Execution of deserters in Confederate Army, Mississippi "High Pressure Brigade"
In our research on the regimental history of the Seventh Mississippi, two examples of executions are described by the men of the “High Pressure Brigade” and Ed Johnson’s Division. The first in a letter by Arch McLaurin of Company E of the 7th Mississippi to his sister days before the battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro) relates the hanging of a spy and the execution of two deserters. The second account refers to the capture, Court Martial, and hanging of a deserter named Ford in November of 1864.
From the Letter of H. A. McLaurin, Co. E 7th Miss. Inf., Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to his sister December 27th 1862; Lest We Forget-The Immortal Seventh Mississippi, Vol. I, Ron Skellie, 2012 pp 521-22
Spy Hung in Murfreesboro—Deserters Shot
Arch McLaurin Company E writes his Christmas letter giving his sister a little play on words about being dry, but not because of the weather that had been rainy and cold for some time in the breastworks on the outskirts of Murfreesboro. The word is that a move toward Nashville is imminent and that would lead to a major battle as is evidenced by the cannonading in that direction. On the day after Christmas McLaurin witnessed the hanging of a federal spy in town as well as the execution of two men for desertion.
More men were shot for desertion soon after that, but McLaurin had returned to camp before they were shot. He told his sister that Murfreesboro was about twice the size of Brookhaven, Mississippi; but was in so much turmoil that it was almost unrecognizable as a city. He also let her know that there were pretty girls up here and that he was not as shy as he used to be. Certainly she would pass that along to all her friends. At least he hoped so.
“Camped near Murfreesburo Tenn December 27th 1862
Dear Sister
I seat myself to answer your letter that I received a few days ago but did not have an opportunity of answering right off. There is no news of importance. I write only I am in fine health and enjoying myself fine. It is a very dry Christmas; not so very dry either it has been pretty [much] all the time. It is raining now. We have 3 days rations cooked in our haver sacks. We are expecting every hour to have to go out on pickett. There is heavy cannonading in the direction of Nashville.”
“Well Mary I was down in town yesterday and saw two men taken out to be shot for deserting and I saw one hanged. The one that was hanged was a spy. His wife was in the guard house with him when he was brought out. He asked the officers if they would let his wife have his body to take home and bury. They told him that they would. Then he asked them if they would let her have the wagon to carry him in. They told him they would. He then told them all goodbye and the wagon started off. When they were going through town he sang all the way. When they tied the rope he jumped off before they knocked the scaffle [scaffold] from under him. Old Bragg had several more shot yesterday for deserting. You wrote to me to know what kind of a place Murfreesburo is. It is a tolerably large place but it looks very bad now. It is twice as large as Brookhaven. There is some of the prettiest girls in the country her that you most ever saw With the exception of one they are secesh girls to. I saw three yesterday that talked but right you need not think because I am bashful at home that I am so here for I am getting to be as bold as you please. I received a letter from Nancy yesterday. I also received one from Mag the same day that I received yours. I want you to write all about the exhibition and tell me how Jenny and Dutch performed and tell me whether Quince has rode my colt or not. Tell Jenny that I want her to write me. Well I will close as it is getting late. Excuse the mistakes. Give my love to all the family and receive a portion for yourself.
From you brother. Hugh McLaurin.” HAM
And this story about a former Confederate from the High Pressure Brigade who was captured and hung in 1864 described in Lest We Forget-The Immortal Seventh Mississippi, Vol. II, Ron Skellie, 2012 pp 864-68.
Lt. Ford Hung as Deserter
On this cold and snowy day November 21st Capt. W. V. Davis makes this entry, “Ford Hung at 5 P. M.” Years later Nathaniel S. “Tannie” Wilkinson of Company K 44th Mississippi of Sharp’s Brigade described a similar event. Using Davis’s note as a starting point, we can piece together the coincidences that lead us to the conclusion that the man named Ford who was hung was the same man mentioned by both. Although some confusion exists about when the hanging occurred and whether the incident is about the man named Ford or two separate incidents.
According to Davis, the 30th Mississippi camped at Wayland Springs on the 21st of November where they witnessed the hanging of a man named Ford and the passing of Forest’s cavalry. “Prewets Mills. March 12 miles, Wayne County. Camp at Wayland springs. Cold & Snow. Pass cavalry. Ford hung at 5 P.M. Get persimmons. See Forrest at Spring.” (WVD)
“Tannie” Wilkinson states in his post war remembrance that on the day after the hanging of the former Sharpshooter, “…we moved on in the direction of Columbia, Tenn. When we got there, the Federals were just across the Duck river. Their presence impeded our progress for a few days.” (NSW-44th Miss)
Even though Wilkinson’s report was based on post war memory about the day the regiment moved out being the day after the hanging, that date would still coincide with the hanging on the 21st. Davis’ diary entry records the same date [22nd] when his brigade moved out. There is little doubt whether the incident described in Davis’ November 21st entry about Ford being hung is the same incident as the hanging Wilkinson describes—the similarities are telling.
Deserter Captured—Former Brigade Sharpshooter
In his post war reminiscence Nathaniel S. Wilkinson 44th Mississippi tells that in November of 1864 the federal cavalry “would drop down the river in small boats for the purpose of destroying the Pontoon Bridge. They were generally captured; among them was one who had belonged to the sharpshooters of Tucker’s Brigade. The authorities were preparing to ship the prisoners off for safekeeping…” (NSW-44th Miss)
Captured Man Identified and Condemned
“…One of these captured men while passing through the lines heard that ‘Tucker’s Brigade’ was in the area. He admitted that he had once belonged to ‘Tucker’s Brigade’ and was in the Sharpshooters. A scout for the 9th Battalion Sharpshooters, Bob Keith, formerly of Company C 7th Mississippi recognized the man. The captured man had deserted and now was a Lt. in the U.S. Cavalry. He thought he would be safe because of his rank, instead he was convicted of desertion and condemned to death.”
Brigade Band Played the Dead March
Wilkinson then described the event. “The Brigade was formed into a hollow square, and, while we stood at ‘parade rest’, the Brigade Band, with the doomed man following, marched up and down between the columns, playing the ‘Dead March.’ It was snowing. When the march was finished, the man was placed upon a wagon that was driven under an oak tree, a rope was tied around his neck and to a limb above him, and the wagon moved off. Such was fate.” (NSW-44th Miss.)
Though we have not verified the date of the hanging described by Wilkinson or the name of the deserter who was hung, we know that members of Brantley’s Brigade witnessed the hanging of a man named Ford on November 21st. We cannot verify if he was in fact the former Sharpshooter, Ford. When we compare the 30th Mississippi report by Captain Davis of a man named Ford being hung on the 21st of November with the events described by Wilkinson’s report, it is likely that they are the same event.
There was at least one man in the Tucker’s Brigade Sharpshooters named William T. Ford and a man in Company K 12th Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.) with the same name. He was Lt. William T. [F.] Ford.
We know that the 12th Tennessee Cavalry was organized in August 1863 about the time that many men deserted from Tucker’s Brigade on the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, Alabama. Lt. Ford was probably in the area with the 12th Tennessee Cavalry that was stationed near Shoal Creek at the time of his capture. “Nashville Campaign November-December. On line of Shoal Creek November 5-20. Campbellsville and Lynnville November 24.” [NPS]
Ford’s 12th Tennessee Cavalry records are just as confusing. First, we have to understand that the script “T” and “F” are often incorrectly interchanged by transcribers. He is listed as William F. Ford, 1st Lt. 12th Tennessee Cavalry Regt. (US). He is also listed as W. T. and W. F. Ford on the 9th Battalion Mississippi Sharpshooters rolls. One federal roll states that he was captured and killed near Lexington, Alabama on November 8, 1864. A statement that he deserted at Shoal Creek, Alabama on November 22nd is crossed out. The next roll states that Ford was captured and killed by the enemy November 12, 1864.
All of this information was taken from witness accounts; but even within a few months of the incident, the rolls list three different dates and three different versions of Ford’s demise. Since instances of incorrect dates and locations are not uncommon in a soldier’s records, the information does relate to a man that went missing, and his fate at the time would have been uncertain. Ford could also have been on a scout and not returned on the 8th, became separated from his company, volunteered for the pontoon bridge sabotage mission, and captured on the 12th. Again this final entry could be a guess by those who knew him to be missing at the time.
Union Cavalry Officer Ford from Natchez, Mississippi
What we do know is that the union cavalry officer, W. F. [T.] Ford, was a resident of Natchez, Mississippi and had joined the union army March 28, 1864 at Nashville, Tennessee. Many men had deserted at Bridgeport, Alabama in August of 1863 and many men were also captured at Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge including members of the Sharpshooters. Some agreed to join the union army to avoid the prison.
Ford originally was a non-commissioned officer and was said to have deserted the union cavalry in the summer of 1864. He later returned and was promoted to Lieutenant which seems odd; however, the possibility of his working as some sort of covert operative may explain the promotion of a “deserter”. The confusion about dates and his whereabouts from November 8th through November 22nd could also be attributed to his needing a cover story should he survive his mission.
Remember, he was with the Sharpshooters Battalion, a group of hard-fighting, risk-taking, frontiersman, and a generally rough bunch of men. He was originally in Company B "Natchez Southerns" 10th Regiment Mississippi and was selected to be a part of the elite group known as the Chalmers’ Brigade Sharpshooters. Unfortunately, his risk-taking this time earned him a hangman’s noose.
In addition to his official records, he is possibly mentioned in the records of a man named George William Hall who was in the 12th Tennessee Cavalry from March 1864 until the end of the war. Hall’s records indicate that he was promoted in July 1864 with the reason given “since Ford Killed”. Again this could be during Ford’s absence or supposed desertion in July from which he miraculously returned from the dead and was promoted. There is no way to confirm this, but again the circumstances are striking.
Further research finds a record of Lt. Colonel C. Irvine Walker, Adjutant of the 10th Regiment South Carolina of Manigault’s Brigade (Ed Johnson’s Division) which states that he was part of a General Court Martial convened on November 16, 1864 at Florence, Alabama. Though Ford is not mentioned by name, a union cavalry officer was brought to court and proven to be a deserter from a Mississippi regiment and sentenced to death. The fact that Walker indicates that he was a member of a general court martial that convened on November 16th could mean that Ford was captured on the 8th or 12th, convicted after the 16th, and hung on the 21st which would match with the report of Capt. Davis of the 30th Mississippi in his November 21st diary entry.
Walker wrote in his official report at the time: “Hd. Qrs. S.C. Regt. near Florence, November 16, 1864. I have been very anxious to write to you for two or three days past, but business and rain prevented me. I am a member of a General Court Martial.”
Thirty years later Lt. Colonel Walker described the event as follows: “N.B. – I well remember one of the cases brought before our Court. A young man in the uniform of a Lieutenant of U.S. Cavalry was brought before us, and it was proved that he was a deserter from a Mississippi Regt. He made no defence. The Court could only condemn him. Perhaps thirty years after I accidentally learned the detailed circumstances of his capture, and I don't think if I had known them at the time I would have voted for his conviction – not that he did not technically deserve it, but his heroism would have excused him. I learned this from a man who was serving on the pontoon train.” (Walker 10th SC)
A Brave, Gallant, and Reckless Deed
“The Confederates had thrown a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River near Florence. In building such a bridge a rope cable is stretched across the river and to this cable the pontoons are attached and on the pontoons the roadway is laid. If this cable is severed or breaks, the whole bridge goes.”
“The Federal Lieut. whom we tried, was of a force of Yankee Cavalry on the banks of the river above the Bridge. The Lieut. taking a hatchet in his mouth, swam and floated with the current down to the bridge, with the purpose of cutting the cable and destroying the bridge, and at least delaying the crossing of the Army. The poor fellow was exhausted by his long swim having on all his clothes, and drifted up against one of the pontoons on which there was a man of the pontoon train, who drew him aboard. The man was of the Lieutenant's old Confederate Regt., and recognized him.”
“It was a brave and gallant, though reckless, deed and it was the irony of fate that when almost accomplishing his purpose, to fall into the hands of one of his old comrades and be recognized as a deserter”. (Walker 10th SC)
Though all details are not perfectly aligned with official records, exaggeration or embellishment could be involved, and memory could be deceptive, too much coincidence exists to dismiss the accuracy of the main story—Ford was probably the same man described in all the accounts.”
Sources:
1. Lest We Forget-The Immortal Seventh Mississippi, Vol. I, Ron Skellie, 2012 pp 521-22
2. Letter of H. A. McLaurin, Co. E 7th Miss. Inf., Murfreesboro, Tennessee, December 27th 1862
3. Colonel C. Irvine Walker, of the 10th South Carolina, edited by Lee White. (CIW, 10th SC)
4. Lest We Forget-The Immortal Seventh Mississippi, Vol. II, Ron Skellie, 2012 pp 864-68
5. Oh for Dixie! (Joe and Lavon Ashley) Capt. W. Davis 30th Miss. (WVD); [Oh, For Dixie! “William Van Davis Diary” 30th Miss.; Joe & Lavonne Ashley] (WVD)
Excerpt November 18th 21st 1864
“Nov 18th
Two men from Hatch’s cavalry took canoes down the Tennessee river and cut ropes on the pontoon bridges. Sometime around the 24th members of Sharp’s brigade would meet one of these cavalrymen’s officers and discover that he was a deserter from the Sharpshooters and deal with him accordingly.
Nov 19th
Bad weather and slow supply trains prevented Stewart’s Corps from crossing the river as planned. Forrest made his move in advance of the army toward Nashville
Nov 20th
The soldiers marched with driving wind and snow in their face. Stewart’s Corps finally crossed the river and marched several miles northeast from Florence on the road to Lawrenceburg. Earlier that same day Lee’s Corps marched north 10 miles on the Chisholm Road that was located between the Lawrenceburg and Waynesboro roads. The rest of the army was to begin its line of march the next morning.
Nov 21st
Lee’s Corps most likely camped at Pruitt’s Mill located on Shoal Creek near the Alabama and Tennessee border between the roads that Lee and Stewart’s Corps were to take. Hood had told Lee that Stewart would be on the Lawrenceburg road that connected to the road that Lee was to follow at Pruitt’s Mill. The 30th Miss. would camp at Wayland Springs and witness the hanging of a man named Ford and the passing of Forest’s cavalry.
“Prewets Mills. March 12 miles, Wayne County. Camp at Wayland springs. Cold & Snow. Pass cavalry. Ford hung at 5 P.M. Get persimmons. See Forrest at Spring.” [Oh, For Dixie! “William Van Davis Diary” 30th Miss.; Joe & Lavonne Ashley] (WVD)
6. “Post War Reminiscence,” “Southern Herald”, Jan. 13, 1899. N. S. Wilkinson of Co. K 44th Miss. provided by Virgil Roberts. (NSW-44th Miss.)
7. Soldiers & Sailors System [NPS]
8. George William Hall: Tennesse Civil War Message Board, Sunday, 25 March 2007, at 9:10 p.m. Re: Camps used in the middle TN area (Ron Skellie) Posted By: Sandy Bennett re: George William Hall [12th Tenn. Cav. (US)]
9. C. Irvine Walker, 10th SC, Manigault's Brigade. “A Brave Deserter, C.I. Walker, 10th SCV, Tennessee Campaign, 1864”, Vol. 3, page 365.U.D.C.: Recollections and Reminiscences 1861-65, provided by Lee White, NPS, Chickamauga] (Walker 10th SC)(CIW, 10th SC)