Cudahy Wisconsin had a Civil War reenactment a few years ago, a perfect place to try a new impression, to share some fresh aspect of history with the public so myself and seven other chums went to the event as sharpshooters in Lee’s army. For the weekend we worked on distance recognition, skirmish drill, working in three man fire teams and other things the real sharpshooters practiced and perfected. One fellow even made a patch known to be worn by a member of McGowen’s sharpshooters. All we did was based on my reading of Shock Troops of the Confederacy: The Sharpshooter Battalions of the Army of Northern Virginia, by Fred Ray.
I’ve recently reread the book and found it as solid as before. I’m not going to pontificate on its fluid writing, excellent use of primary source materials and logical organization for other, more pedigreed, folks have done that on better sites than this. Instead I’ll share some of the information, as a teaser, that I found fascinating. This book really is an easy read for it is the three positives I mentioned above.
NOTE: I am a hungry student of Mahone’s brigade so some of the material is specific to that unit and was the basis of our reenacting impression at Cudahy.
STUFF I FOUND INTERESTING
After seeing the success the sharpshooters of Rodes, Wilcox and McGowen’s troops during the campaign of 1863, General Robert E. Lee announced in early 1864 every brigade was to develop a sharpshooter battalion. Taking 3-4 of the best men from each company General Mahone developed a battalion for each of his regiments: 6th, 12th, 16th, 41st and 61st Virginia Infantry regiments. Lt. Col. E.M. Field of the 12th Virginia led Mahone’s Sharpshooters, one company was led by Captain Broadbent who fell at the battle of the Crater “with, ‘12-15 bayonet wounds through his body’” (214). Mahone’s sharpshooters also had two men per company assigned to ambulance corps duty.
TRAINING
There was great emphasis place on estimating distances, ‘until every man could tell, almost to mathematical certainty, the distance to any given point…’(93).
General Wilcox offered orders for the “Corps of Sharpshooters, ‘reiterating the importance of correctly judging distances, requiring regular progress reports, and specifying that no ammunition was to be issued until some proficiency is made in range estimation’(94).
On April 19th target practice began. ‘Each soldier got 22 rounds and was allowed to fire from a rest. Of these 3 rounds at 100 yards on the first day, then 5 at 300 on the two successive days. Over the next three days 10 rounds at 600 and then long range shooting’(95).
The sharpshooters were drilled to proficiency in skirmish drill. Marion Fitzpatrick of the 45th Georgia offers, ‘We drill to ourselves and do the skirmishing when there is a fight…Skirmishing is a ticklish business at times, but I like to do it’(95).
ARMS
Whitworth rifles excluded, the Enfield was the favorite among Lee’s sharpshooters, two band then three bands. Firing a round at 850-900 feet per second, “The Enfield’s adjustable ladder rear site ha steps for 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards,” with a flip up site taking one from 900-1250 yards. Springfields were the next choice in sharpshooting pieces
FUNCTION
The sharpshooters were, as Fitzpatrick offered earlier, the skirmishers and pickets for their brigades often being on post, ‘for twenty four to forty eight hours without being relieved.’ He also offers, ‘one conciliation that is I will not have any other duty to do as the sharpshooters are exempt from all details except picket and drills’ (97).
1864 and 1865 saw sharpshooters in the heat of battle from Wilderness to the trenches of Petersburg. They led the attack and were the first to defend. Their attrition rate was severe as was their pride in being sharpshooters. They had an élan for they were volunteers and dedicated, the best men of their units. They were well drilled and highly skilled and on many occasion turned the tide of battle.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sesquicentennial of the Civil War
So I thought it would be great to see what each state is doing to honor the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Starting with a simple Google search I came across Iowa, West Virginia and Wisconsin websites then I saw the Civil War Trust offering, and as usual, they have done yeoman’s work. Rather than insult the efforts of the Civil War Trust by redoing their work, I humbly offer their web address so you can see what the states are doing for this celebration.
http://www.civilwar.org/150th-anniversary/150-quarterly-review-april2011.html
NOTE: This is a busy time for my profession with trying to keep kids focused, grading and such so I won’t be able post as often as I would like. This cheesy offering is proof of that. Please be patient for I have a Gettysburg trip planned, one that I hope gives me quality stuff to share.
http://www.civilwar.org/150th-anniversary/150-quarterly-review-april2011.html
NOTE: This is a busy time for my profession with trying to keep kids focused, grading and such so I won’t be able post as often as I would like. This cheesy offering is proof of that. Please be patient for I have a Gettysburg trip planned, one that I hope gives me quality stuff to share.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Camping while on campaign
To understand the life of a Civil War soldier, one needs to understand the life they led. The ordinary of the soldier makes them extraordinary. Where we have a roof to keep the rain off our head and heat at the touch of a button, they had very little. Below is a list of the ways the soldiers survived the nights.
10th Massachusetts Battery
"The soldier did not waste their time and strength (pitching shelter tents every night). If the night was clear and pleasant, they lay down without a roof shelter of any kind, but if it was stormy... shelters were then quite generally pitched... two muskets with bayonets fixed were struck erect into the ground the width of a shelter half. A guy rope which went wit h every shelter half was stretched between the trigger guards of the muskets, and over the as a ridgepole the tent was pitched" (Billings, 53).
21st Virginia
"About midnight we were awakened by the firing of muskets. Each man rose up and took his place in ranks more quickly than I ever saw it done and when the order was given to " take arms" every man had his gun ready for action" (Worsham, 33).
21st Virginia
"It was easy for men to move, because by this time (Sharpsburg) we learned to live without tents. The only shelter was an oil or rubber cloth and cotton flies...We were dependent on the Yankees for them (flies) as I never heard of our quartermaster issue any" (Worsham, 33).
5th New Jersey
"So in order to make ourselves as comfortable as possible, we set to work pulling wheat, getting together quite a stock. It was spread on the ground making a very respectable footing and bed, and over all we pitched our tents and were happy enough with little exception" (Ballard, 107).
12th Iowa
"One of the boys and myself got down on a bunch of wet leaves and covered our blankets over us, rain turned to cold and I shook..." (Logsdon, 19).
21st Virginia
"...Made a shebang by putting two forked sticks in the ground about six feet apart, lying a pole in the forks, placing brush with one end on the ground, the other inclined on the pole, enclosing in this way one side and the ends, and leaving the other side open. This would accommodate 3-4 men, and with care could be impervious to the rain" (Worsham, 131).
5th New Jersey
"As our tents were still at Poplar Hill 14 miles to the rear, we slept on the ground with the sky for a quilt and slept soundly till morning" (Ballard, 83).
21st Virginia
"The 21st Virginia (camped) in a large wood where we gather(ed) fresh fallen leaves into piles, placing our oilcloths on them laying down, covering with our blankets, we enjoyed the bed as much as any we ever slept on" (Worsham, 43).
9th Tennessee
" ...We found a good hickory fire burning, which had been abandoned by the parties who built it. As the night was cold, we lay down with out feet next to the fire, lying on a single blanket and covering ourselves with the other" (Fleming, 59).
7th Illinois
"Colonel Babcock with his men could be seen pacing up and down a hill to keep from freezing. Oh what a long cheerless night it was" (Logsdon, 21).
Richmond Howitzers
"Tents were rarely seen. All the poetry about tented fields died. Two men slept together, each had a blanket and an oilcloth. One oilcloth went next to the ground. The two laid on this, covered themselves with the two blankets, protected from the rain with the second oilcloth, and slept very comfortably through rain, snow, and hail as it might by..." (Gragg, 27).
41st Illinois
"To keep warm we made a circle of about 20 or 30 feet in diameter and around this we trotted most of the night" (Logsdon, 23).
14th Iowa
"The boys lay down singly or in couples and covered themselves as best they could with their blankets. I crouched beneath a leaning tree and wrapping my blanket around me and my gun so as to keep it as dry as possible" (Logsdon, 19)
7th Virginia
"The method of carrying our few assets was to roll them in a blanket, tying each end of the roll which was then swung over the shoulder. At night this blanket was unrolled and rapped around its owner who found a place on the ground with his cartridge box as a pillow" (Johnson, 137).
14th Iowa
"My bunkie and myself had each a rubber and a woolen blanket. We selected a little mound made by a root of a fallen tree. We spread one rubber down, then a woolen. Bunkie laid down on his side, pulling his cartridge box well up on his hip, taking his gun between his knees, muzzle to foot. I spread the other woolen
Over him, then the remaining rubber over all, turned them down, crept in behind him placing my cartridge box and gun in like position. Each used his haversack and canteen as a pillow. We now pulled the blanket over our heads and proceeded to fall into a dreamless sleep" (Logsdon, 21).
18th Louisiana
"I... and Justilien Gros made a stack of guns and extended a
blanket over it; we sat underneath the little shelter it afforded. Many others however had no protection from the inclement weather" (Logsdon, 67).
38th Tennessee
"IT soon commenced to rain. I stood under a tree for a shelter"
(Logsdon, 87).
6th Massachusetts
"Feet wet, boots for a pillow, the mud oozing up around our rubber blanket, but making a soft bed and we sleeping the dreamless sleep of tired men" (Goss, 25).
2nd Mississippi
"There was a fence along the road that skirted the swamp, the water along which was nearly knee deep. I waded to the fence; picked out two rails that suited my purpose, put the rail s close together with one end on the ground and one end on the fence. Then I climbed up on the rails got in between them and slept there
all night" (Holt, 266).
5th New Jersey (On mosquitoes)
"...An army of Virginia mosquitoes made general attack on our post, that was on the edge of the wood. We were completely surrounded and had to keep our arms continually in motion trying to brush them off. Not being able to stand it any longer we built a fire, making plenty of smoke in the hopes of smoking them out,
but it was no go, as they would bite us even after we got into the smoke. But we could not stand the smoke, we had to back out to escape being smothered to death. Everything else failing we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets leaving nothing but our eyes and nose exposed and stood it as best we could until
daybreak, when they retreated" (Ballard, 111-112).
154th Tennessee
"...Feeling too much fatigued...(we) lay down on the ground to sleep, with no shelter from the rain" (Logsdon, 67).
SOURCES
Ballard, Michael B. Thomas D. Cockrell. A Mississippi Rebel in
the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of
Private David Holt. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 1995.
Billings, John D. Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of
Army Life. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Donald, Herbert David. Gone for a Soldier: The Civil War Memoirs
of Private Alfred Ballard. Boston: Little, Brown and
Company, 1975.
Fleming, James R. Band of Brothers: Company C, Ninth Tennessee
Infantry. Shippenburg: White Mane Publishing Company, Inc,
1996.
Gragg, Rod. The Illustrated Confederate Reader. New York: Harper
& Row, 1989.
Goss, Warren Lee. Recollections of a Private: A Story of the Army
of the Potomac. New York, Thomas Y Crowell & Co, 1890.
Hutton, Paul Andrew. John Worsham: One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry.
New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
Johnston, David E. The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil
War. Radford: Commonwealth Press, Inc., 1980.
Logsdan, David R. Eyewitness at the Battle of Fort Donelson.
Nashville: Kettle Mills Press, 1998.
Logsdon, David R. Eyewitness at the Battle of Shiloh. Nashville:
Kettle Mills Press, 1994.
10th Massachusetts Battery
"The soldier did not waste their time and strength (pitching shelter tents every night). If the night was clear and pleasant, they lay down without a roof shelter of any kind, but if it was stormy... shelters were then quite generally pitched... two muskets with bayonets fixed were struck erect into the ground the width of a shelter half. A guy rope which went wit h every shelter half was stretched between the trigger guards of the muskets, and over the as a ridgepole the tent was pitched" (Billings, 53).
21st Virginia
"About midnight we were awakened by the firing of muskets. Each man rose up and took his place in ranks more quickly than I ever saw it done and when the order was given to " take arms" every man had his gun ready for action" (Worsham, 33).
21st Virginia
"It was easy for men to move, because by this time (Sharpsburg) we learned to live without tents. The only shelter was an oil or rubber cloth and cotton flies...We were dependent on the Yankees for them (flies) as I never heard of our quartermaster issue any" (Worsham, 33).
5th New Jersey
"So in order to make ourselves as comfortable as possible, we set to work pulling wheat, getting together quite a stock. It was spread on the ground making a very respectable footing and bed, and over all we pitched our tents and were happy enough with little exception" (Ballard, 107).
12th Iowa
"One of the boys and myself got down on a bunch of wet leaves and covered our blankets over us, rain turned to cold and I shook..." (Logsdon, 19).
21st Virginia
"...Made a shebang by putting two forked sticks in the ground about six feet apart, lying a pole in the forks, placing brush with one end on the ground, the other inclined on the pole, enclosing in this way one side and the ends, and leaving the other side open. This would accommodate 3-4 men, and with care could be impervious to the rain" (Worsham, 131).
5th New Jersey
"As our tents were still at Poplar Hill 14 miles to the rear, we slept on the ground with the sky for a quilt and slept soundly till morning" (Ballard, 83).
21st Virginia
"The 21st Virginia (camped) in a large wood where we gather(ed) fresh fallen leaves into piles, placing our oilcloths on them laying down, covering with our blankets, we enjoyed the bed as much as any we ever slept on" (Worsham, 43).
9th Tennessee
" ...We found a good hickory fire burning, which had been abandoned by the parties who built it. As the night was cold, we lay down with out feet next to the fire, lying on a single blanket and covering ourselves with the other" (Fleming, 59).
7th Illinois
"Colonel Babcock with his men could be seen pacing up and down a hill to keep from freezing. Oh what a long cheerless night it was" (Logsdon, 21).
Richmond Howitzers
"Tents were rarely seen. All the poetry about tented fields died. Two men slept together, each had a blanket and an oilcloth. One oilcloth went next to the ground. The two laid on this, covered themselves with the two blankets, protected from the rain with the second oilcloth, and slept very comfortably through rain, snow, and hail as it might by..." (Gragg, 27).
41st Illinois
"To keep warm we made a circle of about 20 or 30 feet in diameter and around this we trotted most of the night" (Logsdon, 23).
14th Iowa
"The boys lay down singly or in couples and covered themselves as best they could with their blankets. I crouched beneath a leaning tree and wrapping my blanket around me and my gun so as to keep it as dry as possible" (Logsdon, 19)
7th Virginia
"The method of carrying our few assets was to roll them in a blanket, tying each end of the roll which was then swung over the shoulder. At night this blanket was unrolled and rapped around its owner who found a place on the ground with his cartridge box as a pillow" (Johnson, 137).
14th Iowa
"My bunkie and myself had each a rubber and a woolen blanket. We selected a little mound made by a root of a fallen tree. We spread one rubber down, then a woolen. Bunkie laid down on his side, pulling his cartridge box well up on his hip, taking his gun between his knees, muzzle to foot. I spread the other woolen
Over him, then the remaining rubber over all, turned them down, crept in behind him placing my cartridge box and gun in like position. Each used his haversack and canteen as a pillow. We now pulled the blanket over our heads and proceeded to fall into a dreamless sleep" (Logsdon, 21).
18th Louisiana
"I... and Justilien Gros made a stack of guns and extended a
blanket over it; we sat underneath the little shelter it afforded. Many others however had no protection from the inclement weather" (Logsdon, 67).
38th Tennessee
"IT soon commenced to rain. I stood under a tree for a shelter"
(Logsdon, 87).
6th Massachusetts
"Feet wet, boots for a pillow, the mud oozing up around our rubber blanket, but making a soft bed and we sleeping the dreamless sleep of tired men" (Goss, 25).
2nd Mississippi
"There was a fence along the road that skirted the swamp, the water along which was nearly knee deep. I waded to the fence; picked out two rails that suited my purpose, put the rail s close together with one end on the ground and one end on the fence. Then I climbed up on the rails got in between them and slept there
all night" (Holt, 266).
5th New Jersey (On mosquitoes)
"...An army of Virginia mosquitoes made general attack on our post, that was on the edge of the wood. We were completely surrounded and had to keep our arms continually in motion trying to brush them off. Not being able to stand it any longer we built a fire, making plenty of smoke in the hopes of smoking them out,
but it was no go, as they would bite us even after we got into the smoke. But we could not stand the smoke, we had to back out to escape being smothered to death. Everything else failing we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets leaving nothing but our eyes and nose exposed and stood it as best we could until
daybreak, when they retreated" (Ballard, 111-112).
154th Tennessee
"...Feeling too much fatigued...(we) lay down on the ground to sleep, with no shelter from the rain" (Logsdon, 67).
SOURCES
Ballard, Michael B. Thomas D. Cockrell. A Mississippi Rebel in
the Army of Northern Virginia: The Civil War Memoirs of
Private David Holt. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University
Press, 1995.
Billings, John D. Hardtack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of
Army Life. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993.
Donald, Herbert David. Gone for a Soldier: The Civil War Memoirs
of Private Alfred Ballard. Boston: Little, Brown and
Company, 1975.
Fleming, James R. Band of Brothers: Company C, Ninth Tennessee
Infantry. Shippenburg: White Mane Publishing Company, Inc,
1996.
Gragg, Rod. The Illustrated Confederate Reader. New York: Harper
& Row, 1989.
Goss, Warren Lee. Recollections of a Private: A Story of the Army
of the Potomac. New York, Thomas Y Crowell & Co, 1890.
Hutton, Paul Andrew. John Worsham: One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry.
New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
Johnston, David E. The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil
War. Radford: Commonwealth Press, Inc., 1980.
Logsdan, David R. Eyewitness at the Battle of Fort Donelson.
Nashville: Kettle Mills Press, 1998.
Logsdon, David R. Eyewitness at the Battle of Shiloh. Nashville:
Kettle Mills Press, 1994.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Death of a spy
During the spring and summer of 1863 Generals Bragg and Rosecrans were heavily involved in gathering information about the other. Spies permeated middle Tennesee as each general worked to outthink the other. Archie McLaurin of the 7th Mississippi offers a letter explaining the a pitfall of being a spy.
Camped near Murfreesburo Tenn Dec 27th 1862
Dear Sister
I seat my self to answer your letter that I received a few days ago but did not have an opportunity of answering it right off. There is no news of importance. I write only I am in fine health and enjoying myself fine. It is a very dry Christmas; not so very dry either for it has been raining pretty all the time. It is raining now. We have 3 days rations cooked in our haver sacks. We are expecting every hour to have to go out on pickett. There is heavy cannonading in the direction of Nashville. Well Mary I was down in town yesterday and saw two men taken out to be shot for deserting and I saw one hanged. The one that was hanged was a spy. His wife was in the guard house with him when he was brought out. He asked the officers if they would let his wife have his body to take home and bury. They told him that they would. Then he asked then if they would let her have that wagon to carry him in. They told him they would. He then told them all goodbye and the wagon started off. When they were going through town he sang all the way. When they tied the rope he jumped off before they knocked the scaffle (scaffold) from under him. Old Bragg had several more shot yesterday for deserting. You wrote to me to know what kind of a place Murfreesburo is. It is a tolerably large place but it looks very bad now. It is twice as large as Brookhaven. There is some of the prettiest girls in the country here that you most ever saw with the exception of one. They are secesh girls to. I saw three yesterday that talked but right you need not think because I am bashful at home that I am so here for I am getting to be as bold as you please. I received a letter from Nancy yesterday. I also received one from Mag the same day that I received yours. I want you to write all about the exhibibition and tell me how Jenny and Dutch performed and tell me too whether Guince has rode my colt or not. Tell Jenny that I want her to write to me. Well I will close as it is getting late. Excuse the mistakes. Give my love to all the family and receive a portion for yourself. From your brother.
Hugh McLaurin
Camped near Murfreesburo Tenn Dec 27th 1862
Dear Sister
I seat my self to answer your letter that I received a few days ago but did not have an opportunity of answering it right off. There is no news of importance. I write only I am in fine health and enjoying myself fine. It is a very dry Christmas; not so very dry either for it has been raining pretty all the time. It is raining now. We have 3 days rations cooked in our haver sacks. We are expecting every hour to have to go out on pickett. There is heavy cannonading in the direction of Nashville. Well Mary I was down in town yesterday and saw two men taken out to be shot for deserting and I saw one hanged. The one that was hanged was a spy. His wife was in the guard house with him when he was brought out. He asked the officers if they would let his wife have his body to take home and bury. They told him that they would. Then he asked then if they would let her have that wagon to carry him in. They told him they would. He then told them all goodbye and the wagon started off. When they were going through town he sang all the way. When they tied the rope he jumped off before they knocked the scaffle (scaffold) from under him. Old Bragg had several more shot yesterday for deserting. You wrote to me to know what kind of a place Murfreesburo is. It is a tolerably large place but it looks very bad now. It is twice as large as Brookhaven. There is some of the prettiest girls in the country here that you most ever saw with the exception of one. They are secesh girls to. I saw three yesterday that talked but right you need not think because I am bashful at home that I am so here for I am getting to be as bold as you please. I received a letter from Nancy yesterday. I also received one from Mag the same day that I received yours. I want you to write all about the exhibibition and tell me how Jenny and Dutch performed and tell me too whether Guince has rode my colt or not. Tell Jenny that I want her to write to me. Well I will close as it is getting late. Excuse the mistakes. Give my love to all the family and receive a portion for yourself. From your brother.
Hugh McLaurin
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