The Story Behind James Kennedy’s Desertion

First, no one knows for certain the last name of Jane Hilton’s husband James. J. J. Atwood’s 1864 letter indicates that his last name was Kennedy or some variation of Kennedy. Assuming Kennedy to be correct, Alabama Civil War records show a James Kennedy who joined the CSA in Gadsden, Alabama in 1862 and deserted in February of 1864. 1860 and 1870 census records show a Jane and James Kennedy living in Paulding County Georgia which is adjacent to Bartow County, the on and off home of Jane’s parents. I personally believe that these records are for Jane Hilton Kennedy and her husband James Kennedy. The census’s birth date and birth location match up for Jane. The Civil war record and the census also match up for James. I believe they left Georgia after 1860, bought land in Alabama, the war started and then, after the war, they went back to Georgia never trying to reclaim their Alabama property. After the 1870 Census no record can be found for them or their children.

The story as to why James deserted the Confederacy was told to me by a lady in Alabama who has researched the genealogy of William Franklin Battles. Also, a GG nephew of Lewis Deerman told me a similar story that has been passed down through Lewis Deerman’s descendants.

Before the story let me explain the kinship between Peter Hammond’s family of Cass/Bartow County and two of the families involved in the story. Peter Hammond (10/3/1821 - 3/19/1906) married Miss Elizabeth Hilton, daughter of Emsley Hilton and Cassandra Atwood Hilton. Emsley and Cassandra Hilton had eight children, one boy and seven girls. The girls married as follows:

As stated, Elizabeth married Peter Hammond.

Jane married James Kennedy, the subject of this story.

Mary married William Columbus Peugh. (not involved in the story)

The other four Hilton girls married Battles brothers, so Emsley and Cassandra had one Hammond son-in-law, one Peugh son-in-law, one Kennedy son-in-law, and four Battles son-in-laws.

These Battles families lived somewhere in and around St. Clair County, Alabama. They were friends/neighbors with one or more Deerman families. Civil War records are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete but available records show that William Franklin Battles and other Battles men joined the 19th Alabama Infantry. James Kennedy joined the 48th Alabama Infantry. Lewis Deerman joined the 18th Alabama Infantry. Confederate enlistment records for James Monroe Battles could not be confirmed but one can assume with relative certainty that he was with his brother William Franklin Battles in the 19th Alabama. The 19th Alabama enlistment records show a James Battles but the age shown is incorrect for James Monroe Battles.

The Story

As the Civil War raged on the Confederate army was finding it more and more difficult to provide rations for the troops. In late 1863 the Confederates were going through the St. Clair Alabama area confiscating all the livestock they could get their hands on. When Thomas Battles (family kinship unknown to me) heard of this, he and a Deerman neighbor took their livestock up Chandler Mountain and hid them in Horse Pens Forty. The Confederates found out about this, located them, and killed them both. The Confederates would not let other family men go up to retrieve the bodies. The women had to take mules up to get them. In a revengeful response to the killings, William F. Battles, James M. Battles, Isaac Battles, Lewis Deerman, and other men (not sure of exact number) deserted the Confederacy, rode their horses to Nashville Tennessee, and joined the Tennessee 3rd Calvary Regiment (USA). Based on this story one can only assume that James Kennedy, hearing of this tragedy in Jane’s extended family, also deserted the Confederacy and joined the other family members in Tennessee.

The 3^rd Tenn. Calvary Roster shows William F. Battles, James M. Battles, Isaac Battles, Lewis Deerman, Solomon Deerman, and William Deerman as soldiers in Company K. William Deerman and Solomon Deerman were Captured at a battle in Athens, Alabama on September 24th, 1864. William Battles, Isaac Battles, and Lewis Deerman were captured at the Battle of Sulphur Branch Trestle, about eight miles from Athens, on September 25th, 1864. They all spent the remainder of the war in Cahaba prison. After the war William Battles, Isaac Battles, Solomon Deerman, and Lewis Deerman were sent north on the ship Sultana for discharge. The Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River north of Memphis on April 27th, 1865. William Battles and Lewis Deerman survived the explosion. Isaac Battles and Solomon Deerman were killed. William Deerman was never able to return home. He died in Jackson Mississippi shortly after being released in March 1865. The traditional Battles’s story includes James Monroe Battles in the capture and imprisonment at Cahaba but records have not been found to support this. James Monroe was not on the Sultana. He was, however, mustered out with the other men in June 1865.

After the war James Monroe Battles and William Franklin Battles lived with their families for a while in Bartow County Georgia before returning to Alabama. The 1870 Census also shows Emsley and Cassandra Hilton living in Bartow County along with Peter and Elizabeth Hammond. J. J. Atwood, Cassandra Atwood Hilton’s brother, was killed in 1864 sometime during the siege of Atlanta.

Alabama records show the following for these three Battles men:

James Monroe’s pension application was dated Dec 8, 1882 – application #666.619 cert #485.940 K3 Tenn. Calv.

Isaac’s pension application by his widow Millissa J. Battles in 1866 and for Malissa J. Panther, Gdn. On May 1 1877 K3 Tenn. Calv.

William F. pension application on Feb 19 1883. appl 472.981 cert 370482