At the South Side Christmas party last night, the subject of one of my earliest columns came up.
It was the story of the encounter 155 years ago between a Confederate soldier and a Union soldier during fighting around West Point, Mississippi. Though the incident happened in February, it was suggested that this was a story worth retelling this Christmas, considering all of the political animosity that floods the news today.
It was late February of 1864 and fighting had been occurring all around West Point. Union Gen. William “Sooy” Smith had led 7,000 troops from Memphis into Mississippi to lay waste to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and Confederate supply depots, including the huge supply complex at Columbus. By Feb. 20, his soldiers were in West Point.
His primary goal was to link up with Gen. William T. Sherman near Meridian, after having destroyed the railroad and Confederate supplies from Okolona to Meridian. In the process, Smith would also burn private homes and barns. The strip of the Black Prairie from south of Tupelo to Macon was called the “bread basket of the Confederacy” because of its great corn production. Smith intended to eliminate it as a source of Confederate supplies.
An alternative goal for Smith was set out in an Oct. 8, 1863, letter Gen. Grant sent to Gen. Hurlburt at Memphis. Grant told of the deployment of troops to Oxford, toward “Oakalona” and of plans to attack Canton and Jackson. He then wrote: “Columbus, Miss. is a point of vast importance to the army and if threatened would necessarily cause the enemy to detain a large force at that point. The Cavalry will try to create the impression that they are going thru.” Grant saw threats to the massive Confederate manufacturing facilities and supply depot at Columbus as an effective means to tie up Confederate troops defending Columbus and thereby open up other important Confederate centers for attack.
As Smith moved his troops into West Point, Confederate Gen. N.B. Forrest was gathering his forces along Chuquatonchee Creek near the Ellis Bridge three miles west of town. Forrest had also dispatched Col. Tyree Bell to protect the Waverly Crossing on the Tombigbee River, Gen. Gholson to Hulka Creek Bottom between West Point and Houston, and Col. Jeffery Forrest to Tibbee Creek Bottom. The 6th Mississippi Cavalry was ordered to protect the Tombigbee crossing at Cotton Gin Port near Amory, but were diverted to Judge Calvert’s farm on the Houston Road to scout Chuquatonchee Creek in case Gen. Smith tried to outflank Forrest’s men at Ellis Bridge.
Gen. Forrest’s scattered troops covered all the important river and creek crossings around West Point but totaled fewer than 6,000 men. However, Gen. S.D. Lee was quickly coming up from the south to reinforce him.
Smith became worried that he might be trapped in West Point with Confederate forces on three sides. He then made an unsuccessful assault on the Confederate lines at Ellis Bridge. At about the same time, he began withdrawing his troops back north toward Okolona. There would be skirmishing all the way to Okolona, where a larger battle would later be fought.
While all of this was going on, both sides had scouts out attempting to determine the enemy’s movements. Many of the Union troops were retreating up North Division Street in West Point. Along a fence row near the street just north of town, in the area where a TVA substation is now located, one of those strange occurrences of war happened.
John Young of the Confederate 8th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment (who was from the West Point area) had been sent to scout the Union troop movements. He hid behind a fence near the road in order to survey the landscape. He slowly rose up to look over the fence.
Unknown to him, a Union soldier from the 2nd Iowa Cavalry Regiment, William Rooker, was concealed on the other side of the fence. Both rose up at the same time to take a look around. Young and Rooker found themselves looking “eyeball to eyeball” at each other.
Totally startled and not knowing what to do, they simply introduced themselves and shook hands. They then began talking. Rooker stated, “If God lets me live through this war, when it is over, I am coming back. It’s the prettiest place I have seen.” They then decided that as they had “no personal antagonism” they would each withdraw peacefully.
Rooker survived the war and he did move to West Point. He bought a farm just north of town near where he had encountered a Confederate soldier along a fence. Shortly after arriving he attended Sunday services at West Point’s First Christian Church. There he found John Young, the former Confederate soldier he had once encountered “eyeball to eyeball.” The two former combatants became close friends, having shared a unique wartime experience.
In a final twist, Rooker’s daughter, Amy, ended up marrying Young’s son, James. James later became mayor of West Point. He and Amy had a daughter, Vira, who married David Calvert. During the fighting in 1864, the Confederate 6th Mississippi Cavalry had camped at Judge Calvert’s farm.
Sometimes a true story is better than any fiction and sometimes such a story can teach us a valuable lesson about people. While discussing this story with Carolyn Kaye, she told me of a story she had recently come across that involved another Iowa soldier and an act of kindness during the Civil War. That story too had probably occurred in West Point. The story was in a letter to the editor of the Columbus Weekly Dispatch in 1904. Carolyn will send it again as a letter to the Dispatch editor.
This Christmas let us leave politics to politicians and remember that just because we might see the world differently than someone else, that is no reason for personal animosity.
Merry Christmas and God Bless.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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