The legendary snowball fight of 1864

Late March of 1864 brought an unseasonably large snowfall to the Army of Tennessee encamped around Dalton, Georgia. The storm provided a pleasant diversion for Cleburne's Division at Tunnel Hill. According to historians Howell and Elizabeth Purdue and various other accounts, the men took up a large scale snowball fight which soon swept up participants from several of the regiments including the 32nd. Gen. Cleburne was also caught up in the mock battle. At one point he was "captured" by opposing forces, but soon violated his "parole" and reentered the fight, only to be captured again. The climax came when the general was threatened with "court-marshall" for violating his parole, and a dunking in the creek was being considered as his punishment. However, the victors relented and the fight ended without serious casualties.

More snow fell the next day provoking another snowball fight. Rain and snow continued through the rest of the month. By month's end, apparently Hardee's entire corps was caught up in yet another sham fight.

There were numerous such snow fighting escapades throughout the Southern armies during the war. But the Dalton snowball fight of 1864 is the most famous.

Sketch of the snowball fight in camp at Dalton, Georgia, Winter 1864
Source: Library of Congress

Sources: Pat Cleburne: Confederate General, Howell & Elizabeth Purdue; Fighting Men of the Civil War, William C. Davis & Russ A. Pritchard; Co. Aytch, Sam R. Watkins

Sherman is promoted

On today's date in 1864, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman was made the new commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi following Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's promotion to commander of all the Union armies. Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson ascended to Sherman's old position as head of the Army of the Tennessee.

Soon after his promotion, Grant met with Sherman to work out a master plan for winning the war. Their decision called for Grant to direct the Army of the Potomac and destroy Robert E. Lee's army while trying to take Richmond. For Sherman's part, he will try to do the same to Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, now at Dalton, Georgia, and ultimately take Atlanta. This will be the first time that the Union's Eastern and Western armies will advance simultaneously in a coordinated effort to defeat the South.

In May, Sherman will begin his Atlanta Campaign at Dalton, and he will try to destroy Johnston's army along the way. Sherman will end the year with his infamous "March to the Sea." Also in May, Grant will confront Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles, beginning the Wilderness Campaign and ending with Lee trapped at Petersburg, Virginia. Grant finally will force Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, and Sherman will receive Johnston's surrender at Durham, North Carolina, a few days later on April 26th.

William Tecumseh Sherman was one of several Union generals who hailed from Ohio. Appointed to U.S. Military Academy at West Point at 16 years of age, Sherman graduated sixth in his class in 1840. His early military career was unremarkable, and by 1853, he resigned his commission in the army. He tried his hand at banking and law before becoming the superintendent of the Louisiana Military Academy in 1859. When war broke out between the states, Sherman resigned from the academy and returned north to become a colonel of the 13th United States Infantry.

Sherman in Atlanta, 1864

Sherman saw his first war action at First Manassas as a brigade commander. Impressing his superiors by his leadership there, President Lincoln appointed him brig-adier general in August 1861. He was sent to the border state of Kentucky to keep it from seceding. However, the assignment brought him to  the verge of a breakdown, compelling him to request to be relieved of command. After a brief period of recuperation, he was transferred to serve under Maj Gen. Henry W. Halleck and supported his army in the successful battle for Fort Henry.

By now, Sherman was enjoying the support of personal friendship with Grant and had earned his commander's confidence.* From this point on, Grant will increasingly grow to depend on Sherman's military decisiveness.

In the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, against Albert Sydney Johnston's army, Sherman commanded a division under Grant. Despite being overrun during the battle, Sherman was promoted to major general the next month.

Sherman next led troops in the Battles of Chickasaw Bluffs in late December 1862, and Arkansas Post in January 1863, and he commanded a corps during the Vicksburg Campaign. In the Battle of Chattanooga in November 1863, Sherman's attack against Patrick Cleburne's Division (which included my Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes) at Missionary Ridge was decidedly repelled, although the Union army under Grant did succeed in driving the Confederate army off the ridge and out of Tennessee.

Sherman's Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea, 1864
Source: Georgia Stories

Now in March 1864, as commander of all troops in the Western Theatre, Sherman will soon prepare his 100,000-man army to wage warfare that will bring him both fame and notoriety. Believing that to defeat the South he must both destroy its military force and the source for its material support, Sherman will apply a strategy of total warfare. Adapting to Johnston's defensive approach, Sherman will use a series of flanking maneuvers to cut him off on the race to Atlanta, destroying most everything in his path. In July, he will have his prize in hand and then promptly destroy the city. He will do the same with the homes, farms, countryside—everything in his 60-mile wide path on his "March to the Sea" by year's end. Next, he will lead his army on a destructive route through the Carolina Campaign, hastening the war's end by April 1865.


* Sherman also was able to restore, and even increase, his reputation among those who would serve under him.  No less a leader than division commander Maj. Gen. Jacob B. Cox, who served under Sherman from the Atlanta Campaign through the Carolinas, wrote about his admiration for the general: "I soon acquired an undoubting conviction that of all the men I had met, [Sherman] was the one to whose leadership in war I would commit my own life and the lives of my men with most complete confidence. In him the combination of intellectual insight with fertility of invention and with force of will in execution was of the highest order. I felt that if the end we aimed at was a noble and worthy one, the price he asked us to pay was reasonable, and the object was worth the sacrifices he called for: we were therefore enthusiastic in our obedience."

Sources: Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864, Albert Castel; Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Jacob Dolson Cox; Civil War Trust

U.S. Grant to head the U.S. army

On Leap Year Day, 1864, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his congress officially promoted Ulysses S. Grant to the position of Lieutenant General in order to appoint him to head the entire Union army. For the first time, the North's military will be directed by a single man, and he will use his position to bring far reaching changes to the army and directly influence the outcome of the war.

Gen. Ulysses S.Grant
Source: National Archives

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, and raised in Ohio, Grant went on to attend West Point. Apparently through a clerical error at the academy, his name was misprinted "Ulysses S. Grant." He liked the change well enough that he adopted it. Soon, his classmates nicknamed him "Uncle Sam," and then just "Sam," the name by which he was known to his army colleagues in the years ahead.

By his own confession Grant was not an exceptional student. Nor was he particularly drawn to military life. But he did graduate in 1843, ranking 21st in a class of 39. He then was assigned a position as a regimental quartermaster. Personally opposing the war with Mexico, nevertheless Grant made his way to the front lines and fought in the battle of Resaca de la Palma. Soon, serving under Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, Grant distinguished himself in the decisive battles outside of Mexico City that resulted in Mexico's surrender.

Over the next several years, Grant served at various posts throughout the states and American territories out west. During this period, he married and started a family. With his military salary inadequate to support his family, Grant attempted, but failed at, several business ventures. He grew unhappy at his financial troubles and the separation from his family, and eventually rumors began to circulate that he had become a heavy drinker.

In 1853, he was finally promoted to captain, serving at a post on the northwest California coast. However, in a few months he resigned from the army, likely forced to do so because of his drinking. Now 32 and with no means of supporting his family, Grant tried his hand again for several years at business and even farming. In 1860, he took on a family tannery business in Illinois, "Grant & Perkins," and was able to reunite his family that year.

When the Civil War came in 1861, Grant helped to recruit a company of volunteers and accompanied it to the state's capital at Springfield. He accepted an appointment to recruit and train volunteer units while he waited for a command opportunity with the regular army. Later that year, he was transferred to northern Missouri and promoted by Lincoln to brigadier general. By August 1861, he was assigned duty in southern Illinois.

His first war action was a successful attack in November 1861 against Fort Belmont in Missouri. Next, he captured Fort Henry on February 6, then Fort Donelson on February 16, 1862. His military successes earned him celebrity in the North, and the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.

President Ulysses S. Grant,
18th President of the United States

It was at this point in his career that he began to directly impact the Army of Mississippi (later named the Army of Tennessee), which by now included my Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes in the 32nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment, headquartered in Corinth, Mississippi. The Battle of Shiloh came next, when the Confederates under Albert Sydney Johnston attacked on April 6, 1862. The next day, Grant and William T. Sherman rallied their troops and counterattacked the Confederates. Together with Union reinforcements that had just arrived, they sent the Rebels back to Corinth.

Grant continued to experience success on other fields of battle, in particular at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Following the earlier Confederate victory at Chickamauga in October 1863, he was put in charge of the newly formed Division of the Mississippi, giving him command of almost the entire western theater.

After driving the Confederates from Missionary Ridge in November 1863, Grant's fame increased. On today's date in 1864, when he was promoted to Lieutenant General, he took on a position that had only been held by George Washington and Winfield Scott before him. Now, as the commander of all Union armies, Lincoln finally found a general who will win the war for him, although it will be drawn out for more than another year.

Sources:  Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant; Biography.com

The First Battle of Dalton, 1864

Following the Battle of Missionary Ridge in November of 1863, Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the overall commander of Union troops in the West, drove the Confederates out of Tennessee. The Army of Tennessee, then under the command of Gen. Braxton Bragg, fell back to the mountains of northern Georgia.

With his defeated army headquartered at Dalton and posted in the nearby ridges and gaps, Bragg resigned and was replaced by Joseph E. Johnston. Mindful of his army's defense Johnston arranged his force along the imposing Rocky Face Ridge in the vicinity of Dalton. Over the next 4 months, he reorganized and refit his army for the inevitable campaigning to come. For the most part, except for a Federal attack on this date in 1864, these months were militarily uneventful.

On February 3rd, Grant sent Gen. William T. Sherman and 25,000 troops from Vicksburg on a campaign east toward the Confederate supply center at Meridian, Mississippi. Along the way Sherman tore up the railroad and created other havoc on the route to Meridian. There he planed to link up with a Federal cavalry force.¹ This troop movement prompted President Davis on February 17th, to order Johnston to send Gen. William Hardee with Cleburne's, Cheatham's, and Walker's Divisions, to reinforce Gen. Leonidas Polk in charge of defending Mississippi with only 10,000 troops in his command.

Each night from February 19-23, units from Cleburne's Division, having cooked 2-days' rations, began marching from their winter quarters at Tunnel Hill, 12 miles to Dalton. There they loaded onto boxcars for transport to Demopolis, Alabama, about 300 miles southwest on the line toward Meridian, another 60 miles beyond. 

Photo by Mark Dolan, June 2010

Anticipating Johnston's transfer of part of his army to meet Sherman, Grant saw an opportunity to exploit the Confederates' weakened position at Dalton. He sent Gen. George Thomas to probe Johnston's defenses. On today's date in 1864, just as the last of Cleburne's regiments —Great Grandfather Oakes's 32nd Mississippi—was boarding at Dalton, Thomas moved against Johnston's army.²  Just before boarding the train at Dalton the 32nd Mississippi was ordered to march to Mill Creek Gap to reinforce Gen. A.P. Stewart's Division there, although it did not engage the enemy during the fighting.

The action on February 24th, revealed to Thomas that the Confederates's positions at Mill Creek Gap and Rocky Face Ridge were well defended. So on the 25th, his force attacked Dug Gap, just a few miles south of Mill Creek Gap and at Crow Valley.

Meanwhile in Mississippi, Polk was forced to abandon Meridian, leaving it for Sherman to burn on the 22nd. By the time of Thomas's attack on Dalton, Polk was returning Hardee's unneeded reinforcements, many of which were still in transit to him from Dalton. Portions of Cleburne's Division began returning to Dalton from the 25th through 27th. His first brigade to arrive, Hiram Granbury's, was sent immediately to retake Dug Gap, which it did on the morning of the 26th.

By the 27th, Thomas realized that Johnston, now reinforced with his returning divisions, was ready and able to counter any assault on the Dalton stronghold, so he withdrew his army.

In the battle, Thomas suffered fewer than 300 casualties, while Johnston lost around 140 men. The Union command did learn from this action, however. Next time, with Sherman in command, the army will bypass a direct assault against Rocky Face Ridge and instead attack through an undefended gap well to the south.

Confederate breastworks at Dug Gap, Dug Gap Battle Park
Source: Dalton CVB

After the battle, Cleburne gathered his scattered division and encamped at Dug Gap for a few days. On March 1, he moved his division 3 miles east of Dalton, to the banks of Mill Creek in the Gap of the same name (also known as Buzzard Roost), on the extreme right of the army. As they had done at Tunnel Hill, the men dug entrenchments and prepared huts for their new winter quarters.

¹ Sherman's plan was to link up at Meridian with Brig. Gen. William Soy Smith's cavalry force of 7,000 men. However, Smith met Confederate resistance before he could reach Sherman. Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's cavalry brigade confronted Smith at West Point, Mississippi. From there, Forrest forced Smith to retreat, catching up with him in Okolona, Mississippi. There Forrest defeated Smith in a battle on February 22nd. Meanwhile, Sherman's army reached Meridian on February 14, unaware of Smith's retreat. He waited in Meridian until February 20, when he gave up on Smith and returned to Vicksburg. Little did he know at the time that Smith's defeat at Okolona resulted in the elimination of Sherman's entire left flank of his campaign.

² The action that developed on this date is called "The First Battle of Dalton." The Second Battle of Dalton was a Confederate cavalry action led by Joseph Wheeler against the Federal garrison at Dalton on August 14 & 15, 1864, ending in Wheeler's defeat. In a Third Battle of Dalton, the Federal garrison here will be attacked again and taken by Hood's army in October 13th.

Sources: The Army of Tennessee, Stanley F. Horn; Pat Cleburne: Confederate General, Howell & Elizabeth Purue; This Day in History

The Astonishing Dalton Revival, 1864

During its 5 months in winter quarters at Dalton, Georgia, the Army of Tennessee began to experience a remarkable outpouring of spiritual revival. Soldiers and officers alike made professions in Jesus Christ as Savior as Christian revival spread through every regiment.

The signs of spiritual renewal began the previous winter as the army took up its quarters in Tullahoma following the Battle of Murfreesboro (see "Ministering to soldiers' spiritual needs"). Through the early months  of encampment in 1863, army chaplains, local pastors, and even soldiers and officers regularly preached to the troops. Bibles and Christian publications were freely distributed among the men. So well received was this Christian literature that calls went out to the public pleading for more. In William J. Hardee's Corps, for example, his Presbyterian chaplain, J.H. Bryson, wrote a joint letter of appeal with another Episcopal chaplain, C.T. Quintard,

We feel that we need only mention the fact that our brave soldiers are asking for the Word of Life in order to secure from a generous public the most liberal contributions. Who can withhold, when the sick and wounded who fill our hospitals ask for the word of God to cheer and sustain them during their days of affliction, their nights of weariness and suffering? We feel confident that there are many who will give neither grudgingly nor of necessity, but with cheerful hearts and liberal hands. The religious interests of our soldiers demand and must receive prompt attention from every lover of good order, civil liberty, and piety towards God.

Dalton, Georgia, 1880
Source: Georgia Archives

Thousands of appeals like this were made, and there was a tremendous response by Southern churches and individuals. Thus the seeds of the great revival to come in the west were sown in camp during the early months of the war.

Chaplains and ministers recorded many accounts of great revival throughout the armies in the east and west.¹ J. William Jones's Christ in the Camp and W.W. Bennett's, The Great Revival in the Southern Armies are two comprehensive and compelling collections of these accounts, and I'm pleased to have both in my library. Many eyewitness descriptions were made by soldiers in letters home or in published accounts provided after the war. My own great grandfather, Nathan Oakes, a private in Hardee's Corps, was a witness to these amazing events. In fact, the Confederate Veteran published a couple of his letters to the editor, one in which he wrote of a close comrade who made a profession of faith during this period at Dalton.

Sadly, overlooked by most Civil War historians is this compelling phenomenon of religious revival in the Southern armies. The Army of Tennessee at Dalton, now under the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, was ground zero for the spiritual rebirth of thousands. Rev. W.W. Bennett noted, "The work at Dalton while the army lay there was almost without parallel. In the coldest and darkest nights of winter the rude chapels were crowded, and at the call for penitents hundreds would bow down in sorrow and tears."

That the seeds had been sown for missionary work is evident in the words of Rev. S.M. Cheery, chaplain in Bate's Brigade: "Often I am approached by the soldiers, who inquire, "Parson, is there no chance to get a Bible. I am very anxious to procure a copy, and am willing to pay any price for a pocket-Bible." We are unable to supply one-fourth of the demand for the Scriptures..."

Rev. A.D. McVoy of the 38th Alabama in Stewart's Corps, wrote on February 3rd about the spread of spiritual revival in his brigade and throughout the division.

We have a large Brigade church built, in which we have been holding services for two weeks. About ten days ago we commenced a series of nightly meetings; at first more on the order of prayer-meetings, but the interest began to increase so rapidly that in three nights we found a revival springing up in our midst. Great crowds gather nightly. We find our church too small. Large numbers are seeking the Lord—forty to fifty every night. The word of God and religious services seem to be better appreciated than ever before in this brigade. Men's minds appear to dwell more on religion and the soldiers more concerned about their soul's eternal welfare... The prospect before us is very encouraging. Wickedness and vice seem restrained. Members of the Churches are becoming revived. The Spirit of the Holy One is present and felt. Good resolutions are being formed in every regiment. A number are endeavoring to fulfill their promises made to God upon the eve of and during the late battles. We are expecting and praying for great things.

And the spiritual fervor was not only evident among the soldiers. Gens. John B. Hood, Otto Strahl, and even Joseph E. Johnston himself were baptized. Gens. William Hardee and Daniel Govan were confirmed in the Episcopal Church. In fact, many other officers in Johnston's army were influential in fanning the flames of the Dalton revival. Rev. J.J. Hutchinson reported of what he witnessed:

Ten days ago Gen. Pendleton, a hero of Manassas memory, preached to the soldiers at Dalton. General Johnston and very many other officers were present. On the same day Major-General Stewart, who is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, assisted in this brigade in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. On the same day I preached to Gen. Finley's brigade, where the General and his staff were present, and where he united audibly with our prayers.

Hutchinson's account continues with a mention of Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, who, according to author John Wesley Brinsfield, had constructed in the center of his division a platform specifically for religious services. Hutchinson also was quite impressed with Brig. Gen. Mark P. Lowrey, a Baptist minister before the war, now commanding a brigade including my great grandfather's 32nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment. 

Gen. Cleburne, the hero of many battle-fields, treated me with much attention and kindness—had a place prepared for preaching in the center of his division, where himself and most of his officers were present, and where I was assisted by Brigadier-General Lowry [sic], who sat in the pulpit with me and closed the services of the hour with prayer. I partook of the hospitality of Gen. L. at dinner, and spent several delightful hours in profitable religious conversation. The General is a Baptist preacher, and like the commander of the division, is a hero of many well-fought battle-fields. He takes great interest in the soldiers' religious welfare, often preaches to them, and feels that the ministry is still his high and holy calling. I wish I had the space to give you more of his interesting life's history, and to speak of this noble and pious officer as he deserves.

On another occasion, Rev. A.A. Worrell along with other ministers, including Gen. Lowrey, held a series of meetings for soldiers gathered in the camp. Lowrey preached on the text from Revelation 3:20, "Behold! I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open unto me, I will come in, and sup with him, and he with me." Worrell recalled, "The sermon was clear, pointed, strong, and persuasive; and, at its close, many came forward for prayer and instruction. How many were converted that night I do not know; but I believe there were many."

Rev. Brig. Gen. Mark Lowrey

Of this period of Christian revival in Dalton, reaching its climax in camp in April-May, but continuing throughout the entire Atlanta Campaign, Gen. Lowrey makes humble mention of his role in his autobiography:

I often preached in camp. While in camp at Dalton, Ga., in the Spring of 1864, there was a general revival of religion in the army, and I participated in it, preaching very often to my command. Within two weeks, I baptized over 50 of my own men in camp, on the march, and in the field.²

As Lowrey's words indicate, the revival didn't stop when in May the Confederates broke camp at Dalton. Bennett writes, "The constant movements of the armies in all sections of the South at this period of the war greatly interfered with the work of the revival; but the fire still burned and often on the outer lines the most delightful meetings were held in which many gave their hearts to God." 

Indeed, wrote Rev. McVoy about the battles the army fought in its retreat toward Atlanta, "The work of God is going on amid the cannon's roar, the fatiguing monotony of the trenches, and the heroic movements of the picket line. Religion is infusing a spirit of fortitude, endurance, and determination into the hearts of the soldiers that no hardship, no suffering, can undermine or break down."

No doubt in the months of conflict after Atlanta, when disappointments and the deprivations of war where at their most extreme, the comfort and hope received at Dalton helped sustain the army. The revival, which reached its apex at Dalton, made Christian believers out of at least a third of the army. The eastern army experienced a similar result. "The discipline of war was terrible to the people of the south," writes Rev. Bennett, "but in the end it was beneficial. In the midst of desolation and blood they turned their thoughts to Him who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, and out of great sufferings the patience and faith of the gospel shone forth in brightness and power." He concludes his book, published a decade after the war, by observing the spiritual and cultural effects of the Great Revival in the Confederate Armies on the Southern people:

Strange as it may seem to many readers, the call to preach the gospel of Christ came to the hearts of the men of war on the tented field; and no sooner were their carnal weapons laid aside than they buckled on the Divine armor, and, seizing the sword of the Spirit, entered the battle against the powers of darkness. In this we find one of the strongest proofs of the genuineness of the Army Revival. Truly, its fruits are still enduring. Thousands who were participants in that glorious and, to some, strange work, have passed the flood of death and are seen no more among men, but the seed they sowed in trench and camp and hospital, in the bivouac, and on the weary march, was watered from above and has borne a rich harvest. And may we not hope that the full fruition of this work is to be realized in that era of peace and good will which is even now descending upon our common country?

In so many ways, the War Between the States has no parallel in history. But particularly in its astonishing Christian revivalism and reformation is it distinguished from all other wars, at least since Cromwell's New Model Army. "Whatever may be the judgment of the world as to the principles on which the Southern people entered into the strife," writes Bennett, "it must be admitted that they brought with them a strong religious element. Their convictions of right in what they did were second only to their convictions of the truth of the Christian religion."

¹ Indeed, the wave of Christian conversion and renewal wasn't contained only within the Army of Tennessee. Lee's army in Virginia experienced a similar revival that swept through his entire army.

² Lt. Thomas J. Stokes of Cleburne's Division at Dalton, wrote home in April 1864 to his sister, Mary Gay, "General Lowry [sic] baptized about thirteen of them who were from his brigade. He is a Christian, a soldier and a zealous preacher, and his influence is great. It was truly a beautiful sight to see a general baptizing his men. He preaches for our brigade next Sabbath." The revival continued right up to the Federal attack on the Confederate stronghold at Dalton in early May. Stokes writes again on May 5, 

The great revival is going on with widening and deepening interest. Last Sabbath I saw eighty-three immersed at the creek below our brigade. Four were sprinkled at the stand before going down to the creek, and two down there, making an aggregate within this vicinity of eighty-nine, while the same proportion, I suppose, are turning to God in other parts of the army, making the grand aggregate of many hundreds. Yesterday I saw sixty-five more baptized, forty more who were to have been there failing to come because of an order to be ready to move at any moment. They belong to a more distant brigade... If we do not move before Monday, Sabbath will be a day long to be remembered—‘the water will,’ indeed, ‘be troubled.’ Should we remain three weeks longer, the glad tidings may go forth that the Army of Tennessee is the army of the Lord. But He knoweth best what is for our good, and if He sees proper can so order His providence as to keep us here. His will be done.

Sources: The Great Revival in the Southern Armies, W.W. Bennett; Christ in the Camp, J. William Jones; The Spirit Divided: Memoirs of Civil War Chaplains: The Confederacy, John Wesley Brinsfield; Confederate Veteran, Vol. 7, 1899; Mark P. Lowrey Autobiography; Life in Dixie During the War 1861-1862-1863-1864-1865, Mary A.H. Gay

Reenlistment in the 32nd Mississippi Regiment

Sometime in January 1864, the Army of Tennessee began a reenlistment drive among its troops. Many, like my Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes, had enlisted for 3 years, and enlistment for these men was soon to expire. It was a difficult time for the army. Having experienced a disastrous defeat at Missionary Ridge, and now encamped around Dalton, Georgia in bleak winter conditions, many a man's mind and heart turned towards family back home, so many of these also enduring terrible circumstances under Federal occupation.

Inspired by Gen. Patrick Cleburne's exceptional leadership and profound sense of duty to his country, almost all of his men reenlisted for the war's duration (as did most of the troops at Dalton). It was an amazing display of patriotism on the part of his dedicated troops, among whom were Great Grandfather Oakes and his future brother-in-law, William D. Turner, serving in Gen. Mark Lowrey's 32nd Mississippi Infantry Regiment.

Source: Patrick Cleburne: Confederate General, Howell & Elizabeth Purdue; Huntsville Historical Review, Vol 26, No. 2. 1999: Huntsville Historical Review, Vol 26, No. 2. 1999: Transcription of Capt. Daniel Coleman Diary, Univ. North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Camp Life at Dalton, 1864

During its encampment in and around Dalton, Georgia, over the winter of 1863-64, the Army of Tennessee under Joseph E. Johnston, experienced much needed improvement in condition and morale. Johnston saw to his troops' needs of clothing, equipment, and supplies. In time, the depleted army was restored and a sense of pride also returned. Pvt. Sam Watkins, who was stationed at Tunnel Hill near where Great Grandfather Oakes was camped, wrote in his famous memoir, 

A new era had dawned; a new epoch had been dated... [Johnston] restored the soldier's pride; he brought manhood back to the private's bosom... We soon got proud; the blood of the old Cavaliers tingled in our veins. We did not feel that were serfs and vagabonds. We felt we had a home and country worth fighting for, and, if need be, worth dying for.

Discipline had returned to the army, especially as commanders saw to reestablishing routine and structure in daily camp life.

Craig L. Symonds, in his book, Stonewall of the West, about Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes's division general, Maj. Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, provides some insight into camp life at Tunnel Hill.

[C]amp life resumed its orderly routine. Reveille was at daylight, followed by roll call and breakfast. Cleburne supervised drill from 10 to 11:30, when the troops had their lunch, or what was then called dinner. Then it was more drill from 2:30 to 4:00, often followed by a dress parade at sunset. Tattoo was at 8:00, and taps at 9:00. Meals were dominated by corn bread, often seasoned with red peppers and supplemented by beef when it was available, and potatoes. Occasionally the men were issued bacon, which was especially welcome. At night, the companies often engaged in singing while gathered about the fires. They preferred maudlin and sentimental tunes like “Annie Laurie” and “Do They Miss Me at Home.” Another favorite was “Silence, Silence, Make No More Noise nor Stir.”

Provision was made in the daily schedule for the soldiers' spiritual needs, too. Pvt. Watkins also writes that chaplains now had freedom to return to their work of ministering to the troops. "[They] held divine services every Sabbath, prayer was offered every evening at retreat, and the morale of the army was better in every respect." Lt. Thomas Stokes, also in Cleburne's Division, also noted that some companies established evening prayer meetings. "Religion is the theme," he wrote home to his sister, Mary Gay. Everywhere, you hear around the camp-fires at night the sweet songs of Zion. This spirit pervades the whole army."

Sources: Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War, Craig L. Symonds; Co. Aytch, Sam R. Watkins; Life in Dixie During the War 1861-1862-1863-1864-1865, Mary A.H. Gay

Proposal to enlist Southern salves

Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne
(Library of Congress)

On today's date in 1864, Confederate Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne made a startling proposal to his fellow officers. In a formal letter he recommended arming slaves in exchange for their freedom. By now it was obvious to Cleburne that the Confederacy was losing the war due to the growing limitations of its manpower and resources. Recruiting slaves into the ranks seemed an obvious way to increase the size of the Confederate army.

For Cleburne, Southern independence was more important than preserving slavery. Besides, as he saw the issue, slavery was the South's “most vulnerable point, a continued embarrassment, and in some respects an insidious weakness.” In other words, he argued, slavery had become the South's liability. Slaves were a military hazard for the Confederacy because they were being recruited into the Union army as it took control of Southern territory. And European governments would not likely ever recognize the Confederacy unless slavery were abolished.

Cleburne's argument had a certain moral appeal regarding abolishing slavery:

… we can give the negro not only his own freedom, but that of his wife and child, and can secure it to him in his old home. To do this, we must immediately make his marriage and parental relations sacred in the eyes of the law and forbid their sale. The past legislation of the South concedes that a large free middle class of negro blood, between the master and slave, must sooner or later destroy the institution. If, then, we touch the institution at all, we would do best to make the most of it, and by emancipating the whole race upon reasonable terms, and within such reasonable time as will prepare both races for the change, secure to ourselves all the advantages, and to our enemies all the disadvantages that can arise, both at home and abroad, from such a sacrifice.

And then there's the political logic of his argument: "It is said slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties."

Cleburne had the support of many of his subordinates. His letter was signed by 14 of the division's officers, including Gen. Mark Lowrey, Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes's brigade commander, as well as the colonel of his 32nd/45th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Aaron B. Hardcastle.

Almost all the other generals present at the meeting were politely, but strongly opposed. At least one, W.H.T. Walker, was downright horrified. He considered Cleburne's proposal so dangerous that he forwarded it around the chain of command to the President. Davis then ordered it to be suppressed, "Deeming it to be injurious to the public service that such a subject should be mooted, or even known to be entertained by persons possessed of the confidence and respect of the people…" So effective was the suppression that Cleburne's controversial proposal wouldn't resurface for another 30 years.

Photo by David Seibert, July 14, 2011, Dalton, Georgia

Source: Historical Marker Database

Ironically though, in March 1865, with defeat looming, the Confederate Congress approved recruiting slaves. A small number actually were enlisted, but none saw combat. In the North, however, nearly 200,000 free African Americans and escaped Southern slaves served as soldiers and sailors in the U.S. military.

In 2011, Gen. Cleburne finally received recognition at Dalton for his radical idea. A marker commemorating his proposal was placed by the Georgia Historical Society on the site where he first delivered it.

Sources: Autumn of Glory, Thomas Lawrence Connelly; "Biographical Sketch of Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne," Gen. William J. Hardee, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. 31; "Patrick Cleburne's Proposal to Arm Slaves," Civil War Trust

Johnston assumes command

On today's date in 1863, Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston took over command of the Army of Tennessee, currently under the temporary command of Gen. William J. Hardee. His announcement to his troops was simple: "By order of His Excellency, the President, I have the honor to assume command of this army." His appointment was well-received by the soldiers encamped in and around Dalton, Georgia.

Born to scottish emigrants in Virginia in 1807, Johnston graduated from West Point in 1829, ranking 13th of 46 in his class. His first appointment was as second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery. In 1837, he resigned his commission to study civil engineering. Rejoining the army in 1838, he served with honors in the Mexican-American War, the Seminole Wars, and as a quartermaster general in California in 1860.

When his home state seceded in 1861, Johnston became the highest-ranking U.S. Army officer to resign his commission. He was appointed brigadier general in the Confederate army and was assigned the post at Harpers Ferry in May of 1861. He soon organized the Army of the Shenandoah, later consolidated with P.G.T. Beauregard's army as the Army of the Potomac. Johnston was the senior Confederate commander at First Manassas/First Battle of Bull Run. During the 1862 Peninsula Campaign he defended the Confederate capital of Richmond, withdrawing under the pressure of a superior force commanded by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan. He suffered severe wounds at the Battle of Seven Pines, after which he was replaced by his West Point classmate, Robert E. Lee, who led the now renamed Army of Northern Virginia throughout the rest of the war.

After recovering from his wounds, Johnston went on to command in the western theater, ascending to command over John C. Pemberton's Department of Mississipi and East Louisiana, and more importantly, the Army of Tennessee following Braxton Bragg's resignation. Johnston was criticized by Richmond for his failures in the Vicksburg Campaign, of which he was not completely at fault since he was not entirely in control. After assuming direct command of the Army of Tennessee on today's date, he was engaged in a series of defensive battles against Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman from Dalton through most of the Atlanta Campaign. Critical of his series of retreats to Atlanta, President Davis relieved Johnston of command on the eve of the defense of that city in July of 1864.

Yielding to political pressure, the president reinstated Johnston in February 1865 as commander of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Soon, the remnants of the Army of Tennessee were transferred to Johnston in the Carolinas Campaign. By now the consolidated army was outnumbered and undersupplied, but it did experience one last success at the Battle of Bentonville. Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9 led Johnston to finally surrender his department and the Army of Tennessee to Sherman on April 26, 1865. It was the largest single surrender of the war—89,270 soldiers.

After the war, Johnston worked in business and as railroad commissioner under President Grover Cleveland. Later, he served a term in the U.S. Congress. He also became close friends with his old opponent, William T. Sherman. In fact, Johnston was a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral in 1891, when he contracted pneumonia and died several weeks later. He is buried in the Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Now in command of the Army of Tennessee at Dalton, Georgia, Gen. Johnston started preparing his force for the coming spring campaign. He began by improving morale, which had reached its low following the rout at Missionary Ridge in late November. He improved his rail supply line from Atlanta and increased rations for his 39,000-man army. He made efforts to provide shoes and uniforms for his tattered soldiers. He strengthened discipline while also creating a system for granting furloughs to his weary men. His new measures worked, and thousands of absentees returned and reinforcements were added to the ranks. By April, the army had increased to 54,000. As the men began to trust their new commander, order and a sense of confidence were restored, returning the Army of Tennessee to a formidable force over the next few months.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/12/21/5211918/davis-selects-johnston-to-command.html#storylink=cpy

Johnston did some reorganization to his army about this time. But apparently he was satisfied with the organization of Cleburne's Division, in which my Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes was serving in Lowrey's Brigade, stationed on today's date outside of Dalton, since he made no important changes. Neither was there any significant military activity while the division was stationed at Tunnel Hill.

Joseph E. Johnston monument in Dalton, Georgia
Source: Hal Jespersen | Wikimedia Commons

Sources: The Army of Tennessee, Stanley F. Horn;  Civil War Trust

I heard the bells on Christmas Day, 1863

On this date in 1863, American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, father of a recently wounded Union soldier, penned this famous and poignant poem, now a beloved Christmas carol.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet, the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along, the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn the households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Cleburne's war college

In early December, Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne's Division established its winter quarters at Tunnel Hill, 7 miles northwest of Dalton, Georgia, where the rest of the Army of Tennessee is encamped. Cleburne's men, including Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes's 32nd Mississippi Regiment, guarded the crest of Tunnel Hill and the wagon road to Dalton. Since there was no longer an immediate threat from the Federal army at Chattanooga, Cleburne turned some of his attention to training and disciplining his division.

Most of the Confederate army was made up of volunteers or conscripts with little to no experience at being soldiers—except, of course, what they picked up on the job. Cleburne insisted upon military discipline and obedience to orders. Part of maintaining discipline and fighting readiness in his division included regular drilling of his brigades. At the Tunnel Hill outpost, he went so far as to construct a log cabin classroom where he personally instructed his brigade commanders in the art of war. He taught them from Hardee's Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics and listened to their recitations. Cleburne's brigadiers, in turn, taught the officers under their various commands.

Maj. Gen. William Hardee was quite impressed with Cleburne's work and its results. After the war he wrote in the Southern Historical Society Papers about Cleburne's war college at Tunnel Hill and the men he trained:

[Cleburne] devoted the winter months to the discipline and instruction of his troops, and revived a previously adopted system of daily recitations in the tactics and the art of war. He himself heard the recitations of his brigade commanders—a quartette of lieutenants worthy of their captain—the stately Granberry [sic], as great of heart as of fame, a noble type of the Texan soldier; Govan, true and brave as he was courteous and gentle; [Polk], young, handsome, dashing and fearless, and Lowry* [sic], the parson soldier, who preached to his men in camp and fought with them in the field with equal earnestness and effect. These brigadiers heard the recitations of the regimental officers. The thorough instruction thus secured, first applied on the drill ground and then tested in the field, gave the troops great efficiency in action.

With such careful attention paid to training his men, it's no wonder that Cleburne's Division earned so much praise for its prowess on the battlefield. And Federal troops were heard to say they dreaded to face the blue battle flag of Cleburne's Division more than any other across the battlefield.

* Brig. Gen. Mark P. Lowrey was the commander of Great Grandfather Nathan Oakes's brigade.

Sources: Pat Cleburne: Confederate General, Howell & Elizabeth Purdue; "Biographical Sketch of Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne," Gen. William J. Hardee, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. 31

Bragg's departure

On today's date in 1863, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg took his leave of the Army of Tennessee, which he had led in victory and disaster since assuming command in Tupelo, Mississippi, in June the year before. In an emotional ceremony he surrendered his command of the army, now at Dalton in North Georgia, to Lt. Gen. Hardee. The following is Bragg’s farewell order to his army:

General Order, No. 214. 

Upon renewed application to the President, his consent has been obtained for the relinquishment of the command of this army. It is accordingly transferred to Lieutenant-general Hardee. The announcement of this separation is made with unfeigned regret. An association of more than two years, which bind together a commander and his trusted troops, cannot be severed without deep emotion. For a common cause, dangers shared on many hard-fought fields have cemented bonds which time can never impair. The circumstances which render this step proper will be appreciated by every good soldier and true patriot. The last appeal the general has to make to the gallant army which has so long nobly sustained him is to give his successor that cordial and generous support essential to the success of your arms. In that successor you have a veteran whose brilliant reputation you have aided to achieve. To the officers of my general staff, who have so long zealously and successfully struggled against serious difficulties to support the army and myself, is due, in a great degree, what little success and fame we have achieved. Bidding them and the Army an affectionate farewell, they have the blessings and prayers of a grateful friend. 

Braxton Bragg.

Upon assuming command, Lt. Gen. Hardee issued his own General Order to his men. Considering the unfriendly relations these two men shared, Hardee's remarks about his former commander sound generous and conciliatory.

Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee: 

Gen. Bragg having been relieved from duty with the army, the command has devolved upon me. The steady courage, the unsullied patriotism of the distinguished leader who has shared your fortunes for more than a year, will long be remembered by this army and the country he served so well. 

I desire to say, in assuming command, that this is no cause for discouragement. The overwhelming number of the enemy forced us back from Missionary Ridge, but the army retired intact and in good heart. Our losses are small and will be rapidly repaired. The country is looking upon you. Only the weak need to be cheered by constant success. Veterans of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga require no such stimulant to sustain their courage. Let the past take care of itself. We can and must take care of the future.

W. J. Hardee.

Hardee's command will only be temporary, and President Jefferson Davis will soon pick a more permanent replacement. After asking Gen. Robert E. Lee to consider, who declined, Davis appointed Joseph E. Johnston.

Bragg's departure will be mourned by few under his command. As Civil War author Peter Cozzens writes, "Even Bragg's staunchest supporters admonished him for his quick temper, general irritability, and tendency to wound innocent men with barbs thrown during his frequent fits of anger. His reluctance to praise or flatter was exceeded, we are told, only by the tenacity with which, once formed, he clung to an adverse impression of a subordinate. For such officers—and they were many in the Army of the Mississippi—Bragg's removal or their transfer were the only alternatives to an unbearable existence."

Bragg's patriotism and sense of duty are without question. However, his actual leadership skills were a serious mismatch for the demands of a commander-in-chief of an army second to only Robert E. Lee's in Virginia.

Contrary to the warm farewell he delivered to his command, as his official reports and letters demonstrate, it was an embittered Bragg who departed the army on today's date. His own record contains scathing criticisms of his subordinates, and a shifting of blame to them for his own mistakes. He even went so far as to accuse his men of cowardice, which is remarkable considering the actual bravery and indomitable spirit they displayed in their many hardships and sacrifices for this unappreciative general.

So, it is no surprise that many rejoiced to see Bragg go. However, he will soon become the president's  top military advisor, and in that position, continue to wield power and influence over the Army of Tennessee.

Sources: No Better Place to Die, Peter Cozzens; Mountains Touched With Fire, Wiley Sword; Official Records, Vol. 31, Pt. 3