Monday, April 20, 2020

The battle of Anderson, revisited

This is the 163-year-old flag that the Arsenal cadets rallied around in the "Battle of Anderson." It is displayed at The Citadel Museum in Charleston, S.C. (Photo courtesy The Citadel Archives and Museum)

 PIEDMONT, S.C.
 Where was the last battle of the Civil War? Depending on how you define a battle, it might have been in Anderson County. 
 There were three brief skirmishes in the county on May 1, 1865, as thousands of mounted Yankees converged on Anderson to pursue fugitive Confederate President Jefferson Davis. One was near Craytonville, where locals fired on the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Another was near what is now La France Mill, where Col. W.R. Jones' Pendleton Mounted Infantry challenged Yankees from Michigan, Kentucky, or Tennessee. 
 The third incident happened at Thomas Moore's farm halfway between Anderson and Greenville. Historical markers describe this as "one of the last engagements of the war" and "the last unit action of the War between the States east of the Mississippi," the units being a squad from the 10th Michigan Cavalry and the Arsenal Cadets, also known as Company B of the State Battalion. Mercifully, none of those skirmishes resulted in a loss of life.
Memorial in Waynesville, N.C.
 However, the gunshots in the Anderson countryside were not the last hostilities of the war. One of the Arsenal cadets who fought at Moore's Farm, McKenzie Parker, was killed by Stoneman's raiders May 3 in downtown Anderson, as was Texas Ranger A.C. Wall in a midnight skirmish May 9 in Madison, Ga. About May 23 in Greenville, one of Stoneman's Tennessee regiments came under fire from a loosely organized Home Guard. 
 Waynesville, N.C., also makes a claim to the last shot of the war on May 6, 1865, when Thomas' Legion (composed largely Cherokee Indians loyal to the Confederacy) killed James Arwood of the Union's 2nd N.C. Infantry. 
 There were even two Yankees killed by friendly fire May 10 in Irwinville, Ga., during the capture of Jefferson Davis, when two Union lines mistook each other for Confederate bodyguards.

The marker on the left is in downtown Williamston and implies that "one of the last engagements of the war" took place in nearby Mineral Spring Park. Actually, the skirmish happened 10 miles away at Thomas Moore's farm.
 Some of the details of the so-called battle of Anderson weren't easy to nail down when I wrote about it during the 150th anniversary of Stoneman's Raid in 2015. Since then, I've come across some old newspaper accounts and eyewitness reports from the Confederates.
 The Arsenal Academy was a school in Columbia that was essentially a prep school for The Citadel in Charleston. In 1865, when Charleston anticipated an attack from Gen. William T.  Sherman, The Citadel sent its flag to Columbia for safekeeping. Then Sherman decided to attack Columbia instead of Charleston, and the Arsenal cadets took the flag and began marching through the countryside to elude the Yankees.
 They eventually wound up in Greenville, where they helped guard a gun factory until they heard of the approach of Stoneman's cavalry. Knowing that Robert E. Lee had already surrendered, they weren't looking for a fight, so they began retreating toward Newberry. They stopped to rest at Thomas Moore's farm in northern Anderson County, near what is now the town of Piedmont. The farm was in the Williamston Township, even though it was 10 miles from the town of Williamston. Piedmont and Pelzer did not exist at the time, though one of the cadets, Ellison Adger Smyth, would put Pelzer on the map by building a cotton mill there.
 The 10th Michigan Cavalry was riding from Spartanburg toward Anderson, where they were to rendezvous with other regiments from Stoneman's Raid and pursue Davis "to the end of the earth." Their route brought them through the Golden Grove community south of Greenville.
 On their way to Anderson, the Michigan cavalry divided into squads to try to pick up the trail of Jefferson Davis—who was actually taking a more southerly path via Greenwood and Abbeville. Guided down a country lane by a freed slave, the Union cavalry stumbled upon the cadets at Moore's Farm.
Route of the 10th Michigan Cavalry. They were in Lincolnton April 12, Newton April 17, Asheville April 26, Spartanburg April 30, Anderson May 1-2, and Athens May 5.

Gen. Stoneman had left the raid two weeks earlier, and military discipline had broken down under Gen. Simeon Brown. Many of the Union soldiers saw no purpose in pursuing Davis, now that most Confederates had surrendered. By the end of the war, the Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee regiments in Stoneman's raid had a terrible reputation, which was borne out by the way the Yankees pillaged and terrorized Asheville April 26 and Anderson May 1-2, 1865
 Two renegades from Michigan lost their lives through their mischief in Anderson County. The dates they died indicate that they had abandoned the pursuit of Davis. By May 3, their regiments had left South Carolina and were in Georgia. 
  • Alanson Wesley Chapman of Hillsdale, Michigan, accidentally shot himself May 5 near Pendleton while looting the Boscobel plantation of Rev. John Bailey Adger. The preacher's memoirs include vivid details. "Chapman had stolen a fine young mare, and in mounting her, his short carbine swung around. The hammer hit the pommel of his saddle as the muzzle jabbed him under the chin, and he fell dead in the yard." His fellow Yankees began going through the pockets of their dead comrades to take his loot." When Adger saw watches Chapman had stolen from his home, he declared, "The hand of God is on you men." They returned the watches to him, and Rev. Adger gave the soldier a proper burial. "I could do no less for any man who died at my door," the preacher said.
  • David "Harry" Morrison was killed May 9 between Greenville and Easley in retaliation for the May 1 murder of civilian Matthew Ellison. Morrison, 18, was buried on Turner Hill near what is now the intersection of U.S. 23 and S.C. 153. Family members later reclaimed the bodies of Morrison and Chapman. 
 It's no wonder that the 10th Michigan Cavalry missed their opportunity for fame in the pursuit of Jefferson Davis. In fact, the 10th Michigan Cavalry was still over 100 miles behind Davis when he was captured by the 4th Michigan Cavalry, who had come through Alabama.
Capt. John Peyre Thomas
 On the day of the "battle of Anderson," the Michigan outfit may have been looking for places to plunder, and Moore's stately two-story home would have been a likely target. In that case, it might have been every man for himself, which would explain why the squad abandoned their wounded comrade, James Callahan, on the field of battle, rather than fighting to rescue one of their own.
 The superintendent of the Arsenal, Capt. John Peyre Thomas, wrote a history of South Carolina Military Academy in 1893, where he described the events that led to the Anderson skirmish. After the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee April 9 in Virginia and Gen. Joseph Johnstone April 26 in North Carolina, he said his cadets were "the only organized body in arms in the state, and perhaps in the South, this side of the Mississippi River."
 Capt. Thomas doesn't mention it, but historian Thomas Bland Keys wrote in his paper "The Federal Pillage of Anderson: Brown's Raid," that a local militia led by Lt. W.P. Price fought alongside the cadets. 
 With so many armed men roaming the countryside, and with Southern blood boiling in defeat, it didn't take much to spark a shootout. From Thomas' book: 

 
 In another passage, Capt. Thomas described the flag as "blue Lyons silk" decorated on one side with the coat of arms of the state of South Carolina and on the reverse with the names of S.C. Revolutionary War battles—Fort Moultrie, Cowpens, King's Mountain, Eutaw Springs. The banner was a gift from the Washington Light Infantry (named for a cousin of George Washington), an organization that is still active in Charleston.
 When I first heard about the cadets rallying around the flag, I thought it might be "Big Red," the famous 5x7-foot banner that was captured by a Union soldier after the war and kept in an Iowa museum for many decades. Since 2018, "Big Red" has been displayed at the Holliday Alumni Center at The Citadel, and the state governors have been negotiating a permanent loan that would keep the flag in Charleston.
 At Moore's Farm, the Yankees realized they were outnumbered. They soon retreated and took another route to Anderson. According to Louise Ayer Vandiver's history of Anderson County, the cadets' stand prevented the Yankees from burning the nearby trestle on the Greenville & Columbia Railroad. 
 The wounded Yankee later returned to marry Thomas Moore's daughter. 

Newspaper accounts written decades after the skirmish embellish the story. Orr sent me this 1942 account in the Anderson Independent. The picture shows the house as may have appeared in 1865, along with the well that the cadets found so welcome. The clipping is smudged in places, and some of the names and details are hard to read. I've transcribed it below:


ONE OF LAST FIGHTS BETWEEN
CONFEDERATES AND YANKEES 
TOOK PLACE NEAR ANDERSON

Federal Soldier Wounded in Struggle Was Nursed Back To Health in House Still Standing and Married Southern Girl
 
 Uncle Tommy Moore was sitting on the front porch of his home admiring the peach orchard across the way, then in full bloom, when he heard the dust-muffled plod of marching feet. a moment later a column of grey-clad soldiers swung around the bend into full view. The men marched doggedly, some stooping slightly under the weight of their packs. The day was hot and the road rugged.
 "Why, there's just young boys, commented Uncle Tommy to his wife as the column neared his house. "I don't believe a one is more than 16 years old."
 He was correct in his appraisement of the soldiers. They were Arsenal cadets. With the exception of their commander, Colonel Thomas, none had even found it necessary to shave. The company had been guarding fortifications above Greenville, but retreated into Anderson County at the approach of Federal troops from North Carolina.
 Also retreating was a company of regular arsenal soldiers from Greenville. This company overtook the cadets at the Uncle Tommy Moore place, where all proceded to stack arms, rest, and drink water from a cool well.
 Many soldiers soon fell asleep, as they had been on the march all the previous night. Others soaked their swollen feet in a horse trough or took off their shoes and lolled about in the shade of the big oak trees A few sat around munching cold cornbread issued them as rations before leaving Greenville.
 Nobody heard cavalrymen approaching until several of the mounted men were less than 100 yards away. The alarm wouldn't have been sounded then had not a drowsy cadet sat up to fight off a troublesome wasp. When he opened his eyes, he saw uniforms of blue.
 "Yankees!" yelled the cadet, springing to his feet. "Yankees!"
 The Yankees were just as surprised as the Confederate soldiers, but had the advantage of being mounted and set to fight. Yelling and with revolvers blazing, they charged full tilt on the Moore home.
 Some of the boys fled into nearby woods, but others seized rifles and stood their ground The shooting was wild, but it halted the Yankees, who beat a retreat and turned into the White Plains Road. The Yankees were en route to destroy a railroad bridge over the Saluda River just below Piedmont. They gave up this plan after the encounter, however, not knowing the strength or identity of the Confederate force.
 One badly wounded Yankee was left behind. The maddened cadets would have dispatched him had not some of the women of the community come upon the scene and begged for his life. He was carried into the Moore home and nursed back to health. His name was Callahan, and he later married one of Uncle Tommy Moore's daughters.
 The Anderson boys who took part in this fight, which was probably the last clash between armed forces in South Carolina, were James L. Dean, McCullough, (other names unintelligible). A boy, James Spearman of Newberry, was wounded in the hand by a slug fired from a shotgun in the hands of a Negro who was piloting the Yankees. That Negro was Moss Jennings, a slave (unintelligible) to McElroy Jameson. Frank Blakely, a notorious outlaw and deserter from the Confederate Army, had enticed the negro from his master's home and used his as an aid in guiding a band of thieves and cutthroats through the country. In the fall of 1865, Blakely was captured and killed without further ceremony.
 The scene of the battle of May 1, 1865 is not drastically changed from what it was back then. The Uncle Tommy Moore home is there. So is the well and so is the road. The peach orchard is gone, and some of the woods have been cleared away, but a survivor of the last fight would have no difficulty in identifying the place were he to return their today.

In 1998, while I was working for The Greenville News, our Powdersville-Piedmont reporter Anna Simon retold the story when the stone marker was being dedicated, calling it the "Battle of Williamston."


Piedmont monument to mark site
of Civil War 'Battle of Williamston'

 By Anna Simon
Powdersville-Piedmont Bureau

 PIEDMONT—Weary Confederate soldiers were soaking their feet in a horse trough at Thomas Moore's Piedmont farm after walking from Greenville on May 1, 1865, when they heard hoofbeats.
 Others in the company of about 150 Citadel cadets awoke from naps to see a company of Yankee soldiers riding toward them.Both groups were taken by surprise by the chance encounter that some historians say was the last skirmish of the Civil War east of the Mississippi.
 On April 19, 1998, a chest-high granite monument will be dedicated at the site of the skirmish, which became known as the Battle of Williamston because that was the closest town. There also is a marker at Williamston's Spring Water Park.
 "We think it's important to mark these places so future generations can understand their history," said Ed Kelly, director of the project for the Sons of Confederate Veterans Jefferson Davis Camp 7 and a Confederate re-enactor.
 The war had ended with the South's surrender, but this skirmish was a Confederate victory, said Jimmy Orr, a great-great grandson of Thomas Moore. The Powdersville man heard the story from his grandmother.
 The cadets from The Citadel, led by Capt. John P. Thomas, were tired and hungry when they ... (text hidden) ... looking farm house by an orchard near Shiloh Church," according to Gary R. Baker's book, "Cadets in Gray.
 The original house, renovated as a ranch-style home, still stands on Old Williamston Road off State 86, near Oakley's Truck Stop on Interstate 85, Orr said. It remains in the family.
 The mounted intruders saw the resting cadets and opened fire. According to Orr, the Union soldiers were looking for Jefferson Davis, who had fled Richmond and headed south, possibly along this route.
 Louise Ayer Vandiver wrote in her book, "Traditions and History of Anderson County, that the cavalry planned to destroy a railroad bridge over the Saluda River.
 The cadets returned fire with their Enfields. No one was killed in the brief exchange, before the smaller Union force retreated—and according to Vandiver, gave up the plan to burn the bridge.
 Instead, according to Baker, they rode to Williamston and burned the train depot and the quartermaster's house.
 Two men were injured in this skirmish. A cadet from Newberry was shot in the hand. A Yankee soldier was shot from his horse.The Moores took the wounded Yankee in. He recovered and married their teen-age daughter, Orr said. A couple of years later, they had a son.
 When the child was about a year old, the Yankee soldier mysteriously disappeared. According to family legend, he was shot by his brother-in-law, possibly in a dispute over mistreatment of his wife, Orr said.This was the last skirmish of the war east of the Mississippi, according to both Baker and William L. Watkins, author of Anderson County: The Things That Made It Happen."

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