General Felix Prince Salm-Salm

General Felix Prince Salm-Salm was a foreign prince who loved to fight in wars. After fighting in his own country, he offered his services to other countries. He fought in the U.S. Civil War. Toward the end of the war, he was put in charge of securing the railroads in North Georgia, Alabama, and other places. He was mentioned in a pension, and in tracking down references, he became part of my research. His involvement in my story is brief--just a mention.

In the pension, I think his name was given as General Prince Samsams (and the handwriting even made the spelling of the surname questionable--I tried searching Samson, Samsons, etc.). Outside of the pension, I think my first clue to his identity was a mention in the appendix section of History of The Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee. (I'll get that page later).

Internet lookups would have been easier if I had had the proper spelling of his name, but I finally found him (Salm-Salm) and found some brief biographical sketches on him. Eventually I found quite a few references, but apparently never put them on this blog. So... just for the moment, here is one reference from Official Records.

January 1865
Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 45, Part 2 (Correspondence, etc.), page 601
Correspondence from Col. Felix Prince Salm to Maj. S. B. Moe
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth142229/m1/615/
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth142229/m1/615/
(Elsewhere indexed as serial 094).

Later in his life, he fought for at least one other country. Will add more to this post.

Official Records - Index or Chapter Locator

The eHistory section of the Department of History of Ohio State University provides HTML versions of the text in Official Records. Some segments are missing, according to that site, but there are quite a few records online. The recordss here are listed by Series, Volume, Part, Serial no., and Campaign.

Department of History, Ohio State University
War of the Rebellion: Index
https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/index

A Portal to Texas History (site) provides full text of many volumes of the Official Records.
They have a searchbar, but it leads to many, many databases or source books.
A Portal to Texas History

https://texashistory.unt.edu/

I have indexed a few of the volumes and have them listed by volume as individual post titles (see blog sidebar).

McDougall Map by Muse for Personal Research Project: Towns, Communities, Old Routes, Places Mentioned in Official Records

This informal map is part of my personal research project on McDougall, but I am making it public. I marked routes from McMinn County, Tennessee, down to Murray County, Georgia, some significant spots in Whitfield County, Georgia (near Rocky Face Ridge), Chickamauga, and places on Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain. Not all of these places are historic. I have included some modern towns for orientation and reference. This is a work in progress, so some of my information may be inaccurate. This is my attempt to locate specific places mentioned in my own projects, including some obsolete towns, some places of significance during the Civil War, some historic markers, and some post-war towns. I've tried to figure out driving routes for a few places. In Murray and Whitfield Counties, in Georgia, I've included approximate locations for a few land lots, as best I could identify them. As I said, it's a work in progress, all very informal, and not perfectly accurate.

Events of May 1864, Battle of Rocky Face Ridge (with Dalton and Tunnel Hill), Georgia: Confederate Report, Alexander P. Stewart

Battle of Rocky Face Ridge in The Atlanta Campaign

May 1864

Finding Aid for a Confederate Report in Official Records

Report no. 654 by Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart, Confederate States Army, commanding division, of operations May 7-27.

Report Date: 5 June 1864 (from):

Headquarters Stewart's Division, Hood's Corps, Army of Tennessee,
In the Field, Paulding County, Ga.

Events, 7-27 May 1864

• Description of skirmishes around Mill Creek Gap, Tunnel Hill Ridge, etc.
• Position of Confederates entrenched on the ridges
• Mention of the entrenchments and breastworks (breast-heights)

(and more)

Official Records, Series 1, vol. 38 (in five parts), Part 3, page 816-818.

Report no. 654 by Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart, C.S. Army
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154634/m1/833/

[Finding Aid, Link]

Citation for this page provided by 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 38, In Five Parts. Part 3, Reports., book, 1891; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth154634/m1/833/: accessed August 14, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.

The battles are referenced different ways in different correspondence; below are some of the terms that might help when searching these battles:

Confederate References: Battle of Rocky Face Ridge, Mill Creek Gap, Crow Valley, Tunnel Hill, Varnell's Station

Union References: Demonstration on Dalton, Georgia ; Ringgold, Varnell's Station, Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost ; Rocky Face Ridge (or) Rocky Faced Ridge

Subsequent Movement: Union troops moved through Snake Creek Gap toward Resaca, Georgia, leading up to a battle there.

Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War (Database Links)

For searching Michigan soldiers in the Civil War, this is great resource is online at several sites. In some sites, the volumes are both searchable and browseable, though for browsing, it is most helpful to know the soldier's name, branch of service, and regiment. Typically the summary of the soldier's career will include (but is not limited to) the name, rank, company, regiment, age at enlistment, date of enlistment, place of enlistment, promotions, captures and wounds, and date and place of discharge (or death).

Record of service of Michigan volunteers in the civil war, 1861-1865 (volumes 1-46). Pub. by authority of the Senate and House of representatives of the Michigan Legislature under the direction of Brig. Gen. Geo. H. Brown, adjutant general.

Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers In the Civil War, 1861-1865, vols. 1-46.
Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers (database)

The source I used to search for soldiers in the Second Michigan Cavalry was volume 32 in the above series, two copies made available by the University of Michigan, and another, by Michigan State University. This is one of the University of Michigan copies, with link):

Service of Michigan Volunteers In the Civil War, 1861-1865, Vol. 32. Michigan, Adjutant-General’s Dept. (Kalamazoo, Mich.: Ihling bros. & Everard, printers, 190-), Hathitrust Digital Library, babel.hathitrust.org.
Link to Volume 32 (not sure it will work, no permanent link was given): 
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071160736&view=2up&seq=8

The same resource is searchable on Ancestry.com, though I noticed that the search mechanism doesn't seem to retrieve results well with the soldier's given name--just the surname. The series is browseable as well as searchable. This link is to a catalog of all volumes in the series:

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/genealogy-glh20944174/

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)