17
Henry and Herbert Kilburn, Horace Cookingham
April to September 1864
The Kilburns and Horace Cookingham arrived in Murfreesborough, Tennessee at the end of March, 1864. On April 1, the 12th Ohio Battery was assigned as Garrison Artillery, Murfreesborough, Department of Cumberland. The battery consisted of 5 officers and 122 enlisted men at this time.
By the spring of 1864 it was obvious that the North was going to win, although the South would continue fighting and drag the war out another year. Only two Southern armies of any importance remained: Lee’s in Virginia and Johnson’s in Georgia. After Chattanooga, it seemed like the war in Tennessee was mostly over with. Sherman was pushing Johnson’s army back toward Atlanta. Union forces still in Tennessee were mostly used to guard railroads and major cities.
Fortress Rosecrans had been constructed in January, 1863 after Rosecrans’ army had captured Murfreesborough. It was built on the west side of the town and was supported by four outlying "redoubts," or small earthwork forts. The fortress itself was roughly oval-shaped, about a mile in diameter, with eleven angular projections or lunettes. A quarter-mile length of the fortification is preserved today, now in the middle of the city.
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Shortly after their arrival at Murfreesborough, Herbert Kilburn caught some virus. His condition became worse and developed into pneumonia. On April 13 he was removed from duty and taken to the military hospital in Fortress Rosecrans. Six days later, on April 19, 1864, Herbert died of what they called "Typhoid Pneumonia." His remains were sent home to New London, Ohio for burial. There is a small marker in the Grove Street Cemetery near the other Kilburns and Cookinghams.
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On April 30, the Murfreesborough garrison (commanded by General Van Cleve) became part of the District of Nashville (General L. Rousseau), Department of Cumberland (General Thomas).
There is nothing noted in the records for May or June, for which the men were probably grateful. Both Union and Confederacy were concentrating all their efforts on Sherman’s advance on Atlanta.
Probably about this time a guideline from the War Department filtered down through channels and became effective at Murfreesborough. It gives us a little insight into how the artillery units worked. War Department General Orders 42, issued February 2, 1864, provided instructions for artillery garrisons. It’s a very long document and goes into great detail, but there are a few items of interest to us. Batteries were assigned to guns so as to provide three shifts for 24-hour operation. That means it would take 15 to 20 men to work one gun, which explains why a battery with six cannons would need to have 120 men. Each gun would be placed under the charge of a sergeant – this is probably Henry Kilburn’s job at this time – and groups of three guns would be under a lieutenant. All men not actively working a cannon were given rifles and manned the defenses. The "gunner" (corporal) was responsible for aiming, and the "canoneers" (privates) did all the work of moving, cleaning, firing, and bringing up more ammunition.
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On July 1, 1864, Henry Kilburn was promoted to First Sergeant of the 12th Ohio Battery. That made him the senior enlisted man, in charge of everyone for all administrative purposes such as work shifts, pay, furlough, and discipline.
Another reorganization took place in July. The District of Tennessee was divided into several groups which were responsible for defending the major railroad lines. The 12th Ohio Battery, along with the rest of the Murfreesborough garrison, became part of the Defenses of the Nashville-Chattanooga Railroad. A brigade structure was also imposed. At this time the 12th Ohio came under General Robert Milroy once again. He had been their brigade commander during the early years of the war; now he was brought out from West Virginia to command the Defenses of the Nashville-Chattanooga Railroad. The 12th Battery was now in the 1st Brigade (Van Cleve), Defenses of the Nashville-Chattanooga Railroad (Milroy), District of Nashville (Rousseau), Department of Cumberland (Thomas).
The "Descriptive Book" of the 12th Ohio Battery indicates that Henry Kilburn was appointed Sergeant-Major on July 13, 1864. There is no other record of such an appointment, and he continues to be referred to as First Sergeant on the bimonthly muster rolls. I’m not sure what this means, but I believe the difference is unimportant. In today’s army, Sergeant-Major is a rank and a pay-grade, while "First Sergeant" is a position (the senior enlisted man in a company) and not really a rank at all. It may have been different during the 1800s, but they were probably still about the same rank. A First Sergeant would generally be a position in a company, while a Sergeant-Major was usually associated with a regiment or brigade.
The fact that Henry is now called a Sergeant-Major is almost certainly related to the change to a brigade structure. What it means specifically for him, however, we don’t know. An independent battery such as the 12th Ohio, although it was only the size of a large company, was run more like a regiment; so he could have had that position just by virtue of being in a battery. Or it might mean that he was actually appointed the Sergeant-Major for the entire Brigade, i.e. for the whole Murfreesborough garrison.
Incidentally, the Sergeant-Major rank would follow him forever, even though he would later be commissioned. After the war, his friends always called him "Maje". This would in turn cause later generations to think he had been a Major; but the nickname Maje refers to Sergeant-Major.
The area remained very quiet all through the summer; all the fighting was in Georgia. Sherman reached Atlanta in July and captured it in September. At that point General Hood, the Confederate commander, decided the only thing he could do was strike at the supply lines for Sherman’s army. The main connection was the railroad from Nashville through Murfreesborough and Chattanooga, and Hood headed for that. Sherman chased after Hood for a while, but then decided to forget about supply lines. Cutting himself off from all communications, Sherman started with his whole army through Georgia on his March to the Sea. Hood stayed in Tennessee, hoping that by attacking Federal garrisons there he could draw Sherman back, but it didn’t work. Thus the last few battles we will see for the members of our families in this area were a by-product of Sherman’s march.
In early September, with rumours of Hood’s approach, the Murfreesborough forces started to build up and refurbish the outlying redoubts. Henry Kilburn was working on Brannan Redoubt, a small earthwork fort that had been built in 1863. It was cold and rainy, and he became sick from overexposure. This was "on or about" September 1, according to a statement by the attending physician. A statement by Henry’s commanding officer places the date as "on or about" September 6. These statements were made from their own recollections sometime after the war, when Henry was trying to get a disability pension; there are no original hospital records from the actual event, so we don’t know the exact dates. Though he remained on duty, Henry was sick for the rest of the month.
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