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Is he talking about Col. Sterling Price do you think?

Is he talking about Col. Sterling Price do you think?

Posted: 30 Sep 2012 1:37AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Sterling Price?
This is a typed version of a letter I have from my great grandfather Jesse O Burgess who was in the Iowa 27th Infantry.

For reference:
U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
about Jesse O Burgess
Name: Jesse O Burgess
Residence: Rossville, Iowa
Age at Enlistment: 26
Enlistment Date: 15 Aug 1862
Rank at enlistment: 5th Corpl
State Served: Iowa
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company I, Iowa 27th Infantry Regiment on 05 Sep 1862.
Promoted to Full 4th Corporal.
Promoted to Full 4th Sergeant on 01 Jul 1864.
Promoted to Full 5th Sergeant on 10 Mar 1864.
Mustered out on 08 Aug 1865 at Clinton, IA.

Birth Date: abt 1836
Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion

Here is the letter...


In the field Oct 9th, 1864

Parts of this letter are not readable as he wrote it in pencil and it has faded….

About 40------from S---and about 60 miles from Jefferson City. We are camped on a creek bottom about 20 milles from
(again it is not readable)
and this evening I heard there was a chance to send out a little in the morning and I thought I would write a few words to you. I am sitting down on my botom flat on the ground and writing on a cracker box by candle light.

The drums are beating ______? John sez OLD PRICE is about 18 miles from here and he is going to give us fight. I resume we will march in the morning after him. We have a large force here. I resume we will go to Jefferson City.

My health is vary good at present and I hope yours are the same. Dear Mary, take good care of yourself and do the best you can. I would like to see you and the baby very much. And hope I may before long.

I haven’t received a letter from you for some time I am vary ancious to hear from you but don’t expect to for some time, there won’t be any chance to get any mail for sometime. I presume the Boys are all well and in good spirits. We marched 28 miles yestereday got in camp 8 ½ Oclock PM, pretty big days march don’t you think so?

The weather is vary fine, a litte frost last night the first we have has. Well I must close you must excuse the hasty letter and I will do better the next time.

I send much love to you and the baby. Please write soon. My love to all! Good by this time from you loving husband

J.O. Burgess to Mary L. Burgess

I am just trying to figure out the path he took, and we were always told that he was in Sherman's March to the sea. ( later date I am sure) But isn't Jefferson City in Missouri?

I am NOT a Civil War expert, I am barely beginning to learn about the battles in this war for the Iowa 27th....so any help would be greatly appreciated. Sandy Burgess McClay

Re: Is he talking about Col. Sterling Price do you think?

Posted: 7 Oct 2012 11:34PM GMT
Classification: Query
Sandy I don't know if this will help you but Boonville, Mo. is about 44 miles from Sedalia and 60 miles from Jefferson City, Mo. There was a battle fought there on Oct. 11, 1864 (the Fourth Battle of Boonville) with General Sterling Price's Army. But as of now, I cannot find any information listing the Iowa 27th Infantry of being in that engagement. I too am not an expert on Civil War battles, but will keep an eye out for any clues.
Geepole1

Re: Is he talking about Col. Sterling Price do you think?

Posted: 9 Oct 2012 9:14PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Sterling Price
Thank you! In the five letters I have he often mentions where he is....so I guess we'll see....:) Sandy

Re: Is he talking about Col. Sterling Price do you think?

Posted: 12 Nov 2012 5:37AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 12 Nov 2012 5:51AM GMT
Your conclusion is correct. The “Old Price” your ancestor wrote about very definitely was Confederate General Sterling Price, who launched an invasion of Missouri in September 1864. The initial objective of the invasion was to hopefully capture St. Louis, and secondarily to recruit new Rebel troops from among the population of Missouri.

The 27th Iowa Infantry was assigned to the 3rd Division of the 16th Corps, and the 16th Corps was part of the army commanded by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, who in the spring of 1864 intended to drive south from Chattanooga toward Atlanta. The 27th Iowa Infantry was expected to be one of the regiments that accompanied Sherman on that campaign.

However, in March 1864 Sherman loaned a portion of the 16th Corps, specifically its 3rd Division (including the 27th Iowa), to Union General Nathaniel Banks for the Red River Campaign, the purpose of which was to capture Shreveport, Louisiana. Sherman wasn’t planning to commence his campaign for more than another month, and General Banks assured him that the Red River Campaign would end before that. Sherman’s loan, therefore, was based on his understanding that the 3rd Division would be returned to him before he left for Atlanta. It didn’t work out that way.

Banks proved to be a less-than-impressive field commander. He failed to capture Shreveport and his campaign did not conclude until late May, far too late for the 3rd Division to accompany Sherman. In fact, Banks was lucky not to be trapped in western Louisiana until summer. Were it not for some crafty water engineering by one of his junior officers in Alexandria, Louisiana, the transport ships upon which Banks’ soldiers traveled up the Red River, and which they intended to use to travel back down, would have become hopelessly trapped by the river’s rapidly dropping water levels.

The Red River Campaign was a difficult one for Union troops. The relatively few victories they enjoyed were minor affairs, and they were cut up badly in the only two significant battles they fought. The Union column was soundly defeated at Mansfield on April 8 and it fought to a draw at Pleasant Hill the following day. The 27th Iowa was not present at Mansfield, but it was one of four regiments in the most forward-deployed Union brigade at the Battle of Pleasant Hill. It came under an especially ferocious attack in that battle and, having sustained a large number of casualties, was forced to retreat when the brigade nearly became encircled.

After the Red River Campaign concluded, the 3rd Division could have re-joined Sherman in the field, catching up with him at some point during his advance toward Atlanta. But Sherman decided it was just as well to have the Division remain in western Tennessee, as it would be useful in protecting Tennessee from the Confederate cavalry of Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was active in Mississippi and potentially might threaten Sherman’s rear. Accordingly, the 27th Iowa spent the summer based in Memphis, from where it and the remainder of the 3rd Division conducted two campaigns against Forrest … the Tupelo Campaign in July and the Oxford Campaign in August. Only one significant battle developed during these campaigns, however, that being the Battle of Tupelo (also known as the Battle of Harrisburg) on July 14 and 15. The 27th Iowa participated in that battle but did not sustain many casualties.

In September the 3rd Division was ordered to re-join Sherman in Atlanta, via Nashville, and it had already commenced its trip when Price launched his invasion of Missouri. In response to that invasion, the 3rd Division was diverted back to St. Louis. Four companies of the 27th Iowa were sent to Pilot Knob, Missouri to help defend the Union fort there, while the remaining companies were assigned to the defenses of St. Louis. Fortunately for the Union, Price did not have sufficient strength to capture St. Louis once the 16th Corps soldiers arrived, and he abandoned that objective. Instead, he veered to the west, focusing instead upon the Missouri capital, Jefferson City.

As Price advanced westward, the 16th Corps gave pursuit. Your ancestor was obviously one of the 27th Iowa soldiers participating in that pursuit. In his letter he indicates that a fight with Price was expected shortly, but that fight never materialized. The 16th Corps regiments never caught up to Price, who after discovering that Jefferson City was also too well defended, headed toward Kansas City and was defeated by other Union troops near there (at Westport, then a suburb of Kansas City but today part of the city, I believe). Price turned southward after his defeat and retreated back to Arkansas.

As for the precise route taken by your ancestor’s regiment, I’m not sure. One can probably pinpoint it reasonably close by examining the camp locations from which 16th Corps commanders, particularly the Division commander General A. J. Smith, wrote their dispatches. These can be found in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, a 128-volume post-war publication of the US War Department. Most major university libraries have a hardbound set of these books, and smaller colleges may have a set, as well, or at least a searchable computer disc of the modern digitized transcription.

As for the creek bottom location from which your ancestor wrote on October 9, my guess is that he was somewhere around either St. Clair or Union, a couple small towns on the road from St. Louis to Jefferson City. Each of these towns was visited by at least some elements of Price’s army as it advanced toward Jefferson City, and my off-hand guess, without doing a lot of research, is that the 16th Corps would have tried to stay pretty directly on Price’s heels.

I suspect St. Clair or Union was the likely stopping point for the 27th Iowa on October 9 because, according to an 1864 map of southern Missouri found on plate 47 in the Official Military Atlas of the Civil War (Davis, Kirkley, Perry), these towns lie roughly 60 miles east of Jefferson City and about 40 or 45 miles west of St. Louis. The bulk of the 16th Corps left St. Louis around October 6, and 40-50 miles would be about right for three days’ marching. Also, the town of Union sat along a creek or small river which, unfortunately, isn’t identified by name on the map. I suspect the first place name your ancestor mentions in his letter, the one that begins with an S and is illegible thereafter, is probably St. Louis or perhaps some abbreviation thereof (e.g., StL, SL, StLo, etc.).

Finally, as for the March to the Sea, Sherman had not yet decided on a course of action when Price invaded Missouri. He had several options and was still mulling them over, so the 27th Iowa wasn’t ever assigned to the March or given any orders related to it. Had the regiment caught up to Sherman it most likely would have accompanied him to the sea, but it didn't catch up and it didn't go on the March.

After Price was defeated and Sherman started off for Savannah (the place where he met the sea), Confederate General John Bell Hood detached from Sherman and launched an invasion of middle Tennessee, threatening Nashville. An emergency call went out to the 3rd Division of the 16th Corps, still back in Missouri, asking that it rush to Nashville to reinforce that city’s meager defenses. It did so, arriving by river steamers on December 1 and subsequently participating in the Battle of Nashville on December 15 and 16.
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