Brier cemetery

Brier from Huber Collection (1967)

In a March blog item, I wrote a little about the process of migrating the Fairfield cemeteries out of the valley in the late 1960s. It was a long, tedious event.

That blog item is HERE.

Much of the detail is covered in the Fairfield book Town Under the Lake that was produced a few years ago. In it, lots of photographs by Jim Senefeld, who grew up in Fairfield Township and attended Blooming Grove and Brookville schools.

Thirteen known cemeteries had to be moved and relocated during the reservoir construction project. They were: Kober cemetery, Abner McCarty cemetery, Grace Stout cemetery, Gravin cemetery, Templeton cemetery, Klipple cemetery, Dickerson cemetery, Barrickman cemetery, Brier cemetery, Leviston-Templeton cemetery, Harrell cemetery, Sims cemetery, and Jonas cemetery.

An ongoing story surrounded the grave removal process that claimed the men who dug the graves had to be quarantined and given a series of shots to prevent contracting a disease that may have escaped from the coffins.

That was never the case. Nobody got sick and nobody had to be vaccinated.

It's also not true that "hundreds" of graves are under water.

As an aside, in my youth, it was not uncommon for funeral wakes to be held at the home of the deceased. I always found that a little bit eerie. Maybe the dead guy could get up in the night and go to the bathroom.

So how did they know where the little graveyards were located? Most of that was in the libraries in Brookville and Liberty (some graveyards were in Union County, including Sims.) Once they generally knew where the cemeteries were located, they walked the land, looking for markers, stones ... anything that might resemble a graveyard. Even as far back as the 1810s, the counties kept records of births and deaths. If somebody died, somebody knew about it and the sheriff or clerk was told. They wrote down the information.

In cases where somebody was just passing through and happened to die, well ... all bets were off.

Some really great stories of the cemeteries come from Keith Mergenthal, who shared this memory with Jim Senefeld in Town Under the Lake:

"Graves were dug according to known burials – a headstone, a footstone or written documentation. As far as the project supervisors knew, all bodies had been exhumed, but in all probability, a few unmarked graves and unidentified burial sites surely remained. By the time of exhumation in 1971, over 160 years had passed since the county was officially established and some documentation and oral tradition must have been lost as to the whereabouts of all burials outside of the larger two community cemeteries."

Brier was on the south edge of town and was smaller than Sims. I personally do not remember any burial services being held at Brier, though I do recall a few at Sims. Actually, not that many people died ... maybe one every year. The latest entry for Brier is 1966 (Laughlin, Thomas). That is according to the Franklin County genealogy website, compiled by Karen Creamer.

Common names in the Brier collection are:

• Blew, Masters, Maharry, Rose, Snider, Yocum, Younts.

Prominent notable names in the valley over the years:

• Glidewell, Cory, Loper, Husted, Luker, Personnette.

The earliest settlers (and the year they were born) to be buried in Brier include:

• William Rose, 1791; Hannah Cory, 1791; Rebecca Rose, 1796; C.R. Cory Sr., 1789.

Earliest marked dates of death:

• Mary Danford, 1832; George Bowlby, 1848.

Latest recorded death date, besides the aforementioned Laughlin, is Bessie Masters, 1886-1957.

John N. Trusler and Lt. Climpson B. Moore were Civil War veterans buried in Brier.

Two Briers are listed, David (1832-1914) and Mary J. (1836-1913). A third Brier, Nevada Jones Brier (1876-1926), is buried at New Fairfield and she is named as David Brier's wife. She was originally buried at Sims cemetery.

David Brier, by the way, was one of the original carpenters who helped construct the Fairfield Methodist Church in 1868.

David Brier's home (1880s) with cemetery in rear.

The road winding to the left led to the bridge. 

(Donald Dunaway collection)

Bath Springs cemetery

Karen Coffey in Union County has done a nice job documenting the graves in Bath Springs cemetery, no small feat considering the shape it's in.

Bath Springs isn't especially easy to find but it's easily accessible until you get to the place. After that, the gate that lets you in is in pretty sad condition.

The rest of it is in even worse shape.

The cemetery was probably closer to old Fairfield than is Old Franklin Church, though not by much. To access it, take S.R. 101 south from Liberty or north from Brookville to the Sagamore road, which was the old S.R. 101 that led down into the valley.

A half-mile or so in is Bath Springs Road. Turn east (actually, south) for a quarter-mile or so, and it's on your right. Hidden in the trees, you can't see it with the Google map option, though the map will pinpoint it for you.

The man who manages it (I will avoid using his name for purposes of privacy) said the Bath Springs graveyard contains the remains of more Revolutionary War soldiers than any other in Union County.

The earliest stones would be from around 1817 and many are missing, disintegrated or broken, illegible. There's plenty of work to do just finding some of the graves. Probes for gravesites are ongoing, I was told.

The newest one that I encountered was from 1927 though a few Revolutionary stones have been replaced, apparently by family members. That is a somewhat peculiar site amid the shadows. It feels eerie walking through the place, knowing there's a grave under your feet.

A bit of background. The cemetery was, when established, in Bath Township (hence the name) and that was in Franklin County. Union County and Harmony Township were established in around 1821. Naturally, the cemetery didn't move. Fairfield Township was formed in 1817, two years after Fairfield itself was founded.

Some fairly interesting residents at Bath Springs, including most members of the Crocker and DuBois families. Most of those buried there migrated from New Jersey, and the Crocker and DuBois clans were no exception.

A relative of Benjamin Crocker offered me some correspondence a few years ago that's posted on the Fairfield website. THE LINK IS HERE.

Another interesting family name is Murphy. The patriarch of that family, William Murphy, was born in 1742 in Ireland and served in the American Revolution. He had a very large family. Karen Coffey's research on the Union County GenWeb site includes this anecdote about Murphy:

"He lived 20 miles from Philadelphia and being so near the city his family was constantly harassed by British soldiers, Tories and renegades. One night during such an attack, when they failed to enter the home by many means they tried the chimney. William Murphy’s wife Phebe smoked them out by burning a feather bed in the fireplace."

The DuBois family came from New Jersey and those buried at Old Bath Springs cemetery were, according to Karen Coffey, mainly from the descendants of William DuBois, who was born in 1778 in New Jersey and died in 1817 in Bath Springs.

Many members of the Rose family are also interred in Bath Springs. They had a strong influence in the area north of Fairfield upwards into the 1830s.

Why did the bulk of this community come from New Jersey or eastern Pennsylvania? One can presume they were Quakers, and there was a reasonably strong Quaker presence in that part of Union County in the early 1800s. A community named "Salem" was originally platted east of Roseburg, where Quakers were known to gather. The Quakers were strong abolitionists at a time when Indiana was just being formed. Anti-slavery people came to the state in an effort to tip the political scales.

Bath Springs cemetery contains the remains of some very early American settlers, many of whom were born in the mid-18th century long before the American Revolution. Many of the settlers were connected to Fairfield and the valley toward Quakertown.

UNION COUNTY LINK

A SULPHUR SPRINGS ESSAY

Lots of work to be done at Bath Springs.

Old Franklin Cemetery

The Franklin County genealogy website says Old Franklin Cemetery was established in 1810.

That would precede the founding of Franklin County itself by a year. In effect, the graveyard was in Dearborn County at the time.

Old Franklin EUB-Methodist Church in its current state, was built in 1831 and is one of the oldest functioning churches in Indiana on a continuous basis.

The cemetery itself is in pretty good shape and the county genealogy site says about 500 graves are marked and/or acknowledged. This cemetery was affected by the federal reservoir project only in how it's accessed. The stones and graves were not challenged by the lake.

The 1810 establishment date would seem early if it's compared to the dates of death on the genealogy website, though a number of stones are "illegible" ... so, anything's possible.

It's also worth noting that the site of the church and cemetery match up with the land entry by the fabled Robert Green, who's been given credit for entering a section in 1804. I've mostly determined that Green didn't show up until 10 years later, but the history books are already written.

The church and cemetery are visible from S.R. 101 just south of Causeway Road. To get to it (there's only one way in and one way out) ... turn west on Causeway Road, toward the lake, and it's a few yards up, on the left.

Sims-Brier and Bath Springs cemeteries, the other two that will be discussed briefly, are both nearby.


Some of the oldest graves in Old Franklin:

Walter Tucker 1770-1814
Elizabeth Howell 1800-1830
George Dare 1803-1831
John Hetfield (died) April 1834
Nancy Glidewell 1793-1837
Sarah Fry (died) June 1845
David Templeton 1791-1863
Solomon DuBois 1802-1877

When illness strikes:

Infant boy Brauchla  3 Oct 1896 - 7 Oct 1896 (son of) E.F. & N.A. Brauchla
Infant girl Brauchla 30 Sept 1898 (daughter of) E.F. & N.A. Brauchla

As in most rural cemeteries, family names are common. Old Franklin's listings include lots of:

Fry
Howell
Dubois
Bockover
Copeland
Beesley
Davis
Dare
Watterson

Note that cemetery listings are probably incomplete.
Church services are Sundays at 9 a.m. EDT. Parking appears to be limited.

Useful link:

Franklin County Cemetery Association

Several war veterans are buried here. 

This Civil War stone has been upgraded. Not all of them have been.

Old Franklin was built in 1831.
Its cemetery precedes it, though the church's history is older than 1831.

New Fairfield cemeteries -- Part 1

At Old Franklin Church cemetery, 2015

The nice thing about a cemetery is that it tells us our future. It's where you will probably end up someday.

The nicer part of that is that you will probably be there alongside people who were important to you.

Which is what makes cemeteries more fun than somber. They leave a footprint. The people who are interred in them are the history of the community they left behind. They are the thread that leads to you.

Regardless of why people are interred in cemeteries, the fact remains: We put them there and make a note of it somewhere not far from that spot.

Tombstones.

Aside from an occasional peony bush or a leaning old elm tree off near a rusty old fence line, that's about it.

Everything else either is carved on the stone or from your imagination.

The three main accessible cemeteries in the Fairfield area are ripe with history, both robust and sad. In some cases, we need to do a LOT more to address the needs of those little living (if that's appropriate) history books.

Franklin and Union county genealogy websites are full of data on the graveyards in the immediate Fairfield area, those being:

Sims-Brier
Old Franklin
Bath Springs

These blog entries will take a stab at describing those graveyards, what has happened to them since they were established and, perhaps if we are lucky, what is likely to happen to them in the future.

It's unlikely they will get smaller.

It's a certainty that if you visit these places, your past, present and future will bump into each other.

There are a lot of cemeteries in Franklin County. I won't attempt to visit the ones outside the immediate Fairfield area.

Civil War -- Butler County, Ohio

Civil War photo from Fold3.com

Some odds-and-ends on the Civil War, as if we actually "covered" it in these blog entries. The conflict, from 1861 through 1865, and for years later during the reconstruction phase and ongoing bitterness, was perhaps unique in world history.

Finding your own path through that history is effectively something you might just have to do on your own. The links and snippets are interesting in their own right, designed to at least touch on the reality of the time.

But the Civil War is hardly a "southern" event or a "Gettysburg moment." For your own search, don't stop at the state line.

In Butler County, Ohio, historian Jim Blount has "oodles" of interesting facts about the beginning of western society in the Whitewater Valley, and his Civil War essays are enlightening as well.

Blount did his own digging about the Civil War.

"At least 4,400 Butler County men had served in the Union army or navy in all regions of action. According to calculations by James E. Campbell, a local Civil War veteran who later became governor of Ohio, two out of every three men of military age in the county served in the Union cause at one time or another. Campbell estimated there were 6,544 men of military age among the county's 35,840 residents at the start of the war."

Campbell, writing in 1915, emphasized that most Butler Countians were volunteers, not draftees. "The counties of the state had furnished, on an average, 35% of their enrollment" when the first draft was held Oct. 1, 1862, he said. But Butler County "had sent to the field over 42% . . . being 337 men more than her full quota up to that time. She was, therefore, one of the 13 counties (out of 88) in which no draft was ordered."

Campbell's research concluded that many soldiers also served in Indiana regiments as well as at least a dozen other states. Since Butler County is directly across the state line from Franklin County, Ind., one can assume that if you go searching for war records, you may want to expand your geography.

And in the battle for Cincinnati in September, 1862, "Hundreds of Butler County men were among those short-term volunteers known as Squirrel Hunters when Cincinnati was threatened with invasion." In that defense, Indiana Gen. Lew Wallace was credited with designing a plan to repel the Confederate army.

Butler County volunteers also fought against John Hunt Morgan’s Confederate cavalry when it passed between Hamilton and Cincinnati in July, 1863.

Blount's history explores the circumstances surrounding the Confederate surrender in April, 1865, when Gen. Robert E. Lee met with U.S. Grant.

"Some troops," wrote historian E. B. Long, "refused the surrender terms and scattered to Mexico, the Far West or just went home. There were operations in Texas and on the Rio Grande by the Federal Army for most of the rest of 1865 against guerrillas and former Confederates escaping into Mexico," said Long in his 1971 book, The Civil War Day by Day.

BLOUNT LINK

FOLD3.COM (war research link)

Robert J. Templeton's 

Civil War index card. 

(From Fold3.com)

Lew Wallace -- Part 2

U.S. Grant

Gen. Lew Wallace, born in Brookville, educated in Indiana, is best known for his blockbuster novel, Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

His military exploits are no less compelling. Without enumerating his successes and failures beyond his one egregious mistake, Wallace could be categorized thus by the Indiana History Magazine, published by Indiana University:

"Wallace is less remembered as one of the highest ranking Union generals during the Civil War. A romantic even as a soldier, Wallace hungered for military glory and always longed for a command assignment where he might experience the thrill of battle while promoting his military renown."

Wallace's zeal and efficiency in the early days of the Civil War merited him a promotion to major general.

So, what went wrong?

Shiloh.

Wallace was basically self-trained in military strategy. He came from affluence, and his political clout afforded him inroads into the hierarchy.

Wallace and Maj. Gen. U.S. Grant had apparently forged a somewhat tenuous friendship and after a decisive battle in February, 1862, at Fort Donelson, Wallace gained enough favor to be given charge of his own division.

So far, so good.

Wallace didn't exactly "general" the way Grant liked it but he forgave the Hoosier because he was producing positive results.

As April arrived, Grant was jockeying for position at a place in Tennessee called Pittsburg Landing (aka Shiloh). Wallace was essentially told to wait for further orders. Wallace wasn't happy about that.

The history at that point becomes more cloudy.

"Principal actors in the subsequent events disagree about times, the content of verbal orders, individual demeanors, and motives. No matter how one weighs the undocumented recollections and virulent recriminations, the central problem remains that Wallace did not reach the Union Army at Pittsburg Landing until after nightfall on April 6."

Vague orders mixed with military arrogance created a bubbling stew after that. Wallace was never clear if he'd done the right thing and Grant was apparently in no mood to discuss it.

Ever.

At that time, Grant was still not in charge of all Union forces. That role was held by Henry Halleck, who assigned Wallace to Cincinnati where he'd later be revered for defending the city.

"Despite his dubious military credentials and his well-developed sense of self-importance, Wallace proved to be the ideal choice for this critical assignment. The unusual situation called for an energetic commander with a flair for the dramatic. Wallace's failings as a field commander proved harmless in this case; indeed, his hyperactive approach to battle may have saved lives on both sides of the Cincinnati trenches."

But Grant evidently continued to seethe, and as time went on Wallace's standing in the Union military system eroded.

He pleaded with Grant to have the record set straight at Shiloh. Grant consistently refused to acknowledge that mistakes had been made. As the years passed, Grant began to soften his criticism of Wallace but the Hoosier never got the satisfaction he needed -- an admission that he'd done no wrong at Shiloh.

Wallace was re-assigned to commission work and would play an important part in war crimes trials after the rebellion ended, in part because of his knowledge of the atrocities committed at the infamous war prison in Andersonville, Georgia.

After Wallace was assigned to duties along the Mexican border, he conjured up a scheme that would have helped the Mexicans overthrow the French, who had invaded the country in 1861. Grant found the strategy compelling but never actually acted on Wallace's plan. Instead, Grant found other resources and forced the French out of Mexico in 1865.

Wallace was later named by President Rutherford B. Hayes as governor of New Mexico territory, still awaiting word from Grant that all was forgiven and corrected about Shiloh. His attempts to meet Grant in person were ignored and his book on military infantry tactics was dismissed by Grant as having little merit. He even attempted to land a position in the diplomatic corps; Grant chose somebody else.

Wallace just couldn't get past Shiloh.

He never would.

By the 1870s, Wallace would begin his writing career. The Fair God was published in 1873.

Wallace's claim to fame in New Mexico was his role in ending the reign of terror by William Bonney, Billy the Kid.

It was in New Mexico that he wrote the immensely popular Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

After Wallace was assigned to the ambassadorship to Turkey under President James Garfield, the debate over Shiloh continued to rage in periodic academic reports and essays, but it never ended.

So why did Grant act as he did toward Wallace?

"In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Northern newspapers vilified Grant for his performance during the battle. Reporters, many far from the battle, spread the story that Grant had been drunk, falsely alleging that this had resulted in many of his men being bayoneted in their tents because of a lack of defensive preparedness."

Grant had to blame somebody.

In 1884, Wallace wrote to Grant, a full 22 years after the battle:

"The terrible reflections in your indorsement on my official report of the battle, and elsewhere, go to the world wholly unqualified. It is not possible to exaggerate the misfortune thus entailed upon me."

Nearly 25,000 casualties were documented at Shiloh.

SHILOH LINK

US GRANT LINK

FRENCH IN MEXICO LINK

Lew Wallace - Part 1

Gov. David Wallace

Plenty has been written about Lew Wallace, the soldier, author, son of a prominent political leader.

For our purposes covering the 200 years of the history of Fairfield, Wallace's life is a very long stretch. That doesn't make him any less interesting. His role in the Civil War is the stuff of movies ... which, by the way, Wallace actually inspired.

Ben-somebody.

A bit about Wallace's early life will get us to the good parts where he and Gen. U.S. Grant spent most of their lives bickering.

The Wallaces came to Brookville in 1817, about 10 years before Lewis was born. His father, David, would soon become governor and make his mark on the state by crafting a plan to bring the state out of the woods and into the future. This all related to the environment surrounding the upstart state capital at Indianapolis. David Wallace said Indiana needed roads.

David Wallace's life is interesting in its own right, but he's not particularly important to our blog, so we will shorten his story to say that he had studied at West Point, married Esther Test, of a prominent family ... and from there, he would make his mark on Indiana history.

At some point, the Wallace clan moved to the town of Covington and, from there, Lewis got an early education in Crawfordsville before ending up in Centerville being supervised by one of his aunts in the Test family.

According to a 1941 article in the Indiana Magazine of History by Irving McKee, Lew Wallace was somewhat of a delinquent.

Gen. Lew Wallace

Writes McKee: "The preparatory department of Wabash, Crawfordsville's new Presbyterian college, as well as the county seminary there, were uncongenial to the tow-headed Lewis; in each the inevitable bullying master ruled, and, fleeing each, the truant learned more of woods and fields than of grammar, arithmetic, and Latin."

As the state began swimming in red ink over its internal improvements, which included the canal system, young Lewis began to explore new diversions while his father struggled in vain to rescue his flagging political career.

In Centerville, a man named Professor Samuel K. Hoshour was credited with turning Lewis's life around, introducing him to literature and writing.

"Upon occasion he still received a flogging, but the pain was ameliorated by discrimination and sound justice. Moreover Hoshour revealed the splendors of John Quincy Adams's 'Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory,' 'The Spectator,' 'The Vicar of Wakefield,' and the verses in St. Matthew.

That Scripture is said to be the genesis of Wallace's most important work.

Ben-somebody.

The Centerville episode a success, our hero returned to Indianapolis.

Writes McKee: "Back at the Indianapolis seminary after a year, Lewis suddenly found he could more than hold his own there. On Friday evenings the classroom was the scene of the Union Literary Society's meetings, throbbing with debates, recitations, readings and parliamentary exercises. With various young ladies for inspiration, lyrics flowed freely from young Wallace's pen and were not only read to the members of the Society but, occasionally, published in a friendly newspaper."

In effect, Lew Wallace was a dreamer, a romantic, a literary adventurer and a man of poetry and fantasy. He apparently had an enormous gift for writing at a young age. His fascination for the battle at the Alamo in the Mexican War of 1846 inspired him to pursue a military career.

He had enlisted in the Mexican War, read some books on tactics, and maintained an interest in volunteer military organizations, so upon the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed adjutant general of Indiana.

He was in charge of raising the state's first quota of regiments and was given command of the Eleventh Indiana Volunteers. A citizen-soldier in the American tradition, Wallace learned most of his military lessons in the field.

In his autobiography, Wallace writes that he knew in advance that the rebellion would be not only a long and bitter conflict, but that it would also be crowded with "opportunities for distinction not in the least inconsistent with patriotism."

Wallace would come full-face with his own history at the Civil War battle of Shiloh.

After that, he wrote a book about Ben-somebody and really did become famous.

Trivia: 
Zerelda Sanders married David Wallace. She was the sister of Jemima Sanders. (these are not fake names) ... and Jemima was married to Richard J. Gatling, whose invention -- the Gatling gun -- was a feared weapon during the Civil War and into the 20th century.

Gatling's invention would, he believed, reduce the number of soldiers necessary for battle and therefore reduce the number of casualties. Odd how that didn't work out.



WALLACE POETRY

WALLACE BROOKVILLE CONNECTION

WALLACE LIBRARY, CRAWFORDSVILLE

GATLING (Wikipedia)

David (left) and Lew Wallace

Civil War -- Part 4

Lt. Climpton Moore's grave at Sims-Brier

For a frame of reference, the 1880 census for Fairfield Township was 818 people. We can assume it was close to that in prior decades, though the population took a steep drop in the 1890 census.

For our purposes, that's not relevant at the moment.

What is important is that at least 16 graves in Sims-Brier and Old Franklin cemeteries contain the remains of men who served in the Civil War in some capacity.

Without doing extensive cemetery research on any of them, it's probably safe to assume that these soldiers were buried in the graveyards where they lived.

It's also likely that some Fairfield soldiers from the war are buried in other cemeteries, far far away from Indiana.

A few are buried in other graveyards in Franklin, Union or Fayette counties, some probably in Ohio, and elsewhere in Indiana.

No surprise, that.

The Civil War took a very heavy toll on Indiana. Fairfield was no exception. Most Franklin County men were attached to the Indiana 68th Infantry Regiment, which was organized in Indianapolis in 1862.

The regiment consisted of many from Ripley, Rush and Dearborn counties as well. They served mostly in the Kentucky-Tennessee theater. Most men served for three years, or until the war ended in 1865.

What appears to have happened is that the regiment was captured during fighting in September 1862, and sent back to a "parole camp" in Indianapolis, probably in a prisoner exchange. They reorganized and went back to war.

Franklin County records from the period list the names of the men who served in the war, and in most cases what happened to them. More than a few died in action.

A Civil War archive says this about the 68th:

"The regiment lost during service 4 officers and 35 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 111 enlisted men by disease." (It is not explained what is meant by 'disease.')

Some entries in the log:

• Mullin, Joel, Fairfield,  died at Nashville, TN, March 23, 1863.
• McCormick, Theodore, Fairfield, reported missing, Oct. 31, 1862.
• Vanlandingham, Lewis, Fairfield, discharged Nov. 7, 1863, disability.
• Miller, Henry H., Fairfield, discharged Dec. 24, 1862, disability.

It is also possible that some Franklin County soldiers mustered in with the 69th Regiment based in Richmond-Connersville, also in 1862.

A war narrative in an old Fayette County history describes the fate of the 69th:

"On the 5th day of July, 1865, the battalion was mustered out of service ... at Mobile, and on the 7th left for home, having 16 officers and 284 men. This regiment has left its dead in 11 states, and participated in the battles of Richmond, Ky., Chickasaw Bluffs, Arkansas Post, Thompson's Hill, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge, the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson, and the capture of Blakely, Ala., which caused the surrender of Mobile."

The war was local in many ways, distant in many others.

DONATIONS

According to the Fayette County Atlas:

Throughout the war, the mothers, wives and sisters at home were ever earnest in their ministrations to the soldiers, supplying those delicacies and comforts needed in the field. The soldiers' families, too, were cared for, as may be judged from the great relief fund expended. The Ladies' Aid Society of Connersville was organized at the court house January 13, 1862. 

At various periods during the war the farmers throughout the county donated liberally in the way of wood. By reference to the files of the press it is noticed that up to October 22, 1863, 250 cords had been donated.

CELEBRATION

The Fayette Atlas describes the events surrounding the news that the war had ended. This report comes from an April 13, 1865 newspaper article, The Times:

Such scenes never have and probably never will occur again in Connersville as were witnessed last Monday. The fall of Richmond was celebrated here in a measure, but then the cup of joy was not yet full, and the surrender of Lee and his army remained to assure our people of the final triumph of the glorious old Army of the Potomac, and to make assurance doubly sure that the Rebellion had received its death-blow. 

Early on Monday morning the glad news of that great event was borne us on the telegraph wires, and our pen cannot portray the joy with which our citizens received the news that the army which for four years had given the Rebellion all its vitality, was among the things of the past. 

Demoralized, battered and broken it had been, but our fondest hopes were consummated when the bleeding remnant of the Army of northern Virginia laid down its arms at the feet of that glorious hero, U.S. Grant. Upon the receipt of the news the first notes of rejoicing rang forth from the church bells, and small, in the town, and the clamor had reached its climax when guns and anvils joined in the chorus. 

Then who can describe the scene that followed and continued until far into the night? Not a countenance but bore a smile. Shouts upon shouts rent the air amid the shaking of hands and frantic embraces. The people were wild with joy.

INDIAN GEN-WEB MILITARY RECORDS

THE 68TH REGIMENT

JULIE SCHLESSELMAN'S 'THOSE WHO SERVED' PUBLICATION

Civil War -- Part 3

Despite Indiana's commitment to the Union cause in the Civil War, relative to the number of men who were sent to fight, there was considerable opposition.

As peculiar as it sounds today, a not-so-silent minority of Hoosiers actually advocated seceding and joining the Confederate cause, though most evidence suggests this was contingent upon Kentucky's choice on whether to remain in the Union or bolt for the Southern cause. As it turned out, Kentucky saw its fortune better served in the North.

Jeff Biggers, in writing The United States of Appalachia, uncovers some interesting sidelights to the anti-war point of view.

"With Louisiana out of the Union, Indiana lost one of its most important markets, New Orleans. And the possibility that all the slave states would leave the Union (Kentucky was one) marked the Ohio River as the potential new boundary between the two new nations, nations that seemed potentially on the verge of war."

So, Biggers concludes, the thinking in Indiana was to hedge one's bets. The election of Abraham Lincoln had fueled the argument. Lincoln was pro-union, anti-slavery. His politics did not appeal to the Deep South.

Biggers continues:

"Some in Indiana blustered that if Kentucky were to secede, so should Indiana. an early 1861 Union meeting in Perry County (on the Ohio River) resolved: 'That if no concession and compromises can be obtained, and a disunion shall be unfortunately made between the Northern and Southern states, the commercial, manufacturing and agricultural interests of this country require us to say that we cannot consent that the Ohio river shall be the boundary line of contending nations, and we earnestly desire that if a line is to be drawn between the North and the South, that line shall be found north of us'."

Kentucky's decision to remain in the Union despite permitting slavery dimmed the talk for secession in Indiana.

But anti-war talk was common and though rarely violent, was distributed across the state.

A nefarious group known as the Knights of the Golden Circle contributed greatly to anti-war sentiment in Indiana. The organization had existed long before the rebellion, committed to spreading slavery across most of Central America. The group was fueled by men of wealth in the South.

Logan Esarey, in his history of Indiana from 1918, says: "The organization and ramifications of this mysterious society were pretty definitely proven by the governor and the federal secret service. The society began to manifest itself ... in 1862. For its inspiration, it seemed to go back to the ancient dream of making a second Roman republic around a second Mediterranean sea."

In a phrase, the Knights envisioned the country surrounding the Gulf of Mexico as one vast empire based on cotton and slavery. It's difficult to evaluate how many believed this fantasy, but the group's designs were decidedly NOT in favor of a Union anti-slavery policy.

One can assume that the Knights of the Golden Cross, under various names, morphed into what might be recognized as the Ku Klux Klan. The Knights actually endured well into the 20th century and were identified as having had political relations with the German Nationalist Party, led by Adolf Hitler.

Esarey adds:

"From correspondence, it seems quite a number of Indiana men belonged to "Castles" in Kentucky, and that perhaps 500 members belonged to "Castles" on the north side of the Ohio in Indiana and Illinois."

In Indiana, the secretive group operated under various names, such as Sons of Liberty or "Peace Organizations" ... anything to deflect its anti-Union point of view.

These men opposed the war on violent terms, primarily over the slavery issue. As the South showed early military strength, the Knights grew in number. For awhile, their political clout was substantial, though not as much in Indiana as in the border states. One estimate suggests as many as 50,000 members in Indiana, though Esarey concludes that the vast number were not aware that the society's aims were treasonous.

And virtually everything that didn't support the Union cause was considered treason.

Indiana's chief Knight was Harrison H. Dodd of Indianapolis. The leading members were a diverse group from all corners of the state.

The Knights plans were eventually uncovered when a man named Felix Stidger infiltrated the group, eventually exposing them to Gov. Oliver Morton and various Union Army officers.

The Knights reportedly had recruited a sizable rebel militia, though it's unclear how effective it would have been. At national meetings, Esarey says "the plan was prepared to overturn the state governments of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, release the confederate prisoners at Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago and Rock Island, seize the governments and launch the famous Northwestern Confederacy in close alliance and sympathy with its sister of the South."

The aims and objectives after that turn a little muddier but as the South began losing the war after the battle of Gettysburg, much enthusiasm for the Confederate cause began to wane, and support from the South itself began to dwindle.

A war of terror appears to have developed but as shipments of arms to the Knights were increasingly intercepted, friction among the leadership inevitably occurred.

Eventually, its leaders were arrested, convicted and sentenced, only to be pardoned later by President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln after the assassination.

One report says of the Knights of the Golden Circle:

"Nothing can be said in favor of it. As a declaration of principles, it was 50 years too late; as an economic organization, it was brute force against right, the highwayman's creed on which slavery and feudalism had been tried and failed."

TRAITORS TO THE CAUSE

CIVIL WAR FLAGS

Underground Railroad through Fairfield

There are other blog entries here that discuss the influence of the Quakers on the formation of the Whitewater Valley. None is more apparent than their role in the Civil War. I've rediscovered an old email from Patricia Smith, though I no longer remember my connection with her. She offers some interesting insight on this blog entry.

The Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends, had no direct influence on life in Fairfield, but they didn't miss it by much. As strict abolitionists, they came to Indiana as early as 1812 and were entrenched by 1820, though more in Fayette and Union counties, northward to Wayne County where they were extremely influential.

Quakers, by and large entered the years of the civil rebellion as conscientious objectors and generally refused to serve in a military role. There were exceptions and Quakers were typically scorned or mistreated for failing to volunteer for militia service. Many were jailed for refusing to fight.

But their most significant role in the years leading up to the Civil War was their management of what became known as the Underground Railroad.

Not a "railroad" at all, it was a path from slave states northward into Indiana and Michigan and eventually, Canada for blacks (referred to as Negroes at the time) who were runaways. The practice of helping slaves escape was ongoing and it was difficult to measure.

Typically, those who managed it were disinclined to discuss it, let alone enumerate its successes and failures. No one knows for certain how effective the Underground Railroad was, or how many slaves it helped. But it was real and Franklin County played a key role.

Orloff G. Miller, a spokesman for the National Underground Center in Cincinnati, wrote:

Most of the routes across the easternmost counties of Indiana crossed Franklin County northbound for Newport, In Wayne County. One route came up the Whitewater River Valley from Lawrenceburg to the Quaker settlements south of Brookville, and on to Fairfield, thence into Union County. A route also crossed the county from the west, out of Kingston/Clarksburg in Decatur County.

There were very few established Quaker settlements south of Brookville, though Quakers bought land in the Highland Township area prior to 1820, most as land speculation. That area eventually became heavily Lutheran. Few Quakers actually settled in that part of the county, though fleeing blacks would not have known that.

Wayne County is the heartbeat of the Indiana Underground Railroad, thanks to its heavy Quaker population. As well, Universalists in the Union-Franklin County area were aligned to the Quakers on many matters of faith, including their disdain for slavery.

Perhaps the most famous Hoosier in the Underground Railroad movement was Levi Coffin, whose home in Fountain City (then called Newport) is considered a destination for people exploring the history of the era. Coffin and his wife Catherine are credited with aiding more than 3,000 runaway slaves.

Blacks fleeing the South did sometimes stop in Franklin County and remain for a time. The general route was from the town of Clarksburg in Decatur County, north into the Posey Township area near Laurel-Andersonville, then east past Blooming Grove and into Union County, where the Quakers were at least marginally common. At Fairfield, the runaways would cross the river at Shawnee Ford, where it was shallow.

Salem, where the Quakers met

A Quaker named William Beard is considered one of the "conductors" of the Underground Railroad. He lived just south of Liberty. Union County Quakers met in the non-existent town of Salem.

As well, the legendary story of Luther Donnell is worth recounting. According to one history, a slave family who found sanctuary with Donnell eventually took the Posey Township route to freedom, via the Fairfield route. A link to Donnell's story is at the end of this entry.

Now for some juicy stuff from the Patricia Smith email:

"In Franklin County, I have heard of a house on the west side of the east Fork of the Whitewater right north of Brookville which stood about where the spillway is. It is said that it had a red door and that Negroes fleeing north were told that it was safe there. The house was reported moved to Fairfield
Avenue across from Riverview Apartments in Brookville."

Ms. Smith also says that there were, for a time, about 200 African-American freedmen in Franklin County. In 1850, she says, a town called Franklin was platted in (perhaps) Butler Township where blacks could live. The land didn't sell, presumably because ... well, maybe they didn't have any money.

Several settlers from the South brought black slaves with them to Indiana in the early days, though slavery itself had been outlawed. That connects to political manipulation by territorial Gov. William H. Harrison in the days prior to Indiana statehood.

I have been unable to determine if any residents of Fairfield participated in the Underground Railroad, though one would assume that the early settlers who came to Indiana were generally abolitionists. It's unrealistic to assume they did not at least have a working knowledge of the transit process. -- John

LEVI COFFIN

MORE ON COFFIN

DONNELL, AND OTHERS

DECATUR COUNTY

Civil War in Indiana -- Part 2

"Copperheads" were ruthless
in attacking President Lincoln

The beginning of the civil rebellion in 1861 laid bare the most basic attitudes of Indiana residents.

As is normal when war breaks out, "our side" is probably going to kick the stuffin's out of them in a couple of days, teach them a lesson and ... we'll go back to life as usual.

If it were always so simple.

The Indiana Magazine of History (IMH), published by Indiana University in Bloomington, spells out a simple scenario:

"The border states were in a difficult position, for their people were divided in sentiment, and none relished the prospect of their land becoming a battleground of contending armies. Indianans were particularly concerned about the decision of Kentucky because it was separated from Indiana only by the Ohio River and citizens of the two states had been friends since frontier days. The decision of Kentucky might determine how close the fighting would come to Hoosier soil."

The Kentucky problem would fester and create headaches for the newly-elected president, Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, who had spent a part of his life in Indiana, was a moderate conservative, a unionist. He had become a leader in the newly organized Republican Party, which stood opposed to the Democrats, mainly southerners who opposed abolition and supported strong states rights. That political drama would play out in odd and frightening ways in Indiana as the war progressed.

Hoosiers, meanwhile, had a vested interest in the war and were generally undivided in their support of the Union cause. The numbers explain Indiana's role, according to the IMH:

"The attention devoted to the Civil War is in part the product of Indiana's disproportionate involvement in the conflict. Second among northern states in terms of relative manpower contribution, Indiana contributed approximately two-thirds of its military-aged men to the Union army. Regiments from the state fought in both the eastern and western campaigns and in many of the war's major battles. Over 25,000 died, most from disease; many thousands more suffered traumatic losses. The hardships of the war took their toll on the home front as well. The household and labor responsibilities of women expanded; questions regarding the legal and political status of blacks attained added importance; and fierce debates over the powers of the state and federal governments helped create one of the most vigorously partisan and evenly divided political systems in the nation."

The complexities of Indiana politics during the Civil War are enough to fill volumes.

Some interesting aspects:

Many Hoosiers were natives of southern states or had relatives still living there. The Civil War, which pitted "brother against brother" was no more apparent than in the border states. "Hoosiers who had been born in the states south of the Ohio had helped to make Indiana a free state in 1816. They knew from experience some of the injustices involved in slavery, and they did not want them in Indiana. They did not object, however, to this institution in the southern states until efforts to preserve it threatened the unity of the nation."

Mixed emotions, to be sure.

Politically, those who opposed Lincoln represented a rather significant minority. After hostilities began, many decided it was practical to temper their criticism and essentially join in the fight to save the nation. Those "War Democrats" included Gen. Lew Wallace.

Wallace, born in Brookville, had his own personal turmoil in the war. That, later.

Meanwhile, the protests among the anti-war Democrats intensified, and that led to some rather ugly episodes. Saying the wrong thing was treason and it was often enforced. The term "Copperhead" took on major meaning. You were either "for" the war, or you were a traitor.

I can't find much in brief reading that suggests Lincoln had much problem with that, though he did censure Gen. Ambrose Burnside for enforcing a too-strict treason policy.

IMH reports:

"The most serious crisis came in Indianapolis on May 20, 1863, when the Democrats held a state convention. The state was then being governed by Gov. Oliver Morton without the legislature because Republicans had bolted the session and left the capital, and the Democrats had failed to pass the appropriation bill. General Burnside, of the Department of the Ohio, issued an order against 'express or implied' treason. Arbitrary arrests which he ordered caused Morton to protest. Morton said, "The General had little faith in the loyalty of Indiana, and it was only Morton's protest that prevented the establishment of martial law in his state."

Also:

"Gen. Milo S. Hascal, of the District of Indiana, ordered that newspapers or speakers who endeavored to bring the war policy of the government into disrepute should be treated as violators of Burnside's order. The editor of the Plymouth Democrat, who challenged the order, was arrested and sent to Cincinnati. The owners of the paper were required to hire a new 'loyal' editor and were placed under $5,000 bond not to violate the order again. Other papers were warned to obey or cease publication."

Morton's leadership in Indiana was consistent. He believed himself strong enough to run things in the state.

Elihu Hayward of Fairfield
was a Civil War casualty in 1863.

"Identification by the Republicans of criticism with disloyalty and Morton's insistence that he had saved Indiana for the Union were regarded by the Democrats as brazen distortions of the truth. In April and May the imposition of military government, arbitrary arrests, and interference with freedom of the press angered the critics of Morton almost beyond endurance."

Indiana, despite the heavy-handed control, was far from out of the woods.

Nearly two dozen men who served in the Civil War are buried in the Sims-Brier, Bath Springs and Old Franklin cemeteries in Fairfield.


Later on, we will take a look at that component of the conflict.


THE COPPERHEADS

GOV. OLIVER MORTON

MORE ON MORTON


Photo source: Copperhead pamphlet from 1864 by C. Chauncey Burr, a magazine editor from New York City

Morgan's Raid

Lexington loves its Morgan legacy

Indiana's participation in the Civil War was far from unique, but it's worth noting that it ran at a fever pitch.

The state's history was essentially created from Southern roots with many of the original settlers coming to the territory from the Carolinas and Virginia.

The Virginia point of view was more tolerant toward slavery than one might have seen in nearby Ohio.

But as the rebellion began, the loudest and most prominent voices urged successfully that Indiana remain in the Union and to provide troops and support for the Union cause.

The war itself rarely impacted Indiana territory with one notable exception.

Morgan's Raid.

Southern Gen. John Hunt Morgan, in June of 1863, moved his troops northward through Kentucky, where they were able to cross the Ohio River and pursue an invasion into southern Indiana.

Key attacks were in Washington and Jennings counties, and there is some evidence to suggest Morgan actually had troops in Franklin County, perhaps near New Trenton. One can assume that his scouts explored their options as far north as Cedar Grove. There is no evidence they made it to Brookville. He did, however, make it to Versailles in Ripley County.

Morgan's raid served no especially useful purpose for the Confederate cause, though the Union army was forced to appropriate troops to the Indiana and Ohio fronts in an effort to deter Morgan.

In a nutshell, his campaign was more diversionary than practical. His legacy was effectively based on terror. His troops pillaged and looted but achieved anecdotal military success. But the incursion did show that civilian populations along the Ohio River were vulnerable in the face of a dedicated fighting force.

Morgan's men did burn several bridges and rip up several railroad tracks. In most cases, they captured Union soldiers and ransomed them back at the end of the day.

Ambrose Burnside of Liberty:
He invented "sideburns."

The Morgan campaign's chief opponent was Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who was born in Union County. Burnside's legacy is that of a somewhat inept Army officer. He had wanted to declare martial law in Indiana to counter Morgan's raids.

Gov. Oliver Morton refused, though Ohio Gov. Tod did agree to martial law for his state.

Wrote Morton in response to Burnside's plea to invoke martial law in Indiana:

"I understand the purpose to be accomplished ... I am opposed to it, as I am unable to see any good to grow of it, but much possible harm. So far as the present invasion of Indiana is concerned it can certainly do no good, and so far as calling out and organizing militia either to repel invasion or maintain order, I am satisfied it can be not better done by State rather than Federal authority. I say to you frankly that so far as Indiana is concerned, it would be highly inexpedient in my judgment."

Article in the Liberty Herald, July 19, 1863 after Morgan had been stopped and arrested. A Union County doctor, A.C. Fosdick, was serving in the Union army and was nearby when Morgan and his men were arrested. This article summarizes Fosdick's opinion of the honor he was told it would be.

MORGAN LINK

BURNSIDE LINK

Civil War -- Part 1

The 200th anniversary of the founding of Fairfield is also the 150th anniversary of the official end to the Civil War, also known in the early days as the War of the Rebellion. Southerners refer to it as the War of Northern Aggression.

In any event, it was the most important episode in the history of Western civilization. I don't need to prove that; it's just a fact.

Hoosiers of all persuasions either took part or felt the impact of the great war, which was the bloodiest in the nation's history, since nearly all casualties were inflicted on Americans.

An 1882 Franklin County historical atlas describes the first days of the conflict, in 1861:

"When the assault upon Fort Sumter and the flag of our country was made, in April, 1861, the citizens of this county (Franklin) became at once united for the maintenance of the national honor."

Not long after that, the report says, a company of Franklin Guards was formed in Brookville, "probably in remembrance of the old Mexican war company."

The report provides the names of those who joined, and one could assume that a few were from the Fairfield area.

The Democrat, a Brookville newspaper, wrote: "The war pervades the entire community, and nothing else is talked of. Our readers must excuse us if we do not give all that transpires."

Indiana, as a member of the Union, was expected to send 75,000 volunteers to service, the report claims. Precisely how one promises volunteers depends on whether the alternative is to be told to join.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Morris was in charge of the Indiana outfit. The downside was that the Franklin Guards evidently organized too late to be called for the first round of fighting, "but just in time to be absorbed by the organization of the six State regiments."

The process here is somewhat confusing, but the apparent belief that they'd serve for a year was offset by the reality that the army actually meant they'd serve for three years. Um ... changing the rules, it would seem.

No matter.

"The Franklin Guards were divided over the subject of enlisting in the three years of service. The company was assigned to the Thirteenth Regiment, and lettered "C" with the original officers, and all those men who were willing to accept the three years' enlistment. The remainder were assigned to the Sixteenth Regiment, and served their period of enlistment (one year) with that corps. Many of these men re-enlisted in other regiments later during the war."

A nice touch, to renew one's vow.

As time went on, zeal for the Union cause scarcely wavered but it faced challenges that were frightening at the time and unsettling to read, a full 150 years later.

Being at war is never a pleasant experience.

And the war did come to Indiana.

"Arbitrary Arrests For Differences Of Opinion" would be a headline in an 1862 newspaper.

Templetons

Robert's grave, Sims-Brier

Scrounging around through various books and histories, checking the index ... the usual ... the name of Templeton shows up frequently.

What comes with that has thus far been slightly disjointed, considering the Templeton family's importance to the origins of Fairfield and the East Fork valley.

What we do know is:

Robert Templeton's cabin was the first to be completed in the area just west of what would become Whitcomb. His brother, John, built his home quite a distance away ... where Quakertown eventually existed. At the time, all that land was part of Dearborn County.

August Reifel, in his 1915 history that provides good resource material, describes what was apparently known about Templeton and the others of the Carolina Settlement.

"Upon their arrival, all hands were busy at selecting good building sites and cutting down the trees from which to erect their humble cabins. The first of such cabins was created in 1804 in the valley of the East Fork."

Reifel says it was "about one hundred yards north of the present residence of Mrs. Keturah Templeton." (If I can pinpoint this on a map, I will include it.)

Meanwhile:

"Work went forward until nine cabins had been completed, sufficiently homelike to allow the families to enter for winter quarters."

Understandably, these people lived fairly far apart despite their kindred connection, and their sections were a mile square. That's a lot of lawn to mow and leaves to rake.

The Templetons were closely connected to the Hanna family. John Templeton was married to Mary Hanna, daughter of William Hanna. Robert was John Templeton's brother. He married Mary Hanna, daughter of Robert (Robin) Hanna.

Robert was born in 1762 and John in 1766 in County Antrim, Ireland. Their family immigrated to South Carolina and settled in Laurens District when they were young boys.

Union County Library sources explain:

"Much of this history has been handed down through the families involved since no journals or letters of this time exists. It is believed that Robert Hanna and Robert Templeton were the leaders of this Carolina Colony when they departed South Carolina in 1801."

John Templeton and his family moved into their home in early April 1805. John’s wife Mary gave birth to their seventh child, Catherine Hitch Templeton, on July 15, 1805, making her the first white child born in the valley.

William Logan’s son, Thomas, was the first male child.

I am looking for information about the lives of these settlers before they left for the Indiana territory. Most of that would probably be in archives in South Carolina.

Karen Barlow Coffey, historian at Union County Library, adds this:

"In the back country of South Carolina a group of men, women and children were considering moving to the North West Territory.  They lived in Laurens District. It was in the Highlands of South Carolina away from the populated cities of Charleston and Columbia. The red clay earth did not make good farmland for growing families and the issue of slavery was a volatile one. These families had much in common. They were Scots, Irish, and Presbyterian and had the courage it look toward the wilderness as their new home."

Coffey adds this about John Templeton:

"(He) was appointed in 1806 the first justice of the peace for the northern part of Dearborn County.  He was commissioned as judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County in December 1810. John was responsible for the naming of Franklin County. He represented Franklin County in the territorial legislature assembly in Vincennes in 1811."

According to Coffey's research, John Templeton helped "instigate a petition" asking that “The Gore” or Wayne’s Purchase be annexed to Ohio because of the pro-slavery sentiment he found in Indiana. (Wayne's Purchase inevitably was split in half to allow for the creation of Franklin County.)

Robin Hanna, war veteran

We have learned that Robert (Robin) Hanna, one of the first settlers in the Whitewater Valley, was also a veteran of the War of Independence.

Also known as the American Revolution.

Hanna, who came to Indiana in 1803 from Laurens County, S.C., was one of several Revolutionary soldiers to be buried in Franklin County. Hanna's grave is in Sims-Brier Cemetery at New Fairfield.

A book published in South Carolina includes brief biographies of the men who were called Patriots during the rebellion. Of Hanna, it says:

Robert Hanna was in many skirmishes and in the battles at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Eutaw Springs. According to family legend, the battle of Cowpens was fought on the plantation of his son, Joseph, who married Sarah Adair. 

The use of the word "plantation" probably ought not be misconstrued. It could easily have referred to a "farm." The accepted description of plantation is less genteel. It is easy to assume that the Hannas were not poor.

In truth, Robin Hanna's desire to fight on the American side in the Revolution was far from automatic.

The bulk of the resistance to the British crown lay in the North, in New England. To the South, the agrarian nature of society was less inclined to want to throw off the yoke of colonial rule. British loyalists were quite common in South Carolina. To defy that was risky. Southern economy depended heavily on trade with England. At that time, France was less a market than a potential ally.

As well, the Brits were inclined to favor war atrocity as a way of coercing the public into submission. They had also enlisted disgruntled Cherokee Indians to do some of their frontier bidding in the expansive colonies.

Jeff Biggers, who wrote "The United States of Appalachia," says that at least one faction of the colonial South advocated making a deal with the British ... agreeing to end the rebellion in exchange for Georgia and the Carolinas, which would remain part of the United Kingdom.

Lord Tarleton

That was not an especially popular point of view, but it showed that not everyone in the colonies favored independence, at least not on the American terms.

In "House of Hanna," the author, Sarah A. Hanna, Robin Hanna's granddaughter, projects a conversation that could have been held. In it, Sarah relates a story that her grandfather would have told about having captured a sword from the British garrison commander Sir Banastre Tarleton, "when Tarleton was raiding and devastating our homes that I was going home to see my family, and I was skulking along rapidly to clear an open country that lay around me for about a mile. I had nearly reached the center of the open when suddenly I heard the sound of distant clattering of horses' feet."

Robin goes on to explain how he managed evasive tactics in the face of a Royalist battalion. Tarleton, meanwhile, had seen a deer and had tried unsuccessfully to kill it with three shots.

"I thought about his three empty pistols and I congratuated myself on my own well loaded ones, and as I watched his approach, I drew my feet up under me in such a way that I could jump to a standing position in a moment."

As Tarleton approached, unsuspecting, Robin jumped up.

Sarah A. Hanna says this is the sword.

"Will you surrender?" he told Tarleton, who realized his pistols were empty. Tarleton, in a tough spot, agreed to relinquish his sword since Robin, who had captured a prisoner, had no way of truly confining him with his own camp several miles away.

A gentleman's confrontation, evidently.

Robin agreed to not shoot Tarleton in the back as he rode away.

He ended up with a sword as his trophy.

As an aside, the British depended somewhat on loyalist regiments in the war in the Carolinas. For the most part, the loyalists, sometimes known as Tories, were nothing more than cannon fodder. They were often ill-trained, badly equipped and generally disregarded as illiterate rabble by the sophisticated British military commanders. In most skirmishes, the colonial soldiers defeated them easily, which helped hasten the South's shift to support of the American cause.

A BIT ABOUT BANASTRE