Union Prisoner of War Executed at Corinth When Gen. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee arrived in the vicinity of Savannah, Tennessee, with a multitude of transports, some local Union sympathizers were inspired by the presence of this strong force and joined Union regiments from northern states. Seventeen year old Christopher Stribling left the family farm to join the 12th Iowa Infantry at Savannah on March 15th along with local resident Hardy Clayton. Eventually one hundred fifty citizens of Savannah and the surrounding area volunteered for the Union army or gunboats. William C. Rolan, age 36, Simon S. Todd 21, and his friend 18 year old, George W. Shaffer walked from Lawrenceburg, Tennessee to Savannah and joined the 14th Iowa at Pittsburg Landing on March 28, 1862. Only one of them would make it back home. These men had earlier joined the 54th Tennessee Confederate Infantry Regiment which started organizing in Nashville in February 1862. The regiment had been disbanded after the fall of Fort Donelson and some of the men had been absorbed into the 48th Tennessee Infantry. These three apparently decided their sympathies were with the Union. Todd and Shaffer’s service records note them as absent without leave, but Rolan’s notes, “Deserted and joined Lincoln’s Army.” The Tennesseans serving with these Iowa units were all captured at Shiloh and marched as prisoners to Corinth. They were, no doubt, nervous about how they would be treated by the Confederates if discovered. When they reached Corinth someone who knew him pointed out Rolan as a former Confederate and he was taken from the group of prisoners and held in confinement. The other Tennesseans in the group were lucky enough to be taken along with the contingent of prisoners and escaped Rolan’s fate. On April 11, 1862, General Order No. 12 was issued by Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard commanding Gen. William Hardee to arrange for the execution of William Rowland (Rolan) at 4:00 PM the next day in front of a Tennessee Regiment. Private Sam Watkins who was visiting his friend Col. Jim Niel at the camp of the 23rd Tennessee Infantry witnessed the execution. “While at Colonel Niels marquee I saw a detail of soldiers bring out a man by the name of Rowland, whom they were going to shoot to death with musketry, by order of a court-martial, for desertion. I learned that he had served out the term for which he had originally volunteered, had quit our army and joined that of the Yankees, and was captured with Prentiss Yankee brigade at Shiloh. He was being hauled to the place of execution in a wagon, sitting on an old gun box, which was to be his coffin. When they got to the grave, which had been dug the day before, the water had risen in it, and a soldier was baling it out. Rowland spoke up and said, Please hand me a drink of that water, as I want to drink out of my own grave so the boys will talk about it when I am dead, and remember Rowland. They handed him the water and he drank all there was in the bucket, and handing it back asked them to please hand him a little more, as he had heard that water was very scarce in hell, and it would be the last he would ever drink. He was then carried to the death post, and there he began to cut up jack generally. He began to curse Bragg, Jeff. Davis, and the Southern Confederacy, and all the rebels at a terrible rate. He was simply arrogant and very insulting. I felt that he deserved to die. He said he would show the rebels how a Union man could die. I do not know what all he did say. When the shooting detail came up, he went of his own accord and knelt down at the post. The Captain commanding the squad gave the command, Ready, aim, fire! and Rowland tumbled over on his side. It was the last of Rowland.” Many men who were Union sympathizers were pressured into joining Confederate units. If they later joined Union units should they have been executed if captured? Pictures: Photos of later execution in Corinth, George Shaffer, the only one of three who would return to Lawrence County, Order No. 12 signed by Gen. Beauregard
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 01:00:00 +0000