The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, July 1935 - April, 1936 Page: 11
346 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Captain Thomas William Blount and His Memoirs
gunboat its commander, Commodore Porter,*" with about four
commissioned officers standing near him cursed me as a damn
rebel. I was silent. He then inquired of me who commanded
the rebels. I answered him that General John C. Breckinridge
commanded the Confederate force. He remarked that he had
once known Breckinridge when Breckinridge was a gentleman.
I suppose I was feeling my whiskey, and enraged at his curs-
ing me while a prisoner, I remarked to him that General Breck-
inridge had never known him when he was a gentleman. It
created a great laugh among the officers and enraged the old
commodore. He then ordered me down below to be locked up
in a small space below the water's edge. This was the hottest
place I was ever in. It was the fifth day of August. After the
expiration of about three hours I was transferred to a transport
and taken to New Orleans to General Butler's office in the cus-
tom house. General Butler treated me with distinct courtesy,
extended to me the parole of the city, and in two weeks I was
exchanged for Captain Thornton who was a prisoner at Camp
Moore.1'
I returned to Jackson, Mississippi. In the meantime the
battle of Corinth had been fought.3 Pemberton took command
of the department, and as I desired to get back in General
Bragg's immediate command, I prevailed upon General Pember-
ton as a personal favor for orders to report to General Bragg.
I took the train for Shelbyville, Tennessee. When I reached
there General Joseph E. Johnston had assumed command, and
ordered me back to Pemberton. I requested and obtained a
leave of absence of two weeks, and returned home to Texas. I
returned and reported to General Gardner who succeeded to the
command on General Villepigue's death.'4 There being no place
on the staff for me, I was assigned to duty as ordnance officer
for Miles's Brigade, Colonel William R. Miles. I accepted the
duty and acted as his aide-de-camp on the field during the seige
nW. D. Porter, Commanding Division of Western Flotilla below Vicks-
burg. U. S. Gunboat Essex. Ibid., pp. 537, 567.
"Ibid., II, 4, pp. 522-523.
"Battle of Corinth, Oct. 3 and 4, 1862.
"Gen. Villepigue was reported mortally ill on Nov. 9, 1862, and
1Maj. Gen. Frank Gardner arrived at Port Hudson and assumed com-
mand, Dec. 28, 1862. Oficial Records, I, 15, pp. 859, 913.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 39, July 1935 - April, 1936, periodical, 1936; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101095/m1/19/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.