Missing a battle

[JackADriscoll]

Something I've always wondered. If a soldier was on furlough or something and they missed a big battle are there any letters akin to survivors guilt or maybe they got put on the spot by comrades for missing it?

 

[RedRover]

J.B. Polley of the 4th Texas, Hood's Texas brigade, from a late 1863 letter, with some post-war illustrations (in Confederate Veteran magazine).

Confederate vetreran John S. Robson also noted that tales of "Feelin' for furloughs" was not uncommon evidently.

Men who always seemed sick when there was fighting to be done, etc., were called "Hospital Rats" in the Confederate army.

 

[Seduzal]

Good question but I have no clue! Just wait for a little while and someone will be along to help you..

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

The references to being absent at home on furlough during a battle that I've read seem to indicate a feeling of relief that the individual was not in the ranks. It was seen more as the protecting hand of God than something the soldier did wrong…

More common so far in my readings are soldiers like the one below, who, being completely justified in staying out of the fight, none the less go back, "one more time," but don't come back.

"John Timmons, of company 'G', Second Lieutenant, was another noble fellow. He was an Irishman, quiet, but full of humor and brim full of pluck. When J. L. Converse was killed in the Wilderness, he refused promotion and announced his purpose to muster out at the end of his enlistment. When we received orders to move to fight the battle of the Weldon Railroad, John's time was out and he was waiting the arrival of a muster out officer. I urged him to remain in camp, knowing all the circumstances of his intended marriage. But when the regiment moved he went with us, and in the battle of the second day he was shot and instantly killed.
Source:
SERVICE WITH THE SIXTH WISCONSIN VOLUNTEERS. RUFUS R. DAWES

 

[JackADriscoll]

Beautiful responses thank you

 

[Tom Elmore]

I am aware of one soldier who had been granted a furlough, but apparently decided to remain with his comrades because a battle was imminent (Gettysburg): "I saw a dead officer lying with his pockets turned out. There were two papers on the ground lying close by him, one a furlough which was to have commenced two days before the battle and which was granted to allow him to go home and get married, and the other from his bride-to-be, expressing her happiness on the approaching event. The man was from New York, seemed to be about twenty-five years old and was a tall, well-made blonde ... his left arm had been torn from the socket, and he had bled to death." (John Cabell Early, A Southern Boy's Experience at Gettysburg, Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States, New York: Governor's Island, 1911, volume 48 (May 1911), p. 419)

Another story involves the random drawing of a furlough while in winter quarters, which sounds a lot like playing the lottery: "In November 1863, one furlough was drawn by a 'woe-be-gone' soldier, who then sold it to a comrade named Jim for $1,000. Jim was a slick poker player and he had the cash." (A Private in Gray, Thomas Benton Reed, Company A, 9th Louisiana) (A nice sum for a private who earned $11 a month.)

I also recall that a Confederate soldier could obtain a furlough if he captured a set of enemy colors, which seems an effective if rather heartless method of encouraging men to take excessive risks during a battle. What irony to literally die for a chance to see loved ones again.

 

[JackADriscoll]

These are the stories that really humanizes these guys for me.

 

[DixieRifles]

Men who always seemed sick when there was fighting to be done, etc., were called "Hospital Rats" in the Confederate army.

If Hospital Rats are part of this discussion, I have a good example — from an Officer.

The book, "Soldiering For Glory", is based on letters of Colonel Frank Schaller. He replaced the original colonel of the 22d Mississippi Regiment and he "saw the elephant" at Shiloh. But as the campaigns continued, Schaller got sick and asked for extended furloughs. He would make it back but when the threat of a battle came, he got a furlough. What did he do? He hung around the brass in Washington. He even went with another officer to give speeches to the civilians. His letters are rather boring if are looking for info on campaigns: just boring details of life in the big city.

The co-authors had a doctor read his letters. Their diagnosis: Colonel Schaller suffered from IBS. Ask your grandparents what that is. As the stress of battle increased, his digestion went out of control.

 

[RedRover]

If Hospital Rats are part of this discussion, I have a good example — from an Officer.

The book, "Soldiering For Glory", is based on letters of Colonel Frank Schaller. He replaced the original colonel of the 22d Mississippi Regiment and he "saw the elephant" at Shiloh. But as the campaigns continued, Schaller got sick and asked for extended furloughs. He would make it back but when the threat of a battle came, he got a furlough. What did he do? He hung around the brass in Washington. He even went with another officer to give speeches to the civilians. His letters are rather boring if are looking for info on campaigns: just boring details of life in the big city.

The co-authors had a doctor read his letters. Their diagnosis: Colonel Schaller suffered from IBS. Ask your grandparents what that is. As the stress of battle increased, his digestion went out of control.

G.W. Noble of the 5th Kentucky noted the effect of an impending battle on one's bowels...

A Union veteran of the attacks on Port Hudson makes a similar allusion to these unpleasant effects of impending battle on ones' system.