Whistlin Dixie XXXIV

In this information, the speaker discusses crimes committed against innocent civilians in Arkansas during the Civil War and Reconstruction. They provide examples of burning towns, destroying property, and executing guilty parties. The speaker also criticizes the Union Army's actions and calls for punishment of those responsible. The information highlights the atrocities committed against civilians during the war. ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ� ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ទ្ Well, welcome everyone to Whistling Dixie number 34 and our continuation of showing the individual states and the crimes that were committed against those people in those states who were nothing but innocent civilians. We have covered Virginia and yesterday we covered Alabama. So today, progressing through alphabetical order, we will now take on Arkansas. And I must tell you before we begin, in the War of the Rebellion, there are a few instances of the crimes against the people of Arkansas. And then we have the diaries of several people who experienced this firsthand. And so that will be an integral part. And we may even, with Arkansas because of the time frame, we may even jump in with some of the depredations that were brought upon the people of Arkansas under Reconstruction. Well, the first example which I was able to find in the War of the Rebellion records was from February the 24th in 1862 when Brigadier General Samuel R. Curtis of the Southwest District of Missouri at Camp Halleck reported to General Halleck in regard to the occupation of Fayetteville, northwest corner of Arkansas, on February the 23rd. by Brigadier General Alexander Asimov, 2nd Division, and I quote, The murder of one of our soldiers in Bentonville, Arkansas, 22 miles north of Fayetteville, was resented by burning part of the town by our troops. And then we have this one from October the 19th of 1862. In Memphis, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman of the 1st Division wrote to Captain Meade of the United States Navy commanding gunboat Louisville off the shores of Helena, Arkansas. And here's the quote. And then Lieutenant Commander Richard W. Meade, Jr. on the gunboat Louisville off of Helena, Arkansas, on October the 21st reported to Acting Rear Admiral David D. Porter commanding the Mississippi Squadron, and I quote, I have a letter received from Major General Sherman in regard to the outrage committed by guerrillas on the Packet Gladiator at Bledsoe's Landing in Council Bend, about 45 miles above this place. I stated to the General Commanding at this post that I would proceed up the river. A force of 300 men consisting of detachments from the 24th and the 11th Indiana, Lieutenant Colonel Richard F. Barter, 11th Indiana Commanding, was detailed to accompany me in the Meteor. I reached Bledsoe's Landing this morning whilst the Meteor, with the troops, proceeded on to Elm Grove in accordance with Brigadier General Alvin P. Hovey's 4th Division of the Army of the Southwest and Helena, his instructions. So it looks like, folks, when depredations are committed against the people, the civilians of the South, if they dare to retaliate in any way, then their neighbors' homes were burned and destroyed, men were hanged, and women were raped, both black and white. Then we have this. In Memphis, on October the 18th, William Tecumseh Sherman, 1st Division, District of West Tennessee, issued Special Orders No. 283, and I quote, Forty-sixth, Ohio, Colonel Charles C. Walcott, will embark tonight on board of steamboat, and drop down to a point on the Arkansas shore about fifteen miles below this near Elm Grove, and there to disembark. He will then proceed to destroy all of the houses, all of the farms, and all of the cornfields from that point up to Hope Field. This is done to let the guerrillas who attacked the Catahoula feel that certain destruction awaits the country for daring to fire on our steamboats. How do they know who fired on their steamboats? This is just so ludicrous, it's incredible. What if it were Confederate forces, actual Confederate military forces that fired on their steamboats? They are being invaded. So, if they are fired upon, they're going to destroy the homes, the livelihood, and everything of civilians, and we call this an honorable war? Well, three days later, Sherman reported to Grant, and I quote, Some attacks have been made on the boats navigating the Mississippi, and notice he doesn't say who perpetrated the attacks. He said, I ordered parties to Island 21, also to the point where the Catahoula was fired into. At the latter place, Colonel Walcott found much evidence of complicity with the guerrillas, and so he burned all of their property. Then we have Major General John A. McLernand, Army of the Mississippi, aboard the steamer Tigris at Napoleon, Arkansas, 22 miles southeast of the Arkansas Post, at the confluence of the Arkansas and the Mississippi Rivers, on the Northwest Bank, on January 17, ordered Sherman, and I quote, Take measures immediately to extinguish the flames which are consuming Napoleon, and find, if possible, the incendiaries and punish them. Place guards to stop the scandals which are being perpetrated by worthless men within our Army. Unquote. Well, on that same day, Sherman, on board the Forest Queen, replied to McLernand, Pursuant to your orders, this 4 p.m., I went in person to direct the extinguishment of the fire in Napoleon. It was impossible to extinguish it. I first tried to limit it to the middle of the block, but failed, but for the destruction of a store and barn at the end of the block, limited the fire to that one block. It is impossible to find out the incendiaries. No man in the Army has labored harder than I have to check this spirit in our soldiers, and I am free to admit we all deserve to be killed unless we can produce a state of discipline when such disgraceful acts cannot be committed and unpunished. Unquote. Sherman actually said that? After all of the crimes that he had already committed that they all deserve to be killed? Well, for once, that mad communist was exactly correct. The entirety of the Union Army should have been tried and executed. Again, folks, there is a plethora of evidence here which shows that any time a boat on the Arkansas or on the Mississippi, a Union vessel was fired upon, which could have been by the Confederate forces, which is totally commensurate with an act of war, they had been invaded, they don't have a right to fire upon the boats that are invading them. But yet, if this happened, then the innocent civilians were forced to pay a price. Lieutenant Commander Thomas O'Selfridge of the USS Conestoga off Napoleon, Arkansas, where the Arkansas River flows into the Mississippi, on December 31, 1862, reported to Acting Rear Admiral David D. Porter, and I quote, I burned down the plantation this morning where the steamer Southwestern was fired upon some ten miles above Laconia. Unquote. So then, on January 3, 1863, Brigadier General Willis A. Gorman, District of Eastern Arkansas at Helena, reported to Major General Samuel R. Curtis, Department of the Missouri, in St. Louis, and I quote, General William Tecumseh Sherman's troops on the way down the Mississippi wantonly burned much property. The General arrested the guilty parties, had them tried promptly, and seven of them were summarily executed. Shot. This is the first execution for plundering, marauding, or burning property that has occurred in our Army during this war. This Army has acquired an unenviable reputation for plundering, robbing, and burning of private property. The material is splendid, but the political demagogues among the line officers are enough to damn the best Army of God's fourstool. Unquote. Again, from the records of the War of the Rebellion, Lieutenant Joshua Bishop, USS General Bragg, in Memphis, on the same day reported to Selfridge, Senior Officer at Memphis, and I quote, The light-draft gunboat, Linden, had on board the Party of the 89th Indiana, under command of Major General George Cubberley. I proceeded up the river, and this morning landed at Mound City, Arkansas, and disembarked the troops. The infantry made prisoners of several citizens, and then set fire to and burned several houses belonging to Mr. J.E. Cheek and others. Unquote. And then, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Robert Gaddy, G-E-T-T-Y, U.S. Gunboat Marmora, off Martin's Place, on June 14, 1863, reported to Lieutenant Commander James M. Pritchett, Gunboat Tyler, commanding the Arkansas and the White Rivers at the mouth of the White River, stating, and I quote, Today, the Nebraska, when opposite Eunice, Arkansas, was fired into by guerrillas. I landed at the town and burned the entire place. In fact, every house and shed within a mile of that landing was burned. Not a vestige of the town of Eunice can be seen. I propose visiting Gaines Landing tomorrow, and if the indications there are the same as they were at Eunice, I shall inflict the same punishment on them as I did to the latter. And then, in the advance upon Little Rock, August 1 to September 14, 1863, by the Army of the Arkansas, Major General Frederick Steele, in Duval's Bluff, 45 miles east of Little Rock, on August 26, reported to General Hurlbut, and I quote, I continue to build shelters. Our lumber has been obtained by taking down any civilian buildings, including churches. And then, in reference to a cavalry expedition from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Pocahontas, Arkansas, 101 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau, on August 17 to August 26, 1863, commanded by Colonel Richard G. Woodson, the 3rd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, Brigadier General Clinton B. Fisk, District of Southeastern Missouri, Pilot Knob, on August 27, wrote to Lieutenant Colonel Hiram M. Hiller, of the 2nd Missouri State Militia Cavalry, at Cape Girardeau, and I quote, Colonel Woodson complains bitterly of the unsoldierly manner of many of Major John J. Jocelyn's command. He says they routinely plunder and pillage wherever they wish. Now, Brigadier General Vaughn also, on December 9, wrote again to Curtis, and he says, and I quote, Colonel Adams, with a portion of his regiment, between November 20 and 27, 1862, in the counties of Jackson and Lafayette, did rob, plunder, rape, and despoil the inhabitants, and then stole their mules, their horses, their oxen, their wagons, their beds, their bedding, and all of their household furniture. And then there is this. Colonel Robert R. Livingston, of the 1st Nebraska Cavalry, commanding the District of Northeastern Arkansas in Batesville, 79 miles northeast of Little Rock, on January 26, wrote to General Schofield, and I quote, A detachment of the 8th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, Lieutenant Colonel John D. Brooks, under command of Captain James J. Ackard, came here from Springfield, Missouri. Had I known the conduct of these troops on the march here and back, I should have dealt severely with them. The poor cottager, who is robbed of nearly all he has, when he reflects upon the atrocities of our troops, his suffering is a most sad reality. Also, a detachment of the 6th Missouri State Militia Cavalry, commanded by Captain Samuel E. Turner, and here again complaints followed his command. Judge William Byers was rudely assaulted, his life threatened, and his horses and mules stolen from him. Members of our military who terrify and rob. Brigadier General Napoleon B. Buford, District of Eastern Arkansas in Helena, on March 23, 1864, telegraphed General Frederick Steele, and I quote, The colored troops go beyond the lines and insult and depredate on peaceful citizens. The last was of 16 black soldiers who insulted Mr. Turner and stole his property. On June 12, a Judge Hall wrote to General Rosecrans, and I quote, Truman and his men have killed, certainly as many as five, and reported to be as many as twelve. They claim and exercise the authority of putting men to death and taking their property at their discretion. This has excited a reign of terror throughout the county and is extending into the adjoining counties. General Fiske, on June 14, replied to Judge Hall, and I quote, Captain Truman was deemed an expert detective by my superior officers. He was under orders from the Provost Marshal General, Colonel John P. Sanderson, Department of the Missouri and St. Louis, and on the same day, Fiske wrote to Rosecrans, and I quote, Hangings, shootings, and plundering has been the order of the day here. And again. Hudson, at Helena, on September 4, reported to General Napoleon B. Buford, quote, 65 buildings were burned down, including homes, churches, and Kendall's Grist Mill, unquote. And more. Major James Kettner, commanding the 16th Kansas Cavalry and other officers of the regiment at Pea Ridge, northwest corner of Arkansas, on November 16, 1864, signed a communication to Colonel Charles R. Jenison, 1st Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Kansas Cavalry Division under Major General James G. Blunt, Army of the Border, Department of Kansas, Major General Samuel R. Curtis, wrote, The undersigned officers of this command protest against the indiscriminate pilfering and robbing of private citizens and especially of defenseless women and children that has marked the line of march of this division of the Army of the Border from the Arkansas River to our present point. If soldiers are permitted to rob and plunder, the result must be demoralization of the men and disgrace to the officers and of our Army, in which we are totally unwilling to share. Wow, an honest one. Hard to come by in the Yankee Corps. Unfortunately, they were not all that way. Colonel Jenison, on December 19, reported to General S.R. Curtis, and I quote, Now the 125 men of the 15th Kansas Cavalry are held responsible for the acts of the entire brigade. My orders from the General Commanding, Major General James G. Blunt of the 1st Division, Army of the Border, through his regular staff officer, in presence of at least 10 officers of my brigade, we were told that we were to desolate the country from the Arkansas River to Fort Scott and to burn every house en route. And continuing on, Brigadier General Cyrus Busse, 3rd Division, 7th Corps, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on February the 28th, censured Colonel M. LaRue Harrison of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, which was a Union force at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I quote, Portions of your command have been committing the most outrageous excesses, robbing and burning homes indiscriminately. Let war be made on gorillas, but not women and children. Madison and Carroll Counties are especially named as the scene of your outrageous, unquote. So General Busse, on March the 8th, 1865, reported to Major General Joseph J. Reynolds in the Department of Arkansas, and I quote, There are several thousand families within the limits of this command who are related to and dependent upon the Arkansas soldiers in our service. These people have nearly all been robbed of everything they had by the troops of this command, and are now left destitute and compelled to leave their homes to avoid starvation. In most instances, everything has been taken and no receipts given, and the people turned out to starve, and their effects were loaded into trains and sent to Kansas, unquote. Their folks is just, here there were people whose men had gone off to serve the Union Army, and still, their homes were burned, and everything they had was taken, and they were left to starvation, as was just mentioned in the official records. General Reynolds, in Little Rock, on March the 10th, wrote to General Busse, and I quote, Some companies said to be organized by authority from Colonel LaRue Harrison are committing outrageous depredations in the vicinity of Fayetteville, unquote. So now, those are the documents I have from the War of the Rebellion. Now we're going to look at some written reminiscences of the people who actually survived these terrible atrocities that were committed upon those good Southern people. But first, let me start with a wonderful quote from Major George Ward Nichols of the wonderful Yankee Army, and I quote, It may be for the good of future generations that this rebel horde should be swept from the earth, unquote. That's what they thought of us. That's what they still think of us. So wake up, people. Smell the coffee. Now for the reminiscences of Virginia McCollum Stinson. Virginia was the wife of George H. Stinson, who lost an eye at the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862, and he was sent home to work at the Confederate Quartermaster Department in Camden, Arkansas. And so after the war, Mrs. Stinson sat down and wrote her recollections of the Yankee occupation of Camden, Arkansas. And I quote from her, On the morning of April 15, 1864, all the women on West Washington Street and other streets in Camden, who could, were busy cooking rations for our dear men in gray. Everybody was excited, for all of the news all day long was, and I quote, The Yankees are nearing our town. When the cry came, The Yankees are in sight, all the visitors rushed home and said goodbye. We did not know when we would meet again, for we women had resolved we would stay in our homes and save our household goods and stores from the Yankee hordes. Kate, my young lady sister, ran in the house and said, Sis, the Yankees are almost here. Such a noise they did make, shooting guns and pistols, and the tramp of feet and yelling of voices. It was distressing indeed. I gathered my household together and closed my doors and blinds. No glad welcome was extended to them. Our hearts were lifted to God in prayer for His protection. We peeped through the blinds and saw them rush in to our vacant lot, then in a short time our grounds were covered with these blue-coat Yankees. They were as thick as blackbirds in springtime and chattering in much louder voices. They began to take a look at our house, then came to the back door. Aunt Sally went to the door to see what was wanted. I had given her all of the keys to the smokehouse and storeroom and told her to claim everything on the place. The Yankees demanded the keys from her. She said, You can't have them. They replied, We must have them because we need meat, flour, and meal. Sister Kate went out to help Aunt Sally. She would not let the doors be broken open, but unlocked them and let them take whatever they wished. But when they were taking nearly all of the meat from the smokehouse, Katie said, You surely don't mean to rob my sister of all of the meat that she has. They then decided to leave some. They only left two of the smallest hams in the lot, but we had some stored away that they could not find. Their robbery was begun about 6 p.m. and lasted until midnight. What a night of terror it was. Next morning they began to rob us again. This time I went to the storeroom door myself. As Aunt Sally opened it, fifteen Yankees were there to grab whatever they could lay their hands on. I spoke to them in a pathetic manner. Haven't you men mothers, wives, or sisters in your northern homes? If so, how would you like for our southern soldiers to rob them as you are robbing us? One or two looked ashamed while the others were defiant and just kept stealing. Sister Kate had gone for a guard over at General Steele's headquarters, which was at my neighbor's, Mrs. Major Graham's, home. While the Yankees were still taking rice and flour, their commanding officers rode right up to my back door with a guard and the robbing ceased. Kate told what a time she had to get a guard. The Yankees took possession of all of our cows, sheep, and hogs. They could drive into the vacant lots and then slaughter them. One afternoon, Kate saw them driving a lot of cows in my pasture. She spied one of my cows in the drove. She rushed out with a big stick and told the men not to drive her sister's cows to slaughter. The cow was trying to get to my barnyard, so it was easy for Kate to drive her in. I did not know she was going to do it until I saw her running after the cows. I trembled for her safety among all those rough men, but she saved my cow. These were trying times for us. We were almost like prisoners in our own homes, but our faith in God was strong. Only one thing stirred my southern blood to heat was when a Negro regiment passed my home going to fight our own dear men at Poison Springs. How fierce they did look! It was then that I gave vent to my feelings, but I must say, our good old family servants remained loyal to us. As the day moved slowly on, we got through somehow. Each day we prayed that the Yankees would leave, but we saw no signs of them doing so. Not a word could we hear from our dear men, and not a word could they hear from us. After the Yankees had been here a week, rumors came that a battle was to be fought right here in town. In fact, they made preparations for it. The women and children were ordered to leave town. What a strain on our nerves! To run to the river bottom and leave our homes to the mercy of the Yankees and then what? No, where could we go? Not a horse or a mule in town belonged to us anymore. My sister, Mrs. Daly, was one of the impulsive ones, so she decided to pack up all of her silver and valuables and a few clothes for herself and little son Richard, and go down to the Dan Fellows' home and get in his cellar until after the battle. A gentleman called. He told her he would help her to get out of town, but he had a mule that could be driven before our large buggy. How surprised I was that night when he and she came over to make arrangements for me, Aunt Sally, and the three children to pack up and go to the river bottom that night. I just told them I could not do it. Just think of me driving a strange mule and a buggy full of children and one a wee baby. I then said I am going to stay at home and we can all die together. While we were discussing that mule ride, someone knocked at the front door. My sister flew to the door and in a short time returned and said there was a federal officer and two ladies who wanted to stay all night. They informed Kate there would be no battle the next morning, so our minds were at ease. After the Yankees had been with us for ten days, the morning of the last day, Captain Rohadebok came hurriedly and said, Miss Stinson, I have orders to go away and may not return. I was not wise enough to know that General Steele's whole army was going that very night. Our guard went away too. At least I did not see him after the captain left. The Yankee soldiers kept Aunt Sally busy cooking rations for them all day. We could see from their movements they were up to something. At last they said they had orders to leave, but where they were going nobody knew. They threatened to burn the town before they left. How terrified we helpless women and children and faithful servants were. When night came on our nerves were completely unstrung. Just about dark the Yankees began shooting my chickens, and they kept it up until they had killed every chicken except for one old setting hen they did not see. What a night of terror it was. Aunt Sally and I gathered our household together save the sixteen-year-old Negro boy who was persuaded by the Yankees to go with them. Lots of silly Negroes followed the Yankees off. The regiment east of me did not get off until morning. Aunt Sally tried to get a guard, but could not. My good friend Mrs. Richmond, who was with Mrs. Graham, sent her only son Nat, who was only fourteen years old, to stay with me. He was a brave boy and laughed at Aunt Sally's terrors, but that night was a hard one for us, for we sat up nearly the entire night. What alarmed us most was the different squads of men around my house talking in low tones, and once in a while a pistol shot was heard quite near my house. Then we feared they would fire our house, as one or two houses had been set on fire the first of that night. No one but the children could sleep that night. Our hearts were lifted to God in prayer for protection. Mother Elliot told me of her terror that night. She said her friend Mrs. Norton was with her, but she could not sleep, and about midnight the mockingbirds in the trees around her home began to sing so sweetly. Both of them thought it was a good omen, for they had not heard the birds sing so since the Yankees had come. And sure enough, when morning came, not a blue coat was in our town. They silently folded their tents, wrapped the wheels of their wagons with cotton, and left town without noise, and it was a delight when the last wagon had left. Camden looked like a deserted town, no noise or Yankees in town. Oh, what a relief it was to be free of them. We did not know what joy was in store for us that day, didn't know that our boys in gray were so near to us. Oh, what joy when our dear men came marching into town, what waving of hands and handkerchiefs, women and children greeting their loved ones. My husband came that night, my brother Hugh McCollum and Colonel Grinstead came with their regiment at noon, and so many of my dear soldier friends in gray were here. All that day and night, and the next day too, they kept coming. We did not have much to give them to eat, for the Yankees had almost robbed us of all we had, of most things. But for all that we had, we divided cheerfully with them. But they were hurrying on in pursuit of the Yankees, so their stay with us was brief. The Choctaw and Cherokee Indians who were Confederate soldiers came the second day. We gave them something to eat. They only asked for bread and sat on the ground to eat it. They were riding their Indian ponies and had their hats ornamented with gray pea fowl feathers. But they were very quiet, yet our Negroes were very much afraid of them. General Kirby Smith and staff officers came after the Yankees left and asked permission to camp in our front yard. My husband and I were delighted to have them, for our lawn is so large and is covered with giant oaks. The General and all his staff were perfect gentlemen and treated us so nicely. They would even ask permission to get water from our well, and also for the use of the cooking stove to bake bread, etc. How neighborly they were. I tried to do all I could for them while they were here. General Kirby Smith and staff remained but a short time with us. They moved on to other fields of duty. I shall never forget him and his staff officers for their kindness to me and to mine. Now, I almost feel compelled to read this. When Lincoln's army swarmed into Dixie, they were armed with an authority terrible to imagine, the power to order and perform executions. During the four years of military occupation, his general officers were guilty of thousands of summary executions of civilians and captured Confederate military personnel. General Milroy in Tennessee ordered almost 500 executions without any form of trial or defense. He simply named the individuals and instructed his officers to hunt them down and kill them. In some instances, a kangaroo court made up of a handful of carefully chosen prejudicial Union Army officers might convene for a few hours for the purpose of lending an air of due process. But in others, perhaps the majority of the cases, it was simply a matter of pronouncing a death sentence, setting an execution time, and dispatching the unfortunate Southerner with as little trouble as possible. But in 1864, David Owen Dodd, a teenage boy of Little Rock, would find himself caught in the jaws of one of these monstrous operations right in his own hometown. David was born at Victoria in far south Texas on November the 10th of 1846. His father, Andrew Dodd, was an entrepreneurial spirit, always looking for another business opportunity. Consequently, the family, Andrew, Lydia, and their three children, David, Sonora, and Lenora, were constantly moving from place to place. In 1859 or 1850, when David was about three years old, Andrew moved the family to Burleson County, Texas, where they kept a store. By 1858, they were in Arkansas, settling about 20 miles south of Little Rock at the town of Benton. Three years later, at the beginning of the war, the family moved again, this time into Little Rock, where David attended St. John's Masonic College for a few months, dropping out only after he contracted malaria. After recovering somewhat, David went to work for a telegraph office in Little Rock. Before long, David traveled with his father to Monroe, Louisiana, where his skill in Morse code landed him a job in the telegraph office there. David, although of slight build and lean from his malarial illness, was a very bright young man and only 15 years old at the time of his employment in Monroe. When Andrew Dodd secured a job as a sutler to the 3rd Arkansas Dismounted Rifles Regiment, David left Monroe to be with his father at Jackson, Mississippi, where both of them operated the sutlery for the Arkansas Regiment. While David operated the store for the regiment, his father traveled through Alabama, Georgia, and other parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, buying and selling goods. Upon Andrew's return, David traveled to Benton to visit relatives and collect payment on some bills which were due to his father. Then he traveled to Mobile, Alabama, and rejoined his father, who had embarked upon yet another trading operation. When Little Rock was occupied by Union forces on September 10, 1863, Andrew Dodd, fearing for the safety of his wife and daughters, sent David back to Little Rock to escort them out of the city. For some reason, the family did not leave, and so David just took a job with the store of Meyer and Lopez sutlers to several regiments of Union troops. On December 1, Andrew Dodd arrived in Little Rock and, loading his family into a wagon, drove out of the city under cover of darkness. They arrived in Camden about two weeks later. In his haste to exit Little Rock, however, Andrew Dodd left some unfinished business, including contracting some investors for a proposed tobacco venture. Within a few days, Andrew decided to send David back to Little Rock to conclude the business deals while he stayed in Camden, preparing to move the family east across the Mississippi River to Jackson. After obtaining a pass that would get David through the Federal picket lines and arming him with a handwritten note citing his place and date of birth as evidence that David was too young to be in the Confederate Army, Andrew sent David towards Little Rock just a few days before Christmas. David made it to Little Rock on December 24, passing the pickets with no trouble. He stayed with his aunt, Ms. Owen, for the next few days. While in Little Rock, David, who had always been popular with the girls, saw three of them, one of whom was Mary Dodge. Several years earlier, her father, Dr. R. L. Dodge, had moved his family to Little Rock from Vermont. Due to his New England associations, he frequently played host to Federal officers. As a result, David became acquainted with several Union soldiers while visiting the doctor's daughter. In addition, David freely roamed about the city and, not surprisingly, was said to have associated with other Union soldiers, having once worked as a sutler to their military units. On December 29, David left Little Rock, having obtained a pass that would get him through the Federal picket lines south of the city. Easily passing through the first picket line, four miles south of the city, he reached the last picket line, north of Benton, where a Yankee private named Olderberg demanded his pass, asked where he was going. David told Olderberg that he was going to his uncle's house on the Hot Springs Road and then to Benton to trade the mule he was riding for a horse. Olderberg took the pass, telling David that he would no longer need it as he was passing out of Union lines at that point. Below Benton, the road forked. One road leads southwest towards Hot Springs and the other goes on in a southerly direction towards Camden. David took the Hot Springs Road to the home of Washington Dodd, where he picked up a pistol and some money and several items for his father. The Union lines in the area snaked along country roads and paths in an irregular fashion, making for confusion as to where the line was at any particular point. Instead of backtracking along the same road by which he had come to his uncle's house, David took a shortcut through the woods and entered the Benton Road again, but this time he was back within Union lines. When the sentry yelled, HALT, David realized he had crossed back into enemy territory, but by then it was too late. He was stopped, searched, and found without a pass, Private Olderberg having taken it from him. When escorted back to Olderberg's post for verification, the private had been replaced and the pass could not be found. David was put into the guardhouse and sent back to Little Rock the next morning, where the contents of his pockets and blouse were examined, two letters from the girls in Little Rock to David's sisters, a loaded pistol, a lock of Mary Dodge's hair, and a small memorandum book. The letters were not unusual. Possession of a Confederate money was no crime, a loaded pistol was not unusual in that day and age, but the memorandum book containing the lock of Mary's hair, raised eyebrows, for inside were two pages written in Morse code. Calling in a Union telegrapher, the officers holding David learned that his little book contained detailed information concerning the strength of the Yankee forces occupying the unhappy city of Little Rock, Arkansas. David, barely seventeen years old, was immediately charged with being a spy and ordered to be tried, as such, by a hastily convened military court the next morning. The so-called jury was made up of high-ranking Yankee officers, hardly an impartial group of men. Surprisingly, David was granted representation, something denied many other such prisoners in Yankee hands. Two prominent Little Rock attorneys stepped forward to try to save the young boy, T.D.W. Yawnley and William M. Fishback, who would, years later, be elected governor of Arkansas. At the trial, Captain Clowrey, the Union telegrapher, read from the two pages in David's book, Third Ohio Battery Has Four Guns, Brass, Eleventh Ohio, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All officers in the room knew that David had accurately described the federal strength of the city. Whether David gathered the information on his own volition or was perhaps asked to obtain it by Confederate military personnel at Camden, the truth will never be known. In the unfortunate situation of Union occupation, the only details surrounding such cases were the exclusive property of the subjugating forces, and the summary executions that characterized their operations tended to bury all of the facts, along with the victims. David did not testify on his own behalf. His two attorneys mounted a weak defense, not because they were disinterested, to the contrary, they were desperately trying to save him, but because the evidence against him was so damaging. The attorneys pointed out that David was not old enough to serve in the Confederate military, and he had not lurked about town in secret, trying to discover information for Confederate officials, but had probably gained such information in informal conversation and had simply jotted it down, and that he did not know that possessing such information was a crime. David's lawyers also requested he be given the opportunity to take the oath of allegiance to the U.S. government, noting that under a proclamation which had been issued by President Lincoln on December 8, all Confederate citizens, except government officials or Army officers, would be granted amnesty upon taking the oath. The six federal officers composing the jury decided after some deliberation that Lincoln's proclamation did not apply to David, and he was thus convicted of the crime of spying and sentenced to death by hanging on January 8. Several citizens of Little Rock, including some of David's relatives, went to see Major General Frederick Steele, commander of the occupying forces, where they pled for David's life, to no avail. There were such universally recognized actions as clemency and pardon available to him, and only two days earlier, Steele's six-man jury of officers, all of whom ranked below General Steele, had simply set aside Lincoln's amnesty proclamation. These invading, conquering generals were endowed with the ultimate power, and there was plenty of wiggle room if they chose to exercise it. And, in David's case, there were plenty of reasons to set aside the awful verdict. David was only a little less than two months into the seventeenth year of his young life. He was too young to serve in the Confederate military. The information in his little book had never made it into Confederate hands, so it was completely harmless to the Union Army. He had offered to follow Lincoln's conditions for amnesty, and Little Rock, Arkansas, was David's hometown, not the hometown of the New York-born Steele or any of Steele's Yankee jurors. Most anyone with a sense of humanity would have commuted the sentence, but that was lacking in Yankees everywhere. It will be remembered that General Sherman verbalized the attitude of many of Lincoln's generals when he said that there is a class of people, men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order. And it should be here noted that there was peace and order in the South until the Union Army arrived. Only a few hours before his execution, young David took pen and paper and wrote a final note to his parents, neither of whom were even aware of his situation. And here is the letter. From the Military Prison in Little Rock, January the 8th, 10 o'clock a.m., 1864. My dear parents and sisters, I was arrested as a spy and tried and sentenced to be hung today at three o'clock. The time is fast approaching, but thank God I am prepared to die. I expect to meet you all in heaven. I will soon be out of this world of sorrow and trouble. I would like to see you all before I die, but let God's will be done, not ours. I pray to God to give you strength to bear your troubles while in this world. I hope God will receive you in heaven. Mother, I know it will be hard for you to give up your only son, but you must remember that it is God's will. Goodbye. God will give you strength to bear your troubles. I pray that we may meet in heaven. Goodbye. God will bless you all. Your son and brother, David O. Dodd Union Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery units made up a three-sided square surrounding the gallows. David's wagon slowly pulled up under the gallows and then stopped. He looked up at the gallows and then looked around at the crowd, saying nothing and showing no emotion. The tailgate was let down and tied with a short rope or cord level with the bed of the wagon. This was to be the trap. As the executioner, a Lieutenant D. K. A. Y., climbed up into the wagon, David stood up and took off his coat, handing it to someone nearby. When D. K. suddenly discovered that he had forgotten to bring a blindfold, David said, You will find a handkerchief in my coat. D. K. placed the handkerchief over David's eyes, tied his hands behind his back, and put the rope around his neck. Versions of what happened next differ owing to the absence of civilian access to the details of the story as well as the Federal rush to execute this poor young boy. The most widely held version is that General Steele believed that David must have had an accomplice because of the accuracy with which he described battle placements and strengths, and acting upon this notion, the General told David that he would spare his life if David would name his informant, whereupon David uttered the words that have lived long after him, And I quote, I can die, but I cannot betray the trust of a friend. Unquote. Other versions deny that Steele ever offered such a bargaining that David was simply hung without comment. All stories, however, are in agreement that David was composed, stoic, and brave beyond fault as he stood on that makeshift trap door. Just before the tailgate was dropped, a local minister, Dr. Peck, visibly upset at the ghastly scene being played out before his eyes, knelt and prayed for what seemed like an eternity. The large, horrified crowd that had assembled outside the hall of square of the Union soldiers stirred a bit, but David kept his composure and remained quiet. At last, the tailgate was dropped, and David's frail body was hurled downward. Even here, there are two competing versions of that event. One account holds that David's feet touched the ground, preventing his sudden death by the breaking of his neck, leaving him to thrash about while strangling to death. Soldiers are said to have raced forward, some jerking up on the rope, and others pulling on David's legs in an effort to hasten the end of his suffering. The Union doctors are said to have reported his death as disruption of the spine. Another account has it that the neck was instantly broken, and a doctor simply stepped forward and pronounced him dead. David's body was taken to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Knighton, who, under close guard by Federal troops, were allowed to prepare his remains for burial. A hastily arranged funeral was set up for the next afternoon, after announcements were distributed in the morning. Almost immediately, friends began raising funds for a grave marker, largely through the efforts of the Ladies of Little Rock. A marble slab and a memorial shaft were placed over the grave as soon as the war was over. Andrew Dodd, understandably bitter and vindictive, calling General Steele a murderer and a disgrace to humanity, died of yellow fever three years after losing his son to the gallows. Mrs. Dodd suffered from frequent bouts of depression and emotional distress until her death in 1885. On a large plantation near Augusta, Arkansas, in 1862, was an old Southern home. There were two hundred Negro slaves, contentedly working, and the land was in a fine state of cultivation. But in the roomy, comfortable old house, which the blue coats surrounded, was only an old woman and her daughter. "'Don't seem to be any men around,' questioned a Union officer. "'All gone to fight the Yankees,' answered the woman. Then a soldier came up to the officer, saying, "'There is only a small quantity of meat in the smokehouse.' When questioned as to where the rest of the meat was hidden, the woman refused to tell. Threatened with the burning of her home if she did not direct them to the place of concealment, she still refused, saying that over two hundred people on this place were depending upon her for that food. "'But,' said a Yankee officer, "'what will you do? You can save your house by giving up the meat.' "'No,' she replied, "'I cannot let my people starve. As for the house, there are plenty of logs in the woods to build another one.'" Wow. A soldier led around a beautiful horse, and at once the girl ran to it and caught the bride. Well, folks, I tell you, when I read these, it hurts. When I think about all of the crimes that were committed against the civilian population of these states by these hordes of Yankee troops, 538,000 of them immigrants, and it's coming again. I feel it. I believe that history will prove that. So I would ask you, please, folks, please, that you understand that we may be on the verge of this exact event again with the influx of illegal immigrants that the government is bringing. Now, folks, when the government breaks the law to harm you, you must realize that government is not your friend. And there is nothing you can do to this government now to ever make any difference. It is just not going to happen. And we should all know that, and we should all understand that. We are staring right now a duplication of the events that I just read to you. And I know, nobody wants to believe it, because we got football, and there's a stupid bowl coming on pretty soon. We got to make sure we see that. But they do not understand. Americans are not students of history. And therefore, they do not see the patterns that are emerging, the warning signs that everyone should be paying very, very close attention to. But unfortunately, they're not. So, I don't know, guys. What do we do next? What do we do? I mean, there are a segment of our society in the South that truly understands this. And then there's a whole lot of Confederate wannabes. Yes, they probably had ancestors who were Confederate soldiers, but I'll tell you one thing. Those men who marched off to battle in 1861 had one hell of a lot more guts and courage of conviction than the great majority today who claim, oh, they were our ancestors, and we don't want their monuments torn down. Well, what if their monuments are torn down? It's just the beginning. That is just the beginning. This has been going on. This war against the white Southerner and the black Southerner, the true black Southerner, has been going on for all too long. I promise you. So, what do we do? I'm sorry about that noise. Couldn't help myself there. So, sorry about my phone. Well, there's the music. I made a mess up there, didn't I? Should have gotten more ready for that. But, folks, this is the substack, the plea to tell the people things are not good in this country, and we are facing a terrible future if we don't wake up and take back what is rightfully ours. And you're not going to do it by signing petitions. This government has proved to you over the past several decades that they do not follow their own rules, much less ours. And so, it's coming. I hope you're ready. And if you have the opportunity, please subscribe to my substack. And all I can say is God bless and take care of us, because we're going to need a lot more people who cherish and embrace the truth than we presently have. God bless you all.