All the Glory of Whipping Rosy

Lieutenant James H. Fraser’s 50th Alabama stepped out on the morning of Sunday, September 20, 1863, at Chickamauga eager to get into the fight with the Yankees and determined to not let Longstreet and his Virginia veterans “get all the glory of whipping Rosy.”

          “Early in the morning of Sunday the 20th, we were called to attention, the roll was called, and every man answered “here” loud and lively,” Fraser wrote to his father a week later. “But how many brave soldiers who were then full of life and hope lie cold and stiff in a soldier’s grave with nothing around them but a soldier’s blanket. We made a new graveyard, Pa, and then filled it with our own brave dead.”

          Lieutenant Fraser’s detailed account of the fighting on September 20th first saw publication in the October 8, 1905, edition of the Montgomery Advertiser, being shared with the newspaper by the Joseph E. Johnston chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Athens, Alabama, Fraser’s hometown.

 

Captain James H. Fraser, Co. H, 50th Alabama (1840-1919)
Alabama Confederate Images Collection

Tyner’s Station, Tennessee

September 26, 1863

Dear Pa,

          I have a tolerable good opportunity of writing this morning and have determined to write you a letter though I think it very doubtful whether you ever receive it or not. You have heard by this time of the great battle which was fought on the 19th and 20th instant, and I expect you have seen better and more accurate accounts of it than I can give you. But as everyone has his own story to tell, I will tell mine to you.

          Late in the afternoon of the 19th instant, we left Lafayette, Georgia and took up the line of march. We traveled the main road leading from Lafayette to Chattanooga and marched nearly all night, but our progress was slow, the road being full of troops ahead of us. At about 3 o’clock in the morning, we halted and rested until 8 or 9 o’clock when we again moved forward.

          We had not gone far when we came in sight of Lee and Gordon’s Mills on Chickamauga Creek. As soon as we saw the hill and came in full view, the enemy opened on us from the other side of the creek and near the mill with a battery of three or four guns, 12-pounders, I think. The brigade immediately formed a line of battle in a thick wood and our section of Robertson’s battery, two pieces, took position in an open field in front of a large white house with our regiment, the immortal 50th Alabama for a support and returned the enemy’s compliments.

          The shelling continued for some time, shells bursting above and all around us every minute. One man in Co. K had his musket shattered in his hands. Some of the shells fell very near me and one came very near falling on my foot. I picked up one of the fragments and carried it in my pocket for several days intending to send it home but it was so heavy I got tired of it. Towards night, the shelling ceased and we took up our position in line of battle with the brigade which had moved up and formed with the rest of the division. About sundown, Liddell and Walthall had a brisk little fight on the right, but as dark came on, everything grew quiet and we lay down to rest.

Colonel John C. Coltart of Huntsville led the 50th Alabama (originally called the 26th Alabama) for most of the war. Coltart, a superb combat officer, bumped up to brigade command several times during the war and suffered a severe wound at the July 28, 1864, battle of Ezra Church that knocked him out of action for a few months. Coltart returned to lead the brigade in Hood's Tennessee campaign and stayed until the bitter end in North Carolina where he led a division of only roughly 500 men. Coltart's life after the war was brief and rather tragic. He returned to Huntsville and was elected county sheriff but didn't hold the post long before the Reconstruction in 1867 removed him from office. Coltart checked himself into the state insane asylum in early 1868 and by April 16th, he was dead at age 42. 
Stan Hutson Collection

          On the 19th, we woke up at daylight and lay listening nearly all day long to the terrible thunder of artillery and the rattle of musketry, the mighty shock of battle which raged so furiously on our right. Cheer after cheer and shout after shout came to our listening ears; the roar of cannon grew fainter and the mighty clash of small arms less distinct. We knew that we were whipping them. Longstreet and Hood were upon them and driving them before them like chaff in the wind.

          About 4 o’clock in the evening, we had orders to move around to the right and relieve the troops that had been fighting so hard all day. The boys moved with a quick and active step. We had a long way to go, down to a ford of the creek and then back up the creek. We had to ford the creek which to many of us was over knee deep. Awhile after sundown we reached the battlefield. The ground in many places was actually covered with the Yankee dead but they still held a strong position and we knew they would make fight again on the morrow.

          We would have gone into action immediately but General Manigault, commanding the third brigade of our division (Hindman’s) failed to get his men into position until after dark. It was afterwards concluded that as we were all wet and cold, it would be better to retire 400-500 yards, make fires, and rest the best we could. When we made our fires and went out to gather wood, it was hard to keep from stumbling over the dead men. Again, the night was quiet as if there was no enemy in ten miles.

          Our fires were bright and blazed high and though the dead men lay thick under the stacks, yet the men were gay and confident of victory as ever. We all knew that we would fight in the morning and we felt that we would whip the enemy. We could not be sad. We had longed and wished for an opportunity to meet the foe again; now it was granted us. We had twice been in line of battle the week before; both times the enemy had taken advantage of the night and retired before us. General Bragg had just issued an address to the army telling us that we had “twice thwarted the attempt of the enemy to flank us,” and that we had been largely reinforced and that “now we must force the issue.” We had everything to cheer us and nothing to discourage us. And more than all, Longstreet had driven them more than two miles that day and we could not bear for him to come from Virginia and get all the glory of whipping Rosy.

          Early in the morning of Sunday the 20th, we were called to attention, the roll was called, and every man answered “here” loud and lively. But how many brave soldiers who were then full of life and hope lie cold and stiff in a soldier’s grave with nothing around them but a soldier’s blanket. We made a new graveyard, Pa, and then filled it with our own brave dead. But I am getting too fast.

          At sunrise, we advanced in line of battle but soon halted on the ground that our troops had occupied last on the evening before and there we remained until nearly 11 o’clock. The battle had opened on our right about sunrise. General Deas said he was ordered to take it up as soon as it came down the line. There was but little or no skirmishing in our immediate front but up on the right of the brigade they were cracking away at each other frequently.

General James Longstreet

          Presently Generals Longstreet and Buckner rode down the line. Longstreet is the boldest and bravest looking man I ever saw. I don’t think he would dodge if a shell were to burst under his chin. General Deas said, “General Longstreet, I presume?” General Longstreet said, “yes, sir.” General Deas then told him his own and said he was ready to advance with his brigade. General Longstreet told him where to go and when he thought he would meet the enemy. General Deas called the brigade to attention and commanded, “forward.” I think it could have been heard at least three miles.

          We moved along, just at slow time, then quick, then double quick, and as we came in sight, the boys all took the run and everyone shouted and shot as fast as he could. Their first line gave way like nothing, so did their second and third. Our charge was irresistible. We actually cut the Yankee line in two halves. One went one way and the other went another. They were scattered to the four winds. A great many of them were so cowardly that they did not shoot as we advanced on them but stuck their heads behind logs and waited for us to pass them. It was the quickest and prettiest little fight I ever saw. It is reported that General Longstreet has said that he never saw anything more beautifully done. And General Hindman complimented the brigade highly and well he may for we captured 14 pieces of artillery and a private of our regiment captured the colors of the 6th Ohio Battery.

          Dixon Allen and Corporal Harvey were killed in the charge while Captain Richardson and Lieutenant Blair were wounded. Two bullets passed through my clothes, both through the same old wounded leg, one through my boot leg just above the ankle. I had my boots outside my pants and the bullet went through my boots, pants, and cut clear through the sock, carrying a part of it out with it, but did not hurt me and I did not mind it. The other passed through my pants above the knee but like the other it did not hurt me.

          We pursued the flying enemy for more than a mile and a half when at last we were ordered to halt by our generals. We were tired, scattered, and exhausted. A few minutes were allowed us to rest ourselves and to reform. The enemy was so much discouraged that they did not get into action again until nearly 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but we were not resting all the time.  It was ascertained that he had massed all his forces between two high hills that could not be flanked and to be carried had to be stormed. We were ordered to charge one of these hills.

General Zachariah C. Deas led an all-Alabama brigade at Chickamauga composed of the 17th Battalion of Sharpshooters, and the 19th, 22nd, 25th, 39th, and 50th regiments. A wealthy cotton broker, early in the war, Deas had raised the 22nd Alabama and armed it at his own expense. 


          Everyone felt it was almost certain death to go up, but it was ordered and we obeyed the order advancing steadily and stoutly. The ground was so steep that we could not go with a rush until we reached the top of the hill where we were met with a terrible volley of grape, canister, and Minie bullets not more than 80 yards distant. The men could go no further as death reigned on every side as the grape and canister swept the earth. The brigade gave way but rallied and came back. Again we were driven back and again we came to the charge. Now came Anderson and Johnson to our relief and again the shout of victory rose high. The enemy was beaten and took advantage of the night to hide himself.

          In the three charges on the hill, we lost more men than in all before. Corporal Nelson of Captain Richardson’s company was killed as were many others of the regiment. The battle was a hard one but the victory complete and glorious. The regiment had 105 killed, wounded in missing; in my company, we had 14, only 5 of whom were wounded and three missing. The enemy is now cooped up in Chattanooga and our army is all around him. Our brigade is on picket at Tyner’s to prevent any cavalry raid. We are still in fine spirits. I am perfectly well.

          Tell Ma that I will not need any coat but that I need socks and boots and if she can make me a strong pair of boots, I will be very proud of them, but if not, I will get a pair like those furnished to the men. Mick Malone says please let Otho make him a pair of boots. Pa will furnish the leather. I’ve received letters from Sis Beck and the last I received was dated the 14th of September. Tom is well and sends “howdy” to all white and black. Love to all for me. Remember me to Uncle Ira and Cousin Gun’s folks. Tell Ma to send the gloves cousin Annie knit for me. I received the money you sent by Crity and many thanks.

          If you hear anything of my conduct on the field, let me know as I am always anxious to know what people think of my actions. I tried to do my duty and I am satisfied. I am nearly barefooted and would be glad to have boots as soon as possible. I have a splendid Yankee hat but they were so poor they had no boots or clothing worth having. All say, “they were the poorest Yankees ever seen.” Write soon and love to you all.

 

Yours,

J.H. Fraser

         

Source:

Letter from Lieutenant James Hubbard Fraser, Co. H, 50th Alabama, Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama), October 8, 1905, pg. 17

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

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

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

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
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

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
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

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more