3rd Regiment Infantry (3 Years). Organized at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, Ohio, June 4, 1861. Moved to Grafton, W. Va., thence to Clarksburg, W. Va., June 20-25, 1861. Attached to 1st Brigade, Army of Occupation, West Virginia, to September, 1861. Reynolds' Command, Cheat Mountain, W. Va., to November, 861. 17th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, to December, 1861. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Ohio, to September, 1862. 17th Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862.
Strength - 500. 42 killed, 148 wounded.
Commander - John Beatty. Born near Sandusky, OH, December 16th, 1828. Established with his brother the Beatty Brothers Bank (later the First National Bank) in Cardington, OH in 1854. In April, 1861 raised a company of the 3rd Ohio Infantry, later becoming lieutenant colonel. Promoted to colonel prior to Perryville. Later promoted to brigadier general and commanded a brigade at Stones River and Chickamauga. Resigned his commission in January, 1864 to return to the banking business, allowing his brother to enter the army. Elected to Congress in 1868. Candidate for Ohio governor in 1884, and served as president of the Ohio Chickamauga and Chattanooga Military Park Commission. Died Columbus, OH, December 21st, 1914. Buried in Oakland Cemetery, Sandusky, OH.
Weapons - Two companies (flank) with Pattern 1853 Enfield (.577 caliber). Remaining companies with .69 caliber rifled muskets.
Referenced from the "Eye witness accounts" by Logsdon:
ReplyDeleteBeatty, Col. John: 3rd Ohio commander, Lytle’s brigade
The Citizen-Soldier; or, Memoirs of a Volunteer, by John Beatty; 1879
Oct 8
“Started in the early morning toward Perryville. The occasional boom of guns at the front notified us that the enemy was not far distant. …
“At ten o’clock we were hastened forward and placed in battle line on the left of the Maxwell and Perryville road; the cavalry in our front appeared to be seriously engaged. …
“At 11 a.m. The regiment was marching by the flank, and had proceeded to the brow of the hill overlooking a branch of the Chaplin river...
..I was ordered to countermarch my regiment to the bottom of the hill we had just ascended, and file off to the right of the road.
“About 2 o’clock the rebel infantry was seen advancing across the valley, and I ordered the Third to ascend the hill and take position the crest. The enemy’s batteries now reopened with redoubled fury, and the air seemed filled with shot and exploding shells...
… They advanced under cover of a house on the side hill, and having reached a point one hundred and fifty yards distant, deployed behind a stone fence which was hidden from us by standing corn.
… The left of my regiment rested on the Maxville and Perryville road; the line extending along the crest of the hill, and the right passing somewhat behind a barn filled with hay.
… With the enemy’s batteries pouring upon us a most destructive fire, the Third arose and delivered its first volley. For a time the air was filled with hissing balls; shells were exploding continuously, and the noise of the guns was deafening; finally the barn on the right took fire, and the flames bursting from the roof, windows, doors, and interstices between the logs, threw the right of the regiment into disorder … The boys closed up to the left, (and) steadied themselves on the colors.
… Nearly two hundred of my five hundred men now lay dead and wounded on the little strip of ground over which we fought.
“The enemy getting now upon its right and rear, the regiment was compelled to retire from the crest.
“After consultation with Colonel Pope, it was determined to move our regiments to the left, and form line perpendicular to the one originally taken, and thus give protection to the rear and right of the troops on our left.
The enemy observing this movement … as an indication of withdrawal, advanced rapidly toward us, when I about faced my regiment, and ordered the men to fix bayonets and move forward to meet him; but before we had proceeded many yards, I was overtaken by Lieutenant Grover, of Colonel Lytle’s staff, with an order to retire.
“We bivouacked in a corn-field. The regiment had grown suddenly small. It was a sorry night for us. … Nearly two hundred, we felt quite sure, had fallen dead or disabled on the field. …
“The enemy has disappeared, and we go to the hill where our fight occurred. Within the compass of a few rods we find a hundred men of the Third and Fifteenth lying stiff and cold. Beside these there are many wounded, whom we pick up tenderly, carry off and provide for. Men are already digging trenches, and in a little while the dead are gathered. … We have looked upon such scenes before; but then the faces were strange to us. Now they are the familiar faces of intimate personal friends. … We hear convulsive sobs, see eyes swollen and streaming with tears as our comrades are deposited in their narrow grave. …
“Our colors changed hands seven times during the engagement. Six of our color bearers were either killed or wounded, and as the sixth man was falling, a soldier of Company C, named David C. Walker, a boyish fellow … who had lost his hat in the fight, sprang forward, caught the falling flag, then stepping out in front of the regiment, waved it triumphantly, and carried it to the end of the battle.”