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 25
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We arrived at Greenville on the 4th of April, and immedi- ately organized an advance with companies A and B of ours, and a section of Hoffman's Battery in the lead, and proceeded to try and hunt up the rebel force which we came for. They were there, but fell back as fast as we advanced, and destroyed the bridges and cotton as they retreated, and we burned the mills, gin-houses, and storehouses as we advanced, took all the forage we could find transportation for, and when ready to leave, we burned the small remnant of 1,600,000 bushels of corn.
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It was said at the time, that the rebels caught a negro in the act of trying to escape to us, and hung him on the spot.
A negro generally keeps dark, but in this case he shed much light as to where we were to look to find wagons ready loaded with supplies, and hid in the woods to be hauled away in emergency, and many other things too good to be left ; and as a consequence, our boys fed high on honey, eggs, chickens, and sweet potatoes.
On the 7th of April we came up with the rebels at about 2 p. m. and had an artillery duel until night, the darkness of which helped them to leave us far behind. It was on this occasion that Captain Silverspeare with his battery executed one of those dashing movements which so electrifies soldiers on either side, and compels admiration from both friend and foe alike, and which seemed characteristic of both Silver- speare and Landgraeber. We were confronting the enemy who were found to be in force in the edge of a piece of woods,
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on the far side of a cleared field. The enemy had the advan- tage of the curtain of woods which concealed both their move- ments and numbers ; while we had the advantage in position of much higher ground. It was necessary to silence their batteries and dislodge them from their cover of woods before we could advance. General Steele chose a point of elevation but a few steps away from where he was standing, where he ordered Captain Silverspeare to plant his battery and drive the enemy from the wood. This order seemed to instantly transform Captain Silverspeare into the fiery representative of Mars himself. He snatched his sabre from its noisy scabbard, whirled it about his head in blazing circles, gave some ringing · commands, and then wheeled his horse as if he were hung on a pivot, and spurred forward in the lead, right into the very teeth of the enemy's line, the entire battery close at his heels, followed by the deafening shouts of the boys in blue, who soon learned that, while the movements of the fiery Swede looked almost like desertion to the enemy, really meant de- struction to the foe. General Steele, who had seen something of war in Mexico, among the Indians on the frontier, and now for two years in this war of the Rebellion, now stood aston- ished at the strange movements of this cyclonic Swede, and remarked, in his usual squeaking voice, " Well, Captain Sil- verspeare may know where he is going, but I do not."
So audacious was this onset that the rebel batteries tempo- rarily ceased their loud-throated clamor, and the minie-bullet paused in the rifle-barrel before speeding on its death-errand, while this battle-born cyclone swept round its eccentric orbit, almost brushing the muzzles of the astonished rebel guns, and still swept on, completing the perfect circle, so as not to mar its moral or poetical symmetry by any cross-lots work, and came thundering up to the spot originally indicated, unlimbered, and came into battery, and before the rebel guns had resumed work, was dealing such efficient death and destruction into those woods, that the rebels were soon glad to get away.
At this distance of time it is extremely difficult, if not im- possible, to remember the exact causes which led up to a very
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ridiculous affair which happened on this Greenville expedi- tion, in which Colonel Manter, who was in command of our brigade at the time, through some provocation, real or imagi- nary, from some of the boys of the Thirteenth, placed the entire regiment under arrest. The result being (according to the best recollection) that on that very evening, fearing an attack, and not enough other troops available for a safe resist- ance, he was obliged to eat crow, and unconditionally release the regiment from arrest.
Out of respect, we visited the homes of General French and Dr. Thompson, who, under pressure, subscribed liberally from their corn-cribs and smoke-houses, to the Union cause.
Failing to induce the rebels to stand and give battle that would be decisive of anything, and having largely diminished the sources of abundant supply for feeding General Pember- ton's army in Vicksburg, General Steele concluded that he had accomplished all that could be done under the circum- stances, returned to Greenville, and on the 24th of April, the fleet, including the John H. Groesbeck, on which our regiment was embarked, returned to Young's Point.
During our three weeks' absence up the river, events were shaping and hastening to their fulfillment, which were to give to history the siege and surrender of Vicksburg.
CHAPTER XXIII.
GREAT MOVEMENT FOR TURNING THE ENEMY'S LEFT FLANK. - THE MARCH SOUTH DOWN THE RIGHT BANK .- FERRY- ING GRANT'S ARMY .- SIEGE.
1 T WAS necessary to General Grant's plan of campaign, that a large number of the trans- ports then above Vicksburg, and the neces- sary gun-boat convoys should be massed below the city, to be used both as supply boats and ferry-boats. To accomplish this they must run the blockade past the Vicksburg batteries.
The experiments that had so far been tried by sending single vessels by these formidable batteries, not excepting the modest and imperturbable old dummy, with its Quaker bow-gun, and its flour-barrel smoke-stack, which had so badly scared .the rebels out of their boots, had demonstrated to General Grant's satisfaction, that instead of the apparent certainty of sailing into the very jaws of death, it was in reality one of the most economically safe methods of warfare.
The method, having passed its experimental stage, was now to be applied in earnest, and meant business ; and which General Grant, on April 17th, 1863, reports to General Halleck, as follows :
"Seven gun-boats, Benton, Mound City Carondelet, Louisville, Pittsburg, De Kalb, and Tuscumbia, and three transports, Silver Wave, Forest Queen, and Henry Clay- with the Ram, General Price, ran the Vicksburg batteries last night. The crew of the steamer Henry Clay, excepting the pilot, deserted soon after getting under fire. The boat
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took fire and burned up. One other transport slightly dam- aged. One man killed and three wounded on the Benton."
Six days afterward, on the 23d of April, 1863, the General reports to General Halleck, the second attempt of the kind, as follows :
"Six boats, the Tigress, Anglo-Saxon, Cheeseman, Em- pire City, Moderator, and one other (name not given) ran the Vicksburg batteries last night. All the boats got by more or less damaged.
"The Tigress sunk at 3 a. m. and is a total loss. Crew all safe. The Moderator was much damaged. I think all the barges went through safely." *
"Two men mortally wounded, and several wounded more or less severely. About five hundred shots were fired. I look upon this as a great success." -X-
Prefacing the accounts of these two hazards of running the blockade in force, it was stated that the initial experi- ments of sending by a few vessels, or a single one, demon- strated to General Grant that, instead of sailing into the jaws of death, it would prove to be one of the most economically safe methods of warfare. These last two movements verified the above estimate. In the last of these movements, only two men were killed by five hundred heavy artillery shots from the enemy. Five hundred shots to kill one man. In the one preceding, two men were killed. Allowing the same num- ber of shots, then it took two hundred and fifty shots to kill one man ; or, in the two affairs, three men were killed by one thousand shots, or, three hundred and thirty-three and one- third shots to a man.
At any rate, we now had plenty of hard-tack and ferry- boats waiting us on the river below.
On the day after our return from Greenville, General Sher- man issued the following order :
General Orders HEADQUARTERS, FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS,
No. 26. Camp near Vicksburg, April 25th, 1863.
I .- Pursuant to special order No. 110, from the headquarters Depart- ment of the Tennessee, the Fifteenth Army Corps will march to Car-
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thage via Milliken's Bend and Richmond, by the left flank, viz., in the order of the Third, Second, and First Divisions. * * * *
II .- The First Division, General Steele commanding, will on its arrival from Greenville, land at the old camps, gather up their old camp equipage, and proceed by boat to a point near General Grant's headquar- ters at Milliken's Bend, and thence march to Richmond, and keep closed up on Second Division.
The above orders, so far as they affected both Steele's and Blair's Divisions, were countermanded and Yazoo demonstra- tiens substituted :
Steele's Division, instead of marching to Carthage, pur- suant to the above order, went on the Yazoo expedition under Sherman, the object of which was to draw as much as possible of the enemy's attention in that direction, while Grant could successfully cross his main army below, and gain a foothold from which to act against Vicksburg from the south. During this movement up the Yazoo, our regiment was left at Milli- ken's Bend.
In the meantime, General Blair, with his Second Division, was left at Milliken's Bend to hold the place, and guard the roads below, and was relieved by troops ordered by Grant from Hurlburt at Memphis, when both the First and Second Divisions followed Grant and caught him up in season to take a part in the stirring movements preliminary to the siege.
We had left Young's Point on April 26, on the D. J. Taylor, and arrived at Milliken's Bend, on the same day, signed the pay rolls on the 28th, and on the 29th received four months' pay.
On May 2nd received orders to move that same afternoon at 4 with three days' cooked rations in haversack.
Comrade Josselyn has the following : * *
* " Moved southward through Richmond, and passed many fine plan- tations, making about sixteen miles a day. On the 5th, we made four miles of very hard marching after dark through a dense forest. One day (the 4th) as we were taking our noonday hard-tack, a body of rebel prisoners passed going North, four hundred and thirty-eight in number, taken at
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Port Gibson. They remarked as they went by us that "all fashionable Southern gentlemen took a trip North during the hot months."
On the 4th we passed McArthur's Division in Camp, in which is the Ninety-fifth Illinois whose boys brought us can- teens of cool water which greatly refreshed us. On May 5th made Perkins' Landing through New Carthage ; and in the evening marched six miles further and camped in the grounds of the plantation of Dr. Bowie, who was one of the exceptions among Southern slaveholders who generally spent little or no money at home, on residences, ornamental grounds, roads, bridges, schoolhouses, churches, or other public buildings ; but, leaving the plantation in the hands of an overseer, the vast income, not uncommon, was spent at Saratoga, or other places of summer resort in the North, or in Europe.
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Dr. Bowie, on the contrary, had a magnificent mansion with beautiful grounds surrounding it, the spaciousness and costly fittings of which may be imagined by the mention of only a few details.
On the threatened approach of our army, the Doctor had hastily gathered together the easily movable valuables and decamped. Many good things were left.
General Sherman, General Steele, and recollection says, General Chas. E. Hovey, with the staff officers of all, with not a few headquarters followers, slept in that house that night, all on fine curled hair mattresses, elegant bed clothes (bed linen alone wanting) on elegant bedsteads, standing on heavy, rich Brussels carpets, and each had plenty of room, and must have "dreamed that they dwelt in marble halls." At any rate, the writer of this reclined on a richly upholstered sofa-lounge, on the front gallery of the house, and absorbed more luxury in that one night, for thirteen dollars a month, than he ever knew before or since. On our arrival, at the right hand back-corner of the house, outside, was an elegant piano, which had been chopped to pieces with an axe. A grand piano, in one of the front parlors, manipulated by one of Blair's skilled musicians, gave forth more patriotic strains
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than had been evolved therefrom for some years ; and dance music rippled from under the ivory keys for those who desired to trip "the light fantastic toe."
As the hours wore on towards the interior of the night, some of the men got boisterous, and before they could be re- strained charged bayonets on their own images in the magnifi- cent pier-glasses, which reached from floor to ceiling, and shattered them into a thousand fragments. Soon after the army was on the road in the morning following, some vandal had applied the torch to that house, and pianos, pier- glasses, rich furniture, and all else, comprising such an accumulation of wealth and luxury, were, in a few short moments reduced to ashes.
From the fact that before the day's march was over, we marched past another mansion in flames, whose owner him- self had applied the torch before he ran away, in sullen spite against the Yankees, we are relieved from the obligation of sympathy in such cases, and there is left a regret only, that such acts on our part are subversive of military discipline.
On May 6th, 1863 .- Marched nine miles and camped two miles from Hard Times Landing. On the 7th, we marched early, to the Landing, and crossed the river on the gun-boat Carondelet ; and Comrade Josselyn records the fact that
GENERAL SHERMAN CROSSED ON THE BOAT WITH US.
And now, and here, came to an end the almost two years' continuous service of the Thirteenth Regiment west of the Missis- sippi river, and it only lacked seventeen days of two years since the regiment was mustered into the United States Service, at Dixon, Illinois.
We remained about Grand Gulf, Mississippi, the entire day of our landing on Mississippi soil, mostly employed in drawing rations.
The enemy's works at this place were very formidable, and a front attack would, most probably, have resulted in great loss of life and failure at last. The flank movement by way
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of Port Gibson drove the rebels to evacuate Grand Gulf, and was the key to the investment of Vicksburg, aided by the insubordination, and bad generalship of General Pemberton, who disobeyed the positive orders of his superior, General Joseph E. Johnston, in scattering his covering forces so that General Grant had the opportunity which he sought, a chance to fight and conquer each rebel force in detail, and then driv- ing the fragments behind the fortifications of Vicksburg where they could not be reinforced, could not cut their way out, could shoot away the remainder of their ammunition, exhaust their few remaining rations, kill and
EAT THEIR MULES, EAT THE FEW RATS
that had not already died of starvation, and then haul down their flag.
May 13, 1863 .- Gen. Joseph E. Johnston wrote to Confed- erate Secretary of War, Seddon, as follows: "I arrived at Jackson this evening, finding the enemy's force between this place and General. Pemberton, cutting off the communica- tion." "I am too late."
This almost wailing knell of the Confederacy, is answered by Jefferson Davis personally, to General Johnston, as fol- lows : -X X-
"Do not perceive why a junction was not attempted, which would have made our force nearly equal in numbers to the estimated strength of the enemy, and might have resulted in his total defeat under circumstances which rendered re- treat or reinforcement to him scarcely practicable."
To this, General Johnson replied that : "On the 19th of May, he sent orders by telegraphic dispatches and by couriers, to Major-General Gardner to evacuate Port Hudson. And also explicit orders to General Pemberton to save his army by leaving Vicksburg ; none of which orders were obeyed."
We quote the Confederate General, C. H. Lockett, Chief Engineer of the Defenses of Vicksburg, to substantiate the charges of bad generalship and insubordination against Gen-
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eral Pemberton at this time. General Lockett says : * * " At last General Pemberton became convinced that General Grant's intention was to march up the east bank of Big Black river to strike the railroad at or near Edward's Depot, and thus cut off his communications with Jackson. * * * During this time General Pemberton received numerous dis- patches from President Davis, and from Gen. J. E. Johnston, who had recently arrived at Jackson. I saw or heard read, most of these dispatches. They were very conflicting in their tenor ; and neither those of Mr. Davis nor those of General Johnston exactly comported with General Pemberton's views. He then made the capital mistake of trying to harmonize in- structions from his superiors diametrically opposed to each other, and at the same time to bring them into accord with his own judgment, which was adverse to the plans of both. Mr. Davis' idea was to hold Vicksburg at all hazards and not to endanger it by getting too far from it. Johnston's plan was to cut loose from Vicksburg altogether, maneuver so as to avoid a general engagement with Grant until Confederate forces could be concentrated, and then beat him. Pemberton wished to take a strong position on the line of the Big Black and wait for an attack, believing that it would be successfully resisted, and that then the tables could be turned upon Gen- eral Grant in a very bad position, without any base of sup- plies, and without a well protected line of retreat. As I have said, none of these plans were carried out, but a sort of com- promise or compound of all these attempts, resulting in the unfortunate battle of Baker's Creek, or Champion's Hill, and the disgraceful stampede of Big Black Bridge." * * X
A few added words, to the above, by General Johnston, say :
* "He ( Mr. Davis) accuses me of producing confusion and consequent disasters by giving a written order to Lieutenant-General Pemberton, which he terms opening correspondence. But as that order, dated May 13th, was dis- obeyed, it certainly produced neither confusion nor disaster. But "consequent disaster " was undoubtedly due to the diso-
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bedience of that order, which caused the battle of Champion's Hill. When that order was written, obedience to it, which would have united all our forces, might have enabled us to contend with General Grant on equal terms, and perhaps, to win the campaign. ** *
- Soldiers, as well as many citizens, have expressed doubts about the garrison, and people of Vicksburg being driven to the extremity of eating mule-meat before surrender.
- We shall let the Confederate General Lockett (quoted just above) reply that :
* * X "We were short of provisions, so that our men had been on quarter rations for days before the close of the siege, had eaten mule-meat and rats and young shoots of cane, with the relish of epicures dining on the finest delicacies of the table." * -X
On May Sth .- Our regiment in the lead, left camp at 2 a. m. and marched eighteen miles, passing Quimby's Division, and camped near Black river.
On May 9th .- Moved camp only one mile, and for the rest of the day had a good rest in a pleasant camp, surrounded by hills, valleys, brooks of water and fine shade trees.
May 10th .- Had inspection at 10 a. m. and after 2 p. m. marched eight miles, a hot and dry day, but troops feeling well.
May IIth .- Were somewhat slow in using the twelve miles immediately in our front. On this day-says Lieuten- ant Josselyn-"We passed General Grant's Headquarters, and Generals Carr's and Osterhaus's Divisions. In passing General Carr's Headquarters, three cheers were given him by the regiment."
Passed through the town of Cayuga, where a part of McClernand's Corps is camped. We went into camp at sundown.
May 12th .- We marched until 10 a. m. when our advance brigade (Second Brigade, First Division, Gen. Charles R. Wood) came up with the enemy's pickets, and a brisk skir- mish ensued, which resulted in driving the enemy off, but
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with a loss to us of seven killed and eight wounded ; after which we built a new bridge.
The Thirteenth, having had a skirmish at Fourteen-mile Creek, moved forward two or three miles and camped. It was here that, before having broken ranks, the Thirteenth had been halted in the road, near which was an inhabited house ; in which happened to be just then, General. Sherman, who, with his staff, had halted for a rest. Captain Cole, of Company G, Thirteenth, happened to have halted his com- pany in the road almost immediately in front of this house. An order had been issued that while on duty, no man must be found without his gun or sword. One of Captain Cole's men determined to put down the rebellion by capturing rebel chickens ; and had been so successful as to be returning from the out- houses with four chickens in each hand, but without any gun. As he was passing the house, the lynx-eyes of General Sher- man saw him, and out the General ran, bare-headed, and ordered the man to give him the chickens, which the man did, well knowing who General Sherman was. The General took the chickens just as the soldier had done, four in each hand, and tugged them out to the road and gave them all to Cap- tain Cole's men who were still standing in line, at the same time sharply rebuking the man for abandoning his gun for foraging. Captain Cole resented General Sherman's interfer- ference with his man, and, it is said, has never forgiven him.
An order from General Grant reached General Steele at this camp to send an armed force across to the left with orders to General McClernand ; and General Steele ordered the de- tail to be made from the Thirteenth ; and a quota from each company was detailed and headed by Colonel Gorgas.
This service was not only difficult, but hazardous ; how much so, will be better realized by a description of the phys- ical features of the country from General Grant's own descrip- tion, as follows :
* -X * " The country in this part of Mississippi stands on edge, as it were, the roads running along the ridges except where they occasionally pass from one ridge to another.
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Where there are no clearings, the sides of the hills are cov- ered with a very heavy growth of timber, and with under- growth, and the ravines are filled with vines and cane- brakes, almost impenetrable. This makes it easy for an inferior force to delay, if not defeat a far superior force.
"Near the point selected by Bowen to defend, the road to Port Gibson divides, taking two ridges, which do not diverge more than a mile or two at the widest point. These roads unite just outside the town. This made it necessary for McCler- nand to divide his force. It was not only divided, but it was separated by a deep ravine of the character above described. One flank could not reinforce the other except by marching back to the junction of the roads."
The above graphic description of the country by General - Grant will give something of an idea of the night expedition of six miles crosswise of such a country. The start was made at dark, and after wandering all night in the woods and gorges, daylight developed our position to be between the picket- lines of the enemy and of our own. Not being empowered to arbitrate, and not desirous of being made into sieves and col- anders, Colonel Gorgas with his Thirteenth backed gracefully out of an awkward position, crawled up and slid down one or two more hog-backs, found McClernand's Headquarters, de- livered his dispatches, and counter-marched by daylight to the camp we had left and found it empty, our forces having gone on to Raymond. Resting an hour, we started after them with many of the men bearing aloft on their bayonets hams and bacon which Mrs. Bush, a kind rebel lady, had generously donated by compulsion to the Union cause.
We encamped two miles west of Raymond, having come up with our brigade.
On May 13th .- We passed through Raymond, the scene of yesterday's battle by Generals Logan and Crocker of our side.
On May 14th .- Through a tremendous down-pour of rain, we passed on toward Jackson where we could distinctly make out artillery conversation between the Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, and our Brigadier-General James M.
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