Memphis

Memphis_airview_1870-052915

The 72nd OVI wearily trudged into Memphis at the end of July, 1862. I am hoping that part of the long journey was via the railcars of the Memphis and LaGrange Railroad, but that space was often reserved for the mounds of munitions and supplies necessary to keep thousands of men in the field.
In the city itself, the population was deeply suspicious of the Yankee military occupation, and there were still many armed men in the countryside who were potential threats to the public order.
As with any occupying force, there is unease, but no real combat. Life in garrison is infinitely preferable to life in a bivouac, after all. The 72nd conducted presence and patrol operations through November as Grant planned to take Vicksburg to the south.

grant-052915

What was life like for the troops? I have nothing from Grandfather, certainly nothing as colorful as the fantastic recollections of Uncle Patrick, who was not far away, but a letter from Captain Charles. W. Brouse, company K, 100th Indiana, to his parents, from the same period (January written from Grand Junction, Tennessee, which is about 40 miles south of Memphis) contains some glimmer of the common experience for the troops:

“On the following Sabbath, at 2 p.m., we were ordered to march immediately, and we marched ten miles that evening by 9 o’clock and camped ten miles south of Holly Springs. Leaving at daylight next morning, we arrived at Holly Springs at noon….
On Monday, January 6th, we marched in a northeasterly direction to Salem, Miss., by 5 o’clock p. m., 16 miles, Major Parrott commanding the regiment. The next evening we camped at Smith’s Mills, where the same rebel force that attacked Holly Springs made an attack on us, but were repelled by one company of Hoosier boys…

We arrived at the Junction on the 10th inst., and camped on the north of the town on low ground. It had rained all day and the ground was very soft. About midnight it commenced raining in earnest and continued until morning. We were without tents. In company with my Lieutenant we had the fly belonging to the Major’s tent for a covering. About one p. m. the water made a break over the ditch around us, and in less time than it takes me to tell it the water was about three inches deep, entirely covering our blankets. You can imagine it was not very pleasant standing in the water pulling on our socks. — When I went to put on my boots they were half full of water. After dressing we stood in the rain the remainder of the night…

Our camp is on the east side of the railroad. We think our position is a good one. We have a block-house made of heavy logs; also a stockade, two bake ovens in which we bake all the light bread we want, and we have plenty to eat. We have just received our tents for the whole regiment, and hope never to be without them again. We have had hard marching, but little fighting…
If you could see how this country is laid waste, houses and farms destroyed, it would make your heart ache, but as the boys say, it is all on account of rebellion. Write soon, and tell me how things are going on in the North; how the President’s proclamation is received by the people. It suits us much; we are ready and willing to return home and fight traitors there if it must be so. In this I think I speak the sentiment of almost the entire army.”

The address that Charles Brouse was talking about was the Emancipation Proclamation. Back in the East, at Antietam (or Sharpsburg, if you prefer) the bloodiest single day in American military history ended in a draw, but the Confederate retreat gave Abraham Lincoln the “victory” he desired before issuing the Proclamation that defined the aim of the War plainly and simply.

EmancipationProclamation-052915

That was the way it was received by the troops in the field around Memphis, Tennessee, as the second full year of the war began with a new frame of reference. There would be a lot of it to come, and shortly as the 72nd OVI and the men of Grant’s Army moved out for Vicksburg.

Copyright 2015 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303

Leave a Reply