USA > Illinois > Yates phalanx : the history of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Veteran Infantry in the war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 14
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This little battery took its unique name from a remark made by a member of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. As a Chicago paper said at the time of the fall of Wagner, " ... the Thirty-Ninth Illinois Regiment being the only one in that military department from Illinois, it of course was expected to furnish a name for the most famous little fort ever erected, and be the first to plant its colors on the strongest earthworks ever constructed." Late at night the adjutant of the Regiment made a detail of fifty men to help construct the pathway across the marsh. When they returned the next morning, all covered with mud and slush, Corporal John Kipp of Company K, a good deal of a wag, was asked where on earth he had been and what he had been doing to get so bespattered. "I will tell you," replied the jolly corporal. "We have been out in the great marsh, and as nearly as I can guess we have been constructing a pulpit of sand for some swamp angel to preach from." From this little incident the battery took on a name by which it was known as far as intelligence could reach.
The "Swamp Angel" gun at the close of the war, or when the forts on Morris Island were dismantled, was sent North to be broken up, and was taken to the Arsenal at Trenton, New Jersey. It was not to meet so ignoble a fate, however, for while lying at the Arsenal it was recognized by some one as the "Swamp Angel," and measures were at once taken to insure its preservation. It was repaired, nicely mounted and inscribed and placed in the public square of the city of Trenton, a most interesting relic of the "War of the Rebellion."5
The Thirty-Ninth garrisoned Wagner and also Battery Gregg in their turn for a long time after their evacuation, and during the time lost several valuable men. On the night of September 23, Captain Joseph Woodruff of Company K was struck with a fragment of shell that had been thrown from Sullivan's Island. The piece entered his abdomen, wounding the intestines, but he continued breathing for several hours. The Captain was one of our bravest officers; quiet and sedate in his manner, but always genial and sociable in his intercourse with both officers and men. After his death
April 12. 1961, the "Swamp Angel" was moved to Cadwalader Park in Trenton and rededicated on the 100th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
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the officers of the Regiment were convened and the following resolutions drafted and adopted as expressive of our sense of the irreparable loss that had befallen the Regiment:
RESOLUTIONS
WHEREAS, On the night of September 23, 1863, Captain Joseph Woodruff, of Company K, Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, while on duty as officer in command at Fort Gregg, and when about to be relieved from said duty, was wounded by a shell from Fort Moultrie which carried away a large portion of his right side, causing his death in less than two hours after the receipt of the injury; therefore,
Resolved, That while we recognized the hand of God in all things, we can but mourn the loss of our brother officer, and one of our country's noble defenders; and, while we so deeply regret the violent death that snatched from us one whose every act endeared him to all-whose loyalty, patriotism and bravery proclaimed him a true man and soldier, we cannot but feel that our loss is his gain, and that he has left a world of suffering and gone to join that band of noble patriots that have fallen before him in their country's defense.
Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends in this sad bereavement of a kind husband, father, and generous companion, and trust that they may find consolation in the fact that he fell while at his post and in the discharge of his duty, and that in dying, he evinced, while sensible, that spirit of resignation which bespeaks the faith of a Christian.
Resolved, That as a token of our respect and esteem, the officers of this Regiment wear the usual badge of mourning for the next thirty days, and that a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions be sent to the family of the deceased, and that a copy of them be sent for publication to the Chicago Press and the Ottawa papers and the two papers of this Department.
The captured forts were enlarged and new batteries were erected, which still kept our men busy at work both night and day. The rebels still gave us at intervals a galling fire and was very troublesome, although doing no very great damage. The forts of the enemy were constantly bombarded and the shelling of Charleston was continued. The vessels constituting the naval force at times consented to join in, but as a general thing they more most gloriously inactive.
It was considered by us landsmen that after the taking of Forts Wagner, Gregg, and the reduction of Fort Sumter, our fleet would push forward to the city of Charleston and demand its surrender or level it to the ground, but we were mistaken; and the plea for their hesitation was, that the channel was full of chains and torpedoes. But what if it was! Could they not sacrifice a ship or two and a few lives in common with us in the endeavor to abbreviate and crush out the headquarters of this audacious rebellion? We were assured time and again that a portion of the channel was free from all
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"But at what a cost!"
obstructions, and the fact was reported to Dahlgren, but he put no faith in the statement. He made the assertion that he believed there were cables submerged in that direction, to entrap his vessels, and declared that he would not make the attempt under any circumstances.
A serious difficulty, in consequence, sprang us between General Gillmore and Dahlgran, and the troops on the island were gradually withdrawn, whereby General Gillmore divested himself and his gallant troops of the responsibility of the future of the siege.
September 16 the following General Order was received from General Gillmore congratulating his troops and announcing the destruction of Fort Sumter:
"Department of the South, Headquarters in the Field, Morris Island, S. C., September 15, 1863.
GENERAL ORDERS.
It is with no ordinary feeling of gratification and pride that the Brigadier-General commanding is enabled to congratulate this army upon the signal success which as crowned the enterprise in which it has been engaged. Fort Sumter is destroyed. The scene where our country's flag suffered its first dishonor, you have made the theater of one of its proudest triumphs.
"The fort has been in possession of the enemy for more than two years; it has been his pride and boast; has been strengthened by every appliance known to military science and has defied the assaults of the most powerful and gallant fleet the world ever saw. But it has yielded to your courage and patient labor. Its walls are now crumbled to ruins; its formidable batteries are silenced; and though a hostile flag floats over it, the fort is a harmless and helpless wreck.
"Forts Wagner and Gregg, works rendered memorable by their protracted resistance and the sacrifice of life they have cost, have also been wrested from the enemy by your persevering courage and skill, and the graves of your fallen comrades rescued from desecration and contumely.
"You now hold in undisputed possession of the whole of Morris Island, and the city and harbor of Charleston lie at the mercy of your artillery from the very spot where the first shot was fired at your country's flag and the rebellion itself was inaugurated.
"To you, the officers and soldiers of this command, and to the gallant navy which has cooperated with you, are due the thanks of your commander and your country. You were called upon to encounter untold privations and dangers; to undergo unremitting and exhausting labors; to sustain severe and disheartening reverses. How nobly your patriotism and zeal have responded to the call the result of the campaign will show, and your commanding General gratefully bears witness.
Q. A Gillmore, Brig. Gen'l Commanding."
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
"Veterans"
The Thirty-Ninth were soon ordered back to Folly Island and went into camp where company drill and battalion exercise occupied the most part of the time. We remained here very pleasantly under the shade of the magnolia and palmetto, with considerable diversion by way of fishing and hunting and paying visits to our friends. While here, Lieutenant-Colonel O. L. Mann was ordered on recruiting service and departed for Chicago on November 10, with several subordinate officers. That they made good use of their time was manifest when some 250 recruits joined our ranks on our return to the front after our veteran furlough in February 1864. We still retained our Regimental Hospital organization and all sick who could not be comfortably cared for were sent to St. Augustine, Florida.
About December 1 we were ordered to report at Hilton Head and went into camp there. The same drills and exercises were continued, with a little more attention to discipline and the police of camp. Otherwise our life was as automatic as could be. While here, an order came to re-vaccinate the whole command, and the detail of surgeons to accomplish the matter was made. We were receiving large numbers of Negro troops, and they had brought with them the smallpox. Every man in each regiment of our brigade was vaccinated, and some curious scenes occurred; but this is no place to give the results of this forced vaccination.
During the time that we remained on the island the Regiment was induced to reenlist for three years or the continuance of the war, with the exception of about 100 who preferred to remain in this department until the term of their service expired and then proceed home for good. Many of those who were willing to reenlist could not be accepted because of physical disability. Each man had to undergo a rigid and thorough examination at the hands of the regimental surgeon. During the few days that the examination was in progress the sick call was but slimly attended, and it was exceedingly wonderful to notice how rugged and healthful men would appear and represent themselves, who had formerly been the best patrons of the dispensary, and all through their eagerness to reenlist and get the opportunity of going home. Each regiment that enlisted as a body was granted a furlough, and the Thirty-Ninth was the first in the Department to accept these veteran honors.
All was in readiness on the morning of January 28, 1864, to move down to the wharf for the purpose of embarking for home, but it was fully afternoon before the march was commenced, and this delay was occasioned from the fact that three brigades of the Division were preparing to escort us, a compliment that gratified every man of the Regiment. Our progress to the wharf was a perfect ovation, all the troops in the department turning out to greet us with a "bon voyage." The Regiment numbered at this time 450 men-the minimum number of a regiment that could retain its organization and received "leave of absence" from the Department for the purpose of proceeding home to recruit.
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The Thirty-Ninth was deservedly popular and a favorite in the Department of the South, as evinced on all sides at this time, and the following letters given to Colonel Osborn by Generals Gillmore and Seymour for Governor Yates plainly showed the esteem of our commanders.
"Headquarters, Hilton Head (Pulaski),
January 25, 1864.
To His Excellency, the Governor of Illinois:
Sir: The Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, Colonel T. O. Osborn, having reenlisted as a 'Veteran Regiment,' has been furloughed and will soon proceed homeward. I cannot permit it to leave my command without expressing, so far as I am able, my entire satisfaction with its conduct under all circumstance.
"It will display to you, possible, a state of discipline and excellence of instruction that will not be diminished by contrast with the very best of our volunteer regiments, and you may justly be proud of its past and present efficiency, for which Colonel Osborn, a most excellent officer, deserves great praise.
"Your Excellency will, I am sure, afford Colonel Osborn every reasonable facility for filling his command, and you can entrust the interests of your citizen-soldiers to no better hands. And I am
Your Excellency's Obedient Servant, T. Seymour, Brig. Gen'l Commanding."
On the back of this letter was the following endorsement by General Gillmore:
"I heartily endorse everything Brigadier-General Seymour says of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and their commanders, and hope the Governor of Illinois will use his influence to have the regiment returned to my command when recruited, unless Colonel Osborn prefers some other.
Q. A. Gillmore, Maj. Gen'l Commanding."
Two large propellers, the Mary Boardman and City of Bath, had been assigned to carry us to New York, and the Regiment was divided for the passage. The right wing of the Regiment and the regimental staff took passage on the City of Bath, while the other wing took the Mary Boardman. We left the harbor at about ten o'clock p.m. The sea was tranquil and the weather most enjoyable during the night, and the morning was ushered in with a glorious "sunburst" and a clear sky, with the ocean as smooth as glass. About nine o'clock in the morning we neared the "Frying Pan Shoals," and those on deck had their attention called to what was considered a school of porpoises disporting, but we were not quite certain in the matter, and went forward to the pilothouse to make inquiry. The man at the wheel did not know exactly what it was, at least he said so, but as we approached nearer and nearer we became convinced that it was shoal water; and our guesses and fears were more than realized in a moment more when the ship struck the bar with a dull heavy thud that brought us to our
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knees. After striking, the ship careened over at an angle of 45°, and we all rushed to the opposite side in the endeavor to balance her. The sea was calm and smooth when we struck, but there was evidence of an approaching storm in the light puffs of wind that occasionally reached us, and the increasing ripple on the wide undulating billows around.
There was no panic among the men, and the only concern manifested was on the part of the captain, who got a little excited as hour after hour wore away without much progress made in getting off. The Colonel and Dr. Clark descended the hatch ways into the lower hold to see if there was any sign of leak or damage to the ship's bottom, but could not find anything to alarm them.
But here we were, aground on a sandbar-no land in sight, the nearest being twenty miles distant, and no progress made in our constant efforts to back off. Under the orders of the captain we rushed from side to side of the ship and full steam was put upon the reversed propeller. The wind continued to freshen and the waves became quite respectable in size, and we began to feel a little uneasy at the prospect, when all at once, at the expiration of the third hour, the cry came, "She moves! She moves !! " and sure enough we were soon free again and moving in a direction that gave the shoal a wide berth. Such a glad shout of thanksgiving as went up from the hearts of 250 war-worn soldiers never was listened to before or since. We had struck the bar with great force while under the momentum of a full head of steam, and had grounded along for the distance of two ship's lengths, and our good fortune in getting off was mainly due to the rising tide and the coming storm. It was a piece of gross carelessness that we were brought into the difficulty, but the captain explained that he wished to make a quick trip and had taken an unfrequented channel with the hope of getting through, and that the pilot at the wheel had missed it.
The captain of our vessel was an Englishman and had in conversation expressed his sympathy for the South, and when we struck the bar we did not know but what it was a preconcerted plan to wreck us. We held a short consultation and came to the conclusion that, if he did not make the proper endeavor to extricate the vessel or show a pretty liberal interest in our safety, we would, before compelled to leave the vessel, hang him and his officers to the yardarm. The poor man, however, was more frightened at his situation than we were, and we accepted his explanation readily, but not without informing him of our suspicions. He was a jolly and good-natured tar, and after this did everything he could to afford us pleasure and comfort.
Our trip was destined to be an eventful one, for in a short time after the late disaster we discovered the ship on fire around the smokestack on the second deck, but a few pails of water sufficed to extinguish it.
The storm came on fast, and as we rounded Cape Hatteras it seemed to reach its greatest fury and it became impossible to keep a footing. The vessel rolled fearfully, and at times we had some fears of completely rolling over, especially when our course led us into the trough of the sea. To add to the horrors of our situation, word was brought by a seaman that Dr. Clark's horse had broken loose from his stall and was in the hold among the men. The Doctor crept up to the deck, and then crawling dog-fashion on all fours succeeding in reaching the forward hatch and descended to the hold, and, sure enough, there was the poor horse, reeking with perspiration and frightened out of his senses. At each roll of the ship he would go sliding along the deck, each muscle braced to the utmost tension; and bang! he would strike against the side; and this was repeated many times before we were
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able to throw and secure him on a bed of hay prepared for the purpose.
Still later in the day, another and more grievous calamity befell some of the men of Company I, who were located in the vicinity of some huge watercasks which broke away from their lashings and came like an avalanche upon them. Six men were seriously injured; broken ribs, arms and collar bones, and it was with the utmost difficulty that we got them aft into the cabin where their injuries could be attended to. It being impossible to transport them up and over the deck, we with the consent of the captain knocked down a partition separating the cabin from the hold, and soon had them in berths where they were as comfortable as possible until our arrival in New York, when four of them were taken to the hospital on David's Island.
A dense darkness overtook us before reaching Sandy Hook and no pilot-boats were visible, and after vain efforts to signal one by the use of rockets for fully the space of an hour, our captain determined to try and make the outer harbor, for it seemed madness to anchor and try and ride out the storm until daylight on such a dangerous coast; and the captain succeeded, much to our delight, and we were soon at anchor in quiet waters.
In the early morning we steamed up to the city and made fast to the pier at the foot of Cortland street, where we speedily disembarked and marched to the Park barracks, where we found the other companies of the Thirty-Ninth which had reached the harbor some twelve hours previously. Their vessel had not encountered all the trials that we had been subjected to, yet their progress had been marked with some disagreeable incidents, for their ship had twice caught fire, which had given some alarm, but fortunately it was discovered soon enough to be easily extinguished.
The Regiment remained in Park barracks on Chatham square until the following morning, February 3, 1864, when it took up the line of march for the New York and Erie Railroad depot. The Regiment presented a fine appearance after the rest afforded, and the brushing and cleansing they had received; and their passage to the ferry was witnessed by thousands eager to see an Illinois regiment, and their plaudits were incessant as the veterans passed with even, measured step-proudly erect and conscious of the honor paid them.
The passage over the North river was soon made, and we were speedily aboard an elegant train of cars awaiting us in the depot, and after a few moments delay to await stragglers were rolling out of Jersey City for home. We passed on swiftly and safely, enjoying the rare and beautiful scenery along this line of railway, with nothing to mar the pleasure of the trip except the attendant fatigue that must necessarily accompany so long a journey by rail.
Every man had $400 to $500, and was prepared to have a "good time." After leaving New York City, when roll was called to take cars for Chicago, there were fourteen men missing. They were back in the city. There was one from Company A, one from Company B, four from Company E, two from Company D, three from Company F, one from H, one from I and three from Company K.
Colonel Mann detailed Sergeant Slagle, of Company K, to return and hunt up and bring on these stragglers in a great city. The Sergeant was introduced to Mr. C. H. Vaness, who would assist him in getting the transportation to Chicago. He then found out from each company where these men were last seen, and returned to the city. Inside an hour and a half he succeeded in finding all. The man from Company B got away, and stayed for some time after.
These men were loud ones, and with plenty of money were bent on having a good time, and did;
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but many of this number were good soldiers, and lost their lives during the battles of the following summer. All were "painting the city red." One had rooms at the Astor House; another at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. They were a jolly and loud set as they were escorted down to the ferry by a squad of Broadway police. They then boarded the train for Chicago. They then took a car for themselves, had big times, reaching Chicago in good shape in advance of the Regiment.
Sellick's Brigade, Christ, Deacon, Preacher, Grubby, Pretty, Motsey, The Brute, The Longest Corporal, Old Scullion, Happy Jack, Uncle Hubbard, were characters in Company K. All except one or two were good soldiers. Sellick's Brigade did not gain much of a record. One time he got into trouble for making a suggestion to Colonel Light, at Indianapolis, when enroute for the East. Cars were limited to two on a seat, and no change to do better. Colonel Light was passing through the cars and placing the men, seeing that there were no reserved seats, when Sellick, in an officious way, said to him, "Colonel, damn it, if you will put the fire out of the stove, you can seat two men on the stove!" The Colonel had Sellick placed under arrest, and a man to guard him, and made room for two without disturbing the stove.
Some little delay was always consequent to our stopping places, for the men would ramble and stray about, glad of a little opportunity to stretch their limbs and seek refreshment both solid and liquid, and when all were "on board" again there were merry times in which "King Gambrinus" took no small share.
As we neared our destination a telegram came for us to "hurry up!" as the ladies of the Soldier's Rest and the citizens of Chicago generally were waiting to give us a reception, and we did hurry-the train fairly flying over the rails; but it was midnight before we reached Chicago, and it was supposed that we would have to go supperless to bed. All haste was made in the disembarkation and the line was soon formed. Marching up to Clark Street, the Regiment pursued its course to the Tribune building where three cheers were given for the loyal press, and then countermarched to Bryan Hall, where a good supper awaited us at the hands of the lovely, loyal and patriotic ladies of Chicago. After a feast of good things seasoned with the loving smiles of our pretty waiters, some speech-making was indulged in by Lieutenant-Colonel Mann and Colonel Osborn, and the festivities closed with a song or two by the regimental glee club. The men then marched to North Market Hall and bivouacked for the night. The following morning, February 7, the Regiment again repaired to Bryan Hall for breakfast, and were more than satisfied with what they received at the hands of the ladies.
It would appear like base ingratitude, and it certainly would be doing great injustice to the lady manager of the Chicago Soldier's Rest, did we not give them more than a passing mention in this volume, and we are sure that the surviving members of the Thirty-Ninth (to say nothing of the shades of our many dead heroes) would never be satisfied unless we meted out to them some measure expressive of their common gratitude. The patriotic devotion of these ladies-their incessant labor both day and night in endeavors to give a cheering and homelike reception to the many weary soldiers who were constantly coming and going. Their care, patience and watchful kindness for the sick and disabled that were sheltered and fed and clothed, enshrined them in the hearts of the soldiers.
There are not a great many of that devoted band left now-they have gone up higher. The writer cherishes a grateful memory of them all-Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. James B. Bradwell, Mrs.
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