Amasa Vernon Going Wrote
of Civil War Conditions
Amasa Vernon Going, ninth child of Isaac Going and Rebecca
Palmer Going, was born January 30, 1827 in Union District.
South Carolina. He was a grandson of Drury Going and
Rebecca Palmer Going who had come to Union District
shortly after the Revolutionary War. Drury Going was born in
1749 in an area which later became Greensville County,
Virginia, according to Mary Elizabeth Motley Beadles, a
descendant and DAR Member 474911.
Isaac Going, fifth child of Drury Going and Rebecca Palmer
Going, was born April 28, 1775 in Chester District, South
Carolina. He was married August 21, 1804 to Rebecca Palmer,
seventh child of John Palmer and Martha “Patty” Williams
Palmer of Union District, South Carolina.
Amasa Vernon Going removed to Louisiana about 1858. He
fought in a Louisiana infantry company in the Civil War,
according to Fredrick M. Tucker of Duncan, South Carolina.
He wrote September 12, 1862 to his brother, William George
Washington Going:
“Mississippi, Marshall County Camp-Near Holly Springs
Dear Brother, September 12, 1862
I am well, and I hope this will find you and family with all the
connection is in the same good blessing. We have just got
back from a tiresome trip, we travel over 700 miles, got but
little to eat and done very hard marching. We did not get into
any fights. Our regiment stood it much better than I thought.
I saw John Bailey and Old Jim Sams at Jackson, Miss. He
was well. I also saw John Foster yesterday. He heard of me
and came by to see me. He belongs to the 6th Miss. Regt. He
is 12 miles above here.
We have just received orders to cook up five days rations and
be ready for marching in the morning at 4 o’clock. We will go
up North I think. We will have a fight at Bolivar, Tenn.
before this time next week, if the yankeys don’t leave there
before we can get there. They are 12,000 strong at that place.
We have and can get about 20,000 I think. The general notion
is to push on a fight at that place. We are camped on cold
water, five miles from Holly Springs, just where the yankeys
were camped 6 weeks ago. They did a great deal of mischief
in this place.
I found some yankey letters today they lost when they left
here. One young lady writing to her sweetheart said, “Oh how
she would like to see the Rebels tortured a while and then
killed” and others praying for him to come home for she and
her children were living on bread and other one was grieving
because her husband was not buried in a coffin. I see from the
letters we found about here that they have hard living as well
as we do in the South
I suppose you have heard of the glorious victorys in Virg,
Tenn and Ky. long before this can reach you. I have to write
in a hurry. You can tell brothers that I am up here and direct
there letters to Holly Springs and I will get them though they
are fixing to start to Tenn. and will be there tomorrow.
I want you to keep everything strait between you and I about
the Land. You do what you think is rite and that will suit me.
I will wright again before long, soon as we stop or our fight is
over. Tell Keran I will wright to her before long. Tell them
all that I am well. I must go to cooking.
I am your loving brother
To William Going A. V. Going”
From GRF Newsletter Sept 1993:
Amasa V. Going Killed
In the Battle of Atlanta
By Fredrick M. Tucker
Editorial Boardmember
Box 214, Duncan, South Carolina, 29334
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going, son of Isaac Going and
Rebecca Palmer Going and namesake of his uncle Amasa
Palmer, was born at Kelton, South Carolina in Union District.
His birth occurred “Tuesday, 30th day of January 1827, 45
minutes past 6 o’clock in the evening,” according to the family
bible. He was a grandson of Drury Going, a Revolutionary
soldier, and his wife, Sarah “Sally” Baxter Going.
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going fled to Louisiana about 1858 to
avoid being implicated in the theft of a slave. “A. M. Goins”
appeared in the 1860 census of Union Parish, Louisiana.
In July 1861 Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going enlisted as a
private in Company E of the “Independent Rangers” at Camp
Moore, Louisiana, according to the research of J. Dale West, a
Civil War historian of Longview, Texas. At that time Camp
Moore was located just north of New Orleans near the site of
the New Orleans Fairgrounds.
Shortly after his enlistment, the soldier had his picture taken in
his new uniform while holding his musket. The photograph, a
sixth plate ambrotype, was made by a woman photographer,
E. Beachabard in New Orleans August 18, 1861.
This rare and valuable artifact is now owned by West who
maintains a collection of Civil War photographs. Close
examination shows that the waist beltbuckle bears the
Louisiana state seal. The weapon was an 1816 converted
percussion musket, general issue for that period, according to
West.
The photograph appeared in “Guide to Louisiana Confederate
Military Units, 1861-1865” by Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr. and in
“Confederate Calendar Works” by Larry Jones of Austin,
Texas. More recently the portrait was published in “Portraits
of Conflict, a Photographic History of Louisiana in the Civil
War” compiled by Dr Carl H. Moneyhon, professor of history
at University of Arkansas at Little Rock in collaboration with
Bobby Roberts.
West researched the military career of Amasa Vernon “Mace”
Going and the “Independent Rangers.” The regiment was
incorporated into Confederate service as the Twelfth
Louisiana Infantry Regiment. The 12th Louisiana participated
in the Confederate victory in the Battle of Belmont on the
Mississippi River November 7, 1861. They had to retreat in
April 1862, giving up Island No. 10 after a bitter battle.
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going wrote a letter September 12,
1862 to his older brother, William George Washington Going
who was serving with the South Carolina 7th Cavalry Regiment
in Virginia.
“Mississippi,
Marshall County
Near Holly Springs
Sept. 12, 1862
Dear Brother,
I am well, and I hope this will find you and family with all the
connection is in the same good blessing. We have just got
back from a tiresome trip. We travel over 700 miles, got but
little to eat and done very hard marching. We did not get into
any fights.
“Our regiment stood it much better than I thought. I saw John
Bailey and Old Jim Sams at Jackson, Miss. He was well. I
also saw John Foster yesterday. He heard of me and came by
to see me. He belongs to the 6th Miss. Regt. He is 12 miles
above here.
We have just received orders to cook up five days rations and
be ready for marching in the morning at 4 o’clock. We will go
up North I think. We will have a fight at Bolivar, Tenn.
before this time next week, if the yankeys don’t leave there
before we can get there. They are 12,000 strong at that place.
We have and can get about 20,000 I think. The general notion
is to push on a fight at that place.
We are camped on cold water, five miles from Holly Springs,
just where the yankeys were camped 6 weeks ago. They did a
great deal of mischief in this settlement.
I found some yankey letters today they lost when they left
here. One young lady writing to her sweetheart said, “Oh how
she would like to see the Rebels tortured a while and then
killed” and others praying for him to come home for she and
her children were living on bread and other one was grieving
because her husband was not buried in a coffin. I see from the
letters we found about here that they have hard living as well
as we do in the South.
I suppose you have heard of the glorious victorys in Virg,
Tenn and Ky. long before this can reach you. I have to write
in a hurry. You can tell brothers that I am up here and direct
there letters to Holly Springs and I will get them though they
are fixing to start to Tenn. and will be there tomorrow.
I want you to keep everything strait between you and I about
the Land. You do what you think is rite and that will suit me.
I will wright again before long, soon as we stop or our fight is
over. Tell Keran [his sister] I will wright to her before long.
Tell them all that I am well. I must go to cooking.
I am your loving brother
A. V. Going
To William Going”
The Confederate forces enjoyed temporary successes and
moved from Mississippi into Tennessee. The 12th Louisiana
was ordered to defend Ft. Pillow, Tennessee on the
Mississippi River. They were driven out of Ft. Pillow in May
1863 by the superior firepower of the Union gunboats
descending the river.
They were then transferred to Port Hudson, Louisiana to resist
the Union gunboats advancing up the Mississippi from New
Orleans. When Port Hudson fell in May 1863, the regiment
fell back toward Vicksburg, Mississippi where it was defeated
in the Battle of Baker’s Creek. The regiment was then
transported to Dalton, Georgia to attempt to halt the advance
of Gen. W. T. Sherman on Atlanta. Under Confederate Gen.
J. E. Johnston the regiment joined in the delaying action.
William George Washington Going wrote June 15, 1863 to his
wife, “William Fowler’s letter said you had heard from A. V.
Going, but I can’t make no since out of it.”
Fighting continually, Johnston wisely withdrew his forces toward
Atlanta and inflicted 17,000 casualties on the Union
forces. Pres. Jefferson Davis, tired of Johnston’s Fabian
tactics, replaced him with a “fighting man,” Gen. J. B. Hood.
Hood hurled his troops against Sherman’s superior forces
thrice and was soundly defeated in each battle.
The last battles for Atlanta were bloody hand-to-hand combat,
and it was here that Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going must have
died. No entries were made in his service record after the
Battle of Atlanta in July 1864.
Like Amasa, captain of the host of Judah who was
treacherously slain by Joab in II Samuel, he was a dedicated
soldier serving a cause. “Amasa wallowed in blood in the
midst of the highway . . and everyone that came by him stood
still.”
Pvt. Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going
Photo courtesy of J. Dale West
Amasa Vernon Going Killed In the Battle of Atlanta
By Fredrick M. Tucker
Editorial Boardmember
Box 214, Duncan, South Carolina, 29334
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going, son of Isaac Going and Rebecca
Palmer Going and namesake of his uncle Amasa Palmer, was
born at Kelton, South Carolina in Union District. His
birth occurred “Tuesday, 30th day of January 1827, 45
minutes past 6 o’clock in the evening,” according to the
family bible. He was a grandson of Drury Going, a Revo-
lutionary soldier, and his wife, Sarah “Sally” Baxter
Going.
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going fled to Louisiana about 1858 to
avoid being implicated in the theft of a slave. “A. M.
Goins” appeared in the 1860 census of Union Parish, Louisiana.
In July 1861 Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going enlisted as a pri-
vate in Company E of the “Independent Rangers” at Camp
Moore, Louisiana, according to the research of J. Dale
West, a Civil War historian of Longview, Texas. At that
time Camp Moore was located just north of New Orleans
near the site of the New Orleans Fairgrounds.
Shortly after his enlistment, the soldier had his picture
taken in his new uniform while holding his musket. The
photograph, a sixth plate ambrotype, was made by a woman
photographer, E. Beachabard in New Orleans August 18,
1861.
This rare and valuable artifact is now owned by West who
maintains a collection of Civil War photographs. Close
examination shows that the waist beltbuckle bears the
Louisiana state seal. The weapon was an 1816 converted
percussion musket, general issue for that period, accord-
ing to West.
The photograph appeared in “Guide to Louisiana Confeder-
ate Military Units, 1861-1865” by Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr.
and in “Confederate Calendar Works” by Larry Jones of
Austin, Texas. More recently the portrait was published
in “Portraits of Conflict, a Photographic History of Lou-
isiana in the Civil War” compiled by Dr Carl H. Moneyhon,
professor of history at University of Arkansas at Little
Rock in collaboration with Bobby Roberts.
West researched the military career of Amasa Vernon
“Mace” Going and the “Independent Rangers.” The regiment
was incorporated into Confederate service as the Twelfth
Louisiana Infantry Regiment. The 12th Louisiana partici-
pated in the Confederate victory in the Battle of Belmont
on the Mississippi River November 7, 1861. They had to
retreat in April 1862, giving up Island No. 10 after a
bitter battle.
Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going wrote a letter September 12,
1862 to his older brother, William George Washington Go-
ing who was serving with the South Carolina 7th Cavalry
Regiment in Virginia.
“Mississippi,
Marshall County
Near Holly Springs
Sept. 12, 1862
Dear Brother,
I am well, and I hope this will find you and family with
all the connection is in the same good blessing. We have
just got back from a tiresome trip. We traveled over 700
miles, got but little to eat and done very hard marching.
We did not get into any fights.
“Our regiment stood it much better than I thought. I saw
John Bailey and old Jim Sams at Jackson, Miss. He was
well. I also saw John Foster yesterday. He heard of me
and came by to see me. He belongs to the 6th Miss. Regt.
He is 12 miles above here.
We have just received orders to cook up five days rations
and be ready for marching in the morning at 4 o’clock.
We will go up North I think. We will fight at Bolivar,
Tenn. before this time next week, if the yankeys don’t
leave there before we can get there. They are 12,000
strong at that place. We have and can get about 20,000 I
think. The general notion is to push on a fight at that
place.
We are camped on cold water [Creek], five miles from Hol-
ly Springs, just where the yankeys were camped 6 weeks
ago. They did a great deal of mischief in this settle-
ment.
I found some yankey letters today they lost when they
left here. One young lady writing to her sweetheart said
“Oh how she would like to see the Rebels tortured a while
and then killed” and others praying for him to come home
for she and her children were living on bread and other
one was grieving because her husband was not buried in a
coffin. I see from the letters we found about here that
they have hard living as well as we do in the South.
I suppose you have heard of the glorious victorys in Virg,
Tenn and Ky. long before this can reach you. I have to
write in a hurry. You can tell brothers that I am up
here and direct there letters to Holly Springs and I will
get them though they are fixing to start to Tenn. and
will be there tomorrow.
I want you to keep everything strait between you and I
about the Land. You do what you think is rite and that
will suit me. I will wright again before long, soon as
we stop or our fight is over. Tell Keran [his sister]
I will wright to her before long. Tell them all that
I am well. I must go to cooking.
I am your loving brother
A. V. Going
To William Going”
The Confederate forces enjoyed temporary successes and
moved from Mississippi into Tennessee. The 12th Louisi-
ana was ordered to defend Ft. Pillow, Tennessee on the
Mississippi River. They were driven out of Ft. Pillow
in May 1863 by the superior firepower of the Union gun-
boats descending the river.
They were then transferred to Port Hudson, Louisiana to
resist the Union gunboats advancing up the Mississippi
from New Orleans. When Port Hudson fell in May 1863,
the regiment fell back toward Vicksburg, Mississippi
where it was defeated in the Battle of Baker’s Creek.
The regiment was then transported to Dalton, Georgia to
attempt to halt the advance of Gen. W. T. Sherman on At-
lanta. Under Confederate Gen. J. E. Johnston the regi-
ment joined in the delaying action.
William George Washington Going wrote June 15, 1863 to
his wife, “William Fowler’s letter said you had heard
from A. V. Going, but I can’t make no since out of it.”
Fighting continually, Johnston wisely withdrew his
forces toward Atlanta and inflicted 17,000 casualties on
the Union forces. Pres. Jefferson Davis, tired of Johns-
ton’s Fabian tactics, replaced him with a “fighting man”
Gen. J. B. Hood. Hood hurled his troops against Sher-
man’s superior forces thrice and was soundly defeated
in each battle.
The last battles for Atlanta were bloody hand-to-hand
combat, and it was here that Amasa Vernon “Mace” Going
must have died. No entries were made in his service
record after the Battle of Atlanta in July 1864.
Like Amasa, captain of the host of Judah who was treach-
erously slain by Joab in II Samuel, he was a dedicated
soldier serving a cause.
“Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway . .
and everyone that came by him stood still.”
Goyen Family Tree 