1862 Military Citation for Bravery of Lt. George W. Everett of Union Cross Roads, Union Parish Louisiana Submitted by: T. D. Hudson Date of Submission: 12/2008 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ================================================================================== ================================================================================== 1862 Military Citation for Bravery of Lt. George W. Everett of Union Cross Roads, Union Parish Louisiana From Washington, Arkansas "Washington Telegraph", issue of 9 July 1862 ================================================================================== ================================================================================== George W. Everett was cited for “prominent bravery” for his actions during an engagement with the enemy while on detached duty on the White River. This report was dictated on 17 June 1862 by Confederate General Thomas Carmichael Hindman: ================================================================================== ================================================================================== HEADQUARTERS TRANS MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT Little Rock, Arkansas, June 25, 1862. GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 20. On June 17, the enemy attacked our position at Saint Charles, on White River. We had there, in battery, two 32-pounder guns and four field pieces, under command of Captain Joseph Fry and Captain [John W.] Dunnington, C.S. Navy, with seventy-nine men from the Confederate States gunboats “Maurepas” and “Pontchartrain”, together with thirty-five infantry of the First Trans-Mississippi Regiment, under command of Captain M. Williams, Chief of the Corps of Engineers. Our whole force and armament, therefore, was 114 men and six guns. We had no fortifications – there was no time to construct them. The Federal force consisted of two ironclad gunboats, one wooden gunboat, one tug, and three transports, with not less than 1,000 infantry. After the engagement of three hours’ duration between the gunboats and the battery, the former were forced to retire. The Yankee infantry then landed from the transports and moved upon our battery, which was necessarily abandoned , the guns being first spiked and made useless to the enemy. Our loss was six killed, one wounded, eight missing – among the latter, Captain Fry. The enemy’s loss was one ironclad gunboat, blown up by a shot from our battery; another gunboat disabled; a transport seriously injured; and a “confessed” loss of 180 men. It is believed to have been even greater. The conduct of the officers and men of our land and naval forces in this brilliant affair – which was substantially a victory – was, with but two ignoble exceptions, as far as reported, honorable in the highest degree. Captains Fry, Dunnington and Williams have the thanks of the commanding General for the courage, skill and energy they displayed. Privates [J. H.] Bruce and [G. W.] Everett – of Captain [H. B.] Hearon’s infantry,... are mentioned in the reports of their commanding officers as having distinguished themselves by prominent bravery. The Major-General offers to each of them his thanks and applause. A grateful country will hold them in remembrance. Their comrades in other engagements will emulate their glorious example. Lieutenant [R.] Bland of the First Trans-Mississippi Regiment, is dismissed dishonorably from the service, and Sergeant Grey of the same regiment, is reduced to the ranks for misconduct during the engagement. By command of Major-General Hindman, R. C. Newman, Colonel and Adjutant Chief of Staff. ================================================================================== ================================================================================== BACKGROUND MATERIAL: George Washington Everett, Jr. (25 July 1828 – June/Aug 1869) was the son of Rev. George Washington Everett (23 June 1798 - 25 June 1855) and Jency Megganson (16 Mar 1802 - 15 Oct 1847). Born in Perry County Alabama, George W. Everett (Jr.) moved with his father and siblings to northern Union Parish Louisiana following his mother's death in 1847. They settled near the Arkansas line, where Rev. Everett founded the Springhill Baptist Church and the community originally known as Union Cross Roads (now Oakland). Rev. Everett returned to Alabama and on 15 February 1849, he married Mary Pharaby Ward Jordan, the widow of Iredell Jordan. Mary brought her children, slaves, and the entire estate of her first husband to Union Cross Roads. She died in July 1850, but her children continued to live with Rev. Everett and his family. George W. Everett, Jr. married on 16 February 1854 in Union Parish to his step-sister, Ellen Rebecca Jordan (c1839 – 8 Jan 1867), the daughter of Iredell Jordan and Mary P. Ward. After his marriage, Everett farmed just across the Arkansas line in the Pigeon Hill Community, and he also worked with his brother-in-law in a mercantile firm there. George W. Everett enlisted as a private in Company D, 11th Arkansas Infantry in 1861. The records give conflicting information as to exactly when he enlisted. One source indicates he enlisted on 18 July 1861 at Benton, in Saline County Arkansas by Z. Phillips for three years or the entire war. Another document in his military file states that he enlisted at Hot Springs, Arkansas on 17 December 1861. Whichever is correct, the 11th Arkansas Infantry spring March and April helping to defend Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River. When the Confederate defenders surrendered on 8 April 1862. On the September 1862 muster roll of his company, the captain stated that George W. Everett was “On furlough at the time of our surrender. Present locality unknown”. It appears that Everett may have been at home on furlough and not with his unit at Island No. 10. Some troops escaped through the swamps and were not captured, so perhaps he evaded capture. Everett returned home to Hillsboro and re-enlisted on April 26th under Captain H. B. Hearin in Company D, in the unit most commonly known as 37th Regiment Arkansas Infantry. This regiment was known at various times during the war as 1st Trans-Mississippi Infantry, as well as the 1st and the 29th Regiment Arkansas Infantry. It was originally commanded by Colonel J. C. Pleasants, who died on 21 December 1862, and later by Colonel Samuel Slade Bell. Thus, this unit was also known as Pleasant’s and Bell’s Regiment Arkansas Infantry. Everett’s company was commanded by Captain H. B. Hearon until his resignation on 27 June 1862. Everett’s primary unit now became unclear, as he was never officially discharged from his previous unit. Thus, on 4 June 1862, Major-General Hindman ordered that Everett be officially transferred to the unit he joined in April. Three days after the engagement for which he received the bravery citation (June 20th), Everett was promoted to the rank of 1st Corporal, and he was again promoted to 3rd Sergeant on August 10th. That winter, on December 7th his unit was engaged at the Battle of Prairie Grove, with the second lieutenant and six privates killed and another seven wounded. As a result of the lieutenant’s death, Everett was promoted to the rank of senior 2nd Lieutenant on 1 January 1863. His regiment marched to Van Buren the day after Prairie Grove, and on the 27th they moved towards Little Rock, arriving on 8 January 1863. On the 15th, they moved down the Arkansas River to Pine Bluff, but immediately returned to their winter camp two miles southwest of Little Rock, where they spent their time drilling. Everett’s regiment participated in the action at Helena, Arkansas on the Mississippi River on 4 July 1863, the very day Vicksburg surrendered further down river. Everett and many from his regiment were captured. He immediately was put on the Yankee steamer “Tycoon” bound for Memphis. The next day, he was put on the steamer “Silver Moon” bound for Cairo, Illinois. He arrived at the military prison at Alton, Illinois, on July 9th. On August 6th, he was shipped to Johnson’s Island, where he apparently spent the next year. On 6 October 1864, he was ordered to Fortress Monroe and then to Point Lookout, Maryland. He was exchanged on 11 October 1864. Everett rejoined his regiment and assumed his former position in his company, serving until the end of the war. He was paroled on 28 June 1865. After the war, Everett worked as a cotton factor in Monroe, where his wife Elllen died in early 1867. Everett moved his family back to Union County Arkansas after his wife's death, and he himself died there in the summer of 1869. ############################################################# File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/union/military/everett-gw.txt