Monday, December 29, 1862

About the time of the attack on Holly Springs and Grant's subsequent withdraw from the attack on Vicksburg, there was a concern the Confederates would attack Memphis.  The rumors and scuttlebutt swirled among the soldiers and the men of the 130th Illinois were on edge.

A comrade came running into the quarters of Charles Johnson, and excitedly announced that Confederate General Bragg was just outside the city with an army of ten thousand men, and he had demanded the Union surrender.  Johnson's reaction to the news was practical at the time, but pretty humorous today:

I was at that time in the ranks, and, like nearly all soldiers, often played at cards for pastime. At this very juncture I had in my breast pocket a long-used pack of cards, and, of course, they were dirty and much soiled. One of the first things I did was to remove these, for how would it sound should I fall in battle to have it said: "In his breast pocket was found" not the Bible his mother handed him upon leaving home and bade him always carry in his knapsack, nor yet the picture of his affianced "but a deck of cards." 

Well, the cards were removed, but I didn't fall ; didn't, indeed, have a chance to, for General Bragg didn't come near, nor ask the surrender of the city.

Saturday, December 27, 1862

Word got back to Memphis that General Sherman had been turned back at Vicksburg.  Soon, the steamships returned, loaded to capacity with wounded soldiers.  

Thursday, December 25, 1862

This was very likely the first Christmas of their lives that the men of the 130th Illinois Infantry spent away from their families. It was probably a very emotional day for most of them.

The war continued to take its toll on the young men of the 130th - Private James Myrrax died today in Memphis. He was from Bridgeport, Illinois and assigned to Company I.

Monday, December 22, 1862

About the same time as the attack on Holly Springs, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest made a raid through northern Mississippi, cutting Grant's communications with the north. These unfortunate events prevented General Grant from carrying out his part of the attack on Vicksburg, as he fell back and reopened communications with Memphis.  

General Sherman, unaware of what happened to Grant on his left wing, went ahead with his attack on Vicksburg, fighting the battle of Chickasaw bluffs.  This battle ended disastrously for the Union.  

Thus the combined attack, partly by water and partly by land, against the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg ended in a complete failure.

Sunday, December 21, 1862

Private Ransford Bourn died today in Memphis. He was from Lawrence County, Illinois and assigned to Company I of the 130th Illinois Infantry.

Saturday, December 20, 1862

Confederate General Earl Van Dorn led a cavalry force of 3,500 into Holly Springs today, surprising the Federal forces there.  Very few soldiers died, but 1,500 Union soldiers were captured and then quickly paroled.  However, the destruction of supplies was massive.

Fires lit the skies and smoke clogged the air. Thousands of bales of cotton, intended for sale to finance Grant’s army, were burned.  Railroad cars packed with bacon was torched, and great pools of fat spread out from the carnage.  Estimates at the time set the damages at $1 million for the loss of medical supplies alone.

These supplies at the Holly Springs depot were what Grant intended to use for his cooperating assault on Vicksburg.   

Friday, December 19, 1862

The Regimental Quartermaster, Silas J. Stiles, died today in Memphis.  He was from Lawrenceville, Illinois.

Wednesday, December 17, 1862

A large number of riverboats loaded with soldiers left the landing and steamed down the river.  Charles Johnson described the scene this way:

It was known to all that there was to be a fight, and I remember looking at the many men that crowded the decks of these steamers as the bells rang, signaling the engineers to put on steam, when the wheels began slowly turning, lashing and churning the water nearby; the boats gently swung round with their prows down stream, then getting out into the main channel, a full head of steam was turned on; that heaving sound, characteristic of a boat under full headway, began; and the men raised their hats and cheered wildly and long. They seemed more bent on a pleasure excursion than to give battle and meet a determined and powerful foe. I remember looking at them in this jolly mood, and wondering how many of the merry ones would soon find a grave on a battlefield, and what number would return maimed and wounded.

Monday, December 15, 1862

Three more soldiers from the 130th Illinois Infantry died today in Memphis.  All three of them were from Company F - the same company to which William Fleming and Charles Johnson were assigned.

Private Daniel Haley, from Bond County, Corporal Samuel B. Comer, from Greenville, and Private George G. Wood, from Jacksonville were the deceased.

Saturday, December 13, 1862

Three members of the 130th Illinois Infantry died today at Memphis.  Two of them were from Company C:  Private Joel Bracken from Thebes, and Private John W. White, from Dogtooth.  Private Israel Terry, from Company H, was from Claremont, Illinois.  

Thursday, December 11, 1862

Earlier this summer the Union Army and Naval forces had opened the Mississippi River from St. Louis down to just North of Vicksburg.  Because of its high perch on the river bluffs, Vicksburg presented a formidable challenge.

In the fall of 1862 the first campaign against Vicksburg was planned.  General Sherman was to move down the Mississippi River from Memphis with the right wing of the Army of the Tennessee, while General Grant was to attack from the east with the left wing.  

Those plans began to take shape in late 1862.  Grant established a depot of supplies about 230 miles north-northeast of Vicksburg at Holly Springs, Mississippi.  And by December there were a large number of Union soldiers in Memphis, as General Sherman organized his army to advance on Vicksburg.  The Memphis wharf was lined with steamboats loading with provisions and the munitions of war.

Wednesday, December 10, 1862

Over the course of the Civil War, the 130th Illinois Infantry lost 2 officers and 18 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died from their battle wounds.  The regiment also lost 4 officers and 153 enlisted men who died from illness or disease.

Private Godfrey P. Knave from Blueville, Illinois died today.  He was in Company D and the first of many men to die in Memphis during the winter.

Tuesday, December 9, 1862

Garrison duties in Memphis included several other activities.  Guarding a steamboat at the wharf, guarding goods at the levee, standing on a corner providing a presence, etc.  Robert Johnson described another activity:

Then, maybe,with an officer and a number of men, it was a tramp, begun after bed-time, to the suburbs, all quietly; a sort of scouting expedition that always ended in weary legs and good appetites for breakfast.

Monday, December 8, 1862

One of the duties of regiments assigned to garrison duty in Memphis was to patrol the city.  This was done by breaking up the regiment into squads, who then went out and found a place to stay in the patrol area of the city.  Charles Johnson told of one interesting place where they found quarters:

The company to which I belonged found quarters in a large brick block not far from the river.  In this building were holes made by cannon shot, thrown during the naval engagement the 6th of June previous.

Saturday, December 6, 1862

At the time of the Civil War, Fort Pickering was surrounded by earthworks, with cannons spread along the perimeter at appropriate intervals.  While the 130th Illinois Infantry was stationed there, the works were constantly being strengthened by the use of a shovel and a strong back.  Most of this work was done by African Americans, who were fed and paid by the government.

Thursday, December 4, 1862

As noted earlier, the men in each company formed into groups of about 8 soldiers and drew their food rations as a group.  Most of these "messes" occupied a Sibley tent, which they set up not far from the river bank.

A Sibley tent is round at the base, with a center pole, and covered in canvas to form a cone shape.  It resembled a tepee.

Tuesday, December 2, 1862

The 130th Illinois Infantry regiment was attached to Reserve Brigade, District of Memphis, 18th Army Corps (Old), Department of the Tennessee.

After about two weeks in camp, the 130th received orders to occupy Fort Pickering, which was located on the Mississippi River, just south of the city of Memphis.

According to Charles Johns "...this post was filthy and repulsive in the extreme. Meantime snow fell, cold weather came on, and some most unpleasant days were passed, and, to make matters worse, the health of many began to fail."


Below are some pictures from my visit to Fort Pickering in the fall of 2011.

A plaque near the mound.


The mound and brick archway into it are about all that is left of Fort Pickering. 

I wonder if that tree was standing 150 years ago?

It's a steep climb up the mound.  But with the Mississippi River in the background you can see why it would be a strategic location.