Status - John Baer - 40th Indiana Regiment - Wood's Division - Wagner's Brigade
Wagner's Brigade apparently was ordered forward toward the rest of Wood's division on the 25th, but he is receiving more orders as the army seeks to protect vulnerable spots on the railroad from Forrest's Confederate cavalry that is still at large and threatening new attacks. Below is a series of dispatches between Wood and the army headquarters regarding the disposition of Wagner's brigade. None discuss individual regiments, so the 40th Indiana's location cannot be discerned precisely. No further dispatches on the 27th or 28th give word on the status of Wagner's brigade.
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Decherd, July 27, 1862 -- 11 a.m.
Col. J. B. Fry:
I am just in receipt of your dispatch of the 26th, saying it will be best not to move Wagner at present. I sent Colonel Wagner the order on the 25th, and I have reason to think he marched yesterday. I will start a courier to try to intercept him with an order to return to Wartrace, but as there are several roads the order may not reach him. In case he should arrive here should he be ordered back to Wartrace? Please answer immediately.
TH. J. WOOD,
Brigadier-General.
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HEADQUARTERS,
Huntsville, July 27, 1862
GENERAL WOOD,
Winchester, Office at Decherd:
If Wagner has left Wartrace he must go back there to-night, and you must send a regiment from your immediate command to Duck River by cars to-night. Forrest has appeared before Manchester, and it is probable he will strike at the railroad to-morrow between Duck River and Murfreesborough. Wagner must guard the bridges about Wartrace, and every guard must erect defenses and resist to the last. He must get that line open. Get cars from General Smith. Where is Wagner now? Report.
JAMES B. FRY.
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Decherd, July 27, 1862
Col. J. B. Fry:
Your dispatch is received. Colonel Wagner is at Tullahoma with one regiment, having sent one of his regiments back to Wartrace. He informs me he remained at Tullahoma at the request of General Smith. I have sent him an order to return to Wartrace at once, erect defenses, and resist to the last extremity. I will send a regiment by cars to-night to Duck River Bridge, with the same instructions in regard to the erection of defenses and defending them as given to Colonel Wagner.
TH. J. WOOD,
Brigadier-General.
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TULLAHOMA, July 27, 1862
Col. J. B. Fry:
I am just in receipt of a note, dated at 9 this morning, from Colonel Wagner, informing me of his arrival at Tullahoma. I extract as follows from his note:
General Smith is fighting at Manchester, reports say, with a large force. Whether this is so or not I cannot tell, but if so he will need help. An officer has told me this who has just come from General Smith.
I have sent the following to Colonel Wagner:
Try to learn reliably whether General Smith is engaged with the enemy at Manchester, and whether he needs assistance. If so, push to him as promptly as possible, but use the greatest precaution, and don't allow yourself to be entrapped on the march by the enemy. If you can get any reliable intelligence from Manchester, have it sent to me without delay, that I may take means to render assistance there.
But I have ordered him in case he is not needed at Manchester to return to Wartrace, to await further orders. I will send all my cavalry in the direction of Hillsborough and Manchester at once, to move rapidly, and if any considerable firing is heard in that direction to send me a report, and I will march at once in that direction with a view of re-enforcing General Smith.
I sent General Smith a regiment on the 25th, which reached him that night. In his requisition for a regiment he said one would make everything secure at Manchester. I also wrote him yesterday requesting him to inform me promptly if he got into any trouble and I would give him all the help in my power. If he has taken proper precautions he has not been surprised, and if likely to be attacked in force he should have informed me of it. Moreover, to send to me he would have had to send his train by Tullahoma, where he would have found Colonel Wagner ready to go to his assistance.
TH. J. WOOD,
Brigadier-General.
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Below is a map of the area, Wartrace is near the top, Tullahoma the middle, and Decherd and Winchester near the bottom.
Buell is gradually becoming aware that a Confederate army is gathering at Chattanooga. General McCook is watching the city and reporting bits of information as it is learned.
Buell is also trying to keep the railroad open from Corinth, and is corresponding with General Rosecrans about how to accomplish that. Rosecrans' forces have replaced the division of General Thomas, who is moving his division to reach Buell.
More Information:
- Link: War Operations, see Volume XVI, Chapter XXVIII, Part II, Correspondence, pp. 211-224.
- The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. p. 77.
- Shelby Foote: The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, pp. 561-564.
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol 3. The Tide Shifts, pp, 1-4
- Kenneth Noe, Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle, pp. 42-46.
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