This post was inspired by a recent addition to the Richland Family History Center. Someone donated a 244 volume set entitled, "The War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies". It contains a massive amount of correspondence, reports and orders from both armies which the US Army started compiling shortly after the end of the Civil War. Technically, it is around 130 volumes, but many volumes consist of more than one book. There are a total of 244 thick books which take up a whole section of shelving in the basement of the Richland Family History Center. There is a lot of detailed information about where particular units were assigned, specific orders given to those units, and after action reports.
About a month ago, while searching on Ancestry, I discovered the enlistment, muster, and discharge records pertaining to Jonathan Calvin Cunningham, my third great-grandfather. I was able to attach those documents to him in my Ancestry tree. Since my tree is public, anyone is welcome to take a look at them. I have always been intrigued by Jonathan Cunningham's Civil War service. First of all he was born in Tennessee, lived on a plantation with slaves, found slavery to be repugnant, and moved to the Ozarks in northern Arkansas to get away from it. After the Civil War broke out, Jonathan Cunningham went to Missouri and enlisted in the Union Army. When he returned home after the end of the war, his wife divorced him because she couldn't handle the shame of being married to a yankee. Obviously, he made some serious personal sacrifice in order to stand up for his principles. I found a few stories about his Civil War service in "The History of Baxter County". The muster records provided his unit and the dates of his service.
I will start with facts that we know from his military muster records. Jonathan Cunningham enlisted in the Union Army at Pilot Knob, Missouri on July 5, 1863. Pilot Knob is in southern Missouri, east of Springfield and west of Cape Girardeau. He joined Company C of the Second Arkansas Cavalry and served in that unit until he was discharged in August, 1865. He may have had prior service in a Union infantry unit, but I've not been able to confirm this yet. There are bimonthly muster records which indicate the soldier's current rank and company and whether a soldier was present with his unit, absent, wounded, sick, etc. A review of his muster records show that he was present with his unit from July, 1863 through October, 1863 and that he was promoted to Corporal in September, 1863. During November and December, 1863, Jonathan Cunningham was absent from his unit, on detached service to Fort Smith, Arkansas. From January, 1864 through June, 1864 he was present with his unit, but was sick in a government hospital in Springfield, Missouri from July, 1864 through October, 1864. He was again present with his unit in November and December, 1864 and had been promoted to Sergeant. The nature of his illness is not mentioned. Serious illnesses were not uncommon for Civil War soldiers and many soldiers died from diseases such as dysentary, typhoid, and cholera. He was then present with his unit from January through August, 1865. He served with Company C for his entire term of service.
Included with the muster records was a description of Jonathan Cunningham. He was 5' 6 3/4" tall, with black hair, gray eyes, and a "florid" complexion. (I'm thinking of your basic red-faced irishman) The description indicated that he was a farmer, 33 years old, and further provided his place of birth as Hamilton, Tennessee. The final muster record shows that he was mustered out of the army in August, 1865 at Memphis, Tennessee. At the time he left the army he turned in a revolver (probably a Colt), a Sharps carbine (a type of rifle with a relatively short barrel), and a saber. So at this point we know when he served, his rank, that he served in a union cavalry regiment, what weapons he carried, and a brief physical description.
Now back to the 244 volumes of "The War of Rebellion". Each volume has on the spine of the book, the time period and the location covered. I was able to determine which volumes pertained to Missouri and Arkansas, from July, 1863 through the end of the war. I looked in the index of each relevant volume and found a list of all the pages which included a reference to the Second Arkansas Cavalry (Union). This may sound like relatively dry research, but I found some of the reports and letters were very interesting and once in a while a bit funny. One of the first things I learned is that during 1863 and 1864, the Second Arkansas Cavalry served primarily in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. They were often used as single companies attached to other full regiments. It seemed that they were possibly used as scouts. This would make sense to me as the unit consisted of men from the areas being patrolled who would be familiar with the territory. For example, a regiment such as the Tenth Illinois Cavalry would go on a patrol or mission into northern Arkansas and would take with them one company of the Second Arkansas Cavalry. A cavalry regiment seemed to consist of about 200 men while a company consisted of about 30 men.
I found another reason why the Second Arkansas Cavalry may have often operated as individual companies. In a letter, dated November 12, 1863, General John Sanborn reported to his commander, General Schofield, that while on paper, he appeared to have a sufficient force, much of his troops are not adequately armed and supplied. He listed the Second Arkansas Cavalry as a specific example, stating "A small portion of the Second Arkansas is mounted and armed." I noticed that after action reports in addition to listing the number of men killed or wounded on each side, invariably mentioned how many horses they had captured and whether any horses had been killed.
The first report I found pertaining to the Second Arkansas Cavalry is a somewhat funny story that I will term "The Great Bacon Debacle". On July 25, 1863, just a few weeks after Jonathan Cunningham had enlisted in the Second Arkansas Cavalry, a company from that unit, commanded by a Captain Carpenter, was assigned to guard Union supplies in a small Missouri town with the colorful name of "Hogeye", also described in some of the reports as "Buchanan". When the company was attacked by guerrillas, they burned the supplies and fell back to Cape Girardeau. The supplies destroyed included 45,000 pounds of bacon. I have a hard time imagining just how much bacon that would be. Brigadier General Clinton B Fisk, the Union commander of the District of Southwest Missouri, and obviously a bacon lover, referred to the incident as follows:
"The abandonment of Hogeye (Buchanan on the map) and the burning of the supplies by Captain Carpenter has the appearance of having been very disgraceful and cowardly. The captain and his company are now safe in Cape Girardeau. I suppose I have no authority in the premises, as it occurred within General Davidson's jurisdiction."
If bacon isn't worth fighting for, what is? I think it is unlikely that Jonathan Cunningham was involved in this incident as Company C was commanded by a Lieutenant Orr, rather than Captain Carpenter. Also, the incident happen just three weeks into Jonathan Cunningham's military service. It sounds like Captain Carpenter came very close to being court-martialed. However, I found a number of instances in which a company of the Second Arkansas Cavalry was assigned to either guard supplies or escort a supply train. The term "supply train" refers to a number of wagons pulled by mules and doesn't necessarily mean there was a locomotive involved.
I found a document called the "Organization of troops in the Department of the Missouri" dated December 31, 1863, which indicated that nine companies of the Second Arkansas Cavalry were then assigned to Cassville, Missouri, while one company, Company K, was at Springfield, Missouri. Referring back to the muster records, Jonathan Cunningham was on detached service at Fort Smith, Arkansas during November and December, 1863. Fort Smith is located south of Fayetteville in northwestern Arkansas. There was a road that ran south from Cassville, Missouri through Fayetteville, Arkansas, on to Fort Smith. It was referred to as the "Wire Road" because there was a telegraph line that ran along the road, which was also used by Union supply trains. I found a number of reports of patrols conducted by companies of the Second Arkansas Cavalry along this road. The telegraph line was in need of constant repair as Confederate troops, guerrillas, and even sympathizers were frequently cutting the line. I found one report in which a mother and her daughter were caught attempting to cut the telegraph line. Guarding supply trains, protecting the telegraph line along the wire road, and searching for Confederate regular troops and guerrillas seemed to have been the primary activities of the Second Arkansas Cavalry in the latter half of 1863. I also found a few Confederate dispatches which indicated that all or part of the Second Arkansas Cavalry was at Fort Smith on a few occasions.
Some of the after action reports only refer to the fact that a company of the Second Arkansas Cavalry was present during the patrol and don't provide any additional details. Usually the specific company isn't mentioned, but on a few occasions the commander is named. If Company C or Lieutenant Orr are specifically mentioned and the muster records show that Jonathan Cunningham was present with his unit at the time of the action, then it is very likely that he was a participant. However, even if I don't know whether Company C was specifically involved in a particular patrol or skirmish, all of the reports still provide a good sample of the types of activities he might have experienced. I will provide some specific examples in my next installment,
