Hell Under the Short Ribs: The 6th Michigan at Baton Rouge

In August of 1862, the Confederacy was on the march across a thousand-mile front. In eastern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee was beginning his drive north from Richmond which would culminate in the bloody engagements at Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, and Antietam. In the heartland, Generals Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith were embarking on their campaign which would carry the Confederate banner into Kentucky. In the far west, Confederate partisan bands started pushing against Federal control of Missouri which resulted in the battles of Moore’s Mill and Kirksville. 

In the deep South, General John Breckinridge was on the move as well, his objective being the Federal garrison at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An important point on the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge not only the capital of Louisiana, but it was the furthest north that General Benjamin Butler’s Department of the Gulf had penetrated into the Confederacy.

At Baton Rouge lay in camp 3,000 Union troops under the command of a crusty regular General Thomas Williams. It was a mixed force with regiments representing seven states, most of them, however, being New Englanders. Among the western troops at Baton Rouge were the 21st Indiana, the 4th Wisconsin, and the 6th Michigan, the last of which is of particular interest in this article. The camp of the 6th Michigan was on the eastern outskirts of town in a grove of live oaks located at the southwestern corner of Government Street and Perkins Road. Private George A. Welton of Co.E was with the 6th Michigan and left the following account of the Battle of Baton Rouge which occurred on August 5, 1862.

This image from Harper's Weekly depicts the Battle of Baton Rouge; at left center one can make out the tombstones and memorials of Magnolia Cemetery where the 6th Michigan made its stand. Despite the Federal victory, the city was abandoned just a few days after the battle. The short if sharp fight cost the 6th Michigan 16 dead and 48 wounded. 

 

Sometime in the early days of June 1862, the 6th Michigan arrived at Baton Rouge, Louisiana after a trip up the Father of Waters as far as Warrenton, Mississippi. Having had some hard experiences, we were assigned quarters in the U.S. barracks which had been in existence for a number of years previous to the war. We were grateful at the change from extremely active service to the much-needed rest and quiet which we were soon enjoying, broken only by frequent picket duty and an occasional reconnaissance. The weather, however, being delightful, these duties were a source of enjoyment to us as they afforded unlimited scope to our abilities as foragers and what soldier ever repined under such circumstances?

General Orders of the Dept. of the Gulf
Gen. Benjamin Butler

The force at Baton Rouge on the evening of August 4, 1862 consisted of the following infantry regiments: 9th Connecticut, 30th Massachusetts, 14th Maine, 7th Vermont, 21st Indiana, 4th Wisconsin, and 6th Michigan, along with Nims’ 2nd Massachusetts and Manning’s 4th Massachusetts batteries. We also had two guns which had been captured and were manned by a detachment from the 21st Indiana manned by Lieutenant James H. Brown [Co. F].

On account of the long sea voyage with its inertia and confinement necessary for transportation to that department and the hardships of the trip up the river combined with the debilitating effects of the climate of the far South, the whole force before mentioned totaled only about 2,500 effective men who could be mustered for duty. Many of these took their places in line of battle from the convalescent wards of the different hospitals of the city. The force was under the command of Brigadier General Thomas S. Williams, a brave and efficient officer, although somewhat unpopular with the Western men of his command on account of the rigorous discipline which he undertook to enforce.




Camp Banks at Baton Rouge as photographed in late July 1862. This particular camp housed the 7th Vermont, the 21st Indiana, and Nims' Battery but the profusion of Sibley tents laid out in regular army order was typical of Federal camps in the west at this period of the war. Note that the church in the foreground has most of its windows boarded up. The battle of August 5, 1862 swarmed through and over this camp. "Early and as usual the Yankees cut dirt thick and fast before our little army," noted one Confederate officer. "Their camp utensils and tents were all burned, their arms, coats, and caps were scattered along the street and several of our militia, who got in at the close of the fight, supplied themselves with excellent guns."

On the night of the 4th we were informed that a large force of the enemy was within striking distance and that a fuss with them in the near future was highly probable, and we were ordered to have one day’s cooked rations in our haversacks, canteens filled, and our fighting implements in good condition for business, and everything in good shape so as to be ready at the first tap of the long roll. On account of numerous previous rumors to the same effect which had proved false, many of the boys neglected the part of the orders relating to rations and water and realized their mistake very early the next day.

Captain Sylvester Cogswell
Co. E, 6th Michigan Inf.
Bentley Library, UofM

Our regiment was camped without tents on the morning of the 5th on a road leading east from the city at the Ball Alley in a grove of live oaks, one company (Co. C) being on picket in our front. I slept well and when the first picket firing commenced on the morning of the 5th, I had just arisen and finished my simple toilet being a habitual early riser. I immediately donned my accouterments and ran to the quarters of Lieutenant William H. Dickey, commanding company, and awakened him and then took my place with the company which by this time was rapidly forming in consequence of which action our company was ready for business before the alarm was beaten.


          In obedience to orders from headquarters, three companies (A, B, and F) were, with the section of artillery, left at the Ball Alley under the command of Captain John Corden of the 6th Michigan [Co. F]; the remaining six companies of the regiment then in camp were double-quicked to the position partly covering the Magnolia Cemetery. When we arrived at our position in line of battle (which was a good one), we found four guns of the 4th Massachusetts Battery in position, but for some unaccountable reason, to the best of my recollection, they did not fire a shot. In moving out to our position we had to file right and move forward for some distance in four ranks, marching endways; and right here the first shell passed over our heads, I should judge about 20 feet above the ground. Being a shot from a rifled gun, its motion was what the boys used to call “quick and devilish.” It being unexpected, we were somewhat surprised to put it mildly, and every man as far as I could see ahead fell to the ground without waiting for orders. After taking position we were ordered to lie down.

The 6th Michigan fought among the live oaks on the grounds of Magnolia Cemetery. An annual reenactment has been held on the grounds for many years. 

Quite sharp firing had by this time begun on the left and the morning being foggy and what little air there was stirring bringing the smoke of the firing all to our front, we were consequently unable to see 10 rods in our front. But we could hear and knew that we should soon have a hand in the affair. As we lay on the ground, we could see under the fog to the height of about a man’s knees and I could plainly see the legs of the Johnnies long before we could distinguish their forms through the dense obscurity. Captain Charles E. Clark [Co. D], commanding the detachment, ordered us to lie close and preserve silence until ordered to commence firing and I distinctly remember how terribly anxious I was to begin business long before he got ready.

"One important fact of this battle deserves to be known: they armed the Negroes who they enticed from their masters in the surrounding country and put them in the front of their lines. The consequence was they were terribly slaughtered, over half of the 300 of them killed or badly wounded. They lay dead along the street, Yankee and Negro together, a just and righteous retribution. What a great tax upon the ingenuity of the Yankees to make out a brilliant victory from this disastrous affair!" Unknown Confederate officer writing to Arkansas True Democrat newspaper

The Rebs came on in fine style with a nicely-dressed line until they were within about 50 paces of us when Captain Clark gave us the command to “let them have it and aim low!” As we fired it seemed to me as if more than one-half of them went to ground; we were so near and lying down, about every shot took effect. The terrible effect of our dire seemed to demoralize the unhurt, and they turned and ran back some 40 rods to a piece of timber on the farther side of the cemetery where their officers succeeded in forming a new line and then being strongly reinforced, after a short time, they again advanced. Of course, they had given us the benefit of their best efforts in the shooting line and up to this time our losses had been quite heavy.

This image of captured men from the 20th Tennessee dates from after their capture at Missionary Ridge in November 1863, but this regiment also saw action at Baton Rouge in August 1862. Following Baton Rouge, the 20th Tennessee and most of the regiments of Breckinridge's force would move north to Tennessee the following month and take part in all of the subsequent engagements of the Army of Tennessee after Perryville. They proved to be hard, steady fighters, qualities they demonstrated in abundance at Baton Rouge. 

The fog and smoke had now lifted and cleared away and when they again advanced, we had a good view of them from the start. We reserved our fire until they were again about halfway to us when we commenced to fire at will. They immediately raised the cry of “don’t shoot, you are firing on your own men!” Acting adjutant Lieutenant Alfred J. Ralph of Co. I said, “I will find out,” and promptly rode down to the front between the two lines until he ascertained that it was a hoax calculated to deceive us into activity. He galloped back amidst a shower of balls but came off unharmed, as brave a feat as anything I saw in my nearly four years of service.

At about the same time, I discovered that the force advancing wore fringed hunting shirts and leggings as a uniform and called the attention of my company commander Lieutenant Dickey to the fact, and he immediately ordered our company to give them hell under the short ribs. The whole detachment then began giving them liberal doses of cold lead and the destruction in their ranks was fearful; but still they came, all in perfect order and discipline and with as much deliberation as though on drill until they were again within about 40 paces of our line when the order was given us “rise up and fix bayonets.” This was promptly obeyed and next came the order “guard against infantry” which position was promptly taken. The Rebel officers immediately gave the order to charge, but we had given them such a terrible punishment in the two advances that the men did not seem to have the determination to come on, and after wriggling around like a bunch of earthworms in a tin cup for a short time, they broke and ran back to the timber again.

Map focused on the movements of the 6th Michigan; the regiment started the day in camp at lower left. Three companies of the regiment (A, B, and F) remained near camp under the command of Captain John Corden while six companies marched north to Magnolia Cemetery to fend off the Confederate attack. The regiment fell back three times but ultimately held their ground. 

Of course, we were not idle all this time and as soon as they broke, we again began giving them government rations of lead as fast as they could be issued. Our force being so small, our officers did not attempt a countercharge, feeling that the holding of our position and beating them back would be glory enough for this occasion. They again got their lines reorganized and moved off by the left flank for the purpose of turning our right, but Nims’ battery now whirled into position a little to our right and rear, when we immediately moved into position to support the battery. The enemy made desperate efforts to capture the battery, but the battery boys served them up the canister so lively and we of the support assisted to the extent that they were compelled to retire in much disorder, and did not again come on and as far as we were concerned the battle was ended.

General Thomas R. Williams
Killed in action August 5, 1862 at Baton Rouge

After a short time, General John C. Breckinridge withdrew his whole force and Colonel Thomas W. Cahill (who had succeeded to the command after General Williams was killed early in the fight) reformed the line on a shorter basis, and we patiently awaited the expected renewal of hostilities which did not come. The carnage was fearful considering the number engaged; our whole loss being some 400 killed and wounded and our small regiment lost 16 killed and 48 wounded. The loss on the part of the Rebels was also appalling, and in the published reports of their loss I am confident that half was never told. Their official loss is reported as 93 killed and some 400 wounded, but I know that 78 dead Rebels were picked up and buried in front of the position of our regiment, and the fighting in front of the 21st Indiana and 14th Maine was fully as sanguinary as with us.

One thing which contributed to the extraordinary loss on our side was the absence of all defensive works and it has always been a mystery to me why as experienced a soldier of General Williams had utterly neglected to fortify our position at Baton Rouge. In the latter days of the war such things were taken as a matter of immediate necessity in every camping ground of two days’ occupation.

 

Detail from the national colors of the 6th Michigan with the faded battle honor for Baton Rouge and the date August 5, 1862. The motto of the regiment was simple and direct: do your duty. 

To learn more about the 6th Michigan, please check our Eric R. Faust’s newly published history of the regiment here. 

 

Sources:

Private George A. Welton, Co. E, 6th Michigan Volunteer Infantry, “Baton Rouge,” National Tribune, February 16, 1888, pg. 3; Welton later was promoted to corporal when the 6th Michigan was converted to a Heavy Artillery regiment and to sergeant while with the 7th Michigan Cavalry. 

"The Fight at Baton Rouge," Arkansas True Democrat (Arkansas), September 17, 1862, 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

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

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

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
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

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
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

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more