Existing comment:
Officer's Tent:
Long hours of a colonel or general's time, even on campaign, were spent in a setting more like an office than a battlefield. They and a small number of staff officers prepared, reviewed, and approved an array of army forms and correspondence that showed the strength of the unit, the condition of its arms and ammunition, and the amounts of food and other supplies the troops needed. An officer's headquarters was a traveling office with portable desks and boxes of records. In addition to these daily duties, the officer inspected the camps and picket lines, trained and drilled the men, and led them into battle.
... a heavy load of responsibility on my shoulders ... a very difficult matter to keep the several commands supplied with rations, forage, &c, &c..." -- Brig. Gen. William H. Lytle, USA [He did at Chickamauga, BTW]
Officers were allowed a limited quantity of baggage based on weight; the higher graded the office, the more baggage allowed. For their nighttime conform in camp, officers could purchase one of many styles of portable cot. This lightweight model folded and rolled compactly and the stools could be used separately for seating when not supporting the cot. During active campaigning, an officer's baggage might be severely reduced and separate movement of the troops and baggage wagons sometimes reduced the officer to sleeping on the ground with his men.
Union Col. Philemon P. Baldwin, who was killed at Chickamauga on September 19, 1863, while commanding a brigade in the Winfrey Field area, owned this lap desk. Likely carried by a member of his staff, the desk and the paper, pens, and ink it contained would have been used to produce messages and orders while on the march.
Drums, and increasingly bugles, helped officers communicate in camp and on the battlefield. Calls repeated orders to fall in, march, fire, and cease-fire. Other calls regulated the soldier's day by announcing drill, sick call, and meal times. This bugle was used by the bugler assigned to Union Brig. Gen. August von Willich. Willich's Brigade fought at Chickamauga in the area of the Winsfrey and Kelly fields, and helped break the Confederate line two months later on Missionary Ridge.
This company field desk was used by Company H, 40th Ohio, and was originally preserved by 1st Lt. George D. Stone of the company. The 40th Ohio fought on Horseshoe Ridge west of the Snodgrass farmstead on the afternoon of September 20, 1863. The desk was used by the company officers to protect and organize the many documents and records necessary to account for the company's men and equipment. It was carried in one of the regimental baggage wagons.
This surveying instrument belongs to Aristide Gerard, lieutenant colonel and colonel of the 13th Louisiana Infantry. The 13th Louisiana fought at both Chickamauga and Chattanooga, but Gerard was not present, having been assigned to service in western Louisiana. |