History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Part 25

Author: Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Number of Pages: 716

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio > Part 25

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

At this time " Cowan's House, " four hundred yards in front of them, was all on fire; and as the resonant voice of the adjutant repeated the order, while the distant flames threw occasional flickering's on the grim faces of the soldiers, they grasped their rifles with the stern look of men determined to win or die, and awaited the order to advance. At daylight it came, and, preceded by a strong skirmish line, the brigade moved rapidly forward. the Forty-first Ohio and Sixth Kentucky in the first line, and the Ninth In- diana and One Hundred and Tenth Illinois in the second one.

On reaching the line of the burning honse heavy firing was heard at the front and rear, indicating that the enemy was outflanking them. Col. Wiley gave the command, "Change half front to the rear on tenth company," and it was executed amid the fast- dropping bullets as coolly as if on parade. The enemy advanced in two columns. His infantry was supported by artillery, but the latter was soon rendered useless

--- -----

107

FORTY-FIRST INFANTRY.

by Cottrell's battery, which killed all the horses of the rebel battery and blew up the caissons. Gen. Hazen and Col. Wiley sat on their horses directly in rear of the colors of the Forty-first. As the enemy approached, Col. W. inquired:

"Shall I fire on them?"

" Not yet." replied the general.

When the first rebel line reached the burning house, General Hazen said:

" Now, Colonel, give them a volley." The colonel's voice rang out clear and calm:

"Attention, battalion! Ready! Aim! Fire!" The crash of four hundred rifles responded to the last word, when the whole rebel line fell to the ground "as if they had been shot." The greater part of them, however, soon sprang up and opened a rapid deadly fire. The Forty-first responded with equal zeal, and continued the conflict until they had fired away all of the eighty rounds of ammunition with which they were provided. Gen. Hazen then ordered the regiment to the rear to cool and clean the guns, bringing up the One Hundred and Tenth Illinois to take its place.

Searcely had the Forty-first been supplied with ammunition and got ready for action again, when it was announced that the rebels were driving every- thing on the right and the regiment was sent to stop them. Lying on the ground the men began firing at the enemy two hundred yards distant, when a line of Union artillery behind them began to fire over their heads at the same mark. Burning wads and grains of powder fell thick among them. This was too much of a good thing, and Col. Wiley prevailed on the artillery to cease firing until the Forty-first could be stationed in rear of the guns. This position was firmly held in spite of the most furious attacks by the Confederates. Later in the day the Forty- first was ordered to the left to guard a ford by Gen. Rosecrans in person, where it suffered severely from the rebel batterie.s.

The next day, New Year's, 1863, the Forty-first was held in reserve during the greater part of the day. A hundred pieces of artillery were massed by Gen. Rosecrans, and when the rebels came in front of the line they were mowed down by hundreds by blasts of grape, canister and shrapnel. Mean- while, however, they were driving back Van Cleve's division on the left. Gen. Hazen came up to this regiment at a gallop a little after four o'eloek and or- dered the men to double quick after him. On reach- ing Stone river, they found the rest of the brigade, all trying to get aeross the stream first. The general formed his fonr regiments in line, pushed forward at a double quiek, and easily easily drove back the foe.

One battery kept up its fire, when Gen. Hazen ad- vaneed with the Forty-first alone to within three hundred yards, and delivered a well aimed volley. It was so destructive that the battery immediately re- tired from its position. Night soon after came on, and the next day Gen. Bragg and his army retired in

hot haste from the scene of their defeat. During the battle the regiment had a hundred and twelve officers and men killed and wounded out of four hun- dred and twelve with which it went into the fight.

From the 10th of January to the 24th of June, 1863, the regiment was encamped most of the time at Readyville, twelve miles from Murfreesboro', though making occasional exeursions against the enemy. At the last mentioned date it removed from Readyville, and on the 15th of August advanced with the army toward Chattanooga. After taking part in the labori- ous marches incident to the movement, the Forty- first found itself on the night of the 18th of Septem- ber on the bank of Chickamauga creek, near Gordon's Mills.

Lt. McMahan was in command of the pieket of the Forty-first, and late in the morning of the 19th he was ordered to form his pieket as skirmishers and move forward. He did so and was followed by the regiment: the rest of the brigade being aligned on either side of the Forty-first. About 11 o'clock the skirmishers came out into an open field, at the farther edge of which was a line of rebels who opened fire on them. The lieutenant ordered his men to double quiek across the field, but when about half way across heard the stentorian voice of Col. Wiley thunder "Halt" Looking around he saw the regiment at the edge of the field with their rifles at an aim.

" Lie down !" shouted the lieutenant, and the men were glad enough to obey, when a volley of bullets swept over them into the ranks of the foe. The skirmishers were obliged to make their way baek to the lines on their hands and knees. The regiment held this position until near four o'clock in the after- noon, firing all its ammunition. Twice the rebels charged it with the bayonet; both times the gal- lant Forty-first met them with a counter charge and both times the assailants broke and fled within thirty feet of the Union bayonets.

At the time last mentioned the regiment was re- lieved and marched to a piece of timber, where it was supplied with ammunition. The men were as hungry for it as so many wolves. They filled not ouly their cartridge boxes, but all their pockets and the waists of their blonses above the belts; every man providing himself with at least one hundred rounds. Scareely had they done so when heavy firing was heard on the right, and the Forty-first was ordered thither on the double quiek by General Hazen, to support General Van Cleve.

The man were placed on the right of the second line and when the first gave way were vigorously assailed by a heavy force of the enemy. They delivered a rapid succession of well-aimed volleys, while General Hazen handled a battery in person, and thus their front was kept elear. Ere long, however, the rebels made their way around the unprotected right flank of the Forty-first, and soon the gallant regiment was almost surrounded by the foe. The bullets came on every side, and for the only time in their military

108

GENERAL HISTORY OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY.

experience the men of the Forty-first ran at the top of their speed to escape from the enemy. They were not, however, entirely broken up; they loaded as they ran, and on reaching a convenient hill a stand was made, and by the help of artillery the rebel advance was checked.

The men worked hard a large part of the night, rolling up logs to form a barricade. At nine o'clock, the morning of the 20th, the rebels charged them, but their log defense was found impregnable, and the assailants were repulsed with great loss. Other at- tempts of the same kind were made during the day, but always with the same result, and late in the afternoon Hazen's brigade still held its position. But its ammunition was nearly all expended, its com- rades of the center and left had all been driven back, and it was separated by an interval of a mile, swarming with rebel sharpshooters, from the right under General Thomas, which still held its ground. General Hazen led his brigade safely across the dangerous gap, and formed it on the left of Thomas' line. When the rebels made their last assault IIazen's regiments, one after the other, deliv- ered their withering volleys, aiding in the complete repulse of the enemy, which enabled the veterans of Thomas to retire from the position they had so des- perately defended. After dark the remnant of the army retreated a short distance, and the next night retired to Chattanooga. Of all who took part in this disastrous conflict, none did better and many did worse than Hazen's brigade and the Forty-first Ohio Infantry.

On the arrival of General Grant the army was re- organized, and the Forty-first became part of a brig- ade, still commanded by General Hazen, consisting besides itself of the First and Ninety-third Ohio, the Fifth Kentucky and the Sixth Indiana, being as- signed to the Fourth Corps, under General Granger. When Grant was ready to begin operations. the deli- cate and hazardous task of leading the advance was as- signed to lIazen's brigade. Long before light on the morning of the 24th of October. the brigade em- barked on pontoons at Chattanooga. and glided silent- ly down the river. Unseen and unheard the men passed beneath the enemy's pickets stationed far above them on the river bluffs, and. though discovered at the moment of landing, succeeded in gaining a foothold on the shore, and establishing themselves on hights from which they could not be driven.

They remained in this vicinity nearly a month, while the final preparations were made for a grand advance. On the 23d of November the brigade moved forward on a reconnoisance. On a small ridge known as Orchard Knob, between Chattanooga and Mission Ridge it was received with a heavy fire, and perceived a line of intrenchments on the top of the hill. The Forty-first dashed forward in the ad- vance, and gained the top of the hill. About fifty paces in front of the enemy's works, the fight was fierce beyond description. More than half the men

were killed and wounded. The horses of Colonel Wiley and Lient. Col. Kimberly were killed under them, but those gallant officers dashed forward on foot, and the little battalion charged into the rebel works, and took them at the point of the bayonet, capturing the colors of the Twenty-eighth Alabama Infantry and more men than the Forty-first had at the end of the conflict.

Owing to the small number engaged this battle makes little show in history, yet it is remembered by the survivors of the Forty-first as the hardest fight in which they were engaged throughout their long and arduous service. Soon after it was over, General Thomas, passing that way and viewing the ground, expressed his thanks to the regiment through Colonel Wiley, in the warmest manner. "It was a gallant thing, Colonel, a very gallant thing," said the veteran, known to be as chary of his praise as any chieftan that ever bore command.

On the 24th of November the Forty-first, from its hardly-earned position watched the "Battle above the Clouds." on Lookout Mountain. On the 25th came the great battle of Mission Ridge, probably, con- sidering the strength of the enemy's position, the numbers engaged and the completeness of the Union victory, the most remarkable ever fought in America, and one of the most remarkable to be found in the annals of war, in either ancient or modern times.

At four o'clock the expectant army heard the con- certed signal, six shots fired in rapid succession from a battery of twelve-pound Parrots guns. "Forward!" shouted Hazen: "forward!" repeated the field and line officers: and forward went the men, few in numbers, but stronger in warlike enthusiasm with each succeeding battle. As they reached the farther erest of Orchard Knob they saw the valley between that and Mission Ridge, from a half to three-quarters of a mile wide-spread out before them, while beyond frowned the Gibraltar-like hights they were ordered to capture. Extending for miles on either side were to be seen the lines of blue-coated soldiers, all press- ing forward in the same direction.

Descending into the valley they came under the rebel artillery fire, many of the men falling at every step, but still the line swept forward, urged on by the officers, and at the foot of the ridge they captured the first line of the enemy's works with scarcely an effort. They could not remain there long, however, under the murderous fire to which they were subjected. Here Col. Wiley received a wound which resulted in the loss of his leg, and Lt. Col. Kimberly took com- mand of the regiment. Then came the tug of war. Hazen ordered his brigade up the mountain; and on either side brigades, divisions and corps pressed for- ward up the same rugged pathway to glory or the grave.

The Forty-first, as ever, was well to the front in this herculean task. Col. Kimberly gallantly led on his men. Lts. James Mc Mahan and George C. Dodge, Jr., both of Cleveland, were together as the regiment

---

-----

--------------

109

FORTY-FIRST INFANTRY.

started up the hill. On went the broken but invinci- ble line up the rocky steep, through an awful storm of grape, eanister and musketry the men climbing and shooting as best they could. In twenty minutes they gained the top of the ridge, when their fire was prin- eipally directed against the batteries of the enemy, which were soon compelled to retire before the deadly fire of the northern riflemen. Lt. McMahan came out nearly in front of a rebel battery, which was pour- ing death into the ranks of the Unionists. The men were of course much broken by the rugged steeps over which they had passed. Seeing a long log. how- ever, lying near the stump from which it had been cut, and which he thought might serve as a rallying point, he gathered the men as fast as they came np. and made them lie down behind the log until he bad twelve or fifteen packed as close as they could lie conveniently, while he himself took post behind the stump. Then he ordered them to load and fire as fast as possible at the artillerists of the battery before mentioned. In a short time nearly all of them were killed or wounded. Then the lieutenant rushed out with his squad captured the battery and turned its fire on the enemy, Other batteries were seized at various points along the line and used in the same manner. Mr. Pratt, now of the Eighteenth ward of Cleveland, was one of those engaged in this novel logging-lee. and corroborates the statement above made. It was this or a very similar exploit which was thu, described in Reid's History of " Ohio in the War: "

"A squad of the Forty-first seized a battery, almost before the rebels were away from it, turned it to the right and discharged it directly along the summit of the ridge, where the enemy in front of Newton's division still stubbornly held out: and. as the shells went skimming along in front of and among them, the rebels turned and fled."

Yet not without many a desperate effort to recover the ground. About a hundred of them suddenly came charging upon the right of the Forty-first. The men were much scattered, but Major Williston got together about a hundred and drove the assail- ants down the hill, where they were soon " gobbled up " by the swarming Unionists.

The soldiers, having now got complete possession of the rebel works, began shooting the artillery teams as the unlucky Confederates endeavored to remove their cannon to the rear. The horses dropped rapidly and the artillerists took to their heels, leaving the guns as a prize to the victors. The men of Hazen's brigade captured no less than twenty-seven guns and dragged them to the general's headquarters, though that officer good-naturedly allowed nine of them to be claimed and taken away by other commands,

Gen. Wood, the division commander. was highly elated, and came riding among the men, saying: "Boys, you shall have an extra cracker ap.ece for this;" an extra eracker, in those days of short rations, being no unworthy emblem of gratitude. Then came Thomas, "Old Pap Thomas," as the men affection-

ately ealled him, and they gathered in delighted crowds to cheer their favorite commander, The vic- tory was won at a loss to the Forty-first of a hundred and fifteen men killed and wounded. This was a very heavy loss in the already depleted condition of the regiment, and there were but few of the men who remained entirely unhurt after the two battles of the 23d and 25th of November, 1863.

Scarcely was the great vietory of Mission Ridge gained than the Forty-first, with the rest of the Fourth corps, was ordered to Knoxville, Communi- cations had been much interrupted. and the command suffered especially for lack of shoes. Long before reaching Knoxville half of the men of the Forty- first would have been barefooted. had it not been for the improvised coverings of cowskin and sheepskin in which they wrapped their feet. and in which they strove bravely on over the frozen ground to Clinch mountain, twenty miles northeast of Knoxville, which they reached in the latter part of December.

Here the proposition reached them from Washing- ton to re-enlist as veterans, and never was the extra- ordinary heroism. fortitude and patriotism of the American volunteer more proudly shown than on this occasion. Out of more than a thousand gallant men who had gone forth from pleasant homes to battle for their county, disease and the bullet had -pared but a hundred and eighty-eight, and even of these probably a majority had been wounded one or more times. Their sufferings on the march to Clinch mountain have just been mentioned. yet when. amid the cold and rain and sleet of a Tennessee winter. they were asked to re-enlist. a hundred and eighty out of a hundred and eighty-eight bound themselves to three years more of service-and such service-in their country's cause.

The regiment reached Cleveland on veteran furlough on the 20 of February, 1864. obtained about a hun- dred recruits, and in the latter part of March returned to East Tennessee. The two hundred and eighty men of which the regiment was composed were now united with the few remaining men of the First Ohio, and consolidated into a battalion, commanded by Lieut. Col. Kimberly.

In April the Forty-first entered on Sherman's great Atlanta campaign: being warmly engaged at Rocky Face Ridge and at Resaca.

On the 24th of May the battalion was hotly en- gaged in the conflict called variously the battle of Pickett's Mill, the battle of Pumpkin Vine Creek, and the battle near Dallas. At 9 a. m .. the command was halted, and three companies, commanded respec- tively by Lieutenants Dodge, McMahan and Cobb, moved forward as skirmishers under charge of Major Williston. They had gone scarcely a hundred yards into the woods when one of the men was killed. As Lient. McMahan, standing on a small limb, was feel- ing his pulse to see if he was really dead, a bullet broke the limb between the officer's feet. Immedi- ately afterwards the skirmishers were ordered to move

14 A

110

GENERAL HISTORY OF CUYAIIOGA COUNTY.

by the right flank at a double quick, but after a brief excursion in the vicinity of the rebel works, they were ordered back to the brigade.

About four o'clock p.m., the Forty-first, the Ninety-third and the One Hundred and Twenty- fourth Ohio moved forward to attack the enemy's right; the Forty-first in the center. After receiving a murderous volley from the intrenched foe, they charged through a ravine, and endeavored to capture the works on the opposite side. They were only able to get within about twenty yards of the foe, where they halted, obtained such cover as they could and kept up a hot fire on the enemy. Six or eight lines came to their relief, but only two got as far forward as the men of the Forty-first, and none could go any farther. Lieut. McMahan with two companies, Lieut. Dodge with one company, and Capt. Hazard with two companies, remained there until half past eight when the battalion was withdrawn. In this affair the Forty-first had a hundred and eight men killed and wounded out of two hundred and sixty.

At Pine Top mountain, near Kenesaw, the bat- talion was ordered to dislodge a detachment of the enemy, strongly fortified in a log farm-house and out- buildings. With that vim which no losses could ever subdue, the Forty-first went forward on the double- quick and drove out the rebels at the point of the bayonet.

About this time the Forty-first ceased to be what it had so long been. a part of " Hazen's brigade:" that general being made the commander of a division. The new brigade commander was Colonel O. H. Payne, of Cleveland, colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry.

It would be impracticable to relate all the conflicts in which the battalion was engaged in this remarka- ble campaign, for the ground was contested inch by inch, and the whole route from Chattanooga to At- lanta was scarcely less than one long battle-field.

On the 28th of July the battalion, being deployed as skirmishers in front of the rebel lines at Atlanta, and seeing what they thought a good chance, made a dash through a ravine, across an open field and into the rebel breastworks, where they captured a number of prisoners and drove out the rest in a perfect rout.

A day or two later the brigade was sent around to the east of Atlanta at night. The next morning it tore up some ten miles of the Montgomery railroad, and then proceeded to the southern road, about fif- teen or twenty miles from Atlanta. At midnight a tremendous noise was heard, and the whole command sprang to arms, thinking that General Hood or an earthquake was upon them. After waiting a consider- able time and finding that nothing farther happened, the men at length somewhat doubtingly returned to their beds, or rather to their blankets, for these were generally the soldier's only couch. It was soon learned that the sound came from the explosion of some eighty car loads of ammunition, blown up by

Hood when he evacuated Atlanta, to keep it from fall- ing into the hands of the " Yankees."

As Hood moved north, a heavy force, of which the Fourth corps formed a part, followed fast in his rear. Far across an intervening valley the men watched the desperate fight of Corse at Allatoona, when with his little force he obeyed the signal " Hold the fort," and repulsed the legions of Hood. Then they pro- ceeded to Galesville, whence a portion of the pursuing force returned to take part in the "March to the Sea," while the Fourth corps continued its north- ward course It proceeded by way of Chattanooga to Athens, Alabama, where a hundred and sixty-four conscripts and substitutes joined the battalion. The command went on to Pulaski, and thence to Colum- bia.

Near here Hood's army approached so near that the Fourth and Twenty-third corps were obliged to go into line of battle. They went on at night to Spring Hill; the Forty-first marching past a long line of camp fires, a few hundred yards distant, which were supposed to belong to the Unionists but which in reality were those of a rebel corps. Some of the men, approaching these fires too closely, were captured by the Confederates bivouacked around them. From Spring Hill to Franklin the Forty-first was the train- guard of the army. It skirmished with the enemy nearly all the way, and being very much exhausted was not required to take part in the battle of Franklin.

Then they went to Nashville, and after two weeks spent in building fortifications and making prepara- tions. Gen. Thomas took the offensive against Hood. At daylight on the 15th of December, 1864, the Forty-first was deployed as a double line of skir- mishers and placed behind a stone wall in front of the enemy's rifle pits, on the " Granny White " turn- pike. Skirmish firing was kept up till about eight o'clock, when the fiery valor of the Forty-first could no longer be restrained. The men jumped over the wall, dashed across an open field three hundred yards wide under a heavy fire of znsketry, captured the rifle pits of the enemy, pushed on over a knoll and drove the rebels from their breastworks at the point of the bayonet, capturing two pieces of ar- tillery. The battalion fortified its position and remained until four o'clock in the afternoon, when it was relieved; the main line moving forward and the rebels retreating.

The next day the Forty-first was again sent forward as skirmishers, to cover the advance of the right of the troops. Coming to a large rebel fortification, covered in front by an abotis. they endeavored as usual to capture it, but were checked by a murder- ous fire from a large rebel force. Some of the skirmishers penetrated the abatis, and Private Klein- haus leaped alone into the rebel breastworks. The information we have received from Captain McMahan ceases at this point, for, while he was endeavoring to lead forward a detachment of colored troops whom

----- -

111

FORTY-FIRST INFANTRY.

he found without a commander, the good fortune which had attended him through a score of battles deserted him, and he was twice severely wounded.

Colonel Kimberly, who commanded the battalion, finding that the line of battle could not be advanced, ordered his skirmishers to withdraw. Several of them, however, being inside of the ubatis, covered themselves as well as they could and waited till the enemy was broken on the right, when he withdrew from the works in front. They then sprang forward, capturing a few prisoners, two battle-flags, and no less than four pieces of artillery. The captured can- non were marked with the name of the Forty-first Ohio by order of the chief of artillery, and the men who took the flags, Sergeant Garnett, of Company G, and Private Holcomb, of Company A, were sent with them to Washington by General Thomas.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Part 25

Author: Johnson, Crisfield Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co. Number of Pages: 716

Author: Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott & Co.
Number of Pages: 716