In mid-March of 1863, Col. John T. Wilder became the leader of a brigade that was soon to be nicknamed "The Lightning Brigade" by Ben. George Thomas himself. It was like no other unit preceding it throughout the annals of military history, for it was the first military unit to use its horses solely for transportation to the field of battle and to fight dismounted with repeating rifles. Based on this unique concept, the story of Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry has to be considered one of the most interesting chapters of the Civil War.
John T. Wilder was born in 1830 and grew up in the Catskill Mountain region of New York State. His family was no stranger to war. His great-grandfather and grandfather both fought in the Revolutionary War and John's father fought in the War of 1812. John was an intelligent young man, and after completing his education, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, at age 19. Here he worked in a foundry, learned his trades well and received many promotions. In 1857, John moved to Greensburg, Indiana, where he became involved in hydraulic machinery design, inventing many components of related machinery which he patented. By early 1861, Wilder was nationally known for his expertise in the field of hydraulics.
When the war started, Wilder cast two guns at his Greensburg foundry and recruited a company of light artillery for the first Indiana three-year regiment. However, the artillery company did not fit into the regiment's plans, so Wilder and his company were mustered in as Company A of the 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Within a month's time, Wilder was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and several months later to Colonel in command of the regiment. His rapid promotion is ample evidence of his leadership abilities.
The 17th Indiana was mustered in at Indianapolis on June 12, 1861, Col. Milo S. Hascall in command. The regiment was involved in the defeat of Ben. Robert E. Lee at Cheat Mountain and Greenbrier. In November of 1861, the regiment was transferred to the Army of the Ohio under Buell. In 1862 they saw action at the battles of Corinth, Munfordsville, and Perryville.
December 1862 found the 17th Indiana and Wilder as part of Ben. William Rosecrans' 56,000 strong Army of the Cumberland in Nashville, Tennessee. Confederate Ben. Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee, 51,000 strong, were located at Murfreesboro, just 30 miles away. Both generals were busy preparing for the major battle they knew would soon take place.
Rosecrans was a meticulous person when it came to battle preparations, and by late December he had completed a command reorganization of his forces in order to assume the offensive against Bragg. One of the results of Rosecrans' reshuffling was the promotion of Col. Wilder to brigade command. Wilder's new brigade consisted of the 17th, 72nd, and 75th Indiana Infantry Regiments, the 98th Illinois Infantry Regiment, and the 18th Indiana Battery of Light Artillery. The 75th Indiana was soon replaced by the 123rd Illinois, and the 92nd Illinois was later attached to the brigade for the Chickamauga campaign. Except for minor deviations, the units which composed Wilder's brigade for the rest of the war were the 17th and 72nd Indiana, the 98th and 123rd Illinois arid the 18th Indiana Battery.
The 72nd Indiana Infantry was mustered at Lafayette on August 16, 1862, under the command of Col. A. 0. Miller, who was a captain in the 10th Indiana when it fought in the battles of Rich Mountain, Mills Springs, and Shiloh. In early October, the 72nd moved to Louisville and took part in the campaign that pushed Bragg's army into Tennessee from Kentucky.
The 98th Illinois, composed of farm boys from southern Illinois, was mustered in at Centralia on September 3, 1862, under the command of Col. John J. Funkhouser. The regiment was immediately ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, but their train derailed enroute, killing 8 men and injuring 75 others. The regiment later marched from Louisville to Frankfort, Kentucky, as a feint for Gen. Buell's Perryville campaign.
The 123rd Illinois Infantry was mustered in at Mattoon on September 6, 1862, under the command of Col James Monroe, who had seen plenty of action at Belmont, Fort Donelson and Shiloh. Barely a month after mustering in, the regiment was heavily engaged at Perryville, where both their brigade and division commanders, Gen. Terrill and Gen. Jackson, were killed, and the unit suffered over 200 casualties.
The 18th Indiana Battery was mustered in at Indianapolis on August 24, 1862, under the command of Captain Eli Lilly. Lilly was a druggist who after the war founded the Eli Lilly Company, which would become one of the nation's biggest manufacturers of drugs and pharmaceuticals. Lilly's battery had seen action previously during the defense of Louisville and also in the campaign that pushed Bragg out of Kentucky.
Frustration
Col. Wilder's brigade was part of Gen. John J. Reynolds' Division of Thomas' Corps. The brigade's first assignment under Wilder would prove to be a very frustrating one.
During December of 1862, Rosecrans marked time while accumulating his supplies for the impending advance on Murfreesboro. His army's supply line originated from Louisville on the Ohio River, some 200 miles away. Rosecrans was very concerned about the safety of his line of communication back to Louisville mainly because of the nearby presence of Confederate cavalry ruder Ben. John Hunt Morgan. Morgan had been personally ordered by Jefferson Davis to move north and disrupt Rosecrans' supply lines. Morgan had previously led two highly successful cavalry raids into Kentucky, capturing many men and destroying several depots. Rosecrans was determined to get Morgan the next time he sallied forth. Morgan and 3000 troopers left Alexandria, Tennessee on December 22, 1862.The next day, Rosecrans ordered Gen. Reynolds to take his division and "Try to ascertain the strength of the enemy...concentrate your forces and fight like the devil."
Before Reynolds could mobilize his division into action, Morgan had slipped past them and had moved on into the heart of Kentucky. Rosecrans issued orders to additional Union units, and soon nearly 20,000 men were on the move trying to intercept Morgan.
Wilder's brigade came close to catching up with Morgan at Bear Wallow on New Year's Day, but, sloshing through the mud, they were just no match for Morgan's well mounted troopers. Wilder, seeing that his infantry could not hope to catch Morgan on foot, went so far as to mount a detachment of the 17th Indiana on some of the wagon train mules in an attempt to increase their mobility. This turned out to be an absolute disaster, with the mules trying anything to dispose of their riders, and succeeding much of the time.
Morgan had slipped from their clutches again, bagging 1,900 prisoners and destroying two million dollars worth of Union supplies and property. The Federal forces gave up the chase on January 2, 1863 and rode by train to Nashville where they arrived after dark on January 3. As they debarked, they learned of the battle at Stone's River, and on January 5, Reynolds' Division left Nashville and headed toward Murfreesboro, acting as escort for a supply convoy containing 1,000 wagons.
The four day journey from Bear Wallow to Murfreesboro' gave Col.. Wilder time to reflect on the problems encountered in the preceeding campaign. The basic problems as he saw it were: (A) how to catch a well mounted cavalry force and (B) how to defeat this enemy force when you meet it in battle. By the time he arrived in Murfreesboro, Wilder felt that he had the solution to these problems.
Wilder went to Rosecrans and requested that he be allowed to mount his brigade on horses. Rosecran's eagerly approved Wilder's proposal. Realizing that his supply lines were now even longer than before, Rosecrans knew that a continued deficiency in cavalry would only cause his logistic problems to worsen.
In early February, Wilder's men marched through Dekalb and Wilson Counties in Tennessee, scouring the region for horses and by mid-March the entire brigade was mounted. Wilder had known better than to sit back and wait for the government to supply his men with horses.
During February and March, the men drilled and learned to care for their newly acquired horses. The men also received new uniforms the 1861 Regulation Cavalry Uniform. Since they were a unique type of unit, mounted infantry, the men removed all of the yellow trim and stripes from the uniforms. The brigade stayed very active during this period also, being involved in many skirmishes with the Rebel cavalry that constantly harassed Rosecrans' pickets. Since the Battle of Murfreesboro, Rosecrans had been getting a lot of pressure from Secretary of War Stanton and General-in-Chief Halleck to advance org Bragg. But Rosecrans was not ready to advance yet, and he was not a man who would let himself be pushed into taking what he felt was a reckless military maneuver. He was still short of mounted troops, ammunition and rations.
In mid-March, the Army of the Cumberland was visited by Christopher Spencer, who had patented his repeating rifle design in 1860. He was here to try and convince the officers to order his rifle for their men. Col . Wilder was present at Spencer's demonstration, and was so impressed that he immediately ordered enough rifles for his entire briqade. Wilder took out a personal loan from a local bank in his hometown of Greensburg, Indiana, to finance the purchase, and each man in the unit signed a note agreeing to reimburse Wilder the sum of thirty five dollars. As a matter of interest, the rather embarrassed government later stepped in and paid for the rifles before the men had begun to pay their leader back. Knowing that they would soon be fighting with repeating rifles, the morale in the ranks reached a new high, and they renewed their foraging and skirmishing activities with an active enthusiasm.
New Blood
Strangely enough, the 75th Indiana, one of the original units of the brigade, now decided that it did not want to be part of a mounted infantry brigade and requested that it be transferred. Org May 6, the 123rd Illinois of Hall's Brigade, Col. Monroe commanding, officially joined the brigade, having requested that they be allowed to replace the 75th Indiana.
During April and May, the men continued their appointed duties amid speculation as to when their "seven shooters" would arrive. Finally, on May 15 the repeaters arrived as the men shouted for joy. As each man received his new rifle and ammunition allotment, he trotted off into the woods to become familiar with the new weapon. Within a few days, the men had learned all about their new weapons and were now eager to try them out in battle. Their wait would be a short one.
On June 4, Wilder's Brigade moved out, heading toward Liberty some 30 miles to the northeast. Here they surprised and routed two regiments of Wharton's cavalry, one of which was the 1st Kentucky, and captured 20 men. The 1st Kentucky thus had the honor of being the first military unit in history to face a foe who was armed with repeating rifles. On the evening of June 4, the 3rd, 4th, and 10th Ohio Cavalry joined Wilder's Brigade at Liberty. Camped a short distance outside of town was Harrison's Brigade of Wharton's Cavalry, consisting of the 1st Kentucky, the 8th and 11th Texas and the 3rd Confederate Regular Cavalry Regiments.
On the morning of June 5, the Rebels fled after a brief skirmish, leaving much of their camp gear and equipment behind. It didn't take the Rebels long to decide that the "seven shooters" were too much for them. This engagement was the first sizeable test for the repeaters in battle, but it was really just a small skirmish. The first serious test of the new weapons would come three weeks later, or, June 24, at Hoover's Gap. This engagement would mark the opening of Rosecrans' Tullahoma Campaign.
On the evening of June 23, Wilder's Brigade received orders that they would be moving out in the morning. After five months' inactivity and constant pressure from Washington, Rosecrans had decided that it was time to advance against Bragg. Thomas' Corps, of which Wilder's Brigade was part, was the primary component of the Army of the Cumberland, and was to advance through the ridge of mountains a few miles northeast of Fairfield and onward to Manchester. Even though he had decided to advance on Bragg, Rosecrans was far from comfortable with the situation. He outnumbered Bragg by 10,000 infantrymen, but Bragg's cavalry advantage amounted to roughly 7,000 troopers. This troubled Rosecrans deeply because he knew that at this time the Rebel cavalry were the toughest, most ably led troops of either side.
At 4 A. M. on June 24, Wilder's Brigade, the advance guard for Thomas' 14th Corps, moved out. Once Wilder's men were six miles out of Murfreesboro, the remainder of Reynolds' Division moved out, followed at 7 A. M. by Rousseau's Division and at 10 A. M. by Negley's Division. Wilder's men eagerly anticipated what they knew would be a major confrontation with the enemy. They brimmed with self-confidence, knowing all too well the damage their Spencer repeaters were capable of inflicting on a foe. Wilder's orders were to advance quickly, take Hoover's Gap, and wait for infantry support before attacking the Confederate fortifications known to lay across the narrowest part of the gap.
By the time Wilder's men entered the mouth of Hoover's Gap at 10 A. M., the were some ten miles ahead of the infantry. A detachment of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry was on picket duty in the gap, and they were totally surprised by the sudden appearance of Wilder's men. They were rapidly driven back in complete disorder.
The main, body of the 1st Kentucky Cavalry was immediately deployed to halt Wilder's advance, but they too were pushed back by the impetus of Wilder's assault. The Rebels retreated through the entire severe mile length of the gap, fighting a valiant rear guard action.
Stewart's Division of Hardee's Corps was camped about a mile out of Fairfield and soon received word of the trouble at Hoover's Gap. At about 2 p.rn, Bate's Brigade of Stewart's Division advanced toward the gap. His unit consisted of five regiments and one battery. Bate's orders were to advance to the south end of the gap, deploy in the good defensive terrain there and repulse the Yankees. But by the time the Rebels got there, they found Wilder's forces already in possession of this advantageous terrain. This forced Gen. Bate to assume the role of the attacker, certainly not the ideal task against a repeater armed foe (Bate was at this point unaware of this fact ). Wilder's tired and muddy men had been in their positions about twenty minutes when the sound of pickets firing in the woods to their front signaled the arrival of Bate's Brigade.
Bate deployed the Eufaula Light Artillery on a hill opposite Lilly's batter and sent a couple of regiments toward Lilly's guns. He sent the remainder of them brigade westward, under cover of the rugged terrain, in an attempt to turn Wilder's right flank. The observant Wilder noticed the enemy movement and shifted his reserves accordingly. In both sectors of the battlefield the Confederate attacks were repulsed by the heavy fire as Wilder's men worked the levers of their repeaters 1ike pump handles.
Gen. Bate, seeing the futility of further efforts against the center of the Union position, shifted his forces in order to renew his assault on his opponents right Hank. Both sides used this pause in the hostilities to reorganize themselves for further action.
At this time Captain Rice, Gen. Reynolds' Adjutant rode up with orders to withdraw immediately. The general apparently felt that Wilder and his men were in over their heads arid that they would be disastrously defeated if they did not withdraw. Wilder explained that he was in as fine a defensive position as he could ever hope for, and that he had no intent ion of withdrawing. Rice threatened to place Wilder under arrest for disobedience of orders, but backed down after Wilder said that he would personally assume responsibility for the consequences of refusing to obey Reynolds' orders. This was enough to satisfy Captain Rice, and he then departed for Division Headquarters.
The Rebels now renewed their efforts to turn Wilder's right flank, but their last attacks were easily repulsed. Just as darkness brought the fighting to a close, Gen. Bushrod Johnson's Brigade arrived on the field to relieve Bate's tired and battered command.
As darkness fell, Wilder's battle weary men were relieved by the divisions of Rousseau and Negley, and they pulled back for a much deserved rest. A short time later, Gen. Thomas arrived, shook Wilder's hand and exclaimed, "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today. I didn't expect to get the gap for three days." Because of their rapid advance and hard hitting power, Gen. Thomas directed that from this date on, the unit would be known as the Lightning Brigade".
The Lightning Brigade
At Hoover's Gap the Lightning Brigade had inflicted over 200 casualties on their numerically superior opponent while only suffering losses of 51 men indeed, Gen. Bate later commented that, judging from the enemy's firepower, he felt that he was outnumbered five to one.
On June 26, Thomas' Corps advanced toward Manchester with the Lightning Brigade once again leading the way. Bragg's Army was forced to withdraw toward Tullahoma because of Rosecrans' brilliantly executed flanking maneuver. Wilder's men soon found that the road leading southward from Tullahoma and toward Chattanooga was jammed solid with Rebel wagons and troops. Bragg was withdrawing to Chattanooga because his position at Tullahoma was too vulnerable. In only one week Rosecrans had forced Bragg to retreat his 46,000 man force from middle Tennessee to Chattanooga, a distance of almost one hundred miles. Rosecrans' advance proved to be one of the most successful arid bloodless campaigns of the war with the total Union casualties amounting to only 560 men. Rosecrans arrived in Tullahoma on July 3, but his great triumph was overshadowed by the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Wilder and his men spent the next few days camped near Normandy on the Duck River, enjoying a period of rest and celebrating the recent Union victories. At this time, the 92nd Illinois, commanded by Cal. S. D. Atkins, joined the brigade. Atkins had gone to Rosecrans and asked if his regiment could join Wilder's Brigade, arid he was only too happy to comply.
After Rosecrans triumphant and rapid advance to Tullahoma, the Army of the Cumberland sat idle for six full weeks while Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and General in Chief Henry Halleck tried in vain to get Rosecrans to attack Bragg. On August 16, the Army of the Cumberland finally moved out. 50,000 Union soldiers advanced on a fifty mile wide front, screened by 9,000 cavalrymen and accompanied by 200 guns, and Bragg didn't even know that they were headed his way.
In order to keep Bragg off balance, Rosecrans ordered Gen. U. B. Hazen' s three infantry brigades, supported by Cal. Robert Minty's cavalry and with the Lightning Brigade in the vanguard, to feint crossings of the Tennessee River at and above Chattanooga while the rest of the Army of the Cumberland crossed the river south of the city. The ruse worked admirably and an entire Confederate corps was paralyzed as the men sawed and hammered boards at the river's edge and moved from place to place along the bank of the river as if they were trying to find an uncontested place to cross. Bragg soon realized that Rosecrans was across the Tennessee River and that he was once again in danger of being outflanked. Bragg abandoned Chattanooga on September 7 and marched south to Lafayette.
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