Daniel A. Masters's Blog, page 13

Medals of Honor at Stones River

Stones River Stories

During the Battle of StonesRiver, a total of nine Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers who displayedvalor above and beyond the call of duty. Two of those medals were awarded foractions prior to the main engagement, while the remaining seven were awardedfor actions on December 31, 1862. The first of those medals was not awardeduntil nearly 25 years after the battle, the first recipients being volunteersoldiers who had gone on to serve in the regular army as officers. Six moremedals would be awarded during the 1890s with the last medal being awarded toJohn Farquhar of the 89th Illinois in 1902.

          The firstMedal of Honor awarded for action at Stones River went to John Gregory Bourke,formerly of Co. E of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry which was alsoknown as the Anderson Troop. Bourke, born in Philadelphia to Irish immigrantparents in 1846, lied about his age and enlisted in the Anderson Troop onOctober 13, 1862. During the Stones River campaign, the Troop served as part ofthe Reserve Cavalry and took part in numerous hard-fought engagements, perhapsthe hardest being the one which took place just before sunset on December 31,1862, near the Overall’s Creek crossing of the Nashville Pike.

          General JosephWheeler, having completed a ride around Rosecrans’s army, was dispatched byGeneral Braxton Bragg to go around the army’s left and see if he could cut theFederal hold on the Nashville Pike near Overall’s Creek. As Wheeler’s troopersclosed in, General David Stanley, commanding Rosecrans’ cavalry, organized a chargeto drive back Wheeler and called on the Anderson Troop to join him in thecharge. The Pennsylvanians, shaky after the drubbing they had taken two daysbefore at Wilkinson’s Crossroads, resisted his command. According to ColonelRobert H.G. Minty, Stanley bellowed, “The man who does not follow me is a damnedcoward,” then wheeled his horse and “dashed back to the two companies of the 4thMichigan Cavalry. The Pennsylvanians followed and with a raging cheer thislittle band of heroes charged home into the center of the Rebels and drove itfrom the field.”  

John G. Bourke, Anderson Troop

Among those who charged withStanley was John Bourke. It is worth noting that the Anderson Troop hadoriginally been recruited as headquarters guards and escorts; after StonesRiver, they resumed that role which placed Bourke in close proximity to GeneralGeorge H. Thomas who at the close of the war nominated Bourke to West Point.  Upon graduation in 1869, he joined the 3rdU.S. Cavalry and served as General George Crook’s chief of scouts during theApache Wars. A prolific writer, Bourke penned numerous books about life on thefrontier including An Apache Campaign in the Sierra Madre (1887) and Onthe Border with Crook (1892). Captain Bourke was awarded the Medal of HonorNovember 16, 1887, his citation reading simply “gallantry in action.”

          Two dayslater, Bourke’s comrade John Tweedale, who also served in the Anderson Troop, wasawarded the Medal of Honor, likewise for “gallantry in action.” Tweedale joinedCo. B of the Anderson Troop in August 1862 and served with the regiment until nearly the end of the war. He subsequently served in the regular Army, served asChief Clerk of the War Department, eventually becoming assistant adjutant generalin 1904 and retiring as a colonel in 1905. Interestingly, two soldiers from theAnderson Troop (Sergeant Henry C. Butcher of Co. B and Private Samuel B. Holtof Co. L) were credited with capturing the silk colors of the 3rd AlabamaCavalry Battalion during the action that netted Bourke and Tweedale their medals,but neither man who ever nominated for a Medal of Honor.

John Tweedale, Anderson Troop

          On June 23,1890, First Lieutenant Ninevah S. McKeen of Marshall, Illinois, who hadformerly served in Co. H of the 21st Illinois Infantry, was awardedthe Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry on two occasions. Late in theafternoon of December 30, 1862, as General Alexander McCook’s wing moved intoposition on the Union right at Stones River, the 21st Illinois wasordered to charge Captain Felix Robertson’s Confederate battery which waspummeling the Union advance. The Illinoisans made a brave charge but failed to take the guns while sufferedheavily, losing 135 men in less than an hour. Among the casualties was LieutenantMcKeen who sustained three wounds. McKeen was briefly captured by theConfederates the following morning but escaped and rejoined the regiment.

           During the Battle of Liberty Gap in June 1863,McKeen again distinguished himself by capturing the colors of the 8thArkansas Infantry. Fortune turned against McKeen at Chickamauga as he capturedon the second day of the day and spent the next several months as a prisoner ofwar at Macon, Georgia and Libby Prison in Richmond. McKeen was among theofficers who took part in the Great Escape in February 1864; he soon returnedto his regiment and resigned his commission, serving briefly in the CommissaryDepartment in the final months of the war. Lieutenant McKeen received his Medalof Honor on June 23, 1890, less than six months before he died at the age of53.

Ninevah S. McKeen, 21st Illinois

          Three medalswere awarded in 1894, all to members of the famed Regular Brigade of the Armyof the Cumberland. Frederick Phisterer was serving as adjutant of the 2ndBattalion of the 18th U.S. Infantry at Stones River. The Regularshad started to deploy in the cedar forest late that morning but a mix-up in orders led to thebattalion marching into the forest without artillery support.  Turning to Phisterer, Major Frederick Townsendordered the lieutenant to ride forward and find the rest of the brigade and(ideally) the missing guns.

Phisterer galloped through ablizzard of gunfire for several minutes along a pioneer road before finding MajorAdam Slemmer and the 16th U.S. in their clash with General James Rains’sBrigade. Slemmer informed Phisterer he had not seen Guenther’s battery,indicating that those guns had likely retreated. Phisterer told Slemmer thatthe brigade’s left wing would therefore retreat to support Guenther, meaningSlemmer’s men would be isolated and in danger of capture. That realizationcompelled Slemmer to retire as well, a decision made easier by knowledge the15th U.S. on his right was already pulling back.  Phisterer rode back to rejoin his battalion asit exited the woods. His actions “unquestionably saved Slemmer’s battalion andprobably another from annihilation or capture.”

Frederick Phisterer, 18th US

An immigrant from the Kingdom ofWurttemburg, Phisterer stayed in the army after the Civil War, participatingthe Indian Wars until 1870 when he was discharged at the rank of captain. Hereturned to New York and served with the National Guard until retirement in1902 as the state’s adjutant general. Phisterer was also a prolific writer, penningthe Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States (1883) and NewYork in the War of the Rebellion (1912). He received his Medal of Honor onDecember 12, 1894, the citation stating that he “voluntarily conveyed under aheavy fire information to the commander of a battalion of regular troops bywhich the battalion was saved from capture or annihilation.”

          Henry B.Freeman of Mount Vernon, Ohio was serving as a company officer in the 18thU.S. at Stones River. It was approaching noon on December 31, 1862, when theRegulars were ordered to launch a counterattack into the cedars to buy criticaltime for General George Thomas to arrange a new defensive line along NashvillePike. In a swirling combat, the Regulars held their ground for 20 minutestaking very heavy casualties.  

“Ere our brigade was fairly inposition, the volunteers who were on our right gave way, as we had done before,being forced to yield the ground on account of vastly superior numbers,” saidSergeant Frank Reed of the 15th U.S. “We had gone but four or five rods when theenemy again came towering down upon us like the rolling thunder of heaven,engulfing us on the right and in front-making an attempt at extrication, almostcertain death; and so, it proved to be, for scarcely a man came out withouthaving been wounded or having the marks of a bullet in his clothing.”

Henry B. Freeman, 18th U.S. Infantry

The open field grew carpetedwith blue coats as hundreds of retreating Regulars went down killed or wounded.Lieutenant Freeman heard the cries of one and stopped to see that it wasCaptain Henry Douglass of the 18th U.S. Noticing Douglass was about to becaptured, historian Mark Johnson wrote that Freeman “left his battalion and ranthrough a storm of bullets, picked Douglass up, and carried him to safety.”

          Like NinevahMcKeen, Lieutenant Freeman was captured at Chickamauga and imprisoned at Libby. He escaped once but was recaptured then escaped again. He remained in the army until mandatoryretirement as a brigadier general at age 64 in 1901, having served through boththe Indian Wars and the Spanish-American war. Freeman was presented his Medalof Honor on February 17, 1894, the citation praising that he “voluntarily wentto the front and picked up and carried to a place of safety, under a heavy firefrom the enemy, an acting field officer who had been wounded, and was about tofall into enemy hands.”

Joseph Prentice, 19th U.S. Infantry

          Private JosephRollin Prentice of Co. E, 1st Battalion, 19th U.S. alsowas awarded his Medal of Honor for actions taken at almost the same time asLieutenant Freeman. Major Stephen D. Carpenter, commanding the 19thU.S., was killed during the retreat described above. “Suddenly, above the dinand roar of battle, I heard the major call out ‘Scatter and run boys!’ and wasabout to join the rest in the rush to a place of safety when I heard a horse bearingdown on me like mad,” Prentice recalled. It was Carpenter’s horse, and Prenticesecured permission to find his battalion commander.

“Back I went at the top of myspeed and as soon as I entered the clearing, the enemy’s sharpshooters opened abrisk fire on me. Still, I was bound to find the major if possible and knowingabout where he fell, rushed to the spot. Bullets ploughed up little puffs ofdust at my feet and whistled around my head. Glancing round, I saw him lyingface downward upon the dust and rushed to his assistance. But, poor fellow, hewas past need of human assistance! Nevertheless, I picked him up and carriedhim to the rear, my ears filled with the mournful dirge of bullets thatthreatened me at every step.” 

Another native of Ohio, Joseph Prentice enlisted in the 19thU.S. while living near Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1861 and served out his three-yearterm of service. He was awarded his medal on February 3, 1894, while livingnear Hebron, Nebraska, the citation reading “gallantry in action.” Afterreceiving the medal, Prentice told a local newspaper reporter “I would not takea farm for it.”

Milton Russell, 51st Indiana

          CaptainMilton Russell received his Medal of Honor on September 28, 1897, for hisactions at Harker’s Crossing on the evening of December 29, 1862. His brigade,under the command of Colonel Charles G. Harker, had received orders to force acrossing of Stones River with the intent of pushing into Murfreesboro. Harker’smen blundered into the Orphan Brigade atop Wayne’s Hill and a ferociousnighttime engagement ensued.

Captain Russell was leading Co.A of the 51st Indiana in the vanguard of Harker’s attack andrecalled that “we moved down and crossed the river, wading it with the water insome places up to our hips. Talk about cold water or a cold bath, it was socold that our teeth chattered! As the company was nearing the opposite shore, aterrific volley was fired from behind a rail fence not over 40 steps in ourfront. The enemy, being on higher ground than we, fired too high, their bulletstaking effect in the regiment that was standing in line where we left them onthe opposite side of the river.”

“There was but two ways out ofthe trap: one was to recross the river; the other was to advance,” hecontinued.  It flashed through my mindthat their guns were empty, ours loaded. I gave the command, ‘On the right intoline, double quick, charge!’ And in less time that it takes to tell it, we wereover that fence. The boys emptied their guns, fixed bayonets, and went at them.The Johnnies gave way and Co. A followed right on their heels.” Russell wouldreceive the Medal of Honor as “the first man to cross Stones River in the faceof a galling fire from the concealed skirmishers of the enemy, leading hisskirmishers up the hillside, and driving the opposing skirmishers before them.”The captain later contended that, “had the charge proved a failure, I wouldhave been court-martialed for exceeding my orders.”

Wilson Vance had just turned 17years old when he saved the life of a comrade at Stones River. The Findlay,Ohio native joined Co. D of the 21st Ohio Infantry at age 15 inAugust 1861 and by the time of Stones River was serving as an orderly tobrigade commander Colonel John F. Miller. After fighting in the cedars (neartour stop 2 at Stones River National Battlefield Park), Miller’s brigade wasforced to retreat with Confederate forces nearly surrounding them. Exiting thewoods under fire, Vance was riding at Miller’s side when they spied one ofMiller’s orderlies, Nicholas Vail of the 19th Illinois, staggeringbetween the lines apparently dazed.

Wilson J. Vance, 21st Ohio Infantry

“Poor Nick had been shot rightplumb in the crazy bone,” Vance recalled. “His blood-drenched sleeve showedthat he was wounded and his actions were those of a man demented. It seemed asif his elbow joint was shattered. He certainly was a wild man and extremelydifficult to handle.” Vance dismounted and, “by dint of arguing with the crazyfellow and hard pushing, lifting, and shoving, finally had the sufferer in thesaddle. I smote the little mare with the flat of a saber a resounding thwackacross the rump which sent her careening forward after the vanishingbluecoats.”

When he turned around, hespotted the surging Confederates mere yards away howling for his surrender beforesending “a storm of bullets about my ears, they were so close I could almost discernthe color of their eyes.” It was at this moment, he recalled that “began a madchase for life. I ran as I never ran before,” and it was not an easy matter torun at all. The low-hanging cedar boughs struck me and scratched my face whilethe little boulders tripped me up and the big ones placed themselves in myblind spot to be fallen over. To cap the climax and complete my embarrassment,the great cavalry saber which in my boyish ardor I had buckled on keptthrusting itself between my legs. It seemed that from one cause or another Itumbled down at every other step.” Flopping head over heels, clumsy “greatcavalry saber” notwithstanding, Vance successfully dodged Southern lead andescaped the cedars.

          Vance wascommissioned a second lieutenant in May 1863, but would only stay in the armyuntil the following April when he resigned his commission at age 18. He receivedhis Medal of Honor on September 17, 1897, the 35th anniversary ofthe Battle of Antietam, the citation stating that Vance “voluntarily and undera heavy fire while his command was falling back, rescued a wounded and helplesscomrade from death or capture.”

          The last Medalof Honor for actions at Stones River was awarded to Sergeant Major John McGreathFarquhar of the 89th Illinois on August 6, 1902. Farquhar, a 30-year-old-nativeof Scotland, enlisted in the 89th Illinois, also known as TheRailroad Regiment, in August 1862 and was quickly promoted to the rank ofsergeant major. His actions occurred at perhaps the lowest ebb of the battle.Following a dawn assault, the troops of General Richard Johnson’s division werebroken and falling back towards the Wilkinson Pike under an incessantConfederate fire. The 89th Illinois, in action for the first time, wasin danger of coming apart due to the loss of field officers, but Sergeant MajorFarquhar kept his head and steadily reformed the regiment.

John M. Farquhar, 89th Illinois Infantry 

“Seeing that the day was lostunless something was done at once deployed his regiment and organized the strayand running troops into a new line,” the Buffalo Evening News laterreported. Once Farquhar had a line in place, he offered the command to severalofficers who flatly refused “and told the sergeant major to go ahead and finishwhat he commenced.” For his actions, Farquhar was commissioned a captain inFebruary 1863 and received the Medal of Honor in 1902. His citation read “whena break occurred on the extreme right wing of the Army of the Cumberland, thissoldier rallied fugitives from other commands, and deployed his own regiment,thereby checking the Confederate advance until a new line was established.”

To learn more about the Stones River campaign, be sure to check out my new book "Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign" available now from Savas Beatie.

An Ugly Scene at Rossville Before Chickamauga

In the days leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga, MajorGeneral Gordon Granger, commanding the Reserve Corps of the Army of theCumberland, provoked an ugly scene with the men of his command that highlightsthe differences between volunteer soldiers and the Regular officers who often ledthem. Major John Corson Smith of the 96th Illinois, then serving onthe staff of General James B. Steedman who commanded one of Granger’sdivisions, laid the blame at Granger’s “exacting and overbearing nature.”

          The troublebegan once the Reserve Corps occupied Rossville on September 14, 1863; thesupply wagons trailed days behind and soon the Federals got hungry. “Thecommand at Rossville numbered about 6,000 rank and file,” recalled Major Smith.“Following the forced march over Lookout Mountain, there was a scarcity of foodand the men commenced foraging for subsistence- a few nubbins of corn, a bunchof string beans, a piece of smoked meat, or a Georgia hog were all the boys could find to fill out theirscanty rations.”

Major General Gordon Granger, now better known as the author of the General Order that gave birth to Juneteenth, led the Reserve Corps during the Chickamauga campaign. A man of strong opinions and apparently little tact, Granger quickly made enemies among the high command of the Army of the Cumberland which made his time with the Cumberlanders relatively short. 

          GeneralGranger, an 1845 graduate of West Point and career army officer, had previouslyissued orders forbidding foraging but his subordinates, and their volunteersoldiers, winked at the stricture and paid it no heed. On September 17th,Granger witnessed men drifting into camp with the obvious spoils of thecountryside and blew his stack. “He was determined to stop the foraging anddetailing his escort, he ordered them to picket the roads leading to Steedman’scamp and arrest every man found outside,” Smith continued.

Major John Corson Smith,
96th Illinois Infantry

“The men arrested were broughtbefore this officer [Granger] and closely questioned as to where they had beenand what they had been doing. If the answers were satisfactory and noprovisions or forage found in their possession, they were released and orderedto their commands. If otherwise, their coats were taken off and the men tied totrees or picket rope so long as cordage could be found to tie them with, and whenthis failed, they were required to shoulder rails, wood, or anything to holdthem in place and punish them,” Smith said.

“This continued until a hundredor more were collected. Then the provost marshal was ordered to give each man25 lashes upon his bare back,” Smith reported with scarcely concealed disgust. “GeneralSteedman and several of his staff had been silent witnesses of this outrageuntil the order was given to flog these men. Thereupon, General Steedmanquietly rose from his camp stool, walked over to his superior officer [Granger]and said, ‘General, I suggest that 25 lashes are rather severe and think that20 would do as well.’ Granger, with much profanity, refused to change the orderand directed the provost marshal to proceed, but after much persuasion on thepart of Steedman, the number of reduced to 20.”

Brigadier General James B. Steedman of Toledo led one of Granger's division's to glory at Chickamauga after smoothing over the difficulty at Rossville caused by the intersection of Granger's waspish temper with the free-wheeling nature of his volunteer soldiers. 

Steedman wasn’t finished. “Havinggained the point, Steedman then suggested that 15 lashes would be sufficient.Warm words followed; but Steedman was again successful and the order wasfinally given for 15 lashes with the positive assurance that under no circumstanceswould the men be released from this punishment,” Smith observed.

 

“General Granger was profane andmade terrible threats. But he could not misuse intelligent volunteers and he slunkaway into his tent, damning everybody.” ~Sergeant Major Charles A. Partridge,96th Illinois

 

“General Steedman, who had againseated himself, now arose and buttoning his coat as only a soldier does whengoing into action, advanced towards his superior officer, saying, ‘General,those soldiers belong to my command; they were under no restrictions as toleaving camp. There were no orders forbidding their foraging, providing theydid not molest loyal citizens. They are short of rations and were permitted todo as they have done. They are American soldiers and no man has the right orauthority to flog an American soldier. It is in violation of the acts ofCongress to flog a soldier and no man can lawfully do so. I tell you, general,that I will use all the force at my command to protect these men and you touchone of them at your peril.’

“I do not think it necessary totell you that those soldiers were not flogged,” Smith concluded. Granger’sreputation with his men never recovered from the episode. “That General Grangerwas a brave man, no one will question, but he had some grave faults whichseriously detracted from his usefulness. General Granger was unpopular in hisown command and an unwelcome visitor at headquarters. To his own subordinates,he was exacting and overbearing while to his superiors he was discourteous. Hewas forever criticizing the actions of his superiors, caviling at their ordersand condemning their movements. For this he was so much disliked that hiscommanding officers would rather he was not with them. Granger’s criticismswere keen but not always just. No one could detect a weak point in the line ora false move more readily than Granger, but he lacked the genius or ability tostrengthen one or to correct the other.”

Source:

Oration of Gen. John C. Smith, Lieutenant Governorof Illinois at Toledo, Ohio, May 26, 1887, at the dedication ofthe monument to General James B. Steedman, pgs. 13-17

A Hoosier Escapes Brice’s Crossroads

Following the Federal defeat at the Battle of Brice’sCrossroads on June 10, 1864, Private Nathan Browning of the 93rdIndiana attributed his successful escape to Memphis to the lucky assistance ofGeneral Benjamin Grierson’s cavalry.

After narrowly escaping capturenear a farmhouse, Browning saw a number of his comrades sitting down, worn outand quietly awaiting capture. “I said no. So, I left them sitting until theRebels came up and told them to throw their hands up, and they were marchedback and soon in the pen, stripped of their best clothing and valuables,”Browning recalled in 1893. “I was still on the run, caught up with the Unioncavalry and footed it with them over that rough country by the aid of graspingthe horse by his tail which enabled me to make good my escape. Comrades, thatwas one of times that it was tail hold or none, so I hung on, just like abulldog and it was well that I did.”

          PrivateBrowning’s description of the retreat after Brice’s Crossroads first sawpublication in the October 12, 1893, edition of the Weekly Toledo Bladeas part of the Camp Fires series, a weekly column featuring soldiers’reminiscences that ran through much of the 1890s. Browning, an 18 year oldresident of Heltonville, Indiana joined Co. F of the 93rd Indiana onDecember 24, 1863, and mustered out November 10, 1865.

 Private George Kimbrue of Co. C, 93rd Indiana was among those lucky few of Browning's comrades who successfully made the escape to Memphis after Brice's Crossroads. He is holding a fierce looking saber bayonet along with a pistol, likely photographer's props. By the time of Brice's Crossroads, the 93rd Indiana carried a mix of Springfield and Enfield rifle muskets, about an equal number of each according to the Q2 1864 ordnance report. 

          Being a readerof your interesting paper and especially interested in the Camp Fire columns, Idesire to contribute a pine knot to keep the fire burning. I was one of theboys who belonged to Smith’s guerillas as we were commonly called in the daysof the late rebellion. Be it remembered by the old comrades that A.J. Smithcommanded the 16th Army Corps after the defeat of Sturgis at Guntownor Brice’s Crossroads in northeast Mississippi. On the 10th day of June1864, I was in that battle and had to retreat three days and nights withoutrest and without grub. The distance was 120 miles to Memphis, Tennessee, theonly place of safety.

          As well as Ican recollect, the battle did not last over three hours but it was fierce.General N.B. Forrest, commanding the Confederates, had 15,000 men while theFederals had but 5,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. [Browning is exaggeratinghere; Forrest had much closer to 5,000 men] Our ammunition and supply train andbatteries fell into the hands of the Confederates while most of the infantrywas captured. The cavalry, under General Benjamin Grierson, returned toMemphis.

          I wellremember that General Sturgis told General Grierson that he had bettersurrender his cavalry, but the brave Grierson did not do so, but fought his wayback to Memphis and he is the man who saved me from the awful hell ofAndersonville prison.

Browning's savior after Brice's Crossroads: General Benjamin H. Grierson of Illinois. 

          On the secondday of the struggle, I changed to get with Sergeant John N. Ross of my company.We were traveling along together and all at once we were surprised by the 1stKentucky Cavalry making a charge in order to capture all the boys that theycould. Now, it was “legs, take us away!” On we went and came to a farmhouse ona small knoll and it so happened that some women and children were in the houseat the time. Comrade Ross ran into the house and I ran around; Ross poked hisgun out at the enemy and a Rebel fell from his horse. Six men were killed atthat house.

          After we emergedfrom that house, we came together again. About 250 yards from the house, wefell in with Sergeant Lewis Norman. The cry was “Boys, you better stop andsurrender!” There were several who had sat down in order to give themselves up.I said no. So, I left them sitting until the Rebels came up and told them tothrow their hands up, and they were marched back and soon in the pen, strippedof their best clothing and valuables.

I was still on the run, caughtup with the Union cavalry and footed it with them over that rough country bythe aid of grasping the horse by his tail which enabled me to make good myescape. Comrades, that was one of times that it was tail hold or none, so Ihung on, just like a bulldog and it was well that I did.

          Now, if anycomrade reads this letter who was in that battle, let him throw something onthe fire to keep it blazing. I was brigaded with the 93rd and 114thIllinois, 26th Indiana, 9th and 10thMinnesota, and 72nd and 95th Ohio. We were the FirstBrigade, First Division, 16th Army Corps.  

To read more about the Battle of Brice’sCrossroads, please check out the following posts:

 

"Skinned out for Memphis like Tam O'Shanter with the devil after him" General Sturgis, the 72nd Ohio, and the Guntown Disaster

The 72nd Ohio at the Battle of Brice's Crossroads 

"Remember Fort Pillow!" The 59th U.S. Colored Troops at Brice's CrossroadsWiped Out at Guntown: A Private's View of Brice's Crossroads (95th Illinois)Most Complete Stampede I Ever Witnessed: A Tennessean at Brice's Crossroads (18th Tennessee Cavalry)An Awful Gauntlet: Vignettes of Brice's CrossroadsThe Yankees are Buried Shallow: A Civilian's View of Brice's CrossroadsGunned Down at Guntown (20th Tennessee Cavalry)Victims of an Inglorious Disaster: A Yankee's Vivid Account of Brice's Crossroads- Pt. 1My Last Shot at the Confederacy: A Yankee's Vivid Account of Brice's Crossroads- Pt. 2The Worst Managed Affair of the War: An Illinois Sergeant on the Debacle at Brice's Crossroads (114th Illinois) 

Source: 

“A Rough Escape,” Private Nathan Browning, Co. F, 93rdIndiana Volunteer Infantry, Weekly Toledo Blade (Ohio), October 12,1893, pg. 3

Last Fight for the Round Forest at Stones River

The last shots of the Battle of Stones River took place onthe evening of Saturday, January 3, 1863, when portions of Colonel John Beatty’sand General James Spears’ Federal brigades launched an assault on Confederatepositions in the Round Forest held by the 39th Alabama and 1stLouisiana Regulars of Colonel John Coltart’s brigade.

          It was a wet,miserable evening; it had rained incessantly all day and the men of botharmies, exhausted by several days of the most intense combat yet seen in thewestern theater, were hardly in shape for a fight. Among those whoshouldered his musket for this last engagement was Sergeant Henry Breidenthalof Co. A, 3rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

          Breidenthaldrew the unlucky assignment of being in the “forlorn hope,” a group of mentasked with advancing 50-100 yards ahead of the regiment during the attack; their presence wouldprompt the Confederates to open fire, thus exposing their positions in thegathering darkness. “When within a short distance ofthe woods, the Rebel advance opened on us,” he wrote. “We returned it, felldown, loaded our pieces, waited until the regiment got within supportingdistance, then got up, fired, and made for the trees yelling like Indians andloading as we ran.” 

Sergeant Breidenthal’s fullaccount of this chaotic close to the Battle of Stones River first sawpublication in the January 24, 1863, edition of the Ohio State Journalpublished in Columbus, Ohio. It was Breidenthal’s second letter describing thebattle, a previous missive covering the campaign through the fighting onDecember 31st.

 

The six guns of Battery H of the 5th U.S. Light Artillery provided support to the final Federal attack at Stones River on the evening of January 3, 1863. One of those opening shots mortally wounded Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Farrar of the 1st Louisiana Regulars who had just rejoined the regiment that afternoon; Farrar's demise combined with the sudden appearance of the Federals precipitated a quick collapse of the Confederate hold on the Round Forest. 

Camp near Murfreesboro, Tennessee

January 12, 1863

Saturday, January 3rd: Thismorning early, our brigade was moved on the left center where each regimentthrew out 30 skirmishers in advance to protect the sappers and miners who werebusily engaged throwing up breastworks and rifle pits. We advanced ourskirmishers to within rifle range of the Rebels and then we went to poppingaway at each other for an hour or two quite lively. We lost one of our menkilled, Courtright of Co. I.

          About 10 a.m.,we were relieved by another brigade which had arrived that morning. [GeneralJames Spears’ provisional brigade] The rain still poured down. After we gotback to our old position, Colonel John Beatty, seeing we had no wood, generouslygave us an old house which afforded him comfortable quarters and shared with usthe storm- all honor to him. We soon razed it to the ground and very soonafterwards we had good fires all around us. I saw but little of interest duringthe day except, I might mention, the sending out of a flag of truce with an ambulancewhich caused some interest and much speculation in regard to its object. Thatremains a mystery to us yet. 

    [Sergeant Isaac Wark of the 1st Louisiana Regulars said this was a "Yankee trick. We were in a small strip of woods about halfway between our lines and the enemy's on picket duty. And the Yank, wishing to ascertain our positions, sent over a flag of truce to recover the body of some officer that had been killed the day before. In the ambulance that accompanied the flag was an artillery officer taking sightings as we afterwards learned to our sorrow. For as soon as the flag reached their lines they commenced shelling us at a terrible rate."] 

          In theevening, the 88th Indiana and the 3rd Ohio of our brigade(the 17th with Colonel Beatty commanding) and some Tennesseeregiments were selected to carry the enemy’s breastworks, situated in a smallstrip of woods resting immediately on the Murfreesboro Pike something nearmidway between ours and the enemy’s lines.

Colonel John Beatty, 3rd O.V.I.

          After thewoods had been shelled by our batteries [Battery H, 5th U.S.], wewere ordered forward, the 3rd Ohio with her right resting on or nearthe Pike. From each company was selected five men as a ‘forlorn hope’ to go 50or 100 yards in the advance of the regiment. One poor soul, who I never sawrefuse his rations, asked to be excused as he did not think he was activeenough. He forgot that he was not required to run. We formed in line in frontof the column and ordered forward by Colonel Beatty’s encouraging command, ‘Forward,advance like men!’ We started but had not gotten but a few rods when I noticeda fellow from another company skulk out and start for the pile of rails. Curiosityprompted me to see who it was; I saw, and marked him.

          When within ashort distance of the woods, the Rebel advance opened on us. We returned it,fell down, loaded our pieces, waited until the regiment got within supportingdistance, then got up, fired, and made for the trees yelling like Indians andloading as we ran. We succeeded in securing the line of the Rebel works whichconsisted of hewn logs to the height of 2-1/2 to 4 feet, affording us atolerably good protection from the enemy who was entrenched behind a similarone about 100 yards in front of us. 

    [Sergeant Isaac Wark provided this perspective. "During the shelling, a heavy line of battle advanced on us and was not discovered until within about 30 feet of us. Those that were able got up and dusted, or in military parlance, fell back to the regiments that were supporting us. When they saw us coming back, their immediately broke and ran back to the breastworks which, along with what was left of ours, held the enemy in check until the 9th and 41st Mississippi advanced when we drove the Yanks back to their breastworks."]

The 88th Indiana wason our left and some distance behind, engaged with the enemy on their frontwhile the Tennessee regiment was firing into them. We continued our firing forabout an hour when we ran out of ammunition. We sent for some, but failed toget it. We were compelled to fall back, the Rebels doing the same. Our regimentlost several killed and wounded; the loss in Co. A was C.T. Palmer wounded.

I wish to notice one littletragi-comedy that grew out of this little affair and I am done. After wearrived at the breastworks, it appears that one of our men (I withhold his nameout of respect for the feelings of his wife) had become so terror-stricken asnot to be able to reload his rifle which he had discharged up in the air andhad fallen prone upon his back. Some of the boys thought him dead, but uponexamining this, found him half alive. Captain Swayne, learning this, took hisgun from him and gave it to one who needed one.

A short time after this, thislump of clay with no heart in it and more than half dead was seen to crawl awayand that was the last that seen of him for several days. We supposed that hehad received a shot while retreating for the next morning we receivedintelligence that a person answering his description had been found and buried.Some of us even went to the trouble to exhume said person but it proved to bean honest soldier. We then accounted him as among the missing. But when we gothere and all was safe, who should make their appearance but said person incompany with several other kindred skulks.

The 3rd Ohio marched over this field towards the camera during their nighttime assault on the Round Forest on January 3, 1863. In the distance on the right is Stones River National Cemetery while the Nashville Pike runs across the center of the picture. The 3rd Ohio marched with the right flank brushing along the pike as described by Sergeant Breidenthal. 

I have seen the face ofsheep-killing dogs, but I never saw anything so expressive of conscious meannessor cowardice as their countenance exhibited to us on their return from the ‘wars.’Sir, if there is one thing upon God’s green earth more deserving than anotherthe loathing and sovereign contempt of mankind, that object most decidedly is acraven-spirited, perjured wretch who has been base enough to forsake theircolors and comrades in battle. They should every one of them be drummed out ofcamp after having been branded for their infamy by having placed upon theircowardly heads, not that time-honored article of household furniture the ladies’night cap (for I, as does every soldier, enter a solemn protest against theprostitution of that useful article to so dishonorable a purpose as being abadge of cowardice), the device of a crawfish, it being a truthfulrepresentation of the fighting qualities of those whom Shakespeare knew so wellwhen he wrote that “He who fights and runs away, will live to fight anotherday.”

We returned to camp and spent amiserable night, the rain pouring down in torrents all night and raining thefires out. In the morning [Sunday, January 4], details were made from thedifferent regiments to bury the dead; others were detailed to make areconnaissance of the enemy. Some of our troops went into and took possessionof the town. We crossed over [Stones River] on Monday and are now encampedwithin sight of the place. Everything has subsided and quiet reigns supreme andwe can rest from our labors for the time being.

Sources:

Letter from Sergeant Henry Breidenthal, Co. A, 3rdOhio Volunteer Infantry, Ohio State Journal (Ohio), January 24, 1863,pg. 2

Letter from Sergeant Isaac F. Wark, Co. E, 1st Louisiana Regular Infantry, Regimental Files, Stones River National Battlefield Park

To learn more about the Stones River campaign, be sure to check out my new book "Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign" available now from Savas Beatie.

Judge Williams Remembers Shiloh

In 1895, Judge Henry H. Williams, formerly a corporal in Co. A of the 71st Ohio Infantry, penned this memoir of his experiences at the Battle of Shiloh. It is clear that Judge Williams took issue with the postwar claims made by Generals Grant, Sherman, and their advocates downplaying the element of surprise at Shiloh: from his view in the ranks, quite the contrary. 

    "I had unusual privilege for a subaltern officer and was over much of the ground occupied by the Federal army just prior to the bloody battle of Shiloh," he noted. "No fortifications of any kind were in existence and up to Friday, April 4, 1862, no appearance of the enemy had been observed and only the ordinary picket line was maintained by the Federal forces. General Grant’s headquarters were at Savannah, nine miles down the Tennessee River and on the opposite bank. If at that time there was any apprehension of an attack from the Rebel forces, it was not manifest by any preparation to meet it. The real truth is that General Grant intended and expected to fight the Rebel forces in front of Corinth. All that may be said to the contrary will never convince the common soldier that the battle of Shiloh was not a surprise to the Federal troops." 

    Judge Williams' memoir first saw publication in the February 14, 1895, edition of The Buckeye published in Troy, Ohio. 

The National Association of Shiloh Survivors was a veterans' organization formed in 1905. Judge Williams certainly was entitled to membership as he was both severely wounded and captured during the course of the engagement. The medical effects of the wound he received in the hip at Shiloh eventually left him crippled but didn't stop the intrepid Ohioan from developing a thriving law practice and traveling around the world in 1899. 

    I was one of Lincoln’s first soldiers, having enlisted onApril 15, 1861, to put down the Rebellion in 90 days. After participating inthe first battle of the war at Philippi, Virginia on June 3, 1861, and trampingover the mountains of western Virginia for three months, my regiment [15thO.V.M.] was discharged by reason of expiration of term of service and I camehome fully satisfied with the toil and turmoil of a soldier’s life.

          The call for300,000 more men, however, found me ready again for service under the old flagand in February 1862, my regiment (71st Ohio) with many othersjoined Grant’s command for the advance up the Tennessee River. We landed atPittsburg Landing early in March and were moved well to the front, forming withtwo other regiments and a battery the extreme left of our army. For some reasonthat never has been explained, the Second Brigade of Sherman’s Division towhich we were attached was separated from the remainder of the command bynearly a mile and between us was the division of General Benjamin Prentiss.  

          For reasonsnot necessary to give, I had unusual privilege for a subaltern officer and wasover much of the ground occupied by the Federal army just prior to the bloodybattle of Shiloh. Pittsburg Landing is a steep bluff with a considerableopening around it, flanked on the southeasterly side by quite a ravine. Beyondthis was open woods and occasional cleared fields till you reached Shilohchurch, then General Sherman’s headquarters.

          On the rightof the battlefield and down the river was Snake Creek on the left and up theriver was Lick Creek. The Federal forces lay between these two creeks, adistance of eight miles in width with a front line three miles from the river.The country south to Corinth was wet and comparatively level. No fortificationsof any kind were in existence and up to Friday, April 4, 1862, no appearance ofthe enemy had been observed and only the ordinary picket line was maintained bythe Federal forces.

          General Grant’sheadquarters were at Savannah, nine miles down the Tennessee River and on theopposite bank. If at that time there was any apprehension of an attack from theRebel forces, it was not manifest by any preparation to meet it. On Friday Iwent to the Landing and back by different routes and through a large portion ofthe troops in camp and at no place or with any command was there any preparationfor attack or defense; the camps were in their usual condition of troops atrest.

          About 4 o’clockFriday afternoon, an attack was made on General Buckland’s brigade and the longroll was beat in our camp and the several regiments fell in line, but nothingfurther was done. Soon after this alarm, I was detailed for picket duty anddirected to report at regimental headquarters and was there informed by thecolonel [Rodney Mason] that I was to report with the regimental detail atbrigade headquarters, which I did at once. At brigade headquarters, I found astrong picket force under command of Captain [J. Augustus] Smith of the 55thIllinois [Co. F] and our detail was then ordered to protect the Lick Creek Fordon the Hamburg Road a mile distant from camp. On duty at this advanced post, wediscovered no signs of the enemy until late Saturday night when our picketswere attacked by a cavalry force of Rebels.

          It was aclear, moonlit night and I remember that our men were on the lookout for troubleas we did not know what to expect in front. Daylight Sunday morning April 6thbrought a renewed attempt to force the picket post and we fired on the Rebelcavalry which was the first shot of the battle then just beginning.

          I was directedto go over to the ridge in front and ascertain if any Rebels were near. This I quicklydid and just over this ridge lay the Rebel force, consisting of General Breckinridge’sdivision. I reported to Captain Smith the fact and was then ordered to returnto brigade headquarters and report to Colonel [David] Stuart. I asked to berelieved as we had been then on duty 12 hours over our time and had no rations.

          On my wayback, I met Major Hart [Adjutant James H. Hart who would be promoted to Majorto date April 6 after the death of Lieutenant Colonel Barton Kyle whichprompted the promotion of then Major George W. Andrews] of my own regiment whotold me to return and for us to hold the ford as long as possible as the wholeRebel army was in our front and that a battle was on. With this command, Ireturned to the picket post and the men were ordered to lie down and be readyfor the attack that we know was sure to come.

Judge Williams' older brother and company commander at Shiloh: Elihu S. Williams who later became captain of Co. H and served three terms in Congress, one as a "carpetbagger" from Tennessee and two terms representing his local district of Ohio. 

          In a very fewminutes, a force of Rebel cavalry attempted to cross Lick Creek and then forthe first time we opened on them with such a well-directed fire as to quicklydrive them back on the main line. The picket line, however, was soon driven inand with others I made my way back to where the brigade was in position. Ifound the 54th Ohio in line of battle with the 55thIllinois supporting it on the right. My own regiment I did not find, and in ashort time a fierce fight was going on. The Rebel force advanced rapidly and soonhad possession of our camp. A very sharp contest occurred here and the killedand wounded were lying in every direction.

          I saw ColonelKilby Smith save his colors by tearing them from the staff dropped by the colorbearer who had been killed. He wrapped the flag around him and rode him backwith his men. The Federal forces were slowly driven back on the left and in theafternoon it looked to me like our troops were much demoralized. I met ColonelMason by himself and asked him where his regiment was. He did not know and saidhe was going to the river. At this time, I went forward with the 2ndMichigan Battery and was soon engaged in the fierce fight made by General Prentissnear the center of the Federal front. For more than one hour preceding thesurrender of Prentiss, the fighting was terrific.

          I remember asif yesterday the charge of the Rebel cavalry and the surrender of the Michiganbattery. [Please read “The Noxubee Cavalry Takes a Battery"] At sundown, we were taken back to the Rebel headquarters and keptthere during the night. Shells from the gunboats on the river kept everythingin confusion and no rest was had that night. In the morning, the Federalprisoners, about 2,500 in number, were sent forward to Corinth and for monthsthereafter I was in Rebel prisons. The battle of Shiloh was the most sanguinaryand stubbornly contested fight of the Civil War.

          The Rebelattack was a surprise: not one of the Federal commanders anticipated a battleat Shiloh. On Friday before that fatal Sunday, I was through the Federal campsextending from General Sherman’s extreme left to the river at Pittsburg Landingand at no place or in any command was there any preparation for or expectationsof a battle. Not a single breastwork or defense of any kind was in existence.General Grant on Saturday April 5th was at Savannah nine miles downthe river and wrote General Halleck “I have scarcely the faintest idea of anattack (a general one) being made upon us, but will be prepared should such athing take place. General Nelson’s division has arrived; the other two ofGeneral Buell’s column will arrive tomorrow and the next day. It is my presentintention to send them to Hamburg, some four miles above Pittsburg, when theyall get here. From that point to Corinth the road is good and a junction can beformed with the troops from Pittsburg at almost any point.”

          The real truthis that General Grant intended and expected to fight the Rebel forces in frontof Corinth. It was the unexpected that happened on the beautiful Sabbathmorning of April 6, 1862, as the Confederate troops rushed with the force of atornado through the Federal camps. Many, very many of the men were asleep, mostof them engaged in the usual camp duties and none of them prepared for battle. Allthat may be said to the contrary will never convince the common soldier thatthe battle of Shiloh was not a surprise to the Federal troops.

To learn more about the 71st Ohio at Shiloh, please check out these other posts:

"I Lay Me Down to Sleep and He to Die"

"Getting Our Grub and Kicking Up Our Heels Around Camp" 

 

At the outset of the war, HenryH. Williams was working as an attorney in the law firm of Conklin &Matthews in Sidney, Ohio. After a 90-day term with the 15th Ohio Militiain western Virginia, he joined Co. A of the 71st Ohio on October 9,1861; his older brother Elihu served as lieutenant of Co. A and later becamecaptain. Corporal Williams was wounded in the right hip and was captured on thefirst day of Shiloh. After four months in captivity, he was exchanged but thenature of his wound left him crippled and he was discharged for disability onJune 10, 1863. He returned to Sidney and opened a law practice of his own but soon relocated to Troy. He was later elected prosecuting attorney and was appointed to the bench as acommon pleas judge in December 1877, serving as judge until 1882, then resumed his law practice.

The debilitating impact of hiswartime wound worsened such that he lost the use of his legs leaving him a “helplessinvalid,” but Judge Williams continued to practice law with such marked abilitythat he became one of the wealthiest men in the area. Rather remarkably in October1899 despite his disability, he (in company with his wife Eloise, son Lloyd,and niece Olive) embarked on a round-the-world trip. Leaving New York City, thegroup crossed the Atlantic, visiting England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italyand Austria. Then they embarked on a vessel that took them through the MediterraneanSea, the Red Sea (via the Suez Canal), and over the Indian Ocean where the landjourney resumed, visiting India, China, and Japan. An ocean voyage across thePacific took them first to Honolulu, in the Territory of Hawaii before landing at SanFrancisco, then by rail back home to Troy. The entire trip was made “without asingle mishap or the missing of a single train.”

Judge Williams died in hiswinter home in St. Petersburg, Florida on December 26, 1906, at the age of 66.

Source:

“War Reminiscence: Grant’s Army Surprised at Shiloh. JudgeH.H. Williams Writes an Account of the Fiercest battle of the War and theCapture of Prentiss’s Division,” Corporal Henry Harrison Williams, Co. A, 71stOhio Volunteer Infantry, The Buckeye (Troy, Ohio), February 14, 1895,pg. 1

It was a Strange Scene: The Truce at Fredericksburg

Having missed most of the action at Fredericksburg, oneAlabama soldier recalled the extraordinary meeting of the two armies during theflag of truce two days after the battle.

“As soon as they saw the flag,one of them came a little forward and proposed a friendly meeting halfway,” hewrote a few days later. “We accepted, and a dozen or so of us went out and metthem, shook hands, passed compliments, traded a little, and had a gay time. Ina few minutes, the truce being refused, we all quickly took our places ready tochange our friendly meeting into a bloody conflict. We agreed not to fire oneach other that day unless the fight commenced.”

Later that afternoon, a secondflag of truce was agreed upon and again the men met to exchange the bodies oftheir dead comrades. “A large body of Yankees then came forward with litters topick up our dead which they brought halfway and laid them down; about the samenumber of our men commenced picking up the Yankee dead and carrying them to thecenter, both sides meeting and mixing at the same place. They would carry adead enemy and take back a dead comrade. The officers on each side rode up anddown to try and keep the men from talking. It was a strange scene mingled withmelancholy and levity,” he noted.

This letter, written “from a sonof Major Chappell to his sisters in Troy,” Alabama first saw publication in theJanuary 14, 1863, edition of the Southern Advertiser which was publishedin Troy.

At the first opportunity after Fredericksburg, Federal and Confederate soldiers climbed out of their cover to meet on the field under a proposed flag of truce. Our Alabama correspondent said they "had a gay time" trading and getting to know one another; one Federal later wrote that had it been left to the enlisted men of both armies, the war would have been settled in a manner of minutes. 

Spotsylvania County, near Fredericksburg, Virginia

December 26, 1862

          I will giveyou a little history of my ups and downs in our fight. When we first arrived inthe neighborhood, we went down the river to near Point Royal to watch the enemythere, an account of which I believe I gave you in my last. When the fightcommenced up here, we started to the scene of action about dark and made aforced march to near the battlefield, it taking us until near daylight in the morning.We then slept an hour or two and marched to the field of battle.

          Our divisionwas in the rear so we formed the last or outside line of battle; this was onSaturday [December 13, 1862], the day of the main fight. We had no small armsfighting as those in front were between us and the enemy, but the shells playedon us during most of the day, killing and wounding a good many in the divisionbut doing our regiment little harm.

Late in the evening, we advancedthrough the woods to the edge of the field where the enemy had been fighting.We halted and in a few minutes the Yankees opened a battery on us, shootingshells and grape, the shells crushing the trees while making a fearful crash; thegrape sweeping like hail among us but as providence would have it, only a few gothurt. It lasted but a few minutes and we were out of sight, else we would havesuffered very much. It was hard to make the men stand at first; it scared someof them very badly and it was one of the hottest places I ever stopped in.

We then went back and camped forthe night, the fight having ceased. In the morning, we formed another line ofbattle next to the front and stayed there until 4 o’clock the next morning whenwe relieved the front line and at night formed ourselves in plain view of theenemy, they not being over 350 yards from us. Our position was behind therailroad. We thought the fight would be sure to open in a short time. I withsome 20-25 others from the regiment were ordered forward to picket and skirmishif they came on us.

The fighting at Fredericksburg was amongst the bloodiest of the Civil War with Federal casualties topping 12,000 killed, wounded, and missing while the Confederates lost around 5,000. 

Our line was behind the bank ofa fence, a very good place. We could see the enemy relieving and marching aboutand were sure they were advancing once, but they did not advance and the picketsdid not seem disposed to fire on us. This was on Monday [December 15th]and at 9 o’clock we saw a flag of truce coming to our lines. We then saw theYankee heads popping up just a little in front of us and found that they hadpickets in a deep ditch within 146 yards of us as I afterwards stepped it. Wewere surprised to find them so near; they might have killed some of us veryeasily if they had tried.

As soon as they saw the flag,one of them came a little forward and proposed a friendly meeting halfway. Weaccepted, and a dozen or so of us went out and met them, shook hands, passedcompliments, traded a little, and had a gay time. In a few minutes, the trucebeing refused, we all quickly took our places ready to change our friendlymeeting into a bloody conflict. We agreed not to fire on each other that dayunless the fight commenced.

Things went on quietly with bothsides in their places until say 3 o’clock in the afternoon when another flagwas sent over and General Lee accepted it this time. A large body of Yankeesthen came forward with litters to pick up our dead which they brought halfwayand laid them down; about the same number of our men commenced picking up theYankee dead and carrying them to the center, both sides meeting and mixing atthe same place. They would carry a dead enemy and take back a dead comrade. Theofficers on each side rode up and down to try and keep the men from talking. Itwas a strange scene mingled with melancholy and levity. Our men got all ornearly all of our dead, but there were so many dead Yankees, we did not getthem all. Our men had stripped them nearly all of shoes and outside clothing,which I felt ashamed of. Some of our men stripped them while they were fixingup the truce and they were not afraid of being fired on at that time. It lookedvery badly, but we have men that care for nothing.

The truce ended at dark and atdaylight we found that they had all retreated to the other side of the river,not more than a mile and a half. They left their dead unburied after taking thetrouble to get them. They also left a good deal of plunder. I suppose thecowards got up the truce to help carry it off. We gained a great victory. Therewas only one day of infantry fighting, but cannons were firing five or sixdays. Some of them are still on the other bank, but it is thought they arebuilding winter quarters and if they are, I hope we shall, too. We have notents yet but make ourselves very comfortable by building shelters of pine andcedar brush like a hog shelter. The weather is quite dry and generally prettycold, but we have only had two snows yet.

Source:

Letter from unknown soldier in 15th AlabamaInfantry, Southern Advertiser/Troy Messenger (Alabama), January 14,1863, pg. 2

General McCook Discovers Governor Johnson at Shiloh

Riding over the Shiloh battlefield on April 8, 1862, GeneralsAlexander McCook and William "Bull" Nelson came across an old acquaintance lying uponthe battlefield: George W. Johnson, the provisional Confederate governor ofKentucky. The 49-year-old, serving as a volunteer aide on the staff of GeneralJohn C. Breckinridge, had a horse shot out from under him on April 6th,then took his place as a private in the ranks of Co. E of the 4thKentucky on the 7th. In the course of the fighting, Johnson suffereda mortal wound in the right thigh and abdomen.

          I saw lyingupon the ground a tall man dressed in gray jeans. I dismounted, approached him,and recognized him as a Kentucky Johnson and told him so,” McCook wrote yearslater. “He replied, ‘Yes, I am George W. Johnson, Confederate governor ofKentucky.’ He asked me to come nearer. I knelt beside him, better to hear whathe had to say. He asked me if I was a Mason, I convinced him I was. He thentold me he had been fighting the day before with Trabue’s men, that he wasfatally wounded through the body and had no hopes of recovery.”

          McCookadministered some brandy, summoned an ambulance, and called over General Nelsonand later Colonel James Jackson of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry to speakwith Johnson. Johnson would die aboard a hospital ship on April 8th,and within six months, Nelson would be murdered in Louisville by a fellowFederal general, and Jackson would have been killed in action under McCook’scommand at Perryville. McCook’s description of this event first saw publicationin the Lexington Herald’s August 18, 1901, edition, supplied to the Herald’smanager Desha Breckinridge by Thomas J. Bush.

 General Alexander McDowell McCook

Grant’s battle of PittsburgLanding was fought on Sunday, April 6, 1862, the Battle of Shiloh fought onMonday, April 7, 1862. Three divisions of the Army of the Ohio, about 20,000men under the immediate command of General Buell were successfully engaged onthe Union side.

Tuesday morning, day after thebattle, General William Nelson came to my headquarters and finding me preparedto ride over the battlefield, asked to accompany me. I conducted him to thepoints of most interest to my mind. In reaching a thicket surrounding a liveoak swamp where a determined stand had been made in front of my division by theKentucky troops under Breckinridge, I saw lying upon the ground a tall mandressed in gray jeans. I dismounted, approached him, and recognized him as aKentucky Johnson and told him so. He replied, ‘Yes, I am George W. Johnson,Confederate governor of Kentucky.’ He asked me to come nearer. I knelt besidehim, better to hear what he had to say. He asked me if I was a Mason, Iconvinced him I was. He then told me he had been fighting the day before withTrabue’s men, that he was fatally wounded through the body and had no hopes ofrecovery. He told of the battle and of other things not necessary to mentionhere.

Governor George W. Johnson of Kentucky

It having rained hard Mondaynight, Governor Johnson was wet and chilled. I administered brandy and gave himsuch nourishment as my party carried. I told him that General Nelson was nearbyand asked if he would like to speak with him; he said yes. Nelson then cameforward, knelt near him, and held a short conversation. Meantime, Colonel JimJackson of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry approached and I notified GovernorJohnson and he said he would like to speak with him. General Nelson and ColonelJackson had been great friends, but, from some cause, were estranged, enemiesin fact, and arrangements were made to settle their difficulty by code duelloat the end of the war.

At the close of Colonel Jackson’sinterview, and after he had risen to his feet, I then addressed General Nelsonand Colonel Jackson. ‘I am told you are enemies now. In view of our gloriousvictory yesterday, surrounded by these dead and dying men, there could not be amore fitting opportunity for you both to clasp each other’s hand, mutually askingforgiveness, and again to become friends.’ Instantly, the hands were extendedand grasped and from that hour they were again friends.

Previously a field ambulance hadbeen sent for and upon its arrival, Governor Johnson was tenderly placed init.  On our way to this interesting pointon the battlefield, we found the dead body of a Confederate officer whose featuresand size of body bore a strong resemblance to General Albert Sindey Johnston.When we again reached this point, this body was raised so that Governor Johnsoncould view it from the ambulance. He said in the presence of myself, General Nelson,and others that ‘that is the body of General Johnston.’ Giving full credence tothis testimony, General Nelson gave orders to a burial party to prepare agrave. The body was placed in it and marked with a picket fence placed aroundit. This proved to be a case of mistaken identity; this body was afterwardsproven to be that of Colonel Preston of Louisiana.

Colonel James S. Jackson of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry became Brigadier General later that summer and met his demise while serving as a division commander at the Battle of Perryville. 

Governor Johnson requested me tosend for a minister of the Gospel. Meeting one of our chaplains, I asked him tocome to the ambulance and introduced him to the governor. He was directed toconduct the ambulance to Pittsburg Landing where the hospital steamboat Hannibalwas lying. Upon this boat, surgeons from the North were caring for the woundedwith experienced nurses from Cincinnati hospital, and where all the neededdelicacies were found for the wounded and the sick. Two or three days later,the chaplain reported that Governor Johnson had died. A few minutes beforedeath struck, the governor asked him if he could sing Kirk White’s hymn “The Starof Bethlehem.” The chaplain, holding his hand, sang the hymn and just at theclose, the spirit of Governor Johnson passed into the peace of God.

Source:

“Recollections of Shiloh’s Battlefield: Major General McCookWrites of Incidents and Scenes of that Famous Engagement,” Lexington Herald(Kentucky), August 18, 1901, pg. 11

Grant the Great will soon be no more: An Alabamian at Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse

Sergeant Randolph Smedley of the 15thAlabama recalled the electric effect seeing General Robert E. Lee had upon his regimentas they moved into action into the Wilderness on May 5, 1864.

          “It seemedthat every man went in determined to whip or die,” he informed his father. “Aswe were going in, we passed by General Lee. He raised his hat and said, “Go it,my brave Alabamians!” There is no telling how much good a kind word from such ageneral as Lee will do. When he spoke, although the balls were flying thick,every face brightened, each one took a quicker step, and when the order forwardwas given, a yell was raised and each one seemed to try to be the first to geta shot at the enemy.”

          SergeantSmedley felt sure that the bitter losses suffered by the Army of the Potomac in the ensuing battles would send Grant to the rear in disgrace, as had happened so many times beforewith other Federal commanders who had tangled with Lee and his army. “The Yankees,poor fellows, have had but little encouragement. Not a single day out of elevenhave they been successful and no doubt they are anxious to recross theRappahannock. Grant the Great will soon be no more. He will be laid on theshelf; in fact, it is reported that he is even now superseded by Fremont. The NewYork Herald is already down on him for having his men butchered,” Smedleynoted. But it was not to be and the fighting would rage almost without respite for another year until Appomattox.

          The 1860census showed 21-year-old Randolph C. Smedley working as a farmer and living withhis parents, Reverend David B. and Maria Smedley in Troy, Pike Co., Alabama. Heenlisted as a corporal in Co. I of the 15th Alabama Infantry on July1, 1861; he was promoted to sergeant around January 1, 1863, and became orderlysergeant of Co. I in 1864 following the death of Sergeant John J. White which he described in this letter. 

    Smedley would survive the war,surrendering at Appomattox, but would die of fever shortly after returning hometo Alabama. His letter, written home to his father, first saw publication inthe June 3, 1864, edition of the Southern Advertiser published in Troy,Alabama.

 

Camp near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia

May 15, 1864

          We have been fightingfor ten days and the enemy has been beaten every day. I have not been hurt, norhas Cape or Jimmy.  Surely, we ought tobe thankful to providence for its kind protection. I am not certain that thefighting is over, though it is believed the enemy is recrossing the river asfast as possible. We have gained so far one of the most complete victories ofthe war. Our men have fought with greater courage and coolness than everbefore. It hardly excited a man at all to go into the engagement; they shotwith as much precision as though they were killing squirrels and I assure youit told fearfully on the ranks of the Yankees.

          The 15thAlabama entered the fight on the 5th. The enemy had massed a forceof 40,000 men to get possession of the plank road. This force was met anddriven back by Longstreet’s corps. Law’s brigade did heavy fighting. It seemedthat every man went in determined to whip or die. As we were going in, wepassed by General Lee. He raised his hat and said, “Go it, my brave Alabamians!”There is no telling how much good a kind word from such a general as Lee willdo. When he spoke, although the balls were flying thick, every face brightened,each one took a quicker step, and when the order forward was given, a yell wasraised and each one seemed to try to be the first to get a shot at the enemy.We drove them about half a mile then waited for another attack.

          I will nowspeak only of Law’s brigade. We erected breastworks of logs and waited; soonthe enemy made their appearance in large numbers. We soon repulsed them, butthey came again and were driven back; again, they came and in overwhelming numbers.We shot two columns to pieces, but more came. Colonel [William C.] Oates jumpedthe works and told us to follow him; the Yankees in front fled, but as we wereabout being flanked on our right, Colonel Oates ordered us back. In this chargeWilliam Powell was killed and Larkin Norris severely wounded in the thigh.

We stayed and fought the Yankeesuntil we had only a small space to get out at; Colonel Oates ordered a retreatafter the balance of the brigade had left. The enemy followed which left theirright flank exposed to a Mississippi brigade which was coming to our relief andthey (the Yankees) were driven back with terrible slaughter, leaving us mastersof the field. This ended the first day’s fight or at least our brigade did notfight anymore.

          SergeantThompson was slightly wounded in the neck; Sergeant Sanders slightly in the armwhile G.W. Davenport was wounded mortally in the body. Colonel Oates acted aconspicuous part in this day’s fight. Colonel Perr (commanding the brigade)told him to act as he thought proper and he saved the whole brigade from capture.He was on our left flank and moved his regiment so as to meet the enemy who hadturned our flank. But few men can handle a regiment as skillfully as our bravecolonel.

One of Sergeant Smedley's comrades in arms: Private Squire Hagan Burgess served the entire war with Co. I of the 15th Alabama and surrendered at Appomattox.
Alabama Confederate Images courtesy of Stan Huston

          After we hadgotten out, he said if blame for retreating rested anywhere it was not with hisregiment, for he said not one man left until I ordered him. Our troops werevictorious everywhere. At night the line of battle was changed a little andworks built. On the 6th, the enemy charged a brigade to our left butwere repulsed. Heavy skirmishing was then kept up all day. At night, we movedto within two miles of Spotsylvania Courthouse. About 10 o’clock on the 7th,Law’s brigade was formed and made a charge on the enemy who was strongly postedin heavy timber. We drove them back and established our line of battle on ahill which we had taken from the Yankees. In this fight, John Catrett wasseverely wounded in the side.

          On the 8th,the enemy made three attempts to take our works, but were paid dearly for theirtrouble every time for each attempt was a failure and their loss heavy.Sergeant John White was mortally wounded on the night of the 8th.One company was on picket in front of the works and late in the night theYankees commenced firing and, it was thought, they were advancing. A Georgia brigadeon our left opened fired as soon as they heard the Yankee guns open fire andmortally wounded Sergeant John J. White.

Colonel William C. Oates
15th Alabama

When he was brought in, he saidhe had tried to be a good soldier and thought it was hard to be killed by hisfriends. He asked someone to pray for him as he wanted to go to that land wherewars and rumors of wars were no more. He said he was not afraid to die anddesired us to say to his mother that he died as a brave soldier on the field ofbattle. He told the boys to fight bravely and that he wanted to live to see thewar ended, but as he must die, he was ready to go. He desired that Co. I wouldstrike a blow for him and well did the boys remember him in the heat of battlefor no one was every more beloved than he. Colonel Oates said he had ratherhave been severely wounded himself. Sergeant White was as brave a man as everfaced an enemy and his death was mourned by all who knew him. We hope that hehas gone to a better world and have reason to believe that he has.

          On the 9th,no fighting in front of our brigade except skirmishing; G.E. Powell was killedby a sharpshooter. On the 10th, the Yankees came again but weredriven back, but it is unnecessary to speak of every day’s fighting for likethe first we were always successful. I believe the Yankees have lost a man forevery one in our brigade. In front of our works from the 7th untilthe 11th about 300 were left dead on the field, besides the woundedand dead that were taken off and those who were killed and wounded on the firstday’s fight.

General Ewell reports that12,000 killed and wounded were left in front of his works during the firstthree days’ fighting.  When the armiesmoved to this place, the enemy left 12,000 wounded in our hands. A citizen fromFredericksburg reports that 25,000 wounded are at that place and the Yankeeloss is certainly not far from 45,000. These look like large figures, but youmust remember that the Yankees fought us behind our works and came in two orthree columns every time. Our boys shot with the precision of marksmen at ashooting match.

They succeeded but twice ingetting to any part of our works. They entered the works of the Texans of ourdivision once, but did not have time to say “Thank God” before they were drivenout. Johnson’s division of Ewell’s corps was surprised and driven from theirworks, but these, too, were soon retaken. The Yankees, poor fellows, have hadbut little encouragement. Not a single day out of eleven have they beensuccessful and no doubt they are anxious to recross the Rappahannock. Grant theGreat will soon be no more. He will be laid on the shelf; in fact, it isreported that he is even now superseded by Fremont. The New York Herald isalready down on him for having his men butchered.

Our loss has been very light andI believe the Yankees have lost ten to one. In front of our brigade, during thelast four days of the fight, the enemy left 300 killed on the field while ourloss was not more than 20 killed. It is said our cavalry did much betterfighting than ever before. Our artillery also did excellent work. I do not knowthat the enemy has recrossed the river, but they left our front on the night ofthe 13th and being so severely whipped, no doubt they will get awayas fast as possible. It seems that our arms have been successful everywhere andif any people ought to be grateful to God, we ought. He sure is with us, and may Hesoon give us peace.

Source:

Letter from Sergeant Randolph C. Smedley, Co. I, 15thAlabama Infantry, Southern Advertiser/Troy Messenger (Alabama), June 3,1864, pg. 2

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Writing in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29thIndiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towardsSavannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in theirears.

          “The forcedmarch was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “Therest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing growsmore intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear;but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be myonly chance.”

The regiment would go intoaction the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlistedtogether in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battle.I am satisfied. I don’t want to see any more. One such victory is enough for alifetime,” he concluded.

Buchanan would only serve a fewmore months with the 29th Indiana before being discharged fordisability. He later served as a captain in the 118th Indiana andafter the war, moved to Portland, Oregon. The local newspaper, the PortlandOregonian, published his diary in its April 8, 1902, edition marking the 40thanniversary of the battle.

 

          Forty years agolast Sunday morning April 6, the battle of Shiloh was ushered in with therising sun. Believing that a quotation from my diary, written at the time, willbe of special interest to some of your readers, I will copy it here. I willstate that I was in McCook’s division of Buell’s column and at this time wewere executing a hard march from Nashville via Columbia to join Grant’s forcesat Savannah or somewhere else on the Tennessee River. The weather had beenquite hot and the roads very dusty so much so that we were exhausted…

 

Private Manius Buchanan of Co. B, 29th Indiana in his officer's uniform while serving as a captain in the 118th Indiana Infantry. 

April 6, 1862: Heard the cannons openroar early in the morning. This is a very beautiful, bright Sunday morning. Uponsuch mornings as this, in times past, we delighted in answer to musical bellsto wend our way to some house of worship; but these sounds indicate that someat least will spend this Lord’s day in a vastly different way.

          Thecannonading is away in the southwest; it must be that Grant is over there. Westarted early and marched as usual until 10 o’clock when we obeyed withalacrity and enthusiastic shouts the order ‘Unsling knapsacks and prepare for aforced march!’ The cannonading is heavier and I think I can hear the roll ofmusketry. There is evidently something serious ahead.

          The forcedmarch was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m. The rest wasreally needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ Thesound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows moreintense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; butno, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my onlychance.

          The marchresumed at 4 p.m. and we arrived at Savannah on the Tennessee River at 8 p.m.We have marched 20 miles today and from the heat, dust, and excitement we areall tired. We stood around in the streets in a pouring rain without othercovering than the sheets of water until 2 a.m., when we were marched aboard aboat where we hoped to get a little rest and sleep preparatory for what themorrow may bring forth. All day long, the roar of battle has been borne to ourears, growing louder and more fearful as the day advanced and we came nearerthe scene of strife. In the morning, we were about 25 miles away, now we are 9miles distant.

          Late in theafternoon, a new sound was added to the cannonade- a shrill ‘b-i-n-g’ that hasthe sound of metal in it. We are informed that this is the music of thegunboats. That sound yet occasionally wakes the echoes of the night. Wordscannot express the feelings within us throughout this day of extreme anxietyand burning desire to be present and take a hand in the fray. How we shouldhave liked to shouted over to Grant’s men, ‘Be of good cheer, for we are coming40,000 strong!’

          Now gooddiary, this may be the very last time I will ever take you in hand; if so, Iwant you to be the messenger to carry my last farewell to all my friendseverywhere. Say to mother and sweetheart that their names are the last that mylips shall utter. A soldier’s life seems the cheapest thing out. Nobody seemsto value it- not even the possessors. We lie down upon our hard bed, the floor,and go peacefully to sleep with scarcely a thought of the morrow, althoughafter this quiet rest, we expect a harvest of death and many victims of thesickle will strew the ground. If I am one of them, farewell to all.

 

Colonel Edward N. Kirk of the 34th Illinois led Buchanan's brigade at Shiloh which consisted of Kirk's own regiment, the 29th Indiana, 30th Indiana, and 77th Pennsylvania. These four regiments would serve together throughout much the war. Kirk would be wounded at Shiloh and mortally wounded at Stones River, in both cases Colonel Joseph Dodge of the 30th Indiana assumed brigade command. 

April 8, 1862: Yesterday there wasneither time nor inclination to write. I cannot tell even my diary what took placeyesterday. No one sees a battle. I scarcely think anyone knows just what hedoes in a battle. Maybe others do not get rattled as I did. I can give only theslightest outline of the little part I took in the day’s events.

          As soon as itwas light enough, our boat took its slow way up the river. We arrived atPittsburg Landing at 7 a.m. and here we found an immense jam of demoralizedstragglers, estimated at 10,000 men, crowding the little hillside from the topto the water’s edge, apparently the only place safe from the flying missiles ofdeath. We were ordered to go to the top of the hill, about 75 yards from theboat, and form in line. A few hearts failed and joined the skulkers.

          We marchedback into the edge of a wood and ate our breakfast which consisted of a singlecracker sandwich and a cup of coffee. These sandwiches were made by twocrackers, the Army cracker is two inches square, and putting a thin, smallpiece of raw ham between them. Stray bullets were whistling around. Althoughthis kind of music was new to us, yet no one seemed to pay any attention to it.The only unsatisfactory thing about the meal was its small quantity. Afterdispatching our meal, we marched toward the fighting line, passing through anundulating, sparsely timbered country. There had been considerable undergrowthbut that was principally mowed off by the bullets. It looked to an unsophisticatedspectator as if it would be quite impossible for men to remain alive wherenearly all the small brush was cut down, yet they had. The larger timber looksas if it had been passed through a cyclone of leaden hail. I counted as many as70 ball holes in a tree, and some quite large branches were entirely cut off.

          Being in therear, I had good opportunity to look around. My attention was early called tothe dead. The difference between the Union and Rebel dead was very marked. TheUnion dead had the usual hue while the faces of the Rebel dead had turned quitedark, giving them a vindictive look. I am informed that this was caused by themdrinking whiskey and powder. The Union men put the powder in their guns.

Buchanan's division commander
General Alexander McDowell McCook

          I discoveredamong the dead a fine specimen of young manhood, yet in his teens, with thebreath of life in him. He was lying with his head in a rivulet. I went to him,raised him gently, and carried him to higher ground then fixed him as comfortablyas I could against the roots of a tree. I now gave him a drink of water and hesoon revived enough to talk to me. His first question was ‘Will I live?’ Herewas the saddest duty of my young life. Looking down into that noble young face,it was hard for me to say what duty demanded of me to say. ‘I fear not, youappear to be shot through the heart.’ He then gave me his mother’s address,some tender messages, a testament, etc. I now told him that I had done all Icould for him, must hasten to join my company, and the ambulance corps wouldsoon take care of him. Today, I have done all he requested of me. (Note: Iafterward learned that he had lived seven days with a ball hole through thelower part of his heart; he was taken up into Illinois and that in his lastmoments he was ministered to be a loving mother.)

          When Iovertook the regiment, it was halted on the reserve line. We were ordered tolie down. After a while, I got restless and wanted to see around. So, withSimon Trego, I got up to see better. Directly we saw a blue streak comingtowards us: it was a cannon ball. Although we could see it, we had no time toeven think, much less move. It came under the log behind which and just wherewe had been lying, struck Trego’s gun which stood on the ground between us,shattered it to splinters, the splinters tearing the clothing and flesh ofTrego’s leg into shreds. I caught Trego and assisted him to the rear and turnedhim over to the ambulance corps. Poor Trego! The first man shot in our commandand sent to the rear so soon. He will always regret not seeing the fun. Buthere was a lucky escape. Had we been obeying orders and lying down, one or bothof us would likely have been killed.

          About 10 o’clockwe were ordered forward. We marched out into an open field, halted, andreformed under a tremendous hail of all the missiles of death ever invented andwere then ordered to charge into a ravine filled with Rebels. We charged allright but were soon compelled to fall back again. We kept a good alignmentwhile charging, but when we commenced to fall back, I am sorry to say that somehurried too much. We faced about after crossing the field mentioned, and sooncrossed it a third time, not to stop until the enemy was in full retreat.

The battle was over by 4 p.m.and then we had the opportunity to pull ourselves together, see where we were at,and see who was left. Of the four neighbor boys who left home together, JacobOdel is shot through the right knee (died soon after), Daniel Rager is shotthrough the thigh, William Chasey is slightly wounded, and I alone am untouched.When the excitement died out, we realized for the first time today that we werehungry-mighty hungry. Practically without breakfast, and no time to think ofdinner, with the most exhausting labor, it is small wonder that we were playedout.

In making our first charge, ourcompany passed through a pond of water. I recollect seeing the balls glancingon the water, but I had no realization of being wet. This shows how completelyour whole being was absorbed by the terrible contest going on around us. Afterresting a little while, we marched back near the landing and went into camp. Bysome means, hardtack, coffee, and pork was dug up and our most pressing wantwas relieved. Men tumbled down here and there to talk over the events of theday and, exhausted, soon surrendered to the arms of Morpheus.

But I could not rest until I hadhunted up my wounded comrades and knew that they were as comfortable as waspossible under the circumstances. It was near midnight before I could relievemyself from duty. We still had no tents or blankets, and the rain was comingdown by the bucketful. I found a caisson with a tarpaulin over it. I dared nottake the tarpaulin off the caisson, but I did lift a corner of it and hunkerdown against a wheel. I stayed there until morning but I did not rest much.

This morning, we fell in andmarched 5 or 6 miles and apparently waited for orders to follow up the Rebels,but instead we returned to the former camp. The next duty was to bury the dead.I am not on the detail, so will get to take a much-needed rest. I wanted to seea battle. I am satisfied. I don’t want to see any more. One such victory isenough for a lifetime.

Source:

“The Battle of Shiloh: Mr. Buchanan’s Vivid Story of PersonalExperiences,” Diary account of Private Manius Buchanan, Co. B, 29thIndiana Volunteer Infantry, Portland Oregonian (Oregon), April 8, 1902,pg. 12

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

The1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching itwith the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connectionsbetween the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.

          Interestingly both “witches” in thefilm not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland,Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife MaryJane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. JudgeHamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84thOhio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84th Ohio, a threemonths’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to theRailroad District in western Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberland, Maryland.

Judge Edwin T. Hamilton (left) was the grandfather of Margaret Hamilton, a native of Cleveland, Ohio who won lifelong plaudits for her depiction of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. Judge Hamilton served for three months with the 84th Ohio Infantry. 

Electedto his seat on the Common Pleas bench in 1875, Judge Hamilton served for 20years before forming a law partnership with his son Walter in 1895 which hemaintained until his death in 1905. Upon his retirement from the bench in 1895,the local newspapers lauded him as a “model judge, a man without reproach, anda citizen of whom Cleveland learned to be very proud.”  

BillieBurke, stage name of the Good Witch of the North, was born Mary WilliamEthelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1884, in Washington, D.C. to Ohio-born WilliamEthelbert Burke and his wife Blanche Beatty. William, a native of Knox County,Ohio, joined up as an 18-year-old corporal in Co. D of the 96th Ohio Infantry, serving from August 1862 until his discharge for disability in April 1863. The 96thOhio, after being rushed to Cincinnati in September 1862 to fend off GeneralHenry Heth’s threatened attack on the city, moved into western Tennessee andlater took part in the operations at both Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post.

William E. "Billy" Burke enjoyed a lengthy career as a showman and clown after serving about half a year with the 96th Ohio in the middle of the war. His daughter Mary took the stage name "Billie" Burke in honor of her beloved father and likewise enjoyed a lengthy career on the stage and in film. 

Stylinghimself as “Billy” Burke, William became one of America’s most famous clownsand traveled all around the country as a showman, enjoying a nearly 40-yearcareer on the stage. Billing himself as “America’s Greatest Clown,” Billy atone time worked for Barnum & Bailey’s Circus. He moved the family to Europein the early 1900s and passed away at an infirmary in Huddersfield, England in1906; by that point, his vivacious daughter, styling herself “Billie” Burke, hadmade her debut on a London stage. She later returned to the U.S., making hermark on Broadway and later the big screen.

          Director Victor Fleming’s mother wasLizzy Evaleen Hartman, and his maternal grandfather was Lewis Shortly Hartmanfrom Columbia County, Pennsylvania. “At the first call for volunteers in the CivilWar, he had just been married and having two small children, thought it impossibleto give his service at that time and hired a substitute for three years’service,” Lewis’s obituary stated. “Later at the close of the rebellion, hevolunteered and served in the 79th Pennsylvania Infantry one yearand one month, participating in the capture of Atlanta and with General Shermanon his notable march to the sea.”  The 79thPennsylvania served in the 14th Army Corps of the Army of theCumberland and saw action from the outset of the war in the West including theAtlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea.

Joseph L. Baugh, a merchant from Winchester, Tennessee served nearly three years with the 11th Tennessee Cavalry during the Civil War; he was eldest brother to Judy Garland's grandmother. Garland's father Frank Gumm was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1886, the son of William Tecumseh Gumm who experienced the Battle of Stones River as an 8-year-old resident of Rutherford County. 

          The lead actress in the film was the legendary JudyGarland, the stage name for Frances Ethel Gumm who was born June 10, 1922, inGrand Rapids, Minnesota. Her father was Frank Avent Gumm who was born March 20, 1886 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Gumm family had lived in Rutherford County since the early 19th century and as Rutherford County was the stage for so many engagements in the Civil War (including Stones River) Judy Garland’s grandfather WilliamTecumseh Gumm saw much of the war up close and personal during his boyhood. Helater worked as a merchant living in Murfreesboro before passing in 1906. William's father, John Alexander Gumm, did not serve in the war, working as a plasterer and living in a home on Church St. in Murfreesboro in his later years. 

Judy’spaternal grandmother was Elizabeth "Clemmie" Baugh, born in 1857; she likewise experienced the 'war outside her window' as a child growing up in war-torn middle Tennessee. Her oldest brother was Joseph Lawrence Baugh who owned a mercantilebusiness in Winchester, Tennessee and served in the war as a sergeant in Co. Cof Douglass’ Tennessee Cavalry Battalion (C.S.A.), joining the cavalry October 4, 1862, at Salem, Rutherford Co., Tennessee. Douglass’Battalion was folded into the 11th Tennessee Cavalry in 1863 andSergeant Baugh served with that regiment until the very end of the war,surrendering May 10, 1865, at Gainesville, Alabama, signing the oath of allegianceJune 7, 1865. He was remembered as “a most upright gentleman and enjoyed the veryhighest respect of all who knew him.”