Saving the Army at Perryville

Writing in the early morning hours of October 10, 1862 “by a light of oak boards with their smoke occasionally drifting” past his eyes, First Lieutenant E.J. Fitzpatrick of Semple’s Battery noted with pride the role his battery played in the recent fight at Perryville.

            Stationed to protect the town, the Alabamians were not called upon to fight until late in the day when Federal troops approached along Springfield Pike. “We fought them from about 5 p.m. till dark and had the satisfaction of stopping their advance which threatened to be disastrous to our side,” Fitzpatrick noted. “A disabled piece and broken caisson with many dead and wounded men (we are told) was the result of our practice. The casualties in our company were only two men: Greene Mitchell, wounded in the hand, and Peyton Bolling, struck by a spent spherical case bullet on the ankle, neither much hurt. Our boys behaved nobly, and today Semple’s Battery is a familiar name in this army.”

            Lieutenant Fitzpatrick’s letter first appeared in the October 22, 1862, edition of the Montgomery Weekly Advertiser. It is remarkable to think that this letter made it from war-torn Kentucky to southern Alabama in less than two weeks.

 

This well-worn example of a typical Confederate artilleryman's kepi is similar to what could have been worn by the members of Semple's Battery during the Battle of Perryville. Semple's Battery formed in Montgomery, Alabama in March 1862 and joined the Army of Tennessee, fighting in most all of its battles through to the end of the war, surrendering at Augusta, Georgia. Remarkably, the four bronze Napoleons (produced by Leeds & Co. In New Orleans in early 1862) utilized by the battery during the war still exist and are on display in Augusta, Georgia. 

Camp between Harrodsburg and Bryantsville, Kentucky

October 10, 1862

            It will, I feel sure, give you pleasure to relieve the anxiety of the friends of the Marks Battery by publishing a line assuring them of the safety of that command. To afford this relief, I snatch a moment at the hour of 1 a.m. though much fatigued by the march which has just ended and under orders to move again at daylight.

            On the 8th instant, a severe though not decisive battle was fought at Perryville, Kentucky between a portion of our army and a heavy force under the Yankee general Rousseau. Since leaving Bardstown, we had been followed closely by them and several skirmishes of some severity had occurred. On the 6th, they pressed us so importunately that our general halted at 3 p.m. and formed us in line of battle. The evening and night passed off without any fighting and so also did the day and night of the 7th, excepting an occasional skirmish.

            About half past 7 o’clock on the 8th, the enemy failing to advance on us, our forces were led to the attack. The day passed in occasional sharp encounters and closed by our driving them at dark two or three miles back in front of our right, and occupying ourselves with other parts of our line, the same position as in the morning. The loss on both sides is severe and on the part of the enemy terrible for the force engaged. One regiment from Wisconsin, numbering 400 men, lost 370 in killed and wounded. Another from Indiana was almost entirely destroyed. An officer at dark found himself face to face with them and with much presence of mind rebuked them for the confusion in their ranks, adding that he would go and have their colonel arrested. Inquiring the number of their regiment, “the 98th Indiana” was the reply. Riding back to a regiment from Arkansas, just across the road, he ordered them to fire and scarcely a man of the 98th Indiana escaped.

One of Semple's surviving gun tubes mounted on a reproduction gun carriage at Augusta University's Summerville Campus. When the battery surrendered at the end of the war, its four guns were placed into storage at the U.S. Army's arsenal in Augusta where they languished until 1955 when the arsenal closed. Two of the guns were later placed on display at Augusta University while two others were placed in front of Alexander Hall at Fort Gordon.

            Our company was divided during the action; the center section under Lieutenant Richard Goldthwaite was detached and acted with a section of Captain Calvert’s battery. They were engaged more or less all day and from all accounts did fine service. The rest of the battery was posted in a position to beat back any advance of the enemy through the town of Perryville.

They were not engaged until late in the afternoon when Colonel Gilchrist’s 45th Alabama with a Mississippi and Tennessee regiment under a mistake were ordered to charge two batteries, supported by perhaps a brigade of infantry. The charge was made across an open field for a mile. The 45th and its gallant colonel went up to within 150 yards of the batteries before they were ordered back. They retired in good order but were hotly pressed by the batteries and infantry until the latter came in range of our guns.

We fought them from about 5 p.m. till dark and had the satisfaction of stopping their advance which threatened to be disastrous to our side. A disabled piece and broken caisson with many dead and wounded men (we are told) was the result of our practice. The casualties in our company were only two men: Greene Mitchell, wounded in the hand, and Peyton Bolling, struck by a spent spherical case bullet on the ankle, neither much hurt. Our boys behaved nobly, and today Semple’s Battery is a familiar name in this army.

Time is precious and composition by a light of oak boards with their smoke occasionally drifting across the eyes is difficult.

Respectfully,

E.J. Fitzpatrick


P.S. I have not been able to learn the names of any from south Alabama who were hurt, except Colonel Sam Adams of Butler County. He received a painful but not dangerous wound of the foot by a musket shot. He is doing well; no bones apparently broken.   

To read another account from a Confederate artillerist at Perryville, please check out "A Mississippi Gunner at Perryville."


Sources:

Letter from First Lieutenant E.J. Fitzpatrick, Semple’s Alabama Battery, Montgomery Weekly Advertiser (Alabama), October 22, 1862, pg. 3

"Augusta's Civil War Legacy in Bronze," Dr. Russell K. Brown, see here. 

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