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Union Colonel Silas Strickland and the 50th Ohio Infantry at the Battle of Perryville
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Lieutenant Colonel Silas Strickland was born in Rochester, New York, on September 17, 1830. He was the son of Samuel Millard Strickland. Samuel Strickland died when Silas was one year old, leaving the child in the care of his mother. At the age of seven Silas was sent to live with his brother-in-law in Rochester. He attended school in Rochester until he was twelve, when he went to live with his uncle, a Methodist minister in Gaines, New York. Strickland worked on a farm during the summer and attended district school in the winter. His mother married a wealthy farmer, enabling Silas to return to Rochester and enter the Rochester Collegiate Institute. A year later, Strickland entered the academy at Scipio, New York. He next began teaching school at Pendleton, studying law when time permitted. In two years, he saved enough money to enter the law firm of Fillmore, Hall and Haren, prominent lawyers in Buffalo, New York. Strickland was admitted to the bar of New York in 1850 but accepted employment as assistant paymaster during the enlargement of the Erie Canal in Buffalo. He was then employed by various railroads, including the Lake Simco, Huron & Ontario, the Ohio & Mississippi, the Louisville & Nashville, and the Tennessee & Alabama.i.
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In 1854, Strickland migrated to Nebraska, arriving in Bellevue. The following year in 1855, he was admitted to the bar of Nebraska, subsequently becoming a member of the first law firm in Nebraska, Bowen and Strickland. That same year he was appointed the District Attorney for the First Judicial District. In 1856, Strickland was elected to the lower house of the Territorial Legislature on a Democratic ticket as a representative of Douglas County. During the session he was instrumental in securing the division of Douglas County into Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Due to the absence of H.P. Bennett, the Speaker of the House, Strickland assumed these duties temporarily until the end of the session. In 1859, Strickland was elected to the Speakership by his colleagues. During this session he fought for anti-slavery legislation. The bill was passed but vetoed by Governor Black in 1860. In that same year, Strickland was elected to the Territorial Council, the upper house.ii.
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Strickland resigned his seat on the Council to aid in forming the First Nebraska Regiment. Upon formation, he enlisted as a private in Company H of the 1st Nebraska and was elected to the rank of First Lieutenant. He was appointed adjutant by Colonel Thayer. After the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, Strickland resigned his commission. While attending a meeting to raise troops in Cincinnati, Ohio, he re-enlisted in the 50th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel of the 50th Ohio Regiment by Governor Todd of Ohio. On August 22, 1862, the 50th Ohio infantry was mustered into service. The regiment was under the command of Col. Jonah R Taylor, Lt. Col. Silas A Strickland, Major Thomas Defrees, and Adjutant George R Elsner.
In the battle of Perryville, Strickland assumed command of the Second Division of the 23rd Army Corps when the brigade and division commanders were killed in action. The regiment was thrown into line of battle, by the order of Colonel George Webster, commanding Thirty-fourth Brigade, Tenth Division. At 2:30 pm, during the battle, the 50th Ohio Regiment, under the command of Col. Jonah R. Taylor, was in a ravine to the left and rear of the Nineteenth Indiana Battery, under Captain Samuel Harris. iii.
At 3 p.m. Colonel Webster ordered Colonel Taylor to change his position to the left, about a regiment and a half away, on the crest of the hill, to support Harris’ battery. According to eyewitness testimony, Colonel Taylor ran from the battle and Lieutenant Colonel Strickland found himself the ranking officer of the regiment. Since he was in command, he ordered the regiment to the front and the regiment began firing to stop the Confederate advance, who were closely and rapidly marching on the 50th Ohio Infantry. The movement was successful and the steady and continuous fire of the Fiftieth Regiment drove the Rebels back. Colonel Webster ordered Strickland to make a charge directly to the front over a fence and through a corn field down a ravine, which was done so “promptly and successfully” that the Rebels fled in great disorder.iv.
The 50th Ohio continued to hold their position, but Colonel Webster ordered Strickland to halt his regiment until about 5 o'clock p.m., when, not having seen nor heard from Colonel Webster for about fifteen minutes, an aide rode up and reported Colonel Webster mortally wounded and that the order was to move by the left flank. Strickland saw the Nineteenth Indiana Battery moving to the rear. Without having any further orders, Strickland moved his regiment to the left about a hundred yards. Once Strickland’s 50th Ohio arrived at their new position, he moved the regiment to the left about a battalion’s distance, where he was met by Union General Lovell Rousseau, divisional commander. Rousseau ordered Strickland to move to the front to support a battery, which he promptly did. Strickland stated that Captain Thomas Cook, of Company A, and Captain Thomas Clark, of Company F, by order of Colonel Webster, were left to support Harris’ Nineteenth Indiana Battery, and remained in that position, under the command of Captain Cook, during “a continuous and heavy fire of musketry, which was effectually returned until the battery moved to the rear, when the two companies moved off, supporting the battery, in perfect order.”v.
Strickland wrote in his after-action report that the officers and men under his command behaved “coolly and bravely” throughout the entire engagement. He wrote that Captain John Carr, of Company D, fell in the charge while “boldly leading his men on.” Captain Carter, of Company I, “fell as gloriously, with his face to the foe, as a soldier should.” Lieutenant Joseph Key, of Company I, after the fall of Captain Isaac Carter, “while bravely leading his boys in the charge, was seriously wounded in the knee.” On November 11, 1862, Key would die of from his wounds received at Perryville in a hospital near Springfield, Kentucky. Strickland also mentioned the “invaluable services throughout the day of the gallant soldier Maj. Thomas L. P. Defrees.” He also took “great pleasure in bear-ing testimony to the promptness and bravery of Adjt. George R. Elstner in his constant assistance throughout the engagement.” vi.
Strickland also mentioned in his report “the bravery and timely assistance rendered me at a critical point of the engagement by Lieut. J. T. Collins, of Company E, Ninety-eighth Ohio Regiment, acting aide to Colonel Webster.” The Fiftieth Ohio went into action with 597 and at the end of the battle, they lost nineteen killed, thirty-two wounded, and seventy-nine missing. vii.
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Corporal Erastus Winters, of Company K, under the command of Capt. L. A. Hendricks, enlisted in the army on August 22, 1862, as a private. He was nineteen years old. He wrote about his experience at the battle of Perryville. On the morning of October 8, 1862, “the drummer boys began beating the drums in the Union camps and Bob Crandle did his part by waking the men of the 50th Ohio from their sleep” and soon the men were making coffee and frying bacon. They hastily ate their breakfast when they were ordered into the ranks. Company K took their place in line with the rest of the regiment and the 50th Ohio marched onto the dusty road with their flag floating in the morning breeze. Soon the men of the 50th Indiana heard the boom of cannons, which the men of the 50th Ohio referred to as “the bulldogs were beginning to bark.” The men of the 50th Ohio came in sight of the Union Signal Corps, who were busy at work, sending their messages to different parts of the field, artillery batteries were flying pass them, and they could see the artillerists as they went into battery on the nearby hills. Shell and solid shot began to drop near the 50th Ohio or were flying over their heads sounding like “bees on the wing.” The 50th Ohio were ordered to unsling their knapsacks and place them in a pile and prepare for battle. Again, the men of the 50th Ohio moved forward and took place in line of battle behind the 80th Indiana Regiment, who were supporting Captain Samuel Harris’ battery, who were already heavily engaged with the Rebels.
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The men of the 50th Ohio were ordered to lie down in supporting distance of the 80th Indiana and the battery, but the Indiana troops held their ground, and did not need the 50th Ohio infantry’s help, although the Confederates made the battle “very hot for them.” viii.
Winters commented that the loss of the 80th Indiana was “quite heavy.” He stated that the 80th Indiana was on higher ground than the 50th Ohio where they laid, yet he believed the battle was more trying on the nerves with them being up in front, for the reason that ”we could do nothing where we were but lay and listen to the music,” which appeared to be a full regimental band out in their front, while the 80th Indiana had a chance to get back at them, “which I think was great satisfaction to them, at least, they seem to take a lively interest in it.” ix.
The men at the 50th Ohio were finally called up into line and fell back behind a stone fence where they laid down again. The men of the 50th Ohio felt a little bit safer, but were not permitted to stay there long, but were again called into line, and moved off by the left flank, and took positions on the firing line, on what Winters gathered to be on their extreme left flank. The Rebels in their front made it “pretty warm for us, killing and wounded several on our Regiment; among the number were three or four commissioned officers; two men were severely wounded in company K, a comrade on my left was struck by a bullet on the hill, but was not otherwise hurt.” Winters left his place in the ranks and advanced to an old log building out in their front, but as the bullets were singing around him, he came back to the company again. Winters noticed that there were quite a number of men killed and wounded because the ground was covered with blood. x.
Winters stated that the 50th Ohio held their place on the firing line until night, and then moved a short distance to the rear, where they received a fresh supply of ammunition, and the roll call was issued to see how many were missing. Winters remembered that all through the night he could hear the wounded soldiers calling for water. The long dreary night came to an end, and they expected to be called on to renew the conflict, but when the day dawned, he found that the enemy had silently left the field. Winters stated that the men had suffered for water during the battle, and the men had a hard time getting to the water on their side of the line. The 50th Ohio’s Chaplin Girrard Riley took as many canteens as he could carry, and rode off the field looking for water. He found a watering hole and filled the empty canteens with water and returned to the main part on the firing line, “gaining the admiration and respect of the men for his fearlessness and bravery under fire.” xi.
The morning after the battle Winters and a comrade from the 50th Ohio took some canteens and walked to the right flank, where they found enough water to fill their canteens. Winters and his friend found a spring, but the water ran very low, and filling the canteens took time. While filling their canteens, they heard the calvary out farther on their right flank in front of them, which were having “a lively skirmish.” The firing of the carbines reminded Winters of the popping of firecrackers under a barrel. Winters and his comrade did not spend more time than was necessary at the spring, because the firing was too close for comfort, and they did not feel safe. They thought that filling the last canteen took too long, and when the canteen was full, they started on their way back to camp. When Winters and his comrade reached their camp they found the Regiment had moved, and Winters and his comrade spent time trying to relocate their regiment, but at last they found them camped on a ridge, near a creek, and there were pulls of water, but by night they were drained so low that Winters was able to catch a few small fish with his hands. Winter cleaned the fish and had fish for his supper. Winters stated that he never got his knapsack back. Some of the men of the 50th Ohio went back where they left their knapsacks after the battle and found them cut to pieces and the contents were either carried off or destroyed. Winters stated that during the battle, the men were equipped with old Austrian rifles, and quite a few them would not burst the percussion caps. Many of the men had to recap their weapons three times before they would fire. xii. Erastus Winters was captured at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee in 1864, sent to Cahaba Prison in Alabama. He was released from prison when the war ended in April 1865, and on April 27, 1865, he boarded the Sultana steamboat for his trip home, when the ship exploded. He miraculously survived. He was taken to the Adams hospital in Memphis, suffering scalds to his face, neck, left arm, hands, and feet.
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Lieutenant, later Captain James G. Theaker, of the 50th Ohio Infantry, Company F, wrote about his experience at the battle of Perryville. He wrote in a letter to his brother near Perryville, on October 11, 1862, that he was well and that “I suppose you have heard of the hard battle of the eighth instant. It commenced in the morning with artillery, and so continued until about 1 o’clock, when the rebels advanced. Then there was fighting in earnest. Musketry and artillery played incessantly until darkness closed the scene and put an end to the dreadful carnage. For the time engaged, it is said by old soldiers to be the hardest contest ever fought on this continent, our company went into it about 1 o’clock and was never relieved until near sundown, when our ammunition gave out firing forty rounds. We retired in good order for more ammunition but failing to get any retired from the field. Our Regiment suffered heavy loss. We had two Capt.’s killed, John Carr of Company D and Isaac Carter of Company I, from Cincinnati. Our Company F lost one man, James Francis, from Bellaire. He was a good fellow and brave soldier. He did his duty and died at his post. We had four or five others slightly wounded. We lost our division commander, Gen. (James) Jackson and brigade commander, Col. (George) Webster; also General (William) Terrill, with many other field officers. But I suppose that you have heard it all and a great deal more in the newspapers. Our Regiment behaved well, especially Company F. The amount of killed and wounded is terrible. I passed over the field the next day. It presented a scene horrible beyond description. Don’t wish to witness such again. The rebels took French leave of the field during the night. I think their lost much the heavier. Our Army is in pursuit, and it is thought it will be captured. We have taken many prisoners. Our victory is complete. In their flight they drew down near 2,000 guns they left over 1,000 dead, unburied, thrown into pens and ravines. xiii.
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Captain Theaker wrote a letter to his brother on October 16, 1862, while in camp, near crab Orchard. “I was in the battle about four hours, on the left of the 19th Indiana battery, in the hottest of the engagement. It was indeed terrific. Our company and the regiment received great praise, while our Col. is disgraced. He acted the coward, ran, is now under arrest. As I stated before, James Francis of Bellaire was killed, several slightly wounded. . . . Our generals and the rebels admit it was one of the hardest fought battles of the war. John Cope was wounded in the foot and taken prisoner. He will be paroled and return home. His wound is not dangerous, I believe. Rod Mitchell was in the fight; was not hurt, is well. xiv.
The enemy are in the retreat- fast as they can go for the Cumberland Gap, we think. They will not stand long enough to give us battle. There is skirmishing every day. We have a great Army now, and we will certainly take them soon. We lost nearly everything in the fight. I was more lucky than most of the rest, lost two blankets, one gun. Had been sleeping in the open air ever since we started from Louisville, without tents, nothing but the blue canopy above us, and since the fight without blankets. This morning I got my overcoat. The boys will draw new ones in place of the ones lost the first opportunity. xv.
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Corporal Charles T Cruse, of the 50th Ohio, Company G, wrote about his experiences at the battle of Perryville. He wrote to his parents on October 17, 1862, near the battlefield about his experience at the Battle of Perryville. He wrote: “It is with haste to let you know that I had been preserved through the battle and I am thankful to God that I am preserved. When I entered the battle, I never expected to get through safe. (Private) David Bupp was killed, Charlie Bupp’s son, he came down with 1st Sergeant Elias C. Stancliffe and me. (Private) William Kennedy was killed. He is from below St. Mary’s too. There were several wounded and our company but, and but, one from our town. I was struck with a spent ball on my right side just above the hip on my belt and my side is a little sore yet. Dear mother, may God preserve me from partaking in another battle for those leaden messengers of death is hard. The battle was long and bloody. I will never forget it. The rebels are hard looking fellows. I tell you they are very poorly clad. I am not time to write any more. If I had I could fill eight pages of full scrap paper. xvi.
Kruse wrote a letter to his brother and sister, John and Elster Kruse Ike, near Crab Orchard, Kentucky on October 17, 1862. He wrote: “I presume you will like to know how I like soldiering. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I wish I were home. There is one thing certain, if I knew before I came what I now know I never would have came into the Army, but I am here now, and I am going to fight through if I possibly can thank God. I have saw some scoundrels stretched out for eternity and I think I help send a few of them there. I cannot give you any idea of being in a battle. No person can form the least idea how you would feel when the bullets are flying around you like hail. When the 50th Regiment first entered the battle of Perryville we were place behind an Indiana Regiment (80th Indiana) and a battery (19th Indiana Battery). We were both to support the battery. At the commencement of the thickest of the fight we were laying down. The battle was on a small hill and we were lying on the side of the hill close to the top in the way the bullets passed overheads is a caution. There were cannonballs passed over our company and hit about one hundred feet behind us and Lord, how the dirt flew. The rebels by this time were trying to flank us on the left in a cane field. Our Regiment was ordered to the left to drive them back. As we rose up a spent ball struck me on my left side just above the hip on the belt with such force that it stung for about five or ten minutes and my side was sore for three days after the battle. That is about as close as I want them to come to me. There were two of our company boys killed and five wounded. xvii
On October 30, 1862, Kruse wrote a letter to his parents near Lebanon, Kentucky. He wrote: Mother you asked me to tell you what division and brigade we are in. We were in General (James S.) Jackson’s 5th Division (10th Division) and General (Colonel George) Webster’s 34th Brigade but both were killed and we were lying behind the 19th Indiana battery, Captain (Samuel) Harris, I saw him riding up and down the lines and by the battery and giving orders. At the same time the bullets and cannonballs were flying like hail around the brave man but he gave no head to them. He was killed after we were ordered over to the left. . . . the boys laugh heartily about what the papers says of Colonel (Jonah) Taylor (Commander of the 50th Ohio Infantry) and what he said in his speech, never to run until he did. I heard them say that myself and I see him jumping behind the stumps.” xviii. Kruse was captured at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee in 1864 and sent to the Andersonville Prison Camp. On April 27, 1865, he boarded the steamboat Sultana and was killed in the explosion. His body was never recovered.
Corporal Thomas Moore, of Company F, 50th Ohio Infantry, wrote to his parents on October 16, 1862, at Crab Orchard, Kentucky. He wrote: I was in the fight at Perryville on the 8th it was very hard fight, we got into the fight at 2 o’clock and fought till dark. I don’t know our loss but think that it was about 2,000 killed and wounded. The Rebels lost more than we did. Our artillery mowed down in some places till the ground was covered. Our Company and Company A supported the 19th Indiana Battery. Our company lost one man killed. . . . I expect my name is down among the missing as some of us got lost from the company when we fell back and twenty-two not find the Regiment until the list was made out. We were on the left wing of our Army where the hardest fighting was. We come very near being taken prisoners as we were almost surrounded before we could get out. . . . our sutler has left us since the battle. Our colonel is to be court-martialed for running when we were in the fight. I am glad for it for we will have a good colonel now. He also wrote his parents on November 1, 1862, that “we lost our clothes on the battlefield when we left camp in the morning. We were about eight miles from the field, and I guess our officers did not expect a fight and they made us carry our knapsacks and when we got on the field we throwed them before we commenced fighting and had to march a half mile to the left and left them and we had to fall back while we were fighting and I don’t know whether the Rebels got them or our own men. Some says that the 2nd Minnesota stole them. No tents since Louisville, no blankets since Danville, five inches of snow the other day.” xix. He was captured at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee in 1864 and was sent to Cahaba Prison in Alabama. He was released from prison and on April 27, 1865, he boarded the steamboat Sultana and was headed home when the steamboat exploded. Amazingly, he survived the explosion and was taken to the Washington Hospital in Memphis with scalds to his hands.
Lieut. O. C. Pratt, later Capt., of Company A, wrote a letter to Mrs. William Topper, of Ashtabula, Ohio, on October 10, 1862, on the battlefield of Perryville. In his letter he wrote to inform Mrs. Topper of the death of her husband Private William Topper, Company A. He wrote: “The circumstances are as follows. On the eighth day of October we took breakfast at daylight in the morning and immediately March for Perryville which we reached at 2 PM of the same day. We were immediately deployed into line of battle in support of a battery of artillery, the 19th Indiana; the battery moved its position and of course we followed. It took a very expose position on the top of a hill fronting a wooded hill and valley in which the enemy in considerable numbers was posted. It was intended to dislodge the enemy and the infantry was intended to keep the battery from being taken. At precisely 3 PM we were ordered to the west of the Hill in order to lie flat on our faces until the exact position of the enemy could be ascertained. While we were in about position the bullets were whistling thickly over our heads and the shell were exploding in every direction around us- but from the security of our position none of us were at this time hurt. Some of the fire from the battery became too hot for the rebels to bear and the began to advance to take it. Then it was that we were ordered to rise and fire. Every man of my command came up coolly as veterans and taking deliberate aim fired away. Just before we were ordered to rise all of our Regiment except my company and the one immediately on our left were ordered into a piece of wood that lay on our left. So we were left to ourselves with two companies under the command of my Capt. Our fire was so deadly that after the ninth or 10th round the rebels broke and ran. At this time I was watching the movements of my man I must say that no one behaved better or more bravely than your husband. He would walk up to the top of the Hill, take deliberate aim at the rebels then fire and fall back under they failed to load. Several times I commended him for his bravery. Each time he was in the front rank and never swerved. After maintaining their fire for three full hours and has succeeded in driving them back we suddenly found they were stacking us on the right and left and at the same time were advancing in front. So we had to stand the fire of three columns. All the horses in the battery were shot except what belong to the to guns when a retreat was ordered. We retreated slowly down the hill forming again at the foot and rallying on a new front supporting the 80th Indiana volunteers. Here were fired three rounds and here it was that William was hit at this time the rebel flag was only about 20 yards distant from us and he became necessary for us to either get out of the way our be taken prisoners- as we had no ammunition, we chose the former and again fell back. William at the word retreat started up to fire at the rebel flag bear and the flag came to the ground. Almost immediately he was struck by a bullet in the right foot and severely wounded the bullet going clear through the foot just between the instep and toes. He said nothing but stooped to pull off issue which he accomplished but was hardly done when a minie rifle bullet struck him in the left breast just above the heart killing him instantly. He never spoke from the time he was first hit. The last words he said were- I guess that fellow won’t fire anymore- he killed a rebel and said this to me as he went undercover of the hill to reload his peace. The rebels had possession of the battlefield all the night of the eighth and plundered all the bodies of everything even taking off their shoes and stockings. They miss the ring on his finger however which Mr. Wylie took off and gave to me the next morning when the rebels had retreated. I enclose the ring to you; Mr. Spiller has the likeness of you and the baby which fell out of his knapsack and was picked up by one of my boys. I will send it to you. Throughout Williams connection with this Regiment’s conduct has been uniformly kind in obedient never murmuring when extra duty was required of the boys or when long marches were necessary. He was uniformly beloved by every man in the company and had he lived he would have been promoted. I went into the fight with over 60 men and came out with only 38- a number however were taken prisoner, for men were killed outright. Mr. Spiller has been detailed as one of the burying party and has just come in. He will mark Williams grave and he can be found at any time. His payroll and description role I will send as soon as I get more time. Respectfully yours, Capt. O. C. Pratt Company A, 50th Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry.
Capt. O. C. Pratt wrote a poem on William Topper of Company A:
On the death of a soldier, Mr. William topper October 8, 1862
The soldiers death we will not weep
For he who doeth all things well/
In death has closed his eyes to sleep
In heaven ever his praise to tell
We sat in heart and morning tear
With arms reversed, with solemn tread
His comrades marched behind his bier
And laid him in his earthly bed.
A Myrtle sprig our parting gift
Like it he’ll wither and decay
A mournful song to heaven we lift
And bid adieu till endless day
His Bible was his chief delight
The Lamb of God’s loving guide
Living he lived his life aright
Dying he gained the other side. xx.
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Surgeon Samuel Crawford of the 50th Ohio Infantry wrote of his experience at the battle of Perryville in 1893. He wrote: “My Regiment the 50th Ohio was in McCook’s division at the battle of Perryville and as general McCook got the credit, at least, of making the attack, my command became hotly engaged early in the day. The Medical Department of the Army thus early in the conflict was but poorly organized and at Perryville the regimental surgeons were forced to act largely on their individual accounts and made their own selections of depots to which there are wounded might be immediately removed, and as the lines were shifting, places of safety for such depots were selected with difficulty. xxi.
Surgeon McMeans, Third Ohio, was our Acting Brigade Surgeon at the time, and assisted by him several other surgeons and myself selected a small farmhouse, with its barn and other outbuildings, as the best we could do in the way of a hospital. The improvements stood in a beautiful little valley, between two high hills, and immediately surrounding the dwelling was a beautiful greensward. In less time than it takes to pin these lines, after the first arrival of wounded, all the space in an out of doors on the premises was occupied. This location was, when selected, considered a safe one, and thither stragglers were wont to gather. The sward made a nice place where we could spread blankets for a temporary resting place for wounded upon their arrival, and it was soon thickly covered with them. Between this and an abandoned cabin and a rank growth of wild hemp.
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At 5:00 PM this old cabin was full of colored servants in search of safety; in fact, the lot was filled with them, save the space occupied by one or two horses belonging to field or staff officers, and at about this our it was discovered that our hospital was between the opposing lines. First, there was a battery on the Hill to our left, and his firing was vigorous, and then in a very short time another battery, belonging to our own forces, opened upon the hill to our right, and the firing became brisk on both sides of us, the shot and shell screaming over our heads with to us and almost deafening effect.
Just before sunset the rebel artilleryman on the Hill to our left felt moved to plant three or four solid shots in rapid succession into primitive roof of our cabin, no doubt as much to develop its contents as anything else; and if for this it was a great success, for the servants decamped in the wildest disorder, and in a very few seconds the cabin and hemp patch alone were left to tell the tale. It is at any time amusing to see a black face trying to turn pale under the stimulus of fright, but the scattering of these frightening black boys was the most comical thing I ever saw, and their faces were uniformly several shades lighter when they left the cabin then when they entered it but a short time previously. Not one of them was injured in the least, but when the clapboards and decaying weight polls began flying in every direction. They did some wonderful leaping, and their agility was something that the colored population of Kentucky should be proud of to this day. They hemp was nowhere, and the fence, although and eight rail one, was cleared at a bound by each as he came to it. Wounded man whose lives were ebbing had to smile at the scene this denoument presented, and it was one to appreciate which must have been seen, and to had been seen could never have been forgotten. I remained on this battlefield until 20th October.
When the din of battle had ceased in the Valley it was discovered that the once babbling brook had suddenly been drained, the dry canteen was everywhere to be found, the old oaken bucket of our hospital well was a thing of the past, and the sweep had been declared “off.” No medicines, no dressings, no rations, was the awful fact that had to be faced. The poor helpless and hapless surgeon was, while in the midst of this serious reflections and the maimed and dying, ordered by the departing superior to remain and take care of all that were found living when the morning should calm; so the writer had a great contract on his hands.
But daybreak found 200 pounds of living flesh and bone moving- the larders and stomachs all empty; but we had stragglers and “finds” and of both articles there were many. We utilize them at once, and by 10 AM the hapless surgeon had organized a company of “foragers” from the straggling boys, and ordered abroad to bring in sheets, bed clothing, and provisions in abundance. By 2 PM one of the most picturesque trains reported in camp that it has ever been my fortune to see- wagons a variety, broodmares, lopped eared mules, serving Uncle Sam side-by-side faithfully and well. Old “Blossy” and her skipping calf came behind a wagon that day without much coaxing of the rope, and the younger cow with the older calf followed hard by with frightening stare, scolding the boys for their impertinence and importunities. Many an empty stomach was surprised that evening with feel broth and fresh milk, and many an old fellow owes the fact of his existence today to the finds of that never to be forgotten day. A kind Providence had sent us water, and the boys had supplied the sheeting. A scribe was found and put to work to take an inventory of all that had come into camp with the first train, and it was discovered that nearly all of the necessities and a great many of the luxuries of life had arrived. But we had no bread.
A school for training nurses had to be organized at once; and while the unwounded man were all in line, the names taken, with company, Regiment, and rank, preparatory to the selection of nurses, the fact became apparent that this field of industry was fully covered by the men placed on our role and the details were promptly made, the nurses were sent to search the nooks and corners of the entire camp for possible neglected in wounded man, and before daybreak of the 10th we had a list of all, and every wounded man, however slight the wound, had received at least the best attention the circumstances would afford.
One of the details was that of two millers, who were instructed to take possession of a small country Gristmill that had been found and reported down on the Creek at the mouth of our now babbling brook. The foragers were instructed to take a supply of cereals to the mill the first thing after daylight the next morning; and so the team moved off promptly and came back loaded with almost everything, including women, young and old, white and bronzed, with willing hands, Nielsen thread, and a supply of old domestic materials that made the surgeon’s heart leap with joy. These good women were not hard to conscript, and only needed a gentle hand that Uncle Sam’s boys meant business. Having found brick and brick layers, we soon had a fine, large, brick out oven that was wondrous in the eyes of our female help; but a brace of acres had been one of our details, and luxury for those who could eat was amply assured. Henceforth we had the best of biscuit, spring chicken, and roast shoat galore, and it was decided by unanimous standing vote that the best brand came from our new oven that had ever been eaten in that locality. We had apples and Apple dumplings, peaches, and peach cobblers.
Our millers, after supplying flour and cornmeal in abundance began supplying fish to our hearts content. Thus dead, nursed, and cared for, are wounded for the most part got along fairly well, and those others who were not wounded decided that “the last was better than the first.”
The captured women remain with us until honorably discharged, going home of evenings in style and captured carryall’s and escorted by brave “soger boys.” They did noble work, and several romances might had been written later of the boys who returned to the same locality to be made permanent prisoners, and sentence for life in the service of the aprons and the apron strings not “consumed’ in the care of the wounded.
Our dead were lay quietly and decently away, with many a tear shed by sorrowing comrade; and thus time passed until 20 October, 1862, when the “critters” were returned to their owners, the women sent to their own homes, the blankets and coverings return, as far as possible, to their rightful owners, and camp was broken.
It has never been my good fortune to visit that Perryville locality in these intervening years, but I have often wish to thank the people referred to for their many kind acts. We appreciated their aid in the day of our extremity. xxi.
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Major Thomas C. Thoburn, Of the 50th Ohio Volunteer Infantry did not participate in the battle of Perryville, but wrote about his experience after the battle. On October 13, 1862, he wrote: “Started early this morning with Mitchell and three others to join the Regiment. We reach Perryville a little before night. We heard that the Regiment was still a way ahead, and on the march. Before coming into Perryville, we passed over part of the battle ground. The trees were all scarred and furrowed by bullets. Many of the dead we were told were still unburied. We saw one dead rebel lying on the roadside unburied as we passed along. Gangs of darkies were out bearing the dead, hunting them up wherever they could be found. The battlefield was off to the left of the road. The rebels left the battlefield in the night with her dad all unburied. Our dead were buried the next day, and details of citizens and darkies buried the others. When we went into town we found hospitals everywhere that a roof could be found for shelter. We found Jim Bowles of Company F who had been detailed as a nurse in the hospital, and from him learned of the losses in the Regiment, and that James Francis, Company F was killed in the battle and that there was no other one of company F touched. I met Witt Kennon of St. Clairsville. He is now Secretary of State at Columbus, and had come down to look after the Ohio wounded, and from him I learned of the losses among the Ohio troops. The 98th Ohio volunteer infantry suffered severely. Capt. Lochery of that Regiment and who shared his blanket with me the night before the battle, is numbered with the slain. Poor fellow, he had hardly got his growth. He was a good generous boy, and was yet almost beardless, yet he gave his life for his country. xxiii.
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As for Colonel Silas Strickland, he fought during the Atlanta campaign during 1864. In 1864, he fought at the battles of Columbia, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville in Tennessee. On March 27, 1865, he was brevetted Brigadier General. When the Civil War came to an end in April 1865, Strickland returned to Nebraska and resumed his profession as a lawyer. When Nebraska was admitted as a state in 1867, Strickland was appointed United States District Attorney. He held this office until 1871, when he was elected a member and president of the State Constitutional Convention. He remained a successful lawyer. He was one of the founders of the Grand Army of the Republic in the State of Nebraska and was divisional commander of the department. On March 31, 1878, he died in Omaha and was survived by his wife, Mary, and his daughter, Katie B. (Mrs. J.B. Haynes).
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i. https://history.nebraska.gov/collection_section/silas-allen-strickland-rg4533-am/
ii. Ibid.
iii. Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Chapter XXVIII, No. 18, Report of Lieut. Col. Silas A. Strickland, Fiftieth Ohio Infantry, 1069.
iv. Ibid.
v. Ibid.
vi. Ibid.
vii. Ibid.
viii. Erastus Winters, In the 50th Ohio Serving Uncle Sam, 19.
ix. Ibid., 20.
x. Ibid., 20.
xi. IBID., 21.
xii. Ibid., 20.
xiii. Paul Rieger, annotated, Through One Man’s Eyes: Letters of James G. Theaker, Printing Arts Press, Inc.,1974, 13.
xiv. Ibid., 14.
xv. Ibid., 15.
xvi. Charles T. Kruse, Corporal, 50th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company G, transcribed letters from the Charles T. Kruse Letters, Case MS 10003. Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois.
xvii. Ibid. Ibid.
xviii. Thomas Moore, 50th Ohio Battle Account, United States Army Military History Institute.
xix. Private William Topper, Company A, 50th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, camp Nelson, E-3240, database reference, 1038.
xx. Crawford, Vol. XII, No. 45, (New Series), Whole Number 599, 4..
xxi. Crawford, Vol. XII, No. 45, (New Series), Whole Number 617, 3.
xxii. Lyle Thoburn, come Powell and edited, Thomas C. Thoburn, Major, 50th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, My Experiences During The Civil War, Lyle Thoburn 1963, Cleveland, Ohio.
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Figures in History
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