USA > Indiana > Greene County > Vicksburg > Indiana. Vicksburg National Military Park Commission. Indiana at Vicksburg > Part 14
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Sparkling springs, pleasant breezes and the cool shades of the forest refreshed all the camps.
The corps retained their relative positions-MePherson in the center, on either hand Sherman and MeClernand. In the course of the siege MeClernand was superseded by General Ord. The Rebel center was commanded by Forney, its right by Stevenson and its left by Bowen. Pemberton was ill prepared for a siege. IIe had rations for not more than thirty days, one meal a day, and but a small amount of ammunition. Nevertheless he declared that he would hold out until the last pound of beef, bacon and flour, the last grain of corn, the last cow, and hog, and horse, and dog should be consumed, and the last man should perish in the trenches. Moreover, he was powerfully supported by his superior officer, Gen- eral Johnston, who soon had a force of 20.000 or 25,000 at Canton and Jackson, and still received reinforcements.
Thus General Grant, lying between two large hostile armies, required immediate and strong reinforcements. He never suffered for lack of men if men could be obtained. and he now pressed into his investing line or formed into a reserve to watch the movements of Johnston not only all the troops which could be drawn from other points in his department, but all that his necessity could wring out of the departments of other commanders.
On the 24th of May Lauman's Division of Washburn's Corps. with four additional regiments, arrived and went into position on the south side of the city.
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INDIANA AT VICKSBURG.
General Kimball, who, after recovering from the wound received in the assault on Fredericksburg, was appointed to the command of Washburn's third division and assigned to the district of Jackson, was ordered to the Yazoo, which he reached the 3d of June. He went up to Satartia, whenee with two brigades he marched to Me- chaniesburg, where he had a successful engagement with a large force of the enemy. Repeated dispatches from Grant warned him against venturing to such a distance as to endanger his rear, and, finding the troops he had driven reinforced by a large body of cavalry. Kimball fell back to Haynes' Bluff.
On the 8th another division under Gen. Sooy Smith arrived from Memphis and was ordered to Haynes' Bluff, where also two of Burnside's divisions were posted on their arrival. General Her- ron's Division arrived from Missouri on the 11th and was stationed on the left of Lauman, completing the line of investment.
These reinforcements increased Grant's army to 75,000. One- half remained in the trenches: the other half formed a corps of observation. It was like a double-edged sword, or rather like a sword which turned every way.
Sherman, in command of Haynes' Bluff. lengthened and strengthened his line of defense until it extended from the Yazoo to the Big Black. As occasion demanded he added to his force Lau- man's Division, a division from MePherson's Corps and one from his own corps, and abundantly obeyed the order to "whip John- ston, fifteen miles off."
The Indiana troops included in Sherman's force at Haynes' Bluff and in the defense of the rear of the besiegers were the 12th, Lieutenant Colonel Goodnow, Colonel Kempton having resigned on account of his health, though too late for its restoration; 100th, Colonel Stoughton; 99th, Colonel Fowler, and 6th Battery, Cap- tain Mueller, in Smith's Division, and the 53d, Colonel Gresham, in Lauman's Division. The 97th, Colonel Catterson, separated from its proper corps, General MePherson's, remained on duty in Mis- souri until it joined Sherman's force.
The siege was conducted vigorously. Forts were erected, bat- teries were planted and breastworks were advanced quite near the Rebel works. Sharpshooting, for a time exercised only in the day, soon ceased neither day nor night, and reached such a degree of accuracy that in one instance a hat placed on a stick and held above a wall was pierced by fifteen bullets in two minutes. The mortars on the peninsula opposite Vicksburg after they opened, which was
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THE INDIANA SOLDIER AT VICKSBURG.
at an early date in the siege, threw every twenty-four hours 10,000 mortar shells into and over the city. The piek, the spade and the barrow were in as lively requisition, and were used to as deadly purpose as the recognized instruments of war, roads being opened. covered ways made, the regular approaches of a siege constructed and mines built. During the siege eighteen miles of trenches were dug and eighty-nine batteries were constructed, the guns being moved forward from the rear as the troops pushed up.
The enemy's activity was also sleepless. His cannonading was not alarming, as his ammunition was scarce, but he countermined and picked off with the sharpshooter's rifle every visible head. So ceaseless was the rain of fire on the extreme left that the 26th In- diana, posted there, after entering advanced trenches was unable to leave them for seventeen days. Firing all day, digging all night and sleeping only by snatches, this regiment was worn out at the end of the time, and of 800 healthy, cheerful men who came from Missouri but 400 were fit for duty. In all the regiments constant labor in the trenches, frequent picket duty and sharpshooting, to- gether with the excessive heat of the day and the heavy dews of the night, caused much sickness toward the latter part of June.
The western bounds of the besieging army, from Lake Provi- dence to Richmond, were frequently assailed in the anxiety of the Rebels to open communication between Vicksburg and Louisiana. June 6 a heavy attack on Milliken's Bend was most bravely re- pulsed by negro soldiers.
On the 25th of June from the center around to the river the army and navy stood ready to add to the tumult and terror of the explosion of a heavy mine, while a chosen band was thrown for- ward to rush into the anticipated breach. The undermined strong- hold was Fort Hill, in front of McPherson's Corps. The storming party consisted of one hundred picked men of the 45th Illinois and one hundred of the 23d Indiana, and was supported by the main part of Logan's Division.
It stood breathless, and utter stillness prevailed after the fuse was lighted until a dull, thundering sound and the trembling and heaving of the ground indicated that the powder. 2,200 pounds, in the vaults beneath was on fire. Through heavy smoke and dust masses of earth and huge timbers rose slowly and fell baek. A can- nonade opened along the line of the army and the river front, such a cannonade as Vicksburg, with all its experience, had never known, nor had yet any other city. The storming party rushed to the breach. Logan advanced his division rapidly to its support.
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INDIANA AT VICKSBURG.
A furious struggle took place in the crater. The combatants were covered with powder, dirt and blood. The Rebels gradually fell back to a new line, from which, unseen and sheltered, they hurled hand grenades with deadly effeet. The soldiers called the crater "the death hole," but they held it until three days later another mine expelled the Rebels and left a vast chasm where one of the strongest works had stood.
Fort after fort was undermined. Closer and more deadly with each day drew the investing line. One grand assault and the city would fall. General Grant fixed the day-the 6th of July.
Meantime the citizens of Vicksburg were in sad straits. Many of the wealthy, as well as the poor, were on the verge of starvation. Flour was a thousand dollars a barrel. Meal was a hundred and forty dollars a bushel. Beef was two or three dollars a pound. Mule meat was a dollar a pound. Caves dug in the hillsides, and which were damp and low, afforded the only security against shell, and they scarcely. The Rebel soldiers, on insufficient rations com- posed chiefly of bean meal, corn coffee and mule meat, lay in the trenches without relief day or night. Nevertheless a copy of the Vicksburg Whig, which found its way to the Union piekets, gave out and reiterated assurances of Johnston's speedy approach. Gen- eral Johnston indeed was their only hope; but he uever ventured within fifteen miles.
On the 3d of July, after forty-seven days of isolation, General Pemberton displayed a flag of truce and sent two officers with a letter asking an armistice with the view of arranging terms for capitulation. The Rebel officers were blindfolded and taken to Burbridge's tent, where they received Grant's reply demanding an unconditional surrender. Pemberton requested an interview, and at three in the afternoon met his antagonist in front of MePher- son's lines under a spreading oak. "Never so long as I have a man left me will I submit to unconditional surrender," declared the Confederate general. "Then, sir, you can continue the defense," replied the national commander. Pemberton, however, was not sat- isfied, and after some consultation it was agreed to continue the armistice until nine the next morning, when, if surrender was not determined on, hostilities should be resumed.
The next morning white flags were displayed all along the Rebel lines. At ten the Rebel soldiers poured out of their trenches and forts, laid down their colors and went back within their works. prisoners of war,
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THE INDIANA SOLDIER AT VICKSBURG.
Logan's Division was the first of the besieging army to enter the city. General Grant rode at its head. Dismounting at a Rebel headquarters he entered in order to confer with General Pember- ton. The Rebel commander and his generals were sitting on a porch. They received the conqueror in sulky silence; when he asked for a drink of water they told him he could find it inside, and they allowed him to remain standing, while they sat, during an interview of a half hour, so ignobly did they bear themselves in adversity.
If anything could add to the rapture of the hard-won, long-de- layed victory it was the fact that it was consummated on the Fourth of July. When the national banner rose over the court house ten thousand men struek up the song "Rally Round the Flag." The shattered walls of Vicksburg, so long trembling under the roar of guns, now quivered with the song of triumph.
The surrender of Vicksburg gave into Grant's hands the largest capture of men and guns ever made in war-31,600 men, including sick and wounded, and 172 cannon. Twenty-eight thousand eight hundred and ninety-two men were paroled, and after being sup- plied with three days' rations were sent across the Big Black. Seven hundred and nine who refused their parole were sent North. More than one thousand avoided being paroled by escape or disguise. Many died in the hospital before their names had been taken.
Throughout the United States cannon fired and bells rang, the nation rejoicing at once for the turning back of the Rebel tide at Gettysburg and that the Mississippi once more flowed "unvexed to the sea."
Regimental Histories.
Indiana State Seal. Used on All Monuments.
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INDIANA
INDIANA
-
Monument of Sth Infantry.
(Monument Tablet Inscription.)
1st BRIGADE 14th DIVISION 13th CORPS 8th INFANTRY
Colonel DAVID SHUNK Major THOMAS J. BRADY
Engaged: Port Gibson, May 1; Champion's Hill, May 16; Big Black River Bridge, May 17; Assault, May 22; Siege, May 23-July 4. Casualties: Killed 27, wounded 133, missing 1, total 161, Captains Andrew O'Daniel. Frederick S. Wysong, and Hiram T. Vandevender killed.
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EIGIITH REGIMENT INDIANA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS.
The 8th Regiment was one of the first six regiments of three- months' men who answered the call of President Lincoln for 75,000 volunteers, and was mustered into the United States service at Indianapolis, April 25, 1861, by 2d Lient. (afterwards Maj. Gen.) T. J. Wood; with Wm. P. Benton as colonel; Silas Colgrove, lieu- tenant colonel; David Shunk, major; A. I. Harrison, adjutant ; John Robinson, quartermaster; James Ford, surgeon, and George W. Edgerly, assistant surgeon.
The line officers at muster were as follows:
Captain.
1st Lieutenant.
Co. A. Jacob Widaman,
Francis C. Swigget,
2d Lieutenant. George Adams.
Co. B. O. H. P. Carey,
John Reuss,
Jacob M. Wells.
Co. C. Geo. W. H. Riley,
E. M. Ives,
Allan O. Neff.
Co. D. Thomas J. Brady,
Joseph Kirk,
William Fisher.
Co. E. Hiram T. Vandevender,
John T. Robinson,
James Fergus.
Co. F. Frederick Tykle,
Henry Ray,
Joseph W. Connell.
Co. G. Reuben Riley.
Henry C. Rariden,
G. W. H. Riley.
Co. H. Charles O. Howard,
A. J. Kenney,
Robt. A. Douglas.
Co. I. M. M. Lacey,
Irwin Harrison,
James Connor.
Co. K. Chas. S. Parrish,
Joseph M. Thompson, Franklin Daily.
The regiment was composed of men from Wayne, Randolph, Delaware, Grant, Hancock, Wabash, Madison and Henry counties. Companies A. H and I all being Wayne County men. The regi- ment rendezvoused at Indianapolis, using for shelter the buildings and horse stalls at the state fair grounds north of the city, which was called Camp Morton. About May 15th, the 8th and 10th Regi- ments marched about four miles east of Indianapolis and, having received their supply of tents and camp equipage, established a camp, where they remained until the 19th of June, 1861, when they received orders to proceed to western Virginia. On leaving Indian- apolis the 8th was taken by rail to Clarksburg by the way of Cin- cinnati, Marietta and Parkersburg, remaining there two days, and then marched to Buchannon, Va., where it was supposed the Con- federates were encamped in considerable force. The regiment was here assigned to the army of Gen. W. S. Rosecrans July 4th. Gen- eral Rosecrans' army was reviewed on the morning of July 10th, and then the 8th, with Rosecrans' army, marched against the Con- federate troops, who were said to be in considerable force and well fortified at Rich Mountain, Virginia, reaching the foot of the moun- tain on the evening of the 10th and bivonacked for the night.
It remained in camp but a short time when General Rosecrans. with the 8th and 10th Indiana and the 9th Ohio, having a native as
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INDIANA AT VICKSBURG.
a guide, made a night mareh, flanking the enemy, and at daylight surprised the pickets and attacked the enemy vigorously. The Con- federates were about three thousand strong, with six pieces of ar- tillery and well fortified, under command of General Pegram.
The battle lasted about two hours and was hotly contested, and the gallantry of the troops was thoroughly tested. The war cry of the 8th and 10th was "Remember Buena Vista." General Pegram was defeated with a loss of nearly one hundred killed and a large number wounded, while all of his camp and garrison supplies and artillery fell into Union hands. Our forces pursued the retreating Confederates as far as Beverly and there went into camp. The 8th lost four men killed and fifteen wounded. The regiment remained in camp until July 24th, when it was ordered to return to Indian- apolis for muster out by reason of expiration of term of service. The regiment marched to Webster, Va., and from thence by rail to Indianapolis, where on the 6th of August it was mustered out of the United States service.
The work of reorganizing the regiment for three years' service was begun at once, and on the 5th of September, 1861, the reor- ganization was completed and the regiment was mustered into the service for three years with William P. Benton as colonel.
On the 10th of September the regiment received orders to move, and proceeded to St. Louis, Missouri, by rail, where it arrived on the day following, joining the army then being formed by General Fremont. A few days after the regiment marched towards the state eapital, reaching Jefferson City on the 14th of September, where it remained in camp a week, during which time it was placed in the brigade commanded by Col. Jeff C. Davis, of the 22d Indiana Volunteers. On the 22d the march was resumed to Springfield. The 8th made the march to that place in fourteen days and re- turned to Otterville in seven days. The regiment remained in camp at Otterville until the 17th of December, when it marehed to Warrensburg and assisted in the capture of thirteen hundred prisoners. Returning to Otterville, it remained in camp until the 24th of January, 1862, when it marched for Springfield, joining the command of General Curtis on the route.
From this point the march was continued to Cross Timbers, Arkansas. From here the 8th, with the forces, marched to Pea Ridge, where on the 6th, 7th and 8th of March a great battle was fonght, resulting in a complete victory for General Curtis' army. The 8th's loss was thirty-eight killed and wounded. In this en-
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EIGHTH INFANTRY.
gagement the rebel generals McCullough and MeIntosh were killed and the former general's son was also killed.
After the engagement at Pea Ridge the forces went into camp at Cross Timbers. Soon after the 8th, with other troops, made a diversion toward Bentonville. The enemy retreating from that place, our forces returned to camp, where they remained until the 6th of April, waiting for supplies to come up, of which they were greatly in need. On the 6th of April the army marched in the direction of Forsythe, Mo., over the Ozark Mountains, and then proceeded down the valley of the White River and across the coun- try to Batesville, Ark., halting at Sulphur Springs for nearly two months. Leaving the latter place June 22d it reached Helena, on the Mississippi River, on the 13th of July. The command suffered greatly on this arduous march by reason of the scarcity of pro- visions, there being but a scanty supply with the command, and very little in the country. Very often the daily rations consisted of four ears of corn, with a very small allowance of meat.
During this march some sharp skirmishing was had with the enemy in the canebrakes of White River, and a sharp engagement was fought at Cotton Plant. In August while on an expedition a skirmish was had with a small force of the enemy at Austin, Miss. On the 6th of October the 8th was assigned to the command of General Steele and proceeded by steamer to Sulphur Hill, near St. Louis, Mo., from which place it marched to Ironton on the 11th of October, and from thence marched and countermarched through the southeastern portion of the State until March 6, 1863, when the regiment embarked on a steamer at St. Genevieve to join General Grant's army, then organizing at Milliken's Bend, La. Here it was assigned to Benton's First Brigade, General Carr's Fourteenth Division of the Thirteenth Army Corps, Gen. John A. MeClernand commanding.
April 12th the 8th Regiment, with its division, marched to Per- kins' plantation, arriving there the 21st day of April, where was left all regimental property and transportation and the troops put in light marching order. April 29th the 8th embarked on a steamer that had run by the batteries at Vicksburg and passed down the river to near Grand Gulf, a position the enemy had strongly forti- fied. Our troops remained on the boats nearly all day watching our gunboats in their attempt to silence and destroy the heavy guns at Grand Gulf, which they were unable to do, and our troops dis- embarked and marched across a neck of a bend in the river.
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INDIANA AT VICKSBURG.
That night, the 29th. Porter's fleet of gunboats and the steamers ran by Grand Gulf, and the next day the troops re-embarked and passed down the river to Hard Times Landing and disembarked on the east side of the Mississippi, and the 8th, with its command, took up the march and participated in the battle at Port Gibson on the 1st day of May, losing four enlisted men killed and thirty-eight wounded. After an all-day engagement the enemy was driven from the field late in the evening with a considerable loss and fell back across the south fork of the Big Bayou Pierre, burning the bridge in their retreat.
On the 3d day of May the Pioneer Corps had a bridge completed and the 8th Regiment, with its division, crossed the river and marched by way of Willow Springs, Rocky Springs and Five Mile Creek to Fourteen Mile Creek. May 12th it was in supporting dis- tance of Logan's Division during the engagement at Raymond, May 12th, when Logan's Division completely routed Gregg's Confeder- ate forces.
The 8th Regiment marched through Raymond and went into eamp near the town. On the 13th it marehed to Clinton, near Jack- son, and was in supporting distance of our forees in the capture of Jackson, the capital city of Mississippi. On the 15th the regi- ment marched back to near Raymond, where it camped and, being without tents, had all the pleasures of a deluge of rain. On the 16th the regiment marched to near Champion's Hill, where the di- vision was held in reserve until late in the afternoon. About that time the enemy was beginning to give way, and the 8th was ordered to the south side of the Raymond road, and, advancing rapidly, deploying as skirmishers to the front, captured several prisoners who seemed willing to be captured. Just before the 8th crossed Baker's Creek, as it was erossing an elevated piece of ground, it came in full view of a Confederate regiment which was quite near, evidently being sent to the front as reinforcements and not aware that their army had given up the field. The 8th fired into them, and at about the same time Captain Klauss' First In- diana Battery, on the Raymond road near by, seeing the rebel regi- ment, wheeled into position and was on the point of firing when the enemy, taking in the situation, surrendered. The volley the 8th fired into them killed their eolonel and wounded a number of men. General Loring's Division, that escaped on our extreme right, fired several shots from their artillery at the 8th without injury.
The regiment marched to Edward's Station, on the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad, arriving there after dark. At this station
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EIGHTH INFANTRY.
the enemy's ammunition train fell into our hands, which they set on fire before abandoning it, and the bursting shells and flashes of fire in the dark looked like a battle. Notwithstanding the danger, our men uncoupled a lot of cars and pushed them out of danger, saving a large quantity of ammunition.
On the morning of the 17th, the 8th, with its command, marched to Black River Bridge, and with Benton's Brigade formed in line on the south side of the railroad, and as they advanced they were met with a sharp fire from the enemy's artillery on the bluffs of the west side of the river and with their artillery and small arms in the trenches on the east side of the river. About ten o'clock a. m., our troops having gotten in position, a general assault was made, capturing the enemy's strongly fortified position, together with seventeen pieces of artillery and two thousand prisoners. Quite a number succeeded in eseaping over the high trestle bridge across the river, and after doing so set fire to the bridge and de- stroyed it.
The Pioneer Corps began at once the construction of a pontoon bridge across the Big Black River, and at 7 o'clock on the morning of the 18th troops began crossing to the west side; Smith's Tenth Division leading and the 8th Regiment and Benton's Brigade fol- lowing, and advanced thus in front of the enemy's works at Vieks- burg.
They formed on the left of Smith's Division, their left being on the railroad, and here they remained during the night of the 18th, and on the 20th Carr's Division relieved Smith's Division, which was close to the enemy's works.
May 22d the 8th took part in the general assault, and with Ben- ton's Brigade advaneed against the lunette on the Baldwin's Ferry road, on or very near the parapet of which some of its colors were planted. The assault proved unsuccessful, and the men of the 8th, being greatly exposed to a flank fire, sought such protection as they could find, some of them crossing to the south side of the rail- road, where they lay until darkness gave them a chance to slip away. In this assault the 8th lost 3 officers killed-Captains O'Daniel, Wysong and Vandevender-19 noncommissioned officers and en- listed men killed and 1 officer and 94 enlisted men wounded. Among these were three color sergeants shot down, and when Color Sergeant Swafford fell his son grasped the colors and held them aloft through the storm of shot and shell.
The 8th remained with the brigade during the siege and held the right center of the corps line of investment, its right resting
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INDIANA AT VICKSBURG.
on the railroad, and made an approach on the railroad redoubt. This approach was but thirty feet from the enemy's trench at the surrender.
During the siege, and especially the latter part of it, there was a kind of mutual understanding between the pickets of the two forces that there should be no firing at each other after dark, and a general conversation was kept up by the men on picket duty and a good deal of trading done. The rebels were short of coffee and had tobacco, and this suited the men of our army.
During the night of the 3d of July it was pretty generally un- derstood that some kind of a truce was on, and firing ceased along every part of the line, and eight or ten of the enemy who belonged to a Texas regiment came over the trenches and spent an hour or two with the boys of the 8th, who filled them up with coffee and hardtack, they expressing the opinion that they had enough fight- ing and if opportunity offered would go home.
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