PRESENTATION AT THE
414 JUDD STREET
WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS
TUESDAY
MAY 8, 2018
By Mary Abroe
MCHENRY COUNTY
CIVIL WAR ROUND
TABLE
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES
PRESENTATION:
DISCUSSION:
APRIL SUMMARY:
AND
DISCUSSION GROUP AT THE
6000 NORTHWEST HIGHWAY CRYSTAL LAKE, ILLINOIS
SATURDAY
MAY 26, 2018
SURRENDERS AFTER
APPOMATTOX By Chuck Hamilton
Contrary to common assumption, the
American Civil War did not come to a
screeching halt after General Robert E.
Lee accepted General U.S. Grant’s
terms of surrender at the Appomattox
Courthouse on April 9, 1865.
The Armies and Navies of the defeated
Confederate States of America did not
all surrender at one time, but rather in a
slow and piecemeal fashion spread over
a widely dispersed area of geographic
distribution,which also included one unit
overseas. Some units, in fact, never
surrendered at all. Some Confederate
units surrendered in various places on
April 12, 16, 19, 20,21, 26, and 27..
a
Other various Confederate units would
surrender on May 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 26 and 30. And finally, a few of the
last units surrendered on June 2, 3 and
23. As a final note, on November 6,1865
the CSS Shenandoah surrendered to
HMS Donelgal at Liverpool England.
On August 20, 1866, President Andrew
Johnson declared what he called the
“insurrection” officially over and peace
restored.
On July 4, 1865, General Joseph Shelby
led his Iron Brigade and other troops in his
Missouri Division across the Rio Grande
at Eagle Pass, Texas, into Piedas Negras,
Empire of Mexico, to avoid surrender.
Accompanying Shelby’s column were the
former Confederate governors Pendelton
Murrah (Texas), Henry Allen (Louisiana),
Thomas Reynolds (Missouri), and Isham
Harris (Tennessee), as well as former
Confederate generals Edmund Kirby
Smith, Sterling Price, John Bankhead
Magruder, Alexander Watkins Terrell, and
other one-time officers and members of
the former Trans-Mississippi Department
and all of their families.
Under the direction of former Commodore
Matthew Fontaine Maury, formerly of the
Confederate Navy, ex-officers and troops
who crossed into the Empire of Mexico to
establish the New Virginia Colony in the
state of Veracruz at the invitation of the
Emperor Maximilian.
Between ten and twenty thousand former
Confederates emigrated to the Empire of
Brazil at the invitation of Dom Pedro II,
who wanted to encourage the growth of
cotton in his country.
Establishing themselves in several other
communities, these ex-Confederates
would became the foundation of an ethnic
group unique to Brazil known today as
Los Confederados, centered in the Sao
Paolo town of known as Americana. More
former Confederates settled in what was
then British Honduras (now Belize). Ex-
Rear Admiral John Randolph Tucker led a
group of former Confederate expatriates
into Peru to establish New Manassas.
Dr. Henry Price took another group into
Venezuela to occupy large areas of the
state of Guyana called the Price Grant.
APRIL
PRESENTATION
REVIEW
The guest speaker for our April meeting,
Rob Girardi, addressed the conflicts within
the high commands of both the Union and
Confederate armies.
Davis, Johnston, and Pemberton
President Jefferson Davis appointed Joseph
Johnston to foster teamwork in the western
theatre and told General John Pemberton to
hold Vicksburg at all costs. But, Johnston
then advised him to evacuate the “Gibraltar
of the Mississippi.” He seemed to shy away
from responsibility and gave Braxton Bragg
little direction. When he assumed control of
the western armies he basically retreated.
McClellan vs. Scott
At the start of the war General in Chief
Winfield Scott was 74 years old and so
obese that he was unable to mount a horse.
His first choice to lead the Union army was
Robert E. Lee, but, failing that, his second
choice was Henry Halleck. After the
debacle at First Bull Run he did not want
George McClellan to replace Irwin McDowell
but Pres. Lincoln appointed the “Little
Napoleon” anyway. Now, McClellan did
“end runs” around Scott and issued orders
without notifying the “General in Chief.”
Scott soon retired.
McClellan vs. Lincoln
McClellan originally thought he could “play”
Lincoln. He always had 1,001 excuses why
he couldn’t do something. Lincoln wanted
to divide the army up into corps: McClellan
didn’t want to do that. So, the President
went ahead anyway and created 5 corps.
McClellan then created 2 more corps and
took troops from the other 5, thus
weakening them all. Most problems related
to McClellan’s “inaction.” After the Ball’s
Bluff disaster Congress created the
Committee on the Conduct of the War.
Hill vs. Longstreet and Jackson
A.P. Hill and James Longstreet were
division commanders at the time. Hill even
challenged Longstreet to a duel at one
point. General Lee then transferred Hill to
Thomas Jackson’s command. Jackson had
Hill arrested twice.
Jefferson C. Davis vs. Bull Nelson
Nelson gave Davis the job of organizing raw
recruits in Kentucky. Davis, thinking the job
was beneath him, refused. Nelson then
ordered him to leave, which he did, but then
he returned and shot and killed Nelson.
Davis was, of course, arrested. The Union
victory at Perryville, eight days later, might
have been a greater one had it not been for
the loss of these two generals
McClellan and Fremont vs. Pope
After the Peninsula, Campaign President
Lincoln chose John C. Pope to lead the
Army of the Potomac. Fremont now
refused to serve under Pope: he was
transferred and replaced by Franz Siegel.
Pope actually did a good job and made the
cavalry into a significant fighting force.
Lincoln ordered McClellan to reinforce Pope
in Virginia, but, of course, McClellan found
reasons not to. In fact, the “Little Napoleon”
actually undercut his commander, thus
contributing to defeat at 2nd Bull Run
. McClellan vs. Burnside vs. Mead
Now back in charge of the Army of the
Potomac, McClellan wouldn’t even talk to
Burnside during the Antietam Campaign. In
fact, he divided and weakened Burnsides’
two corps. Burnside, in command at
Fredericksburg, needed the pontoons to
complete the river crossing. However, they
arrived 3 weeks late because orders for
them were sent by U.S. Mail rather than
telegraph or courier. Burnside decided to
attack anyway with disastrous results.
Meade actually made a breakthrough there
but Burnside didn’t send him any help.
During the Overland Campaign in 1864
Meade and Burnside were constantly
quarreling. After the Battle of the Crater,
Meade had his rival brought up on charges.
Bragg vs. the World
Braxton Bragg was known for his abrasive
personality and inability to get along with
just about everyone. His subordinate
generals didn’t like him and his corps
commanders basically ignored him at
Chickamauga. President Davis even came
down from Richmond to patch things up,
but to no avail.
Grant vs. McClernand and Rosecrans It is well known that General Grant held grudges
and viewed many of his subordinates as
potential rivals. Even though Gen. John
McClernand agreed with his commander’s plan,
McClernand agreed with his
commander’s plan of attack for
Vicksburg, Grant relieved him of his
command after the failed frontal assault
in June. McClernand was a political
general and a Democrat. Grant also
saw General William Rosecrans as a
threat and stripped him of command
after Chickamauga. He was replaced by
General George Thomas. Grant
attempted to purge the army in early
1865, keeping only “his boys.”
Sheridan vs. Warren
A feud also developed between Gen.
Phil Sheridan and Gen. Gouverneur K.
Warren. Sheridan complained that he
had left Meade “blind” at Spotsylvania
while out looking for Jeb Stuart and that
his cavalry had clogged the roads at the
Wilderness. When he heard that Warren
was complaining about him, Sheridan
relieved him of command.
Bob Frenz ______________________________
THE ANDERSONVILLE
RAIDERS From Wikipedia
The Raiders were a band of rogue
soldiers held at Andersonville during the
American Civil War. They were led by their
chieftains – Charles Curtis, John Sarsfield,
Patrick Delaney, Teri Sullivan, William
Collins, and A. Munn – these thugs terrorized
many of their fellow prisoners by stealing
their possessions and sometimes even
committing murder.
Conditions at Andersonville were among
the worst of all Civil War prison camps;
conditions of extremely overcrowding
and starvation was the most common
cause of death. Unsanitary conditions
and illness flourished within the camp.
Whatever food available would often
cause diseases by contamination.
Dysentery, scurvy, and gangrene were a
result of the harsh conditions and poor
quality of food and water. Besides the
severe health issues, records indicate
that the guards often would behave
sadistically and would kill prisoners for
no particular reason.
Then there was the situation concerning
“the Raiders”.
a motivated, organized resistance effort,
were significantly weakened. However, by
mid-June 1864, the prisoners decided that
they could no longer tolerate the Raiders'
terrorism and control over the camp in
addition to the constant threats they also
experienced from the camp's guards and
constant risk of death due to the conditions
within the camp. They organized to bring
their complaints to Captain Wirz and also
formed an inner prison police force to
defend against and capture the Raiders.
The first organized resistance efforts within
the camp involved small groups of the
prisoners - usually members of the same
platoon or squadron – forming together in
self defense against the Raiders. The
groups would agree that if one of their
members were being attacked, he would
scream out an agreed-upon code word; the
other members would then come to the
victim's defense and would scare away the
attackers. However, to defeat the Raiders
entirely, the prisoners would have to get
themselves more organized, and would
also need backing from the Captain Wirz.
On June 29, 1864, a prisoner named Dowd
was beaten by two of the Raiders, and had
some of his valuable possesions stolen.
After his attack, Dowd went immediately to
the front gate to confront the Confederate
guards and demand justice. His complaints
caught the interest of Captain Henry Wirz.
After hearing Dowd's story, he would then
announce that he would cut off all rations
until the Raiders were turned in. This in
turn would result in the establishment of an
internal police force to be named "the
Regulators", who were not new to the
camp, but had became significantly more
powerful after Dowd's case was brought to
Captain Wirz attention. Now that there was
a police force (the Regulators) now began
to make arrests and held the individuals
they arrested until they were given a fair
trial. Most of the Regulators' arrests of
suspected Raiders took place between
June 29 and July 10, 1864, when the main
offenders were tried and hanged. The
Regulators were able to round up most of
the Raiders, while they put up considerable
resistance, they were finally overthrown by
the Regulators. In his diary, Ransom notes
that the first night of arrests were quite
successful because, "thirty or forty of the
worst characters in camp had been taken
outside".
"The Raiders", were quite well known
throughout the camp for their harsh tactics
and behavior towards fellow prisoners.
The Raiders used various methods to get
what they wanted, which ranged from pure
"sneak thievery to highway robbery". The
most common method of stealing involved
looking for "promising subjects" as they
would enter the camp and tricking theim by
pretending to help them find a good place to
sleep, and then would end up beating and
robbing them.
Another of their choice techniques would
involve sending out spies to track down
prisoners suspected of having valuables
which could be traded to camp guards. After
determining a prisoner had something of
real value, the Raiders would then wait for
him to fall asleep and then raid his tent.
The Raiders were well organized and had
many members who performed a variety of
tasks. The best estimate is that the Raiders
consisted of at least 100 regular members,
as well as a number of others who would do
favors for the group or provide assistance in
exchange for some type of compensation.
The group was organized around its six
most important members, known as the
"chieftains": Charles Curtis, John Sarsfield,
Patrick Delaney, Teri Sullivan, William
Collins, and A. Munn. It was also said that
each leader had henchmen who were
organized into groups named after the
leaders, such as "Collins' Raiders" and
"Curtis' Raiders". Resulting from their
widespread thievery, the Raiders were well
supplied and enjoyed considerably better
living conditions than their fellow prisoners.
They also possessed weapons, ranging
from axes to bowie knives. They were also
well fed, which gave them an edge when it
came to fighting; many of their victims were
suffering from malnutrition, and would be
considerably weaker and less able to
defend themselves. While resistance had
the potential to be quite unsuccessful, the
camp's prisoners needed the motivation to
fight the Raiders, and this proved to be a
major barrier. The prisoners were suffering
from widespread disease, starvation, and
the effects of the other harsh conditions
within the camp. In contrast to the well-fed,
well-stocked, and well-organized Raiders,
the prisoners' physical capabilities for
resistance, and their abilities to sustain
After the Raiders were arrested, as
Captain Wirz had promised, all of the
offenders were put on trial for their
crimes against their fellow prisoners.
The court was set up much like a
typical court, including a judge and
jury of the offenders' peers. Those
who were then convicted were given
relatively light sentences, such as
"setting in the stocks, strung up by
the thumbs, thumb screws, head
hanging, etc." Another of the lesser
punishments was the running of the
gauntlet. Those sentenced to this
punishment were fthen orced to run
through a gauntlet of inmates who
had clubs and were allowed to hit the
offenders as they ran by. In some
cases, the Raiders who had run the
gauntlet were able to escape with just
a few blows to the head, but others
were beaten so badly that they died
from their injuries. The six members,
who were to be considered the rogue
group's leaders, were given the most
severe punishment: death by
hanging. Sarsfield, Collins, Curtis,
Delaney, Munn, and Sullivan – were
executed on July 11, 1864, on a set
of gallows that was built that day.
On the way to the gallows, Curtis
escaped from his rope ties and fled,
but was caught by the police and
returned to the gallows.
Each man was given time to say
some last words before he was
hanged.
Munn expressed great remorse for
his acts and hoped that God would
show him mercy; Collins pleaded for
mercy from the crowd and claimed
that he was innocent; and Sarsfield
gave a long speech in which he, too,
expressed some regret. Delaney and
Curtis, however, showed no remorse;
Delaney went so far as to say he
would "rather be hanged than live in
Andersonville”. All six were buried
away from the other prisoners who
were buried in the military cemetery
at Andersonville.
Their execution marked the end of
the Raiders' reign over Andersonville.
Quartermaster Sergent Leroy L. Key of the
16th. Illinois Cavalry was a prisoner of war
at the infamous Andersonville Prison Camp
in South-Central Georgia during the
American Civil War.
Sergent Key was also the organizer of
“The Regulators”, a Retaliatory Police
Force he established to fend off the
terrorist gang of Union prisoners called
“Mosby’s Raiders” or “The Raiders”,
who would prey upon the defensless and
week imanciated Union prisoners at the
prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.
Born: 19 March, 1841 Mississippi, U.S.A.
Death: 2 December, 1880 (Aged 39 Years)
Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois USA
Bural: Oak Ridge Cemetery
Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois USA
Ironically, Segent Leroy L. Key was buried in
his home town of Springfield, Illinois in a plot
in the Oak Ridge Cemetary over 130 years
ago with no head stone marker.
Upon request by the Oak Ridge Cemetary of
Springfield, Illinois, who applied to the
Veteran’s Administration in Washington D.C.
they were able to obtain a Civil War Veteran
head marker stone for Sergent Key.
A ceremony to comemorate his stone, his life
and his dedication as a non-commisioned
officer during the American Civil War to the
United States of America, was held on
Memorial Day, 2011.
May Sergent Key Finally Rest In Peace.
____________________________________
VISIT THE
MCHENRY COUNTY
CIVIL WAR ROUND
TABLE WEB SITE www.mchenrycivilwar.com
DON PURN WEB MASTER
AND
READ THE
MCHENRY COUNTY
CIVIL WAR ROUND
TABLE
MONTHLY NEWSPAPER
KEITH FISHER EDITOR
Top Related