Hi Joe:

I only occasionally check out the SCCWMB and just now came across your June 2006 query. I have researched the movement of the AOT from Mississippi to North Carolina in 1865 with a particular eye to movements of the 12th Louisiana Infantry, a regiment in which one of my great grandfathers served. The 12th Louisiana Infantry was part of Scott’s Brigade, Loring’s Division in A. P. Stewart’s Corps of the Army of Tennessee.

I did a quick check of the organization table of AOT units presented in (1)Mark Bradley's "Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville" (Savas Woodbury, 1996), and (2) Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr.'s "Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston" (UNC Press, 1996). It appears that the 2nd, 10th, & 20th Tennessee Infantry regiments were consolidated and part of Tyler's Brigade, Bates' Division in Cheatham's Corps. I recommend both of these books for a detailed examination of the 1865 Carolinas Campaign. You no doubt have already read Christopher Losson's "Tennessee's Forgotten Warriors: Frank Cheatham and His Confederate Division" (University of Tennessee Press, 1989) which gives precious little information about the North Carolina Campaign in 1865.

At the time Mark Bradley and Dr. Hughes were researching their respective books, I researched and wrote a paper describing the 12th Louisiana Infantry's trip to North Carolina which was published in 1995 in "Louisiana History" (a quarterly journal of the Louisiana Historical Association). This research is now a chapter in my as yet unpublished regimental history of the 12th Louisiana Infantry. From my own research, I can tell you something about the trip to North Carolina.

The remnants of the Confederate Army of Tennessee gathered in camps around Tupelo, Mississippi after the army's defeat at Nashville and precipitous retreat across the Tennessee River at the end of 1864. After resting and refitting as best they could, and granting a substantial number of furloughs, the AOT set off for North Carolina. S. D. Lee's Corps, the least badly damaged by the fighting in Tennessee, led the way departing Tupelo on January 19, 1865. Lee's Corps, commanded by Major General Carter L. Stevenson, turned eastward at Meridian traveling by rail and steamboat through Demopolis to Montgomery in Alabama. While this was the most direct route to the east, bad logistics management turned this complicated route into a choke point, and Cheatham's Corps and Stewart's Corps were routed further south through Mobile. These two corps crossed Mobile Bay by steamboat to Tensas Landing and traveled through Pollard to Montgomery by rail.

Cheatham's Corps left Tupelo on January 25th followed by Stewart's Corps on January 30th. French's Division of Stewart's Corps was detached and assigned to the defense of Mobile. With Lee's Corps and Cheatham's Corps ahead of them, the remaining five brigades of Stewart's Corps traveled by rail from Montgomery through Columbus, Georgia arriving at Macon on February 7th. Here another choke point was encountered since the railroad had not been built to connect Milledgeville and Mayfield. Also, General Sherman's infamous "March to the Sea" had passed through this area inflicting severe damage on the local infrastructure. And, perhaps most important, General Kilpatrick's cavalry excursion from Columbia in the direction of Aiken (see Fred Knudson's post about the Battle of Aiken on February 8th http://www.battleofaiken.org/history.htm) threatened the AOT's use of the railroad crossing at Augusta.

The AOT had to walk between Midway (near Milledgeville) and Mayfield before resuming rail travel. Stewart's five brigades boarded trains at Mayfield on February 14th, crossed the Savannah River via the railroad bridge at Augusta and passed through Newbury, South Carolina on February 18th. Here they turned north and encamped at Unionville (Union Court House) for nearly two weeks.

General Robert E. Lee was belatedly made General-in-Chief of all Confederate Armies in the field on February 6, 1865 and ordered General Joseph E. Johnston to take command of all Confederate forces in the Carolinas and "drive back Sherman." General Bragg was at Kinston with about 10,000 men, General Hardee commanded another 10,000 troops evacuated from Charleston who were fighting a rear guard action against General Sherman’s advance from Savannah. General Wheeler's cavalry, which had harassed the rear of Sherman's army en route to Savannah, fought the “Battle of Aiken” on February 8, 1865. Lee Sturkey remembers that General Carter L. Stevenson’s troops were engaged in skirmishing with Sherman’s forces at Rivers Bridge and Orangeburg further south and east in South Carolina at about this time. I have nothing on those events, but General Stevenson was in command of Lee’s Corps during the march to North Carolina. General Sherman’s troops entered Columbia on February 17th while the AOT (only about 6,400 infantry and artillery) was strung out between Augusta and Union Court House.

The North Carolina Railroad provided General Johnston with the means to get the AOT around General Sherman and quickly to North Carolina. Stewart’s five brigades left Union Court House on March 3rd, boarded trains at Chester on March 5th. They got off the trains at Kinston, North Carolina starting at noon on March 9th and marched straight to their places in the line of battle. The Battle of Kinston began the day before and was concluded on March 10th. The effort temporarily halted the advance of General Schofield’s Federal army from New Bern. Johnston then combined the forces of General Bragg with the Army of Tennessee at Smithfield and met the advance of the western column of Sherman’s army at Bentonville on March 19th.

You initial query was specific to the presence of the 20th Consolidated Tennessee in the Augusta area. The answer is that they “just passing through” on their way to North Carolina. I hope these dates and this brief narrative will give you some sense of the timing of their brief stay. Be happy to try and answer any other Army of Tennessee questions you might have, if I can!

Hugh Simmons