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 20
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From General Steele we learned that : "Between his (Blair's) line and this bayou was an entanglement formed by cutting down small cotton-trees, leaving the trees entwined among the stumps. The bed of the bayou was about a hun- dred yards wide, quicksand, and about fifteen feet wide, and water three feet deep.
"The bank on the opposite side was steep and obstructed by abatis, crowned by a line of rifle-pits. On the slope above this was still another line of rifle-pits, and above this, on the plateau was the " county road," the earth being thrown on the lower side, forming a parapet which covered batteries and sharp-shooters. Batteries were also placed on the heights to the right and left, which enfiladed the rifle-pits and the road."
Colonial Williamson was too modest to say much, but he did say that : " As the head of the column emerged from the crossing, it became exposed to a terrific fire of musketry from the intrenchments in front, and also to a fire from the enemy's batteries on the right and left flanks. These batteries were so situated as to perfectly command this point."
Very early on the morning of the 29th, General Blair
In
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
made as thorough an examination of the ground in our front as he could, and to supplement which, he sent forward a bat- talion of the Thirteenth Illinois as skirmishers to feel the enemy and examine the ground, which he describes by saying that : "The works of the enemy on their right were more formidable than from any other approach.
"Almost every gun and rifle-pit bore upon us and many enfiladed our line of battle. The natural obstructions were certainly as great as from any other direction, and we had not the advantage of as thorough a reconnoissance of the ground, nor had we facilities of a pontoon-bridge to cross the bayou in our front, which was deep, and the bottom of it nothing but a treacherous quicksand. The enemy had improved their natu- rally strong position with consummate skill. The bed of the bayou was, perhaps, one hundred yards in width, covered with water for a distance of fifteen feet. On the side of the bayou held by my troops ( after emerging from the heavy timber and descending a bank eight or ten feet in height) there was a growth of young cotton-woods, thickly set, which had been cut down by the enemy at the height of three or four feet and the tops of these saplings thrown down among these stumps so as to form a perfect net to entangle the feet of the assaulting party. Passing through this, and coming to that part of the bayou containing water, it was deep and miry, and when this was crossed we encountered a steep bank on the side of the enemy at least ten feet high, covered with a strong abatis and crowned with rifle-pits from end to end. Above them was still another range of rifle-pits, and still above, a circle of batteries of heavy guns which afforded a direct and enfilading fire upon every part of the plateau, which rose gently from the first range of rifle-pits, to the base of the embankment which formed the batteries.
"These formidable works, defended by a strong force of desperate men such as held them on the 29th, would seem to require almost superhuman effort to effect their capture."
. This, then, was the ground over which our three brigades were expected to make their way to victory the next day,
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
over fifteen thousand of the enemy's best troops, who were intrenched in some of the strongest works of both nature and art that military engineering could devise and construct. But this fearful impending crisis did not disturb the soldiers of that noble brigade, who slept that night on their arms, on the extreme left of our line, while on the other wing, the no less brave soldiers of General A. J. Smith's splendid division, slept equally well and undisturbed, with but one rebel regi- ment in their front, for the defense of Vicksburg. How different !
Early on the morning of the 29th, our brigade was formed in line of battle, with fixed bayonets, in the heavy timber out of sight of the enemy, waiting the signal to charge.
Consulting the map, it will be seen that the bayou-trunk was formed by an east branch, and a southwest branch, from the junction of which the trunk flowed sluggishly north and emptied into the "Yazoo," a little distance. east, and above, the Johnson Plantation.
On this morning our brigade faced the east branch of the bayou, while DeCourcy faced the southwest branchi, with the trunk of the bayou between the two forces .. Blair's brigade charged in line of battle, while DeCourcy, followed by Thayer, charged in column across the corduroy bridge.
Blair's line of battle had been formed with the Thirteenth Illinois, Lieut .- Col. Adam B. Gorgas, in the right-front, with the Fifty-eight Ohio, Lieut .- Col. Peter Dister, in the rear. The Thirty-first Missouri, Col. Thomas C. Fletcher, in the left-front, with Twenty-ninth Missouri, Col. John S. Caven- der, in the rear. The right company of the Twenty-ninth Missouri, and the left company of the Fifty-eighth Ohio, formed the rear-guard. The two lines fifty yards apart.
On our right at a distance of three hundred yards, and across the trunk of the bayou, was DeCourcy in line of battle, and massed across the causeway-road which led to the bridge, having the Twenty-second Kentucky, Lieut .- Col. George W. Monroe, in the right-front, with the Forty-second Ohio, Lieut .- Col. Don A. Pardee, in rear. The Fifty-fourth Indiana, Col.
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
Fielding Mansfield, in the left-front, with the Sixteenth Ohio, Lieut .- Col. Philip Kershner, in rear. Thayer's brigade was in rear of DeCourcy, as support, in column of fours with the Fourth Iowa, Col. James A. Williamson, on the right, and the Thirtieth Iowa, Col. Charles H. Abbott, second; third, the Ninth of Iowa, Lieut .- Col. William H. Coyle; fourth, Thir- ty-fourth Iowa, Col. George W. Clark, and fifth, Twenty- eighth Iowa, Col. William E. Miller.
Why DeCourcy with four regiments, needed the support of five regiments, and Blair none, does not appear.
Seven hundred yards on DeCourcy's right was the pontoon bridge, which seems not to have been used.
The distance separating the two brigade lines of battle was about fifty yards.
The designated guns boomed the signal for the assault just before noon, when our brigade emerged from the timber, the formation almost perfect, and is graphically described by Comrade Albert H. Sibley, Company historian of H Company, Thirteenth Illinois, who says: "The orders were 'Guide right, double-quick.' I looked at the line just before we came to the water, which many could not jump across, and I remarked that, though the wings traveled a little the fastest, and the line curved a little, both in the Thirteenth and the regiment that formed on our left (Thirty-first Missouri), the front was bold and magnificent, and the battle maintained with courage and splendor-if such things can be called splendor, that take men's lives."
Of the same thing General Blair says : "When the signal of attack was given the brigade rushed with impetuosity to the attack and pressed over every obstacle and through a storm of shell and rifle-bullets, and carried the first and sec- ond range of rifle-pits with an irresistible charge."
The individual deeds of daring and heroism performed on this field can not be rescued and have given to them their de- servedly rich value, in emblazoning history ; but it is certain that no troops deserve better, and all was accomplished that
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
human courage and endurance could achieve under the cir- cumstances.
It was a source of great grief to our boys that Ensign Pierce was stricken down as insensible as though dead, by the concussion of a shot or shell, and that being close to the enemy's works and hard pressed, our National colors were captured by the enemy.
While still at Helena, Arkansas, Colonel Wyman had re- vived the rank of "Ensign," which officer was supposed to have the immediate command of the Color-Guard, which con- sisted of a Sergeant, drawn from each of the ten companies of the regiment. In the case of our regiment, Colonel Wyman had bestowed this honor on Sergeant Jesse D. Pierce, of H Company, a most excellent selection ; and it is to be regretted that the names of all the Sergeants of the Color- Guard on that occasion belonging to the Thirteenth Regi- ment are not now known, so that they could be given their proper honorable mention, in this battle of "Chickasaw Bayou." Ensign Pierce, and Color-Sergeant Jesse A. Betts, of Company I, are the only names now at hand, for record in this work.
When the charge was ordered, the entire brigade sprang · into the swamp and reached the bayou, which could be leaped across in some places, but was too wide in others, and our Color-Guard did not hesitate, but plunged into the water with the national colors in the hands of Color-Sergeant Betts ; but Ensign Pierce, who first scrambled up the other bank, reached back and took the colors from the hands of Color- Sergeant Betts, who reached the flag to the Ensign, while he himself was still struggling in the water. Ensign Pierce immediately advanced the colors in unison with the line of battle, which was charging on.
After reaching the bayou, and plunging in, Ensign Pierce has no recollection of seeing any of the Color-Guard, except- ing Sergeant Betts; and as the Thirteenth had to clamber over the Sixteenth Ohio, of DeCourcy's brigade, who had managed to dispossess the rebels of their first line of intrench-
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
ments, and seemed determined to "hold the fort," it seems probable that the other eight of our color-bearers had been forced from their positions in the line and had become mixed with otlier regiments of the brigade.
Soon after crossing the first line of the enemy's intrench- ments, Ensign Pierce seems to have dropped insensible, fron the concussion of some missile of large caliber that just missed his head ; for he suddenly lost consciousness of every- thing, and remained in that condition until partly restored by the cold rain which fell heavily during the succeeding night ; and he was then made a prisoner, and was informed by his. captors that he was found lying on the flag, supposedly dead, and that he had to be rolled over to liberate the flag, which they valued much more than they did the sergeant.
The flag having been carried down with the fall of the Ensign there was left no visible rallying point of the regi- ment ; hence the dispersion of the Color-Guard.
To show that greater valor could not have saved, and brought off our flag, or that greater valor could not be shown, than was shown, it is only necessary to quote General Blair, a little further, where he says : "At this point (second range of rifle-pits) I observed the rapidly thinning ranks of that portion of my brigade which made the assault under my command, and turned and saw the column from the center of General Morgan coming up over the first range of the rifle- pits." (This was really Thayer and his brigade, consisting of the Fourth Iowa, only, who, starting in as a support of the brigade of DeCourcy, traveled over that brigade, as it lay in the first line of rifle-pits, beyond which, General Thayer says, they did not advance that day.) General Blair continues : "Encouraged by this support, my gallant troops pushed still further and to within a short distance of the enemy's last intrenchments. Some reached the foot of the formidable works only to pour out their lives at their base."
The younger officers of our regiments were conspicuous for gallantry on this field ; and no inviduous distinction is intended when mention is made of Lieut. Henry D. Dement
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
of Company A, who had a large and delicate responsibility as commander of his company ; and as such, had the right of his company, and the right of the regiment, and also the right of the brigade, and who reached one of the more advanced posi- tions on the battle-field ; but for want of support, had to fall back. Of Lieutenants Josselyn and Sage, of Company C; of Captain Beardsley, of Company D, one of the bravest of the brave, -these are all types of that conspicuous gallantry. Their average age scarcely exceeded twenty-one years.
The impregnability of the enemy's work, and the lack of prompt and sufficient support of Blair's brigade and the one regiment of General Thayer, the Fourth Iowa, who alone were on the field at the last, forced these brave troops to retire beyond the bayou to the position occupied before the assault ; here we are safe, for the enemy can no more disturb us here than we could go over and take their works from them ; and while our men are re-forming their lines preparatory to another charge, orders for which were expected, it may be a good time to call the general officers to account for our repulse.
CHAPTER XIX.
REPORTS OF GENERALS STEELE, BLAIR, THAYER, AND COLO- NEL WILLIAMSON, AND THEIR CRITICISMS ON GENERAL MORGAN AND DE COURCY.
T HAT no injustice may be done these officers, and to afford all possible opportunity for studying this battle, it seems best to give the reports in full, alongside of any com- ments that may be made. This is the more nec- essary in order that exact and even justice may be done to all these general officers, as bad blood will be found tingeing the hitherto harmonious relations between them, before these events have passed into recorded history.
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COLONEL WILLIAMSON'S REPORT.
HEADQUARTERS, FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY, BATTLE-FIELD NEAR VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI,
December 30, 1862.
CAPTAIN : I have the honor to make the following report of the part taken in the battle before Vicksburg on the 28th and 29th instant by the Fourth Iowa Infantry.
Early on the morning of the 28th, I took the position assigned me on the right of the brigade. In obedience to the orders of the General commanding the brigade, I detailed thirty men from my regiment under command of First-Lieutenant, E. C. Miller, of Company G, to act as pioneers and skirmishers. Of these thirty men, one was killed, and five wounded during the day. *
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
At daylight on the 29th, the regiment again debarked and took the advance of the brigade, marching about two miles to a point near where General Morgan's division was engaging the enemy. At this point the regiment was commanded to halt, where it remained until about 3: 30 o'clock, when I received orders from the General commanding the bri- gade to charge the enemy's intrenchments, about one-half mile distant near the base of the hill. There is near the base of the hill, a sloughi, or, more properly, a swamp, which could only be crossed at one place (a narrow causeway which had been constructed) and at that time, only by the flank of the regiment. As the head of the column emerged from the crossing it became exposed to a terrific fire of musketry from the iutrenchments in front, and also to a fire from the enemy's batteries on the right and left flanks. These batteries were so situated as to per- fectly command this point. After effecting the crossing, the head of the column filed right, the left coming forward into line, the right rest- ing on the inside of a strong abatis, which had been formed by the enemy for his own protection. Here I was informed by the General commanding the brigade, that contrary to his orders, my regiment was not supported by others, and that I should hold the position I then had, until he could ascertain if support was coming, provided I could do so, leaving me to judge of that matter for myself. I held the position for about thirty minutes under a fire which can not be described.
At the end of this time, seeing that I had no support and that my officers and men were suffering dreadfully from a fire which could not be returned effectively, I gave the order to fall back, which was accom- plished in good order, but with great loss. * * *
I am, General, with very great respect,
J. A. WILLIAMSON, Commanding Fourth Iowa Infantry.
BLAIR'S REPORT.
HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, FOURTH DIVISION, THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
December 30th, 1862.
Brigadier-General GEORGE W. MORGAN.
GENERAL: On the evening of the 26th of December, the Thirteenth Army Corps, under Major-General Sherman, landed at the plantation of General A. S. Johnson (?) on the Yazoo river. My brigade consisted of the Thirteenth Illinois, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first and Thirty- second Missouri, and Fifty-eighth Ohio Infantry regiments, Captain Hoffman's Fourth Ohio Battery, and one company of the Fourth regi- ment Missouri Cavalry, was ordered to march out to reconnoiter and to bivouac two or three miles from the landing. After marching a short
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
distance our advance skirmishers from the Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, drove in the enemy's pickets and captured two horses. We encamped for the night after pushing the recounoissance somewhat farther, about the distance designated in our orders.
On the 27th we resumed our march and drove in the enemy's pickets in greater numbers than on the preceding day, and upon emerging from the timber at a place known as Mrs. Lake's plantation, where we were ordered to open communications with General Morgan's division, our skirmishers were fired upon by a battery of two guns, planted near the "White House " on' Chickasaw Bayou. A section of Hoffman's battery was placed in position on our front and silenced the enemy's battery, which was quickly retired from the field.
Lieutenant Ballou, commanding Company C, Fourth Missouri Cavalry, was then ordered to make a reconnoissance to our right, to discover the force and position of the enemy.
About one hour after the battery was silenced by our fire, we found that General Morgan had reached the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou, and was disembarking his troops. Lieutenant Ballou returned soon after and reported the enemy beyond the bayou in force.
The division of General Morgan L. Smith, which had been ordered to advance on my right, came up about the time the enemy opened on us with his battery, and as all the cavalry under my command had been thrown out on my right to reconnoiter, when we subsequently observed the arrival and landing of the command of General Morgan at or near the mouth of the bayou ; General M. L. Smith sent forward his cavalry escort to open communication with him. At the suggestion of General M. L. Smith and by his orders one regiment of my brigade, the Fifty- eighth Ohio Infantry, and one regiment of General Stewart's brigade of the Second division were sent on our right to skirmish and feel the enemy, reported to be in force beyond the bayou on our right.
The report of Lieutenant Colonel Dister, commanding the Fifty- eighth Ohio Infantry of my brigade, which I herewith transmit, gives an account of the operations of his regiment under this order.
The heavy skirmishing of these two regiments on our right and by the advance of General Morgan's command at the " White House " showed the enemy in force and strongly intrenched beyond the bayou. My brigade bivouacked for the night on the ground upon which Hoffman's battery was put in position and silenced the battery at the "White . House " and forced it to retire.
The orders of the day placed my brigade in reserve, while General Morgan advanced from the "White House " and drove the enemy from this position beyond that point, and the division of General M. L. Smith engaged the enemy on the right.
At an early hour of the day General M. L. Smith was severely
5
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İLLİNOİS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
wounded, and at 10 or II a. m., I was ordered with my brigade to advance with my right upon his left: Not being able to cross the bayou at that point witli my artillery, I ordered Captain Hoffman, under instructions from General Sherman, to cross his battery over the pontoon-bridge, then being put up by the advance of General Morgan. I pushed on as fast as the nature of the ground would permit, to the left of General M. L. Smith and engaged the enemy with my entire brigade, in liis rifle-pits and intrenchments in my front beyond the bayou, and a sharp and brisk encounter silenced his sharp-shooters.
In this action Colonel Wyman, of the Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a gallant and most meritorious officer, whose regiment was first engaged, lost his life ; and several others were killed and wounded in this and other regiments of my command while thus engaged in aid- ing to silence the fire of the enemy's batteries and rifle-pits on the other side of the bayou.
I received an order from General Sherman to withdraw my brigade for the purpose of reinforcing General Morgan, who was hiotly engaged with the enemy in front of the "White House." I immediately withidrew and was ordered to report to General Morgan by General Sherman, who ordered me to advance my brigade to a position on the right of the cen- ter. I proceeded to execute the order, and led up the Thirteenthi Illinois in the direction indicated, but soon found that I was exposing my men to the fire of our own batteries as well as those of the enemy, and was ordered by General Morgan to retire the regiment and take position on the left, across the bayou, in the heavy timber facing the right of the enemy. My instructions were to reconnoiter the position of the enemy on this side and prepare to assist in storming his works.
The day was so far spent that I was unable to make any reconnois- sance. My troops rested upon their arms without fires, and with a very imperfect knowledge of my position I felt it proper to double my pickets.
On the morning of the 29th, when about to make a thorough reconnoissance, I received orders from General Morgan to bring my entire force across the bayou, and in rear of his center to aid in resisting an attempt of the enemy to assault his right. This was, however, frus- trated before the movement was completed, and I again resumed my position on the left, and in obedience to orders made a personal recon- noissance of the enemy's position in my front, and afterward threw out skirmishers (one battalion of the Thirteenth Illinois) to feel the enemy and observe the ground over which we were directed to charge. It was exceedingly difficult.
The works of the enemy on their right were more formidable than from any other approach. Almost every gun and rifle-pit bore upon us and many enfiladed our line of battle. The natural obstructions were
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT.
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certainly as great as from any other direction, and we had not the advantage of as thorough a reconnoissance of the ground, nor had we the facilities of a pontoon-bridge to cross the bayou in our front, which was deep and the bottom of it nothing but a treacherous quicksand. The enemy had improved their naturally strong position with consum- mate skill. The bed of the bayon was perhaps one hundred yards in width, covered with water for a distance of fifteen feet. On the side of the bayou held by my troops (after emerging from the heavy timber and descending a bank eight or ten feet in height) there was a growth of young cotton-wood, thickly set, which had been cut down by the enemy at the height of three or four feet and the tops of these saplings thrown down among these stumps so as to form a perfect net to entangle the feet of the assaulting party. Passing through this and coming to that part of the bayou containing water, it was deep and miry, and when this was crossed we encountered a steep bank on the side of the enemy at least ten feet high, covered with a strong abatis and crowned with rifle- pits from end to end. Above them was still another range of rifle-pits, and still above, a circle of batteries of heavy guns which afforded a direct and enfilading fire upon every part of the plateau, which rose gently from the first range of rifle-pits, to the base of the embankment which formed the batteries. These formidable works, defended by a strong force of desperate men such as held them on the twenty-ninth, would seem to require almost superhuman efforts to effect their capture.
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