USA > Michigan > Calhoun County > History of Calhoun county, Michigan, With Illustrations descriptive of its scenery > Part 16
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The battles and skirmishes of the regiment were as follows :
Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, April 6 and 7, 1862; Iuka, Mississippi, September 19, 1862; Metamora, Tennessee, October 5, 1862; Middleburg, Tennessee, December 24, 1862 ; Mechanicsville, Mississippi, June 4, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, June and July, 1863; siege of Little Rock, Arkansas, August and September, 1863; Clarendon, Arkansas, June 26, 1864; Gregory's Landing, September 4, 1864.
TWENTIETH MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
The Twentieth Regiment was recruited from the counties of Jackson, Washte- naw, Calhoun, Eaton, and Ingham. " Its camp was at Jackson, with Tidus Liver- more, Esq., as commandant. It left Jackson for Washington, September 1, 1862, in command of Colonel A. W. Williams, and was soon after attached to the First brigade, First division, Ninth corps, of the Army of the Potomac. Early in 1863 the regiment left the Army of the Potomac with the corps, and commenced the campaign in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee. There were two compa- nies from Calhoun County in the Twentieth ; Company I, Captain C. C. Dodge, Marshall, and Company C, Captain G. C. Barnes, Battle Creek. At the Horse-shoe bend of the Cumberland river, in Kentucky, three hundred of the men
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of the Twentieth, including the Calhoun companies, with one hundred dismounted men of the Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry, and one piece of artillery, without supports, with retreat cut off by a stream one hundred and fifty yards wide, deep and rapid, without intrenchments, repulsed the charge of a large brigade, and then in turn drove them with the bayonet; then maintained a desperate fight with an entire division of nearly four thousand men, and finally withdrew from the field in good order, saving the piece of artillery, bringing off the wounded, and recrossing the river in face of the enemy. In this battle the loss of the Twentieth was forty- four killed, wounded, and missing, including among the killed Lieutenant William M. Green, a valuable officer, while the rebels acknowledged a loss of one hundred and seventy-five in killed. For its gallant conduct on this occasion the regiment received the highest commendation from General Burnside, and his hearty thanks.
From Captain Preston's address on Decoration Day, at Battle Creek, in 1876, we clip the following history of the Twentieth Regiment :
" Marching south from the 'Horseshoe Bend,' the regiment arrived in the vicinity of Vicksburg, then besieged by Grant, on the 14th of June. Having so recently constituted a part of the Army of the Potomac, the men were fre- quently jeered by the veterans of Donaldson and Shiloh, then surrounding the doomed city of Vicksburg, and that familiar sentence which so often formed the burden of dispatches from the national capital-'All quiet on the Potomac'-fre- quently saluted their ears.
" Feeling most keenly the sting of this insinuating remark, Grant was most earnestly importuned for the privilege of taking their places in the besieging lines, that they might show to their tormentors that the barren result of their arduous services and incessant efforts on the historic line of the Potomac was not from lack of soldierly qualities or patriotic devotion. But at that time Grant had other work for them. It was resolved, however, that no opportunity should be lost to vindi- cate their wounded honor. The regiment, then forming a part of Wilcox's division and Humphrey's brigade, was employed during the siege in guarding the rear of the besieging army, and in preventing reinforcements or supplies reaching Pemberton.
" Vicksburg fell on the 4th day of July, 1863. Immediately an army was put in motion, composed in part of Wilcox's division, to secure the overthrow of Johnson, and to capture the city of Jackson. The enemy was driven rapidly back upon Jackson, and were found strongly posted in an outer line of works, prepared to dispute the farther advance of our forces, and ready to give blow for blow. Here, then, was the opportunity for which the division had so impatiently waited. With a cheer, the order was received to charge the enemy and drive him back upon his main line of works. Under the immediate eye of Sherman, who, with his staff, occupied an eminence overlooking the entire field, the line was formed for the onset. With the precision of a dress parade or a gala day review, the regiments fell into their places without the slightest precipitation and with the most provoking coolness.
"Now behold how calmly men can march into the jaws of death. At a right- shoulder-shift, the line moved across the field under the peltings of murderous fire, without a waver, without a break, as if a part of some huge machine impelled by an invisible force. The enemy's works were carried at the point of the bayonet, and the men of the Potomac felt their vindication complete on receiving the compliments of Sherman, who declared that he had never beheld so grand and so effective a charge. The capture of Jackson soon followed; and in the early part of autumn the Twentieth and Second, both in Humphrey's brigade, were again back in East Tennessee.
" After the siege of Knoxville the regiment again marched to Washington, ready to participate in the long series of bloody encounters from the Wilderness to Appomattox, resulting in the final overthrow of the rebellion. The battle of the Wilderness commenced on the 3d of May, and continued four days. During this time the regiment was frequently engaged, but without severe loss. On the 12th of May the regiment reached Spottsylvania, and were hotly engaged, losing heavily. In a charge, Maynard was killed and Barnes narrowly escaped. In the same battle Piper and Freeleigh, of the Sharp-shooters, fell; and from that time onward Battle Creek sorrowfully watched the fall of her brave volunteers upon almost every battle-field.
"Crossing the James river on the 12th of June, and hurrying on towards Peters- burg, the regiment, on the 17th, were hotly engaged, and at about ten o'clock at night, in a charge upon the enemy's works, Rhines and Knights, of the First Michigan Sharp-shooters, were both slain almost at the same moment. On the next day, the 18th of June, the painful record of our fallen heroes was still further enlarged. In another effort to storm the enemy's works, Barnes fell, mortally wounded, and ten minutes after, Hicks was instantly killed. And then the slaughter in Company C had to stop for want of further victims. On calling the roll of the company, only ten men could be mustered for duty of the sixty with which it entered the battle of the Wilderness. Brown, who went out in the company, died from disease contracted in the line of his duty, at Frederick City,
Maryland, January 29, 1863; Barney, after honorable services, died at home, from wounds received in the battle of Cold Harbor."
While this regiment, during its term of service, displayed persistent firmness and true courage on all occasions, perhaps there was no position in which it was placed that exhibited the bravery and endurance of the men to more advantage than at the charge made at the "Crater," or springing of the mine before Peters- burg, July 30, 1864. That affair, although resulting in a needless and miserable failure, was one of the most daring and desperate undertakings of the war, involv- ing the advance of nearly a whole corps, closely massed, over open ground, and exposed to a murderous and withering fire, driving large portions of the force into the river, which soon became a perfect slaughter-pen, and from which there was no escape except through the leaden storm which led to certain death.
The battles and skirmishes of the regiment were as follows :
Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 12-14, 1862; Horse-Shoe Bend, Ken- tucky, May 10, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, June 22 to July 4, 1863; Jackson, Mississippi, July 11-18, 1863 ; Blue Springs, Tennessee, October 10, 1863; Loudon, Tennessee, November 14, 1863; Lenoir Station, Tennessee, November 15, 1863; Campbell's Station, Tennessee, November 16, 1863; siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, November 17 to December 5, 1863; Fort Saunders, Tennessee, December 15, 1863; Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, January 22, 1864 ; Wilderness, Virginia, May 5-7, 1864; Ny River, Virginia, May 9, 1864; Spottsylvania, Virginia, May 10-12, 1864; North Anna, Virginia, May 24, 25, 1864 ; Bethesda Church, Virginia, June 2, 3, 1864; Cold Harbor, Virginia, June 7, 1864; Petersburg, Virginia, June 17, 18, 1864; the Crater, Virginia, July 30, 1864; Weldon Railroad, Virginia, August 19-21, 1864; Ream's Station, Virginia, August 25, 1864; Poplar Spring Church, Virginia, September 30, 1864; Pegram Farm, Virginia, October 2, 1864; Boydton Road, Virginia, October 8, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Virginia, October 27, 28, 1864; Fort Steadman, Virginia, March 25, 1864; capture of Petersburg, Virginia, April 3, 1865 ; siege of Peters- burg, Virginia, June 17 to April 3, 1865.
TWENTY-FIFTH MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
The Twenty-fifth, recruited under the superintendence of Hon. H. G. Wells, commandant of camp,-a splendid and well-disciplined regiment, commanded by Colonel O. H. Moor, then a captain in the Sixth United States Infantry,-left Kalamazoo, for the field in Kentucky, September 29, 1862, having in its ranks one company from Calhoun,-Company A, Captain C. B. Pratt, of Marshall,- and on December 27 following first tested the realities of war by engaging the enemy, under the rebel General Pegram, at Mumfordsville, Kentucky, thus early commencing a career of fighting for the Union which it nobly and forcibly main- tained during its whole term of service, ending with the war. The regiment was specially distinguished on July 4, 1863, at Tebb's, near Green river bridge, Kentucky, where it most gallantly repulsed an overwhelming force with heavy loss. About July 1, Colonel Moor was stationed, with five companies of his regiment, on the north side of Green river, ten miles north of Columbia, on the main road running from Columbia to Lebanon, Kentucky, and on the second of July was advised of the fact that the rebel General John H. Morgan was about crossing the Cumberland river to invade the State with a cavalry force of from three to four thousand men. Being left to exercise his own discretion indepen- dently, and there being no Union troops nearer than at a post thirty miles' dis- tant, he felt that it was his duty to retard the progress of the great rebel raider, if but for a few hours, as they might prove precious hours to the country. He might have retreated with entire success, but from patriotic motives he chose to fight where he could scarcely entertain the hope that he and many others would ever live to tell the story of that terrible battle.
After surveying the surrounding country, he selected a strong position for a battle-field on the south side of Green river, about two miles from the encamp- ment, in a horse-shoe bend of the river, through which the road ran on which the rebel forces were advancing. This chosen battle-field or ground, which was at the narrows entering the bend of the river, afforded high bluff banks, which protected the flanks of the command, and also compelled the rebels to fight him upon his own front.
On the evening of the 3d of July, General Morgan encamped with his entire command about five miles south of Green river, and Colonel Moore after dark advanced his command of five companies, numbering less than three hundred men, about two miles towards the enemy, leaving the river in his rear, and occupied the ground which he had previously selected, and prepared for the battle. The de- fense, which had been completed that night, consisted of some felled trees on the battle-line, which was in the rear of an open field, and was intended more particu- larly as an obstruction to the advance of cavalry, while to the front, about one hundred yards in the open field, was thrown up a temporary earthwork, which was intended to check the advance of the enemy, and more especially to command
HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
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the position where the rebels would evidently plant their battery. This work was not intended to be held against charges of a superior force, on account of the flanks not being strong, and was occupied by only about seventy-five men, who were instructed that when it became necessary to abandon the work it should be done by flanking to the right and left from the centre, so as to unmask the reserve force on the battle-line, and expose the enemy to their fire. This work was located, in anticipation of its capture by the rebels, a little down the slope of the field, so that when it was in possession of the enemy it would be useless, and leave him exposed to a deadly fire.
At the gray of morning the fire of the rebels upon the pickets resounded through the woods, and the entire rebel division, under General Morgan, was pressing upon the front. The fire was returned with spirit as the pickets retired to the breastwork, where they joined about seventy-five of their comrades already in the advance work, and there, with their united fire as sharp-shooters, held the enemy in check, without exhibiting numbers and the real object of their work. The rebel artillery of four pieces had gained the anticipated position, and at once opened fire with some effect. When General Morgan suspended firing, and, under flag of truce, demanded the surrender of the force, Colonel Moore returned for his reply, " Present my compliments to General Morgan, and say to him that this being the 4th of July, I cannot entertain the proposition to surrender," and the battle was renewed.
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No sooner had the rebel battery re-opened fire than Colonel Moore commanded the force to " rise up and pick off those gunners at the battery." No sooner was the command given than a deliberate and deadly fire by rank was delivered, which silenced the battery. Colonel Johnson's brigade then charged the work, and the little command abandoned it, as previously instructed ; and when the rebels reached it they found that it availed them nothing against the deadly fire which was poured into them from the main force on the battle-line in the timber.
The rebel foe, with a hideous yell, charged across the open field a number of times in the face of a terrible fire, which repulsed them on each occasion with severe loss. The conflict was almost a hand-to-hand struggle, with nothing but a line of felled trees separating the combatants. At the same time the rebels were engaged in cutting out a gorge leading through the precipitous bluff into the river bottom, which had been obstructed with felled timber. The entrance was finally effected, and a regiment commanded by Colonel Chenault opened fire upon the right flank of the line of Union troops.
This was a most critical and trying moment. The rebels liad gained an impor- tant point : to defeat it was of the utmost importance. A company had been held in reserve for any emergency which might arise during the battle; it was now brought forward, deployed as skirmishers across the river bottom, with the right flank extending beyond the rebel line, and presented the appearance of being the advance line of reinforcements. The strength of Colonel Moore's command was a matter of doubt with the rebels, rendered more so by his having instructed his men to keep quiet and pour in as rapid and deadly a fire as possible. As cheering was suppressed, nothing but the efficacy of the firing afforded ground for estima- ting their strength ; and when Colonel Moore brought forward and manœuvred the reserve company with the shrill notes of his bugle, it had the desired effect of impressing the rebels with the idea that reinforcements of cavalry or artillery were advancing, and by the bold front and deliberate firing of the line of skir- mishers, the rebel command in the river bottom was routed, the rebel colonel com- manding killed, and they were promptly driven back through the gorge through which they entered, disheartened and defeated. New courage inspired the heroic little band, who had sustained eight determined charges upon their front, when the attack upon their right flank was defeated. The enemy, having met with a heavy loss, after a battle of four hours' duration retreated, leaving a number of killed and wounded upon the field greater than the entire number of the patriotic little band that opposed them; among the number of killed and wounded were twenty- two commissioned officers.
The rebel command effected a crossing six miles down the river, and proceeded on their march. It was his intention, as General Morgan declared, to capture the city of Louisville; but this unexpected and terrible repulse cost him more than twelve hours' delay, and caused him, which fact he stated, to change his plans, and to abandon his attack upon Louisville. By this brilliantly-fought battle the city of Louisville was saved from sack and pillage, and the government from the loss of an immense amount of property, consisting of munitions of war and army supplies amounting to the value of several millions of dollars. This splendid victory was acknowledged by Major-General Hartsuff in the following order :
HEADQUARTERS, TWENTY-THIRD ARMY CORPS, Lexington, Ky., July 17, 1863.
General Order No. 12.
The general commanding the corps extends his thanks to the two hundred officers and soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Michigan regiment, under Colonel O. H.
Moore, who so successfully resisted, by their gallant and heroic bravery, the attacks of a vastly superior force of the enemy, under the rebel general John H. Morgan, at Tebb's Bend, on Green river, on the 4th of July, 1863, in which they killed one-fourth as many of the enemy as their own little band amounted to, and wounded a number equal to their own.
By command of Major-General Hartsuff.
GEORGE B. DRAKE, A. A. G.
The legislature of Kentucky also acknowledged the services of Colonel Moore and his command on that occasion in complimentary resolutions.
The battles and skirmishes of the regiment were as follows :
Mumfordsville, Kentucky, December 27, 1862; Tebb's Bend, Kentucky, July 4, 1863; Kingston, Tennessee, December 29, 1863; Tunnel Hill, Georgia, May 7, 8, 1864 ; Rocky Face, Georgia, May 9, 10, 1864; Resaca, Georgia, May 13, 14, 1864; Cassville, Georgia, May 19, 1864 ; Etowah River, Georgia, May 20, 1864; Kingston, Georgia, May 27, 1864 ; Altoona, Georgia, May 26-29, 1864 ; Pine Mountain, Georgia, June 3, 7, 1864; Lost Mountain, Georgia, June 10-18, 1864; Culp's Farm, Georgia, June 22, 1864; Franklin, Tennessee, November 20, 1864; Kenesaw, Georgia, June 23-29, 1864 ; Nickajack, Georgia, July 1, 1864 ; Chattahoochie River, Georgia, July 9, 1864; Decatur, Georgia, July 18, 19, 1864 ; Atlanta, Georgia, July 20, 22, 28, 1864 ; East Point, Georgia, August 3, 1864; Ultoy Creek, Georgia, August 6, 1864; siege of Atlanta, Georgia, July 22 to August 25, 1864 ; Jonesboro, Georgia, September 3, 4, 1864; Rome, Georgia, October 12, 1864 ; Cedar Bluffs, Alabama, October 23, 1864; Pine Creek, Ten- nessee, November 26, 1864; Nashville, Tennessee, December 15, 16, 1864.
TWENTY-EIGHTH MICHIGAN INFANTRY.
The Twenty-eighth, raised and rendezvoused at Marshall, under the direction of Honorable S. S. Lacy, as commandant of camp, left the State for the field in Ten- nessee, October 26, 1864, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Deles Phil- lips. Company A was largely recruited in Calhoun County; Captain, N. J. Frink. The regiment arrived at Louisville, Kentucky, on the 29th, and on November 10 it was ordered to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, for the purpose of guarding a wagon- train from that point to Nashville, where it arrived on the 5th of December, and was assigned to temporary duty at that post. The advance of Hood on Nash- ville soon brought the Twenty-eighth to face the realities of war, and under the command of Colonel W. W. Wheeler it participated in the defense of that place by General Thomas, from the 12th to the 16th of that month, when it fully established a reputation as a gallant fighting regiment, and at once reached the uniform high standard of Michigan troops. After the battle of Nashville the regiment was attached to the Twenty-third corps, which was soon after sent to the Atlantic sea-board to constitute a part of the force concentrating in the vi- cinity of Wilmington, intended to co-operate with General Sherman's army on its approach to the coast. The regiment belonged to the Second brigade, First divi- sion (Ruger's), and arrived at Morehead city February 24, 1865, and on March 2 moved with its division towards Kingston and joined General Cox. Meeting the enemy at Wise Forks, the Twenty-eighth, commanded by Colonel Wheeler, took an active part in the battles of the 8th, 9th, and 10th at that point. On the 8th the regiment was engaged in heavy skirmishing during that entire day and the night following. On the 9th the enemy pressed Cox's lines strongly without making an assault, and at the same time attempted to turn his right, but failed on account of a prompt reinforcement, of which the Twenty-eighth formed a part. On the morning of the 10th the enemy made a fierce and determined charge upon the left, breaking the lines, but were repulsed. The brigade to which the Twenty-eighth belonged charged the rebels on the double-quick, driv- ing them back and taking over three hundred prisoners, among whom were sev- eral field-officers. About two o'clock the same day the rebels made a heavy and desperate onset on the left and centre of General Cox, but mnost signally failed, the point having been strongly and promptly reinforced from the right. The Twenty- eighth, with its brigade, being among the first to arrive, fought the enemy most gallantly for about two hours, when they were most decisively repulsed, leaving their dead and wounded and a large number of prisoners, and during the night they fell back across the Neuse, burning the bridge in their rear.
ENGINEERS AND MECHANICS REGIMENT.
This regiment rendezvoused at Marshall, where it was mustered into service October 29, 1861. There were two full companies front Calhoun County in it ; one from Albion, Company A, Captain John B. Yates, and one from Marshall, Company K, Captain Emory O. Crittenton. It was composed principally of artisans of different trades. "It is but justice to this regiment to state a fact generally conceded by the whole western army, that a more useful regiment or one performing more valuable service was not found in that great army, as during
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HISTORY OF CALHOUN COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
its entire service, ending with the surrender of Lee and Johnston, including the great Sherman campaign, scarcely a bridge was built or a road opened for the use of the western army that was not either wholly accomplished or aided by this regiment. While it was at all times ready and expeditious in the perform- ance of the legitimate duties of an engineer regiment, it never failed as a gallant fighting force when opportunity offered ; first meeting the enemy at Mill Springs, in Kentucky, January 19, 1862 ; then in Mississippi, at Farmington, May 9; at Corinth the 10th, and at Perryville, Kentucky, in the same year, where its repu- tation as a fighting regiment was fully established. But at Lavergne, Tennessee, January 1, 1863, it was most signally distinguished, and its gallant conduct in that battle gives it a most enviable page in the history of the war." At the battle of Stone River, January 1, 1863, the regiment distinguished itself grandly.
A correspondent at the time says, " The scene was at times thrilling beyond description. The rebel horde, exasperated at the successful resistance of the little force, dashed their horses against the circular brush-fence, which was only breast- high, with infuriated shouts and curses. But the Michigan troops were cool and determined ; they loaded fast and aimed well; and, as the troopers rushed on, upon all sides they were met with staggering volleys almost at the muzzle of the mus- kets. Horses and riders recoiled again and again until they despaired, and soon swept away through the dense forests, leaving over fifty of their dead upon the field, who were buried by our forces. The ground all around that small circle of brush was strewn with dead horses of the rebel troopers, and with their clothing, guns, etc. Truly, this was one of the most gallant affairs of the campaign."
Mr. Greeley, in his excellent work, " The American Conflict," notices Colonel Innes' extraordinary defense at Lavergne, and says,-
"On the whole, the enemy's operations in the rear of our army during this memorable conflict (battle of Stone River) reflect no credit on the intelligence and energy with which they were resisted. 'The silver lining of this cloud' is a most gallant defense, made on the 1st of January, by Colonel Innes, First Michi- gan Engineers and Mechanics, only three hundred and ninety-one strong, who had taken post on high ground near Lavergne, and formed such a barricade of cedars, etc., as they hurriedly might. Here they were attacked at two P.M. by Wharton's Cavalry, whom they successfully resisted and beat off. Wharton's official report is their best eulogium. He was in command of six or eight regi- ments." Wharton says : A regiment of infantry, under Colonel Innes, also was sta- tioned in a cedar brake and fortifications near this point. I caused the battery under Lieutenant Pike, who acted with great gallantry, to open on it. The fire, at a range of not more than four hundred yards, was kept up for more than an hour, and must have resulted in great damage to the enemy. I caused the enemy to be charged on three sides at the same time by Colonels Cox and Smith and Lieutenant-Colonel Malone, and the charge was repeated four times; but the enemy was so strongly posted that it was found impossible to dislodge him." The regiment lost only two killed and twelve wounded ; while the rebel loss, as estimated at the time, was something over a hundred in killed and wounded. General Rosecrans, in his official report, gave the regiment credit for having suc- cessfully repulsed ten times its own number on that occasion.
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