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Drake Family History

Part Eight, Page Eight

The Battle of Shiloh

22^nd Alabama Infantry Regiment

(08 April 1862 to 01 July 1862)

    On Tuesday, 08 April, the Army of the Mississippi continued its march back to Corinth, a distance of twenty-three miles from Pittsburg Landing.  The roadsides were littered with abandoned wagons and cannons stuck in the mire.  Houses along the way were converted into temporary hospitals and the "whole road was lined with wagons freighted with dead and wounded."  Most of the troops arrived after nightfall with little rations and many had to dig into the mud to find water. ⁹³

    The men awoke on the morning of 09 April to the grisly sights of "death and suffering."  Coffins and wounded soldiers nearly covered the railroad platform.  The arrival of physicians, nurses and anxious parents looking for their sons added to the overcrowded conditions around  Corinth.  Hospitals were overflowing and many of the wounded were removed to other Mississippi cities, to Memphis and to the Marine Hospital in Natchez on the Mississippi River. ⁹⁴  One surgeon determined that a change of location and the thought of going home might improve the condition of many of the wounded, perhaps even saving their lives.  Accordingly, he prescribed furloughs for many of his patients. ⁹⁵ A soldier named Horatio, from the 22nd Alabama, indicated in a letter home dated 11 April 1862, that furloughs of 30, 40, 50 and 60 days were issued to many of the wounded according to the seriousness of their wounds. ⁹⁶

    Other factors at Corinth presented a serious health problem.  On 14 June 1862, President Davis sent Aide-de Camp, Colonel William Preston Johnston, to meet with General Beauregard and obtain answers to a series of interrogatories regarding the retreat from Corinth on 29 and 30 May.  Question number four: "What was the cause of the sickness at Camp Corinth?  Would it have been avoided by occupying the higher ground in front?  Has it been corrected by retiring to the present position?" ⁹⁷  Beauregard's answers were contained in a communication dated 22 June 1862 (Pages 1 & 2) and included the following: "There were several causes for this sickness. 1st. The want of good water.  2d. The want of proper food, the salt meat furnished to the troops being often not fit to eat; also the almost total want of fresh beef and vegetables, beef having been furnished once a week or every ten days, instead of five times a week, as ordered. . . . I will mention here that some of our own troops were affected with the commencement of scurvy.  It is doubtful in my mind whether the health of the army would have been much benefited by the occupation of the hills referred to, even had it been practicable in a military point of view.  General Van Dorn's army corps [Note: Van Dorn's army arrived in Corinth about mid-April] occupied the hills 3 or 4 miles southeast of Corinth . . . but was as sickly as the troops located nearer the depot.  The present position at Tupelo . . . is considered very healthy; . . ." ⁹⁸

    Colonel Johnston, issued a report, dated 15 July 1862, to President Davis regarding the Colonel's discussions with General Beauregard and his staff.   Regarding the conditions at Corinth he wrote, "Just complaint exists of the quality of the rations and the irregularity of their issue.  Great suffering occurred from this cause at Corinth and on the retreat.  Since then there has been improvement.  It is stated that a portion of the salt beef issued was put up in poplar boxes instead of tight casks, and was consequently spoiled and unwholesome. . . ." (O. R. XXII, page 782)  Later in the same report he said, " Bad food, neglect of police duty, inaction, and labor, and especially the water insufficient, and charged with magnesia and rotten limestone, had produced obstinate types of diarrhea and typhoid fever.  No sound men were left.  The attempt to bore artesian wells had failed.  With an aggregate 112,092 the effective total had wasted way to 52,706 men.  The sick and absent numbered 49,590, including officers.  No sudden epidemic had smitten the camp; the sickness was the effect of causes evident from the day of the occupation of the position, and increased with an accelerated ratio.  The value of Corinth as a temporary base from which to attack the enemy was vast, but as it was untenable for permanent occupation on account of its unhealthfulness, it seems unfortunate that the army should have been retained there until a wreck only remained . . ." (O. R. XXII page 784) ⁹⁹

    Sickness wasn't Beauregard's only concern.  The Union army was a mere twenty-three miles away and an enemy attack seemed eminent.  Accordingly, preparations were made for a defense against a probable attack from Grant and Buell.  Beauregard determined to hold Corinth as long as possible and began calling for reinforcements from East Tennessee.  His effective strength had dwindled to about thirty-five thousand troops. ¹⁰⁰

    In Pittsburg, on 11 April, General Halleck arrived to personally assume command.  John Pope's army, victorious after the Confederate surrender of Island No. 10, arrived a week and a half later.  Halleck now commanded all of the armies of Grant, Buell and Pope, a combined force of sixteen divisions with 108,500 men present for duty.  Preparations began for an attack against the Confederate troops in and around Corinth.  Halleck proceeded cautiously, taking seven weeks to cover the twenty-three miles.  ¹⁰¹

    On 10 May 1862, between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, near Farmington, Mississippi, Colonel Joseph Wheeler gathered a portion of the 19th Alabama, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tracy, and about 20 volunteers from the 22nd Alabama, under Lieutenant-Colonel Marrast and set out to drive back a force of Union infantry and cavalry.  Wheeler reported that a point on his outpost had been continuously attacked during the previous four days, but until the arrival of Colonel Buck's men at 2:00 pm on the 10th, he didn't have sufficient strength to make a drive towards the enemy.  Wheeler's skirmishers attacked a group of 100 infantry and 25 cavalry, killing 2 men, wounding a third (probably mortally), and capturing 4 horses and their equipments.  No one from Wheeler's group was injured. ¹⁰²

    By 25 May, General Beauregard determined that conditions at that time necessitated an immediate and complete withdrawal from Corinth.  In his report dated 13 June 1862, from Western Department Headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi, General Beauregard explains the circumstances leading to his decision to evacuate.  "The purposes and ends for which I had occupied and held Corinth having been mainly accomplished by the last of May, and by the 25th of that month having ascertained definitely  that the enemy had received large accessions to his already superior force, while ours had been reduced day by day by disease, resulting from bad water and inferior food, I felt it clearly my duty to evacuate that position without delay."  Then, on 26 May, he issued verbal orders for evacuation.  In a memorandum of orders dated 27 May, Bragg's corps, which included the 22nd Alabama, was ordered to leave Corinth  "via the Tennessee pike to Kossuth until it [reached] the south side of the Tuscumbia; thence by the Rienzi and Blackland road to Carrollsville and Baldwin."  Baggage trains were to leave precisely at 12:00 noon on the 28th and stop for the night on the south side of the Tuscumbia.  The men were to leave at 3:00 a.m. on the 29th, leaving cavalry pickets to guard and protect the movement.  These orders were later amended delaying the retreat for twenty-four hours.  In order to deceive the Union Army, which was utilizing hot air balloons for surveillance, small details were to remain behind in the old camps until 10:00 p.m. to keep camp fires burning, giving the illusion that the main force was still encamped. ¹⁰³

    From a camp near Baldwin, Mississippi, Colonel Joseph Wheeler submitted a report dated 06 June 1862 concerning certain affairs on the Monterey Road preparatory to the evacuation of Corinth.  He reported as follows " . . . on the evening of the 28th ultimo [May], being in command of the First Brigade, Withers' division, I was ordered to leave Colonel Deas' regiment, four guns of Robertson's battery, and a detail of 150 men from each other regiment, and to proceed with the remainder of the brigade to the outpost on the Monterey road, and drive the enemy from a position they had taken that morning, and establish our pickets as they were before the advances of the enemy."  Later, in the same report, Colonel Wheeler states that toward evening [apparently of 30 May], he was ordered by the commanding general to "leave Colonel Deas, with his and one other regiment and two guns of Robertson's battery, and proceed to the rear with the remainder of the brigade." ¹⁰⁴

    General Beauregard ordered the evacuation of Corinth on the night of 30 May 1862.  From there, the rebel forces removed to Tupelo, Mississippi.  Prior to the evacuation of Corinth, a field return for the Army of the Mississippi reported that 11,019 enlisted men were absent with leave.  Upon arrival at Tupelo, about 9 June 1862, a field return reported that 7,572 enlisted men were absent with leave.  

    On the 31 May, Colonel Deas' regiment was stationed by the Tuscumbia River, on the Shunpike Road as a rear guard.  During the retreat from Corinth, the Confederates destroyed bridges along the way, obstructing Union passage over the rivers. Deas' unit was positioned to keep Union troops from rebuilding those bridges.  In a message to Major George G. Garner, dated 31 May - 4:30 p.m., Deas reported that at 2:00 p.m. they were attacked by Union skirmishers and a small piece of artillery.  The struggle continued for two hours, when Deas' pickets and their reserves were driven back through a swamp.  Five minutes later, the skirmishers were pushed back until Deas' men had regained their previous positions.  At 6:00 p.m., Deas sent another message to Major Garner acknowledging orders to hold his position until after dark on 01 June in which he reported that his men had not had any bread since the morning of 30 May and that salt and meal were scarce in the area.  Deas also reported information gathered from a "countryman" that the enemy were moving up the river and were flanking him on his right.  During the engagement, Deas had 4 men wounded, one mortally.

    About 1:00 pm on 01 June, Colonel John Savage of the 16th Tennessee Volunteers, stationed near Smith's Bridge, was informed by Colonels Deas and Hunt that the Federals were rebuilding the bridge at Danville.  The latter two agreed to march at 4:00 pm that afternoon to prevent being cut off and were requesting Savage's co-operation.  The 16th Tennessee marched at 5:00 pm and fell in with Colonel James Clanton's 1st Alabama Cavalry near Kossuth, Mississippi.  All of these units converged sometime after midnight.  Information received from local citizens and scouts indicated that approximately 2000 Union Cavalry were moving towards Blackland.  A council was held between Colonels Deas, Hunt, Adams, Slemmons, Clanton, and Savage.  These officers determined to march forward and fight whatever force they might find. They saw nothing of the enemy, but Colonel Savage was certain that there were active Federal scouts on his left and a considerable force some 4 or 5 miles from Blackland. 

    Correspondence from Colonel William Preston Johnston to President Jefferson Davis included, as Exhibit C, the organization of the "Confederate States forces, General Bragg commanding, Army of the Mississippi, June 30, 1862.  This exhibit included the organization of the Reserve Corps, Brigadier General J. M. Withers commanding.  The First Brigade of that Corps was commanded by Brigadier General Frank Gardner and included: the 19th, 22nd, 25th, 26th and 39th Alabama Infantry Regiments, Sharpshooters and Robertson's battery.

    On 01 July 1862 a Field Return of the Confederate forces commanded by General Braxton Bragg reported that there were 9,304 infantry men sick on that day.  Of those, four were in Columbus.  Private Samuel C. Drake, died on 01 July 1862 at Newsom Hospital in Columbus, Mississippi of chronic diarrhea. 

    ⁹³ Wiley Sword, Shiloh: Bloody April, page 427

    ⁹⁴ Larry J. Daniel, Shiloh, The Battle That Changed the Civil War, page 302

    ⁹⁵ Wiley Sword, Shiloh: Bloody April, page 427

    ⁹⁶ http://americancivilwar.50megs.com/22ndAlabama10.html (Link leaves this site) Letter from Horatio to Josie

    ⁹⁷ Official Records, Chapter XXII page 786

    ⁹⁸ Official Records, Chapter XXII page 776

    ⁹⁹ Official Records, Chapter XXII pages 782, 784

    ¹⁰⁰ Wiley Sword, Shiloh: Bloody April, page 428

    ¹⁰¹ Larry J. Daniel, Shiloh, The Battle That Changed the Civil War, pages 309, 311

    ¹⁰² Official Records, Chapter XXII page 839

    ¹⁰³ Official Records, Chapter XXII pages 762-3, 764-5, 766-7, 768-9, 770-1

    ¹⁰⁴ Official Records, Chapter XXII pages 852, 853,  855

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