Taking the Southern Course: The 74th Indiana and Tullahoma

Perhaps the most important piece of field kit carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Tullahoma campaign in late June 1863 was the rubber gum blanket. Doubling as a rain poncho, most Federal soldiers wore the gum blanket every day as they marched through seemingly endless rains that characterized that campaign.

Lieutenant Lawrence Gates of the 74th Indiana wrote of another use that the men of his regiment found for the ubiquitous gum blanket. “On Thursday June 25th, we encamped in a large wheatfield of a hot-headed secessionist and as he openly expressed his feelings and wished that all Yankees were in some hot place, we used his fences for firewood and his wheat as bedding because the ground was too wet to sleep on otherwise,” Gates reported. “He had two beehives around his house and to keep the boys away from his premises, he upset them all to get the bees excited. However, the old 74th was not to be thwarted by an army of secesh bees, but muffled their heads in their oilcloths, made a successful charge, and returned laden with their saccharine spoils.”

          Lieutenant Gates’ lengthy and detailed account of the regiment’s experiences during the Tullahoma campaign first saw publication in the July 25, 1863, edition of the Steuben Republican published in Angola, Indiana.

 

The rubber gum blanket was standard issue to Federal troops and proved to be one of the most useful pieces of field kit issued during the Civil War. Intended primarily for use as a ground cover, the soldier would lay the blanket rubber or dark side down first to keep the damps of ground off of him while he slept. The blanket could also used as a rain poncho, part of a tent, or as a dry spot to divide rations, play cards and games, or write letters. Lieutenant Gates mentions in his account one soldier being struck in the breast by a Rebel bullet, but his rolled up rubber blanket stopped the bullet and prevented any serious injury. So one could argue that the gum blanket also served as armor in some cases. 

Estill Springs, Tennessee

July 3, 1863

          It is getting quite late in the evening as tattoo and taps have been sounded for all soldiers to retire for the night, but I have made up my mind to write you a letter anyway so that our anxious friends at home might hear from us. Our chaplain Elder Sowle has been here and told me that the mail would start for Murfreesboro in the morning, so all the boys called on me en masse to write to the Republican as that would answer for one and all. It is impossible to write letters, as paper and writing materials are scarce with us on the march, but I have found a little of that article and so here it goes to the best of my recollection and the notes in my diary.

          We left Triune, Tennessee on Tuesday the 23rd of June, taking the road towards Murfreesboro. We were glad to go forward knowing it was a general move towards the enemy, yet we were sad and felt down-hearted to some extent to leave our much-beloved captain behind us; he was not able to take charge of his boys and company.

          We had left him behind at Lavergne as we came to Triune, but he came to us again a couple of weeks afterwards only to be with us a few days. I said we started on the Murfreesboro road and arrived that day without meeting any Rebels at a town called Salem. On the next morning, we were up at 3 o’clock and in fact, that is the time we had to arise every day since. We then took a southern course leaving Murfreesboro on our left. Up to that time, only two divisions (Brannan and Granger) were together, but at 2 p.m. we struck Shepherdsville Pike eight miles south of Murfreesboro where we met a couple of divisions of McCook’s corps.

          Heavy skirmishing took place right before us in sight and our brigade was drawn up in line of battle. Rain was pouring down upon us but that did not stop the firing. Other troops soon took our place and we went to the east towards General Thomas’s corps to which we belong. We crossed the railroad track at Christiana Station and kept on a little farther when we encamped for the night. We could rest but little as it rained most of the time and I might as well state right here, while I think of it, that we have had very wet weather since our first start. It rained every single day with the exception of two days, and from that you can judge what kind of roads we had to track over.

          On Thursday June 25th, nothing much transpired, only we kept on traveling as fast as circumstances would permit. In the evening, we encamped in a large wheatfield of a hot-headed secessionist and as he openly expressed his feelings and wished that all Yankees were in some hot place, we used his fences for firewood and his wheat as bedding because the ground was too wet to sleep on otherwise. He had two beehives around his house and to keep the boys away from his premises, he upset them all to get the bees excited. However, the old 74th was not to be thwarted by an army of secesh bees, but muffled their heads in their oilcloths, made a successful charge, and returned laden with their saccharine spoils.

          On Friday the 26th we advanced again but had not gone more than two miles when heavy skirmishing again took place in our immediate front. We moved quickly forward and by the right flank went around a large hill where we understood the enemy was in force to some extent. This was within sight of Beech Grove, otherwise called Hoover’s Gap. We had just formed in line of battle when whiz, whiz, came a few bullets at our regiment from the Rebel sharpshooters. They were well aimed but missed their mark which I believe must have been the color bearer standing beside me on the right. Anyway, the leaden missiles came rather close and one of them struck William Moore of my company on his breast. But he stood in such a position and had his oilcloth rolled up around him such that it did not hurt him any.

          We took our place then advanced slowly; the skirmishers thrown out in front firing continually. Soon our artillery opened with shot and shell and it was not long ere the Rebels replied with their cannons. Several shells came to us, but few exploded so not a man in the regiment was wounded. The total loss in the division was 45 in killed and wounded while Rousseau’s division lost about 60 men, mostly all U.S. Regulars.

          These two divisions were the only ones engaged there at that time, yet General Wilder’s mounted infantry had a hot time with them in the morning quite early before the other troops came up. The Rebels, of course, had to give way and soon left and the troops being somewhat exhausted, General Thomas gave the order to stop for the night. Old Rosey came around and showed himself during the afternoon and it was with a loud huzzah that he was received.

General William S. Rosecrans

          On Saturday morning [June 27th] we went forward again, marching through the town of Fairfield, where the always argus eyes of the 74th Indiana espied several barrels of splendid salt left by the Rebel forces. This is one generally needed article by soldiers when fresh meat is running around in the woods. Of course, we filled every empty place in our haversacks and kept right along, marching that night till 12 o’clock at which time we reached the town of Manchester, the county seat of Coffee County.

          Sunday forenoon [June 28th] our regiment was ordered back to Beech Grove to guard a train or wagons and return with supplies. We returned all safe again by Monday night. Nothing particular happened on that tramp, only our unceasing rain was our companion going and coming. When we returned to Manchester, we found our brigade had gone to the front a few miles so we were ordered to follow the next morning, but it being pleasant all day, the order was countermanded, and we did not start until Wednesday forenoon.

           We went towards Tullahoma and took the railroad track to travel on nearly half the distance. We heard artillery firing before us all the time and found out that the Rebels were retreating from their fortifications. And as they were, as we arrived in the city of Tullahoma at 2 o’clock. This was on Wednesday the 1st of July. The fortifications there were numerous, but Rosey had outflanked them and did not come into town when they calculated we should.

          I never saw such a sight in all my life as was the case there. It seemed as though the Rebels had left everything, only taking their guns and accouterments. The ground was completely covered with clothing, tents, cooking utensils, and everything as if they left unexpectedly. In many places I saw cornmeal mixed and ready for baking while part of it was already at the fire, nearly converted into cornbread. They had no time to take it along. Thousands of Rebel newspapers were captured here and from what few I gathered I am forwarding to you to look at and read the tone in which the Rebels speak of us Yankees. Our brigade being in the advance, we found a large quantity of tobacco which was distributed among those who use it. About 950 half-pound plugs were dealt out to the 74th Indiana alone, for which we would have to pay as many dollars if we were to purchase it from dealers.

General James Blair Steedman

          Yesterday we could not move as far as we wished to go as the Rebels burned the bridge across Elk River and we had to hunt up a place to cross it. Our cavalry crossed but the infantry waited until this morning. The water was about five feet deep with a strong current to boot and when a brigade was ordered to cross, they dared not try it first. General James B. Steedman, our brigade commander, told General Brannan that if they did not try it soon, he had some boys that would cross it. He called on the 74th Indiana of his own brigade first and at it we went.

          In a short time, most of us were stripped with our clothing, arms, and accouterments tied in our oilcloths and the river was crossed. Some of the regiment went into the river with their clothing on, only taking care to keep their arms and ammunition dry.  Our whole division has crossed and will move towards Winchester in the morning. The Rebel governor Isham Harris of Tennessee holds his headquarters there, but I expect that he has skedaddled before this time as he has certainly heard of us, so we are waiting for daylight to come and move forward at the command.

          It is my opinion that the main battle will come off at or near Chattanooga where the Rebels are going fast. Hundreds of them desert daily and come to our lines to take the oath and don’t want to be paroled or exchanged. They tell us that most all of the Kentucky and Tennessee regiments in Bragg’s army are getting dissatisfied and will not fight. We will see how it turns out. So far about all of the deserters’ reports have proved true and I hope they will continue so and soon the Rebel army in Tennessee will be among the things that once were.

          I have just looked at my watch and found it is five minutes past midnight and a new day has begun. Wishing you all a farewell until I write again and giving a loud hurrah for this Fourth of July.

 

Source:
Letter from First Lieutenant Lawrence Gates, Co. H, 74th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Steuben Republican (Indiana), July 25, 1863, pg. 2

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