RUFUS KELLY

Taking a Stand in Dixie

Rufus Kelly didn't take too kindly to Yankees. You see, one of them shot him in the leg and it commenced to hurt very powerfully. It got to hurting so badly that the ol' doctor had to cut if clean off. So, when about thirty thousand of the blue coated "Billy Yanks" came stomping down the road toward his native home of Gordon, Georgia, Rufus decided once and for all it was time for him to take his stand to live or die in Dixie.

James Rufus Kelly was born up in Gordon, Georgia in the western part of Wilkinson County in 1845. When he was just a young boy, Rufus, as he was known to his friends, lost his daddy, who was also named Rufus. Young Rufus and his baby sister Elizabeth were raised by their momma, Mrs. Rebecca Kelly. Just as Rufus was about to become a man, the menfolk in his county held an election to decide whether or not they and the rest of the counties in Georgia would leave the Union. They voted to decide if the people in the South could have slaves and if they wanted to fight a war over it or not. The Kellys weren't really rich, though they had more than most folks in Wilkinson County. Rebecca sewed clothes to keep food on their table and to keep Rufus in school. To help her out around the place, Rebecca depended on her twenty-year-old female slave and her three young children.

When the War Between the States started, Rufus was still a young boy. On July 9, 1861, he joined up with his friend and fellow fifteen year old William Bush in the Ramah Guards. William Bush would die more than 91 years later as the oldest Confederate veteran from Georgia. Rufus made it through the baths of blood at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. During General Lee's retrograde move toward Richmond in the spring of 1864, Cadmus Wilcox's rebels ran headlong into Warren's Union Corps at a place they called Jericho Ford on the 23rd day of May 1864.

Rufus' regiment was right in the middle of a hot fight. The regimental commander ordered the men of the 14th to fall back. But, Rufus would have no part of any retreat. He saw his friends running. Instead of running with them, Rufus rushed forward to the front. With his rifle in his left hand and his hat in his right, Kelly tried to rally his boys. But they kept on running like scalded dogs. He saw some other rebels firing at the Yankees and rushed to their side. Just as the fight began to heat up, a stray bullet struck the eighteen-year-old in the leg. He made it back to the field hospital alive, but lost his leg. After he spent some four months in the hospital and a stint as one of the body guards of Belle Boyd, a famous Confederate spy, Rufus was sent home to sit out the rest of the war.

Rufus was never one to quit a fight. Back home in Gordon, he knew the fight was coming his way once again. General William Tecumseh Sherman's Army had taken Atlanta. They were coming south along the railroads with their sights set on Savannah.

By the 21st of November, the Yankees were knocking on the doors of Macon residences with their cannon balls. Instead of taking the city, Sherman's right wing kept on moving down the Central of Georgia Railroad straight for Gordon. Just outside of Macon was the tiny industrial hamlet of Griswoldville, where the Macon defenders were slaughtered in the newly fallen snow.

The next defenders were under the command of General Henry C. Wayne. Wayne's men were composed of some regular militia, boys from Georgia Military Institute and prison guards from the penitentiary in Milledgeville. Ahead of them were thirty thousand Union soldiers.

Kelly learned of the Yankee advance and dashed off toward Griswoldville. Along the way, he met a young Negro girl who was crying. She told him that two Yankees were at Dr. Gibson's house threatening the doctor's wife in his absence. Just then, John Bragg rode up and agreed to accompany Rufus to aid Mrs. Gibson. Upon arriving at the Gibsons, Kelly, alone by then, was attacked by the two Union soldiers inside the home. Kelly was able to seriously wound one of them. Despite his best efforts to save him, the soldier died in a tavern in Gordon.

General Wayne, Major Capers and T.D. Tinsley were sitting on the porch of the general's headquarters at the Old Solomon Hotel when Kelly road up on his horse the next morning. He had his trusty Winchester in hanging from one side of his saddle and a pair of crutches on the other. Kelly offered his services as a scout since he knew the countryside as good as anyone around. The general accepted the offer. The vidette spurred his mare and dashed off in the direction of Griswoldville.

Kelly returned just after noon and reported to Wayne that the Yankees were moving toward Gordon and Miledgeville. Once again he sped off looking for more Yankees. He returned shortly as the Union army was in sight. He found the General and his troops boarding a train headed east for the Oconee River. Kelly asked Wayne, "General what does this mean? Don't we make a stand?" Wayne said, "No, Mr. Kelly, to stay here would be ridiculous to check Sherman's army of one hundred thousand men with a force of seven hundred."

That's when ol' Rufus went crazy. "General, you are a white-livered cur without a drop of red blood in your veins!" he exclaimed. He screamed at the departing soldiers, "You damned band of tuck tails! If you have no manhood left in you, I will defend the women and children of Gordon!" Rufus grabbed his rifle and emptied his rifle at the blue cavalrymen swiftly coming at him. But was he was quickly captured, thrown in a wagon, and court martialed. They said he was guilty of murder. A band paraded around Rufus playing his funeral dirge. Kelly was told that he would be shot at sunrise.

Kelly wasn't shot. In point of supposed fact, he was summoned to appear before "Uncle Billy" Sherman. Kelly told his biographers that the general wanted to know something of the topography and the crops and game available on his path toward Savannah. When Sherman asked Rufus if he knew he was going to be shot, the rebel acknowledged that he did know. He defended his actions not as murder but as self defense. "General, any way, a man can die but once," Rufus said. The "murderer of Georgia" told the guard to take Rufus and see that his sentence was carried out. Rufus was slightly relieved when he saw the General smile as he spoke to the guard. The death march was played again that night and again the next night.

Kelly had enough. He wasn't ready to die, not just yet. When his blue captors weren't looking, Rufus calmed his shattered nerves, slipped out the back of the wagon and crawled into a nearby swamp. He lingered in the swamp for two days. Able to fashion a make shift crutch, the one-legged teenage veteran was able to make his way back from the Ogeechee River swamp to his father's farm near Gordon four days later.

Rufus resumed a long and happy life. He once taught at Turner School, which was three miles south of Gordon.

Of the 99 men who enlisted in Gordon on July 9, 1861, Kelly was the next to last to die. The highly heralded hero died on September 19, 1928 in his home near Danville. The undertaker dressed him in a $13.75 and buried his body in a $25 casket in Liberty Hill Cemetery near Gordon, which he so nobly defended 145 years ago today.

CHARGE UP CHAMPION'S HILL

A BAD DAY AT BAKER’S CREEK

This week marks the one hundred thirty-fifth anniversary of the Battle of Baker’s Creek (also known as the Battle of Champion’s Hill to Southerners.) As Civil War battles go, it doesn’t rate near the top of the list of the most important battles.  You probably have never even heard of it. Before the day ended, it would be the
most bloody and vicious battle of the war for more than one hundred and fifty Laurens County men of the 57th Georgia Infantry . More men in the regiment were killed on that one day than in the entire war. Almost as many men in the 57th were wounded that day than in the four years of fighting. The date was May 16th, 1863.

The place was Baker’s Creek near Champion’s Hill in Hinds County, Mississippi.  Ironically the battle took place within a few miles of U.S. Highway 80 between Jackson and Vicksburg and also runs through the heart of Laurens County.

The 57th Georgia was organized in May of 1862. Company B and Company C of the regiment were formed in Laurens County. Some of the soldiers, like the Garnto brothers, were residents of western Johnson County. Company I was formed by soldiers from Laurens and Wilkinson County. Lt. Col. Cinncinatus Saxon Guyton of Laurens County was second in command of the regiment.

Vicksburg, Mississippi, according to most military authorities, was the key to entire Civil War. Its commanding heights allowed Confederate artillery to control shipping up and down the Mississippi River. On the 13th of May, Gen. Johnston, C.S.A., decided to unite his forces in one concentrated attack on the forces of U.S. Grant. Johnston ordered Gen. Pemberton to attack the Federals at Clinton, east of Vicksburg. The plan failed. The Confederates began a retreat toward Vicksburg.
On the night of the 15th, Pemberton’s forces were camped at a crossroads south of Champion’s Hill. Federal forces were surging ahead, moving by their right flank. The Confederates did an about face and turned toward what they thought was the rear of the Yankee column. Before the maneuver could be completed, Pemberton’s men ran head long into the advancing Federal troops.

The 57th , under the command of Gen. Stevenson, took the left. His mission was to protect the wagon trains on the Clinton Road. Just as the 57th had formed in their lines, the skirmishers of Hovey’s Division engaged them near the foot of the hill on the Champion plantation. About 10:30, the Federal skirmishers began their
advance up the hill. Two more brigades, McGinnis’ and Slack’s, were thrown into action against Stevenson. By noon, Federal forces were attacking Stevenson’s entire front. The Confederates were forced to retreat for six hundred yards. Three hundred prisoners were taken and eleven artillery pieces were lost. With their backs in the woods, the Confederates rallied and forced the Federals back down the hill.

As the afternoon progressed, fresh Union troops were brought in. The 57th and the other regiments under Stevenson’s command were falling, one after another. The Union forces advanced and took the hill. Stevenson and his men were forced further to the right. Stevenson reported that he was outnumbered nearly ten to one.

Years after the war, John L. Keen of Brewton wrote. “In this battle, our First Lieutenant was killed and several others of our regiment. The color bearer was shot down, and the next man hoisted the flag; he was suddenly shot down until the third man was killed .” The men found themselves cut off from the main body of the Confederate army. The tide of the battle began to turn. On the north side of the battle field, elements of Logan’s division had advanced to the top of the hill.
Stevenson found his entire division cut off from the main body. He was forced to amake a long sweeping detour to the South. They arrived the next day with no baggage, cooking utensils, or wagons at Crystal Springs.

The Union Army was victorious. The battle at Baker’s Creek or Champion’s Hill was devastating to the 57th. The casualties totaled forty killed, ninety-six wounded, and forty- eight prisoners of war. It was the worst day for any Laurens County company in the war. The carnage was more savage than their fellow Laurens Countians had suffered at Gettysburg, Spottsylvania, and Fredericksburg. 1st Lt. Virgil C. Manning of Laurens County was the highest ranking officer killed in the battle. 5th Sgt. Washington Hobbs, and privates, Wilkinson C. Price, John L. Stewart, Jordan Surmons, Alonzo Walker, John Walker, and James R. Witherington were also killed.  Fielding J. Bass, John English, Fielding Fordham, Thomas Garnto, Martin
Hightower, John Hobbs, Larry Hobbs, Thomas Holmes, Aaron Hutchinson, Joshua Hutchinson, David Maddux, Alfred L. Morgan, Moses L. Pope, Sr., F.J. Ross, Samuel F. Scarborough, Richard N. Smith, Wingfield B. Smith, William M. Snellgrove, Joshua J. Underwood, Wingfield W. Underwood, Thomas B. Winham, and Green S. Young were wounded. Some of these men, like Thomas Garnto, had limbs
amputated. Garnto’s amputation was performed by a Union surgeon after he was captured and while he lay dying on the battlefield along side privates Ross and Richard Smith. Smith was taken to Ft. Delaware and died there in prison. Thomas White and Elbert Underwood were also captured.

With the news of the battle and its toll, the citizens of Laurens County went into mourning. A memorial service was held at Boiling Springs Methodist Church. The church is still located across the road from the old muster grounds where Company B trained in preparation for war. The members took it especially hard,
since James Boatright, a member of the community had been killed.

BOILING SPRINGS METHODIST CHURCH

The Battle of Baker’s Creek proved to be the turning point in the Vicksburg Campaign. Federal Forces had tried for over a year to capture the strategic port city.

The seven week siege of Vicksburg was about to begin. On July 4th, the city of Vicksburg fell, just one day after Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg. The tide of the war turned in favor of the United States. All 342 remaining members of the 57th Georgia, along with all of the defenders of Vicksburg, were captured. The men were paroled after a couple of months. They returned to Georgia, disheartened and demoralized.

The 57th was sent to Savannah where they fought a battle on Whitemarsh Island in February, 1864. From there they were transferred to Andersonville, where they served as prison guards until the spring. The 57th also participated in the battles of the Atlanta Campaign, seeing the most action at Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and Jonesboro. In the last major engagement of the Army of the Tennessee, they lost fifteen men at Bentonville, North Carolina.

On April 26, 1865 the 57th Georgia, now part of the 1st Georgia Consolidated Infantry surrendered at Greensboro, North Carolina. The long journey home began.
The fighting, the dying, the starving, and suffering was over - finally. The bodies of the dead never made it home from Baker’s Creek. They lie in unmarked graves somewhere between the creek and Vicksburg, known only to God.