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During the 1880's and 1890's, veterans of the American Civil War began publishing documented accounts of their experiences involving the War Between the States. By the times that these books and articles started coming the war had been over for twenty years. In this time period, most veterans began to age and with them, so did their accuracy when telling their events. In reading one account as an example of this post-war madness, a soldier was explaining to his grandchildren about a particular day in May of 1864, at the Battle of New Market, Virginia. He told of a true event involving the Cadet Corps of the V.M.I. (Virginia Military Institute) and a group of cannons that were situated on a hill. According to this old veteran, the cadets attacked the battery of cannons by themselves and took all of them, winning the battle for the confederacy that day. Unfortunately, this story was embellished as were so many because it was a lot easier to remember the event this way. A story is always more exciting with more action. The real story is, the confederate army called the cadets to arms even though they were only fifteen and sixteen year olds because of a lack of soldiers in the field to face the Union army that was attacking them. The cadets were put into line of battle to face the enemy. The Union army took heavy casualties that day and was beginning to retreat from the field. A hole in the Union army opened up and the commander of the Confederate forces ordered the cadets into it, which they did. There was a battery of cannon that was pulling out along with the rest if the Union army. Bur, because so many horses from the battery were shot up they had to abandon the cannon basically. |
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While pulling out, the cadets moved into the hole and the battery had to leave the cannon on the field. Making a quick getaway, the cadets moved on the position and took the cannon as their prize. Now, where the cadets single handedly took the battery of cannons under heavy rifle and cannon fire is beyond me. But, it is a very good example of the over dramatic writtings that so many veterans wrote about. My great great grandfather told me storys about some of Christian Gugle's experiences during the War. But, a lot of them have became kind of 'tall tales'. One about Grandpa Gugle, (when i refer to Grandpa Gugle, it is pertaining to Christian Gugle, and is the name he was given along time ago which has stuck throughout the years and it is what the present generation is still calling him), he was captured in Georgia and escaped. Only to be captured again a short while later and imprisoned in one of Georgia's 'hellish' prisons. This story is true to some fact, but some of the facts I still have figured out yet through my research. First I was would like to give a little background information on his service before I go into the historical accuracies of the story. He enlisted in the 73rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company G, in Logansport, August 10, 1862, and was mustered (formed) into service at South Bend, Indiana with the rest of the 73rd. South Bend being the location where all the soldiers went after being mustered into service. Now, as for the accuracy of the story, some of it is true. The 73rd was a regiment stationed in the western campaigns of the Civil War and would come to know names like Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as newspaper articles only. This regiment was prone to fighting in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. After the terrible battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee, the 73rd was combinded with other regiments to form a new brigade of regiments for a special assignment commanded by a Colonel Abel Streight. He had ordered to raid a small manufacturing center in Rome, Georgia and destroy it. While just outside of their target, Rome Georgia, the 73rd along with the rest of brigade was captured by a larger force of confederate soldiers commanded by Nathan Bedford Forrest, of the KKK fame. This is where the part of the story gets weird. The story goes that Grandpa Gugle was sent to a prison in Georgia, which is suppose to be Andersonville Prison, a notorious prison for Union enlisted men. This was no so. Grandpa Gugle was sent to Richmond, Virginia to await to be exchanged for confederate prisoners. Then afterwards was sent back to Indiana. I have found out nothing of this other time he was captured, except there are two Prisoner of War documents in my possession. I believe that he was captured once and there are just two documents stating this and somehow down the line a story developed about them and the signifigance that there were two of them.
Another story is one that involves Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Gugle, the daughter of Christian, telling Bernice Leemgraven Boven, about how Grandpa Gugle and some fellow soldiers stole a farmer's pig and hid it in a drum while on a tiring march. While roasting the pig, they had to get up and return to the same place they started. This I know nothing about, but it is does not sound that far fetched. Things like that were common during the Civil War. Soldiers were actually ordered to ransack and raid confederate homes and property to feed themselves on the march because of lack of army rations that were handed out. So, this story sounds like it could be true. Another example of something like this happening is not about Grandpa Gugle, but a New Jersey soldier in Virginia fighting in the Eastern Campaigns. This man gathered a group of men during a night while the army was resting and went to a farm to steale sheep to eat because they had no rations. These sheep were ordered by the commander of this soldiers regiment to not be eaten because they were the property of the farmer, whose land they were apon camping. With this group of soldiers, they attacked the guards, who put up no struggle for some of the meat after it was cooked, and they stole the sheep. After the sheep were cooked and eaten, an officer in the regiment told the soldiers that commander had found out about them and was coming to arrest them. After panacking the the soldiers, the officer told them that he was kidding and went away. |
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