Civil War Letters of George M.
Wise
Edited by WILFRED W. BLACK*
George M. Wise was born at Bellaire,
Ohio, on September 5,
1841. After attending Old Washington
Academy four years, he
entered Jefferson College (later
Washington and Jefferson College)
prior to his enlistment. There he was
enrolled in the classical course
of instruction. After the war he was an
accountant. An expert in
mathematics, as well as geometry,
algebra, and trigonometry, he
added by tens rather than units, and in
a test while he was county
auditor he beat the adding machine. For
many years he taught a
Bible class and used only the Greek
Testament. He died on Feb-
ruary 27, 1923.
The following letters to his brother,
with one to his father, are
fragments of what must have been an
extensive correspondence.
They were written in the South while
Wise, working in the post
office and clerking in the office of the
adjutant, served with the
Forty-third Ohio Regiment. His
reflections cover military, political,
social, and economic phases of the Civil
War.
Organized late in 1861 and early in
1862, the Forty-third Ohio
Regiment, along with the Twenty-seventh,
the Thirty-ninth, and the
Sixty-third Ohio Regiments, constituted
General John W. Fuller's
Ohio Brigade. The Forty-third Regiment
left for the front on Feb-
ruary 21, 1862, and was not mustered out
of the service until July
13, 1865. It served under Pope,
Rosecrans, Hurlbut, Sherman,
Dodge, McPherson, Sprague, and Mower.
Ohio's Official Roster
shows that the Forty-third Regiment
participated in battle at New
Madrid, Missouri, Iuka, Mississippi,
Corinth, Mississippi, Decatur,
Alabama, Resaca, Georgia, Dallas,
Georgia, Kenesaw Mountain,
* Wilfred W. Black is a professor of
history at Grove City College, Grove City,
Pennsylvania. He is a native of Findlay,
Ohio.
54
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Georgia, Nickajack, Georgia, the siege
of Atlanta, the siege of
Savannah, and at River's Bridge, South
Carolina.
Written in a clear, simple, homespun
style, these letters with their
deep human touch, resurrecting as they
do those Civil War days of
ninety-some years ago, contribute to the
proud role played by the
Forty-third Ohio Regiment.
The editor wishes to express his
appreciation to the Rev. F. O.
Wise of Toronto, Ohio, for permission to
prepare his father's letters
for publication and to Professor W. E.
Smith of Miami University
for his helpful suggestions.
* * *
Upon the surrender of Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson to General
Grant in February 1862, the Confederates
found it necessary to form
a new line of defense running from
Memphis through Corinth to
Chattanooga. By the timely arrival of
General D. C. Buell with
reinforcements, Grant was saved from
defeat in the Battle of Shiloh
(April 6 and 7), and General P. T. G.
Beauregard began his with-
drawal toward Corinth. General Henry W.
Halleck arrived at Pitts-
burg Landing on April 11 and on April 30
assumed personal com-
mand of the Union forces; his
reorganized "Grand Army of the Ten-
nessee" was the largest yet
assembled west of the Alleghenies.
Halleck began a slow, cautious advance
on Corinth in the belief
that Beauregard would give battle.
Reenforced by General Sterling
Price and General Earl Van Dorn,
Beauregard commanded the best-
drilled and the best-tried fighting men
in the Confederacy. Halleck
was six weeks in advancing less than
fifteen miles, during which
time the Confederates made no offensive
moves; instead, they spent
their time in constructing defenses.
The Forty-third Ohio Regiment had
already been assigned to
General John W. Fuller's Ohio Brigade
and had reported to General
John Pope at Commerce, Missouri, on
February 22. It had seen
action at New Madrid, Missouri, in
March, and it had aided in the
capture of Island No. 10 on April 7.
Fuller's Brigade, now the first
in General D. S. Stanley's Second
Division, with Pope's Army of
the Mississippi, formed the left wing of
Halleck's army of over
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 55
100,000 men in the advance on Corinth.
After a severe skirmish
on May 10, Fuller's Brigade took
possession of the hill at Farm-
ington, about five miles northwest of
Corinth. Thus began the
closing in on and the siege of Corinth.
Camp near Corinth
May 14th, 1862
Dear Brother:
I have just received your letter of the
30th ult. and am very glad to hear
from you indeed. It does me good to hear
from home often. I write about
twice a week but I scarcely think my
letters all get home. And I know that
some that are sent to me never get here.
We are still lying before the enemy's
lines and preparations are rapidly going
on for the final attack on Beaure-
gard.1 Our army extends over
a large extent of country and is situated as
follows. Gen. Thomas who gained the
battle over Zolicoffer is on the right.2
Maj. Gen. Curtis, Maj. Gen. Segil &
Maj. General Buel command the
centre,3 Maj. Gen. Pope the
left or our division, and Gen Mitchell the ex-
treme left wing.4 Segil also
commands the artillery, and Halleck commands
over all.5 The entire army
now numbers over 200,000 men and is slowly
closing around Corinth where the mighty
Beauregard awaits us with 130,000
men.6 Segil is here looked
upon by most of the men, at least, as the best of
1 General Beauregard was second in
command under General Albert Sidney Johnston
in the Battle of Shiloh. Upon the death
of Johnston in that battle, Beauregard assumed
full command of the Confederate forces
and was achieving success when Buell arrived
with reinforcements for Grant.
2 By defeating General Felix K.
Zollicoffer in the Battle of Mill Spring on January
19, 1862, General George H. Thomas had
broken the Confederate line in Kentucky.
3 General Samuel R. Curtis had defeated the Confederates at Pea Ridge,
Arkansas,
March 7 and 8, 1862.
General Franz Sigel in the Battle of Pea
Ridge had commanded two divisions and
had contributed greatly to the victory,
which settled the fate of Missouri.
On March 11, 1862, Lincoln placed
General Don Carlos Buell under General
Halleck, who ordered him to advance on
Savannah, Tennessee, twenty-two miles north
of Corinth. Buell marched leisurely, and
as late as April 4 he was advised by Grant
that there was no need of haste. His
arrival at Pittsburg Landing in the nick of time
saved Grant from defeat.
4 In April 1862 General Pope was ordered
to join Grant's and Buell's forces for the
advance on Corinth.
General O. M. Mitchel in April 1862 made
the memorable dash from Shelbyville,
Tennessee, to Huntsville, Alabama.
Surprising and capturing that city without firing
a gun, he gained control of the Memphis
and Charleston Railroad.
5 Halleck's early successes were
achieved largely by his subordinates, Grant and
Admiral A. H. Foote at Donelson, Curtis
at Pea Ridge, Pope at Island No. 10, and
Grant at Shiloh.
6 Halleck's forces more nearly
approximated 108,000 and Beauregard's 65,000.
56
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
all the Generals. Prisoners that we have
taken say that they are more fearful
of him than any of the others. I have
not yet learned anything as to when
the battle will be fought. I think it
probable that our Generals are trying
to surround the rebs, & catch the
whole flock.7 If they can do this we will
not have much of a fight but I am
suspicious that they will try to get away
if they find us doing that. I saw Hugh
Douglass that used to teach school
on the creek, two or three days since.
He is now about well. He was wounded
in the head in the battle of Pittsburgh
Landing. Just tell Jennie Kilgon of
this. I forgot to tell you in my last
that General Bragg of the rebel army
was killed in the fight here a few days
since.8 I have about fifty dollars to
send home the first good chance I get
but I do not know when that will be,
as it is next to impossible to get even
a letter off now, and it is out of the
question to express it. I will give you
notice beforehand when I send it.
When you write next give me all the news
you can gather up. Tell me also
what the neighbors are about as I hear
nothing here except what you write
from our own neighborhood. We have but
little mail to attend to now but
I still have plenty to do. I am now
first clerk at headquarters. That does not
however make any difference in my pay. I
still have the mail under my
control. Cyrus H Strahl of Bellair has
been sick for some time but I think
he will soon be well though he is very
weak. Bob Torbet & I have both had
the camp dysenterry [sic]. I am
some better & think I will soon be well.
Neither of us were very bad with it. If
you have any chances you may get
the money I sent home or will send home
exchanged for gold & silver.
Please continue to write soon &
often. With my love to all I remain. . . .
On May 28, 1862, Halleck's army was
within 1,300 yards of
Beauregard's works, but unknown to
Halleck, Beauregard had al-
ready begun evacuating his sick as well
as his supplies. His rear
guard fired Corinth, and the magazines
were exploding as Halleck
entered the city on May 30. However,
Beauregard's army effected
its escape; its defeat would have been a
more profitable achieve-
ment. No military operations of
importance were undertaken by the
Grand Army of the Tennessee after the
evacuation of Corinth while
7 This assumption is only partially
correct. Halleck's objective, the capture of
Corinth, was achieved without the
necessity of battle. His failure at effective pursuit
of Beauregard enabled the Confederates
to conserve their manpower.
8 On the contrary, General Braxton Bragg
died in 1876. Moreover, he defeated
General W. S. Rosecrans at Chickamauga
on September 19 and 20, 1863.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 57
Halleck remained in command. The
fortifications of Corinth were
weaker than Halleck had supposed, and he
proceeded to strengthen
them. By July 1862 Admiral David C.
Farragut's capture of New
Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Natchez gave
the North control of the
Mississippi River except at Vicksburg
and Port Hudson. On July
11 Lincoln named Halleck as
general-in-chief of all the armies,
and Grant was given command of the Union
forces in west Ten-
nessee and northern Mississippi.
On June 11 Fuller's Brigade, returning
from a pursuit of the
Confederates, went into camp at Clear
Creek, five miles south of
Corinth. During the period of
strengthening the defenses at Corinth,
sutlers and merchants sold their wares
at fabulous prices; butter
brought $1.60 a pound and a quart of
peaches $1.50. Fuller's
Brigade drilled constantly and was
subjected to severe discipline.
It did not move again until August 20,
when the campaign began
which ended in the battles of Iuka and
Corinth.
Camp near Corinth
July 11th, '62
Dear Father
As it has been three or four days since
I last wrote I will write a few
lines in order that you may know I am
well. There is nothing going on and
consequently nothing to write about. I
have been very busy for some days
past in the office clerking, writing
orders and the like. The extra duty men
were paid off yesterday. I did not get
mine. The Quartermaster on some
account would not pay it. It amounted to
80 dollars. There is no doubt but
I will get it however in spite of the
Quartermaster. Both the Col and Lieut
Col Swayne9 say I shall have
it. And as Col Swayne is one of the best lawyers
in Ohio as well as one of its best men,
I have no doubt as to getting it be-
fore long, for when he says he will have
anything he is in the habit of
getting it. Hereafter I will have my
extra pay fixed so that a scoundrelly
Quartermaster cannot keep it out of my
hands. Everybody here is extremely
9 Wager Swayne, born in Columbus, Ohio,
in 1834, was graduated from Yale in
1856 and from the Cincinnati Law School
in 1859. He saw action under Pope at
Island No. 10, and his distinguished
courage in the Battle of Corinth (October 4,
1862) won him the Medal of Honor. He
succeeded Colonel J. L. Kirby Smith as
commander of the Forty-third Regiment on October 12,
1862, following Colonel Smith's
death from wounds received at Corinth.
58
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
anxious to hear the full particulars of
the great battle of Richmond.10
McClellan seems to have been forced to
change his front and to have lost
30 or 35 cannon but at the same time to
have driven back the rebels with
tremendous loss. The battle seems to
have been the most terrible . . . by far
yet fought, equaling the hardest ever
fought by Napoleon.11 The loss is
beyond a doubt terribly great on both
sides. The rebels have now got almost
their whole army in front of Richmond
and I have not the least doubt that,
that city will be the grave of the rebel
Republic as it has all along been
its great centre. In the west the
rebellion is almost destroyed and a few more
such battles and it will be ended in the
east.12 They have now got all the
force in the field that they can get out
and every man killed wounded or
taken is one less soldier in their army.
This is not the case with us however,
for every man lost in battle 3 more can
& will take his place so that there
cannot be any scarcity of men.13 The
war is one of the most bloody ever
fought but upon its energetic
prosecution depends the fate of human liberty
throughout the world. I would not wonder
if England and France would
attempt to attack the nation in a very short
time.14 If they do the battles
that are being fought now cannot be
compared to the tremendous struggles
that will surely follow. The whole
nation will be a nation of soldiers. And
even then I believe we would be
successful and that the infamous league
of Despots and traitors would be
overpowered by the desperate valor of
the American republic strugling [sic]
for its liberty and the liberties of
the world. We have received the news to
day that Vicsburg [sic] has been
utterly destroyed and taken by our fleet.15
Very good if true, if the rebels
are determined to carry on a hopeless
struggle let them take the consequences.
The weather is very hot, but most of our
company are well and none
very sick. . . .
10 During the entire war the immediate
objective of the Union was the capture of
Richmond. On March 10, 1862, General
McClellan began transferring his army to the
peninsula between the James and York
rivers, and by the end of May he was within
striking distance of Richmond.
11 Malvern Hill was one of the most
sanguinary engagements ever fought on this
continent. McClellan's casualties
exceeded 15,000 and Lee's 20,000.
12 Wise's optimism at this moment was obviously high.
13 With respect to manpower, the North
with twenty-three states had a total popu-
lation of nearly 22,000,000 as compared
with the South's eleven states and a white
population of 5,500,000.
14 Confederate victories in Virginia
during the spring and summer of 1862 brought
a crisis in Anglo-American relations.
Lord Palmerston and Earl Russell were about to
propose mediation designed to procure
southern independence. The North's victory at
Antietam and Lincoln's preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation ended the crisis.
15 Vicksburg did not fall until July 4,
1863.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 59
Camp near Corinth
July 19th, 62
Dear Brother
I received a letter from you a day or
two since but have not answered it
till now because I have had nothing new
to write and no time to write. . . .
It is supposed by many that we will be
attacked here before long but we
have no real evidence of that. Our army
here at present does not exceed
60000 men but the rebels have not a
large enough force to attack us in the
fortifications of Corinth unless I am
much mistaken. The rebels seem to be
gaining ground in all directions just
now. In Kentucky and Tennessee par-
ticularly they appear to have things
pretty much their own way.16 I presume
however that they will not make much by
leaving an army such as Buels
[Buell's] directly in their line of
retreat. If Buel is half a General17 those
little Bodies of Rebs. will never get
back into the gulf states again.
The war it is very evident is
progressing very slowly and may yet termi-
nate in the Independence of the South
unless some more energetic measures
are undertaken by the government and our
one horse generals.18
The universal opinion of the army here
is that unless Richmond is taken
within 2 months at farthest our ultimate
defeat is certain.19
I have been very busy this week have set
up several nights as late as ten
o'clock writing. In nine days I have
copied 140 pages of the largest sized
paper besides much other work. I have
now caught up with my work and
will not have much to do for some time
to come. I have not yet got any
of my pay yet and do not know when I
will. If I don't get it pretty soon
I will quit the post office &
clerking business though it is really not near
so hard or dangerous work as that of the
private soldier. But I wont fill
any place unless I get the proper wages,
for the position, whether I have
any work to do or not. The weather is
still very hot but I guess it is as hot
16 Although the great armies of the
Confederates had been driven from Kentucky
and Tennessee, guerrilla warfare
prevailed. Famous among the Confederate raiders was
John H. Morgan, who left Knoxville on
July 4, crossed the Cumberland Mountains
and entered Kentucky, pressed on toward
the Ohio River, and on July 14 destroyed the
railroad bridge between Cynthiana and
Paris. On July 17 he was near Cincinnati.
Another bold Confederate raider was
General N. B. Forrest, who on July 13 defeated
General T. L. Crittenden and Colonel W.
W. Duffield at Murfreesboro.
17 Buell was a major general.
18 The Wise letters indicate the trouble
which Lincoln was having with his generals.
This story is vividly narrated in Bruce
Catton, Mr. Lincoln's Army (Garden City,
N.Y., 1951), and in Kenneth P. Williams,
Lincoln Finds a General (New York,
1949-52).
19 An interesting observation, which
shows the importance many attached to an
early capture of Richmond and their
concern over the failure of McClellan's Peninsula
Campaign.
60
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
as it will get. It is roasting ear time
in this country and I think I will go
out into the country one of these days
and get a mess. The citizens bring
in apples[,] corn, beets and vegetables
generally to camp but they are too dear
to invest much money in--I am in better
health now than I have had
since we came into Mississippi. There is
much sickness in camp though our
company is still the largest and healthiest
in the regiment. I forgot to state
in my former letters that we had
excellent water here now and plenty of it.
Good water is a very important
consideration in this hot climate. . . .
After Pope's defeat at Bull Run in
August 1862 the Confederates
planned a triple attack against the
North. General Lee was to in-
vade Maryland; Generals E. Kirby Smith
and Braxton Bragg were
to recover Kentucky and Tennessee;
General Earl Van Dorn was
to move against the Union forces in the
Memphis-Corinth sector.
Assuming command of the Department of
the Tennessee in
October, Grant planned an expedition
against Vicksburg, the Gib-
raltar of the South. He would move
against the main body of Con-
federates under Van Dorn, north and east
of Vicksburg, and then
assist General W. T. Sherman in the
final reduction of the post.
On November 13 Grant's cavalry entered
Holly Springs, Mississippi,
and drove the Confederates south of the
Tallahatchie. When the
enemy evacuated their works, Grant
pursued them to Oxford, and by
December 5 he was twenty-eight miles
south of Holly Springs.
Then, on December 20, Van Dorn captured
Holly Springs and
Grant's valuable supplies there, and
Grant began falling back north
of the Tallahatchie. Thus, his Vicksburg
campaign of November
and December 1862 was doomed to failure.
Meanwhile, the Confederates had begun
their advance against
Corinth in their efforts to dislodge the
Nationals. On September 19
the Forty-third Ohio Regiment of
Fuller's Brigade participated in
the Battle of Iuka and on October 4 in
the Battle of Corinth. In
the latter battle the deadly fire of
Fuller's Brigade contributed
materially to the Union victory, which
dealt a hard blow to the
Confederacy. On November 29 the brigade
marched into Holly
Springs, and on the following day it
skirmished with the Con-
federates, halted near the Tallahatchie
River, and on December 1
crossed the river in pursuit of the
enemy.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 61
Camp of the 2nd Division
Nov. 30th, 1862
Dear Brother:
We have made another march and the tents
of the 43rd are now pitched
near the village of Waterford and seven
miles South of Holly Springs. The
whole army is in motion or rather was in
motion the past two days. During
the whole of yesterday an unbroken line
of soldiers poured through Holly
Springs, and at 10 o'clock General Grant
himself passed through the city.
To day Major General Hurlbut's division
passed our camp to the front.
This is the division which defeated
Price and Van Dorn in the Battle of
Hatchie Bridge.20 Another
Division is now moving on through Holly
Springs. Three Divisions of the old army
of the Mississippi, 30 regiments
in all, are lying here. Major General
Sherman holds the right, General
McPherson21 the centre and
our three Divisions the left wing. The whole
army is under Genl. Grant. We are
encamped to day on the ground oc-
cupied by the rebel advance yesterday
morning. Their whole army is now
fortified behind the Tallahatchie River
twenty miles southward. There has
been some heavy firing there to day but
with what result we have not yet
ascertained. The thunder of the artillery
at times has been tremendous but
it has now ceased or nearly so. We are
so far in the rear that we know but
little about what is going on in front.
We will hardly move on the enemies
works for a day or two yet. There are
indications of a great battle but I am
inclined to think the rebels will give
up their works and retreat still further
south rather than risk a battle against
so large an army. If they do not re-
treat peaceably it will be our duty to
force them to do so, which we can
certainly do. General McClernand will
move down the Miss. River in a few
days with an immense army and then
Vicsburgh [sic] will fall, and that
20 Following the Battle of Iuka on
September 19, General Sterling Price withdrew
under cover of darkness and joined Van
Dorn at Ripley, Mississippi. On October 3
and 4 Price and Van Dorn attacked
Rosecrans in the hotly contested Battle of Corinth,
and the Confederates were obliged to
retreat southward. It was at this point that Grant
sent a division under General Stephen A.
Hurlbut to attack the rear of the Confederates
and to intercept their retreat. Hurlbut
met the head of Van Dorn's column near
Pocahontas, Tennessee, on October 5 and
was driving it back across the Hatchie River
when General E. O. C. Ord, who ranked
Hurlbut, came up and took command. Severe
fighting ensued, and the Confederates
lost two batteries; three hundred of their men
were taken prisoners. Ord fell severely
wounded, and Hurlbut resumed command. His
force was inferior, and no pursuit of
the Confederates was attempted. The success of
the Federals at Corinth and at the Hatchie relieved the
command of west Tennessee
of all immediate danger.
21 General James B. McPherson was with
Grant in the Tennessee campaign in
February 1862. He led the pursuit of Van
Dorn at Corinth and was actively employed
throughout the entire Vicksburg
campaign. Grant accorded him the honor of re-
ceiving the surrender of Vicksburg on
July 4, 1863.
62
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
will settle the fate of Mississippi.22
In fact the rebel cause in the west is
becoming desperate.
Holly Springs is the largest and by far
the best looking town I have
seen since we entered the south. It is
not so large as Wheeling but it is a
neater and better looking place. I
received a letter from you night before
last and was glad to hear from you
again. But couldn't you write longer
letters? Give all the news; tell how all
the girls are getting along &c. &c.
All this would be very entertaing [sic] to me as I
have been away so long. . . .
For my part I have not got time to write
long letters or I would do so . . .
Having failed to take Vicksburg from the
north, Grant, by January
1863, determined to attack the city from
the southwest. By May 1
Grant's army, having come down the
Mississippi River on the west
side, was on the east bank sixty miles
below Vicksburg; during the
next three weeks Grant defeated the
Confederates on five different
occasions and bottled General J. C.
Pemberton up in Vicksburg.
Two frontal assaults (May 19 and 22) on
the city failed, and Grant
besieged Vicksburg until July 4, when
Pemberton surrendered.
Under a war department order of December
18, 1862, Fuller's
Brigade became a part of Hurlbut's
Sixteenth Corps, which was
assigned to Grant's Army of the
Tennessee. In December 1862 and
early January 1863 the brigade
skirmished with Forrest, who was
raiding Grant's line of communications.
After thwarting Forrest's
thrusts, the brigade returned on January
9 to Corinth, which by then
was strongly fortified. Here the brigade
engaged in reconnaissance
and made trips for lumber, forage, and
rations. On April 13 Fuller's
Brigade moved out of camp on a raid
through the Cherokee and
Choctaw valleys into Alabama.
Accomplishing its mission, it re-
turned to Corinth on May 2. A few days
later it took freight cars
for Memphis, where, on July 6, it
received the news that Vicksburg
had fallen two days earlier.
Against this background Wise's letters
of March 20 and July 1
22 General John A. McClernand, a
successful Illinois politician and an old ac-
quaintance and legal associate of
Lincoln, had served at Belmont, Donelson, and
Shiloh; he regarded himself as the
brains of the Army of the Tennessee. At his in-
sistence, Lincoln gave him command of an
independent expedition to capture Vicksburg
despite the objections of General-in-Chief
Halleck.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 63
were written. The reader will note that
Wise visited Bellaire during
a furlough between March 20 and July 1.
Head-Quarters 43d Inft., Ohio Vols.,
Near Bethel Tenn March 20th, 1863
Dear Brother:
I received a short letter from you a day
or two ago, and although short
it was gladly received as letters from
home have been rather scarce for some
time. My reply must necessarily be about
as short as the Adjutant has been
sick for two or three days and ra[t]her
more business than usual has de-
volved upon me in consequence. Besides
there is nothing new to write of,
not the slightest incident of sufficient
importance to break the monotony of
camp life, having occurred since my last
writing. Our camp here is very
healthy, there only being 25 on the sick
report of our regiment, and none of
these are very sick. I have only had one
slight cold this winter & have not
missed one day's duty since the 20th of
November, now four months ago.
We have good provisions and plenty &
the citizens bring in pies, eggs,
chickens &c by the quantity.
Accordingly we fare very well, though it of
course costs to get these little extras.
But a soldier's life is hard enough make
it as easy as one can.
I do not exactly know when I will be at
home yet, but it will be some
weeks from this time. Indeed I dont
quite fancy the rates of fare from here
to Ohio. From this place to Cairo it
costs 34 dollars, making 68 there &
back, so that the cost of going home
will be more likely to exceed 100
dollars than to be under it. Still I
will pay that though I shall wait awhile
to see if the rates will not be lowered.
The news has just arrived that Gen'l.
Rosecrans has been completely
overthrown. Whether it is true or not we
cannot yet say, but I fear it is. It
seems according to the report that the
rebels have taken nearly their whole
army from Vicksburgh [sic], and
with overwhelming forces have fallen upon
Rosecrans.23 Just like Grant.
2000 rebels mad[e] Grant retreat from Oxford
with his army of 100,000 and I have no
doubt that a thousand wooden men
23 While
the Confederates won the day at the bloody battle of Stone's River
(Murfreesboro) on December 31, 1862,
Rosecrans stubbornly held his ground. On
January 2, 1863, Bragg again attacked but
was repulsed, and he withdrew on the
night of January 3. It was one of the
most bitterly contested victories of the war.
It is difficult to believe that the news
from Murfreesboro was more than two and
a half months in reaching Wise. It seems more likely
that he was repeating a rumor,
especially in view of that part of his
"news" which had Confederate forces leaving
Vicksburg undefended.
64
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
set up on the fortifications of
Vicksburgh would be sufficient to keep his
immense army at bay.24 If
Rosecrans has been defeated it has only been
after awful fighting against hopeless
odds. And the crime of his defeat
rests not with him but with the men who
keep such an old blockhead as
Grant in such a position as he now
holds.25 I hope that the report is not
true but whether true or not, it is just
what I have been looking for & will
look for until it occurs or Grant is put
in some position where his blunders
can no longer affect the other Generals.26
If this report prove true it will
probably awake father Abraham to the
importance of calling out a million more
men & not only calling for them
but making them come too. I see that the
Copperheads are again becoming
impudent in the north.27 If
they succeed in getting us whipped out and the
south independent they will get one of
the soundest drubbings any mordals
[mortals] ever got yet. Copperheads will
be 100 per cent scarcer in a very
few days I assure you. As I have only a
few postage stamps left and we can't
get any here I will frank this through.
You know it wouldn't do well to
send some letters without paying
postage. Bob Torbet wants you to tell his
folks that he is all right. Please write
soon & often.
Headquarters 43d O. V. I.
Memphis Tenn. July 1st, '63
Dear Brother.
I am again in "Dixie land." I
left Bellair in the morning train and joined
the detachment at Cincinnatti [sic] in the
evening. We did not get off until
nearly daylight next morning however and
then the river was so low that
we made very little progress. It took us
until Saturday morning to get to
Cairo. We found the Mississippi at a
good boating stage as there had been
some heavy rains while we were coming
down the Ohio. Sunday evening
24 A rather severe appraisal of Grant's operations in the
locale of Holly Springs and
Oxford the previous December. Wise's
reference to "a thousand wooden men set up
on the fortifications of
Vicksburgh" is reminiscent of Beauregard's evacuation of
Corinth, when the Confederates placed
wooden ("Quaker") guns into position in
order to deceive Halleck as to the
strength of Corinth's defenses. The ruse was not
discovered until Halleck entered the
city on May 30, 1862.
25 Rather representative of the feeling
against Grant at this time. Interestingly
enough, less than four months later,
with the fall of Vicksburg, Grant was hailed as
a hero and eulogized for his powers of
generalship.
26 Shiloh, the retreat from Oxford, and futile attempts to take Vicksburg
from the
north had added to Grant's unpopularity.
However, Lincoln faithfully stood by Grant
during these critical months.
27 The influence of the Copperheads in
demanding a cessation of hostilities had
been significant enough to reduce
Republican strength in the congressional elections of
1862.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 65
we landed at Memphis and found our
Brigade and regiment still here. It
was ordered away to Vicksburgh [sic] as
I understood at Columbus, but the
order was countermanded, and now there
is no probability of our going at
all. Every thing in this vicinity has
been quiet since I left here, more than
a month ago. Our Brigade is now building
barracks and we will shortly
move into them if we stay here. They
will be an improvement on the old
worn out tents we have used the last
year and a half. We have nothing im-
portant from Vicksburgh but there can be
no doubt that the siege of the
Sebastopol of the South is drawing to a
close.28 Our works in some places
approach within two or three yards of
the rebel lines--too close for comfort
don't you think? Port Hudson is reported
captured but I presume the report
is false.29 Hooker I hear has
resigned. I suppose he is affraid [sic] of Lee
giving him an other [sic] whipping.30
This will give some lucky fellow a
fine chance to get himself a great name
by defeating the rebels in their
present foolhardy attempt to carry the
war into the north.31
I had almost forgotten to state that
Colonel Swayne is now Provost
Marshal of Memphis and our regiment will
no doubt be provost Guard.
The boys are all very anxious that we
should be, so that they can spend most
of their time in town but I suspect they
will get tired of it, for the duty is
both hard & unpleasant. The boys in
Company A are all well as usual. I
had a slight attack of Cholera Morbus
day before yesterday but I am about
as well now as before. I will not write
more now as I want to catch up with
my work as soon as I can. Please write
me a long letter soon and give all
the news.
The three main keys to the Confederacy
were Richmond, Chatta-
nooga, and Vicksburg; the Nationals now
held Vicksburg. There
was a relative calm in the East after
Gettysburg, but late in the
summer of 1863 Rosecrans began to move
against Bragg in central
28 Vicksburg
surrendered three days later.
29 As surmised by Wise, the
report was false. General Frank K. Gardner sur-
rendered Port Hudson to General N. P.
Banks on July 9. The fall of Vicksburg and
Port Hudson opened the entire length of
the Mississippi River and bisected the
Confederacy.
30 The reference is to General Joseph
Hooker's defeat in the Battle of Chancellors-
ville (May 3-5, 1863). On June 27, 1863,
when Halleck refused to grant Hooker's
request for the abandonment of Harper's
Ferry, Hooker asked to be relieved. His
request was immediately granted, and
General George G. Meade assumed command
of the Army of the Potomac.
31 Simultaneous with Grant's capture of
Vicksburg was Meade's victory at Gettys-
burg, July 1-3.
66
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Tennessee. Gradually pushing the
Confederates back, he occupied
Chattanooga on September 9 without a
fight. He pursued the re-
treating Confederates into Georgia, but
they turned upon him at
Chickamauga and gave him a bad beating
on September 19 and 20;
however, his left wing under "Rock
of Chickamauga" George H.
Thomas stubbornly held and prevented a
complete rout. Thereupon,
Rosecrans returned to Chattanooga, the
gateway to the East.
An order issued on October 16
reorganized the western army. The
department of the Ohio (General A. E.
Burnside), the department
of the Cumberland (Rosecrans), and the
department of the Ten-
nessee (Grant) were consolidated into
the military division of the
Mississippi with Grant in command.
Rosecrans was replaced by
Thomas, and the Army of the Tennessee
was placed under Sherman.
Three days later Grant ordered Thomas to
"hold Chattanooga at
all hazards"; on October 23 Grant
arrived at Chattanooga, which the
Confederates leisurely invested.
Under earlier orders Sherman was slowly
making his way towards
Chattanooga when he received word from
Grant to make haste. On
November 15 he reported to Grant at
Chattanooga. Sherman's
picked troops were the flower of the North.
The dramatic day approached, and Grant
formulated his plan of
attack. On November 23 he drove Bragg
from his position outside
Chattanooga; on November 24 Hooker
seized control of Lookout
Mountain; and, on November 25 Thomas
successfully carried Mis-
sionary Ridge, the culminating episode
in the three-day battle of
Chattanooga. The Confederates were in
panic, and Bragg was soon
in full retreat into Georgia.
These are the events which add meaning
and significance to
Wise's letter of October 27.
Head Qrs. 43d O. V. I.
Iuka Miss. Oct. 27, 1863
Dear Brother.
I have not had any chance to write
anything more than a mere note to
let you know that I was well since I
left home on the 14th. I had a very
pleasant trip to Memphis, but just as we
arrived at that place a tremendous
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 67
rain, the heaviest I ever saw, came on
and before I could get into camp I
was thoroughly wet. When I reached the
camp I learned that our Brigade
was ordered to march the next day for
Corinth. In the morning it was very
muddy and all the little runs were
swollen into large creeks; nevertheless we
set out. From the time we started until
we reached Corinth we had the
hardest marching we ever had. It rained
about half the time, and the air was
remarkably cold for the season,
sometimes freezing considerably at night.
Then we had no tents and as a
consequence had to lay out in the cold almost
freezing rain. Of course we could not
sleep very well under such circum-
stances, and then during the day it was
but little better marching through
mud and water with a cold rain soaking
us all the time. We were seven
days getting to Corinth; sometimes not
moving but a few miles in many
hours. We stopped only a few hours in
Corinth and then moved on. We
found Clear Creek on which we used to
encamp so high that it could not be
forded and all the bridges swept away.
This compelled us to march south-
ward a number of miles where we found a
bridge, at length. Here we en-
camped for the night. Next day,
yesterday, we started about seven oclock and
arrived within six miles of this place
sometime before night, having marched
twenty three miles. This morning we
moved in, and camped on the same
spot we did the past summ[er] a year
ago. We will only remain here two
or three days, when we will again move
forward. Sherman's Army Corps
and a part of McPherson[']s are slowly
moving into Alabama in the direc-
tion of Chattanooga. The last of
Sherman's troops left here this afternoon.32
General Joe Johns[t]on with a part of
his great rebel army is trying to
prevent these troops forming a junction
with those at Chattanooga. It is
probable that there will be some
fighting, though it is not likely that there
will be any severe battles.33 When
we leave here it will be to go into an
active campaign, which indicates very
plainly to my mind that we will be
transferred to Sherman's Corps and move
on with him to reenforce the
army of Rosecrans.34 Perhaps
I dont name this army correctly, as it is re-
ported that Grant has taken command, and
that Rosecrans is relieved.
32 See commentary preceding this letter
apropos of Sherman's movements.
33 Wise was correct in assuming there
would be no severe fighting by Johnston to
prevent a junction of Sherman's and
Grant's troops at Chattanooga. It is not clear
whether Wise anticipated the ensuing battle of
Chattanooga.
34 On September 3 Fuller's Ohio Brigade
became the Third Brigade of the Fifth
Division, Sixteenth Army Corps. On
October 18 the brigade marched out of Memphis
on the four hundred mile march to
Chattanooga to the relief of Thomas. On November
11 General G. M. Dodge (commander of the
left wing, Sixteenth Army Corps) ordered
Fuller to move to Prospect on the
Nashville and Decatur roads, to guard the railroad
from Elk River to Athens, Alabama, and
to repair the portion of that railroad which
had been burned and destroyed.
68
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Well I got hold of a very ultra
Vallandigham paper to day, which con-
tained no politics, the editor giving as
his reason that he felt badly over the
result of the late elections. Brough's
entire majority I understand will be
about 100,000; enough for any practical
purpose.35 Now for a big draft in
the winter or spring. The vote in our
Brigade was about 1700 for Brough
to 91 for Vallandigham. Our Regiment did
very badly, giving 51 copperhead
votes to 350. Union. Company A gave none
for Val but Co. D the other
Belmont Co. Company gave 4,000 [4?].
The Vallandigham vote was nearly
all in Co's "E" &
"I." They always were the meanest companies in the regi-
ment, and came from an Egyptian part of
the state. I will probably write
again in a day or so, but must close for
the present as I am too tired to do
anything. . . .
On March 2, 1864, the United States
Senate confirmed Lincoln's
nomination of Grant to the newly revived
rank of lieutenant general,
and Grant was given command of all the
Union armies. Simul-
taneously, the western armies were
commanded by Sherman, who
planned to drive into the heart of the
Confederacy. Sherman
launched his offensive into Georgia on
May 5, when he left Chatta-
nooga with Atlanta as his objective. His
army of 100,000 men
slowly and relentlessly pushed
Johnston's army of 53,000 ever
farther southward toward Atlanta.
Johnston, who had succeeded
Bragg after the fall of Chattanooga,
utilized natural barriers to
impede Sherman's progress, and, desiring
to save his army rather
than posts, he refused to risk a general
engagement. Flanking by
the left, Sherman took Dalton, Resaca,
and Kenesaw Mountain; by
July he was investing Atlanta, and on
July 17 Jefferson Davis re-
placed Johnston with General John B.
Hood. Three days later the
Confederates attacked and were driven
back into their trenches. In
the Battle of Atlanta on July 22 Hood
lost 10,000 more men. On
September 2 Sherman entered Atlanta and
destroyed its valuable
factories, machine shops, and stores of
cotton. Not desiring to re-
35 In this fierce campaign between John
Brough, the Republican gubernatorial can-
didate, and Clement L. Vallandigham, a
record vote was registered at the polls.
Vallandigham's vote surpassed that of
all of his Democratic predecessors, but Brough
received an unprecedented majority of
100,099.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 69
turn to Chattanooga, Sherman by October
was trying to sell Grant
on his projected march to Savannah;
early in November Grant
consented.
In late December 1863 Colonel Swayne's
Forty-third Ohio Regi-
ment of Fuller's Brigade almost
unanimously reenlisted in the
United States service as Veteran
Volunteers for three more years or
until the end of the war. On February
26, 1864, the Ohio Brigade
was assigned to the Fourth Division of
the Sixteenth Army Corps
and was ordered to the railroad
junction near Athens, Alabama.
On March 7 it marched through Athens
and then on for sixteen
miles to Decatur Junction. On the
following day it crossed the
Tennessee River in pontoon boats and
moved in battle line upon
the town, which it captured with small
loss to both sides.
Such is the immediate background for
Wise's letter of March 14
as well as the over-all strategy which
underlay the events referred
to in the next five letters through
July 19, 1864.
Decatur, Alabama
March 14th, 1864
Dear Brother:
Well, we are over here in Decatur and
no body hurt--very badly at least,
on our side. One reb. got himself
killed by staying too long after the rest
had gone off. The place was evacuated a
week ago yesterday by the rebel
forces[,] only a small body being left
to keep up appearances. Our brigade
with the exception of the 39th crossed
over the river; also the 9th Ills &
111th Ills. They had a little
skirmishing but nothing worth naming. It was
about as dark & rainey a night as I
ever saw and the boys had to take it as
it came. I was not out with the
regiment as I had the mumps and did not
wish to get a drenching. Had the mumps
smartly but have been entirely
over them for several days. The Tennessee
river here is three fourths as
wide as the Ohio at Bellair I should
judge. Decatur is on the river bank
and is about half as nice a looking
town as West Wheeling. It appears to
be about as old as the hills
themselves. As usual some of our boys have
been around town seeing the citizens,
but I haven't and won't for a good
while either. I don't like the
coppercolored sons of seceshdom well enough
to make the acquaintance of the best of
them. I presume we will stay here
70
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a good while, perhaps a month or two or
may be more.36 We haven't got
just the best of provissions [sic] now nor the
greatest quantity of them
either, but with a little foraging we
get along tolerably well. There is but
little in the country to get however,
and that little will soon be all gone,
when we must rely entirely on Uncle Sam
and the Sutters [sutlers]. Have
heard of no news to write you.
Well, let me see--this is a mighty
pleasant day and I suppose you are
plowing or something of the sort and at
night will be off among the young
sprouts. I dont see what you will do
since your ladies men, such as Will
Keyser [?], Al Jones, &c, have gone
to the army. They have not reached us
yet--possibly they have not had time to
get here.
I got a letter from Father a few days
ago containing a couple dollars. I
will answer it as soon as possible.
Please write soon.
Headquarters 43d Ohio Vols.
Decatur Ala. April 9th, 1864
Dear Brother:
I have not written to you for some days
for the reason that I was very
busy a part of the time, and then when I
had not so much to do, things
began to assume such a threatening
aspect that I concluded to not write
until we knew the real condition of
affairs. Day before yesterday the various
rumors of a rebel advance on our
position became so current that it was
thought best to throw out reconnoitering
parties on the road on which the
rebels were reported advancing. A force
about double the size of our own
entire command was encountered about
seventeen miles east of this place
moving upon us. Our cavalry were routed
and pursued until seven miles from
here where the rebels encamped for the
night. Yesterday they remained all
day in the same position. While we were
paying all our attention to this
force, a report was brought in that
Forest [sic] was advancing on us from
the west.37 This was about
noon yesterday. A regiment was at once sent out
and about nine miles out came suddenly
in sight of the enemy apparently
resting in the edge of a wood. Whether
it was Forrest or not, we do not
know certainly, but enough was seen to
convince us that there were five,
perhaps ten thousand men on that road. Affairs
looked badly, but we did not
yet know the worst, or what scared us
the worst at any rate. Brigadier
36 The
Forty-third Ohio Regiment did not remain at Decatur quite as long as Wise
anticipated. By May 5 they were at
Chattanooga under the direct command of Sherman.
37 There
was considerable activity in the area around Decatur during March and
April. Confederate forces were engaged
in the task of harassing Sherman's supply lines
and communications.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 71
Generals looked solemn, and staff
officers who knew the condition of things
wore very elongated countenances. Late
in the evening a detachment of
cavalry was sent out on the road leading
directly south to see what was the
appearance of things in that direction.
What they saw we dont know as
they have not been heard from since.
Shortly after dark a party of scouts
were sent out to see what they were about
and suddenly ran into a large
rebel camp on the side of the road. Our
men had passed them, or were cap-
tured, we don't know which. When this
news reached us, there were a few
anxious fellows in Decatur you may be
sure, though they were but few, for
not even the Company Commanders were
informed of the state of affairs.
We were surrounded on three sides, and
on the north was the Tennessee
river with only a frail pontoon to cross
on if defeated, which seemed almost
certain if attacked early in the morning.
All the trains were at once started
across the river and until long after
midnight the rumbling of the wagons
reminded me of the noise of the
artillery moving over the corduroy road
the evening before the battle of
Corinth. When a person once hears such a
noise he does not soon forget it. We
knew General Veatch was within thirty
miles of us, but could he reach us
before we were attacked--that was the
question. He was telegraphed to come on
as fast as he could, and we re-
ceived the assurance that he would. At
four oclock in the morning our line
of battle was formed, and as the grey
streaks of dawn began to light up
the earth a good many anxious glances
were cast in the direction of the
approaching foe, as we all supposed he
was approaching. Finally the sun
made its appearance, but no rebels;
seven, eight, nine o'clock came, and still
no butternuts could be seen. Just then,
the advance of General Veatch made
its appearance north of the river, when
we suddenly changed our minds, and
wanted the traitors to come as badly as
we had before wanted them to stay
away. Reconnoitering parties were again
sent out and on every road the
rebels were found to be retreating. They
had learned that Veatch was march-
ing to join us by a forced night march,
and so they concluded to let us alone.
Thus for the present rests the matter.
Another scare over and no fight beyond
cavalry skirmishing. Had it not been for
Genl. Veatch, however, it would
no doubt have been a very stern reality
instead of a mere fright. His forces
all crossed over to day, and now we feel
able to hold the place against any
force that may be sent against us. The
force that threatened us is supposed
to be a part of the same which General
Sherman drove through Mississippi
this spring at such a rapid rate, but
little is certainly known about it.
In the way of news we have nothing at
present. Health is generally good.
I feel better than I have for six
months. . . .
72
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Headquarters 43d Ohio Vet. Vols.
Near Marietta Ga. June 7th, '6438
Dear Brother:
Well, we are resting to day, after two
days hard marching in a sort of
semi-circle over roads nearly impassable
on account of mud. It has been
forty eight hours since I have heard the
sound of a rebel gun--a longer inter-
mission of fighting than we have had
since we left Chattanooga on the 5th
of May. The rebels are gone again,
across the Chattahoochie [sic] river I
hear; but whether this is so or not I
cannot say. The Chattahoochie is sixteen
miles from Atlanta: And it is said that
on its south bank, General Joe.
Johns[t]on intends to make his last
great stand for the protection of
Atlanta. The rebels were outflanked and
compelled to leave their works on
the morning of the 5th39 and
our army at once set out after them. As we
were away off from the road over which
the rebs. retreated we had to move
to this point, and are now waiting for
the rest of the Army to get into
position. I suppose they too will stop a
few days after their protracted and
severe movements. It is impossible for
any army to move forward without
any rest at all in the presence of an
enemy which will not allow night to be
used for its legitimate purpose. Since
the First of May this army has driven
Johns[t]on 104 miles, forcing him from
his works at Dalton, Resaca and
Lost Mountain. We have marched more than
twice that distance since leaving
Chattanooga, however. We have been the
extreme right of the army and
often have to march twenty miles to get
five. The idea in so doing is [to]
move on a line entirely beyond the left
flank of the enemy and double it
back when we become engaged if possible.
I suppose our loss in the battle
near here is not over five thousand,
possibly not so much. Ten thousand
will not more than cover that of the
rebels, as they were the attacking party
and were badly repulsed.40 They
attacked to keep us from outflanking them;
failed, and had to leave their
positions. The 17th Corps which has had a
year's rest passed our right a few days
ago. I dont know where they are
going, though it is rumored that they
are moving against Montgomery Ala.41
It is a splendid Corps. There are 17,000
veterans in it; a larger number I
suppose than there are in any other
Corps we have.
38 Though this letter is dated June 7,
there seem to be a few events referred to in
it that occurred after that date.
39 The reference may be to the
abandonment of the Confederate line in front of New
Hope Church during the night of June 4.
40 Wise may be referring to the
engagement at Dallas in the New Hope area on
May 28. His estimate in that case is
excessive.
41 General Frank P. Blair, Jr., joined Sherman with the two divisions of
his Seven-
teenth Army Corps early in June.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 73
The weather here is very hot, so that
marching is awful hard work, but
it has to be done. We are after Atlanta
and must march as well as fight to
get there. From the east we dont get
much news because we only get a paper
once in a while. It seems that Grant is
getting along well however, and that
is all I ask. If we can take Richmond
and Atlanta this summer it will be a
great work--more than I had thought we
could do.
Our rations still remain the same,
meat[,] crackers and coffee--and a good
deal less than the full ration of these.
We need some vegetables very much,
but of course can get none except what
we jay hawk. I got a quart or so of
potatoes, (new ones,) last night in a
garden we passed which made a good
supper and breakfast. You wouldn't think
how good they tasted.
I have not received any letters from you
now for some time. I wish you
would write at least once a week. We are
a long way outside of the world
down here among the mountains and woods,
and have to rely almost en-
tirely on letters for everything we hear
from the north. I think if people
had even a slight idea of a part only of
the hardship we see here, they
[would] write to their friends often,
and long letters too, if they had
nothing to write about except how fast
their corn was growing and what
prospect there is for a crop of onions
this fall for the Sutters to sell us to
drive off scurvy and camp fever. By the
way the Sutters have nearly played
out. They cannot get their goods here
unless they haul them from Chatta-
nooga, and the army is moving so much
that they cannot get a chance to do
that with safety. I saw tobacco sell
yesterday for three dollars for half a
pound or less, and it cannot be had for
that often. Cigars cannot be had at
all, so I have to content myself without
my usual smoke. There is some
sickness but not half so much as one
would naturally expect. I have not been
off duty a day since I was sick in the
spring. Our faces all look a little long
though, and you never saw a set of
farmers in your life half as brown as we
are. I cannot take time to write more
now.
I am out of stamps and so I will have to
frank in future until I get some.
Head Quarters 43d Ohio Vet. Vols.
Near Kenesaw Ga. June 23d, '64
Dear Brother:
I received a few lines from you a few
days since, and as appearances are
that I will not have anything particular
to engage my attention this after-
noon, I will write you a short epistle.
And in the first place I will say that
74
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
we are here, and the rebels are across
the run on that monstrous big hill.42
I have nearly unjointed my neck looking
up at them; We are about a mile
& a half in advance of where we were
when I wrote last, and are slowly
digging up to the present rebel line.
Our skirmishers are about 4th way up
the mountain but it is so steep and
rough that it would be almost impossible
to storm it. It is naturally as strong
as Lookout Mountain & its entire crest
is lined with batteries and heavy
fortifications. We are directly in front of
it, but they dont trouble us a great
deal yet by throwing shell down at us.
We are now about 3/4ths of a mile south
of the third line of rebel works.
They evacuated their 2d & third
lines on the night of the 19th.43 The third
line was one of great strength, but they
knew we would shell them out if
they remained, and so they fell back to
their last defenses. I think they will
also evacuate this last line before
long,44 for the right of our army is con-
stantly crushing their left & centre
back toward Marietta. We have not had
much hard fighting on our part of the
line for some days, but off to our
right the roar of musketry & artillery
is at times tremendous. The rebs. made
another night charge, night before last,
on Stanleys division of the 4th Corps,
and as usual were terribly punished.
Stanley captured a thousand of them
that night.45 You dont see
much account of what this army is doing but
it is fighting you may be sure. Fighting
a large army & slowly driving it back
from the strongest natural positions
still further strengthened by immense
fortifications. They are fighting for
the last hope of the confederacy, and
despair furnishes the strength that the
exhausted energies of the South no
longer supplies. I hardly think it is
the intention of General Sherman to
take Atlanta just at present however.46
I doubt whether it would be good
policy for him to do so; as that might
concentrate the entire South against
Grant,47 & if Richmond
falls it might put the beaten armies of Lee against
us, besides the formidable force of Joe
Johns[t]on. As long though, as the
rebels remain this side the
Chattahoochie there will be continual fighting:
of this we are certain.
42 The
reference is to Kenesaw Mountain.
43 At
that time McPherson's Army of the Tennessee, Thomas' Army of the Cumber-
land, and General John M. Schofield's
Army of the Ohio forced Johnston's rear guard
from the old trenches and then felt
their way forward to new positions.
44 The Confederates did not
abandon Kenesaw until the night of July 2 after
McPherson had withdrawn from the front
of the mountain and moved rapidly to the
right, thereby threatening Johnston's
rear.
45 This struggle was known as the battle
of the Culp House. The attack continued
throughout most of June 22. Union losses
were estimated at 3,521 and those of the
Confederates at 10,000.
46 On July 17 Sherman crossed the
Chattahoochee; Atlanta did not fall until Sep-
tember 2, 1864.
47 Sherman's
campaign in Georgia was synchronized with Grant's campaign in the
East; Grant was investing Petersburg in
June.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 75
The 4th of July will soon be here now
and it will be the most glorious
fourth we have ever seen & probably
ever will; for this year, our Republic
has put forth the mightiest energies for
the preservation of true liberty &
self government that any nation has ever
put forth in any cause. It ought to
be celebrated in the North as no
National aniversary [sic] has ever yet been
celebrated. We soldiers may celebrate it
in mortal conflict against its foes,
and in no event can we be at home to . .
. rejoice with loyal men there that
our country is worth preserving and that
it has men noble enough to defend
it, but under no circumstances, not even
in the midst of battle will one man
of this great army forget that it is the
fourth of July; & there is not one who
will fail to think of those at home, and
the good time you are having there.
We may possibly wish we had a little
bread & butter instead of the hard
tack & flitch we will have on that
occasion, but our ambition will hardly
cause us to think once of the nice pies,
fancy cakes & candies which the
nothern people will think absolutely
necessary, and which they will eat to
the injury of their stomachs. But enough
in this strain. No one with whom
you are acquainted in Co. A. has been
hurt or killed since my last. Jake
Rufer had his gun & clothes shot
through a day or so ago but the ball only
scratched his body. John Winning, Jno.
Dean, Bob Torbet &c are well. You
might tell their folks so if you happen
to see them as they dont have many
opportunities to write. I have written
with pencil as my ink & pens are in
the wagon and it is back some distance.
I suppose you can make it out, but
if you cannot, you had better send it
back and tell me to write English
hereafter.
I cannot raise a postage stamp so you
will have to foot that little bill.
General Hospital No. 2.
Army of the Tennessee
Rome Georgia July 19th, 1864
Dear Brother.
When I last wrote you I expected to be
with the regiment in a day or so,
but my expectations failed. All the sick
and wounded at Marietta were sent
here the day I expected to have gone
back to the regt.48 I asked to go to the
front, but the surgeons and I could not
agree, and as they seemed to have
more authority about the hospital than
I, they packed me off with the rest.
Here we have tolerably decent living and
that is all the most of us need.
48 On July 4 the Fourth Division of the
Sixteenth Corps approached Ruff's Mills
on Nickajack Creek. Here one of the most
successful charges of the war was made by
Fuller's Brigade, six miles below
Marietta. The Smyrna fortifications, as they were
known, were the only ones carried by a
charge during the Atlanta campaign.
76
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
It is a good farming country hereabouts
and potatoes, apples, roasting ears,
onions, blackberries &c are
abundant, but unless one has money he cant
obtain them, as the hospitals dont
furnish them except to those who are
very sick, which I fortunately am not. I
had the lung fever the doctors say,
and from the way I felt I guess I had,
but it was a light attack. I still feel
weak and have but little appetite, but
am improving. The citizens appear
very friendly, but their friendship
extends no further than our greenbacks
I suspect. One dollar in our currency
will buy as much as 25 in theirs any
place. I reckon you think our money is
going down fast enough, but what
do you think of that of the rebels. From
the front we can get but little
reliable news. Our army is very close to
Atlanta however, and our corps is
several miles south of it.49 The idea is
to flank the rebels out of the mighty
works around that rebellious city, and I
have no doubt that by the 1st of
August our men will be in the place.50
I see that the excitement about the
rebel raid in the vicinity of Washington
& Baltimore still continues.51 I feel
a good deal like I did about Lee's
invasion of the north last summer. It will
do us great good if they are only a
little successful at first. It will stir up the
people and give us a fine chance to give
them a good whipping. I don't
believe though that it will amount to
much.52 I fancy that it will make the
hearts of some of the O. N. Guards
flutter a little, and may cause a slight
shaking of their knees. They have blowed
tremendously about being the
flower of our army not withstanding one
veteran regiment of rebs. would
run a couple thousand of them. I hope
they will have a chance to fire a
little of their surplus patriotism at
the rebels now instead of flaunting their
low gass [sic] and wordy bravery
in the faces of our veteran army. I have
no other news to write at present, but
will write again shortly. Direct as
usual and I will get your letters.
After capturing Atlanta Sherman found
his communications
stretched to the breaking point, and
Confederate raiders were con-
stantly threatening his rear. Grant
directed Sherman to undertake
49 By July 19 the Sixteenth Corps was
east of Atlanta at Decatur, having crossed
the Chattahoochee at Roswell, north of
Atlanta.
50 On September 2 General H. W. Slocum received the surrender of Atlanta.
51 On July 6 the Confederates occupied Hagerstown, and the roads were
thronged
with refugees fleeing toward Baltimore.
The mayor of that city called upon the citizens
to man fortifications as the
Confederates approached. On July 12 they moved rapidly
on Washington, but reinforcements
arrived in time to save the city.
52 The situation changed after Grant placed Sheridan in charge of the
Middle
Military Division.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 77
another campaign and to give the South
no respite. On November
2, 1864, he telegraphed Sherman to move
according to the plan
which the former had been advocating--to
cut loose from his base,
to abandon Atlanta and the railroad back
to Chattanooga, and to
march to the sea.
Sherman's army was reorganized into four
corps arrayed in two
grand divisions: The Right Wing,
commanded by General O. O.
Howard, consisted of the Fifteenth Corps
under General P. J.
Osterhaus and the Seventeenth Corps
under General F. P. Blair, Jr.;
the Left Wing, commanded by General H.
W. Slocum, consisted
of the Fourteenth Corps under General J.
C. Davis and the Twen-
tieth Corps under General A. S.
Williams. The Left Wing of the
Sixteenth Corps was discontinued, and
the Fourth Division was
transferred to the Seventeenth Corps and
was assigned as the First
Division under Brigadier General John W.
Fuller. Generals George
H. Thomas and John M. Schofield were
sent back to Nashville to
cope with Confederate raiders.
On November 12 Sherman cut his telegraph
lines in order to be
free from interference from
headquarters, and on November 16 he
rode out of Atlanta by the Decatur Road.
Behind lay Atlanta, the
Tyre of the South, smoldering and in
ruins. On December 13
Sherman reached the coast and
communicated with the fleet offshore,
and on December 20 the Confederates
abandoned Savannah, which
Sherman offered as a Christmas present
to President Lincoln.
Thus the Forty-third Ohio Regiment
participated in one of the
most dramatic episodes of the
war--Sherman's March to the Sea.
Against this background the following
two letters of Sergeant Major
Wise were written.
Chattanooga Tenn.53
October 6th, 1864.
Dear Brother:
You will observe that I have changed my
stopping place, but, unfor-
tunately, there is no prospect of
getting to Atlanta at present. I left Nash-
ville day before yesterday about noon
and arrived here about midnight last
53 Presumably
Wise had been home on furlough and was returning to his regiment.
78
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
night. I came most of the distance on
top of a freight car, in a most
drenching rain. As a matter of course I
got a good soaking, and as the air
was quite cool, I consider that I had a
very uncomfortable time of it. I
dont feel any thing the worse of it
however, and that is all I care for.
Forrest is still in middle Tennessee,
but appears to be trying to get away
rather than to do any further mischief.54
I intimated in my last,55 that it was
feared that most of Hood's Army had
crossed the Chattachoochie river in de-
tachments, and was trying to reach and
destroy Sherman's line of com-
munications. This suspicion proves to be
correct. Hardees corp's [sic] has
taken Allatoona, destroying a good many
miles of road, and at last accounts
was moving northward.56 A
good portion of the Army of the Cumberland
is after him, though, repairing the
railroad as it moves on after Hardee, so
not much is feared from his movement.57
What now most endangers our
forces at Atlanta is not Hardee with his
veteran rebels, nor Forrest either;
but the elements, over which man can
exercise no controll [sic]. Incessant
and terrible rains have literally
deluged the country between the Etowah and
Chattahoochie rivers, sweeping away all
the bridges including those over
these streams. You may judge how
terrible must have been the storm from
the fact both these bridges are fifty
feet above high water mark, and rest
on massive stone piers. Communications
have been cut off now some twenty-
five days since I left the front, and
this with the present state of affairs
begins to cause some uneasiness. Sherman
however has placed his army on
half rations, and is making all
necessary preparations to hold Atlanta if not
another pound of provisions should reach
him from the north this fall.
This is right. We must hold Atlanta and
central Georgia, if it should have
to be done by forcing starvation, even;
[sic] on the people of the already
half ruined districts without our reach.
Perhaps the South has not been
scourged enough yet, and it may be that
it is thus sowing the seeds that are
54 On August 21 Forrest had made a
daring daylight raid on Memphis, and on
September 25 Athens, Alabama,
surrendered to him. Flushed with victory, he attacked
Pulaski, Tennessee, on September 29 but
was repulsed by General Lovell H. Rousseau.
On October 3 General Thomas arrived at
Nashville and joined in the hunt for Forrest;
three days later (the date of the
writing of this letter) Forrest escaped over the
Tennessee River at Bainbridge with an
insignificant loss.
55 This letter has apparently been lost.
56 About September 28 General William J.
Hardee had joined Hood near Jonesboro,
and, flanking Sherman's right, crossed
the Chattahoochee and advanced to Dallas.
However, it was General S. G. French's
division of infantry which had suddenly ap-
peared before Allatoona. French attacked
at dawn on October 5; a fierce battle
ensued, but French withdrew toward
Dalton when General J. D. Cox arrived with
reenforcements.
57 On September 29 Sherman had sent
Thomas back to Chattanooga (and afterwards
to Nashville) to defend his
communications and to cope with Confederate raiders.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 79
to produce an abundant harvest of
desolation and misery which it might
otherwise have escaped. I would like
very much if I could get to the regi-
ment, and will try to find some way of
getting there before long. Special
messengers have arrived safely in
Atlanta with tickets and everything neces-
sary to the election, which is the best
thing I have heard of. 4,000 Indianians
have been sent home from this Department
to vote for Morton.58 I will vote
here if I cannot get to Atlanta in time.
Thousands of new men were pouring into
Nashville when I left, and
you may be assured the army of the West
is all right. Write often.
Chattanooga Tenn.
Oct. 12th, 1864.
Dear Brother:
Still at this place, but expect to leave
this evening or tomorrow for the
Army. The news is very important but
contraband,59 and so I presume it
will not reach you through the papers
for a while. General Beauregard com-
mands the rebel Army of the West, and
with his whole army is marching
this way.60 The 20th Corps
holds Atlanta61 and the rest of our Army is
moving northward. Sherman's Headquarters
are at Cartersville, ten miles
north of Allatoona. The "Army of
the Tennessee," is following Beauregard
and is west of the railroad and about
opposite Allatoona. The rest of the
Army is moving along the railroad.
Beauregard is a short distance south
of Rome. He cannot go back or to the
railroad except by defeating Sherman,
and nobody fears such a thing as that.
Beauregard's intention to move in
this direction was found out before he
commenced moving, and Sherman
gave orders that his crossing the
Chattahoochie should not be opposed. As
the last of the rebels crossed, the
"Army of the Tennessee" attacked them,
capturing nearly all their pontoons and
part of their trains. Sherman will
fight a general battle if he can and if
he does the destruction of the rebel
army is almost certain. It will hardly
be possible for the rebels to avoid
complete ruin, though it is thought that
Beauregard will try to get back
58 Oliver Perry Morton, the able and energetic war governor of Indiana,
used the
full power of his office to support the
administration's requests for manpower. When
the Democratic legislature, elected in
1862, refused to appropriate funds, Morton used
diverse means to raise revenue and to
support Lincoln in his prosecution of the war.
59 Planning of war strategy occasioned a
ban on news at this time.
60 The reader will note that Wise
attaches great significance to the role played by
General Beauregard.
61 The Twentieth Corps, commanded by Slocum, was directed to hold Atlanta
and
the Chattahoochee bridge.
80
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
without fighting.62 The
railroad will be open to day to Atlanta and is now
to the rest of the army. The army is
again on full rations. Don't let copper-
heads know this news at present, though
you may tell any of my Union
friends who wont blow it.
I voted here yesterday at the camp of
the 18th Ohio. The vote is as
follows at that camp, which is the only
one I have yet heard from. Copper-
head vote 34, Union 1035--majority 1001.
What do you think of that?
That is Heaton's 3/4ths vote for the
Democracy....63
After the fall of Savannah it required
more than a week to convey
the Seventeenth Corps by way of the
Savannah River, past the forts
of the harbor, around Hilton Head into
the Atlantic Ocean and
Port Royal Sound, and to disembark them
at Beaufort Island, South
Carolina. Thus the Forty-third Ohio
Regiment was near Beaufort
when the following and the last letter
in this collection was written.
Headquarters 43d Ohio Vet. Vols.
Near Beaufort South Carolina
13th Jan. 1865
Dear Brother--
I wrote you a few days since and lest I
might not have a chance to write
any more for some days I drop you a line
to day. My time is scarce and news
are scarce too so I will confine myself
to telling you that I am well and able
to eat full as many hot buckwheat cakes
as when I used to be at home in
old Ohio. Our regiment is filling up
rapidly. Over a hundred men came
to it yesterday and a hundred &
seventy-five are on the way. Davy Garrison
is here; he came yesterday. He is the
only one I am acquainted with, though
62 Hood, rather than Beauregard, was
under orders to draw Sherman out of Georgia.
Hood moved northwest and threatened
Kingston and other points. Sherman, by a
forced march via Allatoona Pass and the
Etowah River, saved Kingston on October
10; there he found that Hood had turned
westward, threatened Rome, and was cross-
ing the Coosa, eleven miles below Rome.
On October 11 Sherman hurried to Rome,
but Hood suddenly appeared before
Resaca, where he was repulsed. He moved on,
still followed by Sherman. Hood then
captured the garrison at Dalton. By this time
it was apparent to Sherman that Hood,
trying to lure him out of Georgia, would not
fight. Thereupon Sherman returned to his
original plan to destroy Atlanta and to
move against Savannah or Charleston.
Thus he left Hood to Thomas, who over-
whelmingly defeated him at Nashville on
December 15-16.
63 Lieutenant
Colonel Charles H. Grosvenor's Eighteenth Ohio Infantry was at-
tached to Thomas' department of the
Cumberland; it was stationed at Lookout Moun-
tain. The "Heaton" reference
is obscure.
CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF GEORGE M.
WISE 81
some of the others have met me before. I
am affraid [sic] that poor Davy
wont like soldiering very well. His legs
are too short. It is reported but I
don't know with what truth that our
colonel is to be made a brigadier
General.64 General Grant
& Secretary Stanton are now here planning with
Sherman the spring Campaign.65 The
army is again ready and when they
get through I suppose we will set out
again. In fact we did expect to march
to day but will not now until tomorrow,
if then.
The boys are generally well. John
Winning arrived yesterday. Bob is
well and as rations are remarkably large
& good here, he is lively. I am so
busy that I cannot take time to write
more at present. I receive no letters
at all nowadays which is provoking
enough. Neither papers nor mails reach
us--However, write often anyhow & I
will get your letters sometime perhaps.
64 Colonel Wager Swayne was breveted brigadier
general of volunteers on Feb-
ruary 5, 1865, with full rank dating
from March 8, 1865. Wise had himself been
made first lieutenant and adjutant the
previous November.
65 Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton arrived at Savannah on January 11. It
is
doubtful whether Grant visited Sherman
at this time; if so, the visit was secret.