News
Civil War personal for ex-slave troops from Clarksville
By CHRIS SMITH • The Leaf-Chronicle • February 7, 2010
It was the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 16, 1864, and the U.S. Army’s
front line in the assault of Overton’s Hill had faltered.
But the second line, made up of soldiers seeing their first real
action of the war, pushed forward. They advanced so far that some of
the soldiers mounted the Confederate parapet before being forced to
pull back.
“These troops were here, for the first time, under such fire as
veterans dread, and yet, side by side with the veterans of Stone’s
River, Missionary Ridge and Atlanta, they assaulted probably the
strongest works on the entire line, and though not successful, they
vied with the old warriors in bravery, tenacity and deeds of noble
daring,” said Col. C.R. Thompson in his report.
These troops were members of the 13th U.S. Colored Infantry
Regiment, freed black slaves — recruited from Clarksville and other
Middle Tennessee cities.
“This was a very active area for black troops,” said local historian
Dr. Richard Gildrie. “They saw a lot of action.”
Fort Defiance
While the bulk of the Civil War was fought between white Yankees and
white Southerners, black soldiers also had a significant role. Some
estimates put the total at 179,000 black Union soldiers, about 10
percent of the Army. Not all black soldiers fought for the Union.
Many ended up part of the Confederate force — about 65,000. These
were primarily servants brought along by officers to handle cooking
and cleaning, but by will or by necessity, many saw combat.
Clarksville’s role in all of this stemmed from the use of nearby
Fort Defiance as a “contraband” camp. Property used by the
Confederate military, including slaves, could be legally
confiscated, and it was illegal to return contraband slaves.
This meant an escaped slave who could make it to a camp wasn’t going
back. “While becoming a ‘contraband’ did not mean full freedom, it
was apparently seen by many slaves as at least a step in the right
direction,” says exhibit information provided by the Customs House
Museum.
The contraband were eligible for employment in the Union Army for $8
a month. By comparison, CSA privates made $11 and white Union
privates made $13.
While these “colored” regiments were led by white officers, black
soldiers could serve as noncommissioned officers, such as sergeants.
Historians estimate 3,000 ex-slaves were recruited in Clarksville,
hundreds of them signing up for duty at Public Square.
The units either mustered here or containing significant numbers of
black soldiers from Clarksville included:
• 9th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery Regiment.
• 12th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment.
• 13th U.S. Colored Troops.
• 16th USCT.
• 17th USCT.
• 101st USCT.
Battle records
While the 13th won glory in the Battle of Nashville and later took
part in the pursuit of Gen. John B. Hood’s army into north Alabama,
not all the local regiments performed so well.
The 16th USCT was organized first in Clarksville, then in Nashville,
in 1863 and 1864, according to the “Tennesseans in the Civil War,”
compiled by the Civil War Centennial Commission of Tennessee.
Their initial missions went well: They kept Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler
from crossing the Tennessee River even as they sustained heavy
losses. In the weeks leading up to the Battle of Nashville, they
took part in daily skirmishes.
But things seemed to turn with the report that a civilian was killed
by a member of the regiment on Murfreesboro Pike. While the regiment
was supposed to be 869-strong, only 665 were present and equipped
for battle.
Then they stepped back from combat, according to a report by Col.
Thomas J. Morgan.
“On the evening of the 14th, Col. (William B.) Gaw, by unsoldierly
process, succeeded in getting his regiment taken from the First
(Colored) Brigade and ordered to a safer place in the rear.”
The 16th got out of the Battle of Nashville and spent the remainder
of the war handling guard duty and construction work.
They were replaced by the 17th USCT, containing many black soldiers
from Clarksville.
In the assault on Overton’s Hill, when the skirmishers met heavy
resistance, the 17th came from the rear and pushed through, carrying
the Confederate rifle pits and pushing forward until reaching Rains’
Cut, where they were forced to withdraw by heavy artillery fire.
Serving
in Clarksville
The 101st USCT wasn’t one of the two-digit combat regiments, but a
three-digit regiment for soldiers unfit for field duty but able to
handle guard work.
This regiment was stationed at Fort Defiance — variously also known
as Fort Bruce and Fort Sevier — which is at the confluence of the
Red and Cumberland rivers in New Providence.
One of the soldiers in the 101st USCT was Joseph Farley, a black
slave who followed his mistress to a farm near Hopkinsville, Ky.,
according to a Feb. 19, 2008, article in Cumberland Lore by
historian Nancy Dawson.
Basing her report partly on an autobiography by Farley published in
a compilation by Fisk University, Dawson found Farley joined Company
D, 101st USCT, in September 1864.
Among his tales was a love story about a black soldier, a Sgt. Cook,
who married a white woman at Fort Bruce.
About 20 black soldiers were there, and a half-dozen white men
showed up to try to stop the wedding. Farley said he advised the
officiant that if he didn’t go through with the wedding, there was
going to be a fight. The wedding proceeded, and Dawson found records
that Sgt. Cyrus Cook married Mary Curtis.
The soldiers at the fort drew praise from others. A Pvt. William
Dorris of the 83rd Illinois Infantry, who at first had refused a
commission to command black troops because the thought it
“dishonorable,” later had a chance for a change of heart, as
chronicled in “Historic Clarksville,” by Charles M. Waters.
“I was promoted last night. I was acting corporal over three Negroes
on Post Three,” Dorris wrote in a letter to his wife in 1864. “The
three that were with me were three fine young Kentucky Negroes they
did their duty as well as white soldiers would. … The Negro is a
powerful enemy against the South, I assure you.”
Personal heroism
On the other side of the battle lines was Dan W. Grimes. Grimes was
born into slavery in Dickson County, according to an Oct. 7, 2008,
Cumberland Lore article by Phil Petrie.
In August 1863, 1st Lt. Henry Grimes, the son of his master, went to
war for the Confederacy with Dan Grimes sent as a body servant.
Henry Grimes was killed at the Battle of Franklin, but Dan Grimes
apparently brought home another soldier, James Wynn, who was badly
wounded.
Wynn later died of his injuries, and Grimes stayed on with that
family for 16 years.
He later led a hard life. He had a wife and children, but when he
applied for his war pension in 1927, he owned nothing but the
clothes he was wearing, Dawson said. His wife was dead and his
children were scattered.
Ongoing history
The evidence of local black soldiers’ involvement in the Civil War
is still apparent in Clarksville, and more information is coming
forward in coming years.
• At Mount Olive Cemetery in south Clarksville, there are 24 graves
for USCT — four from C Company of the 101st, as well as from the the
12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 59th USCT.
• At Fort Defiance, a walking trail is under construction as part of
a restoration project, and among the historic plaques will be one
commemorating the service of local black soldiers in the Civil War,
according to architect Brad Martin.
• Students from St. Mary’s Catholic School, working with Geneva Bell
and Beth Kasper with the Mount Olive Historical Preservation
Society, are going through pension records of local black soldiers
to uncover their stories.
While many of their stories have been lost to time, what we do know
of these black soldiers shows they were not unlike soldiers of all
wars, except that more than most, they were truly fighting for their
personal freedom.
As one Clarksville U.S. Army officer was reported to have said,
after seeing how well the black soldiers handled themselves in
battle:
“I want to live, and these men have a motive.”
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Black Soldiers at War, a series documenting the role of local
African-Americans in battle.
Today: The Civil War, by Chris Smith
Feb. 14: World War I, by Alane Megna
Feb. 21: World War II, by Jake Lowary
Feb. 28: Vietnam and Korea, by Jake Lowary
Chris Smith is Senior Editor/Local News for The Leaf-Chronicle and can be reached at 245-0282 or by e-mail at chrissmith@theleafchronicle.com. Compiled with assistance from Richard Gildrie, Phil Petrie, Randall Spurgeon at Customs House Museum, Geneva Bell, Randy Rubel, Brad Martin and Jill Hastings-Johnson at the Montgomery County Archives.