The Bolin Boys
From the Editor: Even in blood soaked Missouri, which has suffered sustained guerilla violence since the beginning of the war, the name Bolin strikes fear in the hearts of local residents in the “devastated a strip of country” between Arkansas and Missouri. Alfred ‘Alf’ Bolin is described as “the cruelest man alive” and is reported to have “robbed and killed without mercy, anybody that got near him or stood in his way.” His first victim was Calvin Cloud, the man who had taken Alf in when he was abandoned by his mother as a young boy. Before he was done, Alf Bolin had “killed at least thirty men with his own hands.” Local Union men “fled in fear of their lives leaving their houses empty and their grain standing ungathered in the field” and local secessionists also “fled, dreading that vengeance will be taken upon them for his crimes.” Eventually, a bounty was placed on his head and on February 2, 1863, Bolin was trapped and killed while eating dinner in a small farmhouse. To ensure the bounty was paid, Bolin’s head was severed and brought to a Federal military base at Ozark where “willing hands placed the head on a pole in the public square for people to see.” Two other notorious bushwhackers also named Bolin operated in southeastern Missouri. John F. Bolin enlisted in the Missouri State Guard, but soon became the leader (along with his brother Nathaniel) of the Bolin Boys Gang. In August 1863, the Bolin Gang attacked a Union supply train parked at Round Pond and killed or seriously wounded the entire crew who were caught while sleeping. According to Colonel John B. Rogers, Second Missouri State Militia Cavalry: “The guerillas rushed on to the half-awakened men and killed them before resistance could be made.” Rogers is particularly incensed that the Bolin’s used hand spikes to kill three men during the fight. Exactly a year after Alf was captured and killed, John Bolin was captured during a skirmish on Halcolm Island and quickly brought to Cape Girardeau in chains. Two days later he was attacked and killed by a lynch mob. Rogers continues: “At a late hour last night a large crowd of soldiers and citizens took the prisoner from the custody of the guard and hung him.” His brother Nathan continued to operate along the Arkansas-Missouri border, surviving numerous deadly encounters, until the end of the war. The Cape Girardeau Weekly Argus had this to say about John F. Bolin: “While we deprecate violence in every form, we have no sympathy to expend on one who so richly merited death, and whose hands were so dyed in the blood of his fellow man.”
January 31, 1864 (Sunday)
From Morris Island, Colonel William W.H. Davis, 104th Pennsylvania, reports that “3 deserters from James Island entered our lines...and are now in [the] charge of the provost-marshal.” He continues: “They are Irishmen, and were residents of South Carolina before the war broke out.” According to Davis they took a picket-boat near Battery Ryan, and following down the creek, “landed in the marsh near Black Island, where they gave themselves up to our pickets.” The deserters also report that the late Colonel Robert G. Shaw, 54th Massachusetts, “was killed on the parapet” during the assault on Batter Wagner, but “there is difference of opinion as to where he was buried.”
HEADQUARTERS U.S. FORCES, Morris Island, S.C., January 31, 1864.
Capt. ADRIAN TERRY, Assistant Adjutant-General: I examined them separately, and their statements coincide remarkably well. There is great despondency and bad feeling among the rebel troops on James Island. Their company was composed of Irishmen, with the exception of 6, and with scarce an exception all are anxious to come within our lines. The discontent among the native South Carolinians is nearly as great as among the soldiers of foreign birth. For the last three months they have been much pinched for food, and there is but a very limited supply kept on hand on James Island.... They state that some of the officers are as anxious to quit the service as the privates. Sixteen men of their company had agreed to make the attempt to desert to us in a body last night.... I remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
William W.H. DAVIS, Colonel 104th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Comdg. Post.
Joe Johnston, commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, informs Secretary of War James Seddon that he has passed on the views of President Davis about General Cleburne’s proposal for arming the slaves to “the officers concerned.” Johnston writes: “None of the officers...favored the scheme and Major General Cleburne…voluntarily announced that he would…put away his paper.” Johnston concludes: “I would add that the measures advocated in the memorial are considered to be little appropriate for consideration in military circles, and indeed in their scope pass beyond the bounds of Confederate action, and could under our constitutional system neither be recommended by the Executive to Congress nor be entertained by that body."
CIRCULAR.
DALTON, January 31, 1864.
Lieutenant-General [William J. Hardee], Major-Generals [Benjamin F. Cheatham], [Thomas C. Hindman], [Patrick R. Cleburne], [Alexander P. Stewart], [William H.T. Walker], Brigadier-Generals [William B. Bate], and [Patton Anderson]:
GENERAL: I have just received a letter from the Secretary of War in reference to Major-General Cleburne's memoir.... In this letter the honorable Secretary expresses the earnest conviction of the President "that the dissemination or even promulgation of such opinions under the present circumstances of the Confederacy, whether in the Army or among the people, can be productive only of discouragement, distraction, and dissension. The agitation and controversy which must spring from the presentation of such views by officers high in the public confidence are to be deeply deprecated, and while no doubt or mistrust is for a moment entertained of the patriotic intents of the gallant author of the memorial..., it is requested that you communicate to them, as well as all others present on the occasion, the opinions, as herein expressed, of the President, and urge on them the suppression, not only of the memorial itself, but likewise of all discussion and controversy respecting or growing out of it.... Most respectfully, your obedient servant,
J.E. JOHNSTON, General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. G.G. Meade is forced to leave his command due to a “continued and serious illness.” Meade is resting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, feeling the effects of malaria, contracted in Florida in 1836.
2. At the Saint Cloud Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, a Court of Inquiry is convened to investigate the actions of A. McD. McCook during the battle of Chickamauga.
3. Major F.M. Davidson, 14th Illinois Cavalry, leads an expedition from Maryville, Tennessee, to Quallatown, North Carolina, to “destroy a camp of Indians and whites (rebels), who are a terror to the loyal people.”
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. R.E. Lee organizes another expedition to recapture New Berne, North Carolina, to be led by G.E. Pickett.
2. R.F. Hoke, leading the advance to New Berne, reports: “[I] proceeded on the Dover road, arresting all persons who saw us, and directed the march [to] a point 10 miles from New Berne and 2 miles from the outpost of the enemy, after dark, where we encamped without fires.”
3. From Garvin’s Ferry, Mississippi, L.S. Ross, Texas Brigade, reports he sent scouts to “capture the negro picket on Steele's Bayou.” He writes: “They were killed and 50-odd mules captured, nearly all branded U.S.”
February 01, 1864 (Monday)
Since Union forces captured New Berne in March 1862, it has become a base for Union raids on vulnerable Confederate railroads and supply lines. One attempt to recapture the second largest city in North Carolina has already failed, but Robert E. Lee has organized another attempt, to be led by George Pickett. He reports: “The attack was to have been made simultaneously by the different parties on Monday morning. [Seth Barton], with his cavalry was to have cut the railroad and cross Brice's Creek, taking the forts on the bank of the Neuse (which opened to the water), and pass across the railroad bridge, effectually, should he only succeed in the first, cutting off re-enforcements. From New Berne, Union commander Innis Palmer reports that his “outposts at Batchelder's Creek were attacked by the enemy, represented by deserters and prisoners as being in force about 15,000.” Palmer continues: “It being impracticable to make an adequate defense at the point of attack, the small force at the outposts fell back upon the defenses of New Berne in very good order, destroying their camps and abandoning but few stores.”
Report of Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett, C.S. Army, commanding Department of North Carolina.
GENERAL: On Monday morning...I rushed forward General [Robert Hoke’s brigade], who, upon his arrival at Batchelder's Creek, 9 miles from New Berne, was met in strong force by the enemy. Although they were evidently surprised, still the night being dark and the enemy posted in a strong position, and having destroyed the bridge, it was impracticable for General Hoke to force a passage till after daylight. This he did in most gallant style. At this time the enemy were re-enforcing heavily by railroad, and trying to rake our lines with the guns on a steam ironclad. They attempted to turn my right flank with these re-enforcements. I threw [Montgomery Corse’s brigade] forward to drive them in, which he did handsomely, and [Thomas Clingman], with his two regiments, following General Hoke's. After effecting the crossing the enemy were hardly pursued, but having no cavalry, and the men much worn by the long night's march, and not having been allowed fires, we were unable to press our advantage as we would have done had there been fresh troops in hand.... There was, unfortunately, no cooperation, the other parties having failed to attack, and I found we were making the fight single-handed.... I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G.E. PICKETT, Major-General, Commanding.
Incorrect intelligence severely hampers the attempt to capture the Union forts surrounding New Berne. Seth Barton reports: “The plan of operations required me to gain the south bank of Trent River, which was thought to be unprotected by fortifications.... Before starting upon the expedition I had made every exertion consistent with secrecy to arrive at accurate information as to this part of the enemy's position.... I was therefore unprepared to encounter obstacles so serious, and was forced to the conviction that they were insurmountable by any means at my disposal.” With one of his columns bogged down, Pickett’s advance also comes to a halt. He reports: “The enemy having had ample time to re-enforce both by water and railroad..., and in fact the whole plan by which the place was to be reduced having failed, I deemed it prudent, after consultation with my officers, to withdraw, which we did at our leisure.”
Report of Brig. Gen. Innis N. Palmer, U.S. Army, commanding District of North Carolina.
MAJOR: I have, from what I consider good authority, learned the programme of the enemy on this expedition. The object was, of course, to get possession of this place, and the operations were to be as follows: General Pickett was to come immediately to New Berne, and, provided all the others came to time in order to make the attacks simultaneously, he hoped to get into the place by Fort Totten.... [Colonel James Dearing] had three regiments...and some 300 cavalry at a point about 2 miles from Fort Anderson (across the Neuse), and this force was to capture our forces there when this place should fall…. [James G. Martin’s Brigade] was to attack Sheppardsville (Newport) and the places on the railroad. He had about 4,000 men. General Pickett, although his force was so large, was delayed some ten hours in getting from the Neuse bridge.... General Barton arrived in good time..., but he could not cross Brice's Creek without bridging it.... [Dearing], of course, remained quiet, and the good preparations made on my line from the Neuse to the Trent made the matter of an assault then absurd. Martin performed his part well; at least, he broke no communication with the coast, and he is still hovering around.... The deserters and stragglers are constantly coming in. The number of these will probably exceed the number of our men lost at the various points.... I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
I.N. PALMER, Brigadier-General.
Other Union activity reported on this date:
1. From Paducah, Kentucky, Colonel S.G. Hicks, 40th Illinois, reports a “railroad train was fired into...as it came in” and another train is rumored to be “captured.”
2. In Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Colonel J.M. Brown, 45th Kentucky, reports a scout returned “with 18 prisoners,” including “notorious murders and guerillas.”
3. Lt. Colonel J.P. Brownlow, First Tennessee Cavalry, leads a reconnaissance toward Sevierville, Tennessee. He reports: “I ascertained that the enemy...were fortifying in the fork of French Broad and Pigeon Rivers.”
Other Confederate activity reported on this date:
1. J.H. Clanton is ordered to “establish his headquarters” at Gadsen, Alabama, and “organize and complete the Eighth Alabama Cavalry.” Clanton’s former brigade threatened to mutiny last month.
2. In Georgetown, South Carolina, J.H. Trapier, Fourth Military District, reports “the larger portion of the Fourth Regiment State Troops” and “a like portion” of the Third Regiment have deserted. He writes: “Their term of service has expired, and they are no longer amenable to military authority.”
3. Continuing his foraging raid into West Virginia, T.L. Rosser reports he chased off “a small force of cavalry [in Burlington] this morning.” He writes: “I believe I am getting all the cows, sheep, &c.”
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