Lewis Dent
On Aug. 1, 1863, Judge Lewis Dent returned to Union lines, escorted by Confederate 1st Lt. Jesse Sparks. He was being exchanged under an agreement between Confederate general Paul Octave Hebert and Union general U.S. Grant. In return, a “civilian” staff officer was to be released to Hebert, as soon as the man could be returned from the Northern prison at Johnson’s Island.
Dent was a civilian, not a soldier, and though he often was referred to by the title, “Judge” – that was a leftover honor from when he was an attorney and legislator in California during its formative years. In Louisiana, sometime in the spring of 1863, he leased a plantation from the U.S. government, though this was not his only connection to the region. His wife was from Mississippi, and two of his uncles lived there, too.
It’s not clear when Dent was captured, though it may have been during Parson’s Raid in late June. He apparently became good friends with Hebert, though it is uncertain if they had known each other prior to the war, or formed their friendship while Dent was in Hebert’s custody. In any case, Hebert had bargained in good faith to exchange Dent for Maj. M.W. Sims, and on Aug. 1, all seemed to be proceeding as planned. Dent returned to his plantation and resumed operations. Military officials would criticize his work, condemning the conditions as excessively exploitative, though he would soon become a plantation commissioner, essentially gaining a promotion, supervising the leasing of plantations in the area.
Months passed, and summer turned to fall. By November of 1863, Sims had still not returned to Confederate lines. Hebert was beginning to worry, and queried Dent. Had Sims been released? Was he on his way? What had happened, and why the delay? Hebert asked Dent to investigate – not only because of their friendship, but also because Dent knew U.S. Grant personally. The general had married Julia Dent, Lewis’s sister.
Dent was probably as far in the dark as Hebert was, and it is not clear if he had any involvement in aiding Sims’s return to Confederate lines. However, after the war, Dent ran on the National Union Republican Party ticket for governor of Mississippi in 1869, and some supporters claimed he had “extended charity” to Confederate prisoners. One wonders if perhaps this is a reference to his aid to M.W. Sims or Gen. Hebert.
Dent lost his bid for the governorship, and died in 1874. At the special request of then-President U.S. Grant, former Confederate general Paul Octave Hebert served as a pall-bearer at his funeral.
Lewis Dent – during the Mexican War – was a civilian employee assisting his buddy Major Thomas Swords. Swords was paymaster for the “Army of the West”. The two friends went to California travelling in company with the Mormon Battalion. Dent sent at least a couple of letters home about his experiences – one of which was republished in the Republican. If anyone knows more about Dent’s Mexican War service, we’d really like to hear from you.
Thanks, Kevin. I’m afraid I don’t know much about Dent during the Mexican War period, but perhaps one of my readers might. Thanks for stopping by.
Well, I like this. As far as I know Jesse Sparks and Milton W. Sims did not know each other before the war and were not related to each other. However, each of them is a cousin of mine (both on my father’s side) and each of them, separately, went on to lead extraordinary lives. The recent book MILLIKEN’S BEND needs to be supplemented by much more research.
Thanks, Hershel. How very interesting that you are related to both men. I recall I was able to find out more about Sims than Sparks, so if you have more information you are willing to share about either man, that would be interesting. I agree that there is still much more research to be done on Milliken’s Bend, and as I state clearly in my book – it is, after all, only a beginning. At a certain point, after 15 years of research, I finally had to stop the research and start writing, otherwise I could keep on searching forever. There are so many fascinating stories to tell, and so many yet to be discovered.
Where in Mississippi did Dent and his relatives live?
There is a Dentville community just outside Hazlehurst, Mississippi, which I am told derived its name from a Dent family that lived nearby. Legend has it that the family was related to US Grant’s wife, Julia Dent Grant, Lewis’s sister, and that during the siege of Vicksburg, Grant and staff would visit the Dent family in Dentville. Because of this, after the Civil War, the Dent family became persona non grata in the community, despite the community bearing the Dent family name.
Can you provide any detail that might confirm these stories?
Thanks for stopping by and providing this additional information, Stephen. I’m sorry to say I did not know about Dentville, or its history. Most of my research in to Lewis Dent was limited to his plantation leasing operations in Louisiana, in the general vicinity of Madison Parish. And, of course, his connection to Hebert and the M.W. Sims story. If you haven’t already, you might want to try reaching out to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. I did a some of my research there and they have great resources – both in terms of the materials they preserve, as well as their staff.