The following history of the Harvey’s Scouts was written by Wiley Nash of Starkville MS in 1914, and generously contributed to this website by Patrick M. Harrison
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An authority,
General Stephen D. Lee wrote that, "They [Harvey’s Scouts] were everywhere,
conspicuous for activity, enterprise and persistence," The Scouts have been described
by General Sherman as a "bunch of hornets," and thus made life miserable for the
Union forces.
The Scouts originally consisted of twenty-five men, selected from Wirt Adams’ Regiment of Cavalry for special service under the command of Captain Addison Harvey of Canton, Mississippi. Soon, Capt. Harvey had demonstrated his unique capacity and aptitude for leadership and the scouts were increased to forty men, all carefully picked from Adams’ and Ballantine’s Cavalry and from the 28th Mississippi Infantry. They were chiefly from Mississippi from different counties but mostly from Madison County.
A part of Harvey’s command was constantly on the scout for information. They were armed with Spenser Rifles, short guns that repeat eight times, and two pistols each that carried six charges. Thus, each man had twenty shots and the Spenser Rifles could be reloaded on the run. The sabre was generally discarded, because they were in the way when a soldier dismounted. When they were on secret service scouting for information, generally two of them went together. The second man was to give assistance in case the first was wounded or to hold the horses while the other made his reconnaissance on foot. These scouts were not expected to fight but to get the information speedily and quietly as possible and report to the captain, avoiding all contact with other fighting situations.
An example of these activities is the Georgia campaign of 1864 when Robert Hooks, an expert, was on a scout alone. Striking the main road, he found himself confronting a Federal trooper scouting, he presumed, like himself. Each saw the other, an enemy between themselves and their command and Hooks cried out "surrender." The other responded "surrender yourself," and with pistols leveled, they charged on each other. Hook’s pistol missed fire. The other fired as he passed and Hooks fell with a bullet in his breast. Hooks, however, was soon able to report for duty.
On another occasion, Lt. Lee was under cover near the road watching a passing command of Union cavalry. After they had all passed as he supposed, he dropped back into the road to return to camp with his report. He had taken the precaution before entering the highway to cock his pistol, and carried it in his right hand concealed by his overcoat. He had not proceeded fifty yards when on a sudden curve in the road, he found himself within fifty steps of a Federal officer. They saw each other at about the same moment and each saw his precarious situation . . . an enemy in the front and an enemy in the rear. They approached each other at a walk with no hostility or excitement and a bystander would have thought they were two friends about to have a chat. As they met, the Union officer quickly leveled his pistol and said "surrender." Lee for a moment thought he was a goner but a glance showed him that his adversary’s pistol was not cocked. He immediately fired. Later that next day, a Union army detachment passed up the road and found the officer severely wounded.
The second part of scouting was the capture of couriers and courier-lines. The scout had to be wide awake at all times for they have to worm their way into command lines, break up command posts, kill sentinels and seize the couriers. To do this was difficult and dangerous. During the Georgia campaign, near Stilesboro, several couriers were captured and very important information obtained. Capt. Harvey with twenty men under cover of a dark night, penetrated the enemy’s camp, seized the couriers as they passed from one corps to another and made their way out unobserved. The information proved very valuable and the object was to get it to headquarters with dispatch and safety. Some of the captured papers would be read, others were in cipher.
Captain Harvey made it a rule to keep always on hand, some thirty men to move together as emergencies occurred. With these, he was generally able, by an unexpected onslaught to "tear down every thing before him" unless there, sometimes, as the boys would say, "he cut off too large a slice" and then he always made good his retreat, fighting so desperately that they never followed him far. Some of the hardest fighting of the war, some of the most brilliant passages of arms, transpired when Addison Harvey and his handful of heros were falling back before overwhelming numbers.
When scouting was done by squads or detachments, which generally involved some desperate fighting, often against heavy odds, the peril was greatly increased. It was not the object of a scouting party to fight. The object was information for the commanding general, and it was the policy to avoid a fight unless it became inevitable by sudden contact, and retreat impractical.
When General Hood was swinging around in rear of Atlanta, just before he turned his troops toward Tennessee, Harvey’s Scouts were on duty day and night reporting the movements of the enemy. One night, the Scouts struck Etowah River ten miles above Rome, which was then occupied by invaders. Captain Harvey had three objects: First, to introduce an intelligence fellow into Rome, to learn what force was there and whether they were reinforcing or evacuating; Second, he proposed to tear up the railroad on the north side of the river and, if possible, capture a train; Third, to cut the telegraph wire and thus interrupt Sherman’s communications between Rome and Atlanta.
Under cover of night, Harvey marched to the river at a point where the railroad ran along the bank; he sent off his two special scouts to pry up a number of rails, and took convenient cover to seize the train when it arrived. No train came. The enemy had already, by some means, heard of the break in the railway. During the night the Federals came up and secretly posted a strong detachment of infantry.
At daylight Harvey was determined to send over a sergeant and four men to cut the telegraph wire and on their return, the Scouts would withdraw from the area. The party sailing a rough float over the river were within twenty yards of the northern bank when the Federal infantry, concealed in a thicket, opened fire upon them. One man was killed and the sergeant, who was standing up, was shot through the thigh and fell into the river. He, however, managed to catch the gunwale of the boat, as it was being turned toward the southern shore. The enemy poured in their fire, splintering the boat and twice wounding Corporal Portwood and killing J. Catlett, a brave and gallant man. Meanwhile, Capt. Harvey opened fire on the Federal force and under his fire, the scouting party in the boat made their escape.
When Major Muldrow’s squadron of Wirt Adams’ Cavalry made their gallant charge at Champion Hill, led by the Major in person, it happened that a squad of Harvey’s men were reconnoitering the enemy at the point where this charge was made. They at once fell in and took part in the attack.
During Sherman’s raid on Meridian, Thomas Field was alone on a scout near Hillsboro. Finding that a fight was about to take place with the advance guard, he pressed his way to the front, distinguished himself by his valor and was left dead where he fought.
On another occasion, John Morrow was scouting around the enemy in Alabama when a Texas regiment came up and prepared for a charge. He promptly took position at the front and while in the act of shooting his adversary, was shot dead. This brave fellow was a mere boy, but a lion in battle.
When Gen. Sherman invaded Atlanta, Capt. Harvey and the Scouts were operating in his rear. After an exhaustive march of four days, about daybreak, Harvey reached the railroad far in the rear of Atlanta. They hitched their horses to a fence that was overrun with vines and briars that concealed those on one side of the fence from those on the other side. This fence struck the railroad at right angles. The horses were tied up. The Scouts went down the railroad and concealed themselves behind another fence that ran immediately down the railroad - a portion of the rails was broken up to throw a passing train.
About 10:00 a.m. Harvey’s men, completely in ambush discovered a detachment of infantry marching down the railroad, under a lieutenant. The Captain wanted to capture them without a fight as the nearest Federal post was only a mile off. So he ordered a corporal who was posted nearest the approaching Federals, to rise up when they got opposite him and demand their immediate surrender - no man was to fire unless the enemy began it. When the Federals reached the proper point, the corporal rose and called out "surrender." To this the Federals answered by preparing for action. The Scouts being quite ready, poured in a general volley and the whole Federal command was killed, wounded or captured. The prisoners were sent immediately where the Scouts horses were tied to the fence.
Knowing that they would soon be pursued, Capt. Harvey gave orders to tear up the railroad, so as to give the Scouts time to get away. While they were working, Capt. Harvey suddenly sang out "mount." As they leaped from the railroad break, they saw on the other side of the fence, opposite where they had tied their horses, some 60 yards away, a line of infantry emerging from a dense thicket and advancing in the order of battle. As the Scouts made for the horses, their captain in the lead, the Federals opened a heavy rolling fire, advancing all the while. The Scouts were not permitted to fire, the one object was to save the horses that were between the enemy and nearer to the Union forces that to the Scouts. The Scouts pressed forward under fire, mounted and made off for the nearest shelter, without halting to even say goodby.
No account was kept of the enemy killed and captured by the Scouts while fighting in Georgia. following Gen. Hood in Tennessee or when pursuing Wilson’s command which left Eastport on its famous raid just before the surrender. But, the following is very near the mark:
Harvey’s charges into Jackson, Ms., killing Col. Cromwell
capturing 28 of his men.Total 29
Killed in the fight at Natchez Total 40
Killed and captured in Sherman's campaign to Meridian Total 138
Killed and captured in Sherman's Georgia Campaign Total 1300
Total 1507
The Scouts were a remarkable group. Their country invaded by an overwhelming army, their strongest defenses seized, their dwellings and towns burned, their plantations devastated and their defenders slain, their slaves, whom they held under the guarantees of the constitution, forcibly emancipated and armed, and officered to make war upon them - is it surprising that in the agony of despair, they should resort to war.
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