"We care not whence they came
Dear in their lifeless clay:
Whether unknown or known to fame,
Their cause and county still the same,
They died--and wore the Gray."

Father: Abram Joseph Ryan

Joshua Henry Allison's medal

J. H. Allison
Co. L
16 N. C.
Vol. Inf.
C. S. A.

Awarded 1910 by the DAR

Tribute to the Confederate Soldier

Silent Sentinel

The Allisons and the Confederacy

When North Carolina seceded from the Union and Abe Lincoln declared war on the secessionist states, the Allison males answered President Jeff Davis' call to arms. The Allisons were volunteers not conscriptees.

Daniel Allison, along with his brothers Jason and Aseph, took his sons and marched off to defend North Carolina's right to choose to secede from the Union to become a part of the Confederate States of America. As a family which has historically believed that every man has the absolute right to make his own choices, defense of States Rights came naturally to the Allisons. They served with honor and never surrendered. No more can be asked of any man.

Aseph Allison, brother of Daniel, joined the 11th NC and ended the war in the 18th Texas (Ochiltree's Reg't, Texas Inf.) He married in Alabama, and was serving in Texas when the war ended. He remained in the Angelina County, Texas area for the rest of his life where many of his descendants still live.

Daniel Allison joined the Confederacy and along with his sons Asa, Joshua Henry, Meek, Mige, and son-in-law Archibald Justice served the Confederacy long and well.

Archibald Justice served in Company C of the 25th North Carolina.

Joshua joined the 60th NC Volunteers and also served with Company L of the 16th North Carolina.

Asa Allison was in the 29th NC and died October 5, 1864 in the Battle of Altony Hills near Atlanta, Georgia. Daniel was given furlough to bring his son's body home for burial. There used to be an old picture of Daniel driving up what was then the Main Street of Waynesville with a coffin in the back of the wagon. My father told me that the coffin contained Asa's remains. I saw the photo once when I was small. It was taken from the rear and showed the coffin and the back of a man slouched over the reins as though he were exhausted. (If this photo still exists, I would be happy to pay for a copy.)

I don't know a lot about the service of Daniel and his other sons except that they were very good soldiers who, having been captured several times, always managed to escape and make their way back to their units and home.

Early in the winter of 1865 the war was drawing to a close and things were getting very bad in the Haywood County area. Daniel, Joshua, Mige, and Meek were riding the Jonathan's Creek area, somewhere near the Boyd Farm, guarding against the twin terrors of Kirk's Raiders and Teague's Home Guard when the Allisons were ambushed by Devil Kirk's men.

Daniel was shot in the chest and seriously wounded. He rolled off his horse and down the bank into the creek. He hid under the creek bank in the freezing water until Kirk's men rode away. The icy cold water slowed the bleeding and saved his life. He made his way to the home of Rev. Doctor Collins Howell who patched him up and got him safely home to his family.

Joshua was captured in the same part of the creek where his father was hiding under the bank, but, as the Allisons were famous for, escaped before reaching White Sulphur Springs. He rejoined his unit for the remainder of the war.

Mige and Meek were captured by Kirk's Raiders and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio. Life as a POW did not set well with them so they devised and carried out a plan for escape. They joined the Union Army and, as soon as they were released from the POW camp to serve the Union, Mige sent a letter home telling his family not to worry. They hadn't changed sides, they were just escaping........again!

When they again entered Confederate territory in Tennessee, they deserted the Union Army and made their way back to their units and their homes.

They were very lucky to have escaped as 2260 Confederate soldiers are known to have died of disease, deprivation, and starvation at Camp Chase.

The War continued in and around Haywood County for about a month after Lee surrendered at Appomattox. On May 10, 1865, the remainder of the Confederate fighting factions were surrendered after the Battle of Waynesville, the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi.

The Allison men and their fellow soldiers did not lay down arms and surrender. They didn't take the "Nasty Oath." The simply took their guns and went home. There was plowing to do and families to raise.

The Allisons had fought for what they believed in and done their best. The surrender at Appomattox did not change their beliefs or their willingness to fight for the right to choose their own destinies.

It has been said that no man is beaten until he hauls down his own flag, tucks his tail and runs. It is a point of pride with us that we have never hauled down our flag. Nor do we tuck tail and run. Our ancestors did not return from war to complain or whine about the discomforts of war. They understood and accepted the fact that war is unpleasant and that the only reward a soldier expects is to know in his own heart that he did his duty to the best of his ability. He fought to protect his family and his beliefs, he did his duty as a citizen and as a man.

They raised every one of us to believe we have the same right to live our own lives by our own beliefs. To this day we dig in and fight when our right to exist and prosper in peace is threatened. We are intelligent, stubborn, and determined. They would be proud of us!

On July 10, 1910, at the last Confederate Reunion at the Haywood County Courthouse, Joshua Henry Allison, his brother-in-law Archibald Justice, and many of their fellow Confederate soldiers were given the United Daughters of the Confederacy medal for loyal and honorable service.

On September 8, 2007, the Sons of Confederate Veterans honored their service and their final resting place in the Allison Cemetery at Beantown. It is an honor well deserved and long past due.

The Confederate motto, Deo Vindice, which means "God is our Defender" seems very appropriate for the Allison family.

**This was compiled from official records and family stories.**

Charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans

"To you, Sons of Confederate Veterans, we will commit the vindication of the cause for which we fought. To your strength will be given the defense of the Confederate soldier's good name, the guardianship of his history, the emulation of his virtues, the perpetuation of those principles which he loved and which you love also, and those ideals which made him glorious and which you also cherish."

Lt. General Stephen Dill Lee, Commander General,
United Confederate Veterans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, April 25, 1906.

Hosted By:
Capt. Julius Welch Camp 229
Sons of Confederate Veterans

8 September 2007
Allison Cemetery--Beantown

The Allison family wishes to thank the men of Capt. Julius Welch Camp 229 Sons of Confederate Veterans for honoring our ancestors.

It was an extremely hot afternoon as the men in gray walked out of the past to stand honor guard for two of the Confederates States of America's loyal sons. From Invocation to Benediction they stood in the hot sun in woolen blend uniforms. It was a sign of the strength, character, and determination which still runs strong in the spirit of these descendants of the Confederate soldiers.

The Julius Welch Camp Honor Guards

Mr. Shawn Eplee--Commander
Rev. Larry Wilson--Chaplain
Mr. Derrick Shipman
Mr. Fred Rathbone
Mr. Kim Sutton
Mr. Jake Burrell--Bugler
Mr. John Trull
Mr. Tony Ruff

Rites

Opening Comments--Mr. Shawn Eplee
Invocation--Rev. Larry Wilson
Guest Speaker--Mrs. Eileen Ezell--State President--United Daughters of the Confederacy
Program Speaker--Mr. Jim Howell
Unveiling of the Stones
21 Gun Salute--Honor Guards
Taps--Mr. Jake Burrell
Benediction--Rev. Larry Wilson

BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD

The muffled drum’s sad roll has beat
The soldier’s last tattoo;
No more on Life’s parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame’s eternal camping-ground
Their silent tents to spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn round,
The bivouac of the dead.
No rumor of the foe’s advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind;
No vision of the morrow’s strife
The warrior’s dream alarms;
No braying horn nor screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.
Their shriveled swards are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their marital shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow,
The proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.
The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle’s stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout, are past:
Nor war’s wild note nor glory’s peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that nevermore may feel
The rapture of the fight.
Like the fierce northern hurricane
That sweeps his great plateau,
Flushed with the triumph yet to gain.
Came down the serried foe.
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o’er the field beneath,
Knew well the watchword of that day
Was “Victory of death.”
Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O’er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew.
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old chieftain knew.
Such odds his strength could bide.
Twas in that hour his stem command
Called to a martyr’s grave
The flower of his beloved land,
The nation’s flag to save.
By rivers of their fathers’ fore
His first-born laurels grew,
And well he deemed the sons would pour
Their lives for glory too.
Full many a mother’s breath has swept
O’er Angostura’s plain —
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its mouldered slain.
The raven’s scream, or eagle’s flight,
Or shepherd’s pensive lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o’er that dread fray.
Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land’s heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claim’s from war his richest spoil —
The ashes of her brave.
Thus ‘neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the glory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother’s breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heros sepulcher.
Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead!
Dear as the blood ye gave;
No impious footstep shall here tread
The herbage of your grave;
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her records keeps.
Or Honor points the hallowed spot
Where Valor proudly sleeps.
Yon marble minstrel’s voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell;
Nor wreck, nor charge, nor winter’s blight,
Nor Time’s remorseless doom.
Shall dim one ray of glory’s light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

© 1998 - present, Haywood Co., NC

© 2007, Becky Howell