USA > Ohio > Greene County > Greene County soldiers in the late war : being a history of the Seventy-fourth O.V.I., with sketches of the Twelfth, Ninety-Fourth, One Hundred and Tenth, Forty-Fourth, Tenth Ohio Battery, One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth, Fifty-Fourth, Seventeenth, Thirty-Fourth, One Hundred and Eighty-Fourth, together with a list of Greene County's soldiers > Part 18
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For those twelve men I spoke of, whom we found in the hot sun, we dug a grave, and put them in side by side, as best we could, spread their old blankets over them, and covered them over, and left them, without even a shingle or anything to show. But this was the best we could do for them.
Salem, Ohio. J. C. P.
PEACH-BRANDY VALOR.
During a recent conversation, V. K. Stevenson, jr., one of our most enterprising real estate men, said :
" When the war broke out I was a small boy, and was sent to the Confederate West Point at Marietta, Georgia, where we had about six hundred cadets. My father subscribed to one
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hundred thousand dollars of the Confederate loan at par. He lost all his negroes, and I am glad of it. Although I was on the opposite side, I am perfectly satisfied with the result; and so is everybody else of good sense that I have talked to. Our ladies in the South were so gallant for the war that they really made me believe I could go out with a wheat straw and whip every invader across the lines. My grandfather, after the Fed- erals got into Chattanooga, became so patriotic that he wrote my father a letter that I ought to be taken out of the the military school and sent to the battlefield. My father merely inclosed the letter to me without any remark, and thereupon I went to the commandant of the academy and asked my discharge, as I was going to enlist in the ranks to be sent to the front. I enlisted in an Irish regiment entirely composed of railroad laborers, and we started for the battlefield of Chickamauga in box·cars, every soldier being possessed of a canteen filled with New Orleans rum. You can imagine what a diabolical scene was in that car, fighting all the way along; but I was regarded as quite a young hero. We had a terrible battle, and in the excitement had no time to think. It got out, however, who my father was, and I was put on the staff of a man named Benton Smith, who was only twenty-three years old, and a general."
" Benton Smith," resumed Mr. Stevenson, "being called the boy general, concluded that he must have a staff entirely of boys. He was a prodigy of audacity and courage, but his high nervous nature at last wore him out, and not long ago he was a lunatic in a padded cell in Tennessee. He always kept his aides right up to the front, and I saw that unless something hap- pened I should be shot. Just before the big battle at Atlanta, where McPherson was killed, Smith's brigade was re-inforced by a Georgia regiment nearly a thousand strong. I went to a hos· pital the morning of that battle, where I saw a pile of legs and arms amputated, and it made me sick at the stomach, being
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quite another lesson of the war, and finding one of our aides with several canteens of peach-brandy, I asked him to let me have some to settle my stomach, and drank the whole of it. Smith then ordered me to lead the Georgia regiment into the battle. I was blind drunk, and charged my horse right over the Federal ramparts. He had both eyes shot out and both knees broken, and as I went up the rampart I could hear the Yankees cry all down the line, 'Don't shoot that boy!' My life was really saved by my youth. It was that charge, as I have under- stood," said Mr. Stevenson, "which led to McPherson's death. I was twice promoted for gallantry on the battlefield, and upon my soul it was nothing but that peach-brandy."-Gath, in New York Tribune.
SOME OF THE AMENITIES OF CAMP LIFE.
There was a man in Company -, of a certain Ohio regi- ment, who had a tremendous big nose. He was laughed at continually. On Sunday morning he would get ready to take a shave. He had a small looking-glass, which he would hang up against a tree, and then, after lathering his face, he would seize his razor in his right hand and his nose in his left. About this time fifty or more boys, who were watching, would burst out laughing, and, oh, how mad "Nosey " would get! Afterwards I was told by a soldier that he and this man were captured
together. He said they were taken to the rear, and the Johnnies put our big-nosed comrade upon a stump and gathered around him. They would look and laugh, and laugh and look. Fi- nally they said it was no use for the Yanks to deny having horns, for they had now secured a specimen -one who had a horn in the middle of his face.
Just before the battle at Nashville, Tennessee, in December, 1864, two comrades fell out-Charlie - and Henry -.
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
Both were big, stout, burly fellows. Charlie was said to be the stoutest man in the regiment, but he would rather eat than fight. It was supper-time, and Charlie was sitting down eating his supper, when Henry came round and began quarreling with him. Charlie quarreled back, but kept on eating. Quite a crowd soon collected, expecting every minute to see a champion fight. Henry abused Charlie terribly. Charlie would sit there and say, "Just go on, Henry, till I get done eating, and I'll fight you!" But the more Henry cursed him the hungrier Charlie seemed to get. The boys persuaded Henry to go off, as they wanted Charlie to get done in time to be mustered out with his regiment! It was, no doubt, a fine thing for Henry that Charlie's appetite was so good, for the writer had seen Charlie fight before then, when his appetite wasn't half so good, and he was a bad one.
There was a comrade in a certain regiment who was a one- horse preacher before the war. After getting into camp, some of his boys said he captured their coffee-pot one night The chaplain of the regiment got up a pretty big revival in the regi- ment, and this brother made himself very conspicuous. The boys liked their chaplain, and behaved very well till this man would begin to talk or pray; then they would yell out all over camp, " Dig him a coffee-pit !" and the poor fellow would have to quit.
CAPTURED BY A SLAVE.
During the early part of the summer of 1863 we were doing duty at Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and the rebels were scouting and firing on the passing steamers up the Mississippi River. One day a rebel lieutenant got separated from his command, and he pressed a slave as a guide through a large wooded territory in our front. Everything went along to his satisfaction until they
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were near our front, when the negro suddenly turned on the rebel, took his arıns from him, dismounted him, and pointed for our post, threatening him with all kinds of death if he looked back. He marched him in, and delivered the prisoner up to . our commanding officer.
The lieutenant was terribly frightened, but felt much better when he was safe in our hands; and the slave was elated to think he was able to do something for the suppression of the rebellion and for his own liberty. I asked the negro if he would have killed the reb. "Lor! Massa, no. I would not have hurt a hair on his wicked head, only I wanted to let him know I was boss just then." These people knew what the war was about, and they had an idea what its ending would be if the rebellion had succeeded; and I wish that they were as well treated, North and South, by all the people, as they deserve. H. S. ARCHER.
Randolph, Massachusetts.
THE WAGON-LOAD OF BREAD.
A party of soldiers, during the late civil war, found them- selves, one night, on a battlefield in charge of a great many wounded soldiers, who, by reason of the sudden retreat of the army, were left wholly without shelter or supplies. Having done their best for the poor fellows - bringing them water from a distant brook, and searching the haversacks of the dead for rations - they began to say to themselves and to one another, " These weak and wounded men must have food or they will die. The army is out of reach, and there is no village for many miles ; what are we to do ? "
" Pray to God to send us bread," said one.
That night, in the midst of the dead and dying, they held a little prayer-meeting, telling the Lord all about the case, and
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begging him to send them bread immediately; though from whence it could come they had not the most remote idea. All night long they plied their work for mercy. With the first ray of dawn the sound of an approaching wagon caught their ears; and presently, through the mists of the morning, appeared a great Dutch farm wagon, piled to the very top with loaves of bread.
On asking the driver where he came from, and who sent him, he replied : "When I went to bed last night I knew that the army was gone, and I could not sleep for thinking of the poor fellows who always have to stay behind. Something seemed to say to me: 'What will those poor fellows do for something to eat?' It came to me so strong that I waked up my old wife, and told her what was the matter. We had only a little bread in the house ; and while my wife was making some more I took my team and went round to all my neighbors, making them get up and give me all the bread in their houses, telling them it was for the wounded soldiers on the battlefield. When I got home my wagon was full. My wife piled her bak- ing on the top, and I started off to bring the bread to the boys, feeling just as if the Lord himself were sending me."-Kind Words.
THAT BUTTER.
I belonged to what the Third Iowa boys would call the " Butter Regiment." They will remember what a fight we had in the peach orchard at Shiloh. The Third Iowa was on our right, and the Forty-first Illinois on our left. Colonel Pugh commanded our brigade. I should like to shake hands with the boys of the old Third.
I guess they will all recollect when we were on the march from Memphis to Bolivar, Tennessee, some of the boys of the
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Third captured a keg of butter; and our captain, being officer of the day, thought it his duty to recapture the butter, taking into consideration that it was something to eat, and the men were not used to such fare. But I guess the boys got the best of the joke at last; for, upon examining the butter, they found wool in it. I suppose the wool was put into the butter to hold it together, as it was in a warm country. I never found out exactly what kind of wool it was, but we can guess.
THE COLONEL HELPED.
Our regiment was introduced to the music at Fort Donelson on the morning of February 13, 1862. Late that afternoon the rain commenced falling, and we were not allowed to kindle any fire. Our colonel took a cold lunch, and said he would "rough it" with the boys. We all lay down together, and about four inches of snow fell on us that night. The next night the colonel said we would have a fire if the Johnnies did shell us, and, laying off his coat, he helped us to make a log-heap, and you can bet we were glad to have a fire to lie beside that night.
But, boys, that was not going to last long. You know how that was; and you know how it was going up that hill, over that down timber. Our colonel, with hat in one hand and sword in the other, led the way, shouting, "Come on, boys! Gad ! we've got them." And so we had them; but all who went in did not come out as they went in.
W. S. HAWLEY.
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
THE DRUMMER BOY OF MISSION RIDGE.
THE SERGEANT'S STORY.
BY KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD.
[To John S. Kountz, Commander of the Department of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic, this story of his experience at Mission Ridge, while serving as drummer boy of the Thirty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry - the story being that of the sergeant who bore him from the field -is dedicated, as a slight testimonial to his courage on the field of battle, and his fidelity to the veteran's bond of union, "Fraternity, Charity, and Loyalty."]
Did ever you hear of the Drummer Boy of Mission Ridge, who lay With his face to the foe, 'neath the enemy's guns, in the charge of that terrible day ?
They were firing above him and firing below, and the tempest of shot and shell
Was raging like death, as he moaned in his pain, by the breastworks where he fell.
We had burnished our muskets and filled our canteens, as we waited for orders that morn -
Who knows when the soldier is dying of thirst, where the wounded are wailing forlorn ?-
When forth from the squad that was ordered back from the burst of that furious fire,
Our Drummer Boy came, and his face was aflame with the light of a noble desire.
" Go back with your corps," our colonel had said; but he waited the moment when
He might follow the ranks and shoulder a gun with the best of us bearded men.
And so, when the signals from old Fort Wood set an army of veterans wild,
He flung down his drum, which spun down the hill like the ball of a wayward child.
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GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
And so he fell in with the foremost ranks of brave old Company G, As we charged by the flank, with our colors ahead, and our columns . closed up like a V,
In the long, swinging lines of that splendid advance, when the flags of our corps floated out,
Like the ribbons that dance in the jubilant lines of the march of a gala- day rout.
He charged with the ranks, though he carried no gun, for the colonel had said him nay, .
And he breasted the blast of the bustling guns, and the shock of the sick- ening fray ;
And when by his side they were falling like hail, he sprang to a comrade slain,
And shouldered his musket and bore it as true as the hand that was dead to pain.
'Twas dearly we loved him, our Drummer Boy, with a fire in his bright, black eye,
That flashed forth a spirit too great for his form, he only was just so high -
As tall, perhaps, as your little lad, who scarcely reaches your shoulder - Though his heart was the heart of a veteran then, a trifle, it may be, the bolder.
He pressed to the front, our lad so leal, and the works were almost won, A moment more and our flags had swung, o'er the muzzle of murderous gun ;
But a raking fire swept the van and he fell 'mid the wounded and the slain,
With his wee, wan face turned up to Him who feeleth His children's pain.
Again and again our lines fell back, and again with shivering shocks They flung themselves on the rebels' works, as the fleet on the jagged rocks ;
To be crushed and broken and scattered amain, as the wrecks of the surg- ing storm,
Where none may rue and none may reck of aught that has human form.
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
So under the Ridge we were flying for the order to charge again, And we counted our comrades missing, and we counted our comrades slain ; And one said, "Johnnie, our Drummer Boy, is grievously shot and lies Just under the enemy's breastworks ; if left on the field he dies."
Then all the blood that was in me surged up to my aching brow ; And my heart leaped up like a ball in my throat, I can feel it even now; And I swore I would bring that boy from the field, if God would spare my breath,
If all the guns on Mission Ridge should thunder the threat of death.
I crept and crept up the ghastly Ridge, by the wounded and the dead, With the moans of my comrades right and left, behind me and yet ahead, Till I came to the form of our Drummer Boy, in his blouse of dusty blue, With his face to the foe, 'neath the enemy's guns, where the blast of the battle blew.
And his gaze as he met my own, God wot, would have melted a heart of stone,
As he tried like a wounded bird to rise, and placed his hand in my own ; So wan and faint, with his ruby-red blood, drank deep by the pitiless sward,
While his breast with its fleeting, fluttering breath, throbbed painfully slow and hard.
And he said in a voice half-smothered, though its whispering thrills me yet, " I think in a moment more that I would have stood on that parapet,
For my feet have trodden life's rugged ways. and I have been used to climb
Where some of the boys have slipped, I know, but I never missed a time. ·
But now I nevermore will climb, and sergeant, when you see
The men go up those breastworks there, just stoop and waken me ; For though I can not make the charge, and join the cheers that rise, I may forget my pain to see the old flag kiss the skies."
Well, it was hard to treat him so, his poor limb shattered sore, But I raised him to my shoulder, and to the surgeon bore, And the boys who saw us coming each gave a shout of joy,
Though some in curses clothed their prayers for him, our Drummer Boy.
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GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
When sped the news that " Fighting Joe " had saved the Union right, With his legions fresh from Lookout; and that Thomas massed his might And forced the rebel center ; and our cheering ran like wild ; And Sherman's heart was happy as the heart of a little child ;
When Grant from his lofty outlook saw our flags by the hundred fly, Along the shores of Mission Ridge, where'er he cast his eye ; And our Drummer Boy heard the news, and knew the mighty battle done, The valiant contest ended, and the glorious victory won ;
Then he smiled in all his agony, beneath the surgeon's steel, And joyed that his was the blood to flow, his country's woes to heal ; And his bright, black eyes so yearning, grew strangely glad and wide ; I think that in that hour of joy he would have gladly died.
Ah, ne'er again our ranks were cheered by our little Drummer's drum, When rub, rub, rub-a-dub, dub, we knew that our hour had come ; Beat brisk at morn, beat sharp at eve, rolled long when it called to arms, With rub, rub, rub-a-dub, dub, 'mid the clamor of rude alarms !
Ah, ne'er again our black-eyed boy looked up in the veteran's face, To waken thoughts of his children safe in mother love's embrace ! Oh, ne'er again with tripping feet he ran with the other boys- His budding hopes were cast away as they were idle toys.
But ever in our hearts he dwells, with a grace that never is old, For him the heart to duty wed can nevermore grow cold !
His heart, the hero's heart, we name the loyal, true, and brave,
The heart of the soldier hoar and gray, of the lad in his southern grave !
And when they tell of their heroes, and the laurels they have won, Of the scars they are doomed to carry, of the deeds that they have done ; Of the horror to be biding among the ghastly dead,
The gory sod beneath them, the bursting shell o'erhead ;
My heart goes back to Mission Ridge and the Drummer Boy who lay With his face to the foe, 'neath the enemy's guns, in the charge of that terrible day ;
And I say that the land that bears such sons is crowned and dowered with all That the Lord giveth nations to stay them lest they fall.
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
BATTLE OF NASHVILLE.
Now Thomas came with his well-drilled command To Nashville, on the river Cumberland, A place of beauty in a high degree, In state original of Tennessee, Where, in endeavors for the public good He militates against the aims of Hood, Who with his army there does cogitate That city fair to make Confederate. His plan of battle is of simple kind, The field uneven, yea, to hills inclined - A feint upon the left, does quickly make Which to the center causes him to take - The further operations to enhance The Sixteenth Corps was ordered to advance.
At early dawn Hood roused in much affright At the loud firing on his distant right ; And scarcely had he time to ascertain What it did mean, before an armed train Came down upon him like a loosened flood, From the united corps of Smith and Wood. A battle this could not be truly called, So overwhelming was the foe appall'd, That their lines crumbled in atoms, and The left entire was gone of Hood's command. Thus with a single blow his left was gone, And in confusion drove the center on - This now let loose the nimble cavalry Which now swept round and passed our right in glee.
Hung like avenging cloud upon the flank And rear of rebels, as they placed their rank And file back on the center, sullenly, Which Hood imperiled in a high degree. Aroused now by the dangers imminent Hood ordered from the right that troops be sent,
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GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
The tide reversed, of battle to sustain ; When all around, from every hill and plain, Could be discovered lines of infantry, Commingled with squads of artillery Which made the most of every joint and limb, In gallant forward strides to rescue him.
The left is gone, the center still is held, From which Hood is not easily expelled, As the position is one very strong - On lofty hills, and covered all along With rifle-pits, well fringed with abatis, Beyond which ordnance move -charged not to miss As they the grape and canister did throw, On every parcel of the land below.
Smith in command was never known to shirk, But paused before this formidable work, A reconnoissance of it to make, That he successfully the same might take. Now Wood and Schofield with their forces came And kept all day a brisk artillery flame Without effect ; while infantry essayed In vain to find a spot they could invade. But then it was not difficult For thus, one day, to sum up the result - Two thousand prisoners captured martially With sixteen pieces of artillery.
Now Thomas saw the sun sink in the west, While nature tired, inclined to sink to rest ; Ere this, the news by telegraph does tell, "So far, I think, we have succeeded well ; Lest Hood decamps to-night to-morrow stead, Will double up his right -by tactics led, While gallant Wood endow'd with courage bold His center most triumphantly will hold ; And Smith and Schofield strike his left again, While cavalry the rear work will maintain."
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
Hood takes a new position in the night, The better to maintain to-morrow's fight ; And of the former is two miles in rear, While shortened to three miles his lines appear - So very powerful appear the whole That at first sight they seem impregnable. But Thomas acting on his former plan, Commanded Steadman now to lead the van ; As yesterday, upon the rebel right. However, now it being their design To hold their fire, and feel the rebel line ; Till Smith and Schofield should reach the scene Of yesterday, now passed to the serene. The stillness of the hour now occupies The close attention of all ears and eyes, Like that which is precursor to the sage Of the fierce lightning's rage, Or like the thunderbolt's malignant fall,
When trembles earth, and skies with gloom appall.
The Union bugles, well played on, and large,
Now sound the tidings to command "the charge." With leveled bayonets and ringing cheers That sounded audibly in rebel ears, They swept undauntedly, for all were brave,
Upon the rebels in one awful wave, Wood in the center ; as the sound he caught,
His regiments to a forward movement brought And Steadman stationed on the left extreme,
Upon them charged ; it was no idle dream. Now for three miles the rebel lines became One lively scene ; ah ! one vast sheet of flame. The batteries thundred, shells screamed through the air, The earth did tremble as a frightened hare ; Beneath our feet the ground appeared to quake,
Sulphurous clouds of smoke appearance make ; And for one hour without an intermit It was an emblem of the burning pit. The rebels seemed as if by whirlwinds raised,
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GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
And carried back, defeated, and amazed ; While dropping everything that would impede The flight of one that ran for life indeed, They sped in wild confusion o'er the land, Who then submitted not to our command. These words are still resounding in my ear, Which issued from a captured brigadier ; Though at that moment I had not the time To emphasize and place them into rhyme :
" Why, sir, it is, and ever shall be said, The bravest act I ever witnessed ; I saw you coming, men, and held my fire- In numbers to a full brigade entire- Until I demonstrably could espy The white in each and every soldier's eye ; Determined thus a bullet well to place In each and every soldier's face ; And I supposed, when the smoke arose, Your heels would toward us be, and not your toes. But not thus. Each deserves a diadem ;
My galling fire not even staggered them.
They came along cool, and in martial skill,
And walked up to my works upon the hill; And ere I knew that you advance had made, You had entire surrounded my brigade." More than two thousand rebel prisoners we- One major general, brigadiers just three .- Did capture in that battle with their arms, And showed the world secession had no charms.
L. L. HANAN.
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ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS.
THE SOLDIER'S DEATH.
IN MEMORY OF JAMES D. SEWARD.
Who saw him fall, the noble boy ? Who whispered words of hope and joy ? Could no one pause in that sad strife, And try to win him back to life ?
Who watched beside his dying bed ? I only hear that he is dead. I was not there to close his eyes, Or catch his last expiring sighs.
No loved one near to soothe his pain, Or smooth his matted locks again ; No hand to wipe the fallen tear, Or soothe the heart of one so dear.
Were pitying angels hovering nigh To watch my poor, lone brother die ? With pearly gates all swung ajar, To watch his coming from afar ?
His voice comes back to soothe my grief, And give my bleeding heart relief ; His parting look, his farewell sigh - I was not there to see him die.
I may not see his lonely grave ; He's sleeping with his country's brave. But though I may not mark the spot, My heart will still forget him not.
I love to think of one so dear ; His name I'll mention with a tear, And weep the cruel fate that gave My brother to a soldier's grave. 19
C. R.
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THE NINETY-FOURTH ARMY BEAN.
The following song was sung by the orphan children, at the reunion of the Ninety-fourth Regiment O. V. I., Xenia, Ohio :
[AIR -"SWEET BYE-AND-BYE."]
There's a spot that the soldiers all love, The mess-tent's the place that we mean, And the dish that we like to see there, Is the old-fashioned white army bean.
CHORUS.
'Tis the bean, that we mean, And we'll eat as we ne'er ate before, The army bean, nice and clean, We'll stick to our beans evermore.
Now the bean in its primitive state, Is a plant we have often met, And when cooked in the old army style, It has charms we can never forget,
CHORUS.
The German is fond of saur-kraut, The potato is loved by the Mick, But we soldiers have long since found out, That thro' life to our beans we should stick.
[ REFRAIN - Air-" TELL AUNT RHODY."]
Beans for breakfast, Beans for dinner, Beans for supper, Beans, beans, beans.
Closing Scenes of the War.
In closing this history I think it will be interesting to my readers to show how General Sherman's campaign ended. The news of the battles about Petersburg reached Sherman at Golds- boro on the 6th of April. Up to that time it was his move rapidly northward, feigning on Raleigh and striking straight for Burksville, and thus interposing his army between Johnston and Lee. The successes at Petersburg, however, changed the necessity for a junction of Sherman's army with Grant's, and the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston became the strategic points. Grant was fully able to take care of the former, and it was Sherman's task to destroy or capture the latter. Johnston had his army well in hand about Smithfield. His infantry and artillery were estimated at thirty five thousand, an I his cava'ry at from six to ten thousand. General Kilpatrick was held in reserve at Mount Olive, with orders to recruit his horses, and be ready to make a sudden and rapid march on the 10th of April.
At daybreak of the 10th all the heads of columns were in motion against the enemy. General Slocum took the two direct roads for Smithfield. General Howard was to make a circuit by the right, feigning up the Weldon road, to disconcert the ene- my's cavalry ; and Generals Terry and Kilpatrick moving on the west side of the Neuse River, were to aim at reaching the rear of the enemy between Smithfield and Raleigh. General Schofield followed General Slocum in support. Within six miles of Golds- boro more or less cavalry were met behind the usual rail barri_ cades, but they were swept away by the advance, and by ten
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GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
A. M. of the 11th, Davis' Fourteenth Corps entered Smithfield, closely followed by the Twentieth Corps. Johnston had lightened up his trains by the railroad, and retreated, burning the bridge over the Neuse River, at Smithfield. Pontoons were brought up, and the crossing accomplished without resistance. It was here that the news of the surrender of Lee's army, at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, reached General Sherman, and was an- nounced by him to the armies in orders, creating the wildest joy. The announcement was made at the head of columns, and as the joyful news was conveyed from division to, division, and from regiment to regiment, each in turn took up the glad shout, mak- ing the pine forests ring with the "glad tidings of great joy." For a time all discipline was cast aside. The men seized their officers and carried them around on their shoulders, and then threw their hats or caps high in the air. Strong men wept and laughed by turns, and embraced each other in the exuberance of their joy.
While negotiations for the surrender of Johnston's army were pending at Raleigh, Jefferson Davis was making his way toward the Mississippi River, with the intention of passing into Texas, there to continue the strife. Efforts were made for his capture by the army, and, to stimulate to greater exertion, large rewards were offered for his apprehension. General Wilson, being apprised of Davis' probable route, put his whole available cavalry force in pursuit, sending squads in all directions. The Mississippi River was patrolled by gunboats, to prevent his crossing, and the coast of Georgia and Florida was watched day and night. General Wilson's report of the capture is given in the following dispatch to the Secretary of War;
MACON, GEORGIA, 9:30 A. M., May 13th.
To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
Lieutenant Colonel Harden, commanding First Wisconsin, has just arrived from Irwinsville. He struck Davis' trail at Dublin, Lawrence
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CLOSING SCENES OF THE WAR.
County, on the evening of the 7th, and followed him closely, night and day, through the pine wilderness of Alligator Creek and Green Swamp, via Cumberland, to Irwinsville. At Cumberland, Colonel Harden met Colonel Pritchard, with one hundred and fifty picked men and horses, of the Fourth Michigan. Harden followed the trail directly south, while Pritchard, having fresher horses, pushed down the Ocmulgee toward Hopewell, and thence by House Creek to Irwinsville, arriving there at midnight of the 9th. Jeff Davis had not arrived. From citizens Pritch- ard learned that his party were encamped two miles out of town. He made his dispositions, and surrounded the camp before day. Harden had encamped two miles (as he afterward learned) from Davis, the trail being too indistinct to follow. He pushed on at 3 A. M., and had gone but little more than a mile when his advance was fired upon by men of the Fourth Michigan. A fight ensued, both parties exhibiting the great- est determination. Fifteen minutes elapsed before the mistake was dis- covered. The firing in this skirmish was the first warning Davis received. The captors report that he hastily put on one of his wife's dresses and started for the woods, closely followed by our men, who at first thought him to be a woman, but, discovering his boots while running, suspected his sex at once. The race was a short one, and the rebel president was soon brought to bay. He brandished a bowie-knife of elegant pattern, and showed signs of battle, but yielded promptly to the persuasions of the captain's revolver, without compelling the men to fire. He expressed great indignation at the energy with which he was pursued, saying that he thought our Government was more magnanimous than to hunt down women and children. Mrs. Davis remarked to Colonel Harden after the excitement was over that " the men had better not provoke the president as he might hurt some of 'em."
J. H. WILSON, Brevet Major General.
Davis was immediately taken to Fortress Monroe, and confined in one of the casements of the fortress prepared for him, and a strong guard placed over him to prevent escape or rescue. He was afterward bailed out by Horace Greeley, which was the cause of his political death, and doubtless his political death was the cause of his natural death.
" O Horace Greeley, you were not the man for me ;
You went too far to bail old Jeff, and helped to set him free."
294
GREENE COUNTY IN THE WAR.
Our task, kind reader, is finished. Through more than four years of war and carnage, such as few nations have ever felt, we have tried to give a partial history of some of the regiments, and a list of Greene County s soldiers as far as we have been able to obtain them, together with some incidents and anecdotes connected with the great rebellion. From war's dark desolation and its train of human suffering and woe we have emerged into the glorious light of freedom, and universal peace now reigns throughout our land. The tramp of the soldier is no longer heard, nor the bugle-blast calling to arms; the weary march is ended; camp-fires are extinguished ; the roar and din of battle is hushed. The Blue and the Gray can now meet as friends and brothers. Glorious America ! the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, rising from her sackcloth and ashes, re-invigorated by the desolations of war, shall work out her glorious destiny, and teach the crumbling despotisms of the Old World that man, enlightened by the principles of free institu tions, is capable of self-government. All hail ! America. Well hast thou earned the honor of being
" The land of the free and the home of the brave."
.
Schlesinger & Brady,
COMPLETE LINE OF
READY-MADE
CLOTHING
Merchant Tailors
HATS,
CAPS,
TRUNKS,
Valises, &c.
W. D. LAZIER,
Pruggist.
No, 26 East Main Street, Xenia, Ohio,
A. SOV TARD,
PIANOS AND ORGANS
ALSO ALL KINDS OF
MUSICAL MERCHANDISE,
WAREROOMS- No. 18 Detroit Street, - - XENIA, OHIO.
Snyder Sons,
DEALERS IN >*COALI
OF ALL KINDS,
AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
YARDS-SOUTH END DETROIT ST., AND W. SECOND ST., XENIA, OHIO.
-AND- Gents' Furnishers. _
31 East Main St , Xenia, O.
V. S. FAWCETT, THEJEWELER,
CORNER MAIN AND DETROIT STREETS, XENIA, OHIO.
W. M. GATCH,
Photographer.
3 L'and 36 E. Main St., VENIA, OHIO.
BUY YOUR GOODS OF THE WILLIAM ALLISON CLOTHING, HAT, GENTS' FURNISHING, BOOT AND SHOE
EMPORIUM No. 17 and 19 Greene Street, East Side of Public Park, XENIA, OHIO.
ALLISON & STROUSS.
R. I. STEWART, Clothing, Boots, Shoes and Rubbers
HATS, CAPS, AND GENTLEMEN'S FURNISHING GOODS. No. 33 and 35 East Main Street, XENIA, OHIO.
.
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