Page 61 - Armstrong Bloodline - ebook_Neat

The battle of Shiloh sobered the nation to the realization that the war was not nearly over yet, and that the
rebels were definitely not ready to give up yet. Years later, a Union soldier said that the worst a soldier could
say of any fight was that he was worse scared than I was at Shiloh. It is certainly ironic that the Hebrew word
Shiloh means Place of Peace.

After his injury at Pittsburg Landing, Alva was medically evacuated by train and taken on to the Mound City
hospital boat to Cairo, Here his brother-in-law George Lewis met him and took him to Centralia where he
stayed for about six weeks. He was reported among the killed by the Chicago Tribune (coincidently, another A.
D. Armstrong from Jackson Co. Michigan, was in the same regiment as our Alva and was killed that same
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day). He was then sent via the Illinois Central (probably through Detroit) on a 30 day furlough to his home in
Parma, MI, arriving somewhere towards the end of April. During his stay at home, we are able to reconstruct
both his mental state and medical condition through a series of letters that he forwarded to a Lt. Colonel Smith
in Detroit, who appears to have been his Army point-of-contact. On June the second, 1862, he writes the
Colonel reporting that his leg “troubles me very much when I walk on it and pains me considerable in damp and
rainy weather. My wound has healed on the outside but I think there must be some small pieces of bone or
something in it yet as it pains me as though there was a knife sticking in there as I walk.” He also reports that
he has suffered from diarrhea since receiving his injury nearly two months before. But what is particularly
interesting to note is how anxious he is to return to his regiment and his concern that he will be discharged. He
relates that his “furlough of thirty days ran out some time ago and that he would like to get back as quick as
possible.”

That he had the heart of a warrior there is little doubt as in another letter he appears to be mentally willing
himself to heal, stating that “they need all such boys as myself.” Even while his father and other physicians
describe him as unfit for duty for at least an additional 30 days, he requests a pass to go to Detroit so that he
can return to his regiment. In a letter dated June 9, 1862 he says that “my wound is all right with the exception
of its being a little lame.” It appears that he had also become something of a local celebrity as he informs the
Colonel that he has a friend who wants to join the Infantry with him. He also requests to be put in contact with
a Navy recruiter for two other friends who wish to serve on a gun boat. To his father’s obvious displeasure,
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Alva gets his wish and receives orders on June the 23 to report to Colonel Smith in Detroit, and departs that
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same day. His father, worried after not having heard from his son in a week, wrote to Colonel Smith on July 1
stating that “in consequence of his being quite indisposed from diarea and (a) wound received at Pittsburg, I
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feel uneasy about him. I wish you to inform me of his whereabouts and if he was thought fit for duty.”

In one of his letters to Col. Smith, Alva requested to take the Chicago Burlington railroad through Galesburg, IL
so he could spend a day with his sister (Ellen Armstrong Goold) who lived there. Whether he ever made that
visit is not known, but we do know that he was back with his regiment by July 15th, and that he appears on his
company's infantry muster rolls during the months of July and August 1862. Even will power cannot always
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turn miracles; however, as on August 20 he is transferred to the special rolls and hospitalized at the Union
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Army's General Hospital in Corinth, Mississippi. On October 17 , he was examined by the hospital surgeon at
Corinth, and found to be incapable of performing the duties of a soldier (disabled for marching), and awarded
a one half disability as a result of his injuries. On October 21, 1862, by order of General Grant and Major
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General Rosecrans, his worst fears were realized, and he was officially discharged from the Union Army.

It may be difficult for many of us to understand why someone who has gone through an experience as
terrifying as the Battle of Shiloh could possibly want to risk exposure to something like that again. Unless you
have been in the military and experienced the camaraderie, sense of purpose, and excitement of pursing “a
sacred goal,” there are few words that can express the feeling. As much as I disliked much of my own military
experience, I still vividly recall the deep friendships that I made, as well as the excitement and intensity of

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