THE BATTLE OF HOOVER'S GAP
(A Paper read by General Wilder before the Ohio Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, in 1907; printed in Sketches of War History, VI, 168-174.)
(Note on Wilder: John Thomas Wilder (Jan. 31, 1830-Oct. 20, 1917), soldier and industrialist, was born in Hunter Village, New York. The son of Reuben and Mary Wilder, John T. Wilder served as an apprenticed draftsman in a millwright plant in Ohio. In 1852 Wilder established a millwright plant of his own in Greensburg, Indiana and worked there until the outbreak of the Civil War.)
On 3 o'clock on the morning of June 24th Wilder's bri-gade passed south through Murfreesboro and took the ad-vance of the Fourteenth Corps, with General J. J. Reynolds following as the advanced division of Thomas' infantry. The mounted infantry moved forward at a quick walk towards Hoover's Gap, ten miles south of Murfreesboro, where a bri-gade of cavalry under General A. Buford stood guard to pre-vent the passing of our forces. Hoover's Gap was a narrow valley through a line of lumpy hills, some four miles in ex-tent and about three hundred feet high, the hills being wood-ed and thickly grown with underbrush and green briers, making it impracticable for cavalry. The turnpike, a good macadamized road, wound through this narrow pass some four miles in extent, following the little brook, one of the headwaters of Stone's River.
Our advance guard, consisting of five companies of the Seventy-second Indiana and twenty-five brigade scouts, all under Lieutenant-Colonel Kirkpatrick, Seventy-second Indi-ana, came suddenly on the enemy's pickets about a mile north of the entrance to the gap. We at once charged them at a gallop in a column of fours, surprising and dispersing Bu-ford's command, who were in bivouac at the gap, routing them in disorder, without even time to saddle or mount their horses, and the brigade pushed on through the gap, and not even a scout or messenger of the enemy being ahead of us to give the alarm to the enemy's infantry, under General Bate, supposed to be at the summit of the gap, where the turnpike descends to the valley of the Garrison fork of Duck River, running west at right angles to the line of Hoover's Gap. I decided to move rapidly on, intending to surprise the enemy's infantry, the same as we had surprised and dispersed their cavalry. Judge of my astonishment, when we reached their supposed position, to find no force there. Looking down the valley to the village of Beech Grove, two miles to the west, down the valley of the Garrison fork, we could see the tents of an encampment. I at once halted the command, dismount, and deployed three regiments of my force in a line across the road and gap, with the flanks retired, keep-ing the Ninety-eighth Illinois in reserve, put the Eighteenth Indiana Battery in position to cover any advance of the ene-my, and sent Lieutenant-Colonel Kirkpatrick, with his five companies and the scouts, to stir up the enemy, which they did in fine style. General William B. Bate commanded the brigade, which belonged to General A. P. Stewart's division of four brigades of infantry, placed along the valley of Garrison fork, and seemed to be entirely unaware of our advance. Many of the officers of Bate's brigade were at a spring hold-ing a Masonic picnic in honor of St. John, it being the 24th of June, St. John's day. Colonel Kirkpatrick rode into their camp and had time to take seven wagons loaded with tobac-co out with him and bring them back to our men, who had "tobacco to burn." General Bate, supposing it to be a cav-alry dash, aroused his men and came speedily up to attack us. We allowed him to come within about one hundred yards up a gentle slope in front of our line when we opened a ter-rible fire from our Spencer rifles, and Captain Lilly poured double-shotted canister from his ten-pound Rodman guns in-to their lines, which staggered and repulsed them with severe loss. Bate's Twentieth Tennessee Infantry tried to turn the right flank of the Seventeenth Indiana in the forest at our right, when the Ninety-eighth Illinois quickly moved up the hill and doubled them up by a charge on their left, hurling them back in confusion out of reach, and they were compelled to retreat beyond reach of our file, and other troops were sent to their assistance. Then they came up more cautiously, and opened on us with two batteries at a distance of about half a mile, with a rapid fire, which did little execution. While this was going on, Captain Rice, adjutant-general of the division, came riding speedily to the front with orders from General Reynolds to me to fall back immediately, as the division was six or eight miles in our rear, having stopped to repair a bridge, without letting me know of it. I told him I would hold this position against any force, and to tell General Reynolds to come on without hurrying, as there was no danger of our being driven out of the position. Capt. Rice repeated his order for me to fall back, and I told him I would take the responsibility of remaining where I was, and that if General Reynolds were on the ground he would not give such an order. Capt. Rice said that he had no discretion in the matter, and that if I did not obey the order he would put me in arrest and give the command to Colonel Miller, who would fall back as ordered. I declined to obey the or-der of arrest, and requested Captain Rice to return to Gen-eral Reynolds and tell him we had driven their force back, and could not be driven by any forces that could come at us. He then left just as the second attack was being made., This move was repulsed without difficulty, and when the enemy had fallen back out of range, General Rosecrans, with General Thomas and General Garfield, came riding up with their staff and escort. General Rosecrans came up to me and asked what we had done, and I told him in a few words, and also told him I had taken the responsibility of disobeying the order of General Reynolds to fall back, knowing that we could hold the position, and also felt sure that General Reyn-olds would have approved of my action had he been present. General Reynolds just then came riding up in advance of his forces, and General Rosecrans said to him: "Wilder has done right. Promote him, promote him," and General Reynolds, after looking over the situation said to me: "You did right, and should be promoted and not censured."
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tullahoma: Letters by member of Wilder's cavalry
Two letters written by Col. James Connolly, taken from Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland, 1959
pg. 89
Wartrace, Tenn., July 5, 1863
Dear wife:
At length I have a little time to devote to you, but the mail leaves for Murfreesboro so soon that I will not have time to scarcely commence telling you all I want to, and this letter, be it ever so short, must get off in this mail, for you have been waiting and watching too long now. I feel good all over this morning, happy as a lark, and I can't tell why, unless it is because we have seen so much hard service, within the past 12 days, have worked so well and fought so well as to win the applause of our fellow soldiers, and that I am through it all safe. Our brigade has rendered notable service in this great army, so much so, that General Rosecrans, two days since, sent a letter of congratulation to our brigade commander saying that we would be mentioned in "orders" as soon as possible, and requesting that 300 men from the several regiments of the brigade, should be sent to his headquarters to serve as his "body guard." You may think this a trifle, but soldiers are in some respects like children, and are pleased with trifles.
On the morning of June 24th, at 3 o'clock, we left camp 5 miles north of Murfreesboro, and started to the "front," in advance of everything. As we passed through the camps in Murfreesboro, the rattle of drums, sounding of bugles, and clatter of wagons, told us plainly that the whole army was to follow in our wake, and we knew full well, from the direction we were taking, that a few hours march would bring the brigade to some of the strongholds of the enemy, so there was silence in the column as we moved along through the mud, and every ear was strained to catch the sound of the first gun of our advance guard that would tell us of the presence of the enemy.
Soon after daylight a heavy rain commenced falling which continued without interruption all day and night, and has continued ever since, with only a few hours cessation at a time. About noon the first gun was fired, and then we pushed ahead rapidly, for we were nearing the formidable "Hoover's Gap," which it was supposed would cost a great many lives to pass through, and our brigade commander determined to surprise the enemy if possible, by a rapid march, and make a bold dash to pass through the "Gap" and hold it with our brigade alone until the rest of the army could get up. We soon came into the camp of a regiment of cavalry which was so much surprised by our sudden appearance that they scattered through the woods and over the hills in every direction, every fellow for himself, and all making the best time they could bareback, on foot and every other way, leaving all their tents, wagons, baggage, commissary stores and indeed everything in our hands, but we didn't stop for anything, on we pushed, our boys, with their Spencer rifles, keeping up a continual popping in front. Soon we reached the celebrated "Gap" on the run.
This "Gap" is formed by a range of hills that run westwardly from the Cumberland mountains, and the pike runs for about two miles through between these hills; the valley is barely wide enough to admit the passage of two wagons side by side, and the hills upon either side command the valley completely; as we swept through the valley with our 1,500 horsemen on a gallop we noticed the lines of entrenchments crowning the hills, but they were deserted; the enemy was surprised and flying before us, so we pushed onward until we passed entirely through the "Gap," when a puff of white smoke from a hill about half a mile in front of us, then a dull heavy roar, then the shrieking of a shell told us we could advance no further as we had reached their infantry and artillery force. But we had done enough, had advanced 6 miles further than ordered or expected possible, and had taken a point which it was expected would require a large part of the army to take; but the serious question with us now was: "Could we alone hold it in the presence of superior force?" We were at least 12 miles in advance of our army, and from prisoners we learned that we were confronted with 4 brigades of infantry and 4 batteries. The mail is ready. Will continue story in another letter.
Your husband.
Wartrace, Tenn., July 5, 1863.
Dear wife:
Having hurried off the piece of a letter which I so abruptly closed a few moments ago, so as to get into the mail, I now resume my talk with you. As soon as the enemy opened on us with their artillery we dismounted and formed line of battle on a hill just at the south entrance to the "Gap," and our battery of light artillery was opened on them, a courier was dispatched to the rear to hurry up reinforcements, our horses were sent back some distance out of the way of bursting shells, our regiment was assigned to support the battery, the other three regiments were properly disposed, and not a moment too soon, for these preparations were scarcely completed when the enemy opened On us a terrific fire of shot and shell from five different points, and their masses of infantry, with flags flying, moved out of the woods on our right in splendid style; there were three or four times our number already in sight and still others came
pouring out of the woods beyond. Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces.
Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again. During all the rest of the fight at "Hoover's Gap" they never again attempted to take that battery. After the charge they moved four regiments around to our right and attempted to get in our rear, but they were met by two of our regiments posted in the woods, and in five minutes were driven back in the greatest disorder, with a loss of 250 killed and wounded.
On that part of the field an incident occurred worthy of mention; for it shows the spirit of the men of this brigade. A corporal of the [17th] Ind. was shot through the breast at the first fire; he had always said, as indeed all our men do, that the enemy should never get hold of his "Spencer" to use it; he hadn't strength to break it so he took out his knife, unscrewed a part of the lock plate and threw it away, rendering the gun entirely useless, he then fell back amid the storm of bullets, lay down and died.
We held our ground with continual fighting until 7 o'clock in the evening, when we discovered a battery coming up to our support as fast as the horses could run, and such a cheer as was sent up does one good to hear. In a few minutes our new battery was opened and we all felt better. We were nearly exhausted with the rapid march since before daylight in the morning, the continual rain, the half day's fighting, and nothing to eat since about two o'clock in the morning, yet the prospect of assistance nerved the men to maintain the unequal conflict a little longer. About half past seven in the evening along came a weary, jaded regiment of infantry, trying to double quick, but it was all they could do to march at all; we greeted them with such lusty cheers as seemed to inspire them with new vigor, and they were soon in position; then came two more regiments of infantry, weary and footsore, but hurrying the best they could to the dance of death; then just at dark came our Division Commander, with his staff, and riding along our lines gave words of cheer to his brigade that had fought so long and well. In a few minutes up came General Thomas, our corps commander, his grave face beaming with delight as he grasped our brigade commander by the hand and said: "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today. I didn't expect to get this Gap for three days."
By this time darkness had put an end to the fighting, but there we lay on that hill side in line of battle all night, and I think I slept as well there, without blankets and soaking wet, as I ever did at home. At 3 o'clock in the morning two other brigades came up and took our places in line, so as to be in readiness to renew the fight in the morning, and we fell back to eat and rest. On the morning of the 25th, at daylight, the fight was renewed by the enemy; a heavy skirmish fire was kept up all day, and heavy cannonading, we having 6 batteries in play at once and the enemy an equal number. On the morning of the 25th, too, the sound of McCook's fighting on the Shelbyville road, some 9 miles to our right, reached us, and it was kept up steadily all day.
On the morning of the 26th, Gen. Rosecrans, who had come out to the "Gap," ordered Thomas' corps to advance and our Division was placed in the advance of the corps, our brigade in the advance of the Division and our regiment in the advance of the brigade. We started about ten o'clock.
The enemy fell back before us without firing a shot and beat a rapid retreat for Tullahoma. We moved on all day and encamped within 4 miles of Manchester on the night of the 26th; on the morning of the 27th our regiment started in the advance and went to Manchester on a gallop, we swept by the deserted fortifications of the town on a full run, and while the citizens were at their breakfast tables we dashed into the public square, scattered out in small parties, and in five minutes every street and alley was occupied by Yankees, the town was surrounded, and a rebel major and about 50 soldiers, left as a rear guard, were captured and marched to the court house. I was immediately ordered to take 100 men and pursue some rebels who were said to be escaping by the McMinnville road; in a few minutes I was off without a guide and pursued the rebels about 4 miles but my horses were worn out and theirs fresh, so I had to give up the chase and return.
We went into camp at Manchester in the afternoon, and during the whole day Thomas' corps and most of Crittenden's came up and went into camp. We were now within 11 miles of Tullahoma, that has so long been the boasted stronghold and hope of the rebs. On the night of the 27th an order came to march at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 28th, with none but serviceable horses, capable of enduring a very long and fatiguing march, and the men to take along nothing to eat but five days' rations of salt. As soon as that order came we knew it meant hard work for our brigade, so the Col. and myself sat down under a tree and wrote very brief letters to our respective wives, not knowing when they would ever hear from us again, and I guess it is doubtful whether those letters got through.
At five o'clock on the morning of the 28th I was in the saddle and wasn't out of it again until one o'clock on the morning of the 29th. The brigades left Manchester at 6 o'clock in the morning, and soon leaving the road, we struck off into the woods until we struck an unfrequented road winding around the base of the Cumberland mountains. Here our regiment was detached from the brigade, and the object of the expedition made known, for the first time, to the field officers, viz: to cut the railroad between Tullahoma and Chattanooga at as many points as possible. Our regiment was to strike the railroad at Allisonia, the first station south of Tullahoma, destroy a bridge there, then follow the railroad and meet the rest of the brigade at Cowan, just in the corner of Alabama, where we were all to engage in filling up a tunnel so as to prevent reinforcements coming from Chattanooga to Tullahoma. This we were to do provided we could without being captured.
Our regiment branched off from the brigade, following bridle paths through the woods, and swimming the swollen streams that came tumbling in angry torrents from their mountain sources near by. After traveling about 30 miles we suddenly came in sight of the road leading south from Tullahoma, and to our surprise the road was filled with rebel wagon trains, infantry and batteries of artillery moving southward rapidly. Bragg's army was slipping away and we didn't have the strength to stop it. How little did they think, as they were moving along, 12 miles in the rear of Tullahoma, that a regiment of Illinois Yankees was in the woods, within easy musket range of them, quietly watching their movements and noting their numbers. But oh! how the men chafed, as they saw flag after flag pass us and we did not dare attack them. To attack would have been madness, for there was a whole Division (Withers) with infantry, artillery and cavalry, so we lay quiet for more than an hour while they were passing, then noiselessly countermarched, intending to return to where we left the brigade and follow its trail until we overtook it, but when we reached the point at which we left it it was one o'clock in the morning, and we found that Gen. John Beatty's brigade had come there during the day and was encamped.
We concluded to halt there until four o'clock in the morning, so as to rest our horses a little, and send a despatch to Rosecrans informing him how the enemy were evacuating Tullahoma. Col. [Monroe], of my regiment, wrote out the despatch, and I, being acquainted with Gen. Beatty, sent it to him together with a note requesting him to send a courier from his command with it to Gen. Rosecrans. Beatty did so, and after our three hours' rest, we started on the trail of the brigade, at 4 A. M. on the morning of the 29th, and soon started up the Cumberland mountains in a terrible thunder storm. When we reached the summit of the mountains the elemental war was raging in its greatest fury; the reverberations of the thunder rolled through the valleys below us, and the lightning appeared to be flashing below our feet, all this, combined with the dangerous character of our expedition, was enough to try the nerves, but no one dared to fall out, for that would be certain capture at least. About noon of the 29th we struck the railroad again, after descending the mountain side, and found the track torn up, rails bent and scattered all around; we knew this meant that the rest of the brigade had been more fortunate than we and had accomplished their task before the enemy's column reached there, so we pushed on hopefully, and about 2 P. M. when within about five miles of the Alabama line, we overtook the brigade resting in a deep wooded valley.
There was a river in front, so swollen by the continuous rain as to be impassable, and we were compelled to give up the design of destroying the tunnel, and just as an order was issued for us to prepare to bivouac for the night without fires, our pickets on our south front came rushing in saying that the enemy was advancing on us in force.
A rapid retreat was immediately ordered, and back we all started, striking directly into the mountains, without looking for roads. We traveled in the mountains until midnight, then descended from the mountains, single file, by a narrow bridle path, and bivouacked in the valley until morning, without having any very clear idea of where we were. At daylight on the morning of the 30th we started again on our backward march, reaching Manchester again on the evening of the 30th, but when we reached there most of the army had gone forward to Tullahoma. Rosecrans, immediately on receiving our despatch, ordered the army forward and the next night it occupied Tullahoma. Not more than two hours before our advance reached Manchester on our return there, General Stanley, who commands all the cavalry of this army, in an interview with Rosecrans, said that our brigade would never get back, that it would certainly be surrounded and captured, and indeed they were still discussing the probability of our capture when our brigade commander, covered with mud and soaked with the steady rain of 7 days, dismounted from his jaded horse before the door of Rosecrans tent and walked in upon the astonished Generals to make report. Rosecrans reply was: "All right [Wilder], I know you now. Take your brigade any place you can find forage and rest yourselves until you are again needed. I want you to furnish me a body guard of 300 of your men."
We bivouacked the night of the 30th at Manchester and on the morning of July 1st moved out into a beautiful valley where food and water were abundant, and turning our horses loose let them eat all day while we slept. July 1st we had no rain, but
pg. 99
with the exception of that day, it has rained every day since we left Murfreesboro, and from the morning of June 24th to the morning of July 1st we lived in the rain, slept in the mud and rain and were as wet as fish in the river all that time, but it has not caused me a moment's sickness, and I feel first rate after it all. Some officers of the brigade have gone to the hospital, some have tendered their resignations and we used up 500 horses. From the time we left Manchester until our return there our horses had nothing to eat except what leaves and grass they could nip as we went along, and they got so that they would eat blankets, saddle skirts and anything else they could get into their mouths. I have frequently read of such privations but never believed it to be true, but I know such things to be true now; yet with all its risk and privations I love this kind of service and would like to be engaged in it all the time. That trip will never be fully reported, there was too much rough work in it, consequently we had no reporters with us, but we are satisfied; every soldier in this army knows our brigade now, and that is a distinction more highly prized than a dozen newspaper puffs.
On the 3rd of July we came to this place for rest, and spent the 4th, yesterday, in sleeping and trying to clean up a little.
If it had not rained yesterday I should have gone over to Shelbyville, 8 miles from here, to see Colonel Reid of the 121st Ohio, who, I understand is in command of that place. Shelbyville is a Union place, and the loyal citizens there had an old fashioned 4th of July celebration yesterday. The Tennessee troops are deserting Bragg in numbers and coming into our lines, and unless Bragg is reinforced greatly within the next four weeks Rosecrans will destroy him, as it looks to us here now. Everything looks favorable now; all our armies are moving at the same time for the first time since the war began, and if Dix and Meade will do anything in the east the rebellion will fade with the autumn leaves. We may, however, be too sanguine
pg. 100
in this army; we don't look for a defeat, we don't count on a retreat; with Rosecrans to lead we think we can go anywhere in the confederacy.
Many wealthy, influential people in this section of Tennessee are intensely loyal, and I expect Shelby county, Tennessee, is as loyal today as many a county in Ohio. I do wonder if men will be permitted to openly advocate the election of Vallandingham as Governor, in Ohio?
We shoot such men on sight down here and it would be quite as just to deal with them the same way up there. Never mind, many of us will live to get home again, and a day of retribution will come upon those cowards who have been operating with our enemies. Please let father and mother know I am well and all in one piece yet.
Your husband.
pg. 89
Wartrace, Tenn., July 5, 1863
Dear wife:
At length I have a little time to devote to you, but the mail leaves for Murfreesboro so soon that I will not have time to scarcely commence telling you all I want to, and this letter, be it ever so short, must get off in this mail, for you have been waiting and watching too long now. I feel good all over this morning, happy as a lark, and I can't tell why, unless it is because we have seen so much hard service, within the past 12 days, have worked so well and fought so well as to win the applause of our fellow soldiers, and that I am through it all safe. Our brigade has rendered notable service in this great army, so much so, that General Rosecrans, two days since, sent a letter of congratulation to our brigade commander saying that we would be mentioned in "orders" as soon as possible, and requesting that 300 men from the several regiments of the brigade, should be sent to his headquarters to serve as his "body guard." You may think this a trifle, but soldiers are in some respects like children, and are pleased with trifles.
On the morning of June 24th, at 3 o'clock, we left camp 5 miles north of Murfreesboro, and started to the "front," in advance of everything. As we passed through the camps in Murfreesboro, the rattle of drums, sounding of bugles, and clatter of wagons, told us plainly that the whole army was to follow in our wake, and we knew full well, from the direction we were taking, that a few hours march would bring the brigade to some of the strongholds of the enemy, so there was silence in the column as we moved along through the mud, and every ear was strained to catch the sound of the first gun of our advance guard that would tell us of the presence of the enemy.
Soon after daylight a heavy rain commenced falling which continued without interruption all day and night, and has continued ever since, with only a few hours cessation at a time. About noon the first gun was fired, and then we pushed ahead rapidly, for we were nearing the formidable "Hoover's Gap," which it was supposed would cost a great many lives to pass through, and our brigade commander determined to surprise the enemy if possible, by a rapid march, and make a bold dash to pass through the "Gap" and hold it with our brigade alone until the rest of the army could get up. We soon came into the camp of a regiment of cavalry which was so much surprised by our sudden appearance that they scattered through the woods and over the hills in every direction, every fellow for himself, and all making the best time they could bareback, on foot and every other way, leaving all their tents, wagons, baggage, commissary stores and indeed everything in our hands, but we didn't stop for anything, on we pushed, our boys, with their Spencer rifles, keeping up a continual popping in front. Soon we reached the celebrated "Gap" on the run.
This "Gap" is formed by a range of hills that run westwardly from the Cumberland mountains, and the pike runs for about two miles through between these hills; the valley is barely wide enough to admit the passage of two wagons side by side, and the hills upon either side command the valley completely; as we swept through the valley with our 1,500 horsemen on a gallop we noticed the lines of entrenchments crowning the hills, but they were deserted; the enemy was surprised and flying before us, so we pushed onward until we passed entirely through the "Gap," when a puff of white smoke from a hill about half a mile in front of us, then a dull heavy roar, then the shrieking of a shell told us we could advance no further as we had reached their infantry and artillery force. But we had done enough, had advanced 6 miles further than ordered or expected possible, and had taken a point which it was expected would require a large part of the army to take; but the serious question with us now was: "Could we alone hold it in the presence of superior force?" We were at least 12 miles in advance of our army, and from prisoners we learned that we were confronted with 4 brigades of infantry and 4 batteries. The mail is ready. Will continue story in another letter.
Your husband.
Wartrace, Tenn., July 5, 1863.
Dear wife:
Having hurried off the piece of a letter which I so abruptly closed a few moments ago, so as to get into the mail, I now resume my talk with you. As soon as the enemy opened on us with their artillery we dismounted and formed line of battle on a hill just at the south entrance to the "Gap," and our battery of light artillery was opened on them, a courier was dispatched to the rear to hurry up reinforcements, our horses were sent back some distance out of the way of bursting shells, our regiment was assigned to support the battery, the other three regiments were properly disposed, and not a moment too soon, for these preparations were scarcely completed when the enemy opened On us a terrific fire of shot and shell from five different points, and their masses of infantry, with flags flying, moved out of the woods on our right in splendid style; there were three or four times our number already in sight and still others came
pouring out of the woods beyond. Our regiment lay on the hill side in mud and water, the rain pouring down in torrents, while each shell screamed so close to us as to make it seem that the next would tear us to pieces.
Presently the enemy got near enough to us to make a charge on our battery, and on they came; our men are on their feet in an instant and a terrible fire from the "Spencers" causes the advancing regiment to reel and its colors fall to the ground, but in an instant their colors are up again and on they come, thinking to reach the battery before our guns can be reloaded, but they "reckoned without their host," they didn't know we had the "Spencers," and their charging yell was answered by another terrible volley, and another and another without cessation, until the poor regiment was literally cut to pieces, and but few men of that 20th Tennessee that attempted the charge will ever charge again. During all the rest of the fight at "Hoover's Gap" they never again attempted to take that battery. After the charge they moved four regiments around to our right and attempted to get in our rear, but they were met by two of our regiments posted in the woods, and in five minutes were driven back in the greatest disorder, with a loss of 250 killed and wounded.
On that part of the field an incident occurred worthy of mention; for it shows the spirit of the men of this brigade. A corporal of the [17th] Ind. was shot through the breast at the first fire; he had always said, as indeed all our men do, that the enemy should never get hold of his "Spencer" to use it; he hadn't strength to break it so he took out his knife, unscrewed a part of the lock plate and threw it away, rendering the gun entirely useless, he then fell back amid the storm of bullets, lay down and died.
We held our ground with continual fighting until 7 o'clock in the evening, when we discovered a battery coming up to our support as fast as the horses could run, and such a cheer as was sent up does one good to hear. In a few minutes our new battery was opened and we all felt better. We were nearly exhausted with the rapid march since before daylight in the morning, the continual rain, the half day's fighting, and nothing to eat since about two o'clock in the morning, yet the prospect of assistance nerved the men to maintain the unequal conflict a little longer. About half past seven in the evening along came a weary, jaded regiment of infantry, trying to double quick, but it was all they could do to march at all; we greeted them with such lusty cheers as seemed to inspire them with new vigor, and they were soon in position; then came two more regiments of infantry, weary and footsore, but hurrying the best they could to the dance of death; then just at dark came our Division Commander, with his staff, and riding along our lines gave words of cheer to his brigade that had fought so long and well. In a few minutes up came General Thomas, our corps commander, his grave face beaming with delight as he grasped our brigade commander by the hand and said: "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today. I didn't expect to get this Gap for three days."
By this time darkness had put an end to the fighting, but there we lay on that hill side in line of battle all night, and I think I slept as well there, without blankets and soaking wet, as I ever did at home. At 3 o'clock in the morning two other brigades came up and took our places in line, so as to be in readiness to renew the fight in the morning, and we fell back to eat and rest. On the morning of the 25th, at daylight, the fight was renewed by the enemy; a heavy skirmish fire was kept up all day, and heavy cannonading, we having 6 batteries in play at once and the enemy an equal number. On the morning of the 25th, too, the sound of McCook's fighting on the Shelbyville road, some 9 miles to our right, reached us, and it was kept up steadily all day.
On the morning of the 26th, Gen. Rosecrans, who had come out to the "Gap," ordered Thomas' corps to advance and our Division was placed in the advance of the corps, our brigade in the advance of the Division and our regiment in the advance of the brigade. We started about ten o'clock.
The enemy fell back before us without firing a shot and beat a rapid retreat for Tullahoma. We moved on all day and encamped within 4 miles of Manchester on the night of the 26th; on the morning of the 27th our regiment started in the advance and went to Manchester on a gallop, we swept by the deserted fortifications of the town on a full run, and while the citizens were at their breakfast tables we dashed into the public square, scattered out in small parties, and in five minutes every street and alley was occupied by Yankees, the town was surrounded, and a rebel major and about 50 soldiers, left as a rear guard, were captured and marched to the court house. I was immediately ordered to take 100 men and pursue some rebels who were said to be escaping by the McMinnville road; in a few minutes I was off without a guide and pursued the rebels about 4 miles but my horses were worn out and theirs fresh, so I had to give up the chase and return.
We went into camp at Manchester in the afternoon, and during the whole day Thomas' corps and most of Crittenden's came up and went into camp. We were now within 11 miles of Tullahoma, that has so long been the boasted stronghold and hope of the rebs. On the night of the 27th an order came to march at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 28th, with none but serviceable horses, capable of enduring a very long and fatiguing march, and the men to take along nothing to eat but five days' rations of salt. As soon as that order came we knew it meant hard work for our brigade, so the Col. and myself sat down under a tree and wrote very brief letters to our respective wives, not knowing when they would ever hear from us again, and I guess it is doubtful whether those letters got through.
At five o'clock on the morning of the 28th I was in the saddle and wasn't out of it again until one o'clock on the morning of the 29th. The brigades left Manchester at 6 o'clock in the morning, and soon leaving the road, we struck off into the woods until we struck an unfrequented road winding around the base of the Cumberland mountains. Here our regiment was detached from the brigade, and the object of the expedition made known, for the first time, to the field officers, viz: to cut the railroad between Tullahoma and Chattanooga at as many points as possible. Our regiment was to strike the railroad at Allisonia, the first station south of Tullahoma, destroy a bridge there, then follow the railroad and meet the rest of the brigade at Cowan, just in the corner of Alabama, where we were all to engage in filling up a tunnel so as to prevent reinforcements coming from Chattanooga to Tullahoma. This we were to do provided we could without being captured.
Our regiment branched off from the brigade, following bridle paths through the woods, and swimming the swollen streams that came tumbling in angry torrents from their mountain sources near by. After traveling about 30 miles we suddenly came in sight of the road leading south from Tullahoma, and to our surprise the road was filled with rebel wagon trains, infantry and batteries of artillery moving southward rapidly. Bragg's army was slipping away and we didn't have the strength to stop it. How little did they think, as they were moving along, 12 miles in the rear of Tullahoma, that a regiment of Illinois Yankees was in the woods, within easy musket range of them, quietly watching their movements and noting their numbers. But oh! how the men chafed, as they saw flag after flag pass us and we did not dare attack them. To attack would have been madness, for there was a whole Division (Withers) with infantry, artillery and cavalry, so we lay quiet for more than an hour while they were passing, then noiselessly countermarched, intending to return to where we left the brigade and follow its trail until we overtook it, but when we reached the point at which we left it it was one o'clock in the morning, and we found that Gen. John Beatty's brigade had come there during the day and was encamped.
We concluded to halt there until four o'clock in the morning, so as to rest our horses a little, and send a despatch to Rosecrans informing him how the enemy were evacuating Tullahoma. Col. [Monroe], of my regiment, wrote out the despatch, and I, being acquainted with Gen. Beatty, sent it to him together with a note requesting him to send a courier from his command with it to Gen. Rosecrans. Beatty did so, and after our three hours' rest, we started on the trail of the brigade, at 4 A. M. on the morning of the 29th, and soon started up the Cumberland mountains in a terrible thunder storm. When we reached the summit of the mountains the elemental war was raging in its greatest fury; the reverberations of the thunder rolled through the valleys below us, and the lightning appeared to be flashing below our feet, all this, combined with the dangerous character of our expedition, was enough to try the nerves, but no one dared to fall out, for that would be certain capture at least. About noon of the 29th we struck the railroad again, after descending the mountain side, and found the track torn up, rails bent and scattered all around; we knew this meant that the rest of the brigade had been more fortunate than we and had accomplished their task before the enemy's column reached there, so we pushed on hopefully, and about 2 P. M. when within about five miles of the Alabama line, we overtook the brigade resting in a deep wooded valley.
There was a river in front, so swollen by the continuous rain as to be impassable, and we were compelled to give up the design of destroying the tunnel, and just as an order was issued for us to prepare to bivouac for the night without fires, our pickets on our south front came rushing in saying that the enemy was advancing on us in force.
A rapid retreat was immediately ordered, and back we all started, striking directly into the mountains, without looking for roads. We traveled in the mountains until midnight, then descended from the mountains, single file, by a narrow bridle path, and bivouacked in the valley until morning, without having any very clear idea of where we were. At daylight on the morning of the 30th we started again on our backward march, reaching Manchester again on the evening of the 30th, but when we reached there most of the army had gone forward to Tullahoma. Rosecrans, immediately on receiving our despatch, ordered the army forward and the next night it occupied Tullahoma. Not more than two hours before our advance reached Manchester on our return there, General Stanley, who commands all the cavalry of this army, in an interview with Rosecrans, said that our brigade would never get back, that it would certainly be surrounded and captured, and indeed they were still discussing the probability of our capture when our brigade commander, covered with mud and soaked with the steady rain of 7 days, dismounted from his jaded horse before the door of Rosecrans tent and walked in upon the astonished Generals to make report. Rosecrans reply was: "All right [Wilder], I know you now. Take your brigade any place you can find forage and rest yourselves until you are again needed. I want you to furnish me a body guard of 300 of your men."
We bivouacked the night of the 30th at Manchester and on the morning of July 1st moved out into a beautiful valley where food and water were abundant, and turning our horses loose let them eat all day while we slept. July 1st we had no rain, but
pg. 99
with the exception of that day, it has rained every day since we left Murfreesboro, and from the morning of June 24th to the morning of July 1st we lived in the rain, slept in the mud and rain and were as wet as fish in the river all that time, but it has not caused me a moment's sickness, and I feel first rate after it all. Some officers of the brigade have gone to the hospital, some have tendered their resignations and we used up 500 horses. From the time we left Manchester until our return there our horses had nothing to eat except what leaves and grass they could nip as we went along, and they got so that they would eat blankets, saddle skirts and anything else they could get into their mouths. I have frequently read of such privations but never believed it to be true, but I know such things to be true now; yet with all its risk and privations I love this kind of service and would like to be engaged in it all the time. That trip will never be fully reported, there was too much rough work in it, consequently we had no reporters with us, but we are satisfied; every soldier in this army knows our brigade now, and that is a distinction more highly prized than a dozen newspaper puffs.
On the 3rd of July we came to this place for rest, and spent the 4th, yesterday, in sleeping and trying to clean up a little.
If it had not rained yesterday I should have gone over to Shelbyville, 8 miles from here, to see Colonel Reid of the 121st Ohio, who, I understand is in command of that place. Shelbyville is a Union place, and the loyal citizens there had an old fashioned 4th of July celebration yesterday. The Tennessee troops are deserting Bragg in numbers and coming into our lines, and unless Bragg is reinforced greatly within the next four weeks Rosecrans will destroy him, as it looks to us here now. Everything looks favorable now; all our armies are moving at the same time for the first time since the war began, and if Dix and Meade will do anything in the east the rebellion will fade with the autumn leaves. We may, however, be too sanguine
pg. 100
in this army; we don't look for a defeat, we don't count on a retreat; with Rosecrans to lead we think we can go anywhere in the confederacy.
Many wealthy, influential people in this section of Tennessee are intensely loyal, and I expect Shelby county, Tennessee, is as loyal today as many a county in Ohio. I do wonder if men will be permitted to openly advocate the election of Vallandingham as Governor, in Ohio?
We shoot such men on sight down here and it would be quite as just to deal with them the same way up there. Never mind, many of us will live to get home again, and a day of retribution will come upon those cowards who have been operating with our enemies. Please let father and mother know I am well and all in one piece yet.
Your husband.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Chickamauga battle report - William R. Butler
Chickamagua after battle report: Report of Lieut. Col. William R. Butler, Eighteenth Tennessee Infantry. HDQRS. EIGHTEENTH TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS, Near Chattanooga, Tenn., September 28, 1863. SIR:I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of the Eighteenth Tennessee Volunteers, in the late battle of the Chickamauga: About 3 p. m. Saturday, September 19, the Eighteenth Tennessee Volunteers, under command of Col. J. B. Palmer, 320 strong, was ordered forward with Brown's brigade, and upon the right of the same, to relieve Clayton's brigade, then under fire of the enemy. The conduct of both officers and men as the regiment moved forward in the charge was truly gratifying. Regardless of the thick woods, the crest of the hill to be gained, and the galling fire of both musketry and artillery from the enemy, the line, without faltering, moved in perfect order, passing some pieces of the enemy's cannon and reaching the crest of the hill, at which point we received a most destructive enfilanding fire of artillery, thinning our ranks at a fearful rate. Just about this juncture, the regiment retired, many of the members, however, remaining on the crest of the hill until the brigade that relieved us moved up. This hurriedly written report, gotten up at short notice, fails to mention the gallant conduct of many meritorious officers and men, but the writer respectfully requests a suspension of publication until the colonel commanding recovers from a severe wound received at the same time and place, from whom a more complete detailed report of the operations of the regiment may be received. All the field officers having been wounded, the regiment was placed in command of Capt. Gid. H. Lowe, who will furnish a report of the operations of the same on Sunday. A list* of casualties of the two days' fighting is hereunto attached. Respectfully submitted. W. R. BUTLER, Lieut. Col., Comdg. Eighteenth Tennessee Volunteers. [Capt.] H. J. CHENEY, Assistant Adjutant-Gen. Source: Official Records CHAP. XLII.] THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN. PAGE 374-51 [Series I. Vol. 30. Part II, Reports. Serial No. 51.]
Woodfin: TN18 battles
Notes
Woodfins at Tullahoma
TN GenWeb Project
45th Tennessee Infantry
http://www.tngenweb.org/civilwar/csainf/csa45.html
In the Battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863, Brown's Brigade, commanded first by Colonel J. B. Palmer, later by Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow, formed part of Breckinridge's Division. At this time, the brigade was composed of the 18th, 26th, 28th, 32nd, and 45th Tennessee Regiments, pluS Moses' Battery, with the 32nd on detached service. The regiment suffered only a few casualties on December 31, but in the charge by Breckinridge's Division in the afternoon of January 2, it lost heavily, total casualties amounting to 113. On January 19, 1863, the 45th reported 323 present for duty, out of 449 present.
During March and April, 1863 the regiment was stationed at Fairfield; and on June 26, just after the affair at Hoover's Gap, Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, in a note to Major General A. P. Stewart, wrote "The 45th is at Shilob Church. If you retrogade, bring it back with you and consider it under your orders. The rest of Brown's Brigade, except the 26th, is at Tullahoma."
History of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry
http://www.rugglesrag.com/lookout/OLD-LOOKOUT-DO-NOT-USE/32nd_tennessee_volunteer_infantr.htm
They were encamped there until the Army of Tennessee withdrew from Murfreesboro and went into winter quarters at Tullahoma, TN.
At this time, Col. John C. Brown, of the 3rd TN, was promoted to Brigadier-General and given his brigade: the 18th, the 26th, the 32nd, and 45th regiments, all of Tennessee troops.
In June of 1863, they were marched to Beech Grove, then towards Woodbury, TN. Here, they had hoped to cut off federal troops before they passed through a gap in the mountains. The federals had found out about the trap and withdrawn. They then marched back to Beech Grove and on to Wartrace, TN.
The 45th Tennessee fights at Chickamauga, Stones River
By MIKE WEST Managing Editor
The Murfreesboro Post
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=6224
But the charge was still scheduled for 4 p.m. with the lateness of the hour, Bragg thought, not giving the Union troops time to counterattack.
However, Union Maj. General Thomas L. Crittenden spotted the Confederates building for an attack. Crittenden ordered his chief of artillery, Maj. John Mendenhall, to gather all available artillery in the area.
Mendenhall assembled a huge battery of 58 cannons on the west bank of McFadden’s Ford.
Breckinridge’s men, including the Rutherford County troops in the 18th and 45th Regiments, charged.
Palmer, relieved of brigade command by Gideon Pillow an hour earlier, rejoined the 18th.
Pillow, after the attack began, was found cowering behind a tree by a furious Breckinridge, who ordered him forward.
The Confederate’s dislodged VanCleve’s men, who were now commanded by Col. Samuel Beatty.
Screaming the infamous Rebel yell, they pursued the Union troops across Stones River. When they were in range, Mendenhall fired over his own troops into Breckinridge’s men. The huge battery was firing more than a hundred cannon blasts a minute.
The fight lasted less than 20 minutes with the Confederates suffering more than 1,700 causalities. Stones River literally ran red with their blood.
Bragg had thrown away victory at Stones River.
Col. Anderson Searcy’s regiment had 113 causalities during that brief encounter. Col. Palmer suffered three major wounds, but survived. Brig. Gen. Hanson was killed.
Bragg retreated to Tullahoma where on Feb. 16, 1863; the 45th was reassigned to Maj. Gen. B.F. Cheatham’s Brigade of Polk’s Corps. On Feb. 28, Brown (Palmer’s) Brigade got a new infusion of men in the form of the 23rd Tennessee.
The 45th was stationed at Fairfield in March and April 1863. After the Battle of Hoover’s Gap, it was transferred again to Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart’s Division. Fortunately, the unit did miss the fight at Hoover’s Gap where Union Col. John T. Wilder first “premiered” the firepower of the Spencer repeating rifle.
Links
Reunion photos
Rutherford Co. pension apps
Includes Hugh White Woodfin - not Samuel
Sons of Confed Veterans - Tenn Division
Library of Congress photos
Selected battles
Nashville
Leaders Army of Tennessee
Life in camp
Nicholas Woodfin - lawyer in Buncombe Co NC
Military history forum - connect with others in the TN18
Also in Co. F - James Knox Polk Marbury
Samuel Woodfin's units
1862
Nov-Dec
Breckinridge's Division - 1st Corps - Army of Tennessee
1863
Jan - May
Brown's Brigade - Breckinridge's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
Jan - Murfreesboro / Stones River
NPS Battlefield | NPS | Hazen's monument | Stones River reports
May - Sep
Brown's Brigade - Bate's-Stewart's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
June - Tullahoma Campaign
Description: BlueGray Trail | AOTC | Wiki |
Sep - Oct
Brown's Brigade - Stewart's Division - Buckner's Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
Sep 19-20 - Chickamauga
Descriptions/reports
Lost 135 of 330. Col. Palmer wounded, out until summer of 64
** Woodfin out **
Nov 23-25 - Chattanooga/Missionary Ridge - Moses & Hugh captured
Nov 12 - 18th Joins with 45th under Maj Gen Carter Stevenson Div., 1st Corps (Nov-Feb)
Troops sent to Chattanooga where they surround Rosecrans' Union forces in the city.
18th is on Lookout Mountain.
Missionary Ridge
Defeated CSA troops retreat to Dalton, Ga. SC Woodfin joins them there.
1864
Feb - Apr 65
Brown's Brigade - Stevenson's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
STEVENSON'S DIVISION - Maj. Gen. CARTER L. STEVENSON.
Brown's Brigade - Brig. Gen. JOHN C. BROWN.
3d Tennessee (Volunteers), Lieut. Col. Calvin J. Clack.
18th Tennessee, Lieut. Col. William R. Butler.
26th Tennessee, Capt. Abijah F. Boggess.
32d Tennessee, Maj. John P. McGuire.
45th Tennessee, } Col. Anderson Searcy
Battles:
May 5-11 - Rocky Face Ridge
May 14-15 - Resaca
May 25-Jun 4 - New Hope Church
Jun 20 - Powder Springs Road
Jun 27 - JKennesaw Mountain
July - Chattahoochee River
July - Sep - Atlanta siege
Battle of Atlanta
Regt. in line north of the city. Gets outflanked, suffers heavy casualties. Lt. Col. Butler escapes with remanents and joins with TN 3rd.
Nov 12 - Palmer resumes command of consolidated troops.
Regt. returns to Tenn in effort to draw Sherman north
Nov 27 - TN 18/3rd Occupies Columbia
Nov 30 - Franklin - 18th arrives too late to fight
Detached to join Nathan Bedford Forrest and was not engaged at Nashville.
Rear guard during retreat from Nashville
Battle of Nashville
Dec 27 - Last troops to cross Tennessee River - 17 troops and 3 servants present.
1865
Battles:
Feb-Apr - Carolinas campaign
Apr 26 - Johnston surrenders
TN 18th
Organized June 11, 1861; Confederate service August 7, 1861; reorganized September 26, 1862; formed field consolidation with 26th Tennessee Infantry Regiment October, 1863; formed Company "I", 4th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment April 9, 1865; paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina May 1, 1865.
FIELD OFFICERS
* Colonel-Joseph B. Palmer Wiki page
* Lieutenant Colonels-A. G. Carden, William R. Butler.
* Majors-Samuel W. Davis, W. H. Joyner.
CAPTAINS
* Milton R. Rushing, John G. McCabe, Co. "A". Men from Cannon County.
* W. H. Joyner, James W. Roscoe, Co. "B". Men from Sumner and Davidson Counties.
* Joseph B. Palmer, William R. Butler, Richard L. Stephens, John W. Oslin, Co. "C". Men from Rutherford County.
* H. J. St. John, M. E. St. John, Co. "D". "St. John's Guards." Men from Cannon County.
* Gid H. Lowe, Co. "E". "The Ashland City Guards." Men from Cheatham County.
* Benjamin F. Webb, Co. "F". Men from Rutherford and Bedford Counties.
* A. J. McWhirter, John Dick, Joseph B. Matthews, Co. "G". Men from Davidson County.
* B. Grand Wood, Thomas G. Curlee, Co. "H". Men from Rutherford and Cannon Counties.
* A. G. Carden, William L. Putman, Z. W. Williams, Co. "I". Men from Wilson County.
* W. J. Grayson, William P. Bandy, Co. "K". Men from Wilson County.
Of the field officers, Colonel Palmer was promoted to brigadier general November 15, 1864. Lieutenant Colonel Carden resigned, and Major Davis was not re-elected at the reorganization.
The companies from which this regiment was formed were organized in various Middle Tennessee counties during May 1861. They assembled at Camp Trousdale, where the regiment was organized, and where it was transferred to Confederate service.
A Field and Staff report from Lieutenant Colonel William R. Butler dated March 31, 1864 at Dalton, Georgia, gave the following information as to the history of the regiment up to that date: "This regiment was organized at Camp Trousdale June 11, 1861; sent to Bowling Green, Kentucky, September 1, under General Buckner; sent to Fort Donelson in February; participated in that fighting; captured February 16, 1862; in prison till September 16, 1862; exchanged at Vicksburg; reorganized at Jackson, Mississippi; sent to Murfreesboro; placed in Breckinridge's Division and took active part in the engagement at Stone's River, especially on Friday evening; was in the fight at Chickamauga in Division of Major General Stewart; lost 144 men killed and wounded; was not much injured in Battle of Missionary Ridge. We were then in Stevenson's Division and are at present. Temporarily consolidated with 26th Tennessee, October 8, 1863."
During this period the regiment was reported at Camp Trousdale in July, 1861 with 883 men armed with flintlock muskets. On September 28, 1861, under the command of Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner, it was reported in the brigade commanded by Colonel John C. Brown. along with the 3rd and 23rd Tennessee Regiments. At Fort Donelson, half of Baldwin's Brigade was attached to Brown's Brigade. The 18th reported 685 men.
Battle of Chickamauga
Reinforced by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's corps from the Army of Northern Virginia and a division from Mississippi, Bragg laid a trap for Rosecrans in the hills of northwestern Georgia. Advancing south, the Union general encountered Bragg's army at Chickamauga on September 18, 1863. Fighting began in earnest the following day when Union Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas attacked Confederate troops on his front. For most of the day, fighting surged up and down the lines with each side attacking and counterattacking.
On the morning of the 20th, Bragg attempted to flank Thomas' position at Kelly Field, with little success. In response to the failed attacks, he ordered a general assault on the Union lines. Around 11:00 AM, confusion led to a gap opening in the Union line as units were shifted to support Thomas. As Maj. Gen. Alexander McCook was attempting to plug the gap, Longstreet's corps attacked, exploiting the hole and routing the right wing of Rosecrans' army. Retreating with his men, Rosecrans departed the field leaving Thomas in command. Too heavily engaged to withdrawal, Thomas consolidated his corps around Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge. From these positions his troops beat off numerous Confederate assaults before falling back under the cover of darkness. This heroic defense earned Thomas the moniker "The Rock of Chickamauga." In the fighting, Rosecrans suffered 16,170 casualties, while Bragg's army incurred 18,454.
Siege of Chattanooga
Stunned by the defeat at Chickamauga, Rosecrans retreated all the way back to Chattanooga. Bragg followed and occupied the high ground around the city effectively putting the Army of the Cumberland under siege. To the west, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was resting with his army near Vicksburg. On October 17, he was given command of the Military Division of the Mississippi and control of all Union armies in the West. Moving quickly, Grant replaced Rosecrans with Thomas and worked to reopen supply lines to Chattanooga. This done, he shifted 40,000 men under Maj. Gens. William T. Sherman and Joseph Hooker east to reinforce the city. As Grant was pouring troops into the area, Bragg numbers were reduced when Longstreet's corps was ordered away for a campaign around Knoxville, TN.
Battle of Chattanooga
On November 24, 1863, Grant began operations to drive Bragg's army away from Chattanooga. Attacking at dawn, Hooker's men drove Confederate forces from Lookout Mountain south of the city. Fighting in this area ended around 3:00 PM when ammunition ran low and a heavy fog enveloped the mountain, earning the fight the nickname "Battle Above the Clouds." At the other end of the line, Sherman advanced taking Billy Goat Hill at the north end of the Confederate position.
The following day, Grant planned for Hooker and Sherman to flank Bragg's line, allowing Thomas to advance up the face of Missionary Ridge in the center. As the day progressed, the flank attacks became bogged down. Feeling that Bragg was weakening his center to reinforce his flanks, Grant ordered Thomas' men to move forward to assault the three lines of Confederate trenches on the ridge. After securing the first line, they were pinned down by fire from the remaining two. Rising up, Thomas' men, without orders, pressed on up the slope, chanting "Chickamauga! Chickamauga!" and broke the center of Bragg's lines. With no choice, Bragg ordered the army to retreat back to Dalton, GA. As a result of his defeat, President Jefferson Davis relieved Bragg and replaced him with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
Tullahoma
The successful Union campaign in Middle Tennessee in the summer of 1863 was a turning point in the Civil War. In just eleven days, and with very little fighting, the Army of the Cumberland maneuvered the Confederate Army of Tennessee completely out of Middle Tennessee. The campaign secured an agriculturally productive region for the Union, set the stage for the major battles around Chattanooga that fall, and led to the crucial struggle for Atlanta the following year.
The campaign was part of two years of conflict along the railroad extending from Nashville through Chattanooga to Atlanta. The first clash occurred on Stones River near Murfreesboro at the end of 1862. From a military standpoint, the battle ended in a draw, but on January 3, 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg retreated, moving his army south to a twenty-mile-long front in the Shelbyville-Tullahoma area.
The next move belonged to Union Major General William S. Rosecrans. Despite proddings from President Abraham Lincoln, Rosecrans refused to budge from his Murfreesboro base until he was satisfied his army was ready. When Rosecrans finally moved on June 23, 1863, he followed a brilliant plan: go around Bragg's army, sever its line of supply, reinforcement, and retreat along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and force the Confederates to turn around and fight. At the very least, the Southerners would have to retreat to protect their lifeline south.
The range of hills separating the two armies figured prominently in Rosecrans's plan. Avoiding the easy advance around the hills on the western edge of the front, Rosecrans chose the difficult route directly through the hills on the east. To confuse the Confederates, he sent large parts of his army in several directions.
The Confederates held at Shelbyville and Liberty Gap near Bell Buckle, while the main Federal thrust went through Hoover's Gap on the Murfreesboro-Manchester Turnpike. By June 27, Union troops were at Manchester in the Confederate rear. Bragg had no choice but to retreat to Tullahoma. Over the next several days, Bragg's army made successive retreats to Decherd and Cowan, before the final retreat over the mountain to Chattanooga on July 3.
Incessant rain slowed the Union advance, and Rosecrans was not able to strike Bragg's army before it got away. But Rosecrans did achieve his secondary goal of forcing the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee. The battleground then shifted to the Chattanooga area.
The Federals deployed about 77,000 men in the Tullahoma campaign and the Confederates 44,000. The Union losses totaled 550 captured, wounded, and killed. The Federal forces captured 1,634 Confederates, but the number of Confederate wounded and killed is not known.
Woodfins at Tullahoma
TN GenWeb Project
45th Tennessee Infantry
http://www.tngenweb.org/civilwar/csainf/csa45.html
In the Battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862-January 2, 1863, Brown's Brigade, commanded first by Colonel J. B. Palmer, later by Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow, formed part of Breckinridge's Division. At this time, the brigade was composed of the 18th, 26th, 28th, 32nd, and 45th Tennessee Regiments, pluS Moses' Battery, with the 32nd on detached service. The regiment suffered only a few casualties on December 31, but in the charge by Breckinridge's Division in the afternoon of January 2, it lost heavily, total casualties amounting to 113. On January 19, 1863, the 45th reported 323 present for duty, out of 449 present.
During March and April, 1863 the regiment was stationed at Fairfield; and on June 26, just after the affair at Hoover's Gap, Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, in a note to Major General A. P. Stewart, wrote "The 45th is at Shilob Church. If you retrogade, bring it back with you and consider it under your orders. The rest of Brown's Brigade, except the 26th, is at Tullahoma."
History of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry
http://www.rugglesrag.com/lookout/OLD-LOOKOUT-DO-NOT-USE/32nd_tennessee_volunteer_infantr.htm
They were encamped there until the Army of Tennessee withdrew from Murfreesboro and went into winter quarters at Tullahoma, TN.
At this time, Col. John C. Brown, of the 3rd TN, was promoted to Brigadier-General and given his brigade: the 18th, the 26th, the 32nd, and 45th regiments, all of Tennessee troops.
In June of 1863, they were marched to Beech Grove, then towards Woodbury, TN. Here, they had hoped to cut off federal troops before they passed through a gap in the mountains. The federals had found out about the trap and withdrawn. They then marched back to Beech Grove and on to Wartrace, TN.
The 45th Tennessee fights at Chickamauga, Stones River
By MIKE WEST Managing Editor
The Murfreesboro Post
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/news.php?viewStory=6224
But the charge was still scheduled for 4 p.m. with the lateness of the hour, Bragg thought, not giving the Union troops time to counterattack.
However, Union Maj. General Thomas L. Crittenden spotted the Confederates building for an attack. Crittenden ordered his chief of artillery, Maj. John Mendenhall, to gather all available artillery in the area.
Mendenhall assembled a huge battery of 58 cannons on the west bank of McFadden’s Ford.
Breckinridge’s men, including the Rutherford County troops in the 18th and 45th Regiments, charged.
Palmer, relieved of brigade command by Gideon Pillow an hour earlier, rejoined the 18th.
Pillow, after the attack began, was found cowering behind a tree by a furious Breckinridge, who ordered him forward.
The Confederate’s dislodged VanCleve’s men, who were now commanded by Col. Samuel Beatty.
Screaming the infamous Rebel yell, they pursued the Union troops across Stones River. When they were in range, Mendenhall fired over his own troops into Breckinridge’s men. The huge battery was firing more than a hundred cannon blasts a minute.
The fight lasted less than 20 minutes with the Confederates suffering more than 1,700 causalities. Stones River literally ran red with their blood.
Bragg had thrown away victory at Stones River.
Col. Anderson Searcy’s regiment had 113 causalities during that brief encounter. Col. Palmer suffered three major wounds, but survived. Brig. Gen. Hanson was killed.
Bragg retreated to Tullahoma where on Feb. 16, 1863; the 45th was reassigned to Maj. Gen. B.F. Cheatham’s Brigade of Polk’s Corps. On Feb. 28, Brown (Palmer’s) Brigade got a new infusion of men in the form of the 23rd Tennessee.
The 45th was stationed at Fairfield in March and April 1863. After the Battle of Hoover’s Gap, it was transferred again to Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart’s Division. Fortunately, the unit did miss the fight at Hoover’s Gap where Union Col. John T. Wilder first “premiered” the firepower of the Spencer repeating rifle.
Links
Reunion photos
Rutherford Co. pension apps
Includes Hugh White Woodfin - not Samuel
Sons of Confed Veterans - Tenn Division
Library of Congress photos
Selected battles
Nashville
Leaders Army of Tennessee
Life in camp
Nicholas Woodfin - lawyer in Buncombe Co NC
Military history forum - connect with others in the TN18
Also in Co. F - James Knox Polk Marbury
Samuel Woodfin's units
1862
Nov-Dec
Breckinridge's Division - 1st Corps - Army of Tennessee
1863
Jan - May
Brown's Brigade - Breckinridge's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
Jan - Murfreesboro / Stones River
NPS Battlefield | NPS | Hazen's monument | Stones River reports
May - Sep
Brown's Brigade - Bate's-Stewart's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
June - Tullahoma Campaign
Description: BlueGray Trail | AOTC | Wiki |
Sep - Oct
Brown's Brigade - Stewart's Division - Buckner's Corps - Army of Tennessee
Battles:
Sep 19-20 - Chickamauga
Descriptions/reports
Lost 135 of 330. Col. Palmer wounded, out until summer of 64
** Woodfin out **
Nov 23-25 - Chattanooga/Missionary Ridge - Moses & Hugh captured
Nov 12 - 18th Joins with 45th under Maj Gen Carter Stevenson Div., 1st Corps (Nov-Feb)
Troops sent to Chattanooga where they surround Rosecrans' Union forces in the city.
18th is on Lookout Mountain.
Missionary Ridge
Defeated CSA troops retreat to Dalton, Ga. SC Woodfin joins them there.
1864
Feb - Apr 65
Brown's Brigade - Stevenson's Division - 2nd Corps - Army of Tennessee
STEVENSON'S DIVISION - Maj. Gen. CARTER L. STEVENSON.
Brown's Brigade - Brig. Gen. JOHN C. BROWN.
3d Tennessee (Volunteers), Lieut. Col. Calvin J. Clack.
18th Tennessee, Lieut. Col. William R. Butler.
26th Tennessee, Capt. Abijah F. Boggess.
32d Tennessee, Maj. John P. McGuire.
45th Tennessee, } Col. Anderson Searcy
Battles:
May 5-11 - Rocky Face Ridge
May 14-15 - Resaca
May 25-Jun 4 - New Hope Church
Jun 20 - Powder Springs Road
Jun 27 - JKennesaw Mountain
July - Chattahoochee River
July - Sep - Atlanta siege
Battle of Atlanta
Regt. in line north of the city. Gets outflanked, suffers heavy casualties. Lt. Col. Butler escapes with remanents and joins with TN 3rd.
Nov 12 - Palmer resumes command of consolidated troops.
Regt. returns to Tenn in effort to draw Sherman north
Nov 27 - TN 18/3rd Occupies Columbia
Nov 30 - Franklin - 18th arrives too late to fight
Detached to join Nathan Bedford Forrest and was not engaged at Nashville.
Rear guard during retreat from Nashville
Battle of Nashville
Dec 27 - Last troops to cross Tennessee River - 17 troops and 3 servants present.
1865
Battles:
Feb-Apr - Carolinas campaign
Apr 26 - Johnston surrenders
TN 18th
Organized June 11, 1861; Confederate service August 7, 1861; reorganized September 26, 1862; formed field consolidation with 26th Tennessee Infantry Regiment October, 1863; formed Company "I", 4th Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment April 9, 1865; paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina May 1, 1865.
FIELD OFFICERS
* Colonel-Joseph B. Palmer Wiki page
* Lieutenant Colonels-A. G. Carden, William R. Butler.
* Majors-Samuel W. Davis, W. H. Joyner.
CAPTAINS
* Milton R. Rushing, John G. McCabe, Co. "A". Men from Cannon County.
* W. H. Joyner, James W. Roscoe, Co. "B". Men from Sumner and Davidson Counties.
* Joseph B. Palmer, William R. Butler, Richard L. Stephens, John W. Oslin, Co. "C". Men from Rutherford County.
* H. J. St. John, M. E. St. John, Co. "D". "St. John's Guards." Men from Cannon County.
* Gid H. Lowe, Co. "E". "The Ashland City Guards." Men from Cheatham County.
* Benjamin F. Webb, Co. "F". Men from Rutherford and Bedford Counties.
* A. J. McWhirter, John Dick, Joseph B. Matthews, Co. "G". Men from Davidson County.
* B. Grand Wood, Thomas G. Curlee, Co. "H". Men from Rutherford and Cannon Counties.
* A. G. Carden, William L. Putman, Z. W. Williams, Co. "I". Men from Wilson County.
* W. J. Grayson, William P. Bandy, Co. "K". Men from Wilson County.
Of the field officers, Colonel Palmer was promoted to brigadier general November 15, 1864. Lieutenant Colonel Carden resigned, and Major Davis was not re-elected at the reorganization.
The companies from which this regiment was formed were organized in various Middle Tennessee counties during May 1861. They assembled at Camp Trousdale, where the regiment was organized, and where it was transferred to Confederate service.
A Field and Staff report from Lieutenant Colonel William R. Butler dated March 31, 1864 at Dalton, Georgia, gave the following information as to the history of the regiment up to that date: "This regiment was organized at Camp Trousdale June 11, 1861; sent to Bowling Green, Kentucky, September 1, under General Buckner; sent to Fort Donelson in February; participated in that fighting; captured February 16, 1862; in prison till September 16, 1862; exchanged at Vicksburg; reorganized at Jackson, Mississippi; sent to Murfreesboro; placed in Breckinridge's Division and took active part in the engagement at Stone's River, especially on Friday evening; was in the fight at Chickamauga in Division of Major General Stewart; lost 144 men killed and wounded; was not much injured in Battle of Missionary Ridge. We were then in Stevenson's Division and are at present. Temporarily consolidated with 26th Tennessee, October 8, 1863."
During this period the regiment was reported at Camp Trousdale in July, 1861 with 883 men armed with flintlock muskets. On September 28, 1861, under the command of Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner, it was reported in the brigade commanded by Colonel John C. Brown. along with the 3rd and 23rd Tennessee Regiments. At Fort Donelson, half of Baldwin's Brigade was attached to Brown's Brigade. The 18th reported 685 men.
Battle of Chickamauga
Reinforced by Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's corps from the Army of Northern Virginia and a division from Mississippi, Bragg laid a trap for Rosecrans in the hills of northwestern Georgia. Advancing south, the Union general encountered Bragg's army at Chickamauga on September 18, 1863. Fighting began in earnest the following day when Union Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas attacked Confederate troops on his front. For most of the day, fighting surged up and down the lines with each side attacking and counterattacking.
On the morning of the 20th, Bragg attempted to flank Thomas' position at Kelly Field, with little success. In response to the failed attacks, he ordered a general assault on the Union lines. Around 11:00 AM, confusion led to a gap opening in the Union line as units were shifted to support Thomas. As Maj. Gen. Alexander McCook was attempting to plug the gap, Longstreet's corps attacked, exploiting the hole and routing the right wing of Rosecrans' army. Retreating with his men, Rosecrans departed the field leaving Thomas in command. Too heavily engaged to withdrawal, Thomas consolidated his corps around Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge. From these positions his troops beat off numerous Confederate assaults before falling back under the cover of darkness. This heroic defense earned Thomas the moniker "The Rock of Chickamauga." In the fighting, Rosecrans suffered 16,170 casualties, while Bragg's army incurred 18,454.
Siege of Chattanooga
Stunned by the defeat at Chickamauga, Rosecrans retreated all the way back to Chattanooga. Bragg followed and occupied the high ground around the city effectively putting the Army of the Cumberland under siege. To the west, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was resting with his army near Vicksburg. On October 17, he was given command of the Military Division of the Mississippi and control of all Union armies in the West. Moving quickly, Grant replaced Rosecrans with Thomas and worked to reopen supply lines to Chattanooga. This done, he shifted 40,000 men under Maj. Gens. William T. Sherman and Joseph Hooker east to reinforce the city. As Grant was pouring troops into the area, Bragg numbers were reduced when Longstreet's corps was ordered away for a campaign around Knoxville, TN.
Battle of Chattanooga
On November 24, 1863, Grant began operations to drive Bragg's army away from Chattanooga. Attacking at dawn, Hooker's men drove Confederate forces from Lookout Mountain south of the city. Fighting in this area ended around 3:00 PM when ammunition ran low and a heavy fog enveloped the mountain, earning the fight the nickname "Battle Above the Clouds." At the other end of the line, Sherman advanced taking Billy Goat Hill at the north end of the Confederate position.
The following day, Grant planned for Hooker and Sherman to flank Bragg's line, allowing Thomas to advance up the face of Missionary Ridge in the center. As the day progressed, the flank attacks became bogged down. Feeling that Bragg was weakening his center to reinforce his flanks, Grant ordered Thomas' men to move forward to assault the three lines of Confederate trenches on the ridge. After securing the first line, they were pinned down by fire from the remaining two. Rising up, Thomas' men, without orders, pressed on up the slope, chanting "Chickamauga! Chickamauga!" and broke the center of Bragg's lines. With no choice, Bragg ordered the army to retreat back to Dalton, GA. As a result of his defeat, President Jefferson Davis relieved Bragg and replaced him with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston.
Tullahoma
The successful Union campaign in Middle Tennessee in the summer of 1863 was a turning point in the Civil War. In just eleven days, and with very little fighting, the Army of the Cumberland maneuvered the Confederate Army of Tennessee completely out of Middle Tennessee. The campaign secured an agriculturally productive region for the Union, set the stage for the major battles around Chattanooga that fall, and led to the crucial struggle for Atlanta the following year.
The campaign was part of two years of conflict along the railroad extending from Nashville through Chattanooga to Atlanta. The first clash occurred on Stones River near Murfreesboro at the end of 1862. From a military standpoint, the battle ended in a draw, but on January 3, 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg retreated, moving his army south to a twenty-mile-long front in the Shelbyville-Tullahoma area.
The next move belonged to Union Major General William S. Rosecrans. Despite proddings from President Abraham Lincoln, Rosecrans refused to budge from his Murfreesboro base until he was satisfied his army was ready. When Rosecrans finally moved on June 23, 1863, he followed a brilliant plan: go around Bragg's army, sever its line of supply, reinforcement, and retreat along the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and force the Confederates to turn around and fight. At the very least, the Southerners would have to retreat to protect their lifeline south.
The range of hills separating the two armies figured prominently in Rosecrans's plan. Avoiding the easy advance around the hills on the western edge of the front, Rosecrans chose the difficult route directly through the hills on the east. To confuse the Confederates, he sent large parts of his army in several directions.
The Confederates held at Shelbyville and Liberty Gap near Bell Buckle, while the main Federal thrust went through Hoover's Gap on the Murfreesboro-Manchester Turnpike. By June 27, Union troops were at Manchester in the Confederate rear. Bragg had no choice but to retreat to Tullahoma. Over the next several days, Bragg's army made successive retreats to Decherd and Cowan, before the final retreat over the mountain to Chattanooga on July 3.
Incessant rain slowed the Union advance, and Rosecrans was not able to strike Bragg's army before it got away. But Rosecrans did achieve his secondary goal of forcing the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee. The battleground then shifted to the Chattanooga area.
The Federals deployed about 77,000 men in the Tullahoma campaign and the Confederates 44,000. The Union losses totaled 550 captured, wounded, and killed. The Federal forces captured 1,634 Confederates, but the number of Confederate wounded and killed is not known.
Woodfin: Correspondence
Subject: RE: Samuel Woodfin obit
7-4-2009
Hello "Cousin" Ric,
I was delighted to get your message. Samuel Chase Woodfin is my great grandfather. I'll be happy to share all I have, but this morning I have not enough time. Maybe this afternoon I'll get to it.
My uncle, William R. Woodfin, is still living, and he is the grandson of Samuel Chase Woodfin. Although most of my Woodfin kin settled in or around Kimball and So. Pittsburg, TN, Uncle Billy lives in Idaho. He and his wife are Mormons so they take their ancestry search very, very seriously.
I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Samuel Chase, so I would love it if you could email me a copy. bibachner@comcast.net
Thanks for writing!
Talk to you later,
Barbara
7-4-2009
Hello "Cousin" Ric,
I was delighted to get your message. Samuel Chase Woodfin is my great grandfather. I'll be happy to share all I have, but this morning I have not enough time. Maybe this afternoon I'll get to it.
My uncle, William R. Woodfin, is still living, and he is the grandson of Samuel Chase Woodfin. Although most of my Woodfin kin settled in or around Kimball and So. Pittsburg, TN, Uncle Billy lives in Idaho. He and his wife are Mormons so they take their ancestry search very, very seriously.
I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Samuel Chase, so I would love it if you could email me a copy. bibachner@comcast.net
Thanks for writing!
Talk to you later,
Barbara
Woodfin: Research and sources
Books
An eyewitness to the dark days of 1861-65; or a private soldier's adventures and hardships during the war.
N J (Noah Jasper) Hampton, Nashville, 1898
Book held at
Kentucky Wesleyan College Library
3000 Frederica St
Owensboro, Kentucky United States 42302-1039
Voice: (270) 926-3111
Database: Kentucky Wesleyan College Library
Location: S (Shelved in the Heritage Room. Does not circulate.)
Call Number: 973.7 H229
Microform at
Cincinnati/Hamilton Co. Library
The Cainsville Guards : Civil War experiences of Company I, 18th Tennessee Regiment
Author: Howard Lytle Givens
Publisher: Jackson, TN : Main Street Pub., 2005.
Tennessee State Library & Arch
Nashville
Tennessee's battered brigadier : the life of General Joseph B. Palmer, CSA
Robert Owen Neff
Franklin, Tenn. : Hillsboro Press, ©2000.
** Avail on Amazon
Moore, J. C. "Diary of a Confederate Soldier." Edited by Larry G. Bowman and Jack B. Scroggs. Military Review, 62 (February 1982), pp. 20-34. [18th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.]
** Can't find online or in WorldCat
Sumner County, Tennessee In the Civil War
Chapter Four
By Edwin L. Ferguson
Privately Printed by the Author, 1972
Jamison, Robert D. and Jamison Camilla. Excerpt from "Letters and Recollections of a Confederate Soldier: 1861-1865". 1863.
----------------------------------------------------------
18th Tennessee Infantry Regiment
Company B
Organized on June 11, 1861. Mustered into Confederate Service Aug. 7, 1861.
Colonel - Joseph B. Palmer.
Lieutenant Colonel - A. G. Carden and William R. Butler.
Major - Samuel W. Davis and W. H. Joyner.
Co. B, Captain - W. H. Joyner, James W. Roscoe.
Men from Sumner and Davidson Counties.
Organized June 11, 1861. Mustered into Confederate Service Aug. 7, 1861. After organization at Camp Trousdale the regiment was sent to Bowling Green, Ky. Sent to Ft. Donelson, on the Cumberland River in Stewart County, Tenn. Was surrendered Feb. 16, 1862. Sent to prison at Camp Butler, Ill. Exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss. Sept. 16, 1862. The regiment had 685 effectives at Fort Donelson, suffering 52 casualties. It took an active part in the Battle of Murfreesboro losing 166 killed and wounded, out of 430 engaged.
At Chickamauga, Ga. lost 144 killed and wounded. Was not badly hurt at Missionary Ridge, only one casualty.
On Jan. 19, 1863 the regiment reported 430 men, of which 305 were able for duty.
After wintering at Dalton, Ga. they fought in the Atlanta Campaign including Rocky Face Ridge, Reseca, New Hope Church, Powder Springs Road and Chattahoochee River suffering severely in killed and wounded. During the seige of Atlanta they were under continuous fire for twenty-six days. Here they were outflanked and the greater part of the regiment captured.
The 18th was in Hood's Invasion of Tennessee but did not arrive at Franklin in time for the battle. The Brigade was detached to join Gen. Forrest at Murfreesboro and so missed the Battle of Nashville. They were then sent to North Carolina to join Gen. Johnston's Army under the command of Gen. Palmer. Surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. Gen. Palmer was directed to conduct the Tennessee troops home. Paroled May 1, 1865.
Notes
Moore, J. C. "Diary of a Confederate Soldier." Edited by Larry G. Bowman and Jack B. Scroggs. Military Review, 62 (February 1982), pp. 20-34. [18th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.]
Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer, a prominent state military and political leader, built the Italianate residence at 434 E. Main St. in 1869. Highlighted by a filigree cast iron porch and paired arch windows, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
And just who was Joseph Benjamin Palmer?
He was lawyer, prominent politician and, ironically, a Union man. The house was built after the Civil War as a gift to his bride. His career provides an important lesson about Middle Tennessee before and during the war and reconstruction.
His regiment was to participate in some of the most hellish battles of the Civil War, including Stones River, Chickamauga, the defense of Atlanta and Gen. John Bell Hood's invasion of Middle Tennessee.
Gen. Joseph Palmer and his regiment will be a recurring topic as The Post recounts The Battle of Stones River and the impact of the Civil War on Murfreesboro.
An eyewitness to the dark days of 1861-65; or a private soldier's adventures and hardships during the war.
N J (Noah Jasper) Hampton, Nashville, 1898
Book held at
Kentucky Wesleyan College Library
3000 Frederica St
Owensboro, Kentucky United States 42302-1039
Voice: (270) 926-3111
Database: Kentucky Wesleyan College Library
Location: S (Shelved in the Heritage Room. Does not circulate.)
Call Number: 973.7 H229
Microform at
Cincinnati/Hamilton Co. Library
The Cainsville Guards : Civil War experiences of Company I, 18th Tennessee Regiment
Author: Howard Lytle Givens
Publisher: Jackson, TN : Main Street Pub., 2005.
Tennessee State Library & Arch
Nashville
Tennessee's battered brigadier : the life of General Joseph B. Palmer, CSA
Robert Owen Neff
Franklin, Tenn. : Hillsboro Press, ©2000.
** Avail on Amazon
Moore, J. C. "Diary of a Confederate Soldier." Edited by Larry G. Bowman and Jack B. Scroggs. Military Review, 62 (February 1982), pp. 20-34. [18th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.]
** Can't find online or in WorldCat
Sumner County, Tennessee In the Civil War
Chapter Four
By Edwin L. Ferguson
Privately Printed by the Author, 1972
Jamison, Robert D. and Jamison Camilla. Excerpt from "Letters and Recollections of a Confederate Soldier: 1861-1865". 1863.
----------------------------------------------------------
18th Tennessee Infantry Regiment
Company B
Organized on June 11, 1861. Mustered into Confederate Service Aug. 7, 1861.
Colonel - Joseph B. Palmer.
Lieutenant Colonel - A. G. Carden and William R. Butler.
Major - Samuel W. Davis and W. H. Joyner.
Co. B, Captain - W. H. Joyner, James W. Roscoe.
Men from Sumner and Davidson Counties.
Organized June 11, 1861. Mustered into Confederate Service Aug. 7, 1861. After organization at Camp Trousdale the regiment was sent to Bowling Green, Ky. Sent to Ft. Donelson, on the Cumberland River in Stewart County, Tenn. Was surrendered Feb. 16, 1862. Sent to prison at Camp Butler, Ill. Exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss. Sept. 16, 1862. The regiment had 685 effectives at Fort Donelson, suffering 52 casualties. It took an active part in the Battle of Murfreesboro losing 166 killed and wounded, out of 430 engaged.
At Chickamauga, Ga. lost 144 killed and wounded. Was not badly hurt at Missionary Ridge, only one casualty.
On Jan. 19, 1863 the regiment reported 430 men, of which 305 were able for duty.
After wintering at Dalton, Ga. they fought in the Atlanta Campaign including Rocky Face Ridge, Reseca, New Hope Church, Powder Springs Road and Chattahoochee River suffering severely in killed and wounded. During the seige of Atlanta they were under continuous fire for twenty-six days. Here they were outflanked and the greater part of the regiment captured.
The 18th was in Hood's Invasion of Tennessee but did not arrive at Franklin in time for the battle. The Brigade was detached to join Gen. Forrest at Murfreesboro and so missed the Battle of Nashville. They were then sent to North Carolina to join Gen. Johnston's Army under the command of Gen. Palmer. Surrendered at Greensboro, N. C. Gen. Palmer was directed to conduct the Tennessee troops home. Paroled May 1, 1865.
Notes
Moore, J. C. "Diary of a Confederate Soldier." Edited by Larry G. Bowman and Jack B. Scroggs. Military Review, 62 (February 1982), pp. 20-34. [18th Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.]
Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Palmer, a prominent state military and political leader, built the Italianate residence at 434 E. Main St. in 1869. Highlighted by a filigree cast iron porch and paired arch windows, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
And just who was Joseph Benjamin Palmer?
He was lawyer, prominent politician and, ironically, a Union man. The house was built after the Civil War as a gift to his bride. His career provides an important lesson about Middle Tennessee before and during the war and reconstruction.
His regiment was to participate in some of the most hellish battles of the Civil War, including Stones River, Chickamauga, the defense of Atlanta and Gen. John Bell Hood's invasion of Middle Tennessee.
Gen. Joseph Palmer and his regiment will be a recurring topic as The Post recounts The Battle of Stones River and the impact of the Civil War on Murfreesboro.
Roster TN 18 Regiment
Company F
Marbury, James Knox Polk - Pvt
Horton, Mason Dodson - Pvt
Samuel Tucker Gillespy identified as Assistant Surgeon of 3rd Tennessee(Lillard's) Infantry CSA, E Company. He had just completed one year of medical school at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1860. After Lee's surrender in April, 1865, the brigade was ordered to North Carolina, and rendezvoused at Charlotte, North Carolina where they formed part of the escort for President Jefferson Davis until the surrender at Washington, Georgia May 9, 1865.
William DEATHERAGE commenced for himself in life by joining the Confederate army, Company A, Twenty-sixth Tennessee Infantry Regiment, on the 15th of June, 1861, and served about four years. He participated in sixteen hard-fought battles, the principal ones being Fort Donelson, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Taylor Ridge Gap, Swamp Creek, Resaca, New Hope, Marietta, Jonesboro, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville; was with Forrest at Murfreesboro the second time, Columbia. Bentonville, Chickasaw Mountain, etc. He surrendered on the 5th of April, 1865, at Greensboro, N. C.
Army of Tennessee Order of Battle
Woodfin's regiment in AOT battles
Stones River
Dec. 31 1862 - Jan. 2 1863
Corps: W. J. Hardee
Division: John Breckinridge
2nd Brigade - Col. J. B. Palmer / Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow
18th Tennessee: Col J. B. Palmer, Lt. Col. W. R. Butler
26th Tenneessee: Col. John M. Lillard
28th Tennessee: Col P. D. Cunningham
32nd Tennessee: Col Ed. C. Cook
45th Tennessee: Col A. Searcy
Moses' (Georgia) battery: Lt R. W. Anderson
Chickamauga
Sept. 10-18, 1964
Corp: MG Simon Bolivar Buckner
Division: MG A.P. Stewart
Brown's Brigade: John C. Brown
18 TN - Palmer
26 TN - John Lillard
32 TN - Edmund Cook
45 TN - Anderson Searcy
23 TN Battalion
Chattanooga - Missionary Ridge
Sept. 21- Nov. 25, 1863
Corps: John Breckinridge
Division: MG Carter Strevenson
Brown's Brigade
3rd Tennessee
18th-26th Tennessee: Ltc William R. Butler, Maj William H. Joyner (w)
32nd Tennessee: Maj John P. McGuire
23rd Battalion-45th Tennessee: Col Anderson Searcy
Atlanta Campaign
May 7 - June 27, 1864
Corps: John Bell Hood
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown's Brigade
3rd Tennessee
18th Tennessee
26th Tennessee
32nd Tennessee
45th and 23rd Tennessee
Battle of Atlanta
July 22 - Sept. 2, 1864
Corps: John Bell Hood
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown's Brigade - Col. Palmer
3rd Tennessee - Ltc Calvin Clack
18th Tennessee - Ltc W. Butler
26th Tennessee - Col Richard Saffell
32nd Tennessee Capt. Thomas Deavenport
45th and 23rd Tennessee - Searcy
Franklin
Nov. 30, 1864
AOT Gen Hood
18/26 Regiment detached - not in the battle
Nashville
Dec. 15-16, 1864
AOT Hood
Corps: Stephen D. Lee
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown & Reynolds Brigade - Col. Palmer
60th North Carolina - Maj James T. Huff
3rd-18th Tennessee - Ltc William R. Butler
23rd-26th-45th Tennessee - Col Anderson Searcy
32nd Tennessee - Col John P. McGuire
54th Virginia Infantry - Cpt William G. Anderson
63rd Virginia Infantry - Ltc Connally H. Lynch
Carolinas Campaign
Mar. 7-10, 1865
AOT Joseph Johnston
Corps: William J. Hardee
Division: Benjamin Cheatham
Palmer's Brigade
1st Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 1st, 6th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 27th, 28th, and 34th Regiments, and 24th Battalion): Ltc Oliver A. Bradshaw
2nd Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 11th, 12th, 13th, 29th, 47th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, and 154th Regiment): Ltc George W. Pease
3rd Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 4th, 5th, 19th, 24th, 31st, 33rd, 35th, 38th, and 41st Regiments): Col James D. Tillman
4th Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 15th, 18th, 20th, 26th, 30th, 32nd, 37th, and 45th Regiments, and 23rd Battalion): Col Anderson Searcy
Stones River
Dec. 31 1862 - Jan. 2 1863
Corps: W. J. Hardee
Division: John Breckinridge
2nd Brigade - Col. J. B. Palmer / Brig. Gen. Gideon Pillow
18th Tennessee: Col J. B. Palmer, Lt. Col. W. R. Butler
26th Tenneessee: Col. John M. Lillard
28th Tennessee: Col P. D. Cunningham
32nd Tennessee: Col Ed. C. Cook
45th Tennessee: Col A. Searcy
Moses' (Georgia) battery: Lt R. W. Anderson
Chickamauga
Sept. 10-18, 1964
Corp: MG Simon Bolivar Buckner
Division: MG A.P. Stewart
Brown's Brigade: John C. Brown
18 TN - Palmer
26 TN - John Lillard
32 TN - Edmund Cook
45 TN - Anderson Searcy
23 TN Battalion
Chattanooga - Missionary Ridge
Sept. 21- Nov. 25, 1863
Corps: John Breckinridge
Division: MG Carter Strevenson
Brown's Brigade
3rd Tennessee
18th-26th Tennessee: Ltc William R. Butler, Maj William H. Joyner (w)
32nd Tennessee: Maj John P. McGuire
23rd Battalion-45th Tennessee: Col Anderson Searcy
Atlanta Campaign
May 7 - June 27, 1864
Corps: John Bell Hood
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown's Brigade
3rd Tennessee
18th Tennessee
26th Tennessee
32nd Tennessee
45th and 23rd Tennessee
Battle of Atlanta
July 22 - Sept. 2, 1864
Corps: John Bell Hood
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown's Brigade - Col. Palmer
3rd Tennessee - Ltc Calvin Clack
18th Tennessee - Ltc W. Butler
26th Tennessee - Col Richard Saffell
32nd Tennessee Capt. Thomas Deavenport
45th and 23rd Tennessee - Searcy
Franklin
Nov. 30, 1864
AOT Gen Hood
18/26 Regiment detached - not in the battle
Nashville
Dec. 15-16, 1864
AOT Hood
Corps: Stephen D. Lee
Division: Carter Stevenson
Brown & Reynolds Brigade - Col. Palmer
60th North Carolina - Maj James T. Huff
3rd-18th Tennessee - Ltc William R. Butler
23rd-26th-45th Tennessee - Col Anderson Searcy
32nd Tennessee - Col John P. McGuire
54th Virginia Infantry - Cpt William G. Anderson
63rd Virginia Infantry - Ltc Connally H. Lynch
Carolinas Campaign
Mar. 7-10, 1865
AOT Joseph Johnston
Corps: William J. Hardee
Division: Benjamin Cheatham
Palmer's Brigade
1st Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 1st, 6th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 27th, 28th, and 34th Regiments, and 24th Battalion): Ltc Oliver A. Bradshaw
2nd Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 11th, 12th, 13th, 29th, 47th, 50th, 51st, 52nd, and 154th Regiment): Ltc George W. Pease
3rd Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 4th, 5th, 19th, 24th, 31st, 33rd, 35th, 38th, and 41st Regiments): Col James D. Tillman
4th Tennessee Consolidated (comprised 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 15th, 18th, 20th, 26th, 30th, 32nd, 37th, and 45th Regiments, and 23rd Battalion): Col Anderson Searcy
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Reading list
Under Chamberlain's Flag : The Stories of the 198th Pennsylvania and the 185th New York Volunteers by Jeffrey L. Wood
April 1865: The Month That Saved America (P.S.) by Jay Winik
Military History Online Forum - add your ancestor to his unit.
Also in Co. F:
Name: James Knox Polk Marbury Rank: Private Company: F
James K. Polk Marbury was with Co. F., 18th Tenn. Confederate Inf. Married Harriet Harris. Is listed as applying for stay at Confederate Veterans Hospital in Nashville. May have died there ca. 1914. Applied for a pension in 1910. Neither he nor his family owned slaves.
Contact Name: Joe Mode jmode@mindspring.com
Factasy - Civil War facts and info
April 1865: The Month That Saved America (P.S.) by Jay Winik
Military History Online Forum - add your ancestor to his unit.
Also in Co. F:
Name: James Knox Polk Marbury Rank: Private Company: F
James K. Polk Marbury was with Co. F., 18th Tenn. Confederate Inf. Married Harriet Harris. Is listed as applying for stay at Confederate Veterans Hospital in Nashville. May have died there ca. 1914. Applied for a pension in 1910. Neither he nor his family owned slaves.
Contact Name: Joe Mode jmode@mindspring.com
Factasy - Civil War facts and info
Friday, July 3, 2009
Woodfin: NJ Hampton book excerpts
An eyewitness to the dark days of 1861-65; or a private soldier's adventures and hardships during the war.
By Noah Jasper Hampton, Nashville, 1898
Printed by the author
Excerpts
Hampton was 16 when he left home and joined "Buck" Joyner's company - Co. B of the 18th Tennessee Infantry
Jan. 2, 1896
Stones River
"When the signal gun fired we marched forward, elbow to elbow, into the jaws of death." They marched across a cornfield and up a western slope. . . "They opend on us with fifty pieces of grape and canister, besides the musketry. This charge lasted about twentry-five minutes. Our men were mowed down until there were gaps of about twenty steps. I myself shot 34 cartridges. We were compelled to fall back, and that gave the enemy a chance to take good aim at us."
"During this charge our colonel, J. B. Palmer, was wounded three times, three flag bearers shot down, twenty-two bullet holes shot in the banner, and a flagstaff cut half in two."
The Confederates withdrew to Wartrace, then to Cattanooga, then they gave up Chattanooga. His unit ca,ped in Jasper, then moved to Chackamauga Creek on Sept. 18.
Sept. 19 - morning, waded a creek over knee deep.
" My three days of rations gave out in twenty-four hours as I was a hearty eater. . . my comrades called me 'Long Hungry.' "
"There was such a volume of smoke we could not distinguish the enemy from our own men ten steps away. Longstreet's Corps made a right flank movement on the battery and infantry, and our regiment, thinking that they were our enemies, fired a volley into them, killing and wounding thirty or forty of our men."
Cold that night. . stayed on the field with the dead. Some smoked and when they would light up, the Federals fired a volley. His teeth chattering. "I imagined I was playing 'Dixie.' I would have played 'Yankee Doodle' if it would have stopped the firing."
Sept. 20
Morning - fresh attack near Snodgrass Hill and Union artillery. Firing for six hours. "The woods caught fire burning our wounded men before we could take them up."
Captured the hill and Kelly Field. Palmer wounded again.
Sept. 22
Marched 11 miles to Missionary Ridge and camped for two months "in plain view of the enemy." There was no firing and "we became very friendly exchanging tobacco for coffee and reading each other's newspapers when the officers were not watching us.. Our lines were only one hundred yards apart."
Senjt to Lookout Mountain
Nov. 25 - Back to Miss Ridge
When he heard the signal for the Federals to advance, he stood on the breastworks to watch.
"As far as I could seethere was nothing but solid lines of battle moving toward us from every direction. It seemed as though the earth was on fire. The volumes of smoke formed dark, heavy clouds, and nothing could be heard but the roar of cannons and musketry, which echoed from hill to hill. The pitiful groans of the wounded and dying men were lost in the din of battle. A portion of the hillside was literally covered with dead and wounded soldiers."
Evacuated down the southern slope of Mss Ridge. . back to Dalton Ga. There was plenty to eat and new recruits. March 22 was an all-day snowball fight.
April 25 1864
Sent northeast to Rocky Face Ridge, about five miles from Dalton.
May 2 - saw 14 men from North Carolina lined up and shot for desertion. Few days later fought with Sherman's forces. His brigade on top of a ridge. At night on picket duty the Yanks wopuld call out "o Johnny Reb don't roll any rocks down on us." They would answer "All right Billy Yank, if you don't shoot."
Resaca
On the march to Resaca, ended up behind TN32, which started shooting at the 18th in near dark.
Evening of May 14 - repelled a Federal force in the woods.
"For 71 days we were not out of hearing distance of small arms."
May 23 - New Hope Church - Sltoona Pass
May 27 - New Hope - seven days of shooting
Kennesaw Mountain - Standing on a hill near Johnston and Polk when Polk killed Next day was the battle.
Through Marietta - July 7
Chattahoochie River - July 22
At Peach Tree Creek when Union Gen. McPherson killed. He was surrounded by Confederates and tried to gallop away.
Hampton captured - sent to Camp Chase in Columbus OH - near starvation - one loaf of bread for five men - and smallpox.
Feb. 65 - exchanged fopr Union prisoners - returned home to Sumner County.
By Noah Jasper Hampton, Nashville, 1898
Printed by the author
Excerpts
Hampton was 16 when he left home and joined "Buck" Joyner's company - Co. B of the 18th Tennessee Infantry
Jan. 2, 1896
Stones River
"When the signal gun fired we marched forward, elbow to elbow, into the jaws of death." They marched across a cornfield and up a western slope. . . "They opend on us with fifty pieces of grape and canister, besides the musketry. This charge lasted about twentry-five minutes. Our men were mowed down until there were gaps of about twenty steps. I myself shot 34 cartridges. We were compelled to fall back, and that gave the enemy a chance to take good aim at us."
"During this charge our colonel, J. B. Palmer, was wounded three times, three flag bearers shot down, twenty-two bullet holes shot in the banner, and a flagstaff cut half in two."
The Confederates withdrew to Wartrace, then to Cattanooga, then they gave up Chattanooga. His unit ca,ped in Jasper, then moved to Chackamauga Creek on Sept. 18.
Sept. 19 - morning, waded a creek over knee deep.
" My three days of rations gave out in twenty-four hours as I was a hearty eater. . . my comrades called me 'Long Hungry.' "
"There was such a volume of smoke we could not distinguish the enemy from our own men ten steps away. Longstreet's Corps made a right flank movement on the battery and infantry, and our regiment, thinking that they were our enemies, fired a volley into them, killing and wounding thirty or forty of our men."
Cold that night. . stayed on the field with the dead. Some smoked and when they would light up, the Federals fired a volley. His teeth chattering. "I imagined I was playing 'Dixie.' I would have played 'Yankee Doodle' if it would have stopped the firing."
Sept. 20
Morning - fresh attack near Snodgrass Hill and Union artillery. Firing for six hours. "The woods caught fire burning our wounded men before we could take them up."
Captured the hill and Kelly Field. Palmer wounded again.
Sept. 22
Marched 11 miles to Missionary Ridge and camped for two months "in plain view of the enemy." There was no firing and "we became very friendly exchanging tobacco for coffee and reading each other's newspapers when the officers were not watching us.. Our lines were only one hundred yards apart."
Senjt to Lookout Mountain
Nov. 25 - Back to Miss Ridge
When he heard the signal for the Federals to advance, he stood on the breastworks to watch.
"As far as I could seethere was nothing but solid lines of battle moving toward us from every direction. It seemed as though the earth was on fire. The volumes of smoke formed dark, heavy clouds, and nothing could be heard but the roar of cannons and musketry, which echoed from hill to hill. The pitiful groans of the wounded and dying men were lost in the din of battle. A portion of the hillside was literally covered with dead and wounded soldiers."
Evacuated down the southern slope of Mss Ridge. . back to Dalton Ga. There was plenty to eat and new recruits. March 22 was an all-day snowball fight.
April 25 1864
Sent northeast to Rocky Face Ridge, about five miles from Dalton.
May 2 - saw 14 men from North Carolina lined up and shot for desertion. Few days later fought with Sherman's forces. His brigade on top of a ridge. At night on picket duty the Yanks wopuld call out "o Johnny Reb don't roll any rocks down on us." They would answer "All right Billy Yank, if you don't shoot."
Resaca
On the march to Resaca, ended up behind TN32, which started shooting at the 18th in near dark.
Evening of May 14 - repelled a Federal force in the woods.
"For 71 days we were not out of hearing distance of small arms."
May 23 - New Hope Church - Sltoona Pass
May 27 - New Hope - seven days of shooting
Kennesaw Mountain - Standing on a hill near Johnston and Polk when Polk killed Next day was the battle.
Through Marietta - July 7
Chattahoochie River - July 22
At Peach Tree Creek when Union Gen. McPherson killed. He was surrounded by Confederates and tried to gallop away.
Hampton captured - sent to Camp Chase in Columbus OH - near starvation - one loaf of bread for five men - and smallpox.
Feb. 65 - exchanged fopr Union prisoners - returned home to Sumner County.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Reed: NY185 battles
Quaker Road
Source: The Union Army, vol. 5QUAKER ROAD, VA
Source: The Union Army, vol. 5QUAKER ROAD, VA
MARCH 29TH, 1865
(Also known as Gravelly Run)
Quaker Road, Va., March 29, 1865. 1st Division, 5th Army Corps. When Gen. Grant began, on the morning of March 29, to extend his lines to the left, to envelop the right of the Confederate works in front of Petersburg, the 5th corps, Maj.-Gen. G. K. Warren commanding, moved out at 3 a.m. to the junction of the Vaughan and Quaker roads where a junction was to be effected with the left of the 2nd corps. About 5 o'clock the enemy's skirmishers were driven away from the crossing of Rowanty creek, and at 8 o'clock the head of Warren's column reached the cross-roads. About noon he received an order from headquarters to move up the Quaker road to the little creek called Gravelly run.
Description of Gravelly Run from
"Happiness is not my companion"
By David M. Jordan
Description from Encyclopedia of the American Civil War
By David Stephen Heidle
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