I live near Pensacola, Florida and we had a tornado hit, about 15 minutes from my house. We also had one hit Century, Florida last week (45 minutes from where I live) that did even more damage. With tornadoes on the brain recently it made me curious to see if there were any stories of tornadoes during the Civil War. You would think with so many soldiers deployed there would be some interesting stories. Of course the first person I thought of was Sam Watkins and I found this from his memoirs:
One of those sad, unexpected affairs, that remind the living that even in
life we are in the midst of death, happened at Shelbyville. Our regiment
had been out to the front, on duty, and was returning to camp. It was
nearly dark, and we saw a black wind cloud rising. The lightning's flash
and the deep muttering thunders warned us to seek shelter as speedily as
possible. Some of us ran in under the old depot shed, and soon the storm
struck us. It was a tornado that made a track through the woods beyond
Shelbyville, and right through the town, and we could follow its course
for miles where it had blown down the timber, twisting and piling it in
every shape. Berry Morgan and I had ever been close friends, and we
threw down our blankets and were lying side by side, when I saw roofs of
houses, sign boards, and brickbats flying in every direction. Nearly
half of the town was blown away in the storm. While looking at the storm
without, I felt the old shed suddenly jar and tremble, and suddenly
become unroofed, and it seemed to me that ten thousand brickbats had
fallen in around us. I could hear nothing for the roaring of the storm,
and could see nothing for the blinding rain and flying dirt and bricks
and other rubbish. The storm lasted but a few minutes, but those minutes
seemed ages. When it had passed, I turned to look at "poor Berry."
Poor fellow! his head was crushed in by a brickbat, his breast crushed
in by another, and I think his arm was broken, and he was otherwise
mutilated. It was a sad sight. Many others of our regiment were wounded.
I know the War of 1812 had the famous tornado that hit Washington D.C. after the British had raided it. Anyone else know of any stories during the Civil War like that? Thinking of weather events, you would think with massive armies so close together, the chance of soldiers getting hit by lightning strikes would be greater as well. It makes me wonder how often that happened.
One of those sad, unexpected affairs, that remind the living that even in
life we are in the midst of death, happened at Shelbyville. Our regiment
had been out to the front, on duty, and was returning to camp. It was
nearly dark, and we saw a black wind cloud rising. The lightning's flash
and the deep muttering thunders warned us to seek shelter as speedily as
possible. Some of us ran in under the old depot shed, and soon the storm
struck us. It was a tornado that made a track through the woods beyond
Shelbyville, and right through the town, and we could follow its course
for miles where it had blown down the timber, twisting and piling it in
every shape. Berry Morgan and I had ever been close friends, and we
threw down our blankets and were lying side by side, when I saw roofs of
houses, sign boards, and brickbats flying in every direction. Nearly
half of the town was blown away in the storm. While looking at the storm
without, I felt the old shed suddenly jar and tremble, and suddenly
become unroofed, and it seemed to me that ten thousand brickbats had
fallen in around us. I could hear nothing for the roaring of the storm,
and could see nothing for the blinding rain and flying dirt and bricks
and other rubbish. The storm lasted but a few minutes, but those minutes
seemed ages. When it had passed, I turned to look at "poor Berry."
Poor fellow! his head was crushed in by a brickbat, his breast crushed
in by another, and I think his arm was broken, and he was otherwise
mutilated. It was a sad sight. Many others of our regiment were wounded.
I know the War of 1812 had the famous tornado that hit Washington D.C. after the British had raided it. Anyone else know of any stories during the Civil War like that? Thinking of weather events, you would think with massive armies so close together, the chance of soldiers getting hit by lightning strikes would be greater as well. It makes me wonder how often that happened.
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I thought it was a reference to how dumb it would be to make a baseball bat made out of brick? Im not really sure, but I do know I never knew it was a REAL word. So now I need someone to please enlighten me. What on earth is a brickbat? 
Bringing the