Cullen Andrews Battle: A Man of Duty

Only known wartime photograph of Battle taken after August of 1863

       Cullen Andrews Battle was born in Powelton, Georgia in 1829. The son of a doctor, he moved with his family to Eufaula, Alabama at the age of seven. He graduated from the University of Alabama and studied law under John Gill Shorter. Shorter would become the governor of Alabama during the Civil War. Battle would become a lawyer and because of his eloquent speech would enter politics. He was a close friend of William Lowndes Yancey and became a strong secessionist. 

       When the war began, Battle became major of the 3rd Alabama Infantry. the regiment was sent to Virginia. Before seeing any action, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the unit. The regiment's colonel Tennent Lomax was killed at Seven Pines. Battle was slightly wounded in the same engagement, but was promoted to colonel. He led the 3rd Alabama at South Mountain and Sharpsburg. He was slightly wounded at both places, entering a hospital for only one day following Sharpsburg. His old law mentor, Governor Shorter had been campaigning hard behind the scenes for Battle's promotion. Shorter stated that Battle's gallantry was notorious within the army. 

       He would see only limited action during the Chancellorsville Campaign. In April of 1863, his horse reared and fell with him into a ditch injuring him severely. Two days later, while jumping another ditch, his back was wrenched badly on horseback. He was riding in an ambulance during the Chancellorsville Campaign. He performed well at Gettysburg, despite the fact that he was part of Edward O'Neal's disjointed assault. O'Neal was passed over for brigadier general and Battle was promoted on August 20, 1863. He would be absent November and December of that year with chronic bronchitis. 

       During the Overland Campaign, he led his brigade capably, but his best service would come in the Shenandoah Campaign of 1864 under Lieutenant General Jubal Early. He fought hard at Winchester and again at Cedar Creek. At the later battle, he was shot in the left knee, causing serious injury to the kneecap. Although the leg would be saved, he would get around on crutches for years. He would not recover in time to return to the war. 

       Following the war, he would again practice law, then move to North Carolina and edit a newspaper. He also became mayor of New Bern, North Carolina. He would die in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1905 of sepsis. He was 75 years old. He rests today in Virginia's second largest cemetery, Blandford Cemetery, Petersburg, Virginia. Battle was called a man of duty. His memoirs were published called Third Alabama: The Civil War Memoirs of Brigadier General Cullen Andrews Battle, CSA.

Grave of Cullen Andrews Battle

Robert Hopkins Hatton: The Purest, Noblest, and Best

Robert Hopkins Hatton

       One of the northern born Confederate general's was Robert Hopkins Hatton who was born in Ohio in 1826. The son of a preacher, he moved with his family to Tennessee at the age of eight. At the age of fourteen, he had a severe fever. Physicians prescribed him oral mercury which burned his lips to the point that when he made speeches later in life, his mouth would froth. By 1850, he was practicing law in Lebanon, Tennessee. He was elected to the state legislature in 1855 and ran against Isham Harris for governor in 1857. The two men campaigned hard against each other, at one point they got into a fist fight. Hatton lost the campaign to Harris who would become Tennessee's wartime governor. 

       When the southern states began to secede, Hatton worked tirelessly to keep Tennessee in the Union. His figure was burned in effigy by his hometown because of his pro-Unionist views. All of that was before Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to invade the South. Hatton lost faith in the Union and joined the Confederate Army. He was elected colonel of the 7th Tennessee Infantry and his regiment was ordered to the mountains of western Virginia. During the cold winter of 1861-1862, he came down with camp fever. His health would suffer in the cold mountains of western Virginia. He attempted without success to have his regiment transferred back to Tennessee. 

       By late May of 1862, he was back in good health and had also received a promotion to brigadier general. His brigade was sent to join Joseph E. Johnston's army guarding Richmond. His brigade arrived on the battlefield of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. 

Another pre-war photograph of Robert Hopkins Hatton

       Mounted on his horse named "Old Ball," he led his brigade forward across an open field and into a swamp of thick brush. He rode forward, waving his hat, and shouting, "Forward, my brave boys! Forward!" President Davis was on the field personally watching the charge and remarked, "That brigade moves in handsomely, but it will lose its commander." At that moment, the Federal line unleashed a volley into the charging Tennesseans and General Hatton was instantly killed. Some sources say his horse was killed first and General Hatton was killed as he charged ahead on foot. The attack was repulsed, but not before his men brought the body of their beloved commander off the field. 

       Robert Hatton was 36 years old. First buried in Richmond, Virginia, his body was then buried in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1866, his body would be brought home to Lebanon, Tennessee where he rests today in Cedar Grove Cemetery. His pistol had been found by a Federal officer in the mud the day after his death and thirty years later was returned to his family. The Louisville Journal called Hatton one of the purest, noblest, and best men. 

An obviously retouched photograph of Hatton in a uniform

Monument to Robert Hatton in Lebanon, Tennessee

Grave of Robert Hatton

Tennant Lomax: No Nobler Spirit

Colonel Tennant Lomax

       Tennant Lomax (sometimes spelled Tennent) was born in 1820 in South Carolina. After becoming an adult, he moved to Eufaula, Alabama and began a law practice. He served as a captain during the Mexican War and as governor of Orizaba, Mexico. His first wife Sophia Shorter died in 1850. He remarried in 1857 to Caroline Billingslea and moved to Montgomery, Alabama. When the war began, he became colonel of the 3rd Alabama Infantry. 

       Ordered to Pensacola, he fully expected orders to storm Fort Pickens, but the order never came from Montgomery. He paid a visit to the fort under a flag of truce. The officer there told him, "Colonel, we expected the honor of a visit from you some time ago." Lomax replied, "Sir, you would not have been disappointed had my wishes prevailed."

       His regiment was soon ordered to Norfolk, Virginia where it's twelve month service expired. Lomax then enlisted as a private, but his regiment soon re-enlisted for the duration of the war and he was it's colonel again. 

       His only action of the war occurred at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31, 1862. Lieutenant James Thompson of the 6th Alabama described his final moments. "The 3rd Alabama Regiment...one of the finest regiments in the service was passing. General (John Brown) Gordon, then our colonel, was standing near us. One of the finest looking officers we ever saw reined up his horse, shook hands with him, and while they were exchanging a few words, some of our troops asked, who is he? It was Col. Lomax. His regiment had passed. He told Colonel Gordon that this would be his first and his last battle, and with a smile and a salute, he galloped away toward the fighting to the head of his regiment and they passed out of sight. It seemed to us hardly time for their column to form in line before heavy volleys of musketry were opened in that direction, and soon after, heavy numbers of the regiment were passing wounded or being borne on litters. The gallant Lomax was among the dead."

       The Augusta Constitutionalist pays the following tributes to the memory of this gallant officer: "No nobler spirit ever gave his life in defence of his country than Tennant Lomax, Colonel of the Third Alabama regiment, who bravely fell in the late battle near Richmond. He was a man of towering form and commanding present, with a countenance beaming with intelligence, and bearing the stamp of high-toned honor and of every generous emotion. His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up, and my to all the world, 'this was a man.'"

       Tennant Lomax was 41 years old. Brewer's Alabama: Her History, Resources, War Record and Public Men states that he was to receive a commission from Jefferson Davis to brigadier general the day he was killed. He rests today in Oakwood Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama. 

Me at the grave of Tennant Lomax. Note his tombstone lists his age at 44.