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The Henry County Weekh
VOL. XXXIII
The War and Reconstruction in Henry
County.
Her Contribution to It and Its Effect on the County.
At the beginning of the Civil War
Henr ,r county wss on o of G6or?iß*s
leading counties. From the time its
first settlers cleared the land for their
homes in the early twenties, it had
enjoyed rapid and continued progress,
until in 1850 its free population was
9,757. It has three manufacturing es
tablishments and its real estate was
worth $1,720,595, and its personal
property $2,869,342.
This county ocupied almost the cen
ter of what became known, near the
war's close, as the “Egypt of the Con
federacy,” because it was the great
granary from which was drawn sub
sistence for the armies in the field,
when the resources of almost every
ether part pf the South were ex
hausted.
So this section then became the fast
tottering Confederacy’s only hope, and
doubtless tihis ore fact contributed
much to make it suffer consequences
of the last days of the Confederacy,
and of the reconstruction period pecu
liarly its own and more severe than
those suffered by other regions of the
South.
Henry county had not waited for the
war to be brought to her doors,
before giving her sens and her sub
stance to the great conflict. From the
early days of tile strife, throughout the
four long years of its continuance,
company after company left the peace
c,f her homes and the plenty of her
fields, and, in the carnage of the
charge and the hunger of the camp,
became at once the war-gods’ numan
bullets and subsistence.
Even during the first year of the
war, the brave women of the South
began to “realize that war meant
something more than a grand pageant
or military display.” We quote the
words of a noble Henry county woman
of those days and deeds:
“Our ports were blockaded and our
stores of necessaries for living were of
necessity diminishing, the Confeder
ate government was beginning to levy
taxes upon our resources, and it re
quired but little forethought to see Vue
•necessity for a heroic display >cf our
energy, activity and devotion to the
cause that we had espoused. Our wo
men began to provide themselves with
the means for making cloth to clothe
our families, and as rapidly as possi
ble we procured cards, spinning wheels
and old-fashioned hand lcoms for the
manufacture of cloth, for the use of
cur families and for the boys at the
front as well.
“As the war progressed, we found it
necessary to supplement the amount
furnished by the government by an
annual contribution of cLthing, socks,
etc,, to keep our boys from suffering,
especially during the winter months;
for the government, with blockaded
perts, could not furnish everything
that our soldiers needed in the way of
fond and clothing.”
She herself, “kept two looms, four
spinning wheels and cards, and six
negro women, to use them, constantly,
and manufactured over seven hundred
yards of cloth annually, for she had
six brothers at the front w r hom she
had in part to look after,” and the
youngest gave his brave, young life to
the cause at Antietam on September
17, 1863. when only seventeen years
old.
“Mr. Sam Dailey's factory,” which
stood where Dailey's Mill now stands,
cn Walnut Creek, and was the fourth
of its kind to be erected in Georgia,
“was kept busy in supplying our wo
men in this section with thread for
the warp we used in our looms, but
he could not always supply the de
mand and we then had to spin and
prepare it at home. Life was real,
life was earnest then: every man,
woman, and child had a part to per
f rm, from the tiny tot who could pick
up a basket of chips, to the aged and
infirm, all were called upon to do what
HISTORICAL SECTION
8 PAGES
they could to help in the great strug
gle for existence and for our country’s
freedom.”
In 1850, just ten years before the
war, Henry county's white male popu
lation numbered but 4.978; and to the
armies of the Confederacy she contrib
uted nearly one thousand men, all told.
So, while her fields, near the last days,
smiled with golden harvests, they had
been produced by the women and boys
and slaves, for her fields were as bare
of men as were those nearer the scene
of active fighting.
When our boys at the front had
“worn themselves out whipping the
yankees,” until but a handful was left
of the vast bodies who went cut at
the beginning and through the war,
and ever., they were but shadows of
their former well-fed selves, Lee saw
that Richmond was doomed and there
was left but one thing to do: leave
Richmond to her fate, after giving due
warning to the President, so that he
could escape with his cabinet ar.d rec
ords and treasure, and then retreat
into the extreme south of the Confed
eracy, where at the same time he
could augment his depleted army by
the forces of Joseph E. Johnston and
draw from Georgia and South Caro
lina’s rich fields an abundance of sup
plies for his men and horses.
General Lee was tillable to con
vince President Davis of the impossi
bility of holding Richmond much long
er. While he continued, with his thin
lines of even thinner men, to face the
vast hordes of well-fed men under
Grant from the Richmond trenches,
General Johnston was retreating be
fore Sherman toward Atlanta. At last
Sherman stood at the entrance into
the very heart of the Confederacy. At
Atlanta, he was on the very edge of a
section of well-filled barns and stables
ar.d cattle pens.
When General Johnston’s army, in
its fighting and stubborn retreat, had
reached Atlanta, he was relieved of its
command and General John B. Hood,
who was appointed in his place, took
command on July 18, 1864.
The battle of Atlanta was fought
on July 22, 1864, and minor battles
followed, and skirmishes continued un
til Hood evacuated Atlanta in Septem
ber, 1864.
The War Reaches Henry County,
Some of the activity of both armies
stationed around Atlanta during its
seige extended as far south as Mc-
Donough. In the- month of July, 1864,
General Sherman sent out Kilpatrick's
“raiders,” as their cavalry was called,
to spy out the country south of’Atlan
ta and- report its condition.
Their approach to McDonough was
announced to the residents early one
afternoon by the distant rattle of mus
ketry and the boom of cannon. The
s:unds were recognized at once by
some disabled Confederate soldiers,
who had been returned from the front
as physically unfit for service, and
they said fighting with musketry was
in progress somewhere.
Two or three citizens of the town
who owned fleet horses rode 'cut in the
direction of the firing, to ascertain, if
possible, the cause of it. The men,
women and children were gathered to
gether on the public square, anxiously
awaiting the return of the couriers.
Soon they were seen coming at the top
of their speed, on their foaming horses
and without dismounting or halting,
they yelled to the citizens to get to
their homes at once, as it was a yan
kee raid, and it would be upon them
in a few minutes. The men, fearing
capture, concealed themselves.
Kilpatrick’s advance guard entered
McDonough a little after two o'clock
and their rear guard about dark.
Some of them entred every house
along their line of march, pulled open
drawers, trunks, and cupboard doors,
took whit they wanted, and left chaos
and confusion in their wake. The
McDonough, Georgia, priday arril 24, 1908.
greatest damage was their sacking
the commissary store, where was
kept the deposit of provisions made
under Governor Brown’s orders, for
the starving poor. These raiders never
left a vestige of anything to eat.
They also went into the offices, of
the Ordinary and Clerk of the Court
and tore up their court recerds, emp
tied the files, and left the floors of
botn offices covered about six inches
deep with papers, some of them torn
into shreds, and some of the record
bo:ks so mu.tilated that they could
never be straightened out.
When General Hood learned of this
movement of Kilpatrick’s raiders, he
sent General Ross's Texas Brigade
and Genial Furgeson’s Mississippi
Brigade to intercept these raiders, if
posible, and cut them off from a re
turn to headquarters. The pursuers
never fully overtook Kilpatrick but
pressed him so closely that he lost
heavily of guns and ammunition in his
flight, and the roads along the line of
march were literally strewn with
guns, ammunition, knap-sacks, can
teens, blankets, etc.
The pursuers almost overtook the
fleeing raiders at Cotton Indian river,
on the Peaehstone Shoals road, and
they barely escaped disaster in cross
ing this stream.
They had camped near the stream
for the night, and on the morrow,
when they proceeded to cross, the
stream was swollen by the rair.s of the
previous night. At the same time Gen
erals Rcss and Furgeson were at their
heels and left them no alternative but
to cross or be captured.
A long rope cable was stretched
across the stream from the rock which
can still be seen cn the edge of the
stream above where the bridge now
stands. Keeping their horses above
this rope, the riders would swim them
across in comparative safety. The
process was too slow, however, and
the pursuing forces came up so soon,
that the ammunition and commissary
and baggage wagons were driven into
the stream in confusion, and tne wag
ons were lost and the horses and men
were drowned.
A Lieutenant Gentry, wno had
charge of the camp cf convalescent
horses of Wheeler’s Cavalry, but who
was not Soutuern-born, came up just
as some sick soldiers were entering
the river. It is said that he gave the
last one a kick, seeding him helpless
into the river, with the remark:
“You may now go to hell Dy wa
ter.”
Not long after Kilpatrick’s raid and
near the summer’s close, McDonough
and Henry county suffered almost as
much from a raid of Wheeler s Caval
ry. General Hood ordered Wheeler to
make a circuit south of Atlanta, and,
within a radius of thirty-five or forty
miles, to destroy everything available
as sustenance for man and bea3t, and
seize all stock of every kind and drive
it off.
When this order became known to
the residents of the county, smoke
houses, pantries, and granaries were
immediately emptied and their con
tents transferred to attics of dwellings,
ar.d the stock and cattle were driven
out of reach of Hood's order.
It was one morning late in August
or early in September, 1864, wnen the
residents of McDonough awoke to find
Wheeler’s Cavalry in the town. It was
then announced that Hood had evacu
ated Atlanta, leaving it in Snerman's
possessor, and that Hood was moving
down, with his entire army, as far as
McDonough, where a halt or several
hours would be made, and that Gener
al Wheeler’s army was General Hood's
advance guard.
While General Hood was here, the
McDonough Institute buildfng was
used as a hospital for the sick and dis
abled soldiers. A number were sent
from here to the Mac-on hospitals. Our
town and vicinity blazed that night
with the camp fires of about twenty
thousand soldiers. Of course the cit
izens of the town, ordinarily so quiet,
were all very much excited, the next
day Hood marched out of McDonough
and scon engaged the enemy in what
has become known as the Hattie of
Jonesboro, fought near that town.
After the Battle of Jonesboro, Hood
was ordered to move his army around
and i:i the rear cf Sherman, sever the
latter’s connection with his base of
supplies, and cripple him as much as
possible in his plans and movements.
Hood made this circuit and Anally
reached Franklin, Tennessee.
With Hood’s departure, there was
left, to protect all this section from
Sherman’s hosts, but a few tnousand
soldiers, most of them being tne'Gecr
gia militia, under General U. W.
Smith. As afterwards related, this
force never came into Henry county,
except in passing through to Griffin;
so Sherman was left free and unham
pered in his operations in Henry
county.
Sherman Begins His Raid.
And now, with the way practically
clear before him, Sherman begins to
work out his daring idea of breaking
tixe backbone of the Confederacy by
utterly devastating all this rich sec
tion. Therefore, he writes to General
Grant proposing to march through
Georgia to the sea. He says: "I can
make the march and make Georgia
howl. * * * I can make Sa
vannah, Charleston, or the mouth of
the Chattahoochee. I prefer to march
through Georgia, smashing things to
the sea.”
Grant sanctioned the proposed move
ment and indicated his preference fo>
Savannah as the objective point of the
campaign.
For this predatory Incursion, Sher
man divided his army into two wings:
the right—commanded by Major-Gen
eral O. O. Howard, comprising the Fif
teenth Corps, under Major-General P.
I. Osterhaus, and the Seventeenth
Corps, under Major-General Frank P.
Blair, Jr., and the left, under Major-
General H. W. Slocum, consisting of
the Fourteenth Corps, under brevet
Major-General .1. C. Davis, and the
Twentieth Corps, under Brigadier-
General A. S. Williams. This infan
try force of sixty thousand was accom
panied by a cavalry division of fifty
five hundred sabres, commanded by
Brigadier-General Judscn Kilpatrick.
There was an allowance of about one
field piece to every thousand men, ag
gregating between sixty-five and sev
enty guns, fully manned and thorough
ly equipped. A pontoou train was as
signed to each wing of the array, and
an efficient pioneer battalion organ
ised fer each corps. The entire com
mand was amply provided with good
wagon trains, loaded with ammunition,
and carrying supplies approximating
forty days’ rations of bread, sugar,
and coffee, a double allowance of salt
for the same period, and gram forage
for three days. Beef cattle, sufficient
f-i forty days’ subsistence, attendee
the army. No equipment was lacking
which could in any wise enhance the
comfort, power, and efficiency of this
formidable expedition.
Having completed thes£ arrange
ments, on November 14, 1864, General
Sherman’s right wing, accompanied by
Kilpatrick’s Cavalry, began the<r
march from Atlanta, going in the di
rection of Jonesboro and McDonough,
with orders to make a strong feint
on Macon, cross the Ocmulgee about
Planter’s Mills, and rendezvous in the
neighborhood of Gordon in seven days,
exclusive cf the day of march. On
the same day General Slocum, with
the Twentieth Corps, moved toward
Decatur and Stone Mountain, with in
structions to tear up the railroad track
from Social Circle to Madison, burn
the railroad bridge across the Ocmul
gee east of Madison, and, turniing
south, reach Milledgeville cn the sev
enth day, exclusive of the day of
march. General Sherman in person
left Atlanta on the 16th, with the
Fourteenth Corps, brevet Major-Gener
el Jeff C. Davis commanding, moving
by way of Lithonia, Covington and
Shady Dale, directly on Milledgeville.
On the afternoon of the 15th the
Confederate Cavalry, skirmishing
heavily with the advancing columns of
the enemy’s right wing, fell back
from Jonesboro to Lovejoy. The same
day at dark, General G. W. Smith com
menced moving his command to Grif
fin, and, entrenching himself behind
the field fortifications there, hoped
to check the Federal advance.
The enemy, however, left Lovejoy,
SECTION 3
and Griffin to the right, passed
through Stockbridge, and on the 16th
reached McDonough.
They halted here for several hours.
While they kept the spirit of thei.
promise not to burn, made to i)r, Tye,
as elsewhere related by another writ
er, they failed to keep the spirit of it,
and looted right and left. They ram
sacked the churches and school houses,
taking Bibles, hymn books, carpets
and everything movable, and making
slaughter pens of these buildings.
A beautiful Baptist church had been
erected but a few years betore and
was the pride of the town and the
handsomest church building in the
county. After mutilating the building
until no vestige of its beauty remain
ed. the vandals carried their slaughter
ed animals into the pulpit and carved
them up, leaving their wastage, blood,
etc., on the bookboard and floor. Even
“to the cemetery their fiendish hate
extended, and everything of a des
tructive nature marking the graves
was destroy ed.
Ai McDonough this wing of Sher
man’s army divided. General Ouster
haus’ Fifteenth Corps and General Kil
patrick's Cavalry took the Macon road,
going directly south. General Uuster
haus’ army has been described by a
Henry county woman of those times as
“a mongrel mass of foreigners and'nig
gers,’ with a slight sprinkling ot yan
kecs, who were mostly officers In com
mand to his firebugs and fiends.”
The Seventeenth Corps, under General
Blair, went east, the main body taking
the Keys Ferry road. A large portion
01 this corps lost their way and went
down the Butler’s Bridge and Peach
stone Shoals roads, covering consider
able territory on either side as they
went, and finally joining the main body
beyond Sharon church. This body of
soldiers destroyed Old Timberrldge
church, which then stood between the
present home places of Mr. Jack Rus
sell and Mr. Will Turner, and also Lit
tle Sharon church, which stood some
where near Peaehstone Shoals. They
demolished these churches for fire
wood, as it was raining and had turn
ed cold when they camped there.
They also burned Hendrix’s
Mill and all the corn and grist
mills on their line of march.
After this there was no mere fight
ing in Henry county and ro more sol
diers on its soil until the war ended
and the sorer trials of reconstruction
began.
A few months more of suffering
passed. Sherman went on to Savan
nah, almost unmolested, and never re
turned thr ugh the wasted and deso
late fields of Henry. From now until
the surrender, in this county there
was the lull that preceded the storm.
The Confederacy Becomes a Wanderer
In April the great and noble Lee
surrendered and the Confederate gov
ernment itself a wanderer on the
earth, fleeing for safety. President
Davis and a number of his cabinet,
with the valuable papers and records
of the Confederacy, and the com of the
treasury and the Richmond banks, hur
riedly left Richmond for the south
hoping to reach Florida, and from
there sail for some Texas port, and in
the West to find hiding among friends
until the Federal government would
guarantee his personal freedom.
Of course Federal soldiers were sent
in pursuit of him. Henry county suf
fered an invasion of these soldiers
also. General Stoneman commanded
those w'ho traversed this county. In
a series of very interesting articles
which appeared in the Henry County
Weekly in 1901 and 1902, Mrs. A. C.
Nolan tells of the visit of General
Stoneman to her home:
“We were suddenly awakened about
2 o’clock in the morning by the tramp
of horses’ feet and the jingle of bay
onets. In less time than I can tell it
my front and back yard and kitchen
were all alive with blue-coated demens,
and one was at my front doer, seeking
admittance.”
Mrs. Nolan’s brother met tne of
ficer at the door and received the
in' - line, lion that the soldiers were of
General Stoneman's brigade, in search
for Jeff Davis, that he intended search-
$1 A YEAR
Continued on Page Eight.
