Sharpshooters with Hood’s Army
By Isaac N. Shannon · Originally published January-February 2023 · pp. 53
SHARPSHOOTERS WITH HOOD’S ARMY BY ISAAC N. SHANNON
The following article is from “Sharpshooters with Hood’s Army” by Isaac Newton Shannon, Confederate Veteran, Vol. 15, pp. 123-127, 1907: “Hood’s army halted at Decatur, Ala., in his Nashville cam paign, and Cheatham’s Division was formed in line ostensibly to assault the Federal works in its front. Lieut. John M. Ozanne ordered me to report to Gen. John C. Brown, commanding, for orders. Hastily approaching the General and making known my errand, he replied: “Yes, I will soon move forward to attack.” I said to him : “In the event your sharpshooters ought to be upon that hill,” pointing to a hill about a mile or more in our front, “so as to command their artillery fire.”
John M. Ozanne. men. He saluted me…He replied: ”I am first lieutenant commanding provost guard, under orders of Colonel Cofer, and I will put you and your men under arrest and take the whisky by force.” I replied: “I am first lieutenant commanding the Whitworth Sharpshooters of Cheatham’s Division, and I will not give up the whisky, nor will I submit to an arrest by an officer of my own rank.”…
Isaac N. Shannon (1833–1883)
…We soon advanced to the top of a high, rocky hill about a thousand or twelve hundred yards south of Franklin and on the west of the turnpike, which is known as Merrill’s or Murrell’s Hill. Here we had a fine view of the Federal works and the open field in front of them, but not a Federal could be seen. While waiting Gen. Pat Cleburne rode up to where we were standing and remarked that he had left his field glass behind and that he wished the use of a telescope. Lieutenant Ozanne (who always carried the gun of the man left with the mule and camp equipage) quickly detached the long telescope from his gun, adjusted the focus, and handed it to General Cleburne, who laid the telescope across a stump and look long and carefully over the field, and remarked, “They have three lines of works,” and then, sweeping the field again as if to make himself certain, said, “And they are all completed.” He then returned the telescope, thanked Lieutenant Ozanne for its use…Thus at about half a mile distance at five shots I disabled four gunners and drove a gun to the rear. This was gun No. 1 of Company A, Captain Catron, of the 2d Regiment Missouri Artillery… …down to the gate marched a lieutenant with about forty
…One day three gunboats came puffing up the river, and a masked battery on the far side of the river opened fire, and I heard one shot strike. The gunboats at once turned back and hurried down the river, firing a few shots, one of which wounded the officer commanding the Whitworth Sharpshooters of Cleburne’s Division just above the elbow joint. We remained here several days, and our meat gave out and we had to live hard till we got to Corinth. From Corinth we went southeastward across Alabama. Georgia, and South Carolina to North Carolina, where we surrendered. I bought a pair of flank leather shoes on the Black Warrior River in Alabama for eightyfive dollars, which, if new, would not now be worth more than eighty-five cents… …The tendency nowadays is for rapid-firing, breechloading guns, which must be far superior in point of general effectiveness to muzzle-loaders ; but I do not believe a hardershooting, harder-kicking, longer-range gun was ever made than the Whitworth rifle. I gave my gun and appurtenances to our division surgeon. Dr. W. E. Rogers, of Memphis, at the surrender. He promised to keep it for me till I called for it. He is dead and I want the gun, but have been unable to get it from his family or to hear from them in regard to it. One of these guns is on exhibition at the Watkins Institute in Nashville.”
Photographs from the Original Article
Captions and credits appear in the article text as originally printed.