Death of a Confederate

"The Vile Wicked Wretch": November–December 1864

N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 1 8 6 4 In late 1864 the Smiths had two sons to worry about. No Confederate leader knew what Sherman had in mind after he had occupied Atlanta. When he left Atlanta on November 15 to begin his famous March to the Sea, Archie and the GMI cadet battalion that was guarding the state capital at Milledgeville constituted one of only a handful of military units in his path.1 At the end of that path in Savannah, surrounded by other inadequate forces, Willie remained at the duty that had occupied him for almost three years.John Bell Hood, who had replaced Joe Johnston as the commander of the Army of Tennessee, pulled away from Atlanta and marched toward Tennessee in a vain attempt to cut Sherman's supply lines and to conquer Tennessee, leaving Georgia to the scanty mercy of Sherman's massivearmy. 141 "The Wile wicked wretch" Only four days after they had departed Atlanta, Sherman's army was threatening Milledgeville. Governor Brown and the legislature left in a hurry. Archie was an eyewitness to some events concerning Governor Brown on November 19that have subsequently stirred up debate. While no less a figure than Sherman himself reported how Governor Brown loaded onto railroad cars even collards and vegetables from his kitchen and cellar,2 a debate sprang up about whether he put his cows on that train while leaving behind ammunition, tents, and other state supplies. On what was said to have been the last train to leave the town were the GMI cadets, now under the command of Georgia's adjutant general, Major General Henry C. Wayne (1815-83), the son of a U.S. Supreme Court justice.3 The train stopped at Gordon, where the railroad from Milledgeville joined with the Central Railroad to Savannah. Archie reported that he stayed behind and that the train returned on November 20, with about four cars. He was thus among the last Confederatesto abandon the capital of Georgia. Federal forces entered Milledgeville on November 22 and remained there until November 24.4 Although Governor Brown tried to rally forces to block Sherman, only the regular Confederate cavalry under Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906), the Georgia State Militia under Gustavus W. Smith (1821-96), and the cadets stood between Sherman and the sea.5 Charged with Savannah 's defense was William J. Hardee (1815-73), the newly appointed commander of the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Hardee was a native of Camden County, Georgia, where the Smiths had lived before coming to Roswell, where Willie and his sister Lizzie had been born, and where Willie had tried to establish himself as a schoolmaster. Under Hardee's orders, a small force under Major Alfred L. Hartridge was sent from Savannah to help General Wayne block the federal advance at Oconee Bridge. This force arrived at the bridge on the morning of November 20.6 Archie Smith says that he and the other cadets got on the train to leave Gordon on November 21 around 2:00. A day earlier, Major Hartridge telegraphed that General Wayne left Gordon at 3:30 "and are now here. As we left Gordon the Yankees entered it.... General Wayne has assumed command here."7 It should be noted that Archie reports a brief cavalry skirmish as they were boarding the train to Oconee.8 The next day, Wayne says that "some of the militia are coming" and asked for arms and ammunition.9 Placing his force that day atjust over five hundred men, he numbers among them 145 GMI cadets.10 It seems that Wayne actually turned over command of the bridge to the more experienced Major Francis 142 The Death of a Confederate Withers Capers.11 Capers placed his cadets on the west bank of the river, where the danger was the greatest, and reinforced them with a few Kentucky cavalrymen.12 One cadet was killed and five were wounded in the fighting that followed. They refused Wayne's offer to relieve them and maintained their position for the next two days, repelling federal attempts to burn down the bridge.13 Following Wayne's orders, on November 23 Major Hartridge's forces drove the federal 1stAlabama Cavalry back across the Oconee River at Ball's Ferry, some four miles below the Oconee Bridge, where...