USA > Ohio > The story of the Sherman brigade. The camp, the march, the bivouac, the battle; and how "the boys" lived and died during four years of active field service > Part 31
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"Doctor," said the soldier, saluting with a grace that would have done credit to Lord Chesterfield, "you know this is the first of April!"
The boys who were standing around all laughed, and so did the doctor, for no man in the brigade was more fond of a joke. "Very good, indeed!" he said. "Go it, boys, fun is better for you than medicine!"
The "Johnnies" perpetrated a serious "April fool" joke on the sutlers of our brigade. All five of them started from Nash- ville for Murfreesboro, their wagons loaded to the guards with a fresh stock of seductive goods-for the paymaster was expected soon. They traveled in company for greater safety, upon the well-recognized principle that "in union there is strength." Near Lavergne, a squad of vagrant Confederate cavalrymen dashed upon tbem and captured the entire caravan, with a single exception. Horner, of the Sixty-fifth, was at the head of the procession with his outfit, and by lashing his mules into a furious gallop he man- aged to escape. The looters reveled in the spoil, for a sutler's wagon was always a bonanza to the rebels. Horner, who was scared within an inch of his life, put up the prices and made the boys pay extra, to compensate him for his fright.
There was a chap in Company E, Sixty-fifth, who always . kept himself and his belongings in the neatest condition possible. He was a fine looking soldier, and he knew it. Whenever the company was formed for drill or dress parade, he always wanted to stand in the front rank, where he could "show off." But when the men were called into line, on the morning of the battle of Stone River, he thought it might be a little more comfortable to have somebody in front of him, who would serve as a sort of breast-
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378
THE HOOSIERS LEAVE US.
[May,
work and shield him from the bullets. He quietly said to the one who usually stood behind him:
"Jack, you may take the front rank today if you want to !"
But for all that he did not flinch, and he found that in the confusion of battle, front or rear rank inade little difference.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
STILL AT MURFREESBORO.
GOOD-BYE TO OUR HOOSIER FRIENDS-GENERAL WOOD LEAVES US BUT RETURNS-THE WASTE OF WAR-FAST DAY-WE BUILD A "CHURCH"-A WHIRL TO LEBANON-VALLANDIGHAM-A HOMICIDE IN CAMP-PHIL SHERIDAN (NOT THE GENERAL) AND "HAPPY JACK" -THE "PUP" TENT AND HOW IT WAS RECEIVED-THE SOLDIER AND HIS "PARD."
I N APRIL we bade farewell to our Hoosier comrades of Hark- er's brigade. Colonel Streight was placed in command of an expedition, the purpose of which was to destroy railroads and manufactories in northern Alabama and Georgia. He took with him the Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indiana as part of his provisional brigade. ""Hard luck" befell the expedition. It was overwhelmed near Rome, Georgia, by a large body of rebel cavalry under Forrest, and on the 3rd of May, after severe fighting -in which Colonel Hathaway, of the Seventy-third was killed- Streight surrendered his entire command of nearly fifteen hundred men. The officers were taken to Libbey prison in Richmond.
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379
CHANGES IN OUR BRIGADE.
Streight was one of the hundred or more who escaped from that famous prison by means of the tunnel. He took the field again with his regiment, which had been exchanged, but did not rejoin our brigade.
When organizing his expedition Colonel Streight asked for the Sixty-fourth Ohio regiment, but Colonel Harker would not consent to its separation from the Sixty-fifth. The latter was not to be considered for detachment, as it must of necessity remain with its colonel, commanding the brigade. So Streight was com- pelled to seek elsewhere. In view of the complete disaster that overwhelmed the expedition, the members of the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth have abundant reason for gratitude that they were not part of it. The gap in our brigade was filled by the Third Kentucky, Colonel Henry C. Dunlap, and, a few weeks later, the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio, Colonel Emerson Opdycke, both excellent and ably commanded regiments. Before we left Murfreesboro the Thirteenth Michigan ceased to be a member of our brigade.
After the departure of the Fifty-first and Seventy-third Indi- ana some sixty soldiers of each of these regiments-convalescents, and men returned from detached service-reported to Harker's brigade and found themselves homeless. The Fifty-first detach- ment, commanded by Captain Haley of that regiment, was tem- porarily attached to the Sixty-fourth Ohio. The Seventy-third squad was assigned to the Sixty-fifth. It was known as "Com- pany Q," and was commanded by Lieutenant Hinman. Its or- derly sergeant was Job Barnard, in later years a distinguished practitioner at the bar in Washington, D. C. These detachments remained with us nearly three months. They left us in the Se- quatchie Valley, about the last of August to rejoin their regiments, which had been exchanged and were preparing again to take the field.
About the middle of April General Wood was transferred to another field of duty and General John M. Brannan was assigned to the command of our division. The officers of the Third brigade assembled at Colonel Harker's headquarters, to bid farewell to General Wood and meet the new division commander. General Wood made quite a speech, in which he reviewed the battle of
380
PICKINGS FROM A DIARY.
[May,
Stone River, and spoke in terms most complimentary of the regi- ments and battery of Harker's brigade. "No men could have done better!" he said. After introductions and hand-shakes all around, General Brannan invited his guests to sample the contents of sundry bottles. Nearly everybody "took the oath," according to the manners and customs of those days in the army. Six weeks later General Wood returned to the division, and continued to command it until the change of organization after the battle of Chickamauga.
I find in my diary, under date of April 20th, 1863, a memo- randum which illustrates the waste of sixteen months of such service as we had been through. At the date given, of the ten- orderly sergeants of the Sixty-fifth who shouted "Left! Left!" at Camp Buckingham, but two remained upon the rolls of the regiment. Of the eight others, two had died of disease; one was pro- moted and killed at Stone River; one promoted and resigned on account of disabling wounds received at Stone River; two dis- charged by reason of disability; one promoted and resigned for disability; one-save the mark !- reduced to ranks and deserted. Gardner, of Company D, and Hinman of Company E, now both first lieutenants, alone were left. Both "stuck it out" until the last gun was fired.
Here are a few lines from my diary, April 21st, which I am sure will awaken palpitating emotions in many hearts: "This evening I saw in a newspaper the following sentiment offered by a young lady in Ohio at a soldiers' dinner : 'The young men in the field-their arms our defence; our arms their reward !' That suits us exactly ! When the pretty girls 'present arms' after this cruel war is over, won't we 'fall in' and 'salute!' I think after 'three years or during the war' of service, we will still be capable of 'bearing arms'-of that kind."
While we lay here a great deal of tattooing with India ink was done. In a circular from headquarters it was recommended that each soldier have his name and regiment put upon his arm, so that he might be identified if killed in battle. Many adopted the suggestion, and the tattooers had plenty of business. The names were often supplemented by flags, cannon, muskets, sabers, tents and other warlike emblems. "Si" Wagner, of Company K,
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381
DIVERS AND SUNDRY HAPPENINGS.
was the leading artist in the Sixty-fifth. He decorated the arms or legs of scores of our men. In the Sixty-fourth "Happy Jack," whenever he was sober enough, did a rushing business.
The 30th of April was a "fast day," appointed by the presi- dent, and its observance was enjoined upon the army. To us there seemed to be a sort of grim humor about the idea of the soldiers keeping fast day. As if we had not already done fasting enough to count for all the fast-days of our natural lives. The picks and shovels were allowed to rest, and for that we were thank- ful. We kept the day by carefully abstaining from oysters, porter-house Steak, roast turkey and pumpkin pie, but we "got away" with our usual rations: breakfast-coffee, hardtack and ba- con; dinner-hardtack, bacon and coffee; supper-bacon, coffee and hardtack.
Considerable religious interest was manifested in the bri- gade and we built a "church"-at least that is what we called it. There was a decidedly primitive appearance about it, as it was composed of poles covered with brush. It was dedicated on Sun- day, June 7th. There was no church debt on it. Sermons were preached, forenoon and afternoon, by ministers belonging to the Christian Commission. The services were largely attended, hun- dreds being unable to get within the rude enclosure. Two weeks later we marched and left that church behind.
Early in May, Harker's brigade, including the battery, was ordered on a reconnoisance to Lebanon, some thirty miles distant. Lebanon had been the boyhood home of Captain Bradley, and he was glad of the opportunity to revisit the scenes of his early life. The years that had come and gone while he served in the regular army, had obliterated not only the landmarks but the people also. He saw no one who could remember his family. We returned to camp without any particular incident, either going or coming. It was another case of chasing an ignis fatuus.
A few days afterward another expedition went out foraging, and, as usual, a section of the battery accompanied it. The officers' mess provided bugler Charles Smith with greenbacks and coffee for the purpose of trading for chickens, potatoes, etc. He stopped on the road at a plantation, made his purchases and rejoined the train. When the train returned in the afternoon he went to the
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[May
COLONEL BRECKINRIDGE WAS THANKFUL.
house for his "truck". He was invited into the back yard, and was immediately surrounded by a squad of rebel cavalry and taken prisoner. They took him three miles over the hills to their camp, which was in charge of Colonel Breckinridge, and the next day paroled him. He returned to camp bearing a letter from Colonel Breckinridge, thanking the officers' mess for the donation of eata- bles captured from Smith.
About the last of May there was considerable of a stir over the arrival at Murfreesboro of Clement L. Vallandigham, an Ohio politician of note, who, for the public utterance of disloyal senti- ments, had been sentenced to banishment into the Confederate lines. With a strong escort he was taken to the outposts and, under a flag of truce, delivered to a rebel officer. He belonged to the class known in the phrase of the time as "Copperheads," cor- responding to the "Tories" of the revolutionary war. Vallandig- ham went by way of Chattanooga and Richmond to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he ran the blockade. From the West Indies he went on a British vessel to Canada, establishing him- self "over the border" at Niagara Falls. He was nominated for governor by the Democratic party of Ohio, on a "martyr" plat- form. At the election, in October, he was overwhelmingly de- feated by John Brough, who received more than one hundred thousand majority of votes.
Mention has been made of the marriage, shortly before we left Nashville, of Dick and Sally, two of Sutler Horner's "con- trabands." In May, before the honeymoon had scarcely waned, the "green-eyed monster" caused a homicide in camp. Dick thought one of the other negroes was too attentive to Sally, and fired a pistol bullet into his rival's head, killing him almost in- stantly. The affair created a great stir in the camp. Dick was at once placed under guard, but the outcome of the matter I do not know.
Everybody remembers Phil. Sheridan, the wild Irishman of Company I, Sixty-fifth, just as he remembers Phil's counterpart, "Happy Jack," of the Sixty-fourth. They were "two of a kind" and never so happy as when they were filled up with "commis- sary." Phil. spent about half his term of service in the guard- house, and "Happy Jack" was a good second. Sheridan was
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383
"PHIL" SHERIDAN AND "HAPPY JACK."
1863.]
court-martialed at Murfreesboro for absence without leave, and was compelled to wear a ball and chain for thirty days, doing all sorts of extra and fatigue duty about the camp. In moving around, always with a guard carrying a fixed bayonet, Phil had to pick up the ball-a twenty-four pounder-and carry it in his hands. He was bubbling over with Irish wit, and it was worth a day of guard duty to hear his sallies.
"What a rich man Uncle Sam must be," he said one day, "to be able to give us such foine jewelry to wear !"
He would sit for an hour at a time and talk to that ball, call- ing it his "pet," "doll," "baby," "kitty" and other endearing names. He would take it in his arms and fondle it in a way that kept everybody laughing. Phil was proud of his name, because it was the same as that of a distinguished soldier who won the largest measure of fame. When, at Chattanooga, General "Phil" Sheridan became the commander of our division, our Phil re- marked :
"Well, byes, they say I've got to take command o' this divi- sion. The order says Philip Sheridan, an' that's me. I'm goin' ter make ye hump yerselves, too !'
No doubt Phil would have selected "Happy Jack" for his chief of staff.
It was always the duty of the orderly sergeant to spring at the first sound of the reveille, and stir up the company for roll- call. This was very rarely omitted, and only in extraordinary emergencies. All soldiers were naturally, intrinsically and essen- tially lazy, and they considered early rising as one of the greatest crosses they were called upon to bear. Many of them hurled all sorts of language at the orderly when he yanked open the tent and yelled : "Turn out for roll-call !" When engaged in an active campaign, or in the direct presence of the enemy, no objection was made. If shots were heard on the picket line, or at the first blast of bugle or tap of drum, every man would throw off his blanket, buckle on his accouterments and take his place in line. It was when lying idly in camp, with no enemy near to molest or make afraid, that he grumbled at getting up early, or tried to make the orderly believe he was sick, in the hope of getting "a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to
384
[May,
WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, MAJOR-GENERAL, COMMANDING ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND.
1863.]
385
"TURN OUT FOR ROLL-CALL."
sleep." The duty of attending roll-call was as incumbent upon the company officers as upon the soldiers. Indeed, an officer was expected to be to his men an example of punctuality and faithful- ness in the discharge of every duty. Generally speaking, the officers had more comfortable beds than the soldiers, and the in- clination to occupy them as long as possible was correspondingly greater. So it was that some of the captains and lieutenants were often tardy in making their appearance at roll-call, and frequently they would not show up at all. Hence the words which the boys used to sing to the tune of the reveille, as the plaint of the orderly sergeant :
I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up in the morning; I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up at all ! The corporal 's worse than the private, And the sergeant 's worse than the corporal,
Th' lieutenant's worse than the sergeant, And the captain's the worst of all ! I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up in the morning; I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up, I can't get 'em up at all.
Colonel Harker. as all know, was a rigid disciplinarian, whether in camp or on the march. When in the immediate com- mand of his regiment, he frequently arose, even before the reveille, and took an early promenade through the camp, to note the vary- ing degrees of promptness with which the different companies formed for roll-call. To a company, the members of which were prompt and soldierly, he would speak words of compliment and commendation, not only to the officers and the orderly, but to the men themselves. If the soldiers came out of their tents tardily, and in a half-dressed, slovenly condition, the colonel's eyes would snap and he would deliver a brief but forcible lecture that was not soon forgotten.
It was at Murfreesboro that we were introduced to that con- trivance which continued to be our intimate friend and companion while the war lasted, the "pup" tent, a new and revised edition of field habitation. It was of light canvas or duck, and was made in halves, with buttons and button-holes by which they could be (25)
386
OBSERVATIONS ON THE "PUP" TENT. [May.
fastened together. When this was done the combination formed the palatial residence of two men. On the march each "pard" carried one of these sections. Upon going into bivouac, five minutes sufficed, with knife or hatchet, to cut two forked stakes and a ridge-pole, over which, in five minutes more, the cloth was stretched and pinned down at the corners. A triangular piece, or, in default of that, a rubber blanket, closed one of the "gable ends," and the habitation was complete. The ridge was but three or four feet from the ground, and an entrance could only be made by bending low or getting down upon hands and knees. It was of the same shape as an old-fashioned triangular chicken-coop, and not very much larger. Its official designation was "shelter tent," but the boys thought this somewhat vague, as all tents are intended for shelter, and they promptly christened it the "pup."
These tents-the lowest point that could be reached by the gradual process of shrinkage from the big "Sibley"-were re- ceived by the soldiers with a feeling akin to amazement. They could not conceive how such things could be made comfortable habitations for human beings. They thought Uncle Sam was "playing it pretty low down" upon them and gave full, free and emphatic expression to their disgust. The advent of the "pup" tent was greeted with the same absence of enthusiasm that marked our first acquaintance with the hardtack. In the end the result was the same ; we came to regard it as a thing indispensable. In such campaigns as those which followed, the enormous baggage-trains with which we started out in 1861 could not be permitted to encumber the army. We had already experienced the discomfort of living wholly without shelter when, for days, weeks, and in one case months, our baggage wagons were far in the rear. If a man carried his tent on his back-and each half did not weigh more than two pounds-he was always sure of a shelter, such as it was. They grew in favor daily, and after we became accustomed to them we would not willingly have exchanged them for "Sibleys" or "Bells," with the chance of not having the latter half the time.
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Some time before we left Murfreesboro we received the "pups" and surrendered the others. The soldiers put them up, amidst a fusillade of jests. The mischievous boys gave them all
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1863.]
THE SOLDIER AND HIS "PARD."
387
sorts of grotesque names, and placed upon or above them such legends as these: "Ladies' bonnets done over!" "No loafing allowed here !" "Services here next Sunday." "Meals at all hours!"' "Pups for sale here." "Jones & Sinith, attorneys-at- law ; office up stairs." "Boarding and lodging."
The advent of the "pup" tent compelled the soldiers to "pair off." They slept, and usually cooked and ate, by twos. On the subject of the soldier and his "pard" the writer feels that he cannot improve upon a sketch in "Corporal Si Klegg," depict- ing this feature of life in the army, and it is appended as a fitting close for this chapter :
With rare exceptions every soldier had his "pard." Troops on taking the field and adjusting themselves to the peculiar con- ditions of army life, mated as naturally as birds in spring- time. The longer they remained in the service the more did they appreciate the convenience of this arrangement. During the arduous campaigns, two constituted a family, eating and sleeping together. They "pooled" their rations, and made an equitable division of labor. On the march, if a patch of sweet potatoes, a field of "roasting ears," or an orchard in fruit were reached, one would carry the gun of his comrade, while the latter laid in a sup- ply for their evening meal, and then hastened forward to his place in the column.
Ou going into camp one would look for straw while the other went in quest of a chicken or a piece of fresh pork. Then, while one filled the canteens at the spring or stream, the other gathered wood and made a fire. All became prime cooks, and this part of the work was also shared. If it was to be a "regulation" meal, one superintended the coffee, pounding up the grains in a tin cup or can with the butt of his bayonet, while the water was coming to a boil, and the other fried or toasted the bacon. If either were detailed for guard or fatigue duty, he knew that the wants of his inner man would be provided for by his "pard," and a portion of any choice morsel would be scrupulously saved for him. If one were ill, or more "played out" than the other, after a toilsome march, his companion cared for him with all the tenderness of a brother. If one were imposed upon by quarrelsome comrades, he could always safely depend upon his "pard" to stand by him to
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388
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC TROUBLE.
[June,
the last extremity. At night they lay together upon one blanket, with the other as a cover. It is not probable that Solomon ever snuggled up to his "pard" under a "pup" tent, but he seems to have had the correct idea when he wrote (Ecclesiastes, iv: 11): "Again if two lie together then they have warmth, but how can one be warm alone?" There were many times when they hugged each other like two pieces of sticking-plaster, in the vain effort to generate heat enough for even a measurable degree of comfort. When two congenial spirits were thus brought together, nothing but death, or a separation at the call of duty, could sever the ties that bound them.
It will not be deemed strange that many, after living together for a few days or weeks, found themselves mismated. In fact it was about as much of a lottery as getting married is popularly be- lieved to be; and divorces were as frequent as in the hymeneal ex- perience of mankind. A fruitful source of domestic eruptions was the gradual development of a disposition on the part of one of the pair to "play off"' on his more energetic comrade, and shirk his part of the labor so indispensable to their welfare. The soldiers were afflicted with chronic laziness so far as the performance of irksome toil was concerned. It was considered proper and right to shirk general fatigue duty as much as possible, but when a man was too lazy to help get his own dinner, or go foraging for sweet potatoes, he placed himself outside the pale of christian for- bearance. Then his "pard" went back on him, and sometimes a riot occurred that aroused the whole camp. The upshot of it generally was that the "drone" was left to shift for himself, while the busy bee, finding it easier to provide for one than for two, buzzed around alone until he could pick up a more congenial mate.
Incompatibility of temper broke up many of these hastily formed partnerships. Sometimes one had an excess of appetite, and in times of scarcity ate more than his share of the common stock of rations. Then there was trouble, and plenty of it. These and other causes often disturbed the harmony of intimate association, and it generally took some time to get the "pards" properly adjusted. The ravages of disease and the deadly mis- siles of battle made sad havoc with these ties of brotherhood. Few bereavements are more keenly felt than were those among comrades of months and years.
1863.]
HERMAN HANCE, THE SNORING DUTCHMAN.
389
Here and there, in every company flock, was a "black sheep," who seemed to be a misfit everywhere. Nobody paired with him, and-perhaps as much from his own choice as from the fact that he seemed to have no "affinity"-he lived much like a crusty old bachelor in civil life. He made his own fire, boiled his coffee in a kettle holding just enough for one, and ate his meal alone. Then he rolled himself in his blanket like a mummy and lay "down, having, at least, the satisfaction of knowing that no bed- fellow would kick the cover off in the night and expose him to the copious and chilling dews.
In the company to which the writer belonged there was a little fellow of Teutonic birth, (Herman Hance, ) who had a snore that was like the sound of a fish-horn. When he slept it was never silent. He would begin to tune up his bazoo as soon as he closed hiseyes, and by the time he was fairly asleep it would be at full blast. Enough imprecations to sink a ship were nightly heaped upon that unfortunate youth. Sometimes the boys made it so warm for him that he would get up in high dudgeon, seize his blanket, go off back of the camp and crawl into a wagon. Then when he got to snoring it would set all the mules to bray- ing. Once when the company was sent, at night, to occupy a po- sition very near the enemy, and silence was a necessity, Herman was actually left behind, as a prudential measure, for fear he would go to sleep and snore. But he snored his way through the war to the very end. In all the hard fighting only one bullet ever touched him, and that did not in the slightest degree impair his snoring machinery. Of course he never had a "pard." A chap tried it the first night in camp, but half an hour after they lay down, he got up in a rage and left the Dutchman's bed and board forever.
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