USA > Indiana > History of the Ninety-seventh regiment of Indiana volunteer infantry > Part 2
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THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.
At night on the 30th of April, 1861, I board quite a bustle i camp and heard on inquiry we had marching onder. Three days - rations and to rounds of ammunition was the order and the Best morning May 1, 1864, the whole army at that place broke camp and marched out with flags flying and bands playing and started for Chattanooga. We had started on the Atlanta campaign. 1- we neared Chattanooga, infantry, cavalry and artillery seemed
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coming from all directions, in fact a great army was coming to- gether and moving south. The 97th Indiana was brigaded with the 100th Indiana, 46th Ohio, 26th, 40th and 103d Illinois and 6th Iowa, all under command of Brigadier Gen. C. C. Walcott, who I understand is still living in Columbus, Ohio. We were in the 1st division, 15th army corps, Gen. Harrow commanding the division, Gen. John A. Logan commanding the corps, and in the army of the Tennessee, Gen. J. B. McPherson in command. The army of the Tennessee, composed of the 15th, 16th and 17th corps, formed the right wing of the army ; the 4th, 14th and 20th corps, under Gen. Thomas, the center, and known as the army of the Cumberland, and the 23d corps under Schofield, known as the army of the Ohio, the left wing of this army. The 15th corps from its facility in moving from one part of the line to another was called " The Whip Lash." The army of the Tennessee moved to the right and passed through Snake Creek Gap, and on May 13, 1864, encountered the left wing of the Confederate army un- der command of Gen. Joe Johnston at Resaca, Georgia, and after sharp skirmishing with them drove them into their breastworks. The next day May 14, Company E of our regiment, Capt. J. T. Oliphant in command, was on the skirmish line all day, who lost two of his men killed, Coen Cullison and George Mood, and Wes- ley Boruff was wounded and died of same June 20, 1864. About the 20th of May, the Rebels evacuated the place, and we still moved on and struck them again at Dallas, Ga., about May 25. Sharp skirmishes occurred every day until May 29, when they made a desperate charge on our lines. Capt. Holdson, of Coni- pany I, and his company were on the skirmish line, and so hard pressed were they that Capt. Holdson was wounded twice before he got inside the breastworks, and we had to commence firing be- fore all of Company I got inside the works, and Orderly Hinkle lay down between two logs and remained there until we had re- pulsed the enemy. Our corps was then moved further to the left near New Hope Church, and took the place of the 20th corps, which moved further to the left, and of all the pesky places the regiment got into this seemed the worse. Here the 20th corps had had a desperate fight to gain a footing. The trees were all torn to pieces with shot and shell. Between the lines were dead men and dead horses. It was the 1st of June, weather hot, rain- ing most of the time, had to be in the trenches half full of water day and night, and the stench was almost unendurable. One rainy morning after sitting in the trenches all night expecting the Johnnies to charge us, to our surprise and my gratification, we found them all gone. We next came up with them at Big Shanty, about the 12th of June near Lost and Kenesaw moun- tains. On the 15th of June, our division was ordered to move to the left, and had gone but a short distance when the 97th Indiana
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was stretched out into a skirmish line. We moved out when the Rebel skirmishers opened upon us in lively style. They were in rail pens just beyond Noonday Creek. We were ordered to charge with the balance of our brigade. Just following were two other brigades of our division. We captured their skirmish line the 144th Alabama, numbering 320 men and officers. On the hill just beyond their skirmish line, the Rebels were trying to form their battle line, but they never got them formed, for they took to their heels, and some hid in the bushes, whom we captured.
In this skirmish Company A lost James M. Anderson, killed ; Company D, Andrew J. MeMains, killed; Company B, Isaac Cruch, killed ; Company E, Christian J. Haldeman, and John W. Rutledge, who died of his wound at Chattanooga, Tenn., same month, and Company Gi, David Fields, who was mortally wounded and died next day ; Company 1, Byron K. Reed, killed. The loss in killed and wounded being twenty-three. Our regiment re- mained on picket duty so close to the Johnnies we could hear what they said until 12 o'clock that night. We saw behind us, about a quarter of a mile away, the fires, as we thought, of a great army camping, but at the advice of the Adjutant to fall back and make no noise, we took our coffee Cups loose from our haversacks, held them carefully in our hands, and silently stole away, to find the fires in our rear, but no troops there. The next day we moved to the right, opposite Kenesaw Mountain. On Sunday night, June 26, 1864, Col Cavins, who was in command of the regiment (Col. C'atterson being sick in hospital) sent for all the commissioned officers of the regiment, and told them an assault was to be made on the mountain the next day, and that our brigade had been specially named to form a part of the assaulting column on account of our brilliant success on the 15th, and would be under command of Morgan L. Smith, and wanted to know how we felt about it. A few said, " We'll go right up." others said they would go as far as they could. Capt. Jordan, of Company K, a cool, practical officer, said, " Well, you'll all smell fre before you get on top of that mountain !" Before daylight on the 27th we moved out of our works, and under cover of the woods, got our breakfasts, and at S A. M. moved to the right to our position in the line. By this time the enemy, observing our movements, was all activity ; was reinforcing at all points, and kept up a bitter fire upon us with shot and shell, When our brigade started to advance, the 16th Ohio took the advance as skirmishers. The 97th Indiana and 103d Illinois in the front battle line, and the Gth lowa and 0th Hlinois as the supporting column, advanced rapidly until we came to the foot of the mountain, drove the skirmishers from their pits and started up the mountain, through every conceivable obstruction, under a front and enfilading fire of musketry and artillery. We got within
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twenty yards of the enemy's works, and were ordered to lie down. We lay under their fire for some time, when we had to retire. Every one of the color-guards, I believe without an exception, was killed or wounded ; the flag was riddled with shot and the staff cut in two with bullets. About seventy men out of the 300 engaged were either killed or wounded. Company A lost Wil- liam Sullivan, killed ; Company C, Capt. Joseph W. Young, killed, James A. Butcher, mortally wounded, died at home August 17, 1864, Robert J. Heywood, killed ; Company D, Sergt. Wm. P. Sackett, Henry T. Daugherty, William S. Day; Company E, Aaron Hall, Benjamin Carson ; Company F, Orderly Sergeant William F. Moore, commanding the Company, Francis M. Fulk ; Company G, John Hays, mortally wounded, Geo. W. Mosier; Company H, Orderly Sergeant William H. Johnson, killed, also George Smith ; Company K, Orderly Sergeant Frank Case, who died July 12. 1864, from wounds. Many were wounded whose names I do not remember, and as I cannot name all will name none.
The Rebels after this retired across the Chattahoocheeiver into their works around Atlanta. On the 17th of July Sherman began the general movement Against. Atlanta. Thomas crossed Chattahoocheet Powers; Schofield moved toward Cross Keys and our Army of Tennessee under MePherson toward Stone Moun- tain. On 18th of July all the armies moved on a general right wheel ; Thomas to Buckhead, forming line of battle facing Peach Tree Creek ; Schofield was on his left and McPherson between Stone Mountain and Decatur, when McPherson turned toward At- lanta, breaking up the railroad as he marched. AAbout this time Johnston was relieved of the command of the Confederate forces and Hood appointed in his stead. Sherman says in his memoirs that he learned Hood was bold even to rashness and courageous in the extreme and he inferred that the change of commanders meant fight. July 20, 1864, Hood made a sally from Atlanta and the blow fell on Hooker's Corps ( the 20th) and Johnson's division of the 14th and Newton's division 4th Army Corps. This came from the Peach Tree line which Johnston had prepared to fight Sherman outside of Atlanta. Sherman then moved his lines close to their entrenchments around Atlanta. Hood, during the night of July 21st, had withdrawn from his Peach Tree line ; had occupied the fortified line of Atlanta, facing north and cast with Stewart's Corps and part of Hardee's and a division of militia. Hoods own corps and part of Hardee's had marched out to the road leading from MeDonough to Decatur and turned so as to strike the left of McPherson's line. Hood, by reason of the woods, approached near before he was discovered. His skirmish line had gotten into the field in rear of Giles A. Smith's division of the 17th Corps unseen and captured a battery of regular artillery and
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was in possession of several hospital camps. The right of this Rebel line struck the 16th Corps in motion. The 16th Corps halted, faced to the left, was in line of battle and drove the Rele-la back through the woods. About this same time this same forte had struck tien. Giles A. Smith's left Bank, doubled it back. captured four guns. They gradually fell back and made a june- tion with Leggett's division of the 17th Corps, strongly posted on a hill. One or two brigades of the 15th Army Corps came rapid- ly across the open field to the rear, filled up the gap from Blair to Dodge, forming a strong left flank at right angles to the original line of battle. The enemy attacked boldly and repeatedly the whole of this left flank, but met an equally fierce resistance and on that ground a bloody battle raged from a little after noon till into the night. A part of Hood's plan was to sally from Atlanta at the same moment. But this sally was not for -one Person s11- ultaneous, for the first attack on our extreme left flank had been checked and repulsed before the sally came from Atlanta Alemnt I P. M. the expected sally came from Atlanta, directed manh against Legget's Hill and along the Decatur road.
Hill they were met and bloodily repulsed ; along the railroad they were more successful. Sweeping over a small forer with two guns they reached our main line, broke through it and got jus- session of Detiress' battery of 1 20-pound Parrotts, killing cery horse and turning the guns against us. General Charles B. Woods' division of the 15th Army Corps was on the extreme right of the Army of the Tennessee, between the railroad and Howard house. The line on his left had been swept back and his due nection with Logan on Leggett's Hill broken He wheeled his brigades to the left, advanced in echelon and ought the enemy in flank. All of General Schofield's batteries, to the number of 20 guns, to a position to the left front of the Howard House. whence he could overlook the field of action and directed a bons fire over the heads of General Woods' men against the enemy and Woods' troops advanced and encountered the enemy who had secured the position of the old line of parapet which had been held by our men. His right crossed this parapel which Is. swept back, taking it in flank and at the same time the division which had been driven back along the railroad was rallied &n per son by General Logan and fought for their former ground These combined forces drove the enemy into Atlanta The battle of Atlanta extended from the Howard House to Gen Ial. Smith's position about a mile beyond the Augusta railroad, and then back toward Decatur, the whole extent being fully - ill miles, The enemy during the night of the 22d retired inside of Atlanta and we remained masters of the situation. Shi nem says: I purposely allowed the Army of the Tennesse to Helt this battle almost unaided, because I knew that the att.ne kies
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force could only be a part of Hood's army and that if any assist- anee was rendered by either of the other armies the Army of the Tennessee would be jealous. Nobly did they do their work that day and terrible was the slaughter done our enemy, though at sad cost to ourselves. (See Memoirs of Gen. Sherman, Vol. 2, Chap- ter 18.) Our regiment was engaged during the entire battle and captured the 5th Confederate Tennessee Regiment that killed Gen. MePherson. Gen. Sherman, in his report of the battle, says: General McPherson, when arranging his troops about 11 A. M. and passing from one column to another, incautiously rode upon an ambuscade without apprehension at some distance ahead of his staff and orderlies and was shot dead. I was walking up and down the porch of the Howard House listening to the sound of battle when one of MePherson's staff dashed up and reported General MePherson either killed or a prisoner. Within an hour an ambulance came in bearing McPherson's body. Dr. Hewitt examined his wound and reported that he must have died in a few seconds after being hit. The ball had ranged upward across his body and passed near the heart. Capt. Gill O. Steele took the body to Marietta and I ordered his personal staff to go on and escort the body to his home in Clyde, Ohio, where it was received with great honors, and it is now buried in a small cemetery close by his mother's house, which cemetery is composed in part of the family orchard in which he used to play when a boy. He died at the age of 34 years. A fine equestrian statue of Gen. McPher- son has been erected in Washington City since the war by the Army of the Tennessee.
Gen. Logan, in his report of the battle of Atlanta says :
" The number of dead, buried in front of the 15th corps, up to this hour, is 360, and as many more are yet unburied. We eap- tured eighteen stands of colors and 5,000 stands of arms. The Rebels attacked us seven times and were repulsed.
Our total loss . 3,521
Enemy's dead, buried and delivered to them 3,220
Prisoners sent North 1,017
Prisoners wounded and in our hands 1,000
Loss of the enemy 10,000
Four men of Company A were captured in the battle, and I am indebted to James Cochran, the only survivor of the four men, for the following account of their prison life at Andersonville and Florence :
AT HOME, March 23, 1890.
My remembrance of prison life is so sad that I have tried to forget it. But there is something about it that will return to my mind. I was captured the 22d of July, 1864, at Atlanta, and hastened down that night to East Point, six miles from Atlanta; went into camp, stayed there all night and on the next morning,
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I think, we started for that " hell hole" Andersonville. We marched to Jonesboro and there took the cars for Andersonville. and landed there the second day, I think in the evening, and was searched the second time, and then turned into that horrible place, without any shelter with the exception of the heavens. There were about 1,400 of us from Sherman's army. Well, they opened the gate and turned us in, like so many hogs into a slaughter pen, to make the best of it. So we went to work to see what disposition we could make of ourselves, So we found a place unoccupied, on the north side of that famous branch, that we read of in history. Here we sat down to consult what was best to do, and on examination what we had to improve our claims with, since the Rebels had taken everything from us, even down to our pocket knives; they even took my hat. There were eight of us that agreed to stay together ; four of Company 1, 97th Indiana-Greene Crawford, Bart Wiley, Elisha Abranis and myself. The other four were Atwater, of the 46th Ohio, Henry Kerts, of the 99th Indiana or 100th Indiana, and one of the 12th Indiana, and Win. Ross, of Company G, 97th Indiana. Neither of us had any money or camp equipage except Henry Kerts and Atwater . Kerts had $5.00 and Atwater some pieces of old tent. So we in- vested the 85.00 in poles and a couple of forks and pegs to pi those old rags to the ground. Well, here was our outlay for liv. ing. The pole was seven feet long, and I suppose this was our chance for life. We had nothing to cook, nor nothing to cook with, so the thing was very evenly proportioned. So now we were in a state of dependent creatures, and a poor dependence it was. Those rags were our main dependence for shelter and to sleep on. So we made the best use of them we know how. We were so thickly crowded we hardly had room to lie down. The suffering in that place was great. I saw men there so helpless. lying on the ground, and the lice and maggots had eaten their eyes out before death came. A man died just behind where our rags were staked down, and the maggots came through onto u- pretty lively, and the stench was so bad it took a strong consti- tution to bear it. I have seen prisoners come in there in good health, who would give up, lie down, hide their faces, never look up or speak, and die!
After serving one's country it was horrible to die in such a place. Our diseases were diarrhea, scurvy, gangrene, and some kind of a fever they called " swamp fever ", we all had it, more or less. It was a sight to see the sick making their way to what the " Robs " called " sick call." They crawled, hopped, went on all fours, were packed in blankets. I was there when that spring broke out. I have carried many a bucket of water from that blessed Providential spring. This spring broke out in August 1864, after some heavy rains, and the south-east side of the
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stockade washed out at the same time. Our rations were simply a mixture of everything-rice, boiled in filthy water and shoveled into wagons and drawn inside; beans and mush the same way ; flies, lice, maggots, were all eaten by the prisoners. When one was convicted of stealing, he was lashed with a strap. There were one-third of the prisoners in there that were crazy, and I think many that got out have never entirely recovered from the shock and suffering, and I think I tasted a little too much of the place to be my old self again.
Sometime in October we were put upon cars and started back toward Atlanta as we thought to be exchanged, but when we got to Macon, the cars halted awhile and then branched off to the southeast, which knocked the exchange idea out of us all. Here I lost all of our squad. 'Fortunately we had provided ourselves with some of that life-saving water in our little buckets and had managed to provide ourselves with a coffee pot, and had them both full of water and covered over with some old boot tops and tied down to make it go as far as possible. There was such a cry for water we concluded we would drink up what we had and get another supply, as the negroes were packing water to the famish- ing soldiers. We sent our bucket and coffee pot for water and that was the last, as the cars started and left all of our worldly goods behind. We suffered and mourned over these things, for though their real value was not 30 cents, they seemed worth mil- lions to us. We were going where we knew not and didn't seem to care, as the prospect for exchange was all gone. When we got close to Savannah, Georgia, the guards told us we were going there to be exchanged. That enlivened us a little. Arrived there about daylight, stopped a short time, when the train pulled out over the swamps in the direction of Charleston, S. C., where we landed about 2 o'clock. Got off the cars, marched through the city and were placed in the State's prison under the fire of our own guns. We could see the shells burst and hear them crash through the buildings but none fell among us. We were there probably two weeks, when we were moved out and camped on the fair grounds. A camp guard was put around us, and by this time we were in a pitiable condition, so much so that the more tender hearted of the people in Charleston undertook in part to alleviate our sufferings by bringing out provisions and clothing of all descriptions, such as they could spare. They would throw the grub and clothing over the guard line and run from the guards, but finally the guard would chase them and take it all away from them. I saw many a race with the guards and women. A great many tried to escape while here, but most all were brought back, some badly lacerated, being chased by bloodhounds through those swamps and greenbriers. One man was brought in who was out fourteen days. He said the last thing he tried to eat
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was a raw roon he caught in the swamp. He tore the hide off and swallowed some of it, but it would not stick.
I was taken from here to Florence. Here rations were a little scareer but a little cleaner. The beans were buggy, the meal musty, rier filthy, and one pint a day of each issued to the man. At one time we had nothing for three days and night- when the commander of the prison suspected a tunnel was being dug. I saw men there who had gone to the branch for water and not able to get back, with lice gathered so think about their heads and necks they could rake them off by handfuls. Men burrowed in the ground for sleeping apartments and at night thele comrades would cover them over with warm sand, so they could sleep. I and my three comrades separated in one of those ground holes by the death of the three above named. This left me in a worse condition than ever if worse could be, but I tried to brace up I know my time was next in that family, though all los- was some gain toward my condition, as I now fell heir to the sand hole and could turn over without calling to the others, so we could al turn at once. I started out to find another mate, and I had good luck as I found Owen Wright, of the 14th Indiana, an old acquant ance I had seen in Andersonville. I got with him and staid with him until I was paroled. I helped to eat some terrapin soup at Florence. I have seen men draw their rations of moral cat it row throw it up, and a second man would grab up the best of it and eat it with more or less sand in it and make it stick If meal was spilled in the sand, the men would grab it up and est it, sand and all, more sand than meal. A bean or grain of Her was as carefully searched for out of the sand as a hen poorly fed would search for grains of wheat when fed in chat for her chickens. There was more or less shooting of prisoners both at Anderson ville and Florence. I saw several that were shot. I saw Barrett who commanded at Florence, knock down the prisoner- with his cane or club, which he always carried when inside the prison gate Shooting in from the gate was his delight, as he seemed to have no pity for the Yankees,
Florence sermed the worst " hell hole " of all. as we had that inhuman Barrett to contend with, the worst brute in happen clothes lever laid eyes on. The boys of my mes were all tutter ing under starvation when we got there and Isaw I would his. to give them up shortly, and that pained me very much as w. had been together in so many tight places, but this Isit all plane- I had ever seen. The first to go down was pour Green W tran ford, Company A, with diarrhea and fever, nest was Bart Wales with same disease : next Elisha Abrams By this time I had Ist all trace of my Andersonville commandes My clothing was all gone, worn out, and I was lucky enough to draw a pair of dr. er's from the sanitary and that was all the clothing I had with il
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exception of an old shirt and an old pair of shoes and an old cap that I traded a canteen for. I was paroled December 7th, 1864. I don't think I could have stood it one month longer.
Our regiment was in the fight at Ezra Chapel, July 28, 1864. which lasted from 11:30 A. M. until 4 P. M. The most authentic account is given by Gen. Logan, who commanded the 15th corps. He says : In pursuance of orders, I moved my command on the right of the 17th corps during the night of the 27th and morning of the 28th of July, and while advancing to a more favorable position, we were met by the Rebel infantry of Hardee's and Lee's corps, who made a determined and desperate attack on us at 11:30 A. M. My lines were only protected by logs and rails hastily thrown up. The enemy made six successive charges and were each time repulsed with fearful loss to the enemy. Later in the evening our lines were assaulted vigorously. The, worst of the fighting occurred on Gen. Harrow's and Morgan L. Smith's fronts, which formed the center and right of the corps. The division of Gen. Harrow captured five battle-flags. Our regiment was part of Gen. Harrow's division. Five hundred and sixty Rebels have been buried up to this time, and about 200 are supposed to be vet unburied. The enemy's loss could not have been less than 6,000 or 7,000 men. Col. A. G. Cavins commanded the regiment at Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Ezra's Chapel and Jonesboro.
In these engagements the loss was as follows in killed: Com- pany A missing in action July 22d, Elias Abrams and Barton Wiley ; Company C, Alfred Bowers, killed August 10, 1864 ; Com- pany D, Alfred Siner, killed July 22d, 1864; Company F, John R. Goff, killed July 22d, 1864; Matson Morris, died of wounds re- ceived at Atlanta. Company H, William P. Beem, killed August 16, 1864; William Bode, killed August 16, 1864. Company I, Tilghman H. Bedwell, killed July 22, 1864; Thomas J. Blalock, killed July 22, 1864. Company K, Harvey Connor, killed August 12, 1864. After Hood left Atlanta and started north the regiment followed with the army as far as Resaca and Taylor's Gap and then Sherman, leaving Hood to the tender mercies of "Pap" Thomas, went back to Atlanta. After tearing up the railroad for a few days, on the 15th day of November, 1864, our regiment started with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. Col. Cavins being at home on leave after the fall of Atlanta did not reach us before the railroad was torn up, and was given an im- portant command in East Tennessee. On the march to the sea we saw no enemy of any considerable force until we were near Macon, Ga. On the morning of November 25, 1864, our brigade was detailed to make a reconnoissance in the direction of Macon until the troops and wagon train were out upon the road. We had not gone far until we met a Pennsylvania cavalry regiment coming toward us at full speed. Wheeler's cavalry had surprised
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