History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 18

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Michigan > Clinton County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 18
USA > Michigan > Shiawassee County > History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan > Part 18

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the evacuation of the rebel works at Kenesaw the Fourteenth moved in pursuit of the enemy, and coming up with him on the north side of the Chattahoochee River, assaulted and carried his first and second line of rifle-pits on the 5th and 6th of July, capturing a considerable num- ber of prisoners, and sustaining a loss of forty-four in killed and wounded. It then crossed the Chattahoochee and took part in the operations in front of Atlanta, where, on the 7th of August, the Fourteenth sustained a loss of thirty-five killed and wounded in an assault which resulted in the carrying of two lines of the enemy's works, and the capture of a large number of prisoners. On the 30th of August it moved with its division towards Jonesboro', and was hotly engaged in the battle of September Ist at that place, losing thirty killed and wounded, and doing its part in carrying a strong line of works. After the battle at Jonesboro' the regiment returned to the front of Atlanta.

On the 28th of September the Fourteenth left Atlanta and moved by rail to Chattanooga, Stevenson, Huntsville, Athens, and Florence, Ala., tearing up the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. For several days it was in pursuit of Wheeler's and Forrest's cavalry, but did not overtake them. On the 13th of October the regiment moved by rail, back to Chattanooga, where it remained five days, and on the 18th again took the road, moving to Ece and Gordon's Mills, Ga., to Lafayette, to Summerville, up Duck Creek, through Broomtown Valley, Alpine, and Rome, Ga., across the mountains into Alabama, to Gaylesville (October 20th), and then back to Rome, where it was in camp November 1st. On the 9th it was at Etowah, Ga., and on the 13th at Car- tersville, where, at six o'clock A.M. on that day, the force " bade good-by to the cracker line, and to all communica- tions, and plunged into the Confederacy with four days'

FOURTEENTH INFANTRY.

rations, marching south and tearing up the railroad as it moved." On the 13th it made sixteen miles, on the 14th twenty-four miles, and ou the 15th thirteen miles, burning the bridge over the Chattahoochee, and reaching Atlanta at three o'clock in the afternoon of that day.

" As we approached Atlanta," wrote an officer of the brigade, "a huge column of black smoke was seen, and soon we found the railroad depots and buildings, with the foundries and manufactories, a burning mass." When night closed in the whole heavens were illuminated by the glare of the conflagration, and the innumerable eamp-fires of the Union hosts which lay encircling the conquered city, busy with their final preparations for the storied March to the Sea.

The troops, as they arrived at Atlanta, were immediately ordered to draw clothing and rations, and to make the last preparations for departure from the base of supplies, and iu these preparations they were employed during a great part of the night. " All the troops," said Gen. Sherman, in his report of the Georgia campaign, " were provided with good wagon-trains loaded with ammunition and supplies, approx- imating twenty days' bread, forty days' sugar and coffee, a double allowance of salt for forty days, and beef-cattle equal to forty days' supplies. The wagons were also sup- plied with about three days' forage in grain. All were in- structed by a judicious system of foraging to maintain this order of things as long as possible, living chiefly if not solely upon the country, which I knew to abound in corn, sweet potatoes, and meats."

The forces composing the great army which Sherman had concentrated here for the mysterious expedition, whose destination was then only a matter of conjecture, were com- posed of four corps d'armée,-the Seventeenth (a consoli- dation of the old Sixteenth and Seventeenth) and the Fifteenth forming his right wing, and the Fourteenth and Twentieth forming the left wing of his grand army of invasion. In that army the position of the Fourteenth Michigan was with the First Brigade, Second Division of the Fourteenth Corps. The other regiments of the brigade were the Tenth Michigan, the Sixteenth and Sixtieth Illi- nois, and the Seventeenth New York, all under Col. Robert F. Smith as brigade commander.

The right wing was the first to move out; then came the Twentieth Corps, and lastly the Fourteenth, and with this corps the Fourteenth Regiment marched away at noon on the 16th of November. A distance of eleven miles was made during the afternoon, and at night the brigade bivouacked near the celebrated Stone Mountain, a round-topped knob of solid limestone about one mile in diameter at the base, and rising bare and gray from the level plain to a height of about thirteen hundred feet. From this halting-place the regiment set out at six o'clock in the morning of the 17th, and, with fine weather and a good road, made a march of fifteen miles, passing through the decaying settlements of Lassonia and Conyers' Station. On the 18th the Yellow and Alcova Rivers, tributaries of the Ocmulgee, were crossed on pontoons, and the tired men of the Fourteenth lighted their bivouac fires in the vicinity of Covington, the seat of justice of Newton County. During this day they had marched as train-guard, and made a distance of ten miles.

In the morning of the 19th they resumed their journey at six o'clock, in a drizzling rain, and at night found them- selves twenty miles from Covington, and twice that distance from each of the towns of Macon and Milledgeville. The evening of the 20th saw them encamped three miles from Eatonton and fifteen from Milledgeville. Here the dull boom of distant artillery was heard, this being the first hostile sound which they had heard since their departure from Atlanta. Their march of the 21st was commeneed at ten A.M. and was continued until three P.M., at which time twelve miles had been accomplished, and they went into camp for the night.

Ilere they remained in rest during the following day, and here the order of Gen. Sherman was read to them giving the liberty to forage on the country, and to appro- priate anything necessary for the sustenance of man or beast. "These orders [said a letter written by an officer of the brigade] were generally lived up to, and often ex- ceeded. The citizens, on hearing of our approach, took everything of value to the woods and swamps and covered them with brush, or buried them in the ground. But the ' Yanks' were not long in discovering this, and but little is presumed to have escaped their notice. Sweet potatoes, meal, flour, various kinds of liquor, tobacco, silk, and even coin were thus unearthed from their hiding-places, and many a frolic was had by the blue-coats at the Confederates' expense.

" It was truly amusing to go ahead of the army proper and see the foragers' proceedings. They were as good as skirmishers and advance-guards, and often were the only ones we had. They never failed to rout the rebels when- ever and wherever found. Citizens could tell our approach long before the army came along, by the popping of guns, squealing of hogs, and the noises of various farm fowls. Nothing escaped the foragers' notice, and but little that was serviceable to us eluded their grasp. When they came to a plantation they generally separated into small squads, each squad hunting for some special thing. As if taught by instinet that we meant them harm, all animals and fowls tried to secrete themselves or get out of reach of us. Hogs, sheep, and cattle would take to the woods, fowls to the outbuildings, and turkeys to the trees. But it was all of no avail. The enterprising and persistent Yankees, prompted by hunger and the thoughts of a savory dish, were sure to hunt them out and bring them to. We had orders not to fire our guns to procure food, but that order was only partially lived up to. Any animal which we could not corner and catch we shot; and when the fowls took to the trees or the tops of buildings the Enfield rifle was sure to bring them down. Often would the fat turkeys take shelter in the trees, and cry quit, quit ! but there was no quit. Occasionally the foragers would find a lot of tobacco, honey, or sorghum molasses. Then there was a rush and scramble. To many, a swarm of bees was no more an im- pediment to the getting of the honey than if they had been so many blue flies. A crowd of soldiers might be seen around a barrel of molasses, the head knocked in, and they with their cups filling their canteens, coffee-pots, little pails, and every available kind of vessel that would hold the sweet fluid. At all hours of the day they might be seen coming

HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

in and taking their places in the ranks, with face, hands, and clothes besmeared with molasses and honey. To see them, one might think they would stick to the Union, or to anything else ; and they would, too. Such was foraging in Georgia, and even more than can be described with the pen. Imagination must supply the rest."

In the morning of November 23d, at six o'clock, the regiment was again on the road, and marched leisurely to within two miles of Milledgeville, where it rested for the night. Abont noon of the 24th it passed through Milledge- ville, and at night the men built their fires eight miles be- yond the town. Here the foragers brought in a ton and a half of captured flour found seereted in a swamp. On the 25th a distance of eleven miles was made, and in the after- noon of the 26th the brigade reached Sandersville, the county-seat of Washington County. The marches of the 27th and 28th brought the regiment to a camping-place one mile south of Louisville, the county-seat of Jefferson, where it remained for three days picketing and foraging.

In the first five days of December the men of the Four- teenth marched sixty-three miles, and camped on the night of the 5th at Briar Creek, sixty miles from Savannah. During the 6th and 7th they made thirty-six miles, though continually impeded by timber felled across the road and bridges destroyed by the enemy. They had now entered the marshy country lying along the south side of the Savannah River. Their march of the 8th was uneventful, but on the 9th they came upon a hostile battery of three guns, so posted as to command a road or causeway over which they were compelled to pass through one of the swamps which were numerous in that region. The Second Illinois Battery was ordered into position, and soon cleared the road, but with the loss of' one of its lieutenants killed. The rebel battery on its retreat encountered the Twentieth Army Corps, and was captured. On the 10th the regi- ment with its brigade moved southward to the crossing of the Savannah and Charleston Railroad, and went on picket in that vicinity. In the morning of the following day they marched nine miles south, and took position in the Union line of investment four and a half miles from Savannah,-one line being formed to face the city, and another facing towards the country through which they had just passed. They had completed a distance of nine hundred and forty miles, marched since the 28th of Sep- tember, and now sat down to the siege of Savannah.

The city was defended by fifteen thousand to twenty thousand men behind exceedingly strong fortifications, and the artillery-fire under which the Fourteenth in common with other regiments lay was unintermitting day and night. On the 14th news was received of the capture and occupa- tion of Fort MeAllister, south of the city. The first mail received by the regiment in a period of six weeks came to it here on the 17th. Finally, in the night of December 20th-21st, the enemy evacuated the city, and on the 21st the troops marched in.

The Fourteenth remained a little more than four weeks in Savannah, and it was whispered about among the men that the division to which it belonged would be designated as the one to hold and garrison the city when the army

should move north. This hope was soon crushed by the arrival of Gen. Grover's division and its assignment to the coveted duty, and there were many and loud murmurs of dissatisfaction at the result, but these were of no avail, and the men of the Fourteenth, in common with those of other commands in the division, bore their disappointment as best they could, and prepared for the long and laborious march through the Carolinas.

On the 20th of January, 1865, the regiment moved out from Savannah, and took its way with the army up the right bank of the Savannah River, bound north. It reached Sister's Ferry, on the Savannah, January 28th, and remained there until the night of Sunday, February 5th, when, with the other troops of the command, it crossed to the north side of the river. "Shouts and wild hurrahs rent the welkin as the feet of each successive regi- ment touched the soil of Carolina,"-so wrote an officer who was present at this memorable crossing.

The regiment, after a two days' halt here, moved northward on the Sth, and passed through South Carolina without the occurrence of any especially notable event in its own immediate experience. The march through this State was much the same as it had been through Georgia, excepting that here the foragers found a less productive field, and the track of the army was marked by a far more general de- struction of property than in Georgia, nearly all the build- ings being burned, and only the tall, naked chimney-stacks being left standing ; while all along the western and north- western horizon great columns of smoke by day, and the red glow of conflagration by night, told how the cavalry of Kilpatrick were wreaking their treasured vengeance against the Palmetto State.

The command marched through South Carolina by way of Barnwell Court-Ilouse, Williston, and Lexington to the vicinity of Columbia, the State capital, thenee west of that city to and up the right bank of the Catawba River to Rocky Mount (where six days were spent in effecting the crossing of Davis' division), and on from that point by a forced march to the Great Pedee River, where a junetion was formed with the main body of the army. Entering North Carolina a short distance above Cheraw, it reached Fayetteville on the 11th of March, and on the following day crossed the Cape Fear River, the brigade of which the Fourteenth was a part being the first of all the army to pass that stream. After this crossing, the brigade skirmished with the enemy continually until the 16th, when the Con- federate forces stood for battle at Averysboro'. In the en- gagement which followed, the Fourteenth Michigan took a leading part, advancing on the enemy's works with the greatest bravery and carrying the first line, losing twenty- two in killed and wounded, and taking a considerable number of prisoners, though failing to dislodge the foe from his second line of defense. The position thus gained was held through the night, and in the morning it was found that the Confederate works had been abandoned. A vigorous pursuit ensued, in which heavy skirmishing was kept up with very little intermission until the 19th of March, when the enemy again stood for battle at Benton- ville. The Confederate force at this point numbered be- tween forty and fifty thousand men, under one of the ablest

FOURTEENTH INFANTRY.

of their commanders,-Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The position which he had chosen was a very strong one, being formidably fortified and difficult of assault by reason of a large swamp in its front. Ile did not, however, await an attack, but took the initiative, charging five times with the greatest fury on the temporary works of the Union troops. At the last charge the men of the Fourteenth Michigan (which held the extreme right of the Union line) and the Sixteenth Illinois, which joined it on the left, leaped over their parapet and made a counter-charge with such desper- ation that they captured thirty-two officers (including one general), two hundred privates, six hundred stand of arms, and the regimental colors of the Fortieth North Carolina. But while this was being done a force of the enemy had gained their rear, occupied their works, and planted their colors upon them. Upon seeing this they promptly faced to the rear, and charged back upon the works which they had themselves erected. A hand-to-hand fight ensued, in which the Confederates lost heavily, and were driven from the position in disorder, leaving more than one hundred and thirty prisoners and the colors of the Fifty-fourth Virginia in the hands of the Unionists.

This closed the day's fighting on this part of the line, but at about ten o'clock on the following morning the Fourteenth Michigan and Sixteenth Illinois were again ordered forward to attack the hostile position. They ad- vaneed at double-quick, carried the work at the point of the bayonet, took one hundred prisoners, and drove the foe before them for nearly a mile. Here they were met by two fresh brigades of rebels, with a full battery, but notwith- standing these overwhelming odds the Michigan and Illi- nois men charged unhesitatingly and captured the battery. The enemy, however, rallied, and, being so greatly superior in number, recaptured the battery, and forced the two Union regiments to retire a short distance, where they threw up a light defense, and held it through the day and night, this being nearly a mile in advance of all other Northern troops. During the night the enemy retreated from his position, and on the following day the army of Gen. Sherman took up its line of march for Goldsboro'. The Fourteenth Regi- ment reached that place on the 23d of March, and remained there in camp until April 10th, when it moved on the road to Raleigh, and kept up an almost continuous skirmish with the rebel forces until it arrived at that city. From there it moved, on the 13th, to the Cape Fear River, at Avon's Ferry, where the cheering news of Johnston's surrender was received. The fighting days of the regiment were now over, and on the 30th of April it moved northward on the road to Virginia and Washington. Proceeding by way of Burkeville, Chesterfield, and Amelia Court- House, it reached Manchester (on the south side of the James River, opposite Richmond) on the 7th of May. After a halt of two days it moved across the river, through the Confederate capital, and pressed rapidly on towards the Potomac, where it arrived about the 15th of May, and went into camp at Arlington Heights. On the 24th it took its place in the grand review of Sherman's army at Washington. About three weeks later it left the capital, and was moved by rail and river to Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out on the 18th of July. From Louisville it was ordered to Jack-

son, Mich., and arrived there on the 21st. Eight days afterwards the men of the Fourteenth received their pay and were discharged from the service.

SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY IN THE FOURTEENTH.

Field and Stuff.

Lieut .- Col. M. W. Qnackenbush, Owosso; com. Nov. 11, 1862; maj. Nov. 1, 1861 ; resigned March 25, 1863.

Chap. Thomas B. Dooley, Corunna ; com. Feb. 11, 1862; resigned April 29, 1864.

Non-Commissioned Stuff.

Q.M .- Sergt. Ilenry O. Jewell, Vernon ; enl. Jan. 24, 1861 ; veteran Jan. 14, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865.

Com .- Sergt. Addison Bartlett, Shinwassee ; pro. 2d lient. Co. B, Dec. 18, 1864.

Company A.

Ist Lient. Marshall Kyte, Owosso; com. March 14, 1865 ; sergt. Co. K ; must, out July 18, 1865.

John Groom, disch. Aug. 6, 1862.

Abel Hill, minst. ont July 18, 1865.

Company B.

2d Lient. Addison Bartlett, Shiawassee ; com. Dec. 18, 1864 ; com .- sergt .; res. April 9, 1865.

Company D.

1st Lient. Gillman McClintock, Owosso ; com. Nov. 18, 1861 ; res. July 3, 1862.

1st Lient. Cyrus F. Jackson, Owosso ; com. July 4, 1862; 2d hent. Nov. 18, 1861 ; res. Aug. 2, 1864; mniej. 15th U. S. Col. Troops.

Charles Il. Allen, veteran, enl Jan. 4, 1864.

William H. Adams, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864.

Armead Botsford, must. out July 18, 1865.

Benjamin E. Crandall, disch. Oct. 30, 1862. John 11. Hays, veteran, eul. Jan. 4, 1864 ; must. out July 18, 1805.

John Hoy, must. out July 18, 1865.

Henry King, Yeteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865.

Walter Laing, died of disease at Evansville, Ind., Sept. 16, 1862.

Charles MeCarthy, disch. for disability, July 17, 1862.

Auron Martin, disch. for disability, June 18, 1863.

Orman Millard, died of disease, Middleburg, Mich.

William C. McFarren, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

David McCarty, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

William Price, disch, at end of service, Feb. 2, 1865.

John Richmonds, disch. for disability, Jan. 15, 1864.

Sidney Smith, disch. for disability, oct. 13, 1863.

Peter Skutt, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; mmst. out July 18, 1865.

Francis Summer, Veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

William II. Shaffer, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865.

Edwin R. Scott, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

Company E.

Capt. Edward S. Simonds, Shiawassee ; com. July 7, 1865; 2d lieut. Sept. 1, 1864 ; sergt .; must, out July 18, 1865.

1st Lieut. C. C. Goodale, Owosso; com. Nov. 1861; res. March 30, 1863.

2d Lieut. Daniel Wait, Owosso; com. Nov. 18, 1861; res. Feb. 4, 1863.

Sergt. Edward S. Simonds, Owosso; enl. Nov. 6, 1861; veteran, Jau. 4, 1864 ; pro. to 2d lient.

Sergt. Henry Deming, Scioto; enl. Dec. 4, 1861.

Sergt. Evan Roberts, Antrim; en1. Nov. 28, 1861 ; disch. Jan. 22, 1863.

Corp Laselle C. Brewer, Owosso; eul. Dec. 2, 1861; disch, at end of service, March 14, 1865.

Corp. Robert C. Kyle, Owosso; enl. Dec. 21, 1861 ; disch. July 15, 1862.

Corp. Benj. F. Stevens, Owosso; enl. Dec. 21, 1861 ; disch. Feb. 16, 1503. John Q. Adams, disch. Dec. 30, 1862.

Edwin Botstord, disch. Jan. 6, 1863.

Ebenezer Brewer, disch. for disability, July 10, 1862.

Benjamin Bagley, disch, Nov. 21, 1862.

Jacob Burtch, disch. Oct. 17, 1862.

John H. Barnes, disch. for promotion in 23d Regt., Aug. 11, 1862.

Jacob Byerly, died of disease, Aug. 21, 1862.

Leonard Black, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864 ; must, out July 18, 1865.

Mathew Colf, disch. Oct. 10, 1862.

George Clark, disch. for disability, April 17, 1862.

Levinus Colf, disch. for disability, July 15, 1862.

Marcus Colf, disch, for disability, July 25, 1863.

Ezra Dibble, disch. for disability, July 8, 1863.

Byron A. Dunn, disch. for disability, July 8, 1863.

Sammuel C. Decker, disch, at end of service, March 14, 1865.

Williams B. Dunbar, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865.

Jacob De Forest, veteran, Jun. 4, 1864. Jesse Fleming, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; must. out July 18, 1865.

John Folt, died of disease at Andersonville, Ga. William tioff, disch at end of service, March 14, 1863.

Jothmm Hunt, disch. for promotion, May 17, 1863.

Charles S. Harris, disch. for disability, Oct. 18, 1862,

Nathaniel Hyde, disch. for disability, July 22, 1862.

William Hill, died of disense ut Inka, Miss., Sept. 5, 1862.

HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

Welles .J. Haynes, veteran, March 31, 1864; must, out July 18, 1865. Albert C. Johnson, veteran, Jan. 4, 1861; must, ont July 18, 1865, Valoi- H. Morse, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; must, ont July 18, 1865.

Thomas Munger, veteran, March 31, 1864.

Norman MeLenithan, disch. March 10, 1863.

Peter Mc Nelly, disch. for disability, July 1. 1862.

Ilusten Mahew, disch, at end of service, March 14, 18G5. Nathan Monroe, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. William B. Monroe, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. Mason Phelps, disch. Sept. 16, 1802.

Israel Parshall, disch. Jan. 4, 1863.

Ima A. Polley, died at Columbia, Tenn., Nov. 18, 1863. William Steen, died of disease at Owosso, Mich., June 15, 1862.

Juhu Seeveord, died of disense at St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 26, 1862.

Daniel D. See, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15, 1862.

George Swimen, disch. for disability, Oct. 10, 1802.

John W. Simpson, disch for disability, July 25, 1863. William Sargent, disch. for disability, June 16, 1863.

George W. Smith, disch. Sept. 14, 1862.

Elward Sanford, disch. Nov. 18, 1862.

Allen Templer, disch. April 20, 1863.

Charles Terwilliger, disch, by order, Jan. 3, 1883.

Dor Tillotson, Veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; must. ont July 18, 1865.

William Wiers, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 10, 1863,

Everett Woodbury, tisch, at end of service, Nov. 10, 1863.

Company II.

Owen Miller, disch. to onl. in regular service.

Company I.

Azariah Fitch, disch. Ang. 22, 1862. Caleb HIall, disch, Aug. 2, 1862.

Company K.

Sergt. Thomas Crane, Owosso, enl. Dec. 7, 1861; died of wounds at Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 9, 1862.

John Buck, disch. March 18, 1863.

James E. Crane, died of disease at Inka, Miss., Oct. 21, 1862.

Allen Davis, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dee. 10, 1862.

John G. Dellamater, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

l'eter Garrison, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864.

Joseph Guyer, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865.

William Garrison, disch. at end of service, Feb. 13, 1865.

Richard Odell, disch.

William D. Platt, veteran, Jan, 4, 1864 ; must, out July 18, 1865. Andrew Scott, disch. Aug. 29, 1864.

Oliver B. Van Doran, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; disch, by order, July 20, 1865. John W. Wester, disch. for disability, Dec. 17, 1862.

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History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, Part 18

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D.W. Ensign & co.
Number of Pages: 716