The focus of posts will be my Civil War travels with a healthy dose of Shiloh related research.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable Newsletter
When I took over the newsletter it was simply a one page, two-sided issue. I kept that format for awhile but eventually I increased it to 4 pages and finally to 6 pages. I leave this post with a little sadness. After 8 years this has kinda become my baby. Every month, no matter what else is going on in my life, I've written a newsletter. Some have suffered due to a lack of time. Some have been fairly good, things I'm proud to have my name attached to.
As for me I'll be using the new free time to do more improvement projects on my house, take care of my son, and of course spend more time with my wonderful wife.
In my final newsletter I shared two personal stories and I'd like to share them with you too. My wife is not a Civil War buff, not at all. She humors me but this is not her passion like it is for me. So when we were picking paint colors for our new house she said that she didn't want to do any decorating for the Civil War. But then she picked blue and gray as the main paint colors. After the walls were painted I pointed out that the two main sides wore blue and gray. To this day she says I tricked her.
My mother got my wife a small book on the Civil War, just general facts that are mostly correct for the beginner. Mom got it as a joke. My son really liked the pictures on the front and wanted me to read it to him. I thought it wouldn't be anything he'd like but I read him the page on John Brown. It was the first page I opened to. He now loves John Brown. Nearly every night long after he's gone to bed he'll come out of his room, find us and yell "John Brown!" Since then I've tried to expand his knowledge with Lee or Sherman but John Brown has stayed his favorite.
In recent months he's started coming to meetings. He talks about these meetings all Thursday. On Fridays he tells his mother all about "his meeting." He thinks all of the roundtable members are his friends, I'm now secondary at the meetings. At each meeting he opens up a bit more with the other guys too. At the first one he was my shadow. At his most recent one he spent more time following our president around than he did with me. At first I was worried about bringing him but he keeps pretty quiet, his only complaint is that no one ever brings a picture of John Brown.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Study Group
Friday, September 26, 2008
Gettysburg Visitor Center
I confronted this issue a few years ago on a visit to Chickamauga. The VC there had expanded and there was now an area that talked about the causes of the war. My first reaction was, “what the hell is this?” I was disappointed that display space was going to something other than the battle.
Since then though my opinion has shifted. I think part of it has come with talking to people and realizing that their grasp of big historical facts is sadly lacking. I don’t want to get a bunch of angry comments but anyone who believes states rights was the principal cause of the war is sadly mistaken. States rights had a part of it but more importantly to Southern leaders was protecting slavery. If there was one particular right they were worried about the federal government interfering with it was slavery, not tariffs (although I am willing to admit that the two main sections of the country had differing ideas on tariffs) or any other issue. I don’t think the Civil War was fought exclusively over slavery but slavery has to be the main cause.
Somehow this has been twisted in the public mind to the point that I wouldn’t be surprised if 50% of the general public could name slavery as the main cause. I think the NPS’s job at the parks is to educate the visitor’s. And interpreting the battle should be their main effort. On the other hand though when its all said and done that visitor should also know why two armies fought for a crossroads in Pennsylvania, or a railroad junction in Northern Georgia. They should have some understanding of why this great nation made a great effort for four years to kill each other.
And the general public is not likely to visit too many Civil War sites. If they are going to go to a Civil War site its likely to be Gettysburg just because they’ve heard the name before. Chickamauga or Vicksburg (or Fort Donelson, or Shiloh, or or or ad vaseum) might have had a great impact on the course of the war but they’ve likely never heard about Chickamauga. The people who live closer to Shiloh or Chickamauga might go there instead of the long trek to Gettysburg.
Since Gettysburg just got a new VC it should definitely have displays on the causes of the war. And as VCs are updated throughout the system they need to also have displays on the causes. It would have been a shame if the new VC had been built with no mention of why two American armies tried to destroy each other at Gettysburg. For the hardcore buffs no museum will ever be good enough. It won’t have enough guns or flags or maps or whatever else is for favorite thing to see. Also for most hardcore buffs the museum is one area we routinely skip. We’re there to see the battlefield. I make an effort to pop into the VC to see if there are any announcements about ranger led walks or something similar but I hardly ever look at the museum if I’ve ever been there before.
I think Gettysburg does have some issues as far as what is displayed and how much of the collection is displayed. I’ve heard stories that the displayed items are fewer, and that there are more reproductions on display. I have not yet seen the new VC so I cannot comment on that. My dad will be out there in less than a week and he’ll give me the news but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to see it with my own eyes. I’m sure the stories of doom and gloom are exaggerated, as are the stories that proclaim it the best VC in the system.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Historic Photos of Chickamauga - Chattanooga
The Tullahoma chapter is very short, only a few pages, Chickamauga's is not much bigger. The Chattanooga chapter is fairly decent in length. The bulk of the book is in the final chapter, Remembrance, Reunion and Preservation.
This chapter shows a fair amount of photos for monument dedications and dignitaries visiting the field. It also has quite a few chapters showing park workers doing projects for the park, like making roads or building bases for monuments. There is also quite a bit of photos for when Chickamauga served as a training camp for the military, first for the Spanish-American War and then again for World War 1. Some of these pictures show camp life which isn't all that exciting but some show men posing with monuments or the fact that barracks were built in fields with monuments so a monument ends up being right next to the building.
My initial worry with this book was that there would be quite a bit of overlap between this book and Hoobler's "Cities Under the Gun" which had a ton of pictures of Nashville and Chattanooga during the war. That is not the case though as that earlier work shows much more of the town of Chattanooga while this book focuses much more on the battlefields around Chattanooga. I think both books are worthy additions to any Western Theater Civil War library.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Historic Photos of Siege of Petersburg
I think its the weakest of the three because of one chapter in particular. The chapter “Behind the Union lines” is basically a ton of photos of regiments and officers. One group doesn’t look horribly different than the next. I’d have preferred that this section had been greatly trimmed or removed completely. I did not feel that it offered much in the way of telling the story of the siege. There were some parts of it that I liked though. There were about six photos of the 50th New York Engineers. This regiment built the timber Poplar Grove church. I think it is amazing, and the other pictures of their camp show that these men built all sorts of buildings that had an artistic side as well as being functional.
The “Besieging Petersburg” chapter covers the Union preparations for the siege. This mostly shows the shear bulk of stuff gathered near City Point to continue the siege. I thought this was fascinating as it is one thing to read about the shear numbers involved and yet another to see the huge stacks of boxes, cannon, etc along the wharves.
I loved the “In the Trenches” chapter as this is where we are shown the battlefields and trenches of the campaign. Yes the trenches do start to look alike like I had complained about in the “Behind the Union lines” chapter but you can tell some differences and the captions explain the areas pretty well too.
In the final chapter, “From siege lines to park,” we see Petersburg. There are some pictures of the houses that served as headquarters and some pictures of the destroyed areas of town. I would argue that this chapter though is improperly titled as we see little of “the park.” In fact there are only six pictures at the end that show anything of the park. One of these shows President Taft on the steps of a house when he came to visit in 1909 and another shows the 1936 auction of 128 acres at the Crater. Were there so few pictures of the park from the last 100 years that this is what we were left with?
For the lack of park pictures and the over abundance of the regimental and officer pictures I rate this the weakest of the three Civil War volumes in the Historic Photos books from Turner Publishing. I do think though that it is a good book. I do not remember seeing this many photos of the siege of Petersburg gathered before in one place.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Preservation at Shiloh
Today I found out that Shiloh will be preserving even more land for the future. In today's Jackson Sun they are reporting that a $1 Million Enhancement Grant has been awarded to Shiloh to purchase more land around the park, and at Fallen Timbers too. I'm especially excited about Fallen Timbers. I've always wanted to see it, and the one time I went wandering that way the closest we came to it was talking to a local who pointed out the ground. It was private (not his), so we just got a look from the road. Not bad but nothing like walking the ground myself.
This is very good news. I know it will still be some time before the land is bought and opened up for visitors but the day is coming when we'll be able to walk around Fallen Timbers. I'm not sure what land might be bought closer to Shiloh, I hope its along the southern boundary, but that land has quite a few homes along it. I'd really like it to be the land on the south-eastern part of the battlefield, where Stuart's brigade first fought. But the park service doesn't usually consult me on land purchases, actually they've never consulted me.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged
Oh wait you want more information? Okay. Reed's book is one of the single most detailed resources on Shiloh you can find. And until recently you really couldn't find it. Reed's first edition came out in 1902, followed by a revised edition in 1909 and the final revision in 1913. Very few copies of the book were printed and finding one is a rare feat. I saw one on ebay a few years ago and held one in the special collections section of a Wisconsin library many years a go. Luckily though it wasn't quite that scarce. Every (Northern) state that had a Shiloh monument commission included a copy of Reed's story in their book, so I own 3-4 copies of it and have looked at many others. But now the book is readily available to anyone.
One of the huge benefits of this edition (a copy of the 1913 version) is that the four maps are included on a CD in pdf format. In the various copies I own or have seen the maps are always in sad condition as they were usually folded many times and in a pocket at the back of the book. Folding and unfolding over the last 90 or so years has made them very brittle. Now though with the CD you'll always have a nice copy. Plus you can print them out and make notes on them, carry them into the field and generally do things you'd never have been able to do otherwise. This was a very wise decision.
If you've been to Shiloh you have read Reed's story; its on the iron tablets that dot the field. Reed wrote the text for those too. In many respects it is hard to experience Shiloh without having Reed influence what you see, read or do.
Timothy B. Smith has provided an introduction that helps explain Reed's influence on the various schools of historiography of Shiloh. In brief Reed was the first to highlight the actions in the Sunken Road and make that one of the main stories of the battle. It is no coincidence that Reed was in the Sunken Road when he fought at Shiloh. Later schools of thought have tried to shift the focus to other events but Reed's original thrust has dominated. When Smith was at the Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable's symposium in April he said that the Reed map on the wall of the visitor center has spots that have been touched by enough visitors as to be rubbed off. These spots are the areas Reed highlighted, Sunken Road and the Hornets' Nest, plus obviously Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing. Johnston's death site or Sherman's fighting at the Crossroads have not been rubbed off, though there are scholars that support those areas as key to the battle instead of the Sunken Road.
This is a wonderful book that now everyone can use to better track the movements of units around the battlefield. As I said at the beginning of this post, buy this book. You won't be disappointed.
PS: If you've ever wanted one of those old monument commission books you can find them on ebay relatively cheaply. The Pennsylvania and Ohio editions seem to be the most plentiful. I've never paid more than $50 for one and have lucked into some bargains too, I got my Pennsylvania copy for about $10. The commission books for Chickamauga are even more plentiful while I've hardly ever seen a Vicksburg copy. Of course Antietam and Gettysburg are out there too but I've never bid on those.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Forest Hill Cemetery Confederates
The men who died here were buried here. At first some of the inscriptions caused me to think there were Shiloh veterans here, as some stones say 55th Tennessee. after searching rosters though I've determined that the men being credited to the 55th Tennessee here actually served in a unit that would become known as the 46th Tennessee. At the time of their capture they were listed in the 55th Tennessee but this was more of a clerical error, the extra 55th Tennessee was soon renamed the 46th Tennessee.
When touring Camp Randall years ago I saw this little building. There was no marker to explain what it was there for. Was it a hut that Confederates huddled in during their confinement in Madison? Was it a vendor stand for Badger football games from the early days of the program? As you can see its not much larger than a chicken coop (which it might be), it looks old and the shelter over it would indicate to me that someone felt it was worth preserving. But what is it?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Forest Hill Cemetery
As noted here, Harvey died while on a tour of the hospitals after Shiloh. His wife devoted the rest of her life caring for wounded and sick soldiers. She served in the Sanitary Commission and eventually convinced Lincoln that hospitals should be built in the North for wounded soldiers. Her thinking was that it would be easier to recuperate closer to home as there would be less diseases ("camp fevers") there than in field hospitals.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The 14th Wisconsin's Cannon
Monday, September 15, 2008
Wisconsin casualties at Shiloh
14th Wisconsin[1]
Killed or Died of Wounds:[2]
Corporal Joseph King (A), Sergeant Charles Drake (B), John Eastwood (B), Thomas Morgan (B), First Lieutenant Joseph D. Post (B), Corporal Gottlieb Staubley (B)[3], Ezra Whittaker, (B)[4], James Alley (C), Nelson P Hammond (C)[5], John B. Glenn (D), John Owens (D), Ezra B. Austin (E), William Baruth (E)[6], Captain Geo. E. Waldo (E), John D. Putnam (F), Lucius Barker (G), Samuel Bump (G), John Moser (G), Ebenezer Newton (G), Daniel D. Hammon (H)[7], Henry Peeler (H), Charles G. Bacon (I), Corporal Frederick A. Cullen (I)[8], Harvey E. Frost (I), Corporal Waterman R. Lisherness (I), Thomas Rayson (I), John J. Rockwood (I), Henry Ross (I), Gottlieb Schlinsog (I), John Begood (K)[9], Charles A. Briar (K) and Corporal Horace D. Lyman (K).
Wounded:[10]
Eddy F Ferris (A)[11], Henry W Durand (A)[12], Alexander Clendenning (A), Edward G Mascroft (A), Horace H Seymour (A)[13], Adam Shidell (A)[14], James B Titus (A), John H Barker (B), Wilson E Higgins (B), John Mack (B)[15], Ezra Whittaker (B)[16], James R Bishop (C), Charles Davies (C)[17], Corporal William Ditty (C)[18], Alonzo E Miller (C)[19], Captain Absalom M Smith (C), Erastus Statler (C), James Statler (C), Solomon Statler (C), George E Stuntz (C), James E Williamson (C), Louis Amiot (D), Alfred Collins (D), Corporal Isaac Gallagher (D)[20], Samuel Guertin (D)[21], Corporal James Harris (D), William Reed (D), William Barrette (E)[22], William Flinn (E), Samuel Gokie (E), Frank Grogan (E)[23], Robert Lee (E), John Lovell (E), Andrew C Tufts (E), Willet C Wheeler (E), Julius C Wintermeyer (E), William Boone (F)[24], Corporal Hudson J Cronk (F), James N Howard (F), John Lawrence (F)[25], John M Leroy (F), Gregory Milquit (F), Samuel Morrison (F)[26], First Sergeant Charles Vincent (F), Henry Westcott (F), Theodore Jorsch (G), John Keef (G), William Mangan (G), Henry Siegrist (G), David Carr (H), George B Clark (H), Peter Cottrill (H), Edward Gilman (H), Spencer A Hamblin (H)[27], Corporal Henry Voss (H), Andrew Winegarden (H), Henry Boss (I)[28], Nathan M Clapp (I), James Currens (I), Henry E Lincoln (I), Harrison Maxon (I), Stanley D Parker (I), George W Reeder (I), George Rutherford (I), William Sternitzky (I), Elisha Stockwell (I), George S Travis (I), Stephen B Wilson (I), Joshephen Wilson (I)[29], Frederick Yonkey (I), Second Lieutenant Martin W Hurlbut (K), Augustus W Curbey (K), Hiram Filkins (K), Anthony Kornale (K), Charles F Learcher (K) and Irvin Underwood (K)[30].
Captured:[31]
Joseph Garrow (F)[32], Frank Silver (F), and Amos Crippen (H).
16th Wisconsin[33]
Killed or Died of Wounds:[34]
George M. Camp (A), John Crank (A)[35], Joshua Eldridge (A), Cyrus B Howe (A), John Lerch (A), Corporal James W Marshall (A)[36], James Patterson (A), Captain Edward Saxe (A), First Lieutenant Cooley Smith (A), William P Walbridge (A), Sergeant John H. Williams (A), Charles Dart (B)[37], Ever S Evenson (B), Corporal Timothy H. Morris (B), Henry Powers (B), Joseph C Quiner (B)[38], August W Filke (C)[39], Henry Holton (C), Malcolm McMillan (C), Garret O Post (C), Sergeant James P. Wilson (C), Milo Farrington (D), Harrison Fuller (D), Alfonso Harrington (D), Captain Oliver D Pease (D), Corporal William M. Taylor (D), August Wollem (D), Corporal Augustus Caldwell (E), Sergeant Joseph L. Holcomb (E)[40], Michael Kennedy (E)[41], Lewis E Knight (E)[42], Philo Perry (E)[43], Erwin Rider (E)[44], Samuel Smith (E), Henry L Thomas (E)[45], Sergeant Almon Webster (E), Color Sergeant John P. Willis (E)[46], Jonathan Bennett (F), Harrison E Carey (F), Hiram Huggins (F), Samuel Long (F), John McNown (F), Anthony Morse (F), Franklin Prevey (F), Lyman Stilson (F), William Archer (G), Corporal Noah Barnum (G), Lewis R Belknapp (G), Oliver H Browning (G), Charles H Francisco (G)[47], John L Henegan (G), Charles Mauck (G), Corporal James V. Walker (G), Sergeant Henry Babcock (H), John Blair (H), George H Haskins (H), Orville Herrick (H), Charles Hodge (H), Richard Leigh (H), George Lincoln (H), Corporal George J Rashaw (H), Livius Raymond (H), George Skeels (H), Sergeant Asa D Thompson (H), William Austin (I), George Bucchill (I), Alonzo Clifford (I), Harrison C Howard (I), Corporal John C Long (I), John Solomon (I), Corporal William V Turck (I), First Lieutenant Charles H Vail (I), Morgan F Wooding (I), William A Clark (K), Corporal Ephraim Cooper (K), John Hennesey (K), Corporal Samuel Gunther (K), Thomas Manning (K), John Murphy (K), Stoel A Tousley (K), William H Tousley (K) and Corporal Orlando J Valentine (K).
Wounded:[48]
Colonel Benjamin Allen, Lieutenant Colonel Cassius Fairchild, Reuben Billings (A), Peter Bird (A), James O Champlin (A), George Cronk (A)[49], Luman Hall (A), Bodine Hawley (A)[50], James H Kellogg (A), John Michaels (A), Peter Nelson (A), John A Smith (A), Thomas T Warren (A), Newton Whitman (A), Joab Brobst (B), Horace Chapin (B), Peter W Cross (B), Ezra M Ellis (B), Hiram F Hanes (B), Corporal Albert A Hoskin (B), Jacob Jargenson (B), Henry Nancarson (B), First Sergeant Eber G Wheeler (B), Henry CM Gould (C), Frederick Grobman (C), Joseph W Hampton (C), Second Lieutenant Paschal M Hovey (C), William J Kruschke (C), Max Mertz (C), Captain Horace D Patch (C), Corporal Frederick Rex (C), William H Stevens (C), Corporal Henry A Turner (C), John S Bean (D), Alvin W Cook (D), Dennis Delanty (D), Joseph Edwards (D), Josiah W Fields (D), Herman Gerecke (D), William Hamilton (D), James M Lyons (D), Newton R Towsley (D), Oscar R Bronson (E), Jesse Crouch (E), Hosea Hugoboom (E), Henry Lininger (E), James McPheeters (E), Daniel O Miltimore (E), Aaron Newcomb (E), Corporal Robert D Sparks (E), Perry R Stivers (E), Franklin Stowell (E), William O Bassett (F), Corporal Stephen Bailey (F), George Birdsill (F), Ebenezer Bowker (F), Francis E Brink (F), Lorenzo Claflin (F), Sergeant Erastus A Devan (F), John Duckworth (F), Archibald McCall (F), John McIntire (F), Corporal Joseph McMurtry (F), Samuel Monroe (F), Charles Moore (F), Ole Nielson (F), Sergeant Edwin W Persons (F), Samuel C Plummer (F), Corporal George Speed (F), Julius Thatcher (F), Captain Harrison V Train (F), Edward Trumble (F), Corporal William HH Beebe (G), Sergeant Andrew Chambers (G), Sanders Cochrane (G), Sergeant James Crawford (G), John D Francisco (G), Peter L Francisco (G), Sergeant John M Jones (G), Corporal Jackson P Long (G), Ashabel Loomis (G), David B McCourtie (G), Thomas McGillin (G), First Sergeant Michael E O’Connell (G), George O’Dell (G), John T Pearsons (G), George W Ritter (G), Corporal James Smith (G), William Smith (G), John Tomlinson (G), John B VanVleck (G), Captain John R Wheeler (G), Hiram Bell (H), Levi S Bennett (H), Charles Bump (H), David Collier (H), Sergeant David W Dalrymple (H), Charles Doolittle (H), John W Haskins (H), John Lamb (H), William H Rice (H), Leander Roberts (H), Robert W Sanders (H), William Suring (H), Corporal Hezekiah White (H), Frank E Wicks (H), Edgar Wood (H), Frederick A Cherry (I), Philip H Dunphy (I), Jacob Fawsett (I), Charles S French (I), Henry C Hall (I), Michael Hassley (I), Frederick S Haughawout (I), August Link (I), George Long (I), George W Pease (I), Thomas Pendergrass (I), Lemuel Phelps (I), Second Lieutenant David G Purman (I), Morgan J Smith (I), Sergeant William HH Townsend (I), Edward D Bradford (K), John Clark (K), Anthony Collins (K), First Sergeant John L Derickson (K), Robert H Ingersoll (K), Gregory Janish (K), Elijah D King (K)[51], Lars Nelson (K), Edward M O’Neil (K)[52], James Reeves (K), Selby Trumbell (K)[53], Second Lieutenant David F Vail (K), Benjamin F Walker (K), Corporal Thomas Wildman (K) and Captain George C. Williams (K)[54] and Corporal Geo. W. Hedding (K)[55], Wm. Cooper (K)[56], Cornelius Murphy (K)[57],
Captured:[58]
George Cronk (A)[59], Bodine Hawley (A)[60], Aaron D Hollenbeck (A), Aaron Hollenbeck (B), Max Mertz (C), Jonathan Ellsworth (F), Freeman Pearsoll (F) and Benjamin L Dean (H)[61].
Missing in Action:[62]
Joseph Dexter (B), Jesse Hills (B), Lewis Fleischbin (D), Chester W Haskins (D), Lewis Pettit (E)[63], John A Ferguson (F), James Rands (G), Willaim B Parks (H), George M Porter (H), Mills Redfield (H) and John Weigle (I).
18th Wisconsin[64]
Killed or Died of Wounds:[65]
Colonel James S. Alban, Major Josiah W. Crane, Marshall Caffeen (A), Corporal Marcenus Gurnee (A), Thomas Leeman (A), Cephus A. Whitmore (A), Hiram E. Bailey (B), William Spencer (B), Samuel Fish (C), William Kettle (C), Norris W. Saxton (C), Samuel Sager (C), George Hicks (D), Milton M. Stewart (D), Reuben Edminster (E), George W. Evans (E), Corporal John E. Field (E), Isaac Levisee (E), Clifton G. Merrill (E), Otis A Cotton (F), Ambrose Felton (F)[66], Henry I. Jenkins (F), Robert McWilliams (F), Hartley Onderdonk (F), Captain John H. Compton (G), A. M. Coon (G), Edward B. Ballou (H), Joseph H. Garlap (H), Eugene Gay (H), Solomon Mansfield (H), Clark P. Walker (H), Morris C. Cook (I), Sergeant Rensler Cronk (I), Alfred Q. Edson (I), George W. Hillman (I), Corporal Thomas Laskey (I), John Louth (I), Benjamin W. Shaver (I), John Topp (I) and Jefferson Kingsley (I)[67].
Wounded:[68]
Lieutenant Colonel Beal, Acting Adjutant Edward Coleman, D. C. Bailey (A), Richard H. Heart (A), Leander Depuy (A), Ludwig Hulzer (A), J. Kocher (A), Alf. Losey (A), O.R. Norris (A), Lieutenant Thomas J. Potter (A), G. W. Sparks (A), Corporal C. C. Whitney (A), E. Combs (B), F.M. Bailey (B), Philip Singer (C)[69], H. Clary (C)[70], W.W. Dikeman (C), John Kickpatrick (C), Hiram Moody (C)[71], Pattrick Moody (C)[72], Laughlin Quinn (C)[73], Benjamin F. Rants (C), J.J. Swain (C), Augustus Singer (C)[74], Henry Beach (D), Ephraim Croker (D), Andrew Elickson (D)[75], John Gary (D), Ezra Hankabout (D), John D. Jewell (D), Charles Molla (D), C. N. Sprout (D), Thomas Stevenson (D)[76], Corporal John Williams (D)[77], Hugh C. Wilson (D), Captain William Bremmer (E), Corporal Orrin Clough (E), John Harris (E), S.R. Hayner (E), Ed. L. Kent (E), John Kinney (E), George S. Martin Jr. (E), William H. Sherwin (E), Albert Taylor (E), Lieutenant George Walbridge (E), Walter Whittiker (E), George Durr (F), Ambrose Felton (F), George Gould (F), Homer K. Nichols (F)[78], Eli R. Northam (F), James W. Samphier (F), James M. Stanton (F)[79], Napoleon Whitman (F), D.M. Wilson (F), Joseph Bullock (G), John S. Eaton (G), Edward Durkee (G), A.G. Loomis (G), Stephen H. Snyder (G)[80], Sameul Bixby (H), John Cary (H)[81], E.T. Chamberlain (H), B.W. Coates (H), F. Decell (H), Abram Devore (H), Gideon F. Devore (H), A.F. Dowd (H), Sergeant Albert Gates (H), John C. Horton (H), Zadock K. Mallory (H), Edwin Potts (H), Lieutenant S.D. Woodworth (H)[82], Sergeant Samuel C. Alban (I), S. Bennett (I), Ferdinand Benta (I), Peter Calahan (I), Adrastus Cook (I), Cornelius Devere (I), George Dexter (I), Frederick Everson (I), William H. Ferguson (I), Oliver Gunderson (I), E.M. Haight (I), John N. James (I), S. Langdon (I), James Leitch (I), Duncan McCloud (I), W. Miller (I), S.W.M. Smith (I), Albert Turck (I), Ferdinando Councilman (K), William P. Green (K) and William Lowe (K).
Captured:[83]
James B Abbs (A), Sergeant James Alexander (A), Elisha Alexander (A), Henry Hale Coffeen (A), John Farrall (A), Perry A Hart (A), Joseph Holletz (A), Bryan Kelley (A), Theron Mack (A), Captain James P Millard (A), Charles F Scott (A), John H Shoemaker (A), Benjamin Smith (A), Adam Utting (A), Eli Wiggins (A), Herbert D Whitney (A), Mahlon I Bussy (B), Charles H Cottle (B), Michael HB Cunningham (B), John Davis (B), Sergeant Samuel S Frowe (B), Albert M Green (B), Hiram Hitchcock (B), First Lieutenant Thomas A Jackson (B), Andrew J Lucia (B), Redmond McGuire (B), Joseph L Show (B), Wilbur F Wilder (B), Hiram W Wright (B), Levi Allen (C)[84], Jospeh H Brightman (C)[85], Peter S Campbell (C), William Cleary (C), John S Dickson (C)[86], Sergeant Thomas Fretwell (C), Joseph E Gander (C), John S Gray (C), Gould Hickok (C)[87], John James (C), Captain Newton M Layne (C), William Loucks (C), James McClelland (C), Corporal Samuel McMichael (C), James B Merrill (C), John C Metcalf (C), Nelson Mills (C), Jasper N Powell (C), Laughlin Quinn (C)[88], John J Ross (C), George W Taylor (C), Orrin Tooker (C), Byron Carey (D), Sergeant Charles Clouse (D), Alexander Currier (D), Andrew Elickson (D)[89], First Sergeant Leroy H Farr (D), Captain George A Fisk (D), Select Freeman (D), Ziba Hoard (D), Joseph G Hunter (D), Anthony Lamb (D), James Osborn Sr. (D), James Osborn Jr. (D), William Robinson (D), Amisa Smith (D), Thomas Stevenson (D)[90], Sergeant Eri P Sweet (D), Stephen Tritten (D), Gilbert Tuttle (D), Corporal John Williams (D)[91], First Lieutenant Dewitt C Wilson (D), Thomas G Bacon (E), Joel S Beadle (E), John Berry (E), William G Blair (E), Sherwood W Butterfield (E), William W Campbell (E), Alfred Doolittle (E), George Drake (E), Samuel Drake (E), August Feist (E), Edward Hugo (E), Phillip Marx (E), Aaron L Rand (E), Truman Rice (E), Robert Richards (E), Adam J Spawn (E), Charles H Tucker (E), William Ward (E), Andrew J Welton (E), Aurora Dill (F), Ambrose Felton (F)[92], Gilbert Fish (F), Joseph S Frank (F), Adoniram J Frost (F), Mathias Hadt (F), Stephen Hartwell (F), Frederick Hartung (F), First Sergeant John N Hoaglin (F), John P Honeker (F), Ezra Hull (F), Levi Minckler (F), Homer K. Nichols (F)[93], Nathaniel A Osgood (F), John Pearson (F), Corydon F Rexford (F), Lewis Shiney (F), John Stever (F), Marshal H Tenney (F), Henry Todd (F), Richard Trexell (F), James Wolcott (F), Mitchell Arquett (G), Da Barker Jr. (G), Fayette Burgett (G), John Delaney (G), Joseph Gill (G), Corporal William Granger (G), Orville A Hall (G), Robert M Hill (G), Corporal Henry W Jackson (G), Anthony Jentesse (G), Maxime LeBreche (G), Edwin H McDougall (G), Dennis Murphy (G), Augustus Otto (G), John J Quick (G), Ole Thomason (G), Stephen H. Snyder (G)[94], Peter T Whitman (G), Dudley Wilcox (G), Henry H Bass (H), James Berry (H), Joseph C Blakeslee (H), John Cary (H)[95], Willett S Cottrill (H), John Devore (H), Stephen Field (H), Enoch Foster (H), Orlando J Halstin (H), Hugh Hannah (H), Jackson Henshaw (H), Daniel Leitch (H), Collin Leitch (H), Edward J Osborne (H), William Reed (H), Captain David H Saxton (H), Charles Sexton (H), Alvin M Smith (H), Charles Spencer (H), Charles Weller (H), Darwin B White (H), James A Winans (H), Lieutenant S.D. Woodworth (H)[96], Joseph M Brown (I), Allen Church (I), John Cook (I), Samuel Dale (I), First Lieutenant Ira H Ford (I), Jefferson Kingsley (I)[97], Peter Mead (I), Daniel E Newton (I), Ole Severson (I), Second Lieutenant Ogden A Southmayd (I), Evan H Williams (I), Jeremiah Baldock (K), Robert H Bold (K), Nathan Brazier (K), Hamilton Cummings (K), John Fallon (K), James Flynn (K), Jared SW Pardee (K), Corporal Willis T Sage (K), John QA Soper (K) and First Sergeant John Stumpf (K).
[1] This individual casualty report is derived from the Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, Wisconsin Monument Commission Report and the 1865 Adjutant General’s Report. The pertinent pages of each are; Roster (Vol 1) pp. 770 - 803, Adjutant Report pp. 243-9 and Commission Report pp. 24-7.
[2] Killed and died of wounds list taken from commission report and checked against the roster and adjutant’s report.
[3] Listed as died of wounds in roster but not listed at all in commission report or adjutant’s report.
[4] Listed as wounded and died of disease in roster. Not listed at all in commission report or adjutant’s report. Listed as killed or died of wounds on marker at Shiloh.
[5] Listed as died of wounds in roster but not listed at all in commission report or adjutant’s report.
[6] Listed as died of wounds in roster but not listed at all in commission report or adjutant’s report.
[7] Hammon is listed as died of wounds in commission report and in adjutant’s report. In roster listed as died of disease.
[8] Listed as private in Wood's report. Headstone in Shiloh cemetery says corporal.
[9] Begood is listed as wounded at Vicksburg and dying of those wounds on June 8, 63 at Memphis in roster. Listed as died of wounds in commission report. Listed in adjutant’s report as died of wounds at Memphis on June 8, 62.
[10] Wounded list taken from roster. No mention of wounded made in adjutant’s report or in commission report.
[11] Listed as quarter master sergeant in Wood's report
[12] Listed as sergeant in Wood's report
[13] Listed as wounded in Col Wood's report but in Roster the only remark is that he was wounded on the Red River Expedition (774).
[14] Listed as wounded in Col Wood's report but in Roster the only remark is that he was wounded at Vicksburg (774).
[15] Listed as wounded in Col Wood's report but in Roster the only remark is that he was a corporal and a veteran reenlistment (776).
[16] Not listed as wounded in either of the 2 official reports filed by Col Wood
[17] Listed as Sergeant in Wood's report
[18] Listed as wounded in Col Wood's report but in Roster the only remark is that he was a veteran reenlistment and eventually became a sergeant (779). Also in Wood's report he is listed as a private not a corporal.
[19] Listed as corporal in Wood's report
[20] Listed as sergeant in Wood's report
[21] Listed as corporal in Wood's report
[22] Listed as wounded in Wood's report but does not even appear in Roster for company E.
[23] Listed as wounded in Wood's report but in Roster is listed as dieing of disease on April 25, 1862 at Pittsburg Landing.
[24] Listed as wounded in Wood's report. In the Roster the listing is for William Boon and it says that he deserted Nov 10, 1862 (787).
[25] Listed as sergeant in Wood's report
[26] Listed as wounded in Wood's report but the Roster says that he was killed in action at Corinth on Oct 3, 1862 (789).
[27] Listed as corporal in Wood's report
[28] Listed as wounded in Wood's report but there is no Henry Boss in the Company I roster. There was a Henry Ross of Company I who was wounded and dies of wounds. There also was a Henry Voss in company H that was killed at Shiloh. Not sure if Wood's report mentions Ross or Voss.
[29] Listed as wounded in Wood's report but does not even appear in Roster for company I.
[30] Listed as corporal in Wood's report
[31] Prisoner list taken from roster. No mention of prisoners made in adjutant’s report or in commission report.
[32] Listed as msissing in official report made by Col Wood
[33] This individual casualty report is derived from the Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, Wisconsin Monument Commission Report and the 1865 Adjutant General’s Report. The pertinent pages of each are; Roster (Vol 2) pp. 1-48, Adjutant Report pp. 273-281 and Commission Report pp. 45-7. Some Company G information found on www.prenticenet.com/news/99/shiloh.htm, accessed March 6, 2001. Some Company K information found on www.rootsweb.com/~wiozauke/WarHistory/OzRiflesCh3.html, accessed August 20, 2004. This Ozaukee website was a reprint from The Port Washington Star, by Daniel E. McGinley, first printed July 11, 1896.
[34] Killed and died of wounds list taken from commission report and checked against the roster and adjutant’s report.
[35] Commission says died of wounds. Adjutant and roster say died of disease.
[36] Died while a prisoner. Not clear if he died of wounds or disease.
[37] Adjutant says died of disease. Roster and commission says died of wounds.
[38] Headstone in Shiloh cemetery says Joseph C. Quinn.
[39] Adjutant says died of disease. Roster and commission says died of wounds.
[40] Member of color guard.
[41] Wounded and captured. Died of wounds while a prisoner.
[42] Member of color guard.
[43] Member of color guard.
[44] Member of color guard.
[45] Member of color guard.
[46] Member of color guard.
[47] Adjutant and commission say killed in action. Roster says given disability discharge on October 29, 1862. Website, www.prenticenet.com/news/99/shiloh.htm, says killed. Is buried in the Shiloh cemetery so while that only confirms that he died it does not confirm that he was killed in the battle. It is possible that shortly after his discharge he died and was then buried in the Shiloh cemetery.
[48] Wounded list taken from roster. No mention of wounded made in adjutant’s report or in commission report.
[49] Also listed as captured.
[50] Also listed as captured.
[51] Ozaukee newspaper says mortally wounded.
[52] Ozaukee newspaper says mortally wounded.
[53] Ozaukee newspaper says corporal.
[54] Colonel Allen is only one to mention Williams' wounding. The Roster only says that he was enlisted, commissioned and resigned. Letter from Colonel Allen to August Gaylord, dated May 6, 1862.
[55] Ozaukee newspaper says wounded.
[56] Ozaukee newspaper says wounded.
[57] Ozaukee newspaper says wounded.
[58] Prisoner list taken from roster. No mention of prisoners made in adjutant’s report or in commission report.
[59] Also listed as wounded.
[60] Also listed as wounded.
[61] Died while a prisoner
[62] Missing list taken from commission report and checked against roster. No mention of missing made in adjutant’s report. Letter from Colonel Allen to August Gaylord, dated May 6, 1862. In this letter Allen writes, "Of the missing, some have been heard from by other regiments saying that they had buried some of them. They knew them by the number on their caps and buttons on their coats."
[63] Louis Pettis of company D is listed as missing in the roster. There is no Pettit or Pettis in company E.
[64] This individual casualty report is derived from the Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, Wisconsin Monument Commission Report and the 1865 Adjutant General’s Report. The pertinent pages of each are; Roster (Vol 2) pp. 83-101, Adjutant Report pp. 299-303 and Commission Report pp. 68-72. Additional notes from Nanzig, Thomas P, ed. The Badax Tigers: From Shiloh to the Surrender with the 18th Wisconsin Volunteers. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002) pp 42-3.
[65] Killed and died of wounds list taken from commission report and checked against the roster and adjutant’s report.
[66] Roster says prisoner and died in Macon, GA.
[67] Roster says missing
[68] Wounded list taken from roster and commission report. No mention of wounded made in adjutant’s report.
[69] Only listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[70] Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[71] Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[72] Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[73] Roster says prisoner. Nanzig, The Badax Tigers says wounded.
[74] Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[75] Also prisoner
[76] Roster says prisoner
[77] Also prisoner
[78] Also prisoner
[79] Roster says died of wounds.
[80] Roster says prisoner
[81] Roster says prisoner
[82] Roster says prisoner
[83] Prisoner list taken from roster. No mention of prisoners made in adjutant’s report or in commission report.
[84] Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[85] Listed as a corporal in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[86] Listed as a sergeant in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[87] Listed as a corporal in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[88] Roster says wounded. Not listed in Nanzig, The Badax Tigers.
[89] Also wounded
[90] Roster says wounded
[91] Also wounded
[92] Roster says wounded and died in Macon, GA.
[93] Also wounded
[94] Roster says wounded
[95] Roster says wounded
[96] Roster says wounded
[97] Roster says missing
Friday, September 12, 2008
Confederates in the 14th Wisconsin
As stated earlier, it is known that a Charles Stahl enlisted in the 14th Wisconsin following Shiloh. According to Wells all the Confederates captured by the 14th Wisconsin were allowed to enlist in the regiment. Wells states that four took advantage of this offer. He mentions Charles Stahl and says that of the other three, one was soon discharged and two deserted. Charles Stahl stayed with the regiment his full three years, was wounded at Vicksburg, returned to duty and was mustered out after the war, a veteran of both armies. He went back to work in the same New Orleans tailor shop he’d left to enlist with Beauregard, ready to reminisce with customers about whichever side of the war they preferred to discuss.[1]
According to The Roster of Confederate Soldiers there were only three Charles Stahls in Confederate service. Of the three only one served in a regiment at Shiloh, the 20th Louisiana.[2] The movements of the 20th Louisiana on the second day of the battle are very difficult to ascertain but on the first day they made a charge at the Hornets’ Nest. Charles Stahl could have become detached from his unit at this time and “attached himself” to a Louisiana battery or any other unit. On May 29th in the Record of Events book kept by the 20th Louisiana Charles Stahl is listed as missing.[3] It is possible that Charles Stahl was a temporary member of the captured battery or maybe he knew the designation of the captured battery because he fought near it.* That the 14th Wisconsin enlisted captured Confederates seems far from normal. The two other Wisconsin regiments did not do this.
In all eighteen men from the surrounding area enlisted in the 14th Wisconsin in the months following the battle. Of these nine deserted within the month of enlistment, four were discharged within the month of enlistment but the other five stayed. One man was killed at Vicksburg and the rest survived until they were mustered out. Of those eighteen enlistments there were six that for sure did not fight at Shiloh. Figuring out what the other eleven did before enlistment in the 14th Wisconsin is another mystery. One that is pretty certain of having fought at Shiloh is Gerhard Schmitz, who served in the 20th Louisiana with Charles Stahl.[4] In the Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands, Charles Stahl is listed as having deserted May 24th, 1862.[5] Gerhard Schmitz is listed as missing since May 29th, 1862 in the Louisiana roster. This fact casts some doubt as to if these two men were captured by the 14th Wisconsin at Shiloh. The Wisconsin roster though leaves room open for debate as Stahl and Schmitz did not join Company I of the 14th Wisconsin until June 15th. Schmitz would desert from the 14th Wisconsin on January 12, 1863.[6]
The other Confederates who switched to the Union side likely all fought in the 21st Louisiana, Company C. They are August Steinmetzger,[7] Jacob Loderhose,[8] and Edward Rohden.[9] These names appear in the 21st Louisiana and 14th Wisconsin’s rosters identically. There were no other August Steinmetzgers, Jacob Loderhoses, or Edward Rohdens in Confederate or Union service. It seems unlikely that if there were only two Steinmetzgers, Loderhoses, or Rohdens who served in the Civil War, that they would have the same first name. No incontrovertible fact has been found that says that the August Steinmetzger in the 21st Louisiana is the same man as the August Steinmetzger in the 14th Wisconsin or that the Jacob Loderhose in the 21st Louisiana is the same man as the Jacob Loderhose in the 14th Wisconsin or that the Edward Rohden in the 21st Louisiana is the same man as the Edward Rohden in the 14th Wisconsin; however the odds of there being two August Steinmetzgers and no other Steinmetzgers (and so on) must be astronomical.
For August Steinmetzger, Jacob Loderhose and Edward Rohden the listing in the Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands, clears up nothing. For each man the notation by his name is simply present. The roster though does not state when the soldier was mustered out. It does state though the date of the soldier’s parole and since that info is missing for these three men it is plausible to assume that they never participated in the final surrender. They might have deserted days before the surrender or may have been captured at Shiloh, but whatever happened to them is not clear in the Louisiana roster.[10] August Steinmetzger, Jacob Loderhose and Edward Rohden each joined Company H of the 14th Wisconsin on June 18th. August Steinmetzger would be killed at Vicksburg on May 22nd, 1863. Jacob Loderhose and Edward Rohden would each serve three years.[11]
There was also a Michael J Walsh who served in the 21st Louisiana, Company A. In the case of Michael J Walsh though there was also a Michael J Walsh in the 9th Mississippi.[12] The captured Confederate possibilities are then a bit harder to trace. There are three names that are listed under only one regiement; David W Delk who served in the 1st Florida[13], Nathan Rose who served in the 15th Mississippi[14] and Gilbert Waldron who served in the 2nd Tennessee.[15]
Then there are three names that are listed with multiple units. They are John W Lee which is listed under the 16th Alabama, 26th Alabama, 10th Mississippi and 15th Mississippi[16]; Thomas Nash which is listed under the 2nd Texas and 21st Alabama[17]; and Elijah F Warren which is listed under the 13th Tennessee, 24th Tennessee, 1st Arkansas, 2nd Arkansas.[18] More research must be done to figure out is any of these men were captured by the 14th Wisconsin and subsequently joined that regiment or if the remaining men who are listed as joining the 14th Wisconsin at Pittsburg Landing were simply residents of the area.
The history of the 21st Louisiana is as interesting as it is difficult to figure out. The 21st Louisiana was also called the 5th Battalion of Louisiana Troops, Jackson’s Regiment, Kennedy’s Battalion and the First Battalion of Jackson’s Regiment. John BG Kennedy commanded the unit during the time period of Shiloh but the unit was at New Madrid, Tennessee. Following Shiloh the 21st Louisiana was brought to Corinth. At Tupelo on July 28th, 1862 the regiment was ordered disbanded. On January 16th, 1864 Special Orders No. 16 consolidated the 5th, 17th, 21st, 23rd, 26th, 27th, 28th and 31st Louisiana into one regiment which became known as the 22nd Louisiana. The 21st Louisiana might have only existed as the 21st Louisiana on paper. The official reports usually refer to the unit as Kennedy’s Battalion.[19] Although August Steinmetzger, Jacob Loderhose and Edward Rohden seem very likely candidates to have been captured by the 14th Wisconsin it appears that they were not at Shiloh at all. Clearly more research needs to be done to determine the history of the 21st Louisiana and the other regiments that were combined with it to figure out where August Steinmetzger, Jacob Loderhose and Edward Rohden were on April 7th.
[1] Wells, Wisconsin in the Civil War, p 20. I have never heard of this process happening after any other battle in the Civil War. There was the Confederates who became Indian fighters to escape the hellish life at northern prison camps. I believe though that what the 14th Wisconsin did was far from the normal as I have yet to hear of any other regiment doing this at Shiloh.
[2] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 14, p 395.
[3] Supplement OR 2:24, 450.
* The 20th Louisiana was organized in New Orleans and left the city on March 11. It was composed of six companies of Irish and four companies of Germans. Charles Stahl served in Company D, also known as the Tunica Guards, of the 20th Louisiana. During the two days of battle the regiment lost 256 men of 380 engaged. Ref: Daniel, Shiloh: The Battle that Changed the Civil War, pp 60, 93 & 287. Booth, Andrew B, compiler. Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands, Volume I. Commissioner Louisiana Military Records, 1920. http://www.researchonline.net/lacw/launits.htm.
[4] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 13, p. 480.
[5] http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/la/military/civilwar/booth. Booth, Andrew B, compiler. Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands. 3 Volumes. Commissioner Louisiana Military Records, 1920. Accessed May 29, 2002.
[6] Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. Chandler P Chapman, Adjutant General. (Madison, WI: Democrat Printing Company, State Printers, 1886.) p 799.
[7] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 14, p 439.
[8] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 9, p 520.
[9] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 13, p 317.
[10] http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/la/military/civilwar/booth. Booth, Andrew B, compiler. Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands. 3 Volumes. Commissioner Louisiana Military Records, 1920. Accessed May 29, 2002.
[11] Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, pp 795-6.
[12] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 15, p 559.
[13] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 4, p 485.
[14] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 13, p 317.
[15] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 15, p 504.
[16] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 9, p 397.
[17] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 11, p 438.
[18] Hewett, Roster of Confederate Soldiers. Volume 16, p 7.
[19] Supplement OR 2:24, 465-73, 489-91.