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 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
At the date for return, the veterans promptly met at Kendallville, bringing with them some one hundred and fifty recruits, and on the next day started for Indian- apolis by way of Toledo. Upon reaching Toledo, the Regiment was very agreeably surprised to find a splen- did supper for them in waiting at the Island House. The Regiment was detained at Indianapolis from the 1 2th to the 18th, when it again set out for the front, reach- ing Nashville, Tennessee, on the 20th. Here the railroad to Chattanooga was found overburdened with troops being pushed to the front, and by returning veterans. A large number were required to move on on foot, the Forty-fourth being of the number. The line of march was taken up on the 23d of April, by way of Murfrees- boro, Tullahoma, Deckard, Manchester, Stevenson, to Bridgeport, which was reached in twelve days. Here transportation was provided, and the Regiment was, in a few hours, in Chattanooga again, ready for whatever duty might be assigned. The non-veterans had re- mained here on detail duty during the absence of the veterans.
1
109
POST SERVICE.
CHAPTER XVI.
POST SERVICE.
IN the reorganization of the Army of the Cumber- land under General Thomas, in April, 1864, General James B. Steedman was placed in command of the gar- rison of Chattanooga, and had assigned to him the first separate brigade, consisting of the 8th Kentucky Infan- try, the 15th, 29th, 44th, 51st, 68th Indiana Infantry, and the 3d and 24th Ohio Infantry, an engineer brigade, a pioneer brigade, eight colored regiments, and numer- ous batteries.
Chattanooga was now the most important war center in the west, and was the point of concentration for the armies making ready to move southward under General Sherman, and was to be the base of supplies for all the movements then in hand. Whether it was more impor- tant and glorious to march on Atlanta or guard the base of operations and keep the communications open, was not for the Regiment to discuss, but that the services required were of grave'importance and peril could readily be inferred from the assignment of one of the best fighting generals to the command of the garrison, and a number of the old and best fighting regiments to him. The Forty-fourth, on the 10th of April, relieved
1
110
POST SERVICE.
the 15th, regulars, and took their camp on the hillside facing the town from the east, and resumed general guard duty. A number of the officers were detailed on courts-martial. In this capacity the officers and men served during the summer of 1864.
Assistant-Surgeon Carr was in March promoted Sur- geon of the 129th Indiana, and moved with his new command to the front. Dr. Edward B. Speed, of La- grange, Indiana, a good physician and an estimable man, was appointed to the vacancy in July, but fell sick soon after his arrival, a misfortune which was due, in part, to a railroad accident on his way. He was taken to the officers' hospital on Lookout Moun- tain, where the best care and treatment possible in the army was provided, but he died September 15th. He never had an opportunity to get acquainted with many of the Regiment, but in his sickness had the sympathy of all, and the officers, upon his death, had his body embalmed at their expense and sent home.
Lieutenant-Colonel Aldrich was in poor health all summer. Early in August he obtained a furlough and went home for the benefit of his health, but in a few days after reaching there he was suddenly taken worse, and died August 15th. His death was much lamented. He was a brave man, a good disciplinarian, and took great pride in the good appearance and discipline of his men. He had commanded the Regiment from Stone River to the day of his leave, except when tempor- arily absent on some other duty. He was commissioned Colonel in July, 1863, but could never be mustered as
.
111
POST SERVICE.
such owing to the reduced number of men in the Regi- ment.
The command now fell upon Major Joseph C. Hodges, who in a few days was mustered in as Lieutenant-Col- onel. Early in September, when rebel General Hood turned his army northward, the whole line of communi- cation from Atlanta to Nashville was roused into great activity. General Forrest crossed the Tennessee in the vicinity of Decatur, Alabama, September 20th, and at once advanced on Athens and the railroad communica- tions with Nashville. General Steedman was ordered to send out troops to protect the line, and on the 28th the Forty-fourth, with other regiments, started north- ward on the railroad. The Regiment was carried on a train of freight cars, and moving slowly, reached Tulla- homa about midnight. When within about three miles of this place, Lieutenant Colonel Hodges, while walk- ing on the cars looking after his command, by some accidental misstep fell between the cars and was run over by part of the train. His right knee and thigh were crushed into shreds. The train was stopped, he was taken up, put in a car, and carried to the hospital at Tullahoma, where his thigh was amputated near the hip joint. He never rallied from the operation, and died before morning. His sudden and untimely death was a severe shock to his command, by whom he was much respected for his bravery and devotion to the best interests of his men. The Regiment had now lost two Lieutenant Colonels and an assistant surgeon within less than forty days.
The command now fell upon Major James F. Curtiss, who was soon after promoted Lieutenant-Colonel. The
112
POST SERVICE.
Regiment lay at Tullahoma until October 2d, when it, with a number of other regiments, was ordered to report at once to General Rousseau, at Nashville, where it arrived that night, and before morning was mounted. Day dawned upon an inspiring scene, which, though, possessed some ridiculous and amusing features. Gen- eral Rousseau, with some eight thousand cavalry, light artillery and mounted infantry, was moving rapidly southward on the Franklin pike, presenting, at first sight, a grand line. A little closer view, though, along the line of mounted infantry, revealed a fountain of material for the comic artist and humorist. The streets of the city and the corrals in the vicinity had been stripped of everything in the shape of a horse ; the · lame, the halt, and the blind had been gathered up for . the expedition, and the Forty-fourth was especially unfortunate in the lot assigned it, being among the last to arrive. Men were mounted who had not been in the saddle for years, and some never. Many were on horses that could not be forced into a trot, and some not even into a walk. A number of horses were aban- doned at the start, and the others as fast as the boys could find somebody to trade with. The trading was decidedly one-sided, but so poor was the country in horses at that time that no advantage could be obtained even in that way. Before starting on this trip, it may be remarked that after arrival at Chattanooga, while on duty in the dark-and it was very dark-Lieutenant Strecker, Company H, fell into a deep cut in the rail- road, and was severely injured ; and that just at this time, the State election in Indiana was pending, in
113
POST SERVICE.
which every soldier was deeply interested, as upon its decision depended the re-election of their best friend in the State, Governor Morton. It was also a time Gen- eral Thomas had good reason for being relieved of all disabled men. The opportunity was a rarely good one for the soldier to get home to vote, and Lieutenant Strecker and several others of the Regiment unfit for mounted service, who were left behind, were soon being whirled northward. Strecker reached his home about an hour before the closing of the polls, and did his duty.
The Forty- fourth was assigned to Colonel Grosvenor's brigade of the expedition, with the surgeon of the Regi- ment as brigade surgeon. The first day, October 3d, the expedition marched to Franklin, twenty-one miles ; October 4th, to Stone House, four miles south of Colum- bia; October 5th, to the vicinity of Lawrenceburg, twenty-six miles ; October 6th, to Blue Creek, twenty - eight miles ; October 7th, to Florence, Alabama, and thence down the river four miles to Cypress Mills. Here we came upon some of the rear guard of Forrest's com- mand. Had a slight skirmish, killing one rebel. Octo- ber 8th, marched out seven miles on the Savannah road ; returned and marched four miles out on the Waterloo road ; October 9th, marched about ten miles on the Waterloo road, and then countermarched to Cypress Mills. The enemy had safely escaped across the Ten- nessee River. October roth, 11th, and 12th, in bivouac and foraging. In this expedition General Rousseau had to depend wholly upon the country for forage, and in part for rations for the men. The rebel forces had just
-
8
114
POST SERVICE.
advanced and then retreated over the same country, living in like manner off of it. There were some most distressing scenes of poverty and misery seen. The people were literally stripped of all the provender and provisions they had in the world, and were, in many cases, apparently not left with enough to maintain life until they could flee to sections of the country not passed over by the two armies.
October 13, marched on the return to within three miles of Athens, Alabama, making a distance of forty- eight miles. Went in bivouac at midnight, and arose at four o'clock in the morning, marched to Athens, turned over the horses, and at midnight took train for Chattanooga, arriving there in the afternoon, October 15th. The Regiment had been out nineteen days, and had traveled two hundred and eighty miles by railroad and two hundred miles on horseback. The men were satisfied with mounted service.
Chattanooga was now again the scene of much activ- ity. Rebel General Hood had flanked General Sherman at Atlanta, and was now striking his line of communi- cation at various points, and advancing towards Chatta- nooga. General Thomas was concentrating all his forces as fast as possible at Chattanooga and points along the line. But Hood, when he reached La Fay- ette, turned westward, indicating his intention of invad- ing Tennessee west of the Cumberland Range. General Sherman quickly reopened his lines, received his final equipments, and set out from Atlanta on his march to the sea. Thomas moved all the troops that could pos- sibly be spared from East Tennessee, around to Bridge-
POST SERVICE. . 115
port, Stevenson, Tullahoma, and finally to Nashville, where he made his final stand against Hood.
During November, the non-veterans of the Regi- ment having served three years, the term of enlistment, were mustered out, and early in December eleven com- missioned officers also. The latter had entered the ser- vice as enlisted men for three years, and had since been promoted, and could not be held longer than their original enlistment, unless they had chosen to be so under the veteran enlistments. Only three of the orig- inal officers now remained : Lieutenant-Colonel Curtiss, Captain Grund, and Surgeon Rerick ; and only about two hundred of the original men. On the 17th of November the Regiment was recruited by two hundred drafted men, and on the 20th by two hundred more, nearly all from the southern part of Indiana. These, with the previous volunteer recruits, gave the Regiment a numerical strength of some eight hundred.
During the last days of November, General Steed- man was ordered to hasten to Nashville with all avail- able forces that could be spared. Chattanooga was so shorn of troops that all the citizens and sojourners were ordered to be enrolled as " Civic Guards," to assist in the protection of the post, should their services be needed. The front was now changed from the South to the North, from Atlanta to Nashville, and communi- cations with the new front were cut about the first of December, and for about three weeks we were without news from the North, or from Nashville, even. They were wearisome and somewhat anxious days. Disaster at Nashville would have been disaster at Chattanooga,
116
POST SERVICE.
and the loss of all that had been achieved in Kentucky, Tennessee, and of nearly all in the South-west. The new line would again have been the Ohio River, as at the beginning of the war. There was, probably, no more critical day in the whole war than the day General Thomas moved out from Nashville to attack Hood. General Grant's telegrams to Thomas show that he felt keenly the immense issues at stake. He had even started to Nashville to superintend the battle himself, but upon reaching Washington he was intercepted by a telegram announcing the great victory-great not only in valor, but in saving what had been attained in the South-west, and virtually ending the war in that part of the Union. There was no engagement of any magnitude after this, west of the Alleghany Mountains. Communications were opened on the 24th of December, and the soldiers at Chattanooga made glad by the receipt of a month's accumulated mail, and the "Civic Guards" pleased by a release from military restraints and prospective service.
117
1865 AND HOME.
CHAPTER XVII.
1865 AND HOME.
EARLY in January, 1865, the troops at Chattanooga were re-brigaded, the Forty-fourth being assigned to the 2d Brigade, Ist Separate Division of the Army of the Cumberland. The Regiment had now to assist in picket duty, as well as post duty. On the 29th of January the Forty-fourth was hastily moved by railroad to Athens, Tennessee, to repel a raid on that place, but upon reaching there found the raiders had already been repelled, and the Regiment returned the next day. On the way back, two cars of the train were thrown off the track by the spreading of the rails, killing Samuel A. Baker, Co. E, and severely wounding five others.
And again, at midnight, February 4th, the Regiment was aroused, rushed to the depot, and put on board a train for Altowah, fifteen miles distant, to repel a raid of guerrillas, but returned the next day without having a sight at them. This was the last call on the Regi- ment to face the enemy during the rebellion.
The news of the fall of Fort Sumter and capture of Charleston, reached Chattanooga February 22d, and was the occasion of great rejoicing. The heavy guns in the forts, and the field guns were fired, a score of engines at the depot blew their whistles, and the men screamed until hoarse or exhausted. The improvised
118
1865 AND HOME.
windows in the soldiers' "shanties," and many even in the more solid structures, were shattered by the con- cussion of the air. The best things in the soldiers' larders, and some things that had not got there before, were prepared for supper, and feasting and joy were unbounded.
On March 17th, Lieutenant-Colonel Curtiss was pro- moted and mustered in as Colonel, Captain Grund as Lieutenant-Colonel, Captain Burch, Co. A, as Major, and Isaac N. Plummer, a regularly educated physician who had been drafted into the service at Evansville, Indiana, and was among the four hundred drafted men received in November before, and who had been recom- mended by the Surgeon, with the approval of the Colonel, for promotion to Assistant Surgeon, and com- missioned by the Governor, was also mustered in, April 8th.
The rejoicings of the Regiment over the surrender of Lee, and the grief over the assassination of President Lin- coln, the writer did not witness, being at the time absent on leave. The men became quite anxious for a muster out after the surrender of the great rebel armies, but had to await the result of the predictions of guerrilla warfare, the adjustment of many war questions, and the disposition of the immense amount of army property accumulated. During the month of May thousands of rebels came into the post, surrendered, and returned to their homes. They brought with them a considerable amount of silver coin, which they largely spent in pur- chases, putting in circulation a currency that had not been seen before by Union soldiers since the opening of
1865 AND HOME. 119
the war. An exchange of greenbacks at the rate of $1.25 for a silver dollar was made, until almost every Union soldier had a silver piece which was claimed to be one of the identical dollars the Confederates had stolen from the United States mint at New Orleans.
In June, one hundred and fifty of the drafted men were mustered out. General Steedman was relieved of command at Chattanooga about the first of July, and assigned to the command of the department of Georgia, with headquarters at Augusta. Captain Bradford, Co. H, who had served on his staff since the first assign- ment of the General to the Post, went with him, accom- panied by his wife, who had come to her husband when the Regiment lay at MeMinnville, in July, 1863, and had accompanied him on horseback in the march to Chickamauga, sharing the soldier's fare of her husband nearly all the time since.
The Forty-fourth, under the new arrangements, was assigned to the District of East Tennessee, and required to report by letter to General A. C. Gillam, command- ing at Knoxville. About the middle of July the troops left in East Tennessee were formed into two brigades, composed each of white and colored regiments. The second brigade consisted of the 44th Indiana Infantry, the 11th Michigan Infantry, and the 16th, 18th, 42d and 44th United States Colored Infantry, with Colonel Johnson, of the 44th U. S. C. I., in command. The Surgeon of the 44th Indiana was detailed on his staff as Brigade Surgeon, and Captain M. B. Willis, Co. K, as . Inspector General.
-
The " spotted brigade " arrangement was the occa- sion of much joking and amusement, but much of it
·
120
1865 AND HOME.
not so merry as to hide the deep-seated prejudice of the white soldiers to such close relations with the colored race. This prejudice was fully developed in a few days, when the guard detail was required to form in line with guard details from the colored regiments, at guard mounting. Men who had passed through nearly four years' service, and readily obeyed every order in battle, on march, and in camp, now hesitated to form in line with colored men, and obey the orders of white officers of colored regiments. They actually stacked arms, vol- untarily surrendered themselves, and with their Lieu- tenant in charge, who surrendered his sword, submitted to be marched off to the guard-house under a colored guard, and there be guarded by colored soldiers. The citizens took side with the white soldiers, and many seemed ready to fan up a general disturbance. But this was readily averted. Colonel Curtiss at once called upon the brigade commander, and they upon the Pro- vost Commandant, and all visited the men. They were released after a few hours' detention, and the next day guard mounting was gone through in regular form, the white details being formed under their own officer, on the same line with the colored detail, though at a " respectable distance."
This event, though showing considerable inconsis- tency and prejudice, nevertheless marked much progress on the part of white soldiers in their regard for the colored race. When they first entered the service they would not have accorded freedom to the slave; now they respected their freedom, and their right and privi- lege of serving the same country as soldiers, but had
121
1865 AND HOME.
not yet advanced to the point where they would not feel that there would be an odious equality in forming in line with them in peaceful guard mounting. Had they been forming a line of battle, there would have been no objection. Patriots can, in the face of peril and death, forget the prejudices that may rule them on fancy parade in times of peace.
During the month of July, one hundred and fifty more of the drafted men were mustered out. In August the " grape vine " dispatches began to thicken fast of a probable early muster-out, and the officers began to prepare their papers for the earnestly hoped-for event. The Surgeon, after an examination of all his medical reports since the Regiment entered the service, made, at the time, a summary as follows :
Died of disease, 212
Died of wounds, 26
Killed on the field, 39
Whole number of deaths, 277
Whole number killed and wounded, __ 350
Of these, twelve were commissioned officers, and two hundred and sixty-five enlisted men. Two officers were killed on the field, two died of wounds, one from rail- road injury, and five of disease.
Died with the command in eamp or in Regi-
mental Hospital,- 58
Died in General Hospital, or at home, 180
Killed in the field as above, 39
Total, 277
There was but one death from disease in Regimental Hospital or camp quarters after August Ist, 1863. There
122
1865 AND HOME.
were some one thousand five hundred and fifty men altogether in the command, exclusive of about three hundred from the 68th and 72d Indiana, assigned to it a few weeks before muster cut. The recruits received were : Fifty in the fall of 1862 ; one hundred and forty in the spring of 1864; four hundred drafted men and substitutes in November, 1864; three hundred and sixty men, detachments of the 68th and 72d Indiana Regi- ments. Of the recruits, one was killed, and forty died of disease. This leaves the casualties of the original officers and men at two hundred and thirty five, or about twenty-four per centum.
The distance traveled by the Regiment during its service, on foot, on horse, by boat, and by railroad, including return home on veteran furlough, was about five thousand miles. About fifteen hundred miles of the distance was marched on foot.
Adjutant General Terrell's report shows the total num- ber belonging to the Regiment to have been twenty-two hundred and three. But in this he counts the veterans twice, as original enlisted men and again as enlisted veterans, and also a large number of unassigned recruits.
The welcome order of relief from further duty as soldiers came September 3d, and on the 6th the Regi- ment boarded a train for Nashville, reaching there on the 7th. The Chattanooga Gazette, in noticing the departure of the Regiment, said :
" The officers and men of the 44th Indiana V. V. I. have, during their stay in this eity, won the respect and admirat on of the citizens as a brave and well disci-
.
--
124
1865 AND HOME.
been the longest service in the field of any medical officer from the State, with possibly one exception.
As soon as payment was made at Indianapolis, the Regiment disbanded, every man returning to his home, where he at once donned the garb and assumed the duties of the private citizen.
The farewell address of General Grant in June, 1865, to the Armies of the United States, being as largely applicable to the Forty-fourth Indiana as any other regiment in the service of the Union, and being a tribute worthy the remembrance of every ex-soldier and loyal citizen, will summarize and close our record :
"SOLDIERS OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES :
By your patriotie devotion to your country in the hour of danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery and endurance, you have maintained the supremacy of the Union and the Constitution, over- thrown all armed opposition to the enforcement of the laws, and of the proclamation forever abolishing slavery -the cause and pretext of the rebellion-and opened the way to the rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate peace on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot of American soil.
Your marches, sieges and battles, in distance, dura- tion, resolution and brilliancy of result dim the lustre of the world's past military nehievements, and will be the patriotie precedent in defense of liberty and right in all time to come.
In obedience to your country's call, you left your homes and families, and volunteered in its defense. Vietory has erowned your valor and secured the pur- pose of your patriot hearts; and with the gratitude of your countrymen and the highest honors a great and
.
--
125
1865 AND HOME.
free nation can accord, you will soon be permitted to return to your homes and families, conscious of having discharged the highest duty of American citizens. To achieve these glorious triumphs and secure to your- selves, your fellow-countrymen and posterity the bless- ings of free institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant comrades have fallen, and sealed the priceless legacy of their lives. The graves of these a grateful nation bedews with tears, honors their memories, and will ever cherish and support their stricken families."
1
1
PERSONAL MENTION?
PERSONAL MENTION.
-
FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS.
THE COLONELS.
COLONEL HUGH B. REED is a native of Ohio, and studied for the medical profession in Cincinnati, where he afterward engaged in the drug business. In 1845 be. moved to Fort Wayne, and at the breaking out of the war was conducting an extensive wholesale and retail busi- ness as a druggist. Heanswered the first call of the Gov- ernment for troops by aiding in raising and organizing the 12th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, and when n camp was ordered at Fort Wayne for the organization of the 30th and 44th Regiments, he was placed in com- mand of the camp by Governor Morton ; and as soon as the first was organized, and enough for the second regi- ment was assured, was commissioned Colonel of the 44th. He led it as coolly and bravely as a troop was ever led, in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, to which reference is more fully made in the description of those battles. He commanded the Regiment in the advance on Corinth, and in the march from there to Booneville, Miss., and thence to Tuscumbia, Athens, Stevenson, Ala., and to Battle Creek, Tenn. Up to this time he had not been absent a day from his command.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.