John Wilson's Civil War Records

The Battle of Corinth

According to records from the National Archives, John William Wilson was severely wounded and captured during the Battle of Corinth. Although Thomas Allen Wilson served in the same unit as John William Wilson (Company E, 4th MO Infantry-CSA), there is no documentation confirming if Thomas Allen Wilson was or was not with his company during this engagement. During the engagement, Company E (4th MO Infantry - under the command of Colonel MacFarland) was under the command of Captain Norval Spangler and was assigned to the Third Brigade (General Louis Herbert's Division) under the command of Brigadier General Martin E. Green.

Following the battle, John William Wilson was paroled and exchanged at Iuka, Mississippi on October 19, 1862, and in December of 1862, John William Wilson was forwarded for exchange from Columbus, Kentucky. As a result of his injuries, John William Wilson suffered partial paralysis and partial loss of motion in his left leg. Due to his injured leg, John William Wilson was discharged from field service and detailed to the Hospital Department.

Philip Askins was listed as present on the Muster Roles for Company A (5th MO Infantry-CSA) and presumed to have served with his unit during the Battle of Cornith. During the engagement, the 5th MO Infantry (CSA) was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Bevier, and was assigned to the First Brigade (General Louis Herbert's Division) under the Command of Colonel Elijah Gates.

Battle:

Following the Battle of Iuka, General Sterling Price's Confederate command marched from Baldwyn to Ripley where it joined Major General Earl Van Dorns Army of West Tennessee. The combined Confederate force (approximately 22,000 men) under the Van Dorn consisted of the Division of Brigadier General Louis Hebert of four brigades led by Colonels Elijah Gates, W. Bruce Colbert, John D. Martin, and Brigadier General Martin E. Green; the Division of Brigadier General Dabney Maury with its cavalry brigade commanded by Brigadier General Frank Armstrong and three infantry brigades led by Brigadier Generals John C. Moore, William L. Cabell and Charles W. Phifer ; and the Division of Major General Mansfield Lovell which included three infantry brigades led by Brigadier Generals Albert Rust, John B. Villepigue and John S. Bowen plus the cavalry brigade of Colonel William H. "Red" Jackson.

The brigade under the command of Colonel Elijah Gates was designated the First Brigade and included the 2nd Missouri commanded by Colonel Francis M. Cockrell, the 3rd Missouri commanded by Colonel James A Pritchard, the 5th Missouri under commanded of Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Bevier, the 1st Missouri Calvary dismounted commanded by Colonel W.D. Maupin, plus Captain William Wade's Missouri battery and the 16th Arkansas of Colonel J.F. Hill.   The brigade under the commanded of Colonel W. Bruce Colbert was designated the Second Brigade and included the 27th Texas, 3rd Texas cavalry dismounted, the 14th and 17 Arkansas, the 3rd Louisiana, the 40th Mississippi, Clark's Missouri battery commanded by Lieutinant J.L. Faris, and the St Louis battery of Captain William E. Dawson. The brigade commanded by Brigadier General Martin E. Green was designated the Third Brigade and included the 4th Missouri led by Colonel Archibald MacFarlane (including both John William Wilson & Thomas Allen Wilson's Company E), the 6th Missouri commanded by Colonel Eugene Erwin, the 3rd Missouri Calvary dismounted of Major T.J. McQuidley, and Missouri batteries of Captain Henry Guibor and John C. Landis. The brigade under the command of Colonel John D. Martin was designated the Forth Brigade and included the 37th Alabama, the 36th Mississippi, the 37th Mississippi, the 38th Mississippi, and Schuyler Lowe's Missouri battery.

The brigade under the command of Colonel Charles W. Phifer included the 6th Texas Calvary dismounted (including Benjamin L. Kennedy's Company G).

The combined Confederate forces marched to Pocahontas on October 1, and then moved southeast toward Corinth. With the Confederate approach, Union forces under the command of Major General William S. Rosecran, totaling approximately 23,000, occupied a line of fortifications at Corinth. Roscran's Union forces consisted of Division of Brigadier General David S. Stanley which included two brigades led by Colonels John W. Fuller and Joseph A. Mowrer; the Division of Brigadier General Charles Hamilton which included two brigades commanded by Brigadier Generals Napoleon B. Buford and Jeremiah Sullivan; the Division of Brigadier General Thomas A. Davies which included three brigades commanded by Brigadier Generals Pleasant A. Hackleman, Richard J. Oglesby, and Colonel Silas Baldwin; and the Division of Brigadier General Thomas J. McKean which included the three brigades commanded by Colonels Benjamin Allen, John M. Oliver, and Marcellus M. Crocker.

Before dawn on October 3, 1862, the Confederate forces under Van Dorn marched toward Corinth. At approximately 10:00 am, the confederate forces crossed Cane Creek and deployed for the assault of Union fortifications at Corinth. Lovell's division was deployed to the extreme right, south of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad (Bowen, Rust & Villepigue). North of the railroad, Maury's Division was deployed in the center (Moore, Phifer, & Cabell), and Herbert's Division was deployed to the extreme left (Martin, Colbert, Green & Gates).

At approximately 10:00 am, Confederate skirmishers began advancing across the 400 yards of open ground in front of the union fortifications that was commanded by Union artillery and sharpshooter fire. Lovell's Division was the first to assault the fortified union positions, with the 9th Arkansas and the 22nd Mississippi, (closely followed by the 3rd and 7th Kentucky, the 1st Missouri, and the 33rd Mississippi) quickly capturing Union sharpshooters and a 24-pound cannon on a small hill forcing McKean's Division (Union) to retreat half a mile to an entrenched camp. After this successful assault however, Lovell halted the advance of his division to reorganize and never resumed the assault.

Despite the Union artillery and sharpshooter fire, Maury and Hebert Divisions continued to firmly advance. Moore's brigade advanced past the left of Lovell's Division and attacked the new position of McKean's Division. Withstanding a withering fire from McKean's infantry, Moore's brigade over ran the Union positions and captured several prisoners and supplies.   Despite Colonel Martin being killed and the horses shot from under Colonel Colbert and General Green, Hebert's Division charged forcing the retreat of Davies Division. A Missourian in the charge wrote: "They ran like hens running from a hawk, hiding behind every log and in every place they could find. They left several pieces of cannon...We followed them for a quarter of a mile but they outran us, we having marched for the last 2 weeks and marched 10 miles that morning, several of our men gave out." Lieutenant Colonel Finley L. Hubbell described the 12:30 attack of Hebert's Gates Green and Martin brigades as: "We met with small resistance, the enemy flying from their positions, before our men got close enough to do much damage." after capturing a battery of artillery and reorganizing our ranks, we again advanced with little resistance until about 4:00 pm at which time Green's brigade suffered heavy losses in a furious two hour fight. "It being late in the evening, we put into position on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, where we lay on our arms for the night, prepared for a desperate battle in the morning." Davies' Division lost one-forth of its men due to the Confederate assault, including all three brigade commanders (one killed and two severely wounded).

According to records from the National Archives and Missouri State Archives records John William Wilson participated in the Battle of Iuka. Although Thomas Allen Wilson served in the same unit as John William Wilson (Company E, 4th MO Infantry-CSA), there is no documentation confirming if Thomas Allen Wilson was or was not with his company during this engagement. During the engagement, Company E (4th MO Infantry-CSA) was under the command of Colonel MacFarland and was assigned to the Fourth Brigade (Army of the West), under the command of Brigadier General Martin E. Green.

Philip Askins was listed as present on the Muster Roles for Company A (5th MO Infantry-CSA) and presumed to have served with his unit during the Battle of Iuka. During the engagement, the 5th MO Infantry (CSA) was under the command of Major General John P. McCown and was assigned to the First Brigade (Army of the West), under the Command of Colonel Elijah Gates.

                               Battle:

Prior to the Battle of Iuka on September 19, 1862, Major General Sterling Prices Army of the West (CSA) main column marched into Iuka MS) on September 14, 1862 . Prices superior, Gen. Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Confederate Army of the Mississippi, who was leading an offensive deep into Kentucky, ordered him to prevent Major General William S. Rosecranss Army (Union) of from moving into Middle Tennessee and reinforcing Brigadier General James Negleys Union forces garrisoned Nashville. Prices Army of the West (CSA)had about 14,000 men and could request assistance from Major General Earl Van Dorn, commanding the District of the Mississippi (CSA), headquartered at Holly Springs (MS). Major General Ulysses S. Grant, commanding the Army of the Tennessee (Union), feared that Price intended to go north to join Bragg against Buell. Grant devised a plan for Major General Ord's Union forces to advance on Iuka from the west and Rosecranss Union forces to advance from the southwest, with both arriving at Iuka on the 18th and making a coordinated attack the next day.

On September 18, 1862, Union forces under Major General Ord arrived as planned and skirmishing ensued between his reconnaissance patrol and Confederate pickets, about six miles from Iuka, before nightfall. However, Union forces under Major General Rosecrans delayed and was not in position to attack as planned. Late on that night, Price received orders from Major General Earl Van Dorn stating he (Van Dorn) was now in command and that Price was to fall back to Rienzi to join him. Price replied by telegram: "I will move my army as quickly as I can ...I am, however, expecting an attack today, as it seems...they are concentrating their forces against me."

On September 19, Ord sent Price a message demanding that he surrender, but Price refused. At the same time, Price replied: "...that neither he nor [his soldiers] will ever lay down their arms...until the independence of the Confederate State shall have been acknowledged by the United States."   Meanwhile, Rosecranss union forces mistakenly marched on the Jacinto (Bay Springs) Road which prevented them from participating in any coordinated attack as planned. Therefore, Grant ordered Ord to await the sound of fighting between Rosecrans (Union) and Price (CSA) before engaging the Confederates from the north (Burnsville).

About 4:00 pm, Rosencrans' force of 9,000 union men topped a ridge on the Bay Springs Road and found Price's 2nd Brigade (under the command of Colonel Louis Herbert) well positioned in a ravine filled with timber and underbrush. Included in Herbert's 2nd Brigade (CSA) were the 3rd Texas Calvary (dismounted) and the 27th Texas Calvary (dismounted). The armies engaged in a infantry duel waged with a severity which General Hamilton (CSA) had never seen surpassed. Colonel Mabry's 3rd Texans (CSA) with the aide of Missouri (CSA) artillery soon drove back the Union forces.

As a result, the 37th Alabama (CSA) and 36th Mississippi (CSA) were ordered to support the left flank and the 37th Mississippi (CSA-Martin's Brigade) and 38th Mississippi (CSA-Martin's Brigade) were ordered to support the right flank. Once in place, Herbert forces charged and the union forces collapsed. During the attack and ensuing counter attacks, both colonels of the 3rd and 27th Texas were wounded and each regiment lost two-thirds of its men. Despite several counter attacks by Rosencrans' Union forces, Hebert Confederate forces held the ridge as dusk neared.

By dusk, Colonel Elijah Gates' brigade and Brigadier General Martin E. Green's brigades of arrived after a five mile march from positions opposing Ord. Having not heard the sounds of battle, Ord's union forces never attacked Price as Grant had ordered. Gates Brigade (including Philip Askins' Company A-5th MO Inf) replaced Herbert's brigades at the center with Green's brigade (including John William Wilson's Company E-4th MO Inf) placed in reserve.

A lieutenant of the 5th Missouri described the movements of Gates' Brigade:



"We arrived on the filed just in time to fire and receive one round when the enemy withdrew on account of the darkness. We had four men wounded in that volley...the dead and wounded are lying around so thick that you can scarcely help stepping on them. We remained in position all night. The ememy would give us a volley whenever we made the least noise."

An officer of the 3rd Missouri, deployed in reserve with Green's brigade, wrote:

"About 9 o'clock we were moved up and relieved the second brigade [Herbert's] and lay on our arms not over one hundred yards from the opposing forces; our guards bringing in several prisoners during the night. The horrors of war and battlefields are terrible. Al night we could hear the dries, yells and prayers of the wounded and dying around us, without the power of relieving their distress..."

Although Price wanted to attach Rosencrans' union forces at dawn, he was convinced to him to march to join Van Dorn, as earlier planned. At the same time, Rosecrans redeployed his men for fighting the next day. Prices army evacuated Iuka via the uncovered Fulton Road, protected its rear with a heavy rearguard and hooked up with Van Dorn five days later at Ripley. Although Rosecrans was supposed to traverse Fulton Road and cover it, he stated that he had not guarded the road because he feared dividing his force; Grant later approved this decision. Rosecranss army occupied Iuka and then mounted a pursuit; the Confederate rearguard and overgrown terrain prevented the Union pursuit from accomplishing much. The Federals should have destroyed or captured Prices army, but instead the Rebels joined Van Dorn and assaulted Corinth in October.

According to records from the National Archives, John William Wilson took part in the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (known by Union forces as the Battle of Pea Ridge) and according to the muster roles, Thomas Allen Wilson was present for duty with at the time of this engagement. Since both were inlisted in the same unit (Company E, 4th MO Infantry-CSA - both enlisting in January, 1862) it is probable that both served together during this engagement. Since their unit was only partially organized, it is probable that John William Wilson and Thomas Allen Wilson served as part of Captain Norval Spanglers Company C, or Captain Wood in Company H, during this engagement under the command of Colonel Colton Green. During the engagement, Colonel Colton Green's commanded included approximately 105 partially organized Confederate volunteers and included Captain Norval Spanglers Company C and Captain Wood in Company H.

Company E of the 4th MO Infantry-CSA was formed from Missouri State Guard (MSG) Companies that had been mustered into service on March 25, 1861, by Colonel James Shaler (detailed by General Frost). Company E was formed on March 25, 1862, when Captain Norval Spangler's Company and Captain Stephen W. Wood's Company were consolidated into Company E (4th Missouri Infantry) with Norval Spangler remaining as Captain (Spangler had been elected his company's captain on February 9, 1862, and Wood had been elected his companies captain in February, 1862).

According to records from the National Archives, Philip Askins enlisted as a private in Company A 5th MO Infantry-CSA on August 7, 1862. Since the 5th MO Infantry formed from the enlistment of MSG units that had participated Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, it is very probable that Philip Askins participated in this engagement (possibly as part of Brigadier General James S. Rains' 8th Division-MSG).

Battle:

Between March 6-8, 1862, the combined Confederate forces of General Price (approximately 6,800 men from Missouri) and General McCulloch (approximately 8,000 men from Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas) under the command of CSA Major General Van Dorn engaged with Union forces (approximately 10,500 men) under the command of Union Major General Samuel R. Curtis in the Battle of Pea Ridge (referred to as the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern by CSA). The confederate forces were defeated and would never again represent a serious threaten to Union forces in Missouri.

During the Battle, Captain Spanglers Company C and Captain Wood's Company H were part of a very small partially organized group of 105 Confederate volunteers under the command of Colonel Colton Green (the 3rd Missouri Confederate Volunteers).

Report of Colonel Colton Green (Commanding Third Brigade MO Volunteers (CSA):

I have the honor to submit a report of the operations of my command in the actions of the 7th and 8th instant near Elkhorn Tavern:

In compliance with your order all the cavalry, excepting Captain Campbell's company, which fought as infantry, was dismounted before leaving camp in Boston Mountains, and which consisted of about 80 men, the remains of Colonel Frazier's and Colonel Freeman's regiments, Missouri State Guard, and squads of Confederates numbering 105. These were attached to the Confederate Infantry, together with parts of two companies of Colonel Schnable's Third Infantry, Missouri State Guard. I marched with 658 men on the 4th instant, leaving a strong camp guard behind.

On the morning of the 7th we reached the enemy's rear near the junction of the Bentonville and Springfield roads, the command being somewhat reduced from the severity of the march. I was immediately ordered into position by you on the hill to the left of the road, where our batteries were first posted. Here we received the enemy's fire for two hours, sustaining a loss of 10 in wounded.

I was again ordered to the right, to support Colonel Burbridge, and advanced in line several hundred yards, when I found myself in close proximity to one of the enemy's batteries. Our guide was missing, and we had advanced a considerable distance beyond Colonel Burbridge's position. The enemy opened on us with canister and shell, but my men, being well sheltered, sustained no injury. I held the position for thirty minutes, when we were fired into from one of our own batteries and were forced to fall back.

By your order I now took position on Colonel Burbridge's left, and advanced on the enemy, to the right of Elkhorn Tavern. The timber being obstructed by heavy undergrowth at this point, I was forced to oblique to the left, which movement brought me to the rear of the tavern, and here, by order, I took position on Colonel Rives' right, and co-operated with that gallant and lamented officer during the remainder of the action.

It was now late in the afternoon, when an advance was ordered by Colonel Henry Little, of the First Missouri Brigade. An open, unsheltered field lay between my men and the enemy. He was in force, and supported by a battery immediately on our front. Our brave men at once rushed through the field, charged the enemy in the face of a murderous fire, drove him back, pursued him until night, and with Colonel Rives' regiment slept on the most advanced position, which was the one now held.

This ground we held by order of Major-General Van Dorn and stood to our arms the greater part of the night expecting an attack. The fight at this point was renewed in the morning with heavy artillery-firing and continued for over an hour, when our batteries were, ordered off. We held our position, and I was ordered to keep the enemy in check and fall back with Colonel Rives. He had now advanced within easy range, and we opened a brisk fire upon him, falling back slowly. Three times we formed and fought him, when, perceiving his intention to flank us, we fell back on the hill to the left of Elkhorn Tavern, and were ordered by Colonel Little to follow the main body of the army, which had already been withdrawn.