As
is well known now, telegraph operators were at a premium in the Confederacy
during the war, 1861-1865, as most of the operators in the South before
the war were Northern men, they returned home when the struggle began.
Major L. L. Daniel, of Victoria, Texas, now on General Van Zant’s staff,
U. C. V., and Col. Philip H. Fall, of Houston, Texas, on Gen. S. D. Lee’s
staff, U. C. V., early enlisted at Vicksburg, one in an artillery company
and the other in the Vicksburg Southtons Company. They were soon detailed
for telegraph work. The writer has recently come into possession of some
interesting minutiae of their work, which played an important part in preventing
the almost complete surprise of the Confederate army at Vicksburg in December,
1862; and being personally cognizant of the incident of the breaking up
of the dance or ball on Christmas Eve, 1862, at Vicksburg, he feels it
is due to the two operators to put on record an account of their valuable
service.
Such accounts
bring out, too, the important part played by the telegraph in war and show
that the real scouting duty was performed in many ways. The operators frequently
ran great risks and endured many hardships in common with the soldiers
in campaign. This incident too gives an insight into the vigilance of both
armies in that mighty struggle.
The second campaign
organized to capture Vicksburg was ably launched. The Confederate army
Qf General Van Dorn, recently defeated at Corinth, was at Grenada, Miss.,
about 22,000 strong; while General Grant’s Union army, about 30,000 strong,
was below Oxford, Miss. General Grant was to attack Van Dorn, and, if he
went to the assistance of Vicksburg, was to follow him towards Vicksburg
by way of Jackson or Yazoo City.
General Sherman
at the same time organized an army of 32,000 men and sixty pieces of artillery,
which, with Admiral Porter’s Mississippi gunboat fleet and about seventy
transports, was to move rapidly down the Mississippi river and attack and
capture Vicksburg before the garrison (6,000 strong) could be reinforced.
The part General Grant was to play was frustrated by General Forrest, who
raided into West Tennessee and tore up the railroads, supplying Grant’s
army, while General Van Dorn with his Confederate cavalry captured Holly
Springs with its accumulated supplies, destroying them. This necessitated
General Grant’s falling back through the country to Memphis to feed his
army.
As General Sherman
was not apprised of General Grant’s troubles, he got safely off from Memphis,
December 20th, with the greatest combined army and flotilla of gunboats
known at that time in the war. He arrived at the mouth of Yazoo river,
near Vickshurg, on Christmas day, proceeded up the Yazoo and, disembarking
his army December 26th and 27th, 1862, he attempted to reach the bluffs
near the city of Vicksburg. There was severe fighting on December 27th
and 28th. On the 29th he was defeated at Chickasaw Bayou, six miles from
Vicksburg, with a loss of about 2,000 men. He then re-embarked his army
and left the vicinity of Vicksburg.’
With this introduction
the writer, who was at the dance on Christmas Eve and can vouch for the
details, will let Major Daniel and Colonel Fall tell the most interesting
details. After the fall of Memphis the river was open to Union gunboats
as far down as Vicksburg. As early as October, 1862, a telegraph station
was established at DeSoto on the river bank opposite Vicksburg, with Col.
Philip H. Fall as operator. It was connected with a station in the woods,
eleven miles south of Lake Providence, with Major L. L. Daniel as operator.
Daniel was to report the movements of boats on the river. The splendid
scouting organization of General Pemberton had informed him and General
Smith at Vicksburg of the assembling of boats and the concen tration of
troops at Memphis, but the exact plans of the enemy were not clearly known.
The first reliable information on this subject was the telegram from Daniel
to Fall, telling of the positive approach of the great army and flotilla.
At my request
Daniel and Fall have sent me their recollection of the incident. I will,
therefore, let them tell the rest of the story. In a letter of November
28th, 1904, to P. H. Fall, at Houston, Texas, and transmitted to me, L.
L. Daniel says:
“Major :Earnhearst,
after telling me of the danger of a picket out post, asked me to go to
Point Lookout, La., eleven miles below Lake Providence and sixty-five miles
above Vicksburg, the terminus of the little private telegraph line owned
by that rich planter Horace B. Tibbotts, and you [Philip H. Fall] were
stationed at the Vicksburg end of it; that is, at DeSoto, just across the
river * * ; and I was strictly instructed to watch the river day and night
and report to you morning and evening.. * * And it was Christmas Eve about
8.45 P. M., dear old Major E. P. Earnhearst and I were in our ‘eerie’ playing
‘Old sledge,’ when a little negro girl, who lived on the place came in
and said, ‘Marse Ainhart, you and Marse Daniel better come out here, I
hears a boat a coming.’ ‘Come now,’ says the Major ‘you are dreaming, Arty.’
‘No sah! I hears it say, choo, choo, pat, pat, pat.’ Thus illustrating
the steam escape and pat of the wheels. We went on the porch and listened
intently; the sounds which we had not heard for months, were just audible,
the little one’s acute ears had detected it miles away.
"Major Earnhearst
and I were smoking, Indian fashion, a large
meerschaum pipe (owned jointly) * *
We went to the river bank, about one-eighth of a mile from our watch house,
and waited perhaps thirty minutes. We could hear the panting and pat, pat;
directly a monster turned the bend, two miles above us, and came slowly
as if feeling the way. It was the gunboat. I was ready to send the news
to you, [Fall] but no—’hello Major here cames another,’ this in a whisper;
just then some sparks flew out of the Major’s pipe, and I grabbed the pipe,
extinguished the fire, telling him those * * * would fire a volley at the
crack of a match. By now, the large black devil was abreast of us, in easy
gun shot from our double barrels, but suicide to fire. We counted, counted,
counted in all seven gunboats, fifty-nine transports loaded with blue coats.
“It was a dark,
cloudy night, cold and drizzly; just as soon as we were satisfied the last
one was by, I jumped on my little bay filly and fairly flew to the little
telegraph office, three miles back in the woods and began calling you.
This was just after midnight. I was so agitated at the prospect of the
capture of my dear old home, Vicksburg, before I could give the alarm,
that I thought it was almost daybreak when you answered; and I was simply
frantic; now the fact is and after I called you but about twenty-seven
seconds. You were right there and said: ‘Golly, old fellow, what’s
up?’ Then it was for you to get frustated. * * I gave you the fullest information
possible in the fewest words possible, and they are indelible in my brain
this hour. ‘Great God, Phil, where have you been. I have been calling,
(I am afraid half an hour instead of half a minute) and the river is lined
with boats, almost a hundred have just passed my lookout. Seven gunboats
and fifty-nine transports chock full of men. God speed you, rush across
and give the alarm.’ You said: ‘God bless you Lee, bye, bye, we may
never meet again.’ You can best tell the remainder on your end, for
after a short nap, I went again to the little telegraph hut and tried the
circuit, but no battery. * * And I learned sometime afterwards that the
huge flotilla landed at various points below, viz: Omega, Millikens Bend
and Youngs Point and cut down the poles for a mile and chopped the wire
into
bits.
“Major Earnhearst,
bidding farewell to his wife, two little daughters, myself and wife, rode
rapidly through the awful muddy swamps to the hills, then to Delphi and
wired the news to Gen. Kirby Smith, Gen. John G. Walker and others. History
has the incident, but the minutiae interest but ourselves and families
and friends. Next morning I was preparing to shoot some ducks near the
house, when my wife came to the porch and said: ‘Look Lee! quick.’ Of course
I looked for ducks or geese, but discovered drakes and ganders in some
sixty blue-coated cavalry approaching from the North. I learned that two
regiments had landed at Lake Providence and picketed the country for miles.
This leader, Lt. Thompson of Kansas, jayhawker, halted at gate, called
me with army colt six shooter cocked, held menacingly at my anatomy, while
interrogating me. Question after question plied and answered
promptly. The interview ended by:
‘Young fellow, you are truthful, our army is fully posted on every thing
for a hundred miles, and you have answered me correctly; one lie would
have laid you out; now you are my prisoner, I want your telegraph instruments
and all records and your old shot gun with bayonet; and don’t you try to
escape for death is sure.’ *
* *
"Well we were all held prisoners on the plantation from Dec. 26th, 1862,
until 29th June, 1863, when Major Earnhearst with two squads of cavalry
headed by Gen. Tom Harrison and Col. W. H. Parson came in from the hills,
cleaned out the guards, took us to Delphi.”
Colonel Fall tells the rest:
“Christmas
Eve, the night of the ball, was a tempestuous night and I was in dread
of my red light being extinguished by the high waves. The Mississippi
was very rough; had my light gone out our batteries would have annihilated
me, but with what information as I possessed, I would have made the attempt
in face of certain death. A half hour after Daniel at Lake Providence gave
me the news, it was imparted to Gen. Smith. No courier could have come
seventy-five miles in half an hour. I was muddy and woe begone as
I passed through the dancers and they gave me a wide berth, when I stopped
in front on Gen. Smith, he scanned me critically and frowned with the exclamation,
‘Well sir, what do you want?’ I told him eighty-one gun boats and transports
had passed Lake Providence and were still passing. He turned very pale,
and in a loud voice exclaimed! ‘This ball is at an end; the enemy are coming
down the river, all non-combatants must leave the city.’ He
had presence of mind enough to thank
me and apologize at the harsh tones. In regard to his report, I see no
mention as to how he got his information. I suppose he lost sight of me
in the excitement following. * * received a letter sometime ago from Mrs.
Roach, of Vicksburg, reminding me of how I broke up the ball that never
to be forgotten night.”
The details, as
given above by the two participants, are essentially correct. My recollection
is distinct as to this ball and its sudden collapse soon after midnight,
December 24th, by the arrival of the bearer of the important information.
The writer on Christmas day moved out of Vicksburg with six regiments of
infantry and two batteries to check General Sherman in his landing on the
Yazoo river, between the city of Vicksburg and Snyder’s Bluff on the Yazoo
river, thirteen miles distant.
On
December 29th was fought the decisive battle of Chickasaw Bayou, which
compelled
General Sherman to turn back his army and abandon the attack on the city.
The movement on Christmas day was the result of the telegram sent by Daniel
near Lake Providence and received by Fall at DeSoto, La., and delivered
to General Smith at the ball in the city of Vicksburg.
