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 2
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A great many negroes were employed at that time, working on the fortifications around the city, especially Fort Negley, near our camp. I used to go to their meetings, which they held out of doors. One evening I attended a social meeting, when one old darkey arose to speak. The substance of his speech was as follows : " My bred'rin', you sees me gwine aroun' drivin' de cart. You do not know whedder I'se got religion or not; but God knows it. By an' by I'll be high up in heaven, an' dese wicked sinners will be low down in hell, where de blue blazes of damnashun will be bilin' out of dar noses." These negroes were very ignorant, making use of some very droll expressions.
We then moved camp south of town, into a field where the weeds were nearly as high as one's head. This camp was called Camp Weeds. We stayed there a few days and then moved a short distance, near the Hillsboro pike, not far from our old Camp Tod. This was about the time of the siege of Nashville, when our communication was cut off. We suffered considerably for want of rations. We could get none from the Government; and I have often thought since that the Government ought to have paid us, as we drew none from its coffers. But about all we could get to eat was what we could get in the county. Foraging parties were sent out every few days, well guarded- often a battery or two of artillery accompanying every expedition. Even then we were not supplied very plentifully. The most we got was corn, which had to go to feed the mules - sometimes a few sweet potatoes or pumpkins. One day I ate nothing else but a small sweet potato. The reason was obvious-I could get nothing else. We named our camp "Starvation ; " and in
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comparison to what we had been used to at home it was really starvation.
After remaining there a while we moved into the Chattanooga Depot. The first day of our arrival was a very busy one, the boys all being engaged in making bunks. It reminded one of a large carpenter-shop, and all hands at work. Some of the boys bunked in old freight-cars. The soldiers suffered much from camp-diarrhea and flux, some of whom died. I will mention a few of them: Thomas Harp and William Frenderburg, of Company C, and Thomas Faulkner, of Company B, with, perhaps, some others.
While here we were all called up before daylight, to drill, every morning, and many were the curses heaped upon the heads of the officers for this order. One morning we were all called up long before daylight and fell into line, and the order was given, " Forward, march," no one knowing where we were going. We marched out about seven miles, and were ordered to halt. A skirmish line was formed, and we were ordered to advance. (It was ascertained beforehand that a band of rebels had been seen, but of course the regiment knew nothing of it.) The regiment advanced a short distance when the advance guard came on a squad of rebels. After a sharp little skirmish they drove them across the river, capturing a few and scattering the rest. The regiment then returned to camp.
Orders were soon received to march toward Lebanon, Tennessee. We marched out some seven miles and halted, where we remained a short time. Then we started back toward Nashville, and camped on Mill Creek. Here the Seventy-fourth commenced building a bridge across that stream, the rebels having burned the old one. This was about the middle of November, 1862.
We were temporarily assigned to the command of Brigadier General Morgan. The general was a very plain-looking man.'
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THE SEVENTY. FOURTH.
He generally wore an old blouse, and did not look much like an officer. One day he visited the regiment to ascertain what progress they were making on the bridge. The men were then about placing a heavy piece of timber in position, when, observing that it was heavy to carry, the general seized hold of it and lifted until he was red in the face. It reminded me somewhat of General Washington and the corporal, although there was no corporal there giving commands. I suppose it is not necessary to repeat the story, as doubtless all my readers are acquainted with it.
While there I saw a revolting sight. A negro having died in one of the out-houses, his body was found, one morning, with his nose and part of his face eaten off by rats.
It was while we were here that I received the sad news of the death of my father, Rev. G. B. Owens. I first heard of his- sickness, then of his death. My readers may imagine my feelings- away from home fighting for my country, without the privilege of visiting him in his last hours. Colonel Moody, in his sermon on the next Sabbath, very touchingly referred to his- death, which affected me deeply.
About the last of November we again received orders to march before completing the bridge. We were ordered to Camp. Hamilton, about seven miles from Nashville, near the Franklin pike. Our camp was on the farm of a Mr. Overton. Here the Army of the Cumberland was encamped, and reviewed by General Rosencranz. When he rode through the camp of the. Seventy-fourth he had something to say to each company. To Company C he said : "Boys, when you drill, drill like thunder. It is not the number of bullets you shoot, but the accuracy of the aim, that kills more men in battle." The object of this review was to ascertain what the men needed before going into · battle. To an Irishman he said, "Well, Pat, what do you. want?" The Irishman replied, " If it's all the same to you,
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gineral, I want a furlough." The general, turning away, laughing, replied, " Well, Pat, you'll do."
Near the camp was a large canebrake; and the boys used to go at night, with torches, to kill robins, of which there were immense numbers. The light would blind them, and by taking a stick they could be easily killed. Colonel Neibling, of the Twenty-first Ohio Regiment, went into the brake one day and got lost. He had to climb a tree to see which way to get out. We had battalion drill frequently.
On the 26th of December, 1862, General Rosencranz marched from Camp Hamilton, in three columns, toward Mur- freesboro; General McCook with the right division, by the Nolensville pike; General Thomas with the center, by the Wilson pike; and General Crittenden with the left on the main Murfreesboro road. The country was hilly and rough, with thickets of cedar, intersected by small streams, with rocky, bluff banks. The road was rough and muddy, and it was only by the utmost efforts that the teams could be got through. General Negley, our division commander, frequently alighting from his horse, pulling off his coat, and rolling up his sleeves, would assist the teamsters in pulling through. Several times Colonel Moody would become impatient, urging us on as we struggled through the mud and rain, telling us that the fight would be over before we got there, as ever and anon we could hear the boom of cannon in advance of us. But I guess the colonel got enough of it.
On the night of the 30th the pickets of both armies could sight each other by the light of burning dwellings. Constant skirmishing had been kept up all day, as General Rosencranz wished to discover the enemy. Occasionally a regiment advanced to clear a thicket; or a battery opened fire for a short time .. At one time a cannon-ball took off part of a man's head, who was standing within ten feet of the general, and
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH.
another fell among his escort. Our losses during the day, in these skirmishes, amounted to three hundred in killed and wounded. I am not speaking now of the Seventy-Fourth, but the whole army. At night the weary soldiers threw themselves. upon the cold ground, to snatch a brief repose, conscious that on the morrow they were to be actors in a bloody tragedy. Early on the morning of the 31st, General Rosencranz issued' the following address to his army :
" The general commanding desires to say to the soldiers of the Army of the Cumberland, that he was well pleased with their conduct yesterday. It was all that he could have wished for. He neither saw nor heard of any skulking. They behaved with the coolness and. gallantry of veterans. Ile now feels perfectly confident, with God's grace and their help, of striking this day a blow for the country - the most crushing, perhaps, which the rebellion has yet sustained. Soldiers ! the eyes of the whole nation are upon you. The very fate of the nation may be said to hang on the issues of this day's battle. Be true, then, to yourselves ; true to your own manly character and soldierly reputation ;: true to the love of your dear ones at home, whose prayers ascend this day to God for your success. Be cool. I need not ask you to be brave. Keep ranks. Do not throw away your fire. Fire slowly, deliberately .. Above all, fire low, and always be sure of your aim. Close readily in upon the enemy, and when you get within charging distance, rush upon him with the bayonet. Do this, and victory will certainly be yours. Recollect, that there are hardly any troops in the world that will stand a bayonet charge, and those who make it, therefore, are sure to win."
On the morning of the 31st the army of General Rosencranz: was in position on the field in the following order : McCook's command consisted of three divisions - Johnson's on the right,. Davis' in the center, and Sheridan's on the left, the latter somewhat withdrawn, and acting as a reserve for the south wing. The two divisions of Thomas, present on the field, held: the center of the line - Negley on the right (in which division was the Seventy fourth ) and Rousseau on the left. The left wing of the army, under Crittenden, was posted in the following:
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order : Palmer's division on the right, Woods' in the center, and Van Cleve's on the extreme left.
The rebel line of battle was formed with the command of Bishop Polk on the right, consisting of two divisions of Preston Smith and Breckenridge; Kirby Smith, with three divisions, held the center; and Hardee, with the three divisions of Cheatham, McCown, and Withers, formed the right wing. This wing was strengthened on the night preceding the battle with the division of Clairborne. In numbers the armies were unequal, as one of the strongest divisions of the Union army, Mitchell's, was left to occupy Nashville. The field of battle was mostly rolling ground, with patches of woodland. The pike and railroad ran near each other, through the lines of battle, and the ground on the right, where McCook was posted, was a dense succession of cedar thickets, open spaces of rocky ground, belts of timber, and small fields. A number of houses were situated in different parts of the field.
Without further describing the relative positions of the army, I will proceed to give a faint description of the battle : At daylight the batteries of Sheridan's division shelled the rebels in a piece of woods in front, and the division advanced. It was immediately assailed with terrible energy by the rebels, who were three times repulsed. They made a fourth attempt, with re-enforcements, and the division was forced back. But the energy of Sill and other gallant officers soon rallied the troops, and the field in front was cleared of the enemy. General Sill had fallen, pierced through the brain by a musket-ball. The whole force of the onset was now brought against McCook's third division, commanded by Sheridan. It fought until one fourth of its members lay bleeding and dying on the field. Then it gave way, and all three of its divisions were hurled back together into the immense series of cedar thickets, which, skirting the turnpike, extended far off to the right.
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH.
General Rosencranz, on hearing of the disaster to his right wing, instantly set himself at work to retrieve it. Brigades and batteries from the divisions of Rousseau, Negley, and Palmer, were ordered to the right, to check the progress of the enemy, and rally the fugitives. The infantry were rapidly massed in an array of imposing strength along the turnpike, and facing the woods through which the rebels were advancing. Still the broken divisions of McCook disputed the ground while retreating, and deeds of heroism were performed by officers and men in those dark thickets. But in spite of the desperate struggle which marked every fresh advance of the enemy, in spite of the heroic sacrifice of life on the part of the officers and soldiers of the Union army, the rebels still steadily advanced and came nearer to the turnpike. Nearly two miles and a half had the right wing been driven, and all the re-enforcements that had been hurried into the woods to sustain it, had failed. The roar of cannon, the crashing of shot through the trees, the bursting of shell, and the continuous roll of musketry, all mingled in one tremendous volume of sound, which rolled on nearer and nearer to the turnpike, where the genius and vigor of Rosencranz had massed the forces that were to receive the enemy when he should emerge from the woods, in pursuit of our retreating battalions. At last the long lines of the enemy, rank upon rank, charged from the woods. A sheet of flame burst from the Union ranks, a crash rent the air, and the artillery shook the earth. The foremost lines of the rebel host were literally swept away, and then both armies were enveloped in a vast cloud of smoke. For ten minutes the thunder of battle burst forth from the cloud, and when our battalions advanced they found no rebels between the turnpike and woods, except the wounded, the dying, and the dead. The soil was red with blood, for within a brief space of time the slaughter had been awful, our troops having repulsed the rebel left, pushed into the
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woods after them, and drove them back over the ground we had first occupied.
It was eleven o'clock when Hardee was repulsed. In the meantime while the battle was raging on the right, an attack was made upon Palmer's division. The rebel's advanced with great impetuosity, but were driven back with terrible loss. There was now a lull in the storm, and scarcely a volley of musketry or boom of cannon was heard for three quarters of an hour. Some hoped that these bloody scenes were ended for the day ; but the rebel leaders, disappointed by their failure to penetrate to our camp by way of the right wing, were preparing for a blow at the center. All the reserves were attached to the center of their army, under Polk ; and Bragg, in person, placed himself at the head of the columns. And now was presented an imposing spectacle. The nature of the ground in this part of the field was such that every movement of either army could be seen. A fierce cannonading up the turnpike announced the coming onset, and from the very woods out of which the rebel cavalry issued on Monday evening, the first line of battle now sallied' forth. It came on in magnificent order, and stretching away diagonally across a great sloping field, its length seemed interminable. At a sufficient interval another line deployed into the open ground parallel with the first, and ere the forward battalions were engaged, a third line of battle came forth from the same woods. It seemed that our feeble lines in that direction must be crushed by the weight of these immense masses of living and moving men. But the ever-watchful eye of Rosencranz had detected the rebel design even before their first line of battle emerged from the trees. The least-exhausted troops of the left and center were hurried forward on the double- quick, to combat this new effort of the enemy; and even from the extreme left, where Van Cleve was posted, a brigade was brought over to take part in the defense.
1
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH.
The same formidable array of batteries and battalions again confronted the foe, as that upon which the violence of Hardee's corps had spent itself, and similar results followed. Almost simultaneously a sheet of fire leaped forth from each of the opposite lines, and for a few minutes both stood like walls of stone, discharging their deadly muskets into each other's bosoms. Then the rebels attempted to charge, but a storm of lead and iron hail burst into their faces and all around them,
sweeping them down by the hundreds. If once the Union soldiers wavered, it was only for a moment, and in forty minutes from the time the first rebel line marched forth, all three of them had been dashed to pieces, and the survivors of the conflict, flying in wild confusion over the slope, were disappear- ing in the depths of the woods.
The battle of the day was over. Until four o'clock the rebels continued to fire a cannon in the direction of Murfrees- boro, as though in angry protest against their repulse. But when this ceased there was silence all over the field, so deep by contrast with the tumult of the battle that had raged all day, that it seemed oppressive and supernatural. The battle was over ; but who can describe the sufferings which followed! The night air was piercingly cold, and in the midst of these gloomy forests of pine and cedars, where the night winds sighed through the leafless branches, singing, as it were, a requiem to the hundreds of freezing, bleeding, and dying men whom no human hand could ever succor - perhaps even at that very hour their fond wives or loving mothers at home were on their knees offering up their petitions to God for their loved ones on the battle-field. Ah, could they have known their situation then, and had it in their power, how they would have gone, with rapid speed, to administer to their wants. Oh, how often on that long and dreary night of the 31st of December, 1862, as I lay wounded on the ground, at the field hospital, with no covering but part
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of an old blanket - which Sergeant A. B. Cosler kindly pro- cured for me - did I think of my loving wife and dear mother at home. You, my dear friends, who never participated in the toils, sufferings, and hardships of a soldier's life, know but little about it, only as you have read or heard soldiers tell of it. Yet I am sorry to say that there are some who are unwilling to give the soldier a small pension. If every soldier that fought and bled for his country was to receive a pension, he never could be paid for what he has suffered. Shame on the narrow, contracted soul - if he has a soul - that begrudges pensioning the soldiers.
The rebel pickets advanced at night to the edge of the woods skirting the open ground which was the scene of Hardee's terrible repulse. The hostile lines of battle were probably a thousand yards apart. The intervening space was covered with wounded, who could not be carried off. He who chose to risk it could crawl carefully up to the edge of the wood, and hear shrieks, cries, and groans of the wounded men who were lying by hundreds among the trees. The men in our advance-line lay down, as well as they could, upon ground over which the storm of battle had swept. It was difficult to distinguish the bodies of the sleepers from the corpses. Living and dead were slumbering . peacefully together, with this difference: the one was to rise again to renew the conflict, the other had fought his last battle on earth. There were places that night where sleep came not to steep the senses in gentle forgetfulness. The poor soldier, whom the bullets had not reached, could gather a few sticks or cornstalks for a bed, clasp his faithful musket in his arms, with his blanket around him - if he were so fortunate as to have one - and sleep; but not that deep, profound slumber had he been at home in his warm bed. Ever and anon he would awake, his frame shivering with the bitter cold. He could build no fires, for that would reveal our position to the enemy. But the mangled hero, lying on the field or in the hospital, knew no
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH.
repose; and to those who felt themselves maimed for life the keen mental anguish must have been even more intolerable than physical pain.
On Thursday morning the sun arose without clouds, but along the eastern horizon was a broad zone of mist and fog through which the great luminary looked red and bloody, as if in sympathy with the horrors of the battle-field. It was just eight o'clock when the roar of cannon re-commenced, with a terrible significance unknown a few days before. A skirmish had begun between the pickets in front of Palmer's lines and those of the enemy. Our batteries immediately commenced shelling the woods from which the rebel fire proceeded. Two dozen pieces of the enemy's artillery opened in reply, and having by this time accurately obtained the range of the elevated ground between the pike and railroad upon which so many of our troops were massed, their guns were worked with greater effect than ever before. Every form of shell, shrapnell, round shot, spherical case and oblong shot were hurled in most un- pleasant confusion over the field. Our infantry, unable to take any part in this terrible duel, lay close upon the ground, the fiery missiles continually whizzing and bursting over their heads, and tearing up the earth among them and around them. It is wonderful that so few were injured by this iron tempest; yet there was scarcely a regiment all along the center that did not have some of its members killed or wounded. The Seventy- fourth was not the only regiment that lost members. Several Greene County boys in other regiments were killed and wounded. I have reference here to Greene County soldiers. I wish I had a list of all soldiers that were killed or wounded. But as Major Peters said at the reunion of the Seventy-fourth at Xenia, Sep- · tember 20, 1883, we never will know to a certainty. Some never could be found.
The Eighth Indiana Battery, Lieutenant Estepp command-
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ing, was moved nearest the rebel lines, and did great service in finally silencing the enemy's guns. Several of its brave men were wounded, one third of the horses were disabled, and some of the pieces were drawn to the rear by hand. This day, like the preceding Tuesday, passed off in a series of skirmishes. Late in the afternoon a body of rebel cavalry appeared on a rising ground in front, but Colonel Loomis turned a couple of his Parrott guns in that direction, and a stampede quickly fol- lowed. The army passed another uncomfortable and cheerless night upon the battle field; but General Rosencranz was not idle. During the night he sent the division of Van Cleve across the river on the left, where it got into position.
Early on Friday morning the thunder of rebel artillery called the troops to arms. Our batteries soon replied to theirs, and the fierce cannonading was kept up for half an hour, and then ceased on both sides. During this time one rebel gun was dis- mounted, and the battery to which it belonged, silenced. Hour after hour passed by and no earnest attempt was made by the rebels to renew the battle. At last, about four o'clock in the afternoon, a heavy cannonade, that had opened on the left, was followed by a deafening crash of musketry, and the whole army at once comprehended that the battle was renewed by an attack on Van Cleve's division, on the other side of Stone River. Bragg had massed three of his divisions, the whole under the command of Breckenridge, and hurled them against the division of Van Cleve. Our brigades struggled for a time with great bravery against the tremendous odds; but being literally over- whelmed by superior numbers, two of them gave way. The third held its ground for awhile, but the prospect of being sur- rounded brought on a panic. Then it broke with the others and fell back to and across the river. The rebels made preparations to follow, but by this time Negley, who had been hurried over from the center to re-enforce Van Cleve, suddenly confronted
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THE SEVENTY-FOURTH.
them with his compact lines of battle. The divisions of Wood and Davis, and the Pioneer Brigade of Morton, were placed in position by General Rosencranz, to support Negley, and open with all their batteries upon the host of Breckenridge. The rebel batteries were also in commanding position. The rebels soon recoiled under the terrific fire poured into them by Negley's division, and fell back from the river, followed, however, by our brave troops, who forded the stream and made a lodgment on the opposite side in a narrow strip of timber, destitute of under- brush and bounded by a rail fence. At this fence the rebels rallied, and as our men ascended the bank they were greeted by a storm of bullets, which, for a moment, checked their advance. By the exertions of Stanley and Miller the division was formed rapidly upon the bank, and with a tremendous shout they charged the rebel lines. The latter wavered and then broke. The ground over which they retreated was a low, wooded one. Our troops followed closely in the pursuit. The Seventy-eighth Pennsylvania captured the flag of the Twenty-sixth Tennessee. The divisions of Wood and Davis followed that of Negley. The flying regiments of Breckenridge debouched from the woods upon open cornfields, in the edge of which their batteries of fourteen guns were in position. A charge was made upon these, and the Nineteenth Illinois captured three guns Colonel Miller's command took a battery, the Seventy-fourth Ohio capturing it. The rebels again fled, followed by a tempest of bullets, which covered the ground with wounded and dead. Beyond was a dense forest, reaching to the town of Murfreesboro. It was now night, and Negley deemed it expedient to enter the woods at that time. From the cornfields to the river the distance was about one mile, and within that space the evidences of the terri- ble carnage were everywhere visible. Nearly one thousand rebels were killed outright in this attack, and the woods re- sounded with the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying.
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