Capt. Jesse Ely There
Capt. Jesse Ely of Nashville was in charge of the Signal
Corps and after the war came back and married one of Shelbyville's fairest
daughters. We were fast adjusting ourselves to conditions that we
could not remedy; the only thing to do was to make the best of it.
The town was soon filled up with sutler stores,
novelties, restaurants, cake and cider joints and Mobile spiced oysters
were very popular; tobacco and cigar stands with the very best articles
of chewing and smoking, along with the Powhatan clay pipe, and the killiknick
smoking tobacco, which was put up in square pound packages.
While Virginia furnished the tobaccos and cigars,
we had to look to Atlanta, Augusta and other cities for something to trade
on.
The wounded that survived were soon venturing out
when the weather permitted, and in many cases were given furloughs to go
home, and later returned to their regiments.
The army was very comfortable in thir tents, with
wholesome food, good water and abundance of fuel. in addition to
their regular army rations, they were enabled to get winter vegetables,
such as potatoes, cabbage, turnips, onions, etc. Lye hominy, eggs,
butter, chickens, dried fruit, pickles, etc., could be purchased throughout
the country. Quite often the soldier would get off for a day and
take dinner at a farmhouse and enjoy a dinner of home cooking, for which
he paid one dollar. jConfederate money was current and would buy anything
on sale in town. Take it all in all we got along as well as usual,
only we did not have such large stocks to select from.
The railroads were kept open and we were in touch
with Richmond and the Southern cities. Gen. Bragg appointed H.C.
Winslow as Army News agent who furnished the daily papers from Chattanooga,
Atlanta, Richmond and all Southern cities available at that time.
The Richmond paper was regularly looked for, especially by the generals
and officers, as a decisive battle was expected by the army under Gen.
Lee. The Chattanooga Rebel, being nearest to the front, sold like
"hot cakes," as it was great on sensational headlines. The Rebel
Banner was at Shelbyville, but did not amount to much except as an "army
bulletin."
The lines were about halfway between Shelbyville
and Murfreesboro, earthworks and forts were being throuwn up and the timber
in front of them cut down for several miles around the town northeast.
The Chaplains were busy holding revivals of religion
and the meetings were protracted occording to the interest manifested.
Gen. Bragg Baptized
It was in the little "Church of the Redeemer," at Shelbyville,
where the Quintard, administered the rites of baptism to Gen. Bragg and
his Lieuten. Gen. Hardee. The First Tennessee and the Tenth Mississippi
Regiments were doing provost duty and were camped on Green Hill, in the
edge of the town. Each regiment had a fine band, and during the winter
gave a minstrel show in the school chapel. Green Morrow of the First,
who is well known in Nashville, was the moving spirit and sang a song entitled,
"We Are All Dodging our Way Through the World".
To show the terms we were on with one another, while
selling papers I started one morning with a large number of papers, when
a mile or so on my way I gave out and sat down to rest. A cavalry
officer with a small squad of men reined up saying he would like some papers,
asking me if I could change a twenty. I told him "No, sir," but if
he would let me ride behind him to the camp I would give him what he wanted.
"Agreed," said he. "Hand me up your papers," which he placed on his
saddle horn in front of him, then riding up to the fence, I made a side
leap, landing behind the saddle. As we rode along, socially chatting,
where he asked me one question I asked him a half dozen, as to the regiment
he belonged to and the different battles he had been in. It was about
a mile and a half to camp, and when we reached there, dropping me off,
he handed me down my papers, after taking two or three to read. We
parted friends. I had a cousin in one of the Texas regiments, where
I would occasionally stop over and take dinner, being known as "Tom's Cousin."
One day a soldier was being buried in the Catholic
Cemetery, the procession being headed by a Roman Chatolic priest in his
robes, followed by about twenty of the man's company with arms reversed.
A new recruit who was a bystander, became very much excited. "Look,"
he said, "they have crucified that old fellow and are going to take him
out and shoot him." About that time the caisson came in sight with
the coffin.
Real Money Scarce
While we were enjoying several phases of army life and
getting acquainted with one another there was a scarcity of bacon, flour,
etc., that was becoming rather conspicuous, as our guests (the army) had
come in large numbers and made us such a long visit they had about eaten
us out of "house and home." We had fed them royalls while it lasted.
While there was yet a fair supply hid around in the country, it was impossible
to purchase it with Confederate money.
My mother had put her boarders on notice that she
would have to close her house for want of something to cook. About
that time we heard of a man in the country who had bacon, but would not
sell it only for Tennessee money. So I was hurriedly sent to Atlanta
to make an exchange of money, giving two for one. Upon my return,
securing a wagon and horse, I was not long in finding the man. When
I pulled up in front of his house the old man was standing at the front
gate looking quite forlorn. Being rather fresh, and not knowing how
to approach my horney handed friend, I asked, "Is this Mr. Walker?"
"Yes," he answered, rather suspiciously. "Why?"
"Have you any bacon to sell?" "No," he fairly snapped.
"Got nothing to sell; soldiers cleaned up everything in the country."
Hesitating, I ventured to tell him that I had been told he had, but
wanted Tennessee money for it at the same time exhibiting my roll.
He said rather commandingly, "Don't talk so loud.
Let's see that money," examining it closely. He asked, "How much
bacon do you want?"
"All I can haul on my wagon," I replied. He
looked up and down the road, then calling the boys they proceded to hang
up the stillyards on the back porch and opening a trap door under it, one
of the boys dropped down and up came some beautiful bacon. The reason
it looked so pretty, I think, was because it was so hard to get.
He had the boys load it in the wagon ???? and spread some hay over it,
telling me a roundabout way by which I could reach town without encountering
any soldiers. With this bacon we were enabled to hold out a little
longer.
The stay of the army was drawing to a close.
The spring rains were about over and when June came around things began
to liven up in army circles. The Signal Corps was very active, Orderlies
weree being dispatched hurriedly.
Army Falls Back
Getting up one morning we found everything in a whirl.
The word was passed around that the army was falling back on Chattanooga
and there would probably be some fighting around during the day, etc.
The last train would leave the depot about 9 o'clock.
Several families were going South and were on their way to the depot to
take the train, which was very much crowded, some who were too late in
getting there took private conveyances. The regiments camped beyond
the river had commenced moving about 3 o'clock in the morning; the others
were moving through the town and out the Tullahoma Road, the infantry,
artillery and wagon trains all in perfect order.
The Public Square and Depot Street were in confusion.
The records of the different departments, also the army news agent and
Rebel Banner printing office, were being hurriedly packed and loaded into
wagons. The sutlers, proprietors of restaurants, soup house, lunch
counters, pie joints, cigar and tobacco stores, were trying to secure trains,
and after despairing they were calling out," Come up and get a bargain
in tobacco" or whatever they had to offer. We had about $500 which
we invested in Virginia tobacco, the proceeds of it proving to be our only
source of supply for the next month or two following.
About noon on this day, a few miles north of the
town, a Federal Colonel was riding toward his General, saluting him.
He asked that his regiment be allowed to lead the entrance in the town,
as it was his native town, as well as that of quite a number of his regiment.
The request was granted, and Col. Galbraith's regiment was the first to
enter.
Government Stores Abandoned
About 2 p.m., the government stores were abandoned,
and the citizens were told to help themselves. The news spread rapidly;
soon male and female, white and black, were either making to or from the
depot with sacks on thir shoulders, heads or in their arms. While
this was at its height Capt. Len Burt, who was also a native of the town,
and commanded a battery of artillery, was on the Public Square unlimbering
his guns to take a farewell shot at the Federals, who returned the compliment,
each side firing two shots each. This created a stampede among the
natives, who immediately started for their homes or some place of security.
The pike was blue as far as the eye could see with the Federal Cavalry.
Capt. Burt had limbered up his guns and was forming a line across the railroad
in front of Gen. Cannon's home and checked the Federals by firing a volley
or two, then made a dash for the river bridge, where Capt. Burt was waiting
to let the rear guard pass over before placing his battery across the bridge
to check the Federals, which was successfully accomplished. The river
was high and running very swift. A few of the Confederate cavalrymen
who came up too late undertook to swim the river, but were drowned.
The cavalry had covered the retreat with a small loss.
For about two hours the Federal cavalry poured into
town, and struck camp for the night. The home companies were shaking
hands with their families, relatives and friends, and it is a matter of
record that parents who bid farewell to a son marching south that morning
with the Southern army also welcomed another who had come in with the Union
Army that afternoon.
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"Civil War Memories of Robert C. Carden"