T. S. Cooper

            Adjt & Ins. Genl

                        Richmond Va.

 

                                    Sir,

                                                An extract from Genl Bragg’s Report of the Battle of Shiloh was sent to me a few days ago by an officer of the army and I find myself & command censured in it more especially myself as being in command of the Brigade to which my Regiment had been assigned.

 

More than a year has elapsed since the Battle of Shiloh. several officers of important positions were killed in it, among them Major A. P. Avegno commanding one of the Regiments & Lt Ben King acting as my chief staff officer. others are in distant parts of the country Col W. H . Allen & Col B. L. Hodge being in La, and Col J. S. Fagan in Arkansas. But, as I regard the report of Genl Bragg as unjust to myself & the commanding officers of Regiments, and as erroneous in certain matters of fact, I have the honor earnestly to solicit that a court of Inquiry be appointed & that Cols. Allen, Hodge, & Fagan with Mr Robert Pugh of Assumption La. acting as my Aid de Camp and Lt H. H. Bein be brought before it in order that a full & fair investigation may be had.

 

            Until such a court can be convened I trust I shall be pardoned a brief & respectful reference in the way of explanation & protest to the points of censure embraced by the General then commanding our corps.

It was remarked by him at the outset that the Brigade was in rear of its proper position. I have the honor to state that a short time before the occasion referred to by the General I had received instructions from him to move more sowly & to keep at a greater distance from the front line. Although this order was delivered to me by a Staff officer when in the camp of the enemy from which he had just been driven & while all preparations had been made to charge a Battery from which we were sustaining frequent casualties I immediately observed it & at once halted the command owing to the thickly wooded character of the country through which we were marching. I was obliged frequently to halt & once even to move back a short distance when I found I was reaching the first line and then move forward to obey the order rigidly presuming of course that should he wish me to move faster as above or even more slowly I would be directed accordingly.

 

            In the next place the General speaks of the Brigade as having after a brief attack on the enemy in a particular position, which I was ordered to advance against, given way in disorder and having been rallied by his staff officers and as having been held in check by skirmishers. the position alluded to was a densely wooded hill surrounded by a ravine extending further than the limits of our line to the right & left. In the first & second charges on this position I was near the left centre of the Brigade & together with Col. Allen & Maj Avegno twice rallied their Regiments, recoiling not so much from the Infantry fire heavy as that was, but from the severe fire of a Battery on a commanding point sweeping our line whenever we advanced. Having just at this time received intelligence from Col Fagan that he likewise had been cut up & forced back, I relinquished the left to Col. Allen under orders to press forward and having sent the / same orders to Col Hodge on the extreme right. Col Fagan & myself repeatedly led his very large regiment to the attack. The movement forward was always made simultaneously by all the Regiments. We succeeded at one time in driving the enemy back a considerable distance, but the concentration of fire especially on our flanks was so great that the command unaided by artillery could not carry the position. I had sent Mr Robert Pugh to the General after the first assault for artillery but the request was not granted and in place of it he brought me orders to advance again on the enemy. In the execution of this order we charged repeatedly as described & were repulsed on account of his severe artillery fire, advantageous position, superior numbers and the almost impenetrable thicket through which we had to advance. The loss of officers & men exceeding that of nearly any Brigade at Shiloh shows with what steadiness & courage the attacks were made. Nor were they brief. They were reapeated until the officers reported many of their men as having exhausted their ammunition. Such was the case with Col Fagan’s Regiment with which I was at the time. The loss of officers of every grade & of men had been heavy. Most of the mounted officers had their horses killed. My chief staff officer & assistant Lt. Ben King was mortally wounded & the next Lt. H. H. Bein was severely injured. Mr Pugh was dismounted & the detail of cavalry with me had disappeared. The Regts were very large & the growth so thick as to prevent any one from seeing or being seen but for a short distance. It was clear to all the commanding officers present and who had participated in the movements that we were making but a vain sacrifice of the lives of the troops. Under this state of facts the command fell back to an open field about one hundred yards from the enemys infantry fire to reform & replenish ammunition. The Regiments were rallied by their own officers.

 

            At this point staff officers came riding over the open field from the position where I understood Genl Bragg had been posted. They brought me orders to develop to the right but as I was taking the necessary steps to do this being without staff officers and without a horse I was ordered to hold a position slightly to our rear with the two right regiments at all hazards as the enemy was supposed to be advancing. With Col Fagan & Holdge I remained in this position for a short while when I was informed that Genl Bragg hearing of Genl Johnston’s death had gone to the extreme right. The instant I ascertained this I again took charge of the whole command, moved forward nor halted until I came near the river where I met Genl Ruggles. I received no more orders from Genl Bragg personally or through any of his staff officers nor indeed from any superior officer till I met Genl Ruggles.

 

            I do not feel that either I as commanding the Brigade nor the officers commanding Regiments during that two days Battle deserve the censure we received in the official report of Genl Bragg for the part we took while executing his orders & I confidently believe that an investigation of our conduct throughout will show that we did our duty.

 

            The success we met with elsewhere on the field and in the conflict on Monday the second day when cooperating with the troops of General Polk and Cheatham entitle us, I think, to some claims for a full hearing as officially reported by them.

 

                                                                                    I have the honor to remain

                                                                                                Very respectfully

                                                                                    R. L. Gibson

                                                                                                Col 13^th La Vols

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