I Shut My Eyes

Union General John Basil Turchin looked the other way on May 2^nd 1862, when his troops had their way with Athens, Alabama.

John Basil Turchin was born with the name Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov on December 24^th 1821 in Russia.  He attended the Imperial Military School in St Petersburg, Russia.  Turchin served with the Russian Guards and saw action as a Colonel in the Crimean War.  He and his wife immigrated to the United States in 1856.  He settled in Chicago, Illinois and went to work for the Illinois Central Railroad.

When the Civil War started Turchin joined the 19^th Illinois Infantry, and became their Colonel.  His unit was place under the command of Union Major General Don Carlos Buell in the Army of the Ohio.  Turchin’s was soon commanding a brigade that was part of the Third Division under Brigadier General Ormsby McNight Mitchel.  Buell moved to support Union General Ulysses S Grant at Shiloh, and sent Mitchel south to Huntsville, Alabama to cut the rail line there.  This move over extended the Union line, and Turchin’s men were badly handled, with the locals firing on them from their windows while trying to hold the town of Athens, Alabama.  Turchin’s men finally occupied the town of Athens on May 2^nd 1862.  He brought his men together and told them, "I shut my eyes for two hours. I see nothing."  What followed has been called the “Rape of Athens”, with Turchin leaving his men to loot the town.

When Buell heard about the incidence he court-martialed Turchin.  The proceedings became the focus of the nation.  The debate surrounded on the how the conciliatory policy to Southerns were causing Union casualties to grow.  Before the court-martial was finished Turchin received a promotion to Brigadier General.  Turchin continued to serve, distinguishing himself at Chickamauga and Chattanooga.

Turchin suffered heatstroke and resigned his command October 1864.  He returned to Chicago, where he worked as a civil engineer, and invested in real estate.  He developed dementia which was attributed to the heatstroke he suffered while in the army.  Turchin died June 18^th 1901 in Anna, Illinois.

Killed Over A Twenty Year Fight

Confederate General St John Richardson Liddell was killed February 14th 1870 near his home .


St John Richardson Liddell was born September 6th 1815 on his families plantation near Woodville, Mississippi. He attended the local school, where he was a classmate of Jefferson Davis. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1837, but resigned before graduating. Liddell set up his own plantation “Llanda” near Harrisonburg, Louisiana.

After the Civil War started and Louisiana secessed, Liddell enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Colonel. During the early part of the war Liddell served as a staff officer for Generals William Joseph Hardee and Albert Sidney Johnston. He was promoted to Brigadier General July 17th 1862 and given command of the Arkansas Brigade in Cleburne’s division of the Army of Tennessee. They saw action during the battles of Perryville, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, where his son was mortally wounded. Liddell turned down a promotion to Major General in hopes of getting a command closer to his plantation. After Chattanooga Liddell was transferred to District of Northeastern Louisiana, where he commanded during the 1864 Red River Campaign. In December 1864 he wrote to Confederate Senator Edward Sarrow suggesting emancipation of slave in order secure foreign assistance with the war. Liddell took on Union Major General Edward R S Canby in the Battle of Spanish Fort, where he was captured April 9th 1865.

After the war Liddell began writing a memoir in 1866 which was critical of Confederate leadership. The memoir was a collection of letters and battlefield records, which he hadn’t brought together at the time of his death. On February 14th 1870 while having dinner on a steamboat, Liddell was shot to death by Confederate Colonel Charles Jones. The murder was the ending to a twenty year real-estate dispute.

He Ran Stores And Led Men

Union Brigadier General Samuel Emerson Opdycke was born January 7th 1830.


Samuel Emerson Opdycke was born on a farm in Hubbard, Ohio January 7th 1830. He came from a family with a long military history. Opdycke attended local schools, and then operated various businesses in Ohio. He went to California during the Gold Rush and opened a mercantile store.

Shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run, Opdycke enlisted in the Union army as a First Lieutenant in the 41st Ohio Infantry. He saw action with the 41st at the Battle of Shiloh. Opdycke resigned and went back to Ohio in September 1862 to recruit the 125th Ohio Infantry. He was there as a Colonel when the 125th saw action at Horseshoe Ridge during the Battle of Chickamauga. Opdycke and the 125th were also present at Missionary Ridge, the Battle of Chattanooga and Battle of Resaca where he was badly wounded in the arm. Opdycke had recovered enough to be at the head of his men during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, and at the Battle of Franklin. He received a promotion to Brigadier General July 26th 1865. Opdycke resigned from the army in 1866.

Following the war Opdycke moved to New York City. He opened a dry good store, was active with veterans affairs, and wrote about the war. While he was cleaning a pistol, Opdycke accidentally shot himself in the stomach. He died April 25th 1884 and is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Warren, Ohio.

A Union From Tennessee

Union Army General Joseph Alexander Cooper, farmer, civil servant, and soldier was born November 25th 1823.

Joseph Alexander Cooper was born near Cumberland Falls, Kentucky November 25th 1823. When he was a year old he and his parents moved to Campbell County, Tennessee, where he grew up. Cooper married Mary J Hutson in April 1846. During the Mexican-American War he enlisted as a private in the 4th Tennessee Infantry. When the war was over Cooper returned to his home in Jacksboro, Tennessee where he went back to farming.

At the beginning of the Civil War Cooper was elected a delegate to the 1861 Union Convention at Knoxville, Tennessee. He recruited men around his home county, they were sworn into service as part of the 1st Tennessee Infantry in Whitesburg, Kentucky. After battles at Wild Cat Mountain and Mill Springs, Cooper was promoted to Colonel, and given command of the 6th Tennessee May 1862. He and the 6th Tennessee saw action at Stone River, in the Chattanooga Campaign, and at Chickamauga. As part of the army of Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, Cooper was promoted to Brigadier General during the Atlanta Campaign on July 30th 1864. Cooper would be in command of the 2nd Division of the 23rd Corps during the Franklin and Nashville Campaign, for which he would be brevetted Major General. He was mustered out of service January 15th 1866.

Returning to Tennessee Cooper ran unsuccessfully in 1868 for United States Senate. He received an appointment from President Ulysses S Grant to be the IRS collector in the Knoxville district from 1869 to 1879. The Governor of Tennessee asked him help with the putting down the Ku Klux Klan in the state. He moved to Stafford County, Kansas in 1880 and went back to farming. Cooper died there May 20th 1910, and is buried in the Knoxville National Cemetery.

Rock of Chickamauga

General George Henry Thomas was born on July 31st 1816.

George Henry Thomas was born July 31st 1816 in Southampton County Virginia. As a boy he warned neighbors about the slave revolute led by Nat Turner in 1831. He graduated from West Point in 1840, and saw military service in the Seminole Indian War, the Mexican War, and served as an instructor at West Point. In 1855, the US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis appointed Thomas as a Major to the Second Cavalry.

With the out break of the Civil War, he like many southerns debated staying in the Union army. Thomas remained with the US military, and quickly rose through the ranks. On January 19th 1862, while in command of a force in Kentucky he attacked General Felix Zollicoffer’s Confederates at Mill Springs, and won the first important western theater Union victory. Holding firm to the field during the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19th 1863, Thomas earned the name “The Rock of Chickamauga”. In the autumn of 1864 Thomas was given the task of dealing with John Bell Hood in Tennessee, while General William Tecumseh Sherman made his march to the sea. For his victory in outside of Nashville TN, December 16th 1864 over Hood he was promoted to Major General, and given the thanks of Congress.

After the Civil War ended Thomas led the military departments in Kentucky and Tennessee until 1869. He was ordered to the West coast where he became the division commander of the Pacific and was headquarter in San Francisco. Thomas died there March 28th 1870.

Bragg

In Warren County, NC Braxton Bragg was born on March 22nd 1817.

He graduated from West Point in 1837, the fifth in his class. He saw service with the US military in War with Mexico, and the Seminole war. In 1861 he was put in charge of the Army of Louisiana and was made Brigadier General in the Confederate Army in March of that year. He fought in many battles including Shiloh, and Chickamauga. Confederate President Jefferson Davis assigned him to duty in Richmond, VA in February 1864. In November of that year he was placed in command of the Department South Carolina, holding his army that winter at Wilmington, NC. He was in command of troop during the final battle with General William Tecumseh Sherman. After Robert E Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Bragg accompanied Jefferson Davis on his attempted escape.

After the war he was Chief Engineer for the state of Alabama. He died in Galveston, TX September 27th 1876 where he was working as an inspector for a railroad. US Army Fort Bragg in North Carolinian was named in his honor.

Some other information
Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat