T. B. Larimore (1843–1929)
Captain Spiller
by T. B. Larimore
(CONFEDERATE
VETERAN, January 1922, 6)
Capt. C. C. Spiller was my captain when I wore the
Confederate gray in the sanguinary sixties. He was a man of deeds, not of
words; but I remember some of the things I heard him say sixty years ago. He
took me to Confederate headquarters at Chattanooga,
in 1863 I think it was, and said: “This boy has been, to my certain
knowledge, where a crow could not have escaped.”
At the beginning of the war he was captain of a steamboat, his home being
six miles below Bridgeport, Ala.,
near the right bank of the Tennessee River.
Commissioned by the Confederacy to raise a company of cavalry, he sent
officers and a competent horse trader into Sequatchie Valley
to enlist men to recruit his company and to buy horses to mount his men, the
nucleus of his company consisting of officers and men subject to his command
as river or steamboat captain.
That was early in sixty-one, but even then the spirit of war filled the
valley as waters fill the sea. An infantry company* had been formed in
Dunlap, the county seat of Sequatchie
County, and I was its
hopeful, happy color bearer. That company had not been mustered into service,
however; and, fearing the war would be over before I got there, I hastened
away to Chattanooga
and joined Captain Spiller's company.
As one of Spiller's scouts I made my military record-a record of which I
have never been disposed to boast or be ashamed. This gave me a rare
opportunity to know the man of whom I write. It is not meet that I should
laud him overmuch; but, suffice it to say, he was no ordinary man.
He was brave, but cautious and prudent, and always took the best possible
care of his men. It was not possible, however, for him to keep them
constantly out of danger, as every sensible soldier knows; but when it was
necessary for him to send one or more of his men into a perilous place from
which escape seemed almost impossible, he did it with fatherly reluctance and
regret.
I remember well a time when the salvation and safety of his command
depended on his knowing whether the enemy occupied a certain place which,
though little more than a mile distant, could not be seen from where we were.
The desired, the essential information could not be obtained except by
drawing the enemy's fire or at least endeavoring to do so. That made it
necessary for him to send one or more of his soldiers into such peril that to
select one for that service seemed like sentencing him to be shot. He was
unwilling to do that; hence he called for volunteers to thus run the risk of
giving their lives to save the rest. Two boys volunteered to go. They went.
They drew the fire of the enemy. Minie balls filled the air around them with
music such as only soldiers can understand.
Having fulfilled their mission, they beat a hasty retreat, rejoined their
command, all were saved and were safe for the time; and our brave captain was
perfectly satisfied. Bill Whittle was one of those boys, and the other would
be glad to hear from him and delighted to meet him again. He would likewise
be delighted to meet or hear from any other members of Captain Spiller's
Confederate company.
* Larimore's original regiment was Co. I,
35th Tenn.
Infantry.
(e-text: Lee Freeman)
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