USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. II > Part 30
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"Battery B opened fire soon after daybreak on the twenty- seventh of May, on guns in its immediate front. The enemy replied with spirit, none of his shots, however, doing damage.
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On the thirty-first Lieutenant Blankenship, with one gun, was ordered to General Grover's front to join Captain Mc- Laflin. Captain Grimsley, with the rest of his guns, re- mained in the first position until about the ninth of June, when he moved to the extreme left into a temporary earth- work, previously prepared. It immediately opened fire on the Citadel, which was nine hundred yards distant. On the twenty-second it moved into a large battery on the extreme left, known as Battery Bailey, and joined in the general firing.
"Battery C, under command of Captain Rose, arrived from Baton Rouge on the first of June, and went into position on the left of the centre. On the tenth it dismounted one of the enemy's guns, killing the Captain and several of the men. On the twenty-second two howitzers from this battery were placed in position on the extreme left, one of them under command of Lieutenant Bough, in Battery Bailey, and the other under Lieutenant Glover, in a small earthwork, a short distance to the right of it. For three days and nights these howitzers fired at intervals of five minutes. They dismounted three of the enemy's guns.
"Battery D, under the command of Captain Hinkle, arrived from Baton Rouge on the first of June with five twenty-four- pounders, one of them belonging to Battery I, and went into position six hundred yards from the enemy's works, three pieces on the left of General Augur, and the others on the right of General Dwight. They opened fire with shell on the morning of the ninth, and in the five following days dis- mounted six guns. During the five days which succeeded they shelled dismounted guns to prevent the enemy taking them away. Three of the guns then moved into Battery Bailey, and opened fire on the Citadel, only three hundred yards distant. After several hours they made a breach which disclosed a gun. This gun was taken away by the enemy during the night. The battery shelled the Citadel and the rifle-pits until the surrender. Second Lieutenant Jesse Huddon, of this battery, was severely wounded in the right arm June 12, by a sharpshooter, while in the lookout tree.
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"Battery E had been in action on General Grover's front two days prior to joining my command, and threw the first shot into Port Hudson by the land batteries. After engag- ing the enemy two hours, and drawing his fire, it retired without sustaining any damage. On the first of June one section was moved into position on General Dwight's front, whence it fired at intervals during two weeks, dismounting one forty-two-pounder. The second section, under the com- mand of Lieutenant Hartley, after being held in reserve sev- eral days, moved into Battery Bailey. It engaged at inter- vals in shelling the enemy, preventing him from working on his breastworks, and disabled one of his field-pieces.
" The enemy discovered battery G at sunrise on the twenty- seventh of May, and at once opened fire with heavy guns in front, and from light guns on the right flank. Soon after Captain McLaflin commenced firing. In an hour the Rebels ceased to play upon him with their light battery. The heavy guns kept up a constant and rapid fire for two hours, when he succeeded in silencing them for a short time. Soon after they opened a very heavy and well-directed fire,
to which he replied with great rapidity, compelling them to cease, dismounting two of their heavy guns and breaking the parapet so as to fully unmask the remaining effective guns bearing on the battery. The guns and carriages of this bat- tery were struck repeatedly, a sponge was broken off in one of the guns, the lanyard carried away, and the handspikes were knocked from the hands of the men. Two men were instantly killed. Several were slightly wounded by splinters. The centre gun was struck by round shot repeatedly; the right wheel of the carriage was so badly damaged as to make it necessary to replace it with a wheel from the timber. This was done under fire.
"About one o'clock in the afternoon, our assaulting col- umns having been repulsed, and the supports of this battery and battery K having been withdrawn, the batteries with- drew and went into park. During the engagement the bat- tery fired four hundred and fifty rounds. On the thirty-first it was ordered, with one gun from battery B, under command of Lieutenant Blankenship, to report to General Grover, com-
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manding right wing. On the morning of June 1, it advanced under heavy fire from the enemy to positions about four hun- dred yards from the works. On the fifth, fire opened from four of the guns. Battery C dismounted a heavy rifle. Ser- geant Fuller dismounted two guns, breaking one of them into several pieces, and destroying the enemy's corn mill. Lieutenant Blankenship dismounted two guns and burned a building used as a store house, destroying a large amount of corn and other stores. Lieutenant Harrower dismounted two guns. During ten days the guns of this battery fired several rounds each day at the enemy's works and prominent objects inside his intrenchments. On the fourteenth these guns were ordered to enfilade the Priest's Cap of the enemy's works, over which an assault was to have been made by our troops. As the column advanced, the enemy opened upon it with two light guns, which were dismounted by Lieutenant Harrower as soon as he found out their position.
"Battery H commenced firing soon after sunrise on the twenty-seventh of May, silencing two guns in General Au- gur's front, and dismounting another. Until the ninth of June, it fired a few shell each day to annoy the enemy's sharpshooters, and at prominent objects inside their works. It then moved to the extreme left, and into the same earth- work with battery B. On the twelfth, one of its guns moved out to an open point opposite the Citadel, seven hundred yards from it, and dismounted a forty-two pounder rifled gun. On the twenty-third, having received new guns in the place of two disabled, battery H was posted in Battery Bai- ley. It took part in the firing until, six days afterwards, it was ordered across the river. On the first of July, it opened fire on the lower water-battery, which, returning the fire, dis- abled the carriage of one gun. The next day it dismounted a rifled gun. The day after, it disabled an eight-inch Co- lumbiad, and twice dismounted a thirty-two pounder rifled gun. June 4 and 5, it disabled a thirty-two pounder rifle.
"Battery K, consisting of two guns, was, on the morning of the twenty-ninth of May, exposed to a galling fire on the front and right flank. Captain Cox rapidly responded, firing
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three hundred rounds in eight hours and dismounting one of the enemy's guns.
"At one o'clock Battery K was withdrawn, and went into park. June 3, it was ordered into position in front of Colo- nel Dudley's brigade, six hundred yards from the enemy's works. It fired during the day twenty-three rounds, blowing up a small magazine of the enemy. From the seventh to the thirteenth one shot was fired every fifteen minutes to annoy the enemy, and keep him from strengthening his works. During the thirteenth and fourteenth one shot was fired every five minutes to annoy the enemy's sharpshooters, and engage his guns during the assault. On the twenty- eighth it advanced within three hundred and seventy-five yards of the parapet, and opened fire, with good result, upon the enemy, who was annoying our working parties.
"Our total loss in killed, and wounded, and missing, during the siege, was twenty-eight.
" We had eleven guns in Battery Bailey, four thirty-pounder Parrotts, two twenty-pounder Parrotts, three twenty-four- pounder smooth bores, and two eight inch howitzers. These guns were under the command of Major Roy, and did good execution in breaching the Citadel, and destroying the ene- my's guns mounted there. Some of the guns of this battery were within two hundred and fifty yards of the enemy's par- apet, and exposed to a constant fire from his sharpshooters. The Major, while personally directing the fire of one of the guns, received a very painful wound in the right arm, but never for a moment quit his post.
"For forty-two days and nights my officers and men stood constantly at their guns, and for five or six days and nights of that time the guns were fired every five minutes.
" These arduous duties were performed without a murmur or complaint, and were I called upon to furnish a list of those of my command who distinguished themselves during the siege, it would be little less than a transcript of my muster roll.
"To the accuracy and effect of our fire our enemies as well as our friends attest. In a well written history of the siege of Port Hudson, by a Confederate officer, he says:
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' To the Indiana regiment of artillery, which had many bat- teries of Parrott guns, we attributed the most of our misfor- tunes. Some of our guns were dismounted over and over again, the wheels knocked to pieces, and the carriages shat- tered into splinters.' Again he says: 'The enemy's artillery fire was very severe from the commencement, and many of their guns were fired with the accuracy of a rifle.' Again: ' The Parrott shot, from the accuracy of the fire, appeared to be the most effective.'
"I was greatly indebted to Major Roy for valuable services rendered during the siege. Chaplain Brakeman, Lieutenant George Wood and Sergeant Major Mooney rendered effi- cient services in carrying orders under fire of the enemy.
"JOHN A. KEITH."
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"SALUTE THE SACRED DEAD."
CHAPTER XVII.
CHARLES E. TUCKER.
Go forth, what fearest thou? Go forth, my soul, what doubtest thou? All thy years hast thou served Christ, and dost thou fear death ?- Last words of Hilarion.
One of the gallant dead who fell before Port Hudson was Captain Tucker, of the Hundred and Fourteenth regiment of New York volunteers. His short story is lovingly told by his own and his father's friend, Rev. Dr. Post, of Logansport:
"Charles Elisha Tucker was born in Laporte, Indiana, July 22, 1841. He was greatly a debtor to the influences of birth and early culture. If he owed much to the parental roof, it is difficult to limit the worth of these advantages and the obligations they imposed; it may be added, that he ap- preciated them and well met his responsibilities. His at- tachment to that home, his grateful and dutiful love to its inmates, were a strong feature of his character. One who knew said of him, 'His filial affection was unbounded, and in the family he was all that the fondest parent could desire.'
"The hope of returning, the fond trust that he should again meet father and mother when the great duty to the country had been done, strengthened him and kept his heart buoyant in dreary marches and privations, in dark encounters and perils. Present in his death struggle, bright among the last images of earth, was that beloved home. 'Tell my pa- rents,' he says, as his life blood is fast ebbing, 'I died fighting for my country. I had hoped to live to go home again; but since it is not so, I am proud to die in such a cause.'
"He had in a large measure the sympathies and gifts which adapt one to find pleasure and have influence in soci- ety. Genial, and scattering sunshine, with quick wit, flowing in pleasantry and original suggestion; with that faculty to
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see the bright side and hope the best, which is so great an element of strength, both to do and to endure; with a vigor- ous constitution and robust health, and wont to have all his energies absorbed in whatever he engaged, whether work or study or sport, he much attracted and bound to him associ- ciates. In childhood, he had the qualities of a popular fa- vorite and a recognized leader. His friendships were 'hooks of steel.' If we follow him from New Orleans and Gales- burg, from the school and the army, back to the side of the little lake at Laporte, we see there, at three years old, the miniature man, while he draws down to the shore a group of his mates and amuses himself in preaching to them, and saying, 'Come now, if you have repented, let us go down to the lake and I will baptize you all.' The same companiona- ble nature and social power distinguished him in the college and the university, and come out affectingly in his relation to the company of men whom he commanded. It was the consciousness of his influence over them, and his brotherly sensibility to their desires, which led him, when he had been detained by sickness a short time, to hasten back that he might share with them the dangers then imminent and soon so fatal. From New Orleans, a little more than two weeks before his death, he writes to his mother: 'You know, dear mother, dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. I cannot go without inconvenience just now, but Nicholas says Corbin wants me, and the boys long and pray for me to join them. How I love those boys, and will stand by them at any loss. Good-bye, mother. Good-bye, all. If I return, all right; if not, God save me, is all I ask. Aye, it is heaven in place of earth.'
"How this love was reciprocated, a historian of the regi- ment thus relates :
" The brave, genial, noble Captain Tucker was no more. He was the most popular officer in the regiment, and his death touched a tender cord in the heart of every man. More particularly in his own company was there an over- whelming feeling of sadness, for there he had especially en- deared himself in the hearts of his men. For years, in after campaigns, the men of company G were never tired of dis-
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coursing over the excellent qualities of Captain Tucker.' I continue to quote, because the subjoined notice is of one who was a native of Logansport: 'Their sorrow approached to anguish, when was added to their calamities the death of their Second Lieutenant, H. P. Corbin. He, too, died as he had lived-a brave, generous, faithful soldier-and left be- hind him a store of cherished memories."
"Another comrade says: 'Wherever Captain Tucker was, there he found friends:
'None knew him but to love him, Nor named him but to praise.'
"No officer in the regiment gave greater promise than he; none ever died more regretted. Young, with a face of al- most womanly beauty, a winning address, and that bon- homme which always captivates, he was one of the rare few who create attachments where others would only make ac- quaintances. He seemed to enter into the perils and hard- ships of the war as gaily as though it had been a day's frolic. If there was a thoughtful under-current in his mind, he never allowed it to come to the surface. His company was proud of him, and deservedly. There were few who could com- mand so well, or in whom the spirit of leadership was so quickly recognized by subordinates. He was the beau ideal of a gallant, dashing officer; with a richly stored mind, an active body, and a capacity to do much and well. The fu- ture seemed to promise brightly for him. After an acquaint- ance of nine months, I can thus honestly speak of him. The praise of those who knew him during the whole of his short life, will give him no stinted measure of affectionate admir- ation.'
"A superior intellect early peered through his rich social affections, and accompanied, as it continued to be, with a notable modesty and diligence, rendered him a delightful pupil and won willing honor from schoolmates. He gathered knowledge with great facility. As soon as he could articu- late, it was a pastime of his father to teach him portions of scripture, and when two years old he would repeat with en-
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thusiasm, without being prompted, the nineteenth psalm. While yet a boy, he read extensiveiy the best English and German authors, and the acquirements thus made, and his ready command of them, were afterward, in all positions, a striking and valuable power. His mind was elastic and seemed not to tire. It moved with alacrity and vigor, moved heroically, and was versatile and clear. The teachers, both in his literary and his theological course, bestowed on him unmeasured praise. A brother officer, among other words of eulogy and grief, says of him: 'Seldom, even in this un- natural strife-claiming as victims the bravest, the wisest and the best-have we been called upon to record the death of one whose natural talents, scholastic acquirements, bril- liant intellect, social qualities and goodness of heart, com- bined with a marked diffidence, gave more assurance of fu- ture usefulness than did our deceased friend. To those who knew him intimately, it is not necessary to say that in all the qualities that adorn and render life useful and happy, he had few equals. His mind was of the highest order, and mastered the most difficult studies with surprising ease. From early boyhood, he gave promise of an intellect which developed and matured, and made him almost the idol of his family and commanded the admiration of all who asso- ciated with him.' Much more to the same purpose might be cited from numerous pens, which seem never weary in their loving sorrow over his death. The communities who listened to his public addresses, were much impressed by the ability and eloquence associated with so useful a presence. His writings, from which I do not quote, only through want of time, at the age of sixteen to twenty surprise the reader by the freshiness and maturity of thought and richness of il- lustration which run through them. His imagination was imperial, sweeping with a wonderful breadth and force, and filling the horizon with sparkling imagery. Yet scarcely less remarkable was his logic, and in some productions were the shrewd searching and quiet strength of his critical reasoning.
" But what we dwell on with chief pleasure and gratitude to his Creator and Saviour is, his early and steadfast piety. In his fifth year he became very much interested in reading
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'The Attractions of the Cross,' by Dr. Spring, and would sit an hour at a time attentively looking at a lithographie repre- . sentation of the crucifixion, and reading with the deepest emotion. When six years old, in the absence of his father, he asked if he might say grace at the table, which he did with the sincerity and devotion of an older person. At twelve years of age he publicly devoted himself to Christ. At four- teen, he entered Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, where before the close of his eighteenth year, he graduated with the honors of the college, giving an oration to which the Fac- ulty awarded the high praise of being the best ever delivered by a student of that college. His mind, which had wavered between the professions of Law and Divinity, then became settled, and he passed the next two years chiefly in theolog- ical studies at Madison University, near Rochester, N. Y., there, too, distinguished and admired for his proficiency. The horrid rebellion was then raging; and he could not but feel the most lively and anxious interest in the mighty problem to be wrought out by the war. Looking at public affairs not only nor chiefly in their lower field, so often murky with human passions, but studying them on the higher plane and in the purer light of their relation to the Divine counsels and government and to the broadest questions of duty, he deci- ded to give himself to the cause of his country, which he deemed also the cause of the human race and of God. Nor to his latest hour did he lose confidence in the worthiness of the side he espoused, and in the purity of his motives. But though his heart burned and his reasonings were weighty and earnest to be gone to active service, out of respect to his parents' desire that he should complete his theological course, he remained to graduate, acquitting himself so as to inspire a very warm interest, and large expectations of usefulness. He had already begun the contemplated work of his life, to preach the gospel, and the few written sermons he left deepen our sense of loss in his early removal.
" Leaving the University, he at once set himself to the labor of raising a company, of which he was commissioned Captain, and which as a part of the One Hundred and Four- teenth New-York Volunteers, through various vicissitudes by
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land and sea, he led, under General Banks, to New Orleans, and other points in Louisiana, and finally to Port Hudson, Louisiana. There in the very gallant, but inevitably fruit- less and disastrous assault, the fourteenth of June, 1863, as the first rays of the Sabbath sun were smiling on the ram- parts of Port Hudson, leading his men, he fell. The ball struck him in the breast, and in about ten minutes the mor- tal life had ceased. As he lies, languishing, with difficulty he speaks to an intimate friend, of the purity of the desire he has felt to serve his country-how strong has been his trust to serve her, but is conscious he can no longer. His mem- ory recalls the home he has left. 'Tell them I was conscious to the last. I had strong hopes to see them all again when peace should relieve me of present duty. These hopes fade, but other hopes, which have been a comfort to me before, are now brightening, and fast becoming the body of my life.' A few other fond words for those who would most grieve for him, and much more which cannot be caught-for the battle is fierce around them-and he seems engaged in prayer. Then in occasional accents of peace and triumph, his voice dies away, while his face is lighted up with unusual bright- ness."
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AT THE SOLDIERS' HOME.
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN ANDERSONVILLE.
"Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!"-Burns.
"But whether in the prison drear, Or in the battle's van, The fittest place for man to die Is where he dies for man." -Inscribed in the National Cemetery at Andersonville.
In my visit to the Soldiers' Home, in March, 1868, I had some conversation with William Stockdale, a young man with a fair, modest, intelligent countenance, and a quite superior manner of speaking. Something, I could hardly say what, for his pronunciation betrayed no peculiarities, made me think him an Englishman, so I asked: "Are you an Indianian?" "No, I was born in England, and had been here but a short time when the war broke out."
He was evidently in delicate health, one eye was nearly out, one leg was off, and it seemed to add to the severity of his fate that he should be a foreigner. I thoughtlessly be- gan, "Do you not regret," then, interrupting myself, "It would be unfair to ask that. But you certainly have suffered and sacrificed much for an adopted country."
"I do not regret enlisting," he said quietly, as if the ques- tion were a familiar, or at least a settled one.
He told his story, then at my request wrote it out, sending it to me, as my visit was short, accompanied by a note in which he says, "I have the pleasure of forwarding to you a statement of a portion of the facts concerning Andersonville as I remember them."
I give you the narrative without alteration:
" My name is William Stockdale. I was formerly a pri-
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vate in company D of the Forty-Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded in action on the fourteenth of May, 1863, in the battle of Jackson, Mississippi. On the fol- lowing day the wounded were taken into Jackson by our men, and a hospital established. Surgeons and attendants were left with us, and the army moved on to the rear of Vicksburg. In two or three days the Rebels under Johnston occupied the town, and we became prisoners of war. Each man was searched for money and jewelry, and told by the officers who conducted the search, that any such valuables taken from us would be returned when we were about to be exchanged. Very little credit, however, was placed by us on any such promises. Our fare consisted of corn bread, beef, and corn coffee in limited quantities. As fast as the wounded were able to be moved, they were formed in squads, a Fed- eral surgeon attached to each squad, and were sent through to Richmond for exchange. By the latter part of June we were reduced to ten men, and entirely under the treatment of the Rebel surgeons, ours having been sent on with the men for exchange. On the sixth of July it became neces- sary to amputate my leg in consequence of gangrene. The operation was performed by a young Rebel surgeon, and I was afterwards told it was his first.
" Of my treatment during the first nine months of my im- prisonment, I must in justice say that I cannot complain, for though at times my comrades and I did suffer much because of the want of proper nourishment and care, from what I could learn at the time, I was induced to believe we fared as well as could be reasonably expected.
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