Whitfield County GaArchives History .....Chapter III History of Whitfield County 1936 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 1, 2004, 12:27 pm p. 55 CHAPTER III War Between the States When it became apparent that the North and South were hopelessly divided, the legislature of Georgia called a state convention of delegates to be elected by the people, to decide whether or not Georgia should secede from the union. When the convention met at Milledgeville on the sixteenth of January, 1861, many eloquent speeches were made for and against secession. On the final test vote it was found that one hundred and sixty-four delegates favored secession, while one hundred and thirty-three favored co-operation with fifteen other southern states in securing constitutional guarantees for the protection of their rights and property. Following the result of the vote Georgia was declared a free and independent republic. In February, 1861, the Southern Confederacy was formed, and Georgia entered, thus becoming one of the Confederate states. Whitfield county was represented in this convention by duly elected delegates. Avery's History of Georgia states that Whit-field county was represented by J. M. Jackson, F. A. Thomas and Dickson Taliaferro. Jackson and Taliaferro voted "No" on the ordinance of Secession and Thomas voted "Yes". It is interesting to note that only one delegate from Whitfield county to the convention voted for secession. MILITARY HISTORY* "At the outbreak of hostilities between the North and South, Dalton had one organized military company: The Dalton _________ *This article was prepared by John S. Thomas for the Anniversary Edition of The Citizen and is published with his permission. Authorities consulted: Gen. Joseph Johnston's "Narrative of the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta;" "Campaigns of Wheeler's Cavalry;" "A Staff Officers Diary;" "Mountain Campaigns" in Georgia by Joseph M. Brown. ---------------- p. 56 Guards, commanded by Captain Tom Cook, who lost his life at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was brought back, to Dalton and buried in the old Presbyterian cemetery. The Dalton Guards were ordered to Big Shanty and formed a part of the famous Phillips Legion of General T. R. R. Cobb's brigade, and fought through the long four years under General Lee, taking part in all the great battles that the Army of Virginia engaged in. A number of Whitfield county and Murray county, men joined the 36th Georgia, commanded by Colonel Glenn, and the 34th Georgia, commanded by McConnell, who was killed at Missionary Ridge while leading his regiment in a charge; others joined Colonel Avery's Fourth Georgia Cavalry and served with General Joe Wheeler. The Confederate government had a pork packing establishment erected on Mill Creek near what we know as Willow Dale. This was in charge of W. J. M. Thomas, J. G. S. Weatherford and W. M. Nichols. Soon after the war started the government commenced the manufacture of cartridge boxes and belts in a portion of the unfinished hotel that stood on the lot where our post office building now stands. Dalton saw its first Confederate troops when, in the summer of 1862, most of General Bragg's army came from North Alabama and Mississippi via Atlanta and Rome on the way to concentrate at Chattanooga in preparation for the Kentucky campaign. Not long before this the town was set in a frenzy by the wild race of the engine General chased by the Texas as they raced through Dalton. The race ended near Catoosa station and most of the raiders were captured and hung. In September, 1863, General Longstreet's veteran corps passed through Dalton on their way to take part in the great battle of Chickamauga. They were met by the people of Dalton with baskets of food, and greeted with cheers and wild enthusiasm. In only a few days the roar of cannon and rattle of musketry were plainly heard in Dalton, for the great battle that lasted nearly three days was being desperately fought; the Confederate army finally driving the Union army from the field. The wounded were sent to Dalton by the hundreds. Soon every house or church that could care for or handle the wound- ---------------- p. 57 ed was full. The ladies of Dalton gave up for bandages every linen table cloth, and every sheet they possessed. And thousands of wounded were hauled in all kinds of box and flat cars, to cities and towns farther south. On a dark, cold, rainy day in December, 1863, news of the defeat of the Southern army at Missionary Ridge reached Dalton, and the whole town was hushed in gloom and despair. Some gathered together what household goods they could pack and ship, closed up their homes, and refugeed to South Georgia and Alabama. The next day the advance guard of the Army of Tennessee reached Dalton. Cleburne's gallant division of less than 5,000 muskets had fought Hooker's corps to a standstill at Ringgold Gap, and stopped the pursuit of Bragg's army. Bragg's wagon tram extended from Ringgold almost to Dalton. It reached Dalton, thanks to Cleburne's fight and repulse of Hooker's corps at Ringgold Gap. Unmolested, on arrival at Dalton, General Bragg telegraphed President Davis at Richmond and asked to be relieved of the command of the Army of Tennessee. General W. J. Hardee assumed temporary command and made his headquarters at a home on South Depot street that burned many years ago, now replaced and owned by the Home family. On one of the walls of the old house was a complete map of Dalton and Whitfield county drawn by army engineers. On December 26, 1863, General Joseph E. Johnston was assigned to the command of the army and reached Dalton on that date and assumed command the next day. General Johnston first occupied a house on Selvidge street, then owned by the Cook family, and now owned by Mrs. William C. Huff. When the Spring campaign opened, General Johnston moved his headquarters to a house known as the Tibbs' house on North Hamilton street. This statement was verified by Major Frank Jackson of the 34th Georgia infantry, who was appointed provost marshal of Dalton by General Johnston. During December and January the different divisions of the army were camped all around Dalton. The winter of '63 and '64 was an exceedingly cold one and the Confederate army, poorly supplied with clothing and shoes, suffered greatly; oftentimes food was scarce and the soldiers foraged for miles around. ---------------- p. 58 In late January, or early February, a heavy snow fell and blanketed the country with two feet of fleecy whiteness. All drills and inspections were for the time abolished, and from a small tossing and throwing of a few snowballs the whole army engaged in a great snow battle that lasted nearly all day. When the weather permitted, the soldiers were put to building corduroy roads. Every main road out of Dalton was made passable for artillery. In General Johnston's account of the Dalton to Atlanta campaign he says that Dalton was not strong strategically, as it could be flanked on the east via the Cleveland wagon road, and a flanking movement west of Rocky Face was screened by mountains. DEFENSE OF DALTON When the Union army advanced via Ringgold Gap, Johnston made ready to defend Dalton. His army was posted in Mill Creek Gap in line of battle extending along Rocky Face northeast so as to cover the Tennessee Railroad and the Cleveland highway. On the 5th of May, the Confederate army was in line of battle as follows: Stewart's and Bates' division ir Mill Creek gap, in which they had constructed slight defensive works, the former on the right of the stream; Cheatham on Stewart's right, occupied about a mile of the crest of the mountain; Walker's division in reserve; Stevenson's across Crow Valley, its left joining Cheatham's right on the crest of the mountain; Hind-man's on the right of Stevenson's; and Cleburne's immediately in front of Dalton and behind Mill Creek across the Cleveland road. In General Joseph Hooker's account of Sherman's campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, he says that under Sherman's orders, he inspected, from a high hill with field glasses, General Johnston's line of battle, and reported to Sherman that it was one of the strongest positions ever occupied and defended by an army, and advised that the position be flanked as a direct assault would cost thousands of lives. On the 9th of May, Newton's division of the Fourth Union army corps assaulted the positions on the ridge in Crow Valley held by Brown's and Pettus' Confederate brigades. The Union forces were driven back with considerable loss. ---------------- p. 59 On the 8th of May, two small regiments of Confederate cavalry were driven from Dug Gap three miles west of Dalton. General Johnston ordered Cranberry's Texas brigade to retake the Gap, which they did in a gallant charge up the steep, rough mountain side. On that same day Wheeler's cavalry encountered a large body of Union cavalry near Varnells Station. Wheeler attacked and routed the Union Cavalry, capturing over one hundred prisoners. Among them three captains, five lieutenants and Colonel LaGrange who commanded a brigade. Continual picket firing and skirmishing was constantly going on at and in front of Mill Creek Gap. The Confederate artillery which occupied the two high ridges west and northwest of the Springfield farm, checked the Union advance by rapid and well directed fire. During the winter a man who turned out to be a Union spy, who posed as a peddler selling small notions, was closely watched and when arrested had almost a complete record of the number and positions held around Dalton by the Confederate forces. He was found guilty by court-martial and hanged near our court house square. On the 13th of May, General Johnston was informed of Sherman's flanking movement, screened by Rocky Face and Taylor's ridge and through Snake Creek Gap. To meet this movement of the Union army, General Johnston, on the date, ordered his troops to give up the Mill Creek Gap and Crow Valley lines so successfully held by them, and to march to Resaca. When the news spread over Dalton that our army was giving up Dalton to the enemy, panic took possession of the few remaining families and they left on foot, in wagons and carriages or any vehicle they could secure. Homes and most of their household goods were abandoned. Those attempting to leave by wagons found the roads blocked by Confederate troops. On the 14th and 15th of May, the two armies struggled for advantage at Resaca. The roar of cannon, and rattle of small arms, were plainly heard at Dalton. Then the first Union troops entered Dalton. They were part of Sherman's fourth corps, his other corps marched west of Dalton and passed through Snake Creek gap. The first Union ---------------- p. 60 flag to be put up in Dalton was raised on Thornton Avenue on the lot now occupied by the home of L. J. Allyn. Later in the summer of 1864, Wheeler's cavalry came into Dalton. A Union regiment was camped on North Thornton Avenue and on the ground where we now have our City Park. The Union troops were taken by surprise, as most of them were preparing their noonday meal. They offered little resistance, most of them taking refuge on Fort Hill. Wheeler's men took possession of the nearly prepared dinner and all abandoned camp material. At that time a Union sutler had his headquarters in the basement of the hotel owned by Judge W. P. Chester, who had refugeed with his family. Wheeler's men found the sutler's establishment and filled their knapsacks with eatables, and completely eptied the place. In the meantime, the Union forces had erected fortifications on school hill and mounted artillery. Wheeler, in another raid, charged and captured this fort, taking several hundred prisoners. He attacked from the east side from Morris street. In October, General Hood's army reached Dalton. Cheat-ham's division placed cannon on cemetery hill and demanded the surrender of the fort on school hill. Knowing it was useless to refuse, the Union forces surrendered and marched away as prisoners with Hood's troops. Dalton was again garrisoned by Union troops who remained undisturbed until Lee's surrender ended the war. Nearly every building on Hamilton street was destroyed. The most wanton outrage was the destruction of the Presbyterian church. Not a brick was left standing. Mrs. Andy Cal-houn, formerly a Miss Loner, was a small girl when Mill Creek gap was the Confederate line of battle. Her family occupied a house belonging to the Glaze family. She said the Union artillery elevated their guns to shoot at the Confederate troops on the top of Rocky Face, and some of the shells passed over the top of the mountain and fell in the orchard near the house. The women and children went under the house until the firing ceased. While our army was camped in and around Dalton, a great protracted meeting was held. Some of the South's most famous preachers came to Dalton to help in the services; and hundreds p. 61 of soldiers professed religion. General Hood was baptized by General Leonidas Polk who before the war had been an Episcopal bishop of Louisiana, and who was killed at Kennesaw mountain. General Johnston reviewed his entire army while at Dalton, a reviewing stand being erected on Ridge street on the eastern side of our cemetery. Artillery, cavalry and infantry all marched by, over forty thousand strong. The army of Tennessee remained longer at Dalton than at any other place, with the exception of the time spent at Tullahoma, Tennessee, during the period of the war. A sham battle was fought on the property now owned by the American Thread mill. As stated in the beginning of this article, the winter was cold and hard, and to make matters worse smallpox broke out among the troops. A smallpox hospital was established on the Antioch road, and many of our soldiers died there and were buried nearby on what was then known as the Worthy farm. The bodies were never removed. No road out of Dalton but that felt the tramp of marching feet, and at night the surrounding hills were covered by thousands of camp fires. A lady now living in Dalton, who was a small girl, tells of the retreat of our army after the disaster at Missionary Ridge. She said that on that cold December afternoon the advance brigade of the army came down Chattanooga avenue marching in columns of four. They were ragged, some were without hats or caps, some marched without shoes, but their heads were up and their bright bayonets shone in the evening sun. They had had no food that day, and had marched over seventeen miles of muddy roads. That night the entire Confederate army, with the exception of Cleburne's division that remained at Tunnel Hill, and camped there for several weeks, camped in and around Dalton. Very few of the Confederate soldiers had overcoats, and they had few tents. On bitter cold nights they came in from nearby camps and asked to sleep under houses or on the porches. Every Dalton home soon parted with every spare blanket and comfort they possessed. Soon after General Johnson assumed command at Dalton, he telegraphed the War Department at Richmond, that 13,400 ---------------- p. 62 of his men were without shoes. That meant that one-fourth of his army was without shoes and snow on the ground. Hardships were cheerfully endured, and the officers and soldiers divided their slim rations with the few women and children left in the town. In Wheeler's raids he met and charged the Union line of pickets near the intersection of Walnut avenue. Several of the Union dead were buried near our Confederate dead on the eastern slope of the cemetery, and in 1866 or '67 when our soldiers were moved to where they now rest, the Union soldiers were moved too, and their graves have always been decorated just as our own on Confederate memorial day. On the crest of the western portion of Rocky Face for sixty years a Kentucky soldier has slept. A stone placed by the boy scouts of Dalton reads: "George W. Disney, Co. K. Kentucky Volunteers—May 9th, 1864." Johnston's retreat from Dalton to Atlanta was a masterly retreat. Sherman with his far superior forces, could flank Johnston out of his well chosen positions, but always he found a Confederate battle line in his front, and every foot of ground bitterly contested. With a little handful of men, comparatively speaking, he menaced and harrassed General Sherman, who had a vast army, until it must have seemed to him impossible to make the distance from Dalton to Atlanta, taking him something like a hundred days to go a hundred miles." WAR MEMOIRS The following interesting bits are taken from the memoirs of Mrs. Emma Love Thompson, a Dalton woman who, as a girl, participated in many of the stirring events during the early days of the war: "The first regiment that I saw was one that came through Dalton in May, 1861. It was the fourth Alabama regiment, which stopped over in Dalton for several days. "The Dalton Guards left some weeks later. They were commanded by Captain Tom Cook. He was killed in battle and was brought back to Dalton and buried Christmas day. He was to have been married on that day to Miss Jemima Black, daughter of Dr. Black. p. 63 "The next company enlisted for six months. This company was commanded by Captain John Walker. They were sent to Savannah. My brother, R. R. Love, was a member of this company. A large number of the young men looked upon the war as a picnic for they supposed they would return in six or twelve months with laurels on their brows, but they were doomed to disappointment. Their chivalry and ardor were considerably p. 64 dampened before the close for they suffered often from lack of food and clothing. "I think it was in 1862 they turned all the public houses into hospitals, the court house, churches and one of the hotels. The ladies of the town formed a cooking society to make soup and light rolls for the sick and wounded. They secured a vacant house and four or five ladies would go every day in the week and prepare the food. "It was in October or November of '63 that the army of Tennessee fell back to Dalton after the battle of Chickamauga. They went into winter quarters and remained until May. "They had a review of the troops in March or April. Colonel Gordon asked me to escort him, which I agreed to do, but he was compelled to command his regiment as the Lieutenant Colonel was absent. He asked a friend, Colonel O'Neill of the 29th Tennessee Regiment, to take his place, which he did. He reviewed the whole army, riding up one line and down the other. I rode a black pony and wore a long black riding habit with a black turban with a long white feather in it. "Costumes, at that time, were very scarce whether for street, evening or home wear. Our house dresses were homespun, the thread dyed and then woven on looms in the country. The southern women made almost every thing they wore from shoes to palmetto hats. That was in the last two years of the war. "It was in February or March that General Hill, Provost Marshal, sent a request for a lady to search two women who had come through the lines. I can't remember the name of the first, nor how she managed to get through. She was stopping at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Blount just across the street from General Hill's headquarters. He sent an orderly with us. We went in and made our mission known to her. She became very indignant and said she would not submit to it. I turned to the orderly and told him to watch her while I went across the street to see General Hill. He told me to tell the orderly to see that his orders were carried out. When I got back she was putting some papers in the stove. She reluctantly consented to having her baggage searched. She had a large Saratoga trunk. It was packed but we went to the bottom of it, piling the things on the bed. When ---------------- p. 65 we got through she thought we should pack it again. I told her we had no orders to do that. We found no papers to convict her of being a spy; if she had any she had destroyed them. "We went from there to my father's, J. P. Love, where Dr. Mary Walker was under guard. She was taken prisoner at Tunnel Hill. She had gone to the picket lines to send some mail. It was supposed that her principal object was to get a view, or learn something about our army, or she may have expected to be taken and exchanged, and by going through the southern states she would gain some knowledge of the situation of the army and other conditions. She was kept prisoner in Dalton about two weeks; she was then sent to Richmond where she was exchanged after being kept there some time. She was a surgeon in the army with a rank of Major. She wore a blue cloth bloomer suit with a red sash across her shoulder, a cocked felt hat and boots. When we went in and told her of General Hill's order, she agreed at once and was very agreeable. We had her disrobe as she had no baggage. I had her take her boots off, but I failed to find anything. After Sherman came to Atlanta she came back through Dalton." Joseph M. Brown, ex-governor of Georgia, in his book, "The Mountain Campaigns in Georgia," says: "In none of the campaigns of the gigantic 'War between the States' was there a more notable display of adroit, wary, far-reaching, strategic genius and prudent, patient, watchful care on the part of the great commanders, of skillful leadership by their officers, or of more heroic bravery and cheerful endurance by the men than in that memorable retreat which began in Whitfield county. "The south had sent her brainiest and bravest leaders to endeaver, with fifty thousand men, to stem the tide of invasion which was rolling through Georgia. "To the essayist, wishing to immortalize with his pen the deeds of great men, here is opened one of history's favorite chapters; to the artist eager to depict the romantic and picturesque, here, too, is displayed the scenery which thrills the emotions; while to the patriot who delights to tell of achievements of men who dared face death for their country, their cause and their flag, here is shown the theatre of their toils and their glory." ---------------- p. 66 OTHER BATTLES In Whitfield county there were thirteen fierce struggles at arms between Federal and Confederate armies, but so impregnable was she from her natural barriers that the exhausted army of General Bragg really went into winter quarters, while a few thousand men held the Federal army at bay, from November 28, 1863, till the 13th of the following May. The more important engagements were the Battle of Ring-gold, Pat Cleburne's ambuscade, only fourteen miles from Dalton on the Western & Atlantic railroad, November 27, 1863. This is near the famous Catoosa springs. Battles of Tunnel Hill, eight miles from Dalton by rail, November 28, 1863, and February 23rd, May 6th and 7th, 1864. Battles of Mill Creek gap, near Dalton, February 25th, May 9th and 10th, 1864. Battles of Rocky Face, seen from Dalton, February 25th, May 12th, 1864. Battles of Dug Gap, near Dalton, February 26th, May 8th, 1864. Recapture of Dalton and Federal garrison, October 13, 1864, by General Hood. General Wheeler's race with a Federal locomotive, for stone bridge, on East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia railroad, near Dalton, October 13, 1864. Resaca, where four days' hard fighting occurred in May, 1864, is twelve miles south of Dalton. The "Atlanta Campaign" was opened May 1, 1864, at Dalton by Sherman with 98,797 men and 254 cannon, and Johnston with 42,856 men and 120 cannon. On August 15, 1864, Dalton was captured by Wheeler's cavalry, who were raiding Sherman's communications. The Confederates secured two hundred prisoners and destroyed considerable army stores, etc., and then went northward. Dalton was also captured by Hood's army, on its grand retrograde movement, after the fall of Atlanta. There was a sharp fight south of the town. The Confederates here captured the garrison, a regiment of negro troops. This was on October 13, 1864. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee, Commander-in-Chief «of the Confederate army, surrendered to the Federal army and was followed a few days later by General Joseph E. Johnston. By June 1st, all the Confederates had surrendered, and thus the great war came to a close, leaving the whole south des- ---------------- p. 67 titute and exhausted. Dalton and Whitfield county suffered greatly because they were in the line of the invading army, and endured all the horrors incident to the situation. RESTORATION With a courage unequaled in any time they began the restoration of their beloved land. All honor to the veterans of that struggle, the pioneers of the new south, who kept heart when all about them was ruin, and kept faith when all before them seemed darkest peril. They carried forward the torch of their civilization and had they failed there would be no such south as exists to-day. The war with its blighting desolation is gone. We are one people, and with Grady we can say, "there is no north, south, east or west," but it is fitting that those who made history and fought for what they thought was right, be remembered. A beautiful spirit of patriotism was ever present among both the men and women of Whitfield county, and they did not fail to respond to a single demand for war relief. While the men were away many brave loyal women organized a Soldiers' Aid Society, and met daily to make uniforms, knit socks, make bandages, scrape lint, and send boxes to the boys at the front. When there were wounded and sick men, special food was prepared regularly in the homes of those devoted women. During the last part of the war, they nursed the sick and wounded, and in some in stances, buried the dead. The aid society grew into the Ladies' Memorial Association which had never failed to observe Memorial Day until it was merged into the Bryan M. Thomas Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy. This organization has continued the observance each year since it was merged with the older organization. The Memorial association erected the monument at Memorial Park on Thornton avenue. This monument is of Italian marble and is surmounted by a figure of a Confederate soldier with arms at rest. This statue was made in Italy. It stands in a beautiful park in the center of the city. It took many years of patient effort and undaunted courage on the part of this organization to raise the funds in those lean ---------------- p. 68 years after the war and erect this beautiful monument. The inscription is as follows: Confederate Memorial Erected by the Ladies Memorial Association of Whitfield County To the Memory of Our Confederate Dead 1892 Around the base are the names of four battlefields, Resaca, Dalton, Rocky Pace, Chickamauga. Some of the most distinguished orators of the south have delivered addresses on Memorial Day in Dalton. Whitfield county lost many splendid men in the war. Their ashes rest in many soldiers' cemeteries in the southland. There are three hundred Confederate soldiers and four Union soldiers buried in the Confederate cemetery west of Dalton. The memory of their heroic deeds and loyal, patriotic service will ever be remembered by the citizens of Whitfield county. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON MONUMENT In 1912 a monument in Dalton, Georgia, was erected in honor of General Joseph E. Johnston, the only one ever erected to his memory. This has a base of Georgia granite in the form of a semi-circle, rising in three tiers which diminish in size until the block of granite on which the statue stands is reached. On each side large wings extend handsomely carved in laurel leaves. At the front of the stone on which the statue rests is inscribed the following, directly under a laurel wreath: The Inscription. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. 1807—1891 Brigadier General, U. S. A. General C. S. A. Given command of the confederate forces at Dalton in 1863, he directed the 79 days' campaign to Atlanta, one of the most memorable in the annals of war. Erected by the Bryan M. Thomas Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy, Dalton, Ga., 1912. ---------------- p. 69 Standing fifteen feet high, is the bronze statue of general Johnston, with his hat in one hand and his sheathed sword, pointing down, in the other, wearing full confederate uniform. This was erected at a cost of six thousand dollars. There is a fund of history and romance in and about Dalton symbolized by its numerous ante-bellum homes. Many of the homes served as headquarters for famous officers, prominent in both northern and southern ranks; homes that were used as hospitals; rooms where slain officers of both armies lay; and buildings and landmarks that have defied the ravages of time. Two of these old homes were at different times the headquarters of General Joseph E. Johnston. The headquarters of General Hill were on Thornton avenue. Upon the authority of the late Mrs. M. E. Bitting the headquarters of General Pat Cleburne were at her country home several miles from Dalton. It is a city with a history not yet grown dim, for it is fresh in the memory of the passing generation, and continually brought to mind by substantial relics in whose walls are entombed the memories of a fertile past. The experiences that have made these old buildings sacred, p. 70 and that characterize their past, cover a wide field varying from the thrilling war-time tragedies, to the pretty fetes and courtships of ante-bellum days. In addition to the headquarters of famous generals, there are buildings that have housed many brilliant social functions of the old south, and the courtships, marriages and births of men and women who have achieved both state and national recognition, have imbued the place and its surroundings with a charm of antiquity that pervades few cities now grown modern with the progress of the age. Additional Comments: From: OFFICIAL HISTORY OF WHITFIELD COUNTY, GEORGIA BY WHITFIELD COUNTY HISTORY COMMISSION File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/whitfield/history/other/gms188chapteri.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 30.6 Kb