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8. The Cumberlands
- Louisiana State University Press
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1. Stokes to Johnson, Sept. 22, 1863, PAJ, 6:383–84; Stokes to Col. C. Goddard, Sept. 27, 1863, quoted in Weatherbee, 5th Tennessee, 31–32; Cooling, “People’s War,” in Sutherland, Guerrillas, Unionists, and Violence, 117, 123; OR, 32(1):55–57. 2. Cooling, “People’s War,” 123. CHAPTER 8 The Cumberlands A t Tracy City in September 1863, Col. William B. Stokes of the 5th Tennessee expressed regrets to Governor Johnson for having to abandon what he called “my section of [the] country.” Stokes accused the 22nd Tennessee Infantry’s Lt. Col. Thomas B. Murray, a Sparta attorney detached with two hundred men to recruit and mount his unit, of “prowling around in the counties of DeKalb, Warren, Smith, and Wilson, committing depredations upon Union families.” Writing from personal urgency, he claimed, “They have stolen all my stock, have attempted to burn my house, insulted my family, [and] fired on my wife.” Unlike Yankees at Carthage and McMinnville, Stokes’s men— whose families he wanted to protect—could help because they knew “every crossroad and by-path throughout that section.”1 Murray’s men, like other detachments of the sort, had instructions to recruit as well as round up conscripts, stragglers, and deserters. But often when away from regular forces with stricter discipline, Rebel recruiters waged their own private war of plunder and revenge. Having no line of supply, some foraging no doubt grew out of the necessity to live off the countryside. But often the cavalrymen combined with guerrillas, as Murray did, and their behavior became indistinguishable from one another in preying on civilians.2 Col. John M. Hughs, a former hotel owner from Livingston commanding the 25th Tennessee Infantry (CSA), also recruited in the area. He had been ordered by General Bragg during summer 1863 to take a squad of mounted sol- The Cumberlands 139 3. James T. Siburt, “Colonel John M. Hughs: Brigade Commander and Confederate Guerrilla,” THQ 51 (summer 1992): 87–95; “Amanda McDowell Diary,” in McDowell and Blankenship, Fiddles in the Cumberlands, 169 (Feb. 18, 1863). 4. TICW, 1:331; Thomas to Johnson, Jan. 9, 1864, PAJ, 6:553–54. 5. TICW, 1:331; Grant to Johnson, Jan. 24, 1864, PAJ, 6:591. diers into Middle Tennessee to round up stragglers, conscripts, and deserters. With the assistance of local soldiers such as Lafayette “Fayette” McDowell of White County, his command swelled to over one hundred men. But he spent much of his time accompanying guerrillas in hunting down “troublesome” Tories , “emboldened” by the Union invasion of East Tennessee. Still he tried to disassociate himself from the atrocities committed by guerrillas. It is unclear how many of Hughs’s soldiers were regulars, and even then, as he admitted, they “came and went pretty [well] as they pleased and . . . regular discipline could not be enforced.” On a number of occasions, to supply his force Hughs raided into Kentucky, striking at Glasgow, Monticello, and Scottsville. He also fought Union regulars in the Cumberlands, such as those of James Brownlow and Stokes, before crossing enemy lines to reach the Army of Tennessee at Dalton, Georgia, in April 1864.3 Stokes got a chance to protect his own on November 10, 1863, when General Thomas ordered his regiment to Nashville. Once reorganized the general intended to base it at Sparta, often a rendezvous for an assortment of mounted Rebels. But Robert Galbraith, recently stationed with one battalion at Shelbyville , claimed that the “officers and men [had] publicly announc[ed] that they would not serve under [Stokes].” To avoid another confrontation and confident that he could recruit additional companies, Stokes suggested that each battalion of the 5th Tennessee become a separate regiment.4 Thomas and Maj. Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, commanding at Nashville, agreed. They felt that the two battalions would “never be of service together.” Each command wanted to defend its home territory under its own leader, favoring either DeKalb or Bedford County and either Stokes or Galbraith. Governor Johnson, however, opposed dividing the regiment. Meanwhile General Grant at Chattanooga urged that Stokes “be sent Immediately to clear out the country between Carthage & Sparta of guerillas.” In late February 1864, after Stokes and the 5th Tennessee had been ordered to Sparta, Galbraith resigned.5 Minister-farmer John W. Bowen of Smith County described the 5th’s new area of operations as “that large district of country . . . lying east of the Caney [44.213.99.37] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 09:17 GMT) 140 Middle Tennessee and...