Holding Culp's Hill: the 66th Ohio at Gettysburg

Seated atop the rocks on Culp’s Hill south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, First Lieutenant Robert H. Russell of the 66th Ohio celebrated the nation’s 87th birthday by writing his uncle a letter describing the battle through which he had just passed. The lieutenant had just returned from scouring the battlefield in his front and brought back a few souvenirs scavenged from the dead Confederates that littered the ground: some paper, an ink well and pen, a portion of the sash worn by an officer, a button from the coat of Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh of Virginia, as well as a fragment of the battle flag of the 21st Virginia Volunteers.

“The loss in our division is small- about one to every 20 killed by us,” he wrote. “Our boys are in fine spirits. We have taken altogether from 12,000-20,000 prisoners and killed or wounded I don’t know how many. Our victory is a great one.”

 

Captain Robert H. Russell, Co. G, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry
(Brad and Donna Pruden Collection)


Battlefield, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

July 4, 1863, 9 a.m.


Dear uncle,

          You will be rejoiced to learn of our success in the great Battle of Gettysburg. It commenced on the 1st of July. We came up to the field on the afternoon of that day, but we were not engaged. Early on the morning of the 2nd, our division was deployed in the woods south of town half a mile. Had nothing to do that day but to dodge shells which came about us very thickly.

          Yesterday the 3rd at daybreak, we were taken out in front of the breastworks which had been thrown up on the 2nd by General [Nathaniel] Greene’s brigade and we soon had our hands full. We were on top of a high hill [Culp’s Hill] and the Rebels all down the side of it behind trees and rocks and some of them within two rods of us. After firing a while, we retired inside the breastworks. The Rebels came up thick and fast, but only to be mowed down by our boys. Continual musketry was kept up all day along our line- never stopped a minute until after dark. It seemed one of the longest days I ever saw. About 10 a.m. Major Joshua Palmer was shot through the breast-mortally wounded. He is not dead yet but will die the Surgeon says. Lieutenants Morgan and Butts were also wounded, both in the leg. Sergeant William Scott of Co. D was mortally wounded about this time. In the evening, Sergeant W.V. Taylor was shot in the forehead by a spent ball. He is the only one hurt in Co. G. It would have done your heart good to see the boys come up to the work with a yell. And then they took everything so coolly. Brave boys are they.

Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh, assistant adjutant general on the staff of General Ewell. To read more about Watkins' life and demise, check out Jonathan Tracey's article entitled "More than a Stereotype? A Reflection on the Life of Benjamin Watkins Leigh."

          We killed General [Richard] Ewell’s adjutant general yesterday [Major Benjamin Watkins Leigh]. He came up on horseback within a hundred yards of us and the boys just riffled him and his horse. I send you a piece of his coat and a piece of the battle flag of the 21st Virginia, and also a piece of a sash worn yesterday by a Rebel officer of the day. [Adjutant Tod Keller of the 66th Ohio took the sword knot from Leigh’s sword and put it on his own sword.]

 

“General Ewell’s assistant adjutant general Major Benjamin W. Leigh came up with orders to break our line at all hazards and led the column to within a short distance of our lines when they received the fire of the whole division. Leigh and his horse, together with over 100 men, fell together and from the number of balls which passed through him, it is supposed at least 500 men must have aimed at him. His body was brought in and Lee’s order found on him commanding General Ewell to break the line at all hazards and at whatever cost.” ~ Private William A. Brand, Co. G, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

 

          This morning all was quiet, so we went over the breastworks and examined the field in front of us. Oh, it was terrible to see the loss of life. There must have been a thousand Rebels lying over the ground and all but five or six were dead. I heard General John Geary’s adjutant general say that our division had gathered up 5,000 stand of arms this morning. Yesterday, the 24th Virginia threw down their arms and poured over the breastworks in fine style. They said they were going to quit. Our brigade took ten or eleven stands of colors. [78 Confederates, primarily from the 4th Virginia, surrendered themselves to the 7th Ohio Infantry, in the same brigade as the 66th Ohio, on July 3rd.]


          On our left yesterday, Longstreet with 20,000 infantry tried to break the lines, but they signally failed, only about 5,000 escaped. The rest with old General Longstreet were either killed or taken prisoners. Longstreet had one leg shot off and this morning he is reported dead. There is a report that General A.P. Hill is a prisoner, but I don’t credit it. We have lost two major generals- Reynolds and Sickles. The loss in our division is small- about one to every 20 killed by us.

          Our boys are in fine spirits. We have taken altogether from 12,000-20,000 prisoners and killed or wounded I don’t know how many. Our victory is a great one. On the left, they are still shaving Lee and we expect to take his whole army yet! You ought to be here just to see for yourself how large a battlefield looks. This is Rebel paper and ink with which I write. It is beginning to rain and I’ll have to quit. Give my love to all. I send this by a citizen to the office.

 

Yours faithfully,

Robert H. Russell

 

          Captain John O. Dye of Co. D of the 66th Ohio also brought a souvenir from the battlefield: it was a letter written by a woman in Onslow County, North Carolina to her beau in the Confederate army, a soldier named Moses D. Mott. Moses Mott served as a private in Co. K of the 3rd North Carolina State Troops and was listed as being killed in action at Gettysburg. The 3rd N.C. was part of General George H. Steuart’s brigade of Johnson’s division of Ewell’s corps and suffered 40% casualties during its July 2nd evening assault on Culp’s Hill.

 

Culp's Hill at Gettysburg. The profusion of graves on the eastern slopes of the hill gives testimony of the desperate fighting that occurred on July 2nd and 3rd. 

Onslow Co., North Carolina

May 11, 1863

Mr. Moses D. Mott, dear respected friend,

          It is with much pleasure that I now attempt to write you a few lines in compliance with your request of April 19th which came to hand a few days ago. I was truly glad to hear from you and to hear that you were well. We are well at present.

          I have no news to write you more than we are expecting the Yankees in Onslow every day. They killed one of our pickets last week and I have heard heavy firing towards the [New] river yesterday. You spoke of this not being a people’s war and I think you are right. It is the poor people fighting for the rich people’s property- for their Negroes. I want the tormenting war to end and I want it to end without one Negro in the southern states. I shall not insult you by saying I don’t care which side whips for I am a Union lady and I am not afraid nor ashamed to own it. I am sorry you fare so badly. I fault no one for deserting, for if you believe, I would not fight at all.

          I am glad to hear from your brother that he is well and doing well. I would go to him if I were in your place. As for a good reason, I do not think you need stand for that for if you stay where you are till you get killed, the rich people won’t care for you. So my advice to you is to go where your brother is by hook or crook, and if you go write me before you go and when you get there, too, if you can.

          We have just received a letter from brother; he had just returned from the fight at Suffolk. When I think of past times we have all seen together and the trouble now, I can’t help shedding tears. Moses, I would be glad to see you and want this war to end so I may once more see some of my friends. When you write to your brother, give him my best respects. Excuse me for not writing sooner, for I could not get stamps. Mother sends her best compliments. Excuse bad writing for one of the pickets is waiting for my letter. You will oblige me by an early answer.

Your affectionate friend,

Nancy E. Morris

 

Source:

Letter from First Lieutenant Robert H. Russell, Co. G, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Urbana Citizen & Gazette (Ohio), July 23, 1863, pg. 1

Quote from Private William A. Brand, Masters, Daniel A., editor. Army Life According to Arbaw: Civil War Letters of William A. Brand, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Perrysburg: Columbian Arsenal Press, 2019, pg. 155 (purchase here)

Letter from Nancy E. Morris; Masters, op. cit., pg. 157; Onslow County is along the Carolina coast between Wilmington and New Bern, Jacksonville being the largest city.




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