|
Transfer of Army of
Tennessee to the East, 1865 |
| The Confederacy's interior lines of
communication should have provided the South with the ability to
move troops quickly from one threatened area to another. In
fact, they did so several times -- the movements of Polk from
Mississippi to northern Georgia, Longstreet from Richmond to
Chickamauga and many smaller moves (see
Confederate Uses
Of the Railroads). The last effort was the movement of the
remnants of the shattered Army of Tennessee from Tupelo, in
northern Mississippi, to Raleigh in early 1865. |
| With the state of the Army of Tennessee, and
the general disruption of the Confederacy, from Sherman and
various cavalry raids, the creation and preservation of records
and documents had a low priority. Below is the only set of
records of the troop movements that I am aware of. These were
daily reports from the Montgomery Quartermaster Transportation
office to General Beauregard's staff in the same city, reporting
the arrival (from Meridian and Pollard) and the departure to
Columbus of the majority of the troop movement. |
| The 1,000-mile movement used railroads,
steamboats, wagons and marching to get the troops to northern
North Carolina to confront Sherman's army. Most of the men below
did not arrive in time to participate in the Battle of
Bentonville (March 19-21), but their final use of the
Confederate railroads (some 12 railroads were used) should be
documented -- and what better site to do such than this one. |
| As best as I can tell. the following was the
route and method used: |
| From |
To |
Organization |
Miles |
| Tupelo |
Meridian |
Mobile & Ohio RR |
144 |
| Meridian |
Selma |
Selma & Meridian RR |
82 |
| Selma |
Montgomery |
Steamboats |
80 |
| Montgomery |
Columbus |
Montgomery & West Point RR |
47 |
| Columbus |
Butler |
Muscogee RR |
50 |
| Butler |
Macon |
South Western RR |
49 |
| Macon |
Milledgeville |
Central (of Georgia) RR |
36 |
| Milledgeville |
Mayfield |
Marching/Wagons |
35 |
| Mayfield |
Warrenton |
Milledgeville RR |
20 |
| Warrenton |
Augusta |
Georgia |
51 |
| Augusta |
Chester |
Marching |
125 |
| Chester |
Charlotte |
Charlotte & South Carolina RR |
43 |
| Charlotte |
Raleigh |
North Carolina RR |
175 |
| |
|
|
937 |
|
To speed up the movement, some
troops went from Meridian to Montgomery on the following
route: |
| Meridian |
Mobile |
Mobile & Ohio RR |
134 |
| Mobile |
Tensas |
Steamboat |
25 |
| Tensas |
Pollard |
Mobile & Great Northern RR |
50 |
| Pollard |
Montgomery |
Alabama & Florida (of Alabama) RR |
114 |
| |
|
|
323 |
|
| |
| It is clear that the below documented movement
was a very small part of the trip. However, the limited amount
of rolling stock available on each rail road, and the push to
keep the troops moving to arrive as soon as possible, mostly
kept the units in the same order. |
|
| Unit |
Corps |
Arrival
at Montgomery |
Departure
for Columbus |
Ref |
| Pettis Brigade (684 men) |
? |
1/24 |
1/25 |
D, M&WP 1-24-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Cummings & Palmers Brigades (1300) |
Lee/Lee |
1/26-7 |
1/27 |
D, M&WP 1-27-65,
D, M&WP 1-28-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Palmers Brigade (318) |
? |
1/28 |
1/29 |
D, M&WP 1-28A-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Johnston's Arty Bttn. (160) |
? |
1/29 |
1/30 |
D, M&WP 1-29-65 |
| 16 guns, 6 caissons, 5 horses, 71
boxes ammunition |
|
1/29 |
1/30 |
" |
| Stoval Brigade (700, 11 horses) |
Lee |
1/29 |
1/30 |
D, M&WP 1-29A-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Smith Brigade (504) |
Cheatham |
1/30 |
1/30 (204); 1/31 (300) |
D, M&WP 1-30-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Jacksons Brigade (363) |
Lee |
1/31 |
2/1 |
D, M&WP 1-31-65 |
| Smith Brigade (208) |
Cheatham |
1/31 |
2/2 |
" |
| Bakers Brigade (260) |
Lee |
1/31 |
2/2 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Granbury Brigade (580) |
Cheatham |
2/1 |
2/2 |
D, M&WP 2-1-65 |
| Baker Brigade (270) |
Lee |
2/1 |
2/1 |
D, M&WP 2-1A-65 |
| Smiths Brigade (408) |
Cheatham |
2/1 |
2/1 |
" |
| Govans Brigade (300) |
Cheatham |
2/1 |
2/1 |
" |
| Govans Brigade (451) |
Cheatham |
2/1 |
2/2 |
" |
| Smiths Brigade (347) |
Cheatham |
2/1 |
2/2 |
" |
| Gists Brigade (200) |
Cheatham |
2/1? |
2/2 |
D, M&WP 2-2-65 |
| 3rd Engineer Regt (100) |
? |
2/1? |
2/2 |
" |
| Stragglers (100) |
|
2/1? |
2/2 |
" |
| 2 cars Baggage, 1 car horses |
|
2/1? |
2/2 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Lowrey's Brigade (100) |
Cheatham |
2/2 |
2/4 |
D, M&WP 2-2A-65 |
| Gists Brigade (520) |
Cheatham |
2/2 |
2/3 |
D, M&WP 2-4-65 |
| Palmers Brigade (211) |
Lee |
2/2 |
2/3 |
D, M&WP 2-2A-65 |
| Finleys Brigade (347) |
Cheatham |
2/2 |
2/3 |
" |
| Stragglers (100) |
|
|
2/3 |
D, M&WP 2-3-65 |
| 1 car Baggage, 1 car horses |
|
|
2/3 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Bakers Brigade (300) |
Lee |
2/3 |
2/4 |
D, M&WP 2-3-65 |
| Hotchkiss Arty Batt.(100) |
? |
2/3 |
2/4 |
" |
| 12 guns, 1 wagon, 81 boxes
ammunition |
|
2/3 |
2/4 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Bakers Brigade (400) |
Lee |
2/4 |
2/4 |
D, M&WP 2-4-65 |
| Finleys Brigade (400) |
Cheatham |
2/4 |
2/4 |
" |
| Featherstones Brigade (425) |
Stewart |
2/4 |
2/4 |
" |
| Tylers Brigade (508) |
Cheatham |
2/4 |
2/5 |
D, M&WP 2-4-65,
D, M&WP 2-5-65 |
| 7 cars artillery, 2 1/2 cars horses, 1 car
baggage, 1 car ammunition |
|
2/4 |
2/4 |
D, M&WP 2-4-65 |
| Stoval (115) |
Lee |
|
2/5 |
D, M&WP 2-5-65 |
| Bakers (220) |
Lee |
|
2/5 |
" |
| Scotts (600) |
Stewart |
|
2/6 |
D, M&WP 2-6-65 |
| 1 car horses, 1 car baggage |
|
|
2/6 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Reynolds & Quals (950) |
Stewart/Stewart |
2/7 |
|
D, M&WP 2-7-65 |
| 1 car horses |
|
2/7 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Storrs Arty Batt. (175) |
? |
2/10 |
2/11 |
D, M&WP 2-10-65 |
| 8 guns, 4 caissons, 70 horses, 3
wagons, 2 forges |
|
2/10 |
2/11 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Featherstone, Adams, Scott Brigades (500) |
Stewart/Stewart/? |
2/13 |
2/14 |
D, M&WP 2-13-65 |
| Stragglers (100) |
|
2/13 |
2/14 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Strahl's, Vaughns, Mannings Brigades (605) |
Cheatham/Cheatham/? |
2/14 |
2/15 |
D, M&WP 2-14-65 |
| 13 horses, 1 car load baggage |
|
2/14 |
2/15 |
" |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Canties Brigade (140) |
? |
2/15 |
2/16 |
D, M&WP 2-15-65 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Totals: 14,069 men, 50 guns, 10 caissons, 151 horses, 8 cars
baggage, 152 boxes + 1 car ammunition, 4 wagons, 2 forges |
| (Assumptions: car of artillery = 2 guns, car of horses = 8).
The numbers of soldiers are clearly not exact, but are as
accurate as we are likely to find. |
| |
| Arrivals in Augusta |
|
|
| |
| Sharp's and Brantley's Brigades, planned to be
sent east, had not left as of February 14.
D, AOT 2-14A-65 |
| The route of Major General Cheatham's
headquarters is documented at
OR Series 1, Vol. 47, Part 1, Page 1080. |
|