MONDAY'S MILITARY - PAUL BOULO & THE BATTLE OF SHILOH

Paul Augustus Boulo married my 3rd great-aunt Luciana "Lucy" Fortier in Mobile, Alabama in 1888. Paul was born in Mobile on June 13, 1842. His parents were immigrants - Paul Boulo (1809-before 1880) was born in Genoa, Italy; Ursule C. (March 1823-before 1910) was born in France. Paul was the oldest of eight children.

On October 13, 1861, Paul enlisted with the 21st Alabama Regiment Volunteer Infantry Company E. He was a private, one of 71, in "Woodruff Rifles". The regiment originally stayed at Fort Gaines in Mobile until March 1862. According to the Alabama Archives website, "it remained there a few days, then moved to Corinth (Mississippi), where it was brigaded under Gen. Gladden. The regiment took part in the battle of Shiloh, where it lost six color-bearers in succession, and 200 killed and wounded out of about 650 engaged and was complimented in general orders."

Paul Boulo, at the age of 19, participated in the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862. On the first day of the battle he was severely wounded in action. Of the 84 members of Company E, 17 were wounded, 3 were missing and 8 were killed - a 27% casualty rate. Paul survived his wounds but was discharged due to the disabling wound, on July 5, 1862. He continued as a volunteer in Mobile in the Ordnance Division, responsible for weapons and ammunition in the city.



Boulo Family ca. 1901
(L to R) May, Lucy, Joseph, Paul Boulo; (standing back) Paul, Jr.
 [daughter Aimee died in 1900 at age 9]



In 1870, Paul listed his occupation in the Census as "City Tax Collector"; he was living at home with his mother and younger siblings. By 1880, he was working as a clerk. In 1888, at the age of 46, he married 27-year-old Lucy Fortier (1861-1942), the younger sister of Odalie Fortier Horst (1857-1920), my great-great-grandmother. Lucy, along with her twin brother Lucian "Lucie" (1861-1884) were the next-to-youngest of eleven children, born in New Orleans to Jacques Omer Fortier (1813-1867) and Augustine Melanie Laperle DeGruy (1822-1872), my 3rd-great-grandparents.

After their marriage Paul and Lucy had four children. Paul worked as a grocer and liquor dealer. Paul died on March 19, 1909. His obituary listed his military history:

"He was a member of Raphael Semmes Camp No. 11 U.C.V. (United Confederate Veterans). He enlisted and went to the front at the call to arms at the beginning of the Civil war, as a member of Company E, Twenty-first Alabama Regiment Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. There are only three surviving members of the company." [Mobile Register, March 20, 1909]

BATTLE OF SHILOH

[from www.nps.gov]

"As a result of the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the commander in the area, was forced to fall back, giving up Kentucky and much of West and Middle Tennessee. He chose Corinth, Mississippi, a major transportation center, as the staging area for an offensive against Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee before the Army of the Ohio, under Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, could join it. The Confederate retrenchment was a surprise, although a pleasant one, to the Union forces, and it took Grant, with about 40,000 men, some time to mount a southern offensive, along the Tennessee River, toward Pittsburg Landing. Grant received orders to await Buell’s Army of the Ohio at Pittsburg Landing. Grant did not choose to fortify his position; rather, he set about drilling his men many of which were raw recruits.

Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornets Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. 

Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburg Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals  held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many casualties, he retired from the field and headed back to Corinth.

On the 8th, Grant sent Brig. Gen. William T. Sherman, with two brigades, and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood, with his division, in pursuit of Beauregard. They ran into the Rebel rearguard, commanded by Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fallen Timbers. Forrest’s aggressive tactics, although eventually contained, influenced the Union troops to return to Pittsburg Landing. Grant’s mastery of the Confederate forces continued; he had beaten them once again. The Confederates continued to fall back until launching their mid-August offensive."

CASUALTIES
                   Union                                                Confederate
               Dead: 1,754                                          Dead: 1,723
               Wounded: 8,408                                   Wounded: 8,012
               Missing: 2,885                                      Missing: 959
                  Total: 13,047                                        Total: 10,694