USA > Iowa > History of the Thirtieth Iowa Infantry Volunteers : giving a complete record of the movements of the regiment from its organization until mustered out > Part 10
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On arrival at Memphis I saw General Hurlbut, and read all the dispatches and letters of instruction of General Halleck, and there- in derived my instructions, which I construed to be as follows:
To conduct the fifteenth army corps, and all other troops which could be spare I from the line of the Memphis & Charleston rail- road, to Athens, Alabama, and thence report by letter for orders to General Rosecrans, commanding the Army of the Cumberland, at Chattanooga; to follow substantially the railroad eastward, repair- ing it as I moved; to look to my own line for supplies; and in no event to depend on General Rosecrans for supplies, as the roads to his rear were already overtaxed to supply his present army.
I learned from General Hurlbut that General Osterhaus' division was already out in front of Corinth, and that General John E. Smith was still at Memphis, moving his troops and material by railroad as fast as its limited stock would carry them. General J. D. Webster was superintendent of the railroad, and was enjoin- ed to work night and day, and to expedite the movement as rapid- ly as possible; but the capacity of the road was so small, that I soon saw that I could move horses, mules and wagons faster by land, and therefore I dispatched the artillery and wagons by the road under escort. and finally moved the entire fourth division by land
The enemy seems to have had early notice of this movement, and he endeavored to thwart us from the start. A considerable fore, assembled in a threatening attitude at Salem, south of Salisbury Station: and General Carr, who commanded at Corinth, felt com-
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pelled to turn back and use a part of my troops, that had already reached Corinth, to resist the threatened attack.
On Sunday, October 11th, having put in motion my whole force. I started, myself, for Corinth, in a special train, with the battalion of the Thirteenth United States Regulars as escort. We reached Collierville Station about noon, just in time to take part in the de- fense made of that station by Colonel D. C. Anthony, of the sixty- sixth Indiana, against an attack made by General Chahners with a force of about three thousand cavalry, with eight pieces of artil- lery. He was beaten off, the damage to the road repaired, and we resumed our journey the next day, reaching Corinth at night.
I immediately ordered General Blair forward to Inka, with the first division, and, as fast as I got troops up, pushed them forward of Bear Creek, the bridge of which was completely destroyed, and an engineer regiment, under command of Colonel Flad, was engag- ed in its repairs.
Quite a considerable force of the enemy was assembled in our front, near Tuscumbia, to resist our advance. It was commanded by General Stephen D. Lee, and compose l of Roddy's and Forgu son's brigades, with irregular cavalry, amounting in the aggregate to about five thousand.
In person I moved from Corinth to Burnsville on the 18th, and to Inka on the 19th of October.
Osterhaus' division was in the advance, constantly skirmishing with the enemy; he was supported by General Morgan L. Smith's, both divisions under the general command of Major-General Blair. General John E. Smith's division covered the working-party ou- gaged in rebuilding the railroad.
Foreseeing difficulty in crossing the Tennessee river, I had writ- ten to Admiral Porter, at Cairo, asking him to watch the Tennessee and send up some gunboats the moment the stage of water admit- ted; and had also requested General Allen, quartermaster at St. Louis, to dispatch to Eastport a steam ferry-boat.
The admiral, ever prompt and ready to assist us, had two fine gunboats at Eastport, under Captain Phelps, the very day after my arrival at Iuka; and Captain Phelps had a coal-barge decked over with which to eross our horses and wagons before the arrival of the ferry-boat.
Still following literally 'the instructions of General Halleck, 1 pushed forward the repairs of the railroad, and ordered General Blair, with the two leading divisions, to drive the enemy beyond Tuscombia. This he did successfully, after a pretty severe fight
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at Cane Creek, occupying Tuscombia on the 27th of October.
In the meantine many important changes in command had oc- eurred which I must note here, to a proper understanding of the case.
General Grant had been called from Vicksburg, and sent to Chattanooga to command the military division of the Mississippi, composed of the three departments of the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee; and the department of the Tennessee had been devoly- ed on me, with instructions, however, to retain command of the army in the field. At luka I made what appeared to me the best disposition of matters relating to the department, giving General McPherson full power in Mississippi and General Hurlbut in West Tennessee, and assigned General Blair to the command of the Fifteenth Army Corps; and summoned General Hurlbut from Memphis, and General Dodge from Corinth, and selected out of the sixteenth corps a force of about eight thousand men, which I directed General Dodge to organize with all expedition, and with it to follow me eastward.
On the 27th of October, when General Blair, with two divisions, was at Tuscombia, I ordered General Ewing, with the 4th division to cross the Tennessee (by means of the gun boats and scow) as rapidly as possible at Eastport, and pushi forward to Florence, which he did; and the same day a messenger from General Grant floated down the Tennessee over Muscle Shoals, landed at Tuscom- bia, and was sent to me at Inka. He bore a short message from the General to this effect: "Drop all work on the railroad cast of Bear Creek; push your command toward Bridgeport till you meet orders, etc." Instantly the order was executed; the order of march was reversed, and all the columns were directed to Eastport, the only place where we could cross the Tennessee. At first we only had the gun boats and coal barge; but the ferry boat and two transports arrived on the 31st of October, and the work of cross- ing was pushed with all the vigor possible. In person I crossed and passed to the head of the column at Florence on the 1st of November, leaving the rear divisions to be conducted by General Blair, and marched to Rogersville and Elk River. This was found impassable. To ferry would have consumed too much time, and to build a bridge, still more: so there was no alternative but to turn up Elk river, by way of Gilbertsboro, Elkton, etc., to the stone bridge at Fayetteville, where we crossed the Elk, and pro- ceeded to Winchester and Deckerd.
At Fayetteville I received orders from General Grant to come to
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Bridgeport with the fifteenth army corps and to leave General Dodge's command at Pulaska, and along the railroad from Columbia to Decatur. I instructed General Blair to follow with the second and first division, by way of New Market, Larkinsville and Bellefonte, while I conducted the other two divisions by way of Deckerd; the fourth division crossing the mountain to Stevenson, and the third by University Place and Swedon's Cove.
In person I proceeded by Swedon's Cove and Battle Creek, reach- ing Bridgeport on the night of November 13th. I immediately telegraphed to the commanding general my arrival, and the posi- tions of my several divisions, and was summoned to Chattanooga. I took the first steamboat during the night of the 14th for Kelly's ferry, and rode into Chattanooga on the 15th. I then learned the part assigned me in the coming drama, was supplied with the nec- essary maps and information, and rode, during the 16th, in com- pany with Generals Grant, Thomas, W. F. Smith, Brannan and others, to the positions occupied on the west bank of the Tennessee, from which could be seen the camps of the enemy, compassing Chattanooga and the line of Missionary hills, with its terminus on Chickamauga creek, the point that I was to take, hold and fortify. Pontoons, with a full supply of balks and chesses, had been pre- pared for the bridge over the Tennessee, and all things had been prearranged with a foresight that elicited my admiration. From the hills we looked down upon the amphitheatre of Chattanooga as on a map, and nothing remained but for me to put my troops in the desired position. The plan contemplated that, in addition to crossing the Tennessee river and making a lodgment on the terminus of Missionary ridge, I should demonstrate against Look- out mountain near Trenton, with a part of my command.
All in Chattanooga were impatient for action, rendered almost acute by the natural apprehensions felt for the safety of General Burnside in east Tennessee.
My command had marched from Memphis, three hundred and thirty miles, and I had pushed them as fast as the roads and dis- tance would admit, but I saw enough of the condition of men and animals in Chattanooga to inspire me with renewed energy. 1 im- mediately ordered my leading division (General Ewing's) to march via Shellmound to Trenton, demonstrating against Lookout ridge, but to be prepared to turn quickly and follow me to Chattanooga, and in person I returned to Bridgeport, rowing a boat down the Tennessee from Kelly's ferry, and immediately on arrival put in mo- tion my divisions in the order in which they arrived. The bridge
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of boats at Bridgeport was frail, and, though used day and night. onr passage was slow; and the road from thence to Chattanooga was dreadfully eut up and encumbered with the wagons of other troops stationed along the road. I reached General Hooker's head- quarters during a rain in the afternoon of the 20th, and met General Grant's orders for the general attack on the next day. It was sim- ply impossible for me to fulfill my part in time; only one division (General Jomm E. Smith's) was in position. General Ewing was still at Trenton, and the other two were toiling along the terrible road from Shellmound to Chattanooga. No troops ever were or could be in better condition than mine, or who labored harder to fulfill their part. On a proper representation, General Grant postponed the attack. On the 21st I got the 2nd division over Brown's Ferry bridge, and General Ewing got up; but the bridge broke repeated- ly, and delays occurred which no human sagacity could prevent. All labored night and day, and General Ewing got over on the 23rd; but my rear division was ent off by the broken bridge at Brown's ferry, and could not join me. I offered to go into ac- tion with my three divisions, supported by General Jeff. C. Davis, leaving one of my best divisions (Osterhaus') to act with General Hooker against Lookout mountain. That division has not joined me yet, but I know and feel that it has served the country well, and that it has reflected honor on the 15th army corps and the ar- my of the Tennessee. I leave the record of its history to General Hooker, or whomsoever has had its services during the late niem- orable events, confident that all will do it merited honor.
At last, on the 23rd of November, my three divisions lay behind . the hills opposite the mouth of the Chickamauga. I dispatched the brigade of the second division, commanded by General Giles A. Smith, under cover of the hills, to North Chickamauga ereck, to man the boats designed for the pontoon bridge, with orders (at midnight) to drop down silently to a point above the mouth of the South Chickamauga, there land two regiments who were to move along the river bank quietly, and capture the enemy's river pick- ets.
General Giles A. Smith then was to drop rapidly below the. mouth of the Chickamauga, disembark the rest of his brigade and dispatch the boats across for fresh loads. These orders were skill fully exeented, and every rebel picket but one was captured. The balance of General Morgan L. Smith's division was then rapidly ferried across; that of General John E. Smith followed, and by daylight of November 24th, two divisons of about eight thousand
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men were on the east bank of the Tennessee, and had thrown up a very respectable rifle trench as a tete du pont. As soon as the day dawned, some of the boats were taken from the use of ferrying and a pontoon bridge was begim. under the immediate direction of Captain Dresser, the whole planned and supervised by General William F. Smith in person. A pontoon bridge was also built at the same time over Chickamauga creek; near its mouth giving communication with the two regiments, which had been left on the north side, and fulfilling a most important purpose at the later stage of the drama. I will hore bear my willing testimony to the completeness of the whole business. All the officers charged with the work were present, and manifested a skill which I cannot praise too highly. I have never beheld any work done so quietly, so well; and I doubt if the history of war can show a bridge of that extent (viz: thirteen hundred and fifty feet) laid so noiselessly and well in so short a time. Fattribute it to the genius and intel ligence of General William F. Smith. The steamer Dunbar arriv ed up in the course of the morning, and relieved Ewing's division of the labor of rowing across; but by noon the pontoon bridge was done, and my three divisions were across with men, horses, artil- lery and everything.
General Jeff. C. Davis' division was ready to take the bridge, and I ordered the columnmis to form in order to carry the Missionary Hills. The movement had been carefully explained to all division commanders, and at 1 p. m. we marched from the river in three columns in echelon: the left, General Morgan L. Smith the colunm of direction, following substantially Chickamauga ereck; the center, General John E. Smith, in columns, doubled on the center, at one brigade interval to the right and rear; the right, General Ewing, in colunm at the same distance to the right rear, prepared to de- ploy to the right, on the supposition that we would meet an enemy in that direction. Each head of column was covered by a good line of skirmishers, with supports. A light, drizzling rain prevail- ed, and the clouds hung low, cloaking our movement from the enemy's tower of observation on Lookout mountain. We soon gained the foot hills; our skirmishers crept up the face of the hills, followed by their supports, and at 3:30 p. m. we had gained, with no loss, the desired point. A brigade of each division was pushed rapidly to the top of the hill, and the enemy, for the first time, seemed to realize the movement, but too late, for we were in post- session. He opened with artillery, but General Ewing soon got some of Captain Richardson's guns up that steep hill and gave
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back artillery, and the enemy's skirmishers made one or two inef- fectual dashes at General Lightburn, who had swept round and got a farther hill, which was the real continuation of the ridge. From studying all the maps, I had inferred that Missionary ridge was a continuous hill, but we found ourselves on two high points with a deep depression between us and the one immediately over the tunnel, which was my chief objective point. The ground we had gained, however, was so important, that I could leave noth- ing to chance, and ordered it to be fortified during the night. One brigade of each division was left on the hill, one of General Mor- gan 1. Smith's closed the gap to Chickamauga Creek, two of Gen- eral John E. Smith's were drawn back to the base in reserve, and General Ewing's right was extended down into the plain, thus crossing the ridge in a general line, facing southeast.
The enemy felt our left flank about 4 p. m., and a pretty smart engagement with artillery and muskets ensued, when he drew off; but it cost us dear, for General Giles A. Smith was severely wounded and had to go to the rear; and the command of the bri- gade devolved on Colonel Tupper (one hundred and sixteenth Illi- nois) who managed it with skill during the rest of the operations. At the moment of my crossing the bridge, General Howard appear- ed, having come with three regiments from Chattanooga, along the east bank of the Tennessee, connecting my new position with that of the main army in Chattanooga. He left the three regiments at- tached temporarily to General Ewing's right, and returned to his own corps at Chattanooga. As night closed in, I ordered General Jeff. C. Davis to keep one of his brigades at the bridge, one close up to my position, and one intermediate. Thus we passed the night, heavy details being kept busy at work on the intrenchments .on the hill. During the night the sky cleared away bright, a cold frost filled the air, and our camp-fires revealed to the enemy and to our friends in Chattanooga our position on Missionary Ridge. About midnight I received, at the hands of Major Rowley (of Gen- eral Grant's staff), orders to attack the enemy at "dawn of day," with notice that General Thomas would attack in force early in the day. Accordingly, before day I was in the saddle, at . tended by all my staff: rode to the extreme left of our position near Chickamauga Creek; thence up the hill, held by General Lightburn: and round to the extreme right of General Ewing. 'Catching as ac- curate an idea of the ground as possible by the dim light of morn- ing, I saw that our line of attack was in the direction of Missionary Ridge, with wings supporting on either flank. Quite a valley lay
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between us and the next hill of the series, and this hill presented steep sides, the one to the west partially cleared, but the other cov- ered with the native forest. The crest of the ridge was narrow and wooded. The farther point of this hill was held by the enemy with a breastwork of logs and fresh earth, filled with men and two guns. The enemy was also seen in great force on a still higher hill beyond the tunnel, from which he had a fine plunging fire on the hill in dispute. The gorge between, through which several roads and the railroad-tunnel pass, could not be seen from our position, but formed the natural place d'armes, where the enemy covered his masses to resist our contemplated movement of turning his right flank and endangering his communications with his depot at Chickamauga Station.
As soon as possible, the following dispositions were made: The brigades of Colonels Cockrell and Alexander, and General Light- burn, were to hold our hill as the key-point. General Corse, with as inneh of his brigade as could operate along the narrow ridge, was to attack from our right centre. General Lightburn was to dispatch a good regiment from his position to cooperate with Gen- eral Corse; and General Morgan L. Smith was to move along the east base of Missionary Ridge, connecting with General Corse; and Colonel Loomis, in like manner, to move along the west base, sup- ported by the two reserve brigades of General John E. Smith.
The sun had hardly risen before General Corse had completed his preparations and his bugle sounded the "forward!" The for- tieth Illinois, supported by the forty-sixth Ohio, on our right centre, with the thirtieth Ohio (Colonel Jones), moved down the face of our hill, and up that hekl by the enemy. The line advanced to within about eighty yards of the intrenched position, where Gen- eral Corse found a secondary crest, which he gained and held. To this point he called his reserves, and asked for reenforcements, which were sent; but the space was narrow, and it was not well to crowd the men, as the enemy's artillery and musketry fire swept the approach to his position, giving him great advantage. Assoon as General Corse had made his preparations, he assaulted, and a close, severe contest ensued, which lasted more than an hour, gain- ing and losing ground, but never the position first obtained, from which the enemy in vain attempted to drive him. General Mor- gan L. Smith kept gaining ground on the left spurs of Missionary Ridge, and Colonel Loomis got abreast of the tunnel and railroad embankment on his side, drawing the enemy's fire, and to that ex- tent relieving the assaulting party on the hill crest. Captain Cal-
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lender had four of his guns on General Ewing's hill, and Captain Woods his Napoleon battery on General Lightburn's; also, two guns of Dillon's battery were with Colonel Alexander's brigade. All directed their fire as carefully as possible, to clear the hill to our front, without endangering our own men. The fight raged furi- ously about 10 a. m., when General Corse received a severe wound, was brought off the field, and the command of the brigade and of the assault at that key-point devolved on that fine young, gallant officer, Colonel Walcutt, of the forty-sixth Ohio, who fulfilled his part manfully. He continued the contest, pressing forward at all points. Colonel Loomis bad made good progress to the right, and about 2 p. m. General John E. Smith, judging the battle to be most severe on the hill, and being required to support General Ewing, ordered up Colonel Raum's and General Matthias' brigades across the field to the summit that was being fought for. They moved up under a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, and joined Colonel Walcutt; but the erest was so narrow that they necessarily occu- pied the west face of the hill. The enemy, at the time being mass- ed in great strength in the tunnel-gorge, moved a large force un- der cover of the ground and the thick bushes, and suddenly appear- ed on the right rear of this command. The suddenness of the at- tack disconcerted the men, exposed as they were in the open field; they fell back in some disorder to the lower edge of the field, and reformed. These two brigades were in the nature of supports, and did not constitute a part of the real attack. The movement, seen from Chattanooga (five miles off) with spy-glasses, gave rise to the report, which even General Meigs has repeated, that we were re- pulsed on the left. It was not so. The real attacking columns of General Corse, Colonel Loomis and General Smith, were not re- pulsed. They engaged in a close struggle all day persistently, stubbornly, and well. When the two reserve brigades of General John E. Smith fell back as described, the enemy made a show of pursuit, but were in their turn caught in flank by the well-directed fire of our brigade on the wooded crest, and hastily sought cover behind the hill.
Thus matters stood about 3 p. m. The day was bright and clear and the amphitheatre of Chattanooga lay in beauty at our feet. I had watched for the attack of General Thomas "early in the day."
Colunm after column of the enemy was streaming toward me; gun after gun poured its concentric shot on us, from every hill and spur that gave a view of any part of the ground held by us. An occasional shot from Fort Wood and Orchard Knoll, and some mus-
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ketry-fire and artillery over about Lookout Mountain, was all that I could detect on our side; but abont 3 p. m. I noticed the white line of musketry-fire in front of Orchard Knoll extending farther and farther right and left and on. We could only hear a faint echo of sound, but enough was seen to satisfy me that General Thomas was at last moving on the centre. I knew that our attack had drawn. vast masses of the enemy to our flank. and felt sure of the result. Some guns which had been firing on ns all day were silent or were turned in a different direction.
The advancing line of musketry-fire from Orchard Knoll disap- peared to us behind a spur of the hill, and conld no longer be seen; and it was not until night closed in that I knew that the troops in Chattanooga had swept across Missionary Ridge and broken the enemy's centre. Of course, the victory was won, and pursuit was the next step
I ordered General Morgan L. Smith to feel to the tunnel and it was found vacant, save by the dead and wounded of our own and the enemy commingled. The reserve of General Jeff C. Davis was ordered to march at once by the pontoon-bridge across Chick- amauga Creek, at its mouth, and push forward for the depot.
General Howard had reported to me in the early part of the day, with the remainder of his army corps (the eleventh), and had been posted to comeet my left with Chicamanga Creek. He was ordered to repair an old broken bridge about two miles up the Chickamauga, and to follow General Davis at 4 a. m., and the 15th
Army Corps was ordered to follow at daylight. But General Howard found that to repair the bridge was more of a task than was at first supposed, and we were all compelled to cross the Chickamauga on the new pontoon bridge at its mouth. By about 11 a. m. General Jeff. C. Davis' division reached the depot, just in time to see it in flames. He found the enemy occupying two hills, partially intrenched, just beyond the depot. These he soon drove away. The depot presented a scene of desolation that war alone exhibits-corn-meal and corn in huge burning piles, broken wag- ons, abandoned caissons, two thirty two-pounder rifled guns with carriages burned, pieces of pontoons, balks and chesses, etc., des- tined doubtless for the famous invasion of Kentucky, and all man- ner of things, burning and broken. Still, the enemy kindly left us a good supply of forage for our horses, and meal, beans, etc., for our men.
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