CIVIL WAR BATTLE ATLANTA WIA CONFEDERATE GEORGIA COLONEL CUMMING LETTER SIGNED !

Description

JOSEPH BRYAN CUMMING
A Battle Scarred Veteran of the Confederacy
(1836 - 1922)
CIVIL WAR WIA CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY GEORGIA COLONEL, SERVING THRU THE ENTIRE WAR,
AG IN THE FIELD and STAFF OF CONFEDERATE GENERAL STEPHEN, GEN. WALKER’S DIVISION, and AG  ON THE STAFF OF LT. GEN. HOOD,
COLONEL WHO ACTED AS THE CONFEDERATE REAR GUARD LEAVING ATLANTA, GEORGIA,
&
AUGUSTA, GA LAWYER and LEGISLATOR!
Cumming was first a Lt. with the 5
th
Georgia Infantry. He was Wounded-in-Action at the Battle of Shiloh, had a horse shot from under him at Murfreesboro (Stone’s River) at Chickamauga and was the Confederacy’s Rear Guard when the Confederate States Army left Atlanta. Cumming later fought at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee.
He was present when the order for the execution of Elbert J. Chapman was issued.
<
<>
>
HERE IS A LETTER SIGNED BY CUMMING ON HIS LAW OFFICE LETTERHEAD, 1p., DATELINED AT AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, APRIL 29
th
, 1897 TO MESSRS. MITCHELL & SMITH [LAW FIRM] AT CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA CONFIRMING HIS ATTENDANCE AT THE “
MAY RULES
” IN CHARLESTON, and DISCUSSING AMENDMENTS TO A LEGAL PETITION IN A COURT CASE INVOLVING THE LOUISVILLE and NASHVILLE RAILROAD COMPANY…
The document measures 8½” x 7” and is in VERY FINE, CONDITION – BOLDLY EXECUTED and SIGNED BY CUMMING!
A FINE ADDITION TO YOUR CIVIL WAR GEORGIA “
COLONELS IN GRAY”
MILITARY HISTORY AUTOGRAPH, MANUSCRIPT & EPHEMERA COLLECTION.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CONFEDERATE COLONEL
JOSEPH B. CUMMING
Colonel Joseph B. Cumming
, a distinguished and eloquent attorney of Augusta, and a resident from his earliest years of the beautiful suburban village of Summerville, entered the Confederate service as a private in Company A, Fifth Georgia infantry, stationed at that time at Pensacola, Fla.
Being appointed sergeant-major he served four months in that capacity and was then made second lieutenant of Company I, of the same regiment.
In October, 1861, he was detailed as adjutant of the post at Pensacola, and in January, 1862, was assigned to John K. Jackson as brigade adjutant with the rank of captain.
Captain Cumming went with General “Stonewall” Jackson to Grand Junction, Tenn., and on his staff participated in the battle of Shiloh, the Kentucky campaign and the battle of Murfreesboro.
At Shiloh he was slightly wounded and at Murfreesboro had a horse killed under him.
In February, 1863, he resigned, but was immediately re-appointed with the same rank and ordered to report to Gen. Wm. H. T. Walker, whose brigade was at that time serving on the coast near Savannah.
In the spring the brigade was ordered to Mississippi, becoming part of the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, assembling for the attempted relief of Vicksburg.
General Walker being promoted to major-general, Captain Cumming now commissioned major, was made adjutant-general of Walker's division and corps in the summer of 1863, participating with his chief in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta campaign until the death of Walker in the charge upon the enemy's line at Atlanta, July 22, 1864.
He was then detailed by General Hardee as inspector of G. W. Smith's division of State troops and at the evacuation of Atlanta was placed in command of the rear guard.
Subsequently he was assigned to the staff of Lieutenant-General Hood, as assistant adjutant-general and in that capacity took part in the Tennessee campaign, including the battles of Franklin and Nashville and the terrible winter retreat to Corinth.
Upon Hood's retirement, he acted upon the staff of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, but at the reorganization of the army in April, 1865, was appointed to the command of a battalion of eight companies with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and with the promise of two more companies and rank of colonel.
Before this promotion could come the war ended and Colonel Cumming was paroled at Greensboro as a member of General Johnston's staff.
Since the war he has made a brilliant success in the practice of law and has served as a member of the Augusta Camp Confederate Veterans and a Trustee of the Soldiers' Home at Atlanta.
Source:
Confederate Military History Vol. VII p. 589
<<>
::
<>>
Biographical Sketch of Confederate Colonel Joseph B. Cumming from the “Confederate Veteran” Magazine
Source:
Confederate Veteran, Volume 30, Nashville, TN, Jan. 1922
COL. JOSEPH B. CUMMING - A TRIBUTE
BY CHARLES EDGEWORTH JONES, HISTORIAN CAMP No. 435 U.C.V. AUGUSTA, GA
Col. Joseph Bryan Cumming was born in Augusta, Ga on February 2, 1836. Graduating from the University of Georgia with first honor in the class of 1854,
he then studied law and was admitted to the bar. With the supervening of the War between the States a few years later, however, his legal labors were laid aside when he patriotically enlisted in the Confederate States Army.
His military service began early in 1861 as a member of the Clinch Rifles, Company A, of the 5th Georgia Regiment, commanded by Col. John K. Jackson and he was at first stationed at Pensacola, Fla. In September of the same year, he became a lieutenant in Company I from Columbus, Ga., and in January 1862, he was promoted to the captaincy of this command, officiating in that rank as Assistant Adjutant General in J.K. Jackson's brigade at the battle of Shiloh in the Kentucky campaign and in the conflict at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In the last named contest he had a horse shot from under him and he suffered a slight wound at the battle of Shiloh.
After the sanguinary engagement at Murfreesboro he was ordered to report to Brig. Gen. William H.T. Walker, and being subsequently advanced to the grade of Major, he served in the Adjutant General's Department of Walker's command.
He was in the campaign with Johnston against Sherman from Dalton to Atlanta in 1864, and took part in the famous battle of July 22 of this year for the defense and retention of that town.
Major Cumming was in every battle of the Army of Tennessee from Shiloh until the surrender excepting those of Missionary Ridge and Jonesboro, Ga.
Among all the heroes on those ensanguined fields none ever received from comrades in arms or superior officers higher need of praise for gallantry than Maj. Joseph B. Cumming.
After the lamented death of Major General Walker in the memorable battle of July 22, 1864 at Atlanta, Major Cumming was ordered to report to General Hardee, on whose staff he served until his transference to the corps of General Hood, who was then commanding the Army of Tennessee.
He was with the latter officer in the Tennessee campaign and was on his staff at the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Upon the removal of Hood and the reappointment of General Johnston to the command of the Army of Tennessee, Major Cumming was placed on Johnston's staff On the reorganization of the army in 1865.
Just before the surrender, Major Cumming was appointed Colonel of a regiment made up of C. H. Stevens's brigade. The CS Army being on the eve of surrender however, he did not take command remaining with Johnston until the disbanding of the Confederate troops at Greensboro, NC.
Colonel Cumming is remembered as the gallant speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives in the winter and summer of 1872, soon after the return of the Democrats to political supremacy in State affairs.
He was a member of the Georgia Senate a few years later, but with that exception, he had absolutely abstained from politics.
He was an orator of forcefulness and rare charm and contributed to many occasions in lastingly emphasizing the truth of history. With his
pen, he was always apt and ready, and frequently gave point to a subject which realized the most ardent expectations of his readers.
Among the numerous positions of trust and responsibility which he had acceptably held was that of Captain and Commander of Camp 435 U.C.V. Confederate Survivors Association of Augusta, Ga., in which capacity he officiated in 1901 and 1902, and the honor of membership on the Chickamauga National Park Commission. The latter distinction was conferred on him by President Roosevelt in 1903, and the dignity thus bestowed was personally highly prized to the day of his greatly regretted death.
Pleasing always in address, and popular everywhere, this gallant gentleman was an ornament to the generation in which he lived and when, on May 15, 1922, his public spirited and patriotic usefulness ended, Colonel Cumming had more than intensified his claim to the title of a battle scarred veteran of the Confederacy.
I am a proud member of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), The Ephemera Society of America, the Manuscript Society and the American Political Items Collectors (APIC) (member name: John Lissandrello). I subscribe to each organizations' code of ethics and authenticity is guaranteed. ~Providing quality service and historical memorabilia online for over 20 years.~
WE ONLY SELL GENUINE ITEMS, i.e., NO REPRODUCTIONS, FAKES OR COPIES!