USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 26
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A detail made from each regiment, in charge of an officer, advanced out over the field abandoned by the enemy and captured a number of prisoners, being men who had halted and sought shelter in the ravine. The scenes of death, pain, and desolation seen on that field will never be erased from the memory of those who wit- nessed it. Where the battle had raged fiercely and the enemy had made a desperate stand, in the midst of a large number of dead and dying men, was found a modest appearing countryman with gray beard, who exhibited under his coarse shirt a mortal wound in his breast and then, making a feeble gesture with his hand, said: "My neighborhood is ruined, these people are all my neigh- bors" - meaning that the slain there surrounding him were his neighbors at his Georgia home. When darkness set in and obscured the scene, all firing ceased and nothing
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BATTLE OF GRISWOLDVILLE 369
was heard but the mournful sighing of the wind among the pines and the pitiable moans of the wounded and dying. General Woods, commanding the division, and General Osterhaus, commanding the corps, together with a large number of distinguished officers of the army, who were present on the field and who witnessed the con- duct of the men and officers of the Second Brigade, said : "There never was a better brigade of soldiers".
At 8 p. m., orders were issued to be in readiness to move and at 9 p. m., the brigade marched away from the field it had maintained with such gallantry, recrossed the big swamp, joined the other two brigades of the division at the railroad, and camped for the remainder of the night. The loss sustained in the brigades was 13 killed, 79 wounded - 42 of whom were permanently disabled, 2 missing; total, 94 men.
The desperate exigencies of the situation in Georgia at the time had brought to Macon a large number of promi- nent military leaders of the Confederacy, notably: Gen- eral P. G. T. Beauregard, Lieutenant-Generals W. J. Har- dee, Richard Taylor, and Joseph Wheeler, and Major- Generals Howell Cobb, Robert Toombs, and G. W. Smith, and all the available forces in that section had been con- centrated there under the immediate command of General Smith, composed almost entirely of Georgia Militia and Georgia State Line troops.
At 8 a. m., on the 22nd, Brigadier-General Pleasant J. Phillips, with four brigades of infantry and Ander- son's battery of Confederate artillery, left East Macon and arrived at Griswoldville at noon, where he joined the forces who had been resisting the advance during the morning at the swamp and about the hamlet of Griswold- ville. The combined forces, numbering over 4000 men
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commanded by able Confederate generals, had made the assaults on the Second Brigade during the afternoon. Their loss in the engagement was reported by General Smith at the time to be a little over 600 killed and wound- ed, with several of the best field officers of the command among the killed and mortally wounded.
The Sixth Iowa's position in the line at the cabins was the "storm center" of the engagement, from the begin- ning to the end. The regiment sustained losses as fol- lows :
Killed: Private John W. Brown, Company C; Color- Sergeant [Bearer?] Robert F. Stewart, Company E; Pri- vate Horatio P. Jackson, and Corporal Benjamin Matth- ews, Company I; Private William H. Barr, Company K; total killed, 5.
Wounded: Sergeant Charles Changler, Company A, in the chin, arm, and leg; Private John B. Thomas, Com- pany B, in the shoulder, severely; Corporal John W. Case, Company C, in the arms and over the right eye; Private Walter Haddock, Company C, right arm ampu- tated at the shoulder joint; Color-Bearer William Lam- bert, Company C, slightly; Private Humphrey Mont- gomery, Company C, in the left foot; Private Caleb T. Price, Company C, flesh wound in the thigh; Sergeant William H. Oviatt, Company C, by a shell, slightly ; Pri- vate John B. Brown, Company D, slightly; Private Joseph Ellis, Company D, in both hips, severely; Cor- poral James M. Hutchinson, Company D, by shell, slight- ly; Private John W. Le Grand, Company D, in the head, slightly; Private David Senter McKeehan, Company D, in the hip and back, severely ; Private V. Thornton Ware, Company D, slightly; Sergeant Richard W. Courtney, Company E, severely ; Private John G. Scoville, Company
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F, in right leg and shoulder, severely; Lieutenant George W. Clark, Company I, in the left leg, severely; Private Charles F. Donsay, Company I, severely; Private Oscar W. Lowery, Company I, in both shoulders, severely ; Ser- geant Zachariah Thomas, Company I, slightly; total wounded, 20; aggregate loss, 25 men. 29
The dead were carefully and tenderly wrapped in their blankets and buried on the field near where they fell, and the wounded were properly cared for by the surgeons and the hospital corps. All of the wounded were carried along with the column in the ambulances, many of them being hauled the entire distance of 190 miles to Savannah on the sea coast.
28 The twentieth man wounded was Private John G. Scoville of Company F. - Report of the Adjutant General of Iowa, 1866-1867, Vol. I, p. 502.
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The chilly cold weather continued, being unusual in that latitude, but it was hailed as the sure destroyer of the dreaded yellow fever, which it was feared would appear in the army, when it approached the gulf or coast region.
On the 23rd, the First Division marched 2 miles in the direction of Gordon, where it halted in an old field, built a line of riffe-pits, and prepared dinner. In the after- noon it moved out again and marched 2 miles to the vi- cinity of Gordon and camped for the night, with the Sixth Iowa on picket guard.
November 24th, the regiment resumed its place in the brigade column and moved out with the whole column at daylight, marched 12 miles and camped at 2 p. m. around the pleasant little country town of Irwinton, two miles south of the railroad. Light fortifications were built and the command remained in camp for the night. The in- habitants along the route of march were generally great- ly terrified at the approach of the army and believed the soldiers a thousand times worse than they proved to be. Several soldiers having been bitten by blood-hounds, per- mission was given in orders to kill them, wherever found.
General Corse, with his Fourth Division of the 15th Army Corps, was charged with the taking up of the pon- toon bridges at the Ocmulgee River and bringing them and the 15th Corps supply trains forward. The almost impassable condition of the wagon roads had delayed the movement so that sixty-five six-mule teams were sent
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back to Clinton to assist in bringing forward the eight hundred loaded wagons. The movements of the differ- ent columns in the first stage of the campaign were made with such regularity that each one had reached the ap- pointed destination at the exact time prescribed in the orders.
In special field orders from the general headquarters, the second stage of the campaign was disclosed to the army commanders directing each separate column. Gen- eral Kilpatrick, with the division of cavalry, was trans- ferred to the left wing via Milledgeville, and was di- rected to rescue the Union prisoners, confined at Millen; General Howard, with the right wing, was to move along the south side of the railroad to a point opposite Saund- ersville, breaking up and destroying in the most thorough manner the railroad and telegraph; and General Slocum, with the left wing, was to move directly from Milledge- ville to the railroad opposite Saundersville, and at once commence destroying the railroad forward to the Ogee- chee River.
On the 25th, the troops marched 6 miles and halted in line of battle facing south, where the First Division built a line of works covering the troops engaged at destroy- ing the railroad. In the afternoon the march was con- tinned 7 miles to the Oconee River, where there was heavy artillery firing and skirmishing with small arms, along the banks of the river.
November 26th, the enemy was driven away from the opposite bank by flanking forces, who crossed above and below the position. The pontoon train was brought for- ward, two bridges laid at Ball's Ferry, and the troops commenced crossing at noon. The Oconee at this point is about as wide as the Ocmulgee at Planter's Factory,
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but a very swift current made it difficult to keep the pon- toons in position. On account of the continued rain and consequent bad roads the engineer troops and pioneer corps were taxed to the utmost after crossing the Ocmul- gee River, but in spite of almost unsurmountable diffi- culties they were up on time and laid the two bridges and took them up again at the Oconee, with remarkable dis- patch.
Each pontoon wagon carried an equipment for con- structing one pontoon boat, which was composed of a light wooden structure, framed together in the shape of an ordinary scow-boat, 6 to 8 feet wide and 20 feet long, with a large canvas tarpaulin to cover it, and then it was a boat ready to float. The frame for the boat was so con- structed that it could be quickly put together and as quickly taken all apart and reloaded upon the wagon, to- gether with the canvas tarpaulin, an iron anchor and the ropes necessary for anchoring the boat in position in the stream, wooden stringers for connecting the boats to- gether in the bridge, planks for flooring, bolts, clamps, and cables completing the outfit.
The process of laying the bridge consisted of placing the first boat in the water, the length of a stringer from the shore, then placing one boat after another, all being fastened together by the stringers and floored with the planks, until the opposite shore was reached. Then with the whole securely anchored and stayed from the shores by cables, it was ready for the troops and heavy army wagons to cross over it. A column of troops, the artil- lery, or the heavy army wagons passing over the bridge would settle the frail boats low in the water, but the pon- toons proved to be reliable and furnished safe crossing for the army over the broadest and most difficult streams en route to the sea.
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The First Missouri Engineer Regiment, 530 men, with twenty-eight canvas pontoon boats and wagons, and thirty tool, forage, and supply wagons, composed the pontoonier corps for the right wing of the army. It was so complete in its equipment and instruction that a bridge 300 yards long could be laid across a stream and troops and trains be crossing over it, within an hour's time.
Sunday, November 27th, the troops of the First Divi- sion remained in camp until one p. m. Foraging details were sent out during the morning to collect supplies, re- turning to camp at noon with large quantities of meat, meal, and potatoes. The march was resumed during the afternoon and the column camped at Reedersville at 9 p. m., having traveled 12 miles.
At daylight, on the 28th, the column broke camp and marched all day through a desolate pine woods, dotted with numerous swamps and sluggish streams that were a constant hindrance to the progress of the column, often causing halts of three, four and sometimes five and six hours. The section of country passed through was thin- ly settled by poor white people and scarcely any negroes were seen. The distance marched during the day was 15 miles and all four of the 15th Army Corps divisions camped within supporting distance of each other in the pine woods south of the railroad. The camp fires were made with pine-knots gathered in the forest for firewood and, at daylight the next morning, soldiers and negroes were all the same color.
On the 29th, pursuant to orders by Brigadier-General Charles R. Woods, commanding the First Division, the troops resumed the march at 8 a. m., in the direction of Summerville, all the troops and trains conforming strictly to the orders for marching. The Second Brigade marched by regiments on the right flank of the trains, at
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proper intervals, covering the supply, ambulance, and ordnance trains of the division. The route of march was over dim country roads, where a dense forest of long- leaved pines covered the poor sandy soil completely, ex- cluding all vegetation. Camp was again pitched in the pine woods three miles from Summerville, after a dis- tance of 18 miles had been marched.
On November 30th, Colonel Milo Smith's First Bri- gade had the advance in the column for the day. Colo- nel Smith sent forward his advance regiment at 7 a. m., supplied with axes, picks, and shovels, with instructions to assist the pioneer corps in corduroying the road - be- ginning at the first swampy crossing in front of the camp. Besides corduroying numerous swampy crossings, the column covered a distance of 16 miles during the day, passed through Summerville and camped on Long Creek.
Thursday, December 1, 1864, the 15th Army Corps marched all day in two columns of two divisions each on parallel roads, with the First and Fourth divisions on the main Savannah road. The 17th Army Corps ad- vanced along the Savannah and Macon Railroad, de- stroying the road-bed, every tie and sleeper being burned, and every rail heated and warped. The left wing of the army and Kilpatrick's division of cavalry approached the railroad, connecting Savannah and Augusta, at Waynesborough, where they were engaged with General Wheeler's cavalry for the possession of the road. The two divisions camped for the night on a large plantation within a mile of the Ogeechee River, having marched a distance of 10 miles during the day.
The advance was continued on the 2nd, in the same or- der of two columns, the Fourth Division in the advance. The progress was slow and tedious, on account of the
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long trains and large herds of cattle, which had great difficulty in crossing a great swamp. The distance made was only 5 miles, but nearly every foot of it was cordu- royed, the timber for the purpose being cut and pro- cured from the forest on either side of the road traveled over. The Sixth Iowa was the detail from the Second Brigade for picket guard during the night and went on duty at the outposts. The column remained halted dur- ing the next day, the regiment remaining on picket guard until evening, when it was relieved and resumed its place in the brigade camp. Three brigades from the column crossed to the north side of the Ogeechee River on a pontoon bridge and were engaged during the day at de- stroying the railroad near Millen.
On December 4th, the 15th Army Corps continued the march down the Ogeechee River, on the south side, in the same order as on previous days, the First Division lead- ing the left column. The division and corps commanders were specially vigilant and careful in selecting defensive positions for the encampments at night as the column ap- proached nearer the coast, taking advantage of all natural points of security, such as creeks and swamps, to cover exposed flanks. The strictest fidelity to duty was re- quired of the picket guards, who protected the camps from surprise or sudden attack by the enemy. The corps marched 15 miles and camped on Wilson's Creek.
December 5th, the march was continued in the same or- der, the Fourth Division in the advance. The right column did considerable firing near Statesborough during the day. The character of country traveled through while descending the Ogeechee River was of a flat swam- py nature, intersected by numerous sluggish creeks, the water of which was of a dark brown color, caused by the
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pine leaves falling in the swamps. The four divisions of the corps were united in the evening at the junction of the upper and lower Savannah roads, opposite Guyton on the railroad. The distance marched during the day was 15 miles.
On December 6th, the whole corps remained camped during the day, except the First Brigade of the First Di- vision, which made a demonstration to Wright's bridge, preceded by the 29th Missouri Regiment of mounted in- fantry, for the purpose of securing the crossing at that point over the Ogeechee River to Eden Station on the railroad. The troops were all supplied with three days rations in haversacks and full 40 rounds of ammunition in cartridge boxes. Late in the afternoon the whole command moved forward 8 miles, camped in position and erected a line of substantial field works.
December 7th, the command remained camped and it rained a steady downpour nearly all day and all night, this being the first rain had since leaving the vicinity of Macon. All of the advance guards and reconnoitering parties during the day had frequent skirmishes with the enemy and at many points the engagements were fierce and determined, with some loss on both sides. It was evident to all that Savannah was the objective point and would soon be invested by the whole army. For many days at regular intervals a dull rumbling sound, like dis- tance explosions, was distinguishable by placing the ear close to the ground. This was discovered to be the heavy guns in Charleston harbor bombarding the city and Fort Sumter, more than 50 miles away.
On December 8th, the column marched 15 miles and en- camped 4 miles from Eden Court House, the Sixth Iowa going on picket guard for the night. Heavy cannonad-
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ing was heard to the north and in the direction of the city of Savannah during the day. On the 9th, the regi- ment remained on picket guard all day and rejoined the brigade in camp at evening. The heavy cannonading had continued throughout the day in the direction of the city. The brigades of the 15th Corps were scattered in all directions to guard roads, and to seek crossings and approaches towards Savannah.
On December 10th, orders were issued by General Sher- man for the investment of Savannah. General Slocum, with the left flank, was to rest his forces on the Savan- nah River above the city, while General Howard was to extend his troops from Slocum's right around to the river below the city, the 15th Corps being on the extreme right and charged with the task of opening communica- tions with the fleet on the coast via the Ogeechee River. At an early hour in the morning, the Sixth Iowa was de- tailed and escorted a forage train of 30 wagons to the country for corn. The regiment marched 3 miles and found plenty of corn, loaded the wagons, returned to camp and found it abandoned by the troops. The Sixth Iowa then followed in the wake of the troops to the Ogee- chee River, where they were found crossing at Dillon's Ferry near Fort Argyle, on a pontoon bridge. All horses and mules used by unauthorized persons in the army were ordered to be stopped at the pontoon bridge and there turned over to the quartermaster for future dispo- sition - which was generally understood to be death.
General Woods and General Hazen with their First and Second divisions of the 15th Army Corps crossed the river on the pontoons, marched out and struck the Savannah and Ogeechee Canal at sundown. They con- tinned the march on the towpath for 9 miles in the di-
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rection of the city of Savannah, to the Augusta and Darian road crossing, then left the canal and turned to the right for a distance of 2 miles. Here they went into position at 10 p. m., and built a line of works covering the front and connecting with the Fourth Division, Gen- eral Corse commanding, on the right, within range of the enemy's fortified position on the north side of the Little Ogeechee swamps, six miles from the city of Savannah. The total distance marched during the day was 23 miles.
The evening march along the canal towpath in the bright moonlight amid picturesque scenes of poetic beauty, so closely allied with weird scenes and sounds in the solitude of the great dismal swamps, aroused memor- ies of song and story, which soon found expression in an outburst of song melody by the troops in the marching column, which sang, "Down on the Swanee River", "Old Kentucky Home", "John Brown", "Just Before the Battle, Mother", and many other popular songs of war times. Despite the fact that orders were issued for the troops to keep quiet during the night march, never before did the solitude of that great swamp resound with such a flow of patriotic melody and hearty cheering as it did on that beautiful December evening while 10,000 Union soldiers marched and sang. The great spreading live oaks and the tall specter-like pines, fringing the banks of the narrow and straight canal, formed an arch over it through which the shimmering rays of the full moon cast streaks of mellow light reflecting the shadows of the marching soldiers in the smooth surface of the dark green water.
At the break of day on the next morning, the enemy fired a volley of artillery from their works located on the opposite side of the big rice field that intervened between
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the lines, which brought every man out from under his blanket and into his position in the line, with military promptitude. The shot and shell from their well served batteries went crashing through the brush and timber for more than an hour in most uncomfortable proximity to the troops who were covered by temporary rifle-pits built in the night.
The firing soon developed the enemy's line of defense behind the Little Ogeechee - a wide swamp traversed by a rice canal, which was subject to the influence of the ocean tides and used for flooding the rice-fields. Large numbers of the enemy were seen to gather on the para- pets of their fortifications, and, with their flags and ban- ners defiantly waving, awaited the anticipated attack. The flooded rice-fields, impenetrable swamps, and deep streams intervening precluded any direct assault on their lines. The temporary rifle-pits built in the night were readjusted and strengthened during the day and the skir- mishers pressed forward, close up to the enemy's posi- tion.
Late in the evening, the First Division, General Woods commanding, was moved three miles to the right onto the Major [G. W .? ] Anderson plantation, when the troops were compelled to run the gantlet of the enemy's fire while crossing a portion of the big rice-field on the levee. The division took up a new position on the Savannah and King's bridge road, still connecting with General Corse's division on the right. The Second Division, General Hazen commanding, took position two miles in the rear of the front lines, and the Third Division, General John E. Smith commanding, was posted on the Gulf Railroad guarding the approaches from the south, and protecting the wagon trains and a herd of six or seven thousand beef
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cattle, which were corralled between the lines in front and the Ogeechee River at the rear.
On December 12th, it was arranged for a daily detail of one regiment from each brigade to occupy the rifle-pits in front while the rest of the command camped about a mile back to the rear in a beautiful pine grove on the Savan- nah road, 9 miles from the city. The siege was now fair- ly inaugurated by the whole army being closed up onto the outer defenses around the city, with the 15th Corps on the right, the 17th, 14th, and 20th corps in successive order around to the Savannah River, at a point three miles above the city.
Owing to hard rains, after occupying the position, the wagon roads leading through the low marshy places were soon converted into a sea of mud, but the pioneer corps, aided by large details of men and teams from the commands, double corduroyed all the roads leading to the camps so that there was no fear even of continued bad weather. All the rations remaining in the wagons were now issued and distributed among the troops, mak- ing it perfectly evident to every one that a new cracker line would soon have to be opened.
On December 13th, the Second Division, 15th Army Corps, General Hazen commanding, assaulted and cap- tured Fort McAllister at 5 p. m., which was a very hand- some affair. The fort was situated on the Ogeechee Riv- er and had successfully defied and repelled the assaults of the navy for three years and was considered impregnable to the assaults by army or navy. The captures made in the fort were 200 men and officers, 22 heavy guns, and 40 tons of ammunition. The loss in the Second Division was 24 men and officers killed and 110 officers and men severely wounded. The casualties were mostly caused
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by bursting torpedoes which were thickly planted in all the approaches leading up to the fort. General Sherman, General Howard, and many other officers, and a large number of enlisted men from the commands near by, witnessed the engagement from elevated positions on rice-mills, situated on the opposite side of the river from the fort.
Communication was at once opened with the Union fleet in the Ogeechee River below the fort, which insured an ocean base for supplies and the early possession of the city of Savannah. On December 14th, the Sixth Iowa went on duty in the front skirmish-pits, at dark. Substantial earthworks had been built in front of the First Division position, on the right and left of the ceme- tery battery, so that in case of a sortie by the enemy they could be quickly occupied by the troops conveniently camped in the rear.
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