Civil War 150th

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

General Joseph Johnston wrote a reply to President Davis. Surprisingly, he was more diplomatic about the inaccuracies in his Commander-in-Chief's missive. But he did lay out in detail what an advantage in numbers the Union army facing him had. The letter also showed that the South's manpower problems extended to its slaves:

[font="Times New Roman"][right]Dalton, January 2, 1864.[/right]
Mr. President:

I have received the letter which you did me the honor to write to me on the 23d ultimo. Having been here but six days, during four of which it rained heavily, I have not been able to observe the condition of the army. I judge, however, from the language of the general officers, that it has not entirely recovered its confidence, and that its discipline is not so thorough as it was last spring. The men are, generally, comfortably clothed; a few shoes and blankets are wanting in each brigade, which the chief quartermaster promises to supply very soon. According to the return of December 20th, the effective total of the army (infantry and artillery) is not quite thirty-six thousand; the number present about forty-three thousand; that present and absent about seventy-seven thousand. The reports of the adjutant-general show that about four thousand men have returned to the ranks since the battle of Missionary Ridge. My predecessor estimated the enemy’s force at Chattanooga, Bridgeport, and Stevenson, at about eighty thousand. Major-General Wheeler reports that about two-thirds of his cavalry is with General Longstreet. He has about sixteen hundred in our front; Major-General Wharton has eight hundred and fifty near Rome, and Brigadier-General Roddy, with his brigade, is supposed to be near Tuscumbia-his strength not reported. I am afraid that this cavalry is not very efficient — that want of harmony among the superior officers causes its discipline to be imperfect. I will endeavor to improve it during the winter. The artillery is sufficient for the present strength of the army, but is deficient in discipline and instruction, especially in firing. The horses are not in good condition. It has about two hundred rounds of ammunition. Its organization is very imperfect. We have more than one hundred and twenty rounds of infantry ammunition, and no difficulty in obtaining more. The chief quartermaster reports that, besides the baggage-wagons of the troops, he has enough to transport eight days rations, but that will leave no means of transporting forage and other stores of his department. The teams are improving, but are far from being in good condition. One hundred and twenty wagons are expected from the Department of Mississippi, promised by Lieutenant-General Polk. The army depends for subsistence upon an officer at Atlanta (Major Cummings), who acts under the orders of the Commissary-General.

[...]

But, to make victory probable, the army must be strengthened. A ready mode of doing this would be by substituting negroes for all the soldiers on detached or daily duty, as well as company cooks, pioneers, and laborers for engineer service. This would give us at once ten or twelve thousand men. And the other armies of the Confederacy might be strengthened in the same proportion. Immediate and judicious legislation would be necessary, however. I earnestly ask your Excellency’s consideration of this matter. A law authorizing the Government to take negroes for all the duties out of the ranks, for which soldiers are now detailed, giving the slave a portion of the pay, and punishing the master for not returning him if he deserts, would enable us to keep them in service. This is the opinion of the seven or eight ranking officers present. My experience in Mississippi was, that impressed negroes run away whenever it is possible, and are frequently encouraged by their masters to do so; and I never knew one to be returned by his master. I respectfully suggest the division of this army into three corps, and, should your Excellency adopt that suggestion, the appointment of lieutenant-generals from some other army.

Very respectfully,

J. E. Johnston.[/font]

For slaves, service with the Confederate military seems to have been hard indeed. Even with the Army of Tennessee, they preferred to return to their old masters, and Johnston was known to be more generous with rations for slaves than were most Southern army commanders.

[Capt. Harlock]

Early January 1864:

January and February were generally the quiet months of the Civil War. Even where it did not not snow, heavy rains made movement and re-supply difficult. But the far south states, Florida, Texas and Louisiana, did not suffer from these problems. Florida's main value to the Confederacy was its production of salt from seawater. (Salt was crucial both for preserving meat and for tanning shoe and saddle leather.) But the coastal plants were best raided by the Navy rather than overland marches.

The Lincoln Administration therefore turned its eyes on Texas and Louisiana. Theater commander Nathaniel Banks was very willing to mount a campaign here, for he was a political general with his eye on the White House in this Presidential election year. If he could destroy the Confederate Trans-Mississippi army and help himself to the cotton in western Louisiana, his prospects would be greatly improved.

But William T. Sherman had his own ideas. He planned to split the state of Mississippi by marching to the town of Meridian, destroying an important rail hub and widening the buffer zone around the important Mississippi River traffic. As Grant had before, he encouraged Washington to order Banks to march on the blockade-running port of Mobile, Alabama, which would make defense against his Meridian campaign all but impossible. This, however, meant going east, instead of west towards the cotton fields. The prize was too tempting for the Treasury department to ignore.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In the eyes of most Civil War generals, there was no worse military crime than desertion. On both sides, firing squads were considered the proper way of dealing with soldiers abandoned their posts and duties. But the senior officers on both sides had to deal with commanders-in-chief who were more lenient than they. Just the day before, Jefferson Davis had commuted the death sentence of a young private. On this date, although it was almost certainly coincidence, Abraham Lincoln also set aside the capital sentence a deserter was under. Asked for an explanation, he replied, “Because I am trying to evade the butchering business lately.” It is surprising that he should have been asked, for Lincoln already was well known for commuting death sentences, especially for cases of desertion, and even more so if the convicted soldier was young.

Both Davis and Lincoln had practical as well as sentimental reasons for leniency. There was an elastic border between desertion and "straggling", the failure to rejoin one's unit promptly. In the days before mechanized transport became widespread, and when maps were hand-drawn or not available at all, it could take a week or two for a lost soldier to catch up to his outfit. If he was likely to be sentenced to death in the meantime, he might as well not make the attempt. Most families still lived in rural areas rather than cities, and were quite willing to conceal their sons in barns or nearby woods.

Still, the generals on both sides already sensed that 1864 would make manpower demands to surpass anything that North or South had seen yet. A reluctance at the top to impose discipline did not seem to be helpful.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Slaves no longer had to make it all the way to Canada to achieve freedom. In areas where the Union had advanced, or even where the Union lines were only a few hours away, there was a stream of runaways. Realizing the advantage this gave to the North, money was occasionally smuggled to areas further away, making trips of several days possible. On this date, diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut recorded that the problem had even reached to the house of President Davis:

[font="Times New Roman"]January 9th . . . The President's man, Jim, that he believed in as we all believe in our own servants, "our own people," as we call them, and Betsy, Mrs. Davis's maid, decamped last night. It is miraculous that they had the fortitude to resist the temptation so long. At Mrs. Davis's the hired servants all have been birds of passage. First they were seen with gold galore, and then they would fly to the Yankees, and I am sure they had nothing to tell. It is Yankee money wasted.

I do not think it had ever crossed Mrs. Davis's brain that these two could leave her. She knew, however, that Betsy had eighty dollars in gold and two thousand four hundred dollars in Confederate notes.

Everybody who comes in brings a little bad news - not much, in itself, but by cumulative process the effect is depressing, indeed.

[center]-- Mary Boykin Chesnut, A Diary From Dixie[/center][/font]

By one census, Virginia would lose 60 percent of its slaves even before the fall of Richmond in 1865.

[nicwb]

It is Yankee money wasted.

What I find interesting is that Mrs Chestnut can only seem to see the providing of the money as some sort of espionage attempt as opposed to simply trying to help people escape slavery. Truly the war was being fought between two different countries.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

William T. Sherman's command was a large one, even though he had less seniority than Nathaniel Banks. Crunching the numbers, he decided he could pull together a force of 20,000 men for his expedition across the state of Mississippi. He would not be able to spare as many once he lent units to Bank's proposed Red River expedition, so the key would be to complete his own operation before that of Banks got underway. That meant everything had to be done before the end of February.

Fortunately, if you wanted Union troops moved out quickly, Sherman was the man for the job. On this date, having finished his first Christmas visit home in two decades, he was on the move down the Mississippi River, and arrived in Memphis. It had not been an easy or safe trip, for even the mighty Mississippi has problems with ice in January. Large cakes of ice had bumped against the gunboat Juliet that Sherman was using, and more than once threatened to sink the vessel. But Sherman was not to be deterred, and his luck held.

In Memphis he found local commander Stephen Hurlbut, also a Major General like Sherman himself. Fortunately Sherman had the seniority, and in any case Hurlbut was perfectly willing to go on the offensive. Sherman ordered him to collect two good divisions, and also sent the word by telegraph to the other Corps commanders for what men they could spare. Also at Memphis was Brigadier General William Sooy Smith with about 2,500 cavalry. Sherman decided this force would make a good feint in the northern part of the state, but it was not large enough to deal with Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was raiding northern Mississippi and western Tennessee. Smith was ordered to collect more troopers.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Senator John B. Henderson of Missouri submitted a joint resolution for a Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation had in theory freed the great majority of the slaves in America, but obviously it could not be enforced in the Confederacy. Once the Southern states had been put back under Union authority, however, the rebellion would be over and the Proclamation, which was only legal as a war measure, would be questionable. Since the Constitution as originally written had recognized slavery (counting each as three-fifths of a free man for the purposes of representation), it could only be truly abolished by a full amendment.

Since I flatter myself that I am writing for an international audience, a review of the requirements for an amendment to the U. S. Constitution is not out of place. One way is, by request of two-thirds of the state legislatures, to convene a Constitutional convention. This way has never actually been adopted. The second way is more like the passing of a Federal law but more difficult: the amendment must be passed by a "super-majority" of two-thirds in both the Senate and the House. Unlike a federal law, the amendment does not then require the signature of the President, but it must then be approved by three-quarters of the states. (Those like myself ancient enough to remember the Equal rights Amendment will recall this was the hurdle that it stumbled on.)

Proposals for such an amendment had been made before, but had failed to make it through the House and Senate committees. The votes were there in the Senate, but not yet in the House, and three-quarters of the states included the Southern states as well, since Lincoln insisted that secession was not valid. This time, however, the victories of 1863 had given new confidence to the abolitionists. The fear of alienating the border states had largely passed, and every month the Emancipation Proclamation was in force made it more popular among Northern voters. The Senate Judiciary Committee took up the resolution and began working on the appropriate wording.

[Capt. Harlock]

Mid-January 1864:

In both North and South, speculators were reviled for buying too much of various commodities, and thus causing inflation that badly hurt nearly everyone else. In the North, speculation in gold was considered especially odious, because gold was the currency standard, and so it affected the price of nearly everything. The New York Stock Exchange patriotically refused to allow trading in gold. But the fortunes to be made were irresistible, and to be fair, there was a need for some exchange for exports and imports. It was probably on January 13, 1862, in a basement on William Street in New York City, that a market for the exchange of "greenback" paper dollars to gold opened. (One source says 1864, but I now believe this to be in error.) It would soon be known as the Gold Room. However, it was about this time 150 years ago that the prices the Gold Room established began to be regularly printed in the newspapers, which led to acceptance virtually throughout the North.

When greenbacks were first issued, they were supposed to be convertible into gold dollars on an even basis. Not surprisingly, this conversion was suspended during the Civil War, as both North and South found it necessary to print money far beyond their reserves. Thus, the price of gold became a bet on the fortunes of the Union, and whether it would eventually be able to cover its greenbacks. In January, the quoted price was 152; in other words, 152 greenback dollars to buy 100 dollars in gold coin, (approximately 4.8 troy ounces). Although this meant that greenbacks had lost about one-third of their original value, it was an improvement from some of the local prices before the victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg.

[Dinsdale44]

Jeb Stuart wasn't a dolt, actually. He was an incredibly brave and rather intelligent man with an excellent grasp of cavalry tactics and a solid understanding of the value of mid-19th century cavalry, their limitations as well as their strengths and he was much feared by the Union forces. That's why Lee valued him so much. His service was stellar until the summer of 1863. Many of the Southern victories before then happened because of the excellent intelligence his cavalry scouting provided, and the denial of that same intelligence to the Union side by his forces' superb screening of the Army of Virgina from their eyes.

His problem was ego.

Up until his separation from the Army of Virginia during the Gettysburg thing, his record was virtually unblemished. Then he started reading the newspaper articles about himself (from both the North and the South), embraced the bull, and forgot about his real his job: being the eyes and the screen for the Army of Virginia. He started to believe that he and his men were invincible, even after the shock of Brandy Station. It came from overconfidence on several levels. Strategically he thought that the war in the east was all but won. Many Confederates believed this after Chancellorville. Wasn't true. Also like many Confederates, he had come to despise his enemy as incompetent and cowardly after they had been beaten so many times, when to this point they had been merely poorly led at the higher levels. Like many on his side, he tended to ignore the large number of Confederate casualties that had resulted from all of these victories.

Stuart's cavalier and rather foolish attempt to charge around the Army of the Potomac, which separated him from Lee for several crucial days, helped to lose the Battle of Gettysburg for the South. That is true. (Few know that Lee actually agreed to it ahead of time....another story)
But dolt? Don't think so.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

In eastern Tennessee, sane commanders should have had their armies in winter quarters. But there was still pressure on the Union side to push James Longstreet's rebels out of Tennessee altogether. A force of Northern cavalry had probed in the area, trying to defeat or drive back the Confederate horsemen and open the way for a Yankee advance.

Longstreet saw an opportunity, While the cavalry were skirmishing, he mobilized most of his infantry and sent them to the area, hoping to surprise the Federal troopers with an irresistible attack. But the Northerners had called for reinforcements of their own, including rising star Philip Sheridan and his division. On this date, the Union cavalry fell back, but the Confederate attack in turn ran into a determined infantry defense at the town of Dandridge.

A sharp fight ensued, but the Southerners were unable to overrun the Union lines before darkness set in. The Federals in turn realized that they were facing an entire corps, and retreated during the night. They had lost about 150 casualties in all. Confederate casualties are unknown, but were probably at least as great since they were attacking, and unsuccessfully.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Arkansas Constitutional Convention in Little Rock adopted a clause banning slavery in the state. The conventioners knew that nothing less would be acceptable to the Republican-controlled Cogress in Washington, and they naturally wanted to have the Senators and Representatives of the new, Union-loyal govcernment seated. To be fair, it should also be noted that some of the conventioners voted for the clause because they wanted to remove black people entirely from the state. For decades afterwards, there were "sundown towns" in Arkansas, where blacks faced violence if found within the town limits after sundown.

But the Convention did make a positive contribution. The wording of the anti-slavery clause borrowed from the "Wilmot Proviso", which had attempted to ban slavery in all the territory aquired from the Mexican War. The Senate Judicial Committee working on the 13th Amendment took note.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

It was time for a re-shuffling of Union leaders in the West. Since the Arkansas Constitutional Convention was producing an acceptable constitution, military governor Frederick Steele had been instructed by President Lincoln to proceed with the formation of a ciclian government. On this date a Unionist named Isaac Murphy was named provisional Governor of the state. There was now yet another state where two men claimed to be the rightful Governor.

General William Rosecrans' career had not been finished by the debacle at Chickamauga, On this date, he was appointed Military Governor of the Department of Missouri. It was no plum assignment, however, since the department had also included Kansas and both states were experiencing brutal guerrilla warfare. To make it easier to handle, the department was reduced to Missouri alone. Rosecrans relieved John Schofield, who had been heavily criticised for being too lenient on pro-slavery men. Schofield was quite happy to look forward to a field command.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

A second "Battle of Athens" occurred. There had been one in 1861 in Northeast Missouri, but this one took place in northern Alabama. 600 troopers of the 1st Alabama Cavalry attempted to drive out the presumptuous hundred Yankees who had taken possession of the town. But the resulting action further reinforced the lesson that cavalry was no longer an arm of decision on the battlefield. Though the attackers outnumbered the defenders six to one, and there were not even any fortifications, the Northerners held their position. After two hours, the Confederates retired, having lost about 30 casualties against 20 for the Federals.

The Union soldiers were a part of the 9th Illinois Mounted Infantry. More and more, the Northern cavalry was assuming this role: using the mobility given by their horses to take a position, then dismounting and fighting on foot. Fast-firing rifles and carbines using metal cartridges were especially valuable for this, and were something the Southerners could not easily duplicate, The weapons themselves could be smuggled in or captured, but the quantities of ammunition needed by repeating weapons could not be turned out by the weak Confederate industry.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Clashes continued in eastern Tennessee. The Northerners wanted James Longstreet and his corps out of the state, while Longstreet wanted to expand the area under his control to get more forage. Union cavalry under General Samuel Sturgis, with the aid of some infantry and artillery, had routed Confederate cavalry the day before. On this date, however, rebel infantry reinforcements arrived, and the Yankees had the worst of it. The defeat was not without energetic fighting, however, and Longstreet found himself closer to the action than he might have preferred:

[font="Times New Roman"]I rode a little in advance of Johnson's command. The enemy, advised of the approach of infantry, made his final charge and retired south towards Marysville. In his last effort one of his most reckless troopers rode in upon head-quarters, but Colonel Fairfax put spurs to his horse, dashed up against him, had his pistol at his head, and called "surrender" before the man could level his gun. The trooper was agreeably surprised to find it no worse. The enemy's move to Marysville left us in possession of the foraging grounds.
[center]James Longstreet, From Manassas to Appomattox[/center][/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Two and a half years into the war, the Union still had no army rank higher than Major General (two-star). This meant that a division commander with seniority could technically outrank his corps or army commander. The Confederacy had moved quickly to address this problem, but in Washington, things moved more slowly. On this date, the House of Representatives passed the legislation to re-institute the rank of Lieutenant General in the United States Army. And everyone knew who the rank would go to: Ulysses Simpson Grant, the hero of Vicksburg and Chattanooga.


William T. Sherman would stay a Major General, but he was the commander of an army and the Department of Mississippi. This was far enough south so that his troops did not have to go into winter quarters, and he intended to make use of that situation. The largest Confederate force remaining in Mississippi was about ten thousand men around the town of Meridian, under Leonidas "Bishop" Polk, and this would be Sherman's target:

[font="Times New Roman"]On the 1st of February we rendezvoused in Vicksburg, where I found a spy who had been sent out two weeks before, had been to Meridian, and brought back correct information of the state of facts in the interior of Mississippi. Lieutenant-General (Bishop) Polk was in chief command, with headquarters at Meridian, and had two divisions of infantry, one of which (General Loring's) was posted at Canton, Mississippi, the other (General French's) at Brandon. He had also two divisions of cavalry--Armstrong's, composed of the three brigades of Ross, Stark, and Wirt Adams, which were scattered from the neighborhood of Yazoo City to Jackson and below; and Forrest's, which was united, toward Memphis, with headquarters at Como. General Polk seemed to have no suspicion of our intentions to disturb his serenity.
[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

To keep the Southerners confused, Sherman also requested coordinated movements in Louisiana and Tennessee. One column was to march east from New Orleans, headed for the Gulf port of Mobile, Alabama. Another column under George Thomas was to probe the defenses of the Confederate Army of Tennessee at Dalton, Georgia. This would prevent any reinforcements to Polk's force. There was one more factor to worry about, and that was the Rebel cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. Sherman had selected a man named William Sooy Smith to deal with that threat:

[font="Times New Roman"]We proposed to make up an aggregate cavalry force of about seven thousand "effective," out of these and the twenty-five hundred which General Smith had brought with him from Middle Tennessee. With this force General Smith was ordered to move from Memphis straight for Meridian, Mississippi, and to start by February 1st. I explained to him personally the nature of Forrest as a man, and of his peculiar force; told him that in his route he was sure to encounter Forrest, who always attacked with a vehemence for which he must be prepared, and that, after he had repelled the first attack, he must in turn assume the most determined offensive, overwhelm him and utterly destroy his whole force. I knew that Forrest could not have more than four thousand cavalry, and my own movement would give employment to every other man of the rebel army not immediately present with him...
[center]--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/center][/font]

But on this date, Smith did not move. He did not have all of his troopers assembled: one unit was icebound all the way back in Kentucky.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

[font="Times New Roman"]Accordingly, on the morning of February 3d, we started in two columns, each of two divisions, preceded by a light force of cavalry, commanded by Colonel E. F. Winslow. General McPherson commanded the right column, and General Hurlbut the left. The former crossed the Big Black at the railroad-bridge, and the latter seven miles above, at Messinger's. We were lightly equipped as to wagons, and marched without deployment straight for Meridian, distant one hundred and fifty miles.
--Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman[/font]

Sherman had hoped that Leonidas Polk, his opposite number on the Confederate side, was unaware of the mustering of Union forces. Actually Polk had learned that Sherman was about to advance, but crucially, he did not know Sherman's target. Polk therefore gave top priority to defending Mobile, Alabama, for the loss of that harbor for blockade runners would have been a serious blow to the Southern economy.

The otherwise little-remembered Meridian Campaign was significant not for what it would achieve but what it would lead to later. It would be a valuable learning experience for the famous March to the Sea nine months later.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The blockade runner Nutfield came to grief while trying to make port in New River Inlet, North Carolina. (Near modern-day Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune.) She was intercepted by the USS Secaucus, and chased until she ran hard aground. The Northerners were unable to re-float her, and so set her afire. There would be no prize money for the ship, but the Yankees had thoughtfully salvaged the cargo first. Much of it was rifles, which was a loss to the Confederacy but not much value for the Union, which by this time was turning arms in satisfactory quantity. But there was also a treasure for both sides on board: stocks of quinine.

At this point in history, quinine was the only good treatment for the scourge of malaria. (Some results could be had with low doses of arsenic, but this was obviously a poor substitute.) The drug, extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree, was in high demand but short supply because the trees only grew in the area of Peru and the neighboring countries. It is estimated that a million men were stricken with malaria during the course of the Civil War, and though only about 8,000 men actually died from it, many of the remainder were out of action as much as if they had been wounded on the battlefield.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

For the third time, Sherman's troops entered the luckless city of Jackson, Mississippi. There had not been as much resistance this time, not because the Rebels had lost heart but because the troops they had on the spot were hopelessly outnumbered by the two full corps under the Northern commander. The Confederate cavalry probed wherever it could, but Sherman had anticipated just that and kept his columns close together.

After the previous two occupations, there was little of the town infrastructure left for the Yankees to burn. There was one surprising survival: the current city hall of Jackson. There are rumors that the building contained a Masonic Lodge and Sherman ordered it spared, being a Mason himself. It seems more likely, however, that one wing was being used as a hospital at the time, and not even the harshest anti-Southerners among the Federals were willing to burn a place containing wounded soldiers.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Sherman and his army captured the town of Morton, Mississippi. This was over half-way to their objective of Meridian, and they had reached it in just six days. This in spite of stops to tear up railroad tracks and burn government buildings (and, shamefully, some of the private mansions) along the way. In the meantime, the supposedly faster-moving cavalry column under William Sooy Smith had not even started from Memphis.


At this point in the war, the main holding place for captured Union officers was a converted ship supply warehouse in Richmond named Libby Prison. It was an unpleasant place -- a section which occasionally flooded from the adjacent James River was known as "Rat Hell" -- and the Northerners were even more motivated to escape than most. Led by Colonel Thomas Rose and Major A. G. Hamilton, they had chipped through a chimney, gotten to the basement, and from there proceeded to dig an escape tunnel over the course of 17 days. On the night of this date, the Yankees began to go through the tunnel, first in groups of two and three, for the exit of the tunnel was still within the warehouse grounds and there were Confederate sentinels.

But the Southerners did not consider that escape from the building was possible. Moreover, the sentinels were from a different unit than the prison guards, and were there primarily to keep thieves away. There was almost a stampede among the prisoners when it became clear the plan was working. Somehow the senior Northern officers managed to keep a semblance of order, stopping the stream of escapees before dawn and replacing the bricks in the chimney so that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A total of 109 men had escaped.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

At Libby Prison in Richmond, the Confederate guards began their morning rounds as if it were any other day. It was not until the morning roll call came up 109 men short that they realized a major escape had been made. By that time, the Yankee escapees had up to a twelve hour start, and many were already out of Richmond. (Sadly, two had drowned in the James River.) The Southern capital went into a near frenzy, and every foot-soldier and cavalryman in the city was mobilized to hunt the prisoners down.

But the fugitive Northerners had the advantage of two different escape routes. Some made their way south-east down the peninsula to Union-held Fort Monroe. They were familiar with the territory because they had been captured during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Others adopted the tactics of runaway slaves, and "followed the drinking gourd" and the North Star to the Army of the Potomac in northern Virginia. A remarkable 59 out of the 109 escaped officers would eventually reach Union-held territory and freedom, making it the most successful escape of the Civil War.

However, Colonel Thomas Rose, who had done more than any other man in organizing the escape, was not one of the successful ones. Frustratingly, he had made it to less than an hour's walk to the Union forces at Williamsburg when he was recaptured by Rebel pickets. He was placed in solitary confinement for a time, but the Southerners felt he was "too hot to handle", and would exchange him for a Confederate Colonel at the end of April.