USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 7
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We had marched and fought our way eighty-five miles since leaving Chattanooga, and Atlanta was still fifty- three miles distant, while the Confederates had retreated beyond the Etowah River to the Allatoona Hills.
On May 23rd we left Cassville, crossing the Etowah
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on a pontoon bridge near Milam's, and bivouacked that night along the Euharlie and Raccoon Creeks. On the 24th, after marching all day over mountain roads and by-paths, we encamped at Burnt Hickory in a heavy rain storm. On May 25th, after we had crossed Pumpkin Vine Creek (a small stream presenting no impediment to an army), orders were received to turn back and take the road to New Hope Church, where the skirmishers of the Second Division of our Corps had developed the enemy in force.
This place is situated at the intersection of the roads leading to Dallas, Marietta, and Acworth, four miles northeast of Dallas, and takes its name from a little Methodist meeting-house built of logs that stood there then. As it formed an important point, it had been en- trenched by the Confederates, the country about being hilly and densely wooded.
We had halted for dinner within ten miles of Dallas when we received orders to countermarch and hasten to the support of the 2nd Division. As our column moved off, faced to the rear, the veterans in the ranks were heard to remark,- " Left in front ! There'll soon be a fight !" This was one of the trite sayings and traditions of the old 12th Corps, and in this case at least it proved to be a true omen. Recrossing the creek we marched rapidly for several miles until, at 5 P. M., we reached Geary's Division and immediately, without halting to recover breath, went into action on the left of his force.
As we now advanced, some of the troops on the double- quick, first the strong skirmish lines of the enemy, then his reserves, were driven back a mile and a half by our division. Part of the ground passed over was covered
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with woods in which the timber had been killed by gird- ling the trees, a method of clearing often employed in the Southern States previous to the war. I recall that on this occasion the solid shot and shells from the Con- federate batteries went crashing through the dead tops of the trees, making the broken limbs fall thickly on the charging ranks.
During this advance the order came for our brigade to relieve the line in front and take the lead, and in exe- cuting this new movement the 3rd Brigade moved "By companies to the rear," our brigade advancing through the openings to the front. One writer says of this move- ment,-" The evolution was performed under fire, but with steadiness and precision."
The column now pressed forward again through the dense woods until a sudden discharge of artillery and musketry disclosed the main line of the enemy strongly posted behind formidable breastworks, their position having been previously concealed by the foliage and thick underbrush.
Our advancing regiments met this unexpected fire with- out flinching, although the men went down by scores; but they were obliged to halt. Yet we held, our ground and returned their fire as fast as we could load and fire, keep- ing it up until our ammunition was exhausted and we were relieved by Knipe's Brigade. Thus ended the day, and night found us bivouacked in dense woods, where we were exposed, unprotected, to a drenching rain; yet ever and anon the contending lines were lit up by the lurid flash of rifles and cannon.
The 2nd Division, Geary's, also took part in the charge, advancing to the assault about 6 P. M. and fighting its
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way through a storm of bullets and canister up to the very breastworks of the enemy, but was there compelled to halt. A portion of Butterfield's Division was also in it, relieving Knipe's Brigade and continuing the fighting, in spite of the rain and darkness, far into the night. Gen- eral Geary, in his official report, uses the following Ian- guage concerning this action : " The discharges of canister and shell from the enemy were heavier than in any other battle of this campaign in which my command was engaged."
Though the attack was not successfully carried to the capturing of the enemy's works, yet there was no con- fusion in our lines, nor in our own regiment, and no falling back of the charging columns; they did not re- linquish a foot of the ground which they had won. The troops along the farthest points of advance held their places during the night, and threw up entrenchments. No regiment was long in front of Johnston's army without having virtually as good a breastwork as an engineer could plan, for War, that stern teacher, had taught us never to halt in front of the adversary without putting up adequate defences.
This engagement, at first known as the Battle of Pump- kin Vine Creek, but now termed the "Battle of New Hope Church," was fought entirely by our Corps, no other troops participating. General Ruger says in his official report of it that the dead of our brigade lay nearer the enemy's works than those of any other command on the field.
The loss in dead, wounded, and missing in our corps during this engagement was 1665; and of this number our own brigade lost 361.
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During the week which followed we continued to press the rebels closely and additional works were put up, in some of which artillery was planted. In some portions of these new works they took the form of individual rifle- pits, each being protected by short logs placed in the shape of a "V," with the apex to the front. Day and night the forest echoed with the crack of rifles as the opposing pickets plied their deadly work, the daily loss in killed and wounded being unusually severe. Several times the enemy made desperate assaults on these works of ours in the night, but in each instance they were beaten off, suffer. ing heavy losses in their attempts. The soldiers called the place " Hell Hole," and always mentioned it after- ward by that title.
Finding that they could not long withstand our en- circling lines here the Confederates abandoned their works on the night of June 3rd, and concentrated their forces in front of Marietta. Here they constructed a chain of earthworks from Kenesaw Mountain on their right, westward to Lost Mountain on their left. Their line now ran in the rear of Pine Hill, or "Pine Knob," as it was sometimes called, a steep, conical peak which was occupied by them as an outpost and point of observation, its summit being only about 800 yards from our artillery.
There was an incident which occurred at this locality which has claimed some attention from historians, and is of interest, though not specifically a part of the history of our regiment.
On June 14th a group of Confederate generals, among them Johnston, Hardee and Polk, were standing on this peak and examining, through their field-glasses, our lines in the adjacent valley. The party was in plain view of
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the troops in General Thomas' line, though not indi- vidually recognizable.
At this moment General Sherman happened to be rid- ing along this part of his own line, and when he dis- covered this group of officers of the enemy, taking obser- vation of his works, he ordered that the batteries near him should train their guns on the party and fire, "By volley." General Sherman then continued his ride, but his orders were executed and at the second discharge one of the shells struck Confederate General Polk in the breast, killing him instantly.
Our artillery, as well as our sharpshooters, made Pine Hill too hot for the rebels, and they abandoned it that night; the next day it was occupied by some of our troops. June 15th we took up a forward movement, pushing to and beyond this elevation until the main line of the enemy's works were reached, and here we were formed for assault; Geary's and Butterfield's Divisions being in the front, while ours was held as a supporting column.
All was in readiness when, at quarter past two in the afternoon, the troops advanced in line of battle, encounter- ing the enemy and immediately driving them into their entrenchments. These works in which they now took shelter had been carefully constructed in advance for just such an emergency as this, and were unusually strong.
Commencing at the bottom of the hill the trees were felled, the tops outward and the limbs sharply pointed, and so up to the top of the hill, which was surrounded by a deep ditch, the earth of which had been thrown back, forming a heavy breastwork in front of which was a chevaux-de-frise composed of sharpened stakes driven into the embankment at an angle of 45 degrees, stretching
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out over the ditch, so that any of our men attempting to jump the ditch would be impaled on these sharp points.
The earthworks were surmounted by a palisade of trunks of trees set in the ground side by side, with small port holes cut in them, so that the marksmen might have good protection from an assaulting force; the tops of these tree-trunks being also sharpened.
The writer afterward worked his way through this maze of entrenchments, and it is his belief that one thousand good men in these works could have held at bay and destroyed five times as many in an attacking body. To have assaulted this position in the front would only have resulted in a useless loss of life. But in the end Sherman's superior generalship made it unnecessary to assault them; the rebels were glad to get out, of their own accord.
But so eager were our troops that Geary's Division did penetrate the abattis in places, yet without being able to completely carry the position. But the attacking lines maintained their advanced position close under the ene- my's works, throwing up entrenchments there.
This engagement near Pine Hill, June 15, 1864, is known as the "Battle of Lost Mountain." On the fol- lowing day our corps pressed the enemy strongly along his whole front, with the skirmish lines, and with the use of artillery, the long line of Sherman's army now over- lapping the enemy on the left, and on the next day, June 17th, the Confederates evacuated their works at Lost Mountain and retired within their defences at Kenesaw Mountain.
Throughout the entire campaign thus far the troops had suffered from the unusually prolonged rains. It
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rained continuously for seventeen days. and a home letter sent by one of the boys mentions that there were twenty- three consecutive days during which it rained every day. It not only added to the bodily discomfort, but it made the marching toilsome. while at the same time the swollen streams and mirey roads rendered the movement of artil- lery and wagon trains exceedingly difficult. There were several days in which, owing to the absence of commis- sary trains, the men were on scant rations, or for a time could get nothing at all to eat.
From the 17th to the 21st of June our regiment was in that portion of the corps which was engaged in pushing its way southward. extending the general line in that direction. There was considerable skirmishing and fight- ing all the way, and the records show that during this time bur regiment lost men day by day. a loss amounting in the aggregate to so much that it made serious inroads on our numbers.
On the Itth our artillery, under Major Reynolds. achieved further honorable distinction at a place known ns "Muddy Creek." Here the 13th New York Battery, commanded at that time by Lieutenant Bundy, opened at four hundred yards on the enemy's works. silencing his guns, dismounting two of the pieces and knocking two more of their guns over. Considerable loss was also in- Hlcreil here on the enemy's infantry, which were in their support.
At Noyes' Creek. June 19th, there was some more lively skirmishing. the sharpshooters of both sides doing some effective work. On June 21st our corps-the 20th -established itself along the Powder Springs and
FROM RISADA TO KENESAW MOUNTAIN
Marietta road. about three miles southeast of the latter place.
On June 22d our regiment became again involved being rushed in. about noon, to the right. while on our left was Geary's-the end Division-and here we took possession of an important ridge on what was known as "Kolb's Farm." some historians calling it "Culp's Farm. The ground in our front here was for the most part open fields, with heavy woods on the opposite ridge, and a small ravine in the valley before us and slightly to our left.
The line formed by the "Dutchess County Regiment' was in a second growth of timber, with a rail fence at our front, and the troops at our left were just back of the ridge and out of sight of the enemy. In the open ground on the ridge to our left was our gallant General "Fight- ing Joe Hooker," and his staff, in full view of the enemy's skirmishers.
Near General Hooker was Winegar's battery of three- inch rifled cannon, along with Woodbury's battery of brass smooth-bores. and they commanded all the open ground in our front. These batteries so fortunately placed shelled the enemy's skirmish pits while our skirmishers advanced anti chased them into the womis.
We were resting on the ground when Col. Ketcham passed down the line in his usual fatherly way, and his quick eye detected the situation at once. He immediately told the men to tear down the fence and with that. and anything else at hand. to throw up breastworks to protect themselves. This caution of our beloved Colonel no doubt saved many lives in our regiment.
The transformation of the rail fence into a breastwork
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did not take much time, and when the enemy returned later in the day they were doubtless surprised to see the sudden change. After the breastworks had been erected it was discovered that the field in our front contained a fine lot of blackberries, and it was but a moment before it - was dotted with "blue-coats," filling their tin cups with berries.
The men were very much engaged in their new occupa- tion when Major Smith appeared, shouting,-" Get back you ' skallawags '! What are you doing out there! How can we get the Johnnies out with you there ?"
We took the hint at once, and in less than the time it takes to tell the story we were again inside the works, secure from the enemy's vision. We had hardly regained our position when our skirmishers, who so gallantly a short time before had driven the enemy's skirmishers up the opposite hill and into the woods, themselves came running back as though the devil himself were after them.
The cause of their hasty return was soon evidenced, Hood's Confederate Corps emerging from the woods into the open and advancing on the double-quick, forming in three lines of battle as they came on. From our con- cealed position the sight was an inspiring one, and our attention was much attracted by a gallant officer riding up and down their line, mounted on a white horse.
On they came with a rush, advancing into the valley and then up the rise of ground in our front until we could almost see the whites of their eyes, when they received such a withering fire from our line and the two batteries at our left that they wavered and finally fell back to the ravine for shelter, leaving the space thickly strewn with their dead and wounded.
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We kept up our fire until our ammunition was about exhausted, and, when the men who had been sent to the ammunition train for a fresh supply returned and reported that they were unable to find it, we received orders to cease firing. Just at this critical juncture there came from a Kentucky regiment which was with the 23rd Corps on our right, the welcome sound of those "yelping " repeat- ing rifles, showing that that corps had arrived and was protecting our flank.
As soon as the shades of night had fallen the enemy commenced to remove their dead and wounded, continuing until daylight appeared, and even then they were obliged to leave many of their dead on the field.
The writer was one of the " lucky " prize winners to be detailed for picket duty that night, within the ravine where the enemy were at work not over one hundred yards away. We were detailed in groups of two, and advanced about midway between the lines upon a bare side-hill without any protection. But we had learned the trade of war, and with Yankee pluck we immediately started to dig a pit to protect ourselves. The ground happened to be of a sandy nature, and one with his bayonet dug the earth loose while the other scooped it out with his tin dinner-plate, heaping it up in front, and by daylight we had a fair-sized pit in which to protect ourselves. But it was now of no use, for in the night the enemy had retreated.
In this engagement First Lieutenant Henry Gridley, then commanding his company, Company A, was killed, shot through or near the heart, and Benjamin Harp of Com- pany G, was wounded,-his blood spurting on my sleeve, -a wound from which he died a few days later. John
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Simon, a member of the regimental band, was also wounded here, and he afterward died of his wound in the hospital at Chattanooga.
The decayed trunk of a tree, some fifteen feet high, stood at about the centre of the ravine. Behind this a Color-Sergeant lay, waving the Confederate flag in a most tantalizing manner. It of course attracted the attention of our men, and hundreds of bullets were sent in that direction in hopes of seeing it fall; but it kept on waving until darkness set in, when the rebel forces withdrew to the protection of their works, again leaving the ground behind them thickly strewn with the bodies of those who had fallen.
Our losses in this action were comparatively slight, while the casualties to the enemy, as reported by the At- lanta newspapers, were more than one thousand.
CHAPTER IX. FROM KENESAW MOUNTAIN TO PEACH TREE CREEK.
By JOHN E. WEST.
We Lose a Battle-"The Gate City of the South"-Friendly Truce Between the Pick- ets-We Cross the Chattahoochee-Battle of Peach Tree Creek-Straight-
ening the Skirmish Line-"Who Calls Major !"- Contraband of War-Hardtack "B C."-Surprised at Break- fast - Distant Roar of Battle.
The last chapter closed with the Battle of Kolb's Farm. This conflict was precipitated by the rebels assaulting our lines on the right flank of Sherman's army-that part in which we were-in the hope of regaining some of their lost positions. The result was, as already stated, that they lost heavily and gained nothing, the assault being handsomely repulsed at every point, and while their loss was severe ours was comparatively slight.
The enemy, however, were so strongly fortified, with the Kenesaw Mountains and their foot-hills as a salient to their works covering Marietta and the railroad in their rear, that they were enabled to hold a very long line of defense, and Sherman could not hope to make secure his whole front and at the same time spare force enough to flank their strong position.
With this state of affairs Sherman now determined that he would try an assault with his army, and this he did June 27th in a line of battle some ten miles in length, with the result that the assault failed, entailing a heavy
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loss on our army. Fortunately for us we were not en- gaged in this battle, our corps being held in reserve.
General Sherman's next strategy was to move a large section of his army to his right, making a wide sweep around the enemy's left flank, leaving their fortified posi- tions behind and aiming at the railroad in their rear. This was an entire success, and July 2nd the enemy aban- doned all their strong positions at and about Kenesaw and Marietta, falling back to the Chattahoochee River, over which their army crossed on the 9th.
In the general forward movement of our army which now followed it was July 5th when we approached the Chat- tahoochee River, and, going into position on a high ridge which overlooked the Confederate line, our men caught their first view of Atlanta, "The Gate City of the South." The next day we crossed Nickajack Creek, and on July 9th our pickets advanced to the bank of the Chat- tahoochee, where we remained encamped quietly for eight days, giving a sorely needed rest to battle-and-march-worn soldiers.
As soon as the men occupied the banks of the river they established friendly relations with the pickets on the farther side. Our veterans who had served in the 12th Corps, remembering the temporary truces they had ar- ranged while on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Virginia, now entered into an agreement with their opponents to suspend all unnecessary firing on each other.
It is related that one day, while the pickets were idly standing on each side of the river, a Confederate officer rode up and ordered his men to fire on the Yankees across the stream; but the " Johnnies " refused to violate their agreement. It was further understood that when hos-
FROM KENESAW MOUNTAIN TO PEACH TREE CREEK. 99 tilities were resumed on either side, the first volley should be fired in the air.
The peaceful time that ensued was a grateful relief from the incessant discharge of rifles on the picket line, which had been kept up daily in one place or another since the opening of the campaign, causing considerable loss of life. Were it not for the occasional sound of dis- tant cannon there was nothing now to remind us that we were still on an active campaign.
During our truce with the rebel pickets along the Chat- tahoochee the privilege of bathing in the river was freely accorded to both sides, and there was also quite a little exchange of courtesies-as well as of commodities, such as coffee for tobacco-between our boys and these South- ern youths. Warm-hearted, full of fun, ready to give or take a joke, never harsh or ill-tempered, in all-except uniforms-they seemed one with ourselves. But while our association with them was in progress we received orders to march.
The next day we crossed the Chattahoochee, at Pace's Ferry, and the third day after crossing a portion of our regiment took part in the Battle of Peach Tree Creek, which was fought July 20th. Some two or three com- panies of the regiment were crowded out of the line of battle, because of lack of space, and forced to remain in a second line.
The difficulty of making an accurate and clear record of our formation in this battle is evident, for historians differ radically in their accounts. The writer of " Slocum and His Men " says that it was formed with Knipe's and Robinson's brigades in the line, and Ruger's (ours) in the rear. But this would leave our brigade unengaged, and
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if correct then the 150th was not in the engagement at all. But Colonel Fox must be in error here, for diaries, home letters, and records, as well as the recollection of sur- vivors, all agree that the regiment-except the Companies crowded out as mentioned-was very decidedly in the Battle of Peach Tree Creek, and we lost several men there.
The musketry along the " Red Star Line," as our divi- sion was called, because its badge was a red star, was furious and well sustained. Some of the men loaded and fired so fast that their rifles became overheated; so hot that the barrel could not be grasped in the soldier's hand. The historian of the 123rd New York says,-" Corporal Smith's rifle went off while he was in the act of ramming home the charge, and 'John' had to hunt round and find another ramrod."
In this engagement Ward's Division took four stands of colors from the rebels. Private Bulkley, of the 136th New York, captured the battle-flag of the 3 Ist Mississippi by knocking down the color-bearer with the butt of his musket and wrenching the flag-staff from his hands. The 26th Wisconsin, of this same division, bore off in triumph the colors of the 33rd Mississippi, and after three hours of desperate fighting the enemy retired, discomfitted and beaten, and as they had so often done before, leaving hundreds of their dead and wounded lying on the ground.
Of this battle General Geary, who commanded the 2nd Division of our Corps, said,-" The field everywhere bore marks of the severity of the conflict, and recalled to my mind, in appearance, the scene of the conflict fought at Gettysburg. Not a tree or bush within our range but bore the scars of battle." It was in this engagement that
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Benjamin Harrison, afterward President of the United States, commanded a brigade in the 3rd Division of our Corps, a division at that time commanded by General Wil- liam T. Ward.
Two of our officers, Lieutenants Van Keuren and Bar- low, were severely wounded here, and Corporal Simon P. Teal of Company G, who was on the skirmish line, was wounded and captured. As his name does not appear again in the rolls it is probable that he may have died in the enemy's hands. Budd and Dykeman of Com- pany I, were also among the wounded, as was also Cor- poral Shelden of Company A. But this is by no means a complete list of the casualties at this battle.
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