USA > Indiana > The Eighty-sixth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry : a narrative of its services in the civil war of 1861-1865 > Part 5
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12
THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
after dark were made known to us and all were duly warned to keep a sharp lookout for their own personal safety as well as the general good. It was a wide-awake picket line that night. The countersign was "Blue Ridge." Some time be- fore our "trick" was out one of the sentinels heard, as he claimed, some one snap a cap immediately in his front. 'Taking it for granted that it was a "bushwhacker" making an attempt upon his life, he fired on him without hesitation. The next sentinel being as he supposed somewhat more ex- posed than the one that fired, and more likely to fall a victim to the "bushwhacker's" fire, left his post and came down the line with speed of a quarter horse, making the brush crack as he came tearing along. Fearing that the other sentinels would mistake him for the enemy and so sacrifice him to their fears he yelled at every jump "Blue Ridge," "Blue Ridge," "Blue Ridge," until the woods rang with his un- earthly cry. He made good time to the reserve station, where with almost breathless haste he related his very nar- row escape. It was laughable in the extreme to others, but a fearful reality with the frightened sentinel. The sentinel who fired stood fast and nothing more was heard. Some of the boys were wholly incredulous and did not believe the statements of the sentinel who fired-did not believe that he had heard any one or anything, and questioned him very closely as to the place where he heard the noise. Early next morning they sallied forth to prove there had been no one there, and that the sentinel had fired for "buncombe." But upon going to the spot designated, to their great surprise, a gun was found which satisfied all but a few obstinately incredulous ones. It was now pretty generally accepted that a genuine attempt at "bushwhacking" had actually been made, but the prompt firing of the sentinel had frightened the would-be assassin and he had left in haste. Now, too, the timid comrade who is somewhat given to boasting cannot say a word in his braggadocio style without being called down with . Blue Ridge,' 'Blue Ridge' much to his discom- forture. Before the company was relieved another squad of the boys went outside the lines and killed a nice calf and
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
brought it to the reserve. Thus the company was for the time being pretty well provided with good meat. About 10 o'clock a. m. on the 17th, we were relieved by another com- pany of the Eighty-sixth and H company returned to the camp on the hill." It might be said here in closing this ac- count that the sentinel who so promptly fired upon the "bush- whacker" afterwards became the regiment's most expert forager, in fact, it never saw his equal. He was, however, cap- tured by the enemy near Rural Hill, Tennessee, paroled and never returned to the regiment, and was afterwards reported as a deserter. The timid sentinel on the contrary, notwith- standing the great trial to his nerves, remained in the service and finally fell a victim to the enemy's shot in the fateful trenches around Atlanta toward the last of July, 1864.
The Eighty-sixth now considered itself capable of per- forming every duty known to veterans. The boys had marched ; they had bivouacked ; they had laid in the trenches all night ; they had been on picket ; they had performed every duty of a soldier except meet the enemy in actual battle and they were ready for that. Were they not soldiers? The company had scarcely reached camp when the tomfoolery of ordering the regiment into the trenches was begun again. All now knew there was no armed enemy of any con- siderable number within miles, yet the men were com- pelled to wallow in the ditches as though the enemy was in sight. This treatment of the regiment was certainly a mon- umental piece of stupidity, and can only be accounted for on that score. It seemed to be a malicious and studied piece of cruelty. It was the fate of this regiment for some months after its entrance into the field to suffer unnecessarily the most outrageous treatment, neglect and exposure.
On the 19th of September the regiment received march- ing orders which caused a ripple of excitement in the ranks. To a man all were anxious to leave the camp on the hill where the men had been so miserable and "had to drink river water." On the following day the orders were more specific. They were to have three days' cooked rations in their haversacks and be ready to march at a moment's notice.
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THIE EIGHTY-SIXTII REGIMENT,
This was something definite. All went to work with a will, some to cook. some to strike tents, and others to packing up all baggage that should go on the wagons. All was hum and bustle, jest and jollity, at the thought of departing for- over from "Grumble Hill." Everything was in readiness for the trip by noon, and the old hill, destitute of num- berless white tents, lay bleak and bare. The men of the Eighty-sixth only waited for the word of command to set forward on their journey wherever it might lead.
The men lounged about the fires chatting without note- worthy incident, until late in the afternoon when a sensational scene was enacted. A member of Company D, Bartley Scan- lan, who was guarding some baggage had partaken of too much Kentucky whisky, and it proved to be of the fighting kind. Thereupon he became furious and threatened to shoot a number of officers, and did actually snap two caps at them. He fixed his bayonet and capered around at a lively rate. Taking a defensive position near the baggage he swore by all the saints in the calendar that he would prod the first man or officer that came within his reach. It was lively, and then it was something entirely new and refreshing in camp and very naturally created quite a good deal of excitement. The Colonel came up at length and disarmed him and quieted the commotion. For his unsoldierly conduct he was "bucked and gagged." This was the first case of "bucking" in the regiment. Scanlan afterward made a good soldier except his liking for "insanity drops."
The regiment remained on the hill the entire day until the dusk of the evening, when at last came the command, "Attention, Battalion. Take arms. Shoulder arms. Right face. Forward march. File left;" and the boys turned their backs on "Grumble Hill" to see it no more during their term of service. The regiment marched through Covington direct to the boat landing and shipped aboard two steamboats, the "Forest Rose" and the " Dunleith " for Louisville, Kentucky,
"Down the river, down the river. Down the Ohio."
CHAPTER VI.
DOWN THE OHIO.
The "Forest Rose" and the " Dunleith "-The Beautiful Scenery-How the Boys Whiled Away the Time-Land at Jeffersonville-Camp Gilbert-Cross the River to Louisville-A Tedious Night March-Arrival of Bnell's Army-The Clamor Against Buell-The Eighty-Sixth's Assignment-General Nelson Killed.
On the morning of Sunday, September 27, about 6 o'clock, the "Forest Rose " and the "Dunleith " backed out from their landing, swung round into the channel and steamed out down the river. Two other boats carried an Ohio regiment down at the same time, the four boats fre- quently being in full view of each other in the stretches of the river and making a very beautiful sight to behold. As the magnificent boats steamed down stream that beautiful September morning, the men were relieved of all thought of camp duty and were consequently once more comparatively at ease. The atmosphere was delightfully invigorating and the sun shone brightly. It was a lovely day. The speed of the boat was not great as the river was quite low and care in navigating it was necessary. There were multiplied beau- ties of nature upon the right and upon the left. The rugged hills upon either hand forming the river's bluffs and the beautiful stream glided gently and peacefully between on to old ocean's briny deep. The hills from foot to rugged crest were variegated by the shade of wood and the many colored leaves of hickory, beach, oak, and the maple blushing with the early autumn tints, added their beauties to the scene. The light of the open fields varied according to the crops which they bore, from the rich green of the unripe corn to the golden stubble of harvested wheat, all encircled by ser-
1
THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
pentine fences and there in turn draped with trailing vine and scented shrub. Occasionally there was a break in the line of hills upon the banks and then the landscape broad- ened, showing a fine stretch of country for the labors of the peaceful pursuits of the husbandmen. These glimpses and views of portions of our grand country that seemed so pros- perous and happy, and possessed of so many advantages over all other countries of soil and climate, as well as in her laws and institutions, were food for reflection which led, no doubt, to many and diverse thoughts among the thousand men of the Eight-sixth floating down the broad and beauti- ful Ohio. The people on the river's banks, especially upon the Ohio and Indiana bank, waved their God's speed with many a glad hearty shont. Upon the Kentucky shore many cheered but was not so universal or so uniformly hearty in manner as upon the other bank.
The occupants themselves of the boats were variously employed. As in every other situation in life the idler was found "upon deck " here. He scarcely seemed to note the beauties of nature of either land or stream, or to have a thought of home, friends, kindred, or the enemy to be met in the future. Others were busily engaged writing home to friends or loved ones to acquaint them of their change of location and the prospect of campaigning in other fields and the thousand and one things which soldiers always had to tell. Some were viewing the rainbow in the spray from the great stern-wheel of the boat as it dashed round and round and churned the dark waters of the river into a fine mist in which the beautiful bow of heaven could be plainly seen in a minature form. Others sat upon the bow of the boat, as it plowed its way through the waters down stream looking ahead as if they were eager to press forward and meet the enemy. Some of the younger members of the reg- iment were chatting cheerily together; some of the older ones were conversing in a more sober and sedate manner probably of weightier home matters, the importance of which they could not wholly divest their minds. Some others were playing cards for amusement, euchre and seven-
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
up being the games. for money-gambling. Still others were throwing the cards Draw poker was the favorite game, although others were indulged in for money. There were those who had been in the whirl-pool of the gambling circle and whose passion was not quenched but only defeated for a time by the loss of all their money. These went about from group to group looking so forlorn and disconsolate, so woe- begone, that one might easily have supposed that they had just returned from the burial of their last and their dearest earthly friend. The more lucky were all smiles. They went round jingling the money of their disconsolate com- rades, grinning and boasting of their luck and superior shrewdness. Thus the Sabbath day and the boats sped on. A number of times the boats were aground and two or three times they were backed off with considerable difficulty.
Arrriving at Louisville the boats remained at the land- ing during the night but swung round about 6 o'clock the next morning and crossed the river. Once more the Eighty- sixth landed on Hoosier soil. The regiment reached its camping place about 9:30 a. m. and at once proceeded to pre- pare breakfast. The camp was pitched to the east of Jeffer- sonville and was designated Camp Gilbert. Immediately after breakfast many, if not all the boys, went down to the river and took a bath, removing the last vestige of the hated "Grumble Hill." The wagons with the tents not arriving on the 22nd, the regiment bivouacked that night. On the morning of the 23rd the cleaning up business was continued. Tents arrived and were put up in the forenoon. Directly after dinner the regiment was ordered out for battalion drill. It was nothing more than a feeble attempt as yet, but little instruction in squad and company drill had been given and almost none in the manual of arms. Sometime during the evening after returning to camp orders were received to march. This created a hum of excitement. New troops always become more or less excited on receiving such orders. Steps were immediately taken to be in readiness. Rations were cooked, "traps " of all kinds were packed up, but the orders for the march seemed to hang fire. Not until
THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
11 o'clock at night was the order given to "fall in." The regiment then marched to the river and crossed on a ferry- boat.
The Eighty-sixth now left Indiana soil to return no more until it came back victorious and with banners flying at the close of the war. But, alas! many who then crossed the river came not back, and "sleep the sleep that knows no waking " on the other side. After reaching the Louisville side the regiment marched west and south with many halts and changes of direction as though it was being led by some one who was undecided or did not know where to go. It was a long tedious night march. The men were all very tired and exhausted by the loss of sleep and marching. The regiment finally halted about 4 o'clock a. 11. in the southwest suburbs of the city. But the trip down the river, the bivonac in the cold night air, battalion drill, and the night march, had their effect upon the unseasoned men and the regimental surgeons woke up on the morning of the 24th of September to find themselves the proprietors of quite an extensive practice. Soon the boys began skirmish- ing for extras in the line of eatables. Some few succeeded, more met with indifferent success, and a larger number made a flat failure, but they all gained experience and strength for another occasion. Camp-guard soon had to be established in order to hold the regiment together as the boys were rap- idly scattering on these foraging expeditions. On the night of the 25th of September, John W. Fisher, of Company H., accidentally shot himself through the hand while standing camp guard. The wound was quite a severe one and neces- sitated the removal of an entire finger. This was the first accidental shooting in the regiment, although later a number were wounded this way. Grave doubts existed whether all were purely accidental.
In the forenoon of the 26th the regiment received orders to march instanter. It marched north, it marched east, it marched south, it marched west and came to the place of starting. It was now evident to all that somebody did not know what was wanted. To make the best of it the Eighty-
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
sixth unloaded, intending to stay until it was found where it belonged. However, about 4 o'clock p. m. the reg- iment was again ordered into line, and at once marched down into the city. The marching had all been done in a hesitating, undecided manner, with checks and halts and consultations as though the Colonel might be lost. This childish manner of proceeding had delayed it so much that night came on long before the regiment reached Fifth street where it bivouacked for the night. Heated by the marching the men lay down without supper on the cold ground and tried to sleep. They arose in the morning with teeth chattering, and chilled to the bone. For the chill the sovereign remedy was a good strong cup of hot coffee. As a stimulant old government Rio or Java was certainly very reliable on such occasions. The coffee was soon made-boil- ing hot and breakfast well on the way. Then came the ag- gravating command, "Fall in, Eighty-sixth." For the space of five minutes the air around that bivouac was blue, and bore a strong sulphurous smell, mingled with a faint aroma of good strong coffee. No one was chilly now. Hoosier blood was hot, and the coffee was still hotter-scalding hot, but none could afford to lose that precious beverage. So down it went, hissing hot, and there weren't less than five hundred scalded throats in the regiment that day. This time the regiment made an advance, moving about a half mile due south where it was halted. There breakfast was prepared and eaten.
After breakfast the orders were to lay off camp. The tents arrived about 10 o'clock and were pitched in regulation order. This was the 27th. Later in the day it set in rain- ing, and as it was very dark and gloomy and the constant down pouring of water the boys thought themselves quite fortunate to have their tents. On this day Buell's veteran army arrived. Now for the first time the boys began to realize how troops on the march and actively campaigning appeared. The lack of neatness was truly a great surprise. They were really an army of unwashed tatterdemalions, but it must not be inferred from this that collectively, at least, they were unknown to fame. Of all slouchy, slovenly look-
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTHI REGIMENT,
ing, mud-begrimed, illy clad human beings these veteran troops of Buell's old command were unmatched. The Eighty- sixth was now about to be initiated into the third degree of the mysteries of a soldier's life. How difficult they had often found it to secure enough water to boil their little pot of coffee, not to think of bathing hands and face or the per- sou, could not be realized. This knowledge, however, was soon to come. The Eighty-sixth had not yet come to appre- ciate the full force and influence of a long and trying march, where the one great object of the general commanding is to be on time, and which the private soldier, inspired by that essential espirt de corps, is made to feel the one object of all his endeavors is to be in ranks, ever present, ready for the forward march or any duty to which he may be assigned. These veterans did not scarcely seem to notice, much less to care, for the condition of their clothing, their chief topic of conversation, their pride and boast, being the long and rapid march they had made-out-footing Bragg's veterans and securing the prize of the march-the city of Louisville. One or two of these "unlicked cubs" remarked, "Your clothing will not look so bright or be so clean by the time you have made a long hard march after the enemy as we have just done, " and they were quite right.
It was observed that these veterans had plenty of rations -onions, potatoes, and vegetables-which the Eighty-sixth did not get. What did this mean? Were the raw troops to be starved in order to feed these dirty, greasy veterans of Buell's army? Was the Commissary Department discrimi- nating in their favor? It certainly looked like it. Well, they deserved all the favors they received. But many a member of the Eighty-sixth then and there resolved that from that day henceforth, if the Commissary Department did not furnish him with provisions, he would find a supply for himself, if possible, and he generally made a good effort to fulfill the resolution. It was only under the most unfav- orable and difficult circumstances that any failed, but of course they often did fail, for the simple reason there was nothing to forage. Few regiments in The Army of the
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
Ohio, or as it was afterwards known The Army of the Cum- berland, were better independent foragers than the Eighty- sixth Indiana. On the night of the 27th the boys tried their hands, when a beef not issued by the Commissary came into camp. Where it came from few knew, but it found its way inside the guards and no arrests were made. On the morn- ing of the 28th reveille was sounded at 3 o'clock, and the regiment was called into line and stood to arms until day- light. Then came drill until dinner, and in the afternoon drill again. So passed the days at Louisville.
There were many rumors floating through camp in re- gard to the movements of the enemy. Sometimes they had Bragg advancing in full force upon the city, then again they would have him in full retreat-precipitately retiring from Buell's overwhelming numbers. The rapidity with which a camp rumor will traverse a cordon of camps encircling a city is something marvelous, but no more so than the innumer- able forms in which it will manifest itself. Equally marvel- ous is the facility with which troops and armies are handled, and the philosophy of "the grand strategy of war" as ex- pounded by the rank and file. These rumors and grape- vines" are a source of much annoyance to new troops. But the old soldier takes things as they come, not allowing any- thing to disturb him or affect the equanimity of his nerves. Experience has taught him better, has schooled him for his own advantage. It is in the field of active service that real soldiers are made.
At Louisville the clamor against General Buell became so formidable that he was removed from the command of this army, and General George H. Thomas appointed to suc- ceed him. But Thomas declined the promotion, generously refusing to displace his friend, and hesitating to assume the responsibility of commanding such an army, magnanimously requested the reinstatement of General Buell to the com- mand, which was accordingly done. The army was hastily reorganized and the new troops incorporated with the old. The army was organized into three army corps, the First, Second, and Third, commanded respectively by General A.
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THE EIGHTY-SIXTH REGIMENT,
MeD. McCook, General Thomas L. Crittenden, and General C. C. Gilbert. Gen. Henry M. Cist in the History of The Army of the Cumberland, (then the Army of the Ohio), de- nominates these divisions as army corps. In the official pro- gramme of the twentieth annual re-union of The Army of the Cumberland they are so called. General Buell himself, in his official report of the campaign in pursuit of Bragg, speaks of them as army corps. Many historians, however, designate them simply as grand divisions. Their designa- tion as corps, however, was only on the authority of the com- mander of the army, and not therefore correct, but merely used as a matter of convenience, as by an act of Congress, approved July 17, 1862, the President alone had the author- ity to establish and organize army corps. As General Fremont was given command of the First Army Corps in the Mountain Department August 12, 1862, it seems plain that these divisions of Buell's army were not authoritatively designated. The new troops that had been rushed into the field for the defense of Cincinnati, Covington, and Louis- ville, were now distributed among and incorporated with the veterans of Buell's army, a regiment or two in each brigade of old troops. Thus the danger of having a command en- tirely of raw troops was avoided. The Eighty-sixth was placed in the Second Corps, with General T. L. Crittenden in command; the Fifth Division, with General H. P. Van- Cleve in command; and the Fourteenth Brigade, with Col- onel P. B. Hawkins, of the Eleventh Kentucky, in command.
On the 29th of September the fatal quarrel between Gen- eral William Nelson and General Jeff C. Davis occurred at Nelson's Headquarters at the Galt House in Louisville. Davis was unarmed, but quickly borrowed a pistol and shot Nelson through the lungs causing his death in a very short time. Nelson was regarded as an able and efficient division commander, but over-bearing and tyrannical to subordinates, and was very much disliked by the rank and file of the old army where he was well known. General Davis was tried by a conrt martial which wholly exonerated him from all blame in the sad transaction. On the 30th of September, an
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INDIANA VOLUNTEERS.
advance was made by some detachments of the army, prob- ably as a reconnoisance, to learn the position and strength of the enemy's forces, and to prepare for the general advance soon to be made.
CHAPTER VII.
IN PURSUIT OF BRAGG.
A Real March-Its Trials and Its Lessons-Bardstown-The Dusty Limestone Pikes of Kentucky-Kiver Water-Parched Corn-Raw Goose-Springfield- On to Perryville-The Detour for Water-A Forced Night March.
As before stated the grand divisions of the army serv- ing in the Department of the Ohio under General Buell were never authoritatively designated army corps and given num- bers by the President, who alone had the authority to form and number corps, but as they were so called in that army and in many histories of Buell's campaign after Bragg, to avoid confusion, and as a matter of convenience in designat- ing these commands they shall be here spoken of as corps. Practically the organizations were the same as army corps, and therefore there is no great violence done the military history of that army in so calling them.
At 3 o'clock on the morning of October 1, 1862, the drums beat reveille for the Eighty-sixth. The regiment was promptly formed on the color line of the camp and there stood to arms until daylight. The regiment drilled during the forenoon as usual, and did not have the slightest sus- picion of having to march that afternoon; in fact, the rank and file did not expect to advance with the army at this time until the order was received. They did not consider themselves sufficiently drilled to go to the front and face the enemy. They were not consulted in regard to the matter, and in a very short time the regiment was strung out upon
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