USA > Indiana > History of the Sixth regiment Indiana volunteer infantry. Of both the three months' and three years' services.. > Part 7
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The ten days we lay idly around while here at Corinth, the Sixth boys had ample opportunity to see the sights and learn somewhat of the country. Among the sights to be seen were the huge wooden cannon placed in their earth-works, to hold us at bay until they had a chance to get away. These great dummies, mounted and pointing in a threat- ening manner from every port-hole of the numer- ous earth-works around Corinth, was too much for Halleck's stock of courage, and he had been too
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TYPES OF CORINTH.
stupid to learn the facts in the case. The princi- pal part of the population consisted of negroes. alligators and mosquitoes. The negroes were the lowest-down type of the Mississippi slave. The native whites were of the bring, fotch and tote style. lean, lank and yellow, and were, of course, of the feminine gender, as the men were in the rebel army.
The boys did not forage much about Corinth, as everything fit to eat had been picked up by the rebels, and then it was a poor, God-forsaken, scrubby pine-timbered country as one could wish for, fit only for the production of cotton, sweet potatoes and nigger peas. I don't now remember that any of the Sixth boys got partienlarly stuck on the place. Nor did I ever hear of any of them de- serting the regiment to remain there on account of being captivated by any of Corinth's tobacco-chew- ing, snuff-rubbing, fax-headed, sharp-nosed, hatchet- fared, yellow-eyed, sallow-skinned, cotton-dressed, Hut- breasted, big-footed, bare-headed, long-waisted, kump- shouldered, stoop-necked. bare-footed, straddle-toed. sharp-shinned, thin-lipped, pale-faced, lantern-jarred, hollow-eyed, silly-looking, female damsels.
CHAPTER VIII.
GENERAL HALLECK RELIEVED.
Our camp at Corinth-Both armies start for Chattanooga- Description of our march-We spend 4th of July on banks of the Tennessee River-We move on to Crow Creek-" Hold the Fort, for I am coming."
General Beauregard fell back as far as Okalona, and on the fifteenth of June turned over his army to General Bragg, which was reported to be eighty thousand strong. On the 11th of July General Halleck was relieved of the command of the De- partment of the Mississippi, to take command of all the land forces of the United States as Com- mander-in-Chief. These changes of the head offi- cers of both of these large armies caused their dis- integration to some extent. And as the rebel army showed no disposition to move, there neces- sarily followed a passive condition of our own army. After such disastrous defeats as the enemy had suffered, and such consciousness of weakness as the refusal to give battle at Corinth evinced, the leaders in the South could not be ignorant of the vital character of their next effort. In this emer- gency they adopted the wisest measures, and by hiding them for a time under seeming passivity, they set to work with greatest energy and earnest- ness to gather strength for their execution.
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BOTH ARMIES START FOR CHATTANOOGA.
If Chattanooga was vitally important to the National cause, both as regarded strategy and po- litical considerations, it was not less so to the in- surgents ; they could assume the offensive from no other point with any hope of success; at least this place was a vital point in an offensive line. The very remoteness of Chattanooga from the recent theater of war, scarcely less than its inherent strat- egie value, called thither the Confederate forces, to spring thence to Northern Kentucky.
This common aim ineited the eastward march of the two armies, which were destined to severest conflict to the close of the war. General Bragg, who had succeeded General Beauregard in western command, put his columns in motion simultane- ously with the movement of the Army of the Ohio. Each party thought to take advantage of the heavy concentration of the other in Northern Mississippi, so as to operate in East Tennessee without strong opposition. But the advantage was with General Bragg with respect to the ruling contingency to each-the occupation of Chatta- nooga in force-as he had an open way behind the hills upon the south bank of the Tennessee, with communications established when he should get there. While General Buell's advance involved the supply of his army without communications, and a vital draft upon his strength to create them. General Buell was informed that his army would return to Tennessee. He at once turned the di- visions of MeCook and Crittenden eastward, with
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
General McCook in the lead. This was on the 11th of June, and in this country it means the hottest portion of the hottest season. Our route was up the Tennessee River, on the south side, and along the summit of some pine ridges, which seemed parallel with the river. The road was only wide enough for wagons to pass, with tall pines up close on either side, whose tops intermingled, shutting out both sunshine and daylight. The . soil was a fine white sand, or dust, and was two or three inches deep. The long winding columns ahead of us had " kicked up a dust," so that the air for many feet out on either side, and all through these tall pines was so thick it was im- possible to draw one's breath without nearly chok- ing on this dirt, while the mercury certainly stood at not less than 100°. While the water we did find along this line of march was the very best of pure spring water, yet we sometimes went for miles, or a half day's march without. finding any water at all. You load a man down with a sixty- pound knapsack, his gun and forty rounds of am- munition, a haversack full of hard tack and sow belly, and a three-pint canteen full of water, then start him along this narrow roadway, with the mercury up to a hundred, and dust so thick you could taste it, and you have done the next thing to killing this man outright. One of the most painful sights I ever saw was the poor fellows drop- ping out along this march, completely overcome by dust and heat, pale and sick, some vomiting
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DESCRIPTION OF OUR MARCH.
from sick headache, while others were fainting from exhaustion.
The Sixth Regiment had her share of misfor- tunes while on this march, as many of the boys had to fall out and simply wait until they got able to come on up. The worst cases were, of course, taken into the ambulances, but they were soon overloaded. I think it was the second day out, when we stopped for dinner, where there was good water. After dinner we pulled out up one of those pine ridges, and it seemed to me that it was a forced march all the afternoon, and we saw no more water from where we took dinner until 9 o'clock that night. The distance must have been over twenty miles. We finally filed out of the main road into an old pasture field, and the sound of the bugle, which blew the halt, was not done ring- ing in the air before the writer was stretched upon the ground, caring but little for the future. This was one time in my life that I would not have given one straw to have ever seen the light of another day, and my prayer that night was that when my eyes closed for sleep they would never open again upon the cares of this world. Hard, indeed was the lot of the poor soldier, bound hand and foot by the strong arm of the law : to desert was death, to remain was worse.
But more dead than alive, MeCook's Division reached Florence on the 15th, closely followed by General Crittenden. It was while on this march the boys stopped at a well to get a drink, when
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
the lady of the house came out and ordered them away. Of course they paid no attention to the order, but when she went in the house and got a revolver and commenced firing into the squad, they decided to quit, and did it right quick, too. But an officer went up to her and took the revol- ver from her, pushed her into the house and shut the door on her, and told the boys to drink what they wanted.
Once while going along one of these pine ridges where it was all pine timber, and the land too poor to grow vegetation of any kind, we come to a cabin by the side of the road, built of pine poles, and only enough ground cleared for the cabin to set on : a long, lean, lank looking man stood in the door, while around his long legs clung two or three little chaps, tow-headed. dirty and ragged, while to the rear, and peeping under his arm to see the Yanks, stood what I supposed was the wife and mother. I stepped up to him and asked him what the chances were to get a drink ? He said those in front drank up all the water he had. I then asked him where he got his water? He said at a spring over a quarter of a mile away. and under the hill. I had no time to go that far, although nearly perishing for water. While talk- ing with the old man I was taking a kind of a survey of the surroundings, and I can't tell why, but the old man seemed to divine my thoughts, and he spoke up quickly, and said : "See, here, stran- ger, I hain't so darned poor as you take me for: I don't own all this land around here."
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ON BANKS OF TENNESSEE RIVER.
It was while we lay here on the banks of the Tennessee, between Tuscumbia and the river, that some soldier of our brigade was bitten by a rattle- snake. He was taken to camp and given all the whisky he could swallow ; the treatment was kept up for a few days, and when the army got ready to move he was ready, also, to march with us. A rattlesnake has no show at all with John Barley Corn.
On the 26th of June we crossed the river on pontons, and started east along the north bank of the Tennessee. MeCook's main column reached Athens on the 29th, while General Buell established his headquarters in Huntsville on the same day. Our line of march lay along up the banks of the Tennessee, and on the 4th day of July we laid in camp on the banks of this beautiful river, near Huntsville. The 4th of July was a most lovely day, and it seemed to me almost like a Paradise as we lay stretched out under the great wide-spread- ing elms, enjoying the cool shade, and taking the rest we so badly needed. Hundreds of beautiful Southern mocking birds were fluttering among the limbs of these great elms, warbling their charm- ing songs in a manner that should delight the an- gels. It seemed for the moment that these angels of mercy had gathered for the sole purpose of soothing the drooping spirits of the tired and weary soldier during his short stay among them, and if possible, to have him forget his trials and hardships, and thoughts of home and loneliness.
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
And then again this was the day of our National Independence, and it seemed that these beautiful songsters had gathered to celebrate it in our pres- ence.
Huntsville is one of the most beautiful places we saw during our soldier life. Situated as it is in the valley of the Tennessee, where climate and soil combine to render it rich and fertile. Its cit- izens were high-toned, intelligent and aristocratic. Wealth and ease seemed to mark every homestead with an air of comfort and satisfaction that almost made one begrudge its occupant his happiness. Wonderful springs of almost ice cold water, clear as crystal, were found at nearly every farm house, while the lime, orange and fig trees, loaded with their beautiful fruits, graced their yards. Oh ! how I longed to remain in this favored region. More than one of the old Sixth promised himself that if he was spared to get through the war alive and well, he would return and make his future home for life at Huntsville.
But these fancied ideas of comfort and ease were of short duration for the Sixth's boys, for we soon got orders to strike tents and get ready to march, and again we are off, up the river to- ward Stevenson. At this point we strike the Nashville & Chattanooga Ry., which General Buell was having repaired, as it must be by this road he would get the supplies for his immense army.
The Sixth Regiment was stationed along the railroad up Crow Creek Valley to guard the
143
BUILDING OF STOCKADES.
bridges. Crow Greek is the natural drainage for the rough mountainous region lying in the north- east corner of Alabama, and empties into the Tennessee near Stevenson. The Nashville & Chattanooga Ry., running north from Stevenson, to avoid the mountains follows the course of this creek, crossing it many times. This necessitates the construction of many small bridges. A com- pany was stationed at each bridge, where stock- ades were built for their protection in case of attack. A soldier, of course, knows what a stockade is, and how it is built. But for the benefit of others, I will say that a stockade is built of large squared timbers set in the ground like posts, only close together, and high enough above ground to prevent men from elimbing over the top so as to get in from the outside. They can be built in the form of a triangle or square, but always large enough to allow the whole com- pany to go inside of them. The door is only large enough for a man to walk in and provided with a suitable fastening. Port-holes are cut through these timbers, say the height of a man when standing. The port-holes are about two feet long, up and down, and flaring outward. This gives the men inside a chance to see the attacking party at a wide range, and through these port-holes they fire upon the enemy. When the guarding party is attacked by the enemy in superior numbers. they retreat inside of their stockade where they
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
can defend themselves against many times their number.
It was an occasion of this kind when some of Sherman's men had been attacked by a very su- perior force of the enemy, and had taken shelter inside their fort. Sherman, though many miles away, heard the firing, and signaled to the officer in command of the little band of heroes those im- mortal words which have been perpetuated in song, and will be sung by generations yet unborn, " Hold the fort for I am coming!" He did go, and in time for their relief.
CHAPTER IN.
OUR STAY AT CROW CREEK.
Bragg crosses the Tennessee River for Kentucky-The race for Louisville-Bragg gets out of the way rather than be run over -Buell arrives at Louisville, Sept. 25-We march over 300 miles in 20 days-Less than 200 answer to roll call when we reach Louisville-The boys take a fence furlough and go home -- Buell again goes for Bragg at Bardstown-Buell's army re- organized-Col. Buckley our Brigade Commander-We move by way of Frankfort-Bragg forced to fight at Perryville- Buell and Bragg both make the same mistake- Bragg whipped and leaves Kentucky in disgust.
The Sixth Regiment was stationed at Crow Creek about the 10th of July, and remained here until about the 27th of Angust. During those two long summer months the boys did but little aside from picket duty, and a little foraging on their own hook. It is safe to say that very few chickens were left in that part of the country. But generally the boys bought and paid for all they got. There were quite a number of small farmers in the neighborhood, and from these we could get butter and eggs, chickens and honey, and garden vegetables of all kinds, besides fruits of various kinds, especially peaches, which were very fine. And there was scarcely a young lady in Crow Creek Valley that did not have a beau,
10
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
for two months at least. In fact, I doubt if there was a family in or near Crow Creek Valley that did not make the acquaintance of the Yankee sol- diers during the summer of 1862.
Nothing occurred in which the Sixth, as a regi- ment, was engaged that was worthy of note. Our daily occupation was to watch and wait. Wait the development of Bragg's plans, which were after all only those of his predecessor, General Johnson, who was killed at Shiloh. Johnson's plan for the summer campaign was first, to defeat Grant's army before Buell could render him any assistance at Shiloh. Then, of course, Buell would be too weak to offer any resistance that would retard his return to Kentucky, where he intended to go, gathering strength as he went. He then intended to seige Louisville, then Cincin- nati, and from here carry the war into the North. The northern sympathizers had promised the rebel leaders that if those two cities could only fall into their possession, then their friends in the North would rally to their assistance and swell the rebel army to immense proportions, so that it would simply be irresistible. They could then have things their own way and go where they pleased. This was a magnificent plan-on paper-but at the close of the Shiloh fight, the plan, like John- son himself, simply "bit the dust." But Bragg had been appointed to the vacancy caused by the death of General Johnson, and on the 15th of June had assumed command of the Army of the West,
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THE RACE FOR LOUISVILLE.
which was Johnson's army. He at once set him- self to work to modify Johnson's plans and to carry them ont. With this view he put his col- umns in motion eastward to ocenpy Chattanooga.
Johnson on the retreat from Nashville sent all surplus army stores to Chattanooga, and Bragg now regarded that point as the proper place to "refit" his command, and from which to assume the offensive and open the campaign, in which he expected to immortalize his name and reap such a rich harvest of glory and renown.
Bragg had so well concealed his intentions as to his advance that General Buell was compelled to hold himself in readiness to meet any emergency, and it was not until the 22d of August that Buell learned that Bragg's whole army was north of the Tennessee River, and on the 30th of August Buell gave orders concentrating his army at Murfrees- boro. Buell was satisfied that Bragg's intentions were to strike for Kentucky, but was in doubt as to what route he would take on up to the 27th of August, when General Thomas captured a dispatch which revealed Bragg's whole plans, but the infor- mation came so late that Bragg had got decidedly the start of us. But Buell's whole army was at once put in motion, on quick time, and now comes the race for Lonisville. Buell's orders to concen- trate the army at Murfreesboro of course bursted up our camps on Crow Creek, and the Sixth Regi- ment joined in the chase to Louisville. Our line of march was along the Nashville & Chattanooga
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
Railroad, until we reached Nashville, and then we followed the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. This march was made in September, and it was hot and dry and very dusty, and was a forced march from the beginning. The army reached Nashville on the 6th of September, at which time and place it mustered only 24,000 effective men. This, how- ever, did not include his entire army. Bragg swung his army into Munfordsville, which was exactly in our line of march, and captured the entire com- mand, consisting of Col. Wilder. Col. Dunham and 4,000 men, with 4,000 stand of small arms, a large amount of army stores, etc. This was on the 17th, and General Buell did not get up until the 21st. But on Buell's approach Bragg swung off east and continued his march to Louisville. But Buell pushed on and succeeded in forcing his army be- tween Louisville and the rebel army, compelling them to fall back, while Buell's army rounded up at Louisville on the 25th day' of September. The Sixth Regiment moved with the bulk of the army, and along its main line of march, and when the army went into camp at Louisville, on the 25th, the old Sixth was at her place, in line and ready for duty, although quite a number of the boys fell by the wayside. I have no means of getting at the facts in the case, but my opinion is that not over 200 of the old Sixth answered to roll-call when they went into camp that evening.
To those who may be curious to know why there were not more of the regiment up and ready for
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OVERCOME BY HEAT, DUST AND THIRST.
roll-call when it arrived at Louisville. I would ask them to please remember that men, like horses that have been running idle in pasture all summer, are not fit to put in the harness for hard work every day : they should be worked moderately until they become seasoned or used to it. But we were put on a forced march from the day we broke camp. and rushed through a distance of over three hun- dred miles in about twenty days. Remember that it was very hot, dry and dusty, and that every man carried a load of fifty or sixty pounds. What kind of a man must he be to be able to endure such hardships for so long a time, and still be able to answer to his name for duty on the last day in the evening ? What kind of a man must be be, who would express surprise under such circumstances, that there was not more men able to report for duty ? The wonder is that even more did not fall by the wayside. Such physical endurance and fortitude deserves the highest praise, and yet no more so than the poor fellow who stood up under his duty until overcome by heat and dust and thirst and fatigue, and is finally crushed to the earth and crawls to one side out of the way of the rushing army, and is left to his fate, to survive or perish. according to the measure of his physical endurance. When we started on this march I supposed myself as well able to make the trip as the average man of our company, but after measuring off about two hundred miles of dust and heat, I broke down, and was left at Bowling Green a sick man. But my
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
experience is that the service does not suffer much on account of the temporary absence of men under such circumstances, as they are all put on duty of some kind wherever they are, that is all who are able for duty, while the sick are cared for by being placed in hospitals a few days, and all are sent on to their regiments the first opportunity after they are able for duty. Buell arrived at Louisville on the 25th of September, and left there in his pursuit of Bragg on the first day of October, making his stay at Louisville only five or six days, and in this short period nearly all the absentees reported for duty.
While the regiment laid at Louisville a few of the boys took the liberty to call on friends and family, but it was on French furlough, and a very short one at that. For my part I was fortunate. When I was able to come on up I did so, and when I arrived at Louisville I received an order detailing me as a recruiting officer. This allowed me to go home and saved me the trouble of taking a " French furlough."
The main force of the rebel army in Kentucky at this time, which was about forty thousand, was under Bragg, and camped in the neighborhood of Bardstown, forty miles south of Louisville. Kirby Smith, with fifteen thousand, was between Frank- fort and Lexington. Humphrey Marshall, with four thousand, was at Georgetown. In Central Kentucky two bodies of guerrillas, under Morgan and Scott, were collecting food and munitions.
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BUELL IN PURSUIT OF THE REBELS.
The new recruits collected for the rebel army while in Kentucky, were well armed with the guns cap- tured from our troops at Richmond and Munfords- ville, but neither drilled nor disciplined. But, all told, the aggregate effective strength of the enemy was hardly sixty thousand. This, however, when united, would form a formidable force.
On the first day of October Buell commenced his pursuit of the rebels. The army moved by four different roads. But before we proceed further it may be well enough to give the status of Buell's army at this time. General Buell himself was commander-in-chief, while General Thomas was second in command. The army was divided into three corps-the First Corps, constituting the right wing. was commanded by Major-General MeCook. The Second Corps, forming the left wing, was commanded by Major-General Thomas L. Crittenden. The Third Corps, forming the center, was commanded by Major-General C. C. Gilbert. It is not necessary in a work like this to give the integral parts of the different corps, but in order to locate the position of the Sixth Regi- ment, which is a part of MeCook's Corps, I will say that it formed a part of the Second Division, commanded by Brigadier-General Sill, forming the Fourth Brigade of his Division, while the brigade was commanded by Colonel Buckley, of the Fifth Kentucky. The Fourth Brigade was composed of the Sixth Indiana. Fifth Kentucky. First Ohio,
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HISTORY OF THE SIXTH REGIMENT.
Ninety-third Ohio, Sixteenth and Nineteenth U. S. Infantry.
So the Sixth Regiment finds herself a part of the Fourth Brigade; Second Division of the First Army Corps, commanded by Major-General Mc- Cook, and forming the right wing in the battle of Perryville, Ky. The record bears out the state- ment that General Buell entered upon this cam- paign with an infantry and cavalry force at least one-third stronger than that of the enemy, and with double his strength in artillery.
When we moved from Louisville, our division, under command of General Sill, took the direct road from Louisville to Frankfort, rid Shelbyville. The duty assigned to McCook's Corps was to pre- vent junction of Kirby Smith and Humphrey Marshall's forces with Bragg's main army, and while the division under General Sill had the long- est route, it moved the quickest, and reached Frankfort on the 4th, on which day the balance of McCook's Corps was at Taylorsville. On the evening of the same day the Confederate generals were all at Frankfort attending the inauguration of the Governor. On the evening of the same day Kirby Smith commenced to evacuate Frank- fort, moving via of Versailles on Harrodsburg. It was supposed that Bragg would give battle at Bardstown, but instead he evacuated that place on the 4th, moving through Springfield to Perryville, and effected a junction of all his forces on the 6th, and while Harrodsburg was the point upon which
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