Polston Civil War Stories Handed-Down by Word of Mouth

The following story of the past was told by our Uncle Douglas Poston (Stephen Douglas Poston 1866-1953). He was stubborn about using the "L" in the last name; insisting to the last it should not be spelled "POLSTON" shortly before his death. My sister, Elizabeth, and I went to visit him while he lay ill. His memory was keen and sharp concerning dates and names. He related several stories of the past, especially those concerning our Grandfather Polston (Andrew M. Polston or Grandpap as most of the grandchildren called him) and the Civil War.

One story was especially interesting:

Grandfather Polston enlisted at the age of 30, in Sherman’s Army, when President Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers to help preserve the Union, in 1864. The union was in bad shape; it looked for a while Jefferson Davis and Lee might succeed in splitting the nation.

He told us of Sherman’s Army marching sixty miles abreast to the south carrying their guns and rifles, and of our grandfather with many of his neighbors, relatives and friends marching with him. They reached the state of Georgia and pitched camp on a large plantation. The owner was a rich rebel sympathizer and slave owner. On this plantation was an orchard, with hundreds of fruit trees, loaded with ripe fruit. The landowner promptly rode out on his horse and warned the soldiers not to touch the fruit. General Sherman had also issued strict orders to his men to conduct themselves honorably and to abide by Army regulations, which prohibited stealing. However, the boys of Sherman would take a few apples or peaches during the night; the temptation was too great. They had eaten nothing but beans, bacon, and coffee during the march. They had had no time to stop and prepare fresh vegetables or sweets, and they were practically starved for fruits and vegetables.

The soldiers also had access to a deep well on the plantation, which they used for drinking water for themselves and their horses. About three days after they had pitched camp, many of the soldiers became seriously ill. It was found, after testing, the well had been poisoned. Many regimental doctors were called in by Sherman to take care of the men. Some died in spasms. When Sherman learned the cause, his anger was roused and gave the soldiers permission to take anything on the plantation that was edible.

Grandfather Polston told how they proceeded to eat up the chickens, pigs, and geese. They dug the vegetables out of the ground, picked the fruit, and when they found they couldn’t eat all of the corn, they cut it down and fed it to their horses and mules. One of the slaves told them of a cache of oats hidden in the woods, which they searched out and found and then carried that away and loaded on their wagons to use as feed for the animals.

The only living creature on the plantation they didn’t kill and eat was an old gander who fought them with such cunning and courage all over the barnyard, the fields, and in and out of the corn-fields and barns, that they voted to keep him as a pet and mascot. When they marched into Atlanta, the old gander was perched on top of the biggest cannon in the parade.

General Sherman’s home was Atlanta, Georgia. He had fled to the north when war broke out and volunteered his services as he was violently opposed to the splitting of the nation. His sister lived in Atlanta when he led his victorious Army down the main street. He was a true gentleman and issued orders to his men to unload their guns and turn in their ammunition to their officers -- there would be no more blood shed in Atlanta, if he could prevent it.

The Confederate Army had fled or died. The streets were empty, the houses were closed, shutters fastened and no one remained behind except the women and children to see Sherman’s Army marching into Atlanta.

Suddenly, buckets of boiling water were thrown from second story windows by the women and children onto the tattered, worn remnants of Sherman’s Army marching slowly down the street. They continued marching - only a curse was heard now and then by one of the tired soldiers. Grandfather said if the General hadn’t taken their bullets someone would surely have been killed. He (Grandfather) looked up towards the General, who riding his horse led the troops, and saw he had been drenched with the boiling water thrown into his face. Blisters now covered the General’s face and neck, but he looked straight ahead and continued on, his back straight, his head up.

Grandfather said afterwards that that must have been the time when General Sherman decided "War is Hell!"

Another story Uncle Douglas (Stephen Douglas Poston) told us that day:

Everybody was at church in the Valley about six or seven o’clock. During a lull in the services, they heard a rider come tearing down the road. (It must have been a lull - when the shouting Methodist sang and prayed, you couldn’t hear a cannon go off within ten feet! When they worshipped God, they wanted Him to hear them. No excuses tolerated! They were good people.) The rider was shouting at the top of his lungs, "They just caught Jeff Davis! Came in over the wire at Munfordville, at the depot!" Everybody came running out of the church, clapping their hands, and asking questions. The bearer of this news told how Jeff Davis had tried to Slip Across the border into Canada, in women’s clothes, riding a horse. But somebody had noticed the "woman" had on Calvary boots, and they captured him, then and there.

Ruth Polston Denkler

On November 26, 1999, Fredrick Walker Polston shared the above document with me and gave permission to add this to our Polston/Poston Family WebSite. Thanks! Fred.

Fascinating stories from the Civil War. No doubt the stories were true as told from the perspective of a soldier who had served under Sherman, reflecting the propaganda of the time, but the stories were slightly different from fact.

Major General Sherman actually had lived in Louisiana, and was the headmaster for a military college (which later became LSU!) He had lived in California prior to this, working as a banker, upon leaving the Army. He was a West Point graduate, and had served earlier in Florida and California.

While teaching military science in Louisiana, between semesters, he had also traveled extensively over the south and these trips later became the basis for his strategy to battle the rebels. Although Sherman's name is often put in the same league as Attila the Hun, at least in the South, he was actually the first modern warfare general the world had ever seen. Unlike Grant and Lee, in their battles in Virginia and Pennsylvania, Sherman, in his maneuverings in the West, preferred to avoid direct warfare, battling instead the Southern Psyche instead of the Southern Armies. On even his famous March to the Sea, the number of casualties were minimal. Only one engagement in the March to the Sea, against what turned out to be a rag-tag army of old men and young men who boldly tried to oppose the Union Army, resulted in any significant deaths. Other than that, there were no casualties. Sherman chose to fight on the basis of destroying the means to conduct war, rather than simply to kill large numbers of enemy soldiers and to lose many of his own soldiers. He was careful to destroy only the infrastructure needed to wage war, rather than personal property.

Thanks for the stories! They were fascinating!

(For additional information on this time period and on Sherman, check out my webpage listed below. It is starting to look like that I had almost every male ancestor alive at the time serving under Sherman!)

BY: Gary Bastin gbastin@cfl.rr.com

Thanks! Gary for the informative comments related to the Family Civil War Stories.

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