USA > Illinois > Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers > Part 4
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On Saturday, November first, 1862, the Regiment reached Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Kentucky, and went into
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camp one mile south of the town. While the Regiment was marching into the grove to encamp, the following communication was handed to the Colonel :
" FAYETTEVILLE Co., KY., Nov. ist, 1862.
COLONELS COCHRAN AND ATKINS :
Gentlemen: My brother-in-law, Mr. Graves, informs me that one of his servants has left, and may be following your com- mand. Mr. Graves has had a great deal of trouble during the Rebel raid; they have taken sixty odd of his cattle, and one of his best horses. I feel well satisfied that Mr. Graves has not aided the Rebellion : he is a pacifier man, stays at home attending to his farm. You will confer a special favor on me by granting any aid Mr. Graves asks in regaining his servant, which may be compatible with your stations.
Very Respectfully Yours, HOWARD SHAFFER, JACOB HOUGHS."
On the back of which was written the following :
" COL. ATKINS, Comd'g 92d III. Vol .:
I am satisfied, from the statement of the above gentleman, as well as other evidences I have, that Mr. Graves is a loyal citizen. He informs me that he has a Boy within your lines; if so, have him put outside of the lines.
Yours Truly, J. C. COCHRAN, Col. Comd'g Demi-Brigade."
The Colonel was evidently in a brown study; he read the order over again, and then called Major Bohn, and giving him the order, directed him to learn if the " Boy" referred to was in the lines of the Regiment, and if so, to have him put outside, and to endorse his action in writing on the order. The Colonel visited the village, and had an interview with the so-called Union men, and returned to camp in the evening. That evening the Colonel examined the Proclamation of President Lincoln, dated September 22, 1862, and published by the War Department, Ad- jutant General's Office, Washington, September 24, 1862, in General Orders, War Department, No 1391, and found that it contained the following :
" Attention is hereby called to the Act of Congress entitled, ' An Act to make an additional Article of War,' approved March 13, 1862, and which Act is in the words and figures following :
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" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional Article of War for the Government of the United States, and shall be obeved and observed as such :
" ARTICLE-All officers or persons in the Military or Naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any person to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due; and any officer who shall be found guilty by a Court- Martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.
"SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage."
President Lincoln, in his Proclamation, added, " And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and section above recited."
The Colonel called Major Bolin, and called for the order from Colonel Cochran, and his endorsement : the order was handed to the Colonel, with the following endorsement by Major Bohn :
" HEAD-QUARTERS 92d ILL. VOL., CAMP DICK YATES, MT. STERLING, KY., November Ist, 1862.
The within named servant has been taken without the lines by order of S. D. Atkins, Col. 92d Ill. Vol.
JOHN H. BOHN, Major 92d Reg. Ill. Vol."
The Colonel read the endorsement, by the Major, and called his attention to the Article of War, and the Proclamation of President Lincoln, above quoted, and desired to know what answer he could make why he should not be Court-Martialed and dismissed the service; and assured him that he was aston- ished that any citizen of Carroll County, Illinois, would engage in the unspeakably low employment of hunting up black men Hying from slavery. But the Major was an able lawyer, and quite equal to the occasion. Said he, " In the first place, I was obeying the positive order of my superior officer, Colonel Atkins; and in the second place, I did not return the 'Boy' to 'any per- son to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due.' I took
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him to the picket post, and told him to make tracks for the north side of the Ohio river." The Major's plea was accepted, and he was not Court-Martialed. But it was unanimously re- solved by the Field Officers, that if Colonel Cochran sent any more such orders they should not be obeyed: but that the Proc- lamation of President Lincoln, and the new Article of War, should be the rule on that question.
The following day was the Sabbath. The camp was regularly laid out, and policed. A Rebel soldier, who was home on a fur. lough, was brought in. Scouting parties were sent out on all the roads, and permanent picket posts and regimental guards estab- lished. The Colonel prepared an order assuming command of the Post of Mt. Sterling and vicinity, and went to the village to have it printed. Before printing it he read it to the "Loyal Kentuckians," who gave their general approval. As soon as done reading the order, he was presented with several written commands from Colonel Cochran, directing him to deliver up fugi- tive slaves. He referred the citizens to the Proclamation of President Lincoln and the law of Congress enacting the new Article of War, and declined to obey the orders of Colonel Cochran. He was informed, by the citizens, that Colonel Cochran had directed them to report his refusal to him, and was assured that no Kentuckian would countenance a set of "nigger thieves," and that all " Loyal Kentuckians " would withdraw . their support from his command. They were evidently pleased at his refusal, regarding it as a test question, and said that if the Colonel was sustained, Kentucky would be a unit for the cause of Jefferson Davis. The Colonel then added the last paragraph to the order, and it was printed as follows:
" HEAD-QUARTERS CAMP DICK YATES, ! MT. STERLING, KY., Nov. 2, 1862. )
" General Orders, No. I.
". In compliance with General Orders No. 1, issued from the Head-quarters of Demi Brigade, I hereby assume command of the post of Mt. Sterling and vicinity.
" Loyal citizens will be protected as such, and the civil au. thorities assisted in the enforcement of the law ..
" All loyal citizens and soldiers in Mt. Sterling and vicinity are commanded to give information of the whereabouts of any one who is now, or has been in any capacity in the Confederate service, and to arrest all such parties found in Mt. Sterling or
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vicinity, and report them in custody to the commander of the post for further proceedings.
" All loyal citizens are commanded to give information to the commander of the post, of the whereabouts of any citizen who has at any time during hostilities given any aid or comfort to the common enemy.
" Farmers are invited to bring their marketable products to the town and camp for sale, and will be granted protection in so doing.
" Dealers in intoxicating liquors are commanded not to sell, or in any way to dispose of any intoxicating liquor to any soldier. Any one doing so will, for the first offense, have his stock in trade destroyed; and for the second offense, be severely punished and confined.
" Loyal citizens who are the owners of slaves, are respectfully notified to keep them home, as no part of my command will in any way be used for the purpose of returning fugitive slaves. It is not necessary for Illinois soldiers to become slave-hounds to demonstrate their loyalty ; their loyalty has been proven upon too many bloody battle-fields to require new proof.
" By command of
SMITH D. ATKINS, Col. 92d Ill. Vol. Com. Post.
" I C. LAWVER, Adj't."
That order appeared, for a little while, to have settled the fate of the Ninety-Second. There was no Kentuckian loyal enough to stand the last paragraph! The very officious " loyal Ken- tuckians," who had essaved to control the Colonel in his action, were the most bitter in denouncing him and the Regiment.
An amusing incident occurred the first Sabbath the Regiment was in Mt. Sterling. Captain Woodcock and Lieutenant Horace J. Smith were out walking, when they were hailed by a citizen, and invited to come in and stay to dinner. During the conver- sation which ensued, Captain Woodcock had informed his host that he belonged to the Methodist Church. When dinner was announced as ready, the Kentuckian, with true Kentucky hos- pitality, addressed them, saving: " Well, gentlemen, before we dine, let us take a drink of Bourbon whisky : you drink, don't you, Lieutenant? There is no use of asking the Captain, because he told me he was a Methodist, and the Methodists all drink"' The Lieutenant declined, and so did Captain Woodcock; but the Kentuckian did not understand how Woodcock could be a mem-
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ber of the Methodist Church, and not drink Bourbon whisky before dinner. There was, evidently, considerable difference between Methodism in Kentucky and Methodism in Illinois.
On Monday, the regular duties of the camp were resumed. Many negroes flocked to see the dress parade, and some Ken- tucky white ladies came to see, and to hear the music and hear the songs by the glee club. On Tuesday, November 4th, 1862, the Regiment held an informal election for Member of Congress from the Third Illinois District, which resulted in an alnost unanimous vote for Hon. E. B. Washburne. It was of no importance. Illinois soldiers in the field were disfranchised! Hospitals were arranged in the unoccupied buildings in the vil- lage, and under the care of the Regimental Surgeons and Miss Addie Parsons, of Byron, and Miss Fannie Carpenter, of Polo, the two heroic lady nurses, the "Daughters of the Regiment," the sick of the Ninety-Second were comfortably provided for. The Regiment had review, inspection, and dress parade. Many prisoners were being picked up by our scouting parties. On the fifth, Captain Becker. of Company I, with a sufficient guard, went to Lexington, to turn over fifty prisoners that had accumu- lated in the command. Two more prisoners were brought into camp. At night it rained. At about twelve o'clock at night, the reports of two guns were heard in quick succession. Needham .. Drum Major, beat the long roll, and in just three minutes the Regiment was in line of battle. Scouts were sent out in all directions, but no enemy was found. Some said the guns were fired by negroes hunting coons. No one was hurt; but Needham stove in the heads of three drums in beating the long roll, and Major Bohn got into his pantaloons with his pantaloons wrong end up. As soon as it was demonstrated that no enemy was near, the men returned to their 'slumbers. On the sixth, Benjamin Hetrick, of Company B, was shot and fatally wounded by the accidental discharge of a gun at the guard tent. He died the next day, and his funeral, on the eighth, was attended by the entire Regiment. The ninth was Sabbath, and the customary inspec- tion of arins, clothing, and quarters was held. The weather was beautiful. The preaching by the Chaplin was largely attended. The camp was flooded with upward of five hundred colored pro- ple, men and women, old and young, gaudily dressed, and in tatters and rags, and of all colors. A soldier, in his diary. writes: "Some of the slaves are as white as the Yankees. One child was as white as any child, and was really pretty. The
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more I see of slavery, the more I hate and despise the accursed thing." There were more orders from Colonel Cochran to de- liver up fugitives, but they were not obeyed. At night, if any negroes were in the camp who were not employed as servants by the officers, they were turned out of camp. There were no rations to be issued to them, no tents or clothing for them; and while the Colonel would not issue orders to return them to their masters, he was compelled to keep his camp from being flooded and overwhelmed with them. From day to day, the negro prob- lem was the great difficulty. If a negro was employed by an officer as a servant, and was furnished with a written certificate by the officer to that effect, he was protected. If his master called for him, and was a Rebel, he was quietly informed that his application was useless. If he could establish his loyalty, there was no instance where the officer longer employed the negro; neither the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, nor Major employed any colored servant in Kentucky. The thirty-seven officers of the Regiment were all entitled to servants; and just fifteen employed Kentucky negroes in that capacity, and all of them the former slaves of Rebels, either serving in the Rebel army, or giving aid or comfort to the Rebellion. But it appeared as though the whole State of Kentucky was fated to go wild over those fifteen colored servants.
On the fourteenth of November, the water having given out in the spring near the encampment, the camp was moved three miles north of Mt. Sterling, on the Maysville pike, on the planta- tion of Colonel Thompson, who was serving " loyal Kentucky" in the Rebel army. Here the Regiment camped by the side of his cattle pond. The frosty nights had somewhat purified the water. The pond was simply a hole scooped out in a field, and the bottom puddled to hold the rain water that accumulated in it. Thorougly boiled, and set out over night in the frosty air, it was a very palatable and healthful drink. On the fifteenth, Major Bohn drilled the Regiment for the first time. In the night, orders came to march to Nicholasville, and report to General Baird. On Sabbath morning, November sixteenth, the Regiment inarched at six o'clock, down through Mt. Sterling, and out on the Winchester pike. About sixty men of the Regiment were left in the hospitals at Mt. Sterling, under the charge of Dr. Na- than Stephenson, Army Surgeon. Little regret was felt at leav. ing Mt. Sterling. But, while the people could not forgive the Regiment for its course on the negro question, they were exceed.
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ingly hospitable, and many good Union families were there. It can be said, to the great credit of the village, that, after the Regiment had left, the residents were exceedingly kind to the sick of the Ninety-Second left behind. The Regiment marched twelve miles, and camped on the old ground it had occupied the night before reaching Mt. Sterling. A hard rain-storm prevailed during the night. The Regiment again marched at daylight. Many negroes came in from the fields and woods, as the Regi- ment marched along, and brought wild stories of the gathering of ten thousand armed people at Winchester, where Colonel Cochran was encamped with the 14th Kentucky Infantry, and, with the assistance of the Kentucky " loval" blue-coated soldiers. were determined to take the colored servants employed by the line officers out of the Regiment by force, and " clean out" the whole Regiment of " nigger thieves." A few miles before reach- ing Winchester, a Kentucky lady pointed out a colored lad as her " Boy," and demanded of the Colonel his release: and when asked if she was a Union woman, she replied, " No, I am a Rebel. You can keep him now, but you will never take him or any other slave beyond Winchester; and you yourself will be put into jail, unless you are killed." The Regiment all knew that the Colonel did not want to be killed, or go to jail. When the Regiment reached the top of the hill near Winchester, where the men could look down into the town, it was apparent that the stories told by the negroes, although exaggerated, contained much truth. The . streets were crowded with hundreds of people, mostly on foot, and many mounted. The windows of the houses, on both sides of the streets, were crowded with soldiers of the 14th Kentucky Infantry. The head of the Regiment marched close to the town and halted, and the Regiment closed up, and at the word of con- inand, dressed into line of battle. Then came the commands, "Order arms. Load at will. Load." Cartridges were handled, and torn, and charged ; rammers were drawn, and balls rammed home; and the jingling steel ramrods returned, and gun-caps placed on the nipples. Another command, "Attention, battalion. Order arms. Fix bayonets." The rattling bayonets were placed on the Enfields, and secured. The Colonel then said, "Soldiers of the Ninety-Second, we are threatened with difficulty in passing through this town. I hope there will not be any. Listen to my orders. You will march in silence. No word must be spoken. If you are spoken to, you must not reply. If a gun is fired at you; if a brickbat, or club, or stone be thrown at you,-do not
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await orders, but resent it at once with bullet and bayonet. To be attacked by citizens whose homes we are guarding, and by sol- diers of Kentucky in the service of the United States, is no ordi- nary warfare; we cannot meet it in the ordinary way. You must not fire first; but if fired upon, kill every human being in the town, and burn every building." A shout from the Regi- ment that shook the houses, told that the men understood the orders, and would obey them. All was again silent. A squad of mounted Kentuckians, who had rode up to the head of the Regi- ment, and listened to the Colonel's orders, scattered through the town, telling the crowd what the Colonel's orders were. The Colonel commanded, " Attention, battalion. Shoulder arms. Right shoulder shift arms. By sections, right wheel. Forward, march." Away the Regiment went. A soldier writes in a letter home, " Lieutenant Hawk had charge of the van-guard, and as he came sweeping around the square, with his fine, soldierly bear- ing, and fight in his eye, the cowards fell back, putting their pistols under their coats, knowing full well that it was useless to say fight to the Ninety-Second." The Sheriff of the county, on horse-back, rode up by the side of the Colonel, and asked if he might speak to him, and was told that he could. He then served summons upon the Colonel in several suits for stealing niggers. One attempt was made to take a negro servant out from between the sections of Company E, but it was not successful, and no other molestation was experienced in Winchester. Had the Regi- ment straggled along through Winchester, there would have been trouble; but loaded guns, fixed bayonets, and a silent march, were things not counted upon by the Kentuckians. South-west of the town about a mile, the Regiment was halted at the side of the road on the hill, and the guns were emptied into the woods, the whole Regiment firing at the word of command, the first time, and the last time, that the Regiment together ever heard the command, " Ready, aim, fire." It was said that the camp of the 14th Kentucky was at the foot of the hill, in the direction of the firing; but it was concealed by the woods, and no one in the Ninety-Second knew it. The rattling bullets from the Enfields lid no harm, for the camp of. the 14th Kentucky was deserted ; they were all up at Winchester, where they had been swelling the ovation given by the " loyal Kentuckians" to the Ninety-Second as it marched along. It was a grand thing to have the entire population turn out and give the Regiment a continual ovation ; it was not just the kind of an ovation that would have pleased
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the Regiment best, but it was better than no ovation. Marched thirteen miles, and went into camp at Pine Grove. ' The rain had ceased, and the evening was beautiful. Captain Schermerhorn, always ready for sport, had laid a large barn-door on the ground, and was superintending a dancing match between a lot of ne- groes. The Captain knew how to pat "Juba," and knew just where to put in encouraging remarks, like " Go in, Sambo," and " Lay right down to it, Cæsar;" and the shouts of the boys enjoy- ing the scene soon brought the entire Regiment out, to help the sport along. It was a merry lot of men that formed the ring there, in the moonlight, around the barn-door on the ground, and laughed and shouted at the dancing of the darkies. And when they had wearied of that, or the darkies had wearied, they called on Major Bohn to sing a comic song. The blushing Major com- plied, and sang what he chose to call the Colonel's favorite, commencing, "Julie am a handsome gal, her heart am young and tender." Then the Colonel, not being able to sing a song, gave a specimen of the " Mexican double-shuffle," while Captain Schermerhorn patted "Juba" and made encouraging remarks to the Colonel. When not on duty the men and officers of the Ninety- Second were always on an exact equality. Picket posts were estab- lished, and a line guard put around the Regiment, and in the mid- dle of the night an attack was made upon the picket post between Winchester and the camp. A volley was fired by the picket. A white woman living outside of the picket post, said there was a large body of men there in the night, and after the firing, pressed in a wagon to carry their wounded back toward Winchester. The Regiment marched at daylight, and passed again through Lexington. The streets were crowded with people. In column of sections, the Regiment silently marched through the streets, with colors flying, and drum corps playing. After gaining the hill at the southern extremity of the town, the Major rode up to the head of the Regiment and informed the Colonel that there was trouble in the rear. The Colonel rode rapidly back, and found company A surrounded by a crowd of deputy sheriff's, special policemen, and cadaverous looking Kentuckians, who had attempted to take a negro out from between the sections of that company. The Regiment came to an about face, and marchd back to company . The Colonel commanded com- pany A to load at will, and the ball cartridges soon went into the guns. The Colonel took out his watch and told the crowd, "I give you just three minutes to clear these streets; if you
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remain that long these streets will run with blood." The crowd exhibited commendable anxiety in getting around the street corners in the rear of the Regiment, and out of sight. The march was resumed, and the Regiment went into camp three miles south of Lexington. Very polite attentions were extended to the Colonel. General Quincy A. Gilmore, of the United States Army, commanding a Division at Lexington, sent the Colonel an invitation to dine with him-but concluding it was a ruse to get him into the hands of the sheriff, the Colonel declined, and returned an invitation to the General to ride out to camp and enjoy a little hard-tack and coffee. That it was a ruse was soon demonstrated, for General Gilmore immediately sent a peremptory command for the Colonel to report at his Head- quarters in Lexington; but his aid-decamp was informed by the Colonel, that he was already under orders to report to General Baird, his own Division Commander, at Nicholasville, and if General Gilmore really desired to see him he must ride out to the camp of the Ninety-Second. The Governor of Kentucky also extended his polite invitation to the Colonel to dine with him in Lexington, but the Colonel sent word to the Governor to ride out to the camp and dine with him. The next morning the Sheriff of Lexington brought a letter from General Gilmore to the Colonel, written, Gilmore said, at the request of the Judge of the Court, advising the Colonel to give up the negroes the line officers had employed as servants, as, if he did not, he would be subject to very severe penalties for contempt of court. But the Colonel stood by the law of Congress and the Proclamation of President Lincoln. The Colonel ought to have been punished for contempt; for he certainly entertained the liveliest contempt for General Gilmore, and the Governor of Kentucky, and the Judges, and all the balance of the Ketuckians and Regular Army officers, who thought more of the institution of slavery than they did of their country.
On the nineteenth, the Regiment trudged along in the rain nine miles to Nicholasville, and went into camp. On the twen- tieth, it cleared up, and the camp was permanently established. On the next day, Brigadier General Juda inspected the Regiment, and placed it first for drill, discipline, care of arms, and cleanli- ness of camp. General Juda was a fussy old gentleman, but a very thorough Inspector General. The Colonel received the following communication from General Baird, commanding the Division :
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" HEAD-QUARTERS 3d DIVISION, ARMY OF KENTUCKY, } NICHOLASVILLE, KY., Nov. 21st, 1862. -
" COL. SMITH D. ATKINS,
Commanding Ninety-Second Illinois Volunteers,
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