MGEN Ulysses S. Grant was appointed commander of the newly created Military Division of the Mississippi, bringing all of the territory from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River (and much of the state of Arkansas) under a single commander for the first time. It seems that once an infantry regiment was mounted their records with the Ordnance department moved from Infantry to Cavalry although I am not 100% sure of that since I do not have the cavalry ordnance records. This would suggest the fact that he either had a line on attaining ammunition himself or probably more likely he was planning on drawing from government purchases of Henry rifle ammunition. Aug 13, 2019 - Explore Steve Gripp's board "Wilders Lightning Brigade" on Pinterest. The key to a decisive victory for the Confederates was to cross Chickamauga Creek and strike the Union corps scattered up and down the stream’s valley east of Missionary Ridge. Sixteen shooters. In postwar manuals, both American and European, the use of breechloading and magazine weapons would increasingly allow infantry to adopt looser lines akin to Wilder’s. Thanks again! I didn't expect to get to this gap for three days. At the beginning of the war, he turned his foundry over to the state to be used for the war effort and was commissioned as a Captain in the 17th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Wilder's Brigade Mounted Infantry Living History Society Equipment. These men also knew that the regiment was going to purchase the Spencer rifles but they opted for the Henry repeating rifle. Henry Campbell kept a diary as well as newspaper clippings.
The Confederates regrouped, got reinforcements and tried counterattacking back into the gap. This was one of the first books on the Civil War I read as a teenager and it launched me into a lifetime of being a civil war buff. Bragg took no effective action to counter Rosecrans because his cavalry commanders were not relaying intelligence to him reliably—Forrest was not informing of the weak nature of the Union right flank attack and Wheeler failed to report the movement of Crittenden's corps through Bradyville and toward Bragg's rear. He preferred close fire, engaging at a hundred yards or so – and reserving full fire until the enemy was brutally close.

In fact, Bragg knew that troops from Mississippi and also Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s I Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia were on the way to reinforce him. Thus in all probability the outcome would have been identical had Wilder been armed with normal rifle-muskets. To avoid Army red tape, he decided to try and persuade his men to buy their own Spencers at $35 apiece, and put the idea to a vote. Average losses for most regiments, by contrast, ran 20-30%, with the highest topping 50%. Wilder’s Lightning Brigade remained a force in the Western theater for the remainder of the war, but its commander did not. Dana would later disagree with accounts of what happened, stating he had not given Wilder any orders and had decided to ride to Chattanooga himself. Bragg attacked General James S. Negley's isolated division of the Union XIV Corps, commanded by George H. Thomas, before Rosecrans could concentrate the rest of his army across Chickamauga Creek near Davis' Cross Roads. Armed with Spencer repeating rifles and Capt. Cheatham’s pickets bumped into Wilder’s videttes, but the Rebels had no idea how many men they were facing and were hesitant to attack. Trying to speed their movement, these infantry units deployed partially by rail. Eli Lilly's battery) to begin shelling the town. I send you a copy of a letter from the War Dept.

(1)  It is my belief that Wilder is making a reference to both the Spencer rifle since most of his men were armed with this rifle but he was also referring to the Henry repeating rifle since most if not all of his scouts were armed with the Henry rifle. He soon had a regiment that was extremely well disciplined and could move very quickly from one objective to the next. Concerned about mutual support, Thomas and McCook made plans to shift their corps closer together to the north. On June 24, Wilder’s men pounded up to the gap, dismounted and drove forward. In 1849 Wilder had moved from his native Greene County, N.Y., to the Midwest, where he worked in a foundry as a draftsman in Columbus, Ohio. In the meantime, Rosecrans planned his next move against Bragg, who had fallen back to Chattanooga. This was the battery assigned to Wilder’s Brigade. However Wilder's Brigade was also armed in part with the Spencer carbine as well as a repeating rifle most do not associate with Wilder's Brigade, the Henry repeating rifle. Meanwhile, he set up his brigade in a hollow square, with two regiments up front, two on the flanks, one in the rear and Lilly’s battery in the middle. As the army closed to the north, they followed suit. A few miles to the southeast, along the Alexander Road, a narrow trace that connected the La Fayette Road with Alexander’s Bridge Road, the Lightning Brigade set up a new defensive line facing to the northeast. As an aside, Wilder and the 39th Indiana gave Rosecrans approximately 3,000 troops in six regiments. in relation to ammunition for the “Henry Rifles”. It gradually dawned on him that Bragg's Army was neither demoralized nor in disarray. Running to the south, the 17th Indiana was next in line, followed by the 123rd and 72nd. Convinced he had Bragg on the run, Rosecrans opted to split his army into three sections and try to cut Bragg off.

The principal advantage of the Henry over the Spencer is definitely in the fact the Henry rifle holds sixteen cartridges while the Spencer’s magazine is limited to just seven. Wilder’s brigade had certainly proven itself in the Battle of Chickamauga. Wilder's men had been trained under the infantry manual of arms. Wilder died in 1917 and was buried in Chattanooga, his military accomplishments largely overlooked until a later generation of military historians began to research and analyze the successes of the innovative and deadly Lightning Brigade. [70][71][72][73][74][75], As the battle continued, the Union line was pushed back north to the Viniard house with elements of the XXI Corps attacked by Hood's corps on the brigade's left. Wilder’s preferred formation could best be described as a reinforced skirmish line. While the battle raged in the West Viniard field, the 92nd Illinois was fighting for all it was worth a short distance to the north in the Brotherton field. I would pick up Richard Baumgartner’s “Blue Lightning: Wilder’s Brigade at Chickamauga.” his bibliography will provide you with a ton of additional resources for different aspects of the brigade, as well as a first rate battle history of the command at Chickamauga. For the bulk of Wilder’s Brigade they had to settle for their second choice, the Spencer Rifle.

Also notable historic Civil War personalities. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In 1867, Emory Upton’s A New System of Infantry Tactics, Double and Single Rank, Adapted to American Typography and Improved Fire-Arms called for use of very similar deployments. Any additional information would be loved this was great.

Its regiments were nominally the 1st Brigade[1] of MGEN Joseph J. Reynolds' 4th Division of Thomas' XIV Corps.

Campbell’s diary was entitled “Three Years in the Saddle: a Diary of the Civil War.

In an ironic twist, Wilder returned to Chattanooga after the war and became wealthy operating a factory that made railroad rails. [26][25], After a long day of combat at 1900, the brigade's morale was uplifted by the arrival of a fresh battery at the gallop which meant the XIV Corps were close behind. With Lilly’s guns in play and the Indiana and Illinois regiments sweeping the field with their Spencer rifles, they were able to halt the Confederates. By the time the brigade had fully secured the field, they would tally 200 prisoners. However that was not an end to Wilder’s men purchasing their own Henry rifles. (13), In March of 1864 Frese & Kropf hardware store was offering Henry rifles for sale using the fact that the 17th Indiana of Wilder's Brigade was armed with them as an advertising ploy to entise buyers. Davis’ men were pushed back over the La Fayette Road and into a ditch in the West Viniard field. Mounts.

He replied as though he thought it a complaint. In theory and in practice, the brigade would use their mounts to travel rapidly to contact, but upon engagement, the soldiers would fight dismounted. Their choice of weapon was the Henry repeating rifle, although costly, their choice for a weapon enabled them to shoot their way out of a tough situation as DeWitt Clinton Walters was able to do. On 12 February 1863, Rosecrans ordered Wilder to find mounts for his brigade. I wanted to re-read and own this book before it went out of print because it's a rare thing to find a book so well written and in a clear, entertaining fashion. After attending a promotional demonstration by Christopher Spencer for the Army of the Cumberland of his Spencer repeating rifle, Wilder proposed the Henry arrangement to Spencer. Sheridan’s men hit a tidal wave before they even got into position. The exact number of Henry armed men in Wilder's Brigade will never be known but we do know that there were more than just a few armed with the Henry Repeating Rifle. The fact is that there were two types of Henry rifle ammunition. Before the war he owned a successful foundry (a factory that produces iron castings) in Indiana. Suffice to say that Rosecrans, short of cavalry going into the spring of 1863, liked Wilder’s idea to convert his brigade to mounted infantry by confiscating local livestock, and arming them with repeating weapons of some sort for added firepower. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. As the Confederate attack developed, the 98th Illinois and 17th Indiana, along with two of Lilly’s cannons, wheeled to the left to fire at the 39th North Carolina and 25th Arkansas of Brig. The Lightning Brigade was sent to defend Alexander's Bridge over the Chickamauga on 17 September. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. They were one of the few units south of Horseshoe Ridge that did not panic and retreat but successfully attacked. This is how their ad appeared in the Indianapolis Daily Journal; "The Henry Rifle  ' - This celebrated sixteen-shot Repeater, now used by the 17th Indiana, with which this gallant regiment under the world-renowned Col. Wilder has accomplised such great feats, is now on exhibition and for sale." Through the battle, the brigade had performed exceedingly well making good use of their Spencers. Can someone please explain the regiments the Wilder Brigade had? The action soon turned into a Union counterattack, with Wilder’s men routing one enemy regiment, the 34th Alabama, and forcing the 28th Alabama to fall back. So determining how much of the exact amount of ammunition that the regiment had on hand for a specific weapon such as the Henry or the Spencer is not going to be possible.
The two main types of “breech-loading repeating rifles” of the Civil War were the Spencer repeating rifle and the Henry repeating rifle. This article was written by By Graham Garrison and Parke Pierson and originally published in America’s Civil War magazine.

Wilder’s Brigade consisted of the 92nd 98th and 123rd Illinois Infantry, the 17th and 72nd Indiana Infantry, and the 18th Indiana Battery. At a cost of 125 casualties, the five regiments and their accompanying battery had been the plug in multiple holes and the catalyst of a couple of crucial counterattacks. It launched a strong advance with its superior firepower, driving the enemy around and through what became known as "Bloody Pond". The name seems to have come from the fact that this is the name that the “rebel Forrest characterized them at Chickamauga.”(7)  In the same paper the article continues with the view that a reorganization was in order.