USA > Illinois > The story of the Fifty-fifth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war, 1861-1865 > Part 11
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few men. They remained at the place they had just captured for two hours, when they were found by General Bragg and hurried toward the centre of the field, to the place of the so- called Prentiss surrender.
After going about four hundred yards the remainder of the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-fourth halted readily at the first command. Up to that moment the two regiments could not have lost less than three hundred and seventy-five men, killed and wounded, and were further reduced by the loss of some prisoners and stragglers. Four companies of the Fifty-fourth were still absent upon duty, as before mentioned. No amount of figuring can make more than four hundred and fifty men present to form the new line; yet it was done, and prepara- tions were made to meet the further advance of the enemy. At this juncture Captain Slattery suggested the examination of the cartridge boxes, and it was quickly disclosed that less than two rounds of ammunition per man remained. Nothing was left but to follow the route to the rear, and finally the line came into the Hamburgh road near Hurlbut's headquarters, about one mile from the landing. Following the course of the road, the high ground near the river was reached about four o'clock, with every company yet organized, compact and in fighting trim, where the remaining four companies of the Fifty-fourth Ohio, under Major Fisher, soon joined the line.
All along the course of this retreat of over two miles, not one orderly body of Federal troops was met, showing the defenceless condition of the entire left flank. Indeed, the retirement of Stuart's two regiments left a broad way open and unobstructed to the landing. Why then did not Chal- mers and Jackson, and their division commander, Withers, who was present, avail themselves of this unusual chance of war? Clearly because the intensity, the energy and cohesion had been crushed out of their men by the splendid resistance of eight hundred infantry. Confederate reports, known to far understate the truth, place the losses of Chalmers' and Jackson's brigades in killed and wounded, during the battle, at eight hundred and seventy-six. More than two-thirds of this loss must have been at the hands of the Fifty-fifth Illi- nois and Fifty-fourth Ohio. Is it any wonder, therefore, that
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
these undisciplined Confederates remained inert for some time after they had suffered such an unmerciful pounding?
Stuart, while on the retreat, was directed by a staff officer of General Grant's to where ammunition could be obtained, and pursuing the course directed soon reached the point near the landing, before mentioned. At that time Hurlbut was directing the two splendid brigades with him, which he had handled with a skill not exceeded on that field, to a position on the same front. The crisis of the battle then converged around the centre and in the vicinity of the vague location called the "hornets' nest." Along that line the well ordered battalions of W. H. L. Wallace, aided by the fragments Pren- tiss had saved from the drift of the field, and a few regiments beside, maintained a stout contest, without which the battle of Shiloh would have been lost. Yet further to the right, and along Tillinan's Creek, McClernand was pugnaciously keeping up a desultory resistance, creditable to himself and the cause. Of the nine regiments of General Sherman's immediate command, which were in his vicinity when he "became satisfied for the first time that the enemy designed a determined attack," it is doubtful if one was in line with its organization complete, and certain that no two of them were together.
Returning again toward the river, we find the Fifty-fifth Illinois and Fifty-fourth Ohio, as they had been in the morn- ing, forming the extreme left flank of the whole Union army. Their line was stout-hearted, but fearfully short-handed, the living being not much more numerous than the dead and wounded left behind; but they were worth more to the cause than the thousands of shivering wretches cowering under the river bank, just in their rear. Presently Hurlbut, with his compact regiments, formed on the right, and Stuart's brigade, for the first time since the battle commenced, was connected with other troops.
About three o'clock in the afternoon the drift of almost the whole rebel army was toward the centre before described, where one of the most defensible positions on the field was being held. This had been the course pursued by the assail- ants during the whole day, namely, to converge and rush upon
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THE CONFEDERATES' OPPORTUNITY.
points of resistance with but little reference to flanking tac- tics. That Stuart's brigade was enabled to hold its first ground so long was due to the same brave but ill-regulated plan. Chalmers and Jackson could have passed the Union left and gone to the landing as easily as did the Fifty-fifth, but when they did move it was under the personal direction of General Bragg, who led them toward the then scene of conflict. Events in that quarter culminated in considerable captures from the Federals, and the death of the lamented General Wallace of Illinois. At this time the Confederate rank and file seem to have been much elated, and to have dispersed somewhat in search of plunder, as though the bat- tie was won. Thus some moments of precious respite were given the panting Union army, and time was gained to plant batteries and form troops at the rear, on the line of the even- ing. The rebel generals, having a better understanding than their men of what remained to be done, made strenuous efforts toward re-forming and deployment, for the purpose of pushing the conquest to complete victory, then almost in sight. Chalmers and Jackson were untangled from the mass and again took position upon the extreme rebel right.
About five hundred yards south of where the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-fourth were placed was an enormous ravine, run- wing parallel with their front, called Dill's Branch. Into this these two brigades filed, and again the mutations of the con- fased battle brought the combatants of the morning front to front. The right of the Fifty-fifth rested near the forks of the Corinth and Purdy road. Upon its left, as usual, were the gallant Zouaves, which regiment extended the line a little beyond the log building used as a hospital, and to within about two hundred yards of the top of the bluffs overlooking the Tennessee. General Hurlbut, in a calm review written some time after the battle, clearly defines the position of the Fifty-fifth, designating it by name, and in that connection mentions another unnamed regiment, beyond doubt the Fifty- fourth Ohio. He also fixes the time of the last rebel attack of the evening as at six o'clock. To meet this onslaught he personally attended to the changing of the front of Stuart's men, so that they would face nearly to the southwest. While 8
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
the two rebel brigades, as before described, filed into the gorge of Dill's Branch, a battery went into position in the vicinity of the Corinth road. It was Gage's-the same which fired the first shell at Stuart's brigade in the morning; and now, as the day's tragedy was closing, it prepared to throw its missiles among the same men. Finally these preparations were completed, the advance was ordered, and the shades of evening were lighted up by the fires of the new assault. To repel this the whole Union line opened, and here upon the ground of the last rally, the flame of battle merged into the gloom of the approaching night.
The Union artillery had been so placed by Colonel Web- ster as to be of the greatest use in repelling this attack. It at once joined in the tumult, and performed a more impor- tant part than usually falls to the lot of that arm of the service. These guns, consisting of a few of large calibre fortuitously there, and the fag ends of batteries saved from the wreck of the day, were short-handed, and volunteers were asked for from the infantry nearest. To this call the Fifty-fifth responded promptly, and the names of the men so engaged are reported. They were Aaron Lingenfelter and Samuel J. Simpson of Company A; Luther J. Keyes, Rienzi L. Cleveland and Roswell J. Riley of Company C; Daniel S. Burke and Joseph H. Knott of Company D; Dedrick Baiger and Henry Rhodemeyer of Company E; Ebenezer Sanford and LeGrand Dunlap of Company F; Charles L. West and James W. Gay of Company G; John Berlin, George W. Bookhalt, James W. Larrabee and Francis A. Scott of Company I; and James W. Kays of Company K. Perhaps others were equally ready in the meritorious task, but their names have not been preserved.
This contest was extremely noisy, but does not appear to have been particularly destructive to the Union side. The only losses known to have occurred in the Fifty-fifth while in this position were Charles R. Fiske and John P. Gantzert, both corporals of Company I, who were instantly killed by the same unexploded shell, fired doubtless by Gage's battery, which had followed Stuart's footsteps so persistently through the day, and which was soon demolished by the heavy fire
II5
NIGHT AFTER BATTLE.
turned upon it. During this fusilade General Grant person- ally gave directions to some of the officers of the Fifty-fifth, with reference to the safety of their men. It was only a few feet in the rear that his scout, Carson, while conversing with him, was instantly killed by a shell. Just before the rebels finally withdrew from their desultory attempt, two regiments of Buell's troops filed up the road from the river, took posi- tion upon the left, and opened a vigorous fire into the woods beyond, and had one man hit while so engaged.
No ground was gained by the assailants during this portion of the engagement, and they must have suffered far more loss than they inflicted during its continuance. Indeed, their attempt of the evening was spasmodic, and not at all effec- tive as against organized resistance, and presently they with- drew into the darkness to bivouac upon the ground in their rear already captured. Night threw its mantle over the blood-stained field. The living and unhurt sought rest as best they could, to await the call for battle on the morrow. The wounded lay scattered everywhere, writhing in anguish. The dead were quietly at rest, suffering neither fear nor pain. Nature, as usual, seemed urgent to wash out the blood-stains of the fratricidal strife, and shortly a heavy rain-storm set in, which lasted until near morning. It was a mercy to the wounded on all parts of the battle-field, and saved many lives. To those who remained in line of battle trying to " un some fitful rest after the exhaustion of the day, it was a source of the greatest discomfort.
Since the first alarm the good chaplain had been untiring in his work of mercy. At the outset his greatest difficulty had been in collecting and organizing the musicians into an ambulance corps. The belligerent little drummers nearly all preferred to fight, and were found along the line, gun in hand, us fierce as fighting-cocks, with no notion of shirking either the dangers or the responsibilities of the front rank. All through the gloomy night the chaplain toiled, searching for and assisting the wounded of the Fifty-fifth. Such scant refreshments as he could obtain were distributed to the exhausted and hungry men, whose letters and journals are teeming with gratitude for the blessing of his presence.
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
Morning at length dawned, but upon no cheerful outlook. It was gloomy, damp and disagreeable. Daylight brought into view the terrible results of war, scattered everywhere around. The little log house in the rear was filled with suffer- ing wounded, and by it lay ghastly piles of human limbs, thrown carelessly aside after amputation. Long rows of dead rested stark and pulseless upon the wet ground, their pale faces upturned to the pelting storm. Altogether the environ- ment was as depressing as only the chaos of an unsuccessful battle-field could make it.
To the eternal glory of the poor remnant of the Fifty- fifth, it responded bravely to the demands of the new day. Its young men, born amid the quiet beauty of rural scenes, who had seen friends go down in the smoke of their first battle, undismayed sprang to their feet when the word came, ready to face again the rebel host before them.
Here is reiterated the former apology, before attempting to describe the battle of Monday in its relation to the Fifty- fifth. The effect of three wounds had placed the writer beyond the privilege of personal observation. The official reports are almost silent as to Stuart's brigade, and, at most, barely refer to its existence. Those who were present, and to whom an appeal has been made for information, seem to have been too busy doing their duty to observe the exciting scene around them with sufficient accuracy to repeat details after twenty-five years. The battle of the Fifty-fifth on the first day was isolated, and its incidents, when once under- stood, are somewhat aloof from the general confusion of this the most confused of battles. In its experience of the sec- ond day it was merged into the great mass of struggling men, and was merely a small factor in combined movements. One intelligent comrade, who was accustomed to note and preserve the details of army life, replies in this connection : "My chief memories are of the battle-field horrors-mangled humanity, dead horses, deep mud, horrible stenches, and insufficient food." It is easy enough to describe in a general way on which flank the Fifty-fifth acted, and the troops with which it cooperated, but how to give details and incidents with sufficient minuteness to answer the reasonable expec-
II7
MONDAY'S BATTLE.
tations of those who are interested in a work like this, is difficult and almost impossible.
Shortly after sunrise on Monday morning, and just as the survivors of Company I were placing in a shallow grave, side by side, poor Fiske and Gantzert, Major Sanger dashed up and ordered the brigade to move to the right. The Fifty- fifth had not over two hundred and fifty men in line, and the Fifty-fourth not so many. Of the Seventy-first, no organiza- tion was present. It was hopelessly blended into the mass of fugitives in the rear, from which their weak colonel had neither the power nor inclination to rescue them. This skel- eton of the brigade, under command of the brave colonel of the Fifty-fourth, and guided by Major Sanger, proceeded west along the Purdy road, and as the rugged valley of Till- man's Creek was approached, such troops of Sherman's division as remained in line were found. Then and there for the first time the regiment formed in connection with its own division, and under the eye of General Sherman, who, with his wounded arm in a sling, was dashing about as became his restless genius. From the west side of Tillman's Creek the march proceeded for about one mile in a south-westerly direction, until near the right of General McClernand's camps. Here, fresh from the seclusion of Crump's Landing, General Lew Wallace's division, which was on the right and front, encountered the enemy, and shot and shell again began to crash through the trees over and around the Fifty-fifth. Sherman's division was in the rear of Wallace's left and of McCook's right, with the evident purpose of operating in support of those fresh troops. About ten o'clock in the forenoon the battle opened in that quarter, carried on by the Federals at first largely with skirmish lines and artillery, all beautiful and elaborate, but displaying none of the sangui- nary aspect of the day before. Had the Union army been pushed into the fight and led with anything like the boldness which characterized the rebel attack of Sunday, the Confed- crate army would have crumbled away in an hour. Had the Confederate assaults of Sunday been attempted with any- thing like the scientific attenuation and care for human life used by the Federals on Monday, the latter would have lost
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
no ground. The enemy gradually gave way, and the Union line was advanced accordingly. Stuart's brigade, under com- mand of Colonel T. Kilby Smith, kept well up in rear of the front line, and under fire, but losing only here and there a man, by a cannon shot.
The right of the assailants had now swept around so as to face southeast, toward Shiloh church. About one hundred yards from that point was a dense thicket of water oaks, hard to penetrate and tenaciously held by the foe. About two o'clock the Fifty-fifth came in sight of the locality, and wit- nessed the preparation of McCook for attack. The Thirty- fourth Illinois, the only regiment from its state in Buell's army, was close at hand. The brigade, commanded by the gallant Colonel Kirk of Sterling, Illinois, and now in its first battle, was somewhat warmly engaged. The Thirty-second Indiana, under Colonel Willich, was brought up to lead the advance, and as it came under fire began to show signs of wavering. It was deliberately halted by its commander, who, in sight of the Fifty-fifth, proceeded for a time to drill his regiment in the manual of arms. When a sufficient degree of steadiness had been attained to suit the views of the colonel, it was ordered through the pond and into the thicket, and a fierce conflict of musketry at once followed. This lasted for about twenty minutes, when Willich's regiment came rushing to the rear, unable to face the fire any longer. Just then the brigade of the Kentuckian, Rosseau, was brought up, and Sherman formed Stuart's brigade on the right, and on the then front line. When these preparations were completed, the whole line swept forward, the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-fourth abreast of all others of the attacking force, and finally the whole rebel line gave way. It was followed with a rush. The disloyal host was fairly on the run, or as Colonel Malmborg would say, "faced mit their backs." Stuart's brigade was close after them, yelling like wild men, and had abundant opportunity and disposition to requite the rebel sociability of the day before. As the Confederates scampered through the open timber and fields the good Dres- den rifles of the exasperated and elated Illinoisans sent many of them beyond the reach of the beneficent legislation of
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BRAGG'S LAMENTATION.
modern times. This was the last stand by the enemy, and their flight was followed until at four o'clock in the afternoon Stuart's brigade, each man exhausted by the bloody chase, stood round about Shiloh church, and upon the ground cap- tured from Sherman early Sunday morning.
The battle of Shiloh was won, and no single organization had contributed more to that end than the Fifty-fifth Illinois Infantry. But one other regiment had spilled more blood upon that battle-field. The fragments of the once proud rebel army were stumbling toward Corinth, a mass of disor- ganized and discouraged fugitives. Northern patriotism and courage had driven them finally from a field almost given them by official misadventure. The ripe fruits of victory were within easy reach, but no hand was put forth to pluck them. General Grant, in his "Memoirs," has given such poor reasons as then existed for not following. General Buell, practically independent and with ten thousand troops at his back who had not fired a shot, was no more aggressive. It was the close of the only battle in which he personally took part during the rebellion.
The rebel General Bragg, in addition to his duties as chief- of-staff, had commanded a corps through the entire battle. He was everywhere during the two days' contest, sharing in an unusual degree for a subordinate, its responsibilities and dangers. As the Confederate army fled, pursuit was expected as a matter of course, and he remained in its rear to cover the retreat as far as possible. From a position not more than three miles in front of Shiloh church, and at half-past seven o'clock, Tuesday morning, he sent the following lamentation to General Beauregard:
Our condition is horrible. Troops utterly disorganized and demoral- ized. Road alnost impassible. No provisions and no forage, consequently everything feeble. * * It is most lamentable to see the state of affairs, but I am powerless and almost exhausted. Our artillery is being left all along the road by its officers. Indeed, I find but few officers with their men.
General Bragg received a note from General Breckenridge at two in the afternoon of that day, and forwarded it to his superior with the following indorsement:
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
Respectfully referred to General Beauregard. If we are pursued by a vigorous force we will lose all in the rear. The whole road presents the scene of a rout, and no mortal power could restrain it.
The above quotations, and from such a source, illustrate better than could a whole volume of argument the fearful straits of the defeated Confederates, and is equally conclusive of the possibilities within easy reach of the Federals. Could General Grant have been vouchsafed the inspiration which afterward seemed to guide him, the atonement would have been ample, and Shiloh would have left no regrets. So ended the great holocaust around the little Shiloh chapel. George W. Cable has said the South never smiled again after it. Thousands in the North West still mourn because of it.
It is impossible to give with exactness the casualties in the Fifty-fifth on the second day, but the loss bore no proportion to that of Sunday, although equal to that of many of Buell's and Lew Wallace's regiments. It probably did not exceed twenty, and was mostly from artillery. The splendid young orderly-sergeant of Company I was killed by a cannon shot, the first one struck on that day. Fred. Ebersold and James W. Larrabee of the same company, were wounded, and George A. Raup of Company C was killed.
So great a battle, and the first in the experience of nearly all who took part, was naturally rich in thrilling personal incidents. They are characteristic of such a battle, and of such a regiment, and a few are given to illustrate the one and to do justice to the other. It is sufficiently apparent that only such as are remembered or have been kindly furnished by others are available, a statement which should excuse any seeming egotism or discrimination.
Of the officers losing their lives, Captain Squire A. Wright was the highest in rank. He came from Michigan, a stranger, and was made second-lieutenant of Company C by Colonel Stuart, with whom he was a great favorite. He had been promoted to captain of Company F, and commanded it in the battle. He was one of the first struck in the main line, but refused to go to the rear, and finally received another and a mortal wound. He died at Quincy, Illinois, on May 12th. In his short career with the regiment he manifested
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PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
high capacity. The manner of his death sufficiently estab- lishes his claim to sublime bravery.
Lieutenant James Weldon had been transferred from Company I, and given his rank in Company H, with which he received his death wound. He was a young man of superb appearance and unblemished character, and had all the attributes of a fine volunteer soldier. His burial was the occasion of a fitting tribute on the part of his friends and neighbors, and Judge Harris of Morris, Illinois, delivered an eloquent eulogy, which this young soldier had fairly earned by his blameless life and heroic death.
Theodore W. Hodges, the gallant young second-lieutenant of Company C, also lost his life. The incidents of his death are so graphically stated by his good friend and comrade, Robert Oliver, that they are given in his language, which is as follows:
Hodges came to me and knelt down on one knee with the point of his sword on the ground, and said, "Oliver, as soon as you get your gun loaded take Ainsbury to the rear ; he is"- then he was hit by a canister shot in the head. He hung to the hilt of his sword until his hand came to the ground, bending the sword double, and when he let go it bounded six feet into the air. I was therefore left to accomplish the unfinished command of a good officer. That was the last command he ever gave.
First-Lieutenant Shaw, who that day commanded Com- pany C, also speaks in the highest terms of the gallantry of Lieutenant Hodges. He lay on the field in an uncon- scious condition, and finally died on Thursday following. The only word that was heard to escape his lips was when, once or twice, he muttered "father."
Jesse A. Carpenter and Eli L. Cook of Company I, and James W. Gillespie of Company G, were all detailed in the regimental quartermaster's department. After the baggage was loaded and the trains started for the landing, all joined their companies just as the battle commenced. Their con- duct was really an evasion of the duty for which they were selected, and their return to the line of battle was entirely voluntary. All three lost their lives before the day ended.
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