless and they were ordered 300 yards to the rear where the division was reforming. Around 5:00 p.m., the order to advance was again given. This time it was coordinated with several other divisions, and the Confederates succeeding in taking the union works at Kelly’s Field. The men of the 1st charged up the hill to the first line of works in an "enthusiastic and intrepid charge", and as they streamed over the works they sent the retreating federals running in complete rout. The men pressed on, overrunning three lines of union works before receiving the order to halt. The tired, thirsty men were halted and reforming ranks along a road when a tremendous cheer of victory went up all along the line. In the two days fighting at Chickamauga, the 1st Ark lost 13 killed and 180 wounded, and Company G lost 2 killed and 10 wounded. Following the battle, Col. Colquitt, and Capt. Shoup were named to the Confederate Roll of Honor, for their conspicuous "courage and devotion on the field of battle". This honor was given in lieu of a medal of honor.

Following the battle at Chickamauga, the regiment moved towards Chattanooga, as Bragg pushed his army in pursuit of the retreating Union army. They moved to Red House Ford on the night of Sept. 21, and bivouacked there. The next day, the division moved to a site on the crest of missionary ridge, where it encamped. The men were put in a line of battle at the foot of Missionary Ridge, where they remained, with little action, for the next two months. The men underwent a great deal of hardship on Missionary ridge, as they were much exposed to rain and cold because of a great shortage of tents, blankets, and shoes. The men of Company G did receive an issue of shoes, and a few other articles of clothing on September 30, to help make it more bearable. In late October, the division moved about a mile southward on Missionary Ridge. November 23, the regiment left with it’s brigade to guard the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad bridge at Chickamauga Creek. On the 25th, as the rest of the army was pushed off Missionary Ridge, the first was ordered to fall back as the rear guard of the army. They were ordered to destroy the commissary stores at Chickamauga Station, as they retreated. In their anger of having to destroy this vast supply depot, while they had been so deprived over the previous two months, the men loaded themselves down with all the food they could carry. The rear guard of the defeated army was more in the condition of a human supply train than a fighting army.

As the Union army pressed on the Confederates fell back in the direction of Dalton, Ga.. The regiment crossed over Ringgold Mountain on the morning of the 27th, but soon as they had crossed over they were ordered back to White Oak Mountain help drag some artillery pieces to the top of the mountain. Soon the regiment was ordered to deploy at the top of the mountain to secure the right flank of the defending force there. The first arrived just in the nick of time, beating the federal skirmishers by merely 50 yards from the top. The men fell in behind a fallen tree to use as shelter and opened up quite effectively on the troops pushing up the opposite side of the hill. The union troops could not hold for long and when they began to falter and break the 1st ARK charged down the slope after them, capturing the colors of the 76th Ohio and 20 prisoners. The soldiers of the 1st ARK were praised by Gen. Cleburne for their gallantry at White Oak Mountain. The federal troops were repulsed at all attempts to take the crest of White Oak Mountain. The regiment was pulled out of it’s position and placed in the line of defense one mile to the rear at Ringgold Gap. Once again, the federals were sternly repulsed, and they did not press an attack here. The regiment fell back to Dalton, where it soon after settled into winter quarters. In December, Joseph E. Johnston replaced Bragg as commander of the Army of Tennessee, a welcome change for the men, who generally despised Bragg and were very fond of "Uncle Joe" Johnston. In late February, 1864, the entire corps was moved in the direction of Alabama to counter a possible union advance there. Cleburne’s division returned to Atlanta on February 24-25. The regiment then went back into camp at Mill Creek, three miles east of Dalton. While at Mill Creek, a man of the 1st ARK was executed for persistent desertion, the only execution to occur in Cleburne’s division during the war. After a snowstorm in late march, the 1st participated in the great snowball fight between Polk’s and Govan’s brigades.

In April, the 1st Arkansas, it ranks severely depleted was consolidated with the 15th Arkansas under the command of Lt. Col. William Martin, who had begun the war as captain of Company F of the 1st ARK. He had been severely wounded at Ringgold Gap. The brigades other units included the 5th Confederate, 2nd Tenn., 35th Tenn., and the 48th Tenn.. May 8 witnessed the beginning of the campaign for Atlanta.

May 8, the regiment was faced with federal pressure, and May 9, the regiment moved in the direction of Resaca, but on the 10th, the regiment turned around and marched 33 miles back to Dug Gap, at Rocky Face Ridge. They arrived near sundown, and went into bivouac, without tents or shelter of any kind in a torrential downpour. They were so exhausted from the day’s grueling march that they simply laid down among the rocks and fell asleep, oblivious to the weather. At dawn, they were again on the march to Snake Creek, where they constructed earthworks, only to leave them and continue to fall back further, arriving in the area of Resaca on May 13. From Resaca, the regiment was continually skirmishing, retreating, building breastworks, marching, skirmishing, building works,etc.. With no camp, no tents, with little or no food, in a constant rain and mud, the grueling campaign wore on. On May 19th, the 1st joined the rest of the army at Cassville, prepared to give fight. Once again, facing overwhelming numbers, the army continued to fall back. The regiment participated in a series of marches, countermarches, and bivouacs that brought them to New Hope Church on May 26th. At New Hope Church, the 1st was near the extreme right of the Confederate line, which was anchored at New Hope Church. The majority of the federal attack at New Hope Church fell upon Cleburne’s division. The federals advanced on the Confederate works, in this part of the line, seven lines deep. Cleburne’s men fought off the attack, with great losses on both sides. In this fight, the section known as Pickett’s Mill, the portion of the line manned by Polk’s brigade and the 1st ARK, was not engaged actively. Following the fight at New Hope Church, the 1st found itself in position on the northwest edge of Pine Mountain. Several shifts of position found them finally placed on the west side of the mountain on a slight rise, with the federals on a rise opposite, with a gully of about 10 yards separating the two lines. The line was spread very thin, "lonesome" in the words of one soldier. The rain fell again in absolute torrents for the days the men spent on this line. Gen. Lucius Polk, the brigade commander, was killed here while out reconnoitering on June 14. Soon following, his brigade was broken up and the 1st and 15th ARK was moved to the brigade of Gen. D.C. Govan. The night of June 18th, the regiment withdrew to the line at Kennesaw Mtn.. The march again was miserable in the fierce rain, but the men endured it and pressed on, arriving at Kennesaw on the 19th.

Once in the Kennesaw line, the men threw up works to protect themselves. The union line was merely 400 yards away, separated by only a shallow valley, and a small ravine. In front of their works, they faced an open field. Abatis was constructed by using sharpened sapling, fence rails, and felled trees to create a wall so impenetrable "it would have been an uphill business for a rabbit to get through". The soldiers of the 1st created an arrangement with the federal unit that faced them to not fire upon one another unless they came out of their works in line of battle. The unit that faced them was the 19th Ohio, a unit they had encountered many times in battle since Murfreesboro, and had great respect for. The men passed the days on Kennesaw talking and playing cards with the boys of the 19th between the lines. On June 27 the federals came out in line of battle.

The union troops pounded themselves against the Confederate line, only to be repeatedly repulsed with great loss. The dry leaves and underbrush in front of the line caught fire and many union wounded were being burned alive. At the sight of this, Col. Martin mounted the works waving a white handkerchief, and called for the union troops to stop firing long enough to get out their wounded before the flames. The firing stopped, and the wounded were hauled off by the soldiers of both armies. After the wounded were collected and the fires put out, the futile federal advance continued. The entire division lost only 2 killed and 9 wounded in the attack. The federal losses were great. 1st Lt. Allie Walthall was killed in skirmishing following the main battle. On June 29, a truce was called for the burial of the federal dead, and the men and even generals freely milled about between the lines, having a great time of it all. The night of July 2, the troops withdrew from Kennesaw by cover of darkness. On July 5 they withdrew into an extensive line of redoubts and fortifications along the banks of the Chatahoochie river. On July 9, they once again fell back, to the works on the outskirts of Atlanta. Since the beginning of May the men had seen some sort of fighting or skirmishing daily, as the armies were almost constant sight of one another. On July 17, John Bell Hood replaced Gen. Johnston as commander of the AOT. The men were questionable of Hood’s capabilities, and they all admired and loved Johnston.

The 20th of July brought with it the battle at Peach Tree Creek. Just before the 1st was to be thrown into the fray, Cleburne’s division was ordered several miles southeast to Bald Hill to reinforce a cavalry division there. They marched by way of Atlanta, where they stopped for a two hour rest, before continuing to Bald Hill. They arrived at Bald Hill at daybreak of the 21st. The entire day was some of the bitterest fighting the 1st would see throughout the war. They managed to hold on to Bald Hill, and as a result contributed to saving Atlanta. That evening they again marched back to the works outside of Atlanta. At dawn the following day, the regiment was again on the road, marching southeast in the direction of Cobb’s Mill. Then they turned around and marched back to the northeast to strike at the federal force nearing Atlanta, in what would be known as the battle of Atlanta. The 1st attacked the federals in works on Bald Hill, the position they had just the previous evening. The 1st ARK led in the attack nearly all day. They distinguished themselves by successfully taking the union works, and along the way capturing two union cannon and forcing the surrender of the 16th Ohio regiment. The men fought hand to hand with the federals clubbing and bayoneting them in the works. The fighting was ferocious. The 1st ARK went into the battle with only 144 men and lost 59% of the regiment, 15 killed, 67 wounded and 3 missing. The confederates fell back at nightfall, and soon returned to Atlanta, which then went into a month long siege. During the siege, the brigade moved about, bivouacking at several sites around the outskirts of the city. In late July, the army was also reorganized. Govan’s brigade, which only counted 534 troops was now an all-Arkansas unit, consisting of the 1st and 15th consolidated, the 2nd and 24th consolidated, the 5th and 13th consolidated, the 6th and 7th consolidated, the 8th and 19th consolidated, and the 3rd confederate. As both Col. Colquitt and Col. Martin had been lost to wounds, Capt. Felix Lusk, of Company K, commanded the 1st ARK. He would soon be replaced by Capt. A.C. Hockersmith.

August 31, the regiment headed out of Atlanta and marched to Jonesboro. The next day, they threw up breastworks and fought in the battle of Jonesboro. The federals charged the works and soon were swarming around the regiment on all sides. The company commander Clay Lowe, seeing his boys wavering, leaped atop the works, waving his pistol, and calling for the boys to hod on. He was atop the works just moments and he was shot down. Only one commissioned officer, Lt. John Loftin, remained in the company. Only darkness kept the regiment from being swallowed by the union troops. The flag of the regiment was captured at Jonesboro by the 14th Michigan Regiment. The brigade commander, Gen. Govan, was also taken captive, although he was exchanged a week later. Atlanta was taken the next day.

The regiment had withdrawn by rail to Lovejoy’s Station on September 2. The 1st moved to Palmetto, Ga. on September 18, and the regiment finally got an opportunity to rest. The army left Palmetto on September 29, as it began to journey north to take part in the Franklin-Nashville campaign. On September 30, Gen. Frank Cheatham replaced Hardee as the 1st ARK corps commander. Throughout the month of October the army kept moving arriving at Decatur, Al on October 28. The army continued on, marching in bitter cold, freezing rain, and snow to arrive near Columbia, Tn. November 26. They then continued north in the direction of Nashville.

At 4:15 a.m. on November 29, the division began to advance upon the federal troops at Spring Hill. In the late afternoon, the troops finally attacked the union works. Gen. Cleburne rode alongside the soldiers of Govan’s brigade in the advance. Many men pulled their hats down over their eyes as if to shield themselves from the bullets. They soon rolled over the union trenches and sent the enemy into retreat. The division was suddenly halted and the union army slipped away to Franklin. The battle of Franklin was fought on November 30.

At just about 3:00 p.m. on November 30, the members of the 1st ARK were drawn up in column on Breezy Hill, overlooking the plain just south of the town of Franklin. At the other end of the plain, three lines of very formidable entrenchments, filled with union infantry and artillery awaited. At 4:00 the advance was ordered.

The lines advanced, with parade ground precision, until they came within 400 yards of the enemy works. Here they halted and quickly deployed into line for the final charge against the works. They charged to within 100 yards of the works before the federals finally opened up on them. One soldier referred to the fire as if "hell itself exploded in our faces". The soldiers fought through the hailstorm of lead and lodged themselves against the enemy’s works. Furiously fighting hand to hand with the union soldiers on the massive works. Muskets firing literally in each others faces, bayonets and musket butts crashing into each other. The soldiers held on and fought as long as humanly possible, but it was useless. The fighting continued on until midnight, the slaughter horrific. During the night, the federal army withdrew to Nashville. The confederate losses were staggering. Company G was consolidated with Company B, and the two together barely made up one small company. The whole regiment now only consisted of six small companies. The division also suffered the loss of it’s beloved commander, Gen. Cleburne, who was killed in the assault.From December 2 until the 14th, the army occupied itself with skirmishing and preparing works around Nashville. On December 15, the union army attacked.

The regiment was near the right flank of the army during the attack at Nashville. The confederates repulsed the attack on the 15th, but fell back that night to reorganize and prepare to meet another attack. On the 16th, the regiment was switched to the left flank of the army, and the whole brigade was spread to cover an area intended to be covered by an entire division. The confederates were overrun. Many men of Company G were captured during the attack. That night they were withdrawn to Franklin. The following day to Spring Hill. The regiment continued on. A fierce snowstorm ensued as many men suffered on the march without shoes or adequate clothing. The men slept on the frozen ground and continued marching on bleeding, frozen feet. Such was the state as it arrived in Pulaski on December 21st. On December 22, the men left Pulaski, and continued their to Corinth, Ms., arriving there on December 31. There were not many men of the company left. By the time they arrived at Corinth, the company had lost 102 out of 144 men who had served throughout the war. After 9 days at Corinth the men continued south to Tupelo, arriving on January 13, 1865. Here, Gen. Hood was relieved of command, and Gen. Richard Taylor filled his place. On January 20, the men were ordered to begin the journey to South Carolina, where Gen. Johnston was organizing an army to oppose Gen. Sherman’s forces in the Carolinas.

The 1st ARK arrived in Augusta, Ga. on February 9. The journey to join Gen. Johnston in the Carolinas was an arduous trip. By February 25, the men had neared the vicinity of Charlotte, N.C., where Johnston was trying to concentrate his army. At this point the remains of the AOT were a demoralized mob at best, but were happy to be back under Gen. Johnston. On March 11, the 1st found itself bottled up in Salisbury, N.C., awaiting railroad transportation to Smithfield,N.C.. On March 19th, the regiment arrived at Bentonville from Goldsboro. The regiment, now commanded by Capt. William Scales, was part of a massive consolidation of Arkansas regiments under the command of Col. E.A. Howell. They belonged to Govan’s brigade, under Col. Peter Green, and Cleburne’s division, under Gen. James Smith. They were part of Cheatham’s corps, commanded by Gen. William Bate. The AOT was commanded by Gen. Alexander Stewart, and the whole bunch was under the command of Joseph E. Johnston.

As the brigade arrived on the field on March 19th, they deployed into line and were ordered to lie down as the enemy bullets began to fly past. The federal lines soon began advancing toward the hidden confederate lines. The men of the 1st, lacking any sort of breastworks, kept up their fire until the federals pressed steadily to within 50 yards and charged. With this the men of Govan’s brigade abandoned their position to fall behind stronger lines of entrenchments. This once glorious men of the brigade fled and put the right flank of the army in peril. The union line began to falter, and seeing this the brigade rushed back into the breach, and pushed back the federals. The union troops fell back and began to reform and entrench, and while they did this the soldiers of the brigade rushed out to plunder the bodies of the fallen federals and to collect the wounded of both sides.

Around 2:45p.m., the Army of Tennessee was ordered to advance. This would be the last great charge of the Army of Tennessee. The 1st advanced in relative safety through the woods approaching the federal line. As the brigade to the right of the 1st began to tangle up with theirs, the federal troops facing them opened up with a devastating volley. The men pressed on once again. When the troops reached the tree line marking the ravine that lay 100 yards in front of the enemy line, they charged down into the ravine toward the union line. They pushed ahead and overcame the defenders, sending them streaming to the rear. The attack gradually lost it’s full momentum and was halted. At dusk the order came to advance again, but the attack quickly failed. Late on the evening of March 19th, the regiment returned to it’s starting position of that afternoon. They remained in position, entrenched, until March 21, when a concentrated federal attack sent the entire confederate line into retreat.

Early morning of March 22 brought the overall evacuation of the confederate army from Bentonville. By dawn, the regiment was on the move to Smithfield. Once again tremendous rains pounded the defeated Army of Tennessee as it marched away from defeat.

The 1st Arkansas continued to march on, fleeing the pursuing union army until April 26, when the regiment was surrendered at Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina with the remains of the once glorious Army of Tennessee.

CHRISTMAS- Union Cemetery (Ashley Co.,AR)

Old Union Cemetery, Montrose, Arkansas

The Old Union Cemetery is located 2.2 miles north of the intersection of U. S. Highway 82 B and U. S. Highway 165 in downtown Montrose. At that location, take a small road to the west and cross the railroad tracks. The cemetery is located immediate across the tracks to the right, surrounded by cotton fields on three sides. The cemetery is found at Latitude North 39 degrees, 19 minutes and 50.8 seconds, Longitude West 91 degrees, 29 minutes, 38.1 seconds.

Christmas, Thomas H.
10 Dec 1869, 8 Sept 1928

Christmas, Annice L.
19 Aug 1871, 16 Jan 1931

Christmas, George
6 Sept 1895, 17 June 1898, Son of T. H. and Annice Christmas

Christmas, James T.
22 Aug 1897, 19 July 1898, Son of T. H. and Annice Christmas

Christmas, Shipman
28 June 1914, 3 July 1914, Son of T. H. and Annice Christmas

CHRISTMAS/TAYLOR- Ashley CO., AR

Ashley County is located in southeast Arkansas and is part of both the Mississippi Alluvial and West Gulf Coastal plains. Soil in the eastern Delta region of the county is conducive to the cultivation of the great cash crops of the state: cotton, rice, and soybeans. The western part of the county, being mainly upland forests, developed into the city of Crossett in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, becoming home to one of the largest industrial enterprises in Arkansas: the Crossett Lumber Company, later to become Georgia-Pacific Corporation (GP). At its peak, GP owned some 800,000 acres in southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana, and Crossett billed itself as “The Forestry Capital of the South.”

Ashley County—formed out of Chicot, Drew, and Union counties—was established on November 30, 1848, as Arkansas’s fifty-third county and is the sixth-largest county in the state in terms of area. It was named for Chester Ashley, the third Arkansan elected to the U.S. Senate and a prominent figure in territorial and antebellum Arkansas. Its eastern boundary is Chicot County, while the Ouachita River lies to the west. To the north is Drew County, and to the south is north Louisiana’s Morehouse Parish. Ashley County is bisected by the Bayou Bartholomew. Important roads serving Ashley County today are U.S. Highway 425 from north to south and U.S. Highway 82 from east to west.

Louisiana Purchase through Early Statehood
When U.S. surveyor Nicholas Right or entered the Arkansas Territory in 1826, he found settlers who had come to a land that they found to be abundantly fertile and in which game and fish were plentiful. The area abounded with timber, especially hardwood. As the hardwood was cleared for cultivation, pine took over.

On December 14, 1854, Hamburg was incorporated and designated the county seat of Ashley County. It is not known why the name Hamburg was chosen, but it is speculated that the town was named after Hamburg, Germany, because it had many German residents. The town became a merchant center for the prosperous planters operating in the fertile Delta region. Other thriving, agriculture-based communities in the county were Montrose, Parkdale, Portland, and Wilmot. Many other towns, such as the Berea community, formed along the county’s waterways, but the advent of railroads led to their demise. Fountain Hill, located in the upland forest area north of Hamburg, is one of the oldest communities in this county.

By 1855, many farms were producing cotton, corn, wheat, potatoes, and livestock. Timber was rafted down the Saline River to other settlements. Both rafting and timber were very profitable, though rafting stopped when railroads arrived.

Civil War through Reconstruction
Ashley County experienced solid growth in the years leading up to the Civil War. From a population of 2,058 in 1850, the county had grown to 8,590 in 1860. The Civil War interrupted this growth, so that by 1870, the population had dropped to 8,042.

Residents of Ashley County served as members of the armies of the Confederacy in proportion to their numbers. Thirteen became Confederate navy captains, such as Robert J. Winters, who piloted a supply craft serving Confederate soldiers along the Saline and Ouachita rivers. Another 781 enlisted and were organized into companies of sixty-four to 116 men. Although there were no major battles in the county, there are accounts of several minor skirmishes, one of which occurred near the Saline River landing at Longview.

Congress’s 1867 passage of “An Act for the More Efficient Government of the Rebel States” divided the South into five districts and implemented martial law in 1868. Only by taking an oath of allegiance to the United States and ratifying the Fourteenth Amendment were Southern states exempt from this rule. But this development set off violence in Ashley County in opposition to congressional Reconstruction, and federal laws were broken to prevent African Americans from gaining equality.

When the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868, Arkansas refused to ratify it, an action that was supported by Ashley County’s representative to the state legislature. Later that year, a state convention was called to formulate a new constitution. Ashley County’s two delegates, Colonel William S. Norman and a Mr. Moore, were not seated at the convention until it was in its sixteenth day because of questions concerning the validity of their election. At the conclusion of this convention, which resulted in a proposed constitution conforming to Reconstruction laws, Norman was one of sixteen delegates who demurred from signing the new document.

Post Reconstruction through the Gilded Age
The 1890s saw the beginning of what was to become one of Arkansas’s most important economic developments: the wood products industry. The western portion of the county was of the upland forest variety, and when three investors from Davenport, Iowa, acquired land to support a sawmill, they also made the decision to start a new town. Crossett was located about fifteen miles west of Hamburg. The town was settled in 1899 but was not incorporated until 1903.

Early Twentieth Century
After the Civil War, the county enjoyed prosperity until the Depression. In the early years, the railroads that had developed in the late 1890s helped support the economy but were later supplanted by the growth in highway transportation. The communities in the eastern part of the county were supported by farming, while Crossett continued its growth as a manufacturing center. Crossett’s population grew from 2,038 in 1910 to 4,891 in 1940.

Ashley County was within the flood zone of the Flood of 1927. The greatest effect of the flood was felt in the low-lying Delta region of the county, while the upland wood-product-manufacturing area experienced only minor disruption of activity.

Ashley County was home to an important federal experiment in the public health sector during this era. In 1916, a mosquito-eradication project was funded, which reduced the incidence of malaria by some eighty percent using a system of drainage and poisoning. This system became known as the “Crossett Project” and was used as an example in other parts of the country.

World War II through Modern Era
The county’s population began to decline after World War II as agricultural workers were replaced by machines and other workers left for better paying jobs. GP bought the Crossett Lumber Company in 1962 and began distancing itself from the communities and small businesses it helped spawn, although it continues to be the county’s biggest employer. Other large employers are the Bemis Company in Crossett and the Barnes companies in Hamburg.

Forest products account for fifty-seven percent of the value of all shipments from the county and are responsible for twenty-six percent of the employment. Forest acreage and growing stock have declined in the past few years, especially in the bottomlands.

About 300 farms in the county produce cotton, rice, soybeans, wheat, and grain sorghum. Tomato, cucumber, and bell pepper producers contribute to the economy, as do a few cattle ranchers. A few rice farmers have turned their fields into catfish farms, though not on a large scale. Ashley County ranks forty-second in the state in farm income.