I was able to be part of the funeral procession that honored the unknown Civil War soldier the city of Franklin reburied back in October. My wife and I also hosted the two living sons, Harold Becker and James Brown, Jr., in our home for dinner.

To see the many previous related blog posts click here.

For more posts on Fort Granger click here

The CWPT shot some video of historian Eric Jacobson talking about the Eastern Flank at Franklin during the June 2009 Franklin’s Charge symposium. You will find the link on the CWPT web site here.

Watch the video

I have many videos on YouTube of Franklin content, several by Eric Jacobson.  They are found here.

FOR SALE

25th Indiana Infantry soldier (John Nilson) writes about a soldier being hunted by bloodhounds and torn to pieces near Holly Springs, MS.
Great content related to guerilla warfare in the summer of 1862.

Autograph letter signed (ALS), 4pp., 8vo.,

La-Grange, Tenn.
7/9/62

Description:

Nilson writes with a keen eye that while on a blackberry expedition he heard some shooting nearby. His group returned to camp since they didn’t have their guns with them. He did not want to repeat an incident that took place at Holly Springs (MS), when one of the 25th Indiana soldiers from Co. F had fallen behind and was “hunted down by bloodhounds and tore to pieces.” In retaliation, the Hoosier-Yankees burnt the plantation rails and destroyed two large fields (cotton, corn),leaving for memphis to guard the train, etc.

Very Fine condition
$350.00
(free shipping & insurance)

Other content notes about this letter, i.e., what else Nilson mentions?

• Richmond news  . . .  30,000 Rebels killed
• “Our freedom is not far distant”
• Other men named Murphy, Sheerer and Wright
• Very descriptive account of the blackberry expedition
• “our Army (presence) . . .  is very disagreeable to the people . . .”
• poignant account of the bloodhounds killing a Co F soldier at Holly Springs
• “will be in Memphis soon”

Research notes on John Nilson and the 25th Indiana:

John Nilson was from Medora, Indiana, and was promoted to 1st Lt on 8/18/64 and to Captain on 1/1/65.  At the time of this letter he was with the District and Army of West Tennessee.

The 25th Indiana saw action at:

• Ft. Donelson - losing 16 killed and 80 wounded. It was part of the force which stormed and captured the outer works the next day and occupied the fort after its surrender.
• Shiloh - The 25th  left for Pittsburg landing on Mar. 5, reaching there on the 18th and in the battle of Shiloh, lost 27 killed and 122 wounded.
• Siege of Corinth - The regiment was in the siege of Corinth and on June 10 occupied Grand Junction.
• Memphis - The 25th moved for Memphis July 17 and remained there until Sept. 6, engaged in scouting and hunting guerrillas.
• Bolivar - It then occupied Bolivar until Oct. 4, when it moved with Hurlbut’s division to cut off Price and Van Dorn, meeting their forces at Hatchie River and engaging in a short but fierce battle, in which the regiment lost 3 killed and 76 wounded.
• Davis Mill - It then moved to northern Mississippi, and six companies under Col. Morgan were stationed at Davis’ Mill on Wolf River where they were attacked by Van Dorn with a large force of mounted infantry.  They fought so fiercely that the enemy was compelled to leave the field, after losing 23 killed, many wounded and some prisoners.  The remaining four companies were distributed along the line of railroad from Grand Junction to Holly Springs.
• Atlanta Campaign - It joined the 4th division, 16th corps, before Atlanta, and was actively engaged in the siege from Aug. 8 to ,26. It was in the engagement at Jonesboro joined in pursuit of Hood’s army, attacked and routed the enemy at Snake Creek Gap . . .
• Savannah - It returned and accompanied the army to Savannah, and participated in the investment of that city.  It remained in that vicinity until Jan. 4, 1865, when it moved with the 11th corps to Beaufort, S. C. going from there to Pocotaligo.

Key words this letter pertains to:

25th Indiana Infantry | John Nilson Co. G | Van Dorn | Shiloh | Corinth | Guerilla warfare | Ft Donelson | Holly Springs, MS | Marshall County, MS | Northern Mississippi

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All information is deemed reliable but subject to revision as more is learned. I offer few items for sale so please contact me at civilwargazette[at]yahoo.com if interested.   Let me know if you’re looking for specific items or areas of interest.

“Our division, that of the 2d of the 4th army corps, bore the brunt of this terrible, bloody battle, losing more than 2,000 men. This was the hardest fought and bloodiest battle, for the number engaged, during the war. It was a hand-to-hand contest. The rebels, being stimulated by the aid of whisky, were urged on by the valor of their officers to break through our lines and march on Nashville, Tenn., only thirty miles distant, and the home of many of the brave, rebel soldiers who fell to rise no more at that bloody battle. Each charge made by the rebels was as stubbornly resisted by us Union soldiers. Never wavering or faltering, but each one vieing [sic] with each other in deeds of valor, every one of us baring our breasts to the enemy’s guns to do or to die.” – James Bragg, 40th Indiana Infantry

Source: Early Life and Times in Boone County, Indiana; Harden & Spahr, Lebanon, Ind. 1887.

Web resource: The 40th Indiana Infantry

Several months ago I posted the transcript of a letter written by a 117th Illinois soldier Thomas A. Whitesides. It is quite an interesting letter. I’m going to break this letter down in a series of successive posts so we can glean every nugget from this fine letter.

Before I get into the actual letter content it is important to lay the foundation in this post.

I previously stated the following about the letter writer and his regiment:

It was written by a 117th Illinois Infantry soldier named Thomas A. Whitesides. It is dated Nashville, Tenn., December 6th, 1864. This letter was written just six days after the Battle of Franklin (30 November 1864). The 117th was not engaged at Franklin.

Whitesides wrote this letter to his wife who was living in Belleville, Illinois. Belleville is just a little southwest from St. Louis. Records indicate that Belleville sent nearly 1,300 men into the Civil War. 921 out of 1,291 mustered out; 51 were killed or mortally wounded, 2 died as POWs, 52 died of disease, 69 were disabled, 49 deserted and 55 were discharged.

Thomas A. Whitesides enlisted August 12, 1862 as a Corporal. On September 19, 1862, he mustered into Company H of the 117th Illinois Infantry at Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois. He mustered out on August 5th, 1865, having served nearly three years in the service for the Union. He died in 1919.

Whitesides would have seen action with the 117th in places like Vicksburg (summer 1863); western Tennessee chasing after Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry (Dec 1863); the Red River expedition and the Battle of Pleasant Hill (Feb 1864); the Battle of Nashville (Dec 15-16th, 1864), and the pursuit of Hood (Dec 18-27th, 1864).

Whitesides was a sergeant at Nashville (15 Dec 1864). What was the role of a sergeant in the Civil War?

A regiment, like the 177th Illinois Infantry, was original staffed by close to 1,000 men. By the war’s end it was not uncommon for a regiment to only field several hundred men on the field of battle.  It was not uncommon for one-half of an entire regiment to be unavailable for battle due to disease or a myriad of other reasons.

A regiment was made up by companies. At the start of the war, a Company (led by a Captain) was fielded by 80-100 men, almost all in that given Company were from the same county, sometimes even the same town.  Relatives – brothers, cousins, uncles, father-sons – often served in the very same Company. Most regiments had 10 Companies, starting with Company A and possibly going all the way through Company K (skipping “J”).  Whitesides was a member of Company H of the 117th Illinois.

Late in the war, again, it would not be uncommon for a Company to be reduced to 30-60 men at full strength.  Companies were further subdivided by platoons, usually two platoons per company. One platoon originally equaled 50 men.

Platoons were further broken down by sections, or four sections per Company. Each section was made up of two squads, led by a Sergeant.

About eight squads originally made up a platoon. The squad was the most basic and smallest size unit of soldiers fighting together during the Civil War.   A Corporal usually led a squad.

When Thomas A. Whitesides wrote his letter of 6 December 1864 at Nashville, he was a Sergeant in Company H of the 117th Illinois Infantry, which means he probably led roughly 10-20 men at Nashville.

It was very common for a company to lose a disproportionate number of Sergeants because they were key leaders on the very front line of battle.

Thus, here is the basic breakdown of the Company (100 men) during the Civil War:

Captain (1), 1st. Lieut. (1), 2nd. Lieut. (1)

1st Sgt. (1), Sgts. (4) and Corporals (8).

Plus 2 musicians.

And of course, around 80-100 men – privates – at original full strength.

Camp Winfield
Franklin, Tennessee,

July 16, 1863,

“…I receieved your kind and most welcome letter…and it gave me much pleasure in hearing that you was in good health and also that when your state was invaded by the notorious rebels that you was so willing to take your musket and defend your state. God Bless the noble sons of Pennsylvania for their noble conduct and bravery which they have shown if every loyal state will do likewise the rebellion will soon be crushed to atoms. We have at last left Murfreesoboro…we are in the 14 army corps which formed the center and McCook was on the right and Crittendon on the left and in this way old Rose moved his Army. Gen. Thomas commands the 14 corps and McCook to 20th and Crittendon the 21st and Gen. Reynolds Division which we are in formed the centre of Gen Thomas Corps and when we got about 17 miles from town our advance was attacked and Col. Wilder with his mounted Brigade was in front and they are all well armed with the Spencer rifle (seven shooters) and they soon repulsed the enemy with heavy loss our loss was about 100 in killed wounded and missing and that of the rebels 100 killed and 400 wounded and missing. Our Brigade did not get in to any engagement and in the night at two oclock our Co. and another had to go on picket and we were not relieved until 8 oclock in the morning this being the 25th and as soon as day light we saw the rebel pickets on the hill in front of us and skirmishing soon commenced…there was but one man hurt in our Regt he was wounded in the thigh but not serious and on the 25th the rebels fell back on Tullahoma…we started for Tullahoma and it was reported that old Bragg was there with a heavy force and on the 1st of July we marched in to Tullahoma unmolested the rebels were all gone excepta a few stragglers that were behind and I suppose they stayed there for the purpose of being taken, they all seemed to be glad they were taken…”

Source: Live Auctioneers online

Letter written by P. Gamble
1st Illinois Light Artillery,

Hamburg, Tennessee,
April 26, 1862,

“…We are on the Tennessee River seventeen miles from Corinth…had the pleasure of taking over five thousand prisoners. We took our guns over and could not take but one section of our horses across by the same boat so we sent one section under the command of Lieut Vand{?} ahead and the rest of us waited for our horses…the section we sent ahead came in sight of the rebels at dark but did not attack them, but would in the morning if they had not surrendered to General Paine. When we got there in the morning they had the prisoners…I witnessed an engagement between our Gun boats and a three gun battery a little below New Madrid. The Gun Boats Carondolet & Essex wiped them out…went down in sight of Fort Pillow…stayed two or three days but did not leave the boat…got order to reinforce General Grant at Pittsburg Landing so we had to retrace our steps …Chester is promoted to the rank of Sergeant in our company now. He is off some three miles from here with his guns on a neighboring hill some three hundred feet higher than we are here. Oh Otis you ought to be here once just to see how much artillery we have got here. Well in once place there is for five miles a complete fence of artillery, from ten paces to ten rods apart, and we have lots of companies scattered around in several places, if ever Tennessee & Mississippi was Inhabited it is now….It is going to be one awful battle…Both sides are tyring to fortify as fast as time will permit. General Paine sent out Eighty wagon loads of shovels and picks for throwing up Breastworks and there is now nine thousand hard at work at the breastworks…The Pickets have skirmishes every day with the rebels, if we whip them out here & at Yorktown the war is over…we are bound to do it if we sacrifice the last man, the enemy is not afraid of us this time I guess for at the Battle of Pittsburg landing they came to attack us….Direct to Cairo in care of Capt. Houghtaling, Ottawa Light Artillery, General Paines Division on the Tennessee River…”

Source: Live Auctioneers online