MR. CARLEY, a Minneapolis newspaperman, is a member of the Twin Cities Civil War Roundtable and the autlwr of a brief history of Minnesota in the Civil War, published in 1961.

The SECOND MINNESOTA in the WEST

KENNETH CARLEY

SO GREAT is the reputation of the Fffst were mustered in on the same day, June Minnesota Regiment that people who have 26, and there was quite a bit of jockeying not studied the role of the state's troops for position before Ramsey agreed that the in the Civil War tend to assume that all Chatfield company should be designated the really heroic battles were fought by "A" and the Rochester group "B." ^ that gallant band. It is unfortunate that The energetic Bishop, who was eventual­ the truly brilliant record of this regiment ly to command the Second Minnesota and has tended to obscure the deeds of other become its chief historian, was a former worthy Minnesota units. Notable among railroad man turned newspaper editor. At those deserving greater fame, in this writer's the time of his enlistment, he was working opinion, is the Second Minnesota, which on the Chatfield Democrat. Markham, a served a four-year hitch in the Western hard fighter who suffered a leg wound at theater of the Civil War and came to be Mill Springs, was later dismissed from the rated among the better units in that arena. service and then reinstated.^ Its reputation rests largely on its steadiness Appointed colonel of the regiment was in three battles — at Mill Springs, Ken­ fifty-one-year-old Horatio P. Van Cleve, a tucky; Chickamauga, ; and Mission­ patriarchal West Pointer who lived at Long ary Ridge near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Prairie. A kindly, unostentatious man, he This article attempts to describe the Sec­ proved a good fighter. The lieutenant ond's part in those battles, placing special colonel was James George of Wasioja, a emphasis on the lesser-known encounter at storytelling veteran of the Mexican War. Mill Springs. Simeon Smith was chosen major, but he The Second Regiment was mustered in June, 1861, after Governor Alexander Ram­ ' See Wilfiam W. Folwell, A History of Minne­ sey received a second call for troops. Its sota, 2:88-91 (St. Paul, 1961); Alexander Ramsey to Bishop, May 2, 1861, as well as a series of letters nucleus was composed of "overflow" com­ exchanged by Ramsey, Bishop, and Horatio P. Van panies raised for service with the First. Cleve between August 1 and 31, 1861, all in the Both Company A (Captain Judson W. Bishop Papers in the Minnesota Historical Soci­ ety. Bishop letters mentioned below are also in this Bishop) from Chatfield and Company B collection. (Captain William Markham) from Roches­ ^A sketch of Bishop's career may be found in ter, for example, were originally intended the St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 20, 21, 1917; on Markham, see Rochester Post-Bulletin, October 26, for the First Regiment. These two units 1961.

258 MINNESOTA History AN artist's view of the Second Minnesota storming Missionary Ridge was soon replaced by short, combative of the First, too, most of the men of the Alexander Wilkin, a Mexican War veteran Second began their duty at frontier forts.^ who had fought wth the Fffst Minnesota The entffe regiment assembled for the at BuU Run.3 first time early in October, 1861, when the The other eight companies of the Second six companies garrisoning Forts Abercrom­ were composed of soldiers from Dodge, bie, Ripley, and Ridgely joined the other Ramsey, NicoUet, Washington (mostly four at Fort Snelling. Sporting new blue lumbermen). Brown, Blue Earth, and unfforms instead of the makeshfft, black Goodhue counties. Thus the Second, hke and red outfits issued to the Fffst Minne­ the Fffst Minnesota, represented a sizable sota, some one thousand men of the Second cross section of the state. Like the members left Fort SneUffig by steamboat on the morning of October 14 "under orders for ' Warren Upham and Rose B. Dunlap, Minnesota Washington, D.C."^ BiograpJiies, 251, 804 {Minnesota Historical Col­ As far as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they lections, vol. 14); T. M. Newson, Pen Pictures of traveled much the same water-and-rail St. Paul, 176 (St. Paul, 1886). * The material in this and succeeding paragraphs, "glory road" the Fffst Minnesota had taken as weU as information on the Second not otherwise four months earher. This included a march documented specificaUy in this article, is dravsoi through St. Paul to the cheers of specta­ from the two principal accounts of the regiment prepared by Bishop: Story of a Regiment, Being a tors, a Mississippi River "excursion" with Narrative of tlie Service of the Second Regiment (St. enthusiastic welcomes at towns en route, Paul, 1890); and "Narrative of the Second Regi­ and a raihoad ride from La Crosse, \Ms- ment," in Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, 1:79-122 (St. Paul, 1892). consin, to Chicago. There the Second "en­ ° See John W. Harris, "Uniforming the First Min­ camped" in the \ast ^^"igwam, the large nesota," in Gopher Historian, 17:14 (Spring, 1963); temporary building in which .\brahani Lin­ WiUiam Biicher, A Drummer-Boy's Diary, 11 (St. coln had been nominated for the presidenc\- Paul, 1889). The quotation is from Bishop, Story of a Regiment, 26. in 1860.

June 1963 259 From Chicago the men of the Second open flatcars in a cold rainstorm, the regi­ went by train to Pittsburgh, where they ment arrived at 4:00 A.M. and set up camp. arrived on October 18. They were escorted The men remained at Lebanon Junction to a hall in which were long tables "loaded for several weeks, guarding raihoad down wdth eatables of every description, bridges, doing picket duty, and drilling. and . . . waited on by the most beautiful The campground was damp and unhealth- and patriotic young ladies of the city."^ ful, and the sick list got rather long.'' Spffits thus buoyed up were soon dashed Meanwhile, a reorganization of the Un­ when the Minnesotans learned that their ion army was taking place that was to give destination had been changed from the na­ the regiment new leaders. On November tion's capital to . This meant that 15, General Don Carlos Ruell, a methodical the Second would not become part of the soldier, replaced Sherman and organized Army of the Potomac after all and would the troops in Kentucky into the Army of not fight alongside the First Minnnesota, as the Ohio. Early in December, General some of the men may have hoped. What­ George H. Thomas, a stolid Virginian who ever name the regiment made for itself had cast his lot with the Union, assumed would have to be won in the West. command of the First Division of Buell's army. With two Ohio regiments — the WHILE the Second Minnesota was moving Ninth and the Thirty-fifth — the Second eastward. General William T. Sherman, Minnesota became the Third Brigade of then commander of the Department of the this division. The Minnesota men were Cumberland at Louisville, was howling for to enjoy a long and pleasant association two hundred thousand men to hold Ken­ with these Ohio troops. The soldiers of the tucky against what he thought was a seri­ Ninth Ohio were known as "the bully ous Confederate threat to drive through Dutchmen" because they were almost en­ to the Ohio River. Sherman, who was not tirely Germans from Cincinnati, few of yet the able leader he would later become whom could speak English. The Ninth's under General Ulysses S. Grant, apparent­ colonel, Robert L. McCook, became the ly was hoodwinked by the bold maneuvers Third Brigade's commander. of General , head of On December 8, 1861, the Second was the Confederate's Western Department. relieved at Lebanon Junction by the Third Actually, Johnston had an undermanned Minnesota Regiment. "We were as much defense line from Columbus, Kentucky, on rejoiced when we broke camp as when we the Mississippi all the way east to the Mill left Abercrombie, for we were heartily sick Springs area, where Confederate General of the place, and the business of guarding Felix K. Zollicoffer held a position in front Bridges," one of the Second's soldiers wrote of the . in a letter that appeared in the Roclrester Although Sherman's demands for large City Post of December 28, 1861. reinforcements gave rise to charges that he was mentally deranged and should be re­ THE SECOND moved by rail thirty-seven placed (he soon was), some troops—^in­ miles to Lebanon, Kentucky, where General cluding the Second Minnesota—^were sent Thomas had his headquarters. This was to him. The Minnesota regiment enjoyed the beginning of the regiment's three-year "a delightful voyage down the Ohio River" service under "Pap" Thomas, who would be and landed at Louisville on October 22. in turn its division, corps, and army com­ Sherman ordered Colonel Van Cleve to mander. The Second came to admire the proceed to Lebanon Junction some thffty deliberate, hard-hitting Thomas both as a miles south on the Louisville and Nashville ° Bircher, Diary, 13. Railroad. After a disheartening journey on ' Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:80.

260 MINNESOTA History WESTERN Kentucky and Tennessee, showing strategic railroads (hatched lines) man and as a soldier. By doing its job well, Somerset, Kentucky, some fifteen miles the regiment helped to further Thomas' northeast of Beech Grove and was com­ illustrious career. manded by Brigadier General Albin F. Because Buell was under pressure from Schoepf. Washington to invade eastern Tennessee, Thomas' marchers had little difficulty as where much Union sentiment existed, he long as they stayed on the improved road rather lukewarmly agreed late in December to Columbia, Kentucky, but when they that Thomas could advance in that direc­ turned eastward toward Somerset on a tion. On New Year's Day, 1862, Thomas dirt road, it began to rain and the going moved southward out of Lebanon with got increasingly tough. Each regiment had units of McCook's Third Brigade (including thirteen baggage wagons "loaded to their the Second Minnesota) and the Second roofs" and considerable other equipment. Brigade, commanded by Colonel Mahlon The rain continued for ten days, and the D. Manson of the Tenth Indiana Regiment. men had to slog through slush and mud up The Union column of some five thousand to the wagons' axles on short, tedious men was going after General Zollicoffer's marches. When the wagon trains bogged Confederates who had set up an entrenched dowm, they had to sleep without shelter. camp at Beech Grove, Kentucky, on the "This, in midwinter, was a very discourag­ north bank of the oppo­ ing experience to the volunteers then on site Mill Springs. Before taking on Zollicof­ their first campaign," wrote Bishop. Finally, fer, however, Thomas wished his First after taking eight days to cover the last Brigade to join him. It was stationed at forty miles, the column halted on January 17, 1862, at Logan's Crossroads, some nine 'Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:82. mfles north of Zollicoffer's camp.* There

June 1963 261 Thomas proposed to wait for Schoepf and General Thomas of the Confederate attack the First Brigade. and to warn the Second Minnesota and the Meanwhfle, General George B. Critten­ Ninth Ohio encamped nearby. den, Zollicoffer's superior, came up from When Colonel Van Cleve got the word, Knoxville, Tennessee, to take over com­ some of his men were seated around theff mand of the Confederates in front of campfires in a "drizzhng rain" awaiting Thomas. Crittenden had intended to move breakfast. Others were washing at a small his force back across the Cumberland brook or were "engaged in a strenuous ef­ River to a less exposed position on the fort" to get their feet into soggy boots. south bank, but the zealous ZoUicoffer Wilham Bircher, the drummer boy, talked him into staying on the north side. sounded the long roll, which one member Crittenden then decided to attack the of the Second recalled as "a monotonous Federals at Logan's Crossroads before beating on the drum that puts action into Schoepf could join Thomas.^ men and brings them into line quicker than The inexperienced Confederate troops will any other call, not excepting even the floundered northward through mud and bugle call to breakfast." Within moments darkness. Near daybreak on January 19 they stumbled on Yankee pickets out ahead " General accounts of the Mill Springs battle con­ sulted include: R. M. Kelly, "Holding Kentucky for of the Tenth Indiana's camp. The pickets the Union," in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, raised the alarm, ruining the Confederates' 1:387-392 (New York, 1870); Stanley F. Horn, chances for a surprise attack. Colonel Man- The Army of Tennessee: A Military History, 67-70 (Norman, Oklahoma, 1952); Freeman Cleaves, son at once ordered the Tenth Indiana to Rock of Chickamauga: The Life of General George meet the enemy, then rode in person a half H. Thomas, 90-100 (Norman, 1948); Kenneth P. mile to bring up the Fourth Kentucky Regi­ Williams, Lincoln Finds a General: A Military Study of the Civil War, 3:159-177 (New York, ment in support of the Hoosiers. That done, 1952). The latter is somewhat unfavorable to Manson hurried to headquarters to tell Thomas.

THE battle of Mill Springs as pictured in Harper's Weekly

262 MINNESOTA History \'an Cleve was astride his horse — a favor­ ite young mare as new to battle as liis troops — riding at the head of "mne com­ panies of die Second Minnesota Infanti\- carrying 605 muskets on theff shoulders . . plowing tlirough the mud and drip- puig rain at a dogs trot toward tlie junction witli tlie MiU Springs road." (Captain Bishop's Conipan\' A had been sent off on picket dut)' and tlius missed the fighting.) i" After marclffng about a mfle, tlie Second Minnesota fonned for battle line in a low meadow \\itli tlie Ninth Ohio to its right. Out ahead about a half mfle, the Tentli Indiana and the Fourth Kentucky' contin­ ued to do battle witli the eiiemN" in an area of hea^-^' woods and rolling fields. Mist and liea\'}- smoke reduced \isibihtv. In the confusion, Zolhcoffer, who was nearsighted, mistakenly rode up to die Fourtli Kentuck)'. He was shot and killed b\ tlie regiment's commander. Colonel Speed S. Frv. HORATIO P. Van Cleve, 1864 About tliis time the Indiana and Ken- tuck\' men began to run out of ammunition McCook, tlie brigade commander, after- so Thomas ordered tlie Second Mmnesota ward reported that "the eneiii\' and tlie and the Ninth Olffo to relieve them. The Second Minnesota were poking dieir guns Minnesotans iiioxed up in good order tlirough tlie same fence.' Van Cleve wTOte tlirough dense timber to the position near his wffe: "\\e were so close on tlieiii that tlie Mfll Springs road, ^^^lfle advancing, the one of tlie men had liis beard and wdffskers Minnesotans came upon a rafl fence over­ singed b\- tlie fii-e of one of tlie muskets; hung witli low, spreading, beech trees and, . . . another caught hold of one of dieff to their surprise as well as the eneiii\''s. muskets and jerked it tlirough tlie fence; soon were engaged ffi a hot hand-to-hand two stood and fired at each other, tlieir battle with the Coiffederates. muskets crossing; botli feU dead. It is won­ Jeremiali C. Donahower of Companv E derful, that witli so many balls fl^diig, so explained that "because of the low hanging few of us were hurt. ^^> had twelve kiUed, branches, and of the smoke from Mffin[.] and tlffrt\'-three wounded." ^^ and rebel muskets that floated below the Acting like seasoned veterans ffistead of branches we could see iiotliing five paces neophxtes in tlieff first battle, the Minne­ in front, and men therefore got dowm on sotans apparentb' outshot die Confederates, tlieir knees' to take aim below the smoke. who were liuidered by wet flintlock mus­ kets. They took an especialR- hea\"s' toU of ^"Quoted material is from Jeremiah C. Dona­ the Fffteentli Mississippi's ranks and cap­ hower, "Narrative of the Ci\'il War," 1:204, 205. tured its flag. (ZoUicoffer's body, wlffch lay 210, a diree-\"olmiie manuscript in the Minnesota Historical Societv See also a letter from John H. near tlie Second Mffiiiesota's position, also Gibbons in tlie St. Paul Press. January' 31. 1S62. \ielded up tiopliies for the men. One of "Donaliower, "Xarrative," 1:207; McCook, in them sent a St. Paul newspaper editor a Ciri7 atid Indian Wars. 2:83; ^'an Cleve, S^ Paul smaU piece of die general's coat and part Pioneer and Democrat, February 2, 1862. ''Pioneer and Democrat, Jannarx 29, 1S62. of liis undershirt.) ^-

June 1963 263 Such close-quarter fighting could not last "put down that goose," which he, of course, long. After twenty or thirty minutes the did at once. Then Thomas asked, "What Confederates were set up for a bayonet regiment do you belong to?" When the charge by the Ninth Ohio. The Rebels soldier replied that he was with the Second broke and ran, with the Federals in pur­ Minnesota, Thomas said: "Pick him up! suit. Most of Crittenden's men managed to Pick him up! You've earned him."^* get across the Cumberland, but they left For the Second Minnesota, MiU Springs their wounded, guns, supplies, and en­ was beneficial in that it built esprit de trenchments for Thomas' force. Because corps as well as increased respect between of the impossible' condition of the roads officers and men. Before the battle there and the disintegration of the enemy's forces, had been some grumbling against the regi­ the Union men made little effort to chase ment's officers. In a letter written on Janu­ the routed Confederates. ary 10 from a camp near Columbia, Joseph McAlpin of Company F commented: "I THE Battle of Mill Springs, (sometimes am sorry to say that much bad feeling exists called Logan's Crossroads, Fishing Creek, in the regiment . . . and the men are de­ Somerset, or Beech Grove) was a relatively termined to fight on their own hook, and small one; Thomas and Crittenden each not through any liking or respect for their had only about four thousand men on the officers who command them. Col. McCook, field. Nor do the casualties on both sides who commands the 9th Ohio ... is every sound particularly impressive. Thomas re­ inch a soldier, and the constant wish of the ported his loss in action as 39 killed and 2d Regiment is, that it could be com­ 207 wounded among the four regiments and manded by such a man, instead of a lady­ one unit of cavalry actively engaged; Crit­ like old gentleman, who is far more fit to tenden reported 126 killed, 309 wounded, be a Rishop than a Colonel." After the and 99 missing. ^^ battle, however, the same writer said that But, small as it was. Mill Springs was Van Cleve "has risen in the regiment's important. The battle demolished for good estimation five hundred per cent. No man the right extremity of General Johnston's could have acted with more promptness. line. Soon most of Kentucky would be in He has proved himself a true soldier; one Union hands. Mill Springs also gave the without fear, and of general good dis­ North, and especially President Abraham crimination." 1^ Lincoln, a much-needed victory after a Several other enlisted men wrote letters succession of defeats. The battle revealed, to Minnesota newspapers praising the valor too, that in Thomas the Union had a prom­ not only of Van Cleve but also of Lieu­ ising general. The Second Minnesota re­ tenant Colonel George and Major Wilkin. ceived its baptism by fire, participated The latter, however, had some reservations actively in the decisive fighting, and with about George. In a letter to his father, the other Union regiments could take just outspoken Wilkin said that "Our Lt[.] pride in its accomplishment. Throughout Col[.] George is a good deal of a blower the battle General Thomas himself sat quietly on his horse "not more than twenty "Kelly, in Battles and Leaders, 1:391; Bishop, paces" to the rear of the Second's Company in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:86; Crittenden, in G. One writer noted that Thomas "gained War Department, The War of the a favorable opinion" of the Second and "ex­ Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 1, vol. 7, pressed his confidence in its stability and p. 108 (Washington, 1882). fortitude." Another reported that after the "Donahower, "Narrative," 1:208, 209; Still­ fight General Thomas saw "one of our boys" water Messenger, February 11, 1862. " Pioneer and Democrat, January 21, February carrying a goose. Thomas told the man to 2, 1862.

264 MINNESOTA History & a pohtician. He dismounted some time be­ weU. . . . Dear father and mother! how fore we got into action & did not take any can I tell you — (but you wifl hear it be­ unnecessary risks, but behaved pretty well. fore this gets to you) — Samuel has gone He is a clever man enough & I do not want to his God. He now sleeps the sleep that what I have written mentioned." Wilkffi knows no waking on this earth, beneath also told his father that "our regiment did the cold sofl of Kentucky. He died charging better service than any other," but Colonel bravely on the enemy, from a bayonet McCook "does not of course give us more wound in the left groin, which passed than equal credit with his own regiment the through the kidneys. He died in about fif­ Ninth Ohio." 18 teen minutes after receiving the thrust. He Among the honors that came the Second died calmly and easily, without much pain. Minnesota's way after Mill Springs was a — One of the drummer boys offered to call flag presented in the name of the Loyal the doctor, but he said, 'If you caU him Ladies of the Louisvflle Soldiers Associa­ he will leave some poor fellow that will tion. Van Cleve made a gracious acknowl­ die, and it may as well be me, as any edgment. Back home, an artiflery salute one.'"i^ was fired from St. Paul's Capitol Square "in The youthful soldier added that when honor of the glorious victory of our arms at his brother "was laid in his grave, he looked the recent battle of Somerset, Kentucky." as natural as if asleep," and that he had One soldier of the Second, leaving nothing placed "a board at the head" of his brother's to chance, wrote the Sf. Paul Pioneer and grave, "with his name, regiment and com­ Democrat: "The Minnesota First has had pany cut on it." The sorrowing boy con­ the run of the St. Paul papers quite long cluded: "Oh! dear father and mother, may enough, and the Second begs to say that it God help us to bear up under this our is now theff- turn."i^ affliction. Good bye, my dear parents." But the real glory belongs to those for whom it was the last battle. The day fol­ MORE THAN a year and a half was to lowing the fight Albert Parker of Company pass before the Second Minnesota again I wrote his parents in St. Anthony of the engaged in a full-scale battle, but the regi­ death of his nineteen-year-old brother, ment saw plenty of hard marching during Samuel M. Parker. His simple letter seems that time. By the end of 1862, drummer to sum up eloquently the tragedy not only boy William Bucher, who kept a daily ac­ of the battle of Mfll Springs but of the en­ count of distances, figured that the men tire Civil War. "I am weary and lonesome had tramped 1,493 miles through Kentucky, and hardly know what to write to you," Mississippi, and Tennessee.i** Their travels Parker began. "We have had a gi-eat battle began late in February when, with the rest with ZoUicoffer's forces, one mile and a of Thomas' division they proceeded by way half from this camp, but I am safe and of the Ohio and Cumberland rivers to Nashvifle, Tennessee. Then the men " For some letters of men in the Second, see St. marched at the end of General Buell's Paul Press, January 31, February 4, 1862; Pioneer column to Shiloh, where the Second arrived and Democrat, February 7, 1862. See also Alexander Wilkin to his father, February 2, 1862 (photograph­ on April 8, the day after the Union forces ic copy) in the ^^'ilkin Papers, in the Minnesota won a narrow victory in a two-day battle Historical Society. The originals are owned by the there. The Minnesotans helped bury the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. dead on that battlefield. '''Civil and Indian Wars, 2:90 (1899); Press, January 22, 1862; Pioneer and Democrat, February The Second was next sent to Corinth, 11, 1862. Mississippi, where it took part in the slow '^Minnesota State News (St. Anthony), February 1, 1862. siege of that city, which fell on Mav 30. "'Bircher, Diary, 53. The division moved eastward during the

June 1963 265 summer, and in late September and early ing, the men went into camp at Triune, October the Minnesota regiment was Tennessee, south of Nashville, where they caught up in one of its toughest campaigns remained for the next three months or so. — a succession of forced marches north­ While the Second was doing all this mov­ ward across Tennessee and Kentucky, an ing about in 1862 a number of changes area parched by protracted drought. Buell's occurred among its leaders. During the and General Braxton spring, Van Cleve was promoted to briga­ Bragg's Confederate Army of Tennessee dier general and was mustered out of the were engaged in a race for LouisviUe. The regiment. George became its colonel; Wil­ maneuver led on October 8 to the drawn kin was named lieutenant colonel; and battle of PerryviUe, Kentucky, in which the Bishop was promoted to major. On the di­ Second took but a minor part.^" vision's eastward march during the summer, In the last two months of 1862 the Sec­ beloved and ailing General McCook of the ond Minnesota was shuffled from place to Ninth Ohio, who had been the Second's place in Tennessee in futile pursuit of Gen­ long-time brigade commander, was mur- eral John Hunt Morgan's Confederate cavalry. On December 31, stationed at Gal­ '^ Although PerryviUe halted Bragg's Kentucky latin, Tennessee, the regiment heard the invasion, it was not the Union victory it should rumbling of a cannonade at Murfreesboro have been, and Buell was replaced by General during the big battle there. The Second, Wilfiam S. Rosecrans. The latter soon reorganized his troops into the Army of the Cumberland in however, missed taking part in this en­ which the former Army of the Ohio became the counter. In March, 1863, after more march­ Fourteenth Corps.

THE rugged Chattanooga area, "gateway to Atlanta"

GEORGIA

* •' c

*'"P> Nt-° /--'>^ vV"""*' I b^

O* ^ O ? v^

To Lafayette

266 MINNESOTA History dered in cold blood by guerrfllas near De- cherd, Tennessee. Colonel Ferdinand Van Derveer of the Thirty-fifth Ohio then as­ sumed command of the brigade. Late in August, Wilkin was transferred to the Ninth Minnesota, and Bishop moved up to lieu­ tenant colonel of the Second.

ON JUNE 23, 1863, the Second Minnesota left its camp at Triune and, with the rest of the army, took part in the so-called Tul- lahoma campaign by which General Wil­ ham S. Rosecrans, with masterful strategy, maneuvered Bragg out of his strong posi­ tions in central Tennessee, forced him into Chattanooga—the gateway to Atlanta — and precipitated the battle of Chickamau­ ga. The men of the Second were "pleased by the prospect of an early conflict." One of them commented that "we believed Bragg's main army was our objective, and that the pea coffee drinkers would soon be disputing our right of way. ^^ JUDSON W. Bishop In mid-August, after much m-ging by au­ thorities in Washington, Rosecrans started armies were concentrated in the valley of his Army of the Cumberland through the northward-flowing Chickamauga Creek a mountains toward the . few miles south of Chattanooga. The two- By September 4 the aiTny was across the day battle of Chickamauga was fought on river, marching ffi three widely separated September 19 and 20 in the oak and pine columns (the northern one was some forty forests, thick underbrush, and small clear­ miles from the southern one) across iTigged ings along this creek. terrain toward Chattanooga and northern There was considerable shifting of troops Georgia. In the center was Thomas' Four­ on the night of September 18 as both teenth Corps composed of four divisions annies sought to get into position. Among (including General John M. Brannan's, to Bragg's arriving reinforcements were two which belonged Van Derveer's brigade divisions of General James Longsti-eet's consisting of the Eighty-seventh Indiana, corps from General Robert E. Lee's famed the Second Minnesota, and the Ninth and Army of Northern Virguiia. Tliirty-fifth Ohio). Early on the morning of September 19, The 's eastward march over the Second Minnesota and the rest of the mountainous country threatened Bragg's brigade halted near the Kelly house after a flank, and he moved southward out of Chat­ very chilly march northward. "We had been tanooga. Although Rosecrans thought that all night," wrote Rishop, "in moving less Bragg was retreating to Atlanta, the Con­ than five miles . . . and at eight o'clock federate commander was in reality prepar­ our brigade halted, filed out of the road ing to do battle. Rosecrans slowly realized near Kelly's house and stacked arms, while this and began bringing together his three the word was passed down the line, 'Twen­ separated corps. By September 18 the two ty minutes for breakfast.' In five minutes hundreds of little fires were kindled and hun­ 'Donahower, "Narrative," 2:75. dreds of little coffee cans were filled with

June 1963 267 water from canteens and set to bofl; in woods to Jay's sawmifl and, farther on, ten minutes the boiling coffee was lifted to Reed's bridge over Chickamauga Creek. off, the luscious bacon was nicely browned There the Second encountered General and the ever toothsome hardtack had been Brannan "who greeted us with a smfle full toasted; when comes an aid at a furious of good cheer ... and his greeting said gallop down the dusty road." He ordered plaffily, the Johnnies are in the woods the hungry men to move on again at once, ahead, hit them hard."^^ and one said that some of them "feU into At this point the brigade was on the line with a musket in one hand and a tin extreme left of the Union army's line. It cup of hot coffee in the other," drinking had been sent there in a hurry to capture "theff- coffee seasoned with the dust of the what Thomas had been informed was a road as they walked." Bishop wrote that single Confederate division isolated on the "Some desperate emergency was of course west side of the creek. Actually, Bragg was to be presumed, but to meet ff with empty trying to get between the Union army and beUies at that moment was a severe trial of Chattanooga by extending his right be- our patriotism." ^^ ^'^ Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:97; Dona­ A march of about a mile brought the hower, "Narrative," 2:106, 107. brigade to a road leading through oak == Donahower, "Narrative," 2:107.

THE action in Kelly's field, drawn from a diagram in the Donahower Papers

Timber i- r^ t Jy^- ^ .

o

\ § V \ ^ XT X in O a y ^ St X 2nd Minnesota xxx xxxxxxxxxxxv ( Ist Position)

UfiTTianned ,-^-z. "« I I Guns I Old lil o Well ChaftaTioogg "V--^ Lofqijette Road S.^

"^ Heavy T,T.ber Cl-^j^^^^^^ - < 268 MINNESOTA History yond the Union left. The men of the Second rose looking fiery red and twice as large found, said Bishop, that Bragg had "nearly as usual, through the dense smoke which the entire Confederate army" in position had settled over the battle ground," wrote opposite them.^* a correspondent in the St. Paul Press of The appearance of Brannan's division, to October 9, 1863. Bishop said that "aU was which the Second belonged, ruined the quiet as the grave; the stiUness was in fact Confederate general's plan and opened the oppressive."-^ battle of Chickamauga. Soon the Minnesota Before noon the Second Minnesota and and Thirty-fifth Ohio regiments were en­ the rest of its brigade were ordered to fall gaged in a shooting match with the enemy, in to the left of the line in Kelly's cornfield. which included some dismounted cavalry "Before us was a large, open field, bounded under famed General Nathan Bedford For­ on the north by a strip of woods," wrote rest. Van Derveer's brigade held hard in Bishop. "As we halted . . . and began an isolated position and at one point beat looking around for the enemy, whose ap­ back Confederates who had routed some pearance we expected in our front (east­ regulars on its left. ward), the air was suddenly filled with This initial action set the pattern for buffets, and a line of gray smoke appeared the fighting down the line on September along the edge of the woods to our left." 19 as both sides brought up units. Before The brigade instantly made a change of the day ended, almost all the divisions in front to face the threat from the north but both armies were involved in an inconclu­ suffered its heaviest losses of the war com­ sive fight. The action near Jay's mill cost pleting the maneuver. About a third of the the Second Minnesota, which began the regiment's number were killed or wounded battle with 384 men, 8 kiUed and 41 in the action at Kelly's field.-'^ wounded — "none missing," noted Bishop. The attacking Confederates belonged to The regiment bivouacked for the night General John C. Breckinridge's division, in a cornfield "along the wooded base of which had passed around the left flank of Missionary Ridge." ^^ the Union army to threaten the rear. The Minnesotans and others lay on the ground "SUNDAY MORNING, the 20th, the sun to fire. Timothy H. Pendergast of Company K wrote afterward that this spot "was just °* The quotation is from Bishop, in Civil and In­ about the hottest that I was ever in. I dian Wars, 1:98. For other accounts of the Second Minnesota's role in the Chickamauga campaign, see never felt more friendly to mother earth Bishop's Story of a Regiment, 91-112, and his "Van than I did there." He also said the firing Derveer's Brigade at Chickamauga," in Glimpses became so intense that the usually brave of the Nation's Struggle: Papers Read Before the Ninth Ohio men broke for the rear. He and Minnesota Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1903-08, others of the Second Minnesota helped ral­ Sixth Series, 53-74 (Minneapolis, 1909); Dona­ ly them. A St. Paul Press correspondent hower, "Narrative," 2:106-150; FolweU, Minne­ visited the field an hour after the men left sota, 2:316-321. The best general account is Glenn Tucker, Chickamauga: Bloody Battle in the West and "could trace the line the Second Minne­ (Indianapolis, 1961). sota occupied by the dead."-'^ °^ Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:99; Dona­ hower, "Narrative," 2:124. After Van Derveer's brigade and other ™ Civil and Indian Wars, 1:100. troops of Thomas' corps had repulsed at­ "Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:100. See tacks on the left, Bragg decided to have also Donahower, "Narrative," 2:129-134, for a General Longstreet assail the Union right. version differing in details. ^ Pendergast to his brother and sister, September By pure chance Longstreet struck a hole 28, 1863 (microfilm copy), in the Lewis Harrington where an entire division had been pulled Papers, in the Minnesota Historical Society. The from the general line of battle because of originals are held by Lewis H. Merrill, Hutchinson, Minnesota. See also Press, October 9, 1863. confusion in orders. The Confederates

June 1963 269 THOMAs" men repulsing the Confederate forces at Sncdgrass HiU poured through the gap and sort General .AU through the long afternoon—from Rosecrans. se\"eral other ^eneraJs (inclnd- 2:30 P.M. to about 7:3^1 PJX. — Van Der­ iog the Seccnds first commander. Van veer's brigade repulsed repeated assauhs Cle\'e)- and much of the armv's right and on the ridge bv Longstreet's men. The Sec­ center packing in the direction of Chat­ ond Minnesota took the place of the Twen­ tanooga. ty-first Ohio after ibe latter ran out of The defeat would have had more serious ammunition. Time after time the Confed­ consequences had not General Thomas at erates charged up the slope and were fbi'; jnnctnre become "the Rock of Chicla- mowed down. manga." In the earlv afternoon he collected Of the Rebel advances. Bishop wrote: as manv troops as he conld for a stand on Tlanks followed ranks in close order, mov­ Snodgrass Hill some bnndred feet above ing briskh' and braveh" toward us. It was Chickamauga VaIIe\-. After the ngbtiiig in theirs to advance; onrs. now, to stand and KeDv's field, Thomas' aid met the Sazini repeL Again the order was passed to aim Minnesota and the remainder of Van Der­ caiefolh' and mike ever\- shot corart, and veer's brigade and conducted them to Snoi- the deadly work began. The- front ranks grais Hill "General TlKMnas rode down to melted awav under the rapid fire of our men. meet us and sat upon his horse and looked th.se following bowed their heads to the the men over as we marched past him and stoim of bnflets and pressed on, some of up the slope of the ridge," said Bishop. them falling at everv step, imtiL tbe snpport- ""Undoubtedlv he was glad to see. in tbi«; ing touch crf elbows being lost, the snrvivtirs emexgencv, the regiments that, under his hesitate, halt, and then taming, start back eve. had foogfat and won Mill Spring;, and with a rush th^t carries awav to the rear all he said to the writer that he was "glad to see us in such good order.'"— ' Ci^U and Indian Wan. 1:100.

•"-|1 iMEVNESorcA History that csiiqic the bullets. . . . This was all re­ that holed up in Chattanooga to lick its peated again and again, until the slope was wounds. Bragg"s men took ovi'r scenic Look­ so c'o\crcd with di'ad and wounded men out Mountain, rising 1,500 fci>t above a that, looking from our position, wc could U-shaped cuive in the Tennessee Ui\cr hardlv sec thc ground.""" southwest of Chattanooga. Thev also forti­ Thomas" troops won> running out of am­ fied Missionary Ridge, a long range that rose munition, liowo\t>r, and the situation was abruptly several hundrctl feet abo\c tbe becoming critical. At one point the Second plain east and southeast of the citv. \\'itli its Minnesota had loss than a hundred car­ supph- linos cut, thc Union armv got onlv a tridges for 250 guns. Then, just in the nick trickle of food. of time, two brigades of General Gordon "General Bragg set his cavalry in motion Granger's Rcscr\e Corps arri\cil, permitting with orders to cut thc slender thread of hope Thomas' heroic troops to rctiri' in good order left for feeding of the Union army,"' wrote at twilight. \'an DIMV CHT'S brigade was about Donahower. Men wtnit on half and then thc last to li\i\(- tlio fi(>ld. cpiartcr rations and thousands of mules and The S(X'Ond Minnesota, led hv George, other animals died. Donahower said that the b;ul fought hard and wi-11 in throe places ft>w horses 'retained at Cfliattanooga soon o\cr the two tfiiys ami bad a hand in both became too wc;ik to walk to the usual water­ the beginning and end of the battle. Its ing place, and as the\' stood da\- after d;i\' in losses at Chickamauga were 45 killed, 103 line along their picket rope with their noses woundi'd, ami 14 captured (at KcUv's field) near the ground, growing leaner and weak­ —162 casualties out of 384 men engaged, or er, thev drew our s\-mpatb\', but we could a total of fortN-two per cent. In his olRcial do nothing for them."" He added: "The Sol- report, \'an l)cr\cor said: "It is a noticeable dit>rs in the beleaguered cit\- fared better fact that the Second Minnesota bad not a than thc horses and mules did because thev single man among thc missing or a straggler did ha\'c coflVc and a fV\\' crackers each da\', during the two davs" eugagoment.""'''' ;uid about three ounces of bacon e\or\' other In the entire blooch' battle thc Union ;n- day.""«"- my of about 58,000 men lost some 16,000 in But relief w;is on the wa\-. General Grant, killed, wounded, or missing. The Confeder­ appointed commander of the armies of the ates had about 18,500 casualties in an arnu' West, arri\'ed in Chattanooga on October of some 66,000.''- The xicttnv, less than three 23, 1863. Thomas replaced Rosecrans as months after thc bitter defeats at Gett\sburg bead of the .\nii\- of the Camiberlaiid. Sher­ ;uid X'icksburg, ga\e tbe South new hope. man took Grant's place as commander of But ("hickamaug;! was a Psrrbic triumph, the ,\nii\- of the Tennessee and brought part thanks to Thomas" stand antl Br;igg's failure of that force to Chattanooga. General Joseph to follow up offccti\eK . Hooker also arri\ed after a long jounie\- with a dct;ichment from the .\nin- of tho Po­ THE ('onfcdoratos did, bowc\tM-, besiege tomac. and cut the supph' lines of tho Union force Late in October a w;iter-land supplv line was opened again In- Minnesota"s ingenious "'Civil and Indian Wars. 1:100. William G. Le Due of the Quartermaster '" Bi.shop, in Glimj\ics of thc \iition's Strui:,iih\ Corps, and the build-up was on to dislodge 73, 74. Bragg and his forces from the nearb\' ™ jiuiies H, Siilh\'an, Chickamauga and Chat­ tanooga Battliiiclds. 24 (Niitional Park Scrxice, lioights.'" By November 11 Bi.shop could lli.itoricul Hmtdhooks No. 2,T — W'nshingtou. 1956). write to bis sister: "'The "situation" here has "Donahower, "X-unitivc," 2:167, 170. 171. considerabK- improMxl within a few da\s. "' On Le Dues role in opening the ivuto, see his Wo b;i\ c posscssiiMi now of the River from rtcLtnuit, "The Little .'^Itiunhoat th.it (.IpciuHl the "Craiktr Line,""" in Battles and Leaders, 'v(i7(<-(i7S. Bridgeport to tbe foot of Lookout Mountain.

June 1963 THE first steamer arrives at Kelley's Landing to open the Union supply line

3 miles below here and steamers are running The regiment's brigade (still under Van with supplies to that point. Rations are plen­ Derveer) was in the center of the division ty now." and formed in two hnes of three regiments The Army of the Cumberland was not each. Out in front of the whole advancing happy, however, about the way Grant brigade, with two companies deployed as planned to go after the Confederates. Sen­ skirmishers, was the Second Minnesota, led sitive over theff defeat at Chickamauga and by Bishop. At 4:00 P.M. the Minnesotans eager to make amends, Thomas' men could drove the Confederates from rifle pits on a see that if Grant had his way Sherman and secondary ridge in front of the main one and Hooker would be the "stars." On November were under fire alone there for twenty min­ 24, Hooker captured on utes until the rest of the brigade came up.^^ the Confederate left. Disgruntled, Bishop Then, in a spectacular setting, occurred told his mother in a letter written on Decem­ one of the war's most spectacular actions. ber 3, 1863, that the Second "had a fine op­ Thomas' divisions stormed the Confederate portunity to see a battle," and that the men line as ordered, but they did not stop. Ap­ had watched Hooker's attack through field parently without orders, they continued to glasses. clamber right up the steep, craggy side of The foUowing day Sherman assaulted the ridge, keeping so close to some of the Missionary Ridge from the north, but was retreating Confederates that enemy gun­ repulsed by Bragg's men. Grant then asked ners above could not fire for fear of hitting Thomas' Army of the Cumberland to make their own men. The Second Minnesota a diversionary move on the Confederate cen­ roared over the top at about the same time ter at Missionary Ridge. The men were to as several other regiments and took two of take only the enemy's first line of rifle pits the five Napoleon guns credited to Van Der­ at the foot of the formidable hill and then veer's brigade. Holder Jacobus, color ser­ stop for further orders. As the blue-coated geant of Company E, crossed lances wffh a ranks swept toward the ridge from a position Confederate color bearer over one of the on the plain approximately a mile in front cannon and then fell wounded. Six of the of it, Thomas' men numbered about twenty thousand in sixty regiments and four divi­ "^^ For accounts of the Second Minnesota at Mis­ sionary Ridge, see Bishop, Story of a Regiment, sions. 113-127; Civil and Indian Wars, 1:102-106; On the left of the swfftly moving army George A. J. Overton in Press, December 11, 1863; was the Second Minnesota's division, now Donahower, "Narrative," 2:213-239; and Kenneth Carley, Minnesota in tlie Civil War, 31-54 (Min­ commanded by General Absalom Baird. neapofis, 1961).

272 MINNESOTA History seven members of the regiment's color guard and a celebration. The Winona Republican were casualties. In a masterpiece of under­ of January 23, 1864, reported that the "la­ statement, Bishop wrote laconically a few dies of the Soldiers' Aid Society, with pru­ days after the battle: "After about 20 min­ dent forethought, had prepared ... an utes hard climbing under fire we reached excellent dinner" for the returning veterans. the top and after a severe hand to hand The writer went on to say that "The men are fighting of about ten minutes we drove the mostly a fine healthy, and robust set, who enemy off entirely."-^^ look none the worse for having passed Among the 185 men of the Second Minne­ through the iron hail of MiU Springs, Chick­ sota who charged up Missionary Ridge (150 amauga, Chattanooga, and other memorable more were on detached service), 8 were and victorious battles. . . . Brave soldiers!" killed and 31 wounded.^^ In a brief note to he concluded, "you have nobly done your his mother, dated November 30, 1863, Bish­ duty. . . . May the garlands of victory never op said: "My Regiment led the Brigade to wither upon your brows!" The Chatfield which we belong in the assault and so suf­ company was gloriously feted by its home fered more than the other Regiments." He town wffh a grand reception, a dinner, and concluded proudly, "Men never behaved a ball that lasted wefl into tbe night.'**' better in any battle." The regiment reassembled at Fort Snell­ Although some Confederates fought a de­ ing on February 29, 1864, "showing besides laying action at the top of the ridge, most of the three hundred veterans, about one hun­ them retreated hurriedly southward in the dred and fifty recruits." That afternoon the direction of Dalton, Georgia. Missionary men marched from tbe fort to St. Anthony Ridge was a decisive victory for the North, "where a grand reception, supper and ball and it set the stage for Sherman's later drive were given" at the Winslow House in the to cut the Confederacy in two. regiment's honor. "Tbe ball lasted all night," wrote Bishop, "and ended with a hot break­ THE FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS about fast at seven o'clock, after which the boys eighty per cent of the Second regiment marched back to the fort, eight miles, arriv­ re-enlisted for three years and got a well-de­ ing quite rested and refreshed." By April 10 served thirty-day furlough. When they re­ the regiment had rejoined its old brigade at turned to Minnesota, traveling northward Ringgold, Georgia. The Second then partici­ from La Crosse by sleigh, they were greeted pated in the Atlanta campaign, made the at Winona by the ringing of church bells march to the sea and through the Carolinas, took part in the grand review of the Union ™ Bishop and Van Derveer, in Civil and Indian armies in Washington on May 24, 1865, and Wars, 2:402-404, 406; Bishop to his mother, De­ was discharged the following July 20 at Fort cember 3, 1863. SneUing after four years of valiant service.^^ "Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 2:402. "^ Chatfield Democrat, February 13, 1864. In this centennial year of the battle of '"Bishop, in Civil and Indian Wars, 1:107. The Gettysburg, many Minnesotans doubtless regiment's last year of service is discussed on pages 108-121 of the same volume. will pay homage to the First Regiment by '"' On the placing of these markers, see Bishop to viewing the monument commemorating its Wilfiam R. Marshall, October 15, 1894, Bishop famous charge. Be it remembered that 1963 Papers. is also tbe hundredth anniversary of the Sec­ THE PICTURE on page 259 is from a painting by ond's heroic deeds at Chickamauga and Douglas Volk which hangs in the Minnesota State Missionary Ridge. Appropriate markers re­ Capitol. The drawings on pages 262 and 270 are from Harper's Weekly for February 8, 1862, and cording the accomplishments of the regi­ October 31, 1863. The portraits of Van Cleve and ment stand on the sites of these battles, Bishop and the photograph opposite are from the where the men of the Second Minnesota lit­ collection of the Minnesota Historical Society. All maps are the work of the editor. erally rose to glory.'"'

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