I learned on this raid, from prisoners, that Farragut and Butler had, on April 29, 1862, obtained possession of New Orleans. This was the first information of their success received at the North.(11)
My expedition was the first armed one of the war upon the mainland of Georgia.
On my return to the west side of the river I found my regiment, with others, under orders to march at 9 o'clock at night for Stevenson, destination Athens, Alabama. The enemy, under Colonel J. S. Scott, attacked (May 1st) and drove out of Athens the 18th Ohio, under Colonel T. R. Stanley. The affair was not a creditable one to either side. The troops under Scott were said to have been harbored in houses from which they fired on Stanley's men as the latter fled through the streets, and it was claimed citizens aided in shooting down Union soldiers, though this was never shown to be true. Scott, in his report to Beauregard, dated the day of the fight, boasted that the "boys took few prisoners, their shots proving singularly fatal."(11)
The affair itself was of but little consequence, as Colonel Scott was driven out of Athens the succeeding night, and the next day across the Tennessee, he only having captured Stanley's baggage, four wagons, and twenty men, having suffered in killed and wounded a greater loss than he had inflicted.
Out of this incident arose one of the most exceptional occurrences of the whole war.
Colonel John Basil Turchin, of the 19th Illinois, in command of a brigade in Mitchel's division, reached Athens, May 2d, and, it was said, in retaliation for the alleged bad conduct of its citizens the day preceding, he retired to his tent and gave the place up for two hours to be sacked by his command. It was asserted that private houses were invaded during this time, money and valuables seized and carried off, and revolting outrages committed. Turchin was a Russian,(12) a soldier of experience, and a military man, educated in the best schools of Europe. He had served on the general staff of the Czar of Russia and in the Imperial Guard, rising to the rank of Colonel, and he had served his Czar also in the Hungarian War, 1848-49, and in the Crimean War of 1854-56.
It is more than possible that he had imbibed notions as to the manner and believed in methods of treating the enemy's property, including their slaves, and of dealing with captured towns and cities and their inhabitants, not in harmony with modern and more humane and civilized rules of war.
He did not believe war could be successfully waged by an invading army with its officers and soldiers acting as missionaries of mercy for and protectors and preservers of the property of hostile inhabitants. Later, and after General McCausland burned Chambersburg, Penna., less criticism fell on Turchin for his behavior at Athens.
His conduct and that of his command were doubtless exaggerated in many particulars, but enough was true to excite much comment and fierce denunciation and condemnation. The affair was especially unfortunate as to place, Athens being justly celebrated for the number of inhabitants who honestly adhered to the Union cause.
General Mitchel repaired to Athens on hearing it had been sacked, addressed the citizens, induced them to organize a committee to hear and report on all complaints; then ordered the brigade commander to cause every soldier under him to be searched, and every officer to state in writing, upon honor, that he had no pillaged property. The committee subsequently reported, but no charge was made against any officer or soldiers by name. The bills of forty-five citizens, however, were presented by it, aggregating $54,689.80, for alleged depredations. The search was made without finding an article and the reports of officers showed that they had no stolen property.