USA > Illinois > The story of the Fifty-fifth regiment Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war, 1861-1865 > Part 36
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The march for several succeeding days was uninterrupted by hostile demonstrations or serious obstacle of any kind. The country traversed was more or less swampy and covered with heavy forests, chiefly of pine. Long reaches of the roadway had daily to be corduroyed, the wheels of the artil- lery and heavy wagons soon sinking up to the hub in the loose sand when wet. The weather was especially pleasant, and this was great good fortune. Heavy rains would have seriously retarded progress in this low-lying section of Geor- gia. Here were the swamps in which the Confederate author- ities and newspapers proclaimed that Sherman and his army were lost. In good time, however, we emerged from the for- est, and in condition to meet and overcome any and every obstacle Nature or man opposed to us. The whole region was sparsely settled by a people devoid of enterprise and rich in nothing but acres of pine. Forage became scanty, but the daring detail of the Fifty-fifth succeeded in keeping
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A SKIRMISH WITH CAVALRY.
the commissary department fairly supplied. No foragers in the whole army would travel further, fight more persistently or run more risks in procuring the needful food. The regi- ment had made a proud record by its hard fighting; it now boasted that none could surpass it at gathering supplies.
December 3d the near presence of the enemy was felt. The entire foraging detail of one of the Ohio regiments in the brigade was captured. The next day the Fifty-fifth led the advance. The foragers of the corps had collected in considerable numbers at Statesborough, a high-sounding name for a court-house surrounded by a few dwellings. Here they were suddenly and fiercely attacked about three o'clock in the afternoon, by a large force of rebel cavalry, and driven back upon the marching column. Several of their number were left captive in the hands of the enemy. The regiment was promptly deployed, and soon drove the Confederates through the little town, recapturing the forage and many of those taken prisoners. For a time more serious work was anticipated, but a volley which killed four of the cavalry, including a major, finally routed them. Aaron Lingenfelter of Company A, one of the regiment's foragers, was in the hands of the enemy for a few minutes. They surrounded him, and shouted to him to surrender, but he held his musket ready, and defied them. One horseman, more impatient than the others, accompanied his order to surrender with a bullet, which grazed Lingenfelter's side, and he dropped his gun, but kept wrathfully blackguarding his captors. Just then comrades came to his rescue, and he picked up his gun again and gave the fleeing rebels a parting shot.
An incident occurred at this place which may illustrate the sometimes ludicrous result of a soldier's obeying the orders of his superior without question. In early morning the picket-guard brought to the headquarters at the court- house two women who had entered the lines. The officer, while questioning them, seeing that they were shivering with cold, directed one of the guard to take them up stairs into the court-room and build a fire that they might warm them- selves. Although there was neither fire-place nor stove in the room, this did not prevent the disciplined veteran from
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FIFTY-FIFTHI ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
obeying orders. He piled a lot of kindling and fuel upon the floor, deliberately set fire to it, and went about his business. The screams of the women brought the officer upon the scene, who could only order the women removed and the fire extinguished. He could not well reprimand the soldier, who had only obeyed his orders implicitly, observing strict disci- pline by not questioning his superior.
As the army advanced more impediments were met. Streams became more numerous, deeper and broader, and swamps more difficult to pass. In some of the latter the men were forced to wade for long distances in water some- times waist-deep. As we approached Savannah the enemy's cavalry made its proximity felt oftener. Food became harder to obtain in sufficient quantities, and the men were put upon half rations of coffee, sugar and hard-tack, the stores in the wagons being nearly exhausted.
The Canouchee River was reached at Ball's Bridge on December 8th. During that night there suddenly arose some skirmishing and cannonading at the front on the river's banks, and the regiment was in line instantly, but all speedily became quiet again, and we slept undisturbed until morning. The enemy having fled in the darkness, we crossed the stream at noon of the ninth and encamped two miles beyond it. Heavy artillery firing was heard in the vicinity of Savannah, which indicated that the left wing was at last pounding at the gates of Georgia's metropolis, twenty miles away. We crossed the Canouchee on the tenth, passed over the Ogeechee at Dillon's Ferry, making a march of ten miles, and went into bivouac about nine miles from Savannah, on Lloyd's planta- tion. The eleventh was spent in camp, and everything seemed quiet at the front. On the twelfth the regiment went out with a forage train, returning late in the evening with very little in way of provision. The situation was fast be- coming serious. The army had but four or five days' rations, and we could not subsist upon what the country afforded. A "cracker line" must speedily be opened.
A movement to the right ordered on December 12th indi- cated that Fort McAllister was to be our next objective point, for that alone prevented casy communication with the Union
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CAPTURE OF FORT MCALLISTER.
fleet, supposed to be awaiting us with supplies in Ossabaw Sound. On the morning of the thirteenth the Second divis- ion recrossed the Ogeechee on King's Bridge, marched thir- teen miles and halted within one and one-half miles of the fort. Three regiments of each brigade, or nine in all, were ordered to unsling their knapsacks, and were then moved to a position under cover near the works. This was about noon. The Fifty-fifth was one of the regiments held in reserve, a situation it never before occupied when there was fighting in prospect for the brigade. The men felt so out of place that some of them, with one officer, followed the assaulting force and went into the fight with it. A Confederate sentinel had been captured about a mile from the fort, and the position of a line of torpedoes was disclosed by him. These were re- moved before the troops advanced, and their proposed deadly effect was avoided.
Before General Hazen could get his charging line into proper proximity to the fort preparatory to the final assault, great delay was occasioned by the numerous obstructions which the enemy had laboriously prepared. Meanwhile Generals Sherman and Howard were impatiently watching the movements with their glasses from Cheve's rice mill across the Ogeechee. The sun was fast declining. Sherman signaled orders to hasten. A steamer from the fleet below came into view about four o'clock and to its captain's ques- tion whether the fort had been taken,-which reached Sher- man just as General Hazen's bugler, J. A. Vaughan of the Fifty-fifth, sounded in shrill blasts: "Attention! forward, double-quick, charge !" -- the commanding general replied : "Not yet, but it will be in a minute." The gallant dash of the thin line fulfilled the promise. A short, sharp struggle ensued, and the parapet was crowned on all sides by the old Second division. The Second brigade, which was deployed on the left, had crept up under the bank of the river to a point quite near the fort, and before the garrison realized the situation the men were pouring over the embankments. The other portion of the line of assault experienced more diffi- culties, both natural and artificial. It was in full view of the riflemen in the fort, and the obstructions, chief of which were
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
torpedoes, retarded its progress; but it struggled on without halt, and simultaneously with the victorious cheers on the left, no less jubilant shouts from right and centre were wafted on the evening air to the watching generals' ears.
Our sharpshooters had been posted in easy range of the gunners, and the siege artillery of the fort was in a large measure ineffective. There was no formal surrender of the fort. The troops poured over the works upon the defenders so quickly overwhelming them that they were dumbfounded, and all firing at once ceased. The garrison, which numbered but two hundred and thirty, all told, lost thirty-five killed and wounded. The attacking force had twenty-four killed and one hundred and ten wounded. Very many of the cas- ualties were caused by the exploding torpedoes. The fruits of victory were twenty-four cannon of various grades, over one hundred small arms and abundant stores of ammunition and provisions. The captured officers and soldiers, being thoroughly acquainted with the location of the torpedoes which guarded the channel of the Ogeechee, were immedi- ately compelled to assist in the removal of them, and com- munications were soon opened with the fleet. Light-draft vessels speedily came up to King's Bridge in rear of the right wing of the army, bringing the needed supplies.
The question of a base upon the sea-coast was thus defin- itely solved. A successful and glorious end to the campaign was attained, for though Savannah was yet in possession of the Confederates, it was invested securely, and a few days would suffice to compel its surrender or evacuation.
December 14th the regiment encamped on the beautiful grounds of an extensive plantation called Whitehall. The weather was charming, seeming to the Northern soldiers almost summer-like; and when at night the full moon poured its refulgence upon the camp nestling under the cedars, pines, and live-oaks, whose long, spreading branches were covered with hanging moss, it presented a picture worthy to awaken ecstacy in an artist.
While in this camp Lieutenant Ebersold and two officers of another regiment, desiring some "wet commissaries," sought the department of the division where such supplies
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A MULE RACE.
were to be obtained, and had their canteens filled. Ebersold rode a fractious mule and his comrades were mounted upon fleet horses. During their return, having got upon a piece of road that invited the sport, a race was proposed. The mule was given a few rods the advantage in the start and proved the victor in the first contest. Soon another good piece of road admitted a second trial and the riders of the horses accepted another challenge. The lieutenant's mule kept the front at a tremendous rate, but meeting a team at a turn in the road, bolted and dashed through a heavy thorn hedge, which not only scratched him severely but frightened him into new speed. No obstacles could daunt the madly ex- cited animal, and his daring rider was not to be unseated. More hedges were met with which lacerated the mule and tore the clothes of his rider. The camps of some of the troops were finally encountered, but the mule was no re- specter of place or person, and went plunging on at break- neck run, with his rider hanging to him like grim death. The soldiers were astir about their quarters getting their sup- pers. Dog-tents, tables, cooking appliances, and everything about the camps in the track were demolished. Coffee-pots and camp-kettles were upset and their contents splashed about. Angry yells arose from every command which the lieutenant in his utter helplessness visited so unceremoni- ously, and the havoc continued until the the Fifty-fifth encampment was gained, when the race ended. The quad- ruped looked as though be had gone through a threshing machine, and Ebersold had certainly little of that dignified appearance which he has of late been noted for while pre- siding as chief of police over the peace of Chicago.
Our rest and enjoyment in this delightful camp and its beautiful surroundings, were of short duration. December i7th found us on the march along the Savannah and Gulf railroad, which the division destroyed for a distance of twenty miles from the Ogeechee. Leaving camp before the steamers with commissary supplies had arrived at King's Bridge, the regiment could draw no government rations, and the country afforded very little besides rice. The very fatiguing labor of tearing up the track, added to the insuffi-
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
ciency of food, proved severe upon the men, On the nine- teenth, in the evening, we received full rations again, and with them the first mail matter we had seen for six weeks. To say that all were made doubly happy but half expresses the situation. The gnawings of hunger were momentarily forgotten in the anxiety to read the news from the dear ones at home. It was a curious spectacle: the half-starved boys all through the camps reading their letters held in one hand while devouring hard tack from the other, thus exhibiting a conflict between appetite and noble sensibilities.
On December 21st the civil authorities surrendered the city of Savannah, General Hardee having escaped with his forces into South Carolina. The same day we finished the destruction of the railway and returned to our beautiful camp. This victory won by Sherman's army was supplemented by the announcement of the glorious triumph of General Thomas at Nashville. The Christmas present of Savannah to Presi- dent Lincoln was little more valuable than the contributions from the armies in the West. The true greatness of our suc- cess was not to be measured, however, until its bearing upon the succeeding campaign was determined; and it was vastly enhanced because won with so little loss of life. Many regi- ments had not a casualty in their ranks, and the health of the troops was excellent. The Fifty-fifth could muster in camp every man that marched from Atlanta. Hardly a dose of medicine had been administered in the whole campaign.
Details from the brigade were daily sent to report to the ordnance officer in Fort McAllister, to assist in dismantling that fortification. Guns and military stores were loaded upon vessels for transportation to the North. The weather had become suddenly cold and blustering, making it disagreeable living in our slight shelters. On the first day of the new year, IS65, we marched to Savannah, and encamped on the second just outside of the city. Having exhausted all other supplies we subsisted entirely upon rice during these two days. There was great abundance of this, mostly in the husk, on the neighboring plantations; but rice alone, with not even enough salt to season it, soldiers, however hungry, found to be an unsavory dish. Two weeks' rest was enjoyed at Savannah,
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IN SAVANNAH.
and the men built convenient huts, in which they were quite comfortable. General Logan returned and assumed com- mand of his corps January Sth.
Savannah, which ranks as one of the most beautiful cities of the South, did not seem to our soldiers to bear favorable comparison in many respects with the Northern cities of sim- ilar size. It is neither remarkable for its works of art, nor for fine architecture. Its chief features of attraction to us were the rows of beautiful trees along the streets, and the little circular parks at every second street crossing. A pretty fountain adorns one of these numerous open places, and a monument to the memory of Pulaski occupies the centre of another. The streets were but sandy roads, difficult for travel.
Great freedom was allowed the enlisted men during their two weeks' stay here. Thousands of soldiers were to be daily seen strolling about the streets, and the relief from re- straint was not seriously abused. The citizens, many of whom retained their affection for the old flag, manifested deep interest in the boys in blue, treating them with uniform courtesy; and the respect generally shown for private prop- erty by the troops showed their appreciation of such treat- ment. Several Union prisoners who had escaped and been secreted and cared for by loyal citizens came out into the joyous sunlight to welcome the Stars and Stripes, and rejoin their comrades.
The colored race here as elsewhere had been the truest friends of those who were unfortunate enough to taste the woes of captivity. Thousands of old soldiers to this day bless some black-man who rendered them invaluable aid in the hour of their great need. And though ignorant and credu- lous, none were ever found who gave credence to the tales of their masters alleging that horrible cruelties were the common amusement of the Yankees. They had a confidence born of inspiration in "Lincum's sojers"- a confidence that could not be shaken. When, as it often happened during the march, information was given by the slaves, it could always be relied upon, and again and again the neighborhood of the enemy was disclosed and the secret hiding places of horses, mules
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
and forage made known, to the great advantage of the army. One day there came into the lines two escaped prisoners, bringing with them an aged negro upon a mule. This freed slave had hidden them in the swamps and fed them for weeks, and in the warmth of their gratitude the men vowed that their benefactor should ride to freedom and be fed on the best of the land for the rest of his life.
The freedmen became faithful servants to the soldiers - to enlisted men as well as officers-in camp and on the march, voluntarily and often with no hope of pecuniary re- ward. Every mess soon had its black waiter, who would lead the donkey loaded with utensils and provisions, do the cook- ing, and perform all the other work he was called upon to do. Many of these men remained with the regiment until the close of the war, and some came North with it. A few of the more faithful colored boys of the Fifty-fifth were consid- cred as much a part of it as those sworn into the service, and when the hour of final separation came a hearty shake of the hand and a "God bless you" was given them with the warmth that should be shown to a true and tried friend. These ne- grocs realized that slavery was the exciting cause of the war, and that the result of the conflict would determine their future; and they rarely failed to do their whole duty by those whom they recognized as their self-sacrificing benefactors.
On January 14th the army abandoned its camps about Savannah and started northward to pay its respects to that state which of all states was most responsible for the incep- tion of the unholy rebellion. The soldiers had long wished for the opportunity to set foot upon the soil of South Caro- lina, and the anticipation of a victorious march through that hot-bed of secession aroused in them renewed enthusiasm and noisy rejoicing. The long pent up spirit of revenge for sufferings endured and comrades slain was bound to burst forth when they found themselves in the very nursery of sedition, and the inhabitants, conscious of their responsibility for the war, were with reason terrified at the rumor even of invasion. They could but dimly foreshadow, however, the woes in store for them.
CHAPTER XI.
FROM SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBOROUGH.
T THE Fifty-fifth embarked upon the steamer George Leary on January 16th, and after a few hours of uneventful ex- perience among the Atlantic's waves, it entered the harbor of Hilton Head, then dotted with more than a hundred vessels of various tonnage, all flying the national colors. As the steamer neared the wharf, the last rays of the setting sun were kissing the salt billows and playing hide-and-seek among the rigging. and sails of the fleet, numerous bands were discoursing their choicest music, and the admiring sol- diers of the West gave cheer upon cheer in their exultation amid these impressive surroundings. A camp was selected a short distance beyond Beaufort, where the regiment re- mained nearly a fortnight in luxurious ease, save that in fair weather the men were daily exercised for two or three hours in battalion drill. To most of the Western soldiers the oys ter was a very rare delicacy, but here the bivalves were so abundant and cheap that all feasted upon them without stint.
During the last days of the month of January the division was engaged in building corduroy roads in the direction of Pocotaligo, the weather being rainy and the swamps flooded. The whole army was in motion on the thirtieth, and the inva- sion of South Carolina had begun. The Seventeenth Corps was the right flanking column, next the Salkchatchie River. The Fifteenth Corps marched on a parallel road a few miles to the left, and the Fourteenth and Twentieth moved from the Savannah River. Thus if the crossing of the Salke- hatchie was disputed, or the line of the Charleston and
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FIFTY-FIFTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
Augusta railway defended, as was to be anticipated if com- petent generalship governed Confederate councils, a junction of Union forces could be speedily effected sufficient to sweep everything before it. The weather was all that could be de- sired, and the roads were excellent where they had become dry.
After passing Pocotaligo, from which the enemy had been driven several days before with little loss, clouds of black smoke soon began to darken the sky. All deserted residences and other structures supposed to belong to slave-holders were sure to have the torch applied to them. This incendiarism was of course without authority, and clandestine. The at- tempts of the general officers of the Fifteenth Corps to pre- vent wanton destruction were constant and vigorous, but availed little. South Carolina was to reap the reward for her hellish work in precipitating rebellion. She had been fore- most in sowing the whirlwind, and she was to reap a cyclone. In her central position she doubtless expected to be secure from the devastating tread of hostile armies, but fifty thou- sand patriots had sought her out, and in their triumphal march with fire and sword made her pay dearly for her vanity and selfishness. Throughout the state the progress of each corps was signaled far and wide by the columns of flame and smoke that day by day rose from burning buildings, as the army moved northward by parallel routes.
The Fifty-fifth had the advance on February 2d, and skir- mished with cavalry at different times during the day, sus- taining no loss. In the evening the enemy were found in .considerable force across Duck Creek, when the brigade was brought into line, and after a lively fusilade dislodged them. Five rebel dead were found and several prisoners were taken. The brigade lost three wounded. In this position we remained the following day, waiting for other troops to cross the stream. The regimental foragers came in on the evening of February 4th, bringing an abundant supply of provisions, which were much needed.
The Big Salkehatchie was crossed at Buford's Bridge on the fifth, and the Little Salkehatchie near Springtown Church, on the sixth. The resistance encountered was easily over-
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INVASION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
come, probably because the Seventeenth Corps, by dashing assaults, had crossed the river and carried two strong posi- tions several miles below. An extensive tete de pont con- fronted the Fifteenth Corps at Buford's Bridge, but its garrison had fled. It had been foretold that Hardee, whose army numbered thirty thousand, would make a persistent stand on the Salkehatchie line, and its speedy abandonment was a surprise. The following day preparations were ordered for a contest to get possession of the Augusta and Charles- ton railroad. It is said that Generals Howard and Logan were in consultation about the details of a general advance for this purpose, when a forager upon a white mule came cantering from the front and saluted them with "Hurry up! hurry up! We've got the railroad." The bummers and for- agers had taken the road at two or three points about Mid- way, and were already throwing up defensive works to hold it, while the generals were planning for the attack. One day was spent in tearing up the roadway, and the command was again "forward."
The South Edisto was reached on the ninth, at Holman's Bridge, and the rebel infantry were found holding the oppo- site bank. To the First brigade was assigned the duty of forcing a crossing. The Fifty-fifth was deployed, and its skirmishers were soon engaged at short range across the deep, narrow river. The Confederate sharp-shooters, con- cealed in the trees, made it extremely hot for a time, and it was found hopeless to attempt a passage in front of the works. Captain Andress, with a lieutenant and twenty-three men, by a circuitous route through the swamp, finally effected a crossing higher up the stream. After safely passing one channel or bayou, they had to wade for two or three hours in water from one to two feet deep, before reaching the main river, which they at last got over by walking out upon a drifting raft of logs and brush as far as possible, and then wading in water waist deep. They soon became aware that a camp of Confederate cavalry was within sixty rods of them, and that their approach was apparently not suspected. This force was evidently the reserve of that engaged at the bridge a mile away, and it was determined to attack the camp, trust-
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