The 17th Wisconsin were organised in Madison and mustered into service on 15th March 1862. The men were largely drawn from the state’s Irish community, and Corinth was to be their first major action. When the battle opened the 17th had initially been kept in the rear to guard the brigade camp. However, as the Federal situation deteriorated, the regiment was ordered to the battlefield just after 1pm. Colonel Doran remembered that as they approached the front they were greeted with ‘as hearty a cheer as was ever raised for the sons of Erin.’ (2)

Federal troops in Corinth Mississippi during winter 1862 (Photographic History of the Civil War)

The 17th Wisconsin took up a position beyond the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and faced north on a ridge of high ground. Scotsman Brigadier-General John McArthur arrived to take control of events and began to form other regiments to the Irishmen’s left, creating a new Union line that ran between the 17th and Battery F, one of the earthen redoubts defending the town. Doran detailed Companies B, F and G forward to act as skirmishers and feel for the enemy. Firing erupted as they encountered the thus far victorious Confederates, and they took their first casualties; Captain Hugh McDermott of Company B fell severely wounded with a gunshot wound in the chest. (3)

As the Rebels drove in the 17th’s skirmishers fire began to intensify on the main Union line. The gunners of Lieutenant Mitchell’s Battery F, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery took the brunt of the punishment, and cannoneers began to fall. It was now just after 2pm. Brigadier-General McArthur determined that it was necessary to drive the Confederates back in order to save his artillery, and so asked Colonel Doran if he could ‘charge successfully on the brigade doing such execution.’ He replied that he could, and he turned to his men to prepare them to assault the Rebels. (4)

The green-flag regiment prepared their ranks and surged towards the enemy crying ‘Faugh A Ballagh’, a gaelic war-cry meaning ‘Clear the Way’. The remainder of the Union line charged forward in echelon with them, and the Rebels were driven back some three-quarters of a mile. At this juncture the Confederates regrouped and were reinforced, and it became necessary for the Federal troops to fall back to avoid envelopment. Tragedy then struck the Badger State Irishmen, as they came under fire from a wholly unexpected direction. Two exhausted Union regiments, the 14th Wisconsin and 15th Michigan, had been ordered back into the fray having fought with heavy loss earlier in the day. Coming upon their retreating comrades they mistook them for Rebels, before ‘discharging their muskets into the Seventeenth’, after which they ‘turned and ran.’ (5)

Federal troops overlooking the tracks in Corinth, Mississippi, 1862 (Library of Congress)

The 17th Wisconsin successfully withdrew to the main entrenchments around Corinth, where a series of strong fortifications and batteries protected the town. McArthur commented on the field that the men had ‘made the most glorious charge of the campaign’ and also complemented Sergeant-Major John Nichol who had commanded a party of skirmishers. The battle was renewed the next day, but the unit was not heavily engaged. The 4th October assault ended in slaughter for the Confederates as they attempted to penetrate the strong defensive positions; they were left with no option but to withdraw. (6)

The 17th Wisconsin Infantry would go on to serve in the Vicksburg and Atlanta Campaigns, and ended the war taking part in the Grand Review in Washington D.C. The regiment lost five killed and twenty wounded during the fighting of 3rd October, although a number of of the latter category succumbed to their wounds. The impact of the Battle of Corinth on the survivors and their families could be lifelong, as was the case for those men disabled as a result of their injuries. The names of the killed and wounded in the 17th Wisconsin at Corinth are as follows:

Company B: Captain Hugh McDermott (wounded), Private Hugh Greenwood (wounded, discharged disability), Private Thomas Gaffney (wounded, later died), Private Otto B. Thomas (wounded, later killed at Vicksburg), Private Edwin Sykes (wounded), Private Carroll W. Gifford (wounded), Private John Fahey (wounded, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps)

Company C: Private Anthony O’Brien (killed)

Company D: First Sergeant William Maas (wounded, discharged disability), Sergeant James Dempsey (killed), Private Terence McElroy (killed)

Company E: Private Andrew Holcomb (wounded, later died)

Company F: Sergeant John Keenan (wounded, discharged disability), Corporal Peter Gallagher (wounded, later died), Private Timothy Scanl0n (killed), Private Patrick Tiernan (wounded, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps)

Company H: Corporal George Winkle (killed), Private Maurice Kerins (wounded, discharged disability), Private Ansel J. Bugby (wounded, discharged disability)

Company I: Captain Julius G. Nordman (wounded), Private James Conners (wounded, later died of disease at Vicksburg), Private Henry Closson (wounded, discharged disability in 1864)

Company K: First Sergeant David S. Bishop (wounded, discharged), Corporal David Converse (wounded, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps), Private Andrew Conley (wounded, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps) (7)

(1) Cozzens 1997: 181-3; (2) Quiner 1866: 644, Official Records: 350; (3) Cozzens 1997: 181-5, Quiner 1866: 644, Official Records: 350; (4) Cozzens 1997: 182-3, Official Records: 350-1; (5) Love 1866: 516, Cozzens 1997: 183, Official Records: 351; (6) Love 1866: 516; (7) Quiner 1866: 646, Roster 1886: 49-82;

References & Further Reading

Cozzens, Peter 1997. The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth

Love, William DeLoss 1866. Wisconsin in the War of Rebellion

Quiner, E.B. 1866. Military History of Wisconsin

Official Records Series 1, Volume 17 (Part 1), Chapter 29. Report of Col. John L. Doran, Seventeenth Wisconsin Infantry, including operations October 3-11

Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office 1886. Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861- 1865, Volume 2

Colors of the 17th Wisconsin Infantry in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum

Civil War Trust Battle of Corinth Page

Corinth Civil War Interpretive Centre

Wisconsin Historical Society: Wisconsin in the Civil War

The Battle of Corinth (Second Day) by Currier & Ives

Dennis Murphy joined the ranks of the 14th Wisconsin on 13th September 1861. He had been born in Ireland in 1830 but lived in Green Bay prior to the war, electing to serve with Company F of the regiment, the ‘De Pere Rifles’. By the time October 1862 arrived Murphy had already borne witness to the carnage of the Battle of Shiloh, and now carried his regiment’s national color. He knew what he could expect when Major-General Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate Army of West Tennessee prepared to attack Union positions around the town of Corinth. (1)

On the morning of 3rd October Major-General William S. Rosecrans ordered three of his divisions to advance out of Corinth and occupy old Confederate rifle pits to the north and north-west of the town. Amongst them was the 14th Wisconsin, part of Colonel John M. Oliver’s 2nd Brigade of Brigadier-General Thomas J. McKean’s 6th Division. McKean’s men were holding the left of the line when at 10am Major-General Mansfield Lovell’s Rebels smashed into the Union positions.

As wave after wave of Confederates surged forward, the 14th Wisconsin under Colonel John Hancock were positioned in the old rifle pits atop a hill, with Companies E and K thrown forward as skirmishers. Sergeant Murphy declared his intent at the start of the fight to ‘come out a dead sergeant or a live lieutenant.’ As Caruthers’ Mississippi Sharpshooter Battalion attacked up the hill the advanced companies pulled back and with their comrades unleashed a devastating fire that sent the Rebels reeling backwards. Another attack surged forward with the reformed sharpshooters joining the 22nd Mississippi. This time the Confederates got to within a few yards of the Union line and the two lines began to exchange fire. Suddenly at this critical juncture in the battle the 15th Michigan to the Wisconsinites’ right gave way in the face of pressure from the 1st Missouri and 33rd Mississippi. This left Sergeant Murphy and his comrades facing a withering crossfire and potentially complete destruction. As men began to fall left and right, the entire color guard became casualties. In the terrible hand to hand combat that ensued, the man carrying the regimental colors was bayoneted and the flag almost lost. Denis Murphy was hit again and again but somehow managed to hold onto the national color, covering the flag in his own blood. Eventually the 14th had no option but to withdraw, although it was too late for some of their number who were captured. (2)

The 14th Wisconsin had taken heavy casualties and although briefly called on later in the day they were effectively shattered. Their brigade commander remarked of their performance at Corinth: ‘Though suffering more loss than any regiment in the command, they maintained their lines and delivered their fire with all the coolness and precision which could have been maintained upon drill.’ Dennis Murphy had been wounded three times, but he did receive his commission. He was discharged due to disability on 13th November 1862 and later rewarded with a lieutenancy in Company B of the 24th Wisconsin. He paid a heavy price, however; Dennis was to be crippled for life as a result of the wounds he sustained at Corinth. (3)

Almost thirty years after the battle, on 22nd January 1892, Dennis J.F. Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation simply reads ‘Although wounded three times, carried the colors throughout the conflict.’ He died on 19th June 1901 and is buried in Allouez Cemetery, Green Bay. The national color that he held aloft in October 1862 survived the war, and is now preserved in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison. (4)

*Dennis Murphy should be known as Denis- the extra ‘n’ was due to an error in his military records. Many thanks to the Sergeant’s descendant Michael Lee for this information.

(1) Roster 1886: 789; (2) Cozzens 1997: 168-171; (3) Official Records: 356, Cozzens 1997: 170-171; (4) Broadwater 2007: 145

References & Further Reading

Broadwater, Robert P. 2007. Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients: A Complete Illustrated Record

Cozzens, Peter 1997. The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth

Official Records Series 1, Volume 17 (Part 1), Chapter 29. Report of Colonel John M. Oliver, Fifteenth Michigan Infantry, commanding Second Brigade, including operations October 3-11

Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office 1886. Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861- 1865, Volume 1

Civil War Trust Battle of Corinth Page

Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Corinth Civil War Interpretive Centre

National Color of the 14th Wisconsin