The Lightning Brigade Saves the Day

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Armed with their new, lethal seven-shot Spencer rifles, Wilder’s
Lightning Brigade was all that stood between the Union Army
and the looming disaster at Chickamauga Creek.

By Hubert M. Jordan

Historically, the Battle of Chickamauga is recorded as a two-day battle starting on September 19, 1863. For the men of Colonel John T. Wilder’s mounted infantry brigade, the fabled “Lightning Brigade,” the battle actually started a day earlier. And, as events would prove, the Lightning Brigade was not only one of the first units from the Army of the Cumberland to be engaged at Chickamauga, but also the last unit to leave the field.

The men in the Lightning Brigade reflected the fighting spirit of their combative commander. John T. Wilder was an imaginative man who took great pride in his work and was determined to build one of the finest fighting units in the Union Army. Originally from New York, Wilder moved to Ohio when he was 19 and took a job as a draftsman and millwright in a mill in Columbus. Later, he moved to Greensburg, Ind., where he established his own foundry. He became an expert in hydraulic engineering, erecting numerous mills in the North and the upper South.

When the Civil War started, Wilder was determined to form his own artillery battery, and he cast two cannons in his foundry. However, his application was turned down–the state of Indiana had already met its quota of artillery batteries. Undaunted, Wilder joined the 17th Indiana Infantry as a captain and was quickly appointed lieutenant colonel.

As an infantry unit, the 17th Indiana constantly skirmished with Confederate cavalry. One day, frustrated because there was not enough Union cavalry to protect the infantry, Wilder ordered his men to mount mules used to pull the regiment’s supply wagons. The mules were not used to being ridden and did not take kindly to the foot soldiers’ attempts to ride them. As fast as the men mounted the mules, they were thrown off, much to the amusement of the men from other units who had gathered to watch. Wilder, however, was convinced that his men should be mounted, and he requested permission to do so. Three months later, on February 12, 1863, permission was granted.

Wilder’s next goal was to provide his soldiers with the best weapons available, and he attended a demonstration of Christopher Spencer’s new repeating rifle. The Spencer had a tubular magazine that held seven rimfire cartridges and, it would soon prove to be one of the most deadly weapons in the Civil War. Wilder arranged for a bank loan back in Indiana to finance the purchase of the Spencers, while his men agreed to have money deducted from their pay to help reimburse their commander. In May 1863, Wilder’s men received their new rifles, becoming one of the first mounted infantry units in the Army of the Cumberland to be equipped with repeating rifles.

Wilder’s brigade at the start of the Chickamauga campaign consisted of the 17th and 72nd Indiana and the 92nd, 98th and 123rd Illinois. The brigade’s artillery support was supplied by Captain Eli Lilly’s 18th Indiana Battery, which featured six 3-inch Rodman guns.

The Lightning Brigade had been assigned to Maj. Gen. Joseph Reynolds’ division of Maj. Gen. George Thomas’ XIV Corps. However, the brigade had what amounted to an independent commission to support all three corps in Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans’ army during its advance through Middle Tennessee toward the strategic railroad town of Chattanooga, on the Georgia border.

Confederate General Braxton Bragg planned to lure Rosecrans into a false sense of security, hoping to make him think that the Confederate army was demoralized and retreating toward Atlanta. To convince Rosecrans that his army was in bad shape, Bragg had some of his men pose as deserters and report that the Rebel army was demoralized and unable to offer any resistance to the swift Union advance.

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