Civil War became a battle of survival, and Scott Countians paid the price
When the Civil War reached the northern Cumberland Plateau in 1861, Welshman Samuel Roberts was a relatively well-off farmer on Pine Creek west of present-day Oneida. He had established a Welsh colony, Brynyffynon, which he saw as a place of paradise for his fellow countrymen who were seeking a better life in America.
But by 1864, things had changed.
ìA good milk cow died because Union troops had taken our hay and fodder,î Roberts wrote on April 26, 1864. Two days later, he wrote, ìAnother valuable cow died on the same account.î And still later: ìTwo promising yearlings died on the same account,î and, ì30 merino sheep died on the same account.î
Robertsí livestock were literally starving to death because there was nothing to feed them. All that he had owned had been taken by Union soldiers.
The plundering of Robertsí farm, which was located about where Toomey Road and O&W Road meet today west of Oneida, had persisted throughout the war, and he had been subjected to raids by either side ó once nearly being hanged by Confederate guerrillas. But it was the Union army that laid waste to his farm, especially during Gen. Ambrose Burnsideís march through Scott County en route to Knoxville in 1863.
These stories have been filled with references to misdeeds by Confederate soldiers. Thatís mostly because Scott County was predominately Union, and the marauding that occurred here was predominately done by Confederates. But there was little innocence to be found on either side of the fight. Union guerrillas were prone to raid just as their Confederate counterparts were. Early in the war, Scott Countians who sympathized with the Confederacy, including Isaac Griffith of Brimstone, were forced to leave home. And, later, as the presence of Union troops increased in Scott County, there were no provisions that were safe.
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Robertsí 1871 claim submitted to the U.S. Government, seeking relief for the items that had been taken from him during the war, represents the clearest evidence of the atrocities committed by Union soldiers in Scott County. Roberts was a meticulous records-keeper.
But Roberts was by no means alone in his plight. Many Scott Countians suffered similarly as Burnsideís 16,000 troops marched through the region in August 1863. The troops had been ordered to travel light, and forage for food and supplies as they traveled. And thatís exactly what they did. During his six-day stay in Scott County, Burnside sent out multiple scouting parties to hunt for food and supplies. Winter food stores were taken to feed the soldiers. Fodder was taken to feed their horses. Wood fences were torn down and used for the soldiersí fires. Scott Countians were already suffering. Now they were paying another pound of flesh to the Union they had remained so loyal to throughout the war.
Lest there be any mistake, the Union soldiersí looting of Scott County farms and homesteads did not begin in 1863, when Burnsideís Army of the Ohio arrived. There are records of looting when a force of 1,500 men moved through Scott County in the Summer of 1863 as a precursor to Burnsideís march. And looting by Union troops occurred prior to that, as well. Robertsí records indicate that his farm ó which was located on the Monticello Road, a major thoroughfare of the day ó was called upon repeatedly by Union forces and Confederates alike as the war progressed.
It started on August 6, 1861, when Roberts said he provided dinner to eight refugees who were scouting for the Union army. Five days later, he provided bread, coffee and pasture to 100 Union soldiers traveling south from Kentucky. And two days after that, he provided lunch to 25 Union recruits who were headed to Kentucky.
Undoubtedly, Roberts was happy to oblige during those early days. His farm was bountiful then, and most people thought the war would be a short one. Roberts was a pacifist who rejected slavery and opposed war. His writings and lectures indicated a man who would not have turned his back on someone in need.
As the war progressed, however, Robertsí records indicate that he was becoming more strained by the frequent guests who stopped at his farm. On July 19, 1863, a cavalry company took 24 bundles of wheat for their horses. Just four days later, the cavalry returned for what remained of his wheat. As Burnsideís army marched through a month later, they took all of his hay.
By that winter, the livestock had begun to die. ìOur two horses starved to death because Union soldiers had carried away our fodder,î Roberts wrote in January. ìJoe died January 15, Dick died January 21.î He estimated his losses from the two horses alone to be $250.
And still they came. The same month that Roberts lost his horses, Wolfordís Cavalry ó the 1st Kentucky regiment under the command of Col. Frank Wolford, showed up at the farm and took corn and fodder for their horses. On February 18, 1864, a Michigan cavalry regiment stopped, taking forage and fodder for 56 horses and burning Robertsí fence rails in their fires.
As winter turned to spring, Robertsí livestock continued to die ó his milk cow on April 26, another cow on April 28, two yearlings that same month, and 30 merino sheep.
On May 9, 1864, Wolfordís cavalry returned and pastured 24 horses on Robertsí farm. When they left, they took three bushels of wheat that Roberts had at William Rosserís nearby mill. They were back again a week later, and Roberts noted: ìWoolfordís cavalry generally treated us very roughly.î
As the war progressed, the soldiers visiting Brynyffynon became more brazen. Soldiers carried away still more wheat in July 1864, and the next month soldiers stole Robertsí fowling gun, two rifles, two pistols, gun powder and flasks. They also took 10 sheepskins to use for saddle covers, and other equipment, such as bridles and stirrups.
The war ruined Roberts. The settlement at Brynyffynon was abandoned a few years later, and Roberts returned to Great Britain. He made request after request for reimbursement from the federal government.
But Roberts wasnít alone. In his 2001 book, ìScott County in the Civil War,î Paul Roy included many claims that had been filed by Scott Countians for reimbursement for property seized by the Union army during the war. Most of it was seized during Burnsideís march through the area, Roy noted.
During Shermanís March to the Sea, and during Gen. Philip Sheridanís brutal campaign in the Shenandoah Valley just before it, it was common for soldiers to take everything they could use and lay waste to the rest. Those atrocities were very much different from Burnsideís march over the Cumberland Plateau, in that Sheridan and Sherman were employing scorched-earth war tactics to force an end to the war more quickly, whereas Burnsideís army did not inflict nearly as much damage on the plateau and was merely raiding to survive. But they were different in another way, too: The Shenandoah Valley and Georgia were Rebel land, inhabited by secessionists. Scott Countians had been loyal Unionists since before the first shots were fired at Sumter, and were seeing their farms laid to waste by the very army they would have otherwise welcomed.
As Paul Roy wrote, the civilians being raided were people who ìnot only had to contend with the typical hardships of war, but had to surrender their property ó crops, livestock and other necessities of life ó to the very forces they were loyal to, and to do so without payment.î
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David Acres, who lived on an 850-acre farm on Buffalo Creek, estimated that he had lost 145 bushes of corn, 800 binds of fodder, 1,000 fence rails, and 75 cords of wood, all on a single day as the Union forces marched through on August 29, 1863.
Acresí answers to government questions upon filing his petition reveals how Scott Countians expected to be plundered by the Confederates, but not the Union army. He said that, just before Burnside arrived in 1863, he heard that Rebel soldiers were in the area. So he and his son took a yoke of oxen and a mare and went into Kentucky to prevent the soldiers from taking them. When they heard the Rebels were not about, they returned home after a few days. Then Burnsideís army came through, and took most of what he had.
Acresí petition also underscores that Scott Countians were plundered by the Union and Confederacy alike. At one point, just before Burnsideís invasion, Acres was arrested by Confederate soldiers who later released him. They took 40 to 50 dozen bushels of wheat and about the same amount of rye, along with potatoes. They also destroyed his bee hives.
ìSome of them left with my wife a hundred dollar bill in Confederate money but it was worthless to me,î Acres said. ìI never tried to do anything with it.î
Acres had stood with the Union from the beginning.
ìI sympathized with the Union cause,î he wrote. ìI believed the Union cause to be right. I believed that if the Union cause was lost that our liberties would be gone, that the only protection we had was in our Union, and when I expressed myself, it was in that way. I exerted my influence and cast my vote on the side of the Union. I tried to get every one of my acquaintances to vote as I did.î
Acres provided provisions to Union men who were making their way north to Kentucky to join the army early in the war.
ìI would furnish them with provisions and conceal them when necessary, and go with them often to show them the road so they could get through safe,î he wrote. ìI always gave them all the information and assistance I could.î
When Burnsideís troops arrived, Acresí farm was plundered.
ìSome of the command came to my place foraging and took my corn,î he wrote. ìThey cut up the stalks and took the corn, cornstalks and fodder all off together.î
Acres knew some of the men in the outfit.
ìThey said they had to have it, that they were ordered to go and take forage wherever they could find it,î he said.
A few days later, the main army arrived, camping on Acresí farm.
ìThey kept on taking while there was any left,î he said. ìThey did not leave me a mess of roasting-ears.î
The soldiers were camped ìpart of the time pretty much all over the placeî at Acresí farm, ìand they were taking corn all the time as long as there was any left.î
A few months later, in February 1864, another regiment encamped on his farm. It was snowing and cold, and they took his wooden fences for firewood.
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Harrison Keeton estimated that he lost 200 bushels of corn, 1,000 pounds of hay, 15 bushels of Irish potatoes, 10 bushels of rye, two horses, and had 1,000 fence rails burned in the soldiersí campfires when they raided his 800-acre farm northwest of Huntsville.
Keeton had already lost six hogs, three mares and six guns to Rebel marauders, who told him that he had been reported as a ìbushwhacker,î and they had been ordered to take everything he had. The soldiers had threatened to kill his wife, and he had been forced to hide in the woods to avoid them. He had also been raided by the Union soldiers who passed through the region earlier in the summer.
Like Acres, Keeton was a Union man from the beginning, and served as a pilot for men who were sneaking north to join the Federal army.
ìI sympathized with the Union cause,î he wrote. ìMy feelings were intense Ö I exerted my influence and cast my vote accordingly. I voted against every secession movement, and voted for the Union to remain firm.î
When the army arrived, ìThey went inside of my enclosures near the house and into the corn field and encamped there, and commenced taking.î Keeton spoke to the soldiers about taking his crops, and ìThey said they were compelled to have forage for their horses and continued their taking,î he said.
The soldiers encamped on Keetonís farm took it a step further. As they were about to leave, he spotted one of the soldiers riding his sorrel mare.
ìI told him I did not think he ought to take here,î Keeton said. ìHe said he was bound to have her, and went on with herÖî
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James Sandusky also had served as a pilot early in the war and estimated that he guided hundreds of men north into Kentucky to join the Union army. When Burnsideís troops arrived, he said that he lost 2,000 binds of fodder and 4,000 pounds of hay.
Like probably many of the Scott Countians whose farms were raided by the Union forces, Sandusky wanted to help. He told the government after the war that he did not object to the soldiers taking his supplies; ìI knowed they had to have it and I was willing for them to have it,î he said. But he did ask for a voucher for what was taken. He said was given two, one for $260, and a smaller voucher. Afterwards, he tried to collect on the vouchers, ìand I have never seen or heard of them since and I donít know what he has done with them.î
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Edward Ellis said that he lost 300 bushels of corn, 3,000 pounds of hay, and 450 pounds of pork when the Union soldiers arrived at his New River farm. He lost so much, in fact, that he had to take his family north, into Kentucky, for five months in order to survive. ìI had to get something to keep my family from starving after the Federal army took my crop from me,î he said. ìI was obliged to go there or let them starve.î
Like others, Ellis had already had his property plundered by the Confederates before the Union army arrived. The Rebels took ìnearly everything I had in my house,î he said, including bed linens and clothing. He said he supposed they raided his home because he was known to be a Union man and had sons serving in the Union army.
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Robert Sexton lost 50 bushels of corn, 500 binds of fodder, 20 bushels of rye, 40 dozen binds of oats, 1,000 pounds of rye straw, 40 bushels of sweet potatoes, 10 bushels of Irish potatoes, and 1,000 fence rails.
Sexton also lost bacon, chickens and bee hives when Confederates raided his farm earlier in the year. He wasnít home when the soldiers were there, but said that they ìcursed and abused me a good deal. Called me ëa damned old bush-whackerí etc. and threatened me in different ways.î
Like the others, Sexton was a Union man who supported Union soldiers early in the war. In fact, he was so dedicated to the cause that he said a man who was on his way to Kentucky to join the army was riding a ìbroken down horse,î and Sexton traded him a good horse for the broken down horse so that he could continue on his way.
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On and on the claims go. One of the things most striking about them: the number of Scott Countians who served as pilots during the opening months of the war. It proves as myth the idea that the people here ìjust wanted to be left alone.î That was undoubtedly true of some. But this was not just a community strongly opposed to secession. It was one where people were committed to the preservation of the Union. The claims illustrate the hardships that Scott Countians suffered during the war. They also illustrate how much Scott Countians went out of their way to assist the Union effort however they could.
Editor’s Note: This is the 18th installent of “Enclave: Scott County’s Unique Role in the American Civil War.” Look for the complete series in an upcoming book, “Enclave,” which will be published by the Independent Herald and available for purchase through Barnes & Noble.