Jeremiah Clemens was a favored son of fortune. His career fell on the palmiest period of southern history. Possessed of varied talents, his life was correspondingly varied. He had power, and when exercised, the result was tremendous. His intellectual strength was of a high order, his literary taste delicate, his ability to command unquestioned, and his oratory brilliant and potent. His varied gifts led him into the four departments of law, politics, war, and literature. In none of these was he deficient, for he was an able advocate, a statesman of undeniable ability, a commander of no mean qualities, and a writer whose skill and deftness of touch made him popular.
The scholastic advantages of Colonel Clemens were superior. First a student at LaGrange College, at that time a school of high class, he completed his course at the University of Alabama. He afterwards took a law course at Transylvania University, Kentucky, and entered on the practice of law in 1834. His first public service was as United States District Attorney, and for a period of years he was a member of the legislature of Alabama.
The spirit of the warrior and patriot was stirred within him by the struggle of the Texans for independence, and he raised a voluntary force to join in that contest. Of this regiment thus voluntarily raised, he became the lieutenant-colonel. The command marched westward, shared in the battles of that land of plains, and returned when the strugglewas ended. Again entering politics, he represented his county in the legislature of Alabama, where he won distinction as a debater and statesman, and later he became a Democratic elector in a presidential contest. In all these stations Colonel Clemens showed more than ordinary ability and won a degree of distinction.
Having gotten a taste of war in the struggle in Texas, he was again induced to employ his sword in the Mexican War. Becoming lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Infantry, his command participated in a number of battles in Mexico. In 1849 he was appointed governor of the civil and military department of purchase in Mexico. In this connection he served till the close of the war with Mexico, after which time the army was reduced and Colonel Clemens returned to Alabama and resumed the practice of law.
Vast opportunity had thus been afforded this gifted man for the enlargement of his vision of affairs, and it had not been slighted. His military career had served to bring him into increased conspicuousness and to enhance his popularity. When Hon. Dixon H. Lewis died in New York, Colonel Clemens was elected to fill his unexpired term.
All this had been achieved by Colonel Clemens by the time he was thirty-five years old, a period when most men begin the accomplishments of life. In a wide and commanding orbit such as was afforded in the United States Senate, Colonel Clemens came to be one of its most popular members. He was an orator of the Ciceronian type, and his utterances flashed with the radiance occasioned bythe friction of intense thought. His combined qualities and varied experience in different spheres of life served him admirably when on his feet in the Senate chamber. He could husband his resources with skill and with remarkable readiness, and his sentences fell from his lips like minted coin fresh from the stamp—bright, beautiful, and warm. Independence and self-assertion he had in abundance, nor was he lacking in genuine courage, but his temperamental disposition lent to these qualities a degree of dash which sometimes betrayed him into rashness which often induced men to hesitate to follow his leading. The spirit of the warrior in battle was often his in the rough and tumble of debate, but he found that the dash of the field in the leadership of man would not prevail in the cool, staid thoughtfulness of the forum. He was the dash of the mountain stream rather than the buoying and staying power of the deep lake. A rapid thinker and a man of brilliant action, he was more the subject of impulse than of calm and judicial poise. This neutralizing element alone prevented Colonel Clemens from becoming a great leader. That he had the qualities of leadership none denied, but he lacked the poise that made his position a stable one. Still this did not prevent his attainment to national distinction as a United States senator.
In the indulgence of his literary tastes Colonel Clemens published, in 1856, his first book, “Bernard Lile,” a romance fascinating alike for its rosy diction, its rapid movement, and its shifting episode. At the time of its appearance, the work created aconsiderable sensation. This was followed two years later by his second work, “Mustang Gray,” which was born of his observations and experiences in the Mexican War. The first work prepared the way for a wider circulation of the second, the popularity of which was derived in part from its proximity, in point of appearance, to the scenes and events of the recent war with Mexico. For a season “Mustang Gray” was the reigning novel. Within little more than a year from the time of the appearance of “Mustang Gray” there came from the prolific pen of Colonel Clemens “The Rivals,” based on the stirring scenes grouped about the period of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. The cast of the novel as a work of art has changed since the time of the appearance of these stories, but they aptly represent the romance of that period, and are not wanting in genuine merit.
Politically Colonel Clemens was a Unionist. He belonged to the school of politics of which Benjamin H. Hill was a conspicuous representative. From his antecedents and his cavalier dash, the inference would logically be that Jeremiah Clemens would be an ardent secessionist, but he was opposed to immediate secession, and preferred the adoption of a co-operative policy, after a thorough consultation of the states, which was aggrieved by the election of Mr. Lincoln. While opposed to the ordinance of secession, Colonel Clemens voted for it by a surrender of his conviction, because, such was the condition of the time, that not to support it would have placed him in opposition to his native state.In an emergency like this Colonel Clemens yielded his convictions and went with the state. He was appointed a major general, commanding the state troops of Alabama, a precautionary step taken by the state, provided it should be thrown back on itself as a result of its voluntary withdrawal from the Union. The union proclivities of Colonel Clemens never forsook him, and during the latter part of the Civil War he went to Philadelphia, where he wrote an unfortunate pamphlet, ill-timed and unwise, which gave great offense. He died near the close of the war.
The name of Thomas Hill Watts in the records of the state is inseparable from a high standard of professional, public, and moral greatness. Gigantic in person, he was equally so in all things else. He was long in the public eye, and bore himself with so signal greatness that he is remembered as one of the most conspicuous public figures that ever graced the annals of Alabama. Distinguished by unusual parts even in his boyhood days, his father, who resided near Butler Springs, in Butler County, gave to the promising son the best advantages then afforded in scholastic training by sending him to the University of Virginia. At that time that institution was pre-eminently the greatest in the Union. Following the popular trend of those days, pursued by almost every young man of promise, Mr. Watts chose law as a profession, and began practicing at Greenville. He soon distinguished himself at the bar, and while still a young man was chosen to represent Butler County in the legislature. For three successive sessions he was the choice of his county for this position, and maintained himself with meritorious merit, as is shown by the repetition of his election so long as he would serve.
Locating in Montgomery, he entered on a successful practice of his profession, and for a long period of years preserved the reputation of being one of the leading members of the Montgomery bar. In 1855 he was again summoned from private life to represent his party, the Whig, in a contest for congressagainst Col. James F. Dowdell. Mr. Watts was defeated after an exciting canvass, but the campaign resulted in his acknowledged leadership of his party in the state. In the memorable presidential campaign of 1860, Mr. Watts was the leader of the electoral ticket in Alabama for Bell and Everett. Being a union man and opposed to secession, his patriotism rose superior to his party fealty, and after the election of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Watts was as pronounced a secessionist as any. Under existing conditions he recognized the fact that not to go with his state was treachery, his position and sentiments being precisely those of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Men of this school of thought deplored the necessity of war and would gladly have averted it if possible, but when it became inevitable there was but one course left open. Consequently in the constitutional convention of 1861 Mr. Watts was as ardent in the expression of southern rights as was Mr. Yancey himself. The country was in the ferment of agitation and hostility. The south was threatened with invasion, and every patriot was stirred. Thomas H. Watts was among the first to raise a regiment and offer his services to the Confederacy. Becoming the colonel of the Seventeenth Alabama regiment, his command saw its first service at Pensacola, which at that time seemed to be destined one of the strategic positions of the approaching conflict, but the regiment was soon ordered to join the army of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson, in Tennessee. In the battle of Shiloh Colonel Watts displayed the qualities of a soldier equal to those shown by him in other spheres which he had occupied. He was cool,courageous, and daring under fire, to so marked a degree that he won the attention of his superior officers, and his conduct in that battle became a subject of popular comment throughout the country.
Much to his surprise, while in camp at Corinth, Miss., he was summoned to Richmond by President Davis, who offered him the portfolio of the attorney general in his cabinet, a place made vacant by the appointment of Hon. Judah P. Benjamin as secretary of war. Responding to the call, Colonel Watts resigned the command of his regiment and went immediately to the seat of the Confederate government. Here he remained in the cabinet of Mr. Davis till October, 1863, when he resigned to offer for the governorship of Alabama.
The struggling Confederacy had now reached its crisis. The position to which Colonel Watts was elected, as governor of Alabama, was one of the most trying possible. The administration of his predecessor had been attended by storm and tumult. A dire extremity confronted the new and struggling republic, as in its efforts it was seeking to gain a solid footing. Disaster had followed disaster, relieved only by the brilliant achievements of the southern soldiery against formidable odds. Thenceforth it was a fight for life.
From the outset, his position as war governor of Alabama was beset by gigantic perplexities, but bringing to the task his resources and skill, he was enabled to effect as much as any one could under prevailing conditions. He turned to practical advantage the limited means within reach, and won distinction by his mastery of a difficult situation. Thegeographical situation of Alabama, as the center of the Confederacy, with one of the stormiest seats of war in the adjoining state on the north, and with a seaboard exposed on the south, it was inevitable that the state would share in the invasions to which were subjected the states adjoining.
In April, 1865, Montgomery fell into the hands of the enemy. Besides much patriotic sacrifice as a public official, Governor Watts suffered immensely in his private fortune, as one of the consequences of the invasion. The enemy seemed to find special pleasure in wreaking his vengeance on a man who had been so conspicuous since the beginning of the struggle. The federal troops burned two hundred and fifty bales of cotton on his plantation, besides three thousand bushels of corn, much of which was sacked ready for distribution among the suffering people of his native county, Butler. His meat supplies were also destroyed, and his plantation depleted of stock, among which were forty valuable mules. In a single day he was reduced from wealth to poverty, in consequence of his loyalty to his native state and section.
But sustained by an unusually happy temperament and an optimism which was inspired by hope, he at once opened his law office, after the cessation of hostilities, and devoted himself again to the practice of the law in the city of Montgomery, to which he devoted the remainder of his life. His last years were characterized by an ability which comes of a pre-eminent native intellect, reinforced by long experience and years of garnered wisdom. To have heard him in the courts would sometimes remindone of a Titan sweeping a continent of thought. Besides, he was a good man. It is to his credit, as a public servant, that amidst the most stirring periods through which the state passed, he was not only abstemious of all intoxicants, but enjoyed the distinction of never having offered to another a drink. A devoted Christian gentleman, he lived and died.
Jabez L. M. Curry was one of the most noted and brilliant sons of Alabama. His was a long, stirring and useful life. Filling divers stations of trust, he proved to be the equal of any. Statesman, soldier, minister of the gospel, educator, publicist, reformer, diplomat—all these spheres were held by him with distinction. His versatility of gifts was wonderful, his accomplishments striking. Polished, scholarly, wise, eloquent, genial, he was easy of adjustment to all stations and relations, and bore himself throughout life without the slightest whisper of disparagement to his character or career.
A native of Georgia and a graduate from the university of that state, he took a law course at Harvard in 1845. He became a resident of Alabama in 1837, and after the completion of his scholastic and professional courses he entered on the practice of law. His talents veered more in the direction of public affairs than toward the law office or the court room, and in 1847 he was in the legislature, a representative from Talladega County. In this capacity he served till 1856, when he became a Buchanan elector.
The popularity thus obtained by Mr. Curry enabled him to go to congress for two consecutive terms, and in 1861 he entered the Confederate congress, where he served for two terms. Entering the army he was lieutenant colonel of the Fifth Alabama Cavalry regiment, in which he served till the close of the war. He became an active participant in thestruggles which attended on the period of reconstruction, and in the seventies entered the Baptist ministry, preaching with the same acceptance with which he had served in other stations. He was never a pastor, and eventually gave up preaching, but preserved a blamelessness of life that has made his memory one to be revered by all who knew him.
From 1866 to 1868, he was the president of Howard College, then at Marion.
For a period of years Dr. Curry was a member of the faculty of Richmond College, Virginia, where he found opportunity for the indulgence of his literary tastes which were superior to those of most public men. While in the early part of his career he was reserved and silent, for the most part, in the deliberative and legislative bodies of which he was so often a member, he became in the meridian of his splendid powers one of the most attractive speakers in the country. His elements of strength as an orator were forcefulness, impressiveness and projectility of power which carried earnestness and elegance of diction. Welling from intensity of conviction and profound conscientiousness, men saw and felt that he was absolutely sincere, believed that which he advocated, and this gave him immense force before a public assemblage.
Becoming the general agent of the Peabody Educational Fund, in 1881, and later of the Peabody and Slater Funds, he did much for the promotion of the education of both races in the south. In this capacity Dr. Curry was frequently brought before the legislatures of the different states of the south in the urgency of appropriations for educationalpurposes, and was a vigorous contributor to the cause of general education for a long period of years.
In 1885 he was sent as United States minister to the court of Spain, and was a warm personal friend of King Alfonso XII, who died before the birth of his son, the present monarch of that country. On the occasion of the coronation of Alfonso XIII, the present king of Spain, Dr. Curry was sent as special ambassador of the United States to Madrid, where he was greeted with the same cordiality as was accorded to him in former years, during his service as minister to that country.
Highly favored with fortune throughout his life, Dr. Curry found time and leisure to gratify his taste for literary pursuits, which enabled him to enter the field of authorship and to produce a number of valuable works. Besides many small works, usually of a religious character, Dr. Curry wrote “Constitutional Government in Spain,” a “Life of Gladstone,” “The Southern States of the American Union,” and “The Civil History of the Confederate Government.”
On the occasion of his death a few years ago at Richmond, Va., the recall of his long and varied life and services was a subject of much favorable comment in the press throughout the nation. For almost sixty years he had been uninterruptedly before the public, in a variety of capacities, rarely equalled in number by any one. The ability with which he was able to adjust himself to the demands of these varied stations occasioned much astonishment and favor of comment.
In the quieter walks of life, Dr. Curry acquitted himself as he did while in the public gaze. Apolished and accomplished gentleman, with a striking personality, he was equally accessible to the learned and the humble. Absolutely free from austerity or the semblance of arrogance, preserving throughout a gentle dignity, his demeanor was alike to all. It is not a matter of wonder therefore that he was universally popular.
Typically southern in thought and sentiment, and representing that which was highest in the life of the social South, no one of either section ever excelled Dr. Curry in the interest which he entertained for the negro race. Some of the most striking and eloquent passages in his addresses before the legislatures of the states of the South were earnest pleas in behalf of the education of the negro. Both North and South he fairly represented the black race, and regarded the whites of the South providentially entrusted with a trusteeship of these people, which obligation they should not deny nor avoid. He was in thorough accord with Bishops Haygood and Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in his advocacy of the claims of the negro to justice and protection, and for equipment for the greatest possible usefulness.
There was a rotundity and symmetry of character and of career in Dr. J. L. M. Curry that made him a very remarkable man. His relations of friendship extended from men in the loftiest stations of American life to that in the lower social rounds.
With a long life of distinguished ability in so many directions spanning a period of three score years, it is not to be wondered at that when the most typical American was sought to be represented inStatuary Hall, at Washington, the popular eye was directed at once to Dr. Jabez LaFayette Monroe Curry.
Of the many chieftains developed from the Alabama soldiery during the Civil War, none eclipsed in dash, efficiency, and brilliance of leadership, Gen. Robert Emmet Rodes. A native of Virginia, and the son of Gen. David Rodes, the subject of this sketch was trained for war by a thorough military course at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, from which institution he was graduated on July 4, 1848. So distinguished had been his career as a student, that he was retained for two years as assistant professor, and when a commandant was to be chosen, the name of Rodes was mentioned in close connection with that of Thomas J. Jackson, afterward “Stonewall,” for that position.
Entering on the career of a civil engineer, Rodes was first employed in that capacity in his native state, in the construction of a railroad, but he was later induced to go to Texas as an engineer. In 1855 he became assistant engineer of the Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad, where after two years’ service he was made chief engineer, during which time he was located at Tuscaloosa, where he was married.
He was a resident of Tuscaloosa when the war began. Even in advance of a declaration of hostilities he raised a company of cadets and went to Fort Morgan. In the spring of 1861 he became the colonel of the Fifth Alabama regiment, which command saw its first service at Pensacola. It was here that he gave evidence first of his superior soldiery qualities on the drill ground and the camp. Superband exacting as a drill officer, and a martinet in discipline, he did not at first impress a citizen soldiery, and to the proud southern youth, unused to control, the young colonel was not at first popular. In disregard of all this, he pitched his code of discipline on a high plane, and enforced with rigid hand the strictest army regulations.
While the raw volunteer troops were lying inactive at Pensacola, the authorities watching the drift of the initial events of the war, Colonel Rodes was daily drilling his troops, and gave them a pretty thorough taste of war, even in the camps. When later in the spring of 1861 his command was ordered to Virginia, it was believed by many competent officers that Colonel Rodes had the best drilled regiment in the army. So distinguished did the regiment become in army circles, that officers of other commands would attend on the drill of the Fifth Alabama regiment to witness the accuracy of its evolutions and to note the perfection of the condition of the accoutrements of each soldier. When the young troops had become inured to actual army life, and the habits of the soldier had become fixed by reason of time, the rigid and exacting commander was transformed into an object of admiration, and that which at first excited opposition was transmuted into popularity.
The regiment of which he was the colonel barely missed becoming engaged in the first battle of Manassas. The regiment, belonging to the command of Gen. Joseph E. Johnson, came upon the scene just after McDowell’s lines broke, and the flight to Washington began.
In October, 1861, Rodes was made a brigadier general. He was under fire at Williamsburg, but the battle of Seven Pines was the first in which the command was actually engaged. Here the estimation of the troops of their brilliant young commander was greatly heightened, as they were led by him in this series of bloody contests. In this battle, Rodes received a wound in his arm, but was able to lead his troops into the battles of Boonsboro and Sharpsburg. At Chancellorsville, one of the bloodiest of the war, Rodes was entrusted for the first time, with the command of a division, one of the three of Jackson’s corps.
The division of which he had command led the army in the assault on the enemy, and thrilling his troops with the cry, “Forward, men, over friend and foe!” they fought with unwonted valor. With an impetuosity rarely witnessed, the division commanded by Rodes swept like a wave on a stormy sea to the utter dismay of the enemy.
As is well known, both Generals Jackson and A. P. Hill were wounded during the night, and on the young commander was imposed the movement so auspiciously begun, which movement was checked only by the darkness of the night. General Rodes was preparing to renew the daring movement with the break of day, and would have done so, had not Gen. J. E. B. Stuart arrived to take command, in response to a message from Colonel Pendleton of the artillery.
On the arrival of Stuart, Rodes quietly yielded the command, under the impression that the superior officer could inspire more confidence in the troops.That General Rodes would have more successfully executed the original plans had he retained command, was the belief of not a few army officers. In view of his brilliant movements on the preceding day, confidence in him was well nigh supreme. As a result of his skill and courage on the field at Chancellorsville, Rodes was made a major general. Appearing before his old regiment, he made the fact known, and said: “The Fifth Alabama did it.” It proved as easy for him to command a division as it had previously been that of a regiment, as was shown in the battles of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and the second battle of Cold Harbor.
By this time, Rodes had become the idol of his troops, and his skill and fighting qualities were subjects of general comment throughout the army. So impressed was General Lee by his splendid charge at Gettysburg that he sent an officer to General Rodes to thank him and his gallant command for their conduct in that bloodiest battle of the Civil War.
On the retirement of Early’s corps from Maryland, Rodes was in position to inflict severe blows on the enemy at Castleman’s Ferry and Kernstown. At Winchester, he fought his last battle. His death was a calamity to the army. As General Early testifies in his history, “In the very moment of triumph and while conducting the attack with great gallantry and skill,” General Rodes was killed by the fragment of a shell striking near his ear. He survived the wound but a few hours.
On the night following the day in which he fell, many of the wounded of his command were huddledin a large warehouse near the scene of conflict. The groans of the suffering men filled the air, none of whom had heard of the fate of their loved commander. The wareroom was densely dark, to which was imparted additional horror by the piercing moans of the suffering. During the reign of terror, another ambulance train brought in a fresh supply of wounded from the field. Some one overheard the remark that General Rodes had been shot through the head on the battlefield and was dead. For an instant every voice was silent, and in another, men began to weep like babes, over the fall of their great and gallant general.
Rigid as General Rodes was, even sometimes to sternness, his troops almost worshipped him, and a sight of him invariably evoked cheers which were rarely given to any excepting to Lee and Jackson. In his work on the war, General Early says of Rodes, “He was a most accomplished, skillful and gallant officer upon whom I placed great reliance.”
As a soldier, he acted in thorough response to duty, and as a commander he demanded the same respect for duty which he himself exemplified.
If ever one honorably won a sobriquet it was “Fighting Joe Wheeler.” He was a born fighter, a bold and brave commander, and an efficient officer. The beginning of the Civil War found him in the regular army as a lieutenant of cavalry, located in New Mexico, having graduated from West Point just two years before. When he resigned his commission in the army of the United States and offered his sword and service to the Confederate states, he was just twenty-five years old.
His ascent in promotion in the army of the Confederacy was rapid. First becoming a lieutenant of artillery, he was promoted to a colonelcy of infantry, then he became a brigadier general, later a major general, and the close of the war found him a lieutenant general of cavalry.
So early as 1862, little more than a year after the war began, he commanded the cavalry corps of the western army, and was made senior cavalry general of the Confederate armies on May 11, 1864. He had been in the army scarcely a year before he received the thanks of the Confederate Congress for his magnificent service, and of the legislature of South Carolina for his defense of Aiken.
Always active, his course through the turbulent years of the Civil War was marked by a series of splendid achievements, scarcely equaled in number by that of any other officer in the army. Without the dash and daring of Forrest, Wheeler was just as effective a fighter. Forrest’s method was that ofIndian warfare, keeping an eye always on the slightest advantage afforded, and at great risk oftentimes going to a reckless extent in order to win. He would often win all by risking all. In his case this proved effectual, and so signal became his success, and so often, that the enemy came to regard him as a sort of wizard of battle.
As a West Pointer, Wheeler was far more scientific in his methods and movements, and more cautious, but dashing as any when occasion required. His were the tactics of the schools; the tactics of Forrest found apt expression from him on one occasion when he said that his plan was “to get thar first with the biggest crowd.”
It was Wheeler who captured General Prentiss’ division in the battle of Shiloh, and later with his division of cavalry covered the retreats from Shiloh, Corinth and Perryville, and accomplishing this with such skill as to win the commendations of the Confederate generals.
At Murfreesboro he was again conspicuous, turning Rosecrans’ flank, capturing many prisoners and wagons, and destroying gunboats and supplies. He distinguished himself at Chickamauga, and after the battle had been fought made his famous raid around Rosecrans’ rear, destroying one thousand two hundred loaded wagons. Wheeler’s feats of valor in east Tennessee and in the retreat from Missionary Ridge and during the eventful struggle from Chattanooga to Atlanta were marvelous. In his active strategic movements he captured many wagon trains, thousands of beef cattle and thwarted Cook’s great raid.
Wheeler saved Macon and Augusta during Sherman’s march to the sea, and by hanging on the flanks and rear of Sherman, harassed and embarrassed him during his invasion of the Carolinas. For the services rendered in Georgia in the protection of two of its chief cities, he received the personal commendation of President Davis.
Wheeler’s personal presence in the lead of his command was always an inspiration to his troops. None was braver, and oftentimes he was exposed. In consequence, he was three times wounded, had sixteen horses shot under him during the war, seven of his staff officers were killed, and thirty-two wounded. This brief and rapid summary of his achievements affords but a bare idea of the strenuousness of his career during the stormy days of the Civil War. Becoming a planter after the war closed, in the northern part of this state, he was chosen for many successive years to represent the eighth district in congress. His activity in congressional life was as distinguished as it had been on the field. An indefatigable student of affairs, he rested not till he had probed to the bottom of all important questions. His statistical information was wonderful, and when accuracy on all great issues was needed, it became a proverbial suggestion about the capitol at Washington to “ask Wheeler.” Frequently he could give offhand a long series of statistics, and was resorted to as an encyclopedia.
When the Spanish-American War began, President McKinley made Wheeler a major general and sent him to Cuba, where he was placed in command of the cavalry. His fighting qualities had notbecome diminished, nor was his force abated. In the two chief battles, Santiago and El Caney, he was the most conspicuous figure. Smitten by the Cuban fever, he quit his sick bed and went on horseback to the front of the line all day at San Juan, and, though burning with fever, after twelve hours of fierce battle and exposure, interposed before discouraged officers who were suggesting retirement from positions already won, and that could be held only by unflinching bravery, and in the face of every officer indignantly declined to hear of retreating one foot. General Shafter was in command, and Wheeler warned him against the proposal to retreat, and by his splendid and fearless courage of heart and determination, turned the disheartened ones the other way by infusing into them his own tenacity of purpose. The victim of a raging fever, he appeared before his troops at one stage during the hardest fighting at San Juan, and, forgetting, for the moment, his whereabouts, he said in a brief address to his men: “Now, at them, boys, and wipe those Yankees off the face of the earth.” This was the occasion of much merriment, but indicated the spirit of the little man of one hundred and ten pounds who stood ready to lead the charge. Wheeler was the occasion of the success of the two great battles.
At his own request, he was sent to the Philippines, but there he was hampered by the authorities in his operations, while opportunities were given to others. He returned to the United States, was retained with his commission in the service and assigned to duty near New York, where, after a few years, he died.
No more picturesque figure was there during the war between the states than Admiral Raphael Semmes. As far as one could, he supplied the sad deficiency of the navy to a young and struggling government such as the southern Confederacy was. Daring in the extreme, Semmes was just the man to turn to practical advantage the slim facilities at the command of the infant government of the Confederate States. His was a sort of guerrilla warfare on the high seas.
For a long period of years, Semmes had been a rover of the deep, but, after seeing much service, he had retired to private life. As early as 1826 he was appointed a midshipman by President John Quincy Adams. Later he studied law under his brother at Cumberland, Md., and received his license to practice in 1834. The first duty assigned him in the navy after he had undergone an examination, was that of second master of a frigate, but he was soon promoted to a lieutenancy in the national navy. For several years he cruised the seas of the globe, and in 1842 removed to a home on the Perdido River, and seven years later took up his residence in the city of Mobile.
When the Mexican War began Semmes served under Commodore Conner at Vera Cruz, where he was in command of a battery of breaching guns. Throughout the war with Mexico, he served in the American fleet. After the declaration of peace, he was made inspector of lighthouses on the Gulf ofMexico, and in 1858 he rose to the position of a commander in the fleet, and was made secretary of the lighthouse board, with headquarters at Washington.
Resigning his position when Alabama seceded from the Union, he repaired to Montgomery, the first capital of the Confederacy, where he was made commander of the Confederate navy. With the “Sumter,” which Secretary Mallory had named in honor of the first victory of the war, Semmes began his “services afloat.” The “Sumter” was a slender vessel and one of small capacity, but it was all that could be practically called the Confederate navy. But with this light cruiser, Semmes scoured the seas, and within a few months captured seventeen merchant vessels, after which the small vessel was disposed of, and Semmes having the “Alabama,” a real gunboat for that time, built in England, and secretly sent to the Azores Islands, he assumed command of it and began in real earnest an offensive warfare on the high seas. He wrought rapid havoc with his little gunboat, burning fifty-seven of the enemy’s ships and releasing many others on ransom bond. There being no ports open for condemning, Semmes burned his captures as permitted by international law.
Dashing here and there over the deep, the operations of the “Alabama” were a series of brilliant exploits which attracted the attention of the world. Now at the Azores, again within two hundred miles of New York, then appearing unheralded in the regions of the West Indies, he suddenly appears in the waters of the Gulf off Galveston, Texas, sinksthe federal steamer “Hatteras,” capturing and paroling the crew, then dashing away to the coast of South America, he crosses the Cape of Good Hope, sweeps over the Indian Ocean, and in his work goes half way round the globe. That which was being done by the most daring and dashing commanders on land, was being done by Semmes on the high seas. Swift and tactical, he would appear at the most unsuspected time and in the most unconjectured quarter, and spread terror and destruction.
For three years, Semmes roamed the seas of the world uninspired by the press and people of the South, for his deeds of daring were unknown, by reason of the blockaded ports of the Confederacy, and yet single-handed the little gunboat accomplished results that were wonderful. The story of a phantom ship ploughing the seas and accomplishing amazing feats, could scarcely be more romantic than was that which was actually done by Semmes and his little gunboat.
The enemy, discovering what havoc the gunboat under Semmes might eventually work, had built a better and stronger vessel of more improved pattern to pit against her. The “Kearsarge” was ready for action early in 1864, and sought the “Alabama” in French waters. Semmes was blockaded at Cherbourg, where he remained as long as he could in a neutral port, and on June 19, 1864, he steamed out of that port, aware of the fact that he was going against a vessel every way his superior. It was known that an encounter would take place, and the people of Cherbourg sought every elevated placeto witness the naval duel. After some slight maneuvering the battle began. A hundred-pound shell was fired from the “Alabama” and was buried in the rudderpost of the “Kearsarge,” which rudderpost was unarmored, and the shell failed to explode. It was well directed, and it is believed that had it exploded the “Kearsarge” would have been sunk. Unharmed by the guns of Semmes, the new vessel did speedy and effective work, and the “Alabama” began to sink. Together with Semmes stood Kell, his second in command, on the deck of the ill-fated vessel, till it was ready to sink, when they cast their swords into the sea and leaped overboard. They, together with the rest of the crew, were taken from the water by the “Deerhound,” an English vessel, and taken to England.
Returning to the South, where he was made rear admiral, Semmes was placed in command of the James River fleet, which suffered destruction on the fall of Richmond. Escaping with his command to North Carolina, Semmes joined the army of General Johnston and his men were formed into a brigade of artillery. The war was now practically over, and Semmes was paroled at the capitulation along with all others, but was afterward imprisoned for several months, and finally pardoned.
After serving as a professor in the Louisiana Military Institute, Admiral Semmes returned to Mobile and began the practice of law, giving his attention, for the most part, to constitutional and international law. He died in Mobile, which city honors his memory, as is attested by a monument which adorns the most conspicuous spot in the city.
The deeds and valor of Semmes have not yet been recognized. Had the independence of the South been achieved, he would have been one of her most honored heroes, but he belonged to a lost cause, and that fact will serve to dim for a period of years his history, but one day it will be known in its fullness, and then will it shine among the most resplendent of the daring heroes of the deep. His career was as brilliant as it was daring.
The heroism of Alabama manhood was never more essentially embodied than it was in the career and character of the gallant young soldier, John Pelham. His name was repeatedly mentioned on the lips of the Confederate chieftains as “the gallant Pelham.” By no other name was he so generally known in the great galaxy of heroes in the Army of Northern Virginia. Pelham was especially admired by Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J. E. B. Stuart. A prodigy of valor, he enjoyed the admiration of the entire army.
The Civil War found Pelham a cadet at West Point. He was then about twenty-two years old. He was not specially gifted in his textbooks, but his work as a student was solid and substantial. Just before he would have received his diploma he quit the military academy, early in 1861, and started southward. The country throughout was feverish with excitement, and everyone going toward the South was eyed with suspicion, which made it difficult to get through the lines. By the employment of stratagem, Pelham was enabled to slip through the lines at Louisville, professing to be a secret scout of General Scott.
Making his way to Montgomery in April, 1861, that city then being the capital of the new Confederacy, Pelham tendered his services to Honorable Leroy Pope Walker, secretary of war, and was at once given a commission as first lieutenant of artillery in the regular army, and promptlyassigned to duty at Lynchburg, Va. His efficiency was at once recognized, and he was transferred to Imboden’s battery, at Winchester, where he was assigned to duty as drillmaster.
Pelham’s first taste of war was at the first battle of Manassas, where his skill was so conspicuous and his courage was so daring as to attract the attention and admiration of the commanders of the army. This was followed by a commission to raise a battery of six pieces of horse artillery, which he proceeded to do during the months immediately following the July in which the first great battle of the war was fought. His battery was rapidly gotten into admirable shape, and he was soon ready for effective service.
The battle of Williamsburg afforded him the first opportunity of engaging the men of his new command. Pelham was so cool and skillful in the fiercest parts of the battle that he excited the wonder of his superiors. With a steadiness unshaken by the thunders of battle, he directed his guns with unerring skill, and no insignificant share of the glory was his as he steadfastly held the enemy at bay. Again at Cold Harbor he displayed so much tactical force combined with accuracy and effectiveness that General Stonewall Jackson grasped the youthful commander by the hand and told him of his high appreciation of the service rendered. At Cold Harbor he engaged three batteries of the enemy with a single Napoleon, and throughout the entire day stubbornly held his position, dealing destruction and death to the enemy. Shortly after the battle of Cold Harbor Pelham’s battery engageda gunboat at the “White House” and compelled it to withdraw.
By this time, Pelham had gained the reputation of a famous boy fighter, and his steadiness in battle would have done credit to a seasoned veteran. His battery became famous, was the subject of general comment in army circles, and the commanders came to lean on the young officer as one of the indispensable adjuncts to the entire command. In a crisis, or at a difficult juncture, young Pelham was thought of as one to meet it.
When the second battle of Manassas opened, Pelham appeared on the field with his guns, rode to the front as though no danger was imminent, coolly placed his battery astonishingly near the lines of the enemy, and while the enemy rained destruction in that quarter, he took time to get well into position, and at once began with fatal effect on the lines of the foe. Here he won new laurels, and in the accounts of the battle his name was mentioned among those of the general commanders. A second time, Pelham was congratulated by General Stonewall Jackson, who in person thanked him for his skill and bravery.
At the battle of Sharpsburg Pelham was stationed on the left of the Confederate forces, where most of the artillery fell under his immediate command, and the havoc wrought by his guns was fearful. Again at Shepherdstown there was a repetition of the same spirit which he had exhibited on all other occasions. Accompanying Stuart on this memorable march from Aldie to Markham’s, Pelham was compelled to fight against formidable oddsalong the line of march, and at one point he kept up his firing till the enemy was within a few paces of his piece, when he doggedly withdrew only a short distance, secured a better position for his guns, and resumed his firing in a cool, businesslike way.
It was at Fredricksburg that Pelham was more conspicuous than in any other battle. With a single gun he went to the base of the heights and opened the fight with the same indifference with which he would have gone on the drill ground for a parade. His astonishing intrepidity won the attention of both armies, and Pelham at once became a common target to the batteries of the enemy. He was fearfully exposed, and every moment was filled with extreme hazard, but with an indifference which was sublime he kept up his firing and made fearful inroads on the enemy. It was here that there was evoked from General Lee the expression which has become historic. Observing the brave youth from an eminence, as he kept steadily at his destructive work while shells were bursting about him, General Lee said: “It is glorious to see such courage in one so young.” Without wavering, Pelham held his position at the base of the ridge till his ammunition was gone and he was forced to retire by a peremptory order. Assigned to the command of the artillery on the right, he was throughout the day in the thickest of the fray, and won from General Lee the designation: “The gallant Pelham.” For his gallantry on this occasion Pelham was promoted from a majorship to a lieutenant colonelcy, but was killed before his commission was confirmed by the Confederate Senate.
On March 17, 1863, he was visiting some friends at night, in Culpeper County, when the booming of guns at Kelly’s Ford fell on his ear. Excusing himself, he mounted his horse and rode rapidly to the scene of action. His own command had not yet arrived, but he found a regiment wavering in confusion. Spurring his horse quickly to the front of the confused mass, his cool ringing voice restored order, and, placing himself at their head to lead them to battle, a fragment of shell struck the brave youth in the head, and he was instantly killed. The news of the death of Pelham occasioned as much mourning in the army and throughout the Confederacy as there would have been had one of the great general chieftains fallen. Boy as he was, his fame had become proverbial. His body was sent home for burial, and his ashes repose today at Jacksonville, in his native county, Calhoun.
While known chiefly as a soldier because of his brilliant record in the late war, General Cullen A. Battle was distinguished as a lawyer, orator, and statesman, as well. The Battles were among the leading families of the state, and were conspicuous in medicine, in law, in education, in theology, in authorship, and in war. The family record is a brilliant one, but our attention is now directed to a single member.
Graduating from the University of Alabama in the bud of manhood, General Battle entered on the practice of law at the age of twenty-two, after having read law in the office of the Honorable John Gill Shorter. Soon after the completion of his studies preparatory to his profession, he removed to Tuskegee and was diligently devoted to his profession for almost ten years. His first appearance in public life was when he canvassed the state in 1856 for Buchanan, being at the time a presidential elector.
An ardent Democrat, he was on the electoral ticket of Breckinridge and Lane in 1860, at which time he spoke throughout the state in company with Honorable William L. Yancey. As an orator, he was gifted with a freedom of utterance and a poetic imagination, while his delivery was one of gracefulness and magnetism. No one more admired the witchery of his oratory than Mr. Yancey himself, whom General Battle accompanied on his tour to the North, and spoke with the South’s peerlessorator from the same platform in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati.
At the outbreak of hostilities, in 1861, General Battle raised a company of volunteers at Tuskegee, which company became a part of the Third Alabama Regiment, of which Tennent Lomax became the colonel and Cullen A. Battle the lieutenant colonel. This regiment represented in part the pick and flower of the young chivalry of the South.
The Third Alabama Regiment was under fire at Drewry’s Bluff, but engaged first fiercely in battle at Seven Pines, where the brave Lomax fell, and Battle led the regiment through the fight. In the series of battles below Richmond he was at the head of the gallant Third Alabama, having been promoted meanwhile to the colonelcy of the regiment. He received a slight wound at Boonsboro, and at Fredricksburg was seriously injured by his horse falling on him. Later we find him serving on the staff of General Rodes in the battle of Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg the whole brigade was quickly repulsed with great loss, all giving way but the Third Alabama Regiment, but rallying later and fighting with renewed power. Under conditions like these Colonel Battle attached his regiment to General Ramseur’s command and rendered conspicuous service in checking the tide of temporary defeat.
So pleased was General Ewell with the timely gallantry of Colonel Battle that he promoted him to a brigadiership on the field, which act was soon after confirmed. To him were assigned, as thecomponent parts of a brigade, the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Twelfth, and Sixty-first Alabama regiments. This brigade was the first to encounter General Grant in the Wilderness, and in his report on the battle of Spottsylvania General Ewell says: “Battle’s brigade was thrown across Hancock’s front and there occurred the hottest fighting of the war.” The contest was hand-to-hand fighting, the opposing forces using the bayonet. At Winchester, Battle’s brigade entered the action just in time to allow Evans’ brigade to rally, while driving the enemy before him. By this time “Battle’s brigade” had become so conspicuous a factor in the Army of Northern Virginia as to be signally named for its gallantry. At the battle of Cedar Creek, General Battle led his brigade with singular coolness and courage against the formidable front of the Eighth Army Corps of the federal forces, which corps was commanded by General Crook. In this action, General Battle was struck in the knee, which permanently disabled him so that he could not resume active duty on the field, but he was rewarded with a commission of major general, the commission bearing date of his wound, October 19, 1864.
It was in January, 1864, while Lee’s army was in winter quarters south of the Rapidan, that one of those momentous incidents occurred which sometimes profoundly affect large bodies of men. Three Alabamians of the Monroe Guards went at night to the headquarters of Captain T. M. Riley, who was in command of the Fifth Alabama Regiment, and proposed to enlist for the war. These wereSergeant William A. Dudley, a native of Lowndes County, and Privates Daniel C. Rankin and his brother, Duncan A. Rankin, who now resides at Bynum, Texas. This fact was communicated by Captain Riley on the following day to General Battle, who commanded the brigade, who promptly appeared in person before each regiment of his brigade and appealed for the proposed step to be taken. This was the first brigade or command to re-enlist unconditionally for the war. This act made General Battle historically conspicuous in the annals of the Civil War, and elicited from General Robert E. Rodes the following communication:
“Conduct like this in the midst of the hardships we are enduring, and on the part of men who have fought so many bloody battles, is in the highest degree creditable to the men and officers of your command. I was always proud, and now still more so, that I once belonged to your brigade. As their division commander, and as a citizen of Alabama, I wish to express my joy and pride, and as a citizen of the Confederacy my gratitude at their conduct. To have been the leader of this movement in this glorious army throws a halo of glory around your brigade which your associates in arms will recognize to envy and which time will never dim.”
This communication from Major General Rodes was reinforced by a joint resolution of thanks by the Confederate Congress, in which resolution the name of General Battle is conspicuous as the moving and ruling spirit of this conduct on the part of his brigade.
Resuming the practice of law, at Tuskegee, afterthe close of hostilities, General Battle was elected to congress from his district, but the Republicans denied to him and to others their seats, and he, and others like him, were disfranchised. He never again appeared in any official capacity, but lived a life of retirement to the close.
His death occurred at the age of seventy-six at Greensboro, N. C., and he was buried at Petersburg, Va. The closing utterance of this hero of many battles was: “All is bright, there’s not a cloud in the sky.”
There is the flavor of the romantic in the life and career of General Philip Dale Roddy. That he should have become the conspicuous figure that he was in the Confederate struggle, was due solely to inherent merit. Born in the town of Moulton, Lawrence County, in conditions humble if not obscure, he was an ordinary tailor in that country town, growing to manhood without an education, and enjoying none, save as he was able to pick up the scraps of advantage afforded in a community noted for its intelligence and educational facilities. There was that about him, however, which won him friends, and when he was twenty-six years old he was elected the sheriff of Lawrence County. Later he was engaged in steamboating on the neighboring Tennessee, in which employment the conflict of 1861 found him.
Raising a company of cavalry for the Confederate service, Roddy became its captain, and was assigned to duty in connection with the western army. He rapidly developed into an excellent scout in Tennessee, was daring, shrewd and tactical, and in the battle of Shiloh, his company was made the escort of General Bragg. His soldierly qualities and genuine military leadership and gallantry were so displayed at the battle of Shiloh, that he received special mention for his bravery. With honors still fresh on him, he returned to north Alabama and easily raised a regiment of horse, in prospect of the threatened invasion of that quarter.
He had a theater of operation all his own in the valley of the Tennessee, and with dexterity he would fall on the enemy here and there, harassing him at every point and checking and foiling his movements. In the latter part of the second year of the war Colonel Roddy succeeded in swelling his small command into a brigade of horse, with which he met an invasion from Corinth under General Sweeney. He met the enemy at Little Bear Creek, outwitted Sweeney, and forced him back to Corinth.
Alert to the movements of the federals, who were intent on gaining a solid footing in north Alabama, Roddy encountered still another raid at Barton’s, and a second time saved that quarter of the state from invasion. The enemy was forced back, Roddy capturing a part of his artillery and inflicting on him severe loss in killed and wounded.
He was now master of the Tennessee valley, and as opportunity would afford, he would cross the river in a rapid raid, make valuable captures, and replenish his stores. At one time he dashed into the federal camp at Athens, taking the enemy completely by surprise, burned a quantity of stores and was off again, the enemy knew not where. Still later, Roddy fell suddenly on Corinth and secured as a trophy of victory six hundred horses and mules, and when pursued by Colonel Cornyn to Iuka, he turned on the enemy and forced him back.
General Roddy became “the swamp fox” of the Tennessee Valley and from unconjectured quarters would pounce on the enemy, inflict severe blows and reap trophies. When Colonel Streight entered onhis daring raid through north Alabama, with a force picked for that perilous undertaking and splendidly equipped, and while he was being pursued by General Forrest with a force much inferior, the federal General Dodge entered the valley to cover the movements of General Streight. Acting in conjunction with Forrest, who was in hot pursuit of Streight, and whose command he eventually captured, Roddy, with an inferior force, checked Dodge and contested every inch of advance through Colbert County, thus enabling Forrest to overtake and bag Streight. By this indirect agency General Roddy was a sharer in the brilliant victory of Forrest.
The splendid qualities of General Roddy now attracted the attention of the Confederate government, and, though the theater of his exploits was contracted, he was thought of in connection with John H. Morgan and Mosby. General Forrest had great confidence in his ability as a commander, as was shown on more than one occasion.
For two years Roddy had so stubbornly resisted the movements of the enemy in the effort to broaden the basis of his occupancy in North Alabama, that the skillful commander had restricted him to the two points of Huntsville on the north and Corinth on the south. But Roddy was needed at Dalton for a season, in connection with the general movements of the army, and thence with his command he was ordered. This left the Tennessee Valley open to the enemy, and he entered it and strongly fortified himself at Decatur. When, later, General Roddy returned to the former scene of his operations he was unable to dislodge the federals fromDecatur, but the rest of the territory he steadfastly held. When General Hood succeeded General Johnston in command of the western army, one of his chief reliances was Roddy, to keep open his communications.
Later in the war, Roddy came into more intimate and vital touch with Forrest, who was very fond of him, and co-operated with the great commander in many of his movements, and shared with him in some of his most brilliant victories. A brief sketch like this affords but an inkling of the power of generalship developed by General Roddy. He was a military genius. He was born to command. He was ever alert and active, and had a fondness for the dash of the field. He loved hard service, and rarely failed in an enterprise, for, with all his dash and daring, he was invariably cautious.
No commander in the Confederate army enjoyed more completely the confidence and devotion of his men. After the close of the war he removed to New York, embarked in the commission business, and there died.
The heroic services and patriotic devotion of General William Henry Forney entitle him to recognition on the roster of Alabama worthies. The contribution of service made by General Forney to the erection of the greatness of the commonwealth of Alabama is deserving of perpetual recognition.
General Forney descended from a family eminent in North Carolina, his grandfather being General Peter Forney of that state, and a granduncle being a distinguished member of congress from the same state. Himself a native of North Carolina, General William H. Forney came to Alabama with his father’s family in 1835, when he was a mere boy of twelve years. Reared in Calhoun County, he was educated at the state university, from which he was graduated in 1844, after which he entered on the study of the law.
When the Mexican War broke out, young Forney enlisted in the First Regiment of Alabama Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Coffey, in which command he became a lieutenant, serving as such at the siege of Vera Cruz. Returning home after the expiration of the term for which he enlisted, which was one year, he entered again on the study of his law books. Licensed to practice in 1848, he was the next year chosen a representative from Calhoun County to the legislature. With this single interruption he was devoted to his profession till the declaration of hostilities between the northern and southern states. He entered the army as a captainin the Tenth Alabama Regiment which was destined to suffer from unusual casualties from the first conflict in which it was engaged to the close of the war. The regiment of which he was a member was doing some detached duty at Drainville, Va., when it became engaged with the enemy, and among the seriously wounded was Captain Forney, who was shot in the leg, but within sixty days he was again in command of his company at the front. Meanwhile he had become the major of his regiment, with which he was engaged in the battle of Yorktown. At Williamsburg he was again shot, receiving a very serious wound in the shoulder which disabled his right arm. Removed to the buildings of William and Mary College, which were temporarily improvised as a hospital, Major Forney fell into the hands of the enemy and was detained as a prisoner for four months.
On his return to his command after his imprisonment, he found himself at the head of his regiment by reason of logical promotion. He had the misfortune to receive another wound at the battle of Salem Church, though the injury was not of a serious nature. While leading his regiment at Gettysburg, he was again most seriously wounded, the arm wounded at Williamsburg, and even disabled, being now shattered. He fell on the field from the terrible shock, and while prostrate, he received another wound by a ball carrying away part of his heel bone. In this precarious condition, he fell into the hands of the enemy, and was retained a prisoner of war more than a year. While confined as a prisoner at Fort Delaware, he was among the fifty officerschosen to be exposed to the Confederate guns on Morris Island, and was taken near the scene ready for such exposure as a matter of retaliation, but humane and timely intervention checked the atrocious design, and in due time Colonel Forney was exchanged. Still a cripple and hobbling on crutches, he returned to his command in 1864, and was commissioned a brigadier general. Though seriously hampered by his maimed condition, he stolidly and heroically bore his misfortune, and led his brigade in the battles of Hatcher’s Run, High Bridge, and Farmville. He steadfastly and doggedly clung to his command, rendering valiant and efficient service throughout the entire struggle, and was with his tattered veterans at Appomattox when General Lee surrendered.
Broken in health and disfigured as the result of the casualties of the war, he turned his face homeward, and in his permanently disabled condition reopened his law office for such business as could be found under the widespread demoralization incident to the close of the Civil War. The people honored him with a seat in the state senate, but under the military rule of the period it was denied him. He closed his career at Jacksonville, Ala.
The state has never had a more loyal citizen, as was illustrated by his unselfish devotion to its interest, and the army of the Confederacy no braver soldier. To General Forney patriotism was a passion, as was abundantly shown by the philosophic fortitude with which he bore his misfortunes and sufferings. Others may have been more brilliant and dashing than he, but he was an illustration of thehero who did what he could, and by dint of actual merit, he rose to prominence in the army and to equal prominence as a civilian.