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Henry B. Mattingly

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Henry Benedict Mattingly
Born (1844-05-06)May 6, 1844
Died November 30, 1893(1893-11-30) (aged 49)
Place of birth Saint Mary, Kentucky
Place of death Shepherdsville, Kentucky
Place of burial Lebanon Junction Cemetery, Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, Section 3, Lot 79[1][2]
Allegiance United States United States of America
Union
Service/branch U.S. Army
Union Army
Years of service 1861 - 1865
Rank Private
Unit Kentucky Company B, 10th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry
Battles/wars American Civil War
Battle of Mill Springs
Siege of Corinth
Battle of Perryville
Tullahoma Campaign
Battle of Chickamauga
Chattanooga Campaign
Battle of Missionary Ridge
Battle of Peachtree Creek
Atlanta Campaign
Battle of Resaca
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
Siege of Atlanta
Battle of Jonesborough
Awards Medal of Honor

Henry Benedict Mattingly (May 6, 1844 – November 30, 1893)[1] was a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the September 1, 1864 Battle of Jonesborough, Georgia.

Biography[]

Mattingly joined as a Private in Company B, 10th Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, recruited and initially commanded by John Marshall Harlan, on October 12, 1861, at age seventeen for a three-year term, mustering into U.S. service a little more than a month later on 21 November 1861.[3][1] He would serve with his regiment in the Army of Ohio and the Army of the Cumberland until mustering out with the regiment on December 6, 1864.

Service[]

1862[]

The 10th were armed with the Model 1842 smoothbore musket,[3] trained, and organized itself at Lebanon, Kentucky from the mustering date until January 1862 when it moved east to stop the ongoing Confederate offensive campaign in eastern Kentucky . Mattingly and his regiment were serving as supply train escorts while the rest of the 2nd Brigade of the Army of Ohio won the Battle of Mill Springs on January 19. Although ordered forward to rejoin the army on 17 January, the 10th's reunion with its brigade was slowed by impassably muddy roads.[4] Arriving after the Rebel retreat had begun, the 10th was sent in pursuit. The next day, Mattingly and the 10th were the first troops into the hastily evacuated Confederate cm where they captured a dozen pieces of artillery and large amounts of arms and equipment. [5][6]

The victory at Mill Springs was followed soon after by the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the Confederate retreat of the from Kentucky. From Mill Spring the 10th marched to Louisville. From Louisville it went by steamboat down the Ohio, and up the Cumberland to Nashville, and from Nashville it marched to Pittsburg arriving after the Battle of Shiloh. Mattingly as a member of the regiment spent May in the Siege of Corinth and spent June through August in Buell's Campaign in Northern Alabama and Middle Tennessee that eventually threatened the important transportation hub of Chattanooga.

The Confederacy wanted to relieve the pressure on Vicksburg and Chattanooga, so Braxton Bragg decided to invade Kentucky hoping to reclaim it for the rebellion. Mattingly in Company B was in the garrison at Winchester, Tennessee when it joined Buell’s army marching to Kentucky to oppose Bragg. Rebel invasion culminated in the Union tactical defeat but strategic victory at Perryville. At the time of the battle, the 10th commanded by LTCOL Hays in BG Fry's 2nd Brigade, BGEN Schoepf's 1st Division of MGEN Gilbert's III Corps. The brigade did not become engaged in the battle, but when Bragg failed to follow up MGEN Polk's success, the brigade was part of the pursuit of the Rebels of the state and then marched to Gallatin, Tennessee, twenty miles northeast of Nashville on the north side of the Cumberland River.

Although Perryville was a strategic victory for the Union, Buell was subsequently relieved, and MGEN William S. Rosecrans was appointed to command the Army of Ohio and the Department of the Cumberland. He subsequently renamed his forces the Army of the Cumberland. The 10th remained in Gallatin into January 1863. On December 7, 1862, the brigade marched fifteen miles east to Hartsville, in response to Morgan's attack. Mattingly's unit reached the battlefield in time to observe the last of Morgan’s troops, but too late to rescue the captured garrison. They arrived in time to save much property, including several hundred guns and a large amount of cartridges. These arms were unissued Springfield Model 1861 rifled muskets. Since the 10th had "arms which were, in many respects defective, and in some respects entirely useless,"[7], Mattingly and his comrades turned their weapons in to the supply officers and replace them with the new .58 caliber Springfields which extended their firepower to several hundred yards.

While the Army of the Cumberland was embarking on the Stones River Campaign, Mattingly's regiment was sent north two weeks later into Kentucky to chase down Morgan who had raided deep into Kentucky. Mattingly and his comrade's rode the railroad from Gallatin to near Munfordville, from where they force-marched through Elizabethtown in time to catch Morgan’s force on the Rolling Fork, December 29th near Lebanon Junction. This area was home to many of Mattingly's comrades. Despite being slightly outnumbered by Morgan's force, Mattingly's brigade was concentrated and Harlan effectively used it to surprise Morgan's scattered cavalry and drive them off.[8]

1863[]

Mattingly and his comrades spent the winter and spring of 1863 based in and around the Army of the Cumberland's base at Murfreesboro. The regiment continued to gain experience escorting logistics trains and fending off both regular and irregular Rebel cavalry raids. Mattingly's regiment saw the departure of its commissioning commander, COL Harlan, who resigned due to family commitments.[9]

In the Tullahoma campaign, the 10th was in the 2nd Brigade (BGEN Steedman)of the 3rd Division (BGEN Brannan) of MGEN Thomas’ XIV Corps. The Tullahoma campaign was marked by Rapid movement by the Army of the Cumberland facilitated by its increased cavalry and added mounted infantry such as Wilder’s Lightning Brigade. XIV Corps advanced on 24 June to seize Hoover’s Gap. Wilder outstripped the rest of XIV Corps (including the 10th that was bogged down in heavy rain and muddy roads at the rear of the corps’ line of march). When Wilder surprised the Rebels and drove them through the length of the gap, he disobeyed his orders to hold his position at initial contact to wait for the rest of the corps. Instead, he took up defensive positions on the far southeastern entrance of the gap and with his overwhelming firepower due to his new Spencers, held off Confederate attempts to retake the gap until reinforced by oncoming elements of the corps. As such, the XIV Corp advance was so slowed by the rains that the 10th and its brigade arrived at the gap on 25 June in the afternoon and were ordered through to Garrison’s Creek ten miles to the south to turn the Rebel left flank. The 10th saw some light skirmishing on the right flank as the Rebels were repulsed in their own attempt at flanking the 3rd Division’s left flank. [10] The 10tyh pushed forward the next day and by the 3rd of July, the Rebels had fled Tullahoma. In the action, Mattingly and his comrades lost one man. [11]

1864[]

After Missionary Ridge.

Postwar[]

Mattingly received his medal in Kentucky on April 7, 1865.[2]{ In 1867, he married Amanda Georgia “Mandy” Tucker (1844-1926). They had five children, three boys and two girls: Phillip Raymond Mattingly (1869–1934), Sarah Rose Mattingly Dobson (1875–1961), James Henry Mattingly (1879–1975), John Cleveland Mattingly (1884–1963), and Mary Eva Mattingly Swanner (1887–1987) [1] He remained married to Mandy until his death in Shepherdsville, KY, at age 49 in 1893. He was survived by his wife, and children.[2][1]

Medal of Honor citation[]

Mattingly' official Medal of Honor citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Henry B. Mattingly, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on 1 September 1864, while serving with Company C, 10th Kentucky Infantry, in action at Jonesboro, Georgia, for capture of flag of 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry (Confederate States of America).[12][2][13]

See also[]

Notes/references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Find a Grave ().
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 VC-MoH ().
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Speed, Pirtle & Kelly (1897), p. 367.
  4. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 7 (), p. 79, 80 - Report of BGEN George H Thomas, commanding 1st Division, Department of the Ohio, January 31, 1862, pp. 79-82
  5. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 7 (), p. 85 - Report of COL Mahlon D Manson, 10th Indiana, commanding 2nd Brigade, January 27, 1862, pp. 83-86
  6. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 7 (), p. 88-90 - Report of COL John M Harlan, commanding 10th Kentucky, January 27, 1862, pp. 88-90
  7. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 20/2 (), p. 49 - Report of COL John M Harlan, 10th Kentucky, commanding 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, December 12, 1862, pp. 47-51
  8. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 20/2 (), p. 139 - Report of COL John M Harlan, 10th Kentucky, commanding 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, January 5, 1863, pp. 137-141
  9. ↑ Speed, Pirtle & Kelly (1897), p. 370-371.
  10. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 23/1 (), p. 451 - Report of BGEN John M Brannan, Commanding 3rd Division, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland, June 26, June 28, July 1, and July 3 1863, pp. 449-453
  11. ↑ U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 23/1 (), p. 420 - Army of the Cumberland casualties in Union Forces engaged in the Middle Tennessee campaign, June 23-July 7, 1862. pp.419-424
  12. ↑ CMOHS ().
  13. ↑ Subcommittee ().

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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