Sgt. Henry H. Taylor at Vicksburg-- Part 2

Art Fort Hill, the colors of the Forty-fifth remained until the line could be extended to another work farther to the right, which was also blown up.  Then, as the general saw that he could not hold the position and prevent its reconstruction without remaining in the crater, he withdrew the troops about seventy-five feet from it, and there remained his position until the surrender of Vicksburg.

This work was done under the orders of Generals Logan and McPherson.  The mining was done underbthe immediate guidance and supervision of General A. Hickenlooper, the corps engineer.

--Old Secesh

Sgt. Henry H. Taylor at Vicksburg-- Part 1

From "Deeds of Honor:  How America's  Heroes Won Medals of Honor" by Walter  F. Beyer, Oscar Frederick Keydel, 1901.

FIRST UNION FLAG IN VICKSBURG

When Fort Hill, one of the defenses  of Vicksburg, was undermined and blown up on the 25th of June, the 45th Illinois, of which Sergeant Henry H. Taylor was color-bearer, was the first regiment taken into the breach by General  M. D. Leggett, and fought there most gallantly until relieved.

According to the statement by General Leggett, he struggle was desperate.  The regimental colors were bravely supported  by Sergeant Taylor, and the first to be placed  in the rebel works during the siege.  

In the assault on the 22nd of May, a color bearer, further to the left of McClernand's front, had advanced far enough to plant his flag on or against the enemy's works.  This achievement, however,  was not regarded  as the placing of the Union's colors on the rebel works, as they were not held there.

--Old Secesh

Some More on Sgt. Henry H. Taylor: Early Military Career

From the Encyclopedia Dubuque, (Iowa)

Assigned to the 45th Illinois on November 20, 1861.  The regiment was officially mustered into federal service on December 25, 1861, in Camp Douglas, Chicago.

The 45th would fight in many major battles including Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh,  Corinth, Vicksburg Campaign, Atlanta Campaign and the Carolina's Campaign.

Taylor mustered in as a private and rose to the rank of sergeant of Company C where he became the color bearer.

It was during the Vicksburg Campaign that Henry Taylor merited the Medal of Honor.  On June 30, 1863, after the reduction of the Third Louisiana Redan, by an underground mine, the infantry was sent into the breach.

--Old Secesh

Some More on Sgt. Henry H. Taylor- Part 2

This is also called the Battle of Vicksburg Crater.  Explosives were placed in a mine under this part of the Confederate defensive lines and exploded, creating a huge gap in their lines.  Union infantry was sent in.  (I have also been writing about the 27th USCT regiment which went on a similar mission to exploit the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg and later participated in the Second Battle of Fort Fisher in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog.)

The 45th Illinois was part of U.S. Brigadier General Mortimer D. Leggett's First Brigade, assigned to U.S. Major General John Logan's First Division of Major General James B. McPherson's XVII Corps.

The regiment was led by Colonel Jasper Maltby and rushed into the gaping hole left by the detonation of the mine in what Gen. Leggett describd as "desperate" fighting.  Taylor, as color bearer was in the front of the regiment.

As they clawed their way to the top of the Third Louisiana Redan, Sgt, Taylor planted the regiment's colors on the works.  The fighting would continue until late in the night.  The federaal troops eventually pulled back 75 feet to a position they held until the city's surrender on July 4, 1863.

Taylor received his Medal of Honor during the fight which also became known as "General Logan's Canal."

After the surrender, the 45th Illinois was the first regiment into the city.

Taylor remained with the 45th until he was mustered out on September 8, 1864, when his three year term of enlistment expired.

After the war, he and his wife Margery, lived in Wyandotte, Kansas, where he worked as a banker.

--Old Secesh

Ed Bearss On Mines and T.J. Higgins "If I Had Known What I Know Now"

The 45th Illinois was known as the Leadminer regiment.  At the Siege of Vicksburg they supervised and dug a mine under the redan of the 3rd Louisiana and exploded it.  However, compared to the mine explosion at Petersburg, the one at Vicksburg was just a pimple.

The one at Vicksburg was 45-feet deep, compared to the 505 foot depth at Petersburg.

The 99th Illinois was also famous in the XIII Corps, especially because of one incident at Vicksburg when Grant's Army attacked the Confederate defenses.  The regiment's color bearer, T.J. Higgins carried the flag at a run  toward the enemy lines.  Of course, color bearers always received heavy fire, but he never wavered.  On he came, waving the flag and exhorting his regiment and the other supporting troops to follow.

What he didn't know, however, was that everyone else had halted and fallen back.  He was a one-man charge.  He did not become aware of his solo attack until at the Confederate lines when he was captured.  When asked why he had made the solo attack, he replied, "If I had known what I know now."

--Old Secesh

The Battle of Vicksburg Crater

Yesterday, while writing about Joseph beavers and the 56th Illinois, I mentioned that they were at the Battle of Vicksburg Crater.  At first, I didn't recognize the name,but then it came to me that there was also a mine exploded under Confederate lines at Vicksburg (as well as the better known Battle of the Crater at Petersburg).

A quick look at Wikipedia provided this information.

The section of the Confederate lines at Vicksburg referred to as the 3rd Louisiana Redan had a mine dug out to and under it.  Some 2,200 pounds of gunpowder was placed under it and on June 25, 1863, it blew a mighty hole in the Confederate defenses at that point.

Infantry from Gen. Logan's XVII Corps poured into the hole.  The 45th Illinois, called the "Lead Mine Regiment under Col. Jasper A. Maltby charged into the 40-foot diameter, 12 foot deep crater, but stopped and were pinned down by Confederates above them who also rolled artillery shells with fuses lit.  They were forced to retreat

A second tunnel was dug nearby and the powder ignited, but no infantry attack was risked.

Pioneers then worked July 2-3 to expand the initial crater for a future attack, but was called off with Vicksburg's surrender on July 4th.

Pvt. Joseph M. Beavers, 56th Illinois: Victim of SS General Lyon-- Part 3

They participated in the Vicksburg Campaign and were at the Battle of Champion Hill on May 16, 1863 and the Battle of Big Black River on May 17.  They survived Grant's two disasterous attacks on Vicksburg May 19th and 22nd.

They were also at the Battle of Vicksburg Crater (I've never heard of it before) on June 26th and at the surrender of the fortress city on July 4th.

In October and November 1863 they were in the Chattanooga Campaign and fought at the Battle of Missionary Ridge.  Then, it was the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March to the Sea.

On February 1, 1865, they left Savannah, heading northward on Sherman's Carolina's Campaign.  At this time, their enlistments were now just 26 days away.

--Old Secesh