Song of the 20th Corps

     The 20th Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland was born April 4, 1864, outside Chattanooga, Tennessee by an order which consolidated the former 11th and 12th Army Corps which had previously served in the Army of the Potomac. Placed under the overall command of Major General Joseph Hooker (their old commander from Potomac days), the corps was divided into three divisions led initially by Generals Alpheus S. Williams, John W. Geary, and Daniel Butterfield.

          The 20th Corps is a fascinating unit from the standpoint of the origins of its troops as it hosted troops from every corner of the Union. The Harvard-trained officers of the 2nd Massachusetts and 5th Connecticut rubbed elbows with lumberjacks from the 3rd Wisconsin and farmers of the 70th Indiana. Maryland was represented by a detachment of the 3rd Maryland Infantry, Connecticut had two regiments (the 5th and 20th), Massachusetts also had two regiments (the famous 2nd and the 33rd), as did New Jersey who was represented by the 13th and the 33rd Infantry regiments, the latter a Zouave regiment, a real rarity in Sherman’s army. The Midwest was well-represented in the corps as Indiana had four regiments, Wisconsin had four regiments, Michigan had four regiments and batteries, Illinois had five regiments, while Ohio led them all with eleven regiments and batteries. The Keystone State of Pennsylvania had nine regiments and batteries in the corps while New York had the largest representation of all in the corps, totaling eighteen regiments and batteries.

In all, eleven states were represented in the 20th Army Corps making it the most diverse in the Army of the Cumberland. By comparison, the 4th Army Corps was represented by eight states while the 14th Corps was represented by nine states. The 20th Army Corps stood in stark contrast with the rest of Sherman’s army: their uniform was generally sharper and more regular, the men effected more of a military bearing, discipline was generally tighter. These characteristics, learned in their formative years connected with McClellan’s Army of the Potomac, made them a distinctive element of the army, and caused not a little friction with their predominantly western comrades in the other corps. The corps felt a bit like outsiders especially after their commanding general Fighting Joe Hooker resigned in a huff after being passed over for command of the Army of Tennessee in late July 1864. “The name of Hooker has been to the veterans of his corps a synonym for all that is brave, gallant, and heroic in and officer and soldier,” Captain Alfred E. Lee of the 82nd Ohio lamented upon his departure. Citing Hooker’s “most sublime contempt of danger” Lee commented that “in their memory and affections, the name of General Hooker occupies an exalted place that can never perish.”

The following song was something I discovered recently while digging through the archives of the New York State Military Museum. It was a lyric sheet for a song entitled “Song of the Twentieth Corps” and the cadence of the lyrics suggests that it was to be sung to the tune of “The Bonnie Blue Flag,” a popular song most strongly associated with the Confederacy. It was apparently written in late July 1864 after the Battle of Peach Tree Creek but before it was known that General Hooker had left the army. In honor of the brave men of the 20th Army Corps,  I've included some amazing images from the Liljenquist Collection depicting soldiers of the corps interspersed between the verses of the song.  


Song of the Twentieth Corps 

Sung to the tune of “The Bonnie Blue Flag”

 

We are a band of patriot freemen-we have left our Northern soil,

To redeem the flag of liberty that traitors would despoil;

We are no bandbox soldiers to shrink from death or scars,

And the emblem under which we fight are the triple-colored stars.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For liberty, hurrah!

Three cheers for the Twentieth Corps that wear a single star!

 

An unidentified soldier of the 28th Pennsylvania wearing a 12th or 20th Army Corps badge

Joe Hooker is our leader- the gallant child of fame,

Who faced the foe at Fredericksburg ‘mid shafts of death and flame;

At Antietam, South Mountain, too, despite an ugly scar,

He led our conquering legions on- our hero of the star!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Hooker bold, hurrah!

Three cheers for his fighting men who wear a single star!

 

First Lieutenant Edgar A. Bumpus of Co. A of the 33rd Massachusetts Infantry is pictured in this image from 1863 in which his 11th Army Corps badge is on his kepi. Bumpus was killed in action May 15, 1864 during the Battle of Resaca. 

At Gettysburg he was relieved, but we think it for the best.

As they lost a glorious captain, and we gained one in the West.

His fortune now is cast with us and envy shall not mar,

The glittering tablets of his fame, our leader of the star!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For equal rights, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

Unidentified soldier of the 137th New York Volunteers

At Chattanooga under Grant our dauntless chieftain bold,

Swept back the Rebel miscreants from Lookout Mountain old;

Not all their desperate bravery could stay the tide of war,

When Fighting Joe was in the van, our leader of the star!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For the Union cause, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe’s Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

Surgeon David Mathews of the 143rd New York displays a corps badge on his chest. 

On Resaca’s heights, where foemen met on the fifteenth day of May,

The Twentieth Corps bore well their part, the foremost in the fray,

And the proudest Rebel battery that thundered in the war,

Fell a trophy to the daring of the men who wore a star!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For Union pluck, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe’s Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

A 1902 reunion ribbon for the 123rd New York at Gettysburg; the red star in this case represents the first division of the 12th Army Corps. 

At Peachtree Creek we met them next on the twentieth of July,

When the Johnnies fiercely charged our corps and though to make them fly;

In wild dismay we hurled them back and scattered near and far,

Lay the dead of Southern chivalry who hoped to beat the star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For equal rights, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe’s Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

The tattered colors of the 70th Indiana which served in the third division of the 20th Army Corps during the Atlanta campaign. Its colonel Benjamin Harrison became the 23rd President of the United States upon his election in 1888. 

But with a leader so renowned, no mead of praise is due,

To officers, subordinates, likewise the boys in blue.

‘Tis difficult in East or West, to find our better far,

Than the bully Fighting Twentieth Corps that wear a single star!

Hurrah! Hurrah! For the boys in blue, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe’s Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

Corporal James C. Fitzgibbon of Co. D of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry proudly displays his corps badge and brass regimental number upon his kepi. He was captured July 22, 1864 outside of Atlanta but survived his imprisonment to muster out with the regiment in July 1865.  

We are true blue Union corps- we came from East and West,

So join our fortunes ‘neath the flag we love of all the best.

And while we strike for Freedom’s rights, we’ll let no discord mar,

Nor jealous feelings move the men that fight beneath the star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For the boys in blue, hurrah!

Three cheers for the gallant lads who wear a single star!

 

The kepi held by this unidentified soldier of the 109th Pennsylvania features a felt or cloth corps badge, regimental number 109, P.V. for Pennsylvania Volunteers, and A.C. for army corps. 

The Red, White, and Blue our motto, ‘tis taken from the flag,

And those who wear the glorious sign in danger never lag.

They remember well their brave old sires who fought in former wars,

And would die to keep unsullied their heritage, the stars.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For our grandsires brave, hurrah!

Three cheers for Joe’s Hooker’s corps that wear a single star!

 

Captain Wilbur W. Smith, Co. C, 20th Connecticut Volunteers

Here’s a health to all brave comrades, who, when this war is o’er,

In happiness and safety may greet their friends once more;

And for the boys who sleep in death, we pray no fate shall mar,

Their blissful hopes of Paradise, true heroes of the star.

Hurrah! Hurrah! For girls at home, hurrah!

Three cheers for the Twentieth Corps and their badge, a single star!

Corporal Lucius Stanley from Co. A of the 107th New York (at left) clowns with his drunk and apparently sleeping companion Sergeant William Straight from Co. F of the 38th New York. The 38th New York served in the 3rd Army Corps while the 107th served in the 12th and later the 20th corps. This image likely dates from late 1862-early 1863 when both men were serving in the Army of the Potomac. 


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