Dan Masters' Civil War Chronicles

The Battle of Belmont, Missouri is perhaps best remembered as being General Ulysses S. Grant’s first battle in the Civil War, a battle devoid of strategic intention, an engagement which stemmed from Grant’s desire “to do something” against the growing Confederate presence in Columbus, Kentucky. “I did not see how I could maintain discipline or retain the confidence of my command if we should return to Cairo without an effort to do something,” he recalled in his Memoirs . Gathering a force totaling a little over 3,000 men and escorted by a pair of gunboats, Grant set out from Cairo aboard steamboats intending to give the Rebs a sharp rap on the nose. The general had received intelligence that indicated that the Confederates had crossed a small force over the Mississippi from Columbus to Belmont, Missouri. Grant’s idea was to swoop down on this Confederate detachment, rough it up, tear up its camps, then high tail it back to the steamboats before the larger Confederate force at Colu...

Selden Allen Day had a distinguished and lengthy career in the U.S. Army, serving in both the Civil War and the Spanish American War. He was born July 22, 1838 in Chillicothe, Ohio and at the outbreak of the war was living in Wood County, Ohio. He enlisted in Co. C of the 7 th Ohio Infantry and had been promoted to the rank of sergeant by the time he left in February 1863, seeing action at Kessler’s Crossroads, First Kernstown, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, and Antietam. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 5 th U.S. Light Artillery in April 1864 and was given a brevet promotion to first lieutenant in June 1864 for gallantry at Cold Harbor, and a second brevet promotion to captain in March 1865 for meritorious services during the war. Day later saw action in the Spanish-American War in Cuba and retired from the Army in 1902. However, one of the more memorable events of Day’s service occurred away from the battlefield. In the fall of 1865, he was one of Jefferson D...

Today’s post features an extraordinary letter from Chaplain Garland H. White of the 28 th U.S. Colored Troops that describes his regiment’s entry into Richmond in April 1865. Garland White was born a slave in 1829 in Hanover Co., Virginia; he was soon sold to Robert Toombs of Georgia and was Toombs’ body servant while Toombs served in the U.S. Senate through the 1850s. White attempted to escape in 1850 while in Washington, D.C. but was quickly caught by slave catchers. He escaped later in the 1850s and made his way to Canada where he became a minister to the African Methodist Episcopal church of London, Ontario. Following the outbreak of the Civil War and the cessation of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, White returned to the U.S. and took up residence in Toledo, Ohio. White devoted his efforts to his church and to recruiting black soldiers for the Union war effort, canvassing the state to raise men for the 54 th and 55 th Massachusetts regiments. Governor Oliver Morton of...

Stowel Lincoln Burnham was born December 13, 1837 in Windham Co., Connecticut to Luther and Marcelia “Marcy” (Lincoln) Burnham. Very little is known of his life before the war but based on his writings, he appears to have been well educated. In October 1861, he was in Kenton, Ohio visiting his sister Mrs. Lester Hunt and motivated by the patriotic fervor of the time, he enlisted in Co. A of the 82 nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Why he chose to cast his fortunes with strangers as opposed to enlisting at home with a Connecticut regiment is lost to history, but his comrades soon had cause to be thankful that he joined them. Burnham was appointed first sergeant, and before long was commissioned second lieutenant and, after Chancellorsville, was promoted to regimental adjutant. At every step, he proved himself to be a top flight soldier: brave, efficient, and noble. As men at war usually do, Burnham developed close friendships, particularly with Lieutenant Colonel David Thomson and Captain ...

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, the massive 128 volume postwar work issued by the War Department, serves as the cornerstone of our understanding of the military history of the Civil War. Within its thousands of pages reside after action reports, correspondence, court martial proceedings, charts, maps, a veritable mountain and gold mine of information that has delighted (and infuriated) historians since its publication in the 19th century. But even then, it was recognized that not every report made it into the O.R., some were, in a phrase, "lost to history."   Daily Missouri Republican , St. Louis, Missouri, January 26, 1863 A superb attempt was made to address this deficiency during the 1980s and 1990s when Broadfoot Publishing printed 100 more volumes of material in the Supplement to the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion which is available here . Amazingly, even with 228 volumes of reports, once in a while something new is discovered ...

In March 1864, Adjutant Joseph Newton of the 14 th Ohio relayed the following story about a new recruit who joined the 38 th Ohio when it was on veteran furlough, but who promptly “deserted” to the Confederacy his first night on picket duty. 1912 Reunion Ribbon             It all started when the 38 th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was home on veterans’ furlough in January 1864. While recruiting, a man calling himself Lyman Beecher Adams said he wanted to join the regiment. This name resonated with the Buckeyes as Connecticut-born Lyman Beecher was a noted abolitionist who had lived his Cincinnati for many years, making him a known quantity in the state. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was famous as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Adams claimed that he was from Rhode Island and the Buckeyes thought that with a name linking men such as Lyman Beecher and John Adams, this new recruit must have a heart bounding with patriot...

In 1916, 73-year-old Civil War veteran Andrew Young Neff wrote a memoir of his life as a “high private in the rear rank” during the war and while his death prevented completion of the work, he left a superb account covering his experiences through the Battle of Shiloh.  Neff started the war as a lanky, rail-thin 18-year-old farmer boy from Logan County, Ohio when he enlisted in Co. C of the 13 th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in June of 1861. The 13 th Ohio served for several months in western Virginia where it took part in one battle (Carnifex Ferry) and several skirmishes. In November 1861, it was sent via steamboat to Louisville, Kentucky where it joined General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of Ohio. Originally assigned to General Ormsby M. Mitchel’s division, it was re-assigned to Colonel William Sooy Smith’s brigade of General Thomas Crittenden’s Fifth Division at the request of Colonel Smith in March 1862. Smith’s 14 th Brigade consisted of the 13 th Ohio, 11 th Kentucky, and 26...

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion , the massive 128 volume postwar work issued by the War Department, serves as the cornerstone of our understanding of the military history of the Civil War. Within its thousands of pages reside after action reports, correspondence, court martial proceedings, charts, maps, a veritable mountain and gold mine of information that has delighted (and infuriated) historians since its publication in the 19th century. But even then, it was recognized that not every report made it into the O.R., some were, in a phrase, "lost to history." A superb attempt was made to address this deficiency during the 1980s and 1990s when Broadfoot Publishing printed 100 more volumes of material in the Supplement to the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion which is available here . Amazingly, even with 228 volumes of reports, once in a while something new is discovered that was missed. I'm proud to present one of those missing after action r...

Throughout the Civil War, the Ohio River was a major conduit of men, arms, and other materials of war to support Union military activities throughout the western theater. Connecting industrial centers such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville with St. Louis and the Mississippi River network proved to be a tremendous advantage for the Union army in prosecuting the war in this theater. I was a bit surprised (but perhaps should not have been) to recently learn that the Ohio River also served as a conduit for troops going into the eastern theater. I had thought that troop and supply traffic had generally gone east over the extensive railroad network in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but as is shown below, the Ohio River also transported units headed east. This article features a pair accounts from Buckeye soldiers who headed for the seat of war on the Ohio River during the winter of 1862. The first account was written by Corporal William H. Ewing of Battery H, 1 st Ohio Light Artille...

Today’s post features an excerpt from my recent book The Seneachie Letters: A Virginia Yankee with the 32 nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry  (available here ) which provides one of the two accounts written by Private William Mosby McLain about the Battle of Atlanta.           A little background on the author. William Mosby McLain was born in 1838 in Washington, D.C. and was raised in that city, but spent much time visiting his Mosby relatives in Virginia (he is a relation of John Singleton Mosby on his mother’s side) and at the outbreak of the war was living with his mother’s family in Richmond, Virginia having just completed his college education in civil engineering. McLain opposed secession and chose to return to his father’s family home in Champaign County, Ohio where he enlisted with his cousin in Co. B of the 32 nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. McLain sent a regular series of letters to the Urbana Citizen & Gazette under the pen n...

     The Federal victory at Jonesboro was the culminating event of Sherman's Atlanta campaign and was one of the primary events that prompted the Confederate evacuation of the city. One of the most dramatic scenes of that battle was the successful charge of Colonel George P. Este's brigade from the 14th Corps on September 1, 1864. Este's charge was one of the few if only occasions during the campaign when an entrenched force had been driven from their works, a feat for which the men of his brigade took tremendous pride for the rest of their lives. The brigade consisted of the 14th Ohio, 38th Ohio, 10th Kentucky, and 74th Indiana infantry regiments, several of the regiments having served together for two years or more.  Colonel George Peabody Este, 14th Ohio The following accounts give insight into the successful charge at Jonesboro from the perspective of the 14th Ohio.

In August 1862, twenty-five year old Second Lieutenant Joseph Bell Newton of Co. B of the 14 th  Ohio found himself seated next to William Hawkins Polk, the younger brother of former President James Knox Polk. While the two men discussed the history of the rebellion in Tennessee (Polk was an ardent Union supporter), Polk showed Newton his most prized possession: a gold watch once owned by George Washington. For Newton, the sight of this treasured relic from the founding of the nation connected his efforts to reunite the Union to those struggles of Revolutionary times.  Colonel George Washington in uniform he wore during the French and Indian War. Washington served on Braddock's staff and it was during this association (1754-1755) that Braddock presented Washington with the gold watch Newton saw in 1862. How William H. Polk came into possession of the watch is a mystery; his grandfather Ezekiel Franklin Polk had served in the Revolution, mainly in the Carolinas, at no time ...

The Federal assault on Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia took place on June 27, 1864 in the midst of Sherman's drive into Georgia. It represented a serious and costly misstep and was one of the few times a head-on assault was attempted against the Confederate army under General Joseph E. Johnston.  The following letter was written by Captain Otway Watson of Co. A, 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry to John Dungan of London, Ohio, reporting the death of Dungan's son Lieutenant Jesse W. Dungan. The 113th Ohio was the leading regiment in the assault on Kennesaw and lost 10 officers and 153 men in the attack. As related by Captain Watson, Dungan was retrieved from the field due to the heroism of two enlisted men: Corporal Richard B. Corson and Private John H. Peters. Unidentified youthful Union private in marching order wearing a nine button frock coat, knapsack, and a dagger carried in his belt. (Library of Congress)

In the spring of 1864, the decision was made to concentrate Union forces at various strategic points in the South to free up troops that would be added to the primary armies of invasion in Virginia and Georgia. In western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, this meant that the Union pulled out of Corinth, Mississippi and allowed the area to be reclaimed by the Confederacy. Corinth’s primary strategic value centered on the railroad junction of the Mobile & Ohio and the Memphis & Charleston railroads. Since Federals controlled Memphis at the western terminus and Chattanooga further east on the M&C, Corinth was no longer deemed necessary and was abandoned. General Nathan Bedford Forrest had been sent to Mississippi to raise forces that were tasked with re-taking and holding this region; the area also served as a jumping off point for Forrest to stage raids against Union supply lines in Tennessee. That said, the primary function for the remaining Federal forces in western Ten...

In an era of Covid restrictions and societal change and upheaval, this year's Fourth of July celebrations were muted to an extent not seen thus far in my lifetime. Reading through these accounts from six Buckeye soldiers during the Civil War gave me some solace that this isn't the first time we've had a less-than-glorious Fourth of July. July 4, 1862 was the second Independence Day the nation passed in the midst of a Civil War. The key question of the day, and it is mentioned in several of these accounts, was what would be the outcome of the battles outside of Richmond? Was McClellan's army really defeated? Would the war continue to go on? When would the Rebels quit, and what policy should be adopted if they refused to submit to Federal authority?  One thing that struck my in reading these accounts was how much they speak to our present-day situation; its puts into perspective that much of our current national struggle for identity, mission, and meaning has been a str...