Gobbled by Forrest at Fallen Timbers

    For Captain Andrew Wilson McCormick of the 77th Ohio, the pursuit of the Confederate army the day after the battle of Shiloh proved more dangerous than the battle itself. “I was in the great fight from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon without getting injured,” he relayed to his wife in a letter written from the Tishomingo Hotel in Corinth on April 12, 1862. “On Tuesday April 8th, the 77th Ohio was attacked by the Texas Rangers and another battalion when I got a revolver shot from a ranger which broke my arm just below the shoulder. It was dressed at General Hardee’s headquarters by Dr. Rumbaugh, a Union surgeon. Generals Breckinridge, Ruggles, and Hardee have all been to see me. I am doing well and am very well treated. The Southern ladies are like good Samaritans and treated me like sisters would.” Captain McCormick, the former editor of the Marietta Republican, would spend six months in captivity.

          On the morning of April 8, 1862, General U.S. Grant ordered General William T. Sherman and Thomas J. Wood to lead their commands south in pursuit of the retreating Confederate army under General P.G.T. Beauregard. A few miles out from the Union camps, the leading elements of the column including a skirmish line from the 77th Ohio stumbled across a Confederate field hospital guarded by about 350 cavalrymen under the command of Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest’s task was clear: to protect the camp and delay the Federal pursuit to buy time for the Confederate forces to proceed uninhibited to their camps at Corinth, Mississippi. The short battle which resulted became known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers.  

Upon his exchange in October 1862, Captain McCormick returned home to Marietta. The following account of Fallen Timbers is derived from a lecture that he gave on Monday evening, November 17, 1862 at the Washington County Courthouse in Marietta. The good captain shortly thereafter went back to the front and had the misfortune of being captured a second time. This time it was at Mark’s Mills, Arkansas on April 26, 1864, roughly two years after he was captured at Fallen Timbers.

 

Colonel Jesse Hildebrand of the 77th Ohio led a brigade at Shiloh but was haunted by the losses of his regiment at Fallen Timbers: the regiment lost roughly 50 casualties in the short engagement including a large number killed in action. The events of the day continued to torment him on his deathbed a year later. "The disaster of April 8th, 1862 was one of the most painful events of Col. Hildebrand's life. He spoke of it repeatedly while lying upon his bed of death. This anniversary occurred during the period of his prostration in sickness, and he referred feelingly and with warmth the sanguinary scenes of that day," remembered Lieutenant Colonel Wills De Hass of the 77th Ohio.

On Tuesday morning the 8th, General Sherman ordered out the Third Brigade composed of the 53rd, 57th, and 77th Ohio regiments commanded by Colonel Jesse Hildebrand. We were accompanied by a battalion of the 4th Illinois Cavalry with orders to follow the retreating Rebel army. About five miles from Shiloh Church, scouts reported a Rebel force nearby. The brigade was halted and the 77th Ohio, now numbering about 200 men, was ordered to be sent forward in line of battle. They advanced until the skirmishers were within short range of a brigade of Confederate cavalry: the Texas Rangers, Colonel Wirt Adams’ Mississippi regiment, and Colonel Forrest’s Kentucky [ 3rd Tennessee] regiment.[1]

The 77th was halted and the skirmishers were ordered to fire and fall back on the regiment. The moment this order was obeyed, the Rebel cavalry made a furious charge upon the little band and cut the regiment to pieces before the brigade could come to its relief. Firing their carbines and shotguns as they came, the Rebels dashed up to within a few yards of our infantry and with revolvers drawn poured upon them a most galling fire. In the meantime, the 77th Ohio had emptied their muskets and were defenseless. [The 77th was armed with large caliber (.69-.71) Model 1842 Austrian muskets.] 

Captain McCormick had his revolver raised and just on the point of firing to the front his right arm was broken by a revolver shot from one of the Texas Rangers who charged upon the flanks. Being thus disabled and at once surrounded by half a dozen mounted Rebels with revolvers drawn, he was compelled to surrender. After taking his sword and revolver, they drove him to the rear with revolvers pointed at his head and repeated threats of death unless he increased his pace to double quick. This he refused to do and was only relieved of this kind of treatment when a Rebel lieutenant hearing the oaths and threats of his soldiers send them away and took charge of the prisoners himself.

 


 “Formed in line of battle, the Confederates boldly stood their ground as about two battalions of cavalry and a regiment of infantry were thrown forward to assail them. The infantry advanced handsomely at a charge with their bayonets presented. There was some confusion, however, in the federal ranks crossed a small stream and Forrest resolved to charge the Federals with his force. His bugler sounded the charge and forward dashed the Confederates from their covert behind the crest of the ridge and were almost upon the enemy before the nature of the movement was perceived. At 20 paces, the Confederates gave a volley with their shotguns, a formidable weapon at short distance and rushed in with pistols and sabers. So sudden was the onset that the Federal cavalry broke in disorder and fled back through the woods, running over their own infantry in the panic, creating a scene of singular confusion and tumult for some moments. Many of the infantry were thus knocked down. Before the infantry could recover from the condition into which the flight of the cavalry had thrown them, Forrest was upon them with a swift play of the saber and revolver and they broke as well as the cavalry. The slaughter was considerable; men were merciless on such occasions. The loss inflicted was heavy, while 70 were captured.” ~Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, 1868

 

After marching two miles through the mud, Captain McCormick was taken to General Breckinridge’s headquarters where he was questioned as to the number of troops we had in the first day’s fight, our loss, the time of Buell’s arrival, etc. General Breckinridge inquired how many men Grant and Buell together had. “That is a question you have no right to ask, and you cannot expect me to answer,” he replied. He said he would have suffered death before he would have given information calculated to injure the Union cause. The General also wanted to know if there was a general advance upon them. The captain replied that he thought they would see our army soon enough. Had this Rebel general known there was only a skeleton brigade of Union troops nearby, he probably would have ordered his division over the hill and captured the whole party of them while they were burying the dead. Instead of this, Breckinridge’s force was drawn up in line of battle to await the advance of our army.

The captain was then sent to the hospital at General Hardee’s headquarters where his wound was dressed by a Union surgeon, Dr. Rumbaugh of the 25th Missouri. Dr. Lawrence, General’s Hardee’s medical director, also treated him with marked kindness. He was taken from there to Corinth where he remained a month.

 

Sources:

Letter from Captain Andrew W. McCormick, Co. G, 77th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Marietta Republican (Ohio), May 8, 1862, pg. 3

Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Wills De Hass, Marietta Republican (Ohio), May 14, 1863, pg. 3

“Address of Captain McCormick,” Marietta Republican (Ohio), November 19, 1862, pg. 4

Jordan, Thomas and J.P. Pryor. The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest and of Forrest’s Cavalry. New Orleans, Memphis, and New York: Blelock & Company, 1868, pgs. 146-47

 


[1] Forrest’s 3rd Tennessee Cavalry was a battalion of eight companies with men from Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. Co. A was from Brandenburg, Kentucky, Co. B was from southern Alabama, Co. C was from Memphis, Tennessee, Co. D was from Texas, Co. E was from Gadsden, Alabama, Co. F was from Huntsville, Alabama, Co. G was from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and Co. H was from Marshall Co., Alabama.


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

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

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

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 Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
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

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

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

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 at the outset of the
Read more

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more