John T. Wilder

Last updated

John Thomas Wilder
John T Wilder.jpg
John Thomas Wilder, c. 1861-65
Born(1830-01-31)January 31, 1830
Catskill Mountains in Hunter, Greene County, New York
DiedOctober 20, 1917(1917-10-20) (aged 87)
Jacksonville, Florida
Buried
Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Allegiance United States of America
Union
Service/branch Union Army
Years of service1861 – 1864
Rank Union Army colonel rank insignia.png Colonel
Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg Brevet Brigadier General
Commands held 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment
Lightning Brigade
Battles/wars American Civil War

Tullahoma Campaign

Chattanooga Campaign

Atlanta Campaign

John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, noted principally for capturing the critical mountain pass of Hoover's Gap during the Tullahoma Campaign in Central Tennessee in June 1863. Wilder had personally ensured that his "Lightning Brigade" of mounted infantry was equipped with the new Spencer repeating rifle. However, Wilder initially had to appeal to his men to pay for these weapons themselves before the government agreed to carry the cost. The victory at Hoover's Gap was attributed largely to Wilder's persistence in procuring the new rifles, which disoriented the enemy.

Contents

Early life and career

Wilder was born in the Catskill Mountains in Hunter, Greene County, New York, the son of Reuben and Mary (Merritt) Wilder. Wilder was a descendant of a long line of soldiers. His grandfather and great-grandfather, both named Seth Wilder, fought in the American Revolutionary War. After the great-grandfather lost a leg in the Battle of Bunker Hill, Seth, Jr. took his place. Wilder's father, Reuben, fought in the War of 1812.

Wilder spent his younger years in Hunter, where he attended school. When Wilder turned nineteen, his school days over, he decided to head west to make it on his own. Wilder soon arrived in Columbus, Ohio, nearly penniless, and found employment as drafter and then as an apprentice millwright at a local foundry. This training would lay the groundwork for his career.

In 1857, eight years after he arrived in Columbus, Wilder moved to Indiana, first to Lawrenceburg and then to Greensburg, where he married Martha Jane Stewart and raised a large family. Wilder established a small foundry of his own, rapidly becoming a success. Wilder invented many hydraulic machines that he patented, sold equipment, and built mills and hydraulic works in many of the surrounding states. Wilder also became nationally renowned as an expert in hydraulics, patenting a unique water wheel in 1859. [1]

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Wilder organized a light artillery company in the Greensburg area, even going so far as to cast two six-pounder cannons at his foundry. Wilder's company was mustered into state service, but the Federal government declined to accept it, as Indiana had already met its quota of artillery units. Instead, Wilder was commissioned as a captain, and his men were organized as Company A, 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment at Indianapolis. When the 17th Indiana left for western Virginia in July 1861, Company A took along the two cannons. [2] Once in Virginia, the old Company A was permanently detached and eventually reorganized as the 26th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery but was commonly known as the "Wilder Battery" in recognition of its first commander. [3] Meanwhile, Captain Wilder was quickly promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 17th Indiana on June 4, 1861, serving where he remained during the early campaigns in Virginia and garrison duty in Kentucky. In March 1862, Wilder was promoted to colonel, becoming the commander of the 17th Indiana. [4] During the campaign to take Corinth, Mississippi, Wilder quickly earned a reputation as a competent, and even gifted, regimental commander. [1]

Initial operations

In the 1862 Confederate offensive into Kentucky, Gen. Braxton Bragg's army left Chattanooga, Tennessee, in late August. Bragg approached Munfordville, a station on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad where Wilder commanded the Union garrison, which consisted of three regiments with extensive fortifications. Wilder refused Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers's demand to surrender on September 14, telling him, "I think we'll fight for a while", and his men repulsed Chalmers's attacks that day, inflicting 283 casualties with a loss of only 37. [5] This forced the Confederates to conduct siege operations September 15–16. By this time, Wilder's 4,000 men were almost completely surrounded by 22,000 Confederates with 100 artillery pieces. [6] Realizing that Union reinforcements were nearby and not wanting to kill or injure innocent civilians, the Confederates communicated still another demand for surrender. Wilder personally entered enemy lines blindfolded under a flag of truce, and Maj. Gen. Simon B. Buckner escorted him to view all the Confederate troops and to convince him of the futility of resisting. Impressed, Wilder surrendered his garrison. The formal ceremony occurred on September 17. Wilder spent two months as a prisoner of war before being exchanged. [7]

On 22 December 1862 in Gallatin, Tennessee, Wilder took over command of the brigade which at that time consisted of the 92nd and 98th Illinois Infantry Regiments, the 17th, 72nd, and 75th Indiana Infantry Regiments, and the 18th Indiana Battery of Light Artillery. [8] His initial combat mission was to pursue another of Morgan's raids into Kentucky intended to sever the Army of the Cumberland's primary supply line. Lacking sufficient cavalry to screen his army as he moved south toward what would be the Battle of Stones River as part of the Stones River Campaign, Rosecrans again had to use infantry to chase off Morgan. Trying to speed their movement, these infantry units deployed partially by rail. Wilder also unsuccessfully tried to replicate the use of mule-drawn wagons with the addition of men mounting the mules pulling the wagons. [9] Unfortunately, they still traveled the majority of the pursuit on foot over unpaved roads. Despite the use of rail and wagons to speed up the pursuit, the mission was a failure with Morgan's command escaping at the Rolling Fork River. [10] The difference in speed between cavalry and infantry was made the pursuit near impossible.

Innovative leader

In Wilder, an innovative and creative man, Rosecrans found an eager acolyte for mounted infantry as a solution. [11] On 16 February 1863, Rosecrans authorized Wilder to mount his brigade. [12] The regiments also voted on whether to convert to mounted infantry. All but the 75th Indiana voted to change to mounted infantry. The 123rd Illinois who had wanted to become mounted infantry transferred from the 1st Brigade of the 5th Division of XIV Corps to replace them. [13] Through February 1863, Wilder obtained around a thousand mules to mount his command, not from the government but scavenged from the countryside. Due to the obstinacy of the mules, horses were frequently seized from local stocks in Tennessee as contraband and replaced the mules. Wilder boasted that it did “not cost the Government one dollar to mount my men.” [14]

In theory and in practice, the brigade would use their mounts to travel rapidly to contact, but upon engagement, the soldiers would fight dismounted. Due to this speed of deployment, the unit earned the nickname, "The Lightning Brigade", and it would prove the validity of its conversion in the campaign in the Western theater. They were also sometimes known as the "Hatchet Brigade" because they received long-handled hatchets to carry instead of cavalry sabers.

As well as mounting the command for faster deployment, Wilder felt that muzzle-loaded rifles were too difficult to use traveling on horseback. Like Rosecrans, he also believed that the superiority of repeating rifles were worth their price in return for the great increase in firepower. The repeating rifles also had the standoff range similar to the standard infantry Lorenzes, Springfields, and Enfields in use by the Army of the Cumberland. He felt the repeating and breech loading carbines in use by the Federal cavalry lacked the accuracy at long range that his brigade would need. [15]

While Rosecrans looked at the regiment's five-shot Colt revolving rifle that would equip other units in the Army of the Cumberland (particularly seeing action with the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Union forces at Snodgrass Hill during the Battle of Chickamauga), Wilder was initially opting for the Henry repeating rifle as the proper weapon to arm his brigade. In early March, Wilder arranged a proposal for New Haven Arms Company (which later became famous as Winchester Repeating Arms) to supply his brigade with the sixteen-shot Henry if the soldiers paid for the weapons out of pocket. He had received backing from banks in Indiana on loans to be signed by each soldier and cosigned by Wilder. New Haven could not come to an agreement with Wilder despite the financing. [16] [17]

After attending a promotional demonstration by Christopher Spencer for the Army of the Cumberland of his Spencer repeating rifle, Wilder proposed the Henry arrangement to Spencer. Spencer agreed and got the Ordnance Department to send a shipment to the Army of the Cumberland. [18] The majority of the shipment armed all men of the brigade. [19]

The brigade's new weapon used a seven rimfire-cartridge tubular magazine that came through the butt. This rifle's increase in firepower would quickly make it one of the most effective weapons in the Civil War. With new mounts and new weapons, the brigade worked out new tactics. [20] Alongside the Army of the Cumberland's other mounted infantry units, Wilder developed new training and tactics through May and June 1863. [21] By the middle of the latter month, the brigade's soldiers had realized the advantages the breech-loading repeating rifle held over the muzzleloader, and they exuded confidence in themselves, their leaders, their new tactics, and their treasured new weapons. [22]

1862 Spencer Rifle with sling and bayonet Spencer Rifle w Bayonet MANG Museum-10001.jpg
1862 Spencer Rifle with sling and bayonet

Mounted infantry actions

Wilder Brigade Monument at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park John T Wilder monument Chickamauga.jpg
Wilder Brigade Monument at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

Wilder received wide attention for his performance in the Tullahoma Campaign. [23] Wilder mounted his brigade on horses and mules that his men appropriated from the local area [24] and moved into the battle with such rapidity that his men soon became known as the "Lightning Brigade", comprising the 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment, the 72nd Indiana Infantry Regiment, the 98th Illinois Infantry Regiment, the 123rd Illinois Infantry Regiment, and the 18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery. [25] (They were also known as the "Hatchet Brigade" because Wilder issued them long-handled hatchets to carry instead of cavalry sabers.) His men also carried Spencer repeating rifles, which were capable of a rate of fire far greater than their Confederate adversaries. Bypassing Army red tape, Wilder had asked his men to vote on purchasing the rifles, and they agreed unanimously. Wilder obtained a loan from his hometown bank, and each man of the brigade co-signed a personal loan of $35 ($713 in 2019) for his rifle. Embarrassed, the Government paid for the weapons before the men expended any of their personal money. [26]

On June 24, the Lightning Brigade seized and held Hoover's Gap. [27] Despite orders from general Joseph J. Reynolds to fall back to his infantry, which was still six miles away, Wilder decided to hold the position, defeating repeated attempts to dislodge his force until the infantry arrived and winning the most significant battle in the Tullahoma Campaign. [28] The Army of the Cumberland's commanding officer, William Rosecrans, soon arrived on the scene. Rather than reprimand Wilder for disobeying orders, he congratulated him for doing so, telling him it would have cost thousands of lives to take the position if he had abandoned it. [29] Wilder was the principal commander of a diversion launched against Chattanooga - artillery bombardments known as the Second Battle of Chattanooga - deceiving the Confederates into thinking the Union army would approach Chattanooga from the north in conjunction with Union forces at Knoxville. [30]

Just before the start of the Battle of Chickamauga, Wilder's brigade played a crucial role at Alexander's Bridge on September 18, 1863, defending the crossing of West Chickamauga Creek and helping to prevent the Confederates from flanking the Union army. [31] On the second day at Chickamauga, September 20, Wilder's brigade, with its superior firepower, was one of the few units that were not immediately routed by the Confederate onslaught against the Union right flank. [32] Advancing from its reserve position, the brigade launched a strong counterattack, driving the enemy around and through what became known as "Bloody Pond". Wilder decided to capitalize on this success by attacking the flank of the main Confederate column. However, just then, Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana found Wilder and excitedly proclaimed that the battle was lost and demanded to be escorted to Chattanooga. In the time that Wilder took to calm down the secretary and arrange a small detachment to escort him back to safety, the opportunity for a successful attack was lost, and he ordered his men to withdraw to the west. [33]

Post-Chickamauga

Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas formally commended Colonel Wilder for his performance at Chickamauga. Wilder did not directly participate in the main Battles for Chattanooga in November. Still, Wilder led the brigade during much of the Atlanta Campaign in the spring and summer of 1864. Wilder was promoted to brevet brigadier general of volunteers on August 7, 1864. Throughout much of 1863 and 1864, Wilder suffered from bouts of dysentery [34] [35] brought on by a case of typhoid fever in 1862. For health reasons, Wilder resigned from the Army in October 1864 and returned home. [36]

Postwar career

  1. 1 2 Baumgartner (2007), p. 20.
  2. Adj. Gen Indiana.Report, Vol. 4, p. 344-371.
  3. Adj. Gen Indiana.Report, Vol. 3, p. 448.
  4. Adj. Gen Indiana.Report, Vol. 2, p. 145.
  5. Cozzens (1992), p. 10-14.
  6. Baumgartner (2007), p. 15.
  7. Cozzens (1992), p. 14-15.
  8. U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 20/1, p. 179Organization of the ... Army of the Cumberland, Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, U.S. Army, Commanding, December 26, 1862-January 5, 1863, pp.174-182
  9. Living History (2020).
  10. Baumgartner (2007), p. 15; Duke (1906), p. 71.
  11. Daniel & Lamers (1961), p. 279-284.
  12. U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 23/2, p. 74,Special Orders No. 44, 16 February 1863
  13. U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 23/1, p. 457-461,Wilder Report (1st Bde, 4th Div. XIV Corps), 11 July 1863
  14. Garrison, Graham, Parke Pierson, and Dana B. Shoaf (March 2003) “LIGHTNING AT Chickamauga.” America’s Civil War V.16 No.1, p. 53.
  15. Baumann (1989), p. 224.
  16. Jordan, Hubert (July 1997) “Colonel John Wilder’s Lightning Brigade Prevented Total Disaster.” America’s Civil War V.16 No.1, p. 44.
  17. Leigh, Phil (December 25, 2012) "Colonel Wilder's Lightning Brigade," The New York Times, p. 1.
  18. Korn (1985), p. 21; Williams (1935).
  19. Connolly (1959), p. 110.
  20. ABT, Connolly, Primary Sources: The Road to Chickamauga.
  21. Dyer (1908), p. 1125; Reece (1900), p. 538.
  22. Stuntz, Margaret L. (July 1997) “Lightning Strike at the Gap.” America’s Civil War, p. 56.
  23. Wilder's Performance in the Battle of Chattanooga, August 25, 1863.
  24. Capture of Confederate Prisoners, Horses, and Supplies, April 1, 1863.
  25. Baumgartner (2007), p. 70.
  26. Cozzens (1992), p. 15; Korn (1985), p. 21.
  27. Frisby (2000), p. 420.
  28. Connelly (1971), p. 126–27; Korn (1985), p. 24–26; Woodworth (1998), p. 21–24.
  29. Cozzens (1992), p. 45.
  30. Woodworth (1998), p. 54.
  31. Woodworth (1998), p. 83-84.
  32. Cozzens (1992), p. 199–200; Esposito (1962), p. 112; Kennedy (1998), p. 230.
  33. Cozzens (1992), p. 376-390, 392-396; Woodworth (1998), p. 118-119.
  34. Letter from J. T. Wilder to his wife, Martha, September 26, 1861.
  35. Regiment Physician Munford Ordering Bed Rest for Dysentery, March 26, 1862.
  36. Cox (2004), p. 11; Eicher, McPherson & McPherson (2001), p. 569.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Chickamauga</span> American Civil War battle

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18–20, 1863, between the United States Army and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a U.S. Army offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant US defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Hoover's Gap</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Hoover's Gap was the principal battle in the Tullahoma Campaign of the American Civil War, in which Union General William S. Rosecrans drove General Braxton Bragg’s Confederates out of Central Tennessee. Rosecrans’ feigned move on the western end of the Confederate line had left the eastern mountain passes lightly defended, and Colonel John T. Wilder's mounted infantry achieved total surprise when they attacked Hoover's Gap. Success was attributed both to Rosecrans’ brilliant deception tactics and the high morale of Wilder’s "Lightning Brigade", equipped with the new Spencer repeating rifle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tullahoma campaign</span> Military campaign of the American Civil War

The Tullahoma campaign was a military operation conducted from June 24 to July 3, 1863, by the Union Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, and is regarded as one of the most brilliant maneuvers of the American Civil War. Its effect was to drive the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee and to threaten the strategic city of Chattanooga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Wauhatchie</span> 1863 battle of the American Civil War

The Battle of Wauhatchie was fought October 28–29, 1863, in Hamilton and Marion counties, Tennessee, and Dade County, Georgia, in the American Civil War. A Union force had seized Brown's Ferry on the Tennessee River, opening a supply line to the Union army in Chattanooga. Confederate forces attempted to dislodge the Union force defending the ferry and again close this supply line but were defeated. Wauhatchie was one of the few night battles of the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chickamauga campaign</span>

The Chickamauga campaign of the American Civil War was a series of battles fought in northwestern Georgia from August 21 to September 20, 1863, between the Union Army of the Cumberland and Confederate Army of Tennessee. The campaign started successfully for Union commander William S. Rosecrans, with the Union army occupying the vital city of Chattanooga and forcing the Confederates to retreat into northern Georgia. But a Confederate attack at the Battle of Chickamauga forced Rosecrans to retreat back into Chattanooga and allowed the Confederates to lay siege to the Union forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">17th Indiana Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment, also known as 17th Indiana Mounted Infantry Regiment, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army from 1863 to 1865 during the American Civil War. It served in West Virginia before being transferred to the Western Theater. In that theater, it was known for its membership in the "Lightning Brigade."

The 98th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, later the 98th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">88th Illinois Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 88th Illinois Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment from Illinois that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment mustered into service in September 1862 and was engaged at Perryville a month later. The unit subsequently fought at Stones River, in the Tullahoma campaign, at Chickamauga, at Missionary Ridge, in the Atlanta campaign, at Franklin, and at Nashville. The 88th Illinois especially distinguished itself at Stones River, Missionary Ridge, and Franklin. The regiment mustered out of service in June 1865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">92nd Illinois Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 92nd Regiment Illinois Infantry, also known as 92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry Regiment, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Mostly an all-volunteer unit, with the exception of a few draftees, the 21st Ohio served for both ninety-day and three-year enlistments and fought exclusively in the Western Theater. It saw action in some of the war's bloodiest battles including Stones River, Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign, and Sherman's March to the Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">123rd Illinois Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 123rd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In 1863 and 1864 it was temporarily known as the 123rd Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry Regiment, as part of Wilder's Lightning Brigade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattanooga campaign</span> 1863 series of battles of the American Civil War

The Chattanooga campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg besieged Rosecrans and his men by occupying key high terrain around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was given command of Union forces in the West, now consolidated under the Division of the Mississippi. Significant reinforcements also began to arrive with him in Chattanooga from Mississippi and the Eastern Theater. On October 18, Grant removed Rosecrans from command of the Army of the Cumberland and replaced him with Major General George Henry Thomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery</span> Military unit

The 18th Independent Battery Indiana Light Artillery, also known as Lilly's Hoosier Battery and Lilly's Battery, was a civil war regiment formed in Indiana during the American Civil War. The regiment was formed at the end of 1860 by 22-year-old Eli Lilly, an Indianapolis pharmacist. He had recruitment posters placed around the city and recruited primarily among his friends and classmates. The unit contained six 10-pounder Parrott rifles, and was manned by 150 men. The unit mustered in Indianapolis where it was drilled during 1861. Lilly was elected captain of the unit in August 1862 when the unit was deployed to join the Lightning Brigade commanded by Col. John T. Wilder.

The 10th Kentucky Infantry Regiment was a three-year volunteer infantry regiment that served in the U.S., or Union Army during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">74th Indiana Infantry Regiment</span> Military unit

The 74th Indiana Infantry Regiment, officially known as the 74th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The 72nd Indiana Infantry Regiment, also known as 72nd Indiana Mounted Infantry Regiment, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment served as mounted infantry from March 17, 1863, to November 1, 1864, notably as part of the Lightning Brigade. during the Tullahoma and Chickamauga Campaigns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Carson (Medal of Honor)</span>

William J. Carson was a United States Army soldier and recipient of the United States' highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Chickamauga in the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lightning Brigade</span> Union Army mounted infantry in the United States civil war

The Lightning Brigade, also known as Wilder's Brigade or the Hatchet Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade from the American Civil War in the Union Army of the Cumberland from March 8, 1863, through November 1863. A novel unit for the U.S. Army, its regiments were nominally the 1st Brigade of Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds' 4th Division of Thomas' XIV Corps. Operationally, they were detached from the division and served as a mobile mounted infantry to support any of the army's corps. Colonel John T. Wilder was its commander. As initially organized, the brigade had the following regiments:

Chattanooga, Tennessee, was a major rail center and a strategic vantage-point, with high ground competed-for by both sides. When Union forces were besieged in the town, General Ulysses S. Grant forced a supply-route, earning him Lincoln's particular gratitude.

Henry Benedict Mattingly was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the September 1, 1864, Battle of Jonesborough, Georgia.

References

Further reading

John T. Wilder
24th Mayor of Chattanooga
In office
1871–1872