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 32
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[June,
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE BUGLES SOUND "FORWARD!"
ROSECRANS AGAIN THROWS DOWN THE GAGE OF BATTLE-ONCE MORE ON THE ROAD-OF COURSE IT RAINS-HARVESTING A FIELD OF WHEAT-RATIONS ARE SHORT-COMPANY D'S SHOWER OF FRESH PORK-BRAGG EVACUATES TULLAHOMA-WE COME TO ANCHOR AT HILLSBORO-THE DOCTOR, THE STALLION AND THE JACK.
0 N WEDNESDAY, June 24th, 1863, we started on the Tul- lahoma campaign, with Chattanooga as the objective point, in the dim, uncertain future. The army of Gen- eral Rosecrans had been largely augmented by new troops and the gathering in of all outlying detachments that could be spared, and it now took the field stronger by fifteen thousand men than when it advanced from Nashville to Murfreesboro. The long inaction of Rosecrans had been viewed with impatience by the powers at Washington and by the people of the north. Much pungent correspondence passed between Rosecrans on the one hand and Secretary Stanton and General Halleck-who was com- mander-in-chief under the president-on the other. The rela-
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1863.]
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THE CAMPAIGN BEGINS.
tions between Rosecrans and the government became very much strained. The former declared that he would not advance until . he was ready-his army in such condition that he could make a successful campaign.
In the afternoon of June 23rd, orders were disseminated through the camp directing us to move early the following morn- ing. Beyond this we knew nothing, but it was not difficult to surmise that we would march directly upon Bragg'sarmy, which, since the battle of Stone River, had been lying about Tullahoma and Shelbyville, some forty miles southeast from Murfreesboro. We were ordered to leave behind, within the fortifications, half the wagons and all surplus baggage, and to march with three days' rations in haversacks and nine days' in the supply trains. There was the usual bustle incident to breaking up a long-estab- lished camp. We had accumulated many personal belongings which could have no place in an active campaign. These we carefully packed for storage, and few indeed of them did we ever see again. 'Twas ever thus. Hasty letters were written to friends at home, knapsacks were packed, cartridge-boxes exam- ined and replenished, and at a late hour we lay down to sleep, ready and eager to take the road. We had grown weary of camp life, and the prospect of new adventures was like an elixir to the soldiers.
It may be remarked, in passing, that by this time not a few had wholly discarded the knapsack-as most of the veterans did a year later. They had learned the wisdom of reducing the weight to be carried to the very minimum. Non-essentials of every kind were abandoned. Not one man in twenty took with him an extra blouse or pair of trousers. A change of under- clothing was desirable, and the necessary garments, adding little to the burden, were rolled in the blanket, which was tied at the ends and, like a great sausage, thrown over the left shoulder. In the summer, many obeyed the injunction to the apostles to "pro- vide neither two coats." The heavy overcoat, though often a good thing to have, was on the whole deemed a superfluity-at least it was not considered worth the trouble of carrying. A man would get along comfortably with his blanket, poncho and "'pup" tent, trusting to luck to get an overcoat upon the approach of cold weather.
392
A STORM GATHERS OVER COMPANY D.
¿June,
We got off by the Bradyville pike, at seven o'clock on the 24th. Soon it began to rain and kept it up all day. As we went swishing along, with soaked and dripping garments, it seemed like old times. After a march of eleven miles we camped near Cripple Creek, in a large field of wheat which had just been harvested, the grain being in shock. In five minutes after we broke ranks the last sheaf had been confiscated for bedding, to keep us out of the mud. The planter, of whose premises we had taken such unceremonious possession, stormed so violently that he was placed under guard and held a prisoner until his wrath had cooled. For an hour before dusk the familiar sound of heavy cannonading was heard three or four miles to the right.
It rained all night and all the next day. We resumed the barbarous habit of turning out at four o'clock in the morning and standing at arms, and continued it for an indefinite period there- after. We jogged along through another sloppy day and toward night filed into a field of standing wheat. It didn't stand long, for the brigade turned itself into a reaping machine and did its work thoroughly and quickly. During the day our advance skirmished smartly with the enemy's cavalry. In the afternoon there was long-continued cannonading on the right. We after- ward learned that McCook had defeated the rebels at Liberty and Hoover's gaps.
We were ordered to march at five o'clock Friday morning. We were ready, but after standing around in the mud till noon were directed to pitch tents and spend the night there. Two or three professedly loyal denizens of the neighborhood made so much disturbance on account of the work of our foragers, that Colonel Harker, in a state of unwonted excitement, directed Lieutenant-colonel Whitbeck to cause the arrest of all offenders in the Sixty-fifth. The storm-center seemed to be over Company D, which was enveloped in the incense arising from sizzling ham and tenderloin. Every member of that company seemed to be engaged in cooking a tidbit from a freshly slaughtered pig. I happened to be the first officer upon whom Whitbeck's eye rest- ed, and he ordered me to proceed at once to company D, ferret out the offenders, and arrest them in the name of the United States of America. Buckling on my "toad-stabber," to give myself an im-
1863.]
A SHOWER OF FRESH PORK.
393
pressive appearance, I put on a stern look and proceeded upon my mission. That one or more pigs had come to an untimely end through the agency of Company D, individually or collectively, was an obvious fact. The evidence was cumulative and unde- niable. But where that fresh pork came from no man knew-at least that is what everybody said. I appealed to Lieutenant Gardner, whom I found squatting under a "pup" tent, gnawing a savory spare-rib.
"Well," he said, as he wiped the grease from his mustache and smacked his lips, "you've heard that it sometimes rains toads and angle-worms! The fact is it rained pieces of fresh pork this morning, and my boys just held out their gum blankets and caught 'em. Fact, sure 's my name 's Asa Gardner !"
Clearly, the only way by which the wrongs of outraged justice could be avenged was to arrest the whole company. I did not feel myself sufficiently nu- merous to do this, and I did not want to snatch Gardner baldheaded, al- LORENZO D. MYERS, QUARTERMASTER, SIXTY-FOURTH; CAPTAIN AND A. Q. M. though he was a guilty par- taker and at least an accessory after the fact. So I traveled back and made to Colonel Whitbeck an official report in writing, set- ting forth the singular freak of nature by which the pork had found its way to Company D, and venturing to suggest that it was a dispensation of Providence to save that excellent company from starvation. I was afraid the colonel would order me under arrest for not discharging my duty better, but he didn't. He just winked and said he guessed the matter might drop there. How
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HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE.
[June,
he settled the account with Colonel Harker, I never learned. Lieu- tenant Gardner sent to my quarters a nicely-cooked and fragrant section of pig, and I devoured it with a thankful heart-and stomach.
On Saturday the reveille sounded at three o'clock, with or- ders to march at four. Still it rained, and we lay around, expect- ing momentarily to hear the "Fall in!" until noon, when we ven- tured to pitch tents again. Two hours later we snatched them down and got off. Then the sun came out and fairly blis- tered us with its scorching heat. Three hours' march, and we ar- rived at a long. steep, stony hill, slippery from the rain. The wagons reached the summit after an unusual amount of tugging and pushing and sweating and yelling. Three miles farther and we went into camp. Sunday we marched-or rather waded- twelve miles in mud ankle deep. The wagons did not get through till after dark. My valise had fallen out and been run over. Its contents were a sight to behold. Our mess-chest had got smashed and was thrown away, with all its contents. But we had learned not to mind little things like these. They were what made army life so interesting.
Monday we lay in camp. Somebody set fire to a grist-mill near by, and I and K of the Sixty-fifth were detailed as fire- companies, Captain Matthias acting as chief. After an exciting time, with camp-kettles and horse-buckets, the flames were ex- tinguished. Tuesday we marched to Manchester. On Wednes- day, July ist, while on the road headed for Tullahoma, we were suddenly halted and officially informed that the latter had been evacuated by Bragg, and that the rebels were in full retreat toward Chattanooga. After a dne amount of cheering and yelling over the good news we faced about and marched back to Manchester.
Starting soon after break of day the next morning, we marched .to Hillsboro and thence to Pelham. Part of the day we were upon the same road which we had traveled in our retreat from Bridge- port and Stevenson, nearly a year before. We spent two days vibrating like a pendulum between Hillsboro and Pelham, pass- . ing four times over the same track. Everybody asked everybody else what we were trying to do.
We passed the "glorious Fourth" in camp near Pelham. We had been on half-rations for nearly a week, and celebrated the day
1863.].
OUR SECOND FOURTH OF JULY.
395
chiefly by foraging extensively. Two or three companies were sent out from each regiment, in addition to which nearly every man did more or less-generally more-on his own account. This was one of scarcely a dozen days in our whole term of ser- vice when rations of "tanglefoot"-a gill to each man-were is- sued by order from headquarters. Evidently the general thought the boys had been having a pretty hard time of it since leaving Murfreesboro, with rain, mud and short rations, and he would stir them up with a little of the exhilarating beverage, and stimul- late their patriotic emotions. It had the desired effect and it was a noisy day. Discipline was relaxed somewhat and the boys were permitted to do about as they pleased, so long as they kept within reasonable bounds. Here and there one took too much license- and whisky-and found himself in the guard-house before night. At sunset Captain Bradley marshaled the Sixth battery and fired a national salute of thirty-four guns, which was greeted with lusty cheers. It will be recalled that we spent the Fourth of July the previous year at Mooresville, Alabama. Judging then from the rate of progress we had made in the six months since entering the field, we confidently believed that when another year had passed we would have driven the rebels into the Gulf of Mexico and be exploding fire-crackers at home. Subsequent events caused us to revise the schedule, and our departure for home was indefinitely postponed.
Three days longer we lay at Pelham. Two days' rations were issued which we were told must last six. This was getting the matter of food down to a fine point. Some of the boys suggested a prayer meeting, to see if our scanty store could not be aug- mented in the same way as were the "five loaves and two small · fishes" from which "five thousand, besides women and children," ate and were filled. Foraging expeditions were sent daily into the adjacent region, and from the proceeds we managed to eke out our small supply. One of these forays for something to eat is remembered on account of the fluent and vigorous profanity of two or three women, at one of the places visited.
On the 8th we broke camp and marched back to Hillsboro. In the evening official dispatches were read conveying intelligence of Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, which threw
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396
A FAMOUS SIXTY-FOURTH STORY.
[July,
the soldiers into a frenzy of rejoicing. The woods re-echoed again and again with tempestnous and long-continued cheering. Two days later we moved a short distance and established our camp near a splendid spring which afforded a copious supply of clear, cold water. Here we spent five dull, hot, lazy weeks, while Gen- eral Rosecrans, the first stage of the campaign having been com- . pletely successful, was preparing once more to launch his army forward.
On one of those scurry- ing trips between Hillsboro and Pelham occurred the in- cident of the doctor, the stal- lion, and the jack-famous in the annals of the Sixty- fourth. Surgeon Abraham McMahon rode a spirited iron-gray stallion, of which he was very proud. On the day in question the regiment came to a halt in 1 the edge of a grove, in which was a log stable. Near the latter was a fine, large "jack," which stood with its long ears erect, looking defiantly at the Yankees who had invaded his bailiwick. The surgeon SAMUEL C. HENWOOD, FIRST LIEUTENANT, SIXTY-FIFTH. Killed at Chickamauga, Sept. 19th, 1863. thought he would have a little diversion, and at the same time make some fun for the boys. Tickling the flanks of his horse with his spurs, he charged upon the jack at full speed, bent on putting the long-eared animal to flight. But the dispenser of blue-mass and quinine had reckoned without his host ; for that jack developed a quality and quantity of "sand" that amazed him. The jack stood motionless, calmly viewing the scene, until the stal- lion was within a few paces. Then, as quick as thought, he threw back his ears, and with open mouth and outstretched neck, started upon a counter-charge, braying as only a jackass can.
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1863.]
DOCTOR M'MAHON'S DILEMMA.
The doctor and his snorting charger were unanimous in reaching the instant conclusion that they had waked up the wrong passenger. The horse wheeled about, barely in time to escape the teeth of his adversary, and started for the rear at a mad gal- lop, in full retreat, closely pursued by the bawling jack. Both horse and rider were in a panic. They flashed along the front of the regiment, while the jack, with head up and tail flying, fol- lowed like an avenger, the very incarnation of the southern Con- federacy. The men fairly yelled with delight, while many, who had not the fear of shoulder-straps before their eyes, ventured to remind the doctor, "Here's yer mule!" His scheme to make a little sport was pre-eminently successful, but not just in the man- ner he had planned. The doctor was rescued from his peril by the presence of mind-and body-of a dozen soldiers, who, with fixed bayonets, closed in behind the horse as he shot past, and stood firmly at the position of "guard against cavalry." The dauntless jack dashed upon them. A bayonet was jabbed into his head and broken off, but he kept on, driving everything before him. The men broke to escape his teeth and heels. Then the vic- torious brute, with a contemptuous glance at the fleeing horse and rider, came down to "common time" and. with the broken bayonet protruding from his head, returned to the position he oc- cupied at the beginning of the fracas. It goes without saying that the valiant doctor was often thereafter rallied on his exploit with the jack. How the officer who was responsible for it ac- counted upon his quarterly return for that broken bayonet, does not appear-probably "lost in action."
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[July,
.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
SUMMERING AT HILLSBORO.
BLACKBERRIES AND MOSQUITOES-AN ABUNDANCE OF BOTH-FOUR MONTHS' GREENBACKS-VARIOUS HAPPENINGS IN CAMP -- THE SIX- TY-FOURTH GETS A NEW CHAPLAIN-HE WAS SHOCKED BECAUSE WE MARCHED ON SUNDAY-THE MULE-DRIVERS GAVE HIM A SET-BACK -THE SIXTH BATTERY AND THE REBEL YANKEE.
1 HE two prominent features of our life at Hillsboro were blackberries and mosquitoes. These were about equally numerous, and were a fair "stand-off," the pleasure and comfort derived from the berries being counterbalanced by the pestiferous annoyance of the bloodthirsty "skeeters." Few fruits of bush or vine are more conducive to health than black- berries. Within a few miles of our camp were hundreds of acres of bushes, loaded with large, luscious fruit. A small squad from each company was permitted to go out daily and pick berries, and these parties always returned with an abundant supply. When it became necessary to go some distance from camp, detachments of forty or fifty from each regiment, with arms, and in charge of
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1863.]
399
A FAMILY "MESS".
officers, were sent. Although it was hot, fatiguing work, the men enjoyed it, and there were no laggards when details were made for the "blackberry squads." Being in camp we were able to achieve highly satisfactory results in the way of cooking, and we had blackberries in every style, morning, noon and night. The mos- quitoes seemed to be fully imbued with the spirit of the south, in their insatiable thirst for Yankee blood. They swarmed about us day and night, and especially upon the picket posts, where they were exasperating in the extreme.
While here the "line" officers of the Sixty-fifth : adopted the plan of "mess- ing" together. For a year there had been often but one, and never more than two officers with each com- pany. The little "messes" began to be lonesome affairs, and it was decided to pool everything and have a treasurer to keep the ac- count of all outlays, each officer paying his share of the expense. This plan was kept up till the end. - It proved both pleasant and economical. The company officers were brought to- JOHN K. SHELLENBERGER, CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FOURTH. gether two or three times a day, and the frugal meals were made doubly enjoyable by the laugh and jest that were never wanting. Two or three negroes were employed as cooks and scullions. It is true that under this regime most of the "servants" named on the pay-rolls were myth- ical beings, having no existence but in name, but Uncle Sam paid for them just the same. Nobody permitted the allowance of ten dollars a month for "servant" to get away.
On the 25th of July we received four months' pay and every-
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VARIOUS THINGS DESERVING MENTION.
[August,
body felt as if he owned a bank. The next day our reserve bag- gage train, which we had left at Murfreesboro, came up and was received with great enthusiasm. The baggage was in that chaotic and fragmentary condition usual in such cases, but we were glad to get it in any shape.
When on the march the soldiers always folded the bottoms of their trousers closely around their ankles and drew over them the legs of their stockings. This prevented the trousers from flap- ping about the legs and seemed to make marching easier. One day at dress-parade -- when everybody was expected to appear at his best, and officers, especially, were careful to "dress up"-one of the officers of the Sixty-fifth startled the regiment by marching out with his trousers carefully tucked in his stockings. He was a little absent-minded at times, and upon this occasion evidently thought he was going upon a tramp. When the officers marched up in line to salute the regimental commander, the latter called his attention to the matter, greatly to his chagrin and confusion.
One day, when intelligence came that John Morgan and his band of raiders had been captured in Ohio, the boys yelled with an extra amount of steam. Morgan had caused much pain in our stomachs by so often cutting our cracker line, and it was a pe- culiar satisfaction to know that, at least for a time, he would not molest or make us afraid. While at Hillsboro, the subject of a
brigade band was agitated. We had been without music since a year before, when our regimental bands were taken from us. At a meeting of the officers of the brigade the sum of six hundred dollars was subscribed for the purchase of instruments, and an ap- plication for permission to organize a band was forwarded to Washington. It was "turned down" and the scheme fell through, much to our disappointment. At this time there was scarcely one band to each division in Rosecrans's army.
On the 13th of August a serious accident occurred. During the forenoon the heat was extreme. This was followed, in the afternoon, by a thunderstorm of appalling violence, accompanied by a high wind which made rude havoc with the camp. A tree was blown down and the top fell on several tents of the Sixty- fourth, injuring a number of men, four of them severely.
On the 15th a detachment of officers and non-commissioned
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SIMON TOOK A BATH.
1863.]
officers from each of the two regiments left for Ohio, to take charge of a body of drafted men assigned to the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth and bring them to the front. Before we left Hillsboro the nine-months' drafted men, who had joined the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth a few weeks before the battle of Stone River, were mustered out of service, their term having expired. Less than fifty were received by each regiment, and this number had been reduced nearly half by sickness and the casualties of battle. Most of the drafted men rendered faithful service during the short time they were with us.
Captain Thomas Powell, of Company E, was chosen by the officers of the Sixty-fifth for chaplain of that regiment, Rev- erend Burns having resigned. An application for Powell's trans- fer to that position was forwarded to Columbus, and it was grant- ed some months later.
One day Simon Snyder, a teamster of the Sixty-fourth, ap- plied for a pass to go outside the canip lines. It was duly ap- proved by the regimental and brigade commanders, and Snyder took it in person to the headquarters of General Wood, the court of last resort. Simon had been somewhat neglectful of his ablutions, and his clothing was not as clean as it should have been, in view of the fact that the troops had been for some time in camp, with good facilities for cleanliness. General Wood looked at the pass and at the applicant ; then he broke out :
"Go back at once to your quarters, sir ; wash yourself well and put on a clean shirt ; then come to me and I will give you the pass !"
When Snyder returned to division headquarters he would scarcely have been recognized as the same man.
The following story of a chaplain's first Sunday in the army, told by Adjutant Chauncey Woodruff, of the Sixty-fourth, will be appreciated, for all remember how we spent a majority of our Sundays :
"About the middle of August, 1863, while we were en- camped at Hillsboro, Chaplain R. G. Thompson joined the Sixty- fourth, and immediately set about repairing the spiritual breaches in a regiment that had for many months been without a clerical representative. Notice was read on dress-parade, that a preaching
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عدد
402
A CHAPLAIN LEARNS SOMETHING
[August,
service would be held on the first Sunday after his arrival. Other regiments were invited to come over and draw fresh rations from the 'bread of life.' Some pains were taken to fit up an auditorium : the chaplain reviewed and revised his manuscript so as to fully meet all expectations: he shaved and blackened his shoes on Saturday afternoon ; and on Sunday morning every thing seemed auspicious to the chaplain for a field day in his new com- mand. Colonel McIlvaine, who presided at the breakfast table, asked him to invoke a blessing, which he did with unusual fervor, considering the simplicity of our meal, including thanks for the encouraging prospects of a holy, quiet Sabbath in the midst of 'God's first temples.' His voice had hardly died away, when an orderly from headquarters dropped a scrap of paper upon the colonel's tin platter. Opening it the colonel read : 'Have your command in readiness to move immediately.' The chaplain looked around for some explanation, and inquired what it meant ?
"The colonel said : 'It means just what it says, and if you get a square meal today you will have to pitch in now !'
"The chaplain raised his hands in sorrowful amazement and exclaimed, 'What, march on the Holy Sabbath !'
"This first rude shock to his sensitive moral nature was not the only one, even that day. He accompanied the train, and a brisk shower made the roads very slippery. A steep hill, a few miles from the starting point, stalled nearly every team, and de- tachments of men were required to help them up. The spiritual shepherd of the Sixty-fourth declared to the adjutant that night, that he could not conceive how a Holy God could prosper an army of such unholy men; that he had heard more profanity that sacred day than during all his previous life. The adjutant, who had often heard the teamsters exhort their mules under trying circumstances, gave full credit to his declaration."
Another incident happened to Chaplain Thompson, which assisted in opening his eyes to the depravity that existed in the army, and to the extent of the field of usefulness that was spread out before him as a preacher of the gospel to the Sherman Brigade. Soon after his arrival at Hillsboro, he put on his new uniform and called at brigade headquarters, to pay his respects to Colonel Harker. It happened that while he was sitting under a
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