Tramping with the Legion: A Carolina Rebel's Story

By C. Eugene Scruggs

The Carolina Rebels of Company K, Holcombe Legion, were true sons of the Upstate. Brothers, cousins, and neighbors- all were well-suited for service in the independent brigade commanded by OlShanks (Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans). The boys of Company K wore out many a set of boots tramping with the Legion wherever the regiment was needed- Charleston, Richmond, Malvern Hill, Rappahannock Station, Manassas Junction, Kinston, Wilmington, Jackson, Savannah and Petersburg.

One member of Co. K tells the story of his adventures with the legion, his capture at Stony Creek, his dramatic escape from the infamous Union prison in Elmira, New York, and his harrowing trek back to Virginia through the mountains of Pennsylvania and Maryland, helped along the way by copperheads, Dunkards and Dutch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 20, 2007
• ISBN: 9781412209663

C. Eugene Scruggs

C. Eugene “Gene” Scruggs holds a doctorate in literature and linguistics from the University of Kentucky. Over a forty-five year career he taught at Appalachaian State University, Eastern Kentucky University and the University of South Florida. In addition he also served as guest lecturer at the University of Paris in 1984 and tutor at Cambridge University in 1995. After this long career in higher education, Gene now holds the rank of Professor Emeritus. During his active career, in addition to teaching a wide variety of courses in literature, linguistics and history, Gene administered Study Abroad and Exchange Programs for the International Affairs Center at the University of South Florida. His long-time commitment and contribution to international education led his state-wide colleagues to bestow on him the title President Emeritus of the Florida Consortium for Internation Education. Gene has authored two previous books on academic subjects and written numerous articles and conference papers. For his efforts to disseminate an understanding and appreciation France’s contribution to Western culture, Gene was awarded the coveted rank of Chevalier des Palmes Académiques by the Prime Minister of France in 2003. Since retiring, Gene spends much of his time painting (watercolor and pastel media), writing and guest lecturing. One of his recent presentations was entitled: Art and Architecture in the Da Vinci Code. Gene is a member of the Lakeland Art Guild and a partner in the Imperial Art Gallery. Gene and his wife, La Donna, have two daughters and four granddaughters. Presently they and their “baby” (a Shih Tzu named Ming) divide their time between Florida and the mountains of Western North Carolina.

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© Copyright 2006 Eugene Scruggs

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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Melana, Sabrina, Lindsay, Erin, Alexandria, and Shannon

This story of the life and times of a few of our nineteenth-century ancestors serves to remind us of the many individuals who play a role in the molding of our lives.

In memory of Tommye Blanche Scruggs Kelley

(b. Jan 1, 1912—d. Aug. 13, 2005), the last living grandchild of Judson and Katherine Scruggs, and one who so much wanted to read this story.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Research and writing are not solo activities, even if they may at times appear to be. During the process of recreating the story of a Carolina Rebel, I was obliged to seek assistance from a number of individuals. As I followed the trail of Holcombe Legion and the men of Company K, several librarians and archivists offered their valuable time and expertise. I received special attention in particular from two archivists at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.—Trevor K. Plante (Old Military and Civil Records Division) and Mary Beth Rephlo (Office of Records Services).

Specific research on the infantry regiment of the Legion was made easier by the prior research of Charles D. Cox. His Report titled Tracking the Holcombe Legion (self-printed in 1992) gave me a valuable head-start and served as a frequent reference in tracing the regiment’s various trampings across the South.

In the fall of 2004 my wife and I spent several days in Elmira, New York to learn all we could about the Union prison camp for Confederate non-commissioned officers in that city and also to become familiar with the surrounding terrain. During our stay in Elmira the members of the staff at the History Museum, the archivists at the Booth Library at the Chemung County Historical Society, and the staff in the Genealogy Department of the Steele Memorial Library all offered assistance and encouragement.

A number of helpful suggestions regarding the Union Military District and Provost Marshall’s records were passed along by the staff of the National Park Service at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. This information proved to be very valuable in re-creating the final chapter of this book.

I am very grateful for the kind assistance of the headgenealogist at the Spartanburg County Public Libraries in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Ms. Susan Thoms. Additional help came from archivists at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in Columbia who graciously directed me to records relating to the early years of Spartanburg District.

Probably few people know more about Confederate camp life and military tactics than those who spend weekends involved in re-enactments. One re-enactor in particular, Jim Crocker, has offered valuable advice and expertise. Jim is a member of the States Rights Gist Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (a camp that includes members from Spartanburg and Union Counties in South Carolina).

I am especially indebted to four manuscript readers—Dr. Roger Cole, Linguistic Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida; Joan Nixon, manager of the Imperial Art Gallery in Lakeland, Florida; Rev. Melana Scruggs, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Aurora, Missouri; and Dr. DeWitt B. Stone, Jr., Special Assistant to the President, Lander University, Greenwood, South Carolina. DeWitt is the editor of Wandering to Glory, a recent publication containing stories told by the men in Brigadier General Nathan Evans’ Brigade to which the Holcombe Legion was attached. I have been in contact with DeWitt during much of the composition of this volume, and he has saved me from a number of serious faux pas!

Throughout the process, my wife and best friend, La Donna Loescher Scruggs, carefully read each line of every draft and and alerted me to inconsistencies in spelling, dialect and composition. Without her aid, the text would be considerably less refined.

And finally, for the general outline of Judson’s story, I am indebted to the oral and written recollections of Hettie Scruggs Daughton, Pearl Scruggs Parrish and Forrest Puryear Scruggs, grandchildren of Judson and Kate Scruggs. Their careful attention and excellent recall is what gives life to Jud’s rambling narrations. They were always ready to share information about the old days, and anecdotes about their beloved grandfather. Unfortunately most of us in the fourth generation failed to listen closely, if at all. Perhaps this work will rectify that failure to some degree.

C. Eugene Scruggs

Lakeland, Florida

September 2006

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Contents

List Of Illustrations

Author’s Note

Frontispiece

To The Officers And Soldiers Of The Holcombe Legion:

Introduction

Enduring Fascination With Johnny Reb And Billy Yank

Setting The Stage

Life In South Carolina Before The War (1833-60)

Prologue

Homestead In Morgan County, Alabama, 1905.

Chapter 1

Jud Begins The Story Of His Experiences In The War

Chapter 2

Jud Joins The Holcombe Legion

Chapter 3

Fighting In Virginia With Longstreet’s Corps

Chapter 4

The Battle Of Second Manassas

Chapter 5

Defending The Carolinas; Capture And Parole At Kinston

Chapter 6

In The Swamps By The Chickahominy River

Chapter 7

West To Mississippi; Too Late For Vicksburg;

Retreat From Jackson

Chapter 8

Back In The Bunkers At Charleston

Chapter 9

Capture At Stony Creek, Virginia; Prisoner At Fort Monroe And Point Lookout, Maryland

Chapter 10

Hell-Mira! Life In Prison At Elmira, New York

Chapter 11

Escape! On The Run Through Pennsylvania

Chapter 12

Copperheads, Dunkards, And Dutchmen

Chapter 13

Blacksmithing With Mosby’s Rangers

Chapter 14

Provost Marshall’s Jail At Harper’s Ferry; Final Journey

Home Through Virginia And North Carolina

Epilogue

Maps

Spartanburg District In 1860

Charleston, S.C. area 1860-65

Weldon/Petersburg Railroad at Stony Creek

City of Elmira, N.Y. and Union prison camp

Jud’s Escape Route From Elmira To Williamsport

Map Of Southern Pennsylvania Drawn For Jud By Mr. Bastress

Glossary Of Dialect Words And Phrases

Lyrics to songs sung by the men of Company K

Suggestions For Further Reading

About The Author

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Front cover (photo and formating by the author)

Inside title page (sketch by the author)

Confederate re-enactor sits by his tent (photo by author) p7

Family of Jim and Maggie Scruggs in front of their house in 1904 (photo in author’s collection) p52

Too much tramping! A Confederate soldier takes a rest along the road (National Archives) p71

Confederate soldiers resting on the banks of the Rapidan River (National Archives) p114

Battlefield at Manassas (photo by the author) p139

A Confederate field hospital (National Archives) p142

Union bridge over the Chickahominy River (National Archives) p164

View of Meeting Street in Charleston, S.C. ca 1863 (National Archives) p171

A Jud look-alike in 1863 with full tramping gear (National Archives) p179

Confederate soldiers rest in front of their tents (National Archives) p184

Confederate cannon at Fort Sumter (National Archives) p196

Railroad bridge over Stony Creek, Virginia (photo by the author) p198

Tri-level bunks in the Union prison for Confederates at Fort Monroe, Virginia p210

Prison gatehouse at Elmira, N.Y. (by permission of the Booth Library of the Chemung County Historical Society) p213

Observation tower at Elmira Prison (Booth Library CCHS) p216

Confederate cemetery at Elmira, N.Y. (Photo by the author) p217

Stockade and barracks at Elmira Prison (Booth Library CCHS) p219

Bag used by the tunnelers (Booth Library CCHS) p225

Northeast corner of the stockade, Elmira Prison (Booth Library CCHS) p231

Replica of Maggie’s spinning wheel (author’s collection) p232

View of the Chemung River at Elmira, N.Y. (photo taken in

October 2004 by the author) p236 Mountains of northern Pennsylvania south of Elmira (photo by the author in 2004) p241

Replica of the Union Provost Marshall’s Headquarters at Harpers Ferry (photo taken by the author in 2004) p263

Photo of the Oath of Allegiance signed by Jud (Confederate Military Records, National Archives) p265

Stack of rifled muskets (photo by the author) p269

Jud’s tombstone (photo by Tommye Blanche Kelley) p271

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Thirty to forty years after the War Between the States, as the surviving combatants aged, a flurry of memoirs, diaries and letters began to find their way into print. Enough time had passed for much of the horror of that conflict to fade into the background. Often what remained were memories of camaraderie, heroism, and humor.

One hundred years ago (forty years after the end of the conflict) Judson Puryear Scruggs, narrated his adventures and privations to a rapt audience of six grandchildren at the old home place in Morgan County, Alabama. This storytelling’ occurred just a few weeks before Grandpa Jud set off on a journey from which he never returned. Jud (know to his war-time comrades as Parson) had previously written a small part of his memories in a letter to a fellow escapee from Elmira Prison, but most of his stories remained alive only in oral tradition for the next sixty years, waiting to be fully told.

The following is the long-overdue, but faithful attempt to reconstruct Jud’s wartime experiences as a member of the infantry regiment of the Holcombe Legion, South Carolina Volunteers. In preparation for writing his story, I made several choices regarding narrative technique and style. Should I have Jud tell his story as an uninterrupted firstperson narrative? I felt it would be unrealistic to think that his grandchildren would sit by passively. They would most certainly interrupt with comments and questions. Consequently, I create an interchange between Jud and his grandchildren which is obviously fictional, but which I believe is true to the character of each grandchild in the story. In the same vein, I construct dialog between Jud and his comrades in the Legion to enhance what would otherwise be a rather dry narrative. This dialog within a dialog is set in italics.

The issue of realistic dialect and voice had to be addressed as well. What would Jud’s grammar be like? He had received a better formal education than many of his peers, but he spent his entire life among farmers, millwrights and blacksmiths. What would be a reasonable representation of his dialect and that of his upcountry cousins and comrades? And more complexly, since Jud had a reputation for trying his hand at imitating the speech of others, how should I try to illustrate those imitations—especially of African-Americans and Pennsylvania Dutch? How could these various grammars and dialects be suggested without causing undue difficulty for the reader? To this end, I have used only a small number of spelling variants to suggest pronunciation differences. I attempt (hopefully with some success) to be true to the vocabulary and slang used by Southerners in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who lived in that wide swath of lower Appalachia from upcountry South Carolina to northern Alabama. If the reader is unsure of the meaning of certain words or phrases, perhaps the partial glossary provided at the end of the book will be of assistance.

In the last several years, many of the memoirs and letters composed by both Billy Yank and Johnny Reb have been reprinted. For the reader who would like to know more about the everyday life of the foot soldier during the Civil War, a list of suggested readings is located at the conclusion of this book.

FRONTISPIECE

Lucy Holcombe Pickens’ address to the

Holcombe Legon, South Carolina Volunteers,

November 21,1861.

* * * * * * *

To the officers and soldiers of the Holcombe Legion:

I can find no words with which to thank your gallant Colonel for the compliment he has paid me in giving to his noble command the name I once bore; but I trust the presentation of this standard may in some small measure testify to my deep appreciation of the honor conferred upon me. In seeking to render this ensign worthy of your valor and devotion, I have placed first among its devices the armorials of your beloved State, the glorious palmetto and crescent, emblems consecrated to noble daring and high resolve, for they waved in our harbor when Carolina stood alone in this momentous contest, and floated over that heroic battery which threw its steady and victorious fire into the arrogant Star of the West.

I remember with pride that your commander, Colonel Stevens, had charge of that battery, and thus early in the war established a claim to Carolina’s grateful remembrance. While I give into your honorable keeping the spotless escutcheon of your State, I look with eager confidence toward that future, when your heroism shall achieve for it a new luster and renown. The dates inscribed 1776 and 1860 are eloquent with meaning. The first commemorates our disenthralment [sic] from a foreign foe, the second speaks to you of that glad hour when we threw off the tyranny of domestic wrong, and welcomed the new birth of a higher freedom.

If I have reversed the Palmetto with the Lone Star of the Imperial State of Texas, if I have thus sought to associate on your battle flag the two devices which share the devotion of my own heart, you will not blame me; you will remember the bloody struggle, the Spartan endurance, the indomitable courage by which she won her right to honor and independence; and the chivalric, heroic blood of South Carolina which flowed at the Alamo will, to the last day, challenge an admiring tribute from every son of her soil. I feel assured that the noble motto inscribed on this banner, It is for the brave to die, but not to surrender—is but the expression of the spirit which animates the breast of every soldier in your midst. Patriotism ranks with us, as with the ancients, first among virtues, and life is only worth keeping that we may perform the duties belonging to it.

Death comes but once to all,

Then how can man die better,

Than facing fearful odds

For the ashes of his fathers,

And the temple of his gods.

And now I cannot resist telling you how anxiously I will follow your every movement; what pride I will feel in your moments of victory and success; and I will grieve if reverses befall you. I earnestly pray that God will keep each one of you in His charge, and that the fortune of war may give you all you require, an opportunity to show yourselves a legion of heroes.

LUCY HOLCOMBE PICKENS

INTRODUCTION

Slavery is like holding a wolf by the ears;

You don’t like it, but you don’t dare let go!

Thomas Jefferson

Enduring fascination with Johnny Reb and Billy Yank

The divisive conflict that occurred in America from 1861 to 1865 has been characterized in a variety of ways over the years, depending on the speakers’ or writers’ perspective. The generic term, of course, is Civil War, but other frequently used labels include: theWar Between the States—the War of the Rebellion—the War of Northern Aggression—the War for Southern Independence—even The Lost Cause. Yet, no matter how this fratracidal struggle is characterized, that horrendous conflict has held the fascination of readers, domestic and international, for a hundred and forty years and continues to do so a half century after the last participant has died.

How can we account for such enduring fascination? Certainly no wars are fought more intensely and with more fervor than so-called civil wars. The bitterness that can surface during and after an internescine struggle can be far greater than that of international conflicts. No doubt the reason lies partially in the fact that civil conflicts do not just pit one section of a country or one social class against another. As we know, the nature of such struggles often finds brothers siding against brothers, fathers against sons, and families against families.

The American Civil War was no different. There were Yankee Rebels and Southern Unionists. To add to the poignancy, this was the first war in human history to be recorded in vivid images for posterity. Much of the glory and gore on the fields of battle was documented by the new invention of photography.

The hideous carnage in battle was depicted in thousands of plates by Matthew Brady and his assistants and by many other free-lance photographers. In addition, Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper hired a large contingent of artists to sketch many of the war’s ten thousand engagements and skirmishes. All of this tended to sensationalize the ghastly conflict and bring it to life for the people back home. Even now, in the twenty-first century, numerous workshops, re-enactments, documentaries, and reprints of Confederate and Yankee memoirs, historical novels, and Hollywood movies continue to fuel a seemingly insatiable fascination with this defining moment in our national history.

This phenomenon reaches well beyond the borders of the fifty states. Re-enactments are common in England, Germany, Austria, Russian and even Turkey and Egypt as part of the Confederate States Allied Command-Europe. The Germans, Austrians and Czechs have created a documentary film (in German!) on the CSA submarine, the H.L. Hunley. The British have just printed the fourth volume of Confederate Graves in England, ¡Scotland, and Wales. Furthermore, the largest Gone with the Wind museum is in Australia!

This mid-nineteenth-century conflict between states was fought using strategies and tactics of a half-century earlier—the era of Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet the industrial revolution and the age of ever-expanding inventions brought numerous new technologies to the art of killing. The hitech weapons of 1860 far outstripped the theories of warfare taught at West Point, and made all previous wars seem almost quaint. Even more fearsome technologies were invented as the war progressed. By late 1861 the old smooth-bore muskets—accurate at a hundred yards—had, for the most part, been replaced by rifled muskets with the potential to be deadly at a range of a half mile. Nevertheless, the early engagements of the war pitted lines of infantry facing off against each other at close range just as had been done in all prior military conflicts.

Weapons of mass and impersonal destruction—generally associated with the twentieth century—were already being used to some degree by 1863. Huge cannons launched shells for more than two miles and spread fire and shrapnel over wide areas.

Other diabolical inventions were available by the last year or so of the war—land and sea mines, hand grenades, and primitive submarines equipped with attached torpedoes. To a limited degree breech-loading rifles and multi-shot carbines made an appearance. Fortunately, Dr. Gatlin’s hand-cranked rapid-fire machine gun saw very limited action.

Since the killing machines vastly surpassed battle tactics, our civil war remains the most deadly conflict in U.S. history—over 600,000 men killed and many more left with permanent disabilities. The conflict holds the dubious record of bringing death to the most infantrymen in the shortest period of time—7,000 men in twenty minutes—during the Battle of Cold Harbor. In July of 1861, the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run) was the earliest major engagement involving large numbers of infantry. However, it was the Battle of Shiloh (ironically, the place of peace) in the spring of 1862 that set the tone for the subsequent killing felds—23,000 casualties (dead and wounded in both armies over a two-day period)—more than the number of dead and wounded in all previous U.S. wars combined.

Later that same year (1862) the Battle of Second Manassas resulted in 25,000 over-all casualties. A few weeks later, the Battle of Sharpsburg, Maryland (Antietam) brought death to 8,000 men on the field of battle by ten o’clock in the morning of the first day of the engagement! By the end of that battle, General Lee had lost one quarter of his force. But the rate of killing would become worse still. The real carnage began the third year of the struggle—spring and summer of 1863—with the Battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as horrendous examples.

This ungodly war was a crossroads of our being as historian Shelby Foote has so aptly written. Yet the path to that crossroads began seventy years earlier with the creation of the Federal Republic in 1789. The Southern States most surely would not have ratified that particular Constitution if they had believed that in joining the Union they could not at some point remove themselves from it.

From the beginning, the North and South represented two very diverse cultures. Many foreign visitors—the Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville is just one example—were fascinated by the marked differences they observed. The fast-paced Northerner contrasted immediately with the more easygoing Southerner—even in speech patterns. A change-seeking, inventive North rode the waves of industrialization while the South was content with the deep-rooted traditions of staple agriculture. In broad (and general) terms, Northern society was constructed on compromise and consensus while Southern society showed a much greater reliance on independence and individualism. In the political sphere this meant that the North was comfortable with a strong central government while the South clung tightly to the privileges of States’ Rights. Of course, the most glaring difference between the two regions was the existence of slavery in the South.

Only a few decades after the creation of the Republic, the two regions fully distrusted each other. Perhaps we could go so far as to say they despised each other. One Southern state epitomized that otherness for Northerners. That state was South Carolina, the locus of the culture that reared the men and women in the story that begins in Chapter Two.

As a child I listened to a wealth of stories about my Carolina great-grandfather, Judson Puryear Scruggs, and his wartime experiences. These stories were passed down to me by my father and five aunts and uncles. The story-tellers were the children of James Carl Jim and Margaret Ann Maggie Scruggs. For several years these children lived near or in the same house with their Grandpa Jud in Morgan County, Alabama.

My father’s oldest sister, Hettie Luvenia, was born in 1889. Consequently, by 1905 she was old enough to listen attentively to her grandfather’s stories describing his activities and exploits during the War Between the States. Annie Velma, the second child, was born in 1891; James Fred was born in 1894; and Henry Dewey in 1898. My father, Forrest Puryear, was born in 1896 and listened with obvious delight to Grandpa Jud’s stories, many of which he retained in vivid details—perhaps adding a few of his own adornments from time to time.

However, the aunt who recalled her Grandpa most keenly (some would say most fancifully!)—the grandchild who most clearly adored him—was only five years old when Jud left Alabama for Texas in the spring of 1905. That favorite granddaughter was Pearl Hessentine (or Pearly, as Jud called her). She contributed in a major way to the present recreation of her grandpa’s life-story. She seems to have memorized each item in his large wooden trunk. She spent many hours playing with each of his various keepsakes. She gazed frequently at the tintype photos Jud kept secure in a locked box inside that trunk. It was Pearl who was most devastated when that trunk was later lost in a fire at the home of Luther Scruggs.

In the early spring of 1905, Jud left Northern Alabama and the comforts of Jim and Maggie’s home. The reason for this rather precipitous departure was the news of a serious accident that had befallen his next to youngest son, John Landrum. Johnny—as he was fondly called—had been seriously injured when a locomotive crushed his right leg in a railroad switchyard in Bonham, Texas. Judson also wished to combine this trip to see Johnny with a long-postponed visit to his other children and siblings now living in Arkansas, East Texas and Oklahoma.

As is so often the case, I did not delve deeply into the life of great-grandfather Judson until it was almost too late to ask questions of those who knew him personally. I did not begin research until the early 1980’s. By that time, only three grandchildren, Forrest, Dewey, and Pearl were still living and able to give oral and written accounts to supplement the anecdotes almost unwittingly picked up from the older folks as they rocked and chatted on the front porch of the old home place. Luckily Hettie Scruggs Daughton, who died in 1968, left behind written accounts of her early life containing many precious details about her Grandpa Jud.

In the mid-1980’s I thoroughly reviewed Judson’s Confederate service records in preparation for an article I was writing for the Scruggs Family Association journal. This research led me to Judson’s important role in the famous tunnel escape by ten Confederate soldiers from the infamous Union Prison in Elmira, New York on October 7th 1864.

For the past twenty years I have kept Judson’s lifestory in the back of my mind, waiting for the right time to set it in print. When the fictionalized history of Private Inman, the Confederate soldier from Cold Mountain, North Carolina, was told in novel and film, I felt it was time to show readers that other Confederate soldiers often walked greater distances and under more severe conditions—not to escape further military service, as in the case of Inman—but to rejoin their units and renew what they sincerely believed was a struggle for survival.

In the fall of 2004, one hundred and forty years after the great escape, my wife and I made a pilgrimage to Elmira, New York and retraced as best we could the route that Judson took as he walked south through Pennsylvania and Maryland and crossed the Potomac River into Northern Virginia. After seeing first hand the rugged terrain Judson traversed during an exceptionally cold autumn and winter season, I was more anxious than ever to reconstruct his story.

The military engagements in this narrative are presented as recorded in the Official Records and other archival documents. Details about Judson’s brothers and cousins and other men in Company K of Holcombe Legion, South Carolina Volunteers are reconstructed with as much accuracy as possible based on documents housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and in the South Carolina Archives and History Center in Columbia.

Naturally, the dialog and the elaborations on anecdotes passed down via the recollections of family members are carefully crafted fiction. As mentioned earlier, for the interchanges between Judson and his grandchildren I have tried to stay within the character of each as I knew them in their adult years.