9 September 1863.

After enlisting, the recruits were sent to Johnson City, TN, arriving on
the 1st of August 1862 for drill and training. Lieutenant Colonel B.G.
McDowell, one of the commanders, wrote in 1901: "This regiment when it went
into camp for drill was without arms, except a few old muskets which were
furnished them for drilling purposes. A very small amount of ammunition was
furnished. In the fall of 1862, date not now remembered, Lieutenant Colonel
Clayton was ordered to Causby Creek, Cocke County, Tennessee, to help
suppress an uprising of disloyal citizens there. It seems that some
conscripts [draftees] and deserters had been turned out of the Waynesville
jail by their friends. Sheriff Noland while pursuing them was killed on
Noland or Utah Mountain, three miles northeast of town. The Sixty Second,
badly armed and equipped as it was, presented a formidable and war-like
appearance. The outlaws were killed, captured or scattered."

Its first Command assignment came on 31 October 1862 in the Third Division
of the Army of Kentucky. In late December of that year, they were assigned
to guard the railroads in the area, remaining there until 20 February 1863
when they went into camp at Greeneville in Greene County, Tennessee. Their
Brigade assignments changed from the Second Brigade, its initial
assignment, to A.E. Jackson's Brigade in March, then to the Fourth Brigade
in late April. Those who were not captured at Cumberland Gap regrouped and
were reassigned to the District of Western North Carolina on the first of
January 1864. The final reassignment took place in December 1864 to the
Mountain District, Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia.
During the period of service that the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment
saw prior to the Cumberland Gap episode, they participated in a number of
engagements and operations, the first being against Union supporters in
nearby Cocke County, Tennessee, just across the state line from Warm
Springs (now Hot Springs), Madison County, from the 6th to the 16th of
October 1862, and also at Cataloochee and Big Creek in Tennessee. The
mission for the week between Christmas Eve, 1862 and New Year's Day, 1863,
was to move against Union troops moving into the eastern part of Tennessee,
an area very heavily pro-Union. They fought at Union, Watauga Bridge,
Carter's Station and Carter's Depot in that region. The Regiment's
activities were very light - possibly even inactive, from the first of
January 1863 until June 14th, when they moved to thwart an East Tennessee
raid by a Union regiment commanded by a man named Saunders; this operation
at Knoxville and Powder Springs Gap lasted about 10 days.

In mid-August, Union General Ambrose P. Burnside was ordered to concentrate
his forces in East Tennessee. The 62nd North Carolina, among others, was
sent to the defense, but were overwhelmed and captured at Cumberland Gap,
Tennessee on the 9th of September, 1863, thus ending the fighting for 442
soldiers of the 62nd North Carolina.

An account from Official Records of The War of the Rebellion, Series III,
Volume II, 1863, United States Government:
"Brigadier General John W. Frazier, CSA, after his surrender at Cumberland
Gap reported that his disaster was forced, amongst other reasons, by the
quality of the troops he commanded, saying the 62nd North Carolina was very
indifferent, being badly disciplined and hardly drilled. The Colonel was
absent, soon after resigned, and became an open advocate of reunion. One
Captain was in arrest for disseminating papers hostile to the Confederacy,
and the regiment of four hundred and fifty men was commanded by the Major."
Lieutenant Colonel B.G. McDowell had this to say about Frazier's comments:
"I have noticed in Brigadier General Frazier's report, of his disgraceful
surrender of Cumberland Gap, he refers to this regiment as at one time
having been commanded by its Major (referring of course to this writer),
and as having been surrendered by him to a gang of Yankee scouts, or
raiders. A more unblushing falsehood was never penned by living man.

I was there with three companies of poorly armed men, with no means of
defense and absolutely helpless. In this condition these three companies
were surrendered, And yet, the gallant General Frazier has me surrendering
this whole regiment to a Yankee scouting party. Frazier was in command at
Cumberland Gap when the surrender of that stronghold occurred on 9
September 1863. The force we had at the Gap was insignificant when compared
with the Federal forces, but the surrender of the Confederate forces was a
shame and disgrace, when the situation is fully understood. The opportunity
of General Frazier to have evacuated the Gap and saved his command from a
long imprisonment and death was open, and nothing but treachery, or
cowardice, or it may be both, could have led to the unconditional
surrender. The writer has read the report as given by Gen Frazier and
wondered if an opportunity would be offered for the vindication of our men
from the miserable slander against them in his attempt to shield himself
from public censure. It affords me pleasure now to say that men never
behaved with more coolness and courage than did the 62nd Regiment. Stalwart
men actually cried like children when they found that they were surrendered
without defending their right and reputation."

Recommended Reading: To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1862-65 (Hardcover: 446 pages). Description: The author’s research is exacting, methodical, and painstaking. He brought zero bias to the enterprise and the result is a stunning achievement that is both scholarly and readable. Douglas, the "accidental" prison camp, began as a training camp for Illinois volunteers. Donalson and Island #10 changed that. The long war that no one expected… combined with inclement weather – freezing temperatures - primitive medical care and the barbarity of the captors created in the author’s own words "a death camp." Stanton's and Grant's policy of halting the prisoner exchange behind the pretense of Fort Pillow accelerated the suffering. Continued below...

In the latest edition, Levy found the long lost hospital records at the National Archives which prove conclusively that casualties were deliberately “under reported.” Prisoners were tortured, brutality was tolerated and corruption was widespread. The handling of the dead rivals stories of Nazi Germany. The largest mass grave in the Western Hemisphere is filled with....the bodies of Camp Douglas dead, 4200 known and 1800 unknown. No one should be allowed to speak of Andersonville until they have absorbed the horror of Douglas, also known as “To Die in Chicago.”

East Tennessee and American Civil War Railroads

 

Recommended Reading: Portals to Hell: Military Prisons of the Civil War. Description: The military prisons of the Civil War, which held more than four hundred thousand soldiers and caused the deaths of fifty-six thousand men, have been nearly forgotten. Lonnie R. Speer has now brought to life the least-known men in the great struggle between the Union and the Confederacy, using their own words and observations as they endured a true “hell on earth.” Drawing on scores of previously unpublished firsthand accounts, Portals to Hell presents the prisoners’ experiences in great detail and from an impartial perspective. The first comprehensive study of all major prisons of both the North and the South, this chronicle analyzes the many complexities of the relationships among prisoners, guards, commandants, and government leaders. It is available in paperback and hardcover.

 

 

Recommended Reading: Mountain Rebels: East Tennessee Confederates and the Civil War, 1860-1870 (240 pages) (University of Tennessee Press). Description: In this fine study, Groce points out that the Confederates in East Tennessee suffered more for the ‘Southern Cause’ than did most other southerners. From the first rumblings of secession to the redemption of Tennessee in 1870, Groce introduces his readers to numerous men and women from this region who gave their all for Southern Independence. He also points out that East Tennesseans were divided in their loyalties and that slavery played only a small role. Continued below...

Fisher portrays in grim detail the brutality and ruthlessness employed not only by partisan bands but also by Confederate and Union troops under constant threat of guerrilla attack and government officials frustrated by unstinting dissent. He demonstrates that, generally, guerrillas were neither the romantic, daring figures of Civil War legend nor mere thieves and murderers, but rather were ordinary men and women who fought to live under a government of their choice and to drive out those who did not share their views.