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William Holland Thomas's 20 Cherokee Bodyguard or "Life Guard"
(Includes Significant
American Civil War Events Relating to Western North Carolina)
Why did Colonel Thomas surround himself with 20 Cherokee Bodyguard? Did he really need the bodyguard?
Thomas's concerns have merit, and sources even support assassination attempts on his life. Consequently, the
Cherokee Life Guard remained with Thomas until the end of the Civil War. (O.R., 1, 49, pt. II, p. 755*; Western Democrat, Charlotte, North
Carolina, May 24, 1864, p.3; and Daily Enquirer [Columbus, Georgia], May 22, 1864.) *Official Records of the Union
and Confederate Armies; hereinafter cited as OR.
A series of events
exacerbated Thomas's concerns:
1) During
the war a $5,000 bounty was offered to anyone that would assassinate William Thomas. If Thomas wasn't considered
a viable deterrent and threat to the Union army, then why did it offer a bounty, and, moreover, a very high bounty on Thomas's
life? Meanwhile, the U.S. was approaching bankruptcy while the Union private was paid only $13 dollars per month. (Western Democrat, Charlotte, North Carolina, May 24, 1864, p.3; Daily Enquirer [Columbus, Georgia], May 22, 1864;
and Sean Michael O'Brien, Mountain Partisans: Guerrilla Warfare in the Southern Appalachians, 1861-1865,
Page 28)
The Western Democrat:
They [Cherokees] were promised their liberty and five thousand dollars in gold
if they would bring in the scalp of their Chief, Col. Wm. H. Thomas. The Indians seemed to pause--consult--and finally agreed
to the proposition. They were released, returned to their native mountains, sought the camp of their Chief, told him all,
and have ever since been on the war path--after Yankee scalps. Western Democrat, Charlotte, North Carolina,
May 24, 1864, p.3; and it was also printed in the Daily Enquirer [Columbus, Georgia], May 22, 1864.
2) The Shelton Laurel Massacre in early 1863. The remote section of Shelton Laurel, in mountainous Madison
County, provided a secluded refuge for both Union sympathizers and Confederate deserters. In January 1863 Confederate forces gathered
a number of suspected unionists and without trial executed thirteen of them by firing squad. Disturbed by reports of the massacre,
Governor Zebulon B. Vance ordered an investigation. Despite an official inquiry, Madison County remained the scene of violence
until the end of the war, with additional atrocities committed by both Union and Confederate sympathizers.
**Report of Lieut. C. H. Taylor: Thomas’ Legion C. S. Army.
Murphy, N.C.
November
1, 1863.
Sir: on October 27, General Vaughn, with a detachment of his mounted men, overtook Goldman Bryson, with his company
of mounted robbers, in Cherokee County, N.C., attacked him, killing 2 and capturing 17 men and 30 horses.
On the 28th,
I left Murphy with 19 men, taking Bryson’s trail through the mountains; followed him 25 miles, when I came upon him
and fired on him, killing him, and capturing 1 man with him. I found in his possession his orders from General Burnside and
his roll and other papers.
My men all acted nobly; marched two days, and without anything to eat.
Yours, Respectfully,
C. H. Taylor
Lieutenant, Comdg, Co. B, Infantry Regt., Thomas’ Legion
Lieutenant-Colonel Walker
Commanding
Battalion, Thomas’ Legion
[Enclosure of General Burnside’s papers found on Goldman Bryson]
Special Field
Orders, No. 56: HDQRS. Army of the Ohio: Knoxville, East Tenn., October, 22, 1863.
VI. Capt. G. Bryson, First Tennessee
National Guard, is hereby ordered to proceed with his command to North Carolina and vicinity, for the purpose of recruiting,
and will return here within a fortnight, when he will report in person at these headquarters.
By order of Major-General
Burnside:
Edward M. Neill,
Major, and Assistant Adjutant-General
General Bragg:
Permit me, General, to recommend
to your notice C. H. Taylor, lieutenant, who commanded the Indians at the killing of Captain Bryson. You will pardon me, General,
in not sending this through the proper channel, we have no mails.
W. C. Walker,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Battalion,
Thomas’ Legion
O.R. 1, Volume 31, Part I, p. 235.
4) The murder
of Lieutenant Colonel William C. Walker in January 1864: The death of Walker is stated to have greatly altered Thomas's view of the war and underscored his initial
position and pleas to protect and defend Western North Carolina. Unharmed, Mrs. Walker died November 4, 1898. Regarding the murder of Colonel William C. Walker, the Asheville News stated: "A
swift and terrible retribution will overtake the murderers." (Western Democrat, January 26, 1864, p.2.)
5) Confederate President Jefferson Davis's letter of confidence in Thomas’ Legion regarding their ability to halt the raiders and their egregious acts in Western North Carolina. The
letter is dated Richmond, VA., January 4, 1865, O.R. 1, Volume 46, Part II, p. 1013.
6) Colonel George W. Kirk conducted numerous savage raids in western North Carolina. On February 4, 1865, James Love’s house appears to have been singled out by Colonel George W. Kirk. Kirk and a small army
of 400 cavalry and 200 infantry departed Newport, Tennessee, for Waynesville. Kirk's Raiders (armed with Spencer repeating
rifles) entered Waynesville and pillaged stores, stole numerous horses, killed about 20 men, and burned several
houses, including Lt. Col. James R. Love's house (also the former residence of James Love's ancestor, the Revolutionary War hero Robert Love).
Next they attacked
the Waynesville jail, freed the prisoners, and then burned the jail. Slow and impeded communication, the vastness of western
North Carolina, and few “Home Guard” made it extremely difficult to defend the area. Once again, this activity
solidified Thomas’s fears for his life. Thomas
knew that Kirk's men, or Raiders, "were stealing every remaining horse, cow, and ox in the county, and had even
sacked nearby Macon County." (Leona B Porter, The Franklin Press June 16, 1955)
7) During the latter half of the Civil
War, anarchy reigned in the mountains of North Carolina. The very formidable bands of desperadoes, outlaws, outliers, deserters,
posses, bushwhackers and escaped Union prisoners plundered Western North Carolina. These facts also supported Colonel
Thomas's need for a Bodyguard. See: Shelton Laurel Massacre, Cherokee County's Civil War Lawlessness and Depredations O.R., Series IV, pt. 2, pp. 732-734, O.R.,
Series 1, Volume 53, pp. 324-336, and O.R., Series 1, Vol. 32, pt. II, pp. 610-611.
Highly
Recommended Reading: Storm in the Mountains (Thomas' Legion)
Additional Sources: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion
of Cherokee Indians and Mountaineers; Walter Clark, Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina
in the Great War 1861-1865; National Park Service: American Civil War; National Park Service: Soldiers and Sailors System;
Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; D. H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865; Christopher
M. Watford, The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865. Volume 2: The Mountains;
William F. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War.
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