USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., gathered from mattter furnished by the Mercer County Historical Society, interviews with old settlers, county, township and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources as have been available : containing also a short history of Henderson County > Part 81
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
participants, the twenty-second Illinois infantry, the twenty-seventh and the thirtieth, in which regiments were some of the soldiers fur- nished by Mercer county, whose names are now upon this column.
"From Belmont to Forts Henry and Donelson, where so many brave fellows found an untimely death ; and on to Shiloh and Corinth, at which latter place I had the honor to command a brigade, consti -. tuted partly of the thirtieth and forty-fifth Illinois. Of the thirtieth and forty-fifth regiments, many names of the Mercer county boys are engraved upon the memorial tablets which we unveil to-day.
"The memorable Mississippi campaign, which finally culminated in the fall of Vicksburg, furnished more deaths to the cause of the union, and among these more names for future inscription upon the monument which Mercer county now erects to her sons. Within my command during that campaign were, among others, the thirtieth, forty-fifth, and one hundred and twenty-fourth Illinois infantry.
"To the gallent men then composing my command was assigned the honor of taking possession of Vicksburg, upon its surrender, just fifteen years ago to-day, an honor not lightly esteemed by those who, at Champion Hills, fonght and won one of the sharpest, fiereest, and most brilliant victories of the campaign, the importance of which, in the subsequent fall of Vicksburg, can only be estimated by a demon- stration of the enemy in a precipitate retreat to their stronghold, des- tined so soon to fall into our hands. Afterward, upon taking command of the Ffteenth Army Corps, the following regiments of Illinois troops, partly made up from Mercer county, embraced a part of my command : The Twenty-Sixth, Thirtieth, Forty-Fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois infantry. At a subsequent period I commanded the army of the Ten- nessee, made up of regiments of infantry, cavalry, and batteries of artillery from the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michi- gan, Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Massa- chusetts, and New Jersey. Among the regiments from the other states mentioned were thirty-eight from Illinois, and among these, made up in part from Mercer county, were the Ninth, Twenty-Sixth, Thirtieth, Forty-Fifth, Forty-Eighth, and One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Illi- nois infantry, and of and from these are many of the names in the roll of honor inscribed on this monument, and with these names are many from other and different commands, who were equally brave and patri- otic, and entitled alike to all honor and all praise. The famous march to Atlanta and to the sea has passed into history as one of the most brilliant campaigns, considered in detail and as a whole, which has ever been recorded in the annals of war. The pen of the historiographer has drawn the picture of that campaign in outline, and has attempted
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THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
to throw in the details of individual action. Its general results were soon felt and realized. when the army which had cut the confederacy 'in two were advancing from the south to meet their comrades under the conquerer of the Potomac, who was driving everything before his invincible hosts. The result in general, I say, has been outlined, and some attempt has been made to do justice in detail. So far as the officers, who justly won distinction on those memorable fields, are con- cerned, the attempt has been as successful, perhaps, as might from the nature of things be expected. But the sufferings, privations, hard- ships, stubborn perseverances, remarkable and unexcelled gallantry of the heroes in the ranks, can never receive the record to which they are entitled, though we may freely accord the meed of praise, which, regarding the results of their united efforts, hails them as the saviors of this country. From the intrepid conduct at Resacca, as also at Dallas, at both places the command of which the most of your troops were a part, took the brunt of the movement; through the assault on Kenesaw mountain. with its abattis and earthworks, and cross fire of artillery, bullets, rocks and stones, to the celebration of the Fourth of July, 1864, by an artillery fight with Johnson's rear guard ; from this to the desperate struggle before Atlanta, which eventuated in the fall of that city, where, on July 22, one of the great battles of the war was fought. No pen can describe it in detail, and no orator's vivid imagi- nation can make the mind comprehend the scene. Then through the campaign of the Carolinas with increased hardships, in swamps and streams, through Columbia, Goldsboro, Fayettville, and Raleigh, where the close of the war occurred, the same lofty spirit of patience under suffering, of hope under discouragement, of increased determination under disappointment, of invincible resolution to win or die, character- ized them to a degree which stamped them as patriots worthy of this great country. In thus particularizing the patriotism of the Ilinois troops which fell under my more immediate charge and supervision, I have no purpose to discriminate against the gallant sokliers from other states, who also formed a part of the army. As . Agamemnon found it an invidi- ous affair to give the preference to any one of the Grecian heroes.' so should any one of us find it impossible to draw distinctions between union soldiers fighting for the perpetnity of their government.
.. But, my friends, we are here to-day not alone in the acknowledg- ment of the services of those who periled their lives for their country, but to dedicate a monument in testimony of the gratitude of the neigh- bors, immediate friends and fellow soldiers of those who gave up that for which a man will barter all other things, his life : a monument which we hope shall stand so long as the principles of free government,
HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
and the patriotism which this shaft proclaims is venerated by the American people.
"The roll of honor bearing the names of Mercer county's heroes who fell in defense of their country during the years from 1861 to 1865, and which are transcribed in imperishable letters upon the beau- tiful monument we are about unveiling, has been placed in my hands and I now avail myself of the privilege of having them read to you."
The names of the fallen soldiers, inscribed upon the monument, were here read by Mr. J. C. Wharton, and were as follows :
Ninth Reg., Company E .- Joseph B. Jones, Calvin Martin, Win. D. Nevius. Augustus B. Cox, Geo. M. Gilmore, J. N. Shoemaker. Jesse Mock. A. T. Waterbury, Frank M. Moore, James Haverfield, John Morehead, Wm. P. Kelley, John Beatty.
Seventeenth Reg., Company I .- James Phelps, John W. Nel- son, Wm. Noris. James M. Findley. Thos. T. Timmons. Geo. W. Elliott, Erastus M. Gruell, Sam. C. Willett, Albert Beach, George Hardy. Geo. W. Kingen, Chris. B. Simmons, Nathan T. Griffin, Thos. S. Robinson, M. HI. Anthony, Jesse Sumner, James A. Scott, Chris. Middler, Wm. HI. Davis, Henry France, Elija Myers, John F. White. Samuel Boyce, Henry Y. Coeway, Matthew S. McCoy, John W. Miles. Wm. Voorhees, W. Dryden.
Twenty-second Reg., Company K .- Robert Scott, Joseph Straub.
Twenty-sixth Reg .. Company C .- James W. Brown, David A. Byler, William D. Bonge. Orson C. Follett, John C. Gaston, John U. Kourt, James L. Reed, John B. Shirder, Granville Goodson, Jacob Aull, William A. Blizzard. William G. Fenton, Obadiah Goodson, Nicholas Kile, Isaiah F. Pollett, John Senn, Chris. Marguth.
Twenty-seventh Reg., Company G .- Joseph S. Briner, William Fortner, Charles White, Hugh Mo Love, Charles E. Thompson, An- drew L. Smith, Michael L. Sadler, Mahlon Boyd, Calvin Gibson, Joseph Manual, James C. Sisk, Amisa Wood, Benjamin Craig, Jeffer- son Mosby, J. Van Meter, John C. Webber, Charles Etherton. William D. Malaby, Joseph Shalich, Gilbert Fortner, Michael Lalley. A. H. Ryan, J. F. Thornton, W. W. Wilcox.
Thirtieth Reg., Company A .- Henry Arnett, Benjamin Bell. James E. Brown, Robert R. Crist, H. J. Peters, John Gilmore, Phil. R. Alexander, Isaac M. Home, J. P. Paxton, N. R. Kirkpatrick. William Gardener, John P. Mitchell, John Smith, Samuel Whitham, Perry Paxton, William Lowe, T. B. Moore, William Adams, Henry Bistline, Samuel Cook, Robert H. Davis, Phineas S. Synder, George W. Hill, John Cannum, S. McIntire, Charles N. Shull, John P. Instead. William P. Kimel, Charles C. Dennis, Abner G. Titus. Thomas Home.
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THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
David A. Felton, William G. MeGaw, M. Quinlan. Company G .- Joseph R. Humbert, Levi Jackson, Van C. Ogle, Albert A. Holland, J. Wesley Mann, James Ogle. G. W. Rice, John Garrett, James Burnett, James W. Ditto. J. Cook Brisbine, Stephen FF. Moler, Sanı. D. Boden, William C. Kelley, William C. Bickett, James W. Purdum, Alvah Shumway, William W. Humbert. John Ogle. Company K .- Samuel Ebner.
Thirty-sixth Rey., Company C .- Jackson Caldwell. Rich. Godfrey, Samuel N. Wilson, Nathan Mccutcheon, Thomas R. Pollock, William Shearer, II. Buchanan, Hugh Shearer, F. Ingles. Company B .- Bruce Brownlee. Company A .- Thomas Moore.
Thirty-seventh. Reg., Company A .- Francis Gannon, Andrew Wil- son, Oran Cochran, I. K. Williams, John Dorrity, James Valentine, Sylvester Mizner, William T. Little, Robert Armstrong, John C. Whitsel, Henry H. B. Clarke, J. W. Catheart.
Forty-fifth Reg., Company I .- Robert Day, Levi Lunn, Benjamin Burleigh. William HI. Sheriff, George W. Debord. William L. Green, I. F. Bridgford, Ira G. Smith. Benjamin Bryant, James Ebner, H. Wages, Thomas J. Miller, Samuel Gorman.
Fifty-fifth Reg .. Company F .- W. Carus, W. Cozell. Com- pany I .- E. M. Bruner.
Fifty-eighth. Reg., Company G .- Daniel Knapp, William H. Mercer.
Sixty-fifth Reg .. Company B .- George Fortner. John Hale, Lor- enzo Wood, John M. Jones, H. J. Hanck, Robert Hampson, John McGaughey, James Hiers, George W. Shaunce, Henry Hiers.
Eighty-third Rey., Company D .- A. O. McCreight, George N. Marquis, John C. Woodham, James S. Stewart. James S. Eveland, D. M. Nevius, Erastus Kenney, Samuel G. McCreight, Francis M. .Shearer, George Mitchell, James M. Veach, Amos Kenney.
Eighty-fourth Reg., Company H .- Luther T. Ball, Andrew J. Hellings, James J. Kidwell, Frederick Kemp, William Lipton, Peter Rotehrock, Edgar L. Spicer, Daniel Williams, Francis Whan, Francis Brown, W. W. McCandless, Joseph Ballien, Alonzo Guest, O. R. Per- sonius, Andrew Jackson, John W. Sterling. F. M. Brown, II. E. Aber- crombie, John M. Wiedner, John Diech, Bigalow Kile, L. McManus, George McPherren, Mack Tirney. H. Welliver, Robert Whan, John A. Preston, Almon Wilber, Michael Conway, John II. Gillespie, Marvin Sullivan, J. R. Eckley, George M. Haney. Company (' .- William Whiting.
One Hundred and Second Rey .. Company .- John K. Holmes, Albert P. Cooper, Robert F. Carl, Eli Judd, William Miller, Oliver
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
N. Tyler. H. Butterfield. William H. Augustine, Alfred Boyd. John Edwards, Orlando Kenney. Arthur F. Sabin, Jacob A. Walton. J. Moran. Company B .- John Rich, Harvey Rogers. Company C .- Francis Freeman, George Huffman, Henry Herr. G. Bressmer, Edmund Kinsey, Charles Anderson, George Bahringer, M. McMullen. Com- pany E .- Peter F. Cook. John R. Carmichael, John Mccutcheon, Chauncey M. Royce, William Sevits, Albert C. Bridger. Seth Grayatt, Michael Oswalt, James C. Simpson, Rich. Brown, T. Simpson. Company G .- I. McManus, John C. Reynolds, W. W. Hibbs, John Mellard, John S. Burnett, John Gibson, William P. Irwin, Richard M. Hlov, R. B. Seaton. D. W. King, R. H. Cabeen, Jared Y. Harris, Isaac T. Bridgford, L. II. Casebolt, Samuel Harvey, William T. Todd, A. T. Dopp. Samuel Parks, A. G. Henry. Company K .- Allen Wilson, Abram Fuller, S. D. Hutchinson. J. T. Collier, T. H. Hand, Peter O. Pierce, I. N. Stevenson. Moses White, Jr., Marvin R. Wright, William Volk, George W. Bartlett, James P. Hampton, Michael Bryant, M. Dagger, Albert Kiddoo, Noah Spicher. Jacob Shields, P. Waters Willett, William H. Hampton, E. Pierce.
One Hundred und Twelfth Reg .. Company C .- John F. Barney, Ed. R. Petrie.
One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Reg .. Company G .- Lee James, Oliver G. Swafford, Amos C. Goddard, John Fitzgerald, George Mid- dleton, Charles Shafer. Joseph S. Dungan, B. F. Noble, Levi Lan- dreth, John T. Bates, John D. Linn, John Shaw. Henry Sloan, George Sloan.
One Hundred und Twenty-Sixth Rey .. Company B .- Henry Debann, Isaac A. Linn, Andrew Landreth. J. Martindale, David Van Meter. James M. Rodgers, Jacob Fender, George Lavery, G. Lan- dreth, James Swartwont, George Volkal.
One Hundred and Fortieth Reg .. Company F .- Edward B. Har -. ris, Jonathan Mounts, Joseph W. Shawyer. John W. Maury, Alfred F. Noble, Z. P. Warren.
Eleventh Cavalry Reg., Company C .- F. T. Crane, William II. Gilliam, B. F. Mahaney, Stephen Bartan. C. E. McIntyre, William J. Simpson.
Miscellaneous .- E. R. Cooper, 9th Ill. Cav .. Co. A; D. A. Moler, 10th Ill. Cav., Co. C; Robert Morgan, 12th Ill. Cav., Co. G ; George Edgerly, Sth Ill. Cav., Co. C; Silas Valentine, 14th Ill. Cav .. Co. L; W. D. Swift, 9th Iowa Cav., Co. A: John Stevenson, 9th Iowa, Co. D; Samuel Boice, 9th Iowa, Co. D; G. L. Moore, 2d Iowa Cav .. Co. A; H. M. Boone. 1st Col. Inf., Co. C; Eli C. Crosley, 1st Miss. Marine Brig. : Cyrus W. Trego, Sth Kan .. Co. II : John A. Robinson,
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THE SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
Sth Kan., Co. I; J. D. Ashenhurst, Sth Kan., Co. Il : F. M. Carroll. Sth Kan., Co. H; John L. Arnold, 14th U. S. Inf., Co. I : J. W. War- wick, 155th Ill. Inf., Co. Il: Edward Bruner, 55th Ill. Inf .. Co. I; W. Kennedy, J. Alberson, M. Moroe. 7th lowa Inf., Co. A; E. C. Crosley, 1st Miss. Marine Brigade: G. W. Nevins, Iowa Cav .; J. Reed. 93d Ill. Inf. ; H. Billings, W. C. Catheart. M. Hutchinson, C. M. Clarke, T. Campbell, A. D. Streeter, D. A. Felton, J. P. Insted, 7th Mo. Cav .; William Swarts, 29th Ill. Inf., Co. I; Luther Water- man, 2d Iowa Cav .; D. C. Bartlett. 9th Ill. Cav .. Co. C: A. Cook, 51st Ill. Inf .. Co. K.
Gen. Logan continued : " What a glorious roster to transmit to posterity! Well might there have been engraved upon the stone as representing the united sentiment of Mercer county, the memorable words of the Roman mother: 'These are my jewels.' Three hun- dred and fifty-seven men who deliberately walked up to the rebel can- non's mouth. and swore upon their lives that the union of our fathers should be preserved ! That oath was registered on high, and it has been graven upon the works of men. It is here as the indorsement of our generation. May it stand for more than a thousand years. to re-echo it through the future centuries. Three hundred and fifty-seven heroes about represent in number the Spartan band under Leonidas who defended the pass of Thermopyla, and gave up their lives for their country. Let this monument speak to the coming ages, as did that of the Spartan heroes, in words which shall bid the traveler go tell their countrymen that they lie upon the field of battle in obedience to their country's welfare. Such a tribute as is conveyed by this beau- tiful work is an expression of the patriotism of the living in applaud- ing the patriotism of the dead. It is a shaft to commemorate the virtue of the departed, but also signalizes the appreciation of virtue by the living. To the dead it is a token of remembrance, to the living a testimony of character. Valuable as is this work of art. its worth is far greater to the living than to the dead. No panegyric which we may make can reach the body in its narrow house, nor the spirit in that land where the clash of arms and sound of strife mar not the un- broken peace. But to the living it stands as the representative of a sentiment ; it is a declaration of principle, it ratifies a past act. it pro- claims a future policy, it enunciates in words which cannot be mistaken the patriotism of Americans and their determination to perpetuate their free institutions, and to uphold their motto of " Many in One." It is a token of grief for the departed, but it is also a warning to those who remain ! It is a tear of sorrow for the slain, but the promise of pun- ishment to the future slayer. The men whose names we are here
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
to-day to honor are forever hidden from our view beneath their mother earth, but from their sacrificed bodies this column rises as a tree from the root, and gives another illustration of the truth of the aphorism sanctioned by all the ages of the past, that 'the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church.' Here we understand the purport of this monument and the motive which prompted its creation. As fellow- citizens of our great commonwealth, as friends, we are here to drop a tear of sorrow over our loss, and to extend the word of comfort to the weeping relatives, whose loss is greater than our own.
"Does this mass of people come here to-day in obedience to a meaningless formality, or is their presence the representative of a senti- ment? Shall these names upon this monument stand as the simple enumeration of 357 unfortunates who rashly rushed to their death? Or shall they receive the homage of that tribute so beautifully rendered in the lines of the poet Collins :
"'How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest ; By fairy hand their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung; Their honor comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay, And freedom shall awhile repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there.'
" Fellow-citizens of Mercer county, you have done a noble aet ; you have proven that you worthily belong to that great bulwark of our nation's safety, its citizen soldiery. At the sound of danger you left the pursuits of peace and threw yourselves into the breach of war, and when you conquered a principle, you erected an enduring shaft of honor to those who have lost their lives in maintaining it. As one who stood upon the field with those brave fellows, I am here to re-echo your declaration, that their deaths have not been in vain. I am here to mingle my sorrow with yours, and to say, come weal, come woe, I am with you to the end in placing the flag of our country so high as to be beyond the reach of its despoilers, which, in proudly floating on the breeze, shall say to all the world : 'Here dwells the undivided nation of peace.""
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SIXTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
SIXTY-FIFTH REGIMENT. COMPANY B.
This was called the "Scotch Regiment," from the number of that nationality who marched in its ranks. It was organized at Camp Douglas, Chicago, by Col. Daniel Cameron. Jr., and mustered for service May 1, 1862. In company B were thirty-eight soldiers from Mercer county, belonging to the townships of Greene, Mercer. Millers- burg, Preemption, and New Boston. The regiment was ordered to Martinsburg, Virginia : and when Col. Miles surrendered at Harper's Ferry, September 15, it was among the prisoners taken. Being next day paroled, it returned to Chicago and remained there till April, 1863, when, having been exchanged, it was ordered to the Eastern Kentucky army, and, returning to Camp Nelson via Cincinnati. joined Burnside's expedition into East Tennessee for the purpose of co-operation with Gen. Rosecrans, who was at that time moving on Chattanooga. It fought at Knoxville November 25th and 29th, in the defense of that stronghold against Gen. Longstreet, and repulsed him with slaughter. The following winter was one of severe campaigning to this regiment. It "veteraned," and went home on furlough in March, 1864. On its return it overtook Sherman's army at Kingston. Georgia, and took its place in the second brigade, commanded by Col. Cameron, and the third division, Gen. J. D. Cox commanding, of Gen. Schofield's twenty-third corps. The 65th had a sharp encounter with the enemy between Lost and Kenesaw mountains, June 15. and skirmished briskly every day until the 20th, when fifty volunteers from the regiment charged across a bridge and drove the enemy's infantry and artillery in handsome fashion, and effected a permanent lodgment on the other side. It continued to fight with spirit until the close of the campaign, taking part in the flank movement around Atlanta and the battle of Jonesboro. It returned north in pursuit of Hood, and was transferred from Dalton to Nashville by rail. It then advanced as far south as Pulaski, and November 25th and 26th was engaged at Columbia, losing three officers and fifty men. On the 30th it received the attack of Hood's army at Franklin, and when the battle ended 200 of the rebel dead and wounded lay stretched in its front. It carried to Nashville that night the colors of the 15th Mississippi rebel regiment as a trophy of the conflict. An equal share with other troops was borne Decem- ber 15th and 16th, in the battle of Nashville, and it went in pursuit of Hood's broken columns, pausing only when it had reached Clifton. From thence. January 15, 1865, it was transferred by boat and rail to Wilmington, North Carolina, assisting in the capture of that place.
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
At Sandtown creek it captured three cannon and 350 rebels. March 6 it went to Kingston. From there the first five companies, except vet- erans, were ordered to Chicago, to be mustered out. On the 21st it entered Goldsboro, where Sherman's columns from the south made connection with Schofield on the 23d. From Raleigh the non-veterans were sent home for muster-ont, and the remainder of the regiment went to Greensboro. May 1 four companies of recruits were added ; and, in June, four officers and 250 men of the 92d Illinois, two officers and 120 men of the 112th Illinois, and twenty-five men from the 107th Illinois were assigned to the 65th, and Lieut .- Col. Stewart was mustered as colonel. The regiment was mustered out, and started, July 13, for Chicago, where it arrived July 22, and from whence, after final pay- ment, the discharged men returned to their homes.
EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT, COMPANY D.
Company D was enlisted in Mercer county, one-fourth of the mem- bers being from the southwest corner of Henry county. It was officered with Joshua M. Snyder, of Viola, as captain ; Hugh M. Robb, of Mercer township, as first lieutenant ; and Francis M. Sykes, of Oxford, second lieutenant. The regiment was organized at Monmouth, in Angust, 1862, by Col. Abner C. Harding, and was sworn into the service on the 21st. On the 25th it proceeded by Burlington and St. Louis to Cairo, and on September 3d moved to Fort Henry. On the 5th one-half of the regiment marched to Fort Donelson. three com- panies remaining at Fort Henry, and two at Fort Heiman. These subsequently moved to Donelson, and the 83d was stationed at that post until September 20, 1863, when the right wing was transferred to Clarksville. Roving bands of guerillas filled the country and lurked particularly on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, and skirmishes were of frequent occurrence; some of these were especially severe, as the one at Waverly. In October, 1862, accompanied by other troops in pursuit of Gen. John HI. Morgan, it had a sharp fight at Garrets- burg, Kentucky, and drove and punished the enemy severely. But it was on February 3, 1863, that it achieved its fame as a fighting regi- ment. Forrest was threatening the river comummication at Palmyra, on the 2d, and Colonel Harding telegraphed to Paducah for re-inforce- ments, his garrison consisting of the meager force of nine companies of the 83d, a battalion of the 5th Iowa cavalry. Flood's battery, and a
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EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
few wounded men. Four rifled guns and a 32-pounder pivot siege gun, mounted on the northeast corner of the fort. comprised the battery.
At two o'clock on the afternoon of the 3d the enemy, coming down the river, confronted the fort on the east and began the attack in force. being 8,000 strong. The fort contained but a small supply of ammu- nition, and the men, instructed by their cool and calculating com- mander, husbanded what they had with effective care. They were directed to fire steadily and deliberately, so that every shot should count ; while the battery was handled with skill and precision, single pieces being moved about as circumstances required. Col. Harding displayed the finest spirit and best judgment, and was at all points overseeing the defense (a defense sure to be historie), animating and encouraging his followers. The cavalry was dismounted and fighting on foot. The battle had raged with fury for several hours; in the meantime the rebels had made a number of ineffectual charges, sup- ported by their artillery, which was skillfully used. At length a shout went up in the rebel lines, which told that they had completed the investment on the three sides undefended by the river. And now came a flag of truce from Gen. Wheeler demanding a surrender. This was promptly refused. Then followed a confident and furious onset of the enemy ; in charge after charge the rebels rolled up against Harding's blazing line, but each time they staggered back with bleed- ing ranks. The artillery rained destruction upon the thick-set columns, and especially the 32-pounder was galling the foe with severity, when he decided upon its capture. Before the attempt was made a second flag was sent renewing the demand for a surrender, which was met with a firmer refusal, if that were possible, than before. A storming force advanced rapidly upon the saucy gun. The gunners double- shotted the piece and waited. When the assailants were close upon the works they swung it round, trained it full in their faces and let go the savage charge, which made a ghastly, gory lane through the solid formation of the terrified foe. They fled in complete rout. No further attempt was directed against the big gun.
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