Lightning Brigade

[richard]

There is a very good paper written, "The Evolution 0f Mountain Warfare in Southern Appalachia" by Lucas Michael Wilder. In he states that Wilder and Forrest refined the concept of Mounted Infantry.

 

[C. Cash]

Wheeler had also perfected mounted infantry tactics. In fact he wrote the literal book on it that was used by the Cav. From the fighting retreat from Perryville through the Atlanta Campaign and Sherman's March they did some pretty amazing stuff. Here is maybe their best example.

A Volcano of Fire: Rediscovering Ashby’s Tennessee Cavalry Brigade At Pickett’s Mill

The Battle of Pickett's Mill, fought on May 27, 1864, was particularly horrific in it's ferocity and carnage; made worse by the heavily wooded and tangled terrain the men struggled through. The actions of Granbury’s Texans to stem the waves of Union Infantry attacking through the ravine are well...

www.westerntheatercivilwar.com

 

[bastrutt]

Given they were mounted infantry, not cavalry, does this mean they were trimmed in blue, not yellow? Or were they still considered part of the cavalry arm and reporting as such to the head of cavalry?

I am convinced that they remained dressed in infantry uniforms, as that was their official designation. Therefore, they would not have the yellow piping which identified them as cavalry. Well after they were "mounted" they were still considered as being organized as infantry regiments. They were mobilized to march by horseback but were expected to fight as infantry. However, as the war grew on, they became more like cavalry, especially by the time that they were being used under Sherman during the Atlanta and Savannah Campaigns.

Private Alva C. Griest, Company "B", 72nd Indiana Infantry, who was also part of Wilder`s Lightning Brigade, made this clear in his diary. He wrote the following regarding the brigade becoming mounted for the first time and what their expectation was:

"We are to fight as infantry, but are to do all our marching on horseback. On some accounts I like it, on some others I dislike it".

First, I acknowledge this is an old thread but I came upon the answer to this question while reading Wilder's Lightning Brigade - And Its Spencer Repeaters by Glenn W. Sutherland. Glenn Sutherland references B. F. McGee's Regimental History of the 72nd Indian Volunteer Infantry as his source (and this can be found on page 109); the 72nd Indiana was issued cavalry uniforms but cut off the yellow striping to indicate that they were not regular cavalry. The full quote for you:

"After deciding to mount, the next thing was to get horses to
mount. One or two companies were mounted on convalescent
horses — a feeble sort of animal — which they drew on the 18th of
March. For a few days we were occupied in details necessary to
the great change which had taken place in our military mode of
locomotion. We drew cavalry uniforms, but cut off the yellow stripe
from the legs of the pants and jackets so that we might not be taken
for regular cavalry. We were a new branch of the service ; simply
mounted infantry."

It's my first post on the site, apologies for any broken rules.

 

[wausaubob]

First, I acknowledge this is an old thread but I came upon the answer to this question while reading Wilder's Lightning Brigade - And Its Spencer Repeaters by Glenn W. Sutherland. Glenn Sutherland references B. F. McGee's Regimental History of the 72nd Indian Volunteer Infantry as his source (and this can be found on page 109); the 72nd Indiana was issued cavalry uniforms but cut off the yellow striping to indicate that they were not regular cavalry. The full quote for you:

"After deciding to mount, the next thing was to get horses to
mount. One or two companies were mounted on convalescent
horses — a feeble sort of animal — which they drew on the 18th of
March. For a few days we were occupied in details necessary to
the great change which had taken place in our military mode of
locomotion. We drew cavalry uniforms, but cut off the yellow stripe
from the legs of the pants and jackets so that we might not be taken
for regular cavalry. We were a new branch of the service ; simply
mounted infantry."

It's my first post on the site, apologies for any broken rules.

I thought many of them were mounted on mules. Since the regiments were not intended to fight while mounted, mules would have been sufficient.

 

[wausaubob]

I think that by the time the Battle of Chattanooga occurred the regiments were separated and assigned to cavalry brigades.

 

[wausaubob]

Some of regiments that had been part of Wilder's command accompanied Eli Long's cavalry on the raid eastward towards Cleveland, TN.

 

[James Brenner]

My g-grandfather was in Company B, 98th Illinois, part of Wilders Brigade. He wrote a short memoir in/about 1920.

"Enlisted on the third day of August 1862 and was mustered in to the United States Army at Centralia, Illinois. Participated in the marches through Kentucky after Bragg and John Morgan and on the 24th of June 1863 had his horse killed from under him at the Battle of Hoover's Gap, Fired if not the first, one of the first shots at the Battle of Chicamauga [sic]. Also participated in the Battles of Charleston, Tenn, Buzzard Roost, Ringgold, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, Noonday Creek, Marietta, Atlanta, Jonesborough, Selma, London, and numerous skirmishes. Was detailed on July 22nd 1864 for escort duty at Sherman's Headquarters and was relieved in October at Rome, Ga, and returned to his company. Was one of Wilson's Raiders and helped capture the traitor Jeff Davis and was discharged on July 6th at Springfield Illinois."

In another short paragraph, he added a few more details: he carried dispatches for Sherman in the battles around Atlanta and was in the charge on the works at Selma.

I have his Wilders medal. The rifle was in the family for years but has since disappeared.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Some answers:

Wilder's men were initially known as the "Hatchet Brigade" because they carried hatchets instead of sabers.

His men were emphatically not cavalry. Their horses sure beat marching.

When issued short cavalry jackets, Wilder's men meticulously cut the yellow piping off of the them.

As part of Rosecrans' comprehensive campaign to focus Bragg's attention on a threat to his left, on June 21st 1863 Wilder's brigade was ostentatiously operating near Franklin on Bragg's left… exactly where he expected it to be. On the false dawn of the 23rd, forty five miles eastward, Wilder's men overwhelmed the outpost guarding the entrance to Hoover's Gap. It was one of only three ways to climb up onto the Highland Plateau to advance to the Tennessee River & Chattanooga.

Breaking out of the single wagon wide gap, Wilder's men deployed & did something that Calvary armed with muzzle loading carbines & sabers could never do… they held their ground. General Bate's veterans had never encountered the overwhelming volume of fire from what was obviously a cavalry skirmish line. Survivors huddled in a swale of ground, held up their muskets by the muzzle & were allowed to to pass into Wilder's line.

That was the baptism of fire for repeating rifles in combat.

An integral element of Wilder's mounted infantry doctrine was Eli Lilly's battery of "Rodman" ( 3" ordinance ) rifles & the " Jack-Alpha Sierra Sierra Battery " of 12 # mountain howitzers. Exactly where he came up with the mountain howitzers is a little hazy. Lilly's ammunition boxes were repacked replacing long range case & shell with canister.

From that morning at Hoover's Gap, Civil War cavalry emulated Wilder's mounted infantry armed with repeaters.

 

[bastrutt]

I thought many of them were mounted on mules. Since the regiments were not intended to fight while mounted, mules would have been sufficient.

After the Union took Nashville, Confederate General Morgan flanked the Union lines and moved north towards Louisville to destroy supply lines and Wilder was tasked with chasing them down. Then, on page 23:
"Then in a vain attempt to overtake the Confederates Colonel Wilder mounted a detachment of the 17th Indiana on some of the wagon train mules. This decision proved to be disastrous. The mules bucked, jumped on each other's backs and tried to run under each other's bellies in order to dispose of their riders."
This event was the catalyst for Wilder to try and mount his infantry. He accomplished this by stealing/commandeering horses from the citizens in the area. It was also the catalyst from him to issue his men hatchets as they had frozen to the ground because they couldn't bivouac well.

I think that by the time the Battle of Chattanooga occurred the regiments were separated and assigned to cavalry brigades.

Between Chickamauga and Chattanooga they were assigned to Gen. Crook's Cavalry but notably did not fight as cavalry. They maintained their mounted infantry tactics throughout and regular infantrymen revered them for it. Most notably with Crook they pursued Wheeler's cavalry while Wheeler tried to destroy Union supply lines in the west, it was probably their hardest fought campaign in the war. From page 112:
"In only nine days they had traveled three hundred miles over rugged terrain on two days' rations, fought three skirmishes and one pitched battle. But they had accomplished their mission; they had kept open the supply lines to the besieged troops in Chattanooga."
At the end of this campaign they had captured so many horses that they rode out with 1000 more horses than men.

Anecdotally, I drive the terrain they covered by car and sometimes that struggles with the steepness. I can't imagine doing it on horseback, in the pouring rain, dragging cannons behind me, with much less in the way of road infrastructure.

You're right they were broken up but they were reunited for the Atlanta campaign alongside Col. Minty and Col. Eli Long as part of General Garrard's 2nd Cavalry Division sans Eli Lilly's artillery battery which had reached the end of enlistment in 1863.

 

[Rhea Cole]

After the Union took Nashville, Confederate General Morgan flanked the Union lines and moved north towards Louisville to destroy supply lines and Wilder was tasked with chasing them down. Then, on page 23:
"Then in a vain attempt to overtake the Confederates Colonel Wilder mounted a detachment of the 17th Indiana on some of the wagon train mules. This decision proved to be disastrous. The mules bucked, jumped on each other's backs and tried to run under each other's bellies in order to dispose of their riders."
This event was the catalyst for Wilder to try and mount his infantry. He accomplished this by stealing/commandeering horses from the citizens in the area. It was also the catalyst from him to issue his men hatchets as they had frozen to the ground because they couldn't bivouac well.

Between Chickamauga and Chattanooga they were assigned to Gen. Crook's Cavalry but notably did not fight as cavalry. They maintained their mounted infantry tactics throughout and regular infantrymen revered them for it. Most notably with Crook they pursued Wheeler's cavalry while Wheeler tried to destroy Union supply lines in the west, it was probably their hardest fought campaign in the war. From page 112:
"In only nine days they had traveled three hundred miles over rugged terrain on two days' rations, fought three skirmishes and one pitched battle. But they had accomplished their mission; they had kept open the supply lines to the besieged troops in Chattanooga."
At the end of this campaign they had captured so many horses that they rode out with 1000 more horses than men.

Anecdotally, I drive the terrain they covered by car and sometimes that struggles with the steepness. I can't imagine doing it on horseback, in the pouring rain, dragging cannons behind me, with much less in the way of road infrastructure.

You're right they were broken up but they were reunited for the Atlanta campaign alongside Col. Minty and Col. Eli Long as part of General Garrard's 2nd Cavalry Division sans Eli Lilly's artillery battery which had reached the end of enlistment in 1863.

Gen Wilder described the terrain as being made up of "lumpy" hills.