CAPTAINS MASON, HATCH, & SPEED

1864-1865: MASON, HATCH, & SPEED

Young, industrious Capt Frederic Speed of the Adjutant General's office for the Vicksburg area was in charge of arranging transportation for paroled Union soldiers. His destiny, that of some of the soldiers including four of our KIDD kin, Capts Mason & Hatch, and the Sultana would all soon interact with tragic results.

Capt Reuben Benton Hatch, a heavy drinker, who had friends in high places including President Lincoln and certain officials, including his brother in the Springfield Illinois statehouse, was assistant quartermaster under General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant soon discovered that Hatch and his assistants were systematically overcharging the government for supplies and pocketing the profit. Hatch was arrested and jailed to await court-martial. He appealed to his friends in state government and D.C. and was eventually released and his commission reinstated.

October, 1862 - Hatch is appointed chief quartermaster for eastern Arkansas, headquartered in Helena.

March 12, 1864 - On recommendation of President Lincoln and others in D.C., Capt Hatch is appointed chief quartermaster of the XIII Army Corps.

December, 1864 - Hatch and other quartermasters are ordered to stand before a military examination board to prove their competency and knowledge. Hatch failed the exam and was recommended to be removed from service.

February, 1865 - As Hatch’s dismissal recommendation was being considered in military channels, he was assigned as assistant quartermaster in Vicksburg.

February 28, 1865 - Capt Frederic Speed is assigned as assistant adjutant general at Vicksburg. Known for his ability and competence, Capt Speed quickly wins praise from his commanding general. Speed’s immediate superior delegates all dealings per prisoner disposition to him.

April 9, 1865 - Lee surrenders to Grant, and the war is over. Prisoner exchange is ordered to proceed without delay.

April 11, 1865 - Quartermaster’s dept in Vicksburg is ordered to arrange transportation for paroled prisoners. For whatever reasons, the Adjutant Generals dept Vicksburg was tasked with arranging transportation of paroled prisoners. Capt Speed’s immediate supervisor was away assisting General Grant. Capt Speed is ordered to take full charge as acting commander while his superior is away.

April 15, 1865 - Speed was ordered to process and send lists of prisoners names to St Louis as quickly as possible to be able to send groups of approximately 1,000 men at a time upriver on available steamboats.

April 17, 1865 - Capt Hatch of the quartermasters dept promises Capt Mason of Sultana a group of 1,000 men. Hatch colludes with Mason for a kickback of the profits.

April 18, 1865 - An agent for a non-government steamboat line visits the quartermasters office and offers to pay a ‘fee’ of 50 cents per head for a load of prisoners. The offer is declined.

April 18-21, 1865 - With his usual diligence and working all hours, Capt Speed and his staff of the adjutant generals office work with badly organized Confederate records and manage to quickly group all Illinois and regular army personnel in an effort to send them all home on the first available boat, per his general’s orders. The Illinois soldiers had been imprisoned the longest. Speed and staff continue to work through jumbled, unorganized Confederate lists. For unspecified reasons, the first available contract steamer was supposed to be Henry Ames which was running some 15 hours behind schedule.

April 22, 1865 - The non-contract steamboat W.R. Arthur arrives in Vicksburg. Knowing the contract boat Henry Ames was well overdue, the non-contract boat’s agent again approaches the quartermasters office for a load and is again refused by Capt Hatch’s underlings.

April 22, 1865 - By the time the Henry Ames had arrived in Vicksburg, Capt Speed had the prisoner rolls ready for five other states and those men were ordered to go with the men from Illinois as well. A total of 1,315 men were crowded aboard the Ames. The commanding general of Vicksburg had specified that prisoners must not be separated and be shipped home with their corresponding companies. Thus the precedent of overloading the boats beyond the 1,000 man limit was set.
The non-contract boat agent made two more attempts to obtain men for the W.R. Arthur but was again unsuccessful.

April 22, 1865 - Late evening, Capt Speed sends word to Capt Hatch that he has the names of about 700 more men ready and that all he needed was to be informed when the next boat should be ready to load. At about that same time, the steamboat Olive Branch (non-contract) docked in Vicksburg. Her agent, knowing there were paroled troops to transport, advised the captain to lay over until morning. Olive Branch’s captain immediately sought out Capt Hatch and made a mutually beneficial deal. Hatch, however, did not inform his superiors or Capt Speed.

April 23, 1865 - Speed sends an assistant to Hatch to ask if there were any available boats. Hatch sent the assistant back with word that no boats had arrived during the night.
Later that morning Hatch informs Speed that the Olive Branch had come in and was available. An angry confrontation ensued between the two men where Hatch blamed his junior officer with carelessness and suggested bribery was to blame. Hatch lied of course, attempting to deflect attention from his own bribery and make Capt Speed believe others were to blame. Speed therefore played right into Hatch’s plan and ordered that 1,400 troops be assigned to be transported on the Olive Branch, a non-contract boat. Speed then spent the rest of the day gathering troops to be sent into Vicksburg for loading. That afternoon when the Olive Branch finally left dock she had only 619 troops on board because the boat had been detained by federal authorities for inspection and loading halted. It was later discovered loading was halted because she was a non-contract boat. But Capt Tabor of Olive Branch and Capt Hatch still profited from the deal.

April 23, 1865 - Early evening… Hatch approaches Speed to demand another shipment of troops be made on April 25, but Speed declares that he cannot possibly have their name rolls ready before April 27. Hatch reminds Speed that the Sultana, a government contract boat, was due in anytime. By 9:00 PM Sultana with her leaky boilers had finally made it into Vicksburg. Her chief engineer immediately went into town to hire a boiler mechanic. Mason and Sultana’s representative agent went immediately to Capt Hatch to confirm the loading of at least 1,000 troops. Hatch explained that the troops name rolls would not be ready until April 27. Capt Mason was not pleased with having to wait several days for a load, but was secretly glad he had time to get his boiler problems solved.

Critical Note: Another issue that further aggravated Capt Mason’s financial situation and need for as large a load of troops as he could get was the decision by Union authorities to send the remaining troops to Cairo and not St Louis, some 210 miles less than the 880 he was expecting. Mason would get $1 less per officer and 50 cents less per enlisted man meaning he would need a much larger load of troops to make up the difference. Trying to mollify Mason and at the same time deflect attention away from Speed of his own bribery, Hatch lied and told Mason that it was Capt Speed’s intent to put all remaining prisoners on the same boat and that Sultana would get them if she laid over and waited. Hurting for money, Mason agreed.

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	1864-1865: MASON, HATCH, & SPEED
	Young, industrious Capt Frederic Speed of the Adjutant General's office for the Vicksburg area was in charge of arranging transportation for paroled Union soldiers. His destiny, that of some of the soldiers including four of our KIDD kin, Capts Mason & Hatch, and the Sultana would all soon interact with tragic results. Capt Reuben Benton Hatch, a heavy drinker, who had friends in high places including President Lincoln and certain officials, including his brother in the Springfield Illinois statehouse, was assistant quartermaster under General Ulysses S. Grant. Grant soon discovered that Hatch and his assistants were systematically overcharging the government for supplies and pocketing the profit. Hatch was arrested and jailed to await court-martial. He appealed to his friends in state government and D.C. and was eventually released and his commission reinstated. October, 1862 - Hatch is appointed chief quartermaster for eastern Arkansas, headquartered in Helena. March 12, 1864 - On recommendation of President Lincoln and others in D.C., Capt Hatch is appointed chief quartermaster of the XIII Army Corps. December, 1864 - Hatch and other quartermasters are ordered to stand before a military examination board to prove their competency and knowledge. Hatch failed the exam and was recommended to be removed from service. February, 1865 - As Hatch’s dismissal recommendation was being considered in military channels, he was assigned as assistant quartermaster in Vicksburg. February 28, 1865 - Capt Frederic Speed is assigned as assistant adjutant general at Vicksburg. Known for his ability and competence, Capt Speed quickly wins praise from his commanding general. Speed’s immediate superior delegates all dealings per prisoner disposition to him. April 9, 1865 - Lee surrenders to Grant, and the war is over. Prisoner exchange is ordered to proceed without delay. April 11, 1865 - Quartermaster’s dept in Vicksburg is ordered to arrange transportation for paroled prisoners. For whatever reasons, the Adjutant Generals dept Vicksburg was tasked with arranging transportation of paroled prisoners. Capt Speed’s immediate supervisor was away assisting General Grant. Capt Speed is ordered to take full charge as acting commander while his superior is away. April 15, 1865 - Speed was ordered to process and send lists of prisoners names to St Louis as quickly as possible to be able to send groups of approximately 1,000 men at a time upriver on available steamboats. April 17, 1865 - Capt Hatch of the quartermasters dept promises Capt Mason of Sultana a group of 1,000 men. Hatch colludes with Mason for a kickback of the profits. April 18, 1865 - An agent for a non-government steamboat line visits the quartermasters office and offers to pay a ‘fee’ of 50 cents per head for a load of prisoners. The offer is declined. April 18-21, 1865 - With his usual diligence and working all hours, Capt Speed and his staff of the adjutant generals office work with badly organized Confederate records and manage to quickly group all Illinois and regular army personnel in an effort to send them all home on the first available boat, per his general’s orders. The Illinois soldiers had been imprisoned the longest. Speed and staff continue to work through jumbled, unorganized Confederate lists. For unspecified reasons, the first available contract steamer was supposed to be Henry Ames which was running some 15 hours behind schedule. April 22, 1865 - The non-contract steamboat W.R. Arthur arrives in Vicksburg. Knowing the contract boat Henry Ames was well overdue, the non-contract boat’s agent again approaches the quartermasters office for a load and is again refused by Capt Hatch’s underlings. April 22, 1865 - By the time the Henry Ames had arrived in Vicksburg, Capt Speed had the prisoner rolls ready for five other states and those men were ordered to go with the men from Illinois as well. A total of 1,315 men were crowded aboard the Ames. The commanding general of Vicksburg had specified that prisoners must not be separated and be shipped home with their corresponding companies. Thus the precedent of overloading the boats beyond the 1,000 man limit was set. The non-contract boat agent made two more attempts to obtain men for the W.R. Arthur but was again unsuccessful. April 22, 1865 - Late evening, Capt Speed sends word to Capt Hatch that he has the names of about 700 more men ready and that all he needed was to be informed when the next boat should be ready to load. At about that same time, the steamboat Olive Branch (non-contract) docked in Vicksburg. Her agent, knowing there were paroled troops to transport, advised the captain to lay over until morning. Olive Branch’s captain immediately sought out Capt Hatch and made a mutually beneficial deal. Hatch, however, did not inform his superiors or Capt Speed. April 23, 1865 - Speed sends an assistant to Hatch to ask if there were any available boats. Hatch sent the assistant back with word that no boats had arrived during the night. Later that morning Hatch informs Speed that the Olive Branch had come in and was available. An angry confrontation ensued between the two men where Hatch blamed his junior officer with carelessness and suggested bribery was to blame. Hatch lied of course, attempting to deflect attention from his own bribery and make Capt Speed believe others were to blame. Speed therefore played right into Hatch’s plan and ordered that 1,400 troops be assigned to be transported on the Olive Branch, a non-contract boat. Speed then spent the rest of the day gathering troops to be sent into Vicksburg for loading. That afternoon when the Olive Branch finally left dock she had only 619 troops on board because the boat had been detained by federal authorities for inspection and loading halted. It was later discovered loading was halted because she was a non-contract boat. But Capt Tabor of Olive Branch and Capt Hatch still profited from the deal. April 23, 1865 - Early evening… Hatch approaches Speed to demand another shipment of troops be made on April 25, but Speed declares that he cannot possibly have their name rolls ready before April 27. Hatch reminds Speed that the Sultana, a government contract boat, was due in anytime. By 9:00 PM Sultana with her leaky boilers had finally made it into Vicksburg. Her chief engineer immediately went into town to hire a boiler mechanic. Mason and Sultana’s representative agent went immediately to Capt Hatch to confirm the loading of at least 1,000 troops. Hatch explained that the troops name rolls would not be ready until April 27. Capt Mason was not pleased with having to wait several days for a load, but was secretly glad he had time to get his boiler problems solved. Critical Note: Another issue that further aggravated Capt Mason’s financial situation and need for as large a load of troops as he could get was the decision by Union authorities to send the remaining troops to Cairo and not St Louis, some 210 miles less than the 880 he was expecting. Mason would get $1 less per officer and 50 cents less per enlisted man meaning he would need a much larger load of troops to make up the difference. Trying to mollify Mason and at the same time deflect attention away from Speed of his own bribery, Hatch lied and told Mason that it was Capt Speed’s intent to put all remaining prisoners on the same boat and that Sultana would get them if she laid over and waited. Hurting for money, Mason agreed.

		To include your stories and other information in this site, Email us at Webmaster.
Comments, suggestions, additional info are always welcomed., Please contact: Webmaster