23rd Georgia Infantry | Spared & Shared 23

The following incredible letter was written by T. W. G. Inglet (1839-1910), the son of Mathew Wilkes Inglet (1806-1889) and Annie Baggett (1809-1873) of Bath, Richmond county, Georgia. Thomas was married to Martha Anna (“Mattie”) Palmer (1843-1916) in February 1856 when Mattie was only 16. By the time this letter was written in September 1863, 20 year-old Mattie had lost two young daughters who died within a week of each other in August 1862—probably due to some childhood illness—and her third child, Virginia (b. 18 May 1863) would die less than a year later on 28 March 1864. Thomas was a wheelwright, a trade he learned from his father.

During the Civil War, Thomas served the Confederacy by enlisting in Co. C, 28th Georgia Infantry. He was present for all of the major battle of the regiment including Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Boonesboro Gap, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before this letter of 2 September 1863 when we learn that he volunteered with others of his regiment to defend Fort Sumter. It appears from his record that he was part of the Fort Sumter garrison from August through December 1863 before returning to the field and participating in the fighting in the Wilderness and defending Petersburg.

Thomas enlisted as a private on 10 September 1861. He was elected 2nd Corporal on 1 August 1863. His pension record shows he was wounded in the left hand and had two fingers amputated at Cold Harbor, Virginia, on 27 June 1862. He was wounded in the right foot at Darbytown Road, Virginia, on 7 October 1864. He was furloughed from Jackson Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, in 1864. At the close of the war he was in a hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

This letter was written from Fort Sumter in the days following Gillmore’s 7-day bombardment of the fort that had reduced it to a pile of rubble. Less than a week later, the fort withstood an amphibious assault planned for the night of September 8-9. The lack of cooperation between the Federal Army and Navy, however, resulting in poor coordination of the attack, and the “surprise” attack was foiled. The fighting lasted only twenty minutes and resulted in 124 Union casualties while the Confederate infantrymen defending the fort did not lose a single man.

See also—1862: Thomas Wilkes Glascock Inglet to Martha Ann (Palmer) Inglet published on Spared & Shared 17.

*Rebel occupied Fort Sumter as it looked in late August 1863 (LOC)*

Transcription

Fort Sumter, S. C.
September 2, 1863

My dear wife,

I will write you a few lines to let you know that I am well and I hope this may find you and the baby the same and all of the rest. My dear, I have a hope to write if the Yankees would let me write it. I am in Fort Sumter and so is Dennis and W[illiam] H[enry] [Little] ¹ and L. Cliett. We all volunteered to defend it. The Yankees shell it day and night with four hundred pounders. The fort is tore all to pieces and not a gun on it for service. I don’t sleep day nor night. ²Last night, six monitors come up and shell us all night with shells fifteen inches through but no one got hurt.

Last Sunday three got wounded but not bad. On the 29th, four monitors come up and Fort Moultrie made them draw off and we hit one of them 27 times, or that is Fort Moultrie did. Hurt one of them very bad.

Last Sunday night [1 September 1863], the 23rd Georgia Regiment and a North Carolina Regiment was coming off of Morris Island on a steamboat and got down too far towards the Yankees and Fort Moultrie fired on them and struck the boat three times and killed a good many of them and they all jumped off but a few and swam to Fort Sumter. It was a half a mile and some got drowned. ³

You must give my love to all and receive the greatest part for yourself. Direct your letters as you did before to the regiment. Goodbye my love, — T. W. G. Inglet

to his love.

W. H. Little says tell Mollie that he is well and he says tell her that he wants to see her very bad. And tell her that he is doing better than he ever did before in the war for he gets plenty to eat. He says tell her that he is so sleepy he can’t write today but he will write soon. He says give his love to all of the family and tell them to write to him. Hand this to Mollie.

*William Henry Little* *of Chattanooga county served in Co. K, 21st Georgia Infantry. He was wounded at Sharpsburg.*

¹ William Henry Little (1840-1907) was the son of William McLaws Little and Dicey Jane Rhodes of Richmond county, Georgia. He married Mary Elizabeth Inglett on July 20, 1860 in Richmond county, Georgia and was the father of 13 known children. He became a convert to the LDS church, being baptized in 1888 in Richmond county, Georgia, and was taught the gospel by missionaries Albert Smith, David Bennion, John Browning, Moroni Dunford, William Spry, and Jed Ballentyne, among others. He immigrated to Ogden, Utah with his extended family consisting of about 57 converts in early 1889. He took a second wife, Dorothea Elizabeth Anderson, a Danish convert, marrying her on April 7, 1899. That marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple on April 11, 1899. In May, 1905, he went on a mission to the Southern States with his first wife and labored in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia. He returned home in September, 1906. He was the proprietor of the old Lincoln Hotel on 23rd Street and the Central Hotel on 25th Street in Ogden, Utah. He died at the hotel on August 27, 1907.

² In mid-July 1863, Gen. Gillmore gave up his plans to take Battery Wagner and turned his attention on Fort Sumter. Anticipating an attack, Confederates began rapidly strengthening the fort by bringing in gangs of Negroes to place sand against the gorge and adding a second dock, while shifting the remaining guns in the fort to better positions. The attack on Fort Sumter began on 17 August 1863 and on the first day alone, some 948 projectiles were thrown at the fort, 445 of them striking inside, 233 hitting the exterior, and 270 passing over the fort. There were only 19 casualties reported inside the fort. On the second day, 876 shots were fired at the fort. On the third day, 780 shots. On the 4th day, Union forces used a 300-pounder Parrott gun to throw shells at the fort and three slightly wounded casualties were reported. The firing continued until August 24th when General Gillmore wrote Gen. Halleck that, “I have the honor to report the practical demolition of Fort Sumter as a result of our seven days of bombardment…” Immediately after this bombardment, all but one artillery company was removed from Sumter to be replaced by 150 infantry. Presumably it was at this time that Inglett entered the fort. [See “Combat History of Fort Sumter, 1863-1865” by Hobart G. Cawed (1962).

³ This incident of friendly fire casualties sustained by the Confederacy is not well known. The incident took place during the night of 30 August 1863 when the steamer Sumter was transporting Confederate troops from Morris Island to Fort Johnson. Since the tide was too low that night to go the usual route, they went in the direction of Sullivan’s Island and were fired upon by gunners at Fort Moultrie. Capt. Mitchell of Co. C, 23rd Georgia, claimed that the troops were from his regiment as well as the 20th South Carolina. He claimed the third and fourth shots sunk the steamer

*I could not find an image of Thomas but here is a tintype of Pvt. John Chitwood of “The Bartow County Yankee Killers,” 23rd Georgia. (Ada O. Fleischer Collection)*

This letter was written by Thomas P. Forrester (1835-1864) of Co. E (“Tate Guards”) of the 23rd Georgia Infantry. Thomas began his service as a sergeant and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in December 1861. The 23rd Georgia was organized at Big Shanty, Georgia, on 31 August 1861, contained men from Bartow, Henderson, Floyd, Pickens, and Cherokee counties. It moved to Tennessee, then was sent to Virginia and assigned to the Department of the Peninsula. In April, 1862, it totalled 370 effectives and during the war served under Generals Rains and Colquitt. The 23rd participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from Williamsburg to Chancellorsville, where more than 275 men were captured. It then was ordered to Charleston, South Carolina, and later Florida. After fighting at Olustee the unit returned to Virginia, took part in the conflicts at Drewry’s Bluff and Cold Harbor, and endured the battles and hardships of the Petersburg siege. It lost 4 killed and 56 wounded at Gaines’ Mill and Malvern Hill , had 14 killed and 64 wounded in the Maryland Campaign, and 2 killed, 66 wounded, and 2 missing at Olustee . During 1865 it was active in North Carolina and surrendered with the Army of Tennessee.

Thomas is presumed to have died in the fall of 1864. He became seriously ill with dysentery in the summer of 1864 and in September 1864 asked for a leave of absence to go home on a surgeon’s certificate. There is no further record in company muster rolls.

Several of Thomas’s letters have been transcribed and previously published on the internet at Letters of Thomas P. Forrester but that site does not include images of the letters and the following letter, datelined from the old Fairgrounds in Richmond on 28 November 1861 is not included.

Thomas was the son of Hiram Forrester (1799-1863) and Emily (“Millie”) Davis (1815-aft1861). In the 1860 US Census, the Forrester family was enumerated in Sharp Top, Pickens county, Georgia.

Transcription

Old Fair Grounds
Richmond, Virginia
28th November 1861

Dear Sister,

I embrace this leisure hour to drop you a few lines which leaves me much better than I have been for some days. I have not been really sick but have a very severe cold as most of the men here have had but we are all getting better and I think when we get over this spell, we can stand Virginia very well.

I have nothing new to write you more than I have seen the prisoners and many other things since I have been here. There are Yankees being brought in every day more or less and they are being carried south every day for safe keeping and in consequence of so many being here, I will say to you we received orders yesterday that our regiment has to guard the scamps a while and probably all winter. One company goes at a time or 45 privates, 2 non-commissioned, and 1 commissioned officer, and guards them 24 hours and then another guard goes from the other companies, so I have no doubt we will stay here for the winter. I had rather do it than to go north from all reports.

I read a letter from T[homas] G. Stearns and C. P. West the other day. They were all well except Harvey who has been in the hospital either here or at Culpeper. The boys had not heard from him since he left them which is some three weeks ago I am satisfied he is not here as we have hunted over most of the hospitals in Richmond for him and other friends.

M. H. West ¹ and Phil started to Manassas yesterday evening. They went after the body of Samuel Loveless ² who died some ten days ago. Mr. Presley ³ is going to carry it home. Say to mother that I met with Henry Allen ⁴ yesterday evening. He is just on his way from Banks county where he has been to carry the body of his brother Robert who died at Manassas some two weeks ago. He is a private in a company from Banks county and belongs to the 2nd Georgia Regiment. He says it will be much better for us to stay here for the winter.

We have plenty to eat here of bacon, beef, flour, corn meal, sugar and coffee, and there are vegetables here in abundance for sale. We exchange some bacon and beef for potatoes, cabbages, &c. I must tell you that I and Bill Pool ⁵ have both got to drinking coffee because the water is bad. It is nothing but river water brought in pipes and is really not fit to drink though it will do for winter very well.

Give my kind regards to Mary Margaret and Jane Watson. Also to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mr. & Mrs. Stearns, and the rest of the family, and my love to father and mother and the rest of the children, and receive the same to yourself. Write soon.

As ever your absent brother, — Tom

¹ Pvt. M. H. West was a member of Co. D, 23rd Georgia Infantry. He was from Jasper, Pickens county, Georgia, where he married Margaret M. Bailey on 21 August 1861. He died of disease on 22 April 1864.

² Pvt. Samuel B. Loveless was a member of Co. F. (Dickerson’s Company), 2nd Georgia Infantry. Samuel died of pneumonia on 16 November 1861.

³ Jordan Presley was a musician in Co. E, 23rd Georgia. He was absent in December 1861 detailed as escort to the remains of Samuel Loveless.

⁴ Pvt. Henry Allen (or Allan) was a member of Co. A, 2nd Georgia Infantry. He enlisted on 20 April 1861 at Homer, Banks county, Georgia. His muster roll records indicates that he was detailed to carry 2nd Lieut. Robert Allen’s remains to Richmond, Virginia. Lt. Robt. Allen died at Mrs. Foster’s near Manassas with camp fever on 14 October 1861. Henry was discharged on 25 May 1862 on account of physical disability.

⁵ Sgt. William (“Bill”) Pool was a member of Co. E (Capt. Wm. Bacon’s Company), 23rd Georgia Infantry. Bill enlisted in August 1861 at Camp McDonald in Georgia. By the summer of 1862 he had been commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He was taken prisoner on 2 May 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville. After returning to his regiment, he acted as the captain for a time and then resigned on 14 April 1864 giving the reason that he had been elected tax collector in Pickens county, Georgia.