1864 TN Battlefield Ltr: \"we are in distress\",\"giving the union men hell\" \"hide
![1864 TN Battlefield Ltr: \](img-large/g/0qYAAOSwEjFXdDAa/s-l1600/1864-TN-Battlefield-Ltr-we-are-in-distress-giving-.jpg "1864 TN Battlefield Ltr: \")
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1864 TN Battlefield Ltr: \"we are in distress\",\"giving the union men hell\" \"hide:
$166.50
1864 Battlefield Letter: Bethesda, Tennessee William H. Smithson and William H. Skillington of the 5th Tennessee Cavalry [Union] to Capt [whereabouts unknown] There are great battlefield letters of commanding presence explaining tactics and movements. This is a very different item. It is raw with afear of capture andpleading for someone to come and help. All the men can do ishide in the bushesand wait asHenderson, theConfederate commander has surrounded them. First, this note was probably carried by a courier who had to race to escape. The unit involved here is a part of the 5th [1st Middle Tennessee] Tennessee Cavalry. Organized in Nashville in June and July 1862, it was composed of volunteers from the central portion of Tennessee mainlyDeKalb and Bedford counties. It seems to have fought almost exclusively in Middle Tennessee participating in the battles of Stones River/Murfreesboro, Chickamauga [Georgia] and Nashville but mainly fighting smaller SouthernraidersunderWheeler, Forrest and others. After 1862, it rarely operated as a regiment instead fightingas companies or combinations thereof. It roamed through Carthage, McMinnville, Franklin, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, Sparta, Pulaski, Tullahoma and Nashville. The 5th had a reputation which generally was not good: 1) accused of being slow 2) constantly being admonished for lack of discipline 3)accused of plundering the country and \"insulting unprotected females\" and 4) often said to beAWOL. The real value of the 5th Tennessee was that they knew the countryside as well as the Confederates because they all resided together. This made the conflict sometimes becomean old family feud. Since they were often not given horses, they had to find their own which meant \"plundering\"Confederate sympathizing farms from \"unprotected females\".As their home was often near the areas of campaigning they often left to go see a wife, parents or children aka AWOL. One exasperated commander demanded they be moved to another state in order to be effective. They never were, mustering out in August, 1865. \"Bethesda Tenn [Small community in Williamson County] Sept 8th 1864 Dear Capt [Since all the men identified are part of Company H, the Captain is probably William O. Rickman [William O. Rickman (1833-1868) wasa carpenter from Marshall, later White County Tennessee who commandedCompany H and later the entire Regiment. He fought ex-Confederate guerillas after the War.] This [leaves?] usall well But in distress We Boys started Back to Camps When [wies?] Chapel hill [Chapel Hill is in northeast Marshall County adjacent to WilliamsonCounty 15 miles from Bethesda] We wer metBy a force of, 80, men under Command of Capt Butler [Can find nothing on him except he is a Confederate and is probably not Rhett] and which [?] Was Wound in the thie [thigh] and hand Bill Crafton [served in Company H5th Tennessee, 1826-?possibly from Humphreys County] and Bill Gilaspie [not known] and Andrew Murdock [not known] was Captured and Paroled.[A soldier captured in battle was often paroled as the enemy had no place to keep men. They had to await going back into the army until a soldier of equal rank was given backto the enemy.In this case the men probably went home.] Handerson [probablyHenderson. Not known but might be Col. Robert J. Henderson of the 42nd Georgia who was serving in the Nashville Campaign.It is someone the average soldier wouldknow] is in her a watching us Boys on all sides and we Can not Git out off here We can not Get out to Go to Franklin[County seat of WilliamsonCounty, 15-20 miles away] We have to hide in the Bushes all of the time Captiff youCan Com in here Wye come as soon as you come for We are in distressiff you do not Come We Will all be [?] Old Handerson is in hereand Has (100) men and he is Giving the union[?] men hell Yours once & until Death W.H.Smithson [William Henry Smithson (1833-1917) wasfromWilliamson County and a member of 5th Tennessee Cavalry Company H] W.H. Skillington[William Henry Skillington (1839-?) was from Tennessee and a member of the5th Tennessee Cavalry, CompanyH.] A fabulous and rare battlefield letter asking for help from a small body of the 5th Tennessee Cavalry. Sent folded
1864 TN Battlefield Ltr: \"we are in distress\",\"giving the union men hell\" \"hide:
$166.50