On the bloody and gory and deadly fields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Col. John A. Fite of Alexandria, Tennessee surrendered his sword to Col. Samuel A. Moore as he was taken as a prisoner of war during the carcinogenic Pickett’s Charge, the third-day battle of the grotesque Civil War. Several years later, the misplaced sword was returned to Col. Fite by the former Union drummer boy, J.W. Parsons, on behalf of Col. Moore. Following the “good will” presentation, Col. Fite immediately sent an appreciation letter to Col. Moore. His special sword had been returned to its rightful owner many years following his historically incongruous capture.
He was Colonel John Amenas Fite of Alexandria (DeKalb County), Tennessee. In all probability and as a survivor of the infamous and unbelievable Pickett’s Charge, he probably had been asked to kill his fellow comrades and opposing soldiers whose bodies had been bloodily mangled in the fighting and left for dead. It was a vicious massacre of unbelievable and unsurmountable proportions. Just the mention of “Pickett’s Charge” takes my breath away. It was a doomed infiltration in every aspect before it began. It questions General Robert E. Lee’s decision-making and mental prowess. There is no record of Fite having any physical or mental ailments from his war perils.
He was a Confederate soldier, and his company was mustarded in DeKalb County, Tennessee in April, 1861. Later, he joined “the bloodiest war in history – The Civil War.” Fite was a member of Company A, Seventh Tennessee Infantry Regiment of which he also commanded as a Colonel.
On a lighter note, DeKalb County historian, Thomas G. Webb, wrote, “John A. Fite was in a group which killed a hog and ate the meat, but left the ‘great bushy tail,’ which Col. Fite slipped into Lt. Jim Hutchinson’s army boot. They were annoyed with an influx of many snakes at their location. The next morning when Hutchinson put on his boot, he felt the hog tail in his boot and was positive it was a snake.” Laughter was surmountable. ‘I couldn’t eat it,” said Fite “but everyone else did.” Throughout his life, Fite was known for his “iconic sense of humor” as evidenced above.
In an historical recollection, Col. Fite led the above regiment to a Confederate victory at Charlottesville in May, 1863; to Fredericksburg in December, 1862; and with Lee’s army into Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. The latter has since been identified as “the bloodiest war in American history,” wrote Wikipedia.
On another sour note, Webb added, “Col. Fite was captured (during Pickett’s Charge) and taken to Johnson's Island, Ohio in November, 1863 and remained there until February 27, 1865 when he was transferred to City Point, Virginia. During his time there, Col. Fite said, ‘There never was an hour that I wasn’t hungry.’ On New Year’s Day, 1864 he weighed 220 pounds; on the same scales one year later, Fite weighed 130 pounds – a net loss of 90 pounds. On a subsequent note, Fite was visiting with other prisoners of war when they furnished those soldiers attending with ‘the finest piece of meat I ever saw.’ Later, ‘when they stuck a knife in the meat, there was such an odor that no one could eat it. It turned out to be a large male cat they cooked and roasted,”’ wrote Webb.
In www.rbhayes.com it was written, “Between April 1862 and September 1865, Johnson’s Island served as a military prison, primarily for Confederate officers. About 9,000 prisoners passed through, including 25 generals, several U.S. senators, state governors, a U. S. Supreme Court justice, and five slaves.” Today, Johnson’s Island is a National Historic Landmark. Soon thereafter, Fite was transferred to City Point, Virginia. During this time, a typical meal served to POW’s was a thin broth of rice and vegetables. They were rationed with black coffee (sugar was expensive), soup, and bread.” Extemporaneously, POW’s suffered from inadequate food, water, sanitation, and shelter.
To reiterate, Fite served in Pickett’s Charge in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the third day of the American Civil War on July 3, 1963. He survived the Charge, which was an infantry assault ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Union General George G. Meade. The synopsis was that both armies lined up in one long row against each other with the Confederates being lambasted by the Union army. It was the Union army that “were victorious” in the contested conflict. It was a costly conflict that ended Lee’s victory. Of note, when Lee ordered Pickett to gather and reorganize his troops for another military onslaught, Pickett gravely answered with dejection, “General, I have no division.” Cumulatively, Col. Fite was injured in three previous large Civil War battles, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville included.
It was written that Pickett’s Charge was “valiant but ultimately doomed to failure.” It was a “monumental disaster for the Confederacy, but a monumental victory for the Union.” The Confederacy (Lee) lost about half of their men that engaged in the charge. Recently, my son, Jim, and I visited the battlefield. It was there that Jim walked miles of the same barren lands as did Fite. The scene was empty of persons and debris; however, Jim, nonchalantly, found a Union military lapel button nestled in the hardened grass to which he returned to the main Civil War offices, located on the premises.
During the Battle of Gettysburg, Col. Fite became a Prisoner of War, yet was freed at the war’s conclusion. The combined strength was 10,000 troops in 10 brigades with one artillery brigade and there were 150-170 cannons.
In a biological retrospect, Colonel Fite was born in Alexandria, Tennessee on February 10,1832 at his family’s plantation house in DeKalb County. He was one of 11 children born to Jacob and Matilda Beard Fite and he and his siblings attended the best schools in Tennessee. Following his graduation from Irvin College in Warren County, TN. and from Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN. and while practicing law in Lebanon with his brother, Fite joined the 7th Tennessee Infantry and rose to the rank of Colonel on April 8, 1863 by the time his regiment arrived at Gettysburg.
After the Civil War, he returned to Alexandria and married Mary Mitchell and they made their home in Carthage, Tennessee where he resumed his law practice. They were the parents of two daughters. There, he was elected to the State Legislature and, for many years, was a respected and admired Judge of the Fifth Judicial District. Col. Fite was also the Adjunct General of Tennessee under the auspices of Governor Peter Turney and he also served as the Clerk and Master.
Col. Fite died in Lebanon on August 23, 1925 at age 93 years and is buried at the Carthage (TN) Cemetery.
About 26,000 Confederate soldiers died in Union Camps during the Civil War.
Colonel Fite lived a fully unabraded life – he was one of the blessed and the fortunate. A graduate of Cumberland University Law School; a Judge of the 5th Judicial Circuit; a Union Prisoner of War during Pickett’s Charge and a commanding officer of middle-Tennessee troops during the Civil War; the Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court; Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee; a 5th district member of the 42nd Tennessee House of Representatives; a Mason; a husband and father of two daughters; a humorist; and a member of the Alexandria and Carthage Methodist Churches; an Adjunct General for Tennessee; and the President of the Carthage (TN) Bank and Trust filled his unabridged private and public resume.
Fite lived to be Tennessee’s last surviving commander, said local attorney, Michael Corley, who is also a Civil War historian.
He was, according to all accounts, quite a character throughout his life. And, throughout his life, he had a heart and mind made of steely determination and of congenial resoluteness. It is evident in the aforementioned text.
Addendum: The book, Colonel John A. Fite’s Letters from Prison by Raymond D. White is available for independent researchers at your nearest book store. It was published by the Tennessee Historical Society.
