Crafford and Maggie

...........Crafford S Beeman Green
................................(1844 - 1920)

Crafford Green was my Great Great Grandfather. He was a fiery redheaded “Irishman” who often consumed more than his fair share of whiskey, according to my Grandmother, Mamie O’Telia “Frances” (Greene) Barnes Courtney. She was scared to death of him as a young girl and the only other fear that I knew her to have was of screech owls. Her Grandfather Green must have been an imposing figure in her life. To my knowledge, he didn't have a drop of true Irish blood in him. When I started my family history trek, Grandma told me that Crafford spoke with a brogue. Since he was born in Georgia and his father in South Carolina, it must have just been his Georgian accent. Grandma’s father was John Ervin “Johnny” Greene, a sweet, quiet man who delighted in serving friends and family his prized creek-cooled watermelons.   Johnny and Mary Frances Eliza Rebecca (Southall) Greene were devout Baptists and raised their family according to strict rules… rules that Crafford (and often my Grandmother) chose to ignore.

Crafford was born October 1, 1844 and raised on the family farm outside of McDonough, Henry Co, GA.  He was the youngest of James M "Jimmy" and Catherine "Caty" Owen Green’s brood. (Son of William and Ann McCleskey Green and daughter of Augustine and Catherine Shearly/Shirley Owen)

Louisa MargaretBrown Green
(1847-1922)

Crafford and Maggie c 1890-1900

Abbeville/Pendleton Greens






Captured at Chancellorsville

Louisa Margaret “Maggie” Brown was born in Georgia, February 9, 1847.  Her parents were John and Mary J “Polly” Akin Brown.  They lived in Butts Co, GA before settling in Jasper Co, GA. Unfortunately I know very little about Maggie or her parents. 

Crafford served Henry County and the Confederacy during the Civil War.  Before researching this biography, this is what I knew about Crafford’s service:  “He was a private in Company A, 44th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia, CSA, Henry Co, GA, Weems’ Guards.  He enlisted March 4, 1862 and was captured June of 1864.  He was paroled at Fort Delaware October 30, 1864 and received at Venus Point, Savannah River, GA for exchange November 15. 1864.”

Those words seem so neat and tidy.  After a lot of research, I have discovered that young Crafford’s service was anything but neat and tidy. 

At his enlistment, for "3 years or the duration of the war," Crafford was just 17 years old.  The 44th Regiment was formed from the men and boys of Henry, Jasper, Clarke, Clayton, Spalding, Putnam, Fayette, Pike, Morgan, and Greene Counties.  They were initially assigned to Walker’s Brigade, Department of North Carolina under Brigadier General John G. Walker, in the division of Major General Theophilus H. Holmes.  After their first action, a skirmish near Seven Pines (June 15, 1862), General Roswell Ripley succeeded Walker and they were assigned to D. H. Hill's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, Ripley’s Brigade. 

If it was adventure that Crafford was seeking, he got more than his share.  The 44^th Regiment was sent to Virginia and was present for almost all of the major eastern battles.  

By the end of the day September 14, 1862, 6 months into Crafford’s service, Ripley’s Brigade and Henry County’s boys had seen 4 major battles with total casualties on both sides of 16,200.  Crafford was two weeks away from his 18^th birthday. 

At sun-up on September 17, 1862 began the single bloodiest day in American military history, the Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg.  Ripley’s Brigade was part of the Confederate force led by General Robert E Lee, outnumbered two-to-one by McClellan’s Union Army. Despite having intercepted Lee’s battle plans and by committing one of the War’s greatest strategic errors (utilizing less than three-quarters of his troops), McClellan enabled Lee to fight the Union forces to a draw. At nightfall both sides consolidated their troops and Lee began to move his wounded south of the river.  Despite staggering loses on both sides, skirmishing continued on the 18^th.  On the morning of the 19^th McClellan did not renew his attacks and Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia crossed the Potomac and moved into the Shenandoah Valley.  Instead of McClellan pressing his advantage and ending the war at Sharpsburg, the bloodshed and young Crafford’s adventure would continue for 2 ½ long years.    

This fall (9/2004) I visited the Antietam battlefield almost 142 years to the day after the battle.  It was a warm, sunny, beautiful fall day.  A wedding was about to take place in the little Dunker Church, the sight of the first assaults that swept across farmer Miller’s cornfield and claimed the lives of thousands of men and boys in the first half hour of battle.  A narrow country road wanders past farmhouses and fields to a spot called The Sunken Lane where the Confederate center was breached and the advantage not taken by the Union forces.  

Across a state highway is another part of this vast battlefield, the stone bridge that crosses the tranquil Antietam Creek.  It was held for most of that fateful day by Georgian riflemen who finally fell to Burnsides’ men.  There are hundreds of markers noting which troops served where, but sadly I didn’t know about Ripley’s Brigade when I was there that day.  Estimated casualties on both sides of this horrific day - 23,100. 

After the Battle of Antietam, the 44th was placed under the command of Colonel George Pierce Doles of the 4th Georgia and became Doles Brigade. Doles was promoted to Brigadier General November 1, 1862. 

The brave men of Henry County fought through a litany of the Civil War’s most infamous battles: 

Fredericksburg / Marye’s Heights (December 11-15, 1862 / casualties 17,929)
Chancellorsville (April 30 – May 6, 1863 / casualties 24,000)
Gettysburg (July 1 – 3, 1863 / casualties 51,000)
Bristoe Campaign (October – November 1863 / casualties 4,910)
Mine Run Campaign  (November 27 – December 2, 1863 / casualties 1,952)
The Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864 / casualties 29,800),
Spotsylvania Court House (May 8 – 21, 1864 / casualties 30,000)
North Anna (May 23 – 26, 1864 / casualties 4,000)
Cold Harbor (May 31 – June 12, 1864) where the fighting ended for Brigadier General Doles.  Doles was killed. Casualties in the Confederate victory were 15,500.

(12/21/2010 Thanks to the wonderful records available at Footnotes.com, I now know that Crafford was in the hospital during Antietam/Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg/Marye's Heights. See records to the right. Perhaps I'm here to tell this tale due to Crafford's "dibility" during those confrontations! See the first record on the left hand side of this page.)

Crafford's name appears on a list of missing and wounded from the Battle of Chancellorsville May 2 - 3, 1863. (This was the battle where Lt Gen Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson was killed by friendly fire.) Crafford was captured for the first time near Fredericksburg in Spotsylvania Co on May 3rd and sent to City Point for Exchange May 10, 1863. He was lucky, spending little time as a prisoner of war. He had been sick, wounded, or injured as after his exchange he was at the Confederate States Hospital in Petersburg, VA on May 13, 1863.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chancellorsville

Summer 1863 brought Gettysburg. "Doles's Brigade, 1,300 strong, formed part of Robert E Rodes's Division. On July 1, 1863, Doles attacked the line of the Union XI Corps in fields near Rock Creek north of Gettysburg, driving their adversaries back over a mile. Pressure from Doles, as well as from fellow Georgian John B Gordon and other brigades, eventually forced much of the XI Corps to collapse and retire to Cemetery Hill. The brigade suffered 219 casualties at Gettysburg—46 killed, 106 wounded, and 67 captured—a loss of 16.6% of its strength. Doles's men did not see any significant action on the second or third day of the battle, nor in the subsequent Bristoe or Mine Run Campaigns." (Wikipedia)

The long winter in northern Virginia would have been bitter for a poorly outfitted Georgia boy with little to do besides think about how cold he was and dream of his mother's cornbread. Crafford survived The Wilderness in early May of 1864, but almost one year to the day from his first capture he was taken once again in Spotsylvania Co, VA at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House May 10, 1864. Doles' brigade was overrun at the Mule Shoe. They suffered 650 casualties, 350 of them, including Crafford, captured. Doles survived by playing dead on the battlefield until a counterattack materialized.

If being taken prisoner can be considered fortunate, this may be the case. After the 10th the fighting intensified. From Wikipedia - The fight over the Mule Shoe was characterized by an intensity of firepower never previously seen in Civil War battles, as the entire landscape was flattened, all the foliage destroyed. There was a frenzy to the carnage on both sides. Fighting back and forth over the same corpse-strewn trenches for hours on end, using single shot muskets, the contending troops were periodically reduced to hand-to-hand combat somewhat reminiscent of battles fought during ancient times. Surviving participants attempted to describe in letters, diaries and memoirs the hellish intensity of that day, many noting that it was beyond words. Or, as one put it: "Nothing can describe the confusion, the savage, blood-curdling yells, the murderous faces, the awful curses, and the grisly horror of the melee." (Rhea, Gordon 1997, "The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864")

Of the 1,522 Medals of Honor awarded for acts during the Civil War, 43 were given for the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. 63 were awarded for Gettysburg, a battle much more familiar to all of us.

This time Crafford wasn't immediately exchanged and his life was about to become a living hell. He was marched to the Point Lookout Maryland Prison where he would spend 5 months in horrendous conditions. (see: http://www.mycivilwar.com/pow/md-point_lookout.htm) This prison built to house 9,000 - 10,000 burgeoned to over 15,000 during the summer of 1864. Lack of food (rat hunting was a common activity), permanent shelter (tents were always used), and constant flooding of this point of land just above sea level contributed to the misery. Malaria, typhoid fever and smallpox was common.

While Crafford was young, legend says that he wasn't the youngest at Point Lookout by a long shot. "Baby Perkins" was supposedly born to Jane Perkins who had been captured in early June 1864 along with her artillery unit. This information comes from the diary of a fellow prisoner who wrote, ".. the young rebel lady prisoner.... has given birth to a little artilleryman." Jane was transferred in July to Washington, DC and imprisoned at Old Capitol. In October she was transferred to the House of Correction in Fitchburg, MA. While Jane, by all accounts, had been in good health when she was captured, by the time that she reached Massachusetts, according to fellow prisoner blockade runner Mary Terry's diary "Jane Perkins...is paralyzed in the right arm and leg."

It's possible that Crafford agreed to sign an oath of allegiance to obtain his release in October 1864. Who could fault him? Soon exchanges were halted and all those held prisoner where incarcerated for the duration of the war - a death sentence for many. At the time of his exchange, Crafford had just turned 20 years old.  I find it hard to begrudge him one drop of whiskey. I can’t begin to imagine what young Crafford witnessed during his service. No one has any family tales of his time as a soldier. Perhaps he never talked about his experiences with his family.

While Crafford was at Point Lookout, the 44^th moved on to Cold Harbor. There Doles was hit by a Union sharpshooter in the left breast while inspecting entrenchments near Bethesda Church, VA. He died instantly.

Brigadier General George Pierce Doles, CSA
1830-1864

Phillip Cook was promoted to Brigadier General and led the 44^th through the balance of the war.  They endured 7 more battles between June 1864 and the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse April 9, 1865.  Only 52 of the original 1,115 soldiers of the 44^th remained to surrender.  Captain John Harris remembered years later, "The impartial historian, when he collects up the facts and figures, will show that the 44th Georgia Regiment suffered a greater casualty in killed and wounded, in proportion to the number carried into action, than any other regiment on the Southern side." 

Private C Green CSA returned home and married Maggie Brown November 23, 1869 in Jasper Co, GA.  They had 8 children, all born in Henry Co except for the youngest, Jesse Belle who was born in Jasper Co, GA 5/21/1889.  Their children were:  E. Cora, John Ervin, Edward Edgar, Lonie E, B. Clyde, O’Telia, Sherley Olen, and finally Jesse Belle.  In addition to farming, Crafford served as a mail carrier in Henry County.

The Green family c 1953, Fordyce, Dallas Co, AR - Jesse Belle Green Nutt (Crafford's daughter), Ed Green (Crafford's son), Houston Nutt (Jesse's husband), Tennie Green (Ed's wife), Vivian Green (Ed's daughter), Gordon in Beth Gordon Greene's arms (Beth is Johnnie Odwin Greene's wife, Crafford's grandson), Gayle Green (Johnnie's daughter), Dovie (Crafford's granddaughter Dovie Towler Dean), Cheryl Greene (Aubie's daughter), Mary Frances Eliza Rebecca Southall Green ( John Ervin Green's wife Crafford's son),  Helen Barnes McCollum (Homer Barnes daughter), Dovie's husband Homer Dean, Aubie Greene (John Ervin's son)

By 1900, Crafford and Maggie, all of their children and their families, and elderly mother-in-law Polly had moved to Dallas Co, AR joining Crafford's brother Baler.  Greene descendants remain in Dallas Co to this day.

I only know one personal story about Crafford, related to me by my Great Aunt Beth (Gordon) Greene.  It seems that Crafford had gone out to one of the fishing or hunting “camps” with a bunch of his buddies.  On the way home Crafford was, shall we say, feeling no pain.  He fell off the back of the wagon.  His friend “whoa’ed dem horses and backed ‘em up, backed ‘em up, backed ‘em up…. over Crafford.”  His buddy leaned over the side of the wagon and said, “Mr Crafford Green, are you alright?”  Crafford’s reply was, “I will be if you stop running over me!”     

Crafford S Beeman Green, Private CSA and farmer, died January 17, 1920.  Maggie died July 28, 1922.  Both are buried in Old Bucksnort Cemetery in Fordyce, Dallas Co, AR.

........

 December 17, 2004
(Updated 12/21/2010)
 Marcia McClure, Great Great Granddaughter
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