CHAPTER IX
I was teethed on Civil War stories. My Dad had three Civil War cronies who lived nearby and they enjoyed getting together to swap stories and of course I listened most attentively to everything that was said.
Their names were Oil Cox, Henry Waggoner and Sam Blinn. Sam Blinn was the neighborhood drunk, and it was a common sight to see him stoned. It seemed that during most of their bull sessions the conversation would return to the battle of Champion Hills. I began to suspect that their estimate of the battle of Champion Hills was greatly exaggerated. I had never read in my history books any mention of the battle, let alone ascribing any importance to it.
My father's regiment, the 34th Indiana, was marching en route to Vicksburg and camped on the Champion farm about eight miles from Vicksburg. There was not the slightest expectation that the rebels under the command of the famous Confederate General Joe Johnson, were nearby, en route to relieve the beleaguered Confederate troops under Pemberton at Vicksburg.
General Johnson was surprised by the presence of the Union forces because his intelligence had not accounted for my Dad's regiment which was stationed between Johnson's forces and Vicksburg.
A brief but fierce and bloody battle ensued with the 34th Indiana being victorious and the rebels retreated. History reveals that Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg very soon after the Battle of Champion Hills. The loss of Vicksburg split the Confederate supply lines leading to a Union victory in the Midwest and the beginning of Confederate decline in strength. Indeed the Battle of Champion Hills might truthfully be regarded as the starting point of the Confederate
decline in the fortunes of war.
I recall my father telling of entering Vicksburg that Fourth of July and seeing the starving people devouring ill tasting and spoiled salt pork rations which had been supplied by the Union Commissary. He related that the inhabitants had been eating cats, dogs, rats and anything they could produce to avoid starvation.
To be continued
I was teethed on Civil War stories. My Dad had three Civil War cronies who lived nearby and they enjoyed getting together to swap stories and of course I listened most attentively to everything that was said.
Their names were Oil Cox, Henry Waggoner and Sam Blinn. Sam Blinn was the neighborhood drunk, and it was a common sight to see him stoned. It seemed that during most of their bull sessions the conversation would return to the battle of Champion Hills. I began to suspect that their estimate of the battle of Champion Hills was greatly exaggerated. I had never read in my history books any mention of the battle, let alone ascribing any importance to it.
My father's regiment, the 34th Indiana, was marching en route to Vicksburg and camped on the Champion farm about eight miles from Vicksburg. There was not the slightest expectation that the rebels under the command of the famous Confederate General Joe Johnson, were nearby, en route to relieve the beleaguered Confederate troops under Pemberton at Vicksburg.
General Johnson was surprised by the presence of the Union forces because his intelligence had not accounted for my Dad's regiment which was stationed between Johnson's forces and Vicksburg.
A brief but fierce and bloody battle ensued with the 34th Indiana being victorious and the rebels retreated. History reveals that Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg very soon after the Battle of Champion Hills. The loss of Vicksburg split the Confederate supply lines leading to a Union victory in the Midwest and the beginning of Confederate decline in strength. Indeed the Battle of Champion Hills might truthfully be regarded as the starting point of the Confederate
decline in the fortunes of war.
I recall my father telling of entering Vicksburg that Fourth of July and seeing the starving people devouring ill tasting and spoiled salt pork rations which had been supplied by the Union Commissary. He related that the inhabitants had been eating cats, dogs, rats and anything they could produce to avoid starvation.
To be continued
