The National tribune., 1903-11-12
A FLAG OF TRUCE.
BATTLE OF pERp9VILLs.
10th Wis. comrade Disputes Some Aston
ishfng Confederate Claims

EDITOR NATIoEAL TRIBuSE: The Nash
vile American of Oct. I2 contains an ar
ticle by Thomas Claiborne Colonel on
Buckner's Staff" in which he claims
that 12.500 Confederate soldiers .":won a
cesas vsts5y csGs eoat.aa5 at hssss taa, 1
lastly. that = Bragg. with his 1850
smashed" Mccook's Corps, Here are a
few lines: ~ d
Never greater deeds were done in any
of the greater battles Of the war; never
valor more splendidly displayed by those
invincibie soldiers, who, burning with in
imitable ardor. rushed, on, and over more
than twice their numbers. The tale tell
is true" =
So far as / know the battle was. never
properly reported. 1t was fought in the
midst of d moving campaign that for us
covered some 500 miles of almost contin-
uous marching.
The armies moved on the nextdday
and soon after Buell. was relieved by
Rosecrans. If the whole truth has been
told of the battle. have never been able
TO fnd, it. .rNaw,S until i read this arti-
Gle did not suppose anybody ever lad
or would claim that we were whipped,
much less, smashed. was there all day
and was in a most advantageous pOsfion
to see the whole field. / was a member
Of (Scribner's) Brigade, Of Roussean's
Division, and We were near the
center of the right wing of McCOok's
Corps. / do not know how many men we
had, am sure not 28;O00-I should say
about half that number, and I do say
as to our brigade that no part Of Bragg's
army rushed on and over" US. do not
think it was true of any part of the divi-
sion, though the brigade on our right was
forced to change position, making back
ward wheel of perhaps 30 degrees, the left
holding its position.
We marched from MackvilIe that morn
ing, some II miles away, arriving about
II a. m. We took the position at the left
and rear of Simonson's Battery about
noon, and little later, perhaps p. M,
took our place on line with the battery.
which place we occupied till the close of
the action. The advance of the whole
rebel force in line of battle for a distance
of over half mile was truly grand, and
the finest sight l saw during my service.
II they did not outnumber us, 1 must
have been badly scared, and continued SO
ever since.
The battle was mostly fought by Nc
Cooks Corps. Late In the day We had
help from the people who had for hours
been in sight on our right rear, and during
most or all of the time we had been en-
gagged.
/ never could understand why they did
did not come sooner And as Buell.
claimed he did not know we were engaged,
it could not have been his orders that
held them there.
From our later knowledge of Sheridan
it was a matter of wonderment how he
could have been kept out of it. As to
Capt. Gilbert, who commanded the corps
on our right, We never had much knowl-
edge of him. anyway.
Our losses Were severe, In my own regi-
ment-the 10th WisA6 per cent. and
probably over 35 throughout the division.
have no exact data as to that.
This know: We had about 900 men
killed there, and the: rebels had about
200. That number asbnried-or rath-
er reburied-in the Winter following.
was at Perryville some three months after
the battle. and was we'll acquainted with
men who were engaged in the work. The
numbers wounded were about equal, to-
ward 5000 on each side, but our people
had the largest number Of very severely
wounded. 1t-aas
have sometimes seen the losses placed
at about half this igifeaoiI suppose the
truth has been told BY some one, but
orally % understood at fP PsirssilIe. lie after there
had been time to sumsup.s sNotwithstand-
ing this man claims MrC86k's Corps was
smashed, they were on deck, and were
heard from at Stone RiveF. less than three
months later, and right along afterward at
Chattanooga, Chickannaugn, and In the
advance on Atlanta. and,fven on TO the
sea, and up to Washington there marched
many of those men who were engaged at
Perryville. During four-fifths of that bat
tie we had less men than Bragg had. and
should say that they outnumbered the
men we had engaged at all times.4C. v.
DONALDSON Mem shin Wis