Buckland's Picnic Excursion Before Shiloh

     By early April 1862, the Federals encamped at Pittsburg Landing had settled into a comfortable routine of camp life. Drill twice per day with regular meals acclimated the new troops comprising Colonel Ralph Buckland’s brigade to the army life. Writing from camp on April 1st, Private John M. Lemmon of the 72nd Ohio observed that “quiet reigns with this portion of the army though we know not at what time we may get the order to march. Old Sol begins to pour down his hottest rays upon us, making the shady side of the tent, tree, or the like the most bearable. The weather is quite spring-like but vegetation does not seem to come forward as rapidly as the warm weather would warrant. The trees have not yet put on their livery of green nor had the grass started but little. The Rebels are reported strengthening themselves at Corinth and have great numbers. They doubtless want to play their old game on us and keep us back by reporting great numbers on their own side.”

Colonel Buckland decided on April 3rd that he needed to break the routine. “A detachment of the 5th Ohio Cavalry was sent out to the front each morning, returning in the evening to report that they had been out 20 or 30 miles and could find no Rebels in our front,” remembered Thomas Connelly of the 70th Ohio. “Colonel Buckland thought it would be beneficial to the health of our boys to enjoy some suitable exercise other than regular army duties and requested General Sherman to allow his to take his brigade out on a kind of picnic excursion.” Buckland’s “picnic excursion” had a more serious military purpose. “General Sherman ordered me to take my brigade to the front on the Corinth Road four or five miles, send out scouting parties, and see what I could discover, but cautioned me not to be drawn into a fight with any considerable force of the enemy,” Buckland later remembered.

Brigadier General Ralph P. Buckland sits at the center of this image taken with members of his staff in Memphis in January 1864.  Standing left to right behind him are First Lieutenant Orin O. England (Co. C, 72nd OVI), Adjutant Alfred G. Tuther (95th OVI), Adjutant Eugene A. Rawson (72nd OVI), First Lieutenant Milton T. Williamson (Co. C, 72nd OVI), and Captain Henry W. Buckland (Co. B, 72nd OVI). As would be expected, many of his staff officers were drawn from Buckland's original command, most of whom had fought under the Ohioan during the battle of Shiloh. All of these men with the exception of Tuther took part in the picnic excursion and Captain Buckland, then a first lieutenant, had been out with Crockett's detachment when it came under fire. Rawson would later be promoted to major and would die of wounds sustained during the Battle of Old Town Creek later that summer. 


Buckland’s command consisted of three Ohio regiments, all new: the 48th Ohio, 70th Ohio, and Buckland’s own 72nd Ohio. The troops had been armed at Paducah less than a month before and had been in camp at Pittsburg Landing for roughly three weeks. Shortly after breakfast, Buckland ordered the command into column with the 70th Ohio in the lead, followed by the 72nd Ohio with the 48th Ohio in the rear. They were all big regiments, the brigade taking into the field more than 2,000 muskets. The men moved out in light marching order with “one day’s rations in our haversacks and without baggage,” Sergeant William J. Srofe of the 48th Ohio recalled.

Upon Buckland’s command, the column marched south on the Corinth road for about three miles when the first halt was called. At this point, Colonel Buckland ordered out Company A of both the 70th and 72nd Ohio to deploy ahead of the column as skirmishers. The march resumed without incident for another two miles when the brigade came to a fork in the road. “I marched my brigade to the forks of the road about five miles from our line where I halted and formed the brigade in line between the two roads facing towards Corinth,” Colonel Buckland later wrote. “Both roads, as I understood, led to Monterey, about two miles farther towards Corinth. I then sent two companies of the 70th Ohio under Major James W. McFerren [70th Ohio] forward on the left hand and two companies under Major Leroy Crockett [72nd Ohio] on the right-hand road.”

Colonel Buckland's "picnic excursion" amounted to marching about seven miles out from the brigade's camps nestled just southwest of Shiloh Church along the Corinth road. Upon reaching the fork of the road, Buckland ordered a detachment of the 70th Ohio under Major James W. McFerren on the eastern road while Major Leroy Crockett, leading Co. B of the 72nd Ohio and Co. K of the 48th Ohio, took the western fork. Both detachments quickly ran into Confederate cavalry and after a short skirmish, the troops fell back to camp. The "picnic" at Pittsburg Landing would soon be over. The fork of the road is today the intersection of Tennessee Highways 22 and 142; the Shiloh Museum and Gift Shop sits in the south quadrant of the intersection and the location of the skirmishes was about half mile down either highway Monterey was later renamed Michie and is located about seven miles away. 

It was no surprise to find Major Crockett up front with the troops. The energetic officer had resigned his commission with the 65th New York (1st U.S. Chasseurs) to accept the position as major in the new 72nd Ohio and was a great favorite with the troops. “Major Crockett had great capacity as a drill master and as an officer to educate, drill, and fit his soldiers for the field,” John Lemmon later noted. “It was he, largely, who drilled and trained the 72nd Ohio. He went into the field with the regiment, was a young man who took great delight in drilling the regiment and as a consequence, had that work mostly to do.”

Crockett led forward Co. K of the 48th Ohio and Co. B of the 72nd Ohio to take over the skirmish line and marched off down the right-hand road towards Monterey. “Our boys all appeared pleased to have the honor,” Srofe continued. “We marched about two miles in advance of the brigade when we halted at a small creek and filled our canteens with fresh water. We numbered about 125 men in all under the command of Major James S. Wise of the 48th and Major Leroy Crockett of the 72nd Ohio. The two majors appeared to be very brave for they rode 200-300 yards in advance all the time.”

Sergeant William J. Srofe,
Co. K, 48th O.V.I.
(Griff's Spared & Shared)

“They halted at a house in the center of a field when they saw about 30 Rebel cavalry in a covering of woods,” Srofe continued. “Major Wise rode back to the brigade for another detachment but Major Crockett remained at the house close to the woman and children to keep the Rebels from firing at him, but as they saw us marching up, they fired on him without respect to the woman and children. But we were there in time and opened fire on them, their balls whistling over us but too high to do any harm. The Major ordered us not to waste our ammunition but to fire when they saw an object. The Rebels had run and cracky how they ran: I had to laugh after they had fled to think how they spurred their horses.”

Major McFerren’s detachment also ran into Confederate videttes on the left-hand road. “Major John W. McFerren of the 70th Ohio with seven men was sent further out on the road as pickets and they had not advanced very far before they were challenged. ‘Halt! Who comes there!’ To which the Major replied, ‘It is the advance guard of the Grand Army of the United States.’ To which the challenger replied, ‘The hell you say!’ at the same time sending a volley of cold lead toward the Major and his men who retreated back to brigade lines with greater speed than when they advanced,” recalled Thomas Connelly of the 70th Ohio.

 “Major Crockett soon after sent word to me that there was a large force of cavalry in sight and that he would need reinforcements,” Colonel Buckland wrote. “In accordance with my instructions not to be drawn into a fight, I ordered Majors Crockett and McFerren to return to the brigade. While there, several of the soldiers reported to me that they distinctly heard the long roll in the direction of Monterey. I did not. Soon after the scouting companies returned, we commenced our march back to camp when we arrived a little before dark and I reported immediately to Gen. Sherman.

Second Lieutenant John J. Geer, Co. K, 48th O.V.I. 

Lieutenant John J. Geer of the 48th Ohio was serving on Buckland’s staff and Buckland ordered him out to retrieve the skirmishers before they got into more serious trouble. “When I rode to top of the hill, I could see the enemy about 200 yards distant,” he wrote. “The lieutenant of the 72nd was holding his men in readiness and just as I reached them, they arose and opened fire, at which the Rebels retreated to the right evidently intending to flank us. But this was an unfortunate movement for them as they had not proceeded far when they encountered Major Crockett of the 72nd with 200 men by whom they were repulsed with heavy loss. By this time, I had come up with the brigade. Buckland dispatched me immediately to order Crockett to fall back but to continue fighting while retreating.”

“As I proceeded on my way to Crockett (who indeed was a brave and daring officer) I met a lady of advanced age in great distress. She was wringing her hands and crying, ‘Oh my son! Oh, my son! Save me and my poor son!’ I rode forward to Crockett and found that he had repulsed the enemy and was falling back in order. Being alone and in advance of the retreating companies, I again encountered the old lady on the same spot where I first saw her. Inquiring the cause of her grief, I learned that the Rebels had been at her house representing themselves as Union men and that she had expressed herself to them with disguise or reserve. They had thereupon seized her son, tied him to a horse, and bore him away intending to press him into their service,” Geer remembered.

Private Samuel Shutts
Co. B, 72nd O.V.I.
Killed in action April 6, 1862

“We then fell back to the brow of the hill,” Srofe continued. “To keep them from outflanking us, we deployed taking intervals of three paces. We sat down all watching for the Rebels but Major Wise came up in due time with another detachment, so the Rebels concluded they had better let us alone. We did not follow them for it was no use- we being infantry and they cavalry, nor did we go to see if we killed any of them. In about ten minutes after the firing, the long roll was heard to beat over in the Rebel camp. Our company and Co. B of the 72nd acted as the rear guards being 400 yards in the rear of the brigade and deployed in groups of four, taking intervals of 20 paces. We got back to camp about 6 o’clock in the evening making about 14 miles we marched in seven hours. The boys all took it very coolly as much as could be expected.”

The men of Buckland’s brigade would have another scrap with the Confederate cavalry the following afternoon, and this time both Major Crockett and Lieutenant Geer would get captured. 

 

Sources:

Masters, Daniel A., editor. Sherman’s Praetorian Guard: Civil War Letters of John McIntyre Lemmon, 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Perrysburg: Columbian Arsenal Press, 2017, pgs. 33-34

Lemmon, John M. “Leroy Crockett,” Ohio Soldier, October 8, 1887, pgs. 115-116

Buckland, Ralph P. “Shiloh: The Opening of the Great Battle,” Fremont Journal (Ohio), June 10, 1881, pg. 2

Connelly, Thomas W. History of the 70th Regiment, O.V.V.I., From Its Organization to its Mustering Out. Cincinnati: Peak Bros., 1902, pgs. 19-20

Letter from Sergeant William Jasper Srofe, Co. K, 48th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, dated April 4, 1862, Griff’s Spared & Shared website

Geer, John J. Beyond the Lines: A Yankee Prisoner Loose in Dixie. Philadelphia: J.W. Daughaday, 1863, pgs. 23-25

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