“And this excellence of practice was attained by a lot of Tennessee lads who only a few weeks previous had been following the plow, standing behind the counter, or sitting on the rough benches of an old field school-house.” – Captain Jesse Taylor, 1886
February 6, 2012 (yesterday!) was the 150th Anniversary for the battle of Fort Henry which took place along the Tennessee River in Stewart County, Tennessee. Several of the men who defended it against Federal ironclad gunboats on February 6, 1862 were local “homeboys” from Stewart County, including the four cousins George Wesley Byrd (http://www.oocities.org/enlistedman/gw_byrd.html), Albert C. Brigham Jr. (http://www.oocities.org/enlistedman/abrigham.html), Marion McDonald Bailey, and Thomas H. Bailey. As described by their captain Jesse Taylor in the above quote, these local lads were trained and practiced with short time before the Federal ironclads attacked. With perhaps excusable hyperbole, some historians have compared the brave defenders of Fort Henry on February 6, 1862 with the Spartans at Thermopylae, but as detailed below, none can doubt the patriotism, tenacity, and courage of the brave men who fought there that day. Peace To Their Ashes.
- Kenneth Byrd
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at: http://www.oocities.org/enlistedman/gw_byrd.html
George Wesley Byrd (b. Feb. 15, 1829) was the fourth oldest son of John Wesley "Jack" Byrd (b. Jan. 1792; Washington Co. GA d. July 3, 1866; Stewart Co. TN) and Luna Louisa Brigham (b. 1797; Sullivan Co., TN. - d. Dec. 5, 1875; Stewart Co. TN). He, along with his 12 brothers and sisters (William Carrol, b. Aug. 23, 1815; Evaline Olivia, b. July 25, 1817; Thomas Brigham, b. Feb. 7, 1819; Nancy Young, b. Oct. 5, 1820; John Ashley, b. Sept. 23, 1822; Louisa Villars , b. Aug. 2, 1825; Sarah Ann, b. Aug. 8, 1827; Elizabeth Jane, b. Mar. 23, 1831; Robert Payne, b. Mar. 10, 1833; Penelope, b. Feb. 12, 1835; Riley Marion, b. Feb. 26, 1837; Rhodean, b. Sept. 23, 1839) was born along Byrd Creek, Stewart County Tennessee, in what is now Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL), next to the Tennessee River.
George Wesley Byrd married Ann Elizabeth Harrells (b. Nov. 26, 1846; AR - d. Dec. 17, 1909; Stewart Co. TN) on March 26, 1861 in Stewart County, Tennessee. They had the following children, all born there in Stewart County: Magdalene Esther (b. June 29, 1864), Louisa Jane (b. Jan. 25, 1867), John Wesley II (b. June 19, 1871), Eugenia Eliza (b. Dec. 6, 1874), Ida Erminie (b. Mar. 28, 1878), and Robert Young (b. Aug. 2, 1880).
Confederate service records indicate that George Wesley Byrd, along with three of his first cousins - Albert C. Brigham, Jr., Thomas H. Bailey, and Marion M. Bailey - all enlisted together as Privates in Captain Jesse Taylor's Company B, 1st Tennessee Artillery. Both George Wesley Byrd and his cousin Albert C. Brigham, Jr. were enlisted by Lt. Stankiewicz at Fort Henry, Tennessee on Nov. 27, 1861; their cousins Thomas and Marion Bailey had enlisted earlier during the Summer of 1861. Fort Henry was located on the Tennessee River, approximately 5 miles south of George Wesley Byrd's home along Byrd Creek.
Now under the direction of CSA General Lloyd Tilghman, Pvt. Byrd and his cousins worked rapidly to finish Fort Henry during the last months of 1861. A January, 1862 reconnaisance by Federal General Lew Wallace (later author of Ben Hur) on board the USS Conestoga revealed the low bastions of the fort were barely above the waters of the Tennessee River; between January 15 - 22, the Tennessee River rose 15 feet and was at floodstage. Despite the rising water, on January 21, General Tilghman sent out another appeal for local slaves to work on Fort Henry's fortifications. At that time there were 14 cannons at Fort Henry - including one 10 inch Columbiad (128 Ib. shot), one rebored 24 -pounder (62 Ib. ball), two 42-pounders, and eight 32-pounder guns. Also during this time, Fort Henry's earthworks were improved to 14 feet of thickness, including 8-foot high parapets. The pace quickened as rumors of the Federal invasion force spread through the garrison at Fort Henry.
When not working on fortifications, drill and practice occupied much of the time spent by Pvt. George W. Byrd and his cousins under the urging of Captain Jesse Taylor and General Tilghman during the month of January, 1862. Fort Heiman, on the Kentucky side of the Tennessee River across from Fort Henry, was evacuated by General Tilghman by February 5, 1862 and his forces consolidated at Fort Henry. The forces at Fort Henry now comprised 6 infantry regiments plus 1 battalion, 3 batteries of light and heavy artillery, and 2 battalions of cavalry; a total of approximately 3,000 men.
Federal General Ulysses S. Grant had previously landed his initial convoy of soldiers under General John A. McClernand at Itra Landing, 8 miles below Fort Henry early on February 4. Desiring first-hand information, General Grant then boarded the Federal ironclad USS Essex for a recon of Fort Henry. When the Essex was within about 2 1/2 miles from Fort Henry, Pvt. Byrd and his cousins under Captain Taylor indulged in a little target practice at General Grant's expense. One 24-pounder shell screeched over the gunboat, followed by a second that narrowly missed General Grant and Essex Commander W.D. "Dirty Bill" Porter as it crashed through the stern deck and dropped hissing into the Tennessee River. The Essex and General Grant quickly retreated back downriver.
General Grant and Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote made plans on February 5 for a coordinated infantry - naval assault against Fort Henry the following day. Meanwhile, Confederate General Tilghman and Colonel Adolphus Heiman decided that Fort Henry, due in large part to still rising waters of the Tennessee River. was undefensible and that all soldiers except Captain Taylor's Co. B including Pvt. George W. Byrd and his cousins - would be evacuated to Fort Donelson during early morning of February 6. Captain Taylor's men would man the guns and attempt to delay the Federal assault while Colonel Heiman and most of the garrison retreated to Fort Donelson 12 miles away.
Pvt. Byrd and his cousins no doubt felt some degree of trepidation on the morning of February 6, 1862 as they watched the rest of Fort Henry's garrison march away towards Fort Donelson. At 10:50 a.m., the assault flotilla of Flag Officer Foote - including the ironclads USS Essex, Cincinnati, Carondelet, St . Louis and timberclads USS Tyler, Conestoga, and Lexington - left Bailey's Landing (just south of Byrd's Creek area) and chugged upriver towards Fort Henry. About noon, the Federal ironclads sighted the fort and at 12:34 p.m., the assault was initiated by the USS Cincinnati, firing its 8-inch bow-mounted Dahlgren cannon; the other ironclads soon joined in.
General Tilghman and his staff took position at the center battery in Fort Henry - the approximately 70 Confederates in the fort had only 11 cannons facing the river and the Federal flotilla while Flag Officer Foote had a combined total of 54 cannons at his disposal. As documented in The Fall of Fort Henry (1963) by Edwin C. Bearss, General Tilghman refused to allow his men to return fire until he could evaluate the effectiveness of the Federal bombardment; he then told Captain Taylor to have his men begin firing. Captain Taylor assigned a target to each gun captain and told them their pieces must be constantly trained on that particular boat. The Fort Henry Columbiad fired first, followed by the rebored 24-pounder, and the other guns as the ironclads closed in.
Foote's flagship Cincinnati took numerous hits as did the ironclad Essex, including a shot from the Confederate Columbiad that exploded the Essex' boiler and killed several of its crew with scalding steam. That single 128-lb. shot resulted in 10 killed, 23 wounded, and 5 missing from the crew of the Essex. While Pvt. George W. Byrd and his Confederate comrades were still cheering the fate of the Essex, the rebored 24-pounder rifle in the fort suddenly burst, killing or disabling its crew. Shortly thereafter, another disaster struck the valiant Confederates when the Columbiad was accidently spiked by a jammed priming wire. By this time, several of the 32-pounders had been knocked out by the Federal cannonfire and the remaining ironclads raked the parapets of Fort Henry with destructive fire. Pvt. Byrd and his comrades understandably shrank from their stations in accordance with self-preservation. At approximately 1:30 p.m., General Tilghman threw off his coat and jumped up to man one of the remaining 32-pounders in an attempt to rally his men; he personally aimed two shots at the Cincinnati , causing her to alter her course. The three remaining ironclads now closed to within 600 yards of the fort, their 8-inch Dahlgrens actually blowing chunks out of Fort Henry's parapets
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Throughout the battle, the Tennessee River had continued to rise and now actually stood calf-deep within Fort Henry. General Tilghman now reluctantly decided to surrender at about 2:00 p.m. and had Captain Taylor strike the Confederate colors from the main flagstaff. Flag Officer Foote then received General Tilghman aboard the Cincinnati where Tilghman greeted Foote by saying "I am glad to surrender to so gallant an officer . " Foote rather unchivaIrously replied back " You do perfectly right, sir, in surrendering, but you should have blown my boat out of the water before I would have surrendered to you."
General U.S. Grant and his staff arrived at Fort Henry about 3:00 p.m., his infantry - including Pvt. John A. Palmer, Co. A, 29th Illinois Infantry (see his biography) - occupied the fort shortly thereafter. Pvt. George W. Byrd and his comrades were then sent into captivity, first by Federal steamboat to Cairo, Illinois and then to Alton, Illinois and the POW camp where both he and his cousin Pvt. Marion M. Bailey were received on February 17, 1862. Both cousins endured a relatively brief status as POWs - Pvt. Byrd and Pvt. Bailey signed loyalty oaths and were released from Alton POW camp on March 20, 1862. Interestingly, a list of prisoners at Alton Prison dated March 8, 1862 describes Pvt. George W. Byrd's residence as being "Lauderdale County, Alabama"
Back home in Stewart County. Tennessee, George Wesley Byrd signed a second loyalty oath and posted a $1,000 bond; this document is dated April 7, 1862 and lists his younger brother, Riley Marion Byrd, and a neighbor, Henry Hicks, as securities. In the same National Archives microfilm file with this second loyalty oath document is a railroad pass with the following notations on it:
Parkersburg Apl 16 1862
The bearer of this certificate, G.W. Byrd having been examined, according to instructions from Head Quarters, is permitted to pass on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad - N.W. Va. R.R. from Parkersburg to Kanawha Station by paying his fare.
by order of John F. Hoy
Lieu't Col.
Brig. Gen'l B.F. Kelley
by Geo. A. (?) Palmer
On the back side of this railroad pass is also written: "The undersigned accepts this pass on his word of honor that he is loyal to the United States and if he is hereafter found in arms against the government of the United States or aiding or abetting its enemies, the penalty will be DEATH." Beneath this statement is the signature: "G.W. Byrd"
At the time of this writing it is not known exactly why George Wesley Byrd signed a second, $1,000 security loyalty oath and traveled to Kanawha Station. (now) West Virginia. Family history recorded by his great-niece, Cleo Cherry Grogan of Murray, Kentucky states that George Wesley Byrd had returned home to his aged parents house on Byrd Creek sometime during the Civil War. Then one day, although he had a fever and was lying down, he heard the hoofbeats of three unfamiliar horses riding up to his parents' house. Getting up from his sickbed and taking a double-barrel shotgun with him, he quietly approached the three "guerillas" as they were dismounting in front of the house. Without hesitation, he shot and killed one guerilla who had already tied his horse to the pickett fence outside the front porch and knocked another rider from his horse with the second blast. The third guerilla turned and fled into the night. Although "sick with fever", George Wesley Byrd left the two dead guerillas in his parents' front yard and "walked into Dover" to tell authorities about the incident. If this described incident indeed occurred during the Civil War, it is probably more likely that he would have walked to the Federal outpost at now occupied Fort Henry and manned by the 5th Iowa Cavalry (Curtis Horse") under Colonel Lowe.
George Wesley Byrd was the administrator of his father's estate after John Wesley "Jack" Byrd died in 1866. In 1870, he was sold the remaining land in Stewart county belonging to his oldest brother, William Carrol Byrd, now living in Randolph County, Arkansas. Pvt. George Wesley Byrd, Co. B (Taylor's), 1st Tennessee Artillery died October 14, 1898 and is buried alongside his wife, Ann Eliza Harrells in the Bailey-Byrd Cemetery. LBL, Stewart County, TN. On his headstone is inscribed the following: "Let us prepare to cross the chilly waters of death."
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at: http://www.oocities.org/enlistedman/abrigham.html
Albert Clausel Brigham Jr. (b. Feb. 1, 1838) was the 5th oldest son of Albert Clausel Brigham, Sr. (b. Feb. 10, 1800; prob. in Sullivan Co. TN - d. Nov. 30, 1875, Stewart Co. TN) and Mary “Polly” Byrd (b. 1810 - d. Aug. 17, 1892, Stewart Co. TN). He, along with his 13 brothers and sisters (HorseAnn Caroline, b. Mar. 25, 1827; Mary, b. Jan. 27, 1828; Thomas L., b. Oct. 11, 1829; Samisa, b. Dec. 19, 1830; Quintus C., b. Feb. 4, 1832; Harriet A., b. Mar. 25, 1834; James H. b. Jan. 26, 1836; Marion McDonald, b. Apr. 21, 1840; Minerva Jane, b. July 29, 1842; Constantine Polk, b. Sept. 27, 1844; Arcanthus Missouri, b. Aug. 17, 1845; John Wesley, b. Mar. 7, 1848; Elizabeth Tennessee, b. Apr. 15, 1851) was also born in District No. 8 near Lick Creek (now Byrd Creek), Stewart County, Tennessee and next to the Tennessee River, in what is currently Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL). Albert Clausel Brigham Jr. was also the nephew of Luna Louisa Brigham Byrd (b. 1797, Sullivan Co. TN - d. Dec. 5, 1875, Stewart Co. TN) and therefore first cousin to her sons who also served in the CSA, George Wesley Byrd and Robert Payne Byrd.
According to his CSA service and Tennessee State Pension documents, Albert Clausel Brigham Jr. enlisted in Captain Jesse Taylor’s Co. B of the 1st Tennessee Artillery (AKA the Rock City Artillery) on Nov. 27, 1861 and at Ft. Henry, TN -- only a few miles south of his home in District 8 of Stewart Co. He enlisted on the same day as his cousin, Pvt. George Wesley Byrd; but two other cousins, Marion M. Bailey and Thomas H. Bailey had enlisted in the Rock City Artillery earlier that summer. It is assumed that Pvt. Brigham and his cousins helped construct fortifications and practice artillery drills during this time before the battle of Ft. Henry on Feb. 6, 1862.
After the battle of Ft. Henry on Feb. 6, CSA service record documents indicate that the three cousins of Pvt. Albert C. Brigham -- George Wesley Byrd, Marion M. Bailey, and Thomas H. Bailey --were all taken prisoners by Federal soldiers, but Pvt. Brigham’s name was not among them. A report written by a 1st Lt. Mortimer Neely, Co. K, 5th Iowa Cavalry (Curtis Horse) and printed in the O.R. (Ser.I, Vol.10, Pt.1, page 46) states that Pvt. Albert C. Brigham, Co. C (Taylor’s) of the 1st Tennessee Artillery was captured by his Federal patrol on Mar. 25, 1862 and “...at the urgent request of the Union citizens...” of the area. Pvt. Brigham was then sent to POW prison at Camp Douglas in Chicago, IL. A National Archives (NARA) microfilm document (microcopy #M-598, Roll #54, Vol. #189) of Camp Douglas POWs describes the following: “No. 789 Brigham, A.C. Private Rock City Artillery Captured at home. Captured Feb. 16, 1862. Sent to Cairo for exchange Sept. 7, 1862.”. This same microcopy lists another cousin of Pvt. Albert Brigham, Pvt. Alfred J. Byrd, Co. F, 50th Tennessee Infantry having been captured at Ft. Donelson at Feb. 16, 1862 and sent to Cairo IL for exchange on Sept. 5, 1862. In another microfilm document, Pvt. A.C. Brigham is documented as follows: “I was prest (sic) in the Confederate Army in November 28, 1861 and was at home the time Fort Henry was taken and remain (sic) there untill (sic) I was taken prisoner and am willing to take the oath of allegiance.” “Respectfully referred to Major McConnell, comdg (?) City (?) Guard, D.M. Rossadein (?), Capt. Comdg.” This document appears to be dated April 5, 1862 and apparently is not in Albert C. Brigham’s handwriting since his Tennessee State Pension documents indicate he could not write.
There appears some confusion in the documents kept by the Confederate and Federal authorities: Pvt. Albert C. Brigham, Co. B, 1st Tennessee (Rock City) Artillery seems to have been mixed up with a certain Richard A. Brigham, R.A. Brigham, or A.R. Brigham; however, the O.R. and microfilm documents described here along with the Tennessee State Pension documents for Albert C. Brigham, Jr. allow the puzzle to be solved. Apparently paroled with other Confederate POWs at Camp Douglas in September of 1862, Pvt. Brigham eventually ended up in Vicksburg MS where the paroled/exchanged Confederate soldiers were received. On Sept. 30, 1862 Pvt. Brigham and other exchanged members of the Rock City Artillery were stationed at Jackson MS until they were formally declared exchanged in November; the battery was then moved to Port Hudson LA. At Port Hudson, Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr. was a member of Captain F. J. Weller’s Co. B, 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Battalion and commanded by Lt.-Colonel Paul F. DeGournay. At Port Hudson, Captain Weller’s Co. B of the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Battalion, including Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr., was apparently part of Battery No. 7, “the Hot Shot Battery”, that may have been alternately commanded by Capt. Weller and Capt. J.M. Sparkman. The“Hot Shot Battery” consisted of two 24-pounder cannons which had an oven to bake solid shot to a white heat; Pvt. Brigham and his mates used wads of wet hay or hemp to prevent premature ignition.
As part of the Port Hudson garrison under the overall command of Major General Franklin K. Gardner, the men of Battery No. 7, including Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr., were called to their stations by “the long roll” alarm of the Confederate drummers at about 11:25 p.m. on Mar. 14, 1863. The Federal flotilla under the command of Fleet Admiral David G. Farragut was approaching from downriver and about to run the Rebel batteries. Immense bonfires were lit on the west side of the Mississippi River in order to illuminate the Yankee ships and give the Confederate gunners clear targets to shoot at as Farragut’s mortar schooners rained high-arching shells upon the Rebel positions. According to David C. Edmonds in his 1983 bookThe Guns of Port Hudson, Volume 1, The River Campaign, the Hotshot Battery (No. 7) opened the Confederate barrage upon the lead ship, Admiral Farragut’s own flagship, the USS Hartford; the other 10 batteries followed suit. Farragut had prepared his fleet well by lashing smaller steamboats to the port-side of his larger warships in case the larger craft ran aground while running the batteries; in addition, he had covered the exposed starboard-sides of his warships, including their boilers, with heavy chains for additional protection. In addition, the admiral placed a Mississippi River pilot in the top of the mizzen-mast directly above Farragut’s station on the poop deck of the Hartford so he could see above the anticipated smoke and fog; from there the pilot would communicate with the helmsman via a long acoustic tube and give steering directions. These techniques had worked well during Admiral Farragut’s earlier assault against New Orleans during April of 1862.
Confederate shot and shell splintered the oaken decks of the Hartford with these wooden shrapnel killing and wounding Federal sailors, yet Admiral Farragut did not flinch as he concentrated on the task at hand. At about midnight, the mizzen-mast pilot could not see through the darkness and immense clouds of cannon smoke and the Hartford’s compass indicated that she was heading directly towards the bluffs directly under Battery No. 1. Despite stopping engines, the Hartford ran aground and was now depending upon the gunboat lashed to her port-side, the USS Albatross, to pull her free while Rebel shells and now musketfire raked both ships from stem to stern. The heavy smoke prevented the Confederate artillerymen, including Pvt. Albert C. Brigham, from taking full advantage of the Hartford’s predicament, however, and she soon slid free and escaped around the bend to the north. The second warship directly behind USS Hartford was not as fortunate; the USS Richmond was mercilessly pounded by the Confederate batteries commanded by Lt.-Colonel DeGournay and possibly angered because the Hartford had successfully passed them. The Richmond was struck repeatedly, wooden splinters impaling sailors and Marines alike; at one point decapitating one Marine and sending his head and flaming debris onto the deck of the USS Genesee, lashed to the Richmond’s port-side. A direct hit upon the steam safety valve of the Richmond soon resulted in her loss of power while the Genesee struggled to steer both ships while putting out a fire of her own; amazingly, neither ship sank as they drifted back downstream defeated by the Rebel bombardment.
At about 12:30 a.m., the USS Monongahela grounded opposite the heaviest of Confederate shore batteries, including Pvt. Brigham’s Battery No. 7, the Hot Shot Battery. For the next 30 minutes, Rebel shot and shell racked both theMonongahela and the consort ship lashed to her port-side, the USS Kineo. The Monongahela suffered two 32-pounders amidships knocked out and an eleven-inch pivot gun as well; her bridge was destroyed, killing 3 sailors in the process. One shell-burst knocked her Acting Master’s Mate overboard before the Kineo managed to reverse engines and drag the damaged warship free before casting off from the Monongahela. Once moving again upstream, however, the crankpin of theMonongahela’s forward engine overheated, forcing the engines to stop. The doomed warship drifted into the eddy opposite Pvt. Albert Brigham’s Battery No. 7, within 30 yards of the bluff. Fortunately for the Yankee seamen, the steep bluffs prevented the Confederate gunners from depressing the cannon muzzles enough to blast the disabled craft, but heavy batteries north and south of that position rained havoc upon the ship as Rebel sharpshooters joined in. Twelve double-charges of grape and canister swept the deck of the Monongahela until a voice aboard the warship screamed “Cease your firing; I surrender!”. Unable to board the shattered craft, the victorious Rebels watched as the burning boat drifted downstream with the current of the river.
The last Federal warship in line, the USS Mississippi, passed the lower batteries unscathed but grounded and heeled over to port just above the Monongahela, once again in close proximity to Pvt. Brigham and his comrades in the Tennessean-manned Hot Shot Battery No. 7. For the next 35 minutes the Mississippi strained to back off the shoal but to no avail as Confederate gunners blasted her repeatedly. A hot shot from Pvt. Brigham’s Battery No. 7 ignited a fire in the forward storeroom of the Mississippi as then Lieutenant George Dewey (future admiral and hero of the Spanish-American War) prepared to abandon ship, giving orders to crewmen to away lifeboats and row to shore. Captain Melancton Smith ordered his engineers and sailors to demolish the warship’s machinery and throw all small arms overboard to prevent their capture/use by Confederates; fires started by Federal sailors were extinguished after 3 new holes were punched in the hull by Rebel cannonfire. Two new shells tore through the Mississippi shortly after that time and ignited some turpentine and oil, spreading flames throughout the doomed ship. As the flames rose and engulfed the Mississippi, the bluffs above erupted in loud cheers as the abandoned warship lit up the sky with its pyrotechnics. Lieutenant (later Admiral) Dewey later said that he “...lived five years in an hour..” during the attempted passage of Port Hudson that night. Total Federal losses were 75 men killed or missing (most from the USS Mississippi) and 38 wounded; Confederate cavalry captured 37 of the Mississippi crew. Confederate casualties were 3 killed and 22 wounded. The Federal army under Major General Nathaniel Banks would now have to complete the task of reducing Port Hudson from the land.
Anticipating this, Confederate Major General Gardner ordered that several of the river batteries be redeployed to counter land attacks by the Federal soldiers. Lawrence Lee Hewitt in his 1987 book Port Hudson, Confederate Bastion on the Mississippi, documents that Captain J.M. Sparkman and members of the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Battalion moved two 12-pounder Blakeley cannons from the river to Commissary Hill, within Colonel I.G.W. Steedman’s lines to the north. It is also known that another detachment of the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Battalion manned two cannons in the center of Brigadier General William N.R. Beall’s lines to the east. It is not certain where, exactly, Pvt. Albert C. Brigham was during this time, but both Captain J.M. Sparkman and Captain F.J. Weller were casualties during Federal General Banks’ assault of May 27, 1863 -- Captain Weller having his chest torn out by a Yankee shell. Captain Sparkman was mortally wounded while checking to see if he had correctly cut a fuse atop the breastworks of Commissary Hill; Tennesseans In the Civil War states that he died on June 4. Lieutenant Oswald Tilghman was in command of the 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery Battalion at the time of surrender on July 9, 1863 -- this after 48 days of siege.
It appears that Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr. attempted to escape before the actual surrender of Port Hudson by Major General Gardner on July 9, 1863 -- “A.C. Brigham, Pvt., 1st Tenn. Heav. Arty.” appears on a list of POWs captured by Federal cavalry (1st Division) and “...paroled by Capt. E.A. Hancock, Pro. Mar. Sent north.” Pvt. Brigham next appears on a list of Confederate prisoners in Maysville, Alabama and dated Aug. 25, 1863; this list has the following description which confirms his identity: “25 years, blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion, 6 feet tall, born: Stewart, Tenn., occupation: farmer.” He next appears on a document dated Oct. 28, 1863 which describes his being received at Camp Morton, Indianapolis IN after discharge from the Military Prison in Louisville KY on the same day (Louisville KY Register No. 4, page 180) suggesting he was transported by train. Pvt. Albert Brigham endured the Winter of 1863-64 in Indianapolis (where the State Fairgrounds are today) before being transferred to Ft. Delaware DE on Mar. 19, 1864 (Camp Morton IN Register No. 1, page 209) and arriving there on Mar. 22. Pvt. Brigham remained as a POW in Ft. Delaware for almost one year until being paroled and forwarded to City Point VA for exchange on Feb. 27, 1865 (Ft. Delaware DE Register No.2, page 122). At war’s end on April 9, 1865 he was apparently on his way home to Stewart Co. TN since his Tennessee State Pension documents state that“I was at Columbus, Mississippi when the war ended and came from there home.” Ironically, the POW imprisonment of Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr. may not have occurred if he had not tried to escape on July 8, 1863 -- almost all Confederate Privates in Port Hudson were paroled at the time of actual surrender on July 9, only Confederate officers were sent to POW camps by the victorious Federals on that day.
Pvt. Albert C. Brigham Jr., Co. B, 1st Tennessee Artillery died on May 26, 1911. He is buried in the Brigham Cemetery, near the Tennessee River and within USFS Land Between The Lakes NRA, Stewart Co. TN.