Captain Henry Daniel McCoy
First Lieutenant Henry Daniel McCoy served bravely in the battle of Mill Springs. The battle of Mills Springs was fought on January 19, 1862. The Tenth Indiana opened the battle and fought for an hour and a quarter without any help from the rear. After falling back, General George Thomas gave the orders to go back to the front. General Thomas, in making his official report, intimated that the Tenth had not yet been to the front, which was a gross injustice.1 The Tenth again advanced to the line where the battle had opened, and the fight was renewed. The Fourth Kentucky finally came up on their left to aid them. The Fourth Kentucky fought on the left of the Tenth, while on their right was the Ninth Ohio and the Second Minnesota. It was a victory for the Union. The Tenth captured forty prisoners. After the battle of Mill Springs, Henry was one of the officers singled out for bravery by Lieutenant Colonel Kise. He wrote, "First Lieutenants Cobb, Goben, McAdams, VanNatta, Johnson, McCoy, Bush, Boswell, Shumate and Hunt, deserve the highest praise for their brave and gallant conduct."2 Lieutenant McAdams died in the battle of Mill Springs. First Lieutenant McCoy was made the captain of Company F on May 20, 1862. He was officially commissioned as captain on June 11, 1862. During the rest of the war, Captain Henry Daniel McCoy commanded Company F in many engagements, including Perryville, Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge. The battle of Perryville was fought on October 8, 1862. The Tenth Indiana advanced through the woods, near the crest of Peters Hill. The Fifth Arkansas was concealed behind a worm fence and brush. They gave the Tenth a volley, killing four men from Company B. The regiment then charged and captured Peters Hill. The Tenth Indiana was about the only regiment in their division engaged in the battle of Perryville.3 On April 9, 1863, Phebe Foote, Henry's grandmother, wrote to him the following:
Often called "The Gettysburg of the West," the battle of Chickamauga was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The Tenth Indiana was a part of the Fourteenth Corps (General George Thomas), Third Division (General John Milton Brannan), and Second Brigade (Colonel Croxton). The fighting began for the Tenth on the morning of Saturday, September 19, 1863, after they had been marching all night. They had marched by way of Crawfish Springs, north to the Kelley house on the LaFayette and Rossville road. General Thomas ordered General Brannan to capture a possible Rebel force. General Brannan, without waiting for his men to have breakfast, sent Croxton's Brigade southeast to Reed's Bridge road. The Tenth reached Jay's Mill about 7:30 a.m., but instead of a single Rebel brigade wandering about, there were two entire divisions in excellent fighting condition.4 Shots were fired and the battle of Chickamauga had begun. The Tenth and Seventy-fourth Indiana fought against the Confederates all morning. Most of the fighting that morning was in the woods at close range. Historians agree that the Tenth and Seventy-fourth Indiana were the most heavily engaged Regiments at this stage in the battle. It is interesting to note that Colonel William B. Carroll, commanding the Tenth Indiana, was the first field officer to be killed at Chickamauga.5 That day Captain McCoy had three killed and fifteen wounded in his company. In the evening his company charged and took a battery with small loss. On Sunday, September 20, Captain McCoy's Company F skirmished. The Confederates attacked at 10:00 a.m., and they were repulsed three times. Captain McCoy was shot in the left shoulder, probably in the vicinity of the Kelly homestead around 3:00 p.m., after the Confederates poured through the gap in the Federal lines left open by General Thomas Wood. Captain McCoy later wrote of this injury:
Captain McCoy was apparently unable to have Dr. Williamson see to his wound for two days because they were cut off from the rest of the Tenth shortly after Lieutenant Colonel Taylor ordered him to see the regimental surgeon. Undaunted by his wound, he gallantly continued to lead his men in battle. Captain McCoy fought on Snodgrass Hill. Those who continued to fight on Snodgrass Hill saved the retreating Union Army from the onslaught of the advancing Confederate Army. The Seventy-fourth and Tenth Indiana Regiments were the last troops to leave the field of battle. Captain McCoy wrote that they were off the field by 9:00 p.m. A position marker, just to the right of that of the Seventy-fouth Indiana Regiment, had a plaque which stated the following: INDIANA The plaque on the above mentioned marker is, sad to say, missing. The above inscription was provided to me by Mark Ogden of the Chickamauga National Battlefield Park. The withdrawl was made by way of McFarland Gap to Rossville Gap and Missionary Ridge. Fortifications were thrown up along this portion of the ridge to keep the Confederates in check. Thomas held this line along Missionary Ridge throughout Monday. During the night they abandoned this position and withdrew to Chattanooga. Thus ended the battle of Chickamauga. According to Captain McCoy's diary, they reached Chattanooga on the 22nd of September. The Confederate Army, under the leadership of General Bragg, eventually followed the Union Army to Chattanooga with the intention of starving them out. General U. S. Grant arrived during the siege of Chattanooga. The structure of the army was changed at this time. General Rosecrans was replaced by General Thomas. Major General John M. Palmer now commanded the Fourteenth Corps, Brig. General Absalom Baird commanded the Third Division, and the Third Brigade was commanded by Colonel Howard Phelps, who was killed in the storming of Missionary Ridge. Lookout Mountain was taken in that famous battle, but Missionary Ridge remained occupied by the Rebel forces. The day was Wednesday, November 25, 1863. Florida Sergeant Charles C. Hemming was in the rifle pits at the base of the Ridge, and made these observations as the Union Army prepared to advance on the ridge:
The orders were given to fight to the base of Missionary Ridge, but as soon as the officers and men reached the base, there was no turning back. One by one, without orders, the Union men began to charge up the ridge. Grant watched the mad charge from his place at Orchard Knob. He asked General Thomas, "Who ordered those men up that ridge?" Thomas did not know. He then asked Major General Gordon Granger. "When those fellows get started," Granger responded, "all hell can't stop them."8 Captain McCoy led his men in this great and glorious charge. He recorded this event in his diary. They drove the rebels from their front, he wrote, but they finally charged up Missionary Ridge and took many prisoners and cannon. Newspaper man Charles A. Dana, who witnessed the storming of Missionary Ridge, described it as, "One of the greatest miracles in military history... as awful as a visible interposition of God." It is an old saying that, "At Chickamauga, the Confederates won a battle; at Chattanooga, they lost a war." After the victory at Chattanooga the Union army began their march to Atlanta. Captain Henry Daniel McCoy participated in the siege of Atlanta. He was honorably discharged on September 19, 1864. Captain McCoy moved to Knoxville, Iowa and bought a large farm near the town. Captain McCoy was married to Martha Ann Brady by Reverend Elder A. Williams at her father's house on November 16, 1866. After his marriage to Martha Ann, he raised a large family and spent the remainder of his days in Knoxville, Iowa as a very successful fruit farmer and nurseryman. He was active in the G.A.R. and the Knoxville Church of Christ, which he served for many years as elder. Captain Henry Daniel McCoy died on September 22, 1927. His beloved wife died in Knoxville, March 2 or 3, 1937. Copyright © 2000-2007 Fr. Scott Archer 1 Shaw, James Birney. History
of the Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. (Lafayette,
Indiana: n.p., 1912) 139. Notes: The diary of Captain McCoy was also used in the writing of this page. The 1864 Portrait of Capt. Henry McCoy is under copyright © and may not be reproduced, copied, or used for any purpose whatsoever. |
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