A Private Lambasts Buell’s Campaign

    In the closing days of September 1862, the footsore soldiers of General Don Carlos Buell's Army of Ohio marched into the camps surrounding the city Louisville, Kentucky. After marching several hundred miles from the Tennessee/Alabama border in a sizzling dry late summer drought, the rugged veterans were relieved to have finally gotten ahead of Braxton Bragg and now, safe at their base of supplies, the work of re-equipping and reorganizing the army began. 

    Discontent with General Buell's leadership had been brewing since early summer, and only worsened as the men marched day after day without coming to grips with the Confederate army. Republican newspapers throughout the North frequently expressed their dissatisfaction with Buell's strict discipline in protecting the property of Southern secessionists by running letters from soldiers of Buell's army complaining about the ridiculous situations they found themselves in. Buell and his chief subordinates regarded any violations of Buell's anti-foraging orders as a serious breach of discipline, and acted accordingly. This was yet another illustration of Buell being out of step with his volunteer army; the men were willing to submit to discipline, but the incongruity of being tasked with guarding known secessionists' property while suffering on half rations or worse was too much for the men to accept. 

    Buell's soft war "rose-water policy" towards Southerners undercut the General's authority with his troops, and as the summer wore on and the supply situation at the front worsened due to Confederate cavalry raids on the primary railroads of Tennessee and Kentucky, the men started taking matters into their own hands. Buell clamped down on the breech of discipline like he would in the old pre-war army; court-martial and punishment became the order of the day. The men by and large cried foul, and soon letters filled the Northern newspapers charging Buell with caring more about Southerner's property than the health and well-being of his men.

    The following extraordinary letter is probably the most notable example of these anti-Buell missives. Published originally in the widely-read Cincinnati Commercial in early October 1862, the writer (an unknown soldier from the 17th Indiana which later fought in Wilder's Lightning Brigade) blasted Buell's conduct of the campaign through Tennessee and Kentucky and begged the government for relief. "Let the government give us clothing, camp equipage, and above all, a General, and we will return to the Gulf if necessary and put down this rebellion," he wrote. 

    The writer called for the appointment of General William Nelson to command the army in Buell's place; the morning following when this soldier wrote his letter, Bull Nelson met his speedy end when General Jefferson C. Davis gunned him down in his offices at the Galt House in downtown Louisville. General Buell would be retained for the time being, but by the end of October, Buell would be out of a job and the Rosecrans era would begin.

 

Major General Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Army of Ohio

Louisville, Kentucky

September 28, 1862

          We have made the grand rounds and are, after ten months of weary toil and privations which it would be futile to attempt to describe at present, once more encamped within sight of our old camp. It is heart-sickening in the extreme to even for one moment reflect upon the history of the noble army under Buell. When General Buell’s command left this city on the 10th day of last December, it was in as fine condition as any department in the Union. But what is it today? Instead of being well-equipped and the men in vigorous health, we are without tents, blankets, or camp equipage, and the haggard countenances tell how fearfully the physical condition of the soldiers has been impaired. Besides this, we left thousands of our brave comrades in their last resting places throughout the rebellious states. And I ask, what have we accomplished?

          Perhaps some might think that a private, a common soldier, has no right to say anything about these things, or to remonstrate in the least. But Mr. Editor, I claim that I have a right when I see one of the best and most powerful armies the world ever saw worse than sacrificed. I have followed General Buell in all his wanderings through Dixie for ten long months and have never, nor has our division, fired a musket at the foe.

          Ample time was taken to equip and discipline this army before it left Kentucky and the nation looked anxiously forward to a time not far distant when it would accomplish feats which would startle the world. But what are the facts? We lay in camp at Nashville after the fall of Fort Donelson nearly a month when one day more of delay would have been the ruin of our army at Shiloh. And what were we doing? We were drawing clothing to be thrown away by the orders of General Buell when we moved a little further South. Every soldier was compelled to start with two suits of clothing, then send it to Nashville and somewhere else in Alabama to be captured by the enemy. But where the difference? For General Buell and everybody else knows that all the privates in the army receive is $13 a month!

The long march from the doorstep of Chattanooga all the way back to the Ohio River proved to be a demoralizing experience for much of Buell's army. Desertions skyrocketed once the army reached Louisville and poor morale would plague the army for months, a problem that Buell's successor worked hard to alleviate during his tenure as army commander. 

          After the Corinth affair, Buell had command along the Memphis & Charleston Railroad from Corinth to Chattanooga, and if anything was accomplished beyond allowing thousands of our men to be overpowered and captured by the enemy at different points, it has yet to be made public. It was well known by the citizens and made public by the Southern journals that the Rebels were concentrating and organizing a large army but a few miles south of Chattanooga, and our lines extended at that time southward to Stevenson, Alabama. But were measures taken to break up that encampment? No. And a few weeks ago General Bragg left there with a mighty force, and notwithstanding our force being sufficient for any emergency, yet he is now within a few miles of the city.

When the present month set in, we were in southern Tennessee. A portion of our division was at this time at Stevenson, and were hurried back over the mountains, compelled to burn all their tents, blankets, and camp equipage. But from this time forward up to the present hour, General Buell’s conduct has undoubtedly been strange. Who can explain why it was that he halted his army at Bowling Green and compelled us to sit almost within hearing of the cannon while the brave Colonel Wilder was surrounded and captured by Bragg’s whole command? But after remaining at Bowling Green several days, we were moved forward and came up with the enemy at Cave City, Kentucky and again halted and gave Bragg sufficient time to evacuate Munfordville. We were in full force in close proximity with the enemy, but when we advanced cautiously upon their line on Sunday September 21st, the enemy has been gone more than 24 hours. Everybody felt sure that an engagement would ensue. But after consuming half a day in creeping through the bushes, rag weeds, and tall grass, we found that they were not there.

The men of Buell's army were willing to suffer great hardships to put down the rebellion, but they didn't suffer fools lightly and Buell's rigid discipline marked him in many of his soldiers' minds as just that: a fussy, foolish, old West Point martinet. His perceived inability to bring on a fight with Bragg's army further dampened the army's ardor and gave rise to ugly (and completely unfounded) rumors that Buell sympathized with the Confederate cause. 


While we lay at Cave City, the Rebels passed up the Glasgow Turnpike four miles from us with a train of over 400 wagons and our cavalry only captured three wagons and about 30 prisoners. And it was asserted that this expedition was made without Buell’s knowledge. When we arrived at Munfordville, we found a strong rear guard of cavalry and light artillery upon this side of the river. But after skirmishing with their cavalry and shelling us for a short time with their cannon, they retreated towards this city.

"Stonewall Jackson was considered as performing a great military feat when he threw his army into Pope’s rear, but Buell, the mighty Buell, has put the total eclipse upon that move by throwing his army from Bragg’s rear to his front!" ~ unknown soldier, 17th Indiana Infantry

All this time General Wood had the advance and we rapidly gained upon their retreating columns and before we arrived at bacon Creek we were so close upon the heels of the enemy that we found the sides of the roads and houses almost full of sick and worn out soldiers from Bragg’s army. We were close upon them in their rear with a large force at Louisville in front of them, and again the spirits of Buell’s men arose at the prospect of defeating and capturing Bragg, Buckner, and Co. But what did Buell do? He allowed the enemy to file their forces to the right upon the Hodgenville and Bardstown roads, while he hurried on by way of West Point to save the city of Louisville, this exposing his rear and suffering Bragg to escape from between two fires where he had placed himself.

And the result of this affair is just what everyone who has “three sides above an oyster” expected. Yes, Bragg allowed quietly to halt in the vicinity of Bardstown, send forward his cavalry, and frighten Louisville out of her boots, compel our men to burn our train of 500 wagons at Bowling Green containing our tents, blankets, knapsacks, clothing, and cooking utensils, together with a large number of surplus muskets. And here we are without a change of clothing and all our company books, records, and muster rolls destroyed through the strategy of General Buell!

Great God, will this government permit this and not sink him as low in the eyes of his own men? Let Abraham Lincoln send secret angels into our ranks and ascertain in what light General Buell is held by the men who have marched through the dust and over the mountains upon half rations of hard bread, bacon, and coffee for two months at a time, and if he does not remove him, the American people will damn him as one recreant to the high trust reposed in him by a free and mighty nation.

I make the assertion that if General Buell commands this department two months longer, there will be more than 10,000 desertions. Let the government give us clothing, rations, camp equipage, and above all, a General, and we will return to the Gulf if necessary and put down this rebellion. But intelligent men are opposed to wearing away the prime of their lives in guarding the enemy’s property and involving our nation to the amounts of millions upon millions of dollars to accomplish nothing. We want a man to lead us who has or will provoke an engagement within ten months’ time!

The division commanders under Buell are able and willing, but what can they do with him in their way? Put Nelson at the head of this army and one general shout would arise along our lines and something would take place within ten months. These are facts and I would to God that our government was made acquainted with them before it is too late. But I hope and believe that Granny Buell, as he is called by many of his many, will be ousted. Stonewall Jackson was considered as performing a great military feat when he threw his army into Pope’s rear, but Buell, the mighty Buell, has put the total eclipse upon that move by throwing his army from Bragg’s rear to his front!

Source:

"A Private Soldier on Buell's Campaign," Burlington Hawk-Eye (Iowa), October 11, 1862, pg. 5

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

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

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