33rd Wis. /USCT connection

[Martin]

In talking with the boys from the 29th USCT about the upcoming North Freedom event, we wondered if the 33rd and the USCT ever served together.  Looking at Mr. Braun's history of the 33rd, I noticed that the 33rd fought at Ft. Blakely.  It just so happens that there was a USCT division comprising 9 regiments at this same engagement.  

There is an excellent account of the battle in the book "Like Men of War".  Perhaps Mr. Braun could shed some light.  Looking forward to seeing you all in July.  Oh, and you too Weed.

LeRoy Martin
29th USCT

[Mark Reitz]

This reply is off topic with regard to any real life connection between the 33rd and USCTs. I do wish to welcome LeRoy to the forum, and to again invite he, Victor and the other men of the 29th to North Freedom. Last year was a great event, and the 29th are a bunch of great guys. We have even more things planned for this year.

I look forward to seeing you again this summer, LeRoy. Your presence at the event is truly a great and historical addition to reenacting.

Mark Reitz.

[Mike Thorson]

Welcome Leroy!

I know that there were lots of USCT at Tupelo too but I don't know for sure which units. The 33rd was in the thick of that one.

[Martin]

Mike, you are correct.  Upon closer examination, there is even more of a connection.  While the 33rd was stationed in Mo. several companies of USCT were raised in the same location.  Also, while the 33rd was in Tenn. several regiments of USCT were on duty there guarding supplies and rail lines.  Finally, there was a brigade of  the USCT at the Battle of Nashville.

So it is quite historical to have the 33rd serving with the USCT, or maybe near the USCT.

LeRoy Martin
29th USCT

[John Wedeward]

LeRoy, again this is a little off the subject, but going thru some old issues of American Heritage Magazine as I cleaned out my desk yesterday for the end of school, I found a GREAT article on the "1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry" . "They were  the first black men to fight in the Civil War, first to fight alongside whites, and the first to die".  A very intersting article, which I will send to you.  See you guys at North Freedom or maybe at Rockford if your going to that event. Take care. Weed

[Mark Reitz]

It appears that the 33rd Wisconsin served along side USCT's in the Red River Campaign. The 33rd was in the 17th Corps and brigaded with the 3rd Iowa and the 41st Illinois. The Union forces also included the Corps Afrique, consisting of the 73d, 75th, 84th and 92d USCT.

I continue to search for other instances of the 33rd in ventures with USCT's.

Mark.

[Robert Braun]

Mr. Martin raises an interesting question: what was the proximity to the original Thirty-third Wisconsin and black soldiers organized into USCT regiments?

With respect to some of the viewpoints raised herein... my answer would be "extremely limited."

Allow me to explain.

There is no doubt that USCT troops agumented the Federal forces with which campaigned the Thirty-third Wisconsin during Red River (as indicated by Mark), Tupelo, Nashville, and doubtless others. However, when we examine the details of the Thirty-third's participation in these campaigns, the opportunity for actual man-to-man interraction-- as suggested by Mr. Martin's original post-- was remote at best.

The Thirty-third's participation in the Red River Campaign consisted  in large part with detached service, along with the rest of XVII Corp's "Red River Division," as protection for Admiral Porter's fleet--seperate and distinct from the rest of Gen. Banks' ill-fated army. The "heavy lifting" done by the RRD and the two divisions of XVI Corps as rear-guard in the latter half of the campaign offered almost no opportunity for contact with USCTs, by reason of proximity.

Regarding Fort Blakely, one of the fortifications guarding the city of Mobile, Alabama, the Thirty-third served in a reserve position after the fall of Spanish Fort on the night of April 8-9, 1865.  The regiment did not actively serve in the attacks that captured Fort Blakeley on April 9, 1865.

So... simply put there was little possible man-to-man interraction with USCT during the 33 months of the Thirty-third's service.

Except one....        read on!

On July 13, during the so-called Tupelo Campaign, Gen A. J. Smith's wagon trains headed east from Pontotoc towards the vital rail junction at Tupelo. Guarding the trains was the small 4th Brigade commanded by Col. Lyman M. Ward. The Thirty-third was the largest intact regimental-size unit in the brigade. When Lee and Forrest found out that Smith was not going to fall for the trap set for him near Panola, they took off east, chasing Smith. The rear-guard for Smith's expedition was none other than Col Edward Bouton's First Brigade, USCT, which included the 59th, 63rd, and 68th USCT along with the 2d USC Light Artillery, Battery I.

Bouton's brigade soon became heavily engaged with Forrest's advance elements as they probed eastward in an attempt to cut off Smith, or at least his trains. Col. Ward, in obedience to orders from Gen. Mower,  detached the Thirty-third as a second rear-guard for the trains. During this activity, it is possible that man-to-man interaction between USCT soldiers and Wisconsin skirmishers may have occured.

The Thirty-third remained in this situation until around 2 p.m., when orders directed them to support the wagon train, then under attack by Col. Duff's 8th Mississippi and other cavalry regiments near Burrow's Shop, some six miles west of Camargo Crossroads. The ensuing action saved the bacon of the several companies of the 14th Wisconsin... who promptly stole a trophy battle flag that was rightly the property of the Thirty-third.

The USCT Brigade continued to serve with Smith's expedition for the remainder of the campaign, but the opportunities for close contact between the Badgers and the brave men of color were, unfortunately, remote indeed.

I do not discount the possibility of contact at LaGrange in early July, 1864, or other circumstances in between campaigns where interraction MIGHT have occured. Unfortunately, the available records are thus far silent on these kinds of encounters.

An interesting question!  

Cordially,  Bob.

[Mark Reitz]

Consistent with the event scenario in LaRue for the coming weekend, and based upon the research that Bob started, it appears that the 33rd and 4th Arkansas (57th USCT) have a connection at Devall's Bluff, Arkansas.

As noted by Bob, the 33rd was moving on the riverboat Tycoon. Apparently low water hindered their progress, and they disembarked. They were then stationed around Devall's Bluff. As of September 5, 1864, the only troops at Devall's Bluff were the 33rd Wisconsin and the 57th USCT.

The 57th had started as the 4th Arkansas, having been formed from the Devall's Bluff area on December 2, 1863. Their unit designation was changed to the 57th on March 11, 1864. They were a part of Major General Steele's Department of Arkansas, and brigaded with Col. Graves in Gen. Andrews 2nd Division.

At the time during which the 33rd was in Devall's Bluff, Graves 1st Brigade was elsewhere, leaving the 57th at Devall's Bluff. The 33rd was also stationed there after leaving the Tycoon.

The troops were stationed near the rail lines, and were apparently engaged in the guarding of the line to Little Rock.

The OR's reveal that the outposts and recons were being pressured by reb cavalry in f*g an's brigade. On September 6, the 57th was ordered out by rail to Little Rock. The 33rd followed on September 7, by order of Major General Andrews, AAAG 1LT Martin, with five days rations being issued. They took their garrison and camp equipage but were ordered to leave their artillery.

It thus appears that for LaRue, if we were to use the Devall's Bluff area, September 5-7 as our guiding impression, we would be historically correct to have 1) the 33rd stationed along a rail line; 2) a presence of USCT's; 3) rebel forces operating in the vacinity.

Looking ahead at the weather forcast for the weekend, it looks like we will approximate Arkansas weather too!

Mark Reitz.

[Robert Braun]

The OR is confusing as to the situation at Devall's Bluff at Little Rock...primarily because the commanders themselves were unsure of the situation with confederate troops under Shelby and F-a-g-a-n. The USCT regiment may well have gone to Little Rock to reinfirce Gen. Steele's command there, in anticipation of a rumored Confederate attack. It never materialized.

Instead of approaching Little Rock or Devall's Bluff in preparation for attack, the Confederates were actually moving AWAY for these locations., and north towards Missouri. This reality changed the directives for Moore's brigade. The march against Shelby would be launched in concert with Mower's division from XVI Corps, and from Brownsville. The orders directing the Thirty-third et al to Little Rock were countermanded. Despite BGN Andrew's fret about an attack at Little Rock and elsewhere, Gen. Steele directed the campaign to be opened from Brownsville.

If there were confederate cavalry in the area of Devall's Bluff, the Thirty-third or other troops (apparently) of Moore's brigade were not used to engage them. At 5 p.m. on September 7, the Thirty-third boarded cars for Brownsville, leaving about 100 men to accompany the brigade wagons, to arrive the following day.

As for the trip aboard Tycoon.. that was an oddyssy in itself. Accompanied by steamer Belle, Tycoon damaged a rudder and ran aground on September 2. Belle then sprang a leak and came close to sinking. Belle was eventually repaired, pumped of residual water, and the regiment's horses and mules from Tycoon put aboard Belle to lighten the draft of the former vessel. Finally steamer Rose Hambliton arrived on September 4 to pull the lightened Tycoon off the sand bar. The steamer then proceeded to Devall's Bluff and off-loaded the Thirty-third Regiment and all their baggage.

It must have been a gala trip and encampment at Devall's... the men had just been paid prior to embarkation at St. Charles Arkansas!

[John Wedeward]

Research done by Dave May from the OR's, CLEARLY indicated that the ONLY regiments at Devall's Bluff, Arkansas, on Sept. 5-6, 1864 was the 33d Wisconsin and 57th USCT. TheirWeed unofficial job was to guard the railroad against confederate bands of raiders!!!

Weed

[Mike Thorson]

My suggestion for anyone interested in the subject is to look at the ORs and other sources on your own to reach your conclusion.

I think the point here was to add credibility to a scenario. While most organizations would just go ahead and do whatever they wanted, research supporting the scenario or not, the 33rd put a lot of effort into framing an event and its welcome and known participants into the most authentic "scene" as possible.

I think the two points of view are really not of the same subject technically. One is to make an event as authentic as possible, the other is the hard facts, using ALL available sources. That's why reenacting and history, really, don't mix so well.

All readers should CAREFULLY read each post and its arguments in the light in which they are meant and not have such a hair-trigger reaction to think negatively about the research or conclusions of others.

The 33rd (portraying the 33rd - OR another unit!) can and should do more events with great units like our USCT pards and at the same time, as with ANY scenario, try to support each public event with a decent base in authenticity.

We're all on the same page here, try to take each's point of view in the light in which they are meant.

[Robert Braun]

John... I guess I am not sure what you mean by the "unofficial" reason the Thirty-third was a Devall's Bluff was to guard the rail lines from attack. If that was one of the tasks of the regiment, real or implied, I would be very interested to learn what evidence supports or suggests this conclusion.

Now, there was a threat to Devall's Bluff after Shelby's raid on Union haying stations on/around August 24. However, that threat, coupled with Col. Moore's lethargy in complying with orders to move his brigade from St. Charles to Devall's, diminished over time, as the intentions of Shelby began to be known.

BY the time Moore complied with the movement to Devall's, the threat to the region--and even to Little Rock--had actually passed. General Steele's orders countermanding the expected movement to Little Rock by rail and other communications demonstrated the changing events in Arkansas in response to the movements of Shelby.

The original question asked whether or not the Thirty-third and the USCTs served together. The available evidence suggests extremely limited contact, if any.

r.