USA > Illinois > Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
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in line'of battle in rear of the battery ; and the Ninety-Second was just moving to take its place in this desperate charging column, when Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, rode up to Wilder, and ordered him not to make the attempt, and positively ordered Wilder to withdraw to Chattanooga, on the Dry Valley road. Wilder was daring and desperate; Dana, a coward and an imbecile; and but for Dana's order, the gallant Wilder would have undertaken that desperate charge, and would have succeeded in joining Thomas with a portion of his gallant brigade. Gath- ering up the artillery McCook's corps had abandoned, and, proba- bly, a hundred ambulances of wounded, Wilder lingered until nearly night; then sullenly retired, followed by Forrest's cavalry, and, long after dark on the twentieth, bivouaced a mile south of ·the Summertown road, about five miles south of Chattanooga, in the shadow of Lookout Mountain. It is not the province of the Publication Committee of the Ninety-Second to write the com- plete history of that battle; the foregoing is but a fragment for the use of some future American Macaulay.
Doctor Clinton Helm, Surgeon of the Ninety-Second, re- mained upon the battle-field, caring for the wounded, until he was taken prisoner, and, as a prisoner, for two weeks longer attended to the wounded Union soldiers upon the battle-field of Chica- mauga, when he was marched, with about fifty other Yankee Surgeons, to Ringgold. From there he was taken by cars to Richmond, Virginia, and, on the tenth of October, was confined in Libby Prison. On the twenty-fourth of November, he was ex- changed, and returned to the Regiment at Pulaski, Tennessee.
At sunrise of the twenty-first, the Regiment was in the saddle, and, finding the brigade supply train at the foot of the Summer- town road, drew rations, and marched through Chattanooga, crossed the pontoons to the north side of the river, marched to a point opposite the mouth of the Chicamauga, and bivouaced. On the twenty-second, light fortifications, facing the river, were thrown up. On the twenty-third, the Regiment marched to Har- rison's Landing, and went into camp, with orders to picket the Tennessee as far north as the Hiwassee, as the only dependence for rations to feed the army at Chattanooga were wagon trains over the mountains, on the north side of the river from Bridge. port, and well-grounded fear- were entertained that the enemy would cross parties of light troops to the north side of the river, and put an embargo on the Yankee cracker line. They did cross, and burned three hundred wagons loaded with rations, in the Se-
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quatchie valley ; but did not cross at any point guarded by the Ninety-Second Regiment. They crossed farther up the Tennes- see, where the crossing was better. Our picket line was so long that, frequently, a Corporal and three men did picket duty for days in succession, at important river crossings, without being relieved . It often happened that not a well man was in camp for days to- gether, except the field officers, the Chaplain, and Assistant Sur- geon; and not all of them remained in camp, for some of them would go galavanting around the country, visiting the secesh las- sies! The Committee on Publication do not feel inclined to tell who those galavanting officers were, except that the gay and festive Major was, probably, not among them, and that Chaplain Cartright was. The Committee have concluded to give an account of one of the Chaplain's visits: The Major, out riding for health one afternoon, passed a Tennessee palace, not far from camp, where he observed one of the beautiful lassies of that beau- tiful country engaged in the romantic occupation of coloring home-made cotton cloth butternut color, a chemical metamor- phosis which is accomplished by boiling butternut bark in water, in large kettles, and dipping the cloth into the liquor procured by such boiling. It may be remarked here, that from time imme- morial, in all of those countries where cotton is the staple crop, and butternut, or black-walnut trees are' found (and they probably are found in every climate where cotton will grow), this peculiar butternut colored cloth is the almost universal dress of male and female : although the same material, colored by some mysterious process, indigo-blue is preferred by the female race. It frequently happened that this outward garment of cotton cloth, colored butternut or indigo-blue, was the only garment worn by the mountain nymphs. O! how divinely it did set off " the female form divine," tied with a cotton string around the waist! The Major was an observing officer ; and, one afternoon, at Harrison's Landing, at the Tennessee palace we have mentioned, he ob- served, in the yard, a mountain sprite engaged in the romantic occupation of coloring fabrics, in the manner described; and, riding into camp, he nervously inquired for Doctor Winston, and. not finding him, sent his Orderly to find the Doctor, and tell him that a woman was "dying," at the house near the camp. The Chaplain met the Orderly, and learned the message he was to deliver; and the Chaplain charged away for the house, hallooing. as he went, " Doctor Winston, Doctor Winston! there is a woman 'dying' over there!" The Doctor joined the Chaplain-one to
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administer drugs, and the other spiritual advice-and they were soon at the house indicated. They inquired after the woman who was "dying," and were referred to Sally, in the yard! The Chaplain saw the point; and when he returned to camp, he shook · his head, saying: " Major, Major, you are a hard case." But it is believed, by all the members of the Regiment, that Doctor Winston has not yet seen the point! The enemy occupied their old position, on the opposite bank of the Tennessee; but there was no picket firing. The men would talk across the river, and good-naturedly joke each other about the progress of the war. One day, a soldier known by the knick-name of "Mother" (the soldiers of the Ninety-Second will remember him) swam the Tennessee River, and had a combat with the Johnnies, and then swam back again. On Sunday, the twenty-seventh, the gray- coats having invited some of the men across, they went over, and enjoyed a visit with their enemies, and returned the courtesy by inviting them to our side of the river ; and quite a squad accepted the invitation, and took a cup of coffee with the Yanks. The men of both armies, deadly enemies in battle, would lay aside all feeling, and, with a perfect abandon, spin camp yarns for the entertainment of each other On the fourth of October, wagons were sent eighty miles up the Tennessee River, after forage for the animais. The men were then living on parched corn, and the horses on the little handfuls of grass the men could pull for them along the river's edge. On the ninth, a few wagons arrived from Bridgeport, with a light supply of rations and clothing. On the thirteenth, the wagons returned from the cornfields of East Tennessee, with light loads of corn, the most of their loads hav- ing been consumed by the mules, on the return march. They were immediately sent back again for more; and, as the mules went without eating, on their return march to East Tennessee, the next time they returned to camp, the teamsters provided themselves for the return march after forage, by hiding corn in the woods before reaching camp, and only a few bushels of corn were left to a wagon. Some of the horses were dying of starva- tion, and all like Don Quixote's famous steed. The rain had poured down in torrents for days together. On the evening of the eighteenth, Jefferson Davis took his supper at a house on the other side of the river, within sight of our camp. He was visit. ing Bragg's army, to quell dissentions among his troops. On the twenty-second, a man in Company D accidentally shot himself through his leg. On the twenty-fourth, Colonel Smith's brigade
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of infantry arrived. On the twenty-fifth, William Boddy, of Company A, came near feeding the fishes of the Tennessee with his body ; while out hunting for forage, he crossed to an island in the river, and, returning in a little skiff, he disrobed, and, on top of the forage, essayed to guide his frail bark from the island to the river bank, when the skiff capsized, and Boddy's body, with forage and clothing, went into the water. Boddy thought more of his body than he did of the apparel for his body; and while his body covering floated down the Tennessee, Boddy brought his body out all right; and then, like a Modock Chief, with an army blanket gracefully draping his body, Boddy rode ten miles to camp. The pouring rains had nearly drowned out the men; and on the twenty-sixth, camp was moved to higher ground. The hills were covered with chestnut trees, and the trees with chest- nuts; and to gather them, hundreds of trees were cut down. 'They helped along the rations, which, being principally parched corn, needed helping along. On the morning of the twenty- seventh, the Regiment took up its line of march for Bridgeport, being relieved of duty at Harrison's Landing by Smith's brigade ; crossed Walden's Ridge at Poe's Tavern, and camped in the Se- quathie valley, near Dunlap. Marched at daylight down the Sequatchie valley twenty-two miles ; the roads were very much cut up by trains ; fences all burned ; houses deserted ; the ruins of three hundred Yankee wagons, burned by Forrest, lining the road ; the contrast, since first marching in the valley, was most wonderful ; in a day's march, nothing but ruin was seen, either animal or man, except lazy buzzards; nothing for inen or animals to eat: camped near Jasper. Marched at daylight on the twenty-ninth, and, seven miles from Bridgeport, passed through the camps of Hooker's troops from the Potomac, well dressed, all with corps badges and paper collars, and much style! The horses of the Ninety-Second could scarcely crawl along-empty corn-cribs! The men were unwell from their lack of rations and hard duty, and their clothing worn out and ragged. Some thoughtless Po- tomac soldiers commenced to jibe the men of the Ninety .Second, and it required an effort on the part of the officers to keep the boys from replying with their Spencers. Men who are ragged from hard service, and emaciated for the want of food, do not like to be jibed. Reached Bridgeport at two o'clock, and drew forage and rations, and went into camp. On the thirty-first of October, the Regiment was mustered for pay at Bridgeport. On November fifth, the Colonel, with a detail, went to Stevenson,
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to draw Spencers for the seven companies still armed with En- fields; but was informed, by Captain Horace Porter, Ordinance Officer, that the Spencers were in Nashville. On the sixth, the Colonel, by order of General Thomas, took a detail of one hun- dred and thirty men, and proceeded by cars to Nashville, to procure horses, mules, and Spencers, leaving the Ninety-Second in command of Lieutenant Colonel Sheets, the Regiment re- maining at Bridgeport. A soldier, in an old letter written from Bridgeport on the eleventh, said: "On the morning of the twenty-seventh of October, by order of General Thomas, we left Harrison's Landing for this place, making it in three days, over the worst roads I have ever seen. This is the third time we have crossed Walden's Ridge, or mountain; and if the weather con- tinues as it has been for the last three weeks, it will have to be pontooned before we can cross it again. Our transportation arrived, after a struggle of ten days through the mud, the distance being just sixty miles. Our object, or rather the object of Gene- ral Thomas, in ordering us to this point. is for the purpose of giving us a more complete outfit; and at present writing, Colonel Atkins, with one hundred and thirty men and officers, is at Nash- ville, procuring Spencers, horses, and saddles, and all the traps pertaining to completeness. The remainder of the Regiment are to recruit up the animals on hand, that have of late become mag- nificently transparent. We have them tied to the trees with trace-chains and sich, for the reason that they have eaten up all the picket ropes and halters, and have turned in to eating each other's manes and tails. The mules have fared some better than the horses, but not much; not having any tails or manes, they have lost their ears, ornaments indispensable to a mule's beauty. There is not a tree within a mile of this camp that the horses or mules have not gnawed off the bark ; they work at it like so many beavers felling timber. Last night, they all commenced gnawing the trees at once; and the Chief of Scouts said: 'The cars are coming; don't you hear them?' 'No,' said I; ' that is the horses and mules grinding bark.' ' Why,' he said; ' what are we grinding bark for?' I replied, 'Going to tan the hides of them animals before spring.' And the Chief of Scouts replied, 'O, O: I see it.'
" If he dies, I'll tan his skin- And if he don't, I'll ride him again."
On November thirteenth, drew soft bread for the first time since leaving Dechard. The fifteenth, ordered to march at daylight the
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sixteenth, but order was countermanded, and two companies sent on a scout south of the Tennessee. On the seventeenth, marched at nine A. M., by command of Major General Stanley, and went into camp on south side of Tennessee River, two miles from Bridgeport. On the eighteenth, there were very strict orders for every one to remain in camp, and two roll-calls daily. On the next day, fixed up camp for a long stay. On the twentieth, the detail that went to Nashville returned, with a fresh supply of horses and mules, the Colonel remaining to draw the Spencers. On the twenty-second, a lot of Rebel prisoners passed camp, going to the rear. On the twenty-third, more Rebel prisoners passed by, ragged, and some actually barefooted, and the weather so cold that ice strong enough to hold a man up had formed over the puddles of water. Day by day passed, lying in camp, and doing scouting duty for General Stanley. On December second, marched at noon; crossed the Tennessee on pontoons at Bridgeport, and camped five miles west on the Stevenson road, at Widow's Creek -rails, for fires, plenty. Marched early, arriving at Caperton's Ferry at noon, and found fine quarters, log buildings erected by Colonel Watkins's regiment. On the fourth, Company E, Cap- tain Van Buskirk, that had been on duty with General Cruft, re- turned to the Regiment. The company reported to General Cruft at Wauhatchie, and acted as body-guard and dispatch-bearers. On the day of the battle of Lookout Mountain, Company E did good service in bearing dispatches, and especially in furnishing the infantry line of battle with ammunition, bringing up the am- munition boxes on horseback and distributing it to the infantry. The company also took part in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and the night after the battle guarded the Rebel prisoners; and marched with General Cruft's command to Ringgold. The con- duct of Company E won special commendation in the official re- port of General Cruft.
Companies K and C, that were left on courier duty on Look- out Mountain, September eleventh, returned to the Regiment at Caperton's Ferry. A soldier, a member of Company K, has written his recollections of the services of those two companies, while absent from the Regiment, as follows: "The sun was just setting behind Lookout's craggy head as the Regiment com- menced the ascent. In zigzag course, upward they toiled, men and officers leading the jaded animals. Stumbling over flinty points, flanking huge boulders, climbing the splintered sides of ledges, the Regiment scrambled upward till it reached the lofty
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summit. The sun had set; there was no moon, and the night was very dark ; a guide was necessary. A rap at the door of a house close by brought the occupant out. The light he held in his hand showed him to be a stout, vigorous mountaineer, of about sixty years, with iron-gray hair, and a frank face. He said his name · was Foster; he reported himself a Union man, and such he after- · ward proved to be. Well did the old man, in the pitchy darkness, guide the Regiment along that rough, winding mountain road. Companies C, Captain Hawk, and K, Captain Woodcock, under the command of the latter, were detailed for courier duty. A Sergeant and ten men from Company K were stationed as a cour- ier post, at Foster's. At points two miles apart along the road were stationed a like number of men, Company K covering ten miles, and Company C fourteen miles. The first streak of dawn came when the Regiment had completed its task. Both men and animals, from sheer exhaustion, sank upon the ground in the pro- foundest slumber. A courier line was formed above the clouds, on Lookout's lofty summit, over which were sent all the dis- patches to the army corps of Generals Thomas and McCook. The views obtained by those left on the mountain were grand. The boys from the prairies, unaccustomed to such scenes, looked with wonder and adiniration. They could see, in a clear day, into seven different States: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and the mountains of West Virginia. At times the clouds would gather below them, and, silvered by the sun, resembled great banks of snow; then they would lift from the valley and float away, opening to view a most beautiful pano- rama. For miles about, the country, like a great map, seemed to lie at their feet, a beautiful scene of mountains, valleys and streams. For miles the silvery flood of the Tennessee River could be seen in its winding course. The mountaineers were loyal. They had been hiding away in the caves and fastnesses of the mountains to avoid conscription into the ranks of the Rebel armies. They and their families visited us, the first Yanks they had seen. They vied with each other in bestowing upon the boys their kindness- sweet potatoes, all kinds of vegetables, ducks, chickens, pies, cakes, honey, and apple-jack brandy were among their gitts. We feasted upon the good things of the earth. The boys on the cour- ier post at Foster's house were especially favored. Mrs. Foster, an intelligent, kind-hearted, motherly, old lady, took them under her especial care. She called them her boys.
"Five days and nights were thus spent on Lookout
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Mountain, and are remembered by the members of Compa- nies C and K as among the most pleasant of their soldier life. 'At two o'clock in the morning of Wednesday, the sixteenth, orders came to take up the courier line at once, and report to General Rosecrans, at Crawfish Springs. The order was obeyed; and on the evening of that day, Captain Woodcock reported to General Rosecrans with the two companies. On the seventeenth, by General Rosecrans's order, Captains Woodcock and Hawk formed a courier line from Chattanooga to Crawfish Springs, along the base of Lookout, a distance of sixteen miles, both officers remain- ing with their reserves at the head-quarters of General Rosecrans, at Widow Glenn's house. Saturday morning, the nineteenth, the battle of Chicamauga, one of the bloodiest of the war, commenced. It raged fiercely all day, the earth fairly quaking beneath the thunder of the artillery and incessant roll of musketry. Captains Woodcock and Hawk, with their reserves, were engaged in car- rying dispatches to different points in the field. Sunday, the twentieth, the battle again raged fiercely. About ten o'clock in the forenoon, General Rosecrans directed Captain Woodcock to take up the line and form it from Chattanooga, via Rossville, to his head-quarters. General Rosecrans said the southern portion of the line was uncovered by his army, and was liable to be cap- tured by the enemy, if not at once taken up. Sending orders to remove the more northerly posts to the Rossville road, Captain Woodcock hastened to the post at Crawfish Springs. The enemy was just charging in. They captured one of the videttes. Some of the boys, in the confusion, mingled with the Rebels, but suc- ceeded in escaping. The posts were rescued and formed on the Rossville road. The line was completed about two o'clock P. M. Captain Woodcock, with his reserve, moved in the direction of Widow Glenn's, to report to General Rosecrans. He marched by crowds of men that, in disorder, were going to the rear ; still lie kept on, until the pattering of bullets warned him to halt. On looking back, he saw our troops reforming and in line of battle. Knowing then that he was between the Rebel and Union forces, he countermarched. He could learn nothing of General Rose- crans. Meeting General Garfield, he reported to him, who or- dered him to report to General Thomas. He found General Thomas, who, as firm as old rock-ribbed Lookout, confronted the Rebels and held them at bay. During the entire night of that ter- rible Sabbath, the tall, noble form of General Thomas stood erect, watching his line, while his staff officers lay around him on the
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ground, worn out and insensible with fatigue. Captain Hawk, with his reserve, was, during the entire battle, with Rosecrans. When the right of the army was crushed, the General, followed by Captain Hawk and his reserve of Company C, dashed along the broken lines, regardless of shot and shell, endeavoring to rally the men. Captain Hawk, by the General's order, deployed his men in the rear of the broken columns, and endeavored to halt the retreating mass; but it was like attempting to stay the ocean's tide by throwing pebbles in its way.
"From the twenty-second of September to the eleventh of October, Companies C and K were employed in carrying dis- patches to the army surrounding Chattanooga. On the afternoon of Sunday, the eleventh, orders came to form a courier line from Chattanooga, north along the summit of Walden's Ridge, to An- derson's Cross Roads, a distance of twenty-one miles. Companies C and K were at once stretched out on this line, Captains Hawk and Woodcock, with their reserves, still remaining with General Thomas. A famine was in the city. The men were on one- fourth rations. The boys out along the line were feasting, while those in town were starving by slow degrees. They cut down the shade trees and broused their horses from the tops. The horses became skeletons, many of them laying down their bones in the streets of Chattanooga. On the ninth of November, by order of General Thomas, the courier line was removed from Walden's Ridge, and formed from Chattanooga to Bridgeport. Captain Hawk, with his reserve, was stationed at Bridgeport. Captain Woodcock remained with General Thomas. Lieutenant Walker, of Company K, with a courier post, was stationed at General Hooker's head-quarters, in Lookout valley. On the twenty-fourth of November, Hooker fought his battle above the clouds. A por- tion of Company K, as couriers, had the honor to participate in that battle. On the twenty-fifth, was fought the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge. The reserve at General Thomas's head-quarter- then came in for their share of glory. On the fourth of Decen- ber, Captains Woodcock and Hawk were relieved, with their com. panies, from courier duty, and ordered to report to the Regiment. They found the Regiment at Caperton's Ferry. Alabama, and were glad once more to be at home. While on the way to report to the Regiment, as they were crossing Chattanooga Creek, near Lookout, they met the old guide, Mr. Foster. The old man's face lighted up as he recognized the men of the Ninety-Second. He told his story. It was a sad one. After the battle of Chica.
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mauga, Lookout Mountain fell into the hands of the Rebels. Some designing person reported to the Rebels that the old man had acted as a guide to the Ninety-Second in forming the courier line. His Union sentiments were also well known. The Rebels gave him a mock trial, and sentenced him to be hanged; and, with a rope around his neck, they were proceeding to string him up, when an officer of the Rebel army rushed forward, and, by impor- tunities and threats, saved the old man's life. The officer had be- fore taken up his quarters at Mr. Foster's house. The shock to his wife, and her constant fear on account of her husband, aggra- vated a disease that afflicted her, and caused her death. The old mountaineer broke down in the middle of his story. Great sobs choked his utterance, and he wept like a child."
On the fifth, the Mcclellan army saddles arrived from Nash- ville; the Regiment, up to this time, had been using citizens' saddles of every pattern. Long forage was very scarce, and the men gathered from the cane-brakes along the Tennessee the cane leaves, which they brought into camp in bundles, and they looked like freshly-gathered corn blades, and were eaten with great relish by the animals. On December seventh, the Colonel returned from Nashville with the new Spencer Rifles, which were issued, and the remaining Enfields turned over to the Ordnance De- partnient. The Regiment was now well mounted, cavalry equipments complete, and all had Spencers. On the ninth, the animals began to die, and the trouble seemed general. The Regimental Horse Doctor was unequal to the occasion, and the Regimental Surgeon was called upon for a post mortem on the defunct horses, and the result of his inquest was the information that the animals were dying from the slivers of the hard center of the cane leaves they were eating in place of hay, the stomachs of the defunct animals being stuck full of these slivers, which had caused inflammation and death. For once the lazy soldiers, too lazy to gather the cane leaves for forage for their horses, had the advantage of the more energetic soldiers. It deserves mention,
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