The Hero of Corinth

Here's another interesting story from The Civil War in Song and Story 1860-1865, collected and arranged by Frank Moore. It is from the 1882 version and this story comes from page 465 (with links, of course, added by me.)

It is an example of how much importance was placed on a unit's battle flag, the pride that soldiers took in protecting their own or capturing their enemy's.



The Hero of Corinth - Private Orrin B Gould, of company G, Twenty-seventh Ohio, was the hero of the battle of Corinth. The following letter to Governor Tod, from Colonel John W. Fuller, commanding the Ohio Brigade, embodies a history of young Gould's resplendent conduct.

      Headquarters, First Brigade, Second
              Division, Army of the Mississippi,
                        Near Ripley, Miss., Oct. 9, 1862

To the Governor of Ohio:

   SIR:  I have the honor of forwarding to your Excellency the "Battle-Flag" of the Ninth Texas regiment, which was captured by a private of the Twenty-Seventh Ohio infantry, at the battle of Corinth, Oct. 4, 1862.

   The rebels, in four close columns, were pressing with gallantry, amounting to recklessness, upon the Ohio brigade, with the evident intention of breaking our lines, when the terrible and incessant fire of our men drove them back in the utmost confusion.

   The Sixth Texas bore down upon the left centre of the 27th Ohio, with this flag at the head of their column, and advanced to within six or eight yards of our lines, when Orrin B. Gould, a private of company G, shot down the color-bearer, and rushed forward for the rebel flag. A rebel officer shouted to his men to "save the colors," and at the same moment put a bullet into the breast of Gould; but the young hero was not to be intimidated. With the flagstaff in his hand and the bullet in his breast, he returned to his  regiment, waving the former defiantly in the faces of the enemy.

   After the battle, when visiting the hospitals, I found young Gould stretched upon a cot, evidently in great pain. Upon seeing me, his pale face was instantly radiant with smiles, and pointing to his wound, he said, "Colonel, I don't care for this, since I got their flag."

   I have the honor to be, your Excellency's obedient servant,
    JOHN W. FULLER
    Colonel, Twenty-seventh Ohio, commanding
    First Brigade, Second Division
                                

Here is a  story about the 9th Texas Infantry which claims theirs was not the flag Private Gould captured.

 The below photograph is of Colonel John Fuller, courtesy of http://www.parkerscrossroads.com/Battle_Information/forces/fuller.htm

William Horsfall, 15 year old Medal of Honor Winner

On May 21, 1862, William Horsfall was just 15 years old and, in his own words received a major assignment: "In the fighting before Corinth, Miss. May 21, 1862, Nelson's Brigade was engaged and my position was to the right of the First Kentucky, as an independent sharpshooter. The regiment had just made a desperate charge across the ravine. Captain Williamson was wounded in the charge and in subsequent reversing of positions, was left between the lines.

Lt. Hocke, approaching me, said, 'Horsfall, Captain Williamson is in a serious predicament, rescue him if possible." So I placed my gun against a tree and in a stooping run, gained his side and dragged him to the stretcher bearers, who took him to the rear."

This brave act earned a Medal of Honor for the young Kentuckian, who had been born in March of 1847. According to a local history website, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kycampbe/horsfallcareer.htm, Horsfall had snuck away from home on the steamship Annie Laurie, which was then docked at Newport, Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. He remained hidden until the boat had started its journey, and then finally made his presence known.

He eventually enlisted as a drummer boy in Company G of the 1^st Kentucky Volunteer regiment, at Camp Cox, Virginia.

According to A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion
by Frederick H. Dyer ( http://www.civilwararchive.com/regim.htm) the 1^st Kentucky Regiment had organized in Pendleton, Ohio in early 1861, as Kentucky had declared its neutrality and was not officially enrolling troops for either side yet. This regiment spent much of its early years in the region now known as West Virginia, in the District of the Kanawa. It moved though the region, including Kentucky and Tennessee, before taking part in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, and then at Corinth the following month, after Henry Halleck led the Union forces to that Mississippi city.

The regiment stayed around southern Tennessee and northern Alabama for a while, then returned to Kentucky to campaign against Braxton Bragg. This operation ended with the October 1862 Battle of Perryville, after which the Southern forces left the Bluegrass state. In the next few years, these men participated in famed battles and campaigns like Stone's River, Tullahoma, Chickamauga and Chattanooga. This unit also campaigned against Confederate General and famed raider John Hunt Morgan. The 1^st Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment mustered out of service on June 1, 1864.

Horsfall went on to participate in the regiments' future marches, and found himself in trouble at Stone's River, where his sized may have stopped the enemy from shooting him before he ran away and made his escape.

He spent some time in a hospital in Nashville, before being discharged in Louisville in August 1864. He mustered into a Veteran Volunteer regiment in early 1865, just a few weeks before Robert E. Lee's surrender. He received a $400 bounty (a nice sum of money for a 18- year old (or for many older men) to have at once in those days!) and served until March of 1866. He lived for many years back in Newport and received a pension for his services.

Horsfall's medal of honor was presented on August 17, 1895 and the citation read: "saved the life of a wounded officer lying between the lines." This information was found at

http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1862_cwh/horsfall_william.html

To think of the bravery he showed by undertaking that rescue mission at the battle around Corinth is almost mind-boggling. It would have been incredible for any soldier, but it is even more remarkable that a 15 year old boy (well, young man – what he did was beyond the realms of a normal boy) was ready, willing and able to make the rescue.

In today's day and age, it might make people sick to think of a 15 year old serving in the military in places like Iraq, but William Horsfall performed such service at such a remarkably young age during his nation's greatest crisis. His sneaking off from home is not the story of a role model, but was the first sign of the courage he would soon display on the battlefield.

This once-young hero passed away on October 22, 1922, at the age of 75 and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Southgate, Kentucky