An Ugly Scene at Rossville Before Chickamauga

In the days leading up to the Battle of Chickamauga, Major General Gordon Granger, commanding the Reserve Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, provoked an ugly scene with the men of his command that highlights the differences between volunteer soldiers and the Regular officers who often led them. Major John Corson Smith of the 96th Illinois, then serving on the staff of General James B. Steedman who commanded one of Granger’s divisions, laid the blame at Granger’s “exacting and overbearing nature.”

          The trouble began once the Reserve Corps occupied Rossville on September 14, 1863; the supply wagons trailed days behind and soon the Federals got hungry. “The command at Rossville numbered about 6,000 rank and file,” recalled Major Smith. “Following the forced march over Lookout Mountain, there was a scarcity of food and the men commenced foraging for subsistence- a few nubbins of corn, a bunch of string beans, a piece of smoked meat, or a Georgia hog were all the boys could find to fill out their scanty rations.”

Major General Gordon Granger, now better known as the author of the General Order that gave birth to Juneteenth, led the Reserve Corps during the Chickamauga campaign. A man of strong opinions and apparently little tact, Granger quickly made enemies among the high command of the Army of the Cumberland which made his time with the Cumberlanders relatively short. 

          General Granger, an 1845 graduate of West Point and career army officer, had previously issued orders forbidding foraging but his subordinates, and their volunteer soldiers, winked at the stricture and paid it no heed. On September 17th, Granger witnessed men drifting into camp with the obvious spoils of the countryside and blew his stack. “He was determined to stop the foraging and detailing his escort, he ordered them to picket the roads leading to Steedman’s camp and arrest every man found outside,” Smith continued.

Major John Corson Smith,
96th Illinois Infantry

“The men arrested were brought before this officer [Granger] and closely questioned as to where they had been and what they had been doing. If the answers were satisfactory and no provisions or forage found in their possession, they were released and ordered to their commands. If otherwise, their coats were taken off and the men tied to trees or picket rope so long as cordage could be found to tie them with, and when this failed, they were required to shoulder rails, wood, or anything to hold them in place and punish them,” Smith said.

“This continued until a hundred or more were collected. Then the provost marshal was ordered to give each man 25 lashes upon his bare back,” Smith reported with scarcely concealed disgust. “General Steedman and several of his staff had been silent witnesses of this outrage until the order was given to flog these men. Thereupon, General Steedman quietly rose from his camp stool, walked over to his superior officer [Granger] and said, ‘General, I suggest that 25 lashes are rather severe and think that 20 would do as well.’ Granger, with much profanity, refused to change the order and directed the provost marshal to proceed, but after much persuasion on the part of Steedman, the number of reduced to 20.”

Brigadier General James B. Steedman of Toledo led one of Granger's division's to glory at Chickamauga after smoothing over the difficulty at Rossville caused by the intersection of Granger's waspish temper with the free-wheeling nature of his volunteer soldiers. 

Steedman wasn’t finished. “Having gained the point, Steedman then suggested that 15 lashes would be sufficient. Warm words followed; but Steedman was again successful and the order was finally given for 15 lashes with the positive assurance that under no circumstances would the men be released from this punishment,” Smith observed.

 

“General Granger was profane and made terrible threats. But he could not misuse intelligent volunteers and he slunk away into his tent, damning everybody.” ~Sergeant Major Charles A. Partridge, 96th Illinois

 

“General Steedman, who had again seated himself, now arose and buttoning his coat as only a soldier does when going into action, advanced towards his superior officer, saying, ‘General, those soldiers belong to my command; they were under no restrictions as to leaving camp. There were no orders forbidding their foraging, providing they did not molest loyal citizens. They are short of rations and were permitted to do as they have done. They are American soldiers and no man has the right or authority to flog an American soldier. It is in violation of the acts of Congress to flog a soldier and no man can lawfully do so. I tell you, general, that I will use all the force at my command to protect these men and you touch one of them at your peril.’

“I do not think it necessary to tell you that those soldiers were not flogged,” Smith concluded. Granger’s reputation with his men never recovered from the episode. “That General Granger was a brave man, no one will question, but he had some grave faults which seriously detracted from his usefulness. General Granger was unpopular in his own command and an unwelcome visitor at headquarters. To his own subordinates, he was exacting and overbearing while to his superiors he was discourteous. He was forever criticizing the actions of his superiors, caviling at their orders and condemning their movements. For this he was so much disliked that his commanding officers would rather he was not with them. Granger’s criticisms were keen but not always just. No one could detect a weak point in the line or a false move more readily than Granger, but he lacked the genius or ability to strengthen one or to correct the other.”

Source:

Oration of Gen. John C. Smith, Lieutenant Governor of Illinois at Toledo, Ohio, May 26, 1887, at the dedication of the monument to General James B. Steedman, pgs. 13-17

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