USA > Illinois > Yates phalanx : the history of the Thirty-Ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Veteran Infantry in the war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 17
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THE HOSPITAL STEAMEE.
We reached our old camp back of the entrenchments late in the afternoon, where Walker and Wightman had been taken, together with some other wounded men of the Regiment. Wightman was found to be insensible and dying. Adjutant Walker was suffering with a wound in the abdomen, the ball having penetrated the bowels. He was quite anxious about his condition, and wished to be told if he could live. When told that it was impossible, he merely said, "It is well!" which were the last words he spoke to Doctor Clark. He died two hours later. Lieutenant Kingsbury's wound in the arm
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was of such a nature as to require amputation. Major Linton's wound through the lung was at first considered mortal, but happily he made a good recovery in general hospital. Our wounded were sent as soon as possible to Bermuda Hundred and there placed on transports and taken to Fort Monroe.
Private Ezra A. Cook, Company G later wrote for the Regimental History,
"As we came into line of battle Saturday afternoon, [May 14, 1864] in easy range and in plain sight of the rebel works, a shell burst amongst us, a piece of it striking Colonel Osborn's elbow, and a large piece, the force of which was nearly spent, striking a comrade near me on his side, and though it knocked him over, as it was the smooth or rounded side that struck him, he was simply bruised by it. There we lay till dark, under an incessant fire of both artillery and infantry, and if ever a lot of men got weary lying on the ground, we certainly did. But the darkness hid us, and during the night some one got hold of a shovel, and with the single shovel (I think there was but one) a ditch was dug which, with the dirt from it, made a great protection to all who chose to sit or kneel in the ditch.
"Bullets were constantly whizzing by us, and several were hit. A comrade close by me, had his throat cut by a bullet on Sabbath morning, while eating his breakfast.
"The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad ran through the battlefield, the main body of the army extending from the railroad to the James river on the right, but the Thirty-Ninth extended from the railroad to the left. Early Monday morning, in a dense fog, the rebels made a furious attack on the entire line and the right seemed to yield at once. Skirmishers in front of our line gave the alarm and we were ready for them and opened on them 'fire by file!' Under our incessant fire the line soon wavered and broke. The lifting fog gave us a good view of them. Line after line formed and advanced to the same fate. The sound of battle, however, soon told us that the battle line on our right had been forced back of us, and a galling fire was opened on our flank by a force just across the railroad. We retreated in good order to the edge of the woods, a few yards away, when every man seemed to yell, Halt! We paid our respects to the 'Johnnies' across the railroad, who soon ran, and then the cry was passed, 'Hurrah for our ditch!' I think the man who started that cry was a new recruit close by me, for I first heard it from him, but it was echoed all along the line. He furnished us an excellent example of valor without discipline. Noticing that his bayonet was not fixed I told him to fix bayonet and was not surprised to learn, on asking him, that his gun was empty. He loaded quickly, and was ready to start with us by the time our rallying cry had passed down the line, and away we went, and hustled out the few rebels who had got into our ditch. Brave Captain Rudd was the only commissioned officer I saw with us. Soon after our return to our ditch a rebel force appeared directly in our rear and close at hand.
"Surrender!" yelled the rebel leader. 'Surrender yourself!' answered Captain Rudd. 'Fire!' yelled the rebel, and every man of us fell flat. 'Up and at them!' commanded Captain Rudd, and with a volley, a yell, and the bayonet, that rebel force was cleared out in less time than it takes to recount the fact. It was evidently time for us to join the main body of the
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army, then far in our rear, as we could tell by the noise of battle; so we leisurely withdrew, following the course of the railroad.
"Sergeant Spencer brought up the rear, and when out of sight of the rebels behind us, he stepped up to the railroad, which was there about breast high, and seeing a squad of 'Johnnies,' let drive, and called to me asking if I did not want a good shot. I ran over, and as he stood loading I threw my gun into the fork of a sapling and took deliberate aim at one of the squad just across the railroad. With the report of my gun, I heard Spencer yell, 'Cook!' and turned to find a large rebel force right on to me, certainly not fifteen feet away. The dense underbrush had concealed their approach. Just as I faced them one of them fired and shattered my right hand, and the stock of my gun just in front of the lock. The ball and two of the three buckshot tore through the inside of my hand, and nipped the end of the little finger. I then turned and ran the gauntlet of a perfect cyclone of bullets, amid yells of 'Halt!' 'Surrender!' 'Shoot him!' 'Kill him!' and other choice greetings. The dense underbrush favored me, and through bullets through my clothing told how narrow was my escape, I speedily overtook Sergeant Spencer and we were soon our of sight of our pursuers.
"On seeing that I was wounded, Sergeant Spencer insisted on taking my gun which I still held on to, and then I saw he had lost his. He said that on hearing a noise behind him he turned, and, seeing the rebels, started to run, when he found his gun caught by a root or branch, and so he left it.
"I had become much attached to that rifled musket, and hoped to take it home with me, as we were told we would be allowed to buy them, but I have not seen it since, as poor Spencer received a wound from which he died, but a short time afterwards.
"Before we overtook the Company I became very weak from loss of blood, and but for the fact that I got a chance to soak my wound in the cold swamp-water, and wrap it in a large handkerchief also wet, I should probably have soon fainted. As it was I could hardly keep my feet with the aid of a comrade.
"Some coal-cars had been captured, and in these many of the wounded were conveyed towards the field hospital. I was helped into one of these, and soon felt better, as the chill from the cold water had checked the bleeding. When we came to another group of wounded men and I saw there was not room for them all, I climbed out and started on foot for the camp at Bermuda Hundred, walking just behind an ambulance. Just a we got in sight of the hospital the cry was raised, 'Rebel cavalry! Rebel cavalry are coming!'
"The fields and roads were full of stragglers, most of them Colonel Dandy's New York Regiment [100th New York Volunteers], and as this rebel cavalry cry was raised I saw Colonel Dandy trying to rally his men. Pointing his revolver at a group of men on the run towards camp he would yell 'Halt!' and they would stop till he turned to another squad, when they ran on again. A moment after, the rebels with a yell and a volley were upon them, and doubtless most of them were captured. A squad of rebels even fired into the ambulance that I had been following, and though they may not have hurt any one in it the did wound one of the horses. I think this ambulance escaped capture, for from my hiding place in the
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underbrush I saw them dashing along at a furious rate, one horse apparently on three legs, he was so badly wounded.
"As I was not in fighting trim, though I had picked up a sword, which I carried into camp, I kept out of sight till the cavalry dash was over, and then quietly proceeded to camp.
"The coal-car in which I rode a short distance was captured with its occupants, and poor Luscomb, of my own company, whom I left in it, with a wound in the arm, died in the rebel hospital at Petersburg.
"During that night what was left of the Thirty-Ninth arrived in camp, and the next morning I was glad to restore to its owner the sword I had picked up on the battlefield. It belong to Lieutenant Kingsbury, of Company E, whose arm was being amputated when I sent the sword to his tent for him.
"Though my wound was then painful, I had no idea that it was of so serious a character as it proved to be. The following morning the rebels attacked our camp, and with the bullets whistling around me I was sent to the Brigade Field Hospital, thence to Fort Monroe, and from there by boat to the great Government Hospital on David's Island, New York harbor. By this time I began to realize my right hand was a mass of torn flesh; gangrene soon developed, and I became very weak and restless from the intense pain, especially when the flesh was being burned with bromide, as it was daily.
"To my rigid temperance principles I owe my right hand, without doubt. Whiskey was sent in for my use, as it was for all the severely wounded, and I feared I would be forced to take it. On appealing to Surgeon Thompson he said I should have the best wine there was in the hospital instead of whiskey. I stated my objections to all stimulants, and was not a little astonished to find that Dr. Thompson's views exactly coincided with mine. He explained that he was under authority and had orders to furnish stimulant to those who were weak from wounds, but was not under orders to force men to take them; so it was agreed that I should take none, and the decision was rigidly adhered to. I bore the terrible pain of cutting and burning my wound without anything to deaden it. The flesh was cut and burned away clear to the bone, leaving the large cords on the right side of my hand entirely bare, the flesh around and beneath them being removed, and while dressing the wound one morning an artery burst, and Dr. Thompson worked over me the entire day, not less than seven hours consecutively, not leaving even for his dinner. The gangrene had at last been cut and burned away, and my hand began to heal, and was a marvelous sight. Hundreds, many of soldiers who had lost a limb, came to look at it when it was being dressed. It seemed as if you could see the new flesh grow while you were looking at it. I was assured by the hospital attendants that the saving of my hand seemed almost miraculous. They supposed, as soon as they saw it, that it would have to be amputated, and did not believe Dr. Thompson could save it. While I was there limbs less seriously wounded were daily amputated, and an officer with a flesh wound in the arm died of lockjaw. The muscles of my hand contracted so as to draw my hand around at nearly a right angle with my arm, and it was double its normal thickness when it was healed five months after I was wounded, and I had very imperfect control of my fingers. Dr. Thompson recommended that I should, whenever I could, whether sitting or standing,
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gently strain on my hand and fingers till they were straight, and the plan proved effective, though it took fully five years to accomplish it.
"It was evident that my days of military service were over, and I learned soon after I reached the hospital that my discharge was recommended, but it did not reach me till August 23, just eleven days before my time was out, when I naturally hurried home."
Private Martin Van Buren Peters of Company F also wrote for the Regimental History:
"I was in the terrible battle at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, where so many of our Regiment were killed and wounded. I was also on the skirmish line at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, where stumps and trees were in good demand. Some minie balls had whistled were close to me, when a comrade sung out, 'Don't you see that reb shooting at you?' 'No!' said I; 'where?' and just then along came another, and it struck a small sapling close by and went so near through it as to bulge the bark on the opposite side. I saw the smoke of the gun that fired it, then saw his head appear from behind his tree; then his neck and breast; he was looking for me, and I had changed position. Then I let him have the contents of my gun; but whether I hit him or not, he did not trouble me any more.
"Ere long, as I was loading, a shot came from another direction, the bullet striking me at the outside corner of my left eye, tearing the flesh away and chipping the bone. It turned my partly around. I did not know what had struck me at first-thought my comrade and struck me, and asked him what he did it for. 'I didn't strike you!' he said; 'You're wounded, man!' and by this time I began to think so, too, as the blood was streaming down my face in a rivulet. It was a close call. I was soon all right again, however.
"In October, 1864, I was transferred to Company F, Eleventh Regiment of the Invalid Corps, and assisted in guarding the assassins of our noble President."
First Sergeant Emile Guntz, Company K had been a photographer at the outbreak of the war. He was to take many of the soldiers tin-types on Folly and Morris Island. He later related to Dr. Clark for the Regimental History:
". . . I was captured at the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16, 1864. That was the time my hardships commenced. We were in retreat at the time, and got onto the railroad track, when we saw a lot of cavalry coming towards us and thought they were our men, but we got badly fooled. The first thing we knew we were ordered to throw down our guns, 'You Yankee sons of bitches.' We were driven like a lot of hogs on a run, with revolvers at our heads. We were taken to Macon, Georgia, and there robbed of all we possessed, them telling us they would return everything in a few days, when we would be paroled; but that day had never come. Stayed there a few days and were then taken to Savannah, Georgia, and put in a bull pen-hardly enough room to stand in; no shelter of any kind and nothing to eat for 24 hours; and when we did get anything it was a pint of cornmeal and about two ounces of bacon.
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"We stayed there about two weeks, when we received orders to get ready-that we were going to be exchanged; and oh! weren't we happy! A happier lot of men you never saw. But we were to be disappointed. We were put on board a train of cattle and open cars, packed in like so many hogs, and away we went, not to our lines, but to that hell-hole, Andersonville, the most God-forsaken place that men were ever put in-not fit for cattle.
"I don't think there is any use of my giving a detailed account of our hardships and sufferings while there, for I imagine there is not a person in the United States who has not heard of or read about it. I might fill a book twice as large as this one.
"At one time we received the news that Sherman coming to set us free. Then they moved us to Millen, and in going there the train ran off the track and I was thrown out of the car and received a severe bruise that I feel to this day. We were then taken back to Andersonville, when Wirz said it was a pity that it had not killed all of us 'Yankee sons of bitches.' After that we received hardly anything to eat except about half a pint of cornmeal a day, and not fit for hogs to eat.
"I don't see how any of us ever lived to get out of there. Many of our brave soldiers were left there. We used to quarrel to get a chance to carry out one of our dead comrades, so that we could get a little wood to cook our cornmeal.
"At last we received notice that we were going to be exchanged. We were taken to Savannah again, where we found out that instead of being exchanged they were going to take us to Mobile, Alabama, excepting those who could not move any further, and these were to be paroled, and I managed to get among them. We were put on board and taken out to where 'Uncle Sam' was waiting for us, and that was the happiest moment of my life, when I saw the old Stars and Stripes one more.
"I think that is where our Government made a great mistake-letting our soldiers starve in those Rebels Hells. They might just as well have exchanged us, and I don't think it would have helped the Confederacy any. Wirz made his brags that he could do more for the cause by killing our men in prisons than they could in battle.
"I was, in all, in prison nine months, and it seemed to me so many years. I don't see how anybody who went through those rebel prisons can ever forget. I never will, for I lost part of my hearing, and my eye-sight has been very poor since, and is getting worse, all from exposure when there.
"We then received a furlough to go home, and in about three months I joined the Regiment again, when I went through all the hardships with them, until we were mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, in 1865."
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"We will drive these rebels to hell!"
General Butler's force numbered some 26,000 men when it was again behind the entrenchments, and it was said that he proposed to cross the Appomattox river and advance on Petersburg; but before his plans could be put into execution General Grant ordered the Eighteenth Army Corps and a portion of the Tenth Army Corps to reinforce the Army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor. This was a disappointing blow to Butler at this time, depriving him of the means of making any move whatever, "bottling him up,"15 as he expressed it in a letter to General Grant. General Butler was an ambitious man as well as an able one, and he may have been a great military genius, but the result of the battle of May 16 did not prove it, and failed to satisfy General Grant.
The Regiment was permitted to remain quiet in camp, taking a rest that was so much needed, until the afternoon of the 20th, when they were ordered out for the purpose of cooperating with the balance of the Brigade in the recapture of a line of rifle-pits that the enemy had wrested from our troops a few hours previously. The preceding attack had been made during the night by the rebels and was chiefly directed against the line held by the Brigade under command of General Ames. For the space of half an hour the cannonading was terrific, and the volleys of musketry were incessant. Twice the enemy attempted to break through the lines and came forward with a rush-screaming and howling like a pack of hungry wolves, but each time they were hurled back with fearful slaughter and only succeeded in occupying the first line of rifle-pits, which our Brigade was ordered to recapture. The Brigade was under the temporary command of Colonel Joshua B. Howell, and we cannot do better than give Colonel Howell's report of this engagement that it fails to mention the fact that when the charge was made the Thirty-Ninth succeeded in occupying their part of the line, while the Sixty- Seventh Ohio, which charged with them, found their work too hot and fell back, which necessitated the falling back of the Thirty-Ninth.
Both regiments soon reformed and again advanced, carrying everything before them until the line of pits was occupied, the "rebs" slinking back to the cover of the woods, leaving their dead and wounded behind them.
15Beauregard's defenses across the neck of the Bermuda Hundred peninsula only prevented Butler from moving his forces west against the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. He was however, capable of moving any other direction. The Eighteen Corps departure and Buter's raid on Petersburg disclosed that ability.
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COLONEL HOWELL'S OFFICIAL REPORT
"Headquarters First Brigade, First Division Tenth Army Corps. May 21, 1864
Captain Adrian Terry, Asst. Adj't General
"Captain: I have the honor respectfully to report to you for the information of the Brigadier-General commanding the Division, the operations and result of the fight of yesterday by the troops under my command.
"At two p.m. yesterday, I received the order from Brigadier-General Terry, commanding the Division, to take with me the Thirty-Ninth Illinois and Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteers, two regiments of my Brigade-the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers being already there at the front and under fire-and the Sixth Connecticut Volunteers, and proceed to the front, assume command of all the troops already there, and retake the ground and position which had been lost in the morning, and recapture the rifle-pits, and reestablish the line and hold it. It was suggested to me by General Terry, that I should go out in advance of my Brigade to the picket line and see the state of things existing, then the nature of the ground, etc. I went out at once, and the wisdom and propriety of the General's direction struck me as soon as I came on the ground. I found the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers in very imminent peril of being overwhelmed by the superior force of the enemy. It was boldly sustaining itself. The Lieutenant-Colonel (Campbell) commanding that regiment has since told me that ten minutes later and my old Regiment would have been crushed.
"The Sixth Connecticut Volunteers had been ordered out before I left the entrench- ments-I passed them on my way out. That regiment came promptly and boldly up under its brave and gallant leader, Major Kline. I formed it in line of battle, threw it rapidly forward. It was succeeded by the Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteers (noble and brave Regiment-officers and men); they came up on the double-quick. I threw that regiment forward, also the Thirty- Ninth Illinois Volunteers; they came up bravely on the double-quick and were formed in the general line of battle on the run. These three regiments went forward with cheers, directing their fire rapidly, steadily and with low aim. I never saw troops behave better; the fire of the enemy was very rapid and very heavy, but my brave boys dashed forward gallantly. We drove the enemy, and soon made a connected line of battle with the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, and with the 142nd New York Volunteers, Colonel Curtis commanding.
"I communicated the fact to General Terry by Captain Hooker, my acting Assis- tant-Adjutant-General, that my troops were all engaged. I received an order from General Terry directing me to swing my right towards the left and recapture the rifle-pits and hold them. That order was promptly obeyed and carried into successful execution. We drove the enemy like the wind, captured and re-occupied the rifle-pits and held them firmly. Directly after taking the rifle-pits, Brigadier-General Walker of the rebel force dashed out on the road
,
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in front of the rifle-pits and was wounded and immediately captured by Company C of the Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteers and sent in as a prisoner.
"It was a brave and gallant fight by all the brave and gallant officers and men who constituted my command, and engaged in it. I never saw officers and men behave better. Their promptness, zeal, dashing and daring courage was beautiful-their fire steady and deadly to the enemy.
"I beg leave respectfully to recapitulate the name of these regiments, for I love to repeat them and honor them. The Sixth Connecticut Volunteers, Major Kline commanding, temporarily assigned to me; the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell commanding; Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteers, Colonel Voris commanding, Thirty- Ninth Illinois Volunteers, Lieutenant-Colonel Mann, commanding.
"I regret to have it to say that the brave and valuable officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Mann, was badly wounded in the leg in the action. It is an honorable mark of distinction, and was gallantly won by him. I am glad to say he is now doing very well. There were two brave officers of the Eighty-Fifth Pennsylvania wounded also.
"You can for an idea of the severity of the fire through which my command dashed and drove the enemy, when I say to you that in about thirty minutes I lost 149 men, killed and wounded. The casualties of the fight have already been reported to you. They amounted to some 300 killed and wounded; none missing. The enemy's loss we now know to be 800 in killed and wounded.
"I beg leave to speak in the highest terms of praise of the valuable services rendered me by the officers of my staff in that action-Captain Hooker, my acting Assist- ant-Adjutant-General, Captain Dawson, Brigade Inspector, and Lieutenant McGregor my Aide-de-camp. Their promptness, activity and efficiency are deserving of the highest praise.
"In this connection, Captain, I beg leave to refer to the valuable service of my Medical Director, Dr. Charles M. Clark, Surgeon of the Thirty-Ninth Illinois Volunteers. His zeal, energy, courage and skill are deserving of the highest praise. His thorough knowledge of his profession and his skill in the practice of it, secures to all the wounded the greatest care and attention and has saved many a limb from the amputating knife.
"I am grateful to know that my brave command and myself received the commendations of our gallant and distinguished leaders, Major-General Gillmore and Brigadier-General Terry
"I have to honor to be, Captain, with great respect,
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