USA > Illinois > History of the Ninety-sixth Regiment, Illinois volunteer Infantry, Vol. I > Part 28
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halted and came to a front. Company K, being out of ammu- nition, was recalled and took place beside the colors. Other Companies were deployed and an advance ordered. Into the gap they pressed, additional men being sent out until ouly the single Company mentioned was in reserve. The line of the Regiment extended from near the foot of the ridge on the right almost to the upright erags npon the left. From the moment the advance was ordered the firing became rapid. Major Hicks had immediate command of the advanced line, with orders to make a strong demonstration, pressing the enemy back into their main line and ascertaining the character of their works. The effort was to deceive the Rebels into the belief that an assault was to be made at this point, while the main army, moving rapidly by the right flank, should force its way through Snake Creek Gap, a dozen miles to the south- ward, and secure, if possible, a foothold upon the railroad between Dalton and Resaca. Hence this movement on the part of the Regiment was a most important one. Nor could it have been entrusted to better hands. With rare nerve and skill the line forced its way to the front. Along the corru- gated sides of that wooded ridge they resolutely moved for- ward, taking such shelter as they could, until the fresh clay of the Rebel breastworks was so near that there could be no farther movement except at a charge. How spitefully the muskets spoke from the front ! With what vicious speed the bullets sped across the rugged battle-field ! The works in front seemed to be crowded with men. The deadly fire was incessant from either side. Exposing themselves as little as possible the men of the Regiment fired from behind trees and rocks or over the natural embankments along the line. The air grew thick with sinoke as the rapid and repeated discharges of the muskets sounded through the gorge. At the right and across the gorge the Rebels could be plainly seen, and a por- tion of the line turned their fire in that direction, compelling a precipitate retreat. For the time being the enemy seemed disconcerted. A stream through the narrow gorge had been dammed by them, so filling the ravine with water as to pre- vent a passage on lower ground. This labor proved to have
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been expended in vain, for now the Rebels were being threat- ened from an unexpected point. At that very hour Gen. McPherson was threatening Resaca with a considerable force. Thus far Gen. Sherman's plans were being admirably carried ont, but unfortunately the advance at the right was not pushed and the opportunity for a decisive battle was lost.
The afternoon was wearing away, and there was no cessa- · tion in the firing. Casualties became frequent. Sergeant Taylor, of Company C, was assisted to the rear with his good right arm so shattered that it could not be saved. Sergeant De Graff, of Company E, who, as one of the Color Guard, had been seriously wounded at Chickamauga, was taken back, mortally hurt. Sergeant Fowler, of Company F, was also mortally wounded. Corporal Powers, of Company B, had an arm useless. William B. Scace, of Company E, was likewise shot in the arm and permanently disabled. Companies E and F suffered most severely, among those wounded in the latter command being Joseph Shannon, the tallest man in the Regiment, who had a hand badly crippled.
Gen. Stanley, the Division commander, who had come up to the position occupied by the reserve, a few rods in rear of the skirmishers, sent word to the line that the S4th Illinois would be ordered at once to the assistance of the NINETY- SIXTH. But there was a long delay. The firing was kept up for a time, but soon the ammunition run low. To add to their anxiety-for the men knew that their position was one of extreme peril -- there soon came enfilading shots to indicate that the Rebels were pushing out to see what this semblance of an attack could mean. On either flank they pressed. The men glanced over their shoulders at the sun. It had never seemed to move so lazily since that dread Sunday at Chicka- mauga ; but it was now just going out of sight. " We are almost out of ammunition," was the word repeatedly sent back from the skirmish line. " Maintain your fire as long as possible. but keep one.charge, to be used in case of an assault," was Gen. Stanley's reply, sent from the color line. This order was com- plied with, but of necessity the firing was greatly slackened toward the last. As the twilight was deepening into night
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
the Regiment ordered from the rear made its way along the slope near the reserves. The skirmishers quickly fell back through their lines and halted in support, forming upon the colors. Soon the Rebels sallied out and made some demon- stration at the front. "Fix Bayonets !" was the order of Colonel Champion, as he prepared to aid the troops that had just taken position. But the enemy contented themselves . with a slight advance, and soon the musketry slackened to a desultory skirmish fire. Then the NINETY-SIXTH marched to the valley and slung the knapsacks left when the advance was begun, moved a short distance to the right and rear, and bivouacked for the remnant of a night.
The men were well nigh exhausted. From before daylight until nine o'clock at night they had been clutching their mus- kets, with no opportunity to eat except as they munched a hard tack on the skirmish line. Even water was obtained with the utmost difficulty, and when secured it soon became so warm in the canteens as to be unpalatable. Nearly every man had fired from forty to one hundred rounds of ammuni- tion. Their faces were powder-grimed and their clothing stained with the soil where they had hugged the hillside throughout the weary, weary day. And back in the field hospital a score or more were lying, while attendants bathed the pale faces and bound up the ragged wounds. In the camu almost an equal number resolutely cared for slighter wounds- some of them severe enough to have fully justified their recipients in going to the rear-bravely retaining their places in the ranks.
There was little fighting done by the First Division of the Fourth Corps on the ninth of May, save that of the NINETY- SixTI. Farther to the left Harker's Brigade of the Second Division made a strong demonstration directly along the nar- row crest of Rocky Face, meeting with considerable loss, and to the southward a portion of the Second Division of the Twentieth Corps made an attack upon a gap, but could do no more than keep the enemy occupied. The work accomplished by these demonstrations was important, for so completely were the Rebels deceived into the belief that the attacks were
311
THE CASUALTY LIST.
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preliminary to intended assaults, and not mere feints, that they made no move to protect their rear. Meanwhile Gen. McPherson had moved his command far to the right, through Snake Creek Gap, and was gaining a position close to the railroad running southward, at a point not far from Resaca. Gen. Stanley was profuse in his praise of the NINETY-SIXTH for the resolute manner in which they had made the advance against the frowning sides of Rocky Face and subsequently into the strongly defended position at Buzzard Roost Gap, and all who knew the difficult nature of the ground passed over and the nearness to the Rebel main line of the position main- tained for an hour and a half before sundown, fully concurred. in the opinion that the praise of the intrepid and experienced Division Commander was fairly earned and fittingly bestowed.
The following were the Regiment's
CASUALTIES :
Company A.
WOUNDED .- Joseph E. Consolus. face ; Sergeant C. H. Berg, left leg ; Sergeant Jason B. Isbell, right hand.
Company B.
KILLED .- Fred Brainerd.
WOUNDED .- Corporal Warren E. Powers, right arm; Erastus T. Cleveland, left ankie.
Company C.
WOUNDED .- Sergeant James M. Taylor, right arm shattered, necessi- tating amputation : Corporal Martin Efinger, hip : Franc Millheiser, arm.
Company D.
WOUNDED .- Frank Rahling, knee.
Company E.
WOUNDED .- Sergeant Wm. F. De Graff, mortally, dying five days later ; William B. Scace, right arm, permanently disabling him ; Geo. W. Jennings, right arm ; George Teal, right leg : Joshua B. Going, left foot, losing a toe ; Solomon Bixby, left hand : Sergeant George C. Bennett, Flight wound ; W. W. Jellison, temple, knocked down but not long dis- abled.
Company F.
WOUNDED .- Sergeant Robert J. Fowler, mortally, dying two days later ; Corporal John Kneebone. back : Corporal Thomas Trevarthan. tip : Joseph Shannon, band; Erhard Dittmar, left side ; Andrew Hind-
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
man, right leg ; John Miller, breast ; James Stewart, right hand ; John Stahl, shoulder and head ; Anton Shap, right log.
Company G.
WOUNDED .- Sergeant Charles J. Miller, right shoulder ; William Joyce, face.
Company H.
WOUNDED .-- Sergeant Chester J. Rees, right arm ; Wallace Andrews, right arm ; Oscar Robbins, breast.
Company I.
WOUNDED .- George Topping, face.
Company K.
Kn.LED .- James Vaughn.
WOUNDED .- Beri Serviss, left leg amputated ; Edward Graham.
Tuesday, May 10, although the other troops were early called in line the commanders were so considerate as to allow the NINETY-SIXTH to lay quietly, the word passing around as the bugle sounded to lay down and sleep a little longer. a favor that was fully appreciated. although it was by no means late when the last soldier was up. The position was in the valley and greatly exposed, as was soon learned. for when the Rebel artillery began to play upon the line, during the early afternoon, an orderly but somewhat hurried movement to the timber a little farther to the rear was found necessary, the entire Brigade participating. The new line was partially forti- fied and the men at once set about strengthening the works. The skirmishers kept up a constant firing throughout the night, but the Regiment was not disturbed. The night was rainy and uncomfortable, but the soldiers in reserve slept quietly. A detail of about eighty men, embracing three or four from each Regiment in the Division, was sent out late in the evening to build some works and set a battery as near as possible to the Gap. A torrent of rain was falling. and in the storm and darkness the trip was undertaken. A creek, swollen to unusual proportions, had to be crossed, and many of the men turned back. - in fact, when the single officer in charge of them reached the point where the work was to begin, but sixteen remained. One of those whose fidelity to duty kept him in place was Dighton Granger, of Company B.
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DALTON EVACUATED.
1864]
The work was not only dangerous but laborious, especially on such a night ; but the little band worked like heroes and snc- cerded in putting up a strong fortification, leaving the works after daylight next morning, at great peril from the fire of the enemy. Many of the horses of the battery had been shot and the guns were finally drawn into position by the men, long ropes being attached so that they could pull them while partially protected by the works.
Wednesday, May 11, a severe rainstorm prevailed, and the weather was unseasonably cold. The Regiment retained its position nearly opposite the gap until eight o'clock in the evening, when, under cover of the gathering darkness, they moved to the right and front. In this movement it seemed : if the guide was uncertain as to the route or intended desti- nation, for there was much marching and countermarching. with protracted halts in which all were thoroughly chilled. After a long tramp. in which but two or three miles were accomplished, the Brigade halted, relieving portions of the Fourteenth Corps, the latter troops moving to the southward. Heavy details were sent to the picket lines, where they shiv ered until morning. It was midnight when the reserves finally settled down for a brief rest.
Thursday, May 12, heavy details were kept at the front, the main line building breastworks nearly the entire day. There was considerable skirmishing and artillery was fre- quently brought into use. The advance line constructed Heavy skirmish pits, and thus avoided casualties. During the period from the ninth to the twelfth all of the infantry forces except the Fourth Corps had been concentrating on the right. It subsequently became known that Gen. Sherman was greatly disappointed that a vigorous attack was not made at that point as early as the tenth or twelfth, with the view of destroying the railroad and compelling Gen. Johnston to abandon the line of the road and march eastward or come out and fight in the open field. Military writers unanimously agree that a like favorable opportunity did not again present itself to the Union forces during the campaign. The movement, however, com- pelled the enemy to abandon his strong position at Dalton.
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
At midnight of the twelfth lights were seen moving about upon the ridge where the batteries had been posted, and shortly afterward it became evident that the force had gone.
Friday, May 13, the Union skirmishers moved forward at daylight and occupied the abandoned works. Soon afterward the main part of the Fourth Corps was moving through Buz- zard Roost Gap. The Rebel works were seen to be of great strength, and the wonder was that even a small force was not left to defend them. Still Gen. Sherman's flanking proclivi- ties were well known, and the only safety for the Rebels was in concentration. At Dalton a brief halt was made, during which the men visited numerous stores, whose owners had fied without taking their stocks of goods. There was little of use to the soldiers. however, for the catables had generally been removed, and few cared to add to their loads by taking with them articles of dry goods. Newspapers of the day before were found, in which were extravagant accounts of the battles of the ninth ; the claim being that Gen. Sherman's forces had made tive desperate assaults, in each of which they had been repulsed, with frightful loss. The statements were not war- ranted by the facts, but in this and many other instances the attempt was evidently made to bolster up the hopes of the people of the South by exaggerating Rebel successes and belittling Union victories. The march was soon resumed, with skirmishers in front, and continued until dusk, the halt for the night being near an old mill eight miles south of Dalton, and not far from Tilton. There was some skirmish- ing just at dusk, a few bullets flying harmlessly over the heads of the men as they took position, when the final halt was ordered. Immediately a line of breastworks was begun. rails being piled and shovels brought into use, so that a strong fortification was well advanced by nine o'clock. There was more or less picket firing all through the night, but no casual- ties resulted. The Rebels were concentrating at Resaca, and the morrow was to see another eventful day in the Regiment's history.
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RESACA.
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CHAPTER XVI.
Approaching Resaca - Passing the Cavalry-Another Line of Breast- works Built-Closing in Upon the Enemy-Gallant Advance of the Skirmishers - Fix Bayonets! - A Charge Proposed ; but Never Made - The Enemy Massing on the Left -Their Lines Advance - Outflanked. the Regiment Retreats - Routed ! - Fighting in Retreat -At the Battery - Hooker's Troops to the Rescue - Terrible Slaughter of the Enemy- Counting up the Losses-Hooker's Troops Charge-Partial Success of Their Assaults-Two Memorable Days -Successful Flanking Movements-The Enemy in Retreat - The Casualty List.
FIVE days following the bloody encounters at Rocky Face Ridge and Buzzard Roost Gap, the NINETY-SIXTH was again in the furnace of battle, Saturday, May 14, being the opening day, so far as the Fourth Corps was concerned, of the engage- trent at Resaca. The preceding chapter narrates the doings of the Regiment up to the evening of the thirteenth. Next morning the forces were in motion at six o'clock, Stoneman's cavalry being on the left of the infantry and MeCook's troop- er: on the right. Even before the hour named the cavalry bad reconnoitered the front and developed the fact that the Rebels were in force not far away, and heavy skirmishing began almost as soon as the camps were left. This skirmish- ing was at first wholly on the part of Gen. Stoneman's forces, the infantry, each Division in column, moving slowly forward in support. Halts were frequent, and after one of a little more length than usual the bugle sounded for the infantry to advance. A brief but rapid march brought them to where the cavalry horses stood in line or in groups. Every fourth man of the cavalry was holding the horses of his file. while his comrades were in advance on foot. The infantry soon reached a ridge along which the dismounted cavalry were deployed. The column broke to right and left, forming in the order of battle on either side of the highway. The officers of the different commands consulted as to the positions of their
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
respective forces and of the enemy, and two or three men from each Company ran to a creek or spring near by to fill their own and their comrades' canteens. Belts were buckled a little tighter, and the men peered forward to see what awaited them. The cracking of the carbines had nearly ceased, and the occasional bullets from the front had the peculiar humming sound which indicated that they had come a long distance. At this discovery there was some good- natured chaffing between the two arms of the service. the infantry ridiculing the cavalry for firing at such long range. This was soon terminated, for the troopers were ordered back to their horses and sent to watch the left flank. The NINETy- SIXTH, with other forces in the front line, advanced for a short distance and halted near the edge of an open field, a quarter of a inile in width. Skirmishers were thrown out into this field, and the main line immediately began to fortify its posi- tion. The Fourth Corps was on the extreme left of the gen- eral army, the First Division, to which the NINETY-SixTa was attached, was the left of the Corps, and for the time being Whittaker's was the left Brigade of the Division. It required most of the forenoon to move the Corps into place and connect the lines with those of the Twenty-third Corps, on the right. During this period comparative quiet reigned upon the extreme left, but farther to the right, where the troops were swinging forward to develop the enemy's position, there was a volume of firing whose magnitude indicated that a battle was in progress.
At a little after two o'clock the left was ordered forward. Promptly the line moved out, Companies A and B deployed as skirmishers. Beyond the open field mentioned was a wooded ridge, from which came shots to indicate that it was held by the enemy. The advance to this ridge was resisted. but not with such force as to compel a charge. As the skir- mishers neared its top they were grected with a hot fire. indi- cating that the enemy were in heavy force a little farther on. As it proved the advancing line was not parallel to the enemy's works, the left of Company B being much nearer than the right of Company A. This fact was not at once appreciated.
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RESACA.
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and Captain Vincent, the ranking officer and hence the com- Handing officer of the line, repeatedly called out, as the men halted, "Forward on the left !" "Forward on the left !" Captain Gilmore repeated the order to his men, and most gallantly they responded, going at a charge, driving the «heiny's skirmishers from their positions and halting only when the main works of the Rebels were in plain view and a volley warned them that to go farther would be extremely perilous. In this advance Herman Hoogstraat, of Company B. was killed by one of the Rebel skirmishers, the latter quickly paying the penalty, for before the smoke from his musket had cleared away. "Mack" McMillen's trusty ritle rang ont its response, and when the line advanced the Rebel was found dead where he had fallen. John Bininger, of Company A, was the target of the Rebels for a time, they getting range of the old stump behind which he had taken shelter and filling it full of holes. A bad bruise to his shoul- der, a severely scratched face and a considerable amount of bark and dirt in his eyes constituted his inventory of physical damages. It being demonstrated that the left was as far advanced as was practicable, the right was swung around to conform and the reserves moved up until they stood confront- ing a field, a half mile in width. This field was broken with hills and seamed with gullies, with a timbered ridge at the Mit. Its farther side was fringed with timber, against which the tresh clay of a heavy line of breastworks could be plainly sven. The works were full of men, except at one point where a fort projected, which was readily guessed to be occupied by a battery of artillery. Instantly the Brigade Commander coveted that battery, and began to make plans for its capture. The NINETY-SIXTH, with two other regiments, were ordered to Fle knapsacks and fix bayonets, preparatory to a charge. Officers and men looked at each other in amazement, and won- Jered if it was possible that this little force was to be asked to make an assault across such a field and against such for- n.idable entrenchments with no support at hand? Colonel Champion, who was always careful of eriticising his superiors. quietly spoke his disapproval to those immediately about him,
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HISTORY OF THE 96TH REGIMENT, ILL. V. I.
but added that if the order was made there should be no falter- ing. O'Connor, of Company K, peering from behind the thin screen of bushes that sheltered the Regiment, remarked : " If Gen. Whittaker will wait until next pay-day I will chip in a part of me wages and buy him a better battery than the one ferninst him on the hill."
The General seemed in high glee over the anticipated victory, his expressions being in marked contrast with the feel- ings of the officers and men assigned to the task laid out by him, as afterward ascertained, although at the time but little was said. Preparations were nearly completed, and in a few moments the order would have been given had not the Division Commander come from the right just at this time. A look to right and left, and he fully comprehended the sit !:- ation. Masked batteries on either flank. silent as vet, but -o posted as to be able to throw a converging fire upon every acre of that barren field, were detected by his eagle eye. He quickly decided that the charge would be unwise. The men fully concurred in the judgment of the senior officer as to the unwisdom of a charge on the part of three small regiments. with no supports in sight, against strong carthworks, with the certainty of a flanking fire from the moment an advance begun. At Chickamauga they had obeyed Gen. Whittaker's order and hurled themselves against a mass of Rebels outnumbering them three to one, and achieved success. At Lookont Moun- tain they had climbed into the very clouds, and won a victory where defeat seemed almost certain. At Rocky Face, five days before the date here written of, they had moved-although but a mere skirmish line -- against an army and accomplished all that they were asked to do. So now. had the order been given, they would have gone against that frowning line, and. if possible, wrested a victory from the very jaws of defeat. But it is not too much to say that as the men stood in line that afternoon, and, peering from behind their thin screen of bushes, measured their chances in the proposed charge acry- that rugged field, the feeling was all but universal that before them lay the most difficult and desperate undertaking that had ever been assigned to them. It was therefore with a feeling
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RESACA.
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of infinite relief that the order was received to unfix bayonets. A hurried consultation of officers followed. A Brigade was- moved into the woods at the left, and shortly afterward the NINETY-SIXTH, with two other regiments, moved quietly but quickly to the rear, and then, by diverging columns, across an obseure road and along a depression between two irregular ridges or hills, to the left of where the Brigade mentioned was going into position. Company B was sent in detachments. on the left flank and to the front, with instructions to report any movement of the enemy that might be discovered. Com- pany G was deployed to skirmish along the immediate front of the Regiment. The movement was through a tangle of underbrush for a hundred rods or more. When a halt was made the Regiment was in line almost at right angles to its former position, and practically isolated from any other troops, a gap several rods in extent separating it from the Brigade which had hastily moved on its right and slightly to the front, while a like opening lay between its left and the 51st Ohio. The 99th Ohio was halted some distance in the rear, and not far from the road. None in the ranks, and but few even among the field officers, knew the need that had called for this movement, the anxiety with which Gen. Stanley watched as they entered the jungle into which his order had sent them, or with what urgency he was asking Gen. Thomas for rein- torcements for his left wing. His scouts had brought him word that the enemy was massing a Division or more for one of those desperate charges upon the flank for which the Con- federates were noted.
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