Battling for the Blockhouses with the 115th Ohio

     The war experience of the 115th Ohio stood in marked contrast with most Ohio regiments. The regiment, mustered into service in September 1862, participated in very few battles and never was in a fight as an entire organization. The war for the 115th Ohio consisted of garrison and guard duty along the railroad lines in middle Tennessee for the last two years of the war. A portion of the regiment was mounted and sent out to combat bushwhackers while detachments of roughly 30 men were stationed in the blockhouses guarding points on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad between Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was generally dull duty, until December 1864…

Horace Redfield, a teenaged New Yorker living in Jasper, Tennessee during the Civil War, had ample opportunity to study the manner of fortifications that either army erected along the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad. “For about a year and a half, one end of the Nashville and Chattanooga road was in possession of one army and the other end held by the other,” he remembered. “So far as each side could hold possession, they erected stockades at the important stations and bridges to protect them from raids. These stockades were usually made of oak logs, set endwise in the ground, covered with heavy timber and with loopholes cut out for defense. Without artillery, they could hardly be reduced. The superiority of the stockades built by the Union troops over those built by the Confederates on the same line of road was striking. The Union troops bestowed an immense amount of labor on theirs, making them of square timber, massive, and enduring, and perfect in every particular.”

The strength of those stockades and blockhouses along the Nashville & Chattanooga were put under their strongest test during the first two weeks of December 1864. General John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee, marching north from Alabama, had crossed into the state of Tennessee and was pursuing the Federal army to the outskirts of Nashville. A Federal garrison remained in Murfreesboro, and the various blockhouses along the railroad between Nashville and Murfreesboro were guarded by companies of the 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. General Nathan Bedford Forrest soon set out to systematically reduce and capture each one of the seven blockhouses guarding the railroad, eventually taking 200 men from the regiment.

The following accounts of the “fight for the blockhouses” were published in the Summit County Beacon from Akron, Ohio.

 

Typical blockhouse and army encampment in Tennessee.

Nashville, Tennessee

December 14, 1864

          As your paper has an extensive circulation in the military district from which the 115th Ohio was raised, I send you the following particulars concerning the capture of a portion of that regiment stationed in blockhouses along the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad thinking they will be of interest to the numerous readers of your paper who have friends among the prisoners and are anxiously awaiting tidings of them.

          On the morning of the 2nd of this month, the enemy attacked blockhouses No. 1 and No. 2 commanded by Lieutenants Jacob N. Shaffer and George D. Harter (Co. F) of our regiment and garrisoned by 30 men each from Co. F of our regiment. After firing a few shots from their 12-pdr pieces (of which they had six), they directed their entire attention to Blockhouse No. 2 commanded by Lieutenant Harter. About this time, a train of some eleven cars having on board some 250 men of the 44th U.S. Colored Troops commanded by Colonel Lewis Johnson was fired into while crossing the bridge adjacent to Lieutenant Harter’s blockhouse, killing two of Colonel Johnson’s men and injuring the locomotive so much as to prevent further progress. The colonel unloaded his men and stationed them about the blockhouse, there not being room within the enclosure for them. Here they remained during the day, protecting themselves from the enemy’s fire as best they could.

          Lieutenant Harter fought them some eight hours, killing and wounding several of the enemy while losing one man killed and three wounded from his own command. The enemy shelled him continuously, shattering his blockhouse fearfully, many of their shells passing through the walls of the enclosure and bursting within. They kept up a heavy fire on Harter’s blockhouse until dark when they ceased. Lieutenant Harter’s ammunition being now nearly exhausted, it was deemed advisable to evacuate the blockhouse and cut their way through the enemy’s line to this place six miles distant.

Regimental colors of the 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

By 3 o’clock on the morning of the 3rd, the entire garrison together with the remainder of the Negro troops had marched through their lines and reached this place in safety. The wounded of both commands were left in the blockhouse in charge of the surgeon and chaplain of the 44th U.S.C.T. who remained behind to care for them. Nothing further was heard from them until this morning when the surgeon escaped and came into our lines. He escaped as follows: on the morning of the 3rd, the enemy again began shelling the blockhouse and the surgeon immediately raised a flag of truce which the enemy respected and ceased firing. They came in and were very angry when they found the entire garrison had escaped. They now turned their attention to Blockhouse No. 3 commanded by Captain Deming N. Lowry (Co. G) and garrisoned by 30 men of his company. After shelling the blockhouse for some time, injuring it seriously, he, too, was forced to surrender his entire command.

“We were detailed to guard a bridge nine miles from Nashville. At 3 p.m., they sent in a demand for surrender which was, of course, refused. They began to use some artillery on our position but without effect. Unfortunately for us, however, we failed to burn a log house only 300 yards away and under cover of a hill just back of it they succeeded in planting some 12 lb guns in that log house. The move cost them a number of men, but once in it they had the advantage and from then on hammered 77 shots into one wing of our building, tearing away the outer casement and sending in an occasional splinter and bursting shell. This had a tendency to appreciatively lower our erstwhile exuberant spirits and confidence in the position we occupied.” ~ Private Harvey Hogue, Co. G, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on the fight at Blockhouse No. 3

Blockhouse No. 1 was surrendered only after Nos. 2 and 3 had gone under sometime during the afternoon of the 3rd. Concerning the troops beyond this, we know nothing positively having nothing but the words of the Rebels concerning them. They claim, however, to have captured Blockhouse No. 4 command by Sergeant John Kinney of Co. G and garrisoned by some 30 men of that company. The garrison at La Vergne commanded by Captain Lewis F. Hake (Co. B) having with him Lieutenant John Eadie (Co. C) and some 60 men from Cos. B and C of our regiment. Also, Blockhouse Nos. 5 and 6 commanded by Lieutenant John S. Orr (Co. B) and Captain William M. McClure (Co. E) respectively and garrisoned by 30 men of each company.

“Blockhouse No. 4 and the fort at La Vergne were attacked on the morning of the 5th. Captain Hake, the commander of the post, had only an hour before received an order from General Thomas to vacate and fall back on Murfreesboro and was in the act of loading up when Forrest’s cavalry closed in upon them from all directions. Co. C skirmished with them for two hours then Forrest sent in a flag of truce commanding the surrender which was rejected. But while our men respected the flag of truce, Forrest took advantage of it and planted his artillery in close range where he could demolish our garrison in half an hour. Forrest then came in with the flag a second time and made a similar demand. Captain Hake and Lieutenant Eadie, seeing that it would be the sacrificing of the whole garrison without accomplishing anything, surrendered with a written guarantee that they should retain their personal property. The same deception was practiced upon Blockhouse No. 4- planting their batteries commanding the door of the blockhouse which was without protection, the blockhouse being unfinished, and the garrison surrendered deeming it folly to try and resisted a force which numbered at least a hundred to one.” ~ Captain John A. Means, Co. C, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

Blockhouse No. 7, the nearest to Murfreesboro and commanded by Lieutenant Henry H. Glosser (Co. E), they claim to be still standing which I think in all probability is correct. As I said before, we know nothing positively of the fate of our troops beyond Blockhouse No. 3 having simply their own reports which in instances of this kind should always be received with a broad margin. But such as they are, you have them, and by publishing them will confer a great favor upon an officer of that regiment.

          A sad fate awaited the approximately 200 men that went into Confederate captivity. “On April 27, 1865, the battalion of the 115th Ohio captured at Blockhouses 1, 3, and 4 in December 1864 were aboard the ill-fated steamer Sultana which exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee and Captain Lowry, Lieutenant Eadie, Lieutenant John C. Ely and 80 men were lost. These unfortunate men from Companies B, C, F, and G were on their way to Columbus, Ohio having been paroled for that purpose,” Whitelaw Reid wrote.

 To read more about the services of the 115th Ohio, readers are recommended to check out "War Behind the Lines: The Civil War History of the 115th Ohio Infantry Regiment 1862-1865" by Rexford G. Wiggers. 

Sources:

“Characteristics of the Armies,” by Horace V.E. Redfield, as published in Annals of the War Written by Leading Participants North and South. Philadelphia: The Times Publishing Co., 1879, pgs. 368-369

Letter from J., 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Summit County Beacon (Ohio), December 29, 1864, pg. 2

Civil War Reflections 1862-1865 of Corporal Harvey Hogue, Co. G, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, link here

Letter from Captain John A. Means, Co. C, 115th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Summit County Beacon (Ohio), January 5, 1865, pg. 2

Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Generals, and Soldiers. Volume II: The History of Her Regiments and Other Military Organizations. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1895, pgs. 602-603

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