USA > Ohio > The history of Fuller's Ohio brigade, 1861-1865; its great march, with roster, portraits, battle maps and biographies > Part 10
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As our men returned, the enemy poured in their fire, and I was hardly thirty feet from the mouth of the cannon. Minnie balls filled the stump I was behind, and the shells bursting near it stunned me. The grape shot hewed large pieces of my cump, gradually wearing it away. I undand the horrors of death here for half an hour.
I endeavored to resign myself and prayed. Our troops formed in line in the woods and advanced a second time to the charge with cheers. They began firing when about half way, and I endured it all. I was feigning death. In the first charge our men did not fire a gun but charged across the ditch and to the very mouth of the cannon with the bayonet. So also the second charge, but they fired. Thank God I am unhurt. Our boys were shot down like hogs and could not stand it, and fell back each man for himself. Then the same scene was enacted as before. This time the yankees charged after them and as I had no chance at all and all around me, men were surrendering I was compelled to do so, as a rascal threatened to shoot me. I had to give up my sword to him and we were marshalled to a large house. There were about four hundred officers and privates. We were treated very politely, more so than I expected.
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CHAPTER XV.
RETREAT OF THE ENEMY FROM CORINTH.
The Union Commander did not realize at the moment the battle was ended, the great injury that had been inflicted upon the enemy, nor the fact that the rebel forces were, so badly shattered that a retreat was im- mediately ordered by them which continued all night.
Rosecrans who had been waiting for a brigade of fresh troops under General McPherson, which arrived on the morning of the 5th of October, started at once in pursuit and found that the rebels in their haste to parape had thrown away all of their baggage. The roads were strewn with tents, wagons, guns, cartridge boxes, canteens and haversacks. The roughness of the country which was covered with woods and thickets, made movements impractical in the darkness of the night and slow and difficult by day. The Ohio Brigade followed the enemy over the Chewalla Road.
The retreating forces took the road to Davis' Bridge on the Hatchie River by way of Pocohontas, and being familiar with the country, knowing where to go, and having to look for nothing but attack on its rear, they moved with freedom, so that when General Ord's forces, arriving from Bolivar, attacked them at Davis' Bridge and drove them back, they escaped over narrow roads and moved through the thickets southward.
Fuller's Ohio Brigade, following the enemy, crossed the Tuscumbia and Hatchie Rivers to beyond Ripley, and then returned to Corinth, arriving on the 15th, having marched in the eleven days, one hundred and twenty miles. The weather grew cold and snow fell and during that time army rations could not be supplied by the commissary department. The principal food obtained, consisted of large yams or sweet potatoes found on the planta- tions. For thirty days, the movements of the brigade had been so constant and rapid, that it was necessary to keep camp and garrison equipage in wagons and the soldiers bivouaced in the open air. Many privations were endured by the soldiers from marching in the rain, mud and cold, from sleeping without blankets or shelter while lying in the roads, and from wait- ing long hours for the slow-moving wagon trains, containing ammunition, to close up to their commands.
The campaign just ended made West Tennessee and North Mississippi free from hostile troops. Communication with the North which had been interrupted, was very soon opened again. Letters and newspapers were received containing congratulations and thanks to the officers and soldiers of
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PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY.
this army for their gallant conduct in the battle. There were also con- gratulatory letters from President Lincoln and resolutions from Congress.
In recognition of his services, General Rosecrans was given command of the Army of the Cumberland. General Stanley commanding the Division of which Fuller's Ohio Brigade was a part, received another star, being promoted to Major-General and assigned to the Cavalry Department, the Fourth Corps, of the Army of the Cumberland. Lieutenant-Colonel Swayne was promoted to Colonel of the Forty-third Ohio for bravery in action. Major Spaulding of the Twenty-seventh Ohio, received promotion to Lieu- tenant-Colonel. Captain Churchill was promoted to Major. Private Orrin B. Gould was promoted to Captain and Sergeant Charles H. Smith to Second Lieutenant in the Twenty-seventh Ohio, by the Governor of Ohio, for meritorious conduct in battle. A large number of promotions were made in the four regiments which will appear in the roster.
The Confederate speakers and their press now talked of this, their "great disaster," which reacted upon other theaters of the war and cast upon them "long shadows of gloom."
On October 26th, nine hundred recruits arrived from Ohio and were assigned to the brigade.
THE UNION FORCES ENGAGED AT CORINTH.
The Union forces at Corinth were commanded by Major-General W. S. Rosecrans.
Two Divisions of the Army of the Mississippi and two Divisions of the Army of the Tennessee.
Army of the Mississippi, Second Division, Brigadier-General David S. Stanley.
First Brigade, Colonel John W. Fuller.
Twenty-seventh Ohio, Major Z. S. Spaulding,
Thirty-ninth Ohio, Colonel A. W. Gilbert, Lieut .- Colonel Edward F. Noyes.
Forty-third Ohio, Colonel J. L. Kirby Smith, (mortally wounded), Lieutenant-Colonel Wager Swayne.
Sixty-third Ohio, Colonel John W. Sprague.
Captain Albert Jenks' Company of Illinois Cavalry.
Third Michigan Battery, Lieutenant Carl A. Lamberg.
Eighth Wisconsin Battery (section) Lieutenant D. McLean.
Second United States Battery, Company F., Captain Thomas D. Maurice.
Brigade loss : Killed, fifty-five; Wounded, two hundred and ninety-five ; Missing, ten ; Total, three hundred and sixty.
Second Brigade, Colonel Joseph A. Mower ( wounded ).
Twenty-sixth and Forty-seventh Illinois, Fifth Minnesota, Eleventh Missouri, Eighth Wisconsin, and Second Iowa Battery.
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE
Third Division, Brigadier-General Charles S. Hamilton, escort Company C., Fifth Missouri Cavalry.
First Brigade, Brigadier-General Napoleon B. Bedford.
Forty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Indiana, Fifth Iowa, Fourth Min- nesota, Twenty-sixth Missouri, First Missouri Artillery, Eleventh Ohio Battery. Second Brigade, Brigadier-General J. C. Sullivan.
Fifty-sixth Illinois, Tenth and Seventeenth Iowa, Tenth Missouri, Company F of the Twenty-fourth Missouri, Eightieth Ohio, Sixth and Twelfth Wisconsin Batteries.
Cavalry Division, Seventh and Eleventh Illinois, Second Iowa, Seventh Kansas, Third Michigan, Fifth Ohio ( four Companies).
Unattached, Sixty-fourth Illinois ( Yates' Sharpshooters ) Captain J. Morrill, First United States siege Artillery (six Companies), A, B, C, D, H and I, First U. S. Infantry.
ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE.
Second Division, Brigadier-General Thomas A. Davies commanding.
First Brigade, Brigadier-General P. A. Hackleman (killed).
Fifty-second Illinois, Second Iowa, Seventh Iowa, detachments of the Fifty-eighth Illinois, Second, Seventh, Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa. Second Brigade, Brigadier-General Richard J. Oglesby (wounded). Ninth and Twelfth Illinois, Twenty-second and Eighty-first Ohio. Third Brigade, Colonel S. D. Baldwin (wounded). Seventh, Fiftieth and Fifty-seventh Illinois.
1 Artillery Companies D, H, I and K of the First Missouri.
Unattached, Fourteenth Missouri ( western sharpshooters). Sixth Division, Brigadier-General Thomas J. Mckean. First Brigade, Brigadier-General John McArthur.
Twenty-first Missouri, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Wisconsin.
Second Brigade, Colonel L. M. Oliver, commanding the Independent Company of Illinois Cavalry, Eighteenth Missouri ( four Com- panies ), Fourteenth and Eighteenth Wisconsin, Fifteenth Mich- igan.
Third Brigade, Colonel Marcellus M. Crocker. Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa.
Artillery, Captain Andrew Hickenlopper.
Company F of the Second Illinois, First Minnesota, Third Ohio (section), Fifth and Tenth, Ohio.
CONFEDERATE FORCES AT CORINTH.
Army of West Tennessee, Major-General Earl Van Dorn. Army of the West, General Sterling Price.
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FORCES ENGAGED AT CORINTHI.
First Division, Brigadier-General L. Hebert.
First Brigade, Fourteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Arkansas, Third and First Missouri Cavalry (dismounted), Fourth Alabama Infantry.
Captain Killiam Wade's Missouri Battery, Third Louisiana, Fortieth Mississippi, First Texas Legion, Third Texas Cavalry (dis- mounted ), Clarke's Missouri Battery, St. Louis, Missouri Bat- tery, Second and Fifth Missouri.
Third Brigade, Seventh, Forty-third, Thirty-sixth, Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Mississippi, Fourth and Sixth Missouri, Adams' Battery, Third Missouri Cavalry (dismounted), Thirty-seventh Alabama Infantry, Landis Guibor's Batteries.
Maury's Division.
Forty-second Alabama. Fifteenth and Twenty-third Arkansas, Thirty-fifth Mississippi, Second and Ninth Texas, Bledsoe's Missouri Battery, Slemon's and Wert Adams' Cavalry.
Cabell's Brigade.
Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first Arkansas, Jones' Arkansas Battalion, Rapley's Arkansas Battalion. Ashford's Arkansas Battery.
Phefer's Brigade.
Third Arkansas Cavalry (dismounted ), Sixth Texas Cavalry (dis- mounted), Stirman's Sharpshooters, McNally's Arkansas Battery.
Cavalry Brigade (incomplete official returns), Second Arkansas, Second Mississippi, Second Missouri.
Reserve Artillery, Hoxton's Tennessee Battery, Sengstak's Alabama Battery.
DISTRICT OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
First Division, Major-General Mansfield Lovell.
Fourth, Thirty-first and Thirty-fifth Alabama, Ninth Arkansas, Third and Seventh Kentucky, Hudson's Mississippi Battery. Second Brigade ( incomplete official returns ), Thirty-third, Thirty-ninth Mississippi.
Third Brigade, Sixth. Fifteenth, Twenty-second and Lester's Mississ- ippi, First Missouri, Watson's Louisiana Battery.
Cavalry Brigade. First Mississippi, Seventh Tennessee, Louisiana Zouave Battalion.
CHARGE OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH OHIO. OCTOBER 4TH, 1862.
By Second Lieutenant George W. Young. 'Twas autumn time so mild, and elsewhere fair and still. But here the thunders burst from each surrounding hill ; The morning air so soft, grew thick with sulphur smoke, Around more wildly rang the warriors' battle cry ; Swift hissed the bursting shell and fell the saber stroke,
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE
As brave, met equal brave, to conquer or to die ; And loudly musket echoed musket's dread refrain, While headless tramped the living o'er the mangled slain.
Undaunted still they fought, the traitors in their pride, While flashed their hateful flag, in front, on either side ; Regarding not that death beset the bloody way, The horrid cannon belched along the Union line ; With steady steps and slow, true heroes in the fray, The foe comes on, a will, their vantage powers combine,
The vict'ry leans to them, but still goes on the fight, As free men weep in grief, while wrong supplants the right.
"For freedon's cause a charge." is Stanley's fearless cry ; "Ohio's sons your steel," our Fuller's stern reply ; And like the lightning's glare, a thunder bolt of death, The twenty-seventh led by Spaulding's gleaming blade : A thousand noble forms, set teeth and 'bated breath, Rush on the startled foe, and pausing not for aid, Their faultness nothern steel, with southern fire collides, And fell Destruction on the fearful whirlpool rides.
The traitors fought in vain, such carnage could not last, Their boldest low in death, their leaders are aghast, No mortals could withstand, Ohio's bravest charge, And back, forever back, the frighted living trod. The spirits of the dead, from lifeless clay at large, Their rapid flight began to justice and to God ; And from the Union line, a yell of triumph rolled, A shout for victory won, a sigh for heroes cold.
POSSIBILITIES OF FURTHER SUCCESS.
The Confederate Army which held the Mississippi Valley had been routed and demoralized. The Union forces had two railroads leading down through the most productive part of the state, where corn was ripe, supply- ing plenty of forage so that the enemy could have been pursued with safety. The weather was cool and the roads were getting in prime condition. We should have gone to Vicksburg then, but General Halleck ordered otherwise.
CHAPTER XVI.
CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI CAMPAIGN.
By November 2nd, 1862, the army had recuperated and General Grant with one hundred regiments of about eighty thousand men started on the Central Mississippi Campaign for the capture of Vicksburg.
Fuller's Ohio Brigade with three days' rations in haversack and three in wagons, marched out of Corinth on the Chewalla Road, over a hilly country, passed fields white with unpicked cotton, crossed the Hatchie River, and on the 3rd passed through Grand Junction, twenty miles dis- tant.
On the 5th, at Grand Junction, the Sixty-third Ohio Infantry was joined by a batallion of the One Hundred and Twelfth Ohio, which was assigned to it. A reconnaissance was made on the Holly Springs Road, and the enemy's pickets were driven seven miles. Rations were becoming scarce and the troops had to grind corn at the mills and use the cornmeal for baking bread. Wagon trains loaded with cotton were guarded to the rail- road.
On November 17th, Fuller's Ohio Brigade marched to La Grange, camping on Jack Davis plantation. The clothes of the soldiers took on the color of the earth upon which they had slept, while the dust stirred up by the large number of teams and thousands of men marching over the roads, made the soldiers very uncomfortable, getting into their rations and filling their eyes and nostrils. Most stringent orders were issued against plunder- ing and very little was done. Fuller's Brigade was assigned to General Mc- Pherson's Division.
Chaplain John Eaton of the Twenty-seventh Ohio put several hundred negroes at work picking cotton on the cotton plantations in and around La Grange, this section being in the heart of the cotton region. The soldiers were delighted to find a number of large, heavy, baking pans, locally known as "skillets." These they set in beds of hot coals in order to bake their corn- bread or to fry their three-quarters pound of bacon which they drew daily, with their hard bread, coffee and sugar. One would have known that the soldiers liked this food by the way they ate it, in large mouthfuls, relishing it and longing for more. The hard bread polished their teeth to a pearly whiteness. At all seasons of the year, where a stop was made for more than one day, inspection of arms and dress parade by the troops, were ordered, and carried out with thoroughness.
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
The weather turned cold, damp and wet. In this section few of the citizens could be seen. The bridges destroyed by the enemy in their retreat were rapidly and substantially rebuilt by Bissel's Engineer Regiment. There was a rumor in the army that this section of country was to be the great battle ground, yet the Confederate General seemed desirous of drawing Grant's Army from its base of supplies. From their continued retreat, they were called by our army "The Invisibles."
A march was made from Camp at Wolf Creek to Coldwater Creek reaching there on November 28th. On the 29th a march was made thirteen miles, passing through the streets of Holly Springs, the regimental flags unfurled, bands playing, the men carrying their muskets at "right shoulder shift." The "right shoulder shift" was termed the "gay style." A few of the citizens stood on the corners and many ladies appeared at the doors of houses. A few of them cheered, others seemed spell-bound at the sight of the old flag and the great army. Camp was made at Lampkins Mills, Mississippi.
On November 30th, the Brigade moved at daylight and skirmished with the enemy until noon. The men halted close by the Tallahatchie river. an inconsiderable stream at this point, near the rebel line of heavy earth- works, forts and rifle pits, upon which the enemy had spent ten months of labor. On the following day, about ten thousand of the Union Cavalry swam over on their horses and pursued the enemy. The soldiers of the Brigade washed their clothes in the river. Over two thousand prisoners were captured at the Tallahatchie River, most foreigners.
On December 9th, Colonel Sprague received orders from Oxford, Mississippi, to disembark his command at Bolivar, Tennessee, in order to defend the line of communication to Oxford. Or December 10th the Brigade marched ten miles south of the Tallahatchie River, camping one mile north of the town of Abbeyville, Mississippi, where wood and water had to be carried one mile.
On December 11th they marched fourteen miles and camped south of Oxford, Mississippi, fifty miles south of Grand Junction. Some of the citi- zens of this place, both male and female, seemed displeased to see Union soldiers and spoke slightingly of them. The country was very beautiful and reminded the soldiers of the expression of southern orators, "The beautiful hills and broad savannahs of the sunny South." Many of the citizens took the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. The soldiers en- joyed the beautiful starlight nights by the camp fires, around which they would gather in knots and rehearse the marches and brave deeds of their army, how they stood together and cheered each other upon many battle fields. Their eyes were bright, their cheeks were sunburned and weather-
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FORMATION OF THE ARMY INTO CORPS.
beaten, some looked toil worn, their clothes were ragged, but they were self-reliant.
About fire per cent of those wounded at Corinth had now returned to duty. At this time Forrest's and Van Dorn's rebel Cavalry raided the country and captured Holly Springs with much valuable army stores.
On December 18th the Ohio Brigade was reviewed by General Grant. The soldiers' clothes were brushed up, shoes blackened, guns and accoutre- ments polished for the pageant. The General rode down the front and up the rear lines on a cream colored horse. He was dressed in a frock coat, black hat, and a rich silk sash and belt. He was saluted at the head of each regiment by dipping flags, fife and drums, and by "present arms." He raised his hat and when he passed the colors, he saluted them.
On December 20th Colonel Sprague of the Sixty-third Ohio reported the capture of thirty United States teams by the enemy.
SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS BADGE.
By an order from the War Department, on December 18, 1862, the Army of the Tennessee, General Ulysses S. Grant, commanding, had been grouped into four Corps d'armée viz : The Thirteenth, Major-General Mc- Clernand, the Fifteenth, Major-General Sherman, the Sixteenth, Major- General Hurlbut (then at Memphis), and the Seventeenth, Major-General McPherson. The Sixteenth Army Corps consisted of the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Divisions. Army of the Tennessee.
First Brigade. Colonel John W. Fuller, commanding was a part of Brigadier- General John E. Smith's Eighth Division, Sixteenth Corps.
Twenty-seventh Ohio Regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel Zeph. S. Spauld- ing, commanding.
Thirty-ninth Ohio Regiment, Colonel Edward F. Noyes, commanding. Forty-third Ohio Regiment, (at Bolivar, Tennessee), Colonel Wager Swayne, commanding.
Sixty-third Ohio Regiment, Colonel John W. Sprague, commanding.
Third Michigan Battery, Captain George Robinson.
Second United States Artillery, Battery F, Captain Albert J. S. Molinard, and Lieutenant A. M. Murray.
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
Second Brigade, Colonel Joseph A. Mower, Forty-seventh Illinois, Fifth Minnesota, Eleventh Missouri, Eighth Wisconsin.
Third Brigade, Colonel Ralph Buckland.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE DEFEAT OF THE REBEL GENERAL FORREST IN THE GRAND RAID ON GENERAL GRANT'S LINE OF COMMUNICATIONS-HOW IT WAS FRUS- TRATED AND THE ENEMY EXPELLED FROM THE COUNTRY.
General Braxton Bragg, commanding the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, decided upon two raids with Cavalry, flying Artillery and mounted Infantry, one into Kentucky under General Morgan, the other into Tennesse under Brigadier General N. B. Forest. These raids were in- tended as diversions in favor of the Confederate Army in Mississippi, then heavily pressed by General Grant.
Forrest with his command variously estimated at from five thousand to seven thousand, moved on December 11th, 1862, from Columbia, reaching the Tennessee River at Clifton, on Sunday the 13th, and after inuch diffi- culty, working night and day, crossed on the 15th.
General Grant informed his commanders at Corinth, Bolivar, Jackson, and other places that Forrest was approaching, and as it was not known where he would strike, each began to call for re-enforcements. General Sullivan concentrated his forces at Jackson, and ordered Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll toward the Tennessee River, with his own Regiment, two hundred troopers of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, and a Battery. He was joined at Lexington, twenty-eight miles east from Jackson by Colonel Haw- kins, commarding the Second West Tennessee Cavalry with two hundred and seventy-two men.
From Beech Creek, Colonel Ingersoll sent forward Captain Burridge, who found from reports that the enemy was in front. From the 18th, this force gradually fell back to Lexington and Jackson, skirmishing frequently with the enemy who continually outflanked this small force. Here the Union troops were re-enforced by Fuller's Ohio Brigade and other forces.
THE BATTLE OF PARKER'S CROSS ROADS, DECEMBER 31ST, 1862.
Colonel John W. Fuller, Twenty-seventh Ohio, commanding First Brigade, Eighth Division, Sixteenth Corps, after nine o'clock in the even- ing of December 18th, when encamped near Oxford, Mississippi, received orders to cook three days rations to be put in haversacks, and march to
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OPERATIONS IN WEST TENNESSEE.
the depot at eleven o'clock and proceed at once with the infantry of his command, by rail to Jackson, Tennessee, there to report to Brigadier- General Sullivan. About midnight, the Thirty-ninth Ohio, Colonel Noyes, left Oxford in freight cars and at three o'clock the next morning, the Twenty-seventh Ohio, Lieutenant-Colonel Spaulding, followed with the pur- pose of attacking Forrest's forces and preventing his re-crossing the Ten- nessee River.
Leaving instructions for Colonel Sprague to follow as soon as cars could be obtained, for transportation of his own regiment, and the Forty-third Ohio, Colonel Fuller started for Jackson on the train conveying the Twenty- seventh. He did not reach Jackson until nearly four o'clock in the after- noon of the 19th. Immediately on his arrival, Colonel Spaulding was ordered by General Sullivan to report to Colonel Lawler in the front and learned from General Sullivan that Colonel Noyes had been sent with his regiment in another direction, to report to General Brayman. Colonel Ful- ler afterwards learned that the Sixty-third and Forty-third, upon reaching Bolivar, had been ordered by General Grant to remain there for the defence of that place. The citizens manifested great delight upon seeing Union Troops and the old flag. Much excitement prevailed from the threatened attack by the enemy.
The next morning a general order from General Sullivan announced that Colonel Fuller's Command would consist of the Twenty-seventh and the Thirty-ninth Ohio and would form the rear of the column. Colonel Fuller as soon as he could find the regiments marched sixteen miles in the direction of Lexington, overtaking the main column about ten miles east of Jackson. While halting here, cannonading was heard in the direction of Humbolt. After an hour's halt the march was continued until nineteen miles distant from Jackson, where the column bivouacked for the night. The men were very tired but notwithstanding this, they were aroused by the bugle call at ten o'clock at night to go out on picket and vidette duty. The night was cold, cloudy and very dark. Nothing was seen of the enemy.
The next morning at six o'clock, the army returned over the same road. with Colonel Fuller's command in front, reaching Jackson between one and two in the afternoon. Earthworks had been thrown up almost around the town. On the 27th, Colonel Fuller with his command went by cars to Trenton, where the Sixty-third Ohio rejoined him. He now reported in compliance with General Sullivan's orders to General Heynie, but General Sullivan arrived the same evening, and resumed command.
During all this time, our forces were expected to move at any moment. The officers wore their side arms, the soldiers remained under arms, and the color guard remained with their colors. On Christmas day, the Brigade
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE
was on short rations. The surroundings were unpleasant. We rode on platform cars to Trenton, thirty-five miles before daylight.
About five o'clock in the morning of December 28th, the column marched fifteen miles toward Huntingdon and bivouaced near Shady Grove, where part of the people were staunch Unionists. The farmers brought to camp, corn meal and sweet potatoes. The soldiers managed to cook their unsifted corn meal into cake without saleratus. The next morn- ing marching through McLemoresville, they reached Huntingdon about four o'clock in the afternoon.
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