History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 41

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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Moving forward with the army the regiment participated in the siege of Vicksburg, until its final surrender on July 4th, losing thirteen men and officers in killed and wounded. It then marched to Jackson, Mississippi, and was engaged in the siege of that position until its capture, losing eight men in killed and wounded. Returning to Vicksburg soon after it embarked August 4th for New Orleans, where it remained until September 12th, at which time it moved the Brashear City. While there it took part in Banks' expedition up the Teche as far as Opelousas. On the return march it en- gaged the enemy at Carrison Crow Bayou, November 3d, after which it proceeded to New Iberia where it remained until December 19th. While there four hundred and sixty of the regiment re-enlisted, as veterans, De-

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cember 15, 1863. On December 23d it embarked on a steamer for Pass · Cavallo, Texas, reaching there January 8, 1864, and remained in that vi- cinity until February 21st, when it returned to New Orleans, stopping there until March 20th when it started for Indianapolis on a veteran furlough of thirty days, reaching that place April Ist. Returning to the field, the Thirty- fourth was placed on duty at New Orleans until December 18th, when it embarked for Brazos Santiago, Texas. The Thirty-fourth fought the last battle of the War of the Rebellion May 13, 1865, at Palmetto, Ranch, ad- joining the old battle field of Palo Alto, of Mexican war fame.

Two hundred and fifty of the regiment fought five hundred of the enemy, mounted, with a battery of six field-pieces, driving them three miles in the space of three hours. Finally, the enemy securing a favorable posi- tion for their battery, poured a destructive fire into the ranks of the regi- ment, and compelled the main body to fall back leaving companies B and E behind as skirmishers to cover the movement. These two companies being unsupported were furiously attacked and were finally surrounded and forced to surrender. The loss to the regiment in killed and wounded and prisoners was eighty-two. Soon after the regiment fell back to Brazos Santiago whence it moved up the Rio Grande river to Brownsville, where it remained until June 16, when it marched two hundred and sixty miles up the Rio Grande to Ringgold barracks. Remaining there a few days it commenced, July 24th, to retrace its steps and returned to Brownsville where it re- mained on garrison and post duty until February 3, 1866, when it was mustered out of the service and started for Indianapolis, where it arrived February 18th and was finally discharged from the service on the 19th. The Thirty-fourth was the last Indiana regiment to be discharged.

THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT.

This regiment was organized as an infantry regiment August 29, 1861, at Indianapolis, with Thomas J. Harrison, of Kokomo, as colonel; Fielder A. Jones, of Seymour, as lieutenant-colonel, and John D. Evans, of Nobles- ville, as major, and on September 14th was ordered to proceed to Ken- tucky. It was one of the first Union regiments to enter that state, whose claim to neutrality had been respected until the rebels under General Buck- ner commenced to make efforts to sieze the state government and turn it over to the so-called Confederate government. Passing through Louisville the regiment marched to Mildraugh's Hill, near Elizabethtown, on the line of the Louisville & Nashville railroad, and remained there until October 4th, when it moved about twelve miles farther south to Camp Nevin, on

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Nolin creek, where it went into camp and remained until December 10th. On that day it marched with the division of General A. McD. McCook, to which it had been assigned, to Munfordsville on Green river, arriving there December 17th, having been engaged with the other troops in rebuilding bridges that had been destroyed along the line of the railroads by the rebels, as the latter retired before the advance of the Union troops. The regiment remained at Munfordville, engaged in camp and guard duty, until February 17, 1862, when it, with the rest of Buell's army, marched to Nashville, Tennessee, halting frequently on the route to repair the railroad at points where it had been destroyed by the enemy. On March Ist, the Thirty-ninth, tired and foot-sore from the march, reached Edgefield, on the opposite bank of the Cumberland river from Nashville. It remained there until March 4th, when, with its division, the Second division of the Army of the Ohio, crossed the Cumberland, and marching through Nashville went into camp five miles south of the city on the Franklin pike. It lay there until March 16th, when it moved south to Columbia, halting two days on the way to re-build a bridge across Rutherford's creek that had been destroyed by the enemy, and reached Duck river, opposite Columbia, on the 20th. Here they also found all the bridges destroyed, and as the river was very high it could not be forded. Work was commenced at once to build new bridges. One was erected on the pier of the old turnpike bridge, and a pontoon bridge was thrown across the river enabling the whole army to cross, on the 31st. On the next day the army marched for Savannah, a small town on the Tennessee river seventy-five miles southwest of Columbia. The progress was slow and the march difficult. The road passed through very rough, hilly country, often following for miles the bed of a mountain stream. Heavy rains had rendered the streams difficult to ford, but per- severance and energy triumphed over all obstacles, and on the 5th the com- mand encamped within twenty-one miles of Savannah. The next morning. as the troops were leaving their bivouac, dull reverberations broke upon the ear sounding like the muttering of distant thunder; a halt-a brief silence-and the sound, swelling with increased volume and echoing through the mountains and valleys, denoted that a battle had commenced. None could mistake the boom of artillery and the reverberating clash of musketry ; they were the first echoes from the bloody field of Shiloh.

All involuntarily, almost, pushed rapidly forward. Soon the order was received to leave the trains. Freed from that encumbrance the troops pushed eagerly forward over terrible muddy roads and through almost impassable streams and reached Savannah that night. On every hand were the sad re-

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sults of a terrible conflict. Every house was a hospital. The air was burdened with the cries and groans of the wounded; tents were put up and filled; steamboats were loaded, and still the stream of wounded men poured in. To add to the gloomy surroundings a terrific storm of rain, accom- panied with heavy thunder and vivid lightning that made the horrors of the scene visible, poured down in torrents. The regular reports of heavy artil- lery from gunboats in the river sounded dismally upon the ear. At 2 o'clock on the morning of the 7th the Thirty-ninth embarked on a transport, and at daybreak reached Pittsburg Landing.

The steep bluff was covered with a mass of disorganized men whose only desire seemed to be to avoid danger. A strong guard had to be placed around the guards of the boat to keep these stragglers from climbing on to it. As it was, a number that ventured into the water in their efforts to get on the boat were swept away by the current and drowned. At 7 o'clock the Thirty-ninth with its brigade commanded by General R. W. Johnson formed in line and moved toward the front. The battle had already com- menced, and the commanders of the opposing armies were carefully feeling their way, so as to gain an advantage over each other, if possible, in posi- tion. The firing rapidly increased in volume as the lines were advanced. The Thirty-ninth was soon ordered into the front line, and at once became hotly engaged, and during the entire battle which lasted until 3 o'clock in the afternoon never yielded one inch of the ground it had gained. When the enemy was finally routed the regiment had no ammunition, its supply having been exhausted, and when a new supply had been obtained it was ordered to remain in its position and other troops were ordered in pursuit. The total loss of the regiment in killed and wounded was thirty-six.

The following order, issued by the division commander, shows how the conduct of the Thirty-ninth during the battle was looked upon :

"Headquarters Second Division, Army of the Ohio, "Field of Shiloh, Tennessee, April 15, 1862. "Honorable O. P. Morton, Governor of Indiana :

"Sir : It may be a useless task for me to add another tribute to the glory of Indiana, while the battle-fields of Rich Mountain, Pea Ridge and Donel- son speak so eloquently in her praise. But justice to the Sixth, Twenty- ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-second and Thirty-ninth regiments of Indiana Vol- unteers, requires me to speak of their conspicuous gallantry while fighting under my command at the battle of Shiloh. The Thirty-second regiment had already won the prestige of victory at Rowletts. The other regiments, actuated by a proper emulation, unflinchingly stood their first baptism under

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fire; and their action upon the field of Shiloh will embellish one of the brightest pages in the annals of our nation.

"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"A. McD. McCook, "Commanding Second Division."

Until May 30th the regiment was engaged in the movements incident to the siege of Corinth, a place that had been fortified under the instruc- tions of the best engineers in the rebel army. On the occupation of that place, on May 30th, the Thirty-ninth with the divisions to which it be- longed was left to hold the town while the remainder of the army marched in pursuit of the enemy.

On June 10th the regiment marched with General Buell's army across the northern Mississippi and Alabama to Bridgeport, on the Tennessee river, where it remained in camp until August 21st. On that day, it having been ascertained that General Bragg, in command of the rebel army, had crossed the Tennessee and Chattanooga and was starting for Kentucky in hopes to capture Louisville, and thus transfer the theatre of war from the south to the north, General Buell with his army marched northward. The two armies marched on nearly parallel roads, frequently within hearing of each other, and each striving to reach the coveted goal in advance of the other.

Buell came out ahead in the great race, reaching Louisville on Septem- ber 28th, and finding a large number of new regiments there as re-enforce- ments turned around, and, on October Ist, marched in pursuit of Bragg. The Thirty-ninth was in the division commanded by General J. W. Sill, and marched through Frankfort, Lawrenceburg, Perryville, Harrodsburg and Danville to Crab Orchard. It now became evident that Bragg, who had been defeated in a severe battle fought with a part of Buell's army at Chap- lin Hills, on the 8th, was making as rapidly as possible for Middle Tennes- see and Nashville. Buell retraced his steps to Perrysville, and marched thence to Nashville by way of Bowling Green, arriving at Nashville on November 7th, in advance of Bragg who had halted at Murfreesboro, about thirty miles southeast of Nashville. At Bowling Green General Buell had been relieved by General Rosecrans, and the name of the army changed to that of the Army of the Cumberland. The army remained in the vicinity of Nashville until December 26th. During that time it was thoroughly re- organized and refitted, as well as largely re-enforced. On that day it marched in the direction of Murfreesboro to attack the rebel army, still com- manded by General Bragg, who was strongly entrenched near that place.

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Skirmishing commenced almost immediately and was steadily maintained, each army meanwhile moving into position, until December 31st, at day- light, when the battle of Stone river commenced and raged almost unceas- ingly until the night of January 3, 1863, when Bragg was compelled to with- draw his army, and the next morning. Rosecrans took possession of Mur- freesboro. The division to which the Thirty-ninth belonged was on the ex- treme right of the Union army, and the regiment was on the picket line when the battle commenced. The rebel commander had extended his left until it reached far beyond the right of his opponent, who could not believe it possible. Just at daybreak the enemy made an attack with his infantry on the front and flank on the Union army, and at the same time a large force of cavalry, under command of General Wheeler, passed entirely around its flank to its rear, between it and Overalls creek. The attack was made in the columns four lines deep, while the Union army to withstand it had only one single line, that had been extended until it was very weak. No troops in the world could have withstood the odds, and the Union troops, after fighting until the enemy was close upon them, were compelled to give way. Falling back gradually, making a stand wherever it could be done, and in- flicting a terribly heavy loss upon the enemy, the right was finally forced back to near the Nashville turnpike. While this was being done the Union army had been concentrated by the movements forced upon it until, turn- ing upon its foe, it compelled him to not only desist from further pursuit but to retire before the murderous fire that was pouring into his ranks. Fight- ing was maintained on the different parts of the line until darkness separated the combatants, when, weary and exhausted, they threw themselves upon the ground to snatch what little rest they could in a storm of rain that froze as it fell. The next morning the regiment threw up a slight line of breast- work in its front and thus held its position until the battle was over. During the battle the Thirty-ninth distinguished itself by its gallantry and good be- havior. The total loss of the regiment in killed and wounded and missing was three hundred and eighty.

Early in April, 1863, the regiment was mounted and served as mounted infantry through the campaign of that year. On June 6th it re-enforced the Second Indiana Cavalry on the Shelbyville pike, near Murfreesboro, and had a sharp fight with the rebel General Wheeler's cavalry command. punish- ing him severely. Subsequently, it took part in the skirmishes at Middle- ton and Liberty Gap, and, during the Tullahoma campaign, had a sharp engagement with the enemy at Winchester, Tennessee, driving him into Elk river and causing a heavy loss to him. It took an active part in the

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cavalry movement prior to and during the battle of Chickamauga, on the 19th and 20th of September, after which it constituted part of a force that was sent into East Tennessee to look after a force of rebel cavalry that was trying to cut the communications of the Union army to the north of Chat- tanooga.

Authority had been given by the War Department in the fall of 1863 to change the organization from infantry to that of a cavalry regiment, and Companies L and M were organized in September, and, on joining the command in the field, the regiment was, on October 15th, re-organized as the Eighth cavalry.

Until April 10, 1864, the regiment was engaged in courier duty in the vicinity of Chattanooga. On February 22d the original ten companies of the Thirty-ninth re-enlisted as a veteran organization, and in April returned to Indiana as a veteran furlough for thirty days. At the expiration of that time the regiment returned to Nashville, where it remained for some time awaiting horses and equipment for a remount, which were finally procured, and on July 6th it started on what is known as the "Rousseau Raid"-it should be the "Harrison Raid"-into Alabama, intending to cut the railroad leading from Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi, at Opelika. The com- mand left Decatur, Alabama, July 10th, accomplished the work it was de- signed to, and, with trifling loss, reached Marietta, Georgia, inside the Union lines on the 23d. During this raid one battalion of the Thirty-ninth fought and routed a brigade of the enemy, on the Coosa river, taking many prisoners; and, in a spirited action at Cheehaw bridge, in an attack made by the regiment, the enemy was badly whipped. On July 27th the Thirty-ninth started on the McCook raid in an effort to effectually sever the communi- cations of the rebel army. Leaving Marietta the command crossed the Chattahoochie river at Riverton and moved rapidly on Palmetto station, on the West Point road. There it destroyed a section of the railroad track two and one-half miles long and advanced to Fayetteville. There it burned a hundred bales of cotton, destroyed two railroad trains, burned a train of four hundred wagons, killed eight hundred mules, saving a large number, and captured two hundred and fifty prisoners. It then moved to Lovejoy's station to meet General Stoneman, according to a previous engagement. The railroad station and a good deal of track having been destroyed, and Stoneman not putting in an appearance, the command started northward, but found itself surrounded by a superior force of the enemy. After a number of rapid movements the command found itself at Newman, on the West Point road, surrounded by a force of cavalry and infantry that were

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determined to fight. The prisoners that had been captured were released. A desperate charge was made, the enemy's lines broken, and the command returned to Marietta, having lost five hundred in prisoners in the engage- ment at Newman. On August 18th the Thirty-ninth under the command of General Kilpatrick composed a part of another raiding column.

On that day Kilpatrick with his command dashed out from his camp at Sandtown to the West Point road and broke it near Fairburn, and thence moved to Jonesboro where he met a division of rebel cavalry under com- mand of General Ross. This was literally ridden down. The Thirty- ninth was in advance and led the charge, capturing two pieces of artillery and four battle flags. They then commenced to destroy the railroad track, but were soon attacked by a superior force of cavalry and infantry, when the command drew off in the direction of McDonough. It then made a circuit of Lovejoy station where, while again tearing up the road, it was again attacked by the same force it had left at Jonesboro. Perceiving that he was in imminent danger of being surrounded, Kilpatrick charged the cavalry and cut his way through, capturing four guns and many prisoners, but, being hard pressed, could not encumber himself with all his captives and brought in but seventy men, three flags and one piece of artillery. The command then returned to Decatur. The Thirty-ninth was engaged in a battle of Jonesboro, on September Ist, and in a number of skirmishes that fol- lowed the capture of Atlanta. It was also actively engaged in the movements made by the Union army, after the rebel army under Hood had passed around its right and was trying to make its way northward. Hood having crossed to the north side of the Tennessee river, he was left to the tender mercies of Thomas's veterans, and Sherman turned back to Atlanta to complete his arrangements for the "march to the sea." The Thirty-ninth was a part of the cavalry command under command of General Kilpatrick, and partici- pated in all movements of the cavalry until the surrender of the rebel army under General Joe Johnson, on April 26, 1865. During that campaign it participated in the battles and skirmishes of Waynesboro, Buckhead church, Browns crossroads. Reynold's farm, Aiken, Bentonville, Averasboro and Raleigh. In the engagement of Averasboro the regiment, under the com- mand of Colonel Jones, charged upon and routed a rebel brigade of infantry that outnumbered the Thirty-ninth ten to one. In that encounter it lost fourteen killed and thirty-nine wounded.

A detachment of the regiment had been left in Tennessee, and it, in the meanwhile, was engaged in maintaining the reputation of the regiment. It distinguished itself in a fight with the enemy's cavalry, under command

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of General Wheeler, near Franklin, Tennessee, November 29, 1864, and with another rebel command, under Forrest, near Pulaski, a few days be- fore.

On February 20, 1865, the veterans of the Third Indiana cavalry and a number of recruits of that regiment whose term of enlistment had not ex- pired were transferred to the Thirty-ninth, and remained with it until it was mustered out of service.

The regiment had a spirited little fight on April 14, 1865, at Morris- ville, North Carolina, which was the last action that occurred in North Carolina during the war. All military operations ceased the next day, pend- ing the negotiations between Generals Sherman and Johnston, which ended in the surrender of the entire army commanded by Johnston, on April 25th.

The regiment remained on duty in North Carolina until July 20th, when it was mustered out of service and soon after left for Indianapolis, reaching that place July 30th, and on August 2d was finally discharged.

FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.

This regiment was organized at Richmond, Indiana, and was mustered into the service of the United States on November 18, 1861. A few days afterwards the regiment was ordered to Indianapolis, and on December 22d reported to General Buell at Louisville, Kentucky, for duty, and was assigned to the Sixth division of the Army of the Ohio, then organizing at Bardstown, Kentucky, to which place the regiment marched, and soon after was ordered to Lebanon, Kentucky, where it remained until February 12, 1862, when with its division it marched to Nashville, Tennessee. The Fifty-seventh suffered terribly during the winter, in Kentucky, from sick- ness, but on its arrival at Nashville the men regained their health and its ranks again became full.

On March 21st orders were received to march to the assistance of General Grant, who with his army was at Pittsburg Landing, on the Ten- nessee river, about one hundred and fifty miles distant. The roads were almost impassable, the bridges across the numerous streams were destroyed by the enemy and the consequence was that the advance of the Army of the Ohio was necessarily very slow, and only reached General Grant's position during the night of April 6th. The previous day General Grant with his army had been attacked, early in the morning, by the rebel army, and one of the most severe battles of the war had raged all day with the preponderance of success on the side of the enemy. The battle was renewed early in the morn- ing of the 7th, but the Army of the Ohio, under General Buell, turned

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the tide of victory and inflicted a crushing defeat on the rebel army. The division to which the Fifty-seventh belonged did not reach the battle-field until the fighting was nearly over, and the regiment consequently had but little opportunity to try its prowess in actual conflict. The siege of Corinth, Mississippi, was commenced immediately, and the Fifty-seventh was en- gaged in the duties incident thereto until the evacuation of that post by the rebel army on May 30th. A few days after the Fifty-seventh, with the division to which it was attached, marched in the direction of Stevenson, Alabama, reaching there about July Ist, and remaining there a short time when it was ordered into Middle Tennessee. From that time until Sep- tember Ist the regiment was engaged in guard duty and on scouting expedi- tions in the vicinity of Tullahoma and McMinnville, suffering but few losses, but undergoing severe hardships and making some severe marches.

On September Ist it marched back with the rest of the army to Louis- ville, Kentucky. General Bragg, the commander of the rebel army, by this movement was foiled in an attempt to transfer the seat of the war from the banks of the Tennessee to the banks of the Ohio. Only two days after his arrival at Louisville, with his army largely re-enforced, General Buell turned upon Bragg, and the latter retreated in the direction of Cumberland Gap. Buell overtook him at Chapin's Hills, near Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8th, attacking Bragg at once, and a bloody but indecisive battle was fought. The Fifty-seventh, although actively engaged, suffered but slight loss; Bragg continued his retreat, Buell pressing closely in his rear, until he reached Cumberland Gap, when it became evident that Nashville, with its store of supplies, would be his next objective point. Buell turned around and re- traced his steps to Perryville and marched as rapidly as possible for Nash- ville, Tennessee, via Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Fifty-seventh reached Nashville about the Ist of December, and remained in camp near there until the movement of Murfreesboro, that was occupied by Bragg, which resulted in the battle of Stone river, commencing on December 26th. At that battle the regiment distinguished itself by its coolness and hard fighting, and lost in killed and wounded, seventy-five out of three hundred and fifty engaged. Colonel Hines and Lieutenant-Colonel Lennard were both severely wounded, and the regiment lost some of its best men among the killed. From that time until June 24th the regiment was engaged in camp duty, drilling and an occasional scout. On that date it moved with the rest of the army on the Tullahoma campaign, which resulted in Bragg, with his army, being forced to evacuate Middle Tennessee and fall back into Chattanooga, and the Fifty-seventh went into camp to Pelham, in the valley of Elk river. until

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 41

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051