USA > Ohio > The history of Fuller's Ohio brigade, 1861-1865; its great march, with roster, portraits, battle maps and biographies > Part 18
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During the night the line was intrenched. On the 28th at two o'clock in the afternoon, I sent the 63rd Ohio and the 35th New Jersey Infantry of the Fourth Division. under Colonel J. J. Cladeck to re-enforce the Fif- teenth Corps. Their arrival on the ground was very opportune and they went gallantly and promptly into action. Their loss was twenty killed and wounded.
August 3rd, the skirmish line advanced, holding the ground gained. August 4th, the entire command was advanced as a diversion in favor of General Schofield's movement to the right, and to occupy a line of hills about one thousand yards distant from the enemy's works. The enemy's first line of rifle pits was captured after severe fighting, during which it was driven from and recaptured three times. The enemy was driven back, the line was intrenched that night and held by a double line of skirmishers.
On account of a change of line, the Fourth Division formed a new line just in the rear and connecting with the Seventeenth Army Corps on the right. My loss in this advance was seventy killed and wounded, which was small considering the exposed position. During August 6, 7, and 8th, the entire line advanced to the last range of hills fronting Atlanta and in plain view of the city. The line was heavily intrenched, strong forts were con- structed, batteries were casemated, and a strong fire kept up upon the enemy's works and the city.
During the advance, the enemy contested every inch of ground and by his artillery and musketry fire inflicted a heavy loss to my command. Au- gust 9th and 10th artillery and musketry fire was interchanged day and night. August 11th my skirmish line was strengthened, advanced and carried the enemy's vidette line, gaining some very commanding ground, driving the enemy into his main works.
The captured line was intrenched and forts were constructed, and every gun in the command opened upon every battery of the enemy developed within our reach. On the morning of August 19th, while engaged in super- intending preparations for taking a detached work on our right, I was se- verely wounded and relinquished the command to Brigadier-General T. E. G. Ransom.
During the campaign the command marched five hundred miles, was engaged in thirteen distinct engagements and was under fire almost the entire campaign. It captured from the enemy seven hundred and twenty- seven prisoners, eleven battle flags, twenty-five hundred small arms with much other material. Its losses were, three hundred and seventy-six killed, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine wounded, and two hundred and two missing. To Generals Veatch, Fuller, Corse and Ransom, who com- manded the Divisions, I tender my warmest thanks. They were always prompt, giving personal attention to all movements.
Throughout the army, among officers and men, a more intelligent brave patriotic and harmonious command did not exist. most of the officers
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and men served under me for two years, and nothing has occurred to mar the freedom of our intercourse. They have never been called upon to per- form any duty but that they have promptly, cheerfully, and successfully responded. From Corinth to Atlanta they have hewn their way without reverse, leaving the impress of their work in Mississippi, Tennessee, Ala- bama and Georgia, where many, very many, of their comrades' graves mark the scenes of their valor, labor and success. No better or more successful soldiers grace any of our armies.
G. M. DODGE, Major-General.
Report of Brigadier-General John W. Fuller.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE FOURTH DIVISION, SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS.
EAST POINT, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 12, 1864.
I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by this division in that remarkable campaign which has driven the enemy from Northern Georgia and which has closed so gloriously by our occupation of the "Gate City of the South." I regret that the absence of any records covering the time prior to my taking command of the division, will prevent my giving so detailed a report of the early portion of the campaign as is due to the officers and men concerned, for the endurance, fortitude and courage of those who have fought, is hardly less remarkable than the gen- ius of the General who has directed so minutely all the details of the opera- tions of this great army.
On the 1st day of May, 1864, the First and Second Brigades with three Batteries of Artillery, marched from Decatur, Alabama. Passing through Huntsville on the evening of the 2nd, we reached Woodville on the Chattanooga Railroad on the 4th. From this point the Infantry and a portion of the Artillery were conveyed by rail to Chattanooga. The wagon train and a part of the Artillery marched through, escorted by the Ninth Illinois mounted Infantry and the First Alabama Cavalry, which at this time, were under the orders of the Division Commander.
On the 5th of May, we left Chattanooga and marching via Rossville, Gordan's Mills and Villanow, we passed through Snake Creek Gap on the 9th, and made a reconnaissance to within a mile of Resaca. The First Bri- gade was here ordered to gain the railroad just north of the town, and the Second followed to render any support which might be required. The skirmishers had already gained a position from which they commanded the railroad, and the battalions were close behind with every prospect of beat- ing the small force sent out by the enemy to counteract our movements. Here, however, General McPherson deemed it prudent to halt and recall the Division, and to withdraw all the forces under his command, imme- diately to the mouth of the Gap in our rear.
On the 13th the Division formed the extreme right of the army, en- circling the enemy's lines at Resaca. Out skirmishers. deployed along the banks of the Oostanaula, were steadily and sharply engaged, and these fac- ing the enemy's fort, near the church, crept up so closely and maintained
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so rapid and accurate a fire, that the enemy was unable to use his guns. The guns of the Fourteenth Ohio Battery, posted on Bald Hill, which over- looked Resaca from the south, poured shot and shell with great rapidity and accuracy into the town, frequently causing the enemy to seek shelter in a ravine which protected them from our fire.
When General Logan's command drove the enemy from his advanced position on the 14th, two regiments of this division, the Twenty-Fifth Wisconsin and the Thirty-Fifth New Jersey, were ordered forward to as- sist in this movement. General Woods to whom they reported, highly praised their conduct on this occasion.
Crossing the Oostanaula on the 16th, the Division marched via Adairs- ville to Kingston, where we rested for two or three days, resuming the movement on the 23rd. Passing through Van Wert, we entered Dallas without opposition on the 26th of May and camped on the easterly outskirts of the town. Just at sundown, an order was issued for the Division to march out on the Marietta Road, where it was afterward ascertained, ley Hardee's Corps. Fortunately the order was countermanded.
At daylight the following morning, the enemy drove our skirmishers back upon their reserves, and our line of battle was immediately formed on the ground where we had slept. The skirmishers were speedily re- enforced and the enemy driven back to the mountain, but we lost some valuable officers, before it was accomplished, among them Captain Sawyer and Lieutenant Diebolt of the Twenty-Seventh Ohio Infantry, two of the most gallant and faithful officers of the command.
During the day our skirmishers were pushed well up the mountain side, and our lines well advanced to the foot of the mountain and strongly intrenched. On the 28th the enemy attempted to storm the line to our right, but his skirmishers only attempted to advance in our immediate front, and were held in check by our own skirmishers without assistance from the line of battle; but the skirmishing was so severe for several days, that we sustained considerable loss.
On the 1st of June the Army of the Tennessee moved four or five miles to the left (North) to unite with the Army of the Cumberland. The Fourth Division was held as rear guard to cover this movement, and fol- lowed without molestation from the enemy. Encamping near Pumpkin Vine Creek, works were thrown up, covering the right flank of the army. We had some skirmishing and our batteries exchanged some shots with the enemy's artillery.
Moving on the 5th, the Division reached Ackworth on the 6th, where it enjoyed several days' rest. On the 11th the Second Brigade took part in armed reconnaisance which developed the enemy strongly intrenched some three miles south of Big Shanty. The First Brigade following, formed line to the left of the Second and extending to connect with Gen- eral Logan's Fifteenth Army Corps. Here, seemingly close to the foot of Kenesaw Mountain (yet nearly three miles distant) in plain view of the enemy's troops on the summit, and watched closely by his signal corps, whose flags were in constant motion, we met that obstacle which for twenty days bade defiance alike to the bravery of our soldiers and the skill of our commanders. Each position occupied by the Division during the approach
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to the Mountain, cost us a sharp skirmish to gain, and all were strongly fortified by the willing hands of men who toiled as cheerfully in the trenches as they fought bravely in the ranks.
When the general assault of June 27th was ordered, the Sixty-Fourth Illinois Infantry was selected to drive the enemy's skirmishers up the moun. tain side, and, if possible to gain a foothold upon the crest. They advanced with great gallantry, and a few bold men got close to the enemy's line of works, but the task assigned them proved more than men could accom- plish, and nearly fifty brave fellows feil in the attempt.
They drove the enemy back into his main works near the crest, but the steep and rocky face of the Mountain was an obstacle of itself, more formidable than a line of men, and beyond this they could not go. They held a position, however, higher than anybody on their right or left and during the night toiled patiently till it was rendered tenable and secure.
The Twenty-Seventh Ohio relieved the Sixty-Fourth Illinois and ocen- pied the position anth july 3rd.
Early in July the enemy evinced a nervousness at the movement of the extreme right of our army, and on the morning of the 3rd, it was dis- covered that he had fallen back toward the Chattahoochee River. Very soon the command was marching to the right and toward the river, and we bivouacked that night on the right bank of Nick-o-jack Creek, near Ruff's Mills.
On the following morning, July 4th, the First Brigade was ordered to drive the enemy from a position he held on the opposite bank. We crossed the stream at the mill, and as soon as we reached the liill beyond, the Thirty- ninth Ohio and the Sixty-fourth Illinois were deployed in line, and the Twenty-seventh Ohio and Eighteenth Missouri were formed in column on either flank.
The enemy was soon encountered, and after a sharp skirmish. fell back to a strong line of works, where they were found in force. During the skirmish, and while ascertaining the position of their line, we lost thirty or forty men. After forming our lines within two hundred or three hun- dred yards of the enemy, we constructed continuous rifle pits for the In- fantry, and also placed a battery in position to command his works. About noon, an order was given by General Dodge, to make an effort to break the enemy's line. The Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio Infantry Regiments were selected to make the charge, and were advanced quietly through the woods. This order was soon countermanded, the movement being deemed too hazardous to attempt. About six o'clock in the evening, however. the order was repeated. The two regiments mentioned were again given special instructions, the Sixty-fourth Illinois was to cover the left flank, and on the right it was understood that a part of the Second Division of this Corps was to charge simultaneously.
The Eighteenth Missouri and Colonel Sprague's Second Brigade were held in reserve, and in readiness to cover their retreat, should the troops assaulting be repulsed. Orders were given not to fire a shot before reach- ing the works, and at a given signal (bugle) the two regiments rushed forward. They had not more than one hundred yards to run, yet more than eighty fell before the works were reached, among them, Colonel E. F.
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Noyes, the gallant commander of the Thirty-ninth Ohio Infantry, who lost a leg, and Captain Angel of the Thirty-fifth New Jersey, who was instantly killed while forming his line. Some of the enemy were bayonetted, others shot, and a good many captured, but the great mass, apparently panic- stricken by the boldness and suddenness of the assault, ran off at full speed.
A moment later, seeing a portion of his works in our possession, and, perhaps, thinking that the cheering from our lines indicated a general as- sault, the enemy, as far as we could see to the right and left, abandoned his intrenchments and retired. It is doubtful whether so small a force as that actually engaged, ever emptied a longer line of works. During the night the enemy made a great show of strengthening an interior and still stronger line of earth works, but daylight the next morning revealed the fact that he had abandoned our front altogether and retired to the river.
We were now ordered to move down the Sand Town Road and take a position near the Chattahoochee River. We bivouacked for two or three days, skirmishing with the enemy across the river (which at this point is less than one hundred yards in width ) until the 9th when we marched east, to the left of the army via Marietta, to Rosswell, which we reached on the evening of July 10th and immediately forded the river. Here we remained till the 17th, rebuilding the bridge across the Chattahoochee, and strongly fortifying the position we had taken, which formed a tete-de-pont.
At this point Brigadier-General Veatch was compelled, on account of ill health, to relinquish the command of the division, which now devolved upon the writer. Leaving the river we marched in a southerly direction to Nancy's Creek, from which, after a brief skirmish we drove the enemy's cavalry and encamped. The day following we moved to near Peach Tree Creek, and on the 19th marched into Decatur. While going into position near the railroad, on the south side of the town, the enemy opened on us with artillery, killing and wounding several men of the command. The guns of the Fourteenth Ohio Battery were put in position near the jail and soon drove the enemy from our front.
On the 20th we moved on the road toward Atlanta, and encamped near the Augusta Railroad, about three miles from the city. The day prior to the battle (22nd) I had been ordered to send one brigade to Decatur. a vil- lage five miles east of our lines to garrison that place. I accordingly or- dered Colonel (now General) J. W. Sprague. commanding the Second Brigade, to proceed there, directing him to report to Major-General Dodge for detailed instructions. During the afternoon of the same day I was or- dered to proceed with the remaining brigade and report to Major-General Blair, commanding the Seventeenth Corps. The Fourteenth Ohio Battery was to await orders from Major-General Dodge. Light Company F. Sec- ond United States Artillery, was to march with me, also my Corps of Pio- neers. Reporting to General Blair, that officer sent a member of his staff to conduct me to that part of the line held by Brigadier-General Leggett. After a conference with that officer, my infantry was formed in two lines. near and in the rear of his intrenchments. Light Company F was assigned to a position in the front line between General Leggett's Division and that of Brigadier-General Giles A. Smith's. My Pioneer Corps was employed
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in assisting the completion of the intrenched line for General Smith's In- fantry, in constructing a work for Light Company F and during the re- mainder of the night in throwing up a strong work to cover some heavy guns on the Bald Hill, which formed the right of the line of the Seventeenth Corps. On the following morning, July 22nd, it was discovered that the enemy had fallen back from the line he had occupied and the skirmish line in our front was advanced nearly half a mile.
Everything seemed unusually quiet and the new position of the enemy appeared to offer an opportunity to considerably advance our lines. Gen- eral Dodge came up early in the day and informed me that our Corps would take a position on the left of the Seventeenth and as soon as that Corps had established its new line, we would form on its left. In the meantime my command would retain its present position. At about twelve o'clock noon, Lieutenant Laird reported with the Fourteenth Ohio Battery. I or- dered him to park his battery on the hill near my headquarters, until our position could be established. It so happened that the position where he halted was that from which he used his guns with such telling effect.
It was near one o'clock when skirmishing was heard in our rear, and General Dodge, then dining in my tent, said that he had been informed that the enemy's cavalry had been seen in that direction, and ordered me to place a regiment in position to cover our trains. The Twenty-seventh Ohio Infantry Regiment was sent for but within five minutes after General Dodge had left me the skirmishing was so heavy that I ordered out the entire First Brigade at a double-quick. Three regiments were formed in line in the field in the rear of our trains, with our backs toward Atlanta, and my left near the right of the Second Division which had just arrived. The Eigh- teenth Missouri was held in reserve. Skirmishers, Company A of the Twenty-seventh Ohio, commanded by First Lieutenant Charles H. Smith, thrown out to cover our front crossed the field, but were driven back by the enemy's line of battle, and my command became warmly engaged.
The enemy advanced into the open field, halted and opened fire upon us, but he seemed surprised to find himself facing out infantry in line of battle, for their steady fire aided by the guns of the Fourteenth Battery which held an infielding position on my left, soor. caused him to go back under cover of the woods. I then ordered the regiments to lie behind the crest of the ridge, and, seeing the enemy was again preparing to advance, directed Colonels McDowell of the Thirty-ninth Ohio and Churchill of the Twenty-seventh Ohio, to wait until the enemy should march half way across the field, and then to rise, fire a volley and charge. Bayonets were imme- diately fixed to carry out this order, but for some reason the regiments did not wait, as I had ordered, but charged as soon as the enemy's line had emerged from the woods.
This movement was executed too soon to give us many prisoners, the woods covering their retreat, but it so thoroughly routed that portion of the enemy's line which was in front of these regiments, and sent them back in such confusion, that his supports retired alco, and no enemy showed him- self on that part of the field. All who were not shot or did not run away, of the Sixty-sixth Georgia Infantry, were captured by the Thirty-ninth
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and Twenty-seventh Ohio, including the Colonel, the Adjutant and one Captain.
Immediately after this charge I discovered that such of the enemy's line that overlapped our right flank was marching past the right of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Regiment on toward Atlanta, which now lay in our rear. His supports followed closely, halted, and some rebel regiments marching in column doubled on the center, changed direction to their right, and marched straight for the flank of these regiments which had just made the charge described. Seeing this I ordered these regiments to change front and face the new enemy. To accomplish this we were obliged to throw back the right rapidly. A very hot fire during this hazardous but necessary manoeuver, rendered it impossible to keep the line well dressed, and for a moment it seemed as if these veteran regiments would be routed. The Twenty-seventh Ohio, especially, occupying the right, and obliged to make the movement on the run, when reaching the ground where it was to halt and face about, was in some confusion. There was not a inonient to lose, and the din of battle was too great to hear orders, so the colors were moved out *. Toward the approaching enemy, and my sword indi cated where the line should be reformed.
The men of the Twenty-seventh Ohio, noting the movement of their colors and instantly comprehending what was required of them, with a great shout came up on either side, in less time than I can write. The Thirty-ninth Ohio instantly formed on their left, bayonets were brought down to a charge, our men advanced, and the rebels now distant less than a hundred yards, came to a right-about, and ran back to the woods. While the movement just described was occuring, some rebel regiments which had out-flanked the Twenty-seventh Ohio, and were marching toward our rear, were stopped by the fire of the Sixty-fourth Illinois and the Eighteenth Missouri.
Colonel Sheldon of the Eighteenth Missouri, rapidly changed the di- rection uf his line, so as to give his men a raking fire on the enemy. The rebels were partly covered with a piece of rail fence, but soon began to break, when a General, supposed to be General Walker, rode out of the woods in front of the line occupied by the Twenty-seventh Ohio, and swing- ing his hat made a great effort to urge forward his troops. The next mo- ment his horse went back riderless, and so sharp was the fire of our men that the enemy disappeared almost immediately, and nobody seemed to heed the cry of their officers to "bring off the General."
The slaughter here may be judged by the report of Colonel Sheldon, who found as many as thirteen dead rebels in a single fence corner. It was just after these combats that General McPherson, who had been looking on from high ground in our rear, rode away to see how General Giles A. Smith was getting on. He rode down the road which led from my right flank, into the woods, where he must have been immediately killed.
Very soon, the rebels, having recovered under the cover of the woods, returned to the fence at the edge of the field, and reopened a heavy fire upon us. I ordered the Sixty-fourth Illincis to move to the right, then advance into the woods, and, if possible. get a flank fire on this line. This
*General Fuller to the front, himself carrying the colors.
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proved a heavier job than one regiment could accomplish. They drove back the rebels temporarily. They captured and sent back to the rear forty prisoners. They took a stand of colors, and their valor rescued the body of General McPherson, whence it was borne to the rear; but after a hard fight, in which they lost several officers and more than fifty men, they were driven out of the woods, pell-mell.
Yet our line in the field, now lying down and partially covered by the crest of a ridge, aided by the Fourteenth Ohio Battery, which threw shells incessantly over our men into the rebel ranks, made it so hot that the enemy was eventually compelled to withdraw. And here let me say that Ohio Battery (Lieutenant Laird) in position across the ravine on my left, (in rear after our change of front) did more toward defeating the enemy, than is often accomplished by six guns. Every discharge seemed to tell, and the battery was very active throughout the battle. Light Company F, Sec- ond Unites States Artillery, was at the beginning of the action in the line of the Seventeenth Corps. I sent my Chief of Artillery to get it relieved, and then to order it to report to me. Some delay occurred in relieving it and it never reported. I learned after the battle that it was captured by the enemy while attempting to rejoin me, on the same road, and not far from the spot where General McPherson was killed.
After the enemy had retired from my front he was reported in heavy force to the right and rear. and still fighting the Seventeenth Corps, whose line was now nearly at right angles with its original position. To form connection with the left of this Corps, I was ordered to take a position to the right of the Second Division, Sixteenth Corps, which had now changed front to rear on its left battalion, and if possible, to cover the space between that division and the Seventeenth Corps. Accordingly, after removing my own wounded, I moved to the position indicated and so far as my command was concerned, the battle had closed. This movement enabled the rebels to return and carry off their wounded and many of their dead. Such as were not removed (viz: seventy-nine bodies) we buried, the following morning.
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