Riding With Scribner: An Orderly's View of Chickamauga

 Badgers Forward! Wisconsin at Chickamauga Series

Early on in the fight of September 19th at Chickamauga, the men of Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner's First Brigade of the First Division of the 14th Army Corps exulted at their seemingly easy victory over the Confederates. "Colonel Oscar F. Moore of the 33rd Ohio elated with satisfaction said to me, "They can't fight us. The 'Bloody First' is too much for them!' Colonel Scribner recalled. "In this congratulatory state of mind, my brigade surgeon approached me with dismay in his face. I addressed him brusquely, "What is the matter, Dr. Miller?" He replied, "I have been in the hands of the enemy." I rejoined "What do you mean?"  He answered, "I mean to say that the enemy is in your rear and on your right. They have taken my field hospital with all the wounded! They have captured Captain Edgar DeBruin, the provost guard, and all the prisoners and are coming down upon you like a pack of wolves." 

    One of Scribner's orderlies, Sergeant Horace J. Hoffman of the 10th Wisconsin, already knew this because he found himself right in the middle of it. The Colonel had tasked the sergeant with escorting a group of Confederate prisoners to the rear when General Edward Walthall's Mississippians and Colonel Daniel Govan's Arkansans struck. "I went back the same way we had just brought the battery in and the same road the ambulances were taking the wounded out on," Hoffman remembered. "We had hardly got out of sight of the brigade when a line of Rebel ambushers rose up along the left of the road not ten rods from us and ordered us to surrender. I happened to be on the right side of the ambulances, and in the confusion that followed, I made my prisoners (who were not willing to be recaptured I think) turn and away we went in another direction. I reached the brigade again just as a heavy body of Rebels charged on it and drove it back, capturing four pieces of the battery which were unlimbered and not in position."

    This would be the first of many narrow escapes Hoffman experienced over the next two days. Sergeant Hoffman's account of his experiences while serving as an orderly at brigade headquarters are reproduced below from the Quiner Scrapbooks, having originally seen publication in an unknown Wisconsin newspaper.


Chattanooga, Tennessee

September 23, 1863

 Dear parents,

          By God’s will I am spared to write to you once more. I can hardly realize the dangers and horrors I have passed through in the last week, but the worst I think is over though the Rebels are hardly willing to let us alone yet. We fell back from the position five miles from here from where I last wrote you night before last and are now strongly entrenched in this place on the south side of the river. The Rebels are in front of us but they do not seem to like the idea of assaulting the works they built themselves before they left here. They are trying hard to cross the river above us to cut us off but as yet have come nowhere near accomplishing their object.

           

Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner of Indiana suffered badly from hay fever and during the Chickamauga campaign frequently wore dark goggles to protect his eyes from the glare of the sun. Sergeant Horace Hoffman of the 10th Wisconsin, assigned as an orderly to brigade headquarters, stuck close to Scribner throughout the battle and when Scribner's horse was shot from under the colonel during the retreat on September 20th, Hoffman insisted his colonel take his horse and rally the brigade. "God bless your brave heart, Hoffman," Scribner said as he climbed on the horse. 

          I have mentioned but little of the fight on Saturday. You cannot expect me to give you the full detail of everything at present, but I must give you some idea of Saturday’s work. You must know that the Rebels attacked our army before we were ready for them which caused much confusion. The infantry of our division marched down to the front and drove the Rebels from their first position. Some Rebel prisoners were taken and sent to the rear. I came in shortly after in company with one of the aides who was left to direct the battery. When I got up Colonel Scribner put a couple of Rebel prisoners in my charge to take back to the provost guard. I went back the same way we had just brought the battery in and the same road the ambulances were taking the wounded out on. We had hardly got out of sight of the brigade when a line of Rebel ambushers rose up along the left of the road not ten rods from us and ordered us to surrender. I happened to be on the right side of the ambulances, and in the confusion that followed, I made my prisoners (who were not willing to be recaptured I think) turn and away we went in another direction. I reached the brigade again just as a heavy body of Rebels charged on it and drove it back, capturing four pieces of the battery which were unlimbered and not in position.

          Here is where poor Van Pelt was killed. I kept my Rebels before me and soon overtook the division provost guard with a lot of other prisoners and delivered them up. A terrible fight ensued. The Rebels were driven back, but they took our four Parrott guns out of our way. About dark we stood another heavy assault, were overpowered, and driven back. That night we took the position were we fought the next day.

The 10-pdr Parrott rifle saw extensive service in the western theater including with Loomis' battery also known as Battery A of the 1st Michigan Light Artillery. The thick reinforcing iron band around the breech was supposed to allow the tube to absorb greater stresses but the Parrott developed a reputation for barrel bursts, especially with guns that had been fired many times. The first gun was manufactured in 1860 with a 2.9-inch barrel and by the end of 1862, the Federal government had purchased more than 400 of them making Parrott rifles the most common field piece at the time. 

Oh, how nobly they fought all that long terrible Sabbath day and when their cartridge boxes were empty for the last time they charged the solid ranks of the exultant foe. There are but a few over 500 men now left out of five regiments and a battery of our brigade. Lieutenant Van Pelt, commanding the battery, was killed while aiming a piece with his own eyes and four of his guns were captured. Well may the Rebels exult over the capture of such a part of the famous Loomis Battery that has laid so many of them low.

          Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner received several slight wounds but led his brigade with heroic valor to the last and is still with us. On Sunday, every officer of his staff were cut off by the Rebels and joined us no more that day. The three that remained acted not only as staff officers for the colonel but also as division staff officers for General Baird commanding our division as he had but one of his staff and not one of his escort left. [That officer was Captain Burr H. Polk whose Chickamauga letter will be featured in an upcoming post.] We did our duty faithfully and well. General Baird called us noble boys and said we should be remembered.

General Absalom Baird

          Our division occupied the center and was the last to leave the field. When the order came to retreat, we left the same place of which we took our first position in the morning. This was on the edge of a large open field. As we moved away before a heavy fire of musketry and grape, the Rebels charged upon us and our retreat soon became a rout in appearance. When we were halfway across the field, Colonel Scribner’s horse had one leg taken off by a shell. We were riding from right to left at the time, the colonel telling the men to keep near their colors and rally on the hill before us. I jumped off my horse and told the colonel to ride him. He told me to keep my horse as he could go as fast as the men and he wished to go no faster. I insisted, telling him he must reach the hill first to commence the rally. “God bless your brave heart, Hoffman,” he said as he got on my horse.

          We were under a terrible fire but stopped long enough to take the colonel’s pistols and splendid marine glass from the saddle of the wounded horse. I overtook the colonel in time to draw my saber and help him rally the brigade on the top of the hill. It was easily done for fear had long before left the hearts of the men and we soon had a good line formed and began our retreat in order.

We have suffered a terrible loss but will never give up to them. I can hardly suppress the tears when I tell you that all that remains of the noble old 10th besides our company which was left at Stevenson is four officers and 30 men. Colonel Ely did not get the order to retreat and while the rest of the division was falling back, he rallied the regiment and charged the advancing Rebels. Those that were not killed besides the 30 who escaped were surrounded and taken. I was struck by a piece of rock that was shivered to pieces near me. It struck me on the hip and made me lame for a little while. I was only thankful it was not worse. [Captain J.W. Roby reported that the regiment lost 11 men killed, 55 wounded, and 145 missing, a total of 211 out of the 240 that went into the battle or an 88% loss rate.]

          We fell back to Rossville five miles distant reaching there about 9 o’clock; it was only a little before dark that we left the battlefield. We found the whole army there in perfect confusion, but the Generals were busy in reorganizing. By daylight all was right again and we were occupying a strong position. The Rebels attacked us but were driven back. That night we fell back to this place, but the Rebs did not know it till they made a furious assault late the next morning and found us gone.


To read more accounts of Scribner's brigade at Chickamauga, check out these posts below:

Frank Scribner at Chickamauga

Prelude to an Awful Finale: A Buckeye Sergeant at Chickamauga (2nd Ohio)

Severest Ordeal of my Life: A Buckeye Colonel Remembers Chickamauga (33rd Ohio)

Overrun at Chickamauga: Pork and Beans of the Regular Artillery

         

Source:

Letter from Sergeant Horace J. Hoffman, Co. G, 10th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Quiner Scrapbooks: Correspondence of the Wisconsin Volunteers, Volume 9, pg. 62


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