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Re: Bloodhounds
In Response To: Re: Bloodhounds ()

Dr. Bergeron,

It is interesting that you mentioned "Dog Smith" of Winn Parish, LA., because I have quite an interest in "the legend".

You may be aware of the official correspondences from the Headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Department which have Lt.-General Kirby Smith ordering Lieutenant Colonel Burleson to take a detachment to Winn and Jackson Parishes to arrest "deserters, conscripts and jayhawkers". This order was issued September 1, 1863. I believe it was shortly after this that "Dog Smith" is said to have come to Winnfield, LA.

I can tell you that in the fall of 1863, a gentleman by the name of Phillip Bernstein, one of the "founders" of Winnfield, was excused from service in Hardy's Company of Gray's Regiment (28th Louisiana Infantry), to return to Winnfield and serve as Deputy Sheriff under John Brown. John Brown had been serving as Deputy Sheriff, having been appointed to the position by Governor Allen. (Of course you know that William Walker had been the previous Sheriff and after raising a company, left for the war. KIA @ Mansfield)

Brown and Bernstein were the serving local authorities during the time "Dog Smith" was to have taken control. They were still in control on March 15, 1864. (I have a copy of a letter written by Brown to P. D. Hardy, then Sec. of State, asking that Bernstein be appointed Coroner of the Parish.) However, after the war, during reconstruction, Bernstein was amongst a number of Winn Parish citizens named in a suit for an incident that occurred in June 1862. See the following: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/la/winn/newspapers/recon/reconm66.txt

Could the story of "Dog Smith" be a fabrication to shift blame from some prominent and long time citizens of Winn Parish, to some unknown outsider, for some unseemly deeds that took place in the Parish during the war? Your thoughts on this this would be greatly appreciated.

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