Comments for Chickamauga...

Chickamauga...

2006-09-20T12:26:05Z

The Armorer, as he has mentioned, is the namesake for a family member who was a veteran of the Orphan Brigade, the Kentucky Confederates.

And the blood runs strong. Pappy and I share a taste for tweaking. Especially members of the 4th Estate.

Pappy was an original joiner of the Brigade, and was with them to the bitter end. The Brigade was present at most of the big battles in the West (almost all losses for the South) and was, over time, effectively destroyed. The only real win in their column was Chickamauga, where the remnants of the Brigade were shattered while facing Thomas doing his "Rock of Chickamauga" thing.

This being the anniversary of the second day of Chickamauga, this seems a good time to tell the tale.... somewhere in the badly-organized Archives of Argghhh! (in meatspace, not cyber, where Google is your friend) is a tattered, yellowed piece of newsprint, from a Chattanooga paper, holding an article on the first Chickamauga reunion.

The story tells of Pappy Hays, currently of Paragould, Arkansas, who was a veteran of the Orphan Brigade. A grand storyteller (hey, he was Mayor and Justice of the Peace) he held forth of the trials and travails of the Orphans on that bloody day in north Georgia. Telling of how the supply situation for the Orphans had been so bad that many went into battle with the weapons that they had brought with them from home, when enlisting.

He recounted how, during that terrible second day, he'd found himself moving among Union dead near a tree in a field. He'd taken the opportunity to secure a fine new M1858 Springfield Rifled Musket from a bluebelly who no longer needed it, along with cartridge case and belt. And a nice new tin canteen, too. Not to mention some boots, although those came from a different fellow. The battle not yet won, however, he didn't want his family fowling piece to fall into Federal hands, and he couldn't carry them both, so he stashed it in a hollow in the tree.

Lo and behold - the tale being told while walking the battlefield - could that not be the very tree? That one, the farmer's shade tree in the center of the field? Excited, breathless, the crowd surges to the tree, where Pappy reaches in and... pulls out a shotgun! Gleefully, gripping the shotgun tightly, he exultantly pumps it in the air - he's found the family gun!

What a tale! Breathlessly reported!

And all hokum.

Pappy arrived a day early, and went by himself to visit the battlefield and make peace with his ghosts. Walking along the path the Orphans had marched, he crossed a field and came across a farmer plowing. The farmer showed him a shotgun he'd plowed up - one in much too good a shape to actually have been a relic of the battle, but, hey, people lose shotguns all the time... right? [The shotgun is the greater mystery. -the Armorer]

He took the gun and looked for a place to hide it - found the tree... and the rest is Historical Fact as Reported by the Press. Heh. Pappy Hays, spiritual fore-runner of Reuter's stringers...

Pappy lived a long, colorful life, and is buried in his Orphan Brigade uniform in the Meriwether family plot in Linwood Cemetery, Paragould, Arkansas. If you're in the area and want to go give him a salute, we plant our dead just to the east of the mausoleum (except my grandparents, who are *in* the mausoleum). And there's another story in there... that one with a Kansas City tie-in.

Comment from Albany Rifles on 2006-09-21

2006-09-21T15:08:59Z

I am a proud alum of the Army unit nicknamed the Rock of Chickamauga, the 19th Infantry Regiment. The 19th US stood along with the rest of BG John King's Regular Brigade to help hold Snodgrass Hill. So we earned the sobriquet as well as Old Pap. The 19th US also holds the distinction of probably having killed Lincoln's brother in law, BG Benjamin Helm. He was killed when the 1st Battalion, 19th US commanded by MAJ S. K. Dawson fired a massed volley into the oncoming Kentucky Confederates and Helm fell. It was said that Helm's death effected Lincoln as much as the death of his son Willie. Great site, BTW.

Comment from Justthisguy on 2006-09-21

2006-09-21T05:22:36Z

OH!, yeah. What y'all said. I mind the time that living in Atlanta was getting too much on my nerves, and I had a full tank of gas in the Mazda (from Hiroshima, honest!) pickup, and decided to go for a late-night, aimless cruise along the highways. Along about dawn, I saw a sign directing to the Chickamauga battlefield. I went there. I parked. I walked around. I looked at the monuments. I walked the assault path of one of the Confederate attacks. (Having not slept the previous night, and being somewhat dehydrated, and it being a hot part of the year, I think I was able to assimilate some of the feelings of those guys.) Later, I went to the museum, where they keep all of the shoulder-fired weapons behind glass. I made a fool of myself there, talking about the coffee grinder in the buttstock of the Sharps (or was it a Spencer?) While standing next to somebody who had one in his collection.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-09-20

2006-09-21T02:06:47Z

And... Pyhrric, too. Like many of the South's victories, especially operationally offensive ones - tactical wins by the lights of the day, in that they possessed the field - but operational and strategic losses because of the cost, and their inability to follow-up, whether due to losses or logistics.

Comment from Grim on 2006-09-20

2006-09-21T01:03:15Z

I've been out to Chickamauga (which, by the way, is a Cherokee word meaning "Bloody River," though I have seen "Stagnant River" and "Death River" as alternative explanations. I think the more militant names are the accurate ones -- being located on the easiest land route through the mountains of North Georgia, it was surely the location of many battles between raiding parties in the time before history). The battle we know was the last of them -- it has so long been peaceful now that the deer will come up to your car in herds. It was a fascinating moment in military history, one of the times when a bad decision (I refer to Braxton Brag's decision not to follow up on his destruction of the enemy line) could be said to have changed the result of the war. And yet, the Rebel bragging to the side, it was an accidental victory -- the fog of war decided it, more than anything else.

Comment from MajMike on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T20:49:25Z

the only reason i watched that whole movie was to hear that one line...

Comment from AFSister on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T20:19:35Z

BUWAHAHAHAHA... You made Major Mike say "huckleberry"

Comment from Marine6 on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T19:25:47Z

John That's a great story. Last year, in early November, I had my forst opportunity to visit the field at Chickamauga. It was shortly after dawn when I arrived, and a mist still lay upon the land. The field itself is spectacular. As I wandered the land I saw 13 deer, and, in a most unususal occurance, a flock of wild turkey. There were at least two dozen. The visitor center presentation gives the average visitor a good basic understanding of what happened upon the field, and the park service has done an outstanding job of maintaining the site. As someone who has frequently walked the battlefields of the Army of Northern Virginia, I really appreciated the opportunity to discover something new, and because of the abundant wildlife, quite magical. Break - Break - Break I hope you will accept condolances from another Lab lover over your loss. My beloved Dutchess and Dixie have both gone to the great duck blind in the sky and I know how you must feel. Marine6 Sends

Comment from MajMike on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T18:28:26Z

my great-great-grampa never met that other guy that was there (or was he?) that day either... but i'm yer huckleberry too!

Comment from Gwedd on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T16:26:09Z

Comrades all, A great story there, John, and so typical of those days! I have the homour to count among my ancestors Benjamin Hardin Helm, who commanded the Orphan Brigade. My paternal Grandmother's family was from Kentucky, and helped to endow Transylvania College through the years. She was a Neice to the General. One of the great myths that still endures is of the "ragged barefoot rebel, totin' Granpa's squirrel rifle and living off of parched corn and huckleberries". From the surviving uniforms of the Orphan brigade, however, and their letters and reports, a more well-equipped and clothed body of infantry appears. This artcle by Geoff Walden takes a close look at the "Columbus Depot Jackets" amongst the surviving examples of which are some id'd to the Orphan Brigade. http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/1864/cd/cdjacket3.htm Thanks for another great post. If you ever want to get together to talk about CW stuff, then I'm your huckleberry! Respects, AW1 Tim

Comment from Jim on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T14:25:40Z

John, I enjoy your site. Thought you'd enjoy this story about Chickamuaga from Brown's Book of Anecdotes about Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler: A confederate soldier, brought before Butler to take the oath of allegiance at the end of the Civil War, impudently remarked, "We gave you hell at Chickamauga, General!" The furious Butler warned him that if he did not take the oath immediately he would be shot. With some reluctance, the rebel duly took the oath. Then he looked Butler in the eye and said, "General, I suppose I am a good Yankee and citizen of the United States now?" The general replied benignly, "I hope so." Well, General, the rebels sure gave us hell at Chickamauga, didn't they?"

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T14:11:52Z

Well, not anytime soon, I assure you, now that you planted *that* seed. The shotgun in question is not, to my knowledge, in the possession of any of the members of the family, more's the pity.

Comment from MajMike on 2006-09-20

2006-09-20T13:42:50Z

RIP Pappy... ..and do i detect the glimmer of a shot gun Whatzis on the horizon?