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journal 113th Illinois at Vicksburg Living History

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  • journal 113th Illinois at Vicksburg Living History

    Vicksburg 150th**Living History It was a most rewarding experience to participate in a living history event from May 3-5, 2013 on the Vicksburg National Battlefield Park to commemorate the 150th**Anniversary of the Battle of Vicksburg. The following is a journal entry as I recorded my 1863 moments while portraying a private soldier in Company B, 113th**Illinois Volunteer Infantry: ** Near Vicksburg, Mississippi – May 21, 1863 I was awakened by the sound of the drum on this chilly morning. I believe that our musician finds great pleasure in his duty of creating momentary discontent as men awaken to the roll of his drum. **Sergeant Kellogg was quick to order the men to fall-in for roll call. Most had slept in full uniform, brogans and great coats, so the formation was quickly formed. Roll was called and Captain Williams gave us some information about doing fatigue duty on the line and drill. Serg Kellogg invited the men to eat some of his specially prepared farina for the morning meal, and then we broke ranks. The farina was very good and I washed it down with some of Lieutenant Jeffcoat’s chickory coffee. **The men were assembled and issued a ration of fresh beef and crackers. Most of us quickly cooked the beef and ate it. The crackers went into the haversack. We were ordered to fall-in at light marching order for drill. To the dismay of Lieut. Jeffcoat, the men were a bit awkward as we drilled. The Lieut did not tolerate errors in drill and acted as if he had written the manual. The Captain took us through several firing drills and paid close attention to firing and loading while laying on the ground. He did not want us to present an easy target to the rebs when we were on the line. Following drill, Serg Kellogg assigned fatigue duties to the sections. I am in Corpl Johns section. Johns is one of the most respected soldiers in the company. We were ordered to move forward to a position along Graveyard Road and assist in improving the earthworks. We did so by emplacing some headlogs and erecting a fly for protection from the sun. We ate crackers and blackberries for a meal. There were no rebs to be seen. We were relieved after a few hours and returned to camp for a short rest and a water ration. There were not any officers in camp which was unusual. I boiled some eggs that had been foraged and left them for Jeffcoat and some of the men in his platoon who were on the line. **Before I could rest, the Capt returned and ordered those in camp to fall-in. **The company was assembled, and the Capt told us that we were marching to line. The company would be supporting an artillery battery and firing at the rebs defending Stockade Redan. Stockade Redan is a reb earthen fort that stretches across Graveyard Road. The road is a main avenue of approach into Vicksburg and General Grant wants control of it for a direct assault on Vicksburg. The redan is strongly defended and the steep terrain heavily favors the rebs. **The rebs repulsed our army’s attack a few days earlier and inflicted hundreds if not thousands of casualties on our boys. As we marched west on Graveyard Road in at the route step and in column, we passed the positions of several regiments. One of these positions was that of the 8th**Wisconsin, whose eagle mascot “Old Abe” was legendary. The Captain ordered us into line and then we deployed as skirmishers behind the earthworks that marked the forward boundary of the Union line. There was an artillery battery to our left. We crawled on our bellies to the crest of our earthworks and were ordered to fire on the redan. **The distance to the redan was about 200-300 yards. **I could clearly see the rebel colors flying above Stockade Redan. The flag had a dark blue background with a white Christian cross and a red border. An officer told me that those were Missouri rebs defending those colors, and that we had Missiouri regiments in our army. The next assault would certainly result in brother fighting brother. We exchanged sporadic musket fire with the rebs that was more akin to sharpshooters. I fired about 30 rounds before the Capt ordered a cease fire. We were relieved by another company and marched back to our camp using Graveyard Road. It was late afternoon when we arrived in camp. There was somewhat of a feast awaiting us. I think that Serg Kellogg and Lieut Beckett were the cooks. There was a large pot of beef, bean and cracker stew brewing over the mess fire. We all ate well. Following the meal, the men cleaned their Enfields and organized equipment. There was the normal conversation and humor too. Later, I noticed the Captain talking with some officers, and shortly thereafter, he ordered the company to fall-in. He informed us that General Sherman had ordered another assault on Stockade Redan in the morning. The Captain asked for three volunteers from our ranks to be members of a 150 man storming party as requested by the officers who were members of the General’s staff. We were stunned, because it meant almost certain death for the volunteers. The storming party would go ahead of the main assault regiments and clear obstacles, bridge trenches and erect scaling ladders. Casualties were expected to be high. Volunteers should be unmarried. Survivors will be given a 60 furlough by order of General Grant. After hearing the Captain, nobody stepped forward from the ranks. Being an older fella, and often referred by Serg Kellogg as being white headed, rough visage and grizzled by the storms of a half-century Finally, I stepped forward and signaled to Corpl Johns, “Let’s go Lish”. He stepped forward as did Serg Henry. The Captain thanked us, and said that we would be leaving soon to join the storming party. He then gave the order to break ranks. I am ready to go. Pvt Joe Smith ** Postscript: The May 22nd attack on Stockade Redan would fail at great cost to the Federals, causing Grant to conduct siege operations against Vicksburg. Pvt Smith, Corpl Johns and Serg Henry would survive the storming party. Johns and Henry would receive the Medal of Honor for gallantry at Stockade Redan. The reenactors: Capt Williams-Rod Miller; Serg Kellogg-Jeremy Powell; Lt Beckett-Steve Labarrewas; Lt Jeffcoat-Silas Tackett; Musician-Grant Miller; Pvt Smith-Dan McGraw Event Organizer: Patrick Landrum NPS Ranger: Jake Koch Special thanks to my Kansas SUVCW Brothers Outstanding dedication at the Missouri Monument by Mike Comers
    Rod Miller
    [COLOR=SlateGray]Old Pards[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=DarkRed]Cornfed Comrades[/COLOR]
    [COLOR=Navy]Old Northwest Volunteers[/COLOR]


    [FONT=Palatino Linotype]"We trust, Sir, that God is on our side." "It is more important to know that we are on God's side."
    A. Lincoln[/FONT]

    150th Anniversary
    1861 Camp Jackson-Sgt. German Milita US
    1st Manassas- Chaplain T. Witherspoon, 2nd Miss. Inf. CS
    1862 Shiloh -Lt. ,6th Miss. Inf. CS
    1863 VicksburgLH-Captain Cephas Williams, 113th Co.B US
    Gettysburg BGA- Chaplain WilliamWay, 24th MI US
    1864 Charleston Riot-Judge Charles Constable "Copperhead".
    Bermuda Hundred Campaign-USCC Field Agent J.R. Miller
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