USA > Ohio > The Fourteenth Ohio national guard- the Fourth Ohio volunteer infantry > Part 6
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While the drills were going on, and while the men improved in their knowledge of military tactics, other changes were being made. Sergeants and cor- porals had dropped out for various reasons, others proved incompetent in the field and were reduced so that every private in the regiment who had any am- bition to become great, aspired to the chevrons. Many a disappointment was suffered during those hours and many a good "non-com" received his chevrons.
This state of affairs existed for twelve days. During that time, however, the boys had been given an idea of every imaginable kind of weather known to a continental climate from summer to winter, to say nothing of the pouring rains which made the camp a
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veritable pond and the boys who existed in it water soaked heroes. They had wanted all that goes with the life of a soldier and with a few exceptions they received all they had bargained for. All that was lacking was hardtack and the presence of an armed enemy.
Within a week after the regiment had taken its position in Camp Bushnell Captain Rockefellar, of the United States army, had arrived to muster the militiamen into the volunteer service of the United States. It was decided that the Fourteenth Regiment should become the "Fourth" in the federal service, the Sixteenth the "Sixth" and the Seventeenth the "Seventh." The First, Second and Third regiments were mustered and then came the Fourth on May ninth. First Colonel Coit and his staff and noncom- missioned staff took the oath which made them volun- teer soldiers. Then the twelve companies in order of the rank of their captains marched to the headquar- ters of the mustering officer, near general headquar- ters and all those who had successfully borne the phy- sical examination required by the government, were sworn in.
As has been stated elsewhere, it had been de- cided that the regiment would be received into the service as it had been organized in the National Guard, but trouble arose as to the Hospital and Signal corps. Lieutenant Miller, who had made the Signal corps al- most a perfect organization of its kind, was not mus- tered into the service and the men he had trained so well, although they were telegraph operators and civil
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engineers, had to enlist as privates in the various com- panies or remain out of the service. Most of them chose the former and Lieutenant Miller was afterwards given a commission in the U. S. Volunteer service. The physicians, one major surgeon and two assistant surgeons, Major Seamans, of Delaware, and Captains Wright, of Circleville, and Taylor, of Columbus, were mustered in but no provision was made for the Hospital corps as it had existed in the militia service. The greater number of the members, however, enlisted as members of companies under the promise that they would be detailed to the hospital, but later in the ser- vice they were detached from the regiment and some of them did not return to the regiment until long after the command had been returned to the United States. Several of them were fortunate in this, however, as they afterwards received the rank of hospital steward andl commissary sergeant, something that would hardly have happened had they been allowed to remain with the regiment, from the fact that no vacancies occurred. More will be said of these thoroughly patriotic and J atient young men later on.
In the struggle for recognition as an organization the band came in for its share of trouble also. Many of the men who had been members of the old regi- mental band in the National Guard felt unable to leave their families and other interests for the compensation offered by the government to private soldiers and while Bandmaster Jesse Worthington and Principal Musician Charles Rulo had been mustered into the federal service as members of the noncommissioned
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staff, no special provision was made for music except the two trumpeters allowed to each company. Many plans were discussed and many were the offers that were made, but the only way to get a band was for the musicians of the old band to enlist as privates and ef- fect the musical organization afterwards. It was agreed that all the other men of the regiment would pay two per cent. of their wages to the band. With the exception of the adjustment of a few complica- tions, this arrangement continued until the regiment was mustered out of the service.
This state of living in an alternate state of fear and hope lasted for several days when the peace of the boys began to be perturbed by ru- mors of orders to leave. Dewey had given the Dons the first defeat in his memorable accomplislı- ment at Manila and everybody was singing the praise of the great naval commander and his brave jacktars. One minute it would be thoroughly understood that the regiment would go at once to Tampa, Florida, and there embark for Cuba and then plans had changed and the Ohio troops would be sent to Washington to protect the capital against a possible attack which the Spaniards were said to be contemplating. The next minute some one would get from a "reliable source" that something else would be done and thus between tormenting the guards on duty around the camp of the Eighth Regiment and hearing of "wars and rumors of wars"-especially the rumors-the men lived in a state of anxiety until Saturday, May 14, when Colonel Coit received definite orders to report at Camp George
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H. Thomas, at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, about ten miles south of the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The night of the fourteenth was an unusually bad one. The rains had fallen in torrents, the com- pany streets were little more than ditches and the tents were little more than pools of water. The tent- age had seen too much service and as they were not in- tended to be used in anything but fair weather, the boys suffered more than a little on account of the leaky canvas.
Orders for the night were merely nominal so far as the passing of men in and out of the guard lines was concerned. Passes were granted, especially to the Co- lumbus men and most of them spent their last night in Ohio as they thought, and which indeed was to some of them, with their families at home. Those from the other towns were granted permission to go to their homes in cases where it was possible to return to camp before the time set for moving and those who could not get away were made as comfortable as possible.
The morning of the fifteenth dawned bright and fair. The sun broke through the thick clouds and scattered them away as though a special effort were being made to cheer the men in the hour of parting with friends and loved ones. The camp of the Fourth was the scene of hurry and bustle everywhere. Friends came out from Columbus and from the other cities to see the boys before they had made all arrangements for packing and to take a final handshake before the regiment was formed. Baskets and boxes filled to their utmost with the good things of life were carried
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in, but in many cases it was disposed of before the tents were torn down.
Finally the order came to get ready and then there was a flurry. Officers and their assistants, the "non-coms," were busy giving orders and the men were kept on the run obeying them. Details were made for this and for that so that the boys had not a minute which they could safely call their own. The baggage was loaded on wagons and the tents were torn down and in less time than is required to read this meager account, the camp of the Fourth Ohio was known no more to Camp Bushnell.
As soon as everything could be gotten in shape, "assembly" was sounded and the regiment was formed on the ground where it had been paraded each day when the weather would permit. It was a little muddy, of course, but the sun continued to shine brightly and little inconvenience was suffered by anyone. The Eighth Ohio, which had been part of the second bri- gade under Colonel Coit, acted as escort as far as the limits of the camp and there the regiment was taken charge of by all the military and civic societies of the city of Columbus.
A mass of people lined the route of march from the camp along Broad and High streets to the depot. Flags and bunting stretched over the streets, banners strung from every house and everything took on a gala appearance in honor of the departure for the front of the "pride of Central Ohio." Bands of music heralded the approach of the Fourth and at every point along the line of march, men women and chil-
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dren cheered, shouted and wept as they saw the boys marching steadily down the street, no one knew to where, how many would return or what trials would be endured before any of the faces passing before them would be seen again.
It was the greatest day the city of Columbus had ever seen. Whistles all over the city screamed out the news that the regiment was leaving; bells from the churches, shops and engine houses rang out their musical peals of farewell; cannon boomed their sonor- ous but significant salutes, but all this turmoil could not suppress the sobs that persistently rose to the breast of the soldier as he recognized through the mass of humanity the wife, the mother or the sweet- heart he was leaving behind, perhaps forever. Strong men wept as they saw their sons march from their sight, living sacrifices to a noble cause; children cried out with pain as they saw their fathers disappear in the distance, going, they knew not where or why; mothers hid their eyes as they saw the pride of their lives among the masses marching proudly down the street with a musket on his shoulder. The only happy face to be seen anywhere was that of the lisping babe, too tender to realize the awfulness of the scene being enacted before its innocent eyes.
When the regiment reached the Broad Street Methodist church, the voice of the colonel rang out above the din and the command "halt" was repeated down the line. The noises seemed to cease for the time being and there in the open air, beneath the rays of the bright spring sun, Bishop Joyce, of the Metho-
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dist church, asked that the blessing of the Heavenly . Father rest upon the men and officers of the regiment wherever duty called them. How nearly that prayer was answered, it is the purpose of the following pages to relate.
Governor Bushnell had taken place on the box of a coupe near the corner of Broad and High streets to review the regiment as it passed by. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he saw the boys pass down the street to go out to represent the state at the front, and it may be said here that as long as the regiment was out of the limits of its native state or when it returned, flushed with victory, it had no better friend than he who stood there to give the boys a sad farewell.
Finally working its way through the dense crowd of people, the regiment arrived at the depot and there boarded a train divided into three sections, bound for Chickamauga Park. It was then afternoon and sad as the parting had been the boys were glad to throw themselves down on the car seats to rest. They had gone without dinner and the boxes which loving hands had filled with good things to eat were soon opened only to see the contents disappear as if by magic. The train soon left, however, amid the same patriotic dem- onstration which had marked the march through the streets of the city and when the view of the capital faded away the men reluctantly stretched themselves out on the soft seats to give up their thoughts to the scenes they had just witnessed and to the future.
The trip through the picturesque hills of Ken- tucky was mostly after night, but the morning brought
- -- ---
THE REGIMENT LEAVING CAMP BUSHNELL FOR CHICKAMAUGA PARK.
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with it a sight of historic old Lookout mountain and the boys breakfasted within the city limits of Chat- tanooga, Tennessee. Considerable time was spent here before the trip could be resumed, but before noon all was arranged and the regiment was soon bounding across the hills to the national park.
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CHAPTER VII.
CAMP GEORGE H. THOMAS.
The Ride to Chickamauga Park-From Lytle to the Camp- Early Experiences-The Regiment Assigned-Hard Tack and Bacon-A Military Training School-Facts About Lytle-Regimental "Canteens"-Amusement- Facts About the Camp-Some of Its Advantages-Vis- itors from Home and from Abroad-Evening Parades- Cakes, Pies and Sweetmeats-Religious Services-Re- connoitering Expeditions-A Sham Battle-Setting up and Breaking Camps-Sink Details-Rumors and Or- ders-Good News at Last.
There was but one railroad leading to the camp- ing place. Trains stopped to discharge passengers for the park at a small station called Lytle. There was a small depot and two dwellings at the station when the regiment arrived there and the only business houses were a grocery where the postoffice was located and several frame structures where enterprising Chatta- nooga restauranteurs had started branches. The gov- ernment had constructed a board platform for the unloading of horses and mules and near the platform was the government coral where were penned hun- dreds of the longeared "soldiers" waiting to be dis- tributed to the volunteer regiments which soon began to mobilize at the park. The corral in itself was a great sight as well as the surrounding scenery, where, nearly half a century before, had been fought one of the greatest battles in history.
As soon as the unloading was completed the reg- iment was formed and marched for the position to be
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occupied in the great camp which was daily becoming greater. Several regiments of regular troops had been encamped there before, but they had all been taken further south. There were several regiments of vol- unteer troops ahead of the Fourth, but it was among the very first to reach the great rendezvous.
Marching across the red clay hills of Chicka- mauga field the regiment presented a brilliant sight. The colors spread proudly before the gentle southern breeze, the band played the same stirring tunes to which two armies had marched out to meet each other on the field of battle long years before, and the boys marched away with the steady tread that becomes worthy sons of noble sires.
Although the train bearing the Ohio troops reached Lytle about ten o'clock in the morning, the spot selected for camp was not reached until late in the afternoon.
The camp was laid out in due form and by the time the boys had prepared their future homes, it was time for them to put the hastily prepared couches to service. There were no folding beds, no springs and no place to put these or other comforts if they could have been secured. The boys wrapped themselves up in their blankets and lay down on the bosom of mother earth to dream of home and loved ones. The first night was greatly enjoyed even if the lizards did in- sist on intruding upon the peace of the tire-worn sol- dier. It was not long before the boys learned that the lizards were harmless and that mosquito bites were not dangerous.
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The next morning the boys learned that they were a part of the second brigade of the first division of the first corps of the Army of the Gulf, the military division of the United States, of which General Brooke had been commander with headquarters at Atlanta. It was but a few days until the rest of the second brigade came in and took position on either side of the Fourth, the Third Illinois at the west and the Fourth Pennsylvania at the east. These three regiments were together and lived as peaceable neigh- bors until the close of the war.
There was little interest to the camp at Chicka- mauga Park except its magnitude. There were sol- diers there from almost every part of the United States, north, south, east and west. There was no di- vision as to the existence of sympathies in former wars -all were Americans.
One of the first novelties introduced to the boys was part of the first ration. It was the old fashioned hardtack. They had read of that feature of military life in both prose and verse. They had heard it praised and cursed, lauded to the skies and carried down into the blackest recesses of the great beyond, but few of them had ever "broken bread when it was hardtack." Of course the hardtack did not come alone. Troubles never do come singly, and when the regular old fashioned army bacon, "sow belly," as it was called by the majority or "pig stomach," as it was known by the less vulgar class, came, the boys realized that their troubles had actually begun. These two evils were well received as long as they were nov-
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elties, but for some reason not explained in the army regulations, soldiers become tired of this menu if it is served three times each day and for seven days in each week.
In defense of hardtack it must be said, however, that for troops in the field, it is the best possible sub- stitute for bread that could be secured. It can be eaten "raw" or just as it comes from the bakery, it can be soaked in water and broiled, it can be broken to pieces and moistened in coffee, or it can form part of a mess made of beans, hardtack and other things, which, when ready to serve, bears a name, that when applied by one person to another precipitates a fight.
This was the only kind of bread that could be procured for a while but the government soon estab- lished a mammoth bakery at Lytle and fresh bread was served to all of the regiments each day. Potatoes, fresh meat, vegetables and sugar came from the com- missary department, while the markets of Chattanooga and vicinity furnished milk, fruit and other provisions.
Camp Thomas was designed to be nothing more nor less than a military training school on a large basis. The men were drilled from morning to night. They were trained in the manual of arms, in all the evolutions known to military science, and they were educated in the performance of guard duty. In fact, they were taught all that it is necessary for the typical American soldier to know.
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" was applied in a way at the camp. There were amuse- ments of various kinds, and to a limited extent the
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men were permitted to enjoy them. Lytle, the station at the railroad, grew in a phenomenally short period of time from the little hamlet described, to a very metro- politan but temporary little city. There were all sorts of business enterprises represented, newspaper branch offices, telegraph and express companies, military sup- ply stores, photographers, hotels and restaurants, gambling dens and all the catch-penny schemes known to the fakir's art. In the midst of the camp a theatre had been constructed but it never met with marked success. The greater number of the regiments had "canteens" or restaurants, the profits of which were set apart for the benefit of the regiment at large. In the case of the Fourth Ohio, the proceeds of the sale of canned goods, refreshments, etc., were used to pay the obligation offered the band when the regiment was at Camp Bushnell.
One of the most interesting forms of amusement was the collecting of relics of the Civil war. It will be remembered that the soldiers of General Brooke were not the first to occupy positions on the field of Chickamauga, but that those hills had been stained by the blood of one of the most terrible battles re- corded in the pages of history. In every part of the park could be picked up parts of rifles, bayonets, pieces of shell, bullets, canon balls, swords, ordnance supplies of all kinds and even human bones. The trees them- selves bore evidence of the fierce struggle between the forces of the north and the south and the rocks and decayed logs gave mute testimony of the terrible trag- edy which had been played on this scene less than a half century before.
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Some of the members of the Fourth Ohio had been on this very field and to them the work of time and the hand of man was unable to change the ap- pearance of the hills and the surrounding country. They would often pick out the positions of their reg- iments in the great battle and relate the experiences of that fight to their younger comrades, partly for their amusement and instruction and partly to get them familiar with the scenes and duties of the bat- tlefield.
Chickamauga Park had more than one advan- tage over almost any other place in the country for such a camp. There was not only a good water supply, plenty of fresh air, parade and camp grounds, market facilities, convenience to the sea board, a climate prac- tically semi-tropical at that season of the year, but the very position of the park, the surrounding country and the history of the place had a smack of war which was absolutely wholesome for the young men who were training for the battlefield.
The concentration of so many troops and the congregation of so many persons had a marked effect on the general intellectual welfare of the soldiers, for here they were able to meet and exchange ideas on subjects which have since proved valuable to them as citizens as well as soldiers. One of the effects of this camp on the soldiers there and in fact of the war and the people of the United States generally, was the re- moval of the old prejudices of the Civil War. Stand- ing here as they did, shoulder to shoulder, preparing to fight under one flag and for one country, the union
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of men from every part of the country, but from the two great sections especially, removed more perman- ently than any other cause could have done the ill- feeling which had once precipitated a long and bloody civil war and which had ever since had the effect of keeping the people of these sections at more than a brotherly distance apart.
The camp was visited by the friends of the sol- diers there and by foreign soldiers who had come there to study American ideas of warfare. Even China had sent one of her brightest intellectual lights to learn something of the art of war from the young but sub- stantial America. English, German, French and Russian experts pronounced the camp perfect in every particular as to natural appointments, but after the camp was abandoned many defects were pointed out as to the general management of the camp.
The occasion of a visit from friends at home was the source of great pleasure to the boys. These visits were not restricted in any manner, but the camp was open to all at any time. Excursions were run to the park from almost every town which was represented there and the camp was usually crowded on Sundays. The people of Chattanooga and Atlanta flocked to the park in the evening to witness the evening parades and it is very pleasing indeed to note that the Fourth Ohio drew as much, if not more, attention than any other regiment on the field. The regiment had been so well drilled and so thoroughly disciplined while a National Guard organization that the parade ceremony of the regiment was as nearly perfect as it was possible for a
CAMP LOGAN 1892
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single body of men to make it. There were very few occasions, indeed, when the Fourth Ohio did not en- tertain a host of admirers at "retreat."
One of the disadvantages, not from a soldier's point of view, however, was the absence of the things which make the epicure happy. Mothers, sisters and sweethearts did all they could to gladden the hearts of their loved ones at the park, but their efforts in this line were entirely fruitless, for as fast as the express wagons would deliver the loads of boxes of pies, cakes and pastry, the regimental surgeons would dump it into a sink dug for the purpose. The practice of this apparent "cruelty," hard as it seemed at the time to the boys, was the means of not only preserving the health and efficiency of the regiment, but undoubtedly saved lives. Plain bacon and beans is a very coarse diet to be sure, but the addition of desserts promiscu- ously selected is not conducive to the best results of a military camp, and this was one of the lessons which the Chickamauga training school taught its pupils.
There were many attractions at Chattanooga also, but it was the policy of the higher officials to discour- age trips to the city as much as possible. Military regulations are so fixed that when an officer of high rank desires the men in his command to do a certain thing, that thing is usually done, or some one receives an opportunity to explain why it is not done. The men of the Fourth soon learned this and at no time was there any trouble in the regiment on account of the disobedience of these orders.
Each Sunday was made the day it should have been. A branch of the Young Men's Christian As-
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sociation erected a canvas tabernacle at which services were held at stated times during the week and also on each Sunday. Some of the most noted evangelists in the country came to the park to hold religious services and they were the means of accomplishing much good. Chaplain Shindel also conducted divine services each Sunday, and owing to the efforts of Captain Joseph J. Walsh, of Company A, the professors of the Catholic faith were permitted to attend services in Chatta- nooga. Thus it will be seen that the moral welfare of the soldiers was not overlooked by the officers of the regiment or by the public.
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