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 16
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The historian has not been able to ascertain with certainty the fate of "Dog Salem "; but it is probable that in some of the many steamboat expeditions of the regiment, "Dog Salem " failed to get on board the boat with the regiment, and was lost to us ; and a grievous loss it was.
It only remains for the historian's pen to draw a portrait of " Dog Salem's " personal appearance. He grew to be a dog of middle-size, made for quick action and great endurance. Had a keen eye, which beamed kindly on his friends, but flashed fire in scintillations, and sparks, on those who pro- voked him. His tail, which was not long nor aggressive, was a strong reserve force which always ably seconded the advance part of the animal, which never lagged, but kindly wagged, both for his friends, and the Union cause. He was shaggy about the head and shoulders. But his color-"aye, there's the rub "-he was not a "yaller dog," neither was he a "red dog " ; one need not be offended if he was called a reddish- brown, but he certainly did not have a terra-cotta color. In fact, one would not be far out of the way to say that his color was something like the worst painted house in town ..
However, if the Pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis, is true, and the transmigration of souls takes place, and the
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spirit of an animal may animate the body of a man, as well as . the opposite, then there are plenty of men who would be vastly the gainers could they swap souls with " Dog Salem."
The weather was now warm, but we made an afternoon's march of twelve miles over a much improved country, and camped on Strawberry Creek at 5 p. m .; but, let alone the berries, we could not find even the straw, for beds.
Saturday, May 3d .- The reveille roused us at 3 o'clock and breakfast did not hinder us from starting at 4 ; and twenty- two miles of rain and mud brought us to our camp on Butter- milk Creek, at I p. m.
Neither the strawberries of yesterday, nor the buttermilk of to-day materialized ; but still further improvement is noticeable in the country through which the last two or three days have taken us, and if the above named luxuries, or any other, exist in this country, our boys will be sure to have their part.
Sunday, May 4th .- The inexorable reveille pulled us out of bed (picked us from off the ground) at I o'clock, and through an incessant rain, which drenched us thoroughly, diversified by wading through twenty-one miles of mud, two miles of which were on a wrong road, and had to be counter- marched, we reached Batesville, Arkansas, at 2 p. m., pretty well fagged out, and, as usual, hungry.
Monday, May 5th .- The first move was to select a better camping ground, for it seemed likely that we might remain here for several days, which proved to be the case. A suit- able place was found just east of the town, with plenty of wood and water, and here the boys cleared up a fine camping- ground, and put everything in the best condition for comfort and attractive appearance. As Comrade Chapel wields a graceful, and versatile quill, I shall borrow his impressions of Batesville :
"The town is situated on White river, and is the most beautiful town I have seen in the West. Its streets and residences are beautifully laid out and ornamented. I was much surprised to find so pretty a town. The river is naviga-
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ble from here to Memphis, from which we are one hundred miles. The people here are all Secesh, and they own it, and defend it too.
" When our cavalry came in here, there were three thou- sand rebels camped on the other side of the river ; but a few shells from our howitzers made them think they had better be off ; and as all the boats were on their side of the river, our men could not get over till they were out of harm's way."
The conditions for an early resumption of our march to- wards the Mississippi can be ascertained from General Curtis himself who says :
HEADQUARTERS, BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS,
May 6th, IS62.
Inspector-General KETCHUM.
GENERAL : A scout sent forward to determine the possibility of moving east, could only go forty miles east of Jacksonport ; beyond it was an endless lake of water.
The General directs me to press forward to the Mississippi, and it seems the river is coming this way. The whole country about the mouth of the Arkansas and White rivers is overflowed. Napoleon is flooded. I am preparing means to cross the White river, so as to drive some Texas troops away, and take Little Rock.
I am, General, with very great respect,
S. R. CURTIS, Major-General, Com'd'g Army of the Southwest.
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CHAPTER XV.
PEA RIDGE HAVING ELUDED, AND NEW MADRID DODGED US, WE CROSSED THE OZARKS WITH NO REBEL ARMY ON OUR FLANK OR REAR.
W HEN Van Dorn retreated from Pea Ridge, he was ordered to take his army to Des Arc, Arkansas, a town on the White river, some miles below Jacksonport, from which they were under orders for Memphis, by boats which were to take them from Des Arc, and the day on which Comrade Chapel records going out with a foraging- party from Keitsville, under Lieutenant Buck, and when rumors were thick, that Price was advancing on us, Price was a General without an army. And on April 5th, the day we began our Arkansas campaign, turning east from Cassville, Van Dorn returned to his army at Des Arc, until which time, it was not generally known that Missouri and Arkansas were practically abandoned to the victorious Union army. And the day we built the bridge over Platt Creek, Tuesday, April 8th, Little's Missouri brigade embarked for Memphis, and the en- tire rebel army, of twenty thousand men, quickly followed. The rebel army of Van Dorn was too late for Shiloh, and as a military organization, very few of those rebel soldiers ever returned to their trans-Mississippi homes ; and, practically, from April 8th, to 31st of May, General Curtis had no organ- ized army to fear, in any direction. On that last-named date, and while we were camped near Searcy, Hindman established
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his headquarters at Little Rock, and the " Conquest of Ar- kansas," by Snead, says :
"Van Dorn, on leaving Arkansas, had assigned Brigadier- General Roane to the command of that State. There were no troops there except a few companies of State militia, and these were badly organized and poorly armed ; and Roane, though he had been governor of the State and was a brave and esti- mable gentleman, amiable and popular, was wholly unfit for a military command. Besides these militia companies there were some five or six thousand Indian and mixed (Indian and white) troops in the Indian Territory under Brigadier- General Albert Pike, but they could hardly be accounted a force, as they were of no value except on furlough, and had even then to be fed and clothed, and supplied with all sorts of things, and treated with great consideration and gentle- ness.
"Arkansas was thus utterly undefended, and her people, feeling that they had been abandoned by the Confederate gov- ernment, were fast becoming despondent and apathetic. Those living to the north of the Arkansas among the mountains which rise west of the White and Black rivers were fast sub- mitting to the authority of the Union, and many of them were enlisting in the Union army. The slaveholders that lived in the valley of the Arkansas and on the rich alluvial lands south of the river and along the Mississippi, were in despair. The governor and State officers were making ready to abandon the capital, and that part of the population which still remained loyal to the Confederacy was panic-stricken. In these straits a delegation was sent to Beauregard, to whose department the trans-Mississippi region belonged, to beg him to appoint Major-General Hindman to the command, from which Van Dorn had been taken; and to authorize him to raise an army for the defense of the State.
"Hindman was consequently assigned, on the 26th of May, to the command of the trans-Mississippi district, com- prising the States of Missouri and Arkansas and that part of Louisiana north of the Red river and the Indian Territory.
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He had commanded a brigade at Shiloh, was wounded there, and had been promoted for good conduct.
"Leaving Corinth at once Hindman went to Memphis, which the Confederates were preparing to evacuate as soon as Corinth should be abandoned. There he collected a few sup- plies for his army, and "impressed " a million dollars that was in the banks. Thus equipped he hastened to Little Rock, where he assumed command of his district and established headquarters on the 31st of May, 1862.
" With great energy and with administrative ability of the highest order, he went to work to create an army and provide supplies for it. He declared martial law, and scattered his provost-marshals all over the State; enforced the conscript law remorselessly ; collected thousands of stragglers that were skulking in all directions ; arrested deserters and shot scores of them ; sent recruiting officers into northern Arkansas and Missouri ; stopped five Texas regiments that were on their way to Beauregard ; established workshops for making powder, shot, arms, clothing, and other supplies for his forces ; and worked in every way so intelligently and earnestly that early in July he had an army of about twenty thousand armed men and forty-six pieces of artillery.
"Not only had Little Rock and the valley of the Arkansas been saved to the Confederacy, but Curtis' position at Bates- ville was fast becoming untenable. In front he was threat- ened by Hindman, who was growing stronger and bolder every day, while behind him the Missourians were organizing in all directions to break his long line of communication with St. Louis. The failure of a gun-boat expedition to relieve him from this precarious situation determined him to retreat across the swamps to Helena. Hindman resolved to attack him. Sending a considerable force under Brigadier-General Albert Rust to get between the retreating army and Helena, and to hold the crossing of the almost impassable Cache, he himself set off in pursuit. But Rust, though a very successful politi- cian, was one of the most incompetent of all 'political gen- erals,' and was easily brushed out of the way by Curtis, who,
مرحلة الترين
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: conquering the greater obstacles which nature opposed to his march, got safely to Helena on the 13th of July."
It will easily be remembered that, in our regiment, the question used frequently to be raised, whether the real desti- nation of our army, was Little Rock? In a former order General Curtis says that he is preparing to "take Little Rock," and his authority is distinctly shown in the following order :
HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, May 12th, 1862.
Major-General S. R. CURTIS.
GENERAL : On reaching Little Rock, you will assume the direction of affairs in Arkansas, as military Governor.
All civil authorities who are untrustworthy, or who may not take the oath of allegiance, will be removed from office and others appointed in their place.
I am, General, respectfully yours,
H. W. HALLECK, Major-General Com'd'g Dep't.
Special Orders \ No. 172. May 13th, 1862.
BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS,
* * * The divisions of the Army of the Southwest having been * reorganized, as set forth in General Orders No. 19, paragraph III, the commanding officers of the following named regiments, detachments, and batteries will report by letter without delay *
* * to Briga- dier-General E. A. Carr, commanding Second Division : Ninth Iowa Infantry, Fourth Iowa Infantry, Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, Third Illinois Cavalry, First Missouri Cavalry, Elbert's Flying Battery, First Iowa Battery, Dubuque (Iowa) Battery. * *
S. R. CURTIS, Major-General Com'd'g.
In addition to the information furnished by the above order, and of particular interest to our regiment, Comrade Josselyn's diary says : "The army was here (Batesville) reor- ganized, and the Thirteenth was made First regiment, First Brigade of Second Division, Army of the Southwest, under com- mand of Brigadier-General Eugene A. Carr."
In an order recorded a few pages back, it will be remem-
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bered that General Curtis said : " I am preparing means to cross White river, so as to drive some Texas troops away and take Little Rock."
This undoubtedly has reference to the four flat-boats, after- wards taken to Jacksonport by Company I· of our regiment, a detailed account of which will be found in the history of Com- pany I.
While camped in the vicinity of Batesville, we were rescued from the utter monotony of camp life-which is the bane of soldier life-by foraging expeditions, military raids, and thickly flying rumors of approaching enemies ; and this called frequently for the "long roll," which always had the effect of causing us to tumble out, and hastily fall in.
Marching orders moved us for Little Rock, on May 18th, and over very muddy roads, and through frequent drenching rains, the main army reached as far as Searcy, on the Little Red river, and its advanced posts within thirty-five miles of the capital, when rebel reverses at Corinth, Mississippi, and resultant evacuation of Memphis by the rebels, opened the Mississippi to Vicksburg, and the consequent opening of the White river, determined General Curtis to avail himself of this opportunity of securing a sure base of supplies for so large an army ; and while the means for opening this new line, via the White river, were being prepared, we remained as a sort of army of occupation, with headquarters at Bates- ville.
It has before been said that in our supposed Little Rock march from Batesville, we had reached as far as Searcy, which lay about midway between the two places, a considerable town on the south bank of the Little Red river. An almost exactly north and south line, drawn from Batesville, besides cutting the White, Little Red, and Arkansas rivers, would also have touched Batesville, Searcy and Little Rock.
On May 19th, the second day from Batesville, detachments of the Third and Seventeenth Missouri, and Fourth Missouri Cavalry, Battery B First Missouri Light Artillery, had a fight with the rebels, at Searcy Landing, in which we lost eighteen
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killed and twenty-seven wounded. The rebel loss was one hundred and fifty killed, wounded and missing. Many of the dead of the Seventh Missouri were barbarously mutilated ; and a Union surgeon was afterwards found hanged to a tree, his tongue cut out,
AND HIS BOWELS RIPPED OPEN.
From the above, and similar experiences already passed through, it would seem that we had "supped full enough of horrors " to satiate even the fastidious would-be "thane of Cawdor" ; but two weeks from now, on the White river, near St. Charles, we shall see the United States ironclad " Mound City " exploded by a thirty-two-pound shot which had penetrated its port casemate, and passing directly through its steam-drum, fore and aft, killing in the casemate, eighty- two men outright while many who were suffering indescrib- able torture from the scalding steam, leaped into the river, and were deliberately fired on by rebel sharp-shooters on the bank.
Two weeks still further on, General Hindman will order General Albert Rust, to pollute and poison the springs and streams, by throwing into them the rotting carcasses of dead animals, prepared for that purpose, along the supposed route of our army, and which water our soldiers would be compelled to drink.
It is not claimed that these cases cited, are samples of an average, but as samples of cases which were altogether too possible and frequent ; and which would have been impossi- ble, except among a people fighting for the perpetuation of human slavery.
That our soldiers could be restrained from wreaking swift and summary vengeance, is matter of astonishment.
Considering the above mentioned rebel atrosities, if our soldiers did not retaliate in kind, it would be asking too much of weak human (soldier) nature to expect them to neglect any chance for pillage, or, for the same reason, that many of the officers would be extra vigilant to prevent it ; but instead of
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being influenced by feelings of revenge, almost invariably, the spirit of mischievous fun seemed to be the dominant feeling.
There is no form of thieving, mischievous outrage, or vandalism, but what was committed by soldiers in the army, and whether singly or in combination, frequently exhibited a wonderful ingenuity in the conception, secrecy and celerity in the working up and skill (or audacity, which is frequently the full equal of skill) in the masterly manner in which such pro- jects were brought to a successful issue.
On the first day's march from Searcy, Arkansas, back to Batesville, during one of those wonderful moods when every man keeps silent, and lets his neighbor think, the pro- found silence was rudely broken in upon by a cumulative shout that made the welkin ring. The colonel and staff turned their horse's heads to see what was up. And, behold ! about twenty men, holding their guns at a right shoulder, with their right hands in their left, each one carried an open umbrella, or parasol, as jauntily, and stepped as mincingly, as to gait, as any fashionable lady on Broadway. Immediately in their rear, came about twenty more soldiers in full Masonic regalia, marching with as much decorum as if in some civic procession. Colonel Wyman could possibly have stood the parasols and umbrellas, but the Masonic regalia was a little too much, as he was a Mason himself, and would look upon such an outrage as bordering on sacrilege ; and his vocabulary for special occasions was immediately called into requisition, and made to perform all it was capable of, as he saw at once that, besides robbing a dry-goods store, the scamps had plun- dered a Masonic lodge. Every article of regalia was scrupu- lously returned, but the parasols and umbrellas were thrown into the brush by the roadside.
No one wondered for a moment how the things could be procured, but the wonder was as to how the men could so successfully conceal them about their clothes as to escape the eyes of the officers when the order to "fall in " came, in
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the morning. The conclusion was irresistible that several of the officers connived at it.
THE CACHE ON LITTLE RED RIVER.
When Curtis' army mobilized itself, after the battle of Pea Ridge, the head of the columns pointed south ; and that re- markable campaign was commenced, which was only equaled by "Sherman's march to the sea," which, in fact, it strongly resembled in many respects. A detailed comparison will not be instituted here, as this is merely a reminiscence of Com- pany Q; but as the campaign unfolds itself in the regular course of the regimental history, the remarkable similarity to General Sherman's immortal achievement will be conspicu- ously seen.
It is almost needless to premise that many of the remark- ably mischievous pranks of Company Q never could have been carried to a successful issue without the willing connivance of some commissioned or non-commissioned officer, and the price of such connivance, of course, ought to be and was, a generous slice of the plunder.
The country through which our army marched was either dry and thirsty or water-soaked and muddy, and these alterna- tions of extremes were equally exhausting in exposure and trying to the constitutions of the men, even though they were as hardy as were those of the Thirteenth regiment.
In the vicinity of the Little Red river, our regiment re- mained for several days in camp ; and foraging parties were sent out every day. Company H being out foraging one day, in some woods, smelt out and unearthed a cache containing a most remarkable find, which was nothing less than five or six casks of assorted beverages, of apple-jack, peach brandy and whisky.
This was turned over to Quartermaster Henderson, whose storage-tent was right alongside of the tent of Colonel Gorgas.
It had been quite rainy, and disagreeable weather, and a deputation of the men waited on Colonel Gorgas and asked
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that rations of the liquor be served to the guards and other de- . tails. Colonel Gorgas declined to do so. The men then de- manded as a right what they at first had asked as a favor ; but what the colonel had before declined, he now flatly re- fused. No threatenings were indulged in, but, though some- what sullenly, the men retired in an orderly manner to their quarters.
If Colonel Gorgas had been a prophet, or the son of a prophet, the previous rainy weather might have presaged a storm, but instead he looked for fair weather.
The quartermaster's store-tent, with this liquor, or as much of it as had not evaporated into or through the condens- ers in the officer's quarters, had been guarded for three days, before it came the turn of Company I to relieve the previous guard.
Certain friends of good order and military discipline, in Company I had concluded that the precious nectar was too dangerously near the quarters of the Staff officers to be safe, and so when Company I sent its detail for this service, Ser- geant Frank Thoma was Sergeant of the guard.
The camp-guard as well as the special guard, at the quar- termaster's tent, would be relieved at an hour after midnight ; but it would be inconvenient in the accomplishment of any great enterprise, to have a general guard and a special guard relieved at the same time ; and as this particular special guard was to be doubly special for that night, its time for relief was fixed for a quarter to I o'clock a. m. It had not cleared off in any sense as the colonel had trusted, but nature had dropped down a murky curtain about the camp, while an un- comfortable drizzle served to make the general guard much less vigilant and observing.
At a quarter to 1 a. m., Sergeant Thoma withdrew Henry Reinhardt and William Schonberg from guard at the quarter- master's tent, and placed there, Orson Hamlin and Edward D. Minton, while Theoderick Pool was conveniently near, as his services, it was expected, would be in demand. Before it was the regular time for relieving guard, all the remaining
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liquor had been removed so secretly and quietly, that Ser- geant Thoma's second relief did not know it.
Sergeant Thoma had in his tent four boxes of shoes, and a box of clothing, of which he had charge ; two of these shoe boxes he emptied entirely, and the clothing box, and packed the contents away somewhere else ; he put three or four full canteens in each box and covered with a part of their former contents. He piled up the four shoe boxes in one pile, those with the filled canteens at the bottom, the full boxes of shoes on top. The box of clothing was disposed of so as to attract as little attention as possible, and besides these canteens, which he had concealed, five camp-kettles of the liquor were distributed and concealed elsewhere, principally among the wagons.
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As was expected, there was a tremendous row in camp next morning when the quartermaster's sergeant opened up.
Sergeant Thoma was hauled over the coals, as being de- linquent in his guard duty ; and protested that his guards had faithfully done their duty.
He called up his first relief, Henry Reinhardt and William Schonberg, and they convinced Colonel Gorgas that the quar- termaster's tent had not been disturbed up to the time that they had been relieved. (That they had been relieved earlier than usual, they did not know, and the darkness had been so great, that faces could not be seen.) Of course Hamlin and Minton were not called up, as the detail list did not include them.
The second relief swore stoutly that nothing went wrong while they were on duty. The Colonel was in a towering rage, and said he would search each tent.
Sergeant Thoma was trembling in his boots (army shoes) when the Colonel and Staff appeared at his tent to search it. Frank stormed about and swore that they might search and be d-urned ; and led the way inside his tent, followed by the military inquisition. Wrenching off the cover of the top box, he gave it a vicious throw at random, and it sailed danger- ously near the colonel's head, who dodged the missile, saying
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deprecatingly, "My conscience, Frank ! don't break my head." By this time the army shoes began to fly in every direction without regard as to where a target might be located as though they had been discharged from a magazine-gun.
A pair of 7's struck Major Partridge in the abdomen, and doubled him up like a jack-knife, and caused that officer to gracefully back out of the tent with great apparent politeness; and as they began to stand not " on the order of their going, but to go at once," a pair of large io's struck Quartermaster Henderson in the back between the shoulders, just as he was making a somewhat unceremonious exit, which drew from him a baritone grunt, that was a tribute both to the quality of the army shoes, and of Sergeant Thoma's indignant ear- nestness.
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