An Ohio General Loses His Coat

Joshua Woodrow Sill

       Joshua Woodrow Sill was born in 1831 in Chillicothe, Ohio. His father was an attorney who obtained the young Sill and appointment to West Point. He was quite an academic student, managing to finish third in a class of 52 cadets. Because of his high rank, he was able to earn an assignment in the ordnance department and was stationed in New York. Later, he was assigned an instructor at the United States Military Academy. 

       Just as the Civil War was breaking out, he resigned his commission to become a college professor. When the South opened fire on Fort Sumter, Sill resigned his position and offered his services to the state of Ohio. He was commissioned colonel of the 33rd Ohio Infantry Regiment. 

       He saw little action before being promoted to brigadier general in Phil Sheridan’s division. He and Sheridan became best friends during the time he commanded the brigade. His first major engagement was at the Battle of Stones’ River, called the Battle of Murfreesboro by the Confederate troops. 

Philip Sheridan

       The day before the battle opened, Sheridan called a conference with his brigade commanders. When the conference ended, Sill mistakenly put on Sheridan’s coat and Sheridan put on Sill’s coat. Thus during the battle of the next day, both men were wearing the others coat. 

       The Confederates struck Sheridan’s part of the battle line about 7:15 the next morning. The Southern troops charged right up to the muzzles of the Federal guns before breaking. Sill’s men in turn charged the retreating Confederate troops. Sill charged forward with his men and fell dead, a bullet passing through his upper lip and lodging somewhere in his brain. He was wearing Sheridan’s coat at the time of his death.

       The Confederate troops were extremely proud of having killed Joshua Sill. He had allegedly committed numerous acts of cruelty on the women, children and old men behind Federal lines just days before the battle. Confederate General Braxton Bragg stated that Sill’s body was captured and decently buried in the town of Murfreesboro which was more than the man deserved. 

       According to Federal soldiers, Joshua Sill was loved, admired, and respected more than any other officer in the army. Sheridan later named a fort in Oklahoma after Joshua Sill. Fort Sill is still the largest Artillery depot in the world. 

Monument to Sill located at Fort Sill in Oklahoma

       Joshua Sill was later removed from Murfreesboro and today rests in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe, Ohio. He was thirty-one years old. 

Joshua Sill's gravesite

Boy Hero Of The Confederacy

Sam Davis

       Samuel Davis was born in 1842 near Smyrna, Tennessee. At age nineteen he left home to attend the Nashville Military Academy which was only about twelve miles from his home. When the Civil War began, he joined Company I, 1st Tennessee Infantry. He saw action near Cheat Mountain in Virginia under General Robert E. Lee.

       His regiment was sent back to Tennessee. Davis was slightly wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and wounded more seriously at Perryville. After recovering he joined a cavalry company called Coleman’s Scouts. This small group of soldiers operated behind enemy lines around Nashville and provided information to Confederate General Braxton Bragg. These men always wore their military uniforms which distinguished them from spies. The Federal army considered these men such a nuisance that they refused to treat them as soldiers. Federal General Granville Dodge ordered his men to kill all the scouts they could find. 

Sam Davis boyhood home

       Sam went home to visit his family in 1863 and on the return trip to join his command was captured by Federal forces under Dodge. He wore his uniform which should have given him a prisoner of war status. Davis was also carrying mail directed to the Army of Tennessee. Dodge charged him with carrying mail to persons in arms against the Federal government and of being a spy. Sam pled guilty to the first charge, but denied being a spy as he was captured in uniform. Of course, he was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to be hanged. 

Sam's boot cut open by Federal troops to find the papers he carried

       He was offered a chance to save his life if he would give information about Coleman’s Scouts. He refused, saying, “I would rather die than betray a friend or be false to duty. If I had a thousand lives to live, I would give them all rather than betray a friend.”

       Before his execution, he wrote to his mother: “Dear mother. O how painful it is to write you! I have got to die to-morrow --- to be hanged by the Federals. Mother, do not grieve for me. I must bid you good-bye forevermore. Mother, I do not fear to die. Give my love to all.” And to his father, he wrote: "Father, you can send after my remains if you want to do so. They will be at Pulaski, Tenn. I will leave some things with the hotel keeper for you."

       

Sam Davis Memorial on his hanging site

       He rode to the hanging site sitting atop his coffin in an army wagon. The Federal soldiers escorting Sam, begged him to cooperate so they wouldn’t have to see him hanged. Arriving atop the hill just outside of town, a noose was placed around his neck. It was his twenty-first birthday. The officer in command of the hanging had trouble performing the awful task because Sam looked so young. Sam told the man, “Officer, I did my duty. Now you do yours.”

       The Boy Hero of the Confederacy rests today behind his boyhood home in Smyrna, Tennessee. In a future blog I will tell the sad story of his cousin, also a member of Coleman's Scouts.

Stone marking the exact spot where he was executed

Sam Davis grave

A close up of his tombstone

A Vision Across The Miles

Confederate Brigadier General States Rights Gist

       Confederate Brigadier General States Rights Gist was standing on Winstead Hill just south of the town of Franklin on November 30, 1864. He was busy trying to convince his servant Wiley to saddle his horse “Joe Johnston” for the coming charge because his other horse “Kitty“ was broken down. Wiley tried his best to persuade Gist not to ride this particular horse, saying, “Marse States, you ain’t got no business riding Joe. Joe ain’t got no sense when the bullets come around.”

       Gist had no choice because “Kitty” was stumbling as she walked. He replied, “He’ll just have to get used to the bullets.”

       Gist also realized the danger the frontal assault would present. He told his servant, “Wiley, you take charge of my money, my watch and ring. I might get tripped up this evening. Use what money you need, and if anything happens, take the watch and ring to my wife.”

       

Photo of Gist in the South Carolina Militia

       At that same moment almost four hundred miles away, General Gist’s brother Nathaniel lay of his deathbed with a fever. Their sister Sarah sat next to the bed attempting to make him as comfortable as possible. Nathaniel Gist had gotten typhoid fever while bringing the body of a dead relative from the front lines home for burial. 

       Nathaniel appeared to be getting delirious from his high fever. He stared at the ceiling as if he were seeing something happening far away. Suddenly, he announced, “Sarah, States has been killed in battle this afternoon.”

       Everyone present in the room became unnerved by the announcement. There was no reason to believe States Gist had even been in a battle, much less killed. He’d made it through three years of war with only a few minor wounds. Sarah attempted to calm Nathaniel. She was sure it was only the fever. 

       She said, “No, States is all right, your only dreaming.”

       Nathaniel refused to be comforted. He continued in his delirium, determined that his younger brother was dead. Finally, he announced, “I know that States is dead.”

       Back in Tennessee, States Rights Gist was leading his brigade of South  Carolina troops forward in one of the bloodiest assaults in the history of this country. Gist’s horse “Joe” was shot through the neck and began to plunge so wildly that the general was forced to dismount. 

       States then charged forward on foot leading his men. As they approached the Federal line, Gist was hit in the thigh by rifle fire. He refused to leave the field and was determined to share the fate of his men. As they reached the Federal breastworks, Gist was hit in the chest, a bullet passing through his left lung. He was in intense pain and as he was carried from the field, his last words were to one of his staff officers, “Lieutenant Trenholm, take me home to my wife.” 

       

Janie Gist

       He died at a field hospital at 8:30 p.m. His servant Wiley heard that Gist had been wounded and went in search of him. He asked a local lady if he could bury Gist in her yard and she was only too happy to provide a place for the great man. His wife, Janie Gist had his body brought back to South Carolina in 1866 and he rests there today in Trinity Episcopal Church Cemetery, Columbia, South Carolina. 

       Nathaniel survived his brother by only nine days. He rests in Fair Forest Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Jonesville, South Carolina. How he could possibly know his brother was dying in battle is a mystery. Perhaps when one is that close to death, he can sense things about those he loves so much.

Grave of States Rights Gist

Clay Allison: Civil War Soldier Turned Gunfighter

A young Clay Allison

       Robert Clay Allison was born in 1840 in Waynesboro, Tennessee. Like Jesse James, Allison’s father was also a minister, but died when he was only five years old. At some point in his childhood he received a blow to the head that left a depression in his skull. This may explain why he suffered from wild mood swings and a very short temper that only got worse the older he became. 

       He was described as tall with an perfect posture and dark complexioned. He appeared to be a gentleman until one of his mood swings struck. Allison was also noted to have no fear of any man. 

       Although Clay Allison was born with a club foot, it didn’t prevent him from joining the Confederate army when the Civil War began. He enlisted in the Tennessee Light Artillery. Several times he threatened to kill his superior officers for not pursuing retreating enemy troops. 

       His commanding officers were probably looking for an excuse to get rid Clay, because he was medically discharged from the artillery for “emotional or physical excitement of a mixed character, partly epileptic and partly maniacal.” When Clay drank, this condition only became worse.

       Nine months after being discharged, Clay Allison enlisted in the 9th Tennessee Cavalry. He managed to serve the rest of the war without being discharged for his condition. He soon became a scout for General Nathan Bedford Forrest and grew his mustache and beard in the same manner. He would keep this look for the rest of his life. 

Allison in his Bedford Forrest style beard and mustache

       When Forrest surrendered his command at the end of the war, Allison wasn’t treated as a prisoner of war, but charged as a spy by the Federal army. He was then sentenced to be shot. The night before his scheduled execution, he killed his guard and escaped. 

       He returned to Waynesboro, Tennessee and joined the Ku Klux Klan. When a Union soldier arrived to seize the Allison’s property, he shot and killed the man. The Allison family then moved to Texas where he became a rancher. 

       It is believed he killed a neighbor with a bowie knife in a quarrel over the use of a waterhole. When a man named Charles Kennedy was arrested for robbery, Clay broke into the jail, tied a rope around the mans neck and dragged him behind his horse until he was dead. He then cut Kennedy’s head off and carried it to the St. James Hotel where he placed it on a post. 

       

St. James Hotel where Allison carried Kennedy's head

       In 1871, in an attempt to steal government mules, he accidentally shot himself in the foot. Chunk Colbert, a gunfighter with six kills came looking for Clay. He bragged that Clay Allison would be his seventh kill. Colbert found Clay and together they went to dinner. After eating, Colbert drew his gun beneath the table and fired. The bullet struck the table and deflected away from Clay. Clay then drew his pistol and shot Colbert in the head. When asked why he had accepted a meal with Colbert, Clay replied, “Because I didn’t want to send a man to hell on an empty stomach.”

Clay Allison after shooting himself in the foot

       Colbert’s friend Charles Cooper went missing two weeks after the murder and many blamed Allison, but no evidence was ever found to support this claim. 

       Franklin Tolby, a minister and friend of Clay Allison was found shot in the back during the Colfax War and Allison decided to settle the matter himself. He then led a lynch mob that hung a Mexican named Cruz Vega that he believed was guilty of killing the minister. Vega was hanged, but told that his uncle  Francisco "Pancho" Griego was actually behind the murder. 

       Later that day, Francisco Griego arrived at a saloon where Allison was drinking. He attempted to draw his pistol, but Allison was too fast for him and shot twice killing him instantly. 

       In 1876, Allison killed a deputy sheriff who had shot his brother John while trying to disarm the two men at a local dance. His brother would recover and both men would be released because the shooting was thought to have been in self defense. 

       

Clay Allison two years before his death

       This would be the last killing by Allison. He would soon move to Missouri and bragged that he had killed fifteen men. In 1887, he fell from his wagon and the wheels rolled across his neck nearly decapitating him. He was forty-seven years old. He rests today in Pecos Cemetery, Pecos, Texas. He is famous for once remarking, “I never killed a man that didn’t need killing.”

Confederate tombstone for Clay Allison

Who is Richard Brooke Garnett

Long believed to be a photo of Richard Brooke Garnett

       Richard Brooke Garnett came from a famous Virginia family. His cousin Robert Selden Garnett was the first Confederate general to die in the Civil War. Like his cousin Robert, Richard attended West Point and was serving in the United States Army when the war began. When Virginia seceded from the Union, he immediately resigned his commission and entered Confederate service.

       He is now known as a hero because of his bravery at Gettysburg, but that wasn’t always the case. Being a Virginian, he rose to take command of the famed “Stonewall Brigade” and his career took a turn for the worse after the Battle of Kernstown. Jackson had received bad intelligence and attacked a Federal force twice the size of his own. Garnett’s brigade found itself being overwhelmed and running low on ammunition. In order to save his men, he ordered a retreat. 

       General Jackson was so infuriated by the action that he had Garnett arrested, accusing him of cowardice in the face of the enemy and neglect of duty. The entire episode is a black mark on the career of Stonewall Jackson. Garnett had undoubtedly done the right thing, but Jackson had accomplished his goal. None of his subordinates would ever retreat again without orders. (Ironically, Garnett didn’t hold a grudge against Jackson. He believed the entire incident was a huge misunderstanding and after Jackson was killed at Chancellorsville he served as a pallbearer in his funeral.)

       General Robert E. Lee released Garnett from arrest and placed him in command of George Pickett’s brigade of Virginians. All  General Garnett wanted was a chance to redeem his honor. In command of his new brigade, he saw minor action at Antietam, was held in reserve at Fredericksburg and missed Chancellorsville entirely. 

       Needless to say, Richard Garnett wasn’t a happy man when he arrived at Gettysburg. He had been kicked by a horse a few days earlier and was unable to walk. He was running a high fever, wearing a coat in the hot July sun because of chills. Lee ordered all officers to walk during “Pickett’s Charge” because of the target a man on horseback would make. Garnett couldn’t walk and refused to miss the battle for fear he would be called a coward again. 

       Richard Garnett would ride his large black horse “Red Eye” to just in front of the clump of trees. Garnett never pulled his sword, but cheered his men forward with the black felt hat he wore. At some point    he was hit by canister fire, some say in the waist. His blood covered horse was seen galloping toward the rear. 

Death site of Richard Garnett

       Richard Brooke Garnett was never seen again. Years later, his sword was found in a Baltimore pawn shop by Confederate General George Hume Steuart.

Garnett's sword

       The mystery of General Garnett only began with the finding of his sword. There is a picture long thought to be that of Richard Brooke Garnett, but many believe that picture is of his cousin Robert Selden Garnett who was killed at Corrick’s Ford. According to a family member Garnett was the opposite of his cousin, having blonde hair, blue eyes and no beard. This family member wrote this description in 1908 and many historians believe he never met Richard Garnett. Interestingly, the family of Richard Garnett identified the original photograph as that of the general at the time of the war. Why would they identify the original photograph as Richard if the photograph is indeed Robert. 

Robert Selden Garnett

       To further complicate the matter, many believe that a photograph labeled as Confederate Major General Franklin Gardner is actually a picture of Richard Garnett. The matter became even more complicated a couple of years ago when a photograph surfaced with Richard Garnett’s name on the back. It shows a blonde haired gentleman that looks nothing like Robert Selden Garnett. Another historian believes this photograph is actually Confederate congressman Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett of Virginia. 

Confederate General Franklin Gardner

Photograph labeled Franklin Gardner that many believe is that of Richard Garnett

Mystery Photograph with Richard Garnett's name on the back

       Prior to the Civil War, Garnett had a son by an Oglala Souix woman. They named the boy William “Billy” Garnett and there are several photographs of him in existence. Many historians try to take this photograph and compare them to the three photographs claimed by many to be Richard in order to figure out which is the famed general. 

Billy Garnett

       Garnett’s body was never found following the grand charge and many believe he was probably reinterred with the Confederate dead of Gettysburg in Hollywood Cemetery. The question still remains, which of these three are Richard Brooke Garnett or is it possible he never had a photograph taken that survived. We may never know. 

Monument in Hollywood Cemetery for Richard Brooke Garnett

A Sad Tragic End

Philip St. George Cocke

       Philip St. George Cocke was born in 1809 in Virginia. His father had served as an officer in the War of 1812 and secured Philip with an appointment at the United States Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1828, ranking sixth out of forty-five cadets. He would serve in the artillery for six years before resigning to return to Virginia where he would become a planter. He would devote the rest of his life to the management of his plantation in Powhatan County, Virginia and other plantations he owned in Mississippi. 

       The same year he resigned, he married Sallie Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin. Cocke became very interested in agriculture and believed in trying new techniques with his crops. As a result, he wrote numerous articles about planting and eventually rose to become president of the Virginia Agricultural Society. He also served on the board of visitors at the Virginia Military Institute. 

       When Virginia seceded, Cocke was made brigadier general in the Virginia militia and ordered to protect the area just south of the Potomac River. He reported to Robert E. Lee that he had just three hundred men to protect Alexandria, Virginia with against what he thought were over 10,000 enemy troops. Lee implored Cocke to not abandon the town even if it meant fighting against overwhelming numbers. Despite Lee’s pleas, Cocke abandoned the town without a fight. 

Cocke around the time the war began

       Despite this failure in the eyes of Lee, Cocke had studied the terrain around Manassas and it seems he was the first to conceive of that place as the ideal place to make a defensive stand. When Cocke’s troops were merged into the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, he was made a colonel in that army. Cocke was dejected and may have considered resigning, but General Lee must have convinced the man he was needed. 

       Beauregard took command of the army at Manassas and placed Cocke in command of a brigade. The man saw minor action at Blackburn’s Ford and was praised for leading his brigade into combat during the Battle of Manassas, although his was a minor engagement. After the battle, President Davis promoted Cocke to brigadier general in the Confederate army. 

       At this point, General Cocke’s life began to spiral downward. He seemed to have been suffering from what would later be called a nervous breakdown. When Eppa Hunton’s regiment was assigned to Cocke’s brigade, he was invited to eat dinner with the man. While he and Cocke rode back to the general’s tent, he suddenly blurted out, “My God, my God, my country!”

       This shocked Hunton and he was of the opinion from that moment forward that Cocke’s mind was a little off. The man had been in the field for eight months with huge responsibilities resting on him. Responsibilities that he didn’t seem capable of coping with. A few weeks later he returned home and as one Confederate noted, he was “shattered in body and mind.” 

Belmead Plantation

       He perceived imaginary slights from General Beauregard on his conduct at the Battle of Manassas. (In fact Beauregard had nothing but praise for Cocke’s performance there.) The man was mentally exhausted having placed too much pressure on himself and his actions. On December 26, 1861, he shot himself in the head at “Belmead” mansion, Powhatan, Virginia and was buried on the grounds there. In 1904, he would be reinterred in  Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia which is known at “the Arlington of the Confederacy.”

       Eppa Hunton may have summed it up best when he had the following to say about General Philip Cocke, “he was a brave man, a good man, an earnest patriot, but he was not a military man.” 

Cocke's grave in Hollywood Cemetery

Old Green Eyes

Chickamauga Battlefield

       I’m not much on ghosts as I have never seen a ghost. This ghost story intrigues me for some reason. My buddy, Jerry Smith has seen a ghost, so I thought I would write this story just for him.

       The Army of Tennessee, with the help of a corps from General Lee’s army in Virginia, attacked the Federal Army of the Cumberland just south of Chattanooga. The name of the creek there is called Chickamauga Creek, which means ‘River of Death’ in the Cherokee language. 

       The battle was fought over the period of two days and resulted in 35,000 casualties. It was the second highest number of casualties next to the great battle at Gettysburg. 

       The Federal line broke on the second day and raced back toward Chattanooga. General George Thomas organized a defensive line at a place called Snodgrass Hill. Because of his stand here, most of the Federal army was given time to escape and Thomas earned his famous nickname ‘Rock of Chickamauga’. 

Snodgrass Hill

       According to stories passed down by the soldiers who fought  there, a strange looking creature was seen walking among the dead and dying, just at dusk. The creature had glowing green eyes, long white hair, and huge misshapen jaws with protruding fangs. He also wore knee high boots and a long black cape. 

       Stories of the creature didn’t end with the battle. It was reported in 1876, the creature was still being spotted on the Chickamauga battlefield. Some believe the creature was there prior to the Civil War. According to Cherokee Indian folklore, the Chickamauga Cherokees were forced to move from the area because of the presence of witches. 

       In 1976, a park ranger was walking down a road near Snodgrass Hill when he met ‘Old Green Eyes’ approaching. He said that the creature turned and gave him a devilish grin as they passed each other on opposite sides of the road. The ranger didn’t believe in ghosts at the time of the sighting, but after the incident, he felt as though ‘Old Green Eyes’ was always watching him from the woods. Many employees and visitors to the park believe they are being watched from the forest today.

       Two car accidents have been blamed on ‘Old Green Eyes’. According to the victims, the creature is standing in the middle of the road with those glowing green eyes. They both swerved the car to avoid hitting the creature and struck a tree. 

       I like the story, but I’m not sure I believe in ghosts. One thing is certain. I’m going to take my buddy Jerry up there and see if he can find ‘Old Green Eyes’ for me.

Blurry picture supposed to be of Old Green Eyes