USA > Indiana > The Eighty-sixth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry : a narrative of its services in the civil war of 1861-1865 > Part 45
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It was not until darkness had fallen on the night of the 22d that the bridge was completed ready for the troops to cross Duck river. Soon after dark the men of Knefler's brigade took up their burdens for a night march uncom- plaingly, and tramped off for the river which was crossed in in due time, but not in haste, as the darkness was almost impenetrable, rendering progress tediously slow. Passing through Columbia and probably a mile beyond, the brigade bivouacked. The Eighty-sixth was called upon to furnish pickets for the brigade, and sent out a heavy detail for that duty. It was no light or easy task to perform picket duty at this time. The enemy was in front, and although retreat- ing, he might turn and attack at any time. The cold was stinging one's fingers until the trusty Enfield could scarcely be held, but the duty was imperative and had to be per- formed. The pickets returned to the bivouac of the regi- ment at 1 o'clock on the 25th, the command being under orders to march, but for some reason it did not set for- ward until sundown. The column proceeded in the direc-
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tion of Pulaski and covered some four or five miles in the darkness of night and again bivouacked.
The Fourth corps was now for a short time the leaders, even of the cavalry in the pursuit of the enemy on the Pulaski road. On the morning of the 24th, however, the cavalry passed to the front again and pressed on after Hood's disor- ganized army. Now, however, the dare-devil Forrest had rejoined Hood's shattered column and assumed command of the rear-guard, in fact, reorganized a new rear-guard much more efficient than the one that acted up to this point. With Walthall's infantry command, and three other brigades of infantry, those which were the least broken and dispirited, and his own superb cavalry command Forrest combined an efficient force for defensive resistance, and throwing all the fiery energy of his nature into the command of this little army, he sought by every possible means known to military art, to stay the progress of the Union troops, but in vain. Still with this force, and favored by the inclement weather, the horrible state of the roads, and the delays to Wilson's cavalry and the Fourth corps caused by the swollen streams, he probably saved the remnant of Hood's frightened army from capture before reaching the banks of the Tennessee river. About 11 o'clock a. m. the command resumed the march forward, reached Lynnville midway between Columbia and Pulaski before night, and passing probably a mile beyond that place, bivouacked in a woods near the road. For Christ- mas eve the men suppered on the usual bill of fare of a soldier.
On Christmas morning the march was resumed at 9:30 o'clock. Christmas was to be celebrated by a grand rush after Hood's retreating column. The halts were brief, the column pressing steadily forward with a determination not hitherto evinced, or the conditions heretofore had rendered impracticable. The road was very muddy from the place of the night's bivouac to Pulaski. Knefler's brigade reached the latter place about 2:30 p. m. on Christmas day, after an absence a few days over a month. A halt was made here and the troops took advantage of the occasion and dined.
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
The march was soon resumed. The cavalry had come to the enemy's rear-guard. Forrest made a stout resistance at all points. The infantry was hurried forward as rapidly as the abominable condition of the roads would permit to assist Wilson and participate in the attack, but the enemy usually skurried off before it arrived. He was hard pressed by Wil- son, and had destroyed large quantities of ammunition in order to lighten the loads of his wagons. He also doubled the teams and spared no effort that nothing might impede his rapid progress. For some miles beyond Pulaski the road was literally strewn with the remnants of the destroyed cartridges. From Pulaski Hood's column had borne off to the southwest toward Florence, Alabama. From that town the roads were almost impassable. Passing over the red clay hills, the rebel troops had cut them up and worked them into a mire, which greatly impeded Wilson's move- ments in pursuit. Wilson's cavalry passing over them made them still worse for the passage of the Fourth corps, and, in fact, they were rendered almost impracticable. The roads were bad before reaching Pulaski and the clay hills, but they were as nothing as compared to the roads south and west of that place. They were, at best, but the poorest of country roads, but now worked by the passage of so many troops and wagons into a veritable quagmire. Both Wilson and Wood had to leave a portion of their artillery behind and double the teams on those pieces that were taken along, and even then the advance was slow. The command bivouacked about dark Christmas evening after having covered fifteen or sixteen miles, about half of it being over these villainous roads. It need scarcely be related that the men were greatly wearied and foot-sore when the place of bivouac was reached, and this was Christmas for 1864. It was a cold, dreary, cheerless time.
It was a land of desolation and dreariness. The Christ- mas chimes were those that rang out from the dread can- non's throat and not from merry bells. Christmas for the Eighty-sixth had always been fraught with hardships. The first one, the dreadful battle at Stone's River was impend-
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ing; the second one it was a little more than half starving in East Tennessee; and now it was enduring a dreadful march, after the great battle of Nashville. Christmas had brought no happy greetings, yet the men were not gloomy. "A shade of sadness," no doubt clouded the brows of many as they thought of home and its endearments, and the bright happy times enjoyed there, but it soon passed away and the men were cheery and anything but despondent. In fact, the Union army was in fine spirits for Christmas, because the men knew theirs to be much better and more cheering than Hood's and that of his army. One could almost quote the Southern stanza in the spirit of the author:
" Wild bells that shake the midnight alr With those dear tones that custom loves, You wake no sounds of laughter here, Nor mirth In all our silent groves; On one broad waste, by hill or flood, Of ravaged lands your music falls, And where the happy homestead stood The stars look down on roofless walls."
On the 26th orders were received to march, but the com - mand to set forward was not given. Rations were getting exceedingly scarce, but the supply train after a great effort and prodigious labors succeeded in getting up, and in the afternoon drew three days' rations to do five. Near night word came that the regiment would remain for the night.
On the 27th at 8 o'clock the onward march was resumed, but Hood was well out of Wilson's and Wood's reach and completed the crossing of the Tennessee river with his army on the evening of that day. But Wood pushed ahead. The roads were in the worst possible condition. The tough clay through which the men were compelled to trudge precluded the possibility of their making rapid progress, and many of the men became so exhausted they were unable to keep pace with the column and consequently there was much strag. gling. Having marched ten or twelve miles the command was halted and at length bivouacked at this point. Every- body who had marched afoot was thoroughly exhausted and worn out, more greatly wearied than they had often been in a march of twenty or thirty miles upon good roads. Yet
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
tired as all were the camp or bivouac duties, inexorable in their requirements, rested upon all alike and had to be per- formed. The weather on this day was warm and pleasant, being a marked change from the few preceding days.
On the 28th the tiresome tramp was resumed at 8o'clock a. m. The day's march was laborious in the extreme. The roads were of the same villainous character. Knefler's brig- age bivouacked on a hill in the woods not far from Lexing- ton, Alabama, some twenty miles distant from Florence, where Hood was supposed to have crossed the Tennessee river. In point of fact, however, Hood crossed the Tennes- see river at Bainbridge. Here ended the pursuit of Hood's demoralized army by the Fourth army corps, and it would probably have been just as well if Wood's command had been halted at Pulaski, as nothing was accomplished, so far as advantage over Hood's retreating army was concerned, by the slavish march from Pulaski south. The other infantry commands had been halted, Smith's at Pulaski, and Scho- field's Twenty-third corps at Columbia, the really hard work and service being put upon the Fourth corps.
On the morning of the 29th the "general call" was sounded, and preparation was made for marching, but after waiting some time the word came that the command would not move on this day. Then commenced, at once, other preparations, those which would conduce to the physical comfort. Some got up wood, others went foraging, while others carried up corn fodder with which to make shelters, or put up tents, and some "poor unfortunates" went on picket. Thus all had work to do and were busily engaged most of the day. The command remained here during the 30th, and on the night of that day there was a severe storm. First there was quite a rainfall, then it turned colder and finished up with a snow storm which almost entitled it to take rank as a northern "blizzard"-several inches of snow being on the ground on the morning of the 31st. The effec- tive strength of the regiment at this time was 190; an average of 19 men to each company.
Reveille was sounded at 4 o'clock. The march was
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
resumed about 7 o'clock a. m. but this time it was in an east- ward direction, toward Athens and Huntsville. The snow made the situation anything but pleasant. It made the roads muddy and slippery. A fair day's march was made and the bivouac of the Eighty-sixth was located on a high hill in a wood of large trees. Rails were conveniently near and the men had the comforting influence of good fires. And so passed away the year 1864 for the Eighty-sixth.
On the following day, the first day of the year, 1865, reveille was sounded about 4 o'clock and the troops made ready for marching, but did not move until about 2 o'clock p. m. The command then marched about one and a half miles and bivouacked on another very high hill in the woods. It remained here the 2d. There was a detail made for foraging, as well as an order for roll-call, something the Eighty-sixth was not accustomed to when on the march unless it was a general order to prevent straggling. The foraged meat was issued to the troops as rations. The com- mand rested at the bivouac until about 11:30 a. m. on the 3d, when the column set forward at 12 noon. Soon crossed Elk river and took the road to Athens. The march was made at a lively pace considering the condition of the roads. The command covered about eleven miles and bivouacked about 8 p. m. at Athens. Some of the Thirteenth Ohio boys got very angry at the brigade commander, Colonel Knefler, and in the darkness of the night called him all sorts of names. This they would not dared to have done in daylight. as the Colonel was a strict disciplinarian.
Reveille on the 4th was sounded at 5 a. m. and the col- umn marched at 7:30, passed through Athens and took the road to Huntsville. The march was made at a good telling pace and the place of bivouac reached about 4 o'clock. Rails were plenty and the men had a comfortable night. The fol lowing day, the 5th. two day's rations were drawn in the early morning, and resumed the tramp at s o'clock a. m. Knefler's brigade reached Huntsville at 10:30 a. m., marched through town to the south, rested for some two hours, wait- ing for a camp to be selected. At length the march was
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
resumed, the column marching south toward the Tennessee river. After having proceeded about five miles from Hunts- ville, about half way to the river, camp was pitched about 4 o'clock p. m.
General Wood now issued his congratulatory order to the troops under his command. It was dated Headquarters Fourth Army Corps, Huntsville, Alabama, January 6, 1865, and reads as follows:
To the Officers and Soldiers of the Fourth Army Corps:
You have received the commendations of his Excellency, the Presi- dent of the United States, for your glorious deeds in the various conflicts around Nashville on the 15th and 16th ult. You have received the com- mendations of the Commanding General of the forces engaged in those conflicts, not only for your splendid achievements on the field of battle, but for your cheerful endurance of privations and hardships, in the most inclement weather, during the long and vigorous pursuit which followed the rout of the enemy in the vicinity of Nashville.
As your actual commander on the field and in the pursuit I desire to add my commendation to the high encomiums you have already received, and to tender you my grateful thanks for your soldierly conduct, both on the field of battle and in the trying pursuit.
Without' faltering at the command of your officers you repeatedly assaulted the enemy's strongly intrenched positions and drove him from them in confusion and dismay. When he was utterly routed and no longer durst confront you in battle, you at once commenced the most vigorous pursuit. Continued it more than a hundred miles at the most inclement season of the year, over the most miserable roads and across deep and difficult streams, which were passed by your labors alone, and until the enemy was driven in utter disorganization across the Tennes- see river.
The substantial fruits of these glorious deeds were twenty-four pieces of artillery, five caissons, several stands of colors, many thousand stands of small arms and two thousand, four hundred and sixty-six prisoners. Such noble service entitles you to lasting gratitude of the Nation. Fortunately this great success was achieved with compara- tively slight loss to the corps: seven hundred and fifty killed and wounded will cover the entire casualties of the corps in the two days' conflict.
To the friends of the gallant dead and to the wounded-and I am sure you will join me in this tribute of comradeship-I offer my sincere sympathy and condolence.
When General Wood issued this order full and accurate reports of the killed and wounded had not. probably, been made out, and he, as subsequent reports show, underesti-
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
mated the loss of the corps. Yet it did not greatly exceed his figures, falling a little under one thousand, which was quite small considering the magnitude of the battle for two full days and the greatness of the results, and more than a hundred miles pursuit in such very inclement weather-one of the stormiest times ever witnessed in the South.
It may be very positively asserted that no campaign of the magnitude of the Franklin and Nashville campaign was so actively prosecuted during the war in such severe weather. The hardships, privations and suffering of the men have been in reality but slightly touched upon. The horrible conditions of the roads over which the pursuit was conducted after the battle of Nashville, the scarcity of rations, the cold inclement weather. have been briefly stated, but the suffering of the men cannot be put upon paper. The anguish of the thinly clad soldiers from the cold when on the march, in bivouac, and worst of all on the picket post and on sentinel duty, cannot be expressed in any manner to convey an adequate and just conception of what these men did actually experience and suffer. To appreciate correctly these things they must have been endured, or at least wit- nessed. When felt in their full force they are remembered, at least, as hardships and privations, although the impres- sions of the sharpness of the pangs of pain may somewhat have lost their distinctiveness in the long time now passed since the suffering was endured. Nor is the Union soldier who went through the Franklin and Nashville campaign from Pulaski to Nashville and back again, and on to Lexing- ton, Alabama, likely to have his experience and suffering overdrawn or painted in too strong colors by any statements made relative to the hardships endured. nor is he at all likely to have over-praise showered upon him for services to his suffering and bleeding country in those bleak December days. Let the heroic Thomas have the full measure of just praise for planning and conducting the great battle fought under his direction; let Schofield, Stanley. Smith. Wilson. Wood and Cox, and all officers have due praise for services rendered during the campaign, but let it also be remembered
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that the men of Thomas' army really fought the battles of Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. They did the skir- mishing that led up to these battles, and performed the great labors of the retreat, the battles, and the pursuit, and to these let full credit be rendered. It is their due.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE CLOSING YEAR .- 1865.
In Winter Quarters at Ifuntsville, Alabama-A Three Days' Scont-Living on the Fat of the Land-Trip to Nashville and Return-Up the Tennessee River-To East Tennessee by Rail-The Last Days of the Rebellion-Richmond Evacu- ated-Lee Surrenders-Great Joy at the Supposed Approach of The White Winged Angel of Peace-Treason Dies Hard-In the Death Struggle Its Infernal Spirit Finds a Willing Tool to Do a Hellish Deed-President Lincoln Assassinated-A Gloomy, Joyless Day-The Heart of America Wounded- Return to Nashville-Johnston Surrenders-The Dawn of Peace-Grand Review-"Mustered Out"-Return to Hoosierdom-Disbanded-The Boys Return to Their Homes.
The days of battle for the Eighty-sixth were now forever passed. Henceforth the rappel, or the bugle's warning voice, were heard only as the mimicry of the red-handed days of times gone by. The stern commands, shouted amidst the rattle of fire-arms or the clash of bayonets, were to be heard no more. The slogan of the fiery Southrons was no more to be answered by the war-whoop of the iron-hearted men of the Eighty-sixth as they ranged themselves in serried col- umns with their companion regiments, and formed divisions. pouring fearlessly forward into the smoke, and blaze, and roar of battle. They were ready for this duty, but the erst- while valiant foe had disappeared, like snow before a sum- mer's sun. The evening's bivouac was no more to be startled by the singing of the spiteful minie ball, or the ter- rible "where-is-ye" of the shrieking shell. The roar of batteries was no more to tell of the massed columns' onslaught on the enemy in ambush, or his fortified lines, but
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only the holiday show and imitation of battle and the des- truction of so much gunpowder. Henceforth, scouting. drilling, picket, brigade guard, train guarding, fatigue duty. and marching were to be the duties in the performance of which the Eighty-sixth should participate. Many times the duties were heavy, of a very trying character. and required great effort to accomplish, yet they were not so bad or so unpleasant as when skirmishing and fighting were so abund- antly mingled with everything which this regiment had to do. The Eighty-sixth had broken its lances on the visor of its opponents with credit to itself and had earned its right to retire with honor. but more than this, it had won on the foughten field. There could be no question of its fighting qualities, its fortitude under the most trying circumstances; in fact. it had shown the highest soldierly qualities in camp. on the march, in skirmishes almost innumerable. in battles many, and in two great and important sieges where the Union forces were on the defensive, and many of them where they were the attacking force. They had therefore had a wide field of action in which to thoroughly test their quali- ties, and in none of these had the men of the Eighty-sixth failed.
On the 6th of January, the next day after reaching Huntsville, camp was laid off in regular order. The Eighty- sixth had a fine place for camp on a hill sloping beautifully to the south, and thus with sunshine full upon it made it dry and a pleasant place for winter camping. On the following day, however, an order was received to change the location. There was some murmuring at first by the men who feared that they would be moved away from the hill. The regi- ment only moved about one hundred yards and again located. It still remained on the hill and the camp was again laid off in accordance with plans laid down in the army regulations- everything to the scribe or line. Here the men were ordered to construct winter quarters-to build huts or shanties with the side walls not less than five feet high. Everybody of course went to work as best they could. but the work pro- gressed but slowly on account of the lack of proper tools
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with which to do the work. Trees had to be cut down and cut in proper lengths, then split and carried by the men to the place where the huts were to be erected. It was very laborious work, as the timber was green and of a very heavy kind. After the logs were notched and put up, the cracks between the logs had to be "chinked," mortar mixed and the "chinking" thoroughly daubed or ·plastered to keep out the cold winds. This was disagreeable work as may be sur- mised. 'When the walls were completed the country was scoured for boards with which to construct bunks. Then the fire-places and chimneys had to be constructed. For the first of these rock was necessary and had to be carried up, some- times quite a distance, requiring much labor. After the fire- place was made, the "mud and stick" chimney was to be built to top it out.
On Sunday evening, January 8, cannonading could be heard down the Tennessee river in a southwesterly direc- tion, but what it meant was never learned, though it was believed that it was the gun-boats firing upon guerrillas or rebel cavalry. The weather was quite cold on the 8th, a winter day indeed. The construction of winter huts, doing picket duty, and standing brigade guard gave the boys plenty of exercise. On the 9th there was an exceedingly heavy rainfall. By the 12th the shanties for the Eighty - sixth were completed and all were snugly housed and comfortable.
On Saturday the 14th, Colonel Dick was ordered to take his own regiment and two others and go on a scout. He marched his detachment to Huntsville and placed the men aboard the cars after dark, but the train did not start for some time. The train conveyed the detachment eastward as far as Brownsboro', where it disembarked and bivouacked for the rest of the morning, the place of bivouac not being reached until about 2 o'clock a. m. on the 15th. After a brief rest the detachment was aroused and breakfasted. and the march resumed. The scouting now commenced. A detail was sent ahead as an advanced guard to the town of Maysville, some two miles or more out from Brownsboro'.
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Reaching that point the detail was stationed as pickets in the streets of the town to await the arrival of the scouting force.
After a brief halt at Maysville the detachment resumed its line of march It was in a section of country infested with bushwackers or guerrillas. those partisan soldiers that strike unexpected blows in the darkness of night, or pounce upon the unsuspecting straggler and shoot him down as though he were a highwayman. In the guise of peace- able citizens they watch every maneuver and move of the Union troops, and gather together. upon signals prearranged, and capture or kill small parties. attack wagon trains when moving without sufficient guards, obstruct or tear up the railroad track, destroy culverts or bridges by burning or other means, shoot into passing railroad trains. and use every means in their power to annoy. worry and injure the Union forces. These in this district were particularly malevolent and devilish. The trains from Stevenson to Huntsville had been fired into many times, and now no train dared to go over the road without a strong guard. It was supposed that the purpose of this scout was by marching a sufficient force to be entirely safe through their neighbor- hood, threaten their homes if their murderous practices were kept up, or so inconvenience them that they would desist or intimidate them so they would leave this section. going south where they could not interfere with the railroad with- out making long and dangerous trips.
The boys of the detachment were under no strict orders against foraging, but were duly warned to beware of bush- whackers, and not to be caught napping by the cunningness of the enemy. The march was nearly due north from Mays- ville to New Market, distance from Brownsboro ten or twelve miles. The line of march was almost parallel with Moun- tain creek, a tributary of Flint river, and between the tribu- taries of Flint river and those of Paint Rock river the guer- rillas were particularly bold and daring, and consequently very troublesome. The march was made in a very deliberate. quiet manner, as there was but little hope of catching any of
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