Goodloe's Rebel Relics

Source

Daniel Bedinger, Revolutionary War POW

Project Gutenberg's American Prisoners of the Revolution, by Danske Dandridge:

To The Memory of my Grandfather, Lieutenant Daniel Bedinger, of Bedford, Virginia

 Daniel's father was born in Alsace, and he himself had been brought up in a family where German was the familiar language of the household. It seems that, in some way, probably by using his mother tongue, he had touched the heart of one of the Hessian guards.

In some way Daniel was conveyed to Philadelphia, where he completely collapsed, and was taken to one of the military hospitals.

Here, about the first of January, 1777, his devoted brother, George Michael Bedinger, found him. Major Bedinger's son, Dr. B. F. Bedinger, wrote an account of the meeting of these two brothers for Mrs. H. B. Lee, one of Daniel's daughters, which tells the rest of the story. He said:

"My father went to the hospital in search of his brother, but did not recognize him. On inquiry if there were any (that had been) prisoners there a feeble voice responded, from a little pile of straw and rags in a corner, 'Yes, Michael, there is one.'

"He placed his suffering and beloved charge in the chair...and carried him some miles into the country, where he found a friendly asylum for him in the house of some good Quakers. There he nursed him, and by the aid of the kind owners, who were farmers, gave him nourishing food, until he partially recovered strength.

After Daniel Bedinger returned home he had a relapse...however, recovered, and re-entered the service, where the first duty assigned him was that of acting as one of the guards over the prisoners near Winchester. He afterwards fought with Morgan in the southern campaigns, was in the battle of the Cowpens, and several other engagements, serving until the army was disbanded. He was a Knight of the Order of the Cincinnati.

Lieutenant Bedinger...died in 1818 at his home near Shepherdstown, of a malady which troubled him ever after his confinement as a prisoner in New York. He hated the British with a bitter hatred, which is not to be wondered at.

Daniel Bedinger's entry at Wikitree.

See a YouTube video of Bedinger's experiences by one of his descendants.

Caught By Hays' Texan Rangers

View From The Rio Grande River Looking At Mexico

Notes of the Mexican War, 1846-47-48...:

 

"He (a guerilla) was caught by Col. Jack Hays' Texan Rangers, coming up from Vera Cruz (where he was captured)...let go on parole of honor, and again captured leading a guerilla band...".

Bryce's Cross-Roads

Source

Narrative from Cahaba. A story of captive boys in blue:

"The leading regiment, the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois, reached the front almost breathless after its five-mile race, and was thrown at once into action without a solitary support, except the handful of Grierson's cavalry, already on the ground. These men had been hotly engaged for four hours, and their ammunition was about exhausted."

"The Ninety-third Indiana arrived on the scene some ten minutes later, having been delayed by the stragglers of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois. Lest I should be misunderstood, let me say that these stragglers were falling behind, not on account of cowardice, but because overcome by heat and fatigue. Even in this breathless condition they were pressing on and doing the best they could to get to the front. A more gallant regiment was never enlisted."

"The Ninety-third Indiana reached the front with only a handful of men... . It was formed on the right of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois, directly at the intersection of ' Brice's Cross-Roads,'... ."

Source

The Holker And The Bakers' Early Life

Memoirs of Ann [Baker] Carson (published in 1822):

"The United States had then few or no regular ships of war so that all our naval enterprizes were conducted, and the ships owned, by private individuals. Anongst the number, Blair M. Clenahan held the first rank, and was owner of the Holker."

"My father continued on board the Holker some time; during this period he had seen and fallen in love with my mother, then a celebrated beauty in Southwark, and just entering in her fourteenth year."

"...on his return to Philadelphia he was rewarded for all his sufferings and losses by receiving the hand of my mother from her father the hand of his lovely and beloved Jane."

"Blessed and blessing, he, for a time enjoyed all the raptures of domestic happiness in the arms of his young and lovely bride, he became the father of an infant daughter as my mother entered her sixteenth year."

From an article, That Mischievous Holker - The Story of a Privateer:

"...the Holker survivors had been hustled ashore.  Four of them, having been British prisoners on board the privateer, were released. Ten, who preferred service in the English navy to confinement as prisoners of war, were sent to His Majesty's ships Princess and Royal Oak. The remaining thirty-seven, by order of Admiral Hugh Pigot, were consigned to the Peter prison ship, lying at anchor there. Included among the latter were Quinlan and Thomas Baker, the first lieutenant."

"Although the Holker was at the bottom of the sea, her affairs were not ended."

"Most of them drifted back to Philadelphia. Relatives of some of those who had perished in the little brig filed suit in admiralty court to recover prize money due them. Quinlan and Baker returned to command merchant vessels."

An Army Wife On The Frontier (Met Her Future Husband)

An Army Wife On The Frontier: the memoirs of Alice Blackwood Baldwin 1867-1877:

When Little Turtle's Captive Escaped

Source

Little Turtle was fond of telling of his war adventures. One anecdote he used to relate with much gusto concerning an occasion on which he himself had been outwitted.

'A white man,' said he, a prisoner of many years in the tribe, had often solicited permission to go on a war party and had been refused. 

It never was the practice of the Indians to ask or encourage white prisoners among them to go to war against their countrymen. This white man, however, had so far won the confidence of the Indians and being very importunate I took him on an expedition to Kentucky. As was our practice, we had carefully reconnoitered and had fixed on a house recently built as the one to be attacked the next morning about the dawn of day.

 ...he [the white man]...jumped to his feet [as they approached the house] and went with all his speed shouting at the top of his voice, 'Indians! Indians'! 

We had to make a precipitated retreat, losing forever our white companion and disappointed in our fancied conquest of the log cabin. From that day I would never trust a white man to accompany me again in war.

Surrender Of Fort Ann

Source - (Fort Ann Near The "R" In New York)

The Fort Edward Book: Containing Some Historical Sketches...:

30 October 1780 letter to George Washington mentioned the surrender of Fort Ann (9th instant)...

Daring Chivalry And High Adventure

Source

"...President Houston issued a proclamation inviting volunteers for a retaliatory expedition across the Rio Grande, and designating the 25th of October, at San Antonio de Bexar, as the time and place for their rendezvous. Near eight hundred of the most gallant spirits of western Texas responded to the requisition with whom the author found himself associated in an enterprise which, however disastrously it afterwards terminated, wore at its outset the most attractive hues of daring chivalry and high adventure." 

Prisoner Held In Quebec

For background information, see earlier post.

NARRATIVE

OF

MR. JOHN DODGE

DURING HIS CAPTIVITY

AT DETROIT

 The story of the rescue of a prisoner from the Indians, related in his Narrative, is contained in the report of the Virginia Council of June 16, 1779. Sometimes at liberty, engaged in trading, and sometimes confined in jail as a rebel, he remained in Detroit and Mackinac till May, 1778, when he was sent down to Quebec, at which place he arrived on the first day of June.

In the reports of rebel prisoners at Quebec in June and July, 1778, are three entries referring to Dodge as follows: "John Dodge, 24 years old, from Connecticut, a trader settled at Detroit for seven years, sent down by Lieutenant Governor Hamilton. His commercial effects at Detroit. Taken up on suspicion of having been in arms with the rebels." He remained in Quebec until the ninth day of the following October when he escaped, going first to Boston and subsequently to General Washington. Dodge does not state where or when he met Washington, but as the General was in attendance at Congress from December 21, 1778, until some time in the following January, he probably met him at Philadelphia. Dodge says he visited Congress "having some matters relating to Canada worthy their hearing." This related to the "certain expedition" referred to by Washington in his letter of December 29th, a proposition to invade Canada. Dodge was at Fort Pitt in the early part of January, 1779, and from that port wrote a letter to John Montour. There is no record of Dodge's appearance before Congress, but he wrote a letter on the subject, to Congress... .

John Dodge - Last Name In Excerpt Of List Of POWS

Kaskaskia Prisoners

Source

"On the Evening of the 4th of July we got within three miles of the Town Kaskaskias, having a River of the same name to cross to the Town. After making ourselves ready for anything that might happen, we marched after night to a Farm that was on the same side of the River about a mile above the Town, took the family Prisoners, and found plenty of Boats to cross In; and in two hours transported ourselves to the other shore with the greatest silence."

The Sturgis Raid Or Guntown Disaster

An excerpt of a chapter in "Cahaba. A story of captive boys in blue"..."....The Wretched Criminal Managment Of [Samuel D.] Sturgis Insures Defeat," below:

The Union leaders felt it necessary to inflict some chastisement to the Confederate forces to counteract the moral effect of our defeats in the West, and another expedition was started out June 2d, 1864, this time from Memphis, under the command of General S. D. Sturgis...afterward known as " The Sturgis Raid," or " Guntown Diaster... [called Bryce's Cross-Roads by the Confederates].

Source

This command moved leisurely along until June 9th, when, at Ripley, Miss., a small town about twenty miles northwest of Guntown, General Grierson, who was in advance, reported that a few prisoners had been taken, and that in his judgment the main body of the enemy would be found the next day at or near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

General Grierson's Photo At Fold3

General Grierson, I am informed, advised General Sturgis to keep his men well in hand, as the enemy was " near and in force." 

The infantry and artillery had gone but a part of the way when another courier from General Grierson reached Sturgis bearing the information that the Confederates were receiving re-enforcements from the South by rail. They came from Mobile, and had been sent to the aid of Forrest when it was known that Sturgis was seeking him. The whistling of the locomotives could be plainly heard by Grierson.

[General Grierson]...suggested that Sturgis halt his command about three miles back, where it then was, form his infantry on a ridge, covered with high sedge grass, which would command nearly a mile of corduroy road, over which any troops would be compelled to pass should they follow him. Grierson would gradually fall back, and on nearing the point would stampede his cavalry, as if routed. He believed that Forrest would be drawn into such a trap. 

Had Forrest followed Grierson, as he probably would under the circumstances, his forces would have been swept from the face of the earth, for they could not have turned back, and to have gotten off the corduroy would have been to sink in the mire beyond hope of succor.

But General Sturgis was not in a frame of mind to listen to suggestions from a subordinate officer, much less a volunteer, and so "West Point" and whiskey asserted themselves. 

An order [by Sturgis]...compelled the large train of more than two hundred wagons to be taken over the long corduroy road and a narrow bridge, over which but one wagon at a time could pass, close up to the front; and there, in plain sight of the Confederates, and in easy range of their artillery, the train was parked! Should Sturgis be forced to retreat, it would be simply impossible to get his wagons back over this narrow bridge, and at no other place could they cross. It would have been impossible for them to cross the bottom over the deep morass. The only road was the corduroy leading to the bridge.

No sane person could excuse any officer who would push his train forward so rapidly, and near where an uncertain battle was in progress, over a road which precluded even a possibility of saving it in case he was defeated. 

Memoir of Jean Baptiste Faribault

Memoir of Jean Baptiste Faribault:

Bartholomew Faribault, the father of the subject of this memoir...was so prominent, that he received from the government the important appointment of Military Secretary to the French army in Canada, then under the command of Montcalm. He came to Canada, entered upon his duties, and continued to discharge them until the 12th September, 1759, the day which witnessed the defeat of the French under the walls of Quebec, by the British forces commanded by the gallant General Wolfe... .

Source - Eastern North America, 1763

Jean Baptiste Faribault was born in Berthier, Canada, in 1774, one of 10 children, 4 of whom reached adulthood.

It was only by the combined influence and persuasion of his kindred and friends, that he was prevented from encountering the hardships and dangers of a sailor's life, for which he had early manifested a decided inclination. While thus thwarted, and still uncertain as to his future mode of life, an incident occurred which but for the strong remonstrances of his friends, would have resulted in his entering upon a military career. 

Faribault went to work for the Northwest Fur Company, traveling to Montreal and then to Michilimackinac (Mackinac).

Mackinac Island In The Distance

The station or trading post to which young Faribault was assigned was...not very far from the present site of the city of Chicago. That region being under the jurisdiction of the United States, it was a necessary preliminary that a license to trade be obtained from the proper authorities (from Governor Harrison of the Northwest Territory). Faribault was promoted to a post on the Des Moines river.  He narrowly escaped assassination... .

During the third year of his residence at Little Rapids [yet another post], Mr. Faribault married a widow, the daughter [some sources say widow] of a Mr. Hanse, who had been previously Superintendent of Indian Affairs. This event precluded any idea of Mr. F.'s return to Canada.

The combined force of militia and Indians, upon their arrival at Prairie du Chien, made preparations to attack the American post. Mrs. F. supposed her husband to have proceeded to Mackinac, and had no idea that he was a prisoner in the hands of the attacking party.

The wife of Jean Baptiste Faribault died at Mendota June 19, 1847.

Faribault's son-in-law was Major [Stern H.] Fowler, the husband of daughter Emily.  Mr. Faribault died 20 August 1860 at his daughter's house.

United States Census, 1860

name:  Isan B Fauland [sic]

residence: , Rice, Minnesota

ward: Township Of Fanbault [sic]

age: 85 years

estimated birth year: 1775

birthplace: Canada E

gender:  Male

See de Salaberry post in War of 1812 for related information.

John Dodge In Sandusky

NARRATIVE

OF

MR. JOHN DODGE

DURING HIS CAPTIVITY

AT DETROIT

The narrative of John Dodge is one of the records of frontier life during the period of the American Revolution that displays the intense feeling of hatred and unfairness evinced by the British soldiers to the American rebels. It was written and published during the time of the greatest excitement in the West—the scene of the Narrative—and is historically valuable because of being contemporary with the events in question.

He was born in Connecticut, July 12, 1751.... .

Source: Richardson book

Before John had reached his nineteenth year he had wandered into the northern part of the Ohio district and had entered into business as a trader in Sandusky. He was familiar with the Indian language used in his neighborhood and frequently acted as interpreter.

From John Montour's story:

In late April 1778, [British] Lieutenant Governor Hamilton informed Sir Guy Carleton that in late January of that year, John Montour [the son of a Metis trader and a Native American mother] helped three Virginia prisoners escape from Detroit.

Why would Montour take such a risk? Even if he had succeeded and had not suffered imprisonment, he would have lost what trust Hamilton placed in him. Perhaps part of the answer can be found in the identity of one of the prisoners. The evidence strongly suggests that John Dodge, an American trader in the Sandusky villages, was one of the escapees.

The connection is important because John Montour and John Dodge were friends.

Cahaba POWS Perished On The Sultana

Cahaba was a Prisoner of War camp where Union prisoners were held.  After being released, the POWs were heading home to the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia.  They boarded the Sultana to take them home; there were survivors, but many died when the Sultana exploded in the Mississippi River.

River at Cahaba, Alabama  

Cahaba Prison (Castle Morgan)

...the steamer "Sultana"...over 1,700 passengers [perished], mostly exchanged prisoners of war... . ...[there was] a terrific explosion (when the boiler burst)... .

Source (Sultana)

She [the Sultana] was a regular St. Louis and New Orleans packet, and left the latter port on her fatal trip April 21, 1865, arriving at Vicksburg, Miss., with about two hundred passengers and crew on board.

  ...on board [were] 1,965 federal soldiers and 35 officers just released from the rebel prisons at Cahaba, Ala., Macon and Andersonville, Ga.... . Besides these there were two companies of infantry under arms, making a grand total of 2,300 souls on board, besides a number of mules and horses, and over one hundred hogsheads of sugar, the latter being in the hold of the boat and serving as ballast. [Source]

A Day In The Life Of Henry Hamilton, POW

3d. We lay at a Major Bletsoe's* farm, where we were told the country people had designed to assemble & knock us on the head--Tho we considered this as only meant to prevent our having any conversation with them, we thought it adviseable to stay within--we breakfasted at Colonel Shelby's plantation, where we were very frankly entertained --The Farm in extraordinary good order and condition, we were shown a black Stallion one of the first creatures of his sort I ever saw--at night we slept at a Captain Thompson's, where riches could not keep penury out of doors--we did not get our dinner till eleven at night, and this made us see economy in no favorable light--


*Note: Major Bletsoe was Major Anthony Bledsoe who lived near Sapling Grove or the present Bristol.

The above entry from Henry Hamilton and George Rogers Clark in the American Revolution, with the unpublished Journal of Henry Hamilton".

From: Shelby's Fort and Squabble State

"...overlooking the site of Bristol....The BLEDSOES...located on land adjoining the SHELBYS. The BEELERS owned the tract of land on Cedar Creek known as Sapling Grove." 

Castle Morgan At Cahaba

There was nothing romantic about Castle Morgan; it was a Prisoner of War camp in Alabama.  Jesse Hawes  (1843-1901) wrote Cahaba, A Story of Captive Boys In Blue, about it.

From the Introduction:  "Incidentally, the pages following are an humble monument to the endurance, the patience, the fortitude, the unswerving loyalty and patriotism of that class of men who, numerically, constituted the great mass of the army--it's non-commissioned officers and privates."

A view of the site of Castle Morgan

Author, Explorer and Soldier Willard Glazier

 Sword And Pen: or, Ventures And Adventures Of Willard Glazier In War...by John Algernon Owens, tells the story of Glazier, who was a captain in the Union Army during the Civil War when he was captured and held in Libby Prison.  His imprisonment at Libby and other venues as well as his escape(s) were documented in Glazier's book, The Capture, The Prison Pen, and the Escape..., published in 1867.

This post in my "Relatively Fiction" blog featured Captain Glazier's book because Capt. James A. Rice, my great-great grandfather, had similar experiences while being held as a POW.  They were both held at Libby Prison as well as Columbia, South Carolina and Macon, Georgia the same time frame.

"The early married life of Ward Glazier (Willard's father) was passed upon the farm first cleared and cultivated by his father (Jabez) and which has since become known to the neighborhood as the Old Glazier Homestead This farm is situated in the township of Fowler (New York) midway between the small villages of Little York and Fullersville."

As Willard Glazier grew up and continued his education, he eventually secured a position as a school teacher and became known as the "Soldier-Schoolmaster."

Soldier-Schoolmaster Glazier became a bona fide soldier in the Civil War as part of the Harris Light Cavalry (2nd NY Cavalry).  On this roster of the 2nd New York Willard Glazier was listed as killed in action!

"...the young corporal (Glazier) was successful in his recruiting service and on the second day of December rejoined his comrades who were then at Camp Palmer Arlington Heights. This spot was one of peculiar beauty Its associations were hallowed There stood the ancestral home of the [Robert E.] Lees... ."

"As the Harris Light enjoyed throughout this campaign of magnificent possibilities the honor of being Little Mac's (General McClellan's) body guard... ."

There were other actions before Capt. Glazier was captured and sent to Libby Prison was was recounted in his own book, The Capture, The Prison Pen, and the Escape... .

After the war "...our soldier author found himself not only famous but through the enormous sale of his books in comparatively affluent circumstances.

Willard Glazier embarked on a journey from Boston to San Francisco on horseback in 1876 in part to commemorate the 100th anniversary of America's independence.  While enroute and "in Cleveland the terrible news of the massacre of General Custer by the Indians reached Captain Glazier who as a cavalry officer had seen service with him in the late war and felt for him that respect and love which only a true soldier knows for a brave leader."  Glazier went to Monroe, Michigan, where he donated his lecture fee to the Custer Monument Fund.  While in Monroe, Glazier conferred with General Custer's aged father.  Glazier then spoke in Detroit, at St. Andrew's Hall on July 31, 1876, and also donated those fees ($40.00) to the Custer fund.

As Glazier continued his journey, he was subjected to another capture: "Suddenly over a slight elevation in the land appeared a body of Indians in number about thirteen or fourteen. The Indians now advancing upon them were clearly not on a friendly errand and were pronounced by the herders to be a detachment of the Arapahoes. They were decked in their war paint and on seeing the white men immediately raised their war shout which as travelers on the plains are aware always indicates an intention to attack."  He subsequently escaped and continued to California.

After the return trip East Glazier purchased his old homestead for the comfort of his aged parents. 

The book, "Sword and Pen..." was published in 1882, many years before Willard Glazier's death in 1905.

The Civil War Through The Eyes Of A POW Who Experiences Were Eerily Similar To Those Of My Great-Great Grandfather James A. Rice

The Capture, The Prison Pen, and the Escape....by Willard W. Glazier, Brevet Captain, New York Vol. Cavalry, published in 1867 contained stories of battles prior to his capture and then details from the time Captain Glazier spent as a prisoner of war.

Captain Glazier's capture:

The move from Libby Prison:

Enroute to the Confederate prison at Macon, Georgia (where Captain James A. Rice was also held):

Capt. Glazier was moved to Charleston in the interim and then on to Columbia, South Carolina (a move to Columbia was also made by my POW ancestor, Captain James A. Rice):

Glazier's escape from Columbia:

 

After a successful escape, Capt. Glazier found himself in Savannah, Georgia, coinciding with General Sherman's arrival:

My ancestor, J.A. (James Alexander) Rice, 73d Ill. Vols., of Harrisburg, Ill., is listed in the Appendix:

A separate publication described Libby Prison:

This is a reprint of Official Publication #12, Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee, 1961- 1965, no copyright claimed, but the original was compiled by R. W. Wiatt, Jr.

The most famous prison of the Civil War was located in Richmond, Virginia. It consisted of three tenement buildings,each 110 x 44 feet, 4 stories high.

The prisoners were not kept on the ground floors. The west ground floor was used as offices and guard-rooms and the middle as the kitchen. There are prisoner references to rooms called by them, "Streight's Room", "Milroy's Room", and Chickamauga Room". The cellars contained cells for dangerous prisoners, spies and slaves under sentence of death, and a carpenter shop.

The City of Richmond has located an interpretive sign on the Libby Prison site at 20th and Cary Streets.

Willard Glazier's obituary was published in the New York Times on April 27, 1905:

Colonel Willard Glazier "Author, Soldier and Explorer" died April 26, 1905, at his home in Albany, NY.  He was born in 1841 in Fowler, St. Lawrence Co., New York.  He was a school teacher in his younger years.  He served in the Northern Army and was held at Libby Prison.  In 1876 he rode from Boston to San Francisco on horseback in 200 days.  His trip was interrupted when he was captured by Indians near Skull Rocks, Wyoming; he escaped on one of their own mustangs.  In 1881 he voyaged by canoe from the mouth of the Mississippi River some 3,000 miles.