Dispatches from Poe’s Tavern: The Army of the Cumberland on the Cusp of the Chickamauga Campaign

Writing from their encampment in late August 1863 at Poe’s Tavern in modern-day Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, two soldiers of the 41st Ohio explained how the army had marched over the Cumberland Mountains and stood poised to take the city of Chattanooga. Besides reporting the army news, they also took some time to observe the local residents and made a few interesting observations.

“The citizens all chew, smoke, and snuff after their own way, that is, with the snuff,” wrote one soldier who signed his name simply as Jay. “They have a little stick or brush and rub the snuff on their gums, and spit the juice in the most approved style, about equal to a genuine Yankee. One woman came in to buy some chewing tobacco for a birthday present for her little girl, all of five years old’ she proved her love for the weed by taking a chew and cramming the rest in her pocket.”

Corporal Charles P. Bail noted their location was “within 18 miles of Chattanooga. What our next move we, of course, do not know. We are evidently upon the eve of a great battle. Our artillery goes down to the river nearly every day and throws a few shells across to let the Rebels know that we are watching them.” Within days, Crittenden’s corps would cross the river to take Chattanooga and the shadows of the looming battle at Chickamauga began to lengthen.

 

 

General John Palmer's Second Division of the 21st Army Corps camped in the area around Poe's Tavern for around two weeks in late August-early September 1863 before marching south to take Chattanooga in one of the opening moves of the Chickamauga campaign. This modern replica stands within a block of the location of the original structure which was destroyed in 1915. 

Poe’s Tavern, Poe’s Crossroads,

Valley of the Tennessee River

August 27, 1863

          Knowing that you and many of your readers are interested in the movements of the 41st Ohio, I take the liberty of sending you a short account of our movements for the past ten days. We were ordered to march from Manchester early on the morning of August 16, 1863. About 9 a.m., we were on the road once more, bound for Chattanooga. Being attached to the left wing or the 21st Army Corps under General Crittenden, we took the route over the mountains to the left of Chattanooga.

Instead of moving the whole corps on one road, each division took a separate road, Van Cleve’s division to our left, Wood’s division on our right, and our division (Palmer’s) occupying the center. After two days’ march, we came to Collins River and here we were obliged to ford the river, the water being about two feet deep.

After crossing the river, we of the 41st Ohio were detached from the brigade as train guards. We remained on the opposite bank until the train had crossed, which occupied some six hours as there were about 300 wagons. Our regiment moved from there about 1 p.m. and the train reached the foot of the Cumberland Mountains towards sundown. After working all night and until 9 o’clock the next day, we got all the wagons up the worst part of the mountains so that we all moved slowly forward, stopping occasionally to allow the train to ascend some steep pitch. The troops which moved in advance of the train pushed forward as fast as possible and reached Dunlap on the afternoon of the 19th. We reached there on the afternoon of the 20th.

Dunlap is the county seat of the Sequatchie County and is situated in Sequatchie Valley. After remaining there one night, our brigade was sent forward over the next ridge of mountains into the valley of the Tennessee River where we now are. We are within 18 miles of Chattanooga. What our next move we, of course, do not know. We are evidently upon the eve of a great battle. Our artillery goes down to the river nearly every day and throws a few shells across to let the Rebels know that we are watching them.

~Corporal Charles P. Bail

 

General William B. Hazen

Poe’s Tavern, Poe’s Crossroads,

Tennessee Valley

August 29, 1863

          Well, we started from Manchester on Sunday morning August 16th. The morning was fair but very warm and the boys thought they would have a pleasant time of it if they did not have to march too far and too fast. But about 10 o’clock, it commenced to rain and it did rain, too, until we thought that the great Jehovah had forgotten his promise to destroy the world with rain no more.

But after a few hours, it stopped raining and then the mud was deep and sticky enough to suit almost any of the teamsters, at least who had to pull out their mules and wagons from the ruts which were deep enough to temporarily drown all thoughts of home, mother, and the girls we left behind us. But we got through after a while and after a fashion. But here only a small part of our trouble was over for the next thing was the mountains [Cumberland Plateau] which made our march slightly like Bonaparte’s little march on the Alps. We got through that, though, by doubling the teams and a little gentle application of brouse to the mules and not a few unnecessary oaths perhaps. The men stood it well all through, and arrived here as fat, ragged, and saucy as ever.

The boys of Colonel Wilder’s brigade are having pretty good times down at the river which is about six miles from here. They have some skirmishing almost every day and some rare fun in making the Rebs skedaddle from their breastworks across the river. Cockerill’s Battery [Battery F, 1st Ohio] from our brigade went down yesterday and fired a few rounds at them, damaged a few of them, and then returned at night in rare good humor.

Unidentified western Federals in camp 

We are about 15 miles from Chattanooga and expecting soon to move on the place and, if not whipped, the prospects are that we will whip them. Our train has arrived from Dunlap were the wagons were left, some thought after the fight should come off, but it is the opinion of those who ought to be judges that the grand army of the Rebs will evacuate the town in our favor, if it might be called a favor to give us such towns as that must be by this time. I suppose Chattanooga would be of no account after its occupation by the ragged and dirty Rebel army.

Soon after we came here, we found about 30 double-barreled shotguns and as many sabers, neither of much use to us. The guns were of an old English make, stub and twist, but were so eaten by rust as to be of no use and not fit to keep or send home, though they sold pretty readily to citizens who had taken the oath of allegiance. We are getting a considerable number of recruits here for our army and I think it will be made about 500 men stronger in this valley and among the escaped conscripts who had fled to the mountains to escape the wrathful Rebs.

General William Hazen has put a price on all produce from the country and a penalty to anyone paying over the price set to articles by himself. So, you see, we get all the potatoes we want at $1 per bushel and other things to range accordingly and the boys are getting to feel quite at home. The citizens all chew, smoke, and snuff after their own way, that is, with the snuff. They have a little stick or brush and rub the snuff on their gums, and spit the juice in the most approved style, about equal to a genuine Yankee. One woman came in to buy some chewing tobacco for a birthday present for her little girl, all of five years old’ she proved her love for the weed by taking a chew and cramming the rest in her pocket.

~ Jay

Poe’s Tavern, originally built in 1817 by War of 1812 veteran Hasten Poe, served as the first courthouse from Hamilton County and during the Civil War became a hospital for both Federal and Confederate troops. As an interesting aside, local resident Bill Carney spearheaded the effort to build a replica of Poe’s Tavern which sits within a block of the original tavern site. 

To learn more, check out the Poe's Tavern Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/p/Poes-Tavern-100064367392747/     

Sources:

Letters from Corporal Charles P. Bail and “Jay,” Co. B, 41st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Jeffersonian Democrat (Chardon, Ohio), September 18, 1863, pg. 1

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 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

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

Globules of Adipose Pomposity: Top 11 Worst Buckeye Colonels of the Civil War

Image
Ohio Colonels in the Civil War "They weren't all heroes."      It stands to reason that somewhere in the over 200 regimental-sized organizations that Ohio fielded during the war, a bad apple or two would end up in command. Today's article tackles this admittedly sensitive subject with a top 11 list of Buckeye colonels  who exited the service under less than honorable circumstances during the Civil War. It's a list of cowards, drunks, incompetents, and outright scoundrels whose record adds color (or rather off color) to Ohio's history in the Civil War and is "history that deserves to be remembered."       They are presented in the rough chronological order of their exit from the service. 
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

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

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