subject index to the Thomas D. Willis Papers
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Willis, Thomas D., b.1843 Rank: Private Regiment: 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Co. D and F (1862-1865) Service: 1862 August-1865 June
In August, 1862, Thomas D. Willis and four friends from Erie, Pa., John McKee, William Keeler, Nate King, and Walter G. Wilson, enlisted in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, a regiment raised to serve as Don Carlos Buell's elite personal body guard. Barely 19 when he enlisted, Willis epitomised the morally upright, ideologically motivated soldier that supposedly characterised the ranks of the 15th Cavalry.
On the 9th of September, before their training had been completed, elements of the 15th were called to perform scouting and picket duty along the Pennsylvania-Maryland line, and four days later, in a pattern that would typify much of his enlistment, Willis was left behind when the majority of his regiment rode toward Sharpsburg and were engaged near Dunker's Church during the Battle of Antietam. Willis left Carlisle late and as a result, did not see "much of the Elephant" on that day. Willis' one contribution at Antietam, exemplifying his deep commitment to a Christian morality, came when he and McKee interrupted four regular army soldiers looting a farm and, at some risk to themselves, ran the looters down and had them arrested. Equally telling of his sense of morality, he and his mess mates agreed to three rules for life in their tent: 1) no foul language; 2) no entering the tent with boots on, and 3) read a Bible verse every night.
On November 6th, following Buell's dismissal (and never having actually served under him), the 15th were ordered to Kentucky, where they expected to join Rosecrans for special duty. Arriving in Nashville a month later, they were informed that they were to be made into a regular cavalry unit, contrary, they felt, to promises made to them by Col. Palmer upon their enlistment that they were to be an elite guard. At this news, more than 200 men deserted from the 15th Cavalry, and most of the remainder of the regiment quietly stacked their arms and refused further service.
Unfortunately for the mutineers, the Battle of Murfreesboro erupted ten days later. The majority of the regiment, including Willis, rushed to the front to join in. The 300 who refused to go forward were promptly arrested and confined in a city smokehouse, and when the rest of the regiment returned from the front, they too were arrested. The mutineers remained locked up with Confederate prisoners of war until March, never wavering in their belief that they were within their rights to refuse service under the conditions of their enlistment. Their case was eventually presented directly to Rosecrans, who offered them the opportunity to elect their own officers and to return to special duty in his command. Willis and Walter Wilson were among those randomly chosen to represent their company at court martial, but after experiencing the deplorable conditions inside the state prison in which they were to be placed if convicted, they relented and agreed to accept Rosecrans' offer. The experience left Willis embittered toward Col. Palmer, whom he felt had tricked them into enlisting and lied to them throughout the mutiny. Among other barbs aimed at Palmer, Willis accused Palmer of having run away at Antietam dressed in civilians' clothes, and when discovered, claimed that he had been out spying. His attitude toward Palmer did not improve when Palmer reneged on the promise to allow the men to elect their officers, nor when he got the men drunk on a barrel of whiskey before having them sign reenlistment papers.
One of the last mutineers released, on April 2nd, Willis rejoined the regiment near Murfreesboro. After suffering through sickness that rendered the majority of the unit unfit for duty, the regiment played a minor role in the Tullahoma Campaign, and drove through northern Alabama to approach Chattanooga from the southwest. Willis was waylaid with diarrhea during most of the Chickamauga Campaign, and in October, he was assigned to safe guard the house of a Unionist family in the Sequatchie Valley while several companies of the 15th Cavalry were sent to relieve Burnside at Knoxville. In January, he again remained in the Sequatchie Valley, while his comrades went on a raid against the Cherokees in western North Carolina. That month, Willis was healthy enough to participate in a small expedition to Sparta, Tenn., in an attempt to capture the guerrilla leader, Champ Furguson.
From mid-March through the beginning of May, the 15th Cavalry served as couriers between Chattanooga and Ringgold, Ga., and performed garrison duty at Nashville until August, 1864. In that month, as the regiment were ordered to the front in Georgia, Willis developed a painful case of erysipelas and was sent to hospital at Chattanooga. Later, at Nashville, his hip became gangrenous, but following a transfer to Jefferson General Hospital in Jeffersonville, Ind., he recovered enough to return to Nashville and be appointed general Ward Master in Hospital 15. He remained at Hospital 15 until he mustered out at the end of June, 1865.
The Willis Papers offer a view of a group of very young, close friends and the relationship they maintain with each other and their home community. Most of the letters are written by Willis to his parents, his sister, Julia, or brother, Seth; but Wilson (7 letters), McKee (4 letters) and King (2 letters) are represented as writers. There are 2 letters from Willis' mother and one letter by a family acquaintance informing Mr. and Mrs. Willis that Tom was hospitalised.
The relationship between Willis and his friends and his family are particularly interesting. Entering the war, McKee seems to have assumed the role of Willis' guardian, and the two along with Wilson and King seem inseparable. Under the pressures of war and the mutiny, however, the relationships dissolve, so that after two years in the service, Willis claimed he would have nothing further to do with Wilson, whom he considered selfish and a malingerer, and he seldom saw King or McKee, both of whom spent an inordinate amount of time on the sick list. Willis' mother seems to have been a source of both joy and grief, as she urged him to resign his position (which he would not if he could, he wrote) or nagged him to take a furlough home (which he also wished to avoid).
Most importantly, the collection offers a unique and detailed "insider's" perspective on an important Union Army "mutiny." Willis not only fully espoused the goals of the mutiny, but he was one of the unfortunate few chosen randomly to stand trial. Unlike other Civil War mutinies, that of the 15th Cavalry was well-disciplined and guided by high principles. Like most, though, it was crushed, and the complaints of the mutineers swept aside. Even in mutiny, Willis manages to remain moral and upright, fighting for what he believes to be the higher principles of having been enlisted under false pretenses.
The collection consists of transcripts prepared in 1978 by Scott Willis, a descendent of Thomas Willis, who retained the originals.
Kirk, Charles H. History of the Fifteenth Pennsylvania volunteer cavalry. (Philadelphia, 1906).
subject index to the Thomas D. Willis Papers
Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections
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