Showing posts with label 15th MO INF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 15th MO INF. Show all posts

Friday, February 23, 2024

15th Missouri Infantry

Organized at St. Louis, Mo., August and September, 1861. Moved to Jefferson City, Mo., September, 1861. Attached to Fremont's Army of the West to January, 1862. 5th Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to May, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Army of Mississippi, to September, 1862. 35th Brigade, 11th Division, Army of Ohio, to October, 1862. 35th Brigade, 11th Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of Ohio, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, Right Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863, 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 4th Army Corps, to April, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 4th Army Corps, to June, 1865. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 4th Army Corps, to August, 1865. Dept. of Texas to December, 1865.

SERVICE.—Fremont's Campaign against Springfield, Mo., October 4-November 8, 1861. Moved to Rolla, Mo., and duty there till February, 1862. Curtis' Campaign in Missouri and Arkansas against Price February and March. Advance on Springfield February 2-11. Pursuit of Price into Arkansas February 14-29. Battles of Pea Ridge, Ark., March 6-8. March to Batesville April 5-May 3. Moved to Cape Girardeau, Mo., May 11-22; thence to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., May 23-26. Siege of Corinth May 27-30. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 6. At Rienzi till August 26. Moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, August 26-September 14; thence to Louisville, Ky., September 17-19. Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-16. Battle of Perryville, Ky., October 8. March to Nashville, Tenn., October 16-November 7. Duty at Nashville till December 26. Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty near Murfreesboro till June. Expedition toward Columbia March 4-14. Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 23-July 7. Fairfield June 27-29. Estill Springs July 2. Reconnoissance to Anderson July 11-14. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign August 16-September 22, Battle of Chickamauga September 19-20. Siege of Chattanooga September 24-November 23. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-27. March to relief of Knoxville, Tenn., November 28-December 8. Operations in East Tennessee December, 1863, to February, 1864. Dandridge January 16-17, 1864. Moved to Chattanooga, thence to Cleveland, Tenn., and duty there till May, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8-13. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Adairsville May 17. Near Kingston May 18-19. Near Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22-25, Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Buckhead, Nancy's Creek, July 18. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesborg August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood and Forest in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. Nashville Campaign November and December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24-27. Spring Hill November 29. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. Columbia December 19. Pulaski December 25. March from Pulaski to Decatur, Ala., and duty there till April, 1865. Moved to Blue Springs April 1-5, thence to Nashville, Tenn., April 19, and duty there till June. Moved to New Orleans June 15-23, and to Port Lavaca, Texas, July 18-24. Duty there till October. Moved to Victoria October 27 and duty there till December. Mustered out December 25, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers, and 107 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 106 Enlisted men by disease. Total 222.

Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1329

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Great Battle of Pea Ridge


The St. Louis Democrat has a long and interesting account of this great battle in Arkansas, differing considerably from the one we printed yesterday from the Cincinnati Times.  We give a part of it below:


SIGEL WITH HIS REAR GUARD CUTS HIS WAY THROUGH THE ENEMY.

Early Thursday morning Sigel’s division was moving from Camp Cooper, beyond Bentonville for Sugar Creek.  His rear guard composed of the Twelfth Missouri Infantry, Captain Jenks’ battalion of cavalry, attached to the Thirty-sixth Illinois, two companies Benton Hussars, and six pieces of flying artillery, (Albert’s battery) left camp at six A. M.  The main column marched through Bentonville without observing any indications of the enemy.  Gen. Sigel and staff, together with the rear guard, arrived at Bentonville in an hour and a half.  While resting here, a black line was observed on the prairie towards the south, which at first attracted no particular attention: Sigel, with his glass soon became convinced that the line was in motion.  Soon secesh flags were seen moving on Bentonville, and the prairie became black with the rebel masses of cavalry and infantry.  The rebel cavalry moved up rapidly and deploying to the right and left, surrounded the town.  Clouds of cavalry were still observed advancing at rapid speed.

Sigel moved forward the rear guard across a ravine on the margin of the town, and the opposite side of the ravine was occupied by the rebels, who came rushing up with a yell. – Noticing that they had formed in his rear, he detached four companies of cavalry to hold them in check.  Opening his lines right and left he sent his artillery to the front, to meet a force drawn up in line of battle a mile out of town.

Turning to Captain Jenks, who had come forward to support the latter, Sigel said “Captain, the enemy are on our front, on either side of us, and all around us.”  Then raising his hand to a level with his shoulder, and lunging it down with each sentence, exclaimed, “We must advance; we must cut our way through;” and concluding emphatically, “we shall cut our way through.”  Sigel then got off his horse, and personally superintended the planting of pieces in position.  He opened fire on the enemy in front, every shot having a telling effect on the enemy’s ranks, which faltered and fell back in the woods.  A rapid advance of our column then took place, the enemy seeming to retreat on either side, but instead they made a detour and formed again two miles further on at the entrance of a deep gorge. – On reaching this position, it was found they were supported by a large body of infantry, whose advance preceded our arrival by taking a shorter road.  The infantry were placed in ambuscade, covered by the crest of a hill.  Our troops pushed forward into the gorge along which the road runs, when suddenly a galling fire of musketry was poured in along our whole like from the top of the hill along our left flank.  The Twelfth Missouri charged up the hill in face of the fire, and drove the rebels over the hill.

During the charge, Sigel ordered two pieces forward about a mile to a point where he could see the hill where the rebels supposed they were under cover.  The guns were masked by a grove and were not observed by the rebels.  As soon as this battery was planted, two cannon shots were fired from the head of the column in the valley, producing no effect but deceiving the enemy.  A rapid advance of the whole column was then made, and as we receded from the enemy the latter covered the hill in large numbers, advancing on our rear.  The masked battery in front then opened on them, the balls passing over our column still in the gorge, which caused such destruction to the rebels that they scattered in all directions and ceased to molest us any further.


THE GRAND BATTLE OF THE EIGHTH.

The enemy during the night advanced and took position one mile nearer our camp, occupying the extensive bluff to the left of Elkhorn Tavern, where they had batteries planted which commanded the open fields and bottom lands on this side.  The open woods, a mile this side of the town was also occupied by the enemy in formidable numbers.  They had batteries pointed in all available positions commanding the approaches from this side.  General Curtis designed to open the ball at day-break, and gave the necessary orders for a change of front, the left wing having to be moved obliquely forward.

The cannonade opened twenty-five minutes past seven, on Col. Carr’s division, and the portion of the latter engaged fell back.  Gen. Davis advanced on the main road and took position on the right wing, while Col. Carr moved to the center, and a desultory fire was kept up for a short time.  About eight o’clock Gen. Sigel’s division marched into the open field and took position on the left wing.  His batteries were planted along the elevations in this portion of the field with alternate regiments of infantry.

The line as now formed was concave with the wings advanced toward the enemy, while seven batteries were planted along its whole length. – No more beautiful spectacle could be conceived than the “magnificently stern array” presented by our line of battle.  The utmost confidence was at once restored, and our men felt reassured that victory was in their reach.  The bluffs occupied by the enemy on their right were covered with the secesh as thick as they could stand, while the intervening woods in front of our center was alive with them.  Our batteries were soon opened all along the line, and a perfect wall of fire blazed out in rolling volumes.  The enemy replied promptly with his batteries, with little effect, except disabling one of Sigel’s guns.  The murderous cross fire of our batteries crashed through the timber with terrific effect.  The cannonade was terrible for two hours and a half, during which time the infantry advanced slowly under cover of our fire from the batteries.  As soon as the enemy broke the infantry advanced with a yell in double quick, sending volley upon volley of well-aimed musketry.  The Twelfth Missouri rushed forward and charged on a battery in the heavy timber, capturing three guns and a flag belonging to the Dallas Artillery.  The Twenty-Second Indiana also captured a gun and two caissons.  At this time Gen. Sigel pushed the enemy’s right flank, while Gen. Davis and Col. Carr drove forward his left flank.  The fight became general, and the ravine near the Elkhorn Tavern was thronged with the flying enemy.  The bluffs on the left forming a natural fortification, where they had several regiments and a battery posted, where stormed by Col. Greusel’s brigade.  The precipice here is seventy-five feet high.  The Twelfth, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Missouri and Thirty-sixth Illinois scaled the hill and drove the enemy out, the brigade losing only eight men killed and twenty two wounded.  The top of the bluff was completely covered with their dead and wounded from our spherical case shot and shells.  The arms and accoutrements were scattered in all directions.  A prisoner taken here stated that Van Dorn had not been seen for two hours, and they thought it time to leave.  The victory was complete.  The retreating enemy were pursued for two miles by company D, of Bowman’s battalion, and the pursuit was kept up by the Benton Huzzars [sic] and Gen. Sigel to Keetsville.  Prisoners including officers were taken in large numbers.  Our loss in the battle was comparatively small, but the enemy’s was terribly severe.  We killed General Slack, and young Clark, son of Merriweather Clark, of St. Louis, who had his head taken off by a cannon ball.  He commanded a battery gallantly, and had just given the order to retreat, when a ball struck him on his horse. – Lieut. Col. McCulloch, son of the General, was also found among the dead with his commission in his pocket, near Elkhorn Tavern.

Gen. Curtis has won a victory that should place his name in the front rank of heroes battling for the national cause.  From his position in the field he observed every movement, and gave his orders with admirable coolness and decision.  His Aids, Capts. McKinney, Stark, Aughfelt, Stitt, and Lieuts. Adams and Hoepner, were seen flying over the field, conveying orders and bringing intelligence.


INCIDENTS.

In the battle near Elk Horn Tavern, Sergeant Major Wooster, of the Iowa Third, was hit by a cannon shot, taking away the side of his skull, while he was engaged in untangling the horses from the Dubuque battery, having bravely volunteered to go ahead on the dangerous errand in the face of a plunging fire from the enemy’s battery.  Calling to his boy after he was shot he said: – “Johnny, Oh Johnny, I must go!”

A cannon ball, in the battle near Lee Town, killed two cousins named Alley, and lodged in the breast of Lieut. Perry Watts, of Company K, 22d Indiana.  It was taken out and proved to be a 6-pounder ball.

A man was shot through the body with a ball and caught it in the waistband of his pantaloons, where it had lodged.

In the battle of the 8th a ball struck a tree, shivering it to splinters.  One of the splinters, six feet long, struck a secesh and impaled him to the earth.

Lieut. Henne of Company F, Twelfth Missouri, who had lost his left arm in the Hungarian war, was truck in the battle of the 8th by a cannon ball, which carried away his right leg.  He was carried off the field, and when passing to the General, while his face was wreathed in smiles, as if forgetful of his sufferings in the exultation of approaching victory.

On the rebel side the Indians were in command of Pike, Standwartz and Ross.  They proved of little account, except to plunder and riffle the dead and scalp the wounded of which fact. Col. Bussy, of the 3d Iowa cavalry, has ample evidence.  In the field these cowardly allies could not be brought within range of our cannon.  They would say, “Ugh, big gun!” and skedaddle for the brush.”

A secesh doctor who came afterwards into our camp, relates that on the morning of the battle he observed about 300 Indians daubing their faces all over black from the coal of the charred stumps.  The doctor inquired of one of the chiefs of the significance of painting thus, when he was answered that, “The Indians, when going into a fight, painted their faces red; but when they are pinched with hunger, they color black.”  These fellows have had nothing to eat in two days.

McCulloch was killed in the brush on a slight elevation on the opposite side of the field by Peter Pelican, a private in company B, Thirty-sixth Illinois.  The attack in which the ubiquitous Ben. Was taken off was led by Captain Miller.  McCulloch wore a dress of black velvet, patent leather high top boots, and he had on a light colored broad-brimmed Texan hat.  He was on a light bay horse.  Pelican went up and took a gold watch, now in Possession of Colonel Greusel.

A ball after breaking the legs of two men, hit Captain Hobb in the back of his leg and was stopped.  The Captain was slightly injured, but the sword was battered.

Four of Price’s negroes were captured by Col. Ellis’ First Missouri Cavalry.

Price’s filed glass was taken and used during the remainder of the battle by General Davis to make observations.

A cannon ball struck the ground, and ricocheting, passed under Col. White’s horse; carried away a leg of the horse, rode by Lieut. Landgrove.  The Lieutenant fell with the horse, but extricated himself as soon as possible.  The Horse getting up, hobbled to the secesh ranks, taking along the Lieutenant’s pocket money, which was concealed in the holsters.

A Dutchman rode directly into the enemy’s works with a caisson.  The rebel Major asked him where he was going, and the man answered, “Dish for Sigel.”  The Major smiles, and directed the man where to go, which was probably to any point beyond the rebel lines.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 22, 1862, p. 2