LIFE IN MURFREESBORO TENNESSEE AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR
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| Murfreesboro Tennessee during the Civil War |
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| An Illinois Light Artillery Regiment somewhere in Murfreesboro during the Civil War |
This is part of an article from the Murfreesboro Post called "Picking Up The Pieces". It is long but an interesting read.
Everyone knew “the Cause” was lost and it was just a matter of time until a Confederate surrender would take place. From 1861 until 1865 the War Between the States had overshadowed all else. And then in April comes the news of Lee's surrender. Here is what Mr. Spence observed: “News reached Murfreesboro of the surrender of Genl. Lee and his army on April 9th to Gen. Grant. This news caused great rejoicing with the union men. Every thing was life and animation with them. Minute guns were fired at the forts the whole day. The church bells rang during the day. Steam whistles blowing and any thing else calculated to make a noise in the way of rejoicing. At night a great demonstration of fire works. These were an overflowing of the Yankee feeling generally. Beside this bonfires, torch light procession after night. Also speaking by many of the officers. Many witty remarks at the expense of 'Sesesh.' ... “
Tennessee is second only to Virginia in the number of battles and skirmishes fought on her soil. There were 2,931 documented engagements in our state. A correspondent for a Boston newspaper wrote early in 1865 that: “As a result of the fighting in and near Rutherford County that region was laid in waste. ... Let this point (Murfreesboro) be the center, and then make a circumference of 30 miles, and with me, we will stay a week in the womb of destruction. Whether you go on the Salem, the Shelbyville, the Manchester, or any other pike for a distance of 30 miles either way, what do we behold? One wide, wild and dreary waste, so to speak. The fences are all burned down: the apple, the pear, and the plum trees burned in ashes long ago; the torch applied to thousands of splendid mansions, the walls of which alone remain.”
The devastation caused by the Civil war in Tennessee was profound. The economic gains of the 1850's were erased and farm production and property values would not reach their 1860 levels again until the turn of the century in 1900. But, at least the war was over! Mr. Spence saw it like this: “About the first of July (1865), a large body of union soldiers stationed about Murfreesboro, are on the move for home to be discharged from service. A number of soldiers wishing to take with them some memento of services in the war. ... A specimen seen at the R.R. Depot leaving, soldiers loaded down with their guns, napsacks, and blankets. Numbers of them with dogs, some one, others with two. They are all sizes, and appearance. Some with cages containing Raccoons, Squirrels, birds of various kinds, supposed to be the mawking (sic) bird ... Cedar fancy boxes and cedar walking sticks made of the wood from the Stones River battle ground and many other curious things which they had collected during the stay.”
And, a couple of weeks later, Mr. Spence noted: “About the 15th July, 1865, the Confederate soldiers are daily arriving in small squads. They had been scattered over all parts of the country. Some coming from prisons of the north, all generally a thread-bare appearance ... . All were glad the war had closed, still regretted they were compelled to surrender the cause. The feeling of some were inclined to leave the country. ... A marked difference between the two classes of soldiers Yankee and Rebel on their return home. One loaded down to the ground with plunder, relicts and dogs, homeward bound. ... while the other freighted light ... Also, a number of citizens arriving by two and three at a time who had been off refugeeing in the south. They are dumping their trunks, looking round for some familiar place, once a home. But how disappointed, scarcely a vestige or stick to mark the spot, while other crammed with Negros to overflowing, windows stoped with cast off soldier cloths.”
Both acute social and economic upheavals were widespread. Farmlands had served as battlefields, buildings had been demolished, fences had been destroyed, and livestock had been carried away. Miles of the Nashville to Chattanooga railroad tracks had been torn up, and it was 1870 before the system was back in full operation. Confederate money was worthless, and families that had been leaders in industrial ventures in the pre-war days were now impoverished. To further complicate the situation, hundreds of Blacks after emancipation were deprived of their livelihood on farms and plantations and were now adrift, homeless, and penniless. Former Confederate leaders were temporarily deprived of their right to vote, and suffrage was given to Blacks and white men who had not supported the Confederacy and thereby had not been disfranchised. The city and county governments in Rutherford County had been suspended during 1863 and 1864 and elected officials were allowed to resume their duties only after taking the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.
As the broken and beaten soldiers returned home, as if four years of hard and vicious war had not been enough, new and different challenges awaited them. The white men of the South had no voice and had no vote. The disfranchised leaders of the county employed various methods in efforts to find their way out of situations, which they considered to be unbearable. They threatened Blacks in attempts to keep them away from the polls. Secret societies, such as the Klu Klux Klan and the Pale Faces, were organized for the purpose of terrorizing Blacks and their white sympathizers. Late in 1868 a near riot occurred in Murfreesboro when a white radical was making a speech denouncing the white conservatives of the county. A Nashville black took the stand and added his violent denunciations to those of the speaker. A veteran of the Civil War intervened and knocked the man to the ground. As a result, the veteran was attacked by a number of blacks. Bricks were thrown, pistols were fired, and one black was killed during the demonstration.
Tennessee was unique in that it was the last state to secede from the Union and the first to rejoin it. Consequently, Rutherford County escaped many of the bitter aspects of the Reconstruction period that came to other Confederate states and counties. Within a year after the war ended, a sufficient number of Tennesseans had taken the Oath of Allegiance to pave the way for Tennessee's reentry into the Union. Following the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment by the General Assembly, Tennessee was readmitted to the United States on July 24, 1866, a little more than one year after the close of the war and the assassination of President Lincoln.
Overall, there were 275,000 Tennesseans formerly enslaved who were no longer anyone's property. Fences, farm buildings, livestock, and homes were gone; it was time for spring planting. There was no money to buy seed, nor anyone to plant the seed and work the land, except them. Picking up the pieces of their lives and trying to survive was not an easy task. Most of the men were war weary, sick and injured, and just plain tired. But no time for that. Survival for themselves and their families was at hand. And with the economic problems faced by the folks of this area, coupled with the heartbreaking bereavements suffered by families who had fathers, sons, and brothers killed in battle, along with the hardships endured by civilians, and the final destruction of their property, it's was no wonder that readjustment was a slow and painful process. Part of the healing process and getting on with their lives resulted in proper burial and honoring the memories of their fallen comrades. It was the decent and right thing to do!
In 1867 under the direction of Captain Edwin Arnold, remains of more than 2,000 gallant Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in the battles in and around Murfreesboro during the war were gathered up and moved to the original Confederate Cemetery two miles South of Murfreesboro on the Shelbyville Highway, near where the present day Mapco station is located. They were first buried on the battlefield where they died defending their native Southland. Many of these burials were hastily done and the graves were too shallow and not properly done or cared for. Markers were gone, identities were forever lost.
Mr. Spence noted:
“Among other things an effort was on foot to collect and rebury the Confederate soldiers lying scattered over the country, killed in battle and otherwise. It was a laudable undertaking ... yet the people were little able to stand the expense necessary. ... Much credit is due to the Ladies of Murfreesboro for their untiring energy and perseverance in raising means to purchase grounds for the resting place of the bones of the lamented southern soldier, at a time when poverty swayed the land. ... “
Confederate Circle - In February of 1890 a plot of ground at Evergreen Cemetery was granted to the Joseph Palmer Bivouac # 10 of the Association Confederate Soldiers Tennessee Division. In 1891 the Ladies Memorial Association had the remains of more than 2,000 fallen Confederate heroes moved to their final resting place at Confederate Circle. There are soldiers from nearly every Southern state buried here but most are unknown.
And the men of both sides recognized the importance of preserving the area where the great battle of Stones River had occurred: According to this account in the June 1897 issue of the Confederate Veteran Magazine: “The Stone's River Battlefield and National Park Association was organized a little more than a year ago at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was set on foot by a number of the ex-soldiers, Federal and Confederate, who took part in the battle, feeling not only a patriotic, but a personal, interest in perpetuating the history of the battle and in the field which was its theater. ... Summed up briefly, the association has secured a charter from the state, dated April 28, 1896, and obtained options on the lands embraced in the battlefield, aggregating thirty-four hundred acres, which embraces substantially all the land that was the theater of military operations. The prices at which these options were put are quite reasonable. The association has placed upon the battlefield a large number of substantial wooden tablets, marking points of special interest and importance, such as headquarters of Federal and Confederate commanders, McFadden's Ford on Stones River, places where distinguished officers were slain, and many other important locations. ... A bill has been introduced in Congress by Hon. James D. Richardson for an appropriation of $125,000, providing for the purchase of the battlefield lands by the general government and the formation of a national military park thereon. ... The battle of Stones River was one of the greatest conflicts of arms that ever took place on the American continent, and it is proper that the historic acres of the field should be rescued from common uses and forever set apart and consecrated to keep in memory patriotic valor and illustrious feats of arms. “
Confederate Monument -- So once the dead were respectfully and properly buried, attention was turned to a way to commemorate the sacrifices of those who fought so valiantly. The Ladies of the South, in particular, felt compelled to commemorate those who wore the gray, to make models in bronze and detail in chiseled words the glory of the men of the South. With the victory being sung throughout the North, the Southern women were so overwhelmed with the thought that the devotion, that the heroism, the resourcefulness of the Confederate Army, of the men as well as its leaders, would never be known -- so they began working for monuments to tell the glorious fight against the greatest odds a nation ever faced. It was once said that the women of the South were the reason the war lasted as long as it did! This was the first war that women could become so totally involved without the fear of losing their “status” as ladies. And even though women had no vote, they were involved in just about every aspect of the war, including fighting alongside their male counterparts. And they proved their worth in every way! Before, during, and after the war!
In 1899, the Ladies Memorial Association, the J. B. Palmer Bivouac, and the Sons of Veterans were granted permission to erect a Confederate Monument on the lawn of the Court House. It was to be a bronze statue of Johnny Reba poised menacingly atop a pedestal in battle stance. Originally, this monument faced down East Main Street, but was later moved to its current position, facing north, and ready to defend home and hearth from any invaders who might come from that direction. This labor of love, in the form of a Confederate Monument, was the culmination of more than two years combined efforts by many individuals and groups, all of whom gave freely of their time, their financial resources,and themselves. And, on Nov. 7, 1901, more than 3,000 people gathered on the square in Murfreesboro for the dedication of this monument. (My great-great-grandfather, Calvin C. Lowe, Co. B., 23rd Tenn. Infantry, was among them.)
So, the dead were properly buried and respectfully remembered and now the citizens wanted compensation for their losses! With Murfreesboro being a “captured” town, rather than a “surrendered” town, the citizens had little recourse for retribution for the loses they had encountered under Federal occupation. Nonetheless, here are two examples – one of a Confederate sympathizer and supporter, the other of a Union man -- of war claims, which were filed against the Federal government.
In October of 1872, Dr. James Maney, owner of Oakland’s Plantation, filed a claim in the amount of $27,012.00 for damages incurred by the Union Army during its occupation in 1863-64. Most of this was for timber and rails. Dr. Maney unfortunately died 39 days after filing this claim, and the burden for proving it was now placed on his heirs. Since the claim was in excess of $10,000 it would be heard in Washington D.C., and the family would have to transport all witnesses to the nation’s capitol at their own expense. Moreover, it would also now have to be proved that Dr. Maney had remained loyal to the Union, even though his son and son-in-law both served the Confederacy. “Oaklands” is the same 1,500-acre plantation where Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest accepted the surrender of Murfreesboro from the injured Union Gen. Duffield on July 13, 1862 and where President Jefferson Davis spent the night prior to General John Hunt Morgan’s wedding to Miss Martha Ready on Dec. 14, 1862. It was also used as Braxton Bragg’s private residence while he was in the city. The family was never awarded any money from the government for this claim.
Thomas Hord, anti-secessionist and owner of “Elmwood”, a 1,000-acre plantation adjacent to lands where the Battle of Stones River occurred, fared a little better. Mr. Hord was also one of the 65 businessmen of Murfreesboro who had previously, but unsuccessfully, wished to restore relations with the Union. In a petition to the government for redress he wrote, “ During 1862 I furnished the Federal army 500 bushels of corn and oats, five or six stacks of hay, for which I received receipts but they were defective. ... In August, 1862 my men were taken to work on the stockade forts here and in Murfreesboro until the army fell back from Alabama to Kentucky and they were taken off by the army. For their services I claim pay and for the men if not returned. ... On Dec. 29, 1862 the Army of Rosecrans passed. That was on Monday and on Saturday I had nothing left but 300 pounds of bacon. During the week of the battle [Stones River] a large number of wagons and teams were captured by the rebels, necessitating their being replaced as quickly as possible. I furnished 21 head of horses and mules, 37 head of cattle, 100 hogs, 900 barrels of corn, 35 or 40 tons of hay and fodder.” ... “The house was unexpectedly and suddenly taken for a hospital and the wounded brought in so rapidly that there was not time or means of removing the carpets or furniture as of December 31, 1862. ... The wounded and dying were brought in, 500 or 600 of them, and laid on fine Brussels carpets ... which became so soaked with blood as to be removed and thrown over the carriage house. ... In addition, between 80,000 and 90,000 fence rails were taken. ... Twenty-six houses, two barns, and the overseer’s house were torn down to make three bridges, two stockades and crossties for the railroad. ... “ When it was all over, Thomas Hord estimated his damages at $59,124.60. However, only a portion of this claim was honored and it was not until 1911 that his heirs received a small portion in settlement.
So, as the people of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County began pickin' up the pieces of their shattered lives and putting them back together in the best order they could, Murfreesboro's own Southern Belle -- Martha Ready Morgan – was no exception. The lovely wife, now the widow, of the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy” John Hunt Morgan, whose bittersweet love story lasted only 630 days, came home. In April of 1865, seven months after her husband's death, Mattie was in Augusta, Ga., and here on April 7, 1865, just two days before Lee's surrender, Mattie gave birth to a little girl and named her Johnnie Hunt Morgan. Mattie and her daughter returned to Murfreesboro during the summer of 1865 and this would be the first time she had seen her parents since her departure from Murfreesboro in January of 1863. So much had happened. So much had changed! The Ready family, like everyone else, was experiencing difficult times. They opened their home as a boarding house to help with expenses. During the next eight years Mattie devoted most of her time and energy to raising her precious daughter and to representing her late husband as a Lost Cause Hero. She finally remarried on Jan. 30, 1873 to Judge William H. Williamson, a one-armed Confederate veteran, of Lebanon, and eventually moved to his home there in Lebanon. During the next few years, she and Judge Williamson were the parents of five children and Johnnie was known as the loving, older sister. Mattie died of typhoid fever on Nov. 16, 1887 at the age of only 47. Six months after her mother's death, Johnnie, too, would die of this same epidemic, thereby leaving no direct descendants of Mattie Ready and John Hunt Morgan.
And what about our Mr. John Cedric Spence. Well, Mr. Spence continued his writings and carried us up to 1870. He was a very successful business man and was the one who started the Red Cedar Bucket Factory. His home was the former Discovery House on Maple Street, which has been beautifully restored recently by attorneys Kious and Rogers. Mr. Spence died in 1890, 20 years after he concluded his historical writings, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery along with his wife and other members of his family. The war years took their toll on every man, woman, and child who lived thru it. The long arm of fighting extended far beyond the lines of battle. The people of this area had been caught up and carried unwillingly on a journey that had taken them from a peaceful and prosperous existence, to a battlefield, through enemy occupation, losing loved ones and their livelihood, and experiencing conditions that were just about as bad as they could be. But those who survived, proved time and again just how resilient they were and that by accepting change and moving forward, life could once again be as good as they chose to make it! Even during the most un-civil of times, there was still humanity and goodness to be found, sometimes even with the enemy, and the folks of Rutherford County were quick to embrace old friendships, and lend helping hands where needed. Thus began the healing process for making us a stronger and more tolerant people, “pickin' up the pieces” ready to begin a new era, filled with hope for a new century and the generations to come.
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