Roads, References, Civil War Era: Spring Place, Georgia, and Red Clay, Tennessee

Roads, References, Civil War Era

Spring Place, Georgia
Red Clay, Georgia (Red Clay, Tennessee)

Reference to the main Dalton Road running between Spring Place and Red Clay:

In Original Records, Congressional Serial Set, House, 51st Congress, 2nd Session, 1890-1891 (Chapter 44), page 499, that is, O.R., Series 1, Vol. 32, Part 3 (Chapter 44), page 499:

Ed M. McCook makes reference to a place between Spring Place and Red Clay, and mentions a road in that vicinity that he calls "the main Dalton Road." (Originally, I interpreted this as a road running directly between Red Clay and Spring Place, and that he is referring to it as the main Dalton road. But he actually said his scouts were scouting "between Spring Place and Red Clay, on main Dalton road" (which could mean that the road is in that area, but may not specifically connect those two places, Red Clay and Spring Place).

--O.R., Ser. 1, Vol. 32, Part 3 (Ch. 44), pg. 499

Here is the letter:

Hdqrs. First Cav. Div., Dept. of the Cumberland,
    Cleveland, April 26, 1864.
Brig. Gen. W. D. Whipple, Chief of Staff, &c.:
    General: Everything has been quiet in our front to-day. Smith and Chandler, two of my scouts, went yesterday, between Spring Place and Red Clay, on main Dalton road, within 4 1/2 or 5 miles of Dalton. The rebel cavalry pickets are on this side of the Connesauga River at Kenyon's. They have a very strong line of infantry pickets 4 miles from town. Elijah Tucker, a Union citizen, left Dalton the day before yesterday. He says that there are very few troops there, not more, he thinks, than 500. Most of their troops are between Buzzard Roost and Tunnel Hill, and their number is given by rumor at from 30,000 to 40,000. Harrison's and Dibrell's brigades, with six pieces of artillery, are at the water-tank, 1 1/2 miles below Dalton. The rest of Wheeler's cavalry is between Tunnel Hill and Kenyon's place.
    No citizens are permitted to pass the lines. There are no fortifications at Dalton, but it is reported that the enemy is fortified at Buzzard Roost.
    I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                             EDWARD M. McCOOK,
                                 Colonel, Commanding.

--O.R., Ser. 1, Vol. 32, Part 3 (Ch. 44), pg. 499

Red Clay was on the Georgia-Tennessee state line, north of Dalton, Georgia, and south west of Cleveland, Tennessee. The map of the Chickamauga Campaign shows Red Clay (the railroad station) right on the Tennessee line, the major area of it just slightly to the south of the line.

Map of the Chickamauga Campaign, Showing Red Clay
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickamauga_campaign#/media/File:Chickamauga_Campaign_Aug-Sep.png

Current/Modern References:

Red Clay State Historic Park is in Tennessee: 1140 Red Clay Park Rd SW, Cleveland, TN 37311

The park relates to the history of the Cherokee Nation.

Relevance: References to Roads and Place Names, Civil War era

Tasso, Bradley County, Tennessee: Road References and Place Names

Tasso, Tennessee

Road References and Place Names

References, Random, Selected

These are notes and references salvaged from a Google Map I printed. I was trying to relate old Civil War place name references to modern roads. It seems as though this was part of my Eli Long research, but I can't be sure now. Everything is out of context. Tasso was not part of the route, I don't think, but was one of the place names I was using to get oriented to the Charleston, Tennessee, area, and surrounding communities. Tasso had been mentioned in some unrelated Civil War episode; that is, an episode not directly related to my Eli Long research--just related by War events occurring in a certain region at a certain time.

Tasso, Bradley County, Tennessee

Tasso, a residential community, is part of an area known as Chatata; it was in existence before the Civil War. The place has no numbered highways. It is served by Tasso Lane (connecting Old Highway 11) and Dry Valley Road (connecting Charleston). Other major roads: Old Charleston Road, Urbane Road, Jenkins Road.

Civil War Reference:

Spring 1864: A Confederate train (reportedly) chased a Union train near Tasso.

Wiki source for Tasso Train Chase: 

Bradley County Tennessee Lost Confederate Payroll
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/civil-war/155765-bradley-county-tenn-lost-confederate-payroll.html

--via Treasurenet.com (accessed 27 Dec. 2009; retrieved 23 April 2014).

My note says that Tasso is not relevant to the following route, that Tasso is on the road just east of Cleveland, Tennessee. The following route would be well west of Tasso.

Route from Charleston, Tennessee, to 798 Coffey Church Road, Crandall, Georgia (place names selected simply to force the route to display on a modern map):

Google Map of the Area Between Charleston, Tennessee, and Crandall, Georgia
https://goo.gl/maps/b1iRVgR4L8XMDqD4A

My scribbled notes were on a Google Map I printed, showing directions from Charleston, Tennessee, to 798 Coffey Church Road, Crandall, Georgia, with 'stops' on Chatata Valley Road and in Climer, Tennessee (where the Benton Pike crosses the main road). I do know that I only specified these places (used for the directions), to force the map to follow Chatata Valley Road, and I think this whole project was an effort to trace Col. Eli Long's route down through the mountains toward Georgia in early 1864 (probably the Feb. 1864 expedition toward Red Clay, then Dalton). I'm not sure about that, but I know I was tracing a route, and I was using place names from correspondence and reports in O.R. to trace the route and try to relate it to modern-day roads. I also noted elsewhere that a regional map (about 1863-1865 era) shows a relatively smooth, easy road going from Charleston, Tennessee, south to Spring Place, Georgia, but that in reality, that would not be possible. That map shows the road cutting across the top of mountains slantwise; the actual road would have had to be rougher and much curvier, seeking out gaps and easier inclines to cross those mountains. (You can see that road, east of the railroad, curving south/southeast from Charleston, going smoothly across the mountains down toward what today would be Benton Pike, west of Benton).


Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division: Mountain 
Region of NC and Tenn (dtl, Columbus, Tenn. area (small cropped section of a large map)

Skirmishes and Union Capture of Tunnel Hill Pass, Feb. 1864; Deplorable Condition of First Brigade Cavalry Horses; Lack of Forage

On February 24, 1864, Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Inspector-General, R. O. Selfridge, writes to Lieutenant-Colonel J.S. Fullerton, Assistant Adjutant-General, from Headquarters of the Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, (U.S.) at Madisonville (Tennessee) some reports on activities near Loudon (Tennessee). In that correspondence, he also mentions the deplorable condition of Col. (Archibald P.) Campbell's First Brigade Cavalry, for want of forage for their horses. The men, also, had been without clothing and supplies, but he does mention that some arrived "last night." He complains of lax discipline, as well.

"The First Brigade, Colonel Campbell, which has been on the Citico Creek, 6 miles above Motley's, marched yesterday to a point 5 miles south of this place, and is now there. This is the only part of the command that I have yet seen, and it is in sufficiently deplorable condition. The men are in good condition physically, but much in need of clothing, which I was glad to see arrive last night. But the horses are reduced to almost the last stage, and unless forage can be speedily procured, the entire command must be speedily dismounted. The horses, besides being starved, are sore-backed, sore-footed, and presently a sorry sight. Discipline is lax, and the whole command seems loose and unserviceable. It will want a terrible deal of pains to make it effective again. Of about 900 men for duty, 300 are dismounted."

O.R., Vol. 32, Pt. 2 (Correspondence, Etc.), pages 457-458
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152633/m1/457/

Below that, on the same page, is Major-General Gordon Granger's endorsement of Selfridge's assessment. Granger writes from Headquarters of U.S. Forces at Loudon (Tennessee), on February 25, 1864, to General Commanding Department Headquarters:

"I cannot see the possibility of longer subsisting our cavalry upon the country, as nearly every nook and corner is exhausted of forage and subsistence. The only means of keeping it alive is by bringing supplies by the cars and boat. About seven cars per day are required to maintain the cavalry along the railroad between this and Charleston [Tennessee]. Unless this is attended to at once we will be minus cavalry within three weeks."

                                                         G. Granger
                                                         Major-General, Commanding

O.R., Vol. 32, Pt. 2 (Correspondence, Etc.), page 458
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152633/m1/458/


Just one day before that, General Thomas had written to General Grant of skirmishes at Tunnel Hill, near Dalton, Georgia. The correspondence is dated Chattanooga, Feb. 24, 1864, 4 a.m., and says, "Reports from the front just received." Thomas goes on to say that his skirmishers drove the enemy for four miles "through Tunnel Hill on the double-quick." He says

"Colonel Long went within 3 1/2 miles of Dalton, and drove a regiment of infantry out of winter quarters. Our main force camped within 3 miles of Tunnel Hill last night, and will be on the road to Dalton to-morrow night."

At 10 a.m., General Grant responded to General Thomas

"Your dispatch received. Push the enemy as far as possible. If unable to carry Dalton, keep, at any rate, a heavy force threatening it, so as to hold all the enemy there. Sherman's safety may be dependent upon your efforts. Should you drive the enemy out of Dalton, follow him as far as possible. If you have sufficiently recovered your health, I would like to have you go out to the front in person, if only to see the situation of affairs and return."

                                                                  U.S. Grant,
                                                                  Major-General

At 9 p.m. on the 24th, General Thomas writes back that "we have just gained possession of Tunnel Hill pass; small loss." He then goes on to report on a dispatch from McCook concerning cavalry actions near Murphy, N.C. Further miscellaneous correspondence on page 459 and subsequent pages give a few more details about Dalton.

O.R., Vol. 32, Pt. 2 (Correspondence, Etc.), pages 458-459
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152633/m1/458/

Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia: Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour, Tunnel Hill to Resaca (link)

Link to the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia's Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour: Tunnel Hill to Resaca in PDF format.

Atlanta Campaign Driving Tour: Tunnel Hill to Resaca
http://bit.ly/BandyHeritageCenter-NW-GA-AtlantaCampaign-Tunnel-Hill-to-Resaca

Original Long URL:

http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/Content/Uploads/Bandy%20Heritage%20Center/files/Driving%20Tour%20Part%201_Tunnel%20Hill%20to%20Cassville.pdf

Slight Changes in Our Profile

Muse's Civil War came about as a kind of offshoot of Southern Muse, a virtual identity we have used for about two decades. We would have liked to build it as part of SouthernMuse.com (our own domain), but this proved difficult. So, we built it on Blogger. We recently moved our other domain to Google. We can't easily move all the content of this blog to that domain, but we can connect them by authorship. Our posts may now show "Southern Muse" or "The Muse Herself," depending on whether we are working in Blogger or G Suites for the day. Since this blog is mainly an informative blog instead of an expressive blog, it shouldn't make much difference in the blog itself. We hope the change is fairly seamless. We do not expect any interruptions in service.

Augustus Yenner Diary, Civil War, University of Michigan (Link)

Link to

Diary of Augustus L. Yenner

This is a wonderful Civil War Diary--it's like strange modern poetry!

He was with the Union army as it came through Ringgold, crossed Conasauga "Creek," and other places relevant to my research.

Augustus L. Yenner Diary
in the United States Civil War Collection
Bentley Library
University of Michigan

http://name.umdl.umich.edu/USCW002.0001.001



Long URL: 

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=civilwar1;cc=civilwar1;q1=REG%3DConasauga%20Creek%20%20Tenn.;rgn=div1;view=toc;idno=USCW002.0001.001;node=USCW002.0001.001%3A323

Sacks of Wheat Marked C.S.A.

Civil War, Minor Event in Murray County
Georgia, March 1864 (Just for Reference)

Murray County, Georgia, mid-March 1864
Callaway's Mill: U.S. troops find sacks of wheat marked "C.S.A." They considered burning the wheat--not sure if they followed through.

Callaway's Mill, Sacks of Wheat
O.R. I, Vol. 32, Pt. 3, page 101
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152650/m1/110/

Nearby areas: Conasauga River. Waterhouse's house, 4 miles from Callaway's Mill. Related correspondence is on the preceding page and perhaps subsequent pages.

Located in a rural area of Crandall, Georgia (modern postal route), just west of modern-day GA Hwy. 225, east of the segment of GA Hwy. 2 that runs to Beaverdale community, and on toward the town of Varnell. Local roads in area: Sugar Creek Road, Weber Road, Carlton Petty Road, Colvard Road, Halls Chapel Road (where it intersects Hwy. 225). For example: Colvard Road, Crandall, GA, is one I often use to get my bearings; then view the fields west of there. There were several old mills in the area, and they are long gone, so I can't get more specific than that right now. Besides, most of these sites are on private property.

Research Notes for Reference
(not specified in the linked source):

Cohutta Springs, as a town, is no longer extant. Cohutta Springs, as a place name, designated several different sites, including the area where these old mills were located.

Nearby Modern Cities and Towns, Creeks:

Cleveland, Bradley Co., Tennessee (11-15 miles north; Cleveland was extant in C.W. times. U.S. Army occupied it from about Dec. 1863 to May 1864, then marched out to fight at Dalton, Resaca, etcetera); site of some demonstrations and skirmishes.

Red Clay Station (or) Red Clay, Georgia (Tennessee border,  well northwest). Occupied by U.S. troops, late 1863 to at least 1864.

Varnell's Station (or) Varnell, Georgia (well west of area); some skirmishes; part of area of battles for Daltin, GA.

Tunnell Hill, Georgia (well northwest); site of several battles and skirmishes, related to Battles for Dalto, GA.

Dalton, Georgia (well west). Confederate Army headquartered there, late 1863 to May 1864. Later occupied by Federal Troops. Had battles and skirmishes.

Spring Place, Georgia (few miles south; is in Murray County). Occupied by Confederates in 1863 and 1864. Some skirmishing, guerrilla activity, 1864 to 1865. Cite of Chief Vann House, now part of the Georgia State Park system.

Some Modern References:

Cisco, Murray Co., Georgia, unincorporated town (northeast of mill area; appears on some old maps, but usually not referenced in old documents).

Chatsworth, Murray Co., Georgia; (few miles south of area: but the postal area of Chatsworth now encompasses a very large portion of Murray County, overlapping other "town" and GPS areas, such as Eton).

Crandall, Murray Co., Georgia. For locating certain sites by GPS, this place name encompasses an area all the way from GA Hwy. 225 to U.S. Hwy. 411 and a bit further east. The town of Crandall (such as it is/was) was just east of U.S. Hwy. 411. Crandall's Post Office, near the old historic mineral spring, is currently located on U.S. Hwy. 411, due south of Ocoee, Tennessee. Crandall Post Office is five miles east of the Civil War places in the above-cited O.R. I, Vol. 32, Pt. 3 (such as Callaway's Mill and Waterhouse's); nevertheless, the roads there will come up in GPS as "Crandall" addresses.