An Early Memorial

The Soldiers Monument in Bristol, Connecticut was placed on January 20^th 1866, one of the earliest memorials.

The Bristol Soldier’s Monument Committee was formed in 1865.  With the suggestion of Josiah F Peck Sr, the committee set out to get a contribution of $1.00 from every member of the town of Bristol, Connecticut.  There were 3500 people living in Bristol, but not all were able to give money, and so a subcommittee made up of seven women and six men organized a Strawberry Festival to supplement the needed funds.  An agreement was reached October 16^th 1865 with James G Batterson of Hartford, Connecticut to furnish and erect the Soldier’s Monument.  Peck purchased the land for the monument, completed a foundation and provided the transportation for the monument.

The Soldier’s Monument is located on a hill in West Cemetery, in Bristol.  It is six feet six inch at the base and is twenty five feet high, made out of Brown Portland Stone.  There is an inscription which dedicates the monument to the soldiers who fought and died for their country from the town of Bristol.  There is an eagle at the top of the monument.  It was placed on January 20^th 1866.

The monument was rededicated by the town of Bristol on May 30^th 1988.

Going Beyond The Call Of Duty

Union Private Michael McKeever a member of the 5^th Pennsylvania Cavalry was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions preformed January 19^th 1863 at Burnt Ordinary, Virginia.

Michael McKeever was born in Ireland March 25^th 1842.  He immigrated with his family in 1848.

When the Civil War started McKeever enlisted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 9^th 1861 as a Private in Company K of the 5^th Pennsylvania Cavalry.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery for his actions at Burnt Ordinary, Virginia [now the town of Toano, Virginia] on January 19^th 1863.  The citation of the Medal of Honor reads that he "was one of a small scouting party that charged and routed a mounted force of the enemy six times their number. He led the charge in a most gallant and distinguished manner, going far beyond the call of duty".  McKeever would reach the rank of First Sergeant before the end of the war.

Following the war McKeever worked as a mechanic, and then as a wholesaler.  He died December 24^th 1916, and is buried in the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. 

When War Wasn't Civil

The Shelton Laurel Massacre an execution of 13 men and boys accused of being Union sympathizers occurred on January 18^th 1863 in Madison County, North Carolina.

In early January 1863 an armed group of Madison County, North Carolina Unionists looted the salt stores in the area and ransacked the home of Confederate Colonel Lawrence Allen.  Allen was the commander of the 64^th North Carolina Infantry.  In response to the raid Confederate General Henry Heth sent the 64^th; temporarily commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James A Keith, to Shelton Laurel Valley to catch the looters.   In the following skirmish 12 of the looters were killed and a number others captured.  North Carolina Governor Zebulon Baird Vance worried about the situation escalating sent orders not to harm the captured looters.

Keith however believed a rumor that there was a Unionist force in the area, and he began looking for them.  Locals weren’t forthcoming with information and so Keith had several women in the Shelton Laurel area rounded and tortured to get information about their male relations.  After rounding up the alleged Unionists, Keith started to march them to Tennessee, but two of the captives escaped.  At this point Keith had the remaining 13 prisoners marched into the woods where on January 18^th 1863 he ordered them shot.  The bodies of the thirteen men; three of them boys under the age of 17 were dumped into a trench.

Family of executed men had their bodies move to a cemetery a little east of the massacre site.  Keith was held for his actions spending two years in jail, before escaping just days before his trial.  The state dropped their case against him.

A Light Artillery

The Union Missouri Light Artillery organized in Independence, Missouri and known as the Wachman’s Battery was disbanded on January 17^th 1864.

The Union Missouri Light Artillery was organized on May 6^th 1862 at Independence, Missouri.  They were known as the Wachman’s Battery.  The men of the battery first campaigns were Skirmishes at Switzler’s Mill, Little Compton, Yellow Creek, and Mussel fork between August 8^th and 15^th 1862.  They were active in many other small western theater operations before being disbanded on January 17^th 1864.

The Battery had 4 men killed during actions and lost 11 to disease.

Held The Line Until After Dark

BG Micah Jenkins

A minor fight the Battle of Dandridge was fought January 17^th 1864 in Jefferson County, Tennessee.

Union forces commanded by Major General John G Parke looking for forage south of the French Broad River and to push the Confederates out of their winter headquarters, advanced on Dandridge, Tennessee.  This movement forced Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet who was operating in the Dandridge area to fall back to Kimbrough’s Crossroads and bring up reinforcements.

Union Brigadier General Samuel D Sturgis who commanded the Cavalry Corps in the Army of the Ohio, road along the Morristown Road from Dandridge on January 16^th 1864.  As the Cavalry neared Kimbrough’s Crossroad they engaged a brigade with artillery from Alabama commanded by Confederate Brigadier General Micah Jenkins.  At the same time another unit of Union cavalry under Colonel Frank Wolford engaged another Confederate force on a bend of Chunky Road, east of Dandridge.  Unable to move the Confederates, the Union troops retired to Dandridge.  Sturgis prepared his men into a line of battle.  At about 4 pm the Confederates moved towards Dandridge, where the battle quickly grew into general fighting.  The Battle continued until after dark, with Union forces holding onto their line.

Having not crossed the river and not knowing how much of Longstreet’s force was in their front, Parke ordered a retreat to New Market during the night.  The Confederates followed, but without supplies they broke off and fell back to holding Dandridge.

Demanded Surrender Of His Own Design

On January 15^th 1861 Florida militia Colonel William Henry Chase demanded the surrender of Fort Pickens which was being used as a United States Army garrison.

Florida became the third state to secede on January 10^th 1861 and began right away to seize Union property.  On January 15^th 1861 on the behest of the Florida State Governor,  Florida Militia Colonel William Henry Chase demanded the surrender of Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida.  Chase had been a Captain in the United State Army Corps of Engineers, and had designed and oversaw the construction of the Fort.

The United States commander of the Fort was Lieutenant Adam J Slemmer, he refused to surrender.  Slemmer had 81 men under his command, who he had moved from the other local Forts of Barrancas and McRee over to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island.  When Chase and his aide; Captain Ebenezer Farrand went to Fort Pickens to demand the surrender, they were met outside by Slemmer and his second in command; Second Lieutenant J H Gilman.  The Confederates were denied entrance to the Fort.  Chase had written the demand for surrender and gave it to Farrand to read, but he was without glasses, and so Gilman took it and read it out loud.

Gilman asked how many he faced and if Chase thought they could take the Fort by force.  Chase said that he could, but he would loose about half of his men.  Chase told Slemmer that Florida could not allow the Fort to be held and that he must know an attack would bring on a Civil War.

The next day Union Navy ships in the harbor moved closer to the Fort and Slemmer refused to surrender, and the Fort remained in Union hands throughout the war.

The Last Challenge in Arkansas

The action at Dardanelle fought January 14th 1865 along the Arkansas River was a last shot by the Confederacy to break up the Union dominance in the area.

Confederate Colonel William H Brooks led a force of about 1,500 made up of his own cavalry and cavalry of Colonels Ras Stirman and Robert C Newton to the Arkansas River on January 14^th 1865.  The point being to gage the strength of the Union troops garrisoned along the river.  On that same day a Union detachment of 276 men from the 1^st Iowa and 3^rd Wisconsin Cavalry under the command of Major J D Jenks disembarked from Union steamboats to occupy the earthworks at Dardanelle.

At about 2 pm Brooks made an attack against Jenks force at Dardanelle.  Jenks used the two pieces of artillery in the stockade and concentrated his men.  The Brooks’ cavalry with only one piece of artillery engaged the Union troops for four hours before withdrawing.

The Union side reported about 29 casualties, and the Confederated listing about 81.  Union Sergeant William Ellis of the 3^rd was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service at Dardanelle.  This marked the last serious Confederate challenge in the Arkansas River area of Union control.