thedrifter
12-03-06, 06:17 PM
Civil War researcher uncovers facts about Union involvement
By JENNIE JONES GILES, The Times-News of Hendersonville
December 3, 2006 12:05 pm
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. -- Terrell T. Garren spent thousands of hours during the past five years searching, reading and counting in libraries and state and federal archives.
He counted and read military records on both Union and Confederate soldiers. He counted by county, by regiment, by place of birth. He counted those killed, wounded and in prisons.
After thousands of hours reading hundreds of books, letters and reports and consulting with many historians, he found that the reports of Unionism during the Civil War in western North Carolina are overstated.
"All together, I spent thousands of hours on this work," Garren said. "It took about five years. I read 27,000 individual Confederate records twice. I read thousands of Union records."
Garren, of Mills River, uncovered the information while researching his novel, "The Secret of War: A Dramatic History of Civil War Crime in Western North Carolina." The story is set mostly in Henderson County with his family members and their neighbors in Hoopers Creek and Fletcher as the main characters.
As a result of the research, Garren has written his first nonfiction book: "Mountain Myth: Unionism in Western North Carolina."
"When doing research for the 'Secret of War,' I discovered by accident that what I thought to be established history was inaccurate," he said.
It is a long-standing tradition that western North Carolina had a substantial pro-Union population throughout the Civil War. But Garren could find no book, historian or researcher who had actually counted.
"Everything I read through, various types of research, demonstrated that western North Carolina was a bastion of the Confederacy," Garren said.
The days, weeks and months spent reading records, with the help of historians and archivists in Washington, D.C., Tennessee and North Carolina, back up his statement.
Garren credits Richard Sommers with the U.S. Army Military History Institute for his help. The book has page after page of charts, tables, names, statistics and references backing up his research.
True, there were some people in western North Carolina who fought for the Union, but this was true throughout the South, Garren said.
The majority of the men in the western part of the state who joined the Union Army did so near the end of the war and were previously in the Confederate Army, Garren said.
"Prior to Gettysburg, few from here were in the Union Army," Garren said. "After years of slaughter, hunger, deprivation, some men did it as a way to survive. Others did it because they were mad at Confederate authorities. Others did it to escape death and torture in Union prisons."
Garren discovered that no historian he could find from 1866 to the present had ever actually counted the Union and Confederate soldiers from western North Carolina.
One man, Alexander Hamilton Jones, gave numbers in the book, "Knocking at the Door," written soon after the war ended when federal troops occupied the counties and towns in the South.
Many historians use Jones' figures. Garren writes a chapter in his book on Jones and the political situation in western North Carolina after the war. Jones states there were 4,342 men in western North Carolina fighting for the Union, but gives no basis for this figure or tells how he came up with this number.
"Jones said by 'actual calculation,' but we don't know a thing about his calculation," Garren said.
After thoroughly searching records, Garren could find 1,636 men from western North Carolina who fought for the Union.
Knowing that he most likely did not find all of them, even after five years, the number may be larger, but not by 2,706, he said.
The military records have the county of birth of the soldiers. If a soldier was wounded or died, the county of residence is listed on death certificates and hospital records.
"One of the reasons this history has been inaccurate in the past is because nobody wants to offend someone else regarding their ancestor's service," Garren said. "One of the biggest reasons for this error was the war was judged on what it was like on the last day. It is as if a snapshot was taken at the end of the war and history based on it. It was a completely different picture in 1861 than in 1865."
When studying the statistics and charts in the book, the reader must keep in mind that counties were changing and forming in this region of the state.
Some soldiers listed Buncombe or Rutherford counties as place of birth, but after the formation of Henderson and Polk counties their place of residence changed.
"Transylvania County was not created until the war started," Garren said. "The day the state Legislature voted on secession, they also created Transylvania County."
Transylvania County was created from Henderson and Jackson counties. Polk County was created from Rutherford and Henderson counties. Swain, Graham and Avery counties did not exist during the Civil War.
"With a few exceptions, the only true Unionists in western North Carolina at the beginning of the war were African-Americans," Garren said.
Another chapter in the book is devoted to slaves in the region. A few free blacks and slaves fought for the Confederacy, but the vast majority fought for the Union, he said.
And, in the dark, Garren also abolishes the myth that there was no slavery in western North Carolina, using statistics and census counts.
Garren said he was astonished at the facts and information gathered from his research.
"I believed all along this Union myth," he said. "But when you read the individual records of local men who fought in Lee's army, it's an unbelievable, incredible story. Some were wounded two or three times. They had very little to eat and no shoes. On April 9, 1865, most of those who were still alive, were still with him.
"Most of the western North Carolina men in the Union Army at the end of the war can be classified as survivors or mercenaries, not Unionist," Garren said.
"Almost all were Confederate deserters. At the beginning of the war, men from western North Carolina joined the Confederate Army at higher levels than men from the rest of the state."
Toward the end of the war, the Union Army was offering money, or bounties, to men in the region to join the Union Army.
In the book, Garren lists by name every man he could locate, divided by counties, that fought for the Union, including the date of enlistment, regiment and company. He also included men who served in the Navy or Marines.
It was impossible to do the same for Confederate troops. The numbers are too large.
Confederate troops are given by counties, with total men in service, total wounded, total captured, those killed in battle, non-combat deaths due to disease and other factors, those who died in Union prisons and total deaths. Totals are given by regiment and company for each county.
For example, of the 1,296 men in service from Henderson County in the Confederate Army, 209 were wounded, 277 captured, 81 killed in battle, 129 non-combat deaths, 63 died in Union prisons, for a total of 273 deaths.
More men died serving in the Confederate Army from Henderson County than the total number who served in the Union forces.
About 130 men from the county served in the Union forces, compared to 273 who died while serving with the Confederate Army.
Ellie
By JENNIE JONES GILES, The Times-News of Hendersonville
December 3, 2006 12:05 pm
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. -- Terrell T. Garren spent thousands of hours during the past five years searching, reading and counting in libraries and state and federal archives.
He counted and read military records on both Union and Confederate soldiers. He counted by county, by regiment, by place of birth. He counted those killed, wounded and in prisons.
After thousands of hours reading hundreds of books, letters and reports and consulting with many historians, he found that the reports of Unionism during the Civil War in western North Carolina are overstated.
"All together, I spent thousands of hours on this work," Garren said. "It took about five years. I read 27,000 individual Confederate records twice. I read thousands of Union records."
Garren, of Mills River, uncovered the information while researching his novel, "The Secret of War: A Dramatic History of Civil War Crime in Western North Carolina." The story is set mostly in Henderson County with his family members and their neighbors in Hoopers Creek and Fletcher as the main characters.
As a result of the research, Garren has written his first nonfiction book: "Mountain Myth: Unionism in Western North Carolina."
"When doing research for the 'Secret of War,' I discovered by accident that what I thought to be established history was inaccurate," he said.
It is a long-standing tradition that western North Carolina had a substantial pro-Union population throughout the Civil War. But Garren could find no book, historian or researcher who had actually counted.
"Everything I read through, various types of research, demonstrated that western North Carolina was a bastion of the Confederacy," Garren said.
The days, weeks and months spent reading records, with the help of historians and archivists in Washington, D.C., Tennessee and North Carolina, back up his statement.
Garren credits Richard Sommers with the U.S. Army Military History Institute for his help. The book has page after page of charts, tables, names, statistics and references backing up his research.
True, there were some people in western North Carolina who fought for the Union, but this was true throughout the South, Garren said.
The majority of the men in the western part of the state who joined the Union Army did so near the end of the war and were previously in the Confederate Army, Garren said.
"Prior to Gettysburg, few from here were in the Union Army," Garren said. "After years of slaughter, hunger, deprivation, some men did it as a way to survive. Others did it because they were mad at Confederate authorities. Others did it to escape death and torture in Union prisons."
Garren discovered that no historian he could find from 1866 to the present had ever actually counted the Union and Confederate soldiers from western North Carolina.
One man, Alexander Hamilton Jones, gave numbers in the book, "Knocking at the Door," written soon after the war ended when federal troops occupied the counties and towns in the South.
Many historians use Jones' figures. Garren writes a chapter in his book on Jones and the political situation in western North Carolina after the war. Jones states there were 4,342 men in western North Carolina fighting for the Union, but gives no basis for this figure or tells how he came up with this number.
"Jones said by 'actual calculation,' but we don't know a thing about his calculation," Garren said.
After thoroughly searching records, Garren could find 1,636 men from western North Carolina who fought for the Union.
Knowing that he most likely did not find all of them, even after five years, the number may be larger, but not by 2,706, he said.
The military records have the county of birth of the soldiers. If a soldier was wounded or died, the county of residence is listed on death certificates and hospital records.
"One of the reasons this history has been inaccurate in the past is because nobody wants to offend someone else regarding their ancestor's service," Garren said. "One of the biggest reasons for this error was the war was judged on what it was like on the last day. It is as if a snapshot was taken at the end of the war and history based on it. It was a completely different picture in 1861 than in 1865."
When studying the statistics and charts in the book, the reader must keep in mind that counties were changing and forming in this region of the state.
Some soldiers listed Buncombe or Rutherford counties as place of birth, but after the formation of Henderson and Polk counties their place of residence changed.
"Transylvania County was not created until the war started," Garren said. "The day the state Legislature voted on secession, they also created Transylvania County."
Transylvania County was created from Henderson and Jackson counties. Polk County was created from Rutherford and Henderson counties. Swain, Graham and Avery counties did not exist during the Civil War.
"With a few exceptions, the only true Unionists in western North Carolina at the beginning of the war were African-Americans," Garren said.
Another chapter in the book is devoted to slaves in the region. A few free blacks and slaves fought for the Confederacy, but the vast majority fought for the Union, he said.
And, in the dark, Garren also abolishes the myth that there was no slavery in western North Carolina, using statistics and census counts.
Garren said he was astonished at the facts and information gathered from his research.
"I believed all along this Union myth," he said. "But when you read the individual records of local men who fought in Lee's army, it's an unbelievable, incredible story. Some were wounded two or three times. They had very little to eat and no shoes. On April 9, 1865, most of those who were still alive, were still with him.
"Most of the western North Carolina men in the Union Army at the end of the war can be classified as survivors or mercenaries, not Unionist," Garren said.
"Almost all were Confederate deserters. At the beginning of the war, men from western North Carolina joined the Confederate Army at higher levels than men from the rest of the state."
Toward the end of the war, the Union Army was offering money, or bounties, to men in the region to join the Union Army.
In the book, Garren lists by name every man he could locate, divided by counties, that fought for the Union, including the date of enlistment, regiment and company. He also included men who served in the Navy or Marines.
It was impossible to do the same for Confederate troops. The numbers are too large.
Confederate troops are given by counties, with total men in service, total wounded, total captured, those killed in battle, non-combat deaths due to disease and other factors, those who died in Union prisons and total deaths. Totals are given by regiment and company for each county.
For example, of the 1,296 men in service from Henderson County in the Confederate Army, 209 were wounded, 277 captured, 81 killed in battle, 129 non-combat deaths, 63 died in Union prisons, for a total of 273 deaths.
More men died serving in the Confederate Army from Henderson County than the total number who served in the Union forces.
About 130 men from the county served in the Union forces, compared to 273 who died while serving with the Confederate Army.
Ellie