This Mighty Scourge

1862

After Braxton Bragg retreated from Kentucky, in September 1862, he pulled back through central Tennessee, stopping at Murfreesboro.  Abraham Lincoln, concerned with the way Don Carlos Buell was commanding the Army of

Union cannon near Sheridan's position.

Ohio, replaced Buell with the hero of Iuka, and Corinth – William S. Rosecrans.  The army would now be designated as the Army of the Cumberland.

Roscrans, characteristically slow, settled his army in the Nashville area.  By mid December, Abraham Lincoln, and the War Department were pushing Rosecrans, to put his huge army in motion.  Meanwhile, Braxton Bragg had set up a defensive position, north of his supply depot, at Murfreesboro, straddling a small meandering stream – Stone’s River.  Not expecting any quick movements from Rosecrans, Bragg failed to have his Army of Tennessee fortify its position.

Finally, late in December, US Major General William Rosecrans put his army in motion.  It arrived, north of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, on December 30.   Unfortunately, due to his lethargic pace, Rosecrans tipped off Braxton Bragg, to his intentions.  Bragg would send CS Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler to raid the Federal supply line, which turned out to be very successful.

William Hazen monument at the Round Forest.

On the evening of December 30, both commanding generals were making their plans, and writing orders for an offensive on New Year’s Eve – December 31.  Incredibly, both commanders planned to attack the right flank, of the other’s army.  Early in the morning, Bragg attacked first, punishing the Union right flank, commanded by Alexander McD. McCook’s army corps.  McCook, not expecting early action in his sector, was unprepared.  He would be pushed back, suffering terrible losses.  The morning would be saved by the heroic actions of US Brigadier General Phil Sheridan.  His troops were able to hold their position, near the center of the Federal line, as CS Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk’s corps pushed into him.  The Federal position held, at an area later called “Hell’s Half Acre” – or the Round Forest.   By noon, the fighting slowly subsided – with the Federal army holding there position.

On January 1, the combatants enjoyed a pause in the fighting, essentially celebrating New Year’s Day.  However Rosecrans deployed forces north of Stone’s River, where they prepared to meet any Confederate advances in that sector. 

On January 2, the battle again started, with Braxton Bragg sending a division of CS Major General Thomas Crittenden’s Corps on the offensive, north of Stone’s River, where they ran into the troops deployed by Rosecrans on January 1.  With US Major General George Thomas’s corps being hammered by Polk’s Confederate Corps, Crittenden started north, on the other side of Stone’s River.  His division was not only under heavy artillery fire, from the north, it was also enfiladed with fire from the other side of the river.  With casualties mounting, the fighting ended with Braxton Bragg retreating south. 

With a combined strength of 78,000, the two armies would suffer 23,000 casualties along the meandering stream – Stone’s River.

John Morton's Confederate battery monument.

Originally organized on July 1, 1861, as CS Captain Thomas K. Porter’s Light artillery company, this battery would be attached to CS Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner’s Division at Fort Donelson.  The battery would be surrendered on February 16, after Porter was injured, severely enough, to have his leg amputated.

The battery, being exchanged, at Vicksburg, in September, 1862, then lieutenant John W. Morton would take command.  Ordered east, to Murfreesboro, it was attached to CS Brigadier General  General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry.  Telling CS General Braxton Bragg, that he had Freeman’s battery, and needed no additional artillery support, Forrest would end up referring him to CS Brigadier General Joseph Wheeler.  Wheeler would send Morton back to Forrest’s command, on December 5.

Forrest was raiding northwest Tennessee at this time.  Disillusioned by Morton’s youth, Forrest did not have a lot of confidence in the young lieutenant.  This would change on December 31, 1862, at the battle of Parker’s Crossroads.

Retiring back through west Tennessee, Forrest expected to make a crossing of the Tennessee River, and enter northern Mississippi, to refit.  Running into part of US Brigadier General Jeremiah Sullivan’s command, near Parker’s Crossroads, Forrest would deploy Freeman’s Battery, and young Morton’s battery, in an advance position.  The exceptional command of both batteries, would push US Colonel Cyrus Dunham’s brigade south of the crossroads.  John Morton would be instrumental in their early success, against the Federal army.  Unfortunately, with the arrival of US Colonel John Fuller’s brigade, Forrest would become surrounded.  He would make a fantastic escape, to the Tennessee River, keeping the majority of his command together.

Morton earned Bedford Forrest’s praise, and would become the youngest artillery captain in the Confederate army.

1862

• Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Confederate cavalry retreats towards Parker’s Crossroads from a raid in northwest Tennessee.  Arriving at
  

  Union artillery at Parker's Crossroads battlefield.

  the crossroads on December 31, Forrest ran into Cyrus Dunham’s Federals brigade.   Dunham had blocked Forrest’s path to the Tennessee River and a hard fight ensued.  Bedford Forrest’s horse artillery pushed Dunham’s brigade south.  Asking for Dunham’s surrender, Forrest found himself surrounded when US Colonel John Fuller arrived with his brigade, from the north.  Legend has it, that at this point, Forrest stated, “charge them both ways.”  Miraculously, Bedford Forest was able to escape from the Federals, and make his way across the Tennessee River at Clifton.

• The USS Monitor, off the coast of North Carolina, at Cape Hatteras, began taking on water, while being towed through heavy seas.

The 55th Illinois Infantry monument at Vicksburg.

The 55th Illinois Infantry regiment was organized at Camp Douglas, Chicago.  Mustering into service on October 31, 1861, it would move to Benton Barracks, MO, where it would remain through January 12, 1862.  Moving, to Paducah, KY, on January 12, it would be part of the 2nd Brigade, Fifth Division, of the Army of Tennessee.  The 55th would see its first action at the Battle of Shiloh.

Originally commanded by David Stuart, it would later be commanded by Oscar Malmborg.

Besides fighting at Shiloh, the 55th Illinois would participate in many other battles:

• Corinth
• Chickasaw Bayou
• Arkansas Post
• Champion’s Hill
• Vicksburg
• Chattanooga
• Sherman’s March to the Sea
• Sherman’s Carolina Campaign

The 55th Illinois would suffer a total of 286 casualties during the course of the Civil War.  It would be mustered out of service on August 14, 1865.

1862

• Federal General William T. Sherman’s army attacks well entrenched Confederates, north of Vicksburg, MS.  In a battle to be known, as Chickasaw Bluffs, Sherman would be repulsed.