War Crimes Against Southern Civilians Read online

  A Northern victim of political repression, former Ohio congressman Clement L. Vallandigham, appeared in Nashville on May 24, 1863. For publicly criticizing Lincoln's war he had been arrested a few weeks earlier, dragged from his home in the middle of the night, and was now being forced into exile in the South. Under guard, Vallandigham boarded a special train at the Nashville railroad station while a crowd of four thousand stood by in silent support."

  Soon as many as twenty-five people a day were being shipped south from Nashville. An Indiana soldier, Lt. Samuel K. Harryman, was sent to oversee one forced departure.

  I remarked that it was saddening to see a family so pleasantly situated, forced to separate, probably forever, at a time when they were situated to enjoy life together. The old gentleman began to cry, the old lady cried. The young ladies and smaller children began to gather around me weeping bitterly, and the contagion continued. I soon found the tears coursing down my cheeks.'

  For those who were not forced to relocate, an elaborate system of taxes and assessments developed in Union-occupied Tennessee. Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy, guarding the Chattanooga Railroad, assessed seventy-seven "Secesh" individuals living in his area of responsibility for a total of $8,280. The money was meant to reimburse "Unionists" who lost property to "bushwhackers," but Milroy kept no records of disbursements."' A "privilege tax," along with the loyalty oath, was required of anyone doing business in Nashville. Special assessments, often huge, were made against Confederate sympathizers-supposedly to relieve the "destitute." A number of homes and businesses were simply confiscated." "Those who are hostile to our Government, repudiating its Constitution and laws," said Major General Rosecrans, "have no rights under them.Finally, faced with having to give up their homes and property, many began taking the Federal loyalty oath.'' It was a tactic that had been commonly used by patriots during the American Revolution, as falsely swearing loyalty to King George III was not considered dishonorable when done under duress.

  Tennessee "rebels" forced from their homes

  There was one form of property in Tennessee that remained for the time untouched by Federal edict. Gov. Andrew Johnson and thirty-nine fellow Unionists signed a petition asking Lincoln to exempt the state from his Emancipation Proclamation, and the president agreed to their request.`

  Soon after his appointment by Lincoln as Tennessee's governor, Johnson had allowed an election to go on as scheduled in Nashville for circuit court judge. There were two candidates: Unionist M. M. Brien and secessionist Turner S. Foster. Johnson was certain that citizens voting in secret and not intimidated by disunionists would put the loyal man on the bench. When Foster won by a large margin, Johnson was furious, vowing that there would be no more elections to fill local offices. Judge Foster was arrested, charged with treason, and confined in the penitentiary.25

  A year later Abraham Lincoln gave the governor a few pointers on "reinaugurating a loyal State government," advice that by now Johnson no longer needed. "Let the reconstruction be the work of such men only as can be trusted for the Union," wrote Lincoln. "Exclude all others." Both men well understood that if free elections were permitted, the people would again choose to be free of the United States. "The whole struggle for Tennessee will have been profitless," concluded the president, "if it so ends that Governor Johnson is put down and Governor Harris put up. It must not be so. You must have it otherwise. 1116

  In 1864 Johnson found himself on the ballot as Lincoln's vice-presidential running mate. Democrat George McClellan, though a Unionist, campaigned for president on a platform calling for negotiated peace with the South. Tennessee, now officially "restored to the Union," would take part in the election, though of course voting would be limited to the "loyal" minority. Still, Johnson was terrified that McClellan might carry Tennessee and issued a proclamation requiring voters to take an oath that went beyond mere loyalty. Voters in Johnson's state must "sincerely rejoice in the triumph of the armies and navies of the United States" and "oppose all armistices or negotiations for peace." His proclamation also allowed soldiers to vote in Tennessee without registration. Just weeks before the election, Union troops "yelling like demons, with loaded weapons, and charging bayonets," broke up a McClellan campaign rally in Nashville. These Tennessee Democrats twice appealed to Lincoln, begging that he protect their rights, and each time they were curtly rebuffed. In protest, they withdrew their candidate's name from the ballot. With Confederates disenfranchised and Unionists who backed McClellan sitting out the election, Lincoln and Johnson carried Tennessee by a laughable "landslide. 1127

  Federal occupiers were unrelenting too in their suppression of "rebels" outside the capital. Hostage-taking was not uncommon, that tactic aimed at suppressing "bushwhackers."'" In one attempt to identify the disloyal, Major General Milroy went so far as to order that all males age fourteen and over residing in any one of eight counties immediately enroll in the home guard. Anyone who failed to step forward would be considered an enemy "and treated accordingly."" The Unionist home guard already had an unsavory reputation for using their power to plunder neighbors and "settle old

  "Not once or twice but day after day, season after season, year after year, farmers had to stand by impotently as Federal foraging squads helped themselves," wrote one historian of the situation in rural Tennessee. A soldier put a gun to the head of Rev. Jesse Cox of Williamson County, cursed him, then stole a quantity of food. The pastor prayed that "the Lord help us to bare it with patience" as Yankee soldiers forced him off his farm. "The Federal soldiers have taken every horse, mare and mule I have," recorded another Williamson County resident. "They have broken into my smokehouse repeatedly and have taken all my hams."" At Belle Meade, the plantation home of Mrs. William Harding, troops took or simply killed all the farm animals and stole crops. Deer and buffalo in her park were destroyed. A groom was shot, slave girls were molested, and Mrs. Harding's niece was assaulted.'' In Robertson County, soldiers plundered the home of George A. Washington, threatened, cursed, and taunted him for two hours, then shot and wounded the old gentleman." "Foraging" was what Federals called it, but one army commander admitted that "all suffer, rich and poor; of all methods of providing for any army this is the most wasteful."34 Brig. Gen. Grenville M. Dodge was more blunt. "I propose to eat up all the surplus, and perhaps the entire crops in the country," wrote the Massachusetts native. "These people are proud, arrogant rebels" and must be made to understand "that all they possess belongs legitimately to the U.S. Government."35

  Joe Mosely saw Confederate troops pass his home, but when Yankees came by in pursuit he refused to give them the information they demanded. He was hung three times from a tree, each time coming closer to death, still refusing to reveal what he knew."' On another occasion, near Sparta, citizens would not-or could not-tell blue-clad troops the whereabouts or identities of Confederate partisans operating in the region. In reprisal, Federals arrested every man in Sparta, plundered the town, "and destroyed all that could not be brought away," proudly reported their commander.37 When Maj. Gen. George Thomas was unable to find out who had killed a number of his men, he ordered that the property of "rebel" citizens living within a radius of ten miles be assessed in the amount of $30,000. No less than $66,000 was actually collected by the general's efficient officers, and two years later the money was still unaccounted for.:"

  Soldiers guarding the railroad north of Nashville gathered up civilians whom they thought had a part in derailing one of their trains. A telegram was sent to Major General Rosecrans asking for permission "to make an example" of the prisoners. "No objection to your making an example," Rosecrans wired back, "but do not want a report. Let them fall off a log and break their necks, for

  Troops under the command of Brig. Gen. Eleazor A. Paine charged into Fayetteville on the morning of June 15, 1864. There was the usual burning and theft, but in addition four men were arrested at random. Dr. J. W. Miller was one, a disabled veteran with a wife and small children. Thomas Massey had just left a store loaded with
groceries for his family. William Pickett was singled out, perhaps because his civilian coat bore one old Confederate button. Franklin Burroughs had bounded down the steps of the Lincoln County courthouse with a license for his marriage. The ceremony was set for the next day. The four were threatened with death should no one in town volunteer information about Confederate partisans said to be operating in the area. None came forward.

  As the hostages waited, John Massey asked to be allowed to take the place of his brother Thomas. "He has a wife and a young family," said John. "If you want Massey blood, take mine." Permission was granted.

  "You God damned grey-eyed bushwhacking sympathizer," shouted Paine at the doctor, "I'll have you shot at three o'clock this evening with John Massey and the other damn scoundrels." But for reasons he never understood, Miller was spared.

  The other three men were not. As the Yankee firing squad got ready, William and Franklin knelt in prayer. Massey grabbed them by their collars and pulled them to their feet. "Pray standing," he said. "Don't let these dogs think you are kneeling to them.""'

  Down in Franklin County sometime in late December 1864, a Unionist named Moses Pittman handed Major General Milroy a list of "disloyal" men and women, all apparently personal enemies of Pittman. Beside each name was a "narration of their crimes." Milroy went down the list, marking with his own hand "what punishment they shall suffer." By the names of Joel Cunningham and Green Denison he wrote "KILL." Next to the name of Curtis McCullum was the order "HANG AND BURN." Charlotte, the sister of Curtis, had "BURN EVERYTHING" written by her name. "SHOOT IF YOU CAN MAKE IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT," the general wrote next to the name of Cynthia, Curtis's wife. There were fifty-three other names on the list. Orders to carry out the murders and other depredations were given to Capt. William H. Lewis on January 7, 1865, with detailed supplemental instructions on destroying and plundering the property of the victims.

  Milroy added the names of four other civilians in neighboring Coffee County whom he also wanted executed. Captain Lewis later apprehended three of this group, unarmed, at one of their homes. Leroy Moore and Thomas Saunders were both old men, William Saunders was only fourteen. Each had his hands bound behind his back, was forced to wade into the pond at Huffers Mill, then was shot. Only after three days did soldiers allow families to retrieve the bloated bodies from the water for burial.

  On February 7, 1865, Milroy issued more orders, specifying eighteen individuals who were to have their homes and property burned. Included were the names of thirty-four he wanted shot. Four other names were listed, these to be "hung to the first tree in front of their door and be allowed to hang there for an indefinite period." The final sentence of Milroy's order read: "If Willis Taylor is caught he will be turned over to Moses Pittman and he will be allowed to kill him.""

  Chapter 5

  "Soldiers Are Not Expected

  to Be Angels"

  Fredericksburg Pillaged

  On the morning of December 11, 1862, troops of the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, began laying pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia. From streets and buildings, Confederate snipers fired on the Federal engineers, and in return Union artillery pounded the city. Finally, boatloads of assaulting troops drove back the Southerners, and the huge Union army poured into Fredericksburg on December 12. Burnside made plans to attack Robert E. Lee's army, outnumbered but entrenched on high ground to the west, the next day.

  Fredericksburg is an ancient colonial city once home to John Paul Jones, James Monroe, and George Washington. Prior to the invasion, those who were able had evacuated, but some civilians-the sick, the poor-still remained. They were about to witness the first sack and destruction of an American city since the British took Washington in the War of 1812, but this time the perpetrators were themselves Americans.'

  One resident, a little girl at the time, never forgot that day.

  From the end of the bombardment, and at the first invasion of the town by Union forces ... Fredericksburg was mercilessly sacked. All day, from the houses, and particularly from the grand old homes that distinguished the town, came the noise of splintering furniture, the crash of chinaware, andnow and then-a scream. On the walls hung headless portraits, the face gashed by bayonets. Bayonets ripped open mattresses and feathers heaped in piles blew about the streets, littered with women's and men's clothing and letters and papers thrown out of desks. Mahogany furniture warmed the despoilers, and ten thousand were drunk on pilfered liquors. Windows and doors were smashed, the streets full of debris, through which drunken men grotesquely garbed in women's shawls and bonnets, staggered; flames rose in smoke pillars here and there, and the provost guard was helpless to control the strange orgy.2

  In truth, almost nothing was done by Federal authorities to control their men. "It seems to have been the intention of the generals to give the city for pillage," complained one chaplain, "at least no efforts were made to check them."' A Union soldier agreed. "No attempt was made by the officers to interfere." After being ordered to stack arms, his comrades were dismissed and "immediately made a dash for the houses, and ransacked them from cellar to garret."' An Ohioan thought it "a strange sight, a city given up to pillage. For although I heard no formal permission to plunder, yet I heard no one forbidding the men to do it."5 When questioned about the theft and destruction going on all around him, Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, supposedly a religious man, replied, "Soldiers are not expected to be angels."' The Episcopal church's silver communion service was stolen, and a soldier from Connecticut pilfered the pulpit Bible. The Masonic lodge was looted, and valuables from the time when George Washington was a member were taken.'

  Plundering of Fredericksburg

  Three Yankee stragglers attempted to rape a local woman but were thwarted by the timely appearance of a courageous sergeant."

  Vandalism went on everywhere. Privates of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment filled their canteens with molasses then poured the excess throughout one house. The walls of churches were scrawled with obscenities. Valuable volumes taken from private libraries became "stepping stones," laid on muddy streets to protect boots. Rifles were wiped clean with silk gowns.'

  Henry Livermore Abbott, a rich, young, well-connected blue blood from Lowell, Massachusetts, spent his time stealing books as souvenirs for family and friends back home. "I tried to get you some memento of Fredericksburg," he apologized to his sister, "but got nothing better than a commonplace edition of Byron. I have got a very good edition of Plutarch's [L]ives for the governor.... I have two children's books for Frank & Arthur. I went into nearly every house to get some nice little silver thing for mamma & Mary Welch, but was too late.""'

  Abbott might have traded for something better. "In some instances," explained a Pennsylvanian, "men would enter a building, pick up an article that pleased their fancy, and after carrying it a few squares make an exchange for another piece of property."" Still, much plunder was simply carried outside and dropped or taken to the river bridgeheads and abandoned there.12

  Though well-supplied by their own army, food was also stolen by U.S. troops. In one poor dwelling soldiers found only a bucket of walnuts but took it without apology. "We could go into the houses and get all the flour we wanted," bragged a soldier of the Fifteenth Connecticut."' A trio of hungry Pennsylvanians filled their haversacks with flour taken from a carpenter's storeroom and proceeded to build a fire to cook Johnnycakes. The cakes were too hard to bite, or even to crack apart with a knife, and it finally dawned on them that the pilfered white powder was plaster of Paris."

  Pianos were dragged into the streets and used to serenade revelers with "Yankee Doodle" or "The Star Spangled Banner"-before being chopped to pieces with an axe. Men in women's clothing paraded about to the amusement of their comrades. An old coach driven by a soldier in blackface was hitched to a mule. In the back were two soldiers wearing dresses, "scattering smiles and kisses to an applauding crowd" as they drove down Carolin
e Street.15

  One disgusted Federal described the scene.

  The men had emptied every house and store of its contents, and the streets, as a matter of course, were filled with chairs and sofas, pianos, books, and everything imaginable. The men were beginning to make themselves appear as ridiculous as possible. Some had hauled pianos to the front doors, and were making hideous noises on them. Others in silk dresses, with beaver hat on, parading the streets ... The shelling was a military necessity; but after the town was in our possession the pillaging should have ceased. I think our army has been disgraced to-day by this act."'

  "The cursed Rebels brought it all on themselves by their own maddened folly," wrote another Federal, seemingly angry over the Southern effort to defend Fredericksburg.'

  Next day, Burnside's repeated assaults against the Confederate army left over 12,500 blue-clad troops dead, wounded, or missing. It was perhaps Lee's most one-sided victory.

  Despite the military triumph, as one Minnesotan observed, "the citizens of Fredericksburg are Houseless, Homeless and destitute.... It will be a hard winter of intense hardship for them."" As the Southern people rejoiced over the city's liberation, to relieve suffering they sent to Fredericksburg carloads of food and cash donations that reached $170,000.19

  Chapter 6

  `I Shut My Eyes for

  Two Hours"

  The Sack of Athens

  Athens, population nine hundred, in northern Alabama's Limestone County, was described by one Illinois soldier as "a place of home-like contented beauty, a perfect garden of roses & flowers." The streets of the town were shaded by trees, the homes "large, roomy & comfortable, many of them elegant and all of them with gardens & grass plots on every side." In this spring of 1862, the unwelcome visitor concluded that "Athens is the prettiest & best looking town I have yet seen."'