A Life Long Secessionest

A wealthy planter, soldier and delegate at the Virginia Secession Convention, John Smith Preston was born April 20th 1809.


John Smith Preston was born April 20th 1809 in Abingdon, Virginia at “Salt Works” the family plantation. He was the son of General Francis and Sarah Buchanan [Campbell] Preston. Preston graduated in 1824 from Hampden - Sydney College and then studied law at Harvard. After passing the bar Preston opened a practice in Abingdon. He married in 1830 to Caroline Hampton the daughter of Wade Hampton. Preston moved to Columbia, South Carolina where he opened a law practice, and invested in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana sugar plantation. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served in the South Carolina State Senate, and as a delegate and the chairman at the May 1860 Democratic National Convention held in Charleston, South Carolina.

At the beginning of the Civil War Preston was an aide de camp to Confederate General PGT Beauregard. He latter received a commission of Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army and was placed at the head of the Confederate bureau of conscription in Richmond, Virginia. In 1864 Preston was promoted to Brigadier General. His family home the Hampton - Preston House in Columbia was seized by the Union Army in 1865 and used as the headquarters of Union Major General John A Logan.

When the war ended Preston moved to England, and didn’t return to the United States until 1868. Until the end of his life Preston was a strong defender of the Confederacy. He gave a commencement speech at the University of Virginia, where he asserted the right of state secession, he also spoke at the dedication of the Confederate monument in Columbia. He died May 1st 1881 in Columbia, South Carolina was is buried the Trinity Cathedral Cemetery there.

Feeling Out The Lines

The Battle of Dallas, part of the Atlanta Campaign happened on May 28th 1864.

Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman learned on May 24th 1864 that his Confederate equivalent General Joseph E Johnston was forming a defensive line along the south side of Pumpkinvine Creek. Johnston’s army fell back during a series of skirmishes, first to Allatoona Pass, and then to the Dallas, Georgia area where they entrenched. Sherman’s army also entrenched while feeling out the Rebel line. The Battle of Dallas on May 28th 1864 began with Confederate Lieutenant General William J Hardee’s Corps made a probe into the Union defensive line held by Union Major General John A Logan, looking for weaknesses. Fighting occurred at several different points, with the Confederates being driven off after suffering high casualties.

Sherman vacated his position at Dallas on June 5th 1864 and moved to the railroad at Allatoona Pass, where he could get supplies and men by train. Johnston followed shortly after.

It Was Just A Little Town

As a part of the Vicksburg campaign, Union General Ulysses S Grant sent Major General James B McPherson to capture Jackson, Mississippi.

Union Major General McPherson was sent with 12,000 troops towards the town of Raymond, Mississippi, which is fifteen miles from Jackson Mississippi. Early on the morning of May 12th 1863 the Union soldiers ran into a brigade of about 3,000 Confederates under the command of General John Gregg. The two armies were separated only by a small stream known as Fourteen Mile Creak. McPherson sent one division led by General John A Logan against the Confederates. Logan’s men were pushed back after heated battle. McPherson brought up another division and made a counterattack. The fight went on until about 2pm. Gregg could see he was outnumbered, and managed to disengage his troop and retreat toward Jackson.

The losses were high on both sides. The Confederates having 72 killed, 252 wounded, and 190 missing. The Union loosing 66 killed, 339 wounded and 37 missing.