Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsSouth's Chances in Civil War Get Slim As Grits and Brogans Become Scarce!
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
Pulling out of Gettysburg was a sad affair. Besides the men of the 49th already listed, the following men of the Ga. 20th, Co. H (Telfair), who left Jacksonville in 1861, were casualties on that great battlefield:
- Marion Anderson - Wounded/Captured
- Charles Harrison Ashley - Killed
- Radford Jordan Browning - Wounded
- William Jordan Burgess - Wounded
- Daniel J. Johnson - Killed
- Farquhar McCrimmon - Killed
- William Wesley Pittman - Wounded
- George R. Reeves - Killed
- Joshua Smith - Wounded/Died
- Thomas L. Varnadoe (Varnadore) - Wounded/ Captured
And, nearby the 50th Ga. would report that they had a loss of about 30% of their 302 (one report). Their leader, Lt. Col. Francis Kearse was killed in the Wheatfield at Gettysburg and Brigadier General Paul J. Semmes also received a mortal wound.
The retreat was not easy - psychologically or physically. Thomas M. Brantley drowned in the river at Hagerstown, MD, and would never see Telfair County again. And before the year was out, Ephraim Yawn would die at Lynchburg, VA. And his brother, Young Allen Yawn, would die toward the end of the war at Petersburg. Only James Wesley Yawn, the third brother, would make it home to Telfair. He was buried at Rockwell Church Cemetery in 1911. They had all joined Company B of the Ga 49th in 1862.
To make matters worse, a few of the men, relatively speaking, were deserting and pledging allegiance to their former enemies. This didn't help morale much either.
And making things even worse, some of the officers were resigning. Colonel Lane and Lt. Col. Rivers, both previously wounded, resigned. In view of this, the following promotions were announced:
- Major S.T. Player, as Colonel, from June 9, 1863
- Capt. O.H. Cooke, as Lt. Col, from July 28, 1863
- Capt. J.H. Pate, as Major, from July 28, 1863.
However, as we shall soon see, these officers were later elected to serve in the Georgia Legislature and hardly had time to affix their newly-won insignia before leaving for the more peaceful halls of government.
In the ranks the following promotions took place:
- John Tyler Smith, Co. B, appointed 2nd Sgt., August 1, 1863
- John Yancey, Co. B, appointed 5th Sgt., August 1, 1863.
The 49th Ga. was not directly involved at Bristoe Station, but pulled duty in the rear guard of that skirmish. After destroying the rail lines from Bull Run to the Rappahannock River, the Confederate army returned to camp near Orange Court House, VA, where they remained quiet until November, 1863.
In the meantime, General Lee was sweating it out about the shoes and clothing. A rough way to celebrate his 57th birthday:
"I fear that unless great efforts are made the return of the season of active operations will find a large number of the men barefooted. It is the opinion of the quartermaster of this army that if we were supplied with tools and materials, from one-third to one-half of the army could be shod by the system of brigade shoemakers....I am satisfied that this system can be made an important auxiliary of the department, and am anxious that some
measure may be devised to procure leather in sufficient quantities....Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. E. LEE, General."
And General Lee was not the only one who had a concern in this direction:
General Longstreet made this plea to the one in charge of procurement:
"SIR: The retreat seems to have been made somewhat hastily and not in very good order....Our infantry was not in condition to pursue, half of our men being without shoes. Our cavalry is almost as badly off for want of clothing, and the horses are without shoes, or nearly half of them. The weather has been very severe for the past three weeks, and we are now having a snow-storm. Our men suffer a great deal for want of clothing even in their huts, and some few have been severely frosted. We have been making shoes since we left Knoxville, but with all of our workmen can only make one hundred pairs a day. As our shoes are all old, they wear out faster than we can make them. Most of those that we have we have made ourselves. If you could order enough to shoe the entire command I think that our order shops will keep us supplied....I remain, general, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, J. LONGSTREET, Lieutenant-General."
And the cry for grits -- we may think this a rather light cause but grits (or various derivatives) were the mainstay of not only the fighting diet of the Southern soldier, but was also the anchor pin of the civilian table -- witness the plea for grits from the Mayor of Savannah to General Beauregard:
While Beauregard is in town, Savannah Mayor Arnold takes the opportunity to bring up some of the issues troubling the citizens of that city. Arnold reports, "We are in a bad condition here for corn. For a whole week hardly a house in Savannah had even its supply of grits, that necessary article of consumption having risen as high as $16 per bushel."
Grits was (or were) serious business to the Confederacy. The North might make it on hash browns, but not the soldiers of the other side.
But not all soldiers had their minds on grits. Some were wanting the corn for other purposes - not for eating but for drinking. And that's when General Joseph Johnston (who was trying to get whisky for his men) had a clash with Georgia Governor Joseph Brown (who thought the corn ought to be used for grits, or at least for bread):
When Joe Johnston decides to begin issuing rations of whisky to the men in his army, Major J.F. Cummings is given the task of securing the necessary contracts and licenses from the State of Georgia. Governor Joe Brown angrily responds: "The laws of Georgia will not tolerate any such consumption of grain by distillation as you propose. When the country is so hard-pressed for bread, I shall order the prompt prosecution of every man who runs a still without a license from the State, and I shall grant no license to stills in Upper Georgia."
And something just tells us at this point, shoes or no shoes, grits or no grits, whisky or no whisky, the War is not about to end because there are too many stubborn men involved in this terrible undertaking.
