lelliott19
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Thanks to the graphic account left by Dr. David Jasper Noblitt, Surgeon of the 44th Tennessee, most people interested in medical care at the Battle of Shiloh already know that the Mickey House served as the brigade field hospital for Sterling Alexander Martin (SAM) Wood's brigade. But there's so much more to the place than that!
On Saturday, September 26, 2020 @Diane123 and I provided a presentation on Confederate medical service at the Battle of Shiloh. Through the effort of friends @MS2623 and @16thAL along with the generosity of the current landowner, we were able to provide the presentation on the site of the Mickey House. We were standing on the very place where our 2x great grandfather established his brigade hospital; the same ground he walked on, talking about amputations at the same place where he performed them 158 years ago. It was a humbling and surreal experience to say the least. I can't thank @MS2623 and @16thAL enough for making it possible.
As most of you know, I enjoy research, so in preparation for the presentation, I compiled some primary source materials that help to paint a vivid picture of the activities at, and around, the Mickey House during and after the Battle of Shiloh.
The Michie (pronounced Mickey) House was once located near the intersection of the Monterey-Savannah Road with the present-day Chambers Store Road. At the time of the battle, it was most likely the home of David Stoneman Michie, his wife Nancy Usseries Michie, and their children. I've read that the family was not at home immediately prior to or during the battle, but their absence evidently didn't prevent their house from being used for a variety of purposes.
You'll find Michie's house mentioned in reports and correspondence of the Union and Confederate armies - sometimes as the Mickey House, Mickey’s House, Mickey's farmhouse, Mickey’s White House, Mickey's, Michie's, Michie's house, etc. It's important to note that references to "Michie's" in correspondence and in the OR should not be confused with the nearby town of Michie, TN. The present day town of Michie (pronounced Mickey) was called "Monterey" until 1882, when the town applied for a post office and found the name Monterey had already been taken. So Civil War era references to Michie's refer to the farmhouse residence, not the town.
First and perhaps most importantly, Mickey's House was the designated rendezvous point for the entire Confederate Army of the Mississippi. Travelling by various roads, the Corps of Leonidas Polk, Braxton Bragg, William J. Hardee, and John C Breckinridge were ordered to rendezvous at the Mickey House. And, on April 5, 1862 the Confederate Army struck off from the Mickey House for their approach to the April 6th attack.
At various times during the week of April 4-10, 1862, the site served as headquarters for Maj Gen Braxton Bragg, Maj Gen William J Hardee, and Brig Gen John C Breckinridge, as well as Hospital Headquarters for Hardee's corps. The brigade field hospitals for all three brigades of Hardee's Corps were located there. Soldiers from both armies -wounded Confederates and wounded and captured Union prisoners - were treated there. And, later, in May 1862, the 3rd Division US Army (Lew Wallace's) encamped on the site.
From the time that Hardee's Corps arrived at the location on the evening of April 4, 1862, the Mickey house and surrounding area was critically important to the Battle of Shiloh. I'll post a few of the accounts in this thread as time allows.
Sources:
- OR, Report of Brigadier General James Patton Anderson, 2nd Brigade, Ruggles’ Division, 2nd (Bragg’s) Corps. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part I: Reports, pp. 494-495.
- Account of Captain Benjamin Franklin Sawyer, Company I, 1st Blythe’s Mississippi Infantry Battalion (later designated 44th Mississippi Infantry) entitled “The Battle of Shiloh from the Diary of a Confederate Officer,” as published in The Newberry Herald. (Newberry, SC), March 11, 1874, page 1.
- "Forty-Fourth Tennessee Infantry by Dr. D.J. Noblitt, Lincoln County, Tennessee." Military Annals of Tennessee (Confederate), First series: embracing a review of military operations, with regimental histories and memorial rolls, comp. from original and official sources, and ed. by John Berrien Lindsley, 1886, pp. 530-532.
- Manuscript and letters of Civil War POW, Captain A. W. McCormick (77th Ohio), Historical Auctions, 2011. Link to content
- "Letter from a prisoner at Corinth," Captain A. W. McCormick (77th Ohio) to his wife, Daily Ohio Statesman, (Columbus, OH), June 1, 1862, page 2.
- OR, Report of Col. Robert Paxton Trabue, 4th Kentucky, Commanding Orphan Brigade. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part I: Reports, page 619.
- OR, Correspondence of Brigadier General John C Breckinridge to Major General Braxton Bragg, dated Mickey's, April 8, 1862, 5:45 pm. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part II: Correspondence, page 401.
- OR, Report of Major General John A. McClernand, Commanding Reserve Corps, Army of the Tennessee, dated July 4, 1862. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part I: Reports, page 754.
- OR, Correspondence of Assistant Adjutant General Thomas Jordan to Brigadier General John C Breckinridge, dated Headquarters, Army of the Mississippi, Corinth, Miss., April 8, 1862. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part II: Correspondence, page 401.
- OR, Correspondence of Brigadier General John C Breckinridge to Assistant Adjutant General Thomas Jordan, dated Mickey's, April 9, 1862, 9:30 am. Official Records, Series I, Volume X, Part II: Correspondence, page 403.
- Tennessee Place Names and Post Offices > Part 3 > J - O https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/tennessee-place-names-and-post-offices-part-3-j-o [A list based on records at National Archives listing postmaster appointments from 1832 to 1971, National Archives microfilm publications M1131 and M841.]
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