USA > New York > Cattaraugus County > History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 29
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Among the officers captured were Lieuts. Alanson Crosby and John Mitchell, who afterwards made their escape from their captors by swimming the Potomac, in the accomplish- ment of which they lost all their clothing. Of this escape, Lieutenant Crosby wrote, in a letter to his brother: "Our clothing had to go. Life or the clothes were at stake, and one or the other must be sacrificed. We did not hesitate which should go. Clothes were set adrift, and by dint of hard labor, very hard, terrible struggling, we swam through the boiling, whirling current to the Maryland shore-sans hat, sans boots, sans coat, sans pants, sans shirt, sans every- thing. We each had a finger-ring left of our former ward- robe, and that was all! You may be assured we were delighted to see again ' Maryland, my Maryland.'"
The detachment which had been sent out under Captain Warner, from Emmettsburg, returned from their reconnois- sance, and arrived on the field in the morning of the 2d of July. This, with the squad which remained after the dis- aster of the preceding day, and a few who had come in in the mean time, made the total strength of the regiment about one hundred and twenty-five men and officers; and with them was temporarily consolidated the remnant of the 134th Regiment, all under command of Major Allen, of the 154th. During the general engagement which followed, and raged furiously through the remainder of the day, this force under Major Allen laid in support of Wiedricks' (1st New York) Battery, at Cemetery Hill, and for a great part of the time under a very heavy artillery fire. Through the night they lay behind a low stone wall at the cemetery, and through the following day of terror remained unengaged, as the remnant of the regiment, crippled and exhausted as it was, could be of little service. The operations of that day, and the earthquake charge of the rebel general, Pickett, are matters of history. At night the Army of the Potomac rested in victory on the field of Gettysburg,-a victory which a single fresh division, entering the fight at the right moment, must have turned into an utter defeat.
In the morning of the 4th of July, the 2d Brigade, of which the remnant of the 154th formed a part, was divided into detachments, which were posted at different points in the town of Gettysburg, and with the pioneers built breast- works and barricades on the several streets. " But the day passed without any demonstration on the part of the enemy. The probability is that they are on the retreat from here; they have had enough of us at this place. Afternoon rainy, clearing up at sunset." July 5, "The report is this morning that the enemy have taken French leave during the night, without even the politeness of saying good-bye to the citizens. Doubtless the good people here are quite willing to waive all ceremonies of this kind in view of their urgent haste. What course they have taken, of course I know not, but venture to predict that the shortest course towards Dixie is where they have left their tracks." At ten in the morning their pickets were withdrawn, and late in the afternoon the regiment (or what was left of it) marched out on the Emmettsburg road. "The evening was dark and the roads very bad, and it was impossible for the men to march in anything like order." They encamped for the night about eight miles out from Gettysburg.
July 6, the brigade " started for Emmettsburg by a round-
about road,-marched ten miles to get five,-and encamped on a hill overlooking the village." The camp for the night of the 7th was made at a point five miles from Middle- town. On the 8th they marched as rear-guard to the train, crossing the summit of South Mountain at one P.M., and camped at night on a hill overlooking Antietam Creek. This day the surrender of Vicksburg was an- nounced to the troops. July 9, Major Allen was mus- tered as lieutenant-colonel and Capt. L. D. Warner as major, both dating from July 1. The regiment camped one mile from Boonsborough. During the five days fol- lowing this the regiment was generally on the move, pass- ing through Funkstown and Hagerstown, and in the even- ing of July 14 camped one mile from the Potomac and about the same distance from Williamsport, Md. The journal here remarks, "It is evident that the enemy has given us the slip, and has escaped across the river with all his baggage and plunder. So the campaign is not yet ended, and we have yet to make long and weary marches before any great results can be attained. Well, so mote it be !" The next day they took the back track over the route they came, " to exercise the men in walking," and camped one mile from Middletown. On the 16th they repassed through Middletown and Jefferson, and camped two miles from Ber- lin, Md. On the 19th they crossed the Potomac to Virginia, marched twelve miles, and camped four miles to the right of Leesburg. The next day they reached their old bathing- place at Goose Creek. Of those who had bathed there a month before some were now in Confederate prisons, some suffering in hospitals, and some were sleeping on the field of Gettysburg; but the stream was as copious, as bright, and as clear as ever. Two days they remained here, and on the 23d marched, by way of White Plains, to New Baltimore, where Lieut. - Col. Allen, Adjt. Crosby, and Capt. Cheney, with six enlisted men, left the regiment, bound for Elmira, N. Y., to take charge of drafted men. A similar detail for the same duty was made from a large number of New York regiments.
The next camp was made July 25, three miles from Warrenton Junction, from whence, on the 1st of August, they marched to Broad Run, near Bristol Station. Here the brigade was put on picket duty, except the 154th Regiment, which, being very weak in numbers, was em- ployed in guard duty along the railroad and at headquarters. They moved on the 3d and camped at Catlett's Station, where they remained but a few days, and about the 8th of August the 154th, with the 134th New York and 73d Pennsylvania Regiments, all under command of Lieut .- Col. Jackson, of the 134th, were detached and placed on the duty of receiving conscripts as they arrived from the North, and taking them to the front for distribution among the com- mands to which they were assigned. On this duty they remained for about seven weeks, being encamped during that time on the south side of the Potomac, between Alexandria and Washington.
TRANSFER TO THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.
In consequence of the great disaster which overtook the Army of the Cumberland, at Chickamauga, on the 20th of September, and the extremely critical situation in which
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that army found itself placed after that bloody fight, the War Department decided on the transfer of two corps of the Army of the Potomac to the Tennessee River, to reinforce and open the endangered communications of Gen. Rosecrans, whose army was then beleaguered within the fortifications of Chattanooga. The two corps designated for this service were the 11th and 12th, both to be under command of Gen. Hooker, and the former, as we know, containing the regiment of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. The order was given, the necessary preparations were made, and at five o'clock in the morning of Sept. 26, 1863, the men of the 154th broke their camp on the south side of the Potomac, marched to Washington, through which they passed about noon, and, as soon after as practicable, left the city by railroad for a destination then unknown to privates or officers. At about sunset they had reached the Relay House, from whence they proceeded west over the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Passing through Harper's Ferry, Martinsburg, Cumberland, and Grafton successively, they reached Wheeling at eight o'clock in the morning of the 28th, crossed the Ohio River on pontoons at Belair, and about eleven A.M. left by railroad for the West. Columbus, O., was reached at daylight on the 29th, and from thence they passed through Xenia, Dayton, and Centreville (where an excellent entertainment had been provided for them by the ladies of the place), arriving at Indianapolis during the evening of the same day. Here the commands marched through the city, and, after par- taking of a generous supper at the Soldiers' Rest, left at midnight for the South. They reached Jeffersonville, Ind., at ten A.M., September 30, crossed the Ohio River to Louisville, Ky., and at three P.M. left that city by railway, reaching Nashville, Tenn., early on the following morning. Here, after drawing rations, and a very short delay, they again embarked by railroad for a destination which had already became known to all,-Chattanooga, Tenn., then the centre of military operations in the States of Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Thirty miles out from Nashville they passed over the storied field of Stone River, and through the village of Murfreesborough, thence through Tullahoma and Cowan, Tenn., reaching Stevenson, Ala., at three in the morning, and Bridgeport, Ala., upon the Tennessee River, in the forenoon of the same day, Oct. 2, 1863. Here they remained on picket and fatigue duty for more than three weeks.
At daylight in the morning of Oct. 27, the command broke camp at Bridgeport and crossed the Tennessee upon pontoons, and took the river-road in the direction of Chat- tanooga. At eleven A.M. they passed Shell Mound, a rail- road station, and camped at night twenty miles from Bridge- port, and twelve from Chattanooga. At noon on the 28th they came in sight of Lookout Mountain, from which the enemy's batteries were briskly shelling the encampments of Gen. Thomas' forces in Chattanooga. Soon after a small force of the enemy was found occupying a steep and wooded hill. To dislodge them, the 154th New York and the 73d Pennsylvania were deployed as skirmishers, and performed the work in fine style. Just beyond this point the column passed within range of the Lookout batteries, which at once opened ou them, " and saluted our arrival in a manner which
showed that at least they considered us worthy of a passing notice. The whole review passed off without accident, and we were soon out of reach, and encamped under a hill occu- pied by a part of the Army of the Cumberland, with which we thus formed a junction. After sending out pickets, laid down quite satisfied with this day's work."
The enemy who now confronted them was Longstreet's corps of Confederates, the same which had been detached from the Army of Northern Virginia, and transported by railroad to Northern Georgia, reaching the bloody field of Chickamauga on the 20th of September, just in time to change the victory of Rosecrans into a disastrous defeat. Longstreet now watched the arrival of his foes from the Potomac, and he determined to receive them warmly, without waiting for daylight. At a little past midnight his forces attacked the Union line in the vicinity of Wauhatchie Run. Our men replied most energetically, and for an hour the dark woods blazed, and the crags and hill-sides echoed the roar of the fusillade. The weight of the attack fell upon Geary's Division of the 12th Corps. The 154th promptly fell into line at the first alarm, awaiting the ex- pected order to participate in the fight; but no order was received, and they lay on their arms during the remainder of the night. This action, known as the battle of Wau- hatchie, resulted disastrously to the Confederates.
During the 29th and 30th the regiment was on duty in the line of breastworks fronting the mountain, and on the 31st they were relieved and went into camp near brigade headquarters. One object of prime importance had now been accomplished by the two Eastern corps; they had seized, and were firmly holding, the left bank of the Tennessee River, so that supply-trains could now pass up from Bridge- port without interruption to the relief of the half-famished Army of the Cumberland, which had been isolated within the defenses of Chattanooga. "They are now," says the diary, "receiving their bread, bacon, and coffee through this channel, and, thanks to the crescent [ meaning the distinctive badge of the 11th Corps], are getting some- thing to cat. So we are of some use."
The concluding words of this quotation were doubtless written in reference to a fact which was extremely dis- creditable to a large portion of the officers and men of the Army of the Cumberland, namely, the fact that they con- stantly disparaged, and pretended to doubt the soldierly qualities of, all eastern troops, and particularly those of or from the Army of the Potomac. And this ungenerous course was pursued by them even towards the corps of Hooker, who had come expressly for their relief. From the time when they reached the Tennessee River until the battle of Lookout Mountain, there was no day, nor a waking hour, in which such epithets as "feather-bed," " paper- collar," or " no-account soldier" were not flung in the faces of the men and officers of Hooker's command. Military discipline forbade the taking of summary satisfaction for these affronts, and so the soldiers, whose records of Chan- cellorsville and Gettysburg could not screen them from insult, were compelled to wait in patience for vindication until they could point to the rocky palisades of Lookout, and to the red route from Mission Ridge to Atlanta.
The writer of this sketch was a member of the Army of
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the Cumberland long before the coming of the 11th and 12th Corps, and having continually seen and heard these things knows them to be true.
For nearly a month after their arrival in Lookout Valley the 154th Regiment with the other troops of the command lay there quietly, with little variation from the ordinary camp-life, drill, fatigue, and picket duty, except occasional shellings from the Lookout batteries, which soon came to be regarded as part of the daily routine, and excited little attention. This period of inaction, however, soon drew to a close.
In the afternoon of November 22 the brigade left the valley camp with three days' rations, and a little after dark bivouacked in the south part of Chattanooga, within the line of fortification. At two o'clock P.M., on the 23d, they advanced to the front, and opened a skirmishing attack on the rebel outposts, which occupied the woods along the base of Mission Ridge, and in front of their centre, which was strongly intrenched upon the Ridge. " The enemy gradu- ally fell back until dark, when the firing ceased, and we took position in the extreme front, not more than thirty rods from the rebel line. After throwing out pickets we erected a line of breastworks in our front, behind which we passed the night. Well, it seems there is work to be done, and we are to help do it. The enemy appears to be in heavy force on the Ridge, and there will be warm work if we attempt to storm the height. My opinion is that this move on the centre is only a demonstration to cover the real attack on the right or left. Time will decide ! .
" November 24 .- Just before daylight we advanced our picket line, and in so doing brought on a lively skirmish, in which we lost six men. wounded. The enemy at length fell back, and the firing ceased. We remained here through the day. Weather wet. About noon heavy firing was heard on Lookout Mountain, and it was ascertained that Gen. Hooker was driving the enemy on the mountain side. The weather is so thick that nothing can be seen from our position, but it is evident that the rebels are falling back and are being driven around the side of the mountain." The event here mentioned was the " Battle above the Clouds," among the crags and precipices of the mountain.
" November 25 .- Early this morning the stripes and stars waved from the summit of Lookout. . . . An attack was made on the enemy's right, which rested on Chicka- mauga Creek, and they were driven at every point. Our lines were also advanced on the centre, where some skir- mishing was done. About ten A.M. our regiment was or- dered up the river to support the left. We marched to the Chickamauga, where we encamped, and remained during the night. About two P.M. our forces attacked the enemy on Missionary Ridge, opposite our centre, and compelled them to fly from the mountain. Thus, in three days, we have completely broken the investment of Chattanooga. First a feint upon the centre, then a real attack upon their left, followed the next day by a similar one upon their right, and finally, at the right moment, the centre attack was resumed and their lines pierced. Eighty-three pieces of artillery, thirty thousand stand of small arms, and from six to ten thousand prisoners, with daily accessions, are some of the fruits of the victory.
"Nov. 26 .- This morning, at four A.M., we started in pursuit of the retreating enemy. We first marched three miles to the mouth of Chickamauga, which we crossed on pontoons, and then marched up the east bank. The morn- ing was cold and very foggy. Our course lay up the creek towards Chickamauga Station, the main point of supply for the rebel army." On the 27th an advance of eight miles was made to the left of Ringgold, in the direction of which the heavy booming of Hooker's guns was heard during most of the day. During the following day but very slight movement was made, as the commander of the army had already decided that this corps should abandon the pursuit of Bragg, but should face towards Knoxville, for the relief of Burnside, who was menaced by Longstreet.
At daybreak on the 29th the command broke camp and moved towards Cleveland, Tenn., the junction of the At- lanta and Chattanooga Railroad with that running to Knox- ville. " Until we saw the 3d Division move past in the darkness we supposed that, in accordance with yesterday's orders, we were to return to Lookout to-day; but it seems the order has been countermanded, and that we are destined for something else." At dark the regiment passed through Cleveland and encamped on a hill just beyond.
The march was resumed at an early hour in the morning of the 30th. "It is now evident that we are to return to Lookout Valley no more, but are to hunt Longstreet, wherever he may be." The camp of the regiment for that night was at Charleston, on the Hiawassee River, and on the night following, at Athens, eighteen miles farther on. During the march of that day large quantities of the enemy's provisions and salt were captured at Calhoun, Tenn.
On the 2d of December their march was by way of Sweet- water to within two miles of Philadelphia, Tenn .; and the evening of the next day brought them to camp one mile from Loudon, a sorry and deserted village, where the enemy had burned the railroad bridge and run the rolling stock into the river. Here it was ascertained that the rebel general Wheeler was hovering on their flanks and rear with a force of three thousand cavalry. The regiment remained at this place during the next day, but the reveille was sounded at midnight, and at one o'clock on the morning of the 5th they were again in motion towards Knoxville, reaching the Little Tennessee River at five A.M. This stream being rather deep for fording, wagons were run into it, and over these the men crossed, carrying boxes of am- munition upon their shoulders to keep it dry. Camp was made at Louisville, Tenn. This was the end of their out- ward march, for here they received news from Knoxville that Burnside had beaten the enemy, and that the latter was in full retreat. " Longstreet has left, and there is no enemy to fight; all we have to do is to take the back track and march one hundred miles down the hill again."
The next day the command faced towards Chattanooga and started on the return. The roads were slippery, the traveling exceedingly bad, and, says the diary, " our boys are in a very poor condition for the march, many of them being almost entirely barefoot. But there is no chance of getting any supplies of clothing until we reach camp." The Little Tennessee was crossed in the same manner as before, and
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in the evening of the 9th the men of the 154th, shivering and tattered, made their camp near Athens.
" Dec. 10 .- We do not march to-day. The bridge over the Hiawassee at Charleston, fifteen miles from here, has been burned by the enemy since we came up; and as there are no first-class accommodations for headquarters on this side of the river at that place, we must remain here until a bridge is in readiness, and run the risk of rain and mud. All our marches seem to be regulated with sole regard to good accommodations for the generals and their staffs, with- out any regard to the comfort of the men. Moved camp about noon to the opposite side of the town. Weather pleasant, but indications of rain, which will probably com- mence about the time we move." The return march was resumed on the 12th, and is thus mentioned in the diary :
" Dec. 12 .- Marched at seven A.M. towards Charleston. Crossed the Hiawassee about two P.M., and after marching two miles encamped in an open field, in a heavy rain, which, however, did not prevent the commanding generals from occupying their luxurious quarters, while the men, less favored, lay in mud and water, within one-fourth of a mile of good camping-ground under shelter of a wood. But such is war, particularly when the headquarters have no sym- pathy with the rank and file." In the afternoon of the next day they encamped in a wood, near the town of Cleve- land. There they remained until the 16th, when they again moved forward; and on the 17th of December, at sunset, reached their old camp in Lookout Valley.
It was understood that here was to be their winter quar- ters, and glad enough they were that such was to be the case. Soon after, their location was changed a short dis- tance, to the immediate vicinity of Hooker's headquarters (an excellent house of split logs, for which he acknowledged himself indebted to the men of the 154th), and there they built a substantial and comfortable camp of log structures, roofed with canvas, in which they spent more than four months; a period which is still remembered by the survi- vors as the most agreeable portion of their soldiering life. The regiment passed the winter in quiet and comfort; their time being spent in the ordinary duties of camp, with fre- quent drills, occasional picketing, inspections, and reviews, and at intervals (too infrequent as they thought) muster- ing for pay. Religious services were also quite regularly held in the corps by agents of the Christian Commission, and by many this privilege was highly esteemed. On the 25th of February, Col. Jones left for home on a twenty- days' leave of absence; the command of the brigade then devolving on Lieut .- Col. Dan. B. Allen, and that of the regiment on Major L. D. Warner. Col. Jones returned from his leave on the 22d of March, and on the same day snow fell to the depth of more than twelve inches. This, in a latitude almost identical with the north boundary of the State of Alabama, was considered a very remarkable event, and it brought remembrances of their Northern homes to the minds of many, whose eyes would never again look upon the whitened expanse of the Cattaraugus hills and valleys. But, when the sun again shone out, the familiar view dissolved almost as suddenly as it had appeared. In the morning of March 30, the regiment, with the 134th New York and the 27th Pennsylvania, all under command
of Col. Adolphus Bushbeck, of the last-named regiment, set out on a reconnoissance up the Trenton Valley, west of Lookout Mountain. They advanced to a point several miles above the Trenton (Ga.) Iron-Works, and returned to camp on the 1st of April, having marched forty-eight miles and encountered no opposition.
THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.
As the month of April waned it became evident that their sojourn in the Lookout valley was also drawing to its close. The 11th and 12th Corps were consolidated, by orders from headquarters, forming the 20th Corps, under command of Gen. Hooker. The divisions and brigades were remodeled, so that the originals were hardly recogniz- able. The old 2d Division (11th Corps) was divided, and the 1st Brigade, in which was the 154th, after being rein- forced by two regiments, the 109th Pennsylvania and 119th New York, was made the 2d Brigade of the 2d Division, under the command of Brig .- Gen. John W. Geary, after- wards Governor of Pennsylvania. The men of the 154th were pleased with the change ; glad enough to drop the crescent badge of the 11th Corps, of which they had never been proud since one of the divisions of the corps had dis- graced it at Chancellorsville. Their new badge bore the star, in place of the crescent.
On the 28th of April, Adj. Crosby arrived from El- mira with a detachment of recruits, who were much needed to swell the depleted ranks. Five days later, orders pre- liminary to a movement were received, and at four o'clock in the afternoon of May 4 the officers and men of the 154th bade a final adieu to their pleasant camp, and marched away by the base of old Lookout, across the Chattanooga Valley to the creek, several miles above the town, and there bivouacked for the night,-the first night of the memorable campaign of Atlanta. The next day's march brought them to Rock Oak Church, on the Graysville Road. The night of the 6th saw them encamped at Pea Vine Church, half-way between Ringgold and Lafayette ; and on the 7th they passed Gordon's Springs, and rested four miles from Buz- zard's Roost, Ga.
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