The RUNNER

 

Newsletter of the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table

 

Editor Tim Winstead

 

***** December 2011 *****

Our next meeting will be Thursday, 8 December 2011 at St. Andrew’s On-the-Sound (101 Airlie Road). Social Hour at 6:30 p.m., meeting at 7:30.

 

We invite and welcome all people with an interest in Civil War history to attend a meeting of the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table. The speakers for our programs are diverse in their views, interpretations, and presentations.

***** President’s Message *****

President Bob Cooke

 

November is almost gone and Thanksgiving is upon us. Soon after that, Christmas; how fast the year is going! One hundred fifty years ago, 1861, the first year of the war was coming to a close. On December 25^th the war went on: “It was a busy Christmas Day in the White House. Mr. Lincoln and his cabinet met for lengthy discussions about the British demands for release of Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell, A decision was to be made the next day. The Lincolns at Christmas dinner entertained many guests.

 

The shooting did not stop for the holiday. There was skirmishing at Cherry, western Virginia, near Fort Frederick, Md.; a Union expedition operated off Danville, Mo. Off Cape Fear, N.C., a blockade-runner was taken.” (The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861 – 1865, by E.B. Long). For many families, both North and South, empty chairs were set at the dinner table in remembrance of those who were off fighting, or who had already paid the ultimate price. This holiday season, let us remember not only those who fell in that conflict, but all the wars, conflicts, police actions and peace-keeping efforts that have taken our youths from us.

Bob Cooke

 

***** December Program *****

 

No Good Like It Is

 

 

Wilmington native, Mike Long, will share a story of the Eighth Texas Cavalry (Terry’s Texas Rangers) during the Civil War. He will follow two central characters from pre-war days in the Indian Territory, through their adventures during the war, and finally through their efforts to return to Texas during the dying days of the Confederacy. This presentation will be a “rip roaring” adventure that will provide an entertaining evening.

 

Join us on Thursday evening, 8 December, as Mike spins a web that promises to trap many of the emotions that charged the atmosphere during the Civil War.

 

 

McKendree R. (Mike) Long III, is a former soldier with two tours as an advisor to South Vietnamese Army units.  His awards and decorations include the Parachutist Badge, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Silver Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry (Gold and Silver Stars).

 

After retiring from the Army in 1980, he was a financial advisor with a major investment firm for 29 years.  He now devotes his time to his family, his writing, his guns, and travel.

 

Married in 1960, he and his wife Mary have two married daughters and four grandchildren.  He is a gun enthusiast, life member of the NRA and VFW, and is active in Sertoma.  He is often found on Seabrook Island, S.C.

 

Editor

***** Raffle Winners *****

Raffle Master: Ed Gibson

If you have books, prints, or other items that you would like to donate to the CFCWRT raffle, talk to Ed at our next meeting.

October Meeting:

Lee’s Cavalryman - Gary Henderson

Warrior Generals - Ed Gibson

Grant - Richard Covell

Civil War Strange & Fascinating Facts - Linda Lashley

Leatherbreeches - Eric Kozen

History of the Lincoln Assassination - Gretchen Kozen

 

November Meeting:

Civil War Trivia - Linda Lashley

Southern Invincibility - Mary Royal

General Lee’s Army - Dick Covell

Artillery of Gettysburg - Palmer Royal

Team of Rivals - Sam Flowers

For Cause and Comrades - Ed Gibson

***** Trivia Questions December 2011 *****

1 – The Eighth Texas Cavalry was mustered into Confederate service at Houston in September 1861. The Eighth was initially led by Benjamin Franklin Terry; hence, their name Terry’s Texas Rangers. Where did the Texans first charge into battle?

Terry’s Texas Rangers

2– On July 23, 1864, General John Bell Hood asked the commander of the Eighth Texas to provide him with a capable officer and men to reconnoiter Sherman’s artillery batteries which were shelling Atlanta. Who was that officer and what became of this detached unit?

3 – The Eighth Texas served mainly in the Western Theater, but their last action was with Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina. What was the last major battle in which these veteran Texans were engaged? Who was their newest and youngest member when they engaged in this battle?

4 – Who surrendered the city of Raleigh and the state of North Carolina to General William T. Sherman?

5 – How did Ella Swain’s mother react to the presence of a Yankee officer in her home?

6 – Ella Swain and Smith Atkins were married on August 23, 1865. What was the reaction of University of North Carolina students to the ceremony that took place in the Swain home on Franklin Street?

***** Member News *****

 

If you have member news that you think would be of interest to CFCWRT membership, let me know about it.

 

1 – Please welcome new members, Beverly Blanton and John Dwight, to the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table.

 

2 - Members, Linda Lashley, Judy Ward, and Martha Watson, will be in Civil War era dress for the Old Wilmington by Candlelight Tours on December 3rd and 4th. The Tour sponsored by the Historical Society of the Lower Cape Fear will feature a “festive tour of the finest private homes, churches and historical sites in the downtown Wilmington area.” Tickets will be $25 per through November 18, and $30 thereafter.

 

 

3 – Make your reservations for the February 9, 2012 dinner meeting. John Michael Priest will make a presentation on Pickett’s Charge. The dinner will cost $26 per head and will be held at the Madeline Suite at UNCW. Contact Bruce Patterson for further details.

 

4 – Special Event!!!! On June 19, 2012, Dr. Susannah Ural will speak at an “added” meeting of the CFCWRT. Dr. Ural, who teaches at the University of Southern Mississippi, will present “The Rise of Hood’s Texans: Recruitment through Antietam.” Dr. Ural will bring a knowledge and enthusiasm to her subject that you will not want to miss. Think of it as a tenth presentation for 2011 – 2012 – and it will be FREE!

 

***** December 1861 *****

 

December 1861 saw a continuing fraught relationship between the president, Abraham Lincoln, and the man he appointed as overall commander of the North's army, General McClellan. Lincoln continued to question the timidity of McClellan's approach while McClellan continued with his assertion that if got it wrong, the whole of the North could suffer as a consequence.

 

December 1st: President Lincoln expressed his concern to General McClellan that the Unionist armies did not seem to be doing anything substantial.

 

 December 2nd: Congress gave its permission for the suspension of habeas corpus in Missouri.

 

 December 3rd: Lincoln gave his State of the Union address to Congress. The Union started its move against New Orleans when ‘USS Constitution’ arrived at Ship Island at the mouth of the Mississippi River carrying the 26th Massachusetts Regiment.

 

 December 4th: Great Britain announced an embargo on all exports to the US

 

 December 5th: The Secretary of War announced that Unionist strength stood at 660,971 men of whom 640,637 were volunteers.

 

 December 6th: It was announced that the Treasury could cope with a war that ended by mid-1862 but if it lasted longer than this then the Treasury’s income would be far outweighed by its outgoings and taxes on most things would have to be increased to fund the war.

 

 December 7th: In a scene that mirrored the ‘Trent’ incident, the ‘USS Santiago de Cuba’ stopped a British ship, the ‘Eugenia Smith’ and a Southerner called J W Zacharie was taken off. Zacherie was a purchasing agent for the Confederacy.

 

 December 9th: The Senate approved the setting up of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. This recognised that previous comments made to the Confederacy, that states rights would not be interfered with once the war was over, was no longer the case and that the internal affairs of the rebel states would be reformed regardless and that the Union would be upheld.

 

 December 10th: The Confederacy admitted Kentucky to its membership despite the overwhelming evidence that the state was about to fall to Unionist forces.

 

 December 11th: Charleston was damaged as a result of a fire that swept through the city. Charleston was the most important port in South Carolina.

 

 December 12th: The success of the Union’s navy along the South’s coastline was such that cotton farmers started to burn their crop in fear that it might fall into the hands of the Union. 

 

 December 15th: Congress expressed its view that the use of slavery in the South was becoming more and more an issue. The original cause of the war was state’s rights but greater knowledge in the Union about slavery put it at the forefront of why the war was being fought. Over the next few months Congress passed a number of laws such as the military could no longer return to the South fugitive slaves; that slavery was to be outlawed in the District of Columbia; that any slave state that offered to give up slavery would be given financial assistance from the Union. 

 

 December 18th: Lord Lyons, the British ambassador in Washington DC, received a message from the British government that he was to demand the release of Mason and Slidell. If the Union failed to do this within 10 days, he had instructions to break off diplomatic relations.

 

 December 19th: Lyons met the US Secretary of State, Seward.

 

 December 20th: Two British warships arrived in Canada as a result of the ‘Trent’ affair.

 

 December 21st: The meetings between Lyons and Seward continued. Both Seward and Lincoln recognised that there was a real risk of war with the British if their demands went unheeded.

 

 December 23rd: The Cabinet was advised by Seward that Captain Wilkes made an error in taking off Mason and Slidell and that he should have brought in the ‘Trent’ and its ‘contents’ as the ship had violated its neutral status. Seward made it clear that the seizure of the Confederate commissioners was unlawful whereas the seizure of the ‘Trent’ as an entity would have been lawful. 

 

 December 24th: Congress passed a series of duties that were to be added to tea, coffee, sugar and what were classed as “luxury goods”.

 

 December 25th: Despite it being Christmas Day, the Cabinet and the President were in discussions on what to do with Mason and Slidell. Fighting was reported at Fort Frederick in Maryland and Cherry, western Virginia.

 

 December 26th: It was announced that Mason and Slidell would be released because their arrest was illegal. It was further announced that Captain Wilkes had acted without the knowledge of the government.

 

 December 30th: Mason and Slidell (seized on November 8, 1861) were handed over to Lord Lyons. They were immediately put on a ship to England. Lyons then released his own interpretation of the law regarding “neutral nations” and it was at odds with Seward’s and, ironically, found support among many Americans. However, with the issue resolved, relations between the North and Great Britain improved.

 

 December 31st: President Lincoln pressed his army commanders for more action. However, McClellan did not hear his message as he was ill.      

 

Source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/december-1861-civil-war.htm, accessed October 30, 2011.

***** Through the Blockade *****

The Fire-Eaters and the Abolitionist of late 1860 and early 1861 believed their causes just, their foes irrational, and their specific causes achievable only by war. Among the majority of Americans, few really expected war, but if war did come, few - including the radicals - initially expected a conflict of long duration. As the crisis escalated, resolute men in Washington and Montgomery looked beyond the rhetoric and saw the reality of a coming armed conflict that neither side was prepared to wage. These resolute men began the actions necessary to secure the materials of war that would be required.

 

Both the governments of the North and South engaged in a contest to equip and field armies to achieve their aims. The North had a decided advantage of having industries that could eventually equip the large armies necessary to subdue the rebellious states of the South. However; in the early days, agents from the United States and the Confederate States were dispatched to Europe to secure arms and accoutrements. Thus began a game to secure weapons of every description, but more so, it began a game to deny those weapons to the other side.

 

This article will be the first in a series that will examine the early efforts of several men in the United States and in the Confederate States to arm and to supply the untrained mobs who will flock to their respective banners. This article will focus on Edward Clifford Anderson, a past mayor of Savannah, planter and businessman, and a former United States Navy officer. Even before the events at Fort Sumter, Anderson will be in Richmond purchasing heavy ordinance from the Tredegar Iron Works for the State of Georgia. Secretary of War, Leroy Pope Walker, will engage Anderson to purchase similar ordinance for Confederate emplacements in Mobile, Savannah, and New Orleans. Anderson’s efforts as an arms buyer will intensify after he is summoned to Montgomery by Jefferson Davis.

 

President Davis personally commissioned Anderson as a major in the Corps of Artillery and ordered him proceed to Europe. Anderson’s mission was to buy war materials and to probe the conduct of Captain Caleb Huse whose recent actions had caused suspicion. Secretary Walker had instructed Anderson, “You are hereby authorized, should circumstances in your opinion demand it, to supercede Captain Caleb Huse …. and to take possession of any assets or credits placed to his account as [our] agent.” Anderson, accompanied by James Heyward North, sailed on the Camilla from Savannah on May 25, 1861 and arrived in England on June 22.

 

Within days, Anderson met with Caleb Huse and J.D. Bulloch (Confederate Navy) and met with representatives of Fraser, Trenholm & Co. For the next six months, Anderson noted in his diary the difficulties he and Huse had in buying guns, ammunition, medicines and other supplies. During this period, he found Huse to be both capable and trustworthy. Anderson and Huse, in a letter to Walker, complained of insufficient funding, Yankee spies who stalked them, suppliers who demanded large cash payments, and British government reluctance to allow them to ship arms. Anderson was highly upset by the proposed shipping cost that some companies sought. He also informed Walker that it, “may be necessary …. to unite with Mr. J.D. Bulloch in the purchase of a fast steamer, sending her over under his command.”

 

From Confederate Foreign Agent: The European Diary of Major Edward C. Anderson:

 

In early September Anderson and Huse, in cooperation with Bulloch, bought Fingal, an iron-framed twin-masted screw-steamer of 463 tons. Six week later, with a British captain and crew, flying a British flag, Fingal steamed from Greenock, bound according to her papers, “for British Honduras.” On board were Anderson, Bulloch, and John Low (Bulloch’s assistant), and concealed beneath her deck was a cargo of munitions and supplies valued at more than $250,000: about 15,000 Enfield rifles, 1,000,000 cartridges, 2,000,000 percussion caps, 3,000 cavalry sabers, 500 revolvers, two 2 ½ -inch and 24 ½ rifled cannons with 8,000 shells, 400 barrels of gunpowder and large quantities of medicines, blankets, clothing and other supplies. Wrote Bulloch, “No single ship ever took into the Confederacy cargo so entirely composed of military & naval supplies….”

 

Anderson and the Fingal arrived in the Savannah River on November 13^th. Within days, Major Anderson was in Richmond and reported his activities to President Davis. Anderson also met with Secretary of Navy, Stephen Mallory, and put forth an idea that could have impacted the course of the war. Anderson proposed that the Confederacy secure fast steamers and put the ships under command of his former USS Constitution shipmate, John Newland Maffitt. As reported in his diary, “Mr. Mallory met my suggestions with evident discourtesy, intimating to me that the Navy Dept would regulate its own affairs & that there were other officers under his control just as good as Maffitt.”

 

Major Anderson refused offers of jobs in Richmond and returned to Savannah where he served under Robert E. Lee. He felt his talents were underutilized in building and commanding defensive works around Savannah. After the fall of Savannah, Anderson was in Charleston where he was in command until the fall of that city. He and his Georgians joined General William J. Hardee as they marched into North Carolina where they joined Joe Johnston in a last attempt to stop William T. Sherman’s army. Anderson returned to Savannah after the war ended and began again in a devastated country to make his living. He had cast his die with the South, lost his wealth, but he would again work hard to return Savannah to prosperity.

 

Anderson’s diary provides a great description of his duties in Europe. Intrigue and stealth are elements in his description of a foreign agent. It also shows him to be a most efficient man who performs his duties with dispatch. He is blunt and to-the-point in his dealings with superiors and subordinates.

 

Had Mallory implemented Anderson’s suggestion in 1861, what could have been the outcome?

 

Source: Edward C. Anderson, Confederate Foreign Agent: The European Diary of Major Edward C. Anderson, ed. W. Stanley Hoole [University, Alabama: Confederate Publishing Co., 1976]. 1-15.

 

Editor

 

***** November Meeting *****

 

Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General

 

“When I was a little girl, my granny would hold out her hands, point to her rings, and say to my sister and me, ‘Ellie, when you grow up, this ring will be yours. Suzy, when you grow up, this ring will be yours.’ We’d hug her and wonder how long it would be before we were grown up!”

 

Eleanor (Ella) Hope Swain

Suzy Barile

 

Suzy Barile presented the audience at our November meeting with the remarkable details of a love story. Barile presented the story of her great-great-grandparents and their unlikely union that took place shortly after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Her great-great-grandmother, Eleanor (Ella) Hope Swain, and her great-great-grandfather, General Smith Dykins Atkins, were from very different worlds. Ella was daughter of a former North Carolina governor and University of North Carolina president, Smith was a Yankee lawyer, newspaperman, and Union general. In a Chapel Hill that had endured hardships and losses in a long civil war, Ella and Smith’s romance and marriage was indeed hard for the locals to phantom.

 

“Nearly a century and half after Ella and the general met, I found a cardboard folder in my mother’s attic that contained Ella’s letters to her parents. The correspondence revealed a love that transcended the bitterness of war and scandal.”

 

“After reading Ella’s words, I knew I had to tell their story.”

 

Suzy used these old letters from Ella to her parents as the basis for Undaunted Heart. In her book, Barile shared the events of Ella’s life and the changes she experienced as a result of meeting a handsome Yankee officer who had been sent to protect the University of North Carolina. According to a neighbor, Mrs. Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Ella and Atkins “’changed eyes’ at first sight and a wooing followed.”

 

Unlike that of Eric Segal’s fictional Love Story of 1970, this story, which encompassed a difficult period in this country’s history, was true. If you are interested in the further details, get a copy of Undaunted Heart (grab a tissue, if so inclined) and prepare to be captivated.

 

***** Comments and Suggestions *****

 

Comments and suggestions to make the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table and “The Runner” more relevant to your Civil War experience are welcomed. Send them to me at tpwinstead@gmail.com. Please include “CFCWRT News” in your Subject line.

 

Regarding a Trivia Question in last month’s Runner:

 

RICHARD MEAD DID NOT GRADUATE 1ST IN THE CLASS OF 1857 USMA, HE WAS SECOND . JOHN C. PALFREY OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSTTS WAS 1ST IN A CLASS OUT OF 38. PLEASE SEE "EDWARD PORTER ALEXANDER"

BY MAURY KLEIN 1957, PAGE 14.

HOWEVER E.P ALEXANDER WAS 3 RD

 

I appreciate receiving comments about The Runner because it means someone is reading it. It also means, I need to do some more research.

 

Richard K. Meade, Jr. was E.P. Alexander’s roommate while at West Point. I found two sources that stated Meade was first in the class of 1857. I did not check further. (http://www.civilwarsignals.org/1st/epalexander/epalexander.html) As the reader pointed out, other sources gave that distinction to John C. Palfrey.

 

When sources differ, it is best to consult an authority on the subject. I have been in touch with researchers at West Point and have requested further information about the class rankings in the class of 1857. The cadets receive scores on their actions every day they are at the academy. I hope to see exactly how overall ranking is calculated. I hope to hear from the West Point researchers in a short while, but I believe our reader is correct in his statement.

 

In the Official Register of Officers and Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy (First Class 1857), Meade had top ranking in 3 of the 6 disciplines (including Engineering), and 3 second rankings in the others with 16 demerits for the year. Palfrey had top ranking in 2 of 6 disciplines, 2 second rankings, and 1 fifth ranking with 6 demerits for the year. In examination of registers for the Second Class of 1856, the Third Class of 1855, and the Fourth Class of 1854, Palfrey ranked ahead of Meade each year. NOTE: Being an engineer by training, I put much stock in Meade’s ranking as the #1 engineering student in his First class. The register also showed that Palfrey was age 19 years 6 months upon admission; Meade was 16 years 10 months.

 

Editor

 

***** Parting Words *****

 

William T. Sherman became the superintendent of the Louisiana Military Seminary in Alexandria during 1859. When Louisiana left the Union on January 26, 1861, Sherman faced a decision, a decision that for him had little room but for one choice. Sherman was all in for the Union. He remained at his post for one additional month, collected his final paycheck, and left his colleagues with these words, “You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical and determined people on earth.”

 

Source: Noah Andre Trudeau, Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea [New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008], 25.

 

*****

 

Edward C. Anderson also had a decision to make in 1861. In his diary, he told of his decision and his uneasiness with the state to his north.

 

….. I had decided that under the circumstances it would be impossible for me to stand aloof in the conflict which was pending. I decided to go up to Montgomery and have a talk with the authorities there. Meantime my heart was very heavy within me. I disapproved entirely of the rash course of the politicians of the country North and South, and believed that Georgia especially had been led by the nose by South Carolina. I had been reared under the U S flag in the Navy and was to the innermost recess of my nature, attached to its folds, yet the die was cast & my lot as a Southern man with it.

 

Source: Edward C. Anderson, Confederate Foreign Agent: The European Diary of Major Edward C. Anderson, ed. W. Stanley Hoole [University, Alabama: Confederate Publishing Co., 1976], 16.

 

Editor

 

***** Trivia Question Answers December 2011 *****

1 - The Eighth Texas Cavalry was mustered into Confederate service at Houston in September 1861. The Eighth was initially led by Benjamin Franklin Terry; hence, their name Terry’s Texas Rangers. Where did the Texans first charge into battle? They were engaged in a small action near Woodsonville, Kentucky on December 17, 1861. Colonel Terry was killed in this engagement. Thomas Lubbock, John Austin Wharton, Thomas Harrison, J.F. Matthews, and others followed Terry as commander of the Eighth Texas. The Texans were known as a hard hitting unit who fought mounted or on foot. They fought at Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Bardstown, and a many other engagements during 1861 – 1865.

Source: http://www.terrystexasrangers.org , accessed November 11, 2011.

2 - On July 23, 1864, General John Bell Hood asked the commander of the Eighth Texas to provide him with a capable officer and men to reconnoiter Sherman’s artillery batteries which were shelling Atlanta. Who was that officer and what became of this detached unit? Captain Alexander May Shannon became the leader of what became known as the “Shannon Raiders.” This small force, armed with repeating rifles and pistols, became a commando type unit which would strike at Union invaders with intense savagery. Yankee bummers were special targets of Shannon and his men. During Sherman’s “March to the Sea,” Shannon’s men were cited for actions against the invaders and the invaded civilian population.

Judson Kilpatrick reported on February 22, 1865, the Union troops who had surrendered to the Eighth Texas had been killed and their bodies mutilated. Notes had been attached to their corpses – Death to Foragers. Kilpatrick was supposed to have accused Joe Wheeler and his men, including Shannon, of fighting “under a black flag.” This controversy continued until the end of the war.

On April 15, 1865 when Joe Wheeler informed Shannon that surrender was imminent, the Texans refused to put down their arms, but decided to make their way to the Trans-Mississippi to join Kirby Smith. Supposedly, some of Shannon’s men acquired new mounts from nearby Union forces and began to make their way home. After the war, the men of Shannon’s command made little mention of their wartime experiences. Alexander Shannon said it best, “I have never had a desire to fly into print and get up controversies over matters that are so long past.”

Source: http://www.terrystexasrangers.org/histories/mhtsw/shannons_scouts.html , accessed November 12, 2011.

3 - The Eighth Texas served mainly in the Western Theater, but their last action was with Joseph E. Johnston’s army in North Carolina. What was the last major battle in which these veteran Texans were engaged? Who was their newest and youngest member when they engaged in this battle? The Battle of Bentonville was the last major battle in which the Eighth Texas was engaged, March 19 – 21, 1865. Until the end, the Eighth Texas answered the call to battle with their usual tenacity.

Willie Hardee, the only son of Lt. General William J. Hardee, begged this father to allow him to join the Texans so he could win his rank. Willie refused to join Johnston’s staff as an aide and he reported said, “he would not have rank until he won it.” General Hardee finally gave his consent.

On March 21^st, Hardee ordered the Fourth Tennessee and Eighth Texas forward to attack the advancing units of Mower’s command.

“Forward, Rangers! Doc Matthews (Captain Doc Matthews of the Eighth Texas) hollered. “Front into line.” One of the Texans noticed that Private Hardee took his place in the front rank, the general and the son “tipped their hats to each other.” For a moment there was a terrible stillness: “Everything was so plain and clear,” recalled one Ranger, “you could see the [Yankees] handling their guns and hear their shouts of command.” Drawing his sword, General Hardee gave the order and led the charge on a borrowed horse.”

Hardee and his men met Mower’s attack and drove the enemy back, but a victory was short-lived. Willie Hardee was to suffer a mortal chest wound.

Source: Mark L. Bradley, The Battle of Bentonville: Last Stand in the Carolinas [Campbell, CA: Savas Publishing Company, 1996], 382-395.

4 - Who surrendered the city of Raleigh and the state of North Carolina to General William T. Sherman? Former governors, David L. Swain and William A. Graham, took on this duty on behalf of Governor Zebulon B. Vance. Ella Swain’s father, David, had been North Carolina’s governor while in his early thirties and President of the University of North Carolina from 1836 until his death in 1868.

About 3 o’clock in the evening, in company with Gov. Graham, who had risked life and reputation on behalf of the community to an extent, I delivered the keys of the State House to Gen. Sherman, at the gubernatorial mansion, then his headquarters, and received his assurance that the Capitol and the city should be protected, and the rights of private property duly regarded.

Source: Suzy Barile, Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General [Hillsborough, North Carolina: Eno Publishers, 2009], 9-10.

5 - How did Ella Swain’s mother react to the presence of a Yankee officer in her home? From Undaunted Heart:

Within the Swain household, however, tension was mounting. Even though Ella and Atkins were wooing, and Atkins and David Swain had become fast friends, Mrs. Swain had no interest in friendship with the general or anyone in the Union army, “so great was her hate for the Yankees,” wrote her great-great-granddaughter “Wuff” Newell years later.

‘We will never give up the strife until exterminated of freed and restored to a peaceful security and our own independence.’

Suzy recounted the family lore that Mrs. Swain never sat at the same table as her son-in-law. Even years later, the elder Mrs. Swain declined to dine with Atkins. To his credit, Smith Atkins would carry a food tray to Mrs. Swain’s room and keep her company while she dined. After Ella’s death on June 13, 1881, Smith granted the elder Mrs. Swain’s request that the Atkins children remain with her in North Carolina throughout the fall and winter.

Source: Suzy Barile, Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General [Hillsborough, North Carolina: Eno Publishers, 2009], 25, 143.

6 - Ella Swain and Smith Atkins were married on August 23, 1865. What was the reaction of University of North Carolina students to the ceremony that took place in the Swain home on Franklin Street? They protested! For three hours, they tolled the campus bells during the wedding ceremony. They also hung General Atkins and President Swain in effigy from the bell tower on Old South.

 

From Undaunted Heart:

 

The Swains sent few invitations for the wedding on August 23, 1865. Unlike Mrs. Spencer, many invitees sent their regrets. “Invitations were spit upon in one or two houses!” she wrote, adding that some family friends “were very hot against Ellie.”

 

Source: Suzy Barile, Undaunted Heart: The True Story of a Southern Belle & a Yankee General [Hillsborough, North Carolina: Eno Publishers, 2009], 62-65.