A Year and a Day

May 21, 2016

Greetings to all. Thank you for visiting.

On May 20 of last year, the last installment of Greyback Diary was posted. At the time, I had thought that I would have no need to return for another posting; after all, David Tooms, the diarist of this blog, was dead.

However, nostalgia (or lunacy) has prompted me to return one last (?) time. I'd like to revisit some of the places mentioned in Tooms' diary to show what they look like today, along with a few that he would just as soon never have seen had he lived.

On the left is Fyler's Store and the Post Office is on the right. Tooms purchased some supplies at Fyler's before departing Beaufort to to an army training camp in Columbia.

There was an incident that Tooms witnessed at the Post Office. A young wag, not in the army, received a package from some unnamed ladies which contained a petticoat and a note suggesting that trousers were for men and the petticoat was more his style. Tooms wrote about this in his diary, which he bought at Fyler's.

The Lipsitz Store, built in 1883 on the site of Fyler's store and the Post Office, served the city for decades until finally going out of business early this century. At present, it is mostly unoccupied.

This is the St. Helena Episcopal Church. Tooms leased his property to the rector,  Reverend Walker, before leaving for Columbia.

St. Helena Episcopal Church as it appears today.














Tooms and several other fresh fish attended a ball at the Verdier House in their honor the night before they left Beaufort for training. It is said that the Marquis de Lafayette addressed a throng of citizens from the second story balcony. The image is from 1863 and the figures in the photo are Union troops. Beaufort was occupied by the North in November of 1861 and remained that way for the rest of the war.

The Verdier House is currently operated by the Historic Beaufort Foundation as a museum.

In more peaceful times, before the war, Tooms would visit the John Haberham House for a meal. Tooms would have not have seen it in this usage, a commissary for Union troops.

When I moved to Beaufort some years ago, the bottom story was a very nice book store, now out of business. Today, there's a high-end antique shop there. I have never seen any activity on the second story.

This is the W.C. Danner & Co. store. When Tooms needed a new shirt or pair of trousers, this is where he purchased them. In this wartime image, the pier sign referred to Saxton Pier No. 2. The pier was named after Rufus Saxton, the Union military commander of Beaufort. The pier was one of several along the Beaufort River waterfront.

In this image, the Danner store is currently on the right of the Bay Street Trading Co. Its' third story has been replaced by an overhang extending from the Trading Co. The large opening in the center of the ground floor still leads to the waterfront.

According to the New South newspaper of May 20, 1865, Tooms body was found, shot in the head, on the Charleston Road where it crosses the Combahee River. The river is pronounced Cumbee.  If Worchester, Massachusetts can be pronounced Wooster, than Combahee is Cumbee.

This is where Tooms was found by a passing patrol of the 4th Massachusetts Cavalry.

The area today. Where Tooms crossed the Combahee is where now is the...

In 1863, Harriet Tubman was a participant in a Union raid up the Combahee from Beaufort. The affair is described on the signage below.

Harriet Tubman worked in Beaufort and the surrounding areas with "contrabands", as newly-freed slaves were called. She assisted them to make the leap from slaves to free people.

These slaves might have been helped by Tubman. This was taken at the James Joyner Smith plantation in Beaufort.

I am very glad that my first excursion into the blogosphere, Greyback Diary, has concluded. It was a long four years. The amount of time and research that went into this effort was beyond description, but that was absolutely necessary if this was to have any credibility. Those of you who have to do research as part of your jobs will know what I'm talking about.

And yet, in a way, I miss it.There were many thrills of discovery as I uncovered some OMG fact that just turned me around in a different direction. There were some "Holy s--t" moments, too. It's all good. Sometimes, I return and read some of my postings and wish I would have changed...

Will I ever do another blog after the work I put into the last one? Well, the centennial of America's entry in the Great War is just next year. I should know better but history is my life's-blood.

When this blog was ongoing, each diary entry began with a wartime photograph. I'll end this the same way. This image speaks for itself.

 

"Last Post"

"We will drink stone blind..."

I have held onto this image until now. This is John P. Robertson, Company I, 12th South Carolina. This is the only image that I haste discovered of a, "Lancaster Hornet". Robertson enlisted on August 28, 1861 as dis so many Company I men. He did his recruit training at Camp Lightwood Knot Springs, the same as Tooms. At Second Manassas, in August of 1862, Robertson received his death wound.

Tuesday, May 16, 1865, Parker's Ferry, Charleston Road

My leg is better now. I did not do a great deal of walking yesterday. Instead, I spent most of the day sitting along the road. I feel better for it even though it will take another day more to reach home. The road was not crowded. For the entire time that I sat there, which was some hours, I might have seen perhaps fifty or sixty people. Only a few had wagons and all were pulled by mules. I saw not a single horse. I have not seen a horse since those bushwhackers tried to rob and kill us last week. Some folks had carts with all their possessions which did not appear to be many. One cart was being drawn by a mule, the rest were being pushed by their owners.

As they passed by, they would see me and wave. A few would halloo at me. One, John J. Oaks from the Forty-third Alabama, stopped and we talked for awhile. We discovered, as we talked, that we had been in many of the same battles.. He, like myself, was at the Petersburg trenches. We ate from our meager rations and he smoked his pipe afterwards. We bade our good-byes to each other and he was back on the road heading south to Mobile.

Battle flag of the 43rd Alabama.

As we chatted, I could not help but think that although we had never met before and we were in widely separated units, we had so very much in common. We ate the same rations, both official an not. We sang the same songs. We marched the same, were clothed the same, or not as circumstances dictated. We suffered the same illnesses and suffered the same treatments. We both lost comrades to battle and disease. Both of us came close to our last day on earth several times. We have survived everything the Yankees threw at us.

Even if there are still Confederates in the field somewhere, this cruel war is over. We who have lived are scattering our numbers all throughout the South. None of us will ever serve with each other again. Even so, we are linked together, bonded forever by the common experiences of comrades in war. I suppose there will be reunions from time to time where we who are still here will tell stories, getting ever bigger with each passing year. We will drink toasts to our fallen comrades, our Confederacy,  our wives and sweethearts, ourselves, anything. We will drink stone blind and do it all again at the next reunion.

Confederate veterans from Arkansas.

Florida.

Georgia.

Mississippi.

North Carolina.

West Virginia.

Tennessee.

Patrick County, Virginia, 1900.

The children will set at our feet and gaze at us in awe as we tell of our exploits and the hazards we lived through. They will believe everything we say no matter what. The womenfolk and the stay-at-home men will hear us as we talk amongst ourselves but will understand little. For those who have seen the elephant, a certain word or phrase, a certain wink or nod, and that is all it will take to understand some event or circumstance all have shared witness to. To that regard, I suppose the Yankees must be included in this circle.

Gettysburg.

Brothers again.

Speaking of the Yankees, I suppose that we will have to get along with them now that we are brothers again.  We are supposed to go home, tend to our fields and stores, and endeavor to be good citizens, all of us. Too much blood as been spilled on both sides to do otherwise.

Four very long years ago, I had started this diary with the purpose of providing a chronicle of persons, places and events that I can refer to in my old age. I hope to find some comfort in this. Was it but yesterday that I, an old recruit, was drilling my own squad of new recruits?

I have seen two wars. May I never see a third.

Some day, there will be just one of us left. May that last one standing toast those who have gone before.


I Send you These Few Lines


The war was hard on all concerned. Numbers do not tell the whole story but they do give some perspective to events. For Tooms' regiment, the 12th Carolina, the brigade historian records that:

21 officers and 260 men were killed during the war with 2 officers and 182 men dying form disease for a total of 465 dead. Some 652 were wounded. 26 officers resigned and 169 enlisted men were discharged. At Appomattox, the parole rolls record that 10 officers and 150 enlisted men surrendered.

For the Hancaster Hornets, Company I of the 12th, the following comes from the muster rolls of the company held at the National Archives repository at College Park, Maryland. The rolls, which are by no means complete, shows that 7 officers and 121 enlisted men served during the war. Of these, no officers were killed by enemy action or disease but 18 enlisted men were killed in combat and 5 by disease. Officers had the privilege of resigning their commissions and three did. A further 11 enlisted men were discharged for medical reasons. Transfers to other units accounted for 1 officer and three enlisted men. Lastly, four enlisted men deserted.

For the company paroles issued at Appomattox, one officer and 29 enlisted men are listed.

There are still unsurrendered Confederates left but not for long. The last major surrender will take place west of the Mississippi River on May 26, 1865. The war will not be officially declared to be at an end until April 2, 1866 when President Andrew issues a proclamation to that effect for the seceded states.

General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of all Confederate troops west of the Mississippi. He surrendered his command in May of 1865. His was the last large surrender of the war.

Except Texas.

Texas would be added by the President to the list of states no longer in rebellion on August 20, 1866.

John J. Oaks was in Company I of the 43rd Alamaba. The regiment was a western theatre unit, raised in Mobile. It served with the Army of Tennessee until late in 1863 when it was part of Bushrod Johnson's division that was transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia where it remained for the duration of the war.

Major General Bushrod Johnson.

Because Tooms had seen prior service in the Mexican War, he was given the rank of lance corporal and a squad of recruits to drill at Camp Lightwood Knot Springs in Columbia, South Carolina. In the squad, besides Tooms, were Burrell Hancock, Thomas Duncan, William Beckham, William Caston, John White and Philip Shehane. Hancock would prove to be Tooms' best friend during the war. He was one of the original members of the, "Dandy Eights Mess."

Of these six:

Hancock would be paroled at Appomattox.
Beckham deserted.
White would be captured at Petersburg in March of 1865 and released in June.
Duncan was captured at Spottsylvania in 1864 and released in June of 1865.
Caston died in a Charleston hospital on April 29, 1862.
Shehane was discharged in September of 1864, reason unknown.

During the war, Tooms and seven of his pards would form a mess called the, "Dandy Eights." The shared bonds mentioned above in Tooms diary entry would be strengthened by groups of soldiers who form a mess, for purposes of cooking and consuming their rations. The original eight were Tooms, Hancock, Duncan, mentioned above, plus William Barton, Sr., William Barton, Jr., Dennis Castles, Troy Crenshaw, John Holton. Of these:

William Barton, Sr. was killed in action, July 1, 1863 at Gettysburg.
William Barton, Jr.was killed in action, May 6, 1864.
Dennis Castles deserts in February of 1865.
Troy Crenshaw disappears from the records after January, 1864.
John Holton disappears from the records after December, 1863.

Of those Lancaster Hornets that survived the war:

Burrell Hancock married Sarah Emeline Garrison Hancock on April 6, 1879.  He had been married before the war to Nancy Missouri Cauthen. On October 8, 1899, Hancock passed. In September of 1920, his widow files for  a South Carolina pension.

Troy Crenshaw passed on July 3, 1879. His widow, Haseltine, whom he had married in 1858, filed for a South Carolina pension.

William A. Marshall, born October 20, 1845, would file for a state pension in 1919.

J. W. Denton and Isaac T. Vincent would apply for admission to the state Soldier's Home in 1910. Vincent is buried in Beaver Creek Cemetery, Lancaster County.

Simon H. Huey (Huley) was buried in Tirzah Pres. Union Cemetery in 1897.

William T. Sistare passed in 1920 and is buried in Douglas Pres. Cemetery in Lancaster.

John L. Barton passed in 1922 and is buried in Lancaster at the Westside Cemetery.

N.B. Vanlandingham, the Hornets' original company commander went to be with his boys in 1893. He is at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Lancaster County.

Robert J. Hagins passed in 1899 and is buried in Laurelwood Cemetery, Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Wesley Blackmon is buried in Flint Hill Baptist Cemetery, Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Both Lieutenant James S. Williamson and Corporal Joseph H. Flynn, played major parts in this blog both surrendered at Appomattox but I have found no record of any post-war activity for either of them.

There remains one Hornet who has not been properly accounted for. As of this date, he is in Charleston County, South Carolina. His home is in Beaufort County. There is one more county, Colleton, to go through before reaching home.

And one last thing about Jefferson Davis. On this date, 150 years ago, the ex-Confederate president, now prisoner, arrived by steamship at the United States Navy base on Hilton Head Island en route to Washington, D.C. Hilton Head is in Beaufort County. Old Jeff Davis has beat Tooms home.

Jefferson Davis.

"They are worse than Yankee bullets."

A post-war image of Charleston ladies tending to the graves of the Confederate dead.

Sunday, May 14, 1865, Savannah Road.

This wounded leg of mine is slowing me down. It is not a serious wound but it is enough to give me trouble. I will rest here along the road and write this while I do. If I should fall asleep, I will not complain.

It is unlikely that I will fame into slumber. This is rice country and the mosquitoes must number in the many dozens of millions.They are worse than Yankee bullets.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to state that this used to be rice country. I have seen, since leaving Charleston, little evidence that any fields of any sort are being planted or tended. While all is peaceful, it is also very haunting. I have encountered a very few people since leaving Charleston. I say no. I have but three days rations hidden away in my pack and it is perhaps six days to home. Not knowing if I can be re-supplied between here and home, I must be frugal.

It was hard to say good-bye to my comrades from the First. Although I have not known them long, they are all first rate. It was probably harder for them to stay than for me to go. Charleston has been devastated much the same as Columbia, maybe worse. Along the Battery, I could see the occasional home that had been struck by Yankee artillery fire.

Homes along Battery Row, outside the area affected by the Great Fire. This home was damaged by Union artillery fire.

The greatest damage suffered by Charleston during the war came not from the Yankees but from the same thing that has wiped out great areas of Columbia, fire. Upon seeing the devastated areas, I asked aloud to no one in particular if the Yankees intended to burn out the entire South. McGuire volunteered that there was a great fire that laid waste to the city. A band of destroyed buildings cut Charleston across the middle from river to river.

Part of the burned out district of Charleston.

Interior ruins of St John and St Finbar Church, in the burnt district.

Charleston burnt district.

I found it utterly amazing that for the four years of this war, so much of the destroyed district remained so. For reasons unknown to this poor high private, no repairs or re-construction was attempted.  Did the war drain away everything from the home front?

I would have liked to have been able to visit Fort Moultrie but that would have been several miles ut of my way. It was there that I received my first taste of this war with the Star of the West.

Steamship Star of the West.

In exchange for something to eat, I surrendered my carbine. It is just as well as I had only six rounds.

If I do not move this tired old body soon, I certainly will fall asleep.


I Send You These Few Words.


In December of 1861, there occurred what became known as the Great Fire of 1861. Sources differ as to the cause and where it started. Some 600 buildings were destroyed and most of them stayed destroyed for the duration of the war.

Circular Church, in the burnt district.

Circular Church, April, 2015.

Looking from the waterfront down Vendee Range. Union shells first struck Charleston in this area during the siege in 1863.

Same view from the waterfront, April, 2015.

The O'Connor House. Union officer prisoners were kept here in the hopes that the Union forces laying siege to the city would hold their fire. News of this led Union authorities to imprison  Confederate officers in Fort Pulaski in Savannah. These Confederates became known as the Immortal 600.

O'Connor House, April, 2015

Tooms did not mention seeing Fort Sumter, or what was left of it. The fort was so shelled by Union artillery that it was never rebuilt to the original design. Its' modern form, after restoration, represents only part of what used to be.

Fort Sumter before the bombardment.

Fort Sumter after the bombardment.

Interior, after the bombardment.

Sumter today.

The Star of theWest incident that Tooms referred to involved a Union effort to resupply Fort Sumter from the sea. Confederate artillery at Fort Moultrie fired upon the supply ship, the Star of the West. The effort failed. This occurred in January, 1861, three months before the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in April.

Sallyport of Fort Moultrie after the siege.

Fort Moultrie sallyport, April, 2015.

Tooms is on his own now. Everyone in the party going from Columbia to Charleston lived in or near Charleston and have no reason to travel any further. They will go home to get their lives up and running again. Tooms is not yet in a position to do this. Tooms will have to be patient and wait until he reaches his home in Beaufort. With that leg of his, he should be there in four days. Five tops.