Shannon’s Scouts
Combat Reconnaissance Detachment of
Terry’s Texas Rangers

by Paul R. Scott
Military History of Texas and the Southwest
Volume 15, Number 3, Page 5-23

Shortly after General William Tecumseh Sherman began shelling Atlanta on July 23, 1864, General John Bell Hood directed the commander of the 8^th Texas Cavalry Regiment (also known as Terry’s Texas Rangers) to send a dependable officer with a detail to reconnoiter one of the enemy’s batteries.  That night, wearing captured Union trousers, Captain Alexander May Shannon and Privates Lou Compton, Bill Kyle, and R. L. Dunman slipped through the Yankee lines.  After completing their mission, they sought personal aggrandizement by each taking a horse from the enemy remuda.  They concealed themselves behind their prizes and allowed their newly acquired mounts to graze through a cornfield until they were well away from the pickets.  Shannon and his associates then rode back to headquarters with their information.¹

This was the genesis of Shannon’s Scouts, Hood’s and later Joseph Wheeler’s, most important scouting unit in the closing months of the Civil War.  Unfortunately no completely reliable account of this detachment’s history, beyond short sketches and passing references, has come down to us.  Yet, from these tidbits we can tell that Shannon’s Scouts was one of the most colorful and effective organizations performing both reconnaissance and commando service in the Confederate Army.

Hood was so impressed with Shannon’s accomplishment that in the closing days of July he directed him to organize a detachment of specially selected men to serve as an independent intelligence gathering agency and to restrict the movement of Sherman’s foraging parties.²  The initial force was composed of thirty soldiers from Terry’s Rangers, supposedly three men from each company.  One veteran recalled, however, that Shannon managed to see that Company “C”, his own unit, contributed more than its share.  Supposedly ten days later he was reinforced by a levy from the other regiments of Harrison’s Brigade, the 11^th Texas and 3d Arkansas.  It should be noted, however, that it was not until 1865 that soldiers of units other than the 8^th Texas can be identified as belonging to Shannon’s Scouts.³

Hood would have been hard pressed to have found a better qualified junior officer for this task.  Though possibly opposed to secession, he was nevertheless amongst the first to volunteer to fight for the South.⁴  In September 1861 Shannon joined the Waul Confederates, a company raised by Captain Marcus L. Evans for Benjamin Franklin Terry’s regiment of cavalry.  Upon organization the members elected him first lieutenant (second in command) and his unit officially became Company C of the 8^th Texas Cavalry Regiment.  In October 1862 he was promoted to Captain and, with this rank, was occasionally required to serve in a capacity above his grade.  In early 1864, for example, he temporarily served as second in command of the regiment, a billet usually filled by a lieutenant colonel.⁵  Contemporary evidence indicates that Shannon engaged in numerous exploits behind enemy lines.  In late November or early December 1864, Shannon and some ten or twelve other men, operating well away from the rest of their command, captured fifteen prisoners, ten to sixteen horses, thiry-six mules, and miscellaneous accoutrements and weapons and burned six wagons.  Shannon placed a value of $40,000 on these items.  Regimental chaplain and de facto war correspondent, Robert Franklin Bunting, noted that he was already famous for such adventures.⁶  At the time Hood entrusted Shannon with the undertaking he was already a proven officer with a demonstrated ability to conduct independent, small unit operations.

Unlike today’s armies, those of the Civil War did not have tables of organizations with organic reconnaissance units and staff officers to produce military intelligence.  Even the doctrine was lacking.  Leaders, nevertheless, were keenly aware of the need for such data.  Consequently, generals commanding armies, and frequently divisions, exercised their own initiative often running their intelligence efforts almost literally out of their hats.  (Perhaps the best known operation is that of General George Brinton McClellan, commanding the Army of the Potomac, who engaged the services of the famous detective Allan Pinkerton to organize his service.  Pinkerton, acting under the pseudonym of E. J. Allen, soon had agents scouring the countryside gathering detailed information on the Confederate forces.  Pinkerton analyzed their reports and prepared intelligence estimates for his commander.  Anlaysis was his downfall.  Taking even the most unreliable data at face value he repeatedly overestimated the strength of the Rebel formations.  McClellan allowed this faulty product to virtually paralyze his armies and subsequently lost his command.  Pinkerton left with him.⁷  Most commanders, settling for less ambitious and consequently more effective systems, would select a capable officer to organize a network of scouts and/or spies to conduct their collection effort.  This officer normally reported directly to the general with a minimum of paperwork.  Because there was no doctrine to direct their efforts, they often neglected the real rationale for their existence and spent an inordinate amount of time and effort in commando-like operations.  Shannon was thus cast in the mold of his contemporaries.

Hood used agents other than Shannon in his intelligence effort.  While Shannon was targeted against Sherman’s field forces, John M. Claiborne, also of the Eighth Texas, operated in Tennessee, deep in the Federal rear.  Claiborne recalled that on July 18 he reported to the general for duty as a subaltern in the “secret service.”  This probably was not in connection with Shannon’s Scouts as he never claimed any connection with that unit.  Initially, however, he was engaged in dangerous operations behind Sherman’s lines including at least one ten day scout.  As Hood reached Trenton, Georgia, in preparation for his campaign into Tennessee, he instructed Claiborne to select three men to spy out the Yankees.  Claiborne chose George Archer and Emmit Lynch of the 8^th Texas and Pierce de Graffenried whose unit has not been identified.  In addition, Hood supplied him with an unspecified amount of gold and a company of couriers.

At midnight Claiborne set out for Middle Tennessee stationing his couriers at ten to twelve mile intervals, the last being in the hills near the home of a Mr. Massie, a few miles from Franklin.  The spies mixed business with pleasure visiting the belles about the town and employing them in gathering information.  By the third day the first report was on its way back to Hood.  Next Claiborne called upon two young ladies to help provide him with a disguise so that he could enter Nashville.  Claiborne maintains that he entered the city and attended a dance given by a brigadier general.⁸  He had the opportunity to discuss the war with prominent Union officers and even was allowed to inspect the fortifications.

At night Claiborne left Nashville on the horse of a Federal officer and soon located the forts at Franklin.  On November 27, three days prior to the Battle of Franklin, Claiborne made his report to Hood.  He stayed with the general until December 17, the day after the Battle of Nashville, when he was sent to Florence, Alabama to help in setting up a pontoon bridge.

Claiborne claimed that between July 22 and December 12, 1864 he utilized several disguises including that of a dotty Negro field hand.  He also stated, perhaps theatrically, that some of his group’s activities would have merited hanging even after the war.  Hence his fellows remained silent and he did not relate their activities until after their death.⁹

Shannon’s and Claiborne’s men were not the only ones conducting intelligence related missions against Sherman.  A townsman of Claiborne, S. B. Barron of Rusk, Texas, recalled in 1903 that after the fall of Atlanta he belonged to Captain H. W. Wade’s “Supernumary Scouts.”  This organization was composed of commissioned officers from Lawrence Sullivan Ross’s Brigade, the 3^rd, 6^th, 9^th, and 27^th Texas Cavalry Regiments.  In addition he mentioned that a Lieutenant Bob Lee led still a third group of scouts.  Barron failed to mention to whom Wade and Lee reported and his account leaves the impression that their activities were more in the nature of combat or counter-foraging activities than the gathering of intelligence.¹⁰

Captain John H. Lester of the 9^th Alabama Cavalry led still another scouting party from the fall of Atlanta until the end of the War.¹¹  Lieutenant William B. Friend, also from the 8^th Texas, wrote that he was a member of Hood’s staff until January 2, 1865 when he and five other Rangers who had been on “special secret service duty” returned to their regiment.¹²  Finally, Hood had inherited still another organization whose activities were purely intelligence related—Coleman’s Scouts.  In late 1862 or early 1863 Henry B. Shaw had organized this unit at General Bragg’s direction.  They operated effectively until November 1864 when almost simultaneously Shaw and Priavte Sam Davis were arrested.  They continued operating for a while but finally all the members either drifted away or were transferred to other units.  We shall hear more from them later.¹³

It is unclear what operations Shannon’s Scouts initially conducted against the Federal army.  The extant Confederate records fail to document their activities and there is no indication that the Federals were aware that there was a new unit in the Confederate Order of Battle.  In all probability  they were busy.  On August 9 we do know that ten of Shannon’s men discovered eighteen to twenty Federals plundering and pillaging a gin and a private house.  Attacking from two sides the Texans killed nine, wounded seven and captured and paroled the remainder.  The Scouts let the civilians keep the captured horses by they retained the weapons, accoutrements, and greenbacks for themselves.  They also whipped a few slaves whose behavior they deemed inappropriate.¹⁴  It was also during this period, a veteran recalled, that Shannon’s men, while within Federal lines, surprised a group of some 25 blue coats, commanded by a quartermaster major dressing a beef.  They captured the entire party and marched them to Union Station some forty miles away where there appears to have been the equivalent of a prisoner collection point.¹⁵  From their subsequent record, one suspects that these actions were not unique.

On September 18 Hood turned his army toward Tennessee in a wild gamble to reverse the tide of the war.  On November 15 Sherman turned his army toward Savannah in a calculated move to gut the Confederacy.  Hood did not take Shannon’s force with him but left them in Georgia with orders to do all possible to limit the range of Sherman’s foragers and bummers and, perhaps most important, to keep him posted on Sherman’s actions.¹⁶

Fortunately we have a good account of Shannon’s activities for some two weeks of the March to the Sea.  The commencement of the campaign found the scouts about twelve miles below Atlanta on South River.  There they killed three enemy soldiers who were driving off cows and then passed through the burning village of Synthiana in an unsuccessful hunt for more bummers.  For the next few days their actions are unaccounted for but on the eighteenth the Texans were near Oxford.  There they encountered a nine man force and in a two mile running fight accounted for three dead and four wounded.  The next day found them crossing the Alcova River and following the railroad through Social Circle Station to Rutledge Station.  Here they killed two of the enemy and moved to within six miles of Madison.  Finding a sizable force behind them, Shannon moved through the woods and got between that group and the main body of Sherman’s Army.  Under a flag of truce he demanded the unconditional surrender of the first party claiming that he had them cut off and surrounded.  Fifty-six blue coats surrendered to the thirty Texans.  The Rebels armed some civilians and turned the prisoners over to them.

On Sunday, November 20, they found ten bummers at two houses near Madison.  The chronicler did not recount their fate but in view of how the Scouts treated others in similar circumstances, it is likely that they all died.  Next Shannon’s Scouts attacked a wagon train and took ten more prisoners before having to abandon the fight.  They also sent these captives to the prison camps.  The next day they encountered the enemy’s rear guard and had to leave the vicinity rather hurriedly.  There was no fighting Tuesday but they did whip a large number of slaves who were seeking the shelter of the Federal army.  Crossing the Oconee River on the twenty-third again brought them within striking distance of the enemy.  Some three miles from the river they found a roughly equal number of Yankees and pursued them killing and wounding a few until they ran into a much larger force and commenced a rapid retrograde movement.  There was no action on Thursday but they passed through Sparta and Linden and camped on Buffalo Creek.

On the twenty-fifth citizens warned them that some thirty Yankee cavalrymen were searching for them.  Soon the two forces met and the Federals were driven back onto their main body leaving five dead and five prisoners.  Later Shannon’s men killed two more and took another captive at a private house.  Near Sandersville they found themselves surrounded and his in the woods until night when they slipped away.  After traveling most of the night they finally stopped at Worthing’s Cross Roads.  The next morning there was a running fight with a unit identified as Brigadier General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick’s special scouts which cost Sherman another two men dead and two captured.  This engagement shoed the Southerners that their horses were jaded.  They rested until midafternoon of the twenty-seventh and then moved to May’s Bridge on the Ogeechee.  On the twenty-eighth they crossed the river, turned their nine prisoners¹⁷ over to other Confederate scouts and sold them some stock as well.¹⁸

Shannon’s men were busy on the twenty-ninth killing three, capturing three, and driving a unit of reported brigade size for a mile in the vicinity of Soursville.  Sometime later nine Yankees burning private property met death at the hands of the Texans.  The next day was not as successful as they encountered an infantry unit and could gain no advantage.  The first day of December was more eventful.  Sighting smoke a mile off Shannon and his men galloped off to investigate.  They found a house, barn, and cotton gin in flames and sighted another fire a mile and a half away.  They left in hard pursuit of the arsonists.  Being burdened with a score or more of blacks, 40-50 horses and mules, and a carriage loaded with booty, the bluecoats soon found themselves overtaken.

On Decmeber 2 the Scouts captured two Yankees and on the next day another six while killing six at a private house.  They spent the night about five miles from Silvania.  This appears to be the end of their activities against Sherman’s Army on its March to the Sea.  On the fourth they crossed the Savannah River and reached Augusta four days later.  Here Shannon found orders to report to Hood in Tennessee.  The command claimed that the thirty men of Shannon’s Scouts had captured and killed 459 Yankees between the first part of October and the middle of December and of these, 43 were killed and 102 captured during the March to the Sea.¹⁹  At this late date we are unable either to confirm or discount these numbers.

As Shannon was answerable to Hood he enjoyed complete freedom of action during this campaign.  Major General William Joseph Hardee commanded the forces resisting Sherman while Wheeler’s cavalry did most of the effective fighting, yet there is no evidence that Shannon had any contact with them.  On the contrary, an investigation of the depredations against civilians charged to Wheeler’s command stated that Shannon’s unit had “no connection whatever with this [Wheeler’s] command. . . .”²⁰

One cannot leave the subject of the March to the Sea without discussing the alleged depredations of the Confederate cavalry (including Shannon’s Scouts) upon the citizens.  In the confused situation private property was frequently seized by horsemen identifying themselves as Confederates, invariably of Wheeler’s command.  Sometimes this seizure was justified; sometimes it was pure theft.  Usually, however, the victims were unable or unwilling to differentiate.  At the time Wheeler reported that bands of armed brigands sprang up claiming to be his men²¹ and others testified that various individuals and units of infantry, militia, and cavalry seized property in his name.  Shannon’s men were specifically cited.²²  Some of this was doubtlessly outlawery and much of it seems to have been committed by Wheeler’s men but much can be justified.  These soldiers were forced to provide their own mounts and sustenance.  There was only one source, the countryside.  In addition some soldiers, especially the Texans, had no great love of Georgians.  As early as July 1863 Chaplain Bunting had written “since our entrance into Georgia it has seemed that people have made up their minds to fleece us.”²³  It would be unlikely that now with the Federals burning a 60 mile swath to the sea that these men would be overly concerned with the niceties of requisitioning the wherewithal to fight.

Little is known of Shannon’s service in Tennessee.  One veteran recalled that while in the state Shannon strengthened his command with two “boys” named Bob Gregory and Bowman (given name not specified).  Even this is questionable as the man identified Shannon as a Major when in March 1865 he was still signing reports as a Captain.²⁴  It is also likely that it was at this time that Shannon absorbed the remnants of Coleman’s Scouts.  Thomas M. Joplin, a veteran of both organizations, recalled that after Shaw was captured they received directions to report to “Capt. Shannon, Gen. Wheeler’s chief scout, and ordered to go behind Sherman’s army, find out and report his movements.”²⁵  That Joplin identified Shannon as Wheeler’s scout is immaterial inasmuch as Shannon did serve in that capacity.

Shannon was ever on the alert for new talent.  At one point he joined a member of the 4^th Georgia Regiment who was home on leave to recover from wounds.²⁶  In addition, members of the 8^th Texas occasionally teamed up with their old comrade for short periods of time²⁷ and his unit eventually boasted men from several different regiments.  His troops were of exceptional character.  Being specifically chosen for this task they exhibited most desirable traits.  War had tempered their mettle and honed their skills.  At the time one observed:

. . . (I) think, sometimes, I am getting hard-hearted. . . . The smoke and flames of a dwelling prevents the prayers of the Yankees for their lives, even when on their knees, being heard, and steadies my nerves to kill them all if possible.²⁸

A soldier who had ridden with them briefly described the amusement of one when a shot knocked a Black driver (who was with a party of Federal looters) out of a buggy onto the road.²⁹  Though they at times succumbed to bloodlust they nevertheless seemed to have observed the rules of war and, as noted above, took nearly twice as many prisoners as they killed.

At first glance their tactics seem elementary.  It is as though they knew only three maneuvers, charge, retreat, and hide.  Witnesses stated that Shannon’s rule was immediately to attack any enemy force encountered and if it proved too strong to withdraw.³⁰ If endangered they would stay concealed until the opportunity arose to take some stragglers.³¹ Yet it appears that Shannon’s tactics were in reality considerably more sophisticated.  A non-scout, Henry Graber, related that the van was always commanded by First Lieutenant Bill Smith.³²  This indicates that a small body under an experienced subordinate would initiate combat leaving the larger force, under Shannon, free either to reinforce or enfilade.  Other contemporary observers stated that he also divided his men into squads which moved independently to designated rendezvous points and that there were lookouts on highpoints who could communicate through signals.³³  Though this would have lessened their combat potential, it would have maximized their information gathering potential and chances of capturing couriers and small parties of stragglers.  During the campaign in the Carolinas Shannon made it a point to retain some of his scouting parties in camp for emergencies.³⁴  It seems that Shannon’s Scouts had a variety of tactics to fit almost any occasion.

On January 17, 1865 Hood, because of his defeats at Franklin and Nashville, requested to be relieved of command of the Army of Tennessee.  The authorities granted his wish.  This is probably when Shannon began reporting to Wheeler.  Wheeler, it seems, recognized Shannon’s abilities and augmented his command with twenty men of the 11^th Texas Cavalry under a Lieutenant Wilson and fourteen men of the 51^st Alabama Cavalry under Lieutenant Henry Clay Reynolds.  Sometime after January 24 Wheeler directed Reynolds and Wilson to report to his headquarters where they met Shannon and were made to understand that they were under his command and he was subject only to Wheeler’s orders.³⁵

Reynolds was an experienced and successful cavalry officer who had often bettered the Yankees in battle and had led numerous successful scouts.  Yet he was dissatisfied with his current position apparently because of personality conflicts with his superiors—whom he seemed to feel were incompetent.  He had accordingly submitted a resignation.  Perhaps when Wheeler saw the document he determined to retain his services but in a capacity more suited to his abilities.³⁶

By January 20 Shannon’s campaign through South and North Carolina was underway and any rest Shannon’s men may have had was at an end.  Soon his men were busy patrolling and gathering information.  On February 4 Brigadier General William Wirt Allen, commanding one of Wheeler’s divisions, wrote to his commander that one of Shannon’s men had reported to him the result of a scout.  This indicates that they were taking their mission of performing reconnaissance seriously and were aware of the need to pass information to all concerned units, not only to Wheeler.³⁷  Doubtlessly they also continued to resist depredations which were even worse than those visited upon Georgia.  South Carolina, after all, was the center of secession and the Union soldiers desired to see her punished.  While it cannot be conclusively proven, it seems that at least one portion of Shannon’s command retaliated with an atrocity.

The matter first surfaced on February 22 when Kilpatrick reported that an infantry lieutenant and seven men as well as an artillery sergeant had surrendered to the 8^th Texas and then had been killed and their bodies mutilated.  Notes on their corpses said “Death to Foragers.”  He did not specify why he accused the Texans but did specify that the perpetrators were 300 men armed with Spencer rifles and commanded by a lieutenant colonel.  He further alleged that Confederates had also murdered nine of his cavalrymen including two with cut throats.³⁸  Wheeler responded protesting that neither of his two Texas regiments met the description both being commanded by captains and neither armed with Spencers.  He said nothing about Shannon’s Scouts.  He expressed his concern and insinuated that any retaliation would result in even more bloodshed.³⁹  Wheeler does not seem to have been perfectly candid.  It appears that Colonel Gustave Cook, not a captain, was in command of the 8^th Texas.  It is also known that as early as June 1864 the 8^th Texas held 50 Spencers and its ordnance personnel advocated the even greater utilization of this weapon.⁴⁰

The next day Kilpatrick, perhaps remembering the number of his men in Confederate hands, backed down.  He conceded that perhaps the regiment concerned was commanded by a captain but asserted that they were indeed Texans and many armed with Spencers.  He also let it be known that one of his scouts had been with them on the day of the murders and that the tone of their conversations indicated that prisoners would not be taken.  He again threatened retaliation for future incidents but curiously also gave the Rebels a carte blanche to shoot stragglers from his command within private houses committing “any outrages whatever.”⁴¹

Years later some members of Shannon’s Scouts acknowledged partial responsibility for the incidents.  Edward Kennedy stated that a force of five Alabamians and four Texans had killed sixteen of the victims in three separate actions but denied that any were murdered and further pleaded innocent of any knowledge of the two victims with cut throats.⁴²  In addition, a veteran of the 8^th Texas claimed that an elderly citizen had cut the throats of some Yankees killed in his yard by Rebel cavalrymen in retaliation for their burning his house and brutalizing three women.⁴³  A member of the 51^st Alabama, somewhat confused as to the numbers involved, stated that the killings were the work of scouts led by two lieutenants from his regiment.  He observed that even thirty-eight years after the incident they were averse to discussing it.⁴⁴  The truth of the event will never be known, but then truth is always the first casualty of war.

Shannon and Kilpatrick reportedly came face to face several days later when Wheeler and the Union general met to discuss an exchange of prisoners.  Supposedly Kilpatrick stated that Shannon’s men “were fighting under the black flag” and he intended to execute publicly any who fell into his hands as they were not protected by the normal usages of war.  Shannon pointed out that Kilpatrick had thus far been unable to capture his men and threatened to revenge any of his troops who were thus murdered.⁴⁵

On March 6, Wheeler, in a party with some twenty Texans, attempted to cross the Yadkin River which was at flood stage.  Only Wheeler, Edward H. McKnight of the 8^th Texas, and James B. Nance of the 4^th Tennessee succeeded. Upon crossing they secured shelter with a farmer near Rockingham, North Carolina.  After breakfast he met Shannon and some twenty of his men who had crossed up river on a flat boat.  Shortly afterwards they learned of a party of Yankees at the next house.  Wheeler, using the pseudonym “Private Johnson,” and the Scouts were soon riding to contact with Wheeler and Shannon right behind the advance guard.  The Federals lost thirty-five men in a running fight that ended only when they reached the security of another force already drawn up in a line of battle.  In the early stages of the fight Shannon’s “large dapple claybank stallion,” Mohawk, took a round through the upper part of his neck and fell.  Shannon quickly changed saddles and mounted a newly captured Federal horse and continued to fight.  Mohawk was more stunned than injured and, after the Scouts brok off the action, he regained his feet and resumed his place with his master.  Shannon kept him until at least the end of the war.⁴⁶

On the night of March 8 the Yankees finally captured one of Shannon’s men, Lieutenant Reynolds, but there is no indication that they knew who he was.  Throughout the next day he walked behind a carriage which carried a woman purported, sometimes, to have been Kilpatrick’s mistress.  On the night of the ninth he made his escape and rejoined his command.⁴⁷

Meanwhile Wade Hampton (who had succeeded Wheeler as commander of cavalry in North Carolina) and Wheeler were planning an attack upon Kilpatrick.  One of the scouts claimed, afterwards, that Hampton personally came to their camp on the night of the eighth and requested that they ascertain Kilpatrick’s position and strength.  On the evening of the ninth the Confederates (possibly Shannon’s men) located their adversary’s headquarters at Montroe’s Cross Roads near Fayetteville.  Wheeler and Hampton quickly assembled their forces and staged for an attack.  Shannon, Wheeler, Hampton, and H. H. Scott (one of Hampton’s headquarters scouts) reconnoitered the enemy positions riding to within sight of the camp fires.  Shannon sent R. A. Jarmon, Lou Compton, Emmitt Lynch, and John Hagerty (and possibly Joe Rogers and B. Peebles as well) into the enemy position to locate the headquarters and the prisoners.  They walked into the enemy positions as though they belonged there and completed their assignment.  Upon leaving Jarmon and Compton (and possibly Rogers and Peebles) also took this opportunity to steal horses from the enemy remuda.  Upon receiving their reports Shannon directed his men to close in on the pickets.  Before the attack the Scouts captured the camp guards without firing a shot.

The surprise at daylight was complete.  With Shannon’s men in the van the Confederates fell upon their foe, drove them from the camp, freed the prisoners, and captured between 100 and 300 (depending upon whose report one believes) Union soldiers.  The Confederates, however, were not fully ready for the battle and swamps prevented several units from effective participation.  Furthermore, a number stopped to loot thus enabling Kilpatrick’s men to rally and retake the field.  Though the fighting ended in a draw, Shannon’s men had proven their talent at producing intelligence and effecting sentry removal while the Confederates showed that they were still dangerous adversaries.⁴⁸

After this engagement Shannon’s activities are again obscured as Sherman continued to steamroller toward Virginia.  On March 16 the Confederates and Federals clashed at Averasborough and on the nineteenth through the twenty-first they fought a pitched battle at Bentonville.  There is no known evidence of Shannon’s participating in either of these actions although Wheeler was heavily involved at the latter.  A participant later reported seeing the Scouts in camp near the battleground on the last day of the Battle on Bentonville. ⁴⁹

On March 23 Wheeler wrote General Joseph Eggleston Johnston, the current commander of the Army of Tennessee, that Shannon had just sent in twenty-five prisoners.  He revealed that the prisoners had provided him with a great deal of information.  The next day Shannon sent to Wheeler a report which is a model as an intelligence report—it is brief and clear.  He related that on the twenty-third his command had killed seven Yankees and captured thirteen.  He identified their units, stated that only one cavalry regiment was with John McAllister Schofield’s Corps, indicated that Sherman had told his men that they would rest a few days, and also gave the vicinity of his own scouts.  It was a good report; it is a shame that more have not come down to us.⁵⁰

There are strong, almost conclusive, indications that Shannon was promoted to colonel for his services.  John M. Claiborne, in his muster roll of the 8^th Texas Cavalry, stated that Shannon was made colonel on February 8, 1865.⁵¹  A biographical sketch written while he was alive also stated that he was promoted in February⁵² and after the war his fellow soldiers, including Wheeler, addressed him as “Colonel Shannon.”  As late as March 24, however, he was still signing his reports as a captain⁵³ and no official documentation has been found substantiating his colonelcy.  In the declining days of the Confederate Government, it is likely that the authorities had approved the promotion but never had an opportunity to prepare or deliver the commission.

On April 13 Wheeler sent Scout Sergeant A. F. Hardie and some five privates to ascertain Sherman’s movements in the vicinity of Raleigh.  After securing their information they found their passage blocked by a larger force of blue clad horsemen.  They attacked and soon captured or killed all but a Sergeant Wolff (or Wolfe).  Private Eugene DuBose rode up to him, perhaps thinking to accept his surrender as it appeared to the others that the sergeant was trying to stop his horse and had allowed his rifle to drop to the end of the attaching strap.  Wolff, however, raised his weapon and shot DuBose in the head killing him instantly.  Hardie quickly avenged DuBose’s death and returned to camp with the required information.⁵⁴

It was also about this time that Emmit Lynch met his death under similar circumstances near Chappel Hill.  After a brief engagement Lynch took a captive up on his horse behind him.  Before Lynch could get his prisoner back to camp, however, the man drew a derringer and shot him in the head.⁵⁵

Curiously Lynch and DuBose were the only Scouts identified by name as dying in action.  There were probably others but their names have gone unnoted and their numbers are unknown.  A contemporary, not in Shannon’s Scouts, stated that he estimated their casualty rate to be about ten percent.⁵⁶

On about April 14 Shannon, if not his command, was involved in an interesting if unimportant engagement.  The Eighth Texas had been covering Johnston’s retreat since the twelfth.  Near noon they stopped to rest and feed their horses under the impression that the routes of approach were being picked.  Suddenly some 200 Federal cavalry attacked.  The Rangers, almost by reflex, sprang into action.  Some, mounted bareback, individually counterattacked thus checking the onslaught until their comrades could organize.  Soon the tables were reversed and it was the enemy that was in retreat.  Shannon, wearing a new uniform complete with feather, was in the midst of the fight.  Dressed as he was and mounted on a large dun horse (apparently Mohawk was resting) he attracted more than his share of enemy lead and was hit in the arm.⁵⁷

On April 9, 1865 Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant and nine days later Johnston met Sherman to work out terms of capitulation.  On April 15 Shannon’s Scouts learned from Wheeler that surrender was inevitable but they were not yet ready to lay down their arms.  After discussing the matter they decided to break into small groups, return home, and then to reassemble in the Trans-Mississippi Department commanded by General Edmund Kirby Smith.⁵⁸  According to one tradition Shannon himself attempted to reach President Jefferson Davis to escort him to safety.⁵⁹

Soon they must have realized the futility of their cause and have given up any designs to prolong the conflict.  Old habits were hard to break, however, and they showed no hesitance to discomfit their adversaries whenever it suited their purposes.  One of the Alabama contingent related that they had some reservations as to whether their horses, worn out by hard service in the Carolina Campaign, would be able to make the journey home.  Upon discovering a camp of Federal cavalry on the night of April 18 they set about acquiring new mounts.  They first captured the two pickets and took five animals from the remuda.  In the process a Union soldier sought to challenge Lieutenant Reynolds.   Reynolds soon convinced the trooper to remain silent and to accompany the Rebels.  When they were a safe distance from the Union force they freed their captive.⁶⁰

It seems that upon returning to their homes the veterans of Shannon’s Scouts applied themselves to their civilian pursuits.  They do not seem to have dwelled upon their experiences and a conspiracy of silence almost appears to have sprang up around their wartime activities.  Commencing in the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Confederate Veteran published sketches on individual veterans and incidents concerning their service and a number of newspapers followed suit.  No comprehensive account of their career has been found.  Even their comrades in arms were terse.  In Hood’s book, Advance and Retreat, their founder made no reference to them which is truly remarkable in-as-much as Hood and Shannon were business partners after the war.  Wheeler’s biographers, Dodson and DuBose, did mention Shannon’s Scouts but gave relatively few details about the organization.  Shannon, himself, said next to nothing even though others tried to get him to set down his experiences.  Samual O. Young, who had discussed the matter with him, claimed that Shannon stated that such a work would result in the hanging of many Northerners who had thus far escaped suspicion of aiding the South. A more plausible explanation is the one that Shannon wrote to J. C. Witcher: “I have never had a desire to fly into print and get up controversies over matters that are so long past.”⁶¹  Unfortunately, because Shannon was a true gentlemen the full story of his unit’s activities will probably never be known.

FOOTNOTES

1.  R. L. Dunman, “One of Terry’s Texas Rangers,”  Confederate Veteran XXXI (March 1923), p. 102.  Being written well after the fact we must treat this account with circumspect.  Being a participant, Dunman was probably generally correct but he is demonstrably inaccurate in a number of details.  For instance, he identified Thomas Harrison as the commanding officer of the 8^th Texas when at the time Harrison was the brigade commander and Colonel Gustave Cook led the Rangers.

2.  Ibid; History of Texas: Together with a Biographical History of the Cities of Houston and Galveston (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1895), p. 449.  Henceforth cited as History of Texas.

3.  William R. Friend (?), “Terry’s Texas Rangers,” updated newsclipping from an unidentified newspaper, Shannon Family Papers; Enoch D. John, “Achievements of the Thirty Rangers,” Galveston Weekly News, March 8, 1865, p. 3; Tom Burney, “Experiences of Tom Burney,” unpublished manuscript quoted in Ray A. Walter, A History of Limestone County (Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1959), p. 51.  I am indebted to Mr. Michael Shannon of Houston, Texas for access to the Shannon Family Papers.  John’s article (originally a diary which he abstracted in a letter to his parents which they let the Galveston Weekly News publish) is the only detailed day by day account we have of the activities of Shannon’s Scouts.  Another news item in the Shannon Family Papers indicates that John’s diary was extant well after the war ended.  This researcher has long searched for it without success.  Burney’s manuscript has been located in the hands of his descendants.  Thus far they have declined making it available to researchers.

4.  History of Texas, p. 499; Returns of an Election held in the County of Karnes on the 23d day of February, A.D. 1861, Secretary of State Papers, Texas State Archives.  The author of Shannon’s biography in History of Texas stated that Shannon was opposed to secession and was one of seven to vote against it in Karnes County.  The Returns, however, show only one ballot cast against the measure.

5.  Letter, Alexander May Shannon to Granville B. and Unity Williams Shannon, January 10, 1864, Shannon Family Papers; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Texas (Washington: The National Archives, 1961), 8^th Texas Cavalry Regiment, A. M. Shannon File.  Henceforth cited as Compiled Service Records.

6.  Letter, Alexander May Shannon to Granville B. and Unity Williams Shannon, January 10, 1864; Letter, Robert Franklin Bunting to Editor Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph, January 11, 1864 in “Letters of Robert Franklin Bunting,” Henry Stanhop Bunting (ed.) (unpublished manuscript), University of Texas at Austin, Archives, Robert Franklin Bunting Papers.

7.  Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, Vol. II of the Centennial History of the Civil War (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1963), pp. 269-272.

8.  John M. Claiborne, “Secret Service for Gen. Hood,” Confederate Veteran IX (January 1901), p. 31.  Claiborne identified his host as Brigadier General Miller, the commissary.  He probably meant Brigadier General John Franklin Miller, commander of the Post of Nashville.  Brevett Brigadier General James Lowry Donaldson was the quartermaster at Nashville.  The reader is directed to War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armeis [Armies] (128 vols.; Washington, D.C.; Government Printing Office, 1880-1901), Series I, Vol. 45, Part I in passim for the organization of the Federal Army in and around Tennessee.  Henceforth cited as Official Records.

9.  Claiborne, op. cit. Claiborne’s account of his activities holds major problems for historians.  He did not publish them until forty years after the event when those who could have corroborated or challenged his testimony were dead.  His credentials are enhanced, however, by several other factors.  First and foremost he was interested and instrumental in recording the history of the Confederacy, especially the 8^th Texas Cavalry.  As early as 1882 he had edited and published the Muster Roll of Terry’s Texas Rangers with Historical Remarks for a reunion of that regiment in Galveston.  The pages of the Confederate Veteran often included letters and short articles by him.  This author is satisfied that he was generally accurate, if biased.  In addition, his use of exact dates and places indicates that he may have been working from source material for at least part of his story.  For several years this author has unsuccessfully searched for his descendants hoping to discover further sources for the study of this topic.

10.  S. B. Barron, “Wade’s Supernumary Scouts,” Confederate Veteran XI (March 1903), p. 115.

11.  “Stories of Scout Service,” Confederate Veteran XIII (January 1905), pp. 66-67.

12.  William R. Friend, “The Century, Gen. Hampton, and Capt. Friend,” updated newsclipping from an unidentified newspaper, Shannon Family Papers.  Friend claimed that his promotion had been sent to Richmond so he claimed the title “Captain.”  His parole in his jacket of the Compiled Service Records, however, shows that he was a lieutenant.

13.  John Edwin Bakeless, Spies of the Confederacy (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1970) pp. 205-242.

14.  Enoch D. John, Diary quoted in Kate Scurry Terrell “Terry’s Texas Rangers,” in A Comprehensive History of Texas 1685-1897 Dudley G. Wooten (ed.) (Dallas: William G. Scarff, 1898), p. 692.  Also quoted (with variations) William R. Friend (?), “Terry’s Texas Rangers,” updated newsclipping from an unidentified newspaper, Shannon Family Papers.

15.  “Inquiries for and about Veterans,” Confederate Veteran XXI (March 1913), p. 106.

16.  Enoch D. John, “Achievements of the Thirty Rangers,” op. cit.; Tom Burney, “Experiences of Tom Burney,” op. cit.

17.  Enoch D. John, “Achievements of the Thirty Rangers,” op. cit.  Note that this number does not correspond to the number reported taken since the last batch was sent away.

18.  The Confederate cavalryman was required to furnish his own mount.  Hence he often engaged in horse trading in addition to his regular duties.

19.  Enoch D. John, “Achievements of the Thirty Rangers,” op. cit.

20.  Reports of Officers and Citizens in Regard to Depredations Wheeler’s Cavalry were Falsely Charged, quoted in William Carey Dodson, Campaigns of Wheeler and his Cavalry, 1862-1865 from the Material Furnished by Gen. Joseph Wheeler to which is Added His Concise and Graphic Account of the Santiago Campaign of 1898 (Atlanta: Hudgins Publishing Company, 1899), p. 401.

21.  Report, Joseph Wheeler to Braxton Bragg, December 18, 1864, Official Records Vol. XLIV, p. 998.

22.  Reports of Officers and Citizens in Regard to Depredations Wheeler’s Cavalry were Falsely Charged, op. cit., p. 401.

23.  Letter, Robert Franklin Bunting to Editor, Tri-Weekly Telegraph, July 21, 1863, Bunting Papers.

24.  “inquiries for and about Veterans,” Confederate Veteran III (August 1895), p. 252; Report.  Alexander May Shannon to Joseph Wheeler, March 24, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 3, p. 684.

25.  Thomas M. Joplin, “Last Deeds of the Coleman Scouts,” Confederate Veteran IX (February 1901), p. 59.

26.  Virginia Barnes Woods, “Good Samaritan,” Confederate Veteran XXXI (July 1923), p. 274.

27.  Henry W. Graber, The Life Record of H. W. Graber, A Terry Texas Ranger (n.p.: no publisher, 1916), pp. 238-239.

28.  Enoch D. John, “Achievements of the Thirty Rangers,” op. cit.

29.  Graber, op. cit., pp. 239-240.

30.  Ibid., p. 239; Dunman, op. cit., p. 102.

31.  Burney, op. cit.

32.  Graber, op. cit., pp. 242-243.  See also Edward Kennedy, “Scouting with Wheeler,” Confederate Veterans XXVI (August 1918), p. 344.

33.  Terrell, op. cit., p. 692.

34.  Edward Kennedy, “Last Work of Wheeler’s Special Confederate Scouts,” Confederate Veteran XXXII (January 1924), p. 60.

35.  Ibid., Letter, Henry Clay Reynolds to Mary Reynolds, January 24, 1865, Henry Clay Reynolds Papers, Alabama Department of Archives and History.  Clay’s letter made no mention of Shannon so it may be taken that the meeting had to occur after that date.  No Lieutenant Wilson was found in the Compiled Service Records for the 11^th Texas Cavalry.  The last entries, however, were from early1864 so it is possible that one of the Wilson’s listed was promoted after that date.

36.  Letters, Henry Clay Reynolds to Mary Reynolds, October 23, 1864 and January 4, 1865, Henry Clay Reynolds Papers.

37.  Report, William W. Allen to M. G. Hudson, February 4, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 2, p. 1096.

38.  Report, Judson Kilpatrick to Lewis Mulford Dayton, February 33, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 2, p. 533; Letter, Judson Kilpatrick to Joseph Wheeler, Official Records XLVII Part 1, p. 860.

39.  Report, Joseph Wheeler to Judson Kilpatrick, February 22, 1865, Official Records XLVII Part 1, p. 860.

40.  Report, W. D. Pickett to Joseph Wheeler, February 9, 1865, Official Records XLVII Part 2, p. 1135; Joseph Wheeler, Synopsis from March 1 to April 15, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 1, p. 1132; Report, Robert D. Burns to T. C. Clay, June 20, 1864, Compiled Service Records, R. D. Burns File.

41.  Letter, Judson Kilpatrick to Joseph Wheeler, February 23, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 1, pp. 860-861.

42.  Edward Kennedy, “Last Work of Wheeler’s Special Confederate Scouts,” op. cit., p. 60.

43.  William Andrew Fletcher, Rebel Private Front and Rear, (Beaumont, Texas: Press of the Green Print, 1908), pp. 139-140.

44.  William Carey Dodson, “Wheeler on Sherman’s Flank in Georgia,” Confederate Veteran XI (December 1903), p. 582.

45.  Edward Kennedy, “Last Work of Wheeler’s Special Confederate Scouts,” op. cit., p. 60.

46.  Joseph Wheeler, Synopsis from March 1 to April 15, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 1, p. 1130; Dodson, Campaigns of Wheeler and His Cavalry, op. cit. pp. 343-344; E. H. McKnight, “Scouting with General Wheeler,” Confederate Veteran XIX (February 1911), p. 72; Edward Kennedy, “Scouting with Wheeler,” op. cit., p. 344; John Witherspoon DuBose, General Joseph Wheeler and the Army of Tennessee (New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1912), pp. 443-445.  On page 371 Dodson indicates that Shannon was wounded in this fight.  No other source found corroborates this, however.

47.  DuBose, op. cit. p. 450.

48.  Joseph Wheeler, Synopsis from March 1 to April 15, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 1, p. 1130; Report, Judson Kilpatrick to Lewis Mulford Dayton, March 11, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVIV Part 2, pp. 786-787; H. H. Scott, “Fighting Kilpatrick’s Escape,” Confederate Veteran XI (December 1903), P. 353; Edward Kennedy, “The Mills of the Gods,” Confederate Veteran XXXII (April 1924), p. 126; Letter, R. A. Jarmon to Alexander May Shannon, June 30, 1906, Shannon Family Papers; Samuel O. Young, “How General Forrest Failed in Attempt to Bluff Federal Officer,” undated Clipping, The Houston Chronicle, Shannon Family Papers.  Young related an incident in his article that is unverified by any other source and appears to be pure myth, but it may have been inspired by the attack on Kilpatrick’s camp.  Supposedly General James Birdseye McPherson offered a $5,000 reward for Shannon’s capture.  Shortly afterwards, Wheeler and Shannon met McPherson under a flag of truce.  (Observant readers will note the similarity of conditions under which Shannon and Kilpatrick allegedly met.)  During this meeting Shannon thanked McPherson for complimenting him with such a high bounty and announced that he now intended to capture McPherson without financial consideration.  Shortly afterwards, one night Shannon and twenty men surprised the general at his headquarters.  McPherson, so the story goes, escaped through the window in his night clothes but lost his uniform, papers, and sword to the Confederates.  No account of McPherson’s career can be found which even remotely resembles this incident.  To further argue against its authenticity is the fact that McPherson was killed in battle on July 22, 1864 shortly before Shannon’s Scouts came into existence.

49.  William R. Friend, “The Century, Gen. Hampton and Capt. Friend,” op. cit.

50.  Report, Alexander May Shannon to Joseph Wheeler, March 24, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 3, p. 684.

51.  Claiborne, Muster Roll of Terry’s Texas Rangers with Historical Remarks, Company C, Shannon Entry.

52.  History of Texas, p. 498.

53.  Report, Alexander May Shannon to Joseph Wheeler, March 24, 1865, Official Records Vol. XLVII Part 3, p. 684.

54.  DuBose, General Joseph Wheeler and the Army of Tennessee, pp. 454-455; Joplin, “Last Deeds of Coleman’s Scouts,” p. 59.

55.  Untitled Paragraph, Confederate Veteran V (August 1897), p. 419.

56.  Friend, “The Century, Gen. Hampton and Capt. Friend,” op. cit.

57.  Friend (?), “Last Months Service of Terry’s Texas Rangers,” op. cit.

58.  Kennedy, “Last Work of Wheeler’s Special Confederate Scouts,” op. cit., p. 60.

59.  Obituary of Col. A. M. Shannon, Confederate Veteran XV (February 1907), pp. 84-85.

60.  Kennedy, “Last Work of Wheeler’s Special Confederate Scouts,” op. cit., pp. 60-61.

61.  Young, “How General Forrest Failed in Attempt to Bluff Federal Officer,” op. cit.; quote from J. C. Witcher, “Shannon’s Scouts—Kilpatrick, Confederate Veteran XIV (October 1906), p. 511; Letter, Alexander May Shannon to Granville B. and Unity Williams Shannon, September 6, 187? (date not completed) Shannon Family Papers; Letter, R. A. Jarmon to Alexander May Shannon, June 30, 1906, Shannon Family Papers.  An interesting aside to this topic is the fact that this researcher has been unable to locate any paroles issued to any soldiers who were known to have been in Shannon’s Scouts.  Often paroles are included as part of the Compiled Service Records but a search of the Records of the 51^st Alabama, 3d Arkansas, 11^th Texas, and 8^th Texas failed to turn up any for Shannon’s men.

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