National Event- Shiloh

[rdykes]

Glad you posted this Joe I want that book but don't feel like paying 98.00 on amazon.

[GenuineInformation]

So far, it seems to be a great book. It isn't quite as heavily footnoted as I would like, but coming from reading law journal articles, nothing is. My only rub thusfar is, for example, him citing a Confederate Veteran article as if it were a first-hand account. It is, but it isn't. History of memory is interesting, though.

I'll try to post anything I find of interest here (WITH CITATIONS!), including the best parts of the Shiloh chapter.

Best,

[Mississippian]

Joseph,

Glad you liked what I've posted. Some points:

Forked Tongue Buckles: Magee and George did ALOT of business with the state of Mississippi, I've seen state records that show where there were many contracts between them and the state, and we don't know what was ordered, there is a partial listing in another thread about the company that I started some time ago. I've seen plenty of pictures of Mississippians who served out west with those buckles on.

Enfields: Larry Daniels in his "Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee" had the following quote from an unnamed soldier from the 6th MS "We have received a large number of Enfield Rifles, Co. B & A have to take these as they are the wings of the Regt." Unfortunately, it's not footnoted. It's on pg. 42-43. The way Daniels places this quote makes it seem like the rifles were issued a few days before the regiment started out towards Shiloh. In that ordnance record I posted I always wondered what the "1,000 Minnie" Cartridges were for, I wonder if the 6th picked up some '55 or '61 Springfields from the battlefield.

Will MacDonald

[GenuineInformation]

I was reading today in Larry J. Daniel's Shiloh and found the following passage that strengthened my suspicion that the supplies the Sixth Mississippi received while in winter camp at Bowling Green came primarily from Nashville:

"The deplorable condition of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad meant that only one thirteen-car train had been able to roll north for Nashville to Bowling Green daily, a fraction of what was needed, but a thin lifeline that kept Hardee's corps supplied." (41)

H. Grady Howell's Going to Meet the Yankees provides a glimpse of what those supplies entailed:

"At Bowling Green between October 25, 1861 and January 25, 1862 the Sixth was issued the following allotments of clothing for distribution among its companies: 170 caps, 28 blanket coats, 85 coats, 2 shirts, 184 flannel shirts, 28 pairs of drawers, 99 pairs of pants, 14 pairs of socks, and 121 pairs of shoes. Also included were the following requisitions for camp hardware: 9 tents, 36 blankets, 488 haversacks, 47 axes and helves (handles), 27 hatchets, 11 tin buckets, 24 fry pans, 9 mess pans, 36 coffee mills, 4 coffee pots, 6 tea kettles, 40 tin cups, 44 canteens, 44 canteen straps, and 381 gun slings." (67-68)

However, the haste and confusion surrounding the evacuation of Nashville, which the Sixth left on February 17, 1862, caused the 6th to "los[e] some of its supplies and equipment" (Howell 69).

The persistent conditions throughout the retreat from Bowling Green to Nashville to Murfreesboro to Shelbyville to Fayetteville to Decatur, and then the march to Huntsville and then to Corinth, were freezing cold and mud:

"The same foul weather which had thus far sapped the regiment of much of its strength now hampered its retreat. Marching through cold rain that soon turned to sleet and snow, the men struggled and stumbled in porridge-like mud." (Howell 68)

"To make matters worse, prior to leaving Kentucky Watson's Battery of artillery was attached to the brigade. Many times on the retreat Thornton's mud-splattered, cursing Confederates had to help push and pull Watson's heavy field pieces through the mire." (Howell 69)

"Cleburne's Brigade spent the night of [February] the 17th in the 'Nashville Court & Market House' and was moved four miles south of town on the following day. With Union Gen. Buell hot in pursuit, and the city's defenses ill-established, Gen. Johnston chose not to remain in Nashville very long. Instead, the Sixth with the rest of the army sloshed its way through the city's muddy streets in a driving cold rainstorm and continued its slow, frozen trek to Murfreesboro, Tennessee on February 18th, arriving there on the 21st." (Howell 69)

"Thornton's badly straggling regiment limped into Corinth on March 27th during a driving rainstorm and immediately went into encampment two and half miles south of the city." (Howell 70)

The mud followed the 6th on the road to Pittsburg Landing:

"On the evening of April 4th the en-route troops met with cold, drenching rains which made the journey very disagreeable. The poorly maintained country roads quickly turned to quagmires, and in some places became virtually impassable. The Sixth received a minor taste of battle on this day when Cleburne's Brigade repulsed a small detachment of Federal cavalry." (Howell 76)

[GenuineInformation]

Another book that mentions the appearance of the Sixth Mississippi at Shiloh is "Shiloh: In Hell Before Night" by James Lee McDonough (Univ. of Tenn. Press, 1977).

First, McDonough describes the smartly-uniformed appearance of the Louisiana Crescent Regiment. He then contrasts that neat, uniform appearance with that of "units like the Sixth Mississippi, which, to judge from the picture of some of its members, was a ragtag regiment whose men were dressed and equipped with little or no regard for uniformity" (p. 13). Frustratingly, this is not footnoted! I wish I knew what documents led him to draw this conclusion.

[dixieflyer]

McDonough's work from the 70's & 80's (haven't read anything by him in recent years) is like that though Joseph.

[JimKindred]

Guys,

Please keep the topic on the subject of the 6th Mississippi at Shiloh. Posts concerning the 4th Kentucky have been moved to their own thread. Thank you.

[huntdaw]

Been kind of quiet about this endeavor. Is the batallion slated to take part in the march that is being set up?

[coastaltrash]

No it is not Michael. It's quiet because the information is already out there for people to read. I appreciate the enthusiasm though. Hopefully the company commanders are working hard on getting the registrations in rather than waiting on me to drop some information about what we're eating or ammo. All that will come in due time, and to the registered participants.