Dan Masters' Civil War Chronicles

C olonel Robert L. McCook of the 9 th Ohio Infantry was wounded in the right leg during the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky on January 19, 1862. Writing from a hospital bed at Camp Hamilton, Kentucky two days afterwards, one of his first tasks was to notify Gustavus Tafel back in Cincinnati that his brother Hugo had been killed in the Battle of Mill Springs. He also explained how he came to be wounded. “My horse received three wounds from shots: one ball passed through my overcoat and the fifth struck me in the leg. I received a severe wound in the leg below the knee. I hope the leg is but slightly injured. You will see from this that we were in the midst of a fiery shower of balls. Had I left the field immediately it would perhaps been better for me. I remained in the field, however, and pursued the enemy at the head of my brigade a distance of twelve miles, of which I was compelled to make three miles on foot in an ankle-deep morass,” McCook wrote.      ...

I n early August 1862, General George Morgan, commanding Federals forces holding Cumberland Gap, acquired intelligence indicative of increased Confederate activity in eastern Tennessee. To smoke out Confederate intentions, he dispatched a 1,500-man force under Colonel John Decourcey to march towards the Clinch River. DeCourcey’s men were in camp at Tazewell, Tennessee on the morning of August 6, 1862, when Kirby Smith’s army made their presence known and attacked the Federals. The resulting ‘Battle’ of Tazewell lasted through most of the day, eventually sent DeCourcey retreating to Cumberland Gap, and cost each side roughly 70 casualties.           Among the Confederate forces at Cumberland Gap were several regiments of Georgians; today’s blog post features detailed accounts from an unknown soldier in the 40 th Georgia, writing under the nom-de-plume of Stilesboro, likely named after a small farming community west of Cartersville in Bartow...

T he combat that marked the July 30, 1864, fighting at the Battle of the Crater was noteworthy in part because of its intensity culminating in a rare instance of hand-to-hand combat.       Recalling the moment when the Federal assault began to fall apart, one veteran of the 45th Pennsylvania said "B efore our boys were aware of it, a line of graybacks with fixed bayonets was upon us, the officers swinging their swords and calling out, “Surrender, you Yankee sons of b-!” They actually threw themselves upon our bayonets and a terrible hand to hand conflict commenced all along the line. Swords and pistols were used with good execution while personal encounters with the bayonet were frequent.  The Rebel officers, by their coolness and daring, did more execution with their pistols than the men who seemed to care but little whether they fired or not. As we were found more with the Negroes, the Rebels did not hesitate to butcher some of the prisoners before our eyes, e...

In the spring of 1885, the Omaha Bee newspaper in Nebraska ran a 12-part series of articles written by John T. Bell of the 2 nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry covering the entirety of his service with that regiment.       A resident of Omaha at the time of his enlistment, he joined the ranks of Co. C on December 2, 1861, at the tender age of 19. He would survive the war with the rank of second lieutenant and 20 years after his discharge penned these reminiscences. The following year, these articles were published in book form as Tramps and Triumphs of the 2 nd Iowa Infantry.        Bell’s reminiscences are simply superb, really giving the reader an intimate look at life in the ranks of the famous 2 nd Iowa. Three of his articles will be featured in this series; the first, covers the regiment’s baptism of fire at Fort Donelson in February 1862. Part 2 covers the regiment’s role at the Battle of Shiloh and the third covers the Second Battle of Corin...

I n the spring of 1885, the Omaha Bee newspaper in Nebraska ran a 12-part series of articles written by John T. Bell of the 2 nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry covering the entirety of his service with that regiment.       A resident of Omaha at the time of his enlistment, he joined the ranks of Co. C on December 2, 1861, at the tender age of 19. He would survive the war with the rank of second lieutenant and 20 years after his discharge penned these reminiscences. The following year, these articles were published in book form as Tramps and Triumphs of the 2 nd Iowa Infantry.        Bell’s reminiscences are simply superb, really giving the reader an intimate look at life in the ranks of the famous 2 nd Iowa. Three of his articles will be featured in this series; the first, covering the regiment’s baptism of fire at Fort Donelson in February 1862. This part, part 2, will cover the regiment’s role at the Battle of Shiloh and the third covers the Sec...

I n the spring of 1885, the Omaha Bee newspaper in Nebraska ran a 12-part series of articles written by John T. Bell of the 2 nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry covering the entirety of his service with that regiment.       A resident of Omaha at the time of his enlistment, he joined the ranks of Co. C on December 2, 1861, at the tender age of 19. He would survive the war with the rank of second lieutenant and 20 years after his discharge penned these reminiscences. The following year, these articles were published in book form as Tramps and Triumphs of the 2 nd Iowa Infantry.      Bell’s reminiscences are simply superb, really giving the reader an intimate look at life in the ranks of the famous 2 nd Iowa. Three of his articles will be featured in this series; the first, covers the regiment’s baptism of fire at Fort Donelson in February 1862. Part 2 will cover the regiment’s role at the Battle of Shiloh and the third covers the Second Battle of Corinth...