Saltpeter Works in Dekalb County, Alabama, with References from War of the Rebellion series ("Official Records")
I found mentions of the Saltpeter works in Rawlingsville, Dekalb County, Alabama, and nearby places, but so far, references for the destruction of it are in February 1864. There is a mention in one Summary at the beginning of the volume, to its destruction on September 5, 1863, but when I read the reports for that section, I only found mention that the troops were in Rawlingsville on or near that date. I didn't see anything about the destruction of the salt works.In Marshall P. Thatcher's A Hundred Battles in the West..., page 141, the author puts the destruction of a saltpeter works within a period when the soldiers were scouting toward Rome, Georgia, which was sometime around September 9, 1863. It may not be the same salt works. Thatcher, the author, was in the Second Michigan Cavalry under A.P. Campbell, General Stanley's Division at that time (I think--stating this from memory); Stanley's Corps crossed the mountains at Winston's Gap, alongside General Alex McCook's Corps.
Saltpeter Works in Rawlingsville, Dekalb County, Alabama, and others:
These are selected references in Official Records. There may be more to be found.Volume XXXII (Chapter XLIV, in three parts)
Volume 32 (Chapter 44, in three parts).
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/1/
Part 1 (Reports).
Page ??: Summary of the Principal Events (without page refs):
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/22/
Page 6 [Thomas's report begins].
No. 1: Reports of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, U. S. Army, commanding, Department of the Cumberland, of operations January 1-April 30.
Headquarters Department of the Cumberland, Chattanooga, Tenn., March 10, 1864.
Page 8 (mentions saltpeter cave near Fort Payne [Alabama]):
LINK TO PAGE 8, TEXAS HISTORY SITE
[QUOTE]: February 7, Col. William B. Stokes, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, reports from Alexandria, Tenn., that, in pursuance to orders, he had recently scouted in the vicinity of Sparta after certain bands of guerrillas infesting that neighborhood, and had succeeded in killing 17 and capturing 12, besides 20 horses and mules. Another force, under Colonel McConnell, succeeded in killing 23 and capturing 40 of the same gang. Colonel Stokes ascertained that, when concentrated, the guerrillas in that section of the country will number 600 men, finely mounted. A scout also brouoht me information of an attack by Roddey, with a heavy force, upon our troops stationed at Lebanon, De Kalb County, Ala., on the 3d instant. The rebels were repulsed and driven in confusion toward Gadsden, when, learning that Roddey was being re-enforced by Wheeler, our troops withdrew to Sand Mountain, taking possession of saltpeter cave, near Fort Payne. [END QUOTE]
Citation for page 8: United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/29/: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
_______________
Page 128 (mentions destruction of niter works at Rawlingsville [Alabama], February 5, 1864):
Subject: Niter works at Rawlingsville destroyed February 5, 1864. Destroyed by troops of General M. L. Smith, of U.S. Army. Smith's division is in the Fifteenth Army Corps., which is commanded by Major-General John A. Logan.
Heading of Section: Expedition from Scottsborough, Ala.
Pages 127-128:
Link to page 127 (report begins at bottom of that page):
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/148/
Heading of subsection at beginning of report: " January 25--February 5, 1864.--Expedition from Scottsborough, Ala., toward Rome, Ga."
Reports:
No. 1. " Reports of Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, U. S. Army, commanding Fifteenth Army Corps. "
Headed: Scottsborough, Ala., February 6, 1864.
[QUOTE (p.127-128)]: General: Last night my troops under General M. L. Smith returned to the river, having gone in the direction of Rome as far as they could on account of forage, &c. They captured some 50-odd prisoners, destroyed all the niter works at Rawlingsville. Wheeler's force is at Gadsden. [END QUOTE]
Report is signed: Jno. A. Logan, Major-General.
Citation for Rawlingsville search: United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/148/?q=Rawlingsville,: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Link to page 127
Citation for page 128: United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/149/?q=Rawlingsville,: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Permalink for page 128: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/149/
[MY NOTE: If this is the same saltpeter cave which was at Rawlingsville, the historical society for that area has it as being destroyed by troops on September 5, 1863. That fact is mentioned in the volume's summary of events, but I have yet to find a notation on the very date by the officer of the unit which destroys it. This report may be mentioning it after the fact, but doesn't mention the destruction of it.]
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/148/
_____________________
Subject: Saltpeter Cave at Wild Goat Cove [Dekalb Co., Alabama] discovered by Federal troops, April 1864.
Title of Section: April 12-16, 1864.--Reconnaissance from Bridgeport down the Tennessee River to vicinity of Triana, Ala. (begins page 663).
LINK TO PAGE 663, TEXAS HISTORY SITE
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/682/
[Excerpt from: Report of Brig. Gen. John W. Geary, U. S. Army, commanding Second Division, Twelfth Army Corps. Hdqrs. Second Division, Twelfth Army Corps, Bridgeport, Ala., April 16, 1864.]:
Page 665 (mentions saltpeter):
[QUOTE] At Wild Goat Cove, discovered places for manufacturing saltpeter and in this vicinity the banks lined with refugees, some 40 or 50 appearing within a space of little more than a mile. The banks were so overflown with water that men could be landed only with great difficulty and delay, and in most places not at all. [END QUOTE]
Citation for page 665: United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/684/: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
Official Records, Series 1, Volume 32 (Chapter 44), Part 1 (Reports). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891.
Also Alabama Related: Page 664 mentions Seven-Mile Island).
Note: Other events in this volume pertain to the time period when the Union army was crossing Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain, in 1863. The Texas History site is searchable and also has a convenient drop-down box to jump to a page, if page is known.
United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152618/m1/683/: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 32, In Three Parts. Part 1, Reports.
LINK TO PAGE 663, WHERE ABOVE REPORT BEGINS
____________________________
Reference for date of September 5, 1863 (Questionable?) This is from an earlier volume, Volume 30...
SOURCE FOR DATE OF DESTRUCTION OF WORKS AT RAWLINGSVILLE, ALABAMA, AS SEPTEMBER 5, 1863, BUT IS THIS IN ERROR? Because I can't find the actual destruction of them mentioned in this volume--keeping in mind that the source search can be tricky and a bit faulty. The volume searched for this was Cornell University's auto-generated text, which is rife with errors and misspellings, so Rawlingsville might easily be mentioned again as "Raoingsville" or "RaMmngsville" or any crazy thing like that. I've also tried searching Texas History's PDF volume for the event, but without luck. Anyway, here is the reference, from the summary page only, for the September 5th event, if it actually occurred on that date:Volume 30 (Chapter 42, in four parts) (includes "The Chickamauga Campaign"):
Volume XXX (Chapter XXX, in four parts)
Volume 30 (Chapter 42, in four parts)
Part 1 (Reports).
On the summary page of Volume 30 (Chapter 42), Part 1 (Reports), I find this reference, for the first week or so of September 1863, and it does show the saltpeter works at Rawlingsville as being destroyed on September 5, 1863. I just can't find a reference to the actual destruction in this volume. On page 890 of this volume, General Mitchell's report does place McCook's soldiers in Rawlingsville on September 4th, but does not mention the destruction of the salt works.
Section: August 16-September 22, 1863. The Chickamauga Campaign.
______
Volume 30, page 27: Summary of the Principal Events
[Extract of summary page, 1st week of September, plus day or so]:
Sept. 1, 1863.--Skirmishes at Wills Creek and at Davis, Taps, and Neals Gaps, Ala.
3, 1863.--Skirmish near Alpine, Ga.
5, 1863.--Reconnaissance from Winstons Gap into Broomtown Valley, Ala.
Skirmish at Lebanon, Ala.
Skirmish near Alpine, Ga.
Destruction of salt-works at Rawlingsville, Ala.
6, 1863.--Skirmish at Stevens Gap, Ga.
6- 7, 1863.--Skirmishes at Summerville, Ga.
7, 1863.--Skirmish at Stevenson, Ala.
Reconnaissance toward Chattanooga and skirmish in Lookout Valley, Tenn.
8, 1863.--Skirmish at Winston's Gap, Ala.
Skirmish at Alpine, Ga.
PERMANENT URL AT TEXAS HISTORY SITE:
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152978/m1/38/
[Note: One report in this volume mentions that General Stanley's reports are missing. General Stanley, of the Fourth Corps, was ill during this period and finally was relieved temporarily by General Mitchell. I recall that one of the officers was scolded (elsewhere) for not sending in enough reports; that may have been Mitchell. Eventually, General Washington L. Elliott assumed command of the Fourth Corps. SEE BLOG POST ABOUT ELLIOTT].
CITATION FOR ABOVE PAGE AT TEXAS HISTORY SITE:
United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 1, Volume 30, In Four Parts. Part 1, Reports., book, 1890; Washington D.C.. (texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152978/m1/38/: accessed August 8, 2016), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.
LINK TO PAGE , GENERAL MITCHELL's REPORT, PLACING McCOOK's FORCES IN RAWLINGSVILLE ON SEPT. 4, 1863.
URL for my search results of volume 30, for "Rawlingsville," (not clipped from site's permalinks, but, with luck, the URL will work):
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152978/hits/?q=Rawlingsville%2C
LINK: Vol 30, Pt 3, ED M. McCOOK troops returned from RAWLINGSVILLE, Sept. 4, 1863
http://bit.ly/OR_s1-v30-pt3-pg354-E-McCook-at-Rawlingsville (via Google Books)
Related Post(s):
Rawlingsville, Alabama (Obsolete Town)
Hats off to Texas History!!!
(Cornell University's auto-digitized pages even had the volume number wrong! That sure did delay my search!)
No comments:
Post a Comment