USA > Indiana > Marion County > Cumberland > History of the 11th Indiana battery : connected with an outline history of the army of the Cumberland during the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65 > Part 1
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Gc 973.74 IN20
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01704 0269
Gc 973.74 IN20 OTTO, JOHN. HISTORY OF THE 11TH INDIANA BATTERY
840
HISTORY
OF THE
LITH INDIANA BATTERY,
CONNECTED WITH AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND
1
DURING THE
WAR OF THE REBELLION.
1861-1865.
BY JOHN OTTO, LATE SENIOR 1ST LIEUTENANT, 11TH INDIANA BATTERY, AUBURN, IND., 1891.
240
W. D. PAGE, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER. FORT WAYNE, IND. 1884
INTRODUCTION.
T THE undersigned having delivered, on the first Reunion of the 11th Indiana Battery, a sketch of the Battery and its doings during the war of the rebellion, has on a later reunion been made historian of the Association, with the charge of preparing a history as full and correct as can be made. As the writer has for his guidance only his short diary notes and some sketches, and remarks from some old comrades, it must not be expected that a history may be prepared from this material which excludes criticism, is free from error, and full and correct in every way. The writer can only relate such things as came under his immediate observation and from his own standpoint. Others may have seen the same occurences from their standpoint, producing a different view, and may therefore differ from the writer in some of its details, but he will, to the best of his ability, try to be impartial and true in all the details of the work. The origin of any information embodied in this work not originating from himselff will be duly credited to the source of information.
Hoping this work will meet the approval of the comrades of the old IIth Indiana Battery, is the wish of the
WRITER.
79011
D
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
URING September, 1861, a number of the the most loyal and best citizens of Fort Wayne prevailed upon Mr. Arnold Suter- meister to enlist and organize a Battery of Field Artillery, pledging their moral and financial aid. Mr. S. having been acquainted with the fact that the writer had been in the Prussian artillery ser- vice, enlisted his services in the cause, and agreeing, both went to work enlisting men for a Battery. But the work was a slow one. The country in and around Fort Wayne had already contributed a large number of men to the 9th, 12th, 30th and 44th regiments. There was also a recruiting office for the regular service of the United States in the city, and others were recruiting for a Cavalry organization. We tried hard for a while, but we were convinced that, as it takes 151 men for a Battery, we must make some other arrangements to be successful. So Mr. S, made arrangements with Mr. Greene, who enlisted men for the Cavalry service, and the two squads were thrown together for the organization of the Battery. On the 17th of December, 1861, seventy men were taken to Indianapolis for muster, and the Battery organized as the IIth Indian Battery, and the following officers were elected : For Captain, Arnold Sutermeister : Senior First Lieutenant, Henry Tons ; Junior First Lieutenant, Wm. Greene. The next day, the writer, John Otto, was commis- sioned by Governor O. P. Morton, as Senior Second Lieuten- ant. The Battery during its stay at Indianapolis was en- .camped at "Camp Morton," the camp for the Artillery, where a number of other Batteries were already organizing.
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HISTORY OF THE
Lieutenants Tons and Greene were sent back to Fort Wayne- on recruiting service, to bring the number up to its required standard. In the meantime Captain S. drilled the men on foot drill, while Lieut. Otto drilled them on the guns. Three miles south of camp we had a high wall of earth thrown up. to stop the balls in practicing target firing. With this and drilling, and occasional visits to the city, January, 1862, passed. For our dwellings in camp, we had, for the officers, wall tents; and for the men, Sibley tents with a little tin stove in the center. It is true, there was a good deal of grumbling at first at the accommodations of our quarters; but had we known what was in store for us later in the war, we would have been perfectly satisfied. At any rate we had a dry place to rest our wearied bodies, a bed of straw and a blanket for cover; later on, many a time, we had none- of these even. We received a full supply of light bread, good meat, and vegetables of every kind; later on we had to- do without those luxuries.
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
9
CHAPTER II.
N FEBRUARY 6th, 1862, we received our first order. It was to strike tents- and proceed to Louisville, Ky., to re- ceive our armament. Our camp equip- ments were loaded on the trains, which we also boarded, and about 8 o'clock p. m. found our backs turned to God's country and friends; many of us were not to see them any more. On the 7th, a. m., we arrived at Louisville, and were. assigned quarters at Camp Gilbert. Here Lieut. H. M. Williams, who had been commissioned by Governor Morton as Junior Second Lieutenant, joined us with a number of recruits.
At that time a large army, mostly new troops, were sent to Louisville, to form, what was known later as the Army of the Ohio, or 14th Army Corps. One of the best organizers of raw troops, a disciplinarian of the first water-Don Carlos Buell-who was a graduate of West Point, and who had been in the regular army ever since his school days, was to be the commander of this army. He was a soldier out and out, and was proud of his calling. With such a leader for drill- master, with a clear head for organizing raw troops and a stern disciplinarian, it was not to be wondered at that an army of raw troops were transformed in so short a time into an army that later in the war could cope even with General Longstreet's invincible veterans of the rebel army. He took particular pains in organizing that vast army that was drawn together there into Brigades and Divisions and selected commanders for these, who, with but very few exceptions, proved to be what was expected of them.
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HISTORY OF THE
To fit up such a large army (from 60,000 to 70,000) and ·organize it, took time and a vast amount of material, so that we could not get our armament before the 24th of the month. It consisted of four 412 inch Rodman guns, (solid projectile, 36 pounds), battery wagon, forge, fourteen trans- portation wagons for ammunition and quartermaster stores, about ninety mules, with outfit for the transportation wagons, and about sixty horses with outfit for draft as well as riding horses. The magnitude of such an outfit will readily be understood, as, when on the 28th of that month we embarked for Nashville, Tenn., on one of the Ohio river steamboats it was crammed full from stern to bow; the horses and mules were packed like sardines in a box, and in this condition the poor animals had to hold out until the 5th of March, in the forenoon, when we disembarked at Nash- ville, Tenn.
On March Ist, we passed Evansville, Ind., on the Ohio river; on the 3d, at 3 p. m., we left the Ohio river at Smith- land and steamed up the Cumberland river. The next day we passed Fort Donelson and Clarksville and arrived at Nashville at 6 o'clock p. m. on the 4th. As there had been a heavy fog during the nights of the 3d and 4th, we had to lay by until the next morning, when the rising of the fog would permit us to resume our journey.
As the disembarking was taking place on the 5th, Lieut. Otto, with an escort, was ordered to report the Battery to General Wood, to whose command the Battery was assign- ed, and who was encamped with his command on the Charlotte pike, three miles west of Nashville. On the 6th the Battery moved from the river to its assigned place. In this camp we stayed until all the forces under General Buell had arrived and were ready for their forward movement to Savannah and Shiloh, as premeditated between General Halleck, commander of the forces of the Army of the Mis sissippi, with headquarters at St. Louis, and General Buell to co-operate with the army of the former, which was en- camped then at Pittsburgh Landing, on the Tennessee river.
PREFACE.
RECRUITING, ENLISTING, ORGANIZING.
T HE year 1861 was a remarkable one in the history of the United States. The firing upon Fort Sumter developed two giants who were to battle for the coming four year for supremacy; one to sacrifice his life, wealth, home and everything upon the altar of a slave empire, and the other to resist in breaking to pieces the government inaugurated by our forefathers and established by them as a refuge to the persecuted of the old world, and in which everyone was alike before the law. Two giants, indeed. The forces brought to battle for these two principles were of gigantic numbers -- millions on each side fought for their principles-and for some time it ap- peared as if slavery should predominate, and the Stars and Stripes be expelled from a large portion of the country over which it had waved for nearly a century. Everywhere in the whole land, north and south, recruit- ing offices were opened for the enlistment of soldiers, camps established for the muster, for drill and discipline, from which the full organizations were sent to the seat of war. In Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, one of these camps was established, and there during the summer of 1861, the old 9th, and 12th, and 30th and 44th Indiana Infantry regiments were organized and sent on to their destinations.
II
IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
On March 30th, General Wood's Division, to which we were assigned, left Nashville as the last column of the Army of the Ohio, for Pittsburgh Landing. The first Division under General Thomas, the second under General Nelson, and the fifth under General Crittenden, had preceded Gen- eral Wood's 6th Division. The army, after crossing Duck river, at Columbia, Tenn., where it was delayed somewhat on account of the rebels having destroyed the bridge across the river, moved rapidly forward, General Nelson arriving at Savannah, Tenn., on the 5th of April. The same day our Division, being the last, arrived at Waynesboro, about twenty miles from Savannah. The next morning we started very early, and being on the march but a short time, heard heavy cannonading in the direction we were marching. It was Sunday and a beautiful day ; all along the pike road people would come, dressed in Sunday attire, and cheer us and the old flag. As soon as the firing in our front began, the troops were ordered to double quick; but soon the pike road gave out and then our trouble began. The soil in this part of the country is of a quicksandy "disposition," and before we thought of it, one of our pieces, with horses and drivers, were down to their bellies in the mire ; and as bad luck never comes singly, it began to rain, which made it nearly impossible for us to keep on the move. During the night from the 7th to 8th, we "stuck in the mud," and had to camp on the road, as each side of the road was swampy, we having no place to lie down, the rain continuing all night. My diary says: "Never forget the 7th, Sth and 9th of April, 1862."
As our Division came to Savannah on the evening of the 6th, of course we were left behind. On the 8th we managed to get out of the holes we got into the night before, and marching from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. we succeeded in making three miles. During the night it rained again, and the next morning we gathered around fires to dry our wet clothes. At II a. m. we commenced our march again, and by 7 p. m. had again made about three miles. The roads we encoun-
12
HISTORY OF THE
tered were just horrible; the men and animals were nearly worn out, and we concluded to hold a day of rest on the- Ioth. Being about out of provisions, we sent out a detail of foragers who brought in hams, turkeys, chickens, etc., so that in starting out on the IIth we felt that we could "make it." We left camp at 8 a. m., marched and worked all day in the rain, till 12 o'clock at night, and did not get further from our last camping place than three miles. On the 12th we made from 9 a. m. till 7 p. m., two miles. As- the bad roads had become an established fact, the Captain sent an Orderly to headquarters with the notice, that, as it would be utterly impossible to "make" Savannah, we would aim at a canal boat landing, called Cerro Gordo, and would wait there for a boat to be sent us to take us aboard. On the 9th we came within one mile of this "landing," but the descent to it was so steep that we concluded to await day- light for it. The next day we took the prolong ropes, letting the guns and wagons down the steep incline to the landing .. As we were left alone on the 7th, we had not only to con- tend with the bad roads, but it was reported that Bush- whackers had been noticed in the neighborhood, and so we had to look out for them, too. On the marches we sent out a picket line ahead, and coming into camp we posted a picket guard around it. On the 10th a quartermaster's train caught up with us, which had one wagon loaded with muskets, of which a number were distributed to our men for guard duty. This we continued till the 15th, when in the evening a boat arrived, on which we loaded our Battery, which we accomplished by midnight. On the morning of the 16th we arrived at Pittsburgh Landing and commenced disembarking. On the 17th we moved to our assigned. place, near Shiloh meeting house, in camp.
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
I3
CHAPTER III.
HOSE that have visited a battle field, after a battle, will agree with me, that such a place is not a pleasant summer resort, and especially as it was in this instance, as it had been raining more or less ever since the 7th of April. The stench arising from the killed and very shallow buried men and animals was awful. It seems to me that I can smell it yet after a period of thirty years. For a time there were burying parties out day and night to put the camps and surroundings in a healthy state. After the army was reorganized again, ammunition and subsistence replenished, it was put in motion again towards Corinth, Miss. It was a slow movement, as we had to contend for every foot of ground with the rebels. On the 29th of April the whole army commenced its forward movement, and on the 18th of May we arrived in front of Corinth, a distance of fifteen miles in twenty-one days. With the army General Halleck had for his disposition he could have annihilated the rebel army opposing him in less than a week; but his standing order to his Division Commanders from Shiloh to Corinth was: "Do not bring on a general engagement." From the 18th to the 30th of May, Corinth was nearly sur- rounded by our troops, but no assault was ordered. Although there were picket skirmishes every day, and the men could hardly be held back, still the order was: "No general engagement." On the 30th, early in the morning, lots of explosions were heard in the direction of Corinth, and the pickets advancing to find out the cause, found the town deserted and the rebels on their way to Hollow Springs. Of course we took possession of the empty nest
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HISTORY OF THE
and rested on our laurels. Since we came in front of Corinth, we changed camp and positions for our guns several times, the purpose of which always has been a mystery to me, for in all those changes the distance from the old to the new was not more than half a mile; of course it gave the boys some needed excercise, In one of the camps which con- tained a strip of woods and south of this an open field, the boys had lots of fun. Mule races, foot races, and horse shoe pitching, especially the latter, were freely indulged in whenever the weather permitted.
On the first of June, the paymaster made his first advent with us and every body felt happy. We had not received a. penny from the government since our muster in. Six months of pay were due us and were paid us, and it would, be no use in denying that the boys were glad, for the most of them had forgotten what money looked like. The most of this money was sent home by the boys by an agent whom Governor Morton had sent to the troops of the state and promptly delivered to the families of the boys.
As there was no use for so large an army here and no enemy in front, an order from the War Department was issued to the effect that Halleck with his Army of the Mississippi would take care of General Beauregard and his rebel army, and General Buell with the Army of the Ohio, move eastward toward Chattanooga, Tenn. On the 11th of June, we left Corinth for Eastport, Tenn., passed Iuka on the 13th and arrived at Tuscumbia, Ala., on the 16th. The roads on this- march were in pretty good condition, so that we had no trouble with our heavy guns. At Tuscumbia we were en- camped until the 25th, when we took up our line of march for Athens, Ala. On the 28th we arrived at Elk river, which we had to ford. The river flowed very rapidly, and the- bridge across it had been destroyed ; in fording, Comrades Lomont and Blase took an involuntary bath, but no injury was done to the bathers; probably there was need of the bathr.
We arrived at Athens on the 29th, and our first camp was on the fair grounds; our second was about a mile or two.
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
from the city, near a nice grove, with good water, where we had an enjoyable time. As we stayed there till the 20th of July, we had our gun carriages cleaned and painted again, and our harness and other things put in good condition. We left Athens on the 21st for Huntsville, Ala., where we arrived the next day. Huntsville was a quiet and romantic place, surrounded by hills, the soil of a limestone nature and splendid water. In the upper town, a large spring of ice-cold water emerged from the rocks, driving a mill not ten feet from its fountain. Here we camped till the 4th of August when we left by railroad for Stevenson, Ala. Previous to our departure, one of the mule team drivers reconnoitered as to where he could make a satisfactory exchange with his mule team. In the night he started out and in the early morning, just while loading the animals on the train, he appeared with the best mule team I ever saw. They were put out of sight in the further end of a box car, but when we came to Stevenson, were very nearly suffocated. The day was hot and no ventilation in the car, but the tear- ing off of the boards and half a dozen pails of cool water revived them again ; that driver could not be induced to exchange that team for the best team in the army. We arrived at Stevenson on the evening of the fourth ; the headquarters of General Buell remaining at Huntsville. When leaving Corinth, our Battery was attached to General McCook's division.
South of Stevenson, about one mile, an earthwork was thrown up-a so-called fort-into which, when it was done, our guns were moved. The fort commanded the approaches from the Tennessee river south and east ; although numer- ous rumors came that the rebels on the south and east side of the river would attack us in our position at Stevenson, nothing happened, and I don't think a shot ever was fired from that fort during the whole war.
. On the 9th of August the writer was ordered to proceed to Huntsville, with five men, to receive a number of needed horses for the Battery. On the 10th the horses were put on
16
HISTORY OF THE
board the cars and shipped to Stevenson, arriving there in the evening. On the 12th Headquarters arrived from Hunts- ville. One day it was reported at the Provost Marshal's office, that at a place about seven miles west of Stevenson, suspicious looking men were seen, and it was supposed that bushwackers had their assembling place at the house of a man named Farrier. The writer was ordered to proceed to said place, with an escort of fifteen men, and arrest the in- dividual named. The arrest was promptly made on the 17th and the prisoner delivered to the Provost Marshal, at Stevenson. I suppose he proved himself innocent as usual. These southern conspirators were always innocent. As there were some unusual movements going on in our front in the rebel arıny under General Bragg, the troops were ordered to be on the alert and to be ready to move at a moment's notice. On the 21st we received orders to get ready to
move. About noon General Buell arrived here and pro- ceeded to Battle Creek; during the night he returned, and on the 22d left for Nashville, Tenn., on the train. General Bragg, of the rebel army in our front, was trying to give Buell the slip. He only left a light picket line in our front, and with the bulk of his army went on a chase with Buell's troops following to take possession of Louisville and capture the city and the stores laid up there for our army. Two sections of Simonson's 5th Indiana Battery relieved us in the fort, and on the 23d we commenced loading our Bat- tery on a train. About 6 p. m. we started on the Nashville road. The next morning, some four miles from the Cum- berland Tunnel, our train was cut in two and two trains made out of it. The rise of the road was about 100 feet to the mile, so that it was impossible for one engine to pull it. About 9 a. m. we moved through the tunnel. The scenery on the north side of the tunnel is grand, indeed, to say the least. About 10 a. m. we arrived at Dechard, the foot of the mountain, where the two sections of the train were re- united again. The train rolled on through Tullahoma and other stations on the road, and arrived at Murfreesboro
17
IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
about 5 p. m. At 7 p. m., having arrived at Nashville, we unloaded our train and camped for the night at the depot. We lost four horses killed on this run and two so disabled that they were worthless for further use. The next day we brought our guns upon Capital Hill, where in time a regular fortified place was made-our guns commanding the ap- proaches of the city by the river and roads, to the east and north. The animals and wagons were taken north of the Capital in the bottoms, where large stable accommodations were to be had. During the night from 25th to 26th, the cannoniers slept on the pavements of the Capital, without tents or any other shelter, just rolled in their blankets. As the nights were getting quite cool already, sleeping in such an elevated position, where the wind had free play, we were quite stiff the next morning, and it took considerable exer- cise to get motion into our limbs again. On looking around for better sleeping accommodations the next day, we found west of the Capital and close to it, an empty fire engine house, of which we took immediate possession ; but this proved not much of an improvement, as the windows were all broken, the doors removed and the whole affair in a rather deplorable condition-but we had a cover over our heads at any rate.
A great excitement prevailed during these days at Nash- ville. The troops of General Buell's army were coming in on the south and leaving by train and on foot on the east side for Louisville, Ky., our troops trying their best to beat Bragg's rebel army in the chase for Louisville. The rebels were anticipating a great haul at Louisville in the shape of clothing, ammunition, provisions, etc., cut off our commu- nication and invest Ohio and Indiana. But Buell's army arrived at Louisville first and put a stop to the rebel advance. As it is not in the province of this work to give a history of the Kentucky campaign, as our Battery was left at Nash- ville with General Negley's troops, to protect the city, we will not follow the fortunes and misfortunes of either army
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HISTORY OF THE
there and confine our narrative to our surroundings at Nashville.
For the protection of Nashville, as it was of the greatest importance as a strategic center, Generals Negley and Pal- mer's Divisions, with Negley in command, was left. As soon as Buell's troops encountered Bragg's rebel troops, we found in our front an antagonist also. General Brecken- ridge, who had opposed our army from Shiloh to Corinth, and then given General Halleck the slip, had left the army of the Mississippi with his army and was now co-operating with General Bragg for the possession of Louisville and Nashville. But General B. had not troops enough to suc- cessfully close in upon us; he invested the vicinity of Nash- ville to harass our troops in their foraging expeditions and probably bye and bye starve us out, as Bragg was between us and our supplies. Off and on our pickets and expeditions had skirmishes with guerrillas as well as the regular rebel troops, one about five miles west of Nashville, on the 26th of September; and one on the 6th of October, between the escort of a forage train with guerrillas. On the nights of October, 6th and 7th, Negley ordered Palmer, with the artillery and 400 infantry, and Col. John F. Miller, with about 2400 men, to surprise a rebel camp at Lavergne. The attempt was successful; after an engagement of half an hour the rebels were in full retreat on the road to Murfreesboro, with a loss of So killed and wounded and 175 prisoners. The enemy also lost three pieces of artillery and the regi- mental colors of the 32d Alabama, also a number of muskets, commissary stores, etc.
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