USA > Illinois > Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers > Part 15
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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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moved on to Lovejoy, where it commenced tearing up the rail- road track, but a swarm of Rebel infantry drove the men from the work. The command retraced its steps, but, after marching four or five miles, masses of Rebel infantry were found in its front. The Rebels had been run down from Atlanta in the cars during the night. The road led through a very large open field. In the field the command was hemmed in; dense columns of Rebel in. fantry and cavalry surrounded the Yankees. In this situation, the command fought until three o'clock P. M. The Ninety-Sec- ond had been frequently double-quicked on foot from point to point of the field. The enemy's fire began to converge from all directions. The Rebels thought they could bag Kilpatrick, as they had done Stoneman. In front, the Rebel artillery played upon the men. To the right, to the left, and in rear of their artil- lery, gray lines of Rebel infantry were stationed, with bristling bayonets. "Surrender to the Rebs? Never!" was the exclamna- tion of the men, uttered between their grinding teeth. Kilpatrick formed his men for the charge in several columns, four horsemen abreast in each column. The bugles sounded the charge. Men's faces became rigid with determination ; thousands of sabres glit- tered in the sunlight. The flashing sabres were a magnificent sight. The sky resounded with the cheers of the men; the horses caught the spirit of their riders, and were wild with excitement; and away the columns flew toward the enemy. They ran over the Rebel artillery, sabering the gunners, who gallantly stood by their guns. They rode down the Rebel infantry, their lines van- ishing like magic. Some of them rallied, and charged for the Tenth Wisconsin Battery, and the captured Rebel battery, which were in the care of the Ninety-Second. The Ninety-Second men wheeled into line, and volleyed the charging Rebels with their Spencers. The Rebels broke in confusion, and fled in consterna- tion. In the charge, Captain William B. Mayer, of Company F, was wounded; several of the men were hit, but none had mortal wounds.
Having captured the Rebel artillery, three battle flags, and many prisoners, the command moved east about three miles, and halted. Kilpatrick ordered a detail, to be made from each com- pany of the command, to go to the adjacent fields for corn for the animals. A regiment was thrown on the road, in the rear of the command, as a picket guard. The detailed men had not reached the corn-fields, before a heavy volley was fired into the rear guard. The Rebel infantry had rallied, and were in pursuit.
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The bugles sounded recall. The men hastened back to their horses; the command mounted, and were away, on the McDon- ough Road. They reached McDonough, the county-seat of Henry County, about five o'clock P. M. The heavens grew sud- denly dark with clouds. It commenced to rain. The rain soon poured in torrents. It seemed as if the very flood-gates of the heavens had broken loose. The command moved through the town, taking the road north ward toward Covington. Captain M. Van Buskirk, of Company E, and Captain Harvey M. Timms, of Company A, and Captain Horace J. Smith, of Company B, with their companies, were ordered to move rapidly, in advance of the whole command, to South River, a branch of the Ocmul- gee, seize the bridge, and hold it until the command crossed. On reaching the bridge, they found it in possession of a detach- ment of Rebel cavalry. The boys charged them, and drove them from the bridge, as they were attempting to burn it. It was already on fire, but the boys soon extinguished the Alaines. The darkness had become intense. The column crossed a small stream, and halted. An Orderly, from head-quarters, canie along and said to the Ninety-Second: " You will go in there to the left, and await further orders." The Regiment did as di- rected; they found themselves in a plowed field, flooded with water by the rain tempest: mud and water were nearly knee deep. Some of the men, through sheer exhaustion, sank down in the mud and water, and were soon asleep, and oblivious to suffering; .
others stood up, and held their horses that dark, chilly night through. Next morning, no sooner had faint streaks of light in the East indicated the approach of day, than the command re- suined its march. After crossing South River, on the bridge saved by the boys of companies E, A, and B, the bridge was effectually destroyed. The column moved on, until it reached another branch of the Ocmulgee, called Cotton River. There was no bridge. The heavy rains had swollen the stream, so that it overflowed its banks, and its angry flood whirled madly along its channel. The ford was dangerous; and, for some eighty feet, the horses must swim. Kilpatrick, on the opposite bank, stood shouting to the men, ordering them to " let go the bridle rein>, and let the horses guide themselves." The horses, snorting, and breasting the flood, swam admirably. A frightened rider would seize the bridle, and attempt to guide his horse; the horse would turn up on his side, and away horse and rider would go, whirled along by the angry Rood. The command was a long time in
10
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crossing. In the swollen stream were lost the ammunition train. one piece of artillery, and several ambulances, and a number of horses were drowned. The ambulance in which Captain William B. Mayer, of Company F, was riding, after he had been wounded, was lost in Cotton River; and the Captain came near losing his life in the water, but caught hold of a limb of a tree, and kept his head above water until rescued. Every man and horse had a cold bath. They were as wet as drowned rats, from the rain. when they went in; but the bath washed away the mud.
The column moved in the direction of Lithonia, a station on the Georgia Railroad, east of Atlanta. About three o'clock in the afternoon, it being the Sabbath, a lot of carriages and buggies were met, loaded with ladies and gentlemen, returning from church. They were halted; and the horses instantly entered the service of Uncle Sam. Ladies and old men, clad in their Sun- day suits, sat in their horseless carriages, in the center of the road, demurely inspecting the Yankees as they passed. As the Ninety-Second moved by, the utmost courtesy was manifested toward the unfortunates. Only one boy addressed them. To a dark-haired young lady, of about eighteen, he said: " Sissy, are you in favor of our Union?" She responded only by a shake of her curls, and a flash of her black eyes. Lithonia Station was reached at dark. The Ninety-Second was ordered into line east of the railroad, and directed to act as a picket. It commenced to rain again, and poured down the entire night through.
On Monday morning early, the command resumed its march. moving along the railroad in the direction of Atlanta. The heavens had cleared up, and the blue sky was once more visible. The sun shone brightly. About noon, the column halted near a large corn-field; the horses were fed. No Rebels were in sight. Large fires were made of cedar rails, and the boys doffed their clothes, wrung out the water, and hung them up by the fires to dry. Some of the boys, who were not Free Ma- sons, having a great respect for the Order (as they said), had taken some of the masonic clothing from the burning Masonic Hall at Jonesboro, consisting of little aprons highly ornamented with gold and silver bullion, which they tied on, and marched around in a circle, saying it was in commemoration of old father Adam, who was partial to that kind of a dress, except that his apron was made of fig-leaves instead of rich cloth, adorned with the precious metals.
After a little rest, the command moved, passing Stone Moun-
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tain on their right, a rocky peak that rises, solitary and grand, above the surrounding plain. On reaching Decatur, the advance struck a body of Rebel cavalry. A few volleys sent them flying toward Atlanta. After marching to a point midway between Decatur and Atlanta, the column moved on a road northward, and soon reached the picket line on the left of Sherman's army. The Ninety-Second was warmly welcomed by Wilder's brigade, to which it had formerly belonged. It was about five o'clock P. M. Worn out, and burning with fever, from loss of sleep, the men sank upon the ground in heavy slumber, and were not disturbed until nine o'clock the next morning. Kilpatrick's Division then marched to its old encampment, on the right of Sherman's army, on the banks of the Chattahoochee, having made a complete cir- cuit around both the Confederate and United States Armies.
On August twenty-fifth, with three days' rations, the Ninety- Second marched, at sundown, six miles, toward West Point, and lay in line of battle all night. At noon, on the twenty-sixth, the Regiment marched back to camp at Sandtown. At eleven o'clock at night, orders came to march at twelve o'clock ; drew rations, and marched, at midnight, to same point occupied the night previous. At noon next day, crossed the creek, and marched six miles, skirmishing with the enemy, and threw up barricades. The country was poor, and forage for animals scarce, but sweet potatoes were plenty, to go with and save the hard-tack and bacon. The firing was continuous all night. The morning of the twenty-eight broke in perfect calm, neither party attacking. The Regiment moved at seven A. M., traveling down the Mont- gomery Railroad, and soon found the enemy in force. The Ninety-Second was dismounted, and advanced one mile up the railroad track, toward Atlanta, getting an occasional shell from the Rebel artillery, the enemy retreating. After a while, the Yankee artillery was brought into requisition, and silenced the Rebel guns. The line of battle of the Regiment extended across the railroad track, and rail barricades had been thrown up, when the infantry relieved the Ninety-Second. Four of the Ninety - Second men were wounded by the Rebel artillery. The Regi- ment mounted, and moved down the railroad. The Regiment was again dismounted, and moved farther down the railroad, to hold the front in that direction, until the other regiments built barricades. Here the Regiment remained until ten o'clock P. M., constantly under fire, but they gave the enemy so careful atten- tion that they dared not advance: moved back to the barricades,
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and held them until two hours after daylight the next morning, when the Ninety-Second was again relieved by the infantry, and ordered back to the horses, and to remain ready to march at the bugle call, and remained saddled all day. Eight miles of the rail- road was utterly destroyed, rails burned and twisted around trees and telegraph poles, in fantastic shapes, and the tie, burned up. At night, the Ninety-Second was ordered on picket duty, holding the skirmish line all night. The cavalry did good service in building barricades, but their carbines, pistols, and sabres were not worth a cent for fighting; and, of course, the Ninety-Second, with their long-range repeating rifles, did the fighting and dangerous duty for the Division. The post of danger was the post of honor, and the Ninety-Second always held it. At seven o'clock, on the morning of August thirtieth, IS64, the Ninety-Second moved on the road toward Jonesboro, having the advance of the Army of the Tennessee. General Howard was in command of that army, General Logan commanding the fif- teenth corps. The Ninety-Second skirmished with the enemy constantly, driving them easily until it reached Bethsaida Church, where, beyond an open field, the enemy were massed behind a long line of works. Generals Logan and Kilpatrick reconnoi- tered the position. Kilpatrick said: " Logan, throw forward some of your infantry, and charge them out." Logan said: "Kil- patrick, you are a charging man; charge yourselt." The order then came to the Ninety.Second: "With the Regiment on horseback, you will charge those works, and drive out the Rebs." The question was asked: " May we not charge on foot, as we are accustomed to?" The reply was: "You will charge on horseback." Kilpatrick wished to show his cavalry. The Ninety- Second men will remember how hard it was to wheel the horses into line in that tangled wild wood, beneath a galling fire, the bullets rattling like hail against the trees. Some of the men shouted: " Let us charge on foot." The reply was: "No, we are ordered to charge on horse." The command was given- " forward." Like wild mad-caps, the Ninety-Second dashed over that field, and threw their horses against the works ; they brought their Spencers down, and pumped fire into that living inass: stricken with fear, the enemy fled. The ground along the works was strown with Rebel dead and dying. Some prisoners were taken. One boy, of Company I, in his excitement, sprung from his horse upon the back of a big Johnny, and, grabbing him by the collar, dragged him over the works, and, leading him up to
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Captain Becker, said: "Cap, here's a prisoner; what shall I do with him?" Captain Becker said: "Take him back to the rear." Boy said: "I have not time, Cap; you take him back; I want to go for another!" This charge cost the Ninety- Second valuable lives, although the Rebels lost ten to our one. Here Lieutenant Dawson, of Company H, was mortally wounded,. than whom a better, braver soldier never lived. His loss to Com- pany H, and to the Regiment, was irreparable. His body sleeps by the Chattahoochee ; but his noble, daring spirit finds rest in the soldier's paradise.
The Regiment moved forward again on the Jonesboro Road, until it reached a valley, where it was ordered to halt. Here the Regiment witnessed a splendid artillery duel. On the range of hills east of the Regiment was Rebel artillery ; on a western sum- ยท mit our batteries were in position. We were midway between the two. It was a grand scene to witness. White wreaths of smoke curled upward from the guns, white wreaths from the bursting shells: Rebel shot howled over us; our shells went screaming over us back again. Thunder answered to thunder, peal to peal, crash to crash! Earth fairly shook. Our boys beat. The Rebel gunners limbered up, and rumbled away. Onward we moved, still toward Jonesboro. We marched until we reached Flint River Valley, about two miles from town. As we looked down from the hill we saw the river, a bridge spanning it; Rebel ranks were guarding the bridge, and about to destroy it. " For- ward, the Ninety-Second!" was the order. "Charge the Rebs, save the bridge!" .At our request, we charged on foot. On the run the Ninety-Second went in, cheer upon cheer uttered as the men dashed upon the Rebs.' They could not stand the blaze of the Ninety-Second Spencers; they fled. The bridge was saved. As the Ninety-Second was returning to their horses, they met Generals Howard and Osterhaus. General Howard said : " Boys, that was a splendid charge; you are a noble Regiment." Oster- haus said: " Das ist ein goot Regiment: dey trills de infantry trill." Each man in the Ninety-Second, after those compliments, telt as big as a full-fledged Major General : and they had a right to feel thus, for they were good, brave, noble boys. Had they been ordered to charge into the very jaws of death, they would have done it. As soon as mounted, Kilpatrick said: " Captain Estes will accompany you, and give you my orders." The Ninety . Second moved down the hill, and as it was crossing the bridge, Estes said to an infantry Colonel who stood by: "Colonel, the
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cavalry will beat the infantry. We are going right into Jones- boro." We made a right turn as we crossed the bridge, and marched down the left bank of the river. The shades of night were falling. The Ninety-Second had marched and fought the blessed day through-no rest, no dinner, no coffee or little hard- tack. After moving about a mile and a half down the river, the Regiment came to a swale; it was getting quite dark. Some of the men said: "Yonder are the Rebels! I see their line; there are hundreds and hundreds of them." Estes replied: "It's a d-d lie; there's not a Rebel between us and Jonesboro." As the Regiment crossed the swale, and reached the foot of a hill, a roll- ing volley of musketry greeted it. Estes said: "The General directs that you dismount your command, charge the hill, take it, and hold it." He then moved rapidly to the rear. In advance of the rest of our Division, we knew not how far, the line of the Rebel army running across the top of that hill, the Ninety-Sec- ond alone was ordered to charge the hill, take and hold it. Great God, what a task! " Prepare to fight on foot," was the order.
" Was there a man dismayed? Not tho' the soldier knew Some one had blundered : Theirs not to make reply. Theirs not to reason why : Theirs but to do and die. Into the Valley of Death Rode the Six Hundred."
"Forward!" was the command. How like demons the Ninety- Second fought its way up that hill. Terrible was the roll of its Spencers. The incessant, unbroken fire of the Ninety-Second guns the Rebs, though ten to one, could not withstand. Dis- mayed, they recoiled and fled back to the foot of the hill. " Lie down!" was the order. The Ninety-Second obeved. How closely, how lovingly the men hugged old mother earth ; had they not done it, there would probably have been but one reunion of the Ninety-Second, and that beyond the skies-for fire to the right of them, fire in front of them, fire to the left of them, volleyed and famed! Should the men of the Ninety-Second live until they are wrinkled and gray, they will never forget the terrible hissing, whistling, and whizzing of bullets above them. It seemed as if ten thousand colonies of bees were let loose in the trees about them. One, two and three different messengers were sent back
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with the word, " We hold the hill, send us reinforcements or fur- ther orders." The Division had come up. The balance of the Brigade tried to form on the left of the Ninety-Second, but could not; had the balance of the Brigade succeeded, a general engage- ment of the two armies would have ensued. Orders came-" Fall back."
"Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them."
One-fifth of the number engaged were killed or wounded, and nearly all while lying flat upon the ground. In this fight Lieu- tenant Sammis was twice wounded, one wound crippling him for life. It was midnight before the Ninety-Second sank to rest on the ground. Thus ended an eventful day in the history of the Ninety-Second Regiment. A day or two after, General Howard issued an order to Kilpatrick, complimenting him for the brilliant diversion made by the cavalry on his right, which enabled him to get his men into line without firing a gun. The brilliant diver- sion referred to was made by the Ninety-Second Illinois Regi- ment, and by that Regiment alone.
The following is the list of killed and wounded : In Company . D, Lieutenant Oscar F. Sammis, twice severely wounded. In Company B, Lieutenant H. C. Cooling, wounded. In Company H, Lieutenant William H. Dawson, mortally wounded. In Com- pany D, private John Reed, severely wounded in side ; private Stephen B. Lowe, slightly wounded in foot; private Augustus Johnson, severely wounded; private Walter Scott, killed. In Company G, Corporal James M. Phillips, wounded; Corpo- ral William Backe, wounded ; private John J. Smith, se- verely wounded ; private David Grossman, severely wound- ed ; private Christopher Houser, wounded ; Corporal John F. Spalding, wounded; Corporal William Dougherty, wound- ed. In Company C. Corporal William Johnson, severely wounded; private Thomas D. Oakley, wounded and taken pris- oner. In Company HI, private Squire Diamond, killed; private James W. Burton, severely wounded ; private Harvey Schermer- horn, severely wounded. In Company A, private John Denious, severely ,wounded ; private Allen Rand, wounded ; private Michael
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Wendling, wounded. In Company E, private Edward Crawford, severely wounded, arm amputated; private Joseph McElhiney, wounded. In Company K, private Augustus Stalhout, killed.
At three o'clock, on the morning of the thirty-first of August, the Ninety-Second was ordered to cross to the other side of Flint River, which it did, and rested until ten o'clock A. M., when the Regiment mounted and moved south four or five miles, and then moved eastwardly, toward Harris's Bridge. Before reaching the bridge, the Regiment was halted, and horses were fed from a corn- field. The Regiment, with the Cavalry Division, was then on the right of General Howard's army corps. About two o'clock P. M., the corps of the Confederate Generals Stephen D. Lee and Hardee moved out of their works at Jonesboro, and attacked Gen- era! Howard fiercely ; but Howard was prepared for them, and in the contest that ensued the slaughter of the enemy was fearful. The battle lasted for two hours. The thunder of artillery and roar of musketry reminded the Ninety-Second of Chicamauga. A por- tion of the cavalry of Kilpatrick's Division were beyond the field in which the Ninety-Second was resting and feeding their horses, and, when the Rebel infantry charged, the cavalry broke and re- treated in confusion. As a matter of course, when our cavalry came skedaddling back, the Ninety-Second was ordered forward on foot, on the double-quick. The Regiment deployed in the edge of open oak woods, under a galling fire, and met the gray- coated Confederate infantry charging across an open field in their front The Ninety-Second opened upon them with their Spencer Repeating Ritles, and with terrible effect. The enemy could not stand the unremitting, and cool and steady fire from the Spencers of the Ninety-Second; they faltered in their charge; they broke; in confusion the gray-coats fell back to some scattering timber, and there kept up a desultory fire upon the Ninety.Second. The Regiment had soon thrown up a barricade; but the enemy did not again venture a charge. In their first charge and retreat, sev. eral hundred Rebels had fallen before the Spencer Ritles of the Ninety-Second. Several of the Ninety-Second were wounded, among whom were Charles Ames, of Company B, making him a cripple for life. George Walters, one of the Color Guard, was wounded, but would not leave the Old Flag until after the night was over. A bullet struck the gun of Albert Bissel, of Company K, passed between the stock and barrel of his gun, then struck him .on the forehead, and traversed the upper part of the cranium, laying open the scalp. "Bert," after picking himself up, coolly
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tied up his bleeding head with his handkerchief, and continued to fight.
After Howard's corps had given the enemy a general repulse, the Ninety-Second moved back three miles with the Cavalry Division, and camped. On the morning of the first of Septem- ber, the Ninety-Second moved out, at seven o'clock A. M., taking a road that had been cut through the woods, and which led to the river. On reaching the river, at Anthony's Bridge, the Regi- ment halted. The enemy was in heavy force on the other side. The Ninety-Second dismounted, and soon threw up breastworks, behind which the Regiment lay, skirmishing with the gray-coats. The battery of the Cavalry Division did some splendid firing. dropping their shell into the midst of the enemy. Griffin, one of Kilpatrick's dare-devil scouts, mounted into a tree above the Regiment, where he could get a fair sight. Whenever a shell from our battery did fine execution, Griffin would sing out, " That whoops 'em; hit 'em again." Just as the shades of evening began to fall, the Seventeenth army corps, led by Major General Frank P. Blair, moved up, relieving the Ninety-Second, and the balance of the Cavalry Division. The Regiment then moved back about two miles, and bivouaced, for the night, in a peach orchard. During the night, while the Ninety-Second lay bivou- acing there in the peach orchard, heavy explosions of magazines were heard in the direction of Atlanta, and it was rightly con. jectured that the enemy were evacuating that Rebel stronghold. On the second of September, the Ninety-Second was in the saddle early, and moved still farther to the right of Sherman's army, skirmishing constantly with the enemy. At ten o'clock A. M., the Colonel rode up to the head of the Ninety-Second, and assumed command. He was greeted with cheers by the men. Soon afterward, General Kilpatrick, at a house by the road-side. called to the Colonel, and said: "The Ninety-Second is tempo. rarily detached from Colonel Murray's brigade, and you will report directly to, and receive your orders directly from, Division head-quarters. Glass's Bridge is about two miles ahead, and I want you to take it: don't let the enemy burn it; now go for it, Atkins." The Ninety-Second moved out in advance of the Division : Company F, under the command of Captain William B. Mayer, and Company C, under the command of Lieutenant George P. Sutton-two as gallant and brave officers as ever drew sabres, with companies as gallant-were in advance, with orders from the Colonel to charge, on the dead run, Glass's Bridge, and
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