Ivan Vasyliovych Turchyn; December 24, 1822 – June 18, 1901) better known by his Anglicised name of
John Basil Turchin, was a
Union army brigadier general in the
American Civil War. He led two critical charges that saved the day at
Chickamauga and was among the first to lead soldiers up
Missionary Ridge.
Turchin joined the Union army at the outbreak of the war in 1861 and became the
colonel of the
19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Having led his
regiment in
Missouri and
Kentucky, he soon found his unit under command of the newly organized
Army of the Ohio under
major general Don Carlos Buell. General Buell was impressed by Turchin and promoted him to command a
brigade in the Army of the Ohio's Third Division, commanded by Brigadier General
Ormsby M. Mitchel. Buell advanced southward into Kentucky and Tennessee in early 1862.
When Buell headed west to support
Grant at
Shiloh, he left Mitchel to hold
Nashville. Turchin urged Mitchel to move southward. Mitchel did so, but not because of Turchin. He took
Huntsville, Alabama as part of a plan with the
spy James Andrews to capture Chattanooga by cutting it off from Confederate reinforcements. Mitchel blocked them from the west by capturing Huntsville. Andrews was to block them from the south by burning bridges on the Western and Atlantic line. Unfortunately, Andrews failed as his raid evolved into an episode that became known as the
Great Locomotive Chase. Nonetheless, Mitchell continued to occupy the line westward from Chattanooga throughout much of northern Alabama.
The occupation of northern Alabama by this division of the Union Army led to attack by combined
partisan and Confederate
cavalry units. One such attack overran one of Turchin's regiments at Athens, Alabama. Frustration had been building among these Union soldiers for weeks over repeated attacks and Buell's clearly stated conciliatory policy of protecting the rights and property of Southerners. The reported involvement of local citizens in the rout at Athens and the humiliation suffered by the Union soldiers led to the sacking of the town when Turchin brought up reinforcements.
After reoccupying the town on May 2, 1862 Turchin assembled his men and reportedly told them: "I shut my eyes for two hours. I see nothing." He did in fact leave the town to reconnoiter defensive positions, during which time his men ransacked the business district. The incident was controversial, and
Lost Cause supporters vilified Turchin.
When word reached General Buell, a man much detested by the soldiers, he insisted on court-martialing Turchin. Turchin's court proceedings received national attention and became a focal point for the debate on the conduct of the war, related to the conciliatory policy as Union casualties in the war mounted. However,
President Abraham Lincoln promoted Turchin to
brigadier general before the court-martial was finished.
Turchin received a hero's welcome upon his return to Chicago. Prominent figures called for the removal of Buell and a more aggressive conduct of the war such that it be brought to a swift end. Turchin was given command of a new brigade. He distinguished himself during the battles of
Chickamauga and
Chattanooga, and in the
Atlanta Campaign.
Turchin's wife, known in the army as
Madame Turchin, always stood by him and followed her husband on the field during his campaigns, witnessing the battles (as at
Chickamauga and at the
battle of Missionary Ridge), and writing the only woman's war diary of the military campaigns.
[13]
The song "Turchin's got your mule" (stemming from the catchphrase "
Here's your mule") was popular during the war, and its chorus is said to have been used by disheartened troopers as a derisive answer to General
Braxton Bragg's endearments at Missionary Ridge.
[14]
Turchin resigned from service in October 1864 after suffering heatstroke on the campaign.
Court Martial
There were three charges against Turchin. He was first accused of "neglect of duty."
[15] According to the recitations, there were over twenty or so instances where Turchin supposedly ordered his soldiers to pillage and plunder Athens, AL, without any proper restraints to them.
[16] Such instances included the sexual abuse of a servant [meaning slave] girl and the utter decimation of Bibles and testaments, ruthlessly destroyed and burned to pieces in a shop. Many of the other allegations against him included the plundering of ten stores and nine homes. "The rape served as the ultimate example of Turchin's failure" to control his own troops.
[17] Under the second charge, Turchin failed to perform proper behavior expected out of an officer and a gentleman. This mattered to General Buell because under "Article 83 conviction meant automatic dismissal from the service and the end of Turchin's military career." A specification added to this charge included a failure to pay the bill at a hotel where he defrauded the innkeeper. The third charge was a failure to obey orders. It was believed that if Turchin was convicted on this charge it would send a clear message to the officers in the Army of the Ohio. It was a means of instilling discipline and order within the ranks of the army
[18] When the court-martial began, Garfield had been under the impression that Turchin allowed the things that took place at Athens in accordance with the Muscovite custom
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