USA > Indiana > The Eighty-sixth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry : a narrative of its services in the civil war of 1861-1865 > Part 44
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were evidently very greatly excited, and probably almost as badly frightened as the poor privates.
The Fourth corps was far in advance in the pursuit of all other infantry, in fact, up with the cavalry at this time, and General Wood probably deemed it unwise to push on farther during the night, and so ordered the command to halt. Had the men been allowed to run on and attack the enemy, as some of them, at least, wanted to do, quite a large number of prisoners might have been secured, together with artillery and wagons, as the enemy was badly demoralized. There were not over twenty-five or thirty of the Eighty- sixth present when this swale was first reached. but they were all soldiers and ready for the work before them. Others speedily came up, and they continued to arrive, until a good force was on hand, and in a very short time the entire regiment was there and ready to go forward if the command should be given. By this time the Confederates had entirely withdrawn. One by one they went at first, until their officers saw it was the sheerest folly to try to hold them, when they all scampered, rejoiced in being allowed to get away so easily.
It is a fact, accepted by all who have written upon the details of the battle of Nashville, that Wood's Fourth corps led in the pursuit of the enemy on the evening of the second day's battle, and bivouacked for the night far in advance of all other infantry commands of General Thomas' army. It is equally certain that the men of Colonel Knefler's brigade, of Beatty's Third division, led those of the Fourth corps, and of these the Eighty-sixth were in the front line, and were abreast of the leaders. This much is due the Eighty-sixth, Colonel Dick and his subordinate officers. Neither Colonels Knefler nor Dick ever permitted their men to hang back when there was work to be done, and on this day as at Missionary Ridge, the men had no disposition to loiter by the wayside, but crowded to the front with the greatest spirit and courage, aye rushed gleefully forward as if invited to a banquet where only friends were to be met, and where unclouded joy and
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
unrestrained pleasure were to be found and quaffed as the soul's most inspiring draught.
It was a great day of battle and this its most notable assault-the climax, in fact, of the two day's battle. The bat- tle of Nashville was one of the most decisive victories of the war, in which many hard knocks were given and received, before the end came, but which came quickly and surely in the dusk of the evening when the final grand assault was made by the Union forces. From one end of Hood's intrench- ments to the other the blue lines of the advancing columns of the Federal troops could be seen charging upon the enemy with the most daring impetuosity. There was, therefore, at this stage of the game no time, chance, or opportunity to reinforce this or that part of the appalled Confederate bat- tle-line. The forces, marshaled as they were, must meet the shock of the onward, rushing battalions, or suffer defeat and utter rout. There was no escape from this dread alternative. The one swinging, crushing blow that was to decide the bat- tle was delivered with the full force of Thomas' combined divisions, and came too soon, after the repulse of the smaller attacking column on the left, to permit a re-adjustment of Hood's forces. This combined attack changed the status of affairs from that of the previous assault, by Post's brigade and Steedman's colored troops, and crowned the last attack with a glorious success. Few as they had been in the former attack, the Union troops had fought the enemy to the verge of victory, and that, too, over magnificently constructed breastworks on the enemy's own well chosen ground. The Eighty-sixth might well have said
" We have seen the cannon,
When it hath blown his ranks into the air. And like the devil, from his very arm Puti'd his own brother."
The fire of the contending batteries was terribly fierce and the slaughter great during the brief half hour the assault was maintained, yet the Third brigade was unappalled and rushed to the fray when ordered to charge into the fiery girdle-the flaming crater on the crest of Overton's Hill-
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the Eighty-sixth leading and her companion regiments fol- lowing with equal enthusiasm, spirit, and courage.
It has been said that "a victory, is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers," and this is prob- ably as nearly applicable to Thomas' victory at Nashville as any general battle fought during the war, if it is taken into consideration that his forces were the attacking ones, but it is still more applicable to the assault of Colonel Knefler's brigade which was led by Colonel George F. Dick and his regiment, the Eighty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Again had the Eighty-sixth and Seventy-ninth Indiana and the Nineteenth and Thirteenth Ohio earned for themselves the right to be termed "rash, inconsiderate fiery voluntaries," by their daring courage and the impetuosity of their assault upon the rebel works on Overton's Hill, where before their very eyes so many of their comrades had been slain and the remainder of the attacking force had been apparently so easily repulsed.
Said a captured Brigadier General, in speaking of this charge: "Why, Sir, it was the most wonderful thing I ever witnessed. I saw you were coming and held my fire-a full brigade, too-until they were in close range. could almost see the whites of their eyes, and then poured my volley right into their faces. I supposed, of course, that when the smoke lifted, your line would be broken and your men gone. But it is surprising, Sir, it never even staggered them. Why, they did not come forward on a run. But right along, cool as fate, your line swung up the hill, and your men walked right up to and over my works and around my brigade, before we knew that they were upon us. It was astonishing, Sir. such fighting."
The various regiments of the brigade sustained the rep. utations they had won at Stone's River. Chickamauga. Mis. sionary Ridge and all through the Atlanta campaign. by winning in the most brilliant and gallant manner this strong- hold of Hood's position in a few brief minutes, and with com- paratively small loss. Of the number of prisoners and small arms captured by the Eighty-sixth or Knefler's brigade, Col-
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onel Knefler reported 158 prisoners and 9 guns, Beatty's Third division captured 721 prisoners, and 13 field pieces. The Fourth corps captured 1,968 prisoners and 25 guns, besides many thousands of small arms, and regimental colors of which no account could be taken. All this was accom- plished with a loss of but 750 men killed and wounded of the entire corps.
Of the many incidents of the battle worthy of being chronicled it would be difficult to make a selection for these pages. The courage of the men were at the highest pitch, and all gave evidence of their determination to capture the enemy's works and win the day if indomitable courage and audacity could do it. Never was the regiment or brigade more perfectly in unison, more thoroughly combined by a dogged, inflexible purpose than they were on this day united instantaneously, on the word of command to "Forward, " by the resolution to capture Overton's Hill and end the day's battle. The officers of the Eighty-sixth were all aglow with the spirit of battle and nobly sustained and encouraged the men to press forward and on to still greater achievements of valor and heroism. To these let all praise be given, but let us not mar the memory of the occasion by trying to put one above the other,-officers and men were in the grand rush simply unmatched and matchless soldiers. Could more be said?
One incident occurred in the Eighty-sixth, but was no part of it, which is worthy of recital because it shows to some extent the depth of the heroism of the colored soldier. It has become a trite saying, "The colored troops fought nobly, " more frequently quoted in a spirit of levity than out of admiration for their heroic courage. No one who wit- nessed the first assault on Overton's Hill, will ever question the true courage of the down trodden colored man. When Post's brigade, of Beatty's division, and Thompson's brigade of colored troops, were repulsed a number of the latter held their ground well up to the enemy's works, not retiring when the columns of assault retired. Here they remained until the onset of Knefler's brigade. They joined the leaders of
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the storming column and went over the works with the spirit and resolution of veterans. One of these was so elated by the final, but what, no doubt, seemed to him long delayed. success, of the Union troops that he jumped upon a piece of artillery and stroked it with his hand as he might have done a favorite horse or dog, patting and petting it as though it were a thing of sense and intelligence. Of course he was an ignorant, unlearned colored man, but he knew the victory was gained. At first he and his comrades had been beaten. Many of them lay just over the works-dead. He, however, was unwilling to acknowledge it was a defeat. He waited and watched for assistance to accomplish the work. But these grim monsters -- these bull-dogs of war roared on, belched forth death and destruction, and it seemed that no body of men could stand before them and live. much less capture the works. But with the spirit of a true hero he persevered in waiting and watching until hope was almost 'gone. His intrepidity was to have its own proper reward- victory. A handful of men came over their partly con- structed works and started for those blazing cannon. He waits. They come abreast of his cover, still on the run. He is unlearned in books and scholastic training, but he is a close observer and has been a student of nature and the human countenance all his life, and now he reads in every linea- ment of the rugged faces of these men that they mean to capture these works, that hill, cannon, and all else that do not run away from them. It was enough. He joins the pro- cession, and rushing among the Eighty-sixth he goes over the works with a leap and a shout. The enemy flees. The works are taken. The hill is captured. The guns are silenced. He is satisfied and looks no farther. This to him was the complete victory-the end of the battle, and he was as happy as the laurel crowned hero in the greatest triumph. He himself was a hero as was many of his comrades on that dreadful day on the bloody slopes of Overton's Hill. All honor to the colored soldiers although in their magnificently sustained charge they failed, and equal honor is due to the Second brigade.
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
The battle of Nashville was one of the great decisive battles of the war. There can be little doubt that it created a greater depression in the hearts of the people of the South than any single battle fought prior to that time. The battle of Franklin had cast a cloud of gloom over many Southern homes for the loss of their loved ones who fell there, but it was a personal sorrow rather than one of the whole people, as their army still advanced farther north, and many retained a hope that the intrepid Hood with his brave army would do even more than he had promised, and proceed on north until the Ohio river was crossed and the Northern States success- fully invaded. This would call large reinforcements from Grant's army before Richmond and relieve Lee, and possibly create such an impression in Europe as to lead to the recog- nition of the Confederacy by foreign powers. But now after the battle of Nashville hope was gone, and to the personal sorrow of the individuals for the loved and lost, were added the sorrow and gloom and depression of spirits of a disap- pointed people that had held high hopes for the near future of this so called government.
The Nashville papers, which were received the next day while in pursuit of the enemy, stated that Thomas had cap- tured about 5,000 prisoners and more than 30 pieces of artil- lery. According to later accounts this is too high as to the number of prisoners taken. To be brief as to the captures made from the enemy during these two day's battle, they were as follows: Prisoners, 4,462, and 53 pieces of artil- lery and thousands of small arms. General J. D. Cox says in his history of the battle that "Thomas' return of prison- ers captured, and deserters received during November and December, show the number to be over thirteen thousand; besides these he reports the capture of seventy-two cannons and three thousand muskets."
At 6 o'clock that evening, from his headquarters eight miles south of Nashville, General Thomas dispatched Presi- dent Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, from which the follow- ing extract is made.
"This army thanks you for your approbation of its conduct yester-
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day, and assures you that it is not misplaced. I have the honor to report that the enemy has been pressed at all points to-day on his line of retreat to the Brentwood Hills. * Brigadier General Wood's troops on the Franklin pike took up the assault. capturing the enemy's intrenchments, and in his retreat also capturing eight pieces of artillery, something over 600 prisoners, and drove the enemy within one mile of the Brent- wood Hill Pass."
The Eighty-sixth bivouacked in the edge of the swale before mentioned where the pursuit of the enemy ended on the evening of the 16th. The men were in fine spirits. They had by their valor, with their companions in arms, sent the braggart Hood whirling southward. It is true a portion of this same army had been beaten almost, if not quite, as badly at Missionary Ridge, but not all of it was so routed. At the latter battle that portion of the rebel army opposed to the Fourth and Fourteenth corps, had been perhaps nearly as badly beaten from what they thought an impregnable posi- tion, and that, too, in a very unexpected manner, but Har- dee's magnificent corps. the flower of Bragg's army on the rebel right, opposed to Sherman's forces. were not so beaten, and. in fact, had held their ground until nightfall and then withdrew in good order, and with their organization intact and perfect morale, as was evidenced by the battle they gave General Hooker's command the following day at Ringgold. Not so here at Nashville. Every command. every regiment. in the rebel intrenchments opposed to the Federal troops were utterly routed, and either captured or chased like the wild deer of the forest. from their posts and breastworks. The rank and file of the Union troops knew this and appre- ciated their victory. They knew what it all meant. and were correspondingly jubilant. The Union loss had been exceed- ingly small for the result attained, and this also made the Federals feel happy. Therefore, around the Union bivouac fires that burned brightly on the night of December 16. 1864. near Brentwood Hill Pass. there gathered cheerful, happy groups of men who chatted in a lively, gleeful manner, and discussed the exploitsof the day's battle and its happy term- ination. This lively conversation was kept up during the time of preparation and disposal of the evening meal. There
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
was no ill-humor there. The boys almost hugged one another in the excess of their joyous good humor. It was a happy bivouac. The officers and men commingled in a free and easy manner. It was a grand victory.
The evening meal was speedily disposed of by the hungry men, the "shake downs" were spread here and there upon 'the lap of mother earth " for the night's rest, and the weary men were soon in the land of pleasant dreams. Shortly after the men had gone to rest, torrents of rain began to fall and the drowsy soldiers were soon wallowing in water. Wearied and sleepy as they were, the water drove them from their beds upon the earth to perch like so many fowls at roost, here or there, on stumps, logs, or limbs, or anything, or anywhere, to get up out of the water and shield themselves from the rain. Consequently the night's sleep and rest were almost wholly lost.
Reveille was sounded for the Eighty-sixth and the Third brigade at 4:30 a. m. on the 17th. The preparation of the morning meal and its disposal, the drying of blankets and pup tents, required the greatest dispatch that the men might be ready when the order was given to march.
About 8 o'clock the regiment was formed and received the order from Colonel Dick to "Double column on the cen- ter at half distance -- march, " and thus it advanced through forest and field until well up to Brentwood Hill Pass. Marching in this way was tiresome. Besides the manner of marching, the warm and super-abundant rains, had rendered the ground very soft, especially in the cultivated fields, and consequently the footing was bad and the progress slow. A certain amount of caution was necessary, as it was thought possibly that the enemy might have rallied sufficiently dur- ing the night to attempt to make a stand at Brentwood Hill Pass, at least, to delay pursuit. But he had been too severely beaten and was too badly demoralized to think of risking any of his forces by attempting to make a stand at that point. Having found no armed enemy at the Pass the regiment was permitted to march upon the road in the ordi- nary route step. Shortly after it had reached the pike some
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
four hundred and fifty rebels and their officers passed the Third brigade going now for sure to Nashville. Wilson's cavalry, Knipe's division, had captured them at Hollow Tree Gap, four miles north of Franklin. So many prisoners had been taken and more still coming in was quite cheering and all felt that Hood's army would not be in the way very long.
Knefler's brigade, of Beatty's division. arrived at the north bank of the Harpeth river about 4 o'clock on the 17th and bivouacked for the night not far from Fort Granger, and during the evening drew rations for three days. Wood was as expeditious as any one could have been with infantry in getting to Franklin, but Wilson's cavalry beat him there. They had driven the frightened enemy from the town, and had taken about 2,000 wounded in the Confederate hospitals, 200 of which were Federals. The enemy was getting away with the greatest precipitancy and had no time to furnish transportation for the wounded. It was as much as the able- bodied could do to get away with sufficient speed to save themselves from capture, and all seemed pretty thoroughly frightened at this stage of the game. The recent heavy rains had swollen the streams, already full. to an unusual degree. and the roads were abominable. It was manifestly out of the question for the troops to make rapid progress in the pursuit. General Cox says: "Hood's retreat from Nash- ville. to the Tennessee and Thomas' pursuit were almost equally laborious for their armies, though very different in their effects upon the spirits of the troops. The roads were in horrible condition. even those which had been macadam . ized being almost impassable. The ordinary country roads were much worse, and, after passing Pulaski. till the Ten- nessee was reached, the wreck of wagons and the carcasses of animals filled the way."
On the morning of the 18th reveille was sounded at 4:30 and about 8 o'clock Knefler's brigade filed out from its place of bivouac, crossed the Harpeth river, and marched once more through the town of Franklin. But this time the Union troops were the pursuers, not the pursued. Following Hood's footsteps they took the Columbia pike. The evidences of the
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
desperate repulse the rebel army had met here were to be seen. Upon the immediate right and left of where the pike passed through the Federal breastworks, the most desperate fighting of the battle of Franklin occurred. Here the enemy, by General Wagner's error, succeeded in taking a portion of the works. In some respects it was the most desperate battle of the war. Just outside the intrenchments the very great number of graves told how great the slaughter of the Confederates had been. These brave Southerners had crowded close upon the works and almost fell in heaps around the lines of the Union army's intrenchments. Near the pike, on the east side, was where the desperate and aggrieved Cleburn tried to gain, for the complaining Hood, the battle, by the most indomitable courage. A little farther on to the east was the place where with equal impetuous courage Brigadier General John Adams lost his life in a most daring assault upon the works in a vain attempt to break the Union line, his horse falling astride of the Federal parapet, while he himself, by the momentum of his rush upon the works, was pitched headlong into the Union ranks mortally wounded.
Having passed beyond the town of Franklin one mile a halt was called and the troops were permitted to rest, when they were not tired. The cavalry was in the advance and had run up against some barricades defended by the rear guard of the enemy. It required some time to make the proper disposition of the troops for the attack, but when it was once made they carried the barricades in whirlwind fashion, dispersing the enemy and capturing a number of the defenders of the works. The onward march of the infantry was at once resumed and was continued steadily, the column passing through Spring Hill and some distance beyond, biv- ouacking at dark. During the night of the 18th there was a terrific rain storm. The down pour of water was wonderful, all low grounds were flooded, and the soldiery and their par- aphernalia were thoroughly soaked. The march was resumed on the morning of the 19th. Generals Wood and Wilson acting most promptly and energetically on Thomas'
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
instructions to press the enemy. The rain continued to fall but it grew much colder during the day. About 11 o'clock a. m. Rutherford's creek was reached. The rebels in their retreat had destroyed the bridge, and as the creek was greatly swollen it was impossible to cross it until some kind of bridge could be constructed. The command bivouacked and work on a bridge was speedily commenced. A cold rain fell during the night, rendering the work on the bridge to proceed very slowly. It also made the soldiers' bivouac anything but a haven of rest and comfort. A day was most unpleasantly spent at this place, as it grew colder toward morning and froze considerably. About 1 o'clock p. m. on the 20th the bridge was completed, at least, it was ready for footmen, and the command marched out for Columbia. The Confederates had made good their escape across Duck river which was also impassable, as they allowed no bridges to remain in their rear. A cold rain continued to fall and the wind rose, forming a combination that thoroughly chilled one to the bone, and it was a first rate producer of neuralgias and rheumatisms. Is it to be wondered that so many old soldiers in after years complain of suffer- ing with rheumatism and nervous troubles? The Fourth corps followed close upon the heels of the cavalry down to Duck river opposite the town of Columbia. The river was running wild, now a mighty stream, wholly impassable without a good bridge. It could not be crossed until pon- toons could be brought up from the rear. The command bivouacked near the river and the men made preparations to try to secure as much comfort out of the situation as was possible. They began once more to do some artistic work for the benefit of their commissary. They were growing tired of the exclusive diet of hard tack and bacon, and as "variety is the spice of life," they thought a change of diet would be relished by themselves and comrades as well as conducive to their well-being. Hard marching over bad roads, building bridges, standing picket day and night. in sun and in rain, in sleet and in snow, either broke one down speedily or gave him a robust appetite. The gobble of a
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
turkey, the cackle of a hen, or the squeal of a pig, was sure to call out a strong detachment of the boys to search for the offender against the peace and quiet of the bivouac. And there was seldom any escape from the experts sent out on such occasions. The activity of the men was also forced to exercise itself in procuring fuel. Fires were an absolute necessity to keep one from freezing, to say nothing of their needs for cooking purposes. A light snow fell on the night of the 20th, and taking this as a warning that winter was not over, the bivouac of the Eighty-sixth was a busy one throughout the day of the 21st, laying in supplies of straw for bedding, eatables, and fuel. The day was a painful one to those not exceptionably well clad or very robust, and the cold grew more penetrating and disagreeable as the darkness of night approached. This bivouac on the banks of Duck river will long be remembered by the hardy men, officers and privates, of the Fourth corps who during this pursuit and winter campaign endured almost the hardships and privations of the Revolutionary fathers at Valley Forge.
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