USA > Illinois > The story of the Fifty-fifth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war, 1861-1865 > Part 27
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Throughout our march we met only friendly greetings and willing assistance. With one acclaim we were joyously hailed as deliverers. Grey-haired men bade us God speed, and sad-
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faced women called upon heaven to bless us. And when the brave lassies of those beautiful valleys came out upon the roadside, as they daily did, holding out diminutive copies of the starry banner and wearing welcoming smiles upon their blushing faces, rank and file went wild with patriotic enthusi- asm. The surviving veterans of the Fifty-fifth, reviewing its history indelibly engraved in their memories, find many pages emblazoned with greater military glory, many pages crimsoned with the blood of greater sacrifice, but perhaps no page is oftener reviewed with more unmixed satisfaction than that which recalls how, through toil of travel and great suffer- ing from cold and hunger, it hastened to aid the final deliv- erance of this people who had long borne in unflinching loyalty the brutal oppression of traitors.
The division of General M. L. Smith was ordered to fol- low in support of a cavalry force sent to pursue a detachment of the enemy which was escaping with a wagon train into the mountains of North Carolina. December 7th we camped two or three miles south of the bridge constructed at Mor- gantown, cighteen miles from our starting point, and on the eighth at dusk, wading the bridgeless Tellico Creek, went into bivouac eighteen miles nearer the state line, in the rum- pled skirts of the Great Smoky range. It had been a long and wearisome day's march. Not only had the roads been rough and miry, but the wind that blew in our faces was of marrow-piercing chilliness. The sky, all day lowering, grew black and threatening before the column halted in a grove of young trees. As soon as the guns were stacked and the guards designated, the men hurried their preparations for appeasing ravenous appetites and for setting up such little shelter as they could contrive against the storm evidently near at hand. Division of labor and long experience make quick workers. Some gathered fuel and lighted fires, while their messmates selected the fittest spots of ground and, gathering grass and leaves for the night's bed, covered them with such slight roofs as could be improvised. A few fires began to send out a promising blaze. In a few minutes more the cheerful sizzling of frying meat and the refreshing oder of steaming coffee would have pervaded the bivouac, and
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half the day's discouragements would have disappeared with the sparks that went sailing up among the foliage. Just at this critical moment, as if bearing us special malice, the storm burst. The rain came in sheets, and the wind quickly rose to a gale. Every spark of fire was almost instantly drowned out, and pitch darkness settled like a pall over the little camp of drenched, tired, hungry, shivering, disconsolate patriots. Some stood, some sat down with backs to the wind, covering themselves with rubber blankets, if any they had, and brooded in sullen despondency over their joyless lot, homesick and lonely in the "tumultuous privacy of storm." No sound was for a time heard save the swish of the wind- tortured tree-tops, and the roar of the clements. But sud- denly a well-known voice from the right of the camp broke the silence, rising, resonant and clear as a bell, above the turmoil of the tempest. It was the chaplain, singing that grand old hymn by Stowell :
"From every stormy wind that blows, From every swelling tide of woes, There is a calin, a safe retreat ; "Tis found beneath the mercy seat."
With the second line a few voices joined, and more and more took up the strain, until it rang out through the gloom like a pæan of victory. It was -- the victory of Christian psalmody; at once exaltation and benediction.
The next day we passed the Tellico Iron Works before noon, and having marched about two miles encamped at . Tellico Plains. In this neighborhood we remained, sur- rounded by grand mountain scenery, for four days, living upon the rich Secessionist farmers and sending out foraging parties through the whole region, even across the North Car- olina line. December 13th we resumed our return march westward by Chilahoma Mountain, crossing Conasauga Creek. On the fourteenth we reached Chestuee Creek, on the fif- teenth passed through Charleston, on the sixteenth advanced to Cleveland, and on the seventeenth came to Chattanooga. During this five-days' march of seventy-five miles it rained most of the time, the roads were heavy, many of the men were footsore, and all were half starved. It was, moreover,
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bitterly cold. The only way reasonable comfort could be got at night was by building huge fires of pinc logs, piled often eight or ten feet high, and raising a shelter of evergreen on the windward side, fifteen or twenty fect away, under pro- tection of which a thickly packed rank, with feet to the blaze, took their well-earned rest. The whole country had been stripped of its provisions by both armies twice over. Upon our arrival in the vicinity of an army commissary, many had for twenty-four hours or more eaten no morsel of food, and most had tasted little but unground corn for two or three days. Some beef was at once obtained, and the men were to be seen everywhere broiling their rations over little fires, and hardly waiting for the meat to be warmed through before they ravenously devoured it. All were ragged, many were entirely shoeless, and others so footsore that they could not be expected to walk another hour. These last were selected from the brigade and sent down the river in pon- toons, Captain Nourse of the Fifty-fifth having the honor to be placed in command of the fleet manned by " the barefoot brigade."
The regiment marched to Bridgeport, arriving there on the evening of December 19th, badly fagged by its long day's journey of twenty-five miles. Indeed it might be called a go-as-you-please march, for several of the regiment failed to appear until the next day. The pontoons had anchored in the same harbor a few hours before the first of the footmen came over the bridge. The quartermaster and his men had a camp in order ready for our coming, having arrived at Bridgeport three days earlier. December 20th clothing was issued. The Fifty-fifth, blossoming out in fresh blue, bore little resemblance to the ragged, travel-stained, unkempt horde of tramps that straggled into town the night before. December 23d Major Newcomen paid us four months' ducs, and on Christmas day the colonel, with ten enlisted men de- tailed for recruiting service, left for Illinois. The same day died in camp Corporal Matthew McComb, a modest, cour- ageous man who quietly and faithfully served his country as he quietly and faithfully did everything that came to him in the light of Christian duty.
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CHAPTER VIII.
WINTER QUARTERS .- RE-ENLISTMENT.
THE Fifteenth Army Corps, of which General John A. Logan now assumed command, relieving General Blair, was ordered to be stationed along the railroad from Steven- son to Decatur, for the winter. Both of these towns were in direct communication by rail with Nashville, the headquar- ters of the department. December 26th the Fifty-fifth was ordered to Bellefonte, about twenty-five miles west of Bridge- port. The roads proved almost impassable, it rained inces- santly, and animals and men were chilled through by the wintry blasts from the mountains. Three full days were con- sumed before the regiment reached its destination, and then the wagon train could not keep pace with the troops, and tents and camp utensils did not get to them until the twenty- ninth. Even with their recent bitter trials in campaign life fresh in memory, many declared this march the worst in all their experience. Supposing Bellefonte fixed upon as win- ter quarters, the men began to elaborate the camp, building chimneys and in other ways making their huts as comfort- able as possible, though all suffered greatly from the unusual severity of the weather. It proved but a nine days' home, after all.
The regiment now numbered about four hundred and seventy present and absent, over one-third of whom were upon detached service. The provisions of General Orders IGI and 376 of the War Department, proffering a bounty of
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four hundred and two dollars and a furlough of thirty days lo veteran volunteers of at least nine months' service, re- enlisting for three years or during the war, were being accepted very generally by those troops about us to whom these orders applied. But in the Fifty-fifth no enthusiasm had been awakened and very few had avowed their intention to re-enlist. In a regiment so noted for its ardent patriotism and soldierly qualities this reluctance astonished its friends, and especially the generals under whom it had served. The following order was read on New-Year's day.
HEADQUARTERS 2D DIV., ISTH ARMY CORPS, BELLEFONTE, ALA., Dec. 31, 1863.
MEN OF THE SECOND DIVISION :--
I have a word for your private ear. The campaign which you have just completed exceeds by far any other march that has been made during this or any other war. This division has marched from Eastport to Tuscumbia and back to Eastport farther than any other division in the Corps; and the Second brigade has marched from Tellico towards Mur- phy, twenty miles, and back further than any other brigade in the Corps. I claim for you that your march was more orderly, and that you lost one hundred per cent. less men from straggling than any other division. For all this you have a great reward in your own manly breasts, that no paid newspaper reporter can rob you of.
Now a grave question presents itself to you. Will you join the Vet- eran Corps? Will you finish the job you have so nobly commenced, or will you falter so near the end of the race, and resign the crowning glory to other hands? Don't for an instant think that I wish to persuade one man to act against his convictions of duty; but let me tell you that a great and rich country will never tire of rewarding the men that stand by it to the end. Your children and children's children will bless you and your memory to the end of time. What is done must be done quickly. It must be done before the 5th of January to secure the four hundred and two dollars bounty.
By order of Brig .- Gen. M. L. SMITH. J. C. HILL, A. A. A. G.
General Smith also publicly promised a barrel of whiskey to the regiment of his division first re-enlisting. The emu- lative spirit of the Fifty-fifth was not stirred by this proffered prize. Much higher and truly patriotic considerations were already moving the majority of the regiment; but most of those ready to serve their country for the war had firmly re-
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solved that they would not bind themselves to further service unless given assurance which they could implicitly trust that they should be relieved from the field officers then over them. Lieutenant Healey was appointed regimental recruiting officer, and enrolled about fifty veterans, who were sworn in on the fifth. Soon after notice came that the time for the acceptance of veteran re-enlistments had been again ex- tended.
On the third of January we performed a novel duty. Two ladies and their children had been smuggled across the Ten- nessee somewhere in our vicinity, and were captured while on their way to Murfreesboro. It was ordered that they should be sent back by the same route. The Fifty-fifth was · detailed to escort them to the river, and Madame Peebles, wife of Confederate congressman Peebles, and Mrs. Peebles, wife of Colonel Peebles, with their two boys and trunks, were one by one paddled across the swift Tennessee in a dug-out, and receipted for by a major on picket duty opposite. This affair would have lacked interest for most of the escort, how- ever, but for the chance discovery of a herd of pigs in the bottom lands. Whether these animals belonged to loyal or disloyal owners we could not be supposed to know; but upon their own merits they were condemned as undoubted bush- whackers, and after a spirited chase the majority were drawn, quartered, hung on soldiers' bayonets, and carried to camp.
Three days later the Fifty-fifth was moved to Larkinsville, one day in advance of the rest of the division, to take charge of and preserve the buildings and barracks left by the Third division, which had been ordered away. Here we were de- tailed as provost-guard, establishing camp again, as we imagined, for the winter, and we built substantial huts of boards and other lumber picked up here and there, adding mud chimneys and the other customary conveniences of a soldier's home in the field. Some snow had already fallen, and the weather was often bitterly cold. The camp routine was not onerous. Guard-mount was held at nine o'clock in the forenoon, and dress-parade at four in the afternoon. Now and then a brigade inspector appeared among us and made his favorable report. Occasionally the regiment had
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to procure wood for the railroad, as well as for its own use. The chaplain built a little chapel for Sunday and evening services, and by his fervor and industry awakened unusual religious interest in the camp. Quartermaster Capron having been detached for duty at brigade headquarters, as acting assistant-quartermaster, on January ist, Lieutenant Horace T. Healey became acting regimental quartermaster, which office he ably filled until the expiration of his term of service.
January 24th the regiment marched two miles among the mountains, accompanied by the Alabama Cavalry, for the purpose of summoning witnesses against alleged bushwhack- ers then in the hands of the provost-marshal, and returned the next day. On the twenty-sixth Major Heffernan left for Springfield, Illinois, upon recruiting service. His labors in > that line of duty, though long continued, are not known to have added a man to the ranks. The same day the brigade marched, with ten days' rations, across the Tennessee River at Larkin's Landing in pontoons, and travelled until four o'clock the next morning, reaching the head of a pass over Sand Mountain. During the forenoon the summit was reached, and meeting with neither opposition nor notable adventure, the expedition returned to within three or four miles of the river. Several of all ranks in the brigade be- trayed unmistakable symptoms of being badly poisoned by "mountain tea," which some of those with acute instincts for a still hunt had discovered in its secret retirement on the mountain. The pontoon bridge which the pioneer corps were engaged in constructing being yet incomplete, we re- crossed in boats, on the twenty-eighth, and encamiped at its northern end, a detachment of the regiment returning to the town as provost-guard, under Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler.
January 29th a reconnoissance in force, under command of General M. L. Smith, embracing cavalry, artillery, and two or three regiments of infantry from cach division of the Fifteenth Corps, was made across the river. This expedition proceeded about forty miles towards the interior of Alabama, visited Lebanon and Guntersville, effectually scoured the intermediate country, and captured numerous Confederate officers who, with small squads of so-called home guards, were
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hunting down and forcing into service the male inhabitants of the northern counties, most of whom were at heart Union men. The expedition did not return until February 5th. The Fifty-fifth did not accompany it, being assigned to the duty of guarding the pontoon bridge immediately after its completion. But almost daily companies were detailed to cross the river with the wagon train and bring away what forage could be discovered. These excursions were popular with the men, who usually found some opportunity for mak- ing agrecable additions to their rations; and now and then two or three of the more venturesome secretly made excur- sions independent of a train into the mountain wilds, where they sometimes narrowly escaped capture, and met with many interesting adventures. February 16th the regiment was gladdened by the coming of Paymaster Newcomen. On the twenty-fifth the detachment at the village was relieved from provost duty, and the whole regiment took post at the bridge, the five companies, A, F, G, H and I, being stationed, under command of Captain Augustine, in the tete de pont on the south side of the river, relieving a detachment of the One-hundred-sixteenth Illinois. Lieutenant-Colonel Chand- ler remained with the other companies on the north side, in support of the battery.
Meetings were frequently held in the evening for the pur- pose of trying to induce the men to re-enlist, but there seemed little hope that the regiment would retain its name as a veteran organization. By the first of February between fifty and sixty only had been enrolled, less than one-third of the number required under the provisions of General Order 376 of the War Department, to entitle the command to fur- lough as a veteran regiment. There was obviously some undercurrent of feeling that restrained a majority from binding themselves, although they fully recognized and ac- knowledged their patriotic duty and the generosity of the government's bounty. Early in the month there appeared among the line officers a document inspired by the chaplain, but in accord with a popular sentiment in the regiment. In the patriotic fervor of the time it was signed without demur by nearly every officer present. It proffered to the veterans
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the extraordinary pledge that, if enough would re-enlist to retain the regimental organization, they should have the privilege of electing their commissioned and non-commis- sioned officers, from colonel to corporals. Yet this assurance, attested by the signatures of all the company officers, and, verbally at least, endorsed in much higher quarters, carried little force. Reasoning upon past experience, the shrewder minds warned their comrades to beware of a promise lacking the highest official sanction-any promise which, though satisfactory to the ear, could readily escape fulfillment or find excuse for long delay, when the enlisted were bound beyond chance of withdrawal from their part of the contract.
March Ist a reconnoissance, commanded by General Giles A. Smith, was made over Sand Mountain by the Fifty-fifth, accompanied by the Eighth Missouri mounted and two com- panies of the Fifteenth Michigan. A march of twelve miles was rewarded by the capture of a few home guards, and some forage was collected. Soon after, information was brought to General Logan that the Confederates designed the destruc- tion of the bridge, and constant vigilance, especially at night, was enjoined; but no hostile attempt was made, rather to our disappointment after ample precautions had been taken. March 2Ist we were surprised by a fall of six inches of snow during the night, an almost unprecedented amount for that region, as the older residents assured us.
During daylight the exuberant spirits of the regiment sought more or less successfully to beguile the weary hours with sportive tricks, athletic exercises, and games new and old. Some busied themselves with carving pipes from briar and laurel roots, covering them with elaborate decoration; while others wrought rings from pearly mussel-shells. Cock- fights were largely patronized by a few, and pet birds were guarded with zealous care and systematically trained for the matches. By necessity such occupations and amusements were enjoyed within camp lines; but when the stars began to glimmer brightly over the mountain tops, and roll-calls were over, a secret exodus from company quarters often took place, and humanity's great problem-how to chase dull care away -- found pleasant solution sometimes far outside even the
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THE FLAT-ROCK DANCES.
picket lines. The region about us though thinly inhabited was peopled by a race disposed to stand by the old flag, and, save the men drafted into the rebel army and a few volun- teers in our own, the families all remained at their homes. The females far outnumbered the males. It was not long before the brave boys of the Fifty-fifth had ingratiated them- selves with the lorn damsels, and frequent social parties followed, where the beaux, all in army blue, furnished the music and the commissary stores, and the belles in costumes of their own weaving and shaping, gave grace and some wholesome restraint to the rustic ball. Hilarity reigned su- preme on such occasions, and chance lack of cultured manner was held of small account weighed against native amenity and jovial activity. The popular dance of the locality had few changes. It was known as "the Alabama flat-rock," and differed little from the genuine "break-down." Care was taken not to give too general notice of these entertainments, for there was great danger that the self-invited guests would be too many for the house to hold, and the dance find indefi- nite postponement for lack of floor room and superabundance of floor managers. The popular musicians of these assem- blies were J. G. Brown, M. M. Potter and Joseph Presson of the Fifty-fifth. Principal-Musician Brown had also a talent for versification, and wrote the songs of the regiment. A rallying song for the veterans by him, set to the tune of "The Bonnie Blue Flag," will be remembered by many. Truly republican principles governed entertainers and guests; corporals' stripes often took precedence of shoulder-straps. Several of the officers of the brigade having planned a select party, on the appointed night proceeded to the rendezvous; but on drawing near the proposed ball-room, they not only met the resplendent glare of the usual tallow-candle illumi- nation, but the sound of exhilarating music and the shuffling of sympathetic feet struck their astonished ears. The boys had got wind of the festivities intended to be so exclusive, and beaten the shoulder-strapped soldiers at strategy, much to the disgust of the latter. The midnight roll-calls there- upon ordered for a few nights were supposed to have restored discipline in camp; but strange to say the usual guests trod
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the same measures at the regular cottage dances without ap- pearing in the reports as absent from roll-call.
Susceptible as well as gallant, it was inevitable that some of the young warriors should lose their hearts to the frank and fair maids of the mountains, and the chaplain was called " upon occasionally to seal the bond of union made by some infatuated couple. Alas! in the spring when the army marched upon the Atlanta campaign, sundry weeping wives reluctantly parted from newly-made husbands. But one of these husbands belonged to the Fifty-fifth, and he, it is pre- sumed, returned to cheer his loyal Southern spouse after the cruel war was over.
There was some sickness among us at Larkinsville, chiefly fever, and four men fell victims to disease: Sergeants Edward Bridge and E. D. Huntington, George Putnam and Joseph F. Bragg. Orderly-sergeant Huntington was a man of very bright intellect, and would soon have received deserved pro- motion. Both he and Bridge were genial, brave soldiers, whose loss was much lamented by comrades.
Over the frail bridge of boats which we were appointed to protect, daily streamed a forlorn line of Alabamians, fleeing conscription or oppression, and bearing with them such of their household gear as they could drag over the mountain roads. From over fifty miles away they came to this cross- ing as to the threshold of freedom, a motley procession es- caping the tyranny of the Secession oligarchy. War-made widows with a never-dropping tear clinging to either eye, accompanied by half a score of gaunt, hungry-faced children passed, carrying a little bedding on the backs of a pair of ancient plough mules. An old man perhaps came next, with a rickety cart crammed with feather beds and crowned with a spinning-wheel; five or six grown daughters following close behind, who beguiled their weary walk with periodical "dips" into the pouch of yellow snuff which each carried. They had left "right smart uv a farm," "a good home," because the obstinate grey-bearded father believed in the old Constitution in spite of all its "glittering generalities," and therefore could not long hope for exemption from insult or worse in the inflammable neighborhood of the home guards. Next would
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appear, perhaps, a squad of deserters with bearing as unsol- dierly as a group of young men could have, expressing with noisy oath and joke their joy at getting safely into the arms of Uncle Sam. More than once an escaped Union prisoner reached us to be feasted with army rations and questioned into a fever by the whole camp. Colored waifs were ex- tremely rare, for this was no slave district. The mountains are too broad and the valleys too narrow for man to profit much by the use of compelled labor.
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