Bushwackers

[Ryan Halsey]

Does anyone know anything about bushwackers in the VA, NC, TN area of the Appalachians? I would like to start an impression, but I dont know everything I would need to use. Any info would be helpful. Thanks.

[FloridaConscript]

Re: Bushwackers

Check out:
Guerrillas, Unionists, and Violence on the Confederate Home Front by Daniel E. Sutherland.
good stuff in there.

Bryant Roberts

[lukegilly13]

Re: Bushwackers

Ryan,
I have a book in storage at my mom and dad's house...I will get it this weekend....it is a collection of letters written home from soldiers in the 51st Virginia, the 64th Virginia, and the 50th Virginia. Several of the men who wrote letters were sent as guides through the mountians. The book is full of unique stories. I will get it this weekend and post some more info....I will try and find you a copy of the book as well if you'd like.

[SouthernIllinoisGuard]

Re: Bushwackers

Try this book. The Civil War in the Smokies. Written by Noel Fisher.
Alot of info and first hand accounts of "bushwackers and ruffians". Good read and makes you wonder how the Southern Appalachian folks survived.

Passage from the book
In Cocke County, Dorcas Smith had been left at home with two small girls when her husband James had gone to Kentucky to join the Union Army. At one point raiders came to her farm hauled her stores of food out of the house, and piled them in the yard. When the men went to catch the chickens, Dorcas quickly climbed up on the pile and urinated on the food. The raiders left in disgust, and Dorcas cleaned the food and stored it away again.

[MickCole]

Re: Bushwackers

Luke,
I had several cousins in the 64th VA (Hickam, Frazier, Head, Dykes, Spencer, Quillen,and Fugate), so would be most interested in the book.
Mick Cole
37th VA CO E (detached to Rochester, NY)

[hpotter]

Re: Bushwackers

My ancestor was Col. Love of Thomas' Legion out of Western North Carolina. They were really active within the mountain regions. They were frequent visitors to Cades Cove, TN for foraging. On the flip side, Col. Love's grandfather was also Col. Love of the Revolution. He founded Waynesville, NC which was raided by Federal's known as Kirk's Raiders. East TN is full of such cases.

[LWhite64]

Re: Bushwackers

Here are a few that I really like:

War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and Guerilla Violence in East Tennessee 1860-1869. An incredible little book, I hightly recommend it.

Mountain Partisans: Guerilla Warfare in the Southern Appalachians. This is one of my favorite titles on guerillas. Check out the chapter on John Gatewood for the story of a real sociopath.

[EVOC]

Re: Bushwackers

Try this link, about Captain Jack Hinson. He was one of the most prolific partisan bushwhacker snipers in Middle TN.

http://books.google.com/books?id=w8vdEgKXmHQC&pg=PA596&lpg=PA596&dq=captain+jack+hinson&source=web&ots=Ow--z7SEek&sig=nmk5T4nvbM8DKDzsCaLld4I_pmE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result

[westernprivate]

Re: Bushwackers

Also checkout John Inscoe & Gordon B. McKinney's work The Heart of Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War.
Beau Blackwell

[PogueMahone]

Re: Bushwackers

Search for a book about Champ Ferguson. Everyone else can suggest bad men, but Champ was the only one the Yankees hung after the war for his crimes. He was charged with over 50 outright murders, including a Federal officer in a hospital who may have been his own brother.

[lukegilly13]

Re: Bushwackers

Joe,
Good call....Ryan, you actually live within 20 minutes of where he commited several of his war crimes!

[EVOC]

Re: Bushwackers

Search for a book about Champ Ferguson. Everyone else can suggest bad men, but Champ was the only one the Yankees hung after the war for his crimes. He was charged with over 50 outright murders, including a Federal officer in a hospital who may have been his own brother.

Champ Ferguson was indeed an outlaw murderer. Jack Hinson was a patriot who only shot Federal soldiers, in uniform on active duty.

[Ryan Halsey]

Re: Bushwackers

Thanks fellas. That info is really helpful. Any other info, I'd be glad to learn.

[Longbranch 1]

Re: Bushwackers

Mr Halsey,

You might want to check out " The Thrilling Adventures of Daniel Ellis, The Union Guide". The OverMountain Press.

A distant relative of mine wrote this narrative in 1867. It may seem to be a little vitriolic, but then again, perhaps not.

Regards,
Kevin Ellis,
26th NC

[lukegilly13]

Re: Bushwackers

Ryan,
You might also wish to check into Thomas Legion. They were known for the type of tactics you are looking for. Here's a descent internet read:

http://thomaslegion.net/