A walk at Andersonville, the Civil War's deadliest ground

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On a gray, gloomy morning in Andersonville, Ga., I walked the grounds of the notorious prison camp where nearly 13,000 Union soldiers died from February 1864-April 1865. “Words cannot describe the horrors,” said 16th Connecticut Private Wallace Woodford of Andersonville, also known as Camp Sumter. Emaciated and beyond help, Woodford died at home in Farmington, Conn. When we lived in Connecticut, I often visited his grave in a cemetery across the road from our house. Dozens of Woodford’s 16th Connecticut comrades were buried in the national cemetery near the camp.

"This," park guide Teri Surber said as we walked in the camp, "is the deadliest ground of the Civil War."

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The spirits of Andersonville and '800 paces to hell'

Nancy Garrison poses near where U.S. prisoners disembarked at a railroad depot in 1864-65.
(CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

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Meet Nancy Garrison, 3/4 quarter Cherokee, grandma, former mayoral candidate, character, and proprietor of Nancy’s Treasure Chest in Andersonville, Ga., the village next to the notorious Civil War prison camp.

“How many people live in Andersonville?” I ask.

“Well, about 230. Make that 229 since we just lost one.”

Business is slow Saturday, so we wave to strangers and swap stories while sitting on wooden chairs in front of her shop. My topics: Unimportant. Hers: Evolution, grandchildren, a local dude named Jimmy Carter, and the spirits of Andersonville.

“You oughta come back here in August when the ghosts come around,” she says, instantly grabbing my attention.

Nancy weaves a tale that includes shadows outside the window of her house and a spirit blowing in her face. Crazy talk, I’m thinking. But here, where nearly 13,000 Union soldiers died, who knows?

Up the road, in the center of the village, stands the controversial monument to Henry Wirz, the Andersonville camp commander. Wirz Street is beyond it.

Across from Nancy's shop, Yankee prisoners disembarked at the train depot for their slow walk to misery. On the road — Prison Way, they call it — her husband painted a path of footsteps of those unfortunates leading to the camp. 

“Eight hundred paces to hell,” Nancy calls the route.

After our ghost talk, I bid Nancy goodbye. Seconds later, she flags me down and hands me a gift: two Andersonville magnets. A fitting end to a spirited afternoon.

The controversial Henry Wirz monument in Andersonville, Ga.

Andersonville has a street named for the notorious Civil War camp commander.

"800 paces to hell": Camp Sumter —Andersonville POW camp — is in the far distance.

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A Tennessee Civil War adventure: 'It's not a bus, it's a casino'

Tommy Roberts at the "Elmore Town Casino & Spa."

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So we head deep into the woods of moonshining country in Middle Tennessee, intent on finding the graves of two Civil War soldiers killed in the obscure Battle of Dug Hill. My guides are Tommy Roberts, retired Air Force, and his daughter Angela, retired intercontinental nuclear missile officer. (Truth.)

“Are there snakes back here?” someone in our group asks. “Oh, yes,” comes a reply. Gulp. 😗 And then we discover “it.” No, not that remote cemetery. “That,” says Tommy, pointing to a contraption abandoned near Mine Lick Creek, “is the “Elmore Town Casino & Spa.’” It looks like an old bus to me. Back in the day, the locals gambled and got liquored up at the “spa.”

Yes, we eventually find the graveyard but not the old homestead site nearby. This adventure also included a death-defying trip along a slippery, muddy path to a Unionist’s cave hideout; moonshining talk; a discussion of why local Republicans are raccoon hunters while Democrats are fox hunters (or was it the other way around?); and lava cake to die for at Cole’s Country Store. But the quote that sticks with me is ...

“It’s not a bus, it’s a casino.”

I’ve been invited back. Perhaps we’ll gamble in the spa and sip a little moonshine. Thank you, Angela and Tommy.

Much more to come about this adventure. Now, we're off to Andersonville, Ga.

Gulp!

I can’t believe we made it to the cave hideout of a Union soldier, an ancestor of my guide,
Tommy Roberts.

Guides Tommy Roberts and his daughter Angela at the remote gravesite of two Union soldiers who were killed at the Battle of Dug Hill.

Our objective: The graves of two 5th Tennessee Cavalry soldiers.

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'Secrets' of a Tennessee battlefield: Let's go find The Rock!

A walk along the railroad track at Thompson’s Station, Tenn., where two 19th Michigan soldiers — brothers Judson and Pasqua Austin — fired at the Rebs from “a projecting rock” on March 5, 1863. Check out my re-launched Civil War channel (mostly) on YouTube. Also: Slava Urkaini!

Battle of Thompson's Station virtual tour here.

All about Roderick, KIA horse of 'The Wizard of the Saddle'

In 2008, Thompson's Station dedicated a statue to Roderick on the battlefield.

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On March 5, 1956, the Nashville Banner devoted a full page (below) to a poem about Roderick, the favorite mount of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the notorious slave trader (see below), reputed cavalry genius, and post-war KKK member. At the Battle of Thompson’s Station (Tenn.) on March 5, 1863, Roderick, a chestnut gelding, was killed. Forrest, "The Wizard of the Saddle," is said to have wept over his beloved horse. 

"The Wizard"

Now I’m no poetry expert, but “The General’s Mount” has several cringeworthy stanzas such as this:

“From mouths and nostrils
Sponged his wounds
Applied a stinging ointment
They washed his knees
And hocks And pasterns
It’s Roderick!
The General’s mount!
Bring the water bucket to him”

To this day, Roderick lives on in the imaginations of a few historians, horse lovers, and strange people like me. In 2008, Thompson’s Station dedicated a statue of Roderick on the ground where Forrest’s soldiers formed for their attack. Let’s just say the sculptor took a few liberties — hey, that statue is not a gelding!

In 2009, Thompson’s Station awarded the Roderick Award of Courage to a girl who performed the Heimlich maneuver to save her grandma from choking to death on a piece of chicken. But the town discontinued the award after only one honoree.

Let's keep history alive. 😆

An ad for Forrest's slave trading business in the Memphis Daily Appeal on Nov. 29, 1859.

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In their own words: A Thompson's Station battlefield tour

Aaron Sanders holds an enlargement of a photograph of Alice Thompson, who rushed from this
Homestead Manor mansion basement to grab a battle flag and rally Confederate troops.
Sanders manages operations on the property for Hope Unlimited. (CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.)

On the morning of March 5, 1863, as the Battle of Thompson’s Station raged around her, Alice Thompson found refuge in the cramped basement of the Homestead Manor plantation mansion along Columbia Pike. Not quite 17, Thompson — daughter of a physician for whom the Tennessee town was named — peered from a window while cannons boomed and the muskets of grim-faced soldiers belched volleys of lead. 

Homestead Manor served as a battlefield hospital.

When a wounded 3rd Arkansas Cavalry color-bearer collapsed a few feet away, Thompson rushed from the basement and grabbed the soldier’s flag, waving it over her head. "Boys,” shouted a colonel, “a woman has your flag!" An artillery shell landed near her, spraying Thompson with dirt, but it failed to explode. Then a Rebel escorted the energized teen back into the basement to rejoin family members of the owner, his slaves, and neighbors. 

For decades, Thompson’s Station —roughly 30 miles south of Nashville — was a sleepy town along the Nashville & Decatur Railroad line. Now it’s a booming suburb near the Interstate 65 corridor. Developers have claimed much of the battlefield where roughly 6,000 Confederates under Major General Earl Van Dorn overwhelmed a brigade of 3,000 Union soldiers commanded by John Coburn. But Homestead Manor, where Thompson earned 15 seconds of battlefield glory, remains standing. It's now a church/coffee shop/community center. Pockets of the battlefield remain, too.

Accompanied by photos I recently shot at Thompson's Station, here are battle accounts from Colonel Coburn and 19th Michigan Private Judson Austin. He went into the fight with his brother, Pasqua, whom he called "Pack." Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry did the heavy lifting, nearly surrounding the  U.S. Army. More than 1,000 Union soldiers went into captivity. The Confederates suffered 357 killed.

Astride the Columbia Pike, Homestead Manor was the epicenter of the battle--a resounding Confederate victory on March 5, 1863.  (DOWNLOAD complete battle map from American Battlefield Trust.)

(A) The modern railroad track follows the wartime line toward Thompson's Station. 

"On passing through the gap, the railroad turns from the general direction of the turnpike to the right and west (A). The station is situated about the middle of the field, and some 300 yards west of the turnpike; a small stream flows by it to the west. Beyond the station and field is an extensive wood on each side of the road. The ground ascends as you approach it, and continues to ascend as you enter it, broken into irregular knolls. Here the enemy lay." 
— Colonel John Coburn

(B) View of gunners of gunners manning two 18th Ohio Artillery cannons on west side of Columbia Pike.

"As our force approached the gap, the head of the column being in it, the enemy discharged a piece of artillery stationed in the wood on the west of the road, raking it along our line. It failed of effect. The enemy's skirmishers had occupied the ridge on either side, but had been dislodged by the dismounted cavalry, and driven across the field to the station, where, for a time, they rallied, but soon retired before the skirmishers of the Thirty-third Indiana, and under the shells of our bravery, which had been brought up and stationed — two pieces to the right of the road (B) and three on the east on the ridge — there, about 50 feet above the valley and fields in front. Here they commanded the road, the fields, and the woods, to the front, right, and left, for a considerable distance."

 — Colonel John Coburn

  (C) GOOGLE STREET VIEW: The 19th Michigan and 22nd Wisconsin deployed at right.

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"The Thirty-third and Eighty-fifth Indiana were stationed on the right, and the Twenty-second Wisconsin and Nineteenth Michigan on the left and upon the ridge (C), near the three guns of the battery. Some companies of unmounted cavalry occupied a cedar-crowned knoll to the left of the Nineteenth Michigan. In its rear the main part of the cavalry were stationed." 
— Colonel John Coburn

(D) Position of some of  John Coburn's supply wagons on the Columbia Pike.

In the rear, a third of a mile, was the train (D), under guard of the One hundred and twenty-fourth Ohio. Such being the disposition of the forces, a demonstration was made by our cavalry on our extreme left, and the Thirty-third and Eighty-fifth Indiana were advanced to the station, with directions to charge the battery on the right of the road, if practicable." — Colonel John Coburn 

(E) Captain Samuel Freeman's Confederate artillery fired against advancing U.S. Army soldiers
from this hill on the east side of Columbia Pike.

The Twenty-second Wisconsin, the Nineteenth Michigan, the battery, and most of the cavalry were held in reserve. Our artillery, soon after being stationed, began firing, which was responded to by guns stationed at two points. (E) The firing was kept up with great vigor during the advance to the depot, our column moving forward under a constant fire of shell and canister, as well as musketry, from a brigade posted behind a bank and stone fence beyond."

 

(F) The 85th and 33rd Indiana withdrew from the depot toward the hill in background.

(G) Both armies used the railroad embankment for cover. A replacement for the wartime
 Thompson's Station depot appears at the extreme right.

"The loss was slight, and the troops moved forward in separate columns regularly and steadily to the depot. As this force advanced, a large number of the enemy arose from their cover on their extreme left and rallied to the battery beyond the depot. At this moment I was informed that a force of 1,000 or more cavalry had been discovered advancing on our left, a mile distant, in the neighborhood of the Lewisburg road. I immediately ordered the regiment to withdraw (F) from the depot (G), intending at once to retreat, being convinced that we were in the neighborhood of an overwhelming force."

 — Colonel John Coburn

(H) Confederates fired on the Midwesterners from the ridge beyond this tree. Is it a "witness" tree?

"Our Boys hugged the ground for a short time when we wer ordered to fall in & march to the right. After marching a short distance we halted faced by the rear wrank. Not more than a breath or so from that time we wer fired into by the rebs who wer secreted from our sight by a thick growth of small cedar trees (H). All our boys could see was the smoak from their guns. However we gave them a charge in return then moving a few paces to the front we curled down behind a stone fence. Here the lead flew from our guns like hail for a short time when we wer ordered to march to the rear & right that we mint not be flanked." — Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan

(I) Confederates advancing north on this railroad track fired at the 19th Michigan.

"At this spot is whar we saw our bold Cap. E.B. Basset the last time. (Note: Elisha Bassett lost his nerve and deserted his company.) He stood behind a large beech tree looking right smart in all directions. Have any seen him he is mine where ever he be. Our Reg marched on until we came to the railroad track (I) whare we wer again fired upon."
 — Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan

(J) Judson and Pasqua Austin of the 19th Michigan fired at pursuing Rebels in the distance.
 The "projecting rock" Judson described is believed to be at right.

"Unloading our muskets on them they wer silenced for a few minutes & all disappeared behind the hill except one or two who wer straight down the track hid partly behind a fence post. This wrascal fired up the grade at two or three that stood wating for the rest to get along out of the way. The ball passed close between Pack & myself taking a little bark of from two or three of my fingers on my right hand. We both steped back a step or too whare we wer on concealed behind the point of a projecting rock that hapened to stick out on the side of the grade (J) & unloaded our muskets at the butternut. Pack I think fired but once when he see the Reg. going on up the hill & started on the jump to over take the boys. I see the bullets kept coming from the fence post down the track & thinking myself safer behind the rock than any other place I could see I wated & kept on loading and fireing as fast as I knew how. I am Shure I fixed as many as one of the bloodhounds on that spot."
— Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan

(K) View from hill where Coburn's brigade ultimately surrendered.

"The fireings from that direction by this had ceased & I began to look about for my Reg. Looking to the rear I saw the rebs coming I should think by the thousand. Thinking myself in close quarters. I soon come to the most natural conclusion to scedadle. So I took a double quick up the hill (K) to join the Reg. Balls fell at my heels & about my legs like hail making the dry leaves & little sticks on the ground fairly rustle. I reached the top of the hill in safety. But instead of finding Co. B on the left as I expected I found they had countermarched & faced to the rear. They wer just over the brow of the hill all ready to step to the top so they mint fire on the enemy that were fast approaching on a solid charge." 

— Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan

(L) Confederates advanced across this ground.

"Here I fell into wranks & the Boys with an almost defning yell rushed to the top of the hill where we faced the enemy at a short distance. Firing our pieces with well directed aim their line was entirely broken & we wer ordered to retreat back to our former position loading as we went. After we wer far enough back to be safe behind the hill we wer ordered to lay down [so] the shells mint not injure more than was necessary of us. (L) After a short time orders came from the Col.: Forward"

— Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan

(M) Area believed to be where Pasqua Austin suffered a mortal wound.

 "After this we fought in a skirmishing kind of style; or more like bush whackers. We wer shooting in this way when Pack received the fatal shot. I saw him just before he was shot cralling up to a large oak tree. (M) I thought to myself he had got into a safe place & could pick off the butternuts at his ease. We had not fought in this shape long before they commenced flanking us on our left & placed a battery on our right. I kept on fireing as fast as possible turning my as often as I could get a chance to the tree whare I see Pack go. I could not see him thare but a steady volley of balls came a cross fire into us as they passed."

— Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan 

The Midwestern troops retreated across this ground.

"When I reached the Reg again they were just ready to throw down their arms & surrender ourselves up to the enamy. This being done we formed in lin faced to the right & marched 17 miles at night to a town called Columbia. Arriving here about 12 oclock at night we had the privilege of marching into the courthouse & sleeping on the floor."

— Private Judson Austin, 19th Michigan 

"I was convinced that a massacre would ensue to little purpose; that a few might escape, but that many would fall in a vain struggle for life with unequal weapons. I ordered a surrender. I believed it was justified by the circumstances."

 — Colonel John Coburn

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POSTSCRIPT

Coburn

Judson Austin was paroled after a brief imprisonment at Libby Prison in Richmond. He survived the war and died in 1924.

John Coburn, who also survived the war, served in Congress and died in 1908.

Following the Battle of Thompson's Station, the remains of Union dead were buried on the field. Pasqua Austin's remains were later disinterred and reburied at Stones River National Cemetery in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Alice Thompson married a Confederate surgeon and died of yellow fever in 1870. She was barely 23. Thompson was buried in Dungan Cemetery, across Columbia Pike from Homestead Manor. 

WANTED: Photographs of Judson or Pasqua Austin.

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SOURCES:

• Confederate Veteran, June 1900, Vol. 8, No. 6
• Judson L. Austin Papers 1862-1865, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
• The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Serial 34, Page 105, Chapter XXXV