USA > Ohio > The history of Fuller's Ohio brigade, 1861-1865; its great march, with roster, portraits, battle maps and biographies > Part 13
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BATTLE OF RESACA.
The order to capture the town and works by assault was counter- manded, and after a hards days' work climbing hills and manoeuvering over rough country, the force fell back and fortified, assuming an unassailable detensive position in Sugar Valley on the Resaca side of Snake Creek Gap. Resaca should have been taken in this movement, as it was afterward learned that only one brigade of the enemy's force beside the artillery. held it. Its capture would have placed Sherman's army across the railroad. the only line of the enemy's retreat, and Johnston's army would have been demoralized and perhaps captured, with his trains and artillery.
Sherman reported : "McPherson has twenty-three thousand of the best men in the army. Such an opportunity does not occur twice in a lifetime."
In the meantime, Hooker with the Twentieth Corps was moved down within supporting distance of the Army of the Tennessee. The roads were rough wagon ways, and these converged to a single narrow track through Snake Creek Gap. Howard's Fourth Corps and Stoneman's Cavalry were left in observation in front of Buzzard Roost Gap. All the rest of the army marched through Snake Creek Gap, straight on Resaca. Johnston, with the rest of his army, abandoned his well-prepared defences at Dalton, and took up a position at Resaca, behind a complete line of defences, fight- ing well at all points of the conflict. We closed in, enveloping the town on its north and west. Our forces were pressed at all points, and the sound of musketry and cannon rose all day to the dignity of a battle.
On May 10th, a very heavy storm came on and the roads were deep with mud. On the 13th the Fourth Division moved at six o'clock in the morning against Resaca, arriving in front of the enemy at noon. Com- panies A, C, and H of the Sixty-third Ohio, under command of Cap- tain Oscar L. Jackson, being on the skirmish line, were among the first troops, on the morning of the 14th, to reach the river near the village. At two o'clock in the afternoon, a grand charge took place along the whole line, a magnificent movement, in which the Fourth Division was a part. The advance of the National Column was irresistible and
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A.R. Ward
BATTLE OF RESACA, G.A.
Confederate Lines.
M. I. Smith'. Division 15th A. C., Supported by the 4th Division roth A. C., Storming and Capturing the Height, Commanding the Railroad Bridge.
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swept everything before it. After a desperate struggle within easy range. the enemy was sent flying across the Oostanaula River. Johnston got his army across the bridges, then set them on fire. We entered Resaca at daylight. The Sixty-third and Forty-third Chio were in the advance line and supported the Fifteenth Corps in assaulting a position which commanded a bridge across the Oostanaula River. These two regiments went forward in gallant style, and not only held the ground from which their comrades were about being driven, but pushed the lines still further to the front and held the ground until the night of May 15th, against repeated attempts to dis- lodge them. Company A, Lieutenant O. M. Davis and Company H. Cap- tain A. L. Howe, were the first to enter the enemy's works.
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FIFTEENTHI ARMY CORPS BADGE.
Had Johnston remained another hour at Resaca, it would have caused his total defeat. We were compelled to grope our way through forests. across mountains, with a large army, necessarily more or less dispersed. Johnston's army had all the advantages of natural position, of fortified forts and roads, and of concentrated action. The result of the rapid successes. gave us the initiative and the usual aggressiveness of a conquering army. The railroad bridge at Resaca was repaired and a floating bridge made out of logs and material found on the spot. Nearly all the people fled with the rebel army. The southern newspapers denounced General Johnston for falling back before our army. He replied that he had retreated as far as strategy required. In the meantime the whole of Polk's Corps, coming from Mississippi had joined the enemy in our front, and Johnston had, in his command, full three corps, namely, Hood's, Polk's and Hardee's, num- bering about sixty thousand men.
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DESPERATE FIGHTING AT DALLAS.
ADVANCE ON DALLAS, GEORGIA.
On May 23rd, the Army of the Tennessee commenced the movement designed to compel Johnston's Army to give up Allatoona. It was thought best to leave the railroad and to depend for twenty days for food and am- munition on the contents of the wagons. As the country was obscure. densely wooded and had few roads, the movements of the army were neces- sarily slow. The route lay through the valley of the Euharlee, across the ridge of mountains, and through the old gold fields. One of the enemy's cavalry pickets was captured who had upon his person an order from General Johnston dated at Allatoona, which showed that he had detected the purpose of Sherman in turning his position.
Dallas, the point arrived at, was on the east side of Pumpkinvine Creek, a tributary of the Etowah, and was the concentration of many roads that led in every direction. Its possession would be a threat to Marietta and Allatoona. But first the railroad had to be regained as far down as its de- bouch from the Allatoona range of mountains.
The enemy could rarely be seen. Some dodged from tree to tree or behind logs on the ground, or occasionally showed their heads above the hastily constructed but remarkably strong rifle trenches.
43d O. V. V. I. 63d O. V. V. L.
BATTLE OF RESACA, May 14th, 1864. The First Volley.
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On the 27th, there was a heavy attack by the enemy on the Fourth Division and the pickets were driven back to within easy range of the main body. The Division was formed in two lines and advanced on the double- quick to the firing line. The enemy was driven back, but the Brigade lost in this action, Captain Theodore Sawyer and Lieutenant Henry W. Diebolt, two young and gallant officers of Company A, Twenty-seventh Ohio In- fantry, who were mortally wounded.
After the battle of Dallas, the writer went from the front to the field hospital in the rear to find his friend Lieutenant Henry Diebolt. He was lying upon the bare ground with several hundred other dead and wounded soldiers of the Fourth Division. Many were groaning or rolling and toss- ing with pain. Some were talking incoherently and raving. After talking with Lieutenant Diebolt and consulting Dr. Denise, Surgeon of the Twenty- seventh Ohio, who made an examination of the character of the wound. it was found that Diebolt's wound was mortal. This fearful scene of suffering made a lasting impression upon the writer.
On May 28th, the enemy made an attack with a large force and the Union lines were fiercely assailed. A bloody battle ensued upon open ground between Kingston and Cassville and skirmishing was kept up all night. Our army closed down at daylight, and the enemy being repulsed. broke and retreated beyond the Etowah River, with a loss of twenty-five hundred men.
At midnight on May 29th, the enemy repeatedly charged the Union lines and the fighting was as severe as any ever experienced. Our whole army was now steadily working by the left until our strong infantry had reached and secured possession of all the wagon roads between New Hope, Allatoona and Ackworth. Then Gerrard's and Stoneman's Cavalry were sent into the natural fortress of Allatoona. On June 4th, the Fourth Divi- sion moved toward the town of Ackworth. The train of wagons with pro- visions was left far behind and as a result. the soldiers went without supper. That night the men slept on the ground or upon fence rails, if they could be procured. On the following morning. it was found that the wagon train had not yet come up. and so there was no breakfast. The heavy rain that set in made the roads so deep with mud that they were almost impassable.
The enemy drew off from New Hope and evacuated their position. Thus in the month of May, the Confederate Army had been driven from its strong position at Dallas. The Union soldiers had marched one hundred miles over as rough a country as a civilized army had ever seen. And yet the men were prepared to go on. were anxious to fight and were confident of success. The aggregate loss of the Union Army during the month of May was, in killed, wounded and missing, nine thousand two hundred and ninety-nine.
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LOSSES DURING MAY.
General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, gave as his losses in killed and wounded during the month of May, five thousand three hundred and ninety-three and the loss in prisoners, three thousand two hundred and forty-five, making a total of eight thousand six hundred and thirty-eight. General Johnston was re-enforced during the month of May by Martin's and Jackson's Divisions and Quarles' Brigade of Cavalry. He gave his effective strength as sixty-four thousand four hundred and fifty-six men. In the natural strength of the country, the continuation of many mountain streams, and forests, the Confederate Army had a fair off- set to our numerical strength.
On the 8th of June, General Frank P. Blair arrived at Ackworth with the two divisions of his Seventeenth Corps, that had been on veteran fur- lough. His nine thousand men with the new regiments that had joined us, equalled our losses in battle, by sickness and by detachments, so that our aggregate was about one hundred thousand effective men.
Communication to all parts of the army was kept up by couriers along the cross roads or through the woods. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee moved to the right near Van Wert. The Fourth Division crossed the Etowah River on a canvas pontoon bridge and by fords. The skirmishers were attacked by artillery fire of shot and shell from the enemy, but after a sharp fight, he was silenced. The ammunition and subsistence trains of the Division followed the line of march during the night. General Thomas' Army of the Cumberland moved in the center and Schofield's Army of the Ohio, away to the left. Geary's Division extinguished the fire on the bridge across Pumpkin Vine Creek, and drove off the enemy's Cavalry.
While following near to an important cross roads called "New Hope," a sharp ba tle ensued. The conflict was prolonged into the night which was pitch dark. The woods were dense, it rained hard and the convergence toward Dallas produced confusion. Meanwhile our armies were completing their deployments, gradually overlapping the enemy on the right and thus extending our left nearer and nearer the railroad. All this time a continu- ous battle, about ten miles in length was in progress. The strong skirmish lines took advantage of every species of cover and both the enemy and our forces fortified each night with rifle trenches made of trees and brush with head logs, many of which grew to be as formidable as first class works of defence. The soldiers became extremely skillful in the construction of these works, because they realized their value and importance. They could be constructed without orders in a single night.
On the night of June 10th. the troops of the Fourth Division were rear guard to the wagon train and they experienced a hard and dismal march. The rain poured down in torrents. The mud in the roads was deep in
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many places. It was a section of country where mica was disseminated through the soil, making the hillsides so slippery that it was almost im- possible for the marching men to obtain a firm foothold; the result was many unfortunate tumbles in the mud.
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THE SKIRMISH LINE FEELING THE ENEMY.
On June 12th the whole Fourth Division forming a heavy skirmish line, moved forward and took position at Big Shanty, in full view of Little and Big Kenesaw Mountains. After pushing the enemy back, the men constructed and occupied strong earthworks. A continuous battle was waged until the 19th when the enemy fell back from their position near the base of the Kenesaw Mountain. Our Division immediately occupied their works. In the operation. Company D of the Forty-Third Ohio captured a strong barricade from the Twenty-ninth Tennessee Regiment. Lieutenant James F. Day of Company K was killed and Lieutenant Frank B. Hazelton of Company A of the Twenty-seventh Ohio was wounded while in the rifle pit. The works now occupied by us were very strong, having had a great amount of labor expended upon them, and they occupied a high ridge of ground. They were constructed by Governor Brown of Georgia, who em- ployed a large force of negro slaves to do the work.
General Dodge ordered General Fuller to have the left of his brigade rest at the rock-cut near the mill and with the rest of the Fourth Division, to connect as near as practicable, with the left of General Morgan's Brigade of the Fourteenth Corps. This would place theirs on the right of the rail- road and would make his line run nearly north and south. He also com- manded the position to be more strongly intrenched.
Little Kenesaw was now just to our right and Big Kenesaw on our left less than one mile distant. The men were obliged to sleep in a foul camp, just abandoned by the "secesh" forces. It was plain to be seen that the ra-
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ADVANCE UPON KENNESAW MOUNTAIN.
tions of the rebels consisted of corn meal for they had left quantities of it.
General Johnston had chosen the ground well for his army. It em- braced Kenesaw, Pine and Lost Mountains. His position on the heights, gave him a complete view over our field of operation. The Fourth Division with MePherson's Army of the Tennessee, occupied the ground to the left. following the railroad, which curved around the base of Kenesaw. Thomas' Army of the Cumberland was in the center, obliqued to the right. deploy- ing below Kenesaw and facing Pine Mountain. Schofield's Army of the Ohio, somewhat refused was on the general right, looking south, toward Lost Mountain. The railroad was repaired up to our skirmish line, close to the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and loaded trains of cars came to Big Shanty. A locomotive, detached, was run forward within range of the . enemy's guns, to the tank to get water. The enemy opened fire but she engineer returned safely to his train, answering the shots with the screams of his locomotive whistle, heightened by the shouts and loud cheers of our soldiers.
Our developments were slow owing to the continuous rains. There were no roads except those improvised by each division for its supply train from Big Shanty to the camps. Meanwhile our army was developing against the enemy, intrenching every camp, a continuous line for ten miles. conforming to the irregular position of the enemy, so as to be ready for a sally. One morning at three o'clock, a rebel shouted down from the top of the mountain: "Wake up, Yanks!" and immediately firing from both sides commenced.
On June 26th, just at twilight. Captain Hamilton, a brave and intelli- gent officer of Company I of the Twenty-seventy Ohio, came to the writer at the earthworks, and while standing watching he carnage in front, he said in part : "I have given much attention to the important questions aris- ing between the North and the South, and they are of such vital interest not only to this country, but to mankind all over the world, that I should like to live long enough to know which side will win in this war, and what the result of this struggle for the Union will be." His manner and words gave the impression that he had a presentiment that he would be killed. Poor Hamilton! That very night he was shot, while in line of duty with his regiment ascending Kenesaw Mountain, and died a few days later. On this same night, Sergeant-Major Skilton of the Twenty-seventh Chio and others were wounded.
At this time the enemy's cavalry in our rear compelled us to detach cavalry back as far as Resaca and to strengthen all our infantry posts as far back as Nashville. Forrest had defeated General Sturgess at Guntown, Tennessee, but A. J. Smith with his two divisions of the Sixteenth and
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
Seventeenth Corps, which had been on the Red River expedition, was sent against Forrest and defeated him at Tupelo.
There had been over twenty days of rain. The roads, fields, and woods became quagmires and almost impassable, after a few wagons had passed over them, yet the men were at work all the time and operations were pressed with earnestness.
In June 27th, at nine o'clock in the morning, our troops moved to the assault all along the lines which fronted Kenesaw Mountain.
A furious fire of artillery and musketry was kept up. The enemy met us with determined courage and in great force. The Fourth Division of McPherson's attacking columns, fought up to the face of the lesser Kene- saw, but could not reach the summit. Thomas' assaulting columns reached the parapet, where Generals Harker and Daniel McCook were mortally wounded. We did not break the rebel lines but held our ground within a few yards of the rebel trenches. Our loss was two thousand five hundred men. The rebels reported a loss of eight hundred and eight.
While the battle was in progress, our forces crossed Olley's Creek on the right and gained a position on threatening the enemy's line of retreat, and then to increase the effect, our cavalry proceeded rapidly still further to the right.
THE CAPTURE OF BIG AND LITTLE KENESAW MOUNTAIN.
The Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, Forty-third and Sixty-third Ohio Regiments with the whole Fourth Division now moved forward nearer to the bases of Little and Big Kenesaw Mountains which rise fifteen hundred feet from the plain. Then came the siege with its deadly skirmishing and fighting. Late at night, on the 27th of June, the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio, relieving the Sixty-fourth Illinois, advanced cautiously up the mountain in the pitch darkness. The men, creeping and climbing around the rocks, clutched at the trees to assist them upward, and finally gained a position half way up to the summit. In this movement. the two regiments lost many valuable officers and men in killed and wounded. They were shot by the hidden foe, whose position was but a few yards in front. When morning dawned, they beheld from their rifle pits a great cannonading by the enemy at the top of the mountain where they had placed their batteries, and also from the Union batteries massed on the plain below. The solid shot from the latter, tore up trees, earth and rock, about the Con- federate defences. The mountain sides were enveloped in flame and smoke, and the noise of shot and shell passing through the air, over the heads of
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REMING BREWSTER
BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN, June 27th, 1864.
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FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
the men was constant and terrible. The Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio were relieved by the Forty-third and Sixty-third Ohio.
On July 2nd, the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio again ad- vanced up the sides of the mountain. The enemy's batteries were silenced and on July 3rd. the Confederate Army evacuated its position and fled. General Fuller reported officially that the flag of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Regiment was first to wave from the top of the mountain.
BREWSTER - ALLEY JNY
BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN. G.A. Confederate Guns going up the Mountain.
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WADING THE CHATTAHOOCHEE.
From the summit of the mountain was afforded a magnificent view of the surrounding country, beautiful indeed on that bright July day. To the southward were Lost Mountain, Pine Mountain, and Stone Mountain with the valley between, and the Chattahoochee River, twelve miles away, winding in its course westward. Atlanta, the objective point of the cam- paign, was seen on the plain, in the distance to the southward. The soldiers were filled with joy and zeal and marched on with songs of victory. The signals waved by the Confederates at the top of Kenesaw Mountain, were translated and used by the Union Signal Corps during their occupation of that stronghold. From these signals we learned of the death of the Con- federate General Polk.
On July 4th, the army moved forward. the Fourth Division marching toward Ruff'. Mills on Mich s Jack Crccl :. The sight of our army cwrung around so as to threaten Marietta, and the enemy contracted his lines and covered his position every where, with entrenchments.
CHARGE OF FULLER'S OHIO BRIGADE.
One of the most successful charges made during the war of the rebel- lion was that made by Fuller's Ohio Brigade at Ruff's Mills on Nick-o- Jack Creek, Georgia, six miles below Marietta, led by Colonel Noyes of the Thirty-ninth Ohio. On the morning of the above named day, the glorious fourth of July, the Fourth Division marched past the Twentieth and Twenty-third Corps and about ten o'clock, took the advance in line of battle and drove the enemy several miles through a wooded country, over fields and uneven ground forcing him out of his rifle pits, and back into his main works at Nick-o-Jack Creek. These defenses .- called the Smyrna line,-had been prepared by black labor, and were the most formidable . yet met with by the Union Army. General Sherman selected the Twenty- seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio to be placed in the advance and to make the charge. The Forty-third and Sixty-third were next in line, while the Eigh- teenth Missouri and Sixty-fourth Illinois with other troops on the right and left flank were ordered to make a feint.
The charge was first ordered to take place at noon, but the work to be accomplished was of such a serious nature that Generals Sherman, Mc- Pherson, Dodge, Morgan L. Smith with other officers rode up to the posi- tion to examine it, and much doubt was expressed as to the ability of a small foree to capture so strong a position. General Logan asked General Fuller to point out where the enemy lay. General Fuller replied," You can
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see them by looking down that narrow road, through the timber, across that open field and behind those heavy works." "Well," said General Logan "Why don't you take them?" "We are just getting ready," answered the Brigade commander. General Morgan A. Smith remarked that more men would be lost by sunstroke than by bullet. Colonel Noyes ( afterward Gov- ernor Noyes) was most earnest in his appeal for the opportunity to make the attempt, saying in a loud voice, "We can and will take the enemy's works. All we need is the order.
The position of the men at this time was most fatiguing. They had marched so far all the morning hours, and since before noon had been lying upon the ground in battle line without food, expecting every moment to. execute the forward movement. They were greatly fatigued and began to be impatient and were quite out of humor, embittered and desperate at the delay. There can hardly be a more depressing condition in practical warfare than to lie for hours exposed to a galling fire that cannot be effect- ually returned.
Finally the order came to make the charge at six o'clock at night. A moment before that time each Captain placed himself in front of his com- pany and said, "Men, we are to take those works in our front. We must take them .. Reserve your fire until you get to the enemy and don't waste ammunition. Remember that you have never retreated. Let everyone of you yell !"
Promptly at the hour, Bugler H. C. Parmalee of Fuller's Brigade sounded the charge, the two regiments sprang from the ground and rushed forward. The whole field was covered with Union blue in an instant. Men never went faster nor cheered louder in the face of such a storm of bullets. Troops on the right, left and in the rear checred with them. It seemed but a few minutes before the charging column was out of the woods, across the open fields, and were swarming over the enemys' earthworks which were captured and held, together with a regiment of North Caro- lina and Georgia troops, and with a great shout of triumph, our men raised the old flag over their conquest. The rest of the enemy fled, several were bayonetted in the fight at the works. Among those captured were two officers who said that they thought that the whole Yankee Army was coming at them. Both the enemy and our own troops heard the bugle sound at the same time, and the enemy being prepared, poured upon the charging column. heavy volleys of musketry fire. Their bullets struck the ground and cut the trees everywhere. Our loss in killed and wounded in this engagement was over one hundred and forty men in the two regiments. The Thirty-ninth Ohio lost its brave Colonel, E. F. Noyes, whose wound caused the amputation of his leg.
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The 2'th and 39th Ohio going over the Confederate Works THE BATTLE OF NICKOJACK, GA., JULY 4th, 1864.
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General Sprague said that the charge was the wedge that cleaned out the rebel works for a distance of six miles. Generals Fuller. McPherson, and Dodge announced that it was one of the most brilliant. bold and des- . perate charges they had ever witnessed. Johnston's rebel army retreated to the Chattahoochee River and crossed over that night.
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