Recollections Of Thomas D. Duncan - free ebook by Thomas D. Duncan

RECOLLECTIONS OF THOMAS D. DUNCAN A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER

Nashville, Tenn. McQUIDDY PRINTING COMPANY 1922 Copyrighted, 1922 By Thomas D. Duncan...

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FOREWORD

T HIS unpretentious work is not the product of a literary ambition. Though my story deals with events that will live forever in the records of our country, I have not sought to give it the wings of poetic fancy whereby it may fly into the libraries of the earth. Within the happy family circle, from which my children are now gone, these oft-recounted recollections became a part of their education. I permitted them to turn the pages of my memory, as the leaves of a book, that they might learn the

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DEDICATION

T HIS brief reminiscent story is affectionately dedicated to my two grandsons, Shelby Curlee, Jr., and William Peyton Dobbins, Jr., in the hope that it may help to teach them two great truths—that the old South that was and is no more, and the gray armies that fought for its glory, its principles, and its institutions, are entitled to their devotion and respect forever; and that the nation by that strife once severed, now reunited and in peace, is inseparable and eternal—the guardian of the high

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CHAPTER I THE TOCSIN OF WAR

I N yielding to the request which has brought forth this effort, I shall not assume the rôle of the historian nor set myself up as a critic of any command or commander. Being in my seventy-sixth year, in the calming twilight of life’s evening, I feel that I am capable of recording, without prejudice or passion, my impressions of that most heated era of our country, whose momentous events—sad, tragic, glorious—represent the summit of dramatic interest in all my years. As it is impossible for any

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CHAPTER II MOBILIZATION

A MID the ever-growing dangers of that anxious year, our little command was ordered to Corinth, where the mobilization of the Western army had begun. To me this was a most welcome move, but for the majority of the boys, who were born and reared in that immediate section, it meant the first breaking of home ties—sad adieus and, to many, the last farewell. Aside from the partings of kindred, lovers, and friends, there was a poignant sorrow over leaving Columbus, for its air of natural and restful

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CHAPTER III HENRY AND DONELSON

O UR company left Corinth in September and went through North Alabama and Middle Tennessee, and I joined Forrest and arrived in the vicinity of Nashville in November. After scouting and guarding some convoys down the Cumberland River, we were ordered to support the defenses of Forts Henry and Donelson, on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively, just ten miles apart, where the two rivers parallel each other in their northward courses across Tennessee. I was now to realize, in my first

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CHAPTER IV CORINTH AGAIN THE CENTER

W ITH the fall of Donelson, the Confederate line was broken at the center; and Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, then in command of all the Confederate forces of Tennessee and Kentucky, evacuated Columbus and Bowling Green and withdrew his army to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, establishing a new line of defense, with Tennessee and Kentucky, thus early in the struggle, practically in the hands of the enemy. Through Tennessee, North Alabama, and North Mississippi I returned to Corinth, which pla

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CHAPTER V STRANGE OUTCOME OF A FALSE ALARM

A FTER deserting the old warehouse as our picket post, we had to make some kind of “frame up” to report to our captain of the guard. It was about one mile to where the reserve was encamped on the hill. We mounted our horses and went up, very much excited from the owl scare, and told the officer that we were sure that we had heard a boat approaching; and instantly the camp became a center of activity. The battery at Chickasaw Bluff was notified to be ready for action at daylight, and a runner was

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CHAPTER VI SHILOH

T HERE has been so much written about the battle of Shiloh that it is not in order for me to seek to contradict or confirm any of the various claims and theories. I shall adhere to my determination to make this story a record of scenes and events actually observed. I was in the battle of Shiloh from the opening gun to the close; and while I was very young, the impressions made on my mind are vivid and lasting. Notwithstanding the flight of sixty years, I remember many circumstances of that terri

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CHAPTER VII CORINTH AFTER SHILOH

C APTAIN J. H. LOCKETT was chief of the corps of engineers in throwing the line of fortifications around Corinth. We made the first general survey, commencing at a point on the Memphis and Charleston (now the Southern) Railway about one mile and a half east of Corinth and running north and west in a circle, keeping about the same distance from the town until we came to the Ijams crossing, west of Corinth. I felt keenly the responsibility of my work as a pilot, but in boyhood and youth I had lear

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CHAPTER VIII BATTLE OF RIENZI

O N May 31, 1862, in covering our retreat from Corinth, we came to a clash with the Union cavalry near Rienzi, Miss. We had advanced with a regiment to a position along a field bordering on a skirt of woods, and our company was detailed to go forward and develop the force we knew was following us. The plan was to fire and fall back on our support, but in rounding a curve in the road we came so suddenly upon a company of the enemy that all preconceived plans were expelled from our excited minds.

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CHAPTER IX MURFREESBORO AND KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN

T O meet emergencies at different points, this Grand Army of the Southwest was divided into a number of organizations. General Price, with one part, was sent west of the Mississippi River; one part was sent to Vicksburg; while the largest portion was given to General Bragg to begin his invasion of Kentucky. Forrest, with his troops, marched to Chattanooga, from which point, with his own command, Wharton’s Texas Regiment, and a small number from the command of Gen. Joe Wheeler, he made a rapid ad

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CHAPTER X THE BATTLE OF CORINTH

T HE command of General Forrest was not in the battle of Corinth, as it occurred while we were in Kentucky; but because of the sentiment that attaches to the place as my home I desire to record here the substance of a description given me by a kinsman of the Second Texas who was in the battle. After the battle of Iuka, on September 19 and 20, 1862, the commands of General Price and General Van Dorn were united; and these two commanders resolved to attack Corinth, then occupied by the Union Army

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CHAPTER XI WEST TENNESSEE

A FTER coming out of the campaign of Kentucky, the cavalry forces were employed to harass the enemy; and after the lapse of nearly sixty years, it is exhilarating to my imagination to recall the wondrous part played by General Forrest and his comparatively small command in that great game of life and death. While Morgan’s command was striking the key points of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to hamper the supply lines of Rosecrans at Nashville, Forrest was performing the same service again

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CHAPTER XII MIDDLE TENNESSEE

A FTER our return from this raid, we rejoined Bragg’s army near Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Generals Wheeler and Forrest took all the cavalry and made a raid on Fort Donelson. Against General Forrest’s judgment, General Wheeler, the senior in command, decided to attack the garrison. With heavy loss, we were repulsed, and retired without accomplishing anything. Our next move was to join the forces of General Van Dorn in Middle Tennessee; and on March 5, 1863, we surrounded Thompson’s Station, on the

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CHAPTER XIII PURSUIT OF THE STREIGHT RAIDERS

L ATE in April came news that the Union Army around Corinth was making a demonstration into North Alabama. Forrest’s genius had already become known, and he was sent with 800 men to uncover the design of the enemy. When we arrived in the vicinity of Tuscumbia, Ala., we found a part of General Roddy’s Confederate command fighting and retreating before the advancing enemy from near Cherokee. On reaching Tuscumbia, Forrest sent out scouts in all directions to ascertain the purpose of the enemy. Upo

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CHAPTER XIV CHICKAMAUGA

F OLLOWING soon after these scattered raids came the great battle of Chickamauga, which is too well known to the world to need comment from me. Forrest’s cavalry virtually opened the battle of Chickamauga; and after the field seemed won by the Confederates, General Forrest climbed a tree and observed the confusion with which the Union lines were retiring. Upon this knowledge, he boldly urged General Bragg to press on after the foe, and pressed him so vehemently and so undiplomatically that, it i

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CHAPTER XV WEST TENNESSEE

A FTER the battle of Chickamauga, Forrest, with 300 picked men, turned toward Mississippi to begin the recruiting for his third army. By December 1 we had quite an army of raw recruits, but they were poorly mounted and many of them unarmed. Up to this time Forrest had depended upon his enemy for arms and supplies; and as there was no foe in immediate striking distance, he determined to march through North Mississippi into West Tennessee, then entirely in the hands of the enemy and guarded by a l

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CHAPTER XVI GEN. “SOOEY” SMITH

T HE first to try for the Sherman reward was Gen. “Sooey” Smith, a West Pointer and a brave soldier. After the return from our raid of 1864, our command was scattered from Okolona to West Point, Miss., for the purpose of recruiting and organizing for a greater campaign; but while we were thus scattered, General Smith pounced upon us with a choice brigade of well-armed and well-equipped soldiers. Of course General Forrest had out reconnoitering parties at all times to forestall a possible surpris

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CHAPTER XVII FORT PILLOW

O N March 1, 1864, we began another invasion of West Tennessee; but as the active troops in that section had been reduced to a few strong garrisons, we did not meet any serious opposition until we came to the vicinity of Fort Pillow, just above Memphis. Pillow was garrisoned with negro soldiers commanded by white officers. This place being considered almost impregnable, it was used as a recruiting station and a supply base. Up to that time the Union commanders had looked upon Forrest as being on

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CHAPTER XVIII A PERSONAL SORROW

A FTER my return from this fight, it was my lot to undergo the saddest experience of my war life. My brother, one year my junior, had just joined the command, when we went with a scouting party toward the railroad and met a small party of Union soldiers. It was the first time my brother had been on the firing line. He and I were on the extreme left of the line on the edge of a road, in touch with each other, and we received the first fire from the enemy. He was killed instantly and never spoke,

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CHAPTER XIX BATTLE OF BRICE’S CROSS-ROADS

I N the beginning of the spring of 1864 it became very necessary that the granaries of South Mississippi and Alabama should be carefully guarded against a raid from the Union forces, these sections being absolutely essential to the sustenance of the Confederate armies. The task of protecting this land of plenty was assigned to General Forrest. When General Sherman was pressing back the Confederate Army under General Joseph E. Johnston, he told his people at Washington that they must keep General

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CHAPTER XX HARRISBURG AND TUPELO, MISS.

T HE next raid into our territory was commanded by Gen. A. J. Smith, a West Point soldier. The department commander at Memphis had collected another special army to overthrow Forrest and his troopers and to gain control of the only territory then entirely open to the armies of the Confederacy. In view of the many disastrous attempts to crush Forrest, the Union officials collected a large force of all arms, and gave the command to a general who was expected to take no chances of defeat. About the

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CHAPTER XXI RAID INTO MEMPHIS

D EEPLY disappointed over the many futile and disastrous attempts to vanquish Forrest and his troopers, the Union Army headquarters again, about the month of August, 1864, assembled a formidable army and marched it into Mississippi, fully determined to crush this bold Cavalier of the South. General Forrest was fully informed as to the numerical strength of his enemy, and he knew that he was so outnumbered that his only chance was to win by his wits. Indeed, this necessity was not new to him, but

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CHAPTER XXII RAID INTO NORTH ALABAMA AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE

I N a short while after the Memphis raid our commander decided to go east and break the line that was furnishing Sherman’s supplies while on his advance into Georgia and the Carolinas. About the first of September, 1864, we marched east to the Tennessee River, crossing at Florence and Bainbridge, Ala.; and after several small fights and skirmishes, we appeared before Athens, Ala., on September 16, 1864. At this place the Union Army had a strong garrison, defended by a fort and blockhouses. The l

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CHAPTER XXIII SULPHUR TRESTLE, ALA.

T HE capture of the Union Army at Athens, Ala., was indeed the fulfillment of a great necessity with us. We took over a large supply of provisions and camp equipment, twenty carloads of clothing, a number of horses, several cannon, and about 4,000 small arms, with a quantity of ammunition for same. On the day following the fall of Athens we moved against Sulphur Trestle, in Alabama. At this place the railroad had spanned a small stream with a high, covered bridge, which was of such consequence t

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CHAPTER XXIV FOURTH INVASION OF WEST TENNESSEE

S OON after the close of the Middle Tennessee raids we began our fourth invasion of West Tennessee, which section had already yielded to us so bountifully of the sinews of war in men and equipment. The Union commanders were yet unable to solve the mystery of Forrest’s ability to descend unseen upon their strongholds and escape unhurt with all the spoils of war and leaving destruction in his tracks. Their shrewdest tacticians had failed to trap him, and their overwhelming armies could not crush h

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CHAPTER XXV THE BEGINNING OF DARK DAYS

R ETURNING from the Johnsonville raid, we met the army of General Hood. We were ordered to take the advance, and on November 19, 1864, our command was assembled at Florence, Ala., on the north bank of the Tennessee River, at the foot of the great “Mussel Shoals.” General Forrest was placed in command of all the cavalry, and we began the advance on Nashville. During this march I suffered some of the severest hardships of my life. Gen. George H. Thomas, one of the ablest of the Union commanders, h

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CHAPTER XXVI THE LAST FLICKERING OF THE GREAT FLAME

J ANUARY, 1865, found General Forrest bending every energy to the maintenance and recruiting of his force for whatever further defense might have to be made, and the Union commander at Eastport making careful and extensive preparation for an extended and determined campaign as soon as the weather conditions should be favorable. It was with great difficulty that we managed to feed ourselves and our horses through those trying months of bleak winter. In the ranks, where men had never shirked a dut

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CHAPTER XXVII RECONSTRUCTION

M UCH has been said and written of that unhappy period immediately following the Civil War—unhappy for both the North and the South, because its memories delayed the reunion of our sections through many years. The humiliation and griefs of that frightful era left far deeper scars than did all the sabers and swords and bullets from Bull Run to Appomattox. The flame of war had burned out the lives of thousands of our brave sons and consumed our homes and wasted our lands, but the embers of reconst

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CHAPTER XXVIII AMERICANISM TRIUMPHANT

T HAT Americanism which to-day is a dominant world force is not alone of North or South or East or West. Out of the blended greatness of all the sections of the United States came the hope of peace and universal democracy in that dark hour when the allied armies of Europe were backing doggedly toward the tottering gates of Paris. That hope was born of the reunited blood of the gray and the blue armies. As it was Americanism that tipped the doubtful scale of victory on the field of battle, so it

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