The 90th Ohio Sees the Elephant at Stones River

The thoughts of Corporal Charles J.E. Reck of the 90th Ohio Volunteer Infantry turned to God and his family in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Stones River. “With shudderings I have looked over the scenes which have transpired here,” he wrote his parents from Murfreesboro, Tennessee on January 5, 1863. “Thank God I have escaped unscathed, but oh, what scenes of blood and woes!”

 

Stones River was the first time the 90th Ohio had seen serious combat, and it was their lot to hold an important part of the Federal center to the right of the Round Forest on December 31, 1862. In their immediate front was the burnt remains of the Cowan House. The regiment went into the fight with 338 men and lost 137, more than a third of the command, in the vicious combat that took place between 10 a.m. and noon on that sector of the field. “General Charles Cruft said the 90th did nobly, said we could not have done better,” reported Reck. “General [John] Palmer also complimented us."

 

Officers of the 90th Ohio Volunteer Infantry posing outside their quarters in Huntsville, Alabama at the end of the war. (Ohio History Connection)


“I will commence at the beginning,” he wrote. “Tuesday before Christmas while still in camp near Nashville, I received the famous barrel safe and sound, and just in the nick of time. I thought I could not do otherwise than cordially thank you for your kindness in going to so much trouble and expense in sending me so many good things! They were appreciated I so assure you. Christmas night we were started by the sudden though no unexpected order to get ready the next morning to march and that without tents- nothing except our blankets and five days’ rations. We were ordered to send our sick and unable to march with our wagons and tents back to Nashville.

 

We started the next morning bound for Lavergne. We met no resistance until about eight miles from camp near Lavergne where the rebels had posted themselves in a commanding position with a battery on the pike with cannon, cavalry, several regiments, and a brigade of infantry. Our regiment was on the left wing and therefore was in the fight. I saw enough of what a fight would be, and there I did my first dodging. The shells flew thickly over our heads and by our sides. A Rebel battery was posted on the straight pike in splendid range and as our troops came up they let loose upon us. That night we bivouacked in the woods and the next morning drove the Rebels out of Lavergne.

 

Colonel Charles Cruft

From there it was one continued fight until Tuesday the 30th of December. On that afternoon, we had every severe fighting on our right, but our brigade was not engaged until Wednesday. That day dawned on us bright and clear- every one of our companies was drawn up in line and General Rosecrans’ proclamation was read, received with rousing cheers by our patriotic boys some of whom were now shortly to be hushed in death. Our brigade had camped in a strip of woods not more than a thousand yards from the Rebels in our front and right. We advanced our line to the edge of the woods and took our position. While we lay there, we were suddenly startled by a fire from the enemy’s guns on our extreme right about a mile from our position. It continued to grow louder and louder and getting nearer to us. General McCook’s corps was on our right and I knew by the firing that the Rebels were driving McCook to our side. Then our boys grasped their guns more firmly, ready for any movement. Musketry roll after roll coming to our ears, with the heavy booming of cannon which sounded the death knell to many a poor fellow’s ears.

 

The position of our brigade was becoming rather precarious as the Rebels were driving McCook to our rear. Then suddenly the ball opened in our front to our right. Now we were ordered to support them [the 2nd Kentucky Infantry lay behind a slight breastwork out in the field in front of the 90th Ohio] and we double quicked across an open space to a fence in our front under an awful fire of grape and canister from the Rebels.

 

The fence gained, we poured volley after volley from our trusty rifles into the fore. But still they advanced and brigade after brigade spread out like the wings of an eagle bearing down upon us with a full swoop. Now our brave boys hewed gaps in their lines that still advanced, but these were closed up as if nothing had happened. When they were about 100 yards from us, their lines broke off from the center and filed to our right and left. We were flanked! The brigade on our left had fallen back. We had no support on our right or in our rear. We were under a crossfire and the order given to fall back. But our brave boys did not hear the order. They still held their places under the most murderous and withering fire, while their commanders were mowed down by scores.


 

Captain Augustus Keller
90th Ohio Infantry

Our colonel [Isaac N. Ross], seeing the situation, ordered us back. We fell back scatteringly. The staff officers of our regiment had pitched their lines in the rear of the regiment and when the right fell back in disorder, I ran back to save the horses of the staff. One of the horses was very fractious, scared by the shot and shell falling and bursting around is in every direction.  The other two were stubborn brutes and did not mind the shot a bit. It was as much as I could do to lead them out for it was impossible for me to ride them. But after all, I led them out safe and sound. When I got out of the woods into the open field where our batteries were posted, I found Colonel Ross with the flag and three men. Our forces soon collected, and we drove the Rebels almost as quick as lightning. The noise was awful! It seemed as if the demons of hell were loose and all the artillery of the lower regions was pouring their knell of woe into the ears of all. Our artillery saved the day and drove the Rebels back.

 

We lay all night in the rear of our battery as support. The sun that night went down in blood over a gory field. We did think we were driving off the dying year. Yes, our prayers were that with it the Rebel Confederacy might be driven away and receive its death blow. That night we took a review of our regiment- we had four staff officers, nine companies, and 69 men present. We went into the fight with 338 brave men and alas what is left! We shifted our position next day to the left. The day passed with frequent skirmishing but nothing decisive resulted. We then threw up breastworks on the top of a bull that commanded the approach in every direction. Our brigade was put there to defend it. We held our position there till the 2nd of January when our breastworks were strengthened.

 

Now we saw some suspicious movements were on hand. Our left was strengthened by several divisions of troops. We spent all that day behind our breastworks till about 4 p.m. when the Rebels made their last grand attack on the left wing of their army. They advanced from the woods in solid columns pouring out their masses as thick as bees from a hive. The woods and cornfields in our front were completely filled with them. General Hardee said he was going to drive that wing of ours into hell. What he did and where he went, I leave for you to judge.

 

Their advancing columns were met by such storms of shot, shell, grape, and canister from our batteries that were perfectly withering. We had six batteries and 48 cannon concentrated on their advance. You have no idea the destruction they caused. Two of our batteries, totaling 14 cannon, were posted on the right and two more behind us on a little elevation of ground and two over on our left. Those behind us poured their shot and shell into the Rebels directly over their heads. We had to lay low I assure you. One of the cannon ranged directly over my head and the infernal hisses of the shells still ring in my ears. The cannonading was awfully terrific. I have heard men here say who were in all the severest engagements of the west that such cannonading was never whole in the whole of the west. You can form no conception of it. It was one incessant thunder rolling over our heads dealing out death and destruction in the Rebel ranks. They were mowed down by scores, but still their undaunted masses advanced.

 

The crisis came when a line of our troops and brigade after brigade spread out like a fan, advancing from the woods in a line of double file nearly half a mile long. They all advanced with an easy, machine-like tread, unheeding the death-dealing missiles flying thick around them, and the Rebels charged on the double quick with their glittering bayonets. The Rebels then broke and ran like sheep. The order was given to the 31st Indiana on our left to charge the Rebels. When the 90th Ohio in their zeal thought the order applied to them, fixed bayonets and charged down on the double quick and never stopped until we drove the Rebels into the woods where we poured volley after volley into them.

 



Stones River

We did go into a dangerous position. It had just got dark and we found we had run into a masked battery. We shielded ourselves as best we could by falling prostrate on our bodies to be unharmed from the storm of shell they threw among us. When it was quite dark, we fell back to our breastworks with but three wounded. Our regiment was relieved next day and bivouacked in the woods. Saturday night we attacked them so severely that they evacuated their position during the night. The Rebels then were pursued by our cavalry, but General Palmer’s division remained behind.

 

When our regiment went into the fight, they threw away their blankets, overcoats, knapsacks, etc., and consequently we had to sleep four nights on the cold, damp ground without anything to cover us. Colonel Ross has taken a severe relapse of his old disease; so much so that it is feared he will never be with us again. Tomorrow morning, he starts for Ohio to recruit his health and I think goes straight to Circleville. The boys since the fight think more of him than ever. [Ross would resign his commission in April due to his broken health.]

 

~Weekly Lancaster Gazette, January 22, 1863, pg. 2

 

 

 

 

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 their way to
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 warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
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 how Confederate jacke
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 Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
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 securing all the Enfi
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

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
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 at the outset of the
Read more

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more