Page 59 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

on Homeric stories of glory and heroism, and many Midwestern farm boys longed to be a part of such a
glorious and patriotic crusade before it ended – which many mistakenly believed would be soon. Alva must
have struggled, as did many young men, with what he should do. Did he speak to his father and brothers about
enlisting? Did his father, David, as most parents are wont to do, try to dissuade his son's youthful exuberance?
For many young men of the time, however, the romantic allure of adventure and heroic deeds was
overwhelming. On January 14, 1862, in Parma, Michigan, nineteen year-old Alva David Armstrong, 5 ft, 10
inches tall, fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair, stood up to be counted; enrolling for three years as a
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private recruit in Company D, 15 Regiment, of the Michigan Infantry Volunteers. 205 When he was enlisted by a
Mr. James E. White, was he by himself, or had he and other young men gone there together? Did his friends
and former schoolmates throng around him in awe and admiration? Did his family support him and see him
off? Was there a special girl who cried when he left?

Alva was mustered that same day and left for military training. The exact location (Detroit?) is not clear, but it
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is known that he reported to his Company Commander, Captain Erasmus A. Pratt around the 13 of March,
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1862. Unlike those soldiers near Washington, D. C. in McClellan's floundering Army of the Potomac, his
introduction to the front lines of a major and bloody battle was less than a month away.

What was the average soldier on both sides like? Were the armies composed of giants and men of uncommon
physical prowess, or were they just normal human beings? The average soldier stood 5' 8 inches tall, weighed
143 lbs., and came from every imaginable background from farmer to lawyer. Their chances of dying in combat
were 1 in 65, of being wounded in battle 1 in 10, and of dying from disease, 1 chance in 13. Their average age
was 25, although the minimum age for recruitment was 18. However, recruiting officers were not known to be
particular, and drummer boys as young as 9 were signed on. Over 100,000 soldiers in the union army had not
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yet seen their 15 birthday, and it is believed that the youngest combat soldier wounded in the war was but 12
years old. Life as a soldier ranged from lengthy periods of tedium to short but intense periods of terror.

The dawn of Sunday, April 6, 1862, near Pittsburgh Landing
in Tennessee, was clear and cool, and just at dawn there
was a timeless quiet which reminded one young
Confederate soldier of the small-town Sabbath back home.
In fact, he half expected to hear church bells calling the
faithful to worship. 42,000 troops under General U. S. Grant
were encamped in a loose grouping three miles wide,
occupying the high ground inland on the west bank of the
Tennessee River. At dawn, Confederate General Alfred
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Sidney Johnston launched a similar number of his 6
Mississippi at the center of Grant's army camped near a Shiloh Peach Orchard
little Methodist church called Shiloh.

The portion of the union army that received the heaviest initial blow was a Division commanded by William T.
Sherman and the southerners steadily advanced like maddened demons one union soldier latter said. The
scene rapidly escalated into a cacophony of noise and mad confusion. And in the middle of this mayhem were
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Alva and his 15 Regiment of Michigan Volunteers under Colonel Oliver. Most of the soldiers, like Alva, had
little or no previous battle experience; however, on this day pure bravery and determination was amply
demonstrated on both sides. The bloodiness and fury of this encounter was astonishing. A southern
misconception that one Confederate soldier was worth 10 of the Yankee hirelings was amply corrected on this
day. Much of this battle took place in a peach orchid and throughout the battle soft pink petals rained down
on both the living and the dead.

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