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From the Washington Post: http://www.washingto...36b8_story.html By Tony Horwitz, It’s often said that journalists write the first rough draft of history. But rarely do reporters draft history in quite so rough a fashion as Junius Browne and Albert Richardson did in the Civil War. (PublicAffairs) - ‘Junius and Albert's Adventures in the Confederacy: A Civil War Odyssey’ by Peter Carlson The two Northern correspondents narrowly escaped death in an artillery bombardment, only to be captured by Confederates. For 593 excruciating days, they skirmished with lice in Southern prisons as the real war raged on without them. Then, after a jailbreak and a harrowing trek through enemy territory, the reporters filed the story of a lifetime: their own. Peter Carlson narrates this tale of journalistic derring-do in “Junius and Albert’s Adventures in the Confederacy.” This title, which echoes the 1989 slacker film “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” undersells the gravity of the reporters’ experience. But it’s also appropriate, because Carlson’s book unspools like a buddy flick: Two larkish fellows embark on a trip that goes desperately wrong and often veers into farce. At the start of the Civil War, Browne and Richardson belonged to the self-styled “Bohemian Brigade,” a journalistic troupe of insouciant thrill-seekers who gallivanted along the front. Like other reporters of that era, they made no pretense to objectivity and freely expressed the staunch abolitionism of their employer, the New York Tribune. Nor did they let the facts get in the way of a good story. At one point, to avoid being scooped by a competitor, Browne and a colleague composed “long, vivid, eyewitness accounts of a battle that occurred 200 miles beyond their eyesight,” Carlson writes. Their fabrications ran at length in the Tribune, a stunt that made the writers legendary among the Bohemian Brigade. But these cavalier “knights of the quill,” as Browne called them, also risked their lives to cover combat. In May 1863, Browne and Richardson tried to sneak past rebel cannon at Vicksburg aboard a Union barge filled with hay. An incoming shell burned and killed half the soldiers on board. The survivors were fished out of the Mississippi and jailed. It was customary at the time to quickly release or swap captured journalists. But Browne and Richardson wrote for the paper most hated in the South; the Confederate in charge of prisoner exchanges called them “the worst and most obnoxious of all non-combatants.” Also, soon after their capture, the warring parties suspended prisoner exchanges. So the men were shuttled among jails, including Richmond’s notorious Castle Thunder, before ending up at North Carolina’s Salisbury Prison, a mini-Andersonville where men perished in droves from exposure, disease and shootings by guards. Carlson’s story has so many twists, right up to the last page, that I won’t spoil it by telling more. But the exquisite plot is only one of the joys of reading this book. As a veteran journalist (including 22 years at The Washington Post), Carlson captures the competitive yet collegial world of reporters in the field and their tortured relationship with distant editors. He also has an ear for quotes and an eye for detail, and shares with the Bohemian Brigade a keen sense of the ridiculous. Though the Northern reporters were hated Yanks, they were also curiosities. So Southerners flocked to visit the inmates — and to declare their willingness to “die in the last ditch” for the Cause. This line was repeated so often, Carlson writes, that it became a running gag for the reporters: “Where is this ditch? How deep is it? They’re going to need a very big ditch to hold all these Rebels who keep promising to die in it.” He also quotes the absurd reports in Southern papers, including this one on Gettysburg: “The Confederates were repulsed but cannot, at present, with justice or candor, be said to have suffered defeat.” Carlson excels as well at drawing characters, particularly the odd couple at the heart of his book. Browne, the well-schooled son of a banker, was a bookish scribe who filled his florid dispatches with Classical allusions. Richardson, a rugged farm boy, was plainspoken and ingratiated himself with all he met. Yet the two became inseparable and sustained each other through hardships and despair that neither could endure alone. “The North for us is like the grave,” Richardson wrote, after letters stopped reaching inmates, “no voice ever comes back to us from it.” If there’s a flaw in this fine book, it’s that Carlson tells his story almost too well. He’s shorn away anything that might interrupt the flow of his taut, lively narrative. This makes for a rollicking read, but at times I wanted more context and reflection — on the telegraph, for instance, a technology that transformed the news business in the mid-19th century as dramatically as the Internet has changed the media in our own time. Also, while Carlson details his deep research in the book’s endnotes, his text doesn’t address whether Browne and Richardson were reliable sources in the telling of their own story. Given the flagrant bias and outright fictions that Carlson documents in the dispatches of the Bohemian Brigade, I doubted some of the witty repartee and incredible adventures that Browne and Richardson recalled, much of it in books they wrote after returning home. But even if the two men embellished, their ordeal has resonance far beyond its drama and drollery. The reporters were forced into close, extended contact with captured Northerners and Southerners of every stripe — deserters, slaves, brutish guards, mountain guerrillas — and they experienced the behind-the-lines horror of the conflict. As a result, they witnessed, and later exposed, a theater of the war that was barely known to their colleagues at the front or to the Northern public. This remains an aspect of the Civil War that is little known to most Americans. The journalists’ experiences of both battle and captivity also speak to the enduring challenge of war reporting. Upon seeing combat for the first time, Browne wrote, “No one here seems to have any knowledge of anything, the leading officers having little more information than the privates.” As Carlson acutely notes, Browne’s one-line observation “sums up the ‘fog of war’ so well that it could be included in nearly every battle dispatch in every war ever fought.” Tony Horwitz is the author of “Confederates in the Attic” and “Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War.” Jim

im going to have to answer these bit by bit..very busy dont have much time at all to research.. 1-warm in the morning which led to later showers... 2-Ohio..72nd--48th--70th 5th Oh cav 4-2-2:30pm 5-Sherman 6-Buckland 14-7 men and 1 officer Herbert of the 70th will be back..go to go check my cows that are calving.... Mona

Ran across an excellent collection of letters, on file with the Minnesota Historical Society, and all forty available online: The Civil War Letters of Thomas Christie. Born in Ireland in 1843, Tom Christie settled in Wisconsin with his family. And shortly after the start of the Civil War, Thomas and his brother, William, enlisted in Munch's 1st Minnesota Battery of Light Artillery (which operated two 12-pounder Howitzers and four 6-pounder brass rifled guns.) The letters begin in December 1861, and continue until May 1865; they are letters from Thomas, written to his Father, his sister and another brother. And the letters are sent from Fort Snelling; Benton Barracks; Corinth; Vicksburg; on the march to Atlanta; Savannah, Georgia; Goldsboro; and New York City. (Unfortunately, there are no letters from Pittsburg Landing.) A letter written to his Father, and dated October 18th, 1862, I found especially interesting: Thomas describes his actions as Gunner Number One, during the October 3-4 Battle of Corinth. (All the letters are available in the original cursive hand-writing; or a transcript can be selected, for easier reading.) http://www.mnhs.org/library/christie/corinth.php Cheers Ozzy

Belfoured Thanks for your continued interest in Pfaender and Peebles and Munch's Battery. I have attempted to find primary sources that confirm your claims, but without success. There is indeed “a mystery” concerning WHO commanded the section of howitzers during the Chickasaw Bluff recon (Pfaender claims he did; but there is an almost complete lack of a roster of participants in that expedition conducted by Sherman; and without knowing full details (i.e. did other officers of the battery go along; was anyone sick and left behind at Pittsburg Landing), all that can be made are assumptions.) These are the best references I have run across with significant mention of the 1st Minnesota Light Artillery and its key players: “Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars” (1890 – 93) [contains details not in 2005.] “Minnesota in the Civil and Indian Wars” (2005) [contains info not in 1890 version.] OR 10 parts 1 and 2 OR 52 part 1 Minnesota Historical Society http://www.mnopedia.org/group/first-battery-minnesota-light-artillery http://libguides.mnhs.org/firstartillery 1st Minnesota Battery resources The Battle of Shiloh: the Union Armies (2019) by Lanny K. Smith Shiloh Discussion Group [a number of topics and posts on the SDG site, easily found by searching for “Minnesota” or “Munch” or “Pfaender” via Search Box at top of Home Page.] http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/civwar04.pdf Report of the Shiloh Monument Commission William Pfaender http://www.mnopedia.org/person/pfaender-wilhelm-1826-1905 William Pfaender and New Ulm http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/30/v30i01p024-035.pdf Brother of Mine: the Civil War Letters of Thomas and William Christie (2011). Cheers Ozzy

The above review of “Junius and Albert's Adventure” is pretty good... as far as it goes. Unfortunately, no one bothered to actually read the book (which was gifted to me a few days ago by my daughter, who found it in a bookshop in Castlemaine, Victoria.) Pages 25 – 41 detail Junius Browne and Albert Richardson reporting in the West, beginning in General Fremont's Missouri during Autumn of 1861. And the first revelation of significance to readers at SDG: the two reporters were present during the Fort Henry operation (Browne accompanied the marching infantry belonging to McClernand, while Richardson found a large tree, climbed high into its branches, and observed the fort vs. ironclads gunnery duel.) Afterwards, Albert Richardson returned to Cairo to send off his story; Junius Browne (despite injury due to accidental powder keg explosion) accompanied Grant's Army to Fort Donelson, and continued to report from the field, detailing actions of soldiers, and incidental meetings with local people and their views on the war. After the surrender of Buckner, Browne interviewed Confederate prisoners, and then returned to Cairo to send away his story (which was published over two PAGES in the New York Tribune of February 22, 1862.) Neither Browne nor Richardson was present for the Battle of Shiloh: Browne heard of an operation taking place in Arkansas, and hurried south to observe the action, but had only reached southern Missouri when the Battle of Pea Ridge took place. Not allowing lack of facts to get in the way of a good story, Junius Browne collected enough rumors concerning the battle, and “borrowed” information from rival reporter Thomas Knox, and in cooperation with Richard Colburn concocted a story of how “Siegel saved the Day at Pea Ridge” (and beat rival reporters to publish the full page report on Pea Ridge, first.) Afterwards, learning that “the next big event” was to take place at Island No.10 Browne rejoined Richardson and gained passage aboard a steamer bound for that Mississippi River confrontation... and both men missed the Battle of Shiloh. However, as mentioned in SDG post “Drawings” of 27 MAR 2018 Henri Villard met Richardson at Cairo on April 10 (Villard had travelled with Buell's Army of the Ohio, and observed much of Day Two firsthand.) After learning details from Henri Villard, Albert Richardson journeyed south, met with members of General Grant's staff, and was able to concoct a report on the Battle of Shiloh, which was submitted to the New York Tribune in late April. Browne and Richardson are next recorded aboard USS Benton on the Mississippi River, observing the Battle of Memphis of 6 June 1862...

I'm new here and just saw this thread. I've looked into the First's action on April 6 quite a bit. In his April 30, 1862 report Pfaender stated that the 12 lb Howitzer section was his when it accompanied Sherman on the April 2, 1862 expedition upriver/south and east. While it's possible that he and Peebles switched section commands between April 2 and April 6, that wouldn't make much sense but obviously I don't know for certain. I've seen nothing suggesting that. We do know that Fisher's section contained the two damaged guns that went back to the Landing.. I'm also not sure that the four 6 pounders can be called "James" rifles. Hurter refers to them as "3.67'"" rifles and the bore appears to have been a true 3.67" (rather than 3.8") because the fourth quarter 1862 return for the First shows a supply of 3.67" projectiles (for the two remaining 6 pounder rifles). Another oddity is in William Christie's April 15, 1862 letter to his father,. He states that in his left section "Of the men, No. 3 on our gun and No. 1 on the howitzer were shot dead". By referring to "the howitzer", the implication is that the two remaining sections were reconfigured so that each had one rifle and one howitzer. Nothing else in any of the Christie letters, Pfaender's and Hurter's writings, or Clayton's letters refer to this. It strikes me as bizarre to deliberately create that mix of calibers/types and ordnance in a section.

"How the Rebels went out, and We came In [to Nashville]" First of Nelson's force to enter; owner of the Flag flying over the State House. [From Gallipolis Journal of Ohio, 13 MAR 1862, page 2.]

Why is the above information important? First, because it illustrates what happens to a Civil War battlefield if not properly protected (Dranesville, less than two miles east of Dulles International Airport, has been absorbed by suburban sprawl from Washington, D.C.) And second, if we accept that William T. Sherman, James B. McPherson, Philip Sheridan, EOC Ord, Grenville Dodge, and John Rawlins were members of Ulysses S. Grant's "Inner Circle" by 1864, then knowing when Grant first encountered these men, and became aware of the talents each one brought to his exclusive team is essential to understanding U.S. Grant, because Grant did not achieve greatness on his own. Like many capable leaders, U.S. Grant identified talent, and benefited from a willingness of the men comprising his Inner Circle to commit themselves to Grant and his vision for prosecuting the war. And with the exception of Grenville Dodge (who brought an intelligence collection network to Grant's team) all of the named men were known to General Grant by the time Henry Halleck departed Corinth for Washington, D.C.

Had never seen this complete list in print before, but it is the Seniority List of Generals in the Provisional Confederate Army, just prior to Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas). Of interest to SDG because of the many names associated with Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Siege of Corinth (and it is interesting to see a list of Confederate Generals without Albert Sidney Johnston's name near the top... but General Johnston was enroute from California when this list was printed in St. Mary's Beacon of Leonardtown, Maryland 18 July 1861.) https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89060119/1861-06-13/ed-1/seq-2/ St. Mary's Beacon of 18 July 1861 page 2.

It took a while for the news from Tennessee to reach southern Maryland; but the 17 April 1862 edition of the weekly St. Mary's Beacon contains a report of the Battle of Shiloh on page 2 columns 2 & 3. Maryland newspapers were peculiar during the Civil War in that they had reasonably good access to information, from the North, and from the South. The Battle of Pittsburg Landing report presented is a commendable effort to combine the Northern and Southern versions of the Shiloh Story into one account: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89060119/1862-04-17/ed-1/seq-2/ "News: near Pittsburg Landing" in St. Mary's Beacon

J.J. Little was a Private in the 10th Mississippi Infantry, Company H who fought at Shiloh (and wrote a Letter home, dated 13 April 1862.) He describes seeing the “2000 Union prisoners from Shiloh pass through Corinth” and indicates that he saw General Prentiss, too. The 4-page letter is one of five letters written by Sergeant Little, available at University of Mississippi Digital Collection. Available at http://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/cdm/search/searchterm/J.J. Little Collection/mode/exact .

The 33rd Alabama Infantry arrived at Corinth too late to take part in the Battle of Shiloh, but the regiment was present during the April/ May 1862 Siege of Corinth (Hawthorn's 5th Brigade of Hardee's Corps.) With companies arriving at Pensacola Florida in March 1862, the 33rd Alabama was organized by April 1st 1862 and assigned “defense” of Fort McRee (a coastal fortification across the pass from Union-held Fort Pickens, Rebel-held Fort McRee had been reduced to rubble during the November 1861 gunnery duel.) However, it was determined that several of the guns under the collapsed fort were worth salvaging, so when the decision was made by Major General Bragg to evacuate Pensacola and move his Army north to Corinth, the 33rd Alabama was responsible for removing the guns at Fort McRee and accompanying them to Mobile (where they were loaded aboard a train and sent to another stronghold, most likely Vicksburg or Fort Pillow.) The 33rd Alabama afterwards served at Stone's River, and was noted for action at Nashville in 1864. The regiment also had the misfortune of being involved in a train wreck near Cleveland, Tennessee on 4 NOV 1862 which killed 17 members of the 33rd Alabama and injured seventy (which is the main reason this post is here: I had no idea that there were over 500 wrecks and accidents involving Confederate railroads during the Civil War... until now.) References: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/butler/newspapers/train33rd.txt Train wreck. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~alavols33rd/military/survivors.htm Victims of train wreck. https://civilwartalk.com/threads/railroad-accidents-kill-soldiers-during-civil-war.113583/ Train wreck discussion at civilwartalk. [Over 500 train wrecks and accidents occurred on Confederate lines during the Civil War. See http://www.csa-railroads.com/index.htm R.R. Accidents under "Essays and Documents" and scroll a little more than halfway down.] Note: The 16th Alabama, veterans of Shiloh, were aboard this same train, but occupied cars not affected by the derailment, and suffered no casualties.

Returning to Henry Walke... The incident for which Commander Walke got into disciplinary trouble with the U.S. Navy occurred in January 1861. As commanding officer of USS Supply (a sail-powered collier and supply vessel running between Pensacola and Vera Cruz, delivering coal and provisions to the fleet) CDR Walke happened to be in Pensacola Bay when the State of Florida pressed for Federal arsenals and forts to be handed over; and before Commodore Armstrong turned over the Pensacola Navy Yard to Florida, he ordered CDR Walke “to sail USS Supply to Vera Cruz.” And Henry Walke did not follow those instructions, so he was obviously disobeying orders when he did not comply. The full truth, however, is convoluted: Commodore James Armstrong (some questioned his loyalty; others believed he was having a nervous breakdown). How valid were his orders? The situation at Pensacola was “fluid.” How does one “follow orders” when the orders may be illegal, or illegitimate? Commodore Armstrong received orders by telegram on 9 JAN 1861 ordering him to “cooperate with the Army in maintaining possession of the public property.” As part of this cooperation, Armstrong tasked Walke (and Supply) with delivering foodstuffs to Fort Pickens (where Army Lieutenant Slemmer had transferred his force of artillerists from Fort Barrancas.) Because the foodstuffs were not unloaded January 10th the USS Supply remained at Fort Pickens Wharf overnight. [Florida seceded from the Union January 10th.] Commodore Armstrong surrendered the Navy Yard at 1:30 p.m. on January 12th. Before surrendering “the property under his command,” USS Supply and USS Wyandotte were sent away: Supply to Vera Cruz; and Wyandotte to Cuba. [Neither vessel went more than a few miles south, before reversing course.] Both ships left Pensacola Bay and were “beyond Commodore Armstrong's control” when the Pensacola Navy Yard was surrendered. As result of the surrender, 34 Marines and fifty sailors (including Commodore Armstrong) were taken prisoner “by the State of Florida.” Many of these men had their families in Florida with them, living on base (as did the Army and Navy defenders still at Fort Pickens.) In all, over 100 Union citizens were in limbo after the surrender of January 12th. [CDR Walke's family was NOT in Florida, (for the sake of clarity).] On 16 JAN 1861, operating under flag of truce, CDR Walke sailed back inside Pensacola Bay and took the paroled prisoners aboard USS Supply. As well, the stranded wives and children, and civilian contractors (and their families) were taken aboard, removing all United States citizens who wished to evacuate. Outside Pensacola Bay, CDR Walke (the senior U.S. Government officer present) met with Lieutenant Berryman (USS Wyandotte) and Second Lieutenant Gilman (Slemmer's deputy) and confirmed that the Army would attempt to remain in possession of Fort Pickens. Then Walke tasked Berryman with remaining on station, to assist with defending Fort Pickens to the last (and evacuating the 82 men there, should that become necessary.) [The 81 men at Fort Pickens gained the service of a Hospital Steward.] Commander Walke sailed away, and reached New York Navy Yard nineteen days later (where he was charged, and his Court Martial took place in March 1861.) Issues What constitutes “valid orders?” What happens when the commander is no longer able to command, due to death, capture or incapacity; (when do his orders “die”)? Taking the initiative: “When disobeying orders, you had 'better be right.'” [Was Commander Henry Walke “right?”] Sometimes, things happen that cause “the plan” to be abandoned, by necessity. (You cannot plan for every situation; sometimes you must trust the judgment of trained junior officers and “acting” commanders.) [It is a common expression: “No military plan survives first contact with the enemy.” But, the plan then becomes a “framework” from which to operate and deviate.] “Better to beg for forgiveness, than to ask for permission.” [Time and distance can have unanticipated impact. The leaders in Washington, reliant on the telegraph for relaying orders (and still-active Military officers, following the surrender of Commodore Armstrong, over-reliant on electronic guidance) all suddenly found themselves unable to communicate... which illustrates the need to develop Trust, and sound decision-making, in junior officers before the telegraph line is cut.] Just a few observations... Ozzy

Bravo Zulu, Hank! Answer correct, and excellent summary of the January 1861 “situation” at Pensacola, provided for extra credit. For everyone else wondering, “What does Florida have to do with the Battle of Shiloh?” a reminder: Twenty percent of the Confederate participants at Shiloh had been members of Bragg's Army of Pensacola. Notable senior officers Withers, Jackson, Anderson, Ruggles, Gladden, Chalmers (and perhaps SAM Wood) all had experience in Pensacola/ Mobile. The regiments trained by Bragg at Pensacola were sent from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana. But the situation in regard to U.S. Navy officers sent west following outbreak of war in April 1861 is not generally considered: Andrew Hull Foote entered military service in 1822 and at the outbreak of the Secession Crisis was second-in-command at Brooklyn Navy Yard, biding his time, with retirement from the Navy in 1862 his likely future. Henry Walke “ruined” his Naval career with the Atlantic Squadron as result of being Court Martialed for “failure to follow orders.” Instead of continuing service with the deepwater Navy, Walke was “sent away west” and took command of USS Tyler (one of the early “stop-gap” gunboats, derisively termed “timberclads” (before the contracted ironclads were ready for service.) The point: "Did the U.S. Navy send their A - Team?" [From results achieved, one would claim, "YES!" ...however, surviving documents indicate otherwise.] Yours to ponder... Ozzy

Brother of Mine. The Civil War Letters of Thomas & William Christie edited by Hampton Smith. This is an excellent book that not only has Tom's letters but his brother Bill as well. Lots of background context as well. A few years ago I based my anniversary walking/driving tours on following the activities of the 1st Minn., Munch's Battery, through the battle of Corinth. The Minnesota Historical society sent me a few newspaper articles written by Tom Christie and one included this which took place on October 3 on the Memphis Road : " A funny thing took place here. The German Captain of a Missouri battery [Capt. Henry Richardson] brought up his fine 20-pound Parrotts, and took position near us. A drink or two of 'commissary' had filled him with something more than 'Dutch courage:' he pranced back and forth on his horse shouting: 'Vere are dose tam rebels? Vere are dey?' Our Lieutenant (now Maj. Clayton of Bangor, Me.) who had charge of us all the way from Chewalla, said to him: 'There they are, Captain, coming up thru that hollow; you had better turn your guns in that direction and give them canister.' Unfortunatly, Clayton had been promoted only recently, and so was wearing the chevrons of an Orderly Sergeant. Also, he was black with powder smoke. The Captain glared at him. 'Go pack to your gun, sir! I don't take orders from a tam Sergeant!'" This little gem is found in the National Tribune, November 26, 1914. Tom