October was a trying time for Benjamin Sims. He had learned that his brother, M. W. (Milton Walker) Sims, a staff officer of Confederate general Paul Octave Hebert, had been captured by Union forces near Natchez in July. M.W. Sims had been sent north to a prison camp, but not long after he arrived at Johnson’s Island, Ohio, orders came that he had been exchanged. He was to return to Vicksburg in preparation for his release.

Meanwhile, investigations by the Union army continued, seeking to determine if any so-called “atrocities” had been committed by Confederate forces following the battle at Milliken’s Bend. Rumors had been rife all throughout the summer, and as fall began, word began to drift back to Union headquarters that indeed, two white officers from the Colored Troops that fought at Milliken’s Bend had been executed at Monroe, Louisiana. Reports from Maj. John G. Davis, Gen. Mortimer Leggett, and Col. Hermann Lieb had all been forwarded to Vicksburg. Another report from Provost Marshal Kent provided names of the perpetrators – Maj. M.W. Sims and Lt. Jesse Sparks, both of Hebert’s staff.

Sparks apparently was captured, but it is unclear what his role was in any executions, and he must have spent a relatively short time in Union custody.

With Sims, however, it was a different story. By the time he returned to Vicksburg in the early fall, ready to be exchanged, the report from Provost Marshal Kent had worked its way to Union headquarters. Sims was thrown in the Vicksburg jail, where he remained for some time. Eventually, he was sent north to Memphis aboard a steamship. It was said he would be put to death.

M.W.’s brother, Benjamin, was beside himself with worry. He wrote several Confederate officers. He petitioned for a white flag from the Yankee authorities, to allow him to visit his brother, but it was denied. On October 19, 1863, he even wrote directly to President Jefferson Davis, in fear for his brother’s life.

(to be continued…)