REFLECTIONS
ON THE RESACA CAMPAIGN
by
Dwayne
Seale
On 19-21 May, PVT Glenn Milner and I had the pleasure of joining the
1st Tennessee for the Resaca reenactment. PVT McCulloh tried to join us
Saturday night but was unsuccessful in locating the camp.
He later wrote “¼
when
the 1st TN goes to ground you need a terrier to root them out”.
The following recollections are based on my experiences and observations at
Resaca.
I arrived about noon on Friday and as I was making the transition from
civilian to soldier I met with the unit 1st Sergeant.
He and I got our gear on and in the parking lot and walked into the
bivouac site together. The campaigner site was directly to the rear of the
trenches utilized in Sunday’s battles.
As we walked in, we passed some of the Bully Boys who were already on
site. The 1st Sergeant and I selected a nice spot on a hill behind
the trench line. It was free of
underbrush, well drained, offered numerous small trees for running twine for
shebang construction, had downed limbs for fire wood, and most important of
all, was high enough to allow for an occasional breeze.
As rain was predicted for the weekend, shebangs, dog tents, and a small
tent fly or two were erected for shelter.
I used a shelter half to build a small shebang.
I avoided getting wet by making it low to the ground and by wrapping up
in my gum blanket during the light but persistent rains we received Friday and
Saturday nights. I kept my extra clothes inside my knapsack and used it for a
pillow at night. My musket was kept well oiled and I kept it in the fold of my
blanket at night. During the war, most soldiers were not as fortunate as I.
Pvt Abram Glazener, 18th Ala Inf Regmt, Army of Tennessee, CSA, wrote the
following in letters to his wife: “We
are campt in the woods at the same place we have been for 2 weeks. We have but
very few shelters. We stretch our blankets for our shelters. It rained very
hard here yesterday. The most of us got wet as the wind blew so our blankets
did not turn the rain” On a separate occasion he wrote: “I took the rain,
mud, lay on the wet ground for 10 days without blanket or anything to shelter
with. I was wet 4 days that I never was dry. I can not tell you half what we
did do.”
After the shelters were up the next order of business was ration
preparation. Fires were easily
started Friday afternoon as the tinder and wood was still dry. The 1st
Sergeant allowed cooking by messes rather than having one large fire.
After the rains came fire starting became something of a problem, as
dry tender was difficult to find. Next
time rain is forecast, I will cook most of my rations at the first
opportunity. A cold cooked potato
is better than a cold raw potato. Some of the soldiers had trouble with ants
getting into their haversacks; I hung my haversack off the ground on a nearby
tree and did not have that problem. Although I didn’t starve, my stomach did
feel a mite empty from time to time. Pvt
Glazener also had some comments on rations in his letters home: “We are
living on a little bread pore beef now and then we get a bout as much bacon as
will make one meal. If we could get bread enough I would not mind it but we
dont get that as long as they will give me plenty of corn bread to eat I can
do but I tell you I have bin hungry for 10 days all the time get up hungry lay
down the same still I am better satisfied than I have been since I left
home.”
