USA > Illinois > The story of the Fifty-fifth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war, 1861-1865 > Part 14
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On May 22d, Sherman's entire force made a careful advance along the Corinth-Purdy road and occupied the ground about one and one-half miles in front of the point from which they started. Another substantial line of works was erected as a matter of course. This brought the Federal front near to the main works of the Confederates, and skir- mishing was close and constant, though fortunately no loss was suffered by the Fifty-fifth. All supplies were trans- ported from Pittsburgh Landing, now nearly twenty miles in the rear, and over roads of the worst character, utterly impassible but for the sturdy Northern labor laid out upon them. As might be supposed, rations were not over plen- tiful. The quartermaster and commissary department of the regiment was as efficiently managed as possible by Quarter- master Janes and his subordinates, Capron and Fisher. Indeed, all through the service this department was remark- ably well administered. The persons who controlled it and who were therefore in a measure non-combatants, were always considered fair game for chaffing, but under this rough and hilarious badinage there was a genuine respect for
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the men who so well attended to their very important duties.
Greenbacks were plenty and the surroundings afforded a poor opportunity for disbursement; and although the exigen- cies of poker and chuck-a-luck from time to time changed the "money centres," there was a good deal in circulation. John Esson, the new sutler, arrived about this time, and with him a full stock of goods, and thereafter the gorgeous salary drawn by a private soldier had a place of deposit near at hand. Every day the men learned more and more to appre- ciate the zeal and humanity of Surgeon Roler and Chaplain Haney. The respect and gratitude which survives for them is a better evidence of their good work than any compliments which can be recorded here. While labor upon the intrench- ments was incessant, and picket duty constant, drill and parade were unremittingly exacted; so that the work of the campaign amounted to downright slavery; and while it may have hardened the survivors into veteran soldiers, many weakened and died under its hardships. Lieutenant J. B. Johnson, the bright, active officer in command of Company F at this time, relates an incident which will recall the field- officer referred to in all the glory of his zeal and power. It is as follows:
On one occasion I was selected to take charge of a detail of men, fifty in number, one-half of whom were armed with axes and the other half with guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Malmborg rode up and ordered me to form my men in line, which I did. Thereupon he was duly saluted. Said he, "Lieutenant Von Johnson, vill you shtep dis vay?" I ap- proached him with a salute. Pointing in the direction of a clump of large trees, he said, "Lieutenant Von Johnson, you vill dake your men down de rafine, keeping vell sekreded, ondil you ged close by de glump of dimber, den you vill"-and suddenly looking down at me, and secing that I was looking in the direction which he was pointing, he exclaimed, " Lieutenant Von Johnson, by Gott, ven I dalk to you, I vant you to look to me!" I recovered myself as soon as possible, saluted him, and assured him that I was paying strict attention to his directions and was looking where he pointed. "Vell," he repeated, "ven I dalk mit you, I vant you to look to me." I was considerably incensed at his unreasonable assault and resolved that I would strictly and literally obey his orders, and while he talked to ine, look straight at him. He began again by pointing in the direction of the clump of trees and said, "Lieutenant Von Johnson, you vill dake your men and file down de rafine, keeping de men vell sekreded, ondil you come down opposid de glump of dimber
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vat you see on de poind of land; un den, you vill durn to de leff, klimb de shteep ascent to de glump of dimber"-and, suddenly looking down at me, he noticed that I was looking straight at him, just as he told me to a moment before, when he broke out, "Lieutenant Von Johnson, by Gott, ven I dalk to you I vant you to look ver I poind." I replied, with a salute, "Colonel, you ordered me just now to look at you, and I was obeying your order literally." "Vell," said he, "by Gott, ven I dalk mit you, I vant you to look ver I poind." . I told him I was ready to obey his orders. He proceeded again, "Lieutenant Von Johnson, you vill dake your men and file down de rafine, keeping dem vell sekreded from de fire of de enemy, ondil you reach a poind opposid the glump of dimber, den you vill turn to de leff." Suddenly looking at me and discovering that I was looking where he pointed, he broke out again : " Lieutenant Von Johnson, vat for you shtand like a kettle ? By Gott, ven I talk to you, I want you to look to me." This was too much for frail humanity, and I retorted on the old tyrant by saying to him, that while I was an American soldier, I was an American born citizen, and drawing iny sword, an- nounced to him that I did not propose to be insulted by a man who had neither decency nor good-breeding. Thereupon he ordered a file of men to take me to the guard-house. I turned and ordered the men to keep their places in the ranks, and so matters went on for some time --- Malm- borg ordering the men to take me to the guard-house and I ordering them to keep their places in the ranks. Although Malmborg ranked me, his unpopularity rendered his order impotent and gave mine force, so that the men obeyed me and kept their places in the ranks. He then or- dered me to consider myself under arrest and surrender my sword to him and return to my quarters, which I did promptly and thereby escaped the perilous adventure down the ravine to assist in cutting the timber that svemed to be in the way. The next day, Colonel Stuart sent for Colonel Malmborg and myself, to report to his headquarters, whereupon he pro- ceeded to give us a few lessons in soldierly etiquette, ordered my sword returned to me, and directed me to take command of my company again, which I did.
On May 27th orders were received by General Sherman, from the commander-in-chief, "to send a force the next day to drive the rebels from the house in our front on the Corinth road, to drive in their pickets as far as possible, and to make a strong demonstration on Corinth itself." Accordingly, at right o'clock in the forenoon, Morgan L. Smith, with skirm- ishers well to the front, took the lead. The dominating feature of the landscape was a double log house standing on ridge at the south end of a field, from which the roof and chinks had been removed by the rebels for the purpose of transforming it into a block-house. Two of the celebrated
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Silversparre twenty-pound Parrott guns were along, and being masked behind timber were loaded with shell, and then moved by the help of the Fifty-fifth into easy range. A fire wonderful for its accuracy was opened upon the house, and in a few moments the rebels in consternation fled from it. The whole infantry line at a given signal pressed forward, and by ten o'clock the position sought for was in our posses- sion, not a shot having been fired except by the artillery and skirmishers. After a short interval, during which several batteries had been brought up, the Confederates came swarm- ing out of their works, and with boisterous yells charged toward the Union line, with what seemed to be an intention of recapturing the lost ground. The artillery at once opened with shell, and the charge was repulsed without the aid of the infantry. Generals Grant and Thomas were present, and viewed the whole movement, which was beautifully executed and elicited the highest praise.
At one period during the day, and after the picket firing had in a measure ceased, it re-commenced on the right with renewed vigor, and extended rapidly toward the left. Every infantry-man grasped his gun and the artillery-men jumped to their places. Just as these preparations were completed, a magnificent buck came bounding along between the picket lines, and in full view of both armies. The skirmishers on opposite sides all took a shot at him as he flew along, and he passed the entire front of the division unscathed, only to fall in front of the Fifty-third Illinois. The position gained was within thirteen hundred yards of the main rebel breastworks, and the 28th and 29th, including the night-time, were spent in erecting the same elaborate protection that had marked every halt.
During the night of the 29th strange noises and explosions within the Confederate lines were heard. Many subordi- nate officers in the Federal army believed an evacuation was impending, and were anxious to test the matter by an assault. General Halleck could see nothing, however, but danger, and since the whistling of engines and noise of the cars and teams drifted toward the left, which was the line of retreat, he filled the air with notes of warning to Pope on that flank,
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CORINTH EVACUATED.
and extensive preparations were entered into to reinforce the supposed point of danger. It was, however, as most of those on the ground anticipated, an abandonment of the position, skillfully planned and ably conducted by General Beauregard, not in the least interfered with by the timid Federal com- mander. The campaign was ended, and the result was the capture of a railroad crossing-nothing else. The largest army ever assembled in the West had spent just one month in moving, by slow approaches, about seventeen miles. No conflict arising to the dignity of a battle took place, and whenever a chance offered it was declined by the general in command of the Union army, notwithstanding he had great odds in his favor, and his men were ready and more than willing. History has properly characterized the campaign as a ludicrous failure, in view of what might have been accom- plished. It was a bare victory in theory, without any tangible results, and all the literary skill of the Federal commander was needed to satisfy the public that it was a success. It was fully demonstrated in the West, as it was soon in the East, that an able organizer, and one capable in strategy and logistics, could be a timid, inefficient character in the pres- ence of a hostile army.
Early on the morning of May 30th, General Sherman, who was alert and expectant, began to feel forward, and Morgan 1 .. Smith's brigade, with which of course was the Fifty-fifth, took possession of the first Confederate redoubt at half-past six in the morning. Some unseemly discussion followed between the other division commanders as to which troops first entered the rebel works at Corinth. Although it was no test of bravery and discipline, and was only a question of distance, it may as well be stated that the gauzy honor was claimed by the brigade above mentioned. The correspond- ent of the Chicago Tribune at least so assigned the wilted laurel, and thus wrote to his paper :
The honor is disputed by Hon. David Stuart of your city, the gallant colonel of the fighting Fifty-fifth; and my opinion is that Colonel Dave's claim on that score admits of no dispute, for doubtless he was "thar" when the deed was consummated.
So faithful in love, so gallant in war,
The honor is doubtless to our Lochinvar.
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
The Fifty-fifth marched through the squalid remains of Corinth to the locality called College Hill, and planted a flag upon the "Ladies' Seminary." Since no ladies were in attend- ance at the time, and orders were received to return to the camps of the night before, the position was abandoned with- out reluctance. The impression was general that a period of rest was to follow, and the men proceeded with their usual industry to dig wells and beautify their camp-grounds. Joseph Hartsook of Company F had been a short time before this detailed as brigade postmaster, from which he was soon reclaimed by his company commander and translated to the honors and emoluments of a corporal's rank, and thus placed in the line of deserved promotion, which duly followed.
About noon of June 2d, the felicitous dreams of rest were rudely dispelled by orders to March in one hour, and within that time the brigade was returning through Corinth. The intense sun-fire of the afternoon was followed by a rainfall of extraordinary severity, and the regiment, every man of it dripping wet and bedraggled with mud, bivouacked about four miles outside of the town. The interval of nearly two months which elapsed before arriving at Memphis, was a period of well-nigh constant marching to and fro. The pur- pose of this was not at the time apparent, and is now equally obscure. Indeed, the wearisome and ceaseless travel had no purpose and accomplished no results worth considering. It was simply blind obedience to the ever-changing impulses of the army commander, who magnified all stories and camp rumors into impossible movements of the enemy, and kept his troops in commotion to repel attacks which existed only in his own brain. It is not within the scope of this work to describe or criticise campaigns any further than may be necessary to do justice to the Fifty-fifth. Since, however, that regiment suffered from intense heat, thirst and wild storms, and toiled and marched night and day in obedience to useless orders, some allusion to the source and effect of them becomes imperative.
It may be a relief to the monotony of the description and give a clearer idea of actual field service, to follow the events of the next few weeks in the form of a journal, the material
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ITINERARY.
therefor being gathered from the diaries written at the time. by Henry Augustine of Company A, and Joseph Hartsook of Company F:
June 3. Resumed march at daylight, and at 11 o'clock A. M. halted one-half mile east of Chewalla, and remained till next morning.
June 4. Went along the line of the railroad, three miles west of Chewalla, and worked repairing road until evening of the 5th, when the regiment returned to camp east of the town.
June 6. Removed in afternoon to camp on high table-land further south, and the balance of that day and the following spent in getting baggage and preparing camp ground.
June 8. Sunday. Divine service at 10 A. M., in which the chaplain officiated and preached from the text: "Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."
June 11. Marched westward at 8 o'clock, and took dinner on the banks of the Little Tuscumbia; resumed march at 4 P. M.
June 12. Started early in morning, and halted from 10 until 2 o'clock, when route was resumed for four or five miles.
June 13. Lay quiet until 5 o'clock P. M., when march was resumed westward at quick time until Io o'clock at night, and regiment bivou- acked at Grand Junction; weather very hot, roads dusty, and much suffering for want of water.
June 14. Fell in at sunrise, and during day marched through the quiet little town of La Grange, and went into camp south of it on banks of Wolf River.
June 16. At 4 P. M. started toward Holly Springs, twenty-three miles south of La Grange. Marched through clouds of dust and excessive heat for twelve miles, and encamped upon a beautiful spot at It o'clock at night; water scarce and much suffering therefrom.
June 17. Route was continued at daylight; halted for breakfast upon the banks of the Cold Water, and after eight miles' march reached Holly Springs - the most beautiful town yet seen in Dixie.
June 18. Return journey commenced at 4 P. M .; camped for the night on the Cold Water.
June 22. Broke camp on this Sunday morning at 5 o'clock, and passed over a rich, level county, through the village of Moscow, and bivouacked one mile east of La Fayette.
June 24. Camp and garrison equipage came up, and the tents which had not been seen for some time were pitched in a beautiful, heavily- wooded locality.
June 26. Aroused at 3 A. M. by the report that enemy was coming. Took down tents and loaded everything; were not allowed to build fires, and ate raw meat and hard-tack for breakfast. Started at 5 A. M. on the back track for Moscow, and reached that place at noon. This march was the hottest and dustiest so far experienced, and much suffering
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
resulted. Not less than fifty men of the brigade gave out, and many « were prostrated by sunstroke.
June 30. Mustered for pay at 9 o'clock A. M., and commenced another tramp toward Holly Springs at 2 o'clock P. M., and traversed eight miles in that direction during the warm afternoon.
July 1. Resumed the journey early, halted on the Cold Water at 8 A. M. for breakfast, and proceeded to Holly Springs.
July 5. Remained in this camp four days. Blackberries were very plenty, and the whole army feasting on them -an important addition to the scanty rations and highly beneficial to the health of the men. Sonic false alarms as to attacks from the rebels.
July 6. Inspection this Sunday morning. Started at 4 P. M. in direc- tion of Moscow; marched until II o'clock at night, and made half the distance.
July 7. Started very carly and reached old camp at II A. M.
July 18. Have remained in this camp since 7th instant, occupied with company, regimental and brigade drill, during which time various styles of residences were erected by the men, which for the first time began to be called "shebangs." At half-past two o'clock in the morn- ing, struck tents and loaded baggage, but march was not commenced until "sun up." Day very warm. Passed through La Fayette and took dinner on the banks of Wolf River; then resumed journey and made twenty miles altogether during the day.
July 19. Reached Germantown, a place of strong secession proclivi- ties, and in bad repute on account of guerilla operations -much plundering indulged in. That day was very warm, and many gave out from fatigue and heat. After passing four miles beyond Germantown, halted for the night near large water tank.
July 21. Having rested over Snnday proceeded to Memphis, and during forenoon marched through the main strects to the southern part of the city. Large mail received, the first for many weeks.
This traces the summer campaign to the important city of Memphis, where a season of comparative rest was at hand. On July 5th, George L. Thurston, captain of Company B, left the regiment on sick leave. He had been ailing since Shiloh and should have gone to the rear long before. His men never saw him again for he died at his home in Lancas- ter, Massachusetts, of consumption, on December 15th following. He came to the regiment a stranger to all, and left among its line officers and men none but friends.
Captain Shaw thus relates an incident, alas! common enough in the army and therefore characteristic:
Corporal George Byrns, a very modest though efficient soldier about twenty-one years old, was taken sick shortly after leaving Corinth, and
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LA GRANGE BANK.
died in an ambulance near Grand Junction. The column halted about midnight, and his comrades prepared a grave in the corner of a field, lining it with evergreen boughs, and, having wrapped the body in a blanket, laid it away to rest with feelings of sadness too deep for expression. The chaplain made a few impressive remarks. This was a very affecting occasion, and is one spot where my memory lingers as 1 glance in retrospect over our army experience.
At La Grange a bank was captured and a large quantity of unsigned bills of railroad currency were scattered around. Of course nearly every Union soldier could sign a name in a fair hand, and as the inhabitants could not generally read and withal had a violent prejudice against greenbacks, these bills became the standard circulating medium. Under the circumstances the men were royally generous in paying for supplies, and not particular about prices or in exacting change. This manner of dealing brought chickens, berries and such delicacies of the neighborhood to the front, and the men lived luxuriously, while at the same time acquiring an exalted reputation for wealth and liberality. How long that reputation remained untarnished after departure there is no means of knowing.
On July Ist, General Smith issued an order from brigade headquarters, which is such a compound of good sense and badinage as to be thoroughly characteristic of its author. It was as follows:
HEADQUARTERS FIRST BRIGADE, July 1, 1862.
It has come to the knowledge of the commanding officer of the brigade that a straggler of General Hurlbut's division, on the occasion of our first visit to Holly Springs, was captured, and after being shot to make him tell things that he did not know, he was turned loose in the woods and bloodhounds put on his track. Anything further of his fate is not known. I tell you this to put you on your guard against straggling over one hundred yards from your stacks of arms. I hear also a report concerning some members of the Eighth Missouri, which is too terrible for belief. It is nothing less than an attempt to tarnish the good reputa- tion of their brothers of the Sixth Missouri by borrowing their elegant hats to steal sweet potatoes in.
By order of Brigadier-General M. L. Smith.
I. C. HILL, A. A. D. C.
During the marches to and fro, any plantation house occupied by a moderately comely female was sure to find
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protection, and its occupant courtly and kindly treatment at the hands of the colonel of the Fifty-fifth. If possible, his headquarters were established at such a house, and his per- sonal presence was interposed as a guarantee of good faith and tender solicitude. On one such occasion, after Stuart had posted guards at all vulnerable points save one, and while he himself was enjoying the society of the alleged widow, some of the members of that depraved Company I, outwitted the guard and robbed the smoke-house of some hams. The colonel's vials of wrath were opened, and a vigorous and profane speech followed. Nevertheless, thic hams were assimilated and no punishment inflicted because the particular offenders could not be identified. This inci- dent was made the occasion of a most atrocious piece of doggerel composition by Dorsey Andress, which was always after one of the war-songs of the regiment. It commenced with the following mellifluous strain:
Company I stole a ham, whoop-de-dooden-do.
All through the rebellion the Union soldiers manifested a consistent partiality for burning fence rails. Nothing was so perfectly adapted to a well developed camp fire as these results of colored industry. The Fifty-fifth, under the kind teaching of the Eiglith Missouri, showed a reasonable aptitude in all such depravity. The "kid-glove policy" then in vogue in high quarters, was not appreciated nor practically applied by the rank and file of the First brigade. In his desire to mitigate the lawless propensities of his men, and being unable to protect all the fence rails, Colonel Stuart issued an order that only the top one should be cremated. The regiment, ignorant of higher mathematics, at once assumed that when one rail was gone the next one was on top, and so it turned out that all rails were top rails, and it took just seven men to demonstrate that fact on a seven-rail fence. All this was done by the simple rule of subtraction and left the colonel struggling with another profane oration.
The summer marches through Tennessee and Mississippi discovered but little Union sentiment. An occasional inci- dent like the one of an aged loyal couple near Grand Junction was as rare as it was grateful. Generally the fields
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ENTERING MEMPHIS.
waved with corn planted in accordance with the so-called patriotism of the Southern Confederacy. On every planta- tion great black patches near the cotton gins showed where Beauregard's scouts had enforced his orders of destruction. Houses were silent and blinds closed. The only female faces seen were tearful or contemptuous. The black faces alone smiled a welcome, and with many genuflections the colored people gladly hailed the approach of the Union flag. On the march to Memphis the soldiers were for the first time allowed to treat these unfortunates kindly, and numbers followed the regiment who afterward became useful employes for a greater or less period. No instance is recalled in which they proved unfaithful or betrayed any trust .. The Fifty-fifth, like most of the army, solved for itself the true relation of slavery to the rebellion, while statesmen and generals were groping and gasping in the mazes of impracticable speculation.
As the Fifty-fifth went marching along the streets of Memphis on that warm July morning, they were indeed ideal Western soldiers; not conspicuous for handsome uni- forms or waving plumes, but the very embodiment of disciplined, self-reliant force. They were dirty, sunburned and ragged; but their manly bearing made them marked men even in an army so notable in history. They bore the impress of their splendid brigade commander, and were manifestly journeymen in the art of war. They stepped out with the easy motion and swinging stride peculiar to the army of the West. Every movement about them was bright with intelligent, energetic life, and indicated that they were capable of doing what they had done and what yet remained to be done. So these men of the Fifty-fifth looked to Sergeant Larrabee and his comrade, who had just returned from wounded furlough and stood upon the side of the street and saw them go sweeping by.
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