USA > Indiana > The Forty-Fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, history of its services in the war of the rebellion and a personal record of its members > Part 5
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NASHVILLE.
CHAPTER X.
NASIIVILLE.
THE Army of the Cumberland was now faced toward Nashville, and General Crittenden, with two of his divisions-Vancleve's and Wood's-started on the 5th, marched through Scottville, reaching Gallatin, Tennes- see, where they drove the rebel cavalry, on the 9th, making a distance of sixty-three miles in four days. The next day the command marched out on the Leba- non road, to the crossing of the Nashville and Lebanon pike, when it turned eastward toward Nashville three miles, and went into camp six miles from General Jack- son's Hermitage. Here the great marches of 1862 ended. The Regiment had marched, since leaving Louisville, about three hundred and sixty miles, in forty days, and with only six days' rest by the way. Since leaving Battle Creek, August 20, the distance traveled was nearly seven hundred miles. All this time the men were without shelter of any kind, carried but one blanket apiece, and were nearly all the time on half rations, and very poorly shod.
There was a rest here until the 15th, when Colonel Hawkins's brigade was ordered to move south about eight miles, to Rural Hill. The enemy was reported in the vicinity, but the camp was not disturbed until early
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NASHVILLE.
dawn on the 18th, when a dash was made upon the camp. But the men were quickly in line, and the rebels withdrew, leaving six dead on the field. No losses resulted in the Regiment, and we believe there were none in the brigade. The next day the brigade moved back to the Lebanon pike, and went into camp on Mill Creek, near the Hermitage. On the 30th of November the division was moved up to Nashville, and across on to the Nashville and Murfreesboro pike, and went into camp near the Tennessee Insane Asylum. Here the Regiment prepared for winter quarters.
Important changes occurred in the Regiment on the first of December. Colonel Reed's resignation, ten- dered a few days previous, was accepted. The Regi- . ment was called into line, just before his departure ; the flag carried up to this time, and which had been pre- sented the command on the day it set out for the field, by Mayor Randall, on behalf of the ladies of Fort Wayne, was planted in front. Sadly torn and tattered by shot and shell at Donelson and Shiloh, it attested the fidelity of the Colonel and his brave men in main- taining the pledge given when it was first presented, "to honor, sustain, and defend it unto death." At Shiloh, when all its brave bearers were stricken down, he gathered it up with his own hands and carried it unfurled and unsullied from the field. The old flag was held as a precious emblem by the men, but as he who had led them in its honor and defense was now about to depart, to be associatedl again with its donors, the Regiment thought it appropriate, as a token of their appreciation of his gallant services, to present him the
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NASHVILLE.
flag. A more significant and touching testimonial could hardly be given a brave man. The Colonel, deeply moved, responded in a few remarks, highly complimenting the men and officers for their bravery and fidelity. He then presented the Regiment a new flag, purchased at his own expense, trusting it would be honored as the old one had been. And it was. The old flag is yet sacredly preserved by the Colonel, at his home in New Jersey. The Colonel also carried with him testimonials of regard from all the officers of the brigade.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stoughton, who had been pro- moted to Colonel of the 100th Indiana Infantry, and Chaplain Beeks, resigned, also departed about the same time.
After these officers left, the commissioned com- pany officers met and held an informal election for Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, choosing Captain Will- iam C. Williams, Co. G, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Cap- tain Charles F. Kinney. Co. A, Major. The companies also met and made recommendations for all official vacancies in their respective companies. Captain Kin- ney being the senior captain of the Regiment, and feeling aggrieved at the choice that had been made, ten- dered his resignation, and obtaining leave of absence, departed for home.
On the 2d, General Rosecrans reviewed his army, making a very favorable impression on the minds of the men. As he passed along the line of the Forty-fourth, he made some quite flattering comments upon the healthy and hearty appearance of the men. Noticing
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NASHVILLE.
a man not completely equipped, he chided him pleas- antly, remarking, " that when men are soldiers they must act as soldiers, and when they keep grocery, tend the grocery."
While in camp, here, forage for the army was mainly obtained by foraging expeditions, and the Regiment was out on several occasions, some of which were attended with skirmishes with the enemy. On the 11th the brigade camp was moved back two miles, to within five miles of Nashville.
Commissions were received on the 13th, making Captain Williams, Co. G, Colonel; Captain S. C. Aldrich, Co. K, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain Kin- ney, Co. A, Major. The latter declined to muster, and his resignation was accepted. The brigade was also reorganized on the 15th, and was made to include, besides the Forty-fourth, Colonel W. C. Williams, the 86th Indiana, Colonel A. S. Hamilton ; 13th Ohio, Colonel J. G. Hawkins ; 59th Ohio, Colonel J. P. Fyffe ; 7th Indiana Battery, Captain G. R. Swallow. Colonel Fyffe was assigned to the command of the brigade.
The sick were now ordered to Nashville, and the command held in readiness for momentary orders to move on Murfreesboro.
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STONE RIVER.
CHAPTER XI.
STONE RIVER.
GENERAL CRITTENDEN moved his corps, consisting of Wood's, Palmer's, and Vancleve's divisions, on the 26th, advancing on the Murfreesboro pike, Palmer's division in the advance. There was considerable skir- mishing during the day, and General Vancleve went into bivouac in the vicinity of Lavergne that evening, with the enemy apparently in force in the town. The next morning there was a sharp skirmish in the village, during which it was almost wholly consumed by fire. General Vancleve moved through the place and then filed off to the left, some three miles, and bivouacked on Stuart's Creek, where we remained over Sunday.
On Monday, the 29th, we advanced again towards Murfreesboro, and went into bivouac in the rear of Generals Wood's and Palmer's divisions, who were in line of battle in front of the enemy. General Rose- crans came up the next day, the 30th, and established his headquarters a few paces in front of our brigade. During the day other divisions came up and took posi- tion. General Crittenden's corps was formed on the left of the Murfreesboro and Nashville pike, with orders to cross Stone River the next morning, and move into Murfreesboro. General Vancleve's division was to cross
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STONE RIVER.
at the lower ford and advance against the rebel General Breckenridge. General Wood was to support him on the right, crossing at the upper ford, and General Palmer was to engage the enemy in his front. Next, in the centre, was Thomas's corps, and on the right was McCook's .corps. General Rosecrans' plan of battle was to open on the left, and extend the engagement from left to right.
Early on the morning of the 31st, General Vancleve initiated the execution of this plan by moving his divi- sion towards the left. The advance brigade was cross- ing the river, and Colonel Fyffe had just reached the banks of the river, when the movement was arrested by an order for Fyffe to face his brigade about, and march with all possible speed to resist an attack of the enemy's cavalry on the trains in the rear, on the Nashville pike, and about one mile in the rear of the point lett in the morning. The enemy had wholly disconcerted the plans of General Rosecrans by a furious onslaught on the extreme right about sunrise, driving back the whole right wing to a right-angle with the centre. Colonel Fyffe reached the point of attack on the trains, but the Union cavalry had already succeeded in repulsing the attack, and in recapturing the trains. The brigade was then ordered to the support of the right, and returning on the pike about half a mile, marched through a cedar wood to an open field. The enemy filled the wood beyond, and also a wood on the right of the field. The brigade advanced across the field, and by some blunder moved far beyond the supporting columns on the right and left. As soon as the men were across the field, the
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STONE RIVER.
enemy opened a terrific fire from the front and right. The place was too hot, and the brigade would have been annihilated in a few minutes had it not fallen back, which it did speedily but in order. The lines were again formed near the Nashville pike, and held during the remainder of the day and night. The day was a terrible one. Many brigades and regiments on the right were broken up and scattered, and wandered from place to place, officers in search of their men, and 'men in search of their officers, until they were gathered up without regard to former organization, and placed in line of action. There was no place of safety within the Union lines. The Surgeons of the Forty-fourth dressed the wounded at times during the day when the balls whizzed about from the four points of the com- pass.
General Rosecrans re-formed his lines in the dark- ness of the night of the 31st, and the next morning Vancleve moved his division across Stone River to the point started for the morning before. Colonel Fyffe's brigade was placed some forty rods in front of the river, in face of the enemy, where the Forty-fourth remained all the day of January Ist, 1863, without engagement except picket firing. The morning of the second was opened with a lively artillery duel of about an hour's duration, and sharp skirmishing was continued along the whole line until about 2 o'clock P. M., when the enemy under General Breckenridge advanced in heavy storming col- umns. The two brigades in front, General Beatty's and Colonel Fyffe's, were forced back to the river, where they were met by supporting columns. A massed bat-
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STONE RIVER.
tery of some fifty-eight pieces, that had been collected in anticipation of such a movement, now opened on the enemy. A battle scene ensued that hardly had a par- allel during the war. More musketry and artillery firing, probably, occurred in a like number of minutes on longer lines, but not so much on so short a line. The earth trembled under the shock, and it was reported that window-glass was broken by the concussion of the air two miles distant. The noise could hardly have been exceeded by the concentration of several thunder storms. General Breckenridge's columns melted away, and he fled back with their remnants, and the Forty- fourth planted its colors on the enemy's breastworks, and slept that night on the field of battle.
The enemy evacuated Murfreesboro that night and the next day, and General Rosecrans entered the day after.
I have been unable to find any official report of the part performed by the Forty-fourth at the battle of Stone River, and owing to the capture of Colonel Williams, in command, during the furious charge of the enemy, it is probable that none was made. Having been an eye-witness of nearly all its movements, I can testify as to its honorable conduct. Though the brigade was twice repulsed, it was under circumstances that reflected no discredit. An attempt to hold its position in either case would have been utter annihilation. The columns were in each case readily rallied, with the loss of very few stragglers. Lieutenant Dancer, of Co. H, Inspector General on Colonel Fyffe's staff, conducted himself bravely, and was severely wounded. Sergeant
c.
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STONE RIVER.
Gordon relates that during the repulse on the left, Cap- tain Cosper, Co. F, was closely pursued by a rebel, who repeatedly ordered him to halt and surrender, or he would shoot. Not heeding the demand, the rebel fired, wounding Cosper in the hand. At that he turned upon his adversary and thrust him through with his bayonet, killing him on the spot. He then continued his retreat.
The Regiment went into action with about 300 men, and lost 8 killed, 52 wounded, and 25 missing. Fol- lowing are the names, as given in the official report of Surgeon Martin :
KILLED.
Thomas Helsper, Co. B.
John Webster, Co. F.
Jacob Parker, Co. F.
George W. Wallace, Co. F.
Jefferson Shannon, Co. G.
Childs Drake, Co. I.
First Sergeant Franklin Baldwin, Co. I.
Harrison Harwood, Co. K.
WOUNDED.
COMPANY A.
Corporal George W. Pervis, severe flesh wound in leg. Frederic Swambaugh, in back, dangerously.
Joseph Willins, in leg, slight.
COMPANY B.
Sergeant Albert Ritz, slight flesh wound in foot.
Sergeant William Cartwright, slight flesh wound in leg.
John Cogan, slight flesh wound in head.
William Clark, in finger ; amputated. Scott Eddy, severe flesh wound in hip. George Scott, in tinger ; amputated.
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STONE RIVER.
Gable Scott, severe flesh wound in thigh. Samuel Widner, severe flesh wound in thigh.
COMPANY C.
First Sergeant Sidney Livingston, in leg, slight.
Samnel Sweet, in finger; amputated.
Owen Shaw, in arm, slight.
Jackson Hyser, in nose, slight. Jacob Smith, fracture of thigh ; amputated. COMPANY D.
John Haller, in chest, mortal.
William Opie, in arm, slight.
Amos Britton, severe flesh wound in leg.
William Routson, in hand, severe.
COMPANY E.
Sergeant Andrew Reed, in thigh, flesh, severe.
Hiram Biddle, in back, flesh, severe,
F. A. Grable, in shoulder, severe.
Frederic Banta, in shoulder, slight. John Spurgeon, in leg, severe.
COMPANY F.
David Robison, wounded, and probably prisoner.
P. Robbins, in arm, flesh, severe. David Greenawalt, in leg, fracture. Jacob Hicks, in wrist, slightly.
Francis A. Johnson, in back and elbow, slight. George Casper, in finger; amputated. Bennett Robe, in arm, flesh. Lewis Tiffany, hip, severe.
Asa Harwood, arm, severe.
Chester Grimmerman, in foot.
Robin E. Ford, in thigh, flesh, slight.'
COMPANY G.
Lucius MeGowan, in thigh, flesh, slight.
COMPANY II.
Lieutenant J. H. Dancer, Brigade Inspector, in thigh, flesh, severe.
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STONE RIVER.
Peter Alspaugh, wounded, and probably prisoner. Victor Ketchum, in thigh, flesh, severe.
Van Buren Ketchum, in leg, severe.
John J. Crist, in foot, severe.
COMPANY I.
Frederick Lavenir, in side and arm, severe.
Frederick Stroup, in arm, slight.
John Robinson , in wrist, slight.
Martin Damer, in shoulder, severe.
James A. Smith.
Martin G. Hurd, in head; missing.
John Lesher, character unknown.
COMPANY K.
Sergeant Frank Willis, in foot, slight. Samuel Squires, in hand, severe.
Orlando Wright, in knee, serious.
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85
MURFREESBORO.
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CHAPTER XII.
MURFREESBORO.
THE Army of the Cumberland moved into Murfrees- boro, and went into camp in the vicinity, January 5th, 1863, General Crittenden's corps taking position on the left along the Lebanon pike. The Forty-fourth was located about one mile out, in the vicinity of the Spence mansion, which was assigned to Surgeon Martin for hospital purposes. The house was a commodious brick residence, richly furnished when abandoned by the owner during the evacuation. The Regiment passed the beautiful place in its northward march in September previous, and the lady of the house tauntingly asked some of the boys who called, " Why are you going north?" The sick boys, as they came in, were now glad she had gone south. The proprietor, we believe, was a rebel General.
Assistant Surgeons Rerick and Carr were detailed for work in the general field hospital in the rear of the battle-field. The former worked there about two weeks, when he was taken severely sick, and was brought to the Spence house, where he lay until about the middle of February, when he was granted leave of absence and sent home in charge of a nurse, with little expectation of ever being able to return. But he did return, in
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MURFREESBORO.
April. Dr. Carr remained at the field hospital several weeks, and then returned and took medical charge of the Regiment in camp.
. During the six months' encampment at Murfreesboro the Regiment was comfortably located. It had excellent hospital quarters, and the men no harder duties than work on the fortifications being erected. This period, though, was in one respect the darkest of the war, especially to Indiana soldiers. The results in the field were far from being satisfactory, and at home there was much opposition to all the vigorous measures proposed for the prosecution of the contest. The formation of secret organizations to oppose the prosecution of the war were reported, and desertions from the army were encouraged. A formidable conspiracy, known as the Knights of the Golden Circle, with headquarters in Indiana, created much alarm, not only in the public mind of the North, but in the army at the front. The Legislature that convened on the first of January, 1863, was believed to be largely under its control, an open and startling effort being made to deprive Governor Morton of his constitutional right of Commander-in- Chief of the State Militia. The Emancipation Procla- mation of President Lincoln had just gone into effect, and the prejudices of the people, both at home and in the army, against the colored race, were being actively aroused. The great theme of the real sympathizers with the rebellion was, that the war was being prose- cuted, not to restore the. Union, but to liberate the slaves. The soldiers had all enlisted to maintain the integrity of the Union, and any deviation of the Ad-
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MURFREESBORO.
ministration from this purpose would be productive of great if not fatal disaffection in the ranks. The enemy and his sympathizers at the North well understood this, and hence the strenuous efforts, secretly and openly, to make such a deviation apparent. The soldiers, though, had no sympathy for the rebel. They were anxious for his overthrow by the most speedy and efficient means. . Though they had enlisted only to restore the Union, and not to liberate a race, they were not unwilling to . deprive the enemy in their front of the assistance of that race. The mass of them looked upon the Procla- mation in its true light, as a military necessity, a measure needful for the overthrow of the rebellion. Thousands, though, while recognizing it as a military necessity, saw in that necessity an overruling Providence leading men who attempted one good act, to do another and possibly a greater than they had originally intended. Good be- gets good, and evil begets evil. The sin of slavery begot rebellion. The love of Union begot opposition to rebellion, and the liberation of an oppressed race. Slavery did not intend rebellion at first, neither did the love of Union, emancipation. The sequences in both cases were natural, and probably inevitable.
During the first months of 1863 these questions were much discussed in army circles, as well as throughout the North. The Indiana soldiers were generally indig- nant at the hostility to Governor Morton, and at the manifest sympathy in many parts of the State for the enemy. Memorials and resolutions were considered and adopted by regiments, and sent to the State anthor- ities, expressing the sentiments of the soldiers. A
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MURFREESBORO.
memorial to the Legislature was read to the Forty- fourth, as well as to a number of other regiments, and by a vote of the Regiment was unanimously adopted. This memorial closed with a proposal that the Legisla- ture adopt the following resolutions as a basis of all their acts :
1. " Resolved : That we are unconditionally and de- terminedly in favor of the preservation of the Union.
2. Resolved : That in order to the preservation of the Union, we are in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war.
3. Resolved : That we will sustain our State and Federal authorities with money and supplies, in all their efforts to sustain the Union and prosecute the war.
4. Resolved : That we will discountenance every faetion and influence tending to create animosities at home, or to afford consolation and aid to our enemies in arms, and that we will cooperate only with those who will stand by the Union, and with those fighting the bat- tles of the Union.
5. Resolved : That we tender to His Excellency Governor O. P. Morton, the thanks of his grateful friends in the army for his extraordinary efforts in their behalf, and assure him that neither time nor the cor- rupting influence of party shall ever estrange the soldier from the soldier's friend."
These resolutions fairly expressed the sentiments of the soldiers. They were presented to the Indiana Sen- ate, February 12th, 1863, when they were assailed and finally referred to the committee on federal relations. Resolutions from the Sixty-sixth and Ninety-third Indi- ana Regiments, in much stronger terms, presented immediately after, caused still greater commotion. A motion was made "to reject them," "to reject the
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MURFREESBORO.
whole batch," " they were an insult to all who favored an armistice." The memorial, with the resolutions, were rejected by a vote of 28 to 18 ; but a petition from rebel-sympathizing citizens, denouncing the war as an "infernal abolition war," and asking " that not one man nor one dollar be voted to prosecute it," was deemed sufficiently appropriate to refer kindly to a committee.
Such was the contrast between the sentiments of the soldiers in the field, the Indiana Legislature of 1862-3, and a large body of the citizens of the State.
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90
THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN.
THE Army of the Cumberland commenced another movement against General Bragg, June 23d, 1862, and by the next day all the divisions, except General Van- cleve's, were under motion. The latter was moved into the fortifications for a few days, but set out for the front on the 4th of July, moving on the McMinnville road by way of Woodbury. The division reached MeMinn- ville on the 7th, and went into camp. The Forty- fourth was pleasantly camped near the residence of a Mrs. Stubblefield.
On the night of the roth, after the men had retired, the news came of the fall of Vicksburg and of the de- feat of General Lee at Gettysburg. As the word passed around from tent to tent, the men jumped up and rushed out, and gave cheer after cheer. They thought surely the war was then nearly at an end.
Colonel Williams, who, after his capture at Stone River, had been carried to Libby prison, and after some months' confinement there, had been exchanged, reached his command again on the evening of the 16th, and some ten days thereafter resigned. Surgeon Martin also resigned at the same time, on account of disability.
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THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN.
The only commissioned officer now left of the original Field and Staff, was the writer.
While in camp here, details from the Regiment went out on several raids in the vicinity in pursuit of bush- whackers, escorted trains over the mountains to Dunlap, guarded railroad trains to Tullahoma, and worked on fortifications which were commenced near the depot.
On September 3d the division broke camp and started for the front, crossed the Cumberland Mountains to Dunlap, thence down the Sequatcha Valley to Jasper and Battle Creek, passing by the old camp left about a year before, to Bridgeport, where we crossed the Ten- nessee River, moved up the river road to Shell Mound, thence around the Point of Lookout Mountain in full view of Chattanooga, which had been evacuated a day or two before. We bivouacked that night at Rossville, and here rejoined the rest of General Crittenden's corps.
The march from McMinnville to this point, a dis- tance of one hundred and thirty miles, had been made in eight days, which, considering the passage over the mountains, was considered pretty hard service. The next day, the 11th, Crittenden moved to Ringgold, and Vancleve's division was advanced some two miles south of this place. That night the body of the rebel army lay betw. .. General Crittenden and the remainder of the Army of the Cumberland, slumbering in the moun- tains twenty and forty miles distant. It was a golden opportunity for General Bragg, but he appeared not to know it. The next morning the division was withdrawn to Ringgold, and the whole corps marched westward twelve miles to Lee and Gordon's Mills, reach-
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THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN.
ing out towards Thomas. On the 13th, Vancleve's division crossed the Chickamauga at the Mills and ad- vanced on the Lafayette road to John Henderson's plantation, where a sharp skirmish ensned, the rebels shelling the whole line. The division was withdrawn about four o'clock P. M., and bivouacked near the Mills that night. Crittenden was here still exposed to the whole rebel army. The danger evidently becoming apparent, he moved the next day further to the west and in the direction of. General Thomas, and that night rested in the Chattanooga valley on the east side of the Lookout range. Here connection was made with Thomas's corps, or a part of it, and Crittenden moved back the next day, the 15th, to Crawfish Springs, in the vicinity of Lee and Gordon's Mills. The command was held here, on the 16th and 17th, in momentary readiness for action. . The great clouds of dust that could be seen across the Chickamauga to the east, and which were veering around to the north, showed the enemy in motion for our rear and for Chattanooga. With the exception of the cavalry, our division was then at the extreme left. McCook's corps was still in the mountains somewhere, struggling through. Late in the afternoon of the 18th, two regiments of Colonel Fyffe's brigade were hastily ordered to the support of General Wilder, who faced the enemy at a crossing of the Chickamauga, a mile or two north of Lee and Gordon's Mills.
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