Mr. Albright, from the Committee on Military Affairs, submitted the
following REPORT :
[To accompany bill H. R. 2536]
The Committee on Military Affairs, to whom was referral the bill (H. R.
2536) for the relief of the heirs of John W. Duff, beg leave to make the
following report :
Margaret T. Duff, widow of John W. Duff, alleges that her husband was an
enlisted member of Company 13, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, but before being
fully mustered in the United States service, and while on recruiting duty
in East Tennessee, he was captured by the enemy and taken to Andersonville
prison, where he died, in May, 1864. The widow now claims back-pay,
bounty, and pension. The case is one of extreme hardship, and also one of
great merit. That there may be no misunderstanding about the case, the
committee propose to state the proof upon which they base their report.
There is no evidence in the War Department showing that John W. Dull" was
a member of Company F, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry. His name does not appear
on any rolls, nor is there any record-evidence of his having performed any
military service. An answer to these facts and an explanation thereof are
given in a petition numerously signed by some of the cavalrymen of Hawkins
County, Tennessee. They state, "that during the late civil war, while East
Tennessee was held by the rebels, officers of the Union Army and others in
the employ of the (Government came into East Tennessee for the purpose of
recruiting for the Army of the United States." * * * "Frequently men were
thus enlisted, and were either killed on the march to the Union lines in
Kentucky, or were captured and confined in the prisons of the South until
they died; and that in many such cases the officers forming the company,
or recruiting, failed, on their arrival in Kentucky, to report the names
of the men captured or killed on the way, and, as a consequence, there is
no record-evidence of their enlistment, death, or capture."
Margaret T. Duff, the widow, swears "that her husband, John W. Duff,
enlisted as a private in Company 13, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, at
McMinnville, Tenn., on or about the 7th of August, 1863; that ho went
thence to Nashville, where his regiment was organizing," &c.
George W. Bridges makes affidavit that, in the month of August, 1863,he
was captain of Company A, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers and then in
camp at Nashville, Tenn., where said regiment was then forming, there
being no other portion of said regiment yet mustered into service beyond
Company A; that on or about the 9th day of August, 1863, one John W. Duff,
of Polk County, Tennessee, was brought to Nashville, with others, as an
enlisted man for Company 13, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, by R. H. Croft, a
recruiting officer, and was duly admitted as such under proper enlistment
-papers. A few weeks afterward, and before any of said Company 13 was yet
mustered into service, the said Duff, in company with Wm. P. Story,
afterward major of the same regiment, was, by authority of Andrew Johnson,
then military governor of Tennessee, sent back to East Tennessee, to raise
recruits for said regiment. The said John W. Dull' never returned to the
regiment, and was reported captured while on the mission aforesaid."
The affidavit of John C. Duff states:
I -was for twenty years personally well acquainted with the late John W,
Dull; who was a private of Company B, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers,
of which company this deponent was, during the rebellion, first lieutenant
and also captain, duly commissioned. The said John W. Dull" was born in
Monroe County, Tennessee; was. at the lime of his enlistment as above,
thirty-three years old; was six feet one inch in height, fair complexion,
hazel eyes, light hair, and by occupation, when enrolled, a farmer. The
said .John W. Duff enlisted into Company B, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry
Volunteers, at the same time with this deponent, under K. H. Croft,
recruiting officer, at McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee, on the 7th
day of August, 1863, where and when we procured Government transportation,
and were taken to Nashville, Tenn., where we underwent the usual
examination at that time, and were properly assigned, drew military
clothing, and went on duty in camps. At that time the Tenth Tennessee*
Cavalry was just forming, and, as deponent now remembers, no members of
companies had been mustered except in Company A. In the latter part of
August or early in .September, and before any recruits for Company B had
been mustered, the said: John W. Dull", in company with William P. Story,
afterward captain of Company B, and subsequently major of the regiment,
was duly authorized by Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee, to
proceed back to East Tennessee and enlist men fur the Tenth Tennessee
Cavalry, and pilot them to Nashville. This they did. the work being at
that time an arduous and dangerous one-East Tennessee being then held by
the enemy, and infested by rebel bands of guerrillas and bushwhackers. The
said John W. Duff was duly reported as captured by the enemy while engaged
in said service, on or about the 7th day of December, 1863, in Polk
County, Tennessee, with his official papers on his person, carried to
Dalton, Georgia, where he barely escaped execution, and was carried to
rebel prison, and deponent is informed and believes died in Andersonville,
in May, (.8(54. The said Story is now dead, having died of wounds received
at the battle. of Nashville, December 15, 1864, deponent being an
eye-witness of his wounding.
Through the want of a full knowledge of military details on the part of
his officers, the name of said John W. Duff was not carried on the
company-rolls as an unmustered recruit. * * * Deponent further avers of
his own knowledge that the enlistment-papers of the said Duff, deceased,
were originally, at the time of his enlistment, properly made out in "
triplicate ;" that when deponent had command of the said Company B, while
first lieutenant, and as captain, he saw the said enlistment-papers in the
company desk, at Nashville, Tenn.; that he was not then a ware of their
importance, and that the same were left in said desk, at Nashville, at the
time the company was mustered out; but with what officer, or of what rank
organization, deponent does not know.
"William L. Blankenship, in his affidavit, says:
That he was, during the late war, a private of Battery B, First Regiment
Tennessee Light Artillery; that ho enlisted on or about the 15th day of
April, 1862; was captured February 1, 1864, and held as a prisoner of war
by the rebels in Andersonville, Ga., and Florence, S. C, until about the
middle of April, 1865, when he was released; that while in Andersonville
prison, he was well acquainted with John W. Dull, of Company B, Tenth
Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers, then late of Polk County, Tennessee. Said
Duff was in Andersonville when deponent was taken there, and had chronic
diarrhea, contracted in prison. Deponent entered Andersonville prison on
or about the 4th day of May, 1864, and remained with Duff till ho died,
which was on or about the 18th day of May, 1864, and deponent believes
that the name of said Dull' must have been reported upon the Andersonville
dead-roll, as he saw his grave, and knows it was marked with his name,
company, and regiment. Deponent knew the said Duff" at home in Polk
County, Tennessee, before lie enlisted, and knows that he was an
able-bodied, sound, and healthy man, and that the disease of which he died
must have been contracted in a rebel prison. Duff told deponent that he
had been captured while recruiting and convoying men to his regiment. '
None of these witnesses, except the widow, have any interest in the case.
Here is cumulative evidence of the service and death of a patriot for his
country. His name is not on the rolls of any company, nor on the rolls in
the War Department; but it would be cruel mockery of justice, for this
reason, with the evidence before the committee, to deny to the widow and
orphan children of John W. Duff back pay, bounty, and pension. The
committee, therefore, report the accompanying bill, and recommend that it
be passed.
|
