Ozaukee County's
War History
by Daniel E. McGinley

as extracted from THE PORT WASHINGTON STAR
August 1, 1896



The Ozaukee Rifles
Chapter 6

Our boys had a few daysí rest after returning from Iuka, and then the rebel army under Price and Van Dorn began closing in on the Union position at Corinth. On the 1st and 2d of October the brigade in which were the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin regiments, and which was then stationed four or five miles out near the village of Chewalla, was attacked by the advancing rebels and lively skirmishing ensued, our troops falling back gradually as they were pressed by the heavy forces of the enemy. The next morning, October 3d, the Sixteenth was sent out to the assistance of their comrades on the Chewalla road, and by 10 o'clock it was in line of battle and hotly engaged. The Ozaukee Rifles formed a part of the skirmish line, which is always a place of danger and hard work, and as our boys had instructions to engage the enemy and to try by judicious maneuvers to draw them close enough to Corinth to be reached by the heavy cannon of the fortifications, the task was one that required great skill, coolness and courage that day. That the Rifles performed their share of the work and fighting that day heroically, and to the satisfaction of their leaders, the history of the battle of Corinth, which began on that road that morning, fully attests. Advancing, retreating, moving by the flank, or making any other movement required of them, the Rifles obeyed orders with promptness and alacrity, and fighting gallantly maintained the good name won at Shiloh. Slowly retreating from one position to another our forces drew the enemy on until late in the evening the outer defenses of Corinth were reached and the fighting ceased for the day, the rebels drawing off to prepare for a general attack on the morrow and leaving our tired boys to enjoy a few hours of needed rest.

It had been a long trying day to the Rifles but although the fighting was very close and hot at times their loss had been quite light, being one killed and two missing. The one killed was the gallant soldier and exemplary citizen, Sergt. Edward D. Bradford, of Fredonia, who fell as a soldier of the Republic should ever fall, "with his back to the field and his feet to the foe." The loss of this brave officer and kind comrade was a severe one to the Rifles, and was sincerely mourned by every member. I expect to have more to say in regard to this hero in a future chapter. The two missing members were James O'Hare of Saukville, and Hiram Franklin of Dane county, who were overtaken and captured in one of the retrograde movements of our lines. They were taken by the rebels to Vicksburg, Miss., were subsequently paroled, sent north to St. Louis, Mo., and being exchanged returned to the regiment the following winter.

Before daylight on the morning of the second day of the battle, the boys of the Sixteenth were aroused from their slumbers and told to prepare and eat their breakfasts as soon as possible, so as to be ready for the fray, it being expected that the enemy would make an early attack. As usual the boys were not long in getting fires started to cook their coffee, but hardly had the light of the first fire broken through the darkness when the flash of a cannon was seen on a hill not far away, and with its startling "whir-r-r-r" a shell struck among the fires, and was quickly followed by another and another, upsetting the coffee kettles and scattering the fires. Hastily extinguishing their fires our boys sought such shelters as they happened to find, while some of the Union batteries opened on the saucy rebels, silenced their guns and forced them to retreat from the advanced position the troublesome battery had reached during the night. This was the opening of the second day of the battle, the ringing up of the curtain upon one of the great dramas of the war, but it was not enjoyed by the boys of the Sixteenth as it prevented them from preparing warm coffee, the great "stand-by" of the tired or hungry soldier.

Between dawn and sunrise the generals of both armies were busy getting their men into position, and the sun had hardly touched the tree tops when the battle began. The Union forces in Corinth that day numbered about 14,000, and were commanded by Gen. Rosencrans. The attacking force numbered over 22,000, and was commanded by Gen. Van Dorn. Knowing that re-inforcements were on the way for the Union garrison, Van Dorn was in a hurry to attack and if possible capture the place before reinforcements arrived, and moved to the assault as early as possible that morning.

In the re-arrangement of the Union lines that morning the Sixteenth was moved to the left some distance and began to throw up a new line of breastworks. While thus engaged they were joined by a regiment of sharpshooters wearing squirrel tails in their hats, and by a battery of artillery which unlimbered and began unpacking canisters and otherwise preparing for hot work at close quarters. But in a short time the Sixteenth was again moved to a new position, this time near the Seminary, where it assisted in repulsing the first attack. Here the fighting was very fierce for a time, and both sides lost heavily, the Union troops being partially protected by earthworks, having the lightest loss. The battle continued at different points of the line all morning, and towards noon the Sixteenth was ordered to the rear of Fort Robinette, where it lay as a supporting force during the famous assault upon that part of our lines. The fighting at this point was the most determined and sanguinary of the day, the rebel troops rushing to the assault with their unearthly yell and with great gallantry; but their efforts were in vain, for although they did break through the Union line at one place their success was only temporary and of short duration. The Union troops quickly rallied and drove them out, and after heroic fighting repulsed and drove the enemy from their front all along the line. By the middle of the afternoon the rebel commander had acknowledged his defeat, and as soon as darkness came to cover the movement, began a hasty retreat from the field.

Rosencrans did not order a pursuit until midnight, and then only part of his army started and the chase was so timidly pressed that Van Dorn succeeded in getting safely away with the loss of a few thousand in killed, wounded and prisoners. For some reason that has never been satisfactorily explained, a part of the Sixteenth, including about half of the Rifles under Lieut. R. P. Derrickson, went with the pursuing force and the remainder stayed in camp. It is thought that a matter which I will write of in the next chapter was the cause of the strange state of affairs.

The loss of the Sixteenth in the battle of Corinth was 10 killed, 27 wounded and a few missing. Corp. Louis E. DeCoudres, of Port Washington, was wounded in the arm in the second day's fight. The wounded limb was subsequently amputated, and he was discharged for the disability December 15, 1862. DeCoudres had been a three months volunteer in the First Wisconsin infantry, and was a brave and trusty soldier whose loss was regretted by the whole company. He is now supposed to be living in Kansas.

One of the incidents of the battle of Corinth which should be recorded here was the heroism displayed by Corp. Pat. Keogh, of Saukville, who happening to be near when one of the regiment's color-bearers fell, caught up the flag and gallantly bore it through the remainder of the battle. As only sergeants were then permitted to act as color-bearers, the flag was taken from Keogh and given to a sergeant after the battle, but sixteen months later it was returned to Keogh who proudly bore it until he fell badly wounded at Atlanta, Ga., July 21, 1864.