Lieutenant Samuel Wragg Ferguson Misdirects Pond’s Brigade Although Col. Preston Pond had some excellent Louisiana Regiments in his brigade, by the afternoon of April 6, 1862, they had seen little action as Pond moved forward with extreme caution. Their main loss had come as men from the Confederate Orphan Brigade fired into the flank of the 18th Louisiana who were in blue uniforms and had been mistaken for the enemy. The 18th had returned the fire, shouting, “We fire at anybody that fires at us”. This inaction would change, though when Lt. Samuel Wragg Ferguson, an aide to Beauregard, reached the unit he had been led to believe lacked a commander. Gen Hardee had told Ferguson to lead Pond’s men by the left flank to the rear of a Union camp. Col. Pond had just returned from reconnoitering the enemy line at about 4:00 PM when Lt. Ferguson brought a peremptory order to attack which Pond resisted. Pond’s 18th Louisiana, Orleans Guards, and 16th Louisiana crossed Tilghman Branch and filed up a ravine. In the confusion the 18th Louisiana received an order from Ferguson to charge the battery before reaching a proper position. Charging up the hill in echelon they ran into a terrible crossfire. Col. Mouton, complained, “Thus exposed, my men falling at every step, being unsupported . . . I was compelled to retire, leaving my dead and wounded on the field. Here 207 officers and men fell either dead or wounded”. The futile charge of the Louisianans was typical of Confederate actions at Shiloh where staff officers were frequently dispatched to rally and direct Confederate detachments. Ferguson, born November 3, 1834 in Charleston, South Carolina, graduated from West Point in 1857. The new lieutenant was immediately sent to accompany the Utah Expedition under Col. Albert Sidney Johnston against the Mormons. As soon as Lincoln was elected, Ferguson resigned and went to South Carolina where he became an aide to Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard at Charleston. He would be present during the bombardment of Fort Sumter and was dispatched to deliver the first Confederate Flag struck by an enemy shot to the Confederate War Department in Montgomery. After Shiloh he would become Lieutenant Colonel of the 28th Mississippi Cavalry and was present at Farmington during the Siege of Corinth. In August 1862 while on leave recovering from an illness he would meet and marry Catherine Lee, a relative of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Ferguson would continue to lead cavalry for the rest of the war, accompanied by his wife, and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1863. He would cover the flanks of the army during Sherman’s March to the Sea and through the Carolinas and would be proposed for promotion. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, his superior, would object stating “that he was a trouble maker and that his command was notorious for desertion.” Toward the end of the war his command would make up part of Jefferson Davis’s escort as they fled south until they were disbanded in Georgia. After the war, Ferguson settled in Greenville, Mississippi where he practiced law and he and Catherine had five children. Through his wife’s connections, Samuel was appointed treasurer of the Delta Levee Board. In 1894, he was caught embezzling from the Board, and fled the country to Ecuador where he was involved in railroad construction. Ferguson would eventually move back to Charleston and offer his services to the army during the Spanish American War which were rejected. He would die in 1917 in Jackson, Mississippi where he is buried. Pictures: Cadet Ferguson, Ferguson during civil War, he grew a huge beard to look older, Fergusons wife: Catherine Lee. a notorious Southern Belle
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 18:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015