Here's a picture taken of my Great Grandfather with his grandson just before the latter embarked to Europe during the "Great War." The firearms they carry are obviously not indicative of those that were used in Europe at the time, but it provides an interesting continuity.
What follows is a brief account of my Great Grandfather's experience, transcribed by my Great Uncle, in what was called at the time the "War Between the States," because we didn't realize how typical it would become. Just for the sake of recollection and to provide a sense of how easy it isn't. If you'd like to consult an historical review of the events recounted in my Great Grandfather's narrative check out a book by Charles Bracelen Flood entitled, Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War.
It might be of interest to the readers to get some first-hand experiences of one who was in the Civil War, told in his own words a few months before his death.“I enlisted on President Lincoln’s first call for volunteers, at Key Stone Furnace in Gallia County, Ohio, July 13, 1861. This was in the 27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Much of the equipment at the training camp was poor. They had no guns. Very few of the soldiers knew how to shoot a gun and hardly knew which end of the gun was to be used. In training we used sticks for guns
“Our first assignment was to reinforce Mulligan at Lexington, Missouri. Lexington surrendered before we could bring up reinforcements. Our forced march took us 45 miles in two days, one right after the other. At Camden Hill we slept twenty minutes. Then we woke up only to find the Rebels had surrounded us in the dark. There was only one way out. We sneaked out, but it meant another forced march through some awful rain. Evidently we were not heard for we escaped an engagement. We marched on to Kansas City, a pretty miserable lot. You see our company had only two mules and one wagon. We had thrown our tents away during the march and our provisions were so scanty that we almost starved. Finally we went back to Lexington, 200 miles, for rations. All we had was a pint of cornmeal a day. Before the winter was over we were ordered back to Springfield, Missouri. In February we joined in the attack on Fort Donaldson [i.e. Fort Donelson].
“Some of the troops refused to walk to St. Louis. From St. Louis we took boats to Cairo, New Madrid and Island No. 10. We crossed the Mississippi in small boats and captured a bunch of Rebels. Our next move was down to Fort Pillow, and up the Tennessee River to the siege of Corinth and Iuka and Atlanta. [Although he began the Siege of Atlanta he mustered out before the city actually fell.] On October 22 and 23, 1862, we attacked Price and Van Doren [General Sterling Price and General Earl Van Dorn] from Missouri. During the first day of the encounter, our division was not in. We watched the movement of Price.
“On the second day we were put in the line of battle. Shells were thrown in. Price drew off the second day. If we had followed we could have captured the whole bunch. This country was mainly swamp. We buried our dead in a deep well [emphasis added]. The next morning we captured quite a bunch of Rebels. We followed them for two or three days to Mobile. [This may have been a slight exaggeration, since Mobile was very far south, near the Gulf. But since they marched 40 to 50 miles in a day, it's just barely possible.] Nothing to eat, no salt, and no bread, but we killed some cows and that helped. So we returned to Corinth and passed on the way a field of sweet potatoes and many got sick from eating them. We then stayed in Corinth awhile. Our next campaign was at Jackson, Miss.
“The 27th and 39th O.V. Regiments were together throughout the war and with the 43rd and 63rd made up the 4th Brigade. This drive was made against Forest (Nathan Bedford Forrest). Forest evidently retreated through a timbered section and eluded the Ohio Brigade. We finally returned to Corinth.
“The next order was to start for Vicksburg. We had no shoes or clothes worth speaking of. Our regiment was given a three months rest while we guarded Memphis. We were within one day’s march of Lookout Mountain. We then started our march to the Atlantic [emphasis added]. My four years were up and I was mustered out. [Although he indicated four years enlistment in the narrative that was clearly a mistake. Enlistment was for three years, which means he mustered out on July 13, 1864.] If I had known Sherman was starting his march to the sea, I would have reenlisted. [This is about as politically incorrect as it gets, but he clearly meant it. Sherman's "march to the sea" is what really ended the war, even though Appomattox was later.]
“In looking back, one of the strangest things about the war was the small ailments that men died of. A blister, indigestion, or a touch of flu would put a man under, when in ordinary circumstances, or at home, he would have been well in a couple of days. Thirteen of the biggest men in the Company had measles. Of course, there being no wagons, they had to shift along. All were dead in less than twelve months [emphasis added]. Our equipment consisted of an old rifle that would kick you down and kick you after you fell, a saber, a bayonet, and belt.” [It isn't clear whether the muskets in the picture were the weapons referred to, but odds are he's holding his musket and the one held by his grandson was actually his brother's. All three brothers in the family served under Sherman.]
Update: By complete coincidence, or perhaps "brain jazz," Gerard Vanderleun just posted a picture (together with a stunning poem) of what appears to be part of Forrest's cavalry, that eluded my Great Granddad's unit. The picture of the Confederate troopers was taken in 1917, so could have been taken within months of the picture above. Well, they could have been taken on the same day for all I know.
That's a family story to treasure. How different the Civil War looks when seen from one particular enlisted man's perspective.
Enlisting at about the same time as your great grandfather, all of them in the 23rd Ohio Volunteers, were Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, and future Supreme Court Justice T. Stanley Matthews.
Both Grant and Sherman were from Ohio. So were William Rosecrans (first commander of the 23rd), Phil Sheridan, George McClellan, John Pope, Irwin McDowell, Don Carlos Buell, Joe Hooker, James Garfield (who served as Rosecrans' chief of staff - Rosecrans commanded three future presidents during the war), James McPherson, George Armstrong Custer, and Confederate General Bushrod Johnson.
During the Vicksburg campaign, Sherman asked a captured Confederate general if he had relatives in Ohio, since he knew a family with the same name. The man replied "I don't have any relatives north of the damned Ohio River, and wouldn't want any." Sherman wrote, "I gave that man a piece of my mind, which he did not relish."
There was very likely a town (or at least a point on the map) called Mobile in the area in 1864. The swampy area he refers to is the upper reach of the Mobile River Basin.
Thanks for sharing your family's story. Been to some of these places myself. The Lexington battlesite is a pretty good site. I imagine your Great Grandfather meant that he followed rebels on the road towards Mobile for 2-3 days. Soldiers never exagerate.
Good point Glen. The Tombigbee River originates in NE Mississippi before flowing into the Mobile River. Any number of possibilities could exist from this.
Thanks Glen, for providing some historical perspective. One of the things I hadn't noticed about this account until now is the fact that although he talks about capturing some "Rebels," and about compatriots who died, he never mentions having killed any of the enemy. It's fairly certain that since he took part in a number of pitched battles his unit had killed men, and he may well have himself. Yet he only talks about having captured or having attempted to capture them. It represents a kind of patriotic modesty that's virtually the opposite of triumphalism.
Thank you, Armed Liberal, for sharing that family history.
The chronology here needs a bit of sorting - Iuka and Corinth are in the northeast corner of Mississippi - Atlanta was many months and many miles later.
The 27th was part of Rosecrans' army that badly defeated Van Dorn and Price at Corinth on October 3-4, 1862. Although he is very specific about the date, I wonder if this is the battle he means, and if he is actually describing the 2nd and 3rd of October.
After Corinth, Van Dorn fled into Mississippi to face a court-martial. Grant, who loved to chase people, was very upset with Rosecrans for failing to pursue him. I don't think the 27th could have fought Van Dorn as late as October 22nd. Either the date is misremembered, or it was a force not belonging to Price or Van Dorn.
As always when reading these recollections, I wish he had written much more. If there is any more, please post it.
Glen:
I noticed that. Remember this is a second-hand recollection, and I just don't know any of the details about how it was compiled. My uncle actually recorded it in a small book in the 1960s, of which there are only a few extant copies. This was the only reference to his father's war experiences, and his father died at the age of 89 in 1927. My uncle clearly misspells a few proper names, so might have easily transcribed the date incorrectly too. According to Flood, Iuka was on September 19th and Price and Van Dorn were repulsed from Corinth shortly after that. (For context, Antietam was on September 17th.)
The so-called "siege of Corinth" was in May, but as you know it was more like a slow march by Halleck that allowed Beuregard to evacuate Corinth. Grant called it "a siege on the move" but that was charitable. When they finally got to Corinth no one was waiting for them.
There's also that tantalizing bit about having attacked Price and Van Dorn "from Missouri." I don't know what that means. It'd be great to get an actual chronological history of the 27th and/or the Ohio Brigade.
David Blue:
I don't think Marc's ancestors were anywhere near Mississippi or Alabama during this period. We are both good looking, though.
There's also that tantalizing bit about having attacked Price and Van Dorn "from Missouri." I don't know what that means.
I wonder if he meant an attack "from Mississippi." After Corinth, Van Dorn retreated to Tennessee and was pursued by the Union from Mississippi. The dates would still be wrong since the "Battle of Hatchie's Bridge" took place October 4, 1862. The result was also the failure to capture or destroy Van Dorn. Otherwise, it really doesn't make much sense for these Union forces to be anywhere near Missouri a couple weeks after Corinth.
Sorry, I meant October 5, 1862.
We then stayed in Corinth awhile. Our next campaign was at Jackson, Miss.
I also wonder if he meant Jackson, TN. The next section talks about chasing Bedford Forrest, who in the Winter of 1862 attacked Jackson TN, really for the purpose of engaging the Union while his men destroyed the railroads that could supply Grant in his campaign on Vicksburg.
I think he meant Price from Missouri. Price operated mainly in Missouri during the war, and that would have been well known to any soldier who had ever been stationed at Springfield.
Your great-grandfather did an excellent job of reporting the unit's activities.
Although their paths crossed several times, his unit never fought beside my great-great-grandfather, Charles Wagner's, the 59th Illinois. He enlisted in 1861 and re-upped when that enlistment was over, serving as a captain until mustering out at the end of the war. I've got a picture of him in his captain's uniform somewhere around here.
Demosophist:
Here is a link to a chronological summary of the 27th, courtesy of the National Park Serive which has wonderful tools on Civil War battlefields, but I didn't realize it had regimental histories as well.
Link