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 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
Both Rosecrans and Bragg committed grave errors during the ten days that elapsed between the evacuation of Chattanooga and the battle of Chickamauga. Leaping to the conclusion that Bragg did not intend to fight and was in full retreat, Rosecrans disposed his forces for pursuit. While Crittenden, as we have seen, occupied Chattanooga and moved immediately out upon the roads by which Bragg's main body had retired, Rosecrans had sent McCook and Thomas far to the southward, to assail Bragg's flank and rear. In consequence of these movements the Union corps became so widely separated that, five days before the battle, nearly sixty miles of valley and mountain lay between Crittenden on the left, and McCook, on the right, with Thomas about mid- way between them. It was easily possible for Bragg to fall upon and overwhelm one or more of these corps, which were too re- mote from each other to give mutual support. The facts were fully known to Bragg, and he made dispositions for an attempt to crush first Crittenden and then Thomas, but there was an inex-
·
1863.]
ON THE EVE OF THE MIGHTY CONFLICT. 417
plicable lack of energy in carrying out his orders and nothing was accomplished. He wished to avoid a general engagement until the arrival of heavy reinforcements, then near at hand- Longstreet, from Virginia; Buckner, from East Tennessee; and two divisions from the army of Joe Johnston in Mississippi.
As soon as Rosecrans discovered his error in supposing that his adversary did not intend to fight, he made all haste to concen- trate his scattered army. Thanks to the supineness of Bragg, he was able to accomplish this, by the utmost effort. The troops of McCook, marching night and day, over difficult roads, barely connected with Thomas, who had joined Crittenden, before the long-gathering storm burst upon Rosecrans. Bragg's army had been increased by fully thirty thousand men, raising its fighting strength to near seventy thousand. Rosecrans had for battle, in- cluding the reserve corps under Gordon Granger, about fifty-seven thousand men. The weight of numbers was therefore very con- siderably to the advantage of the Confederates.
There was little sleep that night in either army. Bragg was perfecting his arrangements to attack the following morning, while Rosecrans was hastening forward the troops of McCook and making dispositions to meet the shock, which could no longer be avoided. As we lay on the bank of Chickamauga creek, all night we heard the tread of hurrying feet, and the clatter of gal- loping hoofs. It was the night before the battle !
-
(27)
-
-
:
!
1
[September,
. .
. .
CHAPTER XL.
CHICKAMAUGA.
THE BATTLE OPENS ON THE UNION LEFT-WE GO IN SOON AFTER NOON -SEVERE FIGHTING AND HEAVY LOSSES-OFFICERS AND MEN FALL BY DOZENS-THE SIXTH BATTERY HEAVILY ENGAGED-THE DESPERATE CONFLICT OF SUNDAY-MAGNIFICENT CONDUCT OF HARKER'S BRIGADE-MAJOR BROWN MORTALLY WOUNDED-CAP- TAIN BRADLEY SAVES HIS GUNS-THE ARMY FALLS BACK TO CHAT- TANOOGA-THE ADVENTURES OF SOME OF OUR WOUNDED.
A T THREE o'clock in the morning of Saturday, September 19th, we were aroused to stand at arms. All was quiet until daylight, when brisk firing began between our pickets, on the other side of the creek, and those of the enemy. We were constantly on the alert, momentarily expecting a development of the attack. An hour passed, another and an- other, and although the firing increased there was nothing that sounded like a battle. About eight o'clock a large mass of the enemy was observed moving toward our left, across the bottom land which lay in our front, on the other side of the stream. The trees there had been girdled and were dead. The marching col-
418
419
OPENING SOLO BY THE BATTERY.
1863.]
umn of rebels could be distinctly seen, not more than six hundred yards distant. General Wood. whose headquarters were near by, came running up in a high state of excitement, and at once or- dered the Sixth battery to open fire. Its guns played the over- ture to the battle of Chickamauga. Captain Bradley's shells very quickly caused the rebels to change their course and get out of range by a detour. They disappeared from our front, their evi- dent purpose being not to attack at Lee and Gordon's but to mass against the Union left.
About an hour later the storm broke, a mile or more to our left. It was Bragg's plan to turn that flank, gain our rear, and secure the roads leading to Chatta- nooga. Owing to the dense forest the embattled lines were hidden from our view, but the smoke rose in clouds above the trees, while the volleys of musketry and the roar of artillery were startling and incessant. The companies from our brigade which were on picket became heavily en- gaged. They held their position with admirable pluck, and were not able to rejoin their respective regi- ments until after nightfall.
JOHN K. ZEIGLER, CAPTAIN, SIXTY-FOURTH. Killed at Chickamauga, Sept. 20th, 1863.
Three hours longer we lay in our position at the mill, ex- pecting each moment to be ordered into the battle. Every man stood, musket in hand, with full cartridge-box and forty addition- al rounds on his person; and field officers were beside their horses ready to spring into the saddle. The roar of the conflict in- creased in volume as the wave of battle swept along the line. No pen can describe the intensity of emotion that causes the heart of
420
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September
the soldier to throb during these moments of eager, anxious, al- most breathless waiting.
It was three o'clock when a staff officer dashed up with an order for Colonel Harker. As the latter leaped into his saddle there was little need for the command "Attention !" for every of- ficer and soldier was in his place, ready for instant response.
"Forward-Double quick-March !"
Away to the left we went. The hot air, like the breath of a furnace, was heavy with clouds of choking dust. We passed scores of ambulances filled with wounded, and hundreds of men, bleeding but not disabled, going to the rear in search of hospitals. Three quarters of a mile and we were near the scene of conflict. Spent bullets began to fall about us. We could hear the cheers and yells of the combatants. Filing off the road into the wood upon the right we halted and hastily formed line of battle-the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio on the right, and the Third Kentucky, Sixty-fifth and Sixty-fourth Ohio successively to the left. Advancing about one hundred yards we received from the enemy a murderous volley, losing many officers and men. The loss of the right wing of the Sixty-fifth was especially severe, Lieutenants Samuel C. Henwood, of Company A, and Nelson Smith, of Company G, being instantly killed, and Lieutenants Asa A. Gardner, of Company D, and Otho M. Shipley, of Com- pany H, severely wounded, besides many excellent soldiers.
Assailed in flank, we were compelled to change front to the rear, the movement being executed under fire with almost the same precision as upon the drill ground. Soon afterward, Lieu- tenant-colonel Whitbeck, commanding the Sixty-fifth, was sorely wounded and was carried from the field. Major Brown succeeded to the command. The rebels seemed to be all around us and it was difficult to tell which was the front and which the rear-in fact it was front in two or three directions at the same time. We were again compelled to change position, and in doing so struck the flank of a rebel regiment, from which the Sixty-fifth and Third Kentucky swept off two hundred prisoners and sent them safely to the rear. Harker's brigade, although its ranks were being rapidly decimated, presented to the enemy an unyielding line, holding its own against all opposition. After being engaged for
-
421
1863.]
-
CULLEN BRADLEY CAPTAIN, SIXTH BATTERY.
422
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September,
about two hours the enemy's fire ceased in our front and we were not again attacked during the day. Fighting upon the extreme left and also to our right continued until nightfall.
During the action the Sixty-fourth was dispatched to fill a gap in another division, caused by the giving way of a regiment -the Eighth Kansas. The gap had become so extended that both flanks were exposed, but the Sixty-fourth moved steadily for- ward, driving the enemy before it, until Colonel McIlvaine ordered a halt, directing the men to lie down in the dense timber which covered the field. While the regiment was in this position it was so far in advance of the Union line that a considerable body of rebels came up in its rear. Forty or fifty of them, including half a dozen officers, stumbled upon the Sixty fourth. Upon being ordered to surrender they did so and were sent to the rear. The Confederate General Gregg. with several officers of his staff, una- ware of the presence there of Union troops, rode up. Refusing to surrender, they wheeled their horses and attempted to. escape. They were fired upon, and General Gregg fell from his horse, se- verely wounded. Colonel McIlvaine obtained possession of his sword. The small detail which had been sent to the rear with the prisoners inadvertently struck the ragged edge of the enemy's line. In the melee that ensued the prisoners made their escape, and John McFarland, one of the guards, was wounded and made captive. The position of the Sixty-fourth, far it. advance, with no immediate support upon either of its flanks, was one of im- minent peril, and an order to fall back was gladly obeyed. This closed the fighting of the Sixty-fourth for that day.
During the mix-up of the Sixty-fourth and the Confederates, Robert C. McFarland, of Company E, disarmed five Mississippi- ans, marched them from the field and delivered them to the pro- vost-marshal of the division. One of the prisoners was about six feet and a half high. "He looked big enough to eat me up !" said McFarland in relating the incident.
Among the prisoners taken by Harker's brigade were a num- ber from Longstreet's corps, of Lee's army, which had been sent from Virginia to reinforce Bragg. It was easy to distinguish them from the soldiers of Bragg's army by their clothing. Most ·
1863.]
THE BATTERY READY FOR BUSINESS.
423
of them wore the regular Confederate uniform, while the dress of the western men was a "go-as-you-please" matter, with every imaginable variety of garments and head covering. Scarcely any two of the latter were clothed alike.
"How does Longstreet like the western Yankees?" they were asked.
"You'll get enough of Longstreet before tomorrow night!" was the answer, which proved to be very close to the truth.
From Lee and Gor- don's mill the Sixth battery moved with the brigade about a mile and a half to a point near the Viniard house, where the Lafayette road bends toward Chatta- nooga. Two batteries had already been stationed at the right of the road, under the personal supervision of Major Mendenhall, General Crittenden's chief of artil- lery. The Sixth battery remained a short time, in column, waiting for orders, the infantry meanwhile passing rapidly to the front. The road was skirted with timber and underbruslı. LOUIS SCHNEIDER, CORPORAL, COMPANY E, SIXTY-FIFTH. Beyond this curtain, upon the right, was a stretch of Killed at Chickamauga, Sept. 19th, 1863. open bottom-land, extending some three hundred yards, and upon the farther side of this a thick wood.
Not long after the battery halted, a heavy force of rebels emerged from the wood and started across the bottom, with the evident purpose of driving everything before it. The fighting instantly became severe. The two batteries which were in posi- sion, heretofore mentioned, showed a great lack of steadiness. Indeed, they abandoned their positions and in great confusion re-
4
-
. :
:
424
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September,
tired across the road, some of the carriages passing to the right and some to the left of the Sixth, which was still in column. It was a moment calculated to demoralize the best soldiers, but the Sixth showed not a sign of weakness.
The Union line, some fifty yards from the road, was hotly engaged. No orders had been received by Captain Bradley, but with the instinct of a soldier, he at once perceived that if the bat- tery was to render any service there, whatever was done must be done quickly. He ordered the battery forward by the left flank. Wheeling by the left a small hill was reached, a short distance in rear of the Viniard house, and at the edge of the open field. In- stantly the command "In battery !" was given and guns and caissons were quickly whirled into position. During the move- ment from the road the battery was compelled to cross a deep washed-out ditch, which it did without mishap, although under ordinary circumstances this would have required time and labor.
The trails of the guns had scarcely touched the ground when the long line of rebels was seen advancing, squarely in front. The battery opened at once with all its guns, and the firing was fast and furious. The center section, commanded by Lieutenant Smetts, consisting of twelve-pound Napoleon guns, loaded with canister ; while the other pieces fired shells with one-and-a-half- second fuse. The fire was most effective and deadly. The rebels, who had charged to a point within fifty yards of the guns, quailed before it, wavered. and retreated to the cover of the timber. Here they could be seen re-forming their shattered and disordered lines for another effort.
During the lull, to secure a better position, the battery moved quickly some thirty yards to the left and rear, where the guns were posted in the field and the limbers in the edge of the wood. Up to this time the battery had been without support, but at its new position the Seventeenth Indiana, of Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry, now on foot, was stationed partly in its rear and partly upon its left flank. Soon the rebels advanced again, with desperate determination, and with a courage that challenged ad- miration, in the teeth of a terrific fire from the battery and the re- peating rifles of the Indianians. The Confederate ranks were rapidly thinned, but the ragged line swept on almost to the
425
1863.]
SPLENDID WORK OF THE SIXTH BATTERY.
muzzles of the cannon. Mortal men could no further go, and the torn and broken battalions fled again to the shelter of the woods. A third attempt was made, but the spirit of the Confederates was broken, and this, the final charge, was quickly and easily repulsed. The assailants sullenly retired and did not reappear. The bottom, over which they had thrice advanced, was thickly strewn with the dead and wounded.
In this engagement the battery suffered a loss of Private Charles Weeks killed, and Lieutenant George W. Smetts and five enlisted men wounded, and two missing. The center section suf- fered most severely, there being, after Lieutenant Smetts was wounded, but two cannoneers remaining-Privates F. W. Beebe and John C. Weber. The battery fired more than two hundred rounds of ammunition, the limbers being three times replenished from the caissons. The battery held its position till dark, when, under orders, it moved some distance to a point near the Widow Glenn house-the headquarters of General Rosecrans-where it bivouacked in a peach orchard for the night. There was a scarcity of forage, and about nine o'clock a detail scoured a corn- field, securing a few "nubbins" and a quantity of stalks which were distributed among the hungry horses.
Thus far the battle was wholly indecisive. Both Rosecrans and Bragg had suffered great losses, but neither had gained any marl ed advantage. With the same spirit they had shown at Stone River, the two commanders, without a thought of re- linquishing the field, girded themselves to renew the contest the following day. Bragg received during the night a fresh division of Longstreet's corps from Virginia, accompanied by Longstreet in person, and with the fullest confidence in the outcome, made his dispositions and issued his orders for a renewal of the battle at dawn. Polk was to take the initiative by hurling a mighty col- umn upon the Union left, which was already much shattered by the blows it had received. Rosecrans, aware of his inferiority in numbers, was content to act upon the defensive, and disposed his divisions with that end in view. Wood's two brigades-Wag- ner's being at Chattanooga-were moved some distance to the left and placed in the front line. They covered their front with a strong barricade of logs and earth. During the night the
:
:
426
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September,
wounded were cared for, as far as possible, some of the field hospitals being filled to overflowing. All the surgeons and hospi- tal attendants in the army were busily engaged in binding up wounds and closing the eyes of the dying.
In the evening after the first day's battle, General Wood and Colonel Harker-both "regulars"-were talking together at the headquarters of the latter. General Wood said :
"This battle is not over yet; no doubt we will have to fight . again tomorrow. If I were given my choice between regulars and volunteers, I would choose volunteer troops. They will 'stick;' you can fight them as long as you please. I say this from my experience with them at Stone River and in the battle today. The regulars are too sharp. They know when they are whipped but the volunteers don't: they will fight as long as they can pull a trigger."
It was noticeable thereafter that General Wood treated the volunteers with more kindness and forbearance than during the early months of his association with them.
Sunday morning found the battlefield enveloped in a dense fog, which delayed the onslaught of the enemy. It was nine o'clock when Polk delivered his attack upon the Union left. The fighting at once became terrific. Harker's brigade held a good position, with the Sixth Ohio battery admirably posted. Within an hour the brigade began to feel the pressure of the ene- my and soon became severely engaged. The rebels advanced in great numbers and made the most determined efforts to breach the line, but all their assaults were magnificently repulsed. Colo- nel Harker rode along the ranks with flashing eye, speaking words of commendation and encouragement. Dashing up to the bat- tery, the guns of which were being worked with desperate energy, he shouted "Bravo ! Pour it into them, boys !" The rebels at length abandoned the attempt and sullenly retired.
Shortly before noon a most unfortunate event occurred, in- nocently caused by the two brigades of Wood's division. Gell- eral Rosecrans had dictated to a staff officer the substance of an order to General Wood. The officer reduced the order to writing, but did it so carelessly as to render it easily liable to misinterpre- tation. Its language fully justified the wrong construction given
1863.]
DISASTER TO THE RIGHT WING.
427
to it by Wood. Supposing that he was carrying out the wish of his chief, General Wood withdrew his brigades from the line and marched them by the flank some distance to the left "to support Reynolds," passing to the rear of Brannan's division, which in- tervened between him and Reynolds. By this movement a gap was opened which McCook, who had been directed to move up to the left, failed to close in time to prevent disaster.
As fortune-or misfortune-would have it, Longstreet was at that moment advancing a force of five divisions for a supreme effort to disrupt the line at that point. Per- ceiving the gap, he thrust his troops into it, assailing with the greatest fury the exposed flanks, upon the right and left. The effect was immediate and disas- trous. Five Union bri- gades upon the right of the gap rapidly crumbled and were driven from the field in dire confusion and dis- order. They were hope- lessly broken and fled in panic, yielding to the ene- my forty pieces of artillery.
-
General Rosecrans, who at this time was in rear JOHN A. GILLIS, FIRST LIEUTENANT, SIXTY-FOURTH. of the right wing, was caught and borne away by the tide of fugitives. Believing that the day was irretrievably lost, he determined to ride as quickly as possible to Chattanooga and make preparations for defense there. If his surmise that his whole army was routed had been correct, this would have been the wisest thing for him to do. But he was mistaken in his conclusion, and his abandonment of the field, at the crisis of the battle, will ever stand against him as a fault, which threw an eclipse upon a career that up to that time had
428
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September,
been brilliantly successful. After consultation, it was decided that General Garfield, his chief of staff, should endeavor to make his way to Thomas, whose guns could still be heard pounding away upon the left. Fortunate would it have been for our beloved "Old Rosey" if he had taken the same course.
When the rebels burst through the gap in the line, General Wood halted his two brigades, formed them facing the enemy, and endeavored to stem the tide of disaster, then at its flood. The rebels assailed Wood with the greatest fury and for a time the fighting was most severe. The total rout of the five Union brigades to the right of the gap enabled the enemy to sweep around to the rear of Wood, and there was imminent danger that his brigades would be enveloped and destroyed. General Thomas, now sole commander on the field, ordered the gradual withdrawal of the troops to the position on the Union left, which he was holding with the utmost tenacity. When this order was received, Wood was already slowly retiring toward the left, forced to do so by the stress of the persistent attacks of overwhelming numbers. His troops fought stubbornly at every point, yielding ground only upon compulsion. They retired in good order, every regiment preserving its organization. The ranks were rapidly thinned by the casualties of battle, but there was no disposition to give way -- no symptom of disorder or panic. Harker's brigade was conspic- uous for its steadiness during these trying moments.
Taking advantage of a slight elevation. Wood's division made a determined stand, holding the rebels in check for an hour. Two or three charges were bravely met and repulsed, the losses on both sides being heavy. On this line fell many of the Sixty- fourth and Sixty-fifth, among them Major Samuel C. Brown, of the latter, mortally wounded. He had succeeded to the com- mand of the regiment the previous day, when Lieutenant-colonel Whitbeck was disabled by a dangerous wound. He was borne from the field, placed in an ambulance, and sent to Chattanooga. Captain Thomas Powell commanded the regiment during the re- mainder of the battle.
Withdrawing from this line, by order of General Thomas, Harker's brigade took a strong position on Snodgrass hill. This was the key-point of a series of irregular elevations, having a
1
1863.]
HARKER'S BRIGADE ON SNODGRASS HILL.
429
semi-circular trend, and designated as Horseshoe ridge, upon which General Thomas had disposed the twenty-five thousand men he had drawn thither, and which position was maintained until nightfall.
"This hill must be held and I trust you to do it !" said Gen- eral Thomas to Colonel Harker.
"We will hold it or die here!" was Harker's response.
During the remainder of that
And Snodgrass hill was held. awful struggle, Harker's brigade yielded no foot of ground. Its courage, mettle and endurance were indeed put to a crucial test. Rarely in the history of wars have soldiers been called upon to meet an emergency more critical, to face a danger more threaten- ing. The confidence felt by General Thomas in Colo- nel Harker and his brigade was not misplaced. Officers and men vied with one another in their valor and devotion. Conspicuous in an army of brave men, their conduct challenged admira- ·tion, and elicited from Gen- eral Thomas the rich tribute JACOB BYERS, CHIEF BUGLER, SIXTY-FIFTH. of thanks and unstinted praise. No language can overstate, or magnify beyond its value, the service rendered by Harker's brigade during the closing hours of that September Sunday.
The fighting upon the slopes of Snodgrass hill was most des- perate and sanguinary. Again and again the Confederate com- mander hurled his gray masses against the hill, in vain attempts to carry the position; as often they recoiled before the deadly fire which swept their ranks. Forming his brigade in two lines,
------ ..
430
BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA.
[September,
Colonel Harker adopted the excellent plan of firing by volley, each regiment in turn advancing to the crest, discharging its guns, and then falling back under cover of the hill, to load while another was delivering its fire. Such volleys, in quick succession, are much more effective than a desultory fusillade in which each in- dividual fires at will. The very handsome manner in which this volley firing was maintained, each regiment in perfect order and aligned upon its colors, evoked from General Thomas and General Wood many expressions of the warmest commendation.
No braver, cooler man ever faced the deadly blast of battle than Colonel Emerson Opdycke, of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Ohio, of Harker's brigade. While the storni was . beating with its fiercest fury upon Snodgrass hill, Colonel Op- dycke sat upon his horse, at the summit, sweeping the field with his keen eye, and with his sword indicating to his men where to direct their fire most effectively. Unheeding the bursting shell and hissing bullets, he sat, calm and collected, a scene for a painter. He was the very incarnation of soldierly bearing and manly courage. It chanced that in changing its position the Forty-first Ohio, of Hazen's brigade, passed near him. Opdycke had served for a year as a captain in that regiment, having been selected for the colonelcy of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth on account of his conspicuous capacity as an officer. As the Forty-first marched past, Opdycke was instantly recognized and the whole regiment joined in a greeting of tempestous cheers. Colonel Opdycke was touched by the demonstration and lifted his hat in acknowledge- ment of the compliment.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.