Military record of Louisiana

6–7 April 1862

Battle of Shiloh

BRIGADE OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE.

A. H. Gladden (promoted to a Brigadiership and killed at Shiloh). Gladden’s regiment had served with distinction at Pensacola and had been transferred in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh. t

BRIGADE OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE.

tE. John Ellis, Esq., was elected 1st Lieut. St. Helena Rebels early in the summer of 1861. This company was mustered into the 16th Louisiana In¬ fantry, under the command of Col. Preston Pond. It participated in the battle of Shiloh, and in all of the subsequent movements of the Western army under Gens. Johnson and Bragg. On the reorganization of the army, Ellis was promoted Captain. He was in the engagements at Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Chickamauga, and Missionary Ridge, in which latter battle he was made prisoner, in a hand to hand fight with the enemy. He was imprisoned at Johnson’s Island for the remainder of the war, and pa¬ roled in July, 1865. Since the war he has, with his partner, Gov. McEnery, occupied a leading position at the bar, been elected to Congress, and holds a position in the public mind for honesty, capacity, and past discharge of duty second to that of no one who has been entrusted with similar high positions.

AND THEIR FIRST COMMANDER,

On the 29th of March the last man and horse were embarked, and a start made ; but owing to an accident which occurred that night, the boat wras obliged to return for repairs, and it was not until the 30th that the Orleans Light Horse left never to return. During the trip to Mem¬ phis, no exertions were spared by the Captain and his officers to fit the men for active service ; and drills on the roof of the boat served to pass the time. Whilst occupied in teaching his men the details of their new career, an accident to the Captain brought a recurrence of a former physical trouble, and reduced him to a condition of great danger and pain. On his arrival at Memphis, he consulted a surgeon, who advised quiet. But such counsel was of no avail ; and on Sunday, the 6th of April, the troop, with the Captain at his post, left on the cars for Corinth, which was reached the next morning at daylight. The second day’s fighting at Shiloh was in progress; but it was incumbent upon the troop to go into camp before attempting a move of any kind.

MEMORABLE DEATHS.

#Captain Fortin was born on the 26th of November, 1829, in the parish of St. James, in this State, and was the son of Charles Fortin, a sugar planter. In 1843, Lonis Fortin entered Jefferson College, in the parish of St. James, the then leading institution of our State, where so many of our Creoles were ed¬ ucated. On his withdrawal from college, after receiving a brilliant education, he made a traveling tour in the United States, visiting the principal cities On his return, he devoted his time to the study of Medicine, which he would have continued in Paris had not the war broken out. Fortin was refined and elegant in his manners and bearing, and had always been accustomed to the ease enjoyed then by almost every Creole family. All of this, however, did not prevent him from sacrificing family ties and future hopes. He abandoned his studies to take part for years in the weary marches and battles which ter¬ minated in his death. He started from this city as a private on the 18th of March, 1862 ; and through his bravery and evenness of character, soon gained the esteem of his officers and comrades. The promotion of Fortin to the cap¬ taincy of Company F, which took place after the battle of Shiloh, was a just recognition of the services he rendered in the different positions he filled, and was a just reward to commanding traits of character shown in the hour of peril. His devotion was great to his company, and his attachment to his com¬ rades so strong as to induce him to refuse higher positions tendered him.