Dan Masters' Civil War Chronicles

A fter nearly three days of constant fighting in the days before the Battle of Stones River, Captain George Knox Miller of the 8 th Confederate Cavalry recalled an instance where two of the combatants finally had enough and called a truce. The scene was along Stewart’s Creek near LaVergne, Tennessee. “One of my boys, John C. Duncan, a very jovial fellow, singled out a Yankee and the two fired away at each other for over three hours, all this time in speaking distance,” Miller said. “They abused each other heartily and incessantly. At last John bantered the other man to cease firing and make an exchange of newspapers. After considerable parleying, the proposal was agreed to, an armistice arranged, and the firing ceased. John succeeded in getting possession of a Confederate newspaper and walked down to the creek. The Yankee did likewise. While the two pickets were thus amusing themselves, the whole Yankee army about the place came to look on. Newspapers were exchanged and compliments ...

G eneral John Wharton’s cavalry brigade, tasked with guarding the left flank of the Army of Tennessee’s position in middle Tennessee, saw plenty of action in the opening days of the Stones River campaign as remembered by Chaplain Robert F. Bunting of the 8 th Texas Cavalry. “The old year, freighted with momentous events, is numbered with the mighty past,” he wrote to the editor of the Houston Tri-Weekly Telegraph . “It’s blended hopes and fears, its mingled sighs and tears, its victories and defeats are all among things that were. 1863 has been born amid the stirring scenes which will have a prominent record in history. The second battle of Murfreesboro has been fought, a glorious triumph has followed our arms and the sounds of victory were sounding forth along the lines of the Army of Tennessee. That brilliant achievement was the last legacy which the departing year could give to our bleeding country.” In this excerpt from Chaplain Bunting’s lengthy account of the campaign, he de...

W hile perusing issues of the Journal & Courier from Lafayette, Indiana recently, I came across this fascinating little story of a chaplain’s experience during the Battle of Stones River. It took a bit of digging to find out that the central character of this story was none other than Father Joseph Andrew Stephan, who at the time of the battle was leading St. Boniface Church in Lafayette. “The adventures of our worthy friend Father Stephan in the recent battle of Murfreesboro furnish an interesting chapter in the history of the great fight,” the Journal & Courier reported in their January 20, 1863, issue. “On Wednesday morning, in company with two other gentlemen, he started out on a mission of mercy and unconsciously got into the Rebel lines and was made a prisoner. He was taken to the headquarters of the Rebel General [Joseph] Wheeler when, after stating his vocation, he was released and furnished with a mule to regain our lines.” “While pursuing his way union-ward, the...

W riting from West Point, Mississippi along the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, a reporter from the Memphis Daily Appeal assured the editors that despite the defeat at Nashville, he was hopeful that a period or rest and reorganization would bring the Army of Tennessee back into fighting trim.           “The larger portion of the army is now at Tupelo where it was some two and a half years ago,” he wrote. “The Memphis & Charleston Railroad is still occupied by our troops from Corinth to Tuscumbia. Whether our army will go into winter quarters where it is now or not, I am unable to say. The troops need rest very much and the probability is that they will be quartered at once.”           Speaking with soldiers wounded at Franklin and brought into Mississippi for medical treatment, he found them “all cheerful and speak of the fight at Franklin as one of the more desperate of the war. Many of these...

H erman Canfield was born July 29, 1817, in Canfield Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, the youngest son of Herman Canfield and his wife Fitie. He gained his education in the common schools of his community and entered Kenyon College in 1834 where he became proficient in both Greek and Latin. In 1838, he embarked on the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. By 1845, he moved to Medina and joined his law practice with that of his older brother William and soon was appointed clerk of the common pleas court. In 1848, he married Sarah Ann Martha Treat and the couple, ardent abolitionists and possessing a deep faith in God, assisted with the local Underground Railroad while Herman devoted his legal talents to defending fellow Ohioans accused of breaking the Fugitive Slave Act. The couple joined St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where Herman became superintendent of the Sunday school. Herman and Sarah Ann "Martha" Canfield.  Originally a Whig, Canfield joined the Republican...

L ooking back on the events of the Battle of Port Republic, Private Elliott Winscott of the 7th Indiana laid the blame for his regiment's misfortunes on one man: Colonel Samuel Sprigg Carroll. In particular, he called into question Carroll's decision making on the Sunday afternoon on June 8, 1862.      " On Sunday, we were within 6 miles of Port Republic and the cavalry under the command of Captain Keughn of Shields’ staff was sent ahead to drive the enemy from the bridge that spans the Shenandoah Rover opposite the town," he noted. "The work was entrusted to a faithful officer and nobly did he discharge his duty, driving the enemy away and firing the bridge. Had he been left to use his own discretion, as he ought to have been, the bridge would have been destroyed and saved our defeat. But no sooner had General Carroll heard what had been done when he ordered the fire put out, and two pieces of short-range brass guns were ordered forward together with our brigade...

A s the Federal army tightened the noose around Vicksburg on May 21, 1863, Captain James R.S. Cox of the 16 th Indiana had an opportunity to observe General Ulysses S. Grant up close and personal.           Cox was atop a ridge with Generals Stephen Burbridge and A.J. Smith when he saw “General Grant, smoking as usual, walking slowly along the ridge, paying no attention to the sharpshooters who are feeling for him,” he wrote. “Some newspapers deem him incompetent to fill the position, but the soldiers of his army swear by him. They know that the campaign, thus far and under great difficulties, has been conducted successfully. I had formed an idea from the description that he was a whiskey barrel on legs but found myself greatly in error. Paying little attention to dress, he usually wears a stand-up collar with cap and coat much the worse for wear. He seems a plain unassuming man, whether studying his maps or as is his custom, smoking, walk...

P rivate James F. Hunt of Co. E, 12 th Michigan Infantry, had the “honor” of firing some of the opening shots of the Battle of Shiloh. What he saw of battle satisfied his desire for combat. “I gave the enemy between 30 and 40 good rounds before they shot me, and I shot at somebody every time,” he explained in a letter to his father. “Whether I killed anyone or not, I do not know nor do I want to. I have seen all I want to of war and would like to get home first best. I have seen men shot dead almost by my side and expected to be the next one myself. Yet I could draw up and fire away just as cool as I could at a flock of pigeons. How I got off so easy I do not know. I had my coat cut all to pieces with shot.” Private Hunt’s account of Shiloh, sent to his father David M. Hunt who lived in Clay Township near South Bend, Indiana, first appeared in the May 1, 1862, edition of the St. Joseph Valley Register .

Stones River Stories T he story of rapid demise of Battery E, 1 st Ohio Light Artillery at the Battle of Stones River has been shared previously on this blog, but I recently discovered this previously unknown account penned by Corporal Oliver P. Clark that provides an intimate view of those fateful opening minutes of Stones River. Oliver Clark’s role with the battery was the No. 2 man as part of Detachment F, the sixth gun in the battery. Clark’s primary duties when the battery was in action included receiving the shell from the No. 5, then inserting it into the muzzle of the cannon. That said, he had an up close view of the action. Once the Confederate assault opened the battle, Clark raced to his piece which was loaded with a double shot of canister. “Dick Gillett says, ‘Let her go!’ and Detachment F was in it,” Clark remembered. “The old gun sent the canister; it struck the Rebel column seven lines deep. The canister cut down every man that was in range, cutting a hole in the col...