AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WM LONG
On my father’s side I am Scotch-Irish- My Mother’s ancestors were from Holland.
I
was born the Seventh of March 1840 near Marshall’s Ferry, Grainger County,
Tennessee. Attended the public school near home until I was fourteen years old then
went to Morristown Academy one term. I should have first stated that my grandfather
first taught me how to spell & I have no recollection when I learned my letters or to
spell and pronounce. At fifteen years of age I went as clerk in Reuben Graves Store
near Noeton now, in Grainger County, Tenn. was there nearly 2 years. Stayed at home
the summer I was 17 years old. Then went to Greenville College one term then went in
a Store of my Uncles, Young Long at Newnan Georgia and was there nearly two years
then came back to Tennesssee and taught school 2 terms in Grainger County, Tenn. This
brings me to 1861-the Commencement of the Civil War. I was made a sub. agent to buy
hogs for the Confederate army fall & winter of 1861. In Jan 1862 I took a drove of Cattle
South for B. F. Harris- had typhoid fever while on this trip got home about the 9th of
April 1862 volunteered in the Confederate army at the organization of the Company-
was elected 2nd Sgt.
The Company joined the 1st Battalion Tennessee Infantry and was numbered Co.
"I". Shortly another Company joined us and we were organized as the 59th Tenn Reg.
Inf. We were drilled during the summer of 1862 at Morristown and Knoxville- In the
fall were put on detachment service at Noe’s Tennessee- but was soon ordered to
Vicksburg Miss.
Arrived there the night of 31st of December 1862- was there under Brigade
General
Reynolds in Maj. Gen. Stevenson division. Lieut. General Pembertons Corps was there
& at Fort Barton 12 miles below Vicksburg until early in May 1862- were sent to Grand
Gulf about 52 miles below Vicksburg where General Grant had made a landing on the
Mississippi side of the river but was too late for the battle after marching all night & day
- having marched 50 miles in 24 hours. We then fell back to a place on the railroad
between Vicksburg and Jackson Mississippi called Edwards Sta. On May16, 1863 fought
the battle known in history by three names- Bakers Gap- Champlon Hill or Edwards
Depot- on which our regiment lost 72 men & was cut off from the main army & had to
run around the federal army a distance of 8 miles which we did in 55 minutes by Capt.
R.G. Clarks watch. On the 17th day of May 1863 we fell back to the trench around
Vicksburg. On the 18th of May I was sent to the hospital with intermittent fever. On the
4th day of June was permitted to go back to the breastworks at my own request. Soon
after getting back I had a lock of whiskers shot from under my right ear with drawing a
drop of blood. I must state that
during the siege of Vicksburg there was not a minute of time either day or night but
what was made hideous by either the boom of Cannon- screeches of bomb shells or roar
of musketry. We were besieged 48 days with 12 days rations- the suffering was terrible-
in ditches in June in a hot climate on the 4th of July we surrendered- we had no rations
& it was impossible for General Grant to give us rations for we had 32,000 men. The
Confederacy killed mules enough to give each soldier one pound. I at that time was
acting orderly Sgt. & had to go to the slaughter yard for the meat for the whole
company. I suppose the yeard was so disgusting- but anyway I could not eat of it and
gave my meat to a man by the name of Calvin Wright. Some others could not eat theirs
so gave it to him too-he ate six lbs. And suffered no inconvenience.
Our company did not get their paroles until the 12th of July. We had to walk 200
miles before we could get on a railroad, had a tough time- remained at home until 3rd
Sept. 1863 the federal forces came to Morristown- then went on to Abingdon Virginia
and stayed a few days & learned that my old Brigade had gone into parole camps at
Decatur, Georgia. So I took a long trip to that place by way of Petersburg, Va.- Raleigh,
N.C.- Columbia, S.C. & Augusta, Georgia. Remained in parole camp there several
weeks until we were exchanged we were ordered to Red Clay, Ga., a place on the state
line of Ga. & Tenn. not far from Chattanooga- on arriving there I with two other men
were detailed for Secret Service and ordered into the Federal line to come to
Morristown, Tenn. and inform any of the Vicksburg paroled prisoners we could find
hiding from the federals that they were exchanged and get them to slip through the
federal lines. We were ferried across the river at Charleston Tennessee by Genl. John H.
Morgan’s men into the Yankee territory. We mingled with Yankee soldiers for several
days trying to come around Knoxville- got in Blount County among the Tenn. Men who
had joined the Yankees for 100 days & found out that they would not let us pass on our
paroles as they had found out by some means that we were exchanged then we quit
trying to pass in our paroles & afraid to keep our papers from the Gen. Showing we
were on Secret Services & we destroyed the papers & took to the mountains between
Tenn. & N. Carolina. We were without anything to eat for 48 hours or any blankets to
sleep under & Snow about 4 inches deep. After getting into North Carolina we intended
to report to General Robert Vance at Asheville but we missed the path on Smoky Mt.
Trail & got into N.C. very close to Ga. Then to get to Asheville we had to go about
100 miles through a bush whackers country and through the Cherokee nation in N.C.
Passed through the bush whackers and posed as deserters living in Eastern North
Carolina. They were very kind to us- we stayed one night with their Captain, a man
about 60 years old, he had arms and ammunition stored in his cellar- he showed them
to us. There was no way to get in the cellar only to take up the hearth. He sent his
daughter 8 miles before us when we started, to direct us around the Confederate guard.
But as soon as she left us we went straight to the Confederates and had a good time
after we reached our lines. We reported to Brigadier General Vance at Ashville, N.C.
who had been informed about our business. He requested us to stay at Ashville a few
days and he would send us to Morristown by Hot Springs. We stayed two weeks and
his Brigade was defeated in an engagement at Hot Springs- we then gave up the idea of
getting to Morristown and walked to Greenville, S.C.- Augusta, Georgia to Loudon,
Tenn. where we got with our command-marched around Knoxville as General
Longstreet raised the Seige- was then ordered into winter quarters at Bulls Gap, Tenn.
and our Brigade to be mounted and after that our Regiment was known as 59th
Regiment, Cavalry. I was then appointed orderly 1st Sergeant in the Spring of 1864 we
were sent to the valley of Virginia on the Train- left our horses at abington, Virginia. We
stopped at Staunton, Va. And fought a battle known as the Battle of Staunton or to the
Confederates as the Battle of Piedmont- battlefields were about 9 miles northeast of
Staunton. There my brother Thomas and Buck Taylor were captured and sent
to prison at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, Ind. Where my brother died with flux. We
were then ordered to Lynchburg to check a federal raid. We checked the raid and
followed them from Lynchburg to White Sulphur Springs then down the Valley and on
to Washington City crossing the Potomac River at Shepardtown, then through Frederic
City, Maryland and were in sight of Washington City, we then fell back to Winchester,
Virginia crossing the Potomac at Leesburg and there met our horses after having
walked 648 miles and fought four battles- we fought two days at the Second Battle of
Winchester, only seven of our men of our Company were able to stand that march. S.
W. Shields and I were two of that seven. We stayed in the valley until the latter part of
the summer. I was in all the battles and skirmishes in the Virginia Valley that summer
except the Battle of Martinsburg and the skirmish at Luray.
Coming back to East Tennessee late in the summer of 1864, I was elected 3rd
Lieutenant and soon after promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. In the winter of 1864 we served
in E. Tenn. and Southwest Virginia- fought two small battles at Morristown, Tenn. Our
regiment was at Christiansburg, Virginia when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered. Our
commander made a short speech to us & told us Lee had surrendered and that any or
all of us could go home but that he was going to try to get to General Joseph E. Johnston
and that all that wished could go with him. Several of our company started for home
but the most of us started to join General Johnston. We went through Charlotte North
Carolina then across the state to South Carolina- cross the Savannah River near
Elberton, Georgia. We had already heard that General Johnston had surrendered to
General Sherman. Lieutenant John B. Shields was in command of our Company but by
this time we only had eight men with us, the balance had gone on their own hook.
Lieutenant Shields said to me: “They are packing our wagons, which means here we
surrender Suppose we go to Athens, Georgia and save the humiliation of surrendering
to the Yankees.” I agreed. So we took the road to Athens but just 7 miles before we got
there we were captured by the Yankees, the very men we were trying to evade. They
sent us to Athens and paroled us on the 5th of May 1865- the men started home the next
day.
Lieut. Shields and I stayed in the vicinity of Athens 8 or 10 days and then went to
my Uncle Young Long at Newnan, Georgia.
