Capturing the Hornet's Nest with the Kid Glove Regiment at Shiloh

The Crescent Regiment of Louisiana, also known as the “Kid Glove” regiment as the men of its ranks numbered amongst the wealthiest families of New Orleans, was a 90-day regiment raised in March 1862 in response to General Beauregard’s appeal for emergency volunteers to take the field after the Federal victory at Fort Donelson threatened Confederate control of Tennessee. “At the beginning, we were dressed to kill and had an abundance of rations and servants galore,” remembered Private Yves LeMonnier of Co. B. “We returned home in rags, skinny and maimed, but happy and with an abundance of fight left in us.”[1]

         

This young and determined Confederate proudly poses with his musket and a sign proclaiming his allegiance to "Jeff Davis and the South!" (Library of Congress)



          Barely a month out of New Orleans, the Crescent Regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh and was one of the regiments credited with the capture of the Hornet’s Nest on the first day of the battle. The following letter, written by an unknown soldier of the Sumter Rifles (Co. K), provides a witty and clearly written description of why the Crescents came home ragged, skinny, and maimed, and touches on capturing General Prentiss in the Hornet's Nest.

 

Headquarters, Crescent Regiment, Camp near Corinth, Mississippi

April 9, 1862[2]
          My dear aunt,

          The battle is over, and the victory is ours! In order to give you a full account I will commence at the beginning. On Thursday April 3rd, we received orders to cook five days rations and march against the enemy near the Tennessee River. Not having any rations to cook, it did not take us long to obey the first order. We each managed to obtain five crackers apiece, however, and taking our blankets, we formed in line and marched off. Camping that night in the woods without shelter, we set off the next morning in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm, the hailstones falling as large as birds’ eggs. The storm continued a great part of the day and again we bivouacked at night in the woods without other shelter than our blankets. During the night, it rained furiously and most of us, being too extremely fatigued to be cautious, slept in pools of water; notwithstanding, but few caught cold. Saturday night we passed in a beautiful spot of woodland so near the enemy’s camp that we could hear their drums.

         

Federal artillery at Shiloh



The next morning, the pickets commenced firing. As the firing became more and more heavy, our regiment was marched within a half a mile of the place where the battle was then raging, and we awaited orders to advance. About 12 o’clock, the order was given, and we hastened to the fray. The enemy’s dead and dying lay scattered around and while passing their first encampments, our men, being almost starved, rushed into the now-deserted tents and seized on all the provisions they could find, which they devoured ravenously.

 

          As we moved further on the cannon balls and bomb shells from the enemy’s gunboats whizzed over our heads and burst in the air or carried away the tops of the trees. Reaching the place assigned to us [Duncan Field], we were drawn up in line of battle and ordered to lie down to avoid the balls and shells which were now pouring into us from the artillery. But a few minutes elapsed when we were ordered to charge on the enemy who were protecting themselves behind a fence, some cotton bales, and a log house. We rushed forward and repulsed them while their balls whistled about our ears like hail. We then fell back into line. While stationed here kneeling with my musket ready for any emergency, a cannon ball struck the ground about 12 inches from my feet and another struck my bayonet, passing within a few inches of my head, carrying away part of the bayonet and bending the remainder nearly double, knocking me flat to the earth. With some difficulty I managed to unscrew the useless weapon and threw it away.


 

Flag of Co. A of the Crescent Regiment
(Acadians in Gray)

          Again, we advanced and fired into the Federal infantry, which was being pretty badly peppered by two other regiments. At length, they threw down their arms and surrendered. We took about 4,000 prisoners. [Another soldier of the Crescent Regiment described the capture of the Hornet’s Nest and General Benjamin Prentiss thus: “Colonel [Marshall J.] Smith received orders to attack an encampment about a half mile from the river. The regiment opened fire upon it from the woods across a ravine and meeting no response, filed around to another point and were about to charge, when the Federals threw down their arms and came forward waving caps and handkerchiefs in token of surrender. Here General Prentiss was captured. While our regiment was drawn up in front of the encampment, a number of soldier from another regiment [the 19th Tennessee] entered the place and seized him in a tent. They turned him over to their colonel and some of them got possession of the flag and threw it into a camp fire, destroying it partially. It was rescued, however, and will I understand by turned over to Colonel Smith. As the whole encampment constituted two or more regiment submitted to our attack, the surrender should have been made to him, but in consequence of the turn of affairs, measures for securing the prisoners were not promptly taken and many of them escaped. We were fired upon, too, by another of our regiments which came in our rear to attack the camp.”[3]

 

General Prentiss and other Federal veterans of Shiloh pose at the site where Prentiss surrendered at 5:30 p.m. April 6, 1862. General Prentiss is the bearded gentleman, third from right.
Left to right: Colonel (then Major) John Smith Cavender (Battery M, 1st Missouri Light Artillery), Captain (then Private) Alfred T. Andreas (Co. G, 12th Illinois Infantry), Colonel T. Tyle Dickey (4th Illinois Cavalry), General (then Colonel) James Madison Tuttle (2nd Iowa Infantry), Major (then lieutenant) George Mason (12th Illinois Infantry), General Benjamin M. Prentiss, Captain Doolittle, Colonel Cuthbert Laing (Battery B, 1st Michigan Light Artillery)


The enemy were now driven from their encampments and we had now only about 10,000 of the 40,000 to contend with. Our artillery and theirs again commenced, our regiment lying close on the brow of a hill, the shot and shell pouring over us and occasionally killing someone. The enemy was soon entirely routed and driven back to the boats. We passed that night in a Yankee encampment where we found and enjoyed all the comforts of a home and provisions in abundance.

 

Learning that the enemy had been heavily reinforced during the night, we knew another big battle would result on Monday; accordingly, our regiment marched to the support of the artillery who were already engaged in battle. Again, the shot and shell showered us in profusion, but we were becoming accustomed to deadly missiles and di not pay much attention to them. We kept advancing with the artillery until their ammunition gave out and they fell back. The enemy charged our lines furiously with their infantry and we met them half way and the Minie balls whistled about us by thousands. Just as I had my musket at a charge bayonet, a ball struck my right hand, wounding it sufficiently to prevent my using it for a day at least; another ball struck my left foot and I fell. However, I sprang up immediately on my knees and endeavored to cock my gun but was unable.


Crescent Regiment Monument



 

Still I kept my position in line until I saw the greater part of the regiment falling back. Thinking they were retreating, I kept my post but when I saw the Sumter Rifles also moving and was told the order was given to fall back and load, I accordingly went back as fast as I was able and got into a gutter which protected me somewhat. I was now between the two fires and the balls fell around me in every direction. The artillery, having received a fresh supply of ammunition, stood their ground and by our united efforts we repulsed the enemy.

 

After the retreat, one of our lieutenants noticed my wounded condition and helped me off the field, placing me in charge of a friend to take me to the hospital. We wandered about five miles without finding any and then taking the Monterey road we traveled about five miles more, reaching that place by night. I was pretty well used up as you may imagine. I had managed to get through those ten miles by leans on my friend’s arm and using as a cane a Yankee sword which I took the previous day. I had not shelter than night and it rained very hard.

 

The army was all night passing Monterey. I joined them in the morning and walked, or rather limped, to Corinth, a distance of 15 miles where I arrived at 3 o’clock in the afternoon completely worn out. My wounds are slight, and I am now getting on finely. I have spoken of the Crescent Regiment only because it is impossible for a soldiers in one to know how the others were conducted. After I left the field, the Crescent Regiment made two charges, in one of which captain [Charles C.] Campbell of our company was killed, being shot through the heart by a Minie ball. He was a fine man in every particular, a noble and brave soldier. Many a soldier shed tears when they heard of his death as there was not a finer officer in the whole regiment. Before leaving the camp for the battlefield, he was offered a furlough but refused to accept it, although he was sick. The fatigues of the march and Sunday’s fight almost prostrated him. Then, scarcely able to stand, on Monday he persisted in leading his men in their charge and he fell nobly at his post.

 

The regiment became greatly scattered, some fighting with other regiments, which I believe is always the case with men in great battles, yet the majority kept well together. We lost in our company two killed, two mortally wounded, eight wounded, and two who are missing, making in all 14 which is one-fifth of the company. [Regimental losses totaled 23 killed, 84 wounded, and 20 missing, totaling 127.] If I return home, I can give you many details of the battle which I am unable to do now on account of my injured hand, which, being not in good order, I can scarcely write at all.

 

Accept my best love and wishes, affectionately, your nephew,

W.D.H.


[1] “Memorial to the Louisianans at Shiloh,” Confederate Veteran, August 1914, pg. 342

[2] “The Battle of Shiloh,” New Orleans Daily Crescent (Louisiana), April 17, 1862, pg. 1

[3] “Army Correspondence,” New Orleans Daily Crescent (Louisiana), April 15, 1862, pg. 1. A piece of “fine gold lace” from this “half-burned Lincoln standard” was sent to the editors of the Daily Crescent by their correspondent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on t...
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true ...
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of h...
Read more

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Ma...
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on se...
Read more

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my ...
Read more

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm...
Read more

An Interview with Forrest in May 1864

Image
  “The noise of battle is the only music that ravishes the senses of Forrest.” I t was May 1864. Back east, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were locked in the deadly dance of the Overland Campaign while in Georgia, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army squared off against General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of the Tennessee in the campaign for Atlanta.       Based in relatively quiet northern Mississippi, General Nathan Bedford Forrest bided his time waiting for a Federal advance from Memphis. Earlier in the month, General Samuel Sturgis led a brief campaign into Mississippi but Forrest was sure Sturgis would venture out again. In the meantime, he tried to keep his reorganized command intact despite persistent demands from his superiors that he return the absentees and deserters who inflated his ranks (nearly 1,000 in number) to their original commands.      Around this same time,  an old acquaintance from Me...
Read more

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Image
W riting in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29 th Indiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towards Savannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in their ears.           “The forced march was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “The rest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows more intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my only chance.” The regiment would go into action the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlisted together in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battl...
Read more