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 2
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Since we arrived here our time was divided in gun drill, guard mount, forage expeditions, etc. Only two events of extraordinary occurrence happened. The first was, that some of the boys spied the storage of some particularly good kinds of liquors in the basement of the Capital; of course the boys effected an entrance and regaled themselves. On account of this expedition the Sergeant of the Guard lost his chevrons, and himself and the guards were put under
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arrest. The second occurrence happened just a little before Christmas. A couple of the boys had found out that Gov- ernor Johnson had a lot of No. I turkey gobblers, and thinking a couple of them in their own pots would not be a bad Christmas dinner they divided with the Governor. Of course an investigation was made, but nothing found-not even a feather. I think it was a very bad trick of the boys to steal some of the Governor's turkeys; if they had divided with the officers, their guilt would not have been so aggra- vated.
During the last part of October and forepart of Novem- ber, we were kept at our post a great deal, as General Breck- enridge, whose army had been considerably re-enforced, in- tended to attack Nashville, knowing that the post was not a very strong one. On November 6th a body of 8000 cavalry and Infantry under Generals Roger Hanson and Forrest, obtained permission from General B. to make the attack. Hanson's troops appeared on the Charlotte, Franklin and Nolansville pike roads from the south, while Forest with 1000 cavalry appeared on the Murfreesboro pike at the lunatic asylum, six miles from Nashville, at 6 o'clock a. m. They drove in our pickets of cavalry and infantry and were just ready to make the assault when they received a per- emptory order from General B. to return to their camps.
The first arrival of re-enforcements to Nashville came on the 17th of November, and on the 19th General Rosecrans, the Commander of the Army of the Ohio, now, by order of the War Department, the Army of the Cumberland, who had succeeded General Buell, arrived. General Bragg had been driven back in Kentucky and was gathering and re- organizing his troops at Murfreesboro, Tenn. For the next few days the Union troops arrived pretty lively and took up their camps around Nashville; the broken communications were reopened again, and our "hard times" had an end for a while.
It was generally conceded that the army of the Cumber- land would go here into their winterquarters, as General
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HISTORY OF THE
Bragg's army, after being driven out of Kentucky, made pre- paration to go into winterquarters at Murfreesboro.
On November 22d, Lieut. H. M. Williams was detached from the Battery to serve as aid-de-camp on the Division Staff of General Van Cleve.
Lieut. Green, who, about the middle of May had obtained,. because of sickness, a leave of absence, reported to the- Battery again on the IIth of July, but managed in some way to leave us again the next day on recruiting service. When General Bragg set out for Louisville, all recruiting officers. and recruits were sent forward from Indiana and Ohio to aid in putting a stop to Bragg's intentions. On the 6th of December, Lieut. Greene, with some recruits, reported to- the Battery again after an absence of seven months.
As during this whole first campaign we had dragged our heavy guns around and fired only two shots out of them,. and having now secured for them a lofty position in front the Capital, at Nashville, we applied for a lighter Battery, and were promised the granting of our request as soon as. arrangements could be made.
As we had seen no paymaster since leaving Corinth, and being out of change, we felt very happy when, on the 2d of December we were paid off for another four months.
IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
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PART II.
CHAPTER IV.
S we had the promise from headquar- ters for a light battery, we procured a couple of light guns from the Ord- nance Department, on which in the meantime we could drill the men in the field gun drill. We found two 20 pound Parrott guns, but without imple- ments. These guns we took to Capi- tal Hill, and for implements we ran- sacked the arsenal but could find nothing. At last we set to work to make such implements as we could and which an- swered the purpose very well. From now until we received .our new battery the cannoniers were drilled every day in the field gun drill, so that they were quite proficient when we received our new battery. General Bragg, believing that the army of the Cumberland had gone into winterquar- ters around Nashville, had sent his Cavalry, under Generals Morgan and Forrest, to break up and destroy our commu- nications between Nashville and Louisville. General Rose- ·crans, on finding this out, took advantage of this absence of Bragg's Cavalry, and ordered an advance on Bragg's lines near Murfreesboro. The advance started on the 26th of December, and on the 30th both armies were in line of battle at Stone river. The 3Ist saw one of the bloodiest fights in the annals of the war of the rebellion. On the evening the battle was a "drawn one," both sides losing heavily but not whipped. On January Ist, 1863, both commanders organ- ized and readjusted their lines, and on the 2d the fight com- menced again, but was still without result in the evening.
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HISTORY OF THE
On the 3d a final attack was made by the rebels under Breckenridge, but his columns were so cut up that they gave up the fight and retreated beyond Duck river. The union army followed and took possession of Murfreesboro and went then and there into winterquarters. During the- fight on the 31st of December and Ist of January, General Wheeler, who was still with Bragg with his cavalry, annoy- · ed the rear of our troops considerably and appeared very near Nashville. At Lavergne they captured an ammunition train and the escorting soldiers.
On January 18th, a fleet of. 30 steamboats, escorted by two gun boats, arrived at the levee at Nashville, with pro- visions for "man and beast," Commissary and Quartermas- ter stores and troops; among the latter two Batters, the 20th Indiana and the 20th Ohio. As we had been kept very short on rations since our arrival here, every heart was. gladdened by the arrival. On the 28th another fleet arrived with twenty-three steamboats and five gunboats. February 7th a fleet arrived with forty-two transports.
February 14th we received an order for our new battery and to turn over our old battery to Co. E., Ohio Artillery. We were to receive from the 20th Indiana their battery and. outfit, which consisted of four 12 pound Napolean guns and two 3 inch Rodman guns (rifled,) with caissons, battery wagon and forge. On the 15th we turned over to the Quar- termaster Department, ten mule teams and wagons.
On the 21st of February we started for the front. As it had rained a great deal and the roads being cut up. terribly, we had quite a time on our march. On No. 4 cais- son the tongue or pole, and the stock of the forge broke, and we had to leave these with the battery wagon on the road till the artificers could repair them. As it had rained all day again we were as wet as rats when we arrived at Lavergue at 4 p. m. The next morning we sent three dou- ble teams back after the caisson, battery wagon, forge and ambulance, the latter having also been left. They arrived about noon. To-day, being Washington's Birthday, a salute:
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of thirty-four guns were fired from the fort at Lavergne. On the 23d we proceeded to Murfreesboro, where we arriv- ed at 2 p. m.
Col. Barnett, who was Chief of Artillery of the Division to which we were assigned, received us there and took us to our camp, about two miles south of Murfreesboro.
The Division to which we were assigned was the 11th Division of the Army of the Cumberland, of the right wing, 20th Army Corps, Major General A. McD. McCook commanding. The Division was in command of Brigadier General R. H. Sheridan, which consisted of the following Brigades :
35th Brigade, Co !. Laipold commanding: 44th Ills., 73d Ills., 2d Missouri, 15th Mo. Artillery, 2d Ills. Battery, (Houghtlings. )
36th Brigade, Col. Moore commanding: 85th Ills., 86th Ills., 125th Ills., 52d Ohio. Artillery, Ist Mo. Battery, "G," ( Hiscocks.)
37th Brigade, Gen. Lytle, commanding: 36th Ills., 88th Ill., 21st Mich., 24th Wis. Artillery, IIth Ind. Battery, (Sutermeister. )
For some days we followed the regular routine of camp life-policing camp, guard duty, gun drill, mounted drill, and picket duty. Whenever our brigade went on picket, one section of our battery ( two guns) accompanied it.
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4
HISTORY OF THE
M
CHAPTER V.
ARCH 4th, General Gilbert, at Franklin, ordered Col. Coburn, with detachments of Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery, near 3000 strong, with a wagon train of 100 wagons for foraging, at the same time to recon- noitre the enemy's front towards Colum- bia, Tenn. Coburn's command was to meet some twelve miles south of Franklin a force moving from Murfreesboro toward Columbia; these commands were to co-operate and determine the position of the enemy. Unknown to Gilbert, VanDorn on assuming command at Columbia, in February, determined to establish outposts and picket lines within sight of Franklin and Triune, and to move his headquarters north of Duck river, to Springhill. Coburn's Cavalry struck the enemy only three miles from town, in line of battle. After a sharp conflict the enemy retreated to Springhill. Coburn notified Gilbert of the large force in front, but Gilbert ordered him to advance. Van Dorn had 10,000 men. In the fight that ensued Coburn was surrounded and captured. His loss was 40 killed, 150 wounded and 2,200 prisoners. The regiment in charge of the train with artillery and cavalry moved off rapidly to Franklin. To get even with the enemy a move on a larger scale was immediately made, Sheridan's and Johnson's Divisions of McCook's Corps participating. On the 4th, at 1:30 o'clock a. m., we were ordered to move at 5:00 a. m., but it was 8:00 a. m. before the column was in motion. About five miles from Murfreesbore the whole of Sheridan's Division came together; Johnson's Division was also on the move. A large forage train accompanied the expedition. We marched till after 8:00 o'clock p. m., and stopped for the night without unhitching. My rest that
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night was upon a big stone. Lieutenant Tons, with his sec- tion, was out on picket. The next morning we resumed our march, and about 8:00 a. m. entered Eaglesville, a little vil- lage, where our cavalry the afternoon before had struck a rebel camp and captured tents, provisions, wagons and about 150 prisoners. We marched on in the direction of Franklin, and between 9:00 a. m. and 4:00 p. m. heard heavy cannonading in that direction. Here we tarried at a cross- roads to find out the cause and probable result of the firing. Lieutenant Greene's (2d) section was sent out on picket with the infantry. Reveille was sounded the next morning at 3:00 o'clock as we expected the rebels to attack us. At 7:00 a. m. we took up our march on the Nashville pike up to within five miles of the Nolensville Pike. Here we went into camp. The writer, with his section, (3d) was put out on picket. The foragers brought in lots of four legged rebels and forage. On the 7th the Second Brigade, with one section of artillery, went back in the direction of Eaglesville to reconnoitre, but by noon they returned again; immediately after we resumed our march in the direction of Nashville, passed Triune, where we found General Thomas' Division stationed. At Triune we left the pike and took the direction to Franklin; we marched about four miles in this direction and then encamped. An awful thunder- shower came up that night and the gun tarpaulins which we had appropriated for shelter were blown away, and we got a thorough soaking. On the 8th we resumed our march, and by 2:00 p. m. went into camp near Franklin. On the 9th we crossed the river on pontoons into Franklin. There we stayed until 2:00 p. m., when we resumed the march on the Columbia Pike and encamped for the night this side of Springhill. It rained very hard over night again till the next morning at 9:00 a. m. At 10:00 we moved forward again through Springhill, to within four or five miles of Columbia, where the rebels had fortified themselves in a strong position. A little artillery skirmish took place here on the afternoon of the 10th, also on the forenoon of the
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HISTORY OF THE
IIth, but about 2:00 p. m. the rebels left their position and retreated across Duck river. On the 12th we took up our march back again and went into camp for the night north of Franklin. The next day found us on the march to Mur- freesboro again. The first six miles the road was very bad, after that we had pike; at noon we held a short rest and encamped about one and a half miles west of Triune. The 14th we marched to Eaglesville and from there to our old. camp at Murfreesboro, where we arrived about 6:00 p. m.
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CHAPTER VI.
F OR the next few days we dried everything and cleaned up the accumulations of the late expedition, and on the 18th we moved our camp from near Shelbyville pike to near Salem pike (Camp Schafer). On the same day we were paid off again, by Pay- master Major Henry, for another four months.
On the 20th we had "review" before General Sheridan ; on the 21st we were chased out of our nests early in the morning; there was picket-firing in our front. We got the battery ready to move. A section of Houghtling's Second Illinois Battery was ordered out and exchanged several rounds with Van Dorn's Cavalry, which had attacked our pickets. In the afternoon the whole Division, except those on picket, had review before General Sheridan. To-day,. Thomas Devlin, who was our second Bugler, died in the hospital. On the next day we brought the corpse from the- hospital into camp, and on the 24th buried him near the camp in a suitable place with military honors. On the 23d we passed in review before General Rosecrans to his entire satisfaction. On the 25th Lieutenant Tons resigned his commission, which was accepted for the good of the service. As there were now only two Section Commanders left, and one section mostly always on picket, double duty devolved upon the one left in camp. On the 27th Lieutenant Tons- left for home. Lieutenant Greene reported sick which left only the writer for duty in the battery. During the whole time of our stay in this camp, picket or other duty not pre- venting it, we had to keep our men and horses in good shape, drill twice a day, in the forenoon foot drill and in the
.
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HISTORY OF THE
afternoon mounted drill, so that there was not much time for idleness. On April 3d the three Batteries of the Divi- sion had inspection before Colonel Barnett, Chief of Artillery of the Division. On the 7th we were paid off again to the Ist of March.
In the night of the 9th, 1:00 a. m., we received orders to be ready to move at 5:30 a. m., scouts brought in news of a rebel movement. Orders were countermanded in the morn- ing. Cannonading was heard off our right. On the 10th the writer, with the third section, went on picket. In the night from the IIth to the 12th of April, a shot was fired on the picket line and the picket camp became immediately alarmed; the darkness was so dense that it took up . quite a while to hitch up our horses (the horses were always har- nessed at night at picket ). Not hearing a report from the picket line, the Colonel commanding the brigade sent out for information. It appeared that a guard saw something move in his front, and after ordering it to "halt," which command was not heeded, he fired. The next morning, on investigation, a dead mule was found in front of the picket firing. Captain S. visited us in the picket camp and inspect- ed the horses. The battery had received a number of new horses, and the poorest of the old ones were exchanged for new ones. In the evening our new horses came and we sent back the condemned ones.
On the 13th we tried our new applications on mounted drill and found them all O. K. On the 15th, at 3:00 p. m., we were relieved from picket duty and arrived at our camp at 5:00 p. m. On the 17th Sergeant Mckinley was sent on recruiting service to Fort Wayne. On the 23d Captain S., with first and second sections, went on extra picket guard and returned again on the 24th. On the 25th we received those much abused "dog or pup" tents, as the boys called them. On the 30th we had mounted inspection again. From the 5th to the 10th of May the writer was with the third section on picket guard again. On the 10th we were relieved at 9:00 a. m., and proceeded to camp. This day,
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY
Sunday, we had the first religious services in the brigade; they were held in the camp of the 24th Wisconsin.
The 21st we received orders to pack all surplus clothing of the men in boxes and send them to Nashville for storage. In the evening we were ordered to hold ourselves in readi- ness to move. The writer was ordered to take the surplus clothing to Nashville. On the 25th, Mr. C. L. Vallanding- ham, the great apostle of peace and rebel sympathiser, went through here on the way to Dixie. Lieutenant Greene resigned his commission on the 27th, which was accepted on the 29th; he found the field service too much for him. The writer, with first section and Ist brigade, went on out- post picket. The 3d of June brought us an order to prepare seven days rations and pack them in knapsacks and haver- sacks. On the 4th the rebels attacked our outposts; they had two cannons with them, out of which they fired a few shots but did no harm. We soon had them on the retreat again. It seemed as if they had attacked our whole line ; there was firing at our left (Shelbyville pike ) and our right (Triune). In the afternoon our outpost brigade took a bet- ter position a little to the rear. In the afternoon Captain S. came to the outpost with the other two sections, also the second brigade with Hiscock's Missouri Battery. On the 5th, in the morning, the Division formed in line of battle, but no attack was made by the rebels. On the 8th the second brigade relieved us and we returned to camp. On the 10th we had brigade drill. On the 20th, first Ser- geant Scott, with the second section, went on outpost picket. The 23d we received orders to move on the 24th, in the morning at 5:00 o'clock, with twelve days rations on hand. The 25th of June we left camp at 7:00 a. m., and as usual on such occasions it commenced to rain, and kept it up the whole day. At about 11:00 a. m. we had a little skirmish with the rebels. At noon we met General Granger's corps. About 3:00 p. m. we took the road to Liberty Gap. The rain kept up the whole night and in con- sequence the road was very bad. On the 26th we resumed
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HISTORY OF THE
our march and came to within four miles of Manchester pike; there were terrible thundershowers during the whole day. Johnson's Division took Liberty Gap yesterday. By 10:00 a. m. we marched through the Gap and took the road from Manchester pike to Wartrace; had skirmishes with the rebels occasionally and came to within six miles of Man- chester. Our troops captured Shelbyville yesterday.
To facilitate a better understanding of these movements, I will here reproduce the order given to Major General McCook from General Rosecrans as to his part in the move- ment :
"Major General McCook's Corps to advance on the Shel- byville road, turn to the left, move two Divisions by Millers- burg, and advancing on the Wartrace road sieze and hold Liberty Gap. The third Division to advance on Foster- ville and cover the crossing of General Granger's command from the Middleton road, and then move by Christiania to join the rest of the corps."
As will be seen by this, the latter part of this order was the route laid out for the third Division, General Sheridan's command, of which we were a part. The crossing of Gen- eral Granger's Corps with our Division took place on the 24th; after this we took the road to Liberty Gap, and in the evening encamped within a mile from Christiania; on the 27th we arrived at the Manchester pike. By 10:00 a. m. we marched through the Gap and then took the road to War- trace. Then we marched to within four miles of Wartrace and took the road to Manchester, and arrived in the eve- ning within six miles of this town. On the 28th we marched to within one mile of Manchester and stayed there until the 30th. On this day, as the rebels had left the town the night before, we followed them and came within six miles of Tullahoma. During this whole march it rained con- stantly, and of course, the road was not in the least dusty.
General Bragg's position around Tullahoma was a natur- ally strong one. His line extended from Horse Mountain on the east to Duck river on the west. To strengthen the
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
naturally strong position, a line of earthworks had been thrown up during the last three months which were covered by a line of abattis ; but all of this was work done for naught. After the union troops arrived before Tullahoma, where General Bragg had his headquarters, they commenced to feel for the rebel army. Finding the works very strong, General Rosecrans determined to break the line of rail- roads in the rear of Bragg's army. General Wilder, with his brigade of mounted Infantry started on the 28th, by way of Hillsboro, to burn Elk river bridge and destroy the railroad between Dechard and Cowan station. General John Beatly, with his brigade, was sent on a similar errand and both commands succeeded in accomplishing what they were expected to do. On July Ist, General Thomas was informed by a citizen, that the rebels were evacuating Tullahoma and pursuit was made at once.
Our Division started on the 2d of July, at 4:00 a. m., and arriving at Rock Creek ford, found Elk river so swollen with the heavy rains of last week, as to be barely fordable. A rope was stretched from shore to shore for the infantry to hold on to in crossing, and by evening the command was in camp on the south side. Davis' Division had also crossed. On the morning of the 3d we resumed the chase and had several skirmishes with the rebel rearguard. About 8:00 a. m. we came through Winchester and there captured a party of rebels who were in hiding in one of the houses; also captured a rebel flag. We pursued the rebels to Cowan Station, at the foot of the Cumberland mountains, where we went into camp. On the 4th our battery fired a salute of thirty-four guns amid a heavy shower.
-
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HISTORY OF THE
CHAPTER VII.
ENERAL ROSECRANS expected Bragg to give battle at Tullahoma; to leave his strong entrenchments without some resist- ence must have had another cause. That a battle must be fought was evident, and of course, the further the base of Rose- crans the better was the chance for Bragg. On the 7th we received official notice of the capture of Vicksburg; also of the defeat of Lee's army at Gettysburg. These two victories with our little victory, so far, had a great bearing with us in the second part of our Chicamauga campaign.
As related in the last chapter, we arrived at Cowan station on the 3d, in the evening. To follow Bragg immediately was out of the question, as our base of supplies was too far off. The railroad and destroyed bridges had to be rebuilt, a new base established and a supply of ammunition and provisions laid in. In the meantime we sent out forage teams to gather what could be had; clean up guns and wash and oil harness, and get the horses in good trim again. As. our stay here would probably be of a week's duration, the men were ordered to build booths for themselves and sheds for the horses, for the sun was very hot. On the 18th the construction train arrived. On the evening of the 25th order was received by the different battery commanders of the Division, for each to send one section, (two guns ) under protection of an infantry force across the mountain, Col- onel Larabee of one of the Illinois regiments in command, The writer, with the 3d section of the IIth Indiana Battery from 3a Brigade was sent. On the 26th, at 5:00 a. m., our section was ready to move ; after 6 o'clock one section of
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IITH INDIANA BATTERY.
Hiscock's Battery arrived and eventually the infantry, and we began our march across the mountain. The road was very bad; in places very muddy; in others very stong and broken. Lieutenant Shuler's section of Hiscock's Battery got "stuck in the mud" a number of times, which caused quite a delay in our march. By 10:00 a. m. we arrived at Tantalon station, on the summit of the mountain where we rested our horses for a short time, and then commenced our descent of the mountain, which was accomplished without accident. We arrived at Anderson station, on the Nash- ville and Chattanooga railroad after 6:00 p. m. We selected a place for our station near the road and near the residence of a Mr. Tanner, who tried all his persuavive powers on Col. Larabee to move further on to a high knoll, one mile south; but the place we picked out was good enough for us and we stayed where we were, under protest of course. On the 27th, Lieutenant Shuler, with his section and one regi- ment of Infantry, marched to Stevenson, Ala. As it had been the custom, so we practiced here too and sent out a team to forage. It brought back oats and potatoes, but only a small quantity, as the rebels had left but very little behind them. On the 30th the rest of our battery went through here, enroute for Stevenson, with some Infantry and wagons.
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