15th Ohio Independent Battery Light Artillery.

Organized at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and mustered in February 1, 1862. Ordered to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, February 16. While en route disembarked at Paducah, Ky., and duty there till April 15. Ordered to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 15. Whitehall Landing April 17. Attached to Artillery, 4th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. 4th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to September, 1862. 4th Division, District of Jackson, Tenn., to November, 1862. 4th Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. Artillery, 4th Division, 17th Army Corps, to January, 1863. Artillery, 4th Division, 16th Army Corps, to July, 1863. Artillery, 4th Division, 13th Army Corps, to August, 1863. Artillery, 4th Division, 17th Army Corps, to November, 1864. Artillery Brigade, 17th Army Corps, to June, 1865.

SERVICE. – Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. March to Memphis, Tenn., via Grand Junction, LaGrange and Holly Springs June 1-July 21. Duty at Memphis till September 6. March to Bolivar and Hatchie River September 6-14. Expedition to Grand Junction September 20. Skirmish with Price and Van Dorn September 21. Battle of Metamora or Hatchie River October 5. Bolivar October 7. Expedition from LaGrange toward Lamar, Miss., November 5. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign. Operations on the Mississippi Central Railroad November, 1862, to January, 1863. Action at Worsham's Creek November 6. At Calersville, Tenn., January to March, 1863. Moved to Memphis, Tenn., March 9, and duty there till May. Expedition to the Coldwater April 18-24. Hernando April 18. Perry's Ferry, Coldwater River, April 19. Ordered to Vicksburg, Miss., May 11. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. At Vicksburg till August 2. Ordered to Natchez, Miss., August 15. Expedition to Harrisonburg September 1-8. Near Harrisonburg and capture of Fort Beauregard September 4. At Natchez till December. Ordered to Vicksburg and camp at Clear Creek till February, 1864. Meridian Campaign February 3-March 2. Veterans on furlough March-April. Moved to Clifton, Tenn., thence march via Huntsville and Decatur, Ala., to Kingston, Ga., and Ackworth, Ga., April 28-June 8. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign June 8 to September 8. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 5. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Turner's Ferry July 5. Leggett's or Bald Hill July 20-21. Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Pocotaligo, S.C., January 14. Barker's Mills, Whippy Swamp, February 2. Salkehatchie Swamp February 2-5. Binnaker's Bridge February 9. Orangeburg February 12-13. Columbia February 15-17. Taylor's Hole Creek, Averysboro, N. C., March 16. Battle of Bentonville March 20-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24, and of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20. Grand Review May 24. Moved to Columbus, Ohio, and mustered out June 20, 1865.

Battery lost during service 8 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 30 Enlisted men by disease. Total 38.

SOURCE: Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the 3, p. Rebellion, Part 1492

Army Correspondence

STEAMER JOHN J. ROE, Tennessee River, on the way to Evansville, thence to St. Louis,
April 13, 1862.

FRIEND SANDERS: The terrible work of transporting the wounded form Pittsburg Landing to the hospitals is going on. Several large steamers before this have gone down the river, and on this we have 520, taking as yet only those severely wounded. At least one more load as large as this is still behind. And then a large multitude of those slightly wounded are with their respective regiments, or on the boats at the landing. No adequate provision was made for such great numbers of wounded men, there being at the time of the battle only two boats at the Landing, besides commissary and quartermaster boats; and one of those two was Gen. Grant’s headquarters, while the other was kept in reserve for the conveyance of troops. Upon the commissary boats – loaded down, cabins and all, with boxes, barrels, &c. – the wounded were placed in every conceivable corner, and when these failed tents were raised, awnings stretched upon poles, and every effort made to provide shelter. But, after all was done, hundreds lay out in the rain Sabbath night, and many even all the next day and through another dismal, rainy night. Some lay in the mud, with not even a blanket under or over them. Large numbers were brought in on Tuesday, who were wounded on the Sabbath; and on Wednesday, and even Thursday, men were still found alive but helpless on the battle field. This want of preparation for the wounded is evidence that no such battle was expected at the Landing. The broken condition of the country, and the dense timber and brush over nearly the whole of the great battlefield, not only rendered the onset of the rebels more effective and terrific, but also cause great suffering and loss of life among those who were wounded and could not be found. So great a battle in the woods was perhaps never fought before. In many instances the enemy planted their batteries within forty rods of our lines without being discovered until they opened fire. The fierceness of the onset was, perhaps, scarcely ever equaled. The 15th Ohio battery lost 56 horses out of 117, almost at the first fire; and in other cases the loss of men was almost as great.

You may be assured that no statements in the papers concerning the losses on both sides will exceed, perhaps none will reach, the truth. The brigade of which the 11th Iowa was a part had 91 killed and 565 wounded – 656 in all. The same proportion in the 52 brigades would five [sic] 34, 112 on one side! Many are slightly wounded, and will soon recover, but it is safe to say that 10,000 of our men are either killed or permanently disabled. It is believed that the enemy’s loss in killed and severely wounded is much greater than ours. They fired low and wounded large numbers of our men in the legs. In this they excelled, disabling large numbers in such manner as to require help to leave the field, whereas our men aimed to kill. How many were killed by our fire we do not know, but rebels who assisted in burying their dead and afterwards fell into our hands, say that we killed two to their one. Union men living in the neighborhood, who rode over the ground immediately after the battle corroborate this statement. It is also stated that our men have buried over 4,000 rebels since the battle.

The heart sickens at the remembrance of the horrible scenes of Sabbath and Monday, and on the boats since. Although we are comparatively comfortable on this large boat, still there is a vast amount of suffering. Six have died since leaving the landing, and many more will die soon. We have not half help enough either as surgeons or nurses, and very few comforts or hospital stores. If it had not been for the presence of an agent of the Sanitary commission from Chicago, with such thing as were at hand, we should have been destitute of some articles absolutely necessary.

April 14th – PADUCAH TO EVANSVILLE. – Additional supplies of some articles were procured at Paducah, but of 29 volunteer surgeons and multitudes of nurses found there, only one of each could be induced to come on board. All were bent on going to Pittsburg Landing, and this after they were assured by the surgeon in charge that no wounded would be found there on their arrival. Possible curiosity influenced them more than humanity.

I have not time to write more, as I must do what I can in dressing wounds. I have written mostly in the night, being frequently interrupted by calls for help from men of my own and other regiments.

Yours,

CHAPLAIN, 11th Iowa.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, April 21, 1862, p. 2