USA > New York > Dutchess County > The "Dutchess county regiment" (150th regiment of New York state volunteer infantry) in the Civil War; > Part 8
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On the morning of the 2 1st some of us, of inquisitive propensities, took a stroll over the battle-field in search of relics. While we were so engaged Colonel Ketcham came around and ordered every Company to fall in for roll- call, and every absentee was ordered for extra picket duty that night. Although Sergeant Murfitt reported that he thought West was down at the creek washing, it wouldn't work, and as usual I " drew a prize," spending the night on extra picket duty.
Major Smith was Brigade Officer of the Day, and received orders after dusk to straighten the line somewhat, which necessitated advancing the picket line. We were at one edge of a ravine, and on the opposite hill, in the woods, we could see the skirmish pits of the enemy.
Major ordered,-" Forward!" and we went a little way, but as it was dark and no one knew whether the enemy was in the pits above us or not it looked risky. But now again came the command,-" Forward ! "
Up the hill we went, and at the top we found a road
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running parallel to the edge of the woods, and beyond this an open field; and now we saw glimmering lights in the distance.
"Forward!" again came the command. But presently a still, small voice was heard to murmur,-" Major!"
Then followed a silence, and presently,-" Who calls Major?"-was heard sounding in the darkness.
"Major ! Major ! You're right on the enemy's works ! Let's fall back !" murmured the small voice again, and in an instant the order came from the Major to fall back.
We needed no second command, and down the hill we went to our former position on the opposite side of the ravine, where we halted. In the morning, before day- break, we were ordered forward once more and forbidden to light fires under any circumstances. We came to the opening and could see the enemy's works beyond the clearing, and soon we were advancing again, the enemy having evacuated the position during the night. Then we rushed into the works and the men hastily examined every nook and corner in search of tobacco or anything else that they might have left in their hurry. We were not allowed to rest more than a few minutes at a time, but kept moving, feeling our way in the darkness as we went.
We would hardly halt when small fires would be built -against orders of course-in the hopes of being able to make a little coffee. But they would hardly commence to blaze when some of the officers (how mean it seemed to us then !) would advance and kick them out. Thus matters progressed until about 9 A. M., when we came upon the skirmish pits of the enemy, located upon a hill, the approach to which was through an open field on the
FROM KENESAW MOUNTAIN TO PEACH TREE CREEK. 103
slope. We made a rush and captured that hill, when we were halted and the Major returned to report the success of the movement.
Now on the right of us, near the road leading towards Atlanta, was a dwelling, and in the garden near by was a dead Confederate, probably one who had fallen before our picket fire, and in his possession was a half-peck of freshly dug potatoes. It did not take long to divide this " contraband of war" among us, the potatoes being a great prize, useful in warding off the scurvy which was making its appearance on account of the long campaign in which we had salt meats most of the time.
Having as yet had no breakfast we decided to get one at this late hour by partaking of such a repast as oppor- tunity offered, in this case consisting of army crackers, better known as "hardtack." They were about four inches square, and consisted of flour and water pressed and baked so hard that only flour remained, and many of them bore the letters "B. C." on their sides. These were said to be the initials of the contractor who furnished them to the government, but on account of their infernal hardness-and sometimes lack of freshness-the boys always insisted that the letters referred to the date of their manufacture.
But while we were resting behind the garden fence and munching this primeval breakfast food we still kept watch on the " Johnnies " in our front, and we presently noticed men running down the side of what appeared to be a hill (but which afterward proved to be the side of a fort) and disappearing in the ravine. We wondered what they were doing, but had not long to wait, for a line of the enemy came suddenly out of the woods before us and
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began climbing over the fence at the other side of the garden, probably not a hundred feet away.
This surprise caused active movements along our skirmish line, but we realized that they had the upper hand of us, and concluded it was not a good position to remain in. After giving them a volley, bowling over some of them, we hastened to our reserve which was along the ridge across the valley to our rear, each and every one for himself, and none stood on the order of going.
The writer, being somewhat slower in moving, owing to being heavily loaded with a new blanket and the addi- tional load of potatoes, was a few feet to the rear and had a good view of his comrades in front, and a good laugh also as they rushed down the green slope, throwing knapsacks, etc., to the ground to enable them to cover the space more quickly; for none cared to be taken prisoner so far from home.
But "our friends, the enemy," had no ambition to come farther than the ridge from which we had driven them a few hours earlier, so we lost none of our men, but all gathered on the hill some two hundred yards in the rear of where we had had our skirmish, and com- menced again to eat breakfast. But just at this point Major Smith returned from headquarters, and seeing the condition of affairs again ordered the skirmishers to ad- vance, which we did, moving forward into the valley within one hundred yards of the enemy's skirmish line.
The line as it was now arranged brought the writer farther to the left than he was placed in the morning's advance, and where he was protected by woods. There we lay quietly all the afternoon, listening to the raging of the battle still farther to the east where Hood's corps
FROM KENESAW MOUNTAIN TO PEACH TREE CREEK. 105 of the enemy were trying to crush our left flank; General McPherson being killed during the afternoon.
This engagement is known as the " Battle of Atlanta," and was fought July 22, 1864.
Of this campaign in which we were engaged General Sherman speaks as follows: "We had been operating in a country devoid of food and forage, and were dependent for supplies on a poorly constructed railroad back to Louisville, a distance of five hundred miles."
That it was so highly successful, in spite of the mani- fold difficulties encountered, is the marvel of historians.
CHAPTER X. THE SIEGE OF ATLANTA.
By WILLIAM C. WILE.
Time Occupied-Organization of the Corps-Its Officers-Hot Fighting-Intrenching the Line- Getting Social with the Rebel Pickets-Exchange of Bullet and Shell by Day, and Music by Night-Surprising the Rebel Pickets-Deserters from the Enemy-Moving on the City-Losses Sustained.
In determining the period of time which may properly be allotted to that portion of Sherman's campaign com- monly known as "The Siege of Atlanta," we find that there is a general consensus of opinion among several of the prominent officers engaged on both sides, that the siege proper began on the day following the battle of Peach Tree Creek, and continued until the day of the occupation of the city by our Corps, i. e., from July 2Ist to September 2, 1864, a period of forty-two days.
Our regiment, throughout the operations of the siege, remained under command of Colonel John H. Ketcham. It consisted of ten companies, probably numbering at that time not more than 300 men present for duty. Together with the five other regiments of the brigade, we consti- tuted the 2nd Brigade, under command of General Thomas H. Ruger, of the Ist Division, under command of General A. S. Williams, of the famous 20th Army Corps, then under command of Major-General Joseph Hooker.
General Hooker shortly afterward became dissatisfied
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over General Howard's appointment to the command of the Army of the Tennessee (at McPherson's death ), and resigned, July 27th. On August 27th, the corps was placed under command of General Henry W. Slocum. In the interim (July 27th to August 27th), our Division Commander, General A. S. Williams, was in temporary command of the Corps, his place in the Division being filled during that time by Brigadier-General Knipe, of the Ist Brigade of our Division.
General Hood had been placed in command of the rebel armies a day or two before the commencement of the siege, having superseded General Joseph E. Johnston, whose Fabian method of warfare during the present campaign had not met with the approval of Jefferson Davis. This new commander was known to us all as a " fighter," and we thought we had an abundant foretaste at Peach Tree Creek, on July 20th, of his probable future policy.
On the day following this battle our regiment remained practically in the same position that seven of its ten com- panies had occupied during the greater part of the en- gagement; i. e., in the second line of the brigade, in a little cross-ravine lying about half a mile south of the creek, where we had thrown up impromptu breastworks the night before.
We were engaged most of the day burying our own, as well as some of the enemy's dead (who had been found lying on the side of the slope in our front), and in caring for the wounded. Our section of the division hospital was about three-quarters of a mile in the rear of our line, within easy shelling distance of the enemy, but out of range because placed in a ravine sheltered by hills. The sick and wounded were removed from the field on
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stretchers and blankets, by ambulance attendants and musicians.
Friday, July 22nd, the second day after the battle of Peach Tree Creek, the enemy attacked the extreme left of Sherman's army, three and a half miles east of us, and a severe battle ensued, lasting four or five hours. The attack was eventually repulsed and the rebels with- drew to the city. It was in this section, known as the " Battle of Atlanta," that the beloved McPherson, Com- mander of the Army of the Tennessee, was killed. From this time on, his veteran troops were commanded by Major-General O. O. Howard.
We took no part in this engagement, but at 6 o'clock the next morning, preceded by a skirmish line, moved down Pace's Ferry road, three miles, toward Atlanta. At 10 o'clock on the previous night the enemy had with- drawn from their breastworks in our front, and fallen back into the main lines of their defences around the city.
At noon we took our position in the second line of the Brigade, about 500 yards in front of the enemy's works. By 7:00 P. M., our line was permanently arranged, the right extremity of the regiment resting on the railroad, and the balance extending across the main road running from Marietta into Atlanta. We were now about a mile northwest of the general passenger depot, and a mile and a half from the heart of the city, which we could plainly discern in the background.
We immediately began to intrench ourselves in our new position on the afternoon of this first day (July 22nd), behind breastworks of slashed timber and lines of abattis, during which we were continually being shelled by the rebels from several of their batteries. Many of these
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shells exploded right among the men when working. Their sharpshooters, too, tried to pick off every man they could see. But our pickets were thrown out, skirmish- ing as usual, and the works were finished before dark, though they were made stronger during the night.
Excepting to advance our lines, August 4th, to within 250 to 300 yards of the enemy's works, we made no change in our position during the entire siege, until August 25th, when we moved back to the railroad bridge over the Chattahoochee river, as I shall describe later. For five weeks we remained in our trenches, engaged prin- cipally in picket duty. The weather was intensely hot during those mid-summer days, and the huge black flies swarmed down upon us, like the locusts of Egypt. The nights were very cool. There was not a night during the hottest weather, in the march from the Chattahoochee to Savannah, when two heavy woolen blankets, covered by an army rubber blanket, were more than a comfortable covering.
Ours was by no means a comfortable place in which to spend the month of August. Picket duty was of the most disagreeable nature. The men stood in pits or holes in the ground, deep enough to protect their bodies and enable then to crouch down to avoid exposure. This position was cramped and uncomfortable; but we must remain, constantly vigilant, in sun or rain, sick or well, from 2 o'clock in the morning until relieved twenty-four hours later.
Within a few yards of us was the rebel picket line, and unless a truce was agreed on, any carelessness of a soldier was likely to cost him his life. But there were sometimes truces, and they generally came about in this way. A
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rebel, tired of crouching in his pit, would call out as follows :
"I say, Yank !"
" Well, 'John Reb,' what is it?"
"I'm goin' to put my head out. Don't shoot."
"Well, I won't. Let's stretch our legs."
" All right."
Then for an hour there would be peace, after which, recalled to a sense of duty, the cry would be,-
"Time's up, Yanks. Look out, we 'ns 's go'n' to shoot. Be keerful."
"All right, Johnnies; lay low :"-and the vigil was on again.
In this way, for thirty-six days and nights, the regi- ment with its corps lived under the burning sun, the dews of night, and the rains that fell often in that battle- summer in Georgia. The soil was yellow joint clay, sticky and yielding when wet, but it cracked, disintegrated and became dusty when dry. The floor of the trench was of this clay, and under the tramp and wear of so many feet for so many days, it became as smoothly even and firm as a cemented floor. The daily routine of the regiment was somewhat as follows:
Roll-call after breakfast, at 7:00 A. M., roll-call at noon, and roll-call again at 5:00 P. M., when details were made for picket duty. Roll-call again at 9:00 P. M., then came "Taps." The picket guard was awakened at 2:00 A. M., when the old picket was re- lieved and returned to the regiment, the fresh one taking its place.
If the enemy had not succeeded in occasionally blowing up some portion of our works with their shells, com-
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pelling nightly repairs with shovel and pick-axe, the monotony of life would have been even worse, for save the roll-calls and picket duty, there was little to do but cook, eat, play cards, write letters, mend clothes and clean arms and accoutrements.
One of the pests that stayed with us from early morn till dewy eve, was the common house-fly; and he was only one of the several breeds of pests that "stayed with us!" This little torment swarmed in legions, and the legions were myriads. Sleep was impossible while daylight lasted, so persistently savage were they. One was re- quired to keep a hand in constant motion to ward off their attacks, and all sorts of devices were tried to get a brief sleep. The men, during these hot and sultry days (particularly they who had been awake and alert all the previous night and day on picket), desired to get a chance to sleep during the day, but Mr. Fly said, "No!" -and he was no respecter of persons.
As said before, there was no sleep while daylight lasted, and when night came on there were many alarms, false and otherwise, of an attack or sortie by the enemy. One method adopted by the boys to drive out the fly was satis- factory to behold, if not effective in results. It was some- what as follows :
A party of a half dozen or more would contribute each a spoonful of sugar to a mass, which was sprinkled in a circular line, about two feet in diameter, on the trench floor. The powder from a few cartridges was then sprinkled on the sugar, and the syndicate waited for the flies to cover the line, which they soon did in a dense black swarm. Then a match was applied to the circle, and instantly the ground was covered with a writh-
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ing mass of wingless flies. Yet these wholesale slaugh- ters of the winged tyrants never for a moment freed the "Land of Nod" from their invasions.
After a day of roaring turmoil of flying shot and shell (such days were not infrequent), the shades of night gen- erally brought rest and quiet to the troops of both armies; and when darkness had fairly settled down upon us, the men of the regiment came out of the trenches and reclined on the outer slopes, chatting and smoking, while violin and flute played the sweet and plaintive airs of other days, in other lands more peaceful; and then the voices of the men would gather in strength and the melody of "Annie Laurie " was rifted on the summer air, even as it had been in the trenches before Sevastopol.
Occasionally the band would take a position within the works of the battery, and give charming music, of selec- tions from the great masters, without the flare and flame of cymbal and drum. "Our friends, the enemy," were always sympathetic listeners. Evidently it was a great treat to them; for no band was ever heard within their lines, and seldom a drum, but the bugle, often.
In the clear evenings the two lines bombarded each other with song. The Union men would sing the pa- triotic songs of the North, and there were many excellent voices among those strong-lunged, strong-hearted fellows. The rebels would listen until their turn came, and then pay us back with " Dixie," "My Maryland," and other songs calculated to " fire the Southern heart." Then for a time the two lines would exchange ditties of love and war, and finally close with some grand old sacred hymn, known to us all.
The morale of our troops was fine, though the same
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could not be said regarding their health, for complaints of not feeling well were frequently heard. Notwith- standing our situation in a healthy region of the country, with an abundance of good water, the men suffered con- siderably from scurvy, owing to the limited amount of vegetable diet. Most of the diseases were of a dietetic character. About one-third of the men who had started with us in April were staying at the hospital during the greater part of the siege.
And all of this time Sherman was slowly and gradually drawing his lines about the city, feeling for the railroad toward the South, which supplied the rebel army and made Atlanta a place of military importance. With the exception of one instance (July 28th), when he made an abortive attack on the right of our main army, Confederate General Hood remained entirely on the defensive within his lines of works around the city, at an average distance of a mile and a half. But our cannon-shot, passing over this line, must have eventually destroyed the town. We understood, too, that there was no forage in the city at all, that the horses of the enemy were being fed on small patches of green corn. It was the general belief that Hood's army could not stand the bombardment many days longer.
On one occasion, August 13th, after a heavy artillery fire from our guns, a big fire broke out in the city about II o'clock at night; bells ringing and cries of "fire " being plainly audible to us. The fire grew larger during the night and continued until daylight. Again, the next day, the fire broke out shortly after dark and lasted about three hours, affording a fine spectacle from our vantage ground.
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At this time the picket line of our division was occupy- ing a low hill known as "burnt houses" (where we had succeeded in burning some outbuildings in a brilliant sortie made July 27th), situated about 150 yards in advance of the original position of our regiment, and not more than 200 yards distant from the enemy's front and from one of their two forts on the Marietta road. This hill had been occupied by the enemy's picket, but was captured by a detachment from our brigade a fortnight before.
At break of day, on the morning of July 30th, our picket line, supported by the 2nd Massachusetts, was ad- vanced to the ridge, surprising the enemy and taking a number of prisoners. The position was one of great im- portance to the rebels, as was evidenced by their efforts all day to regain it. Our pickets were plainly to be seen by us as they immediately began to throw up a line of rail breastworks, during the progress of which they were seriously annoyed by the enemy's sharpshooters and the fire from their fort and redoubts. The latter was fre- quently silenced by the men of the 2nd Massachusetts, whose accurate fire through the embrasures rendered the artillery useless. The moment their fire slackened, how- ever, the enemy quickly took advantage of the opportunity to fire grape-shot into the ranks of our troops. But in spite of all the enemy could do to hinder us, the works were pushed to completion and the position held.
In consequence of our picket line having gained posses- sion of this desirable position, a few days later, August 4th, we advanced the line of our regiment 50 yards and began to throw up works, which we continued to strengthen nearly every day during the remainder of the siege. The same closing-in movement was general at
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this time at all points of the besieging circle. We were steadily tightening our grip about the city.
We were now within 250 yards of the enemy's line, which we could see was covered by a strong breastwork, in front of which was an abattis, chevaux-de-frise and wooden palisade. The enemy's fort (up the road) was occupied by their infantry, the embrasures of the fort being filled with sand bags, and several redoubts and rifle-pits were close at hand. As we lay within rifle range of these works, the fire of their sharpshooters became very annoying. From this time on, the duty was as try- ing to the troops as experience during an ordinary battle. It was generally admitted that the position occupied by our regiment was one of the most hazardous of any around the city.
It was at about this time that desertions from the enemy became frequent. On the night of the big fire, already referred to (August 13th), a rebel officer found his way into our lines and gave an account of the situation of affairs in the city, which we listened to with no little interest and curiosity. This man was Captain Jordon, Commander of Company G, 36th Ala. Infantry, in Gen- eral A. P. Stewart's division of Hood's old corps. He said that the rebel soldiers felt that there was no longer any chance of success, and, although they would fight desper- ately if attacked in their works, they would refuse to make a general charge.
He was confident that if the men could be made to know how they would be treated after coming over, the majority of Hood's soldiers would desert him; and that if the practice of the picket lines agreeing to a truce for a few hours at a time was encouraged, a great many men
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would desert every day. Their men had great confidence in the honor of our soldiers, and a proposition to cease firing was at once accepted. It was during one of these armistices along the picket lines that he questioned our pickets as to the kind of treatment he would receive if he deserted, and was told that he would be sent to the North.
The rebel captain informed us that their men were taught our government would force them into the army as soon as they came over. He had been looking for a chance to desert during the whole campaign, and im- proved the opportunity when told he would be sent to the North and allowed to stay there. He added that their rations consisted of bacon and corn bread, occasion- ally beef, and often the men of his company would eat a day's supply at one meal, and then not be satisfied. He said that one-third of the men in their trenches were kept up all night, and that at 3 o'clock the whole force was ordered under arms until daylight.
The position of our regiment remained unchanged until the night of August 25th, when, with the brigade and division, we were ordered to move back towards the Chat- tahoochee river, to guard the railroad communication and protect Sherman's supplies, then well up. Up to that time we had lost about thirty men in the trenches, from sickness and casualties.
At 2:00 o'clock on the morning of August 26th, we resumed the march and took up our position, early in the forenoon, on the south side of the Chattahoochee river, near the railroad bridge, and at once began the construc- tion of breastworks. Here our corps, under the command of General Slocum, remained, strengthening the works
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with abattis and covering the bridge across the river at this point, during the movement of Sherman's main army (with the other five corps) to the south and west of At. lanta, where, at Jonesborough, twenty-six miles below the city, he succeeded, at the end of August, in gaining con- trol of the Macon railroad; this being the line by which the rebels had obtained their supplies. This was the finishing stroke.
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