The 116th Army Band: A History

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Left: CAMP COTTON, El Paso, Texas - Sergeant Theo Barber and Soldiers of the Georgia National Guard's 5th Georgia Infantry Regiment
on duty on the Mexican Border in 1916. In 1917, the 5th Georgia was redesignated the 122nd Infantry Regiment. Photo courtesy of Tom Barber.
Right: Sergeant Dominiqui Green and the 116th Army Band provide musical support to the adjutant general change of command ceremony
Jan. 26, 2019 at the Clay National Guard Center. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

Early History

The 116^th Army Band carries the lineage and honors of the Gate City Guard, which was organized in Atlanta January 8, 1857, and received its charter from the Governor of Georgia in 1859. On March 18, 1861, the Gate City Guard was mustered into Confederate service for one year as part of the 1^st Georgia Infantry Regiment.[1]

As one of the earliest militia units to tender its services, the Gate City Guard adopted the motto First In War. Upon the end of their term of service in March 1862, many of the Soldiers of the Gate City Guard reenlisted and served in separate units.

First Lt. William H. Moncrief, asst. surgeon
of the 2nd GVI. Georgia National Guard Archives.

With the reorganization of the Georgia Militia following the American Civil War and reconstruction, the Gate City Guard reformed July 24, 1874, as an element of the Georgia Volunteers, Atlanta Battalion. The Guard was reorganized as a separate unit April 16, 1890, and on June 10, 1896, was reorganized and redesignated Company L, 5^th Infantry Regiment, Georgia Volunteers.

During the Spanish American War, Georgia organized three volunteer regiments. Elements of the 5th Infantry Regiment were consolidated with other Georgia Guard units to form the 2nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 2nd GVI was mustered into federal service In May 1898 at Griffin, Ga. The regiment advanced to Tampa, Fla. May 21, 1898.[2] Less than a week later, the 2nd was assigned to the Seventh Army Corps commanded by former Confederate Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. The 2nd initially received orders to deploy to Cuba then Puerto Rico, but ultimately, transportation was not available by the time the war ended. The volunteers of the 2nd GVI returned to Georgia and were mustered out of federal service in November along with the 1st GVI and Georgia Light Artillery.[3]

World War I Era

In July 1916, The Gate City Guard and other units of the Georgia National Guard were mobilized to Texas in response to unrest along the southwest border. The 5^th Georgia served at Camp Cotton, El Paso Texas where its Soldiers conducted patrols and manned sentry posts along the border with Mexico, Returning in March 1917, the Soldiers remained on active federal service due to the declaration of war against Germany. The 5^th Georgia, along with other elements of the Georgia National Guard, was sent to Camp Wheeler in Macon for premobilization training. On October 1, 1917, the 5th Georgia was redesignated the 122^nd Infantry Regiment with the Gate City Guard forming Company L.

CAMP WHEELER, Macon, Ga., February 5, 1918 – The 121st and 122nd Infantry Regiments of the 61st Brigade, 31st Division on parade.
National Archives Records Administration.

The 122nd Infantry Regiment departed for France as part of the 31^st Division. Arriving too late to take part in large scale combat operations, the 122^nd returned to the United States and was inactivated at Camp Gordon, Ga. January 14, 1919.

With the post-WWI reorganization of the Georgia National Guard, the Gate City Guard reformed as Company F, 1^st Infantry Regiment in Atlanta March 25, 1921. The company underwent several redesignations over the next three years culminating with its redesignation as Company F, 122^nd Infantry Regiment June 9, 1924. That year, the 122^nd Infantry Regiment modified the motto of the Gate City Guard to serve as the regiment’s motto: “First In Peace and in War.”

World War II Era

On July 1, 1939, the battalions of the 122nd were converted and redesignated. The 3rd Battalion with units based in Elberton, Cedartown, and Calhoun became the 2nd Battalion, 214th Field Artillery Regiment. This battalion would see service in the Pacific Theater as the 950th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. The lineage of the 950th AA AWB is perpetuated by the 1st Squadron 108th Cavalry Regiment.[4]

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 122nd converted to form the 179th Field Artillery Regiment which carried the motto of the 122^nd Infantry Regiment on its unit insignia. The Gate City Guard comprised Company F of the 179^th FA. The 179th entered federal service February 24, 1941. After one week at home station, the 179th was sent to Camp Blanding near Jacksonville, Fla. along with their newly issued 155 Schneider Howitzers to begin initial training.[5]

The 179th remained at Camp Blanding through the winter of 1941 and in March 1942 moved by truck to Camp Shelby, Miss. The trip took the battalion three days to complete. During their stay at Camp Shelby, the 179th participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers and conducted firing drills.

On February 8, 1943, the 179th Field Artillery Regiment underwent its most dramatic transformation since its conversion from the 122nd Infantry four years previous. The 1st Battalion was designated the 179th FA Battalion. The former regimental headquarters constituted the 179th FA Group.[6]The second battalion was designated the 945th Field Artillery Battalion with the Gate City Guard reorganized as Battery C, 945^th.

Collar discs and unit insignia of the 179th Field Artillery Battalion and its predecessor, the 122nd Infantry Regiment. Photo by Maj. William Carraway.

Mobilized to the European theater of operations, the 945^th and 179^th landed at Utah beach August 12, 1944, and fought their way from Northern France to Germany before mustering out of service November 26, 1945, at Camp Myles Standish, Mass.

Service in the 48^th Division

With the post-World War II reorganization of the Georgia National Guard, the Gate City Guard was consolidated with Headquarters Battery, 179^th Field Artillery Group, to form Headquarters Company, 122^nd Infantry Regiment, part of the newly activated 48^th Infantry Division. The company was federally recognized May 8, 1947. With the conversion of the 48^th ID to an armor division, the company was converted and redesignated Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Comat Command C, 48^th Armor Division.

Guidon of Headquarters Company 122nd Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Division. Photo by Ian Alderman.

An Army reorganization in 1959 brought the inactivation of the 122^nd Infantry and the redesignation of the Gate City Guard as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 102^nd Signal Depot.

In May 1962, the unit moved to Decatur, and the following year was redesignated as Headquarters Company and Band of the 48^th Armored Division Support Command. The unit received its current designation as the 116^th Army Band January 1, 1968.

The 116th Army Band, directed by Warrant Officer Joe Maxey, provides music for the dedication of Stone Mountain's Memorial Plaza April 23, 1978.
Georgia National Guard Archives.

In the decades that followed its establishment, the 116^th Army Band has been a fixture of ceremonies throughout Georgia. The 116^th Army Band has one of the busiest schedules of any unit in the Georgia National Guard as it is frequently in demand for concerts. The 116th also provides ceremonial music for holiday observances, dedications and special events. 

The 116th Army Band performs at the change of command and change of responsibility ceremony for the 12nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment
in Forsyth, Ga. March 5, 2022. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

To add to the band’s busy schedule, Soldiers of the 116^th were also called to active service as part of Georgia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and assisted during emergency response operations following Hurricane Helene in 2024.

 

Sergeant 1st Class Adam Pyper of the 116th Army Band briefs Maj. Gen. Randall Simmons on the assistance Georgia National Guard Soldiers
and Airmen are rendering to the Augusta University Health testing operations center May 7, 2020. On March 22, 2022, Pyper was promoted
to 1st sergeant of the 116th. Photo by Capt. Fred Dablemont.

 

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[1] History and Battle Record of 179 F.A. Bn., 1857-1945. Regensburg, Germany: Frederich Putset, 1945, 1.

[2] Carraway, William. “The Georgia Volunteers in the Spanish American War.” April 25, 2018 http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2018/04/the-georgia-volunteers-in-spanish_25.html

 

[3] Carraway, William. “The Georgia Volunteers in the Spanish American War.” April 25, 2018 http://www.georgiaguardhistory.com/2018/04/the-georgia-volunteers-in-spanish_25.html

[4] Center for Military History. Lineage and Honors Certificate, 108th Cavalry Regiment. N.D

[5] Historical and Pictorial Review 179th Field Artillery. The Army and Navy Publishing Company, Nashville 1941, 18.

[6] War Department, General Order #1, March 3, 1943

Nescit Cedere: “He Knows No Surrender”

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

 

The unit crests of the 118th and 230th FA flank images of Battery A, Georgia Artillery in 1916 and Battery A 1-118th FA in 2014. Georgia National Guard Archives

The earliest elements of the Georgia Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery Regiment were organized April 18, 1751 in Savannah, Ga.[1] The regiment fought during the American Revolution and the War of 1812 and began its Civil War service at Fort Pulaski in 1861.

Fort Pulaski. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Elements of the 118th served in multiple units during the Civil War including the 1st Georgia Volunteer Regiment, Wheaton’s Battery, the 13th and 18th Battalion Georgia Infantry. The venerable Chatham Artillery detached from the regiment in September 1861 and served as an independent battery, ultimately surrendering in North Carolina in April 1865.

Pvt. John  Hancock, 1st Ga.
Vol. Inf. 1898.
Georgia National Guard Archives

In 1872, the 118th Field Artillery was reorganized as the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment. Elements of this unit entered federal service in May 1898 during the Spanish American War.

In July 1916, the 1st Georgia Infantry Regiment was dispatched to Camp Cotton in El Paso Texas following border tensions with Mexico. Returning in 1917, the unit began training for overseas service and on September 23, 1917, received its present designation as the 118th Field Artillery Regiment. The 118th served in France with the 31st Infantry Division and was demobilized in 1919. In 1941, the 118th Field Artillery was ordered into federal service as part of the 30th Infantry Division. The 118th Regiment would serve as the 118th and 230th Field Artillery Battalion with the 30th ID in the European theater where it would earn four Meritorious Unit Commendations and fight with distinction at Saint Lo, Malmedy and Mortain.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the 1-118th FA has mobilized for overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2020, Soldiers of the 1-118th participated in Operation Noble Partner in the country of Georgia and supported the state's response to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Soldiers of the Savannah-based Battery C, 1-118th FAR and the Glennville-based Company A, 177th Brigade Engineer Battalion, stand in formation
during the opening ceremony for Noble Partner 2020 at the Vaziani Training Area, country of Georgia Sept. 7, 2020. photo by Spc. Isaiah Matthews.

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[1] Lineage and Honors of the 118th Field Artillery. Department of the Army

The Macon Volunteers at Gettysburg July 2, 1863

By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Note: This article is an excerpt of a history of the Macon Volunteers currently in progress.

 

Logo of the Macon Volunteers and Map of the Actions of Anderson's Division July 2, 1863 by Hal Jespersen

Gettysburg

In the reorganization of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia following Chancellorsville, the Division of Brig. Gen. Robert H. Anderson was assigned to the newly created 3^rd Corps under Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill. The Macon Volunteers, as part of the 2^nd Georgia Battalion were assigned to the brigade of Brig. Gen. Ambrose Wright, Anderson’s Division.

 

Array of forces July 2, 1863. LOC

In support of Gen. Lee’s second attempt to take the war to the North, the Macon Volunteers took up the march on June 14 1863 and entered Pennsylvania on June 26.[1] Alerted to the presence of Federal forces at Gettysburg July 1, Anderson’s Division, then in Cashtown, marched to the battlefield and assembled on Herr Ridge by 5:00 that evening.[2]

 

On the morning of July 2, Hill ordered Anderson to advance and occupy positions on Seminary Ridge preparatory to an assault on Federal lines. The Confederate assault proceeded en echelon from the right as Longstreet’s 1^st Corps initiated the assault with an artillery barrage at 2:00 pm. It would take more than three hours for the units to the right of Anderson’s Division to be committed.

 

With the advance of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws immediately to his right, Anderson ordered his brigades forward.[3] Wright positioned his regiments with the 28^th on the right adjacent to the 2^nd Florida of Lang’s Brigade. The 3^rd advanced in the center with the 48^th Georgia to their left. Wright ordered the 2^nd Georgia Battalion to advance forward of the brigade as skirmishers. Rushing forward, the battalion posted behind a split rail fence northwest of the Codori Farm and the Emmitsburg Road.[4] Two Federal regiments, the 82^nd New York and 15^th Massachusetts were on the opposite side of the road supported by the Battery B, 1^st Rhode Island Artillery commanded by Capt. Thomas Brown.

 

The fence bordering the Emmitsburg Road behind which the Macon Volunteers formed on July 2, 1863. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

The Macon Volunteers and others of the battalion passed several tense minutes in their forward exposed position before Wright’s regiments reached them. Whereas the 2^nd Battalion was supposed to fall into the marching order on the left of the 48^th, Ga. its soldiers were disrupted as the brigade passed through its ranks and the Volunteers were compelled to fall in with the advancing regiments. Though undulating terrain and tall grass obscured their early advance, the Georgians were exposed to a galling fire from three brigades of infantry and three artillery batteries as they approached the Emmitsburg Road. Nevertheless, Wright’s advance was so swift that by the time Brown observed them he scarcely had time bring two of his sections to bear. Unleashing a devastating volley that sent “scores of Wright’s men sprawling in the grass,”[5] the New Yorkers realized with horror that Wright’s line, three regiment’s wide, would presently envelop their left flank. Reading the tactical situation, the veterans of the 82^nd N.Y. began to withdraw and with them followed the 15^th Mass. As its infantry support melted away, Brown’s battery was engulfed by the 48^th Georgia which captured the guns and mortally wounded Brown. Seizing the opportunity afforded by the fleeing Federals, the 22^nd and 3^rd Georgia, supported by elements of the 2^nd Battalion swiftly advanced as the Federal units to their front could not fire for fear of hitting their own men. Wright regarded this opportunity while casting fleeting glimpses to his left. Posey’s brigade had failed to match the advance of Wright’s Georgians leaving their left flank exposed. Into this flank 1^st Lt. Alonzo Cushing’s Battery A, 4^th U.S. Artillery, poured a murderous fire of grapeshot and cannister. In the maelstrom of combat, Capt. George S. Jones, commanding Macon Volunteers, was desperately wounded in the face, side and arm and collapsed to the ground. He was captured and sent to Johnson’s Island. Subsequently exchanged, Jones rejoined the Volunteers and fought on until the surrender at Appomattox Court House.[6]  

Command of the Macon Volunteers devolved to 1^st Lt. Edward Grannis, but he scarce had time to execute command before he fell mortally wounded not far from his captain. He died the following day. Second Lieutenant Thomas Kennedy Campbell, the sole remaining officer of the Macon Volunteers was shot through the lower abdomen by cannister fire. He was captured, treated at a Federal field hospital, and dispatched to Fort McHenry, Md.[7]

 

The Codori Farm viewed from the position of Cushing's Battery. The Macon Volunteers passed over this ground July 2, 1863. Photo by William Carraway

Wright’s Georgians had penetrated the Federal line and advanced farther than any Confederate troops that day, farther indeed than any of the soldiers who would cross over the same fields the next day as part of Maj. Gen. George’s Pickett’s doomed charge. Nevertheless, surveying the murderous scene, Wright realized that his gains were unsustainable. Seething at the absence of support from adjacent units, Wright ordered his troops to withdraw to their pre-assault position on Seminary Ridge where they remained until called forward to help cover the retreat of Pickett’s shattered units the next day. On the evening of July 4, the 87^th anniversary of the independence of the United States, Wright’s Brigade, and what remained of the Macon Volunteers quietly marched away From Gettysburg. Ten days later, they crossed the Potomac with half the men they had taken north just 19 days earlier.[8]

 

In his report on the Gettysburg Campaign, Wright bitterly lamented the sacrifice his troops had made for naught. He credited his troops with capturing 25 artillery pieces, noting that the 2^nd Battalion had accounted for “as many as 5 or 6 pieces.”[9] The cannons came at a high price. Wright reported 688 killed or wounded and a casualty rate of nearly 51 percent. Three of Wright’s four regimental and battalion commanders fell including Maj. George Ross of the 2^nd Battalion who was mortally wounded and captured at the crest of Cemetery Ridge.[10] The 2^nd Battalion lost 82 out of 173 who went into action.[11]

 

Analysis of the Macon Volunteers service records finds that of an aggregate strength of 52, 16 were killed, wounded or captured including all the company’s officers. In a rear-guard action at Manassas Gap, July 23, 1863, the company lost five of its remaining 36 Solders to a superior Federal force.[12]

 

Postscript

On Aug. 4, 1864, more than one year after being shot through the bowels by cannister at Gettysburg, and long after other prisoners from Gettysburg had been exchanged, Lt. Thomas Campbell of the Macon Volunteers penned the following letter to Col. William Hoffman, commissary general of prisoners from his cell at Fort McHenry hospital:

Sir,

I have the honor to submit my care to you for your human consideration. I was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg July 2, 1863. Ball entering the left side of the bowel, passing through making its exit near the spinal column. I have been confined to the bed ever since... I feel quite sure from the condition I am in at this time that my stay upon the earth will be short. My only desire is to be permitted to return to my home and spend the few days left me in this life in the bosom of my family where their kind attention may soothe my journey to the grave. Hoping this application may meet with your approval and early considerations.

I am, colonel, your most obt. svt.

 

Thos. K Campbell

Lt. Co. B 2^nd Ga Batt[13]

 

Lieutenant Campbell died from the effects of his wound Sept, 23, 1864 at Fort McHenry. He was 31 years old.

The headstone of 2nd Lt. Thomas K. Campbell in Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Ga. Photo by Jimmy Allen.

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[1] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889) 613.

 

[2] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 622.

 

[3] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 614.

 

[4] Bradley M. Gottfried, The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863 (New York: Savas Beatie, 2010), 204-205.

 

[5] Bradley M. Gottfried, The Maps of Gettysburg: An Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863, 206.

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[6] National Archives Microfilm Publications Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion Infantry. Roll 159-162.

[7] National Archives Microfilm Publications Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion Infantry. Roll 159-162.

 

[8] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 615.

 

[9] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 624.

 

[10] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 625.

 

[11] J. David. Petruzzi and Steven Stanley, The Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses: Synopses, Orders of Battle, Strengths, Casualties, and Maps, June 9-July 14, 1863 (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2013) 130.

 

[12] National Archives Microfilm Publications Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion Infantry. Roll 159-162.

[13] National Archives Microfilm Publications Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion Infantry. Thomas Campbell.

Battle of Chickamauga: Desperate Struggle in Georgia

 By Maj. William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

A 1998 reenactment of the Battle of Chickamauga depicts the Confederate assault on Snodgrass Hill. Photo by William Carraway

Final Positions

On the evening of Sept. 18,1863, Federal commander, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, sent Maj. Gen. George Thomas, commander of the 14th Corps, north along the Lafayette Road. His intent was to extend his defensive line and maintain the Federal army’s line of retreat north to Chattanooga. By the morning of September 19, Thomas’s men had taken up position in the fields of the Kelly Farm.[1] Having received a report from Federal Col. Daniel McCook about an isolated rebel brigade trapped on the west side of the river, Thomas dispatched the Third Division of Maj. Gen. John Brannon to advance and develop the situation. Brannon, a career Army Soldier and Mexican American War Veteran dispatched the order to get the men on the move. Quickly downing coffee and half-cooked breakfast, Brannon’s men began moving east with Col. John Croxton’s Brigade moving to the Brotherton Road and Col. Ferdinand Van Derveer orienting on Reed’s Bridge Road.  

Opening actions on Sept. 19, 1863. Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com.

The Confederate troops McCook had encountered were cavalrymen of the 1st Georgia, who had thrown up skirmish lines south of Jay’s Mill, approximately ½ mile west of Reed’s Bridge. Having already received orders to withdraw, McCook left the field to the Georgians before reporting his findings to Thomas. Thus, by the time Thomas’s brigades moved east in search of the isolated Confederate brigade the Georgians were prepared in skirmish order across Reed’s Bridge Road ready to receive Van Derveer’s skirmishers. Moving east through the woods just one quarter mile south of the 1st Georgia, Croxton’s skirmish line comprised of the 10^th Indiana encountered cavalry forces of Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dispatching couriers to inform Brannon of contact to his front, Croxton began maneuvering his infantry regiments into line, a difficult process in wooded terrain. Forrest, meanwhile, ordered his cavalry to dismount and hold the ground while infantry support was summoned.

Receiving one of Forrest’s messages Maj. Gen. William T. Walker, commanding the Confederate reserve corps ordered fellow Georgian, Col. Claudius Wilson to make haste with his brigade to the sound of contact. Walker, like Brannon, was a career Army Soldier and Mexican War Veteran, and like Brannon, he would soon have two brigades heading to the vicinity of Jay’s Mill as the Texas Brigade of Brig. Gen. Matthew Ector fell in behind Wilson.

The Confederate cavalry held long enough for Wilson to deploy his regiments to threaten Croxton. Wilson’s regiments, the 25th, 29th and 30th Georgia with the 1^st Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters and 4^th Louisiana Sharpshooters pressed Croxton’s line which bent, but did not break.[2] Over the next two and a half hours, brigades would be sucked into the growing fight at Jay’s Mill.

Confusion and Reinforcement

The action alarmed both Rosecrans and his Confederate adversary, General Braxton Bragg. Bragg’s battle plan called for 25,000 men to assault Federal lines along the Lafayette Road, well south of Jay’s Mill. The unexpected presence of Thomas to the north threatened Bragg’s right flank. Rosecrans, meanwhile, had ordered Thomas into defensive positions, only to have his subordinate engage a division with an enemy of unknown strength.

Before launching his Lafayette Road offensive, Bragg determined to secure his flank in the vicinity of Jay’s Mill. He dispatched his reserve corps and five brigades of Maj. Gen. Ben Cheatham’s Division. Rosecrans meanwhile shifted divisions from the 20th and 21st Corps north to bolster Thomas. Both the Federal and Confederate commanders were dispatching units without regard to the chain of command, a breakdown in command and control that would be further exacerbated by the terrain and lack of visibility.

Actions on the afternoon of Sept. 19, 1863. Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com.

The Fighting Moves South

Cheatham’s 7,000 Confederates slammed into the Federal divisions shortly after noon, in the vicinity of the Brock farm.[3] After committing Cheatham, Bragg dispatched a third division under command of Maj. Gen. A. P. Stewart and ordered him to move to the sound of the guns.[4] Stewart arrived south of Cheatham’s lines shortly before 2:00 p.m. in time to stabilize the faltering Confederate line. Moving with Stewart were the 4th Georgia Sharpshooters and the 37th Georgia Infantry.[5] The Georgians were able to dislodge the stubborn Federal defenders of Maj. Gen. Van Cleve’s Division from their positions on the Lafayette Road. Having taken a significant amount of ground, Stewart had insufficient men to maintain his position and was forced to withdraw east of the Lafayette Road.[6]

Georgians Enter the Ditch of Death 

Brig. Gen. Hans Christian Heg. NPS

Intent on finding the enemy flank, Rosecrans met with the improbably named Brig. Gen. Jefferson Davis, and directed him to move his division across the Viniard Field, well south of the engaged forces. Expecting to find the Confederate left flank, Davis instead encountered the main body of Bragg’s waiting assault force-25,000 strong. In the next two and a half hours the most savage combat of the battle would swirl about the Viniard Field until the Federal line collapsed at 4:30 p.m. and the Northerners were sent streaming back across the Lafayette Road. Attempting to rally his 3^rd Brigade, Norwegian-born Col. Hans Christian Heg rode along the front line of his men admonishing them by personal example of courage. As he wheeled his horse about, Heg was struck by a bullet which pierced his abdomen. He reeled from the wound but kept to the saddle and remained with his men.[7]

Pursuing the fleeing Federal troops, the Georgians of Brig. Gen. Henry Benning poured volley after volley into the backs of the retreating Federal Soldiers. Sgt. W.R. Houghton of the 2nd Georgia recalled the action:

“We stood there… shooting them down… It was horrible slaughter.”[8] The slaughter would soon be visited upon Benning’s men as they advanced into the field of fire of the brigade of Col. John Wilder, whose men were armed with seven shot repeating rifles. Benning’s Georgians were cut to pieces. Of 1,200 Georgians 490 became casualties. The Federals had also suffered. Among the fallen was Heg who would die of the effects of his wound at a field hospital the next morning.[9]

Monument to the 2nd Georgia Infantry at Chickamauga. Photo by Maj. William Carraway

A Restless Night

By 6:00 p.m., fighting had mostly ended in the Viniard Field where 15 brigades had contended. After nearly 12 hours of continuous combat the fighting was concluded, except for a rare night assault initiated by the division of Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne across the Winfrey Field. The men of both armies settled in for a restless night. Despite temperatures that plunged below freezing, Soldiers of both armies were forbidden from starting campfires due to the proximity of enemy forces.

With the arrival of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet on the field, Bragg reorganized his army into two wings. Longstreet was given command of the left wing while Maj. Gen. Leonidas Polk commanded the right. Bragg’s battle plan remained unchanged: attack and drive the Federal army south, away from its line of retreat to Chattanooga.

On the opposite side of the Lafayette Road, Rosecrans, having gone without sleep, surveyed his lines with the intent of supporting Thomas’ lines to the north. Rosecrans would agree to reinforce Thomas – a decision that would have fateful consequences on the second day of the battle.

Monument to Col. Peyton Colquitt at Chickamauga.
Photo by Maj. William Carraway

Action Resumes, The Federal North in Peril

Although Bragg had intended to attack at dawn, the Confederate assault did not get underway until 9:30 a.m. when the corps of Lt. Gen. D.H. Hill struck Thomas. Though bloodily repulsed on part of their lines, two brigades of Hill’s Corps succeeded in turning Thomas’s left flank. The Confederates drove south down the Lafayette Road into the Kelly Field and threatened the entire Federal position. Rosecrans, sensing the threat, shifted forces from the south and by 11:30, Hill was forced back, but not before Brig. Gen. James Deshler, a brigade commander in the division of Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, was killed, struck in the chest by an artillery shell.[10] Moving in support of Hill, Col. Peyton Colquitt, commanding Gist’s Brigade of Georgian’s and South Carolinians was mortally wounded. Colquitt, had formerly commanded the 46^th Georgia Infantry Regiment.[11]

Federal Disaster

Lt. Gen. Longstreet's Assault. Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com. 

Hill’s success worried Rosecrans, who began shifting additional forces north. In the course of redeployment, the Federal exposed a division-wide gap in their line. Just as the gap opened, Longstreet launched an assault into the gap. The divisions of Davis and Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan were crushed by 12,000 surging Confederates. 

Brig. Gen. W. H Lytle

Commanding Sheridan’s 1^st Brigade was Brig. Gen. William Lytle, an Ohioan, Lytle had been a celebrated poet before the war and was popular in the north and south. Pressed by a brigade of Alabamians, Lytle was mounted and directing the movement of his troops when he was struck in the back by a musket ball. He remained in the saddle continuing to issue orders until he was struck in the head spattering blood on a staff officer’s uniform. Lytle’s men attempted to bear him away from the conflict, but he asked to be left on the field where he expired.[12] Surging forward, Confederate Soldiers recognized Lytle and formed a guard around his body. News spread among the gray ranks. Presently, Confederate Brig. Gen. Patton Anderson, overwhelmed with grief, stood before Lytle. Anderson and Lytle had been good friends before the American Civil War. They parted amicably in Charleston in 1860 promising that nothing would interfere with their friendship. Weeping, Anderson removed Lytle’s wedding ring and secured a lock of his hair to send home to his widow.[13]

With defeat swiftly degenerating into a rout, Rosecrans, his chief of staff and future president, James Garfield, and three corps commanders were driven from the field. One third of the Federal army ceased to exist as a fighting force. If not for the determined stand of Maj. Gen. Thomas’s men on Snodgrass Hill, the entire Federal army might have been destroyed in detail. Thomas held just long enough to preserve the Federal army before withdrawing to Rossville to the North. Nevertheless, hundreds of Federal Soldiers were captured by onrushing Confederates.

Maj. Gen. George Thomas' desperate stand. Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com. 

Aftermath

On the morning of September 21, Confederates awoke to find that the Federal army had slipped away. Rosecrans would reestablish his base at Chattanooga but his tenure as army commander was drawing to a close. In just over a week Rosecrans would be replaced by a hard fighting western general named Ulysses Grant.

Although he was technically the victor, Bragg had failed in his objective of destroying Rosecrans. He would continue to bicker with his subordinate commanders until November when he would challenge the Federal army for control of Chattanooga.

More than 34,000 of the 125,000 Soldiers engaged at Chickamauga became casualties. But D.H. Hill remembering the battle years later observed that true casualty of Chickamauga was hope.

“It seems to me that the élan of the Southern Soldier was never seen after Chickamauga; the brilliant dash which had distinguished him was gone forever. He fought stoutly to the last, but after Chickamauga, with the sullenness of despair, and without the enthusiasm of hope. That ‘barren victory’ sealed the fate of the Southern Confederacy.”[14]

 

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[1] Powell, David A., and David A. Friedrichs. The Maps of Chickamauga: An Atlas of the Chickamauga Campaign, including the Tullahoma Operations, June 22 - September 23, 1863. New York: Savas Beatie, 2009. 48

[2] Powell, 53.

[3] Powell, 68.

[4] Cozzens, Peter. This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996, 169.

[5] Powell, 79.

[6] Powell, 84.

[7] Cozzens, 223.

[8] Powell, David. Chickamauga Campaign- a Mad Irregular Battle. Savas Beatie, 2016, 19.

[9] Cozzens, 289.

[10] Powell, 163.

[11] Powell, 164.

[12] Cozzens, 386-388.

[13] Cozzens, 389.

[14] Johnson, Robert Underwood, and Clarence Clough Buel. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 3. Century Company, 1888.