A collection of bedtime stories - or sharpshooter & sniper tales

[scottishclaymore]

Fantastic stuff as always. Please let us know when it goes to print...

 

[4v50 Gary]

Chancellorsville continued

Part II of Chancellorsville

After determining Hooker’s deployment, Lee divided his outnumbered army. With only 18,000 men (Richard H. Anderson’s and Lafayette McLaws’ Division), Lee would distract the Federals while Jackson’s 32,000 men (his corps and Stuart’s cavalry) marched around the Union line to strike it in its flank. It was a risky move to divide one’s forces in the face of the enemy. If Hooker attacked while Lee’s forces were divided, the Confederate Army could be destroyed piecemeal. Capt. David B. Castle’s Little Wilderness signal station at Hazel Grove spotted Jackson’s flanking movement and warned Howard. So did some pickets, but XI Corps commander Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard interpreted them as a Confederate withdrawal southward, and refused to change his front. Even after Hooker suggested that Howard close up his lines and send out pickets far enough to determine the enemy’s intent, Howard did nothing. First Sergeant Peabody wrote facetiously: “I will admit that Jackson ought to have had brains enough to charge Howard’s front through the swamp; but no, he was ignorant and ill mannered enough to creep around to the right flank and rear. But Howard had his position in front of that swamp, one in which he could defy Lee’s whole army; he was going to hold that position, and the idea that those colonels should send to him, advising a change of front, so that his right would be protected by the river, and his left by the swamp, or that he would need any fortifications, was too absurd. Of course, he would not change his line of battle. What did those fellows on the skirmish line know about it? They were only colonels. He was a major-general.”

To deceive Hooker, Lee ordered Anderson and McLaws to distract him without bringing on a general engagement. It worked and unsure of Lee’s intentions, Hooker ordered Sickles to harass the Confederates near the Orange Turnpike. Lt. Charles W. Thorp led First USSS’s Co. E and K forward to assist a battery. Followed by a line of infantry, Thorp “[a]dvance[d] out on this plank road in the form of a letter V, the point in front, drive the rebel skirmishers in, [to] find their main force and report back... On this venture, some sharp duels took place. Among them, Lt. Thorp using a sick man’s gun had several close encounters, getting his ear grazed, the seam of his sleeve cut, but invariably bringing down his opponent, and afterwards breaking his gun.” When the infantry arrived, Thorp’s sharpshooters fell back and became the reserve.

BTW, I just received book three, In the Trenches at Petersburg of Prof. Earl Hess's triology on Civil War fortifications.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Happy 4th of July

and no hard feelings to our British cousins across the pond. Families do feud and it was just one of those family feuds we 'uns tend to have every now and then. And now for our second installment of a battle from the Mother of American family feuds (which unfortunately proved that Americans are the best people for killing other Americans).

While Hooker was distracted, Jackson’s men were moving into position and despite the warnings, Howard’s men were unprepared. And why not? According to Hooker’s plan, Lee’s smaller army should be retreating, not advancing against him. At 5:15 p.m. when Jackson’s men emerged in two lines from the woods and struck, they surprised and routed Howard’s XI Corps. Attempting to rally them and save his reputation was Gen. Howard himself. Sergeant Peabody described Howard’s desperate but futile efforts: “I saw General Howard swinging his revolver in his left hand─he had no right hand─and when I had gotten close to him, he was crying out, ‘Halt! Halt! I’m ruined, I’m ruined; I’ll shoot if you don’t stop; I’m ruined, I’m ruined.,’ over and over again. I stopped, leaned on my musket, and looked at him in surprise and wonder, that a man who occupied the position he did should get so completely confused and bewildered; in fact, he was ‘rattled.’” Fleeing through the ranks of Sickles’s III Corps, Howard’s men threw them into confusion. It was not without difficulty that some semblance of a line could be restored late in the night.

While Jackson’s initial attack was successful, order had been lost, compelling him to pause to reorganize his men. At 2100 hours, while conducting a reconnaissance to determine where his breakthrough attempt should be, his party was fired upon by his own men and he was wounded. While Jackson’s wounds themselves were not life threatening, being dropped twice by his litter bearers seriously exacerbated them such that a preexisting pneumonia fatally set in. Command fell on A. P. Hill, but he too was soon wounded, and cavalryman J. E. B. Stuart assumed command. Lee ordered Stuart to press the Union line and join up with him. However, the night allowed the Union army to reorganize itself and Stuart’s line no longer overlapped it. Instead, the Confederate line was now overlapped.

Maj. Gen. John Reynolds’ I Corps was deployed along the Plank Road (to Eley’s Ford) and threatened Stuart’s left flank. To Reynolds’s right was Sickles III Corps, Second Division under Gen. Hiram Berry. Behind Berry Sickles deployed Amiel Whipple’s Third Division in Fairview Grove as a reserve. Adjacent to Berry’s Division was Henry W. Slocum’s XII Corp with Alpheus S. Williams’s First Division securing Berry’s left and John Geary’s Second Division to the left of Williams. These units formed a salient against which Lee would hammer.

When the Union line collapsed, the apex of the new Union line became the knoll at Hazel Grove. Sickles recognized that Confederate artillery could pummel the Union line from this position and therefore occupied it. However, on the morning of May 3rd, Hooker ordered Sickles to withdraw to Fairview Grove. They were about the same elevation and separated by about 1,000 yards of clear field. Confederate artillery officer Col. E. Porter Alexander deployed Capt. Greenlee Davidson’s artillery to pound the Union position. Supported by Davidson, the Confederate infantry attacked but were driven back. Rallied by Stuart, they attacked again with the same results. Adding more artillery at Hazel Grove to support his attacks, Stuart kept feeding his infantry into the cauldron.

Ordered forward into the woods, II Corps, Third Div.’s Third Brigade of Col. Charles Albright (132nd Pennsylvania) advanced and upon coming upon a Confederate line fired a destructive volley that killed and wounded many. They captured over a hundred prisoners and after sending them back, advanced farther. Maj. Frederick Hitchcock of the 132nd Pennsylvania Volunteers skirmished with the second Confederate line: “We could see the enemy dodging behind trees and stumps not more than one hundred yards away. We also utilized the same shelter, and therefore suffered comparatively little. Suddenly I found bullets beginning to come from our left and rear as well as from our front. Two of these bullets had been aimed at me as I stood behind a small tree on our line. The first knowledge I had of them was from the splinters of bark in my face from the tree, first one and then another in quick succession as the bullets struck, not more than three inches from my head. They were fairly good shots. I was thankful they were no better. But now I had to move a couple of companies to the left to meet this flank attack. It did not prove a serious matter, and the enemy was quickly driven back. The same thing was tried shortly after on our right flank, and was again disposed of the same way. They were probably groups of sharpshooters hunting for our officers. One of them, I happened to know, never went back, for I saw one of our sergeants kill him. I was at that moment standing by him, when he clapped his hand to his ear and exclaimed, ‘That was a ‘hot one,’‘ as a bullet just ticked it. ‘There is the devil who did it. See him behind that bush?’ and with that he aimed and fired. The fellow rolled over dead.”

 

[Ginormous]

. . . which unfortunately proved that Americans are the best people for killing other Americans . . .

Sad, but there is so much truth to your statement.

 

[4v50 Gary]

We interrupt our regular programming

This was originally posted by me in the Lafayette thread. It is an excerpt of a letter from Lafayette which he wrote when he was in Virginia. It will be found in Chapter 2 of my book. I've tried to figure out where that battle took place and while the general area is known, there's been no archaeology digs as of yet. I'll have to go back on my next trip to Virginia. So, without further delay, General Lafayette.

“Our loss is two captains, two lieutenants, ten privates wounded; two lieutenants, one sergeant, six privates killed; one lieutenant, twelve privates, whose fate is not known; one sergeant taken. The enemy had about sixty killed, among whom are several officers, and about one hundred wounded. They acknowledge the action was smart, and Lord Cornwallis was heard to express himself vehemently upon the disproportion between his and our killed, which must be attributed to the great skill of our riflemen.”

We will resume the Battle of Chancellorsville next week.

 

[4v50 Gary]

We resume our normal programming

The Confederates retreated leaving the field to the Federals. There was no time to celebrate as the brigade was isolated with both flanks exposed. Retracing their steps back to their lines, they were almost fired upon by their own artillery that, during their absence, had deployed in the position the infantry had earlier vacated. Luckily their colors preceded them and were recognized before the order to fire was given. Maj. Hitchcock recalled meeting his friend who commanded Battery G, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery, Captain Amsden. “‘Boy, you got out of those woods just in time. Our guns are double-shotted with grape and canister; the word ‘fire’ was just on my lips when your colors appeared.’ I saw his gunners standing with their hands on the lanyards. After forty years my blood almost creeps as I recall that narrow escape.”

To drive Stuart back, Hiram Berry’s Second Division (III Corps) charged the Confederates. When his left flank became exposed, Berry attempted to restore the line but was shot. According to Seventeenth Maine’s Pvt. Haley: “He was shot by a sharpshooter, who must have been up in a tree, while rallying troops to fill a breach in our lines. The bullet passed down through his shoulder and heart, killing him almost instantly. He was carried off the field on his horse, supported by two of his aides, a sad sight to us who fairly idolized him.”

In our next installment, we'll learn more about Berry's death.

I've been working on a paper about the volley that saved Western Civilization. BTW, the volley missed.

 

[BCRider]

written by 4x50 Gary;

Note: One thing about reading old texts, you get use to the inaccurate spelling. Some British officers spelled things phonetically and some writers spelled the same word differently within the same letter. In reading original documents, sometimes the word is difficult to decipher and it requires the reader to look at the word in context with the sentence around it.

So... what you're saying is that thanks to an inadequite school system, relaxing of standards and plain ol' laziness we're seeing a return from a standard language spelling to the mishmash of yesteryore..... Nowhere is this more obvious than on the 'net forums I'm on.

Anyhow.... I'm at page four of the storys and working my way down a few a day. Great stuff and as long as there are stories it's worth keeping this thread alive.

 

[Old Fuff]

It is said that someone commented on Sam Colt's rather unique style of spelling, and suggented that he obtain a copy of Webster's Dictionary.

Col. Colt replied that he would do do as soon as Webster produced a first-class revolver...

 

[4v50 Gary]

We continue our story of one general's death at Chancellorsville.

Berry’s death resulted in confusion when one of his brigadiers, Joseph Revere, withdrew his men. Eleventh New Jersey Infantry Col. McAllister offered an eyewitness account: “The progress of the Rebels was now checked at these points though they advanced and readvanced upon us. We charged and recharged on them, all in front of our old line. But finally all of our right had given way to the other lines in the rear of us, and the line in my rear had retreated. The horses in the battery were shot down and the battery was hawled off by hand. The Jersey Brigade was falling back, Genl. Berry was killed, and our brave boys were surrounded on three sides by Rebels. There was nothing to do but to retreat, which we did...” Third Corps Commander Maj. Gen. Sickles restored the situation when he counterattacked with a New Jersey brigade and captured some prisoners and their colors.

Whether Berry died because of a tree-perched sharpshooter is left to conjecture. However, Major Thomas Osborn witnessed Berry’s death: “He was fully aware of the desperate position in which his division had been placed and was determined to carry it through its work successfully. When the enemy attacked in the morning, he ordered his officers and men to cover themselves as much as possible by the earthworks the men made during the night. These were about 18 inches high and gave good protection to the troops lying on the ground. He, however, refused to make any effort to screen himself, but walked to and fro along the line encouraging all to hold the line and keep themselves well covered. In this way he was exposed to the fire of the sharpshooters and four-fifths of his person to the general fire of the enemy. He had escaped a considerable time and was confident he would not be struck. While standing close to me and near the section of the road, he was hit by a musket ball in the breast and in a few minutes after died.” It was almost noon and time was running out for another high ranking Union officer.

In our next installment, you'll learn who kept his appointment with the Reaper.

 

[4v50 Gary]

That officer was Third Division’s General Amiel W. Whipple of Daniel Sickle’s III Corps. Private J. Molyneux recalled: “Whipple was shot by a reb. sharpshooter Monday morning. He was but a few rods from our Gen. and staff. I heard the ball pass close over me that struck him.” In his classic work, Generals in Blue, Ezra Warner gives this long accepted account of Whipple’s death: “During the fighting in the tangled woodland around Chancellorsville on May 4, 1863, Whipple was sitting on his horse, writing an order to dislodge a Rebel sharpshooter who was annoying nearby officers, when a ball from the same marksman’s rifle struck him in the stomach and passed out near his spine.” Warner’s view is supported by Berdan Sharpshooter Charles Stevens who wrote: “While lying in reserve behind the artillery, one battery of which was composed of men from the Iron Brigade, the division commander Amiel W. Whipple, who had been busy superintending the movements in front, was shot by the enemy’s pickets a half mile distant, while among our sharpshooters; being struck near the spine and mortally wounded, dying shortly after.”

There's more on Whipple's death. What we have above is the official and romantic version. Gallant officer who is carelessly exposed and preoccupied with the safety of his men when he is struck down by a hidden foe. It's the stuff that heroes are made of. Next week, you'll get one officer's unofficial and very candid account.

My website is being designed now.

 

[Old Fuff]

Website?????? Website you say??

 

[NobleSniper]

Alright!!!!!!!!!! :d

 

[4v50 Gary]

Perhaps the most authoritative account is by Capt. F. Donaldson. “About one P.M. General [Amiel] Whipple, General Hooker’s Engineer officer, came out to where we were and leisurely walked his horse along our breastworks. He was at once cautioned by the officers and advised at least to dismount, but being so much under the influence of liquor as to be scarcely able to sit on his horse, he did not heed nor reply but walked along to the right of our regiment, where, halting his horse and facing the enemy, he swayed backwards and forwards in his saddle. Capt. Crocker had just remarked that the General was very drunk, when we saw the dust fly from his clothes and himself fall off his horse. Running to where he lay we found that he had been shot through the stomach and bowels, the bullet coming out at the small of the back.” While Donaldson is mistaken as to Gen. Whipple’s responsibilities─Whipple commanded the Third Division, Donaldson’s account is probably the most reliable.

With bratch's help (and especially his wife), I now have some pictures of a sharpshooter rifle that were needed for the centerfold. The centerfold tells the story of the sharpshooter and his gun. There is one for both blue and grey. The placement of the centerfold is going to be tricky. It was designed after the pages were paginated and so I'm not sure if it's going in the center (sans page #s) or will be placed immediately after the Civil War chapters of the book (with page #s and thus won't be a centerfold). The folks who did the peer review and the fellow who wrote the afterword doesn't know about this material so it will come as a surprise to them when they see the finished product. I'll say more on the fellow who wrote the afterword later.

Had pictures of myself taken for the website and dustjacket last week. It was a very warm day and like an idjit, I'm wore a shirt and tie. I posed with a 20 lb French and Indian era breech-loading flintlock rifled wall gun (I'll do an article about it later).

 

[4v50 Gary]

Also drawing fire was III Corps commander Major-General Daniel Sickles. Capt. Robert Carter remembered:
“On the 4th, at daybreak, we were relieved, and clambering again over the breast-works, occupied the front line of rifle-pits, with the 3d Corps just in rear. We were within a few yards of the little white house (Bullocks).
“The sharpshooters overlooked our position. The bullets spit, sung, and glanced in among the caissons of the batteries. All day long we lay flat, covered as much as possible, but a groan would often convince us that one more of nature’s noblemen had met their doom. General Whipple was mortally wounded. We could see his tent from where we were lying. Beeves had been driven across the river. The meat was issued warm to the hungry men, many of whom had thrown away their knapsacks with rations, in their distress. While cooking it over our small fires, General Sickles sauntered up. ‘Well, boys, this is cooking under difficulties!’ Hardly had he uttered these words, when a z-i-p!--zi-i-i-p!! And the bullets began to buzz about his head.
“‘I am too tall for this place!’ said he, and walked quietly away. A shriek from a man who, under cover of the caissons, was dodging along the lines, hurried some of us to his side. His groans convinced us that he was mortally wounded; he evidently thought so too. We stripped off his shirt. A large black and blue spot on the small of the back showed that the ball had glanced somewhere, and, somewhat spent, had struck hard, but failed to penetrate. Somebody said: ‘Shut up, you d--d fool; you are only hit by a spent ball!’
“His courage rose as we announced it, and his groans gave place to─‘Oh! If I don’t have sweet revenge for that.’ ‘If I do-o-o-n-n-nt have sw-e-e-t revenge!!’ In the early afternoon, a part of our division swept out from the right, found the enemy, and again our batteries rung out in deafening discharges. Then came a lull. An officer of Berdan’s sharpshooters sprang nimbly over the logs directly in front of our position, and creeping to the edge of the woods with a telescopic rifle, watched carefully for a death-dealing sharpshooter who had persistently picked off our gunners.
“We were silent and breathless spectators for a long time, but soon a puff and a sharp crack rewarded the officer’s patience, and a moment later he came in. The story was short. He had swept the horizon with the telescope for a long time, had seen the puffs from a leafy tree. Soon the wily sharpshooter, becoming tired, shifted his position across the field and the cross hairs of the telescope. A pull and the bullet sped to the ‘Johnny’s’ heart.
[Note.─He is said to have brought back with him the rebel’s rifle, a foxskin cap, $1,600 in Confederate money, and $100 in greenbacks.]”

The index has been finished up to chapter 13. Some changes are needed in chapters 14, 15 and the epilogue. Afterward, the index should be finished rather quickly and then submitted for design. The 7 x 10, double column book looks it will be 820-30 pages long.

 

[4v50 Gary]

The story continues and with a long range rifle shot. I paced it off when I visited Chancellorsville.

Fighting concentrated around Hazel Grove and Fairview Grove where the Confederate gunners pounded Hooker’s apex. During the artillery duel, Confederate battery commander Capt. G. Davidson was struck by a Federal sharpshooter. Confederate Lt. John Hampden Chamberlayne of the Richmond Howitzers reported: “I was on my horse beside Davidson when he was killed by a minie [ball] fired 800 yards off.” According to Major William J. Pegram, Davidson “fell, mortally wounded, at the moment of victory.” The Union center was giving way in part in response to the Confederate pressure and in part in response to Hooker’s command to retreat.

Thus far Darius Couch’s II, Daniel Sickles’ III and Henry Slocum’s XII Corps and a fourth of George Meade’s V Corps had born the brunt of the fighting. The remainder of Meade’s corps, along with Reynolds’ I Corps, were still fresh. Additionally, Howard had rallied 5,000 men giving Hooker 37,000 men─far more than Stuart’s 26,000. With Reynolds’ I Corps in position to roll up Stuart’s left flank, the order to attack never materialized. Maj. Frederick Hitchcock explains that Hooker was injured about 1:00 pm. “The army was practically without a commander from this time until after sundown of that day.” Hooker received a concussion when a post he was leaning against was shattered by a cannon ball. Dazed, he ordered a retreat across the Rappahannock. Both Reynolds and Meade were stunned and Reynolds attempted to bring about a general engagement by sending one brigade to provoke a fight, but the Confederates did not respond.

The image of a gun was submitted this week. I took the photo last week and it took some time to get it photoshopped (lightened and then converted to black & white). The final two chapters have been indexed and that's going in today. With luck, everything goes to the printer this week. My website should be going up soon.

The index is finished and has been submitted.

 

[Das Jaeger]

I thought

the Dragoons were for Horse people , the Mounted Dragoons actually , right ? Seams pertinant to the history of the guns to me , but what do I know , I don't sell books here .

Jaeger

 

[Old Fuff]

Dragoons didn’t necessarily fight on horseback. Their mounts allowed them to be moved more quickly then ordinary infantry, that had to march on foot, so Dragoons would sometimes dismount and either defend a part of the line behind cover, or to advance as skirmishers on foot. They should not be confused with Cavalry.

Concerning the book, which many of us are eagerly awaiting. It is a definitive study of the use of, and performance of “sharpshooters” (we now call them snipers) during the Civil War, and the substantial difference they made in the outcome of various battles. I am sure it will specifically cover the various rifles used on both sides. Anyone who understands what it will offer knows darn well that the author, who is highly respected in a number of both historical and firearms circles, doesn’t need The High Road to plug his book. Updates on its progress have been much appreciated by many potential readers, as has the information so generously offered in this thread.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Fighting as rearguard was the Corn Exchange Regiment. Recalling one lieutenant’s lucky escape is Captain Donaldson: “It soon became apparent that the enemy, far back in the woods─the margin of which our pickets firmly held─had gotten our range exactly, and from the tree tops at nearly a mile distant, their sharp shooters constantly picked off our men. Indeed the firing became so severe that we were obliged to keep below the breastworks for safety, and yet we could not see from whence the shots came. About 11 A.M., whilst momentarily standing in an exposed place talking to Lieutenant Thomas, he was struck in the shoulder by a bullet, which having traveled such a long distance was spent and did not penetrate his clothing, but just gave him a severe blow and then fell at our feet. Upon examining the missile we found it to be of the peculiar elongated pattern used in the Berdan rifle and most likely was fired from one of those terrible globe sighted weapons captured from our people.”

Either upset over losing Whipple or wanting revenge (or both), Sickles summoned his sharpshooters the next day. Describing their mission is First Berdan’s Sharp Shooter C. Baker: “[T]here were two from each Co., by order of Gen. Sickles, selected from the 1st, to go beyond our picket lines, and ascertain, if possible, where the shot came from. W. B. was one to go, and you know that he would be ashamed to make excuses, although sure death. But to proceed beyond the picket line, it required some caution and creeping, to get within sight of where the shot came from, but we became satisfied that it was a stray shot, fired from a target rifle at our pickets, who were on the rise of ground, and some of the shots came into camp. The party returned at dark, one at a time, one only being wounded, having exchanged several shots with the rebel sharp shooters, but not being able to reach the said target rifle, which kept up an occasional fire all day, wounding several men in camp.

“The next morning, our regiment went on picket in the vicinity of the target rifle. We started at three and advanced... About one fourth of a mile, and in addition to that, advanced four picked men in front of all the others. Soon after daylight, there was a squad of rebs, fourteen in number, came creeping up to a clump of oaks, which they were permitted to gain without opposition, and then commenced an interesting exchange of shots, which lasted for about two hours, resulting in one of the four on the extreme front pickets getting a ball through his leg, and others through their clothes, and the silencing of the reb sharp shooters, and recovering of fourteen rifles, one a Smith and Wesson rifle, with a telescope sight, and the others sporting rifles...”

Unfortunately, it could not be determined what happened to that Smith & Wesson rifle. I doubt if it was Smith & Wesson though and most likely it was a rifle built by Edwin Wesson (the older brother and master of Daniel Wesson).

The designer has finished and the total page count is 836 pages.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

FWIW: two of my gggrandfather's brothers were in the 35th Ga.Reg.Co.G.(Walton Sharpshooters). The youngest (22 years old)brother Pvt.Benjamin F.Thomason was killed at 2nd Manassas,the other Pvt.Gideon A.Thomason served until the end of the war. There were also 5 members of the Dial family in the 35th Co.G. who were cousins and uncles of my gggrandfather.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Benjamin F. Thomason enlisted as a private on 21 Sept., 1861 and was indeed killed at Second Manassas on 30 Aug., 1862.

Gideon Thomason enlisted as a private at the same time as Benjamin. Per the 28 Feb., 1865 muster roll, he was AWOL (not unusual for many Corn-feds who were fed up with the war and willing to go home).

John B. Dial enlisted as a private on 16 Sept. 1861 and was wounded at the Wilderness on 6 May, 1864. He was captured near Petersburg on 25 March, 1865. That was the Battle of Fort Steadman (read John B. Gordon's book for more information). Released at Point Lookout, MD on 26 June, 1865.

Jonathan Jackson Dial Jr. enlisted as a private on 3 March, 1863 and was wounded that same year . He died at General Hospital #1 in Richmond on 8 Dec. 1863. You have to contact either the Museum of the Confederacy, Virginia Historical Society or the National Battlefield Park in Chimborazo (Richmond) for information of General Hospital #1.

Jonathan Jackson Dial Sr. enlisted as a private on 27 Feb. 1862. At Second Manassas 29 August, 1862, he was wounded in the left left and permanently disabled. He was captured at Louisa Court House (VA) on 5 April, 1865 and released at Lookout, Maryland on 26 June, 1865. Jonathan Sr. was born in Georgia on 16 Feb. 1821.

Martin M. Dial enlisted as a private on 16 Sept. 1861. Promoted to corporal in 1863, he was captured at Gettysburg on 2 July, 1863. Died of typhoid fever at Fort Delaware, Del on 16 Jan., 1864.

William M. Dial enlisted as a private on 26 July, 1862. Wounded in 1864. Went AWOL by 25 Feb. 1865.

Check your PM.

 

[Old Fuff]

Now that is a remarkable example of quich research...

 

[4v50 Gary]

Dime Novel stuff.

California Joe, the Mysterious Plainsman
CHAPTER XXIV.
JOE'S FATE.

KIND reader, it is only necessary to say that California Joe continued his wanderings about the border daily winning greater fame as a plainsman and Indian-fighter, until the promise he made Feather Face, to "do as, much for him," was faithfully kept, and more so, for he took that chief's scalp instead of his ears in a fight he had with him one day, after guiding a party of soldiers to his village, to punish him for slashing about with "the hatchet," when it was supposed to be buried.

When the civil war broke out, California Joe went with the Union Army as one of a band of Border Sharpshooters.

That his deadly aim did not fall him in army service, is proven from the fact that war-correspondent of Harper's Weekly sent a report of his having "picked off" a Confederate sharpshooter at the distance of fifteen hundred yards, when even artillery had failed to dislodge him.

After the war, in which he won the name of a long-range dead-shot, California Joe returned to the border, and one day came near losing his life, as he was on his way to make a visit to the Reynolds cabin, where he had not been since the night he had carried Maggie back to her parents.

He was riding along the river bank, when suddenly he beheld a canoe and an occupant, and turned just as a rifle was leveled at him. He spoke just in time to save his life. But as Joe related the story of that meeting with Maggie Reynolds-for she it was-to Captain Jack Crawford, the "Poet-Scout of the Black Hills,"* and he has told it in rhyme, I will give my readers a few of the verses, in their own pathetic words:

Beside a laughing, dancing brook.
A little cabin stood,
At weary with a long day's scout,
Spied it in the wood.
A pretty valley stretched beyond,
The mountains towered above,
While near the willow bank I heard.
The cooing of a dove.

T was one grand panorama;
The brook was plainly seen,
Like a long thread of silver
In a cloth of lovely green.
The laughter of the waters,
The coning of the dove,
Was like some painted picture
Some well-told tale of love.

While drinking in the grandeur,
And resting in my saddle,
I heard a gentle ripple,
Like the dipping of a paddle.
I turned toward the eddy-
A strange sight met my view:
A maiden, with her rifle,
In a little bark canoe.
She stood up in the center,
The rifle to her eye;
I thought (just for a second)
My time had come to die.

I doffed my hat and told her
(If it was all the same)
To drop her little shooter,
For I was not her game.
She dropped the deadly weapon,
And leaped from the canoe.
Said she: "I beg your pardon,
I thought you were a Sioux;
Your long hair and your buckskin
Looked warrior-like and rough,
My bead was spoiled by sunshine,
Or I'd killed you, sure enough."

"Perhaps it had been better
You dropped me then," said I;
For surely such an angel
Would bear me to the sky."
She blushed and dropped her eyelids;
Her cheeks were crimson red;
One half-shy glance she gave me
And then hung down her head.

That blushing young huntress being Maggie Reynolds, dear reader, it need not be said that the romance of her life and that of California Joe ended in the reality of matrimony.

In his book, "My Life on the Plains," General Custer thus speaks of California Joe:

"In concentrating the cavalry which had hitherto been operating in small bodies, it was found that each detachment brought with it the scouts who had been serving with them. When I joined the command I found quite a number of these scouts attached to various portions of the cavalry, but each acting separately. For the purpose of organization it was deemed best to unite them in a separate detachment under command of one of their own number. Being unacquainted with the merits or demerits of any of them, the selection of a chief had to be made somewhat at random.

"There was one among their number whose appearance would have attracted the notice of any casual observer. He was a man about forty years of age, perhaps older, over six feet in hight, and possessing a well-proportioned frame. His hand was covered with a luxuriant crop of long, almost black hair, strongly inclined to curl, and so long as to fall carelessly over his shoulders. His face, at least so much of it as was not concealed by the long, waving brown beard and mustache, was full of intelligence and pleasant to look upon. His eye was undoubtedly handsome, black and lustrous, with an expression of kindness and mildness combined. On his head was generally to be seen, whether awake or asleep, a huge sombrero, or black slouch hat. A soldier's overcoat, with its large circular cape, a pair of trowsers with the legs tucked in the top of his long boots, usually constituted the make-up of the man whom I selected as chief scout. He was known by the euphonious title of 'California Joe,' no other name seemed ever to have been given him, and no other, name appeared to be necessary.

"This was the man whom, upon a short acquaintance, I decided to appoint as chief of the scouts.

"As the four detachments already referred to were to move as soon as it was dark, it was desirable that the scouts should be at once organised, and assigned. So, sending for California Joe, I informed him of his promotion and what was expected of him and his men. After this official portion of the interview had been complete, it seemed proper to Joe's mind that a more intimate acquaintance between us should be cultivated, as we had never met before. His first interrogatory, addressed to me in furtherance of this ideal was frankly put as follows:

"'See hyar, gineral, in order that we hev no misonderstandin', I'd jist like ter ax ye a few questions. First, are ye an ambulance man er a hoss man?'

"Professing ignorance of his meaning, I requested him to explain.

"'I mean,' said he, 'do yer b'lieve in catchin' Injuns in ambulances or on hossback?'

"Still assuming ignorance, I replied, 'Well, Joe, I believe in catching Indians wherever we can find them, whether they are in ambulances or on horseback.'

"'Thet ain't what I'm a-drivin' at,' he responded. 'S'pose you're after Injuns had really want to hev a tassel with 'em would yer start after low on hossback er would yer climb inter a ambulance and be hauled after 'em? That's ther p'int I'm a-headin' far.'

"I answered that I would prefer the method on horseback, provided I really desired to catch the Indian; but if I wished them to catch me, I would adopt the ambulance system of attack.

"'You've hit the nail squar' on the head,' said he. 'I've bin with 'am on the plains whar they started out after Injuns on wheels jist as ef they war goin' to a town funeral in ther States, an' they stood 'bout as many chances uv catchin' Injuns ez a six-mule team would uv catchin' a pack of thievin' ki-o-tes, jist as much. Why, thet sort uv work iz only fun fer the Injuns; they don't want anything better. Yer ort to've see'd how they peppered it to us, and we a-doin' o' nuthin' all the time. Sum uv 'am wuz afraid the mules war goin' to stampede and run off with ther train and all our forage an' grub, but that wuz impossible; fer besides the big loads uv corn an' bacon an' baggage the wagons had in 'em, thar war from eight to a dozen infantry men piled into am besides. Yer ort to hev heard the quartermaster in charge uv of the train tryin' to drive infantry men out uv the wagons and git them into ther fight. I 'spect he wuz a Irishman, by his talk, fer he said to 'am: "Git out uv thim wagons; get out uv thim wagons; yez'll hev me thried for disobadieance uv orders for marchin' tin min in a wagon whin I've ord hers fer but ait.'"

California Joe was killed, as was his friend Wild Bill, by the hand of an assassin.

He was seated in front of his cabin at Red Cloud, Dakota, on Dec. 5th 1876, cleaning his dearly loved weapons, when some foe fired at him from an ambush and shot him through the heart.

Who that unseen assassin, was no one ever knew, and the secret will doubtless remain unknown, unless the "still, small voice of conscience" may drive the murderer to confess the crime some day, for most truly, is it said that "murder will out."

THE END.

There were two California Joes. One is the fellow mentioned earlier in this thread. The other was a plainsman who gained fame after the Civil War. The dime novel writer confuses the two (why let facts ruin a good story). The one described by the writer is too tall to be the California Joe who served in Berdan's Sharp Shooters. Second, the Berdan Sharp Shooter returned to San Francisco after being discharged and worked for the Customs House there. I found the general locations of his residences in San Francisco but of course, nothing remains as everything burned down in the '06 earthquake and fire.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Chancellorsville continued...

Naturally the First Berdan Sharpshooters became part of the rearguard. Earlier in the morning the left flank had been driven back against their artillery, which in turn drove back the Confederates. The rest of the day was spent in picket firing. Berdan Sharpshooter Capt. Charles Stevens: “Shooting was in order until late in the afternoon, many close shots being received from a well concealed foe. George Griffin had an open duel with a rebel target shooter who had watched our men closely, the least exposure bringing forth a bullet. It was some time before he was discovered, but finally Griffin stepped out in the open space and brought him to light. Their pieces cracked simultaneously, Griffin receiving a bullet through his pants below the knee, while his opponent, well, if he was not in fitting condition to continue his shooting others were there to take his place, which was an important position covering an approach along the narrow road by which the pickets entered the swamp.”

While Hooker was withdrawing, the sharpshooters exchanged shots incessantly. Supporting the Berdan’s Sharp Shooters from the edge of a wood, the Eleventh New Jersey Infantry suffered one officer wounded. Sergeant Marbaker remembered help came from a Berdan sharpshooter: “The next day (the 5th) the rebel sharpshooters kept up an annoying fire, and several men of the Eleventh were wounded, among them Lieutenant [Alexander] Beach. When Beach was struck, one of Berdan’s Sharpshooters asked ‘if that fellow hit any one.’ When told that Beach was struck, he replied, ‘I have my eye on the _____.’ The next instant there was a report, and the ‘reb’ came tumbling out of a tree.’

I learned on Friday that the stamping for the cloth cover had to be designed so I farmed it out and hope to have it by Monday. The dustjacket also needs a little modification.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Final installment of Chancellorsville

Prior to the campaign (April 17), the First Andrew Sharp Shooters was detached from the Fifteenth Massachusetts and assigned directly to the headquarters of the Second Division, II Corps. At Chancellorsville, they joined Sedgwick in his diversionary attack on Fredericksburg and are credited with killing or wounding one hundred Confederates. In his June 10, 1863 letter, Fifteenth Massachusetts’ Private Bowen described how Andrew Sharpshooter David Temple accounted for twenty. “David Temple, a member of the Andrew Sharp Shooters and more commonly known as ‘Old Dave,’ is called the best shot in the Company. [He] is a reckless old Cuss and cares nothing for any body. He has been detailed in the Commissary Department for sometime past. Yesterday he volunteered to go over as he says ‘and kill a few God damned Johnnys in revenge for the death of Capt. Saunders at Antietam.’ So down he goes with two more men, gets the most advanced position he can find and proceeds to give them Hell. He bangs away all day. Both men that go with him get badly wounded. He r[e]turns at night unhurt himself and glorifying over the fact that he has caused 20 of the damned Skunks of Hell to have a reckoning with their Eternal Creator.”

Chancellorsville was another Union defeat. As Jackson’s crowning achievement, it was blemished by his death─a loss Lee would always regret.

This concludes the story of sharpshooting at Chancellorsville. When you get a chance, visit your local National Battlefield Park and tour the grounds these battles were fought over.

 

[CajunBass]

As you can see from my tagline to the left, I live at Chancelorsville. Like most locals I almost never tour the battlefields. It was the same when I was growing up at Gaines Mill and Cold Harbor. I remember playing army in the trenches left from the war. (I was a kid during the CW Centennial.)

However, that's not to say I totally ignore them. I do consider myself a Civil War buff. Here's a few pictures I've taken near here.

This monument marks the place where Stonewall Jackson fell.



A silent gun marks the site of the Confederate artillery line that shelled the Federal Positions around the Chancelor house, near the treeline in the distance.

Fighting concentrated around Hazel Grove and Fairview Grove where the Confederate gunners pounded Hooker’s apex. During the artillery duel, Confederate battery commander Capt. G. Davidson was struck by a Federal sharpshooter. Confederate Lt. John Hampden Chamberlayne of the Richmond Howitzers reported: “I was on my horse beside Davidson when he was killed by a minie [ball] fired 800 yards off.” According to Major William J. Pegram, Davidson “fell, mortally wounded, at the moment of victory.” The Union center was giving way in part in response to the Confederate pressure and in part in response to Hooker’s command to retreat

Stepping back a bit to get in the Artillery Park.