My wife gave me a DNA test for Christmas last year, and since then, I've developed an appetite to learn more about my ancestors. Over the past few months, I feel like I've finally gotten to know Henry Fortenberry, my great-great grandfather, just a little bit. Here is his story:
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| Alabama 48th Soldier John P. Alldredge served in Company A. Henry served in Company H. I do not have a photo of Henry. |
Like his ancestors before him, my great-great grandfather, Henry Fortenberry, was a survivor.
The surgeon reported that William received a gunshot wound that fractured his upper left arm. The ball entered William’s arm on the outside and exited on the inside, badly injuring the bone. His arm was amputated, and William was captured and transferred to Louisville two days later to recover. He was forwarded as a prisoner of war to the Union’s Military Prison at Louisville on February 10, 1865, transferred to Rock Island, Illinois on February 18, 1865, transferred again to New Orleans for a prisoner exchange on May 3, 1865 and was released May 23, 1865. A different account of Williams’ imprisonment has him at Natchez, Mississippi rather than New Orleans and his release date is listed as May 27, 1865.
William served at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Resaca before suffering his injury at Nashville. In an attempt to pull Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman from his march through Georgia to the sea, Confederate General John Bell Hood moved troops to Nashville to interrupt Sherman’s supply line. Sherman didn’t bite, but he did send George H. Thomas, the “Rock of Chickamauga,” with two corps from the Army of the Cumberlands to Nashville.
A severe ice storm halted operations until December 15. When the weather broke, the Union soldiers, members of the United States Colored Troops, moved out of their ice-covered entrenchments along Murfreesboro Road to pin the Confederate right. They were peppered with Confederate rifle fire and many of those African American soldiers lost their lives. One soldier wrote of the battle, “Where were those men’s officers? I did not see a single white body on that field.”
Other Union troops did succeed, keeping the Alabama 19th and their fellow soldiers pinned and eventually drove them South.
It was during this first day of battle that William suffered the wound that cost him his left arm.
The Battle of Nashville raged for two more days before the Union Army won. William was among 4,350 Confederate soldiers injured or killed that day. (www.historynet.com/battle-of-nashville)
According to the National Park Service:
While the generals planned their next moves, the men lay down in the mud and rocks trying to get some sleep. The bands of both armies played tunes to raise the men’s spirits. It was during this "battle of the bands" that one of the most poignant moments of the war occurred. Sam Seay of the First Tennessee Infantry described what happened that evening.
“Just before ‘tattoo’ the military bands on each side began their evening music. The still winter night carried their strains to great distance. At every pause on our side, far away could be heard the military bands of the other. Finally, one of them struck up ‘Home Sweet Home.’ As if by common consent, all other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies as far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain. Who knows how many hearts were bold the next day by reason of that air?”
The 48th fought at a series of high profile Civil War battles, the ones we would later study in American history class. The first combat was at Cedar Run, Virginia, on August 9, 1862. Henry was one of 73 soldiers injured at the battle that was also ominously known as Slaughter’s Mountain.
The Confederate rebels won the battle, which aimed to capture the rail junction at Gordonsville. The victory shifted fighting to Northern Virginia, but Henry wasn’t there. He missed three weeks of fighting while he recovered from his wound at the Confederate Army hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia.
According to the National Park Service:
“On September 4, 1862, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia splashed across the Potomac River into Maryland at White's Ford. During the next few days, Lee's Confederates settled in around the town of Frederick.
“With his invasion, Lee expected some 14,000 Federal troops garrisoning Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg to withdraw northward.” But that didn’t happen.
In response, Gen. Lee divided his Army of 23,000 soldiers into four parts with Stonewall Jackson leading the assault on Harper’s Ferry. In response to Jackson’s cannon fire, Union General A.P. Hill wrote that there was “not a place where you could lay the palm of your hand and say it was safe.”
On September 15, the Union commanders surrendered, waving their white flags at 9 a.m. Gen. Jackson captured more than 12,700 Union soldiers that day, the largest single capture of Union forces during the war, and Henry was there.
Henry and the rest of the 48th received no rest. After Harper’s Ferry, the moved on to Antietam, where 10 soldiers lost their lives and another 33 were wounded as one captain was killed, another was wounded and a third was captured.
Henry and his fellow soldiers fought at Suffolk and made their way to Pennsylvania, where they were ordered to Gettysburg. Law’s Brigade, as they were known, was assigned outpost duty, but first, they had to get there.
The only way for Henry and the rest of the 48th to get to the battlefield from their post in Guildford was to march.
“It was from here that the men began what Private W.C. Ward called ‘the most fatiguing march of the war.’ Captain R. Coles of the 4th Alabama ordered the brigade to Gettysburg. They were on the road at 2 a.m. and by daybreak the men were climbing South Mountain. The men never stopped, marching 28 miles in 11 hours, with empty canteens.” (confederatebrigades.tripod.com/lawsbrigade/)
Gen. Longstreet wrote that it was “the best marching done in either army to reach the field of Gettysburg.”
“Despite their exhaustion after their march to the battlefield, Law’s Brigade performed remarkably well. The 48th and the Alabama 44th were instrumental in driving the Union line from Devil’s Den and assisted in capturing several pieces of battery. A monument to the Alabamians stands today at Gettysburg battlefield, remembering Henry, not by name, and his fellow Alabamians.
A few months later, Henry and his fellow rebels made their way to Tennessee. Union troops had taken control of Loudon, Sweetwater, Kingston, Lenoirs, Knoxville and Maryville. The Confederates were in control of Chattanooga. Under the leadership of Gen. James Longstreet was charged with retaking east Tennessee for the Confederacy, and Henry was among the soldiers charged with this task.
In the fall of 1863 Longstreet and his troops departed Chattanooga. Most of the soldiers were forced to make the march on foot because the railroads were in bad shape. As they made their way north, the Union army withdrew to Philadelphia, Tenn. At the end of an all-day battle, the Confederate soldiers had completely routed the Union troops, capturing hundreds of prisoners and all of their supplies and equipment. It was here that Henry sustained a second shot to the neck that also badly injured his shoulder. This was the injury that cost Henry the use of his arm.
Even if it did permanently disable his left arm, this was not the end of his service. Henry’s pension statement indicates he saw battle and was captured at Lynchburg, Va. and eventually was part of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the infamous war between brothers. (https://vanshaver.com/ civilwarinloudoncounty.htm)
Life was hard for Charles and Alsey Fortenberry, when Henry, their second child was born. They were living in Spartanburg, South Carolina with two-year-old Isaac, their first born.
America was reeling from the Panic of 1837, an economic depression that closed banks and cost many Americans their wealth. And, food was sparse following a severe drought in 1838, the worst ever recorded in the South.
One year later, the year Henry was born, the last of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians were entering their new tribal lands on the last leg of the Trail of Tears. Thousands of Native Americans died while making the treacherous journey, and President Van Buren knew his country was hurting.
He didn’t know it then, but Henry would endure his own trail of tears in the not-too-distant future. Within a decade of the Cherokee Indians vacating their homeland, American families, including the Fortenberrys, were taking their place, moving into Georgia and Alabama. By the time Henry was 10, Charles and Alsey had moved to Cherokee County, Alabama with his growing family, which now consisted, of sons Isaac, Henry, William Gaston and new baby brother Charles Ebenezer.
Just 12 years later, in 1862, the three oldest Fortenberry brothers volunteered to fight against the Yankees in the War Between the States. They could not have known then the pain and injuries that soon would follow. America again was divided, and unknown to them the Fortenberrys were fighting against their cousins who had remained in New Jersey or migrated to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.
Isaac, a year or so older than Henry, and William, a couple of years younger, enlisted with the Alabama 19th at Cedar Bluff. Henry, who had already married and started a family, volunteered with the 48th Infantry. All three suffered injuries during their service, Henry and William both lost use of an arm.
He didn’t know it then, but Henry would endure his own trail of tears in the not-too-distant future. Within a decade of the Cherokee Indians vacating their homeland, American families, including the Fortenberrys, were taking their place, moving into Georgia and Alabama. By the time Henry was 10, Charles and Alsey had moved to Cherokee County, Alabama with his growing family, which now consisted, of sons Isaac, Henry, William Gaston and new baby brother Charles Ebenezer.
Just 12 years later, in 1862, the three oldest Fortenberry brothers volunteered to fight against the Yankees in the War Between the States. They could not have known then the pain and injuries that soon would follow. America again was divided, and unknown to them the Fortenberrys were fighting against their cousins who had remained in New Jersey or migrated to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.
Isaac, a year or so older than Henry, and William, a couple of years younger, enlisted with the Alabama 19th at Cedar Bluff. Henry, who had already married and started a family, volunteered with the 48th Infantry. All three suffered injuries during their service, Henry and William both lost use of an arm.
William Gaston Fortenberry injured at Nashville
We know from his application for a war pension that William was wounded at Nashville. William enlisted on Aug. 14, 1861. He was shot in the left arm and captured in Nashville near the end of the way, on December 15, 1864. This would be a Christmas to remember, but not fondly, for William.The surgeon reported that William received a gunshot wound that fractured his upper left arm. The ball entered William’s arm on the outside and exited on the inside, badly injuring the bone. His arm was amputated, and William was captured and transferred to Louisville two days later to recover. He was forwarded as a prisoner of war to the Union’s Military Prison at Louisville on February 10, 1865, transferred to Rock Island, Illinois on February 18, 1865, transferred again to New Orleans for a prisoner exchange on May 3, 1865 and was released May 23, 1865. A different account of Williams’ imprisonment has him at Natchez, Mississippi rather than New Orleans and his release date is listed as May 27, 1865.
William served at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Resaca before suffering his injury at Nashville. In an attempt to pull Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman from his march through Georgia to the sea, Confederate General John Bell Hood moved troops to Nashville to interrupt Sherman’s supply line. Sherman didn’t bite, but he did send George H. Thomas, the “Rock of Chickamauga,” with two corps from the Army of the Cumberlands to Nashville.
A severe ice storm halted operations until December 15. When the weather broke, the Union soldiers, members of the United States Colored Troops, moved out of their ice-covered entrenchments along Murfreesboro Road to pin the Confederate right. They were peppered with Confederate rifle fire and many of those African American soldiers lost their lives. One soldier wrote of the battle, “Where were those men’s officers? I did not see a single white body on that field.”
Other Union troops did succeed, keeping the Alabama 19th and their fellow soldiers pinned and eventually drove them South.
It was during this first day of battle that William suffered the wound that cost him his left arm.
The Battle of Nashville raged for two more days before the Union Army won. William was among 4,350 Confederate soldiers injured or killed that day. (www.historynet.com/battle-of-nashville)
Isaac Fortenberry injured at Murfreesboro
Like his younger brother, Isaac filed for a war pension as well, and detailed the highlights of his service. He was wounded at Murfreesboro in the Battle of Stones River, and no doubt, was present when a beautiful moment of truce occurred on New Year’s Eve 1862:According to the National Park Service:
While the generals planned their next moves, the men lay down in the mud and rocks trying to get some sleep. The bands of both armies played tunes to raise the men’s spirits. It was during this "battle of the bands" that one of the most poignant moments of the war occurred. Sam Seay of the First Tennessee Infantry described what happened that evening.
“Just before ‘tattoo’ the military bands on each side began their evening music. The still winter night carried their strains to great distance. At every pause on our side, far away could be heard the military bands of the other. Finally, one of them struck up ‘Home Sweet Home.’ As if by common consent, all other airs ceased, and the bands of both armies as far as the ear could reach, joined in the refrain. Who knows how many hearts were bold the next day by reason of that air?”
Henry P. Fortenberry, injured at Cedar Run, Fredericksburg and Loudon
Henry encountered no such warm moments. He was 22 years old with a wife, Nancy, and 5- month-old son, Charles, my great grandfather, when he volunteered for the Cherokee Grays, a company of soldiers from Cherokee County, Alabama. He served in Company H. His unit fought hard, and Henry bore the marks.The 48th fought at a series of high profile Civil War battles, the ones we would later study in American history class. The first combat was at Cedar Run, Virginia, on August 9, 1862. Henry was one of 73 soldiers injured at the battle that was also ominously known as Slaughter’s Mountain.
The Confederate rebels won the battle, which aimed to capture the rail junction at Gordonsville. The victory shifted fighting to Northern Virginia, but Henry wasn’t there. He missed three weeks of fighting while he recovered from his wound at the Confederate Army hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Battle of Harper’s Ferry
Henry rejoined the Cherokee Grays on September 1, 1862, just in time for the Battle of Harper’s Ferry.According to the National Park Service:
“On September 4, 1862, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia splashed across the Potomac River into Maryland at White's Ford. During the next few days, Lee's Confederates settled in around the town of Frederick.
“With his invasion, Lee expected some 14,000 Federal troops garrisoning Harper’s Ferry and Martinsburg to withdraw northward.” But that didn’t happen.
In response, Gen. Lee divided his Army of 23,000 soldiers into four parts with Stonewall Jackson leading the assault on Harper’s Ferry. In response to Jackson’s cannon fire, Union General A.P. Hill wrote that there was “not a place where you could lay the palm of your hand and say it was safe.”
On September 15, the Union commanders surrendered, waving their white flags at 9 a.m. Gen. Jackson captured more than 12,700 Union soldiers that day, the largest single capture of Union forces during the war, and Henry was there.
Henry and the rest of the 48th received no rest. After Harper’s Ferry, the moved on to Antietam, where 10 soldiers lost their lives and another 33 were wounded as one captain was killed, another was wounded and a third was captured.
The Battle of Fredericksburg
By December, Henry and his fellow soldiers were in Fredericksburg, battling against Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Lack of communication and big personalities created a disorganized front and the Alabama 48th found themselves under a Union assault that decimated their ranks. On December 13, 1862 the 48th came under heavy fire, and Henry, along with 41 of his comrades, was injured. Fredericksburg carried a high price for the Confederate Army. A total of 5,300 rebel soldiers were injured or hurt during the three-day battle, but the Union lost more than twice that amount. As for Henry, he was treated on the field and continued to serve.Henry and his fellow soldiers fought at Suffolk and made their way to Pennsylvania, where they were ordered to Gettysburg. Law’s Brigade, as they were known, was assigned outpost duty, but first, they had to get there.
The only way for Henry and the rest of the 48th to get to the battlefield from their post in Guildford was to march.
“It was from here that the men began what Private W.C. Ward called ‘the most fatiguing march of the war.’ Captain R. Coles of the 4th Alabama ordered the brigade to Gettysburg. They were on the road at 2 a.m. and by daybreak the men were climbing South Mountain. The men never stopped, marching 28 miles in 11 hours, with empty canteens.” (confederatebrigades.tripod.com/lawsbrigade/)
Gen. Longstreet wrote that it was “the best marching done in either army to reach the field of Gettysburg.”
Gettysburg, Loudon and Appomattox Courthouse
At Gettysburg, the 48th was ordered to the Devil’s Den sector and on to Little Round Top, about 200 yards from the Union line. Col. Sheffield led the 48th until they were within 20 paces of Maine’s 4th brigade.“Despite their exhaustion after their march to the battlefield, Law’s Brigade performed remarkably well. The 48th and the Alabama 44th were instrumental in driving the Union line from Devil’s Den and assisted in capturing several pieces of battery. A monument to the Alabamians stands today at Gettysburg battlefield, remembering Henry, not by name, and his fellow Alabamians.
A few months later, Henry and his fellow rebels made their way to Tennessee. Union troops had taken control of Loudon, Sweetwater, Kingston, Lenoirs, Knoxville and Maryville. The Confederates were in control of Chattanooga. Under the leadership of Gen. James Longstreet was charged with retaking east Tennessee for the Confederacy, and Henry was among the soldiers charged with this task.
In the fall of 1863 Longstreet and his troops departed Chattanooga. Most of the soldiers were forced to make the march on foot because the railroads were in bad shape. As they made their way north, the Union army withdrew to Philadelphia, Tenn. At the end of an all-day battle, the Confederate soldiers had completely routed the Union troops, capturing hundreds of prisoners and all of their supplies and equipment. It was here that Henry sustained a second shot to the neck that also badly injured his shoulder. This was the injury that cost Henry the use of his arm.
Even if it did permanently disable his left arm, this was not the end of his service. Henry’s pension statement indicates he saw battle and was captured at Lynchburg, Va. and eventually was part of the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, ending the infamous war between brothers. (https://vanshaver.com/ civilwarinloudoncounty.htm)
If you're ever in Montgomery, you might like to check out the battle flag that Henry fought under and that his unit surrendered at Appomattox. It's archived there.
Also living in Looney Tavern are Henry’s brothers, Isaac and William, along with several other Fortenberry relatives:
Looney’s Tavern and Winston County gained some notoriety when its delegate to the Confederate States of America, Christopher Sheats, voted against secession from the Union. Sheats figured that if Alabama could secede from the Union, Winston County could secede from Alabama, and he presented a resolution to that effect to the citizens of the county. While his resolution did not pass, an opponent, attempting to poke fun at Sheats’ effort shouted, “Winston County secedes! Hoorah for the Free State of Winston!”
Sheats intentions were at least somewhat effective. The crowd gathered at William Looney’s tavern on July 4, 1861, did approve a resolution stating that the people of Winston County had no desire to take part in the war between the states and intended to support neither side. (http://www.whenitwascool.com/looneys-tavern/)
As the Civil War progressed, more men from Winston County fought for the Union than for the Confederacy.
Henry’s second wife, Sarah Little, is not mentioned in the 1900 census, but know that Sarah and Henry were married. She filed for and received a widow’s pension in 1908, following Henry’s death in either late 1907 or 1908. In fact, it was Sarah’s application that provided many of the clues about Henry’s service and life-altering injury he received in the tragic War Between the States.
Looney Tavern
Henry was 26 years old at the end of the Civil War. He is not listed in any Alabama census after the war until 1900, when a 61-year-old Henry had moved to Looney Tavern in Winston County, Alabama. His wife, Nancy, had died, and Henry was living next door to another family with the last name Fortenberry, likely his son, daughter-in-law, and their children. The writing on the census document is hard to read. One transcriber has the head of household as Jala (possibly Jacob?), 38, but there appears to be a “y” and the end of the name. Other members of the household next door are: Rachel, 37; Wiley, 15; Sally, 14; Ollie, 12; James, 9; Frank, 8; Bertie 6; and Eddie (Edie), 18.Also living in Looney Tavern are Henry’s brothers, Isaac and William, along with several other Fortenberry relatives:
- Martha, 26, a widow, and her children Fanny and David.
- Sally, 40, a widow, her daughters Martha M. and Mary, and her sister, also named Martha. (There last name is listed as Fortenberg on the census).
- William, 57, and his wife, Matilda, 56. William is Henry’s brother, William Gaston. Some genealogists believe that Sarah, Henry’s second wife, and Matilda, William’s second wife, are sisters.
- Isaac, 62, and his wife, Elizabeth A., 53, with their adult children, Nettie H., 26; James, 21; Sal, 18. Isaac is also Henry’s brother, who served with him and William in the war.
- James, 22, and his wife Mary, 23, with their son, Alvin, 1.
Looney’s Tavern and Winston County gained some notoriety when its delegate to the Confederate States of America, Christopher Sheats, voted against secession from the Union. Sheats figured that if Alabama could secede from the Union, Winston County could secede from Alabama, and he presented a resolution to that effect to the citizens of the county. While his resolution did not pass, an opponent, attempting to poke fun at Sheats’ effort shouted, “Winston County secedes! Hoorah for the Free State of Winston!”
Sheats intentions were at least somewhat effective. The crowd gathered at William Looney’s tavern on July 4, 1861, did approve a resolution stating that the people of Winston County had no desire to take part in the war between the states and intended to support neither side. (http://www.whenitwascool.com/looneys-tavern/)
As the Civil War progressed, more men from Winston County fought for the Union than for the Confederacy.
Henry’s second wife, Sarah Little, is not mentioned in the 1900 census, but know that Sarah and Henry were married. She filed for and received a widow’s pension in 1908, following Henry’s death in either late 1907 or 1908. In fact, it was Sarah’s application that provided many of the clues about Henry’s service and life-altering injury he received in the tragic War Between the States.
Very strong and courageous brothers and so glad to be part of their blood. If I had only known when I traveled the huge Gettysburg , Pennsylvania battlefield , I would have found the much deserved Alabama monument. There was an outdoor drama ," Looney's Tavern " that was popular in the summer for many years, in Double Springs, Alabama, maybe they will revive this great musical drama again soon. Such great work on our family history , Bill and I will enjoy reading this over and over. Picturing that long march to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania blows my mind, who knows how hungry and injured they were! Thankful for Alabama strong Fortenberry brothers, and very sad for their parents to see them go off to war for years. Thanks for sharing!
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