Editorial on Slavery Commending Col. Charles Carroll

Editorial in The Catholic Mirror against Emancipation, quoting Col. Charles Carroll with approval: The Catholic Mirror, February 28, 1863, p. 4.

(Historical Context: Maryland Catholics tended to believe that slavery was Biblical and beneficial to the slave, if not the slave-owner. This editorial was not signed, but would not have been published without the approval of Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick of Baltimore, because The Mirror was the official organ of his diocese.)

“THE TRUE FRIENDS AND ENEMIES TO THE SLAVES”

“Two years ago, there was not a happier people on earth than the slaves, as a body, in our Southern States. Of course, in making such an assertion, we mean to compare class with class always. We can readily understand the horrible idea of a New England farmer in supposing himself and his wife and children to be reduced to the hard fate of slavery; and we suppose that his mental comparison makes the slaves what he and his would be transplanted to their position. . . . .

The Southern slaves were born to their lot; and they and their fathers before them were slaves, so far as we can trace their history. What more cruel or abominable slavery can there be on earth than that which yet exists among the African tribes themselves? What man, like the king of Dahoney, sheds the blood of thousands of human victims in honor of the manes of his fathers? Have the American slaves been degraded by being placed in their present condition? Surely not. But have they not been elevated by it? Let any sane man compare their condition with that of the mass of African negroes, or even with the emancipated negroes of the West Indies, and he will find it as clear as day-light, that they have been elevated, vastly elevated.

Now, we say, many American slaves are as good Christians as any living man. In the Catholic Church, they are taught sedulously all the truths of Christianity. They are taught that, though their bodies be dark, their souls, when free from sin, are white and unspotted, and that in the world to come, they will find the portals of heaven as open to them as to their masters. From our earliest infancy to this day, we have participated with slaves in family prayer, and in the reception of the holy sacraments of the Church. We have knelt side by side with them at the foot of the altar; we have prayed for them when living; we have prayed for them dead; and we have asked their prayers likewise. In childhood we took lessons in Christian doctrine in their midst; what has been taught to us has been taught to them. The difference in worldly condition, it is perfectly understood, makes no difference in the eyes of our common Lord and Master, who assigned to us respectively, our places here, and who will assign to the place hereafter, not in relation to present condition, but in relation to fidelity in His service.

We do not wish to put any false gloss upon slavery. It is a hard lot for any human being. But so is a life of poverty, labor, deprivation, and destitution, and yet such is the lot of untold millions who are called free. The American slave, so far, has never known destitution; starvation has never stared him in the face; gaunt famine is altogether unknown—He rarely lives a life of excessive labor. As a general rule in all America, two hired white laborers will do quite as much work as three slaves,--not infrequently thrice as much.—Slave labor is not even economical, as most slave-owners well know.

We would call attention to an extract from the will of one of our most eminent citizens, and largest slaveowners, recently deceased, going the rounds to our daily papers:

‘I have always regarded slavery as a great evil, producing injury and loss in grain-growing States, to the whites principally,--an evil for which we are not responsible who now hold slaves, considering that God in His wisdom, placed them here, or permitted them to be introduced. My experience and full convictions are, that as long as we have that class of labor among us, there are as a mass better cared for and happier, than if they were free and providing for themselves. I therefore give all my slaves to my children, with these positive injunctions: that none of them shall be sold except among themselves, and except for those crimes for which they would be purchased by the laws of the State, and for gross insubordination. I also direct that they shall continue to have the advantages of the religious instruction they now receive, and their morals and habits be watched over like those of children. (Italics ours—Eds., Mir.) It may hereafter be found avisable to move them to the South to cultivate cotton, where the climate is more congenial to their health, while it removes them from the pernicious influences of the low whites who now corrupt them. In this way they may be made profitable, and eventually a fund provided to establish them at some future day in Africa or the West Indies. It is my wish that my children shall not transmit them to any of my grandchildren.” (From the Will of Col. Charles Carroll, of Doughoregan Manor.)

This is the language of the Old-School Catholic gentleman, and of the great slave-owner. This is spoken in the spirit of the Church, in the spirit of humanity, in the spirit of Christian benevolence.

How different the animus from that which pervades the destructive and malignant school of the Abolitionists! A Governor of Massachusetts would have the negroes turned loose upon their masters to slay them and their families, but he warns these negroes that though they escape from slavery, they shall find no home in Massachusetts! He counsel leads the poor creatures only to their own destruction. And he is but a typical man of his party. Cruel, bloody, heartless, these men—Andrews, Sumners, Butlers—wage a double war upon the whites and blacks of the South—trumpeters of destruction—while they take care to keep their own persons far away from the dangers they are so ready to invoke upon others, to carry out their mad and wicked designs.”

Journalist William Russell visits Doughoregan, Fall of 1861

Account by William Russell, special correspondent of the London Times, of a visit to Doughoregan.

(Although Col. Carroll is not named in this article, William Russell names him elsewhere. Russell had made his name reporting on the Crimean War and would spend months in 1861 and 1862 touring North and South. The British subject had become “infamous” in the estimation of the Lincoln administration only a few months before this article by his blisteringly accurate account of the way in which the Federal troops broke and ran at Bull Run. William Russell was horrified by what he saw of American slavery in places like Louisiana, but was softened somewhat by his visit to Doughoregan. The “blow” Marylanders had sustained was the imposition of martial law and the crackdown against all States Rights elements in Maryland.)

The article was also in the London Times and reprinted widely, though without identifying the slave-owner in question. There are some differences in each version, and this is the most complete from the point of view of a portrait of the colonel and his land.

From The Catholic Mirror, November 2, 1861, p. 4.

“It is but a month since I was driving through magnificent undulating fields, hemmed in by broad belts of forest, and heavy with crops of Indian corn and tobacco. The rough wooden and brick huts huddled together in the neighborhood of the country seats were peopled by men, women and children with black faces, but for which they might have done duty easily for Hungarian or Lithuanian peasantry, attired in uncouth cloths and great lumbering boots, shuffling and hulking through the fields as if in search of moonstones. Their master, a good, easy, kind-hearted gentleman, polished and well-read, looking on them very much as the Irish squires of the old time regarded squatters—creatures who ought to be useful, who were not profitable, who had no business to be where they were, and who, nevertheless, could not be got rid of without imputations of cruelty which would make him be odious in the land. He was perfectly satisfied the free labor of whites would be more profitable, but what was he to do with his blacks? Where was he to get even the white labor he wanted?

With these sentiments, he felt bitterly the insults of the abolitionists who called him a slave-driver or “nigger breeder”. In his case, most of the fathers of these blacks had been transmitted to him by his ancestors, and had lived as families on the estate for several generations. To look at the fields, luxuriant with weeds and filled with stones, was to be satisfied the system of agriculture was patriarchal if the system of labor was not. But in fact, their condition was very different from that of the slaves on the Southern plantation. The proprietor of these broad domains is is, like many of the Maryland gentry, a Roman Catholic, and a priest, belonging to a religious and educational institution founded by the piety of his forefathers, is engaged to look after the religious welfare of his flock, and I saw a full congregation of the slaves trooping through the meadows t chapel, looking, in their gay dresses and natural groupings, very unlike the beings who are cribbed up like rabbits in the hatches of the South.

Then, after service was over, came the flocks of wooly-headed children of both sexes to the priest, for examination in the Catechism. The houses in which they lived were larger and better than the slave quarters on most plantations, but were not cleaner or more tidy, and it appeared to me as if the inhabitants were a little less respectful in their demeanor. In the name of crinoline, yellow shawls, pink and white dresses, wonderful bonnetry and very quaint-looking, how did the proprietor afford to turn out such gay nymphs of Africa? He did not afford it at all.—Grant that home-reared chickens and pigs paid for some of it, still enough came out of his pocket, in addition to feeding and supporting them, to leave very little between their labor and positive loss. It was no use to call them early, for they dawdled about the fields all the more. Here, in fact, was a state of things which would soon cure itself, if let alone.

The greater part of the estate, indeed, was farmed out to others, on the principle of one-half or one-third of the produce in lieu of rent, and I suspect that was far the most profitable mode of dealing with these wide-spread acres. I am assured that there are many estates in Maryland in the same condition. It may be imagined how their proprietors resent the propaganda which threatens to ruin them utterly, and how this last blow, dealt at the Legislature of the State in which they feel so much pride, is felt by men as tenacious and haughty as any Magyar or Pole who ever lived. If there be any large Union element in Maryland, let it be developed now, or the world will not believe in its existence.”

Although Russell does not identify Col. Carroll as the “gentleman” to whom he spoke about Confederate relatives, the article may answer some questions about exactly when and how Harper and Albert left for Virginia. Harper was a member of the Howard County Dragoons, a militia unit commanded (I believe) by his father and whose captain was George Gaither, with whom Harper would go across the river to the Confederacy. The “General at Baltimore” was likely Benjamin Butler; "Beauregardism” refers to the hero of Sumter and Manassass, P. G. T. Beuregard, who had pledged to some Baltimore belles to plant the Confederate flag atop Monument Square in that city.

This account is in the same article:

“Some considerable towns have spring up in the State recently which are the rallying points for the Union men, and which are thorns in the side of the country gentlemen; but, generally speaking, the majority of the people in most of the counties are opposed to the Government, and there are few landed proprietors who are not Southern Rights men. Many families have representatives in the army of the Confederate States, and all the efforts of the Federalists have not sufficed to prevent intelligence and aid from being sent across the Potomac into Virginia, and could not frustrate the attempts of bodies of armed gentlemen and others, on horse and on foot, to join their friends.

It was only the other day I was speaking to a gentleman who mentioned that he had a large number of relatives in the Southern army, as if it were a matter of common notoriety. ‘And how did they get there?’ Why they belonged to a body of cavalry which we have had for many years composed of the young gentlemen of the country to keep down negro insurrection. They hear one night that the negroes were going to rise, and appearances justified the rumor. So they assembled and sent in word to the General at Baltimore that they had met, and that they would probably require some aid. He ordered them at once to disband or to wait till he sent out an officer to make each of them take the oath of allegiance. Deeply offended by this conduct, nearly all of them rode off, crossed the river that night and joined the enemy. The women have embraced Beauregardism with the greatest devotion, and their beauty and grace render them powerful proselytizers.

It may be true that the State has been nearly disarmed by frequent and rigid searches, but if there are not bows, and flags and rosettes of the orthodox colors forthcoming in profusion whenever the Confederates make their appearance, I am much deceived at the ingenuity and zeal of the fair Marylanders.”

Requiem Mass for Col. Charles Carroll

Requiem Mass for the Repose of the Soul of Col. Charles Carroll

(Col. Carroll died less than three months after his son, Albert . Colonel Carroll’s wife, Mary Digges Lee, had passed away only a few years earlier. The author makes oblique reference to the absence of the youngest son, Harper, who had left for Virginia to fight for the Confederacy. The writer does not mention the fact, but the announcement of Col. Carroll’s death was in the same issue of The Catholic Mirror as that of his relative, Lady Stafford of England, another granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It was Lady Stafford who had urged her grandfather to endow St. Charles College. St. Charles College was built on Carroll land in Howard County and conferred minor orders on priests. It would burn in 1911 and was removed to Catonsville. Harper took the Catholic Church to court to recover the land, as the will of Charles Carroll of Carrollton specified that if the Church ceased to use it, it would revert to the family.)

From The Catholic Mirror, December 27, 1862, p. 5. “Testis” is Latin for “witness”.

Messrs. Editors—One of the most solemn and imposing rites of the Catholic Church—the Requiem Mass—was celebrated on Tuesday, the 16^th inst., for the repose of the soul of the late lamented Col. Charles Carroll, of whose death your readers are doubtless cognizant, in the chapel attached to his country seat, Doughoregan Manor, Howard county, Md. The services were conducted by the reverend gentlemen and students connected with Charles College, the Rev. Mr. Dennis officiating as celebrant, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Chapius and Rince as deacon and sub-deacon. The choir was composed of a select number of students under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Menu, and the creditable manner in which the sublime music of the Gregorian chant was sung, added much to the solemnity of the occasion. The worthy pastor of the congregation attending the chapel, the Rev. Mr. Griffin, made a brief, but impressive, discourse on the merits and character of the deceased, alluding, in a particular manner, to the munificence displayed by him in enlarging and beautifying this sacred edifice which will be a lasting monument of the zeal which he manifested for the glory of God and the cause of religion. The Mass was attended by the bereaved relatives, and by a large number of the deceased’s friends, who came to offer up their prayers, in union with those of the Church, and to pay this last tribute of affection to the memory of him who claimed the respect and esteem of all. In concluding this brief and incomplete description of this solemn and interesting ceremony, we sincerely condole with the members of this estimable family for the severe losses which they have recently sustained from the visitation of death, having been called upon, within a comparatively short period, to lament the demise of a mother, brother, and lastly of a much-loved father.

It might be supposed, Messrs. Editors, that, in this retired and thinly peopled portion of Maryland, the dire effects of the unnatural struggle, which is now decimating our unhappy country, would not be so keenly felt as in the crowded and populous city; but the absence of many a young and promising member from our humble congregation on Sundays, proves that, though removed from the active scenes of war, we are not exempt from its baneful influences. May the Most High, in the infinitude of His mercies, deign to hear the prayers of a suppliant people for the blessings of peace, and may the new year usher in a new era of happiness and prosperity for our country!

Respectfully yours,

TESTIS

Death Announcement of Charles Carroll of Doughoregan

(The Catholic Mirror, December 6, 1862, p. 6.)

Death of Col. Charles Carroll of Doughoregan Manor.

With feelings of deep regret we announce the death of COL. CHARLES CARROLL, who departed this life of the 2nd instant, in his 62nd year. Deceased was a worthy scion of illustrious sires, whose names are identified with the history of our State and country almost from their foundation. Patriotism, charity, and hospitality, as practiced so eminently by his world-renowned grandfather, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, were dutifully perpetuated by the lamented deceased. We sincerely condole with his bereaved family and many friends, for their irreparable loss. May his soul rest in peace.

Marriage Announcement of Carter Thompson and John Lee Carroll

(For more on Thomas Lee, who performed the ceremony, see postings below.)

Announcement in The Catholic Mirror, May 19, 1877, p. 8. The Mirror was the official newspaper of the Diocese of Baltimore and of Richmond.

CARROLL_THOMPSON.--At the Cathedral, on the 14th instant, by Rev. Thomas Lee, JOHN LEE CARROLL, of Maryland, and Miss CARTER M. THOMPSON, of Virginia.

Letter from Baker Thompson to sister, mentions "H.C."

Letter from Colonel Thompson after the Battle of Manassas

(Historical Context: The Battle of Manassas was fought July 21, 1861 and was the first great battle of the war and a resounding Confederate victory. “H. C.” (Harper Carroll) was also at the battle, though Baker and H.C. did not meet. Although Harper would not marry Baker Thompson’s sister Ella until June, 1863, he knew the Thompson family because his oldest brother Charles was married to Caroline Thompson. It is likely that Baker Thompson felt especially solicitous of Harper because of this family connection and because Harper was an exile from his home state of Maryland. It is interesting that Baker chose to abbreviate Harper’s initials. He may have suspected that letters from the Confederacy were being read by the military government in Baltimore and that Harper, a citizen of a Union state, was considered by that government to be a traitor. Baker also only referred to “My Dear Sister” rather than using his sister’s given name.)

(In Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy, by Susan R. Hull, p. 235.)

Camp McGregor, August 15

My Dear Sister:

Were it not for the pressing duties and worrying inconveniences of this life, I would write you often. We were under arms all yesterday expecting an attack. Let it come! I was at the fight at Manassas. Our brigade gave the coup-de-grace. We converted their retreat into a rout, after marching in quick (presto, presto) time, seven miles, to reinforce the left wing. We marched a mile under their rifle battery but without damage. Our rifled cannon made their field officers take the fences at the very first discharge. Lindsay Walker, who manned the Pawnee, fired the first shot from our brigade, and it fell right into a close column retreating in fair order, scattering them in every direction. I have seen nothing of H. C. – would I might have an opportunity to do him some favor.

J. B.T.

Colonel Fagan's Account of "The Magnificent First Arkansas"

“The Magnificent First Arkansas Regiment of Infantry” by James F. Fagan

James Fleming Fagan

(In Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy, by Susan R. Hull, pp. 244-245)

(Historical Context: James Fleming Fagan served in the U. S. Army during the Mexican War and raised a company for the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War. He would be promoted to Brigadier General on September 12, 1864. He survived the war and returned to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he died in 1893.)

“The First Arkansas Regiment enlisted directly into the Confederate Army as originally organized, and was composed of the following staff officers: James F. Fagan, colonel; James C. Monroe, lieutenant-colonel; John Baker Thompson, major; Frank Bronaugh, adjutant. On the formation of the regiment it was moved to Lynchburg, Va., where it was mustered into the Confederate service on the 26^th day of May, 1861, and surrendered on the 27^th day of April, 1865. The regiment was in seventeen general engagements, skirmished 200 days, and marched over 9,000 miles. At the time of its organization it numbered 1,100 men, besides being recruited several times. At the close of the war 39 remained, 32 were prisoners, and 7 surrendered at Appomattox. The loss of the regiment at Shiloh reached the aggregate of 364 killed, wounded and missing. Major J. W. Colquitt was severely wounded late in the action, so seriously that he was obliged to go to his home in Georgia on leave. The train on which he traveled was captured by the Yankees at Huntsville, Ala., but he escaped, although on crutches, and made his way safely home. When he recovered from his wound he rejoined his regiment as its colonel (Colonel Fagan being promoted), and commanded it until he was desperately wounded at Atlanta July 26, 1864, losing his right foot; after which he was put on post duty at West Point, Miss., where he remained until the surrender.

From the “Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston,” the Confederate commanding general in the Battle of Shiloh, I quote the following:

‘The First Arkansas Regiment, of which John Baker Thompson was lieutenant-colonel, was in its second engagement when he met a soldier’s fate April 6, 1862, on this hard-fought field—one of the most memorable battles, in some respects, of this or any other age.’

On the right of the regiment, dauntlessly leading the advance, fell Lieut.-Col. John Baker Thompson, mortally wounded, peirced with seven balls. His loss no one can feel as sensibly as myself. Like Havelock, he united the graces of religion to the valor of the soldier.

With much respect,

Very truly,

Jas. F. Fagan

Col. Commanding 1^st Ark. Regt.

Eyewitness Account of the Wounding of J. B. Thompson

Eyewitness Account of the Death of Col. John Baker Thompson

(From Susan R. Hull, Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy, pp. 236-239.)

Historical Context: J. B. Thompson and the author of this letter, John Fellows, were both members of the First Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, called Colquitt’s Brigade after Brigadier General Alfred Holt Colquitt. Here is a brief summary of their activity during the war:

1st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Colquitt's)

1st (Fagan's-Colquitt's) Infantry Regiment, formed during the early spring of 1861, contained men from Union, Clark, Ouachita, Jefferson, Saline, Pulaski, Jackson, Arkansas, and Drew counties. Ordered to Virginia, the unit entered Confederate service at Lynchburg. It fought at First Manassas, moved to Tennessee, participated in the conflict at Shiloh, then took an active role in the Kentucky Campaign. Later it was assigned to General L. E. Polk's and Govan's Brigade and was prominent in many battles of the Army of Tennessee from Murfreesboro to Bentonville. This regiment reported 11 killed and 90 wounded at Murfreesboro, lost forty-five percent of the 430 engaged at Chickamauga, and totalled 302 men and 217 arms in December, 1863. During July, 1864, this unit was united with the 15th (Cleburne's-Polk's-Josey's) Regiment and in the Battle of Atlanta lost 15 killed, 67 wounded, and 3 missing. Very few surrendered on April 26, 1865. The field officers were Colonels John W. Colquitt and James F. Fagan; Lieutenant Colonels William A. Crawford, W. H. Martin, Donelson McGregor, James C. Monroe, and John B. Thompson; and Major Stinson Little.

Both John R. Fellows and General William Nelson Rector Beall surrendered at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on July 9, 1863 after a prolonged siege. They were taken to Johnson’s Island in Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie, the only military prison exclusively for Confederate officers. General Beall was paroled the next year and spent the remainder of the war working to supply Confederate prisoners with blankets and other essential supplies.

Letter from Captain John R. Fellows

Military Prison, Johnson’s Island

November 4, 1863

Mrs. S. R. Hull, Baltimore, Md.:

My Dear Madam—Your letter of 29^th ult. To Brigadier-General Beall having made me acquainted with your name and residence furnishes me an opportunity which I have long desired, of acquainting the relatives of Lieut-Col. J. B. Thompson with some particulars of his death. He was, as you are probably aware, major of the First Arkansas Regiment from its organization, and served in such a capacity through the first year of the war. In the latter part of February, 1862, the regiment was ordered from Virginia to Corinth, Miss., where it reorganized and your brother was elected to the position of lieutenant-colonel. At the Battle of Shiloh the regiment was one of the first in action, and about ten o’clock Sunday morning it made three successive charges upon a strongly fortified position. It was in the second of these and while leading the command (being some distance in advance of the line) that Colonel Thompson fell.

His conspicuous position and gallant bearing evidently drew upon him the fire of sharp-shooters, as he was struck almost simultaneously by seven balls. He was immediately carried to a hospital in the rear and placed under the charge of skillful and attentive surgeons. The duties of my position in the regiment prevented me from seeing him (after he was wounded) that day, and at night we bivouacked some three miles away. The next day I visited him in company with Colonel Fagan. He bore his painful wounds with more of heroic fortitude and uncomplaining patience than I have ever witnessed in any other person, conversing cheerfully about his own condition and giving full and minute directions as to the disposition to be made of his effects. The management of these he entrusted entirely to Colonel Fagan, and the family in Virginia have been fully informed of what his instructions were and how they were executed.

We were compelled to leave him in the hospital on our retreat, as he could not bear removal. One of our own surgeons remained with him, and both from him and from the Federal surgeons he received every care and attention. He died on Thursday morning, April 10, and was buried near the hospital, his grave being marked. He died as he had often expressed a wish to do, upon the field of battle, meeting his fate with the fortitude of a true soldier and the calmness of a Christian.

Colonel Thompson was my intimate and cherished friend—nay, more, my ideal and model. I never knew a man of such fine and irreproachable character, and he carried the graces of his Christian calling into every act and operation of his life. The vices that always prevail in camp did not even assail him and had no influence upon him except to stimulate his efforts for their removal. He moved constantly in an atmosphere of integrity, purity, and virtuous action—an atmosphere of his own creation. His influence for good over the men of the regiment was something wonderful—the loud oath, coarse jest, or obscene story was never repeated in his presence. He was the idol of his command, and the roughest and most hardened soldier became subdued and gentle in his presence and eager to accomplish his wished. He ruled, too, almost alone by the power of his noble example, being firm but never harsh. His men loved him too well to disobey him.

One of Colonel Thompson’s remarkable characteristics was his unvarying cheerfulness. Always genial in manner, sportive yet brilliant and instructive in conversation, he was the delight of the circle which in camp or bivouac used to gather around him and listen to the music of that social life—melody that we, alas, shall hear no more.

Many of us lost dear friends in the bloody struggle of those two days, and by the side of the streams and under the trees in the dark forests of Shiloh are lying now, in their last sleep, those in whom our hearts were bound up. But when it was told us that Colonel Thompson was dead, all private griefs seemed forgotten in a contemplation of the great loss all had sustained. As for myself, I felt that it was irreparable. I used to sit in his presence as a child before a loved teacher. Possessed of the charm and fascination that cultivated intellect always imparts, enjoying with a keen zest the society of others and always adding to its interest by his own accomplishments, where shall we find another so worthy (of) our love? To the regiment he was at once an officer, a friend, and an oracle.

It is with feelings of sad and mournful satisfaction that I offer to his memory this brief, imperfect tribute, evoked by the thoughts of him with crowd upon me tonight.

I shall be very glad to hear from you, and if I have omitted to state anything respecting his military career and death it will gratify me to state it.

Believe me very respectfully your friend,

Jno. R. Fellows

Staff Brig.-Gen. Beall (General John A. Beall)

Death of John Baker Thompson

Death of John Baker Thompson at Shiloh, from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, p. 499, Series I Volume 10 (Part 1), from a report by Colonel Randall Lee Gibson, First Brigade, Ruffles Division, from Corinth, Mississippi:

“Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, Captains Gibson, McMahon, and several other officers of the First Arkansas, and Captain Hilliard, of the Fourth Regiment Louisiana Volunteers, fell at the head of their men on the first day, as patriots fall, for country and fireside. They were noble soldiers.”

Portrait of John Baker Thompson

Account of the Death of John Baker Thompson at Shiloh

The Death at Shiloh of John Baker Thompson

(This account is included in the book by his sister Susan R. (Thompson) Hull entitled Boy Soldiers of the Confederacy. The book was first published in 1905 and was reprinted by Eakin Press in 1998. Some in Thompson’s command were young men from St. John’s College, but the information on Thompson was attached at the end and seems to have been included because the author wanted something printed on her brother, rather than because it was consistent with the other material offered in the book. The letter is from a Captain Brooks and was in response to a request for information on Thompson by Lieutenant Carter Berkeley, a second cousin of General Robert E. Lee. Berkeley was a member of Garber's Company, Virginia Light Artillery (Staunton Artillery). This account is found on pages 229-231 of the book.

Historical Context:

The Battle of Shiloh

The First Day
April 6, 1862

With the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson in February, General Johnston withdrew his disheartened Confederate forces into west Tennessee, northern Mississippi and Alabama to reorganize. In early March, General Halleck responded by ordering General Grant to advance his Union Army of West Tennessee on an invasion up the Tennessee River.
Occupying Pittsburg Landing, Grant entertained no thought of a Confederate attack. Halleck's instructions were that following the arrival of General Buell's Army of the Ohio from Nashville, Grant would advance south in a joint offensive to seize the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, the Confederacy's only east-west all weather supply route that linked the lower Mississippi Valley to cities on the Confederacy's east coast.
Assisted by his second-in-command, General Beauregard, Johnston shifted his scattered forces and concentrated almost 55,000 men around Corinth. Strategically located where the Memphis & Charleston crossed the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, Corinth was the western Confederacy's most important rail junction.
On April 3, realizing Buell would soon reinforce Grant, Johnston launched an offensive with his newly christened Army of the Mississippi. Advancing upon Pittsburg Landing with 43,938 men, Johnston planned to surprise Grant, cut his army off from retreat to the Tennessee River, and drive the Federals west into the swamps of Owl Creek.
In the gray light of dawn, April 6, a small Federal reconnaissance discovered Johnston's army deployed for battle astride the Corinth road, just a mile beyond the forward Federal camps. Storming forward, the Confederates found the Federal position unfortified. Johnston had achieved almost total surprise. By mid-morning, the Confederates seemed within easy reach of victory, overrunning one frontline Union division and capturing its camp. However, stiff resistance on the Federal right entangled Johnston's brigades in a savage fight around Shiloh Church. Throughout the day, Johnston's army hammered the Federal right, which gave ground but did not break. Casualties upon this brutal killing ground were immense.
Meanwhile, Johnston's flanking attack stalled in front of Sarah Bell's peach orchard and the dense oak thicket labeled the "hornet's nest" by the Confederates. Grant's left flank withstood Confederate assaults for seven crucial hours before being forced to yield ground in the late afternoon. Despite inflicting heavy casualties and seizing ground, the Confederates only drove Grant towards the river, instead of away from it. The Federal survivors established a solid front before Pittsburg Landing and repulsed the last Confederate charge as dusk ended the first day of fighting.

The Second Day
April 7, 1862

Shiloh's first day of slaughter also witnessed the death of the Confederate leader, General Johnston, who fell at mid-afternoon, struck down by a stray bullet while directing the action on the Confederate right. At dusk, the advance division of General Buell's Federal Army of the Ohio reached Pittsburg Landing, and crossed the river to file into line on the Union left during the night. Buell's arrival, plus the timely appearance of a reserve division from Grant's army, led by Major General Lewis Wallace, fed over 22,500 reinforcements into the Union lines. On April 7, Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counterattack.
Taken by surprise, General Beauregard managed to rally 30,000 of his badly disorganized Confederates, and mounted a tenacious defense. Inflicting heavy casualties on the Federals, Beauregard's troops temporarily halted the determined Union advance. However, strength in numbers provided Grant with a decisive advantage. By midafternoon, as waves of fresh Federal troops swept forward, pressing the exhausted Confederates back to Shiloh Church, Beauregard realized his armies' peril and ordered a retreat. During the night, the Confederates withdrew, greatly disorganized, to their fortified stronghold at Corinth. Possession of the grisly battlefield passed to the victorious Federal's, who were satisfied to simply reclaim Grant's camps and make an exhausted bivouac among the dead.
General Johnston's massive and rapid concentration at Corinth, and surprise attack on Grant at Pittsburg Landing, had presented the Confederacy with an opportunity to reverse the course of the war. The aftermath, however, left the invading Union forces still poised to carry out the capture of the Corinth rail junction. Shiloh's awesome toll of 23,746 men killed, wounded, or missing brought a shocking realization to both sides that the war would not end quickly.
Source: "The Atlas of the Civil War" by James M. McPherson

“Havelock” is a reference to the British Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, who fought in the First Anglo-Burmese War, and the First Afghan War, and died during the Mutiny in India. He was known for his analytical brilliance and deep piety, having established Bible studies throughout his command. There is a statue to Havelock in Trafalgar Square in London, with an inscription reading: To Major General Sir Henry Havelock KCB and his brave companions in arms during the campaign in India 1857. Soldiers, your labours, your privations, your suffering and your valour, will not be forgotten by a grateful country. The nickname of “Havelock” for John Baker Thompson seems especially apt.

Captain Parks, writing to Lieutenant Berkeley, October, 14, 1901, says:

“In The Confederate Veteran I noticed your inquiring concerning the death of Col. I. B. Thompson, of the First Arkansas Regiment (Infantry), killed at Shiloh. I presume you mean Lieut.-Col. John Baker Thompson, of Little Rock, Ark., formerly of Virginia, who was some two years president of St. John’s College.

I dined with Colonel Thompson some time about the last of March or first of April, 1862, at the Gayoso Hotel, at Memphis, Tenn. At that time I was eighteen years of age and he twenty-four, and I was senior first lieutenant of heavy artillery, Hoadley’s Arkansas Battery, and shortly thereafter succeeded him as captain of said battery. After dinner, as I was to take passage on a Mississippi steamer, Colonel Thompson walked with me to the boat. On the way to the boat he was making many inquiries touching my captain’s proficiency in military tactics. I remember he asked me this question: ‘Where is the position of the lieutenant-colonel and major in time of action’? He was then a lieutenant-colonel and the impression was a great battle would soon be fought at or near Shiloh, his command being a part of the Confederate forces to be engaged in the expected battle._ Laughingly I said: ‘Why Colonel, ask me something not so easy.’ He said: ‘You do not know, sir; nor does your captain!’ Supposing I did know,” I answered, ‘as shown by diagram in Hardie’s ‘Tactics?’ ‘Ah,’ said he, “just as I expected. Your answer is incorrect, but I do not censure you, because the answer to that question is not in General Hardie’s ‘Tactics.’ He failed to translate that from the French tactics, of which I have a copy.’ He ten explained to me what the French tactics set forth—their places are in time of action on the right or left in line of battle 6 and 12 (or 15) paces, and explained the reasons therefore. Knowing him to be a brave and chivalrous Christian gentleman and scholar, I looked him straight in the eyes, thinking it could be only a few days until he should be in the impending conflict, and said as we were shaking hands to part: ‘You surely will not thus unnecessarily expose yourself in the coming engagement, will you, Colonel?’ He answered: ‘I will most certainly do my whole duty, sir!’ With a voice of sadness I said: ‘Then, my dear Colonel, I will never see you again. You will be killed in that battle. May God bless you! Farewell!’

The battle came. It proved to be one of the bloodiest and most important and withal, perhaps, the only battle fought out as planned, in the whole Civil War. Great indeed was the loss we sustained there. Perhaps the greatest loss was that of Albert Sidney Johnston, who was considered by President Jefferson Davis as one of the greatest general in America. There, as I had predicted, Colonel Thompson fell upon the right and at the head of his regiment. He lived four days, though pierced with four (some reported eight) balls in his breast.

Borne to the rear by his men, as he passed through the ranks he encouraged others, telling them how sweet it was to die for one’s country. The enemy remained in possession of the field, so that Colonel Thompson died within their lines. His grave was marked by his orderly, who had accompanied him, and after the war his remains were brought to his native State of Virginia and deposited in Hollywood Cemetery at Richmond.

In the cyclorama of the Battle of Shiloh the death of Colonel Thompson as is marked as one of the principal events. He was called the Havelock, or Christian soldier, and was the idol of his command.”

Portrait of Susan R. Thompson Hull