History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 37

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 37
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 37

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THOMAS CANDOR. ( DECEASED)

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thirsting to avenge it, they advance with remorseless vigor under cover of a terrific cannonade from their batteries. They meet again the same stern resistance and devouring fire which before strewed the ground with their dead. Right up they come till foeman looks foeman in eye, and the stormy lines interlock and and writhe in mortal embrace. The union troops, according to rebel authority, "withstood as long as human powers of endurance could bear up against such a pressure, then yielded and fell back." But not till two hours of raging slaughter told the story of their heroisin. Retiring a little way a stand would be made till the courageous foe came and received full in his face that relentless fire which shriveled his wasting ranks. The batteries, changing from place to place, were served with great animation and accuracy. The enemy paused finally, and Gen. Thomas rested his right on Missionary ridge, covering the gap, his left on the Lafayette road, his center advanced, the line describing an arc of a circle. While this had been occurring, terrible work had been done on the right. The commanding general had guarded carefully against a gap in his front, but was notified that Brannan was out of line, leaving Reynolds' right exposed. The situation was not comprehended by Gen. Thomas' aid who brought the information. Brannan was in echelon, that is, in rear, with his right extending beyond Reynolds' right. Gen. Rose- crans promptly sent an order to Wood to close up on Reynolds. As Wood's left connected with Brannan he understood the order was for lim to support Reynolds by withdrawing from the line and marching by the flank to his rear. Acting on this fatal mistake, without report- ing to the commanding general for further instructions, he moved to the left, and so opened a wide breach. He was savagely attacked while executing this disastrous change, and his right brigade was severely handled. It is like a break in a levee. There is a wild rush of rebels into this gap. Then twelve cannon enter. Brannan's right. is hurled back. Van Cleve, at this juncture, marching to the left, is struck full and fair in flank; two batteries at the same time moving the same way are driven through two of his brigades. Half of the: division instantly crumbles to atoms and goes like chaff to Rossville. On the right of the gap are Davis and Sheridan. The division of the former, taken in front, flank and rear, completely disintegrates. The latter is overlapped on the right by Longstreet's mammoth line, now sweeping forward in a grand onslaught. Laibold's brigade is carried away with Davis. Scorning to fly, Sheridan, with his two remaining brigades moving toward Reynolds, hurls a forlorn column with con- vulsive desperation against the massive front of the shouting foe. One trial is enough ; he is caught in flank ; then his troops hurry past

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the Dry valley, and by a circuit arrive at Rossville, from whence, at night, he leads them to the support of Thomas. Between the wreck- ing of Davis' and Sheridan's divisions, Lytle's brigade was shivered ; the brave leader fell dead in the arms of an aid, and his horse dashed away with the straggling, panic-stricken throng. Generals McCook and Crittenden search in vain for the remnants of their commands, which are scattered in twos and threes, scarcely the semblance of a formation anywhere. Guns, caissons, horses, wagons, and a bewil- dered, cursing multitude of fugitives obstruet the pass through Mission- ary ridge. These brave officers sicken at the tumult, but cannot stay the refluent tide, and are borne along by it till they arrive in Chatta- nooga. The commanding general, ignorant of the extent of the dis- aster, issued a few necessary orders, and despatched his chief-of-staff, Gen. Garfield, to Gen. Thomas, to ascertain the situation of his com- mand, and to communicate with him by telegraph at Chattanooga. Garfield performed the perilous journey over hills, through valleys and wild forests, heedless of lurking dangers, reached. Thomas, and sent the grateful intelligence to his chief that the left wing was holding its ground, and would do so to the last. Rosecrans in the meantime returned to Chattanooga, "to give orders for the security of the pontoon-brigade at Battle creek and Bridgeport, and to make prelimin- ary dispositions either to forward ammunition and supplies, should we hold our ground, or to withdraw the troops into good position."

Having routed the right of the union army, the eager foe, elated . with that success, and confident of dashing the remainder in pieces, about one o'clock fell upon Thomas with remarkable force. The divi- sions of Baird, Johnson, Palmer, Reynolds, Brannan, and Wood, two brigades of Negley's division, and one of Van Cleve's were the troops left to hold the rebel army in check. The devoted union army was now assailed by more than three times its numbers. Kershaw assaulted Missionary Ridge in front and was fearfully repulsed. Finding this part of the line impregnable, heavy columns were projected against the flanks. The fierceness of the onsets, combined with the overwhelming weight of numbers, carried them back. Thomas' lines after that described nearly a complete circle, and Longstreet was in control of the main road to Chattanooga. An immense toil was closing around the stalwart hero. A sheet of deadly flame and fiery sleet encircled this last stronghold, while his own lines blazed with withering volleys that bespoke, under the circumstances, the loftiest moral defiance and grandeur. Undaunted, the union troops received the repeated and staggering assaults of the exasperated foe. It was not dismay that filled their hearts, but calm desperation. They stood with their backs

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to the wall, and that wall was "the Rock of Chickamauga." The enemy, determined upon destroying the army, at half-past three found a low gap in the ridge, flanking Thomas' right and directly in his rear. Sanguine of a swift and crushing victory, they hurried into it in great numbers. "The moment was critical," says Rosecrans. Twenty minutes more, and our right would have been turned, our position taken in reverse, and, probably, the army routed. Struggling with grim valor at all points to beat back the rampant foe, Thomas could spare no troops for this new and appalling danger. For the first time in his life his countenance and manner betray emotions of distressing anxiety. He knows that Granger is at Rossville, three miles away ; no time to send word; at best, three miles against twenty minutes. Nothing but the providence of God can save the army. Nervously, painfully his eye sweeps the horizon.

A cloud of dust is rising. Doubtful whether it can be friend or foe, he exclains to Capt. Johnson, of Negley's staff: "Find out what troops those are, moving upon me." Bringing his glass to his eye, he watches intently the approach- ing column. On that hangs the fate of the army. Who can tell how hope and fear fluctuate in that heart that is almost still? The seconds throb with conscious importance. A small object comes into view. His lips almost break out with thanksgiving; it is the battle-flag of Granger. One more chance for hope. All day long Granger had listened to the thunder on the left, and had marked its ebb and flow as it grew

"Nearer, clearer, deadlier than before";

had paced up and down uneasily, wondering why orders to march did not come, every minute straining his eye for the sight of a staff officer. It was an heroic occasion, and a hero was there. Something said : push for the front. "The God of batttles held that forlorn hope of the union army in his hand." "With the instinct of a true soldier and general," he ordered his trained but mostly new soldiers to move instantly. Two miles down the road he came upon a small body of the enemy, but he "well knew that at that stage of the conflict the battle was not there." Leaving Col. Dan. C. McCook's brigade to take care of any force in that vicinity, he urged forward with pressing earn- estness and reported to Gen. Thomas. "The Rock of Chickamauga" simply pointed out the right. The soldierly eye of Granger took in the perilous and astounding situation at a glance, "and quick as thought he directed his advance brigade upon the enemy." Gen. Steadman, inspired no less than Granger, with an enthusiastic coup d' @i7, and worth at that moment a thousand men, seized a regimental color, and dashing to the head of the column, shouted the charge.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Language fails to describe the onslaught. As well as the leaders, every man is a giant. "Right on into the desolating fire they pressed, reckless of numbers and of death, with a loud and thrilling shout. Over the batteries, over the astounded battalions of Hindman they went in a wild wave. It was marvelous, the charge of those two immortal brigades." and not less glorious than the charge of the light brigade at Balaklava. The trampled earth is strewed with the harvest of war; the enemy is routed with great slaughter. and the stars and stripes are on the ridge. Renowned victory was wrung from the hands of the rebels, and, stung with disappointment. Longstreet's veterans returned in successive charges right up to the six guns planted in the gorge, fighting with the ferocity of despair. This was borne with firm courage by Granger's shouting soldiers, who sent them reeling back each time. torn and bleeding, with a wild slogan that vied with the sanguinary uproar. It was madness to lavish their superb battalions in hopeless frenzy and onset, and in vain the rebel generals broke col- umn after column to pieces on this granite front. As the sun went down the last attempt was made on the invincible band. They had exhausted all their ammunition, even all that could be gathered from their fallen comrades, and it was with much solicitude that the prepara- tions for the last vigorous assault were watched by these fearless men who had stood in the deadly breach for hours. Should the triumphant reward for all their bloody sacrifice be torn away at the last moment ? They are coming now, and are so near that their muffled tread is plainly heard. The ringing command comes : "Give them the cold steel !" Springing forward with fixed bayonets and a piercing yell, they rush upon the heels of the foe, who, struck with conster- nation, has broken and is fleeing in the wildest disorder. Weak- ened by their desperate endeavors, the rebels give up this hope- less point after frightful carnage, and thankful relief comes to Granger's men, of whom a thousand, nearly a third of the number that went into the fight, either dead or wounded, lie stretched upon the field. Believing that the left had been weakened to reinforce the right, Bragg sent a column to attack in that quarter. Being informed of its approach, Gen. Thomas ordered Reynolds to move with his division to meet it, and pointing out the rebels, bade him "go in there." Facing about to save time, and moving by the rear rank, the battle-smoked and blood-stained warriors were given the order to charge. With bayonets lowered, they struck the double-quick, while a wild battle- shout sprang from their hoarse throats, and they pushed on over the enemy, taking more than a regiment prisoners. During the progress of all these exciting and decisive struggles a continuous battle had

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raged from flank to flank, the enemy crowding with billowy front against the union line, assailing Wood and Brennan with scarcely less vehemence than Granger, but remitting his fury somewhat toward the left. The position was girdled by two lines ; as often as one delivered its fire it would step back a few paces, lie down and load, then rising, step again to the front and fire. So ended the battle of Chickamauga.

The 20th of September had given us a Wellington in Gen. Thomas. In gratitude the people with one voice said of the modest warrior : "This is the rock of Chickamauga." Henceforth he ranked among the greatest generals of the war. It had been a day, too, when heroes sprang from the ground. Let it ever be heroes' day. Illus- trious Granger! Gallant Steadman ! Names forever bright on the scroll of their country's history.

The union loss in men was 15, 851, one-third of the army ; thirty- six guns, twenty caissons, 8,450 small arms, and 5,834 infantry accou- terments. The loss in prisoners was about 5,500, of whom nearly one-half were wounded ; against 2,003 captured. There were expended in the battle 2,650,000 rounds of musket cartridges and 7,325 rounds of cannon ammunition, being 12,675 rounds less of artillery, and 650,000 rounds more of musketry than at Stone River. Two divi- sions were routed and left the battlefield ; seven held their ground with the final assistance of Granger.

During the night of the 20th Gen. Thomas having been directed by Gen. Rosecrans to act according to his judgment, withdrew to Rossville, where he offered the enemy battle all the following day, which was declined, and the next night he retired to Chattanooga.

We now allude briefly to the individual part of the 84th in this battle. On Saturday morning Grose's brigade was ordered to make a reconnoissance forward, but being outflanked, escaped capture by the slightest chance. Very soon it went to the left, when Palmer's divi- sion was transferred. There it fought that day, and the next morning built breastworks, as previously mentioned. When the brigade was sent out to reconnoiter on the flank and ran upon the enemy in ambush, the 84th, being driven into a heavy thicket, was separated into three pieces which were lost from one another until night. Capt. Ervin commanded one detachment and succeeded in joining the brigade ; Capt. Higgins had another, and Col. Waters the third. Each bore its full share of the hard fighting. The loss was 11 killed, 77 severely wounded, and 12 missing. About fifty were slightly wounded and remained with the regiment. Company G lost fourteen out of thirty that went to battle.

The 84th continued its career of valiant service till the close of the

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war, but space will not permit more than a cursory relation of its subsequently brilliant record. The reigment was shut up with the rest of the army in Chattanooga during the investment by Bragg. When the army was re-organized there, the third brigade, second division, twenty-first army corps, to which the 84th belonged, became the third brigade, first division, fourth corps, and so con- tinned during the remainder of its active service. Gen. Palmer was soon called to the command of the 14th corps, and was succeeded by Gen. Cruft in command of the division.

On October 25th, just prior to the change of commanders, the division was ordered to cross the Tennessee, and moving over the mountains to Shellmound, re-crossed the river, when the third brigade was sent to Whiteside. On November 24th this division, with Geary's, of the 12th corps, fresh from the Army of the Potomac, and Oster- hous', from the Army of the Tennessee, assaulted Lookout Mountain and drove the enemy in handsome style from that eternal stronghold. The S4th was on the extreme left of the line, and it was due to this fact that its loss was only three wounded, all of whom recovered. When the enemy's main line gave way the regiment swung rapidly forward, and in twenty minutes took more prisoners than there were men in its ranks, and for this success received the thanks of Gen. Hooker on the spot. Next day the stars and stripes floated from the summit of the mountain which had been a blazing citadel for weeks. The same day Hooker pushed across Chattanooga valley and ascended Missionary ridge at Rossville, striking the rebel left and rear. while Sherman was battering their right, and at the same honr that Thomas made the splendid assault on the center, and the entire rebel army was routed with immense loss of men and munitions of war. Having pursued to Ringgold, on the 29th the regiment, on its way back to camp at Whiteside, stopped on the battle-ground of Chickamauga and assisted in the sad but christian work of burrying the remains of the union dead, which the rebels, with characteristic inhumanity, had left in large numbers to decompose above the soil.

A period of ordinary service followed until the Atlanta campaign. On May 4, 1864, the 4th corps concentrated at Catoosa Springs and awaited the arrival of the 23d corps, which formed on its left. On the 7th the two marched south, when the right of the 4th connected with the left of the 14th at Tunnell hill, from which the rebels had been dislodged that morning. From this time till the 13th the regiment was before Rocky Face ridge, an impregnable natural stronghold, skirmishing most of the while, and once making a charge and driving the rebels ont of their rifle pits. The loss on the 9th was eleven killed

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and wounded. The flank movement through Snake Creek gap, a pass through this ridge fifteen miles south, compelled the rebel army to fall back. The 84th advanced through Buzzard Roost gap, and passing Dalton, skirmished forward to Resacca, where it took part in the fighting on the 14th and 15th. On the 16th, the rebel army having retreated, the command went forward, skirmishing desultorily, some- times severely, down as far as Cassville, which was reached on the 19th. The army rested till the 23d, then moved on Dallas. On the 25th Thomas' army found the enemy in strong force at New Hope Church ; the following day it was arrayed for steady work, and from this time the regiment was in constant fighting for ten days. From the 7th to the 10th, the 84th was encamped three miles south of Ack- worth ; on the latter date the army moved forward to confront Johnson's intrenched line from Pine mountain to Kenesaw, and until the 18th the men were working their way up close to the enemy's breastworks by building successive lines of their own, under heavy fire, which did not relax day or night. After the 15th the contending sides were so close that all the firing was done from the main parapets. On the night of the 18th Johnson retired the flanks of his army, and next day the brigade was in advance feeling for the enemy. A part of the 84th was on the skirmish line and suffered severely, especially company G, which had two men killed and seven wounded. On the 21st the regiment had another killed and several more wounded. The rebel army retreated to the Chattahoochee on the night of July 2d, and the 84th followed in pursuit on the 3d, overtaking the enemy in the neighborhood of Smyrna camp-ground, when "they celebrated their fourth of July by a noisy but not desperate battle." On the 10th the 4th corps crossed the Chattahoochee, and after throwing up breastworks for use in case of need, rested till the 18th. Crossing Peach Tree creek on the 20th, the regiment advanced on the skirmish line, charged the rebel skirmishers and took all in their front pris- oners. They moved their line forward 200 yards on the 21st, and were engaged nearly all day in sharp fighting. On the 22d, while the battle of Atlanta was in progress on the left, the 4th, 20th and 14th corps swung in upon Atlanta, closely investing the city on the north and northwest. On August 3d Capt. Dilworth, of company F, with sixty-five men from the regiment, one-third belonging to com- pany K, made a brilliant sortie and captured all the skirmish posts in front of the brigade, including twenty-six prisoners, without the loss of a man. On the 5th a similar affair was planned by the brigade com- mander, and the skirmish line made an attempt to advance, but with ill success, and the 84th lost one killed and two severely wounded.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

On the night of the 25th Gen. Sherman began his movement with the bulk of the army to strike and sever the West Point railroad south of Atlanta. This was reached on the 28th, and the next day was spent in destroying several miles of it; then on the 31st the Macon railroad was seized all the way from Rough and Ready to Jonesboro. At the last place Hardee's corps was fortified and made a sally against the 15th corps which was easily repulsed. The following day the destruction of the railroad was continued, and in the afternoon the 14th corps stormed Hardee's defenses and carried them with slight resistance, capturing a brigade and ten pieces. The setting in of night prevented the 4th corps from reaching the enemy's rear, which would have compelled his surrender. As it was he escaped that night, simultaneously with the evacuation of Atlanta by Hood. The 84th had one man killed and five wounded on this expedition ; and from the beginning of the campaign twelve were killed and seventy wounded. Six of the latter died in hospital. It was estimated that the regiment built, from the time it encountered the enemy at Tunnel Hill, ten miles of breastworks.

The 84th encamped at the close of the campaign with the rest of the corps three miles southeast of Atlanta. When Hood started north to invade Tennessee, all the army except the 20th corps which was left to garrison the city and guard the bridges on the Chattahoochee, started in pursuit in the first week of October. The 4th corps marched to Chattanooga ; from there it was transported by railroad to Athens, Alabama, where it awaited orders two days, and then marched north to Pulaski, Tennessee. Gen. Sherman, about this time, turned from the pursuit of IIood back to Atlanta to set out on the march to the sea coast, and Gen. Thomas was left to watch and oppose his old antagonist. In the latter part of November the rebel army was in motion directly for Nashville, and the 4th and 23d corps began immediately to fall back, either not able or not designing to keep much in advance of the enemy. On the 29th Columbia was abandoned, and while three divis- ions were moving toward Spring Hill, the rebels, by a forced march to cut them off, attacked the place which was defended by one division, but were repulsed. The heavy supply trains narrowly escaped capture. On the 30th the retiring army was concentrated at Franklin, posted behind hastily constructed breastworks on the south side of the town, the line in the form of a crescent, the flanks resting on the Harpeth river. About four o'clock in the afternoon Hood threw his army upon this position, the chief weight against the center, with terrific energy. His men went over the first line of works in a furious charge, and

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pausing under a destructive fire long enough to organize for an assault on the second line, they advanced with blind impetuosity; but the reserves having been brought up they failed to make a lodgment. At five o'clock the union troops advanced to retake the works, and now occurred one of the most desperate encounters of the war. The soldiers stood up within arm's length of one another and fought like madmen with bayonets and clubbed muskets. This was continued till darkness ended the frightful combat, when Ilood, having failed of his purpose to break the center, which would have been fatal to the whole, withdrew. Union loss, 1,500; rebel loss, 6.250. The first division was in a comparatively unexposed position, and not till the end of the fighting was the 84th on the front line, then it was deployed as skirmish- ers. Col. Waters and Adjutant Caswell were severely wounded, but afterward recovered; these were the only persons serving with the regiment who were injured. At night the march was continued toward Nashville, and early next morning the head of the weary, bloody column reached that city.

After two weeks of preparation Gen. Thomas was ready for the offensive, and on December 15th, moved against the enemy, turn- ing his left and forcing back his whole line. The battle was continued next day, and the rebel army disastrously routed. Pursuit was made by Wilson's cavalry and the 4th corps. The 23d corps also went as far as Columbia. When the shattered and demoralized army was across the Tennessee, the end of the campaign was announced, and the troops went into winter quarters. This was the completest union vic- tory of the war, not involving a surrender, for it practically destroyed the rebel army. In all these operations the 84th was with the fore- most actors, and shared the honors of the striking achievements.

The 4th corps was cantoned near Huntsville, and this regiment was put on provost duty in the city. In March the corps was ordered to Knoxville, and on the 13th the first division was transferred by rail, the others following soon after. From there the command marched to Bull's gap, and was stationed six miles beyond, lying there till April 18th. On that day the troops were put on board the cars and sent to Nashville, where, on June 8, 1865, this war-worn regiment was mus- tered out of the service with 346 men out of 932 who had gone to the "greedy front of war " only thirty-two months before.

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History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 37

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424