USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. I > Part 47
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Meantime the bodies of the dead were demanded, and the citizens were forced to disinter them with their own hands, prepare them for decent burial, and wrap them in a flag made by the ladies of the place; the burial took place with the usual religious services, and military ceremonies; the jail was battered to the ground, and two printing offices, which were accustomed to publish the speeches of Voorhees, of Indiana, and Vallandigham, of Ohio, were destroyed.
No difficulty was now experienced in getting information from the prisoners. The guerrillas, as might be expected, had all fled, but the direction of their flight being given, Colonel Keith instituted a search, which resulted in the discovery of several of the criminals, and in the destruction of the houses, barns, shops, stables and fences, of the confiscation of the movable property, and of the imprisonment of the persons of five planters, who boasted of assisting the murderers in
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VALUE OF THE FOX.
their flight, and spoke of the attack on the sick soldiers as a praiseworthy act. After this summary execution of justice, provisions and cattle were distributed to the poor of Houma, and the National flag was hoisted on the Court House, with the assurance that if it was taken down not one stone or brick should mark the spot, except as a pile of ruins.
The Fox, with its valuable cargo, arrived safely at Algiers, and was given into the hands of a Government agent. She had on board a cargo of arms, powder, lead, quicksilver, acids for telegraphic purposes, chloroform and morphine for medical stores, to the amount of about three hundred thousand dollars, and invoices, letters of advice, bills of lading, bills of exchange and the evidences of the transactions of many of the mercantile houses of New Orleans. The bills of exchange were for one half the proceeds of the last cargo of cotton which the Fox had carried out, the other half being vested in the munitions of war, and other articles enumerated, consequently they also were worth three hundred thousand dollars. Add to this the value of the vessel, and it will be found that the capture was very important. Had it been the work of the navy the Government would have received only half the amount; as it was, the whole was paid into the United States treasury, and the troops who captured it received nothing as a reward, not even a holiday.
In the end, the Government did not realize the full amount, as, contrary to the judgment of General Butler, the banks were allowed large claims.
The property brought away from Houma must have been near the value of five hundred thousand dollars, and the amount destroyed even more.
On the 15th of May, I, with a party of twelve men, made a reconnoissance down the river to Chalmette, where we suc- ceeded in capturing one brass cannon, forty stands of arms, one stand of colors and two wagon loads of hospital stores. The cannon was afterwards sent to Governor Morton, as a present from the regiment.
On the 17th, a party was sent out, under the command of Lieutenant Bough. After being gone three days it returned with two six-pounder brass cannon (Mexican trophy) as the
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
result of their raid. A few days afterwards Lieutenant Bough went back to the same place, and succeeded in cap- turing a launch and in fishing up a six-pounder brass cannon out of eighteen feet of water. This piece was stocked by Osgood Bradley, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and was taken by the Rebels at the first battle of Bull Run.
During the month of May eight first class river steamers, loaded with cotton and sugar, were captured by various par- ties without the loss of men.
On the 20th of May an agreement was entered into with the citizens along the railroads leading to Brashear, by which one train of cars was to run daily each way in charge of a competent officer from our regiment, the citizens pledging themselves that such trains should not be molested. On the 27th two Lieutenants, James W. Connelly and Clayton Cox, who were in charge, and also the trains, were captured; but we had orders immediately after to proceed to Baton Rouge to reinforce General Williams, so that we had no opportunity to retaliate.
We arrived at Baton Rouge on the morning of June 1st, and, after being unnecessarily detained on the boats by Gen- eral Williams, who seemed to have no consideration for private soldiers, or for volunteer officers, we were allowed to land and go into camp on the 5th of June. Our encampment was about a mile east of the river, in a splendid oak forest, with its long mosses hanging luxuriantly over the limbs of the giant trees, and its thousands of mocking birds warbling their mimic songs.
Two companies, under the command of Captain Roy, were ordered forward to Bird's plantation to gather in the crops left in the fields, the owner being in command of a battalion of guerrillas. There remained on the plantation about three hundred hogsheads of sugar, large quantities of molasses and corn, a number of hogs and mules, and seventy-five negroes. A few days after Captain Roy had taken possession, a small party of guerrillas crept up in the woods near by and fired at a picket, James Howell, who was partially sheltered by a rail fence. The fire did not take effect, and Howell instantly mounted the fence, took deliberate aim, and blazed away as
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SCOURING THE COUNTRY.
coolly as if he thought he could keep the whole force at bay. Adjutant, Latham and John MeMillan, happening to be on a visit to Captain Roy, and being mounted, and the Sergeant- Major and Sergeant Cook, the latter an officer of the battery · we had formed of our captured guns, also mounted, happen- ing to be near, the guerrillas were charged upon by infantry and cavalry, and dispersed without loss on our side.
During June and July, our regiment was constantly em- ployed in scouting and in making raids. Our battery was very useful, as it now consisted of four six-pounders. It was moved by mules, and marmed by a detail from each company. It was under the command of Lieutenant Brown.
The most important of our expeditions was one, under Adjutant Latham, in which were captured near the Comite river some fifty horses, with saddles, blankets, arms, cattle, sheep and mules in large numbers; another, under Colonel Keith, in which twenty Rebel soldiers were captured, eighty horses were secured, and a Rebel camp destroyed; and a third, undertaken for the destruction of a party of guerrillas who were on a plantation distant about ten miles from our camp. The last was under the command of Colonel McMil- lan, who was wounded severely in the arm and hand. His horse was also shot. The expedition, however, was success- ful, the guerrillas being all captured.
During July Confederate troops were concentrating in various points, preparatory to an attack on New Orleans, and Confederate gunboats were making preparations for the same attempt. The first movement in that direction was on Baton Rouge, and was undertaken by General Breckinridge with a land force of five or ten thousand, it is impossible to give the exact number, and the great Confederate ram Arkansas. General Butler's spies reported movements in the camps of the enemy, Union citizens confirmed the reports, and on the 4th of August positive information was received that the enemy was advancing, and was not far off. Adjutant Latham took our cavalry, which consisted of a company mounted on captured horses, and reconnoitred the Greenwell Spring road to the Amite river, twenty-five miles distant. Capturing a solitary picket, the only enemy he saw, he returned at three
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
the next morning. Another cavalry force went out at the same time on the Clay Cut road, with a like result. The enemy, however, was very near, and, following this last force · without attracting its attention, encamped on the night of the 4th on the Clay Cut road, within a few miles of our pickets.
The front line of the Federal force, from left to right, con- sisted of the Fourteenth Maine, Carruth's battery, Twenty- First Indiana, the pieces of light artillery which formed the battery of the Twenty-First, and the Sixth Michigan. Nim's battery and the Thirtieth Massachusetts regiment were brought into position early in the action on the right. A Vermont, a Wisconsin and a Massachusetts regiment, with Manning's Massachusetts battery, were in the rear, the first in reserve, and the three last protecting the left flank. All the commands were much reduced by sickness, and the force did not amount to thirty-five hundred men. The position, although somewhat cramped, was strong.
To understand the battle, it is necessary to understand the ground and its approaches. Baton Rouge is situated on a bluff that rises out of the Mississippi river to the height of seventy or eighty feet. Above and below,a ravine pierces this bluff, and extends round the rear of the city, beyond which rises another and higher bluff. The brow of the latter is a mile from the city, and was the battle-ground. The approaches were mostly hidden by live oak woods and under- brush. The principal roads on the second bluff are the Greenwell Springs and the Clay Cut roads, which are about three-quarters of a mile apart, and are connected by a cross- road, behind which lay the camp of the Twenty-First, and of the Sixth Michigan. The camp of the Fourteenth Maine was behind a road which joins the Greenwell Spring road, at right angles with it. The Magnolia cemetery was directly in our front, on the opposite side of the road. The Catholic cemetery was in the rear of the Fourteenth Maine. Behind the Catholic cemetery was the valley that separated the two bluffs.
At three in the morning, Major Hays, who had charge of the regiment in the absence of Colonel Keith, and the disabled
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BATON ROUGE.
condition of Colonel McMillan, ordered the men roused and prepared for battle. At four picket firing was heard, and the Major rode forward to the picket line, leaving the regiment in charge of Adjutant Latham. The alarm was sounded, and the notes of the long roll echoed and re-echoed through the majestic old oaks. At this moment Colonel Keith arrived on the ground. He pushed out the regiment three-fourths of a mile, halted it behind a hedge, which bounded one side of a large corn field, and sent companies A and F out as skirmishers, and to support the pickets, then about a quarter of a mile in advance of the hedge.
It was a sultry morning, with a dense fog near the ground, while the upper air was clear; daylight was just throwing its red streaks across the sky; birds were beginning to warble, and the loud, shrill crow of the cock was heard from distant plantations. We moved so silently and so close to the enemy that, to our own surprise, we found ourselves listening to a speech of the ex-Vice President, who probably supposed we were a mile distant. He reminded his soldiers that they had heretofore fought with superior numbers, but were now to meet so small a Union force that success could not but be certain, without considering the superiority of Southern valor to Northern courage. He, of course, called us Vandals, and to this added that the Indianians were tired of the war, and would lay down their arms at the first opportunity, closing with the declaration, " One good charge, and the Yankees are ours!"
The Confederates probably supposed that our pickets had gone back to the camp, but, thanks to Major Hays, this was not the case, they had only retired a few rods, and were not two hundred yards from General Breckinridge during his speech. Prisoners afterwards informed us that "some of them fool Texans fired right into them at the start and confused them." Those fool Texans were our skirmishers, consisting of companies A, I and F, and covering the whole Federal force. As our officers gave the command, "Rally on the bat- talion," the enemy closed up and followed rapidly, undoubt- edly supposing that the battalion was three-quarters of a mile further back than it really was. As A and Itook their places
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· THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
in the battalion line it became evident that F, on the left, was cut off, and that there was danger of being flanked on the right, so company C was hurried out to the right. Our posi- tion now became partially revealed, which Colonel Keith, who was near the center, did not discover until a volley from the enemy cut through A and C with deadly effect. The skirmishers answered the volley with well directed and steady aim. At the same time the Rebel batteries opened, first just clearing the tree tops, then a little lower and a little lower, until they began to plough through our ranks. Carruth's battery replied. In return a shell was hurled at him, killing a pair of horses and several men, and throwing his whole command into confusion. With difficulty he held a few men together until the battery was moved back to the camp of the Fourteenth Maine. At this moment company F was retreating, fairly beaten off the ground; Carruth rode up to the company and cried, "For God's sake, Indianians, man a . Massachusetts battery which Massachusetts men have de- serted!" The appeal was responded to by several of the company, who threw away rifles and ammunition, mounted the horses and manned the guns, while the rest of the com- pany acted as a support. In less than ten minutes the bat- tery that would have destroyed our regiment was silenced.
But in spite of this single check it was evident that the enemy was fast gaining ground, especially on our left, and Colonel Keith ordered the Twenty-First to fall back. While moving to the south of Magnolia cemetery, through weeds which were waist high, and which the enemy's balls were mowing down, Colonel Keith rode from one end of the line to the other, checking all confusion, encouraging his men, halting, facing them about, and ordering them to fire as coolly as though on drill. We formed behind Magnolia cemetery, where we were joined by the Sixth Michigan. Now came the tug of war. We held our ground as long as it was pos- sible, then numbers overpowered bravery. The Fourteenth Massachusetts had fallen back, and the enemy poured into the gap their retreat made like bees from a disturbed hive.
The fighting was now desperate. Colonel Keith constantly rode from one end of the line to the other, while the line
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GALLANT EXPLOITS.
officers warmly seconded his efforts. At the least sign of confusion the word "Steady!" would be repeated along the line, when all stood like statues. The fight here lasted an hour and ten minutes, neither side seeming to gain an advan- tage. Charge after charge was made and repulsed. The enemy seemed to be everywhere but in our rear. At last, as the Rebels made a furious charge, a Vermont regiment, which was in our rear, fired into us, and threw us into confusion at the moment when all depended upon our steadiness. We supposed that the enemy was behind us. As we retreated, and the Vermonters saw their mistake, their confusion became so great that General Williams severely reproved them.
Fortunately for us the enemy stopped to burn and plunder our camp, giving us time to rally near the Catholic cemetery. Just as we were formed, the Confederates approached on the double quick. They looked so much like our troops that Colonel Keith rode out and asked, " What regiment is that?" They answered, "Thirteenth Massachusetts," and fired. We answered with a volley that piled up the dead and wounded. The ground was now so concealed by smoke and fog that it was impossible for us to make an intelligent movement. Cap- tain Campbell volunteered to penetrate the cloud and recon- noiter. This he did, advancing close to the enemy's lines, examining them with Quaker coolness, and returning un- harmed, to be severely wounded just as he reached the regiment.
We felt assured from his report that we could not only hold our position, but move forward and retake our camp; but, just at this moment, we were ordered to fall back to the city. At the same time a determined charge was made on our bat- tery, the Rebels succeeding so far as to wave a flag over one of our pieces. But the resistance was more determined than the attack, Lieutenant Brown shot the audacious flag-bearer with his revolver, and fired away with his cannon until the enemy was driven from before him.
While this was going on, General Williams rode towards us, and was met by Colonel Keith, who asked if he had given the order for our regiment to fall back. "Yes," said the Gen- eral, "but if you can take that camp," pointing to the smoul-
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
dering ruins of our tents, "I will order up reinforcements, and we will yet annihilate the enemy." He thanked us for our good conduct, and gave the order, "Charge that camp!" At this moment the gallant Latham, while raising his sword to cheer on the regiment, was killed, and Coloncl Keith fell to the earth, severely wounded in the right shoulder. General Williams dashed forward, hat in hand, and shouting "Indi- anians, your field officers are all killed, I will lead you!" At this the regiment gave three cheers, and rushed headlong to the charge. When General Williams saw that the camp would be retaken, he turned to bring up the Wisconsin regi- ment, but fell dead a moment after he left us, shot through the heart. He was carried from the field by Corporal Pip- pinger, of company A, Twenty-First.
The camp was gained, but no reinforcements were brought up, and we were ordered into the city.
Company C, which, in the early part of the action, was separated from the regiment while engaged in skirmishing, came in after the battle, having, by keeping itself concealed and firing steadily, kept a large force in check.
The battle continued from four in the morning until noon, our regiment losing in that time twenty-four killed, ninety- eight wounded, and four missing. Three hundred and seventy- eight of the enemy were buried on the field by us, and thirty-four wounded prisoners afterwards died.
The surgeons of the Twenty-First were faithful and brave in the battle of Baton Rouge. Dr. Read established his hos- pital on the field, where the cannon balls were ploughing up the ground. He was asked if he were not afraid of being killed, and told that we had so few surgeons we could not spare him. He philosophically replied, "It takes eighty cannon balls and six hundred musket balls to kill or wound a man. Now, when the Rebels have shot seventy-five cannon balls and five hundred musket balls at my hospital here, I shall move it, and make them begin again. Don't you see I'll worry them out before I get through with them!" The Chaplain, N. L. Brakeman, was equally attentive.
(General Butler, in a published order, alludes in the follow- ing manner to the Twenty-First:
Engda CE
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"HONOR TO WHOM HONOR IS DUE."
"To the Twenty-First Indiana a high meed of praise is awarded. 'Honor to whom honor is due.' Deprived of the services of their brave Colonel, who, suffering under wounds previously received, essayed twice to join his regiment in the fight, but fell from his horse from weakness, with every field officer wounded and borne from the field, their Adjutant, the gallant Latham, killed, seeing their General fall while uttering his last known words on earth, 'Indianians, your field officers are all killed, I will lead you!' still this brave corps fought on without a thought of defeat. Lieutenant-Colonel Keith was everywhere, cheering on his men, and directing their move- ments, and even after his very severe wound, he gave them advice and assistance. Major Hays, while sustaining the charge of the enemy, wounded early in the action, showed himself worthy of his regiment."
Among those who have honorable mention in General Butler's order, occur " Captain James Grimsley, Twenty-First Indiana, who commanded the regiment after Colonel Keith - was wounded, for his gallant behavior in following up the battle to its complete success; Adjutant Matthew A. Latham, Lieutenant Charles B. Seely, Orderly-Sergeant John A. Boy- ington, Corporal Isaac Knight and private Henry T. Batch- elor, all instantly killed; Captain Noblet, for detailing men from his company to assist in working the guns of the Sixth Massachusetts battery, after the gunners were disabled; Lieu- tenant Brown, commanding a battery improvised from his regiment. He deserves promotion to a battery."
It may be added here that the battle of Baton Rouge was fought with great bravery by all the troops in General Wil- liams' little army, as even the unfortunate Vermont regiment was exonerated from the charge of cowardice by a military court; and it may also be added, without vanity or exagera- tion, that the regiment which most distinguished itself on the 5th of August was the Twenty-First Indiana.
The gunboat Arkansas took no part in the engagement. Having broken her machinery, and run aground, she was destroyed by her commander. Her destruction may be con- sidered as forming the conclusion of the Baton Rouge battle.)
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA
Colonel Paine, of the Fourth Wisconsin, succeeded Gen- eral Williams in command of the forces at Baton Rouge. Under his direction we threw up fortifications. In the middle of August General Butler withdrew all the land forces from Baton Rouge, and stationed our regiment at Carrolton.
From this time throughout the year our history consists of little but a succession of reconnoissances and fights with guerrillas. On the 4th of September we dispersed a band of guerrillas in the cane-brakes a few miles above Algiers, and rescued nine wounded Vermonters who had fallen into their hands, and had been treated with great inhumanity.
September 8th, in company with two other regiments, we went twenty-five miles above New Orleans, and in the Des . Allemand's swamps we encountered a regiment of Texan Rangers which had been firing on our steamers on the river. After a scattering fire we drove them through rice-fields and cane-brakes into the morass, where we found their horscs, with all their accoutrements. We killed twelve and took thirty or forty prisoners, without losing any from our force.
General Butler never had a large force in his department, and cither because as a prudent and humane officer he thought it unadvisable to make conquests which he might not be able to hold, or because, as the Southern historian suggests, "the tyrant of New Orleans was a man utterly destitute of mili- tary ability, whose ferocious genius was expended on a war of non-combatants," he made little attempt to extend the area of conquest. Nevertheless, when the enemy ccased to threaten New Orleans and its outposts, he determined to establish the authority of the United States in the Lafourche district, and open communication with Berwick bay, both by land and water. General Weitzel nobly executed the task with a force which consisted almost entirely of Ver- mont, Connecticut and Massachusetts troops, the Twenty- First having no. part in the expedition, except in the previous reconnoissances.
Our most important reconnoitring expedition commenced on the 22d of September, when three hundred and fifty men, under Colonel McMillan, went to Donaldsonville, and imme- diately after landing proceeded down the south side of Bayou
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NEAR BRASHEAR.
Lafourche, in search of a reported encampment of five hun- dred of the enemy. We shelled cane-fields and sugar-houses, started a few squads of cavalry, and captured several horses, but we did not find the encampment. The next morning we crossed the bayou and went down the other bank on a single narrow road, with fields on one side and the stream on the other. We had constant evidences of the proximity of the enemy, but did not discover his presence until we commenced with our three brass cannon to shell a sugar-house, in which we understood a small force was concealed.
Our fire was replied to by nine well-directed guns. The enemy in large numbers was in ambush. Nevertheless, we not only held our ground, but, partially concealed and shel- tered by cane-fields, our skirmishers crawled forward very near the Rebel position, and Colonel McMillan was preparing to give an order to charge, when he discovered a force advancing towards our rear. We immediately retreated, and, though pursued, reached the river with no loss, except of Lieutenant Harding, who was captured while climbing a fence.
October 24th we embarked on the St. Mary, and went to Berwick bay, where, with other forces, we were to cut off the enemy as he was driven out of Lafourche by General Weitzel. We were detained, however, four days by the bars at the mouth of the bay, and during the time the Rebels escaped.
We did not return to Carrollton, but encamped near Bra- shear, where we resumed operations against guerrilla parties and portions of the Confederate army which were collecting in this region. None of these operations were of great im- portance, yet all were of such a character as to require con- stant watchfulness and exertion on our part, with sometimes no little suffering. In December companies A and C, which were sent up Vermillion bay to destroy the salt works there, and which, not expecting to be absent a night, took no blan- kets along, were aground on a sand-bar sixteen days. Oysters were easily caught, and they prevented starvation, but the cold was painful.
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