THE STORY OF WILLIAM MCLEOD AND HIS JOURNEY HOME

Gen. Robert E. Lee decided in June 1863 that the only way he could defeat the Federal forces was with a strike into the North. Lee's men, triumphant in victory after Chancellorsville, marched north through the cover of the Valley of Virginia into Pennsylvania. Lee ordered a portion of his men to go to the crossroads town of Gettysburg to look for shoes for his men. They had orders not to engage. Little did they know that Gen. John Buford's Federal cavalry was moving toward them. What followed was three of the most horrific and defining days in our country's history.

General John B. Gordon's Brigade was moving from Heidlersburg south to Gettysburg. In mid afternoon, Lt. Col. William McLeod of the 38th Georgia anchored his regiment on Gordon's left along the Harrisburg Road. As Gordon's men moved up, their lines broke while they were fording Rock Creek. Col. McLeod led the charge up the slippery and rocky creek banks. As McLeod was crossing the fence, he was struck in the right temple by a Federal mini ball and fell to the ground. The fatal shot may have come from Pvt. Rich of the 153rd Pennsylvania. The wound was mortal. He was just twenty one years old. The assault continued. The Federals retreated.

Meanwhile back in McLeod's home of Emanuel County, his mamma and daddy, Mary and Neill McLeod, were sitting on the porch of their home. It was a hot day - like most July days in the South. Mary turned to Mr. McLeod and said, "I feel very sad today. I have the feeling that William is not coming home." Moments later the McLeods noticed a white dove fly in, landing on the fence rail in front of their home. Mary turned again and said "I believe William is dead."

Col. McLeod and the other wounded men were carried back to a field hospital on the Kime farm. Moses, Col. McLeod's body servant, heard the news that the Colonel had been shot. Moses searched among the dead and the dying and found Col. McLeod with blood streaming from his head. Moses knew the end was near and tended to the Colonel in his last hours.

Moses gathered the Colonel's lifeless body and wrapped it in a blanket. He then began the arduous work of burying his friend. Many of the servants had a special relationship with their masters. Moses buried Col. McLeod beside a peach tree on the Kime farm. Moses remained with the brigade until after the battle and eventually made it back to Swainsboro.

Neill McLeod began to lay out a family cemetery about a quarter mile from his home. There had never been a death in his immediate family before and no need for a burying ground. When the war ended, Neill McLeod contacted Moses and hired him to take his son in law back to Gettysburg and retrieve his son's body.

Moses found the body right where he had left it. Moses gathered the Colonel's remains and placed them in a casket fashioned from an Emanuel County oak. The casket was placed in the family parlor. Family and friends came to pay their respects. William's mother Mary sat up with William’s body all night. Mrs.

McLeod came to an unbelievable decision. It was her command that William would not remain in the ground any longer without a member of the family being buried along his side. William's burial would have to wait until the next family member died. Every day, for nearly seven years, Mary placed fresh flowers or green plants on top of the casket.

In 1872, John R. Prescott died. He was the son-in-law, who had accompanied Moses to Gettysburg to bring William home. Funeral services were held in the McLeod home for William and John. John's wife, Sarah, sat at the top of the stairs in a red dress holding her six week old child in her lap while she sang. William's grave was elaborate for the times. Today the top of the shaft leans, broken, against the base of his monument.

The whole story of Col. McLeod may have been lost for eternity if it not for the determined investigation of Gettysburg policeman, Michael W. Hofe. On the morning of November 30, 1993, Corp. Hofe answered at burglary call at the Adams County Historical Society in Gettysburg. A collection of Civil War items had been taken. Hofe received permission to investigate the theft, a matter which is usually left to the detective division. Within two months all of the missing items, except one, were found. The missing item was Col. McLeod's prayer book, "Flowers of Piety."

Apparently before McLeod was buried, the prayer book was given to Sarah Ellen Kime, the daughter of the farm's owner. Corp. Hofe speculated that Sarah may have stopped to read a passage to the Colonel while she was carrying water to the wounded. Despite the viciousness of the war, most people on both sides openly showed their compassion for the wounded. The prayer book was passed down through the family and eventually made it to the museum of the county historical society, until some idiot decided to take it.

Hofe made it his mission to find out as much about Col. McLeod as he could. He read battle reports. He read books about the battle and consulted experts from all over the country. Corp. Hofe contacted Col. McLeod's descendants in Georgia.

Swainsboro's "Forest Blade" published articles on the effort to put the story together. Hofe published the results of his research in a forty eight page booklet he named "That There Be No Stain Upon My Stones."

There are hundreds of thousands of stories about that terrible war. It was a war that changed our lives forever. This story, which happened 135 years ago this week, is worth remembering. Keep in mind what Gen. Robert E. Lee said after observing the carnage his men had raked upon eight thousand dead and wounded Federal soldiers at the base of Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg, Virginia. "It is well that war is so terrible, for we may grow too fond of it."

Source: That There Be No Stain Upon My Stones, Michael W. Hofe, Gettysburg, Pa., 1994.

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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.

THOMAS W. KENT

ONE OF THE IMMORTAL SIX HUNDRED



Following the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, each county in Georgia held an election to elect delegates to a convention at the state capital in Milledgeville. The popular election determined the vote of each county's delegates on the first ballot. Johnson Countians, like many other residents in East Central Georgia, voted against secession from the Union. The people of Johnson County wanted to remain in the Union and work out their differences with the Northern states. The convention voted to secede from the Union in January of 1861.

After Confederate forces in Charleston, South Carolina, fired on Fort Sumter, it was too late to turn back. The war of "brother against brother" was on.  Thomas W. Kent was born in Warren County, Georgia on July 28, 1828. He was a son of Thomas Kent and Martha Kent. Kent moved to Johnson County in the
latter part of the 1850s. Thomas Kent joined the Confederate Army on July 11, 1861.  He was elected 1st Lieutenant of Company F of the 14th Georgia Infantry, "The Johnson Greys." The Greys were assigned to the West Virginia area under the command of Robert E. Lee. Many soldiers of the 14th Georgia became ill with fever and disease in the first fall of the war. Lt. Kent also fell ill, resigned his commission, and returned home to Johnson County. When a new Johnson County company was formed in March of 1862, Kent rejoined the army. Kent was elected Captain of the Battleground Guards of Johnson County, who were designated as Co. H. of the 48th Georgia Infantry. The Guards saw action in the Battles of the Seven Days. Captain Kent was severely wounded in the neck and mistakenly reported dead at Sharpsburg
(Antietam), Maryland on Sept. 17, 1862. His company was heavily involved in the battles near "The Cornfield" and "Bloody Lane." He rejoined the company by December of 1862.

Captain Kent was wounded a second time at Gettysburg, Pa. on July 2, 1863.  His regiment breached Union positions on Cemetery Ridge - going further than any other of Lee's forces. Kent was wounded and left on the field to die. Again, he survived but was captured at Gettysburg on July 7, 1863. Kent, along with
thousands of others, was taken to various prisons in the North. Capt. Kent soon became a part of a group of Confederate officers known as the "Immortal Six Hundred." These officers were moved from place to place and positioned directly in the line of fire of their own men - a practice which was clearly unacceptable by
men of honor. Captain Kent was taken to Fort Delaware Prison. Despite repeated offers by the Confederate Government, President Lincoln ended the exchanges of prisoners of war.

Kent and his comrades were transported by ship from Fort Delaware to Charleston, South Carolina in late August of 1864. While the ship was lying in Port Royal Harbor, Capt. Kent and seven others procured life jackets and jumped ship.  Kent and two others made it to Hilton Head Island and thence to Pinckney Island,
where they were captured by Union forces - only four hundred yards from freedom.

Kent was returned to Morris Island, South Carolina. In November, 1864, the officers were transferred to Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Georgia. Kent and six other officers devised a plan to escape. On Christmas night of 1864, the men began tunneling. The seven men worked in pairs. Their only two tools were an old case knife and a stove poker. They stood in waist deep freezing water. They were starving. The men had to save their rations of one to two ounces of corn meal a day to support them after their escape. In nine weeks, the seven men had tunneled through 336 feet of brick and mortar.

On the last day of February, the tunnel was completed. Captain Kent was the third man to come out. There was a drizzling rain that midnight. When the men got to the door, they found it wouldn't budge. Some sort of weight had been placed on it. They decided to force it open at any cost. Amazingly, the Union guards were not awakened by the noise of barrels falling.

The men made it out, crossed the moat and made it down to the wharf. At the wharf they were discovered by Union sentinels when they were betrayed by one of their own men - again within a few yards of freedom. Shots were fired. No one was hurt. Kent and the others were taken back to the fort and forced to remain in
their wet clothing for five days in a cold, dark cell.

As the war was coming to a close, the Union Army decided that the men should be transferred out of the South. In March, 1865, the prisoners were shipped by boat to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and then back to Fort Delaware.

Nearly two years after his capture and two and one-half months after the war, Kent was released from Fort Delaware Prison in Delaware on June 12, 1865. Captain Kent returned home to a community devastated by war. There was little money and even less food.

Captain Kent lived a long and productive life after he war. He died on June 20, 1918 and buried in the Kent Cemetery, Johnson County. Beside him is his wife, Martha McWhorter Battle, who died on March 16, 1926. The story of the "Immortal 600" was ignored by historians for over a hundred years. The story of the
"Immortal 600" has recently been chronicled by Muriel P. Jocelyn.

I encourage you to visit Fort Pulaski near Savannah. It is fascinating part of our state and country's past. You can see the places where the prisoners lived in the case mates along the south wall of the fort. Imagine the courage and determination of these men just to survive.

THE BATTLE OF BALL'S FERRY

They were coming! Sixty thousand Yankees in columns as far as you could see were marching to the sea. Nothing in their reach was safe from the foraging parties. Rails were twisted, livestock slaughtered, factories and mills were burned, and homes were ransacked for anything of military value.

On the afternoon of November 21, 1864, General Henry C. Wayne, C.S.A. realized that the defense of Gordon was futile and ordered his men to withdraw to the eastern banks of the Oconee River. Their mission was to defend the Central of Georgia Railroad bridge near the small village of Oconee. The Confederates built a fort with a commanding view of the bridge and the opposite bank of the river. The area approaching the bridge on the west side of the river was nearly impassable.

Jackson's Ferry had been abandoned and the trestles along the western bank of the river were demolished by Wayne's men. The right wing of General William T. Sherman's Army, composed of the 15th and 17th Corps, were moving into Gordon on the 22nd - days after a difficult skirmish at Griswoldville with Confederate Cavalry. Gen. Oliver Howard, U.S.A. was in command of the Right Wing. The 15th Corps, with Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus commanding, arrived in Gordon on the 22nd hoping for a few days rest. Generals John E. Smith, John M. Corse, William B. Hazen and Charles R. Woods were in command of the 15th's four divisions. Gen. Francis P. Blair, U.S.A. commanding the 17th Division moved his men forward from Gordon through McIntyre and eventually to Toombsboro - destroying tracks and depots along the way. Generals Gustavas A. Smith and Mortimer D. Leggett were in command of the 17th's two divisions. The 17th Corps were instructed to move to Jackson's Ferry to secure the Oconee Bridge.

The 15th Corps moved to the right to secure the county seat of Irwinton and to follow the 17th Corps to the River. Gen. Gustavas Smith arrived at the Oconee Bridge on the 23rd. He found that there was no Jackson's Ferry and certainly no approaches to the supposed site. He found Gen. Wayne's forces fully entrenched on the morning of the 23rd at Station 14 Central Railroad (Oconee) with six guns in place. The guns were strategically placed with a commanding view of the opposite bank. When the advance elements of the 17th Corps reached the western bank, they found all roads impassable with no bridge in place. They reported back that a crossing would be costly. Little did they know that the opposing forces included a mixture of Georgia Military Institute Cadets, state prisoners, and local guards. Gen. Wayne repeatedly begged Gen. McLaws for more men, ammunition, and rations. Gen. McLaws sent eighty-five enlisted men, one hundred forty five cadets, and two hundred militia. The cavalry and artillery horses arrived on the 22nd.

General Smith found that the only way out of the swamp was to return to Toombsboro. He decided to move further south to join the 15th Corps at Ball's Ferry - sixteen miles through Toombsboro but only a couple down the river. Before moving, the Union artillery shelled the Confederate Fort across the river inflicting as much damage as possible. Gen. Smith dispatched Col. Spencer and the 1st Alabama Union Cavalry to Ball's Ferry early on the 24th of November. Their mission was to secure the ferry for passage by the Right Wing. The cavalrymen found the ferry boat on the opposite side of the river. A patrol was sent up the river crossing on makeshift rafts. The patrol moved down to the east bank of the ferry and dislodged the Confederate pickets.

Gen. Wayne dispatched Major A.L. Hartridge with two cavalry companies, eighty infantry soldiers, and two cannons to Ball's Ferry. Major Hartridge arrived at 3 p.m., just in time to prevent the Alabama Cavalry from securing the ferry. The Union cavalry suffered nearly a dozen casualties. Major Hartridge set up positions along the east bank of the ferry. That evening he returned to Oconee with part of his command.

Lt. Colonel Andrew Young commanding the 30th Georgia Battalion arrived in Oconee on the 24th. Gen. Joseph Wheeler led his four thousand cavalrymen along the right flank of the right wing. They left Macon and swam across the Oconee River at Blackshear's Ferry. Lt. Col. Gaines and his Alabama Cavalry were sent to Ball's Ferry. They strengthened the fortifications, preparing for the larger force which would soon come. The remainder of Wheeler's force moved to Tennille. On the night of the 25th the head of the 15th corps was camped in Irwinton with its rear in Gordon. The head of the 17th corps was still camped near the Oconee River Bridge with its rear along the railroad back through Toombsboro.

On the morning of the 25th, the two corps began their march toward Ball's Ferry.  The 17th corps returned to Toombsboro on their way. General Hazen's Division, 15th Corps led the way. General Woods' Division was to move next detouring south toward the Lightwood Knot Bridges. General Woods' mission was to protect the flank against an attack by Wheeler's Cavalry. He sent the 29th Missouri (mounted) to destroy the bridges. The cavalrymen reported resistance at the bridges. They never knew the extent of the resistance. The force that turned them away was a Confederate surgeon and an elderly slave woman. The Confederate force set the bridges on fire and began screaming and firing weapons. The cavalry, satisfied that the bridges were destroyed, returned to the division, that is according to the local view of the incident.

General Hazen arrived first around 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. He found the Confederates entrenched on the opposite bank with skirmishers up and down the stream. As soon as the 12th Wisconsin Battery was set in place, the Confederate forces on east bank were besieged by artillery fire. The 19th Illinois and the 97th Indiana were placed on picket duty along the river. The 17th Corps arrived about dusk. The 17th sent infantrymen to cross the river upstream and work their way down to the right flank of the Confederates. Smith’s and Corse’s Divisions of the 15th Corps and the pontoon trains of the 1st Michigan Engineers arrived during the night.

Col. Gaines realized the magnitude of the opposing force around midnight. General Wayne's main force at Oconee had been outflanked. With no hopes of reinforcements, Wayne ordered a retreat to Tennille. Commanding Gen. William J. Hardee ordered the army to move to a defensive position on the Ogeechee River.


On the morning of the 26th, two pontoon bridges were laid across the river. Generals Corse and Woods crossed first, moving to Irwin's Crossroads to camp for the night. General Hazen moved ahead of General Smith, who remained behind to remove the pontoon bridges. After the crossing was completed, Hazen and Smith moved to Irwin's Cross Roads. After crossing the river, Blair's 17th Corps moved north toward Oconee to continue the destruction of the railroad. The 17th Corps Headquarters was established at the intersection of the Oconee and Irwin's roads.

As the two corps rendezvoused near Irwin's, elements of both continued the destruction of the railroad. The right and left wings of Sherman's army came together at Sandersville and Tennille. On the 28th Sherman's army entered the last four weeks of its March to the Sea. By Christmas, Savannah was controlled by General Sherman's forces.

FROG LEVEL PLANTATION

OLD TIMES WERE NOT FORGOTTEN




Rita Dickens loved to listen to her daddy talk about the old times on the Blackshear place in eastern Laurens County known as the Frog Level Plantation. She remembered those stories and put them down in a book which she titled "Marse Ned."


In the latter years of the 18th century, the choice lands in the Buckeye District were along the Oconee River and Big Creek. The Blackshear family acquired large holdings along both. Edward Jefferson Blackshear, son of the venerable Gen. David Blackshear, established his eleven hundred acre plantation home just above the intersection of Big and Buckeye Creeks. Blackshear named the plantation "Frog Level", undoubtedly due to an abundance of frogs along the creek banks.

E.J. Blackshear brought his wife Mary Jane from Florida back to Frog Level. It was there where their three children were born and grew up. Mary Jane died when Ned was born. Ned was nursed by a Marthy, a slave woman, who had lost her child in still birth a few days before. Their grandmother Pittman made annual visits to Frog Level to help their father. She had to take a boat to Columbus and then a train to Oconee, Georgia. From there, the Blackshear coachmen took her down to Frog Level.

Ned was raised by his grandmother during her visits, but mostly by Hannah and Reuben, two slaves to whom Ned had a special attachment. Yes, the slaves were treated differently. But Ned loved them like they were his own family. Ned idolized "Uncle" Reuben and wanted to be just like him. Ned loved to sit out on the veranda and listen to the old Negro spirituals. He tried to play them on his father's old violin.

One day, Grandma bargained with a German peddler-musician to teach Ned how to play the violin in exchange for six month’s room and board. The professor asked Ned if he knew what a note was. Ned proudly answered " Yes sir, Pa sent a note by me yesterday. "Humph" the professor grunted, "Do you know what a key is?" "Yes sir, I know the old smoke house key." The professor continued, determined to stay in his new home, "Do you know what a chord is?" "Yes sir, I helped stack all those chords of wood in the back yard." The music lesson ended and the dazed professor packed in bags and left in defeat. Eventually, Ned became a pretty fair violin player.

Grandma gave frequent week-end parties for young Mary. Friends and kin folks came from all over for two days of food, music, and dancing. Mary was becoming a beautiful young lady. It was around this time that Grandma began receiving letters from her son John Pittman, who was a student at the University of Virginia. It was October of 1860. Little did John know what was in store for him in the coming months.

The Blackshears attended church once at month at Boiling Springs Methodist Church, a few miles to the east. The Church was the religious, social, and eventually the military center of the community. For days before "Church Sunday," the plantation kitchens were busy with preparations for a dinner on the grounds. The carriage drivers and attendants worshiped in the Church from the gallery. After the preaching, a lavish dinner was held. The boys swung in the trees and joggled on the joggling board. Ned noticed Mary slipping off to the spring with Cince Guyton.

Grandma saved some boiled custard which she brought home and gave to a sick and aging slave, "Aunt Dicey." Grandma stayed with "Aunt Dicey" up to the time of her death, taking care of her every need.

The terrible war began. Cince went off to fight the Yankees and became a Lt. Colonel. "Uncle Reuben" was scared. He wanted his freedom but feared life on his own. John's letters kept coming. Mary was worried about Cince. In the fall of 1862, she entered Wesleyan Female College in Macon. John left college and joined the army. Within three months, the teenager was lying dead on the battlefield at Manassas, Virginia.

Ned and his Pa went to Macon and brought Mary home. Grandma arranged a party. Col. Guyton took leave from his regiment in Atlanta to come home and marry his sweetheart in the parlor at Frog Level. The Colonel went back to the war.  Thankfully, he survived and came back to live with Mary at Frog Level to help on the place since Pa was going blind. Ned went to Florida to live with Grandma. He returned to Dublin, but stayed a short while until he got a chance to open a livery back in Florida. Ned married Belle Milton, granddaughter of Florida's Civil War governor, John Milton. Her sister, Susie, married William Atkinson, a two term governor of Georgia. Their son, William, Jr., was Chief Justice of Georgia's Supreme Court. On the night of their marriage, the entire business district of Marianna burned. Ned was quoted as saying "I'm probably the only man ever to spend his wedding night fighting fires."

Ned and Belle moved back to Dublin. Ned sang in the Methodist Church. Belle was one of the first members of Christ Episcopal Church, which Ned later joined. Ned went into the insurance business. Belle led the effort to erect the Confederate monument in Dublin. Belle passed away and after being married to Ned for more than 50 years. As Ned realized his time was coming, he regretted not ever answering the call to preach. His daughter Rita comforted him, telling him that his whole life had been his sermon. One night Ned went to bed - thinking of his dear Belle. As his life slipped away he saw Belle coming to see him, amidst the sounds of the old Negro spirituals and visions of Grandma and Uncle Reuben sitting on the porch at old Frog Level.

You can reach Frog Level by traveling east along Highway 319 from East Dublin. Turn left on Willie Wood Road and go north until you come to Frog Level Circle. Turn left on Frog Level Circle and go west until you reach the point where Pierce Road comes in from the left. Frog Level lies on both sides of Big Creek running south past its intersection with Brewton Creek down to the Graham farm.

THE STORY OF MORRIS DAWSON, MERCHANT

During the latter half of the 19th and the first quarter of the 20th century, merchants from Europe came to Central Georgia. With the coming of the railroads, new markets for dry goods and general merchandise were opening up. Most of the these merchants were of the Jewish faith. One of these merchants who came to this area was Morris Dawson.

Morris Dawson was born in Posen, Prussia on April 15, 1840. As a young man, he came to America and eventually made his way to Cedar Hill. Cedar Hill was a small community which grew up around Boiling Springs Methodist Church in eastern Laurens County. When he first came to this country, his language skills made sales difficult, especially when he was peddling his wares out in the country, where many of the people couldn't read or write. Most of the farmers had little possessions and little or no money to buy new ones.

One fine fall morning, this teenage peddler came into a home and dumped his possessions out on a table for a young boy to see. The boy's eyes immediately focused on a harmonica. Dawson gave the boy the only musical instrument that any of the family had ever seen. Several months passed. The boy would walk down the road playing his harmonica, hoping to get a glance of the stranger. On a winter Sunday morning, two men on horseback with two other men walking in front of them were spotted coming down the road. The boy's uncle, the local constable, had arrested the two men for peddling without a license. Just as the peddlers were about to be taken off to jail the boy came up leading his friends and playing on the old harmonica. He ran to Dawson and threw his arms around him. The constable refused his brother's pleas to let Dawson go. In a few moments the boy's father produced a shotgun saying " Liberty for the Jew, or death to you!" The peddlers were released. Bystanders rejoiced.

Morris Dawson, working under the firm name of John A. Phillips and Company opened a store at the Cedar Hill Post Office. His partners were Wessalosky and Bashinski. War broke out in April of 1861. Dawson enlisted in Company E of the 5th Georgia State Troops on October 10, 1861. Two days later, he was elected 2nd Lieutenant of the Company. After six months of service, Lt. Dawson mustered out of the army. He re-enlisted in the Confederate Army and joined Co. A of the 32nd Georgia Infantry. The company was captained by his boss, Capt. John A. Phillips. The company was composed of men who lived along the old Savannah Road south of the future communities of Scott and Adrian. Dawson, a favorite of the local men, was elected Jr. 2nd Lieutenant. When a vacancy occurred in the office of 1st Lieutenant, Dawson was not appointed to fill it, much to the dismay of his fellow soldiers. Half the company took a leave of absence and went home in protest. Dawson went back home and induced the men to return with him.

The company was assigned to the Georgia-South Carolina theater of the war. In July of 1863, Federal forces launched an attack on Battery Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina. Lt. Dawson was temporarily breveted to Captain. Capt. Dawson was the only officer who could be persuaded to go outside of the fort with a single company. The company remained outside of the protection of the fort after darkness came. The password for re-entry was "here is your mule." When Dawson's company returned to the lines, Dawson appeared to have forgotten the password. Several volleys of grape and canister shot were thrown upon Dawson's men. Dawson jumped upon the parapet and shouted "By damn, here is yer mule!" It was at Battery Wagner where Col. Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts U.S. Colored Troops was killed in a bayonet fight, possibly by one of Dawson's troops.

President Abraham Lincoln ordered the Federal occupation of Florida in time to allow the state to be represented at the Republican Convention of 1864. On February 20, 1864, Federal forces attacked at Ocean Pond. The battle raged back and forth. When it was over Federal casualties outnumbered the Confederates by two to one. One of those was Capt. Dawson who was struck by a mini ball. The ball passed through Dawson's body. Undaunted by the blood running down in his shoes, Lt. Dawson led the company in a hot and fierce fight. Dawson and his company, under the command of Gen. Joseph Johnston, surrendered on April 26, 1865 at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Dawson, nearly penniless, returned home and went back into business. His first goods were placed in a bedroom of Judge McLemore's house. After a short time, Dawson purchased an old store building, which he quickly renovated. Dawson, in partnership with John L. McLemore, one of the privates in his company, opened what was said to have been the only country store between Macon and Savannah. Times were bad. Most folks had no money. Dawson quickly built a reputation as a benevolent and generous man, giving food and clothes to those in true need. Dawson, at the age of 34, married Lotta Marcus, who was also born in Prussia.

Dawson's acts of kindness were repaid in 1882 when the people of Emanuel County elected him to represent them in the state legislature. Dawson was described as "wise, sagacious, and never harboring a prejudice against anyone." He was always as gentle as a child and forgiving, never forgetting the little "tow headed" boy who saved him from jail. In his old home on the old Dublin road south of Adrian, there hung over the fireplace what appeared to be a painting of a Prussian ruler. Even when tenants were occupying the home, the picture was never disturbed. Morris Dawson died in Atlanta on August 24, 1896 at a relatively young age. He never lived to see the achievements of his grandchildren. One of those grandchildren was Dawson Kea, who practiced law in Dublin for nearly sixty years - longer than anyone else in the history of our county. Morris Dawson was representative of a long gone era of Jewish merchants who provided their communities with a vast variety of goods as well as numerous deeds of public service.

BEYOND THE HIGH WATER MARK

Historical Marker, Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg, PA


The 48th Georgia at Gettysburg

Of all the places I have been, one place stands out above all the others. Last summer I had the privilege to go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was a hot summer afternoon, just like those three days in July of 1863. Monuments, mostly dedicated to Union forces, are everywhere. Each corner of the battlefield has its own name. Little Round Top, The Devil's Den, The Peach Orchard, The Wheatfield, and Cemetery Ridge are names that live in infamy. It was a deeply moving experience to walk the one mile from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge. One hundred and thirty four years ago, thousands of men walked that path, over half of them never made it back. For me and many others, Gettysburg holds a special significance in our lives.


I had no ancestors at the battle. There was one man there that day by the name of David Douglas. David was shot in the leg while moving toward the town on the 1st day of the battle. He died in a prison camp several months later. Nearly a year later, an 18 year boy, Arch Woods, joined the same Emanuel County company, virtually taking the place of Pvt. Douglas. After the war, Woods returned home and married Douglas' widow. As a result of that marriage and several others, I came into this world. As with my other people, my existence in this world was a result of those horrific days in July of 1863. It is truly mind boggling to think your being on earth may have depended on one shot out of millions.





Photo of Wright's Brigade Marker, Spangler's Woods,
Gettysburg, from "Virtual Gettysburg" by
Stephen Recker, http://www.virtualgettysburg.com/



On the second day of the battles, Robert E. Lee launched an all out attack on the Federal positions from Little Round Top to Cemetery Ridge. Each division attacked in order from south to north. Late in the afternoon, the order came for A.R. Wright's brigade to attack the Federal positions on Cemetery Ridge. The brigade commander was a Louisville born attorney, whose brigade consisted of four Georgia Regiments, including the 48th Georgia.


The 48th Georgia included companies from Jefferson Co., "The Jefferson Volunteers"; Johnson Co., "The Battleground Guards; Twiggs Co., "The Slappey Guards"; and Emanuel Co., "The McLeod Volunteers." Several Laurens County residents were members of the Battleground Guards. The 48th Georgia were a part of R.H. Anderson's Division of A.P. Hill's Corps.


At 6:30, Anderson sent his three remaining brigades to attack the center of Cemetery Ridge. Wright's men were deployed from left to right: 48th Georgia, 3rd Georgia, and 22nd Georgia. The 2nd Georgia was deployed in front as skirmishers. A few hundred yards away on the Bliss farm, four New Jersey companies were in position. Wright with his sixteen hundred Georgians began the attack in a quick step march across a mile-wide open field toward a small dip in the terrain. The advance went smoothly until the men came within musket range of the Emmitsburg Road. There they encountered a strong body of infantry behind a fence. The skirmishers from the 2nd Ga. were preparing the way. The battle line moved rapidly toward the ridge. Wright later recalled "We were in a hot place, and looking to my left through the smoke, I perceived that neither Posey nor Mahone had advanced and that my left was totally unprotected." Wright sent a courier to Gen. Anderson, who replied "both Posey and Mahone had been ordered in and that he would reiterate the order." As Wright passed the Bliss' yard, only a portion of Posey's men were in support of his attack. After a brief and furious fight at the Emmitsburg Road, Wright's right wing passed the Cordori House with little resistance. With half of their advance forces down and both of his flanks turned, the Federals pulled back.


The attack was directed toward a battery between a small clump of trees and Ziegler's Grove on the ridge to north. Wright's brigade, stretching four hundred yards wide, would just fit in between the trees and the grove. The six Napoleon cannons of Brown's Rhode Island Battery pounded Wright with case shot and then canisters. Wright's men routed the Federals from their second line of defense, a stone wall which would later come to be known as the "High Water Mark of the Confederacy. The Rhode Island Battery moved further up the hill under pressure from Posey's 19th Mississippi. The 48th attacked Gibbon's lines in hand to hand fighting. With well directed fire, Wright's men drove the cannoneers from their guns. As Wright's men captured the Napoleons of the Rhode Island Battery, they were suddenly pelted with canister and small arms fire from a ridge, one hundred yards away.


The Georgians jumped the stone wall and rushed to stand at the crest of the ridge. With an irresistible charge, they swept the Federal infantry from the ridge into a gorge beyond. The men were jubilant. The point where they stood would be the objective of Lee's attack the following day. Wright again requested support. The help they prayed for never came. Posey was stuck in the field to the north. For some unknown reason Mahone would not budge his brigade from Seminary Ridge - despite the repeated urging of Gen. Anderson.




Gen. Ambrose Ransom Wright, C.S.A.


The 69th Pennsylvania counterattacked on Wrights’ front. Wright's men suffered three effective volleys upon their unprotected flanks. Wright reported that the enemy was closing in. With no sign of support, the 48th retreated from the ridge. The Federals launched a bayonet charge and severe artillery attack.

The retreat continued under artillery fire from Cemetery Ridge. The 106th Pennsylvania, under Gen. Abner Doubleday, the fictional inventor of baseball, caught up with the 48th Georgia just before they reached the Emmitsburg Road. Col. William Gibson and several other officers including Capt. Thomas Kent of Johnson County were captured. After an hour or so it was all over. Nearly one half of the brigade lay dead, were wounded, or were captured.

The 48th Georgia's advance was the closest Lee's men came to cutting the Federal center at Gettysburg. Wright's men are often ignored in the history books for their accomplishments. They went further than any Confederate brigade at Gettysburg. A lone marker in front of the stone wall marks their historic feats of courage in their valiant charge at the point where the "High Tide Of The Confederacy" occurred the following day, July 3th, the immortal day of "Pickett’s Charge."

BLACKSHEAR GUARDS

MUSTER ROLL OF
CAPTAIN THOMAS M. YOPP’S COMPANY
GEORGIA VOLUNTEERS
BLACKSHEAR GUARDS
IN THE 14TH REGULAR REGIMENT

Commanded by Col. A.V. Bumbry, Lt. Col. W.S. Ramsay, and Major Felix Price and called into service of the Confederate States in the provisional army under the provision of an act of Congress passed May the 8th, 1861 from the 23rd day of July, 1861 for the term of the war unless sooner discharged. All the members of the company were residents of Laurens County. Georgia. Lieut. Col. W.S. Ramsay, who was captain of the company when it left and was elected Lieut Colonel of the regiment at Atlanta, Ga on the 16th of July, 1861. The company left Atlanta, Georgia on the 18th day of July 1861 for Lynchburg, Virginia when they were mustered into service. Colonel Ramsay resigned, August 15th, 1861.


No. of Names Rank Age Remarks
each Present and absent

Grade

Thomas M. Yopp Capt. 33 Resigned Sept. 5th, 1861, Cause: Surgeon’s certificate of disability
Thomas H. Rowe 1st Lt. 21 Was not mustered into service
James T. Chappell 2nd Lt. absent
Hardy B. Smith 3rd Lt. 19
Henry Currell 1st Sgt. 17
James Stevens 2nd Sgt. 20 Died in Huntersville, Va. Oct. 10th, 1861
Richard H. Duncan 3rd Sgt. 18 Discharged on Surgeon’s
certificate of disability, Aug. 25th, 1861
Louis C. Perry 4th Sgt. 19
Richard D. Davis 1st Cpl. 19 Died in Huntersville, Va. Nov. 1861
Irwin Calhoun 2nd Cpl. 44
James C. Lee 3rd Cpl. 23
Littleton C. Jenkins 4th Cpl. 20
Benjamin Atkinson Pvt. 22
William Berryhill Pvt. 19
Andrew Berryhill Pvt. 33 Discharged Surgeon’s certificate of disability, Nov. 1861
Osborne Beals Pvt. 18
David J. Bush Pvt. 17
Hardy Bellflower Pvt. 22
Green W. Bristle Pvt. 29 Died in Western Virginia, Nov. 1861
John Bates Pvt. 19
George W. Conner Pvt. 20 Died in Staunton, Va. 1861or 1862
John Coleman Pvt. 20
George Couley Pvt. 27 Died in Rock Alum Springs, Va.
Caswell W. Davis Pvt. 24
Thomas R. Dickson Pvt. 24
John J. Dominy Pvt. 28
Benjamin Dominy Pvt. 19
Valentine J. Fullford Pvt. 24
Frances C. Fullford Pvt. 21
Alkania Faulk Pvt. 22
William G.B. Faulk Pvt. 18
Thomas Gates Pvt. 27 Was not mustered into service
Ebenezer Hilliard Pvt. 21
George W. Hendricks Pvt. 20
Joel G. Hall Pvt. 20
Hollingsworth, Green B. Pvt. 32
Hill, Robert F. Pvt. 24
Jonathan G. Hall Pvt. 35
William G. Hall Pvt. 22
Quinn L. Harvard Pvt. Absent, was not mustered into service
Jenkins, George W. Pvt. 16
John W. Jones Pvt. 21
William L. Jones Pvt. 17
Lumpkin L. Linder Pvt. 19 Died in Huntersville, Va., Oct. 1861
Benjamin B. Linder Pvt. 17 Promoted to 1st Corp. Dec.61
Francis A. Linder Pvt. 19
Amos L. Moore Pvt. 23
Andrew Moore Pvt. 21
R.H.C. McLendon Pvt. 18
John McDaniel Pvt. 21
Dennis McLendon Pvt. 22
McVay, George W. Pvt. 22 Died in Huntersville, Va. Aug. 1861
Robert Nobles Pvt. 23
Terrell Perry Pvt. 24
Daniel G. Pope Pvt. Absent sick, was not mustered into service. Afterwards enlisted into service with reserves of Laurens Co., which discharged from
John T. Perry Pvt. 19
William J. Perry Pvt. 18
William C. Robinson Pvt. 32
Thomas P. Register Pvt. 24
John Register Pvt. 18
David Register Pvt. 16
Elijah F. Register Pvt. 26
Washington Register Pvt. 17
William Register Pvt. 18
James L. Register Pvt. 28 Died in Huntersville, Va. Oct. 9th, 1861
George W. Rowland Pvt. 45(40)
J.F.L. Scarborough Pvt. 16
Thomas D. Smith Pvt. 22 Appointed 2nd Sergeant
David L. Scarborough Pvt. 24
M.V.B. Smith Pvt. 22
James W. Stanley Pvt. 31 Appointed 3rd Sergeant, Dec.3 1861
Emory Smith Pvt. 22
William H. Smith Pvt. 20
Hardy M. Stanley Pvt. 19
Henry Smith Pvt. 19
Hardy B. Stanley Pvt. Absent was not mustered into service
E.H. Thompson Pvt. Absent, mustered into service and died at Richmond, Va., Dec. 1861
James A. Williams Pvt. 21
E.Y. Woodard Pvt. 21
P.W. Douglass 1st Lt. 33 Elected to fill the vacancy of T.H. Rowe, resigned.




List of the names of the men who left Laurens County, Georgia, May 24, 1861 and joined Capt. O.C. Horne’s Company of Georgia Rangers of Pulaski County, Georgia, and which company formed a part of the 10th Georgia Regiment, Georgia Volunteers and are now stationed at Williamsburg, Virginia, August 4, 1861


Peyton W. Douglas Elected 3rd Lieutenant, resigned about the 1st Sept., 1861 and elected
1st Lieutenant, Co. H., Blackshear Guards.
Richard E. Hudson
David M. Roberts
Thomas Moore
Augustus C. Whitehead
Malcom J. Coneley Discharged 1st September, 1861
John J. Stanley
Josey Coleman
Charles Mason
Charles W. Linder
James E. Scarborough

RECENT DEATHS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS

Confederate Veterans who have recently died.
L.L. Raffield - 8th Georgia Calvary
John T. Rogers - Richmond Artillery
Jeff Register - Co. H. 63rd Georgia
Elijah Sheppard - Co. H. 63rd Georgia
W.L. Strickland - Garrard Light Infantry
W.J. Scarborough - Garrard Light Infantry
J.R. Sheppard - Co. H. 63rd Georgia
D.E. Sullivan - Co. G. 1st Louisiana
M.E. Vason - Co. E. 4th Georgia
J.F. Walker - Co. K. 49th Georgia
J.S. Bryant - Co. C. 49th Georgia
F.D. Beall - Co. D. 63rd Georgia
J.A. Beatty - Co. E. 28th Georgia
W.A. Brack - Co. B. 10th Georgia Battallion
G.W. Bishop - Co. I. 57th Georgia
J.L. Cowart - Co. D. 57th Georgia
Green B. Daniel - Co. I. 57th Georgia
T.L. Daniel - Co. G. 49th Georgia
S.A. Fleetwood - Co. B. 57th Georgia
J.T. Flanders - Co. C. 57th Georgia
William Gilbert - Co. I. 57th Georgia
Mercer Haynes - 5th Georgia Calvary
A.J. McCraken - Macon Light Infantry
W.J. Perry - Co. H. 14th Georgia

April 28, 1905, Dublin Courier Dispatch

Membership Roll of Veteran's Association of Laurens County, 1901

Hardy Smith, Commander
T.D. Smith, Secretary

Branch, Isham
Johnson, J.C.
Bracewell, N.B.W.
Johnson, Morgan
Butler, M.J.
Jackson, W.R.
Barnes, W.H.
Kea, Bennett
Barnett, J.W.
Keen, John L.
Bates, J.D.
Lowery, H.R.
Black, Seaborn
Long, W.H.
Brantley, B.D.
McCullars, J.J.
Barwick, W.J.
Morris, G.W.
Bush, C.G.
McDaniel, J.R.
Bryant, J.S.
McLaws, A.H. (Editors note: Brother of Gen. Lafayette McLaws)
Coleman, E.J.
Maxwell, J.H.
Crumpton, J.E.
McConnell, L.S.
Clements, W.J.
Marchman, C.H.
Corbin, W.C.
McDowell, J.W.
Cullen, J.E.
Miller, R.E.
Cook, W.J.
Mullis, J.M.
Clements, D.G.
Nelson, Floyd
Downing, N.A.
Nance, B.
Dixon, T.D.
Oxley, Jas.
Davis, K.
Pope, B.F.
Dominey, Benj.
Parker, W.F.
Daley, W.J.
Payne, Solomon
Emswyler, E.H.
Page, J.H.
Elliott, J.T.
Pope, J.
Evans, B.W.
Pope, T.H.
Floyd, J.T.
Pharris, J.I.
Graham, J.C.
Robinson, E.A.
Gay, N.F.
Radford, J.G.
Green, John W.
Register, Elijah
Green, G.F.
Rozar, A.J.
Hall, J.M.B.
Stubbs, J.M.
Harville, G.W.
Swinson, S.W.
Hilbun, I.H.
Scarborough, J.F.L.
Howell, W.D.
Scarborough, Wm.
Hilbun, A.J.
Smith, G.H.
Hatfield, J.T.
Smith, W.F.
Hester, W.R.
Spivey, W.D.
Holmes, C.W.
Silas, J.F.
Hernon, J.W.
Sheppard, J.R.
Heath, M.D.
Stewart, W.R.
Jones, M.L.
Sterling, R.
Justice, S.B.
Tarpley, T.M.
Jones, H.T.
Trice, J.M.
Johnson, B.I.
Ussery, J.T.
Johnson, C.J.
Vaughn, John
Cauley, W.H.
Moore, Andy

Published in Dublin Courier Dispatch, March 14, 1901

SONS OF VETERANS ORGANIZE

A Charter has been applied for from the State Organization.

Tuesday afternoon last a number of young men of the city met at the courthouse for the purpose of organizing a camp of United Sons of Confederate Veterans. The camp was organized with 36 charter members. Maj. T. D. Smith, who was very active in getting the camp organized, was made an honorary member.

A charter has been applied for from the state organization, and as soon as it is secured a permanent organization will be effected. The camp was named for the late Geo. M. Troup.

The following are temporary officers.

Commander - C.A. Weddington
1st Vice Commander - J.E. Burch
2nd Vice Commander - J.H. Bradley
Adjutant - S.B. Baker
Chaplain - W.C. Solomon
Quartermaster - M.R. Rachels
Color Bearer - C.L. Webb
Treasurer - L.V. Stone

Published in Dublin Courier Dispatch, March 28, 1901.
Secretary - Hardy Smith, Jr.

CONFEDERATE REUNION AT DUBLIN IS SUCCESS

Dublin, Ga. - Sept. 15, 1910- The big Confederate reunion and barbeque today was a big success. There was a goodly number of veterans and others from Laurens and adjoining counties present.

Laurens furnished six war companies. The remnants of these were formed, and were commanded by Judge John H. Martin, of Hawkinsville, who was elected colonel.

His staff was as follows:

Adjutant and chief of staff, W.C. Davis
Aide and officer of the day, L.Q. Stubbs
Aides, T.D. Smith and K.J. Hawkins
Couriers, Lytton Stanley and Mirabeau Arnau

The parade was formed around the courthouse square and marched down Jackson Street to Church and out Church to Stubb's Park.

The exercises at the park were opened with prayer by Rev. Lucius J. Ballard, presiding elder of the Dublin District. C.A. Weddington, Esq. was master of ceremonies. The main address was delivered by Mayor L.Q. Stubbs.

The following were the war companies furnished by Laurens:

Company C, Fifty-seventh Georgia - Lucien Q. Tucker, captain; Richard A. Kellam, first lieutenant; Washington Hobbs, second lieutenant; Alford L. Morgan, third lieutenant.

Laurens Volunteers - James T. Chappell, captain; James A. Daniel, first lieutenant; Richard H. Duncan, second lieutenant

Troup Volunteers - James H. Smith, captain; Virgil C. Manning, first lieutenant; John L. Perry, second lieutenant; W.B.F. Daniel, second lieutenant.

Blackshear Guards - W.S. Ramsay, captain; Thomas M. Yopp, first lieutenant; Thomas H. Rowe, second lieutenant; Hardy Smith, third lieutenant.

Barkaloo Rifles - George W. Bishop, captain; Leven J.H. Vinson; first lieutenant; John B. Wolfe, second lieutenant; Archibald J. Smith, third lieutenant.

Company A, Second Georgia - Rollin A. Stanley, captain; Thomas H. Rower, first lieutenant; William A. Gainey, second lieutenant; William B. Poppe, third lieutenant.

As the rolls were called this morning and the word "dead" placed after the names it was seen how thin has grown the ranks of those who went from Laurens to the war.

The music for the reunion was furnished by the Dublin band. There was pleanty to eat and all of the old soldiers seemed to enjoy the day very much.

It is probable that the Sixteenth district will be divided into an association and an annual reunion of the old soldiers of Laurens, Johnson and Emanuel held in Dublin every year.

Major Thomas D. Smith was the prime mover of the reunion today and is working up the district organization.

Published in the Macon Telegraph on September 16, 1910.

VETERANS ELECT OFFICERS

Dublin, Ga. January 23, 1905 - The members of Camp Smith, United Confederate Veterans, have elected the following officers for the ensuing year.

Commander, Hardy Smith
First Lieutenant Commander, L.A. Matthews
Second Lieutenant Commander, J.L. Gufford
Third Lieutenant Commander, W.E. Duncan
Adjutant, T.D. Smith
Quartermaster, W.B.F. Daniel
Commisary, L.A. Dreyer
Surgeon, T.H. Hall
Chaplain, W.J. Thomas
Treasurer, G.W. Brooks
Sergeant Major, R.D. Dixon
Officer of the Day, J.A. Thomas
Vidette, J.W. Raffield
Color Bearer, J.W. Jones
First Color Guard, B.F. Dixon
Second Color Guard, B.J. Wood

Published in the Macon Telegraph, January 24, 1905

BLACKSHEAR GUARDS WILL HOLD REUNION

Twenty Survivors of Famous Laurens County Confederate Company Will Enjoy Four Days' Outing Next Week

___________________________________________


Dublin, Ga. - Sept. 12, 1911 - The Blackshear Guards was the first company that left Laurens County for the war. There are twenty survivors of that company and Major T.D. Smith and Gen. Hardy Smith are planning to be hosts at a reunion on October 4 that will last for four days.

It is the plan to use tents and camp out at the point on Turkey Creek near Blue Water Church, where the W&T Railroad bridge is located. Fishing there is fine and the old survivors can fish to their heart's content, swap yarns, go over the causes which led up to the war, the incidents that happened during the war and relate their experience since the war.

The following are survivors, present address, and the position held with the company when it was mustered into service.

Captain Thomas M. Yopp, Atlanta
Lieutenant Hardy Smith, Dublin
Lieutentant P.W. Douglas, Atlanta
Sergeant Major T.D. Smith, Dublin
Sergeant J.W. Jones, Brewton
Private J.D. Bates, Rentz
Private T.R. Dixon, RFD Dublin
Private Elijah Coleman, RFD 4 Dublin
Private Benjamin Dominy, RFD Statesboro
Private Jack Hall, Florida
Private D.J. Bush, RFD Sparta
Private G.W. Jenkins, Dublin
Private L.C. Jenkins, RFD Dublin
Private R.H.C. McLendon, RFD Dublin
Private John R. McDaniel, RFD Dexter
Private T.P. Register, Lake Butler, Florida
Private Terrell Perry, RFD Dublin
Private J.F.L. Scarborough, RFD Dublin
Private Frank Fullford, RFD Stillmore
Private M.V. Smith, RFD Dexter

Published in the Macon Telegraph, September 13, 1911.

THE DAY THE PRESIDENT CAME TO TOWN

Jefferson Davis, President
of the Confederate States of
America.


Varina Davis


The Passage of Confederate President Jefferson
Davis through Laurens County



April of 1865 saw the end of the bloodiest and most divisive four years in American History. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled Richmond one week before General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Davis's plan called for an escape to Texas where the remaining Confederate forces would combine to fight a guerilla type war against the North.

Jefferson Davis arrived on May 4th in Washington, Ga. where the Confederate Cabinet held its last session. Davis and his family headed in two different directions. The main party paused at Warthen and went south to Sandersville around noon on the 6th of May. Acting Confederate Treasury Secretary John Reagan transacted the last business of the Confederacy in Sandersville. Davis moved on toward the Oconee River in the area east of Ball's Ferry, with the intentions of camping there for the night. Shortly after their arrival at Ball's Ferry on the Irwinton to Wrightsville Road, President Davis and his escorts learned of a plan to attack the wagon train of Mrs. Davis which was pressing southward on a converging path.


John Regan, Postmaster General of
the Confederate States of America.

Fearing for his family's safety, Davis pressed south along the river road. Whenever possible they had to travel off the edge of the road in order to hide their trail and prevent visual observation. After several hours of difficult travel through thick pine woods Davis and his party arrived just before dawn in the Mt. Pleasant and Frog Level communities, near the Laurens County home of E.J. Blackshear. To their sheer delight Mrs. Davis, the children, and the rest of the party arrived at the Blackshear home earlier that evening. After a short reunion, the Davis family had breakfast and then made their plans to resume their journey. By then, they knew that Union forces would not be far behind.

The Union Army had already begun to search for Jefferson Davis. The best cavalry regiment was selected to proceed east toward Dublin where they would cross the Oconee River and hopefully pick up the trail of Davis's wagon train. Davis's train of light wagons and ambulances crossed at the Dublin ferry early on the morning of the seventh of May. From there they proceeded into the center of town. As was the case of his previous traveling habits, Jefferson Davis traveled separately from the train. He crossed below the Dublin Ferry mounted on a fine bay horse. Davis then proceeded to the southeastern edge of town. Davis never came into town but remained in the area now bounded on the north by Madison Street, east by Decatur Street, south by the railroad, and west by South Franklin Street.

The wagon train pulled into Dublin late Sunday morning. In those days, Dublin was a small village which had practically died out during the war. A Confederate officer dismounted and approached the store of Freeman H. Rowe. Freeman Rowe, a native of Connecticut, operated his mercantile store on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in the spot where the Hicks Building now stands. Rowe, who had been in Dublin nearly twenty years, advised the officer of the terrain and roads in the county. He advised the party to proceed south down the Jacksonville Road, which is today known as the Glenwood Road. While the party was stopped, the Davis's carriage driver, John Davis, noticed a young black girl, Della Conway, approaching him. After the eventual capture of Jefferson Davis, John Davis would return to Laurens County where he would find and marry Della Conway. They would live in Laurens County for forty years before moving to Dodge County where they lived the rest of their lives. Mr. Rowe extended an invitation to Davis to dine at his house at the southwest corner of Rowe Street and Academy Avenue. Owing to the necessity of pressing on, the officer graciously declined the invitation, but he did accept freshly cooked food from the Rowe kitchen.

A detail was sent down to the President to advise him of the direction of travel. They joined Davis a few miles south of town and proceeded down toward Turkey Creek. The wagon train first started down the Jacksonville Road (Georgia Highway 19) but shortly moved over to the Telfair Road (U.S. Highway 441). According to the maps of the Union Army Corps of Engineers, the Confederates continued on the Telfair Road to a point about where Cedar Grove Crossing is located (U.S. Highway 441 and Georgia Highway 46). From that point, they turned in a more southwesterly direction toward Abbeville on the Ocmulgee River. Shortly after crossing Alligator Creek, Davis and his wagon trains camped for the night in lower Laurens County.



Col. Henry Harden, U.S.A.

As Jefferson Davis was leaving the campsite at the Blackshear Plantation, Col. Harnden and the Wisconsin Cavalry were preparing to leave their campsite in Twiggs County. The cavalry pushed down the Old Macon Road until they came to it’s intersection with the Hawkinsville Road. The crossroads was then and is now known as Thomas Cross Roads. The Hawkinsville Road, also known as the Blackshear Trail or Blackshear's Ferry Road, followed an old Uchee Indian trail from Augusta to southern Alabama. As the Federals were approaching the crossroads, they learned that a contingent of several hundred paroled Confederate cavalry soldiers from General Johnston's army had just passed through there on their way home. This information seemed to be a little alarming to Col. Harnden because the men were mounted and as a precautionary measure he sent Lieutenant Orson P. Clinton and twenty men southwest to Laurens Hill on the Hawkinsville Road to reconnoiter that area. During the war, Laurens Hill had been the location of a Confederate commissary of arms and supplies.

Lt. Harnden turned left on the Hawkinsville Road and proceeded to the ferry where he arrived at 5:00 o'clock in the evening of May 7th. It was just north of the ferry where Davis had camped the night before. Lt. Clinton and his patrol arrived at the ferry about eleven o'clock. About midnight a Negro man walked into camp. He told Col. Harnden that Davis and his family passed through the town that day and went south down the River Road. The number of wagons counted was only six. He confirmed their identity by stating that he heard the lady addressed as Mrs. Davis and the man addressed as President Davis. He also confirmed that another party went down the opposite side of the river. This party could have been a patrol or could have been Confederate General and former Vice Pres. of the U.S., John C. Breckinridge, who was following Jefferson Davis. Gen. Breckinridge barely escaped capture in Laurens Co. and hid out in Telfair Co. for a few days. He later escaped to England. The man also confirmed that the President did not cross at the ferry, but took a flat boat across the ferry three miles or so down the river. This would put his crossing in the area of the Dublin Ferry. The man finally told the cavalry that Jefferson Davis did not come into the town but remained on the outskirts.



John C. Breckinridge, Vice President
United States of America, General
Confederate States Army

While the two Union regiments were violently bringing the search for Davis to an end, the actual capture of Jefferson Davis was peaceful. At the instant the firing on the north side of the creek began, the Michigan Cavalry charged through the Davis's campsite. Davis gave himself up when he felt his wife was being threatened. The Confederates were arrested and taken to Macon. From Macon, Jefferson Davis was sent to Fortress Monroe Prison in Virginia.

While the southern half of Middle Georgia escaped the ravages of battle, it was the site of the last major event of Civil War. The most critical event in the capture occurred in Dublin, where the Wisconsin Cavalry first learned of Davis's route. If Col. Harnden had been here a day earlier, then the capture would have been made in Laurens County. If he been delayed by a couple of days, the capture may have never occurred.

_________________

CAPTAIN HARDY SMITH

Captain Hardy B. Smith, C.S.A.




Home of Hardy Smith,
West Gaines Street,
Dublin, Georgia



A Hero for All Generations


Of all of the Laurens County veterans, Hardy Beacham Smith is the epitome of a soldier overcoming the ravages of war. Hardy, the grandson of an American Revolutionary soldier by the same name, was born in the Anderson community on October 24, 1841. His father, the second Hardy Smith, married Ann Anderson, daughter of John G. Anderson. Anderson's plantation was located on the Old River Road across Pughes Creek from Gov. George M. Troup's Valdosta Plantation.

Laurens County schools couldn't provide Hardy Smith with a superior education. Hardy Smith enrolled in an academy at Irwinton, Georgia in 1858. Hardy's father reluctantly agreed to allow his son to take a music class. The senior Smith encouraged young Hardy to join the Light Horse military company at Irwinton. In those days service in the local militia was seen as a public duty, especially for young men of higher means. Military service was also seen as a stepping stone to political office.

The state of Georgia voted to secede from the Union in January of 1861. If Hardy Smith had been a typical Laurens Countian, he would have voted to cooperate with the Union on the issue of slavery and avoid secession and war. At the beginning of the inevitable war Hardy was attending classes at the University of Georgia. He joined a volunteer company. Three weeks after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumpter, Hardy Smith received a letter from his father requesting that he come home and enlist in the Blackshear Guards. The Guards were in the early stages of organization. All the best young men were joining the company. Hardy's father was sincere. Fifty dollars was enclosed in the letter to pay his boy's accounts and his way home.

The Blackshear Guards became a part of the Confederate army on July 9, 1861. Hardy Smith was elected 1st Sergeant. W.S. Ramsay was elected Captain. When Captain Ramsay accepted a position as Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment, Smith was promoted to Junior Second Lieutenant. The Blackshear Guards, designated as Company H of the 14th Georgia Infantry, were assigned to army of John B. Floyd. The Guards spent the remainder of the year in western Virginia engaging in little or no action. The Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862 was their first major engagement. Following the disaster at Seven Pines, Robert E. Lee was appointed to the command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Lee decided to attack McLellan's forces near the tiny village of Mechanicsville, Virginia. Shortly after arriving at the Beaverdam Creek, the order for a late afternoon attack came. Col. E.L. Thomas led the 35th Georgia in the initial attack on the Federal right. The 14th Georgia rushed to his support. Col. R.W. Folsom got up from his sick bed to lead the 14th Georgia. The creek was waist deep and about fifteen to twenty feet wide. When the attack first began, the Confederates had woods and thickets to cover their advance. Those in the open fields were pounded with sweeping artillery fire. Once they came down the steep banks toward the creek, they were in full view of Federal riflemen. Every assault was repulsed by the Federal forces. Under heavy fire the Guards were forced to retire. When it was all over, Lt. Smith was in a field hospital. His elbow was torn into pieces. There was no hope to save his right arm. Lt. Smith was comforted by reading his "Book of Common Prayer." Blood from Smith's wounds dripped on the pages. He turned to Psalm 56 which in part read "Mine enemies are daily at hand and swallow me up ... for they be many that fight against me ... though I am afraid, I will trust in thee." The book remains in the possession of his family. Four weeks after his arm was amputated, Lt. Smith wrote with a letter with his left hand. The despondent officer seemed to apologize to his father for losing his arm, but was glad to be alive.

Lt. Smith returned to duty as soon as he could. The company missed most of the major battles from September of 1862 to the Battle of Gettysburg, where they were only slightly engaged. The Guards were heavily involved in Robert E. Lee's greatest victory at Chancelorsville, Virginia in May of 1863. Hardy B. Smith was elected Captain of the company on September 17, 1863. Capt. Smith resigned his commission on April 30, 1864, just days before the Grant's push toward Richmond at the Wilderness. Capt. Smith continued to serve his state as the 5th District enrolling officer until the end of the war.

After the war times were bad, really bad. There was little food and even less money. In the year after the war, Smith was elected to the position of Clerk of Superior Court. Smith served as Clerk for 27 years until 1893. Hardy Smith married his bride, Ella Few Douglas, on November 21, 1867. That same year Ella Smith her mother Phoebe Douglas, and her sister Eugenia Walker were among the seven women who founded the First Methodist Church.

Hardy Smith built a southern gothic style house near the edge of the struggling town of Dublin in the early 1870s. When Dublin needed a railroad, Smith invested in the M.D. and S. railroad serving as secretary and treasurer. An active member of his church, he donated land next to his house to build a church in 1887. Following the death of Judge John T. Duncan, Smith was elected as Judge of the Court of Ordinary, serving one term which ended in 1897. After leaving public office, Smith's thoughts returned to his fellow veterans. He organized a camp of United Confederate Veterans, which was named in his honor. In the last years of his life, Capt. Smith served as Commander of the Eastern Division of Georgia. Hardy Smith died in his bedroom on Dec. 6, 1912. He is buried in Northview Cemetery. Hardy Smith is a hero, not because of the cause he fought for and not because he lost an arm. His accomplishments off the battlefield and his devotion to his family, his church, and his community make him a hero for all generations. Today, concerned citizens of Dublin are seeking to restore Captain Smith's home as a memorial to veterans of all of our country's wars.