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THBCivil War Diary of Robert I. Battle, Confederate Spy & Partisan Ranger
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About Auction
LiveJun 22, 2018
Cowan’s American History: Premier Auction, scheduled for June 22, 2018 is comprised of early photographs, documents, manuscripts, broadsides, flags, and more dating from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Late Indian Wars, World War I and II and beyond. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
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- Lot Description
Confederate diary of Robert I. Battle, CSA surgeon turned Morgan's Raider and Confederate spy. Diary measures 3.5 x 5.5 in., black cloth, 75 pp, in pencil. Entries are dated April 26, 1864, to June 18, 1864, then September 27, 1864, to January 4, 1865, with near daily entries during these periods during which Battle served as a scout and spy. Fascinating content details his movements through enemy lines, skirmishes with Union soldiers, the hospitality of Southern sympathizers, Union efforts to apprehend him, references to the Battles of Franklin and Nashville, and more.
Robert Irvine Battle (1842-1921) was born near Nashville, Tennessee, to Col. William Mayo Battle and Sarah Jane Smith Battle. After graduating from the Nashville Medical College in 1860, he enlisted in the Confederate Army on 6/1/1861 as a surgeon in Company B, Tennessee 20th Infantry Regiment. Sometime after the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862), Battle was captured and taken prisoner in West Tennessee. Records list him as a POW on 5/1/1862, and indicate he was confined at Johnson's Island prison camp in Ohio on or around 5/10/1862.
After six months in prison, a prisoner exchange landed the young surgeon in Richmond, VA, where he then joined General John Hunt Morgan's forces as part of the Tennessee 9th Cavalry. Battle's 1921 obituary indicates that he was with General Morgan on his famous summer 1863 raid into Ohio, and that he was among the men of Co. C led by Captain J. D. Kirkpatrick who escaped capture at Buffington Island. These men then made their way on foot through West Virginia and back to the Confederate Army. The obituary then states that upon reaching the Confederate Army, Battle was made headquarters scout for General Benjamin J. Hill, assuming the role with a hand-picked group of men of whom he was made captain. In the summer and fall of 1864 and 1865, General Hill served various roles in the CSA, but remained in the Tennessee region. Like Robert Battle, General Hill was a Tennessee native, and no doubt the General selected Battle as a scout in part because of his familiarity with the territory in which they were fighting.
Robert Battle's diary begins in Tennessee in April 1864. At this time Battle appears to be serving as a "partisan" scout and Ranger, conducting officially sanctioned guerrilla activity in coordination with the local military commanders and with the support of local Confederate sympathizers. This sanctioned guerrilla activity includes providing reconnaissance, conducting raids, and attacking small groups of enemy soldiers. He writes in his diary of multiple encounters with the enemy, including this one on Tuesday, May 10th, "Made a raid to Columbia Pike between Spring Hill and Franklin finding the enemy in force, retreated killing one and capturing another which we paroled./11th Wednesday. Met with several rangers. The Yanks in hot pursuit. Attacked three more while feeding their horses but were surprised they made their escape. 12th Thursday. Lying in concealment rode at night...." These notes are typical of Battle's daily diary entries in which he frequently details skirmishes, his location, distances traveled, and meetings with other CSA fighters. Interestingly, he also makes frequent reference to the names and locations of the individuals who assist him along the way providing meals, information, shelter, and good company. Battle is fortunate in that he is serving in his own "backyard," allowing him to visit family and friends during the course of his non-traditional service to the Confederacy.
Following the June 18, 1864, entry, Battle writes, "The proceeding diary was taken while upon a scout in Tennessee/ Robt. I. Battle 1864." Here ends the first segment of the diary, approximately 17pp in length, with Battle making his way south, crossing into the Confederate lines, and heading eagerly towards Cassville, GA. The reason for his much anticipated journey is one Miss Mary Frances Gibbons. On July 13, 1864, Battle married "Fannie" Gibbons of Cassville. He remained in the area for the remainder of the summer, and as such there is a corresponding three month hiatus in his diary during this time.
Battle will not make another entry into his diary until September 27, 1864, when he writes, "Started from Mrs. Gibson's to Tennessee via Canton. Crossed the Etowah at Keith's. Went in the suburbs of Canton. Found the Yankees there in force. Started in direction of Hickory Flat and found the enemy there. Determined to flank them and move forward by taking the woods. Succeeded in making the move. Went and stopped at Mr. Griffins." Upon arrival back home, the situation in Tennessee had become increasingly precarious for Battle: "28th Friday [October] - ...Hear that I am reported to the Yankees. They threaten my life in case I am captured, make frequent inquiries about [illegible] & Battle....The Yankees threaten to search the whole country for us./30th Sunday - ...Visit College Grove, take dinner and move down towards Nolensville. See my name reported in the papers as being a scout. First time I have ever had my just title given by the Yankees. They declare we must be driven from the country." The Yankees continued their intense pursuit of Battle even going so far as to search his mother's house for him. His troubles were compounded later that month when a group of thieves were committing robberies while posing as rebel soldiers, including using the name Robert Battle.
As November 1864 marches on, so do the Confederate troops led by Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood. Battle remarks about the excitement building among citizens in Tennessee as they anticipate Hood's moving towards Nashville. "All in high spirits about the rebels coming half again into our old country," he writes on November 27th. He hears the arms at the Battle of Franklin, on November 30, 1864, and writes that "The fight was terrific beyond description." On December 1st as the Yankees retreated towards Nashville, Battle is chased by the Yankees again, only to elude capture. Despite the Rebels devastating losses at Franklin, Battle and the men are "overjoyed" with the presence of the Confederates and "delighted at the idea of being in the rebel lines...." Finally able to move freely in his home town of College Grove without the fear of capture, Battle begins recruiting young men for the CSA. "The citizens of conscript age all anxious to join me. Travel around in the afternoon for recruits. Get a good many...."
The uplifted spirits which accompanied the arrival of the Confederate troops were erased almost as quickly as they arrived. The Battle of Nashville, fought Dec 15-16, 1864, was a crushing defeat for Hood's army. Battle writes of the engagement, "15th Thursday - ... Heavy fight at Nashville. Cannonading as heavy as I ever heard./16th Friday - Visit the battlefield near Mr. Overton's in 6 miles of Nashville. Fighting very heavy, surpassed anything I have heard during the war. Our troops behaved with great gallantry - repulsed eight or ten charges made by the enemy until at last by a desperate effort of the enemy to break our center they succeeded and whole of our line gave away in some confusion. I never in my life felt so awful about giving up our good old Tennessee."
Following the defeat at Nashville, Battle makes several more forays into the countryside but begins plans to travel south once again to Cassville, GA, and to Fannie. This difficult journey, like the others he describes in the diary, necessitated stealth and hardship. Provisions run low, Yankees are abundant, and the cold was bitter. After lying in wait in the woods hovering at the banks of the Tennessee River on December 31, 1864, Battle and his men wait until night, crossing the river at last with boats passing while they were swimming. From there, Battle headed in the direction of Rome, GA, ultimately reaching his destination on January 4, 1865, and concluding his war-time diary entries.
Following the war Captain Robert Battle settled in Cassville with his wife Fannie, started a family, and resumed practicing medicine. The leather notebook contains additional notations after the diary entries including miscellaneous lists, sums, and medical accounts for 1867 and 1868.
This wonderful account of the adventures and narrow escapes of a partisan ranger is a unique and rare Civil War collectible. A typed transcription accompanies the diary.
Diary retains a weathered leather cover which is torn in places though still attached. The first page of the diary is loose from the binding. The first five pages of the diary (April 25, 1864 - April 30th, 1864) and several other pages thereafter are heavily blurred making the text difficult to impossible to read. The majority of the 75 pages, however, are not severely blurred and text is generally legible.Condition
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