U.S. Civil War History bits

Great information USMCPrice, i found this link while searching for the battle of Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Campaign Official Records and Battle(s) Descriptions
I´m sure you know it.

 

My dear Hilts, it was those damn Yankee lawyers that did it friend, not us. Why would we sue the people who were helping us? The South was occupied and undergoing "Reconstruction", the most controversial period of US post Civil War history at the time. Those series of suits were called "The Alabama Claims". Later, the damages caused by the CSS Shenandoah, Florida and others were included. We lost the war remember, so we couldn't sue anyone.

As a result of the litigation of the post-war commerce raider borne damages, the principle (or precedent) was set for international arbitration, and then began a movement to codify public international law with hopes for finding peaceful solutions to international disputes. The arbitration of the "Alabama Claims" was a forerunner to the Hague Convention, the League of Nations, the World Court, and the United Nations if you can believe that.

 

You will enjoy it a great deal. I refer back to it from time to time to refresh my memory and to clarify barroom discussions. Keep me informed of your studies.

 

I need to clarify a few things for those that aren't thoroughly familiar with the American Civil War that may be confusing.
1.) Eastern and Western don't mean what they do today. The dividing line was basically the Appalachian Mountains or sometimes stated as the Allegheny Mountains which are the west central portion of the chain. The states, or portions thereof, west of this chain were still considered frontier by those to the east. Therefore western Pennsylvania, central and eastern Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, etc., were considered western states during this period.



So you had two main theaters, eastern and western and numerous smaller theaters.

The main armies in the eastern theater were the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) CS and the Army of the Potomac (AoP), US. (I'll not confuse things further by giving their earlier names). Units were often transferred between these main armies and smaller armies but with the exception of 2d Manassas/2d Bull Run where the ANV fought the Federal Army of Virginia (containing many AoP units) these two were the main players in the eastern theater.

The main Confederate western Army was the Army of Tennessee, AoT, (same thing here about the different early iterations).
The main Federal armies were the Army of the Ohio, Army of the Cumberland, and the Army of the Tennessee.

On paper a Civil War Regiment generally consisted of ten 100 man companies or 1000 men. In practice due to illness, injury, detatchment, battle casualties etc. they tended to run a lot less. The longer in service the smaller the regiment tended to be. Confederates, often sent members back to their home area to recruit replacements and fed them back into the veteran unit. Northern practice was more often to form new regiments. An independant battalion was generally composed of 4 to 8 companies. So in the earlier post about Coppen's Battalion: "The Zouave Battalion which had marched so proudly out of New Orleans with 600 men, now presented only 12 men present for duty." it was probably a six company battalion.
Brigades normally ran three to six regiments, confederate brigades tended to have more regiments than federal brigades. Divisions were normally two to six brigades in size. Confederate divisions also tended to be larger than Federal divisions, 3-4 for the north, 4-6 for the south.
In most cases, brigades were composed of regiments and battalions from the same state and often took on the name of their commander.

Kershaw's Brigade, McLaws Division, Longstreet's Corps ANV (CS)

2nd South Carolina
3rd South Carolina
7th South Carolina
8th South Carolina
15th South Carolina
3rd South Carolina Battalion

Stannard's Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps, AoP (US)

143rd Pennsylvania
149th Pennsylvania
150th Pennsylvania

Early's Brigade, Ewell's Division, Jackson's Corps, ANV (CS)

13th Virginia Infantry
25th Virginia Infantry
31st Virginia Infantry
44th Virginia Infantry
49th Virginia Infantry
52nd Virginia Infantry
58th Virginia Infantry

4th Brigade "Iron Brigade", 1st Division, I Corps, AoP (US)

19th Indiana
2nd Wisconsin
6th Wisconsin
7th Wisconsin

Next I need to address battle names. Many Civil War battles ended up with multiple names, one northern and one southern. I have a bad habit about bouncing back and forth between the two. This arises from Northerners who were predominantly from towns and cities being more impressed with natural features and rural southerners being more impressed with manmade landmarks.

CS First Manassas (Railroad Junction)
US First Bull Run (Creek)

CS 2nd Manassas
US 2nd Bull Run

CS Sharpsburg (Town)
US Antietam (Creek)

CS Leesburg (Town)
US Balls Bluff

CS Murfreesboro (Town)
US Stones River

CS Winchester
US Opequon (creek)

CS Seven Pines (road junction)
US Fair Oaks (creek)

CS Shiloh (Church)
US Pittsburg Landing

CS Gaine's Mill
CS Cold Harbor (tavern)
US Chickahominy River

CS Ox Hill
US Chantilly

CS Boonsboro (settlement)
US South Mountain

CS Mechanicsville (town)
US Bever Dam Creek

There are many many more but you get the idea. To make matters worse numerous battles were fought on the same or vitually the same batttlefields but months or years apart. In addition to the two Manassas/Bull Run battles mentioned, Chancellorsville took place on 1-4 May of 1863 and another major battle, the Wilderness, took place on the same ground on 5-7 May 1864. There are also 1st, 2nd and 3rd battles of Winchester, the 1864 battle of Cold Harbor during Grant's Overland Campaign should not be confused with the earlier battle in June of 1862, 1st Cold Harbor, also known as Gaines Mill.

Enough of the details now back to the good stuff.

 

Amen Brother Bobby ;-)) Outta s so reps have to do ;-))

I now NEED to hear Bonnie Blue Flag and Dixie before I log off tonight. )

 

Hi Skipper, indeed i have heard of that battle. These is a famous painting of the CSS ship sinking. If anyone here wants one of THE best books about the events that led up to, during and after the Civil War-please get the old printing of: The American Heritage Book of the Civil War. Do NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT get the recently revised edition because the jerkos reprinted it and VERY heavily changed most of it to be politically correct. The old edition has a blue cloth cover. This was my favorite boot to check out of the library when I was in grade school. I read it as much as my Grandmother read the Holy bible. It took years for me to do this but, I checked it out some years ago, claimed I lost it, paid the fees for it and the book is now mine ;-))

 

Know it, yes I do. Enjoy the read.
I'd really advise against the History Channel programs on the Civil War they are filled with errors and don't really give a lot of information on the battles. There are literally thousands of excellent books on the subject, if you find one that interests you let Bobby or me know and if one hasn't read it the other probably has. We'll give you the review before you spend the time and/or money.


Point Park, Lookout Mountain looking towards Chattanooga. The gun in the picture is a bronze 12lb Napoleon.


Bragg Reservation, Missionary Ridge looking north along the ridge. Chattanooga would be to the left of the picture. Both these guns are also 12lb. Napoleons. All the tubes in the Chattanooga/Chickamauga NMP are original tubes on reproduction carriages. Because it was founded first it got first crack at these old guns stored at U.S. arsenals.

 

That's some good information there Professor Price! You must have spent some time in front of a classroom before, and if you didn't, you should.

 

Never meant it was those nice Southran folks, simply that lawyers sniff a buck anywhere!!

 

Right you are!

 

Thank you sir, that's one of the nicer compliments I have ever recieved!

 

To muddy-up the waters that USMCPrice cleared up I offer the following,

Battalions predominately served in the Confederate army, but a few did appear in the Union army. Units not seen in the Confederate army, but appeared in the Union were Heavy Infantry and 'Regulars'

The Heavy Regiments were formed to protect important fixed locations like Washington D.C. They manned forts and their heavy guns and were larger than a standared Infantry rgmt. of the time. During the 1864 Overland campaign of U.S.Grant, the manpower shortages compelled the transfer of these troops from their comfy forts to the front lines. Veteraran regiments who could muster 200 effectives would watch these units of 1,000 or more men march past and taunt them with "What Division are you boy's". Soon enough they would look like proper regiments in size.

The Regular's were the pre-war US army. At the beginning of 1860 the US army had about 15,000 officer's and men standing to the colors. Most scattered in small detachments all over the country. With the break-up of the Union a large percentage of serving officers resigned and went south. Most of the rank and file remained loyal to the Union. These units ( 6 Cavalry, 10-12 Infantry regiments plus artillery) were sprinkled about the newly forming Union Vollunteer armies to add some stiffening to very green and inexperienced recruits. They would fight through out the war.

 

Don't know if this has already been covered in this thread, but I've always been interested in the battalions of black troops which served in the Confedrate Army.

 

Still with Union Coloured Troops, I got a great book at D.C. Dulles Airport, 'No Quarter - The Battle of the crater' at Petersburg, by Richard Slotkin. It tells the story of Black Union troops, carrying out a more or less, 'Forlorn Hope' mission. As they were repulsed by the Confederte forces, they were cut down by white union soldiers.

Slotkin puts forward his theories on that. I thought it was as good a book on 'the war of Northern Aggression' that I've read!!

 

Thank you Roger, glad you're enjoying! All but 5 of the listed battlefields are within 5 to 30 minutes of my house. Two more within an hour and another is within an hour and a half. Been to all of them.

Also since Biak is my buddy, here's something for you on the 86th Illinois at Chickamauga. They were in 2nd Division, 2nd Brigade of Gordon Granger's Reserve Corps.

2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Granger's Reserve Corps

85th Illinois, Col. Caleb J. Dilworth.
86th Illinois, Lieut. Col. David W. Magee.
125th Illinois, Col. Oscar F. Harmon.
52d Ohio, Maj. James T. Holmes.
69th Ohio, Lieut. Col. Joseph H. Brigham.
2d Illinois Light Artillery, Battery I, Capt. Charles M. Barnett




General Gordon Granger

Chickamauga
Granger's Corps was not engaged on the first day of the battle. The federal lines had been shattered by Longstreet's Corps, earlier in the day on the 20th. Most of the federal army was in headlong retreat towards Chattanooga. There was the very real possibility that the pursuing confederates would cut off the line of retreat or destroy the shattered army. A Virginian, Gen. George Thomas, in charge of XIV Corps, Federal Army of the Cumberland, using his own men and what men he could gather from shattered units made a stand at Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge. He was under great pressure from repeated confederate assaults. This is where the below excerpt begins:


[SIZE=-1]At 11:10am on September 20, 1863, the major-general jumped off a large haystack he had climbed to better observe the developing situation at the northern end of the battlefield. Granger ordered his men forward. When his adjutant questioned the decision Granger replied, "I am going to Thomas, orders or no orders." It was a move that not only saved the Federal forces remaining on the field at Chickamauga but may well have saved the entire Union Army in the West. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Brigadier General John B. Steedman was in motion within 20 minutes, with Granger and his staff riding in advance of the column. Moving south from McAfee Church he left Dan McCook with a brigade to protect Rossville Gap. As General Granger and most of the 5400 men in his command advanced towards the noise and smoke, Nathan Bedford Forrest's Rebel cavalrymen, guarding the Army of Tennessee's right flank, fired on them. Some troops stopped to engage this dismounted unit as the rest headed south to the sounds of battle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Soon they came upon increasing numbers of Rebel skirmishers. At a field hospital established in the Cloud House, a group of Forrest's men were caught in the middle of a raid and quickly driven away. Continuing south they witnessed growing evidence of a tremendous battle. Dozens of small fires burned, ambling across fields that days before had been full of crops. Fallen trees were everywhere, some formed into abatis, some scattered randomly like matchsticks. What happened here was sudden, catching Union soldiers off-guard. Bodies of Rebels and Yanks side-by-side, most dead but some still dying.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1](Biak notice who signed below! CO of the 86th Illinois)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]...we passed through a narrow skirt of woods and across a field which had been fired by the shells in previous conflict on that ground early in the day. A more desolate sight never met the eye. The entire country seemed to be one smoking, burning sea of ruin. Through this blazing field we marched, while the rebel[sic] battery played upon us with spherical case, shell, and almost every conceivable missile of death. [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Lt. Col. D. W. Magee, Commanding, [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]86th Illinois [/SIZE]
​

[SIZE=-1]George Thomas was watching the obviously large group advancing on his rear, but was more concerned about General John Bell Hood's men directly in front of him as he struggled to form a southern line on Snodgrass Hill. An officer using the general's binoculars assured Thomas the troops were Union. Thomas dispatched a staff officer, who upon seeing the blue uniforms rode up to inform Granger of the bleak situation. The right flank had given way, Rosecrans, McCook and Crittenden had fled the battle and only Thomas, the Virginian who had never retreated, remained. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]At one o'clock Granger stepped briskly up to Thomas and shook his hand. He had covered 4 miles in an hour and a half in spite of two significant skirmishes. They quickly dispensed with formalities and Thomas pointed towards Confederates driving towards the ridgeline less than half a mile from his headquarters. "Those men must be driven back," Thomas stated in a matter of fact manner, "Can you do it?" "Yes," replied Granger. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]As Granger returned to his men Rebels were engaging Union soldiers along a horseshoe ridge. Granger's men were ordered to stablize the area to the right of Hill 3. Slightly more than halfway up the hill they stopped briefly to catch their breath. No longer were they just facing the constant popping of muskets. The roar of captured artilley joined in the cacaphony of sound. From Granger's official report: [/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]As rapidly as possible I formed General Whitaker's and Colonel Mitchell's brigades, to hurl them against this threatening force of the enemy, which afterward proved to be General Hindman's division. The gallant Steedman, seizing the colors of a regiment, led his men to the attack. With loud cheers they rushed upon the enemy, and, after a terrific conflict lasting but twenty minutes, drove them from their ground, and occupied the ridge and gorge.[/SIZE]
​

[SIZE=-1]The Rebels launched two determined assaults to retake the ground. Both failed. Now ammunition was in short supply not only for Steedman's men, but all the Union forces. During the advance Granger had given his reserve ammunition to other companies as they approached Thomas' headquarters. It seemed, however, that the Rebels might not try a third attack. Both the charge and the subsequent counter-attacks had been devastating to Granger's Corps. 80% of his senior staff was either injured or dead, including Steedman, who had been wounded. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]In the wild retreat of the Union forces after the Confederate breakthrough at the Brotherton Cabin, Thomas had quickly formed line near his headquarters on Snodgrass Hill. A large gap separated this line from his men along today's Battleline Road. Thomas left to inspect his left flank and prepare for withdrawal. As senior officer, Granger was placed in charge. Just before 6pm the Rebels prepared for another assault. A commander approached and asked Granger what to do. "Fix bayonets and charge," Granger replied. He had no other options. There was no more ammunition. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Rebels pushed forward along a broad front, facing a line of Union soldiers rarely more than one man deep. Unit commanders walked behind their men telling them to stay down until the command came to move. Closer marched the Confederates, their gray uniforms now stained with red. When the Rebels reached a point less than 50 feet from the Union lines, the commanders screamed, almost in unison, "Forward, Forward" and the line of soldiers rose and advanced. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The two lines met with a fury unlike that of men firing at each other. Slowly the Federals gained the upper hand, driving the attackers back across the entire front. At one point the Union advance was so fierce it actually broke through the Rebel lines. [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Confederate commanders attempted two additional assaults of the Union line. Both failed. At 7pm, less than five hours after he arrived, Granger recieved orders from Thomas to withdraw to Rossville.[/SIZE]


Info on Col Fahenstock:

-Allen Fahnestock who wrote the journal said he was born in Abbotstown,PA (Feb 9,1828)and moves with his family to Lancaster,Illinos(Peoria County) in the fall of 1837.He said his parents'family consisted of 6 boys,1 girl.

Allen and brother Jacob were in Illinois 86th Infantry,where Allen became a Colonel. His brother Charles was with the 151st Illinois Infantry.In regular times, Allen was in grocery trade.


-
Allen L. Fahnestock (1828-1920) was a grocer in Glasford, Illinois in 1862. Responding to President Lincoln’s call for more volunteer soldiers, Fahnestock recruited volunteers from Peoria County for the 86th Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The 86th Illinois Infantry left Peoria in September 1862. Within a month, the 86th Illinois fought the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Fahnestock and his unit also fought at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Ringgold and Kennesaw Mountain.
The journal presented here includes many photographs of men in Fahnestock’s unit and some commanding officers, as well as maps and drawings of the campaigns. Most of the journal represents a day-by-day account of the movements and activities of the 86th Illinois Infantry from 1862 to 1865.
After the war, Allen Fahnestock returned at the rank of Colonel to Glasford, his peace-time occupation of grocer, and his family. In 1910, by a unanimous vote of his comrades during a reunion, Fahnestock agreed to donate the journal to the Peoria Public Library. Fahnestock died June 9, 1920 at the age of 92.

Surviving Field Officers of 86th Illinois from a post war reunion on 27 August 1887.

FIELD OFFICERS
Lieut.-Colonel ALLEN L. FAHNESTOCK, Glasford, Ill
Lieut.-Colonel D. W. MAGEE, Wyoming, Ill
Major JAMES S. BEAN, Aurora, Ill
Major ORLANDO FOUNTAIN, Sabetha, Kansas
Major JOSEPH F. THOMAS, Chillicothe, Ill
Adjutant JAMES E. PRESCOTT
Adjutant LANSING J. DOWDY, Maquon, Ill
Quarter-Master ARCHIBALD BRACKEN, Witcha, Kan
Surgeon M. M. HOOTON, Chicago, Ill
Chaplin GEO. W. BROWN, Abington, Ill



General George H. Thomas, "The Rock of Chickamauga"


Snodgrass House on Snodgrass Hill.


Keith Rocco depicts the fight along Horseshoe Ridge, Snodgrass Hill.



Alfred Waud depicts confederate battleline on the attack, moving through woods towards Snodgrass Hill.

If the weather is nice this weekend I'll take the dogs and go get you some pictures of where the 86th Illinois actually fought and any monuments or tablets. The veterans actually placed the tablets and monuments in 1890, so the positions are very accurate.

 

The Battle of the Crater was one of the more contriversial battles of the war. Union troops of the Army of the Potomac were laying seige to the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia outside of Petersburg Va. The comander of a Union regiment drawn from Pennslyvania mining country reccomended that the ground before their lines was suitable for horizontal shaft to be dug o and under the sother lines where upon explosivies could be laid and toched off. His corps commander liked the idea and sent it to Gen. Meade (official commander of A.o. Potomac) who did not but passed it to Grant. Grant wasn't sure it would work, but thought it would keep the troops busy, so approved the plan.

The troops were able to dig the tunnel and place the explosives without the confederates finding it, although they suspected it. When it became time to choose the assault troops the plan fell apart. The men who had dug the tunnel were considered too worn out to carry the assault. so a reserve unit was chosen. This formation consisted of both white and colored troops in segregated formations. The Corps commander wanted to use his veteran, if depleted, white troops but the colored ones were chosen because they were fresh and closer to full strength. Their commander was a drunk and only marginaly capable.

The explosion shattered a good hunk of the southern entrenchments and shattered the troops holding them. The Union troops went in, but had no plan for getting past the crater. They should have spread out and rolled up the trenches, but their commander was in a bombproof slowly getting plastered. Troops, both white and black, became hopelessly mingled and the regimental commanders could not sort them out. Southern troops reacted quickly and turned the crater into a slaughterhouse.

No senior Union commander thought it would work so they never followed thru in the planning. In the confusion of the crater I am sure some fratracide occured, but it was not deliberate.

 

No senior Union commander thought it would work so they never followed thru in the planning. In the confusion of the crater I am sure some fratracide occured, but it was not deliberate.[/QUOTE]

I think you'd like the book, quite thought provoking I thought.

 

I don't think it has been covered, I've avoided it purposely because it tends to invoke vehement responses from both sides of the subject. You have those on the one hand that deny they existed and then you have some southerners that overstate the numbers that served.
I first became interested in the subject about 20 years ago. I encountered an elderly black gentleman (in his mid-70's) at Stones River battlefield, he was wearing a Sons of Confederate Veterans cap. I struck a conversation with him and he was all too willing to tell me about his grandfather who was an infantry soldier in a Tennessee Regiment. I thought his story was unique until I started looking into it. I found many accounts of black confederates serving in regular units. Some of the accounts were by Federal soldiers and officers that were shocked to be fighting black troops. Then I found a number of period photographs of black confederates and even more from post war reunions. You find a picture that said, "Confederate veterans of Co. X, such and such regiment, so and so's brigade and you'd see two, three or more black faces sitting or standing, intermingled with the old white guys. The funniest account I found, and I can't recall which unit it was but it was a more famous one, told of how all these young men rushed down to enlist in the early war patriotic fervor. There were two or three black men in the group and whatever state this was, the politicians had forbidden the enlistment of blacks. The unit decided that they would take a vote declaring these guys "honorary white men". The unit voted unanimously in the affirmative, the black men were proclaimed white and the officers signed them up. I've got files of the stuff but haven't looked at them in years.

An example:
Noe, Kenneth W., Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle. The University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, KY, 2001. [page 270]
"The part of Adams' Brigade that the 42nd Indiana was facing were the 'Louisiana Tigers.' This name was given to Colonel Gibson's 13th Louisiana Infantry, which included five companies of 'Avegno Zouaves' who still were wearing their once dashing traditional blue jackets, red caps and red baggy trousers. These five Zouaves companies were made up of Irish, Dutch, Negroes, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Italians."

Charlotte Daily Bulletin, 1863 (from Bell Wiley, Southern Negroes, 1938)
A slave named Titus, who was captured at Gettysburg. When pressed to join the Union army, Titus refused to “fight ’ginst my government.” In the same way, a black man imprisoned on Johnston’s Island retorted to Union officers, “Sah, what you want me to do is desert. I ain’t no deserter and down South, where we live, deserters always disgrace their families. I’se got a family doen home, sah, and if I do what you tell me, I will be a deserter and disgrace my family, and I am never going to do that.”

The first example is to show what we were discussing in an earlier post, the ethnic and racial diversity of confederate units. The second is to illustrate that honor, courage and principles are traits equally present in all men, white, black, brown and red. They were just southerners, fighting for home, and family, nothing else mattered. What is ironic is that in the Federal Armies blacks fought in seperate, integrated units. In the south it appears that they fought predominately in integrated units.



Anyway here's a picture of one black confederate unit.

If you'd like to look into the issue further here's a link to a good website to start. It's run by H. K. Edgerton is a black Southern heritage activist and former president of the NAACP's Asheville, North Carolina, branch.

Southern Heritage 411

 

Cheers for that, Pricie.
I first heard about them in an article in BBC History mag a lot of years ago, but never managed to follow it up.
I'll give that website a good read later.