Ohio History Journal

146                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

A DIARY OF ALBION W. TOURGEE

 

1. For biographical details see Roy F. Dibble, Albion W. Tourgee (New York, 1921),

Theodore L. Gross, Albion W. Tourgee (New York, 1963), and Otto H. Olsen, Carpet-

bagger's Crusade: The Life of Albion Winegar Tourgee (Baltimore, 1965). I have

relied chiefly on Dibble's book for this introduction to the diary.

2. Albion W. Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand (Buffalo, 1896).

3. Tourgee described these events, and some later army experiences as well, in his

autobiographical novel Figs and Thistles (New York, 1879). See also Olsen, Carpet-

bagger's Crusade, 15-17.

4. Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand, xxii.

5. Ibid., xxxvi.

6. Albion W. Tourgee, "The Christian Citizen," The Chautauquan, November 1881,

p. 93. Quoted in Dibble, Albion W. Tourgee, 26.

7. Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand, 106.

8. Ibid., xiii.

9. Dibble, Albion W. Tourgee, 33.

10. Albion W. Tourgee Papers in the Chautauqua County Historical Society, West-

field, New York. All manuscripts referred to hereafter are in this collection.

11. Gross, Albion W. Tourgee, 32.

12. Otto H. Olsen, "Albion W. Tourgee: Carpetbagger," North Carolina Historical

Review, XL (1963), 443-444.

13. Later revised and published as A Royal Gentleman (New York, 1881). For a

list of Tourgee's writings see the present writer's "A Checklist of the Writings of

Albion W. Tourgee (1838-1905)," Studies in Bibliography, XVIII (1965), 269-279.

14. For a guide to this collection see the present writer's An Index to the Albion

W. Tourgee Papers in the Chautauqua County Historical Society, Westfield, New

York (Kent, Ohio, 1964).

15. Probably Lieutenant Westcott of the 38th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

16. C. W. Heywood was one of Tourgee's former teachers at the Kingsville Academy.

17. The Kilbourne home was between Kingsville and Conneaut, Ohio, close to the

shore of Lake Erie.

18. Tourgee's father, Valentine Tourgee, Jr., lived in Kingsville.

19. Edward V. Bowers, commanding officer, Co. K, 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

All references to companies hereafter are to companies of the 105th O.V.I. unless

otherwise indicated. The Story of a Thousand carries in its Appendix not only a

roster of the regiment but also tables giving the complete military record of the

men who served in it.

20. Rosetta Tourgee, Albion Tourgee's half sister.

21. A hotel on Third Street in Cincinnati.

22. Tourgee was a student at the University of Rochester from 1859 to 1861.

23. The St. Cloud Hotel was the leading hotel in Nashville from prior to 1860

to 1889.

24. An extravaganza based on a German play. It had a long run in New York

during the 1860-61 season starring Laura Keene.

25. Slang for captured.

26. Probably Joseph R. Warner, sergeant, Co. G. He was assigned to the office of

the divisional medical director, as a sort of private secretary, according to a letter

from Tourgee to his wife, May 30, 1863.

27. Probably Benjamin F. Cushing, sergeant, Co. G. On May 30, 1863, Tourgee wrote

to his wife: "It really makes my heart bleed to see that faithful fellow Cushing

plodding away like a slave without even the poor prospects legitimately attached

to the Sergt's position. There is no hope of his ever getting the promotion he so well

deserves." See also, Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand, 224.

28. Seneca Kuhn, after the war a partner of Tourgee in the nursery business in

North Carolina. Olsen, Carpetbagger's Crusade, 28.

29. Letters to Tourgee were often long delayed. This refers to a letter from Emma

Tourgee before their marriage that had just reached him. She often signed them

"votre fiancee."

30. Byron W. Canfield, Co. E, was in charge of a forage detail that was captured

on January 21, 1863, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He was exchanged May 8, 1863,

and dismissed from the army without a hearing for failure to obey orders. He was

later reinstated by order of the war department. The letter mentioned was a protest

of this dismissal signed by many officers of the regiment. See Tourgee, The Story

of a Thousand, 175-186, and Table III, p. xli, and The War of the Rebellion: A Com-

pilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington,

D. C., 1880-1901), Series I, Vol. XXIII, Pt. 1, pp. 15-16, and Series II, Vol. V, p. 242.

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NOTES                                                                       147

 

 

31. Albert S. Hall, commanding officer, 105th O.V.I.

32. Tourgee was one of those captured with Canfield on January 21, 1863. See

Tourgee, The Story of a Thousand, Table III, p. xlii, and The War of the Rebellion:

A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series

II, Vol. V, p. 242. A copy of Tourgee's report to Colonel Hall is in the Tourgee Papers,

and a letter from Joseph R. Warner to Emma Kilbourne of January 23, 1863, describes

the circumstances of his capture.

33. This may refer to a celebration of Major George T. Perkins' promotion to

lieutenant colonel, which became effective on July 10, 1863.

34. William R. Tolles, lieutenant colonel, 105th O.V.I.

35. E. Abbott Spaulding, Co. E. Tourgee consistently misspelled his name through-

out the diary.

36. Major General William Starke Rosecrans commanded the Army of the Cumber-

land from October 30, 1862, to October 20, 1863.

37. William Wallace, Co. I.

38. Tourgee's letter of resignation is in the Tourgee Papers.

39. Perhaps Private John G. Hazeltine, Co. I.

40. William S. Crowell, Co. G.

41. Reuben G. Morgaridge, Co. C.

42. Russell M. Tuttle.

43. Elizabeth D. Everitt.

44. As the Union armies advanced into the South, recently freed slaves with no

place to go attached themselves to the army for protection and food. This was one

of the first opportunities that Tourgee had to know the southern Negro. Their stories

and condition made a profound impression on him as can be seen in his later novels

and political writings.

45. Angeline Kilbourne, Emma Tourgee's sister.

46. Tourgee describes the incident in a letter to his wife, June 11, 1863.

47. Tourgee was admitted to the Ohio bar on July 2, 1864.

48. It is in the Tourgee Papers.

49. John Roney. Tourgee misspelled his name.

50. Libbie Wright, whose husband, Marshall W. Wright, was quartermaster of the

regiment.

51. Probably Dr. G. E. Webster of Kingsville.

52. Undoubtedly Tourgee, chaffing under what he considered tactless and over-

bearing superiors, saw this as a way out of these circumstances and into a position

of command. Nevertheless, his interest in the Negro was genuine, as the diary has

already demonstrated.

53. Colonel John T. Wilder, commander of the "Lightning Brigade."

54. The battle of Hoover's Gap, Tennessee, early in the Tullahoma campaign.

55. Braxton Bragg, commanding general, Army of Tennessee, C.S.A.

56. Thomas L. Crittenden, commanding general, 21st Corps, Army of the Cumberland.

57. Tourgee probably refers to one of the battlefields around Tullahoma, possibly

the bridge over the Elk River which Wilder attempted to destroy. He was prevented

from doing this by Nathan Bedford Forrest. Bragg retreated across this bridge and

destroyed it on June 30, 1863.

58. The battle of Gettysburg.

59. Colonel Hall died on July 10, 1863, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, of typhoid fever.

60. Milton S. Robinson, 75th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

61. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Grant on

July 4, 1863.

62. Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan.

63. George T. Perkins. With Colonel Hall dead and Colonel Tolles sick, Perkins

assumed command of the regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 10,

1863.

64. This letter is in the Tourgee Papers.

65. Andrew D. Braden, Co. B.

66. A skirmish on June 25, 1863, during the Tullahoma campaign.

67. Leonidas Polk was an Episcopal bishop and had helped establish the University

of the South in 1860, at Sewanee, Tennessee. A West Point graduate, he became a

lieutenant general in the Confederate army.

68. Tourgee probably refers to Captain William S. Crowell, commander of Co. G.

Tourgee made it clear in some of his letters to his wife that he disliked the man.

69. John Turnbull, assistant surgeon, 105th O.V.I.

70. General Don Carlos Buell commanded the Department of the Ohio. He was

forced to retreat from Tennessee in the summer of 1862. He was replaced by General

Rosecrans.

71. Horatio M. Smith, quartermaster sergeant, 105th O.V.I.

72. George L. Riker, Co. D.

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148                                                        OHIO HISTORY

 

 

73. Perhaps Captain Ambrose C. Mason, Co. C.

74. Wilbur F. Thompson, first sergeant, Co. G.

75. The Tennessee River was crossed at Shell Mound, Bridgeport, and Caperton's

Ferry.

76. Joseph J. Reynolds, commanding general, 4th Division, Army of the Cumberland.

The 4th was Tourgee's division.

77. Ephraim Kee, commanding officer, Co. B, who died at Murfreesboro on January

19, 1863.

78. The 105th O.V.I. was moving into position to take part in the battle of Chicka-

mauga, which began on September 19, 1863.

79. William C. Olds, Co. G.

80. Thomas J. Wood, commanding general, 1st Division, Army of the Cumberland.

81. John M. Palmer, commanding general, 2nd Division, Army of the Cumberland.

82. General Ambrose E. Burnside was moving against Confederate troops near

Knoxville, Tennessee. By securing the road from Chattanooga to Knoxville, Confederate

troops near Chattanooga could join those near Knoxville and endanger Burnside's oper-

ations.

83. The 105th O.V.I. was engaged in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October

8, 1862. It lost about one-third of its total strength. See Dibble, Albion W. Tourgee, 25.

84. Lovistue J. Benjamin, private.

85. Oscar F. Crater.

86. Edwin Reeves.

87. James T. Christie, private.

88. Henry C. Stoll, private.

89. Charles A. Glancy.

90. Lieutenant General James Longstreet was sent from Lee's army with his corps

to help Bragg against Rosecrans.

91. Samuel J. Harris, captain, 19th Indiana.

92. Daniel W. Adams.

93. Burnside was engaged around Knoxville at this time.

94. After the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, the Washington government

realized the importance of the Chattanooga area and ordered sizable reinforcements

for the army there. See Mark M. Boatner, III, The Civil War Dictionary (New York,

1959), 141-142.

95. Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate cavalry leader.

96. Major General Alexander McDowell McCock, one of the "Fighting McCooks" of

Ohio. He commanded the 20th corps of the Army of the Ohio at Chickamauga.

97. John M. Brannan, brigadier general, 3rd Division, Army of the Cumberland.

98. The order assigning Tourgee to this command is in the Tourgee Papers.

99. John Brough was elected governor of Ohio in 1863.

100. A township which voted solidly or overwhelmingly for one candidate.

101. Olney P. Latimer, private, Co. E.

102. Hugh R. Kelly, private, Co. B.

103. Tourgee aggravated the spinal injury that he had sustained at the battle of

Bull Run two years earlier.

104. Tourgee evidently liked the name, for he used it for a main character in his

novel Bricks Without Straw.

105. Major General Ulysses S. Grant arrived on October 23, 1863, to take command

of the newly created Military Division of the Mississippi. Major General George H.

Thomas replaced Rosecrans as commander of the Army of the Cumberland.

106. Captain William R. Tuttle, commanding officer, Co. H.

107. Marshall W. Wright was from Tourgee's home town, Kingsville, Ohio.

The photograph of Tourgee in uniform accompanying the heading of the article and

the pair of photographs of Tourgee and his wife Emma on page 104 have recently

been published in Carpetbagger's Crusade: The Life of Albion W. Tourgee, by Otto

H. Olsen. They are printed here with the permission of the publisher, the Johns Hopkins

Press.

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