GBSHHA NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2015
www.generalbartonandstovall.com
150 Years Ago – April 1865
Stovall’s Brigade is in camp at Smithfield, NC from 4/1/1865 until 4/9/1865
Confederate Army reorganized at Smithfield, NC 4/9/1865
The 42nd Georgia, 36th Georgia plus elements of the 34th and 56th Georgia Regiments were reorganized as
the 42nd Georgia Consolidated Battalion 4/10/1865
The 40th, 41st and 43rd Georgia Regiments were reorganized as the 40th Georgia Consolidated Battalion
4/10/1865
The 40th Georgia Consolidated Battalion has 287 officers and men commanded by Lt. Col. Clements
4/10/1865
From 3 miles NW of Smithfield, Stovall’s Brigade marches toward Raleigh 10 miles and camps.
4/10/1865
Stovall’s Brigade marches through Raleigh and camps 3 miles west of town and camps. 4/11/1865
From 3 miles west of Raleigh, marched 18 miles and camped 18 miles from Hillsboro 4/12/1865
Marched 16 miles to within 2 miles of Hillsboro, NC 4/13/1865
Marched towards Greensboro, NC 4/14/1865
Marched to within 15 miles of Greensboro and camped. 4/15/1865
Marched 13 miles, to within 2 miles of Greensboro and camped. 4/16/1865
Stovall’s Brigade is camped 2 miles East of Greensboro, NC 4/17 to 4/25/1865
Stovall’s Brigade is at final campsite at Archdale, NC, on the railroad, near High Point, NC 4/26/1865
Confederate Army in North Carolina surrenders at Greensboro, NC 4/26/1865
Note: A battalion was smaller than a regiment but larger than a company. Usually, a battalion was three or
four companies in strength. The ranks were so depleted; the army had to be reorganized into somewhat
understandable formations. For example, the 40th Georgia Consolidated Battalion only had about three
companies remaining with 1862 strength.
Franklin Battlefield Tours
H. David Richardson, Haworth, OK, Secretary and 41st Georgia Regimental Historian, has discovered
that a new company, Civil War Tours US, will be conducting battlefield tours at Franklin, TN.
Kraig McNutt will act as battlefield guide and tour operator. He has announced that,” Several Franklin
tours will be conducted the second half of the year." You may learn more details by contacting
www.CivilWarTours.US or [email protected] and [email protected]
I was on that website and found a 21 question survey that would go to Kraig McNutt. He is seeking more
information on who might be interested in the tours and what they might like to see. He also is trying to
get an idea on how interested the person is and how much they know about the various parts of the
Franklin battlefield and sites associated with it.
The survey was conducted by “Survey Monkey”. I suggest that you look at it just to see how the
questions were posed. We might want to do something like that in the future for our members and our
future tours. Keep in mind that our tours are for us. We do not sell them to the general public. Another
observation is that when time is limited, it is hard to see everything. That is one reason we do not try to
explain and go over the entire battlefield. It is hard enough to see where our ancestors were and what they
did in the amount of time we have to conduct the Congress.
The General Barton and Stovall’s History &Heritage Association conducted the 2006 Congress at
Franklin. For those of you that were there in 2006, you might find it interesting as to how the new tour
company is setting up their tours and seeking input through the electronic survey.
GBSHHA 2015 Roster Expands
The GBSHHA 2015 Membership and Contact Roster has expanded to 292 names with contact
information. It takes 18 pages of 8 1/2 X 11 paper to print it out. A contact is a person we know about but
has not joined. A member is one who has paid their membership dues. Secretary H. David Richardson,
Haworth, OK maintains a record on the roster of when a member first joined and when he last paid his
membership dues.
If we have a contact that has an email address, that person is sent the association newsletter each month.
The thought is that if they know what we are doing, they may join and support our efforts. That theory
has been borne out many times. We have support from people who are too far away to travel to a congress
or have medical problems that prevent their travel. We have support from people who can travel to a
congress only once in awhile. All support, in various forms, is welcome.
Loyal Member Support
As pointed out above, people join our association and support us with their dues and donations, even
though they do not attend the congress each year. We need and appreciate this support.
The following are the people who have done this for many years, going back to 2004. They include:
Charles Free, Weaubleau, MO; Lee Cooper, Red Lodge, MT; Robert and Randy Lotridge, The
Woodlands, TX; Gretta Reich, Duncanville, TX. Thank you all!
Battle of Franklin Descendants Organization
There is a Battle of Franklin descendant’s organization and they have a website. The address is
www.FranklinDescendants.wordpress.com
Descendants of our five regiments would qualify if their ancestors were at Franklin. Stovall’s Brigade
arrived on the battlefield about 4:30 PM while the battle was in progress. They had completed a 30 mile
march and were allowed to rest. They went into the line during the night and a Captain in the 42nd Georgia
was killed while positioning his men.
The next morning Stovall’s Brigade was tasked to find and assemble arms and ammunition, food
supplies, wagons and animals, wounded soldiers that had been left behind by the Yankee forces that
withdrew during the night.
Stovall’s Brigade rested off the road in the Winstead Hill area, which was Hood’s observation post. The
battle line was about two miles to the North at the edge of Franklin. The following month they would
fight a rear guard location at the same location during the retreat from Nashville.
Future Vicksburg Area Congress
Secretary H. David Richardson, Haworth, OK and I have discussed the possibility of extending the
format of a future visit to the Vicksburg area into two congresses. There are at least three museums that
we did not visit as a group in 2004. One is the main museum at the National Park Service headquarters at
Vicksburg, another is in the old courthouse and yet another is at a hotel. (I have the name of it in the
files.)
The first congress in the series would cover Chickasaw Bayou, the Redbone Church holding action and
then Baker’s Creek (Champion Hill) battle. The railroad crossing at the Big Black River should be
included in this congress too, because our people withdrew through that location to Vicksburg.
The second congress in the series would focus on Vicksburg to include the big museum, the other two
museums, the cemetery, and the trace of the 17 mile CSA line to get the picture of the whole battle and
Barton’s Brigade’s participation in the defense.
The three museums are important to understand the battles. In 2004, in order to see the battle sites, we had
to omit the museums in the time we had. By extending the time there to two congresses, I think we can
get the battle locations, routes of march and the museums.
As you old members know, it takes time to get on and off the bus, take rest breaks at a restroom, explain
what happened, take pictures, eat and travel to the next location If we leave at 8:00 AM and return at 4:30
PM to the hotel , there is a limit as to what can be visited.. Many came a long way to see the sites and
some will not be able to return again, so it takes careful planning to see what we came to see and not rush
through it.
Forty-Third Georgia Research Article
Forty-Third Georgia Regimental Historian Joe Bailey, Norcross, GA, has done extensive research on the
43rd Georgia. He has offered to share some of his research in the form of articles that will be submitted for
the newsletter. He has an article on wounds for this month.
Wounds that 43rd Georgia soldiers suffered were the same as those wounds in other regiments. Joe’s
research will give examples of what happened in other regiments. Thank you Joe for making it happen.
Battle Wounds Suffered by Some Members of the 43rd Georgia Infantry
Compiled by Joe Bailey
From Kellogg Rifles and Zollicoffer Guards
Of Forsyth County Georgia
Wounds suffered by soldiers during battles of the war were horrendous in nature. The following
lists excerpts from some individual soldiers and former soldier’s records describing their wounds.
Gun Shot wound entering Dorsal surface of foot near Articulation of Metatarsal and Tarsal bones
fracturing each bone. Ball now in foot which renders foot permanently and essentially useless to
perform the common avocations of manual labor. [Co. E – Joseph R. Black 1890 Pension Application.]
…..wounds as follows: by a minnie ball entering the right side just above the hip and coming out
just below right nipple and breaking two rib…. Also a minnie ball entering just below the left nipple
and coming out near the left hipp fracturing the left hipp rendering him substantially and essentially
unable to perform manual labor. [Co. E – James Ellis Crow 1890 Pension Application.]
By a bayonet passing between the bones of his left leg below the knee and from which wound the bones
have become decayed and caused a constant running sore causing said leg to be so injured that he
cannot do common manual labor. The same being substantially and essentially useless. [Co. E –
Jonathan H. Crow 1888 Pension Application.]
…..he was wounded at Jonesboro, Ga., shot through the lower jaw the bullet passing through cutting
his tongue half into. And at Baker’s Creek, Miss. May 25th 1863 he was wounded was shot in the leg
bullet passing between the two bones of the leg which said wound disables said leg. That the said W. C.
Crow is now confined in the Georgia State Sanitarium as a lunatic….. [Co. E – William C. Crow
Pension Applications.]
….he was wounded twice in the Battle of Baker’s Creek one wound being in the left thigh the other
being in the right hip ranging down to the right knee – also received a wound in the top of head by a
piece of shell – which wounds has caused deponent great suffering and pain. The bullet that made
wound in right hip remained in deponent ……. Years which caused him great suffering and pain – the
wound in head has caused deponent to lose a great extent of his eyesight. [Co. E – William H. Lamb
1891 Pension application.]
…..the wound occurred at the Battle of Peachtree Creek and he describes the wound as a Minnie
ball entering the left leg just above the ankle joint, and that said leg was amputated in consequence of
said wound below the knee. [Co. I – Jesse N. Clement 1897 Pension Application.]
Medical Examining Board Certificate stating a gunshot wound of the right arm received at the battle
of Baker’s Creek, Miss May 16 1863. The ball entered the arm about two inches below the shoulder
joint fracturing the Humurous and passing inwards and upwards and made its exit just above the
sternum in its course fracturing the Clavicle. There is permanent _ _ _ _ _ of the shoulder joint; In our
opinion he is unfit for duty in any department, we therefore respectfully recommend he be discharged.
Signed, one illegible signature and S. A. Holt, Surgeon. [Co. I – Andrew Pierce Moor[e] CSA Service
Record.]
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Loss of Mary Griggs, 1941-2015
GBSHHA Vice President Harris Griggs, Franklin, TN, has informed me about the sad news of the
passing of his wife at 2 a.m. on April 10. Mary had been in ill health for a long period of time. She had
been in a hospital in Nashville for about a week after her condition took a turn for the worse.
Harris has been the Vice President since 2005 and Mary would accompany him on congresses through the
years until her health prevented travel. This event will always be sad, but Harris said, “She was at peace”.
The next issue will be out about mid May.
Mike Griggs
GBSHHA President