USA > Illinois > History of the Ninety-sixth Regiment, Illinois volunteer Infantry, Vol. I > Part 22
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
until he could form his men into line, and then he would be up to support us. We had heard rumors that Burnside was to join Rosecrans, and this report of his arrival was very cheering.
The enemy made one more and final effort to turn the right of our line. Additional troops had been brought up to extend his lines and overlap us on our right flank. Our Second Brigade was put in motion to check this new move- ment, and had orders to form line-of-battle on the right of the NINETY-SIXTH. But the danger was imminent ; there was not a moment to lose ; and once more the NINETY-SIXTH was moved by the right flank at the double-quick. I observed that our Colonel was now with us, near the left of the Regiment. but I supposed he was there as Brigade Commander, not knowing that Whittaker's wound had proved to be slight. and that he had resumed his command. As we marched, our direction was changed so as to move obliquely to the front. -- gaining ground to the right and to the front at the same time. The Second Brigade, moving rapidly, was up with us, when the order was given to change direction and move direct to the front, the intention being that that Brigade should pass us and form its line on our right. Colonel Champion, with a portion of the Regiment on the left, heard the order and changed direction accordingly ; the rest of the Regiment failed to hear the command, and continued the oblique march. This left a gap, and the foremost troops of the Second Brigade pushed into it. Then I began to hear, "Give way to the right ! Give way to the right!" And I gave way to the right ; and kept on giving way to the right, until the Brigade had formed its line, sandwiched between the severed parts of our Regiment. I had discovered that the Regiment was broken ; but it was utterly out of the question to leave the front to hunt for any missing Companies. So a portion of the Regiment still continued to occupy the extreme right of the whole line, -a position which during that Sunday afternoon had been the critical point of danger. When the line of the Second Brigade was fully formed it charged forward gallantly. and we joined in the charge and ran as fast and as far, and
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yelled as loud and fired as rapidly as any. This was a very successful charge, and was continued half a mile or more, the enemy not making such strenuous fight as in the earlier part of the afternoon, and we took a number of prisoners. Then the line fell back to a more advantageous position, where we could more easily repel an assault. My Regiment occupied a little hill, heavily timbered. Here the men were allowed to scatter themselves as if upon the skirmish line, taking posi- tion behind trees about as they pleased, and keeping up a slow, irregular fire upon the enemy, all being cautioned not to run themselves out of ammunition.
It was now not quite an hour to sunset. Never did I long for sunset as on that Sunday at Chickamauga. With us it was not " Night, or Blucher," but " Night. or Burnside !" But no Burnside came, and our single line was left to hold its own without support. The firing now was not very severe. and gradually grew weaker, sensibly slackening all along the line. At length it grew so still on our left I went out of the Woods to see what was going on. One of my Sergeants called out, "Captain, you're not leaving us?" "Oh, no ; I'll be back in a moment." I discovered that the whole line was in motion, retiring leisurely, and it was already at some distance to the rear. I gave the word to call in our men and . fall back with the rest. I found that I had now but a very few men with me; and I should have thought that I had wholly strayed from my Regiment were it not that I had with nie the colors of the Regiment, together with the commander of the Color Company - the intrepid boy-lieutenant, lion- !varted, fearless, unflinching - Charlie Earle, whose name must be inscribed high among the highest on the roll of Clickamanga heroes.
The line fell back half a mile or more, and halted. Most "! our Division had already retired still further to the rear. Soon after halting we saw our Colonel coming up, looking for 1. . He, with the portion of the Regiment separated from us, Had joined in the last forward advance of our own Brigade, "be more encountering the foe, and successfully holding the ... vanced line until ordered to retire. When he discovered
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his lost command, he exclaimed, -- " Oh, Captain ! there you are !" " Yes, Colonel, here we are !" "I feared you were lost," said the Colonel ; "how many men have you got with you ?" "About fifty or sixty." "Well, I've got twenty-five or thirty. Let's get them together." So we tried to bring the inen into Regimental line again. "Where's Company E?" said one of the men, seeking to find his Company. "Here it is -- I'm Company E," replied another. It seemed that the reply was not far out of the way-so few of the Company could be found. "Never mind your Companies, boys," said the Colonel. "Let us get into line, somehow- what there is left of us ! Get into line anywhere ! Dress up on the colors !" There didn't appear to be much left of us to get into line, and certainly there was but little left of the colors to align ourselves upon. Of the ten picked men form- ing the Color Guard, nine had been killed or wounded. One flag-staff had been quite shot away, and the other was cut and badly splintered. The two flags were riddled with Minie balls and grape shot, but what remained of our Color Guard had gallantly clung to them. Our Color-Bearer had tied the fluttering shreds about the splintered staff, which he now held aloft as a guide for us in forming our line. Here our troops formed their last line-of-battle to resist any attack that might be made. Our foes had also retired a little and formed their last line. Neither side molested the other. Both had had enough of fighting for that day !
RETURNING FROM BATTLE.
So that long, long Sunday afternoon at last came to an end, the sun slowly disappeared, night closed down upon us. and we breathed more freely, with a sense of infinite relief. Not long afterward we received orders to retire from the field. We soon reached the main body of our Division, and here we began to gather up our missing men of the NINETY-SIXTH. Some who had courageously borne their part in the heaviest figliting of the day had followed other Regiments of the Brigade as they fell back, thinking the NINETY-SIXTH was also retreating. Some had been sent back to help the wounded
1.Pn W. T. SHERMAN.
tiền. I. S. GRANT
Gen. G.E.O. H! THEYA ..
15
1:
O. HOWARD.
tien. D. S. STANLEY
3
3
! !
NHUAAKER.
Gen. Jos. HOOKER.
Gen. NATHAN KIMBALL.
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off the field. Others had been sent back for water or for ammunition, and when aboat to return had heard that it was useless to go forward again,-that our whole line was in full retreat, and that there was nothing left of the Regiment ! We learned that most of our wounded had been conveyed to the rear, on their way to Chattanooga. Others of the wounded were placed on the caissons of the artillery, or on the ammu- nition wagons, or on horses-for the ambulances were crowded-and we got them along somehow, as best we could, as we moved back toward our camp at Rossville. The ambu- Janees and the artillery and the wagons clogged the road, and it was too dark to move across the fields ; so we plodded along slowly and wearily, and with frequent tiresome interruptions. When we had gone two or three miles we came upon acres of troops in bivonac, gathered about myriad fires, cooking their supper. "Ah ! there's Burnside's men !" we said. "What Corps ?" we asked. "McCook's." No Burnside there ; he must be farther on. After awhile we came upon other acres. of troops in bivouac. " What Corps ?" "Crittenden's." Nothing of Burnside ! It was all a myth about Burnside. Burnside, with his Corps, was at Knoxville, a hundred miles away ! There was really no foundation for the camp rumor that Burnside was on his way to reinforce us ; and the extended cloud of dust which had been seen rising at a distance, and which was supposed to be caused by the tread of Burnside's approaching columns, was in fact occasioned by a force of . cavalry charging to protect a wagon train.
It was nearly ten o'clock that night when we reached our camp. The wounded were cared for as best we could. At our Company tents we found the small squad of men which had been sent to the rear in charge of prisoners. " Hurrah ! Here's our Captain ! He isn't killed, after all! Why, we heard there wasn't a man left of Company A!" "Some of us are left, boys. But do get us some coffee as soon as you can." The coffee, which was soon prepared, and some hard Viserit, furnished a supper most welcome after the day's long fast. Then, with the sensibilities of the mind and the heart stunned by the dreadful work of that afternoon, and with
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
physical powers almost utterly exhausted, we were glad to throw ourselves down upon our blankets and obtain rest and sleep. There was but one break to the night's rest. At mid- night the officers of each Company were aroused by our Quarter- Master, who told us that a Brigade of the Second Division was wholly destitute of rations, the Brigade wagon train hav- ing been captured by the enemy's cavalry, and he asked if we would divide our rations with them. We kept awake long enough to say " Yes," and fell asleep again.
OUR LOSS IN BATTLE.
At réveille next morning we assembled for roll-call. Those who had become separated from the Regiment came in during the night, and we could now count up our loss.
The Regiment went into battle a few more than four hun- dred strong. When we left Illinois we numbered 1,000 men, but a year of marching and drilling and roughing it in eamp had sifted out a great many. Some had died ; some had been discharged ; many were in hospital. Many, also-the less robust-had been sent from the Regiment .- detailed to gar- rison forts, to guard baggage wagons and provision trains, to proteet railway trains, to aid in building bridges and in repair- ing roads. Our 400 with us on the morning of Chickamauga were nearly all young men, who had endured the severe strain of active military life much better than the middle-aged. The battles of the war were fought chiefly by the young men. The nation was saved by the boys !
We went into the battle of Chickamauga with 400 men : we came out with a loss of about two hundred killed and wounded. We could well spare half our rations ! Our loss was extraordinarily large. When the reports of the battle were all in from Rosecrans' entire army I carefully examined the tabular statements of the numbers engaged and the losses. and it appeared that. in proportion to numbers, no Regiment had suffered so heavily in killed and wounded as the NINETY- SixTur Illinois. We afterwards bore our part in Sherman's Atlanta campaign of a hundred and twenty days, and nearly every other day were engaged in skirmish or battle, and every
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day, with hardly an exception, were under fire; but in all that long campaign our entire loss did not exceed the loss we suffered during those few fateful hours on the field of Chick- amauga !
I had looked forward to the test of battle with not a little solicitude, lest our men should fail fully to meet the stern de- mands of duty when the supreme hour of trial came; but . how nobly they bore themselves throughout the fearful ordeal of that Sunday afternoon. enduring a test such as rarely falls to the lot of any Regiment in its first battle ! Ilow many of the men-the boys -- in the ranks proved themselves to be true- born heroes that day ! And the officers shared with the men alike the danger and the loss. Of the twenty-three field and line officers of the Regiment on duty that day eleven were killed or wounded. Were all equally undaunted ? Was there no exception ? The terrible storm of plunging shot and ex- ploding shells, bursting suddenly upon us as we marched over the open meadow field to enter into battle, seemed to unnerve and quite bewilder one of our Captains, who, in our subse- quent rapid movements, lost his Regiment, and was not again seen that day by his soldiers. His Company was worthily led in the battle by a Lieutenant, who, a few days afterward. was promoted to fill the vacancy caused by the Captain's resignation.
The morning roll call disclosed how heavy had been our loss ; yet we dare not indulge ourselves in any tender, relaxing emotions of grief. The heart must remain still firmly braced to meet the peril of another day. The danger to our army- with the cause of our country closely linked to that army's fate-was still imminent ; for we were in the presence of a foe who was marshaling against us greatly preponderating nminbers. We were yet on the battle field. as it were, and tuinst steel our hearts to bear, if need be, still further loss. And the loss was not delayed, for our picket guard sent out that night did not return to us ; only a few of them, long afterward, were seen again, when they rejoined the Regiment as returned prisoners of war. We were yet on the battle field. sand on the battle field there is no room for emotions of grief.
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
In battle there is an exaltation of feeling which lifts one quite above the plane of all ordinary sentiments and feelings. I recall an incident : During the few moments when iny Com- pany was rallying from the skirmish line, just as the battle opened upon us, my leading Corporal#-the man who always marched so proudly at the head of the Regiment-generously shared with me the scanty store of water in his canteen ; the next minute, as we were advancing, he fell lifeless before me. and I pressed forward with the men with but half a glance at his prostrate form, without being conscious of the slightest feeling of pity, or sympathy, or any gentle, kindly emotion. The supreme duty of the moment overwhelmed all else ! Nor did our wounded soldiers yield to any feelings of self-pity. We heard little groaning from their lips. When my Color Corporalt was struck in the arm he came to me and said. in quite his ordinary tone of voice : "Captain, I'm hit ; this arm is useless." "Go to the rear, Corporal ; take your mus- ket with you if you can ; if not, drop it." I remember what a noble type of manhood he was-tall, upright, square-built. broad-shouldered, keen-sighted, clear-toned, always manly in bearing, trustworthy to the core, and every inch a soldier. Alas ! I never saw him nor could hear of him again !
In connection with that memorable battle the soldiers of the NINETY-SIXTH Illinois had, in the person of some of its members, nearly every experience of hardship that can fall to the lot of a soldier. We all shared in the forced march by day and night, and in the skirmish, and the shock of battle. Some met instantaneous death. Others, less fortunate, lay upon the field, fatally wounded, uncared for, suffering untold agonies, until death came to their relief. Some, wounded and retiring from the field, were struck a second time, and fatally. Some of our wounded fell into the hands of the enemy. Others lay for many miserable hours upon the field before they were brought into our hospitals. Many died while i !! hospital. . Some others-sent to a hospital over the mountains because our hospitals could not receive them-died on the way. Some of our men, taken prisoners, endured all that
* Willlam Price. t David Isbel.
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could be endured, and cannot be described, of the miseries and horrors of Libby and Andersonville. How many of the wounded, how many of the prisoners, were never in line again with the Regiment !
When we had fortified Chattanooga, and lay within its besieged lines, waiting for the coming of Grant and Sherman, we then had leisure to estimate how great had been our loss at Chickamauga. It seemed to us-nor was it all illusion- that we had lost our best and bravest. The Regiment mourned the death of its Lieutenant-Colonel-staunch and true, a firm commander in camp, a brave leader in battle. Each Company had its list of heroes, beloved by their comrades and worthy of all honor, the memory of whose patriotic devotion, even to the sacrifice of their lives, shall never, never fade. For myself, I mourn a host of true-hearted soldiers, my comrades of the NINETY-SIXTH, who upon the field of Chickamauga gave to their country a soldier's last and supremest offering. Among them are numbered the two Sergeants of whom I have spoken, who rest upon that battle field, somewhere, in unknown graves. Lovely and pleasant were they in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. My First Sergeant, valiantly engaging in the battle with his chosen rifle, was really entitled (unknown to all) to exchange the rifle for a sword ; for his commission as Captain, granted to him because of his superb soldierly arquirements, had been duly signed and was on its way to him, while his life blood was ebbing away, enriching the soil of Georgia. The other Sergeant was prominent in the battle, performing notable deeds -- now joining in the onset where the peril was the greatest, and now rallying the men along the line of the Brigade wherever there appeared signs of faltering ; 1.ut before the close of the battle he had shared the fate of his bosom friend. Both had fought with a magnificent heroism beyond all praise. Never was battle field consecrated to humanity by the sacrifice of worthier soldiers.
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, IL.L. V. I.
THE SACRIFICE AND THE GAIN.
The vast armies of the Union, gathered from every town and village and neighborhood throughout the East and the West, comprised patriots and heroes innumerable. During the protracted years of that great war, waged on a scale stu- pendous and destructive beyond all precedent, it happened time and again that at some critical juncture occurring in a battle of ahnost decisive consequences, the gallant work of some Regiment, some Brigade, some Division, saved an army, and went far to save the cause. Honoring all heroic souls in the armies East and West, rejoicing in all that was gloriously achieved by other soldiers, by other Regiments and armies in many great battles now listed among the famous battles of mankind, the soldiers of the NINETY-SIXTH Illinois feel that at Chickamauga they earned the right to claim kinship with all soldiers who braved much and accomplished much for their country. All honor to Thomas. the " Rock of Chickamauga !" All honor to Thomas and his Corps. grandly holding the whole opposing army at bay ! But there came an hour when Thomas was reaching the utmost limit of his power of resistauce. Unless speedily aided he would have been unable to withstand the accumulating forces, which, overwhelming him, would have brought immeasurable disaster upon the army, would have made incalculably more difficult the subsequent task ot Grant and Sherman, and would have had a far-reaching effect. which one shrinks from estimating, upon the issue of the war. At that hour, at that critical juncture, our Division reached the field and gave that aid which was imperatively needed. Our Brigade was the leading Brigade, and being first on the field the severest task fell to its share. Our Regiment, leading the Brigade and the Division, was placed at once in the front line ; and while other Regiments during the battle alternated their position between the front and the supporting lines. the exigencies of the battle kept the NINETY-SIXTH, with the briefest intermission, continuously in front. It happened. therefore. that at the most critical juncture of the battle of Chickamauga. the NINETY-SIXTH Illinois had a most important part to play.
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The simple record is, that it did not fail; and it can justly claim its share of that high praise bestowed upon our Division, when Thomas, at the close of the battle, said to our General, " Steedman, your Division has saved the army !"
In that battle we paid a heavy price ; but how inestimable the value of what we purchased. If we consider-as we reasonably may-that our few tragical hours at Chickamauga constiented one of those critical periods of the war when a different result might have long delayed, if not quite changed, the final issue of the years of contest, we cannot murmur at the sacrifice required of us. We are to think of the new nation, of the South and the North, redeemed, disenthralled, united, marching forth buoyantly among the nations, erect as never before .- entering upon a career transcending all former possibilities and conceptions, in the blessings of whose onward progress universal humanity shall share, -inspiring the people of Europe with higher aspirations for freedom and loftier ideals of the worth of simple manhood .- and touching the remote peoples of Africa and Asia and the neighboring peoples of the western hemisphere with influences whose beneficent effects, multiplied with the years, only the ages to come can tully disclose ; and then, if it be asked, "Was it worth the while ? Was the cause so righteous and holy as to justify such sacrifice of life ? "-we would seek the answer from the lips of those who, in their desolated homes and sorrow burdened hearts, have most painfully realized the full measure of that sacrifice. Shall we ask the widowed mothers, whose first- born sons now lie mouldering somewhere on that deadly field of Chickamauga, whether, if they had the power, they would cause the wheels of Time to roll back over the intervening years, that they might have restored to them their sons as they were in the full flush of their young manhood, leaving andone all that was dared and endured and suffered and accomplished by them and their comrades that fatal Sunday afternoon ? What is their reply : " We rejoice more in our dead sons lying there in unknown graves, than we could in all the living sons of Christendom who at such an hour would shrink from like peril and sacrifice in such a cause."
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Time does its own work ceaselessly and silently, without beat of drum or blare of bugle, and each succeeding year is carrying over to " the great majority " survivors of the battle field. Meantime, those who remain are wont to meet at inter- vals in reunion with each other ; and at each latest reunion the magnitude of what was attempted and the vastness of what was achieved are seen more and more clearly ; and the heart swells with increasing pride in beholding the growing strength and benignant greatness of the beloved country at whose call they went forth, in her hour of need, to do battle for her and for humanity.
" Be proud ! for she is saved, and all have helped to save her ! She that lifts up the manhood of the poor, She of the open soul and open door, With room about her hearth for all mankind ! Oh, Beautiful : my Country ! ours once more, What words divine of lover or of poet Could tell our love and make thee know it,
Among the Nations bright beyond compare ? What were our lives without thee ? What all our lives to save thee ?
We rech not what we gave thee ; We will not dare to doubt thee,
But ask whatever else, and we will dare !"
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ON MOCCASIN POINT.
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CHAPTER XII.
BY A. R. THAIN, OF COMPANY D.
The Situation after the Battle of Chickamauga-In Camp on Moccasin Point -Artillery and Skirmish Fire-Bragg's Starvation Policy -- Wheeler's Cavalry Raid-Short Rations for Men and Mules-Corn- The "Wusser"-Arrival of Gen. Hooker-Gen. Grant Placed' in Command - Bridging the River at Brown's Ferry -Supporting Hooker in Lookout Valley-Corn and Shells-The March to Shell Mound-Nicajack Cove-Building Winter Quarters -- Strange Archi- tecture.
AFTER the battle of Chickamauga, Gen. Rosecrans with- drew his army to the immediate neighborhood of Chattanooga, and threw up a strong line of earthworks to protect his posi- tion. He had a large bend of the Tennessee river behind him, in the hollow of which the eity lies, and on his front a line of works crescent in form, the flanks resting on the river above and below the city. The objective point of the campaign had been Chattanooga, and that was in our hands; and we now prepared stubbornis to hold the prize which had been so gal- lantly gained, and at so fearful a cost.
Lookout Mountain was abandoned to the enemy, and with it the railroad and our direct wagon road to Bridgeport ; a measure which nothing save the plea of military necessity could justify, for it subjected us to constant annoyances, and compelled us to transport supplies over Wallen's Ridge# by a long and difficult road, open to attacks from the enemy's cavalry.
Our Brigade withdrew from Missionary Ridge on the night of September 21, and on the 22d we marched through Chatta- hooga, crossed to the north bank of the river, and encamped on Moccasin Point. This memorable piece of ground lies within a loop of the Tennessee at the northern extremity of
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