Reminders of the 4th Indiana Battery's Fight along the Wilkinson Pike

Every object has a story to tell....


...in this case, a few reminders of the 4th Indiana Battery's fight along Wilkinson Pike at Stones River.

 

    Last week while visiting Murfreesboro, my battlefield friend and relic hunter extraordinaire Stan Hutson presented me with a few recent finds he acquired at a dig along the historic Wilkinson Pike. As previously noted on this blog, (see “Dirt Fishing in Murfreesboro”) development of the grounds surrounding the Stones River National Battlefield continues at a rapid pace and in the past few months excavation work has begun at a previously open field along Wilkinson Pike within a half mile of the western boundary of the park. The local relic hunters have been scouring the field and Stan shared with me a few of their findings.

 

A few relics from the battle of Stones River were recently dug at a site along the Wilkinson Pike at a construction site. The 12-lb shell fragment was likely fired by one of Sheridan's batteries while the 6-lb canister ball most likely was fired by Captain Asahel Bush's 4th Indiana Battery which was firing canister into the flank of Lucius Polk's brigade during the late morning of December 31, 1862. 

    When it comes to relic hunting, context and location can be everything and in this case the objects themselves provides clues as to where they came from. The location along the Wilkinson Pike saw action on both Tuesday December 30th as McCook’s corps moved into position, and much heavier action on Wednesday, December 31, 1862, as Cleburne’s division assaulted Sheridan’s position along the Wilkinson Pike. As indicated on the map below, Stan and his fellow relic hunters uncovered several concentrations of relics in a few sites on the field.

          On the southern edge of the excavation, Stan reported finding dozens of shell fragments all along the forward slope of a small ridge. The location of those fragments indicates that they were fired from a location to the northeast, pointing towards the Federal lines along the edge of the cedars. Consulting our newly drawn up map for my forthcoming book Hell by the Acre, I quickly saw that two Federal batteries were in the area: Captain Asahel Bush’s 4th Indiana Battery and Captain Charles Houghtaling’s Battery C, 1st Illinois Light Artillery. The shell fragments appeared to come from a 12-lb shell; consulting “Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign,” we see that these batteries were armed as follows:

4th Indiana Battery: two 6-pdr M1841 field guns, two 12-pdr M1841 howitzers, two 6-pdr James rifled cannons

Battery C, 1st Illinois Light Artillery: two 12-pdr M1841 howitzers, and four 12-pdr M1857 Napoleons

          It’s possible that either battery fired this ordnance, but I would lean towards Houghtaling’s battery as the more likely source. Interestingly, the park visitor’s center features one of Houghtaling’s captured Napoleons and has two more of these captured tubes in storage. 


The above map, constructed from Google Earth overlaid with our latest battlefield unit locations combined with recent hunter findings, represents the action at the Battle of Stones River at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 31, 1862. Over the course of the next hour, Sheridan's tenuous hold on the cedars would be broken as Confederate forces surged north into the cedars. Recent findings highlight the importance of Federal artillery in this critical delaying action. 

A little closer to Wilkinson Pike, Stan reported that they uncovered from 50-70 rounds of 6-lb canister. This area, marked as “Canister Field” on the map, lay only a few hundred yards west of the 4th Indiana’s position. Captain Asahel Bush, in a private letter written to a lieutenant of the battery, noted that while the battery was retreating, “the battery retired in rear of the division with prolongs fixed and firing double canister. The country was hilly and muddy and the artillery could not at all points move with the infantry. In consequence of this, we got into Negley’s division and fought there until our ammunition was exhausted. Before we could get through the dense cedar woods in our rear, the enemy had forced our lines so that they came up with my two rear pieces (C and A) and captured them. We left D’s caisson in the first field where the fight commenced; this finished our part in the engagement.”

    The next part of the field also produced an interesting bullet and cap spill. Located right next to Wilkinson Pike (marked as “Gardners and Caps”), Stan reported finding more than 500 Confederate percussion caps along with hundreds of dropped unfired Confederate-made Gardner bullets and “blob nose” .58 caliber Minies. Checking our copy of the Blue & Gray map, around 11 a.m., General Sterling A.M. Wood’s brigade is indicated as resupplying ammunition at approximately this same location.

One of the Gardner bullets
found along Wilkinson Pike

    It makes sense: after driving the Federals out of the area (and emptying their cartridge boxes in the process), Confederate ammunition wagons rolled north along Gresham Lane, turned right at the Wilkinson Pike and stopped where box after box of ammunition was pulled from the wagons, dropped to the ground, and ammunition distributed. The fact that caps and bullets were dropped during what had to be a rushed operation (Wood’s men soon started off north to combat more Federals along the Asbury Road near the Widow Burris house) is no surprise. 

So, what do these objects tell us? To me, they speak to the desperate efforts of the Right Wing of the Federal army to defend Wilkinson Pike in those fraught early hours of the battle. The 4th Indiana Battery started the battle nearly a mile to the south; relentless Confederate pressure from Cleburne’s, McCown’s, and Cheatham’s divisions drove them north to the Wilkinson Pike and Captain Bush resorted to doubled-shotted canister in his efforts to break up the Rebel formations closing in on his position. This canister round speaks to the fury of that engagement and underscores the courage and tenacity with which both sides fought on December 31, 1862. A poignant reminder of the carnage of war. 

Captain Bush’s letter written to Lieutenant A.A. Starr explains his battery's experience in a bit more detail. It first saw publication in the January 15, 1863, edition of the Valparaiso Republic. 

Captain Asahel Kidder Bush, 4th Indiana Battery (1830-1902) was a pre-war physician who wore the blue, playing an important role in the delaying action fought by Sheridan's division at Stones River. After the war, he moved to Washington state. (Rick Baumgartner Collection)


Battleground near Murfreesboro, Tennessee

January 5, 1863

          Of our advance on the enemy and occupation of Murfreesboro you have undoubtedly heard, but I can probably enlighten you a little in regard to the part taken by the 4th Indiana Battery in the contest.

          The night before the advance, my battery was relieved from duty with the 28th Brigade and ordered to report to General Sheridan for duty. On the morning of Tuesday December 30th, General Sheridan as the advance of General McCook’s corps advanced to a position near the enemy’s left and center. During the day, the enemy’s skirmishers were driven to their lines and we advanced to short range. General Sill ordered me to silence a battery which was opening on us. The enemy’s battery was in position at the edge of wood facing a narrow strip of open ground.

We advanced at the double quick across the open field under their fire without receiving any damage except the loss of one horse and took position in a piece of woods opposite them at 500 yards range. We opened on them with Schenkl shell, spherical case, and an occasional round of canister. The contest lasted about three hours. They killed four of my men, wounded three, killed five horses, tore two wheels from my gun carriages, and threw two solid shots into my limbers.

We, however, silenced the battery and damaged them by killing a lieutenant and 12 or 13 men of the battery besides wounding several more, killed over half their horses, disabled one piece, and damaged two of the others. On one piece every horse but one was killed or disabled. Here we rested for the day.

According to program, the next morning our left was to make a vigorous attack on the enemy’s right while we held their left and left center in check and when our left had advanced sufficiently, we would close in and engage those in our front. But alas, for human calculations; General Davis was on our right and General Johnson on his right, both forming the extreme right of our lines.

In the night, the enemy massed a large force by a left flank and at daylight attacked Johnson’s division, finding him wholly unprepared (some of his batteries watering their horses) and passed through his camp without opposition. They completely flanked us on the right in consequence of which General Sheridan was obliged to retreat, fighting as he retired. The battery retired in rear of the division with prolongs fixed and firing double canister. The country was hilly and muddy and the artillery could not at all points move with the infantry. In consequence of this, we got into Negley’s division and fought there until our ammunition was exhausted. Before we could get through the dense cedar woods in our rear, the enemy had forced our lines so that they came up with my two rear pieces (C and A) and captured them. We left D’s caisson in the first field where the fight commenced; this finished our part in the engagement.

On Friday, January 2nd at about 3:30 in the afternoon, our left attacked their right and drove them nearly two miles with terrible slaughter and captured four pieces of their artillery. In this engagement, they own themselves as badly whipped. The engagement of Wednesday I consider a drawn battle as they captured a number of pieces of our artillery, but their loss in killed and wounded and greater than ours and they were severely repulsed when they reached our left and center. Our advance is now several miles beyond Murfreesboro and cannonading can be distinctly heard.


This map from my upcoming book Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign shows a broader view of Sheridan's and Negley's defense of the Wilkinson Pike on the morning of December 31, 1862. The primary diggings took place in the open fields south of the Pike between the Blanton House and Gresham Lane to the west. General Patrick Cleburne's division pushed into this area and wheeled northeast to strike Sheridan's position which as anchored by his three artillery batteries. The shell fragments and canister rounds found in the fields indicated on an earlier map would be consistent with ordnance fired by these batteries to repulse Cleburne's drive. 


Sources:

Letter from Captain Asahel K. Bush, 4th Indiana Battery, Valparaiso Republic (Indiana), January 15, 1863, pg. 1


Masters, Daniel A. Hell by the Acre: A Narrative History of the Stones River Campaign. El Dorado: Savas Beatie, 2024. 

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