USA > Illinois > Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers > Part 3
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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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during the war," by Lieutenant Long, U. S. A. As soon as mustered, Adjutant General Fuller made a speech to the Regi- ment, thanking the men for their patriotism, and telling them how much Illinois expected from them. The unanimity which had prevailed in the organization of the Regiment was continued. Isar C. Lawver, of West Point Township, Stephenson County, who had received a military education at the Military School at Nashville, Tennessee, and had refused to join the Re- bellion, when that school broke up at the commencement of the war, and who had been drilling the companies at Rockford, upon the unanimous petition of all the line officers, was appointed Adjutant of the Regiment. George W. Marshall, of Mt. Morris, Ogle County, First Sergeant of Company K, was promoted to Regimental Quarter-master. Clinton Helm, M. D., of Byron, Ogle County, was appointed Regimental Surgeon ; Thomas Winston, M. D., of Mt. Morris, Ogle County, First Assistant Surgeon; Dr. Nathan Stephenson, of Fair Haven, Carroll County, Corporal of Company I, was promoted to Sec- ond Assistant Army Surgeon of the Regiment; Rev. O. D. W. White, of Mt. Carroll, Carroll County, was appointed Chaplain : Lieutenant Orville T. Andrews, of Rockford, Winnebago County, who had lost a leg in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, was ap- pointed Sutler. The line officers met, and drew lots for the letter of the company in the Regiment, by which the company was to be afterwards known. Little, square slips of paper, with the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, were written and put into a hat; and each Captain drew out a slip, and the letter on the slip became the letter of his company. Captain W. J Ballinger, of Lena, drew letter A. His company was enlisted in Stephenson County, and principally in the townships of Winslow, West Point, and Kent. Harvey M. Timms, of Loran, was First Lieu. tenant, and William Cox, of Winslow, Second Lieutenant. On the day of muster, the company numbered ninety all told. Cap. tain Albert Woodcock, of Oregon, Ogle County, drew letter K. His company was enlisted from all parts of Ogle County. Hor- ace J. Smith, of Oregon, was First Lieutenant, and Horace C. Scoville, of Mt. Morris, was Second Lieutenant. There were ninety-four rank and file. Captain C. T. Dunham, of Freeport, drew letter F. Ilis company was organized at Freeport, but was made up of men from all parts of Stephenson County. Alfred G. Dunham, of Cherry Valley, was First Lieutenant, and Wil- liam C. Dove, of Freeport, was Second Lieutenant. The com-
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pany numbered ninety-five. Captain Matthew Van Buskirk, of Polo, drew letter E. His company was enlisted in Ogle County, in the vicinity of Polo, Forreston, and Brookville. Joseph L. Spear, of Polo, was First Lieutenant, and Jeremiah Vorhis, of Polo, was Second Lieutenant. The company was ninety-four strong. Captain Wilber W. Dennis, of Byron, drew letter B. His company enlisted in Ogle County, in the vicinity of Byron and Rock Vale. William H. Crowell, of Marion, Ogle County, was First Lieutenant, and Ephraim W. Bauder, of Leaf River, Second Lieutenant. The company mustered eighty-five. Cap- tain John' M. Schermerhorn, of Lena, drew letter G. His com- pany was raised in Stephenson County, principally in the townships of West Point, Kent, and Waddams. John Gishwiller, of Lena, was First Lieutenant, and Justin N. Parker, of Lena, Second Lieutenant. The company had ninety-five rank and file. Captain Lyman Preston, of Polo, Ogle County, drew letter D. His company was enlisted in Ogle County, in the vicinity of Polo and Pine Creek. George R. Skinner, of Polo, was First Lieu- tenant, and Oscar F. Sammis, of Polo, Second Lieutenant. The company had ninety-four officers and men. Captain Egbert T. E. Becker, of Mt. Carroll, drew letter I. His company was enlisted in Carroll County, Mt. Carroll, Lanark, Cherry Grove, and Wysox being well represented. David B. Colehour, of Mt. Carroll, was First Lieutenant, and Alexander M. York, of Lan- ark, was Second Lieutenant. The company was ninety-six strong, aside from the Captain, who was the strongest inan in the company. Captain William Stouffer, of Mt. Carroll, drew letter C. His company was raised in Carroll County, Mt. Carroll, Savanna, and York being well represented. Robert M. A. Hawk, of Lanark, was First Lieutenant, and Norman Lewis, of York, Second Lieutenant. The company mustered ninety-three. Captain James Brice, of Rochelle, Ogle County, drew letter H. His company was enlisted in Ogle County, principally in Ro- chelle and White Rock. James Dawson, of Rochelle, was First Lieutenant, and Edward Mason, of White Rock, Second Lieu- tenant. Captain Brice had one hundred and six officers and inen in his company, aside from himself; and the Captain was too old to be counted, except for his lofty patriotism, which induced him to enlist when far on the downhill side of life. Company H was the overflowing company of the Ninety-Second. The officers and men of the Regiment had not been subjected to the searching medical examination required by strict justice,-justice to the
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men themselves, and justice to the Government, which required not only patriotic hearts, but well developed brawn. Yet, taken together, it was a band of sturdy yeomanry, equal to any for the fatigue of the march or the shock of battle. We feel perfectly safe in saying, that no finer body of men, physically, mentally, and morally, were ever mustered together into a military organization.
On September 5, 1862, the first regimental order was issued by the Colonel, announcing the duties of the day, from reveille in the morning until taps at night; and the roll calls, sick calls, meal calls, commissary calls, quarter-master calls, guard mounts, squad drills, company drills, battalion drill, and dress parade, took up every moment of time from sunrise to sundown. Captains . found that they had parted with some of their authority. If they wanted to stroll down into the city, it was necessary to obtain a pass; and, if in the evening, the countersign to return by ; and passes for the men had to be approved at the head-quarters of the Regiment. That evening the first regimental dress parade was held. Just at sundown, the Regiment was formed into line by Adjutant Lawver. They were without arms; and the Colonel was received, with great solemnity, by each officer and soldier removing his cap, with military precision, at the word of com- mand. Captain Becker and associates sang The Star Spangled Banner. The Orderly Sergeants reported the strength of their companies. The commissioned officers marched to the front and center, and " maintained an awful line, as they marched up to face the Colonel for the first time at dress parade." They saluted him gravely. Parade was dismissed. The Orderly Sergeants marched their companies to their quarters, and the officers hur- ried after them. The first day's soldiering was done.
. On the sixth, Lieutenant Tibbits, U. S. A., paid each man in the Regiment thirteen dollars, one month's pay. The seventh was Sabbath. Many were permitted to spend the Sabbath at . home, with family and friends once more. Many attended church in Rockford, and many in the grove adjoining the camp, on the banks of Rock River, a beautiful spot. The camp was filled with visitors from miles around. On Monday forenoon, the Regimental Quarter-master issued uniforms ; and in the after- noon, the first regimental drill was had, still without arms. The next day, all the duties called for by orders were gone through with. Kind friends at home seemed afraid the boys would starve : and wagon loads of cooked provisions, turkeys, chickens, pies,
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cakes, puddings, and everything else that loving sister or mother could imagine a soldier would eat, were brought to camp, and resulted in about half the Regiment first learning to " double- quick," in their reluctant endeavors to perform the " Rock River Quickstep." That never was a popular march with the Ninety. Second: but, sooner or later, every officer and soldier learned it to perfection. It was laughable to see them " light out," solitary and alone, when the silent, but painful order came to "march," and to note how slowly and demurely they would creep back to their quarters. On the eleventh, the Colonel left for Springfield, to draw arms and accoutrements; and the next day, Lieutenant Colonel Sheets commanded the Regiment, for the first time on battalion drill. He made a fine appearance on " Old Blutcher," whose long body, and long legs, and long neck, and long nose. were proofs that he scented the battle a long way off, and longed for the fray. On the thirteenth, the Colonel returned from Springfield with Enfield Rifles for the Regiment. The fourteenth was Sabbath, and the first regimental inspection was held. There was preaching in the grove, attended by the entire encamp- inent. Dress parade, with a religious song by Captain Becker's glee club, closed the duties of the day. On Monday, the " dress" coats were issued. The little nien looked laughable in their dress coats, which fit them like a shirt on a bean pole; but the large men, with their hands dangling wildly, six inches below their coat cuffs, and their coat skirts just below their belts, were the most laughable. By dint of considerable swapping between the big and the little fellows, a nearer approach to a fit was obtained : and the company tailors, by cutting off redundancies for the little ones, and letting out seams for the big ones, finally brought the men into fair uniformity.in dress. The Regiment was now in complete uniform ; the guns and equipments were new and bright ; the men were becoming .steady in their drill, and methodical in their movements: the officers acquiring confidence in their ability to command. Company .\ bought a handsome sword for Cap- · tain Ballinger, which was presented with speech-making and replies, and wound up with an oyster supper given by the Cap- tain to his company. On the seventeenth, by special application to Governor Yates, permission was granted to the Colonel to fur- lough twenty men from cach company for forty-eight hours. The men drew lots for the privilege of once more visiting home. and two hundred soldiers were made happy. Many thought their luck was hard, when a comrade with no wife and children would
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get the lucky privilege, and they, knowing their wives and babies were lonely at home, would draw blanks. On the twenty-fourth, the furloughed men were back to camp; and the Regiment inarched to the Fair Grounds, while the County Fair was in progress, as did the other regiments in camp at Rockford; and the members of the Ninety-Second thought they won the most plaudits for drill and soldierly bearing. On Sunday, the twenty- first, there was the usual inspection of arms, clothing, camps, quarters, kitchens, and company books. Captains were begin- ning to learn that they were responsible for every article issued to their companies, and must give receipts for and take receipts for everything obtained or issued. There was preaching to the mul- titude of soldiers and citizens in the grove, dress parade at sun- down, and a temperance lecture to the troops in the evening.
On Tuesday, the twenty-third, the papers contained the Presi- dent's preliminary emancipation proclamation, giving the Rebels one hundred days to return to their allegiance. That it created much discussion in the Regiment, is true. It was a rainy day ; the ordinary camp duties were suspended, and little knots were gathered through the camp discussing it. The general verdict was approved. Indeed, many hoped that the war would not end before the hundred days had expired, and the freedom of the black man had become secure. Some of the arguments used by the soldiers were exceedingly apt and logical, as was this: "According to the Southern idea, the black man is property. Well, now, we can confiscate property in war. Nobody com- plains if we take their mules to draw our wayon trains. If a confiscated mule could take my musket and stop a Rebel bullet in my place, I would not be sorry about it. I guess a nigger, who is property, can be confiscated from the Rebels; and if he will take a musket and help us fight, all the better for the prop- erty." The soldiers could see that freedom to the black man meant regiments and brigades of black men, with muskets and havonets. On the next day, a train load of excursionists, from Winslow, Lena, Freeport, and other places, visited camp, to see their friends in the Regiment. At battalion drill that afternoon, five thousand ladies and gentlemen looked on: and it was an awkward drill, for the officers would bow to their particular friends among the young ladies; and the men would not keep their eyes steadily to the front, touching the ground at fifteen paces; but they. too, would have some recognition for sweethearts, or a sly glance as they passed, just to see if she was looking. The Colo-
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nel had so many sweethearts to attract his attention, that he at one time forgot all about the Regiment, and it marched bang up against a high board fence. The next Sabbath, the Ninety- Second escorted the 74th Illinois Volunteers to the depot, that regiment having been ordered to Louisville, Kentucky. On the first of October, knapsacks, haversacks, and canteens were issued. The few old soldiers in the Regiment, with airs of im- portance, showed those who had never seen one before, how to pack a knapsack. From the first to the sixth, it was beautiful weather; the camp was full of visitors, and the drills were fine displays. On the seventh, twenty-seven dollars advance bounty money was paid each man. On the night of the seventh, some foolish difficulty arose between a portion of the 96th and Ninety- Second men, while in the city ; and it required the efforts of the officers of both regiments to prevent it taking the shape of a general scrimmage with muskets. On the eighth, the 96th Illinois Volunteers left Rockford for the South. On the morning of the ninth, the Ninety-Second received its first marching orders. There was no drilling. The camp was full of fathers, and mothers, and sisters, and sweethearts, bidding their soldier- boys "good-bye." It was no ordinary journey on which that thousand men were about entering ; it was a march to battle, and, for many, to the grave. No one could tell who would come back again, and who would fall by the way. They were sad good. byes. On the morning of the tenth, in full strength, with blankets rolled and knapsacks packed, the Ninety-Second, with music, and with colors flying, marched down through the streets of Rockford, and embarked on a special train for Chicago, reach- ing there at 3 P. M .; marched through the streets of Chicago to the Illinois Central Depot, and stacked arms. At 6 P. M., the Regiment took a special train for Cincinnati, and at 10 A. M. next day, was delayed, waiting for the repair of the railroad bridge over the Wabash River, near the battle-ground of Tippecanoe. Some of the soldiers straggled off into the surrounding orchards, for apples; and Dick McCann, of Company D), of Polo, was ferociously attacked by a tame deer, and while making a wild retreat, the deer, with his sharp antlers, helped Dick along. Dick was the first man wounded in the Ninety-Second, and the only one who ever retreated without orders. Owing to various delays, the Regiment did not reach Indianapolis until after dark, and was all night reaching Cincinnati, arriving there at daylight: and marched immediately through the streets of Cincinnati, in
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the solemn stillness of the Sabbath morning, crossing the Ohio River on a bridge of floating coal barges, and on through the city of Covington, treading, for the first time, the "sacred soil" of Kentucky, and camped four miles south of the Ohio, in the valley of the Licking. The sullen roar of artillery was heard to the southward; it was the Union advance, pushing along the rear guard of the Rebel column, under Kirby Smith, whose near approach to Cincinnati had frightened some of the Porkopolis- ites nearly out of their wits. The Regiment held a dress parade at sundown; and then, without tents, for the first time, spread their blankets on the ground, and lay wearily down, with only the star-lit dome of heaven above them.
On Monday, the Regiment drew Bell-Tents, and a six-mule team and wagon for each company. The entire day was spent in breaking in the little three-year old mules, and in pitching tents. and fixing up camp. On the next day, there was a review and inspection of the Regiment, General Baird, Division Commander. being present: and he complimented the Regiment highly for its fine marching and drill. On the fifteenth, the Union regiments that had garrisoned Cumberland Gap, reached Covington, ragged. footsore, and weary. The camping ground was among the most abrupt hills and gullies; and the battalion drills at Covington will long be remembered. No matter how rough the ground, the regimental manœuvres were gone through with all the same : and it was laughable to see the men sometimes helping each other up the abrupt banks, or trying to dress into line on a side- hill so steep they, could not stand still in the position of a soldier. At noon, on the eighteenth of October, the Regiment received orders to be ready to march at 4 P. M. It was not to march by cars or steamer, but to strap knapsacks on backs ; roll blanket, and tie the ends together, and hang it over the shoul. der; put on a belt with a cartridge box and forty rounds of ball cartridges; bayonet scabbard, with bayonet in it; and, with a heavy Enfield Rifle, take the " route step" and trudge along through the country, weary mile after weary mile. The start was always splendid; every man in ranks, colors Hying, drum corps playing, arins at a shoulder or right shoulder shift, and left, left, left, always with the tap of the bass drum ; but after a while, the drum corps quit playing, the colors were furled, and " route step" was the command. The officers returned swords to scab- bards, and the men no longer carried their arms in any particular way, or tried to keep step, but trudged along, like any other weary
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toot man, for miles and miles and miles, through towns, over «treams, passing farm, and orchard, and forest, up hill, down hill, on, on, on. The march was to Independence, county-seat of Kenton County, probably thirteen miles from the camp at Cov- ington, through a beautiful country, along a broad, smooth, lime- stone pike road. Needham, the Drum Major, had marched in the army before, and he tried hard to keep the Regiment from pushing on so fast, but it was useless; the men were fresh and strong, and they pushed ahead, determined to reach camp and have the march over. The men, as they marched along that October afternoon, continually heard the rumble of artillery-firing to the front, the skirmishing of the Union forces with the Rebels under Morgan, whose advance, on its march southward, occupied Lexington that day. The Regiment went into camp after dark, on the County Fair Grounds of Kenton County. It was a mnuch longer march than the Regiment ought to have made : and weary and tired out with their first day's marching of thirteen miles, began late and ended late, many sank upon the ground in an exhausted condition, and went supperless to sleep. It rained during the night,-rained as it only can when thousands of men ure laying out in the storm without shelter. Reveille sounded at the first gray of morning; the Regiment was roused from slum- ber, and many stood cold and shivering. A high board fence inclosed the Fair Grounds; but not a board could be touched for fires to fry the " sow-belly" and make coffee; and many munched their " hard-tack" in the rain, and made no effort to cook. Many who had disdained the coarse army shoes, with broad heels and Hat, thick soles, and clung to their neat-fitting French calf-skin boots, learned their error; they could not get their boots on their wollen feet, and, tieing them together, they slung them over their shoulders, and marched on the gritty pike in their bare feet. At seven A. M., the Regiment moved out, and down the pike road, and made nineteen miles that day. The Regiment marched at sunrise on the twentieth, and left the pike road to strike Fal. mouth in the Licking River valley; but after fourteen miles' march, being delaved by the 19th Michigan wagon trains, halted for the night. On the twenty-first, the march was resumed early. Soon after inarching, the Colonel observed some men of Company A going into the fields. Their movements were watched. They killed a couple of sheep, and, dressing thein, put the mutton into the company wagon of Company A. The Regi- ment kept on, and reached Falmouth at eleven A. M. The
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owner of the sheep killed, professing to be a good Union man, was soon detailing his loss of mutton to the Colonel. The men of Company A were called up: they saw they were caught; and, as the Colonel suggested that it would be a good thing to take up a collection and pay for the sheep, it was quickly done. Then said one of them, " Well, Colonel, I suppose we can have the mutton now?" But the Colonel replied, " No. it is paid for ; and this time I will let you off without further punishment. But, boys, just take the mutton up to the hospital, to make broth for the sick." The joke on Company A got out among the other companies of the Regiment; and if any one said, " Ba! ba!" to a Company A man after that, he had to run or fight. The Regi- ment went into regular camp at Falmouth, and, the next day and the day following, had regular battalion drills.
On the twenty-fourth, the Regiment marched at six A. M. for Lexington, and, after marching sixteen miles over a very hilly country, camped on the banks of the Licking; and, on the next day, marched fourteen miles, being turned out, off from the pike onto a dirt road at four P. M., by command of General Granger, to save a mile's march, and was two hours marching, in mud ankle deep, to make a mile and a half, and camped at dark near Cynthiana, in a snow-storm, with snow five or six inches deep. The Colonel declined to occupy a house near at hand for his head-quarters, but had the snow cleared away, and his tent put up, and a fire built close to the door in front, and then sounded the "officers' call," just to show the officers how snug and coin- fortable one could make himself, even in a dark night, and in a snow-storm, by a little work. He then sounded the " orderlies' call," and only to show them how easy it was to make themselves comfortable by trying. But it was a sad sight to stroll through the camp and see the men stand shivering in the storin, weary, and apparently helpless. It is only by long experience that sol- diers learn how to take care of themselves. Money had been voluntarily subscribed by the officers and inen, to purchase in- struments for a band; and Collen Bauden left by rail that evening for Cincinnati, to purchase the silver horns for the Ninety - Second band. On the twenty sixth, the Regiment tramped on through the snow to Paris, and camped at four P. M. On the twenty-seventh, marched early for Lexington, but, after marching five miles, was ordered to halt and go into camp. The twenty- eighth was a beautiful day, and the Regiment marched early. and reached Lexington at three P. M. The march was along the
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pike north of Lexington, the most beautiful portion of the blue- grass region of Kentucky. The Regiment passed the plantation of Cassius M. Clay, walled in by stone fences, its oak-studded blue-grass fields filled with blooded Short Horns. The Regiment was joyfully welcomed in Lexington, by the colored people, especially by one little darkey at the head of the Regiment, who sang without ceasing, in a sesawing sort of a way,
" Wake up, snakes, pelicans, and Sesh'ners! Don't you hear 'um comin'- Comin' on de run? Wake up, I tell yer! Git up, Jefferson ! Bobolishion's comin'- Bob-o lish-i-on !"
The Regiment marched through the city in column of platoons, arms at a right shoulder shift, and a thousand voices joined the chorus of " John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave." The Regiment passed in sight of the monument of Henry Clay, a beautiful iron column, one hundred and thirty feet high, and camped one and a half miles west of Lexington.
On the twenty-ninth, orders came to march; and on the next day, we were off on the pike to Winchester, and marched twelve miles and camped. Negroes came flocking to the Regiment, and desired to accompany it, but were advised by the Colonel not to do so. During the night, some of the soldiers who had been out foraging approached a picket post, where Lieutenant Scoville, of Company K, was on duty, and were arrested; and not being able to account for their turkeys, chickens, and honey, the Lieutenant ordered them to be retained at the picket post until morning ; but during the night, they slipped away from the picket post, taking all their turkeys, chickens, and honey with them, and the army blanket of the Lieutenant in addition. The Lieutenant made no report of their arrest the next morning. On the morning of the thirty-first, marched early, passing through Winchester, and as soon as east of the town, an advance guard was sent out for the first time. The Regiment went into camp in the woods, early in the afternoon. During' the month, the Ninety-Second had marched five hundred and fifty miles. All day long, negroes had been flocking to the Ninety-Second, but were uniformly advised to return to their masters.
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