The Great Skedaddle: With Berdan's Sharpshooters During the Seven Days

    It was the dog days of the summer of 1861; news was just filtering back to Michigan that the Union army had been defeated at Bull Run. Men throughout the state were opening recruiting offices to answer Lincoln's call for 300,000 men for three years to put down the Rebellion. One of the more intriguing options for service had been proposed by Hiram Berdan who had secured permission to raise of a regiment of U.S. volunteers, with one catch: only the best shots in the land need apply. Berdan's requirement for his sharpshooter regiment was that the aspiring soldier had to average hitting within 5 inches on a bulls-eye at 200 yards. It was proposed that the state of Michigan would supply one of the companies of this regiment.

    Across the state, men interested in joining Berdan's sharpshooters had to prove themselves worthy, so shooting trials were held throughout the state. In Hillsdale, Michigan, several dozen men from the area convened at the county fairgrounds on Monday, July 30, 1861. The men were given ten shots at 10" diameter targets both 200 yards out and 100 yards out. They needed to average within 5 inches on both targets over their ten shots. After each shot, measurement would be made of how far the bullet was from the bullseye and then those scores tabulated. Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Duesler of Hillsdale arranged the shoot and eventually eleven men of the vicinity met the requirement to join Berdan's regiment. "Each member has the privilege of furnishing himself with a rifle (for which he is allowed $60) or, if he prefers, the government will furnish him one when he is sworn into service," the Hillsdale Standard reported.

Berdan's Sharpshooters in action with their Sharps' rifles. During the Peninsula campaign, Company C from Michigan was armed with a mix of target rifles and rifles equipped with globe sights. As time passed, the distinctive green coats and trousers gave way to standard army issue blue, but the green caps remained and gave the celebrated unit a distinct identity amongst the Army of the Potomac. 

    The best shot belonged to H.H. Sherman of nearby Jonesville whose score was 28 7/8"- over ten shots, he averaged less than 3" off the mark! But despite being the best shot, Sherman elected to not join the regiment and records show he never enlisted in the Civil War. The second best shot belonged to Cyrus Wilcox of Adams; he scored a 33-1/2". Wilcox would join Co. C of Berdan's and would be the only man of the ten who joined the regiment who would serve his entire three term enlistment, despite being wounded May 6, 1864 during the Wilderness. Charles Button scored third best with a 39-3/4" score; he made it only a few months before being discharged for disability. Ben Duesler of Hillsdale was next, scoring a 42-5/8". Duesler was elected captain when the company organized in Detroit but resigned his commission in October 1861. Frank Whipple tied with Duesler with a 42-5/8". He would go on to become the regimental commissary sergeant on October 15, 1861, then be commissioned second lieutenant of Co. B of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters in March 1863. He was wounded May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania Courthouse and was again promoted a month later. Whipple mustered out in December 1864, serving the longest of anyone in this group.

Colonel Hiram Berdan

    William T. Buchanan scored a 44-5/8", sixth best in the group; he would be discharged for disability in February 1863. Two brothers also made the grade: Jacob Doty scored a 45-5/8" while his brother Travis T. Doty scored a 49-5/8"; Jacob would be discharged for disability March 28, 1863 while Travis would be killed in action November 27, 1863 at Locust Grove, Virginia. William Doyle of Ransom, Michigan scored a 46-1/4" but would die of disease the following March. Eugene Rowlson scored a 47-5/8" and went on to be appointed quartermaster sergeant of the regiment before being discharged for disability in June 1862. Archibald Storms of Jonesville scored a 49-2/3" but only lasted a few months in service, being discharged for disability in December 1861. George Zimmerman just made the grade at 50"; he died of disease in December 1861. 

    But all of that was in the future. On Friday August 16th, the recruits set out from Hillsdale for Detroit, where men from all over the state of Michigan were gathering to be organized into a company of sharpshooters. Eventually this became Co. C of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters and joined up with the rest of the regiment in New York. "As the train started from the depot, three cheers were given for the Hillsdale Sharpshooters by the large crowd assembled to bid them God speed, to which the boys responded from the platform of the rear car with three cheers for Hillsdale," it was reported. Once they arrived in Detroit, an election for officers was held and Benjamin Duesler was elected captain. "They will be armed by the state as they prefer a light rifle to a heavy one adopted by Colonel Berdan." 

An early war uniform belonging to the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Piped in light green, the uniforms were identical to standard issue frock coats with the difference of color. Some Sharpshooters chose to decorate their forage green caps with a black ostrich plume. The uniform's color gave some advantage of camouflage, but its distinctiveness also made the sharpshooters a conspicuous target for their Confederate counterparts, as Berdan's men were the only green-clad troops in the Army of the Potomac.

    In June of 1862, Berdan's Sharpshooters were attached to the Army of Potomac, doing their full duty in the Peninsula Campaign while serving in Third Division of General Fitz-John Porter's V Army Corps. The regiment would be heavily engaged during the Seven Days battles, particularly on June 30th at White Oak Swamp as remembered by Adjutant Ira Smith Brown. By this time, only Frank Whipple, Cyrus Wilcox, Bill Buchanan, and the two Doty brothers were left of the men who left Hillsdale in August 1861. 

    "Company G, Captain Edward Drew of Buffalo was detached with Company C (Michigan) and were with McCall’s Pennsylvania Reserves. On the 30th of June they were with the Bucktails and were attacked by an overpowering force. They were badly handled and lost many. At length they got an opportunity each to seek a tree and then they did dreadful execution. The Rebels turned their left flank and fired on the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves, who ran as fast as they could. [Sergeant Joel] Parker [Co. G] was shot, then poor Captain Drew, by far our best captain, then [Sergeant James W.] Staples [Co. G], all good men. 

Sergeant James W. Staples, Co. G
Killed in action June 30, 1862

    At this time, it was dark and Companies G and C found out to their alarm that they were literally surrounded by Rebels. This was in White Oak Swamp. Lieutenant Charles F. Sheppard of Company G lay beside the road when a Rebel lay down beside him. Sheppard whispered, “Which regiment do you belong to?” “Louisiana Battalion.” Instantly Sheppard struck him a powerful blow with his fist, stunning him, and took him prisoner. Old California Joe served a second in the same way. Henry Lye, bugler, had a prisoner when he a saw a lieutenant colonel coming along the road. He made his prisoner sit still, halted the lieutenant colonel, took his pistol away and carried them in triumph to the rear. The Rebels had a peculiar kind of whistle, which our men answered and thus got some prisoners. One of Company G’s men joined an infantry regiment and excited great astonishment by the rapidity of the firing. The officers sung ‘Who is that? What are you doing? What kind of gun you got?’ All crowded around to see the Sharps’ hair trigger rifle. The weather was intensely hot. A July sun in Virginia is not as cool as it might be. If you do not believe it, come and see."

    A few weeks later, Commissary Sergeant Frank Whipple had recovered enough from the strains and stresses of the campaign to be able to sit down and right an account of what he saw and experienced during the Seven Days' battles. Whipple's letter was addressed to one of the former members of Co. C, probably Captain Duesler, who shared Whipple's letter with the Hillsdale Standard. It was published in their July 29, 1862 edition.


Captain Benjamin Giroux, Co. C, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters resigned his commission on August 31, 1862. (Brian White Collection)

Harrison's Landing, Virginia

July 11, 1862

    Your last was received while on the "great skedaddle." You have probably heard of the great repulse of our invincible army and the consequent running fight kept up for the extraordinary length of one week. I can only give you facts that came under my own observation. 

    We left our old camp at Gaines' Mills on the morning of Friday June 27th for the rear, burning commissary stores and all the private property of Ed and myself because we had no means of transportation as the teams had been sent off the night before and had not yet returned. Ed lost his guns and clothing to the amount of some $75 while I, more fortunate, only lost about $40. 

    About noon the army halted for a fight. Our lines were formed on the northern slope of a hill in the edge of the wood, but it seems to me as though on the wrong side of the woods. Here we made a stand and waited for the Rebels to come up which they did at 2 in the afternoon. The engagement commenced between the advance of the enemy and the sharpshooters posted as skirmishers in the front. Soon the action became general on the right and center. The Rebels would send up a brigade and let them stand awhile, then withdraw them and send up fresh troops, hoping in this way to weary us out, but our men stood bravely and unflinchingly, returning gun for gun and holding the ground.


Frank Whipple was one of the best shots in Hillsdale County and went to war with Co. C in August 1861. He was soon appointed commissary sergeant for the regiment and later served as a lieutenant with the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters (as depicted here), sustaining a wound May 12, 1864 at Spotsylvania Courthouse. He became a circuit court judge after the war and died in Port Huron, Michigan in 1901 at the age of 63.

    About 4 p.m., the enemy seemed to have marched his force on our left and was evidently to make his great dash. The men stood and fought desperately against overwhelming odds, but of no avail; what could 10,000 do against 50,000? They finally broke and fled. At this I gave up as lost our part of the army, McCall's Division of Porter's Corps. But the artillery posted along the line then began one of the grandest actions of any warfare. They were posted along just outside of the wood in a semi-circle, the center being nearest the corner of the woods. They all commenced playing on the Rebels with grape and canister, loading with three cases of canister at a time. At every discharge you could see the Rebel ranks fall like grass before the scythe, yet on they came and filled up the broken ranks. 

    Still our artillery continued its murderous fire and still fresh troops were brought to bear on the devoted batteries. At last they reached the guns and our men flying from the field while on the hill a line was formed, behind which the men were being rallied. At this instant, the Irish Brigade under General Thomas Francis Meagher came up the hill on the run to the rescue; they soon formed in line and like the avalanche, gathering increased force with each foot they advanced, they drove on to the lines of the rebellious hosts, scattering them  and forcing them back beyond the starting point. Night had set in and all operations now ceased. Before morning dawned, most of the force had crossed the river and we continued the retreat.

A target rifle similar to one carried by some of Berdan's sharpshooters during the Peninsula campaign.

    Saturday night [June 28th] we encamped on the other side of White Oak Swamp. Sunday morning [June 29th] we marched about four miles and halted on the Richmond road, expecting an attack from that quarter, but after the wagon trains had passed we got under way again and marched all night, resting about an hour in the morning, then on again until nearly noon. In the afternoon we went out to fight again and as usual hold our own till dark. The next day the fight was renewed with the same results, driving the Rebels out from the field and really defeating them again.

    All night we again retired backwards through the woods and over hills to this place. Wednesday it rained all day, but we established ourselves as comfortably as possible, hoping to rest, but the next morning a battery was planted on a hill and soon the rebellious shells were falling in uncomfortable closeness to us. We stood it as long as was possible and then skedaddled.

"There has been little of interest transpiring
for the last few days except the visit of
President Lincoln."

    We are now in the woods where shade grows, but even here the heat is almost intolerable. We are now just going through one of our fine times with the Colonel who, as usual, is in hot water. He has maddened all the line and staff officers. Captain Benjamin Giroux [Co. C] and Captain William P. Austin [Co. E] have resigned. Quartermaster Beebe and Captain Edmund Weston [Co. F] will resign. We have had some peculiar times here. The officers of the line have entered a serious protests against the colonel and vice versa, as Lieutenant Colonel [William Young Warren] Ripley is wounded, also Lieutenants Charles Seaton and Cyrus E. Jones, the latter is a prisoner. Captain Edward Drew of Co. G and Lieutenant Peet of Co. H are killed. [Peet was wounded in the lungs and captured, but survived.] Our regiment suffered less than many who were more exposed. This is owning to their being deployed as skirmishers. I do not know what the loss is as there were six of the companies detached from the regiment.

    There has been little of interest transpiring for the last few days except the visit of President Lincoln.


Full kit of an early war member of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters; this is reenacting gear, however, not original equipment. 

Sources:

"Sharp Shooters," Hillsdale Standard (Michigan), August 6, 1861, pg. 3; also August 20, 1861, pg. 3

"Michigan Sharp Shooters," Hillsdale Standard (Michigan), August 27, 1861, pg. 3 

Letter from Adjutant Ira Smith Brown, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, Yates County Chronicle (New York), July 24, 1862, pg. 1

Letter from Commissary Sergeant Frank Whipple, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, Hillsdale Standard (Michigan), July 29, 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