USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. I > Part 8
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September 8th, Sunday, Lieutenant-Colonel Owen, with two hundred and twenty-five infantry and four dragoons, to be used as messengers, was ordered by Colonel Wagner to proceed along the turnpike until he should meet the enemy, but to bring on no general engagement. The first night one half of the command slept on their arms, while the other half kept guard. They made no fires and preserved entire silence. Before daylight, they resumed their advance. They
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RECONNOITRING.
carefully examined both sides of the road; nevertheless they came so suddenly and so close upon a troop of Confeder- ates, that a private of the Fifteenth, almost before he was aware, was engaged in a hand-to-hand scuffle. It was im- possible to avoid an engagement, and Colonel Owen ordered his men to fire by sections, then to countermarch, re-form, and load in the rear. A brisk but brief action followed. A num- ber of prisoners was taken. Not a man was lost. The prisoners represented their camp to consist of eight thousand men.
Monday, Colonel Wagner ordered Captain Templeton, of the Fifteenth, to advance with two companies eight miles along the Huntersville road, and hold a point four miles from the enemy's camp. Major Christopher of the Sixth Ohio, with a hundred men, was placed in the rear, as a support. Wednesday morning, Captain Templeton's pickets were driven in. He sent for reinforcements. Colonel Wagner im- mediately sent the left wing of the Fifteenth, with Major Wood, and orders still to hold the position; but when in a short time a scout, who had been posted three miles to the east, reported a column of two thousand moving with the evident intention of cutting off Captain Templeton and Major Christopher, Colonel Wagner sent orders for the entire force to fall back instantly.
Wednesday night, Captain Coon, of the Fourteenth, was ordered to guard the bridle-path leading from Cheat Summit to Elk Water, a distance of seven miles. Taking with him sixty men, he left the sleeping camp on the Summit and proceeded down the mountain. Near midnight, finding the darkness so great as to render the woods impenetrable, the scouts bivouacked; but rousing at dawn, they set about their duty. During the same night General Lee had thrown into these same woods three regiments; and Colonel Rust, from his position in front, two regiments. These were now making their way to the right and rear of Cheat Mountain, and by this time were on every side of Captain Coon's com- pany of scouts. Nothing however suggested danger, except the aspect of a farm-house, which, although known to be oc- cupied the day before, was now closed and deserted. Cap-
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
tain Coon halted and sent two men forward. They returned and reported traces of six horses. A corporal, with four men, was immediately sent to reconnoitre more closely. The little squad crossed a narrow meadow, entered a wood, and commenced ascending a hill, before either sight or sound occurred to confirm suspicion. When half-way up the height, a salute of twenty or thirty muskets gave the required intel- ligence, brought the squad to a stand, and started Captain Coon forward. Several hundred muskets from the rocks above forced a retreat behind the steep bank of a small stream. From this shelter, Captain Coon and his company fired for a short time in safety, and with great effect; but by the threat of a flanking movement on the part of the enemy, they were driven back to several piles of logs. Here again there was a stand, and hot firing; again there was a threatened flanking movement, and again a retreat.
The great body of the Rebels, following the deserted road, had unobserved come between the Summit and the outposts, and concealed themselves within a few feet of the highway, waiting for sufficient light to enable them to make an attack. Not half a mile from camp they seized the supply - train, which left every morning at daylight and returned every after- noon with provisions. Shortly after, a single Ranger, going to his post, discovered the train without drivers and horses, and gave the alarm. Colonel Kimball, with twenty officers and two companies of the Fourteenth, Captains Williamson and Brooks, repaired to the spot to reconnoitre. Discover- ing the enemy, yet unconscious of his strength, he opened fire. He soon saw that he was opposed by a very large num- ber; nevertheless he ordered his men to hold their ground, and had the pleasure of seeing the whole force of the enemy throw aside guns, clothing, and everything that impeded progress, and fly. Small scouting parties, at different points, engaged the enemy under the same misunderstanding as to numbers. The boldness of these little parties misled the Confederates. They supposed themselves discovered, and were the more easily intimidated.
Meantime Captain Higgins, of the Twenty-fourth Ohio, with ninety men, was out in search of Captain Coon. While
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HEROISM OF A RANGER.
pressing through the woods they received a volley from a hundred guns. Two or three volleys were exchanged; but Major Harrow, of the Fourteenth, coming up with two com- panies, and learning from prisoners the number in front, drew in the men and posted them, as advance guard, two miles nearer camp. Late in the day, Captain Coon and the larger portion of his men came in. They were torn and scratched by briers, and wet from wading numerous streams. They had been almost throttled by vines, had lost their hats and their shoes, and bore in their whole appearance evidence that they had barely escaped with their lives. Their com- rades, now fully aware of the dangers they had endured and had escaped, greeted them with cheers and even tears of sur- prise and joy.
Lieutenant Junod, Company E, Fourteenth Indiana, at a picket station east of the Summit, with a force of thirty-five men, was attacked by five hundred. Junod was killed; as was also a private, George Winder. All the others escaped. One saved himself by throwing up his hands and falling as if lifeless.
In another warm engagement on the west, thirty were able to keep a position against several thousand. The same day, Thursday, early in the morning, General Reynolds despatched Britz and Pulver, two of the Bracken Rangers, and a tele- graphic operator, with orders to Colonel Kimball. Not more than a mile from Elk Water, the messengers were warned by pickets of hidden danger along the bridle-path. Glimpses of horses, tied in thickets, confirmed report and suspicion ; but Britz, who carried the despatches, was resolved to proceed. His comrades contended that to return would be in accord- ance with orders. Britz would hear no argument. " Go back, if you will," he said, " but the first obstacle shall not turn me from what I have undertaken. I'll go on if it cost me my life!" With that, he put spurs to his horse, and the spirited animal sprang up the broken path. Unwilling to desert their daring comrade, yet unwilling to proceed, the others followed more slowly. Suddenly the sound of rifles from behind the thickets! Rifles of the unseen foe! The bold Britz fell, shot through the head, and dead on the instant.
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
In turning, the telegrapher's horse stumbled and rolled down a steep declivity, crashing through bush and brier at least a hundred feet. Two days after, the man came into camp, unhurt.
Alarmed for the safety of Colonel Kimball, General Rey- nolds determined to force communication with the Summit, and he ordered the Second Virginia and the Third Ohio to cut their way by the path, and the Thirteenth to do the same by the road. The two commands started at dree on Tuesday morning. They met with no opposition, and arrived at the Summit to find the camp rejoicing over the repulse of what was supposed to be mere reconnoitring parties.
On this same day, Captain Stough, of the Nineteenth, had a sharp engagement with a small number of horsemen, and carried from the field the body of an officer shot by Sergeant Lieber. That dead officer was a handsome man; but it was not his robust beauty and strength, lying in the helplessness of death, that hushed the group gathered around him in camp ; it was his name-Washington. The dead man was John A. Washington, who made the burial-place of the Father of his Country a thing of merchandise. His treason was in accordance with his character, yet it was not in accordance with the laws of nature : -
" For not at once
Begets a house, a demigod, or monster ; Only a line of evil or of noble Brings forth at last the wretch to curse, or him Who showers blessings." *
Men, rough in speech and thought, were conscious of the unfitness of his name. " What will George say to John when he goes up ?" one asked of a comrade. "John will never go up," replied the other, gravely.
Saturday and Sunday very strong forces attempted flank
" Denn es erzeugt nicht gleich
Ein Haus den Halbgott noch das Ungeheuer; Erst eine Reihe Böser oder Guter Bringt endlich das Entsetzen, bringt die Freude Der Welt hervor."
Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris.
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GEN. LEE'S
COL. WASHINGTON KILLED.
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TYGARTS
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THE VOLUNTEER NOT A "MACHINE."
movements, but with no better success than on the preced- ing day. General Lee then gathered up his troops and retired, his rear completely routed on the retreat by the Thir- teenth Indiana. The roads were left full of knapsacks, guns, and other proofs of the fatigue and alarm of the Confederates.
Seldom has a plan, so well laid as that of General Lee, so well and boldly carried out to the very last stage, failed so completely.
The mountains were climbed, the rear of the Union camps was gained; the camps were surrounded, and attacked re- peatedly from every quarter. Lee's force was overwhelming in numbers ; yet he could find no vulnerable point, and did not succeed in gaining a single salute from the batteries within the intrenchments. The communication between the camps was obstructed but one day. His failure was no dis- credit to him. It was due alone to the sleepless vigilance of General Reynolds and his officers, and the number and the daring of the scouting parties. Meeting armed men at every turn and at every step of advance, the Confederates imag- ined their number discovered, and their enemy in force; while the Federal troops in almost every instance supposed themselves engaging small scouting parties, and were re- joiced rather than elated at the series of victories.
Colonel Kimball had lost popularity since he had been among the mountains, from an unfortunate use of the word " machine," which, in insisting upon the necessity of discipline, he had applied to the soldier. To the Volunteer, fresh from the unrestrained and independent life of the American cit- izen, the term was suggestive only of the slavish life and character of the European soldier, and was, in consequence, inexpressibly distasteful. Probably no overt act on the part of one in authority, and certainly no word, could have been equally offensive. But in the hour of danger, Colonel Kim- ball showed himself so skilful in plan, so prompt in action, so watchful, so brave, and so regardless of his own comfort and safety, that the Volunteers, as generous in acknowledg- ing merit as they were jealous of an invasion of personal dignity, not only forgave the obnoxious term, but gave to the Colonel the most hearty admiration and confidence. '
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
Our loss in the engagements was singularly small - nine killed, two missing, and sixty prisoners. The killed from Indiana, besides those already mentioned, were two of the Fourteenth and two of the Fifteenth.
The ambulance, sent to bring in the remains of Junod and Winder, returned empty; the affectionate sharers of their dan- ger insisting on carrying the dead in their arms.
The funeral ceremonies were performed the day of Lee's retreat. The scene was solemn and was rendered peculiarly impressive by the unusual circumstances and surroundings, - the tall dark firs and hoary rocks, the piercing wail of the trumpet and fife, the parting salute over the graves, and above all that strange feeling of nearness to the Unseen, which comes oftener and more thrillingly to the sojourner on the moun- tain-top than to the inhabitant of the plain.
Successful as was General Reynolds's repulse of Lee, he was convinced of the necessity of reinforcements, and ear- nestly represented his need to Governor Morton and to the War Department. Without waiting for orders from the Department, Governor Morton immediately sent to his aid the Seventh and Ninth Indiana, which were barely organized. When Milroy received orders to move, the regiment was not full, but he obtained permission to complete the number from the Twenty-eighth Indiana, which was recruiting at the same place. Orders from the War Department came the day after the regiments left.
During the latter part of September and the first of Octo- ber, the light showers, common to all mountain regions, gave place to furious storms. Quiet brooks, which in summer wind their rippling way around the rocks, and gently wash the bared roots of pine and oak, now tore rocks and trees from their foothold or dashed over them, sweeping along every less firm obstacle. Summer breezes became roaring, howling, shrieking blasts. The motionless mist was swept away by a dull, driving army of clouds.
The night of September 27th was fearful. Rain fell in torrents. The blast through the narrow gorge of Elk Water was like the pealing of a gigantic trumpet. The trembling tents started from their foundations. The Elk rose, and
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THE PELTING OF PITILESS STORMS.
dashed down a great part of the fortifications, and threat- ened to carry away blankets, clothing, and men.
None were so exposed in these autumn storms as the pickets at their distant and solitary posts. A little party of soldiers sometimes watched for days together in some untravelled bridle-path or on some ledge of rocks, where the stillness of day was not less than that of night, and was never broken except by the rattle of the creeping snake, the stealthy step of the mountain-fox, or the cry of some more savage animal. The squirrel and rabbit live in milder regions ; birds also seek a warmer climate. There could be few severer tests of physi- cal courage than the dreary beat of these distant sentinels. One night, a single Ranger was riding along the mountain, through a forest which added its shade to the darkness of a moonless and cloudy sky. Unable to see, and therefore unable to pick his way, he proceeded slowly, his horse's hoofs, now crushing a dead limb, now starting a loose stone, alone breaking the stillness. Suddenly a rustle, a gleam, the quick springing and trampling of feet! Almost before the thought of bushwhackers could form itself, a line of motionless fig- ures stood before him. That creeping, icy terror, which in a moment of awful danger is not unknown to the stoutest heart, froze his blood. He waited the deadly click of the rifle. A minute, and no sound; another, still no sound. Then, to the equal amazement and relief of horseman and horse, the foe turned, and swiftly leaping back into the forest, revealed a body of startled deer.
The storms of September converted the turnpikes into long and deep stretches of mud; and wagons were three and even four days coming from Webster, fifty miles, whence all army stores and mail-matter were brought. Government horses suffered sadly, drivers, in their impatience, neglecting alike the dictates of humanity and honesty.
With the first week of October, the storms passed away ; and the sun - shining over forests lighted up with the glo- rious hues of autumn, the dying leaf only the more brilliant from its proximity to the fadeless needle of the evergreen - revealed a magnificence double that of summer.
During the summer and the greater part of the fall, the
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
troops suffered for want of proper clothing. They had scarcely built their fortifications before they felt the necessity of a warmer dress, July though it was. General Reynolds sent a requisition for overcoats, but it received no attention. A second requisition met with no better success. He applied to Governor Morton, but it was long before even Governor Morton was able to elicit anything but despatches from neg- lectful officials. Agents asserted that clothing had been bought; clothiers, that it had been sold; railroad-men, that it had passed over the road. The information and reports seemed satisfactory and accurate. But no clothing reached the Cheat Mountains, and no railroad official could ever trace its route. Three messengers, sent on an exploring expedition, returned unsuccessful. A fourth, while burrowing in a ware- house on the Kanawha, to his surprise and delight, came upon several boxes of United States uniforms. They had been soaked in a freshet, and had lain until they had rotted, and were now useless. But the discovery added the impetus of hope to the search. More boxes were found. Yet thou- sands of suits were not discovered and not accounted for. Though there never has been an exposure of all the cir- cumstances, it is certain that greedy men caused much suf- fering to our faithful and patient soldiers that summer and fall.
During the search and investigation, the Volunteers con- tinued their acquaintance with mountain breezes and storms, their tatters flying like flags, their blue fingers showing the grip of ague, and their bare feet steadily pursuing the guard's rough round. Not until November was passing into De- cember did rags yield to whole and comfortable garments. He who would rob our Government or our soldiers, is capa- ble of any crime, and incapable of any virtue.
General Lee went to the Kanawha region, immediately after his unsuccessful attempt upon the Federal fortifications, and left General H. R. Jackson with a large force strongly intrenched ten or twelve miles southeast of Cheat Mountain Summit, on a series of natural terraces, which form the slope of one of the Alleghany Mountains, and which offer an ex- traordinarily advantageous position for defence. The valley at
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I TAX NOT YOU, YOU ELEMENTS.
the base of this slope is almost oval in form, encircled by hills, and terminated at the northwest extremity by the Cheat Moun- tain, on the Summit of which had so long been Colonel Kim- ball's head-quarters. Its width varies from two miles to half a mile; its direct length, from the foot of one range to the foot of the other, is little more than six miles. At the base of the Cheat the road crosses a branch of the Greenbrier; at the foot of the Alleghany it crosses the Greenbrier. On the road at the river-crossing stood a tavern called the " Travel- ler's Repose," and at a little distance a mill. The fortifica- tions began immediately behind these houses, the mill-race serving as a moat for parts of two sides, and extended into the forest which crowned the Summit and which stretched down to the water's edge, completely concealing a great part of the defences, especially on the left flank. Particulars in regard to the position and strength of this camp, called Camp Bartow, were unknown to General Reynolds, and, as the val- ley was held by Rebel pickets, their line extending to the very base of the Cheat, could be obtained only by a reconnoissance in force.
In consequence, he determined, in the latter part of Septem- ber, to make an armed reconnoissance, and sent the Ninth and Fifteenth in advance from Elk Water to the Summit. The commencement of the expedition was not auspicious. Having been ordered not to encumber themselves with bag- gage, the men were without tents, and, during four days' detention on the bleak Summit, were exposed, entirely unsheltered, to fiercely inclement weather. Crouching amid rocks and brush, in water and mud, they endured a rain which poured down forty-eight hours without a moment's cessation. The cold was so bitter, and the want of sleep so exhausting, that some of those brave and patient men, uninured as they yet were to hardship, wept like children; and the officers, Milroy especially, full of affectionate concern and sympathy, often felt their own eyes blinded with tears during those ter- rible hours. A number sank under the exposure and were carried to the hospital. The suffering was not confined to the men, - several horses and mules died from the cold.
At midnight of October 2d, the movement towards Green-
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
brier began. The force consisted of about five thousand : three Ohio regiments, two batteries, and a part of a third ; three cavalry companies, Bracken's Indiana, Greenfield's Penn- sylvania, and Robinson's Ohio; and the Seventh, Ninth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Indiana. The four last-named regiments had been greatly reduced by exposure, hard service, and sickness. In September, when Lee made his onset, the few sick threw down their blankets, snatched up their guns, and ran from the hospitals to the ranks; but now about half the men, as they were roused at midnight, lay and listened to the heavy tread of the depart- ing force with only a languid interest. The Ninth led the advance. The night was dark. The march was in silence, except when trees had to be chopped from the road. At daylight they arrived at the bridge over the north branch of the Greenbrier, about four miles from the Confederate Camp. A lively skirmish took place here between Confederate pickets and two companies of the advance. One of the Ninth was killed, and another slightly wounded. The pickets retreated rapidly ; and the Ninth dashed after them, not stopping until ordered to halt, within two miles of the Rebel camp, for the artillery.
The front of Camp Bartow was hidden from view by a densely wooded hillock, which in its thickets now sheltered between six and eight hundred of the enemy. Colonel Kim- ball was ordered to clear a place on this knoll for Loomis's Battery, Colonel Milroy and Colonel Dumont to march along the river to the right, and be prepared to give assistance if needed. With a shout, the ragged Fourteenth rushed up the hill-side. A warm contest ensued. The Confederates fought with a spirit they had not before shown, and yielded the ground only as they were driven. The Ninth and Seventh pouring on their flank, they were forced to the left, their own right, and back to their fortifications.
Within about seven hundred yards of the intrenchments, the National troops halted, and throwing themselves on their faces, lay nearly an hour, while an artillery duel took place over them. It was a singular situation, at least for raw troops, - Loomis and Howe and Daum in their rear, Confed-
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AFFAIR AT GREENBRIER.
erate cannon booming in their front, the mountains echoing the hollow roar of guns and multiplying the shrill shriek of shells. Yet in spite of novelty, tumult, and danger, some of the men were so weary that they fell asleep.
During the hottest of the firing, rockets were observed to go up from the camp; and soon after reinforcements of perhaps five thousand were seen coming down the road behind the enemy. General Reynolds, who stood on a knoll in a line with the batteries, was able to observe the movements of both armies without a glass. He thought the Confederate force, before the arrival of the reinforcements, amounted to about five thousand ; and he did not consider it prudent to continue the attack, especially as he had gained the information he desired. But some appearance on the part of the enemy of a movement on our left flank, and the urgent entreaty of the officers who surrounded him, induced General Reynolds to give orders for an attack on the enemy's right. For this pur- pose the troops supporting the batteries were hastily sum- moned ; and the Rebel troops were met by the Seventh, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Indiana, and the Twenty-fourth Ohio. The Seventh, a raw regiment, which had as yet scarcely heard the sound of cannon, was put in the van, and received a furious storm of balls. Some say it hesitated, oth- ers, authority as good, assert that it not only held its ground, but advanced. Certainly it did not run; and when, after a short but fierce contest, orders to retire were given, the Sev- - enth, as well as the other regiments engaged, retreated in good order.
The desire to resume the attack was loudly and universally expressed, but the orders were peremptory, and the troops were obliged to turn their back to the enemy. They marched away slowly and sullenly, the Ninth bringing up the rear, and burning with indignation as cannon-balls and traitor cheers were hurled after them. They seized every pretext for linger- ing, in the hope of being pursued and forced into a decisive engagement. But the Confederates could not be enticed from their stronghold, and the Union troops reached Cheat Moun- tain Summit in safety and unmolested. They had marched . twenty-four miles, and had been under fire four hours,
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