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Thomas M. Allred

and

The War Between The States

by: Linda Allred Cooper

Randolph County, North Carolina was and still is a beautiful place to be born and raised. Rolling hills and small mountains are covered with wooded forests and farms divided by winding creeks and narrow, curving country roads. The north-east corner of the county was populated by people that had lived and farmed the land for many generations in the mid 1800’s. Names like Allred, Lineberry, Julian, Routh, and York were common. Truth be known, the families had intermarried so often that everyone seemed to be related to everyone else in some way or another. This tight-knit community celebrated, suffered and mourned deeply during the War Between The States.

My Great Great Uncle Thomas was born in 1840 on the family farm located about 6 miles north "as the crow flies" of Gray’s Chapel Church. The oldest of five children, four of them boys, Thomas grew up helping his father plow the fields and tend to the animals.

When the War began, many of the young men in Randolph eagerly enlisted as Confederate Soldiers. Thomas, only 22 years old, remained at home to work the farm at first. Then, on March 19, 1862, a recruiter came through north-east Randolph County and Thomas enlisted for a 12 month term. He was assigned to Company L, 22nd Regiment, North Carolina Troops. They called themselves the "Uwharrie Rifles".

The Uwharrie Rifles traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia to join the rest of their Division which was under the command of General James J. Pettigrew. They remained there, seeing little if any action, until assigned to a reserve division in Yorktown commanded by General William H. C. Whiting. In mid April, General Joseph E. Johnson was placed in command of the division and they moved east to the Chickahominy River near Seven Pines, Virginia. There, on May 31 at 4:00 in the afternoon, Thomas fought in his first big battle of the War. The Federals had the advantage of lying behind the old bank of a ditch and firing on Thomas and his comrades as they moved closer and closer trying to force the enemy to retreat. Time and again the Uwharrie Rifles advanced only to be shot at and forced to hold back. Fighting remained fierce until nightfall. By morning, the Confederates were forced to completely withdraw from the battle after finding the Federals had reinforcements who joined them during the night. During this battle, 147 Confederate soldiers were killed and wounded.

General Johnson was among the wounded and was replaced by General Gustavus W. Smith who fell sick shortly afterwards. General Robert E. Lee was then placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia which included Thomas and the Uwharrie Rifles.

Thomas and the rest of Company L were marched closer to Mechanicsville, Virginia where they were joined by several other divisions preparing for an attack. The battle of Mechanicsville began on the morning of June 26, 1862 and continued well into the night as the Rebels fought to maintain control of Meadow Bridge and the area surrounding it. As soon as the sun rose, the battle began again. The Uwharrie Rifles fought valiantly and are recorded as actually entering the enemy’s camp but were forced back without taking any prisoners under violent fire. Night fell and the troops rested once more. The next day, June 28, was spent bivouac on the battlefield. June 29th they recrossed the Chickahominy River at New Bridge and joined other Confederate troops. The following battle resulted in the Federals retreating their positions.

Thomas and his comrades continued fighting each day until the Federals withdrew to Harrison’s Landing on July 7th. The Confederates followed but did not attack per orders from General Lee. On July 8th they marched to Richmond leaving behind 28 dead and 133 wounded.

While in Richmond, the Uwharrie Rifles were assigned to General Stonewall Jackson’s command. On July 13, they were ordered to march to Gordonsville to meet the advancing Federal army. Thomas saw battle again as contact was made with the enemy at Cedar Mountain, Virginia on August 9, 1862. The Uwharrie Rifles are recorded as having forced away a "body of cavalry" as dusk fell, securing the battlefield for the night. In all, 2 were killed, 11 were wounded and 2 were missing at the end of the day.

Thomas and the rest of Jackson’s men remained on the battlefield until the night of August 11 when they were withdrawn to the vicinity of Gordonsville. From there, they cut the Federal’s communications link at Manassas Junction and then moved north to Groveton. On August 8, 1862, the Federals, led by General John Pope, attacked Stonewall Jackson’s men, including Thomas and the Uwharrie Rifles. The battle raged throughout the day and resumed the next morning. The Confederate fought hard and succeeded in forcing the Federals to withdraw at the end of the day. The three day battle resulted in 6 Confederates killed and 57 wounded.

Thomas and company saw action again on September 1 as the enemy was encountered at Ox Hill. From there they moved through Leesburg and crossed the Potomac River on September 5th. On September 12th they entered Martinsburg. The next two days were spent securing the town and on September 14th the Federal garrison surrendered. At 7:30 the next morning, Thomas was quickly marching with the others towards Sharpsburg where a battle was raging. September 17th and the battle of Sharpsburg is recorded as being the single most bloody day of the War. Thankfully, Thomas was spared that scene by arriving too late to participate. But on September 20, Thomas saw action again as he joined the battle that forced the Federals back across the river near Shepherdstown.

The Uwharrie Rifles spent the next few days camped at Bunker Hill. On October 17, 1862, the Uwharrie Rifles were assigned to General William D. Pender’s brigade, still part of the Army of Northern Virginia serving under General Stonewall Jackson. Throughout the remainder of October and into November, Thomas and the Uwharrie rifles moved with the Pender brigade towards Fredericksburg. Federal troops were everywhere trying to force the Confederates south, away from Washington. On December 13th, the Federals attacked Pender’s brigade at Deep Run Creek. One man was killed, 44 were wounded.

Following this battle, the Confederates went into winter quarters at Camp Gregg, eight miles below Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock River. During the winter of 1862-63 the Uwharrie Rifles served on picket duty on the river. By April of 1863 the Federals were on the move again and Thomas saw quite a bit of fighting as the Confederates fought for control of northern Virginia. On May 2, 1863, Thomas participated in the battle of Chancellorsville. This battle lasted two days but the Federals were forced out of town at the cost of 30 men killed and 139 wounded from Thomas’ regiment.

On June 4th, General Lee began moving his troops toward the Shenandoah Valley to begin the campaign that would end at Gettysburg. By June 27th, Thomas and the Uwharrie Rifles were encamped near Chambersburg. Slowly the troops moved closer to Gettysburg. On June 30th the troops began fighting their way closer to Gettysburg, forcing the Federals to retire through the streets of Gettysburg where they began to fortify Cemetery Hill just south of town on July 1, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg had begun.

Much has been written about the three day battle of Gettysburg. The fighting was fierce and bloody, continuing well into each night. By the third day the men were exhausted and ammunition supplies were low. Despite the planning of the Confederate Generals, the Federals had all but surrounded the Rebels and many were dead or wounded. The Uwharrie Rifles fought until the end under incredible fire from enemy artillery. At 1:00pm on July 3rd, the Confederates began a heavy cannonade which continued for two hours. The attack column then moved in front of the artillery and began advancing on the enemy’s line. Men were shot and dying everywhere when finally the Confederates began retreating against orders, choosing to try to save themselves instead of continuing a hopeless fight. Many wounded and dying soldiers were left on the battlefield by the retreating troops. Thomas was one of those wounded men, shot in his left thigh.

Taken Prisoner of War, wounded, exhausted and hungry, Thomas was forced to march along with over 2,000 other POWs to Fort Delaware located on the Delaware River about 15 miles south of Wilmington, Delaware. He remained there for the next 2 1/2 months while the Federals constructed a new POW camp at Point Lookout, Maryland. Then, on October 15, 1863, Thomas traveled by boat to this new camp.

Point Lookout POW Camp was constructed when the Federals realized that they had more POWs then their prisons could hold. This POW camp was located ideally on the southern-most tip of the peninsula that formed Saint Mary’s County, Maryland. With the Potomac River on one side and the Chesapeake Bay on the other and only a narrow strip of land joining the peninsula with the rest of St. Mary’s County, the POW camp was easy to guard and next to impossible to escape from. Although the overwhelming majority of people living in St. Mary’s County were Confederate sympathizers, the Federals had taken over the county early on in the war.

Point Lookout was built to be "Hell on Earth", the North’s answer to Andersonville as witnessed by the Preamble to House Resolution #97 which was passed by both Houses:

"Rebel prisoners in our hands are to be subjected to a treatment finding its parallels only in the conduct of savage tribes and resulting in the death of multitudes by the slow but designed process of starvation and by mortal diseases occasioned by insufficient and unhealthy food and wanton exposure of their persons to the inclemency of the weather."

True, Andersonville was Hellish - no doubt about it!! But the entire South was starving. Supplies were cut-off by Yankee troops and no one was at home to tend the fields and crops. The Rebels had to chose between feeding their own families or feeding Yankee prisoners. They did what they could, but many, too many died horrible deaths. Yankee anger was unimaginable and revenge was their motivation in the running of Point Lookout.

Prison conditions were deplorable. Rations were below minimal causing scurvy and malnutrition. Prisoners ate rats and raw fish. It’s recorded that one hungry Rebel devoured a raw seagull that had been washed ashore. Soap skim and trash peelings were often eaten when found. Lice, disease, and chronic diarrhea were common. Prisoners were deprived adequate clothing. Often no shoes in winter and one blanket might have to be shared among sixteen or more men housed in torn sibley tents. Because of it’s location, Point Lookout was extremely cold in the winter with winds blowing in from all sides off the icy rivers. In the summer a smoldering sun reflecting off the barren sand was blinding. The undrained marshes bred mosquitoes. Malaria, typhoid fever and smallpox was common. The brackish water supply was contaminated by unsanitary camp conditions. There was a deadline approximately 10 feet from the wooden 14 foot high parapet wall. Anyone caught crossing this line, even to peek through the fence was shot.

To make matters worse, former slaves were put in charge of the Prisoners. Not all, but many were sadistic and took much delight in torturing the prisoners. During the two year span of operation, Point Lookout saw approximately 50,000 POWs pass though her gates. There were military and civilian POWs, men and women, black and white. At least one baby was born there, his mother captured at the battle of Spotsylvania.

Thomas survived all of this for over a year. In the Fall of 1864, he became ill and developed chronic diarrhea. Thomas died at Point Lookout on Saturday, November 12, 1864. Another prisoner recorded in his diary that the day was "clear and pleasant. We hear that Sherman has burnt Atlanta.....".

POWs were buried in marked graves within the prison. Shortly after the War ended in the summer of 1865, the Federal Government ordered the prison buildings dismantled and everything destroyed. Within a few short months, nothing remained of the prison except the graveyards. The Chesapeake and Potomac began reclaiming the land and by the early 1900’s the Government began moving the graves to higher ground. In 1910, the families of the dead were notified that they could reclaim their loved one if they so wished. Thomas’ parents, still living in Randolph County, were financially unable to travel to Maryland and bring Thomas home. So Thomas was buried once more, in a Mass Grave along with approximately 3,400 other Confederate Soldiers.

The site of Point Lookout POW Camp is now a State Park. The Mass Grave marks the entrance to the Park and is topped by a massive 30 foot tall Monument. All around the base of the Monument is plaques that list the names of all the soldiers buried there. To the left of the Grave is another smaller monument erected by the State of Maryland in honor of the Dead buried there. On this monument is an accounting of how many POWs died while at Point Lookout and which state they were from. The overwhelming majority, 962 of the approximate 3,400, were from North Carolina. Many researchers insist there were many more.

There is a saying carved into the other side of the monument that touched me when we visited Thomas’s grave last summer. It sums up the spirit of the proud Confederate soldiers who gave their lives defending their homes and country:

"At the call of Patriotism and duty they encountered the perils of the field, endured the trials of a Prison, and were faithful, even unto death."

Thomas was just 24 years old when he died.