This Dreadful Carnage: A Word from the 58th Alabama

    The 58th Alabama saw action for the first time at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863. "If the conduct of the regiment on Saturday was gallant, on Sunday it was heroic," wrote its commanding officer Colonel Bush Jones. "Though the regiment was never in a battle before, its bearing was that of veterans. The heavy loss in killed and wounded mournfully attests to its gallantry and heroism and its readiness to face danger in obedience to orders." The 58th went into the fight with 30 officers and 258 enlisted men and suffered 56% casualties at Chickamauga: 162 of the 288 present were shot down, 26 of them killed, 136 wounded. 

     It was the daring charge upon the entrenched Federal line that the 58th Alabama took part in on the second day of the battle that gutted the regiment. "The regiment started with 300 men and in one hour from the first yell, only 102 could be mustered for duty," one of its survivors noted. "The failure was not their fault. They had been ordered to accomplish an impossibility- to take the breastworks without support. They did everything that gallantry and bravery dictated to perform the almost hopeless task. The affair, though badly managed, reflected much credit upon the officers and men of the 58th Alabama and shows the want of judgment in high places somewhere."

    The following account from "Libbie" of the 58th Alabama saw publication in the October 7, 1863 edition of the Montgomery Weekly Advertiser. 


Button of the Alabama Volunteer Corps (Courtesy Army of Tennessee Relics)


58th Alabama Regiment, two miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee

September 28, 1863

    The battle of the 19th and 20th was the bloodiest and most desperate of the war, and as such is universally acknowledged by the soldiers throughout the army and notwithstanding the immense loss of human life, (the saddest feature of war), we have many reasons for congratulation among ourselves and cause for thanks and gratitude to God for the victory with which he crowned our arms. The preface to the bloody picture was written on Friday the 18th by heavy skirmishing and much cannonading on both sides which resulted in more casualties than is common in such engagements.

    It is not my intention to give a description of the battle, but rather to state briefly a few facts in regard to the part performed by this regiment, recently the 9th Alabama Battalion commanded by Colonel Bush Jones. Bate's brigade, to which the 58th Alabama belongs, was engaged three successive days and lost, proportionately, more than any other in the whole army. It was led into the fight Saturday evening at 3 o'clock and after a few rounds the command "fix bayonets" was given, and immediately could be heard the order "forward." 

Lt. Col. John Washington Inzer
58th Alabama

    With zeal and alacrity the whole brigade rushed toward the enemy with a yell that caused a perfect panic among the craven-hearted foe, who retreated in confusion and disorder, throwing away knapsacks, haversacks, guns, and in fact everything that impeded their flight. Then could be seen Yankees falling and biting the soil that they came to invade and large numbers, frightened almost beyond reason, waving their hats and handkerchiefs in token of submission and running for the Rebs, kneeling at their feet and pleading for mercy. Of course, they were treated in accordance with the usages of war and sent to the rear and put under the care of the provost guard. In this charge, the brigade took a battery of four pieces and quite a number of prisoners. [In his after action report, Colonel Bush Jones claimed partial credit for capturing the battery, stating that the 36th and 38th Alabama regiments also helped to carry the guns.] 

    

    This was the closing fight of the day, and soon night came and darkness stopped the dreadful carnage, and again quiet and stillness reigned supreme, but only to be followed by another Sabbath of blood and suffering. 

    Early in the morning was renewed practical war by Cleburne on the right, Stewart in the center, and Hindman on the left. The enemy made a desperate stand and endeavored to drive back our right. But all was in vain and it only resulted in a decided victory for us, we capturing a whole brigade of the enemy. In the center, the enemy had taken a strong position, naturally, and strengthened it by very formidable breastworks. Our advancing columns formed a perfect parallelogram with their three different points which were on each our our flanks and our immediate front, each front having four pieces of artillery, making twelve in all. 

This battle flag belonging to the combined 32nd-58th Alabama regiment was issued in early 1864 and includes their battle honors for Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain. The crossed cannon at center indicates that the regiment was credited with capturing Federal artillery at Chickamauga. There is some dispute as to exactly whose guns were captured; they were either the pieces belonging to the 26th Pennsylvania Battery or Confederate pieces that originally belonged to Captain William Carnes' Tennessee battery that were subsequently recaptured from the Federals by the men of Bate's brigade. 

    Thus was posted the enemy when a charge was ordered on our side and the 58th Alabama went forward with a speed, zeal, and determination that showed how earnest they were in the desperate undertaking before them. [This would have been at Poe Field.] But ah what a sad fate awaited them. They had been ordered to accomplish an impossibility- to take the breastworks without support. The failure was not their fault. They did everything that gallantry and bravery dictated to perform the almost hopeless task. In this charge, we were crossfired with grape, canister, and musketry from every direction save our rear. The regiment started with 300 men and in one hour from the first yell, only 102 could be mustered for duty. We advanced to within 100 yards of the fortifications and there stood and fought until it seemed almost suicide to remain longer when all that were not killed or wounded, except a few, fell back to a better position. These few consisted of Lieutenant Colonel [John Washington] Inzer, Major Harry Thornton, Lieutenant James F. Holiman [Co. B], and Lieutenant Albert T. Goodwyn with his company [K] and who was the only officer to who managed to keep his men under the murderous fire and did not retire until ordered to do so by higher authority. This affair, though badly planned, reflected much credit upon the officers and men composing the 58th Alabama regiment and shows the want of judgment in high places somewhere.

Captain Edward F. Crenshaw of Co. B, 58th Alabama was wounded during the battle but also noted for his heroism, specifically cited for helping to capture the Federal battery on the evening of September 19th. Crenshaw had previously served in the 17th Alabama before moving on to the 58th Alabama. After the war, he took up the practice of law in Greenville, Alabama. 
Two different views of Captain Crenshaw are shown here.


    Report says that Brigadier General William Bate was only yielding obedience to orders by making this charge, and that General Alexander P. Stewart ordered it in ignorance of the enemy's position. However, we have gained a glorious victory, and are now not only ready and willing but anxious to meet old Rosy again in battle array. He is now strongly entrenched in Chattanooga and what the program is for the future time alone can tell. 

Source:

Letter from "Libbie," 58th Alabama Infantry, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser (Alabama), October 7, 1863, pg. 2

Official report of Colonel Bush Jones, 58th Alabama from the O.R.

Captain Samuel D. McClellan, Co. F, 58th Alabama Infantry
Courtesy of Stan Hutson


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