My Situation was not a Pleasant One: Chickasaw Bayou with the 13th Illinois

This gritty account of the charge on December 29, 1862, at Chickasaw Bayou, was penned by an unknown soldier in the 13th Illinois. The 13th Illinois was part of Brigadier General Frank P. Blair’s brigade, holding the right front of the brigade when they conducted their charge. The regiment lost 27 killed, 107 wounded, and 40 prisoners in the fight along with their colors. Sergeant Jesse Pierce of Co. H carried them into action and was knocked out by the concussion of a shell. He came to when the Confederates, believing him to be dead, rolled him over to liberate the flag “which they valued more than they did the sergeant,” the regimental historians of the 13th noted.

          The letter appeared in the May 1, 1863, edition of the Mercersburg Journal, published right about the time that General Grant launched his ultimately successful campaign to take Vicksburg.

 

The 13th Illinois served in Brigadier General Frank P. Blair's brigade during the campaign that ended at Chickasaw Bayou. Rumors flew after the battle (spread largely from men in Colonel John DeCourcey's brigade) that Blair was drunk as he led his brigade into action, charges Blair hotly denied. Blair retaliated by calling out DeCourcey and his men for cowardice. 

          You wish me to describe my feelings at the time of the battle. Well, the question is not offensive at all but I must confess that I cannot tell you my exact feelings. When I came off, I know I felt very weak and the fact is I never have felt well since until the last week or two.

The fact is this: our officers said that our regiment would not go into the charge and that all we had to do was to make a feint and cheer to draw the attention of the enemy while another brigade charged. Whether General [Francis P.] Blair did this to deceive our officers or whether the order from the general in command changed I am not able to say. But one thing is certain and that is we did not anticipate a participation in the charge any more than to make a feint!

We had our great coats on and many had double blankets around their necks. I had my overcoat and heavy oil cloth on along with my cartridge box and bayonet sheath. We had about 200 yards of a willow swamp with bushes cut so thick that we could scarcely walk over it. They also had four or five of their largest guns to command this flat.

About 10 or 11 a.m., the colonel formed us into line and the command “fix bayonets was given and next “forward march.” On we went and as soon we came out of the timber and in sight of the enemy (which were fully one-third of a mile off) we commenced cheering. The enemy never opened a gun only to reply to our battery until we commenced crossing the swamp. Then they opened on us, making the very earth tremble with the explosions of their shells.



On we went until we reached the other side and where we reached the banks of the slough. Here we were kept back by a brigade in front which caused our regiment to get broken. The regiment ahead of us (16th Ohio) acted cowardly from the fact they stood under this bank and although General Blair and one of his staff urged them on, still they would not go until Blair called out the 13th Illinois to run over them.

Up we went and when I reached the field I looked round but could see only a few of our company. It was here that Gid came to me. I went on until I came to a small rise in the field and here I saw the captain and about 100 of our regiment. We here found that the regiment had been broken and now all that was left for us to do was to follow up. I fell down behind this bank with the others to get my wind which nearly had been exhausted in crossing the willows. A large shell from one of the enemy guns fell within a few feet os us and exploded. I came to the conclusion that this was getting too hot and off I went.

I fell in with one of Co. A’s boys and he and I took for a fence that ran up to the enemy works. We followed up until within about 120-130 yards of the enemy entrenchments then we stopped in one of the corners of the fence and commenced firing. My feelings up to that time I can scarcely describe; the balls and shell flew round my like hail. I was excited but not frightened. But after stopping at the fence, although I could hear the enemy talk and curse us, yet I felt that mu situation was not a pleasant one, but still I did not feel so unpleasant as I expected.

There were four of us in one corner of the fence. One was an Irishman whom I recognized as a member of Co. K. Some of the Rebel sharpshooters found that we were unpleasant visitors and tried to drive us. This Irishman made some laughable remarks which made our party more pleasant with his company. We stayed there until we found that field vacated by our men. Now leaving was something we never thought of. Here we were within easy range of their muskets and to get away was to run through a shower of balls; to stay would only be to fall prisoner, and the former we concluded was preferable. So up we jumped and ran off like frightened deer, I covering the retreat.

 Following this charge, the flag of the 13th Illinois was captured and placed on display in Vicksburg the following day as explained in "Flags of Chickasaw Bayou."         

To read more about the fight at Chickasaw Bayou, please check out the following posts:

Death of the Bayou: The 16th Ohio ay Chickasaw Bluffs

Captain Kaufman’s Captured Diary: A Relic of Chickasaw Bayou (58th Ohio)

Masters of the Field: A Confederate Artilleryman at Chickasaw Bayou

Flags of Chickasaw Bayou

There Goes My Brigade to Hell: The 42nd Ohio at Chickasaw Bayou

Bonebrake’s Redemption: Richmond to Chickasaw Bayou with the 69th Indiana

“I’m Shot, My God, I’m Shot!” A Melancholy Event on the Way to Chickasaw Bayou

A Gunner’s Life at Chickasaw Bayou with the 17th Ohio Battery

A Fredericksburg in the West: A Witness to the Chickasaw Bayou Fight (6th Missouri)


Source:

“Battle of Vicksburg,” letter from unknown soldier in 13th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Mercersburg Journal (Pennsylvania), May 1, 1863, pg. 1


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