I Could Not Ride Without Stepping On the Bodies: A Hoosier Colonel at Shiloh

It was three weeks after the Battle of Shiloh before Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Dodge of the 30th Indiana had time to give his wife a hurried account of the engagement. He struggled to find the words to describe what he saw. "You can have no idea of the awful slaughter that took place," he wrote.  "There were actually places where you could walk (had you been so inclined) 30 rods straight ahead on the bodies of dead Rebels. In one place I saw them so thick one quite a large piece of ground that I could not ride through on account of my horse stepping on them. I got off wonderfully: a Minie ball cut the hair off the back part of my head, another went through one of the men and struck me on the calf of my leg doing no damage further than making it feel as if somebody had thrown a stone and hit me. A buckshot went through my pants close to my knee."

Colonel Dodge numbered among the lucky ones: the 30th Indiana lost 129 officers and men in the fight including Colonel Sion S. Bass who was mortally wounded. Indiana at Shiloh explains how the 30th Indiana arrived on the battlefield on the morning of April 7, 1862. "On the morning of April 6th when many miles from Savannah, the roar of cannon from the battlefield of Shiloh could be plainly heard. At 11 o'clock at night the regiment arrived at the river and soon boarded a steamer for Pittsburg Landing where it arrived at 6 o'clock on the morning of April 7th. It was ordered with its brigade to the firing line and went to the front and right center of the army at 10 o'clock where it was in line of the reserve on the right of General Rousseau's brigade. The ground occupied was the vital position and it belonged to him to hold the road to the landing. The position was many time furiously assaulted and each flank movement of the enemy was defeated with heavy loss," it stated.

"After Rousseau's brigade had been under a furious fire for some length of time, it was relieved by the Fifth Brigade commanded by Colonel Kirk. It advanced and gained a position known as Woolf Field at the right of Water Oaks Pond and moved across an open field in its front. At this point, the regiment became again seriously engaged with the enemy. The Rebel artillery, located on a commanding ride to the right, left, and center poured forth a terrific fire of shot and shell, inflicting fearful slaughter. The 29th Indiana now took position on the extreme right to guard against another charge of the enemy while the new lines were being formed. At this point, Colonel Sion S. Bass fell mortally wounded, pierced by a musket ball, and was carried off the field. Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Dodge now assumed command of the regiment. A forward movement was made and the 30th, some distance in advance of its line, planted its colors and the whole line rushed onward with determination to advance. The enemy tried to crush the center of the Federal lines and thus gain the essential step to victory, but was driven back with great slaughter and pursued some distance by the regiment."

Colonel Dodge's letter first appeared in the May 8, 1862 edition of the Northern Indianian published in Warsaw, Indiana. 

 

Colonel Joseph Dodge rose to command of the 30th Indiana at Shiloh when Colonel Sion Bass was mortally wounded. Dodge would lead the 30th Indiana at Stones River and assume command of the brigade after General Edward Kirk suffered a mortal wound. Dodge would command the brigade through the 1863 campaigns. 


Battlefield near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee

April 26, 1862

 

My dear wife,

          I wrote you a few lines the other day in order to let you know that I had escaped without injury and was well. I presume that you received a telegraphic dispatch the day after the fight, however, so that you were not uneasy. I hope you did, as I sent one the first opportunity I got.

          I cannot write any particulars but it is without doubt the greatest battle that has ever been fought on the continent. On Sunday, our forces were completely whipped and if General Buell’s force had not come up just as they did, they would have been captured or driven into the river every one of them. We got here about daylight on Monday morning and were immediately marched out to the front in the center of our line. Our division (McCook’s) stood the heaviest of the fighting all day and our brigade (the 5th) consisting of the 29th and 30th Indiana, the 34th Illinois, and the 77th Pennsylvania, stood under the most tremendous fire from three Kentucky and two Mississippi regiments for two hours and finally drove those who were left into a retreat. We were just out of ammunition when they broke and there is no telling what the result would have been as we could not have held out ten minutes longer.

Colonel Sion S. Bass
30th Indiana

We took Colonel Joel Battle of the Mississippi Tigers prisoner  , and he says that there were not 50 men of his regiment left and the ground showed it to be true. [The 50-year-old Battle was actually colonel the 20th Tennessee and was captured looking for his two sons.] You can have no idea of the awful slaughter that took place. There were actually places where you could walk (had you been so inclined) 30 rods straight ahead on the bodies of dead Rebels. In one place I saw them so thick one quite a large piece of ground that I could not ride through on account of my horse stepping on them. They lost in killed more than two to our one, but we had a great many the most wounded owing to the difference in our way of fighting. Our men stood up to it but laid down on the ground and got behind trees. It is impossible to tell whether there will be any more fighting or not. I am inclined to think there will not.

We shall leave here to follow them up as soon as the roads get so that we can get over them as they are very bad now owing to the heavy rains since the battle. I got off wonderfully: a Minie ball cut the hair off the back part of my head, another went through one of the men and struck me on the calf of my leg doing no damage further than making it feel as if somebody had thrown a stone and hit me. A buckshot went through my pants close to my knee. Colonel Sion Bass is very badly wounded and was taken from here to Louisville where Mrs. Bass will meet him and stay until he is able to be taken home which I hope will be soon. Major Orrin Hurd had his horse shot from under him. We lost 12 killed, 110 wounded, and two missing. The boys stood up like heroes and all say that although they have no desire again for as big a fight, they are ready to do it over again.

 

J.B. Dodge

 

Sources:

Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Dodge, 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Northern Indianian (Indiana), May 8, 1862, pg. 2

Coons, John W., complier. Indiana at Shiloh: Report of the Commission. Indianapolis: William B. Burford, 1904, pgs. 117-121

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