"All Quiet on the Potomac Tonight"

Now, to the controversy of the author of this poem that was apparently enormously popular in the years following the Civil War.

From the Southern Historical Papers, Vol 8, pages 256-258

LETTERS OF JOHN D. ASHTON
Waynesboro', Ga., January 2, 1874.
Rev. H.F. Oliver, Madison, Ga.:
My Dear Sir--Numerous engagements, of both a private and professional character, and a desire to overlook some old papers of mine, among which I thought it possible I might find a copy of "All Quiet Along the Potomac To-nigh," presented me, after earnest and repeated solicitations, by your father in his own handwriting, are my reasons for not having addressed you this letter long before now.

I knew Thaddeus Oliver well, perhaps more intimately than any member of the Second Georgia regiment, outside his own company. We first met in the convention, of which we both were members, that convened in Milledgeville, in 1860, to send delegates to the National Democratic convention, then soon to assemble in Charleston.

On the 9th of April, 1861, the "Burke Sharpshooters," (Note: Co. D, 2nd Ga.) in which I was a private, was ordered to Tybee Island. About the same time the "Buena Vista guards," of which your lamented father was a member, with other companies, was sent to a point below Savannah, for the purpose of organizing the Second Georgia regiment, afterwards so ably commanded by that noble patriot and brave, heroic soldier, Paul J. Semmes.

At the organization, Captain Butt, of your father's company, than whom a more high- toned, generous gentleman of gallant officer was not in the Army of Northern Virginia, defeated Captain Holmes, of mine, for the majority; and believing that unfair means had been employed to produce the result, in which I was entirely mistaken, I wrote and published a bitter article, which I afterwards often had cause to regret, in which I animadverted, with cruel and unprovoked severity, upon Major Butt.
(Note: The above reference would be to Col. Edgar M. Butt, whose obit can be read at http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ga/marion/obits/ob3859butt.txt ) This produced an estrangement between your father and myself, which continued unhealed until a common service and a common danger brought us once more together.

Our regiment was soon ordered to Virginia-- first to Richmond, thence to Acquia creek, and afterwards to Centreville, from whence detachments were weekly sent out on distant pickets, almost within bow-shot of the Potomac, along whose lines the bones of many a gallant Southern rest. On one of these posts your father and I again were reconciled; and belonging to the same profession, with many tastes and sympathies in common, I soon became warmly and strongly attached to him, and have many reasons to know that the feeling was, in part, at least reciprocated. I state these facts for the purpose of showing you how I happen to know what I do about the authorship of the lines in question; for your father, besides being a modest man, was never quick to give either his hand or confidence to a stranger.

We had just returned from Falls' church, near Alexandria, to Centreville. None of Longstreet's old brigade, none of the Second Georgia, I know, will ever forget the dark, cold, rainy night march on the retreat from there to Fairfax Courthouse. But though we all were drenched and shivering, there still was "life in the old land yet." I remember well, as we rested on our arms in the murky gloom, some one cried out, "Whose treat is this?" when Judge Perry , now of this county, then orderly sergeant of company "D," in the Second Georgia, utterly unable, even there, to resist his abominable penchant for punning, answered, "It is Long's-treat." But I am digressing.

We had returned to Centreville, and one evening while in conversation with your father on law and literary subjects, as uncongenial as these may seem, I proposed to read him some lines I had written and published, "To Wilson's New York Zouaves."
(Note: This unit saw action in Pensacola in the opening days of the war. Pensacola )
After I had finished, he appeared to be absorbed for a moment, then said: "Well I have just written some lines myself, which I shall not publish, but if you will promise me secrecy, I will read them to you."

I promised, and for the first time in my life, heard "All Quiet along the Potomac To- night." I shall never forget either the occasion or the circumstances. He read the lines without unusual feeling until he came to the picture of the little trundlebed, when his voice trembled and his eyes filled with tears. That "touch of nature" was contagious, and I felt the big drops trickling down my own cheeks; and even to this day, when I recall the scene, now that he is dead and gone, I feel again something of the old emotion.

I begged him at once for a copy, but he resolutely refused. Shortly after, however, I left Virginia for Georgia and took command of a company in a regiment there being organized for the Confederate service. The day before my departure I prevailed on him to comply with my request, "upon my honor as soldier" that I would neither read it in the regiment, have it published, nor mention his name in connection with its authorship. This promise, I am sorry to say, I only partially fulfilled; for I read the poem to Dr. Charles Bostick, now of this county; John H. Hudson, late of Jefferson county, but now deceased, and to my brother, Dr. Wm. W. Ashton, now of Shreveport, Louisiana, who were my messmates before leaving the regiment, and on my return to Georgia, to my wife, and told her who wrote it. That your father was the author of the poem, there can never be, to my mind at least, even the shadow of a doubt.

Though professional critics may perhaps smile, or ridicule the idea, I submit that the poem itself furnishes almost positive internal evidence of having been written my a married man upon whom the sacred memories of home, and wife, and children were crowding as he wrote. Such a man was Mr. Oliver. (Unreadable) Mr. Oliver, both by natural gifts and careful culture, was fully equal to such a production. (Unreadable) From Mr. Oliver's well known modesty, he would have been the very last man to publish the poem, if he published it at all over his own signature. (Unreadable)

I have no desire whatever for any publicity in this controversy, indeed I would gladly avoid it, but I feel it due to justice and the memory of your gallant and gifted father to place this communication at your disposal. Though I neither know you personally, nor have had any correspondence with you, I beg you to accept the assurance of my high esteem with sentiments of sincere regard.

John Devereux Ashton.

Haleyondale, Georgia, July 20, 1874.
Rev. Hugh F. Oliver:
My Dear Sir--I owe you many apologies for my long silence, but have delayed answering your further inquiries touching the authorship of "All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night," that I might overlook a large number of letters written by me to my wife from Virginia during the summer and fall of 1861, thinking that some of them might enable me to fix, or approximate dates that had escaped my memory when I last wrote you. And I am gratified beyond measure to inform you that the search has not been in vain.

You will remember that in my communication to you, published in the Savannah Morning News, I stated that, after acquainting my brother and Dr. Bostick with the noble lyric in question while still in camp, I subsequently read it to Mrs. Ashton. I find now that I wrote to her on the subject before returning to Georgia. I have before me a letter addressed to her, written on coarse yellow Confederate paper, dated "Camp Second Georgia regiment, near Centreville, Virginia, October 3d, 1861," in which the following sentence occurs:

"Upon my arrival at home, should I be so fortunate as to obtain the hoped-for furlough, I will read you the touching and beautiful poem mentioned in my letter of last week--- 'All Quiet Along the Potomac'---written by my girlishly modest friend Thaddeus Oliver, of the 'Buena Vista guards.' I should like for you to know him; for, though almost as diffident and retiring as a gentle girl, he is a man of culture, fine literary tastes, and an excellent lawyer."

From this letter, therefore, I am enabled to say with positiveness and certainty, that these now celebrated lines were familiar to me at least a month or six weeks before they appeared in Harper's.

There is another circumstance, too, connected with the earlier publications of this poem, to which I wish to call your attention. I am unable now to recall the precise time when I first saw it in print, but this I remember with perfect distinctness; that it was introduced as a waif, or as having been found in the pocket of an unknown dead soldier. You may have seen such a preface to it yourself. At any rate, I am sure there must be many still living who will recal the fact.

Whatever the world may hereafter think of the authorship of these beautiful lines, I, at least, shall live and die under the firm and unalterable conviction that they were conceived and first expressed by your gifted and lamented father.

Yours truly,
John D. Ashton

COMMUNICATION TO RICHMOND (Virginia) DISPATCH
Richmond, May 4, 1872
Editors of the Dispatch:
In connection with the recently revived question as to the authorship of "All Quiet Along the Potomac," which is now being generally discussed in the Southern journals, I beg to narrate the following, which, with some, may have a bearing upon the pretensions of some of the claimants.

In the summer of 1862, being in the company of several Mississippi soldiers, comrades of (unreadable or deleted) the beauty of the lines were then becoming generally known, was commented upon, and the question of authorship discussed. They spoke very lightly of both the valor and literary ability of (unreadable or deleted) asserting positively that he did not write the lines; that, though he promulgated them in his regiment, they were, by his comrades, supposed to have been written by a private soldier in a Georgia regiment.
R.A.B.

On the whole, the proofs which we file for the inspection of any who may be interested in reading them in full, seem conclusive that this beautiful poem was written by Mr. Thaddeus Oliver, of the Second Georgia regiment, who was a gallant soldier, and gave his life for "the land he loved." Happy the son who had such a father! Fortunate the father who left a son whose facile pen can vindicate his claim to authorship of such a poem.

"All quiet along the Potomac to-night,"
Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot, as he walks on his beat to and fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.
'Tis nothing--a private or two now and then
Will not count in the news of the battle;
Not an officer lost--only one of the men---
Moaning out, all alone, the death-rattle.

"All quiet along the Potomac to-night,"
Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming;
Their tents, in the rays of the clear autumn moon,
Or the light of the watch-fires, are gleaming.
A tremulous sigh, as the gentle night-wind
Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping,
While the stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep guard--for the army is sleeping.

There is only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two on the low trundle-bed,
Far away in the cot on the mountain.
His musket falls slack--his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,
As he mutters a prayer for his children asleep--
For their mother, may Heaven defend her!

The moon seems to shine as brightly as then,
That night, when the love yet unspoken
Leaped up to his lips, and when low-murmered vows
Were pledged to be ever unbroken.
Then drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes,
He dashes off tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun close up to its place,
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.

He passes the fountain, the blasted pine-tree,
The footstep is lagging and weary,
Yet onward he goes, through the broad belt of light,
Towards the shades of the forest so dreary.
Hark! was it the night-wind that rustled the leaves?
Was it the moonlight so wondrously flashing?
It looked like a rifle--ah! Mary, good-bye!
And the life-blood is ebbing and splashing!

All quiet along the potomac to-night,
No sound save the rush of the river;
While soft falls the dew on the face of the dead--
The picket's off duty forever!

Company I, 2nd Regiment
Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia
"Buena Vista Guards"

Oliver, Thaddeus-Private Apr 15 1861. Admitted to Chimborazo Hospital #1 in Richmond Va Mar 21 1862. Elected Captain of Co E 63rd Regt Ga Inf on Dec 11 1862. Resigned May 29 1863. Elected 1st Lieut. Co D 28th Battn Ga Siege Artillery on Aug 6 1863. Wounded John’s Island S.C. in July 1864 and died there of his wounds on Aug 20 1864. Sarah Penilope Oliver filed widow's claim in Bibb Co.

2nd Infantry Regiment completed its organization at Brunswick, Georgia, in June, 1861, and moved to Virginia. Its companies were raised in the counties of Banks, Jackson, Muscogee, Burke, Bibb, Marion, and Stewart. In April, 1862, the regiment had a force of 607 men and during the war served in General Toombs' and Benning's Brigade. It fought with the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, exept when it was detached with Longstreet at Suffolk, Chickamauga, and Knoxville. The 2nd was involved in the Petersburg siege south of the James River and various engagements around Appomattox. The seven companies that saw action at Garnett's lost forty-two percent of the 271 engaged, then reported 11 killed and 70 wounded at Malvern Hill. The unit lost thirty-four percent of the 163 at Second Manassas and twenty-eight percent of the 348 at Gettysburg. It sustained 66 casualties from April 14, to May 6, and 25 from August 1 to December 31, 1864. There were 12 officers and 146 men present at the surrender. Its commanders were Colonels Edgar M. Butt and Paul J. Semmes; Lieutenant Colonels Skidmore Harris, William T. Harris, William R. Holmes, and William S. Shephard; and Majors William W. Charlton and Abner M. Lewis.----National Park Service, Soldiers and Sailors System.

And now this letter, some thirty years later, to the editor of the Butler Herald from Col. W.L. Grice, on the subject of who authored the poem amongst other things. As transcribed by Carla Miles Historycam@wmconnect.com

The Butler Herald
Tuesday, April 27, 1915
Page One
Distinguished Visitors Col. W.L. Grice and Mrs. Grice arrived in the city Sunday and during their delightful stay in the city are guests of Col. and Mrs. H.P. Wallace. Yesterday was a memorable day with Col. Grice when it was that he mingled with and received the warm handshake of so many of his old war-time comrades here in attendance upon memorial day exercises. Although in his 83rd year, Col. Grice is a well-preserved man. Providence has smiled abundantly upon him, has never been sick a day in his life, and is today a remarkably active man for one of his age. Mrs. Grice, who is herself in the 75, is a charming lady of the antebellum type. This venerable and esteemed couple have the congratulations of their many Taylor County friends.

The Butler Herald
Tuesday, May 11, 1915
Page Seven

Butler In The Olden Time
By Col. W.L. Grice

---

The Butler Herald
Tuesday, May 11, 1915
Page Seven

Butler In The Olden Time

By Col. W.L. Grice
Mr. Editor:
On a recent visit to your town, the first in many years, I was the guest of Henry P. Wallace, who is the son of my old friend and law partner, Wm. S. Wallace, than whom Taylor County never produced a better citizen.

It has occurred to me that a rambling sketch of the town and people as I saw them sixty years ago might be interesting to some of your readers, and hence by your leave, I will undertake to give from memory a short account of some of the men and things of the antebellum times.

Butler was incorporated in the year 1854, and the commissioners designated in the charter were: C.Y. Perry, Ezekiel Royal, James T. May, Isaac Mulkey and P.C. Carr. I settled there in the fall of the next year, and the law card of Grice & Wallace which was published in the Macon Telegraph for several years bore the date of December 10, 1855, as I remember it. I have been a subscriber to the paper from that day to this except while in the army.

Four preachers and five lawyers had preceded me to the newly settled county site. The preachers were James T. May, Dr. James Griffith, Wm. W. Corbitt and E.H. Wilson. All of these were Methodists except the last, but none of them had the care of churches.

The lawyers were Hopkins Holsey, Daniel W. Miller, W.W. Corbin, Benjamin F. Reese and X.B. LeSeuer. Col. Wallace and Julius H. Holsey came to the bar soon after my arrival. W.H. Caldwell and John Walker were the practicing physicians. Dr. A.L. Edwards and Dr. Dugger came later.

John Sturtevant was ordinary of the county; James T. Harmon, clerk; and W.W. Wiggins, sheriff. If I remember correctly Sanders W. Durham was pastor of the Baptist church and Wyatt Brooks of the Methodist.

The Justices of the Inferior Court were T.J. Riley, Hiram Drane, A.M.K. Swift, R.B. Rucker and ------. (line drawn, no name given)

The Judge of the Superior Court was E.H. Worrill and Col. Jack Brown was Solicitor. Brown was succeeded by Thaddeus Oliver. His son, the Rev. Hugh F. Oliver, now deceased, always insisted that his father was the author of "All is Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight," and that he and his brother, now Capt. James Oliver, of the U.S. Navy, were "the two in the low trunnell bed."

Hugh Oliver investigated the matter as far as possible and he published the result of his investigation in a newspaper. There was much evidence including letters from men who read the verses in manuscript, going to show that Thad Oliver was the author of the verses, and that Mrs. Ethel L. Beers obtained them from a fugitive copy which was carried to the north presumably by some returning prisoner. Mrs. Beers first published the poem in a Philadelphia paper over her own name.

Of course nearly all northern publishers ascribe the authorship to her; but Hugh Oliver's investigation satisfied many that his father wrote the poem while in the camp in the early part of the war; and not appreciating its merits, he died before it was given to the public and before any question was raised as to its author. But some copies had been taken by Mr. Oliver's friends in (paper torn) it was said a few (paper torn) leaflets and distri (paper torn).

Among the (paper torn) Butler were J. (paper torn) Smith, J.B. Wright and John H. Bruce.

Robert Scandrett was railroad agent, James R. Hudson kept the principal hotel, and Wm. A. Graham taught the town school. There was no public school in those days. Still other prominent citizens whom I knew and remember were Jesse Stallings, the Montforts, Willis McLendon, Thos. H. Brown and Wm. H. Heard.

The Neislers, Batemans and McCrarys were also prominent families in the town and county. I think the late John A. Childs was about the last business man who was identified with the early history of the place.

Political feelings ran high in the county before the war and the two parties were about equally divided. The American or Know Nothing Party in 1855 sent A.H. Riley to the senate and A.J. McCants to the house of representatives. Every county then had a senator. At the next election in 1857, the democrats elected T.J. Riley (brother of A.H. Riley) to the senate and J.J. McCants (brother of A.J. McCants) to the house, thus reversing the politics of the county in two years as expressed in the legislative election.

A few of the original houses in the town remain. The courthouse still stands, but the interior has been somewhat changed. The old wooden jail is gone. I ought to remember that building for I spent a night in it. A client of our firm (W.R. Lowe by name) was ordered by the Judge on an exparte showing to turn over to a Receiver certain valuable papers or else go to jail.

My partner and I thought it important for our client to retain possession of the property; and we advised him to go to jail assuring him the judge would turn him out as soon as he heard our side of the case, but the judge could not hear it under ten days.

Our client finally agreed to go to prison, provided one of his lawyers would stay with him at night. It struck my youthful mind that it was not right for me to prescribe medicine for another which I was unwilling to take myself, so I agreed to the terms of my friend, and late in the evening I was locked up with him.

Before retiring for the night some of our friends on the outside informed us that the sheriff had gone to a party some distance in the country, carrying the jail keys with him. This news disconcerted my room mate and we discussed our situation in case of fire or sickness or other emergency. My friend became nervous. What my feelings were is none of the business of the reader. Suffice it to say that the next morning our client surrendered the property and was liberated from prison.

Let me add in justification of the opinion and advice of Mr. Lowe's counsel that at the end of ten days the judge heard our side of the case and promptly discharged the Receiver and restored the property to my client.

My visit to Butler was exceedingly pleasant. There have been many changes for the better - better streets, better houses, better stock. The people are friendly and hospitable. But I found more familiar names in the cemetery than familiar faces on the street. Still there were a few left of the friends of my early manhood. These met me with a cordial grasp of the hand, and (paper torn) from me with a fervent (paper torn) bless you."

W.L. Grice
(paper torn) lle, Ga. (Note:Hawkinsville)

NOTES:
Burial: Houston County
Evergreen Cemetery

 Washington L. Grice
   (b 22 Feb 1832, d 9 Mar 1925).  
CSA.  In thee, O Lord, do I
   put my trust.

 Martha V. Warren Grice
   (b 18 Jul 1840, d 1 Jan 1926).  
The Lord is my shepherd; I
   shall not want.
On a recent visit to your town, the first in many
years, I was the guest of Henry P. Wallace, who is the
son of my old friend and law partner, Wm. S. Wallace,
than whom Taylor County never produced a better
citizen.

It has occurred to me that a rambling sketch of the
town and people as I saw them sixty years ago might be
interesting to some of your readers, and hence by your
leave, I will undertake to give from memory a short
account of some of the men and things of the antebellum
times.

Butler was incorporated in the year 1854, and the
commissioners designated in the charter were: C.Y.
Perry, Ezekiel Royal, James T. May, Isaac Mulkey and
P.C. Carr (Note:  this would have been Perry Cook Carr,
Capt., Co. A, 27th Ga., "The Georgia Drillers."  This
company was raised in Marion Co.  Capt. Carr born 1814,
died June 13th, 1862 of thyphoid fever in a Richmond,
Va. hospital. A very rare  photograph of him in uniform
may be viewed at  )

 I settled there in the fall of the
next year, and the law card of Grice & Wallace which
was published in the Macon Telegraph for several years
bore the date of December 10, 1855, as I remember it.
I have been a subscriber to the paper from that day to
this except while in the army.

Four preachers and five lawyers had preceded me to the
newly settled county site.  The preachers were James T.
May, Dr. James Griffith, Wm. W. Corbitt and E.H.
Wilson.  All of these were Methodists except the last,
but none of them had the care of churches.

The lawyers were Hopkins Holsey, Daniel W. Miller, W.W.
Corbin, Benjamin F. Reese and X.B. LeSeuer.  Col.
Wallace and Julius H. Holsey came to the bar soon after
my arrival.  W.H. Caldwell and John Walker were the
practicing physicians.  Dr. A.L. Edwards and Dr. Dugger
came later.

John Sturtevant was ordinary of the county; James T.
Harmon, clerk; and W.W. Wiggins, sheriff.  If I
remember correctly Sanders W. Durham was pastor of the
Baptist church and Wyatt Brooks of the Methodist.

The Justices of the Inferior Court were T.J. Riley,
Hiram Drane, A.M.K. Swift, R.B. Rucker and ------.
(line drawn, no name given)

The Judge of the Superior Court was E.H. Worrill and
Col. Jack Brown was Solicitor.  Brown was succeeded by
Thaddeus Oliver.  His son, the Rev. Hugh F. Oliver, now
deceased, always insisted that his father was the
author of "All is Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight," and
that he and his brother, now Capt. James Oliver, of the
U.S. Navy, were "the two in the low trunnell bed."

Hugh Oliver investigated the matter as far as possible
and he published the result of his investigation in a
newspaper.  There was much evidence including letters
from men who read the verses in manuscript, going to
show that Thad Oliver was the author of the verses, and
that Mrs. Ethel L. Beers
 obtained them from a
fugitive copy  which was carried to the north presumably
by some returning prisoner.  Mrs. Beers first published
the poem in a Philadelphia paper over her own name.


Of course nearly all northern publishers ascribe the
authorship to her; but Hugh Oliver's investigation
satisfied many that his father wrote the poem while in
the camp in the early part of the war; and not
appreciating its merits, he died before it was given to
the public and before any question was raised as to its
author.  But some copies had been taken by Mr. Oliver's
friends in (paper torn) it was said a few (paper torn)
leaflets and distri (paper torn).







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