USA > New Hampshire > A history of the Eleventh New Hampshire Regiment, Volunteer Infantry in the rebellion war, 1861-1865, pt 1 > Part 8
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that transpired at that moment on the picket line beg- gars all description. Matches were lighted, revealing to the pickets a sight that they will long remember. Blood was flowing from the wound profusely, staining the blue uniform, and plainly visible on the green turf. No lights could be used longer than for a moment at a time, for fear of a volley of musketry from the enemy, and the officer was moved to the rear in the extreme darkness of midnight by his faithful comrades. He died on the second day after receiving his wound, and war's dread alarms sum- moned him no more to the field of strife. Another brave soldier had laid down his life in freedom's cause. Poor Alexander ! I knew him well when a teacher in New Hampshire, and often met him in our campaigns. There, in the suburbs of Jackson, under a branching oak and in the shadow of the tall pines, his comrades tenderly laid him to rest-" A rest to last through all the years."
The next morning, July 14, we were ordered to the rear for rest and- rations. Had the ammunition train arrived as we were expecting, we should have had no chance to rest ; we should have been blazing away at the rebels for dear life. As it was, we did get some rest : but all the rations we got could be put in one's eye, and not injure one's vision a bit. On our way to the rear we passed through the yard of the insane asylum, and made a halt just west of the building among some arbor-vitae and other evergreen shrubbery. There we were ordered to remain that day and the next, as the fighting could not be pushed until the trains had arrived from Vicks- burg. Over the country as far as we could see, around Jackson, were long lines of freshly thrown up earthworks, consisting of rifle-pits and strong redoubts. Among the evergreens, the oaks, and scattering trees gleamed the bright Northern bayonets in the sunlight, as the army stood motionless, waiting for the second attack to be made.
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ORDERED TO THE REAR.
Bristling cannon looked toward the city with bold defi- ance, while many were masked in the bushes, in readi- ness to belch forth canister in case the line was broken, and trees were cut away so the artillery could strew death broadcast. The picture was one of beauty : but we did not care a straw for the beauty ;- we had been promised, at the beginning of the fight, that as soon as the battle was fought and won we were all to return to Kentucky. We were very anxious to finish the task set before us, however hard it might be, and then hasten back to "Old Kaintuck."
As soon as we had reached the place where we were to enjoy such sweet rest and calm repose, the general commanding the Second Brigade sent his orderly to Colonel Collins with an order for him (the colonel) to form the regiment in company streets, as was the custom when we were in camp ;- just then we were all lying round loose-every man for himself. The colonel heard the order, and then very curtly replied. " Tell the gen- eral to go to pot with his poppycock orders : I'll place my men where I please !" The regiment gave one burst of laughter, and we heard no more orders from the gen- eral that day. We spent a part of the next day hunting after green corn, but found only a scanty supply, for we dared not venture very far away for fear of being cap- tured by rebel guerillas, who were constantly on the watch for us. If some of the nonparticipants during our late unpleasantness would like to know what kind of water we were obliged to drink as we were resting in the shade of the evergreens, I will tell them with all pleasure, for it is far more pleasant to tell the story now than it was to drink the water at that time :
Not far from where we were lying was.a nice farm- house, one of the best in the suburbs of Jackson. Near this house was an artificial pond of oval shape, from
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ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
twenty to forty feet wide and twice that in length, which had probably been used as a horse-pond in the days of slavery. It was the only water we were able to find. and at the time we first saw it it could hardly be called water, but more properly a mixture of filth. Nearly every officer who rode a horse had him washed in that pond. The water was about two feet deep, and the horses were led into the pond by their bare-footed and bare-legged grooms, and sponged off until the water was thick with dirt and scum. We undertook to drive them away. but their orders from the officers were given in advance of ours, and as that sort of thing had been going on before we got there, the water was all spoiled anyway and not worth fighting for. It was "tough water" for one to drink on a hot July day, as he lay there basking in the sun, and my pen fails to do the matter justice. L. used up all the oaths in the English language in freeing his mind on the matter, and would have exhausted all the oaths in foreign tongues had he been sufficiently well educated. I was not long in making up my mind that the water would kill more men than the rebel siege gun.
We often hear the remark made. There is too much money spent in pensioning soldiers. Those who make such speeches did not dare shoulder a musket in defence of the old flag when their services were needed. but many of them looked toward Canada and cried, "The war is a failure !" or ". Why doesn't the army move?" Very many of the soldiers who are applying for pensions were with us at Jackson in the summer of 1863. and were obliged to drink cesspool water when they were almost perishing with thirst and suffering from their wounds. Many lost their health in that hard campaign, and by some are now begrudged the small pittance they receive in the way of pension money. .. Begrudged ! by whom?"
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BACK TO THE FRONT.
I hear some one ask. By men who remained at home and sucked their fingers when their services were needed at the front in the trying days of the war.
At 2 o'clock, on the morning of the 16th, the Eleventh was ordered to its old position of the 13th, there to sup- port the Fiftieth Pennsylvania Regiment, who were to hold the line of works in our front. It was the same old story : things had not changed one particle from what they were on the 13th. There in our front lay just as many rebels as ever, and there on the hill that old siege gun still stood facing us ; the bullets hissed just the same as ever; and the shells shrieked with the same ven- geance. There we lay under the pines in readiness for what might come. Over to the left in our front lay that rebel sharpshooter, who kept up a constant fire upon us all that day. as he had done before, and all our efforts failed to disclose where he was concealed. As our ammunition had not arrived from Vicksburg, our bat- teries did not do very much work. They were not out of shells, however, for they took good care to save enough during the battle of the 12th to last thiem in case of an emergency. When a good chance presented itself, our gunners would let a shot drop into rebeldom with such remarkable accuracy as to stir up the "Johnnies" wonderfully. The enemy were not backward in letting their artillery slam and bang to the right, left, and centre ; in fact, they did not show much regard for our feel- ings, as they plainly proved by the cold lead and iron they hurled at us. In all the commotion of war on that day, I was vividly reminded of the following words, as I saw them enacted :
" The bursting shell, the gate-way wrenched asunder, The rattling musketry, the clashing blade, And ever and anon, in tones of thunder, The diapason of the cannonade."
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ELEVENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE.
We remained in the shade of the pines all that day, while the rebel shells would pass over our heads and through the tree-tops. and their sharpshooters kept pop- ping away at us with untiring zeal. About half past two o'clock in the afternoon the picket fire in our front, which had been slow and lagging most of the day, grew very severe all at once, and brought us all upon our feet in an instant, well knowing that the enemy was advancing, and that we should soon be called upon to take a hand in the fray. We were hardly upon our feet before the order, that was so well known to us all at such times, echoed along the line, "' Fall in, men ! Fall in "" The Second Brigade was in line in a moment, and Colonel Collins gave the order " Fix bayonets !" as we advanced up to the edge of the woods. The long line of polished bay- onets glistened among the low pine boughs, and seemed to say .. We are all ready !" and the enemy's musketry in our front was becoming one grand rattle. Then came the shells from the heavy guns in our front. These were hurled with great force, and burst over our heads with stunning effect. twisting the green tree-tops in their furious flight, while the fragments of the bursting shells hummed with that deadly sound so peculiar to them. Everything began to look as though another battle was soon to ebb and flow. as it had done four days before. The front line replied in good earnest to the enemy ; and as we stood at the edge of the wood I could see our men in the pits working vigorously in front of the enemy. The constant puffs of smoke from their busy rifles rose on the air. and the terebinthine odor of the pine forest was quickly changed to that of gunpowder, as the blue smoke floated into the woods. The reserves were doubtless seen by the enemy, as we advanced to the edge of the wood. for they very soon ceased firing, and all was calm again. The front line kept their eyes open for another attack, should it
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BEFORE JACKSON.
come, and at the least provocation would send a ball into the rebel lines to warn them that we were not all dead yet.
Some of the Fifty-first New York boys used to tell the fol- lowing story of things which happened on that afternoon : A soldier of that regiment was instantly killed by a shell, that knocked his head to atoms. A moment afterwards a fellow had one of his fingers nearly cut off by a musket ball. He jumped around and took on with the pain, and seemed almost wild for a while. An Irishman belong- ing to the same company had laid down his gun, and was in the act of lighting his pipe at the time, and as he looked at the broken finger and the sorrowful face, re- marked to him, " Be jabers, ye make more fuss than the man did that just lost his head." A part of that night we slept in the pine woods, with one eye open in readiness for what might come. The long-looked-for ammunition train arrived from Vicksburg about dark. All the Union batteries on the line were placed in readiness, and were ordered to open fire on the rebel lines at daylight, and not to cease until orders were given to that effect. A little before two o'clock the Second Brigade was ordered into the pits. and those whom we relieved acted as our support. A large, bright light was seen in the direction of the city, and as we viewed it, when we took the pits, we quickly surmised that the rebel army was evacuating the city and were burning all the stores they could not move, and that the attack which they had made upon us in the afternoon before was only a feint to ascertain whether we were withdrawing from the contest or not, or how strong a force we had in their front.
There in the darkness we stood in our line of earth- works, and watched the fire in the distant town as it grew larger and brigher, tinging the far away clouds, and making a grand midnight display. On the whole, it
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was one of those pictures that vividly portray the rude hand of war, in which devastation and ruin go hand in hand, almost convincing the looker-on that the day of doom has come. That night, women and children in the city were forced to abandon their homes amid the smoke of burning houses and the tumult of war ; while the loud knocks of the Yankee army at the very gates of the city added still more distress to the panic-stricken people, as they were fleeing for refuge through the blinding smoke and crackling flames. The Union army, whose lines extended many miles around that city, stood motionless in the darkness, and saw
" Through the gloom, in pale and dreadful spires, Rise the terrors of the dark red fires : Torches, and torrent sparks, by whirlwinds driven, Streamed through the smoke, and fired the clouded heaven."
We " pinned our ears back" and listened for the sound of moving troops on the rebel line, and for the rumble of wagon trains, or the heavy jar of artillery moving. But all in vain : they were too far away to admit of our hear- ing them, and all that broad field, which had been washed by the tide of battle for the past seven or eight days, was silent. Daylight came at last, but no shots from our brethren in grav came with it, as we had been expect- ing. Their artillery was silent also, and this almost con- vinced us that their army had evacuated the city and their strong works, and had left for some other point, where the Yankees were not so troublesome, or, to use the phrase used by us then, I should say they had all " skedaddled."
Up and down the Union line, at the right and left, the zigzag pits held a line of blue-coats, standing erect, look- ing over the works, and wondering what was going on across the line, and what had become of .. Johnnie Reb."
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JACKSON EVACUATED.
Very soon after daylight the Second Brigade was ordered to advance, which it did with celerity, momentarily expecting a shower of lead or a dose of iron from the sixty-four pounder in its front. It was very plainly to be seen either that the rebel army had left, or else they had withdrawn nearer the city in order to shorten their line, and that they did not intend to open fire upon us until they could see the whites of our eyes. It was a lovely morning, one of the best we had seen during our sojourn in that state. The air was sweet and cool, and wafted the balmy, citron-scented breeze. God had hung his banner in the eastern sky, tinted with gold and saf- fron hues, and flushed with victory,-symbolic of what was soon to perch upon the banners of the Ninth Corps. Behind us, in the pine forest as well as throughout the woods in our front, the twittering of the birds was poured out upon the air of that Southern summer morning. As the long line of infantry jumped ont of the earthworks to advance. it surged, swayed, bent, then straightened out like a huge reptile in its rapid advance. The count- less flags, as they were carried pitched a little forward, flapped in the gentle breeze, presenting a picture that must remain in the memory of those who witnessed it, printed in fast colors.
In our rapid advance we soon crossed the open field or peach orchard, where we struck the rebel line the day before in a ravine thickly hemmed in by pine trees and thick undergrowth ; but there were no earthworks at that point. Upon the large limbs of the trees, from four to six feet from the ground, I saw a lot of corn-cake that had been placed there the day before. The rebels laid it there that it might be convenient, and it showed that when they were tired of pegging away at the " Yanks" they would take a rest and grind corn-dodgers for a while, doubtless cursing the Yankees at the same time.
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When they retreated they forgot to take their grub with them. I am of the opinion they were very glad to leave, so much so as not to care a straw for corn bread. One of our number ate some of it. and pronounced it tip-top, but when L. spied what he was doing, he yelled at him, "Throw that away : it's pizen !" The ground under the pines and along the ravines was trampled to smoothness by the vigilant rebel soldiers, who were ever on the alert to watch the movements of the Union army. The gen- eral appearance of the grass and underbrush plainly told that they had a much larger force there than we had had any idea of, and it was no wonder that their shots fell thick and fast for those four days that we lay in reserve.
The brigade made no halt at all, but pushed rapidly on, with that firm and rapid step with which an army advances ; and it can be seen to-day in the imagination of those who were there that morning. The extreme left of the Eleventh Regiment, in climbing a bushy knoll. discerned the hiding-place of the rebel sharpshooter who had annoyed us so much. On the top of the knoll stood an oak tree that forked very near the ground, and had no trunk at all, but was all branches. Two hogs- heads had been filled with earth and placed one on each side of the tree, and "Johnnie Reb " took his position between them, and fired through the crotch of the tree, which was about four feet from the ground. He was perfectly secure, as all the musketry in the Ninth Corps would have failed to move him, even if they had known where he was concealed. One or two good shots from a battery would have made him duck his head and think that his time had come to get out of that or die. As it was, he had things all his own way, and had a jolly time sitting there, blazing away at the Union boys to the best of his ability.
After leaving the ravine, the ground was ascending
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THE ABANDONED GUNNER.
all the way until we reached the top of the hill. The ground was very uneven and mostly wooded, although a large lot of trees had been cut away in order that artillery might have a good sweep and ricochet their shots with deadly effect in case the Union army advanced. We very soon came in sight of the fort, where the siege gun was mounted that had shelled the Ninth Corps with untiring zeal for many days. Its black muzzle looked saucily through the embrasure of the fort, and we all expected to get a severe dose of canister when we got within proper distance. We had to cross two or three deep gullies formed by heavy rains, the work of years, perhaps. We had to cross the deep places on fallen trees as lively as possible, at the same time keeping our eyes peeled for what might come from the rebel gun. The moment we saw a puff of smoke from the gun we were to drop flat on the ground, and let the iron hail pass over our heads ; then rise up and advance until another shot came. Happily the fort was abandoned save by one man, whom the rebels had left there to fire the heavy gun at us as soon as we reached a certain place marked by them. When this poor fellow saw the long blue line advancing, his courage failed, and he stood like a stone post and was taken prisoner. The gun was loaded with canister, filled nearly to the muzzle, and, being a sixty-four pounder. it would have scattered death and destruction in our ranks had it been fired. We asked the prisoner who loaded that gun in such a man- ner. He informed us that the gunner did, under orders from the commanding officer of the fort, and, as they all left with the retreating army, they left him to fire at us when we were within good range, and "Give the d-d Yankees h-1." as they termed it. It was well that his knees grew weak and that his courage failed, for if he had done such a piece of work, he would have been sent
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to kingdom come in short order. Doubtless he was well aware of that, and would much rather be taken prisoner than made into mince-meat, as he would have been.
The colors of the Eleventh Regiment were carried over the high earthworks and through the fort, and they kissed the air of the morning in the same place where the rebel flag was waving only a few hours before. We soon learned that "Joe" Johnston and his army had evacuated the city and his strong works, and had left for parts where it would not be quite so hot with Yankee bul- lets and shells. Johnston's rear-guard had not got out of the city then, and, though making rapid strides with their long shanks encased in butternut, they barely escaped falling into our clutches. Many of the rebel soldiers left their ranks, and hid in the bushes by the wayside on purpose to fall into our hands, they claiming to be sick and tired of the war.
The soldiers of Johnston's army informed the citizens that they were forced to abandon their strong line of works and leave for other fields. They also informed them that as soon as the Yankee army entered the city they would all be killed ; and at this terrible warning, the people fled for their lives, for the Yankees would soon enter the city, and wholesale butchery and burning would commence. All such talk told them by their own army set them wild with fear, as a matter of course. and they rushed from their homes, leaving everything behind them. Those of the citizens who were there at that time were mostly of the poorer class, or what is known in the South as " poor white trash," while all, or nearly all, of the wealthy class had left on the cars, or by their own conveyances, several days before.
The poor panic-stricken mortals. when warned to flee for their lives, as they were, ran for dear life in all direc- tions. Many of them jumped from their beds, and did
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FRIGHTENED CITIZENS.
not stop to dress, but carried their clothing in their hands. and ran for the woods like lunatics. Many of them had no idea where the Union forces were advancing, neither did they stop to give the matter any thought in all their flight, but ran right toward the Union army that they were trying to get away from. They did not seem to have any idea of what they were doing, only that they were fleeing from the "vile Yankee horde," not thinking for a moment that their lines extended nearly around the city. When the long lines of blue that nearly encircled Jackson advanced nearer the city, we came upon all these people necessarily. When they heard the crack- ling of our rapid footsteps in the woods and shrubbery. they lay low in their hiding-places among the bushes. and listened to the beatings of their hearts, almost palsied with fear. They verily believed that their hour had come, and that for them it was the last of earth. Many of the women were so badly frightened that they dropped upon their knees and began to pray to be protected from the Yankees. I soon formed an opinion that it was the first prayer they had ever made by the way they went at it. Their entreaties for us to spare their lives were pitiful to hear. We did pity them as soldiers do, but we showed our pity to them by words only. telling them they should not be harmed. We were in too much of a hurry to reach the city to stop and talk with them. but during the short halt we made we had to laugh at the poor terror-stricken wretches.
In our rapid advance we came upon an old woman who was on her knees begging to be spared. and as we passed her, L. addressed her thus : " Halloo, old woman ! what the d-l ails ve?" It was anything but a joke to her, but as it did not matter much if we did laugh. we concluded to look on the funny side. As the able-bodied men were all in the rebel army, we saw but few except
,
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those too old for military duty. The women and children were to be pitied ; and I look back upon them now with pity-but we were all a little hardened then. If our mothers, wives, and daughters had been in those peo- ple's places, they would have felt just as those poor women did, and perhaps worse. The women of the North will never know the privations the women of the South had to endure in those days. It was one picture of the great war ; and once more I repeat, as I have many times during my sketches, that the horrors of war can never be appreciated save by those who saw it at their very doors, in the dark days of the Rebellion. The forlorn women were told to return to their homes, which they all gladly did as soon as they could.
During the day. when in the city, I overheard the fol- lowing by an old colored woman. upon the arrival of her mistress from the woods whither she had fled : "Didn't I tole ye dem Yankee sojers wouldn't hurt ye. eh? Didn't I tole ye dat Massa Linkum's men would n't hurt ye? Dey's heaps better'n de rebel sojers is." About half way between the fort and the city, the Eleventh Regiment came to a halt just as we came upon the broad street leading to the city. Here we had to " Dress up !" an order we all despised when in a hurry. While we were thus manœuvring. though only for a moment. the rest of the brigade passed. and reached the city a little ahead of us. the Thirty-fifth Massachusetts being the reg- iment that tore down the Confederate flag floating from the court-house. The men ran up the stars and stripes in its place amid the shouts of the regiment, and much to our chagrin. The Eleventh could have had that honor just as well as not, as we were in advance all the way until the halt was made ; but we made a bad move there. and stopped when we ought to have pushed on. Such
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ENTERING THE CITY.
delays are dangerous in a time of war. The boys of the old Eleventh were indignant over the matter, and it furnished something to swear about for the rest of the day. "All's for the best," is an old saying, and I will not censure any one at this late day for the slow move- ment. We now saw for the first time the tapering church spires, the cupola of the court-house with the rebel flag waving over it, and. near at hand, many fine dwellings with red brick chimneys, trailing vines cover- ing the piazzas, and surrounded by beautiful flowers sparkling with the silvered dew of the morning. A cloud of smoke that arose from the burning buildings hung over the city, and once more before our eyes was pictured the rude hand of war.
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