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Celebrating 151 years of service to our Army After Action Report - Stones River/Murfreesboro, TN "At about nine o'clock A.M. on the 31st of December,1862," says General Rousseau, in his official report of the battle, under date of January 11th, 1863, "the report of artillery and heavy firing of small arms on our right announced that the battle had begun by an attack on the right wing, commanded by Maj.-General McCook. * * * General Thomas ordered me to advance my division quickly to the front to the assistance of General McCook. * * * We consulted and agreed as to where the line should be formed. This was in a dense cedar brake, through which my troops marched in double-quick time, to get into position before the enemy reached us. He was then but a few hundred yards to the front sweeping up in immense numbers, driving everything before him. * * * The roads were almost impassable to infantry, and artillery was perfectly useless. * * * Our lines were hardly formed before a dropping fire of the enemy announced his approach. * * * Four deliberate and fiercely sustained assaults were made upon our position and repulsed." After the last assault "we made a charge upon the enemy and drove him into the woods. * * * This ended the fighting of that day. * * * From the evening of the 31st until the ensuing Saturday night (January 3d), no general battle occurred in front of my division. * * * During much of the time my men had neither shelter, food nor fire. I procured corn, which they parched and ate, and some of them ate horse steaks, cut and broiled, from horses upon the battle-field. * * * The troops of my division behaved admirably. I could not wish them to behave more gallantly. * * * The Brigade of United States Infantry, Lieut-Col. O. L. Shepherd commanding, was on the extreme right. On that body of brave men the shock of battle fell heaviest, and its loss was most severe. Over one-third of the command fell, killed or wounded; but it stood up to the work and bravely breasted the storm, and though Major King, commanding the Fifteenth, and Major Slemmer ("Old Pickens"), commanding the Sixteenth, fell severely wounded, and Major Carpenter, commanding the Nineteenth, fell dead in the last charge, together with many other brave officers and men, the brigade did not falter for a moment. * * * If I could, I would promote every officer and several non-commissioned officers and privates of this brigade of regulars, for gallantry and good service in this terrific battle. I make no distinction between these troops and my brave volunteer regiments, for in my judgment there never were better troops than those regiments, in the world. But the troops of the line are soldiers by profession and with a view to the future I feel it my duty to say what I have of them." The loss of the battalion of the Fifteenth Infantry, in killed and wounded was severe. It went into the engagement with sixteen officers and three hundred and four enlisted men. One officer Captain Bell was killed, and three officers Major King, Captain Yorke and Lieutenant Oceleston were severely wounded. Ten men were killed and ninety-one men wounded and missing.
The 15th Infantry
traces our official Army lineage to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry
constituted on 3 May 1861 by General Order Number 33. See our
history
and visit one of the battlefields on which the Regulars served from 1862
to 1863 in the Army of the Cumberland.
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Index Annual Dinner - September 2013 This page was last updated 05/12/2013 |
Objectives of our Association To perpetuate and foster the history and traditions of the Regiment. To provide opportunities for uniting past and present members of the Regiment into a close and cooperative alliance. To promote morale and high esprit de corps among members of the regiment. To acquire and maintain a repository of regimental historical memorabilia. To assist in the maintenance of monuments dedicated to the 15th Infantry Regimental units. Select the highlighted link on the left to sign up for the 2013 Annual Dinner. The Regimental Dinner will be held on 13 September 2013 at the Westin Lombard Hotel in Lombard, Illinois.
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©Copyright 2013 - 15th Infantry Regiment Association. All rights reserved. |
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The 15th Infantry
Regiment Association
