Perryville, Kentucky. His frustrating experience reflected the leadership problems that pervaded the then named Army of the Ohio.
Upon reaching Louisville from Mississippi on September 14, 1862, Sheridan reported to Major General William âBullâ Nelson. Nelson gave him command of 1,500 infantrymenâthe Pea Ridge Brigade, veterans of their namesake Union victory in southwestern Missouri, where Sheridan had played a supporting role. It was composed of the 2nd and 15th Missouri, and the 36th and 44th Illinois. Nelson told Sheridan that Major General Don Carlos Buell, who was shadowing Braxton Braggâs army through Kentucky, might assign more regiments to Sheridanâs brigade.
But the command structure changed when Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis shot Nelson dead in a hallway of the Galt House. The shooting climaxed a dispute that had swiftly metamorphosed from hot words to action, with Davis flinging a balled-up calling card in Nelsonâs face and Nelson backhanding Davis. Davis had then borrowed a pistol from a bystander and shot Davis in the chest, killing him. Placed under house arrest, Davis was never prosecuted. He commanded the right wing division beside Sheridanâs at Stones River. 26
Buell was appointed the Army of the Ohioâs commander and overhauled the command structure. One change rankled with SheridanâBuellâs promotion of
Captain Charles Gilbert to major general with command of III Corps. Sheridan argued that he deserved at least a division if an officer whom he ranked in tenure got a corps. Buell agreed and assigned Sheridan the 6,500-man 11th Division. 27
Officers and enlisted men were united in their dislike of Gilbert and Buell. War correspondent William F. G. Shanks of the New York Herald described Gilbert as a âmartinet of the worst sort.â Gilbert rummaged through his menâs baggage for contraband, and he had arrested a colonel for allowing his men to climb some persimmon trees. At one point, Gilbert ordered everyone in III Corps to stand at attention every morning from 3 a.m. until daylight.
Buell, openly contemptuous of the volunteer units, tried to impose army regulations on the independent-minded Westerners. Consequently, he made powerful enemies, including Andrew Johnson and Oliver Morton, the war governors, respectively, of Tennessee and Indiana. One night, two dozen officers met secretly to sign a petition to President Abraham Lincoln seeking Buellâs removal for incompetence and disloyalty. 28
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BUELL AND BRAGG REACHED the battleground north of Perryville on October 7, both operating under huge misconceptions. Bragg believed he faced only a fragment of Buellâs army, when in fact he faced Buellâs entire 58,000-man force, while Buell was under the impression that he faced Braggâs 45,000-man Army of the Mississippi, when Bragg had only 20,000 men with him. Bragg confidently planned to attack; Buell cautiously resolved to stay on the defensive until his entire army had assembled and then to attack on October 9.
October 8 began with one of Sheridanâs brigades, commanded by Colonel Daniel McCookâone of Ohioâs âFighting McCooksââseizing Peters Hill in front of Doctorâs Creek, thereby providing fresh water for the thirsty army. The Rebels counterattacked two hours later but were flung back. Sheridanâs men drove them south across Chaplin Creek and captured the next hill.
But Gilbert feared that Sheridanâs aggressiveness might bring on a general engagement before Buell was ready for one. He ordered Sheridan to pull back to Peters Hill. Sheridanâs men dug rifle pits there. Throughout the late morning and into the afternoon, Gilbert sent Sheridan a stream of nagging signals from the rear reminding him not to advance. 29
While Gilbert handcuffed Sheridanâs division and the rest of III Corps, I Corps, commanded by another âfighting McCook,â Major General
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