"The Fifth Texas Weren't at Atlanta"

It was enough to keep an unreconstructed Confederate veteran guffawing into the 20th century . . . A Medal of Honor issued to Charles Francois Sanscrainte on July 25, 1892, "for actions at Atlanta, Georgia, on July 22, 1864; Voluntarily scaled the enemy's breastworks and signaled to his commanding officer in charge - also in single combat captured the colors of the Fifth Texas Regiment."

Typical Yankees! - in such a hurry to pin medals on themselves, they can't even come up with stories that might have happened!! Now, the boys of the Fifth Texas were put into many hot places during the war, but Atlanta wasn't one of 'em.

Blundered wording may have resulted in some shine being taken from Pvt Sanscrainte's Medal over the years, but read on and help mend the error.

Irascible German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once observed that some people erode heroism by saying "a hero . . . did nothing but shake the tree when the fruit was ripe." However, Nietzsche countered, "Do you think that was a small thing to do? Well, just look at the tree he shook."

In order to look at the tree that Charles Sanscrainte shook, you must know about the Battle of Atlanta.

For one more frustrating time, Joe Johnston appeared to obligingly pull his Army of Tennessee out of harm's way, thereby allowing "Uncle Billy" Sherman across the Chattahoochee during the second week of July, 1864. The Confederate General was optimistic, however, that his Army of Tennessee had reached a position from which they could not be driven and he expected to stop the Yankees at Peachtree Creek only a few miles from Atlanta. But Schofield's Army of the Ohio and McPherson's Army of the Tennessee made wide wheeling maneuvers to bear down on the city from the north and east, thereby blocking the way to Decatur and Virginia. Meanwhile, George H Thomas marched his Army of the Cumberland straight for the Peachtree Creek defenses and Joe Johnston was replaced in command by John Bell Hood. Hood lashed out at Thomas only three days after taking command, but the July 20 Battle of Peachtree Creek gained nothing yet cost 3,000 Confederate soldiers.

All day on July 21, Cleburne's division and Wheeler's cavalrymen unsuccessfully fought to stave off Major Gen'l JB McPherson as he led six divisions toward the eastern edge of Atlanta. The Federal advance finally stopped of its own accord within a mile of Atlanta. Major Gen'l John A Logan's XV Corps was astride the railroad to Augusta. On his right were two divisions of Grenville M Dodge's XVI Corps. Two divisions of Gen'l Frank P Blair's XVII Corps stretched southerly from Logan's left and across the Bald Hill eminence. It appeared that McPherson could next flank Hood's entire line and enter the city. But gray cavalry reported a way around the Union left, which Hood meant to exploit in the style of "Stonewall" Jackson's flank move at Chancellorsville.

The corps of Alex Stewart, Ben Cheatham, & Joe Hardee were withdrawn into fortifications hastily built along Atlanta's city limits. This new line was to be secured by Stewart, Cheatham, & Georgia state troops while Hardee used the night of July 21 to march southeast around McPherson's left, attacking him next day on the flank & rear. It was expected that McPherson would turn to meet Hardee, exposing his force to an assault by Cheatham and Stewart. The plan looked good. Union cavalry was destroying railroad lines beyond Decatur, Schofield's XXIII Corps was otherwise occupied, and Thomas was separated from McPherson by 12 miles of circuitous roads.

But the probable turned vulnerable. Hardee's march from Atlanta toward McPherson's left was slow to start and slow to move - some of his men had not slept for two days and all were weary from skirmishing & entrenching on July 21. Rather than striking at dawn of July 22 per Hood's initial orders, it was not until noon that Hardee's four divisions were ready to attack. Once in motion, Hardee's men were slowed by the uneven lay of the land and they became snarled in "impassable undergrowth." The three divisions to Cleburne's right - those of Generals Wm HT Walker, Wm B Bate, & George Maney - had to go around a long mill pond. Maney's regiments made such slow progress that Hardee ordered them out of line and to Cleburne's support. To top it off, Walker & Bate stumbled into a destructive fire from Dodge's men, whom McPherson had hurried south that morning. Although Hood had surprised the Yankees, these obstacles reduced his bold stroke to a series of sporadic attacks.

Major Gen'l Patrick Cleburne's division, counting little more than three thousand men, enjoyed the most success of the initial attack. With the brigades of Generals Mark P Lowrey & James A Smith lined-up to the left of Daniel C Govan's, he followed Flat Shoals Road smack into Frank Blair's left and scattered the division of Gen'l Giles A Smith. Though Cleburne engaged the Federals much sooner than Hardee's other divisions, Govan & Lowrey were able to overrun Blair's flank while Jas A Smith's brigade roared through a half-mile gap between Blair and Dodge.

For McPherson's Yankees, July 22 had started with the observation that the Confederates had abandoned the works immediately in front. Logan & Blair moved to the enemy's old works at 9 a.m. and began reversing them. Firing off toward the US left rear started at about noon- the left flank of Giles Smith's division had suddenly been by enemy artillery fire and then swept by gray infantry. After Dodge's men had opened fire on Walker & Bate, General McPherson was dashing from Dodge toward Blair when he rode into an undefended gap between their lines. The army commander immediately sent a rider with orders that Gen'l Logan send a brigade to plug the hole.

Continuing toward Giles Smith's left, McPherson reportedly rode across the front of the Fifth Confederate Regt and was shot down. Col Robert K Scott, who was one of Blair's brigade commanders as well as McPherson's "Orderly," was captured. Pat Cleburne's Confederates were already moving through the half-mile gap between XVII & XVI, toward the rear of Blair's line. Blair's brigades were ordered onto the other side of their works - faces to the east and backs toward Atlanta - and they managed to check Cleburne before having to reverse direction to meet Cheatham's 4 p.m. attack.

Cleburne made a surprisingly-deep stab at the Army of the Tennessee's back. The brigade of Gen'l Charles C Walcutt, on the left end of Logan's corps-strength line, was facing west towards Atlanta when "it became evident that the enemy were pushing a column through a gap between the 16th and 17th Corps." Walcutt reported that he "at once changed my front to the left rear, and just got into position in time to check the tide . . . The enemy then turned upon the 17th Corps, which gave me an enfilading fire upon them."

Further north along Logan's line was a brigade comprised of the 48th Illinois, 99th Indiana, 70th Ohio, & 15th Michigan, commanded by the 15th's Colonel John M Oliver. Hearing the musketry & artillery at noon, Oliver suspected an attack from the southeast and sent his Michigan boys in that direction, where they deployed on the left of Walcutt's brigade. A Rebel force was in their immediate front, occupying rifle pits which the Federals had dug on July 21. Lt Col Hutchinson, 15th Michigan, then ordered a charge by his four left companies, "which captured 17 officers, 165 men, and two stand of colors belonging to the 5th Confederate, 17th & 18th Texas dismounted Cavalry." At 5 p.m., when Cheatham and Stewart attacked according to Hood's plan, the 15th was ordered back to help Oliver's brigade meet their assault.

After recovering from their initial surprise at Hardee's attack, McPherson's troops fought effectively and inflicted half as many casualties on Hood's army in one afternoon as it had suffered in ten weeks under Joe Johnston.

Describing the part taken by his brigade in the July 22 Battle of Atlanta, General James A Smith made the general observation that Cleburne's division quickly penetrated two lines of temporary Union works, seizing 15 cannons, a great deal of artillery equipment, wagons & teams, the Third Iowa's colors (the 3rd Iowa was part of Giles A Smith's division), and Colonel Robert K Scott (a brigade commander in Blair's Corps as well as Genl McPherson's "orderly"). Major Taylor, commanding the 24th & 25th Texas Cavalry, added that he never saw more than 100 yards of his line due to the impassable undergrowth and nature of land. According to Smith, the real fighting began when a third line of works was encountered. By this time, his units were strung-out over the ground he had covered while the lead elements were far ahead of the division's line. When the head of his charge was pinned-down by a cross-fire, Smith ordered the brigade to fall back, "but Major Person had already surrendered a portion of the command." Gen'l Smith was then wounded and brigade command passed to Lt Col Young of the 10th Texas. Every regimental commander had been killed, wounded, or captured in the charge. Captain Manion, leading the 17th & 18th Texas Cavalry, said that he started the attack with 160 men, and that he had obtained that strength by putting even the cooks into line. Manion also stated that several of his men ran away after Major Person had surrendered them.

* 17th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) - Capt George D Manion, 18th Texas Cavalry
* 18th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) - Capt George D Manion, 18th Texas Cavalry
* 24th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) - Major WA Taylor, 24th Texas Cavalry
* 25th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) - Major WA Taylor, 24th Texas Cavalry
* 6th Texas Vols - Capt SE Rice
* 15th Texas Cavalry (dismounted) - Capt SE Rice
* 7th Texas Vols - Capt J Wm Brown
* 10th Texas Vols - Colonel Roger Q Mills
* 5th Confederate Vols - Major Richard J Person

Smith's losses for July 22 were reportedly 19 killed, 107 wounded, 25 missing, & 100 captured. Fellow-brigade commander Lowrey reflected that Cleburne's division did what could be done in a frontal attack with exhausted men against twice their number who were behind strong works. He listed 83 killed, 360 wounded, & 135 missing. Gen'l Govan noted his brigade was 1,000-strong before the attack and that it lost 86 killed, 322 wounded, & 91 missing.

The correct identity of Sanscrainte's flag is verified by Tennesseans in the Civil War, published in 1964 by that state's Civil War Centennial Commission. Colonel James A Smith's Fifth Confederate Infantry had started out as the Second Tennessee Volunteers under Colonel J Knox Walker. The unit history states that "Major Richard J Person was captured at Atlanta, along with part of the unit's men and its colors."

The 46 volumes of Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Individual Records were compiled under the direction of State Adjutant General George H Brown and published between 1904 & 1915 by authority of the Michigan Legislature. Frequently called the "Brown Books" - whether for the reason they're covered in brown cloth or because they were compiled by a man with that name - the volumes delineate the histories of Michigan's 85, 271 service men as well as her 31 regiments of infantry, 11 regiments & 3 companies of cavalry, an engineer regiment, a regiment & 4 companies of sharpshooters, and 14 artillery batteries.

When the Brown Books were being revised, the Michigan legislature belatedly acted on a petition which had originally been submitted on October 5 of 1865 - decades earlier. This petition asked that the legislature "recognize in some way the brave & meritorious service of private Chas F Sanscrainte, Co B, 15th regiment vol infantry, in capturing a rebel flag from the 5th Texas confederate regiment in front of Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864."

Attached to the petition was a description of Sanscrainte's actions, signed by Moses A La Point, Captain of Co B at Atlanta and Lt Col of 15th Michigan as of May 1865, and other regimental officers.

"Pvt Sanscrainte is one of the bravest soldiers of the regiment, if not of this State . . . In front of Atlanta July 22, the regiment (moved into abandoned) rebel rifle-pits in front of the regiment at about 10 a.m., and about 1 p.m. . . We were ordered to fall back to the breastworks we had left in the forenoon when taking possession of the Confederate line of works. Coming on a double quick we noticed three or four flags sticking out of the works that we were to reoccupy. When the regiment had been halted in a low place safe from danger, Captain La Point called on a private of Co B named Chas F Sanscrainte as a volunteer, a man whom he could trust, knowing his ability as a soldier, and trusting to his fearlessness to go to the front at the breastworks and investigate what was there and give a signal.

As he was going to the front, Capt La Point expected to see him drop dead every instant. He reached the works and climbed eight or ten feet high to their top, only to find twenty or thirty muskets pointed at him, but he gave the signal to make a charge."

"After the regiment charged on the rebels, we found him fighting with a Major . . . having knocked a revolver from the Major's hands, and with the butt of his gun knocked the officer down and captured a flag, but it was not before he had rec'd three wounds - two slight flesh gunshot wounds and a bayonet through his right hand. By the regiment's prompt action it captured 167 prisoners, 17 officers, and three colored flags . . ."

"The flag captured by the said soldier was forwarded to Michigan. Besides this service he was to be found always in rank and ready for duty. He was in every battle the regiment was in, from Pittsburgh Landing until the capture of Fort McAllister, Georgia, upon which occasion he was one of the advance guard who took the fort by storm." (Sanscrainte was with his unit at Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Resaca, Kenesaw Mtn, Nickajack Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and on the March to the Sea.)

Sanscrainte was mustered out on Christmas Eve of 1864 and returned home to Monroe, Michigan. The following summer found him employed as a carpenter and married to Susan St Come. His first child was born during September of 1866. Charles & Susan appear to have left Michigan for Buffalo NY around the turn of the century. He died in Buffalo on May 5, 1910, and she eight years later. They rest in Section JJ of the United German & French Cemetery, Pine Ridge Road, Cheektowaga NY, within a stone's throw of an impressive monument raised during 1914 by the Knights of St John Second Regiment.

In agreement that we should memorialize his name due to the legacy of a great example we inherited from him, the Buffalo CWRT's interest sparked the town of Cheektowaga to obtain a plaque for placement on Sanscrainte's grave. It will identify him as a Medal of Honor Recipient. With the mistake about the trophy flag corrected, perhaps some descendents will come forward to tell us more about his life.

The BCWRT's effort to mark the local graves of Medal of Honor recipients has received valuable assistance from Ray Collins and the Medal of Honor Historical Society. You can subscribe to the Society's quarterly publication, The Annals, by sending $12 per year to Preston Amos,1301 Delaware Ave SW N-107, Washington DC 20024.

Copyright © 1995, Don Harvey, Revised 02 July 1996