Cannon fire and rain?

[FanofStonewall]

We're doing a unit on the civil war with my students in the fifth grade. We have a letter written by one of the Pioneer Brigade who happens to be an ancestor of one of the teachers here. In his letter he says "we were following, but as usual soon after heavy artillery fire it began to rain hard". Now, the question is, was this true scientifically (was there something in the gun powder that "seeds" the clouds and makes it rain) or was this just an observation from a weary soldier who found out it rained a lot in Tennessee?

On a semi-related topic, and the off chance that someone is interested in the Pioneer Brigade sees this, we are looking for information on an A.S. Kirk. from Illinois He was a member of the Pioneer Brigade, an engineering division, and that's about all we know about him. If anyone happens to know more about the Pioneer Brigade (maybe a book to look into, we've already exhausted our internet sites) would you mind giving us a reply?

[M E Wolf]

Dear FanofStonewall;

First, Welcome to Civil War Talk! Hopefully, our wonderful members can assist with your questions.

Be it coincidence or by purpose; for some reason - after the battles, such as First Bull Run/First Manassas - there was a thunderstorm. I have also read after much artillery; there have been storms. It may be a good question to ask of the weathermen/weatherwomen who study the science of weather.

I have looked in my sources for A. S. Kirk and found nothing. In the Illinois Pioneer Brigade/Engineering - I would prefer to have a unit to which he may have served. They often were attached to a Corps, Battalion and or Regiment. Having a name or number beyond a generic "Illinois Pioneer Brigade/Engineer" would be most helpful. Illinois had 239 organizations during the Civil War - none have a pioneer brigade/engineering brigade listed as an organization--this is why, I feel it was a unit attached to an Infantry organization or something similar.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf

[johan_steele]

The "Pioneer Brigade" was part of the Army of the Cumberland. It was disbanded and the troops returned to their Regiments and Brigades by General Sherman.

There is a thread on the site somewhere dealing w/ the Pioneer Brigade.

[Baggage Handler #2]

Others have mentioned in memoirs that rain soon follows battle.

It makes sense if you think of the logistics of it.

Armies typically traveled in parallel paths, [edit: by this I mean neither the US or CS army would travel as a mass of 50,000 or 60,000 men, but would split into groups of 10-20,000 so as to have forage for animals, fuel for fires, etc. An overlooked part of generalship is the coordination of these columns IMO] often several miles apart, and almost always on unimproved dirt roads. The only really appropriate time for maneuvering an army would be when the weather was dry because the roads turned to goo in the rain. So the positioning and counterpositioning of an army (or of two opposing armies) would proceed best when the weather allowed movement. If one side was in position but the other wasn't you wouldn't have much of a battle.

If the campaign was in the spring, and the campaigning season normally started in late March to May (depending on where you were), you might have 3 dry days followed by a couple of rainy days, in June you might get a couple more, you might not. Only late in the year - September/October would you have a reasonable chance at two weeks straight of dry weather.

That's all conjecture, not physics, by the way. I don't know of anything in a cannonade that would cause rain. The energy release, while focussed, isn't all that much compared to O'Hare on a typical afternoon, for example.

I also suspect there may have been a human factor in play. The commanders may have sensed the impending change in the weather and attempted to get things into position beforehand. Also, if it started to rain before the cannon barrage was to start, a commander might postpone it. For an extreme example, observe Thomas's delays in launching an attack from Nashville in late '64.

Hope this helps, but I'm not holding my breath

[M E Wolf]

Dear BaggageHandler#2 and Johan_Steele;

It could also be, just a simple case of being in a rainy period. We get weather where it rains generously throughout the spring, summer and fall; then gives us white fluffy snow or ice; as the case may be.

Certainly is worth looking into as far as the National Weather Bureau's archives; which should be accessable through their local TV Weather channel(s)/news channels(s).

Dear Johan_Steele--Thank you so much for adding information into the inquiry.

Respectfully submitted,
M. E. Wolf

[M E Wolf]

Here is what I found (Thank you Johan_Steele for the loop to snag from):
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XVI/1 [S# 22]
TRANSCRIPT FROM PHONOGRAPHIC NOTES OF THE BUELL COURT OF INQUIRY.
CINCINNATI, Saturday, April 25, 1863.
HEADQUARTERS PIONEER BRIGADE,
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Camp near Murfreesborough, ----, 1863.
Maj. R. SKINNER, Judge-Advocate:
MAJOR: In reply to the questions propounded in yours of the 5th instant I have the honor to state:
I. My name is James St. Clair Morton; a captain of engineers. Was on duty with Army of the Ohio last summer as chief engineer from date of June 9.
2. On June 11, being ordered by General Buell to provide for the crossing of his army over the Tennessee River, I went to Pittsburg Landing and Eastport, where I procured two suitable barges and a steamboat, of which, together with the floors,«46 R R--VOL XVI» rafters, and joists of store-houses in Florence, I made a steam-ferry bridge at the last-named place. I got the tools, spikes, nails, cordage, &c., from Pittsburg Landing. The bridge was capable of carrying across at a time about fifty loaded wagons; each trip took two hours. The army began to cross about the 25th. This was the best that could have been done, as the pontoons were, when inspected by me June 13, found unfit for use.
About July 6 I drew up plans and specifications for pontoon bridge across Tennessee River near Bridgeport. (I believe one was made accordingly.)
On July 9 General Buell ordered me to build stockades at the bridges on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad between Elk River and Stevenson. By July 25 I had laid out and put in course of construction by the labor of troops fourteen such works, as per following table:
Designation of works. Size inside of square or length of development in yards. Number of garrison. Station on Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad.
Stockade A. 16 yards square One company 1 mile below Anderson.
Stockade B do do Bass.
Stockade C do do 1½ miles below Bass.
Stockade D do do 2 miles below Bass.
Stockade E do do. 2½ miles below Bass.
Stockade 1 do do Anderson.
Stockade 2 do do 4 7/8 miles above Anderson.
Stockade 3 8 yards square Half company 5 miles above Anderson.
Stockade 4 16 yards square One company 8½ miles above Anderson.
Stockade 5 24 yards square Two to three companies Tantalon.
Stockade 6 16 yards square One company Cowan.
Stockade 7 do do Do
Redoubt 1 95 yards developed Two to three companies Elk River.
Redoubt 2 97 yards developed do Do.
Stockade 8.(*). 16 yards developed One company Duck River, South Fork.
Stockade 9.(*). do do Duck River, North Fork.
Designation of works. Size inside of square or length of development in yards. Memphis and Chattanooga Railroad.
Bridge Defense 1 One company Flint River.
Bridge Defense 2 Viaduct.
Bridge Defense 4 do Paint Rock.
Depot Defense 5 do Larkinsville.
Stockade 10 do Near Bellefont.
Stevenson Redoubt No. 3 50 yards square, seven companies, four guns. Stevenson.
Stockade 11 16 yards square, one company Do.
Depot Defense 6 Two companies Do.
On July 28 General Buell ordered me to fortify the bridges between Huntsville and Stevenson, authorizing me to impress negro labor to help along the work. At this time some citizen mechanics joined me, and were subsequently used by me to direct the labor at the different points. August 1 I sent to Nashville and procured implements and hardware, blocks, falls, &c., for use on said works. August 7, being at Duck River, on Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, I got a telegram from General Buell to fortify Nashville. At Nashville I organized a camp, impressed negroes, &c., and began work with them and fatigue parties of soldiers. When General Buell came there on the retreat the capitol was defensible, also Saint Cloud Hill and the bridge. I gave as my opinion that Nashville could be held during his absence with the main army.
3. This interrogatory is replied to above.
4. I am not prepared to answer this of my own knowledge.
5. A battalion will occupy, in line of battle, as many paces as it has files, less one-fifth; 475 men in two ranks will occupy 188 paces or 140 yards.
Cross-interrogatories:
The improvements on the railroad as far as Murfreesborough I found in great part demolished on our recent advance here and all the timber stockades. The earth-works were left in tolerable order. Of the rest I know nothing of my own knowledge.
I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. ST. C. MORTON,
Chief Engineer, Army of the Cumberland.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND,
Murfreesborough, Tenn., February 15, 1863.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this day by said J. St. Clair Morton, chief engineer Army of the Cumberland, who states upon oath that the foregoing are true answers to the interrogatories and cross-interrogatories hereto appended.
RALSTON SKINNER,
Major and Judge-Advocate this Department.
================================================== =
Dyer's Compendium, Pt. 3 (Regimental Histories)
ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS.
BRIDGES' INDEPENDENT BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Authorized January 1, 1863, and organized at Nashville, Tenn., January 14, 1863, from Company "G," 19th Illinois Infantry. Company "G," 19th Illinois Infantry, organized at Chicago, Ill., and mustered in June 17, 1861. Moved to Quincy, Ill., July 12-13, thence to Palmyra, Mo., July 14, and guard Hannibal & St. Joseph R. R. from Quincy to Palmyra and between Palmyra and Hannibal till July 27. Moved to Hannibal, thence to St. Louis, Mo., and to Bird's Point and Norfolk. Duty at Norfolk till August 14. Moved to Ironton August 14. Prentiss' Expedition toward Dallas and Jackson August 29-September 8. Moved to Cape Girardeau, Fort Holt, Ky., and Elliott's Mills, thence moved to Cairo, hi., September 16, under orders for Washington, D.C. While en route east September 17, via Ohio & Mississippi R. R., Bridge No. 48, over Beaver Creek, 30 miles west of Cincinnati, Ohio, broke through, precipitating six passenger coaches a distance of 60 feet, killing and wounding 129 of the Regiment. At Camp Dennison, Ohio, till September 24. Moved to Louisville, Ky., September 24-25, thence to Lebanon, Ky., September 25, and duty there till October 22. Moved to Elizabethtown, Ky., and duty there and at Bacon Creek, Ky., till February 10, 1862. Attached to 8th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of Ohio, to August. Advance on Bowling Green, Ky., February 10-15. Occupation of Bowling Green till February 22. Advance on Nashville, Tenn., February 22-25. Occupation of Nashville till March 18. Advance to Murfreesboro March 18, thence to Shelbyville, Tullahoma and McMinnville March 25-28. Advance on Huntsville, Ala., via Fayetteville, April 4-11. Occupation of Huntsville April 11. Advance on and capture of Decatur and Tuscumbia April 11-14. Action at Tuscumbia April 24. At Huntsville till May 26. Athens May 13. Moved to Fayetteville May 26-June 2. Negley's Expedition to Chattanooga, Tenn., June 2-10. Chattanooga June 7-8. Expedition to Larkinsville and Stevenson June 14-20. Winchester June 16. Guard Railroad bridges from Huntsville to Decatur till August. Richland Creek, near Pulaski, August 27. Retreat to Nashville August 27-29. Fitted out as a Battery at Nashville September. Siege of Nashville September 12 to November 7. At Gallatin, Tenn., till November 20, when turned in guns
and moved to Nashville. March to Murfreesboro, Tenn., and rejoin Regiment January 2, 1863. Permanently detached as a Battery January 14, 1863. Fitted at Nashville. Ordered to Murfreesboro, Tenn., February 20, 1863. Attached to Pioneer Brigade, Army of the Cumberland, to June, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1863. Artillery, 3rd Division, 4th Army Corps, to July, 1864. Artillery Brigade, 4th Army Corps, to November, 1864. Reserve Artillery, Nashville, Tenn., to December, 1864.
SERVICE.--Duty at Murfreesboro, Tenn., till June, 1863. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Passage of the Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River, and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign, August 16-September 22. Davis' Cross Roads, near Dug Gap, September 11. Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19-21. Siege of Chattanooga, Tenn., September 24-November 23. Chattanooga Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Orchard Knob November 23-24. Mission Ridge November 25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-27. March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8. Operations in East Tennessee December, 1863, to April, 1864. Reconnoissance from Maryeville toward Seviersville February 1-2, 1864. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Demonstrations on Rocky Faced Ridge and Dalton May 8-13. Buzzard's Roost Gap May 8-9. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Adairsville May 17. Near Kingston May 18-19. Near Cassville May 19. Advance on Dallas May 22-25. Operations on Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Pickett's Mills May 27. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground, July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama September 29-November 3. Nashville Campaign November and December. Columbia, Duck River, November 24-27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Transferred to 1st Regiment Illinois Light Artillery as Battery "B," December 21, 1864, which see.
Battery lost during service 2 Officers and 7 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 20 Enlisted men by disease. Total 29.

CONTINUED

[M E Wolf]

.
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE INDEPENDENT BATTERY LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Organized at Chicago, Ill., and mustered in August 1, 1862. Moved to Louisville, Ky., September 9-11. Attached to Dumont's 12th Division, Army Ohio, to November, 1862. Pioneer Brigade, Army of the Cumberland, to March, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of the Cumberland, to October, 1864. 2nd Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to June, 1865.
SERVICE.--Pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky October 1-16, 1862. Lawrenceburg October 11. Moved to Bowling Green, Ky., and duty there till December 4. March to Nashville, Tenn., December 4-7. Expedition on Franklin Pike and skirmish December 14. Advance on Murfreesboro, Tenn., December 26-30. Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863. Duty at Murfreesboro till June. Scouts on Manchester Pike June 13 (Section). Battery changed from Mounted Field to Flying Horse Artillery and assigned to 2nd Cavalry Division March, 1863. The only Battery of Flying Artillery in Western Armies. Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign June 23-July 7. Morris Ford, Elk River, July 2. Occupation of Middle Tennessee till August 16. Expedition to Huntsville July 13-22. Passage of Cumberland Mountains and Tennessee River, and Chickamauga (Ga.) Campaign, August 16-September 22. Alpine, Ga., September 3 and 8. Ringgold September 11. Reconnoissance from Lee and Gordon's Mills toward Lafayette and skirmish September 13. Pea Vine Ridge September 18. Reed's Bridge September 18. Battle of Chickamauga, Ga., September 19-21. Guarding fords above Chattanooga till October 1. Operations against Wheeler and Roddy October 1-17. Thompson's Cove October 3. McMinnville October 4. Murfreesboro October 5. Near Shelbyville and Farmington October 7. Sugar Creek October 9.
March to Dechard, Tenn., October 10-15, thence to Maysville. At Maysville, Huntsville, Ala., and Pulaski, Tenn., till March, 1864. Refitted with 3-inch Parrotts February 24, 1864. Moved to Huntsville, Ala., March 10. thence to Columbia, Tenn., April 4-8. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8. Movements on right flank of army May 11-17. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Tanner's Bridge, Oostenaula River, May 15. Kingston May 19. Near Dallas May 24. Operations about Dallas May 25-June 5. Ackworth June 8. Near Big Shanty June 9. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. McAffee's Cross Roads June 11. Noonday Creek June 15 and 19. Powder Springs June 20. Noonday Creek June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Marietta and Rosswell July 3. Rottenwood Creek July 4. Chattahoochie River July 6-10. Raid to Atlanta & Augusta R. R. July 13-20. Raid to Covington July 22-24 (Centre Section). Decatur July 22. Garrard's Raid to South River July 27-31. Flat Rock Bridge July 28. Siege of Atlanta August 1-17. Kilpatrick's Raid around Atlanta August 18-22. Red Oak August 19. Flint River August 19. Jonesboro August 19. Lovejoy Station August 20. Operations at Chattahoochie River Bridge and Turner's Ferry August 26-September 2. At Cross Keys till September 21. Operations in North Georgia and North Alabama against Hood and Forest September 29-November 3. Near Lost Mountain October 4-7. New Hope Church October 5. Dallas October 7. Rome October 10-11.
Narrows October 11. Coosaville Road, near Rome, October 13. Near Summerville October 17. Little River, Ala., October 20. Leesburg October 20-21. Ladiga, Terrapin Creek, October 28. Moved to Chattanooga. Tenn., November 3-5, thence to Nashville, Tenn., November 13. Line of Shoal Creek, Ala., November 16-20. Nashville Campaign November-December. Fouche Springs November 23. Columbia, Duck River, November 24-27. Occupation of Nashville during Hood's investment December 1-15. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17-28. Richland Creek December 24. Lynnville December 24. Pulaski December 25. At Gravelly Springs, Ala., till March, 1865. Wilson's Raid to Macon, Ga., March 22-April 24. Ebenezer Church, Ala., April 1. Selma April 2. Montgomery April 12. Capture of Columbus, Ga., April 16. Macon, Ga., April 20. Duty at Macon till May 23. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Chicago, Ill., June 23-27. Mustered out June 30, 1865.
Battery lost during service 10 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 9 Enlisted men by disease. Total 19.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[johan_steele]

As a note on the Pioneer Brigade each Regiment was required to provide so many men w/ their arms, an NCo and officer. these men were combined into the Pioneer Brigade. Their arms were literally a microcasm of what the AoC was carrying. Literally everything from .54 to .71. .54, .577/.58, .69 & .71. A true nightmare for the QM. but at Stones River they gave stellar service.

When I get back home I'll posth the link for a superb article on the Pioneer Brigade of the AoC.

[johan_steele]

Somewhere around here I have a list of the tools carried by each company.

Each Army was a little different about their pioneers, so many men volunteered from each regiment from a Brigade and put in the vanguard of the march. Rosecrans and the AoC had a regular brigade strength Pioneer Corps.

I recall reading an account of men digging rifle pits where they weren't under enemy fire. The man's description sounded a lot like digging a grave w/ the finished product about that size.

Troini has done a study of an AoC pioneer w/ his distinctive crossed axes insignia. And I have CDV that illustrates a pioneer beautifully... taking a break after some work.

Pioneers, in both armies, were exempt from any additional duties such as water detail, diging sinks guard duty etc. So it was a worthwhile volunteer job. The Pioneer Brigade of the AoC was made up of men who had prior experiance that would be useful. Everything from lumberjacks to professional carpenters. Sherman disbanded the Pioneer Brigade and put the men back in their Regiments to be used in the more traditional manner. IIRC Company sized detachments per brigade able to be more responsive and more closely respond to the needs of their Brigade commanders. Both were very effective as used.

Many have been suprised by how simple and effective many fieldworks were; little more than a hole scooped out of the ground w/ a bit of fence and a pile of dirt in front. The kind of thing the average GI of WW2 would recognize.

Sherman disbanded the Pioneer Brigade of the AoC that Rosecrans had created. The men were sent back to their units to form Regimental & Brigade level pioneer detachments. This gave Brigade level commanders tactical control of their pioneers. This had been standard practice prewar & elsewhere tghroughout both the US & CS Armies. Rosecrsans had consolidated most of the Pioneers into a Brigade sized unit where he had more control over where and to whom Pioneers were doled out in time of battle. I can understand Rosecrans method as it gave him direct control; whereas Sherman believed his individual Brigade commanders would have a better idea where to use them.

In one sense Rosecrans was thinking more big picture on the use of his pioneers while Sherman was thinking on a more tactical level.

The reality was that the men who had been pioneers were still pioneers they just no longer had a seperate command organization. There are two good articles on the Pioneer. One was in a past issue of Civil War Historian and another is a book chapter... I have no idea of the title off hand it made up a chapter on the History of the Army of the Cumberland. Sorry I can't be more help. As is happening too often of late I'm away from my resources.

Just as a note, the simple rifle pit was likely the most common entrenchment seen or utilized by both sides. It was quick to build and provided a lot of protection particularly for skirmishers and every battle and camp had skirmishers out... especially after the US was caught napping at Shiloh. Two soldiers (typical skirmisher rifle pit) could put together a very effective fighting position very quickly and if necessity demanded those pits could be connected.

Entrenchments as we know of in the CW were by no means a new invention. The Romans had utilized extensive and sophisticated marching camps prior to the time of Caesar and they were well known throughout history since. The Yorktown fortifications built by the British were every bit as formidable as those built by the CS there most of a century later. The CS was certainly not lacking in competant engineers to design field works as any student of West Point was for all practical purposes an expert on the subject.

The works outside Atlanta, Vicksburg, Petersburg & Mobile to name just a few were massive undertakings w/ superb design behind them. The works at Ft Donelson & Henry as well as all of those entrenchements Shermans boys had to deal w/ on the way to Atlanta are proof of several things. 1. Southerners could dig a hole as well as any man on earth. 2. Entrenchments tie an army down and limit it's ability to manuever almost as much as it hampers an enemy army. After all what good are a set of entrenchments designed for 1000 men when only 100 are manning them... almost more of a hinderance. Relying upon entrenchments for defence gives the initiative to the enemy. In short the enemy who can and will manuever will invariably win. Trapping an enemy in his works is a good thing, that leads to seiges and seiges to surrenders.

In more than a decade of studying the words of the men of the day never have I seen mention to ineffective or crude CS works; in fact the reverse is true. I can think of only two instances where the CS created poorly designed or executed fieldworks: Ft Pillow & the siteing of arty at Chattanooga. Ft Pillow was designed to withstand attack from the river not the landward side and the US did not rectify such an oversite. Chatanooga... Bragg screwed the pooch there and for some unknown reason arty was sited to strike the town & Union works not deal w/ an attack from below. In his defence anyone who has ever walked the terrain can understand why. His folly was expecting the AoC to stay penned up in the city.

General Order #3
3 November 1862 HQ 14th Corps Army of the Cumberland

Equipment for 20 men-estimate for Regiment

6 felling axes
6 hatchets
2 Cross cut saws
2 hand saws
4 hand saw files
6 spades
2 shovels
3 picks
6 hammers
2 half inch augers
2 inch augers
2 two inch augers
20 lbs nails, assorted
40 lbs spikes assorted
one coil rope
one wagon w/ 4 horses or mules

It broke down to 2 men per company or 20 per Regiment at it's height the AoC Pioneer Brigade had about 3800 men.

"The duties assigned to them were the repair and construction of roads and bridges, the manoeuvring of the pontoon bridge equipage, the erection of fortifications, and, generally, the duties of sappers and miners. The distinction between their duties and those of the Michigan Regiment of Mechanics and Engineers of the same army is that the Pioneers move with the advance of the army, all the work that is required devolving upon them, while the latter is cheifly employed on the lines of communication."

"...at present in the ranks of tyhe Pioneers sufficient proportions of the following named trades and specialties, -viz.: military engineers, civil engineers, railroad engineers, surveyors, architects, sailors, draftsmen, printers, bridge builders, carpenters, machinists, millwrights, wheelwrights, coopers, blacksmiths, saddlers, sawyers, woodmen; and there is no description of work that an army in the field can require, in all the multiplied occasions which arise in an enemy's country, that cannot be executed with dispatch by the brigade, which is fully equipped with the proper tools for the purposes."

Fitch, John., Annals of the Army of the Cumberland, Stackpole Books, 2003.
pg 186-191

Brig. Gen James Morton was the commanding officer of the Pioneer Brigade who was a former professor at West Point

A wee bit more than just grunt work but real minds and common sense present from men who did such work in their civilian lives. THe Pioneers Brigade accomplished some pretty substantial feats atthe battle of Stones River to include building three bridges. They were also heavily engaged in support of the Chicago Trade Battery. However the Brigade was palagued w/ some very severe ammunition issues as the men came to the Brigade w/ their arms as issued which ranged from monstrous .75 cal muskets to .54's. At the time of Stones River their were present in its ranks: .54, .577, .58, 69, .70, 71, and even big ole .75's! A nightmare for any ordnance Sgt.

All things considered the Pioneer Brigade was a smashing sucess. While Sherman ordered the unit disbanded and the Pioneers distibuted back to their units he did it because he felt it more practical to give Regimental and Brigade commanders more ready access to pioneers thus more tactical options.

[johan_steele]

There were typically 20 pioneers per Regiment w/ a lot of contrabands earning rations and pay alongside, how many, I've read as many as 7000 recently freed slaves joined up w/ Shermans Army in Ga & SC in such a capacity w/ a large number marching in the Grand Review.


Pioneer data is spread thinly throughout.

Barnard, George N., Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign, Dover Publications 1977.

Bishop, Judson, Narrative of the Second Regiment, reprinted from Minnesota in the Civil War and Indian War, Park Genealogical Books.

Bishop, Judson W., The Story of a Regiment, North Star Press, 2000.

Brown, Alonzo, Narrative of the Fourth Regiment, reprinted from Minnesota in the Civil War and Indian War, Park Genealogical Books.

Coburn, Mark, Terrible Innocence General Sherman At War, Hippocrene Books, 1993.

Carter, Samuel, The Siege of Atlanta, 1864, Bonanza Books.

Cox, Jacob D., Campaigns of the Civil War.-IX. Atlanta, Castle Books, 2002.

Cox, Jacob D., Campaigns of the Civil War.-X. The March to the Sea-Franklin and Nashville, Castle Books, 2002.

Fitch, John., Annals of the Army of the Cumberland, Stackpole Books, 2003.

Glatthaar, Joseph T., The American Civil War, The war in the West 1863-1865, Osprey Publishing, 2001.

Glatthaar, Joseph T., Forged in Battle The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers, The Free Press, 1990.

Glatthaar, Joseph T., The March to the Sea and Beyond, New York University Press, 1985.

Griffith, Paddy, Battle In the Civil War Generalship and Tactics in America 1861-65, Fieldbooks, 1986.

Griffith, Paddy, Battle Tactics of the Civil War, Yale University Press, 2001.

Hitchcock, Henry, Marching with Sherman, University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

Johnson, Mark W. That Body of Brave Men, Da Capo Press, 2003.

McPherson, James M., Hallowed Ground, Crown Journeys, 2003.

McPherson, James M., Marching Toward Freedom, Facts on File, Inc,1991.

McPherson, James M., The Negro’s Civil War, Vintage Books, 1965.

Phisterer, Frederick, Campaigns of the Civil War Supplementary Volume Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States, Castle Books, 2002.

Sherman, William T., Memoirs of William T Sherman, DeCapo Press1984.

Smith, Mark A., &; Sokolosky, No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar: Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign from Fayetville to Averasboro, Ironclad Publishing, 2005.

Trudeau, Noah Andre, Like Men of War, Little Brown & Company, 1998.

Wiley, Bell Irvin, The Life of Billy Yank, Louisiana State University Press, 1978.

Wiley, Bell Irvin, The Life of Johnny Reb, Louisiana State University Press, 1978.