History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 99

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490

USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 99

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The Ohio brigade was complimented in general orders for its gallantry, and was awarded the privilege to first enter and plant their banners on the captured forts. On the evening of the 18th of March, the Sixty-third was detailed to haul one of the heavy siege guns from the forts at New Madrid to Point Pleasant, 14 miles below, and opposite Tipton- ville, in Tennessee. This arduous labor was performed between dark and daylight. the reg- iment dragging its heavy load over roads im- passable for teams. The next morning the Rebel fleet were surprised to find a battery opposite Tiptonville, their only line of com- munication with their garrison at Island No. IO .*

This severe labor and its attendant expo- stire permanently disabled many men .** The regiment returned to camp, and with the army awaited the action of the engineers in remov-

"The first casualty in the Sixty-third occurred March 24th, the carelessness of a companion wounding Elish: Roberts mortally and George W. E-sex seri- ously.

** James W. Nye served during the New Madrid campaign with the Sixty-third as acting quartermaster, and was present on the field during all the battles at that point, although never having been mustered: his name does not appear on the rolls.

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HISTORY OF MARIETTA AND WASHINGTON COUNTY,

ing the obstructions from the bayou, for the passage of the gunboat fleet, and the trans- ports.

On the morning of the 7th of April, 1862, the regiment with Stanley's and Paine's divisions of the Army of the Missis- sippi, embarked on the transports to cross the Mississippi River, and were transported to the Tennessee shore, opposite the lower port. The expedition took up its line of march down the Mississippi for Tiptonvile, to intercept the en- emy, if they should attempt to retreat. The route lay through muddy corn and wheat fields with occasionally a strip of woods, having no semblance of roads. The marching was ted- ious, frequent halts were necessary, as the feet would gather more of Tennessee mud than a man was able to carry. Night came upon them in the fields, and they were compelled to bivouac in the field. and without campfires. The march was resumed at daybreak, and it reached Tiptonville in time to witness the sur- render of the army that had garrisoned Island No. 10, which had abandoned the forts, and attempted to escape by Tiptonville and the river. The expedition had been successful in intercepting and capturing them. The Six- ty-third proceeded immediately to Island No. IO, and occupied the enemy's abandoned quar- ters for the night. The next morning the reg- iment returned on the transports to New Mad- rid and occupied its okl quarters. It had borne a conspicuous part in all of the work of the Army of the Mississippi, resulting in the cap- ture of all the forts on the Mississippi above Fort Pillow .*

On the 13th of April, 1862, the regiment embarked on the transport "Silver Wave" and moved with the army of the Mississippi to Os- ceola, Arkansas, and thence to Fort Pillow, and was present during the bombardment of that fort. On the 17th of April, 1862, the

" The first clave ever manumitted under the order of President Lincoln to manumit slaves escaping from the Rebel armies to the Union lines, was a body ser- vant of Gen. Jeff Thompson, who came to the lines of the Sixt; - third at New Madrid and was manumitted by order of Gen. David S. Stanley. The manumitted contraband was afterward taken to Ohio by General Sprague.

Army of the Mississippi, having received or- ders to re-enforce the Army of the Tennes- see, under Halleck, in front of Corinth, pro- ceeded up the Mississippi and Tennessee riv- ers on the transports. On the 23rd of April, the Sixty-third landed at Hamburg, Tennes- see, four miles above the battle-ground of Shi- loh. Stanley's division was posted on the left Hank of the army, moving to the capture of Corinth, and during all the movement for its capture, the Sixty-third held its position, as the flanking regiment. It actively participated in all the reconnoissances and engagements in front of Corinth, including those at Monterey and Farmington. When the enemy moved out of Corinth on the 30th of May, the Sixty- third moved out of the trenches in immediate pursuit of the retreating army. The Thirty- ninth Ohio, of our brigade, being the first to. enter the Rebel works, and Wallace Bruce, of Washington County, being the first to mount the works. The Sixty-third was kept in pur- suit of Price's wing of the retreating army, six companies under Major Haskins proceed- ing to the Tuscumbia River on the Jacinto. road, where it found the bridges burned, and was then recalled, and proceeded with the main body of the army in pursuit of Beauregard's army, to Boonville, the Ohio brigade having. the advance of the infantry in this movement. *From Boonville, where the pursuit was aban -. doned, the regiment proceeded to Camp Clear Creek, near Corinth, and remained in camp at Clear Creek, Bear Creek, Iuka and Burns- ville.

On the 17th of September, with Stanley's. division, it participated in the battle of luka. After a tedious and forced march it came upon the enemy at the beginning of dusk, immedi- ately formed in line of battle, advanced. and , opened "that steady fire that always distin- guished it in action." It was just getting well into its work when darkness put an end to the fighting, and the two armies bivou-

*During the time of the Sixty-third's service be- - fore Corinth the Eighth Wisconsin Regiment was at- tached to Stanley's division, and the eagle. "Old Abe." was a companion in arms of the boys of the Ohio bri- gade.

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acked upon the field. The pickets of the two armies were posted so near as to be able to communicate by ordinary conversation; and the pickets of the Ohio brigade were so far ad- vanced as to cover the captured guns of Niel's Eleventh Ohio Battery, which the Rebels had been unable to remove. The morning's dawn revealed an abandoned Rebel camp, and Niel's Battery was restored to its gallant owners. An active pursuit was taken up, and from that time until the third of October, 1862, when it entered Corinth. the Sixty-third was with Rosecrans' army. beating the bush to find and engage the enemy.

The regiment took a most active and honor- able part in the battle of Corinth on the 3rd and 4th of October, 1862, and it there proved itself worthy of a place in the history of a county named after the father of our country, to know that she was well and ably represented by an organization performing its whole duty in every great contest during the war, that upon the group of colors of her regiments and batteries are found the names of every great battle of the war. In the battle of Corinth the Sixty-third did great service, and won for itself a place beside the Eighteenth, Thirty- sixth, Thirty-ninth, Seventy-seventh and Nine- ty-second, Buell's and Huntington's batteries. and the First. Seventh and Ninth cavalry. The Ohio brigade took so important a part in the battle of Corinth, which would probably have been lost but for their terrific fight, that it deserves to be described at length. We here copy the admirable description of Gen. John WV. Fuller, read at the brigade reunion on the 16th anniversary of the battle :

On the morning of October 3rd, just 16 years ago to-day, the enemy attacked the division of General Davies at the outer line of works, the line constructed by the Rebels when Sidney Johnston and Beauregard held possession of the town. Davies had been ordered there to retard the enemy's advance, until "Rosy" should he ready to let Van Dorn come in. Van Dorn's superior strength enabled him to drive Davies from this line, but Davies' men fought stubbornly, and fell back over that two or three miles so slowly, that it was near night when they approached the outskirts of the town, and when reinforcements enabled Davies to stop the enemy's advance. After dark the Ohio brigade marched to relieve one of the brigades of Davies' di-

vision, and was ordered to occupy the high ground near battery Robinet. Near the crest was formed the Ime of battle. Directly on the right of the earthwork cov- ering the battery, and stretching across the Chewalla road, steed the men of the Sixty-third; next came the Twenty-seventh. and farther still to the right was the Thirty-ninth Regiment. On the left of the battery, fac- ing to the left, and nearly at right angles with the main line, rested the Forty-third.

Let us go back through the intervening year-, and in fancy place ourselves on the spot then occupied. and look again over that field which has since been famous. Before you, for three hundred yards, lie mn confusion the few trees which have been felled to form a partial abatti -. Beyond this stands the forest, and through Loth, leads, without obstruction, the road to Chewalla. To the right of the Thirty-ninth the Ine of battle is broken for three hundred yards, by an impassable swamp, beyond which we see the rising ground, occu- pied by several brigades of our infantry, and on the ex- treme right, perhaps a mile away. the earthwork called Fort Richardson. Turning to look over your right shoulder, you may see what transpires in the streets of Corinth. Without changing your position you may. by looking over the other shoulder, see a part of the division of General Mckean, and the redoubt called Battery Phillips, which form the left of Rosecrans' line of battle. If you come to a right about. you sec directly in rear the cut through the hill where lies the Memphis railroad. and just over this, on still higher ground, stands Fort Williams, with a 20-pounder Par- rott looking out of cach embrazere. Your own bat- teries, Company F. of Second United States, and Com- pany C. of First Michigan Artillery, are ready for ac- tion on the high ground abreast of Fort Williams: all apparently so near, that but for their elevated position you might look down the cannons' throats. Here you waited during the long hours of the night of October 3rd, and here you fought on the morning of the 4th.

The removal of Davies' skirmish line, which by some mistake was not made known to us, permitted the enemy to advance so closely that, although hidden by the darkness, you could hear him planting his guns in the edge of the forest, not more than three Hundred yards in our front: and during the night the commander of that battery (I think from New Or- leans) reconnoitering the ground between his guns and your line. was quietly captured, mounted though he was, by Captain (since General) Brown, of the Sixty- third Ohio.

It was a night of suspense and anxiety fo all. We knew that General Hackleman had been killed, and we had seen General Oglesby carried to the rear, with a wound we supposed was mortal. flundreds more, wounded during the day's fight, had been borne to the hospitals, and the men of Davies' division, who had fought against great odds all day had been slowly driven back, seemed well nigh disheartened. You knew you had to mest an enemy not only strong and reso- lute, but who was also flushed with what he thought a victory. Hence you listened with anxiety to those sounds of preparation, so plainly heard from the hill, where, lying down without sleep, you waited for the assault. It seems strange, in view of the rapid and thorough mode of entrenching afterward acquired, that

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110 attempt was made to fortify, especially since we now know how much superior the enemy was in num- bers. But we had not then learned the use of spades. With the earliest dawn of day, the Rebel bat- tery in front opens its fire. What a magnificent dis- play! Nothing you had ever seen looked like the flashes of those guns! No rockets ever scattered fire like the bursting of those shells! Not long, however, for as soon as there is light enough to aim. the 20. pounder Parrotts in Fort Williams suddenly belch forth and make the place occupied by the Rebel battery so hot that it is hurriedly withdrawn. Yet not all, for one gun has been abandoned, and some ventureousome boys of the Sixty-third Ohio, with others of the First United States Infantry, run forward, and pull it into our lines by hand .* Then came fierce fighting between the skirmishers. The enemy had the cover of the woods, while our men crept from log to log, in the en- deavor to gain the better cover of the forest. Re- enforcements to our skirmishers enabled them. after two hours' fighting to drive the Rebels back, and gave the shelter sought; but not far off, the conformation of the ground was peculiarly fortunate for the enemy. He could lie on the crest of a series of ridges and sweep everything in his front. scarcely exposing a man to view. Behind these ridges he was massing his men for the assault.

About ten or eleven o'clock our attention is di- verted from the fierce skirmish in our immediate front by the advance of General Price's divisions, which are moving out of the woods to our right front, and marching upon the troops and fort which form the right of Rosecrans' line of battle. A splendid sight is that, as one Rebel brigade after another moves in fine style over the ground which our position over- looks so plainly. The attack is fierce, and we soon are shocked to see our line give way and retire into the very town. We notice, too, some of our batteries drawn out of position and rapidly pulled to the rear. The guns of Fort Williams, and of our own batteries directly in our rear, are all turned to the right, and an enfilading fire sweeps through the Rebel hosts with an effect very plainly visible : but, though disorded some- what. they move on: fresh troops pour out of the woods, and we see the Rebels rushing over the works on our right. and pouring into Corinth itself. A roll- ing fire is heard in the streets, and soon after the Rebels begin to retire. They stand awhile at the works they had captured, but our boys are coming to the front again from the 1 town. At this juncture, some regi- ments of Hamilton's division, not previously engaged, are thrown forward on the extreme right, where, as finely aligned as if on parade, they are pouring a stream of lead into the Rebel ranks. A little later, we say to each other, most joyously, "Our boys are driving them back again."

But a fiercer fire than ever opens on our own skir- mish line, and a constant hum of bullets tells us that our turn is coming now ; and it proves to be the Rebel center moving for the main attack upon the place we occupy. Looking through the trees before us, we plainly see the Rebel banners and their attacking col-

umns advancing. The Forty-third changes front for- ward on its right company, and the Eleventh Missouri is rapidly brought forward and held in reserve, just be- hind the Sixty-third Ohio. Our skirmishers are driven back pell mell upon the line of battle; the artillery with us in Robinet, and the guns which play over our heads from the rear are firing rapidly, and some of your officers are rirmning along the line ordering you to "Get down, and lie low, until they are close upon us." In another minute the head of a Rebel column, coming along the Chewalla road, is seen near by, head- ing straight for the Sixty-third and Battery Robinet. Now you rise to your feet, and pour into the enemy that steady fire which fills the road with his dead, and seems to cause a halt: for, though the rear of his column moves steadily on, the head of it comes no nearer, but appears to melt away. But the enemy is firing too. Along the whole length of the Sixty-third, and portion of the Twenty-seventh and Forty-third, officers and men are falling fast.

Some scenes here witnessed, though almost as brief as if revealed by a flash of lightning, are stamped indelibly upon our memories. Just where the Sixty- third adjoins the Twenty-seventh. three men go down together. One. in the front rank, is lifting his arms. high in the air and slowly sinking down. The man behind, and covering the first. drops as if a thunderbolt had struck him; while another turns around, and with. a look of agony upon his face, and trying to walk to the rear, moves but a step and falls. Captain McFad- den of the Sixty-third shouts out his first command in battle and is dead! Lieutenant Webb, of the Twenty- seventh. endeavors to repeat the order to "fire low," and while his mouth is opened wide, a bullet enters. He throws up his hands, and falling on his face is still forever! But the men not hit, heed nothing: they fire incessantly, and their faces black with powder, make noticeable their flashing eyes and set teeth, so. that they look like demons.

A minute later the column in the Chewalla road has disappeared, but a strong force a little farther to the west, is approaching the left of Robinet, and is mak- ing sad havoc in the ranks of the Forty-third. This regiment has hardly finished its maneuver of changing front, obstructed as is the field with logs and hrush, and exposed moreover to a flank fire from the Che- walla road. A glance in their direction reveals a startling picture! Col. Kirby Smith, commander of the regiment, is down, rider and horse together. Some men now raise him up; his face falls over towards us, and we see his cheek is red with blood. Lieutenant Heyl, the adjutant, trying to keep his saddle, clutches. his horse's mane, but gradually looses grip, and before a comrade with outstretched arms can reach him, he is on the ground. A dozen more along the line drop in that instant, and the enemy's fire, from front and flank, is so severe that for a moment a rout is feared ; but only for a moment, for Swayne here takes command of the regiment and is steadying the line, and General Stanley, who rode over to the right when he thought that all the fighting was to be done there, gallops back in the nick of time to help. His coming at that criti- cal moment seemed like the arrival of re-enforcements. And now this regiment takes sudden vengeance for its colonel's fall : for they drive back with great slaughter,

*Companies B and G.

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the force which approaches to the left of Robinet, and shoot every Rebel who shows his head above the parapet or tries to climb through the embrazures of the battery, when the final effort is made very soon there- after, to carry the work by storm.

While the Forty-third is thus engaged, Colonel Rogers, commanding the Texan brigade, rides out from the woods, and with his troops moves along the Che- walla road heading for the battery and the Sixty-third. Another moment, his horse is shot and he is coming along the road on foot. His leading color-sergeant falls, when Rogers, picking up the colors, continues to advance with Hag in hand. A cloud of Rebel skirmish- ers on either side of the road are firing heavily on the Sixty-third and left wing of the Twenty-seventh, un- til 48 per cent. of the men of the former regiment are killed or wounded, and the line is so much thinned that Colonel Sprague and I, standing behind, can look right through it, and distinctly see the advancing Reb- els, now close at hand.

I shall always recollect how well Sprague looked at that eventful moment. Tall, and commanding in appearance, with sword in one hand and pistol in the other, he stood as a painter likes to portray an officer in battle. I shall remember, too, looking at the face of the Rebel Colonel, Rogers, when not distant more than thirty yards, and noting the peculiar expression it bore. He looked neither to the right nor left, neither at his own men nor at mine; but with eyes steadily upon us ; and there Hashed through my mind this ques- tion, "Is he stupid with drink, or is he simply resolved to calmly meet a fate which he foresees?" Before there was time to answer to myself the question, the Rebel column in the road seemed to gain some tre- mendous impetus from the rear, for it suddenly rushed on like a great wave, threatening to sweep into the gap which had been shot through the Sixty-third, and to carry the redoubt by storm. The supreme moment had now come: and I turned to give the signal to the Eleventh Missouri, in reserve, and close behind. The leader of this regiment, perhaps ten minutes earlier, had received his orders; they had been sung out over the heads of his men, so that every soldier in the ranks knew what was wanted, and there was no need to re- peat them now. "Forward!" shouted the major, as the regiment sprang up, and I had to run to the right to let them pass. With a short, quick step, an alignment perfect, they filled up the gap which the enemy's fire had made, charging the Rebel column on the head. The Twenty-seventh. under Spaulding, which had lost heav- ilv, yet still was full of fight, joined by the plucky remnant of the Sixty-third. rushed forward at the same moment, charging the column obliquely on its left flank when in an instant the whole scene changed. Rogers, with many of his men, lay dead before us, and those who were not prisoners, were flying back to the woods .* One moment, the Rebels seemed to be swarm-

*At the time the Eleventh Missouri came up, a clean gap had been shot away between the two wings of the Sixty-third, and 18 men joined in the charge at the left of the Eleventh Missouri, and 127 between the Eleventh Missouri and the Twenty-seventh Ohio, and at the close of the charge the Sixty-third was the most advanced of the line and was requested to fall back and align with the Eleventh Missouri and the Twenty- seventh Ohio.

ing over us in thousand-, our own hines looked thin and weak, we seemed threatened with destruction; the next, most of the Iving of the foremost Rebels were our prisoners, a few hundred, apparently, were running to the forest, while our boys seemed to have swelled into many thousands.

In the melee this banner of the enemy [ pointing to a captured flag displayed in the rear of the speaker] was captured by a private of the Twenty-seventh Ohno, Orrin B. Goula, of Company G. whom 1 am glad to see here to-night. But there was one red flag. I think the banner briefly borne by Rogers, which escaped ns by a miracle, Some bold Texan had picked it up al- most from beneath our feet, and throwing the staff across his shoulders, ran in a zig-zag manner for the woods. He dodged behind a log a moment here, then behind a stump there: he was fired at by twenty men or more, and once, whether hit or not, tumbled head- long when striding a fallen tree. Yet he escaped with the banner after all: and as he passed over the ridge out of our sight, some of our boys who had missed hum, gave Fini the cheer that was due a hero

An incident may here be mentioned of the Forty- third. When the Rebels made their final effort to break through our lines, Lientenant Robinet, of the battery, severely wounded in the head, fell senseless under one of his guns. At this, most of his men ran to the rear. A moment later, some of the men of Company A. of the Forty-third, entered the battery, and aided the few brave fellows who had stood their ground, to man the guns. The enemy was now retreating, and, in the ex- citement, a little drummer passed directly before the battery and jumped upon a log to see the Rebels run. A piece had just been sighted and "ready, fire," fol- lowed before the little fellow was discovered. When the smoke cleared up, we saw that both his legs were torn away. Somehow there seemed a sting in the rec- ollection that men of his own regiment had fired this shot. And now came Colonel Noyes, of the Thirty- ninth, who was so far to the right that his men could only get an oblique fire, asking permission to bring his regiment to the Chewalla road, where they could take a hand when the next assault should come. Two min- utes later the regiment was across the road, but the battle was ( ver.

That thrill of cestacy which victory brings, was here intensified by an act of the commanding general. Rosecrans had lost his temper when the troops attacked by Price had temporarily given away, and had hardly time to become appeased by their subsequent good con- duct. Still nursing his wrath, and having seen Van Dorn had met with a different reception at the hands of this brigade, he was disposed to extol the men who fought near Robinet, at the expense of those who had fallen back. So riding to the crest we occupied and pointing to the right, he said : "I have just come from a part of the field where some of our troops retreated like old women ; but now I know, not only from what 1 heard and what I saw at a distance, but also from these piles of dead along your front, that I am in the presence of brave men! So brave that I take my hat off in your presence, and thank you, in our country's name. for your great valor!" No soldier who heard these words will be likely to forget them, ror the appearance of Rosecrans as he addressed us, hat in hand.

The Sixty-third entered the fight with 275

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men. It held its line stubbornly during the whole fight, and lost six officers and 134 men, killed and wounded. After the battle, the sur- viving half of the regiment joined in the pur- suit of Van Dorn to Ripley, where the pursuit was abandoned and the regiment returned to Corinth. It remained in camp until the sec- ond of November, when it proceeded to join Grant's army. On the route it was re-en- forced by a battalion of the One Hundred and Twelfth Ohio, which had been consolidated with it, and its depleted ranks filled up. On the HIth of December it went into camp at Oxford, Mississippi. Late in the evening of the 16th of December, the Ohio brigade re- ceived orders to proceed to the rear and pro- tect the lines of communication of the army. from the attacks of Van Dorn, and Forrest's cavalry. On the 17th of December it moved by rail to Jackson, Tennessee. Ten days were spent in marching and counter-marching, to intercept the enemy. On the 27th the regi- ment joined the command of General Sulli- van. On the 30th of December Colonel Dun- ham with his brigade was sent to intercept Forrest at Parker's Cross Roads, and the Ohio brigade had orders to follow in the morning.

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History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 99

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1490

Author: Andrews, Martin Register, 1842-; Hathaway, Seymour J
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1490