USA > Illinois > The story of the Fifty-fifth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war, 1861-1865 > Part 32
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All that night we labored constructing works, expecting renewed assault at sunrise, but the punishment had been sufficient. Hood's rash policy might please the autocrat of Richmond, but rank and file already showed grave signs of mutiny. A wounded Confederate sergeant said: "Our gen- eral told us the Fifteenth Corps had bragged long enough that they had never been whipped, and that today he would drive you to the river or hell before supper." Acre upon acre of the open field lay before us at daylight strewn with dead men, guns, accoutrements and clothing, while dark spots of clotted blood on the slopes. far and near, told where in the darkness friends had conveyed away the dead and wounded they could safely reach, or where our stretcher bearers had gathered groaning burdens and borne them to our own hos- pitals. Many a stump had a dead soldier behind it, and some even three. Along the fence the rebels lay in a windrow, in some places two or three piled across each other. A similar swath left by the reaper Death lay in the bed of the little rivulet that ran diagonally by our front, into which the wounded had crept to drink their last cooling draught. Be- fore our angle two great graves were dug; in one were cov- ered fifty-two, in the other fifty-seven dead.
The effective force of the Fifty-fifth in this action was
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THE BATTLE CASUALTIES.
one hundred and eighty. Its loss was five killed and twelve wounded.
CASUALTIES OF THE FIFTY-FIFTH AT EZRA CHURCH, JULY 28, 1864.
KILLED).
COMPANY. REMARKS.
JOHN FUNK, drummer.
A. Shot in left side.
WILLIS HASTY.
A. Shot in breast.
JOHN Q. A. CURTISS, orderly-sergeant.
C. Shot through head.
OSCAR JOHNSON, corporal.
C. Shot through head.
EDWARD PHILO.
H. Spine pierced by bullet.
WOUNDED.
ANDREW J. LOWDER.
A. In left hand.
NEWTON MORGAN.
A. In right hand.
OCK PORT.
C. Mortally, in hip.
CHARLES R. NOLING.
C. In heel.
ASA SCOTT WRIGHT.
C. In left leg.
JOHN WARDEN, sergeant,
E. In left hand.
THOMAS NICHOLS.
E. In left shoulder.
EDWIN A. DEWEY, corporal.
F. In face.
SAMUEL LONG, sergeant.
F. In right arm.
ALBERT A. WHIPPLE, first-licutenant.
G. In head.
WILLIAM H. LIVERMORE.
H. Right leg amputated.
JOSEPH M. SOWLES, corporal.
H. In right shoulder.
Willis Hasty, a soldier always unconscious of danger, was instantly killed, probably by a sharp-shooter, having gone out in advance of the line after the repulse of one of the assaults. The little drummer-boy, Funk, a recent recruit, was mortally wounded while at the rear on duty with the surgeon. Curtiss and Johnson were killed by the first volley from the enemy, side by side. Johnson was a model cor- poral, young, light hearted, fun loving, and deservedly beloved by all who knew him. Curtiss was an older man, with a little family in Illinois. Two brothers of his had previously given their lives in the war. He was a kind- hearted comrade, cool and collected in battle. Ock Port was mortally wounded at night when coming in with his lieutenant from the picket line, by a bullet fired from some of our own troops. A foolish scare started the men in a raw regiment on the right to firing, and other troops heedless of the fact that pickets were stationed in their front, followed in a general fusilade, which prematurely ended the career
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
of as tidy, obedient and stanch a soldier as existed in the Union army. Edward Philo, an Englishman with all the characteristic pluck of the race, was mortally wounded by a bullet which fractured his spinal column. Livermore, a boy noted throughout the regiment for his irrepressible jollity and utter contempt for bullets, lost his right leg. Most of the wounds were not severe.
The Fifteenth Army Corps was now gradually wheeled into alignment with the rest of the Army of the Tennessee, confronting new defensive works which were diligently pushed southward by Hood to protect his railway communi- cations with East-Point junction, six miles from Atlanta. Each day some ground was gained, often by a sudden dash upon the rebel pickets, who were usually covered by little lunettes or detached riffe-pits which, when captured, formed the basis of a new line of offensive works. One serious discomfort nearly always attended the occupation of any soil which the Confederate soldier had slept upon. Far less solicitous about personal cleanliness than our men -- of the Fifty-fifth at least-curses loud and decp were frequently heard in camp against its late tenants for leaving a hungry multitude of diminutive pests behind. At some favorable hour, when quite sure of no hostile interruptions, the whole line half nude would become an army of exploration. The term "gray-backs" grew to be used almost indiscriminately for the Southern soldiers and their inseparable parasites.
The weather had grown intensely hot and it was almost impossible to get a sufficient supply of water even for drink- ing purposes within a reasonable distance. The men, finding a swampy spot, would dig a hole three or four feet deep, into which perhaps a pailful or two of water would leach during twelve hours; but if the owners of the little well expected to reap the full reward of their labors, they gener- ally had to stand guard near it.
Our division commander, Morgan L. Smith, had been forced to leave the field owing, it is said, to the breaking out of his wound afresh, and we were again subjected to General Lightburn, the next in rank. The effective force of the regiment was but one hundred and sixty men, but during the
35I
ADVANCING THE LINES.
first week after the battle of Ezra Church it did more fatigue, field and outpost duty than military laws would sanction a general in imposing upon a regiment of five hundred effectives, unless for self preservation. This abuse of the little battalion, which in the three bloody battles fought within five weeks-Kenesaw, Atlanta and Ezra Church-had stood always preeminently in the van of action leading the division, was, whether rightfully or wrong- fully, charged upon the division commander's incompetence -- or worse.
During July 30th and 31st we were pushing forward into position and constructing rifle-pits. Constantly exposed to the fire of the sharp-shooters and artillery, our defensive works became necessarily of very substantial character, with heavy head-logs and strong revetment. Behind these the men lay, attempting to shelter themselves somewhat from the scorching rays of the midsummer sun by brush spread over poles resting upon the parapet. They were often called into line by sudden alarms, and kept constantly on the alert, expectant of assault. During the night of August ist the Fifty-fifth was moved forward a half-mile or more, and built carth-works twice the length of its own battle front, on what had been the Union picket line, the rebel outposts being but a very short distance from us. Not permitted to enjoy the protection we had perfected, when the main line was moved forward on the afternoon of August 2d the regiment s peshed to the night and again had to work all night to intrench itself, plying axe and spade while other troops rested behind the barricades we had erected. The advance of the Twenty-third Corps this day appeared coming into position on our right, but on a line refused at a large angle from ours.
August 3d an attempt was made in the morning, by a gen- eral advance of the Second brigade, to drive the rebel pickets from their trenches and hold them for our own picket line. The movement met with temporary success, but gained nothing; the Confederates being able safely to outflank the position, so long as the Twenty-third Corps did not advance within supporting distance. The rebel skirmishers were soon
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352
FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
back in their rifle-pits again, were heavily re-enforced, and were more annoying than before. In the afternoon the at- tempt was repeated all along the whole division line, but failed to win a foot of ground. The Fifty-fifth was then sent for to report to General Lightburn, and marching to the left a short distance from its place in the line, the senior officer commanding, Captain Shaw, found the general crouched close behind the parapet, and reported for orders. Pointing to an aid, the general said, "You will receive your instructions from Lieutenant - -. " The officer designated climbed over the works with the captain and the regiment was ordered to follow. We passed across an open field into a piece of wood- land where the bullets began to whistle about unpleasantly near, and the aid from behind a trec, pointing to a little ele- vation further to the left front in an open, grassy field, said: " The general wants you to take that hill and hold it." Then he sped back over the parapet into safety, and Captain Shaw quietly gave the necessary orders and led the charge.
The point to be gained was about three hundred yards in advance of the main Union line, and about the same distance from the intrenched position of the enemy. The advance was gallantly made across open ground, the whole of which was swept by an enfilading fire from the skirmishers in the rifle-pits on the right. The rebel batteries in the main line also kept up a vigorous bombardment of the position we were aiming to reach. The summit was specdily gained and with an astonishingly small loss; for experience had taught the veterans how to move rapidly while hugging the ground closely, and to take the utmost advantage of every inequality. The grass, moreover, though scanty was tall enough to seri- ously interfere with the rebels' aim. Upon arrival at the desired point a few minutes sufficed to dig burrows for indi- vidual protection. We lay upon face or back in the roasting rays of the afternoon sun, slowly sinking ourselves into shal- low pits to avoid the shower of balls that hissed a foot or two above us; and when darkness came these little pits were enlarged into a continuous trench with a traverse embank- ment upon the exposed flank. We labored as for our lives all night, momentarily expecting an attempt of the enemy
353
AN INSANE ORDER.
to dislodge us, and amazed that no troops were sent either to support or relieve us.
Here the morning of August 4th found us, less than one hundred and fifty men all told, isolated about midway be- tween our own and Hood's main lines, receiving the enemy's infantry and artillery fire from elaborate works in front and on the right, with no possible shelter between us and those works. The men were so utterly exhausted with continuous toil and three nights' watchfulness, that they were continually dropping asleep. Captain Shaw was sick with a malarial attack; we were all half roasted with the heat of the sun, consumed with thirst, and unable to properly prepare our food. Our ammunition was reduced to less than twenty rounds per man. The afternoon came and yet no relief. Suddenly we saw two officers coming from the rear across the field we had charged over the day before, running with bodies bent low as though they found something unpleasant in the upper air. It proved to be Lieutenant-Colonel Mott of the Fifty-seventh Ohio, and Lieutenant Martin, aid of the brigade commander, Colonel Theodore Jones. Lieutenant Martin brought orders to Captain Shaw to advance in front of our works, saying that the Fifty-seventh Ohio would sup- port us on the right.
Astonished at so insane an order, which could only mean theless murder, Captain Shaw briefly called the aid's atten- tion to the condition and position of the regiment, and asked that the facts be reported to Colonel Jones and General Lightburn. Lieutenant-Colonel Mott asking Shaw if he re- fused to go forward, he replied that he could not order his men to advance in their exhausted state until he heard again from the brigade commander. Then Mott suggested in a subdued tone that a command from Captain Shaw to his men to advance would cover the requirements of the order. To this the Captain replied firmly: "I shall never give a com- mand to this regiment that I do not wish and expect them to obey." This ended the interview, and Captain Shaw and his fellow officers who had heard the conversation, awaited events, never suspecting that he was to be reported as diso- bedient and chargeable with misbehavior before the enemy,
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354
FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
because he had suggested that the nerve and muscle of the Fifty-fifth were insufficient to endure four days and nights consecutively of toil and sleeplessness. Several compara- tively fresh regiments, double ours in numbers, lay at ease in the breastworks we had built.
No return message came, but the charge was sounded and the Fifty-seventh Ohio attempted to advance through the woods from the rear upon our right, and the One-hundred- twenty-seventh Illinois made a feeble effort to move forward at our left. Captain Shaw instructed his command to be ready to join the Fifty-seventh if they came near the line of our position. But the spirit and bravery that generally dis- tinguished our comrades of the gallant Ohio regiment could not make headway against the storm it encountered. The slow advance of the Twenty-third and Fourteenth Corps, outflanking the strong advanced posts of the rebels on our right, finally on August 7th effected what General Lightburn had proposed that three or four hundred men should do by assault in front, where a division had failed. After dark the Fifty-fifth was at length retired to the main line, when Cap- tain Shaw was placed in arrest for disobedience of orders. He never was allowed opportunity to seek justification through trial by court-martial, never permitted to offer cx- cuse, although every officer in his command could testify that he neither disobeyed any command nor attempted to avoid any military duty, but sought to convey to his superior officer information which he was charitably supposed not to possess, knowledge that for the safety of the army ought to modify the order. But he had been reported to General Lightburn as refusing to make the advance, and was sum- marily dismissed from the service, "for misbehavior before the enemy," by General Field Order No. 9, of General O. O. Howard, dated August 11, 1864. His fellow officers, aston- ished and grieved, at once circulated the following petition among the commissioned officers of the brigade present, and forwarded it through the proper channels to the President:
355
CAPTAIN SHAW'S DISMISSAL.
IN THE FIELD BEFORE ATLANTA, GA., ) August 16, 1864. S
To His Excellency, ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States.
SIR: Having been surprised at the recent dismissal of Captain Francis H. Shaw, 55th Illinois Infantry, from the service of the United States, and fearing from his well-known modesty that he will fail to place before your excellency, in any form, words of explanation or defence, and believing the punishment he has already undergone sufficient to palliate the offence given, we entertain, through your clemency, the hope of sav- ing the reputation of a noble patriot, and restoring at once to the service a useful officer. With this desirable object before us, we would beg leave to be heard in the following statements :
Captain Shaw was a valued citizen of Mendota, Illinois, engaged at the opening of the war in a lucrative business, and tendered his services to the government as a private August 26, 1861. He was elected first- lieutenant of Company D, 55th Illinois Infantry, and afterward promoted to the rank of captain for distinguished services on the field of Shiloh, where he was wounded in battle. Since his promotion he has ever been considered a first-class company commander, which the superiority of his company and commendatory orders will abundantly prove. He has shared with his regiment, once proud and strong, but now reduced to a fragment, in all the hardships which have thus reduced it. On the 6th of April, 1864, he was elected by an overwhelming majority of his regiment to serve with the rank of major for its veteran term, said clection having been authorized by commanders from Major-General Sherman down. On the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Augustine, elect, he was recently presented to Governor Yates for promotion to rank of lieutenant-colonel, by the unanimous voice of the commissioned officers of the 55th Illinois Infantry, and was commanding the regiment with the confidence of both officers and men when arrested and dismissed.
The offence leading to such action in his case was as hereinafter set forth. Having passed through the battles of the 22d and 28th of July, the men of his command were pressed forward in the construction of new lines of defence, until the utmost weariness prevailed. On the 3d inst. he was ordered to advance his command to the summit of a small bill, which was known to be a hazardous undertaking. The order was executed, the hill taken, and fortified at night by his wearied men, with a loss of two killed and three wounded, including a lieutenant. On the afternoon of the 4th, he was directed by Colonel Mott, 57th regiment Ohio volunteers, to advance across a ravine to a hill beyond, to which Captain Shaw responded that his men had been three nights and four days without relief or sleep, and it would be impossible to keep them awake the fourth night if the advance post could be taken, and further arged that his position in line was in advance of all others, and already exposed to an entilading fire of the enemy, and also stated that the am-
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356
FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
munition of the command was nearly exhausted, but twenty rounds remaining to the man, and that there was no time to procure a supply. On being asked by Colonel Mott, "Will you, or will you not, go forward?" he responded, "Under the present circumstances, I cannot order my men forward," and turning to an aid of Colonel Jones, his brigade commander, he said, "I wish Colonel Jones to understand the condition of my inen,'. supposing the order could be delayed until the information could be given. It was reported to Brigadier-General Lightburn, commanding the division, that he had refused to advance, and Captain Shaw, with his command, was ordered to the rear, and he under arrest. The effort was made to advance the line, but failed, as Captain Shaw maintained would be the case, until the rebel picket posts on our right were driven in, which was done four days afterwards.
The attention of your excellency is, therefore, called to the following points :
I. The integrity, ability and faithfulness of the defendant, who has served three years without a single failure.
II. The known condition of his men at the time the order was given, having at the end of two months' campaign, which had wasted more than one-third of their number, been three nights and four days without sleep, incessantly engaged in the trenches or in the fight, so that the previous night it was with difficulty the men could be kept from falling down at their posts and endangering the whole command. Captain Shaw might be justified in hesitating to place them the fourth night where, on their vigilance, was suspended the safety of the line, and where they would have been compelled to lie on their faces till the ensuing morning.
III. The duties required could only be accomplished by an energetic, powerful force, as was proved by the failure of the force that tried it.
IV. Captain Shaw did not contemplate direct disobedience of orders, but hoped to stay the action till the facts could be known and compara- tively fresh troops, which were near, could be called to the rescue of his haggard band.
This petition never reached President Lincoln. It was signed by fifty officers, including all present in the Fifty-fifth and those most prominent of the Sixth and Eighth Missouri, Fifty-seventh Ohio, One-hundred-eleventh, One-hundred- sixteenth and One-hundred-twenty-seventh Illinois regiments. Colonel James S. Martin, who himself had been severely cen- sured by Lightburn for the failure on August 3d, in append- ing his signature, added :
I was not present when Captain Shaw was ordered to advance his reg- iment, consequently know nothing of the circumstances, but will say that I have served with Captain Shaw during the campaign, a short time as his brigade commander. I never knew a more efficient or better officer;
357
PETITION TO CONGRESS.
always prompt to obey orders, and never faltering in the fight. The gal- lant conduct of the Fifty-fifth Illinois in the past four fights gives them a reputation which none can injure.
The grievously wronged captain, indignant but helpless, too modest to push his claims for redress in person, and hav- ing no political influence in high places, left for his home immediately, followed by the sympathy of every man in the regiment. For twenty years he bore in silence this unmer- ited stain upon his record. Generals convicted by unanimous verdict of court-martial, colonels who ran away at first sight of an armed enemy, post-commanders who basely surren- dered their trusts, had time and again been reinstated with purged records; but it is a far more difficult matter to get even justice, for the innocent victim of an arbitrary, acci- dental brigadier. On October 30th, 1884, the survivors of the Fifty-fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteers met for their first reunion at Canton, Illinois. They unanimously resolved to again attempt to secure a reversal of this undeserved and summary order of dismissal. The action of the meeting took form in resolutions and a petition, which with the early documents in the case, and affidavits of certain surviving officers, were presented to Congress. The petition was as follows:
TO THE HONORABLE SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES :
The subscribers and petitioners respectfully represent that they are survivors of the 55th Regiment Illinois Infantry, assembled at the first icunion of that regiment, held at Canton, Illinois, on October 30 and 31, 18:4; that they are past middle life, and almost without exception bear the marks of wounds received in battle, and have tried, with measurable success, to perform the duties of good soldiers and citizens; that fully be- lieving and asserting the right of petition, they present the following, and confidently ask for relief as hereinafter explained -not as a favor, but of right.
What we ask is that an act of Congress may be passed authorizing the honorable discharge or muster out of Captain Francis H. Shaw, for- merly captain of Company C, of the 55th Illinois Infantry, who was, on the 11th day of August, 1864, dismissed from the service for misbehavior before the enemy. Such dismissal was by a summary order, and without any defence, or opportunity of defence, on the part of Captain Shaw. It is because we believe and know that such order was unjust, and based upon a misconception of the facts, that we ask at the hands of Congress the
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358
FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
relief prayed for. Captain Shaw was our comrade in arms, and the most knightly among us. He shared with us for three years privations and dangers only known to those who fought in the war of the rebellion, always alike conspicuous for his modesty and bravery. It is incompre- hensible that our comrade should pass through scores of contests, should face the storms of battle until his regiment was reduced to a fragment, and then wilfully misbehave in the presence of the enemy. The state- ment of the proposition completely disproves the justice of the punish- ment. Now, after the fifth of a century has passed into history, and the smoke of battle cleared away, we simply ask that the stain be removed from the name of Captain Shaw, and the escutcheon of our regiment. These proceedings are instituted at our own behest, and without the pres- ence or influence of Captain Shaw, who barely consents to our action. Nothing herein is intended or expected to result in any cost to the gov- ernment. No pay or emolument is asked for-just simply that Captain Shaw be placed right upon the record, and his fame descend to his chil- dren unsullied.
For the purpose of establishing the justice of our position, and the truths of the facts alleged, we append certain affidavits. Also a copy of a petition filed by fifty officers of the brigade, when the action complained of was pending.
Upon the honor of soldiers and citizens, we attach our personal signa- tures hereto, and respectfully ask that our prayer may be granted.
[Signed by eighty-eight surviving officers and men of the 55th Regi- ment Illinois Infantry.]
In the Forty-eighth Congress a bill was introduced by HIon. R. R. Hitt, M. C. of Illinois, directing the honorable discharge and muster-out of Captain Shaw, and the Commit- tee on Military Affairs recommended its passage. The able and comprehensive report of that committee, after showing that all the facts of record serve to "strongly rebut the presumption of disobedience," goes on to say :
"The clear, strong, and preponderating evidence of his brother officers shows that what he. did was not to refuse obedience, but to ask that execution might be withheld until the brigade commander should be advised of the facts known to him, and thus he ( Shaw ) be relieved of the responsibility of allowing a general to put troops in a position of great importance who were totally unfit by reason of long exposure and exhaustion for that position --- a construction of his conduct more con- sistent with his established military record than that conceived in great haste by the general in command upon the, probably, fragmentary report of a lieutenant of staff. * *
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