7th Minnesota Infantry, Henry Mills' Outfit-- Part 2: Battle of Nashville and the End of the War

Late in November 1864, the 7th Minnesota arrived at Nashville, Tennessee and joined Genera; George Thomas' army who were  fighting Gen. John Bell Hood's Confederates. 

On December 15, Thomas' troops attacked the Confederate lines outside the city.  The 7th Minnesota's brigade charged a gun position and captured three cannons.  Unfortunately, Colonel Sylvester  G. Hill, the brigade commander, was killed.  The 7th's Col. Marshall then took command of the brigade.

The Union forces renewed the attack the following day  which was rainy.  The 7th and their comrades charged over soft rain soaked ground across a corn field and captured the Confederate works.  Union forces were successful all along the line  and Hood's army was all but destroyed.

The 7th had six men killed and fifty-four wounded in the two-day battle.  One of those wounded was Henry Mills.

Following the Battle of Nashville, the 7th served in Tennessee and Mississippi.

In March and April, 1865, they fought in Gen.  E.R.S. Canby's campaign against Mobile, Alabama.  This was the last campaign of the 7th, and they returned home and were mustered out of service on August 16, 1865.

--Old Secesh

John Quincy Adams Ward-- Part 2: Some of His Civil War Statues

These are some of the statues he made regarding Civil War personage:

1869  Seventh New York Regiment Memorial in Central Park, N.Y.

1871  General John F. Reynolds Statue in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

1878  William Gillmore Simms statue in Charleston, S.C.

1879  General George Henry Thomas , Washington, D.C.

1887  James A. Garfield Monument in Washington, D.C.

1891  Henry Ward Beecher Monument in Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, N.Y.

1898  Equestrian statue of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock at the Smith Memorial Arch in Philadelphia, Pa.

1910  Financier August Belmont, Newport, R.I.

1916  Gen. Philip Sheridan statue in Albany, N.Y.  completed posthumously.

--Old Secesh

Robert Byington Mitchell-- Part 2: Perryville, Chicakamauga and New Mexico

After his recovery, Lincoln appointed him a brigadier general an d he was given command of a mixed brigade at Fort Riley (Kansas).    Later, he commanded a division at the Battle of Perryville and then he was stationed at Nashville for awhile after that.

During the Chickamauga Campaign, he served as George H. Thomas' chief of cavalry for the Army of the Cumberland.  Just before the Third Battle of Chattanooga, he was ordered to Washington, D.C., for court martial duty.  There is some question as to whether this was because of incapacitation due to a wound.

Either way, he did not see active duty again against the Confederates, and commanded the District of Nebraska, District of North Kansas and finally the District of Kansas.

In January 1865, he commanded a unit chasing after a group of Indians who had attacked Julesburg, Colorado but was unable to catch them.

He was honorably discharged  on January 15, 1866, the same day the Senate confirmed his nomination as Governor of the New Mexico Territory.  He resigned from it in 1869 and returned to Kansas before moving to Washington, D.C., where he died January 26, 1882, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Jesse Merrill-- Part 6: The Signal Service Corps

Jesse Merrill enlisted in Company D, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in the spring of 1861, and received a commission as second lieutenant .  In the fall of the same year, he was detailed for duty in the Signal Service Corps.

When the Signal Corps was organized as a separate branch of the service, he was transferred to from his company with the rank of captain. In January 1862, he was appointed to organize the Signal Service in the Army of the Ohio, and he took command the following year.

By virtue of his position as signal officer, Captain Merrill was on the staff of Generals Buell, Rosecrans and Thomas, and they in succession, commanded the Army of the Ohio, which afterwards became the Army of the Cumberland.

--Old Secesh

Jesse Merrill-- Part 4: Obituary

GENERAL JESSE MERRILL

General John Jesse Merrill died at his home in Lock Haven on Saturday night last, of paralysis.  General Merrill was born  in New Berlin and was the son of the late James Merrill and was sixty-five years old.

He studied law with with Hon. W.C. Lawson of Milton and located in Lock Haven. 

During the Civil War he enlisted as a member of Company D, 7th Pennsylvania Reserves, and was detailed for duty with the Signal Corps. In 1862, he organized the Signal Service for the Army of Ohio., of which he took command shortly after.

He also served on the staffs of Generals Buell, Rosecrans and Thomas.

In 1871, he was appointed by Governor Geary major general of the National Guard of Pennsylvania.  While serving in the latter position he had charge of the Eleventh division, which he called out to quell the Williamsport riots in 1872.

He was married in 1866 to Miss Julia McCleerry, sister of Col. John McCleery.  Mrs. Merrill died about five years ago.

The deceased enjoyed a large practice in Clinton County., and was at one time postmaster of Lock Haven.

He was buried at Milton on Tuesday.

--Old Secesh

Jacob D. Cox-- Part 3: To North Carolina and the Books

Troops under Jacob Cox broke the Confederate supply line on the Macon and Western Railroad on August 31, 1864, forcing Hood to evacuate Atlanta.

Schofield's corps was ordered to join Gen. Thomas in Tennessee after it became apparent Hood was heading that way.  Cox's troops narrowly escaped destruction at Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Then, at the Battle of Franklin, Cox's troops were credited with saving the Union center.

He was then at the Siege of and Battle of Nashville.

When John Schofield was ordered to bring his corps east to join the operations against Wilmington, North Carolina, , Cox led the Third Division.

Afterwards, he  took command of the District of Beaufort and a provisional corps, which he led at the Battle of Wyse Fork.  His corps was eventually named the XXIII Corps.

During his later years, Jacob Cox became a prolific author"

"The March to the Sea:  Franklin and Nashville"  1882
"The Second Battle of Bull Run"  1882
"The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee"  1897
Military Reminiscences of the Civil War"    1900

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group-- Part 3: Richard S. Ewell's USMA Class of 1840

Confederate General Richard S. Ewell graduated with West Point's Class of 1840 and was #13 of 42.  Nickname was Old Bald Head or Baldy.

Other famous Civil War graduates of that class:

Union:  William T. Sherman and George H. Thomas

Confederate:  Bushrod Johnson and Paul O. Hebert

Others who fought:

Union

Stewart Van Vliet
George W. Getty
William Hays
James N. Caldwell
Pinckney Lugenebell
Oliver L. Shepherd
Stephen D. Carpenter

Confederate:

William Gilham
John P. McCown
James G. Martin
Reuben P. Campbell
William Steele
Robert P. Maclay
Thomas Jordan

--Old Secesh