Evergreen native departed for Texas soon after the end of the Civil War

What ever became of Joseph R. Bass?

That’s a question some of you may have asked after reading my column in this space last week. That column mentioned a letter that Bass had written to Courant editor George W. Salter Jr. on Dec. 21, 1914. The letter was so interesting that Salter printed it on the front page of the Dec. 30, 1914 edition of The Courant.

That letter, under the headline “Former Conecuh Citizen Writes From Texas,” read as follows:

“Dear Sir – Through the courtesy of my nephew, A.G. Smith, Evergreen, I receive The Courant and enjoy its pages.

“In November 1862, I went to Camp Tatne, near Brewton station, and joined Co. H, 2nd Alabama Cavalry. At that time, Jim Cunningham was colonel and J.H. McCreary, captain. We went from there to Mississippi, then to Alabama, to Georgia, to South Carolina and North Carolina and back to Georgia.

“Was discharged at Forsythe, Ga., 8th day of May 1865 and reached home, Evergreen, on 15th of May 1865.

“I left Evergreen on 28th of December 1865 for Texas and arrived at Jefferson January 1866, living near there 18 years.

“Dec. 20, 1883, I came to Caddo Mills, Hunt County, Texas; was 77 years old last July 27, and am in good health and enjoying life, except am troubled by failing sight.

“Yours truly, Joseph R. Bass.”

According to the 1912 book “Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865” by Mamie Yeary, Bass was born on July 27, 1837 at Marion Court House, S.C. That book says that he enlisted in the Confederate Army in September 1862 at Britton Station as a private in Co. H, Second Alabama Regiment. He was never wounded, taken prisoner, changed or promoted, according to Yeary’s book.

Bass was detailed as a courier when the brigade was formed and he fought in skirmishes daily from May 1864, fighting Union General Tecumseh Sherman through Georgia. The largest battle he ever fought in was in Atlanta and from Savannah, his unit went through South Carolina and as far north as Greensboro, N.C.

“There we met President Jeff Davis on his retreat from Richmond and accompanied him back to Georgia,” he was quoted as saying in the book. “The soldiers were paid in silver and gold at Washington, Ga. I received $15 in silver, was paroled at Forsythe, Ga., reached home, Evergreen, Ala., on May 10, 1865.”

Bass passed away in Caddo Mills, Texas at the age of 79 on Jan. 17, 1917. He is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Caddo Mills, which is in Hunt County, Texas. There are around 2,200 graves in this cemetery, and Bass’ grave is one of the oldest, and he’s one of four Confederate soldiers buried there.

If you visit this cemetery today, you’ll find an historical marker that was erected in 2001. According to this marker, Caddo Mills was a railroad stop on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. Named after the Caddo Indians, the town’s post office opened in 1879, which indicates that Bass was among the town’s early settlers. Today, the town has about 1,300 residents.