A Massacre In The West

While the war went on the east, on November 29th 1864 in Colorado the Sand Creek Massacre took place.

Part of the Indian Wars, the Sand Creek Massacre was an attack on friendly Cheyenne and Arapahos by a 700 man force of the 1st Colorado Volunteers under the command of Union Colonel John Chivington. On November 29th 1864 the 1st Colorado destroyed a village, of mostly women and children, killing and mutilating about 160 Indians. The Cheyenne living under Chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope were considered “Friendly Indians” and had been told to camp near Fort Lyon. They set up their camp about 40 miles north along Sand Creek. Once settled Black Kettle sent all but about 60 old men off to hunt for the camp. He flew the American flag; given to him by a Untied State officer, over his lodge to show he was friendly and prevent an attack.

Leaving from Fort Lyon on November 28th 1864, Colonel Chivington with the 1st and 3rd Colorado Cavalry, and the 1st New Mexico Volunteers, marched on Black Kettle’s camp. Chivington ordered the troops to attack on the early morning on November 29th 1864. The officers of companies “D” and “K” of the 1st Colorado, under Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer refused the order and had their men hold their fire. The dead among the Indians were shot and trampled, many killed by cannon fire as they tried to escape up the creek. The bodies were grossly mutilated, from the youngest child to oldest person. After the killings Chivington and his men took horses, plundered and burned the tipies.

There were causalities among the Union solders, but they were low, with 24 killed and 52 wounded. There were roughly 133 Indians killed of who 105 were women of children.

A Running Battle In Arkansas

The Battle of Cane Hill was fought in Washington County Arkansas on November 28th 1862.

As part of the Confederate strategy to push the Union troops back into Missouri, the Battle of Cane Hill was fought to gain back ground lost during the Pea Ridge campaign. Confederate Major General Thomas C Hindman with about 11,000 soldiers moved into Fort Smith, Arkansas and got ready to move across the Boston Mountains located in the northwestern part of the state. About 5,000 Union troops under the command of Brigadier General James Blunt, were waiting for them. Trying to hold the Union force in place, Hindman sent 2,000 cavalry under the command of Brigadier General John S Marmaduke to keep Blunt’s men busy while the rest of the Confederates moved through mountains.

Union troops learned of the Marmaduke’s cavalry and moved south about 35 miles, surprising the Confederate cavalry by suddenly attacking them on November 28th 1862. Marmaduke ordered a retreat with Colonel Joseph Shelby’s cavalry covering as the rest of the Confederates headed for the mountains. Blunt’s force pursued the retreating Confederates for 12 miles, with a running fight going on all the way. The battle lasted for about nine hours, with the Union loosing about 41 men and the Confederates about 435.

A National Day Of Thanksgiving

November 26th 1863 was the first national Thanksgiving Day as proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln.

There were other days of Thanksgiving proclaimed in the United States’ history with President James Madison calling for the last. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a notional day of Thanksgiving during the Civil War to be celebrated on the last day of November. He was pushed towards this holiday of Thanksgiving by the writings of Sarah Josepha Hale. The first one was held on November 26th 1863.

The proclamation read, “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth."

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.

Above The Clouds

The Battle of Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee was fought November 24th 1863.


Lookout Mountain is known for unique weather, in which fog covers the valley about half way down the mountain. This weather caused the battle fought November 24th 1863 on Lookout Mountain, to also be known as the Battle Above the Clouds. With 12,000 men located west of Chattanooga, Union General Joseph “Fighting Joe” Hooker crossed Lookout Mountain Creek advancing through a thick mist, they found about 1,200 Confederates entrenched on the side of Lookout Mountain. The Confederates under the command of Major General Carter L Stevenson, began a fighting withdrawal toward the northern face of Lookout Mountain. Hooker ordered artillery to fire on the Confederate line of retreat, but the effect was minimal do the poor visibility. Heavy fighting took place at Cravens House on the sheer north slope of the mountain.

Confederate General Braxton Bragg ordered an withdrawal of the men on the Mountain. They were to join up with him on Missionary Ridge for a battle that would take place the next day. The Union held Lookout Mountain with the loss of 629 men, 81 of which were deaths.

A Vermonter In The Deep South

Charles Henry Sheldon a Union Captain and future Governor of South Dakota joined Company E of the 7th Vermont Infantry November 23rd 1861.

Charles Henry Sheldon was the son of Gresham and Mary [Brown] Sheldon, and was born September 12th 1840 in Johnson, Lamoille County, Vermont. His father died when he was young and he went to work at 12 as labor on a farm, and a store clerk to help support his family. Sheldon was active in the local abolitionist movement.

With the coming of the Civil War Sheldon volunteered and joined the 7th Vermont Infantry on November 23rd 1861. The 7th Vermont took parts in Battles for Baton Rouge, Mobile, and many other action in the deep south. He was mustered out of service at Brownsville, Texas as a Captain July 13th 1866.

Following the war he lived in Pope County Illinois and worked in a store. He took a government land grant and settled in Groton, Brown County, Dakota, taking up farming. He entered politics in 1886 representing Day, Roberts, Grant and Codington Counties in the Territorial Legislature. In 1892 Sheldon was nominated by the Republican convention for Governor, becoming the second governor of the state of South Dakota. He served two terms. He retired from politics in 1897 and went back to farming. Sheldon went on a speaking tour in support of the Republican party during the 1898 election. After giving a speech at Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota on October 15th 1898, he developed pneumonia and died five day latter. He is buried in the Pierpont Cemetery, in Pierpont South Dakota.

Control Through Laws

Mississippi passed the first Black Codes November 22nd 1865.

The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865 formally abolishing slavery through out the Untied States and her territories. Southern states began to look for a way to restore the control and economic power over African Americans that, that amendment had denied them. For some Southern’s vigilantism was the way they regained that control, for others it was through laws. Mississippi passed the first of these laws, known as Black Codes on November 22nd 1865. It directed that minor orphaned “freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes” be hired by civil officers, and then they were forbidden to leave their place of employment, and could be subjected to “moderate corporal chastisement”. There was a law requiring African Americans to carry evidence in writing of their employment. Mississippi’s legislature established special county courts to punish those who broke these laws. Other Southern state followed Mississippi’s lead, and created similar laws.

The United State Congress responded to these Black Codes by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The States ratified the Fourteenth Amendment two years latter guarantee “equal protection of the laws” to all people.

A Starting Killing

The killing of “Free Stater” Charles Dow on November 21st 1855 led to what was called the Wakarusa War.

Charles Dow a “Free Stater” living in Kansas was shot dead by proslavery settler Franklin Coleman November 21st 1855. Dow moved to Kansas in 1855 from Ohio, and settled near Hickory Point Kansas.

Violence on both sides escalated leading to what was called the Wakarusa War. A small group of armed Missourians under the command of Douglas County, Kansas Sheriff Samuel J Jones laid siege to Lawrence, Kansas December 1st 1855. The invaders camped on the Wakarusa Bottoms about six miles from Lawrence. There were about 1,500 men, armed with weapons taken from the United State Arsenal at Liberty, Missouri. In Lawrence, Kansas the “Free Staters” led by John Brown and James Lane had set up barricades, preparing for a battle. A treaty of peace came before the attack was made. One fatality occurred during the incident, a “Free Stater” Thomas Barber who had come to Lawrence’s defense.

Franklin Coleman was captured in 1856, and was linked to Dow’s and another “Free Stater’s” murder.

Renewing The Pride Of The Nation

On November 20th 1861, 70,000 Union troop participated in a Grand Review at Bailey’s Crossroad Virginia.


Bailey’s Crossroad located on the Leesburg Pike in Falls Church Virginia was the location of a Grand Review of Union Troops held November 20th 1861 for President Abraham Lincoln. Following the Union Army’s loss at the Battle of First Manassas July 1861, Lincoln appointed Major General George B McClellan to command the army. McClellan was a good organizer and he quickly rebuilt the army. On November 20th 1861 McClellan held a formal military review planning to renew the pride of the nation and the army. The army paraded in front of Lincoln, his cabinet, other dignitaries and around 25,000 spectators. The troops included seven divisions, seven regiments of cavalry, and twenty batteries of artillery.

Two Hundred Seventy-One Words

President Abraham Lincoln gave his few appropriate remarks at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery November 19th 1863.


Four month after the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln gave what is probably one of the best known speeches in history, to dedicated the Soldier‘s National Cemetery. Lincoln’s few remarks were given in just over two minutes on November 19th 1863. He arrived in Gettysburg Pennsylvania by train the day before. Lincoln spent the night in the David Will’s house, where he put the final touches on his speech. At 9:30 on the morning of November 19th Lincoln along with Secretary of State William H Seward and Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P Chase joined the procession traveling down Baltimore Street to the dedication.

It is estimated that 15,000 people attended the ceremony, including six sitting governors, and a Canadian politician William McDougall. The re-interment of Union bodies was only about half completed at the time of the ceremony. Following the featured speaker for the day, Edward Everett, Lincoln spoke for just a few short minutes, summing up the war in 271 words “The Gettysburg Address.”

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. “

Near The Bottom Of His Class

Union General Benjamin Stone Roberts a lawyer and civil engineer was born November 18th 1810.


Benjamin Stone Roberts was born in Manchester, Bennington, Vermont November 18th 1810. He graduated in 1835 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, near the bottom of his class, 53rd out of 56. After four years in the military, Roberts resigned and took up a career as a civil engineer for the railroads. He even traveled to Russia with this work, helping build a railroad from St Petersburg to Moscow. Returning to the United States Roberts settled in Iowa where be became a lawyer. When the Mexican - American War started Robert rejoined the military with a rank of First Lieutenant. He saw action at most of the major battles and was a brevet Lieutenant Colonel by the end of hostilities.

At the beginning of the Civil War Roberts was serving with the 3rd United States Cavalry as a Major in Arizona and New Mexico. He served under General Edward Canby at the Battle of Valverde. In June 1862 Roberts was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned as Inspector General and Chief of the Cavalry on General John Pope’s staff. He precipitated in the Battles of Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station and Second Bull Run. He was sent shortly after to Minnesota to deal with Indian issue before being recalled to Washington DC in February 1863.

After the Civil War ended Robert stayed in the United States Army with the 3rd Cavalry as a Lieutenant Colonel. Beginning in 1868 he taught military science at Yale University. He died in Washington DC January 29th 1875. His remains were first placed in Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, but latter moved to Dellwood Cemetery in Manchester Vermont.

The Farmer Statesman

Union General Andrew Lintner Harris the last Civil War General to serve as a United States Governor, was born November 17th 1835.


Andrew Lintner Harris was born November 17th 1835 in Milford, Butler, Ohio. He was the son of Benjamin and Nancy [Lintner] Harris. He attended local schools and graduated from Miami University in 1860. He returned home to farm and read for the bar at the law firm of Thompson and Harris in Eaton Ohio.

When the Civil War began Harris enlisted in the Union Army as a private. He rose in rank quickly and was soon the Colonel of the 75th Ohio Infantry. Harris had command of a brigade at Gettysburg, and defended Cemetery Hill on the evening of July 2nd 1863 against the famed Louisiana Tigers. He would see action in eighteen major battles, and was wounded several times. Harris was mustered out of service January 15th 1865. He received a brevet to Brigadier General for “gallant and meritorious” service in 1866.

Following the war Harris took up the practice of law. He served in the Ohio State Senate, and as the Preble County Ohio Probate Judge from 1875 to 1882. In 1889 he was a trustee of the Ohio Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Orphans’ Home. Harris was the 23rd and the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. He was a Republican, and active in the temperance movement. He served the State of Ohio as Governor, after the death of Governor John M Pattison on June 18th 1906. Harris was nominated again in 1909, but lost to Warren G Harding. He was the last civil war veteran to serve as a Governor. Harris, often called the “Farmer Statesman” died on his farm of heart problems September 13th 1915.

Remebering The Ladies

The Gettysburg Civil War Women’s Memorial was dedicated in the Evergreen Cemetery on November 16th 2002.


A bronze monument; the Gettysburg Civil War Women’s Memorial; modeled on Elizabeth Thorn, as a memorial to all the ladies who did as much and they could during and after the battle was dedicated November 16th 2002. Thorn was about thirty at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, with three small children and was six months pregnant for a fourth. Her husband was the caretaker of the Evergreen Cemetery along Cemetery Ridge and family lived in the gatehouse. She and her family were forced to flee the gatehouse, their home during the battle. At the time of the battle Thorn’s husband was away serving with the 138th Pennsylvania Infantry. Following the three day battle she returned to find her home ransacked. Thorn began burying the dead on and around the cemetery, 91 in all. She would continue to mange the cemetery until her husband returned home in 1865. Thorn and her husband are buried in the cemetery that she took care of during those trying days.

The memorial is about seven feet tall, cast from bronze it weighs about a ton. It was designed by sculptor Ron Tunison. This is the fourth monument Tunison has on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

He Left West Point

Confederate Major General Pierce Manning Butler Young was born November 15th 1836.


Pierce Manning Butler Young the son of doctor R M Young, was born November 15th 1835 in Spartanburg South Carolina. The family moved when Young was a child to Cartersville, Bartow County Georgia, where his father hired private tutors for his children. At thirteen he began attending Georgia Military Institute, then in 1857 Young received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point. He was a few months short of graduation in 1861, when Georgia seceded and he resigned.

Young was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 1st Georgia Infantry, upon his return home. In July he was attached to Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s staff. By November Young was a Lieutenant Colonel and commanding cavalry in Cobb’s Legion. His unit was attached to Wade Hampton’s brigade which was part of JEB Stuart’s cavalry. Young was promoted to Colonel for service at the Battle of Brandy Station and Huntertown Pennsylvania, which was part of the Gettysburg campaign. He was wounded in August 1863, and promoted to Brigadier General shortly after, Young took over command Hampton’s brigade. The brigade saw more action at Bristoe Station and in the Mine Run Campaign. Young’s final promotion came in December 1864 while in defense of Savannah to Confederate Major General.

Following the Civil War Young returned to Georgia and took up the life of a planter. He served four terms in the United State House of Representatives, as a consul-general in Russia and the Untied States Minister to Honduras and Guatemala. Young died in New York City July 6th 1896.

They Hunted Jefferson Davis

The Union 12th Ohio Cavalry mustered out of service in Nashville, Tennessee November 14th 1865.

The 12th Ohio Cavalry was mustered in November 24th 1863 at Camp Taylor in Cleveland, Ohio. They were placed for three years under the command of Colonel Robert W Ratliff. The regiment was part of the 2nd Brigade, 5th Division of the 23rd Corps, District of Kentucky, the Department of Ohio. They saw service during John Hunt Morgan’s invasion at Mount Sterling, General Stephen Gano Burbridge’s raid on Saltville and during Stoneman’s Raid as well as others. Following Robert E Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox, the 12th Ohio took part in the man hunt for Jefferson Davis. They captured Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg. The 12th Ohio was mustered out November 14th 1865 in Nashville, Tennessee. The regiment saw 50 men killed or mortally wounded and 112 who died from disease.

A Month Long Infection

Confederate General Carnot Posey was mortally wounded at the Battle of Bristoe Station, and died November 13th 1863.

Carnot Posey the son of John Brooke and Elizabeth [Screven] Posey was born August 5th 1818 near Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. He studied the law at the University of Virginia, setting up a practice in Woodville. In May 1840 he married Mary Collins and they had two children before she died four years latter.

Posey excepted a commission of First Lieutenant in the 1st Mississippi Rifles at the start of the Mexican American War. He was wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista. Following the war he returned to Woodville, where he married Jane White. Posey took an appointment as the District Attorney of Southern Mississippi from President James Buchanan, a position he held until 1861.

When the Civil War began Posey became the Colonel of the 16th Mississippi. He was wounded at the Battle of Cross Keys during the Valley Campaign. His regiment successfully repelled an Union attack at Fredericksburg, and Posey received a promotion to Brigadier General. His brigade had limited action at the Battle of Chancellorsville. As a part of General Ambrose Powell Hill’s third Corps; Posey’s brigade took part of the July 2nd 1863 Battle of Gettysburg in the fight on Cemetery Ridge. He was wounded in left leg at the Battle of Bristoe Station on October 14th 1863. He received medical attention at Culpeper Court House, but the leg became infected. After fighting the infection for a month, Posey died at the house of a friend, Dr John Davis in Charlottesville, Virginia November 13th 1863. He is buried in the cemetery at the University of Virginia.

He Gave An Arm To The Cause

Confederate Brigadier General Robert Doak Lilley died November 12th 1886.


Robert Doak Lilley was born January 28th 1836 near Greenville Virginia, the son of James M Lilley. He came from a long standing military family. Lilley received an education at Washington College, and then began selling surveying equipment invented by his father.

When the Civil War started in 1861 Lilley became a Captain in the 25th Virginia Infantry, known as “Lee’s Rifles”. Lilley received commendations for his actions during the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Battle of Manassas. In January 1863 he was promoted to Major, and following the Battle of Gettysburg where he was again cited to Lieutenant Colonel. Lilley was wounded three times and lost an arm. He was seriously wounded and captured during the Battle of Stephenson’s Depot July 20th 1864. Four days latter he was rescued at Winchester. Lilley surrendered with the rest of the Confederate Army and was paroled May 23rd 1865 at Staunton Virginia.

Following the war Lilley returned to Washington College [renamed Washington and Lee College] as their financial officer. He died November 12th 1886 in Richmond Virginia of paralysis. He is buried in the Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton Virginia.

A Fight For Bull's Gap

The Battle of Bull’s Gap in the Hamblen and Green counties Tennessee area happened November 11th through November 13th 1864.


Confederate Major General John C Breckinridge made an expedition in November 1864 from Virginia into Tennessee, for supplies and to drive the Union out of the area. Union commander Brigadier General Alvan C Gillem advanced beyond Greenville, but ran up against a large Confederate force. The Union troops fell back on November 10th 1864 to Bull’s Gap southeast of Whitesburg to protect the lines of the Knoxville and Virginia Railroad.

The Confederates attacked on the morning of November 11th 1864, but were repulsed. Artillery fire was continues through out the day. On the mornings of November 12th and 13th both sides attacked, but neither gained much ground. The Union finding themselves short on ammunition withdrew toward Russellville around midnight. Breckinridge chased the Union troops, connecting with them and causing a rout. Gillem was saved by the timely arrival of reinforcements and bad weather.

The Confederates could claim a victory in the Battle of Bull’s Gap. The Confederate casualties are unknown, but the Union side lost 241 wounded or killed.

Stonewall And Lee Called For Him

Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill, most commonly called AP Hill was born November 9th 1825.

Ambrose Powell “A. P.” Hill was born November 9th 1825 in Culpeper, Virginia. He graduated 15th out of 38 from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1847. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 1st US Artillery, and served in the Mexican American War. Hill married Kitty Morgan McClung a young widow in 1859, making him the brother-in-law of cavalry Confederate General John Hunt Morgan.

With the coming of the Civil War, Hill resigned his United States Army commission. He accepted an appointment of Colonel in the 13th Virginia Infantry. He showed talent on the field at the Battle of First Manassas. Hill was promoted to Major General following the Battle of Williamsburg. As a division commander in General Robert E Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, Hill’s men distinguished themselves at the Battles of Seven Days, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg. After the Battle of Chancellorsville, Hill took over command of Thomas J Stonewall Jackson’s corps in May 1863 following Jackson’s wounding. After Jackson’s death Hill received a promotion and command of the Third Corp, which he led for the first time at Gettysburg, although he was sick at the time with some unidentified illness.

Seven days before Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, on April 2nd 1865, Hill was shot and killed as he road the Petersburg line possibly by Union Corporal John W Mauck of the 138th Pennsylvania. He is buried in Richmond Virginia.

A Friend To The Indians

Douglas Hancock Cooper an Indian Agent in what is now Oklahoma and a Confederate General was born November 1st 1815 in Mississippi.


Douglas Hancock Cooper was born in Amite County Mississippi, November 1st 1815 the son of David Cooper a Baptist minister. He went to the University of Virginia from 1832 until 1834. Not caring for studying, Cooper went back home to take up farming. He married Mary Collins and they had seven children. In 1844 Cooper was elected to the Mississippi State Legislature. When the Mexican American War started he raised a regiment of the 1st Mississippi Rifles. President Franklin Pierce appointed Cooper as a federal agent to the Choctaw Indians, and he help remove them to the Indian Territory.

When the Civil War began Cooper chose to side with the Confederacy. He raised what would be know as the 1st Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles. Cooper was made their Colonel and given brigade command. He led troops at the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, and Honey Springs. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1863 and given military command of the Indian Territory. During Confederate General Sterling Price’s second invasion of Missouri in 1864, Cooper commanded the “Indian Brigade”.

When the Civil War ended Cooper persisted in living in the Indian territory where he helped the Chickasaw and Choctaw with their claims against the United States Government. Cooper died April 29th 1879 at Fort Washita, Bryan County Oklahoma. He was buried at the old fort in an unmarked grave.