The Pelicans Save the Guns at Belmont

     Like the battle of Shiloh fought five months later, the Battle of Belmont was marked by the raw inexperience of the soldiers of both armies that fought it. A prime example of this is the story of the 11th Louisiana who arrived on the field late in the battle and was sent out to flank the Union line and recapture the four guns of Watson’s Battery.

“We came out of the woods immediately in their rear and seeing them drawn up in line of battle without discovering their colors, we hesitated to fire, thinking them our Tennessee regiments that were endeavoring to flank them on the left,” one veteran remembered. “At this moment, Major E.G.W. Butler of the 11th Louisiana rode forward to ascertain who they were and having descried the “stars and stripes,” endeavored to fall back to his regiment when he fell, seriously wounded, under a volley of musketry from the Federals.  This was to us the signal for an advance and loud was the shout of vengeance that rang through our lines as we made an impetuous charge and recaptured the Watson Battery. For a few minutes, the scene was terrific, but our gallant boys, nothing daunted, pressed hotly on and the enemy was scattered in an inglorious flight, leaving guns, blankets, knapsacks, ammunition, all in wild confusion.”

The history of the 11th Louisiana Volunteers in the Civil War was a short one; the regiment was mustered into Confederate service August 18, 1861 at Camp Moore, Louisiana and a year later was ordered disbanded by General Braxton Bragg. In that year, it fought in three battles: Belmont, Shiloh, and Farmington, losing its major in each of the first two engagements. The 11th Louisiana performed its most noteworthy service in its first battle at Belmont but at the hefty cost of Major Butler and more than 50 killed or wounded. 

Today’s post features a fine account of that battle written by a soldier who went by the pen name of “Julius” and served in Co. F ("The Continental Guards") of the 11th Louisiana. His two letters describing Belmont were published in subsequent issues of the Athens Post of Athens, Tennessee; both were written in camp at Columbus, Kentucky, the first was dated November 8th and the second, a more polished account, was written on November 11th. I have combined the two letters to render a more readable account.

 

Louisiana State Militia button depicting a pelican feeding four chicks. The white pelican has been associated with Louisiana since it became a state in 1812 and the pelican replaced an eagle on the state seal. The state not only had an abundant population of pelicans, but its choice as state symbol had religious overtones as well. The large French Creole and Catholic population of the time equated the ancient belief that a pelican would tear its own flesh to feed its young with the sacrifice of Christ's flesh for his people, so it was a symbol of piety and charity. In addition, the outstretched wings of the pelican resembled the French fleur-de-lis, so the adoption of the pelican also paid homage to the state's French roots. 

          On the night previous to the attack, about 5,000 troops were landed some six or eight miles above Columbus on the Missouri side by the Federals and were reinforced early on the morning of the 7th by 3,000 more from Bird Point. The plan of attack, as we have since learned, meditated an assault simultaneously on three different places. The 8,000 above mentioned were to attack our forces on the Missouri side above Columbus; the gunboats were to engage our batteries on the river, and a large force was to have passed through Mayfield and attack us in the rear on the Kentucky side. This was certainly the result of consummate military skill, and the only plan by which our forces could have been defeated.

November 7, 1861 assuredly was to us one of great excitement and hard fighting. Early in the morning, two Cairo gunboats came down and barraged our batteries while other boats were landing troops on the Missouri side. We had the Watson Battery together with a regiment of Arkansas troops [the 13th under Colonel James C. Tappan] stationed opposite this place, which troops and battery were the object of attack with the ultimate design of taking Columbus if successful in the first engagement.

          The firing began about 10 a.m. and raged furiously for some time when it was perceived that without reinforcements our men were certainly beaten. With characteristic promptitude, General Leonidas Polk ordered several regiments from this side but still the fight was unequal and the enemy gained ground. I must here remark that most of our regiments are unfilled and considered as battalions.

General Leonidas Polk

The 11th Louisiana under Colonel Samuel Marks and the 2nd Tennessee under Colonel J. Knox Walker were ordered across the river. At this juncture, our regiment, the 11th Louisiana, arrived on the ground. The Federals by this time had gained the skirts of the camping ground and captured the Watson Battery which they had turned upon our forces and were pouring into us a withering fire of grape and canister. At this critical juncture, General Gideon Pillow ordered a flank movement which was executed by the 11th Louisiana in conjunction with a Tennessee regiment. The enemy had by this time turned our own guns upon us and were doing fearful destruction with grape and canister shot into the ranks of our gallant army.

We obeyed orders promptly but by some move unaccountable, we came out of the woods immediately in their rear and seeing them drawn up in line of battle without discovering their colors, we hesitated to fire, thinking them our Tennessee regiments that were endeavoring to flank them on the left. [Reportedly, someone from the Federal line yelled out “For God’s sake, don’t fire on us, we are friends.”] At this moment, Major E.G.W. Butler of the 11th Louisiana rode forward to ascertain who they were and having descried the “stars and stripes,” endeavored to fall back to his regiment when he fell, seriously wounded, under a volley of musketry from the Federals.  This was to us the signal for an advance and loud was the shout of vengeance that rang through our lines as we made an impetuous charge and recaptured the Watson Battery. For a few minutes, the scene was terrific, but our gallant boys, nothing daunted, pressed hotly on and the enemy was scattered in an inglorious flight, leaving guns, blankets, knapsacks, ammunition, all in wild confusion.



Our forces pursued them to their gunboats and succeeded in killing many before they could affect an escape. The enemy succeeded in saving their transport vessels. All the loss I sustained was the crown of my cap and a bunch of hair which was carried off by a Minie ball. Our loss is about 125 killed, 150 wounded, and 70 prisoners; the loss of the enemy is about 250 killed, 250-300 wounded, and about 250 prisoners. Our regiment lost 10 killed and 43 wounded; Major Butler and Lieutenant Alexander of the 11th Louisiana were killed. The Continental Guards, the company to which I belong, lost two killed and two wounded and came near losing another about my size and age, but I am still all right and ready for another fight.

"I find this fact from a little experience that it is much more difficult to get an accurate account of a battle where so many claim so much for themselves as heroes and so few are willing to be responsible for disasters than any other species of information I ever tried to obtain." ~ Surgeon Emmet Woodward, 154th (Senior) Tennessee Regiment

The number of the enemy, as we learned from captive officers was about 8,000. We had about 7,000 on the ground. The Federals attribute their failure of the 7th to a non-compliance of the gunboats and the troops on the Kentucky side to their part of the contract, and seem determined to try the plan again. Our time since the battle has been principally occupied in the humane work of giving requisite attention to the wounded and a proper disposition of the dead. Our hospitals are filled with the wounded of both parties and I am happy to state those of the enemy receive the same kind attention and judicious treatment as our own.

 To learn more about the Battle of Belmont, click on the following links:

"Our Maiden Fight: The 13th Tennessee at Belmont" from July 2021

"Standing Up to the Work: A Captain's View of Belmont" (22nd Illinois) from January 2021

"The Killing End of the Business: The 27th Illinois at Belmont" from December 2020

"A Dutchman at Belmont" (Battery B, 1st Illinois Light Artillery) from July 2020


This set of silk 12-star national colors was reportedly carried by the 11th Louisiana at Belmont and has inscribed upon it the battle honor "Belmont," date date of the action, and a memorial to Major Butler. The close resemblance between the stars and bars and the stars and stripes led to confusion on the battlefield (as it did at Belmont), and these flags were replaced in 1862 by a multitude of designs in the western theater.  (Shiloh National Battlefield)


Sources:

Letters from Julius, Co. F, 11th Louisiana Volunteers, Athens Post (Tennessee), November 15, 1861, pg. 2 and November 22, 1861, pg. 1

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