Help Save An Invaluable Piece of History

Guest post courtesy of Joshua Lindamood and the Appomattox Petersburg Preservation Society

Today, if you found yourself driving along the St. James Road in Amelia County, Virginia, you might very easily miss the home known as “Bachelors Rest.” Tucked away at the end of a dirt drive and surrounded by planted corn, it sits back far enough that the cedars lining the road almost completely obstruct it from view. The home shows signs of early construction dating to the mid-18th century, but lack of records have made it difficult to determine exactly who built it and when. 

Though serene now, April of 1865 would have looked quite different. One thing was for certain, this home and landscape would never be the same after April 6. As Truely Vaughan began his morning routine, the scene may have looked something like this. 

The bitter and cold sounds of war were permeating the darkness and no doubt into Mr. Vaughan’s bed chamber. The vanguard of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia passed through the stillness, and the sounds of some 50,000 following him would reverberate for hours. Horses and mules worked their way through the ever deteriorating condition of the St. James Road while cannon and limbers laden with munitions eagerly anticipating their opportunity to engage in a host of battles hurriedly swept on. Soldiers and footsore civilians alike trudged their way through the mire just trying to follow the figures in front of them. Exhausted men and beasts the marched through the night in a desperate attempt to concentrate outside of Farmville per General Lee’s orders. They were an army on the run. 

There was no mistaking that Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s forces were close on their heels, and soldiers on both sides knew it was only a matter of time before the two armies would collide. Where was Lee headed? Which intersection would Union Cavalry commander Phillip Sheridan attack? How close was the Union Army of the Potomac? Where was Grant’s Army of the James? Those answers would come soon enough for the combatants on both sides. 

Among the first orders of the day from headquarters of the Union Army of the Potomac, stated that the Second Corps, Fifth Corps, and Sixth Corps, would start out towards the enemy from Jetersville at 6 a.m. If found in position at Amelia Court House, the Sixth Corps would attack. The Fifth Corps moved along the South-Side Railroad, and the Second Corps took position to the left of Fifth Corps. Due to the uneven ground and nature of the terrain, at around 8:45 a.m. the 1st Division of the Second Corps found itself straying off course. Near Flatt Creek, elements of that command found a column of Confederate infantry and wagon trains working their way westerly. Upon seeing it himself, Second Corps Commander Union General Andrew Humphreys ordered his 1st Division under General Miles to open artillery fire on them. In his after action report, Humphreys states “I directed General Mott (3rd Division, Second Corps)… to send a brigade across and feel the enemy.”1 The chase was on. Orders from headquarters then changed, directing the Second Corps to move on Deatonsville, the Sixth Corps to move through Jetersville and take up the line to the left of the Second Corps, and for the Fifth Corps to swing around to the right. 

General Humphreys placed his 3rd Division under General Mott to move past the Amelia Sulphur Springs and pursue the Confederate column on the left of the St. James Road, and his 1st Division under General Miles to cross Flatt Creek above Mott and to take up the line of march on the right of the road. The 2nd Division under General Barlow would be in support of Miles. Humphreys continues in his report stating, “A sharp contest with the enemy commenced at once, and he was driven rapidly before us… every foot of which a running fight was kept up, and several strong partially entrenched positions carried…. The country was broken, consisting of open fields alternating with forest with dense undergrowth, and swamps.”2 One such Confederate entrenched position was on the little rise at Mr. Vaughan’s home. Near here General Mott received a severe wound in the leg and General DeTrobriand assumed command of the 3rd Division. Confederate Captain J. C. Gorman of General John Gordon’s command wrote “The wagons were hurried forward, regardless of their contents, which, whether it remained in or was spilled out, was a matter of perfect indifference to the demoralized and badly scared drivers who, with straining eyes and perspiring bodies plied their whips vigorously and put their jaded beasts to their best.”3 

General Gordon deployed his three divisions under Generals Grimes, Walker, and Evans, into successive lines and had them rotate to check each Federal advance. Gordon later wrote that, “Here, in one direction, a battery of artillery became involved; there, in another, a blocked ammunition train required rescue: and thus came short but sharp little battles which made up the sideshows of the main performance…”4 After General DeTrobriand took over the 3rd Division, he noted that the enemy made a “stand behind hasty breast-works erected around a farmhouse.”5 Presumably the farmhouse mentioned here is Truely Vaughan’s. The Confederates were to defend this line of breast-works with several pieces of artillery and some cavalry and proceeded to deliver very accurate shelling on the Federal advance. 

As the Federals pressed further west on the St. James Road, Private John Haley of the 17th Maine wrote, “We are jubilant. We have them on the run and victory is in the air.”6 A soldier in the Richmond Howitzers recalled, “the enemy… made a bold dash upon our column near Deatonsville… our guns were rapidly brought ‘into battery’ and for a time we thought a heavy fight would take place. After a half-hours {sic} engagement we drove them off and resumed our march.”7 General DeTrobriand later wrote of the retreat in this area “When a ship threatens to founder, they throw the freight into the sea… Lee’s army refused to lighten itself in this way and was engulfed with its cargo.”8 

Charles Page, U.S. Surgeon and Medical Director for the Second Corps set up the temporary 1st Division hospital at Amelia Springs, and the 3rd Division hospital was established at Truely Vaughan’s house. In his official report he mentions treating 170 men at the Truely Vaughan hospital.9 As the armies moved out of the vicinity of “Bachelors Rest,” those who were able and could muster the strength to carry onward left with them. Those more grievously wounded were left hoping and wondering if or when they would be able to leave. 

For many years stories had been passed on that there were signatures and soldier’s graffiti on the walls of the home left over from the wounded men who had remained there in the building and on the grounds. For Michael Meehan, founder of the Appomattox-Petersburg Preservation Society (APPS), and Patrick Schroeder, National Park Service Historian of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, their chance to confirm these stories came in June 2021. Michael and Patrick were given permission to enter the premises and verify the existence of the soldier’s graffiti. They discovered the graffiti and were able to cipher four names from a wall located in the attic. 

As soon as they returned home, work began to assemble a research team. Joined by Gary Whitla, APPS board member, and Joshua Lindamood, a Park Ranger at Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park, they were able to develop a preservation outline and launched a Gofundme in order to raise funds to save the soldier’s graffiti. The structure itself was threatened by dilapidated conditions, so a race against time was underway. This effort can be supported here: Truely Vaughan Graffiti Wall. 

Owing to the nature of the home and its current deteriorated state, the owner was willing to donate the wall to the APPS organization. The money raised will help the team safely secure the signatures and have them removed from the home where they hope to preserve them for many years to come for future generations. 

The soldiers listed are from two regiments of the 3rd Division that were engaged in front of the house. 

Their names are: 

Corporal John Shivler, Company K, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. 

Private Luther Calkins, Company K, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. 

Private Cornelius Mahorn, Company K, 105th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. 

Corporal George B. McKechnie, Company I, 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. 

Corporal John Shivler, an Indiana County, PA, native, enlisted in October of 1861 as a private at the age of 18.  He received his corporal stripes in 1864. Serving as a member of the regiment’s color guard during the fighting on April 6, he received a gunshot wound to the face. The bullet entered next to his right nostril and exited behind his right jaw. As he tried to regain his footing and attempt to make his way to the rear, witness’s say he was then run over by a mounted orderly by accident, thus further injuring him. He is listed as arriving at Burkeville Station on April 30, 1865. 

Ohio born Private Luther L. Calkins hailed from Crawford County, PA, and was drafted into the 63rd PA Infantry in 1863. In 1864, he suffered a wound in the right arm at the battle of the Wilderness. While charging the Confederate breastworks near Deatonsville, he received a gunshot wound to the left foot. The bullet entered between his second and third toes, and then turned up the foot to the base of the ankle. Three days later on April 9, 1865, he was transported from the Vaughan house to the division hospital at City Point. He received his discharge from the service on Independence Day- July 4, 1865. 

Corporal George McKechnie enlisted at age 18 in 1862 in Alton, Maine, as a Private and received a promotion to Corporal in 1864. He served in support of a battery near “Bachelor’s Rest,” his command, having “made six assaults” on the enemy at different points driving them each time from their position. During this action, he received a gunshot wound in the left hand. The bullet entered between his pointer finger and middle fingers, only to exit through his thumb knuckle. He was moved a few days later and arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, on April 15, 1865. On June 22, he received his discharge from service. After the war, he settled in Danforth, Maine. 

Private Cornelius Mahorn joined the 105th Pennsylvania as a substitute in 1864. His records do not show him being wounded, if he was injured, it was not serious. Perhaps he remained behind to look after his wounded comrades from Company K.  

What caused these soldiers to write their names on the walls of Truely Vaughan’s home? After being wounded, were they struck by boredom? What was convalescing like there in the attic of a Central Virginia farmhouse with Lee’s army on the run and your comrades leaving you? Did they have gloomy thoughts of not recovering and possibly being left there and forgotten? We may never know the true reasons for these soldiers penciling their names into the horsehair plaster wall over 156 years ago, but I am glad they did. Experiencing these names along with the others that are not legible, and connecting with the stories of each individual is a special project and undertaking that I am honored to be a part of. The wall that holds up this window to the past must forever be preserved and protected for future generations. Please help us protect this vital part of the Appomattox Campaign by donating today. 

Bibliography: 

1 Humphreys, Andrew. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of The Honorable Daniel Lamont, Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office; 1894. Note: Page 681. 

2 Humphreys, Andrew. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of The Honorable Daniel Lamont, Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office; 1894. Note: Page 682. 

3 Capt. Gorman, J. C. Lee’s last Campaign. Raleigh: Wm. B. Smith & Co.; 1866. Note: Page 31. 

4 Gordon, John B. Reminiscences of the Civil War. Arlington, VA: Time Life Books. Inc.; 1981. Note: Page 423-424. 

5 DeTrobriand, Regis. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of The Honorable Daniel Lamont, Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office; 1894. Note: Page 778. 

6 Private Haley, John. The Rebel Yell & The Yankee Hurrah: A Civil War Journal of a Maine Volunteer; Capital City Press, Ruth Silliker; 1985. Note: Page 259. 

7 White, W. S. Stray Leaves from a Soldier's Journal. SHSP, Vol. XI 555. 

8 DeTrobriand, Regis. Pursuit to Appomattox, The Last Battles. Time Life Books. Inc.; 1987. Note: Page 116. 

9 Page, Charles. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Published under the direction of The Honorable Daniel Lamont, Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office; 1894. Note: Page 700

Unfortunately, this house is not preserved. These signatures may disappear and their names may be lost to history. Future generations may not be able to find the same connection to their past if we do not act.

Please help us to raise the $3,500 needed to preserve this historical treasure. You can donate to this cause at:  https://gofund.me/b71cd94e