USA > Tennessee > The military annals of Tennessee. Confederate. First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, V.1 > Part 24
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From Union City the troops were marched over to Missouri, leaving on Aug. 1, 1861. An incident of this march will illustrate the mischief-loving spirit of the soldiers. It was very trying on a citizen to encounter a body of troops on the march. They would ply him with ridiculous questions, and make him the butt of rude humor and keen wit. On this occasion, near Tiptonville, a citizen, dressed in "store clothes" and wearing a "beaver," or silk hat, came riding down the road through the Sixth Regiment, which was then resting. He was an old man. The boys plied him with all manner of questions and addressed to him all sorts of absurd warnings and advice, but he rode on without turning his head to the right or to the left, or apparently paying the slightest attention to the rude jokes flung at him. Finally one of the boys stepped out into the road and said: "Mister, did you ever see a bald-headed woman?" The old fellow reined up his horse, took off his hat and scratched his head in meditation, and then, looking at the quizzical soldier with an earnest and curious expression, replied: "Well, stranger, I'll be -- if I believe I ever did!" This "raised" the regiment, and the old man rode on amid shouts of laughter. He was evidently in earnest, as nothing said before had disturbed his equanimity. But that question seemed to strike and to arouse him. By the way, who ever did see a bald-headed woman?
The campaign in Missouri was only remarkable for "hard-tack " and hard drill- ing, enlivened by camp jokes and an occasional flood that inundated the camps and gave the boys experience in constructing ditches.
The sound of hostile guns was first heard at Hickman, Ky. A Federal gun- boat shelled the troops as they landed en route for Columbus. This incident only made the boys more eager to meet the enemy. At Columbus the regiment ranked high for discipline and skill, but did not participate in the battle of Bel- mont, although eager for the fray and at one time under orders to embark for the field of battle across the river.
A false alarm during the occupation of Columbus demonstrated that the Sixth Regiment was thoroughly well in hand, it being one of the first, if not the first, to
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man the line of works. This alarm was caused by the unloading of lumber at midnight from cars about a mile beyond the lines. The sound was very much like that of fire-arms, and Lieut .- col. Jones, who had seen service in Mexico, re- buked some of the boys who doubted the character of the noise, exclaiming indignantly, "Haven't I heard musketry before?"
After the evacuation of Columbus no halt of any length was made until Cor- inth, Miss., was reached. Several weeks, however, were consumed in the retreat, short halts being made at Union City and Humboldt. The train conveying the Sixth Regiment from Humboldt to Corinth made no halt at Jackson, and thus it was one of the first to go into camp at Corinth.
An anecdote of this movement may prove amusing. In Company H there was a venerable man, Uncle Horace Bledsoe, who had served through the Mexican War, and was therefore an oracle on military matters among the younger men of the regiment. When the evacuation of Columbus occurred he was furloughed, and came direct home to Jackson. He was in that city during the days of sus- pense incident to the retrograde movement. The old citizens were in the habit of meeting frequently at night in Dr. J. B. Malone's drug-store, to discuss the sit- uation. They were dubbed by the soldiers "our home generals," and each one was given a certain rank, and were duly promoted from time to time by the boys as news of their wise plans and prognostications were reported in camp. This retrograde movement greatly puzzled these old gentlemen, and one night during its pendency Uncle Horace Bledsoe was invited to meet with them. He did so, and after the "home generals" had discussed the situation and suggested no end of wise hypotheses and wiser campaigns, Uncle Horace was called on, as a soldier experienced in war, to give his views- in other words, explain, if he could, what it all meant. Uncle Horace assumed the solemnity and wisdom that the occasion demanded, and, amid dead silence and profound attention, gravely said: "I entlemen, it is my opinion that Beauregard intends to make a faint on Union City ; but if he don't faint on Union City or Humboldt, I'll be - if he don't faint at Corinth!" Uncle Horace was wiser than he knew, for the army came very near " fainting at Corinth" a few months later, for a fact. Uncle Horace still lives, the brave soldier of two wars, a kind old man respected by his neigh- bors for integrity and honest industry.
The following changes were made in company officers about this time, as far as I have been able to obtain the facts: Lieut. Burton, Co. A, resigned, Jas. Stanley elected; Lieut. Locey resigned, and H. N. Sherrill elected in Co. C .; Capt. Brooks, Co. D, resigned, and George Persons elected; Jas. Elrod, Second Lieut. Co. G, resigned; Alex. Brown, John C. Greer, and John McDonald, Lients. of Co. H, resigned, and Thos. Hardgrave, Geo. Taylor, and Joe Kendrick, elected instead; Adjt. Thomas resigned, and Thos. A. Henderson, of Co. H, appointed; J. B. Col- lingsworth, Co. I, died, and W. B. Mckinney promoted to Captain, and W. C. Copeland elected Lieutenant. Subsequently to the above events Lieut. George Taylor, of Co. H, died, and Dr. Lafayette Jackson was elected Lieut .; John H. Howard was elected Third Lieut. in Co. H, vice Lieut. Jackson promoted. There were a number of promotions from the regiment during the first six or eight months of its service. Alex. W. Campbell, of Company H, was promoted to Lieut .- col. before leaving Jackson, and assigned to duty as Inspector-general of State troops. A few months later he was made Colonel of the Thirty-third Regiment, 14
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which he commanded in several engagements. He was subsequently captured, and on being exchanged was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-general, and as- signed to duty under Gen. Forrest.
Alexander J. Brown, First Lieutenant of Co. II, was promoted to be Colonel of the Fifty-fifth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers. He died in a few months, of consumption. He was an officer of promise. Robert B. Hurt, jr., of Co. H, was promoted to be Adjutant of the Fifty-fifth Regiment. Joseph B. Caruthers, of Co. H, was made Captain of heavy artillery. John H. Howard, Lieutenant of Co. H, was promoted to be Captain in the Fifty-fifth Regiment Tennessee Volun- teers. Dr. L. F. Jackson, Lieutenant of Co. H, was promoted to be Assistant Surgeon of Confederate States Army .. Thomas J. Caruthers, of Co. H, was made First Lieutenant of heavy artillery. Thomas Henderson, of Co. H, was appoint- ed to be Adjutant of the regiment at Columbus. W. E. Butler, of Co. H, was promoted to be Second Lieutenant of light artillery. John W. Campbell, jr., of Co. H, was promoted to Gen. Cheatham's staff. Robert Gates, private in Co. H, was promoted to be Second Lieutenant in Confederate States Army, and assigned to duty with the light artillery. John G. Mann, of Co. G, was promoted to the staff of Gen. Cheatham, with the rank of Captain of Engineers, serving through- out the war. James Miller, of Co. G, was transferred to the Quartermaster's Department, with the rank of Captain. W. P. Miller, of Co. G, was placed on Gen. Cheatham's staff as private secretary, with the rank of Third Lieutenant. Hayes Simmons, of Co. G, was promoted to be Assistant Surgeon of an Alabama regiment. Robert Sterling, of Co. G, was promoted to be Captain of heavy ar- tillery, and later to the rank of Lieutenant-colonel Confederate States Army. Lient. Thomas Locey, of Co. C, was promoted to be Captain in the Thirty-third Regiment. James Givens, of Co. C, was promoted to be Commissary, with the rank of Captain.
There were other promotions, but the writer has not been able to get all the facts on this point.
The battle of Shiloh, fought on April 6 and 7, 1862, was the first engage- ment participated in by the Sixth Regiment. It was in Cheatham's division, Polk's corps, and moved to the battle-field from Bethel. Col. W. H. Stephens left a siek-bed to join the regiment, and commanded the brigade on the first day, thongh hardly able to remain in his saddle. The regiment was gallantly com- manded by Lieut .- col. Jones. It was under a more or less heavy artillery fire for an hour before it was thrown into the battle, and lost several men. This was a very trying ordeal for troops never before under fire, but they bore themselves with firmness. J. M. Cartmell, of Co. H, was the first man wounded in the regi- ment. He was shot in the face by a piece of shell, destroying his left eye, from which he was a great sufferer for years, and still is at times. The regiment marched all the day previous to the battle and late into the night, and was in line of battle from daylight to 10 o'clock on the morning of the battle, and was moved from the center to the left wing and back several times during the morning, and was thoroughly blown when the time came for action. The regi- ment was ordered to charge a battery on its right front about 11 o'clock A.M. To do this an open field, or an old orchard, had to be crossed. The regiment went at the work in gallant style, but when about one hundred yards from the battery a terrible fire was opened on it from an ambuscade of infantry that was
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concealed in the woods around the field in somewhat the shape of the letter V. The regiment charged into the very jaws of the V, and the men fell like grass before the sickle. The dead lay in line of battle, as if on dress-parade. Over two hundred and fifty men were placed hors de combat in less than as many sec- onxds. The order to fall back was given, but misunderstood by many. The re- sult was, some fell back to the woods and re-formed, while others laid down in the open field, exposed to the enemy and in peril from their own comrades; others dashed ahead, and were killed or captured. Over the heads of those ly- ing down in the field the shot and shell of Smith's Confederate battery plowed the air, and into and over them the Federal battery and the Federal infantry poured a terrific fire. Truly it may be said that in this desperate charge the im- mortal Sixth marched
Into the jaws of death, Into the mouth of hell.
Col. W. H. Stephens, who commanded the brigade, had his horse shot under him in this charge, and his son William, who was on his staff, was severely wounded. Lieut .- col. Jones was slightly wounded in the arm, and his horse shot. Gen. Cheatham was shot in the ear while leading the charge. The following company officers were wounded: Captains Newsom, Wollard, and Johns; Lieu- tenants Hardgraves, Winchester, Walker, Kendrick, and Mathes. Officers killed: Captains Person and Freeman; Lieutenants Parish, Smith, and Jackson-all noble, brave, and true sons of chivalry. Color-bearer George Black was killed, and every member of the color-gnard, twelve in number, were killed or wounded. The flag was shot to shreds, and the staff was struck twenty-six times. It fell to the ground six times, but each time was secured by a member of the guard, and again waved on high. When the last of the guard fell, the tattered banner, red with the blood of the brave guard that lay dead and dying around it, was seized by private Posey, of Co. A, and brought off in gallant style. Posey was promoted to be Color-bearer, with the rank of Lieutenant, for his bravery, and later in the war fell bearing it to the front in battle. Many of the flower of the regiment fell in this charge, privates and officers; and I regret that I cannot oh- tain all their names, and thus embalm names, as well as heroic deeds, in these pages devoted to the prowess of Tennesseans in war.
The following anecdote is told by Dr. Frank B. Hamilton on himself: The Doctor was a private in Co. C. During the terrific artillery fire before the charge through the field and peach-orchard, the regiment was lying down, and hugging the ground very affectionately. A cannon-ball struck the ground be- tween Dr. Hamilton and John Casey, throwing dirt over both. The Doctor, with much vigor, jerked himself away from where the ball struck, when John Casey exclaimed: " Frank, lie down right over the hole, do ye mind, for the ugly bastes niver strike twice in the same place!" The Doctor says he took John's advice then and afterward with good results.
The regiment was relieved from its terrible environments by an advance on its right and left, which forced the Federals to fall back. Shortly after this, and not far to the right. Prentiss's brigade of Federals surrendered: and but a few hundred yards to the right, a little later, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston was killed. During the remainder of the day (Sunday) the regiment was well han- dled by Maj. George C. Porter, and was in action very nearly all the evening,
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steadily advancing. Late in the evening, John W. Campbell, who had tempora- rily joined the regiment, was killed while gallantly advancing under the orders of Capt. John Ingram, who commanded a portion of the regiment that had be- come detached from the main body.
On Monday, the 7th, the regiment was in line of battle by daylight, under Lieut .- col. Jones, but was not seriously engaged until about 11 d'elock. At that hour it was prominent in repelling a heavy assault on the Confederate center, and lost a number of its best men. During the remainder of the day it was engaged more ' or less severely, at one time driving the enemy in its front a half mile. There was a pond in front of one of the positions held by the regiment through which it drove the enemy twice, and was in turn forced back. A number of the best men in the regiment fell in and near this fatal pond, whose waters were dyed with the blood of the brave. The regiment withdrew from the tield late in the evening, and as if on parade. In perfect order it fell back to Corinth with the army, where it went into camp on Wednesday, April 9th. At Shiloh it lost in killed, wounded, and missing about five hundred men. At Corinth, May 15th, the year for which the regiment enlisted expired. With few exceptions the officers and men reen- listed, and the regiment reorganized. Col. Stephens, whose health continued very feeble, declined to stand for reelection, as did Lieut .- col. Jones also. Col. Jones, however, continued off and on with the army, and rendered very valuable and gallant service on several occasions, both in camp and field. The new field organ- ization was as follows: George C. Porter, Colonel; W. M. R. Johns, Lieutenant- colonel; J. L. Harris, Major. There were also a good many changes in the com- pany organizations. Co. A: R. C. Williamson elected Captain; J. B. Stanley, Lieutenant. Co. B: J. B. Wilder, Captain; Shep. Hay, First Lieutenant; Newt. Curry, Second Lieutenant. Co. C: Tom Rains, Captain; R. A. Mays, First Lieu- tenant; Nathan Butler, Second Lieutenant; W. C. Marshall, Third Lieutenant. Co. D: R. M. Sharp, Captain. Co. E: Joe Brown, Captain; Wm. Watt, First Lieutenant; I. B. Day, Second Lieutenant; Tom Dudney, Third Lieutenant. Co. F: Wm. Bray, Captain; Ed. Mollison, First Lieutenant; Tom Shannon, Second Lieutenant. Co. G: E. B. Mcclanahan, Captain; W. A. Busby, First Lieutenant; W. G. Cole, Second Lieutenant. Co. H: A. B. Jones, Captain; T. M. Gates, First Lieutenant; James E. Hughes, Second Lieutenant; R. HI. Fenner, Third Lieu- tenant. Co. I: James Lemmons, Second Lieutenant; W. E. Dungan, Third Lieu- tenant; soon thereafter W. C. Copeland became Captain by promotion. Co. K: E. C. Harbert, Captain; Johnston Penn, First Lieutenant; Wm. Ingram, Second Lieutenant; Robert Weatherly, Third Lieutenant. Co. L: M. D. Merriweather, Captain; L. B. Everman, First Lieutenant; S. L. Ganaway, Second Lieutenant; S. B. Person, Third Lieutenant. Nearly all the old officers not reelected joined other commands, and several of them became distinguished as officers in the cav- alry service. Notably among this class was Capt. John F. Newsom, who, as Col- onel of a cavalry regiment under Forrest, became distinguished for skill and dar- ing; and Lieut. Tom Parham, who, as Major of cavalry, served with credit. There were a goodly number of others who became more or less distinguished in cavalry and artillery, and some in other infantry regiments, but the facts are not at my command.
The regiment did frequent duty on the picket line around Corinth, and was in several hot skirmishes. In these small engagements it made a reputation for dash
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and steadiness, and for sustaining casualties, that clung to it throughout the war. In every skirmish it lost brave men, and in one in front of Corinth its loss was as severe as that of some regiments at Shiloh. This fatality in the matter of losses was confirmed by a railroad accident botween Mobile and Montgomery, while the army was being transferred from Tupelo to Chattanooga, which resulted in the ' regiment losing five or six men killed and twenty or thirty wounded.
In the camp-life at Corinth, and subsequently at Tupelo, the regiment lost a num- ber of men from sickness and discharges for ill health. Here for the first time the real hardships of war settled down upon the regiment, to be lifted but seldom from thence to the last sad day when hope departed, and memory with its stores of events in camp and field, its bitter hardships, its bloody graves, and its blighted homes, assumed dominion over the hearts of Southern soldiers. The regiment bore up splendidly in the march into Kentucky from Chattanooga, distinguishing itself in several skirmishes, and adding greatly to its fame at Perryville. At Harrodsburg John M. Withers was elected Third Lieutenant of Co. G. Very vivid recollections were preserved among the boys of the hospitality and good cheer of "old Kentucky home." The beautiful women met all along the way, and their kindly smiles, were also cherished memories. More than one brave fellow lost his heart-and sadder still, lost his life-before opportunity came to find it again. The sweet and touching ro- mances that clustered like roses full of fragrance about this and other marches would make volumes. The battle of Perryville was fought on the 8th of October, 1862. The regiment was commanded by Col. Porter, the brigade by Gen. Maney, the division by Gen. Cheatham. The position of Cheatham's division in the line of battle was second in responsibility to that of no division in the army. Opposed to it was the flower of the Federal army, among which were three regiments and a battery of regulars. The Sixth Regiment, with others of its brigade, was under heavy fire for an hour before it was ordered forward. There is no ordeal so trying upon human courage as standing idle under heavy artillery fire. But the Sixth and its companion regiments stood firm as veterans on this occasion. Finally the battery or batteries in front were ordered taken. To reach them an open field or fields about a mile in extent had to be crossed under a well-directed and terrific fire from the battery and supporting infantry. The charge was superbly made by Maney's brigade, with the Sixth Regiment in the center. They moved forward as if on dress-parade, slowly at first, then double-quick, then with a rush and a yell. The battery was taken, many of the gunners being bavoneted at their guns. This splendid charge of Maney's brigade and Cheatham's division won the ad- miration of the foe; and an officer of the Federal army afterward described it as the most perfect line, and the steadiest, most brilliant charge he ever saw, con- cluding that the regiments making it must have been regulars, and the pick of the Confederate army. The loss of the regiment in this battle was about thirty killed, and about one hundred and fifty wounded and missing. It had not fully recovered from heavy loss at Shiloh and Corinth, and did not number at Perryville near so many men. In proportion to numbers engaged, however, the loss at Perryville was as heavy as at Shiloh. I should add that after taking the splendid battery mentioned-which was composed of nine rifle guns, and was turned over to Capt. Turner -- the brigade swept on over two other lines of the enemy and captured another battery. Gen. Jackson, of the Federal army, was killed in this charge, and members of the Sixth Regiment saw him dead on the field. There was
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hardly in the war a more brilliant charge than this. One of the coolest things was done by Lieut. Everman, who commanded Co. L, Sixth Regiment. During the terrific artillery fire of the morning he deliberately took notes in a small book while fully exposed to the enemy's sharp-shooters, who scarred the ground around him with bullets. This was his invariable habit. During this battle the Sixth Regiment had several Color-bearers killed. At one time, when the battle was heaviest, the Color-bearer fell: there was a momentary hesitancy about snatching the flag from the dead soldier's hands, and for a moment it lay on the ground -- but only for a moment, when Ed. Quinn, private in Co. H, threw down his gun and grasped the fallen banner, and running about fifteen paces in front waved it fh- riously, and shouted: "Come on, my brave patriots; follow your fag!" Inspired with renewed impulse by this gallant'example, the line rushed forward with an impetus invincible, and drove the enemy in great confusion. But the brave Quinn only went a short distance before his work was done. He fell dead leading the regiment, and so firm was his grasp that it was with difficulty the flag-staff was wrenched from his nerveless hands. C. C. Wood, of Co. B, next seized the colors, and afterward bore them gallantly on several fields.
The story is told on Lieut. W. C. Marshall, of Co. C, that he brought off from the field of Perryville blankets enough to keep the regiment warm during the winter. The retreat from Kentucky was full of hardships and peril. The route lay for the most part amid sterile mountains and a wild and hostile population. The little that the country afforded in the way of supplies was consumed by the troops in front. It was common for a regiment to be halted by a corn-field and from it draw their rations for a day. Parched corn became a staple article. The supply of water at times was meager, and thus the pangs of hunger were intensi- fied by the more trying pangs of thirst. There was inuch suffering, and the Sixth Regiment bore its full share. Several men were lost during this retreat, and their fate remains a dark mystery to this day. It was almost certain death to straggle, or to leave the column for foraging. The mountains were alive with bush-whack- ers, and many a brave soldier who dropped out of line from fatigue, or wandered off for food, or was left behind in some rude hut because of desperate wounds, was killed or murdered by these "home-guards" or outlaws. Many a quiet valley and singing stream amid the gloomy mountains of East Kentucky could tell stories of ernelty and crime as shocking as any which in earlier times gave to the State the sobriquet of the "dark and bloody ground." A very sad and shocking case comes to mind. Wiley Wood, of Co. G, Sixth Regiment, was wounded at Perryville, and during the retreat fell out of the wagon in which he was being conveyed, as it passed over a very rough piece of road, and broke his leg. He had to be left at the village of New London. As soon as the army passed the bush-whackers en- tered the town, and taking the desperately wounded man out hanged him to a tree until he was dead. They then filled his body with bullet-holes, and left it as food for birds of prey. Some brave, gentle woman, however, gave poor Wiley's remains decent sepulture; and his ashes, like many thousands of brave and noble Southerners, sleep far from home in quiet vales and beside still waters. His grave, like theirs, is now unknown; but nature keeps watch over them and sings her requiems above their dust, and the God of Moses and of the true and brave in all the ages knows where their ashes rest.
The army, after a short halt at Knoxville, marched into Middle Tennessee, and
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concentrated at Murfreesboro. A few days before the battle of Murfreesboro the Sixth and Ninth regiments were consolidated. It was Greek joined to Greek, both regiments gaining by the association of splendid courage tried in the fire of battle and in the crucible of hardships, and proved pure gold. The officers took position according to rank and date of commissions. Col. Hurt, of the Ninthi, be- came Colonel of the consolidated regiment; Lient .- col. Buford, of the Ninth, Lieu- tenant-colonel; Maj. J. B. Wilder, of the Sixth, became Major; and Lieut. Thom- as Henderson, of the Sixth, remained Adjutant. There were a number of changes in the company organizations, and several old officers were thrown out and ordered to report to Gen. Pillow, chief of the recruiting service. The Sixth and Ninth brought on the battle of Murfreesboro, fighting and falling back from La Vergne before the Federal army. In this perilous duty they were engaged a day and a half, under artillery or infantry fire constantly, and occasionally repulsing a charge of cavalry. On the morning of the battle, December 31st, the regiment was on the extreme left, and was early, but only slightly, engaged. Owing to its arduous duty in bringing on the battle, it was, with its brigade, held in reserve, and was thus moved from point to point during the engagement, and frequently, though briefly, engaged. It was here again subjected to the terrible ordeal of remain- ing comparatively inactive for hours, during which it was frequently under very heavy artillery fire; but it fully sustained its high character for steadiness, and its losses were by no means inconsiderable. In this battle the regiment was com- manded by Col. Hurt and Lieut .- col. Buford. After this, however, Col. Hurt was forced by ill health to retire, and Col. Porter resumed command of the regiment. With a single exception-Franklin-Col. Porter or Lieut .- col. Buford command- ed the regiment in all other battles to the close of the war. Among the gallant officers killed at Murfreesboro was Capt. Robert Sharper.
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