GILMER COUNTY, GA - BIOS Moses T. Southerland

*****************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
***********************
This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by:
jhs33@frontiernet.net  Harry Sutherland


A FACTUAL STORY ABOUT A CONFEDERATE SOLDIER

This is the story of Moses T. Southerland.  Moses was
born in Pickens Co. SC in 1847.  Moses was one of  five
children of Samuel E. Southerland and his wife Nancy.
Moses attended school until the 7th Grade.  There was no
high school in this locality.  His dad volunteered for
the Confederate Army in 1861.  Samuel was assigned to the
Pickens Co. unit, the 2nd SC Rifles commanded by Col.
Kershaw, latter General Kershaw.

Moses remained on the farm working daylight till dark, in
the absence of his father. He took especially good care
of his mother and siblings.  The farm produced the basic
foods that the family needed in time of war.   On Nov.
29,1863 Moses was 16 years old and volunteered for
Confederate service.  I believe several fellows had heard
bits and pieces of the war and wanted to volunteer for
the adventure.  This group was assigned to the 2nd SC
Rifles because the Confederates knew they had a better
chance of keeping these mountain boys if they were with
friends.

Moses fought in many battles gallantry, among the battles
at Petersburg, Va., Cold Harbor, Va., Spotsylvania,Va.,
and fifteen other major battles.  These men suffered from
lack of food, winter clothing, shoes, and various
untreated diseases.  Many were hospitalized in Richmond. 
Medical care was poor if at all.  Too many Confederates
died simply because of this lack of medical attention.
The soldiers did not have ammunition except that they
took from dead bodies.  They followed calvary hoses and
ate the undigested corn from horse dung.  The
Confederates supply trains were almost non-existent.
Rails had been destroyed, as well as warehouses.

A typical day the men woke up cold, with little to fight
with, but fought valiant.  They walked through their
fellow soldiers bones, listen to the thunder of Union
cannon, and with poor clothes were usually tired from
long marches.  It is difficult for people today to
understand how these men kept any morale.

The 2nd SC Rifles surrendered at Appomattox CH, Va. with
General Lee.   They fought the last battle.  General
Grant informed General Lee that the men could take their
rifles, horses, and mules home with them.  These were
infantry soldiers and had no animals, so they walked
home.  Many never returned to their homes when they saw
the devastation to homes, farms, and the country side.  

Moses did return to Pickens County SC, married and had
one son born in SC.  He loaded his family in a wagon and
started for Georgia.  He saw Gilmer County and liked it. 
Many of the SC soldiers did likewise.  They were running
from all the hardships they saw when they returned from
the war.  It had a very demeaning effect on their lives. 
Their dignity suffered at the loss of this war, which
they did not understand.                                 


These mountain boys owned no slaves, had little property,
and did not really understand why they were fighting this
war.   They had little knowledge of politics.   They were
exceptional fighting men, but poor in discipline.
These men were thrown into battle with little, if any
training.  They were loyal only when they faced the
enemy.  Being mountain boys made them ideal soldiers,
they were tough and knew how to shoot.  The mountains
offered them a place to so called, "drop out."           


Moses bought a farm in Leeches District of Gilmer County.
In 1894, Moses became pastor of Flat Creek Baptist
Church.  All during the Civil War Moses claimed he could
not read or write, but it was a protective action to
prevent harm to his family.  He gave false names as many
of the soldiers did for the same reason.  Moses remarried
to a lady named Tarrey Medlin.  I do not know the reason
Evelyn died.   I know little about Tarrey.

Another observation of the data collected on Moses, he
became a recluse, never bothering to visit his kin
although they lived 60 miles away.  The men who came from
SC did socialize with each other, but rarely with any one
else.  They dressed up in gray uniforms and marched
around with their rifles on Sundays.  This war took it's
toll on these men but they felt comfortable in the Gilmer
County mountains.  Gilmer County offered a haven for
their last years.  They farmed the soil, attended church,
and focused on their families.

In Moses last years his second wife had died and he was
blind, so he went to live with his daughter Savannah
Ralston in the Coosawattee District.  Moses died on May
6, 1932.  Here was a man that found a home in Gilmer
County and had a few happy years after the war.  I will
always be glad I found him.  Moses is buried in the Mt.
Pisgah Baptist Cemetery in Gilmer County beside his wife
Tarrey.

"	This story contains excepts from the book I am writing.

J. Harry Sutherland