In Memory of Their Sacrifice
By Terri Robinson
Sunlight filtered through the trees on a hillside where an orchard once grew. A soft, gentle late September breeze tickled ferns growing beside the mountain creek. Then, for the first time in over one hundred forty years, the sound of cannon and musket fire scattered the birds from the trees and reverberated throughout the holler called Big Branch of Abbott Creek in Floyd County, Kentucky.
Re-enactors from the Commonwealth Battery (Arnold, Caudill, Reed, May, and McGuire Camps) of the SCV conducted a dedication ceremony for the monument placed in the old family cemetery in honor of Pvt. George W. Miller. Being descended from five Confederate great-great-grandfathers, witnessing this event brought to life this part of my heritage in such a manner that I felt transported back across those one hundred forty years.
Presiding over the Dedication Ceremony was Les Williamson, Adjutant of the E. F. Author Camp #1783. Following the Welcome and Invocation, the personal history and unit information was narrated about my great, great-grandfather. George W. Miller enlisted October 27, 1862 at Salyersville, MagoffinCounty, in Company E, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry. Private Miller was wounded during the Battle of Blountville, TN that took place on September 22, 1863. He was carried off the field of battle by his brother, A. J. Miller, and William “Hawk” Sizemore. In the line of fire of both armies was Medical Grove, the first brick house in Sullivan County, TN, built by the Dulaney family in 1799. The battle lasted four hours and during that time Dr. Nathaniel T. Dulaney, a surgeon in the Confederate army, assisted in caring for the wounded in the MethodistChurch which was being used as a temporary hospital. Most likely Pvt. Miller would have been carried there by his brother and friend for treatment. Later returning to his unit, he was eventually captured and refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the Union, G. W. Miller was not released from Federal (Union) prison in Talladega, Alabama until May 22, 1865.
The hymn, “Wearing of the Gray” was sung before the monument unveiling. Prior to removing the Confederate battle flag, explanation was briefly made that this spot had been selected because the Miller family had at one time owned most all of Big Branch and Pvt. George W. Miller had himself owned the property where the cemetery is located. He is buried in an unknown location on this mountain.
Three cannons were fired, followed by a gun salute with muskets and pistols. “Dixie” was sung and before the Benediction, as would have been the custom during the war, a bottle of moonshine was passed around the soldiers by Les Williamson, with a toast made to Pvt. Miller. The remaining contents were then poured in front of the monument.
Mentally and, almost physically, pulling myself back to the present. I truly experienced what it meant to be a Confederate great, great-grandfather. In addition to George W. Miller, my eastern Kentucky great, great-grandfathers, Shelby Wallen and Henry Hall, also joined the Confederacy in defense of their homes when invaded by the Union Army. From Virginia, on my paternal side, James Allen Wine enlisted with the 2nd Rockbridge Artillery, served all four years, losing the use of his left arm during the battle of Fredericksburg. Returning to action, he was present at Gettysburg.
Shelby Wallen was a private in Company C of the 10th Kentucky Mounted Rifles, which later became the 13th Kentucky Cavalry, CSA. He was captured at Gladesville, Virginia on July 7, 1863 and transferred to Kemper Barracks, Cincinnati, Ohio on July 18, 1863 then immediately on the 19th sent as a POW to CampChase, Columbus, Ohio. On August 24, 1863 he again was transferred, first to CampDouglas, Chicago, Illinois where he remained until February 24, 1865 when he was delivered to Point Lookout, MD for exchange. Although no record has survived of his exchange, most likely he would have been exchanged at Aiken’s Landing, VA and returned to Confederate lines.
Henry Hall served as a private in Company F, of the 13th Kentucky Cavalry, having enlisted in FloydCounty on October 14, 1862 for a period of three years under Col. Caudill. Extensive records were not located at NARA. Henry Hall was married to Frances J. Caudill, 2nd cousin once removed of Col. Benjamin Caudill.
The 13th Kentucky Cavalry C. S. A. was formed by Col. Benjamin E. Caudill in September 1862 at Whitesburg. This regiment served under Longstreet in the Knoxville campaign and under Gen. John H. Morgan during his last Kentucky raid in 1864. Later they fought in the Battle of Saltville, Virginia and were disbanded on April 12, 1865 near Christiansburg, VA following the surrender of Lee.
Extensive genealogy research and rereading of history have brought to light the deeds and service records for the cause my ancestors chose to defend. Seeking to envision their motivation to join the Confederacy, when the state of Kentucky had declared neutrality, I now recognize the ancient heritage that stirred within their consciousness.
From Scotland, some by way of Ireland, along with those along the northern English border, through Virginia, North Carolina then Tennessee, many of my ancestors entered Kentucky through Pound Gap into LetcherCounty. Regardless of the surname, the lineage goes back to the ancient days of tribal lords and the clan structure. From the times of Roman invasion, the sons of the Confederacy were descended from a people accustomed to aggression and the resulting warfare in defense of home and hearth. Within the Appalachian Mountains, these forefathers found the connecting section of geology they had known in Scotland. They were, as they had always been, farmers and, when needed, fighters.
Most often called Scots-Irish, those early settlers emigrated not as plantation owners or tradesmen, but to be free of a dominating authority. Although they brought a religious faith with them, their goal was not to impress that belief on others. Those who inhabited the area far to the west of the eastern seaboard rose to the occasion during the Revolutionary War to once again overthrow an absent landlord.
Ancient memory in the blood again surfaced when my ancestors’ homeland was invaded and, true to their heritage, they took up arms to defend and protect their ridges and hollers. An inborn mistrust for distant central authority was as much a part of their character as was the loyalty to strong clan leaders. Like the Celts, they were reckless and wild with abandonment, bold and daring during battle. As in the days of old, my Scots-Irish great, great-grandfathers maintained their loyalty to John Hunt Morgan and others, rather like the clan chieftain in bygone tradition, and fought as family.
And when the war was over, victory on the battlefield did not include the erasing of the Scots-Irish culture that had sustained the generals of the Confederacy, who were themselves descended from the same strain of Celtic Legacy. Johnston, Stuart, Forrest, Jackson and even Robert E. Lee, through his mother, were descended from those who fought with William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. The Southern soldier from the beginning was outnumbered with fewer supplies and artillery, but he had something the northern soldier did not – a heritage of battle when being overrun by an invading force.
Whatever the private thought were, and the motivation, that inspired Pvt. George W. Miller and my others ancestors to make their decisions, they performed a duty in an era only they understood and under conditions we, as their inheritors, will never know. They played a crucial part in the unfolding history of this country. The memory of sacrifice for a cause they believed in needs to be remembered with honor and respect: and, Freedom.
Serenity now gently veils the hillside cemetery as nature slips into her winter sleep. All those buried throughout the terrain surely know they are remembered. The days of their era are gone, some says as if with the wind. Their spirit lives on in those of us who seek to learn and understand their dedication and sacrifice. May we now, not look away, but look onward by protecting the freedom we inherited from our forefathers.
Terri Robinson continues her special art of storytelling begun in the factual account of her own genealogy in Kentucky Tapestryher second volume, a historical novel, Field Gap. In Field Gap, she weaves a fascinating legend around her own Cherokee great, great, great grandmother. Terri is a graduate of Marshall University with a degree in Journalism, is working on her third book, a novel, entitled Soft Whisper on the Wind. When not at home in North Carolina writing as well as running her own business, this mother of two grown daughters spends much time traveling with her husband doing research for future books.