USA > Indiana > The soldier of Indiana in the war for the union, Vol. II > Part 66
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"Our men showed more sympathy for an unfortunate dog, which appeared underneath a burning house in Springfield,
779
THE LIVE OAKS OF SAVANNAII.
sending forth most dismal howls. He succeeded, by the help of the flames, in breaking the strap which bound him, but only to find himself caged by blazing palings that fringed the basement of the building. The boys stood breathlessly watching the frantic efforts of the poor fellow, and burst into welcoming cheers as he seized the red bars with his teeth, and tore his way toward them. One of the boys in Com- pany K found five thousand dollars in Confederate money concealed in a well, beside gold, silver and clothing of the finest quality. I have no doubt that fifty thousand dollars worth of silk dresses were found buried, and exhumed, and torn to pieces by the men. Vast amounts of silverware, hid away in the ground, fell into their hands through information derived from the negroes.
"Now and then stragglers were guilty of outrages, such as hanging a citizen until he would confess where his silver was, but such disgraceful acts were of rare occurrence. I gave orders to our foragers, and doubtless other regimental commanders did the same, to shoot down anything in the form of man engaged in unsoldierlike deeds.
"On a plantation about seven miles above Savannah is a magnificent forest of live oaks, festooned with Spanish moss. Some of the trees are ten feet in diameter, and the distance across from tip to tip of the branches is nearly two hundred feet, far surpassing in grandeur anything of the kind I have ever seen. The English oaks are but dwarfs, and that elm at home, near Virginia avenue, dwindles in my memory until it assumes a size not a third as large as these glorious creations, cach one in itself a forest and a temple.
"A little incident at a river crossing made me laugh, per- haps it will amuse you. Three of us, Charley Cox, my man Jerry and myself were going from our camp on Hardee's plantation, to Savannah, with the remains of the regimental banners, which were to be sent home. Jerry carried the flags, which, notwithstanding all our care, are reduced to a few tattered stripes, a tassel or two, and broken staves. Flags couldn't look more forlorn. 'What regiment's this?' said a sentinel who kept solitary guard at the head of the pontoon bridge. "The Seventieth Indiana,' answered Charley.
780
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
' My God!' exclaimed the man, raising his hands, 'and this is all there is left of you!' e
" BEFORE SAVANNAH, MONDAY, December 19.
"All the boys seem to be in excellent health. It could searcely be otherwise, as the march has been easy, the food excellent, and the weather delightful. The days are as sunny and the air as mild as if it were summer instead of winter. 'The favorite hymn with the men is, 'December's as pleasant as June.'
"SAVANNAII, SATURDAY, December 24.
"All the way from Atlanta to the ocean without a fight. Some portions of our army have had skirmishing, but our regiment has not lost a man.
" Before daylight on the twenty-first we discovered that the Rebels had deserted their lines, so we immediately pushed into the city, finding over three hundred pieces of artillery, beside thousands of bales of the king of the South, and vast quantities of rice and corn.
"It was a glorious sight, the entering of our steamers into the harbor day before yesterday.
"The city is much more beautiful than either Atlanta or Nashville. Almost every other square is a park, ornamented in many instances with beautiful monuments and sparkling fountains. I had a delightful ride a day or two ago along the river to Fort Jackson, some four miles below the city. Our horses went like the wind along the dikes, which sepa- rate rice fields; under brave old oaks snowed over with Span- ish moss; through thieketed ravines, more beautiful than Scotland's lovely Hawthornden; over the drawbridge, across the moat, beneath the arch, and into the fortress so lately de- serted by the foe.
"One of the streets of the city is very wide, adorned with four rows of shade trees, and bordered with magnificent resi- dences, calling to mind the loveliness and grandeur of Unter- den-Linden. S. M."
Incessant rains detained Sherman south of the Savannah, and he was not fairly on the march again until the first of
781
MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS.
February. Rains, swamps and swollen streams, the opposi- tion of a hostile people and the gradual concentration of large forces in his front, kept him long on the way, and he did not arrive at Goldsboro until the last of March. The campaign, however, was a complete success. Sherman's policy remained unchanged. Covering a wide extent of country, he kept the enemy anxiously divided between dis- tant points. Attacking the front of opposing forces, he made them retreat by moving on their flanks. Systematically de- molishing publie property, especially railroads, in order to keep supplies and troops from Richmond, he ruthlessly laid waste the estates and farms of men who sheltered partisan rangers, or who in any way showed active hostility. South of Columbia, which both the right and left approached, How- ard, by fighting and flanking, gained Rivers' bridge over the Salkehatchie, Binnaker's bridge over the South Edisto, the Orangeburg bridge over the North Edisto, and the Congarec bridge across Congaree creek; while Slocum, having no op- ponent but Wheeler, allowed Kilpatrick to do all his fighting.
After leaving the vicinity of Columbia, Sherman again spread his wings, and swept on until he approached Fayette- ville, where, on the twelfth of February, he again concen- trated. Meantime Kilpatrick had much ado to keep out of the enemy's hands. At Soldmon Grove, while trying to ac- complish a surprise, he was himself surprised. He barely escaped capture, but, though on foot and in a swamp, he ral- lied his men, and recovered all that he had lost.
After resting three days at Fayetteville, the army moved with a less divergent front, as forces, which had been gather- ing from Tennessee and North Carolina, from Charleston and Columbia, now forty thousand strong, and under John- ston, threatened serious resistance. Near Averysboro, Ward's division met a brigade of Hardee's behind works on a swampy neck of land between Cape Fear and South rivers. The brigade withdrew on being outflanked. The meeting was the precursor of a sharper and equally successful en- gagement between larger forces.
Near Bentonville a sanguinary battle occurred between Slocum and Johnston. It was with the utmost difficulty
782
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
that the former held his ground. His left wing withstood six heavy assaults, and made the enemy suffer severely under artillery. At night Johnston was compelled to decamp by the approach of Howard toward his flank and rear.
Sherman's loss was sixteen hundred and forty-three. Hc buried two hundred and sixty-seven, and captured sixteen hundred and twenty-five of the enemy.
Captain Moser of the Twenty-Second Indiana, Lieuten- ant Deweese and Captain Low of the Thirty-Eighth, Lieu- tenants Rutledge and Steele of the Forty-Second, Lieuten- ants Sceleye of the Eighty-Eighth, and Lieutenant Webb of the Nineteenth battery, were killed at Bentonville. Captain Sherman of the Twenty-Fifth was mortally wounded. He was a scarred veteran. In the Mexican war, at Chapultepec, he was wounded. He also received wounds in the battle of the Hatchie and at Snake creek gap. Captain Lennan, of the Eighth cavalry, was killed at Averysboro.
Nearly all the Indiana troops in Sherman's army were en- gaged in fighting during some part of the campaign, and many of them were efficient in road and bridge-making, to say nothing of destroying. The Eighty-Fifth boasts that it could thoroughly destroy a half mile of railroad in forty minutes.
Sherman met with no further opposition. His troops tired, shoeless, hatless, ragged, and swarthy with the smoke of the pine woods, in which they had so long marched and encamped, found rest and clothing in Goldsboro.
A broad, black belt marked the course of the army through the Carolinas, the blacker because tar being the chief pro- duction of much of the country, tar factories were often a prey to fire. The devastation was, of course, chiefly effected by our troops, to whom South Carolina, as the originator of secession, was peculiarly obnoxious, and who were provoked by the lively enmity of the inhabitants. But Confederate authorities did not hesitate to apply the torch. Hampton set fire to Columbia, and Hardee kindled the flames which burned Charleston.
One of our officers, who had occasion to visit the latter city, writes the following in regard to its appearance:
783
THE MASTERS IN GRIEF, THE SLAVES JUBILANT.
" Here I am, Marius like, sitting amid the ruins. At least half the city is in ruins. The stillness and dreariness sur- pass anything you can imagine. Block after block of mgni- ficent buildings, without an inhabitant, and square after square of roofless edifices, ruined by fire. We roam through fallen Babylon, or sit musing in some crumbling palace, in mournful semi-satisfied mood, such as Macaulay might have ascribed to his New Zealander, viewing the ruins of the great city from London bridge.
" Ravens, whose dolorous voices and sable wings are in harmony with the desolation, look down from unfallen chim- nies on deserted hearthstones, sagely shaking their crests as if they meant to impress the dreaming stranger with the ev- anescent nature of homes, built by wringing the hard earn- ings from widows whose husbands are still toiling a thousand miles away, from childless parents, whose offspring are shackled, God only knows where.
"Sunday, Captain Culver and I attended service at the Methodist church, and as it was communion Sabbath, and the invitation did not seem to exclude us, we went forward with the members, and kneeling round the altar, partook of the sacrament. The members appeared fearfully broken down, as if the Heavens were clothed in sackcloth and their hearts were crushed beneath the blackened embers of their blasted homes. I think they were glad to have us there, and yet, clad as they were in mourning, and overwhelmed by the thought that all they valued in life was lost, they seemed to personify woe. Some may rejoice in the desolation of this people, but I feel as the Israelites did over the extermination of Benjamin.
" On our return we went into an empty house in search of something to read. After finding a book that suited me I remarked to a lone African who had gladly welcomed us, ' My man, it's rather hard to be stealing things this way, isn't it?' 'La, Massa, dat's not stealin.' Dey's yours. If dey hadn't fout you, dey wouldn't loss nuffin'.
"The negroes furnish a comie side to the melancholy pic- ture, though there's tragedy enough in their comedy.
" Yesterday, while we were singing, a gray-headed darkey,
784
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
with saw and buck on his shoulders, as he passed by, struck up a dance in spite of age and encumbrances, inspired by the music, or the thought of broken chains.
""'God bress you!' 'God bress you!' is the language of every crooked-legged, wrinkled-faced, white-haired, black rag- amuffin as he pulls off his hat and paws the ground with his right foot, 'I'se been prayin' for you dese many years, and I knowed you's gwine to come, and now you's done come, thank the good Lord.'
"Everywhere you hear old women muttering, 'O how I love 'em!' 'But dey is purty! Dey isn't yaller, scrawny lit- tle fellers like dem Rebels.' 'God bress you, dear.' 'He opened de door, He take de yoke off our necks, He turn us loose!' 'O Lord! Massa, my young missus tole me de Yan- kees had horns on der head, and dey would bore holes tru our shoulders for de ropes, and hitch us in wagons, and all dose what couldn't work dey'd send off to Cuba.'
" While we were singing 'John Brown' and the ' Year of Jubilo' this morning, a great crowd of tattered women gath- ered from the streets into the hall, waving their hands, shout- ing, throwing their arms round each other, kneeling and pray- ing, 'God bress you, and take you, Massa, and all dat you love to Heaven, whar you will shine like a star in glory! We owe it all to you! Bress God!'"
785
ASSAULT ON FORT FISHER.
CHAPTER XLV.
IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.
Heaven lays upon some the burden of yielding their lives for the great interests of humanity .- C. H. Marshall.
Fort Fisher fell into the hands of General Grant in Janu- ary, 1865. It is situated on the point of a sandy and swampy peninsula formed by Cape Fear River and the At- lantic ocean, and was the main defense of Wilmington, which was the main seaport of the Confederacy. A failure under General Butler, in the preceding December, had shown that the position was one of extraordinary strength.
January 13, under cover of a heavy bombardment from Porter's fleet, about eight thousand troops under General Terry effected a landing through a heavy surf, the sea rolling upward in what sailors call the "breathing of the ocean," and breaking in foaming billows over the beach. Two miles above the fort, they threw up two lines of defensive works from sea to river, one line facing north to prevent reinforce- ments from Wilmington. Sunday the fifteenth, while five thousand troops held the works, a simultaneous advance was made by a body of sailors on the north-east bastion, and Ames' division on the western half of the land face. The sailors, rushing along the beach, attracted the chief attention of the enemy, but were able, under the protection of the fleet, to reach the fort, where they were cut down in wind- rows and were signally repulsed. Preceding Ames' division were a hundred sharpshooters and diggers from the Thir- teenth Indiana, half carrying shovels, the other half with two guns to a man, in order that at every halt the digger might become a combatant as soon as he had a hole large enough
50
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
for himself and his comrade. The rest of Curtis' brigade followed, moving through quagmire and marsh, under an enfilading fire, slowly at first and cautiously, then swiftly, and regiment by regiment, until the troops were all on the run. They gained the palisades, and the parapet between the fort and the river; fired from hollows in the sand, behind ruins of barracks and storehouses; made their way at last within the wall, and after three more hours of furious fight- ing gained the whole series of fastnesses which form Fort Fisher. The Rebels sought shelter in Fort Buchanan, but only to delay surrender. More than two thousand prisoners were taken, including the commander, General Whiting, who was mortally wounded. The next morning the chief magazine exploded, killing and wounding three hundred Union troops. The following night, Fort Caswell and other works on the further side of the river were abandoned and blown up.
A young Lieutenant in the Thirteenth, writing from Fort Fisher a day or two after its capture, gives some additional details :
"Sunday, about noon, we packed up and started in the direction of Fort Fisher, while the gunboats kept up a lively firing. 'About "a half mile from the fort, we laid off our knapsacks. Previous to this, the Spencer rifles had been called out to go forward and skirmish. This took away every one of the old soldiers but Captain Stepp and me, the orderly and one file closer, leaving none but drafts who had iiever before been under fire, and who had not been drilled. 'You can hardly imagine how I felt at the idea of starting on a charge upon a fort which mounted any number of guns, each one easily throwing a half bushel of grape: Our bri- gade formed about a third of a mile from the fort, the Thir- teenth occupying the post of honor, the right. I was stand- ing on a stump, looking at the fort, when a grape-shot came singing along and struck me over the left eye, knocking me off the stump in a hurry. It raised a bump on my forehead, about as big as an egg, and was at first painful. I sat down, and a spent ball struck the top of my boot. It took the skin off and brought the claret, but did not cut my pants. J
787
ASSAULT ON FORT FISHER.
picked it up and shall keep it as a memento of the charge on Fort Fisher.
"When the signal to charge was given we started in good order; but ditches, ponds ,and bushes soon destroyed every sign of a line, and we rushed on pell mell, a regular mob. Nobody could have kept line. When we got to the fort, I tried to form as many of my company as I could find. ] had just got ten files together, when Stepp's 'Forward, Company E!' sent them all ahead in a pile. I gave up all hope of keeping a line, and directed my attention to getting the men up to the front.
"The fort is very formidable. Neither gunboats nor in- fantry alone could take it in a thousand years. There is any number of bomb proofs in it, with sand thrown on top, about thirty fect high. The more iron thrown on them, the stronger they are. Inside of them the gunners were as safe as if they were a thousand miles from the scene of action; but, as the guns were not sheltered, it was almost impossible to work them. Toward us there was a palisade about fifteen feet high, made of logs stuck in the ground. There was but one way of getting in, and that was across a bridge which led to a gate. But the planks had been taken up, and several pieces bore directly on it. The grape more than whistled as we passed here. Every man fought to suit him- self. To add to our confusion, the gunboats kept up a fierce fire on the centre of the fort, so that it was, impossible to advance, while it was almost impossible to stay where we were. Shells were exploding right in our midst. Colonel Zent, who was the senior officer on the ground, sent word to General Ames, that unless he had the firing stopped, we should be compelled to retire. Had it not been for this, we should have entered first, and the fort would have surren- dered to Colonel Zent.
"After we got into the fort, we found a great number of mounds, which served the purpose of breastworks. At the foot of these, between them and the palisades, was a space of some twenty to forty fect, raked by, probably, a half dozen guns, from twelve to one hundred pounders. Two fine brass pieces, which were about a hundred feet from me, I thought
-
788
THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
would be better in possession of Uncle Sam than of Mr. Whiting; so I proposed to a half dozen soldiers that we take them. They were getting ready to charge on the mounds; so Lieutenant Kinnear, of company B, and I got as many of our men together below as we could find, and when they started on the mound, with a 'Forward, boys!' away we went. I was so intent on the guns, that I didn't look back. I was within about twenty feet of them, when out stepped about a dozen Rebels. On looking back for my support, what was my horror to find myself almost alone. The party charging on the mounds had stopped. My sup- port was nowhere to be seen. I dropped into a hole made by the explosion of a shell at the foot of the palisade, and Kinnear dropped into another on the side of the mound. I was quite overjoyed to find this shelter. But my hole was barely sufficient to screen me from the Rebels in front of me. Every time I raised my head I could see one or more John- nies standing at the mouth of the bomb proof, with his gun pointed at me; and an occasional bullet within an inch or two of my head would warn me to keep silent. To add to my dismay,' my gun was full of sand, and wouldn't work; and every now and then a gunboat shell would cover mne with sand. . While I was thinking over my prospects, which looked gloomy enough, I heard voices near me, and thought our men were coming up, but on looking back I saw a num- ber of Rebels not over twenty feet from me. They did not see me, but were likely to do so any minute, and could shoot me like a dog, without exposing themselves in the least. To attempt to retreat was certain death. For a while I could do nothing at all. But I thought, 'while there's life there's hope;' so I took my big spoon out of my haversack, which I fortunately had with me, and went to work for dear life to try to bury myself. I got my hole dug deep enough at last, then took my gun apart and took out the sand. I soon made my friend Johnny go in his bomb-proof and stay there.
"Then came another charge on the mounds. Lew. Mor- rill, Kinnear, Sherrow and I started for the guns, and took them and thirty prisoners out of the bomb-proof. After
789
THE FADED AND TATTERED FLAG.
that it was pretty easy work. We took mound after mound with scarcely any opposition.
"Among our prisoners was a little boy not over ten years old. I asked what they were doing with such things as that in the army. 'O,' said one, 'they have to take everything they can get, but I reckon we are about played out now!'
" The explosion of the magazine the next day came very near covering us up in the sand. It was perfectly horrible; though our regiment, being separated from the rest, did not suffer. The next night we were lying asleep, when there was an explosion at Fort Caswell. It was about half-past two. So intensely frightened were we by the other explo- sion, that this one, though miles away, woke men who can sleep soundly under the worst kind of shelling. The first I knew I was fifty yards from where I had been sleeping, look- ing around to see what was the matter. My hands, arms and legs were all scratched up getting over the stockade. How I ever got there is a mystery to me. But pretty near all the regiment was there too. You can't imagine the terror. Men who think it only fun to face the grape, canister and musketry in a charge, were for days afraid to go iu the fort. "We are now encamped on the beach, within a few hun- dred yards of the sea. The solemn roar is heard at all hours. I tell you it is grand. I love to lie awake at night and listen to it.
" WILLIAM KETCHAM."
Colonel Zent took possession of two naval flags, which had been abandoned near the foot of the parapet by the sailors at the time of their repulse. The Thirteenth had long been without a flag. When the splendid charge of the night of the sixteenth of June, 1864, was made on the Rebel works at Petersburg, as the line stood ready to make the rush, General Curtis gave the order, " Unfurl your colors!" For six months the colors of the Thirteenth had not been shaken out from the flag staff. "It is impossible," rejoined Major Zent, "they are in tatters." The reply thrilled his men, and they proudly followed their furled and faded, but illustrious banner. Shortly afterward, an officer whose term
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THE SOLDIER OF INDIANA.
of service had expired, took the old flag home, promising to send back a new one. But through many a hot day, and until the capture of Fort Fisher, the Thirteenth fought withi- out colors.
The arrival of Schofield, with Cox's division of the Twenty- Third corps from Tennessee, raised the forces to twenty thousand. Schofield assumed command, and pushed out to- ward Wilmington on the ninth of February. Failing in an attempt to flank the Rebel left, by the aid of navy boats and pontoons, he essayed to flank the right, and envelope Fort Anderson, which was west of Cape Fear river and was held by a large force under Hoke. He accomplished the move- ment, but found the fort deserted. He followed the enemy rapidly, attacked him front, flank and rear, on Town creek, and routed him. Still advancing, and the Rebels still reced- ing, the army marched into Wilmington unopposed on the twenty-second of February.
Schofield's total loss was about two hundred. Hoke lost about a thousand men.
Schofield was now ordered to advance to Goldsboro. Accordingly he dispatched Cox to Newbern, to move out with forces which had landed at that point; and directed troops, which, as they arrived from the north, had disem- barked at other points, to take up the line of march and concentrate on the way. He also sent forward Cox's divi- sion, under General Reilly, and Couch's division. On the eighth of March, he joined Cox, who, having just received an unexpected blow from the enemy, was drawn up at Wise's forks, near South-West creek, waiting for further develop- ments. The enemy advanced in force, and Ruger's division checked him. After a day spent in skirmishing, the enemy again advanced, and with great spirit Ruger s division again effected a repulse, and inflicted heavy loss. The enemy's loss was sixteen hundred, and Schofield's was not more than three hundred. Captain Neff, of the Hundred and Twenty- Fourth Indiana, was killed in the battle at Wise's forks.
Schofiold was not able to cross the Neuse until the four- teenth, the enemy having burned the bridge in his retreat. On the twenty-first, he reached Goldsboro, where he wel-
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791.
PAROLED PRISONERS.
comed Sherman two days later. Sherman's smoky veterans in their toil and time-worn blue, or, more questionably ar- rayed,-in high old hats, swallow-tailed coats and butternut pantaloons, or something equally unmilitary,-looked with good-natured but undisguised and unrecognizing contempt on the neat warriors whose new clothes had not yet had the shine taken off them. They hailed their old comrades of the Atlanta campaign with the laughing query, "Well, boys, do they issue butter to you, regularly, up here?" "Oh, yes," was the ready rejoinder of the Twenty-Third, "but we trade it off for soap."
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