Representatives of both the “114th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry Reactivated” and the Battle of Nashville Trust (BONT) formally dedicated placement of a granite monument on Shy’s Hill on Oct. 28, 2023, in honor of the men of the 114th Illinois who took part in the assault of the Hill on Dec. 16, 1864.
Pictured above, Left to right, women: Mary Disseler, Stephanie Thomas, Lisa McLane, and Laura Reyman. Men: Stan Buckles, Don Ferricks, Jonathan Reyman, David Jostes, Andy VanDeVoort, Violet Filipiak (in front of Andy, her grandfather), Mike Vizral, Shawn McLane, Richard Schachtsiek, Lisa McLane, and Laura Reyman. Photo by Bobby Whitson
The Illinois monument, erected on the Hill in February, 2023, by the Illinois group with cooperation of BONT, is the second one honoring Federal troops involved in the battle at Shy’s Hill. In November, 2014, a granite monument was placed on the plateau of the Hill by the Minnesota Civil War Commemoration Task Force in memory of the 97 Minnesota troops killed in the charge up the north and northeastern slopes.
Andy VanDeVoort and his granddaughter, Violet Filipiac, sound taps in echo. To hear them, click their photo
The Federal monuments will be joined in the future by an obelisk style monument at the summit honoring the Confederate forces which held the Hill on the evening of Dec. 15 and most of the day of Dec. 16. (BONT uses Peffen Cline Masonry Group for monument installation due to the high level of expertise needed on the Hill’s challenging terrain.)
The dedication ceremony included members of the 114th Illinois Reactivated dressed in period uniforms with comments by several of their representatives including Col. Richard Schachtsiek, Stan Buckles, and Chaplain Jonathan Reyman, as well as by BONT president Bill Ozier and historian Jim Kay. In addition, taps were sounded in echo by Illinois bugler Andy VanDeVoort and his granddaughter, Violet Filipiak, and a commemorative wreath was placed at the site by Shawn McLane on behalf of the 114th, Donald Ferricks on behalf of the descendants of the original 114th, and Mary Disseler on behalf of the Soldiers Aid Society.
The Illinois contingent included Stan Buckles of Mt. Pulaski, IL, the representative of the 114th Regiment Reactivated who worked with BONT regarding installation of the monument. He has written a regimental history of the unit entitled “Not Afraid To Go Any Whare,” quoting a line from a soldier’s letter.
The original 114th Regiment was formed in the summer of 1862. The unit was unique in that most of its members, or their families, personally knew President Abraham Lincoln, causing their remarks in letters and diaries to take on a more familiar tone when writing of President Lincoln.
Most of the regiment’s early action was in Mississippi, including the Battle of Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg. However, at the battle of Brice’s Cross Roads in North Mississippi, due to poor leadership by commanding Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, the regiment was decimated by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in June, 1864. Stan Buckles noted that after that embarrassment, several members of the 114th testified in a later Court Of Inquiry against the drunken conduct of both Sturgis and their brigade commander, Col. William L. McMillen. As noted below, this name would come to play an important but dishonorable role in the Battle of Nashville, according to many historians.
The Regiment fought in the Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi in July, 1864 before arriving in Nashville as part of Gen. Andrew J. Smith’s XVI Corps, Brig. Gen. John MacArthur’s 1st Division. The 114th was one of three regiments in the 1st Brigade (along with the 93rd Indiana and 10th Minnesota) still under the command of the widely disliked and disrespected Col. McMillen.
When the Battle of Nashville began on Dec. 15, 1864, the 114th Illinois was involved in the capture of both Redoubts 4 and 5 on Dec. 15. Late in the day of Dec. 16, 1864, they were among the large surge of Federal troops who successfully participated in the charge up Compton’s (now Shy’s) Hill. They were one of the first regiments to gain the north slope works and break the Confederate line of Finley’s Florida brigade at the summit.
As the battle at Shy’s Hill came to an end, Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Benton Smith was forced to surrender and shortly thereafter, while in custody and defenseless, he was bludgeoned over the head with a sabre by a Union officer, causing permanent brain damage that left him disabled for life. Col. McMillen has been alleged to be the assailant, as noted by some historians, but there is no official record of the attacker’s identity. If McMillen was the assailant, he had long since lost the respect of the men of the 114th Regiment. The street that is adjacent to the eastern slope of Shy’s Hill is named “Benton Smith Rd.” in Smith’s honor.
Above: Men of the 114th accompanied by members of the Battle of Nashville Trust Board, including L-R, Jim Kay, Bobby Whitson, Sidney McAlister and Bill Ozier. Photo by Bobby Whitson
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