USA > Illinois > Military history and reminiscences of the Thirteenth regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war in the United States,1861-65, pt 1 > Part 15
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The boys began to think our destination to be Memphis ; as that exhausting and exhaustless eastward tramp seemed to point to that place as being the only place in that direction worthy to be called an objective.
But finally, when we had fairly turned the head-waters of the White river, and headed southward, we came to the con- clusion that probably General Curtis knew what his orders were, and how to carry them out. We must, however, have a more detailed record of that mountain march with no known destination.
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April 5th .- On the first day from Cross-Timbers marched eighteen miles and camped on Stony Creek.
Sunday, April 6th .- Bad roads, no meat, and short of meal, wet through with rain, no tents or blankets, suffered with cold during the night. Under such conditions, marched eighteen miles, while Shiloh's first day's battle was being fought.
Monday, April 7th .- Distance not recorded, but a march much interrupted by teams was made, reaching until mid- night, bringing us to Platt Creek, without tents, blankets, or food, raining, and we suffered greatly. Our discomfort would hardly have been noticed by us, could we have known of the . glorious Union victory at Shiloh, on this very day, in which the Union loss was seventeen hundred and thirty-five killed, seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-two wounded, and . three thousand nine hundred and fifty-six captured. Confed- erate loss-seventeen hundred and twenty-eight killed, eight thousand and twelve wounded, and nine hundred and fifty- seven captured.
Tuesday, April 8th .- Did not break camp, got some rations, built a bridge over Platt Creek, during which time, Island Number Ten was captured from the rebels, with three thousand prisoners. We were then ready for the following order :
CAMP AT GALENA, MISSOURI. April 8th, 1862.
Special Orders ? No. 138.
Order and hours for marching April 9th. Bowen's bat- talion, immediately after the First Division has crossed James' Fork, and proceed with the same to the mouth of Bear Creek.
Wyman's Brigade, immediately after the Fourth Division, camp on the east bank, move at 8 a. m. of the Ioth instant rear of Fourth Divi- sion and camp at mouth of Bear Creek.
S. R. CURTIS, Maj .- Gen. Com'd'g.
Wednesday, April 9th .--- Pursuant to above order, marched nine miles over bad roads and went into camp on James' Fork, - at Galena, Missouri.
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Thursday, April 10th .- Made thirteen miles, and crossed James' Fork, on a bridge of wagons placed end to end.
Friday, April IIth .- After marching seven miles, camped on a hillside on the east bank of Bear Creek, with plenty of wood and water ; and only the " top rail " was taken for the boys' camp-fires.
Saturday, April 12th .- Comrade Chapel says :- " We lay in camp all day, expecting orders to march, but none came. It came my turn to cook ; which is no desirable job, now that we have nothing but cornmeal to live on, and unbolted at that ; and no sieve to sift it with. Some of the boys went out to buy something ; but could not find anything."
The regiment lay in this camp on Bear Creek, at Galena, Missouri, from Saturday the twelth to Sunday the twentieth. Comrade Hevenor says : "Here we had nothing to do but forage and pick up a living as best we could, through a country which barely affords subsistence for its thinly scattered population. We occasionally found a beef, and a few hogs on the mountains, but no meal or flour. Obliged to live on a one-third ration."
Comrade Chapel says, same day :- " Our teams went to Forsyth for rations, and succeeded in getting a little. Adams and Olney were out and shot two pigs which are very accept- able just now. Barton went off and got us some sorghum. We to-day first heard of the great Union victory in Tennessee."
With all these discouragements, hunger, cold, fatigue,
NOTHING COULD DAMPEN THE HOPES AND SPLENDID
COURAGE
of these noble men ; and while hovering over their camp-fires, where food in sufficient variety and quantity was a stranger to those hungry stomachs, the genial warmth was there, and which they seemed to devour through every pore, as though the warmth was the most delicious food, and the pores were so many passages to imaginary stomachs which were revel-
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
ing in a square meal, at any rate these men were so jolly that Comrade Chapel records that, "I made a bet (on April 18th) with Jimmy Smith, for oysters for the mess, that peace would be declared within three months," and this hungry man adds : " I believe the rebs begin to see their case is hopeless."
Now, while a rebel bullet would not dodge such a man, any more than it would the most worthless man in the army, to the ordinary vicissitudes of military campaigning they were invincible.
And now loomed up the Arkansas campaign, and it looked like business ; which, indeed it proved to be before we got through with it, and many a long and weary month elapsed before the declaration of that "peace" which Com- rade Chapel risked the " oysters " on.
Sunday, April 20th, left Camp Starvation at 8 a. m., in a drenching rain, struck the worst road yet encountered. Obliged to double teams, unload wagons, pry the wagons out of the present mud-hole, only to have them plunge into a worse one just beyond. The mules got the most real enjoy- ment out of this mud-hole experience, for the simon-pure army-mule is never happy unless everybody, including him- self, is miserable ; he will then fairly enjoy getting his wagon stalled in the mud, being thrashed nearly to shoe-strings by both the wagon-driver and the wagon-master, who then double black-snake whips and mule-driving profanity, every word of which the mule perfectly understands, and gets back by bringing forward a reverse of balkiness never before used ; and then when he is unharnessed for the night, he immedi- ately rolls over from three to five times (seldom an even number), then gets up and shakes himself and sings, "Ye banks and braes," and then pretends to be attending to his feed ; but is watching, and if he has a half a chance, will eat up his driver's jacket.
Leaving Bear Creek a mile behind us, we came to Bull Creek ; and, although a large and rapid stream, as we were already wet through and through, the boys found the wading
Janz
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of it a scarcely increased discomfort ; and plundged in, sing- ing, .. " Jordon am a hard road to trable."
Our tents and blankets being of the past, -that is, they were some of the things we had passed a good ways back, their wagons stuck in the mud ; and there was, therefore, but little prospect of securing a state-room for the coming night.
For myself, I had hunted up three rails of unequal sizes and degrees of crookedness, but the most nearly matched obtainable in the then distracted condition of the country, and had rested one end of them on the lower rail of a neigh- boring fence, to raise them above any possible accumulation of water underneath, during the night ; for it was still rain- ing ; and I wanted to assure myself of a dry bed. The lower end of my bedstead rested on the ground. On this couch I turned in, thanking my stars that I was not as other men ; even as those fellows who were obliged to huddle around the camp-fire all night. Sometime in the night I woke, not feeling as comfortable as I had reason to believe I had in- sured to myself and which I insisted that I-had a right to expect. It was raining, and I found myself lying in a con- siderable puddle of water. The rails which had composed my bedstead were gone, and also the fence on whose lower rail one end of my bedstead had rested, had gone entirely. In a somewhat dazed condition of mind, not varying materi- ally from somnambulism, I waded on to higher ground and took a survey, or reconnoissance (not in force) of the situa- tion. It did not take long to arrive at a conclusion.
- The boys had determined to keep the camp-fires burning all night ; and had needed the rails. With the most generous and delicate consideration for my comfort, they had removed the rails so carefully as not to wake me. I was deeply touched by such friendly consideration for my comfort. I received a hearty welcome to a snug place by the camp-fire which my rails had helped to make.
- Monday, April 21st .- Accomplished but two and a half miles, being hindered by wagons fast in the mud. We found
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a good camping-ground, and Comrade Hevenor says, "plenty of good pork."
These evening camp-fires are occasions of much social en- joyment at the time, but also impress the memory with pleas- ant recollections to be called up in after years, and lived over again and again. Many times these evenings were reunions with former comrades who had left our regiment for promo- tion to commissions in other regiments who came to us for suitable timber for officers, for which we had an enviable rep- utation among neighboring, but younger regiments. Com- pany A, of the Thirteenth, had given Bowen's Cavalry Battalion Comrade John D. Crabtree, as a Lieutenant, who made his way to an honorable mention, by General Curtis, in his report of the battle of Pea Ridge, and whio achieved a Major's rank before leaving the service.
Company K, of our regiment, had given Comrade Daniel W. Ballou, as a Lieutenant, to the Tenth Missouri Cavalry ; and he was repeatedly mentioned in reports of his superiors as having rendered efficient, and important service ; and at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Lieutenant Ballou com- manded Company C of the Tenth Missouri Cavalry in our .( Blair's) First Brigade, Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps.
Lieutenant Pierre Bushnell, of Company C, was another comrade of ours, that we had given to the Sixth Missouri Cavalry, and at Chickasaw Bayou, was in the Third brigade of our Fourth Division. These young officers, whenever camped in our vacinity, lost no opportunity of coming home to spend the evening, and swap their chicken stories for our hog yarns ; and were somewhat envied by our boys for their greater foraging opportunities over us, by reason of their belonging to the " critter companies." We gave other good men, but no record is at hand.
This evening, the second after leaving "Camp Starva- tion," Lieutenant Bushnell came over, and, after discussing a tin-cup of coffee, told me the following incident of Pea Ridge, in which battle he had participated. It was, in fact, a
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counterpart, in reality, of Washington Irving's beautiful fiction, of the "Headless Horseman." The battle-field of Pea Ridge was one of the roughest of all the unpromising surfaces over which our brave soldiers have fought during the war; being little less than deep mountain gorges and ravines, made almost impassable by tangled vines, and scrubby under- brush, the whole being covered by a forest so dense that the screaming shells with their concentrated death, concealed in their iron bosoms, could scarcely find their way ; and were continually bursting with impotent rage against the giants of the forest, who minded as little about the amputation of their huge limbs, as though no deadly scalpel was searching eagerly for congenial employment.
Artillery could scarcely gain positions from which to sweep those parts of the field occupied by the enemy, and cavalry charges were entirely out of the question, over almost the en- tire battle-field ; but battalions of the latter were stationed at different points, in readiness for any favorable turn in the battle, when their services might be made available.
Drawn up close, in line of battle, Comrade Bushnell's com- pany was impatiently waiting the order to charge. Every horse as immovable as its rider, the roar of artillery, and the crashing of heavy projectiles through the timber, and burst- ing of shells all about them, failed to break their ranks, even when one of these winged messengers of death found its way to them. More than one horse and rider were stretched life- less or fearfully mangled on the ground by their side, and yet the order to charge, came not ; but death in its most appalling form came to one of the brave men who sat there in his sad- dle. A cannon-shot cut the head clean from the body, and it dropped upon the ground behind the horse, while the body remained perfectly upright in its saddle (so closely were the horses wedged together in line), until the order to charge, which fortunately came just at this time, when the body tumbled heavily to the ground, thereby relieving its comrades from its awful presence.
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This serves to bring to mind Homer's grand verse, in de- scribing the death of Archilochus, slain by Ajax :
"And took the joint, and cut the nerves in twain : The drooping head first tumbled on the plain. So just the stroke, that yet the body stood Erect, then rolled along the sand in blood."
Comrade Bushnell said that he had seen terrible sights on the battle-field before, but that sitting by the side of that head- less corpse, drenching itself and the horse with its own gore, was a far more horrible sight than he had ever seen.
Tuesday, April 22d .- The weather proved clear, and we found better roads, and started at daylight and pressed for- ward in the opposite direction from that in which somebody, or somebody else, has said that " the Star of Empire takes its way."
Crossed many creeks, and made twenty miles, and went into camp near a church. We were living high to-day, on one gigantically small hunk of corn pone, and nothing whatever to cook for supper.
Our camp was named " Camp Hungry Church," but the boys did manage to kill some kind of a carcass of what the people called beef, but Dr. Plummer, being called upon for a physiological opinion, expressed grave doubts about it, and hinted that he could tell better about it if a nicely cooked slice of it should, in some manner, find its way to his table.
"Camp Hungry Church," was only about twenty miles from Springfield, Missouri, almost directly south.
Wednesday, April 23d .- Broke camp at 8 a. m., and marched, as usual, toward the rising sun, and camped on Beaver Creek ; the morning was cloudy, but it cleared about noon. We got some flour to-day.
Thursday, April 24th .- Made eighteen miles over more spurs of the Ozark Mountains, and went into camp in good season.
Our hunger was no greater, our disgust was no smaller, our endurance was not going to give out, and our patriotism
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was of the "Yankee Doodle" kind ; therefore, there was nothing of unusual dimensions to record.
Friday, April 25th .- Reached longingly eastward, and took in about fifteen miles, and camped about two or three miles from Vera Cruz, Missouri. As usual, we are camped on a small stream.
Saturday, April 26th .- Comrade Hevenor says :- " Leav- ing camp at 6 a. m., we made a hard day's march of twenty miles, over rough roads. To-night a commissary train came up with us, and for the first time in many days, we had plenty of hard bread. It relished better than ever did the daintiest morsel at home."
Sunday, April 27th .- Left camp at 6 o'clock in the morning, and during the day, crossed the north, or east, branch of White river, twice. In fact, most of these streams are as crooked as the great hollow log that the farmer used in the foundation of his fence ; through which an old sow went, expecting to come out into the garden, but was exceedingly puzzled on her exit, to find herself still on the outside. Not fully understanding why this was thus, she tried it again, but with the same result. Going again to the entrance she looked warily in, then, after a moment's hesitation, turned, gave several grunts of intense disgust, and ran off into the woods.
We made fifteen miles to-day, and camped in a splendid pine grove. Called it "Camp Pleasant." A good many troops passed our camp, some of which we fed, satisfying their hunger out of our abundance. We were
VERY HUNGRY YESTERDAY,
and may be so again, probably by the day after to-morrow.
Monday, April 28th .- Reveille at 3 a. m., and broke camp at 5 o'clock, and twenty miles passed behind us before we made camp within a mile of West Plains, Missouri, a small village from which Colonel Wood had driven the rebels, eight days before we left Rolla. This was the place where one of Colonel Wood's howitzers had sent a sbell entirely through
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
the two walls, and three partitions of the Court House, after which the shell exploded. Colonel Wood was kind enough to leave the hole, and the rebs were so much in awe of it, that it had remained ; and our boys now made pilgrimages to it, as to a shrine.
Tuesday, April 29th .- Passed through West Plains, and took a southerly direction, which seemed to indicate that we were about to come into active sympathy with the " Arkansaw Traveller." Four o'clock, and fifteen miles, brought us to our camp at Spring Creek.
Wednesday, April 30th .- We were early on the road, and Comrade Hevenor says : " At 9 o'clock, we pass the Arkansas line, and, with the band playing "Yankee Doodle," we give three rousing cheers, shake the dust (mud) off our shoes, and bid adieu (as we hope, forever, ) to Missouri.
The fact was, we were in no mood to accept the advice of William Shakespeare, that we
"Better bear the ills we have, than fly to those we know not of."
Fifteen miles brought us to Salem, Arkansas, where we camped in a full-blooded secession State.
The day we remained at Salem, there came to our camp an old man who lived but two or three miles off. While talk- ing with the Colonel, he asked if we had an American Flag ? The Colonel wished to know why he asked ? He replied : " Colonel, I have lived seventy years, but have never seen the American Flag." We happened to have no flag flying at the time, but the Colonel immediately ordered the regimental flag raised ; and soon, a beautiful specimen was floating on the breeze, which had not yet been defaced by the rough usage which it afterward experienced at Chickasaw Bayou, rebel capture, and its imprisonment at Libby Prison. The old man's admiring gaze was fixed on it for a long time, while he walked around it and viewed it from every point of view. except that of loyalty, and, on being asked how he liked it,
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
replied : "Colonel, its a mighty peart fixin' ; sure's you're born."
After the old man had gone ; the Colonel was heard to growlingly soliloquize : "I have my opinion of any grown American citizen, who has never seen the American Flag."
While staying here at Salem, Arkansas, for rest, and to muster for pay, we will pay a little attention to General Steele, who had on March Ist, been ordered to Pilot. Knob, and from there, on an armed expedition, with a force of ten thousand men through Arkansas, between St. Francis, and Cache rivers, there being a favorable route here, called Crowley's ridge. His destination was Helena, Arkansas, which he was to occupy and fortify, so as to cut off steamboat communication with Memphis by the rebels from below.
General Steele found it impossible to move his army to Helena by land on account of the country being flooded above Helena ; and so, came across the country to us at Batesville, and practically had been a double left-wing to our army.
This particular work which General Steele's expedition was set to do, the cutting off rebel steamboat communication with Memphis from below, was, fortunately, more thoroughly and promptly accomplished by other means, which could not have been calculated for beforehand ; and which a short recap- itulation will make clear, and explain why he was able to join us at Batesville, Arkansas, and go with us from there to Helena.
Sixteen days before the Thirteenth left Rolla for the front, General Curtis drove the Confederate army out of Missouri into Arkansas. Eight days after that, Columbus, Kentucky, was evacuated by the Confederates.
On the day after the Thirteenth finally left Rolla, General Curtis was victorious at the great battle of Pea Ridge.
March 13th .- Having reached Springfield the evening be- fore, the regiment rested in camp all day ; and on that day the Confederates evacuated New Madrid, Missouri, in haste, leaving a million dollars' worth of military stores.
Tuesday, April 8 .- The day we lay at Platt Creek, after
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having left Cassville, Island Number Ten, was captured from the rebels.
Tuesday, April 28th .- The day we left what we called Camp Pleasant, and camped near West Plains, Missouri, Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans, surrendered to the Union forces.
May 12th .- While in camp at Batesville, Arkansas, Nat- ches, on the Mississippi River, surrendered to Farragut.
Thus we see that, so far as cleaning out the Mississippi river was concerned, General Steele's "occupation was gone " ; and whether he sighed because there were no more Secesh towns to conquer, we don't know ; but we do know that we felt all the stronger for this reinforcement of ten thousand men.
Friday, May 2d .- Did not march until I p. m. as the order of march required a considerable part of the army to take the advance of us, and regiments, batteries and cavalry battalions had been moving past our camp ever since daylight. The mere matter of their being in advance of us, we cared nothing about ; but after the wheels of many artillery carriages, and numberless army wagons had cut the roads up badly, it left us a soft thing, to be sure ; but under such conditions, there is very little romance left in the roads. And then, again, beeves, hogs, chickens, and bonny clabber, get badly worn out before the rear-guard gets a sight of them.
DOG SALEM.
The " dogs of war " are not all guns ; and many a canine becomes as much attached to army life, as do the soldiers themselves, and they learn not to fear the thunder of artillery and carnage of battle, and seem as much inspirited by loud- throated war, as any soldier can be. A little dog came back along with the army from Wilson's Creek, where he was said to have chased spent cannon-shot, and used his paws to try to stop them ; and would snap at them savagely.
Captain Henry T. Noble, of Company A, Thirteenth Illi-
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nois, took into the army with him a fine Newfoundland dog, named Nep, who seemed to be in his glory, while we were on the march, and delighted to skirmish through the woods by the road-side, and scatter the masked batteries of Secesh pigs; but sometimes had to fall back on his reserves for a stronger support. He was always a general favorite. The Captain took, or sent, him home so as not to lose him.
" Dog Salem," however, was the real "dog of the regi- ment " ; and he deserved a far abler historian's pen than falls to the lot of the average regiment. This is to be regretted, but in this case, seems to be unavoidable.
After a most tedious march of many days, the Thirteenth turned short to the south and camped for one day, May Ist, 1862, in the town of Salem, Arkansas. On the morning of May 2d we were ready, but did not march until I o'clock, p. m., and when we did go, the "irrepressible little Irish- man," Peter Dougdale, of Company H (as company historian Sibley, calls him), took away from the town, concealed in his blouse, a small pup. His nativity suggesting his name ; hence-Dog "Salem."
Whether Peter Dougdale's love for pets, caused him to tote away this small canine, or whether is was a passing freak of fancy, we do not know; but, certain it is, that the other boys all sympathized with Peter, and volunteered to assist in the care of the juvenile "Dog Salem," through the " dog- days " that were coming on, and they declared that
"EVERY DOG MUST HAVE HIS DAY."
After a day or two, the pup was assigned quarters in the feed-box of the wagons ; and from that time onward, he may be said to have an assured position as the " dog of the regiment." His cunning tricks as a pup, endeared him to his friends, and his development towards dogship was watched with great in- terest and he soon began to develop unusual sagacity ; and it was claimed of him that, after we got to Helena, and large numbers of negroes were employed as cooks, waiters, serv-
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
ants, and ostlers, etc., that "Salem " knew unerringly, every negro who belonged to our camp ; and that it was only neces- sary to say -"Salem, there is a strange nigger in camp ; hunt him out." Thereupon, he would set out and search until he found him, and then drive him out of camp.
When in a fight, the zip of bullets excited him so that he would savagely snap at them as they whizzed near him, strik- ing the trees or ground.
Having been born in a slave State, is hardly a sufficient cause for his seeming antipathy to the negro race. There was a tradition in "Salem's " family, from away back, that there was an ancestral "Bloodhound " in his pedigree ; if so, then it might be that some of that ancestor's traits had cropped out in "Salem." His careful training in Union camps, however, gave him a loyalty that could not be shaken.
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