USA > New Hampshire > A history of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry in the rebellion war, 1861-1865, pt 1 > Part 11
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
Enclosed you find dispatch from General Burnside. He was informed of your being ordered back, and sends enclosed telegram counter- manding that order.
I think Captain Croxton has ordered Captain Day to halt with his train between here and London, where they now are.
Respectfully, OPERATOR.
I34
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
The regiment immediately faced about, and reached its camp just at daylight in the midst of a pelting rain.
The day following, one of those terrific mountain storms, which need to be passed through to be enjoyed, was ex- perienced. The wind blew a gale, the rain descended in torrents, the Cumberland river was a roaring, raging flood, and everybody and everything in and about the camp was thoroughly soaked. During the afternoon the following dispatch was received :
KNOXVILLE, October 21, 1863.
To CAPT. L. W. COGSWELL,
Commanding Eleventh N. H. Vols. :
Gen. Potter directs that you remain at the Gap until the train comes up: then guard it to its destination.
G. H. MCKIBBEN, Assistant Adjutant-General.
It was fourteen miles to the Gap; and the next morn- ing, in the most severe storm the regiment ever encoun- tered, it broke camp and commenced wading to the Gap. At the end of eleven miles it took shelter for the night in some out-buildings. The next morning it passed through one of the most remarkable gate-ways in this country, and reached the camp below about noon, where the fol- lowing dispatch was received :
KNOXVILLE, October 22, 1863. CAPT. L. W. COGSWELL :
Bring your regiment to this place without waiting for Captain Day's train. Colonel Lemerts will furnish you rations, if he has them to spare. A. E. BURNSIDE, Major-General.
This was a welcome order to the boys. and, after secur- ing a few supplies from Colonel Lemerts's scanty stores, the regiment took up its march for Knoxville, sixty-five miles away. We camped in a pine wood that night, and the next day, Sunday, marched sixteen miles. The next
I35
ORDERED TO KNOXVILLE.
day at II a. m., Clinch river was reached. The river was full, but a flat-boat from the other side was obtained, and in two hours the regiment were all safely across, and four- teen miles more was made. The next day a march of seventeen miles was made, and on the 28th we camped about one mile north of Knoxville, having been twelve days on the march, only four of which had been pleasant. the rest being made up of the severe storms and heavy gales of wind peculiar to mountainous regions at that season of the year. Though living on half rations, and marching over the worst possible roads, with constant exposure, only two men were left on the march, and but few were on the sick-list when the regiment arrived at Knoxville.
The rest of the Ninth Corps being at Loudon, thirty miles below Knoxville, Captain Cogswell reported to Colonel Riley, commanding the post, and delivered the prisoners the regiment had taken down from Loudon. A little later he reported to General Manson, who on the next day issued the following order :
HEAD-QUARTERS, 23D ARMY CORPS. KNOXVILLE, TENN., Oct. 29, 1863.
COMMANDING OFFICER, Eleventh Regiment N. H. Vols., Infantry :
SIR,-The General commanding directs that you report in person at these head-quarters, when your regiment is ready to move, and before you march, that he may give you further and more minute instructions than are contained in the accompanying order.
I am, sir, respectfully your obedient servant,
R. C. KISE. Captain, and Assistant Adjutant-General.
HEAD-QUARTERS, 23D ARMY CORPS, KNOXVILLE, TENN., Oct. 29, 1863.
SPECIAL ORDERS,
No. 101. [EXTRACT.]
3d. The commanding officer of the Eleventh Regiment New Hamp- shire Vol. Infantry, will proceed, early to-morrow morning, with his
136
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
command, to Lenoir's, Tenn., and report to Brigadier-General Potter, commanding Ninth Army Corps. The regiment will march by the road usually travelled by wagon-trains between this place and Lenoir's.
By command of Brigadier-General Manson :
R. C. KISE, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Commanding Officer 11th N. H. Vols.
In accordance with this order the commanding officer of the Eleventh reported with his regiment to General Manson, and, after waiting nearly half a day for instruc- tions, an order was received from General Potter to have the Eleventh Regiment remain at Knoxville until further orders, that it might recruit from its march over the mountains. The regiment marched back to its camping- ground of the night previous, where a camp was laid out, and good, substantial log-houses were erected, the first and only time while in the service that the Eleventh Reg- iment had anything that looked like comfortable quarters.
Among the many incidents that occurred on this march. was one especially worthy of note. Just before night of the second day from Cumberland Gap, the regiment camped near a large orchard. the trees in which were loaded with most tempting apples. It belonged to a man and his wife, both very aged, who had been unable to gather the fruit. They very generously said to the men of the regiment, " Leave us what we need for the winter, and you are welcome to the rest." In half an hour the apples were all gathered, the larder of the old couple filled with them until they fairly cried " Enough !" and the remainder was distributed to the regiment.
But the men of the Eleventh Regiment were having too much of a good thing. There was work ahead. Rumors of all kinds filled the camp, and. on November 15, the regiment was ordered to " be ready at a moment's notice." There was heavy firing across the river. Burnside was reported falling back to Knoxville, and there was much
I37
THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE.
excitement everywhere. At 5 o'clock the next morning an order was received to form a line of battle near the town at once, and in three fourths of an hour the regiment formed a line of battle with other troops, three quarters of a mile from its camp. At dark we were ordered to occupy a gap north and west of the town, which we did, holding the position until the next night, when we were withdrawn and rejoined our old brigade in town, much to the delight of the regiment and of the brigade as well, and the siege commenced. A change in the line was made on Novem- ber 19, and the serious work of the siege began. The day previous a sharp fight occurred on the left at an earth- work, where the enemy were repulsed, with a loss to the Union side of General Sanders, a most gallant and efficient officer. The earthwork was strengthened, and named in honor of him. The Eleventh occupied the left of the Second Brigade on a little elevation directly in the rear of the depot and car-houses of the railroad centring there. Trenches were dug, fortifications thrown up. trees felled, forts built. dams erected on the small creek separating the city proper from North Knoxville, where were some one hundred houses, some of them the most elegant in the city; and beyond these a line of pickets was established nearly as strong as the main line in town. Captain Woodward, of Company F, with forty men of the Eleventh, was stationed in the round-house at the depot. and Lieutenant Shepard. of Company A, with ten men, was stationed in the engine-house, both having orders to hold them " to the last moment." The walls were pierced for defence, the locomotives and cars all made as secure as possible, and all prepared with combustible matter so they could be fired if likely to fall into the hands of the enemy. The most important parts of the locomotives were taken out and concealed, thus rendering them useless if capt- ured.
I38
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
One half of the regiment was detailed on picket duty. the balance on fatigue duty in town ; and every fourth day its commanding officer was detailed as division officer of the day. A fire brigade was formed of the men of the division, whose duty it was to see that in case of an attack the buildings on the north side of the creek which had been prepared for firing were burned. But little sleep was to be had. And thus the siege wore on, varied by the attempts of the enemy to drive in our pickets, which resulted in burning every building across the creek before the siege ended. The Eleventh shared the hardships with all the regiments, securing only quarter rations. these consisting of corn meal (corn and cobs ground together), a small piece of fresh pork, a little sugar, a very little coffee, and a small allowance of tobacco once a week. Every day, and especially every night. an attack from the enemy was expected. Firing along the picket line was incessant both day and night. But the army had unlimited confidence in their commander, and amid all the perils and privations of their situation there was not a faint heart among them. All seemed inspired by their heroic general, who daily rode along the line to give the boys good cheer.
On Monday evening, November 23, the enemy made a desperate attack upon our picket line. but were driven back. About twenty buildings were burned during the fighting, among them an arsenal in which were stored a large number of condemned shells : and for a couple of hours there was music in the air in every direction. Thus matters stood. the prospect for the deliverance of the beleaguered garrison growing very dim and cheerless. until Saturday, November 28, when the heavens were hung in black and a heavy rain-storm set in. Lights were required in buildings by the middle of the afternoon. Shortly after noon. Colonel Mckibben, of the staff of
,
139
THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE.
General Potter, came to Captain Cogswell, who was divi- sion officer of the day and in command of the picket line, and said,-" General Burnside directs that a double vigi- lance be exercised on the picket line. Several rebel deserters have come in, and, from their story and from many other things that have been learned, the general is confident that an attack is about to be made upon our works, which probably will commence at midnight." The caution was not a needless one, for about 10:30 that evening firing commenced in front of the First Division, and the skirmishing gradually became general. A few of the pickets of the Second Division fell back, but the ground was quickly retaken. and the firing continued during the night. At 5 a. m. Longstreet hurled several thousand picked troops against our lines, the main point being the capture of Fort Sanders on the west side of the town .. Lieutenants Benjamin and Buckley with their batteries mowed them down like grass before the scythe. and Ferrero, in command of the fort, with his men defended it bravely. Again and again the enemy charged, to be as often repulsed, and at 7 o'clock the battle was over, the enemy being foiled at every point.
The whole history of the war cannot show more hero- ism than was displayed by the Ninth Corps in its brilliant defence of Knoxville that night. The morning following, under a flag of truce. Longstreet buried his dead and carried away his wounded, and while this was being done the pickets met midway between the lines and spent sev- eral hours together. The officers and men of the enemy's line expressed themselves as being sick of the war. The pickets in front of the Eleventh Regiment were the Pal- metto Sharpshooters from South Carolina, and they com- plimented the men of the Eleventh for the accuracy with which their fire was delivered. The time for the flag of truce had expired : the pickets of each line ran to
140
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
their posts. and were quickly firing at the very men with whom they had been in social conversation so recently.
The enemy's loss in this fight was about 1,400 in killed. wounded, and prisoners, two hundred of whom were capt- ured by one company each from the Twentieth Michi- gan and the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts, who made an advance into the ditch at the left of the fort. Two flags were also taken. Longstreet had promised his men that they should dine in Knoxville on that day : but he found that Knoxville could not be taken. and he felt his defeat very keenly. The Union loss in this assault was eight killed. five wounded. and thirty captured.
One regiment of the enemy was nearly annihilated, and its flag was captured. It proved to be the Seventeenth Mississippi, one of the regiments that did such execution upon the Union men who first attempted to lay the pon- toons at Fredericksburg. Pollard, in his history of the war, says of the enemy's loss, ". In this terrible ditch the dead were piled eight or ten feet deep. In comparatively an instant of time we lost 700 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Never, excepting at Gettysburg, was there in the history of the war a disaster adorned with the glory of such devoted courage as Longstreet's repulse at Knoxville."
December 2 there was heavy firing, and another attack was anticipated. The enemy had been signalling for hours. " Keep a sharp lookout on the picket line !" was the order, but no attack was made. The next day the same firing continued. and occasionally heavy trains and some troops could be seen moving to the eastward. This continued through the 4th. and on the morning of December 5 the first sound heard was this order, " The enemy's retreating ! Fall in, and give chase !" Troops were sent in all directions, the Eleventh with the rest, and a large number of prisoners were taken. By mid-
141
CONGRATULATIONS.
day all had returned, and before night an order was received to dispense with interior guards and to lie down and get some sleep. This was a most welcome com- mand, and for the first time in three weeks a good night's rest was taken by the exhausted army.
The men of the Eleventh never knew the real hard- ship of a soldier's life before this siege. They expe- rienced what no other New Hampshire troops ever did, and have but little idea of. Every man did his duty bravely and promptly, both officers and men getting what little sleep they could with one eye open. though for eight days at one time during the siege the officers of the Eleventh did not remove their sword belts. A large number of prisoners were taken the morning the siege was raised, and, as they came in, some of the men of the Twenty-third Corps began to tantalize them, but were answered very handsomely by some of them say- ing, " You needn't say anything : no credit belongs to you. If the Ninth Corps hadn't been here. we could have come in any time we pleased." General Burnside issued the following congratulation :
HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO. IN THE FIELD, DECEMBER 5. 1863.
The commanding general congratulates the troops on the raising of the siege. With unsurpassed fortitude and patient watchfulness they have sustained the wearing duties of the defence, and with unyielding cour- age they have repulsed the most desperate assaults. The Army of the Ohio has nobly guarded the loyal region it redeemed from its oppres- sors, and has rendered the heroic defence of Knoxville memorable in the annals of the war. Strengthened by the experiences and successes of the past, they now, with the powerful support of the gallant army which has come to their relief, and with undoubted faith in the Divine protection, enter with the brightest prospects upon the closing scenes of a most brilliant campaign.
During the siege there were but three captains in the brigade who were placed in charge of the picket line :
142
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Captain Woodward of Company F, of the Eleventh, was one of them. Only four commanders of all the regiments in the division were detailed as division officers of the day, of whom Captain Cogswell of the Eleventh was one. Lieutenants Shepard and Johnson of Company A, Mor- rison of Company B, Clark and Lyford of Company C, Modica of Company D, Dillenback and Frost of Com- pany E, Little and Sanborn of Company H, Bell of Company G, Dimick of Company H, Currrier of Com- pany I, Everett of Company K, Adjutant Morrison, and Sergeant-Major Paige were constantly on the alert, and did everything in their power to assist the brave, devoted, heroic men of the regiment in everything they were called upon to do; and upon all sides the old Eleventh received words of commendation for its valiant service during those trying times.
BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES.
CAPT. CHARLES E. FROST.
Charles E. Frost was born in Belgrade. Me., in 1841. He was residing in Hampstead, N. H., at the outbreak of the war, where he enlisted, August 12, 1862, as a pri- vate in Company E, of which company he was commis- sioned second lieutenant. September 4, 1862. He was promoted to first lieutenant. July 25, 1864, and assigned to Company A, of which company he was promoted to cap- tain, receiving his commission, dated February 17. 1865. and was mustered out of the service with the regiment, June 4, 1865. During the last campaign Lieutenant Frost was for some time acting adjutant of the regiment. He was severely wounded at the siege of Knoxville. Lieutenant Dillenback says, "The first mishap to the
P
143
CHARLES E. BARTLETT.
company [E] was the night we left Orleans, on the way to Fredericksburg. when Lieutenant Frost was taken sick and we had to leave him at a farm-house, where he was taken prisoner ; also two men left to care for him, C. J. Hoyt and Frank S. Eastman. All of these were paroled, went to camp at Annapolis, Md., were exchanged and returned to the company in June, 1863, at Stamford, Ky." At the assault at the Shand House, June 17, 1864, Lieutenant Frost was one of the first to enter the fort, showing bravery of a high order.
LIEUT. CHARLES E. BARTLETT.
Charles E. Bartlett was born in Nottingham, Novem- ber 25, 1839 ; resided in Epping until his enlistment in Company A, Eleventh New Hampshire Volunteers, and was mustered into the service of the United States with his regiment July 25, 1864. He was promoted to second lieutenant of Company A, but for lack of men in his company he was not mustered. February 27, 1865, he received a commission as first lieutenant, and was mus- tered as such at Hancock station, Va., February 28. 1865, and was discharged from the service with the regi- ment June 4, 1865.
Upon the return of the regiment to Kentucky from the Mississippi campaign, Lieutenant Bartlett, being in ill health, was ordered to report for detached service at Concord, together with several others of the Eleventh and Ninth New Hampshire Volunteers, and while on the way was quite ill for a portion of the time. At Con- cord he was assigned quarters at Camp Gilmore, where were congregated substitutes. conscripts, and bounty- jumpers, whom the state was then assigning to the old regiments in the field. His first duty was to assist in
144
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
taking a large number to Long Island, Boston harbor. There the guard of which he had command was placed on board a vessel with 700 of these desperadoes, bound for Point Lookout, Md., with two days' rations on board. A severe storm of seven days' duration was encountered, and for several days the ration for all was one pint of condensed water. Of course there was great rejoicing when port was reached. He afterwards went in charge of hundreds of these men to Morris Island and the adja- cent islands. The most extreme measures had to be resorted to with such fellows, from the worst class of the population of the cities.
Lieutenant Bartlett rejoined the regiment at Annapolis on its return from the East Tennessee campaign, and with a detail of twenty men reported to the brigade com- missary for duty. He was immediately placed in charge of the herd of cattle belonging to the brigade. This was a perilous task, but was most faithfully performed. Often outside of the lines, several times bushwhacked and the herd stampeded, yet so faithful were the guards that the herd had gained ten in number when Petersburg was reached, notwithstanding twenty were lost the first night out. One night. returning from an unsuccessful search for some of his cattle in a piece of woods, he spied a rebel lying near an oak tree, apparently dead. Pricking him with his bayonet, and ordering him to get up, had no effect. and he left him. He soon returned, to find him gone, and he himself joined his guards without delay. Lieutenant Bartlett had charge of the guards for one pur- pose and another until the war closed.
He was adjutant and commander of Post So, G. A. R., at Epping, and was assistant inspector-general under General Alger. national commander G. A. R., and was assigned to New Hampshire. He is a shoe-cutter, and resides at Derry Depot.
145
MERRILL JOHNSON.
Lieutenant Bartlett gives these interesting incidents :
James M. Sleeper came out for roll-call one morning, just before the battle of Fredericksburg, feeling pretty low-spirited, and when asked what was the matter with him, replied, " During the night I had a presentiment that I should be killed in my first battle. While some of his comrades were sympathizing with him, he (Bart- lett) said, " I shall go through the whole war, and come out without a scratch." And, strange as it may seem, both were right.
At Jackson, Miss., Lieutenant (then Sergeant) Bart- lett and Charles F. Stickney volunteered to dislodge a rebel picket, who was doing deadly execution with his rifle. Stickney took his position in the woods close to an oak tree, with Bartlett a few rods to the left. They had hardly taken their places before Stickney was fired upon, the bullet striking the tree near him. He at once retaliated by firing, and was in the act of reloading when a second shot from the rebel picket struck him, passing through his body. Bartlett ran to him, and was in sea- son to hear his last words, which were "Too late !" In two minutes Stickney was dead. Bartlett was immedi- ately recalled.
LIEUT. MERRILL JOHNSON.
Merrill Johnson was born in Alexandria, N. H., in 1827. He received a common-school education, and was a farmer most of the time previous to the war and since. From 1849 to 1857 he was connected with newspaper work in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He joined the Eleventh Regiment at its formation, as a mem- ber of Company B, of which company he was second sergeant. Company B was assigned as right centre of
10
146
ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
the regiment in line, which brought him with the colors as left guide of the company ; and he says of the color- bearers and guard .-. ' A brave set of fellows they were, facing the dangers at Fredericksburg with undaunted courage-our first baptism in blood." He says still further,-" There were several daring deeds done by the members of Company B that day. One of them was this : When Colonel Harriman was ordered to take his regiment to the front. we moved forward until we reached the railroad. Uncertain which way he was ordered to . take his regiment, the colonel called for a volunteer to go back to General Ferrero and get instructions. Ser- geant George M. Harvey, bringing his gun to a salute, said, ' Colonel, I will go back and find out.' He marched back, got the instructions, and returned. The ground he marched over must have been covered every foot of space by canister or Minié balls in the time he was gone, as all who were there can testify to the storm of death-dealing missiles the rebels greeted us with on our advance."
Sergeant Johnson was with the regiment in its Missis- sippi campaign, and at the battle before Jackson, after the lines were formed, it was soon discovered that there were some of the enemy's sharpshooters in the trees between the lines. Sergeant Johnson and Corporal George E. Johnson moved up a ravine under cover of the underbrush, and, getting a good position, soon made it so warm for them that they left. Upon the return of the regiment to Kentucky he was detailed to go to Concord to assist in taking recruits to the different - New Hampshire regiments. He rejoined his regiment . in East Tennessee, just as it was leaving for Annapolis. At the commencement of the last campaign he was pro- moted to first sergeant. He participated in the Battle of the Wilderness, where he captured a rebel. who said to
147
R. BAXTER BROWN.
him, "Give me a gun and I'll fight on your side," but he was taken to the rear.
Sergeant Johnson was wounded at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864, by a gunshot through the right thigh, but rejoined his regiment before Petersburg, September 9, 1864, and was in the battles of Pegram Farm and Hatch- er's Run. He was at this time senior officer of the com- pany, and, December 7, 1864, was promoted to first lieu- tenant, and assigned to his own company. He partici- pated in all the hardships of the siege of Petersburg the winter following, was in the grand charge when Peters- burg was evacuated, and was with the regiment until it was mustered out. He is now a resident of Candia, N. H.
LIEUT. R. BAXTER BROWN.
R. Baxter Brown was born in Candia. He enlisted as a member of Company I, August 15, 1862, was mustered into the service September 2 following, and was imme- diately appointed first sergeant of his company. At the battle of Fredericksburg he was wounded in the right breast, and also had his right shoulder injured. He lay on the field from one o'clock until after dark, when he was brought off and carried to Mount Pleasant hospi- tal, Washington, D. C. ; thence to McClellan hospital, at Philadelphia, Penn. There he remained until August Io following, when he was taken to Brattleborough, Vt .. where he was informed that he was disabled for any fur- ther field duty ; but he rejoined his regiment at Knoxville. At the Battle of the Wilderness he became the ranking officer of his company after Captain Currier was wound- ed. He had command of Co. I on the skirmish line, which was under command of Lieutenant Morrison, at Spottsylvania, where he was wounded through the left
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.