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On July 12, 1863, one of the bloodiest and most futile charges of the entire war took place at Jackson, Mississippi, when Union Brigadier General Jacob G. Lauman on his own initiative ordered Colonel Isaac C. Pugh's brigade to make an unsupported attack on the Confederate entrenchments defending Mississippi's capital city. What happened next can only be described as a slaughter; Colonel Pugh's brigade advanced into the teeth of the strong Confederate defenses and were literally shot to pieces. In the space of about an hour, of the 880 men who made the charge, 67 were killed, 293 were wounded, and over 200 were captured. Confederate casualties amounted to only 7 killed and 43 wounded. In addition, the Rebels took as battle trophies the flags of the 28th Illinois, 41st Illinois, and 53rd Illinois infantry regiments.
One of the men who took part in that awful charge at Jackson was Corporal Eliel T. Lee, who served in Company I, 41st
Illinois Infantry. In 1890, Lee, who was by that time an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic, the nation's largest Union veteran's organization, was spending much of his time preparing for the Blue - Gray Reunion to be held in Vicksburg that fall. A Vicksburg paper published Lee's account of the fight at Jackson, and how in the wake of a bloody repulse, he started a friendship with one of the Confederate defenders that fought against him:
WAR RECOLLECTIONS
A War Romance – The Charge at
Jackson July 12th, 1863 – The
Meeting of Samuel Pasco of the
3d Florida Infantry.
By Col. E.T. Lee, 4th [41st] Illinois Infantry, Monticello, Ills.
After the siege of Vicksburg, a portion of the army under Gen. W.P. Sherman was sent to Jackson to drive the Confederate army under Gen. Joseph Johnson from Jackson. When on Sunday, July 12, 1863, the remnants of four commands, the 41st Illinois, 28th Illinois, 3d Iowa and 53d Illinois Infantry of Gen. J.G. Lauman’s division of the 13th A.C. were sent under the command of Col. I.C. Pugh to close up the gap on the south of Jackson between the Central railroad and Pearl River, the orders were not to charge the enemy’s works but through some mistaken order by our commander we were ordered forward and the troops, supposing we were to charge the works as we were then right in front of their batteries and they would not stand there and be shot down, the command forward was given and the charging cheer was heard above the roar of the battle.
On moved the line of blue receiving the terrific fire of the Washington Artillery, of New Orleans, Cobb’s Kentucky Battery,
Mebane’s Tennessee Battery and the fire of Gen. Breckenridge’s division, and Austin’s Sharpshooters, the column had to go over one-half mile and their numbers fell like grass before the sickle, the colors of each regiment are the targets for the fire of the enemy, and the Blue State flag of the 41st Illinois changes hands six times and four of the color guard are killed and two are wounded and the loss has been fearful; some went on and over the works and were made prisoners.
As soon as Col. Pugh could make his voice heard he ordered the men back but the work of death had been done and out of 880 who went into that charge 645 were killed, wounded or prisoners. We fell back to the timber and the sight there will long be remembered when the remnants of these commands rallied around the colors in my regiment. There were forty-five men in line with the Blue flag gone and the National colors shot almost to pieces. Gen. Lauman, our division commander, was immediately put under arrest and we were assigned to Gen. A.P. Hovey’s division.
On the next day a flag of truce was sent in and there was a cessation of hostilities for two and a half hours to bury the dead. I went over the battle field where the Confederates were burying our dead, there I met Mr. Samuel Pasco, of the Third Florida Infantry, he asked me to do him a favor, I said yes if it is not in violation of the rules of war. He said, I have a father, mother, and sister living at Cambridge Port, Massachusetts and asked that I would write them and tell them how he was, I said yes, I will do so with pleasure and requested him to write a few lines on the leaf of his blank book and sign his name that they would know it was true what I would [write] them, he did so and I sent it with the letter writing with my left hand, for my right hand had been torn with a Minnie ball on the day before in the charge.
Time rolled on and General Johns on and his army left Jackson on the 16th, and we returned to Vicksburg, and I never
heard anything more of my man Pasco for twenty-one years. I received a letter from Mr. Pasco’s sisters and they also wrote a long letter to him, but I never got to give it to him, although I carried it for several years, thinking that I might get a chance to send it to him, but he went with his command to Tennessee and was wounded at Mission Ridge and taken prisoner.
The war closed, and after twenty-one years had past by I saw in the Chicago papers the name of Samuel Pasco, of Florida, as a member of the National Democratic committee, I wrote Mr. Barnum, the chairman, and sent a letter to him to send Pasco, which he did, and I received a reply that he was the identical Sam’l Pasco, of the Third Florida, and that he remembered our meeting on the battle field and all that had been said. We have kept up our correspondence ever since, and have exchanged photos. He lives at Monticello, Fla., and I at Monticello, Ills. We never met until the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis, Mo., in 1888, when we had the pleasure of meeting each other at the close of the sessions of the national committee at the Southern Hotel.
Mr. Pasco is now one of the United States Senators from Florida, and was president of the Constitutional Convention. We had a very pleasant reunion and occupied seats together during the great national convention. Such is one of the many romances growing out of the war, and shows the spirit of the men who fought through that struggle which has long ended, and to-day the blue and the gray meet in a happy reunion to greet each other as brothers.
(The Daily Commercial Herald, Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 29, 1890)
I did some research on Samuel Pasco, and was rewarded to find that there was substantial information on him available online. Pasco was not a native Southerner; in fact, he was born in London, England, in 1834, and his family immigrated to Canada in 1841. Two years later the Pasco family moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts, where Samuel spent the remainder of his childhood. After graduating from high school, Pacoe attended Harvard, and it was while there that fate intervened in his fortunes. The wealthy planters of Jefferson County, Florida, were looking for a teacher for their children, and they wanted the best. So they contacted officials at Harvard and asked if they could recommend a graduating student whom they could hire. Harvard recommended Samuel Pasco, a member of the class of 1858, and the next year he moved to Florida and started his new job as instructor to the children of the county's elite. (By the Noble Daring of Her Sons: The Florida Brigade of the Army of Tennessee by Jonathan C. Sheppard, thesis, Florida State University, 2008, pg. 41-42. Accessed at: https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A176253, December 3, 2018)
When the war started in 1861, Samuel Pasco decided to give his allegiance to his newly adopted home and joined Company H, 3rd Florida Infantry. The young soldier kept a detailed diary of his experiences during the war, and he did write about the July 12th attack by Pugh's brigade. Pascoe was deployed as a picket in advance of the main line that day, and from that position had a very good observation point for the opening of the fight. He wrote: "I got a position on the extreme left of the Company, and took my post in a fence corner with the rails thrown down at either end." A Union artillery battery soon began firing, and Pascoe noted that it "opened a destructive fire...Adams' pickets fell back and soon after we had to follow. The shot and shell fell in all directions ploughing up dirt in front of us and on either side as we retreated." (Sheppard Thesis, page 221)
As the Federals made their push on the Confederate entrenchments, Rebel artillery and musketry began to take a heavy toll. One of Samuel Pasco's comrades, Benton Ellis of Company C, 3rd Florida Infantry, said in his account of the battle, "They advanced by platoons, and when well into the old field, our artillery opened up on them - I think it was Cobb's battery...I never saw such slaughter as our guns made, - they were nearly all killed, captured or wounded. I never saw so many dead men in all my life." (By the Noble Daring of Her Sons, page 223)
In 1893 Eliel Lee wrote a more detailed account of his meeting with Samuel Pasco that was published in a Wisconsin newspaper. He said in this article, "The next day after the charge Col. Pugh asked me to take a flag of truce and see if we could not get permission to remove our wounded from the field and bury the dead. This I was very glad to do and taking a white linen handkerchief and fastening it to a stick along with the field bearers I proceeded to the battlefield and finding the confederate picket post I stepped out in plain view and waved the flag of truce at them. Stepping on a stump I was just in the act of telling them what I wanted when one of their number raised a gun and fired, the ball passing just to my left. I made a spring from the stump and fell just in the edge of the timber and if that Johnnie thought he had hit me, he was very much mistaken. I had been wounded in the right hand and shoulder in the charge and carried my hand in a sling.
I returned to camp and reported to Col. Pugh that it was no go and that they were in no humor to be fooled with and did not
desire to cultivate our acquaintance. On the next day Gen. W.T. Sherman sent in a flag of truce to Gen. Joseph E. Johnson and there was a cessation of hostilities for two hours to bury the dead. We went over to the battlefield where the confederate burial parties were burying our dead, which had lain there for three days. The Second and Third Florida regiments were doing the burying. It was while I was on that field that I met Samuel Pasco, of the Third Florida regiment, now one of the United States senators from Florida and a most excellent gentleman. He desired me to write to his relatives living in Cambridgport, Mass., and tell them where he was and how he was. I told him to write a few lines in his blank day-book and sign his name, then tear the leaf out and I would send this to his relatives. This he did and when the bugle sounded to close the truce we shook hands and parted, each one going to his own command." (The Saturday Evening Press, Menasha, Wisconsin, September 16, 1893)
In 1891, Pasco and Lee planned another reunion to take place in Chicago during the World's Fair. The following Letter was sent to Lee from Pasco and published in a newspaper: "MY DEAR SIR - I received your letter in reference to the proposed re-union during the World's Fair at Chicago. I am always glad to hear from you, and to renew our acquaintance, which commenced under such unusual circumstances. I hope that the meeting of the old veterans will result favorably, and that the distinguished soldiers of both armies who have indorsed this re-union is a guarantee that it will be a success and that the proper spirit will prevail. I cheerfully unite in the hope that the spirit of emnity and hatred will be buried forever. Accept my kindest regards and believe me your friend, Samuel Pasco." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 25, 1891.)
Apparently Samuel Pascoe and Eliel T. Lee kept up their friendship for the rest of their lives. Two men who were mortal enemies became the closest of friends because of a kindness done on the battlefield. Samuel Pasco died on March 13, 1917, and is buried in Roseland Cemetery in Tampa, Florida. His good friend Eliel T. Lee outlived him by only a few years, passing away on January 5, 1922. He is buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.