USA > Illinois > History of the Ninety-sixth Regiment, Illinois volunteer Infantry, Vol. I > Part 24
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A description of one Company D mansion will give a faint idea of one structure, which was like nothing else on the whole mountain side, and the same might be said of every other structure in the camp.
It was about twelve feet square, built of three-inch planks split from the heart of straight-grained trees, notched together at the corners, with one opening for a door and another for a window. The roof had a single slope from front to back, and was covered with "shakes." At one end was a large fire- place and chimney, built of mud and stones at the bottom, and mud and sticks at the top. A description of the interior might demoralize the dictionary, and so will not be attempted ; but at night, when a large fire burned in the fireplace. and the boys sat around it on bunks and benches, that cabin contained a vast amount of comfort.
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
CHAPTER XIII.
--
BY A. R. THAIN, OF COMPANY D.
--
The March to Lookout Mountain-Before the Battle-The Colonel's Speech-Nature of the Battle Field-The Forces Engaged in the Battle-Crossing Lookout Creek-Climbing the Mountain-Rough Nature of the Ground-Our Advance-Skirmishing -- Artillery Fire -- The Charge -- The Rebels Fall Back -- The Battle in the Clouds -- 3 Modern Sinai-Doubling Point Lookout-Cheers of Victory-Steep Charge over the " Nose" -- Writing on the Wall-Last Stand of the Enemy --- Was it a Battle ?- Facts Say Yes-Rebel Loss -- Our Loss- Our Captures-The Bivouac on Lookout-Planting the Flag on Point Lookout -- Cheering the Flag-The NINETY-SIXTH on the Summit- Description of the Scenery-Battle of Missionary Ridge-Return to Nickajack Cove-The Winter.
BUT it was decreed by the military powers that we should not settle down to the full enjoyment of our shanty city until we had taken part in stirring scenes at the front. On Novem- ber 19 we drew six days' rations. and were ordered to hold ourselves in readiness to march. Sherman's troops were passing by the Cove on the way to Chattanooga. and every- thing indicated that Gen. Grant was preparing for an aggres. sive movement on a grand scale.
The columnm that filed ort from our camp was not a long one, for notwithstanding the return of a number of those slightly wounded, the hardships had been such as to break down many men, and there were less than two hundred and fifty for duty. Colonel Champion was in command. There had been several changes among the officers since Chicka- manga. The vacancy caused by the death of the lamented Lieutenant Colonel Clarke had been filled by the promotion of Major J. C. Smith, but the latter was still on staff duty. Captain George Hicks, of Company A, had been promoted to Major and was with the command. First Lientenant William Vincent, who was still absent nursing wounds, had
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THE MARCH TO LOOKOUT.
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been promoted to Captain, and Second Lieutenant Pool to First Lieutenant. Second Lieutenant William Dawson had been commissioned First Lieutenant in Company F, to succeed Lieutenant Simms, who had died from his wounds. A com- mission as First Lieutenant had also been issued to Second Lieutenant Charles H. Yates, of Company H, the intention being that he should fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lieutenant Barnes, but as Yates was a prisoner of war he could not be reached, and the commission was subsequently recalled. In Company I Captain Jobn Barker had resigned, and Lieutenants Tarpley and Moore had cach received pro- motion. No Second Lieutenants were commissioned at this time, as the Companies were all below the minimum number. As the column started out for a renewal of the campaign there was but one Captain along the line-Captain Taylor, of Company E-and but a dozen line officers in all.
We marched from the Cove on the twenty-third. leaving everything standing, with the expcetation of returning to pass the winter there. We arrived at Wauhatchie late in the evening, and bivonacked for the night.
The morning of the twenty-fourth was misty and disagree- able. The elements seemed to frown on us as we lay in the valley, but the elemental frown which lay between us and the summit of Lookout in reality turned a friendly side to us and a frowning side to the enemy. That foul day was the fairest day of all the year for the execution of the purpose which our leaders had in view.
The mist which had clung closely to the contour of the valley had lifted somewhat when we fell into line after a hasty breakfast. While we stood in regimental line facing the mountain, Colonel Champion took station on our front. seated on horseback, as if for a parade. Each man seemed to divine that something unusually serions was before us. and silence fell along the line. From the back of his horse the Colonel made a speech. the shortest, perhaps, that he ever made on a public occasion, but it is doubtful if he ever made one which produced a deeper impression. He said: "Boys, I have a few words to say to you. Before night I expect we will have
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
to climb the side of yonder mountain. You all know that at Chickamauga the NINETY-SIXTH covered itself with glory, and I hope that to-day we shall do nothing that will lessen the fair fame of the Regiment. I expect every man to do his duty : I shall try and do mine." That speech gave us the first inti- mation of the ardvous task which lay before us. For a few moments not a word was spoken, but we thought volumes. . All eyes were lifted toward Lookout, and the rugged giant seemed to be answering the Colonel's speech. Standing on his bema of rock, with his cloudy toga wrapped about him, he seemed to say to his audience of five States and to the two armies at his feet, that human valor could not avail against his natural strengthi.
We knew something about the difficulties of the proposed battle ground. From our former camp on Moccasin Point we had become familiar with the rocky outlines of the mountain, and know something as to the position and strength of the Rebel works ; and that morning, through occasional breaks in the clouds, we caught glimpses of Point Lookout, with its crowning battery; we could see the sheer descent of the palisades, declaring, with cold, stony logic. that the crest of the mountain could not be carried by direct assault, and lower down we knew that there were steep ravines, rock-strewn slopes, terrible tangles of felled timber, and strong lines of works filled with watchful foes. We were willing to face men, but were we not asked to do that and to fight with the elemental forces of nature at the same time? Very little time was left us. however, to debate the chances of success or failure. The time for action had come, and at once we set out to make, if possible, a secret side entrance on the lofty stage of that splendid theatre of war.
The troops commanded by Gen. Ilooker in the battle of Lookout Mountain were, Gen. Geary's Division of the Twelfth Corps. Gen. Osterhaus' Division of the Fifteenth Corps, and Gens. Whittaker's and Grose's Brigades of the Fourth Corps. The Reserve Corps, to which we had belonged until within a few weeks of this time, had been incorporated into various commands, and we now belonged to the Second Brigade. First
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Division, Fourth Army Corps, our Corps commander being Gen. Granger. with Gen. Charles Cruft as Division com- mander for the time being, and Gen. Whittaker as Brigade commander.
The general plan of the battle was that while Gen. Hooker was making a direet attack on the mountain in the face of the Rebel works. a flanking force under cover of this attack and concealed by the fog, should cross Lookout Creek, scale the side of the mountain. advance in line-of-battle along the side of the mountain, with their right resting on the palisades, and strike the enemy on the flank and rear.
Gen. Geary's Division and our Brigade formed this flank- ing force ; Gen. Grose's Brigade of our Division being left in the valley to seize the road bridge just below the railroad crossing, repair the bridge. cross over and form a junction with our line when we should have advanced that far.
From Wauhatchie we marched up Lookout Valley under cover of the fog. and before crossing Lookout Creek to make the direct ascent of the mountain we laid aside our knapsacks and all the dead weight that we could possibly spare. In our coming struggle with altitude and gravitation we must carry no needless burdens. The man. his musket, and something to put in it, was about all that such ground permitted. Even the horses of the field and staff were left behind. Lookout Creek was so high from recent rains that it was not easily crossed. Our Regiment clambered across on an old dam which was in part overflowed. reaching the right bank at about & A. M. The direct ascent of the slope was effected with no opposition save that offered by the difficulty of the ground. When the right of our column neared the palisades we formed in line-of-battle, our right resting near the perpendicular rocks which rose grimly above us, our line stretching far down the slope toward the creek, and then we advanced toward the Rebel works, sweeping the entire side of the mountain. Much of the ground over which we advanced was rough beyond conception. It was covered with an untouched forest growth, "vamed with deep ravines, and obstructed with rocks of all sizes which had fallen from the frowning wall on our right.
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
The ground passed over by our left was not quite so rough ; but, taking the entire stretch of mountain side traversed by our force in driving the enemy around Point Lookout, it was undoubtedly the roughest battle field of the war.
At first our Regiment was in the second line, but soon we were ordered to take the right of the first line, as close under the palisades as possible, which position we retained during the day. This necessarily required us to face the steepest and roughest ground along the whole line, and brought us nearest the sharpshooters, who were posted along the crest of the ridge; but that which seemed to threaten our destruction was, in fact, our safety, for the guns of the upper battery could not touch us, even when their depressed muzzles almost kissed the rocks ; and though the steep, raking shots of the sharpshooters, fired from the edge of the cliff, had a very wicked sound as they went whizzing down the regimental line, most of them were too high to do any injury.
But our advance at first was unopposed and seemingly unnoticed. The attention of the enemy was centered on Osterhaus, who was engaged in forcing a crossing directly on his front. The silence was almost painful for a time. Every moment we expected to hear it broken by sharp shots from the rocks overhead, or by a rattling volley from behind the innumerable boulders in front of our advancing line. But nothing was heard save the tramping of many feet, and the hard breathing of men unused to mountain climbing.
But soon heavy skirmishing began on our left toward the base of the mountain. Grose was foreing his way across Lookout Creek and preparing to bring his right into alignment with Geary's left, and farther down the creek Wood was rang- ing his battle front, with the intention of climbing into the clouds over the rebel works.
At 11 A. M. our left connected with Osterhaus' right. and the line-of-battle was complete from the palisades to the mountain's base, thence curving away toward the northern end of Lookout : a sickle of Mars, whose blue blade and fire-tipped edge was that day to sweep around its point as a pivot. and reap a glorious harvest.
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SWEEPING AROUND LOOKOUT.
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The upper slopes and northern end of the mountain were Low assailed by a fierce artillery fire from batteries in Look- out Valley and on Moccasin Point. A number of command- ing hills in the valley took a strong interest in the topography of Lookout, and began to drop shells in advance of our line in places where they were likely to do the most good-for us --- and over the shoulder of the mountain we could hear Bran- man's guns on Moccasin Point, defying their old antagonist with a fury which boded ill for all who lay within the range of that upsoaring tempest of iron.
And the batteries of the enemy were prodigal of powder, now that the hour of conflict had come. The guns on the side of the mountain swept the slope, along and up which our troops were making their toilsome advance, and the high- perched battery on the crest of the mountain threw iron gages at the feet of its circle of antagonists in both valleys, chal- lenges which were promptly accepted and gallantly answered.
The auricular effect of this artillery fire on us, who were close under the palisades, was grand and startling beyond description. The rocky sounding board rising on our right tossed back the reports of our own guns, and multiplied them into a continuous roar, and when the guns above our heads made answer it seemed as though the entire vault of the sky had exploded with each report. A little Jater in the day. when this battery was thundering out of the clouds which densely shrouded the crest of the mountain, it would have required but little stretch of the imagination to have supposed that " cloud-compelling Jove" had appeared as champion of the Confederacy, and, from a new Olympus, was hurling thunder- bolts of modern make with more than his old-time vigor. But alas for the canse which no champion could save ! for the blue-coated Titans needed no Ossa on Pelion to aid them in their upward climb, and in a few hours they would pluck the thunderbolts from the cloud. This artillery fire quickened our advance along the side of the mountain, and opposition was soon developed on our immediate front. It was a skir- mich fire at first, but it became more and more spirited as we wvanced. A Rebel soldier came running toward us with
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
uplifted hands. in token of surrender, and taking this as an earnest of victory, our men clambered over the rocks with cheers, driving the advance line of the enemy before them. Soon we came in sight of their works, but to our joy we saw that they had been constructed to resist a direct attack from below, and that from our position we could rake them with an enfilading fire, or even pass around their refused flank and attack them in rear.
No doubt our leaders ordered a charge, but with such advantages in plain sight, to charge and capture the work- hardly called for a formal command. Soldierly instinet was enough ; or, if anything more had been necessary, the vet fresh memories of that bloody field, lying eight or nine miles on the other side of Lookout, would have made us irresistible had the opposition been twice as great.
Col. W. F. Dowd, of the 24th Mississippi, who commanded this part of the Rebel line. says. in a description of the battle published in the Southern Bivouac, that his orders were "to hold his post till hell froze over ;" and, thinking at this june- ture that the ice was about five feet thick, he ordered his men to fall back.
But the gallant Colonel does not seem to have been well informed as to the temperature of the infernal regions at that particular time, for the resistance which he opposed to our advance was such as a thin skin of ice would oppose to a Cunarder when under full headway. Our charge on the entrenchments was like the rush of an avalanche. The enemy forsook their works and retreated along the side of the moun- tain toward the Craven House, leaving many prisoners in our hands.
No regular line-of-battle confronted us after this until we reached the eastern side of the mountain ; but the broken Rebel line maintained an active skirmish fire, and the rough nature of the ground afforded them such ample cover, and at the same time made our advance so difficult a task, that our progress, though steady, was not rapid.
The cloud, which had not been very dense when we charged on the enemy's works, now settled very densely along the side
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THE BATTLE IN THE CLOUDS.
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of the inountain, and was at once a source of perplexity and a great protection. Wrapped in a seamless mantle of vapor, we became confused as to locality, direction and distance. Some of our men became entangled in the felled timber, which, at this point, obstructed the slope, and were separated from their command. But the cloud effectually concealed ns from our unassailable foes on the upper part of the mountain, who could have inflicted severe loss on us had the day been clear.
This battle has been poetically termed "The Battle above the Clouds," but literally it was a battle in the clouds. It seemed like a war waged by the elements rather than a battle fought by men. The viewless artillery of the skies seemed to bellow above our heads and beneath our feet, and the bursting shells were dread thunderbolts. To some minds it seemed like cloud and fire capped Sinai, when God came down on its dread top to give the law. From the veiled summit burst thunderings and lightnings, and the mountain quaked as though the feet of Jehovah were treading its high places ; and. as of old, a vast concourse of spectators in the valley below were anxiously waiting to see what results would come forth from the clouds. And did not God, by the results of that day and the day following, say to the States which lie around that commanding summit, "Let the oppressed go free?" The original Emancipation Proclamation was written by the God of Battles with fire and steel, and President Lincoln some- what tardily copied it with pen and ink.
At 12 o'clock our line was swinging around Point Lookout. the right of our Regiment being the pivot, and the left of the line sweeping around toward Chattanooga. Is it too much to say that the clock of history struck high noon when that mighty index finger pointed due north on that rocky dial face? Cer- tainly the afternoon of the Southern Confederacy began to Beeline from that hour.
The cloud now began to lift, and spectators in Chattanooga Valley could dimly see our advancing line. They needed no courier from the mountain side to tell them that those advanc- og tlags meant victory ; and as we had little breath for cheer-
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
ing. they cheered for us with all their might. The Brigade Bands in the valley began to play, and we wrote the score which inspired them.
Before 2 r. M. we had reached the castern side of the mountain, and were driving the enemy toward the Summer- town Road. Members of the NINETY-SixTH will never forget the headlong charge over the "nose " of Lookont to the relief of the 40th Ohio, when in the eagerness of their advance they were actually in the rear of part of the Rebel line, and were in danger of being crushed by superior members. The descent between ns and the enemy was almost as steep as a Gothic roof. and down this declivity we slipped and rolled-rather than charged-on the astonished foe. Bullets and shells they had expected, and had become somewhat accustomed to, but when we threw a whole Regiment of men at them they promptly retired. This movement on our part was a mnost timely and telling one, for the position of the 40th was peril- ous. Colonel Champion grasped the situation in an instant, and, with the instinet of the true soldier, gave orders for a left wheel. The Regiment executed his orders unhesitatingly. and, gaining a position along a rude fence, poured a destruc- tive tire into the ranks of the startled enemy. Instantly the 40th saw the movement, and not only ceased to retreat, but instantly rushed forward across the opening and charged the foc, capturing a section of artillery and a large number of prisoners. As soon as their relief was assured the NINETY- SIXTH swung to its former position. still occupying the extreme right of the army and again advancing.
Our lines were now plainly visible to the Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga Valley, and as they saw the flash of guns and the gleaming of steel brought out distinctly by the dark background of rock above us, it required no Daniel to interpret the meaning of that stern writing on the wall. It said of Bragg, whose headquarters lay directly over against us on the crest of Missionary Ridge, "Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting." One libration of the scales the day before had shown his weakness before Chattanooga : and now Lookout, which was expected to weigh heavily
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THE MOUNTAIN EVACUATED.
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against us in the hour of conflict, was being lifted lightly in uir by the ascending beam of another victory, its vast buik and great natural strength being outweighed by the courage and audacity of our attack ; and on the morrow-the sharp crest of Missionary Ridge being the pivot of the beam-the broken fragments of Bragg's army-"weighed and found wanting " --- would be tumbled out of war's dread scale in the confusion of utter defeat.
There was no severe fighting on the mountain after 2 p. M. The Rebel line. reinforced by Gen. Jackson's Division from the upper part of the mountain, occupied a very strong posi- tion some distance south of the Craven House, and there they made a determined stand to retain possession of the Summer- town Road, the only road by means of which they could speedily withdraw their forces and artillery from the moun- tain. By this time our ammunition was almost expended. and exhausted as we were by our hard climb up and around the mountain, we were in no condition to drive the enemy from their last position by dint of bravery and bayonets. Later in the day reinforcements came to us from the Chatta- moga side of Lookout, bringing such supplies of ammunition as they could carry on their persons, but the battle was not renewed. A skirmish fire was maintained until late into the night, varied by a considerable demonstration made by the enemy between nine and ten to cover their intended retreat. They withdrew during the night so cantionsly and silently that the mountain was in our possession for some time before we became aware of it.
There has been some dispute among military critics as to whether that rough-and-tumble fight over the shoulder of Lookont was a battle or not. Some say that though it was striking in spectacular effect. affording abundant materials for the use of the artist and poet, yet from a military stand-point it hardly deserves to be called a battle. But if these adverse critics had viewed the battle from the front rank of the force which fought it, they might have been converted to the con- trary opinion. This strange misconception arises in part from the smallness of our loss on that eventful day. and in part
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HISTORY OF THE 90TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
from the dwarfing effect of the grand movement which rolled the Rebel lines from the crest of Missionary Ridge on the day following. But the smallness of our loss was due to favorable natural conditions, and Missionary Ridge has glory enough of its own without reaching across the valley to rob Lookout of its laurels.
Hlad the day been clear our loss would have been very heavy. So great were the natural advantages possessed by the enemy, that, could they have overlooked the move- ments of our forces, they would not have been driven from their natural fortress except by an engagement which would have reddened the rocks of Lookout with the blood of many brave men. A captured Colonel declared that if it had not been for the cloud their sharpshooters would have riddled our advance like pigeons, and would speedily have left our com- mand without leaders. The men who took part in that engagement know that it was a formidable undertaking, and let no one attempt to take their glory from them. It is true that General Fog commanded on the side of the mountain. while Gen. Hooker commanded in the valley, and the former covered our advance so effectually with his cloudy battalions that our loss was comparatively slight ; but even with this advantage in our favor we earned our battle laurels by hard climbing and gallant fighting. The glory of a battle should not be measured by its mortality list, but by the courage of the men engaged in it, and by the measure of their success.
And the battle was by no means a bloodless one on either side, as may easily be gathered from the loss suffered by one Rebel Regiment, the 24th Mississippi. According to the report of their Colonel they had three hundred and fifty-six men and officers present for duty in the morning, of whom one hundred and ninety-nine were killed or wounded during the day. The 40th Ohio, of our Brigade, suffered a consider- able loss, both in killed and wounded. including Maj. Actou. who was killed. The loss in our Regiment was small, because we were so close to danger that much harm passed harmless!y over us.
The following is the
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THE LOSSES.
1863]
LIST OF CASUALTIES.
KILLED .- Esau Rich, of Company B.
WOUNDED .- Adjutant E. A. Blodgett, hand ; First Lieutenant Robert Pool, Company A, head ; Sergeant John Vincent, Company A, ball en- tered just below right eye and passed out back of left car, but he recov- ered ; Harry Menzemer, Company A, slightly ; Nicholas Wearmouth, Company A, left side ; Harlow D. Ragan, Company A, hand ; Second Lieutenant George H. Burnett, Company B, scalp wound ; James Lit- wiler, Company B, face ; W. V. Trout, Company B, foot and leg ; Cor- poral Henry A. Webb, Company D, head ; R. S. Thain, Company D, leg ; Sergeant R. J. Cooper, Company E, bip ; James Junken, Company E, side ; William S. Nash, Company F, chin and left shoulder ; Corporal John W. Swanbrough, Company G, foot : Joseph K. Clark, William Joyce and John King. all of Company G, were each wounded in the head ; First Lieutenant George W. Moore, Company I, leg ; Harrison Gage, Company I, arm ; Daniel Malone, Company I, leg ; First Lieu- tenant E. E. Townsend, Company K, foot ; Corporal Henry W. Goding, Company K, head ; Thomas Carleton, Company K, leg ; Oscar W. Cowen, Company K, body.
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