USA > Illinois > History of the Thirty-fourth regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry. September 7 1861. July 12, 1965 > Part 3
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upon his feet before waking. On the following morning the brigade moved out three or four miles toward the front and went into bivouac, and so remained until the 14th of April, when the teams came up with the tents and camp equipage. In the mean- time the "debris" of battle, including dead men and horses, had been cleared up and buried, the wounded had been sent down the river to various points and placed in hospitals, many of them to die a little later, others to be cripples for life and still others to survive the methods of hospital treatment and return to the
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ranks, to take up the routine of soldier life and the chances of the future.
War is destruction. Not only in the few fierce hours of bloody contest which occasionally takes place, but in the quiet of the camp, where disease holds sway, lives and health are as surely sacrificed as in the heat of battle, and to a greater extent.
The period of service from the day of muster-in of the regi- ment to the engagement in battle of Shiloh was just seven months, and the losses and casualties, including those of April 7th and the resultant deaths, discharges, transfers and details, reduced the effective force of the regiment at least twenty per cent.
CHAPTER II.
The regiment was paid to February 28, 1862, the 15th of April, and many of the men sent considerable sums to friends at home by Mr. Petrie, of Mt. Morris, who had spent several days in camp after the battle. In the afternoon of the 15th, tents were struck and baggage loaded and a position taken on the front line about three miles out, and at 3 o'clock the next morning the regiment was called into line of battle, but, no enemy appear- ing, search was not instituted to find him, and both parties were doubtless willing to wait for daylight in order to more easily
avoid the other. Both sides were spoiling for a fight, but not oftener than once in two weeks, and our army, under the com- mand of Gen. Halleck, showed its forbearing spirit in not crowd- ing Gen. Beauregard's men out of Corinth, Miss., until they desired a change of residence and withdrew at their leisure on the 30th of May. The regiment, with some portion of the army, occupied the town of Corinth until the 10th of June. Company E was detailed as train guard on the roth and continued with the train until the 17th, when it arrived at Jackson's Landing, on the Tennessee river, near Tuscumbia. The troops marched out to eastward, passing through Iuka, Miss., and Tuscumbia, Florence, Athens and Huntsville, Ala., Bellefonte, Ga., and Stevenson to Battle Creek, Tenn.
The time spent in what has become known in history as the "Siege of Corinth" was much more than wasted, because it was a useless and reckless waste of life. The swampy condition of the country was unfavorable as to sanitary conditions, and sick- ness was the rule rather than the exception. Regimental camp was moved several times without securing immunity from fevers, dysentery and malarious conditions, and a goodly number there incurred such disabilities as sooner or later necessitated discharge
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from the service, and in all the future of their lives they were never free from the baneful results of such unsanitary surround- ings. The man in the ranks is a machine, to move when some one in authority pulls the string, and unfortunately Gen. Hal- leck was not the man to either pull the string or permit Gen. Pope to do it, and so the weary days passed and the enemy slipped away. If Gen. Beauregard held Corinth as a piece of strategy, intended to deplete the besieging army, he certainly accomplished his purpose as effectually as he might have done by engaging it in battle. Several minor engagements and skir- mishes occurred during the progress of the siege, the principal one being between the forces . commanded by Gen. John A. Logan, who attacked the enemy on the left of our lines, making for a short time a hot fight but void of any decisive advantage. The regiment was on picket several times and on one or two occasions exchanged shots with the pickets of the enemy at close quarters. Some of the comrades believe to this day they would be able to recognize those with whom they suddenly found them- selves face to face, and for one brief inning "played ball" with them. The affair of the most importance in which the regiment took part in conjunction with the Division occurred May 29th, in which one man was killed and six wounded in the regiment.
The march from Corinth to Tuscumbia was attended with much hardship to the men in the ranks. There had been about two months of comparative inactivity. The summer months of a Southern climate were now being entered upon by the army, as yet unacclimated, and the more or less debilitated condition of the men, for some time past unaccustomed to marching. added to the suffocating clouds of dust which arose, produced such discomfort as will never be forgotten by any who took part . in that march.
Those who were not fit for duty had been left at Corinth. or were sent North to hospitals, but there were sufficient num- bers of sick men upon arrival at Tuscumbia .to establish a gen- eral hospital, which was put in charge of a surgeon who proba- bly "had a pull." He certainly took one, and repeated. and permitted a dissolute woman to remain at his headquarters and
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to occasionally pass through the hospital with him in a state of intoxication. The buildings on the fair grounds were occupied as a hospital, and the burying ground for the soldiers was in plain sight of all the sick, the burials taking place every morn- ing, there being from three to eight or ten daily. The comrades who died were fortunate in having tough boxes for their last resting place, which perhaps did not compensate for the bar- barity of the surgeon in measuring them for their boxes while still alive and conscious. This writer was one of those left in this hospital and saw the occurrences above narrated, and saw the surgeon measure Comrade Abram Ritter, of Company B, Thirty-Fourth Illinois, and heard Ritter say: "Doctor, you needn't measure me; I don't want'a box yet." The doctor said nothing, but Ritter and his box were ready for each other the next morning.
The troops for a few days rested upon the south bank of the Tennessee river, about four miles from Tuscumbia. There was excellent shade and fine bathing in the river, and those who had been able to resist disease were benefitted by the exercise of marching and change of surroundings, and the anticipation of what might lie before them. The troops left the vicinity of Tuscumbia about June 20 (1862), moving north to Florence, thence eastward through Athens to Huntsville, arriving a few days before the Fourth of July and remaining there until after that day. The line of march when resumed followed the rail- road to Scottsboro and thence to Bellefonte, where Company B did provost guard duty for the few days the troops remained there, and afterwards Stevenson was left in the rear and a gen- eral halt was called at Battle Creek.
Gen. A. McD. McCook having been made a Major General July 17th, assumed command, on the 19th, of all the troops in that locality, which included his own Second Division and, tem- porarily, parts of Crittenden's and Rousseau's Divisions. These troops remained in the vicinity of Battle Creek until August 20, 1862. This point is just what is indicated by the name. There is no town, nor even a cross-roads post-office, but is the place where the "creek" of that name enters the Tennessee river.
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There was a marked improvement in the condition of the men, partly attributable to being in a more elevated situation near to the southwestern spur of a range of mountains, and an oppor- tunity to procure to some extent a supply of vegetables, green corn, fresh meats, poultry, etc. Probably the opportunity to procure was limited only by the supply. The country was but sparsely settled and the usual lack of "forehandedness" on the part of the resident population was a condition not fully appre- ciated by a few thousand transient visitors with appetites. . 1 "mess" in one of the companies succeeded in getting a camp kettle half full of immature sweet potatoes, and after making them ready for cooking left them in the kettle for some time, near the foot of a large tree. When the potatoes were cooked the happy possessors drew nigh and, so long as storage capacity held out, the potatoes disappeared with the precision of a modern "nickle-in-the-slot" machine. One of the number, in tones of moderation and a shade of self-distrust, expressed a belief in his capacity to stow one more small tuber, and reaching into the kettle seized one by the end, drew it out, and gazing upon it with ever-increasing horror, disgust, and a sense of an approach- ing volcanic eruption, let drop from his slimy fingers the boiled carcass of the most disgusting reptile encountered in all that country, the swift," a species of the lizard and very common all over the South.
From Battle Creek a recruiting squad from the regiment was sent home, in the hope of being able to fill the depleted ranks with fresh food for powder and disease. The detail con - sisted of Capt. John M. Miller, of Company H, and Adjt. David Leavitt and a sergeant from each company as follows: A, Ed- win W. Payne; B, Thomas C. Rhoades; C, B. Frank Dysart: D, Robert Hunt; E, Daniel W. Weld; F, Alexander D. Mer- rill; G, James H. Hindman; H, Joseph M. Myers; I, Israel Solt; K, William H. Stone.
While the troops were encamped at Battle Creek a Con- federate army, under the command of Gen. Bragg, concentrated at Chattanooga, crossed the Tennessee river, unknown to Gen. McCook, who, on the 20th of August, broke camp at & o'clock
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p. m. and moved easterly toward Chattanooga. But little pro- gress was made during the night, and on the following day the troops moved through Jasper, up the Sequatchie valley, and camped at four o'clock in the afternoon near Little Sequatchie creek. Gen. Crittenden's Division was in the advance. On the 22d, the same line of march was continued for about two miles and halted and orders were received to return over the same route. There were many conjectures as to the cause of the
retrogade movement. It was afterward ascertained that Gen. Bragg's Confederate army was in the vicinity of Gen. McCook's command, the information being brought to him by Bob White, a brave and loyal mountaineer, who rode out of Gen. Bragg's lines and gave warning to Gen. McCook. The countermarch was made with great difficulty, as Gen. McCook undertook to shorten the route by climbing the mountains, but was obliged to resume the route back through Jasper to about half way to Battle Creek, then made a turn to the right onto the pike from Jasper to McMinnville, and halted for the night in a small val- ley. On the 23d, marched a short distance and halted for the day and night where "roasting ears" were abundant and of good quality.
Reveille turned the camp out at an carly hour on the morn- ing of the 24th, and a slow and tedious march was made over very bad roads through Battle Creek valley, crossing that stream many times, until the foot of a mountain was reached and the ascent began.
The troops were distributed along the trains and batteries to help the teams, and help was never needed more at any time during the term of service. A. C. John, in his "Letters from Camp and Field," says: "It was the hardest Sunday's work I ever did in my life, for I pushed my best. Thus we got the teams up the mountain, two and a half miles. I never saw anything, intended for a road, nearly so rough, or hardly so steep, and had I not seen it still worse in coming down this morning (August 25th), I would say I had never seen its match since." It may give zest to this description to state that Com- rade John was born and raised in Pennsylvania.
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The top of the mountain was a plateau ten or twelve miles across, with a few cabins occupied by their owners. Gen. Sill reached Altamont and took possession of the court house for his headquarters on the 28th. Gen. Bragg's troops, or a detach- ment of them, were near the place at the time and a few of his men were captured. The Second Division was concentrated at this point. It was reported that Gen. Bragg's army was at Beersheba, four or five miles distant, and there were prospects of an engagement, but it resulted in resuming the walking con- test for points farther north. At about one o'clock in the morn- ing of September first, the Twenty-Ninth Indiana and Thirty- Fourth Illinois started out on an 'expedition in pursuit of a cav- alry force supposed to be somewhere within ten miles of camp. The march was rapid and severe, but the cavalry force was not overtaken. A more leisurely return to camp was made and the wearied, foot-sore, sleepy and hungry detachment at last joined the Division, well convinced that chasing cavalry was no occu- pation for infantrymen. "McCook's Cavalry" became a by- word in camp afterward.
The line of march was followed through Altamont, McMinn - ville and Murfreesboro to Nashville, and from thence north along the line of railroad to the vicinity of Muinfordsville, Ky. Here, for good reasons, a halt was called for several days, owing to the fact that Gen. Bragg had filed a writ of possession on the town of Mumfordsville and destroyed the high railroad bridge across Green river at that place, and captured and paroled the garrison of about 4, 000 men, after a stubborn fight. Gen. Mc- Cook's command proceeded through Camp Nevin and Elizabeth- town to West Point, on the Ohio river, and on to Louisville. Ky., going into camp up the river a short distance above the city, September 26, 1862. The march from Battle Creek, begun August 20th, had been made under pressure and at a high rate of speed for the distance covered, its effects being manifest in the appearance of the men. They were not so dirty as they might have been if their clothing had been more abundant, but the tattered apologies for a soldier's uniform could only carry a
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certain amount of the native soil and other objects, animate and inanimate.
Large numbers of new levies of troops from camps of instruction in the North had been hurried forward to Louisville to resist the expected attack of Gen. Bragg upon the city, and the contrast in the appearance of the "brand new" troops and the "yearlings" was a subject for study from more than one standpoint. The "fresh ones" in their new uniforms, including paper collars and other upholstering, purchased with their hun- dred dollar "county bounty," presented an appearance pleasing to the eye, while the old lads in their tattered condition caused an ill-concealed smile of contempt upon the faces of those whose experiences had not yet taught them that the badge of honor is not always a new uniform. A few days were required in which to procure the necessary clothing supplies for McCook's men, and then the "habit" of the soldier constituted the only appar- ent difference between the men of a year's service and those of only a few days, The man who has been submitted to a thor- ough military drill, and the conditions of camp and march, for a year or more, is never quite the same man afterwards. There is a steadiness on the feet and when in motion, a unity of action of all parts of the body, and the emphasis of the step with the left foot. that is not a part of the man unused to military train- ing. Notwithstanding the quite general belief throughout the North that the war would be over within a year, those who, at the end of the first, and even the third year, entered the service. found ample time to learn their drill, and to share the experi- ences of real war, before it came to a close in 1865.
On the first of October, 1862, the old Second Division, now and since July 19th under the command of Gen. J. W. Sill. broke camp at Louisville and moved eastward through Middle- town and Shelbyville to Frankfort, Ky., remaining in that vicin- ity until the evening of the 7th, when the Division started out on the Lexington turnpike, going only about three miles, and went into bivouac. About eleven o'clock at night orders were received from Gen. McCook (who, with the other two Divisions
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of his command, was near Maxville, about ten miles from Per- ryville) to march immediately for Harrodsburg. At three o'clock on the morning of October Sth the Division passed through the sleeping city of Frankfort and on through the little town of Rough and Ready, on to Lawrenceburg, the county seat of Anderson county, at which place the enemy's cavalry exchanged shots with Col. Jacob's cavalry, supported by Gen. Rousseau's brigade. Col. Jacob was wounded, also three or four of his men. At this point the Division left the Harrodsburg pike. turning westward towards Bardstown for the purpose of joining the forces under Gen. McCook. The country was hilly and the roads rough and slow. The Division bivonacked late in the evening, and at sunrise on the morning of the 9th started out on a southerly course, seeking to make a junction with McCook and to evade the cavalry of the enemy, which had been follow- ing all the way from Frankfort, making demonstrations against the supply train and picking up stragglers. The regiment lost several men, including Quartermaster Beeler and Lieut. Weld. of Company E. All of the teams belonging to the regiment were captured, with all of the company and regimental baggage and records. The persistent attacks of the cavalry of the enemy had a double purpose, that of doing all possible damage to the supply train and the more important purpose of preventing the Division from joining Gen. McCook in time to participate in the battle of Perryville, or Chaplin Hills, and succeeded in both. That terrific battle was fought October 9th. 1862, by Gen. Mc- Cook, with two of his Divisions pitted against Gen. Bragg's whole army, and the old Stars and Stripes held the field after the battle was over, the stars and bars taking a backward track to a more sunny clime, and, in a little less than three months later, to remove still farther towards the land where cotton was said to be "king." Many new regiments in Gen. McCook's command, but little more than thirty days in the service, met their first experience in this, one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and carried themselves with a steadiness worthy of vet- erans. Their conduct called from their commanding officers the highest praise, and none of them more so than the Seventy - Fifth
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Illinois, which was organized in almost the identical territory from which the Thirty-Fourth was made up a year previous. This battle has passed into history, not without varying opinions as to the facts in the case, but it would be difficult to convince Gen. McCook's heroic fighters on that day that any circum- stances whatever justified Gen. Buell in withholding from Gen. McCook the assistance of a force much greater than that which was engaged, when such aid was within easy striking distance and repeatedly asked for by Gen. McCook. When the Second Division arrived on the battlefield two days afterward, Gen. Mc- Cook rode through the camp and was greeted with the most hearty and sincere demonstrations of confidence and good will on the part of the officers and men of the entire Division, and the General, unquestionably expressing his deep regret that the Div- ision could not have been with him on the day of the battle, said that had it been there he would have captured Bragg's whole army.
The Division left the vicinity of Perryville October 12, IS62, and continued the march on the 13th and 14th, passing the Danville fair grounds, camping about four miles beyond. On the 15th crossed the Dix river and through Stanford, mak- ing a dinner halt at Walnutville, about five miles southeast of Stanford, passing through Crab Orchard, and three miles beyond, at about 8 p. m., went into camp and remained until the 20th. On that day returned through Crab Orchard and Stanford to Dix river, four or five miles from Danville. On the 22d, passed through Perryville and southi on the Lebanon pike, being at night near the head waters of the Rolling Fork, in a rough and mountainous country; passing through Bradfordsville, which had been burned by the enemy, camped four miles from Lebanon and remained two days.
On the 24th, marched through a valley a few miles and came out into less mountainous country onto a pike, and moved in a southwesterly direction, leaving Lebanon on the left, passed through the little town of New Market. When within about five miles of Campbellsville the turnpike was abandoned for a dirt road, and arrived at the hamlet called Salome, Saloma
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and Siloam, and went into camp. It is a matter of choice as to the name, but it was no matter of choice that two of the most uncomfortable days of the term of service were put in at that point. On the 25th, a raw, damp wind ushered in the day, developing into a cold, drenching rain later, and followed in the afternoon by a snowstorm, extending into the night. About four inches of snow fell. The tents for the men were on the wagons and were not in camp until the 26th, too late to be of any avail as protection from the biting blasts of the storm. It was the first time the tents had been up to the regiment for ten weeks, with the exception of one night. None of the men had overcoats, and a large proportion of them had no blankets. The experiences of those two days and a night remain as a night- mare in the memory of all who passed through them.
From this point the line of march was through Glasgow, Bowling Green, Gallatin and Nashville to Camp Andy Johnson, where the troops remained until the latter part of December. 1862. By Order No. 168 from the War Department, Gen. W. S. Rosencrans succeeded Gen. Buell in the command of the army in Kentucky, October 30th, 1862, the designation of the army being, "Department of the Cumberland, " the whole army being further designated "Fourteenth Army Corps." The fol- lowing General Orders were issued:
".HEADQUARTERS FOURTEENTH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND. BOWLING GREEN, KY. , NOVEMBER 7, 1862. [General Orders No. S.]
I. Major General George H. Thomas is assigned to the command of the center of this army, consisting of the Divisions of Rousseau, Negley, Dumont, Fry and Palmer. The Divisions of Generals Negley and Palmer will be for the present regarded as temporarily detached.
II. Major General McCook will command the right wing: Major General Crittenden the left. Their commands will be so designated.
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By Command of Major General Rosencrans.
ARTHUR C. DUCAT. Lieutenant Colonel and Acting Chief of Staff."
The right wing consisted of the Second Division, com- manded by Gen .. J. W. Sill; the Ninth Division, Gen. Jefferson C. Davis, and the Eleventh Division, Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan. On the toth of December, 1862, Gen. J. W. Sill, who had com- manded the Second Division since August 26th, was assigned to another command, and Gen. R. W. Johnson, who since the previous August had been in command of a cavalry division, was placed in command of the Division. On the 19th of Decem- ber, some further re-organization of the army took place, that which affected the Division being as follows:
FIRST BRIGADE (Old Sixth), Brig. Gen. August Willich. SECOND BRIGADE (Old Fifth), Brig. Gen. Edward N. Kirk. THIRD BRIGADE (Old Fourth), Col. H. M. Buckley.
The Confederate army under Gen. Bragg, after the battle of Perryville, retreated southward and took position along the line of railroad at Murfreesboro, his cavalry operating between that point and the outposts of Gen. Rosencran's forces, which occupied positions south and southeast of Nashville, covering the many turnpikes leading into the city.
Several reconnoissances were made for the purpose of ascertaining the position of the enemy. The Fifth brigade. under command of Col. Kirk, on the 19th of November and again on the 27th, made quite an extended reconnoissance along the front lines, and encountered the cavalry outposts at Scrowge- ville, four miles out, but they fell back after exchanging a few shots with Col. Kirk's advance, making, however, a determined stand further to their rear, where a sharp engagement ensued, Lieut. Col. Hurd, of the Thirtieth Indiana, being wounded. The enemy slowly retired beyond LaVergne and opened with artillery. Col. Kirk put Edgarton's battery into position, which made quick and pointed replies, maintaining our side of the ยท argument with credit. but not so convincingly as desired. The Twenty-Ninth Indiana and Seventy-Seventh Pennsylvania were
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