A Fighting Chaplain at South Mountain

George Gilman Smith was never comfortable with his reputation as a fighting chaplain. “A year before I had been the pastor of a charming little church in a beautiful valley of upper Georgia,” he recalled. “I was just married and ought to have stayed at home, but when I saw my parishioners going to the front, I went, too, as chaplain of the Phillips Legion. I did not go into the army to fight and I did not fight when I got there; I had as little stomach for fighting as Falstaff. I went to the army as a chaplain yet that day at South Mountain I got a bullet through my neck.”

Phillips' Georgia Legion served as part of General Thomas Drayton's brigade of General David R. Jones division of Longstreet's Corps. The Georgians lost heavily in the fighting at South Mountain; by the end of the engagement, the survivors were led by a lieutenant. 

            The Phillips Legion had 15 companies- nine of infantry, five of cavalry, and one of artillery, all commanded by Colonel William Phillips. We had our share of hard work but until the summer of 1862 we had no serious fighting. On Sunday morning September 14, 1862, we were in camp at Hagerstown. We were expecting quite a time of repose when the order came to return to Boonsboro. I had not the remotest dream of any hot work nor do I think any of us had, for we had no idea that the Army of the Potomac could be reorganized and mobilized so soon.

            We though the assault on our lines was merely a feint of cavalry; this was also evidently General Lee’s opinion or else he would have not allowed Jackson to cross the Potomac. But it was soon evident from the rapid motion of the artillery and infantry that hot work was before us. My regiment had gone and I ambled off as rapidly as I could toward the front.

            I found Generals Lee, Longstreet, and Jones standing at the base of the pass and with them was one of the staff officers of our brigade, Captain Young. Inquiring of him for my regiment, he told me that it was behind a stone fence on the right of the Boonsboro and Frederick Pike. I immediately repaired to that place. A battery of light artillery was firing overhead and we lay quietly looking towards the south.

            Suddenly, the order came to change front, now facing to the west. The turnpike was narrow and the enemy was soon upon us. The change of position called for a change from line of battle to column and then from column into line. My own regiment did beautifully and for a moment we looked to the woods expecting the Federals to charge upon us, but instead we were ordered to leave the protection of the stone wall and to charge into the woods. As we entered the woods I saw a poor fellow fall and heard him say, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” I went to him and said, “My friends, that’s a good prayer. I hope you feel it.” He said, “Stranger, I am not afraid to die. I made my peace with God over 30 years ago.”

Chaplain George G. Smith
Phillips' Georgia Legion

            Suddenly, I heard our commander (Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cook) say in a loud voice, “For God’s sake, don’t fire! We are friends!” I turned and saw a body of troops about ready to fire. I said, “I will go back, colonel,” and stop them.” As I ran back to the fence, I looked down the very road we had left and saw a body of Federals moving on us. Something must be done, and I ran to our commander General Thomas Drayton and told him the position. A feint certainly must be made; if the Federals should know that the stone fence was abandoned, they would sweep upon the fence and thus capture us all.

            Major Gest, when he saw how matters were, placed the few men he had in position and I started for my regiment. As I came to the pike, I saw a soldier shooting towards the east. It took but a moment for me to see that the Federals were east, south, and west of us. The firing was now fierce, but I felt that my regiment must be brought out of that pocket at all hazards and I started to warn it but found it retreating.

            Poor Ellis, a Welshman, had run the gauntlet and given them warning, and the regiment was now retreating in a broken and confused manner. One of the boys Gus Tomlinson said, “Parson, we’ve been whipped. The regiment is retreating.” I replied, “And none too soon for we are surrounded on all sides but one.”

            Just then I felt a strange dizziness and fell, my arm dropping lifeless by my side. I knew that I was hit and I thought mortally wounded. But where was I hit? Was my arm torn off by a shell? No, here it is. Was I shot through my breast? Here it is, the blood is gurgling from my throat. The boys rushed up to me, laid me on a blanket, and bore me off the field.

I thought I was mortally wounded and so did they. “Parson, it’s all up with you,” they said. The ball had entered my neck and ranging downward came out near my spine, paralyzing my left arm. How does a man feel under such circumstances? Well, one thing I felt was that it’s a good thing in such an hour to have faith in Christ and love towards all men. I had been in battle, but there was not one of the soldiers in the Federal ranks for whom I had any feeling other than love.

As we came out, Hood’s division went it, but it was the caution of the Federals and the cover of the night that saved our army that day from a worse defeat and from capture.

To learn more about the fighting at South Mountain, please check out these posts:

"Losing a Quarter of the Division: With the 2nd North Carolina at South Mountain."

"Last Words: On the Eve of Antietam with Colonel Augustus Coleman, 11th Ohio" 

"Cold Steel Did Great Execution: With the 23rd Ohio at Fox's Gap." 

"With Hayes at Fox's Gap." 

"How the Iron Brigade was Wrought: Gainesville through Antietam with the 2nd Wisconsin"

"Seven Bullet Holes in His Hide: A Wisconsin Iron Brigader at South Mountain"


Source:

“A Fighting Chaplain: Experience at the Battle of South Mountain,” Chaplain George Gilman Smith, Phillips Georgia Legion, from Wilbur F. Hinman’s Camp and Field: Sketches of Army Life Written by Those Who Followed The Flag, ’61-’65. Cleveland: N.G. Hamilton Co., 1892, pgs. 138-140

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