Important: Friday’s Bus is Sold Out. I will be taking Standby reservations only. If you have questions, please contact me at dpowell334@aol.com
Update – Chickamauga Seminar in the Woods, March 10-11, 2023
December 28, 2022Just a quick update to the Seminar in the Woods:
First, I now have 40 signups. just ten more spaces are left on the Friday Bus – Saturday is of course, open to all.
Second, we will be providing lunch at Greg’s Restaurant in Chickamauga, at 1:30 on Friday. Lunch will run later than usual because we have a lot of ground to cover in the morning, and we want to work around the restaurant’s regular lunch business.
The fare will be of the “meat and three” variety, southern cooking. Lunch will be paid for out of your existing sign-up fee, no need to pay extra.
Thank you and see you in March.
Chickamauga Seminar in the Woods, March 10-11, 2023
September 27, 2022Seminar in the Woods:
Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.
Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden and Dave Powell
Date: Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, 2023; By bus and car caravan.
Friday’s tour will begin and end at the History Company, 2949 LaFayette Road, just north of the Chickamauga Park north entrance.
Saturday’s tours will begin and end at the CCNMP Visitor’s Center.
Bus – Friday all day, 8:30 to 5:00 p.m.: Cavalry Operations on the Union Right
We will travel through McLemore Cove as far as Dougherty’s Gap (not through, the bus cannot navigate the road) and then come back north, discussing cavalry operations up to Glass Mill and Crawfish Spring. This will be a daylong tour. Lunch TBA.
Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell.
Site: Gilbert-Stephenson Park Pavilion, Fort Oglethorpe, GA
Reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.
Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Confederate Artillery in Action, Williams’s and Robertson’s Battalions, plus A. P. Stewart’s advance on September 20.
Despite artillery’s overall limited effectiveness amid the heavily wooded terrain of Chickamauga, there were instances of that arm’s effective employment during the battle. During the afternoon of September 20, Confederate reserve artillery was used to engage the southern end of the Union Kelly Field position, prior to the final advance of A. P. Stewart’s division. Our morning talk will explore both the artillery engagement and that final advance.
Break for lunch
Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Confederate Artillery in Action, Cleburne’s batteries reduce the 4th Indiana, and Cleburne vs. Starkweather
A second example of effective artillery use can be found in Cleburne’s Division, also on September 20. After being repulsed in the morning, Rebel gunners focused on suppressing the Federal 4th Indiana Battery. The action that followed provides a fine example of highly effective interarm coordination, allowing Cleburne’s division to drive into Kelly Field against Starkweather’s brigade on the evening of September 20.
Costs:
Friday’s Tours will be by Bus. Pre-registration and Fee required: $45, due by February 1, 2023.
Sign-up after February 1 or on-site Fee (based on space available): $50
Saturday: no charge.
Fees raised in excess of costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.
In 2022 the Study Group made the following donations:
$500 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs.
$750 to the American Battlefield Trust, in support of land acquisition at western battlefields.
Send to (and make checks payable to):
David Powell
1300 Mark Street
Bensenville IL 60106
This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2023. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, and unable to cancel.
Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks, and incidentals.
Weather note: Last year, we had snow on Saturday, but we did not cancel. We are a (fool)hardy bunch, we go rain or shine. Dress accordingly.
Revised Seminar in the Woods, Chickamauga, 2022
January 10, 2022REVISED – DUE TO CONTINUED COVID CONCERNS
In order to accommodate ongoing safety concerns, as well as NPS regulations concerning bus tours, we are going to change the Friday tours. We are replacing the bus tour into McLemore’s Cove with two car-caravan walking tours.
If you paid a bus fee, and wish for a refund, send me an email at dpowell334@aol.com. Otherwise, I will donate all excess funds to either the park Monument fund or American Battlefield Trust, as I have done in the past.
As noted below, Last year, we donated $500 to ABT, and $750 to the Jewell Monument Fund. In 2022, we should be able to do the same or a bit better.
Seminar in the Woods: Chickamauga, March 11-12, 2022
Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.
Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden and Dave Powell
Date: Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, 2022; By bus and car caravan.
Friday’s and Saturday’s tours will begin and end at the CCNMP Visitor’s Center.
Car Caravan – Friday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Buckner crosses the Creek, Sept 18 and 19, 1863.
Buckner’s Corps, which was supposed to join the general crossing of West Chickamauga Creek on September 18, did not do so that Friday. Instead, while elements secured the intended fords, Buckner’s two divisions did not establish themselves on the west side of Chickamauga Creek until Saturday, September 19. We will explore these little-visited crossing sites and examine the reasons for the delays.
Car Caravan – Friday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Trigg’s Brigade in Viniard Field and the charge of the 6th Florida Infantry
Despite the proximity of Buckner’s Corps to the fighting in Viniard Field, Col. Robert Trigg’s Florida Brigade is the only element of that corps which became involved in the fighting there, and even that combat was disjointed. We will follow Trigg’s movements, especially that of the 6th Florida, which charged all alone across Viniard Field on the afternoon of September 19.
Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell.
Site: Gilbert-Stephenson Park Pavilion, Fort Oglethorpe, GA
Reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.
Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Sheridan comes to grief, the fight for Lytle Hill.
Between 12 and 1 PM on September 20, after an unsettled morning’s shifting of position multiple times, Philip Sheridan’s division was dispatched to reinforce George Thomas’ line in the vicinity of Kelly Field. Sheridan’s men never reached their destination. Instead, they ran headlong into the southern flank of the Confederate breakthrough column—Thomas C. Hindman’s large infantry division. Laiboldt’s and Lytle’s brigades were engaged in and around what has come to be known as Lytle Hill, where Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle was killed in action.
Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Manigault’s brigade vs. Walworth and Wilder.
While Sheridan’s other two brigades grappled with the bulk of Hindman’s division, Col. Nathan Walworth’s brigade (Formerly Bradley’s, wounded on September 19) turned to face Confederate Brig. Gen. Arthur L. Manigault’s large command of Alabamians and South Carolinians. The resultant encounter, first with Walworth and then with the newly-arrived Lightning Brigade under John T. Wilder, delivered a rude check to Manigault’s command—and saved Sheridan’s division from further disaster.
Costs: Bus Cancelled. If you need a refund, send email to dpowell334@aol.com
Friday and Saturday: no charge.
Fees raised in excess of costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.
In 2021 the Study Group made the following donations:
$750 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs.
$500 to the American Battlefield Trust, in support of land acquisition on Lookout Mountain and other western battlefields.
Send to (and make checks payable to):
David Powell
1300 Mark Street
Bensenville IL 60106
This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2022. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, no matter what.
Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks, and incidentals.
Thank you, see you in March.
Seminar in the Woods, 2022
September 20, 2021Seminar in the Woods: Chickamauga, March 11-12, 2022
Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.
Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden and Dave Powell
Date: Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, 2022; By bus and car caravan.
Friday’s tour will begin and end at The History Company, 2949 Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe Georgia. Parking is available, but please carpool as much as possible.
Saturday’s tour will begin and end at the CCNMP Visitor’s Center.
By Bus:
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00: Union Cavalry Operations.
On Friday, we will explore Union cavalry movements from Dougherty’s Gap at the southern tip of McLemore’s Cove, movements around Blue Bird Gap, and the actions around Glass Mill, Lee & Gordon’s Mills, and the evacuation of Crawfish Springs.
Lunch is TBD, but probably on your own in the vicinity of the town of Chickamauga.
Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell.
Site: TBD, Fort Oglethorpe, GA
Reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.
Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: Sheridan comes to grief, the fight for Lytle Hill.
Between 12 and 1 PM on September 20, after an unsettled morning’s shifting of position multiple times, Philip Sheridan’s division was dispatched to reinforce George Thomas’ line in the vicinity of Kelly Field. Sheridan’s men never reached their destination. Instead, they ran headlong into the southern flank of the Confederate breakthrough column—Thomas C. Hindman’s large infantry division. Laiboldt’s and Lytle’s brigades were engaged in and around what has come to be known as Lytle Hill, where Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle was killed in action.
Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Manigault’s brigade vs. Walworth and Wilder.
While Sheridan’s other two brigades grappled with the bulk of Hindman’s division, Col. Nathan Walworth’s brigade (Formerly Bradley’s, wounded on September 19) turned to face Confederate Brig. Gen. Arthur L. Manigault’s large command of Alabamians and South Carolinians. The resultant encounter, first with Walworth and then with the newly-arrived Lightning Brigade under John T. Wilder, delivered a rude check to Manigault’s command—and saved Sheridan’s division from further disaster.
Costs:
Friday’s Tours will be by Bus. Pre-registration and Fee required: $45, due by February 1, 2022.
Sign-up after February 1 or on-site Fee (based on space available): $50
Saturday: no charge.
Fees raised in excess of costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.
In 2021 the Study Group made the following donations:
$750 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs.
$500 to the American Battlefield Trust, in support of land acquisition on Lookout Mountain and other western battlefields.
Thanks to all who contributed.
Send to (and make checks payable to) my work address at:
David Powell
1300 Mark Street
Bensenville IL 60106
This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2022. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, no matter what.
Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks, and incidentals.
Thank you, see you in March.
2021 Seminar in the Woods – Revised
January 12, 2021Revised schedule for 2021
Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.
COVID NOTICE: Due to the state of Coviid in the country, we are eliminating the bus tour on Friday and will substitute two other battle walks for Friday morning and afternoon.
Thank you for your understanding.
Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden and Dave Powell
Date: Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13, 2021; on foot and by car caravan.
All tours begin and end at the Visitor’s Center. We will not be gathering inside, but instead will hold a short talk in the field outside the VC before departing.
Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell, and others (as announced)
Site: TBA
Friday
Car Caravan – Friday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: A. P. Stewart and Bate’s Breakthrough, 4 PM September 19.
On the afternoon of September 19, Confederate General A. P. Stewart’s three brigades were committed to action in the woods east of Brotherton Field. After several hours of see-saw action, Stewart’s brigades achieved two significant ruptures of the Union lines; Clayton’s Alabama Brigade pushed through Brotherton Field to emerge at the east edge of South Dyer Field, while Bate’s mixed Georgia-Tennessee Brigade drove northwest, into Poe Field. Exhaustion, a lack of support, and a vigorous Union response triggered the eventual retreat of Stewart’s forces. In the morning’s walk, we will consider the Confederate side of this fight, largely tracking Bate’s brigade.
Car Caravan – Friday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: The Federals seal the breach – Brotherton Field, 5 pm September 19.
The Federal response to Stewart’s breakthrough was rapid and effective. A number of different brigades were ultimately involved in this response, including that of William B. Hazen, only recently disengaged from the fighting in Brock Field. We will track that response, following Hazen’s command from Poe Field to Brotherton Field
Saturday
Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Lucius Polk assaults the Kelly Field Line, 11 am, September 20.
John C. Breckinridge’s assault into Kelly Field came within a hairsbreadth of success. D. H. Hill’s other division, under Patrick Cleburne, faced a much more difficult proposition. All three of Cleburne’s brigades ran into stiff resistance, which was compounded by the disjointed divisional advance. We will follow Polk’s brigade as it strikes the Kelly Field Line.
Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Leaving Kelly Field: Dodge’s and Barnes’s Brigades on September 20.
The Union left flank of the Kelly Field line on September 20 came together in haphazard fashion. Eventually, two brigades – those of Joseph Dodge and Sidney Barnes – drawn from two different divisions, from two different corps, comprised Thomas’s Left in Kelly Field. The story of their fight, and retreat, is among the most confusing elements of Chickamauga. We will explore the positions and experiences of these two commands at the end of the day on September 20, 1863.
Costs for Friday and Saturday: no charge.
Fees already raised in excess of our costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.
In 2020 the Study Group donated $500 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs, and $500 to the American Battlefield Trust, in response to an appeal to help save several western battlefields, including a piece of Missionary Ridge.
Bathroom Note: The Park is still running on reduced hours. The restrooms at the Visitor’s Center will not be open until 8:30 a.m., and will close at 5:00 p.m. The VC itself will not open until 11:00 a.m. Make sure you plan accordingly.
Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks and incidentals.
Thank you, see you in March.
March 2021 Seminar in the Woods-revised
January 6, 2021Dear Friends,
After discussions with Jim Ogden, he and I have both decided that the best strategy at this time is to change the Friday Bus portion of our tour to two more battlefield walks
NOTE: THE SEMINAR IS NOT CANCELLED – WE ARE MERELY SUBSTITUTING THE BUS PORTION FOR ADDITIONAL WALKING TOURS.
I will post a revised itinerary announcement later this week, adding two Friday walking tours and detailing some procedural changes we will have to make in order to accommodate the Park’s revised hours.
Important: If you wish to receive a refund for the money you paid towards the bus, please send me an email (dpowell334@aol.com) requesting one, and I will send you a check.
That said, all monies raised in excess of costs are traditionally used to either support land acquisition for CCNMP, or equally importantly, for monument restoration via the Jewell Monument Fund run by the Friends of the Parks.
So I urge you to consider allowing me to donate your fees to the Jewell Monument Fund, as that is what I intend to do with this year’s excess revenue.
Thank you. More details to follow.
March 2021 Seminar in the Woods
September 19, 2020It’s that time of year again:
Mission Statement: The purpose of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, as well as explore other nearby Civil War-related sites.
COVID NOTICE: As of right now, we are planning on a normal weekend, with one day on the bus and one on foot in the park.
If the state of Covid in the country still requires some degree of distancing, we will eliminate the bus tour on Friday and substitute two other battle walks for Friday morning and afternoon.
If for some reason Covid has become so widespread to require complete cancellation, we will do so, but as of right now, we are planning to go forward.
All decisions regarding the tour bus and any need to cancel will be made by January 31st, before we must lock in the bus reservation.
Thank you for your understanding.
Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden and Dave Powell
Date: Friday, March 12, and Saturday, March 13, 2021; By bus and car caravan.
All tours begin and end at the Visitor’s Center.
By Bus:
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00: Cavalry Actions in McLemore’s Cove
We will explore the southern end of McLemore’s Cove, including Dougherty’s Gap, and Blue Bird Gap in Pigeon Mountain. In the afternoon, we will examine the fighting around Glass Mill and Lee & Gordon’s Mills.
We will be taking a lunch break from about 11:30 to 1 PM.
Friday evening, 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. – Q&A Panel with Jim Ogden, Dave Powell, and others (as announced)
Site: Constitution Hall, 201 Forrest Road, Fort Oglethorpe, GA.
The reprise of the Annual free-form Question and Answer session.
Car Caravan – Saturday Morning, 8:30 to Noon: A. P. Stewart and Bate’s Breakthrough, 4 PM September 19.
On the afternoon of September 19, Confederate General A. P. Stewart’s three brigades were committed to action in the woods east of Brotherton Field. After several hours of see-saw action, Stewart’s brigades achieved two significant ruptures of the Union lines; Clayton’s Alabama Brigade pushed through Brotherton Field to emerge at the east edge of South Dyer Field, while Bate’s mixed Georgia-Tennessee Brigade drove northwest, into Poe Field. Exhaustion, a lack of support, and a vigorous Union response triggered the eventual retreat of Stewart’s forces. In the morning’s walk, we will consider the Confederate side of this fight, largely tracking Bate’s brigade.
Car Caravan – Saturday Afternoon, 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: The Federals seal the breach – Brotherton Field, 5 pm September 19.
The Federal response to Stewart’s breakthrough was rapid and effective. A number of different brigades were ultimately involved in this response, including that of William B. Hazen, only recently disengaged from the fighting in Brock Field. We will track that response, following Hazen’s command from Poe Field to Brotherton Field.
Costs:
Friday’s Tours will be by Bus. Pre-registration and Fee required: $45, due by February 1 2021.
Sign-up after February 1 or on-site Fee (based on space available): $50
Saturday: no charge.
Fees raised in excess of our costs (as well as any donations) will be used to support the causes of battlefield preservation, interpretation, and renovation.
In 2020 the Study Group donated $500 to the Jewell Monument fund, run by the Friends of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, for maintenance and restoration needs, and $500 to the American Battlefield Trust, in response to an appeal to help save several western battlefields, including a piece of Missionary Ridge.
Send to (and make checks payable to):
David Powell
1300 Mark Street
Bensenville IL 60106
This fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2020. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee, no matter what.
Please note that everyone is responsible for their own lodging, meals, snacks and incidentals.
Thank you, see you in March.
March 2020 Seminar in the Woods Update
January 13, 2020Hello,
The bus for Friday’s tour is officially FULL! All SOLD OUT.
Of course, there is no attendance limit or cost for Saturday’s tours, all are still welcome.
If you have any questions about if you reserved a seat – check you back to see if your check is cashed.
Or, send me an email at dpowell334@aol.com and I will verify.
To say again, Friday’s Bus Tour is SOLD OUT.
Negley’s Choice
December 15, 2019Crossposted from Facebook:
QUESTION: Well, it’s been since October 5th since we’ve done a “Fridays with Dave” segment, and you’ve been pretty darn busy! You’ve been traveling, speaking, researching, and writing. I can only imagine the lifestyle of a jet-set Civil War historian lol. I hope we can slow you down for a few minutes and get your views on an important, but seldom talked about, episode of the Battle of Chickamauga.
This week I’d like to ask you about Union Major General James S. Negley. On the afternoon of September 19, it was Negley’s division that drove back elements of A.P. Stewart’s Confederate division who had actually achieved a breakthrough at the Brotherton farm when Van Cleve’s division had disintegrated. Negley held the Union line at the wood line on the western edge of the Brotherton field until relieved by Thomas Wood’s division mid-morning on September 20 (a controversy for another day). Negley’s division was rushed north (minus John Beatty’s brigade that was moved earlier) to reinforce Thomas. At some point Negley was also tasked with forming and being responsible for an “artillery reserve,” which was gathering on the ridge in the north Dyer Field. Then “The Breakthrough” happened.
Men from the divisions of Brannan, Negley, Van Cleve, and Wood all began rallying in the Snodgrass Hill and Horseshoe Ridge sector. Brannan and Negley had a quick conference in which it was agreed (at least in Brannan’s mind) that Brannan would defend the left of the Federal line and Negley the right. Many stayed, but in all the confusion, and to the great anger of Brannan, Negley ultimately abandoned the battlefield (without notifying anyone) before the first Confederate attack on Horseshoe Ridge with some 2,500 men and 35-40 pieces of artillery–all which were sorely needed on Horseshoe Ridge.
Can you shed some light on this little known but important episode of the battle?
DAVE POWELL: By the time of the battle, James Negley was one of the senior Major Generals in the army and well respected, though not a West Pointer. He was instrumental in defending Nashville in 1862, when the rest of the army went to Kentucky to chase Bragg. Fort Negley in Nashville is named for him.
His troops were among the last to reach the battlefield on September 19, having been left to defend Glass Mill that morning, where they had an engagement with Breckinridge’s Division of Hill’s Corps. As that fight concluded, Negley’s men were summoned north to the main battlefield, which is how they ended up counter-attacking through Dyer Field and then defending the line of Brotherton Farm overnight. Today, many of Negley’s regimental monuments mark their line on the western treeline of Brotherton Field.
Negley was detached from Thomas’s XIV Corps for much of this action, and Thomas wanted him back – him specifically, not just a division in his place, which is how we get to the controversy on the morning of September 20. Thomas bombarded army commander Rosecrans and Negley both with couriers (13 or so over a two hour time span) urging Negley to move to the Union right and prolong Thomas’s flank into McDonald Field.
At one point, Negley felt so pressed that he began to pull out of line without seeing his replacement; until severely reprimanded by Rosecrans for doing so. Rosecrans then relented enough to let John Beatty’s brigade depart ahead of the rest of the division, since Thomas’s need seemed so urgent. Beatty departed, leaving Negley to fret that his division would be dismembered and scattered in piecemeal fashion across the battlefield.
This is exactly what happened. Beatty arrived at the north end of Kelly Field, until Thomas directed him to stretch his frontage across a divisional width in McDonald Field. Beatty would not see his divisional commander again until after the battle. At about 9:45 a.m., Beatty’s thin line was struck and overrun by Breckinridge’s division of Hill’s Corps – the same men who faced his troops at Glass Mill on the other end of the Union line the day before.
In the meantime, with Wood’s men now up, Negley’s other two brigades departed for the Union left. This move was equally disjointed. On the way, Negley and his next brigade were met by yet another courier from Thomas, redirecting Negley, not to support Beatty, but to move to Snodgrass Hill and establish an artillery position there.
Negley never talked to Thomas in person that day, and never really seemed to grasp what Thomas intended. It appears that Thomas wanted Negley to establish a powerful artillery position on Snodgrass Hill, which could then fire into McDonald Field so as to break up any Confederate effort to turn Thomas’s left flank. Instead of holding that ground with a thin line, Thomas decided that he could better guard his flank with an artillery concentration, backed by Negley’s infantry on Snodgrass Hill.
Negley, however, never really grasped this concept. He deployed some troops and artillery on the open ridge of Snodgrass Hill, but facing southeast, not northeast (as he would have needed to if he were going to control McDonald Field) and deployed additional troops and artillery farther south, on what today is called Harker’s Knoll or the South Carolina Monument Knoll.
Further, Negley’s remaining brigade under Timothy Stanley never reached this new Snodgrass Hill position, but instead was pulled into the fighting raging to the east, in the woods south of McDonald Field, where John Beatty used it to support his own battered brigade as they ultimately repulsed Breckinridge’s command.
When the breakthrough happened, Negley witnessed the collapse of Wood’s and Brannan’s men, feeling singularly alone as he did so – bereft of Dick and Beatty, having not seen his corps commander or the army commander since 7:30 a.m.; and now watching thousands of Federal troops routed and streaming back from his old position. And he was sick. Very sick. In fact, he probably should not have tried to command his division that day. He had been ill for a week, down with something very much like dysentery, and he had only just returned to duty.
As Negley watched the situation deteriorate before him, he sought help. Curiously, he did not seek out Thomas, even though Thomas was not that far away. Negley knew that Thomas was at least as close as Kelly Field, and in fact, the burly Virginian was a lot closer: probably only a few hundred yards away, with Harker’s brigade of Wood’s division in North Dyer Field, where they were engaging John Bell Hood and his old command, the Texas Brigade.
Instead Negley dispatched two couriers to find William Rosecrans. This was a curious decision, since unlike Thomas, Rosecrans’s last known position was now on what was the other side of the Confederate breakthrough. Amazingly, both couriers got through, reaching Rosecrans and even returning with an answer to Negley’s plea for support. Unfortunately, no help was coming. Rosecrans had nothing to give. While those aides were away, Negley could directly observe an even more disturbing phenomenon. Confederate infantry (Arkansans of Govan’s Brigade) were moving across the LaFayette Road north of Snodgrass Hill, up in McDonald Field. To Negley, this movement suggested that he was about to have both flanks turned, not just the one.
Negley had no way of knowing, of course, that Govan’s Confederates were not turning his flank – instead, they were seeking escape after having their own flank turned by Federals in Kelly Field beating back yet another attack. Negley either failed to observe (or simply couldn’t see) Govan’s men moving back east across the LaFayette Road farther north a short time later.
Sometime shortly before 1:00 p.m. Negley met with John Brannan, whose division had been shattered in Poe Field after the breakthrough, and who was now seeking the next place to make a stand. Brannan was trying to rally a force on Hill One, some few hundred yards south of the Snodgrass Cabin. He intended to connect his reforming line’s left to Negley’s position on Snodgrass Hill, and further asked for the loan of a regiment to hold his right flank on Hill Two. Negley acceded, sending the large 21st Ohio to Brannan for that mission.
Brannan would later claim that Negley promised to hold his right flank securely during this meeting. Negley would later deny making any such overt promise, and of offering only the one regiment. Shortly after that meeting, Negley made the fateful decision that he must retreat or be surrounded and captured. As a result, Brannan’s right was completely uncovered by 1:00 p.m. or so.
Negley’s decision was astounding, mostly for what he failed to do – in his hurry to retreat, Negley never told Brannan he was going, nor notified the now-orphaned 21st Ohio, nor, in fact, several other of his own regiments. Negley did take with him three quarters of William Sirwell’s brigade and most of John Beatty’s brigade of his own division, part of John Connell’s brigade of Brannan’s command, half of George Dick’s brigade of Horatio Van Cleve’s division from the XXI Corps, and approximately 50 artillery vehicles gathered from all along the line. At a rough estimate, Negley departed the field with between 2500 and 3000 formed infantry, 35-40 guns, and numerous limbers and ammunition wagons. He told no one he was leaving, including at least three regimental commanders, who had to discover the departure for themselves and struggled to catch up.
It is important to note that Negley’s men were not under direct assault when he decided to leave. He made his decision in order to avoid what he saw as inevitable disaster, before it came to pass. It was a decision that would haunt him the rest of his life.
Union generals John Brannan and Thomas Wood were furious at him, accusing him of cowardice. More quietly, George Thomas also seethed, especially at losing the XIV Ammunition wagons. Lack of ammunition would force Thomas to abandon Snodgrass Hill by the end of the day. Negley went on sick leave right after the battle.
He never returned to command. He demanded, and received, a court of inquiry, which effectively cleared him of any technical wrongdoing, but no one wanted him back with the army. When he attempted to return in the Winter of 1864, Grant (then the commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi) had Negley intercepted at Nashville and ordered him back north across the Ohio River, out of the department. Negley returned to Pittsburgh to await orders that never came.
Undoubtedly sickness and exhaustion played a part in Negley’s fateful decision, but such excuses can only extend so far. Negley insisted that he never lost his nerve or his presence of mind that day – that composure backed up by testimony from his loyal aides – but the fractured, disjointed method of departure, with so many of his own men poorly informed, suggests otherwise.
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