Just a brief note from Captain Cox today, July 13, 1862. Time seems to be passing quickly as he notes the beginning of a new week in their new camp, five miles from Athens.
This is again Sunday. Had inspection this morning. Received a letter from Josie today per Dillehay from Josie.*
The fact that he mentions Josie's name twice seems to indicate that she is weighing heavily on his mind.
The other reference is probably to William S. Dillahay, 1st Lt. in Company H. He had resigned on May 10, 1862 (due to illness or injury) and likely returned to visit his old unit. Dillahay was from McLean County, Kentucky, near Calhoun.** There were actually quite a few civilians coming and going from camps like this throughout the western theater, especially when the camps were relatively close to home. They were a welcome source of newspapers, letters and special commodities that weren't available from the commissary officer.
Meanwhile, back at Headquarters in Corinth, Major General Henry Halleck has been recalled to Washington in reward for his successive victories in the west, but General D.C. Buell, at his headquarters in Huntsville, is not so lucky. Halleck had counted on the Army of the Ohio's advancing eastward to Chattanooga while maintaining control over the occupied territories of Tennessee and Kentucky. This explains the Seventeenth's positioning near Athens, poised for the attack on Chattanooga. Confederate activity since the Fourth of July, however, is drawing increasing attention as demonstrated in this communication from Buell to Halleck, also dated July 13th .
Editor's note: For a better understanding of Buell's predicament, start at the link below and follow pages 136-151, correspondence for July 13 & 14, 1862.
(Ref.: http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/recordView.cfm?Content=023/0136).
HEADQUARTERS, Huntsville, July 13, 1862.
General HALLECK:
General Boyle reports that Morgan's force is increasing by the rising of secessionists in the counties on the Ohio; that he is now at Danville and Harrodsburg, and will have Lexington and Frankfort if troops are not sent immediately. I shall have to send troops there. This morning I received a dispatch from Nashville saying that 3,000 cavalry surprised and, as the phrase is, "cut to pieces" the force at Murfreesborough [sic], two regiments of infantry, a battery, and some cavalry. I have no particulars and no information since. There has no doubt been an attack threatening Nashville and our railroad communications. I have ordered troops to meet the danger. The road to Stevenson was finished a strong force on the roads, but the lines are long and exposed from the east. Everything indicates that the enemy is throwing a heavy cavalry force into Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, which will give us occupation. The force at Chattanooga is stated at from 15,000 to 20,000, exclusive of the force under Smith farther east.
D. C. BUELL.
* Cox, Samuel K., Civil War Diary 1862-1865 of Captain Samuel K. Cox, courtesy of Daviess County Public Library, Kentucky Room archives, p.19.
** Blackburn, John, A Hundred Miles, A Hundred Heartbreaks, 1972, self-published, LOC 72-93774, p.221.
This blog chronicles the life of the 17th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry in the American Civil War on the 150th aniversary of their service. Follow these volunteers through several major battles while experiencing both the pace and duration of the conflict. The posts may be read chronologically by accessing the archives and selecting them individually, beginning with the Preface.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Fun in the Sun
On July 10th, Captain Cox commented that it had been "remarkably warm today" and on the 11th he mentioned going into Athens on the back of a mule with fellow officers Lieutenants Byers (Company E) and Davis.*
Avery Byers, 2nd Lt., (E) resigned on June 15th the following year. He was one of three brothers that served in the Seventeenth alongside his father and his brother-in-law. He later joined the 35th Kentucky Mounted Infantry and rose to the rank of captain.**
Thomas D. Davis, 2nd. Lt .and Commissary officer of the Seventeenth resigned his commission in October, 1863.*** It was probably his association with Captain Cox that led to the entry for this day, July 12, 1862.
Nothing worthy of note. Reported to Division Headquarters, three miles distant, for the purpose of drawing clothing, and on reaching said place, our presence was not required as we received a wrong order from COL Stout. It was anything but pleasant to walk three miles in the warm sun on a dusty road. Consequently he received many a prayer from each commissioned officer in the company.*
Lt.Col. Stout was Col. McHenry's second in command.
* Cox, Samuel K., Civil War Diary 1862-1865 of Captain Samuel Kennedy Cox, courtesy of Daviess County Public Library, Kentucky Room, unpublished manuscript, p.19.
** Blackburn, John, A Hundred Miles, A Hundred Heartbreaks, 1972, self-published, LOC 72-93774, p.211.
*** Ibid, p.220
Avery Byers, 2nd Lt., (E) resigned on June 15th the following year. He was one of three brothers that served in the Seventeenth alongside his father and his brother-in-law. He later joined the 35th Kentucky Mounted Infantry and rose to the rank of captain.**
Thomas D. Davis, 2nd. Lt .and Commissary officer of the Seventeenth resigned his commission in October, 1863.*** It was probably his association with Captain Cox that led to the entry for this day, July 12, 1862.
Nothing worthy of note. Reported to Division Headquarters, three miles distant, for the purpose of drawing clothing, and on reaching said place, our presence was not required as we received a wrong order from COL Stout. It was anything but pleasant to walk three miles in the warm sun on a dusty road. Consequently he received many a prayer from each commissioned officer in the company.*
Lt.Col. Stout was Col. McHenry's second in command.
* Cox, Samuel K., Civil War Diary 1862-1865 of Captain Samuel Kennedy Cox, courtesy of Daviess County Public Library, Kentucky Room, unpublished manuscript, p.19.
** Blackburn, John, A Hundred Miles, A Hundred Heartbreaks, 1972, self-published, LOC 72-93774, p.211.
*** Ibid, p.220
Monday, July 9, 2012
Another Fine Spot
Captain Cox, still hopeful of finding a home for the summer, thinks this must be the place as he writes in his diary on the evening of July 9, 1862.
--Reveille this morning at 3 o'clock, and we started for our new camp, some four miles distant. Arrived about 6 o'clock and immediately pitched tents for the summer, no doubt. This is a pretty good place to camp and convenient to good water. I am now in hopes that we may be permitted to remain here for at least a few weeks, if not longer, for we have indeed undergone many hardships and privations since we left Kentucky and it is time for us to rest. Wrote a letter to Josie today.*
Striking camp and getting on the road is becoming routine for the boys in blue. They made pretty good time between reveille at 3:00 and setting up a new camp four miles down the road at 6:00. If the Seventeenth is to have a place to stay for the summer, which they sorely need, it is becoming apparent that a tent camp will not be it.
Not to belittle the accomplishments of Buell's Army in the spring of 1862, but the 17th Kentucky, along with the 31st & 44th Indiana had more battle experience than most of his men due to their temporary assignment in the Army of the Tennessee.** Their charge of the fortified hillside at Fort Donelson was one of the turning points of the battle. Their performances at the Peach Orchard, Wicker Field and "Grant's Last Line of Defense" on Sunday at Shiloh were second to none. And when Buell arrived that night to retake the eastern half of the battlefield, they helped form the right flank under Generals Hurlbut, McClernand and Sherman that swept the western half and eventually drove the Confederates from the field. So Captain Cox can't be blamed for believing they were due some soft duty.
*Cox, Samuel K, Civil War Diary 1862-1865 of Captain Samuel Kennedy Cox, courtesy of Daviess County Public Library, Kentucky Room, archived manuscript, p.19.
**According to Dyer's, their neighbors from southern Indiana who had also steamed from Calhoun, Ky and fought under Cruft (at Fort Donelson) and Lauman (at Shiloh) were currently assigned as follows: the 31st Indiana was nearby in Col. S.D. Bruce's Twenty-second Brigade of Nelson's Fourth Division and the 44th Indiana was in the Fourteenth Brigade of General Crittenden's Fifth Division with other regiments from Calhoun.
--Reveille this morning at 3 o'clock, and we started for our new camp, some four miles distant. Arrived about 6 o'clock and immediately pitched tents for the summer, no doubt. This is a pretty good place to camp and convenient to good water. I am now in hopes that we may be permitted to remain here for at least a few weeks, if not longer, for we have indeed undergone many hardships and privations since we left Kentucky and it is time for us to rest. Wrote a letter to Josie today.*
Striking camp and getting on the road is becoming routine for the boys in blue. They made pretty good time between reveille at 3:00 and setting up a new camp four miles down the road at 6:00. If the Seventeenth is to have a place to stay for the summer, which they sorely need, it is becoming apparent that a tent camp will not be it.
Not to belittle the accomplishments of Buell's Army in the spring of 1862, but the 17th Kentucky, along with the 31st & 44th Indiana had more battle experience than most of his men due to their temporary assignment in the Army of the Tennessee.** Their charge of the fortified hillside at Fort Donelson was one of the turning points of the battle. Their performances at the Peach Orchard, Wicker Field and "Grant's Last Line of Defense" on Sunday at Shiloh were second to none. And when Buell arrived that night to retake the eastern half of the battlefield, they helped form the right flank under Generals Hurlbut, McClernand and Sherman that swept the western half and eventually drove the Confederates from the field. So Captain Cox can't be blamed for believing they were due some soft duty.
*Cox, Samuel K, Civil War Diary 1862-1865 of Captain Samuel Kennedy Cox, courtesy of Daviess County Public Library, Kentucky Room, archived manuscript, p.19.
**According to Dyer's, their neighbors from southern Indiana who had also steamed from Calhoun, Ky and fought under Cruft (at Fort Donelson) and Lauman (at Shiloh) were currently assigned as follows: the 31st Indiana was nearby in Col. S.D. Bruce's Twenty-second Brigade of Nelson's Fourth Division and the 44th Indiana was in the Fourteenth Brigade of General Crittenden's Fifth Division with other regiments from Calhoun.
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