Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. |
In the Feb. 12, 1903 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era,
it was announced that the Alabama Charter Chapter of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy planned to meet at the home of Chapter President Sallie Jones
on Feb. 19. During their meeting, they planned to discuss the “Prison Life of
Southern Soldiers.” Richard Ervin McWilliams Sr. was to be the guest speaker
with plans to talk about “his experience of 14 months in Northern prisons.”
McWilliams passed away in August 1921, and he is buried in
the Camden Cemetery. His obituary was published in the Sept. 1, 1921 edition of
The Progressive Era and provides many details about his military service.
“The ranks of the old Confederate veterans are rapidly
thinning,” his obituary began. “In the passing of Hon. R.E. McWilliams, Wilcox
loses one of her most gallant veterans whose career through the Civil War
furnishes interesting reading.”
According to the newspaper, McWilliams enlisted in Co. B, a
Wilcox County troop, in early 1862 “as a boy of 16.”
“He was soon in the midst of the conflict, being stationed
at Island No. 10, which was captured early in the war by the Northern troops.
The loss of this point was the first serious blow struck at the south. Mr.
McWilliams was among the prisoners and was carried to Camp Butler, near
Springfield, Illinois.”
The newspaper goes on to say that McWilliams was eventually
released during a prisoner exchange at Vicksburg, Mississippi. From there, he
was stationed at Port Hudson, Louisiana, which was soon besieged by Union
forces. This fort was an important link between the eastern and western halves
of the Confederacy, and when it fell to the Union, the vital Mississippi River fell
completely under Northern control.
McWilliams became a POW again at Port Hudson, but he was
soon paroled. From there, he went home to Wilcox County for a short while, but
like many parolees, he made his way back to the front lines, where he joined
the forces of Confederate generals John Bell Hood and Joseph E. Johnston.
He survived the bloody meatgrinder known as the Battle of
Franklin in Tennessee, but again fell into enemy hands as a POW. He was sent
back to Camp Butler, where he remained until the end of the war. His obituary
notes that he was slightly wounded only once during the war.
“Nothing gave Mr. McWilliams more pleasure than to recount
the thrilling scenes and events of his soldier days,” the newspaper said. “His
old comrades all honored him and he in turn was always interested in their
welfare.”
In the end, it sounds like McWilliams had a remarkable wartime experience and that he was also extremely lucky. Few soldiers can say they were made a POW three times during a single conflict and live to tell the tale. If anyone in the reading audience has any additional information they would like to share about McWilliams, please let me hear from you.
No comments:
Post a Comment