History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 42

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

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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA. 431

the 16th of August. During the campaign which resulted in the capture of Chattanooga and the battle of Chickamauga, General Wagner's brigade, to which the Fifty-seventh was attached, operated on the north side of the Tennessee, opposite Chattanooga. On the evacuation of that place Wagner's brigade crossed the river and took possession of the town. On the 5th of September Colonel Lennard was detailed as provost marshal of the town, and the regiment was placed on duty as provost guard. It re- mained on that duty until a few days before the battle of Mission Ridge, in which action it was conspicuous for bravery and good conduct. Immediately after the battle of Mission Ridge the Fifty-seventh marched its division (Second Division of Fourth Corps) to the relief of General Burnside, who, with his little army, was besieged by the enemy at Knoxville, Tennessee. The campaign in east Tennessee during the winter of 1863 and 1864 was . probably unequaled during the whole war for hardships and privations, and .of these the Fifty-seventh had its full share.

On January 1, 1864, the regiment was almost unanimously re-enlisted as a veteran organization, and the latter part of March it was granted a veteran furlough of thirty days and returned to Indianapolis. Upon the termination of the furlough the Fifty-seventh rejoined its command near Chattanooga on May 5th and took part at once in the Atlanta campaign, which was just commencing. It is impossible, in the limits of this work, to do more than glance at the numerous battles and skirmishes, the arduous marches and the unceasing toil in which the regiment was engaged for the next four months. It was actively engaged in an assault made upon the works of the enemy at Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, on May 9th. On May 15th, at Resaca, it was hotly engaged, losing heavily in killed and wounded, among whom was Colonel Lennard, a brave and accomplished officer of distinguished merit, who was mortally wounded and died on the field. On May 17th the regiment was again engaged in the short but bitter contest at Adairsville. On May 25th, at New Hope church, the regiment took up a position in front of the enemy, but was not engaged until May 27th, when it met with heavy loss but repulsed the enemy. It was under fire continually from that time until June 3d, losing a large number of men. In the terrible struggle that occurred around Kenesaw Mountain, the Fifty- seventh was engaged almost continually. Lieutenant Beitzell was killed on June 18th and Captain Stidham and Lieutenant Callaway on the 23d. In the assault made on the works of the enemy on June 27th, in front of Kenesaw, the regiment was deployed as a skirmish line to cover the advance of the assaulting column of the Fourth corps, and its loss was very heavy.

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At the battle of Peachtree creek, on July 20th, it was again on the skir- mish line, but was fortunate in meeting with only slight loss. From that time until August 25th it was engaged in the arduous duties incident to a siege in front of Atlanta. It took part in the flank movement which re- sulted in the evacuation of Atlanta, and the battle of Jonesboro on August 3Ist, after which it returned to the vicinity of Atlanta. On October 4th the Fifty-seventh, with its division, marched in pursuit of the rebel General Hood, who, with his army, had passed around the flank of the Union army and was making his way northward. Hood, under the impression that Sherman with his entire army was being withdrawn from the heart of the confederacy, passed across the northeastern part of Alabama into Tennessee, and Sherman, with part of his army, returned to Atlanta and marched from there to Savannah, leaving General George H. Thomas to take care of Hood. On November 30th Hood attacked a portion of General Thomas's army at Franklin, Tennessee. It was one of the most desperate actions of the war, both sides fighting with perfect desperation. The Fifty-seventh was sta- tioned in a very exposed position, and, some troops on its flank suddenly giving away, it lost heavily in killed, wounded and missing. Major Addi- son M. Dunn, of Hamilton county, was one of those killed. The regiment was also actively engaged in the battle of Nashville, on December 15th and 16th, during which Colonel Blanch was wounded. The regiment was fortunate enough to escape with few other losses in that battle.

Thomas followed in pursuit of Hood's flying army as fast as the roads would permit, until he had crossed the Tennessee river. The Fifty-seventh halted at Huntsville, Alabama, and remained there until April, 1865, when it marched to Bull's Gap. in East Tennessee.

Remaining there a short time, it marched to Nashville, where it re- mained until July, when it was ordered to proceed to Texas and form a part of the "Army of Occupation." While there its duties were confined to the camp and garrison, varied only by a few tedious marches. It was stationed at Port Lavacca and Victoria the most part of the time, and was mustered out of the service of the United States at the last named place on December 11, 1865, and left at once for home, arriving at Indianapolis on January 1, 1866, with twenty-three officers and one hundred and sixty-eight men. The Fifty-seventh was the peer of any regiment in the army, and its surviving members are justly proud of its record.

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SIXTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

This regiment was authorized to be raised on December 31, 1861, and four companies, A, B, C and D, having been recruited they were organized as a battalion and assigned to duty on February 21, 1862, in guarding rebel prisoners at Lafayette, Indiana, and were soon after transferred to In- dianapolis. The regimental organization was not completed until October 3, 1862, and John S. Williams was appointed colonel. From that time until December 25, 1863, the regiment was engaged in guard and provost duty at Indianapolis. At that time it was ordered to Kentucky, and for a short time was employed in guarding the Louisville & Nashville railroad. On February 25, 1864, the regiment having been concentrated at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, the Sixty-third marched for Knoxville, Tennessee, and reached there after a march of one hundred and eighty-five miles over almost im- passable roads on March 15th. It then marched to Mossy creek, and from there, on April Ist, marched to Bull's Gap, Tennessee, where it was assigned to the Second brigade, Third division of the Twenty-third army corps. On April 23d it marched in the direction of Jonesboro, burning the bridges and destroying the tracks of the Tennessee & Virginia railroad for many miles. On the 28th it returned to Bull's Gap, having marched one hundred miles in four days, and the same day commenced its march to join the army in the vicinity of Chattanooga that was about to enter into the Atlanta campaign. The Twenty-third corps effected a junction with the rest of the army at Red Clay, Georgia, on May 4th. On the 9th and 10th the Sixty-third occupied a position on the left of the line of the Union army during the action at Rocky Face Ridge, losing two killed and four wounded. After the battle the regiment moved through Snake Creek Gap to Resaca, and in the en- gagement at that place on the 14th, the Sixty-third, with its brigade, made a charge upon the works of the enemy and succeeded in taking a portion of them. That this was bravely done is attested by the fact that the regiment lost eighteen killed and ninety-four wounded in the charge. On the 16th the command marched on from Resaca, fording the Obstanaula river and over- took the enemy at Cassville on the 18th. It drove him all the next day, and on the 20th it reached Cartersville and remained there until the 23d. Cross- ing the Etowah river and Pumpkin Vine creek, it moved forward close to the lines of the enemy, near Dallas, and threw up a line of entrenchments on the 26th, and held the position until relieved on the Ist of June. While there the Sixty-third was under galling fire continually, night and day. It (28)

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was fortunate, under the circumstances, in meeting a loss of sixteen only, all wounded. From June 3 to June 6, it lay behind works that had been thrown up in the presence of the enemy, and one was killed and one was wounded. The regiment had now been constantly under fire for a month, had marched over almost impassable roads with but a very scanty supply of rations, and it had rained almost incessantly; the men were becoming exhausted, and a partial halt was made for a few days. On the 15th of June, however, the Sixty-third found itself in the front in the action fought at Lost Mountain, Georgia, and at the close of the fight it had lost six killed and eight wounded. But it is sufficient to say that wherever the Twen- ty-third corps was to be found during the Atlanta campaign, the Sixty- third could be found performing every duty assigned it without flinching. The regiment moved northward with its corps on the 4th of October, in pursuit of Hood, and after hard marching and skirmishes with the enemy, met him at Franklin, Tennessee, on the 30th of November. The Sixty- third fought in that battle behind well-constructed intrenchments, and, al- though desperate efforts were made to drive it from its position, they failed, with a loss to the regiment of only one killed and one wounded. It fell back to Nashville soon afterward, with the rest of the army, and took part in the battle at that place, on the 15th and 16th of December, resulting in the complete and overwhelming defeat of the rebel army under General Hood. The Sixty-third, with the rest of the army, followed in pursuit of Hood's fleeing battalions, over almost impassable roads, until they had crossed the Tennessee river. The regiment halted at Clifton, Tennessee, and remained in camp there until the 16th of January, 1865, when it started for Alexandria, Virginia, and, traveling by steamboat and rail, reached that point on the Ist of February. Embarking on a steamer on the 3d, it reached the vicinity of Fort Fisher, North Carolina, on the 7th, and landed on the 9th. On the 12th and 14th of February it participated in the difficult and unsuccessful attempt to turn the rebel General Hood's position, and on the 16th crossed to Smithfield. The next day it moved to Fort Anderson and engaged the enemy, losing one man wounded. The regiment was con- stantly engaged in skirmishing with the enemy as it advanced, but it reached Wilmington on the 23d, with a slight loss, and remained there until the 6th of March, when the march was resumed in the direction of Kingston, reaching that place on the 12th, after a severe march of over one hundred miles, through swamps and mud. The men on this march waded across Trent river before daylight on the morning of the 11th.

On the 20th of March the regiment started for Goldsboro, reaching

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that point the next day, where it remained until the 10th of April, when it moved to Raleigh, and remained there until May 5, when it moved by rail to Greensboro. Here it was employed on guard duty until June 21, 1865, when the six remaining companies were mustered out of service, and re- turned to their homes in Indiana. The battalion of four companies had been mustered out at Indianapolis on the 20th of May preceding.

SEVENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.

This regiment was recruited. at Wabash, Indiana, and was mustered into the service of the United States August 19, 1862, with John U. Petit as colonel. The regiment left Wabash for the front August 21, and ar- rived at Louisville, Kentucky, the next day, when it was assigned to the division commanded by General Dumont. The time until December 21 was occupied in marching and counter-marching in Kentucky and repelling threatened attacks from the scattered rebel forces that were in different portions of the central part of the state. In October the health of Colonel Petit was such that he was obliged to resign, and Lieut .- Col. Milton S. Robinson, of the Forty-seventh regiment, was promoted to fill the vacancy. On the 31st of December, when the regiment was at Cave City, Kentucky, orders were received to report immediately at the front, at that time near ·Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

The battle of Stone river was raging at the time. The regiment started immediately, and when it arrived at Nashville word was received that the battle had terminated in a Union victory. The regiment reached Murfrees- boro January 7, 1863, and a few days after was assigned to the division commanded by Gen. J. J. Reynolds, in the Fourteenth Corps.

It remained in camp at Murfreesboro until June 24, busily engaged in drilling and in the performance of other duties incident to the life of a soldier.

On the 24th of June the army moved from Murfreesboro, and marched southward in the direction of Tullahoma, where the rebel army, under com- mand of General Bragg, held a strongly fortified position. At Hoover's Gap, a strong natural position, the enemy attempted to dispute the advance of the Union army. The division to which the Seventy-fifth belonged was in advance of the left wing of the army, and was ordered to dislodge the enemy from his position. A spirited action was the result, and after some severe fighting the enemy was routed. During this action the Seventy-fifth distinguished itself by its bravery and good conduct, making a brilliant charge on a rebel battery, supported by a large force of infantry, and com-

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pelling the enemy to retire. On the first of July the Union army took pos- session of Tullahoma, the enemy having evacuated it the previous night, Gen- eral Rosecrans having secured a position that threatened to cut off his com- munications. The Seventy-fifth, with its division, followed in pursuit. The roads were in a terrible condition, owing to the rain that fell almost inces- santly for days. All the streams were swollen so that they could be forded only with great difficulty, the bridges all having been destroyed by the retreat- ing enemy, and a halt was ordered near Decherd, Tennessee, further pursuit being useless, if not impossible.

The regiment remained at Decherd, and in that vicinity, until the six- teenth of August, when it joined the army in the advance upon Chattanooga. On the thirty-first, the Seventy-fifth crossed the Tennessee river, near Shell Mound, and was one of the first regiments to cross that stream on that campaign. From that time until September 19 the regiment was constantly occupied in the movements that preceded the battle of Chickamauga. North- ern Georgia is a very rough, mountainous country, and it was with great difficulty that the batteries of artillery and the baggage and supply trains could be moved over the mountainous roads that sometimes were scarcely more than foot-paths. Frequently ropes had to be attached to the artillery and wagons, and they were pulled up the precipitous mountain-sides by the men, sometimes requiring almost superhuman exertion. The nineteenth of September found the Union army and the Rebel army facing each other, Chickamauga creek, a deep, sluggish, crooked stream, separating them.

The Seventy-fifth went into action about eleven o'clock in the forenoon on the nineteenth, and was ordered to relieve some troops whose ammunition was exhausted. The battle was raging fearfully, but the regiment never flinched and soon drove the enemy from his position. All day, until dark, the "leaden rain and iron hail" fell thick and fast. Finally night drew her curtain around the combatants, and they threw themselves upon the ground. literally exhausted by their exertions. At about nine o'clock the next morn- ing the battle was renewed. The Union army had thrown up a slight line of breastworks, after daylight, composed of rails and what little earth could be loosened with bayonets and thrown up with men's hands, pick axes and shovels not being procurable there at that time. Large columns of rebels were massed in front of the division. to which the Seventy-fifth belonged, and they attacked the Union lines with reckless fury. Charge upon charge was made upon them, only to be met with bloody repulse. The work of death was continued until after three o'clock in the afternoon, with the most unflinching determination on both sides, and without any result other

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than terrible slaughter, when, owing to a most unfortunate misunderstand- ing as to the true position occupied by a division, near the center of the Union army, the enemy poured through a gap in the lines, and the Union army was cut in two. It was necessary to fall back speedily, in order to prevent the enemy from getting possession of Chattanooga, the prize for which the battle was fought. The enemy had gained the rear of the division, and, in order to escape capture, it was compelled to cut its way through the lines of what seemed the victorious foe. A charge was ordered, and it was gallantly executed. The enemy was swept aside, and the road to Chattanooga was open. That night the Seventy-fifth fell back to Rossville, and the next night marched into Chattanooga. The loss of the regiment, during the two days' battle, in killed and wounded, was one hundred and fifty-one.

The labors incident to defending a besieged position were at once com- menced, and were so rapidly carried forward that, before Bragg could recu- perate his exhausted battalions, Chattanooga was impregnable. . The army remained in forced quiet, strengthening its fortifications and waiting for sup- plies and reinforcements. Finally the latter came, and, on the 24th of No- vember, General Hooker attacked the left flank of the enemy, posted on Lookout Mountain, after a brilliant fight. captured and held that important position. At the same time General Sherman attacked the right flank of the enemy, and after hard fighting, secured a position near Tunnel Hill. On the morning of the twenty-fifth General Sherman renewed the attack with great determination, and, in order to hold him in check, Bragg was compelled to weaken the center of his line. Grant was watching this movement from Chattanooga, and, at two o'clock in the afternoon the signal was given to Thomas to attack the enemy in his strong position on Mission Ridge. Prompt- ly at the command, the entire army sprang over the works that they had been lying behind, and moved to the attack with as much regularity and precision as it would have moved had it been on the drill ground. The enemy stood for a few moments as though dazed by the spectacle. The movement in- creased in rapidity, and soon the foot of the ridge was reached. The enemy by this time comprehended the magnitude of the attack and the imminence of his danger, and made herculean efforts to avert the disaster that threatened him. But this was of no avail. Sweeping forward with the resistlessness of fate itself, the men literally ran up the steep side of the ridge that, under ordinary circumstances, is very difficult of ascent. It seemed that no obstacle could even temporarily hinder or check them, and, soon, gaining the top of the ridge, they utterly routed the enemy, capturing thirty-five out of forty- four pieces of artillery, over six thousand prisoners, many thousand small

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arms and a large train, making it one of the most decisive battles of the war. During this splendid battle, the Seventy-fifth bore itself gallantly and won warm praise from the commanding general. The regiment lost twenty-one in killed and wounded.

The next morning it followed in pursuit of the flying foe as far as Ringgold, Georgia, and returned to Chattanooga on the thirtieth. Communi- cations were now opened up; the "cracker line," that for a long time had been almost entirely discontinued, was again put in operation, and compara- tive comfort was once more enjoyed. The Seventy-fifth remained in Chatta- nooga until the fifteenth of March, when it moved to Ringgold, and remained there engaged in guard duty until May 1, 1864, when the entire army was concentrated in the vicinity of Chattanooga, preparatory to starting out on the Atlanta campaign. On the fifth of May the movement commenced. The limits of this work forbid giving a description of all the battles in which the Seventy-fifth was engaged during that campaign. The first battle of the campaign was that of Resaca, May 15; the last one was that of Lovejoy's Station, September 2. During that entire time the regiment was under fire almost continually, and hardly a day passed without either a severe skirmish or an actual battle. The regiment took an active part in the battles of Resaca, Dalton, Adairsville, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Cassville, Peach Tree Creek, siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station. During all these battles it acquitted itself honorably and well and was a credit to the great state it in part represented.

After the evacuation of Atlanta by the rebel army, the regiment re- turned to that place from Jonesboro on the fourth of September, and rested until the fourth of October. The rebel commander, General Hood, having undertaken, by a flank movement, to gain the rear of Sherman's army, cut his communications, and, marching northward, tried to transfer the field of battle from the heart of the Confederacy to more northern fields. Sherman, with his army, started on the fourth of October in pursuit of him.

Hood attacked the garrison at Altoona, where there was a large quantity of stores that were absolutely indispensable to Sherman, and the loss of which would have rendered the Atlanta campaign a comparative failure. The Fourteenth Army Corps, to which the Seventy-fifth belonged, marched rap- idly, and, reaching the vicinity in time to threaten Hood's rear, compelled him to withdraw. The regiment moved on in pursuit as far as Gaylesville, Ala- bama, where it halted. In the meanwhile Hood marched on, supposing that Sherman would follow in his rear: but there was where he made a fatal mistake. General Thomas, with the Fourth and Twenty-third corps, marched

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rapidly on the direction of Nashville, and, gaining a position between that place and Hood, was left to take care of himself, while Sherman, with the Fourteenth and Twentieth corps and the Army of the Tennessee, marched back to Atlanta, and, after destroying everything that the army could not make use of, including the railroad, started on the sixteenth of November on his great "march to the sea."

The regiment, during this march, met with no losses of any consequence and on December 21 marched into Savannah, that city having surrendered on that day. Over one thousand prisoners, one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, a large amount of ammunition, a large number of locomotives and cars, thirty-three thousand bales of cotton, and a very large quantity of materials of war were among the fruits of this victory, a victory that ren- dered the downfall of the rebellion speedy and certain. The Fourteenth corps remained at Savannah until January 26, 1865, when it took up the line of march. This corps constituted a part of the left wing of Sherman's army, and it marched northward through South Carolina to Goldsboro, North Carolina, arriving at that place on the twenty-fifth of March. On the march the Seventy-fifth was engaged in the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville. They were each of them hotly contested, and their results were fatal to the rebellion. The regiment was fortunate in meeting with but slight loss in either.

It remained at Goldsboro until April 1I, when it moved with the army in the direction of Raleigh. The march was deliberate and easy, as the rail- road from Goldsboro to Raleigh had been destroyed by the enemy, and had to be rebuilt.

The Seventy-fifth reached the vicinity of Raleigh on the fourteenth of April. It was engaged in a slight skirmish, on the march, at Smithfield, which is believed to be the last action in which infantry was engaged with the enemy in North Carolina. On the fourteenth of April negotiations were opened between Sherman and the rebel general, Johnston, and active opera- tions were suspended. which finally ended in the formal surrender of Johns- ton and his army on the twenty-sixth. The war now being virtually ended, on the thirtieth of April the Seventy-fifth marched with its corps, and, passing through Richmond, Virginia, reached the city of Washington on the nine- teenth of May, and on the eighth of June it was mustered out of the service and a few days after left Washington for Indianapolis, where it was finally discharged on the fourteenth of June.

Before leaving Washington a number of recruits of the Seventy-fifth. whose term of enlistment had not expired, were transferred to the Forty- second Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry and they continued to serve

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 42

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

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