USA > Indiana > History of the Seventy-fifth regiment of Indiana infantry voluteers. its organization, campaigns, and battles (1862-65.) > Part 16
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In no battle, before or after Chickamauga, were exhibited finer examples of bravery and daring. Here was a mighty struggle both for the gained and "lost causes." Here were many exhibitions which reminded one of two mighty giants grappling each other in a deatlı struggle. Along the piny slopes and in the thick woods of the valley of the Chicka- mauga were displayed a patriotism, devotion, self-sacrifice and heroism for our glorious Union, which have never been surpassed, and rarely equalled in the annals of war. "There was no severer battle, east or west, tlian Chickamauga. The history of the war will furnish no better illustration of the brilliant fighting qualities and the enduring courage of the American soldier on both sides." (Adjutant General G. P. Thruston, U. S. A.). "There was no more splendid fight- ing in '61, when the flower of the Southern youth was in the field, than was displayed in those bloody days of September '63. But it seems to me, that the élan of the Southern soldier was never seen after Chickamauga-that brilliant dash, which had distinguished him on a hundred fields, was
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gone forever. He fought stoutly to the last, but, after Chick- amauga, with the sullenness of despair and without the en- thusiasm of hope. That 'barren victory ' sealed the fate of the Southern Confederacy." (Lieutenant-General Daniel H. Hill, commanding a Confederate Corps in the battle). "It was as terrific fighting as the world ever saw." (Na -; tional Tribune, Washington, D. C.). General Cist, in his History of the Army of the Cumberland, says: "All things considered, the battle of Chickamauga, for the forces en- gaged, was the hardest fought and bloodiest battle of the re- bellion."
Chickamauga was fought on the side for the Union almost exclusively by Western inen. The Eastern States had scarcely a representation of their soldiery. Massachusetts and New York were not represented at all. But few Virginians were there among the Confederates. The Southern Army was- represented by troops principally from Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The great pairs of leaders on both sides of the war, Grant and Lee, Sherman and John- ston, were not pitted against each other there.
However, many of the finest soldiers developed by any war, and some of the noted civilians of the country, were there. Among them were "Pap" Thomas, the impersonation of heroism; "Little Phil" Sheridan, the great cavalier of modern times; an array of tough Federal figliters was there, like Gordon Granger, James B. Steedman, Jefferson C. Davis, Absalom Baird, Joseph J. Reynolds, Thomas J. Wood, George Crook, William B. Hazen, John B. Turchin, John T. Wilder, August Willich, Emerson Opdycke, Ferdinand Van Derveer,. Gustave Kammerling and others. Among the Confederates were James Longstreet, the Marshal Ney of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia; "Pat " Cleburne, " the Stone-' wall Jackson of the West;" the intrepid Cheatham and the' dashing Hood. James A. Garfield, a future martyred Presi -: dent of the United States, and John C. Breckinridge, a de-
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feated candidate for the same high and honorable office, were there' on opposite sides.
During the battle, the commanders of four Federal Bri- gades were killed, viz .: Brigadier General William H. Lytle, Colonels Edward A. King, Hans C. Hegg, and Philemon P. Baldwin ; and the commanders of five were wounded : Brig- adier Generals W. C. Whitaker and John C. Starkweather, Colonels Timothy R. Stanley, John T. Croxton and Luther P. Bradley. Six Colonels commanding Regiments were killed : William G. Jones, Thirty-sixth Ohio (belonging to the Third Brigade of our Division); John W. S. Alexander, Twenty-first Illinois ; Win. B. McCreery, Twenty-first Mich- igan; Fred. A. Bartleton, One-hundredth Illinois; Daniel H. Gilmer, Thirty-eighth Illinois; and Win. B. Carroll, Tenth Indiana. Among the Confederates, two Major Generals were wounded-John B. Hood and Thomas C. Hindman ; three Brigadier Generals were killed-Benjamin H. Helm, Preston Smith, and James Deshler ; and five Brigadier Generals were wounded-John Gregg, Evander McNair, J. C. Brown, Henry D. Clayton, and Daniel W. Adams; Adams was cap- tured. Helin was killed in Baird's front, and Smith and Deshler in Reynolds' and Palmer's front. Thousands of other brave men-private soldiers-fought and died there, the simple story of whose deeds of valor inay never be written on the pages of imperishable history-whose names may never be inscribed on statues of bronze and marble.
In his History of the Army of the Cumberland, General Cist says: "The largest number of troops Rosecrans had, of all arms, on the field during the two days' fighting, was 55,000 effective men. Rosecrans' losses were: Killed, 1, 687; wounded, 9,394; missing, 5,255; total loss, 16,336. Bragg had about 70,000 effective troops in line. His losses, in part estimated, were 2,673 killed; 16,274 wounded, and 2,003 missing, a total of 20,950. A full report of the rebel losses was never made."
General Cist's estimate of 55,000 Union soldiers actually
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engaged at Chickamauga, and their loss 16,336, would make the loss over 29 per cent. on our side. Under date of October 29th, 1891, Aquila Wiley, Brevet Brig .- Gen. U. S. Vols., writes to the National Tribune: "I think Bragg's army at Chickamauga sustained the highest per cent. of loss in killed and wounded of any army, Union or Confederate, in any sin- gle engagement during the war." He estimates Bragg's loss as over 30 per cent.
In some of the famous battles of history the percentage of loss in killed and wounded, when compared with that of Chickamauga, sinks into insignificance. We would scarcely call these battles lively skirmishes. Wellington's casualties at Waterloo were less than 12 per cent. At Marengo and Austerlitz Napoleon lost, on an average, less than 1412 per cent. At Gravelotte and Sedan, in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the average loss was less than 12 per cent.
From the discovery of America to 1861, in all wars with other nations, there were but ten American Generals killed in battle; at Chickamauga alone four American Generals were killed, and during the war of the Rebellion more than one hundred American Generals, Union and Confederate, lost their lives in battle. The above comparisons show to some extent the magnitude of our battles and of our civil war.
CHAPTER VIII.
· CHATTANOOGA-SIEGE OF CHATTANOOGA-AFFAIR AT BROWN'S FERRY.
(SEPTEMBER 2IST TO NOVEMBER 22D, 1863.)
ON the 21st of September, 1863, after the battle of Chicka- mauga, the Army of the Cumberland lay all day at Rossville, about four miles north of the battlefield. We were called very early in the morning and formed into line of battle. Our Corps was stationed in the Rossville Gap, facing east and south. During the night of the 21st, General Rosecrans be- gan to withdraw the army to the town of Chattanooga. About 9 p. m., Crittenden's Corps began the movement. Ours-Thomas'-began to move about 10 p. in., following Crittenden's. Reynolds' Division of our Corps, however, did not begin its movement until about midnight, followed an hour afterwards by McCook's Corps. Each Brigade of the Army, before retiring from its battle line at Rossville, left its pickets out and a Regiment to support them. The Seventy-fifth Indiana supported the pickets of our Brigade. It was midnight of the 22d before our Regiment moved out. We reached Chattanooga, five miles distant, just before day- light on the morning of the 23d.
For the defense of the town, upon our arrival into Chatta- nooga, we were set to work at once in the construction of breastworks and in strengthening old fortifications, which Bragg's army had built. In this matter we were not any way too soon, for Bragg with his Confederate legions ap- peared in front of the town about noon of the day of our arrival.
Chattanooga was at one time the name of a small Indian
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hamlet, located on the bank of a narrow stream which gives its name to the valley and town. In the language of the Cherokee tribe of Indians, the word means "to-draw-fish-out- of-the-water," and hence the name was applied to the collec- tion of huts, which were occupied originally by Indian fish- ermen. The humble hamlet, in the march of civilization, disappeared, and its name, originally so suggestive and appropriate, was inherited by the town of the white man with meaningless application. When the beleaguered Army of the Cumberland occupied the place in 1863, it was a pretty little city of about 3000 inhabitants, situated on the south bank of the beautiful Tennessee River, which bound its brow as with a broad band of silver, and, at the northern end of Chatta- nooga Valley, six miles wide, through which the creek of the same name flowed. The town nestled snugly, as if in adora- tion, at the foot of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, an outline of bold and magnificent hills and mountains. It was then the terminus of the Nashville and Chattanooga and of the Western and Atlantic Railways, which connected the place with the principal towns of Georgia. Hence it was the shipping point for most of the surplus productions of East, and of a portion of Middle Tennessee and Northern Georgia. It also contained a number of mills and factories. During the memorable winter of 1863, Chattanooga was the Valley Forge of the War of the Rebellion. It became a great can- vas city, covering many acres, having sprung up, as if by magic, under the deft hands of the various regimental organ- izations of the army. The Confederate observers, stationed away up on the summits of Lookout Mountain and Mission- ary Ridge, overlooked miles of white tents dotting the bold hills and serene valley on every side.
On the 24th of September a detail of seventy-five men from our Regiment, one of whom was the writer, under command of two officers, was sent in front of Fort Negley to do picket duty. During the night, Bragg advanced his lines, which were driven back by our picket line, aided by the guns in
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Fort Negley. These guns aimed to throw their shells over our heads, but some of them fell among us. A fearful en- counter ensued for an hour or two. During the melee, John F. Barton of E Company, one of the pickets, was quite severely wounded in the right hand. We were relieved from picket duty on the morning of the 25tli, and returned to camp. The Confederates attacked us a few times after this, but, failing to dislodge us, retired, and settled down to the slower and more tedious process of starving us out by siege. We continued to do picket duty and build fortifications.
During the last days of September, 1863, several citi- zens from Indiana came to our camp at Chattanooga, among whom were Mr. James L. Evans (who subsequently became a member of Con- gress, and who was the father- in-law, in prospectu, of Cap- tain M. H. Floyd, of the Regi- ment), and James O'Brien, Esq., a lawyer, and brother of Lt. Col. Wm. O'Brien, of the Regiment. It was cer- tainly refreshing to have these gentlemen with us for a short time.
LIEUT. URIAH TODD, Co. K, Seventy-fifth Indiana .*
General Rosecrans did not undertake to retain Lookout Mountain, the railroads, nor the Tennessee River below Chattanooga, but endeavored to hold the bridges across the river, and to present a strong and formidable front to the Confederates. The strongly intrenched Confederate lines
* Lieut. Todd was a member of the Fourteenth Ohio Regiment for a period of three months before he became the Second Lieutenant of Company K, Seventy-fifth Indiana. In 1863 he was transferred from the Regiment to the Pioneer Corps, and shortly afterwards promoted to a First Lieutenant in the First U. S. Volunteer Engineer Corps. On account of disability con- tracted in the service, he resigned March, 1865. He died April 14th, 1880.
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of Bragg, on the other hand, extended from Missionary Ridge across the Chattanooga Valley to Lookout Mountain, which was also fortified and held. His troops also com- manded the Tennessee River above the town, and occupied Raccoon Mountain and Lookout Valley. His pickets were posted so near the town, where ours were stationed, that we often hield a conversation with them, and gave them news- papers for tobacco. Our pickets at this point were separated from those of the Confederates only by Chattanooga Creek- both lines obtaining water from opposite banks of the same stream. Here occasionally a Federal soldier off duty would venture to meet a Confederate soldier midway in the stream between the picket lines. Not a shot would be fired during the brief handshaking. The pickets on both sides would swarm like bees from their rifle-pits to watch this impromptu walk and meeting on neutral grounds-a meeting brought on openly by the mere display of a newspaper and pouch of smoking tobacco. It would occupy scarcely ten minutes from the time each soldier left his respective line until his safe return. General Grant himself, while in the command of the Army at Chattanooga, had some experience of this kind, as the following from his "Memoirs " will show:
"The most friendly relations seemed to exist between the pickets of the two armies. At one place there was a tree, which had fallen across the stream, and which was used by the soldiers of both armies in drawing water for their camps. General Longstreet's Corps was stationed there at the time, and wore blue of a little different shade from our uniform. Seeing a soldier in blue on this log, I rode up to him, commenced conversing with him, and asked whose Corps he belonged to. He was very polite, and, touching his hat to me, said he belonged to General Longstreet's Corps. I asked him a few questions-but not with a view of gaining any particular information-all of which he answered, and I rode off."
The situation of our Army was extremely critical. Rose- crans had grave apprehensions of the condition of things, which he telegraphed to President Lincoln. "At the com- mencement of the occupation," says Van Horne's Hist. of the Army of Cumberland, Vol. I. p. 392, "there were large
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trains in good condition, and the prospect for transporting supplies was somewhat promising. But early in October the rain began to fall. With its continuance, the roads became almost impassable. The destruction of hundreds of wagons and animals by Wheeler was nearly fatal to the army. The remaining animals from necessity were pressed beyond endur- ance. The roads rapidly grew worse; the mules became ex- hausted by constant motion and lack of forage; each succes- sive trip to Bridgeport compassed a longer period of time, and each trip reduced the number of wagons and weight of their contents; at each succeeding issue the ration was diminished; the artillery horses, being least useful in the emergency, were deprived of forage and fell dead in great numbers day by day; and the alternative of surrender, or retreat with great peril and certain loss of all material, seemed only delaying its de- mand for the desperate election of the army. The thought of surrender could not be entertained, as no large army had yet lowered its colors at the demand of the foe, and the Army of the Cumberland could not be the first to experience this humiliation; and the shortest rations, as long as actual star- vation could be averted, could not force that army to turn its back to the enemy. So, with full appreciation of the situa- tion, it bravely awaited the issue." In his "Personal Me- moirs," General Grant says: "The men had been on half rations of hard bread for a considerable time, with but few other supplies except beef driven from Nashville across tlie country. The region along the road became so exhausted of food for the cattle, that by the time they reached Chattanooga, they were much in the condition of the few animals left alive there-' on the lift.' Indeed, the beef was so poor that the soldiers were in the habit of saying, with a faint facetiousness, that they were living on ' half rations of hard bread and beef dried on the hoof.'" The writer has seen men standing around the Commissariat actually shedding tears for mouldy and condemned crackers. In their necessity they appro- priated to themselves (it would have been theft, under other
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circumstances) the half ration of shelled corn from the hun- gry and starving mules, as they ate at their troughs, and in several instances they picked up and converted into hominy the undigested grains of corn, which had passed through the intestines of the mules. The writer has had the satisfaction of eating some of this hominy; but not until he had gone three days without eating anything else. The heads, tails, ears and shinbones of the slaughtered beeves were in great demand, which the soldiers, who had any money, bought at high prices, or confiscated, as the case may be, and converted into soup. The soldiers endured all this without complaint. The fuel in our lines gave out. Every limb, twig, stump and root of the trees was used up. Before the siege abated, we had to cut trees far up the river, and form rafts, float them down, and drag and carry them to camp. In our great ex- tremity, we ran into the lines of the enemy with trucks of cars, guarded by a squad of men, upon which we hauled the wood into camp; at times we would bring back a wounded companion with the wood.
The only outlet for the army to convey any supplies was the wagon road in rear of the hills north of the river to Stevenson, Alabama, and a little steamer plying on the Ten- nessee River below Chattanooga. The road, referred to above, was so bad that the half-starved mules could scarcely pull the empty wagons ; and the few wagons, that made the trip from Stevenson with provisions, were often unable to cross the river to the south side, where the army lay, on account of the rafts, which the Confederates built, floated down the river, and broke our bridges with. The little steamer, laden with provisions, was often driven back by the firing of the Confederate heavy guns from the top of Lookout Mountain. Hence the National Army under Rosecrans was actually be- sieged.
In the months of October and November, at intervals, during the siege, the Confederates bombarded our camps from the sides and top of Lookout Mountain, and from the
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base of Missionary Ridge. Some of their guns were of large calibre and threw big shells. Occasionally they would strike the parapets of our line of defenses. Some hundreds of shots were fired in a few hours without much damage. Very few of our soldiers were hurt by them. We would stand upon the parapets of our intrenchments watching the shots, and would speculate upon their probable effect, while the negroes about our camps would continue their games of marbles. Gradually we became used to this distant artillery firing, and perfectly indifferent to the effect which the shells, screaming and hissing, might produce.
One of the most laughable incidents that the writer re- members in connection with the memorable siege at Chatta- nooga, occurred one day, while the Confederates were shell- ing us from the mountain. We had been having it pretty hot, which brought us to our pits for safety, when we seized the occasion of a momentary lull to procure some hot coffee. A negro cook of one of the officers was busy preparing some in an old-fashioned coffee-pot, when the Confederates, having got the range of our little group, began to drop something among us harder than ripe gooseberries. Sambo began to get very nervous. He said : "It am berry warm heah, massa; I specks a little way back better." But a stern "Go on with your duty " was the only answer he got. Suddenly a piece of a shell came whizzing along, and struck the coffee-pot, smashing it, and almost blinding the negro with the scalding hot liquid. With a yell of fright and pain, he started off like a deer, heedless of where he was running to. As luck would have it, a fussy, pompous, portly Captain of a Regiment near by us, was approaching us to order us to our rifle-pits, so as to induce the enemy to cease firing. He did not see Sambo, neither did Sambo see him. With head down and arms ex- tended, the terror-stricken darkey butted the pursy officer squarely in the stomach with the force of a battering ram, bowling him over like a tenpin, and rolled over him. Poor Sambo was set upon by the irate Captain, and thinking one
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of the rebels had got him, kept bellowing out for help, while he returned the Captain's kicks and cuffs with interest. We managed to get the darkey away, but the Captain believed it was a put-up job of the boys.
By special Field Order, on October the 9th, are organization of the Army of the Cumberland took place. The four Corps were compressed into two. The Twentieth and Twenty-first Corps were consolidated and formed into the Fourth Corps, with three Divisions, and Major-Gen. Gordon Granger was placed in command of the Corps. Major-Gen. John M. Pal- mer and Major-Gen. P. H. Sheridan, and Brig .- Gen. Thos. J. Wood, were assigned to the command of the Divisions in the order named.
The Reserve Corps was attached to the Fourteenth. The four Divisions of the Fourteenth Corps were reduced to three, General Thomas commanding, with Major-Gen. L. H. Rous- seau in the command of the First; Brig .- Gens. Jeff. C. Davis and Absalom Baird in command of the Second and Third Divisions.
General Rosecrans issued the following order:
HDQRS. DEPT. OF THE CUMBERLAND,
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 231. Chattanooga, Tenn., October 10, 1863.
The following changes in the staff of the Major-General commanding are published for the information of the army:
I. Brig .- Gen. J. A. Garfield has been chosen by his fellow-citizens to rep- resent them in the councils of the nation. His high intelligence, spotless integrity, business capacity, and thorough acquaintance with the wants of the army, will render his services, if possible, more valuable to the country in Congress than with us. Reluctantly yielding to this consideration, the General commanding relieves him from duty as chief of staff. In doing so he returns his thanks to General Garfield for the invaluable assistance he has rendered him by wise counsels and assiduous labors, as well as for his gallantry, good judgment and efficiency at the battle of Chickamauga.
Maj .- Gen. J. J. Reynolds, U. S. Volunteers, is announced as chief of staff. By command of Major General Rosecrans:
C. GODDARD, Assistant Adjutant-General.
By the above order we lost our honored and true Division
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commander, General Reynolds, to whom. we had become greatly endeared. In Brig.Gen. Absalom Baird, however, we gained one of the very finest Division commanders in the Union Army. General Baird commanded our Division from this date to the close of the war. The following indorse- ments will speak for themselves:
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND, Chattanooga, October 15, 1863. BRIG .- GEN. L. THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army :
I respectfully beg leave to make a special mention of Brig .- Gen. Absalom Baird, who, in temporary command of his division, handled lis inen with skill and bravery, sustaining probably more fierce assaults and losing a larger percentage of men than any other division in the battle except Bran- nan's. Holding the extreme left of our line, where the enemy had intended to strike us on the 19th, his were amongst the first troops in action, and during the entire contest nobly did his troops, under his watchful and care- ful eye, sustain it. I respectfully recommend that he be niade a major-gen- eral of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chickamauga. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. S. ROSECRANS, Major-General.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND, Chattanooga, Tenn., November 20, 1863.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOMAS, Adjutant-General U. S. Army :
I have the honor to recommend to favorable consideration the following- named officers of this army, and respectfully urge their promotion for the * following reasons : * *
Brig .- Gen. A. Baird, for gallantry and good conduct at the battle of Chick- amauga, September 19 and 20 ; and for the able manner in which he has conducted the operations of his division from the crossing of the Tennessee River till the present time. General Baird assumed command of the First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, August 24, 1863, gaining in a very short time the entire confidence of the division by his judicious and considerate administration of the duties of a division commander.
I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. H. THOMAS, Major-General U. S. Volunteers, Commanding.
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