Sheep Before Destroying Wolves: Wounded at Stones River with the 93rd Ohio

At 37 years of age, James Tingle was one of the oldest volunteers to join Co. B of the 93rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in August of 1862. A veteran of the Mexican War, he was promoted to sergeant on the cusp of the Stones River campaign. It was his first major battle as he related the following story of that campaign in this short memoir which appears on the blog courtesy of my friend Phil Spaugy and the Historical Society of Vandalia-Butler.

 

Sergeant James Tingle of the 93rd Ohio was struck down twice as his regiment battled against Confederates close to the Nashville Pike. This image, dating from the 1890s, depicts the approximate location that Tingle received his second wound. 

          On December 26th, we broke camp and started for Bragg’s Rebel army. We met them and quite heavy skirmishing took place. We then marched to Stones River where we joined our corps on the evening of December 30, 1862. On our arrival, our regiment was sent out on the extreme right of the army as then in position. We observed the movements of the Rebel cavalry until dark. We then returned to our part of the line where we arrived about 7 o’clock.

          General Richard W. Johnson, our division commander, ordered Colonel Charles Anderson, our regimental commander, to put his regiment in camp in rear of division headquarters for the balance of the night. After cooking our supper and desiring water for coffee in the morning and to have a canteen full for service the next day, I and Hunter Browner went out in search of water. We must have traveled two or three miles in our search for water. Browner almost became discouraged and would have given up the search but I urged him on with the plea that as tomorrow would in all likelihood be a day of fighting, it would be well for us to have water not only for coffee in the morning but also to have our canteens filled for the emergency of the fight and possible wounds on the battlefield. Thus urged, Browner accompanied me in further searches. We at last found a creek far in the rear at which we filled our coffee pots and canteens. It was after midnight when we returned to camp.

General Richard W. Johnson

          That canteen of water on the 31st was a bonanza beyond all price. In the early morning, we had just completed our breakfast when a tremendous brisk musket firing began on our right front. At once it began to draw nearer and nearer our vicinity. The Rebels driving our lines back as sheep before the pursuing wolves, for the onslaught of the Rebel force was so heavy and fierce as by mere force of numbers we were driven before in the manner of scared sheep before the destroying wolves. We were driven from our position to the rear of our division on our left. Our right, in confusion, became broken in passing through a heavily timbered spot filled with cedar undergrowth.

Captain Birch with myself and most of Co. B and parts of two or three other companies found on our getting clear of the cedars that our columns were not in sight, but that a line of battle was formed near at hand. Captain Birch organized the men of the 93rd and reported to the colonel of the 19th Ohio who assigned us to his left which then rested on the Murfreesboro Turnpike from Nashville. At this time, it was 11:30 a.m. as I looked at my watch. We were ordered to move slightly to the right in a cotton field. We advanced a few hundred yards in this field and were ordered to lie down where we were. A few minutes later a heavy column of Rebels charged us, and we fell back.

1908 reunion of the 93rd O.V.I.


Just at this time, whilst in the act of rising from the ground, a Minie ball struck me when about half arisen from the ground in the right groin. The ball passed under the heavy muscles and flesh, just missing the thigh bone. It came out immediately over the outer hip joint. Private Robert Babbit, being on my left as I occupied the position of first sergeant on the right of the company, asked me if I was hit. I told him yes, but I thought it was not serious. I then placed my right arm over his shoulder, and we started for the rear. When perhaps 50 or 75 yards from the spot where I was first hit, I received a second shot immediately below the right shoulder blade which passed through my body and came out in my breast about one inch above the right nipple. I was at this time just to the right of the pike as you face Murfreesboro. I became blind, but not unconscious, and fell.

Colonel Charles Anderson of the 93rd Ohio commanded the regiment at Stones River and ran on the Union ticket with John Brough in the 1863 Ohio gubernatorial election. Following Brough's death in August 1865, Anderson served as the state's 27th governor. A few years ago David Dixon wrote a superb book about Anderson entitled The Lost Gettysburg Address which features a superb account of the 93rd Ohio at Stones River. Anderson's life story and connection to Gettysburg is fascinating; David's book can be purchased here through his website. 


I asked Babbit to get assistance and take me across the pike and place me in the corner of an old rail fence that formed part of a country lane to the pike. This he succeeded in doing. He lay down with me for a short time. While we lay there, our own battle line reformed about 100 yards in the rear thus leaving us between the two battle lines and in the rear of our infantry.

It was at this point on the battlefield that General Rosecrans had massed his artillery for use, but as yet they had not fired a gun at the point where the battle line crossed the pike. At this time General Rosecrans and staff rode along the front lines urging the men to hold the present position for a few minutes, when he would open up his artillery and blow the Rebels from their front. It was here and then that Colonel Julius Garesche, his chief of staff, was killed.

Private John Gottlieb Weckel
Co. A, 93rd O.V.I.

Just before the artillery opened, I persuaded Babbit to try and get to the rear and if alive at the close of the fight to come and look after me. He succeeded in gaining the rear. It was while lying here on that afternoon that I found my bonanza in my canteen of water. Not all the army stores of both armies equaled its value to me as it was full of water. I, from the loss of blood, seemed almost famished for drink and I had it. The walk of the night previous was the most valuable to me of all the walks of my life. I verily believe that it was the very life to me on that battlefield.

93rd Ohio marker in Dayton, Ohio
(Image courtesy of Phil Spaugy)

About a half hour before sundown, firing ceased on both sides and the ambulances of the Yanks and Rebs began to come between the lines for their wounded. Then came Babbit who found me alive and sought an ambulance to place me in. The firing again began along the lines from both sides. Our ambulance got off with a few bullet holes through its cover, but none were hurt. I was taken to the field hospital about three miles in the rear and placed in the hallway of a farmhouse.

93rd O.V.I. national colors



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