Official History’s Second Day:

The following is the how David Wilson Reed described the second day’s fighting in the first edition of the official history. A few years later a new edition was published by Reed which included the addition of some new paragraphs. It seems that all existing paragraphs were kept the exact same but new items were added. In the case of the second day's actions Reed added six paragraph's from General Beauregard's article in Century Magazine (which eventually became the Battles and Leaders set of books). This version, first edition, is from the Ohio Commission’s dedication book:

The early and determined advance of the Union Army soon convinced General Beauregard that fresh troops had arrived. He, however, made his disposition as rapidly as possible to meet the advance by sending General Hardee to his right, General Bragg to his left, General Polk to left center and General Breckinridge to right center with orders to each to put the Confederate troops into line of battle
without regard to their original organizations. These officers hurried
their staff officers to all parts of the field and soon formed a line for
Hardee, with Chalmers on the right in Stuart’s camps. Next to him was
Colonel Wheeler, in command of Jackson’s old brigade; then Colonel Preston Smith
with remnant of B. R. Johnson’s Brigade; Colonel Maney with Stephen’s Brigade;
then came Stewart, Cleburne, Statham and Martin under Breckinridge; Trabue,
across the main Corinth road just west of Duncan’s, with Anderson and Gibson to
his left under Polk; then Wood, Russell and Pond, under Bragg, finishing the
line to Owl Creek. Very few brigades were intact; the different regiments
were hurried into line from their bivouacs and placed under the command of the
nearest brigade officer, and were then detached and sent from one part of the
field to another as they were needed to reenforce threatened points, until it is
impossible to follow movements or determine just where each regiment was
engaged.

Monday’s battle opened by the advance of General Lew Wallace’s Division on the
Union right, attacking Pond’s Brigade in Hare’s Brigade camp, and was continued
on that flank by a left wheel of Wallace, extending his right until he gained
the Confederate left flank. Nelson’s Division commenced its advance at
daylight and soon developed the Confederate line of battle behind the peach
orchard. He then waited for Crittenden and McCook to get into position and
then commenced the attack upon Hardee in which he was soon joined by all troops
on the field. The fighting seems to have been most stubborn in the center,
where Hazen, Crittenden and McCook were contending with the forces under Polk
and Breckinridge upon the same ground where W. H. L. Wallace and Prentiss fought
on Sunday.

The 20,000 fresh troops in the Union Army made the contest an unequal one, and,
though stubbornly contested for a time, at about 2 o’clock General Beauregard
ordered the withdrawal of his army. To secure the withdrawal he placed
Colonel Looney, of the 38th Tennessee, with his regiment, augmented by
detachments form other regiments, at Shiloh Church, directing him to charge the
Union center. In this charge Colonel Looney passed Sherman’s headquarters
and pressed the Union line back to the Purdy road; at the same time General
Beauregard sent batteries across Shiloh Branch and placed them on the high
ground beyond. With these arrangements Beauregard at 4 o’clock safely
crossed Shiloh Branch with his army and placed his rear guard under Breckinridge
in line upon the ground occupied by his army on Saturday night. The
Confederate Army retired leisurely to Corinth, while the Union Army returned to
the badly demoralized camps that it had occupied before the battle.[1]

[1] Ohio at Shiloh pp 111-2.

Lewis M. Hosea

When Grant wrote in 1885 that Shiloh had been “persistently misunderstood” he was only commenting on the past 23 years of research but the same statement still holds in true some respects today. Since then Shiloh has continued to be misunderstood and is perhaps even more confusing. When the Shiloh Battlefield Commission issued an official history with detailed maps in 1902 it would seem that the major events of the battle would become quite clear and that only the minor regimental actions would remain confusing. It would seem likely that an official history by a more or less impartial organization would be able to determine the most accurate history. In the years after the war several veterans gave presentations about what they did at Shiloh and while interesting to read they lack in a lot of details.

In 1908, however, Lewis M. Hosea made a presentation before the Ohio chapter of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) that did have many details and also attacked the official history written by park historian Major David Wilson Reed. Hosea, adjutant of the 16th United States Regular Infantry, directly criticized the official history as it concerned Rousseau’s brigade. His first complaint was that the official maps created before the official history was created were wrong. His chief problem with the maps was that on the second day map Wood’s division is shown taking part in the final attack of the day with Rousseau’s brigade, of which the 16th United States Regular Infantry was apart. Several accounts though state that Wood’s division did not arrive in time to do any fighting. Another point of contention for Hosea is that he perceives Buell’s army as not getting its full share of the laurels. In this respect he quotes from the reports submitted by McClernand, Grant, Captain Hugonin of the 12th Illinois and Lew Wallace to support his contention that the fighting on the second day lasted from dawn until at least 4 PM, if not 6 PM.. Hosea further stated that in 1901 he submitted a letter to the Shiloh Battlefield Commission in which he listed “some very serious errors in its official blue print maps,” along with references to “between thirty and forty” official reports. He says he was shocked to see in 1903 that the commission had published an official history. He was shocked because he did not believe it was the job of the Shiloh Battlefield Commission to produce a history. He was even more upset to see that the same errors he had written them about had not been corrected. Hosea states that the official history devotes 16 times the amount of pages to describe the first day’s actions as compared to the second day’s. Ht also states that the official history claims that at 2:30 PM the Confederate army began to withdraw without the knowledge of the Union forces. Hosea’s summary of the official history drips with sarcasm;

When we look at the maps to which we are referred in connection with this
account of the second day’s battle, the astonishing accuracy and completeness of
this contribution to history begins to dawn upon us. There we find that
the Union troops, after a late breakfast, came upon the field and did a little
skirmishing with the enemy, who, as the odds were against them, could not be
expected to stay in the game, and withdrew while the Union forces were at
dinner, without letting us know anything about it. . . . The final touch - "the
Union army returned to the camps it had occupied before the battle" - shows how
negligible a quality, in the mind of these able historians [the commission as a
whole], was the contribution of Buell’s fresh troops, who seem to have been
spectators, but nothing more.[1]

Concerning the numbers of pages devoted to each army Hosea’s complaint is pretty accurate. In the version printed in the Ohio Monument Commission’s Ohio at Shiloh, fourteen pages are devoted to preliminary events. Then nineteen pages are devoted to the battle with the second day being mentioned for only three paragraphs. Then there is an overview provided of what each brigade and division did during the battle. The Army of the Tennessee takes up 28 pages compared to 7 for the Army of the Ohio.[2]

Hosea’s complaints about the second day’s map concern mostly the times listed for certain actions than with the troop positions. Hosea first complaint is that the initial Union position is shown as 8 AM when he claims that his brigade had been fighting much earlier, and this is certainly the case. Nelson’s advance began at dawn and Crittenden’s troops followed soon after. According to the map the two armies are not close enough to be fighting each other until 10 AM, which is again quite false. Then there is a later Union position listed as being in Woolf Field at noon. Hosea’s division fought in this area earlier in the day, a fact stated on the map but not clearly enough for Hosea. The Union position is shown as a nearly solid line at noon except that McCook’s division within that line has its time stated as 11 AM. Thus although McCook’s men were in an advanced position for an hour that fact is not easily seen on the map and ignored in the official history.[3]

Other veterans also complained about the maps. Colonel William T Shaw of the 14th Iowa said, “Thom’s official map of the battlefield does not give the names of all of these roads and creeks, or give their position with any degree of accuracy. The best map of the battlefield I have seen is the map of General Buell in his article on the battle of Shiloh in the Century Magazine.”[4] The interesting part of that quote is that Buell’s map was drawn by Thom and the official map was drawn by Atwell Thompson. Obviously Shaw is confusing the two maps and so it is unclear exactly which map he thought was inaccurate.

At Shiloh there are divisional information markers for the Army of Ohio that give an overview of what each particular division did during the battle. These markers support the information given on the map. Nelson’s divisional marker says that the division advanced, “early Monday morning . . . and at 9 a.m. became engaged north of the Peach Orchard.” The marker for Crittenden’s division supports this saying, “The division became engaged about 10 a.m., in front of Hurlbut’s headquarters.” Concerning the morning action McCook’s divisional marker states that Rousseau’s and Kirk’s brigades, “arrived upon the field about 8 o’clock . . . and soon after advanced to Duncan Field where the 4th Brigade [Rousseau’s] became engaged.” Of particular interest in the Hosea case is that the marker then states that, “At about noon the division moved forward to the vicinity of McClernand’s headquarters where the 5th Brigade [Kirk’s] relieved the 4th and took position in the front line; the 6th Brigade [Gibson’s] at the same time arriving on the field and taking position on the left of the 5th. The division was engaged beyond Water Oaks Pond until the enemy retired.”[5]

The regimental monuments tell a slightly different story while the brigade markers support the divisional marker inscriptions. The monument for the three United States Regular Infantry Battalions says that they were engaged starting at 9:30. The 6th Indiana monument says that 8 AM they advanced under the fire of a battery of artillery. The 1st Ohio’s monument lists their opening engagement as 10 AM. These three regiments were in the same brigade so it seems very odd that they would list three different times for the opening engagement. It is possible, though somewhat unlikely, that their positions in the advancing line brought different parts of the brigade into combat at different times. According to Rousseau’s report, and supported by markers on the battlefield, the 6th Indiana was on the brigade left, followed by the 1st Ohio, then the US Regular Infantry battalions and finally the 5th Kentucky on the far right.[6] This positioning does not make a gradual left to right engagement of the brigade possible to achieve the times stated on the monuments. The official reports do not clarify the matter any as two regiments, 1st Ohio and 5th Kentucky, did not have reports printed in the Official Records and the other two, 6th Indiana and the three United States Regular units, did not state any particular times.[7]

The first marker for Rousseau’s brigade states that it formed in line in Stacy Field at 8 AM and advanced at 9 AM. The second brigade marker says that they were engaged in Woolf Field at noon. The 5th Kentucky’s marker says that they were “engaged here, in reserve line, from 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.”[8] These markers contradict the official map because it lists McCook’s division entering Woolf Field at 11 AM while the markers state the time as noon.

Among the other second day markers at Shiloh there is some agreement and some disagreement with the map. The map places Lew Wallace’s division north of Jones Field at 8 AM but the markers in that area place the time at 10 AM.[9] Three other brigade markers, Ammen’s, Bruce’s and Hazen’s, provide the non specific description that they advanced in the morning.[10] Another three markers place brigades in position at 8 AM and two of them, both in Crittenden’s division, mention fighting at that time. Smith’s brigade marker in Cloud Field says that they, “formed here at 8 a.m. April 7, 1862 and advanced, skirmishing, 500 yards.” The marker for Boyle’s brigade, also in Cloud Field, is nearly identical saying the brigade, “formed here at 8 a.m. April 7, 1862. It advanced, in reserve, 500 yards, and there became engaged.” The marker for Kirk’s brigade places in on the northern edge of Cloud Field at 8 AM but says that it was in reserve.[11] The official map also shows these brigades in the positions mentioned on the markers but the nearest Confederate divisions are nowhere nearby, perhaps half a mile away, and are marked as being held from 6 to 10 AM. In fact there is another set of Union positions between that Confederate position and the 8 AM Union position. According to the map there would be no Confederates for Smith’s and Boyle’s brigade to skirmish with.

The next Army of the Ohio marker in the time line is one for Mendenhall’s battery in Wicker Field. This marker states that they were engaged there from 9 AM to noon but the map puts the battery in Wicker Field from 10 AM to noon but not at 9 AM. The 6th Kentucky, Terrill’s Battery and Bruce’s brigade also have markers in this vicinity but they cite action in the 10 AM to noon period.[12] The final four markers for Army of the Ohio units are all for Kentucky regiments in Crittenden’s division. These markers concern the 11th and 26th Kentucky of Smith’s brigade and the 9th and 13th Kentucky of Boyle’s brigade. All describe fighting beginning at 10:30 AM and lasting an unspecified time.[13] The map does show these units being engaged at that time period.

The officers of the Army of the Ohio were nearly unanimous in their reports at putting the opening of the battle closer to 6 AM than 8 or 10 AM. Buell said that “Soon after 5 o’clock on the morning of the 7th General Nelson’s and General Crittenden’s divisions, the only ones yet arrived on the ground, moved promptly forward to meet the enemy. Nelson’s division, marching in line of battle, soon came upon his pickets, drove them in, and at about 6 o’clock received the fire of his artillery.”[14] Nelson supports Buell’s report and places initial conflict even earlier in the day, “At 5:20 I found them [the Confederates], and the action commenced with vigor. My division drove them with ease, and I followed them up rapidly, when at 6 a.m. I was halted by commands from General Buell, I having gone farther forward than I should have done, my right flank being exposed. The enemy was greatly re-enforced in front of me, and at 7 a.m. my advance, which had been resumed by order of General Buell, was checked. At 7.30 my division began to give ground slowly.”[15] Two of Nelson’s three brigade commanders did little to clarify the time of initial contact. Ammen only mentions that the brigade was in motion at daylight. Hazen mentions no times whatsoever. Bruce, however, claims that his skirmishers were fighting about 5 AM and that “between 9 and 10 o’clock a.m. the Second Kentucky Regiment was ordered to charge a battery on our right.”[16] If the 2nd Kentucky was in position to charge a battery at that time it is very likely that they had been engaged with them for at least a little while before then.

The reports for Crittenden’s division only give information for when the troops were in motion. Crittenden says that Buell led his men into place at 5 AM. Boyle also mentions 5 AM for first movement and Smith places movement at 6 AM. The same holds true for much of McCook’s division. McCook’s report mentions his arrival at Pittsburg Landing at 5 AM but after that he does not provide enough times to decipher when initial contact took place. No reports exist for any units of Kirk’s brigade, possibly because Kirk was wounded during the battle. Gibson’s brigade did not reach Pittsburg Landing until 11 AM so he had no direct knowledge of when initial contact was made. Luckily Rousseau’s report, of which Hosea was part of, offers several times so that the time of initial contact can be determined. He says that the brigade formed in line just after 6 AM. About half an hour later they moved forward 200 to 300 yards and then 30 to 40 minutes after that (now about 7 AM) his skirmishers were forced in by the Confederates.[17] By that chronology Rousseau’s skirmishers were probably attacked some time after 6:30 AM. Combined with reports from Nelson’s division it seems clear that there was skirmishing until about 7 AM when the attack reached the main lines and would have become general. This is at least an hour earlier than the field markers state.

Rousseau adds a bit more information to his report, claiming the designations of some of the units his brigade faced. He claims that they faced, among other units, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Kentucky.[18] There are five markers for these units at Shiloh of which two deal with actions of the second day.[19] The first of these markers is in the western edge of Duncan Field and states that Trabue’s brigade was engaged there until 10.30 a.m. when it fell back to near Shiloh Church. Its final marker is near Shiloh Church, now in the modern cemetery for residents of the Shiloh area, and says simply that this was the location of the final engagement for Trabue’s brigade. In the Official Records none of the individual regiments of Trabue’s brigade have reports included, only Trabue’s report is printed. Trabue’s report confirms the placement of the first marker in Duncan Field. He also says that his brigade did fall back to near Shiloh Church for the final action of the day. Trabue does not mention any times so the time of the ending of the battle is still in doubt.[20] Rousseau’s declaration of what units his men faced does confirm the placement of Rousseau’s brigade. It is pretty clear that his brigade fought Trabue’s brigade in the area from Duncan Field to Shiloh Church. This case can be made due to consistencies of the two reports and also because the markers for both brigades are in the same areas. What still remains unclear is when the fighting began and when Rousseau’s brigade entered Woolf Field. It does seem pretty clear though that the initial fighting took place closer to 6 AM then the 8 AM listed on the battlefield markers.

The action at Woolf Field is still in some doubt. From Daniel’s book one would get the impression that Sherman and McClernand got to the field about noon and later Rousseau’s brigade showed up. In this instance it is unclear if Daniel understood the terrain when he wrote, “Only Stanford’s Mississippi Battery, on the eastern edge of Review Field, remained to offer resitance . . . . The Mississippi gunners held their fire until Rousseau’s and Boyle’s troops came within canister range.”[21] Rousseau’s men never ventured south of the road running through the northern end of Duncan Field while Boyle’s brigade moved along a road on the eastern side of Duncan Field. Measuring on a modern map from the northeastern corner of Review Field to the closest positions that Rousseau’s or Boyle’s men would have been in places Rousseau’s brigade about 330 yards away and Boyle’s 500 yards away, hardly what could be called canister range especially considering the trees that would have been between Stanford’s Battery and any Union units advancing on it from the north or east (the most likely origins of attack). The last position marker for Stanford’s Battery is on the western edge of Duncan Field which would give it a clear field of fire to Rousseau’s or Boyle’s brigade and decreased the distance to Rousseau’s men to 200 yards but made the distance to Boyle’s troops about the same. This position marker though does make it less likely that Rousseau’s troops reached Woolf Field at 11 AM as the Reed map and Hosea claim as the marker states that Stanford’s Battery was captured at that spot about 11 AM. Even if Rousseau’s men did not capture that battery, and Stanford’s Battery is one of the three that it is very unclear as to who captured it, they very likely did not bypass the battery en-route to Woolf Field.[22]

As yet another example of the confusion that reigned at Shiloh is from research begun by Colonel William T Shaw of the 14th Iowa. To illustrate his point Shaw compared Union and Confederate reports regarding the early morning fighting on the first day in Buckland’s brigade of Sherman’s division. Shaw quotes Buckland’s report that claims, “The enemy’s loss was very heavy in front of this [Buckland’s] brigade. Eighty-five bodies of the enemy were counted along and at the foot of the ravine flanked by the Seventy-second [Ohio] Regiment, among which was the body of Colonel Mouton, of the Eighteenth Louisiana Regiment. . . . Large numbers of dead bodies were found on the enemy’s line opposite our front, to the left of the Eighty-fifth*, in the ravine. I think I may safely put the number of killed by my brigade in that action at two hundred."[23] Shaw then quotes Colonel Mouton’s report of the fight which closes with the statement, "Company F had one private killed and another wounded.”[24] Clearly Mouton was not among the dead in front of Buckland’s brigade and his regiment lost so little that it likely was not even his men in front of Buckland’s brigade. To cement his point Shaw also quotes the report of the 16th Louisiana, which was on the right of Mouton’s 18th Louisiana. “The participation of the regiment in the action of the 6th, though it was frequently exposed to the fire of the enemy during the morning and was subjected to occasional losses in consequence of its exposure, was not, perhaps, sufficiently important to justify a special notice of its movements till in the afternoon.”[25] Shaw closes by saying that this area of the battlefield is near the Shiloh Church and its small cemetery and that after the battle when he passed by this spot there were many Confederate dead there in rows and more were being carried to there. It is Shaw’s belief that the Confederates either intended to bury their dead at the Shiloh Church cemetery or that it was a convenient place to gather the dead and that this is why Buckland later found so many dead Confederates near where his brigade fought. Shaw also believes that the initial fighting by Buckland’s brigade lasted only ten minutes or so. It appears though that Shaw confused the reference to Mouton as being the main attack on Buckland. The main attack on Buckland came from Cleburne and Buckland was able to halt that advance and hold his position for about two hours. The three modern studies of the battle agree on this point as does a position marker on the battlefield that states that Cleburne's brigade attacked at 8 a.m. “and was repulsed with severe loss. Being reenforced it advanced again and at 10 a.m. drove back the Union line beyond Shiloh Church.”[26]


[1] Hosea, Lewis M. “The Second Day at Shiloh.” In Sketches of War History Read Before the Ohio Commandery Volume 6. (Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1993.) p. 214. The "returned to the camps it had occupied before the battle" was upsetting to Hosea and other veterans of Buell’s army as they had no camps on the battlefield and so it seemed to them that the historian was saying the only troops that fought on the second day were from Grant’s army.
[2] Ohio at Shiloh. pp 80-151. The complete three paragraphs that Reed devotes to the second day’s fighting will appear as a post tomorrow.
[3] Hosea, “The Second Day at Shiloh.” pp. 208-15.
[4] Shaw, “The Battle of Shiloh.” p 185.
[5] Markers K, L & J.
[6] OR 10:1, 308.
[7] OR 10:1, 311-14.
[8] Monuments 29, 77 & 119. Markers 278, 279 & 280.
[9] Markers 292, 293 & 294.
[10] Markers 262, 266 & 269.
[11] Markers 272, 275 & 281.
[12] Marker 289, 270, 265 & 267.
[13] Markers 273, 276, 295 & 296.
[14] OR 10:1, 293
[15] OR 10:1, 324
[16] OR 10:1, 348-9
[17] OR 10:1, 307-8
[18] OR 10:1, 308.
[19] The markers are actually all for Trabue’s brigade which according to the marker also consisted of the 4th Alabama Battalion, 31st Alabama, and Crew’s Tennessee Battalion. According to the Official Records Trabue’s brigade also consisted of Byrne’s Battery and Lyon’s Battery (which might have been Cobb’s Battery). [Ref: OR 10:1, 384] There are no regimental markers for the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Kentucky. Markers 448, 449, and 469 concern actions of the first day. The other two markers, 454 and 455, are for the second day.
[20] OR 10:1, 617-9.
[21] Daniel, Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War, p 284.
[22] Measurements on Trailhead Graphics map. Marker 323.
* In Buckland’s official report he does not say “Eighty-fifth,” he instead says “85.” The “Eighty-fifth” reference is not to a regiment but is a the number of bodies he claims to have found. (Ref: OR 10:1, 267.)
[23] Shaw, “The Battle of Shiloh” Iowa MOLLUS Vol 1, p 204.
[24] Shaw, “The Battle of Shiloh” Iowa MOLLUS Vol 1, p 205.
[25] Shaw, “The Battle of Shiloh” Iowa MOLLUS Vol 1, p 206.
[26] Marker 425

William Sooy Smith

There is one final chapter to the controversy regarding the captured gun at Shiloh. At the March 3rd, 1897 meeting of the Wisconsin MOLLUS captain FH Magdeburg of the 14th Wisconsin read a paper on his regiment’s action at Shiloh. He was prompted to do this because of an attack made by General William Sooy Smith* upon the 14th Wisconsin’s record. On October 13th, 1892 Smith read a paper before the Illinois MOLLUS in which he said the following:

At the battle of Shiloh, on the second day, my brigade consisted of four
regiments, three of which were in line, and one was in reserve in a sheltered
position a couple of hundred yards to the rear. On our right was Barnett’s
Battery, supported by my strongest regiment. This regiment had just come
to the front a full thousand strong. It was perfectly green, and without
drill, discipline or experience. It had received its arms but a few days
or weeks before the battle; but this I did not know, as it was assigned to my
brigade only the day before the fight. In the morning we were fiercely
attacked by the enemy, and this regiment broke and ran away in spite of every
effort that could be made to rally it. Barnett’s Battery was left without
support, and was for a time in imminent danger of capture. My reserve
regiment, numbering about five hundred men, was brought up as quickly as
possible, and took its place in line, opening fire just in time to repulse the
enemy. I saw nothing more of my big regiment of raw recruits during the
fight. A year or two after the war closed, I saw in the principal hotel of
a neighboring city a large picture representing a regiment charging in gallant
style. Its alignment was perfect, and all its company and field officers
were in their proper places. And what was my surprise when I read the
legend, “Gallant charge of the -- regiment at the battle of Shiloh,” the very
regiment whose conduct I have described![1]

Later in the day it was the good fortune of my brigade to capture Stanford’s
Mississippi Battery of six guns. We bivouacked on the field that night
about the position that had been occupied by this battery. The next
morning it was found that two of the guns had disappeared. Search was made
for them, and it was discovered that one of the pieces had gone to replace a gun
that had been lost by one of our batteries during the first day’s fight.
No trace of the other could then be found; but I have since been informed that
it is now at the capitol of the state from which my big regiment came, bearing
the inscription, “Captured at the Battle of Shiloh,” by this very
regiment. I could perhaps pardon the conduct of the regiment on the field;
but the lying picture and the theft are without excuse or palliation.[2]

This obviously aroused Captain Magdeburg’s fighting blood. As president of his regimental association he took it as his job to refute all claims against the honor and valor of his regiment. He did not find out about Smith’s comments until January 1896 but he then immediately applied to the Illinois Military Order Of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) for a chance to speak at one of their meetings to refute the charges directly. He was told that all meeting programs were full and that he should contact them again after their annual elections in May. He then applied again and after a long delay was told that his application had “been overlooked or mislaid” and that once again all dates were filled until after the next annual election. Since Captain Magdeburg could not directly refute the charges to the Illinois MOLLUS he decided to do so before the Wisconsin MOLLUS.

He started off by stating that the 14th Wisconsin had organized at Camp Wood in November 1861, had received its arms in early January and was mustered into Federal service later in the month. The regiment had received drill from the time it entered camp until it left camp on March 8th. They then went to St. Louis where drill was done and then went to Savannah where drill was also done.[3]

“An officer is forever estopped denying the truthfulness of an official report of a subaltern, if he fails, at time or receiving and forwarding the same, to endorse such report as incorrect or untruthful,” Magdeburg said in his rebuttal. With that military rule in mind Magdeburg wrote to the Record and Pension Office in Washington D.C. asking them to look at the reports placed by Colonel Wood to see if Smith wrote anything on them. Since Wood’s reports stated that he captured a battery and that his men spiked two guns if Smith did not write anything on those reports then by Magdeburg’s reasoning they had to be accurate. The Record and Pension Office wrote back that there were no endorsements on Wood’s reports. To Magdeburg’s mind this solved that issue.[4] At this late date from the battle it is nearly impossible to declare one way or the other who did what. In light of all the evidence though it seems very probable that the 14th Wisconsin did capture that battery and did not steal the gun to take to the capitol. One thing in the 14th Wisconsin’s favor concerning endorsements is that Smith had graduated sixth in his class at West Point in 1853 and so it can be presumed that he knew about the proper way to dispute a subordinate’s report.[5]

It should be remembered that in General Smith’s report he made no mention of the cowardice of the 14th Wisconsin. He did however acknowledge that the other three regiments “each have cause to regret and detest the conduct of a few of their officers and men.”[6] If this gun was taken from him during the night why did he not mention that fact in his report? Also these guns were captured in part because the horses that would have pulled them away had been killed. For someone to steal it during they night they would have needed a team of horses or a good amount of manpower. If Smith is to believed in 1892, this happened to him twice during the night and no one saw or heard it happen. There would have been guards up at night. There were soldiers looking around for missing comrades. It also probably would have been a tough night to sleep because there were dead bodies near by (some of them a day old and pretty smelly) and also wounded men moaning for aid. Somehow with this many distractions from sleep Smith’s men did not see or hear someone come along and steal two cannons from his command.

Finally, a cannon does not just end up magically in Madison. A cannon is a big heavy object that someone had to forcibly move. Since it is so heavy whoever took it did not act alone. Also since it is so big it is not easily concealed. Magdeburg remembered that when Governor Harvey came upriver he was presented with the cannon. Magdeburg thought that Halleck gave it to him but was not sure. When he wrote to the Record and Pension Office about the endorsement issue he also asked them to look for an order from Halleck presenting the cannon to the Governor. They looked through the orders up to September 1862 but did not find such an order.[7] In 1897 there were only two surviving members of Harvey’s trip. One was in a terrible mental and physical state and so Magdeburg could not contact him but the other ,George R. Stuntz, a legislator at the time of the trip, was in fine health. Stuntz wrote Magdeburg that he remembered the incident well and that it was Grant who let Harvey take the cannon home as a trophy.[8] Reed wrote in his history that the 14th Wisconsin “assisted in the capture of a battery, one gun of which was awarded to this regiment and sent to the State of Wisconsin.”[9]

Magdeburg was especially upset that Smith waited until 1892 to bring theses charges against the 14th Wisconsin because “the gravest of them - cowardice and theft - were known to him ever since the battle, while the other causes of his denunciations and attack had come to his knowledge one or two years after the close of the war.” He was particularly upset because Halleck, Grant and most members of Harvey’s trip were now dead and could not help refute the charge. Another of Magdeburg’s points was, “He must have known that, when he brought his accusations to public notice at so late a date, he placed his victims in an almost hopeless position to disprove his cruel and wanton charges. He must also have known that it would be an almost impossible task for any one to disprove by documentary evidence, a charge of theft, made over thirty years after the same is claimed to have been committed.”[10]



* Although a colonel at Shiloh, Smith would rise to the rank of Brigadier General.
[1] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” pp 176-7.
[2] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 177.
[3] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 178.
[4] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 184.
[5] Warner, Generals in Blue. p 464.
[6] OR 10:1 366
[7] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 184.
[8] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 186.
[9] Wisconsin Shiloh Monument Commission. p 210.
[10] Magdeburg, “The Fourteenth Wisconsin Infantry,” p 186.

Governor Louis P. Harvey

Governor Louis P. Harvey was inaugurated as Wisconsin’s governor on January 6, 1862. At his inauguration the 12th, 15th and 16th Wisconsin acted as a guard of honor during the procession to the capitol. He was the only Wisconsin governor that had this honor during the Civil War. Harvey was known as the “soldiers’ governor” because one of his pet projects was a relief fund for the families of soldiers. This fund combined with money sent home by soldiers would hopefully keep families financially stable.[1] His first message to the legislature on January 10th asked that the fund have enough funds to give every soldier’s family $10 a month. Instead the legislature allocated enough funds for $5 per month. In mid-February the State Treasurer informed Harvey that the relief fund was in desperate need of funds. Harvey went to the legislature again and begged for funds, claiming that “the $5 per month pledged by the state is the sole dependence of a helpless family against cold and hunger.”[2]

Following news of the battle Governor Harvey asked Surgeon General Wolcott for a list of articles that would be most needed on the battlefield. The list was published and soon the Governor had collected 90 boxes of supplies; 61 from Milwaukee, 13 from Madison, 9 from Janesville, 6 from Beloit and 1 from Clinton. He then left the state on April 10th to be with his troops in the field.[3] As Harvey left for the south he would have some good news for the soldiers, on April 5th the legislature allocated $50,000 for the relief fund.[4] The party consisted of Harvey, Commissary General Wadsworth, Surgeon General Wolcott, with a staff of eight medical assistants and General EH Brodhead.[5]

The Governor’s trip was reported by J.M. Bundy in the Milwaukee Wisconsin:

Although pressed with a thousand cares in making the arrangements for our trip,
he made it his duty, at Cairo, to visit our wounded in the hospital boats,
taking them each by the hand, and cheering them, more than can well be
described. As he came round among them, his heart full of kindness, and
his face showing it, tears of joy would run down the cheeks of those brave
fellows, who had borne the battle’s brunt unmoved, and they lost at once the
languor which had settled on them. Then, at Mound City and Paducah, in the
hospitals and on the hospital boats, it would have moved a heart of stone to
witness the interviews between the Governor and our wounded heroes. There
was something more than formality in those visits, and the men knew it by sure
instinct. When we went ashore at Savannah for a few hours, on our way to
Pittsburg, those scenes became still more affecting. Over two hundred of
our wounded were there, suffering from neglect and lack of kind care. The
news of the Governor’s arrival spread, as if by magic, and at every house those
who could stand clustered around him, and those who had not raised their heads
for days sat up, their faces aglow with gratitude for the kind looks, and words,
and acts, which showed their Governor’s tender care for them. At times
these scenes were so affecting that even the Governor’s self-control failed him,
and he could not trust himself to talk.[6]

At the Wisconsin Monument dedication in 1906 Jacob Fawcett still remembered how he met Harvey. “A gentleman came to my cot and inquired about my wound and how I was being treated; and his kindly words, which I felt came from a manly and sympathetic heart, cheered me more than words can describe.”[7]

When Harvey reached the Wisconsin camps at Pittsburg Landing on April 12th there were hundreds of sick and wounded men who had been rushed into battle only a few weeks after leaving the state. They had lost terribly in comrades and officers and had sunken in gloom and suffering. When it was announced that Governor Harvey was near an electric thrill of joy started them up from saddened groups and collected them in crowds to hear words of cheer from their governor. He worked unremittingly among them to alleviate their sufferings and fill, them with courage for the present and the future. He carefully ascertained who had distinguished themselves in battle and took their names in order to promote them but he would not live to fulfill this promise.[8] During the evening of April 17th Harvey wrote a letter to his secretary in Madison saying that he was glad he had come to Shiloh. “Thank God for the impulse which brought me here. I am doing good work and shall stay as long as I am profitably employed.”[9]

On April 19th Governor Harvey bade farewell to the soldiers at Pittsburg Landing and went down the Tennessee river to Savannah. The traveling party did not expect to take a steamer to Cairo until the next morning and they had retired for the night on board the Dunleith, lying at the wharf. At ten o’clock the Minnehaha hove into sight and the group prepared to transfer to the approaching boat. As the bow of the Minnehaha rounded close to the party on the Dunleith Harvey stepped aside but slipped and fell into the river between the two steamers. Dr. Wilson immediately reached down his cane but Harvey grabbed it with so much force that he pulled it away from Wilson. Dr. Clark then jumped into the river, held onto the Minnehaha and reached for Harvey but to no avail as the current was too strong and Harvey drowned.[10]

Attorney General Howe on receipt of the news at Madison of the drowning took the railroad to Cairo. He was empowered to offer a reward of a thousand dollars to whoever recovered the body. Lieutenant Governor Salomon assumed the duties of Governor on April 22 and proclaimed that May 1 would be a day of mourning, state offices would be closed and he recommended that each town hold a public demonstration that day to commemorate Harvey. On the day of mourning dispatches were received in Madison announcing that Harvey’s body had been found.[11]

Harvey’s body had drifted down river about sixty miles below Savannah. Some children discovered it on April 27th. They ordered a Negro to pull the body out of the river. The contents of the pockets were divided between the children and the Negro, the Negro keeping the governor’s watch. The body was then returned to the river but an eddy kept it close to shore. A white man living near by heard the story, retrieved the body from the river and buried it on the bank. Upon examination of the papers found on the body it was ascertained to be Governor Harvey. Another white man living near by, Mr. Singletoe of Brift's Landing, was able to retrieve most of the valuables taken by the children and the Negro. On April 30th a passing steamer, the Lady Pike, was hailed and told that Harvey’s body was nearby. The personal items were turned over to the captain of the ship and the body was disinterred, undressed, washed, wrapped in blankets, placed in a box and taken to Pittsburg Landing. It was then escorted to Cairo by an honor guard of twenty soldiers of the 14th Wisconsin and taken to Madison where he was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.[12] One of the members of the honor guard was William John Hamilton of Company F, one of the soldiers who captured a Confederate cannon at Shiloh.[13]

The Milwaukee News paid Harvey the following tribute, "Wisconsin never elected a Governor to rule over her personally more respected than Louis P. Harvey. Last autumn we earnestly opposed his election to the office he has since so honorably filled; but neither during that somewhat animated contest, nor since, did we hear one harsh word spoken of him, or seen an unkind word written. His personal integrity was above suspicion, and he leaves behind him a name untainted, and a record unstained by a breath of suspicion as to the purity and sincerity of his public or private conduct. When he lost his life we was upon an errand of mercy - to see that the wounded men of Wisconsin should be cared for in their pain and trouble. With a heart tender as that of a woman, he had hastened to their relief, hesitating in his departure only long enough to call upon his fellow citizens by telegraph to send on the necessary aid. In the prime of his life, upon the very threshold of the honors to which he had nobly aspired, the babbling waters have closed over him."[14]


[1] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, p 110.
[2] Toepel, M.G. and H Rupert Theobald, eds. Wisconsin Blue Book. (Madison: WI, 1962) p 97
[3] Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, p 434.
[4] Toepel, Wisconsin Blue Book, p 97.
[5] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, p 117.
[6] Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, pp 434-5.
[7] Wisconsin Shiloh Monument Commission. p 93. Jacob Fawcett was a private in Company I of the 16th Wisconsin. When he spoke at the monument dedication he was a supreme court judge in Nebraska.
[8] Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, p 436.
[9] Toepel, Wisconsin Blue Book, p 100.
[10] Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, p 436.
[11] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, pp 119-20.
[12] Wells, Wisconsin in the Civil War, p 20. Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, pp 120-2. Oshkosh Courier. May 9, 1862. Page 2, column 1.
[13] 1888 Grand Army pp 360-1.
[14] Oshkosh Courier. April 25, 1862. Page 2, column 1.

Alfred Edward Mathews prints

I had intended to make this post immediately after the Alfred Edward Mathews biography post, but access to my picture files on my computer was cut off until yesterday. As stated in the biography post Mathews was at many western theater battles, primarily Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Vicksburg and Chattanooga. I have included here his Shiloh prints that I have digital files of. I do have his other Shiloh print as a xerox but not in a digital format. I've also included two of his earlier prints that first got him noticed as an artist, Wild Cat and Logan's Cross Roads. Some of his prints appeared in Battles and Leaders, I've included a scan of a Shiloh print showing the changes.

Wisconsin soldier reflections on Shiloh

In a letter to his parents James Newton asked them to send him a newspaper about the battle because, “all we know about the battle is what we saw and that wasn’t much, so I would like to see a paper if possible to see what we did do.”[1] Many years after the battle Alfred T Andreas expressed a similar observation, “It was at Shiloh as at most of our battles. We waited until the arrival of newspapers from the North to learn what we had ourselves done.”[2]

Private Elisha Stockwell was wounded twice at Shiloh while serving with the 14th Wisconsin and was almost the victim of his own comrades’ fire. The regiment had taken their position in the line and was ordered to open up on the Confederates. Ned Bown, on Stockwell’s left, “stuck [his musket] up in the air, shut both eyes, and fired at the tree tops, and Schnider did the same. But Schnider was in the rear rank behind Curly and he cut a lock of Curly’s hair off just above his ear, and burned his neck. I thought Curly was going to strike him with his gun. He told him, ‘You might have killed me.’ and Schnider said, ‘Makes me not much difference, I not like you very well anyhow’.”[3]

Elisha Stockwell was slightly injured just as the unit took up positions for an assault. He was struck in the arm by a spent cannonball. He showed his wound to his lieutenant, who told him he did not have to participate in the attack and that he was excused to return to Pittsburg Landing. Stockwell admitted he “was as tickled as a boy let out of school,” when he learned he was out of it with a “million dollar wound.”[4] Stockwell also described the scene that night in one of the hospital tents, “Opposite me was a slim boy of about my age. He was sitting up with his face down as if looking at the ground. When the doctor came to him and asked him where he was wounded, he looked up but didn’t say anything. He was shot just below the left eye and close to the nose. He bent his head over, and put his finger on the back of his neck. The doctor took his knife and cut the ball out and never a whimper out of that boy.”[5]

James Randall of Company B said that First Lieutenant Joseph Post and Sergeant Charles Drake were among the first to fall. “I could easily have placed my hand upon each of them as they were shot. Two splendid men had fallen. Sergeant Drake had finished his lonely journey.”[6]

William John Hamilton of Company F was “one of the soldiers who captured a rebel cannon now the property of Wisconsin at Madison.” He was promoted to corporal after Shiloh. He would become part of the color guard shortly before Vicksburg and carried the flag for the next 22 months. He was wounded twice at Vicksburg, one in the hip and the other in the shin. His gunstock was shattered and another clipped the hair on his temple. During 1864 while campaigning in Arkansas Hamilton’s shoes gave out. Showing some creativity he went to where the cattle were being butchered and acquired a cow leg and made new shoes out of the skin.[7]

Daniel Ramsdell of Company E carried the state flag in the color guard and was in the assault on the Confederate battery. The 1888 Grand Army Album credited the 14th Wisconsin as participating in the capture of a battery of seven pieces. In the excitement of the attack he sprang on one of the guns while the “air was blue with rebel bullets.” The flag he carried was pierced several times, two balls passing through his blouse and one through his pantaloons, drawing blood and “cooling his ardor materially.”[8]

Carl Gustaf Dreutzer of Company G of the 14th Wisconsin had just turned 16 two months earlier. At Shiloh he was “only a boy, alone in a strange land and facing a determined force of men, who were fighting with desperation, and he aided his command in winning its first meed of glory.” He was promoted to corporal following Shiloh. He had been born in Sweden, went to sea as a cabin boy at age 13 traveling to South Africa and Brazil before quitting the sea in 1860 and going to Wisconsin. He was wounded at Corinth on October 3rd, 1862 and received a discharge. In 1890 it was reported that he “enjoys life as well as a deaf man can,” and that the difficulties of life are “not permitted to poison the modicum of comfort a man may take who has ‘plowed the briny deep,’ can ‘splice the main brace’ and swear in seven different languages.”[9]

Sidney B Carpenter of Company B was made fifth corporal on the field at Shiloh and after the action was promoted to third sergeant. In the fall he was promoted to orderly sergeant and made Second Lieutenant of Company B on October 2nd, 1862 for “conspicuous bravery on the field.” On December 9th, 1864 he was promoted to captain of Company B. “On leaving the army had been recommended for major.”[10] Samuel H Moody also ended the war as a commissioned officer. In his case he was appointed Second Lieutenant of Company H, 47th US Colored Infantry on July 28th, 1864.[11] Joseph L. Cotey, Company G of the 18th Wisconsin, would also rise through the ranks. At Shiloh a shot shattered his gunstock and knocked him senseless. After the battle he was promoted to orderly sergeant for his company. On April 4th, 1865 he was promoted to captain, skipping the intermediate grades, and was mustered out sixteen days later.[12]

The brother of Daniel Ramsdell, of the color guard, was Washington Irving Ramsdell who was Second Lieutenant of Company B. At Shiloh one bullet passed through his hat and two through his blouse. At Vicksburg a bullet “passed into his head below his left eye, went around his head and lodged in his right ear.” None of these sent him from the field and in all his military experience he did not once go to the hospital for treatment. Before mustering out he was promoted to First Lieutenant. After dying of consumption in 1873 Grand Army of the Republic Post No. 79 in Marion was named after him.[13]

John Milton Read was a sergeant at Shiloh in Company E. A month after the battle he was promoted to sergeant major. He would eventually be promoted to adjutant of the regiment with rank of First Lieutenant and later would be the assistant adjutant general for his brigade, the Second Brigade of the Third Division of the 17th Army Corps, holding that position for most of 1864.[14]

Another soldier, John McMahon of Company C, had another reason to remember Shiloh the rest of his life. He had a son born on April 8th, 1862 and he was later named Ed Shiloh. It is unclear if the idea for the name was the father’s or the mother’s but it served as a lasting reminder for both son and father. The father would be home soon as he received three wounds at Vicksburg, knee, hip and shoulder, and was subsequently discharged.[15]

The Wisconsin regiments on the first day lost a sizable number of their men to capture. Oliver H Waite, Company C of the 16th Wisconsin, was wounded, in the right leg, during the early morning action around camp and was subsequently captured. He was paroled three weeks later at Columbus, Mississippi.[16] John Howard Stever, Company F of the 18th Wisconsin, was also captured and held for 6 and a half months. Once home he was discharged from the 18th Wisconsin on December 6th, 1862. Obviously he could hardly stand being away from the army as he enlisted in the 41st Wisconsin, a 100-days regiment, on May 17th, 1863. He was discharged from the 41st Wisconsin on September 28, 1864 and returned home for the winter. On February 4th, 1865 he enlisted in his third regiment, the 47th Wisconsin and was finally mustered out of federal service on September 4th, 1865. He also had five brothers who served in Wisconsin regiments; two of his brothers died during the war, one from disease and one was killed in battle.[17]

Some other soldiers were captured in other ways. William H Rice, Company H of the 16th Wisconsin, was wounded in the arm and sent to a hospital in Newberg, Indiana. Soon after some Confederates raided the hospital, captured all the wounded and immediately paroled them.* After he recovered he was sent to St Louis to await his exchange. He grew tired of this and hid aboard a boat going downstream and thus joined his regiment. His officers did not want to give him a gun because if he were captured again he would be killed. “He demanded his equipments and promised that the rebels should never have the pleasure of taking him again.”[18] John J Quick, Company G of the 18th Wisconsin, was another soldier captured by the Confederates at Newberg. He was there recovering from rheumatism.[19]

The Wisconsin soldiers captured at Shiloh were then taken to Corinth, Memphis and Mobile and distributed among prison camps in the Confederacy. Jeremiah Baldock, Company A of the 18th Wisconsin, said that the prisoners received a cracker en route to Corinth but then nothing until they reached Memphis three days later. Baldock was then sent to Tuscaloosa under the care of Captain Henry Wirz. Wirz would later be the prison commander at Andersonville and be executed for war crimes. Baldock says that the cruelties of Wirz cannot be exaggerated. One of the guards shot a man through a window and also later fired at Baldock. When the paroled prisoners were crossing the Etowah River by railroad one of the soldiers threw this guard into the river.[20]

John Merrill of the 18th Wisconsin was captured at the end of the first day’s fighting in the Hornets’ Nest and following his release described his initial journey as a prisoner of war,
They marched us off about five miles that night and we lay in an old cornfield without blankets or shelter in the mud and rained at that. They gave us one cracker to eat and marched us to Corinth about twenty miles through the mud, then put us aboard some cattle cars where the mud was about two inches thick, fifty-five in a car at that. We went to Memphis and to Jackson, Miss., down to Mobile, Ala., from there to our prison at Tuscaloosa where we received all the barbarous treatment that you could think of, besides lots you never dreamed of.[21]

WF Wilder of the 18th Wisconsin described his time as a prisoner a bit differently, in a poem entitled “Beware of Southern Prisons”[22]:

Now soldiers your attention,
A story I’ll relate,
About the Southern prisons
And of a prisoner’s fate.
Chorus - Now Jeff you’ll surely pay for this,
And that before ’tis long,
Your neck get ready for the rope,
Old Abe is pressing on

‘T was on the sixth of April,
As very well you know,
Our force it was surrounded
And taken by the foe.

They marched us off to Corinth,
Through mud six inches deep,
And stowed us into freight cars
Full fifty in a heap.

And thus we rode to Memphis;
The road was rough as sin,
And many oaths were uttered,
And many more kept in.

They thought to starve the Yankees,
No grub did we receive.
Until we got to Memphis,
And this was Tuesday eve.

They arrested Gen. Prentiss,
Because he made a speech,
And told them in plain English,
What Davis didn’t teach.

From here we went to Mobile,
Hoping there to stay,
But they shipped us up the river
At early dawn of day.

The boat was old and rotten,
The pumps they wouldn’t work
The darkies they were lazy,
From labor they did shirk.

Three days and nights we suffered
On board this rotten craft,
And arrived at Tuscaloosa
With prisoners fore and aft.

They marched us up to prison,
Exulting loud and high,
They here had Lincoln’s army,
The Union now must die.

They kept us here and starved us,
For thirty days or more,
They fed us all on mule meat
That well might walk on four.

The prison rules were rigid,
And each we must obey.
None could look from windows,
Nor near the windows stay.

They shot two noble fellows
Who fought on Shiloh’s field,
And many more were threatened,
And they through fear did yield.

The vermin gathered round us,
In filth and dirt we lay,
And many fell the victims
Of grief and sore dismay.

Now soldiers in the army,
One work of kind advice,
Beware of Southern prisons -
Beware of Southern lice.

Don’t let the rebels take you,
To the river don’t you run,
But fight like gallant soldiers
Till victory you have won.



[1] Ambrose, A Wisconsin Boy in Dixie. p 17.
[2] Andreas, Alfred T. “The Ifs and Buts’ of Shiloh.” Military Essays and Recollections: Papers read before the Commandary of the State of Illinois, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Volume 1. Chicago: AC McClurg & Co., 1891. p 116.
[3] Abernethy, Private Elisha Stockwell, Jr. Sees the Civil War, p 18.
[4] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 113.
[5] Abernethy, Private Elisha Stockwell, Jr. Sees the Civil War, p 22.
[6] James M. Randall Diary. http://www.ehistory.com/uscw/library/letters/randall/06.cfm. Accessed May 10, 2002.
[7] 1888 Grand Army pp 360-1.
[8] 1888 Grand Army pp 554-5. At Vicksburg he was wounded in the left hip. Interestingly the ball remained in his body for six years despite three operations to remove it. In 1870, while boating on Lake Michigan he was hit by the fore-boom directly on the wound. This hit dislodged the bullet and his health improved from then on.
[9] 1890 Grand Army p 665-6.
[10] 1888 Grand Army pp 419-20.
[11] 1890 Grand Army p 545.
[12] 1888 Grand Army pp 225-7.
[13] 1888 Grand Army pp 548-9.
[14] 1888 Grand Army p 442.
[15] 1888 Grand Army p 622.
[16] 1888 Grand Army pp 248-9.
[17] 1888 Grand Army p 479.
* A paroled prisoner was not in the custody of his enemy. He was usually put into a camp specifically for paroled prisoners while they waited to be formally exchanged. If they were captured in battle before they had been formally exchanged they were very likely to be executed.
[18] 1888 Grand Army pp 618-9.
[19] 1888 Grand Army pp 411-2.
[20] 1888 Grand Army pp 746-7.
[21] Nanzig, Badax Tigers, p 68.
[22] http://www.uwosh.edu/archives/civilwar/songs/richards/richards3.htmAccessed March 28, 2002

Aftermath

Caring for the wounded and sick took its toll on the surgeons of the 14th Wisconsin. Dr. Walker resigned April 19th and Dr. Cameron soon took a leave of absence and left Dr. David La Counte in charge of the sick with only a hospital steward as an assistant. La Counte had 318 men under his personal care until he resigned his position on July 9th. He was disabled from incessant labor combined with the unwholesome climate. The regiment had been left on the field on provost guard at the special request of the Colonel Wood. The summer heat and the condition of the field was the cause of much disease and the colonel was among those who sickened and died. La Counte remembered in 1888 of the effect of the musketry fire on the trees, the bullet marks ranging from 3 to 30 feet above the ground, the larger number being 10 feet high. He reasoned that the high aim of the soldier was due to the fact that the musket stocks were made too nearly straight.[1]

Edward D. Holton wrote after walking over the battlefield that, “the numerous graves of the slain, the reeking remains of partially buried horses, the wrecks of artillery wagons, the garbage of provisions, the scattered cartridge boxes, canteens, bayonets, balls and bullets - all testify to the locality of the fatal field. But more than all, is the language of the spotted, bruised and broken trees: great oaks are split, and rift, and cut entirely off by cannon shot. Upon many trees I doubt not full twenty musket balls could be counted, and this for a long distance, whichever way you turned.”[2]

The Wisconsin troops had various complaints about the hospitals. A wounded soldier in 16th Wisconsin said that, “the boys in the hospital are starved. The waiters and hangers around drink the liquors and eat the dainties that are furnished to the sick. . . . Hundreds of our brave boys who gallantly stood up in the defense of their country have sunk into untimely graves through the neglect of our villainous surgeons, who instead of attending to the wounded, spent their time riding up and down the river on boats, drinking their wine and enjoying their meals.”[3] Another soldier of the 16th Wisconsin wrote his hometown newspaper that there had a been change of their doctors and said, “Our sick will not mourn their departure; [and] the graves of our bravest and strongest men will not become more numerous.”[4] Another Wisconsin soldier said that the “first surgeon . . . ran off leaving the sick and wounded in the hospital.”[5] David Goodrich James of the 16th Wisconsin wrote to his parents on April 28th, telling them, “I have not taken any of the Doctors medicine since I have enlisted and do not calculate to unless I am obliged to. Others that have been doing so are dropping like sheep.”[6] Another wounded Wisconsin soldier had another complaint, the “nurses . . . are all very well in a humanitarian way,” but “not much in the line of attraction.” The convalescent lamented over the "gaunt females, over thirty years old" that had been inflicted on the boys.[7]

When the 18th Wisconsin regained its camp it found several men in tents there who commented on how the Confederates treated them. Philip Singer of Company C, 18th Wisconsin, said that he was well treated and was furnished with water. Samuel Fish of Company C, 18th Wisconsin, was carried into a tent by a Confederate lieutenant and was given whiskey to alleviate the pain.[8] Ransom J Chase, Company C of the 18th Wisconsin, wrote his hometown newspaper, “A great many stories relative to the cruelty of the rebels to our men, I am happy to state, are untrue. Many of our wounded bear testimony to their kindness and sympathy. The fact is, there are in both armies those who regard little the feelings of the unfortunate.”[9]

Other soldiers wrote home about their impressions of battle. John Mosley of the 16th Wisconsin said, “People may talk about the cowardice of Southern soldiers; [but] they are only deceiving themselves. Soldiers never fought better than those who fought us here.”[10] Mosley also wrote that “some of the men think we will be home by the first of July. I hope so but I think differently. This rebellion is too deeply seated to be soon eradicated. The South must not only be conquered, but held. Down here, where you find one Union man, you will find thousand secessionists.”[11]

A soldier of the 18th Wisconsin remarked that seeing the battle’s carnage “teaches the frailty of all things human, the extent of human suffering and the cost of ‘glorious war’.”[12] An officer of the 16th Wisconsin confessed that he “had no conception of [war] . . . no pen can describe, nor imagination conceive, the intensity of horror that has been presented us.”[13] Another soldier of the 16th Wisconsin remarked that “the men had gloomy thoughts caused by the loss of so many of their comrades, and as the weather was such as to prevent their moving from their tents, the low spirits and inactivity had a bad effect on the health of a good many.”[14] Calvin Morley of the 18th Wisconsin wrote to his wife that “the carts for the dead are constantly running.”[15] Lieutenant Colonel W.D. Niles of the 16th Wisconsin complained, “Here I am surrounded with nothing but death. . . . It is very unhealthy here. . . . Some of the Rebs didn’t get buried very deep, and there is quite a stench rises from the graves. We just made a business of killing the gray-backed rog[ue]s. O they laid think for four miles.”[16]

Jim Newton expected that his 14th Wisconsin would return home by the time another spring came around, “that is if we get ‘Uncle Sams thrashing’ done by that time.”[17] Newton also wrote that a good many of the boys in the 14th Wisconsin came out of the battle with the conclusion that the “Secesh shot awful careless with their guns.”[18]

Elisha Stockwell would never forget the dead man “leaning back against a tree as if asleep, but his intestines were all over his legs.”[19] Another soldier in the 14th Wisconsin told how he saw a terrified rebel fleeing ingloriously on all fours when “a cannon ball struck him, tearing him in pieces, and scattering his limbs in different directions.”[20] Yet another member of the 14th Wisconsin wrote home that he had “the pleasure of shooting at a number or rebels.”[21]

Second Lieutenant Don Shove of Company E, 14th Wisconsin, wrote of Captain Waldo’s death, “He was in advance of our line, with his sword in one hand and his hat in the other, pressing close to the enemy and calling his men to follow.”[22] John Reed said, “There was no flinch about him [Captain Waldo] . . . that bloody day.”[23] Waldo was hit in the chest just above the heart and died immediately. News of Captain Waldo’s death did not reach Manitowoc until April 17th. That day, with flags at half mast in remembrance of the first local soldier killed in combat, the town raised $100 to send Reverend George Engles to recover the body. Ten days later George Waldo’s remains arrived in Manitowoc and were taken to the Masonic Hall to lay in state.[24]

V.E. Young of the 14th Wisconsin wrote to the editor of his hometown paper that “there is a most vindictive hatred existing between the two armies of the West, which cannot be extinguished for generations to come.” He saw a long vengeful war ahead as a result of the rising hatred. “We shall destroy their army organizations, but,” he feared, “we shall not capture them and the war will become a fierce guerrilla warfare that can only be ended by the total annihilation of the one party or the other.”[25]

Captain Calvin R. Johnson, of Company I of the 14th Wisconsin, had a rather low opinion of the South and was not reluctant to share it. “I honestly believe every man of them who owns a slave is a rebel at heart. Many of them are loud mouthed in their union professions while union troops are in force in their neighborhood; but as we get further south I expect (so bitter are they) that assassinations, picket shooting, etc., will be frequent. I am inclined to think that extermination only will ever fetch back a union sentiment in the hearts of our ‘southern brethren’.”[26] On the topic of slavery Johnson said, “[the] people owning . . . slaves live no better off than many a logging shanty up in the pine woods of Wisconsin. From general appearances of things[,] I should judge that the people of the western part of Tennessee are 175 years behind the people of Jackson County in agriculture.”[27]

Soon after the battle Captain Lawton of Company F, 14th Wisconsin, resigned his commission. Newton said that as soon as the battle commenced Lawton was seen making for the river about as fast as his legs would carry him. When asked where he was going Captain Lawton replied that he was going to draw rations so that the boys would have something to eat as soon as they were done fighting. Newton said that the only order he heard Captain Lawton say that morning was to cease fire, which Lieutenant Colonel Isaac E Messmore heard and quickly countermanded. Newton called First Lieutenant George W Bowers an “arrant coward,” who avoided combat by calling sick and stayed behind at Savannah. During the second day a group of stragglers formed a company in Savannah and called on Bowers to lead them down to the battle as he was the only officer they could find “walking around doing nothing.” First Lieutenant Bowers though begged off saying he was too sick to walk and the stragglers never got into the battle.[28] Newton might be confusing Lieutenant Bowers with Adjutant Beriah E Brower whom the Fond du Lac Reporter called the only skulker and coward in the 14th Wisconsin. "Nothing more could be expected of a braggart, and one who boasted he could drink more whiskey than any man in the regiment."[29]

Due to the serious wounding and resignation of Lieutenant Colonel Messmore Major Hancock was promoted to lieutenant colonel to date from April 7th and Captain Lyman M Ward was promoted to major, dating from April 18th.[30] Following the battle the 14th Wisconsin remained at Pittsburg Landing. Colonel Wood was appointed Provost Marshal and the regiment acted as provost guard. For four days the 14th Wisconsin remained without tents, exposed to almost continual rains and without sufficient rations. The fatigues of the battle and these exposures together with the unhealthiness of the position produced much sickness. The health of Colonel Wood was seriously impaired and he returned to Wisconsin. He would die on June 17th from fatigue and disease contracted in the service. At his death another round of promotions made Lieutenant Colonel Hancock a full colonel, Major Ward the new lieutenant colonel and Captain James Pollys the new major.[31]

During the winter of 1863-64 while encamped at Vicksburg a “Board of Honor” awarded medals of honor to the following men of the 14th Wisconsin for gallant services: To Sergeant Asel Childs, of Company C, a medal of silver inscribed “Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg;” to Sergeant Herman Runge, of Company D, a medal of gold inscribed “Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg;” to Corporal Moses Wynn, of Company H, a medal of silver inscribed “Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg;” and to Corporal Adin Gibson, of Company H, a medal of gold inscribed “Shiloh and Vicksburg.”[32]

[1] 1888 Grand Army p 363.
[2] Love, Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, p 491.
[3] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 157.
[4] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 154.
[5] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 157. The surgeon referred to is most likely the 14th Wisconsin’s surgeon, William H Walker, who resigned his position on April 19th, 1862.
[6] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 154.
[7] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 157.
[8] Nanzig, The Badax Tigers, p 42-3.
[9] Nanzig, The Badax Tigers, p43.
[10] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 151.
[11] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 173.
[12] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 119.
[13] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 120.
[14] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 121.
[15] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 122.
[16] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 119.
[17] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 151.
[18] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, pp 149-50.
[19] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 107.
[20] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, pp 105-6.
[21] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 164.
[22] http://members.aol.com/mccwrt/MCCWRT3-GWALDO.html
[23] Trask, Kerry A. Fire Within: A Civil War Narrative From Wisconsin. (Kent, OH: Kent State, 1995) p 103.
[24] Trask, Fire Within, pp 103-4. http://members.aol.com/mccwrt/MCCWRT3-GWALDO.html
[25] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 178.
[26] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 67-8.
[27] Frank & Reaves, Seeing the Elephant, p 68.
[28] Ambrose, A Wisconsin Boy in Dixie. p 22-3.
[29] Oshkosh Courier. May 2, 1862. Page 2, column 1.
[30] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, p 601.
[31] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, p 602. Lyman Ward would eventually become colonel of the 14th Wisconsin.
[32] Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin, pp 606-7.