Jim Burran

Between the shelling of Fort Sumter in April 1861 and the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) in July, the Confederacy grew from seven to eleven states.  Yet the secession of Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee did not take place without pain and anguish.  In each case opposition to secession was evident.  Indeed, such opposition led part of one state to rejoin the Union and very nearly created a similar result in another.

On the day following Fort Sumter’s surrender to the victorious Confederates in Charleston, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion.  The Northern states were galvanized, furnishing several times that number within weeks and promising many more.  Such was not the case across the Upper South, however.  Governor John Ellis of North Carolina wrote Lincoln that his citizens would “be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of our country.”  And Governor Isham Harris of Tennessee declared that his state would “not furnish a man for purposes of coercion. . . .”  Such reactions were echoed in Arkansas and Virginia.  While these states had proven reluctant to leave the Union during the initial round of secession fever three months earlier, the outbreak of war now forced their hand.

Virginia was the first to go.  On April 17, that state’s secession convention voted to sever its ties to the United States.  A week later Virginia invited the Confederate government to relocate its national capital from Montgomery to Richmond.  Governor John Letcher ordered state militia units to seize Federal installations within its borders, the most important of which were the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and the enormous navy yard near Norfolk.  But Virginia’s secession ordinance had been approved by only 62 percent of the convention delegates, revealing deep geographic divisions that would shortly burst into full flower.

Virginia’s example was followed in short order by Arkansas.  The eastern boundary of that state was formed by the Mississippi River, and the rich soil of the delta stretched westward toward Little Rock.  This region had developed a strong plantation economy, which of course depended on slavery.  But the other side of the state was still a frontier.  And the northwestern quadrant of Arkansas was home to part of the Ozark Mountain range where there existed very few slaves.  The state’s slaveholding interests took Arkansas out of the Union on May 6, but guerrilla warfare terrorized the Ozark region and much of western Arkansas for the duration of the war.

North Carolina and Tennessee were next.  Since North Carolina was now virtually surrounded by Confederate states, its secession convention unanimously approved withdrawing from the Union on May 20.  The small number of convention delegates who opposed secession, chiefly from the western mountain counties, were swept along by the tide of emotion.  And Governor John Ellis quickly pounced on Federal military installations near the coastline.

Meanwhile, on May 6 the Tennessee legislature declared independence from the United States and scheduled a popular referendum for June 8.  The result was 104,913 for secession and 47,238 against.  Most of the disapproving votes came from the mountain counties of eastern Tennessee, where very few slaves lived and in which fiercely independent mountain folk shared a strong contempt for aristocratic slaveowners who lived in the middle and western parts of the state.  This contempt led representatives from those counties to convene at Greeneville on June 17 to consider establishing the Union state of East Tennessee.  Their leaders were US Senator Andrew Johnson and William Brownlow, editor of the Knoxville Whig.

Brownlow vowed to “fight the Secession leaders till Hell freezes over, and then fight them on the ice.”  While the effort to create a new state eventually came to nothing, the eastern counties remained unionist.  During the war some 30,000 white Tennesseans fought for the North, more than from any other Confederate state.  Sprinkled among these was a handful of North Georgians, including a few from Whitfield County, who crossed the state line to join US Tennessee regiments.

While Tennessee agonized over secession, trouble was brewing in Virginia.  Just a few weeks after that state’s secession, delegates from unionist counties in the western Virginia mountains gathered in Wheeling to secede from Virginia and rejoin the United States.  This rump group elected its own governor, Francis Pierpoint, as well as a legislature and representatives to Congress.  President Lincoln formally recognized this loyal government in July, but statehood took longer.  In June 1863, following the creation of a constitution that abolished slavery within its borders, the State of West Virginia was admitted to the Union.

Sources:  James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom:  The Civil War Era (1988); Shelby Foote, The Civil War:  A Narrative, vol. 1 (1958); E. Merton Coulter, The Confederate States of America (1950).

William Brownlow

by Robert Jenkins                                              

On Wednesday, April 10, 1861, Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant (P.G.T.) Beauregard, a French Creole from New Orleans, Louisiana, who was in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The Federal Commander, Major Robert Anderson, had taught artillery tactics at West Point where the French Creole was one of his favorite pupils.  Anderson, who was born at a place called “Soldier’s Retreat, Kentucky,” refused.

The crisis in Charleston Harbor began on December 26, 1860, when Major Anderson moved his small force of 80 men out of the other forts surrounding the harbor to Fort Sumter which was located at the mouth of the harbor and surrounded by water.   Anderson made his move in response to the action of the South Carolina Legislature to become the first state to secede from the Union on December 20^th, but his refusal to voluntarily surrender the Fort and his defiant act of flying the Stars and Stripes over the harbor infuriated the Confederates who felt that Anderson should peacefully vacate Charleston and board a Federal ship for the North.

Prior to his departure from office, U.S. President James Buchanan had tried to reinforce and resupply Anderson using the unarmed merchant ship, Star of the West, but this failed when the ship was fired upon by shore batteries on January 9, 1861. South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area, except for Fort Sumter.  As the Confederates strengthened their positions around Fort Sumter, Anderson was rapidly becoming short of men, guns, food and supplies.

Soon, six other states followed South Carolina in secession, and in February 1861, they formed a provisional government, elected a President, created a Cabinet, and set about arming and equipping an army for the defense of the newly created Confederate States of America.  Eventually, four other states would join the Confederacy.  As the provisional Confederate States Army began to take shape, many of the South’s leading military officers quickly resigned from positions in the United States Government and offered their services to the Confederacy, including Beauregard who was appointed as General and sent to Fort Sumter to expel his former teacher.

Beauregard promised to begin firing on the fort at 4:00 A.M. on the morning of April 12^th should Anderson’s force remain.  When Friday, April 12^th arrived, anxious Charleston citizens listened for sounds of the guns that would surely mark the beginning of War and the end of an era.  Most did not go to bed that night in anticipation of what they expected would be the birth of a new Confederate nation and a glorious celebration.  4:00 A.M. came, and there was still silence.  4:15 A.M. and no sounds were yet heard.  Perhaps Beauregard and the Confederates were bluffing?  Or, perhaps Anderson had evacuated during the night?

At 4:30, the booms of the thunderous cannons were heard, piercing the night sky with the streaking red and yellow fireballs which soared over the harbor toward the small fort.  It was clear now that War was on as the unmistakable roaring continued for the next 34 hours.  Anderson had ignored Beauregard’s ultimatum and Beauregard’s cannons had replied with a solemn resolve.   Beauregard had allowed the first shot to be fired by 74 year old fire-eater Edmund Ruffin, a native Virginian who had come to South Carolina to participate.  Ruffin had preached the merits of Secession for decades and in 1858, he had founded the League of United Southerners, an organization dedicated to the creation of an independent Southern Nation.  Ruffin has been largely credited with firing the first shot of the Civil War.

Unable to mount any effective reply from his outgunned and out-maned post, Anderson ordered the flag of surrender to be raised at 2:30 P.M. on Saturday, April 13^th.  There were no casualties on either side during the 4 month siege and the 34 hour bombardment, but before the Federal  garrison evacuated on Sunday, April 14^th, one of Anderson’s artillerists was killed and three more wounded, one mortally, while firing off a 100 gun salute prior to their departure.  They stopped at 50 salutes when one of the cannons exploded.  Anderson and the Federals were welcomed as heroes in the North including in New York City, where the flag that they flew over Charleston Harbor was cheered.

President Abraham Lincoln’s first crisis of his administration was Fort Sumter.  Should he give into South Carolina Governor, Francis W. Pickens’ mandate to evacuate Fort Sumter immediately?  Or, should he send additional troops and ships to strengthen the Federal positions at Charleston Harbor and be responsible for starting the War while protecting a Federal post?

Faced with this dilemma, Lincoln chose a third approach.  He would send supply ships and inform the South Carolina Governor that he was only sending more food and equipment to the garrison but was not reinforcing them or evacuating them.  This move infuriated Pickens and the Confederates at Charleston, but it was Lincoln’s brilliant move to neither retreat nor escalate War that baited the Confederates into firing the first shots which politically was vital to his gaining support from the mainstream in the North and was equally important in keeping foreign powers such as England and France from joining forces with the South.

Following the Battle of Fort Sumter, there would be widespread support from both the North and the South, and Lincoln immediately called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion while in the South, thousands of young men and boys flocked to join the Confederate Army.  The Civil War had begun.

Firing on Fort Sumter, April 12-13, 1861

History remembers the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, as being the first shots which were fired in the Civil War.  But three months before this event, a young man who was a Cadet at the Citadel, a young men’s military academy in Charleston, was keeping vigil on Morris Island, an outpost overlooking Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor.  His name was Daniel Joseph Carey.  At the age of 13, he had come to America with his father and family from Ireland where they settled in Charleston in 1854.  When he turned 18, Carey joined the Citadel where he had been enrolled for a couple of years when hostilities broke out in Charleston.  He and the other cadets were placed in positions around the harbor to defend it and to prevent enemy ships from reaching Fort Sumter to reinforce or resupply it.

In the pre-dawn hours of January 9, 1861, Cadet Carey was on sentry duty when he saw the outline of a ship approaching the harbor.  As it came closer, it became clear to Carey that the ship was attempting to reach Fort Sumter.  Ordered to fire upon any hostile ship by his commander, Major Stevens, Carey fired at the strange ship, his shot waking the others of his unit.  Carey continued to fire several times until the South Carolina battery at Morris Island began firing at the Federal ship at 7:15 A..M.  Cadet G. W. Haynesworth pulled the lanyard from the Southern battery gun sending the first artillery round toward the Yankee ship.  After several hours of continued bombardment by the Morris Island Battery, the Federal ship, the Star of the West, withdrew from the harbor

After the War, Daniel Carey moved to Dalton, Georgia, where he lived for the remainder of his life.  Carey worked as a train car inspector for the Southern Railway and he was known locally as “Uncle Dan.”  Carey loved to retell his experience in the War and of his role in being the first to fire a shot in it.  Uncle Dan Carey maintained throughout his post-war life that he in fact had fired the first shot of the Civil War until he died on May 8, 1912.  Carey is buried in West Hill Cemetery in Dalton along with a number of known and 421 unknown Confederate soldiers.

So, the next time someone asks who fired the first shots of the Civil War, most will likely reply that Edmund Ruffin for the South did at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.  But, anyone from Dalton should politely explain that it was our very own Uncle Dan Carey who fired the first shots of the War.

Sources: Marvin Sowder, Moments in Time, Vol. I, 1989, p. 26; Ruffin, Edmund (1989) [1856-1865] (3 v.). The diary of Edmund Ruffin. Edited, by William Kauffman Scarborough. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press; Swanberg, W.A., First Blood The Story of Fort Sumter, Longmans, 1960.

by Jim Burran

By early June 1861 eleven of the fifteen slaveholding states within the US had jumped ship and joined the Confederacy.  Four remained:  Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri.  While Delaware’s loyalty to the Union was never in doubt, the other three fractured so badly that blood ran in the streets even before the war arrived on their doorsteps.

Sandwiched between Maryland and the Atlantic Ocean, the tiny state of Delaware for all practical purposes decided the question of secession in January.  Slavery had virtually died out within its borders, and when a roving ambassador from Mississippi addressed the Delaware legislature urging its immediate departure from the Union, the assembly unanimously adopted a resolution which read:  “. . . we deem it proper and due to ourselves and the people of Delaware to express our unqualified disapproval of the remedy for the existing difficulties suggested by the resolutions of the legislature of Mississippi.”

Things were different in Maryland.  Though Governor Thomas Hicks was a Union man, the state had gone to Southern Democratic candidate John C. Breckinridge in the 1860 presidential election and its legislature was pro-southern.  The tobacco counties near the Virginia border and along the Chesapeake Bay’s eastern shore contained large secessionist populations.  The northern and western counties were pro-Union.  The state’s largest city, Baltimore, served as a lightning rod as passions rose.

On April 19 rioting erupted in the streets of Baltimore when secessionist residents surrounded a regiment of Massachusetts troops headed for Washington.  Shots were fired, and several soldiers and civilians were killed.  The mayor declared martial law.  Thoroughly alarmed over the possibility that the District of Columbia would be surrounded by Confederate states if Maryland seceded, President Lincoln sent troops into the state to protect the railroads and clapped prominent secessionists in jail.  Ultimately Maryland remained with the Union, but during the war its sons fought for both blue and gray.

Even more violence erupted in Missouri during the spring and summer of 1861.  Following Lincoln’s April 15 call for volunteers to quell the rebellion, Missouri dissolved into civil war.  A state secession convention had earlier voted against disunion, but secessionist Governor Claiborne Jackson now took matters into his own hands.  He ordered pro-southern state militia to assemble just outside St. Louis for “drilling and instruction.” Meanwhile, US Congressman Francis Blair ordered Captain Nathaniel Lyon to secure the Federal arsenal in St. Louis and muster several regiments from the city’s German American population.  Lyon surrounded Jackson’s militia on May 10, forced their surrender, and then paraded his prisoners through St. Louis where rioting erupted.  Thirty people, most of them civilians, were killed.

Over the next few weeks Governor Jackson recruited additional pro-Confederate soldiers in an attempt to bring Missouri under his control, but Lyon beat him to the punch by occupying Jefferson City, the state capital, in mid-June.  By early July Lyon had chased Jackson and his small force all the way to the southeastern corner of Missouri.  Thereafter most of the state remained in Union hands, but in November Jackson’s followers established a legislature-in-exile at Neosho, near the Arkansas border, and passed an ordinance of secession.  On November 28, the Confederate government admitted Missouri as its twelfth state under these somewhat dubious circumstances.

While Maryland and Missouri continued to suffer internal strife, Kentucky was seized with indecision.  Because the population was so evenly split, its government refused to choose sides.  The Kentucky legislature approved a resolution in May 1861 asserting that “this state and the citizens thereof shall take no part in the Civil War now being waged,” and declared “a position of strict neutrality.”  But of course neutrality was impossible.  Thousands of white male Kentuckians joined US regiments, while almost as many others enlisted in Confederate units.  Governor Beriah Magoffin, a southern sympathizer, secretly allowed Confederate recruiters to cross over the state line from Tennessee.  Meanwhile, unionists shipped muskets across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to arm loyal “home guard” militia.  Over the summer months, however, Union sympathies began to prevail.  And in a regularly scheduled legislative election held on August 5, a solid majority of unionists resulted.  Kentucky would remain in the Union.  In November, Governor Magoffin, Senator John C. Breckinridge, and other Confederate sympathizers organized a separate government, similar to what Missouri was then doing, and petitioned the Confederate Congress for admission.  Kentucky was admitted as the thirteenth Confederate state on December 10.

Kentucky turned out to be the poster child of divided loyalties.  Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born here.  Lincoln’s wife, Mary, also from Kentucky, had four brothers and three brothers-in-law fighting for the Confederacy.  One of these, Brigadier General Ben Hardin Helm, would be killed at Chickamauga leading the Kentucky Orphan Brigade.  Four grandsons of the legendary Henry Clay wore gray while three others wore blue.  One of Senator John Crittenden’s sons became a Union general while the other became a Confederate general.  And during the July 1864 Battle of Atlanta, a Breckinridge fighting for the North captured his Confederate brother.  Within Kentucky’s borders resided perhaps the most tragic example of family members killing each other in the midst of a war that would eventually claim 620,000 American lives.

Sources:  James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom:  The Civil War Era (1988); Bruce Catton, The Coming Fury (1961); Emory M. Thomas, The Confederate Nation:  1861-1865 (1979).

 From left to right:

Governors Thomas Hicks (Maryland), Claiborne Jackson (Missouri), and Beriah Magoffin (Kentucky)

By Marvin Sowder

While researching the men of the Dalton Guards, Company B, Phillips Legion, I realized there are many interesting stories about them that haven’t been told in a long time.

Miss Laura Kelly’s talk given by her in July,1898, described them as a well drilled and finely equipped military organization composed of the very flower and chivalry of our country.

A veteran of the Company, Sergeant A. W. Lynn, said it could rightfully be called the company of brothers and recalled some twenty or so pairs of brothers as well as three or four others who had more than one brother serving. Charlie Quinn was the tallest in the company. Charlie Quinn, Tom Jolly and Dave Richardson were the most daring and Miller Willis was the shortest. He was one of the three preachers the company turned out after the war. Bob Headden and Nick Bitting were the other two.

In June of 1861 at the time of mustering the officers of the Guards were by rank, Captain Robert Thomas Cook, 1st Lieutenant Joseph Franklin Ballenger Jackson, 2nd Lieutenant John Morris and 3rd Lieutenant Thomas Hamilton. There was a succession of events during the war that changed the entire lineup of officers.

On March 12, 1862 1^st Lieutenant J.F.B. Jackson transferred to the 39th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel as inspector and mustering officer. He served with the 39th until March,1864. While the army was in winter quarters at Dalton he was elected to represent Whitfield County in the State Legislature. On March 18,1864 he tendered his resignation as Lieutenant Colonel of the 39th and served through the rest of the war in the State House.

On July 6,1862 2nd Lieutenant John Morris was made Inspector General and Aid-de-Camp to General Phillips and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. While fighting in the Battle of Chancellorsville he was wounded and died May 25th,1863 in General Hospital #4 ,Richmond, Virginia.

Captain Tom Cook had proven himself a competent leader and on July 25,1862 was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of Phillips Legion. Sergeant A. W. Lynn, said years later, “I remember a day or two before the Battle of Fredericksburg that Colonel Cook said to me it would be bad for a man to fight nearly through the war and then be killed, yet in less than two days on December 13,1862, Colonel Cook himself poured out his life’s blood at the hands of the enemy. No braver or truer man ever drew a sword in defense of his country”.

Miss Laura Kelly also wrote of Colonel Cook,”He was a man of charming personality and was a brave and gallant soldier. Before going into the army he had won the heart of one of the society belles of Dalton. She was one of the loveliest ladies in the city, a typical brown eyed southern girl with a gentle voice and amiable disposition. She was Miss Jemmie Black, the daughter of Doctor and Mrs. James A. Black of Dalton.

She was called to act as a brides maid to another of Dalton fair daughters and the officiating minister, Colonel J.A.R. Hanks asked her what vocation she would choose if the fortunes of war went against us? She quickly replied ,”I have no higher aim in life than to be a Cook”.

In just a few short days the sad news came to Dalton that the gallant Colonel Cook had watered the soil of Virginia with his blood. His body was brought back home and laid to rest next to his mother in the Old Presbyterian Cemetery on Christmas day 1862. That day was to have been their wedding day. Miss Jemmie Black’s brown eyes ever after wore a subdued look.

After the war she married another soldier and moved to Calhoun, Georgia, where she and her husband resided until her death in March of 1885. She was buried there in the Fain Cemetery.

On July 1,1862, because of Captain Cook’s promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Thomas Hamilton was promoted to Captain of Company B and held that position until February 11,1865, when he resigned on the recommendation of the Medical Examining Board.

On July 2,1863, 1st Lieutenant James Byers, only a few moments before being ordered forward into the Battle of Gettysburg, deserted his post and went to get water. He was captured and taken to Point Lookout prison camp.

On March 10,1865 there were two 2nd Lieutenants and thirty men present and a total of fifty nine present and absent in Company B. It was the unanimous wish of the company to promote 2nd Lieutenant William Hamilton to Captain .He had been in command of the company for more than a year because of his brother’s ill health.

However the war ended before his promotion could be carried out. At the end of the war he was put in charge of the Western & Atlantic Railroad office in Atlanta under Captain J.H. Bard, then agent and afterwards under Colonel L.N. Trammell. He resided in Atlanta until his death January 28,1897.

On June 12,1863 Corporal Marcus G. Hill was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant . He was captured at Sailors Creek, Virginia, April 6, 1865 and released on his oath June 18,1865.He returned to Dalton and on February 15,1866 married Nudora Chastain.  It is thought they later moved to Texas.

The foregoing is a short review of the officers of Company B, Phillips Legion, AKA the Dalton Guards.

Camp McDonald, Big Shanty, Georgia (Where the Dalton Guards Trained)

• August Abraham – Enlisted 5/8/1862, WIA and captured at Fox’s Gap, Md 9/14/1862 (thigh), Exchanged 10/17/1862, Captured at Knoxville 12/3/1863 and imprisoned at Rock Island until released 5/21/1865, Age at release 24
• John T Adams – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA at Fredericksburg, Va 12/13/1862 (head), Captured at Sailors Creek, Va 4/6/1865 and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• John A Alexander – Enlisted 6/24/1861, Last shown on 11/1861 roll, No further record
• Robert Hammond Baker – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA (both thighs) May 1863 at Chancellorsville per casualty list in 5/19/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, 1906 Roster Commission Roll states that he was severely wounded at Chancellorsville 5/3/1863 and was detailed to the Quartermaster Dept at Charleston, SC as unfit for field service, See ANV SO 225/7 dated 9/8/1863, Postwar pension application states he was shot in the head and through both thighs, At Augusta, Ga at war’s end working for Major Willis of the QM Dept, Born 12/14/1842 in Dalton Ga to Robert Hammond and Susan Hammond Baker, Died 9/11/1921 in Whitfield county, Buried at West Hill Cemetery
• Henry H Bard – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to Co F 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Listed on rolls as “sick at hospital” from November 1863 to March 1864, No further record but we know he died during the war as his tombstone in the old Hamilton Presbyterian Cemetery in Dalton shows his birth/death dates as 1843-1864, Born in Pennsylvania to James H and Elizabeth H Bard, Age 17 in 1860 census
• Joseph C Barry – Enlisted 3/1/1862, WIA at Beverlys Ford, Va 8/23/1862, KIA at Sharpsburg, Md 9/17/1862, Shot through head and died instantly, Brother of John A Barry, Buried on the field where he fell, Born about 1842 in Georgia to C M & Elizabeth Barry
• John A Barry – Enlisted 7/25/1861, WIA at Spotsylvania 5/12/1864, Letter dated 6/5/1864 from Will Hamilton to John’s sister Sallie states that “a cannonball struck him on the right side of the face, inflicting a painful though not severe wound”, It turned out to be worse than Hamilton thought as the wound damaged the eye and kept him out of the rest of the war, A letter Barry wrote to his sister 12/27/1864 from an Augusta, Ga hospital notes that he has been discharged and will leave the next day for Richmond to rejoin his company, 1906 Roster Commission roll states that he lost the sight in his right eye and was retired to the Invalid Corps 1/14/1865, The final entry in his service record shows him captured at Greenville SC 5/23/1865, Born in Georgia 3/13/1840 to C M & Elizabeth Barry
• John Henry Bitting – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 2nd Sgt, Shown as 1st Sgt on October 1863 roll, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Brother of Nicholas Bitting, Married Mary Eugenia Kelly in 1863 at Lafayette, Ga., Born 4/15/1835 to John H and Catherine Frost Bitting at Rural Hill, NC, Died 9/18/1881 at Dalton, Buried at West Hill Cemetery
• Nicholas Bitting – Enlisted 5/28/1862, Last shown on roll dated 1/30/1865, No further record but survived the war, Attended Emory College after the war and became a doctor, Married Mary Jane Nichols 1/1/1868 at Dalton, Born 3/31/1845 to John H and Catherine Frost Bitting at Rural Hill, NC, Moved to Oklahoma and practiced medicine there until his death 5/7/1904 at Tahlequah, Brother of John H Bitting
• George J Blanton – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA at Fredericksburg 12/13/1862 (hand), Captured at Sailors Creek, Va 4/6/1865 and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865, Age 28 in 1860 Whitfield census, Son of Josiah & Elizabeth Davis Blanton, Brother of Jacob Blanton
• Jacob A Blanton – Enlisted 6/19/1861, WIA (left lung & shoulder) and captured at Fox’s Gap, Md 9/14/1862, Exchanged 10/17/1862, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Born 11/5/1829 Rutherford county, NC to Josiah & Elizabeth Davis Blanton, Brother of George Blanton
• William M Bridges – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Last shown present on February 1863 roll BUT 1906 Roster Commission roll states that he was transferred to Co C, 39th Ga Infantry 11/10/1862, This entry probably should read 11/10/1863 since Legion records show he was paid on 9/1/1863, Records for 39th Ga Co C show him “present” on the March/April 1864 roll
• George E Brown – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Captured at Sharpsburg (no date given), Exchanged 10/17/1862, Shown present on February 1863 roll, No further record, Son of George R Brown
• Julius J Broyles – Enlisted 5/8/1862, No further record BUT he does turn up in November 1862 as the Asst Surgeon of the 18th Ga Infantry and serves with that unit throughout the war, He had previous medical training so it is likely he transferred over to the 18th to fill this requirement, Son of John Taylor and Clorinda Hammond Broyles, Born 5/18/1831, Died in 1898, Cousin of Marcellus and Walter Broyles
• Marcellus Franklin Broyles – Enlisted 3/4/1862, Captured at Fox’s Gap, Md 9/14/1862, Exchanged 10/2/1862, Captured at Gettysburg 7/2/1863, Sent to Chester, Pa hospital from Fort Delaware 7/19/1863 indicating that he may have been wounded, Sent to Point Lookout 10/4/1863, We know he was exchanged in early 1864 because he shows up on a Confederate clothing receipt record with the notation “par(oled) ex(changed) pris(oner), KIA 5/6/1864 at the Wilderness, Brother of Walter Long Broyles, Born 7/16/1837 in Anderson District, SC to Major Cain and Lucinda Nash Broyles
• Walter Long Broyles – Enlisted 6/19/1861, Died 11/13/1862 at Crumpton’s Factory Hospital, Lynchburg, Va of pneumonia, Buried in Lynchburg City Cemetery but later removed (name shown in cemetery records as W L Boiles), Brother of Marcellus Franklin Broyles, Born 7/25/1832 in Greene County, Ga to Major Cain and Lucinda Nash Broyles
• William A Bryant – Enlisted 8/16/1861, WIA at Fredericksburg 12/13/1862 (back), Captured at Knoxville 12/3/1863 and imprisoned at Rock Island, Exchanged 3/2/1865, No further record
• James J Byers – Enlisted 6/19/1861 as 1st Sgt, Promoted 2nd Lt 7/6/1862, WIA (knee) May 1863 at Chancellorsville per casualty list in 5/19/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Promoted 1st Lt 5/26/1863, Captured 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg, Letter on file from Lt Col Joseph Hamilton claims that Byers was a coward who let himself be captured, Imprisoned at Johnsons Island until 2/9/1864 when he was transferred to Point Lookout, Subsequently transferred to Fort Delaware 6/25/1864, Released 6/12/1865
• John S Callahan – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Shown as drummer on 5/1/1862 roll, Last shown present on roll dated 8/31/1863, No further record, Postwar pension application states that he went blind in one eye and partially blind in the other from sunstroke and powder burns received at Chancellorsville in May of 1863, Born 7/6/1824 in Greenville, SC, Died 6/8/1908 in Whitfield county
• W H Callihan – No enlistment date shown, April 1862 roll shows “on furlough”, No further record
• Willis M Carroll – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Absent sick much of 1862 & 1863, Died 12/26/1864 at Richmond GH #9 of pneumonia
• John F Carson – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Shown “present” on roll dated 11/1/1861, No further record
• Nathan Carter – Enlisted 6/19/1861, Discharged 12/20/1861
• Reuben F Carter – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to Legion Cavalry Co D in late 1861 or early 1862
• Thomas W Carter – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Shown “present” on roll dated 11/1/1861, No further record, High probability that this is an erroneous duplicate entry for William Thomas Carter
• William Thomas Carter – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Detailed to Division Signal Corps 10/10/1862, Shown “present” on May/June 1864 roll, Shown on Nov 1864 clothing receipt roll, No further record, Born 7/7/1842, Died in Texas at age 91, Buried at Kendrick Cemetery near Clyde, Texas
• Lyman A Chapman – Enlisted 4/2/1862, Captured at Fox’s Gap, Md. 9/14/1862, Exchanged 10/2/1862, WIA (concussion) May 1863 at Chancellorsville per casualty list in 5/19/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, WIA (arm) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg per casualty list in 7/20/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy (Rank shown as Legion Sgt Major), Shown as Sgt Major on Oct 1863 roll, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek, Released at Newport News, Va. 6/25/1865
• Daniel Lufkin Cline (Klein) – Enlisted 6/27/1861, Shown as “absent detached service” on 1/14/1864 roll, Captured at Graysville, Ga 11/26/1863 and imprisoned at Rock Island 12/13/1863, Transferred to Camp Douglas Illinois 1/25/1864 and enlisted in U S Navy there on 2/5/1864, Born 4/9/1826, Died 1/18/1911, Buried at Deep Springs Cemetery in Whitfield county
• Robert Thomas Cook – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as Captain of Co B, Promoted to Major of Infantry Battalion 7/1/1862, Promoted to Lt Colonel of Infantry Battalion 11/1/1862, KIA 12/13/1862 at Fredericksburg, Buried at Old Hamilton Presbyterian Cemetery in Dalton, Ga.
• William Cowan – Enlisted 6/19/1861, KIA 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Born in Va, Age 28 in 1860 Whitfield census
• Abram M Crow – Enlisted 6/19/1861, MWIA (thigh) 12/13/1862 at Fredericksburg, Died 1/8/1863, Buried Hollywood Cemetery at Richmond, Section D Lot 79, Born to Thomas & Mary Cox Crow 4/15/1841 at Dalton
• J V Crow – Enlisted 3/1/1862, WIA 8/30/1862 at Second Manassas and disabled remainder of war
• James C Currenton – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, Died 6/25/1863 at Hugenot Springs hospital from chronic bronchitis, Death claim filed by his mother Sabra, Born in Georgia to Anderson and Sabra Currenton, Age 17 in 1860 census
• Charles C Davis – Enlisted 6/6/1861, Teamster, Discharged 5/20/1862
• Frank J Davis – Enlisted 3/4/1862 WIA (thigh) 9/17/1862 at Sharpsburg, Md., WIA (leg) and captured at Gettysburg, No exchange record BUT he is shown as “present” on 1864 rolls, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek, Escaped from prison at Newport News and walked home, Born 11/24/1842 in Whitfield County, Ga., Died in Texas 9/5/1923, Buried at East Mount Cemetery in Greenville, Texas, Brother of John A Davis
• Hardy O Davis – Enlisted 7/27/1861, Shown sick on numerous rolls, Danville hospital roll shows him there with a gun shot wound 11/19/1863, 1864 rolls show him detailed as a nurse at Danville, Va hospital, Last shown on clothing receipt dated 12/22/1864, No further record
• John A Davis – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Died 10/16/1862 at Brucetown, Va. of disease, Buried in churchyard at Brucetown 7 miles from Winchester, Brother of Frank J Davis
• Warren Ransom Davis – Enlisted 5/8/1862, WIA (lost use of right arm) 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Discharged 6/1/1863, Born 1843, Died 3/17/1896 at Dalton, Buried at West Hill Cemetery
• Eben J Duckett – Enlisted 6/11/1861, “present” throughout war, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• Samuel Dunn – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Absent sick throughout war, His 1869 obituary states that he was an officer in the war of 1812 and a Confederate private who had moved to Dalton from Pennsylvania in 1849, His age is stated as 81 indicating he enlisted in Co B at the age of 73!
• Jennings Dye – Enlisted 10/1/1863, Shown AWOL on roll dated 1/14/1864, No further record
• S M Dyer – Enlisted 7/16/1861, Discharged 11/10/1861 due to poor healt
• Adoniza B “Van” Edwards – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Initials change to AMV on June 1862 roll then change to AMVB on November 1862 roll, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Captured at Front Royal, Va. 8/16/1864 and imprisoned at Elmira, NY until released 6/27/1865, Brother of James F Edwards
• James F Edwards – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Discharged 10/29/1861, Letter from Capt R T Cook dated 10/29/1861 states he was shot through the wrist on 10/18/1861 while on picket duty at Camp Dickerson by an accidental discharge of his Mississippi rifle, Discharged by surgeon A Connell, 6’2″ tall with dark hair, eyes and complexion, Pension application states he was shot in the wrist in the fall of 1861 while on picket duty in western Va., Born 8/1/1835, Died 11/08/1908 in Gordon County, Buried at Resaca Cemetery, Brother of A M “Van” Edwards
• John (or Joshua) M Edwards – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Last shown “present” on roll dated 1/14/1864, Death claim filed by relatives show his date of death as 5/12/1864, Location and cause not indicated, Casualty list for 5/6/1864 through 5/16/1864 in 7/2/1864 Richmond Enquirer lists him as KIA confirming his death at Spotsylvania
• William R Edwards – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Shown “present” on roll dated 1/30/1865, No further record, Died at Atlanta Confederate Soldier’s Home (date unknown), Buried at Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery grave # 108
• Frank M Eldridge – Enlisted 6/27/1861, KIA at Fredericksburg, Va. 12/13/1862
• Joseph Curtis England – Enlisted 6/19/1861, Captured at Fox’s Gap, Md. 9/14/1862, Exchanged 10/2/1862, Furloughed home from Richmond GH#16 7/4/1863 to recover from typhoid, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion, WIA (left arm) 5/12/1864 at Spotsylvania, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Point Lookout until released 6/11/1865, Born 10/28/1835 in Burke county, NC, Died 1/21/1922, Buried at Swamp Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Whitfield County
• James H Field – Enlisted 6/24/1861, Admitted to hospital 7/10/1864 with gun shot wound to left thigh, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865, Born abt 1841 to M W Field and unknown mother, Brother of William T Field and Asst Surgeon Samuel W Field
• William T Field – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as Corporal, Shown as 4th Sgt on June 1862 roll, Detailed as a druggist to Cannon Hospital in Dalton, Ga. 11/5/1862, Shown AWOL 2/6/1863, WIA 11/29/1863 at Knoxville per casualty list in 2/3/1864 Athens Watchman, Shown detailed as hospital steward 8/10/1864, No further record, Born abt 1843 to M W Field and unknown mother, Brother of James H Field and Asst Surgeon Samuel W Field
• Jesse C Fincher – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Absent sick on all rolls after 1/14/1864, Captured at Jackson Hospital Richmond 4/3/1865, Released 5/23/1865
• Francis “Frank” Marion Ford – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Died of disease 5/17/1862 at Camp Pritchard, SC
• J H G Freeman – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Casualty list in 7/2/1864 Richmond Enquirer shows him severely wounded between 5/6/1864 and 5/16/1864, Captured at Sailors Creek 4/6/1865 and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• S V Gambrell – Enlisted 9/6/1861, Discharged for disability 5/20/1862 at Camp Pritchard, SC
• B Osgood Gambrell – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Appointed musician 5/1/1862, Admitted to Richmond GH#16 12/20/1862 with accidental gun shot wound, Furloughed home 2/12/1863, Shown home on furlough on roll dated 1/14/1864 then shown as retired to Invalid Corps 4/13/1864 BUT then shown “present” on rolls from March through August 1864, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox as V O Gambrell
• M Edward Gambrell – Enlisted 9/6/1861, WIA at Fredericksburg 12/13/1862, Shown as 3rd Corporal on 1/14/1864 roll, Casualty list in 7/2/1864 Richmond Enquirer shows him slightly wounded between 5/6/1864 and 5/16/1864, Received clothing in Nov 1864, No further record
• Charles Thomas Gary (Geary) – Enlisted 8/16/1861, Received clothing 12/31/1864, No further record, Postwar pension application states he surrendered at Appomattox but he is not listed in the paroles, Witnesses testify that he was present when they were captured 4/6/1865
• Darling P Glover – Enlisted 6/11/1861, KIA 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Death claim filed by adoptive father Darling P Blaylock of Tilton, Ga.
• Thomas W Griffin – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion May 1863, WIA (hand) May 1863 at Chancellorsville, Shown at Lynchburg hospital 9/18/1863, Carried on rolls as absent – sick, Roll dated 12/4/1864 states “discharged on surgeon’s certificate”
• Thomas Hamilton – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 2nd Lt, Promoted to 1st Lt 4/1/1862, Promoted to Captain 7/6/1862, Retired due to poor health 2/27/1865, Brother of William Hamilton, Born 11/12/1838 in Roane county, Tennessee to John and Rachel Hamilton, Postwar pension application states that he did not see active service after February 1863 due to severe spinal disease, Died 10/3/1900, Buried at West Hill Cemetery
• William Hamilton – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 3rd Sgt, Shown as 1st Sgt on May/June 1862 roll, Elected Jr 2nd Lt 10/18/1862, WIA (chest) at Fredericksburg 12/13/1862, Promoted to 2nd Lt 5/26/1863, WIA (left arm) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Johnsons Island until released 6/18/1865, Age at release 24, Brother of Thomas Hamilton, Died at Atlanta in January 1897
• A H Hammond – Enlisted 6/24/1861, “Absent – sick” on rolls until June 1862, No further record
• William Hamilton Harden – Enlisted 5/8/1862 but immediately transferred to Co A of the 6th Ga Cavalry 5/12/1862, Later transferred to Co F 65th Ga Infantry on 3/30/1863
• Benjamin F Hawkins – Enlisted 8/16/1861, WIA (finger) May 1863 at Chancellorsville per casualty list in 5/19/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Final entry on roll dated 1/14/1864 lists him as “absent in hospital”, No further military record, Born 4/22/1831, Died 2/9/1912, Buried Rose Hill Cemetery at Rockmart Ga
• James W Hawkins – Enlisted 7/6/1861, Captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, Roll dated 1/14/1864 shows him as “absent in hospital”, No further record
• Robert Benjamin Headden – Enlisted 7/6/1861, Shown as 5th Sgt on May/June 1862 roll and 4th Sgt on roll dated 1/14/1864, WIA at Second Manassas, WIA (right hip) and captured 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg, Held at DeCamp Hospital on David’s Island in New York Harbor, Paroled and exchanged 10/22/1863, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Became a minister after the war, Born 12/25/1838 at Cassville, Ga, Died 8/14/1913, Buried at Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome Ga
• Shadrack James Henderson – Enlisted 6/24/1861, Final entry on late 1862 roll shows him as AWOL 9/14/1862, No Federal deserter or POW records, No further record BUT we know he survived the war as he is located in Nashville, Tennessee as an attorney in 1891
• John H Henton – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865 Listed as J H Hinton), Born in Elbert county, Ga 2/21/1835, Died in Whitfield County 12/24/1910, Buried at Henton Family Cemetery, Riverbend Community, Whitfield County
• Oliver Sanford Higgins – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Appointed musician in Battalion’s band 5/1/1862, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Age 78 in 1916 when he filed for a pension in St Clair County, Alabama, Died 1925
• Marcus G “Gus” Hill – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as a Corporal, Shown as 3rd Sgt on May/June 1862 roll, WIA (both thighs) and captured at Sharpsburg, Md. 9/17/1862, Exchanged 10/17/1862, Promoted to 2nd Lt 6/12/1863, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Johnsons Island until released 6/18/1865, Age at release 29, Brother of William D Hill
• William D Hill – Enlisted 8/1/1861, Captured 11/29/1863 at Knoxville, Tn and imprisoned at Rock Island until released 6/20/1865, Age at release 26, Brother of Marcus G Hill, Fatally injured by a train in Dalton in August 1898 and died shortly thereafter, Buried at Antioch Church Cemetery
• Ephraim Holland – Enlisted 8/6/1861, Age 37, Appointed teamster 10/27/1861, Shown on sick furlough Apr/May/June 1862 rolls, Turns out he had enlisted in February 1862 as 1st Lt of Co B of the 36th Ga Infantry, Served with this unit in the Army of Tennessee until May 1864 when he deserted taking the Oath of Allegiance at Chattanooga 5/24/1864, He had made the statement that he was quitting if Johnston retreated past the Etowah River and did so, Then enlisted in the Federal 12th Indiana Artillery (using the name Alexander Holland) as a Private on 10/17/1864 and served with that unit until he died of small pox at Nashville 5/21/1865, His widow received a Federal pension
• John W Hooper – Enlisted 8/6/1861, WIA (finger amputated) in early May 1864, Casualty list in 7/27/1864 Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel for period 5/6/1864-5/16/1864 lists him as WIA “finger off” indicating he was wounded at either Wilderness od Spotsylvania, Received clothing 11/10/1864, No further record
• William J Hooper – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Last shown on roll dated 1/14/1864 as “absent in hospital”, No further record
• J F Howell – Enlisted 7/13/1861, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Captured 7/6/1863 at Fairfield, Pa. and imprisoned at Point Lookout until exchanged 2/18/1865, No further record
• W Hubbard – No enlistment date shown, First shown on roll dated 1/14/1864 as “sick at hospital, Rolls for March-August 1864 list him as “absent – prisoner of war” but there are no Federal POW records for him, No further record
• J Frank B Jackson – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 1st Lt, Transferred to 39th Georgia Infantry as Lt Colonel 3/12/1862
• Will W Jackson – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to 59th Georgia Infantry as Ordinance Sgt 7/24/1862
• Thomas B Jolly – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA (hand) 12/13/1862 at Fredericksburg, WIA (shot in arm, bayoneted in body) and captured 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg, Reported dead by Confederates, Wife Eliza filed death claim 8/14/1863, Imprisoned at Fort Delaware until transferred to Hammond hospital at Point Lookout 10/22/1863, Released from hospital 1/12/1864, Exchanged from Point Lookout 5/3/1864 and furloughed home, Recaptured 7/1/1864 at Dalton by Sherman’s troops (Both he, wife Eliza and two other people were arrested as spies who had wrecked a Federal supply train per 7/2/1864 telegram from Col Bernard Laibold commanding Dalton Post to General Stedman at Chattanooga), Imprisoned at Louisville until sent to Camp Chase in Ohio 10/24/1864, Released 5/2/1865 and sent to New Orleans for exchange, Admitted to USGH #2 at Vicksburg with fever 5/12/1865, Released 5/23/1865, Shown as Town Marshall of Dalton in 1870 census, Age 42, 1880 census still shows him in Dalton and lists him as a disabled veteran, Moved to Jefferson County Alabama and died there 7/11/1893
• Chesterfield Marion Keith – Enlisted 9/18/1861, WIA (shoulder) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg per casualty list in 7/20/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Shown at Winder hospital Richmond in Aug 1864, Roll for July/Aug 1864 shows him as “on sick furlough”, No further record, Born 2/12/1839 in Murray County Ga to Samuel H and Sarah Douglas Keith, Died 1/19/1909 in Baylor County, Texas, Buried at England Cemetery in Seymour, Texas
• William L Kincannon – Enlisted 6/25/1861, Shown as wagonmaster 10/1/1861, Last shown on roll dated 1/14/1864 which shows him as a Commissary Sgt, No further record
• Eugene Terrill Kingsley – Enlisted 6/25/1861, Died 10/9/1861 at Meadow Bluff, Va (now W Va) from typhoid, Born 10/8/1842 in Anderson District, SC to Chester B and Emmaline Frances Broyles Kingsley, Buried at Mt Olivet Cemetery in Cohutta, Ga, Nephew of Marcellus and Walter Broyles
• W R Kirby – Enlisted 10/1/1862, Shown AWOL on 1/14/1864 roll, No further record
• Joseph M Lane – Enlisted 8/16/1861, January 1865 roll shows him as home on furlough of indulgence, Deserted at home in March 1865, Took Oath and sent north of the Ohio River
• F J Lewis – No enlistment date in record and not shown on rolls, Shown admitted to Petersburg hospital with gun shot wound to left leg, Furloughed on 9/15/1864, No further record
• James R Lockard – Enlisted 9/3/1862, Captured at Strasburg 10/22/1864 and imprisoned at Point Lookout until exchanged 3/28/1865, No further record
• William M Lockard – Enlisted 6/24/1861, Shown as 1st Corporal on roll dated 1/14/1864, Casualty list in 7/2/1864 Richmond Enquirer for 5/6/1864 through 5/16/1864 lists him as slightly wounded, Promoted 5th Sgt on 8/31/1864, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Alabama pension application of widow Maggie A Lockard says he died Oct 1889 in Jackson County Alabama
• Stephen Lynch – Enlisted 8/6/1861, WIA (hand) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg per casualty list in 7/20/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Shown as a deserter on March/April 1864 roll and all rolls thereafter
• William Lynch – Enlisted 8/6/1861, Reported MIA at Fox’s Gap, Md 9/14/1862 and later declared KIA, Death claim filed by mother, Ann R Lynch
• Alexander Walker Lynn (or Linn) – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Age 21, May/June 1864 roll shows detached as Commissary Sgt, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865, Born 11/21/1844, Died 8/14/1898, Buried at West Hill Cemetery
• L M Lynn (or Linn) – No enlistment record and not shown on rolls, Admitted to Charlottesville hospital 8/14/1863, Died there 10/24/1863 from typhoid, Buried at University of Va Confederate Cemetery, Charlottesville
• Thomas Maguire – Enlisted 10/20/1863, Roll dated 1/14/1864 lists him as “AWOL”, No further record
• John A Malloy – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Captured at Front Royal 8/16/1864, Took Oath in Nov 1864 and sent to Indiana
• John Mayfield – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Teamster, Shown AWOL on 1/14/1864 roll and all rolls thereafter, Captured at Fairmount, Ga 5/17/1864 and imprisoned at Rock Island, Enlisted in US Army for frontier service 10/13/1864, Interestingly, his US service records indicate that he did not actually enlist in Co D of the 6th US Volunteer Infantry until 3/23/1865 doing so at Camp Douglas Illinois, His enlistment shows him to be 25 years old 5’11&3/4″ with brown eyes and brown hair, He is shown as detailed to the Quartermaster Dept as a teamster and apparently remained at Camp Douglas since he deserted there on November 28th 1865, No further record
• John H Mercer – Enlisted 6/27/1861, Died at Winchester 11/3/1862 from dysentery, Death claim filed by father William A Mercer, Buried Stonewall Cemetery Winchester grave 889 as J H Merrier, Born in Walton county Ga 5/9/1838
• John R Miller – Enlisted in April 1864 as a musician, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox (listed as J RA Miller), Born 1846 in Ga., Died 3/22/1924
• William O Milton – Enlisted 8/8/1861, Musician, Surrendered at Appomattox, Not shown on rolls prior to Sept/Oct 1863 so enlistment date may actually be 8/8/1863
• James H Mitchell – Enlisted 2/24/1862, KIA 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Age 18, Death claim filed by father Thomas B Mitchell
• John F Mitchell Sr – Enlisted 3/4/1862, Not on rolls prior to Sept/Oct 1863 so actual enlistment date might be 3/4/1863, Surrendered at Appomattox 4/9/1865 (listed as J T Mitchell), Brother of Wiley P and Monroe Mitchell, Born 9/7/1817, Died 9/24/1891, Buried at Swamp Creek Cemetery in Whitfield County
• John F Mitchell Jr – Enlisted 6/24/1861 as teamster, Captured at Sailors Creek 4/6/1865 and held at Newport News until released 6/25/1865, Born 1/3/1843 at Springplace, Ga, Brother of Thomas M Mitchell, Son of David W & Keziah Mitchell
• Monroe Mitchell – Enlisted 5/8/1862, KIA 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Age 36, Death claim filed by mother Sarah Mitchell, Brother of Wiley P and J F Mitchell Sr
• Thomas M Mitchell – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Captured and paroled 4/8/1865, Age 19 in 1860 census, Kept a daily diary which details the movements of the Legion Infantry throughout the war, Brother of John F Mitchell Jr, Buried at West Hill Cemetery, No Date of death shown, Son of David W & Keziah Mitchell
• Washington F Mitchell – Enlisted 7/27/1861, Discharged overage (45) on 10/16/1862 BUT he must have remained with the Legion since Thomas M Mitchell’s diary entry for 6/1/1863 states “my unkle W F Mitchell died today very suden in his wagon between old and new camp [sic]”, It appears that he had remained with the Legion as a civilian teamster, Buried (Row 18, Section 12)at Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery as “W F Michell – Georgia”
• Wiley P Mitchell – Enlisted 2/24/1862, WIA & captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, Shown “present” on Jan/Feb 1863 roll, No further record, Postwar pension application states that he was hit in the hip and seriously injured at Fox’s Gap so it is probable that he was sent home disabled in early 1863, Born in 1826, Died 4/14/1900, Buried in Mitchell Cemetery at Phelps
• John B Morris – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 2nd Lt, Age 35, Promoted to 1st Lt 7/6/1862, MWIA (in side seriously) at Chancellorsville 5/3/1863, Died 5/25/1863 at Richmond GH #4, Born in Ireland
• Andrew M Norris – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Appointed Legion Commissary Sgt 8/2/1861, Promoted Legion Capt ACS 10/18/1862, Transferred in August 1863 to Brigade Commissary Dept when Regimental Commisarys were abolished (AIG SO 189/4 dated 8/10/1863)
• James A O’Dell – Enlisted 8/1/1861, Discharged 2/20/1862, Born 1841 Murray County, Ga., Nephew of William O’Dell
• James Wesley O’Dell – Enlisted 7/29/1861, Shown AWOL on Sept/Oct 1863 roll, Deserted and took Oath of Allegiance at Chattanooga 3/5/1864, No further record, Born 1838 in Murray County, Ga., Son of William O’Dell
• William O’Dell – Enlisted 7/29/1861, “Present on 8/31/1861 roll, No further record, Born 8/14/1819 in SC, Died after 1900 in Whitfield County, Ga., Father of James W O’Dell and Uncle of James A O’Dell
• Robert P O’Neill – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 4th Sgt, Transferred to Co F as 1st Sgt 4/10/1862, Shown as private on Jan/Feb 1863 and rolls thereafter, Remnant of Co F transferred to Co A late war, Surrenders 4/9/1865 at Appomattox as part of Co A, Died at Chattanooga of illness 4/5/1886
• David Owens – Enlisted 6/27/1861, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Deserted 12/14/1863, Took Oath of Allegiance 1/5/1864 and sent north of Ohio River
• Andrew Jackson Pittman – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News on 4/14/1865, No record of release, Per postwar Alabama pension application of widow Mary Foster Jackson he died in Arkansas 9/22/1889
• Charles H Quinn – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Shown as 1st Corporal on May/June 1862 roll, Captured in Maryland in September 1862, Paroled 9/20/1862 at Keedysville, Md, Promoted to Sgt in early 1863, KIA 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg
• Carl Franz August Rauschenberg – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Appointed Chief Musician 5/1/1862, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/24/1865, Born 7/7/1831 in Germany, Died in Atlanta 3/14/1911
• Elijah T Reed – Enlisted 6/11/1861, KIA 9/17/1862 at Sharpsburg, Md, Death claim filed by widow Mary Reed
• Benjamin Lewis Richardson – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Shown wounded (back) at Richmond’s Chimborazo hospital 10/23/1862, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox (listed as B L Rickerson), Born 8/8/1841, Died 1929
• David Richardson – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, KIA near Chattanooga 9/22/1863
• Robert H Richardson – Enlisted 5/8/1862, WIA (left shoulder) 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., WIA (left hand) 11/29/1863 at Knoxville, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News, No release date shown, Born 3/8/1843 in Jackson county
• David J Roberts – Enlisted 8/6/1861, teamster, Last shown “present on May/June 1864 roll, No further record
• Jerimiah L Roberts – Enlisted 8/16/1861, Captured and paroled at Burkeville, Va between 4/14 and 4/17/1865, Born 1/2/1845, Alabama pension application states that he received a scalp wound at Gettysburg 7/2/1863
• Henry A Robins – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek, Imprisoned at Newport News, Died there 7/15/1865 from typhoid, Born 1843 In Murray County Ga to W A & Mary Allred Robins, Brother of Samuel and William Robins
• Samuel H Robins – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA 5/6/1864 at the Wilderness, Shown at Danville hospital 7/23/1864 with wound to left knee, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/14/1865, Service record includes an entry stating that he died at Newport News on 7/15/1865 but this is known to be in error since he survived the war and later moved to Johnson county Arkansas in 1872, Born 4/11/1840 in Murray county Ga to W A & Mary Allred Robins, Brother of Henry and William Robins
• William Elias Robins – Enlisted 9/2/1862, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox, Born 1845 in Murray County Ga to W A & Mary Allred Robins, Brother of Henry and Samuel Robins
• Henry L Russell – Enlisted 6/26/1861, Captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox (listed as H S Russel), Born 12/28/1842 in Chatham County, Ga., Moved to Volusia County Fl 10/14/1874, Filed for veterans pension there in 1908
• John W Samples – Enlisted 6/24/1861, Captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, WIA 11/29/1863 at Knoxville per casualty list in 2/3/1864 Athens Watchman, Shown as 4th Corporal on roll dated 1/14/1864, Captured at Sailors Creek 4/6/1865 and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• Thomas J Sansom – Enlisted 4/2/1863, Captured at Knoxville 11/29/1863, Imprisoned at Rock Island, Enlists in US Navy and sent to “Naval Rendevouz at Camp Douglas” Chicago, Illinois 2/5/1864, No further record
• Thomas J Shoemaker – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion May 1863, WIA (right side) at Chancellorsville 5/3/1863, Returned to duty 7/31/1863, Deserted near Petersburg 3/22/1865
• William Simmons – Erroneous service record entry (not on muster rolls, hospital death record only), See William P Summers
• Augustus B Small – Enlisted 6/11/1861 as 3rd Corporal, Shown as 2nd Corporal on May/June 1862 roll, Detailed for duty at Tunnel Hill hospital in Georgia late 1862, Transferred to ANV Staff as courier for General R E Lee 8/12/1863
• Samuel Stinson – Enlisted 5/8/1862, MWIA (back) 12/13/1862 at Fredericksburg, Died 1/5/1863 at Ford’s Factory hospital, Lynchburg, Va from effects of wound and typhoid, Buried Lynchburg City Cemetery #9 in 2nd line lot 79, Death claim filed by widow Lucretia
• Hezekiah K Stone – Enlisted 7/25/1861, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and imprisoned at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• Richard P Stone – Enlisted 6/24/1861, KIA 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md.
• William P Summers – Enlisted 7/24/1861, Died 11/1/1862 at Winchester, Cause not stated, Buried at Stonewall Cemetery, Winchester, Gravestone reads “Died Oct 31, 1862 Born March 3, 1842, A promising and a good soldier, endeared to his Country and his Comrades”, Death claim filed by father Thomas F Summers
• Ethelred Jordan Tarver – Enlisted 6/24/1861, MWIA (shoulder) 11/29/1863 at Knoxville and captured, Exchanged through lines and died shortly thereafter, Age 27
• Robert Martin Tarver – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Captured 11/29/1863 at Knoxville and imprisoned at Rock Island, Took Oath 10/25/1864 and volunteered to join US Army for frontier service but was rejected and released from prison, No further record, Born 10/9/1841, Died 3/12/1918, Buried at Dawnville Cemetery in Whitfield County
• Francis Marion Turner – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Captured 9/14/1862 at Fox’s Gap, Md., Exchanged 10/2/1862, WIA (lost finger) May 1863 at Chancellorsville per casualty list in 5/19/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Deserted near Petersburg 3/10/1865, Took Oath and sent north, Born 7/1/1838, Died 6/14/1906, Buried at Richardson Cemetery in Whitfield County
• Robert H Varnell – Enlisted 6/27/1861, Died 12/26/1862 at Howards Grove hospital Richmond from smallpox
• William E Varnell – Enlisted 5/8/1862, WIA (shell fragment, right thigh) 7/2/1863 and captured at Gettysburg, At Chester Pa Federal hospital until sent to Point Lookout 10/2/1863, Sent to City Point for exchange 3/16/1864, WIA (right hip) at Cold Harbor early June 1864, Furloughed home for 40 days 7/15/1864, At Ocmulgee hospital Macon, Ga 11/7/1864 having trouble with old thigh wound, No further record, Born 184
• Jesse R Waters – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to 3rd Ga Sharpshooter Battalion in May 1863, Captured at Gettysburg 7/2/1863 and held at Point Lookout until escaping 5/2/1864, At Petersburg hospital 6/12/1864, Sent to Raleigh, NC 6/14/1864, No further record
• Lyman P Wells – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Transferred to Commissary Staff 50th Ga Infantry 11/1/1862
• Thomas P Wells – Enlisted 8/16/1861, WIA (head) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg per casualty list in 7/20/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Shown as 2nd Sgt on roll dated 1/14/1864, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox (listed as S P Wells)
• Philetas Whitaker – Enlisted 5/17/1864, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and held at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• T F Whitaker – Enlisted 6/11/1861, WIA (head) 12/13/1862 at Fredericksburg, Surrendered 4/9/1865 at Appomattox
• T F William – Enlisted 6/11/1861, “Promoted to hospital steward Phillips Legion”, No further record
• Cincinnattus C Williams – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Last entry states “deserted 9/14/1862”, No further record, No Federal POW or deserter records
• S Miller Willis – Enlisted 3/1/1862, Discharged 9/26/1862
• Paschal Wilson – Enlisted 6/11/1861, Died 10/5/1861 at Ladies Relief hospital Lynchburg, Va of pneumonia, Buried Lynchburg City Cemetery #3 in 4th line lot 159
• Henry C Worthy – Enlisted 5/8/1862, Captured at Port Republic 10/3/1864 and held at Point Lookout until released 5/13/1865
• William Worthy – Enlisted 2/24/1862, WIA (arm) 7/2/1863 at Gettysburg per casualty list in 7/20/1863 Atlanta Southern Confederacy, Captured 4/6/1865 at Sailors Creek and held at Newport News until released 6/25/1865
• J A Wright – Enlisted 2/12/1864, Age 19, July/Aug 1864 roll shows him on wounded furlough, Furloughed from Stuart hospital Richmond 8/23/1864, Captured 5/18/1865 at Hartwell, Ga, Born 5/12/1845 at Cassville Ga, Died 1911 and buried at Oakland Cemetery in Rome

By Marvin Sowder

In 1861 Mary Emma Love and her twin sister Jane were the seventeen year old daughters of Mr. and Mrs. John P. Love and were to witness many of the stirring events of the Civil War in Dalton. Miss Emma married Richard Thompson, a war veteran, on October 19,1866 and by 1870 they were living in Atlanta,Georgia. Years after the war she wrote about her experiences in some detail.

The first Confederate Soldiers she remembered coming to Dalton arrived on Monday April 29,1861 and encamped here for six days.In fact nine companies of soldiers from various cities in Alabama who were in service to the state of Alabama were ordered to rendezvous at Dalton to form the 4th Alabama Infantry. By Thursday, May 2nd, the regiment was organized and Colonel Egbert J. Jones was elected commander. On Sunday,May 5th they left Dalton by train from the Dalton Depot heading for Lynchburg, Virginia.They arrived there on May 7th and mustered in to the Confederate States Army. Captain A.D. McInnis of Company E, 4th Alabama in historical memoranda stated that during the war they had fought in thirty six pitched battles,twenty two skirmishes and their mortality rate was over the average. Captain Jason M. West of Company A summed up their four years of service with the following eulogy,”Company A claims no more of praise above her sister companies, satisfied that honor and shame from no condition rise,act well your past, there all the honor lies”.

We also learn from Miss Emma’s memoirs the first Dalton boys to enter Confederate service were known as the “Dalton Guards”. In an 1859 state census of militia unites in Georgia the Dalton Guards of Whitfield County reported they had seventy five volunteers in uniform. They were well drilled in military tactics and equipped with the best accouterments of the day. They were under the command of twenty seven year old Robert Thomas (Tom) Cook. He was elected Captain of the Guards on January 19,1861.

On February 22,1861 the Guards gave a George Washington Anniversary Party at the Court House in Dalton. Special invitations were sent resulting in a huge turn out. Recruiters were hard at work and by the first of June the ranks of the Guards had increased to one hundred and ten. On the eve of their departure the Guards were assembled in the upper story of the First Baptist Church of Dalton. It was here that Judge Edward R. Harden, former Supreme Court Judge of Nebraska Territory,gave his famous speech about their service to the cause of the Confederacy. The next day they boarded the trains at the Dalton Depot and headed for Camp McDonald, Big Shanty, Georgia. There on June 11, 1861 they mustered into state service and became Company B, of Phillips Legion Infantry. On August 2,1861 the Legion was tuned over to the Government of the Confederate States by Joseph Brown,Governor of Georgia.The Legion was ordered to Western Virginia and placed under the command of Brigadier General John B. Floyd and served with distinction in the Kanawha Valley.

Colonel Egbert J. Jones, mortally wounded at Battle of First Manassas