USA > Indiana > Memorabilia of the marches and battles in which the One Hundredth Regiment of Indiana Infantry Volunteers took an active part : War of the Rebellion, 1861-5 > Part 6
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We first encountered Johnston's Army at or near Ringgold about the 5th of May, and for seventy- three days we had engaged it constantly-had driven it out of the mountain gaps and passes where it had fortified itself. We had driven it from the hill sides, the mountain tops and gorges for a distance of a hundred miles, always attack- ing it in front or flank, and only the impregnable character of its strongholds and the very excel- lent generalship of General Johnston prevented us from killing and capturing his whole army. These results so displeased Jefferson Davis that on the 17th day of July he sent a telegram as fol- lows to General Johnston:
"Richmond, July 17, 1864. "General J. E. Johnston: * * I am di- rected by the Secretary of War to inform you that as you have failed to arrest the advance of the enemy to the vicinity of Atlanta, far in the interior of Georgia, and express no confidence that you can defeat or repel him, you are hereby relieved from the command of the Army, * which you will immediately turn over to General Hood. "S. Cooper, A. and I. General."
General Johnston received this dispatch on the night of the 17th. The Confederate War Department telegraphed General Hood as fol- lows:
"You are charged with a great trust * * be wary, but no less bold. * God be with you. "
General Johnston delivered a short, but very complimentary farewell address to his soldiers. General Hood expressed an opinion to Jefferson Davis that it was unwise to change commanders
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at that time. On the ISth he telegraphed Jeffer- son Davis that he had assumed command of the Army (Serial 76, pages 885 et seg ).
On the same day at 10 A. M., one of our spies who had just come out of Atlanta informed Gen- cral Sherman that General J. B. Hood had suc- ceeded General Johnston, and General Sherman said that Hood was brave and rash and that the change in commanders meant a fight. (Sher- man's Memoirs, 2, p. 72.)
On the 18th Major R. M. Johnson was de- tailed on General Harrow's staff and left the Regiment for the front. On the same day the Ist Brigade, to which the Tooth belonged, moved to within one mile of Decatur, to the east of At- lanta and went into position and fortified. On the 19th the Brigade moved again, passed through Decatur, on the road towards Atlanta. About 2 o'clock the Ist Brigade, Col. Reub Williams, commanding, moved to the support of Morgan L. Smith's Division and was placed on his left. During this time the enemy shelled our line unmercifully. In the evening the other two Brigades came up and went into position on the left, when the whole Division moved forward and took position in front of the enemy and at once fortified.
On the 20th the Army of the Cumberland was assaulted by the Confederate army under the new commander, J. B. Hood, and a bloody bat- tle was fought. The enemy made the attack just before 4 P. M. Ile was driven back into his entrenchments, leaving 500 dead and 1,000 wounded lying on the field. General Sherman estimates the entire loss of the enemy at 5,000. The Union loss was 1, 500 all told. The heaviest
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loss was sustained by the 20th Corps. The en- gagement is known as the Battle of Peach Tree Creek. (From Sherman's official report.)
The 2Ist was spent in caring for the dead and wounded on both sides, and the Union army felt the enemy's lines, which he occupied in force, at an average of about four miles out of Atlanta.
Battle of Atlanta.
On the morning of the 22d it was found that the enemy had abandoned their line of works in our front and the Ist Brigade was ordered to ad- vance and take a position in the line of works abandoned by the enemy.
At 7 A. M. this was done and the works were reversed so as to front toward the enemy. At noon very heavy firing began in front of the 17th Corps on our left, which soon became gen- eral and by night fall the Battle of Atlanta had been fought and won by the Union army.
This was General Hood's second attack within three days, and is usually denominated Hood's first sortie. The 15th Army Corps bore the brunt of the battle. The fighting in front of Harrow's Division was very severe. The brave and intrepid Major Johnson, of the 100th Indiana, had charge of the Division skirmish line, and was surrounded and taken prisoner while bravely do- ing his duty in the thickest of the battle. Major Johnson is favorably mentioned for gallantry in the official reports of Generals Harrow, Williams and Col. Heath. He was taken prisoner very near the spot where General McPherson was killed and under very similar circumstances.
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In this battle General McPherson, com- manding the Army of the Tennessee, was killed, to whose memory the highest tributes have been paid. General Logan at once assumed com- mand. In his official report, speaking of this battle, he says:
"The fighting along the entire line of the Corps (15th) was of the most desperate charac- ter, often being hand to hand. The troops could not have acted more gallantly or behaved better. The losses were on that day 118 killed, 414 wounded, 535 missing; aggregate, 1,067. The Corps captured 481 prisoners and buried over 400 dead Confederates in front of their line."
Of the entire Confederate loss in this en- gagement, 3,240 were killed; 2,200 dead were actually counted. Soo dead bodies were deliv- ered under a flag of truce, so that their entire loss was not less than 10,000. General Hood makes no mention in his official report of what his losses were, and blames General Hardee for the failure of the attack. The Union loss was
3,722 killed, wounded and missing. (See official report General Sherman; also Hood's official report, Serial 74, p. 631.)
On the 26th we placed some batteries in po- sition and began to shell the enemy pretty lively. This was kept up all day and at midnight, the Army of the Tennessee left its works on the De- catur road and moved silently, behind the other Corps of the Army, to Proctor's Creek, the 16th Corps formed on the right of the Army, the 17th next and the 15th on the extreme right. The line of the latter Corps, facing almost east and being west and southwest of Atlanta.
On the night of the 27th, the First Brigade
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was halted in the rear of the 16th Corps, which was then the left of the Army of the Tennessee, where it remained in line of battle throughout the night.
Battle of Ezra Church.
On the 28th at daylight, the First Brigade moved to the right about a mile and a half when it was halted and formed in line of battle, to sup- port the Third Brigade, Col. Oliver command- ing. This was quickly done, and the whole Di- vision then moved forward, through a dense wood and halted at the edge of the timber, with several open fields in our front.
The First Brigade was then placed on the right of the Third and the whole line moved to the edge of the fields, at the crest of the hill in front. This was done under a severe fire of ar- tillery from the enemy's batteries posted at the further side of the open fields before us. Col. Williams ordered the line to fortify at once. "Scarcely had these orders been given and the men had time to throw up a slight protection, be- fore the enemy were reported advancing in force" across the fields in our front. "And very soon our skirmishers were driven in, closely followed by the enemy's main line, they were soon repulsed and driven back, but only to come again, with more determination and increased numbers" (Col. Reub. Williams Off. Report). The en- emy made one assault after another and for six hours, an incessant roar of musketry was kept up and every assault or attempt to drive our
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men from their position was fruitless. During the battle the goth Illinois was taken from its position, to support the Third Brigade which was hard pushed by the enemy at one time. Col. Gilmore of the Twenty-sixth says "his line was assaulted four times," the fourth assault be- ing the most desperate of the day. The enemy were within ten steps of his lines. One hundred and twenty-nine dead Rebels, were buried in front of the Twenty-sixth Illinois, which had forty men killed and wounded.
This engagement took place about two and a half miles west of Atlanta, and is called by us the Battle of Ezra Church. The fight was es- sentially a 15th Army Corps battle, although Generals Blair and Dodge rendered valuable as- sistance at an opportune time, as the 15th Army Corps was fighting two Corps of the Rebel army. General Logan says, in his official report, that the enemy moved forward in good order, intend- ing to break our lines. During the first hour's fighting, which was terrific, the enemy lost ten men to our one, but they reformed again and
made a most desperate assault. Four assaults were made. The battle lasted from 11:30 until dark. The Rebels had one battery, we had none. The Union loss was 50 killed, 439 wounded and 73 missing; total loss, 562. Har- row's Division captured 5 battle flags, 2,000 muskets and 179 prisoners. 600 dead Rebels were buried in front of the 15th Corps the next day. The weather was so hot and the ground so hard that the interment of the bodies was very superficial and many hands and feet were left exposed.
General Logan also says in his official re-
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port, that the enemy's loss could not have been less than 6,000 or 7,000. The assault was made by Lee's and Hardee's entire Corps. This bat- tle is denominated Hood's second sortie. His official report of this battle consists of twelve lines, and says nothing about his losses. (Serial 74-631-2.)
Notes of the Battle.
The enemy formed on the Lickskillet Road; that is, Johnson's, Sharp's, Brantley's and Mani- gault's Brigades of Hindman's old Division, and assaulted the 15th Army Corps at Ezra Church. These four Brigades lost Soy men. Manigault was in reserve. The Confederates fought with great desperation. They seemed determined to drive us off the field, but not an inch was yielded.
They did not know that we were there in force until they were almost upon our works. When the 15th Corps turned loose on them Manigault's Brigade stampeded, but it recovered and fought bravely through the battle.
Toulman's Confederate Brigade took 1, 143 men into the action; 269 were lost. The 25th Alabama took in 173 men; loss 125. Manigault's Brigade, although in reserve part of the time, lost 170 men. The 44th Mississippi "had half their number shot down." The 24th and 29th Mississippi, consolidated, lost ISo out of 430. (Serial 74, official reports. )
General Harrow says, in his official report, that "If the soldiers of the 15th Corps had no other claim to consideration than their efforts on
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that day (July 28th) it would be enough to en. title them to the lasting gratitude of their country." (No. 74, p. 278.)
From the 29th of July to August 4th the Union lines were strengthened and in many places advanced. On the latter date Major Brown and sixty soldiers of the 70th Ohio fell in taking an advanced position from the enemy. On this date the 1ooth Indiana and 26th Illinois were transferred from the Ist to the 2d Brigade and the entire 3d added to the first. This gave us only two Brigades in Harrow's Division instead of three.
The 100th Indiana in the Siege of Atlanta.
By this battle, the investment of Atlanta was begun; from the 2nd to the 5th, the Union line was steadily extended to the right. On the 5th General Schofield lost about 400 men, in an effort to break the enemy's lines, on Utoy Creek.
On the 6th, General Hascall flanked the en- emy out of the position, from which General Schofield had failed to dislodge him. At this time the enemy's lines were about fifteen miles long, reaching from Decatur around Atlanta and near- ly to East Point and ours was still longer. The enemy had, before crossing the Chattahoochee a total of 86,475 men as follows, at Resaca he had 71,235. Then on May 17th he got Jack-
son's Cavalry 4,477 at Adairville. French's Division of 4,413 joined on the ISth at Cassville. May 24th the First Alabama (Canty), 650. On the same date Quarles Brigade of 2,400 at New
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Hope Church, and the Georgia State Militia under General G. W. Smith at Kenesaw on June 20th, 3,300 total 86,475. This force, less the losses from Tunnel Hill to Atlanta, was the number Hood had in his army during the siege of Atlanta.
On the roth four rifled cannon were put in position and put to work day and night causing frequent fires in the City of Atlanta.
On the 13th the 100th Indiana marched from Marietta, Georgia to Vinings Station, near the Chattahoochee River and on the 14th took a position, right on the Lickskillet Road, where the bullets were flying briskly from the Rebel lines around Atlanta.
On the field where we were encamped and along the Lickskillet Road, more than 500 bodies of dead Confederates were buried, as we were right in the middle of the field of July the 28th. The ground was very hard, and the bodies were buried in such haste, that it was poorly and very superficially done. One grave on this field con- tained 116 and another near by 125 bodies, be- sides there were a large number of other graves, containing a great many bodies each. A detail of the rooth reinterred all these bodies and cov- ered them deeper.
Our supplies ran short at this time and five days' rations were ordered for seven days. Sev- eral soldiers were killed on the line daily in our front.
On the ISth, at 10 P. M., there was a picket fight all along the lines, each shot, at the flash of the guns on the opposite line. Capt. Percy, chief engineer on General Harrow's staff, was killed, Taylor of Co. "B" wounded. On the 19th the
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Tooth went into the skirmish pits and again fired all night. Had a tremendous rain storm during the night. On the 20th we were relieved by the 103d Illinois. Company "G," while in the skir- mish pits, had James II. Nelson killed and John C. Clark, Company "B" was shot through the head.
The Tooth went into the skirmish pits again on the 23d, and on the 24th we pressed the Con- federate line hard all day. The artillery aided us by firing into the enemy's pits. On the 25th we sent all of our baggage to the rear, and were very lightly equipped and prepared for rapid work. David Soule of Company "B" was killed. We received orders to move at a mo- ment's notice. The 4th Corps moved from the extreme left to the extreme right. The 20th Corps went back to the Chattahoochee River.
The Siege of Atlanta Raised.
On Friday, the 26th, all surplus wagons and incumbrances of every kind, and all sick soldiers were ordered back to the Chattahoochee bridge, to our intrenched position. The 100th Indiana moved into the works and remained all day. At night the whole army moved away and left that Regiment in line in front of the whole Rebel Army. We were about six feet apart in the works, and kept up an incessant firing to mislead the enemy until ro o'clock P. M., when we moved out of our works and away from Atlanta. We were the last Regiment on that part of the line to leave our works. We marched till 3 A. M.
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The Confederates threw shot after us for at least three miles, killing one man. The night was ex- tremely dark and the road was rough and in the woods.
We first moved westwardly, toward Sand- town, then by a circuit, we bore to the south, and crossed Camp Creek. On the 27th we marched from early morning until 2 P. M. through the woods when we halted and fortified. This move brought us close to Fairburn, southwest of Atlanta.
On the 28th, we bore to the southeast seven miles and camped on the West Point Railroad. On the 29th we were roused up at 2 A. M. to tear up railroad track, at a point only seven- teen miles southwest of Atlanta. Some dead Rebels were lying in the road at a bridge, show- ing that other troops had passed before we did.
On the 30th, we moved forward at 8 A. M., marched till evening, crossed Flint River; the Tooth was out as flankers all day. We halted about a half a mile west of Jonesboro and formed in line of battle, about half way from Flint River to Jonesboro, with an open field directly in front of the 100th. The Regiment just covered the field. At 9 P. M. we fell in and fortified all night, skirmishing all night in our front. The trains were run by the enemy all night, bringing troops from Atlanta to Jonesboro, and massing them in our front.
Condensed Rebel Despatches.
The Rebels did not know what had become of us after we left our works at Atlanta. Major
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General Stevenson dispatched to General Hood at daybreak, that he occupied our picket line. General French dispatched General Sanders, ask- ing him if he had any information as to where we were. General Stewart dispatched General French at 10 A. M. not to leave his trenches until it was known where we were. General Hood ordered the respective commanders to push their scouts carefully forward and at IO A. M. he or- dered General Walthall to hold his command under arms ready to move at a moment's notice. At 1.45 A. M. the same order was given to Gen- eral Maney; and to Generals Smith and Fergu- son at 8:15 A. M. At 9 A. M. he ordered Gen- eral Jackson to "ascertain what is going on." (Serial 76, p. 991).
On the 27th Hood telegraphed Jefferson Davis that we had no forces within four miles of Atlanta. At daybreak Generals Lee and Stew- art reported to Hood that we were gone, but Hardee said we were still in his front. (Serial 76, pp. 994-995.)
On the 28th, at noon, Hood ordered General Armstrong to keep his forces well in hand, so that when he found us he could fall on us with effect. (Serial 76, p. 997.)
On the 29th, at 2 P. M., he ordered General Hardee "to ascertain the position of the enemy." (76-499.)
On the 30th, at 12:40 P. M., he dispatched Hardee, that no troops need be sent to Jonesboro, but at 6 p. M. he ordered Hardee to keep us off the railroad at Jonesboro if possible. At 5:45 P. M. Lee's command was ordered under arms, and at 6:35 P. M. Hardee was ordered to Jones-
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boro, and at 8:45 P. M. the same orders were sent to General Lee. (No. 76, p. 1003.)
On the 30th, at 5:15 P. M., General Lewis was ordered by General Hood to prevent us from crossing the Flint River. He also gave General Armstrong the same order. The truth was our movements had completely mystified the Con- federate generals. Having found out on the 30th where we were, General Hood, on the 31st, at 3 A. M., ordered Hardee's and Lee's Corps to be in position and that they " Must attack and drive the enemy across the river" (meaning the Flint, which was only a half a mile in our rear.) Ten minutes later he dispatched Hardee that he "Must not fail to attack the enemy so soon as he could get his troops up," and said, "I trust that God will give us victory." At 3:20 A. M. he dispatched Hardee, that he must say to his offi- cers and men that the necessity is imperative; that the enemy must be driven into and across the river, and at 10 o'clock he again dispatched HIardee, that he "desired the men to go at the enemy with the bayonet fixed, determined to drive everything they may come against. (76, p. 1006-7.)
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The 100th Indiana being assaulted in its works in the edge of the timber by a column of Hood's army moving across the open field, at the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, August 31st, 1864. The assault was repulsed with severe loss.
The 100th Indiana in the Battle of Jonesborough.
In obedience to the foregoing dispatches from General Hood, the Confederates undertook to drive us into Flint River, without flattering results. We were all in line at day break, in good works. The enemy was in plain sight in our front, where they had planted a battery dur- ing the night. Skirmishing went on briskly all day. About 2:30 P. M. the enemy shelled our line severely. Shortly afterward they charged upon us across the open field in our front, with great impetuousity. We repulsed them with
severe loss. They reformed and moved to our left, then attacked us again in front and were again repulsed. The Tooth captured Col. Bass, the major and a lieutenant of the 2d Rebel Ken- tucky, and 16 privates. The Colonel's arm was shot off. Sergt. M. L. Conkey and Lewis Kieth, of Company "B" and Sergeant Batts of Com- pany "K" were killed. J. Prosser and J. Critchet, of Company "A, " wounded. William Sharp, of Company "C," and John Hettinger, of Company "F," orderlies on General Harrow's staff, were both killed. General Harrow speaks very highly of them, in his official report of this battle.
The enemy were very neatly repulsed in
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front of Harrow's Division. They fought bravely and faced our line in the open field with great de- termination. Their batteries threw both shell and canister into our line.
As the Tooth covered the only open ground on the battlefield, that Regiment bore the brunt of the battle, and fought from behind good works and sustained a very small loss. Hazen's Divis- ion was on the left, Ilarrow's on the right and General Osterhaus in reserve. General Logan says: "The most terrible and destructive fire 1 ever witnessed was directed at the enemy and in less than an hour he was compelled to retire dis- comfited and in confusion." (IIis Official Re- port. )
The most determined part of the assault was maintained by General Hazen. * * It raged fiercely in front of Harrow and Oster- haus, the enemy approaching their line, at the average distance of 40 to 100 paces.
* * In front of the Second Division, (Haz- en's) 186 bodies of the enemy were buried, 99 prisoners captured, not including 79 wounded, also two stand of colors taken. The enemy's wounded General Hazen estimated at 1,000, afterward found to be greater. General Ilarrow buried 12 of the enemy's dead and took 56 prisoners, not including 60 wounded; the Con- federate dead were removed by them. General Osterhaus estimates the enemy's loss in his front at 500. He discovered 131 graves in a secluded part of the field.
General Logan says that in front of the 15th Corps there were found 500 killed, left on the field, and 5,000 wounded and 241 prisoners. The 15th Corps had only 154 killed, wounded
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and missing. In front of General Corse's Divis- ion of the 17th Corps, the enemy lost 500 killed, wounded and missing, while that Corps suffered the insignificant loss of 18 killed and wounded. Col. Bryant, of General Blair's Corps, estimates the enemy's loss in his front at 262 killed, wounded and missing. The great difference in the number killed on each side respectively shows the folly of assaulting a well armed and well in- trenched line of old soldiers by even greatly sup- erior numbers.
The Army of the Ohio and Cumberland en- gaged the enemy in a severe and bloody battle, in which the Confederates were defeated with great loss. On the night of the 31st, fifty men of the Tooth, under command of the writer, erected a fort in the rear of the right of that Regiment. On the Ist, skirmishing was kept up. One man of Company "E" was killed, and Sergeant Isaac Hockman and one man of Com- pany "G" wounded. There was heavy firing on the left all night.
At about 2 o'clock A. M. the sounds of heavy explosions were heard, in the direction of At- lanta, about twenty miles to the north. At 4 A. M. there was another series of explosions, which it was then thought might be a night at- tack on the 20th Corps, but were in fact caused by the blowing up of the enemy's magazines when they retreated from Atlanta.
The tooth Indiana in the Battle of Lovejoy.
On the 2d, at daylight our skirmishers ad- vanced to Jonesboro and found that the enemy
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had retreated toward Lovejoy. By order of General Walcutt, eight companies of the 100th took the advance of the 15th Army Corps and moved south toward Lovejoy. About half a mile south of Jonesboro they struck the enemy's cavalry. The Tooth Indiana deployed on the right and the 6th Iowa on the left of the road to Lovejoy.
"Then commenced a brisk, running fight for the next four miles, the Tooth Indiana driving the enemy so fast that he did not have time to take advantage of the rail works previously con- structed." The enemy then formed a long line of infantry in the front and opened on the 100th with artillery to prevent the capture of a wagon train in plain sight. These two Regiments were so exhausted that, by order of General Walcutt, they were relieved by the 46th Ohio and 103d Illinois. These at once charged the Rebel lines with great impetuosity, causing them to burn some of their wagons and retreat rapidly toward Lovejoy.
"September 2d the Brigade, especially the Tooth Indiana, the 103d Illinois and the 46th Ohio and the 6th Iowa in advance, in pursuit of Hardee, did splendidly, captured forty prisoners and punishing the enemy severely in killed and wounded." (Official Report General Walcutt, Sec. 74, p. 322.)
Lieutenant J. H. Moore, Co. "A," was mortally wounded by a shell. We took a com- manding position close up to the Rebel main line. We heard here for the first, of the fall of At. lanta.
We strenghtened our works and kept firing on the enemy, On the 4th, Anthony Olinger, of
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Company "A," was mortally wounded by a shot in the head. Sergeant Drake, Company "E," was also severely wounded. The bullets flew in close proximity to our heads all the time we were at that place.
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