The Bugler Checked the Rout: William J. Carson at Chickamauga

The Union left at Chickamauga appeared to be going up the spout on the morning of September 20, 1863. As Colonel John Beatty’s brigade was shattered by Breckinridge’s flanking attack, the storm of battle pushed south and struck the balance of the line held by the First Division of the 14th Army Corps. Beatty’s retreat precipitated a similar retreat by the left of General John King’s Regulars. But an intrepid 23-year-old bugler in the 15th U.S. was determined to rally the line.

          William J. Carson, a Pennsylvania native who was living near Bellefontaine, Ohio when he joined the 15th U.S. in September 1861, had grabbed a gun and was firing away when he saw the rout spreading down the line. “Try as they would, the officers were powerless to check the rout,” Carson recalled. “I threw down my gun, rushed out some 30 yards to the color bearer of the 18th U.S. and said, “Let us rally these men or the whole left is gone.” The brave fellow stopped and waved his flag while I sounded ‘to the colors.’ The men cheered and rushed back into line. Still sounding the rally, I passed back and forth in front of the forming line and what a few minutes before seemed like a hopeless and disastrous rout now turned out to be a complete victory. The retreat had been checked and the enemy driven back with awful slaughter.”

          The young bugler’s actions would eventually be awarded with a Medal of Honor in 1894. His description of rallying the Union left at Chickamauga first saw publication in Beyer and Keydel’s Deeds of Valor in 1901.

 


          On September 19, 1863, our brigade, consisting of the First Battalion of the 15th and 16th U.S. Infantry, three battalions of the 18th U.S. Infantry, two battalions of the 19th U.S. Infantry, and Battery H of the 5th U.S. Light Artillery, was ordered to advance to a position one mile east of Kelly’s Field at Chickamauga. Just as our battery was getting into position, a battery and two brigades of the enemy opened fire on us. The short, but sharp, engagement resulted in the death of First Lieutenant Howard M. Burnham and 12 men, the capture of 13 men and the entire battery. In addition, two lieutenants and 16 men were wounded while nearly every horse was either killed outright or fatally injured.

          Our infantry made a grand and noble effort to recapture the battery but were driven back by the greatly superior force of the enemy. As bugler, I did all in my power to rally and lead the men to the charge, going to the flags and sounding ‘to the colors.’ The brave fellows rallied and, with the assistance of the 9th and 17th Ohio regiments, the battery was retaken.

          On the following morning, our brigade was engaged with Breckinridge’s corps in a most desperate and deadly conflict. Our battalion of 262 men were lying down 100 yards in the rear as reserves. I had picked up a gun as was always my custom and was giving the enemy every shot I could when I saw one of the officers of the 18th U.S. skulking back from tree to tree. I went through the rows of our men and sent him back at the point of the bayonet.

Musician William J. Carson
Co. E, 1st Bttln., 15th U.S.

          The conflict began when Beatty’s brigade gave way and was driven back by an overwhelming force of the enemy. The left of our brigade became exposed and likewise gave way. Finally, the whole line was coming back in disorder. Try as they would, the officers were powerless to check the rout. I threw down my gun, rushed out some 30 yards to the color bearer of the 18th U.S. and said, “Let us rally these men or the whole left is gone.”

          The brave fellow stopped and waved his flag while I sounded ‘to the colors.’ The men cheered and rushed back into line. Still sounding the rally, I passed back and forth in front of the forming line and what a few minutes before seemed like a hopeless and disastrous rout now turned out to be a complete victory. The retreat had been checked and the enemy driven back with awful slaughter. So severe was their repulse that within a few minutes we were firing towards our rear into the enemy who were pressing Beatty’s troops back.

          I noticed a color bearer of the 2nd Ohio running with his men out of the woods on the north side of Kelly’s Field. I headed him off and exhorted him to stop, which he promptly did. Then I once more sounded ‘to the colors’ and many a brave soldier halted but as the enemy appeared at the edge of the timber and poured a deadly volley into us, all broke and ran like good fellows. We sought shelter at the east of the timber and fired into the enemy from a temporary defense of logs and rails.

          After two hours of hard fighting and receiving reinforcements, our lines were once more formed and straightened out. I took an inventory of myself and found 10 bullet holes in his clothes; three bullets had pierced my hat and one had both struck and slightly wounded my left arm. We held our position until the last cartridge was gone and at about 6:30 that night we were taken prisoners.

  Carson would spend the next six months in Confederate prisoner of war camps before being exchanged; it was reported that he weighed only 64 lbs. upon his release. Carson would be discharged and return to his home near Bellefontaine, Ohio.

          Captain William G. Galloway of the 15th U.S. (who would also be captured at Chickamauga) attested to the impact Carson’s heroism had on the outcome of the battle in this sector of the field. “His acts of heroism on the 20th of September 1863, that came under my personal observation, I believe are without a parallel of individual bravery of that memorable battle,” Galloway said. “He with his bugle made it possible for us to check a most disastrous retreat. We were able through the assistance of Carson to rally over 2,500 of our division and retake the position we had lost, which was then held by us until night. He was as brave a man as ever wore the blue.”

          Carson  would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions on January 27, 1894, when he was living in Indiana. The Medal of Honor citation reads: “he President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Musician William J. Carson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 19 September 1863, while serving with Company E, 15th U.S. Infantry, in action at Chickamauga, Georgia. At a critical stage in the battle when the 14th Corps lines were wavering and in disorder, Musician Carson, on his own initiative bugled "to the colors" amid the 18th U.S. Infantry who formed by him and held the enemy. Within a few minutes he repeated his action amid the wavering 2nd Ohio Infantry. This bugling deceived the enemy who believed reinforcements had arrived. Thus, they delayed their attack.”

To learn more about the Regular Brigade at Chickamauga, please check out these posts:

Overrun at Chickamauga: Pork & Beans of the Regular Artillery 

Prelude to an Awful Finale: A Buckeye Sergeant at Chickamauga

Source:

“This Bugler Checked a Rout,” Musician William J. Carson, Co. E, 1st Battalion, 15th U.S. Infantry, from Walter F. Beyer and Oscar F. Keydel, editors. Deeds of Valor: How America’s Heroes Won the Medal of Honor. Detroit: The Perrien-Keydel Co., 1901, pgs. 263-265

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

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

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

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
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

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

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

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

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more